Chapter 252 Great Victory
In the Xuanzheng Hall, the ministers were still discussing how to deal with Goguryeo. Many people proposed to support a new Goguryeo king and recommended some candidates.

After the Goguryeo royal family was almost wiped out, a large number of aristocratic families sent envoys to Chang'an, in order to submit to the emperor and avoid being slaughtered by the army.

Secondly, it was for the position of the lord of Goguryeo. Now, undoubtedly only the one recognized by the Tang Dynasty could sit on the land. Otherwise, if the Tang army did not take the initiative to withdraw, it would be almost impossible to retake Pyongyang.

Of course, there were also many officials who believed that Goguryeo should be annexed and that prefectures and counties should be established to govern it.

However, there are relatively few officials who think so, because the Tang Dynasty has only occupied the cities from Liaodong City to Pyongyang, and the rest are still resisting stubbornly.

The Minister of War said: "Your Majesty, Liaodong is a bitter and cold place after all, and to the north there are the Khitan and Xi tribes, to the south there is Silla and Baekje, and the people of the country have deep hatred for the Central Plains, it is really difficult to control it for long!"

Wang Gui said, "Minister Xue, it is difficult, but if we let Goguryeo go, it will be a great threat to the Tang Dynasty in the future. Will the court have to fight all over again?"

Chang Sunchang, the Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Works, said, "Your Majesty, I think that this is a place where we can establish our kingdom. How can we abandon it because of difficulties? We should establish a Protectorate in Liaodong to govern it."

"That's easy for Junior Supervisor Chang Sun to say, but how many troops should be stationed there? How should supplies be delivered? And we can't just rely on a large army to suppress them all the time. How can we make those survivors return to their hearts and minds?"

As an emperor, Li Jiancheng naturally had strong ambition and greed for territory. Even though it was very difficult to swallow Goguryeo, he would definitely give it a try.

The first thing is to tie the interests of Liaodong to the interests of the imperial court and its key backbones.

The important reason why officials in the court are not very interested in Liaodong now is that they no longer have any interests there. After all, the credit for destroying the country has already been taken by Zhang Huli and Luo Yi.

Li Jiancheng sat relaxedly on the dragon chair, his hands resting naturally on both sides: "I will send the navy to order Silla and Baekje to submit, I will set up the Andong Protectorate in Pyongyang, and I will also grant land and fiefs in Liaodong to the country's meritorious officials."

The ministers were shocked when they heard the beginning. The wars with Goguryeo and Turks were not over yet, so why were they going to go to war with Silla and Baekje again?

No one was surprised that the emperor wanted to establish a protectorate. Emperors of all dynasties had always wanted to expand their territory during their reign.

The fact that the emperor wanted to grant land in Liaodong and reward population surprised the ministers. It was well known that Liaodong was very large. After 120,000 households were relocated from Goguryeo, there should be about 300,000 to 400,000 households left. There were still quite a few people in Silla and Baekje as well.

The ambitions of aristocratic families for land have always been great, and this was even more of a dream during the Wei and Jin dynasties. At that time, a large aristocratic family could recruit tens of thousands of young and strong men from their own fields to protect themselves or build their own careers.

However, Liaodong is still too far away after all, and those barbaric people may not be easily driven.

What if the emperor changes his mind in the future and takes back all the land? Wouldn’t all the hard work be in vain?

Although the court officials were still worried and doubtful, except for those who firmly opposed going to war with Silla and Baekje, the rest turned to support it.

At this time, the news of the assassination of Duke Wei suddenly came. Fortunately, Duke Wei was not seriously injured. After hearing this, the emperor slowly sat up straight and said, "Marquis Wuxing."

Shen Guang stepped out: "I am here."

"Thorough investigation!"

"promise!"

The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think this matter should be investigated thoroughly by the Ministry of Justice."

"This is an imperial case, and the Jinyiwei should be in charge of it. You don't need to say more." The Jinyiwei mainly consists of the emperor's guards and the left and right Qianniu guards. The number is not too large for the time being, just over a thousand people, but it is enough to be responsible only for the imperial case.

Shen Guang led his men out of the city and brought two imperial doctors with him. After meeting the Duke of Weiguo, he arrested all the people in the group and began to interrogate them. As for the assassins, he directly tortured them to find out if there was a mastermind behind the scenes.

Of course, sometimes whether this mastermind really exists depends entirely on the emperor's intention, and it may or may not exist.

He was involved in the assassination of a great general, and the execution of his entire family was considered a light punishment.

At this time, the news that the King of Qin had captured Jie Li Khan and Tong Yehu Khan also came back. The officials had expected it, but the people could hardly believe it and immediately fell into a carnival.

In particular, the people who were forced to enter Chang'an because of the court's policy of fortifying the city and clearing the fields can now return to their hometowns to farm, and they don't have to worry about the Turks coming again for at least many years.

The people in Longyou and Guanzhong who first received the news were overjoyed. Their confidence in world peace and their respect for the emperor were greatly enhanced.

There is no contradiction that cannot be suppressed by a brilliant victory, not to mention that there are three armies of Xu Shiji, Li Shimin and Li Xiaogong, a total of 500,000 troops gathered in the north.

Who has the courage to say no to the emperor?
The emperor issued an edict to the King of Qin, sending troops to escort Jie Li and Tong Yehu back to the capital, and the troops of Bingzhou returned to their territory for defense. The King of Qin took advantage of the situation to advance westward to intimidate the Western Turks.

The newly appointed Turkic Khan in the east, Tuli, had already submitted his allegiance, calling himself his nephew Tuli, and paid tribute to the sage emperor. He also presented a thousand good horses and three thousand slaves as gifts of congratulations.

Among them, three thousand slaves were all Jie Li's subordinates.

Princess Yicheng sent an envoy to ask for a Tang princess to marry her son Tuli Khan.

The Western Turks have also received news that their Khan has been captured, but there has been no movement for the time being.

The emperor had no intention of showing any favor to Jie Li and Tong Yehu, so Zhangsun Wuji drove the two khans off the prison cart in front of the city gate, put shackles and shackles on them, and ordered a heroic young general to ride a horse in front and lead them forward.

Jie Li and Tong Yehu were filled with shame and indignation, but their bruised bodies showed that they had tried to maintain their dignity along the way, but unfortunately they were not respected but only beaten.

The people of Chang'an were crowded on the roadside in excitement. The street, which was a hundred steps wide, had only enough space in the middle for three horses to pass.

The common people who squeezed to the front could spit on the face of the Turkic Khan. No one dared to do it at first, but soon there were fearless attempts, and excitement was contagious.

White, yellow, green...

"Ahhhhhhh! I'm going to kill you. Kill you. My army will massacre the entire city!"

The people could not understand the Turkic language, but they could sense their anger, so some wanderers began to silently search the ground for large stones.

It is not certain whether the court will pardon them, so it is more reliable to do it ourselves.

Fortunately, Zhangsun Wuji discovered the signs and stopped it in time, and your majesty's spoils of war almost died on the way.

………………

(End of this chapter)