Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"I will not allow it! The retired emperor personally leading an expedition? Such a thing has never been heard of throughout history!"

"I don't care, I must fight this battle!"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui both retired and begged to retire.

Generals like Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde, who should have been the most supportive of his Northern Expedition, began to avoid eye contact after figuring out the crux of the problem.

After so many days of hard work, all for the sake of the Northern Expedition, how could Li Shimin not be on the defensive?

Seeing his father's smug and confident expression, he was so angry that he wanted to overturn the table.

however

"Cough cough..."

A soft cough suddenly came from Li Chengqian, who was sitting in the main seat.

Li Shimin, who had just grabbed the edge of the table, suddenly snapped to attention, and his angry mind cleared up considerably.

Take two deep breaths to calm yourself down.

Li Shimin's gaze was fixed on Li Xiaogong and Li Daozong, who were sitting in the Wude camp.

"Xiaogong, Daozong, why don't even you support me? I have treated you well!"

Li Daozong, Li Xiaogong: "......"

Li Yuan gave a soft snort.

"Your Majesty, that's not a very meaningful way to put it. They are your cousins, but don't forget, they are also my nephews. Is it too much for an uncle to take two nephews with him to protect him when he goes out to war?"

Ignoring Li Er's increasingly gloomy expression, Li Yuan spoke again in a low voice.

"Besides, Your Majesty, don't you also know that Xueyan has always admired Gaoming? What have you done? And the young man from the Xiaogong family is almost of marriageable age, yet he has accomplished nothing."

"If you, as the emperor and his cousin, don't care, then I, as the retired emperor and his uncle, can't just ignore it, can I?"

Li Yuan chuckled and then turned to look at Li Chengqian, who was now the one who had been eating melon seeds and had somehow ended up eating his own.

"Brilliant! Although Xueyan is your cousin, she's beyond the fifth degree of kinship, so marriage isn't a problem. Besides, that girl admires you; not only your father knows this, but even your mother knows it. She's a good girl..."

"And then there's your cousin, Li Chongyi. Although he's a bit of a spoiled brat, he still has the spirit of a man. Several times I've seen him bullying others on the street, and he's been helping the weak and oppressed..."

The Emperor Emeritus was actually speaking well of the two families' children right there with the Crown Prince.

Li Daozong and Li Xiaogong, who were initially quite nervous and ashamed about "betraying" Li Shimin, turned their heads and looked hopefully at the Crown Prince sitting in the main seat.

If this person doesn't agree, then no matter how much the retired emperor agrees, it will be in vain.

Li Chengqian was speechless: "Grandfather, you're even using your grandson as a bargaining chip!"

Li Yuan surrendered swiftly, raising both hands with a sincere attitude and upright posture.

"This was my fault, and I admit it! So, isn't your good-for-nothing father working as your secretary in Bingzhou? I'll make him the General Who Conquers the North, and I won't even ask for a salary!"

Li Chengqian: "......"

This is outrageous!

However, he wasn't angry about such a trivial matter. He turned his head and looked at his father, Emperor Li Shimin, who was looking aggrieved.

"Ahem, it seems that Father Emperor will have to stay in Chang'an after the New Year."

The ministers of the Wude camp were immediately excited. If it weren't for the inappropriateness of the occasion, even these old guys would probably have been unable to resist raising their arms and cheering.

Li Shimin flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly.

"Crown Prince! You will regret this!"

Li Shimin left in a huff, ignoring Cheng Yaojin and the others who clearly had no intention of following him, and stormed off toward the Lizheng Hall.

With Li Shimin's departure.

Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and the others, who had initially been somewhat restrained, burst into laughter and high-fived in celebration.

Wang Gui stood up and bowed to Li Chengqian.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. Although we are old, we are not ignorant of the importance of things. With the army on the front lines, we will report on all matters frequently and prioritize stability in our conquests."

Everyone hurriedly followed suit and bowed.

Li Yuan's face was now glowing with the radiance of someone who had just won a battle.

Erlang, Erlang, your father is still your father!

I am the retired emperor!

“You’re brilliant. Although many of my old friends’ sons, nephews, and grandsons are skilled in battle, for such a great battle, you still need to send me some more generals.”

Li Jing remained expressionless, standing quietly behind the Crown Prince like a clay sculpture.

On the contrary, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, Chai Shao and others who remained were all anxious.

Chai Shao spoke first.

"Father-in-law, you know my abilities better than anyone. I have plenty of ways to deal with the Western Turkic cavalry!"

The simple address of "Old Taishan" instantly brought them closer together.

Cheng Yaojin was a little embarrassed. He coughed twice and quickly moved closer to Li Yuan, massaging his shoulders and legs.

"Your Majesty, I am just a rough man. I, Cheng Yaojin, was ignorant of etiquette before and committed many offenses. But this Northern Expedition is a matter of national importance. If you employ me, Cheng Yaojin, I guarantee I will help you beat those Turkic barbarians until they cry for their fathers and mothers!"

Yuchi Jingde served tea: "Me too!"

Li Yuan looked smug.

Li Chengqian smiled, but did not disturb the other party from enjoying the MVP moment of the election victory.

He tilted his head slightly.

"Duke of England, if the Emperor Emeritus were to personally lead an expedition to the north against the Western Turks, what do you think should be done? Where should we begin?"

Wang De, who was prepared in advance, pushed over the display board with the geomantic map hanging on it.

Li Jing was not surprised that the Crown Prince would ask him this, and looked at the geomantic map in front of him.

In terms of area alone, the Western Turkic Khaganate was even larger than the Tang Dynasty today, especially since it was currently on a westward expedition.

Today, its territory encompasses Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (as it was in the later years of Li Chengqian), as well as Afghanistan and parts of Xinjiang, China.

Although their composition is complex and they are not a single Turkic nomadic people, their sheer size would make them a force to be reckoned with if a war were to break out.

Furthermore, the present-day Zhenbei Road did not completely cover all the nomadic peoples north of the Tang Dynasty. Further north lay the vast lands that would later become the Mongol Empire.

There are still a large number of Turks and Uyghurs.

It is now considered part of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

"Your Highness, the Tang Dynasty and the Western Turks are roughly equal in military strength and territory, but the Tang Dynasty has an advantage that the Western Turks do not have and will never have!"

Li Jing's expression was solemn.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yuchi Jingde, who was standing to the side, immediately spoke up.

"We have His Highness the Crown Prince! They don't!"

"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter.

However, Li Jing was slightly taken aback before gently shaking his head.

He wasn't the type to flatter the monarch at times like this. War was war; once it involved troop deployment, there was no need to talk about anything else.

Li Chengqian smiled, waved his hand, and looked at Li Jing.

"Is the Duke of England trying to say that our Great Tang Dynasty is united and of one mind, while the Western Turks are riddled with internal conflicts and fighting on multiple fronts?"

Li Jing nodded immediately, a rare smile appearing on his face.

"That's right!"

He pointed to the geomantic map at that moment, which corresponds to the Arab region in later generations.

"The Western Turkic Khaganate itself still followed the system of two wings and ten arrows. After the Tongyabgu Khagan was killed by the Lesser Khagan of the Left Wing, the Western Turkic Khaganate was divided into two khanates, the Left and Right Wings."

"With the Suyab River as the boundary, the left flank is occupied by the five eastern tribes of Wudulu, and the right flank by the various tribes of Xisijin..."

To Li Chengqian, who had the Jinyiwei intelligence agency, these things were all very ordinary; he already knew about them beforehand.

But for Li Jing, who spent most of his time in Chang'an except for fighting battles, these were things he couldn't understand.

The situation is clearly different.

The other party had clearly been waiting for this day to come and had done a lot of preparation and investigation.

Li Chengqian remained silent, listening attentively.

"Now that our Great Tang has just wiped out the Eastern Turks, the Left Wing, which always wants to launch an eastern expedition against our Great Tang, will certainly not dare to make a move, while the Right Wing army is currently engaged in a major battle with the Sassanid Persians..."

As Li Jing spoke, he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the retired Emperor Li Yuan and others who were also listening attentively.

"Your Majesty, the Tongyagu Khan of the Western Turks, who belonged to the Right Wing, was killed by the Left Wing Junior Khan... Your Majesty once had a marriage alliance with the Western Turks. If you are to go on a campaign, you can first send envoys to question the current Left Wing Khanate and make them hand over people to apologize!"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, and Pei Ji and the others sitting next to Li Yuan also looked delighted.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

Wang Gui stroked his beard, his eyes flashing with a cold light.

"The Western Turkic Khaganate is already divided. If our Great Tang openly launches a large-scale attack on the Western Turkic Khaganate, the Right Wing might even have to redeploy troops to defend it, which would only increase our casualties and losses for nothing. Duke Ying's plan not only gives our Great Tang a legitimate reason to attack, but also temporarily delays the reaction from the Right Wing... It's truly brilliant!"

Li Yuan also laughed heartily, even though he couldn't even remember which of his women had given birth to the princess who married Tongyabhu Khan.

But after today, that princess will surely be the apple of Li Yuan's eye!

She is my most honored princess, Li Yuan!

Li Chengqian nodded repeatedly, and in this way, he even had a reason to send troops.

Li Jing smiled slightly.

"Your Highness, we can launch a multi-pronged attack. One army can march west to conquer the left flank of the Western Turks, while another army can march north from Zhenbei Road to take down the remaining Turkic and Uyghur tribes there... and seal the Wolf Mountain!"

"I merely wish to take advantage of the fact that the Retired Emperor is still able to oversee the country, and launch a northern expedition to seal the Wolf Mountain. Is that rebellious son truly my son? Why can't he be of one mind with me?!"

In the Lizheng Hall, Li Er sat before his empress, pouring out his grievances.

Empress Zhangsun nodded slightly in response, offering a brief reply.

He continued to flip through a royal caravan ledger in his hand.

"Guanyinbi, please help me! That rebellious son listens to you the most. Make him choose me to lead the Northern Expedition, I..."

"If His Majesty wants to become the brilliant General Who Conquers the North, isn't it just a matter of a word? Secretary Li has already been appointed, so why not just appoint him again?"

Li Shimin stared wide-eyed at his beloved empress in disbelief.

"I'm appointing him as the General Who Conquers the North?! I'm bowing to him?!"

He pointed furiously towards the direction of the East Palace outside the main hall.

"If I were to bow to him, would I still be an emperor?!"

Empress Zhangsun gave a soft "oh" and her slender hands fiddled with the abacus.

He spoke gently again.

"Oh, then His Majesty the Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to provide you with military pay and provisions, and to assist you in your northern expedition..."

Li Shimin: "......."

His old face instantly fell apart, and he seemed to have all his strength drained away, slumping listlessly onto the table.

"The Crown Prince doesn't listen to me, the Emperor..."

Empress Zhangsun continued to make a crackling sound with her hands.

Your Majesty, please accept my deepest condolences.