Eleven Li's thoughts on the emperor's mind

  Inside the palace, in the emperor's study, a man in his thirties wearing a bright yellow dragon robe looked at the memorial in his hand with an uncertain expression. Sometimes sunny and sometimes cloudy, when he saw the last paragraph, his face suddenly became somewhat playful: "Su Ning, Su Sanming, Ming is not clear about good and evil, ancient and modern, it's indeed a high-ranking person's handwriting, Zhang Zhongjian? The sworn brother of the pharmacist and Hong Dang, so it seems that this kid's identity should not be wrong. The pharmacist would not deceive me, so this is really a talented person?"

  The man was none other than the current Emperor of the Great Tang Empire, Li Shimin, also known as Emperor Taizong of Tang!

  The Emperor Li II put down the memorial, stood up, and gazed at the paintings on the wall. After a long while, he smiled slightly: "Medicine Master, you are indeed meticulous! However, your concerns also make some sense. Although I won't move against you, that feeling isn't pleasant either. On one hand, it's about promoting younger generations; on the other hand, it's about seeking peace for oneself - what a good strategy! Haha... This young man is truly exceptional? He remembered 23 out of 24 moves, deceived the city gate, achieved the first merit, and even captured Yang Zhengdao. Is he expecting me to grant him a title?"

  Emperor Taizong of Tang had been living in the midst of intrigue and power struggles since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, so no matter who it was, whether it was Li Chengqian or Hou Junji or other nobodies, no one was a match for Emperor Taizong. He himself was an emperor with unparalleled literary, military, and political skills, and his thoughts were beyond ancient and modern times. What kind of thought had he not entertained? This thought of Li Jing's, however, Emperor Taizong really did not put in his eyes, but because of this, Emperor Taizong took an interest in Su Ning.

  "Second Master, what are you thinking about?" A clear and melodious voice like the song of a canary rang out. Li Er turned around, smiled at the elegant woman holding a bowl of sweet porridge as beautiful as a peony flower, and said: "Nothing, Guanyin, take a look at that memorial to the throne, the Imperial Physician said some things that interest me."

  This woman, like a peony flower, is the current empress, Li Er's lifelong beloved Empress Changsun. Her name cannot be verified, and some say that it can be inferred from her brother Changsun Wuji, so her name may be Changsun Wuguo, but this name has no historical basis, and the history books only record "Xiaozi Guanyinbi".

  However, no matter what, the virtuous name of this Empress Longsun is now and in the future, loud and clear. Her virtuous name can be ranked among the top ten great women in Chinese history for five thousand years! Hmm, at least Su Ning thinks so, of course if Su Ning saw her appearance, he would also think so, how could there be such a woman?

  Throughout the Tang Dynasty, there was only one woman who could rival her, and that was the eternal Empress Wu Zetian. However, Su Ning thought that Wu Zetian was not as good as Empress Longsun because Wu Zetian had almost given up all the happiness a woman could have, which might be due to differences in their living environment. Two equally intelligent women took two different paths.

  Changsun was very intelligent and Emperor Taizong trusted her greatly, discussing all matters with her. However, she had a great deal of self-awareness and no matter what the emperor said, as long as he did not explicitly ask for her opinion, she would say nothing. This was also one of the reasons why her position was as stable as Mount Tai. At this time, Emperor Taizong letting her read this memorial meant that she could look at it herself and understand what her husband was thinking.

  Quickly scanning, Changsun's beautiful big eyes sparkled with delight. She put down the memorial and brought a sweet pastry to Li Er's side, presenting it to him with a smile: "Second Brother is like this, isn't it because of that child named Su Ning? I think he's quite a good kid, if General Li has taken notice of him, how could he be bad? General Li has never recommended anyone to Your Majesty before, not even his own family members. If General Li recommends this child, there can only be one reason - the child is truly exceptional. I think so too; with just 100 men, they opened the city gates, and with 3,000 men, they defeated tens of thousands. Such achievements are indeed impressive."

  Li Er drank a mouthful of sweet soup, and smiled: "Yes, I also think so, indeed very talented, it is said that he is still the son of a high-ranking official, with excellent knowledge. I am more and more interested in this young man. Now, we have almost grasped the initiative on the battlefield. If it weren't for this young man deceiving the city gate and taking Dingxiang, all this would not be possible. Guanyin bi, Yaoshi's memorial is asking me to reward Suning, bestowing a title upon him. He himself doesn't care about that; this is to support this young man! What good luck!"

  Chang Sun looked at Li Er and smiled: "Your Majesty has decided to grant this little guy a title?"

  Emperor Li drank the sweet soup in one gulp, walked to his seat, took out a piece of paper and began writing: "Yes, all doctors are like this, they don't want their own rewards but also want the reward for this little boy. If I didn't agree, it would be too disrespectful to the doctor. Moreover, this little boy indeed has some talent, achieved great merit, if not rewarded, the ministers will think that my reward and punishment is unclear."

  Besides, the great Tang generals are gradually getting old, and the younger generation has not yet grown up. Moreover, the military is gradually showing a trend of being unable to get rid of its tail, which needs to be prevented as soon as possible. At this time, this young man came out, if he really had talent, it would not be impossible to promote him. However, I don't know where this young man is from, whether he is from a humble background or one of those aristocratic families. We need to investigate."

  Although there were still doubts, Li Er gave the order quickly and handed it over to Chang Sun: "Take a look if there's anything wrong."

  Changsun's beautiful eyes swept slightly, revealing a look of surprise: "San Yuan County son, second son, I remember that General Li seems to be from San Yuan, Yongzhou? What's going on? And why not start with the title of Baron?" Li II smiled and said: "Isn't this good? This achievement is quite great, granting a viscounty is not unacceptable; in the future, no matter what achievements this kid makes, granting him an earldom or marquisate or duke, it doesn't matter, all will be San Yuan County, haha! This way, Yao Shi will definitely be very happy; as for official positions, temporarily grant him a sixth-rank military historian. Let Yao Shi handle it. The specific position will be discussed after this battle is over."

  Chang Sun Qi said: "Second Brother, I think Su Ning is a talented military strategist, bold and meticulous, with decent martial arts skills. Why did Your Majesty assign him to a desk job in the army instead of letting him command troops? Although he's only 14 years old, which is a bit young, he can still be used. With more experience now, he'll be even more useful in the future. Is it not a waste of his talent to use him for a desk job?"

  In the Tang Dynasty, unlike many other dynasties where scholars were valued and military personnel were looked down upon, it was the opposite - military personnel were valued and scholars were looked down upon. As a result, the martial spirit of the Great Tang is unimaginable. The status of an ordinary soldier who had made military achievements was absolutely unimaginable to ordinary people. This is roughly related to Emperor Taizong's intention to suppress the status of the Shandong poetry and book families who controlled the writing brush.

  But it must be said that in the Tang Dynasty, men all took pride in joining the army, which is why the unprecedented and unparalleled border poetry school appeared. This is the true martial spirit of the Tang Dynasty. If one wants to gain a foothold, get promoted, and become rich, the fastest way is to achieve military merit, which is why there emerged a special group called auxiliary soldiers.

  Li Er's smile was tinged with helplessness: "Do you think I'm unwilling? It's the words of the Medicine Master, who said that this young man is resolute in his refusal to lead troops into battle. The Medicine Master intends to grant him the position of Colonel, but this young man is simply unwilling. He even threatens to run away at the slightest provocation - it's unclear why. If you say he's timid, then how can he dare to use a hundred men to launch a nighttime assault on a city? That's considered bravery! If you say he's lazy, then he handles military affairs with precision and order, without troubling the Medicine Master in the least. The Medicine Master also said that although this young man is naturally indolent, when faced with major events, he can remain calm and composed, unruffled; but when it comes to minor matters, he'd rather sit than stand! It's necessary to wait for him to slowly come around."

  "Is there still such a person?" Zhang Sun stared blankly at Li Er, "I'm also somewhat interested." Li Er took out a letter and sighed, "I find it strange too, how can there be such a person? He abandoned the power to command troops, but insisted on doing desk work. What kind of reasoning is this? Yao Shi even wrote me a private letter, take a look, probably related to what he learned from his master. I don't know what kind of young man he is. After this war ends, I want to meet him."

  Chang Sun nodded thoughtfully, took the letter, and scanned it briefly, revealing a look of surprise: "Second Brother, if what General Li said is true, then this Su Ning must be a rare talent that appears only once in a hundred years. General Li's martial arts are not something that ordinary people can learn, let alone someone who has never met him before. To see it only once and remember it, isn't he a person with a photographic memory? A talent like this, no matter what he does, is good for the Great Tang! Second Brother, this child will surely become a great figure in the future!"

  Li Er smiled lightly: "You all said he's just a child, and that's true. He still needs to be tempered, doesn't he? Yang Guang was the same way! Although in some sense he's still my father-in-law, his achievements are enough for me to look up to him now. But he's also a ruler who lost his country! And I'm the one who founded this nation! Just on that point alone, I'm stronger than him! As for this child, even if he's favored by Medicine Master, what use is it if he can't gain my recognition? After all, he's still young and needs to be tempered. If after another ten years, he can gain my recognition, then he'll truly be a remarkable person!"

  Zhangsun put down the letter and walked to Li Er's side, massaging his temples: "What Erlang said is all true." Li Er heard this and sighed with a bitter smile: "Don't let Wei Zheng hear this, or I'll have a headache. If that rustic old man hears it, I really don't know what to do, 'six relatives not recognizing each other' refers to him!"

  Comrade Qian Guying was handling government affairs when he suddenly sneezed. The attendant official beside him asked with concern, "Minister Wei, are you feeling unwell?" Comrade Wei rubbed his nose and shook his head: "It's nothing, let's continue with the work!"

  At this time, in Dingxiang City, Su Ning still did not know that he had been noticed by Li Er, the largest feudal lord of the Tang Empire. He faced wave after wave of soldiers carrying large piles of documents into the house, looking at the guards holding knives beside him with a bad expression, tapping his hand on the table and asking: "What is this situation?"

  Niu Ge replied very honestly: "That's exactly what happened."

  "What about the Grand Marshal? What about the officials of Dingxiang? What about the subordinate officials in charge of these matters? Gengzi, I am just a common people! I am not an official! Why do you want me to do these things! Why?! Su Ning was furious, these things were so annoying! Moreover, it's rare to have such good weather outside, and Su Ning wanted to go out and experience the customs of the Tang Dynasty!"

  Niu Ge said helplessly: "The general wants to go and deal with important military affairs, and has no time to deal with these things. The original officials of Dingxiang were all officials of the Turks, and they have been escorted to Chang'an. Those who are left are either dead or escaped. There really aren't any officials to deal with these things, so it's only you, Ning Ge. You should hurry up! The general said that if you can't finish dealing with this within three days, he'll make you regret it! Besides, reporting such a great achievement to the Emperor will definitely result in your promotion and ennoblement. So don't worry, the general is doing this to promote you!"

  Su Ning rolled her eyes: "So you're going to use all this stuff to win me over?" She said, pointing to the mountainous pile of documents.

  Niu Geng swallowed his saliva: "No way, the military is full of illiterate rough men, how can they be like you, who have read books, recognize characters, and understand so many principles, including military tactics? That's something only a noble family's son or a high-ranking official would understand. Someone like you in the military is truly wasting their talent, you should be on the imperial court, working with His Majesty to handle important matters, and become a high-ranking official."

  Su Ning rolled her eyes again, I'm fed up with this, being with someone like Li Er is like accompanying a tiger, I still understand that! Not to mention that Li Er is also a dragon, a terrifying man-eating tyrant dragon! Opening a document, scanning it briefly, boring stuff, today the young master is in a bad mood and doesn't want to waste his energy reviewing such boring things!

  With a stroke of the pen, a magnificent "yue" character appeared on the official document...