Ganlu Hall
Li Shimin had grown fond of this title back when he watched the life of Zhang Yichao unfold.
He had even privately brushed a piece of calligraphy reading "From ancient Dunhuang arise divine generals", lamenting only that he could not summon Zhang Yichao to expand Tang territory himself.
And now, this Wang Zhongsi—
In every possible way, he fit Li Shimin's taste perfectly.
The son of loyal merit.
Cautious in command, yet bold in strategy.
Victorious without arrogance.
Though Xuanzong possessed such a general and still failed to avert the An–Shi Rebellion…
At the very least, many disasters should have been avoided.
Li Shimin took two deep breaths.
Just not having to look at An Lushan for the moment already lifted his mood considerably.
Yet the strange, ominous tone of the light curtain's final line made his heart tighten slightly.
Could it be… this Wang Zhongsi also died young, like Huo Qubing?
But worrying about that now was premature. He set the thought aside for the moment.
Li Shimin's gaze fell on the very first line of the copied text Du Ruhui was holding.
"Early Tang… War Gods?"
He frowned slightly.
"Who is Su Dingfang?"
Li Jing posed no surprise.
Li Shiji was expected.
But this unfamiliar name left Li Shimin momentarily blank.
He turned his questioning gaze toward the two generals present.
Hou Junji's smile was already strained, yet he still forced himself to clasp his hands toward Li Jing.
Li Jing, ever steady and composed, smiled modestly.
"Su Dingfang's achievements were personally recognized and promoted by Your Majesty."
"Oh?"
Li Shimin thought carefully.
Someone familiar with Li Jing…
Someone who had participated in major campaigns in recent years…
The memorials he had personally approved surfaced one by one in his mind.
Then a name emerged.
"Su Lie?"
"Precisely," Li Jing confirmed.
"At Yinshan, Su Lie served as vanguard. He personally led two hundred cavalry, charged first, and broke through Jieli Khan's royal tent."
That did it.
Li Shimin remembered everything.
"After the battle, he was granted a rank promotion and appointed Left Wuhou Zhonglang General."
And at the same time, he recalled Su Lie's position before that promotion—
Kuangdao Prefecture, Zhechong Commandant.
Li Shimin sighed deeply.
He realized that because Su Lie had been a general for his former rival, Liu Heita, he had likely been sidelined in the original timeline.
"A general of such caliber kept at my side yet unused? Once court is dismissed today, I will summon him personally."
His urgency was understandable.
Where was Kuangdao Prefecture?
Southwest corner of Chang'an. Four streets, that was it.
And there lay two tombs—
one of Wei Zifu,
one of Crown Prince Liu Ju.
To hold such a post under the emperor's very nose—
Frankly speaking, it was no different from sweeping streets.
Coupled with the fact that Su Lie had once served Liu Heita, Li Shimin reached a natural conclusion:
In the history shown by the light curtain, Su Lie had likely remained in this idle, wasted position for nearly a decade.
But times had changed.
Now Li Erfeng was sharpening his blade—
there were plenty of places for ambition to burn.
Hou Junji's mood darkened further, his gaze toward Li Jing growing increasingly resentful.
Chengdu.
Zhang Fei, meanwhile, stared at the scene of the Tibetan ruler imitating Sun Quan's retreat and burst out laughing.
"Now I get it! Every time you see a few hundred rout tens of thousands, the formula's always the same."
"Oh?"
Zhao Yun assumed an attentive posture, ready to learn something useful.
Zhang Fei counted on his fingers with solemn seriousness.
"When troops are few—
you need soldiers willing to die, and a general who charges first."
"When troops are many—
it's simple. You just need the commander-in-chief to act like my brother-in-law."
Zhao Yun twitched the corner of his mouth, So it's just luck and madness again, he thought, then quietly set aside the notebook he had just picked up.
So much for learning something.
As for titles like "War God," no one in the Chengdu Prefectural Office found it particularly surprising.
A flourishing age with towering military achievements—
if it didn't produce a few monsters, that would be strange.
And wasn't Wang Zhongsi himself aiming to become another Huo Qubing?
Which was convenient—
Huo Qubing belonged to the Han.
Nothing to envy there.
Zhuge Liang, on the other hand, admired Tang military wealth—
abundant warhorses, armor, weapons—
Yet at the same time, unease crept in.
The tone of the light curtain… was turning dark.
[Lightscreen]
[During Xuanzong's reign, to restrain military governors, their families were required to remain in Chang'an as hostages.
In exchange, once a governor was removed from office, he would return to Chang'an for appointment, with treatment determined by his achievements.
For this reason, the powerful chancellor Li Linfu viewed Wang Zhongsi as an enemy from the outset.
After all, with such accomplishments, how could Wang Zhongsi not be made chancellor upon return?
Three events followed—
each one accelerating the fall of Tang's greatest war god.
Event One: Promoting foreign generals to check domestic governors.
Combined with Xuanzong's governor policy, the logic was clear.
Foreign generals were easier to control.
Once dismissed, they posed no threat in court.
And most importantly—this neatly split Wang Zhongsi's authority over four frontier commands.
It was this policy that led Li Linfu to ally with An Lushan.
With Li Linfu's backing and bribery, An Lushan's rise began in earnest.
Event Two: The Stone Fortress Calumny.
Stone Fortress City was a key Hexi stronghold contested for years between Tang and Tibet.
Xuanzong wanted it fully secured.
After Wang Zhongsi's rise, Xuanzong ordered him remotely to seize the city by force.
Wang Zhongsi assessed the situation and judged the timing unfavorable, submitting a memorial urging restraint.
In 747, Dong Yanguang volunteered to attack Stone Fortress City. Xuanzong approved and ordered Wang Zhongsi to support him.
As Wang Zhongsi predicted, the city was easy to defend and hard to take.
Dong Yanguang failed to capture it by the deadline and instead accused Wang Zhongsi of deliberately delaying reinforcements to maintain personal power.
That alone was insufficient to topple Wang Zhongsi.
But Li Linfu had prepared long in advance.
Event Three: The Crown Prince Calumny.
In 737, after achieving the infamous "One Day, Three Sons Executed," Xuanzong hesitated over appointing a new crown prince.
The candidates were Prince Shou Li Cong and Prince Zhong Li Yu.
But since Yang Yuhuan had once been Prince Shou's consort, Xuanzong found it awkward.
Thus, the universally disliked Li Yu was chosen, renamed Li Heng—
arguably the most miserable crown prince in history.
Xuanzong disliked him.
Li Linfu and Gao Lishi attacked him freely.
Even An Lushan could trample him to curry imperial favor.
Incidentally, this was also one reason An Lushan rebelled—
he feared retribution once Li Heng ascended.
Naturally, Xuanzong guarded against such a crown prince with extreme suspicion.
In 744, Li Heng was accused of privately meeting frontier generals. Xuanzong erupted in fury—those generals were executed.
In 747, when Dong Yanguang framed Wang Zhongsi over Stone Fortress City, Li Linfu sensed opportunity.
Under his instruction, Wei Lin, Deputy Governor of Jiyang, accused Wang Zhongsi of declaring loyalty to the crown prince based on past palace association.
Xuanzong flew into a rage.
Wang Zhongsi was summoned to court, subjected to brutal interrogation by the Three Judicial Offices, and nearly tortured to death.
Only because Geshu Han submitted a memorial in his defense did Wang Zhongsi survive.
He was demoted to Governor of Hanyang.
Two years later, he died suddenly.
He was forty-five.
At his peak, Wang Zhongsi concurrently commanded Hedong, Hexi, Longyou, and Shuofang—
directly controlling 250,000 troops.
From 744 onward, he repeatedly memorialized Xuanzong, warning of An Lushan's rebellious intent.
Xuanzong never once gave him a proper glance.
Both were Xuanzong's adopted sons.
Both commanded massive forces.
Wang Zhongsi—loyal, accomplished, awe-inspiring—
died from slander.
An Lushan—glib, flattering, meritless—
bought hearts in Hebei and raised armies against Tang.
One can only say—
Li Sanlang brought this upon himself.
He has no one to blame but himself.]
Chengdu.
Zhuge Liang's eyebrows shot up completely.
"One day… killing three sons?
Including the crown prince?"
He shook his head repeatedly, searching for a mild word.
"Incomprehensible."
Fa Zheng, meanwhile, was already gleefully tallying the account.
"Two adopted sons—
forced one to death, the other to rebellion."
"Five known biological sons—
three executed, one had his wife taken, and the crown prince was abused at will."
"The rebel adopted son could freely enter and stay in the inner palace, had a grand mansion built for him…"
Fa Zheng finished counting, face full of malicious delight.
"Out of seven sons, the most loyal and capable died the worst."
"To outsiders, An Lushan looks more like the real son!"
"Every obstacle to rebellion—
Xuanzong personally swept aside.
Such absurdity is unheard of in antiquity!"
He laughed as though witnessing a masterful farce.
Zhang Fei curled his lips.
Aside from Wang Zhongsi, this entire family disgusted him.
"As Xiaozhi says—
if An Lushan didn't rebel, he'd be betraying Xuanzong's painstaking efforts."
Even Liu Bei sighed softly.
"Other emperors fear their heirs lack talent.
This Xuanzong feared his adopted son wouldn't rebel."
He paused, then noticed another issue.
"This Li Linfu—
a so-called powerful chancellor… not a good reputation."
Xu Shu shook his head.
"A manipulator of power, obviously."
"To avoid conflict with dismissed governors, he promoted foreign generals and colluded with men like An Lushan."
"Without this policy… the An–Shi Rebellion might have—"
Lacking sufficient data, Xu Shu stopped himself.
"A foolish ruler and a power-hungry minister—
self-inflicted disaster."
Zhang Song, however, did some quick math.
"If someone as upright as Wang Zhongsi could command four circuits and 250,000 troops, Tang must have at least seven or eight such governors."
"Each with around sixty thousand troops.
If they united, suppressing rebellion shouldn't be difficult."
Zhao Yun shook his head.
"By your estimate, Tang's governors command over half a million troops.
This barbarian general already holds thirty percent."
"Thirty percent under one man.
The rest split among four or five governors—
with an emperor interfering."
"In open battle… victory is doubtful."
Zhao Yun was already being generous to Tang.
Zhang Song understood.
Could governors truly unite?
And above them stood a foolish emperor.
One who had just been betrayed by an adopted son—
would he then distrust all other governors?
Thus, despite numerical advantage, Tang effectively stood at even odds.
And all of this hinged on one question—
Zhang Song muttered uncertainly:
"This Xuanzong…
he wouldn't cut off his own limbs, would he?"