Chapter 60 As long as you open your mouth
In this way, not only the crisis was resolved, but the most courageous warriors were also selected for the mansion.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Qu Tutong thought for a moment and sighed, "This is the only way. I will send people to set up arenas in various places in Luoyang."
Almost all of his soldiers and personal guards were brave warriors, so there was no need to select them and they could be dispatched directly.
Li Yuanji nodded and told the guards to pass the message to Xie Shufang.
That night, Xie Shufang and his men set up an arena outside the city and announced the new rules for recruiting soldiers in the Prince of Qi's Palace.
Those who came from outside the city to join the army not only had no complaints about the new rules formulated by the Prince of Qi's Palace, but were very excited.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is willing to let his soldiers eat three meals a day, so he must be a brave warrior.
Some good-for-nothings are not even worthy of the three meals rewarded by His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi will give two Hu bings to the loser.
Only His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is kind and righteous. If it were someone else, in this chaotic year with constant wars, they would have been lucky not to scold you for being inferior to others and come out to embarrass themselves, but they would also give you a nonsense cake?!
It's better to give you a pile of cow dung!
…
The grand Luoyang competition thus kicked off.
The competition lasted for five days, and the number of soldiers in the Left Second General's Office of the Prince of Qi's Mansion exceeded the quota.
Li Yuanji stared at the number of 3,642 reported by Xie Shufang, and didn't know what to say.
"Snapped!"
Li Yuanji threw the list of the left second generals on the long table, stared at Xie Shufang and asked, "You are playing with me, right? Do you think you can play with me just because you are a marquis?!"
Xie Shufang said with a bitter face: "I dare not!"
Li Yuanji pointed at the roster on the long table and asked, "The number of people in Zuo Yitong Military Office is over the quota. I can assume that this is your first time doing this and you are not very experienced, so it is inevitable that you will make mistakes.
But the number of people in Zuo Er Tong Jun Fu has exceeded the quota, so I can't use the not-so-sophisticated explanation this time, right?"
Xie Shufang hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, I did not intend to recruit so many people. They broke into the military camp by tying or defeating the people sent by the palace with their real ability.
His Highness said that as long as they can defeat or tie with the people sent by the mansion, they can be taken into the mansion.
The rules were set by His Highness, and I dare not violate them, let alone make His Highness break his promise."
"hehe……"
Li Yuanji was so angry that he laughed. Xie Shufang's excuse was quite plausible, but the problem was that he didn't believe a word of it.
If Xie Shufang hadn't been reluctant to let go because of the man's bravery, he would have taken off his head and let Xie Shufang kick it like a ball.
Since ancient times, which general doesn't like brave warriors?
Not to mention Xie Shufang, even Qu Tutong and him, when they saw the brave warrior, wanted to pull him to their side.
The problem is that the military is a place where rules are most strictly enforced.
The number of people has been set at 1,500, so we can only recruit 1,500 people.
Breaking the rules once or twice will eventually lead to the disappearance of the rules.
If there are no rules in the army, it is no longer an army; it would be better to call it a group of vagrant soldiers.
"You don't want me to break my promise? So you break the rules I set?"
Li Yuanji stared at Xie Shufang and questioned him.
Xie Shufang lowered his head guiltily and didn't dare to say anything.
Qu Tutong chimed in from the side, "The people have been selected and incorporated into the military command of the palace. Your Highness can't just kick them out, right?"
At this point, Qu Tutong said cheerfully: "If Your Highness doesn't like it, I can take the extra soldiers into your house."
Li Yuanji glared at Qu Tutong and said without giving him face: "Are you qualified?"
Qu Tutong's face turned red after being criticized and he had nothing to say.
There were more than 2,000 guards in the Left Second Military Command of the Prince of Qi's Palace, which was more than the number of guards an ordinary prince could have.
Qu Tutong was only a duke, and the number of his followers and personal soldiers he could have totaled only a few hundred people.
He was indeed not qualified to take the extra soldiers into his mansion.
The reason why Li Yuanji was so rude to Qu Tutong was because the number of people in the Zuo Ertong Military Office exceeded the limit, and part of it was Qu Tutong's fault.
The people sent out by Li Yuanji and Xie Shufang to set up the arena only recruited more than 1,600 people.
Qu Tutong captured two thousand people in one go.
If it weren't for the fact that Qu Tutong was a veteran who had devoted his life to the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuanji would have scolded him instead of Xie Shufang.
"This is my fault. I beg Your Highness to punish me."
Xie Shufang could see that Li Yuanji was furious this time, so he quickly apologized.
Li Yuanji did not indulge Xie Shufang this time. "From today on, I will remove your position as the Left Cavalry Officer of the Zhifu and appoint you as the Deputy Commander of the Left Second Commander's Office."
At this point, Li Yuanji glared and shouted, "If you do this again, I'll make you hold the halberd at the gate!"
The one holding the halberd at the gate is not the same as the one holding the halberd in front of the tent. The former is a soldier, while the latter is an officer.
Xie Shufang bowed willingly and said, "I obey your command!"
He was the first to break the rules set by Li Yuanji, and he had no complaints even when Li Yuanji demoted him.
The military is a place where there are rewards and punishments.
There is no reason why you should be rewarded for your achievements and not be punished for your mistakes.
Qu Tutong felt that Li Yuanji's punishment was a bit too severe. He was the Left Cavalry Officer of the Prince's Mansion, and was a respectable official.
The deputy commander-in-chief of the Left Second Military Office is not presentable and his rank is several levels lower.
He was also wrong in this matter, so he couldn't let Xie Shufang bear the consequences alone.
Qu Tutong bowed and said, "I am also at fault in this matter. Please punish me severely and let Xie Shufang go."
Li Yuanji gave Qu Tutong a blank look and ignored him.
If he could punish Qu Tutong, would he still need to take action against his own people?
Qu Tutong was old and of high status, so to punish him, Li Yuan had to issue an order personally.
If Li Shimin wanted to punish him, he had to ask Li Yuan for permission first, and only after Li Yuan nodded could he do so.
He was not qualified to punish Qu Tutong privately.
"Your Highness, what should we do with the extra soldiers?"
Xie Shufang asked with a nervous look on his face.
He was afraid that Li Yuanji would expel those people from the Military Commandery.
Each of those people is a good talent, it is a pity to expel them from the Military Command.
Li Yuanji glared at Xie Shufang fiercely and said, "Let the people from the Left First Military Command and the Left Second Military Command have a competition to decide the 6,000 soldiers from the Left First and Left Second Military Commands. The rest will be temporarily assigned to the Left Military Command's main camp."
Xie Shufang looked at Li Yuanji in astonishment, "Left Commander's Camp?"
Qu Tutong also looked at Li Yuanji in astonishment.
The Prince’s Military Headquarters doesn’t seem to have such an organization.
Li Yuanji snorted and said, "Now that things have come to this, we can only set up a temporary camp to house them. We can't just put them in the Zuo San Military Command, right? They are not as skilled as others, and they still want to be soldiers in the Military Command?
The military headquarters under my command is not a place where filth and corruption are hidden, and we don’t want anyone to be accepted.”
Li Yuanji not only wanted brave warriors, but also wanted to select brave warriors from among the brave warriors.
Xie Shufang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I obey your command."
Qu Tutong looked thoughtful.
It was not enough for Li Yuanji to select brave warriors, he also had to select brave warriors among the brave warriors. In this way, the strength of the soldiers in the left first and left second military offices of the Prince of Qi's Palace would be so strong that everyone would drop their jaws.
Qu Tutong had no doubt about the performance of these warriors on the battlefield.
Because the young and strong men of this era, unless they came from a wealthy family, all had more or less experience in military service.
A brave warrior who can stand out from tens of thousands of young and strong men may have been a fierce warrior in front of a rebel king in the past.
If hundreds of such people were gathered together, they would become a powerful force.
Thousands of them gathered together can easily overturn the outcome of a small or medium-sized battle.
If Li Yuanji filled six military headquarters with such people, Li Shimin would shudder when he saw it.
Eighteen thousand fully-armored tigers and wolves rushed onto the battlefield, and anyone who saw them would tremble.
Qu Tutong was considering whether to report the matter to Li Shimin.
Li Yuanji didn't know what Qu Tutong was thinking. When Xie Shufang was about to leave, he reminded Xie Shufang: "This matter shall be a permanent rule of the General Military Office. From now on, anyone who wants to be assigned to the General Military Office must compete with the soldiers in the General Military Office's main camp.
The winner will go to the General's Office, and the loser will stay in the camp."
Now that things have come to this point, Li Yuanji doesn't mind making this a rule.
On the one hand, it can enhance the competitiveness of the Military Command and ensure that the Military Command always maintains a considerable level of combat effectiveness.
Secondly, it can also set a threshold for those who join later.
If those who joined later were not as skilled as others and could not enter the Military Commander's Office, it would not be his fault.
The brave generals who brought them here could n't blame him.
The army not only abides by rules, but also uses fists.
Whoever has the stronger fist will be qualified to occupy the only spot.
Others have to accept the fact no matter how reluctant they are, because they defeated you based on their own ability, not through nepotism or flattery. You have no choice but to accept the fact.
Qu Tutong widened his eyes in astonishment and looked at Li Yuanji.
Are you really going to do this?
Aren’t you afraid that your father and your two brothers will not be able to sleep if you do this?
Li Yuanji felt Qu Tutong's gaze and saw that Qu Tutong was staring at him in astonishment. He guessed what Qu Tutong was thinking and grinned, "I have no intention of harming anyone, but if anyone dares to harm me, I will break his teeth..."
Qu Tutong opened his mouth, speechless.
Qu Tutong finally understood that Li Yuanji was a hedgehog. He just wanted to lie there, lazy and motionless. If you didn't move him, he would be like non-existent.
If you touch him, he will stab you and make your hand bleed.
Qu Tutong had already made up his mind. He would write a letter to Li Shimin, telling him everything that had happened in Luoyang and reminding him not to send anyone to steal grain from the granary in Luoyang City, otherwise Li Yuanji would really dare to stab him.
After bidding farewell to Li Yuanji, Qu Tutong returned to his residence and immediately began to write a letter to Li Shimin. After he finished writing, he sent it out on an express horse.
Two days later.
Li Shimin wrote a reply, but it was not to Qu Tutong, but to Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji looked at Li Shimin's letter and his mouth twitched.
Li Shimin's letter expressed one point throughout: "Fourth brother, if you need a warrior, just ask and I will get one for you. Please don't destroy the food supply anymore."
