It should be said that starting from the defeat of Li Mi and Xue Ju, the troubled times in the late Sui Dynasty entered a new stage.
The situation of feudal separatism finally took shape, but the difference from the wars at the end of Han Dynasty was that the three conquests of Goguryeo brought disastrous consequences to the Central Plains.
Coupled with the system of government soldiers, large warehouses, clan clans, and the influence of Hu Feng's spread to the south, the war in the late Sui Dynasty was more tragic than the war in the late Han Dynasty.
The consequence is that the separatist situation among the princes cannot last long. Wang Shichong is the proof. No matter Dou Jiande, Xiao Xian, Li Po and others are watching with eager eyes, they are determined to gather a large army to attack Li Yuan. The other princes have no choice but to do so.
Or he himself, he actually knew it all.
They all chose to watch in unison. Xiao Mian was increasing his troops in Shu, obviously hoping to take the opportunity to find fighters in Shu, while Li Po was also looking to increase his troops along the Yellow River.
There is a situation where the three families are trying to fight against Li Yuan.
But in fact, Li Po and Xiao Mian looked at Wang Shichong with salivating eyes.
In Luoyang City, Wang Shichong's roar gradually became louder, and the smell of blood became stronger day by day. There were more and more heads on the top of Luoyang City. Looking from a distance, it looked eerie and similar to Fengdu.
However, the military camp outside Luoyang City was in an uproar. After a series of murders occurred in the city, Wang Shichong issued an edict to close the gates of Luoyang City. Soldiers would not be allowed to enter Luoyang City without permission.
As more and more people were floating around the city of Luoyang, most of the military generals were worried and unwilling to enter the city to see the irritable emperor.
In sharp contrast to the chaotic Luoyang is Chang'an in Guanxi. The news that Wang Shichong wanted to attack Tongguan reached here not only a day ago, but Li Yuan was as stable as Mount Tai.
He did not transfer soldiers from Li Xiaogong and Qu Tutong, but issued an edict to Li Jiancheng, Li Shenfu and others to guard the enemy well and not to slacken off. When the battle came, he gave them the power to do their own thing.
His calmness and calmness had very good results, and everyone in Chang'an began to prepare in an orderly manner to face Wang Shichong.
But in fact, Li Yuan encountered a difficult problem to solve: food.
Unlike Wang Shichong's lack of food, the gradual shortage of food in Guanxi was not due to Li Yuan himself, but because he had too many enemies. Having too many enemies meant that he had to maintain a huge army.
In other words, Li Yuan's standing army has far exceeded the limits of Guanxi and Shuzhong.
Li Xiaogong's troops in the middle of Shu have gradually increased their troops to more than 100,000. After recruiting Xue Ju's troops in the northwest, Qu Tutong's troops reached their peak with more than 200,000 troops. Later, they were gradually transferred to various places, and they could provide
To guard against Li Gui, Liang Shidu had two people, but he still maintained around fourteen or five people.
Since Li Shentong's entire army was wiped out in Jin, the number of garrison troops along the Yellow River has been increasing, and now there are nearly 160,000 to 70,000 people stationed along the line from Tongguan to Hancheng.
The fact that so many ready-to-go standing armies have been maintained until now is obviously proof that Li Tang has a very solid foundation, but after a few years, it will be hard to say.
Now Qu Tutong is farming on the spot, and Li Xiaogong in Shu is also working hard. In fact, if Shu is intact and has the Kingdom of Abundance in hand, everything can be alleviated.
The problem is that Li Xiaogong's ability cannot solve the war in Shu as soon as possible. The strategy he proposed to appease the barbarians and slow down Kuizhou is more like making excuses for his own incompetence.
The prosperous Chengdu Plain lies to the side, but most of it has been deserted during successive years of war. The barbarians looted, burned and killed here wantonly. Xiao Mian also sent troops to harass it from time to time. The grain output in Sichuan has been greatly reduced for several years.
If Qu Tutong and Li Xiaogong were still thinking about giving birth to save themselves, then the troops stationed along the Yellow River could only stare longingly at the other side of the river, not daring to be distracted at all.
Li Jiancheng had always wanted to send troops to Henan to attack Wang Shichong, but Li Ding'an, an increasingly ferocious enemy, had now almost completely blocked Li Tangdong's way out.
Losing control of Jin was Li Tang's most serious mistake so far. The negative consequences it caused were almost all-round. Just like Dou Jiande lost the grain reserves of Zhuojun in Youzhou, the effects were lasting.
It won't be fatal at once, but with each passing day, the discomfort in the body will become a little bit stronger.
The continued stalemate, for Li Tang, is almost equivalent to chronic death. In terms of results, it is no different from Wang Shichong. When the expansion comes to a standstill, the situation they face will also be extremely difficult.
It can be said that the mess left by Yang Guang made the feudal princes in various places no longer feel happy at the time, and they all felt very painful. In comparison, the few who divided the world in the late Han Dynasty were much happier.
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Feeling that the situation was getting increasingly difficult, Li Yuan did something that made Li Po find it ridiculous.
In early June, Princess Li Xiuning of Pingyang left the capital and led her army to guard Yongfengcang, while Li Gang led his army to reinforce Tongguan.
When he heard the news, he was discussing the military situation with the generals. Amidst the weird looks in everyone's eyes, Li Po also didn't believe his ears.
Is this all shameless?
It can be said that Wang Shichong was excusable in sending him a niece. After all, he had been selling pots and iron for so many years, and finally reached the stage of struggling desperately. It is not surprising that he would do any ridiculous thing in a desperate situation.
But can you, Li Yuan, do the same? You have used your married daughter as a gun so many times. Where is your face? Do you still want your virtuous reputation?
Well, it can be seen from this that Li Yuan is also impatient. Xiao Xian and Li Po are increasing their troops. Wang Shichong is about to invade in a large scale. The situation is unprecedentedly dangerous.
It's nothing to let Li Xiuning lead the troops to guard Yongfengcang. If possible, it would be easy to send Li Xiuning as envoy to Jin again. Maybe it would be more shameless to let Chai Shao have an accident in Shu and turn his daughter into a widow.
Come out if you can.
What made Li Po feel the most disgusting was that both Wang Shichong and Li Yuan seemed to treat him, Li Po, as a lecher.
Damn, it’s nothing else but lust? Which of your eyes can tell that I’m lustful?
In addition, when he attacked Puban at the beginning of the year, Li Yuan sent Wen Dayou's coffin across the river... Well, the gap is a bit big. I thought he was a heroic leader, but he turned out to be a shameless person.
Yes, as the leader of a country, once small tricks are used too much, it is inevitable that people will feel inferior.
In fact, it was he who pushed Li Yuan to this point. If he had followed the original trajectory, Liu Wuzhou would have been beaten to the point of running away by Li Shimin. Li Shimin, who was making great progress, immediately returned to the army to pacify Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande. In the fourth year of Wude, the world was
There is only one name, and that is General Tiance, King of Qin Li Shimin.
But the current situation is that when three families attack the Tang Dynasty, Li Tang is completely at a disadvantage. The Qin King Li Shimin, who should have been shining brightly, returned to Beijing to "recuperate".
Prince Li Jiancheng was immediately highlighted. Speaking of which, Li Jiancheng was not an incompetent person.
When Li Yuan went south to Chang'an, Li Jiancheng contributed the most. At that time, Li Shimin was young, had no achievements in politics, and had very little military qualifications. All the advocacy could not change this fact.
At that time, Li Yuan relied most heavily on his eldest son Li Jiancheng. For a long time, Li Jiancheng had firmly suppressed the Qin Palace, which is an indisputable fact.
But his military achievements were indeed flawed. When Li Shimin defeated Xiao Xian and Nanman in Shuzhong, he was suppressing bandits in Guanxi. When Li Shimin defeated Xue Rengao, he was stationed at Tongguan.
When Li Po went south, Li Shentong was ordered to go on an expedition. He was transporting grain and grass to Li Shentong. When Li Shentong was defeated, Li Yuan immediately recruited Li Shimin to return to the court, and then sent King Qin to attack Li Po. He was still staying in Tongguan.
This was undoubtedly Li Yuan's care for the prince, but it also created Li Shimin in disguise, so Li Jiancheng could only continue to squeeze his younger brother's power where he was best. The military qualifications he was once proud of were now too embarrassed to mention.
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But the opportunity still came. When he received the news that Wang Shichong was about to launch troops to attack, Li Jiancheng was not surprised, but was extremely excited.
He knew the situation in Henan better than anyone else in the court. Wang Shichong had indeed been arrogant for a while after Li Mi left. Wang Shichong, who made his fortune by suppressing bandits and relied on the fortified city of Luoyang to kill Li Mi, was not a man of great talent and strategy.
The king of.
Subsequently, Wang Shichong exposed more and more flaws. If Li Ding'an had not been on his side, Li Jiancheng would have almost certainly led his army into Henan and fought several battles with Wang Shichong to test the quality of the so-called strong Henan army.
In fact, even if he stood still, the garrison civilians from some counties in the west of Luoyang still came to surrender one after another, but Li Ding'an was so annoying that when he was about to submit a letter requesting to send troops to Henan, Li Ding'an had already led his army to the edge of the Yellow River.
He was frightened and immediately reduced his troops to defend Tongguan. He was afraid that when the fall of Jin was imminent, Wang Shichong would come and stab him.
But the final result didn't change much. Not surprisingly, Li Ding'an gained a firm foothold in Jin and became king. Wang Shichong came anyway.
For Li Tang, this situation was very dangerous, but for Li Jiancheng, who lacked military exploits, it was a God-given opportunity.
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Tongguan, Li Jiancheng's mansion.
The attendants of the East Palace and the generals leading the army at Tongguan were all present.
The atmosphere was tense and lively, just like Li Jiancheng's mood. It was difficult to explain exactly what it was like.
After all, the King of Qin returned to the capital for his crime, and not long after the victory of the East Palace clan, the laughter and laughter echoed over Tongguan before it completely dissipated, and Wang Shichong was about to rush over to die.
The composition of Li Jiancheng's confidants and generals is relatively simple. Almost all of them are members of the Kansai clan, and the one with the smallest title is also a county prince.
There were more than ten or twenty people, half of whom were from Qu Tutong's old tribe, led by Qu Tutong's generals Sang Xianhe and Lu Chengda, and the other part were from Donggong's subordinates.
Among them were naturally headed by Li Gang, a member of the East Palace who had just arrived in Tongguan for two days, and the deputy general manager of the march of Shaanxi East Road. Most of them were rich in East Palace, and they were undoubtedly Li Jiancheng's confidants.