Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The next day.

All officials held a court meeting in Taiji Hall.

All the officials looked at Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others with curiosity.

They had all heard about yesterday's urgent report from eight hundred miles away, and everyone was curious about what big event had happened.

They felt like there was a thorn in their hearts, making them itchy.

Even Du He is no exception.

Yesterday, a large group of important civil and military officials were hurriedly summoned to the palace, and they did not come out for a long time. Du He wondered if there was another war on the border.

After discussing daily affairs, Li Shimin quickly resolved the doubts in their minds.

"My dear ministers, yesterday we received a military report from Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou. Goguryeo and Baekje are attacking Silla and have already captured more than ten cities!"

"Silla is a loyal vassal state of our Tang Dynasty. Now it is being attacked without reason. This is intolerable."

"After discussing with a group of prime ministers, I have decided to attack Goguryeo in the early spring of next year!"

That's it!

All officials suddenly realized.

Afterwards, all the officials felt worried about the suggestion of His Majesty and the prime ministers to attack Goguryeo.

Wars are too frequent!

Let’s not talk about the distant past, let’s just talk about the wars in the past five years.

He successively suppressed many Shanliao rebellions and conquered Western Turks, Gaochang, and Xueyantuo.

Except for the 13th year of Zhenguan when he rested and recuperated, he was in the midst of wars in the remaining years.

Every year the national treasury had to spend a large sum of money on military expenditures, the labor service for the government soldiers was also quite heavy, and the whole country was in a state of fatigue.

In this case, would the expedition against the powerful Goguryeo end in failure?

All the officials had worried expressions on their faces.

Du He's eyes narrowed as well.

Unlike the other ministers who all looked worried.

Du He knew that the Tang Dynasty had conquered Goguryeo three times and won great victories every time, so there was no need to worry at all.

What he was more concerned about was a grassroots general who emerged in this war.

Xue Rengui!

After generals such as Li Jing and Li Ji grew old one after another, Xue Rengui, Su Dingfang and others supported half of the military generals' group.

"I wonder which village Xue Rengui, the white-robed god of war, is hiding in right now?"

"We have to think of a way to get him to the East Palace as soon as possible!"

Du He pinched his chin gently, thinking about how to find Xue Rengui.

From his high position, Li Shimin had a clear view of the expressions of all officials, but since the decision was made by the prime ministers, these low-ranking officials could not influence the outcome.

Li Shimin handed an imperial edict to Wang De on the side and asked him to announce it in public.

"Wang De, announce the war preparation decree."

"Follow the order."

Wang De respectfully took the imperial edict with both hands, then walked to the side of the steps and recited it in a rhythmic manner.

"Order of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"

Upon hearing the imperial edict, all the court officials sat up straight and listened attentively.

"Appoint Minister of Agriculture Li Xuanjiang as ambassador to Goguryeo with an imperial edict to order Yeon Gaesomun to withdraw his troops."

"Order the Right Garrison General Zhang Shigui to recruit soldiers in Hedong, Henan, and Hebei provinces starting today."

"Order the chief architect Yan Lide to go to Hongzhou, Raozhou, and Jiangzhou from now on to build 400 transport ships before the end of the year."

"Order Xiao Rui, the Minister of the Imperial Household, to go to the states south of the Yellow River from today and transport military rations to Hongzhou, Raozhou, and Jiangzhou. Once the ships are built, they will be transported to the north."

"Order the Left Tunwei General Jiang Que and Junior Craftsman Qiu Xingyan to lead the craftsmen to Anluo Mountain to build siege ladders starting today."

"..."

After the imperial edict was read, Zhang Shigui, Xiangli Xuanjiang, Yan Lide, Xiao Rui, Jiang Que, Qiu Xingyan and others stood up in unison to receive the order.

Du He narrowed his eyes and looked at Xiangli Xuanjiang, Yan Lide, Jiang Que and Qiu Xingyan. They now hold high positions, but are not famous in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

Xiangli Xuanjiang, who once worked in the Honglu Temple, often accompanied Tang Jian on diplomatic missions to various countries and was very eloquent.

Yan Lide, an old man in the Qin Palace, is now the chief officer of the Construction Bureau, specifically responsible for the construction of the palace and warships.

Jiang Que started his career as a junior craftsman and was very skilled in manual work. Later, he and Hou Junji pacified the Gaochang Kingdom and was promoted to the rank of General of the Left Tunwei.

Qiu Xingyan is currently serving as Junior Craftsman of the Imperial Household and the chief engineer of Datang, and is a technical expert.

After receiving the order, these people all showed expressions of secret joy on their faces.

The Tang Dynasty is now stable and secure, and it is very easy to prepare war supplies. It is both safe and can help you make achievements, making it a rare and lucrative job.

The other ministers who were not appointed looked at them with envy.

Around Du He, several Guanglu Temple officials said with envy in their words:

"Oh, I'm so envious. When will our Guanglu Temple be able to stand out?"

The people from other departments spoke with disdain.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You are in charge of the sacrifices at the Guanglu Temple. Where can a bunch of old men retire and still want to make a name for themselves?"

"Why, do you want to start a second career?"

Faced with the contempt of their colleagues, several old men in the Guanglu Temple were so angry that their beards stood up.

They all snorted coldly, "Don't laugh at us. When you get old, won't you also have to work in the Guanglu Temple?"

The middle-aged ministers around him said, "Bullshit! We are all scholars. We work in the Secretariat to translate classics, not in the Guanglu Temple to perform sacrificial duties!"

The Guanglu Temple Secretary said disdainfully: "Haha, isn't the Secretariat a department for the elderly?"

Middle-aged ministers around: ...

Fang Yiai, whose face had just subsided, deliberately said, "My fellow colleagues, please keep your voices down. Our secretary is only in his early 20s this year. He will be unhappy if you say this."

“Hohoho…”

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself.

Du He was also speechless.

Just fucking talk about your own stuff, why are you talking about the Secretariat?

I am a promising young man, preparing to make a difference in the Secretariat and display my talents.

You actually said that the Secretariat is a pension department?

A bunch of old guys trying to disturb my spiritual mind.

I bother!

Du He glanced at Fang Yiai and whispered, "Fang Yiai, does your father know that you are such a bad mouth?"

"Du He, you are the one who is so mean."

"Anyone who talks nonsense is a bad mouth."

Fang Yiai shut up, fearing that if he continued speaking he would fall into Du He's trap.

This is not the first or second time that I have suffered at his hands.

High position.

Li Shimin's eyes swept back and forth over the ministers, and a group of ministers who were whispering and complaining in low voices suddenly shut their mouths.

A moment of silence.

Li Shimin continued, "My dear ministers, we must all work together to conquer Goguryeo. If anyone drags his feet, I will not let him off easily!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we will be united as one!"

After Fang Xuanling took the lead in making the guarantee, the rest of the civil and military officials stood up and repeated this sentence.

Many ministers who were just there to make up the numbers appeared respectful on the surface, but were cursing in their hearts.

They don't even have the chance to participate, they're just a hindrance.

The only sense of participation was hearing the news at the court meeting.

That's all.

Li Shimin nodded, then stood up and said, "Officials above the third rank, please go to Liangyi Hall to discuss matters now."

"Wang De, go to the East Palace and call the Crown Prince over as well."

"Respect."

After Wang De responded, he hurriedly walked out of the Taiji Hall and went to the East Palace to call Li Chengqian in person.

"If there is nothing else, today's meeting is over."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he left the Taiji Hall directly.

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and other ministers followed closely behind with serious expressions.