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

The generals and relatives of Prince Wuping were no match for the group of cunning old foxes led by the Prime Minister.

Fortunately, Changsun Wuji, using the alias Zhang Wuji, took the initiative to join the army and offered advice to King Wuping. This enabled them to withstand the Prime Minister's attack and preserve a large amount of strength, allowing them to divide the country into north and south.

The Great Xia Dynasty is now divided in two, and the two sides have started a civil war. The fighting has escalated to a fever pitch, with each side drawing blood.

Whether on the battlefield or in civilian life, countless people die every day because of this.

But this is good news for the Tang Dynasty. The more chaotic the Xia Dynasty is internally, the more advantageous it will be for the war that the Tang Dynasty is about to launch.

When Changsun Wuji relayed the message to the Tang Dynasty, the two sides had already reached a point of no return.

Even with the Tang army pressing in, the two factions of the Great Xia would not unite under such immense pressure. Instead, they would both choose to win over the Tang and eliminate their rivals.

Changsun Wuji's advice to Li Shimin was to form an alliance with the Prime Minister's side and eliminate the Prime Minister's faction.

He already holds a high position on Prince Wuping's side. Once the Prime Minister's side is eliminated, with him as an inside agent, Prince Wuping will naturally be no threat. With the momentum of a great victory, the Tang Dynasty can easily pacify the region.

At that time, Changsun Wuji would be the greatest contributor to the Tang Dynasty's annexation of the Xia Dynasty, and his reputation in history would certainly be no less than that of those ancient virtuous ministers, and he would be praised by later generations for thousands of years.

The imperial palace of Luoyang, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin summoned the court's key officials for an emergency meeting to discuss Changsun Wuji's strategy.

When the people in the court learned of the results of the old schemer Changsun Wuji's scheme, they all gasped in shock.

When Li Shimin sent Changsun Wuji to Daxia, he didn't actually have high hopes.

But I never expected that Changsun Wuji would accomplish this so well.

It far exceeded expectations.

"Your Majesty, this is a golden opportunity!"

Cheng Yaojin was the first to stand up, saying, "Back then, the Great Xia dared to invade my Great Tang when it had just been founded. I, Cheng Yaojin, will never swallow this insult."

"Let's take this opportunity and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"Your Majesty, though your words may be rough, they are true. Brother Yaojin is right. We should take this opportunity to destroy the Great Xia and avenge the humiliation we suffered in Chang'an."

Qin Qiong and others stepped forward and echoed his sentiments. As military officers, they believed that only by fighting could they gain military merit, thereby securing greater benefits and wielding more power.

"No!"

Minister of Revenue Dai Zhou stepped forward to object, saying, "Although this locust plague did not cause too much damage to the Tang Dynasty, the court still paid a large amount of grain in exchange with the people."

"In addition, the continuous military campaigns against Liangzhou and the Western Regions in the past few years have already depleted the imperial treasury."

"The Great Xia is thousands of miles away from the Great Tang, and the cost of transporting supplies over that distance is simply astronomical."

"No matter what, the Great Xia Kingdom is still an empire. Even if it has been divided into two and each governs its own territory, it will take a long and protracted war to completely conquer it."

"How can we ensure logistical support? Where will the food and supplies come from? How can we appease the people who are living in a foreign land year-round?"

"If we were to conquer the Great Xia, the war would be devastating to our livelihoods. At that time, the Great Xia would also be part of our Great Tang territory. Shouldn't we allocate a large amount of grain to stabilize prices and the people's livelihood? Where would this money and grain come from?"

"Your Majesty, please reconsider."

Even Fang Xuanling stood up to stop it, for the same reason as Dai Zhou: the distance was simply too far, and the logistics were too much for the Tang Dynasty's current national strength.

If we were to launch a forced attack, it would likely deplete all of the Tang Dynasty's reserves and would certainly affect the livelihoods of the people, resulting in substantial losses.

Li Shimin frowned slightly. He was not a tyrant who only knew how to wage war; he naturally knew how much damage war could do to the people's livelihood.

Especially for long-distance expeditions, the consumption increases by 10 or 100 times as the distance.

If it weren't for Emperor Yang Guang exhausting the people's resources to build a railway, even he wouldn't have dared to easily entertain the idea of ​​attacking the Great Xia.

The distance was too great; the mere transportation of provisions was enough to cripple the entire Tang Dynasty.

The advent of railways and steam locomotives greatly reduced the loss of supplies during transport, making long-distance expeditions possible.

Even so, the amount of money and food needed to launch a campaign against the Great Xia would still be astronomical.

Is the Tang Dynasty capable of bearing this burden?

It is just a matter of momentary courage and the reputation of expanding territory; we should spare no effort to destroy the Great Xia.

We should be patient for now, forgo this great opportunity, prioritize domestic development, accumulate national strength, and then launch a full-scale attack when a better opportunity arises in the future.

Li Shimin subconsciously looked at Wei Zu, who was sitting there, eyes downcast, seemingly asleep.

Li Shimin realized that the Wei family never interfered in the conflicts between countries, and always only guarded their own country. They would never personally lead troops to fight against countries that belonged to the same Chinese camp.

Li Shimin was torn between his thoughts and his own mind. He slowly closed his eyes and recalled the scenes he had witnessed when Yang Guang abused the people's labor.

Why was he so determined to let Li Yuan raise an army?

Isn't it because they can't bear to see the suffering in the world?

Does becoming emperor mean he will personally push the people back into a world full of suffering?

The sounds in the palace fell silent as Li Shimin closed his eyes. Everyone in the court was waiting for Li Shimin to make his final decision.

Wei Zu also opened his eyes and looked at Li Shimin with an expectant gaze, hoping that Li Shimin would make the right choice.

"Abandon military expansion and focus on domestic development!"

Li Shimin opened his eyes, a hint of regret flashing in them, but more so a resolute determination.

His original intention in raising an army was to enable the people of the world to live a peaceful life, and everything he did was for this goal.

Do not put the cart before the horse.

If the Great Xia Dynasty had the trend and ability to threaten the stability and development of the Great Tang Dynasty, then Li Shimin would definitely take this opportunity to send troops to eliminate the threat.

However, there is now a million-strong army personally led by Li Jing on the border, which is enough to contend with the peak of the Great Xia, let alone the Great Xia of today.

A hint of relief flashed in Wei Zu's eyes, then disappeared without anyone noticing.

However, Li Shimin had a hunch, and when he looked at Wei Zu, the satisfaction in Wei Zu's eyes had already disappeared.

This left him uncertain, and he could only suppress his doubts.

"Your Majesty is wise."

A group of civil officials, led by Fang Xuanling and Dai Zhou, praised Li Shimin for his wisdom and sagacity.

Many military officers were somewhat disappointed, but since Li Shimin had already given the order, they naturally dared not disobey. They just felt a little regretful.