In the past, he was invincible in conquering battles east and west, and even often charged at the front. Now, in the frontier battle, he could only wait for news from the front line in the Tai Chi Palace in Chang'an, thousands of miles away.
Conquer the world immediately, but you cannot rule the world immediately.
He has been emperor for almost three years, but Li Shimin still has not fully adapted to the role of emperor. Sitting on the throne in the palace and handling military affairs is much more complicated than commanding troops on the front line.
The emphasis in the military is that military orders are as clear as a mountain, but in the court, whether it is government affairs or personnel matters, they cannot be so straightforward and sometimes have to be repeated over and over again.
As the New Year approaches, affairs between the DPRK and China become even busier.
Not only do we have to prepare for the New Year's Day meeting, but we also have to meet with local governors and governors in batches every day. They even have to take time to meet with foreign envoys.
Every year, there was a lawsuit coming to Chang'an. Silla and Baekje united to accuse Goguryeo of blocking their tribute roads and sent troops to attack and invade them. Then this year, Baekje and Silla broke up again and started fighting each other.
The three kingdoms were all vassal states that were canonized by Emperor Wude of the Tang Dynasty, and their kings were also canonized by the Tang Dynasty.
Although Li Tang is now unable to send troops to the Korean Peninsula, after all, the three countries are all vassals of the Tang Dynasty, and Goguryeo is a hidden danger in the Central Plains. Naturally, he cannot sit back and watch him take the opportunity to bully Baekje and Silla. Otherwise, if Goguryeo cannibalizes the two countries, it will undoubtedly become stronger.
Then it becomes increasingly difficult to control.
But take care of it, it is beyond the reach of the whip. Datang is also very careful to maintain restraint. It does not want to break the superficial peace it has maintained with Goguryeo since the founding of the country. Otherwise, once war breaks out, Datang may fall into the quagmire of Liaodong again, and the Turks will still be there.
How could we rashly start a fight with Goguryeo if we haven't taken care of it yet?
Li Shimin, who was deeply regarded as an excellent military commander, knew very well that a war could not be fought on two fronts, so he could only find time to spend more time meeting with the envoys of the three countries and try to mediate as peacefully as possible. However, the Goguryeo envoy was very unruly, which made Li Shimin almost suppressed several times.
Don't hold back the fire.
The people only thought that when people from all directions came to pay homage and congratulations, all the surrounding countries would submit. For example, Goguryeo, the little overlord of Liaodong who had allowed the Sui Dynasty to conquer several times without success, had always been obedient, but in fact they were just ordinary people.
I thought.
In fact, Tang and Goguryeo have always carefully maintained a balance. Neither side dared to offend the other easily for fear of provoking another war. The several conquests in Liaodong at the end of the Sui Dynasty actually severely damaged the vitality of both sides.
Although Goguryeo presented itself as a vassal to the Tang Dynasty and paid tribute, the Tang Dynasty also conferred the title of Gao Jianwu on the title of Shangzhu Kingdom, Prince of Liaodong County, and King of Goryeo.
This is much higher than the official title of the King of Silla. King Jinpyeong of Silla, Kim Baekjeong, was only conferred by Li Yuan as Zhuguo, Duke of Lelang County, and King of Silla, which is one level lower than that of Goguryeo.
Li Shimin didn't know whether King Jinpyeong of Silla was fair or fair, but he knew that he was really annoying and incompetent. He had been in power for fifty years. As the twenty-sixth king of Silla, he had grown from the elephant in the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the king of Silla.
He was established as king in the first year of his reign. In that year, Emperor Xuan Yun of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who had five queens, abdicated the throne to the seven-year-old prince because of his laziness in politics, and became the emperor himself.
And this year, Silla's Zhenzhi King Jinsaraun, who once paid tribute to Chen in the Southern Dynasty of the Central Plains and defeated the invasion of Baekje, was deposed by the Hebai Council on the grounds of political chaos and debauchery, and he was appointed
Jin Baijing, the son of the eldest brother Tonglun Prince, is the new king.
Then Jin Baijing suddenly became the king for fifty years.
Jin Baijing is now old and has no children. In the early years of the Sui Dynasty, Jin Baijing was a tribute vassal in the Central Plains. He used the opportunity of the Sui Dynasty to attack Goguryeo and sent troops to attack Goguryeo many times. He even counterattacked Baekje and took the opportunity to seize a lot of land. As a result, after the death of the Sui Dynasty,
, both Goguryeo and Silla have counterattacked against Silla, and even the Japanese have crossed the sea to attack.
Enter the capital.
Silla was now not only at a disadvantage in the competition with Baekje, but was also defeated by Goguryeo's fierce attacks and lost a large area of territory.
In the eighth year of Takeoku, the Tang Dynasty sent Zhu Zishe to the peninsula to mediate the conflict between the three kingdoms, giving Silla a chance to breathe. This year, Silla took the opportunity to launch a counterattack against Baekje, defeating Baekje who surrounded the city of Chucen.
The army, and even the generals Kim Yong-chun and Kim Soo-hyun, and Kim Yu-shin and his son, also led the army to besiege Goguryeo's Niangba Fortress. However, Silla's move also made Goguryeo begin to unite with Baekje, intending to form an alliance. Originally Goguryeo and Buyeo
The kings of Baekje were all countries founded by the princes of the ancient Buyeo King who went south. Although most of the people of Baekje were from the Mahan tribe among the three Koreas, the king was born in Buyeo after all. Now the 30th generation of Baekje King Buyeo Chang is called King Mu.
The surname is Buyeo.
Of the three kingdoms on the peninsula, Goguryeo was originally the strongest, and Silla and Baekje should unite to fight against Goguryeo. However, in fact, the three kingdoms often fought in chaos, and Silla dared to declare war on Baekje, Goguryeo, and even Japan.
But although they were stubborn, they did not take the beating. They came to Chang'an every year to ask for mediation from the Tang Dynasty, and even wanted the Tang Dynasty to send troops for help.
The people of Silla were so beaten that they wanted to send Princess Kinderman to Chang'an to warm the feet of the Tang emperor in exchange for Tang's help.
But Li Shimin ignored them at all. Let alone a princess from a small peninsula country, even if he sent a dozen princesses, it would be impossible for Li Shimin to go to war with Baekje and Goguryeo for Silla.
Just perfunctory, Li Shimin not only asked officials from Honglu Temple to mediate between the three families, he even planned to send an official to the peninsula later this year to mediate, hoping that they would calm down a little.
The emperor is now paying more attention to Youzhou and Yehuling.
Li Shimin has not slept since Youzhou 800-mile horse rushed to report that Jieli Khan Ashina Dubi was about to enter the stronghold, and Wu Huaiyu led the Youzhou army to garrison at Yehuling to defend the enemy outside the country.
Good sleep.
Although he had supported Li Jing's suggestion in front of the prime ministers, delegating power to Wu Huaiyu, trusting Wu Huaiyu, and letting Wu Huaiyu direct the battle, he also gave Wu Huaiyu an order to focus on defense and avoid fighting as much as possible.
But my heart is never at ease.
Wu Huaiyu has indeed made a lot of achievements in the past two years, but Li Shimin is worried that Wu Huaiyu has too little experience after all, and the current season and climate are not conducive to fighting. It is also a battle outside the fortress, in case the supplies cannot keep up, or the field battle fails.
, what should we do then? Li Shimin has been waiting for news, but the news has not arrived.
"Your Majesty, this is the ginseng soup prepared by my concubine for Your Majesty. Your Majesty, drink it while it's hot, and then take a rest."
Li Shimin took the ginseng soup and was very grateful to his wife.
"Your Majesty is still waiting for news from Youzhou?"
"Well, it's a pity that there has been no news. I don't know how the battle is going at the frontier. I don't know if the fighting has started or how it is going. I'm really anxious to wait."
Empress Changsun walked behind her husband, rubbed his shoulders, and relaxed her husband, "Actually, I think that no news is the best news."
"oh?"
"Although Youzhou is more than two thousand miles away, it can be reached by horseback in a few days. If the situation is really bad, Wu Huaiyu will definitely not dare to hide anything. There has been no news so far. The most likely possibility is that there is no
fighting,"
"The queen thinks Jieli has withdrawn?"
"Maybe it's still a confrontation,"
"Perhaps the snow and wind were too heavy, which delayed the transmission of information." Li Shimin said.
"Your Majesty, you'd better drink ginseng soup first, and leave matters on the front line to the generals. Your Majesty has given Wu Huaiyu full authority to command the front line, and has also arranged for Bingzhou Li Ji, Daizhou Zhang Gongjin, and Xiangzhou Shuangshiluo to support them. Everything will be fine.
of."
The queen massaged the emperor's shoulders, "Perhaps Duke Yi can give His Majesty another surprise. I always feel that this Yinxian disciple can always surprise people."
Li Shimin smiled, "I think it's been true since I met him, hahaha, then let's borrow the Queen's good words and wait for good news."
However, Li Shimin still didn't have high expectations in his heart. Being able to defend the enemy outside the country and prevent Jieli from taking advantage of it and invading Youyun would be the best result. He never thought that Wu Huaiyu could defeat Youzhou soldiers and horses alone.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, it is impossible to defeat Jieli's army of more than 100,000 in a hurry. It is impossible to inflict heavy losses in field battles outside the Great Wall.
Even if it were him, there probably wouldn't be any good solution in this hurry.
"Yang Gongren, the governor of Luozhou, came to Beijing to attend court. He was summoned yesterday. He claimed to be old and ill and requested to become an official. I intend to allow him to go home and recuperate. As the governor of Luoyang, I want to transfer the warrior Xun to take over. What does the queen think?"
"How can a concubine, a woman from the harem, be involved in the government affairs of this military country?" The queen had no intention of interfering in the government affairs, even if the emperor took the initiative to ask.
However, Li Shimin still said, "Let the warrior Xun take over as the governor of Luozhou, mainly because he is interested in managing civil affairs, especially the economy. He has served in Yangzhou, Liangzhou, and Jingzhou, and he has also served as Minister of Industry in the DPRK.
, I have also managed finance before, and I have both experience and talent in this area.
Yang Gongren succeeded Qu Tutong as the governor of Luoyang. Both of them were very stable and contributed greatly to stabilizing the place. However, as Wu Huaiyu wrote to me before, they were too conservative and suppressed industry and commerce too much, which led to the decline of Luoyang's industrial and commercial economy, and Luoyang was about to become a city.
The city is dead, this really won’t work.”
"How about letting your brother go to Jingzhou to be the governor and replace the warrior Xun?" the emperor suddenly asked.
Queen Changsun paused for a moment and continued kneading, "I heard that my brother has been in poor health in recent years. Duke Yi Guo once diagnosed him as suffering from diabetes and gas problems. He should calm down and take care of himself. I ask your majesty to allow you to do so."
Brother, take a good rest in Beijing and stop traveling back and forth. Once he recovers, it will not be too late to go on errands for Your Majesty."
Changsun Wuji was indeed not in good health, but the queen only used this reason to object to him being the governor of Jingzhou.
"It is true that Duke Zhou is very experienced and talented in administration and economics, but please consider that the governor of Jingzhou is the superior governor, while the governor of Luozhou is the middle governor. If he is demoted despite meritorious service, this is not worthy of reward or punishment."
"Well, Maid Guanyin, you are right to remind me that the warrior Xun is loyal and well-governed. He has been granted the title of Special Advancement and the title of 100 true seals of Weizhou, making a total of 700 households in front of the pass."
"King Yuanjing of Zhao was renamed King of Jing, and took over the governorship of Jingzhou, the governor of Kuizhou, Huang Junhan, the Duke of Guo, and the governor of Jingzhou,"
"Li Junxian moved to the governorship of Kuizhou, and Guo Xiaoke became the general of Zuo Xiaowei..."
At the end of every year, the imperial court routinely adjusted a large number of senior civil and military officials. The queen rubbed her husband's shoulders and only urged him to drink ginseng soup, but she made no remarks on these important appointments.
Under the Queen's urging, Li Shimin finally drank the ginseng soup.
"Oh," Li Shimin yawned, feeling trapped by the pressure.
"Your Majesty, please lie down and rest for a while."
"Okay, I'm really sleepy, so I'll take a nap first."
Li Shimin lay down and soon began to snore.
Empress Changsun covered her husband with a brocade quilt and sat aside to guard him so that no one would disturb him.
When the eunuch Zhang Anan came in, the queen reminded him not to make any sound.
"Her Majesty the Queen, it is an urgent report from Youzhou." Zhang Anan whispered, "Your Majesty has an edict, and any news from Youzhou will be reported immediately without any delay."
Empress Changsun glanced at her husband who had just fallen asleep, called Ananda to a corner of the palace, and asked softly, "What's the news?"
Zhang Anan said with some excitement, "Wu Huaiyu, the governor of Youzhou, rode into Lubu to report his victory. He lured Jieli to attack the mountain at Yehuling. He annihilated more than 30,000 Jieli troops in one day and night, while our Tang army suffered less than one-tenth of the casualties.
!”
Queen Changsun couldn't help but utter a surprised sound after hearing this.
This sound woke Li Shimin up. He sat up suddenly, his eyes were red, "I heard about the victory of Wu Huaiyu in Youzhou, but was it a dream?"
"Your Majesty, this is not a dream. The victory report from Youzhou has arrived in Beijing. Wu Huaiyu Yehuling has severely damaged Jieli and wiped out more than 30,000 of them. Congratulations, Your Majesty,"
Li Shimin sat there, lost in thought. After a long time, he patted his head and said, "Hahaha, this Wu Huaiyu can really surprise me, hahaha."
