Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Although Li Ji failed to completely wipe out the King of Wei and the remaining rebels, his performance in this battle was actually quite good.

In just over two months, the main force of the rebels was quickly wiped out without causing too much turmoil.

But Li Ji did not mention his own merits, but just kept saying that he was a poor commander.

This is a bit incredible!

Li Ji continued, "Your Majesty, now the King of Wei has led the remaining rebels to flee to Japan. Please decide how to deal with the King of Wei next!"

wow~

There was a huge noise in the Taiji Hall.

"Didn't the King of Wei run to Sishui Road?"

"He led tens of thousands of soldiers to Japan. Is he going to surrender to Japan?"

"When did the King of Wei collude with Japan?"

The minds of civil and military officials were greatly shocked.

Du He and Li Chengqian looked at each other, both of them with shock on their faces.

Du He, in particular, had been very sure that the rebels under Li Taihe's command could only flee to Sishui Road, but he did not expect such a big change to happen.

He thought about it in his mind and found that it was somewhat unreasonable.

Neither Li Tai nor his ministers showed any sign of colluding with Japan before they rebelled.

Is it really a spur-of-the-moment decision that we are going to Japan for no reason now?

You should know that every soldier led by the King of Wei was wearing armor and holding a spear. Although these equipment were not as good as those of the elite soldiers of the imperial court, they were definitely countless times better than those of the resource-poor Japan.

But if Li Tai leads tens of thousands of soldiers to Japan, won’t that scare the Japanese people to death?

Thinking of this, Du He looked up at Li Shimin, wanting to see if there was anything unusual in Li Shimin's expression.

Well...

Du He's expression paused.

Because he found that Li Shimin was looking straight at him, and there was an inexplicable look on his face.

Du He quickly lowered his head and did not continue to look at Li Shimin.

Real hammer!

Letting Li Tai go must have been Li Shimin's order!

No wonder when Li Ji summoned them to Songzhou to discuss the war, he deliberately did not tell them the arrangement of attacking Xiangzhou, and also asked the five armies to complete their tasks before besieging Xiangzhou where the King of Wei was together.

Moreover, after the battle started, Li Ji stationed more than 100,000 troops in the Dezhou area in the north, and after fighting for several days, he failed to capture Mingzhou and Beizhou.

In addition, Li Ji also turned the Qizhou direction into a defensive loophole.

From this point of view, Li Ji might have received secret instructions from Li Shimin a long time ago. This battle was not to capture Li Tai, but to let Li Tai go!

Then Du He also glanced at Cheng Yaojin and found that this guy was smiling at him kindly. Du He couldn't help but frown.

Damn it, Cheng Yaojin actually knew Li Ji’s plan!

Recalling what he did in Weizhou, although Cheng Yaojin kept shouting every day that he wanted to capture the King of Wei alive to gain merit, he did not take any action.

After having many important tasks thrown upon himself, he drank wine and ate beef in the governor's mansion every day.

In the eyes of others, they thought that Cheng Yaojin went to Weizhou to retire.

However, when Cheng Yaojin dealt with Zhang Liang, he was like a ferocious tiger. With the cooperation of Xue Rengui, he defeated Zhang Liang in just five moves.

Hey ~

He is still too young!

Du He was also feeling a little scared at this moment.

He also specifically instructed Xue Rengui to intercept the King of Wei's retreat in Laizhou, and asked Xi Junmai to lead the cavalry back to Sishui Road to wait for the arrival of the King of Wei and his rebels.

If the King of Wei was really killed for this, Li Shimin might hold a grudge against him and the person who did it.

You old man, you don’t have martial ethics!

Just when Du He and a group of civil and military ministers had different thoughts, Li Shimin spoke in a deep voice.

"It involves other vassal states, so it is not appropriate to mobilize troops to rebel at this time."

"After all, all the warships of our Tang Dynasty have been taken away by the King of Wei. If we build more seagoing warships now, it will be a waste of money and manpower."

"I will write a letter and send an envoy to Japan, asking them to hand over the King of Wei and the other criminals!"

"If Japan doesn't cooperate, we can discuss how to deal with it!"

No civil or military officials raised any objection, because the arrangement currently mentioned by Li Shimin was the most appropriate way.

Everyone stood up one after another holding their tablets and bowed to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly.

He was also relieved by the reactions of the civil and military officials.

He was afraid that there would be some ignorant young men who would clamor to build warships and go to Japan to wipe out the King of Wei and the rebels.

A moment of silence.

Li Shimin's eyes swept over Li Ji, Cheng Yaojin, Du He, Xue Wanche, Xue Rengui and others, and then he spoke loudly.

"Although we were unable to suppress all the rebels in this battle, the performance of the generals was extremely impressive."

"Especially Generals Xue Rengui, Cheng Zhijie, and Xue Wanche, I have seen all the military exploits you have made!"

"Rewards will be given for merit, and punishments will be given for faults. Now I will reward you according to your merits!"

As he spoke, Li Shimin waved to the eunuch behind him.

Under the expectant gazes of the civil and military officials, the eunuch walked to the corner of the imperial platform holding the imperial edict, spread out the edict and read it aloud.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang ordered that Xue Rengui, the Right General and Duke of Longmen County, who had won consecutive battles and killed many enemy generals, be promoted to Duke of Longmen County and be granted a fief of 200 households!"

"The Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty decrees that General Cheng Yaojin, who is invincible and has made great military achievements, be granted the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi and his fiefdom will be increased by 100 households!"

"The Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty decrees that the Minister of Works Du He, who has made far-sighted plans and repeatedly offered good advice, be appointed as the Left Wuhou General, and his fiefdom will be increased by 100 households!"

"..."

The eunuchs behind him announced the rewards for Su Dingfang, Xue Wanche, Xi Junmai and others, and not many ministers were listening.

Because the rewards His Majesty bestowed on Xue Rengui and Du He alone were enough to surprise them.

Although Xue Rengui's title was only promoted by one level, it only took him two years to go from a commoner to a county duke of the fourth rank.

Here, we have to mention the Minister of the Central Secretariat Ma Zhou again. He has not yet obtained any title!

As for Du He being appointed as the General of Zuo Wuhou, this is very interesting.

Because the previous General Zuo Wuhou was King Li Tai of Wei!

Although the current General Zuo Wuhou does not have actual military power, he has the power to participate in decision-making at important meetings held by the Ministry of War.

Now Du He has achieved the third-rank official position in both civil and military positions, which is unique in the current court!

Before everyone could finish being shocked, the eunuch's next reward almost caused an uproar in the Taiji Hall.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders that Li Ji, the Minister of Personnel, although he was not a good commander, has made military achievements. Effective immediately, he will be resigned from the post of Minister of Personnel and granted the title of Special Advancement and the rank of Third Rank of the Secretariat!"

what's the situation?

Poor command but still generous rewards?

Although Li Ji lost the post of Minister of Personnel, he was granted the third rank of Tongzhongshumenxia, which gave him the power to participate in state affairs!

He is the third rank official in the Secretariat, which means he is the same as the Shizhong and Zhongshu Ling. He has officially joined the small group of people who are at the pinnacle of power!

Li Ji's power increased instead of decreased!