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

Li Heng hoped to gain the support of the Prince of Yan's mansion so that he could minimize the losses and maximize the benefits in this war.

If he could get the Crown Prince of Yan or the Prince of Wu'an to lead the army into battle, he would have made a huge profit.

Prince Wei Mai of Yan smiled slightly, giving a watertight answer that left no room for Li Heng to use his name to deceive people.

"Should we? His Majesty has already decided to fight, hasn't he?"

"There are advantages to fighting, and there are also advantages to not fighting. In fact, whether to fight or not is not the most important thing. What matters is whether the method is elegant."

"The First Ancestor, King Chungmu, once said..."

"War is a continuation of politics; it is merely a means, a tool."

"War itself has no independent purpose; it is always subordinate to the overall political demands of the initiating party. Politics sets the goals: to seize territory, force the opponent to compromise, establish hegemony, defend sovereignty, exert diplomatic pressure, etc.; war is merely a violent means of achieving these political demands."

"There is no such thing as a purely military battle detached from politics; fighting simply for the sake of fighting is meaningless."

"If His Majesty achieves his political goals through this war, then this war should be fought."

"Conversely, if Your Majesty fails to achieve your political goals through war, then this war should not have been fought."

Li Heng reviewed his purpose and realized that Wei Mai had hit the nail on the head.

He did not wage war for the sake of war, but to eliminate the military governors who had become de facto independent, in order to restore the political power of the central government and the authority of the emperor, and to achieve a situation where the whole country obeyed his imperial edicts, so as to better implement his political propositions.

If he can achieve this goal, then it is justified for him to push for this war.

But before this, he had never understood the nature of war so well. The Wei family was indeed like the abyss of the underworld, unfathomable.

"King Chungmu's wisdom is indeed extraordinary; his understanding of war is insightful and to the point."

"I wonder if I would have the honor of reading the works of King Chungmu?"

Li Heng looked at Wei Mai with longing, thinking that if he could read through it, his political level would surely rise several ranks.

Upon hearing this, Wei Mai shook his head. Li Heng thought he had been rejected. Thinking about it, it made sense. A book that depicted the essence of war so deeply must be a family heirloom of the Wei family and one of the foundations of the Wei family. How could it be easily shown to others?

"I was being presumptuous."

Lee Hyung said regretfully.

"Your Majesty misunderstands. It is not that I am unwilling to give it to Your Majesty, but as early as after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Taizong, a copy of the book written by the First Ancestor was made and placed in a secret pavilion that only the direct descendants of the royal family could read."

"This book, 'On War,' is also among them. If Your Majesty wishes to read it, you may go to the Secret Pavilion to peruse it."

Wei Mai explained that the Wei family is naturally generous in spreading knowledge.

However, some things, like "On War," are almost like dragon-slaying techniques. Successive dynasties would not allow them to be passed on to outsiders, but they would make a copy as a family heirloom.

Is it located in the imperial palace?

Secret Pavilion?

What is that? How come he's never heard of it?

"What kind of place is this Secret Pavilion? Why have I never heard of it?"

Li Heng asked curiously.

Wei Mai gave Li Heng a strange look. "The Secret Pavilion is one of the places where the emperors of the Tang Dynasty taught their crown princes. It contains books that were listed as forbidden books by the Tang Dynasty. Only the emperor and the crown prince could read them. Only some ministers who made great contributions had the opportunity to enter and borrow a few books."

"The location is inside the palace, but the Wei family has never been inside, so they really don't know where it is."

The Wei family has all the books inside, but the books that the Wei family has may not be available inside.

Therefore, the Wei family naturally didn't need to go to that so-called secret pavilion, nor did they care, so he really didn't know where it was.

But these are your family's belongings, and you, as the emperor, don't even know that?

Li Heng was a little embarrassed; he really didn't know.

He also harbored some resentment towards his father, Li Longji, for not telling him about such an important matter. How much of the royal family's resources was unknown to him?

If he had a clear understanding of all these underlying factors, wouldn't things not be so difficult for him now?

Thinking of this, Li Heng couldn't help but feel a sense of resentment towards Li Longji.

"Prince Yan, besides this secret chamber, what other secrets have been passed down through generations of emperors?"

Suppressing his embarrassment, Li Heng asked Wei Mai for advice.

Wei Mai's old face also looked a bit strange. "Your own family matters require the advice of an outsider like me?"

Seeing Li Heng's sincere request, Wei Mai did not refuse.

Anyway, if Li Heng insists on going, he can find some clues and thus discover these secrets, so there is no need for him to be the bad guy.

"I do know some of it, but whether it's all, I don't know."

Wei Mai first patched up his own words, and after seeing Li Heng nod, he continued, "Emperor Taizong's Xuanjia Iron Cavalry was not disbanded, but passed down from generation to generation, and is stationed at Zhaoling, on the outskirts of Luoyang."

Thinking of this, Wei Mai was stunned for a moment. Why would Li Longji summon An Lushan and Shi Siming to the palace?

Isn't it because he no longer trusts the Imperial Guards, and he has no army he can trust?

But Luoyang has it. The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry stationed at Zhaoling on the outskirts of Luoyang only obey the emperor's orders. That is the foundation and protection that Emperor Taizong personally built for his descendants. Why doesn't Li Longji use it?

Could it be that he didn't know either?

Thinking about it carefully, although both now and then are the Tang Dynasty, there was a break in between, and there was also Wu Zetian in between. Could this be a misunderstanding?

The emperor was unaware of this matter. The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry thought that the emperor did not need them for the time being, so they focused on training their troops and guarding the tomb of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin.

What about the troop deployment for the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry?

Those who knew the truth and wouldn't take responsibility were all killed; the rest probably thought they were just ordinary tomb-guarding troops.

Li Heng also thought of this, and his face darkened. Such a large army must have needed to be supplied with food and weapons by the imperial court. The most likely explanation is that the person in the Ministry of Revenue who knew about this matter was killed, and the successor treated it as an ordinary tomb-guarding army.

After all, it is Emperor Taizong's Zhaoling Mausoleum. It is normal to allocate more money, grain and military equipment. No one would care too much about it.

His father died unjustly!

After deciding to leave the Prince of Yan's residence, Li Heng went to Zhaoling Mausoleum under the pretext of paying homage to Emperor Taizong.

"Prince Yan, is there any more?"

"His Majesty also has a private treasury, which is also hidden inside Zhaoling Mausoleum."

"Every year, a tax revenue is deposited into it, and it only goes in and never out. This is a way out that Emperor Taizong left for the future when the country is in ruins."

"If one day the Tang Dynasty is in grave danger, and if a capable emperor emerges from the royal family, he can use the money and grain stored here, along with the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, to rebuild the Tang Dynasty like Emperor Guangwu of Han."