On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in the second year of Wude, Li Zhiyun, the king of Chu, returned to the court with his troops. This time, the Yunyang army defeated Zhu Can, rescued King Changping, and brought the Nanyang lands under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. This really made Li Yuan relieved. The main reason is the same.
It was Li Shuliang who was trapped in Nanyang earlier, which almost caused him to lose face.
"Order of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty..."
In the Hall of Wude, important ministers gathered, including the Six Prime Ministers, the Crown Prince, the King of Qin, and others. The great hero King Chu led a group of soldiers to bow down and listen to the commendations from the Holy Instructions.
Li Zhong held the yellow paper in his hand and read out the commendation speech that Lao Li had written a long time ago. The beginning did not say "Blessed by heaven, the emperor decreed", but "Order of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty".
Although some official documents refer to it as the Tang Dynasty, the name of the country of the Tang Dynasty is actually the word Tang. The so-called Tang Dynasty is just used to show off. Showing off is a rigid need of human beings. Understand it.
Lao Li was very happy this time, so the rewards became even more generous. He bestowed upon Li Zhiyun multiple honorary titles, gave him gold, silver and jewelry, and even ordered him to distribute the loot captured this time on his own.
Of course, what Li Zhiyun cares most about is that Lao Li appointed him as the governor of Nanyang and in charge of all military affairs in Nanyang.
In addition to Li Zhiyun's awards, Xie Shufang, Qin Qiong, Du Ruhui, Duan Zhixuan, Xue Shou and others also appeared in the imperial edict one after another and received awards. They were either appointed to posts or given more rewards. Among them, Qin Qiong, who captured Zhu Can alive, was even more awarded.
Lao Li praised him in words and was named the Chief of the Horse Army of the Prince of Chu's Palace.
"My dear father, I thank you." Li Zhiyun kowtowed.
"I thank you, Your Majesty." All civil and military officials thanked you.
Li Yuan smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. He quickly supported him and said, "No courtesy, get up."
"Thank you, Father."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Li Yuan smiled and said: "Zhiyun, you did not disappoint me. I have seen the victory report of the battle in Nanyang, and the fight was very good!"
Zhu Can's death at the hands of the people of Nanyang helped the Tang Dynasty win over the people. Li Yuan did not mind at all that Li Zhiyun did not capture Zhu Can and bring him to Chang'an. Anyway, it did not make much difference whether Zhu Can died after being captured in Chang'an.
"It's all thanks to the great blessings of my father, the efforts of all the ministers, and the united efforts of all the generals. My sons and ministers dare not take the credit."
Hearing this, Lao Li shook his hand and said, "You kid, how can you be so humble in front of your father?"
Li Zhiyun smiled awkwardly. He thought to himself that Lao Li was too happy. Why not just wipe out Zhu Can? It was not like killing Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, and he needed to create a show of fatherly kindness and sonship in front of the ministers.
In fact, what Lao Li was happy about was not that he ousted Zhu Can, but that he rescued King Changping and saved the emperor's face, as well as Li Zhiyun's ability to act alone.
Of course, there is no need to say much about the former. It is mainly the latter that makes Lao Li happy and comfortable.
Not long ago, King Yong'an Li Xiaoji lost in Shaanzhou, followed by King Changping's defeat in Nanyang. This made many ministers privately question the uselessness of his re-employment of clan generals, which made Lao Li quite annoyed and helpless.
Now Li Zhiyun's victory over Zhu Can was enough to shut up those people completely. At the same time, Li Yuan was also happy that his son would have a great future, so that he could rest assured that Li Zhiyun would lead the army to fight for one side in the future.
The second child can fight, and the fifth child can also fight. Only then can he secure his position as emperor.
Li Yuan has always regarded his old cousin Yang Guang as a negative example and always warned himself. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and no one in the Yang clan could turn the tide. In Lao Li's view, outsiders could not be trusted as much as his own people.
In a family, a country, and a world, only with relatives can you secure your position.
Of course, when the ministers saw Li Yuan's disgusted look on his son, they felt a chill in their hearts. King Chu's victory over Zhu Can is indeed worthy of a reward, but do you need to express your love for your son in front of so many people?
Disgusting! Valley
In the minds of the ministers, commending the King of Chu was not the most important thing, because judging from the emperor's commendation of the King of Chu, it was obviously slightly inferior to that of the King of Qin. This was not unrelated to the opponents they defeated.
The real highlight is yet to come.
Sure enough, after Li Yuan finished speaking, he ordered the Ministry of War to organize a flowing banquet to reward the soldiers who had conquered Zhu Can, and then dismissed the generals of the Chu Palace.
Immediately afterwards, Li Yuan's little cotton-padded jacket Pei Ji stood up. He said with a smile: "The King of Chu is indeed a talented person of our Tang Dynasty. He has lived up to everyone's expectations. I congratulate your majesty."
After finishing the first half of the sentence, Lao Li laughed.
Immediately afterwards, Pei Ji started to fire off the last half of the sentence, "However, I believe that the Nanyang War has a victory and a defeat. Rewards are one thing, but we must also delve into why the battle was defeated. Only in this way can we learn from experience and help our Tang Dynasty conquer the world."
, be prepared.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the prince's eyes suddenly became sharp. Pei Ji was clearly planning to cause trouble.
Li Shimin was at ease, as if everything had nothing to do with him, nodding and stroking his beard, as if he was thinking about something.
Li Zhiyun, who had returned to his position, closed his eyes lightly and said nothing, but in his heart he was thinking about who Pei Ji wanted to target.
If he guessed correctly, it should be Liu Wenjing.
Li Yuan's face became stagnant, and he was a little unhappy that Little Cotton Jacket said this at this time, but he still maintained an attitude of humbly accepting advice and asked: "What does Prime Minister Pei have to say?"
Pei Ji cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I privately believe that Liu Wenjing ruined the Tang Dynasty's plan to conquer the world and should be held accountable."
The officials understood this and suddenly became excited.
Fight! Fight!
The conflict between Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing is well known to everyone. This time Liu Wenjing and the prince recommended King Lujiang to lead the army to support Shangzhou, which resulted in a huge defeat. How could Pei Ji let go of such an opportunity.
Not long ago, the prince had publicly admitted that he did not know people well and should not have recommended King Lujiang to support Shangzhou. It must be said that this was a huge blow to the prince's reputation.
Now, Pei Ji wants to drag Liu Wenjing into trouble. If he succeeds, the prince's family will lose two of his confidants this time.
"I have been wronged!" With a cry, Liu Wenjing walked out of the queue and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I plan for the country and never have second thoughts. Pei Ji is alarming and framed. Please clear my name!"
"Innocent?" Pei Ji mocked: "Liu Wenjing, if you hadn't recommended King Lujiang to support Shangzhou, how could King Changping have been defeated and trapped in Nanyang. We all read the previous good news about Nanyang, and so did the ministers. Changping
King Ping's strategy of attacking Nanyang was completely reasonable, but it was King Lujiang who failed to cooperate, which led to the defeat. And King Lujiang was recommended by you, how dare you say that you are not responsible!"
It was a very skillful attack. Pei Ji didn't even mention the fault of King Changping. Instead, he put all the responsibility for the defeat of the Tang army on Li Yuan. And Li Yuan was recommended by Liu Wenjing and the prince. This is clear.
Want to drag Liu Wenjing into trouble.
It has to be said that Pei Ji really understands the thoughts of his good friend Li Yuan. He knows that he cannot target King Changping, because that would be scolding Li Yuan for nepotism. Therefore, he made an excuse to shirk the responsibility to Li Yuan, clarifying that it is not King Changping who is incompetent, but Li Yuantai.
waste.
In this way, not only can Lao Li's face be saved, but Liu Wenjing can also be targeted. Don't kill two birds with one stone too smoothly.
The advantage of doing this is that Li Yuanming knew that Pei Ji was going to stab Liu Wenjing, but he still couldn't help but want to agree.
There was no other way. If he wanted to save Liu Wenjing and King Lujiang, he would have to share the responsibility for the defeat of Nanyang with King Changping.
But the question is, Li Shuliang is the general he ordered, can he do this?
Once he does this, it is equivalent to admitting that he was blind and sent a loser to Nanyang.