Chapter 40 When Happiness Knocks on the Door
Li Yuanji made up his mind and began to think about how to become stronger.
I kept thinking until three o'clock in the morning.
At three o'clock in the morning, some people in Hangu Pass had already woken up and were busy preparing for the new day. Only then did Li Ji realize that he had not slept yet.
I lay on the bed with my clothes on and closed my eyes. Half a day had passed.
When the sun began to set, Li Yuanji was shaken awake.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Xie Shufang standing in front of the bed.
"What? I just slept for a while."
Li Yuanji felt that he had just taken a short nap, just a short while.
Xie Shufang made a bitter face and bowed , "Your Highness, it's already past noon. You've been sleeping for most of the day."
Li Yuanji squinted his eyes, looking a little dazed.
Xie Shufang continued, "Before leaving, the commander said that we had already wasted quite a while at Hangu Pass and we should hurry on our way."
Li Yuanji blinked, "Is it so important whether I hurry or not?"
He has handed over all the power of supervising the transportation of grain and grass to Han Liang, which means that he no longer has any duties to do.
Guarding Luoyang was Qu Tutong's responsibility, not his, so he could not interfere.
"An urgent report from Hebei says that Liu Heita has conquered Xingzhou, Weizhou, and Shenzhou in the past few days, and killed Pan Daoyi, the governor of Weizhou. Liu Heita has recovered all of Dou Jiande's former territory, and is heading straight for Mingzhou, Xiangzhou, and Weizhou.
Huang Junhan, the new commander of the Left Army, may take several days to arrive at Hangu Pass. We must first lead the troops of the Left Army to Luoyang in case of emergency."
Xie Shufang said with a bitter face.
Yin Qiao's illness delayed him for a few days, which also triggered a series of chain reactions.
The person to replace Yin Qiao has not arrived yet, so Li Yuanji, as the highest commander here, naturally has to shoulder part of the responsibility.
"I always feel that..."
Li Yuanji opened his mouth subconsciously, but stopped halfway through his words.
He felt that Li Shimin was probably afraid that he would stay here and become too deeply involved with Yin Qiao, so he urged him to hurry up.
Compared to him, Qu Tutong is obviously more suitable for commanding troops.
"Since this is the order from the commander-in-chief, let's pack up and get ready to go."
Li Yuanji said with a sneer.
Xie Shufang's mouth twitched, and he whispered, "The army is already ready to go, just waiting for Your Highness."
Li Yuanji looked embarrassed.
After all this time, he has become a drag.
Li Yuanji got up hurriedly, washed briefly, and ordered the guards at the door to help him put on his armor. He then left the barracks, carrying his sword and lance.
The guards carried some trivial items that Li Yuanji had left in the barracks, as well as Li Yuanji's bow and quiver, and followed closely behind.
When Li Yuanji arrived at the parade ground, nearly 10,000 soldiers had already lined up and were waiting for him.
The two thousand armored troops from the Prince of Qi's Palace were in the lead, followed by the three thousand troops from Shanzhou and the three thousand troops from Guozhou.
Qu Tutong, with his troops and part of Yin Qiao's troops, stood on one side.
The armor of the Prince of Qi's palace was obviously different from that of the soldiers and horses of Shanzhou and Guozhou.
The Qi Wang Mansion’s armor is all iron armor, and all cavalry.
Among the soldiers and horses of Shanzhou and Guozhou, there were only more than 200 cavalrymen, most of whom wore leather armor, and only some officers wore iron armor.
The weapons of the iron armor of the Prince of Qi's palace were relatively uniform, but the weapons of the soldiers of Shanzhou and Guozhou were varied and covered all kinds of weapons.
As soon as Li Yuanji showed up, Qu Tutong came forward with the two governors of Shanzhou and Guozhou to greet him.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi."
The three men saluted while clasping their fists on horseback.
Li Yuanji just nodded slightly and said calmly: "General Qu Tu will lead the march this time. You all should obey his orders."
Marching tens of thousands of soldiers is not an easy task.
There is a lot of knowledge involved, such as when to move forward and when to stop, how to conduct a forced march appropriately, how to prevent people from running away out of fear of fighting, and how to distribute the food and fodder at hand.
Li Yuanji didn’t quite understand it, but his predecessor did.
But judging from the memories of his predecessor, he was obviously not as good as Qu Tutong in this respect.
Therefore, it would be more appropriate to hand this matter over to Qu Tutong.
Since Liu Heita has already occupied Weizhou and other places, the day when he becomes king and dominates the world is not far away.
The Tang Dynasty must teach Liu Heita a severe lesson when he becomes king.
Otherwise, once Liu Heita's power grows, who knows how many people in the world will follow his example.
By then, the Tang Dynasty will become even more chaotic.
Therefore, the Tang Dynasty’s troops must rush to Luoyang as soon as possible.
Seeing that Li Yuanji had given him the task of supervising the march, Qu Tutong did not refuse and immediately clasped his fists and said, "Yes!"
The two governors of Shanzhou and Guozhou were also very convinced of Qu Tutong and naturally would not refuse. They immediately clasped their fists and agreed.
Qu Tutong rode his horse back to the front of the army and after giving a few brief instructions, a group of scouts rushed out of Hangu Pass first.
After the scouts brought back the news that the official road was clear, Qu Tutong asked Li Yuanji to lead the remaining troops out of Hangu Pass.
As soon as he left Hangu Pass, Li Yuanji saw that Yin Qiao's followers had followed him out and were intentionally or unintentionally surrounding his subordinates. He became suspicious and immediately summoned Qu Tutong.
"General Qu Tu, what is this?"
Li Yuanji sat on horseback, pointing at Yin Qiao's troops not far away, with a puzzled look on his face.
Qu Tutong rode his horse beside Li Yuanji and said with a smile: "The sage has appointed Yin Qiao to accompany you to Luoyang. Now that Yin Qiao is ill, he will naturally send his troops to guard you.
Yin Qiao told me that you saved his life, and these troops can be used at your will, even if you ask them to charge into battle, they will obey. "
Li Yuanji was amused, "Yin Qiao is a man who knows how to repay a favor."
He saved Yin Qiao at the right time. He had no intention of recruiting Yin Qiao, nor did he plot anything against him.
So he didn't really care whether Yin Qiao would repay him or not.
But judging from Yin Qiao's current expression, it was obvious that he wanted to repay him.
It's a good thing for him too.
Seeing that Li Yuanji was not disgusted by Yin Qiao's followers, Qu Tutong said with a smile, "If he was ungrateful, he wouldn't have come together with us, right?"
Qu Tutong used the word "we" well.
He secretly supported Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji knew it was flattery, but he still accepted it with a smile.
"When did my second brother leave last night?"
Li Yuanji asked with a smile.
Qu Tutong was stunned for a moment, and said, "The commander stayed by the bedside for a long time, and left at three o'clock in the morning."
Li Yuanji smiled and nodded, with a look of emotion on his face, "Second brother really values Yin Qiao. When I was struck by lightning, second brother didn't even come to visit me."
Li Shimin was indeed well aware of how to win people's hearts. When misunderstandings arose, making his subordinates feel uneasy, he really could not come and leave in a hurry.
In that case, the people under him would still be a little worried.
Li Shimin stayed by Yin Qiao's bedside for most of the night, which not only allowed Yin Qiao to completely put his mind at ease, but also showed him a favor.
There is a reason why Li Shimin was able to gather so many outstanding people around him.
Not everyone among those people values wealth and fame.
For example, Luo Shixin values friendship more, while Yuchi Gong cares more about trust.
Li Shimin could not win them over with wealth and glory. Li Shimin had to give them things they cared about.
Qu Tutong looked embarrassed when he heard what Li Yuanji said.
It is indeed an embarrassing thing that Li Shimin treats his subordinates better than his younger brother.
It was even more embarrassing when Li Yuanji said it so openly.
Qu Tutong quickly changed the subject, clasped his fists towards Li Yuanji and said with a smile: "I want to thank Your Highness."
Li Yuanji was stunned for a moment and asked, "Thank me for what?"
Qu Tutong smiled and untied his sleeve armor, revealing a piece of cloth sleeve. The sleeve was very thick and was obviously filled with something. In order to prevent the things inside from piling up into a ball, there were relatively dense stitches on it.
This is... the Tang Dynasty version down jacket that he had instructed Qu Tutong to make?
Li Yuanji was stunned and asked, "You really did it? And you put it on?"
Qu Tutong tied up his sleeve armor and said with a smile: "Your Highness, I will definitely believe what you said. After Your Highness said this, I immediately ordered people to prepare.
During these few days at Hangu Pass, my men have done several things.
I have been taking care of Yin Qiao, so I have no chance to try it.
I tried it only after Yin Qiao's condition improved.
I didn't expect that the two-sided cloth, stuffed with pheasant feathers, would be so warm and not stuffy, and could even support my armor."
At this point, Qu Tutong clasped his fists to Li Yuanji again and said, "Your Highness has really taken a lot of trouble. How can I not thank you?"
Li Yuanji waved his hand and said, "Since the effect is good, I will keep wearing it."
He instructed Qu Tutong to make a Tang Dynasty version of down jacket. He felt sorry for Qu Tutong's old age. In order to have dignity in front of the soldiers, he tortured himself with leather jackets without seeking any reward.
Then, after hearing what Li Yuanji said, Qu Tutong said seriously: "I think this dress should be presented to the commander's tent, or to Chang'an , and given to the commander-in-chief or the saint.
If the general's tent can find a way to get more of this clothing, the casualties of our Tang army in this expedition can be reduced by 10%. "
It is now the twelfth lunar month and the weather in the north is unusually cold.
There are many people with frozen faces, ears and toes.
Many people froze to death.
The army was on the march, running around in the severe cold, and the chance of frostbite was even greater.
The battle losses also increased.
Leather armor and iron armor cannot keep out the cold.
If everyone could be given a Tang Dynasty version of down jacket, it would indeed reduce combat losses.
Qu Tutong’s suggestion is good.
But it was useless for Li Yuanji to take the credit.
Did he have to take the Tang Dynasty version of the down jacket and run to Li Shimin and Li Yuan and say, "Look, I have made a good thing that can keep you warm in winter and reduce battle losses. Do you have to make me a marquis or something?"
In that case, he would not just be cheap, but just a fool.
He has basically reached the end of his title and official position, so this kind of small achievement is of no use to him.
Li Yuanji changed his mind and shouted to Xie Shufang behind him.
"Xie Shufang?!"
Xie Shufang rode his horse forward hurriedly.
Li Yuanji decisively ordered: "The cold-weather clothing that General Qu Tu wears, was it invented by you?"
"ah?"
Xie Shufang was a little confused.
Li Yuanji did not give Xie Shufang a chance to respond, and said carelessly: "This clothing is very effective in keeping out the cold, and can reduce the casualties of our army. I will report to the commander's tent and my father, and ask for credit for you."
