Li Ji saw Du He's face suddenly, and he also knew that he understood his intentions. Just as Du He thought, now he is the secretary of the military department. The secretary of the military department is the boss of the military department, in charge of the selection of military attachés and military registration, ordnance, military orders and the military politics of the world, and has the right to transfer troops, which can be described as a high authority. The Tang Dynasty absorbed the essence of the Sui Dynasty system and had reasonable arrangements for all important government positions in the court.

Because the power of the military department is too great, it can mobilize the world's soldiers and horses, so it is not allowed to be in charge of the army. Once in charge of the army, rebellion is a breeze for the military department. Because he can transfer troops and horses away from an area at any time and anywhere, creating a large local vacuum.

Li Ji is also an ambitious figure, and he is still very happy to be promoted to the secretary of the military department, but the pro-soldiers directly under the central government are a little relieved. These personal soldiers of his are all veterans who have followed him for many years, and their strength is super strong, and they can also rank among the top three in the entire Datang, and they are one of the best teams.

When he left, he felt like he had abandoned them. He has never been worried about the strength of these soldiers and horses, but he is only worried that the mediocre generals will take over his position and make these powerful teams under his command useless. Hence the decision.

He knew Du He's talent in military affairs, and he also knew that Li Shimin had the intention to cultivate Du He into a new generation of leaders in the Tang Dynasty military circles.

Li Ji smiled: "How?" Virtuous nephew, do you accept this gift or not! ”

Du He's eyes turned into bull's eyes, and he said ecstatically: "Accept it, why don't you accept it." This kind of good thing that falls from the sky, where to find it, if you don't accept it, it's an idiot and a fool! ”

He looked at the strong teams in the audience, his eyes were red with joy, and he could not say a word.

After a pause, he immediately said solemnly: "Uncle, rest assured, the little nephew will treat these elite soldiers of yours well, and he will never live up to his uncle's intentions." ”

Li Ji chuckled, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Come with me!" Then he ordered to go down and let Captain Xi come to the barracks.

The Great Tent of the Chinese Army.

Du He knelt down and chatted with Li Ji, and also took the opportunity to ask him about some military problems encountered in this western expedition.

Li Ji has been in the army for many years, and his experience is far better than that of Du He, and he has already experienced some questions many times, and he is more clever in handling them, answering them one by one in detail.

This solved the problem, and Du He also asked about the candidate for the next general Zuo Weiwei.

Li Ji was silent for a while before he said: "It's the eldest grandson Shunde!" ”

"How is he?" This Du He had a headache when he heard the word "eldest grandson", and when he heard the eldest grandson Shunde, this head was big.

The eldest grandson Shunde is a veteran of the Tang Dynasty and the uncle of the eldest grandson queen, and he has some ability. In the early years, when Gaozu raised his army, he participated in many battles of all sizes, such as Pinghuoyi, Po Linfen, and Xiajiang County. After breaking Luoyang, the guard general Qu Tutong fled, and the eldest grandson Shunde led the lone army to chase after him until Taolin captured him alive and brought him back to Beijing. Later, he swept away the bandits in Shaanxi County, which can be regarded as a great achievement.

Li Tang did not treat him badly, and after Gaozu Li Yuan ascended the throne, he worshiped as the general of Zuo Xiaowei and was named the Duke of Xue Guo. In the Xuanwumen Incident, he fully supported Li Shimin, so as to get Li Shimin's respect, and sealed 1,200 households, second only to the eldest grandson Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui.

In the first year of Zhenguan, when the eldest grandson Shunde was supervising the slaves, he found that several slaves in the palace jointly stole the treasures in the palace, and these slaves should be beheaded for public display according to the law. But he accepted the bribe they gave him some silk and gold and silver, and he put the matter down and spared them.

There is no leaky wall in the world, and this scandal was finally exposed, and it was known by the palace ministers, and it was reported to Li Shimin, saying that the eldest grandson Shunde is an external authority in terms of identity, and he is the founding father of the country in terms of merit, with a high status and a generous lordship, but he is greedy for some insignificant small wealth, and he should be severely punished to set an example.

Faced with this situation, Li Shimin made a decision that has been passed down through the ages, instead of punishing the eldest Sun Shunde, he rewarded him in front of the public, and said to the ministers with a smile: "I understand, this Shunde accepted bribes, it must be because of the lack of family." So, he rewarded his eldest grandson Shunde with more than 30 silk silks in one go, and asked him to carry them home by himself, and no one was allowed to help.

The officials were puzzled, but Li Shimin said: "People have spiritual surnames and self-esteem, giving him this bit of silk and making him ashamed of himself is better than punishment for him." If he is still not ashamed, it will be like a beast, and it will be useless to kill him."

This unique method of controlling corruption has been highly respected by historians and is quite effective.

The eldest grandson Shunde was so humiliated, and he didn't dare to be greedy. But I don't know if it's the special surname of the eldest grandson's family, this eldest grandson Shunde's surname is the same as that of the eldest grandson Wuji, he is very small-minded, he is definitely not a good boss.

Du He can show his strengths at will under Li Ji, but not necessarily under the command of the eldest grandson Shunde.

Li Ji also knew what Du He was thinking, and he also had an expression of asking for more blessings: "This is also a helpless thing, and my Datang is currently facing such a situation." It has been twelve or thirteen years. It was the time when the new and old generals were replaced, and Hou Junji's incident directly led to the vacant seat and no one to take over. ”

Du He didn't notice it for a while, but after thinking about it carefully, he also understood. The past twelve or thirteen years are not long, but they are not short. Some veterans have left their posts because of their age, while others are still in high positions because of their physical strength.

This is where there is a shortage of manpower, which is of course not because of talent, but because of seniority.

Those veterans in office, whether Cheng Yanjin or Wei Chi Jingde, are all veterans who have followed Li Shimin for twenty or thirty years. In terms of seniority and meritorious service, they are all first-class, but the new generals have made few military exploits because of the peace of the 12 or 3 years, and they cannot be compared with the incumbent veterans at all.

Therefore, although the middle-aged generals such as Xue Wanche, Xue Wanjun, and Su Dingfang are all capable of taking over the position of generals, their military exploits are far from being comparable to the incumbent veterans such as Cheng Yanjin and Wei Chi Jingde, so they cannot be promoted.

After all, this military is not as good as government affairs, and military exploits are all real things, and they cannot be adulterated. These veterans can achieve today's achievements, all of which are related to their birth and death in the past, if they are faced with many people whose merits are inferior to them, they are on a par with themselves, and they are in the same position, and everyone will have a pimple in their hearts.

So in the face of this kind of thing, Li Shimin can only try to avoid it.

Li Ji left, and the vacated seat could not find a suitable candidate. As one of the most important institutions in the court, this Zuo Weiwei cannot be left empty, so he can only let the eldest grandson Shunde replace him.

"In fact, His Majesty didn't want the eldest grandson Shunde to hold this important position, but the eldest grandson Wuji said that Zuo Weiwei was in charge of the palace guards and was responsible for the stability of the imperial city, and no one could manage it. His Majesty can only let the eldest grandson Shunde temporarily take the post of General Zuo Weiwei. Although this is a temporary generation, the virtuous nephew should also know the strength of the eldest grandson family in my Tang Dynasty, and with the eldest grandson Wuji by his side, this matter will be successful. Li Ji secretly and quietly revealed a piece of news.

Du He smiled knowingly and didn't say much.

At this moment, the soldiers outside came to report that Captain Xi had arrived.

The tent door opened, and a man strode in.

The man was eight feet tall, his eyes were like electricity, and there were two large scars on his left side of his face that were deep and bone-seeing, like an inclined "X", and his appearance was very powerful, and his face was full of fierceness.

"The last general meets the general!" He behaved solemnly and rigidly, like a wooden man.

Du He looked at this person with interest on his face: he had already recognized him as the commander of the "Election Army" that had made him look sideways before.

Seeing him come in, Li Ji greeted him with a big smile, introduced the two of them, pointed at Du He and said, "The new Zuo Weiwei General Du He, you must have heard of it." ”

Lieutenant Xi replied with a graceful manner: "In the battle of Jiaochuan Road that year, General Du's heroic posture made Xi remember it vividly. ”

He is a rigid person, and he speaks realistically and does not lie.

In the battle of Jiaochuan Road, which ambushed Tubo, he led the "Xuanfeng Army" as the last killer weapon, and he was always beside Li Ji and listened to the order, in order to completely annihilate the Tubo army. However, because of Du He's outstanding performance, he stopped the final counterattack of Tubo, so he saw the situation at that time.

Du He laughed, although the Battle of Jiaochuan Road and the Battle of Chiting Valley were his only two large corps battles, the results achieved were very satisfactory to him. Therefore, there was no literati who were pretentious, and calmly accepted the praise of the other party.

Captain Xi's eyes lit up, and Du He's straightforwardness made him feel good.

Li Ji then pointed to Captain Xi and said, "Xi Junmai, the commander of the 'Elective Army', my beneficial assistant." ”

Xi Jun buys!?

Isn't it the cowman who has broken through thousands of armies?

Du He's expression also changed slightly, and he looked at him again, and Xi Junmai's deeds in history also appeared in his mind.

After the Tang Dynasty destroyed Tuyuhun, he established Nuo Haobo as the king of Tuyuhun, but the prime minister of Tuyuhun declared that the king was the sole ruler of the government, and intended to attack Princess Honghua, the daughter of the Tang clan who married Tuyuhun, and wanted to kidnap the king of Tuyuhun Nuo Haobo to Tubo. When King Nuo learned of King Xuan's conspiracy, he fled to Shanshan.

The local general didn't dare to move when he heard this, but Xi Jun bought a small lieutenant but at this time showed the kind of blood that swore to defend the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, and only led one hundred and twenty people to attack the Tuyuhun Prime Minister Xuan Wang sent by King Xuan to hunt down and kill the Tuyuhun King Nuo Haobo, defeated him, and killed his three brothers on the spot, the Tuyuhun army was heartbroken, and thousands of people were captured.

Cow man!

Du He was a little excited, and after thinking about it, Li Ji allocated the elite under his direct jurisdiction to himself, doesn't it mean that this cattle man is his subordinate from today on?

(To be continued)