Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Li Shimin had a total of 35 children. His favorite was his eldest son Li Chengqian, and the one he felt most guilty about was his second son Li Tai.

Ever since Li Chengqian was made the crown prince, Li Shimin has poured all the best resources into him.

Whether it is the assistant ministers or the configuration of officials in the Eastern Palace, they are all of the highest standards.

In order to train Li Chengqian's ability as the crown prince, Li Shimin sent Li Chengqian, who was less than 12 years old, to the Secretariat to hear lawsuits, and even let him start regulating the country when he was less than 14 years old.

At that time, Li Chengqian was quite capable. Not only was he handsome, but he was also kind and filial.

In Li Shimin's mind, Li Chengqian was a qualified crown prince.

But after Guanyinbi died, and Li Chengqian accidentally fell off his horse and broke his leg, he went further and further down the path of rebellion and stupidity.

Li Shimin sent more than a dozen prime ministers to teach and correct Li Chengqian, but to no avail. He was worried that the Tang Dynasty would be ruined if it was handed over to Li Chengqian, so he thought of making Li Tai the crown prince.

Now that Li Chengqian's performance has exceeded his expectations, Li Shimin is so moved and excited.

There was silence for a long time.

Li Shimin ordered the eunuchs, "Call Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Gao Shilian, Liu Li, Yang Shidao, and Chu Suiliang to Ganlu Palace!"

"According to the order!"

The eunuch bowed, lowered his head slightly and walked away quickly.

Not long after, this group of prime ministers arrived at Ganlu Palace one after another.

Li Shimin picked up the battle report and said with a smile: "My dear ministers, Goguryeo and Baekje have been conquered!"

"This is the battle report written by the Crown Prince. My dear ministers, please take a look!"

Upon hearing the good news, the ministers sitting on both sides of the hall's eyes lit up and their expressions instantly became excited.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

They all stood up and bowed to Li Shimin.

No matter who made the achievement, it is always right to congratulate Your Majesty, because this is all due to Your Majesty's meritorious service in governance.

After the battle report was circulated among everyone, Changsun Wuji stretched out four fingers and said.

"The Crown Prince will lead the army this time and destroy three kingdoms in one battle. Together with the Xueyantuo destroyed by Niu Jinda, a total of four kingdoms will be destroyed!"

"The territory of our Tang Dynasty has expanded by another 20%!"

Moreover, the 20 main forces of Xueyantuo were also annihilated by Su Dingfang and his troops, and the core achievements of Xueyantuo were also attributed to the commander-in-chief Li Chengqian.

Judging from the military achievements of the generals, Niu Jinda can be said to have earned the title of destroying a country, while the main military achievements go to Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui and Xi Junmai.

Everyone was excited for a moment, and Li Shimin rested his chin with his hand and spoke with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"My dear ministers, the Crown Prince has asked us how to deal with the newly conquered territories of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla!"

"The Crown Prince and the 100,000 troops are waiting for our advice on how to deal with this. We must come up with a solution today!"

"Otherwise, when winter comes, it will be very inconvenient for the army to drive the cattle and sheep and carry the gold and silver back to the court!"

The total amount of gold, silver and valuables from these three countries amounted to tens of millions of taels, and the number of seized livestock reached millions, and the amount of seized food and equipment was innumerable.

The army's return march speed will be much slower than when it set out on the expedition.

Fang Xuanling was the first to say, "Your Majesty, there are not many people left in the territories of Goguryeo and Silla. You can relocate them to the territory of the Tang Dynasty and settle them there."

"As for the captured Goguryeo women, they will be given as rewards to the meritorious soldiers according to the methods used by the crown prince and his men."

"These two territories suitable for farming can be re-established as prefectures and counties, and the Han people can be relocated there."

"From now on, this area will be our Han people's permanent territory!"

Li Shimin and a number of ministers all nodded in approval of Fang Xuanling's proposal.

Since there were no territories occupied by foreign populations, the best way to deal with the situation was to migrate the Han people there and have them settle down there.

Just when Fang Xuanling was silent, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Yang Shidao spoke right after him.

"Although the main force of Baekje was destroyed, there are still millions of people within its territory. Its national conditions are similar to those of Xueyantuo."

"You can set up a Protectorate General within the territory of Baekje and select a general as the Protector General to sit in Baekje!"

After conquering Xueyantuo, they discussed and decided to set up Anbei Protectorate within the Xueyantuo territory.

Under the Anbei Protectorate, six major military governorates were established.

The role of the Protectorate and the Governor's Office was more to monitor the newly conquered territories, while the actual management was still done by the royal family within the territory.

Liu Li said solemnly, "Your Majesty, although Yang Zhongshu's opinion on how to deal with Baekje is reasonable, I think Baekje should change its governance strategy!"

Hearing the different voices, everyone in the hall turned their eyes to Liu Li.

Li Shimin nodded slightly and said, "Sidao, tell me what you think!"

Shizhong Liu Li, whose courtesy name was Sidao.

"promise!"

After Liu Li clasped his fists and saluted, he straightened up and said, "I believe that each country should adopt its own policy!"

"Under Duhe's attack and tactics, Baekje lost 15 soldiers and there were basically no men between the ages of 12 and 50 in the country."

"As long as we move all Baekje men under the age of 12 to the Tang Dynasty and marry their young women to the soldiers, the territory of Baekje will completely become the territory of our Tang Dynasty!"

Currently, Baekje has hundreds of thousands of elderly people and more than 100,000 children.

As long as the children of Baekje were relocated to Tang, Baekje, with only the elderly left, would have no future.

When the ministers heard Liu Li's way of handling the matter, they all showed expressions of astonishment on their faces.

I didn't expect that such a vicious plan could come from the mouth of Liu Li, a refined minister.

Yang Shidao frowned and said, "Liu Shizhong, your plan is really inhumane. Our Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette. How can we act like this?"

"If the other vassal states knew of our evil deeds, how would they view the Tang Dynasty?"

"Thousands of years from now, how will future generations comment on Your Majesty?"

It has to be said that Yang Shidao’s last words hit Li Shimin’s heart directly and made him lose interest in Liu Li’s proposal.

He was determined to become the greatest emperor of all time, so how could he be called a tyrant?

Chu Suiliang was very good at observing people's words and expressions. When he saw Li Shimin nod slightly, he quickly responded.

"What Yang Zhongshu said is absolutely right. If we follow Minister Liu's advice, what difference will there be between us and the uncivilized barbarians?"

"Besides, this move will make Your Majesty bear the stigma of a tyrant. As your subjects, how can we not think more about Your Majesty?"

"Minister Liu, you are confused!"

this...

Faced with the remarks of Yang Shidao and Chu Suiliang that stood on the moral high ground, Liu Li's face turned red.

He was just thinking about the problem from a long-term perspective, and his goal was to enable the Han people to completely occupy Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje.

Unexpectedly, Yang Shidao and Chu Suiliang, two bad guys, actually put the blame on him.