Li Shimin left Chang'an to lead his army on a personal expedition, and Li Ke also left Chang'an the next day in accordance with the order of the Ministry of War.
Li Ke¡¯s trip to the northwest was mainly to make soy sauce, and the purpose was to avoid the upcoming disturbance in Chang¡¯an City.
Because, he knew very well in his heart that under the circumstances that Li Shimin seemed to be suspicious of, coupled with the criticism from Changsun Wuji, a scheming old owl, and a group of veterans from the princeling party, he still remained after Li Shimin left Chang'an. In Chang'an City, this was the most unwise decision.
Therefore, Li Ke's trip to the northwest was not fast. It took him half a month to reach the capital of Huazhou.
The previous governor of Huazhou was Chai Shao, who was recuperating in Chang'an due to his illness. The current governor of Huazhou is Li Ke's confidant Sun Erlang. He is Li Ke's absolute confidant. Li Ke just arranged for him to be in Huazhou, and he Moreover, the military and political affairs are all in his own hands, and he is very powerful, not much worse than an ordinary governor. And Li Ke also had his purpose for doing this. Because Huazhou was an important town operated by the Tang Dynasty for more than ten years. In the past, it was the northwest fortress for the Tang Dynasty to deal with Tuyuhun, and it was the place where the northwest army gathered grain. Now, even though the war in the northwest has ended, Li Ke has arranged a way for himself, that is, no matter what happens in the future, his honor guard is nothing more than the northwest army, and as long as the governor of Huazhou is his own, the food route of the northwest army It won't break. In this way, even if something dirty happens between him and Chang'an, he will not fall into a passive situation. Another point is that Li Ke asked Chai Zhewei to open a trade route to the Western Regions, and he also gave Chai Zhewei a secret order to store more grain in Huazhou to prepare for the future needs of the army.
When Li Ke took his position during the Western Expedition to Tibet, he had already thought of his own way out, which was to manage the northwest well and control the northwest rear of Chang'an. Together with the Jingqi of Bingzhou and the Jingqi of Turks in Mobei, as long as there was any movement in Chang'an, , Bingzhou's army can kill them in five days, while the Mobei Turkic Jingqi can drive straight down, and the Northwest Jingqi still needs ten days to reach Chang'an City.
However, at first he thought his plan was perfectly deployed.
But now through Wu Meiniang¡¯s series of analysis, coupled with Li Shimin¡¯s suspicion of him, he found that his actions had already been discovered by Li Shimin.
Li Ke thought that Li Shimin would be suspicious of him, probably because he had seen through his deployment in the northwest. However, what can I do if I don¡¯t arrange it this way? He was still alive when Li Shimin was around, but what if he died? Li Ke had no choice, he had no choice but to do this.
"I'm sorry to see you, Your Highness!"
Sun Erlang led the Huazhou generals to salute Li Ke.
"Erlang, how has Huazhou always been?" Li Ke asked lightly. The other Huazhou generals couldn't understand, but Sun Erlang heard it very clearly.
"Your Highness, don't worry, Huazhou is very safe!" Sun Erlang said with a faint smile.
As a veteran of the military, through this period of time, with the 20,000 soldiers Li Ke gave him, he has formed his own team in Huazhou. Now he is the absolute core of Huazhou, and no one dares to go against him. And this is the real benefit of being the leader of military and political affairs. Only by holding the power of military and civil affairs in one's own hands can one truly reflect one's rights. Otherwise, only being in charge of the military or only in charge of government will be constrained by the other party.
"Well, I feel at ease when you do things!" Li Ke also smiled.
For Sun Erlang, he was really reassured that he would give him such an important position.
Li Ke didn't stay in Huazhou for long. He only rested for three days before arriving in Liangzhou. The guard of Liangzhou was also Li Ke's Guo Shifeng. Li Ke worked diligently with Guo Shifeng and continued here. Traveling westward, we finally arrived at Qingtang City, a large northwest city of the Tang Dynasty, ten days later.
Because it is convenient to manage the northwest, Li Ke suggested that the northwest administrative office of Qinghai King Su Dingfang should be located in Qingtang City.
In Qingtang City, in addition to Qinghai King Su Dingfang, there was also Di Zhisun who assisted Su Dingfang in managing civil affairs.
When Li Ke arrived at Qingtang City, Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun went out of the city to greet him and welcomed Li Ke to Su Dingfang's palace in Qingtang City.
Although he is the King of Qinghai, with a high position and a distinguished title, Su Dingfang's mansion is very simple, without any luxury.
"Dingfang, it's time to build your palace!" Li Ke said lightly, "Qingtang City does not need to be in Chang'an. The climate is cold and the environment is dry. You must improve your living environment in a timely manner!"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. It's just that I have been in the military for a long time. I am used to military life and cannot live in a luxurious mansion!" Su Ding replied. He was not equal to Li Ke at all just because he was granted the title of king. He still regarded Li Ke as The subordinates consider themselves. Because he knew very well in his heart how many heterosexual kings there had been since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and if he could be crowned king, who had the greatest contribution and who had given him such great honor.
Therefore, he was grateful to Li Ke and still??Grateful.
"You two should also sit down! No need to be polite!" Li Ke said to Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun in front of him, "Let's talk about the recent situation in Chang'an. I will meet with the generals stationed in the northwest tonight."
"Nuo" Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun took their seats.
"Your Highness, do you have any other purpose for your visit to the northwest this time?"
Di Zhisun, Li Ke¡¯s closest confidant, asked.
"I came to the northwest this time just to have a chat with you and discuss some issues." Li Ke said in a solemn tone, "Do you know what happened in Chang'an City? My father, the emperor, went to the expedition in person, and the prince Li Chengqian stayed in Chang'an. Zhongshu ordered the eldest son Sun Wuji and the aide Wei Zheng to assist the prince in handling the affairs of the court, but Hou Junji, who was the minister of the Ministry of War, did not accompany him. Even Sun Shunde, the general of Zuojinwuwei in the Twelve Guards, also stayed in Chang'an City. "
"Well, it's indeed a bit strange -" Su Dingfang responded.
As a military commander, he was keenly aware of the problems.
"Although my father has mobilized four of the twelve guards this time, a total of 60,000 troops, plus his retinue Qianniu Guards, there are only left and right Jinwu guards in Chang'an City, but Zuo Jinwu among the two guards The guard is controlled by Changsun Shunde, and there are many subordinates of Hou Junji in the Youjinwu Guard." Li Ke analyzed lightly, "So, there will be a big wave in Chang'an City this time -"
"Your Highness, the most important thing is the Sixth Army of the East Palace!" Di Zhisun said in a solemn tone, "There are very few troops in the capital, and the prince supervises the country. He will naturally mobilize his Sixth Army of the East Palace to garrison Chang'an City Defense and the entrance to the palace. It can be said that the current Chang'an City has become the crown prince's world."
"Didn't the Emperor think of it?" Su Dingfang asked.
"The emperor naturally wants it, but the emperor is now suspicious of His Highness, not the Prince. He is very happy that the Prince can make such an arrangement to confront His Highness when he leaves Chang'an. And this time His Highness came to the northwest, the Emperor agreed to His Highness without hesitation. I just want to test His Highness's loyalty. As long as His Highness does anything evil, the first thing the Emperor will do is to go south to Bingzhou to take away the military power of Wang Zhongchang, and then send Cheng Zhijie to the Youbei grassland to appease Tuli." Di Zhisun analyzed, "Also, this time the emperor is marching north to Goryeo, and the royal family members of the Ashina tribe in the Youbei grassland, the emperor will definitely take advantage of their conflicts with the Tuli to bring them under his command to fight against the Tuli Turkic army when necessary. .¡±
"Does my father doubt my loyalty so much?" Li Ke asked in confusion.
Although Wu Meiniang had already analyzed her relationship with Li Shimin with him, he still harbored fantasies, thinking that Li Shimin was bewitched by others and was not his true intention.
"Emperors with great achievements have always been jealous of kings since ancient times. What's more, Your Highness is still a prince and has hundreds of thousands of elite troops in your hands?" Dickson analyzed, "And this is why the emperor didn't mobilize the black cavalry to take over. The purpose of guarding the capital in Chang'an is to train a new army. According to common sense, today's black guards have formed an army, and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong. As long as the emperor gives them a name and mobilizes them to Chang'an City, the security of the capital will be impregnable. , but the emperor still wanted to train a new army and shut out such a fine cavalry. What he was afraid of was His Highness and this fine cavalry! However, the combat effectiveness of this fine cavalry was very strong. During the border war, They are the main force of the Tang Dynasty. The emperor is reluctant to disband them and has no reason to disband them. They can only exist in such an awkward manner. What now? There is no war at the border and His Highness has an army of tens of watts in hand. How can the emperor sleep peacefully? ?¡±
"But my father handed over the city of Chang'an to Prince Li Chengqian and left him with Changsun Wuji, Hou Junji and others. Isn't he afraid that Li Chengqian will do something?" Li Ke asked.
"Of course the emperor knows, but this is his plan to kill two birds with one stone!" Di Zhisun replied solemnly.
"¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª" Li Ke was silent.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty knows that the current crown prince of Chang'an, Li Chengqian, is in charge of the world. As long as Li Chengqian is restless and is taken advantage of by someone with ulterior motives, he may do something treacherous. So what should you do then?" Di Zhisun asked.
Li Ke didn¡¯t speak and remained silent, but he had already thought clearly about Li Shimin¡¯s risky move.
"You want to go to the capital to be King Qin, but you don't have the Emperor's will. When King Qin succeeds, the Emperor will definitely pursue you for using troops without authorization. If you want to sit back and ignore it, when the Emperor arrives in Chang'an, you will still be charged with dereliction of duty. You will be punished here and abroad, and the emperor can justifiably take away the military power of the Black Guards and disband them." Di Zhisun analyzed.
"Father, he wants to be a fisherman!" Li Ke sighed, a feeling of sadness welling up in his heart. He did not expect that the final result would be like this, that father and son would become rivals and reach this point.
¡°Your Highness, something has gone wrong.There must be a monster, and there must be other people involved! "Dizhisun comforted.
"I know¡ª" Li Ke replied lightly, but his expression was a little disappointed.
"Your Highness, tell me, the Northwest Army is at your mercy!" Su Dingfang said loudly when he saw Li Ke's frustrated expression.
"Dingfang, as a last resort, the northwest army cannot move until it is in place!" Li Ke comforted Su Dingfang and said, "The northwest army has the guarantee of Datang Northwest and cannot easily enter the pass. If things go wrong, don't I still have one hundred thousand elite cavalry from Bingzhou? "
Su Dingfang didn't speak. He knew what Li Ke meant.
Di Zhisun stopped talking and remained silent.
Because everyone knows very well that no matter what Li Ke does, he will be in a passive situation unless