Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 221 The counterattack of the scumbags
"Tell the truth! Where did you hide His Majesty?"

In the central army camp after the war, Li Shiji non-stop interrogated the highest-ranking "prisoner" in the prisoner-of-war camp:

That is, Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia in the Tang Dynasty.

The shameless sneak attack by the Xueyantuo, Turks and Shiwei did not cause much damage to this powerful Tang army.

It's just the difference between being tickled by one flea or by three fleas.

It was just an incident that happened to tickle everyone's itch -

The emperor and the prince are missing.

It is unknown whether he is dead or alive, captured or has escaped.

do not know anything.

This made Li Shiji, the commander-in-chief of the war, feel a chill down his spine.

"You said it or not!"

Li Shiji, who had always been mature and prudent, could no longer hold back and questioned the prince of the royal family in a stern voice.

As soon as the war ended, he immediately arrested Li Daozon.

There is no other reason.

The Turks suddenly betrayed, so the Tang envoy who had been with the Turks for more than half a year was naturally suspected.

How is it possible that this guy was completely unaware of the Turkic people's rebellious intentions and was kept in the dark just like these outsiders? !
I'm afraid they have colluded with the Turks a long time ago!

"I...I really don't know."

Li Daozon was also numb.

He was not tortured, as Li Shiji gave him the respect that a member of the royal family deserved.

But Li Daozon himself knew that the current preferential treatment was only temporary.

If the huge pot of "colluding with foreign enemies to assassinate the emperor" was put on his head.

Sooner or later, he and his family will be chopped into small pieces and made into臊子 (Li Shimin's relationship with Li Daozon is actually more distant than his relationship with Yang Guang).

In comparison, "accidentally losing the emperor" is much lighter, just a scar the size of a bowl.

Therefore, this pot must not be taken.

“Who are you kidding!”

Li Shiji asked angrily:

"You stayed in Ashina Simo's tribe for a full six months! What did you do during this period?"

"Park Chang."

Li Daozon answered very straightforwardly.

Li Shiji paused.

"Fighting, drinking, Park Chang, these are the only three things I do, so I don't know if the Turks are planning something behind my back."

Li Dao Zong confessed.

Li Shiji slowly closed his eyes and rubbed his temple angrily.

He almost forgot.

Because the name of another royal family general Li Xiaogong, "Seven-Star Ladybug", was too famous, it overshadowed Li Daozon's great "reputation".

Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia, was also quite "accomplished" in drinking and sex, and was also dismissed from office and investigated for corruption.

Why say "also"...

"General Manager." The corrupt criminal Hou Junji stood in front of the emotional Li Shiji and implicitly protected Li Daozong behind him:
“We can discuss accountability later. Our top priority right now is to search for the whereabouts of Your Majesty and the Crown Prince.

"After all, you have to see people when you're alive, right?"

Li Shiji pursed his lips and stared at the duo of corrupt officials and fourteen traitors who were in cahoots with each other in a rather unfriendly manner.

At this point, his future is ruined.

Even if His Majesty returns to the camp safely, putting His Majesty in danger is a responsibility that he, as the commander-in-chief of the army, cannot shirk.

And if that happens, Your Majesty will be in trouble.

Then he has to follow.

Therefore, he wished he could eat Li Daozon's flesh alive.

Even the traitor Hou Junji who was sheltering him was eaten alive.

But reason restrained his impulse to lose his temper.

We still have to rely on these fourteen traitors to do the work.

Ta-da-da...The sound of horse hooves rang out, and Xue Wanche led a team of light cavalry back to the camp.

Li Shiji looked at it hopefully, then looked away in disappointment.

Xue Wanche's face was full of "nothing gained".

Not only did they fail to find the two saints, they didn't even find any clues.

At that time, when the Tang army rushed back to the base camp like crazy, they only found a pile of ownerless corpses.

The good news is that most of them are enemy corpses, and the royal father and son are not among them.

The bad news is that the traces are so confusing that it is impossible to tell which is the Tang army's retreat route.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that the Xueyantuo were also confused about Li Shimin's whereabouts, and attacked in all directions.

"Damn it! The Tiele people are really good at running away. We failed to annihilate Zhenzhu Khan's army. We will be scolded when we go back!"

Xue Wanche became furious when he thought of the nomads running around like cockroaches.

"The problem is that the Xueyantuo were not annihilated? The problem is Your Majesty... Oh, forget it!"

Li Shiji couldn't get along with these three or fourteen traitors, so he left.

After the Jin Wang party member walked away, Hou Junji whispered to Li Daozong and gave him a thumbs up:
"The prince is indeed wise, and came up with such a brilliant plan."

Li Dao Zong was confused: "? What's the trick?"

"Oh! Why are you pretending to be so arrogant in front of me?" Hou Junji nudged him with his elbow:
"Didn't you conspire with the Turks to give His Majesty and Li Chengqian to that guy, and then let our Regent His Highness Li Ming, that... legitimate successor to the throne?"

"What?!"

Li Daozong's eyes widened immediately, and he rushed over to cover the old man's big mouth. He looked around and made sure that only Xue Wanche, his own man, was around. Then he said in a low and hurried voice:
"You are crazy! How could I do such a crazy thing!"

Seeing Li's sincere eyes, Hou Junji's expression suddenly dimmed:

"If you weren't the mastermind behind this...

"It's bad, there are bad guys in Chang'an, His Highness Li Ming is in danger!"

"What what? What happened?"

Li Daozon was totally confused and felt like he had missed reading more than a hundred chapters.

After all, he had been away from the political center of Chang'an for more than half a year, and had only been focusing on Puchang, north of the Great Wall. His understanding of political struggles could no longer keep up with the latest developments.

Xue Wanche could not interrupt the conversation between the two smart people. He stood aside idly, looking up at the sky in the south of the desert, muttering:
"How should I explain to His Highness how badly I have caused such a disaster..."

Before he finished speaking, no one spoke suddenly.

Xue Wanche turned his gaze back and found that Li Daozon and Hou Junji were looking at him intently.

"That's right, I have to write a letter to inform His Highness!"

…………

Li Shiji sat in the tent, looking at the paper and pen on the table with a sad face.

The emperor was lost by himself. According to the rules, such a major event should be reported to His Royal Highness the Regent.

But, I really don’t want to…

I am not His Highness Li Ming's direct descendant, and I have done such a big thing. Not only did I help His Highness Li Ming get promoted, but I also gave him a chance to show his "filial piety" -

What? You, Li Shiji, actually killed my father? Come on, drag him down and chop him off!

If His Highness Li Ming takes the throne, Hou Junji, Xue Wanche, and even Li Daozon will be able to land safely.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, I must take the blame for those three valuables.

However, every country has its own laws. If he does not report the matter truthfully, he will be making matters even more wrong.

"Ugh……"

Li Shiji, who felt that it was difficult to be a sandwich, had no choice but to pick up his pen and record every detail of this sudden change.

After finishing the front-line battle report, he sighed deeply, pondered for a long time over this letter which was almost equivalent to a "letter of surrender", then resolutely picked up the pen and quickly wrote another secret letter.

The content was exactly the same as the previous battle report, except that the recipient was his master, Prince of Jin Li Zhi.

After writing the letter, he called his trusted lieutenant and handed him the secret letter.

"Send this letter to His Royal Highness Prince Jin immediately."

"Yes." The deputy general didn't ask any more questions and left with the letter.

Li Shiji was relieved and called the messenger to hand him the official battle report. "Send the battle report to Chang'an as soon as possible."

Apart from reporting to King Jin in advance, his countermeasures were flawless.

Li Shiji knew very well that from this moment on, his every move would be carefully studied by the future judge.

Therefore, the process must be compliant and you must not try to be clever and get caught.

"Ah... Where on earth is His Majesty..."

Li Shiji buried his face deeply in his hands.

…………

"Father, to the north!"

Li Chengqian rode ahead, shouting to Li Shimin, and at the same time picked up his horse spear to knock off the horse of a Simo Turkic cavalryman who was blocking the way in front of him.

Although Prince Jingtu could not walk, he was an excellent rider. He rode his horse through the enemy group like a different person.

But at the moment he was careless, a Tiele cavalryman came from the side and aimed his bow and arrow at him.

hum!
With the sound of bowstring, the Tiele man was shot off his horse.

The sharpshooter Li Shimin put away his horse bow and objected to his eldest son's proposal to go north:
"The way back is to the south. If you go north into the Yin Mountains, there will be nothing but wind and snow besides the Tiele people!"

Before he finished speaking, a cloud of dust rose from the south.

The Xueyantuo army caught up with them.

"Is there any choice?" Li Chengqian pointed at the barbarians who were rushing towards them, howling.

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and turned his horse northward:

"go!"

Under the desperate protection of hundreds of cavalrymen and the imperial guards, Li Shimin and Li Chengqian barely broke out of the encirclement of the Turks and Xueyantuo, rushed down the mountain where the base camp was located, and fled all the way.

However, the Tang army's arrowheads were limited, but the barbarians' skulls were endless, like a moving wall, blocking Li Shimin's troops from moving south and driving them all the way north.

Today, all the imperial guards have been killed, and only a few of the hundred elite cavalrymen are left, leaving the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty almost alone.

"Damn it, where are Li Shiji and the others!"

It was already dark, and Li Shimin looked around, seeing rolling hills everywhere.

The field of vision in the Yin Mountains is much smaller than that in the Gobi grassland, and there is fog in the mountains, further reducing visibility.

Just as Li Shimin and his entourage were hiding from pursuers among the mountains.

A cavalry suddenly rushed out from the thick fog right ahead.

The leader had a barbarian look and a thick turban on his head.

Li Shimin's heart sank.

Is this the end?

"His Majesty!"

The Hu people spoke Chinese and rode forward:

"Look who I am!"

Li Shimin took a closer look and his pupils shrank:
"What power does Qibi have?!"

…………

Whoosh!
A cold arrow broke the silence of the Gobi Desert.

The messenger who delivered the letter was shocked and slowly fell down in the setting sun.

Behind the strange rocky beach, several people wearing Tang army armor but with Turkic appearance quickly jumped out and took out two letters from the corpse.

The letters were written by Li Shiji, the chief military commander, and Hou Junji, the deputy chief military commander, and were both reporting the disappearance of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to His Royal Highness the Regent.

Several people immediately tore the letter to pieces.

A goshawk flew over their heads and flapped its wings to fly south.

Tied to the eagle's feet was a secret letter from the grassland.

Destination: Prince Wei’s Palace in Luoyang.

…………

Qizhou, outside the palace of King Qi Li You.

Hu Sanniang, the maid in the palace, went out to buy vegetables as usual.

As soon as she turned the corner, she was grabbed from behind by someone and pulled into the bushes.

"Hey! Help..."

"Shh~ don't make any noise."

Hu Sanniang was about to scream, but the man covered her mouth.

Only then did she see the other person's appearance clearly.

He was wearing a silk robe and looked weak and frail, but he didn't look like a bad person.

"What do you want to do?" Hu Sanniang covered her chest and asked vigilantly.

The man got straight to the point:
"Whose spy are you?"

"Hey, how can you slander me like that?" Hu Sanniang became flustered.

She is used to using her natural talent of invisibility, so her acting skills are still not very advanced.

"You're sneaking around all day, who can't guess your identity?"

"Who are you then, and what do you want to do?"

"I am Ma Zhou, the magistrate of Zhangqiu County. I want you to bring a letter for me."

Hu Sanniang stood in awe.

She knew about Ma Zhou. Before entering Qizhou to lurk, she had made up for the relevant background knowledge.

Ma Zhou was originally the Chief Clerk and Imperial Secretary of the Prince of Jin's Palace. Because he was clever enough, he came up with a variant of the "Two-Tax Law", which caused a riot in Qizhou. Tragically, he became the background board for Li Ming to show off his power in front of others, and was kicked to Zhangqiu County under the jurisdiction of Qizhou for "experience".

But to be honest, although Ma Zhou's execution was bad, his original intention was good. Apart from his lack of experience in grassroots governance, he was upright and knowledgeable.

Otherwise, he would not have jumped from being a retainer of the rough man Chang He to becoming the prince's teacher.

"What message do you want to convey?" Hu Sanniang decided to just listen to what this guy had to say.

Ma Zhou's face was serious:
"The King of Qi wants to rebel!"

"Oh..." Hu Sanniang folded her arms:
"and then?"

Even a three-year-old child knows that the King of Qi wants to rebel. Dozens of pieces of relevant intelligence have been sent to Chang'an. Do you still need to tell me?
"Oh! You don't understand!"

Seeing the spy's nonchalant expression, Ma Zhou became anxious:

"The King of Qi has secretly raised an army and is about to cause chaos!"

Hu Sanniang was no longer sleepy:
"The Qizhou governor of the King of Qi is just a figurehead. Where did he get his troops?"

You think you have no common sense in political science when you bully me?

"It's his uncle Yin Hongzhi who is manipulating it!" Ma Zhou explained:

"He spread rumors that Your Majesty encountered an unexpected event during the Northern Expedition and that you should mobilize the army to defend the king!"

The story sounded so convincing that Hu Sanniang was half-believing and half-doubting.

"Really?"

"fake."

"If it's fake, why would I listen to you?"

"No... I mean, the rumor that His Majesty met with an accident is false, but it is true that the King of Qi and Yin Hongzhi took the opportunity to rebel!"

Ma Zhou and Hu Sanniang both felt that communicating with each other was really tiring.

"How did you know?"

"Because they are here to win me over, and the gathering place is in Zhangqiu!"

…………

Within a few days, Li Ming's spies in various royal palaces across the country sent secret reports to Chang'an one after another:

The prince is making some moves and might rebel!

Although these princes were not as bold as Li You, they did not directly call on the troops.

However, their interactions with the Governor's Office became much more frequent, and it was obvious that they had rebellious intentions.

At the same time, a strange rumor spread among the people all over the country.

His Majesty the Emperor died on the front line against the Xueyantuo.

(End of this chapter)