A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

However, the story of Li Yuan using the Imperial Seal to scheme against Dou Jiande and the other two had already spread, shocking the world.

Countless people were shocked by Li Yuan's actions.

Almost all the existing warlords in the land silently raised their level of fear of Li Yuan, regarding him as their lifelong enemy.

Liu Wuzhou and others even joined forces to fight against Li Yuan.

In the same year, Li Yuan, impatient to wait, proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, establishing the Tang Dynasty.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a highly controversial issue was presented to him.

If things go wrong, the Tang Dynasty he established might collapse before Liu Wuzhou and others can even launch an attack. This matter concerns the position of Crown Prince.

Now that the new dynasty has been established, it is natural to appoint a crown prince to establish the foundation of the country.

So the question is, should Li Jiancheng or Li Shimin be chosen as the crown prince?

The establishment of the Tang Dynasty was initially based on Li Jiancheng's status as a direct disciple of the Prince of Yan.

It was precisely because of Li Jiancheng's identity that so many powerful families were willing to support him, allowing him to complete his initial accumulation of wealth.

However, Li Jiancheng was unwilling to inherit the throne. His ambition lay in science, and he wanted to continue his studies in Yanzhou to explore the mysteries of nature.

Li Shimin was also extremely capable, as many people already knew, and the matter of using the imperial seal as bait was Li Shimin's scheme.

With this, he has successfully gained control over the Wagang people, and his strength should not be underestimated.

However, Li Shimin was not the eldest son of the legitimate wife, which was his biggest weakness.

Initially, because Emperor Yang Jian of Sui had seized the throne from the orphan and widow, the Prince of Yan had never attended court.

If he were to break the primogeniture system right after the start of his reign, would the Wei family really not mind?

He wouldn't dare take such a big risk.

Even though it seems that the Wei family was involved, they ultimately did not say so openly.

This matter almost became a major worry for Li Yuan.

Helpless, Li Yuan had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being, leaving behind a very powerful bombshell for the Tang Dynasty.

In order to counter Liu Wuzhou in the north and Du Fuwei in the south, Li Yuan built Luoyang and placed his two sons on the north and south sides respectively, and enfeoffed them as the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Qi respectively.

Li Shimin led troops to deal with Liu Wuzhou, while Li Jiancheng led troops to resist Du Fuwei in the south.

He had already witnessed Li Shimin's ability to lead troops into battle. Now he wanted to see the ability of his eldest son, Li Jiancheng, to lead troops into battle as well.

After receiving the order, Li Shimin quickly led his troops north.

Hulao Pass is the shield of Luoyang. Whoever can take Hulao Pass first will gain the initiative.

In order to seize this strategic pass, Li Shimin abandoned the grain and supplies, ordered Qin Qiong to lead the main army to follow, and personally led all his cavalry to Hulao Pass overnight.

Aside from a few days' worth of provisions, Li Shimin carried only one thing with him: a gift for the guard of Hulao Pass.

Upon arriving at Hulao Pass, Li Shimin sent the prepared gifts inside using an arrow.

The general guarding Hulao Pass was greatly shocked upon seeing the gift. He had already heard about the war in the south and knew that it would become a battleground between the Tang Dynasty and Liu Wuzhou's Zhou Dynasty. He had been living in constant anxiety these days.

Now, seeing such a terrifying head, and that the head belonged to Wang Shichong, whom he had once served, he was so horrified that he fainted.

Upon seeing this, the deputy general beside him flashed a cold glint in his eyes.

This garrison commander, relying on his nepotistic relationship with Wang Shichong, acted arrogantly and domineeringly at Hulao Pass, and whipping his soldiers was a common occurrence.

What's even more despicable is that they frequently abducted women from civilian families and embezzled military funds, causing widespread sorrow and misery within the army.

This seems to be an excellent opportunity.

The fact that Wang Shichong's head was brought here suggests that the Tang army had already reached the walls of Hulao City.

If Hulao Pass could be offered to the Tang Dynasty, he would surely be given an important position.

Yuchi Jingde thought about it more and more and felt that now was a good opportunity. Hulao Pass almost determined the outcome between Li Tang and Liu Wuzhou, and Xie Cheng's contribution was definitely not small.

Having made up his mind, Yuchi Jingde no longer hesitated. He beheaded the garrison commander with a single stroke and then killed several of his loyal guards.

He arranged for his own men to take over the army, opened the city gates, and welcomed Li Shimin in.

Li Shimin looked up at the general carrying the severed head. The general had a purplish-red face, thick eyebrows, a leopard-like head, and piercing eyes, exuding a fierce and imposing aura.

This is definitely a formidable general.

Li Shimin thought to himself, then rode forward and dismounted from his horse at Yuchi Jingde's feet.

Yuchi Jingde quickly picked up the head in his hands and said, "Your Highness, this man is Zhai Hu, the garrison commander of Hulao Pass, and the brother-in-law of Wang Shichong."

"Normally, this man has always relied on the fact that his sister is favored by Wang Shichong to act tyrannically and commit all kinds of evil deeds."

"Now that he wants to fight against the Tang Dynasty's heavenly army, I killed him and presented him to Your Highness."

Li Shimin grabbed Zhai Hu's head and tossed it aside, then helped Yuchi Jingde up with both hands.

"I am not pleased with the capture of Hulao Pass today, but I am pleased with the capture of the general."

Yuchi Jingde's eyes turned red; when had he ever been treated like this?

Li Shimin was Li Yuan's eldest son and the Prince of Qin, yet he treated scholars with such respect.

"Yuchi Jingde is willing to serve His Highness the Prince of Qin at all costs, even unto death."

Yuchi Jingde knelt down and bowed to Li Shimin, who then pulled him up and warmly shook his hand, saying, "From this day forward, Jingde is my brother, to be with you through life and death!"

"Your Highness!"

"Respect for virtue!"

The two looked into each other's eyes and saw a strong bromance in each other's eyes.

"Your Highness, please come in. I have already ordered the city lord's mansion to be cleaned."

Yuchi Jingde led Li Shimin into Hulao Pass, but Xu Maogong stepped forward to stop him, saying that a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. The situation inside Hulao Pass is still uncertain, and the army should go in first to take control of the city gate.

To everyone's surprise, Li Shimin shook his head, "I believe in Jingde."

After saying that, Li Shimin grabbed Yuchi Jingde's hand and headed towards Hulao Pass.

Yuchi Jingde was the first to stop. "Your Highness, this gentleman is right. Please let the army enter the city first."

After saying that, she stubbornly stood still, holding Li Shimin's hand and refusing to let him move forward.

Seeing that Yuchi Jingde was so determined, Li Shimin had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Xu Maogong led the army into Hulao Pass and took over the city's defenses. Only then did Yuchi Jingde lead Li Shimin in.

"There's no rush to rest for now."

Li Shimin stopped Yuchi Jingde from taking him to the city lord's mansion, saying, "Liu Wuzhou is quite close to Hulao Pass, and we need to deploy defenses as soon as possible."

"How many soldiers are still capable of fighting in the city?"

Li Shimin asked Yuchi Jingde.

"Hulao Pass was originally supposed to be equipped with 60,000 troops, including 30,000 infantry and 30,000 archers. Now there are 30,000 troops in the city, including 20,000 infantry and 10,000 archers."

"The remaining 3 yuan was all used by Zhai Hu to embezzle funds."

"Moreover, of the remaining 3 troops, less than 2 are truly combat-ready."

Li Shimin frowned slightly. He had only brought a portion of his cavalry with him on this forced march, and this cavalry force numbered no more than 30,000.

At most, there were 50,000 troops at Hulao Pass, while Liu Wuzhou on the other side had at least 500,000 troops marching south.

These were all recruited by Dou Jiande after he obtained the imperial seal. In the end, Dou Jiande was defeated in Luoyang, and they all benefited Liu Wuzhou.