Chapter 245 Each Has Its Own Part
Li Yuan was named King of Tang, Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of All Military Forces at Home and Abroad, General of the State, and Recorder of the Secretariat, which meant he had control over both military and political power.

The next path is basically to add the nine gifts and abdicate.

The most important thing for him to do next was to reorganize the surrendered soldiers in Chang'an, as well as the troops he brought from Yizhou, Erlang from Liangzhou, and Sanlang from Longyou, to rebuild them and quickly absorb the elite troops in Guanzhong.

After statistics and inventory, the total number of troops around Chang'an is nearly 300,000.

The ingredients are extremely complex.

Among the Yizhou army there were Di people who were willing to follow their will, the Bandun barbarians, and powerful tribes from the south.

There were also Qiang and Hu cavalry and Zhenrong troops in Liang Province.

So after discussing with his sons, court ministers, and trusted aides, he finally decided on a new system.

As many as 140,000 surrendered soldiers from Guanzhong were selected, and the elite were 100,000 elite soldiers. Ten thousand people formed an army, which was divided into ten armies, each with a general commander as the central army.

The ten general managers were Zhang Pinggao, Wang Yi, Mu Changling, Li Xiaojie, Li Huaizhen, Dou Cong, Liu Sigong, Liu Wenhui, Yuwen Jue, and Yuwen Xiao.

Later, 30,000 troops from Shu were used as imperial guards to guard the palace and the imperial gardens. They were divided into the left and right Yulin, the left and right Longwu, and the left and right Shenwu. Each had a general in charge, and his trusted aides Li Gaoqian, Wang Changkai, Gao Zhenghui and others were appointed.

He then appointed his eldest son Li Xiaoyan as the Chief Clerk of the Prime Minister's Office, the Prefect of Jingzhao, and the General of Fujun, and appointed him to be in charge of the military affairs of the Central Army together with the General of the Guard Yuwen She and the General of the Leading Army Chai Rong.

The second son, Li Mingqi, was the commander-in-chief of the Liangzhou military and the general of the Eastern Expedition.

The third son, Li Xuanqing, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Yizhou’s military affairs and the General of the Western Expedition.

He also remotely granted his fourth son, Li Yuanhui, the titles of Sikong, Zhuguo, Zhengnan General, Gu Zang Gong, and Yangzhou Governor, and granted him the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi.

The second and third brothers did not command the central army, but commanded the armies of Yizhou and Liangzhou respectively.

This arrangement was undoubtedly because Li Yuan did not want his two sons, Erlang and Sanlang, to control too many troops, so he supported Dalang to control the central army.

However, because the second and third brothers had made great contributions in the battles along the way, they were respectively awarded the title of general to commend their merits.

As for Silang, there is nothing left to give him except the official position.

The Jianghuai area is equivalent to the army that Li Silang has gathered himself, and it is thousands of miles away. Even if you want to bring Li Si in to balance the power with the eldest, second, and third brothers, it is impossible.

In terms of civil officials, Pei Hongde was the Zuo Pushe and co-director of the Secretariat, and was still the prime minister.

Wang Shen and Yu Nanji were the Secretaries of the Central Secretariat, and both of them were Li Yuan's staff members in his palace.

Xiao Juan, the former governor of Liangzhou, was appointed as the Minister of the Central Secretariat, which was considered as a reward for his surrender to him and his later cooperation with Li Erlang in taking over the reorganization of the Liangzhou army.

Yuwen Chengye was appointed as the Minister of War. Although he did not continue to command the army, his son Yuwen Xiao, his cousin Yuwen She, and his nephews Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Zhao all served in the central army. The Minister of War was considered to be a powerful position.

He knew very well that the power that Murong Zan had when he was the emperor could never be repeated. He should be content with being the Minister of War.

In addition, the civil service system in Chang'an City actually did not change much.

After the new emperor, or the Li family came to power, there was a major reshuffle in terms of military power and Chang'an's defense. The main positions were replaced by members of the Li family and their in-laws and old friends. As for the civil servants, the three provinces and six ministries, the three dukes and nine ministers were actually more of an adjustment and replacement, and most of the officials who were doing the work were not moved.

Because Li Yuan was very clear about the logic of the court's operation. At this time, the prime minister and the minister were actually very easy to replace, but the people who did the work below were the cornerstone. If there were large-scale replacements, it would cause problems in the operation of the new dynasty.

After making adjustments in many aspects, Chang'an finally received intelligence about the war in Jianghuai, including Li Yuanhui's surprise attack and burning of food and grass in the ancient city of Nandun.

Li Yuan, who had already reached the pinnacle of being a minister, clapped his hands and laughed, and was extremely happy to face the congratulations of the crowd. "Silang's use of troops, the combination of the righteous and the strange, is really a stroke of genius. In this way, Jianghuai will be saved from danger, and I can rest assured."

Li Yuan was wearing a brocade robe and sitting in the court of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

This is now the power center of Chang'an. Several sons and generals are here. What they want to discuss is also very simple.

Jingzhou.

As long as Jingzhou is captured, Guanzhong and Jianghuai can be connected and they can take care of each other.

The strategy for sending troops was: to appoint the eldest son Li Xiaoyan and the second son Li Mingqi as the left and right commanders, commanding 80,000 elite troops of the central army and more than 60,000 troops from Liangzhou, to go out of Wuguan and attack Nanyang.

He appointed his third son Li Xuanqing as the commander-in-chief and led the Di people's cavalry, the southern nobles, the Bandun barbarians, and more than 20,000 troops from Yizhou, together with the governor of Jingzhou Sima Xiuye, to march out of Fangling Shangyong and capture Xiangyang Fancheng.

His cousin Li Zhu and his daughter Li Da Niangzi led more than 20,000 people out of Yong'an to provide support and wait for an opportunity to capture Jiangling.

The last route was to let Silang Li Yuanhui serve as a support and threaten the three passes of Yiyang, which was also a support.

Li Yuanhui did not expect the situation to change so quickly. He knew nothing about what was happening in Guanzhong. All his attention was on his biggest opponent - Zhai Rang, the leader of the Wagang Army who occupied Qingzhou, most of Yanzhou, and most of Xuzhou.

In April, Li Yuanhui ordered General Lu Qin of the Tower Ships to lead 30,000 naval forces to the north of the Huai River to the Si River, while he led 40,000 infantry and cavalry to take the land route. The land and sea forces worked together to capture all the cities of Quli, Tongguo, Xiaqiu, and Xuxian under Xiapi. The entire area east of the Si River and south of the Sui River fell into Li Yuanhui's hands.

The situation became that the two sides confronted each other across the Sui River with Xiang County as the center.

However, when Lu Qin led his troops to the mouth of the Sui River where it flows into the Si River, he was blocked by the navy of the Wagang Army.

In order to ensure control over the Sui River, as well as the safety of Xia Pi and the grain route, the Wagang Army stockpiled heavy troops in Xia County and set up a water fort.

Lu Qin launched several attacks but failed each time, so he retreated to rest.

Li Yuanhui set up camp on the south bank of Suishui River. When Chang Yanheng, who had been robbing houses on the north bank of Suishui River, learned that Li Yuanhui was heading north, he immediately went to the south bank to meet him, on the one hand to report the results of the battle, and on the other hand to collect the next person.

"I am here to see the governor. I have been on the march north for a hundred days and have killed more than two thousand enemies and burned a hundred thousand stones of their food and grass. Recently, the Wagang Cavalry is hunting us everywhere. When I heard that the governor was heading north, I led my army south."

Chang Yanheng had been giving the Wagang Army a lot of headaches during this period, repeatedly attacking their food routes and capturing and killing Wagang scouts.

Therefore, the Wagang Army specially ordered Qin Zhongyu, Yang Xianguo, Murong Sanzang and others to lead the army to encircle the Jianghuai Light Cavalry, but Chang Yanheng and Liu Ju were old thieves, each more slippery than the other. They would "flee at the slightest hint of trouble".

This caused great trouble to the Wagang Army, so all the cavalry was mobilized to strangle them.

Under such circumstances, Chang Yanheng led his troops directly southward, which saved most of the army.

Li Yuanhui patted Chang Yanheng on the shoulder and said, "General Chang is both wise and brave. He has made many remarkable achievements. He fought dozens of battles in a hundred days and forced the Wagang Cavalry to come out. He is truly an extraordinary man in the world!"

On weekdays, the army called him "a strange man". Chang Yanheng was also proud of this. But the army's praise was different from the praise from Li Yuanhui, the commander-in-chief. It was equivalent to official certification.

Chang Yanheng was very excited to be recognized by the head coach, as he even had the chance to go down in history.

"The governor is too kind. I have been trusted by the governor and entrusted with an important task. How dare I not do my utmost to serve him?"

The so-called dealing in goods and connoisseurship, and a scholar dying for his friend, is nothing more than this.

(End of this chapter)