The successive letters of distress coming from the fortress made Tang Gong Li Yuan frown. Just when he had just received the edict to be promoted to Shanxi and Hedong ambassador, and was about to leave for Taiyuan to take up his post, the Turks came to harass him. He ignored the people on the border fortress.
It would be hard to explain to the court that he had to leave in an emergency. His Majesty the Emperor wanted to cause trouble for the Li family when he was fine. This time, he was able to suddenly show mercy and comfort Shanxi because the Li family sent twenty Dawan horses.
The good horse was used as a gift for the "triumph" of the Liao Dynasty, and the gifts given to Pei Ju, Yu Shiji and others were generous enough. In other words, Li Yuan's official position as consoling ambassador was bought. If someone with ulterior motives discovers that Guan Youshi
If the three counties were in a mess, I'm afraid the imperial edict of punishment would have caught up with him on his way to take office before his car could reach Taiyuan!
Can he stay in Honghua and calm down the war on the frontier before leaving? Li Yuan asked himself that he simply couldn't do it in a short time. Since last autumn, many herder tribes on the frontier who had been protected by the wings of the Sui Dynasty have begun to prepare to move. Let them resettle.
The Great Sui Dynasty needs to be able to show its power. But how can the Great Sui Dynasty still have the power to show off at the moment?
While facing the joint request for help from the border fortress tribes and facing the imperial edict from the imperial court, Li Yuan was so anxious that he circled in the meeting hall. For so many years, he had been avoiding right and wrong, but right and wrong always followed him. When he was in court,
Chasing him, chasing him in Liaodong. When he came to Guanyou, a country so poor that he couldn't even shit, there were still a lot of troubles. How could he live a stable life for two days? He looked at a few close aides,
But he found that the eyes of his confidants were all staring at him, and they all looked surprised.
"Is Duke Tang afraid of another war at the border fortress?" Chen Yanshou, known as the number one counselor in Duke Tang's mansion, asked puzzledly when he saw Li Yuan's worried look.
"If we, the Sui Dynasty, have decided to go to war with the Turks, why would I want to be here?!" Li Yuan did not understand what his subordinate meant, thinking that he was being cowardly, so he waved his fist and replied bitterly.
If the imperial court is really determined to go to war with the Turks, Li Yuan doesn't care about leading the troops for a walk around the fortress. After all, he is the queen of the generals, and he was known as a versatile man in both civil and military affairs when he was young. But now the imperial court simply does not have to deal with another large-scale war.
With so little money, relying on the power of Honghua County to deal with the entire Turks is simply asking for death.
"The imperial court, the imperial court is probably dreaming of being good brothers with the Turks now!" Hearing Li Yuan's words, he looked forward to the imperial court, and the eldest son Shunde sneered from his nostrils.
Among the staff of the Li Mansion, he was the most unfaithful to the imperial court. In his eyes, the once glorious Sui Dynasty was like a sick man suffering from tuberculosis. On the surface, he still had a strong skeleton. In fact, it was said that
You may not fall down if you are blown by the wind one day. Even if the former Duke of Chu Yang Su and the general Wang Yang Shuang come to life at the same time, all they can do is to keep the Sui Dynasty alive. How can it be possible?
Like in the past, the Turks were frightened by the beating?
However, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the powerful ministers are still dreaming of a prosperous and powerful country. Last year, the King of Goguryeo pretended to surrender and begged for mercy, and everyone agreed without thinking. As a result, the King of Goguryeo neither sent a letter of surrender as promised nor fulfilled it in person.
He promised to come to Luoyang to plead guilty. Just after the first month of this year, His Majesty the Emperor, who felt that he could not come to Taiwan, began to plan for the fourth expedition to Liao. Before the ministers could come up with a specific strategy for sending troops, more local heroes took this as their excuse.
Since they rebelled, they attacked prefectures and counties, demarcated territories and became kings. They did not pay attention to the county soldiers who came to conquer. And the officials of those counties and counties failed to live up to their expectations. They suffered repeated defeats and sent batches of people to the army.
Armor and weapons were "sent" to the rebels. In the end, there were no weapons and food to "send". In order to avoid the responsibility of the defeat, these guys simply took off their official uniforms and ran to become officials under the rebels.
.
"Shunde, the imperial court also has its own difficulties!" Listening to his confidant's deep resentment towards the imperial court, Li Yuan turned around and stopped him loudly.
In troubled times, he didn't want to get himself into trouble with a few complaints. Moreover, from the perspective of a military general, he didn't want to blame all the responsibility for the country's decline on the court's occasional decision-making mistakes. The Great Sui Dynasty was not due to the conquest.
The failure of Liaodong led to its collapse. The three failed conquests of Liao only accelerated the process of its collapse. Li Yuan personally visited Liaodong and knew the threat of Goguryeo to the Central Plains. He firmly believed that no matter who became the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, the conquest of Liao capital
It is a necessary decision.
But since it was not due to the conquest of Goryeo, what was the reason for the decline of the Sui Dynasty? Li Yuan racked his brains and couldn't figure it out. He once discussed this issue in private with his confidant Chen Yanshou, who was known as the Tang Dynasty.
Chen Yanshou, the most wise man in the government, could not explain why. He also used this question to test Ma Yuangui. In the end, Ma Yuangui could not say anything except a bunch of destiny cycle theories that even the old lady selling silk would not believe.
Come up with a clear reason.
He couldn't find the specific reason, but Li Yuan could deeply understand the panic and sorrow before the end of the world. As the head of the family who was responsible for the safety of the family, he was almost overwhelmed. He rarely lost his temper in front of his subordinates, but he looked at people.
His eyes had a begging smell that he couldn't bear to refuse.
"Okay, okay, if Duke Tang doesn't like to hear it, I won't say anything!" Changsun Shunde shrugged and agreed.
"It's not that I don't like hearing it, but instead of complaining about the court here, we should think about how to overcome the current difficulties!" Li Yuan knew that no one would understand what he felt, so he sighed and turned the topic to another direction.
The Great Sui Dynasty is about to fall. This process is irreversible, but the Li family cannot fall. Li Yuan has personally experienced the years of changing dynasties. The last time it was peaceful, it was just that his father-in-law took the throne from his son-in-law, and countless people still stood up.
The aristocratic family that has existed for hundreds of years has been wiped out. Now that troubled times are coming, Li Yuan does not want the tragic disaster of destroying his family and destroying his family to happen to him.
Wildfires have been burning in every corner of the Great Sui Dynasty. Since last year, the rebels in various places have been more than just refugees who can no longer survive. Influential local families and "heroes" who want to take advantage of the change of dynasties to establish their own achievements, all kinds of
*Liars who claim to have boundless magic power, as well as soldiers who returned from Liaodong but were not properly accommodated by the government, all participated. When local county soldiers encountered rebels, many of them collapsed at the first touch, but few were able to fight. In February this year
, I don’t know which guy who was blinded by lard gave His Majesty the Emperor an idea, and actually suggested that officials from various places move all the people to live in the city, and only cultivate the fields near the city, and abandon all the fields in the countryside and remote areas, in order to
The rogue bandits were starved to death. His Majesty the Emperor discussed with ministers such as Pei Ju, Yu Shiji, and Yu Wenshu for a long time, and actually adopted this suggestion. As a result, local officials took advantage of the opportunity of city construction and relocation to make another big profit. But
After they finished fishing, many people who originally did not want to join the thieves also became thieves. As a result, in many counties and counties in Henan and Hebei, the area controlled by the imperial court was not as large as the area controlled by the thieves.
Not wanting his family to be destroyed in troubled times, Li Yuan had to seek good fortune and avoid disaster. He spent tens of thousands of family resources to manage Shanxi, and Hedong's appeasement ambassador was a key step. The counties in Hedong have a dangerous terrain, facing the Taihang Mountains on one side.
The other side faces the Yellow River. No matter how chaotic the world outside is, as long as the area between the mountains and rivers is settled, the flames of war will hardly be able to get in. In addition, because they were not affected by Yang Xuangan's rebellion, the counties in Hedong
There are few thieves and the people are relatively wealthy, so when you go to the east of Hedong to work as an official, you don't have to worry about heroes raising a flag of rebellion under your nose all day long.
"What difficulties are there in front of me?" Changsun Shunde didn't know where he was wrong today, and his tone of voice was always provocative. It was obvious that Duke Tang was so anxious that his eyes were about to smoke, but he was very
He said he didn't see the problem.
"Shunde, can you speak more clearly?" After being ridiculed several times by Changsun Shunde, Li Yuan, although his temper was good, was a little angry. He stopped and stared into the other person's eyes to give orders.
On Changsun Shunde's face, he only saw a relaxed smile, as if he didn't care at all. The other party shrugged his shoulders and replied with a smile: "The matter in front of me is indeed not difficult. Isn't it just that some Turks robbed several tribes?
If a dog bites a dog, let them snatch it away. What does it matter to you, Mr. Tang?"
"You!" Li Yuan was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He stamped his feet and cursed bitterly: "Shunde, you are really crazy today! Since I am here to guard the thirteen counties of Guanyou and protect the country and the people, it is naturally my duty to do so.
Blame! The Turks are plundering across the border, and you actually say it’s none of my business. When the court asks the general, can I still put the responsibility on others?"
"But then all the tribes have to admit that he is a subject of our Sui Dynasty! Moreover, it is not certain whether the Turkic invasion is true or false? What if they divide the spoils unevenly and do evil to each other? Could it be that they are not evenly divided among themselves?
Can we still send people to look after each tribe? If you don’t believe it, ask everyone if they think so too?” Changsun Shunde’s attitude was very strange, but his analysis was very insightful, and almost every sentence was correct.
On the point.
"You are simply making excuses!" Li Yuan stamped his feet repeatedly, unable to do anything to deal with his close aide. He helplessly turned his eyes to other confidants, only to find that everyone was on the side of Changsun Shunde at this moment, with a look on his face.
Each smile is lighter than the other.
Aren't they anxious at all? Li Yuan began to wonder where he had slipped up. These staff members were all good people, and their generally accepted conclusions were probably the correct answer. Look at the faces of the staff one by one.
In the past, he finally turned his gaze back to Chen Yanshou's face.
"Yan Shou, please teach me, where did I go wrong?" Li Yuan put away the eagerness on his face and asked respectfully. Being able to listen to other people's suggestions is a necessary condition for being a good head of the family. In this regard, he has always done
Very outstanding.
"Thank you, Mr. Tang, for asking!" Chen Yanshou clasped his fists, with a look on his face that said, "You should have asked everyone a long time ago." He took a few steps forward, pointed to the map of Guanyou and Hexi counties on the wall and asked:
"Has Mr. Tang clearly seen where the tribes that have been attacked have been for more than a month?"
"Wulanji, Tiansuyuan, Liangchuan, Zhumayi, Shaquan!" Li Yuan walked quickly to the map and answered like a treasure trove. In the past half month, every time an urgent document arrived, he was so anxious that he couldn't sleep.
.Therefore, he could clearly identify the location of each tribe being attacked on the map.
"Well, these places are scattered in the south and north, and they really look like Turkic wolves riding on them?" Chen Yanshou drew a circle on the map with his finger and concluded with a smile.
"Yanshou, don't beat around the bush with me?" Li Yuan clearly felt that there was something behind the words of his close aide, smiled bitterly, and asked. The pressure of troubled times made him exhausted, and he had almost no energy to guess what others meant.
"Hey, these Turks are very timid. Every time they come to kill them, they are far away from where the Second Young Master is training his troops!" Ma Yuangui, another staff member, stepped forward and reminded them with a smile.
"Yuan Gui said...?" Li Yuan was stunned at first, and his body suddenly froze in front of the map. The attacks of the Turkic Wolf Cavalry seemed to come out of nowhere, but if the positions of the attacked tribes were connected with a line, it would almost be an arc.
And the center of the circle that this arc faces is exactly Mingsha City.
Li Yuan knew very well about the abilities of Liu Hongji, Li Shimin and others. However, no matter how powerful Liu Hongji and Shimin were, they could not frighten the Turkic wolf cavalry into avoiding them for nearly 200 miles with the three thousand recruits in their hands.
From a kind point of view, with three thousand recruits, they protected the people of all ethnic groups within a radius of two hundred miles from being attacked. But conversely, it is speculated that the battle that took place two hundred miles away was related to the two of them, which is difficult to predict.
deny the fact.
"Congratulations to Mr. Tang!" Ma Yuangui bowed and said solemnly.
"Congratulations to Mr. Tang for recruiting an elite army!" Chen Yanshou and Changsun Shunde also put away their smiles and solemnly congratulated Li Yuan.
The three of them had discovered a few days ago that the "Turks" had arrived strangely. If the Ashina family was instigating the incident last year when the tribes were forced to drive out the Han people, the Turks should not have just finished using these grassroots tribes and immediately
Just kill the chicken to get the eggs.
If it is said that the wolf cavalry who defeated the coalition forces were recruits trained by Li Shimin, Liu Hongji and others, it is difficult for everyone to believe this conclusion. It may be very simple to let a group of refugees learn to use weapons. But let them be like real people.
Fighting is like a soldier, but it is not something that can be done overnight.
But a letter sent back by Li Shimin the day before yesterday completely confirmed Chen Yanshou and others' speculation. In the letter, the second young master said nothing about the Turkic wolf cavalry that caused a lot of commotion, as if he, who was closest to the border, had no idea at all.
The appearance of the Wolf Rider.
Moreover, the second young master suggested that the Li family put the marriage between Qi'er and brother Zhongjian on the agenda again, "Today I personally trained the soldiers, and then I realized that Zhongjian's talent is rare in this world! Everyone in the world said that they are kind and do not command soldiers, but they kill people."
The only person who has a compassionate heart when doing things is Zhongjian!" In the letter, Li Shimin wrote with emotion.
"The so-called Wolf Cavalry invasion is actually a subordinate of Shimin Faction in disguise?" The sudden revelation made Li Yuan couldn't help but shake a few times. He put his hands on the wooden pillars supporting the beams in front of him, and then managed to calm down.
"With the Second Young Master's temper, I'm afraid he won't stay in Mingsha City to take charge!" Ma Yuangui nodded and reminded calmly.
This is an irresponsible adventure. If someone gets caught, the whole family will be implicated. But from another perspective, everyone has to admit that Li Shimin is good at running the army. In a few months, he
Three thousand refugees were trained into an elite force, which was invincible at every point. Especially the decisive battle with the coalition forces could be described as a stroke of genius. Even if Li Yuan himself was in the same position, he might not dare to make such a decisive move.
