"Your Highness, the Ministry of War just received an urgent message from 600 li away: the Xueyantuo have invaded Xia Prefecture, and the Xia Prefecture garrison commander, Zhishi Sili, has requested the court to send reinforcements."

Li Jue had never dealt with such a matter before, and he was completely stunned when he heard that it was the Xueyantuo invasion.

"You're asking me?"

"Yes!"

"Now that Your Highness is overseeing the country, of course I must ask Your Highness?"

Li Jing and the others had already seen the report, but they all wanted to test Li Jue, so they had all hidden away to the side long ago.

Just as Li Jue was about to call for help, he saw Li Jing's impatient departure and cursed inwardly.

These incompetent people are completely unreliable when it really comes down to it!

In fact, Li Jue had wronged them.

Although there were some internal conflicts among Li Shimin's ministers, they were still able to unite against external forces when it came to matters of national importance.

The reason they deliberately made things difficult for Li Jue was mainly to see what potential this grandson had.

They hadn't been without their challenges these past few days, but just like Gao Shilian's difficult questions, Li Jue had resolved them all with great ease.

As time went on, they all became curious about just how much potential this grandson had.

Although Li Jing and the others hid to the side, they all pricked up their ears, eager to hear how Li Jue would handle such a matter of national importance.

"Bring me the report!"

"promise!"

Li Jue took the report and read it. Seeing that Xueyantuo only had 60,000 troops, he was not too worried.

He had lived in the Turkic Khaganate and knew the strength of the Turkic and Xueyantuo armies.

They claimed to have 60,000 men, but in reality, that included the shepherds who herded sheep. They probably couldn't even muster 30,000 soldiers who were actually capable of fighting.

How many troops are there garrisoning Xia Prefecture?

"Your Highness, the regular garrison is three thousand, but I don't know the exact number."

Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately frowned in displeasure.

"Does our Great Tang Dynasty also have officials who receive salaries without working?"

"Ghost employees?"

What is "ghost employment"?

The officials of the Ministry of War were completely bewildered by Li Jue, thinking that the Tang Dynasty did not have military pay, so where could he be receiving pay for doing nothing?

Li Jue only realized after he finished speaking that he had wronged the Tang Dynasty.

Although the Tang Dynasty's military system was showing signs of collapse, it had not yet collapsed. Therefore, all soldiers within the Tang Dynasty were military personnel without pay.

"If no one is receiving a salary without working, why can't you specify the exact number?"

“Your Highness, some soldiers may ask for leave at other times, and the three thousand men are not always stationed in Xia Prefecture; they are usually on duty in shifts…”

"So, you're saying the imperial court has to send troops to rescue us?"

"ah?"

"Does Your Highness not wish to provide aid?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue immediately denied it.

"I didn't say that, don't make false accusations!"

After saying this, Li Jue walked to the map of the Tang Dynasty hanging on the wall and stared at Xia Prefecture on the map.

"It is not only a long journey to transfer troops from Guanzhong, but it is also easy to miss the opportunity to fight."

"Let's transfer troops from the military prefectures near Xia Prefecture!"

"Your Ministry of War should draft a set of regulations and bring them to me for review in half an hour!"

"promise!"

After Li Jue dismissed the Ministry of War officials, the old men hiding outside the door immediately started gossiping.

"This kid's good; he came up with a solution in such a short time?"

"What's even more remarkable is that the response was quite good. Even if His Majesty had handled it personally, the result would probably have been similar!"

Upon hearing Yuchi Jingde's flattery, Li Jing immediately curled his lip in disdain.

"You underestimate His Majesty. If His Majesty were here, he wouldn't give Zhishi Sili a single reinforcement."

"ah?"

"Why is that? Is Your Majesty not afraid of losing Xia Prefecture?"

Li Jing snorted coldly upon hearing this.

"Have you forgotten that Zhishisili still has clansmen?"

"If he gathers together the Turkic soldiers under his command, he can raise at least five thousand."

"Three thousand plus five thousand equals eight thousand. With eight thousand men, we can defend Xia Prefecture!"

Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde suddenly realized what was going on and said.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget about that!"

"You're right. If His Majesty were to handle this, he would surely squeeze every last drop of profit out of Zhishi Sili, hahaha!"

Li Jing nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.

"Although His Majesty's punishment was a bit harsh, the Turks have been able to recuperate and rebuild in recent years thanks to the Tang Dynasty, and it's time for them to do something for the Tang!"

Just as the two were whispering to each other, Fang Xuanling, who was passing by, came over.

"Are you two making things difficult for His Highness again?"

The two laughed awkwardly upon hearing this.

"A small test!"

"However, Your Highness's performance was quite good; it was a proper handling of the situation!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling immediately became interested and asked curiously.

"Which matter? Is it the Xueyantuo's invasion of Xia Prefecture?"

"Yes, you saw it too?"

Fang Xuanling smiled upon hearing this.

"I glanced at it this morning and thought it wasn't anything serious, so I put it aside. I never expected that you two would use it to test His Highness the eldest grandson. You are truly audacious! Hahaha!"

This is the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty; even a northern power like the Xueyantuo was nothing more than a minor ailment in their eyes.

After chatting and laughing for a while, the group got busy again. The whole city was now embroiled in an epidemic, and half of the officials from the three provinces and six ministries had fallen ill. Each person was being used as two, and they were extremely busy every day.

Although Li Shimin did not dare to return to Chang'an and hid in Xianyang, he still fell victim to the attack.

Fortunately, there was medicine left by Li Jue and Sun Simiao. After taking two doses, I felt much better.

On this day, Li Shimin was in excellent health, and immediately ordered someone to prepare his favorite dish, mutton soup, which he then slurped down with gusto.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!