Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 61: The Great Tang Dynasty had many generals, and none of them had not destroyed a country.

"I know what you are worried about." Li Shimin laughed, his laughter was full of confidence and majesty.

Everyone looked up at Li Shimin, with confusion and expectation in their eyes.

"What you are worried about is that the crown prince is ignorant and will arbitrarily command the military and political affairs, leading to a great defeat." Li Shimin directly pointed out everyone's concerns.

Hearing this, several people remained silent, but their eyes showed their approval of Li Shimin's words.

"Li Ji, Li Daozon, Zhang Jian and Zhangsun Wuji, you are all veterans of battles. If you think the prince's orders are unreasonable, you can completely ignore them. If they are appropriate, you can adopt them." Li Shimin's tone was firm and decisive.

He believed that these generals had enough experience to judge whether the prince's orders were reasonable and make the right decisions.

"The prince is in charge of the central army not to fight in the battlefield, but more to boost morale," Li Shimin continued.

As the future emperor, the prince's personal presence on the battlefield can boost morale to the greatest extent and demonstrate the royal majesty and determination.

After hearing this, several people stopped talking since they had the right to make the decision.

They understood Li Shimin's intentions and were willing to support his decision.

Everyone knows that Li Shimin intended to cultivate the prestige of Crown Prince Li Chengqian in the army.

As long as the prince doesn't give blind orders, can't the four kings lead a black iron auxiliary?

In fact, many people may have some misunderstandings about Li Daozon. He can be regarded as an unparalleled general who has been fighting all his life. He conquered a lot of territory in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He is not the foolish old prince.

Among the Li clan, Li Daozon's military exploits were second only to Li Er.

The plan defeated Liu Wuzhou and captured Jie Li Khan of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate alive.

After Li Jing passed away, when Li Shimin entrusted his son to Li Zhi, he said that Li Ji, Li Daozon and Xue Wanche were the cornerstones of the Tang army and that the three of them could handle any battle.

In addition, Li Daozon's status as a member of the royal family undoubtedly provided the greatest help to Li Zhi and was the most solid backing for the royal family.

Changsun Wuji made a big fuss about Fang Yiai's case of treason and brought down Li Daozon, Xue Wanche and Li Ke.

From then on, Changsun Wuji was able to dominate the government. Even when Li Zhi begged Changsun Wuji to spare Li Daozon and Li Ke, Changsun Wuji refused.

This also laid the groundwork for the future fate of the Changsun clan.

This shows how important Li Daozon was to the Tang Dynasty. He was an unparalleled general and a prince loyal to the Li Dynasty, rather than an incompetent and foolish rebel.

Also slandered was Zhang Shigui, who was also a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, an aide to the Prince of Qin's Palace, good at riding and shooting, and a fierce general. When Xuanwu Gate came to power, Zhang Shigui's role should not be underestimated.

Among the six major battles in Li Shimin's career, Zhang Shigui participated in four and made outstanding achievements in all of them.

Li Shimin was not a foolish ruler. He was a general of heaven and emperor of the Tang Dynasty who was good at governing both civil and military affairs and knew how to use people well.

The fact that he chose Zhang Shigui as the vanguard from among countless generals is enough to explain everything.

"But do you have any questions?"

Li Shimin suppressed all dissenting voices.

"Your Majesty, I think Zhang Liang is not qualified to be the commander-in-chief of the Pyongyang Road Army."

Li Chengqian said.

Everyone's eyes lit up. After working together for many years, Zhang Liang did not have much ability. His current achievements were all because he took the right path, not because of his own ability.

He was promoted by Li Ji in the early stage, and later accidentally participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident and became a loyal minister.

When fighting against Goguryeo, because of his cowardice, although there were frequent reports of victories in the Liaodong campaign, his navy could not move forward, which thwarted Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin's plan to attack Goguryeo by land and sea.

It ultimately resulted in an undefeated defeat.

"Then who do you think can take on this important task, Prince?"

Li Shimin naturally knew the abilities of the peasant Zhang Liang, but there was no one else available to use him.

Moreover, Li Shimin also felt that it was inconvenient to let Zhang Liang be the commander of the navy, because Zhang Liang had reported Hou Junji's rebellion and was hostile to Crown Prince Li Chengqian. Such a relationship was very delicate in the army.

He once served in Xiangzhou and was a man of Wei Wang Li Tai. However, he was smooth and cunning. After seeing that Li Tai's privileges were revoked, he distanced himself from Wei Wang's Palace and was not implicated in Wei Wang's rebellion. He is still alive and well today.

"Liu Rengui, the Imperial Censor!" Li Chengqian said.

Li Shimin had an impression that a few years ago, a lowly official risked his life to give him advice.

Li Shimin was grateful for his loyalty and efforts for the country, so he promoted him to the position of Shi Zhong. This minor official was Liu Rengui.

He can do his job well, but is it okay for him to lead the navy?
Moreover, the jump in official position is too big, which can be regarded as cross-industry operation. He is a minister of remonstration, but you let him be the commander of the navy.

Li Shimin shook his head, thinking it was totally wrong.

He didn't know that Liu Rengui led the navy and defeated 40,000 Japanese troops with only 10,000 navy soldiers at the mouth of the Han River, which kept the Japanese, which had been living a good life, in check for hundreds of years.

It was also in this battle that the Japanese pirates were turned into little fans of the Tang Dynasty and sent envoys to submit to the Tang.

At the same time, the rekindled fire of Baekje was put out.

Under the intimidation of Liu Rengui, a number of powerful coastal countries such as Silla, Baekje, and Japan all knelt down.

During the Tang Dynasty, no one could match him in naval combat.

"This is inappropriate. Liu Rengui has never been on the battlefield in person."

Li Shimin disagreed.

As for the other generals, they had no idea who this man named Liu Rengui was.

The quality is too low to be worthy of your attention.

"If you all have no problems, go down and prepare." Li Shimin said again.

Although the army will be deployed next year, the appointed commanders will now go to various places to make preparations.

The Tang Dynasty still practices the military system, where all soldiers are farmers. They are soldiers in wartime and farmers in peacetime.

But not everyone can become a soldier. The Tang Dynasty divided people into nine classes. The lower three classes were not allowed to serve in the military. They could only do farm work. Even if you wanted to go and die, it depended on whether your rank was high enough.

Such soldiers were scattered all over the country, with only about one thousand soldiers in each place. It would take time to gather them all together.

At the same time, new soldiers were recruited to make up for the consumption.

When launching a military operation, there are many things that need to be prepared in advance.

Several people retreated, but Li Chengqian did not leave, but stayed in the Liangyi Hall.

"Do you value Liu Rengui because he comes from a poor family? Is he a force that can rival the great families?"

Li Shimin asked him that it would be impossible to hand over the important task of an army to a civil servant who could only write without an important reason.

"No, what I value is his military talent!"

With such ability, Li Chengqian would recommend someone even if he was from a big clan, just like Pei Xingjian.

The disaster of a clan is a disaster for a group of people, not for one person.

However, the outcome of a battle can be affected by the command of one person.

"What military talent does he have? He has never even been on the battlefield." Li Shimin was stunned.

"Not only because of this, Your Majesty also doesn't know whether he really has military talent?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said that Liu Rengui really reached the peak as soon as he debuted.

When Li Zhi was in power, he launched the most foreign wars, so much so that he had no generals to send. Seeing that Liu Rengui, who was good at writing, was still idle, he asked him to lead troops to quell the rebellion in Baekje. Liu Rengui became famous in one battle, won battles one after another, and was finally appointed prime minister.

(End of this chapter)