Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 140 Li Shimin: I am a little panicked! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Your Majesty! News has arrived from Shuofang: Liu Min and Liu Lancheng have impeached Zhangsun Wuji for delaying the battle! Your Majesty, please select another general and send troops to destroy Liang Shidu!"

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was discussing the plan to attack the Turks with Du Ruhui, Li Jing, Hou Junji and others.

At this time, Fang Xuanling walked in quickly.

Li Shimin and the others were slightly stunned, and then they heard Li Shimin ask in confusion: "What's going on? Isn't Wuji doing well in Shuofang?"

Fang Xuanling recounted, "Your Majesty, according to what Liu Min and Liu Lancheng have reported, they have already employed many tactics against the Liang army. For example, they have continuously sent cavalry deep into Liang territory, trampling on its farmland and crops, causing panic among the people."

"For example, they sent a large number of spies to infiltrate Liang State and spread rumors and stir up trouble, causing chaos in Liang State!"

"But Lord Changsun still feels that this is not enough. He wants to come up with more schemes and tricks to deal with the Liang Kingdom, and even destroy the Liang Shidu without a single soldier!"

"This is very confusing to them. They think Lord Changsun is wasting his time and pursuing glory. Your Majesty, please investigate!"

"Uh"

After listening to Fang Xuanling's report, Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Li Jing, Hou Junji and others with a strange expression. He then turned to look at Li Jing, Hou Junji and others and asked, "What do you think of this matter?"

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, Master Liang has survived from the end of the Sui Dynasty to the present day, so he must be no ordinary person!"

Hou Junji frowned and said, "Although he is currently in conflict with the Turks, and the heavy snow has blocked the roads, the Turks are currently unaware of his situation. However, I believe Your Majesty is aware of the importance of Liang to the Turks."

"Therefore, whether considering Liang Shidu's personal ability or the importance the Turks place on the Liang Kingdom, it is better to destroy Liang Shidu sooner rather than later!"

"Ok!"

Li Shimin nodded, but did not express his opinion directly. Instead, he turned to look at Li Jing and frowned again, "Pharmacist, what do you think about this matter?"

"This"

Li Jing hesitated for a moment, then picked up the map of Shuofang and examined it carefully before saying thoughtfully, "Actually, I think there's nothing wrong with what Changsun Wuji did. In fact, if I were leading the troops, I would do the same!"

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but become interested: "Tell me about it!"

"Your Majesty, please look!"

As he spoke, Li Jing pointed at the map and said to Li Shimin, "Three miles to the upper left of Tongwan City, where Liang Shidu is located, there is a canyon. This canyon is arc-shaped. Duan Decao used it to besiege the city and attack reinforcements. If we continue to plot to harm Liang, Liang Shidu will frantically send troops to seek help from the Turks."

"Now that winter has passed, although the Turks are still experiencing heavy snow, if they get the news and send reinforcements, we can annihilate the reinforcements here, leaving the Liang army isolated and helpless, trapped to death in Tongwan City!"

"However, Your Majesty has already decided to destroy Liang Shidu without telling the Turks, and then use the information gap to plot against the Turks. If we do this, won't we have to change the original plan?" Du Ruhui said hesitantly.

Li Jing smiled and shook his head, saying, "As the saying goes, there's no constant flow of water, and there's no constant strategy for warfare. If we keep executing a plan, how can we guarantee its success?"

"What's more, Your Majesty has already used a strategy of sowing discord among the Turks. If we can severely damage the Turkic reinforcements, I believe those tribes that are dependent on the Turks will definitely make a wise choice. Why not do it?"

"This"

Hearing Li Jing's words, everyone couldn't help but look at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement, saying, "Pharmacist, you're right. There's no fixed strategy for fighting a war. We have to adjust according to the current situation!"

"Since Wuji has his own ideas, I will trust him this time and let him decide for himself how to eliminate Liang Shidu!"

Having said this, he paused, then looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Also, tell him about General Li Jing's strategy as well!"

"Then how should Liu Min and Liu Lancheng respond?" Fang Xuanling asked.

Li Shimin frowned and glanced at him. He said, "Reward them each with 500 silks and have them continue to assist Zhangsun Wuji. After we pacify Liang Shidu, I will reward them handsomely!"

"promise!"

Fang Xuanling agreed and was about to leave Liangyi Hall when he heard Li Shimin ask again, "Has there been any news from Tuli?"

"Uh,"

Fang Xuanling hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Not yet!"

"why?"

Li Shimin asked in confusion, "Haven't they received the supplies and food I sent them yet?"

"According to the reports from the officials who escorted the grain and supplies, they have received them and are very happy. They praise Your Majesty and are very grateful!" Fang Xuanling said with a smile.

"Does Jie Li know about this?"

"Although I haven't received any news from Jie Li, as far as I know, Jie Li has always had spies in Tuli, so it's impossible for him not to know. Moreover, it's such a large amount of food and supplies, it shouldn't be hidden from Jie Li!"

"This is weird!"

Li Shimin frowned. "Since Jie Li already knew that Tuli had asked for help from the Tang Dynasty, and given Jie Li's character, he would not tolerate such betrayal, why haven't they clashed yet?"

"This"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling and others also felt that this matter was a bit strange and looked at each other in confusion.

After a while, Du Ruhui said thoughtfully, "Could it be that they have already clashed, but the news hasn't spread yet because the roads are blocked by heavy snow?"

"Well, it's possible!"

Fang Xuanling echoed, "The Tuli envoy told me earlier that Jieli is levying heavy taxes on every tribe on the grassland, and even the Tuli tribe is no exception!"

"They originally had a lot of food stored, but it was all confiscated by Jie Li. This forced them to ask for help from the Tang Dynasty!"

"That is to say, Tuli and Jieli had already had conflicts before we sent the food!"

"Not bad!"

Fang Xuanling nodded and said, "Moreover, Tuli not only had conflicts with Jieli, but also with many tribes and countries that were dependent on the Turks!"

"In that case, our plan is sound. The news must have been delayed. Let's wait a little longer until Tuli betrays Jieli and surrenders to me!"

Li Shimin said this as if he had breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up from his seat, put his hands behind his back, and said solemnly, "With Tuli's betrayal and the failure of Liang Shidu's reinforcements, I believe that more tribal chiefs will betray Jie Li. When that happens, it will be time for us to wipe out Jie Li and avenge our previous humiliation!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Fang Xuanling and others complimented him upon hearing this.

Li Shimin smiled faintly, then seemed to remember something and looked at Du Ruhui: "My dear Du, have you made any new progress on the fire bomb I asked you to develop?"

"Ok?"

Du Ruhui was slightly stunned, then glanced at the excited looks from Li Jing and the others, smiled, and bowed to Li Shimin, saying, "Your Majesty, I was just about to tell you this! We have successfully replicated the fire bomb, and have also developed several new combat methods!"

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he quickly came to Du Ruhui and asked, "What new tactics are you using?"

Du Ruhui thought for a moment and said with a smile, "What has been successfully tested so far is the Fire Thunder Arrow. This is a tactic where you tie a fire thunder to a bow and arrow and shoot it out to attack the enemy!"

"Yes, Not Bad!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing was the first to express his approval, saying, "The power of fire bombs is enormous. If combined with the range of bows and arrows, it is indeed a novel tactic!"

"If we make the fire bomb bigger, we can also use it on catapults for siege warfare!" Hou Junji agreed with a smile.

"Hahaha!"

Li Shimin laughed out loud: "It's really true that if you master one method, you can do anything! It's wonderful!"

"Haha, in fact, besides the fire thunder arrow, there is another more practical combat method!"

Du Ruhui heard Li Shimin's laughter and laughed too, "It means burying fire mines underground, lengthening the fuse, and then igniting the fuse when the enemy enters the ambush circle, catching them off guard. It's commonly known as underground fire mines!"

"Good good!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but applaud: "This tactic is excellent! If it is used in actual combat in the future, it will definitely make our Tang army invincible!"

At this point, he suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "But did you hear what happened on New Year's Eve?"

"Your Majesty, are you talking about the fireworks in the sky?" Fang Xuanling asked tentatively.

"That's right! It's fireworks! That kid has developed something new!"

"Ah! His Royal Highness is truly a genius! He knows more about gunpowder than we do."

"Humph!"

Li Shimin heard Du Ruhui sigh and immediately interrupted him with a cold snort. He said in a deep voice, "That kid is just ignorant and has no skills. He has a brain but doesn't use it properly. Don't be fooled by those beautiful fireworks, they are actually useless!"

"But being able to make gunpowder fly into the sky is also a good idea! If we can master this method, we don't need to use bows and arrows to bind fire bombs to attack. We can directly use gunpowder to send the fire bomb out, and perhaps it can fly farther!"

"This"

Hearing Du Ruhui's words, Li Shimin instantly came to his senses and felt that what he said made a lot of sense. So he pondered and said, "You mean, the method of making fireworks will be of great use to us?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! It will definitely be of great use!"

"Then in your opinion, how can we get this method?"

"Uh,"

Du Ruhui's mouth twitched, and he turned his head to look at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling looked embarrassed and didn't even look at him.

Li Jing, Hou Junji and others had strange expressions on their faces, looking at their noses and their hearts, and remained silent.

There is a wonder in the Tang Dynasty, and everyone with a discerning eye knows it.

That is, the emperor and the crown prince were not a normal monarch-subject, father-son relationship. According to common sense, if the crown prince came up with something new, the emperor only needed to say a word or issue an imperial decree to get it.

But after what happened that night, everyone understood that the emperor's use of force would not work at all and might even backfire.

Therefore, no one would encourage the emperor to take the prince's things.

Li Shimin seemed to realize that his question was a bit strange. He grinned awkwardly and said, "I will find a way to solve this matter. You all can go down!"

"promise!"

The ministers looked at each other, then responded in unison and left the Liangyi Hall.

Li Shimin, who watched them leave, stood quietly there, his eyes gradually becoming blurred.

Although Fang Xuanling and his team's analysis was reasonable, the possibility of delayed news cannot be ruled out.

But somehow, he still felt a little nervous.

I always feel like something is wrong.

After all, according to Tuli's situation, he should have come to him long ago and joined forces to kill Jie Li.

But now, there is no news from Tuli, which is really strange.

"Oh, I hope it's really because of the heavy snow that blocked the road."

Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh.

On the other side, there is the side hall of Jianghu Villa.

Li Chengqian looked at the Western businessman in front of him with some surprise.

He never imagined that this Western businessman, with whom he had only met once and had no communication at all, would risk his life to stop his carriage.

You know, although he didn't bring any guards with him, he was just riding in a carriage in Jiangling City, traveling freely.

But there are at least dozens or even hundreds of people protecting him secretly.

Some of these people were the black-clad guards brought by Li Yuan, and some were sent by Emperor Li II to monitor him and Li Yuan.

Although these people usually don't show up easily, if he and Li Yuan are in danger, they will definitely come out to rescue them.

Therefore, the behavior of this Western businessman can be said to be bold.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

After carefully examining the Western businessman for a while, Li Chengqian asked directly.

The Western merchant gave him a comical Tang Dynasty salute, then spoke in awkward Tang Dynasty dialect, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Great Tang, my name is Hilde, an explorer and merchant from the Merovingian Kingdom. I would like to cooperate with you. Could you give me this opportunity?"

"Merovingian?"

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned, as if he had just heard of this country. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is your country? Do you have a map?"

"Yes, but it's far away, on the other side of the sea!"

Hilde replied, "We have come through countless hardships to reach your Tang Dynasty. This is truly a beautiful and rich country!"

"Show me your map first!"

"no problem!"

As he spoke, Hilde readily took out his leather map and handed it respectfully to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian took out a handkerchief, covered the edge of the map, then took it and looked at it carefully.

The map was marked with characters he could not understand, but from the shapes drawn on the map and the routes they took, he could infer that they should have come from the West. There seemed to be two relatively famous countries in the West that existed at the same time as the Tang Dynasty and were separated by the sea. One was the Frankish Kingdom and the other was the Byzantine Empire.

Judging from his appearance and funny look, he looks a bit like a harmless Frenchman.

After a brief silence, Li Chengqian placed the map on the table and asked calmly and indifferently, "Since you know my identity, you should know that I will not do ordinary business, and I will definitely not do business that does not make a lot of money. Do you understand?"

"Your Highness, I understand your dignity. That's why I dare to cooperate with you on this business!" Hilde said with a wry smile.

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows: "What business? Tell me about it!"

"Maritime business!"

Li Chengqian was stunned and looked at Hilde in surprise: "What did you say?"

"To be honest, Your Highness, I have a relatively safe sea route, but no one dares to cooperate with me!"

Hilde sighed and said, "In fact, if these goods from the Tang Dynasty could be shipped to our country by sea, they could be sold at a very high price!"

"No, are you sure you're not kidding me? You control a Maritime Silk Road to Europe?!"

Li Chengqian couldn't help but be shocked by Hilde's words.

You should know that although the Maritime Silk Road was opened during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, its route only reached the Indian Ocean at most.

As for the Maritime Silk Road to Europe, even during the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's voyages to the West did not reach Europe.

It was only the early years of the Tang Dynasty, and a man from the Frankish Kingdom said that he controlled a Maritime Silk Road from the Tang Dynasty to Europe. This was too incredible.

But Hilde said in bewilderment, "What Maritime Silk Road, what Europe? I don't understand. Your Highness, could you explain it more clearly?"

"Uh,"

Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment, then suppressed his emotions and said with a strange look on his face, "You don't need to understand this. Just tell me, how can I return to your country safely?"

Hilde hesitated and said fearfully, "To be honest, Your Highness, we haven't returned to our country since we left. We got lost at sea and ended up in your Tang Dynasty by accident."

"How dare you tease me?!"

Before Hilde could finish his words, Li Chengqian interrupted him in a deep voice.

"No, no, no! I didn't lie to His Royal Highness! What I said is true! I can really find a way to our country, and I just need His Royal Highness's help!"

Hilde looked terrified, but said with great confidence, "I promise! We can make a lot of money by shipping your country's goods to ours. Our nobles there are very wealthy!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but stare at Hilde and said coldly, "What help do you need from me?"

"Manpower! Food! And your nautical maps! As long as I have these three things! I can combine my nautical maps and explore a route to Europe for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Hilde said hurriedly.

"Ah!"

When Li Chengqian heard this, he immediately laughed: "I think you want to use me to find your way home, right?"

"This"

Hildegard choked, because that was exactly what he thought.

But he also knew that after Li Chengqian said this, he would definitely not help him.

They may even blame and punish themselves for their despicable thoughts.

After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not very friendly towards foreigners like them.

The reason why he came to Li Chengqian for help was that he had no other choice but to take a gamble.

Because he wanted to return to his hometown so much.

However, Li Chengqian's next words surprised him greatly.

"I can promise you that I can even help you form a new expedition team!"

"what?"

Hilde was confused again.

Li Chengqian smiled slightly.

Somehow, Hilde felt that Li Chengqian's smile was so creepy.

It was like I had opened Pandora's box.

"Um, Your Highness, I..."

"Okay, it's decided! You go down first! Lai Fu, take him down!"

"Yes!"

Soon, Lai Fu invited Hilde out of the side hall.

After watching him leave, Li Chengqian finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

If Hilde could really find a sea route to Europe, the Tang Dynasty would be able to conquer Europe.

If Europe becomes a colony of the Tang Dynasty
just like.
If Jinlian hadn't opened the window, the pole wouldn't have hit Ximen Qing, Dalang wouldn't have died, and Wu Song wouldn't have gone to Liangshan.

If Wu Song had not gone to Liangshan, Fang La would not have been captured. If Fang La had not been captured, the Song family would have taken over the world.

Without the Song Dynasty, there would be no Jingkang Shame, the Jin soldiers would not have entered the pass, Empress Dowager Cixi would not have ruled the country from behind the curtain, there would have been no cession of territory or payment of indemnities, and there would have been no burning of the Old Summer Palace!
"The root of the problem lies with Pan Jinlian!"

After Li Chengqian finished laughing, his eyes narrowed slightly: "Hilde is Pan Jinlian!"

　【Seeking monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, follow-up subscriptions, full subscriptions】

　　
　
(End of this chapter)