Li Shimin did indeed only say half of what he wanted to say; there was much more he didn't say.
Therefore, he was also very curious about how much Li Jue actually knew.
"Tell Grandpa, what do you know?"
"Grandpa, are you trying to tell your grandson that as long as he is fair and just, his men will be willing to risk their lives for him?"
"Those who perform meritorious service will be rewarded, and those who commit wrongdoing will be punished. If rewards and punishments are fair, then everyone in the army will be willing to die for me!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin laughed heartily, looking up at the sky.
"Okay, okay!"
"As expected of my eldest grandson, he is indeed very intelligent!"
"Li Jue, I am very happy that you could think of this, even more so than when we captured Liaodong City, hahaha!"
"You're absolutely right. As long as an emperor masters the art of reward and punishment, he can make the most talented people in the world work for him!"
"Therefore, emperors do not need to care about gold and silver jewels, but only need to have a discerning eye to recognize talent. As long as you find enough talented people and put them in the right positions, these people will naturally bring you a continuous stream of treasures!"
Li Jue listened to Li Shimin's words thoughtfully and said...
"Grandpa, I suddenly remembered a sentence..."
"A skilled warrior achieves victory without ostentatious feats..."
"You mean that emperors should be like this too? They don't need to have outstanding achievements; as long as they do their job well, all the credit will naturally go to them?"
"Well..."
Li Shimin hesitated slightly. In fact, he instinctively felt that Li Jue was right, but this did not apply to himself.
After all, before becoming emperor, he not only had outstanding achievements, but also conquered the territory of the Tang Dynasty as it is today.
"good!"
"It's already quite remarkable that you could think of this level."
"But I still want to tell you that it is best for an emperor to be good at fighting battles himself. Only in this way can he maintain a strong enough deterrent effect on his subjects."
"Take me for example. In my life, I have fought in hundreds of battles, both large and small, and I have almost never been defeated."
"Therefore, neither Hou Junji, nor Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing and others can be arrogant in front of me."
"Because when it comes to fighting, they have no advantage over me!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue smiled and flattered him.
"Grandpa, only you could do this. It's highly unlikely that any emperor after you will have such strong military talent."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin laughed heartily.
"You brat, can't you try harder?"
Li Jue chuckled shamelessly.
"No!"
"I will never surpass you in military affairs in my lifetime, but I can surpass you in domestic affairs or other areas!"
"That's ambitious!"
While the two were chatting and laughing, Cheng Yaojin led the Tang soldiers to clear out all the soldiers and civilians in Liaodong City.
The Goguryeo soldiers who resisted were killed on the spot.
Soldiers who surrendered voluntarily had their weapons confiscated and were held in prisoner-of-war camps.
As for ordinary people, they were divided into different classes according to their race. The Mohe people from the north were all buried alive. Those who could speak Han language were selected to be minor leaders in charge of managing ordinary prisoners.
Although Liaodong City had been captured, Li Shimin still ordered his soldiers to set up camp outside the city, leaving only a small number of troops to guard the city gates to prevent small groups of enemy troops from sneaking into the city at night.
Li Jue had been following Li Shimin for several months and knew the purpose of Li Shimin's arrangement.
This was to prevent the enemy from ambushing the city, and more importantly, to prevent the enemy from poisoning the well water in the city.
However, as they were setting up camp, Li Jue felt uneasy because Xue Shisan and Shan Daozhen had not returned yet.
"Your Highness, shall we send someone to meet you?"
"Old Su, do you think it's necessary to send someone?"
Su Dingfang smiled and shook his head upon hearing this.
"If it were me, I would certainly think it unnecessary. But Xue Shisan and Shan Daozhen are close friends with Your Highness. If Your Highness is too worried, you can still send someone to check on them."
As the two were chatting, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the camp.
The two immediately ran towards the camp gate and, sure enough, saw Xue Shisan and Shan Daozhen running back covered in blood.
"So, have you caught up with the enemy commander yet?"
The two nodded in agreement.
"We caught up, but we were unlucky. We only managed to retrieve the enemy's flag; Xue Rengui took the enemy commander's body..."
"ah?"
"Xue Rengui?"
Li Jue paused for a moment before speaking.
"You two deserved to lose, this guy is a beast..."
"But it's not bad that you two were able to capture the flag. Take a good shower and rest. We may need to rest in Liaodong City for a few days!"
"promise!"
Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo.
After sending reinforcements, Yeon Gaesomun kept a close eye on the news from the front lines. However, to his shock, the 40,000 troops he sent out were driven back so quickly.
Yeon Gaesomun immediately ordered his men to arrest Kim Ji-seong, the commander of the reinforcements.
"You dare to desert your post?"
"Your Excellency, it is not that I am cowardly, but that the Tang army is simply too numerous!"
"many?"
"The Tang army only numbered a few tens of thousands..."
"My lord, the Tang army has at least 100,000 men, and also 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry."
"Before I even reached Liaodong City, we were scattered by the cavalry. It is only thanks to the heavens that I was able to bring these people back!"
"Is that really the case?"
"My lord, if I have uttered even the slightest lie, may I be pierced through the heart by a thousand arrows and die!"
Although Yeon Gaesomun did not believe that the Tang Dynasty could really mobilize such a large army, after interrogating several generals and seeing that everyone insisted that the Tang Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of troops, he could only believe it for the time being.
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