On January 6, Tang Taizong Li Shimin personally led Li Chengqian and other four princes, the eldest grandson Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others, to Baqiao to welcome the triumphant return of the generals Li Jing, and Hou Junji and others. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

At 10 o'clock in the afternoon, a fast horse galloped over, and the messenger on the horse jumped off the horse, knelt on one leg in front of Li Shimin, and reported: "Your Majesty, the general has arrived in Chaijia Village, and he will arrive soon. ”

Li Shimin nodded, picked up the telescope and looked north. From a distance, I saw that Li Jing and Hou Jun were gathered in front of the team, and behind them were a large army column that could not be seen.

Soon, Li Jing and others came to Baqiao, and when they saw Li Shimin coming to greet them in person, they hurriedly dismounted and walked over quickly.

After they saluted, Li Shimin said cordially: "Brother Jing, Junji, hard work!" ”

"Thank you for the emperor's care, the emperor personally greeted him, and the ministers really didn't dare to be." Li Jing said politely.

The crown prince Li Chengqian and others also stepped forward to greet Li Jing and others, and Li Jing and Hou Junji greeted them separately and were very polite.

It was the turn of Li Su, the king of Liang, and Li Jing and Hou Junji were very happy, calling them "Your Highness", and their smiles were very kind.

The eldest grandson, Wuji, noticed the difference on the side. When Li Jing and Hou Junji addressed Li Chengqian and others, they both carried official titles in front of them, such as "His Royal Highness the Prince" and "His Royal Highness the King of Shu", which seemed very polite. When he arrived at Li Su, the king of Liang, he only called him "His Royal Highness", which was obviously intimate.

The eldest grandson Wuji couldn't help but be secretly surprised. He said in his heart: "This King Liang is very popular in the army." ”

At this time, Li Shimin came to the prisoner car of the Khan of the Xue Yantuo tribe, and said to him: "It's been a long time, Yi Nan Khan!" A year ago, you were my Datang guest, and now it's a pity to meet in this way. ”

Yi Nan Khan said coldly: "Li Shimin, since ancient times, he has become a king and a defeated king, since I am defeated in your hands, I will be at your disposal." Don't say any more of these false words. ”

Li Shimin angrily reprimanded him and said: "Yi Nan, my Datang is not thin on you, since defeating the Khan of Quanli, Datang has taken care of you Xue Yantuo in every way. But you are not greedy enough, and you have to stand on your own as a khan, and I also promised to canonize you. He even wants to marry his daughter to you, just for the stability of the grassland.

However, you are pressing step by step, Chen Bing and my Tang border. I have repeatedly tolerated you, but you have provoked trouble on the grassland, openly instigated and threatened the rebellion of the Tuli and Tiele tribes, and even sent troops to attack the Tang Dynasty. You're so innocent! ”

Yi Nan said: "It's up to you to kill or chop, don't waste your tongue anymore." ”

Li Shimin calmed his anger and said, "I won't kill you, I want to keep you, see how I treat the grassland tribes, and see if your tyranny or my benevolent government can benefit the people of the grassland." ”

Next, a ceremony was held at Suzaku Gate. Then, Li Shimin led hundreds of civil and military officials and Tang nobles to hold a sacrificial ceremony in the Temple of Prayer.

Li Shimin personally rang the prayer bell 9981 times, announcing the great victory of the Tang Dynasty in the war against the grassland tribes.

Li Shimin asked the generals to go down to rest first, and in the evening he was going to hold a grand reception dinner for them.

Just before the dinner, Li Shimin received a secret report from Li Ji (Xu Maogong in the Sui and Tang Romances), the head of the Longyou Road march, saying that some generals would submit a table at today's dinner and demand the implementation of the conscription system.

It turned out that since Li Yuan raised troops in the Tang Dynasty, more than ten years have been in war, and the generals have become accustomed to the feeling of holding heavy troops. However, as the world gradually stabilized, especially after the defeat of the Eastern Turkic Khan, the opportunities for the Tang Dynasty to use troops became less and less, and the generals felt more and more useless.

Need is value. There is a big gap between the status of military personnel in peacetime and the status of military personnel in war years. The generals of the Tang Dynasty already felt that they were gradually being marginalized.

With the capture of Yi Nan, the generals realized that the possibility of another large-scale war in the future was very small, and after the return of the squad to the court, the government soldiers would be disbanded, and they would never have a chance to control the military again.

In order to ensure the interests of the generals, they decided to force Li Shimin to keep part of the army and not disband it, and to implement a conscription system. As a result, Zhang Baoxiang, Chai Shao, and other generals contacted a large number of generals and drafted a draft for the implementation of the conscription system, on which more than 40 generals signed.

Li Jing did not sign it, but he covered for them. Obviously, Xue Yantuo's men and horses had been completely annihilated, but they said that they only destroyed 100,000 enemies, and the rest of the enemy army retreated, so Zhang Baoxiang was left to command 80,000 troops to continue to pursue and annihilate the remnants of the enemy.

Li Ji, the head of the Longyou Road march, also signed it, but he was afraid that he would be charged with rebellion, so he secretly played it to Li Shimin. He told Li Shimin that the generals were going to play at today's dinner, which caught Li Shimin off guard.

Li Shimin received Li Ji's recital and had a headache. He was born as a general, and he can understand the mood of the generals, and if he leaves the army, he has no status in society. If he were still a general, he would think the same way as they did.

However, now that he is the emperor, he has to think about the Tang Dynasty's country.

The implementation of the conscription system, for the imperial court, the economic burden is too great, there is no need for war, why raise so many soldiers?

This is not the main problem, the conscription system is a standing army, and if the generals lead the troops for a long time, they will establish a relationship with the officers and soldiers under them, so that they will have a strong control over the army, and this will also have the capital to rebel. The government and military system implemented by the Tang Dynasty is to solve the problem of separating soldiers and generals.

On the one hand, Li Shimin sympathized with the situation of the generals, and on the other hand, he was worried about the implementation of the conscription system. However, he was outraged by the methods taken by the generals. He disagreed with the idea in his heart, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while on how to better deal with this matter.

At this time, it was almost dusk, the dinner party was about to begin, and it was too late to make any preparations, so he went to the dinner party head-on.

Taiji Hall side hall.

At half past seven in the evening, the dinner began.

The banquet was attended by hundreds of civil and military officials, as well as many court dignitaries who usually did not go to court, and the number was as high as hundreds.

The chief eunuch Wang De shouted sharply: "The emperor has a decree, the dinner begins!" ”

The first act of the banquet was the performance of "King Qin's Breaking Array Music".

Chinese Tang Dynasty court music and dance. One of the most famous songs, dances. Originally used for feasting, and later used for sacrifices, it belongs to the category of martial arts (as opposed to cultural dance). It is a symbol of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and its momentum is extraordinary. The king of Qin is Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and "Qin" is his title before he ascends the throne.

In 633 A.D., Li Shimin personally designed the "Qin King Breaking the Array Music and Dance Map", according to the picture, it can be seen that the left side of the dance team is round, and the right side is square; In front of it imitates a chariot, and in the back there are teams, and the formation spreads out like a dustpan with its wings stretched out, making a posture of fighting. Taizong asked Lu Cai to teach one hundred and twenty-eight musicians according to the map, and often practiced wearing armor and holding halberds.

At the beginning of the banquet, the eldest grandson Wuji, Cen Wenwen and others found that the atmosphere was not right, just like the military formations lined up by the samurai who were performing on the field now, revealing a murderous aura.