Xinye, a tense atmosphere of the court meeting is going on, Li Yuan got the strategy of his eldest son Li Jiancheng, there is a feeling of sudden enlightenment, he is also a person who has led the soldiers, he knows the truth of the fast and fast soldiers, if you want to lay down the six edicts and the vast areas such as Lingnan, where the army is empty, you must take it before Xiao Mo and Lin Shihong go south, and these two people, either fight each other, or have a dispute with Li Mi, it is difficult to send a large army south, and when the two react, it has become a fact.

"Now, we should reorganize our thinking, let's talk about it! What do we do next? ”

Xinye is not far from Xiangyang, many civil and military ministers who Li Yuan leaned on as his arm came, glanced at Pei Lian, Li Yuan said: "Pei Xiangguo say it first!" ”

Pei Lin got up and said: "There is a cloud in the art of war: 'Ten is to surround it, five to attack it, to fight it if it is doubled, and to fight if the enemy is able to fight'." Weichen was thinking, since the Sui army can break through Zhuyang Pass, where the 100,000 Tang army is located, then Xue Wanjun's Sui army has at least 300,000 people, and our next step is not only Yang Shanhui, Qin Qiong, but also Xue Wanjun's Sui army, if we can't see through their intentions, we will suffer a big loss. ”

As soon as Pei Lian's words fell, Liu Wenjing got up and said: "Holy Lord, Pei Xiangguo's words are extremely ridiculous, please let Rong Weichen say a few fair words." ”

The Battle of Bingzhou led by Pei Lin opened the door to Li Tang's defeat, and there were not many people who complained about him, and he himself was shaved off, and his prestige was greatly reduced. Therefore, in the past two or three years, he has been relatively silent, and he rarely raises the bar with Liu Wenjing, but Liu Wenjing's cold and hard words are like a slap in the face, which really makes Pei Lian's face unbearable, and he glared at Liu Wenjing fiercely for a while.

And the dispute between Pei and Liu, the courtiers have long been surprised, and Li Yuan is also used to it, so he nodded and said: "Liu Xiangguo, please speak!" ”

Liu Wenjing didn't see Pei Lian's fierce gaze, and said unhurriedly: "Pei Xiangguo said that Xue Wanjun's Sui army has 300,000, which can only show that he is reciting military books with his eyes closed, and he doesn't understand military affairs at all." I haven't been to Zhuyang Pass, Zhuyang Pass is like a gourd, the front and back are spacious, the city is just choked in the long and narrow part, when defending the city, at most 4,000 people can be invested at a time, not to mention that the King of Jin has 100,000 soldiers, even if there are a million male divisions, how can the Sui Dynasty need 300,000 people to attack the city? This is simply nonsense. ”

Pei Lian's face was flushed, and he glared at Liu Wenjing: "Could it be that Xue Wanjun and Yang Shanhui won't work together?" Let our army fight one by one? ”

Liu Wenjing said unhurriedly: "I just said that Xue Wanjun does not have an army of 300,000, but I didn't say that the two will not join forces; In fact, I think that Xue Wanjun, Yang Shanhui, and Qin Qiong have a ninety percent chance of forming a coalition, and they will be surrounded by Nanyang in a pocket trend. But the premise is that Xue Wanjun wants to completely occupy Xiyang, so as not to be stabbed in the back by our army, but if Xue Wanjun captures the whole county of Xiyang, then he does not need to join forces with Yang Shanhui and Qin Qiong, who have many generals, but directly attack Xicheng County, introduce Wei Chigong of Hanchuan into Jingxiang, occupy Fangling and Badong, where the troops are empty, and cut Bashu and Jingxiang in half; Zigui County, Badong, which our army must pass through to advance westward, just chokes the gorge, the cliff road here is narrow, and it is very difficult to attack Zigui County, and only 2,000 troops can be invested at most at a time, and when the time comes, the Sui army only needs to send 20,000 or 30,000 people to sit in the town, and it is difficult for our army to conquer even if it has one million soldiers. The main division of Xue Wanjun and Wei Chigong pounced on Yiling and Xiangyang from the west, devouring the rear of our army step by step. And our army was pinned down here by Yang Shanhui and Qin Qiong, and there were fewer rescue soldiers, and they were annihilated by the Sui cavalry one by one, and if there were more, the two generals could go straight to Xinye. ”

"This ......" Li Yuan was secretly surprised, although Xue Wanjun, Yang Shanhui, and Qin Qiong also had his expectations, but according to Liu Wenjing's words, the way of the three generals joining forces was not as simple as he thought, but at the cost of Li Tang's Jingxiang, completely cut off their connection with Bashu.

"Liu Xiangguo is alarmist, right?" Pei Lin smiled coldly and said: "According to what you say, we don't need to go east, Nanyang and Xiyang will be handed away, as long as Xiangyang and Fangling are kept." ”

This is quite vicious, and it has the intention of treating Liu Wenjing as a lobbyist in the Sui Dynasty.

"I didn't say that!" Liu Wenjing is not a fool, so he naturally won't admit it, but said: "The strength of the Sui army is placed there in a dignified manner, if we don't consider these into the overall situation, we will let the Battle of Bingzhou repeat." ”

Pei Lin was only so angry that one Buddha was born, and the second Buddha ascended to heaven, and when he fought in the state, he thought that Taiyuan would be the first target of the Sui army, so he was evacuated by the southern army, leaving only a few troops to defend the south, and as a result, after the Sui army devoured all the places outside Taiyuan, and then launched a big war against the panicked Taiyuan, Liu Wenjing said this now, it was completely using him as a teaching material, how could he not be annoyed?

At this time, Xiao Yu got up and said: "How to fight should be considered by the saint, but as the core of the Tang Dynasty, we should stand a little higher and look at the problem, the saint, please Rong Weichen say a few words." ”

Li Yuan pushed the boat down the river and said: "The two Xiangguo sit down for a while, let's listen to Xiao Xiangguo's meaning." ”

Pei Lin glared at Liu Wenjing fiercely, then sat down with a cold face, Liu Wenjing snorted coldly and sat down too.

At this time, Xiao Yu said unhurriedly: "The analysis of the two Xiangguo also revealed Yang Tong's next war direction, which is very likely to be Xiyang, if Xue Wanjun attacks and continues to increase his troops, I am afraid that the 40,000 troops alone will not be enough to protect themselves, let alone take the initiative to attack, so we must increase our troops, at least to about 60,000 or 70,000." ”

Li Yuan frowned, he drove the expedition in person, evacuated the troops of Xiangyang, plus Li Shentong's army, there were 150,000 people, but although the number of Yang Shanhui and Qin Qiong's troops was less than him, the armies of the two were the elite of the elite, if they took out 30,000 or 40,000 to support Xiyang, I am afraid that this side will also be stretched. Where can the army be drawn now, is it to transfer the army of Xicheng or the border army of Bashu?

At present, Li Tang sweeps the ground as a soldier, with a total of about 300,000 troops, in addition to the 150,000 troops here, of which Xiyang has Li Shimin and Zhang Shigui's 40,000 troops to guard, which also includes a lot of wounded soldiers, Xicheng County has 30,000 soldiers, Bashu's Wudu County and Tangchang each have 20,000, Huai'an and Chungling each have 10,000, and Tongchang, Yicheng, Qinghua, and Tongchuan bordering the Sui border also have 5,000 troops each. Nominally, they have a lot of troops, but they pull out a turnip and leave a pit, so they have no troops to adjust at all.

But as Liu Wenjing said, Xiyang is quite critical, not to send reinforcements, once lost, the road to Shu will be lost, the entire Jingxiang area will be reduced to Jin's Taiyuan, no rescue, no food, and finally by the Sui army wiped out.

In fact, Li Yuan also knew that the best way was to gather the forces of Chungling and Huai'an, retreat to Chungling County to govern Zaoyang, and send Huai'an and the north of Chungling to the Sui army, at the same time, he retreated to Xiangyang, abandoned Nanyang, and held Yincheng County and Anyang County in Xiangyang with part of his troops, and the Xiyang army also retreated to Xunxiang and Wudang areas south of Hanshui. Shangming's formation of a strong barrier, if so, not only the defense line is stable, there is no need to increase the army to support Xiyang Nanxiang and Danshui County, if the Sui army can't break through this defense line, it will naturally turn around and deal with Li Mi.

In this way, Li Tang could draw out about 100,000 troops to implement Li Jiancheng's strategy of conquering the six edicts and attacking Lingnan. Compared with the Sui army, Liuzhao, Xiao Miao, and Lin Shihong are much easier to deal with, and more importantly, Xiao and Lin's southern troops are empty, once Li Jiancheng's strategy is as he wishes, then Li Tang will not only gain a vast territory, but also a population of several million, so that the source of troops is available, and the pressure on the people of Bashu is also reduced.

And if he continues to draw troops from other places to support Xiyang, Li Tang's already weak defensive line will be shattered, and the Sui army will not need a few battles to reach the heart of the country. If the army is defeated, everything for Li Tang will be finished.

The more he thought about it, the more Li Yuan felt that the strategy formulated by Li Jiancheng was wonderful. In fact, Li Jiancheng's strategy is a good prescription for Li Tang jointly prescribed by him, Liu Wenjing and others, Li Jiancheng is responsible for giving hope to Li Yuan, and Liu Wenjing is responsible for explaining the current crisis and telling Li Yuan that nothing can be done at present.

For Li Tang, Li Jiancheng can be described as well-intentioned.

Pei Lin was a supporter of Li Shimin, and he didn't know that Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing had set a new strategy for Li Yuan, and second, he didn't know that Li Yuan, who was in a difficult situation, was already moved, so he said: "Holy Lord, we may be able to recruit people and organize these people into an army to defend the city." ”

"Ridiculous!" Liu Wenjing would let him destroy the plan to develop to the south, and said loudly: "The Sui army has a strong bow and crossbow, and the slave soldiers who were expelled by them to attack the city will not die at all, this kind of fighting method is even the trembling of the elite division, not to mention the people, when the Sui army is coming, the people will be defeated in a battle, and then shake the hearts of the army, it is better not to use it." ”

Pei Lin sneered: "I know that Liu Xiangguo went out with the army, and he does know the Sui army better than others, but you have experienced field battles, not defending the city!" Isn't it ridiculous that you use field battles to locate the combat strength of the Sui army? ”

Liu Wenjing said coldly: "Pei Xiangguo just wants to prove himself right by defeating Xue Ju's main battle......

"Not bad!" Without waiting for Liu Wenjing to finish speaking, Pei Lin interrupted him, "At the beginning, Xue Ju's 100,000 army attacked Fufeng along the Huangshui, and the defenders of Fufeng Huangyuan were only 20,000, and I mobilized 100,000 people, men, women and children all went to the city, hated the same enemy, defeated Xue Ju's army again and again, fought fiercely for a month, Xue Ju suffered heavy losses, and finally had to withdraw to Tianshui County, Huangyuan City is still standing majestically, this is an indelible fact, Liu Xiangguo is now actually saying that the people are unusable, isn't this a lie with open eyes?" ”

Liu Wenjing almost made this idiot angry, and retorted: "That's because after Xue Ju's army broke the city, he slaughtered the city and built the Beijing Temple, and the people would have the same hatred!" In addition, Xue Ju's lonely army, not much food, and tired soldiers made you succeed once! But please remember that Yang Tong's Sui army was not Xue Ju's rabble without siege equipment. What kind of reputation does Yang Tong have among the people, have you investigated? Do you think the people of Xiyang will resist the Sui army that gave them fields, ploughed cattle, and gave their children the opportunity to study? Pei Xiangguo, you take it for granted! ”

"You ......" Pei Lin was furious.

"What am I? Isn't that true? I think you should measure the pressure on Xiyang by the performance of the Sui army in Taiyuan, rather than judging the Sui army by the untouched Xue Ju's soldiers. ”

Bicker?

Liu Wenjing is not stunned at all, Li Tang is because there are too many such things that boast about some achievements, so he has decayed like this.

"That's it! All right! Don't quarrel between the two of you. ”

A dizzy Li Yuan interrupted the dispute between the two impatiently, "I have decided to abandon the land of Xiyang north of Hanshui, and gather the forces of Huai'an and Chungling to Zaoyang and Shangming in Chungling, and at the same time, our army will also give up Nanyang. Relying on Hanshui and Baishui, the 'Xicheng-Xiyang-Xiangyang-Chungling' will form a strong defense line, and we will make every effort to stabilize this defense line first, and then talk about other things. ”

Looking at the various eyes of the courtiers, Li Yuan smiled miserably, his pale face showed an extremely painful expression, "The strength is not as good as that of people, I can't recognize it, and the deployment of troops to support Xiyang Danshui and Nanxiang will only make the Sui army break through one by one." The army is now our life, and only by preserving the army can we make a comeback, otherwise, no matter how much territory we have, we will eventually lose it. ”

Li Yuan glanced at Pei Lin again, and said slowly: "Minfu wants to use it, but it is not Nanxiang and Danshui, but Xunxiang and Wudang." Pei Xiangguo has experience in mobilizing the people, so this time he asked Pei Xiangguo to lead 10,000 troops to Xiyang, and first build an unbreakable defensive line south of Hanshui, and when Zhang Shigui went south, he immediately handed over the defensive line to him, and returned to Xiangyang to join me. ”

With the lessons of the Battle of Bingzhou, Li Yuan no longer dared to let Pei Lin lead the troops, let alone play the means of 'generals' to control each other, as Liu Wenjing said, if Xiyang is lost, Fangling and Badong will be difficult to protect.

"Wechen obeys!" Now that the Son of Heaven had spoken, Pei Lin had to agree.

"Shengshang, if our army retreats to Xiangyang, the pressure on Chungling Zaoyang will be doubled, at this time, the people's hearts will be turbulent, and the unscrupulous general is not enough to take on this heavy responsibility, Weichen suggested that he canonize the horse Chai Shao as the county guard of Chungling, and lead the army to guard the east gate of my Tang Dynasty, laying the foundation for the future of the saint to calm the world." Liu Wenjing knew that although the emperor did not know what to say, he had already agreed with Li Jiancheng's policy in his heart, and was worried that he would send Li Shentong to carry the burden, so he quickly gave a reasonable suggestion.

"Minister, second!"

"Minister, second!"

“……”

Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Yu Wenshi and others also stood up in support regardless of party affiliation, at this time it was already related to Li Tang's life and death, and the result of the infighting was that everyone had to die. Compared with the Li clan's wine bags and rice bags, Chai Shaoqiang's is definitely not a star and a half, and with him guarding the Lingling, it can completely protect the Lingling.

"Father, such an important place, it is true that you must not be a general and cannot be guarded, Heichang is stable and calm, can fight well, and more importantly, is loyal to your father, it is indeed the best choice." Li Jiancheng, who was silent, also stood up.

"Chai Shao." Li Jiancheng's words are above Li Yuan's heart, at this time, people's hearts are fluctuating, loyalty is the key, ability is secondary, Chai Shao is his son-in-law, and Datang is a relationship of honor and disgrace, and there is no need to worry about ability and loyalty.

"The last general!" Chai Shao immediately stood up.

"I have appointed you as the Taishou of Chungling, given the right to control the military and government, led 20,000 troops to Chungling, collected the army of Huai'an, and guarded the east gate of my Tang Dynasty!"

"The last general obeys!" Chai Shao replied loudly.

"Shengshang, Weichen also recommends a general to guard the north gate of Xiangyang - Yincheng County." At this time, Chen Shuda got up and said.

Li Yuan asked, "Who?" ”

"Liu Hongji, the general of the Right Xiaowei, is the commander of the Jinyang army, and the battles such as breaking the Song Dynasty Laosheng, attacking Wensheng, and besieging Chang'an are all related to him, and he can be described as a good general who is both civil and military, and loyal." Chen Shuda said with a smile.

"Chen Xiangguo said very well, General Liu can fight well, but he has not been able to play under the command of King Jin for many years, and now it seems that I am misemploying people. Spread my order to immediately go south and sit in the Yin City. ”

"Whoa!"

"In this way, Fangling County has become the second gateway to Xiangyang, and its importance is self-evident.

"It must be the Lord of the Honors!" Li Jiancheng recommended Yin Kaishan, not giving others the slightest opportunity to object, and then suggested: "The three counties of Xunyang, Loess and Fengli in Xicheng County are all bordered by Shangluo, in order to prevent the Sui army from crossing the Han River, Erchen suggested that Li Anyuan, Duan Zhixuan, and Yu Zhining go to operate and build a defense line on the shore of the Han River."

Li Yuan didn't say a word, and said, "Accurate!" ”

After the discussion, the ministers left one by one.

"Benevolence!" Xiao Yu suddenly stopped Yu Wenshi and asked in a deep voice, "Don't you think it's a little strange?" ”

"Strange?" Yu Wenshi and his heart was shocked.

Xiao Yu frowned and said: "Liu Hongji, Yin Kaishan, Li Anyuan, Duan Zhixuan, and Yu Zhining are all henchmen of King Jin, but the prince suggested that they take on important responsibilities, what is the purpose here?" ”

Yu Wenshi said: "These people go out as generals, and it is the King of Jin who benefits!" ”

"That's the most irrational part." Xiao Mo said worriedly: "There are a lot of people under the prince's command, and it may be really good to recommend one person alone, but it is not normal to recommend five people in a row." ”

Yu Wenshi's eyes flashed, and he was shocked: "The crown prince cut off the wings of His Royal Highness King Jin, is he going to attack His Highness?" ”

"If the prince deals with King Jin at this time, Datang will be completely out of control. He's not the short-sighted kind of person who would never do such a stupid thing. Xiao Yu shook her head.

Yu Wenshi said: "The ancients said, 'If you want to take it first, you must give it first', and the prince gave up these three positions, or in order to get more." ”

"The layout of the saint is a policy of closing the country, if the Sui army goes further, then moving the capital to Bashu is the last choice of the saint!" Speaking of this, Xiao Yu's mind flashed with inspiration, and said: "Liu Hongji, Yin Kaishan, Li Anyuan, Duan Zhixuan, and Yu Zhining are the most influential generals under the command of King Jin. In other words, the prince wants the governance of the entire Bashu! ”

Yu Wenshi's pupils shrank, and he changed his words: "Are we going to object?" ”

"The appointment has been made, how can you object?" Xiao Yu smiled bitterly, "And why oppose it?" These guys are really good for the town. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Alas, Datang doesn't even have the qualifications for infighting." Xiao Mo let out a long sigh and left directly.

Xiao Yu's meaning is obvious, that is, to give up the partisan struggle and work together to overcome the difficulties. Yu Wenshi also agreed, the question is, can the Guanlong forces led by the Dugu clan tolerate the princelings encroaching on their interests in Bashu?

Yu Wenshi and found it difficult.

Once this matter is exposed, it will inevitably set off a serious conflict of interests.

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