Chapter 542: Controlling the World’s Soldiers and Horses
Chang'an, Tai Chi Hall.

In the main hall, there was no dancing or music because of the national mourning. Li Xuanqing, who was nearly 40 years old, sat on the steps, not as energetic as before, but rather looked very depressed.

After seeing Li Si going up to the hall, he waved to him, and Li Si sat with him on the felt-covered steps.

The two brothers started gossiping. Li Si could sense that his elder brother was in an abnormal state.

Starting from the fourth year of Zhenguan, Li Xuanqing lost his son, wife, and father in three years. As a result, he became extremely sensitive and suspicious, irritable, and murderous during this period.

After the death of Jinshang Wang Li Chenghui and Mingde Empress Xue, Li Xuanqing successively killed dozens of ministers, some of whom were even executed by their entire clans.

The Imperial Medical Service was the hardest hit area.

However, among the ministers killed by Li Xuanqing, there were relatives of the current dynasty, nobles of the previous dynasty, aristocratic families, and even ministers of the royal family, but there were no generals or important court officials.

If we count carefully, most of these ministers who were executed had family members trapped in the northern border, and they had previously held important positions in the army or the court.

Even if they are unemployed, it was only in recent years.

Although Li Chenghui seemed to be killing people indiscriminately, he would first adjust positions, take back power, and put them on idle before carrying out the killings.

Among them, the Jingzhao Wei family was the worst hit. The family of the Princess of Jin and the family of Wei Xiaoju, the General of the Cavalry of the Northern Han Dynasty, were killed and their population was extremely small.

Although the charges for the murders were varied, Li Yuanhui was able to get a glimpse of these people's network of relationships and found that their real crime was actually "collaborating with the enemy country."

The fact that the Shenji Cannon was manufactured and used by the Han army so quickly, and that the Han court was fully aware of the Tang court's movements, all these show that Wei Xiaoju, who was in charge of intelligence work in the Northern Han, put in a lot of effort.

Wei Xiaoju himself came from a prominent family in Guanlong, and the Northern Han captured hundreds of Tang officials in the Battle of Baigou, so intelligence work was carried out more easily.

Li Sanlang also confirmed Li Si's guess in his words. The killing of these people basically had solid evidence that they had dealings with the Northern Han.

"Wei Xiaoju is a very hateful person. He even ordered people to spread rumors in the streets of Chang'an, saying that Silang wanted to rebel and establish himself as emperor in Luoyang. We brothers have already had an alliance. Why do you need to rebel if you want the throne?"

Li Si smiled when he heard this. This Wei Xiaoju was really difficult to deal with. No wonder he was a master of espionage who used a counter-espionage strategy to kill Hulu Mingyue in the original history.

But Li San said this to Li Si as well. We are brothers, so don't be anxious.

In addition to his bloodlust, Li San was also addicted to wine, sex, dancing and music. He led a musical instrument team to compose music while listening to the officials' memorials. He would put his pen and ink aside and write down the solution. Although there were complicated sounds from the instruments, he never made mistakes in handling government affairs. Moreover, he could hardly forget these memorials after listening to them, and often asked about the things he handled, so the officials never dared to fool around.

As a result, the prime ministers and censors could not open their mouths to advise him, because nothing was delayed. As for what the emperor did in the palace, is it your business?
Although Li Yuan often held banquets, they were all for his own entertainment with a few old ministers, which was considered simple among emperors.

The pearls, jades and treasures in the palace of the previous dynasty were extremely magnificent. Li Yuan intended to destroy them, but was persuaded by Li Yuanhui to stop and instead reward them to meritorious soldiers.

The successor king, Li Xuanqing, originally had a harem with only one queen and two concubines. After the queen died, some beauties were gradually introduced into the harem.

His biggest and most expensive hobby was the dance and music troupe and actors he had supported since he started at the Prince of Jin's Mansion. The scale of the troupe was not large, with only a few dozen people.

In addition, he practiced Taoism. Li Xuanqing often summoned Taoists to discuss Taoism. Sometimes he even made elixirs himself and gave them to ministers.
Although he was addicted to wine and women, how much did the emperor spend on them?
He did not build major projects, nor did he send out million-strong armies on expeditions. His travels were simple. Compared with some emperors who traveled with a hundred thousand troops or more and had a procession stretching for hundreds of miles, this level of wastefulness was not even enough to get started.

Therefore, in fact, the current two emperors of the Li Tang royal family both advocate frugality. As for Li Si, he lives a relatively affluent life and currently has more than twenty children.

Li Xuanqing was really envious of this. He had five daughters but only three sons, one of whom was dead and the other two were in poor health and often sick.

Li Xuanqing had basically given up the idea of ​​passing the throne to his son. His brother was too capable, and they still had an alliance. If he forced the throne on his son, something bad would definitely happen.

After clarifying this, Li Xuanqing finally came to terms with it, so it's inevitable that he's been a bit more casual in the past few years.

But even so, his apparent bloodlust, indulgence in wine, sex, dance and music did not actually affect the central operation of the Tang Dynasty.

Even Li Yuanhui admired this.

After the two brothers chatted for a while, they started talking about business.

It has been two years since the last large-scale military expedition to Northern Han. Now that the treasury is well-stocked, Li San and Li Si both have the idea of ​​sending troops to Northern Han next year.

This time the two brothers had some different ideas. The previous two times they sent troops out, they divided their troops into two routes, with the east and west armies supporting each other from a distance.

Therefore, the two of them hit it off immediately.

Gather all the main forces and attack in one direction.

"Jinyang." The two brothers said this key place name almost in unison.

Regarding the details of the expedition, Li Xuanqing's plan was to send 100,000 troops from Luoyang, 150,000 troops from Guanzhong, and 50,000 troops from the rest of the world. Then, Li Si, the General of Tiance, would command all the troops in the world and serve as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, with a total of 300,000 troops.

But Li Yuanhui only needs 200,000 men, because the logistical supply pressure of 300,000 men is too great. At the same time, it will also drain the troops from other areas. If the Northern Han takes advantage of the situation, it will be a loss.

In Luoyang, Li Yuanhui decided to send 80,000 troops, and another 120,000 troops from Guanzhong. As for letting him take charge, he had no objection.

In October, Li Xuanqing issued an edict, appointing Li Yuanhui as the prime minister, recorder of the Secretariat, chief of the hundred ministers, commander-in-chief of all military forces at home and abroad, and controlling the troops in the world.

The Grand Prime Minister was the official position held by Li Yuan before he ascended the throne. Li Xuanqing gave him this position and also made him the Chief of the Hundred Ministers, which showed his attitude.

Li Yuanhui returned to Luoyang in mid-October and began to plan the Northern Expedition.

In November, General He Gui of the Right Guard died of illness. A few days later, news came that General Jianwei and Prefect of Rencheng Liu Ju died of illness.

What made Li Yuanhui even more worried was that not long after Zhao Wang Li Cheng'an returned to Chang'an for the funeral, Ningzhou Governor Yin Gong suddenly suffered a stroke and was unable to attend to his duties.

He Gui was from the Xuzhou Army. After Li Yuanhui arrived in Huainan, 4,000 Xuzhou troops were assigned to him, and He Gui was the camp leader at that time. Twenty years later, he was one of the 18 camp leaders, and he had fought with him for a long time and had made outstanding military achievements.

Liu Ju was born a bandit. Chang Yanheng robbed houses with him at first. After Chang Yanheng joined the army, he also persuaded him to join the army. He was initially a lieutenant and one of the commanders of the 18th Battalion. Although Liu Ju had limited talents, he was quite generous. Later, when the army was reorganized, Li Yuanhui let him go to the local area to serve as a county governor. He did a good job and had a good reputation. Although he had experience as a bandit in his early years, it was just to survive in the troubled times. During his tenure, he built water conservancy projects and led the people to cultivate land. Therefore, the people of Rencheng called him "Mr. Liu".

Yin Gong was originally a captain garrisoning in Hefei. After Li Yuanhui moved his government office to Hefei, he entrusted him with important tasks. He also had quite a lot of experience in the Jianghuai Army. He was one of the commanders of the 18 battalions and had guarded Jianghuai for more than ten years. After Jiangdong was conquered, he was appointed governor of Ningzhou, which was considered a big step down. Unexpectedly, he suffered a stroke before he had been in office for three years, which basically meant that he said goodbye to his military career.

The older generation of military generals passed away one after another, which was a very sad thing for Li Yuanhui.

But because he started fighting too early, most of his generals were older than him.

Zhang Jian, Zhu Deyu, Chang Yanheng and others are about ten years older than him and are now in their forties.

Thinking of this, Li Yuanhui felt a greater sense of urgency to unify the world.

He then submitted a petition requesting titles for several veteran generals.

He Gui was awarded the title of Governor of Xuzhou, the title of Grand General of the Cavalry, Duke of Xue, and was posthumously named "Weilie".

Liu Ju was awarded the title of Governor of Yanzhou, the title of Grand Commander of the Imperial Court, the title of General of the Cavalry, and the Duke of Huai.

Yin Gong, who was still alive, was promoted to the rank of Pillar of the State, General of the Yitong Order, and Duke of Qi, with a fief of 4,000 households, and was given 1,000 pieces of silk, 100,000 coins, and 500 acres of fertile land.

Basically, it provides the best retirement benefits.

However, Li Yuanhui handed over the important post of Governor of Ningzhou, guarding Jianye, to the older Duke of Jing, Lu Qin. The old man was nearly seventy years old, but in very good health.

He also appointed Li Chengtai as the governor of Langya, his eldest son Li Chengping as the governor of Danyang, Li Chengqian as the general of the Right Guard, and his second son Li Chengdao as the general of the Right Guard.

Among Li Yuanhui's older sons, the eldest and second oldest are already sixteen years old, and it is time for them to go out and work.

Both of them got married in the fifth year of Wude, and the eldest son Li Chengping married the daughter of Murong Wuji.

As for the second son, Li Chengdao, he married the daughter of Chang Yanheng.

Originally, he planned to marry his third son, Li Chengzong, to Zhu Deyu's daughter in September, but the plan had to be abandoned due to the national mourning.

The fourth son accepted the advice and also arranged a marriage with Zheng from Xingyang, the niece of Zheng Shandao.

Among the daughters, the eldest and second daughters also had their marriages arranged, with Zhu Deyu's eldest son Zhu Wenyi and Zhang Jian's eldest son Zhang Kezhi.

Among his children's in-laws, Li Yuanhui chose all his important officials. After all, they were all brought up by him. Among them, Zhu Wenyi and Zhang Kezhi were two young men that Li Yuanhui particularly liked, and they all served as his Qianniu attendants.

Especially Zhang Kezhi, who is both a son-in-law and a nephew, and is called uncle. He is smart and knowledgeable, skilled in riding and shooting, and looks more like his aunt.

The sixth year of Wude passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the seventh year of Wude was upon us.

Li Yuanhui also welcomed the twenty-third year since he came to this world. In addition to feeling sad about the fleeting time, he became more determined to put an end to the chaos as soon as possible.

A thought suddenly came to my mind: if my second brother were still alive, perhaps the whole world would have belonged to the Tang Dynasty?
(End of this chapter)