However, the third son, Li Yuanji, besides being good at martial arts and reaching the stage of breaking martial arts at a young age, was arrogant by nature, had high vision but low hand, and was arrogant. He also acted cruelly and evilly.
Changsun Shunde heard that last month, in order to obtain a pair of twelve-year-old twin girls, Li Yuanji secretly instructed his subordinates to pretend to be thieves and kill the whole family of the twin girls, and he led others to jump out at the last moment.
In a heroic gesture of rescuing a beautiful girl, he rescued the two girls and took them home to play with them all day long.
Li Yuanji didn't notice the deep disappointment in his father's eyes, and he didn't know that his eldest son Shunde disliked him. He still said loudly and unreasonably: "Father, my eldest brother is good at managing politics, but he is worse than a child in leading troops in war."
It’s far away, let’s let Ha’er lead the troops to Taiyuan! We can definitely defeat Wang Junlin. Even if Wang Junlin can’t be driven out of Hedong for a while, it’s better for Ha’er to take charge of Taiyuan City than my elder brother who doesn’t know how to fight..."
"Shut up!" Li Yuan suddenly shouted angrily when he saw the third son criticizing the eldest son in front of outsiders.
Li Yuanji rarely saw his father get so angry. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to say anything anymore. However, he was extremely dissatisfied in his heart. He also believed that his father was unfair. He asked his eldest brother and second brother to lead troops out, but he was not allowed to do so.
Lead troops.
Changsun Shunde intended to break the deadlock between Li Yuan and his son, and said at the right time: "Your Majesty, there was an urgent report from the second son in the east the day before yesterday. Luo Yi from Youzhou sent 50,000 elite troops to join forces with Yuchi Jingde, and they have already begun to deal with the third son.
The young master's side suffered a defeat a few days ago, there are insufficient troops, and the situation is extremely unfavorable!"
"Who says otherwise!" Li Yuan sighed and said, "But even if Luo Yi sends 50,000 troops to attack the people, I am not worried. I believe that the people will be able to defend the east."
When Li Yuanji heard this, he felt even more unhappy. He had never had a good relationship with his second brother Li Shimin, and he had always been jealous of Li Shimin's ability, his illustrious military exploits, and his prestige among the Li family army and civil and military officials.
I think that if I put myself in Li Shimin's position, I can do no worse than Li Shimin.
At this moment, there were rapid footsteps outside, and a travel-worn messenger was brought in by the guards.
The messenger knelt down to Li Yuan and said loudly: "This villain is sending a secret message to the King of Tang on the orders of the Second Young Master."
After saying that, the messenger took off his trousers and robe in front of Li Yuan, tore open the stitched wound on his thigh, and took out a sealed secret letter from the flesh and blood.
Li Yuan's bodyguards had already cleaned the flesh and blood on the secret letter and handed it to Li Yuan.
During this process, Li Yuan kindly praised the messenger, ordered his men to take him down to treat his wounds, and rewarded him with money.
After Li Yuan read the secret letter with a heavy heart, his expression couldn't help but change.
Sun Shunde, the eldest son, saw the change in Li Yuan's expression and asked quickly: "Your Majesty, what did the second young master say in the letter and what happened?"
Li Yuan did not speak, but handed the secret letter to Changsun Shunde, and solemnly said: "Shunde, read it yourself!"
Changsun Shunde was shocked and confused. He took the secret letter with both hands and looked at it. His face changed several times, his brows jumped, and then he frowned in thought.
Li Yuanji was watching from the side with curiosity, so he walked over directly, took the letter from Changsun Shunde's hand and read it rudely.
Li Yuan glared at Li Yuanji fiercely
, and finally just sighed and stopped scolding.
"What, the second brother said that he would abandon Hedong and attack Shuzhong." Li Yuanji did not have the character and city government of Li Yuan and Changsun Shunde, so he yelled on the spot.
Moreover, before Li Yuan and Changsun Shunde could express their thoughts and decisions on the matter, Li Yuanji then said with a sarcastic expression: "Father, the second brother was so frightened by the Far East Army that he actually wanted to abandon our home base of Hedong and go to Hedong.
Attacking Sichuan and Shu is simply too stupid."
Li Yuan finally couldn't bear it anymore and yelled: "You idiot, get out of here."
Li Yuanji was startled for a moment, his face turned extremely ugly, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Father, I did not say anything wrong. The second brother's move is clearly because he is afraid of the Far East Army. He can retreat and go directly to Sichuan, but how can we retreat from the eldest brother?
, the second brother wants to kill the eldest brother..."
"Shut up!" Li Yuan was so angry that his whole body was shaking.
"Father, listen to me, you have to believe me..." Li Yuanji tried his best to speak, showing that what he said was correct.
"Come here, pull this beast down for me. Don't step out of the house without my order." Before Li Yuanji could finish speaking, Li Yuan scolded him sharply.
Several guards came in from outside and forcibly took Li Yuanji away with embarrassment.
It's just that when Li Yuanji was taken down, his face was so gloomy that water could drip from his face, and his expression even looked distorted.
"Shunde, this scoundrel is so embarrassing and makes you laugh." Li Yuan sighed, forced out a smile and said to his eldest son, Shunde.
There was no unnecessary expression on the face of the eldest son Shunde, and he said quickly: "The third young master is still young. After a few more years of growth and experience, he will be no worse than the prince and the second young master."
Li Yuan knew that Changsun Shunde was just being polite, so he would not say anything else on this matter, but solemnly said: "Shunde, in your opinion, is Shimin's proposal feasible?"
Changsun Shunde did not answer immediately, but frowned and pondered for a while, then sighed and replied: "The second master's analysis is correct. It is difficult to defend the east of the river with our military strength. If we continue to fight, we will inevitably suffer consequences."
Go to Guanzhong. Rather than expending troops on the east side of the river, it is better to stick to Chang'an City, and then take advantage of the Far East Army's failure to attack Sichuan and Shu, so as to seize the land of abundance in Sichuan and Shu, connect Guanzhong with Sichuan and Shu, and take advantage of the natural dangers
While resisting the Far Eastern Army, we can contact the southern forces in Sichuan and Sichuan to secretly form alliances to jointly deal with Wang Junlin in order to conquer the world."
Li Yuan did not express his position immediately, but frowned deeply in thought, obviously hesitant. After all, Hedong is his hometown and is even considered to be his place of Longxing, which is of great significance.
But reason told Li Yuan that what the second son Li Shimin and eldest son Shunde said was right. They could not hold on to Hedong. Hedong had even become a sore on their bodies. Instead of constantly using medicine that had little effect, it was better to directly
Use a knife to dig it out.
"This matter is really of great importance, so it would be better to invite others to discuss it together." After an unknown amount of time, Li Yuan took a long breath and finally said.
Changsun Shunde was a little disappointed when he saw that Li Yuan did not make a decision on this matter, and couldn't help thinking that if Li Shimin were in Li Yuan's position, he would definitely make a decision directly on this matter instead of calling everyone to discuss it.
Because Changsun Shunde is very
It is clear that the forces included in the Li Yuan Group cannot work together at all. Each powerful family will consider their own interests, and no consensus can be reached after repeated discussions. This will waste a lot of time and even delay the army's withdrawal from Hedong and the capture of Sichuan and Shu.
The best time of the land.
Changsun Shunde was disappointed in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he nodded and said: "Your Majesty is wise, this matter really needs to be discussed with everyone before it is safe."
It's not that Changsun Shunde doesn't want to remind Li Yuan, but the problem is that if he prevents Li Yuan from convening other people for discussion today, and if the news spreads later, he will offend a large number of wealthy families. Although the Changsun family is also a wealthy family, they have no relationship with the Dugu family, Wang family, Cui family, etc.
Compared with other giant clans, he was still far behind. Offending these giant clans would probably bring disaster to his family, so he had to act cautiously.
…………
…………
"My lord, you must not give up on the east of Hedong. Hedong is the land of Longxing, with a large population and fertile land. Unlike the Central Plains and Guanzhong, which are both suffering from banditry."
"Hmph, you sound nice, but the problem is that we are attacking on all sides, fighting on three fronts: east, west, north, and west. Our troops are limited. Now the battle situation is unfavorable. Wang Junlin has already reached the gates of Taiyuan City. If we don't shrink our troops, we may end up fighting on three fronts: east, west, north, and west.
All three fronts were defeated.”
Not having any scruples in speaking compared to others, Dugu Changsu sighed and said directly: "I am now very worried that the prince will not be able to defend Taiyuan, which will cause all our previous efforts to be wasted. If Taiyuan is lost, Hedong will not be protected, and we will lose one of our wings. If this is the case, no matter whether we give up or not
I’m afraid I’d have to give up on Taiyuan, the land of Longxing.”
The head of the Cui family said: "Brother Dugu puts it lightly. If we give up the land of Longxing in Hedong, but fail to conquer Sichuan and Shu, wouldn't it be like trying to draw water from a bamboo basket in vain?"
Dugu Changsu snorted coldly: "So, now we should concentrate our forces to fight for the kingdoms of abundance such as Sichuan and Shu. If we fail to fight for Hedong and lose our strength, then go back to fight for Sichuan and Shu, I am afraid it will not be so easy. Give up Hedong first, and then fight for Sichuan and Shu."
We will withdraw our troops, money and food from Hedong to Guanzhong and fight for Sichuan and Shu with all our strength. After we have consolidated Guanzhong and Sichuan and Shu, we will then turn around and fight for Hedong. This is actually the same, and by then we have already obtained Sichuan and Shu."
Changsun Shunde said at the right time: "What the head of the Dugu family said is reasonable. It has only been a few months since we captured Guanzhong, and our foothold is not yet stable. In fact, it is not appropriate to attack from all sides. Wang Junlin also saw this, so he did not wait for him to firmly capture the Central Plains.
The county started a war against us because it was already predicted that we would not be able to support a two-front war."
Li Shuliang, another cousin of Li Yuan, suddenly said in a calm tone: "The problem now is not whether we want to fight on two fronts, but that Taiyuan City has been surrounded by an army led by Wang Junlin. Prince Jiancheng and the 80,000 troops in Taiyuan City
We can't retreat even if we want to, so we either go to rescue Taiyuan, or we watch the crown prince Jiancheng and his 80,000 troops being killed by Wang Junlin."
"The Far East Army fought on three sides, and the forces were also tight. Wang Junlin only led less than 50,000 troops to attack Taiyuan City. Given the size of Taiyuan City, the Far East Army could not besiege the city at all. And according to spies, Wang Junlin only besieged the city.
In the west and south directions, Prince Jiancheng could completely leave some troops to hold back the Far Eastern troops led by Wang Junlin during the siege, and then evacuate from the other two directions. Even if he could not withdraw all 80,000 troops, at least he could withdraw them.