Datang: Only by resisting the decree can we become stronger

The scale and grade of these stores are obviously much larger than the grocery store at the door.

As soon as Li Qiu and his party arrived, the shopkeeper and the boss here were also extremely enthusiastic.

"General Li Qiu, my lord!"

"Today, are you going to look at the furniture with the ladies?"

Seeing Li Qiu nodding, they asked sincerely, "I heard that His Majesty wants to marry you, Mr. Li."

"The furniture to be purchased now should be used in the Furong Garden when we got married, right?"

Hearing his words, the two behind Li Qiu, Luo Kexin and Wu Jue, blushed inexplicably.

And seeing Li Qiu nodded and admitted that the shopkeeper and owner of this shop were extremely happy.

"Oh! Mr. Li, you are married, this is a great joy in Chang'an City!"

"Not to mention anything else, I don't make any profit on all the furniture you buy from me."

"In addition, I personally have to give you a set of high-quality huanghuali furniture as a congratulatory gift!"

"If you don't accept it? I'll just send it to your house in Furong Garden."

"Anyway, you have to accept this kindness whether you accept it, or accept it if you don't accept it haha!"

Chapter 136 Li Shimin's Not Allowed

For such a huge Hibiscus Garden, there are still too many things that need to be purchased and added.

Originally, Li Qiu promised Luo Kexin and Wu Jue to go shopping with them every day, especially to the most prosperous place, the starting point/end point of the Silk Road, Chang'an West Market.

However, Li Qiu was urgently recruited into the palace that night, and important military matters were discussed in the Chengqing Palace.

Before, the military situation of Chai Shao's army that all of them were worried about finally had a change and the latest news.

Just before the eight-hundred-mile urgent military order reached the front line, Chai Shao's army had already fought with Liang Shidu and the Turkic army.

Originally, according to Marshal Li Jing's previous strategy.

Let Xia Governor Shi Liumin and Sima Liu Lancheng continue to send small groups of cavalry to trample on the fields of Liang Shidu.

As a result, there was a shortage of food in Shuofang City, the capital of Liangshi, and the people's hearts were unstable.

At the same time, they kept returning the captured prisoners to alienate the morale of the army.

If things develop according to normal events, as long as the Turkic side is a little slack and does not rush to support with all their strength, the army of Chai Shao and Xue Wanjun will surely conquer Shuofang City.

Annihilate Liang Shidu.

But just as Li Qiu said before, after a big battle by the Weishui River, Jieli Khan was seriously injured.

The command of the entire Turks fell into the hands of tribal leaders such as Tuli and Qibi Heli.

Under the mourning soldiers, this group of Turkic tribes, who seemed to be at odds with each other, are more united than ever.

Seeing that the Tang army attacked Shuofang City and wanted to remove the Turkic horse's front hoof, Tang Li and others sent an army of tens of thousands led by Qibi Heli.

Come to support with all your strength.

In Tang Jun's advance arrangement, deputy general Xue Wanjun was in charge of attacking the city.

The general Chai Shao was personally responsible for blocking the possible small reinforcement cavalry sent from the Turks.

Ever since, the situation on the entire battlefield has evolved in a direction that is extremely unfavorable to Datang.

Only Chai Shao, who led 2 troops, directly encountered Qibi Heli, who led 7 Turkic elites.

That Qibi Heli is the number one Turkic general, brave and resourceful.

With three times the disparity in strength, Chai Shao's army was defeated.

General Chai Shao was captured and imprisoned in Shuofang City.

In the Chengqing Hall, the atmosphere was extremely depressing.

Except for occasional sighs and Du Ruhui's sick cough, there were no other sounds.

Li Shimin, in particular, frowned even more, with worry and sorrow in his expression.

Chai Shao's significance to the entire Tang Dynasty and to him, Li Shimin, is really unusual and significant.

He is Li Shimin's brother-in-law, and he is definitely one of the closest and most affectionate people.

From the time when the Supreme Emperor Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, Chai Shao used his chivalrous reputation to attract heroes and rise up.

When Li Shimin became the king of Qin, he accompanied Li Shimin to fight everywhere, and he did not know how many military exploits he made.

Now, such a great general of the Tang Dynasty was captured alive and fell into the hands of the Turkic and Liang Shidu, and Li Shimin and everyone present were in a mess.

In the next few days, the military situation on the front line spread continuously into Chang'an City like snowflakes.

First, the Turkic general Qibi Heli took advantage of the victory and pursued, and cooperated with the army of Liang Shidu in Shuofang City, defeating the Tang army led by Xue Wanjun.

Then, just as Xue Wanjun's army was about to collapse, Li Jing's army, who had already received the eight hundred li military order, arrived in time.

Hold your ground, counterattack the Turks, defeat the Qibi Heli Department, stop the loss in time and make a small gain.

Because General Chai Shao was imprisoned in Shuofang City, Li Jing's army repelled Qibi Heli's cavalry at any cost.

Cut off the connection between Shuofang City and Turks.

The army besieged the city.

On the fourth day, according to the latest news, Shuofang City Liangshi tied Chai Shao and hung him in the tower.

The Tang army was wary of rats and the city of Shuofang was fortified. The Tang army failed in consecutive sieges and suffered heavy losses.

During these days, Li Qiu's heart has been very heavy.

Except for going to court, he has been shutting himself in the old house.

The Furong Garden was completely handed over to Luo Kexin and Wu Sui to take care of it.

If you want to say that in Chang'an City, the few people who treat Li Qiu the best, except for the eldest grandson Wuji, the current emperor, the empress, and the old county king, are Chai Shao.

That kind of concern completely from the elders, and that kind of attitude of slapping his chest, no one but me, no one can bully Li Qiu if I am around, has already warmed Li Qiu's heart.

Chai Shao was a hero in the army of the Tang Dynasty.

His brother Luo Cheng is gone, so his brother's daughter and son-in-law are Chai Shao's own daughter and son-in-law.

That kind of care and love is the same as that of his own children.

At the beginning Li Qiu was made things difficult by those gentry and the Ministry of Rites in the court hall, and Chai Shao even pointed at the nose of the Minister of Rites and scolded him in the Jinluan Hall.

Regardless.

Now, when he heard that Chai Shao was captured, he was humiliated by being hanged on the tower in front of tens of thousands of Tang troops by the Liang division.

Li Qiu only felt bursts of bitterness and endless anger in his heart.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty died in battle, wrapped in horse leather, that was a well-deserved death, and no one would have the slightest complaint.

But such a great general who has fought for the Tang Dynasty for half his life, has made outstanding achievements, was captured and humiliated. No one can bear the feeling of humiliation.

Two days ago, Li Qiu wrote the memorial, requesting to rush to the front line in person to help Commander Li Jing attack the city and rescue General Chai Shao.

However, this memorial was directly rejected by Li Shimin, and nothing came to light.

Li Shimin, who has led troops to fight for decades, naturally knows the difficulty and danger of the siege battle.

Moreover, in this kind of tough battle, Li Qiu's personal force would not be of much use.

Now that his closest brother-in-law has been captured, he can no longer just watch his son get in.

To be selfish, even if he is sorry for his own brother-in-law who has paid too much for him.

He would rather be an unjust person, and he really doesn't want anything to happen to Li Qiu.

No matter what, he couldn't let the last tragedy along the Weishui River repeat itself.

Chapter 137 I'm Only a Minister of the Tang Dynasty

On this afternoon, even though he was in a bad mood, Li Qiu was invited to Feng Li's mansion.

Because this was the first meeting of the few of them since Wang Gui was promoted to prime minister.

Firstly, it was to avoid suspicion, and secondly, Wang Gui was too busy.

It was so easy for everyone to get together today, so it was natural for Li Qiu not to come.

When Li Qiu finally arrived, he accidentally saw a stranger.

The leading general on the right, Xue Wanche.

After the mutual greetings, Feng Li introduced Li Qiu with a smile.

Speaking of Xue Wanche, he was also in the old department of Prince Yin, and he was also close friends with Feng Li, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, and Wei Ting.

After that incident, Feng Li and the four of them were rescued by Li Qiu.

Xue Wanche, on the other hand, led people to escape into Mount Zhongnan.

Later, the sage was merciful and recruited him again to be an official.

Later, as the banquet progressed, Li Qiu and Xue Wanche gradually became acquainted with each other.

At this time, Xue Wanche took a sip of wine, and said to Wang Gui and Feng Li, "Oh, if you say that we are the former subordinates of the hidden prince, these courtiers don't look straight at us."

"As for me, I tried my best to get rid of this label on my body, and then reintegrate into the officials."

"But it's good for you. Instead, you formed a group and almost formed a small faction. I'm afraid that others will not know that you are the former Ministry of Prince Yin. You used to have enmity with His Majesty, right?"

"Now, I am under the command of His Royal Highness King Wei."

"This king of Wei is intelligent, eager to learn, courteous and virtuous, and he has attracted many courtiers."

"His Royal Highness King Wei, and those ministers under him, are also very kind to me."

"A few days ago, when Xiao Yu was chatting with me, he revealed that King Wei wanted to make friends with and win over you."

"Being entrusted by others, I will take this opportunity to tell you about the matter of loyalty."

"It's not a long-term solution if you go on like this. Sooner or later, you will be killed by these courtiers and gentry."

"Especially Li Qiu, Xiao Yu has already said that if you can join King Wei's command, King Wei will not have any grudges against you about the Furong Garden."

"You, it may be that you are new to the court, and there are many things that you still don't understand deeply."

"Don't look at your military exploits right now, and you are very favored, but without any foundation or background, the more you hang out with Wang Gui, Wei Zheng and the others, the more dangerous your situation will be."

After hearing his words, Feng Li chuckled meaninglessly.

"Nowadays, I'm tired of these bullshit standing in line and fighting for the crown prince."

"Anyway, I'm a military general. It's not bad to continue to be my miscellaneous general in a leisurely way."

"On the other hand, Wang Gui, Wei Zheng, Li Qiu, you will inevitably meet with those people every day. It is not bad to find a power to be your backer."

"At least you can protect yourself, right?"

At this time, Wei Zheng and Wang Gui looked at each other, then smiled at Li Qiu at the same time.

"Li Qiu, what do you think about this matter?"

Due to being in a bad mood recently, after drinking, Li Qiu didn't say anything too tactfully, and replied calmly: "My identity is only simple. I am the general of the Tang Dynasty and the courtier of the current Holy Majesty."

"To be successful is to help the world, and to be poor is to be alone."

"Your Majesty uses me, I will do my best."

"Your Majesty doesn't need me, I'll go back and open my small restaurant."

"Those so-called gentry and factions are like that shit in my eyes."

"I don't believe it. I am an upright person with a clear conscience. Can they still kill me?"

"As for the Hibiscus Garden?"

"It's already mine, even if I die, it won't be in the hands of King Wei!"

Hearing Li Qiu's words, arrogant, indifferent to fame and fortune, with a lofty and disdainful tone, Xue Wanche's face was slightly unsightly.

As for Wei Zheng and Wang Gui, they looked overjoyed, and while they were patting the table, they were laughing and chatting about drinking.