It was almost afternoon, and the wind was blowing in Xiangyang, and the sky was covered with black clouds, lightning and thunder, indicating that a heavy rainstorm was coming.

"Boom."

After a burst of muffled thunder, lightning pierced the sky, and the pitch-black Taiji Palace suddenly lit up, but it soon dimmed. But this lightning also illuminated Li Yuan's face, and under the dark shadow, Li Yuan's old face looked a little eerie.

He sat in the imperial study like an old monk, and no one knew how long he had been sitting. On the imperial case in front of him, the paperweight pressed a piece of paper, on which was a handwritten letter sent by Li Xiaogong from Chungling, only a short line of words, which read: 'Li Mizhan died under the city of Wanqiu, the battle of Sui and Tang is imminent, and Wangsheng has prepared early. ’

Although the Sui army did not attack the Tang Dynasty, Li Gongxiao's note made Li Yuan feel a faint sense of despair, he didn't even know how he returned to the imperial study from the Wude Palace, he only felt that his mind was muddy,

The situation has developed to this point, Li Yuan is not only worried but desperate in his heart, and he does not feel that he still has the possibility of turning the tables. If he was still confident to compete with Yang Tong three years ago, then all the fighting spirit now has been completely dispersed with the arrival of this piece of information.

From the beginning of the failure of the Eastern Crusade, Li Yuan considered moving the capital to Chengdu and standing with Sui Wei, and Li Mi has now died in the country, and the time is not far before the south returns to Sui, the Sui army will definitely attack Li Tang next, Li Mi, who has hundreds of thousands of troops, cannot support it for two months under the offensive of the Sui army, so how long can his Li Tang dynasty support?

Li Yuan didn't know.

What made him even more desperate was that the Sui army was so strong that he didn't even have a way to deal with it.

Surrender?

Li Yuan looked at the imperial garden outside in a daze, a hideous look flashed on his face, and he would never bow his head to Yang Tong, never. But what if you don't surrender?

At this moment, a noisy sound sounded from a distance, Li Yuan stood up with a slight frown, walked outside the door, and saw someone coming quickly in the distance.

The person who came was his eldest son Li Jiancheng.

In fact, Li Jiancheng had been waiting outside the imperial study for nearly two hours, he didn't know what was going on, he only heard that his father was in a very bad mood and locked himself in the imperial study, at first he didn't dare to disturb, but he didn't dare to leave. But after so long, he broke in in with a sense of concern.

However, although Li Jiancheng did not have conclusive information, he vaguely guessed in his heart that something might have happened to Li Mi, because although the Sui army pressed the area around Chungling, it never launched an attack, and Bashu was also very calm during this time. Thinking of Zheng Yuanbi's request for help and Li Mi's initiative to attack Huainan County, I felt that it might be that there was a reversal in the war in the south, and only if Li Mi was defeated, would my father be like this. If the Sui army had been defeated, I am afraid that the joy would have been shared with others long ago, instead of being locked in the imperial study alone.

"What's wrong?" Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng, who had broken in.

Li Jiancheng hurriedly saluted and said: "Father, my son heard that you have been pondering in the study for most of the day, and I can't rest assured, so I ......."

"Let's go inside." Li Yuan was no longer in the mood to care about this, and after finishing speaking, he turned around and walked into the study, and asked the eunuchs to light the lamp, waited until they retreated, and then said worriedly: "Xiaogong asked someone to send urgent information, saying that Li Mi had died in Huaiyang, so let me hurry up and prepare for war." ”

"What?"

Li Jiancheng was taken aback, although he had already guessed that Li Mi had an accident, the news of Li Mi's death still made him difficult to accept for a while.

Who is Li Mi?

It was the leader of the rebel army who once had an army of six or seven hundred thousand, and his momentum was as great as Zhang Jiao at the end of the Han Dynasty, and after a bloody battle, he dealt a heavy blow to the prestige of the Great Sui Dynasty, thus leading one after another heroes to rise up against the Sui.

But now, the father actually said that this big man is dead?

It's no wonder that Li Jiancheng was so shocked, all because Li Tang was still in the era of manpower to transmit information, and it took a lot of time to go back, plus the battle of Sui and Wei happened too quickly and ended too suddenly, so Li Tang was still in the clouds until now, and there was no detailed process of the battle of Sui and Wei.

"It should be that we guessed before, the Sui army went south by sea and conquered the rear of Li Mi, which was dominated by Jiangdu, which made Li Mi difficult to take care of, so that he was defeated step by step, step by step."

Li Yuan glanced at Li Jiancheng and sighed deeply, this glance and a sigh have already expressed unfinished words: that is, Li Shimin first saw through the Sui army's strategy of attacking Jiangdu across the sea, and showed his heart of coldness, and asked the army of the Li Tang Dynasty to support Li Mi in any way possible, and cooperate with the attack on Jianghuai, Jingxiang, and Guanzhong to reduce Li Mi's pressure, but Li Yuan rejected it, if he listened to Li Shimin's words at that time, what would the result be?

Li Jiancheng heard his father's unfulfilled intentions, and he was blaming himself for opposing and supporting Li Mi's proposal, this attitude made him feel extremely uncomfortable, and he was silent for a while before he pleaded in a low voice: "Although the people of the world judged that the Sui army would attack Jiangdu by sea, it was only his personal inference. There is no accurate information to support his claim; And some of our soldiers are not only trained, but even weapons and equipment are not enough, we can't rush to send troops for a vacuumed inference, and the Sui army is frequently mobilized on the border, everyone thinks that the Sui army is fighting our Datang, we are too busy to take care of ourselves, how can we take the initiative to send troops? As for Zheng Yuanbi's invitation, who dares to guarantee that this is not Li Mi deliberately provoking the battle of the Sui and Tang Dynasties in order to survive? ”

Li Yuan also realized that his mentality at that time, as well as the difficulties faced by the imperial court, really could not put the blame on the dutiful eldest son, which was really unfair to him, so he said: "You are right, we can't make an inference, and let the demoralized and underequipped army take the initiative to attack the Sui Dynasty, if we do that, maybe we will be defeated now, I don't regret the original decision, but what should we do now?" ”

Li Jiancheng also thought about this question for a long time, and said after a moment: "Father, the reason why Li Mi was defeated so quickly was because his army was divided into two by Huaishui, and the end could not be connected, if he gave up Huaibei and Jianghuai early, and decisively retreated to the south of the Yangtze River, maybe he could really bully people and force Lin Shihong and Meng Haigong to surrender in a real way, so as to realize the dream of dividing the river and ruling it, but unfortunately, not only did he not do it thoroughly, but also provoked Yang Tong, which led to the end of the country's ruin. We should take this as a warning. ”

"Father, Li Mi won't talk about it, isn't the battle of Guanzhong a living example? Shimin had more than 200,000 troops in the Hehuang area at that time, and he had already swept all of Xue Ju's territory at this time, as long as he was stable and did not move, he could get more plates, more grain and grass and war horses for us, but because of an accident in Chang'an, he had to take the risk to return to the division, and the result was not only unable to save Chang'an, but he fell into Yang Dong's plan and was annihilated by Li Jing outside the Sanguan. ”

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Li Yuan's chest rose and fell violently a few times, and his face became very ugly.

Li Jiancheng glanced at his father, but was not intimidated by his father's stern eyes, and then said: "Erchen feels that our current situation is very similar to the battle of Guanzhong and Li Mi, and the only way for us now is to concentrate all the troops, twist them into a powerful force, find an opportunity for a decisive battle with the Sui army, and defeat the Sui army all the way or even several soldiers and horses, so that we can have a chance to survive." If we scatter the army in this way, we will definitely be defeated by the Sui army, and then we will be truly powerless. ”

"Take the Hanshui defense line as an example, it is too long, although there are armies everywhere to defend, but on the other hand, it is weak everywhere, everywhere is the front line, everywhere can not be defended, our army is so scattered, it can't form a fist at all, once the Sui army concentrates heavy troops to contain one or two places, you can send an army to break one place, directly under the city of Xiangyang. The soldiers and horses distributed on the Hanshui defense line still had to abandon all parts of the country, and then return to Xiangyang. If you can't keep it, why continue to perpetuate your mistakes? ”

Li Yuan's stern color gradually faded, and he couldn't help but nodded, Li Jiancheng's words spoke to his heart, there were not many elite soldiers in the Tang Dynasty, but they were wasted in many places, resulting in a pitiful number of troops that could be mobilized at any time.

He let out a long sigh and said, "I understand what you mean, that is, to move the capital to Chengdu, right?" ”

"It is precisely by moving the capital, and only by keeping the capital away from the front can the armies have no worries and fight without distractions. If we retreat into Bashu, we will be in a position where it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the offensive and defensive momentum will completely achieve a great reversal, forming a suppressive trend for the Sui Dynasty. Even if we can't attack Yongliang in the future, we can attack Jingzhou and Yangzhou along the river, Qin annihilates Chu and Cheng destroys Chen, isn't that the best example? Li Jiancheng said.

Li Yuan frowned and said: "Before, just a temptation caused chaos in the government and the opposition, if we really decide to move the capital, I'm afraid the chaos will be even better than last year." ”

"As long as the news of Li Mi's defeat comes, those who have insight will know that joining forces and moving troops is the best policy, and it is also the only choice for my Datang." Li Jiancheng said: "Didn't my father already decide to deal with the Guanlong nobles? Erchen felt that this was an opportunity. As the saying goes, adversity sees the truth, and the discussion of moving the capital just distinguishes who sincerely supports the imperial court and who has different aspirations. ”

Li Yuan pondered for a while, and also felt that Li Jiancheng's method was good, and he could take the opportunity to test the hearts of many civil and military and family lords, and those who supported the relocation of the capital were naturally loyal ministers who really thought about me, and those who opposed it were undoubtedly people who were looking forward to the Sui Dynasty, and it was clear which was loyal and which was treacherous. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this method was wonderful, and it could achieve multiple results with one stone, so he smiled and said, "The emperor's method is really good." But I'm a little worried. ”

"Please make it clear to my father." Li Jiancheng bowed respectfully.

"In addition to the reason that the emperor said before, there is another reason, think about it carefully, even if it is not a sneak attack by the Sui army across the sea, he should not be able to go far."

"But why?"

"Li Mi's Wei State was inherited from Wagang, and his foundation was in the Central Plains, but he turned to Jiangnan. Therefore, even if he killed Li Zitong and Shen Faxing, he would never get the support of the Jiangnan Shi clan, and we first got the support of the Guanlong nobles to sit firmly in Guanzhong. Li Mi is like a rootless duckweed, how can he be undefeated? ”

Li Jiancheng heard the words of his father, and was worried that he would have to compromise with the nobles of Guanlong, which would lead to a lot of hard work in vain, so he hurriedly said: "That's the case. But when he annihilated the Jiangnan Shi clan, wasn't it a one-shot thing? Afterwards, he divided the land equally, and immediately won the hearts of the people in Jiangnan, which shows that the people are the fundamental, although the Jiangnan Shi clan is famous, it has no impact on the rule of Wei, if Li Mi does it a day earlier, he will not waste a lot of time to deal with the Jiangnan Shi clan. After all, the Guanlong nobles are only a few, as long as we win the hearts of the people with our fields, we can still sit firmly in Bashu. ”

Li Yuan nodded again and again, "It's very well said, and it makes me deeply inspired." ”

Li Jiancheng continued: "Erchen still has a word, I hope my father can consider it." ”

"You say!"

"Because there are hundreds of years of division between the north and the south in the world, so the north is the world of the Hu people, and the south is the world of the Han people, resulting in the north and the south not recognizing each other, and because of the continuous war, the hatred between the two sides is further deepened, although the Sui Dynasty unified the world, but the Sui Dynasty is still dominated by the Guanlong nobles with Xianbei blood, it is because the southerners do not recognize this court, resulting in continuous changes in the south, but after decades of running-in, especially Yang Guang's policy of supporting the Han and suppressing the Hu, the contradiction between the north and the south has become a dispute of interests from the Hu and Han disputes."

"Go on!" Li Yuan was very interested.

Li Jiancheng continued: "Erchen has dealt with government affairs for so many years, and has had in-depth discussions with Xiao Xiangguo and Chen Xiangguo on the issue of the division between the north and the south many times. According to them, due to the large yield and high price of rice, many Guanlong nobles occupied a large amount of fertile land in Jiangnan in those years, thus forming countless estates. Many of the declining Shi clan or local powerful land was also occupied by them using Taotian's power, and the Jiangnan Shi clan did not have any prominent figures in the court, so they were often at a disadvantage, and the land dispute was a battle of interests, in fact, the business of Jiangdu was also fought over by the Guanlong nobles and the Jiangnan Shi clan. And Bashu compared to Jiangnan, there is no big man who can speak, so the situation of the Bashu family is worse than Jiangnan, if we destroy the Guanlong nobles, Xu Bashu family Haoqiang will be beneficial, they will support my Tang Dynasty, can let the court quickly gain a foothold in Bashu, the court has an army in hand, and the people who have obtained the land as the base, are you afraid of the Bashu Haoqiang? ”

Li Yuan was immediately worried, nodded and said, "Okay, let the news of the relocation of the capital out, and then let the Wuchuan Division supervise everywhere and record the remarks of an opponent." Tomorrow morning, the DPRK will officially decide to move the capital. ”

Li Jiancheng said solemnly: "The sons obey the order. ”

。。。。。。。。。。。。

Dusk of the same day.

It is rumored in Taiji Palace that the Tang Emperor decided to use Chengdu as the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and will soon tour Bashu in the west, and the crown prince Li Jiancheng will supervise the country. This news immediately caused a sensation in Xiangyang City, the emperor's patrol has been a major event in the world since ancient times, and the patrol at the time of the national disaster is actually the meaning of escape. Li Yuan had the ambition to move the capital to Chengdu last year, and he released this rumor at this time.

In between, why? It already goes without saying.

So when the news came out and was guided by some people, the whole Xiangyang was full of discussions, and many people were panicked and anxious about the future of Datang; There were also many people who secretly rejoiced that they were able to get rid of the rule of this dynasty.