My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

Li Shimin nodded slightly:

"So, do you think I can compare to Emperor Yang of Sui?"

"Your Majesty, what makes you say such a thing? Emperor Yang of Sui was a notoriously incompetent ruler. How can you compare him to you?" Xu Hui asked, quite surprised.

"Back then, Emperor Yang of Sui led an army of one million to launch three campaigns against Goguryeo, all of which ended in failure, eventually leading to the Wagang Uprising and shaking the foundations of the country."

Yuwen Huaji launched a mutiny in Jiangdu and killed Emperor Yang of Sui.

With the death of Emperor Yang of Sui, the Sui Dynasty's fate was essentially sealed.

This time,

The alliance between Goguryeo and Baekje to attack Silla was clearly a provocation against our Tang Dynasty.

Do you think I can defeat Goguryeo this time I've mobilized an army?

Upon hearing Li Shimin's words, Xu Hui's expression became worried: "Your Majesty does not need to compete with Emperor Yang of Sui."

Emperor Yang of Sui is not even in the same league as you.

Even if you do nothing right now, you'll still surpass him by many times.

You might think that if you could defeat Goguryeo, you would surpass Emperor Yang of Sui.

Actually, there's absolutely no need for that.

You often said, "The ruler is the boat; the people are the water. Water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it."

You always keep the people in your heart, so I believe our goal is to enable the people of the Tang Dynasty to live a more prosperous life.

Everything we do is centered around the people.

Our Tang Dynasty was established not long ago, and wars have been almost constant.

Two years ago, we annihilated the Eastern Turks, but it cost us a great deal of manpower.

Following that, they recovered the Dangxiang and Tuyuhun tribes, and fought against Yanqi, all of which required a great deal of manpower, material resources, and financial resources.

"Goguryeo alone is difficult enough to deal with, let alone Baekje as well."

At this moment, Li Shimin stood up, put his hands behind his back, and his eyes became sharp: "As you said, we are relatively vulnerable now, but my principle is: I will not attack unless attacked, and if attacked, I will retaliate!"

Since Goguryeo and Baekje dare to provoke us, even if it's ten times more difficult, we must give them a resounding victory and teach them a lesson they won't forget.

"That being said, the current commander of the Tang army is Li Tai, not Li Chenggan. Do you think Li Tai is confident he can defeat Yeon Gaesomun?"

This was actually what Li Shimin was worried about.

No one knows a son better than his father, and Li Shimin knew that Li Tai's strengths did not lie in military affairs.

Li Tai is quite accomplished in calligraphy and literature, but his military command skills are truly disappointing.

However, Li Shimin knew this in his heart, but didn't say it aloud: "Failure is the mother of success. Although Li Tai's performance in the past few battles was not ideal..."

However, I believe he will learn from his mistakes and draw lessons from his defeats in battle.

Moreover, this time,

I have appointed General Li Ji as his deputy, leading an army of 15 to meet the enemy.

Li Ji was a famous general in our Tang army, as renowned as Li Jing, and had won countless battles.

With Li Ji around, there shouldn't be any problems.

Back then, when Yang Guang was 20 years old, he led an army of 52 to quell the Southern Chen dynasty, and Gao Jiong was his deputy. Although Yang Guang was nominally the commander-in-chief, Gao Jiong was the one who actually commanded the battles.

"Your Majesty, I understand that your arrangements are well-intentioned."

but,

Firstly, the number of troops is probably not that many.

I heard they've lost 3 troops.

"What! Someone's already deserting before even seeing the battlefield?"