Chapter 300: Departure to the East
At the end of September, the weather is getting cooler with clear skies and crisp autumn air.

The autumn harvest near Wancheng in Guanzhong, Lianghuai, Xuzhou and Jingzhou is coming to an end.

There have been frequent reports of victory in Chang'an City in recent days. After the three brothers of the Li family joined forces to achieve a great victory in Yingchuan, Li San led his troops to advance from the southern part of Luoyang, Li Er led his troops to Hulao Pass, and Li Si led his troops to besiege Xiangcheng.

Not long after, Zheng Guo of Xiangcheng surrendered. After settling the rear, Li Si also led his troops north and took over the command of the siege of Xinzheng. He was also responsible for supervising the transportation of food and fodder.

The situation on the entire Central Plains battlefield was very good. According to this trend, Luoyang should change hands soon. Chang'an did not know that Lou Jushi and Duan Yihong had been killed by Murong Yang.

After the victorious reports from the frontal battles in the Central Plains battlefield reached Chang'an one after another, the entire Western Yan regime was in an uproar, because everyone could see that their regime was about to take over the whole world.

If anyone was unhappy, it was probably the emperor himself, because after gaining control of the country, Emperor Yining Murong Chang might be the only person in the new dynasty who did not have a place for him.

As the actual controllers of Chang'an, King Li Yuan of Tang and his staff in the Prime Minister's Office also began to work more intensely.

Li Xiaoyan, the eldest son of the Imperial Secretariat, was busy all day collecting supplies and food in preparation for the army's eastward advance.

However, Li Yuan, the highest decision-maker, is still hesitating.

Because of his trusted aide, Pei Ji, the Chief Clerk of the Prime Minister's Office and former military advisor, advised Li Yuan that it would be a good idea to appoint Dalang Li Xiaoyan as the commander when he was sent to Luoyang.

The reason is that as the eldest son, Li Dalang is kind and generous, acts steadily, and has good character, making him very qualified to be the heir.

Moreover, as the eldest son, according to etiquette and law, he should naturally become the candidate for the crown prince.

At the same time, the situation around Luoyang has not changed much. The three brothers Li Er, Li San and Li Si have defeated the main force of the Eastern Army led by Duan Yihong in Yingchuan. Even if Luoyang can gather an army of 100,000, they are just remnants and not a cause for concern.

Letting Li Xiaoyan be the commander at this time would be a good opportunity for him to achieve great things without taking too much risk.

But if he allowed the following brothers to capture Luoyang, Li Xiaoyan would have achieved little. How would he face these brothers in the future?
In Li Yuan's opinion, what Pei Ji said made sense.

But for him, this is not just a question of heir. Dalang is the eldest son, but the three brothers are also his legitimate sons.

A bowl of water cannot be said to be too even, but it cannot be too biased either.

Although Dalang had experience in commanding an army together with Erlang, he still had little experience in the army. And although Erlang was the main commander this time, Silang was nominally the one with the highest position.

As a father, he was very proud that the three brothers were able to put aside their distractions and work together to win the strategic battle of Yingchuan.

But at this time, there is no problem at all in sending the eldest brother as the commander-in-chief to lead several brothers from the perspective of seniority.

But in terms of achievements and prestige, it is somewhat insufficient.

If he was only allowed to share a share as one of the commanders, it would not be reasonable. After all, as the future heir, he was still the eldest son. And it would easily affect the war.

After hearing what Pei Hongde said, Li Yuan felt that everything must be based on the premise of defeating the enemy.

So Li Yuan was very hesitant. He was worried about how to deal with the relationship between his brothers and how to deal with the relationship between father and son.

Then he thought of Shangshu Zuo Pushe Pei Hongde. It was Pei Hongde who helped him make the decision last time when he persuaded him to send reinforcements to support the Yingchuan battlefield.

So this time Li Yuan went directly to the Secretariat and had a conversation with Pei Hongde who was on duty.

Li Yuan hinted at his concerns, which were probably that his sons had made great military achievements, but Dalang had accumulated very little merit. If he wanted to make Dalang the crown prince, he was worried that the other brothers would not accept it.

Pei Hongde gave him a completely new choice.

"Why doesn't the King of Tang lead the army in person? Otherwise, the achievement of conquering the Eastern Capital will be in the hands of you gentlemen. By then, it will be difficult to reward you for your great achievements, and the army will not know that there is a King of Tang anymore."

Pei Hongde's words hit the nail on the head for Li Yuan's most core interests. Even Li Yuan himself did not expect that he would have such concerns.

Why did Li Yuan, who had not yet become a powerful official and had not yet started the process of abdication, dare to hand over hundreds of thousands of elite troops to someone else to lead? Because this other person was essentially not someone else.

Not a clan relative, not a confidant, not a fellow villager or anything like that, but a legitimate son.

This is why he dared to hand over the military power, without even having a military supervisor, and he was not worried about the generals on the front line messing around.

But Pei Hongde's words made him understand a lot of things, that is, as a ruler, he would almost certainly have to accept the young emperor's abdication and then establish a new dynasty.

If an emperor thinks that the army only knows the generals but not the emperor, it is undoubtedly very dangerous.

At the same time, he also remembered what the sorcerer named Yuan said, that he might be deceived by his son in his later years.

If he waited for his sons to capture Luoyang, both of them would be in his hands, and the war to establish the country would not be commanded by him, which would inevitably damage his prestige.

So under Pei Hongde's guidance, Li Yuan realized it again.

He decided to lead the battle of Luoyang in person.

After all, his control over the various armies under the command of Western Yan is indeed not that strong.

The central army in Guanzhong has undergone a series of adjustments and has basically completed its reorganization. It is currently the most core army of Western Yan. In addition to being responsible for defending Chang'an and Guanzhong, it is also one of the main forces in foreign wars.

The three generals currently in charge of the central army are the eldest son Li Xiaoyan, the surrendered general Yuwen She and the son-in-law Chai Rong.

Most of the ten generals who directly command the troops are his confidants.

Although the Yizhou Army is now under the command of Sanlang, they are mainly composed of his old subordinates and there is no need to worry.

The Liangzhou Longyou army, as the most powerful army in Western Yan at present, has a small number of people, only tens of thousands of people, but they are all controlled by Li Erlang.

The largest Jianghuai Army was the one that Li Silang had built up in Jianghuai over the past few years. From top to bottom, except for a few relatives and juniors, he didn't even know the rest of the generals.

After Pei Hongde's reminder, he immediately understood the situation.

So what we need to do next is to deepen his presence. No matter whether it is the Central Army, the Jianghuai Army, or the Lianglong Army, they all have to understand that your bosses are my sons.

After thinking it through, Li Yuan prepared to go to war. After he left, the one who stayed behind was naturally the eldest son Li Xiaoyan.

Before leaving, he specially appointed Li Da as the Crown Prince of Tang and the Governor of Xijing.

The expeditionary force included 30,000 imperial guards, 60,000 central troops, 15,000 Yongzhou garrison troops, and 5,000 Turkic cavalry.

At the same time, he ordered his staff to formulate rewards for everyone for the Battle of Yingchuan based on the battle report, and ordered the three provinces to draft an imperial edict.

First, his three sons were all promoted to Duke.

The second one is Duke of Qin.

The third son is the Duke of Jin.

The fourth one is the Duke of Qi.

Chai Rong and Yuwen She were both county dukes.

At the same time, dozens of meritorious officials including Zhu Deyu, Chang Yanheng, Zhai Sixun, Murong Sanzang, Huang Junhan, Xu Maogong, Guo Xing, Zhang Gonglie, Zhang Jian, Zhang Zhen'e, Liu Yuanqing, Xiao Shizhi, Qiu Xinggong, Zhang Jin, Yuwen Jue, Yuwen Xiao, and Wang Bi were all awarded the title of county marquis.

In early October, King Li Yuan of Tang, with his grace, title and rewards, and an army of 110,000, marched west from Chang'an and eastward to Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)