The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1215 Entering Tongguan
"Your Highness, Your Excellency the Crown Prince, Your Excellency the Grand Marshal, it is not the Turks who are going to attack Luoyang, but the King of Qi who is rebelling." Zhu Rui said in a terrified and miserable manner.

"What."

Everyone's faces changed, and they all showed expressions of shock. How could this be possible? The King of Qi was a useless prince, and the least favored among the bastards. How could he rebel? What right did he have to rebel? Was he mistaken?
Hou Junji was even more shocked, and he shot a sharp look at Zhu Rui, and ordered in a deep voice: "Give me the military report!"

"Ah, this"

The messenger was obviously hesitant. According to regulations, such an important military report had to be submitted to the Hongwen Hall, and only the heads of the three provinces were qualified to read it.

"Humph!"

Hou Junji said decisively: "I am the current Grand Commandant, responsible for commanding the entire Tang military affairs, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here, so just hand it over. If there is anything, it will naturally be the responsibility of this official and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Yes." Seeing the other party say this, Zhu Rui no longer hesitated, took out his luggage and handed it over.

The family generals took it, unwrapped it, took out the sealed copper letter tube, and handed it to Hou Junji. Hou Junji checked it and found that there was indeed a complete set of seals of Dou Xiaoci, the governor of Luoyang. He tore off the seal without hesitation and pulled out the cotton silk inside.

Just as he was about to unfold it, he noticed that everyone was staring at him intently.

Hou Junji hesitated for a moment, then turned around and held the military report in both hands and handed it to Li Xiang: "Your Highness, please review the military situation."

From this point of view, Hou Junji has indeed matured. Although he is the Grand Commandant and the commander-in-chief appointed by the emperor to take full charge of the war in Shandong, the crown prince is the one with the highest status among those present. If he acts recklessly and on his own, Li Xiang may not care.

When the news got back to the court, he could not escape the criticism that he had no respect for the inferiors and was arrogant and domineering.

Although the civil officials were even more daring and did not take the imperial power seriously, they could not resist the fact that the emperor was good at superficial work. They never said anything but did it, and would not reveal any evidence that could be caught. Unlike the military generals, who were bold and open about everything, they were suppressed by the civil officials everywhere.

After being suppressed for most of this time, Hou Junji has obviously evolved from a pure military general to a civil official.

Li Xiang was stunned for a moment, then he reached out to take it, unfolded it and began to read it.

After a quick glance, Li Xiang's face changed drastically, and he quickly handed the military report back: "Captain, take a look."

"Yes, Your Highness." After the formalities were completed, Hou Junji couldn't wait to open it.

After reading it, Hou Junji was shocked. The situation was more serious than the messenger said. Dou Xiaoci said in the military report that a few days ago, after Qi Wang Li You received the imperial edict ordering him to return to Beijing, he pretended to agree and appeased the eunuch who delivered the edict.

He used elite cavalry to bypass Hulao Pass, tricked the gate open with an imperial edict, and then led the army to occupy this important pass in the south of Luoyang. After that, he colluded with the Right Wise King of the Turks and led the enemy into the pass. The Turks used 5,000 cavalry to raid Luoyang at lightning speed.

Fortunately, Luoyang was well defended and the Turks failed to capture it.

Later, the King of Qi led his army to arrive late and launched a surprise attack from the north, causing chaos among the Turkic cavalry. The Turkic people had no choice but to retreat. Because the King of Qi acted quickly and blocked the information, the civil and military officials in Luoyang did not know what had happened before.

They thought that the elite Turkic cavalry had avoided the Tang army, crossed Hulao Pass from the mountain path, and launched a surprise attack on Luoyang.

After the battle at Luoyang City, the people were not on guard against the King of Qi, and the King of Qi stationed at the foot of Luoyang City on the grounds that he was protecting Luoyang and the army needed to rest. He led a team of his trusted men to enter Luoyang City to rest.

The officials in the city were also anxious to know why the Turks suddenly appeared in Luoyang City, and were about to wait for the King of Qi to enter before questioning them.

Unexpectedly, when entering the city, the King of Qi suddenly attacked and his elite troops seized the city gate.

The defenders were not prepared for this and failed to retake the city gate in time. At this time, the Qi army stationed outside the city took advantage of the situation and attacked the city. Luoyang fell into the hands of the Qi king. Not long after, most of the Turkic cavalry attacked again from a distance.

The ministers then realized that the King of Qi had colluded with the Turks and intended to rebel.

After the King of Qi captured Luoyang, he immediately seized the armory and Luoyang Palace, and the nearly 300,000 coalition troops firmly controlled the city. This military report was also secretly sent by Dou Xiaoci, hoping that the court would respond immediately.

After reading it, Hou Junji was shocked. If others saw this situation, they would think about the King of Qi, but he knew more and unconsciously thought of the person behind the scenes. His first thought was that the emperor had miscalculated, and the King of Qi was unwilling to accept his fate and fought back.

However, after this thought flashed through his mind, he quickly realized that his thinking was wrong. The first time he felt that the emperor had miscalculated was when Shi Luodie rebelled against the Right Wise King. At that time, he thought that the emperor had returned to the Central Plains and found a puppet to stabilize the situation. Shi Luodie might have discovered this, so he took this opportunity to regain the dominance of the Turkic Khanate.

Later facts proved that it was just a deception planned by the emperor in order to prepare for the Turkic army's southward advance.

What about this time? Is this another premeditated plot by the emperor?
Hou Junji then smiled bitterly in his heart. No wonder the emperor was so happy in front of Changsun Wuji and Zhang Xuansu in his house a few days ago, and seemed to be very eager for him to come out of retirement.

It turns out that changes are waiting for me here?
As the only person who knew the inside story besides the emperor, he felt something was wrong. The emperor had made so many mistakes, and more than 200,000 people died in the Hengling battle alone. Later, another 300,000 people were trapped in the heart of the Tang Dynasty.

In less than a year, 500,000 Turkic cavalry were annihilated, leaving only 50,000 or 60,000 remnants. Was it just to get rid of 200,000 Longxi flying cavalry after spending such a huge price?
He would have thought so half a year ago, but after half a year of fermentation, he has seen clearly that the emperor wants to eliminate the influence of the aristocratic families in the Central Plains. Dividing the land is a reshuffle to allow more people to break free from the control of the aristocratic families.

Becoming a self-cultivating citizen of the Tang Dynasty laid the foundation for expanding the tax source for the court.

But the problem is that the Turks have almost been wiped out, and the remaining troops cannot make a big wave. As long as the last Turkic force is defeated, without the restraint of the opposing forces, how can the results of the land distribution in several places in Shandong be consolidated?

This was also the reason why he didn't want to come out before, because the time had not yet come and the situation was still unclear. If he came out at this time, he would only lose but not win. If he wiped out the remaining Turks in a whirlwind, the nobles would use the power of the court to return.

The people were in disarray, and faced with the dual pressures of the aristocracy and imperial power, they were completely unable to resist, and they had to hand back the land they had taken over.

This obviously did not fit in with the emperor's plan, but the emperor did not summon him to discuss the situation in person. So Hou Junji was worried and slowly headed towards Tongguan.

He never expected that a change would be waiting for him here. Sure enough, things turned out just as he had guessed. The Turks had already completed the first half of the game and were unable to continue. The King of Qi, Li You, rose up again, took over the banner, and began a new mission.

The Turks had previously used simple and crude methods to clear the way, and they had already accomplished the main task. What remained was the delicate work. Only our own people could do this, to consolidate the people's fields and squeeze the space of the nobles as much as possible.

Apart from anything else, it is impossible for the Turks to organize the people and protect the achievements, so it is just right for the King of Qi to take action.

After thinking this through, Hou Junji breathed a sigh of relief. This was the right way to go, as it was consistent with his understanding of the situation.

As for whether the King of Qi was following the Emperor's orders, Hou Junji had no doubts. Rebellion would never end well, and the King of Qi was not a stubborn man; he would not follow orders.

So, the emperor had someone close to the King of Qi, and he took advantage of the King of Qi's ambition and went with the flow. Hou Junji suddenly remembered that when the princes went to their fiefs a few years ago, the King of Qi was sick and refused to go, but the emperor did not urge him, but was very generous.

He smiled bitterly. It turned out that at that time, the King of Qi had already been targeted by the Emperor.

With such an important mission, I'm afraid that even if the King of Qi wants to go to his fiefdom, he will be delayed by various things!
The King of Qi is ambitious but incompetent, and has a shallow foundation in the court. He is a character who is not loved by his elders or his uncles. It is just right for him to do such a thing, and he will not encounter any trouble in dealing with it afterwards. It is really a good calculation!
After figuring out all of this, Hou Junji immediately realized that he would not be able to leave Tongguan this time. The show was about to begin and he couldn't get involved.

"General, General"

Li Xiang's shouting woke up Hou Junji who was lost in thought. He woke up and saw that everyone was looking at him with concern. He said quickly: "Your Highness, please forgive me. The incident in Luoyang caught me off guard and I was a little distracted."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Xiang waved his hand generously and asked seriously, "The King of Qi has rebelled. I'm afraid it won't be possible for us to go to Luoyang with so few people. What should we do next?"

"Don't panic, Your Highness." Hou Junji thought for a moment, closed the military report in his hand, put it back into the mailbox, and then asked his servant to bring his seal.

He resealed it and then handed it to the messenger.

He summoned another general and ordered him, "You lead 200 cavalrymen to escort the messenger all the way to Chang'an, and then go to the palace in person to meet the emperor. Tell him that the military situation has changed, and that the prince and I have already read the military reports. Now we will lead the army to rush to Tongguan to strengthen the defense."

"Do you still want to obey the previous order and go out to fight the enemy? You must ask the emperor for permission again."

"Yes, I respect your order." The military order was as heavy as a mountain. The generals bowed and responded, and hurriedly called the troops together. From the messenger's words, the generals knew that something big had happened in Shandong again, and it would affect the deployment of the court.

Afterwards, a team was sent back to Chang'an, while the rest of the army accelerated and headed towards Tongguan.

(End of this chapter)