Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Liu Rengui was born into the Liu family of Weishi. He was the son of Emperor Zhang of Han and a descendant of Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Zhuang.

Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Zhuang, was the grandson of Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu, and the third emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Li shook his head and said, "Each dynasty has its own ministers. Except for a few people like Ma Zhou who were born into poor families, all other officials in the court are descendants of royal families and officials of past dynasties."

"It's no big deal for him to be a descendant of the Eastern Han Dynasty royal family."

Hearing Liu Li's words, Du He's eyes also had an inexplicable look.

This nice guy has a very tough attitude!

...

Because Du He had just assumed the post of Imperial Secretary, he had a lot of things to learn and deal with. Throughout January, he spent most of his time in the Ministry of Personnel.

"Oh, there are so many troubles in the power sector!"

"I really miss the days of slacking off in the Secretariat!"

Du He dragged his tired body and walked out of the province while sighing in his heart.

After taking up his post in the Menxia Province, he had to review and examine countless memorials and imperial edicts, and he no longer had the opportunity to leave his post early.

"Minister Du."

When the officials of the Menxia Province saw Du He coming out, they all stood up and greeted him enthusiastically.

Things are different now. Even Cui Renshi has been scared away. How could these minions dare to go against Du He, the Imperial Court Minister?

Du He waved at them and his expression softened a little.

These trolls from his own province changed their attitude, which made him feel a little uncomfortable at first.

Originally thought that when he was working in the Menxia Province, he would have to follow the "three big changes" strategy of a new official taking office, but he didn't expect that these people were as obedient as grandsons, making it impossible for him to get angry.

At the main gate of Menxia Province.

Du He felt the spring breeze in February, but he was still shivering from the cold.

There were no big cotton-padded jackets like those of later generations in those days. No matter how many clothes and silks you wore, you could not keep out the cold wind.

A soldier wearing the uniform of the Eastern Palace Qianniu Leader walked over quickly.

He came up to Du He and bowed respectfully with his fists clasped.

"Prince Consort Du, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince invites you to the East Palace."

Du He curled his lips, nodded and said, "Let's go."

This guy Li Chengqian didn't look for it earlier or later, but had to look for it when he was off duty.

This kind of bad atmosphere on duty cannot be allowed to continue when he ascends the throne.

East Palace.

Mingde Hall.

Li Chengqian, who was running around anxiously inside, saw Du He walk in and didn't care about his injured foot and went straight up to him and said.

"Du He, something big has happened!"

Du He saw that Li Chengqian looked a little panicked, so he frowned and said seriously.

"Your Highness, what happened?"

Ever since Li Tai suffered a big loss at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival, he has been behaving like a good boy. He and his staff have not continued to cause trouble.

Without the disturbance of Li Tai, the troublemaker, Li Chengqian's job as crown prince became smoother and smoother, as if everything was back on track.

And now Li Chengqian's face looks so panicked, I'm afraid the matter is not small.

Li Chengqian's face turned pale as he said, "My father just summoned me and a group of prime ministers to the Liangyi Palace to discuss matters, and told us something important!"

"Yinan Khan died of depression! Before he died, he passed the throne to his legitimate son Bazhuo!"

"Bazhuo proclaimed himself Jieli Kulishixue Shadomi Khan!"

After hearing this sudden news, Du He couldn't remain calm.

He said with his brows knitted together.

"Is Yi Nan dead?"

"Is this guy's psychological endurance so weak?"

"Moreover, Bazhuo proclaimed himself as Jieli Kulishixixue Shaduomi Khan without being conferred the title by Your Majesty!?"

Yinan has been in charge of Xueyantuo for more than ten years, he shouldn't be so fragile.

How come he got angry for a while and ended up dying of depression?

Who would believe it!

Moreover, the newly succeeded Ba Zhuo, without being canonized by Li Shimin, the Heavenly Khan, arbitrarily gave himself the title of Khan.

Although on the surface he still obeyed the control of the Tang Dynasty, his actions made it clear to the Tang Dynasty and other vassal states that he, Xueyantuo, would no longer obey the orders of the Tang emperor.

The new Xueyantuo king has rebelled, this is an extremely dangerous signal!

Li Chengqian nodded and continued, "Father's spies have also found out that because of the large-scale plundering of livestock by the Yi men, many people in the Xueyantuo tribe are dissatisfied with the Xueyantuo court."

"If not handled properly, Xueyantuo may fall into civil strife."

The Xueyantuo was originally one of the Tiele tribes, formed by the merger of the Xue and Yantuo tribes. It ruled over the Pugu, Tongluo, Bayegu, and Adie tribes.

Even the powerful Huihe were under the command of Xueyantuo.

A country like this, which is made up of various tribes, already has internal divisions among them. Now that the leader is dead, the younger brothers are starting to have evil thoughts.

Moreover, when Yinan Khan was in power, he oppressed the small tribes in various ways.

In order to raise enough betrothal gifts this time, he even targeted many nobles in the tribe.

If the young Duomi Khan cannot suppress this group of nobles, I am afraid he will not be able to stay on the throne for long.

It all depends on which tribe's people can't withstand the temptation of power and take the lead in rebellion.

Du He asked curiously, "Your Highness, what do His Majesty and the ministers think of this?"

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "According to Fang Xuanling's inference, the newly enthroned Duomi Khan may retaliate against our Tang Dynasty in order to divert domestic hatred and avenge his father!"

"And they will probably take action after we launch our military operations against Goguryeo."

The internal conflicts of Xueyantuo arose from the marriage with the Tang Dynasty.

The death of Yinan Khan was directly related to the rejection of marriage alliance.

War is the most effective means of diverting domestic conflicts.

Once Duomi Khan launched the war under the pretext of revenge for his father, the Xueyantuo people, who were oppressed and could not survive, would definitely take up arms and participate in the war as long as they were instigated by the Xueyantuo court.

Du He asked in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, how do you want to deal with this hot potato of Xueyantuo?"

Li Chengqian said: "My father and the prime ministers all agreed that we should not fight on two fronts now, so they sent General Xue Wanche of the Right Guard to lead 2 troops to garrison Daizhou and Taiyuan."

"As for the territory of Xueyantuo adjacent to the Liaodong battlefield, we can only rely on us to allocate manpower to defend it."

The Xueyantuo territory was extremely large, stretching from the Greater Khingan Range in the east to the Altai Mountains in the west, from the Hetao Mountains in the south to the Selenge River in the north.

The territory where the Tang Dynasty and the Xueyantuo currently have direct contact is the Hetao area, and Daizhou and Taiyuan are the hardest hit.

As for the east, although the territory was not directly connected with the Tang Dynasty, the two tribes of Xun and Xi were also dependent on Xueyantuo, so they could use the route to go directly south.

The 10-strong Tang army was all-out in attacking the powerful Goguryeo, and they simply couldn't spare many men.

If Xueyantuo sent tens of thousands of troops south to cut off the retreat route to Youzhou, it would be a fatal threat to Du He and Li Chengqian.

Moreover, the current governor of Youzhou is the useless prince Li Yuanchang, the King of Han.

"It's a variable." Du He sighed.

Since he guessed that Xueyantuo might attack them, he couldn't just sit there and wait for death. Du He began to ponder how to respond.

Li Chengqian saw that Du He was thinking, but he did not disturb him. Instead, he quietly returned to his seat and sat down, also thinking with his head tilted.

After a long time.

Du He raised his head and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, since the situation has changed, we have to advance our expedition time!"

Li Chengqian asked hurriedly: "Du He, when do you want to go to the battle?"

Their original plan was to set off in late February and officially take action against Goguryeo in early April.

Du He said in a deep voice: "Time waits for no one. The army will set out in the next two days and try to raid Goguryeo in late February!"