Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

More than half an hour later.

Du He returned to the East Palace and told Li Chengqian what he had just seen and heard.

After hearing the performance of the Taoist priests, Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment.

The furnace cover was blown away more than ten steps?

Four alchemy furnaces exploded in less than a minute?

Are these people legitimate Taoist priests?

Li Chengqian asked worriedly, "Du He, do you think they wouldn't all be killed in the explosion while developing gunpowder?"

He now vaguely regretted that he should not have asked these furnace-blasting experts to come over.

Du He said solemnly, "Your Highness, I'll remind them a few more times. There shouldn't be any big problems!"

"The most urgent thing is to find them a larger venue, preferably in an estate far away from residential areas."

"We need to send a few more doctors over and be ready to treat patients at any time."

Although there are not many people living in Qinglongfang, it is within the imperial city after all, and the surrounding markets have a total population of over ten thousand.

If the explosion caused a fire that burned down the houses of people living in the surrounding towns and cities, it would be a big deal.

There was a pause.

Du He continued, "Your Highness, you must arrange for someone to provide these Taoists with a steady supply of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal."

"In the coming period, they will consume a lot of materials."

Sulfur and charcoal can be bought everywhere, but saltpeter is difficult to buy and very expensive. You may have to get it from the palace.

Li Chengqian said in a deep voice: "I will arrange it later!"

Du He does not need to do these specific things personally. Li Chengqian will send officials from the Eastern Palace to complete them.

The two chatted for a few minutes and then Du He left the East Palace.

...

The Eastern Palace acted quickly and found a spacious venue for these Taoists in just two days.

The new location was in a manor 20 miles outside Chang'an City, covering an area of at least several hundred acres, and there were no civilians living within several miles.

In addition to sending three imperial physicians from the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian also sent the Secretary of the Treasury Department to purchase supplies.

In the next few days, after Du He handled the government affairs of the Ministry of War, he spent all his time on the research and development of gunpowder.

Time flies, and it is already mid-April.

East Palace.

Mingde Hall.

Li Chengqian sighed, "Du He, I never thought developing gunpowder would cost so much money."

"These Taoists are really capable. We purchased so many materials for them, and they were all used up in just a few days."

If Donggong's family background was not good and he still had a copper furnace for casting coins to support him, he would probably have to borrow money from Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi, Xiao Kai and others.

This thing is really a money-eating beast!

Du He smiled and said, "Your Highness, everyone is in the trial phase in the past few days, so a lot of materials will be consumed."

“Once they test out the approximate proportions, there won’t be any waste of materials.”

He spent a lot of time in the manor these days and witnessed the experimental process of these Taoists with his own eyes.

The Taoist priest named Wang Shentong, who had white hair and a youthful face, even burned off his beard, which he had grown for many years, in front of Du He.

With their crazy experiments, I believe gunpowder will be invented soon.

With gunpowder, the army's strength increased dramatically.

Before Li Chengqian could say anything, Qin Huaidao walked in quickly to report.

"Duke Hanguo, the Minister of War Cui Dunli has an urgent matter to discuss with you. He asks you to return to the Ministry of War now."

Is there an urgent matter in the Ministry of War?

Could it be that there is a battle report coming back?

Du He nodded to Qin Huaidao, then bowed to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, I will return to the Ministry of War first."

Li Chengqian waved his hand: "Go ahead."

...

When Du He returned to the lobby of the Ministry of War, Cui Dunli came up to him with a panicked look on his face and said.

"Du Shangshu, something big has happened!"

All the officials in the hall looked over, their faces full of curiosity.

Du He waved his hand at him and said, "Let's talk about it in the office."

The two men returned to the office one after the other. After Cui Dunli closed the door, he hurriedly reported in a low voice.

"Minister Du, Duke Lu's troops were defeated at Yingsuochuan, losing over 8 infantry and cavalry!"

what!

Such a huge loss?

Upon hearing the news, Du He's face suddenly changed.

Cheng Yaojin was an old veteran with rich combat experience, and he had the assistance of General Guo Daquan of the Right Guard and General Sun Erlang of the Left Army. Unexpectedly, he suffered such a big defeat. This was really inappropriate.

Du He said in a deep voice: "Show me the battle report."

Cui Dunli quickly handed the battle report in his hand to Du He.

After reading.

Du He finally knew the reason why Cheng Yaojin was defeated.

More than half a month ago, Cheng Yaojin led an army of 5 to fight against the main force of the Western Turks in Yingsuochuan. Both sides had wins and losses, and Cheng Yaojin had an absolute advantage.

But in a decisive battle three days later, when the Tang army and the main force of the Western Turks were fighting fiercely, Shunishi, a member of a separate tribe of the Western Turks, arrived with 2 cavalry.

Due to the negligence of Yang Sixun, the general of Zuotunwei who was in charge of the rear army, the rear army was attacked by 2 cavalrymen of the Western Turks, resulting in heavy losses for the soldiers.

Moreover, the food and fodder they carried for several days were also burned by the Western Turks.

Faced with the pincer attack from more than 10 Western Turkic troops, Cheng Yaojin had no choice but to order his troops to break through the Western Turkic defense and lead the army back to Yanqi for rest and recuperation.

In this battle, the Tang army lost 8512 people and injured 11509 people, and annihilated the main force of the Western Turks, about 4 people.

"Hey!"

Du He sighed and then said to Cui Dunli.

"I will submit the battle report to the Secretariat first."

As Du He spoke, he took the battle report and walked hurriedly towards the Secretariat.

...

Within the Secretariat.

After reading the battle report, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Li Jing's expressions became extremely solemn.

A moment of silence.

Fang Xuanling said in a deep voice: "Duke Lu suffered 2 casualties in this battle. Add to that the 7 casualties in the battle against the King of Chu. Currently, Duke Lu only has 5 soldiers left who can fight!"

Cheng Yaojin's troops and Zhang Shigui's troops had a total of 8 infantry and cavalry. After Zhang Shigui returned to Chang'an to recuperate, all the troops were under the command of Cheng Yaojin.

There was a pause.

Fang Xuanling continued, "The Western Turkic people in the Southern and Northern Courts have millions of people. The entire country can mobilize more than 40 soldiers. They can currently mobilize at least 25 soldiers to deal with Duke Lu's troops."

"We must ask His Majesty to send more troops to Duke Lu!"

In the past, the Tang army fought against the Nanting tribe of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Now the Beiting forces have also gotten involved. It is not certain that the few people under Cheng Yaojin's command can defeat the Western Turkic Khaganate.

As for accountability, that can only wait until the war is over.

Zhang Sun Wuji stood up and said, "I will go see His Majesty first!"

As he said this, he took the battle report and left the Secretariat in a hurry.

A moment of silence.

"Hey!"

Fang Xuanling sighed and said with a frown.

"Yang Sixun has seriously neglected his duties!"

In addition to being the General of the Left Tunwei, Yang Sixun was also the Chief Clerk of the Songzhou Military Governor's Office.

Just as King Li Ke of Chu suffered a major defeat, Li Ke's aide Yang Sixun was negligent in defense. These two people can really torture people.

Less than half a quarter of an hour passed.

The eunuch came to the Secretariat, bowed and said after some greetings.

"Duke Liang, Duke Wei, Duke Han, His Majesty invites you to the Liangyi Hall for a meeting."