Chapter 37: The Debate Over the Surveillance of Military Officers

  (Collection requested, recommended votes, rewards!)

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  Li Hen just proposed to re-sentence Yang Hui and suspend his official duties, which made Li Longji a bit annoyed! He knew that Li Hen's move was only to vent his personal grievances, not from the perspective of the court's justice, so he bluntly refused and expressed his trust in Yang Guozhong and Yang Hui in front of the emperor.

  Of course, from the fact that Emperor Xuanzong addressed Yang Guozhong as "Guozhong", it can be seen that Li Longji trusted Yang Guozhong.

  However, Li Longji would not have addressed Yang Guozhong in this manner during a formal court assembly; today was merely an emergency council meeting.

  If it were another minister, the defeat of Tongguan and Lingbao would have been enough to punish him, even beheading Yang Guozhong. The others in the palace also knew how much Yang Guozhong was favored, so no one dared to come forward at Gao Lishi's suggestion to demand punishment for Yang Guozhong, except for Crown Prince Li Hen. But Li Hen only dared to speak once, and after Emperor Xuanzong said that, he did not dare to stand up again to accuse Yang Hui, and he also understood that what he had just said was too hasty.

  What Yang Jie did was actually the job of the eunuchs who supervised the military, whose role was to monitor and supervise the generals on behalf of the imperial court. If a general showed cowardice in battle or failed to advance, they could be executed on the spot. With full authority granted by the emperor, what Yang Jie did was barely justifiable, but if Bian Lingcheng were not a eunuch supervisor, no one would have found it unusual.

  When the Emperor said so, Yang Guozhong was completely relieved and didn't say anything else. However, at this moment, Crown Prince Li Hen stood up again and loudly memorialized: "Your Majesty, Bian Lingcheng has been executed, and there is no longer a supervisor of the army in Tongguan. Your son thinks that another person should be quickly appointed as the supervisor of the army!"

  As soon as it was Li Heng who made the suggestion, Yang Guozhong couldn't help but tremble with fear, his eyes fixed on Li Longji, hoping he would object.

  But what made him disappointed was that Li Longji nodded in agreement after thinking for a moment.

  "Hmm, the prince's proposal is reasonable. We should send another person as a supervisor to oversee the military affairs at Tong Pass!" Li Longji said, looking around at the officials in the hall and asked: "What do you think, my dear ministers? Who would be suitable for the position of supervisor at Tong Pass?"

  Li Longji agreed to his request and immediately asked the ministers about the selection of the supervisor, Li Xian was overjoyed, without waiting for the reaction of the other ministers, he immediately stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, I recommend one person, the eunuch of the Inner Palace, Yu Chao'en! This person has been in the palace for many years, handling affairs steadily, never making mistakes, and is also clever, can be entrusted with important tasks. I recommend that Yu Chao'en go to Tongguan as a supervisor! I believe Yu Chao'en will not disappoint Your Majesty's expectations, Your Majesty can summon Yu Chao'en to the palace to test his talent!"

  After listening to Li Hen's words, Li Longji hesitated for a moment, looked at Gao Lishi on one side and Yang Guozhong who was full of anxious color, without immediately expressing agreement or disagreement. As for Yu Chaoen, he had heard of this person before, but didn't have much contact with him, so he couldn't easily make a judgment, hoping to hear the opinions of others, after all, the selection of the monitor eunuch was not a trivial matter, and if chosen poorly, it would ruin everything.

  When Emperor Xianzong heard Li Heng's words and saw that he was slightly moved, Yang Guozhong immediately stood up to oppose: "Your Majesty, I do not agree with what the Crown Prince said! Since Your Majesty has already granted Yang Shao full power to handle the Tongguan affairs, there is no need to set up a supervisor in the army! Now the soldiers stationed at Tongguan are all retreating from Lingbao. If someone goes there to point fingers and draw pictures, it may cause the military to become chaotic again! I think that even if we want to send a supervisor to Tongguan, we should wait until the situation in Tongguan is calm and the rebels are defeated! Moreover, the selection of supervisors needs to be carefully considered. Fish has entered the palace for a short time and has not served in front of Your Majesty. How can you easily entrust him with such an important task as being a supervisor at Tongguan?"

  Yang Guozhong did not oppose sending eunuchs to Tongguan to supervise the army, but he opposed Li Heng's suggestion. He knew that if Li Heng made this suggestion, he would immediately recommend someone to be the supervisor, and the person recommended would certainly be one of Li Heng's trusted followers.

  Li Heng's reaction was entirely as expected, and the Crown Prince immediately recommended his trusted eunuch, Fish Ernin.

  Yu Chao'en was someone Yang Guozhong roughly knew, one of Emperor Xianzong's most trusted eunuchs, who could be described as being around the emperor all day.

  Li Heng recommended Yu Chao'en as the supervisor of the troops at Tong Pass, how could Yang Guozhong not be aware of what the Crown Prince was planning?

  How could he tolerate Li Heng's trusted followers going to Tongguan to supervise his own son?

  It's necessary to send someone he trusts, so as not to restrict Yang Hui.

  There were many eunuchs in the palace who had gained his trust, but there was no one like Bian Lingcheng who was capable and loyal. He couldn't think of anyone to replace him at once. At this moment, he was a bit annoyed that his son was too bold, killing Bian Lingcheng without warning, which now gave him a headache, and also led to a confrontation with Li Hen in the palace.

  However, this time Li Xian did not back down and stood up again to argue: "Your Majesty, the system of the country cannot be abolished. Since Your Majesty has established the system of monitoring the military in the army and dispatched monitors to all the armies, there can be no exceptions. The Tongguan Army must immediately dispatch a monitor, otherwise it would not be different from other armies killing their monitor generals on the same grounds, which would mean that all armies could escape the court's supervision? This will certainly lead to great chaos in the world and rebellions rising everywhere! Your son does not agree with what Yang Gong said earlier!"

  "The Crown Prince's words are wrong! Those who want to rebel will rise up and plot even if there is a supervisor in the army, just like An Lushan. Without a supervisor, it doesn't mean they won't rebel, just like the troops at Tongguan now!" Yang Guozhong said, turning to face the Emperor on the throne: "Your Majesty, sending supervisors to Tongguan is not an urgent matter that cannot be solved. The most important thing to do now is to speed up the march of the relief troops and arrive at Tongguan City as soon as possible to jointly defend against the rebels' attack! In my estimation, the rebels will only temporarily retreat, but they cannot retreat far or refrain from attacking Tongguan for long! Yang Hui's letter also stated that the rebels would take advantage of our army's recent defeat and Tongguan's weak defenses to launch a major attack. Today's swift attack by the rebels is proof! Please, Your Majesty, issue another order to have General Chen speed up his march!"

  "Hmm, Guo Zhong is right. The most important thing now is to rescue Tongguan as soon as possible and not let it be occupied by the rebels, rather than sending a supervisor immediately! As for the selection of the supervisor of Tongguan, I will decide after consideration." Li Longji said, sitting up straight, and loudly ordered: "Pass my order to General Chen Xuanli of the Dragon Martial Army again, ordering him to speed up his march and arrive at Tongguan before nightfall tomorrow. If not, he will be severely punished!"

  "Yes!" Immediately, a eunuch stood up and hastily ran off to deliver the order.