Chapter 78 Heavy Losses
No matter what, Li Yuanji was still the fourth person in the Tang Dynasty. Among all the ministers in the Tang Dynasty, only old men like Li Gang and Pei Ju, who were over 70 years old, could ignore him. Yuchi Gong was not qualified.
Qin Qiong opened his mouth and wanted to say something to defend Yuchi Gong, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't say them.
After all, it was Yuchi Gong who was rude first, so he couldn't blame Li Yuanji for being ruthless afterwards.
Wu Heita looked at Qin Qiong with a bitter face and said, "Shubao, let's think of a way to help Brother Yuchi get back his dignity. Otherwise, Brother Yuchi will have no way to live as a human being in the future, and we will be scolded too."
When Yuchi Gong was rude to Li Yuanji, he and Niu Jinda were watching on the side but failed to stop it in time. If the imperial censors knew about it, they would definitely scold them for being the same as Yuchi Gong.
Yuchi Gong has been turned into a disloyal and unjust person by Li Yuanji. Since they are birds of the same flock as Yuchi Gong, don't they also become disloyal and unjust people?
You can't bear the reputation of being disloyal and unrighteous. If you do, you will have no way to survive in the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Qiong frowned, "What can we do..."
Li Yuanji has already firmly pinned this title on Yuchi Gong, and the man has fled. They are still on the battlefield, with the command order in their hands. Before the command order is handed over, they cannot leave the battlefield as casually as Li Yuanji did.
Niu Jinda sighed and said, "How about reporting this matter to His Highness and asking His Highness to make the decision?"
Qin Qiong and Wu Heita looked at each other.
Wu Heita said helplessly: "At this point, this is the only way."
Li Yuanji's status and position were much higher than theirs, and his martial arts easily crushed Yuchi Gong, so they were no match for him.
In the past, they could still say a few words to Li Yuanji, relying on their better martial arts than Li Yuanji.
Now they are no longer qualified to have an equal dialogue with Li Yuanji, so they can only ask Li Shimin to come forward.
Qin Qiong waved to his troops and gave them a few instructions. They then mounted their horses and rushed towards where Li Shimin was.
…
Li Yuanji rode his horse for a hundred feet, and the carefree look on his face disappeared, replaced by a look of deep sorrow.
"Can you say that again?"
Li Yuanji looked at Su Dingfang who was helping him lead the horse and asked in disbelief.
Su Dingfang said in a deep voice: "In the battle of Mingshui City, more than one hundred guards of Your Highness were injured, and eight hundred soldiers of the Zuo Er Tongjun Mansion were injured. Almost all the soldiers and horses of Shanzhou were buried in Mingshui City."
Li Yuanji felt as if his heart was stabbed by a knife. When he was watching the battle, he guessed that the soldiers under his command had suffered heavy casualties, and he was mentally prepared to lose half of his soldiers.
But Su Dingfang now told him that the battle losses were more than half, and he could not bear it for the time being.
"How could there be so much damage?"
Li Yuanji asked with great anguish.
Su Dingfang told Li Yuanji the general situation of Mingshui City with a bitter face.
Although there were more than 10,000 soldiers in Mingshui City, only more than 100 troops under Luo Shixin, more than 1,000 Tang soldiers left by Wang Junkuo, and 4,500 people led by Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong participated in the battle.
Luo Shixin did not trust Li Quhuo's troops, and Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong did not dare to trust them either.
The generals and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty did not dare to turn their backs to them.
So Luo Shixin confiscated their weapons, made them serve as laborers, and did not let them participate in the war.
The 4,500 men led by Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong were the main force in resisting Liu Heita's siege, so naturally they suffered heavy casualties.
After all, Liu Heita led tens of thousands of people to attack the city, including many brave generals and warriors. Luo Shixin, Su Dingfang and Qu Tutong only had a few thousand soldiers. It would definitely cost a huge price to defend Mingshui City.
"Wang Junkuo deserves death!"
After listening to Su Dingfang's words, Li Yuanji started cursing.
If it weren't for that scoundrel Wang Junkuo who failed to perform his duties and clean up the traitors hiding under Li Quhuo's command, the soldiers under his command wouldn't have suffered so many casualties.
"Go tell Qu Tutong to report the details of this incident to the commander's tent as soon as possible!"
Wang Junkuo must give an explanation for this matter.
He will never give up if you don't give him an explanation.
"Is there anyone who deliberately harms our people?"
After Li Yuanji ordered someone to pass the message to Qu Tutong, he stared at Su Dingfang and asked again.
Su Dingfang shook his head without hesitation, "No one deliberately harmed our people. The brothers under Shi Xin have always stood in front of our people. Whenever they encountered a crisis of certain death, they were the first to go."
When Su Dingfang mentioned the brother under Luo Shixin, a hint of respect appeared on his face.
They are truly a group of loyal and righteous brothers.
He and Qu Tutong led people to Mingshui City to rescue them.
But at critical moments, they always rushed to the front and blocked the enemy's fatal attack for the brothers in the Prince Qi's Mansion.
The brothers of Prince Qi's Mansion risked their lives to save them, and they also risked their lives in return.
"I'm asking... Li Quhuo!"
Li Yuanji said through gritted teeth.
Of course, he would not suspect that Luo Shixin and his brothers would harm his people. What he suspected was Li Quhuo, the surrendered general.
If Li Quhuo had harmed his people, he would rush into Mingshui City and chop off Li Quhuo's head.
Su Dingfang was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and shook his head slightly, "Li Quhuo has always been law-abiding during the war, and there have been no traitors under his command."
Li Yuanji snorted coldly, "The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. When the war was approaching, a traitor appeared under his command, but he did not notice it in time, and he is guilty of negligence.
After entering Mingshui City, we confiscated his military power."
After saying this, Li Yuanji took Su Dingfang and his party into Mingshui City.
The houses in various places in Mingshui City were broken into pieces by the huge rocks, and some houses were burned down to ruins.
Soldiers in leather armor shuttled through every street in Mingshui City, collecting corpses scattered everywhere.
In the parade ground in the city.
The place was filled with the corpses of Tang Dynasty soldiers.
Qu Tutong stood beside the corpses of the soldiers with a sad face, and from time to time he would remind the military clerks to write down in a book how many enemies a soldier had beheaded, how bravely he fought, etc.
Qu Tutong brought them into Mingshui City, but had no way of taking them out alive, so he could only have their contributions recorded in detail in a book, hoping that the court would give more rewards to their families.
Some of the heads he had captured were also quietly distributed to his soldiers.
After Li Yuanji rode up, Qu Tutong hurried forward, knelt on one knee in front of Li Yuanji, and said with a guilty look: "I am ashamed of your Highness..."
Li Yuanji trusted him and handed over 4,500 subordinates to him, but he caused the loss of more than half of these 4,500 people, and he felt guilty.
Although casualties on the battlefield were common, these 4,500 men were Li Yuanji's subordinates, not his subordinate troops, nor were they soldiers dispatched to him by the general's tent.
He had to give Li Yuanji an explanation anyway.
Li Yuanji felt a dull pain in his heart as he looked at the corpses scattered all over the training ground.
A few days ago, they were still lively and energetic, following him on horseback, and some of them would even flatter him and say a few witty words to him while he was on patrol.
A few days later, they turned into corpses...
"Get up, I don't blame you."
Li Yuanji said something quietly to Qu Tutong, jumped off his horse, and walked towards the training ground.
He personally looked at the appearance of each soldier and took back the iron plates they were wearing. If he met a Shanzhou soldier who was not wearing an iron plate, he would order the clerk to prepare a separate book to record the Shanzhou soldier's birth date, death date, appearance, characteristics, place of origin, merits, etc.
It was because of his orders that they set foot on the battlefield of Mingshui City and died in Mingshui City.
If it weren't for him, they might not have appeared on the battlefield in Mingshui City.
So he had to remember everything about them and treat their families well.
"Your Highness..."
In the evening, Li Yuanji helped the last soldier to tidy up his appearance, and Qu Tutong hesitantly approached Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji nodded, and without waiting for Qu Tutong to speak again, he called out, "Su Dingfang?"
Su Dingfang hurried forward.
Li Yuanji ordered, "Bury them in a high tomb, erect a monument with seal characters, and hold memorial ceremonies for them in the future."
Su Dingfang said solemnly: "Yes!"
Li Yuanji looked at the clerk behind him and ordered: "Report their achievements to the commander's headquarters and ask the commander to commend them for their achievements."
The clerk bowed hastily and agreed, "Yes!"
Li Yuanji also sent people to Luoyang, Shanzhou and Chang'an at full speed to allocate some land to the soldiers who died in the battle as compensation.
He asked for some land for his soldiers who had died in battle, and the magistrate of Luoyang , the governor of Shanzhou, and the officials of Chang'an did not dare to make things difficult for him.
The Tang Dynasty is not short of land now , but of people.
Therefore, the magistrate of Luoyang, the governor of Shanzhou, and the officials of Chang'an would not use such things to trip him up and offend him.
After Li Yuanji had explained almost everything, he looked at Qu Tutong.
Qu Tutong hurriedly said, "The commander's tent has already seized Wang Junkuo's troops and demoted Li Quhuo."
Li Yuanji frowned, "The commander's actions are quite fast."
Qu Tutong had a bitter face and said nothing.
How dare you not be quick?
Li Yuanji stayed in Mingshui City for most of the day without saying a word. Anyone could see that Li Yuanji was full of anger.
If Wang Junkuo and Li Quhuo were not dealt with quickly, Li Yuanji would be so angry that who knows what earth-shattering things he might do.
Before this, Li Yuanji burned the Luoyang granary in anger.
Although it was just an empty granary that was burned, it still scared a lot of people.
People who don't know the inside story still look heartbroken when they talk about this matter.
"It's a bargain for them..."
Li Yuanji sighed softly.
As he was tidying up the appearance of the soldiers who died in the battle, the rage in his heart grew higher and higher. He thought about killing Wang Junkuo and Li Quhuo several times, but he suppressed it in the end.
The commander had already dealt with Wang Junkuo and Li Quhuo, so it would be inappropriate for him to go and kill someone else.
