Chapter 80 Li Longji's Test
"It doesn't have to be too fast. We still need to wait a few days." Li Heng thought.

Yang Yuhuan asked: "Why?"

Li Heng explained, "It would be best if my memorial of apology could be sent to Chang'an together with the congratulatory letters and tributes from the Western Regions. It will take a few days to ask for merit for the soldiers anyway, so if we submit them together, my father will not blame me for being a few days late."

The congratulatory letters and tributes from the countries in the Western Regions were among the best spoils of Li Heng's expedition.

Yang Yuhuan thought about it, understood, and said with a smile: "These things are so complicated, fortunately my husband can think of them."

Li Ying said, "There is one thing I didn't expect."

"What's the matter?" Yang Yuhuan asked.

Li Ying asked, "Why did the Turks dare to besiege my Qiuci?"

"Maybe..." Yang Yuhuan thought for a moment and said, "Maybe they have colluded with Tubo for a long time. Tubo married a princess to Turgesh two years ago, and they have a good relationship. So, they want to take advantage of your expedition to attack Qiuci, first to avenge the loss of Suiye City two years ago, and second to make it difficult for you to take care of both ends."

"Yeah." Li Ying smiled slightly, "You are really smart, but..."

"Just what?" Yang Yuhuan asked.

Li Heng said, "It's just that their trip is quite risky. Even if Qiuci is an isolated city, it is not advisable to attack it, because there is Beiting to help defend it. Even if they really conquer Qiuci, with the national strength of the Tuqishi, they can't defend against the subsequent angry counterattack of our Tang Dynasty. And the opponent that the Tuqishi wants to compete with should not be our Tang Dynasty, but the Western Regions, or the Arabs. So their best choice is not to attack Qiuci, but to compete with the Western Regions while I am on an expedition and Anxi is unable to intervene in the Western Regions."

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan felt that what Li Heng said made sense, and asked in confusion: "Then why did they attack Qiuci?"

"Maybe they have internal conflicts." Li Heng thought for a moment and said with a smile, "I'll tell you after I check it out."

"Okay." Yang Yuhuan also laughed, "Does this count as meddling in government affairs?"

Li Heng had actually thought about this question.

If he had not chosen the path of entrepreneurship, but instead competed for the throne and became a king who maintained the status quo, he would not have said these things to Yang Yuhuan.

But he just had to go the entrepreneurial route, and at times like this, it was crucial to have someone to help out occasionally while there was no fire in the backyard.

Through the incident of defending the city of Kucha, Li Heng saw the potential of Yang Yuhuan, so he simply talked more with her about these things and cultivated her.

Li Ying said: "We are a couple working together to overcome the difficulties, which is different from interfering in politics."

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan nodded heavily.

Yang Yuhuan didn't care at all about interfering in politics or not. She just wanted to completely get into Li Heng's heart, share more things with Li Heng, and share some of Li Heng's worries.

Now, she felt as if she had accomplished something.

Then, she laughed again, hugged Li Heng, and said, "My dear, are you hungry?"

"A little bit." Li Ying replied.

"Shall we go eat then?"

"I'll eat you first, then I'll have dinner."

……

……

……

When the news of Li Ying's great victory in the expedition spread, the countries in the Western Regions that were watching immediately sent people to send congratulatory letters to the Tang Dynasty and also paid tribute.

Seeing that the situation was almost the same, Li Heng sent two memorials to Li Longji, one to request credit for the Anxi soldiers, and the other to apologize for his own crime.

After receiving the memorials, Li Longji approved the ones requesting merit, but suppressed the ones asking for guilt.

Not long after, the document regarding rewards for meritorious service arrived in Anxi, and all the soldiers in Anxi cheered.

But after cheering, they realized a problem: the expedition's commander Li Heng did not receive any reward.

So they began to investigate the cause in detail, and after the investigation, they found out that Li Heng was the only one who took the blame for the unauthorized expedition.

The soldiers were silent. After a long silence, Gao Xianzhi said, "Your Highness is the main contributor to the victory of this expedition, and Your Highness has been very kind to me. I would like to not take the credit and share the blame with Your Highness."

After hearing what Gao Xianzhi said, Feng Changqing said, "I wish to do the same."

With these two taking the lead, generals such as An Sishun and Li Siye also followed.

In the end, even Xin Yunjing was willing to sacrifice his merits to protect Li Heng.

"Your Highness had dinner with me and said he would take me to Chang'an. I don't want this credit anymore."

One soldier took the lead, and some soldiers began to follow suit. Finally, everyone got together to find Li Heng.

in the lobby.

Li Heng sat in the main seat, and the generals took seats in the hall.

Li Heng looked at the large group of people and said, "Generals, you came here without orders. Is there some emergency military situation?"

Gao Xianzhi stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, I and the others heard that you took all the blame for this expedition, so we have gathered here."

Li Ying said: "I made the decision to do this, so it is only right that I take the blame."

Gao Xianzhi said: "Your Highness, I advocated the war at the beginning, so I should share the blame."

Feng Changqing followed up and said, "I'll have one too."

"And this general." An Sishun also stood up. "The great victory of this expedition is all due to your brilliant strategy and your command of the army. In terms of merit, your Highness should be the first. Now your Highness has taken the blame, while the credit has been given to everyone else. How can we feel at ease?"

Li Siye said frankly: "Your Highness hopes that I will be the general of the Tang Dynasty, but now Your Highness is the general of the Tang Dynasty. If Your Highness does not get rewarded, then what is the point of me being him!"

The generals spoke one by one, expressing their thoughts.

Finally, Gao Xianzhi concluded his speech by saying, "I, your humble servant, would rather not take the credit for this than share the blame with Your Highness."

As he spoke, he presented a joint petition and said, "Your Highness, this is a petition signed by me and others. Please present it on your behalf."

Upon hearing this, Li Heng came up to Gao Xianzhi, pushed back Gao Xianzhi's joint petition, and said with emotion: "I will remember your kindness in my heart, but this cannot be done. If this joint petition is submitted, the court will definitely think that you are using your merits to seek rewards for me. If someone with ulterior motives adds fuel to the fire, then everyone will form a clique, and then it will not be as simple as sending troops without authorization."

When the generals heard this, they were all shocked.

Gao Xianzhi asked: "What should we do then?"

Li Heng said, "Father, your majesty is wise and enlightened. The court has clear rewards and punishments. Father will distinguish who has made contributions and who has committed crimes, and the court will make fair judgments. Everyone, go back and do your duties."

"This..." Gao Xianzhi and the others were stunned and returned in disappointment.

……

……

……

Chang'an, Xingqing Palace.

Li Longji suppressed Li Heng's letter of apology and waited for a long time, but Li Heng did not submit a memorial to ask for reward for his merits.

This was the final test Li Longji gave to Li Heng.

Li Longji thought that if Li Heng really had other intentions, then since he had made such a great contribution, he should have apologized openly and secretly seized the opportunity to win over the soldiers under him to ask for credit for him.

But Li Heng didn't.

Li Longji's test was over, and he was ready to give Li Heng real power.

So he summoned Zhang Jiuling and others to discuss the matter.

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(End of this chapter)