After calming down, the King of Wu also understood what it meant. It was nothing more than Li Shimin not wanting to lose face. Li Xiang was already prepared to send troops to help, but Li Shimin ruthlessly rejected Li Xiang. Little did he know that he was not only rejecting Li Xiang, but also the way of life of tens of thousands of Tang soldiers on the grassland.
Chang'an City
General Li Jing has returned to Chang'an City and is still in charge of the Ministry of War as before. At this moment, General Li Jing is staying in an outer house as he has no home to return to.
He knew his house was filled with the families of his former subordinates, all seeking information. When the army had just set out, reports of victory had been pouring into Chang'an. But now, with no victory at all, how could he possibly tell them? Could it be possible that someone in your family had died in battle? If so, the entire city of Chang'an would quickly erupt in chaos.
General Li Jing has been honest all his life and he would not lie, so he could only stay in the outer house. He had already clashed with Li Shimin today. If he did not allow Li Xiang's army to go to the rescue, he would have to let Cheng Yaojin lead the army on the Tuyuhun grassland to go. This was the most correct way.
Li Xiang's army is powerful, and the entire Tang Dynasty knows it. As long as they go to the grassland, they have at least an 80% chance of winning. Not only can they rescue our army, but they can also achieve the court's established goals and maybe take down Xueyantuo.
Of course, the emperor wanted to save face and didn't want to bow his head and beg Li Xiang. It was also possible to let Cheng Yaojin lead the army on the Tuyuhun grassland, but the emperor was unwilling to do so because those troops were also Li Xiang's old team. If he asked them to go to rescue, it would be no different from begging Li Xiang. So the emperor fiddled with the map for a while and finally let the army from Shandong and Henan go to rescue.
Looking at the letter to General Li Jing that was about to be sent out, I really didn't know what to say. The armies of these two provinces only have a mere 9,000 cavalry, and the rest are all infantry. If you really let them go to the grassland, there will be no other benefits except increasing the number of casualties. Could it be that the wise Li Shimin has become confused?
"Report to the General, Goguryeo is urgently reporting."
General Li Jing's hands trembled with fear when he heard his men's words. However, when he heard it was from Goguryeo, confusion appeared in his eyes. He had originally thought it was a memorial from the King of Wu, but what was going on with Goguryeo? By the time he left, they had basically established their rule over the country. Although there were still some petty thieves, they couldn't cause any trouble. At most, it was just a simple memorial of greeting. How could it be considered an urgent memorial?
After opening the memorial, General Li Jing finally understood what was going on. Unconsciously, tears welled up in his eyes. Li Xiang was not only good at fighting, but also did not care about his own gains and losses. Now that he knew that there were problems in the Tang Dynasty, he did not want to be blamed, and he also wanted to deal with the real business first. If such a person could not become the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, then who could?
"Someone prepare a carriage to go to the palace."
As soon as General Li Jing said this, he stopped instantly. It was not that he could not walk, but he suddenly remembered another thing. This memorial could not be handed over to Li Shimin privately. If it was handed over to Li Shimin privately, there might be changes.
General Li Jing thought about tomorrow's morning court. Yes, it must be handed over to Li Shimin during the morning court, and in front of all the civil and military officials. If Li Shimin still refused at that time, then his reputation in this life might be in jeopardy. Li Shimin, who was very careful about his reputation, would never do that.
General Li Jing also knew that some changes might happen tonight, but if he rushed over now, it would definitely not have any good results. With Li Shimin's temper, he would definitely continue to act in front of him for a while, and the night would also pass.
The front line can no longer wait and can only wait until tomorrow morning's court is over, and then several important ministers will put pressure on Li Shimin to agree to Li Xiang's proposal. Only in this way will the Tang army have a chance of survival. If this opportunity is missed, the King of Wu may never come back.
"Go to Lord Changsun's residence."
At this time, General Li Jing could no longer avoid suspicion and directly asked people to line up to go to Changsun Wuji's house. Everyone knew that the two were the heads of civil and military officials, and they should not have any contact in private. There should even be some fighting between the two. This is what Li Shimin wanted to see. But today's matter concerns the life and death of tens of thousands of people, and General Li Jing has to take a risk.
During the day, Fang Xuanling also suggested that troops could be directly transferred from Goguryeo, but Li Shimin did not say anything, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. This left all the officials confused. Even Fang Xuanling's suggestion was useless, so would it be useful for others to suggest it?
In order to avoid the same situation tomorrow morning, General Li Jing had to take a risk. General Li Jing, who never formed cliques, had to take this risk now. Perhaps the emperor's people would know about it, but Li Shimin was also a wise man. He should know that his son and tens of thousands of troops were in trouble on the grassland, and this was the only way to save them.
That night, there was an undercurrent in Chang'an City. Several groups of men in black went to the palace to report the news. Li Shimin sighed all night. It was not until the morning court the next day that Li Shimin was able to close his eyes for a while. He had dark circles under his eyes when he attended the court.
Things turned out pretty much as Li Shimin had expected. General Li Jing had not informed anyone in advance. This was the first time in decades that Li Xiang's memorial had been directly made public, and dozens of officials from both the court and the public seconded his opinion.
Li Shimin first scolded Li Xiang, and then approved Li Xiang's opinion. However, when he looked at General Li Jing, there was a hint of indifference in his eyes. General Li Jing understood that this kind of thing could only happen once.
When the court was about to be dismissed, General Li Jing said that he was not feeling well after a trip to Goguryeo and could no longer handle some matters in the Ministry of War, so he planned to retire.
Li Shimin did not let General Li Jing retire, but only gave him a three-month vacation and let Yuchi Jingde take over this task first.
Everyone understood that from today on, the Ministry of War was no longer under Li Jing's control. Even if Li Jing recovered in three months, he would definitely not continue to work at the Ministry of War and would probably retire at home...