"So… what about me?"
Li Shiji felt like he had listened with great enthusiasm—only to be left standing in silence.
The campaign to destroy the Xueyantuo was brushed past in a single stroke.
The expedition against Goguryeo received only a few sparse lines.
He had thought this was finally the start of his part.
Instead, it ended just like that?
"Why worry, Maogong?"
The one comforting Li Shiji was Li Jing.
But looking at the old general—and then remembering that Li Jing himself was also one of the three great war gods of the early Tang—
Li Shiji suddenly felt a surge of sorrow rise from his heart.
And somehow… felt even more hurt.
At this moment, Su Lie felt a quiet wave of relief well up inside him.
Kuangdao Prefecture—
He had only stayed there for three years, yet already felt as if he were growing old.
Thirty years…
He didn't even dare imagine how unbearably dull that kind of life would be.
The patrol inspections of those past three years in Kuangdao—
Could not compare, even slightly, to that one night when he followed General Li Jing on the night raid against Yinshan.
That night alone had been more dangerous.
More thrilling.
More alive.
A good man should live like this.
Gratitude and lingering fear intertwined, rising together in Su Lie's chest.
If not for what that younger man had said back then,
Su Lie knew very well—
He probably would not be standing here today.
Sweeping the streets was, of course, only said as a joke.
But Kuangdao Prefecture was that kind of place—
if you didn't sweep streets,
there really didn't seem to be anything else to do.
At that moment—
A voice spoke from beside him.
"Dingfang should seize his prime years
and establish achievements that will never fade."
Su Lie turned his head.
Those words came from Li Shimin.
He nodded hard, without hesitation.
He did not ask why he had been left idle in Chang'an for thirty years.
He only knew this—
Now that the opportunity had finally arrived,
he must ride the wind and rise with it.
After encouraging Su Lie, Li Shimin himself became somewhat conflicted in mood.
"The Turkic jackals—how can they be so fickle and treacherous!"
On the one hand, he felt a certain pride—
that he truly could suppress these beasts.
On the other, he was furious—
because the suppression clearly hadn't lasted very long.
He quickly added a corrective sentence:
"Those who rebel are jackals—but even among the Turks, there are true heroes!"
[Lightscreen]
[Before Xiao Lu could even act, his rebellion plan had already been sent to Li Zhi's desk by the Prefect of Tingzhou.
Li Zhi acted decisively. Before Xiao Lu could rebel, he preemptively lured Xiao Lu's legitimate son to Chang'an.
With a hostage in hand, Li Zhi's confidence grew. He sent envoys to Xiao Lu for a "friendly negotiation," and in the end, Xiao Lu abandoned his plan.
This aborted rebellion should have ended there.
Xiao Lu's son should have remained in Tang territory, received an education in loyalty to the Tang, and eventually, when Xiao Lu grew old, inherited his power—shedding Turkic blood for Tang interests.
But for reasons unknown, Li Zhi released this hostage after only a few years.
Frankly speaking, this was extremely unwise.
Xiao Lu's son had seen the splendor of Chang'an and believed that rebelling against Tang would be courting death. He strongly urged his father to attack the Western Turks instead.
Things proceeded smoothly.
As a Left Xiaowei General of the Tang and a regional commander, Xiao Lu had full access to Tang military tactics and equipment.
With both advantages combined, Xiao Lu beat his fellow tribesmen so badly they couldn't even recognize north from south.
In less than a year, he annexed the Western Turks and proclaimed himself Shaboluo Khagan.
You could call it a roundabout rebellion.
Or you could say his son had grown up and no longer wanted to call him "father."
In any case, the Western Turks once again became an obstacle to Tang's westward expansion—and this time, a more aggressive one.
Xiao Lu, styling himself Khagan, sought to control his own fate. He bared his fangs at the Tang.
And was promptly slapped senseless by Li Zhi.
In 652, Liang Jianfang and Qibi Heli led thirty thousand Tang troops, supplemented by fifty thousand Uyghur cavalry—eighty thousand men in total.
The Tang achieved a minor victory, chased the enemy five hundred li, beheaded six thousand, killed sixty enemy commanders, and withdrew.
In 655, Li Zhi—fresh from very satisfying visits to nunneries—chose to launch a full offensive against the Western Turks.
Cheng Zhijie was appointed Grand Commander of the Onion Mountain Campaign Route. Wang Wenduo was named his deputy. Su Dingfang led the vanguard.
After entering Western Turk territory, the Tang forces quickly won their opening engagement.
Following a long pursuit, both sides met in decisive battle at Yingsuo River. Twenty thousand elite Turkic cavalry clashed with Tang troops in a fight so fierce neither side could gain the upper hand.
For the Turks, reinforcements—another twenty thousand elite cavalry—were already on the way.
As long as they held out until support arrived, victory would belong to them.
But unfortunately for them—
Su Dingfang was resting not far from the battlefield.
The fighting was too intense. He noticed it first.
The battlefield changes in an instant.
Su Dingfang immediately devised a bold plan:
He would take five hundred elite cavalry, detour quietly, strike the Turkic rear, and coordinate a pincer attack with the Tang main force.
A great victory was guaranteed.
The plan went flawlessly.
The Turkic army collapsed. Supplies and armor were scattered across the hills.
Su Dingfang pursued them for twenty li, beheading one thousand five hundred.
And from that moment on—
This war became very strange for Su Dingfang.
In the midst of victory and pursuit, an order arrived commanding him to return and reform ranks.
Confused, he returned.
Wang Wenduo stepped forward and declared that the emperor had issued an edict: Cheng Zhijie had grown reckless, and from this moment on, command of the Western Expedition would pass to Wang Wenduo.
With Cheng Zhijie's tacit approval, the transfer went smoothly.
What followed made even less sense to Su Dingfang.
Despite their overwhelming advantage, Wang Wenduo ordered the Tang army to form square formations, advance slowly, and strictly forbade any deep penetration into Western Turk territory.
Upon reaching Hengdu City, many Hu people—awed by Tang might—voluntarily surrendered.
Wang Wenduo declared that the Hu were wolf-hearted and destined to rebel again.
He then ordered all surrendered Hu executed and privately pocketed their wealth.
Su Dingfang was stunned.
He refused outright.
In the end, he could only watch as Cheng Zhijie and Wang Wenduo slaughtered those who had surrendered—and stuffed the money into their own pockets.
Thus, despite Su Dingfang's five hundred cavalry achieving a decisive breakthrough, the campaign ended with nothing to show for it.
Wang Wenduo, for falsifying an imperial edict, should have been executed—but was merely stripped of office and reduced to commoner status.
Cheng Zhijie, for failing to pursue, should have been executed by law—but in consideration of his age and service, he was spared death and dismissed.]
"This is letting the enemy escape!"
Seeing the emperor's fury, Zhangsun Wuji immediately spoke up.
Then, after some thought, he added:
"The actions of these two commanders are… highly irregular. There may be disturbances within the court."
Zhangsun Wuji felt he caught a whiff of something very familiar.
"Whatever disturbances exist in court, they cannot treat soldiers' lives as playthings!"
Li Shimin's face was cold.
"And no matter what, state affairs must come first. How can they not understand this?"
Su Lie nodded vigorously.
For a moment, he even wondered whether his luck was simply too terrible.
Thirty years sweeping streets in Chang'an—
only to encounter this?
The commander didn't want to win.
The deputy didn't want to win.
So what—was he the only one actually fighting a war?
Du Ruhui reread the copied text twice and finally found a point of doubt.
"Imperial Prince Zhi… nunneries?"
Fang Xuanling leaned over to look, then shook his head.
"Perhaps because Master Xuanzang had returned at that time. Buddhism flourished throughout the Tang, and Prince Zhi was influenced as well."
Du Ruhui glanced at Fang Xuanling.
Neither finished the thought, but the meaning was clear:
If one sought Buddhism, one should go to temples.
What business did a prince have visiting nunneries?
Li Shimin, though angry, was no political fool. After brief consideration, he snorted coldly.
"Cheng Yaokin is quite skilled at protecting himself."
Without verifying the edict, he relinquished command. Calmly slaughtered surrenderers. Pocketed wealth to create leverage against himself.
Li Shimin understood this routine all too well.
Did Cheng Zhijie lack money?
No one in all of Tang would believe that.
Ever since the defeat of Wagang and his submission to Wang Shichong, Cheng Zhijie had never fallen out of favor.
Brave as a vanguard, steady as a commander—wealth and honors were nothing but floating clouds to him.
A Duke of Tang robbing impoverished Hu tribes—
The only explanation was deliberate self-sabotage.
"Zhijie was already sixty-seven then. Perhaps his strength truly failed him."
Qin Qiong, without much hesitation, still spoke up for his old friend.
"Yaokin" was Cheng Zhijie's old name.
For the emperor to use it showed displeasure already.
Li Shimin looked at this battlefield that began with thunderous momentum—
only to end in emptiness.
He sighed.
Prince Zhi had only just left the swaddling clothes back then.
Li Shimin didn't yet know his temperament.
Zhijie, under his reign, had already enjoyed every favor. To him, fame and wealth were dust.
But perhaps—
To Prince Zhi, this was not a good signal.
Even so… suspicion did not erase resentment.
Li Shimin snorted again.
"After all, by then, I was already dead. I could no longer control you lot."
The ministers immediately clasped hands and pleaded guilt.
[Lightscreen]
[Why Cheng Zhijie and Wang Wenduo pulled such outrageous maneuvers remains unclear even today.
But if one connects it to the court politics of the time, a bold conjecture emerges.
In 655, the year Cheng Zhijie and Su Dingfang went west, a major event shook the court: the deposition of Empress Wang and the elevation of Wu Zetian.
Li Zhi pushed through enormous resistance to depose Empress Wang and install Wu Zetian.
Debate surged like a tidal wave.
Thus, the Western Turk campaign can be seen—at least in part—as an attempt by Li Zhi and Empress Wu to divert attention.
And if one checks origins—
Empress Wang came from the Wang clan of Qixian, Shanxi.
Coincidentally—or not—Wang Wenduo also hailed from the Wang clan of Qixian.
So was this coincidence, or not?
Why falsify an edict?
To waste Tang provisions?
To sabotage Cheng Zhijie?
To get himself executed?
The strangest part lies here:
By law, Wang Wenduo should have been beheaded.
Instead, he was merely reduced to a commoner—and astonishingly, reinstated within two years as Governor of Ungjin, stationed in Baekje.
His career advanced further than before.
Thus, can we make another bold guess?
Was Wang Wenduo acting under instruction—to obstruct Li Zhi and Wu Zetian?
And who stood opposite Wu Zetian?
Zhangsun Wuji.
In 659, someone submitted a memorial accusing Zhangsun Wuji of rebellion.
Li Zhi did not confront him.
He stripped Zhangsun Wuji of rank and fief, exiled him to Qianzhou, and ordered local troops to "escort" him along the way.
That July, a Zhongshu official arrived personally and forced Zhangsun Wuji to hang himself.
One year later, in 660, Wang Wenduo died suddenly in Baekje.
Local testimony claimed sudden illness and immediate death.
As for Cheng Zhijie—
He likely merely went along with the current.
He truly wanted to retire.
Using this affair, he resigned, enjoyed family life for ten years, and was eventually buried alongside Zhaoling.]
Ganlu Hall erupted into chaos.