Chapter 32 Lian Po is Old
Wang Junlang is tall and handsome; Fan Shixing is broad-shouldered and fat-waisted, with a broad face and copper-bell eyes; Li Shou is of medium build and nothing special.
After entering the barracks, they saluted together.
"Your Highness..."
Li Yuanji couldn't guess the purpose of Wang Junlang and the other two, so he asked them to sit down and asked directly, "What's the important matter that brings you here so late at night?"
Wang Junlang and the other two were obviously stunned for a moment. They did not expect Li Ji to be so direct.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Wang Junlang hurriedly said, "To be honest, the three of us came to visit you late at night to seek advice from Your Highness."
"Seeking advice?"
Li Yuanji had a strange look on his face.
He had no idea who Fan Shixing and Li Shou were, but he knew who Wang Junlang was.
Wang Junlang is well-known for his cunning mind, righteous ideas, and willingness to use any means necessary to achieve his goals.
Will Wang Junlang ask him for advice?
It's good enough not to cheat him.
"Yes, please teach me."
Wang Junlang hurriedly repeated.
Li Yuanji pondered and said, "What can I teach you? I don't have anything to teach you, right?"
Wang Junlang said hurriedly: "Your Highness also knows that all the food and grass for this expedition to Hebei were raised by the Great Xingtai of the Eastern Shaanxi Road. But we have not seen a single grain of food until now. We are really worried, so we have come to see Your Highness and ask for your guidance."
Li Shou added, "As far as I know, there is no food in the granaries of the eastern Shaanxi Province. If the governor of the eastern Shaanxi Province cannot raise food, I will not feel at ease leading the troops to fight."
Fan Shixing nodded and said, "Yes, if the soldiers don't see food, they will probably mutiny. I'm afraid we will be in big trouble then."
After Fan Shixing finished speaking, the three of them looked worried.
Li Yuanji suddenly realized that after all the fuss, the three people were unsure and afraid that Li Shimin would not be able to raise food, so they came to him to inquire about the gossip.
But... he also didn't know where Li Shimin would get the food.
If he had known, he would not have generously given the power to supervise the transportation of grain and fodder to Han Liang.
Li Yuanji said with emotion: "Then you have found the wrong person. You should go to find Han Liang, the left chancellor of the Grand Secretariat of East Shaanxi Province, or Yu Zhining, the doctor of the Ministry of Finance of East Shaanxi Province."
The Yu Duzhi mentioned by Han Liang before was Yu Zhining, the Duzhi Langzhong of the Daxingtai of the East Shaanxi Circuit.
Li Shimin has given full authority to the two of them to be responsible for raising food and supervising its transportation.
Wang Junlang, Fan Shixing and Li Shou were all stunned.
Wang Junlang couldn't help but ask, "Isn't Your Highness the commander-in-chief of the rear army? Isn't it right for us to come to Your Highness?"
Li Yuanji smiled and said, "My second brother sent Han Liang to serve under me and asked him to help me supervise the transportation of grain and grass. I saw that Han Liang was a talented person, so I gave him all the matters related to supervising the transportation of grain and grass.
Therefore, I no longer need to worry about matters related to raising food and supervising its transportation.
So I say you got the wrong person.”
Wang Junlang and the other two looked at each other, totally at a loss for words.
The power to supervise the transportation of grain and fodder can be handed over at any time.
If any other rear army commander dared to do this, his head would have been hung on the flagpole long ago.
Only the great Prince Qi would dare to do this and not be afraid of losing his head.
It was widely rumored that the King of Qi had become smarter and more sensible.
But looking at what the King of Qi did, it is obvious that he is still the same idiot as before.
"Even so, we will not bother Your Highness any more. We will take our leave."
Wang Junlang stood up first and said goodbye to Li Yuanji.
Since he couldn't get what he wanted from Li Yuanji, he was unwilling to waste any more words talking to Li Yuanji.
When Fan Shixing and Li Shou saw Wang Junlang was about to leave, they immediately stood up and said goodbye.
Li Yuanji watched the three men leave the barracks, and said with emotion, "Fortunately, I handed over the matter of supervising the transportation of grain and grass to Han Liang, otherwise, with Wang Junlang's insidiousness, I don't know how he would plot against me."
Wang Junlang is a typical sinister villain who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
Before Wang Junlang became rich, he wanted to be a bandit, but he had no one under his command, so he started to have evil intentions and set his sights on his uncle who was somewhat capable.
In order to force his uncle to join him in becoming a bandit, he falsely accused his aunt of having an affair with a neighbor and instigated his uncle to join him in killing his aunt and the neighbor and becoming a bandit.
When Wang Junlang was starting to become successful, Li Yuan sent people to persuade him to surrender. Wang Junlang agreed on the surface, but secretly stabbed Li Yuan in the back and ran away to join Li Mi.
Li Mi saw that he was a two-faced villain and did not use him.
So he betrayed Li Mi again and ran back to join Li Yuan.
Li Yuan was quite fond of all those who came to him with troops and territories.
Therefore, not only did he not care about Wang Junlang's previous betrayal, he also entrusted Wang Junlang with important tasks.
After Wang Junlang arrived at Li Tang's camp, he worked quite hard and hadn't done anything bad so far.
But others don't know, but Li Yuanji knows it well. In history, this guy, for the sake of fame and fortune, instigated Li Yuan's cousin, Prince of Lujiang Li Yuan, to rebel after the Xuanwu Gate Incident of Li Shimin, and then turned around to suppress Li Yuan and won a lot of rewards from Li Shimin.
Li Yuanji didn't want to have anything to do with such people, nor did he want to be remembered by such people.
After Wang Junlang left, no one bothered Li Ji anymore.
Li Yuanji fell asleep peacefully.
The next day, it was still dark.
The lights inside Tongguan were bright.
Li Yuanji was also awakened by Xie Shufang.
Xie Shufang reported that Qu Tutong and Yin Qiao thought it would be best to rush to Hangu Pass today to review some of the Shanzhou troops assembled at Hangu Pass.
According to the latest document from the military commander's tent, Li Yuanji and Qu Tutong needed to lead these troops to Luoyang and garrison Luoyang.
Li Yuanji was a little confused.
When did Li Shimin issue the document? How come he didn’t know about it?
Li Shimin could bypass him and give orders to other officers under the command of the rear army commander? !
Is Li Shimin breaking the rules, or is he not taking him seriously?
Li Yuanji wanted to find Qu Tutong to get things straight, so he immediately sent someone to help him put on armor, carry a meter-long lance, and follow him to Qu Tutong's residence with murderous intent.
The moment he saw Qu Tutong, Li Yuanji's anger disappeared instantly.
Qu Tutong was over sixty years old and was no longer as tall as he was when he was young. In order to support the wide armor and give people a feeling of being majestic and powerful, he ordered people to make two leather jackets for him, which were tied tightly to his body, and then he put on another layer of leather armor before putting on the iron armor.
Two leather jackets and a layer of leather armor were enough to wrap Qu Tutong's upper body tightly.
By doing this, safety will be greatly improved, but one will also have to endure inhuman torture.
Once you sweat too much from exercise, you will feel like you are in a steamer.
How could Li Yuanji dare to be angry with a sixty-year-old man who endured inhuman torture to protect Li Yuanji? !
Li Yuanji saw Qu Tutong putting on his armor and felt a little embarrassed.
Afraid that Li Yuanji might misunderstand, he patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Although Qu Tu is old, he can still wield a spear and use a three-stone hard bow. He will definitely protect Your Highness."
Li Yuanji sighed inwardly and said, "We haven't reached Luoyang yet, and we can't see Liu's chaotic army. General Qu Tu doesn't need to wear so many leather clothes under his armor."
Qu Tutong was stunned for a moment. He did not expect Li Yuanji to say this.
After a brief pause, Qu Tutong dismissed the people around him, walked up to Li Yuanji, and explained to him, "Your Highness, I have led troops for many years and I know the habits of the soldiers very well.
They like to follow a powerful general because he can lead them to achieve success.
They are willing to follow a powerful general because he can fight his way out for them on the battlefield.
If I want to lead them, I cannot show my old age in front of them.
Otherwise they will leave me and neglect me."
Li Yuanji also understood this truth, but with Qu Tutong's achievements, he could just rest on his laurels and wait for death. There was really no need to work so hard.
Qu Tutong was not only a brave general, he was also a wise general.
The reason why he was able to stand out from the crowd of brave warriors under Li Shimin and serve as Li Shimin's deputy was not because of his age or fierce fighting, but because he was brave and resourceful, and both wise and courageous.
He can not only conquer people with his fists, but also with his brain.
"This time, we are only responsible for supervising the transportation of food and grass and guarding Luoyang. We will not fight in the battlefield. Most of the soldiers we lead are our trusted ones. General Qu Tu really doesn't need to wrong himself like this."
Li Yuanji sighed.
Qu Tutong was stunned again. He finally understood that Li Yuanji felt sorry for him.
He felt a little touched.
He had accompanied Li Yuanji through life and death many times , but this was the first time he received Li Yuanji's care.
But this does not mean that he will listen to Li Yuanji.
He smiled at Li Yuanji and said, "Your Highness, I understand your thoughts. But I have been a soldier for half my life, and I really can't put down the big gun in my hand, the longbow on my horse, and the soldiers who follow me.
If I go on this expedition and die on the battlefield, I hope Your Highness will not be sad, because this is my long-cherished wish."
Qu Tutong's words were so heroic, but Li Yuanji always felt uncomfortable listening to them.
"Since I can't persuade you, I won't persuade you anymore. You've been wearing three layers of leather, and sooner or later you'll get sick. You should send your guards to hunt some wild birds like pheasants, and then sew a short double-sided coat and stuff chicken feathers and other things into it to replace the leather coat and leather armor.
That thing not only keeps you warm, but also won’t make you sick.”
Li Yuanji glanced at Qu Tutong and gave him a suggestion.
Qu Tutong was stunned. Is this possible?
Li Yuanji ignored Qu Tutong and turned away.
When he returned to his barracks, Xie Shufang had already reorganized the two thousand cavalrymen of the Prince of Qi's Palace.
Li Yuanji mounted his horse and led two thousand cavalry out of Tongguan.
Qu Tutong and Yin Qiao led their troops and followed closely behind.
We galloped all the way, and five miles out of Tongguan, the sun had already begun to rise.
Yin Qiao rode his horse to catch up with Li Yuanji and said in a cheerful voice, "Your Highness, the sun looks nice today, and it would be boring if we kept traveling.
How about we have a competition?"
Li Yuanji was riding his horse at gallop, and when he heard Yin Qiao's words, his face turned black.
This is also the sin committed by the previous life.
Only the foolish predecessor would abandon the dignity of a prince and go to teach skills to his own subjects, but in the end he lost and was humiliated.
