Hearing this, Changsun Wuji cursed inwardly. He had no desire to go to Liaodong; he wanted to stay in Chang'an and find an opportunity to launch a coup!

But since Li Shimin had already said it, he couldn't very well refuse, so he could only bite the bullet and say it.

"Your Majesty values ​​me highly, so naturally I must go to Liaodong with Your Majesty..."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin laughed heartily and patted Changsun Wuji on the shoulder.

"Since you're willing to go too, then it's settled. We'll go on this eastern expedition together, hahaha!"

"Okay, okay..."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji smiled awkwardly. But after the smile, he secretly plotted to fall seriously ill before setting off on the expedition!

As long as I fall ill, His Majesty will keep me in Chang'an!

Although Li Shimin had already decided to take Li Jue to Liaodong, he kept the news strictly confidential, fearing that the little guy would get cocky if he found out.

This made Li Jue very uneasy, fearing that he would anger Li Shimin, that old man, and end up abandoning him in Chang'an.

Therefore, after recovering from his injuries, Li Jue was extremely cautious and diligent, reading and practicing calligraphy every day, and occasionally going to pay his respects to Li Shimin, being exceptionally obedient.

Li Shimin was secretly pleased, feeling that he had finally found this guy's weakness.

Therefore, Li Shimin, taking advantage of the situation, assigned Li Jue a series of tasks.

For example, every day, one must spend at least an hour drawing a bow a hundred times, practicing calligraphy a thousand times, memorizing a thousand texts, and also taking time to learn military tactics from Li Jing, etc.

Li Jue gritted his teeth and endured it all until the eve of the expedition. Relying on his position as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Li Jue went to the Imperial Secretariat to review the documents. Only after confirming that the Sanglin Garrison had not been abolished did he happily run back to Xianyang to pack his belongings.

Li Jue's every move could not be hidden from Li Shimin, after all, almost everyone around Li Jue was Li Shimin's spies.

However, with the eastern expedition imminent, Li Shimin also thought that his grandson should return to the Zhechongfu to prepare and spend a few days sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.

The army set off in a low-key manner, without any fanfare or a large crowd of people seeing them off.

Li Shimin specially arranged for Li Zhi to oversee the country, and left Li Jing, Yuchi Jingde, Gao Shilian, and Xiao Yu to assist in governing.

If Li Jue were present, he would surely have noticed something amiss; it was almost identical to the arrangements he made during his regency.

Li Shimin also saw the advantages of this model, which is why he completely copied it.

Since it is a four-person government, these four people cannot be too united. They must be a combination of civil and military officials, and they must have some differences in their political views.

With the addition of Li Zhi as the crown prince, a system of checks and balances was formed.

As soon as Li Shimin's army marched out of Chang'an, Li Jue was as busy as a bird, running back and forth.

"You're moving too slowly! At this rate, when will we ever reach Goguryeo?"

Faced with Li Jue's urging, Cheng Yaojin, who was in charge of maintaining the marching column, couldn't help but complain.

"Eldest grandson, you've studied military strategy with General Li Jing for several months, yet you don't understand the principle that a general can be defeated after traveling a hundred miles?"

"Of course I know!"

"Our team is just too slow. It's been almost all morning and we've only covered a dozen miles. We won't reach Goguryeo until next year!"

Cheng Yaojin smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Eldest grandson, you don't know this, but our speed is actually quite fast."

"A normal day's march is thirty li!"

"We said we walked all morning, but we only walked for two hours. It would be good if we could walk more than ten miles."

"well!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue had no choice but to return to his own troops and endure the army's snail-paced march.

Li Jue brought not only all of the more than 1,000 men from the Sanglin Garrison on this expedition, but also several of his own men.

For example, Su Dingfang, Li Yifu, and Lu Zhaolin, who was specifically responsible for chatting with him to relieve his boredom.

When the group saw Li Jue return looking dejected, they knew he must have suffered a setback.

However, among these three, only Su Dingfang was a veteran soldier, while Li Yifu and Lu Zhaolin were both greenhorns who had never participated in military affairs before.

Therefore, the two had no concept of marching speed and did not think there was anything wrong with the Tang Dynasty's marching speed.

In fact, Li Jue had also stayed in the Western Turkic Khaganate and witnessed the marching speed of pure cavalry, which is why he felt that the Tang army's marching speed was slow.

But there was nothing that could be done about it, since most of the Tang army consisted of infantry.

Even though many soldiers were equipped with warhorses, they were still infantrymen on horseback, and they still had to dismount when actually fighting.

"Does Your Highness find it too slow?"

Li Jue nodded upon hearing this.

"really……"

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang burst into laughter.

"Your Highness, we can't compare to the Turks. The Turks have two or three horses per soldier, while most of our Tang soldiers don't even have horses, hahaha!"

"But don't worry, once we get to Luoyang, we can build the canal. When we reach Hebei, Ashina Duer's tribal cavalry will send us tens of thousands of warhorses, and then we can ride to Liaodong!"

Li Jue's mood immediately improved when he heard that there were warhorses.

"Old Su, why not let General Ashina Duer drive his warhorses into Guanzhong?"

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang shook his head in frustration.

"Your Highness, there are no grasslands in Guanzhong, and we cannot support so many warhorses!"

"Hebei has a small population and a large land area, and it is also close to the Turkic steppe, which is why His Majesty built the horse farm there!"

"Oh oh oh..."

Compared to Li Jue's discomfort, Li Shimin had long been accustomed to military life.

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