After Hou Junji left, Li Shimin had people call Fang Xuanling, Li Jing and other close officials over.
As for Changsun Wuji, Li Shimin didn't ask anyone to call him because he was not well yet.
After the others arrived, Li Shimin repeated what Hou Junji said and said, "I called you here just to ask you how many troops and horses are appropriate to send? Who should lead the troops."
Li Shimin has decided to send troops. Now he needs to consider how many people to send, which soldiers and horses to send, and who will lead the troops.
Cheng Yaojin's eyes lit up and he said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the army. I only need 10,000 troops."
"Your Majesty, I only need five thousand troops and horses." Yuchi Gong was not willing to be outdone.
Niu Jinda, Zhang Liang and others came out to ask for orders.
Lead the troops now. When the Tang Dynasty launches troops on the grassland, they will definitely be able to join the war.
"What do you mean?" Cheng Yaojin said unhappily with his eyes wide open.
"What do we mean? Is it possible that Cheng Cheng can only send you?" Yuchi Gong stared back.
"Okay." Li Shimin quickly stopped him, looked at Li Jing and asked: "Pharmacist, who do you think is appropriate to send?"
"Your Majesty, there must be spies in the grassland in the Tang Dynasty. Once a famous general in the Tang Dynasty is transferred, there is no way to hide it. The best way is to send a general who will not attract people's attention." Li Jing said.
When the Eastern Turks were first destroyed, they took advantage of the heavy snow and the inconvenience of transmitting news, and the speed of the soldiers to successfully attack them.
But this time is different. The soldiers and horses sent need to hide and wait for the opportunity. I don't know how long it will take.
Those famous generals of the Tang Dynasty must have been the targets of spies from all over the world. They disappeared for too long and were easily detected.
Li Shimin nodded and said, "What the pharmacist said makes sense."
"I feel that it is very suitable to send the army that the Marquis of Jingyang County trained before. There are only 10,000 people in that army. They are elites mobilized by various guards. After such a long period of integrated training, they have very strong combat power. I heard that the general Xue Rengui is also a general.
, is familiar with military literature. The most important thing is that Xue Rengui's reputation is not obvious and does not attract attention." Li Jing said.
When Cheng Yaojin and the others heard that Li Jing recommended Xue Rengui to go there, they didn't say anything. Their son was inside, and they couldn't compete with their own son.
Li Shimin agreed with Li Jing's words, but he was not sure whether Xue Rengui was the next Zhao Kuo, so he hesitated for a while.
Li Jing knew what Li Shimin was worried about and said: "Your Majesty, it is better to let the Marquis of Jingyang County be the chief general and Xue Rengui be the deputy general to lead the troops."
Li Shimin shook his head and said: "Lin Xuan has gone to Lingnan. When he comes back, it will be his and Li Zhi's wedding. Why send him there?"
He was relatively relieved about Lin Xuan. The important thing was that this time he only needed to contain Xue Yantuo at the critical moment.
Li Jing smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the Western Turks and Xue Yantuo have not yet started fighting. There is still time. You can let Xue Rengui lead the troops first. The Marquis of Jingyang County can wait until he marries the princess before going."
He wanted to fight for opportunities for Lin Xuan. After all, Lin Xuan was Zhang Zhongjian's apprentice, and Zhang Zhongjian had no son, so his apprentice was equivalent to his son.
If Lin Xuan knew what Li Jing was thinking, he would definitely curse him.
Li Shimin thought Li Jing's proposal was good, nodded and said: "Just do as the pharmacist said. The Ministry of War will prepare the food, grass and baggage, and let Xue Rengui secretly lead the troops to the border."
After the ministers who discussed the matter left, Li Mu said: "Your Majesty, His Highness the King of Wei wishes to see you."
"Let him in."
Not long after, Li Tai walked in holding a wooden box and a book in the other hand.
"My son has met my father."
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Just let the eunuch hold the things. Why do you have to hold them yourself? You are so tired that you are sweating."
Li Tai smiled and said: "Father, this book is okay, but this wooden box contains treasures. I don't feel safe letting others take it."
Li Shimin became interested and asked: "For Qingque to call it a treasure, it must be extremely precious. I would like to take a look."
Li Tai stepped forward, put the wooden box on the table, put the book in his hand aside, and opened the wooden box.
"Is this a copybook?" Li Shimin said with some surprise when he saw what was in the wooden box.
Li Tai smiled and said: "Yes, this is Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection"."
"What!" Li Shimin looked at Li Tai in shock.
When he was still the king of Qin, he had searched for the whereabouts of the "Preface to the Lanting Collection".
Even after he became emperor, he did not stop searching.
But after searching for so many years, I still haven't found it. I just got some information that it may be in the hands of aristocratic families.
Unexpectedly, Li Tai found him.
As for whether it was fake, Li Shimin never thought about it. Since Li Tai was sent to him, he must have found someone to verify it.
Li Shimin carefully took out the copybook from the wooden box and unfolded it.
"It's really the Preface to the Lanting Collection."
Li Shimin collected so many copybooks of Wang Xizhi and often copied Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, so he could naturally tell the authenticity from the fake ones.
Looking at the words on it, each stroke seemed to come alive. Li Shimin couldn't put it down.
"It is indeed Wang Xizhi's pinnacle work. The other copybooks in my collection are a little worse than this one." Li Shimin praised.
"What my father said is that when I saw it for the first time, I was addicted to it and couldn't extricate myself." Li Taihe said.
Li Shimin asked: "Qingque, where did you find it?"
"Back to my father, I also got an unexpected income. Yesterday I saw a painting and felt that the thickness of the painting paper was a bit abnormal, so I bought it. I didn't expect that the long-lost "Preface to the Lanting Collection" was hidden in the middle.
"Li Tai said.
This was Han Wen's idea for him, and he did buy a painting yesterday. The painting has now been disposed of, and he is not afraid of Li Shimin checking it.
Li Shimin nodded thoughtfully and said: "Qingque is really blessed with profound blessings. Tell me what kind of reward you need."
"It is the duty of sons and ministers to respect their father, how can they ask for rewards?" Li Tai said sternly.
"I am very pleased that you are careful, but I have to reward you. Tell me, do you want anything?" Li Shimin said.
Li Tai pretended to be thoughtful and said: "My father usually rewards my son a lot. I don't need anything. I want to do something to gain experience. I wonder if my father can let me follow my brother to build roads."
He originally wanted to take this opportunity to get Li Shimin to agree to his appointment in Chang'an Mansion.
But Han Wen hesitated and rejected it. Han Wen felt that this was too impatient.
But building roads is different, it doesn't have much significance, Li Shimin probably won't refuse.
Li Shimin thought for a while and said: "There are indeed many things to do in road construction. I am very pleased that you are willing to help Gao Ming. I will appoint you as deputy director. You must assist Gao Ming seriously."
"Thank you, father. I will definitely assist my brother!" Li Tai bowed and said.
It was definitely impossible to assist Li Chengqian, but he didn't intend to cause trouble for Li Chengqian, otherwise there would be no benefit to him if something went wrong and he was investigated.
He just needs to use the title of deputy supervisor, hang out in front of Li Chengqian more often, and cause trouble for Li Chengqian.
"What is this?" Li Shimin asked, looking at the book placed aside.
"Back to my father, this is the first part of the Kuo Di Zhi compiled by my son. I brought it here especially for my father to see," Li Tai said.
Li Shimin nodded and said: "Put the book aside for now. I will find time to read it after I finish processing the memorial."