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

More than ten days later, Li Yuanji finally arrived at the battlefield in Jizhou.

On this very day, Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang simultaneously breached the city gates and stormed into Jizhou City. Liu Wuzhou led his troops in a final resistance, but was killed on the spot by Yuchi Jingde.

Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang then divided their forces into two routes and recovered the entire Hebei and Shanxi provinces.

Upon hearing of Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang's reputation, both places almost surrendered without a second thought.

Li Yuanji was in a hurry, riding his warhorse from Taiyuan to Niangziguan, then to Dingzhou and Jizhou. He was always on the move and didn't catch a single battle or even a hot meal.

Especially during the recapture of Shanxi and Hebei, the garrison troops surrendered immediately upon hearing the names of Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang. However, upon hearing that it was Li Yuanji, they resisted to the death, treating him as an easy target.

But Li Yuanji was simply hopeless; he actually used the cavalry as infantry, sending them to attack the city.

As expected, his troops suffered heavy casualties and he failed to recapture two cities, both of which were lost at the cost of his life.

After he captured several cities, he discovered that the entire Hebei and Shanxi provinces had been recovered, thus ending the war in the north.

Li Yuanji: ...

What else did he do besides embarrass himself along the way?

It's all Li Shimin's fault!

Princess Pingyang disliked needlework and preferred red dresses from a young age. She loved playing with spears and sticks, and he was often beaten by her. He had a natural sense of awe for her, and this awe did not fade even as he grew up, because he still could not beat her.

Therefore, he blamed all the mistakes on Li Shimin, believing that Li Shimin deliberately prevented him from having a chance to perform, because he was afraid that he would compete with Li Shimin for the position of crown prince.

Damn!

Li Shimin was so jealous that he even guarded against his own brother!

Li Yuanji thought darkly to himself.

No, he had to prove himself and wash away the shame of his performance on the battlefield.

After returning to Luoyang, Li Yuanji requested permission from Li Yuan to lead troops to recover the Jianghuai region and other areas.

Li Yuan thought for a moment and realized that his eldest son Li Jiancheng, his second son Li Shimin, and his eldest daughter Princess Pingyang all possessed the qualities of famous generals. What did this mean? It meant that he had a good lineage.

Could Li Yuanji be anything less than excellent? Absolutely not!

Li Yuan generously granted Li Yuanji an army of 20 to support his elder brother Li Jiancheng.

Then he and Li Jiancheng led their armies to quell the rebellions of Du Fuwei and Lin Shihong respectively.

After meeting Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, relying on his elder brother's kindness, snatched away Du Fuwei, whom he considered an easy target.

Lin Shihong, which is further away and has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, was left to Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng had no objections and mobilized troops to attack Qingzhou, and from Qingzhou down, attacked Yangzhou.

The entire Tang Dynasty's army conquered cities and territories throughout the country, and was invincible.

Li Yuanji's campaign, however, suffered repeated setbacks when attacking Du Fuwei.

Du Fuwei devised a plan to entice Li Yuanji into a trap, easily wiping out his entire army of 20.

Only one personal guard remained, risking their lives to protect Li Yuanji as he returned to Luoyang.

After Li Yuanji returned to Luoyang, Li Yuan almost beat him to death.

Li Yuan was a hero throughout his life. He was known for his talent from a young age and even studied under the Prince of Yan at the Imperial Academy. His two sons and one daughter were all famous generals of their time, leading their armies to conquer various places and winning every battle.

He himself was a master of military strategy and tactics. He saw through Li Shimin's little schemes early on, secretly plotted, used the imperial seal to sow discord, and eliminated the two major warlords, Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, severely damaging Li Mi and laying the foundation for the unification of the world.

(Having received so much praise, he has now shamelessly taken all the blame for the incident.)

A tiger father and a dog son!

How can Li Yuanji be so useless?!

"Kneel back down and reflect on your actions!"

Li Yuanji was imprisoned by Li Yuan, and the loss of 20 troops was enough to cripple the Tang Dynasty.

With the north pacified, Li Yuan sent Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang to the south.

Li Shimin dealt with Du Fuwei, Princess Pingyang dealt with Xiao Xian, and Li Jiancheng dealt with Lin Shihong.

Within three years, these three warlords were successively subdued, and all the more powerful warlords in the land had been eliminated. It was only a matter of time before the Tang Dynasty unified the country.

Pei Shiyue, who had bet everything on the Li family, was overjoyed. This time, the Pei family's investment had yielded returns of thousands or even tens of thousands of times.

As the Li family's power grew, the Pei family's status in the imperial court also rose, almost reaching the ranks of the top aristocratic families.

In the fourth year of the Wude era of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Princess Pingyang returned in triumph. Li Yuan once again dispatched them to recover the remaining regions.

Since the Qian Dynasty, the territory of the Central Plains has become extremely large. Even though the three of them now have strong armies and have pacified all the major lords in the world, it still took them five years to gradually pacify the smaller lords in various places.

Most of that time was spent on marches. If it weren't for the Sui Dynasty laying many steam train tracks, the distance would probably have doubled.

In the ninth year of the Wude era of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan personally went out of Luoyang to welcome Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Princess Pingyang. At the same time, he granted a general amnesty, offered sacrifices at the ancestral temple, honored Laozi (Li Er), the founder of Taoism, as his ancestor, and announced the formal establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the great empire of China.

Although the Tang Dynasty had been established before, it had not unified the entire land and could not be considered the uncrowned leader of Chinese civilization, the Divine Empire.

But now, it can be considered one!

The Xia Dynasty was too far away. Although they received news of the chaos in the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui did not recall the troops stationed in the Western Regions.

This army tenaciously guarded the Western Regions, holding off the Xia Dynasty for several years until the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

From the Western Regions to the Tang Dynasty, there was a vast Gobi Desert in between. The Xia Dynasty recuperated and rebuilt its strength in the Western Regions.

They wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Tang Dynasty was not yet firmly established, to launch a decisive attack into Guanzhong, capture Chang'an, and make their territory border Yanzhou.

Chang'an was once the capital of the Han Dynasty, which was also recognized as the leader of Chinese civilization. Today, all countries in the world except China owe a debt of gratitude to it.

Therefore, Chang'an City held an extremely special position among the various vassal states.

The capture of Chang'an could almost be interpreted as a declaration that the Xia Dynasty had completely broken the lofty position of the Sui and Tang Dynasties and was now comparable to the Divine Empire.

Therefore, even after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, it still faced considerable criticism.

Compared to the Han and Qianlong reigns, the Tang Dynasty's territory lacked the Western Regions, making it incomplete.

More importantly, Emperor Gaozu of Tang ordered Li Jiancheng to invite the Prince of Yan to the capital, but he was refused again, which caused turmoil in the country that had just been pacified.

Given Li Jiancheng's status, almost everyone thought it was only natural for the Prince of Yan to enter the capital.

Although Li Jiancheng failed to persuade the Prince of Yan to come to the capital, he did explain why the Prince of Yan refused to come.

It is because the territory of the Tang Dynasty is not yet complete, lacking the Western Regions.

Just as the entire Tang Dynasty was sharpening its swords to advance into the Western Regions, Li Yuanji, a man with ambitions exceeding his abilities and a life of mediocrity, began to secretly plot against Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng.