The hot potato of quelling the rebellion ultimately fell into the hands of Li Jingyu, the Minister of War.
After the court session ended, Li Jingyu sighed repeatedly, feeling utterly overwhelmed with worry.
Fortunately, Li Jingyu was a quick-witted person. Before all the civil and military officials left the Golden Palace, he kept several dukes and other ministers from various departments behind and went to the Ministry of War's office for tea and discussion.
In the Ministry of War's council hall, as soon as everyone was seated, Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, hurriedly and humbly sought advice from the Duke and other ministers present.
Li Jingyu said, "Dukes and Ministers, you cannot stand idly by and watch us perish this time. His Majesty has entrusted the Ministry of War with the entire responsibility of suppressing the Prince of Jin's rebellion, and I, as the Minister of War, feel immense pressure."
"Tell me, with royal brothers fighting amongst themselves, what kind of situation is it for me, an outsider, to take on this hot potato?!"
"However, the Emperor's decree is not to be disobeyed. Since I am the Minister of War appointed by the Emperor himself, I should shoulder the responsibilities of this position."
"But then again, the target of the rebellion that the Ministry of War is tasked with suppressing is the current emperor's younger brother, the first prince of the Tang Dynasty. This puts me in a difficult position, like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog!"
Ha ha!
Minister of War Li Jingyu's self-deprecating remarks immediately drew laughter from the dukes and ministers present.
In this way, the tense atmosphere inside the Ministry of War's council hall was somewhat relieved.
Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei said with a smile, "Lord Li, and all the other dukes and ministers, let me say a few words—"
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped drinking their tea and listened attentively to the words of Chang Yuchun, the Duke of Wei, who was the head of the six dukes of the Tang Dynasty.
Chang Yuchun spoke slowly and deliberately: "You all, like me, owe your positions to the Emperor's grace, placing you second only to him and revered by all."
"As a subject, it is my duty to relieve the emperor's worries and solve his problems!"
After a pause, Chang Yuchun continued, "Now that such a thing has happened to the Tang Dynasty, we, as its subjects, should step forward to share the Emperor's burdens."
"I am a few years older than you all, and I have been fortunate enough to be appointed by the Emperor as the head of the Six Dukes. So I will take the liberty of speaking here. Let's not hold back and work together to come up with a plan to quell the rebellion as soon as possible."
"If we formulate a plan to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, the imperial army can set off for Goguryeo sooner, and the initiative in the development of the situation can be firmly in the hands of the Emperor and the court."
"Otherwise, if Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin, who has returned to the Goguryeo Peninsula ahead of others, gains a foothold in the Goguryeo capital and uses seditious words to incite the 500,000 Tang troops remaining on the Goguryeo Peninsula to rebel, we will be in a passive position!"
After speaking, Chang Yuchun was the first to express his opinion, saying, "Gentlemen, I propose that the vanguard commander for this expedition to quell the rebellion in Goguryeo be Lan Yu, the Marquis of Anxi, who has returned from the western expedition—"
"As for the commander-in-chief, if the Ministry of War really can't find a suitable candidate, then let me, the Duke, take up arms and lead the troops!"
Whoosh!
These words shocked everyone present.
Seeing that Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei had volunteered to take command, the others also hurriedly expressed their opinions and pooled their wisdom and efforts.
Naval Admiral Qi Jiguang declared, "Duke of Wei, my naval officers and soldiers are also willing to serve on the battlefield. There are still dozens of naval warships at the docks outside Jinling City, ready to be dispatched at any time to sail to the Goguryeo Peninsula."
Duke Wang Jian of Qin also rose and said, "Gentlemen, there are still over 100,000 troops stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula for the eastern expedition, who can be readily deployed to support the imperial army's suppression of the rebellion."
Minister of Works Hu Zhijun hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Excellencies, Minister, our Ministry of Works' Firearms Bureau has just produced improved versions of the Red-Clad Cannon and the Three-Eyed Divine Gun. Their power is several times that of the Tang army currently equipped with them, and they can be deployed to the army suppressing the rebellion at any time."
"My lords..."
In an instant, the vast council hall of the Ministry of War became lively.
Under the leadership of Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei, everyone began to pool their wisdom and offer suggestions, expressing their views on suppressing the rebellion without reservation.
Furthermore, a systematic review was conducted of the human, financial, and material resources that the imperial court could mobilize.
You don't know until you take a look, and once you do, you'll be shocked by what you find.
Although the Tang Dynasty had only been established for a year, its national strength was already terrifyingly powerful.
In the past year, the Tang Dynasty enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests, with grain production reaching record highs in various regions.
Encouraged by the new policies of Zhaowu, trade and commerce flourished in various regions. Even though tax revenue was only half that of the previous dynasty, the overall base grew exponentially, bringing abundant tax revenue to the Tang Dynasty's treasury.
Furthermore, although the Tang Dynasty had been engaged in "eastern and western campaigns" in the past year, it had also fought in two separate places.
However, the actual "military expenditure" was extremely low, and the Tang Dynasty even developed through continuous warfare.
All of this can be attributed to Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an's [Born to be an Emperor] system;
As long as the war continues, troops, provisions and weapons can be obtained from the system in a continuous stream. If the war is regarded as a business, the cost of the Tang Dynasty to wage war on all sides is almost zero.
However, the spoils and supplies obtained in the war brought a considerable income to the Tang Dynasty.
Take, for example, the Tang Dynasty's epic struggle against the Arab Empire in the Western Regions. The number of horses captured alone exceeded 300,000, and the gold, silver, jewels, supplies, and provisions were countless.
This battle alone against the Arab Empire brought the Tang Dynasty a fortune.
These accounts, which were not usually taken into account, were taken seriously once they were, and they immediately gave the five dukes and six ministers in the Ministry of War's council hall a great shock.
The first thought that came to mind was, when did this imperial court become so wealthy?
With strong logistical support, quelling the rebellion of the Prince of Jin seems to have become much simpler and easier.
After all, no matter what, Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin only occupied a corner of the Goguryeo Peninsula (in reality, he did not occupy the entire Goguryeo, since it was impossible for all 500,000 Tang troops to be loyal to Chen Longxiang and fight against the court, and Prince Gaozang, who was entrenched in the primitive forests of Afeihu Ridge, might not be willing to collude with Chen Longxiang).
When the Prince of Jin rebelled, his only trump card was himself.
However, no matter how brave Chen Longxiang was, he was still just a mortal. To think that he could fight against the entire Tang Dynasty, this war machine, all by himself was nothing short of a pipe dream.
As long as the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who are suppressing the rebellion are united, with the support of the red-coated cannons and three-eyed guns of the Divine Machine Battalion, they will have no trouble destroying Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin!
Thus, with the combined wisdom and efforts of the five dukes and six ministers of the Tang Dynasty, and after three days and three nights of tireless deliberation, the final decision was made at the morning court on the sixth day of the first month of the first year of Zhaowu.
Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, delivered a lengthy strategy document of over ten thousand words to Emperor Zhaowu, Chen Huai'an.
This strategy document details all the aspects of the imperial court's eastern expedition to quell the rebellion, including the number of troops, the marching route, logistical supplies, personnel allocation among different branches of the army, and the selection of the commander-in-chief and the vanguard generals.
When Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huai'an looked at the memorial from the Ministry of War, the list of commanders-in-chief was none other than Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei, and the list of the first vanguard commanders was Marquis Lan Yu of Anxi.
Furthermore, Qi Jiguang, the Admiral of the Navy and Duke of Dingguo, was appointed as the vanguard of the waterway; Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin, was appointed as the vanguard of the land route.
Even when Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Han, decided to personally go to the Goguryeo Peninsula to persuade the Tang army stationed there to turn back before it was too late, I couldn't help but feel a tremor in my heart.
He thought to himself: The historical legendary generals produced by this system are still the most reliable!
To deal with Chen Longxiang, the Prince of Jin, who was "still wet behind the ears," four of the five dukes of the Tang Dynasty were mobilized (Pang Xianchu, the Duke of Jin, was unable to go because he had official duties to lead the court to move the capital north to Chang'an). Several marquises and earls also volunteered to serve as deputy generals to accompany him.
This move is truly like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!
Chen Huai'an immediately picked up his pen and wrote an instruction on the Ministry of War's memorial: "The army to quell the rebellion shall immediately assemble and set off for the Goguryeo Peninsula to suppress the rebellion."
As for how to deal with Prince Chen Longxiang during the suppression of the rebellion, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but recall the scene of his mother, Empress Xu Ruoyun, crying with red eyes and begging him to spare his younger brother Longxiang's life no matter what.
Finally, he personally sought out Duke Chang Yuchun of Wei and instructed him: "Duke Chang Yuchun, in this campaign to quell the rebellion, the priority should be a swift and decisive victory."
"If Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin remains obstinate and insists on fighting the army to the death, he may be executed on the spot."
"If we can capture him alive during the campaign, we will bring him back to the capital to await his judgment."
As he spoke, Chen Huai'an patted Chang Yuchun on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "Whether he lives or dies depends entirely on the Duke of Wei's discretion."
"I hereby entrust this matter entirely to the Duke!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty obeys the decree—"
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