Waste, all waste. ”

When Li Yuan learned the news of the Sui army's secret expedition to Goguryeo, it was already a month later.

When he heard the news, Li Yuan was furious, such important information would not be transmitted to Chang'an until a month later.

"Father, this matter is unfavorable for the sons, and the subordinates have not been able to inquire about this news in time."

"Holy!" Chen Shuda spoke out at the right time, he got up and said: "Chang'an Daxing Palace, Li Jiancheng looked at Li Yuan with a wry smile. In fact, Li Jiancheng is not to blame, their intelligence organization was devastated in Yecheng because of the grain price incident, and then the Sui Dynasty strictly controlled the people who came and went, and it was unable to develop for a long time. Moreover, the Sui Fifth Army was not stationed in Yecheng like the permanent army, they entered the Taihang Mountain, Yangqu Mountain, Lishan, Wangwu Mountain, Heng Mountain, Xiaowutai Mountain, Wutai Mountain and other mountain ranges from time to time to fight the remnant bandits, and it was normal to leave Yecheng for a month or two, and because of this, people were accustomed to the actions of the Sui Fifth Army, and the Yecheng intelligence personnel made empirical mistakes. As for the naval military port built in the Bohai Sea, it is far away from the political, cultural and economic center of the Great Sui Sea, and has never been concerned. This matter is really not the fault of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. ”

Seeing Chen Shuda speak, Li Shimin couldn't help but glance at his most important adviser Pei Lian, but unfortunately Pei Lian lowered his head and squinted his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep, and didn't say a word. Li Shimin and Pei Lin have been colleagues for many years, so they naturally know each other's thoughts: this 'little thing' cannot shake Li Jiancheng's status in Li Yuan's mind, and the current Datang needs to work hard to the outside world, and it is not the time to hold accountable.

"The minister seconded the proposal!" "The minister seconded the proposal!"

After Chen Shuda came out, Dou Wei and Liu Wenjing stood up and agreed, the two of them are now Li Jiancheng's people, so they naturally want to stand for Li Jiancheng.

Xiao Yu sighed slightly in his heart, this is the connivance of the dispute between the son-in-law, as the so-called upward and downward effect, since the five of the six phases of the 'political affairs hall' were attached to Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, the following civil and military officials have followed suit, although it has not developed to the point where one side supports and the other party must oppose it, but many policies that benefit the country and the people have been delayed and canceled because of the party's unity and difference.

Although the courtiers below have little power, they are also ministers, and their strength is gathered together, and they can still turn the river and the sea, there is no way, because if the party they rely on is defeated, and the other party inherits the great cause, if they are dissatisfied with the petty officials, then they will not be able to live, and because of this, the courtiers below are fighting quite hard.

But they are these high-ranking and powerful ministers, although they stand in line, they are not afraid at all, because they are the prime minister of the "political hall", no matter who is in power, their status will not be too threatened, no matter how bad it is, it is no problem to keep the family safe. Therefore, I can look at the problem objectively.

"It's okay, this is Yecheng's ineffective intelligence, the emperor should learn from it and let them supervise the actions of Yang Tong and other core personnel at all times." For his son and the clan, Li Yuan has always been tolerant.

"Thank you, father!" Li Jiancheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yuan nodded: "What do you think of Yang Tong's expedition to Goguryeo?" ”

The Xue Liang coalition army, Tuyuhun, and Sui army were like three sharp daggers against the major arteries on the top of the head and neck of the Tang Dynasty, making Li Yuan like a fish in the throat and a thorn in the back, and it was for this reason that after Li Yuan and the Sui army ceased war, they did not hesitate to compensate the Great Sui, no longer entangled with the Great Sui, but turned around to deal with the weaker Xiao Mill.

However, the Sui army was too strong, and from time to time entered the customs to scare him, so that the Tang army never dared to let go of his hands and feet to fight a battle, and therefore, after entering the customs, Li Tang was passive everywhere, and he was bound to act and fight.

Yang Tong is now on an expedition to Goguryeo, and Li Yuan feels that his opportunity has come. Because Goguryeo is recognized as difficult to fight.

In the seventeenth year of the emperor's reign, the Great Sui attacked and destroyed the Chen State to unify the world, and the Goguryeo King Tang was very afraid when he knew it, because he took advantage of the civil strife in the Central Plains before, Goguryeo took the opportunity to annex Liaodong, and also secretly spread the autumn wave with the Eastern Turks and the Chen State to interfere in the unification war of the Central Plains Dynasty, so he was very afraid of Emperor Wen of Sui retaliating. Therefore, they built border military defense facilities, deep ditches and high fortifications, accumulated grain and grass, and reorganized the army for war.

Emperor Wen of Sui thought that he had made a decision in the world, and he did not want to raise swords and soldiers again, but only issued an edict to reprimand. The king of Goguryeo was very frightened and sent up the table to show his submission. In the second year, the new Goguryeo king Gao Yuan plundered Liaoxi, Emperor Wen of Sui was furious after hearing this, and sent Han King Yang Liang, Gao Gong, and Wang Shiji to lead a waterway army of 300,000 to conquer Goguryeo, but unfortunately God did not bless the Great Sui, the roads of the army were muddy, the grain and grass were not enough, and the water army was also destroyed by strong winds, and the Sui army had no choice but to withdraw because of the "eighteen or nineteen of the dead".

After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he briefly resumed diplomatic relations with Goguryeo. But in the seventh year of the Great Cause, when Yang Guang went out to patrol Zhuo County, he asked the Goguryeo king Gao Yuan to come to the court, and the unruly Goguryeo people directly rejected Yang Guang. Yang Guang was furious and launched the Battle of Goguryeo, and he sent 1.13 million soldiers to march in person, advancing by water, and fighting Goguryeo with great momentum. Unfortunately, Yang Guang was constantly delayed by the Goguryeo people, coupled with bad weather and lack of food and grass, more than 400,000 troops were completely annihilated south of Sashui.

In the ninth year of the Great Cause, Yang Guang once again personally conquered Goguryeo, and finally provoked Yang Xuangan to rebel, and was forced to return to China to quell the rebellion, and the second expedition to Goguryeo ended hastily. In the second year, Yang Guang raised troops to conquer Goguryeo for the third time, although Goguryeo repeatedly defeated the Sui army, but his own family background was weak, killing 10,000 enemies and losing 8,000 himself, and he couldn't hold on, so he asked for surrender. Yang Guang also got off the donkey and withdrew his troops to return to China.

In the above four Goguryeo wars, the Sui Dynasty never took advantage, although in the 'Fifth Goguryeo War', Yang Tong defeated Liaodong, but Li Yuan always believed that it was not Goguryeo that was not resistant to war. Because the main force of Goguryeo was fighting Silla in the south at that time, the Sui army had the advantage of manpower and sneak attacks.

Now the 'Sixth Battle of Goguryeo' is different, because Goguryeo took the initiative to fight this time, and they must have made full preparations, and with the prepared Goguryeo army, how could it be easy to deal with? It's not that the Goguryeo army was strong, but that they occupied the convenience of time and location, and when the Sui army got there, it was difficult to let go of their hands and feet. Although Goguryeo's strength is far inferior to before, the Sui Dynasty is not the original Sui Dynasty, so, in Li Yuan's view, the two sides will eventually fall into infinite confrontation. And this is Li Tang's God-given opportunity to dominate the world.

"Yang Tong fought the Turks, relying on cavalry, the Sui Dynasty was well-equipped, there were countless cavalry generals, and the combat power of the cavalry was not inferior to the people on the grassland, so it was naturally very fast and victorious."

Xiao Yu had participated in the battle of Goguryeo and was familiar with Goguryeo, and after he finished talking about the reasons for the victory of the Sui army on the grassland, he went on to talk eloquently: "Goguryeo is different, Goguryeo is close to the mountains and the sea, heavy rains are frequent, and the living environment is harsh and bitter cold. They drew on the advantages of our Central Plains and built a large number of fortified cities on the dangerous terrain, nine of their ten cities are close to mountains and waters, and horseback riding there is not much use, too many war horses will cause great pressure on logistics! ”

"Xiao Aiqing and I have the same opinion!" Li Yuan laughed, swept in front of everyone one by one, and then said: "In my opinion, the best way to fight Goguryeo is to advance by land and water, drag Goguryeo on the front line with the army, and then threaten the capital Pyongyang with the army. Therefore, the water army is a necessary force. However, the navy of the Sui Dynasty declined because of Yang Guang's three expeditions to Goguryeo, and Yang Tong actively formed a navy over the years, with thousands of warships. But the navy is more complex and difficult to build than the army, and if there are no unscrupulous generals to train, no amount of warships is useless. Zhang Zhenzhou, the governor of the Sui Dynasty's naval army, was only a partial general who came to Hu'er, and his ability must not be able to think of where to go, so I thought that the Sui Dynasty's naval army could not take on the heavy responsibility. The current Goguryeo may not be strong, but they have a unique geographical advantage. And he is very good at taking advantage of his own advantages, so he can only seek a decisive battle opportunity by taking one step at a time and not giving Goguryeo, who is good at defending and counterattacking, to give a chance. But in this way, the Sui army, which was ineffective, was dragged into the quagmire of war. ”

"Holy Wisdom!"

Pei Lin understood Li Yuan's thoughts, and said on the side: "Goguryeo has always wanted to turn the tables in Liaodong, but they were dragged back by Silla, so they didn't dare to act rashly, and now my Central Plains is divided, and the Sui Dynasty is only one of the many princes, Goguryeo thought that the opportunity had come, and their ambitions began to swell." The ministers thought that they saw the situation of the weak successor of the Sui Dynasty today, so they took the initiative to send troops. ”

At this time, Liu Wenjing said slowly: "It is not the first time that Goguryeo has taken advantage of the civil strife in the Central Plains. As early as the Han and Wei dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty had always owned four counties in Liaodong, including Liaoxi, Xuansu, Liaodong, and Lelang, and even Pyongyang belonged to the counties of the Han Dynasty. It is precisely because Goguryeo seriously threatens the security of Youzhou. Therefore, after the Sui Dynasty unified the world, it successively attacked Goguryeo. ”

"I participated in the Third Battle of Goguryeo of the Sui Dynasty, and I can understand why Yang Guang did not destroy Goguryeo at that time, because the Sui Dynasty was full of smoke at that time, and the imperial court already had the strength to control the population and land of Goguryeo. At that time, if Goguryeo was destroyed, it would only be cheaper for Silla and Baekje in the end, and therefore, Yang Guang knew that Goguryeo's surrender was unacceptable, but he also had to retreat from the donkey along the city. Yang Tong fought against Goguryeo, no matter what the result was, but it could also consume Goguryeo's potential, creating conditions for my Tang Dynasty to recover its homeland. The grassland peoples are all strong for a while, but Goguryeo is different, they have been inherited for nearly a thousand years, and when he has the conditions, he must annihilate them and restore them to the territory of the Han Dynasty, otherwise, this country will become a great disaster in the Central Plains of China. ”

Liu Wenjing's words moved everyone, and everyone didn't expect that he was actually considering destroying the country of Goguryeo.

"Don't worry, Zhaoren, I will definitely destroy Goguryeo." After Li Yuan solemnly promised, he asked again: "I want to know if the money and grain of the imperial court can support us to recruit another fifty or sixty thousand troops." ”

In fact, Li Tang's total strength was as high as 350,000, but Li Yuan wanted to take this opportunity to expand his army, and then pacify the Xue Liang coalition army and Nanke Xiao Milling with lightning speed. After the two sides were safe, the army was also tempered, and Li Tang also had the strength to compete with the Sui army.

However, the key to supporting the 400,000-strong army lies in the population, because the soldiers' pensions, military replenishment, combat military expenses and other issues require a large number of people to be supplied in the rear.

Generally speaking, six young and strong soldiers raising one soldier is the limit of raising soldiers, and the exploitation of the people is extremely heavy, and it is a little better to raise one out of ten, but because the production capacity is not high, it will also be very difficult.

But that's it, the 400,000 army also needs 4 million young people to support, plus these 4 million young people need to feed their families, so after they are evenly divided, the prerequisite for raising 400,000 troops is at least 10 million people.

In terms of the territory and population really controlled by the Li Tang Dynasty, raising an army of 200,000 is already the limit of five to one, but the reason why Li Tang has always retained an army of more than 300,000 is that in addition to the strong support of the Guanlong magnates, he is still risking economic collapse. Therefore, Li Yuan's decision to expand the army to 400,000 was completely crazy.

Li Yuan also knew very well that he was taking a risk, and he was also very worried in his heart, but the battle between the Sui army and Goguryeo was a godsend opportunity for Li Tang to expand his territory, and he really didn't want to miss it.

Hearing Li Yuan's intention to expand the army, not only Dugu Quan, Dou Wei, Liu Wenjing, Pei Lian, Chen Shuda, and Xiao Yu were also frightened by the six phases of the "political affairs hall", but even the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Jin king Li Shimin were also frightened.

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