Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

All the officials looked at each other, wondering why His Majesty changed the time for the army to march out.

Gao Jifu, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it is only February now, and there is still snow in Liaodong."

"Let's not even talk about whether the soldiers can withstand fighting in the severe cold. Just the supply of food and fodder is a big problem."

Gao Jifu was born in Bohai County. When he was young, he often went to Liaodong with his father, so he was very familiar with the weather in Liaodong.

Chu Suiliang also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, if the army goes out now and has to fight in the severe cold, I'm afraid there will be problems!"

"Now that we have the initiative in the war, there is really no need to rush into battle. Moreover, if we delay the battle by a month, we can also save a lot of military expenditures."

In addition to the food supply for 10 troops, the fodder for tens of thousands of war horses is also an astronomical figure.

If the expedition to Goguryeo had been delayed by a month as originally planned, the ice and snow would have melted and the spring grass would have been lush, so there would have been no need to prepare too much fodder for the war horses.

But now the time has to be changed at the last minute, and a large amount of money will have to be spent to purchase fodder and transport it to the north.

It’s too much trouble.

And it's not a surprise attack, there's no need for that at all.

Then several low-ranking officials stood up and advised Li Shimin to save financial expenditure and not change the time of the expedition.

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "The Xueyantuo are now eyeing the Tang Dynasty covetously and may march south at any time. If the situation changes, the plan must also change accordingly."

"I have already discussed this matter with the ministers, so you don't need to discuss it further."

Hearing what Li Shimin said, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Gao Shilian and others were all stunned.

Your Majesty did not discuss the change of the battle time with them.

It was just that they participated in the council for the Xueyantuo changes, and they also knew that it would be more advantageous for the army to march out early, so they did not stand up to oppose Li Shimin.

When the ministers saw that these bigwigs had reached an agreement with His Majesty, no one stood up to dissuade them.

The Tai Chi Hall suddenly became quiet.

Then Li Shimin turned his head and looked at the Minister of Revenue Tang Jian and the newly appointed Vice Minister of War Cui Dunli.

"You two must fully cooperate with all matters related to the deployment of the army and the preparation of horse feed."

"If anyone neglects to do so, they will be severely punished!"

Tang Jian and Cui Dunli quickly stood up and responded.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Cui Dunli was better, but Tang Jian looked a little depressed.

The transportation of food and heavy loads was originally the job of the Imperial Household Department, while their Ministry of Revenue was only responsible for allocating funds.

But now the Minister of the Imperial Household Xiao Rui and the Junior Minister of the Imperial Household Chai Lingwu have gone to Laizhou, and His Majesty has actually assigned these heavy tasks to the Ministry of Revenue.

Du He looked at Cui Dunli with a resolute expression, glanced at Cui Renshi with a sly look, and couldn't help shaking his head.

Cui Dunli and Cui Renshi were both from the Cui family of Boling, but Cui Dunli was from the second branch, while Cui Renshi was from the Anping branch of the Cui family of Boling.

Like other aristocratic families, the eggs were not put in one basket.

Cui Dunli did not take sides, but firmly supported Li Shimin. Over the years, he made many diplomatic missions to the Turkic tribes and made many contributions to the diplomacy of the Tang Dynasty.

The court meeting continued for another half an hour, during which Li Shimin assigned tasks to several officials.

After the meeting.

Li Shimin called Li Chengqian, Hou Junji, Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji and others to the Liangyi Hall to discuss matters.

Soon, hundreds of cavalrymen carrying top-secret military orders quickly left Chang'an.

They needed to quickly deliver the latest combat arrangements to the two general managers, Li Ji and Zhang Liang, as well as a group of marching generals.

in the afternoon.

Because the army was about to set out, Li Shimin also held a banquet in the palace and entertained Du He, Li Chengqian and Hou Junji separately.

Prime Ministers such as Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling also attended the event.

As for Li Ji, Zhang Liang and others, they had been training troops outside and had not returned to Chang'an during Yuan Zheng's reign.

Li Shimin raised his wine glass and said to them: "I toast to you and wish you a great victory in this battle!"

"When you return victorious, I will personally host a banquet in Taiji Hall to reward you, my meritorious officials!"

Generally, when an army goes out to war, a grand ceremony is held to boost morale.

However, this expedition to Goguryeo was rather hasty and the troops were too dispersed.

Therefore, Li Shimin could only host a banquet for a few main generals who remained in Chang'an.

"Your Majesty, please."

Du He, Li Chengqian and Hou Junji raised their glasses and toasted Li Shimin.

During the meal, everyone also had a full discussion on the situation in Goguryeo and Xueyantuo.

Du He learned from them that Silla had been devastated by Goguryeo, with only the imperial city and several surrounding cities left.

Moreover, the armies sent by Khitan and Mohe to harass Goguryeo withdrew before the arrival of winter because of heavy snow blocking the mountains.

According to Fang Xuanling's estimation, even if Silla had not been destroyed by Goguryeo, there would not be many people in the country who could fight.

While others were chatting enthusiastically, Du He was thinking in his heart.

How can Goguryeo destroy Silla?

Otherwise, after the Tang army destroyed Goguryeo, it would be unjustifiable to take action against Silla, a vassal state.

Once the Tang army attacks Silla, it will not only encounter strong opposition from the surrounding vassal states, but also various forces within the Tang Dynasty will impeach the prince as the commander-in-chief.

Just as Du He was thinking, Li Shimin suddenly spoke.

"Hou Junji, the prince's legs are not handy, you must proceed step by step, and never rush into anything."

Hou Junji clasped his fists and said solemnly: "As you command!"

Du He raised his head and glanced at Li Chengqian, and found that he was lowering his head and his face did not look very good.

As a crown prince and the commander of the expedition against Goguryeo, he became a burden in Li Shimin's eyes. No one would feel good about it.

At the following banquet, Li Chengqian was not as cheerful as at the beginning. Even when he raised his glass to toast, he had a forced smile on his face.

"Hey~"

"I still have to find a way to solve this problem of lameness!"

Du He sighed in his heart.

But with the medical technology of this era, can a broken leg be reconnected?

Will there be bigger problems?

This adventurous idea only flashed through Du He's mind for a moment, and he didn't dare to think further.

If this method is really used and it is not handled properly, amputation may be necessary in the end, which would be a disaster.

...

Wude Hall.

The thick and majestic door is tightly closed at this moment.

In the main hall.

In addition to the familiar faces Wei Ting, Du Chuke, Fang Yiai, Wei Suan and Cui Renshi, Yin Yushan, a woman dressed as a man, also appeared for the first time.

Moreover, she was sitting to the lower left of Li Tai, which was closer to the front than Wei Ting and Du Chuke.

When Fang Yiai met Yin Yushan for the first time, his eyes were always on her, especially her chest.

"Cough cough!"

Li Tai coughed heavily.

Then he swept his sharp eyes across Fang Yiai, full of displeasure.

Fang Yiai's face froze and he quickly looked away.

"Humph!"

Li Tai snorted heavily and started talking about business.

"Everyone, the prince will go to war tomorrow. Do you know what to do?"

"understand!"

Except for Yin Yushan, everyone else responded softly.