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Chapter 657 Dingxiang Road Marching Commander
When Cheng Yaojin saw the prince's confident face, he immediately understood that the emperor might have just begun to plan this matter in his mind, and perhaps only a few key ministers like Fang Xuanling knew about it, and no final decision had been made yet.

The prince is at the core, serving the emperor every day, so he must have heard something, right?
Cheng Yaojin immediately felt the benefit of joining the prince. This was equivalent to having his own people in the core of power in the Tang Dynasty and Chengqing Palace. The prince could inform him of any disturbance in the court at the first time, and he would have the upper hand everywhere.

This kind of thing, once everyone knows about it, is basically settled.

The so-called discussion without decision, decision without discussion.

The appointment of officials also has its own rules. For example, the emperor would release a military position like the General of the Left Tunwei and the General of the Yifu Palace, which is not a high-ranking position and has little influence, and let everyone discuss it. This is to let the prince and the king of Shu fight for the position without worrying about damaging the harmony, because the emperor wanted the two to fight each other.

However, the matter of the Dingxiang Road camp was of great importance, so the opposite approach had to be taken. It had always been decided by the emperor alone, without allowing the ministers to discuss it. Once it was announced to the public, the chief commander of the army had been determined in order to avoid disputes among the generals and damage to the harmony.

This means that the commander-in-chief of the army has not been decided yet. Since the prince said this in front of him, it was definitely not to let him know in advance and celebrate for others.

Thinking of this, Cheng Yaojin said excitedly: "Your Highness, to be honest with you, I have been working in the frontier for years, and I really know very little about the affairs in Chang'an."

After saying this, he looked at Li Yan eagerly, his inner thoughts were self-evident.

"It's no wonder that the general didn't know. In fact, Father only had this idea recently and hasn't finalized it yet."

Li Yan smiled and explained, "In fact, the root of the matter lies with my third brother. Didn't he go to Suizhou more than a month ago?"

"After I came back, I told my father that the Tang Dynasty borders the Turks for thousands of miles, and the distance between the border and Chang'an is too far. Once the Turks invade, each prefecture will fight on its own, and we will be defeated by the Turks one by one."

"It would be better to divide the border towns into several routes, select a general who has fought for a long time in the court as the marching commander, and unify the troops of the border towns to concentrate on responding to the invasion of the Turks."

"Although the emperor had concerns and did not adopt all of the King of Shu's suggestions, he also intended to set up a defense in Dingxiang to see the effect, thinking of the war that was about to begin."

Li Yan said with a disapproving look on his face, "Then my father tried to find out who would be the chief steward. My third brother overestimated his own abilities and unceremoniously suggested that the Right Guard General Yuchi Jingde be appointed as the chief steward."

"Uh"

"It's him again"

Hearing this, Cheng Yaojin's face suddenly turned dark, and his palms unconsciously clenched into fists. He cursed in his heart, "Li Ke is really a piece of shit. At that time, his son was still following him, and he once took a risk for him and offended the prince."

Now that he had encountered such a good thing, he did not even consider himself, but pushed the blame onto Yuchi Laohei, and he kept it secret so well that not a single word of it leaked out.

During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Yuchi Gong was the one who took the spotlight. Why did he get all the good things? Was it because he was not one of the nine generals at Xuanwu Gate?
Thinking of this, Cheng Yaojin's expression froze. He was already so angry that he felt like he was going to explode. He forced an ugly smile on his face and said bitterly, "Yuchi Jingde is a close minister of the emperor. He is brave in battle and has made outstanding contributions. How can we compare ourselves with him?"

"Humph!"

Li Yan complained without any scruples: "My third brother is really greedy. He is not satisfied with Chai Shao and the general, and now he is trying to win over Yuchi Gong."

"Does he think I don't know what he wants to do?"

"He went to Huanzhou and met a large number of frontier soldiers. He submitted this memorial after returning. He was trying to bribe important frontier generals and win over their hearts. He also spread rumors in the capital to build momentum for himself and seek my position as the Crown Prince."

Seeing that Li Yan was speechless, Cheng Yaojin looked around hurriedly. On the one hand, he lamented that the Crown Prince did not treat him as an outsider, and on the other hand, he was a little scared. The Crown Prince's current behavior was not as brotherly and respectful as in the court!
"Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. Old Cheng is not the King of Shu's man."

But the meaning of Li Yan's words made him unable to sit still any longer, and he quickly explained: "This old minister has never dealt with the King of Shu, although he is determined to harass our Huai Liang. But in order to avoid idleness, this old minister has been fighting on the front line with his two adult sons since the early years of Zhenguan, just to avoid them from contacting the King of Shu."

"When Suizhou fell, Huailiang was still with me, but I didn't expect that the King of Shu was so cunning. He used the position of General of the Left Guard as bait to lure Huailiang, a young and ignorant man, back to Chang'an." "Humph, if it weren't for this, Huailiang wouldn't have suffered such a disaster. Half of the responsibility for Huailiang's accident should be placed on the King of Shu. I didn't bother with him because of the emperor and the prince. Otherwise, I would never let him go."

Seeing Cheng Yaojin anxiously clearing himself, Li Yan looked satisfied: "I believe the general. Besides, the general came to the East Palace to visit me today and sent Huai Bi to the East Palace to accompany me. I already know the general's intentions!"

As expected, among the children of the royal family, none of them are easy to deal with.
Cheng Yaojin nodded helplessly, and then thought of the position of the Dingxiang Road Marching General Manager, and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, Lao Hei and I are actually comrades-in-arms. It doesn't matter who becomes the general manager. I don't have any ambitions. Now I can be the main general of a region, and I am already satisfied..."

Li Yan listened to Cheng Yaojin saying something that he himself did not believe, and smiled in his heart. He calmly refuted: "General, you are wrong!"

Seeing Cheng Yaojin's puzzled look, Li Yan explained, "In fact, I admire all the generals, and I have no opinion on General Yuchi."

"But to be fair, General Yuchi is usually highly valued by my father and appointed as the General of the Right Guard, in charge of half of the troops of the Sixteen Guards. He has great authority and sits in Chang'an, enjoying peace in the heart of the Tang Dynasty."

"But the general has been fighting against the Turks at the border in the face of wind and rain, defending the border for the country. Now a war is about to begin, and he has finally managed to defend this desolate frontier before this great opportunity arises. If the Dingxiang Road is not established, then it's fine. If it is established, instead of selecting from the border generals, the generals who are enjoying peace in the back will be sent to the front line to pick peaches."

"General, as a general in the border area, you have been guarding the border for three consecutive years. Now you want to give the credit to others. Can you swallow this loss?"

"Can the other soldiers feel at ease?"

After Li Yan said this, Cheng Yaojin also looked embarrassed and his expression became even uglier. Yes, why is it that we usually have to guard the border in the wind and sand, but when it comes to taking advantage, we give it to Yuchi Jingde. We have to wait for him to pick the peaches and then return to Beijing to enjoy ourselves. This is so fucking unfair?
Instead of fighting for bread, you fight for face. This is too bullying!

"And General, are you confused?"

Li Yan saw Cheng Yaojin's face becoming more and more gloomy, and he was happy in his heart. He continued to incite: "I want to ask you, if the war between my Tang Dynasty and the Turks begins, who will take on the position of commander-in-chief?"

Cheng Yaojin was stunned. He had thought about these things a lot and had already figured them out. So he said without hesitation, "For a war that concerns the fate of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor will most likely lead the army himself. If the emperor wants to stay in Chang'an, then the position of commander-in-chief must go to the Duke of Weiguo."

This was also the consensus of all the generals at the front, so Cheng Yaojin had nothing to hide.

"Hold on!"

Li Yan slapped the table excitedly and reminded: "General, think about it. Dingxiang Road is the front line of the war. It is far away from the location of the Turkic Jie Li Yazhang. Once the war starts, it will be the most important logistics base for the collection of troops, money and food. The Dingxiang Road marching commander will naturally be the deputy commander of the front line of the war."

"Such an important position and such a great contribution, General, don't you care?"

In the original drama, it was because this Dingxiang Road marching commander was captured by Yuchi Jingde, so he naturally became Li Jing's deputy commander. As a result, Yuchi Jingde became too proud of himself on the front line, showed off his seniority, and refused to listen to Li Ji's advice, resulting in the loss of Muyangling.

In the end, not only was he dismissed from his post, but the Tang soldiers paid a greater price, with countless casualties, before they recaptured Muyangling.

Li Yan personally felt that Li Shimin was immature in appointing Yuchi Gong. He only saw Yuchi Gong's loyalty and bravery, but ignored his talents, which led to mistakes in the battle and his withdrawal to Chang'an. Not only did Yuchi Gong lose face, but Li Shimin was also embarrassed. The consequences of the first battle that frustrated the army and the decision to change orders every day indirectly affected the emperor's prestige.

Well.
Cheng Yaojin's mind suddenly started to buzz as if struck by a thunder.

Yes!

How come I didn't expect that the commander-in-chief of the Dingxiang Road Army was so important. He not only had the management rights of military affairs in the Dingxiang and Yunzhong areas, but also was related to the command of the upcoming war.

If he could accept losing the position of Dingxiang Road's military commander, he could not afford to lose the deputy commander of the Northern Expedition. This was his chance to rise again and catch up with Yuchi Gong. If he missed it again, who knew when the next war in the Tang Dynasty would come after this one.

Maybe I am too old to lift a knife anymore, and this is how my life will be.
Besides, the status of these generals in the army is not only based on their personal prestige, but each of them has a faction under him, and his brothers are all waiting for him to fight for the opportunity to make meritorious service for them.
(End of this chapter)