Chapter 530 Preparation

"Your Majesty! The most urgent task is to immediately send new candidates to replace Xiao Siye and others to continue to suppress the rebellion. I am worried that the Eastern Turks will invade the heartland of our Tang Dynasty." Pei Xingjian said.

"Your worry has come true!" Li Chengqian said.

"What does your majesty mean?" Pei Xingjian said, very shocked in his heart. Are the Eastern Turks moving so quickly?

They just defeated Xiao Siye's troops. Shouldn't they take the opportunity to rest and gather the remaining troops before making the final plan?

"Soon after Xiao Siye failed to suppress the rebellion, an urgent report was received from Dingzhou."

"Dingzhou, governed by my uncle, Prince Huo Li Yuangui, was attacked by the Eastern Turks!"

"Dingzhou was short of troops, but Prince Huo was smart enough to set up an empty city plan for the Eastern Turks, which scared them away and saved Dingzhou."

"King Huo knew the situation was urgent, so he ordered someone to rush 800 miles to send an urgent report back, asking for support." Li Chengqian said.

After the Eastern Turkic army attacked Xiao Siye and others and defeated them, they immediately gathered the remnants and directly attacked Dingzhou.

The Eastern Turks led tens of thousands of troops and attacked Dingzhou with great momentum.

Dingzhou City was short of soldiers and food. When they heard that the Eastern Turkic army was coming, people were panicked and discussed countermeasures.

Some people advocated abandoning the city and fleeing. How could Dingzhou City defeat tens of thousands of Eastern Turkic cavalry if it was short of soldiers and generals?

Some people advocated defending the city and reporting to the court, waiting for reinforcements. Dingzhou was the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and no inch of the mountains and rivers could be lost.

In the end, it was Li Yuangui, the King of Huo, who stood up and decided to compete with the Eastern Turks against all odds, giving the barbarians an empty city plan. Li Yuangui, the King of Huo, ordered the whole city to open the gates and lower the flags.

When the Eastern Turkic soldiers came to the city, they saw the open gates and the flags on the city walls disappeared. The Eastern Turkic general suspected that there were ambushes inside and was too scared to move forward. Instead, he ordered a retreat.

Dingzhou City was saved. When Prince Huo Li Yuangui learned that the Eastern Turkic soldiers had withdrawn, he ordered people to build city defenses to prevent the Eastern Turkic soldiers from coming to their senses and attacking Dingzhou City again. At the same time, he sent people to send an urgent message to Chang'an 800 miles away.

"So that's the case. Prince Huo is really resourceful. Your Majesty should immediately issue an edict to send troops to suppress the Eastern Turkic rebellion." Pei Xingjian said. "

I have ordered General Cao Huaishun of the Left Jinwu Army to go to Hengzhou to guard Jingxing, and General Cui Xian of the Right Wuwei Army to go to Jiangzhou to guard Longmen to prevent the invasion of the Turkic people." Li Chengqian said.

"But your majesty, simply guarding against the invasion of the Turks is only a temporary solution. As long as the Eastern Turkic rebellion is not quelled, the border of the Tang Dynasty will not be at peace." Pei Xingjian said. "

I know all this. I originally thought that Xiao Siye and others could quell the Eastern Turkic rebellion, so the court did not make much preparation."

"Now we need to replace the chief general to quell the rebellion, and we need to mobilize the government troops, grain, etc., which also does not take time."

"Sending them to guard against the Turks is just a stopgap measure! It will buy more time for the court to mobilize troops and make more adequate preparations."

"This time, we must completely destroy the Eastern Turks and give them no chance to come back." Li Chengqian said.

Dispatching troops, requisitioning grain, etc., all take time. Xiao Siye failed to quell the rebellion, and the court did not have much preparation before.

If they want to send out troops again, they have to start all over again, recruit troops from all over the country, and allocate food and grass.

"Your Majesty is thoughtful and far-sighted. I wonder who you plan to let be the commander-in-chief of the army to

lead the troops to suppress the rebellion of the Eastern Turks?" Pei Xingjian said. "I have my eyes on you and want you to be the main general to suppress the rebellion of the Eastern Turks.

" Li Chengqian said. "I will not fail your Majesty's trust. I will not return to the court until the rebellion of the Eastern Turks is suppressed." Pei Xingjian saluted.

"You get up first! The army will be assembled in a month at most, and you can lead the troops to the expedition then." Li Chengqian said.

"I obey your order!" Pei Xingjian said.

"That's all for today. You go back and prepare well. In a month, you will send troops to the south of the desert to suppress the Eastern Turks for me." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes! I'll take my leave!" Pei Xingjian bowed and left

. "Everyone! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to

see you!" Not long after Pei Xingjian left, Crown Prince Li Jue came running to ask for an audience with the emperor. "Let him in!" Li Chengqian said.

"Yes!" The eunuch took the order and left, and Crown Prince Li Jue walked in from outside.

"Your son pays homage to your father!" Crown Prince Li Jue bowed to Li Chengqian with his hands crossed.

"Why are you here? Is there anything you want to see me about?" Li Chengqian sat sideways, with his arms on the armrests of the chair, supporting his body, and asked Li Jue. "

Father! I just heard that your father issued an edict to dismiss Xiao Siye and others from office and exile them to Guizhou." Li Jue asked.

"You are here for this matter, that's right! I have already issued the edict, and the edict has been sent out. What exactly do you want to say?" Li Chengqian asked.

Li Chengqian had already guessed that Li Jue came to him to ask him to retrieve the imperial edict and plead for Xiao Siye or Hua Dazhi and Li Jingjia.

If this was really the case, Li Jue would have disappointed him greatly, and he would have to consider whether to change the crown prince.

"Your son pleads with your father to withdraw the imperial edict. Although Xiao Siye has made mistakes, his crime is not serious enough to dismiss him from office and exile him. Moreover, the rebellion of the Eastern Turks has not yet been quelled. Changing generals on

the battlefield is an unlucky sign..." Li Jue spoke a lot. The more Li Jue spoke, the gloomier Li Chengqian's face became. He could see that this crown prince had been fooled to such an extent.

"Enough! How many soldiers of our Tang Dynasty have been lost because of the arrogance of Xiao Siye and others? They could have returned to their hometowns and reunited with their families, but now they have died because of the negligence of their commander."

"It was because of the mistakes of Xiao Siye and others that Dingzhou almost fell. If it weren't for your great-uncle, King Huo Li Yuangui, Dingzhou City would have been conquered by the Eastern Turks long ago. You actually wanted Xiao Siye to make amends for his crime. It was very merciful of me not to kill him!" "

As for the rebellion of the Eastern Turks, I will send someone else to lead the troops to fight."

"As for you, return to the East Palace for me immediately. From today on, you will be confined to the East Palace. Without my permission, you are not allowed to leave the East Palace. Go back to your East Palace and reflect on yourself!" Li Chengqian said angrily.

"But father..." Li Jue wanted to fight for it again. After all, Li Jingxuan and he were already in the same boat. Only when

Li Jingxuan was powerful could he guarantee victory in the future when he fought against the Wu Wang family.

"Get lost!" Li Chengqian roared, "Why are you still standing there? Why don't you take the prince back to the East Palace?"

Li Jue felt wronged by Li Chengqian's roar. His own father actually told him to get lost.

"Your Highness, please do not embarrass me!" The eunuchs immediately stepped forward and bowed.

"I can walk by myself!" Li Jue shouted, turned around and left the hall, returned to the East Palace, and sent someone to pass the message to Li Jingxuan.

After the prince returned to the East Palace, the palace gates were immediately closed and no one was allowed to visit.