Chapter 122 Preparations before the Eastern Expedition (2)

Li Er shook his head and said, "It's not an urgent military situation. The Xiazhou Governor's Office reported that the Turks crossed the Yellow River to the south and requested to live between Sheng and Xiazhou."

"The Xiazhou Governor's Office cannot make a decision on this matter, so they reported to me to ask what I should do!"

"Then how does your majesty plan to deal with these Turks?" the minister asked.

"I plan to agree to the Turks' request! Allow them to live between Sheng and Xiazhou." Li Er answered this question without even thinking.

"Didn't the emperor ask Shili Khan to return to the Turks to appease the Turks? Why did the Turks cross the Yellow River to the south and come to the heartland of our Tang Dynasty?" Li Chengqian asked. Li Chengqian

didn't know much about this period of history. He only knew that Li Er asked Shili Khan to cross the Yellow River to the north and return to Mobei to rule his people.

In fact, the real purpose was to support Shili Khan to restore the Turkic Khanate and to check and balance the growing Xueyantuo.

Xueyantuo's Zhenzhu Khan naturally could not sit idly by and watch the destroyed Turkic Khanate restore itself again, so he sent troops many times to deal with Shili Khan's Turks to prevent him from restoring his country.

Although Shili Khan failed to restore his country later and Xueyantuo won, Shili Khan still had 100,000 tribesmen and 40,000 troops. Even if he could not cause fatal damage to Xueyantuo, it would be no problem to create some minor friction.

Why didn't these Turks follow Shili Khan well, but crossed the Yellow River to Henan?

This is where Li Chengqian was puzzled. He really didn't understand what was going on.

"After Shili Khan returned to Mobei, he was unable to appease and control his tribe, causing his tribe to complain and unwilling to obey Shili Khan's orders."

"So he abandoned Shili Khan, crossed the Yellow River to the heartland of the Tang Dynasty, and asked to live between Sheng and Xia states, willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty." Li Er sighed.

He originally planned to support Shili Khan to check and balance the Xueyantuo, so as to prevent the Xueyantuo from expanding too much and becoming easily arrogant. He

was so angry that he dared to wrestle with the Tang Dynasty. Although the Tang Dynasty was not afraid of the Xueyantuo, he was going to attack Goguryeo now, so he had to avoid as much trouble as possible and try to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

But who knew that this Shili Khan was so incompetent, he was really a hopeless case. You said that the previous Shili Khan was such a brave man, how could he have such a successor.

"What about Shili Khan's people?" Li Chengqian asked this question, and he felt regretful. What else could Shili Khan do when he became a lonely man?

In addition to running back to the Tang Dynasty, what else could he do? Could he stay in Mobei and wait for Xueyantuo to come and take advantage of him?

Li Chengqian felt that he asked a stupid question.

"The Xiazhou Governor's Office said that Shili Khan has come to Luoyang! Calculating the time and distance, he will arrive in Luoyang tomorrow at the latest." Li Er said.

"Your Majesty!" A minister stepped out and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty has just sent troops to conquer Liaodong, and now you are going to settle the Turks in Henan, which is not far from the capital. How can it not become a future trouble?"

"In order to be on the safe side, I hope Your Majesty can guard the eastern capital Luoyang to be on the safe side."

"I second the motion!" Another minister stood up.

"I also second the motion!" Except for a few ministers such as Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, all other ministers stood up to express their opinions.

"If I stay in Luoyang, who can personally conquer Goguryeo for me? This time, the campaign against Goguryeo must not be abandoned." Li Er said angrily.

"Your Majesty!" The minister said, "There are many generals in the Tang Dynasty! Your Majesty can just send generals to lead troops to the east to attack Goguryeo, and the problem will be solved!"

"Enough! What do you know? How dare you speak nonsense in front of me!" Li Er was furious!

Very dissatisfied with the attitude of these ministers, Li Er scolded everyone.

"Your Majesty, calm down! I am guilty, please forgive me!" The ministers knelt down and apologized!

"The barbarians are also human beings, and their sentiments are no different from those in the Central Plains. The ruler should not worry about not being able to show them favors, so there is no need to be suspicious of the different species." "If

favors are given appropriately, the four barbarians can be as close as one family; if there is too much suspicion, even close relatives will inevitably become enemies."

"Emperor Yang of Sui was cruel and unjust, and had long lost the support of the people. When he went east to conquer Goguryeo, people cut off their own hands and feet to avoid conscription." "

Yang Xuangan led the soldiers escorting grain to rebel in Liyang, not because of the disaster brought by the barbarians. You all understand this."

Everyone bowed their heads and said nothing. No one dared to say a word, so as not to anger His Majesty Li II who was in a state of rampage.

Seeing that there was silence in the hall, Li Er calmed down his rebellious mood and continued, "This time when I attacked Goguryeo, all the people who chose to follow me voluntarily and make achievements."

"If you recruit ten, you can get a hundred, and if you recruit a hundred, you can get a thousand. Those who are not conscripted are all full of complaints. How can they not be compared with the resentment of the people during the Sui Dynasty's eastern expedition.

" "The Turks are a poor nation. I took them in and raised them, but they are not grateful and have imprinted it deeply in their bones. How could they stir up trouble and bring

disaster to the Tang Dynasty?" "The Turks and the Xueyantuo have roughly the same desires and hobbies. They did not go north to join the Xueyantuo, but went south to submit to the Tang Dynasty. This shows their sincerity. How can I let them down?"

The ministers were still speechless! Originally, he was planning to use the Turkic people's southward movement to hold Li Er in Luoyang, but who knew that this plan would fail.

Chu Suiliang was about to say something.

Li Er saw this and asked, "Does Chu Qing have

any objection?" "I have no objection!" Chu Suiliang saluted.

But in his heart, he was thinking, even if I have an opinion, is it useful? What's the use if you don't listen.

Li Er said to Chu Suiliang, "Chu Qing is in charge of my daily record. Write down my words. From now on, there will be no hidden dangers from the Turkic people for fifteen years."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang replied, and wrote down what Li Er had just said on the court tablet so as not to forget it. After returning, he would add it to the daily record.

"Do you have anything else to report? If not, please leave! I am tired!" Li Er sat back on the throne and said.

"Father, what should we do about Shili Khan's failure to appease the tribe?" Li Zhi asked as everyone was about to bow and leave.

Everyone thought that the King of Jin was still too young. Under normal circumstances, Shili Khan's failure to do his job should be severely punished. This was his dereliction of duty.

But the key point is that Shili Khan's dereliction of duty led to the Turks' submission to the Tang Dynasty, which should be considered a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.

Besides, Shili Khan is the Khan of the Turks after all, so there is still value in keeping him.

It is obvious that His Majesty Li II will not blame Qili Khan. Not only will he not blame him, he will also promote him.

It is really unnecessary for King Jin to ask this question!