Chapter 314 The Central Opinion

Chang'an in November has already entered the ranks of severe winter cold. The cold current in early winter has hit the entire Chang'an City. The pedestrians on the streets of Chang'an City have gradually decreased, and the east and west cities are no longer as prosperous as in summer and autumn. The whole Chang'an has fallen into the severe winter cold, but what is even colder is not the winter weather, but the war ahead.

As the commander of the Northern Expedition, Li Ke was appointed as the commander of the Northern Expedition by Li Shimin and led the army of dozens of states in Hedong and Hebei to the northern expedition. This is something that the entire Chang'an people knew. However, at this time, there was still no news about the war ahead. How could this not make the people of the Tang Dynasty feel at ease? The Tang Dynasty had fought with the Turks for so many years, and in most cases, the Tang Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat, and the Tang Dynasty suffered heavy losses every time it fought against the Turks.

Even King Li Ke of Han, the prince whom the emperor values ​​most today, and the prince who rose rapidly in the Tang Empire relying on military achievements. The war has not yet been carried out, and no matter how much the people of Chang'an believe Li Ke, they are starting to feel very worried.

As worried as the people of Chang'an, Hou Ruoyi and Yang Fei are also concerned about. These are the two most important women in Li Ke's life. The first one is the woman he likes, and the second one is the mother he respects the most.

The crabapple flowers in the yard have fallen, the branches are bare and nothing, leaving only withered branches like mountains. Hou Ruoyi stood quietly in the yard, looking at the northern sky in a distance, dazed in a daze. In the distance, the horizon where the sunset is setting, the man she loved most in her life is now using her life to defend the dignity of the Tang Dynasty and the safety of the people. But what about her? She can't do anything to him, even a letter of encouragement and care, even a gentle look. When Hou Ruoyi thought of Li Ke about the Northern Expedition, her body trembled slightly, her heart ached, and her face looked a little pale. She knew the distance between herself and Li Ke. The distance between them now involves ethics and morality, and no one can get together with the courage.

Yang Fei, who was also in Qianqiu Palace, looked at the flowers that had already fallen in the garden, and sighed in the north sky. Li Ke's thoughts and Li Ke's ambitions were clear. It can be said that Li Ke's achievements today were exchanged for his own life. If Yang Fei had chosen, she would never let her son take risks like this again. But in the imperial family, who was the emperor of the two dynasties, understood in her heart, wasn't Li Ke's journey to this day, and was forced by form?

Crossing Qianqiu Dan, the direction eastward is the central heart of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin handled the government affairs. Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Empire, discussed military affairs with Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, Gao Shilian, Cen Wenben, Li Jing and others in the Liangyi Hall.

Li Ke's report arrived in Chang'an City at noon today. When Li Jing, the Minister of War, put the report on Li Shimin's jade case, he looked happy. Li Shimin hurriedly picked up the report. When he read the content above in three lines, he did not expect that Li Ke would achieve such impressive results. The content of the report was very simple. The Northern Expedition was successfully completed, and he annihilated 100,000 Turkic cavalry and captured the Turkic city Dingxiang City. In addition, Li Ke recorded the military achievements of the Battle of the Youbei Grassland and asked for meritorious soldiers.

Li Shimin naturally knew the real meaning behind this victory, so he immediately ordered the ministers in the court to be summoned to Liangyi Hall to discuss the next countermeasures. Li Shimin knew that Jie Li would definitely not give up after the defeat of the Turks.

"Your Majesty, the Northern Expedition has achieved such great results, the soldiers on the front line must not be rewarded!" Changsun Wuji advised, "But the most important thing at the moment is not the time for the meritorious soldiers who have been rewarded with great rewards, but to solve the problem of how to face the Turkic counterattack after winning. Jie Li suffered such a defeat. With his character, he could not swallow his anger so much. He would definitely have a Turkic army coming to Dingxiang City."

"The auxiliary machine is right. The strategic position of Dingxiang City is very important. After the Turks occupied Dingxiang City, they can retreat or attack and defend against the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, if the Tang Dynasty took Dingxiang City, it would be equivalent to pulling out a nail that Turks were Dingxiang City on our backs, causing the entire Turks to be in the entire Yunzhou and the grassland north of Youzhou to lose the place of food and grass supply and correction, making it impossible for them to do whatever they wanted as before. Therefore, the strategic position of Dingxiang City is very important to both the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and Jie Li would not give up Dingxiang City easily." Du Ruhui continued Changsun Wuji's words.

"Well——" Li Shimin pondered, "Dingxiang City is indeed very important to the Tang Dynasty. Since we have taken this city, we must never give it to Jie Li anymore. I wonder what countermeasures you can do?"

"Your Majesty, based on the issues mentioned in the current report of His Highness the King of Han, we cannot make any decisions yet, and we still need to wait and see what the changes are." Wei Zheng suggested that Li Shimin just now said that he would reward the soldiers who had been commended. Changsun Wuji shifted the topic to the defensive city. Wei Zheng understood what Changsun Wuji thought. Now he said this to remind Li Shimin that it is important to defend the city, but if he has made contributions, he must reward it heavily.

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that we still need to be cautious about this matter and cannot make a decision easily. After all, only a report came from the front, and we are not clear about the specific situation." Fang Xuanling advised, "However, even if we wait and see, the army must be prepared to go to the war. Although it cannot be mobilized to the front line of Yunzhou, the middle of winter has arrived, and it is quite inconvenient to transport food and grass, and it still needs to be transported to the front line of Yunzhou in advance."

"Well——" Li Shimin responded. He did not make a statement. He just thought for a moment, looked at the silent Li Jing and asked, "What does the pharmacist mean?"

Since Li Jing was dismissed and moved to the center to serve as the Minister of War, he became very cautious and basically did not express any opinions in the court. Even if Li Shimin did not ask, he would never speak on his own initiative. Seeing Li Shimin asking himself, Li Jing said, "The King of Han and the Tuli army fought against Jie Li and wiped out 100,000 enemies. It can be seen that the battle is very fierce. In addition, His Highness of Han took this opportunity to seize Dingxiang City, which was a great blow to the Turks. However, the news reached Yinshan, and it would take a month to wait until Jie Li mobilized the army to attack Dingxiang City. His Highness of Han was wise and intelligent, and he must have known in his heart that Jie Li would not give up, but he had not sent any other reports on sending reinforcements until now, which shows that he had a solution to the problem."

Li Jing said this, and looked at everyone and Li Shimin. Seeing that everyone was listening very seriously, he continued, "Since your highness has a countermeasure, why should we add to it? Just try to cooperate with him."

"What Li Shangshu said is very reasonable. I believe that the most important thing for us now is to cooperate with the actions of His Highness the King of Han. After all, King of Han Li Ke knew the most clearly in his heart that since he could annihilate 100,000 Turkic cavalry, as long as the court supports him, he can defeat the Turkic Jie Li." Wang Gui also spoke up to Li Jing.
Chapter completed!