Li Ke was in the northwest, but he was well aware of everything that happened in Chang'an City, such as Changsun Wuji starting to mobilize troops and horses to deploy city defense, the meeting between Hou Junji and Prince Li Chengqian, Changsun Wuji preparing to mobilize elite soldiers from Luoyang and Qizhou, etc. , these have been placed on Li Ke's desk by Chang'an's secret guards in the form of confidential documents. _
Seeing the information on the desk, he fell into deep thought.
In fact, according to the current situation, if Li Shimin really becomes seriously ill, he will definitely make the most appropriate arrangements for the upcoming crisis. But it was not Changsun Wuji's turn in Chang'an to worry about it. However, before the emperor's edict reached Chang'an City, Changsun Wuji and Li Chengqian took action without authorization and mobilized a large number of troops. Will Li Shimin be indifferent if he finds out? impossible! Therefore, Li Ke believed that since Changsun Wuji and Li Chengqian wanted to take the initiative, why not wait for the opportunity?
Therefore, Li Ke adopted a cold-looking attitude towards Chang'an's Changsun Wuji and Li Chengqian's deployment. He believed that Li Chengqian's large-scale deployment of troops as the prince would definitely arouse Li Shimin's suspicion. Why should I get involved? But even so, he still wrote a letter to Chen Qi. The content of the letter was to ask Chen Qi to ignore the troop movements of the surrounding armies and just command his fine cavalry in black. I also wrote a letter to Fang Yiai, who is in charge of the Army Academy, telling him that he must ensure that students at the Army Academy maintain restraint during this incident and avoid any violence.
By the time Li Ke finished dealing with these trivial matters, it was already New Year's Eve.
On this day, the generals belonging to Su Ding, the king of Qinghai in the northwest, came to Qingtang City one after another. They were Guo Shifeng, Xue Chong, Yuwen Guo, Zadler, Sun Erlang, Tuyan and so on. They are all generals loyal to the Northern King Li Ke. In addition, there are also three brothers, Li Min, Li Zong and Chai Zhewei. Plus Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun. The general hall in Qingtang City became the gathering place for the Northern King and his family.
"See Your Highness¡ª¡ª" When the generals saw Li Ke, Su Dingfang, and Di Zhisun walking into the hall, they stood up and saluted.
Even though he was awarded the title of King and became the commander-in-chief of the northwest army, Su Dingfang still kept a low profile and was one step behind Li Ke when he and Li Ke walked into the hall.
"Everyone, please take a seat!" Li Ke stepped up to the commanding position and looked at everyone and said.
"Thank you, Your Highness -" After seeing Li Ke, Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun sitting down, the generals took their seats.
"Today, I summoned everyone to Qingtang City. There is no important matter. I just want to have a good New Year!" Li Ke said with a faint smile.
His words were plain, but the faces of the generals looked very serious, and everyone acted very seriously.
The emperor personally conquered Goryeo, and the army of the Northern Expedition did not have any black guards, let alone the Northern King Li Ke, who became the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty's military. This clearly told the generals a signal about the emperor's current attitude towards King Bei. However, the war between Tang Dynasty and Goryeo was inconclusive. The army was besieged in Baiyan City and could not move forward. The generals were very angry when they heard the news. They all thought that as long as the black guards were allowed to attack Goryeo, Goryeo had already been conquered. This is also the pride and arrogance of the generals after following Li Ke and winning every battle.
Therefore, for the generals, they only have Northern King Li Ke in their hearts, not the imperial court. Especially the generals who stayed in the northwest, such as Zadler, who was a Turk and loyal to Tuli, and Ashinayun, who was a Turkic princess, and Li Ke married Ashinayun. Therefore, the person he loyal to was Li Ke. Like Tuyan, they were originally from Tuyuhun. They had been staying in the northwest since they surrendered to Li Ke, and they naturally had no good impression of the Tang Dynasty. The other generals Yu Wenguo and Xue Chong were from the Army Academy, and it goes without saying that they were loyal to Li Ke. An old confidant of Sun Erlang and Su Dingfang's Li Ke for more than ten days.
Therefore, the generals knew very well that the emperor was marching north to Goryeo, and the Northern King was patrolling far to the northwest, and handed over Chang'an to his archenemies, Prince Li Chengqian and Changsun Wuji. And if I specially invite myself and others today, it will definitely not be as simple as just celebrating the New Year.
"Your Highness, the emperor's northern expedition to Goryeo is not going well. It's time for our northwest army to ask for a fight!" Sun Erlang was the first to say, "The Goryeo people have no good people, they must die. Back then, the Sui Dynasty conquered Goryeo three times. , so many soldiers died, this is our shame and must be avenged."
In fact, he didn¡¯t know the news that Li Shimin was now critically ill.
Except for Su Dingfang and Di Zhisun, among the generals present, no one else is known.
"Principal, the students are ready, and the 30,000 elite cavalry under his command are on standby at any time!" Yu Wenguo said. He called himself a student and addressed Li Ke as the principal, deliberately showing his loyalty to Li Ke.
"I have 30,000 Turkic men to follow your Highness!" Zadler said loudly.
"Tuyan will definitely follow His Highness!" Tuyan also said.
?"The last general will lead the troops first!" Guo Shifeng also said.
Li Ke didn't speak, his eyes swept across everyone's face coldly.
"Everyone didn't dare to speak when they saw Li Ke's suddenly serious face.
"Everyone, Changsun Wuji mobilized 30,000 elite troops from Luoyang to guard Xiaoguan, and also mobilized 20,000 elite troops to garrison Puzhou. Do you want to analyze what he wants to do?" Li Ke said.
quiet!
The hall is very quiet!
The generals all fell into deep thought!
After a while, Xue Chong said, "Your Highness, Xiaoguan is the only way for our northwest army to lead to Chang'an, and the only way for our northwest army to lead to Chang'an is from Taiyuan in Puzhou to Chang'an. Changsun Wuji's deployment of these two routes is actually aimed at The most important ones are my Northwest Army and Bingzhou Jingqi."
"Hmph - Changsun Wuji, this old thief!" Sun Erlang scolded.
"Third brother, my father is still in Baiyan City, and Changsun Wuji is deploying troops privately. He must have no good intentions. We cannot take it lightly!" Li Zong said.
"Third brother, if you ask me, go directly to Chang'an City and scratch him alive -" Li Min said fiercely, with a very ferocious look on his face.
"Fight to Chang'an City¡ª¡ª"
"Behead Changsun Wuji¡ª¡ª"
There were constant insults coming from below.
Through these words, it can be confirmed that these generals only have Li Ke in their eyes.
Especially after experiencing the Northwest War and the Black Guard army defeated the two powerful countries of Tuyuhun and Tubo, the generals of the Black Guard became even more lawless.
Li Ke didn¡¯t stop everyone from cursing, he just stayed silent.
Su Dingfang glanced at Li Ke, understood what he meant, and said, "Whatever the fuss is about - shut up to me -"
Suddenly, there was silence in the hall, everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Su Dingfang.
Since Su Dingfang pacified Tubo, and since he was the only opposite-sex king in the Tang Dynasty and Li Ke's absolute confidant, apart from Li Ke among the black guards, Su Dingfang and Chen Qi had the most weight in speaking.
"The Emperor is marching north to Goryeo, and the army is trapped in Baiyan City. Foreign enemies are ahead. Can't you understand the priorities? The most important thing for our northwest army at present is to be on standby and be ready for battle. As long as His Highness gives the order, we will We must fight to Liaodong and destroy Goryeo." Su Dingfang said coldly.
But his speech was very skillful. He only said that His Highness gave the order, but did not say the order of the imperial court. This was enough to show his intentions.