Chang'an City.
An urgent report was sent from the front line to General Tiance's residence. Li Xiang did not expect that such a thing would happen at the front line.
"The thing I was most worried about has finally happened. We are actually very lucky. I originally thought that something like this should have happened a year earlier, but I didn't expect that under our various controls, nothing like this would happen. Being able to delay it until today is a victory for us."
Sitting on the main throne in the Tiance General's Mansion, Li Xiang was not frightened by this incident. Instead, he felt relieved. You know, such things happen frequently, and it is not necessarily a bad thing for us. Take the current situation as an example. The sooner it appears, the sooner it will be resolved. If we continue to hide it, perhaps we will not know that such a thing will happen. If it causes greater damage in the future, wouldn't it be more sad?
"Since Your Highness knew about this matter long ago, why didn't you conduct a large-scale investigation throughout the army? If these people could be lured out earlier, perhaps..."
When Su Dingfang said this, he immediately shut his mouth. There was really no way to investigate this matter. They had made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty before. When they hadn't revealed their true colors, were they really going to kick them out? Nowadays, you have to rely on evidence to do anything. Without evidence, you can't act recklessly. There are so many vassal armies in various places now. If you act recklessly, it will cause everyone to become disloyal. If something like this really happens, who will take the responsibility?
"When these countries were forming their armies, I asked them to fight alongside the Tang army in order to reduce our losses. At the same time, I tied them to our ships. If some of them were unwilling, we could have dealt with them immediately. However, this has both advantages and disadvantages. Everything has two sides."
Li Xiang shook his head and said that what happened now was something he had expected a long time ago.
"So what should we do next? We have to use them, but we have to do it in a planned way. If we continue with the same methods as before, we're lucky that Sima reacted quickly, and his troops were strong enough to avoid any losses. If they were a little weaker, we'd probably be finished by now."
Although Niu Jinda had been away from the army for quite some time, he was very aware of the possibility of a night raid. This was a very dangerous thing for any army. When the enemy attacked you, your chance of winning was already less than 50%, especially at night. The Tang army was most effective during the day, and its effectiveness was greatly reduced at night.
The reason why we were able to win this time is, first of all, because our combat effectiveness is strong enough, secondly, the usual training has achieved results, and thirdly, the enemy's combat effectiveness is not very good. If their combat effectiveness is strong enough, I am afraid the result will not be like this now, and our casualties will definitely rise sharply.
"What Lao Niu said makes sense, but the question is how to carry out the reform? We currently have nearly 400,000 vassal troops. Among them may be some who still have evil intentions. There is no sign of evil on their foreheads. If we insist on investigating them, then chaos will ensue. We can't kick out all the vassal troops because of this incident. The Tang Dynasty cannot afford such a loss."
Chang Sun Chong was stroking his beard and said, "The longer this guy stays in Chang'an City, the more he looks like a civil servant. He even grew a beard during this period. I really don't know what to say about him."
Li Xiang had no good solution for the time being, so he could only report the matter to the higher authorities to see if there was any solution within the court. It would not be wrong to pool wisdom from all quarters.
According to Li Xiang's original idea, if we can handle this matter, we should try not to report it to the court. After all, there are too many different voices within the court. However, after careful consideration, this matter is not a trivial matter, and your luck may not always be so good.
We didn't cause a major disturbance this time because we had all sorts of advantages, but will it be the same next time? If we were to do something even slightly wrong, these tens of thousands of people might have been wiped out by the enemy. The traitors within are also very powerful.
Li Xiang brought these things to the center, and happened to meet Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling there. Seeing Li Xiang hurried in, the two of them had also heard about what happened on the front line, but they did not deliberately ask. As long as Li Xiang did not come to report, they would not deliberately interfere.
The current court can be said to have a high degree of freedom. For example, all military affairs are handed over to Li Xiang. If Li Xiang is willing to say more, then everyone will give him advice, but if Li Xiang wants to cover it up, then everyone will pretend not to know.
Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's health has improved a lot, any discerning person can still see that even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne in the future, he will be a short-lived emperor. Moreover, given his physical condition, he will definitely not be able to handle too many official duties. All matters will ultimately fall on Li Xiang's shoulders. So if Li Xiang is willing to take over some of the things in his hands, he can take them over. If he is unwilling to take them over, you must not force him to do anything.
In the current situation, Li Xiang is no longer the child he was back then. Whether in the army or in the court, there are many people cheering for Li Xiang. Even Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling have to stay away. You two were indeed the leaders of the court officials in the past, but now some things are hard to say.
"My Lords, this is the report that arrived last night, sent urgently from six hundred miles northwest. It concerns some of the vassal nobles within our army. Back then, I recruited them as a good idea, hoping to minimize our losses by having them fight for us. However, every advantage has its drawbacks..."
Although Li Xiang brought the matter to the court, he did not intend to let everyone know. Instead, he planned to let these two old men give him some advice first. If these two old men had a solution, there would be no need to bring it to the court.
