Chapter 42: Tang Gong Li Yuan

  The Sui army's large camp was thirty miles north of the city of Liaodong, Goguryeo, where hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed, and with tens of millions of auxiliary civilians and laborers, this desolate land in eastern Liaodong had long since become a bustling place. The entire camp stretched for dozens of miles, except that it didn't have city walls or houses, which was no different from a large city.

  The outermost layer is the military camp, the middle is the Tang army's ministerial camp, and the innermost layer is the Emperor's six imperial guard camps. In the very center is the Emperor's own camp, a wooden palace built by craftsmen. The entire camp was arranged in an orderly manner, with even a special area on the outer perimeter that had been turned into a marketplace. All soldiers, civilians, and laborers could trade here as long as they had money or goods to exchange; this place basically had everything one might need.

  "Yuwen sir, where are you taking me?" Chen Kefu spent his days in the camp either training soldiers or reading books, and rarely entered this large camp.

  "I'll take you to meet someone. You're not lacking in arms and armor, are you? I'll take you directly to see Li Yuan, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Guards Temple. The Imperial Guards Temple is in charge of the armory of the whole country anyway. This guy isn't very capable, but he's extremely polite to everyone. Although his ancestors were also high-ranking officials of the Northern Zhou and are still the maternal uncle of the current emperor, this person, as a member of the Li clan, is very smooth-tongued and always speaks nicely to everyone."

  "This Li Yuan is already over 40 years old, but he has always been quite mediocre. Previously, he was the governor of Qi Zhou for 25 years and was extremely incompetent. If it weren't for his niece being one of the emperor's concubines, he might have ended up dying in some remote place. Fortunately, this man has a filial and obedient niece who spoke highly of him to the emperor, which is why he was able to return to the capital and become the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Guards. As for the matter of breaking the army, if you look for him, it will definitely not be a problem."

  Yu Wen was speaking with disdain when mentioning this colleague, although they both came from the same noble family of Guanlong. However, Yuwen and Li had many disagreements. But Li Yuan was an exception, he seemed to get along with everyone, yet this also made him look down upon by the other noble families.

  Chen Kefu sat on his horse, looking at Yuwen Huaji with some surprise, "Yuwen brother, you're referring to Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang from the Eight Pillar State?"

  Yu Wen said with a smile, "I never thought that Po Jun would also know this person. It's really him. Thinking back to the past, Li Hu was what kind of hero, but unfortunately now he has such a useless descendant. I'm sure Li Hu's old bones in the underworld will also sigh."

  Chen Kefu's mind was already in disarray, he had not expected that Emperor Gaozu of Tang would have such an image in the eyes of the people. Li Yuan was a great emperor who founded the Tang Dynasty and was highly praised in history books. Unexpectedly, he heard Yuwen Huaji's comments here, this is indeed how things are like chess, being in the midst of it, one can never see the true situation clearly.

  Yuwen gentleman joked, I also occasionally heard that Li Gong is good at socializing, and it's an old good man. Chen Kefu said casually. Now he is saying this to Yuwen Culture, I know that Li Yuan will become the emperor later, creating a foundation for the great Tang Dynasty for hundreds of years. Even if he really said this, I estimate that no one in the world would believe him, and now Li Yuan is indeed unable to make people associate him with the word "emperor".

  Yu Wenqian suddenly looked up and down at Chen Kefu, stroking his beard and laughing, "Could it be that Brother Pojun has also heard that the third young lady of the Li family is born with a beautiful appearance? With Brother Li's youth and achievements, if he wants to form an alliance with the Li family, it would be suitable. Although the Li family is not considered anything in the imperial court at present, they are still a great noble family from Guanlong, and also relatives of the emperor. If Brother Pojun really marries their daughter, it would be entirely beneficial for him."

  "However, although I have not seen his daughter, I've heard that the woman is a strong-willed and stubborn person who doesn't allow her eyebrows to be trimmed. Many young nobles from aristocratic families who wanted to marry into the Li family were deterred by the thought of not being able to control such a wife after marriage. Although Po Jun is accomplished at a young age, his family background is somewhat inferior. If you really want to marry this woman, you must think carefully about these things first. Otherwise, Po Jun's reputation will be ruined and he'll end up with a troubled household, becoming the laughing stock of society."

  Chen Kefu just kept his mouth shut, but now he found that this frivolous young master was still a very gossipy person, with all sorts of nonsense coming out of his mouth. However, when it came to the Li family, he was actually quite interested, regardless of whether history would really develop as he had known before. For now, meeting Li Yuan was not bad either. Just in case the Li family really took over the world in the future, he could also leave a way out for himself and build some connections.

  Li Yuan, as the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Guards, was in charge of the national armory, which is equivalent to a logistics minister or a general equipment minister in later generations. After riding his horse for a while, Yuwen Huaji finally arrived at Li Yuan's office tent.

  "I didn't know that General Yuwen and General Chen had arrived. What brings you here?" Li Yuan hastily got up to greet them as soon as they entered.

  "Brother Shu De, today I've come to introduce you to our young and promising General Chen Po Jun. Also, Brother Po Jun has some matters he'd like to ask for your help with."

  Chen Kefu carefully sized up the Li Yuan in front of him, completely as Wu Zetian had said, with a humble and courteous demeanor, always smiling at everyone, without any hint of the majesty that an emperor should have. This made Chen Kefu somewhat disappointed, thinking that although Yang Guang was a ruler who lost his country, the pressure on Yang Guang's body sometimes really made people surrender. But this Emperor Gaozu in front of him couldn't even make him want to bow his head and pay homage.

  It seems that the times have created a hero, and Li Yuan in front of him is just a careful and cautious official who is a member of the aristocracy. Perhaps he himself does not believe that he will become the founding emperor in the future.

  Chen Kefu took a step forward, cupped his hands to Li Yuan and said, "Tang Gong, this time I have come to ask for your help. Under the emperor's favor, our Broken Army Camp has been expanded to 10,000 people, but now all the soldiers have arrived at the camp without any weapons. We are currently in enemy territory, and everyone in the Broken Army Camp is eager to fight against the enemy as soon as possible and make new achievements. Without weapons, how can we accomplish this? Through Yuwen's introduction, I have come to ask for your help, Tang Gong, hoping that you can solve this urgent problem for our 10,000 soldiers."

  Li Yuan furrowed his brow and felt somewhat embarrassed. Although he was in charge of the armory, without an order from above, this matter would not be easy to handle either.

  Yuwen Huaji said with some impatience, "Shude brother, General Chen is a red person in front of the emperor, and he is also a third-ranking official in the imperial court. Moreover, this time he has made new contributions, and tomorrow he will definitely be promoted again. Besides, General Chen and my Yuwen family have a very good relationship. Can't Shude brother even give me some face for my Yuwen family?"

  "General Tang, I've broken into the military camp, but it's His Majesty's personal army. General Tang won't let us go in empty-handed to protect His Majesty, will you? This is putting His Majesty's safety at risk! General Tang, please think carefully about this. If General Tang is willing to help me with this favor, I'll definitely remember your kindness. This time, I've also brought back many new and interesting things from Xin City, and I'll have someone send some over to you later, please accept them, don't refuse." Chen Kefu, at this point, couldn't care about anything else, and started using both soft and hard tactics while holding Yang Guang's large flag.

  Li Yuan's face was covered in sweat as soon as he heard this, and he fully understood that the current emperor was very wary of them, the aristocratic families. Usually, there were also suspicions, if Chen Ke really accused him in front of the emperor, saying that he deliberately did not provide weapons to the imperial guards, would he still have a life? With the emperor's temperament at the time, it might just come true.

  "Your Excellency Yuwen, General Chen, this matter is under my responsibility, there will be no problem. It's all for the sake of serving His Majesty, how can I be even slightly negligent? I don't know what kind of weapons General Chen needs or in what quantity, but please draft a document and give it to me, I will immediately allocate them to you."

  Chen Kefu was also delighted to hear this, today he risked everything for the sake of breaking into the military camp, and even blackmailed Li Yuan, who knows if Li Yuan will remember this grudge in the future when he becomes emperor.

  "I'm so grateful to you, Duke Tang. I don't know if it's possible for you to take me on a tour of the armory? I'd like to take a look at the various weapons before drawing up an inventory." Since Li Yuan was being so polite, Chen Kefu didn't want to waste this opportunity that had come from his extortion either. This was the Sui Dynasty's central equipment depot after all, and although it might not be as richly stocked as it would have been back in the capital, it was still a department responsible for supplying hundreds of thousands of troops with arms. If he really stumbled upon something good, he wouldn't hesitate to take it.

  "General Chen, Lord Yuwen, this is no problem. Although the expedition to Liaoyang also brought back a considerable amount of weapons and equipment, compared to the various large armories in our Great Sui's Weiwei Temple, it is still too simple. General Chen, Lord Yuwen, follow me, the warehouse is not far from here."

  Although Li Yuan said that this place was simple, when Chen Kefu walked into the large tent that was told to be an arsenal, he was still greatly shocked. Indeed it was a war of national mobilization, just the tents for storing various weapons and equipment could stretch for miles, those cowhide tents made Chen Kefu's eyes widen in amazement.

  "General Chen, the warehouse on this side is stacked with horizontal knives, which are essential for soldiers, so there are the most. The other warehouses have crossbows, bows and arrows, arrow shafts, long spears, cavalry lances, helmets and armor, as well as some large siege engines. General Chen, what equipment do you want? Just make a list and I'll have it sent over to you right away."

  "Tang Gong, what equipment is stored in that row of warehouses over there?" Chen Kefu asked, pointing to a row of warehouses that Li Yuan had not introduced earlier.

  Happy New Year! I wish you all a happy new year and may everything go smoothly. May you get promoted and become rich!