Concubine Yang's persuasion was ineffective, and the King of Wu still accepted the post of General of the Eastern Expedition, which shocked the court and the public. You must know that Li Shimin was very conservative in the use of troops, and usually let his old brothers be the generals, even if he led the army in person. But this time, he actually let his third son be the general.
The deployment of the Tang Dynasty's troops this time is still worth watching. This is the first time that King Wu Li Ke has become the general. As the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition to Goryeo, King Wu Li Ke is also extremely frightened. However, King Wu believes that this is his chance. If he gives up this opportunity, he will probably regret it in the future.
Left Deputy General Niu Jinda, although he did not enter the Lingyan Pavilion, he was also one of the fierce generals of the Tang Dynasty. He could be considered on the same level as Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin. However, after surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, he had been unemployed at home.
This time the emperor found him because he knew his abilities very well, and this guy had nothing to do with Li Xiang. Since the emperor wanted to train King Wu, he had to arrange some team for King Wu, and these people must not have any relationship with Li Xiang.
The right deputy general Su Dingfang, this matter had been decided long ago. Su Dingfang had been on the battlefield of the Eastern Expedition to Goryeo, and this time he had already gone to Liaodong, so it was normal to give him the position of deputy general. The emperor had promised Li Xiang to be the deputy general, but this position did not exist at the moment.
In the hall, after Li Shimin announced all this, many people did not look at the King of Wu, nor at Niu Jinda who was being dragged out. Instead, they wanted to see Li Xiang's expression.
Some people had worried expressions on their faces. You know, among all the royal children, Li Xiang can be said to be an outlier. Whether it is attacking or defending, he has his own set of rules. If Li Xiang is appointed as the general, then these people can sleep peacefully at home.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu is not incapable, but the problem is that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu has never proven himself on the battlefield. If he is only familiar with military books, then there are many people like him on the battlefield.
Another group of people were just gloating. They had either suffered at Li Xiang's hands or were officials promoted by the major families. Li Xiang had been involved in all sorts of dirty tricks with them recently, so these people were just waiting to see Li Xiang's jokes. "Aren't you the so-called promising young man? Are you still okay now?"
Li Shimin was actually secretly observing Li Xiang. If Li Xiang was not convinced today, or if he caused any trouble in the hall, it would bring a lot of trouble to Li Xiang. Unfortunately, Li Shimin's wish was not fulfilled. Li Xiang stood obediently behind Li Chengqian with his head down, as if nothing had happened.
"General, as the commander-in-chief of this march, is there anything you lack?"
Looking at Li Xiang's calm look, Li Shimin felt a little uncomfortable, but he couldn't get angry now. He could only ask Li Jing to see how the preparations were. If Li Jing was in good health, then he would definitely be the commander-in-chief this time, but even if he had health problems, he would have to serve as the chief commander of the march.
"In reply to Your Majesty, all other preparations are nearing completion, except for the crossbow Your Majesty intends to bring, which is still short of bullets..."
General Li Jing is also a shrewd man and is not willing to lose face in the court, but this question was raised by the emperor. If we don't answer truthfully, and we don't have enough artillery shells on the battlefield, who should we blame then?
But if he answered truthfully, he would have to beg Li Xiang for help. In fact, Li Xiang had already told him the formula, but the court still did not want to extract certain materials, so he could only ask Li Xiang for help. Officials from the Ministry of Works had come to his house several times, but Li Xiang had refused them with various reasons.
Fortunately, these words were spoken by General Li Jing. If someone else had said them, Li Shimin would probably be furious. He had just left Li Xiang out in the cold, and you immediately found a way for him to get off.
"Why are there still no bullets at this time? Didn't I ask you to start preparing before? Who is in charge of this matter?"
Li Shimin said very angrily that he knew there were other officials involved, so he had to find out about other people's affairs first, and then follow the clues to find Li Xiang, so that he could get this guy to do the work.
Unfortunately, Li Shimin miscalculated. This matter was the responsibility of Wei Wang Li Tai. When Wei Wang Li Tai went to Tuyuhun, Li Shimin did not give him time to explain his work. He just urged this guy to get on the road quickly. As a result, this matter was delayed. If there was no war, this matter would not be important. But suddenly the war with Goguryeo broke out, so this matter...
"this……"
After hearing the answer from his subordinates, Li Shimin didn't know what to say. After all, he was the instigator of this incident. If he hadn't urged Li Tai to leave quickly, perhaps many things would not have turned out like this.
"Li Xiang, you made this thing. When can you collect 5,000 bullets?"
Li Shimin could not care about anything else now. He had seen this kind of weapon before. If it was not on the battlefield, many people would probably die. But if we had this thing, conquering cities would be a piece of cake. He had suffered such a great loss in Goguryeo, and now he wanted to avenge his previous shame.
"In reply to Your Majesty, when I handed over the recipe, I clearly explained to you all that many things needed to be prepared in advance. If we rush into it now, the results might not be optimal. It wouldn't matter if it were a normal practice, but on the battlefield..."
Li Xiang also threw a soft nail. You have hung me up, and now you ask me to take action when something happens. Is it that easy? The last time Li Shimin asked Li Xiang to do something, the emperor had to give him a grandson of the emperor. Now he has not given him any benefits. Do you really think I am doing this for free?
Li Chengqian nodded beside him. No wonder this kid wasn't anxious. It turned out he was waiting for the Emperor on this matter. Although there were many talented people in the court, Li Xiang was definitely the best when it came to gunpowder. Even if the formula was given to you, all you could produce was some low-grade black gunpowder. If you wanted modern gunpowder like Li Xiang's, there were many secret recipes that were not available. Even Li Xiang couldn't make it. All of it was exchanged from the system...
