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

Chapter 65: Enabling Su Dingfang

"Your Majesty, what You Pushe said makes sense. Now our dynasty is sending hundreds of thousands of troops to the east to attack Goguryeo, and the northwest defense line is empty. If Xueyantuo takes the opportunity to attack the Hetao area, it will be a great disaster for our dynasty. And without enough troops to garrison, I am afraid it will be another Weishui Alliance."

Chu Suiliang said that his worries were not unreasonable, as the Weishui Alliance in the early Zhenguan period was still vivid in their minds.

The Tang Dynasty now implemented the system of local soldiers. There were more than 1200 prefectures and counties across the country, and each prefecture had about 40 local soldiers. The entire Tang Dynasty mobilized about troops for war.

At the height of the Tang Dynasty's prosperity, the number of government soldiers reached over 60.

Now more than 10 soldiers have been mobilized from various states to fight against Goguryeo. In addition, the border of the Tang Dynasty is long and narrow, especially in the northwest, so a large number of troops have been deployed to guard against the Western Turks.

If Xueyantuo marched south when the Tang Dynasty attacked Goguryeo, it would be a big challenge.

"But it does not rule out that the Xueyantuo, intimidated by the majesty of the Tang Dynasty, dared not offend lightly, but really wanted to contribute and attack Goguryeo together?"

Ma Zhou also spoke up. Xueyantuo has always been known as a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin, who was sitting on the first seat, couldn't help but nodded. What they said was possible.

The Xueyantuo might take advantage of the situation, or they might attack Goguryeo and make a fortune just like they did when they divided up the Eastern Turks.

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian. "Prince, tell me what you think."

"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts." Li Chengqian shouted.

"What the ministers said is all possible, but they are all Xueyantuo's strategies to strengthen themselves. Whether it is attacking the Tang Dynasty or sending troops to Goguryeo, it is profitable for Xueyantuo. In my opinion, if we do not agree to the alliance with Xueyantuo and send troops into the Hetao area, when the Tang Dynasty goes to war with Goguryeo, Xueyantuo will definitely go south."

When Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was on the Eastern Expedition, the Xueyantuo did indeed launch an invasion, so much so that in the last years of Li Shimin's life, he decided to mobilize the entire country's troops to conquer the Xueyantuo in order to help Li Zhi ascend to the throne and completely eliminate the external threat.

Xueyantuo eventually could not escape the fate of being destroyed and became the last national regime destroyed by Li Shimin.

Although it was defeated by the Tang Dynasty, it cannot be said that it was not strong, especially when the Tang Dynasty divided its troops.

Upon hearing this, all the ministers nodded.

The Tang Dynasty does not need external aid to wage war against Goguryeo now, as it has sufficient strength.

"How can our dynasty raise extra troops now?" Changsun Wuji's face looked a little ugly. Even a good cook cannot cook without rice.

He must not be careless when he marches eastward to Goguryeo. The Sui Dynasty was a lesson for him. He should underestimate the enemy strategically, but must take it seriously tactically.

All the soldiers who could be recruited from all over the country were recruited, and even recruitment was carried out among the people.

"No, our dynasty still has a strong army that can be used to resist the Xueyantuo." Li Chengqian shook his head.

"Prince, you are talking about the Turkic cavalry." Li Shimin already had a countermeasure.

Li Jing defeated the Eastern Turks. Although he did not incorporate their territory into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of Eastern Turks were led to the north of the Tang Dynasty.

Population is the greatest resource, and the territory of the Tang Dynasty is so vast that it can support as many people as possible.

The northern grasslands where the Eastern Turks lived were extremely poor in the eyes of the Tang people and they did not want them, so they were given to the Xueyantuo.

The Turkic cavalry was unrivaled in the world, so the Tang Dynasty also established a Turkic cavalry composed entirely of Turks, and its general was Zhishisili.

He is the son-in-law of the emperor and a member of the royal family. He is absolutely loyal to the Li Tang dynasty.

When Li Shimin died, Zhishisili wrote a letter requesting to be buried with him, but was rejected by Li Zhi.

When Li Jing was conquering Tuyuhun, he made great efforts and killed countless enemy leaders.

"That's it. I will order Zhishisi to guard against Xueyantuo."

Li Shimin had been on guard against Xueyantuo from the beginning, and regarded Xueyantuo as a strong enemy of the Tang Dynasty, and always attached great importance to the defense of the north. In the early years, he made a lot of preparations to restore the Eastern Turkic regime and appointed Shilibi Khan Ashina Simo as the new Khan of the Eastern Turkic Khanate, hoping to counter the rise of Xueyantuo. The newly restored Eastern Turkic Khanate also fought many territorial wars with Xueyantuo.

However, the Xueyantuo had already risen, and the newly recovered Eastern Turks were no match for them. After being beaten several times, they ran back to the Tang Dynasty to seek refuge.

When the first plan failed, Li Er came up with another one. He appointed Yinan's two sons as Khans in the name of Tian Khan, hoping to cause internal strife.

Unfortunately, Yinan was also a powerful leader who managed Xueyantuo well and no unrest occurred.

"In addition, I think that Su Lie Su Dingfang should be allowed to lead the northern defense zone. After all, he once followed Duke Weiguo Li Jing to conquer the Eastern Turks and has plenty of experience in fighting cavalry."

Li Chengqian spoke.

At this time in the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang had not yet stepped onto the big stage until famous generals of the time such as Li Ji, Li Daozon and Xue Wanche died one after another.

Su Dingfang had just entered Li Zhi's eyes again. Twenty years after the attack on Eastern Turks, Su Dingfang had just shown his brilliance again.

"Su Dingfang?"

Li Shimin showed a trace of embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, now is a time of national crisis. It is the time to use people. Su Lie and Su Dingfang are capable and can atone for their sins." Xu Jingzong said. It would definitely be right to support the prince.

"Su Dingfang has followed the Duke of Wei in battle for many years and has mastered the essence of warfare. It is time for him to make further achievements. Changsun Wuji also said.

When Su Dingfang defeated the Eastern Turks, he was the vanguard of the army and led 200 elite cavalry to destroy the tent of Jie Li Khan and annihilate the main force of the Turks. Although his contribution was not as great as Li Jing's, he should be ranked in the top five.

But since then, Su Dingfang was neglected and was not employed until Li Zhi came to power.

The reason was simple: it was because Su Dingfang attacked Jie Li Khan's tent.

Because at that time, in addition to Jie Li Khan, there was also a senior official of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Jian, in the yamen.

The cavalry charged forward, surely killing anyone they saw. In addition, it was dark, and they couldn't tell their own people apart, so how could they care about the envoy Tang Jian?

Unfortunately, Tang Jian was not killed and escaped back to Chang'an.

You must know that Tang Jian's mission to Eastern Turkestan was ordered by Li Shimin, and Li Jing had also been notified.

Li Jing saw that the opportunity to fight was rare, so he launched a lightning attack on the Eastern Turks on the pretext that a general was not bound by orders from his king when he was away from home.

Disobeying the emperor's orders and deliberately murdering high-ranking officials in the court are serious crimes, and beheading is the lightest punishment.

After Tang Jian returned to the court, he joined a group of ministers in writing a letter to Li Shimin. The saliva was so spitting that it could flood the Taiji Hall, and the troll Wei Zheng was still there.

Merits are merits, mistakes are mistakes. One cannot disregard the king's orders on the grounds of military achievements. This is disobeying the king's order.

But Li Jing's legs were too thick, and the first person to rush into the tent was the vanguard Su Dingfang.

So Su Dingfang was pinned to the ground and rubbed, and he was also charged with the crimes of disobeying the emperor's orders and premeditated murder.

However, Li Er also knew who the instigator was, so he showed mercy to Su Dingfang and did not kill him.

But because of this, he has been sitting on the bench.

Even if Li Er wanted to be promoted, he would be impeached by officials for disobeying the emperor's orders.

Tang Jian must have been the first to stand up. After all, it was because his ancestral grave was on fire that he escaped Su Dingfang's attack.

(End of this chapter)