The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 677
It rained heavily in the night, but Dou Gui's thorough support inspired Li Yuan. With Dou Gui's beginning, it is very possible to peacefully resolve some of the private affairs of the Guanlong nobles. Power and destructive power will also be greatly reduced.

At this time, an eunuch reported at the door: "Qi Zuo Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Jin is seeking an audience outside the palace."

"Who?" Li Shimin was defending the Nanjun Sui army in Yiling. His sudden arrival made Li Yuan unable to react for a while.

"His Royal Highness, King Jin, please see me." The eunuch outside the door said again.

"Acclaim him an audience!"

Li Shimin had already returned to the mansion and changed into clean clothes, but his tired face remained the same, he walked all the way into the imperial study, and saluted: "I will see my father."

"The emperor is flat." Seeing Li Shimin's wet hair, Li Yuan knew that he had changed clothes and came to see him.But the betrayal of the nobles in Guanlong made Li Yuan realize the importance of family affection and the trustworthiness of relatives, so his voice was very gentle, "Sit down."

"Thank you, father." Li Shimin sat down, above his own seat. "Why is the emperor here?"

"I told my father, my son learned about Li Mi's demise through Nanjun's secret work, so I went back to Beijing to meet my father, my son felt that I, the Tang Dynasty, had to deal with it, otherwise I would be caught off guard by the Sui army."

"That's right, this is what I'm worried about. What does the emperor think?" Li Shimin wrote a letter some time ago, clearly pointing out that the strategy of the Sui army was to destroy Li Mi first, and the suppression of Nanyang was just a bluff. Breaking away from Li Shimin's expectations, now he has lost Li Mi, a natural ally against the Sui Dynasty, which makes Li Yuan somewhat regretful. If he sends troops to support him, or builds momentum on the Sui and Tang borders, Li Mi may not be defeated so quickly. The pressure will be reduced a bit, but things have already happened, and it is too late to regret.The current internal and external difficulties in the Tang Dynasty made people unable to see a ray of light. Li Yuan also wanted to hear the opinion of the second son.

"My son thinks that Yang Tong's attack on Li Mi is actually just the first step, and the next step is to use troops in the Jingxiang area of ​​our Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin glanced at his father's face, and said: "The Sui army recruited troops with great momentum at the end of last year. , Known as a million-strong army, but less than 20 troops were invested in the Sui-Wei War, and another [-]% of the troops were stimulated by the Sui-Wei War. We have invested too much troops on the Hanshui defense line. Once all the places are controlled, the Sui army will inevitably attack Chongling. Xiaogong and Sichang only have [-] troops. If they fail, the Sui army can Arrived at the city of Xiangyang. Father, my son is really worried now."

This is also the real reason why Li Shimin rushed to Xiangyang. If the Tang army was exhausted in Jingxiang, Bashu would not be able to survive no matter how dangerous it was.

Li Yuan didn't speak for a while, Li Shimin agreed with him. He and Li Jiancheng also believed that the Sui army would attack Jingxiang this year, and even made a decision to move the capital. As long as the army is in hand, everything is easy to talk about.

"The emperor thinks how we should deal with the danger of Jingxiang?" Li Yuan knew that since the second son came to talk about this matter, he must have an idea.

"Except for the west, we are surrounded by enemies on three sides. It can be said that we cannot defend ourselves." Li Shimin said with a wry smile: "The situation is not as good as others, we have to admit it. What I mean is to move the capital to Shu, defend Ba and Shu, conquer Nanzhao to train troops, and make good friends with Tubo and Tuyuhun. To get the horses, and then go back and fight the Sui Dynasty."

Although Li Yuan decided to move the capital, he was unwilling after all. At this time, seeing Li Shimin, who was used to leading the battle, also said to move the capital, he was very disappointed.

"Father." Li Shimin thought that his father was unwilling to move the capital, so he persuaded him: "Xiangyang's geographical location is quite special. It happens to be at the meeting point of the east and west and the south and north of the world. To the north is the Central Plains." , To the west is Bashu and Guanlong, to the south is Jingnan, and to the east is the land of Jianghuai, which can be defended and fought. Especially during the period of confrontation between the northern and southern dynasties, Xiangyang was an important military town for the southern dynasties to protect their lives. Therefore, the terrain of Jingzhou The most important thing is Xiangyang, if we fight for the world, we must fight for Xiangyang."

"For us now, the key is that we didn't get Nanjun. Not only can it attack Xiangyang through Changlin County, but it can also attack Yiling from Xuanchang, cutting off my way to Shu and cutting off my supplies from Bashu."

"In addition, the Hanshui River outside Xiangyang City originates from Hanzhong, and then passes through Xicheng and Xiyang counties to Xiangyang and then to Jiangxia. This also means that the Sui Army's Wuya Ship can go straight down the current or go up against the current. The five-toothed warship, which is ten feet high, can form a condescending trend against the city wall of Xiangyang. The Sui army's weapons and equipment are extremely sophisticated, especially their new crossbows, which are almost impossible to defend. Therefore, it is completely nonsense to say that Xiangyang is unbreakable. .”

Li Yuan sighed deeply, seemed to be talking to himself, and also seemed to be asking: "Aside from retreating to Bashu, is there no other way?"

"Have."

"any solution?"

"My minister has three strategies." All of a sudden, Li Shimin became very interested and said loudly: "The best strategy secretly dispatched the armies of Xicheng and Fangling, cooperated with Xiaogong to attack Yang Shanhui, and attracted the Sui army to Nanyang and Chongling; All the way is to attack Nanjun. As far as I know, Qin Qiong and Pei Renji have gone to attack Lin Shihong. Only Duan Decao's army is in Nanjun. The land of Jingzhou in the south."

Li Yuan thought about it carefully, and then asked: "What is the middle policy?"

"The best strategy is to give up the counties of Jingxiang and simply return to Bashu, and do our best to ensure that Bashu is not lost."

"The worst strategy is to concentrate all our forces to attack Nanyang. As far as I know, most of the Sui army is still in Huaiyang, and most of Yang Shanhui's troops are recruits. As long as we attack quickly, we can push them to Xiangcheng County when Yang Tong has no time to return to the army. Even if Xiangcheng County cannot be captured, Luoyang will be shaken, and Yang Tong has no choice but to give up his plan to attack Jingxiang."

Li Yuan thought silently, Li Shimin's three strategies he can accept the top two.However, he was not mentally prepared to fight the Sui army ahead of schedule, turning his passive into active. He sighed and said, "Let me think about it!"

Li Shimin saluted and said, "The minister there will not disturb Father's rest."

"I have something to discuss with you."

"Please make it clear, Father."

"I intend to solve the internal troubles quickly, so before the news of Li Mi's defeat came, I released the voice of the western tour of Bashu. Li Shimin: "Look."

Li Shimin took a look, and his face became extremely ugly. He was shocked by the densely packed more than 160 names, and asked, "What is the father going to do?"

Li Yuan said viciously: "Catch them all, and force them to hand over their private parts one by one."

Li Shimin frowned and said, "This is too much."

"Don't stop, let's be chaotic." Li Yuan glanced at Li Shimin and said, "I will give them two more days to reflect. If someone comes to repent before dusk the day after tomorrow, I can give them a chance to repent. If not Come on, let’s go to the prison to repent together. The emperor’s son came back just in time, and you will take over the Xiangyang city defense from tomorrow. At dusk the day after tomorrow, no one is allowed to enter or leave Xiangyang.”

"Your servant obeys." Li Shimin also knew that it was not the time to talk about kindness. If he missed this time and let some people escape in advance, then they would definitely concentrate their private efforts to rebel. This is an unbearable burden for the Tang Dynasty. cost.At this time, Li Shimin realized that he hadn't said anything about his matter, so he said: "Father, my son was assassinated outside Xiangyang City. The rhubarb crossbow was used, and the arrows are very poisonous. If you are not more vigilant, I am afraid that the father will see it." What arrived was Erchen's cold corpse."

Li Yuan was stunned, and then furious: "The dignified prince was assassinated at the gate of the capital, what are these officials doing?"

"Assassins make people feel alienated. I really can't blame the local officials. My son didn't take it to heart." Li Shimin was quite open-minded and said it objectively.

"Who did it? It was the Sui Dynasty's secret work?" Li Yuan asked with a livid face.

Li Shimin shook his head: "My son is in a hurry to return to Beijing. The assassination and the corpses of the Red Armored Army were handled by local officials. Who knows who did it? However, my son believes that the Sui army is now in an absolutely superior position, so there is no need to do it." This kind of nasty thing happened, so Yang Tong's suspicion is the least."

Li Yuan pondered for a while and said: "The emperor's words are extremely true, so who do you think it is?"

"My son thinks that the possibility of the Dugu faction is very high." Li Shimin expressed his doubts very frankly, and analyzed: "The Dugu family probably also got the news of Li Mi's defeat. Promise to act, if something happens to the minister or the emperor's brother, the emperor will be furious and let people investigate thoroughly, and Xiangyang City will also fall into a chaotic situation where everyone is in danger, this power is no less than that of Kaichengtou."

Li Yuan nodded, "Emperor, be careful."

"Thank you, father, for your concern. My son will be careful." Li Shimin said, "The Red Armored Army is worth using. Do you want to use it when arresting people?"

Li Yuan smiled and said, "It's better to leave it to Wu Chuansi to offend people. You can just seal the city tomorrow."

"My son understands." Li Shimin knew that Wu Chuansi was the sharp blade in his father's hands, representing his father's will, but since Li Yuanji went to Bashu, this army was controlled by Han Zhi, who had no background. This man offended There are too many people, and they can only survive by closely following the father; some dark matters, it is far better for him to come forward than the regular army.And when Wu Chuansi became notorious, he could use Han Zhi's head to quell public grievances.

(End of this chapter)