Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 22
5
In Chang'an in summer, the young eagles grow up in the gentle wind, and the peonies bloom in the warm rain. It really is "one year's spring is ruined, and I will look at Yao, Huang, Wei and Zi again."In this magnificent and extraordinary Qin Wangyuan, surrounded by Wei Ziyao Huang, next to a rare purple and white peony, Li Shimin bid farewell to his beautiful and virtuous eldest grandson and his son Li Chengqian who was waiting to be fed. bid farewell.This is still the first year of Wude, Li Yuan's first year on the throne.

"Li Chengqian, father and king are going to war again, you have to listen to your mother carefully, otherwise, I will never forgive you." Li Shimin grinned at his son.Xiao Chengqian only knows how to laugh.

Li Shimin lifted his white and fat son high with both hands. He looked up at his son and saw the young eagle in the sky.He turned his son over, facing the blue sky, and said loudly:
"Chengqian, you saw it, the eagle in the blue sky. From now on, you must fly higher than him!"

Li Chengqian couldn't bear the stimulation of the light, and burst into tears.Li Shimin put his son down and handed it to Changsun's personal maid, Chanyuan, to take him away. He turned around and smiled comfortably at Changsun who had been watching him play with his son.

Tenderness is like water, good times are like treasures.The young couple have been married for three years, and they get together less and leave more.After capturing Chang'an and enfeoffing the king of Qin in Jin Dynasty, they thought they would meet for a few days.But in just 30 days, Xue Ju sent his son Xue Rengao to lead the army to attack and surrounded the city of Fufeng County.At that time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan ordered generals in person and ordered Li Shimin to be the commander in chief to conquer Xue Rengao.Li Shimin lived up to his father's expectations, beheaded more than ten thousand enemies in Fufeng, defeated Xue Rengao, expanded Tang's power to the Longyou area, and stabilized the situation in Guanzhong.

However, less than half a year had passed, and the first year of Wude had not yet passed, and Xue Ju personally led the army to invade Jingzhou.Now, my father has just become the emperor, and there is a lot of waste waiting for the new. Of course, there are many government affairs that need to be dealt with, and he can't go to the conquest in person; the eldest brother Li Jiancheng was born as a prince, so he should stay in the capital to assist his father in handling government affairs; The fourth younger brother Yuanji was relatively weak in combat, so the heavy responsibility of dealing with Xue Rengao's tiger and wolf division naturally fell on Li Shimin's head.Yesterday, Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as Marshal of the Western Dispute to continue the crusade against Xue Ju.Passionate since ancient times hurt parting, even more so, when a loving couple was young!

"Remember what my mother said on our wedding day?" Li Shimin asked, staring at Changsun's beautiful face.

"We are all women of the duke's family, and our destiny is like this. We are destined not to be able to keep up with our husbands like ordinary people."

Changsun repeated what his mother said three years ago without revealing a word. Li Shimin hugged her deeply and said:
"This Xue Ju, last time his son came to attack, I repelled him in just one month. This time he came in person, and it won't take me any more time. You wait for me, I will be back soon, Then you can look good."

"You will come back soon, but we can't stay together forever." Changsun said calmly: "Although we have established the Tang Dynasty, the whole country is not unified. To the west are Xue Ju, Xue Rengao and his son who occupy Jincheng In the north, Liu Wuzhou with Mayi as the center is also proclaiming himself emperor, and in the east, there is Wang Shichong who dominates Luoyang. All of these have established their own political powers. If they want to compete with our Tang Dynasty for the world, they are all waiting for you to go, one by one Sweep them down."

"You... It's really hard for you. We may still have a long time to separate." Li Shimin once again hugged his beloved princess tightly.

"It's not difficult. I'm proud of you, proud of you, and happy for you. Do you remember the other unfinished sentence my mother said that day?" Changsun raised her head and looked at Li Shimin affectionately and hopefully.

"More than 20 years ago, Shimin's father fought for the unification of the Sui Dynasty, but now..." Li Shimin met the eldest grandson's eyes, and repeated what his mother said back then.

"My good husband, go bravely. You are fighting for the unification of our Tang Dynasty, and for the people of the whole world. The sooner the world is unified, the sooner the people will end the painful war."

"Changsun, Changsun, my good concubine, I married you in this life, it is my blessing from Li Shimin's previous three lives..." Li Shimin hugged Changsun tightly, and wanted to continue, but was pushed away by Changsun push.He turned his head and saw his eldest brother Li Jiancheng and fourth brother Li Yuanji standing three steps away looking at him and smiling.Li Shimin let go of his hands and walked towards his brother.

5
"The banquet is ready, Father is waiting to see you off." Li Jiancheng said with a smile as he looked at his second younger brother who was approaching.

"Thank you, Father, thank you Prince, thank you King Qi." Li Shimin bowed respectfully to his elder brother, and nodded to Li Yuanji.Li Shimin at this time was not yet 20 years old, just a young man, but he was already a seasoned general, a prime minister of extremely human ministers, the king of Qin, and the commander-in-chief of an army of hundreds of thousands.As a relative of the emperor and a descendant of the nobility, he seemed to understand this set of polite etiquette by nature, and he behaved generously and appropriately on corresponding occasions.

"Between brothers, there is nothing to thank. It's just that I have something to say to you: You have become the King of Qin now. When you go to conquer Xue Ju this time, you must learn to protect yourself and don't rush forward at every turn. In case I hurt myself, brother, I will not agree." Li Jiancheng said sincerely.

"Second brother, remember it." Li Shimin replied gratefully.

"What are you talking about here? Go drink quickly. If you have anything to say, talk while drinking." Yuan Ji urged.

Li Jiancheng heard this, glared at Yuan Ji, and took Li Shimin's hand.Li Shimin immediately stretched out his other hand to hold Yuanji.The three brothers walked towards the East Palace together happily.Mrs. Changsun watched from behind, and for a moment forgot the pain of parting, and was extremely happy in her heart.As a woman, the greatest joy is nothing more than seeing her husband getting along well with his brothers, especially his son!

Regarding this war, from the point of view of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan, it was inevitable.Even if Xue Ju did not come to invade, he would still send troops to conquer.He has become emperor, and his ambition is no less than that of his cousin Sui Yangdi.He, Li Yuan, is by no means a single person who wants to settle down in the country and share the joy of being an emperor with Wang Shichong, Xue Ju, Liu Wuzhou and others.He wants to unify this great country in the east and let the people live and work in peace.As Li Yuan, who grew up in a political atmosphere, he already has quite mature knowledge and experience on how to govern his own country, and he really wants to quickly put into practice some of the ideas he had when he was a courtier.As a military family, he also has very good experience and knowledge of warfare, and has formulated a complete set of strategic deployments that first go west and then go east.When he talked about his opinion, he got the understanding and support from his second son Li Shimin, which made him very happy, and he was more at ease in handing over the most elite troops to his son.

"Although there are two major forces in the east, Wang Shichong and Li Mi, they are fighting endlessly in Luoyang, and they have no time to take care of Guanzhong. What's more, I have the strength of Wei and Han to defend against the danger from the east. It is very easy. The Longyou area occupied by Xue Ju in the west is the rear of Guanzhong, and has a close relationship with Guanzhong, and the terrain has the potential to attack Guanzhong at any time. Therefore, Longyou is uncertain, and Guanzhong is not safe. Because of this, we should conquer Xue Ju first and completely destroy him, so that our rear in Guanzhong can achieve real peace."

These words were said by Li Shimin when Li Yuan asked Li Shimin for his opinion on the situation of the war.These words also expressed Li Yuan's opinion and understanding.After hearing Shimin's words, he was very happy, and without any hesitation, he resolutely made up his mind to hand over the heavy burden of conquering Xue Ju to his son Li Shimin, who was not yet 20 years old.Is all this God's will?Li Yuan asked himself in his heart.He has been an official in the court for a long time, and he has the background of a military family.He knows very well that after seizing a country, it is very, very difficult to consolidate and develop it.He used to have a lot of worries, worrying about the attacks of various military forces after he seized the world.Unexpectedly, unexpectedly God gave him a son - Li Shimin!With him, I can devote myself to governing this piece of world I just won!Li Yuan shouted happily in his heart.

Li Yuan also knew in his heart: his son, who is not yet 20 years old, can utter such profound insights, and there are a group of talented people who are too lazy to be around him.When the early Jinyang incident, it was Li Yuan who entrusted his two sons, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, personally.One secretly recruited powerful friends in Hedong, and the other secretly made handsome friends in Jinyang.Today's Prince's Mansion and King Qin's Mansion are full of talents and quite powerful.This makes Li Yuan, who has always had the heart of hindering others and cannot be without confidence, very proud and happy.Because he thought of disturbing everyone, but he never thought of disturbing his son at all.Sitting high on the emperor's throne, he stroked his increasingly white beard, thinking very comfortably:

Prince, you can use his talents to assist me in governing the country; King Qin, you can use his talents to pacify the world for me.The benefits of raising children, I can be said to be the best in the world, I can sit back and relax!
Seeing the three brothers Li Jiancheng walking in hand in hand, talking and laughing, Li Yuan felt extremely relieved, and couldn't help but secretly shouted: "Mr. Dou, thank you for leaving me with such good sons and daughters!"

When Li Yuan looked at his son and thought of his beloved wife, the three brothers knelt down in front of him, bowing to the ground.Li Yuan called them to get up, his voice trembling.Li Shimin heard it, and looked up at his father, only to see that his eyes were red, and he couldn't help being surprised.

"Father!" Li Shimin looked at Li Yuan worriedly and called.

"It's nothing. I saw that you three brothers are so promising and so close. I thought of your mother." After Li Yuan finished speaking, he couldn't help but shed tears.

The three sons looked at their father quietly for a while.Li Shimin suddenly raised his wine glass and said, "Father, elder brother, fourth younger brother, let's all come to be my mother, cheers!"

The father and son drank the glass of wine silently, looked at each other, and breathed a long sigh of relief.It was as if they had all seen the dead woman and had a drink with her.After drinking for three rounds, Li Yuan said to Shimin:

"I am very satisfied with the deployment of this battle. Just follow the agreement of your high-ranking counselors in the Qin Palace: deep trenches and high fortifications, and the exhausted enemy will attack later. You can rest assured to follow this line of thought to conquer and suppress. Father is waiting for you information."

"My son obeys my father's order!" Li Shimin replied calmly.

Li Yuan laughed, and his elder brother and younger brother also laughed. It was the first time for the four of them to get together so intimately in all these years.Everyone has something to say.Talk about yourself, ask loved ones, until dawn, they have not stopped.Li Shimin looked at the bright daylight on the window, looked at the father and brother who were talking intimately, and couldn't help but mention his mother again, saying: "It would be great if my mother was here."

Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, and Li Yuanji all stopped their smiles when they heard this, and showed sadness on their faces.When Li Shimin saw it, his eye circles were slightly red.

"Okay, it's dawn, everyone go to rest!" Li Yuan said and stood up.

5
It was a scorching hot summer day when we led our troops out of Chang'an City.The scorching sun hangs high in the sky, shining on the ancient capital Chang'an, and thousands of soldiers, wearing armor and holding spears, walking majestically through the newly built Chang'an city gate row by row.The common people in Chang'an City, and even the officials and gentlemen crowded both sides of the road, warmly sending off the Tang army who went out of the city to march west.

The long send-off line, you can't see the end, and you can't see the end.The advancing troops seemed to be like a river, which could never end.Li Shimin, Marshal of the West, sat high on a snow-white horse, and had a good taste of being welcomed by the people.In his opinion, the degree of enthusiasm this time far exceeds that of nearly a year ago when the Li family entered Chang'an.At that time, he could only follow behind his father and elder brother.But now, beside Li Shimin, there are already Zuo Yiwei General Chai Shao, Chariot General Hou Junji, Marching Commander Sun Wuji, Marching Marshal Shi Qu Tutong, Right Guanglu Doctor Liu Hongji, and Advisor Fang Xuan. Du Ruhui, Du Ruhui who joined the army, Yin Kaishan, Duke of Chen County, Duan Zhixuan, Hussar General Duan Zhixuan of Leyou Prefecture, Liu Wenjing, Nayan, Liu Wenqi, regular servant of Tongzhi Sanqi, Li Jing, Sanwei, and other general civil servants and generals.

Although Li Shimin is still young, and too young.Maybe he was born in such a military family, or he has experienced too much training, but he doesn't have the pride of a young man.Although there was a smile on his handsome face, there was obviously a kind of tranquility in that smile.

"I feel a heavy burden on me." He turned his head slightly to the left and said to his brother-in-law Chai Shao.

"Everyone pick it together, it will be lighter." Fang Xuanling on his right immediately looked at him encouragingly and said in a low voice.

Li Shimin nodded and rode out of the city.The vast Guanzhong Plain was displayed in front of him at a glance.Li Shimin raised his head and looked at the wilderness, feeling infinitely moved in his heart.He thought of the battlefield he was about to go to - Jingzhou.The specific method of fighting this war has already been clearly discussed in his Qin Palace.Now, just go and put your ideas into practice.I remember that when discussing this strategy, there were different opinions at the beginning, and finally it was the analysis of Du Ruhui who joined the army, which was unanimously approved by everyone, and even appreciated by Li Shimin.

"According to relevant data in my Tang Dynasty, Bashu and Shanxi are rich in products, abundant in grain storage, dense in households, and have a lot of soldiers; Xue Ju's Longyou area is a nomadic land, with few households and no soldiers. Look at it this way Come, as long as we have deep ditches and high fortifications, avoid fighting and wait for a while, the enemy will retreat without fighting, and then take advantage of the momentum to pursue and kill them, and we will surely succeed in one battle."

Thinking of Du Ruhui's analysis, Li Shimin smiled slightly, and couldn't help but look back at Du Ruhui who was following behind.Then he raised his whip and galloped away.A group of civil servants and military generals beside them smiled at each other and followed closely.

When the soldiers arrived at Gaochao, they saw that the terrain here is really dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is a good place to avoid the enemy without fighting, and to wear out the enemy with deep ditches and high fortifications.Li Shimin was happy and ordered to set up camp.After fighting so many battles, Li Shimin now has a mature experience in his heart: if you want to be a good soldier, you should seriously consider how to kill the enemy; if you want to be a good military commander, you should Seriously consider how best to preserve your troops.Judging from this experience, today's war arrangements are very reasonable.

At night, when the moon was like a hook, Li Shimin took a few followers and went to the pioneer Liu Hongji's barracks through the night.When they were about to arrive, they heard several night watchmen discussing the battle.

"I heard that Xue Ju and his son are all strong generals who are good at fighting. Everyone is good at riding and shooting, and they are difficult to deal with."

"No matter how difficult it is to deal with, it is also the defeat of our marshal."

"Not necessarily, if it were true, the marshal would not order to hold on."

"Yeah, I think so too. When others come to invade us, we can't hold on because we are afraid, and we lost morale once. If things go on like this, the morale of the enemy will become stronger and stronger, and our soldiers, Everyone will be scared out of their wits..."

When Li Shimin heard this, his breath became short of breath.He frowned, and strode back to his marshal tent.After thinking about it, people heard about Liu Wenjing, Yin Kaishan, Liu Hongji and others.When discussing the war, these people all advocated actively fighting.

"In my opinion, we should make an attack." Li Shimin asked everyone inquiringly.

In the middle of the night, just when they were sleeping soundly, everyone was sent to the marshal's tent, but what they heard was Li Shimin's nonsensical words.After being stunned for a while, everyone understood what was going on.However, when discussing tactics in the Qin Palace, didn't the marshal advocate deep trenches and high fortifications?They looked at Li Shimin with some confusion.

"What's the matter with you, I'm asking you, should we attack now?"

Liu Wenjing was the first to speak in agreement and said:

"We should attack. It is impossible for us not to defeat Xue Ju. If we attack fiercely, it will only shorten the time of the war." Liu Wenjing was the first to speak.He had always insisted on such a point of view when discussing it in Prince Qin's mansion, and it hasn't changed at all now.

"I think so too, just like the last time I attacked Fufeng County, beheading tens of thousands of his heads."

"That is, let them retreat in spite of difficulties..."

The original few main battlers all expressed their views.Li Shimin was so excited that he immediately issued an order:

It is expected that Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan will lead their troops out of the city in the southwest tomorrow, and form an array to face the Qin army.

Xue Ju was originally a rich man in Jincheng County, with magnificent appearance, fierce and good at shooting, and unsurpassed in martial arts.He also wanted to serve the country, but because Emperor Yang didn't care for the people, the world was in chaos, so he dispersed his huge family property, made friends with tyrants and cunning, and was more powerful than Bian Shuo.In the 13th year of Daye, Xue Ju and Zi Renguo set up an army, and they were first called the Overlord of Western Qin, and their reign name was Qin Xing.After quickly occupying the counties of Longxi, Xiping, and Tianshui, he had 13 soldiers, so he called himself "Emperor Qin".Because the Longyou area where he lives has been the place of long-term conflicts between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks and Tuyuhun, all of his subordinates have experienced battles and are able to recruit warriors who are good at fighting.In recent years, Xue Ju has never lost a battle.The morale of his subordinates has always been very high. When they heard that there was going to be a war, they were all gearing up and elated, as if they were going to marry a bride.Xue Ju came to invade the Tang territory this time, and seeing that the Tang army could not defend himself, he was very anxious.When I was restless, I suddenly heard that the Tang army had set up a battlefield in front of the slope, so I was overjoyed and ordered the whole army to go out and kill the Tang formation.

In this battle, the sky was dark and the ground was dark, blood flowed into the ditch.Although the Qin army suffered heavy casualties, the Tang army lost five or six out of ten. In the end, they could not withstand the charge of the Qin army, retreated across the board, and retreated all the way to Chang'an before they stabilized their position.Liu Hongji, Murong Luohou, Li Yuanan and other generals who were in charge of breaking the rear were captured alive, and tens of thousands of Tang troops were lying in a pool of blood.

The head coach Li Shimin has fought countless battles since he started his army in Chang'an, and he has never encountered such a fierce and vicious army.Surrounded by all the generals, he fled while looking back unconvinced.

Finally, seeing the aura of the enemy like a rainbow, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.He said to himself: This is the worst failure I have experienced in my life, and it should also be the last failure.

5
(End of this chapter)