Chapter 121 Preparations before the Eastern Expedition (1)
In the autumn of the 18th year of the Zhenguan reign, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty made the final adjustments for the Eastern Expedition.
First, he appointed Zhang Liang, the Minister of Justice, as the General Manager of the Pyongyang Road Army, commanding 40,000 troops from the four states of Jiang, Huai, Ling, and Xia. He
also issued an imperial edict to recruit 3,000 soldiers and 500 warships in Chang'an and Luoyang, and put them under the command of Zhang Liang, who crossed the sea from the port of Laizhou and marched directly to
Pyongyang by water. He then appointed Li Yan, the Prince's Secretary and the Left Guard of the Eastern Palace, as the General Manager of the Liaodong Road Army, commanding 60,000 infantry and cavalry as well as the surrendered Hu troops from the two states of Lan and He to march to Liaodong, and to join forces with Zhang Liang's troops to encircle and advance.
The armies gathered in Youzhou. Li Er once again sent Jiang Xingben, the general manager of the army, and Qiu Xingyan, the junior supervisor of the imperial court, to Anluo Mountain to supervise the craftsmen in making ladders for practicing high-altitude charging.
When warriors from far and near heard that Li Er was going to attack Goguryeo, they responded to the call for service and offered countless siege weapons. Li Er personally selected and eliminated them, and chose the convenient and simple ones.
Then he wrote a handwritten edict to the world, condemning Quan Gai Suwen's disloyalty and inhumanity, and claiming that he was acting on behalf of heaven and personally raising troops to attack Goguryeo. At the same time, he
also warned his subordinates that when he led his army to Liaodong and Jieshi to punish the crimes, the barracks in the places he passed through should not cause too much trouble to the people.
He also boasted that he had five sure ways to win this expedition to Goguryeo.
Soon, Li Er once again issued an edict ordering all the armies as well as Silla, Baekje, Xi, and Khitan to attack Goguryeo in several directions.
Everything was ready, and Li Er decided to launch a full-scale war of justice against Goguryeo in half a month.
"Everyone! The Crown Prince and the King of Jin have arrived, and are waiting for you to summon them outside the palace!" Wang Yuan moved to Li Er's side and whispered to Li Er who was discussing the final matters of the expedition with Chu Suiliang and others.
Li Er raised his head and said, "Let them in!"
"Yes!" Wang Yuan took the order and retreated. A moment later, he led Li Chengqian and Li Zhi in.
"Your sons pay their respects to your father!" Li Chengqian and Li Zhi saluted Li Er on the throne.
"No need to be polite!" Li Er said.
"Thank you, father!" Li Chengqian and Li Zhi stood up, Chu Suiliang and others saluted Li Chengqian, and the two sat down aside.
After they sat down, Li Er said: "The prince has been in Luoyang for some time, and it is time to return to Chang'an. Tomorrow the prince will set off back to Chang'an to supervise the country."
As the prince in charge of the country, his responsibility is to supervise the country. After he came to Luoyang, all matters fell on Fang Xuanling's head.
This time Li Er has already determined the time for the expedition, and the prince should go back to perform his duties as supervisor of the country, instead of continuing to stay in Luoyang to live a leisurely life.
"Your son obeys your order!" Li Chengqian saluted, he knew that his leisure time was over! It's time to start work again!
Li Chengqian originally planned to instigate Li Zhi to run out of the palace together and experience a different life in the romantic places in Luoyang City.
But now it seems that there is no chance!
You are a prince who controls the country. Why don't you go back to Chang'an to work and work for the people? Instead, you are thinking about visiting romantic places. Is this what a prince should do?
If Li Er knew about this, he would be furious.
"Prince Jin! This time you will go back to Chang'an with the prince. I hope you two will be united!" Li Er looked at Li Zhi and said softly.
Li Zhi was stunned and didn't come back to his senses for a long time. He had never left Li Er's side. Now he was asked to go back to Chang'an. He didn't know what to do.
Li Er was reluctant to let his beloved son leave his side. After all, marching and fighting were full of dangers, and it was not convenient to take him with him. For his safety, he had to reluctantly let him go back to Chang'an with the prince.
Li Chengqian poked Li Zhi, and Li Zhi finally reacted and saluted, saying, "Your son obeys your order!"
Li Er turned around and nodded to Wang Yuan, who immediately took out an imperial edict and read it in public.
"The Emperor of the Great Tang ordered that Li Zhi, the Prince of Jin, be appointed as the Right Shuzi of the Crown Prince!"
Li Zhi was stunned! He didn't expect that Li Er would actually appoint him as the Right Shuzi of the Eastern Palace. This was too sudden! He was not prepared.
The Right Shuzi of the Crown Prince was one of the officials of the Eastern Palace, a fourth-rank official, in charge of attendants, tributes, and memorials. The deputy of the Right Shuzi was the Zhong Sheren.
The Crown Prince supervised the country. He wrote down the order and drew it on the day. Then, when it was passed to the Spring Office
, it was announced by the Bastard and carried out by the Zhongsheren. The office of the Right Bastard was located in the Right Spring Office on the right side of the Jiade Hall. Starting from the Xiande Hall, passing through the Fengyi Gate or the Right Jiashan Gate, you will reach the Right Spring Office. "
Prince Jin, Prince Jin, please accept the order quickly!" Wang Yuan saw that Li Zhi did not understand and hurriedly reminded him.
Li Zhi finally reacted and hurriedly stood up to take the edict and said, "Your son accepts the order!"
Li Er had his own intentions in making such arrangements. He hoped that Li Zhi could assist Li Chengqian in governing the country well, and hoped that they could be harmonious and friendly with each other.
In this way, he could go to the expedition to attack Goguryeo without any worries.
Li Chengqian was very satisfied with Li Er's arrangement. This was equivalent to putting Li Zhi directly under his eyes, and he could control Li Zhi's movements at any time.
At this time, a eunuch trotted into the hall and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty! An urgent report came from the Xiazhou Governor's Office!"
"Present it!" Li Er frowned and said in a deep voice. The Xiazhou Governor's Office was mainly responsible for monitoring the Turks in Mobei.
Now that the Xiazhou Governor's Office has sent an urgent report, could it be that something happened in Mobei?
The eunuch did not dare to neglect it and hurriedly presented the urgent report sent by the Xiazhou Governor's Office. Wang Yuan stepped forward to take the urgent report and turned around to hand it to Li Er.
Li Er immediately opened the seal and poured out the letter inside. After checking it, his tightly locked brows could not help but relax.
Li Er exhaled lightly, thinking to himself: It turned out to be a false alarm!
"Your Majesty! Did the Xiazhou Governor's Office send us urgent military intelligence?" a minister asked.
If it was really military intelligence from Mobei, they might be able to take this opportunity to persuade Li Er to give up the Eastern Expedition, or at worst, they could let Li Er give up leading the troops in person and let the generals lead the troops in the
Eastern Expedition instead. At this moment, a group of ministers here still disagreed with Li Er's attack on Goguryeo. After all, the lesson of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was still vivid in their minds.
They didn't want to cause unrest in the court because of the attack on Goguryeo.
As long as they could stop Li Er from personally attacking Goguryeo, even if there was only a glimmer of hope, they would never give up.
Of course, if Li Er still insisted on his own way, they had also prepared for the worst. If anything happened to Li Er, they would immediately support the crown prince Li Chengqian to ascend the throne.
This would stabilize the situation and prevent any disturbances in the court. Supporting a new emperor would allow such a dangerous situation to be easily overcome.
Then the giant ship of the Tang Dynasty would be able to continue to move forward steadily.
This was their second plan to deal with emergencies.