During the morning court session …
Li Er did not bring up the matter of Li Tai's capture in front of all the officials. On one hand, he felt that this was a family matter, and there was no need to bring it up in a court session. On the other hand, he had already done all he could with regards to Li Tai's capture. Whether or not he could save Li Tai now depended entirely on Li Junxian's own abilities. Even if he told the officials, it wouldn't be of much help to the final outcome of the matter!
The main topic of today's morning court session was the issue of the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers entering the capital for training.
"… The eight thousand-some elite soldiers selected by the Subjugation Constabulary of the twelve prefectures, including Shang, Pu, Ning, Liang, Qi, and Qing, have already arrived outside Chang 'an and set up camp around Niushou Mountain! The camp in the southern part of the city is estimated to be completed in another two days. When the time comes, these soldiers will all be able to move into the camp! As for the other prefectures and counties further away from Chang 'an, the elite soldiers selected by the Subjugation Constabulary are also on their way and will arrive in a few days! "
Minister of War Li Jing was currently in Taiji Palace reporting to Li Er on the progress of the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers entering the capital.
The Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce's fundraising conference in Lantian County had been a great success, raising a total of 428,500 strings of cash for the Imperial Court. With this money, the Bureau of Revenue could finally relax and work with the Bureau of Works to recruit laborers and craftsmen, working day and night to build a camp for the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers about to enter the capital. Their progress was nearly twice as fast as before!
"Mm! I'll have to trouble Apothecary to settle these soldiers! "
Hearing this, Li Er nodded expressionlessly and said, "Since the soldiers from all over the world have arrived in Chang 'an, the ones who arrive first should be trained first. The war between the Tang Empire and the Turks will only start earlier than we expected. Pharmacist and Shu Bao, you must make the best use of the time to train the soldiers from all over the world!"
Li Er had long wanted to attack the Turks. If Wu Jie's infiltration of Yanhuang College to steal information was a catalyst, then the kidnapping of Li Tai last night was the equivalent of igniting a barrel of gunpowder. Those Turk spies had touched Li Er's reverse scale. After all, if a man couldn't even protect his wife and children, what kind of man was he? And Li Er wasn't an ordinary man. He was the Emperor, the sovereign of a country!
When an emperor is enraged, millions of corpses will fall and blood will flow for thousands of miles!
Right now, Old Li was extremely anxious to attack the Turks. However, due to the insufficient logistics and the lack of training of the northern expedition army, Li Ercai had no choice but to push back the date of the Kingdom War to two months later!
"This old subject obeys the decree!"
Li Jing and Qin Qiong could hear the urgency in Li Er's voice, so they stepped forward and cupped their fists.
Li Er had previously appointed Li Jing as the Grand Steward of the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers while Qin Qiong was the Great General. They were responsible for the daily management and training of the army.
After a pause, Li Jing hesitated. After a few moments of hesitation, he cupped his fists and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the soldiers that have recently arrived in Chang 'an should have come from Bing Province, but this old subject has received news that Taiyuan City's gates have been sealed for the last few days and no one has been able to enter or leave. Thus, the soldiers from Bing Province might not be able to reach Chang' an in the next few days!"
Taiyuan City was sealed!
Upon hearing this news from Li Jing, the officials of the Imperial Court couldn't help but be alarmed. Only now did they recall that Li Jing had said that there were no soldiers from Bing Province among the twelve provinces that had arrived outside Chang 'an. Logically speaking, this shouldn't have been the case! This was because the distance between Bing Province and Chang 'an City was much closer than the distance between most of the twelve provinces! Now that they heard Li Jing say that Taiyuan City was sealed, they were all stunned!
Taiyuan City was the largest city in the north of the Great Tang. Why would it be sealed for no reason? What in the world had happened there?
Seated at the head of the table, Li Er's expression flickered, but it quickly returned to normal. He indifferently said, "There's no need to worry about the soldiers from Bing Province for now! Several days ago, a large number of Turkic spies were discovered in Taiyuan City. We have already dispatched one hundred cavalry to Taiyuan City to capture them. Thus, Taiyuan City is under martial law for the next few days. Once the storm has calmed down, the soldiers from Taiyuan City will naturally come to Chang 'an! "
"Turkic spies?"
Upon hearing this, the officials of the court couldn't help but be alarmed. They began to discuss amongst themselves.
Li Er wasn't willing to say anything more on this topic. He lightly coughed, indicating for the officials to be quiet. Li Jing's eyes flashed as he seemed to understand Li Er's meaning. He stepped forward and cupped his fists. "This old subject obeys the decree!
Li Er nodded and then looked at the civil officials to the left of the Imperial Court.
He solemnly asked, "Beloved Official Xiao, how is the preparation of the provisions for the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers for the next three months?"
As the saying went, before the soldiers and horses moved, the provisions would move first. Although the vast majority of the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers were still on their way, the Imperial Court had to prepare at least three months' worth of provisions for them! And the Great Tang Imperial Court, which had just received a massive sum of money from the donation conference, truly did have the strength and confidence to do so!
"Your Majesty! Around seventy percent of the provisions for the army has already been prepared. Before the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers arrive at Chang 'an, the preparations will definitely be completed! "
Xiao Yu calmly stepped forward and cupped his fists.
The Ministry of Revenue was not lacking in money, so there was no need to complain about its efficiency. Thus, Xiao Yu, the steward of the Great Tang's national treasury, spoke with even more confidence than before!
"Very good!"
Li Er nodded in satisfaction, and then he turned to the officials and sternly said, "In two months, the Imperial Court will attack the plains.
At that time, not only will the three hundred thousand soldiers from the various camps in the capital be the main force, the elite soldiers from the various provinces of the Great Tang will also be the main force of the northern expedition!
Previously, there was a saying in the Datang Daily that We thought was very good. 'The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the people.' At the donation conference in Lantian County, the merchants and common people were all willing to contribute generously to the Imperial Court's northern expedition against the Turks. All of you have read the books of the sages, are part of the court, and receive the salary of the country. All of you should spare no effort in preparing for the Imperial Court's northern expedition!
In these two months, We hope that all the officials of the Six Ministries of the Imperial Court will be able to put aside all their selfish thoughts and focus on preparing for the northern expedition. We hope that the strength of the four hundred and fifty thousand soldiers in the northern expedition will rise to another level in two months!
In this war, we can only win, not lose. If we win, all of you will continue to live in glory and wealth. If we lose, all of you will have your country destroyed and your families exterminated! "
As soon as the words "the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed" came out, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became a little tense. Li Er did not deliberately shout, but every word he said was sonorous and powerful, echoing in every corner of the hall. All the officials in the hall were moved, and all the officials bowed in unison.
"This subject obeys the decree. We will spare no effort in preparing for the Turks!"
… …
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