Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

After a few compliments, Du He scanned all the rosters.

"Hey~"

Looking at the height and age of these recruits, Du He sighed.

Middle-aged men between 22 and 35 account for less than 20%, while young men between 18 and 21 account for fully 50%, and the remaining people over 35 years old account for 30%.

Du He said with a bit of helplessness on his face: "Your Highness, the overall quality of the new soldiers recruited by Hedong Road is somewhat poor."

"For the new recruits transferred from Henan Province, we need to select some tall young men."

Goguryeo occupied a large area of Liaodong and had the characteristics of a nomadic people, so they were not short in stature.

When fighting against them, in addition to the advantage in weapons and armor, the quality of the soldiers cannot be too poor.

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Du He, this request may be difficult. The allocation of combat troops has already been decided."

"General Li Ji's army is the main force in the battle. The soldiers recruited from Henan and Hebei will be selected to fill his side."

"Besides, the Central Army is only there to assist in combat. Wouldn't it be a bit of a waste of talent to mobilize high-quality soldiers to the Central Army?"

Only more than 10,000 soldiers were recruited in this recruitment, and tall and excellent soldiers were extremely rare, probably less than one or two thousand in total.

Moreover, as the person in charge of recruiting soldiers and the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Road Army, Zhang Shigui kept a close eye on those high-quality soldiers.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, it is not easy for him to compete with the main combat forces for manpower.

Think for a moment.

Du He shook his head and said, "Your Highness, the remaining 1,000 soldiers should not go to Henan Road to ask for people. Let us handle it ourselves."

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "We are recruiting soldiers around Chang'an?"

The recruitment of soldiers in Chang'an is also very serious.

The current Tang Dynasty's military forces are mainly composed of people from Guanzhong.

Du He grinned and said, "Hehe, just find Cui Shenji and the others. They are worried that they don't have the opportunity to work for you."

The recruits were all ordinary people, not people from aristocratic families.

Aristocratic families and newly-promoted families with meritorious service were all exempt from corvée service.

They have many servants to guard their house, and their physical fitness is better than that of ordinary people.

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up: "It's feasible. The guards they have are stronger than many of the soldiers in the army."

"Du He, I'll leave this matter to you!"

Du He nodded and said, "Okay."

The streets of Chang'an before dusk were crowded with people and bustling with activity.

This is especially true in Pingkangfang.

Baihua Tower, in the largest private room on the third floor.

On the stage in the front, four beautiful women were dancing.

They have flexible figures, charming dance moves, and exude endless charm in every move.

Below the stage, the three musketeers Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi and Xiao Kai stared with eyes wide open, watching intently.

The corners of their mouths unconsciously curled up with a happy smile.

Among them, Du He slowly sipped sake and squinted his eyes to watch the performance of the oiran on the stage.

"As expected of the four most beautiful girls in Baihualou."

"There is a reason why it is expensive."

This enchanting dance move would still be quite explosive even in modern times.

No wonder she can charm all the men in Chang'an City.

After the four courtesans finished their performance and bowed and walked out, Du He clapped his hands to wake them up.

Looking at their intoxicated and unsatisfied expressions, Du He asked with a smile.

"Three brothers, are you satisfied with what you see?"

"Satisfied, so satisfied!"

The three of them wiped their mouths at the same time, looking savoring the memory.

Cui Shenji patted Du He's shoulder with admiration and said, "Brother Du, you are so powerful that you can invite all four great courtesans, including the masters of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, to come here."

"When the four of them dance together, there is basically no one in Chang'an who can rival them except the dancers in the palace."

Wang Jingzhi curled his lips and said, "Brother Ji, look at Brother Du's arrangement, it's so appropriate."

"The last time we celebrated Brother Du's promotion, your arrangement was really eye-catching. Not only did you fail to select a single courtesan, but you also tried to take advantage of Cheng Huailiang and the others."

"The other brothers found out and laughed at us in secret."

The circle of top young masters in Chang'an City is not large, and any slight movement will spread throughout the circle within a day or two.

Cui Shenji was stunned, glanced at Wang Jingzhi, and said with his arms folded across his chest.

"Brother Wang, I am now taking the huge risk of being discovered by Princess Nanping by bringing you to Baihua Tower to have fun."

"You don't know how to appreciate a good person. You actually say bad things about your brother!"

I have to say, Choi Shen-ki is quite eloquent.

Wang Jingzhi was speechless.

Wang Jingzhi smiled awkwardly, then put his hand on Cui Shenji's shoulder and said kindly: "Brother Ji, I said something wrong, and I apologize to you here. Please don't hold grudges against me."

Cui Shenji showed a proud smile on his face: "That's more like it."

While the two were playing, Du He picked up the wine bottle and poured a glass of wine for all three of them.

Du He raised his glass and gestured to them, "Brothers, one of you goes."

"Come."

Cui Shenji and the other two quickly picked up their wine glasses.

After clinking glasses, the four of them drank it all in one gulp.

"Hiss, this wine is really spicy!" Cui Shenji wiped the corner of his mouth and asked in confusion: "Brother Du, did you bring this wine from the palace?"

Du He smiled and said, "This is the good wine given by the prince, specially used to entertain you."

Xiao Kai asked doubtfully, "Is this a gift from the prince to Brother Du for his promotion?"

All of Du He's good friends knew that he was named General Yunhui, but they didn't react much.

He was just a military official, and his title was not as valuable as Du He's Duke of Xiangyang.

For these super second-generation kids, this military promotion was nothing to celebrate.

Du He shook his head and said seriously: "I asked the three brothers to come here today because I have an important matter to ask of you."

"What's the matter, Brother Du, just tell me!"

The three of them said in unison.

When they heard that there was something serious going on, they put away their cheerful expressions and turned serious.

Du He said softly, "You all heard about the fact that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the expedition to Goguryeo and appointed me as the deputy commander of the central army. Right?"

Cui Shenji nodded: "Brother Du, how could we not know about such a big thing?"

During this period, his father Cui Yixuan had been discussing the issue of the prince taking command with his brothers while they were eating.

To be honest, his father was not optimistic about the prince and thought that his decision was a bit rash.

Cui Shenji guessed that the idea of the prince leading the army was most likely proposed to the prince by his good brother Du He.

So he didn't tell anyone what his father and brothers had said, so as not to make Du He unhappy.

Du He nodded slightly and went straight to the point, "The Crown Prince's expedition this time is extremely dangerous, and the Crown Prince is currently short of soldiers and generals."

"Your family is big and powerful, so I would like to ask you for 1000 strong guards to serve as the center of the army."

"Also prepare 3 shi of food and 2 sets of winter clothing."

There was silence for a moment.

Cui Shenji frowned and said, "Brother Du, providing people, food and clothing are all minor issues, but I have a question."