Ten days later.
Chang'an City of the Great Tang.
Lü Shuang, along with ten Heavenfire Army soldiers, galloped into the city.
The guards at the city gate, seeing the red flag on their horses, quickly opened the gates and cleared a path.
That flag represented military dispatches; any obstruction was punishable by death!
Great Victory at Shenyang! Two thousand Heavenfire Army soldiers killed forty thousand enemies! Yuan Gai Suwen beheaded!
Great Victory at Shenyang! Two thousand Heavenfire Army soldiers killed forty thousand enemies! Yuan Gai Suwen beheaded!
Great Victory at Shenyang! Two thousand Heavenfire Army soldiers killed forty thousand enemies! Yuan Gai Suwen beheaded!
Lü Shuang, on his horse, raced towards the palace, shouting the great victory.
The common people of Chang'an City were a little stunned!
Then they erupted into cheers.
Not for any other reason!
The former Sui Dynasty's three expeditions against Goguryeo had ended in defeat, leaving countless corpses and a humiliating retreat.
This was a pain for countless Central Plains citizens!
Many had relatives who disappeared after the northern campaign, their fate unknown!
Now, with the Heavenfire Army's great victory at Shenyang, it was a form of closure for their ancestors!
Pedestrians on the streets stopped, clearing the way for Lü Shuang and his men to pass.
They sped all the way to Chengtian Gate.
Upon hearing the news of the victory from afar, the guards at the gate hurried to Taiji Palace.
To report to Li Shimin.
"Report! Report to His Majesty! Great victory at Shenyang! The messenger has arrived outside Chengtian Gate!"
The guard, running too fast, tripped over the threshold of Taiji Palace and rolled into the hall.
The guard, ignoring his discomfort, prostrated himself before Li Shimin and said,
"Quick! Fetch him in at once!"
Li Shimin, tossing aside a memorial, pointed at the guard.
"Yes!"
The guard scrambled up from the ground, turned, and ran back out.
Receiving permission to enter the palace, Lü Shuang instructed the accompanying Heavenfire Army soldiers to wait outside Chengtian Gate and then ran inside himself.
Upon reaching the entrance of Taiji Palace, two guards pushed open the doors.
Lü Shuang strode into the hall.
"Your subject Lü Shuang pays respects to Your Majesty! Great victory at Shenyang!"
Clad in shining silver armor, Lü Shuang stood in the hall, bowed slightly, and held up a memorial with both hands to Li Shimin.
"Present it!"
Li Shimin looked towards Eunuch Deng, who was standing nearby.
Eunuch Deng hurried over and retrieved the memorial.
Li Shimin opened the memorial and, reading at an astonishing speed, quickly scanned through it.
"Summon! Duke Weiguo, Great General of the Left Wuwei, Duke Zhao, Duke Cai, Duke Liang, Duke E to the hall!"
Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, Zhangsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Jingde, and others who received the summons did not dare to delay.
Within the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, they had all arrived.
Li Shimin, holding Fang Er's memorial, was beaming with excitement.
"Two thousand Heavenfire Army soldiers! Facing Goguryeo's one hundred thousand elite cavalry and one hundred thousand infantry!
Not only did they kill forty thousand enemies, but they also killed Yuan Gai Suwen and captured Shenyang City!"
"Pass it around for everyone to see!"
Li Jing was the first to take the memorial. As the current Minister of War, he was the primary person responsible for military intelligence.
He had already been shocked when Li Shimin spoke of it.
Now, after seeing the memorial, the feeling was beyond mere shock.
"Incredible!
Since the rebellion against Sui, this is the most unbalanced battle the entire Great Tang has fought.
It was when Li Shimin personally led the Xuanjia Guard in the great battle at Hulao Pass against Dou Jiande!
But that was against one hundred thousand enemy troops!
Now, it's two thousand against two hundred thousand!
A hundred times the enemy force!
Fang Er actually dared to use eighteen men to infiltrate the enemy camp at night!
Not only did they burn the supplies, but they also took down Yuan Gai Suwen!
And they all retreated safely!
He no longer knew how to express his feelings.
He handed the memorial to Zhangsun Wuji.
Similarly, after Zhangsun Wuji finished reading, his mouth hung wide open.
He only managed to utter three words.
'Good! Good! Good!'"
Following that, the two ministers Du and Fang, along with Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde, also read it one by one.
"A divinely sent good general! Divinely sent divine soldiers!"
Fang Xuanling stroked his beard, shaking his head and murmuring.
"Hey! Old Fang, I don't like hearing that!"
Cheng Yaojin said. "What do you mean 'divinely sent'? That Heavenfire Army was trained by my brother!
Even those weapons and armor were made by my brother's hands. This is clearly my brother's merit, so why call it divinely sent?"
Cheng Yaojin couldn't stand it when others spoke ill of Fang Er.
Now that Fang Xuanling attributed it all to divine intervention, he was displeased.
"Jiezhi, you're not saying that right. Has there ever been a talent like Anzhi in any dynasty or generation?
Why did he appear precisely in our Zhenguan era?
So, it really is divinely sent! Divinely sent to Zhenguan!"
Du Ruhui sided with Fang Xuanling.
"How did my son-in-law fight? Let me see quickly!"
Just then, someone rushed in from outside the hall.
It was Chai Shao.
Hearing that someone had achieved a great victory in the north, this fellow, without even changing his clothes, had rushed over from home.
Eunuch Deng quickly picked up another memorial from the imperial desk and handed it to him.
As Chai Shao was reading the memorial, Li Shimin descended from the imperial steps.
"Fang Anzhi's memorial stated that I should appoint more officials to preside over civil affairs in Shenyang. Who do you think would be suitable?"
"Your Majesty, this subject believes that Liu Dacheng, the magistrate of Wannian County, can be considered. This man knows Fang Anzhi, and with one handling the military and the other the civilians, they should complement each other well."
Fang Xuanling said.
"A county magistrate was originally a seventh-rank official. Liu Dacheng benefits from Wannian County and is a sixth-rank.
If he were to go to Shenyang to manage a region, it would be appropriate.
Furthermore, during the drought last year, he decisively offered his unproductive land in exchange for grain with Fang Er, which shows that this person is not rigid."
"Your Majesty, this subject agrees with Duke Fang's assessment."
Du Ruhui added.