My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 94: They are just Erfeng’s pawns

Historically, why did Li Shimin lead the army in person when he first attacked Goryeo?

This was because when Li Shimin looked back, he found that he had no generals available.

Qu Tutong, Zhang Gongjin, Chai Shao, Qin Qiong, Li Xiaogong and other famous generals who founded the country at that time have died.

Although the only suitable candidate, Li Jing, was still alive and had even recommended himself, he was after all 74 years old and ill.

It would be a huge joke if he died of illness during the attack on Goryeo.

Although Li Ji was only in his early fifties, his combat experience was mainly in wars in the Central Plains and some surrounding forces.

Goryeo's terrain is mostly mountainous and hilly, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which is a huge challenge for the attacker.

Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the Goryeo army should not be underestimated. They are good at using terrain for defense and ambush.

Under such circumstances, Li Shimin was worried that if he sent Li Ji alone to fight, he might find it difficult to cope with Goryeo's stubborn resistance and various complicated war situations.

Hou Junji, the new generation commander who was in his prime, was killed by Li Shimin because he participated in the prince's rebellion.

After much deliberation, Li Shimin finally led the army himself, despite the opposition of his ministers.

But now, the expedition to Goryeo has been brought forward.

"Hou Junji!"

Du He exclaimed, and immediately thought of the most likely candidate for the commander-in-chief to attack Goryeo.

"Yes, besides him, who else can Your Majesty choose as the head coach?"

"Should we let Li Jing go?"

Li Chengqian was calm and composed, and had a lot of wisdom in his hands.

Although Hou Junji was greedy, his military achievements were unquestionable.

In the early years of fighting against Tuyuhun, Li Jing was the commander-in-chief and Hou Junji was the deputy commander-in-chief.

It was the army led by Hou Junji that overcame many difficulties such as lack of oxygen in the plateau and complex terrain.

Cooperating with Li Jing's main force, they defeated the Tuyuhun army many times and finally forced the Tuyuhun king Murong Fuyun to commit suicide. His son Murong Shun led his troops to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. From then on, Tuyuhun became a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

He then led the troops alone, demonstrating his excellent command ability. He led General Xue Wanche and others to march westward, crossing more than 2,000 miles of sand dunes where there was no water or grass, the wind was as cold as a knife, and the heat was as hot as a fire. They were unstoppable and defeated Gaochang.

The army was divided into four groups to capture territory, and they captured three counties, five counties, and 22 cities, capturing 8064 households, 37730 people, and 4300 horses. The entire Gaochang area was pacified.

From these combat experiences, it can be seen that in these two famous battles to destroy the country, Hou Junji was very good at fighting in complex and difficult terrains, and he was very experienced having gone through two battles.

Goryeo was mostly mountainous and hilly, easy to defend but difficult to attack, which was exactly what Hou Junji was looking for.

Li Chengqian couldn't think of anyone other than Erfeng himself who would lead the army in person, who else could be more suitable to be the commander-in-chief than Hou Junji.

Hou Junji is the prince's man.

He is also the backbone of their rebellious team.

Du He was pleasantly surprised and said, "It turns out that His Highness had already figured this out. I was still racking my brains over how to deal with the King of Wei."

"With the help of General Hou, even if the King of Wei's troops are elite, even if he has many warships at sea, they still have to obey orders."

"Does he dare to disobey military orders?"

"Besides."

Speaking of this, Du He's eyes flashed with excitement and danger.

Perhaps he was too excited, causing his body to tremble a little, and his deep voice trembled a little.

"Besides, if the King of Wei died at the hands of the Koreans, what would this have to do with Your Highness?"

At this moment, in Du He's heart, the battle with Goryeo must be fought.

However, winning or losing is not that important.

For the prince, killing the King of Wei would mean victory.

As long as the King of Wei dies, no one will be able to compete with the Crown Prince for the throne, and the Crown Prince will surely ascend to the throne.

"That's easy to say. The King of Wei is protected by five surnames and seven noble families. How can he be killed so easily?"

"If there is danger ahead, believe it or not, the first one to run away will be the King of Wei."

"Besides, Goryeo only defends and does not attack. If they want to kill the King of Wei, it would be impossible unless our army is defeated and pursued by Goryeo."

"Do you think this is possible?"

Goryeo is very strong, but not as strong as imagined.

Their strength lies in being difficult to attack.

But if they walked out of the city and fought a field battle with the Tang army, they would be asking for trouble.

Du He felt a little disappointed when he heard the prince say this. This was such a good opportunity.

It's just too difficult to achieve.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly.

If the King of Wei is killed, he cannot just kill the King of Wei, the King of Jin must also be killed, otherwise the matter will be exposed and he will still lose.

If you want to be safe, you have to kill the King of Wu as well. After all, King of Wu Li Ke is indeed a very outstanding one among Li Shimin's many sons.

Moreover, in history, after Li Chengqian was deposed as crown prince, Li Shimin really considered letting Prince of Wu Li Ke succeed to the throne.

After all, in addition to his personal excellence, he also has the royal bloodline of the previous dynasty.

If we talk about noble bloodline, King Wu Li Ke should be the first.

It was not difficult to turn Prince Wu Li Ke from a concubine's son into a legitimate son. All he had to do was to make Concubine Yang, the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, the empress.

She was made queen from a princess of the previous dynasty, and no one in the world could find fault with her.

"Okay, stop worrying about these things and let the King of Wei make trouble."

"It's OK as long as we know what's going on here."

Li Chengqian put down the teacup and said.

Du He nodded: "Yes, Your Highness."
-
The emperor issued an edict, ordering the crown prince and the king of Wei to each take charge of the troops of five prefectures.

The palace soldiers are divided into three grades: upper, middle and lower. When it comes to the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, they are naturally all from the upper palace, with a full staff of 1,200 people.

This is equivalent to 6,000 troops, and all expenses required will be borne by the court.

Together with the middle-level officers of the Eastern Palace, there are about a thousand people, which makes a team of 7,000 people.

It sounds like a lot, but the actual military strength is not calculated that way.

Among these six thousand soldiers, there are actually only about two thousand soldiers who are truly capable of fighting, and the remaining four thousand are all auxiliary soldiers.

Possibly even less.

The ratio of combat soldiers to auxiliary soldiers is usually three to one, that is, three auxiliary soldiers for every combat soldier.

This is still considered very high. In some prefectures, the ratio is even four to one or five to one.

This is why in ancient wars, it was common for two or three thousand people to defeat an army of tens of thousands.

Because among the enemy's 10,000-man army, there may only be two or three thousand combat soldiers.

The three thousand people on the other side were all combat soldiers.

Once the fighting started and a soldier was defeated, the entire army would begin to collapse and flee.

More people were trampled to death than hacked to death.

However, it also depends on the specific situation of the army. For some armies with more titles, perhaps their auxiliary soldiers should also receive more formal training, and their combat troops should be no worse than those of the miscellaneous armies, and can form combat effectiveness.

Li Chengqian was not in a hurry to accept the palace soldiers himself.

He was truly one of those people who had seen pigs run but never eaten pork. He knew how much pork weighed. Perhaps the military training methods in his previous life might have been of some use, but among the six thousand soldiers, there were probably less than six who could read, and there were probably less than a hundred who could distinguish between their left and right hands.

Forget about training these soldiers yourself.

Professional matters should be left to professionals, and the number of soldiers that one person can train is very limited.

Instead of spending this time, it would be better to convert Chongxian Hall into a military academy and train more middle-level military officers.

In fact, most of the time, the combat effectiveness of the army does not come from the lowest-level soldiers, but from the middle-level officers.

They are the bones and flesh of the army, and the best way to control the army is to control the middle-level officers.

The prince is just one person. It is impossible for him to have good relationships with thousands or tens of thousands of people. That is pure nonsense.

After Du He left, Chen Yunchao reported: "Your Highness, I have already received those assassins belonging to Yin Hongzhi."

"I checked them out, and they are all very good. Some are even better than our East Palace guards."

"Your Highness, please decide whether to place them with the palace soldiers or send them to our Eastern Palace."

The three hundred death warriors had no organizational structure, and Yin Hongzhi did not dare to train his own people under the guise of the army, as this would easily lead to problems.

Therefore, these assassins are equivalent to house slaves.

These are three hundred top-class combat soldiers, and they are full-time soldiers.

Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment and said, "Go and tell them that their families will be released and their indentures will be returned to them."

"If you are willing to serve me, you can move to the East Palace with your family and join the East Palace Guards."

"If someone wants to leave, don't force them to stay. They can leave on their own."

Chen Yunchao was a little puzzled and said, "Your Highness, those people are..."

Li Chengqian waved his hand, interrupting what Chen Yunchao was about to say: "Just do as I say."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The training method for death squads is different from that in later movies and TV shows. It's all nonsense to train people to become emotionless killing machines.

How is it possible for a person to be without feelings, without emotions and desires?

Apart from the cultists who were brainwashed by religion, the main way that the noble families dealt with their assassins was through emotional bonds.

Your wife, children and parents are all taken care of for you. They have food and clothing, and your children can even read and write.

If there is betrayal, the whole family will be killed.

Li Chengqian was very confident that those death warriors would stay out of gratitude.

Nonsense, he is the crown prince, the future emperor.

Even a fool knows how to choose.

He can also serve as a guard in the Eastern Palace and eat the emperor's food directly. For ordinary people, this is considered to be a great honor for the family.

If you are valued by the prince and given any official position, your ancestors will be very proud of it.

When the difference in status and class is too great, one should be grateful for even the slightest donation.
-
Compared to Li Chengqian's leisure, King Wei was really busy.

The next day, he rushed to Zhechoufu outside the city to take over the troops assigned to him by the Ministry of War.

There was a huge crowd of people, not only the King of Wei, but also a large number of people from aristocratic families.

They have a lot to do. They have to replace these palace soldiers and arrange for the best members of the aristocratic families to take over.

These so-called elites are actually the children of aristocratic families who have practiced martial arts since childhood. They are not ordinary stuff.

The five surnames and seven families, each family contributed several hundred people, and together they made up several thousand people. These were real combat soldiers.

How could the King of Wei not be proud? Theoretically speaking, these thousands of elite soldiers were equivalent to tens of thousands of troops.

That is to say, there are some restrictions on cavalry, otherwise the Five Surnames and Seven Families could directly work together to build a cavalry team of thousands of people.

"What can the prince do to fight me?"

King Li Tai of Wei, riding on his horse, was in high spirits and said these words with great pride.

The King of Wei made a big fuss this time, with great fanfare.

There were also poets who wrote poems for it. Within a few days, the poem spread widely in Chang'an City, especially in Ping'anfang, where it was sung continuously.

Inside the Eastern Palace, the eunuch Wen Zhong reported the latest news to the Crown Prince.

"It is said that the poem was passed to His Majesty. His Majesty was very happy after reading it and gave the poet a lot of rewards."

"The King of Wei held a grand poetry and singing competition in Furong Garden and invited hundreds of students to participate. Even many great scholars attended."

After the eunuch Wen Zhong finished speaking, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to the prince.

What was written on it was the poem praising the King of Wei.

General's Row:
The frosty blades reflected the cold moon, and the iron horses neighed in the wind. The generals wore armor and issued orders that shook the sky.

The battle flag was hoisted in the wilderness, and the sword was pointed at the enemy. The three armies followed behind, and their momentum was as strong as a rainbow.

The journey is thousands of miles long, and the ambition is to break the sky. The dust of the barbarians is gradually dispersing, and the reputation is shaken in the east and west.

After reading it, Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's well written and quite appropriate for the occasion."

Others were toasting champagne at halftime, but when it came to King Wei, those who didn’t know would have thought that you, King Wei, had destroyed Goryeo.

By now, Erfeng's thoughts have become very clear. He is following the same tactics as his grandfather Li Yuan.

Just like what Crown Prince Li Jiancheng did back then, he used palace fighting to deplete the power of the aristocratic families.

If we trace back to the origin, we can trace it back to the Sui Dynasty.

When Emperor Yang of Sui launched his three expeditions to Goguryeo, the main force he used was the troops of the aristocratic families, who were forcibly conscripted and consumed on the battlefield.

The current situation on King Wei's side is very similar to that before.

Erfeng's current version is considered an upgraded version.

In fact, when it comes to imperial power and intrigue, Er Feng is still capable. It seems that he is constantly favoring King Wei and usurping his authority.

In fact, no matter how prominent the King of Wei was, he could not get the position of Crown Prince, even if the King of Wei really relied on the power of the aristocratic family to conquer Goryeo.

Just like Li Yuan back then, no matter how great his military achievements were, he would never think of deposing the crown prince.

The only way for the King of Wei is to launch the Xuanwu Gate Incident again like Erfeng did before, so as to survive and turn the tide.

Unfortunately, Li Chengqian in history was unlucky and had poor psychological endurance. He was unable to reach this point and recreate the scene of brothers fighting each other before his rebellion was discovered.

However, will Li Chengqian give King Wei this opportunity now?

The eunuch Wen Zhong suggested: "Your Highness, how about I find some poets to write a few poems for you to gain some fame?"

"I know Your Highness doesn't care about these things, but they are still somewhat useful."

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Poetry and songs are just a small matter. There is no need to find a poet or anything like that."

"It's getting close to Cui Fengzhu's wedding date. You should make more preparations and arrange the wedding. Now they are also considered to be people of the Gudong Palace."

"As for Di Zhixun, they have made some progress recently. Let the Jinwu Guards cooperate with them to find the real culprit as soon as possible. Don't be timid. Be tough."

"Helan Chushi has been imprisoned in the Dali Temple for quite some time. Go and say hello to Hou Junji and have him released."

Li Chengqian didn't have much idea about poetry. If he really wanted to write poetry, he didn't need to find a poet.

Li Bai and Du Fu were not born until several decades later.

Just throw out 300 Tang poems and ask who can stop it in the Tang poetry world today.

ps: It’s a little late to update, but at least I’ve finished it. Please give me a monthly vote.

(End of this chapter)