"Hahahaha, good, what a Yelang arrogant Yelang King." Xiangyang Changping County County, Li Shimin, who had a blue nose and swollen face, laughed so much that tears flowed out, he never expected that he was dedicated to Tang, but his father actually gave him a Yelang King.

Li Jiancheng, who came to issue the decree, persuaded, "Second brother, my father is just angry for a while, and when he is angry, sooner or later he will give the second brother justice." ”

Li Shimin wiped his tears and laughed at himself: "When the ancient country of Yelang was strong, there were still more than 100,000 or 200,000 strong soldiers, and it was actually good for my father to call me the king of Yelang, if I was to be the county guard of Yelang, it would really be a good match." ”

Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly and comforted: "I know it's not that the second brother is incompetent, it's that Dugu Yanyun is too cunning. In the case of filial piety, I am afraid that I would not have expected that the rebels would break the embankment twenty miles away. ”

"Failure is failure, be recognized. My father didn't kill me, he was already extrajudicial. Li Shimin was silent for a moment and said: "Big brother, whether it is Liu Hongji's defeat or the water attack plan, Yang Tong's combat style is everywhere, and I suspect that the Beizhen Army has already surrendered to Sui." ”

"What?" Li Jiancheng was stunned: "Are you saying that the main general is not Dugu Yanyun, but Yang Tong?" ”

Li Shimin groaned: "It's definitely not Yang Dong, but the general under Yang Dong." ”

Li Jiancheng asked solemnly: "Is there any evidence?" ”

"I have no proof." Li Shimin shook his head, and then said: "The combat style is one thing, the main thing is that Dugu Yanyun didn't do anything before, but yesterday he defeated Liu Hongji outside the city first, and flooded the army at night, since he had already thought of a more vicious flood plan, why go out of the city to fight Liu Hongji, this is very unreasonable." ”

"You mean... The chief general of the Sui army has just arrived, and he needs to fight a few more battles to win Liwei? ”

"yes, that's what I thought. So big brother must be careful. ”

"I understand, and I'll tell my father the news immediately." Li Jiancheng nodded and asked, "Do you want the second brother to go back to Beijing with me?" ”

"Nope. I have no shame to face my father, and I guess my father doesn't want to see me. Li Shimin said: "I'll go to Yizhou by myself, Mingxiu and their mother and son still have to worry about the eldest brother." ”

"Second brother, don't worry, I will arrange for my younger siblings." After saying a few more words to Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng left in a hurry.

Sending Li Jiancheng away, Li Shimin returned to the backyard of the county government and locked himself in the study, where he didn't see anyone or eat, just meditated alone, as if he had attained the Tao as a monk.

He is thinking about the future of the Tang Dynasty, and he is also thinking about his own fate, the eldest brother said that his father entered Shu first, which is like a mirror, reflecting the essence of appeasement and cowardice, 'Yelang King' is to reflect his father's hatred and murderous intentions for him, and the seal of the county guard is to seize all his military power.

In the face of such a father and emperor, in the face of such a dynasty, Li Shimin felt deeply desperate.

Today's Tang army no longer has war horses, and the Tuyuhun people have cut off trade under the threat of the Sui Dynasty, and the war horses of Tubo are far inferior to the Hequ horses.

If the army does not have war horses, it is equivalent to the loss of the most powerful military force of the Tang Dynasty, and without the backing of a strong army, can it still be expected to retreat to a corner of Yizhou? Definitely not, Yang Tong is a generation of heroes, and he will never allow the existence of forces against him in the world.

Li Shimin is now only full of despair for his father, and he is even more disgusted for what happened to him, his father's removal of his Shangshu Order and all military positions is just the beginning, and the title of 'Yelang King' is actually a blow to his prestige in the army, making him a laughing stock in order to take back military power.

If he is like the eldest brother and acts according to the will of his father in everything, the main battle faction of the Tang Dynasty will disappear completely, and the Datang, which is ruled by a group of surrender factions, will die within a year!

"Your Highness, humble Yin Kaishan to ask to see." At this time, Yin Kaishan's voice came from outside the door.

"Mr. Yin, please come in!" Li Shimin said.

Yin Kaishan saw that there were still tears in the corners of his eyes, and asked suspiciously, "Your Highness, what happened?" ”

"It's nothing, I feel very uncomfortable when I think that ninety percent of the soldiers are gone like this." Li Shimin hurriedly covered up the reason for his crying.

After a pause, Yin Kaishan asked again: "I heard that His Royal Highness has been removed from Shang Shuling and his military position. ”

"More than that." Li Shimin saw that he knew, and he didn't hide it, and said bitterly: "My father also demoted me to the rank of Yelang King, which is a contemptuous title, and he wants to take this opportunity to attack my prestige in order to take back the military and political power." ”

Yin Kaishan saw that he was in a low mood, so he comforted: "Maybe the Holy Lord can't accept the loss of the army, so he is a little angry, Your Highness doesn't have to think too much." It is also possible that the prince is obstructing it. ”

"I used to have a fight with my eldest brother, but we never harmed the interests of Datang; Now that the Tang Dynasty is in danger, there are many people who want to rebel, and after all, I am the most prestigious person in the royal family, I can deter some Xiaoxiao, and the royal family also needs to have a strong person in charge, at this time, the eldest brother will never use the 'Yelang King' to hit me. So he won't fall into the trap, and he can't influence his father's decision. The root cause is still the father. ”

Li Shimin smiled bitterly: "The battle for military power between our father and son has always existed, and my father can tolerate our brother for anything, but no one can touch the military power; After the rebellion of the Guanlong nobles, the father and emperor now don't believe in anyone. The eldest brother has been at his mercy like a puppet for so many years, but as a result, didn't Li Junxian be transferred out of the eldest brother's command? I have more influence in the army than anyone else, and my father is afraid that I will not be controlled, so he wants to take away my military power. I know my father better than anyone else, he is generous and kind on the surface, but in fact, he is more selfish than anyone else, and his heart is smaller than anyone else. ”

Yin Kaishan nodded, Li Shimin's mind was in his expectation, the eldest brother, who was the eldest son, was now deprived of all military rights, and Li Shimin, as a brother, did not feel that the opportunity had come, but was sincerely afraid, which showed that he had indeed seen through his father.

"Shengshang Taoguang has been obscure for dozens of years, and finally tasted the dessert of imperial power, so he attaches great importance to imperial power, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is old, not only mastering the Tang Dynasty politics, but also being unanimously loved by civil officials and the people, but also has his own army. The prince is in power in the military and government, and with the support of the people, he is just one step away from ascending the throne. Yin Kaishan said: "Your Highness, do you still remember the time when the crown prince had the highest prestige and the strongest strength? During those days, the saint was always 'sick', and he threw all the major affairs of the court to the prince, and now he thinks about it for the prince, and the saint hides a very deep scheming. ”

"It's also the eldest brother, if it were me, even a hundred heads would not be enough to cut off ......" Li Shimin did not accuse Yin Kaishan of rebellious words, if he was so hypocritical that he couldn't even tolerate such words, then he would not be Li Shimin, and sighed: "It was also during that time that my power was known at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. ”

The conversation box opened, and Li Shimin, who was depressed in his heart, was out of control: "If the eldest brother is a puppet, then I am a chess piece used by my father to restrain my eldest brother, and now my father has Yuanji, a more obedient chess piece, and I don't need this disobedient chess piece." ”

Yin Kaishan pondered for a moment and said: "Your Highness, forgive me for saying a disrespectful word, the rebellion of the Guanlong nobles is just the beginning of the civil strife, and the bigger storm has just begun. ”

Li Shimin asked, "Mr. is talking about Yuanji?" ”

Yin Kaishan nodded, and said worriedly: "Everything the King of Chu is doing now is to gain the trust of the saint, on the surface he cares about everything, but in fact, he relies on the trust of the saint, step by step, little by little to get the military power, this time the saint put him in charge of liquidating the Guanlong nobles in Yizhou, and he will definitely take the opportunity to grow." Both the crown prince and His Royal Highness put the interests of the Tang Dynasty first, but he won't. ”

"This ......" Li Shimin was completely stunned like thunder.

"The prince is too generous to keep the Tang Dynasty; The King of Chu is ruthless, and he can't hold it, only His Royal Highness is the guardian of the Tang Dynasty and the only hope for the revival of the Tang Dynasty. ”

Yin Kaishan is undoubtedly a master who can see through human nature, he first took advantage of the bitterness in Li Shimin's heart, ruthlessly tore apart Li Shimin's expectations for Li Yuan, and then threw the moral halo of 'Tang Dynasty Revival' to Li Shimin in time, under the illumination of this halo, Li Shimin's ambition swelled unfettered.

He was silent for a long time and said: "Mr. is right, my Datang is now suffering from internal and external troubles, if I don't bear this burden, who can bear it?" For the sake of Datang Sheji, I decided to let go this time, what does Mr. think I should do now? ”

"I suggest that His Highness take the first step to gather the army of his descendants and move to Michang County."

"Why did you go to Tangchang? If I don't go to Chengdu, won't it be cheaper? ”

"Your Highness, someone must do the wicked, since His Royal Highness the King of Chu is willing, then why is His Highness not happy? Under the pretext of fighting against the Sui army in Liangzhou and recovering Hehuang, His Royal Highness firmly occupied the five counties of Danchang, Tongchang, Wudu, Shunzheng and Pingwu, and bought good horses with the foreign races in the west, developed silently, and then added fuel to the fire in Chengdu, which was the imperial capital. Yin Kaishan smiled.

Li Shimin understood Yin Kaishan's meaning very well, pondered for a long time, and finally sighed: "According to Mr. Yan's words, let's go to Tangchang." As for the possible fight between the eldest brother and Yuanji, I don't bother to care. It's just that my soldiers are almost gone. ”

"Isn't there still sixty or seventy thousand people in Yiling?"

"This ......" Li Shimin frowned and said, "Will the Nanjun Sui Army take advantage of the weakness?" ”

"The humble position does not mean that all the troops in Yiling will be withdrawn now, but let His Highness go to Yiling to discuss with Hou Junji first, strengthen his position, and wait until the Holy Lord enters Yizhou, and then let the generals transfer the army."

"Well, then I'll go to Tangchang to be a Taishou first. Yu Zhining, Duan Zhixuan, and Liu Hongji asked Mr. to contact him. ”

"Obedience." Yin Kaishan didn't persuade him again, it was not easy for Li Shimin to be willing to take this step, if he really didn't want to participate in the future internal fighting in Chengdu, it wouldn't hurt. As long as there is an army, it can respond to all changes with the same and can enter Chengdu at any time.

。。。。。。。

With a new decision, Li Shimin's decadent aura was swept away and he became energetic. Without a little delay, he took away half of the defenders of Changping County on the same day. At the same time, he also wrote to Li Yuan, saying that if war broke out in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Sui army on the Lintao and Hanyang sides would inevitably be the first to send troops, because that was the closest place for the Sui Dynasty to Shu County, where Chengdu was located, so it was necessary to build a strong defense in Tangchang.

Li Shimin's this is completely a prelude to the first and then the prelude, but he has no longer cares, only while the holy decree to depose him has not yet been transmitted to Yizhou, he can successfully collect the troops and money and food of the counties on the way.

According to the pre-plan, after Li Shimin arrived in Yiling, he first had a showdown with Hou Junji and other generals, took away 30,000 monks and soldiers who had no worries, and then turned around and headed westward, collecting half of the soldiers, horses, money and food in each county, and leading tens of thousands of troops to march towards Danchang County.