All the generals gathered in Li Jing's central military tent.
"General, you have to make a decision for I!" Li Daoyan and Su Dingfang entered the tent together. Before anyone could react, Li Daoyan immediately complained to Li Jing.
The more Li Daoyan spoke, the gloomier Li Jing's face became. An oppressive atmosphere instantly filled the entire central military tent. All the generals kept quiet out of fear. Li Daoyan also noticed that the atmosphere was not right, so he could not help but shut his mouth resentfully.
"Make a decision?" Li Jing's face was as cold as iron. He stared at Li Daoyan with sharp eyes, which made Li Daoyan's heart skip a beat. He shrank back uneasily.
"I have emphasized many times before the Western Expedition that we should act according to military orders. The Tang dynasty has signed an agreement with all the Dangxiang tribes to not fight with each other. Li Daoyan, how dare you openly defy military orders!" Li Jing roared.
The other generals looked at Li Daoyan with unfriendly eyes. Although the army had won many battles since the beginning, it was extremely difficult. The front line was stretched for thousands of miles. It could be said that they were treading on thin ice. If they were not careful, they would collapse.
In the end, it was all thanks to the hard fighting of the frontline soldiers. They won the battle and returned with Fu Yun's head. However, they did not expect that Li Daoyan's backyard would be set on fire. What was more shameful was that he was defeated, which cast an indelible stain on a perfect war.
"General! I don't accept it. Tuoba Chici was an accomplice. He helped the Tuyuhun to kill the Tang Army. Are you going to let it go just like that? " Li Daoyan's eyes were red. This was the perfect excuse that he had finally found to avenge Tang Jun after racking his brains.
Li Jing roared, "Military orders must be obeyed. Our army only has one purpose, which is to defeat the Tuyuhun. Everything else can be put aside. You started the war without permission, made the imperial court break their promise, and put the rear of the army in danger. How dare you quibble!"
At this moment, Li Jing was a pure soldier. In order to achieve his goal, he would do anything. This was also the reason why he let the Tuoba tribe go so easily.
Meton looked at Li Daoyan and couldn't help but shake his head. Li Daoyan still didn't understand that his biggest sin was not attacking the Tuoba tribe, but losing the battle. If there was a mishap in the army at the front line, Fu Yun and Tuoba Chici would attack from the front and back, the Tang Army would be in danger of losing everything.
"Men, arrest Li Daoyan and strip him of his military power. Take him back to Chang 'an and let His Majesty deal with him," Li Jing suddenly shouted.
All the generals were shocked and looked at Li Jing in surprise. Taking away military authority was an extremely severe punishment in the military, second only to beheading. If a general didn't have military authority, he would be worse than an ordinary soldier.
However, no one pleaded for mercy on Li Daoyan's behalf. Li Daoyan only had himself to blame for this outcome!
"Ah!"
Li Daoyan looked at Li Jing in disbelief. He didn't expect Li Jing to not give him any face and directly take away his military authority and imprison him.
"I am a descendant of the imperial family and a general personally appointed by His Majesty. How dare you, Li Jing, take away my military authority!" Li Daoyan roared.
"Our army only lost 4,000 soldiers in the battle to destroy the Tuyuhun, but you lost 3,000 soldiers in one battle. You should be glad that you are a descendant of the imperial family. Otherwise, the Old Man would have beheaded you right now!" Li Jing said coldly.
At this moment, Li Jing, as the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army, had the power to decide life and death. Li Daoyan had been besieged for many days and lost more than 3,000 soldiers. It was almost the same as the total number of soldiers who died in the previous battles of the Tang Army.
Li Jing waved his hand, and a military judge immediately took Li Daoyan into custody.
Li Daoyan's screams soon disappeared, but Li Jing's anger did not die down. Instead, he looked at the generals with a gloomy face and said, "This time, besides the Tuoba tribe, the Wulan tribe was also attacked. General Gao, don't you want to explain?"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, everyone's eyes were focused on Gao Zhensheng. Everyone suddenly realized that the battle at Qinghai Lake had ended, and where did Gao Zhensheng's sudden increase in military merits come from?
Gao Zhensheng's face suddenly stiffened. He was much luckier than Li Daoyan. After he plundered the Wulan tribe, he quickly retreated and was not surrounded. Therefore, he didn't find any losses.
"I was confused …" Gao Zhensheng mumbled to defend himself.
"Military judge, record Gao Zhensheng's disobedience of military orders and his unauthorized provocation of war. Report it to the imperial court and deal with it together," Li Jing shouted.
"Yes!" The military judge on the side answered.
A trace of resentment flashed in Gao Zhensheng's eyes. Li Daoyan caused a lot of casualties in the Tang Army because he lost the battle, but he was unscathed. He couldn't believe that Li Jing would punish him for the Dangxiang tribe.
"Since you are heartless, don't blame me for being unjust. You, Li Jing, have a large army, but you are harsh to your generals and tolerant to foreign tribes. You bought people's hearts like this. Are you plotting rebellion?" Gao Zhensheng made up his mind and angrily left the main tent.
Gao Zhensheng was naturally clear about Li Jing's position in the imperial court. Li Jing's military strength was outstanding, and many people responded to his call. The imperial court both valued him and feared him. It was not the first time that memorials about Li Jing's rebellion appeared on Li Shimin's Dragon Table.
This time, Li Jing punished Li Daoyan and him so severely for the unrelated Dangxiang tribe. Such a biased action would cause people to criticize him.
Gao Zhensheng returned to the army and was furious. He couldn't calm down for a long time. He immediately summoned a guard and wrote a memorial, adding his speculation about Li Jing.
"Hurry up! Send someone to send this to Chang 'an immediately! "Gao Zhensheng handed the memorial in his hand to a guard and ordered.
"Yes!" The guard immediately took the order and left.
After Li Daoyan and Gao Zhensheng left, the entire main tent fell into silence.
"Let's discuss how to deal with this matter," Li Jing said with a headache.
"General, Li Daoyan and Gao Zhensheng took the initiative to attack the Dangxiang tribe in this battle. We failed to keep our promise. We lost the gift first!" Duan Zhixuan said with embarrassment.
Cheng Yaojin sneered and said, "What gift first? I only know that the Tuoba tribe killed our Tang Army. We must make the Tuoba tribe pay with blood."
Cheng Yaojin's words immediately won the support of many generals. Few of them were good-tempered people. Now, even the huge Tuyuhun collapsed under the iron hooves of the Tang Army. How could a small Dangxiang tribe dare to attack the Tang Army and kill so many soldiers? Wouldn't the generals be reconciled?
"No, we betrayed the alliance first. If we attack the Tuoba tribe again, we will break our promise to the world and destroy the dignity of the Tang Dynasty," Duan Zhixuan objected.
Immediately, many generals agreed. The Tang Dynasty respected credibility the most. If they started another war, the Tang Dynasty's prestige in the hearts of the alien tribes in the Western Region would be greatly lost.
For a while, the generals in the main tent were divided into two factions. One faction was in favor of war, and the other faction was in favor of peace. The two sides argued endlessly.
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