The ministers below were very satisfied with Li Shimin's expression. Although Li Shimin was the king of a country, they were with Li Shimin every day and their eyes were not much less open than Li Shimin's.
Think about how they had looked when they saw the memorial just now. Wasn't it just a replica of Li Shimin before them? They had also been receiving memorials from Li Xiang and were familiar with the situation in Sichuan. But they hadn't expected the final progress to be so swift. Not only had Tusi Adu launched the attack, but most importantly, the remaining two Tusi had surrendered so easily.
According to the memorial, the two chieftains did not make too many demands. Our army was already on the way. When the memorial arrived in Chang'an City, if nothing went wrong, our army would have already entered the strongholds of the two chieftains.
"Is this true? If what is said in the memorial is true, then we have still occupied the strongholds of the Four Chieftains. From now on, the Four Chieftains will become history on the land of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Shimin still found it hard to believe. Although Li Xiang had won a series of victories in foreign wars, those victories were predictable. Only these four chieftains were unpredictable. They had occupied the land in southern Sichuan for so long, and no one, including Emperor Yang of Sui, could do anything about them. They could only allow them to continue to rule. But Li Xiang had only been away from Chang'an for a few days. Could he have solved such a difficult problem?
The main reason why Li Shimin was so concerned about these four chieftains was that these four chieftains were too close to Chang'an City. On the surface, there were mountains and ridges between them, but then again, the actual distance was not much far. Now that the Tang Dynasty was strong, there was naturally no need to worry about these four chieftains. But what if one day the Tang Dynasty went downhill, or the army was transferred away due to some mistake? At that time, these chieftains might become a big threat to the Tang Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Our military officials set out five days ago and should be back soon with a report. According to the report sent by Sichuan officials, this is basically true. However, this is the first time we have heard of the official residences of these two chieftains."
Li Jing said very confidently that he knew Li Xiang very well. If he was not absolutely sure, this guy would never claim the credit. Moreover, at his current level, the credits on his shoulders were enough to make him unable to stand up straight. Why would he bother to fabricate such a credit?
The others also nodded. Li Xiang could be said to be the most meritorious official of the Tang Dynasty. Even if the incident with the four chieftains had not happened, he could still rest on his laurels. Take the current royal family members of the Tang Dynasty for example, even if they were all tied together, they probably couldn't match half of Li Xiang's merits. So in this case, there was really no need for Li Xiang to claim the credit, not to mention that this memorial was written by Xiao Yu.
Li Xiang may still be a little young and impulsive, but Xiao Yu is the head of the Lanling Xiao family. If you expect this guy to act impulsively, you'd better wait for two suns to appear in the sky. There are thousands of family members waiting for him to live. He is very cautious in his words and deeds. He does not seek to bring much glory to the entire family, but he will never cause any trouble to the entire family. This is Xiao Yu's character. Since he can write this in the memorial, it is basically true.
After figuring this out, Li Shimin laughed at himself, mainly because he didn't quite believe it. It wasn't that he didn't believe in Li Xiang's ability. Li Shimin knew Li Xiang's ability best. After all, they were grandfather and grandson. But the strength of these four chieftains was no joke. They had been able to stay in the local area for more than a hundred years. Doesn't that explain everything?
"Don't announce this news to the world for now. The memorial also states that the four great chieftains will come to the capital to pay homage in the next month or so. We can announce it to the world then. Write back to him immediately and insist that the four great chieftains come in person."
Li Shimin said with high spirits, "Does being an emperor have to compare with others? Of course, he can't compare with ordinary people. If he does, he should compare with the emperors before him. His father is not to be mentioned, so the one to compare with is naturally the emperor of the previous dynasty. You can't do anything to the four chieftains, but I can make them kneel in front of the Golden Throne Hall. How much better than you are?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, according to other important reports we have received, the Longchuan chieftain died in the war. He left no descendants, only a little grandson, who is still in his infancy and disappeared in the chaos of the war. It is likely that no one from this branch has come."
Fang Xuanling thought of another thing. As the chief of the four chieftains, Longchuan chieftain suffered the most in this turmoil. Who made him stand up and oppose the court so clearly? If that's the case, then your power will be crushed first. Not only did he fail to preserve his regime, but his children and grandchildren were also not preserved. Without the protection of the army, his enemies all jumped out. How could he let a baby survive?
According to Li Xiang's idea, if he really found the baby, he would just send it to Chang'an City and find a good family to raise it, so that the baby would never know his bloodline in his life. Perhaps his life would be better. However, he didn't expect that the Longchuan chieftain had too many enemies. Before Li Xiang could go up the mountain to find someone, the family had already thrown the baby into the pond.
"Then find a few people from his close relatives. In short, we need to find talented people from their family."
Li Shimin was referring to the four great chieftains. If the number one chieftain didn't come, then the chance to pay homage to the emperor in Beijing would be greatly reduced. Li Shimin would never allow such a thing to happen. Could it be that a chieftain's family couldn't even find two young and strong men? This was simply impossible.
"And that brat, this time we're not sending him to pacify the four chieftains, we're sending him to Nanzhao for marriage. You should issue another imperial decree immediately. I'll remember his contribution, but you must send him to Nanzhao as soon as possible. Even if they don't say anything, our actions are a bit excessive."
Li Shimin suddenly thought of another thing. Li Xiang had forgotten his main job, but his side business was actually thriving...
