There are six major factions in the Li Tang military, one is Li Shimin's Qi Wang faction, in addition to the army he commands, there are also the defenders of Xicheng County, about 100,000, if it is even the county soldiers led by the generals of the descendants scattered in various places, the number is not less than 150,000; The other faction is Li Xiaogong's Bashu Jingxiang faction, which also has about 100,000 people, and is called the main force of the princeling faction by people familiar with the matter.

These two factions not only constituted the main force of the Tang army, but also the existence of Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin in the army, but due to Li Xiaogong's disastrous defeat in Xiangcheng County and his deposition as a citizen, they disappeared and ceased to exist on the surface. But everyone knows that Li Xiaogong's influence on the south is especially strong, as long as the army is reorganized, it will not erase the traces of Li Xiaogong, and then it will still be Li Jiancheng's princely faction.

Secondly, there are four medium factions, one is the prince's army directly controlled by Li Jiancheng, with about 30,000 people, then Li Shentong's Guanzhong faction, Li Yuanji's new army, and finally Chai Shao's Conglong faction. Of the four factions, except for Chai Shao, who is responsible for Li Yuan's Conglong faction, the rest are Li Jiancheng's forces, but the troops are not many.

In addition to these six factions in the Li Tang military, there is also the Yuan Cong Forbidden Army directly controlled by Li Yuan, whose status is equivalent to Yang Dong's Xiaoguo Fifth Army, and it only obeys Li Yuan's orders.

As the emperor, Li Yuan is not disgusted with this factional dispute, and is even happy to see it, because the division of the courtiers is the core meaning of the emperor's mental tricks, and the courtiers can only realize the importance of the emperor for the survival of their own faction and political enemies, they can realize the importance of the emperor, and will obediently listen to the emperor's words and strive for the emperor's support, so that there is no further heart, and finally the emperor sits firmly on the throne of the dragon chair.

Li Shimin asked for more troops this time, and Li Tang only had two sources of troops: one was to draw from the prince's faction, and the other was to recruit new soldiers, but now recruiting new soldiers can no longer solve the urgent need, so if Li Yuan agrees to Li Shimin's request, he can only withdraw Li Jiancheng's prince's faction.

And the reason why he didn't immediately agree to Xiao Yu's increase in troops was not only because of his own concerns, but also because he knew that if he wanted to increase his troops, he must also get the support of the crown prince Li Jiancheng, which was also a tacit understanding between the monarch and the minister. And this kind of thing is not clear, you can only slowly go around in circles and persuade the other party with some high-sounding reasons, and this is the essence of politicians, what you say on the stage is always just an excuse, and in the end you can only understand the truth of the matter through the results.

Li Jiancheng walked into the imperial study and gave a deep salute: "The son sees his father!" ”

Li Yuan motioned for Li Jiancheng to be flat, and asked with a smile, "How is the mood of filial piety?" ”

Li Jiancheng smiled: "Xiaogong knows a series of evil consequences brought about by his defeat, and also understands the difficulties of his father, and there is no difference in the punishment of his father, and he plans to study the military book behind closed doors, meditate and sort out his military career experience, and hope that one day he will be able to make meritorious contributions to my Tang Dynasty." ”

"There will be a day." Li Yuan was greatly relieved, and said with a smile: "Filial piety forgives and retreats, there is no arrogance and self-defeating, and I can understand my suffering, I am deeply grateful, I hope that all my Li clan relatives can be like Xiaogong, and think more about me and the imperial court, instead of being high-minded, not listening to the words of my subordinates, let alone setting up eagles and lackeys all day long, and wasting a good time." I'm going to get together with them in a few days and have a good talk. ”

"My father has this idea, which is really the blessing of my Tang Dynasty and the luck of the Li family."

Since the Jinyang army, Li Yuan in line with the principle of using the commander only the clan, the members of the Li Tang clan have become the commanders of the army, but these people's military ability is large and small, basically at the middle and lower level, few outstanding, therefore, Li Xiaogong, who has outstanding military talent, has become one of the two commanders of the Tang army, leading the Tang army to attack cities and seize land, and capture one state and county after another. If the Li clan can take Li Xiaogong as an example to demand themselves, it is indeed a blessing for the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Li Jiancheng greatly agreed with Li Yuan's attitude.

The father and son chatted a few words about the clan gathering, and Li Yuan's topic turned to the current situation, and he sighed slightly and said: "Our army's eastern crusade is unfavorable, and the filial piety of the Eastern Route Army will not be said, and the people of the world have worked hard to destroy Wang Shichong, and finally forced to give up Luoyang, which has just arrived, and Yang Tong is not to mention, he is still in a disadvantageous situation." Although he was not fundamentally injured on his side, Lian Zhen was depressed, not to mention the generals in the army, and the situation was very unfavorable for us. ”

"Did the father decide to withdraw the army, or continue to fight?" This is also the mainstream thought of Xiangyang, and Li Jiancheng's question is obviously not abrupt, and it also covers up the fact that he has a secret relationship with Li Shimin. In fact, at this critical moment, their brothers don't want to communicate like thieves, but once their brothers show closeness, I'm afraid their old father will have trouble eating and lodging.

Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng with burning eyes: "Your second brother has the idea of withdrawing the army, but I am unwilling to give up like this, if I give up without fighting, it will be difficult for me to explain to the people of the world; But the problem is that there is no certainty of victory, your second brother wants me to increase my troops appropriately, 30,000 or 40,000 is enough, does the emperor think it is feasible? I want to hear from you. ”

At this point, Li Jiancheng already knew that Li Yuan still had the intention of fighting again, he was silent for a moment, and finally did not say the sentence 'What if the whole army is wiped out again'. Because he also understands his father's helplessness and difficulties, the government and the opposition are extremely dissatisfied with his father and the court, and his father is very eager to have a victory.

He didn't dare to attack his father's speculative heart, let alone say that he would not increase his troops, otherwise if Li Shimin lost, he would definitely put the responsibility on himself.

But he can't just come down at once, then his personal power in the army will be weakened, and it will help Li Shimin, a political enemy, to be powered, and more importantly, if he agrees to come down, the result is still a failure, and he will also share the responsibility for the failure, because Li Shimin will say that he has decided to resist the order and withdraw the army, but because of the arrival of Li Jiancheng's reinforcements, he has a sense of luck, and finally there is a war, and the result of defeat.

Therefore, whether to increase the number of troops or not is definitely a difficult choice for Li Jiancheng, but fortunately, he received Liu Wenjing's letter early and discussed it with his staff all night, so he was prepared.

"Father, the most worrying thing for the sons is not the Central Plains battlefield, but the worry that Yang Tong will drag our main force in Hongnong, and then he will let Xue Wanjun attack Xiyang from Shangluo, let Wei Chigong attack Xicheng from Hanchuan, and let Wang Fubao attack Wudu from Hanyang; It is even said that Xiao Milling troops will be mobilized to go out of Nanjun and attack Yiling and Jingling to directly deter Xiangyang. If this is the case, how can we resist when our troops are empty? ”

Li Jiancheng looked at Li Yuan and said seriously: "The Sui Dynasty is full of arrogance, not only has the ambition to launch a full-scale war, but also has the strength, so we can't expect our enemies to honestly follow the rhythm of our Tang Dynasty." Father, Yang Tong himself is an unreasonable figure, and there is a group of high-minded people around him to give advice, he can't think of it. ”

"I really didn't think about it......"

Li Yuan was also moved, Yang Tong had the strength to eliminate Li Tang, making it possible to sneak attack Li Tang's interior.

Li Jiancheng then talked about the matter: "Even if the Sui army responsible for the sneak attack can't capture a county or a county, but as long as they are in the city, this is also a great blow to the Western Route Army, our Tang Army is already afraid of the Sui army, once the morale of the army is in chaos, the second brother can only be forced to retreat in a panic, and the result of the Sui army's elite cavalry pursuit is that we will inevitably lose miserably." If the people of the world end up with filial piety, my Datang will be in danger...... And Erchen thinks that Yang Tong will not give us another chance. ”

Li Yuan's face couldn't help but tremble, and Li Jiancheng's serious words reminded him of the unbearable past of leaving Chang'an in embarrassment. Now that even the eldest son does not support himself to go to the decisive battle, let alone the Chinese martial arts, he looked at Li Jiancheng's almost pleading face with trepidation, his backbone seemed to be broken, and after a long time, Li Yuan's face showed a look of disappointment: "So, the emperor supports the withdrawal of troops?" ”

Li Jiancheng shook his head, "Erchen means to let the reinforcements out of Zhuyang Pass, not necessarily to participate in the war, mainly to suppress the Sui army's troops, to give the Sui army an illusion of attacking Shangluo Luonan with all its might, so that Xue Wanjun's Sixth Army will not dare to act rashly, and the second brother will go to the west of the three enemies, so that at least there is a thirty percent chance of victory than now." Thinking about the worst side, once the second brother is defeated, he can immediately respond to the defeated division, and at the same time, he can quickly take over the defense of Zhuyang Pass and Waiwu Pass, and resist the Sui army outside Xiyang County. This is the true thoughts of the sons, I don't know what the father thinks? ”

Li Yuan's heart was pounding, but after thinking about it, he suddenly felt that Li Jiancheng was afraid that his power would be eaten by Li Shimin.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan was suddenly furious, when has this been, it is a matter of the future of Datang, but the two brothers are intriguing regardless of the overall situation.

The Li brothers are not harmonious, in addition to the fact that they all have thoughts about the Supreme Throne, in fact, it has a lot to do with Li Yuan's overt or covert provocation, but when it comes to the critical moment, Li Yuan hopes that their brothers will abandon their previous suspicions and work together to control the enemy, such a mentality is completely the same as 'I hope the horse runs, but I don't want the horse to eat grass'.

However, anger is annoyance, but Li Yuan is helpless: Li Xiaogong's fiasco has weakened the power of the prince's army to an incredible extent, and Li Shimin's dominance in the army has made Li Jiancheng very uneasy, so this decision is already Li Jiancheng's biggest concession, if he does not agree, I am afraid that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will come to ask for the withdrawal of troops.

As soon as he thought of this, Li Yuan had another thought: Could it be that the people of the world asked for more troops, but this idea could not be achieved? If the people of the world devoured the built army, who else could restrain him? I'm afraid I can't join forces with myself.

This thought will never linger for a lifetime, and it will be firmly entrenched in Li Yuan's mind like a magic spell, and then Huo Ran said: "What the emperor said is very reasonable, everything will be done according to what you say." ”

"Erchen Bao's third brother Yuanji is the main general, and he led 30,000 elite horsemen under his command to support the second brother." Li Jiancheng is cautious, he is worried that the generals with foreign surnames will lead the troops to go, and it is very likely that Li Shimin will find a reason to kill people and seize power, with the decisiveness and viciousness of the second brother, he will definitely do this kind of thing, and there will be no such terrible result if he is replaced by Yuanji.

Li Yuan pondered for a long time, frowned and shook his head: "Yuan Ji is not appropriate, it is better to change the main general to lead the troops." ”

The reinforcements were indeed just to strengthen the momentum and contain the Shangluo Sui army, but Li Yuan was worried that the situation would suddenly change, and when Li Shimin needed support, Li Yuanji would most likely ignore Li Shimin, resulting in the defeat of the Western Route Army; He was also worried that when the situation was good, Li Yuanji disregarded Li Shimin's reasonable arrangements in order to compete for merit, and turned the battle from victory to defeat.

It is said that knowing the son Mo Ruo's father, this is not true at all, Li Yuan knows Li Yuanji's temperament, and naturally he will not agree with Li Jiancheng's suggestion.

"Who does the father think is more suitable?" His father's opposition also made Li Jiancheng a little helpless, but when he thought about the ability of the generals under his command, he suddenly found that he had no more suitable candidates, and those who were capable were all generals with foreign surnames, and this kind of person could be killed by Li Shimin; Li Shimin didn't dare to kill the people who lacked ability, so he simply generously let Li Yuan determine the main general.

"Do you really want me to determine the main general?" Li Yuan smiled, with a bit of meaning on his face.

"Erchen doesn't have the slightest opinion!" The words have been spoken, and Li Jiancheng is not allowed to regret it at all, so he answered this very frankly. He believed that he had done it all, and his father would never go too far.

Li Yuan was extremely relieved in his heart, and said with a smile: "The emperor is actually the best candidate. ”

"Huh?" Li Jiancheng was taken aback, his face full of incredulity.

Li Yuan enjoyed the courtier's shocked expression very much, and asked with a smile, "No confidence? ”

In fact, Li Jiancheng is also an excellent heir to the throne in Li Yuan's heart, and his status in the Tang Dynasty has always been higher than Li Shimin. What makes Li Yuan most pleased is the elegance shown by the eldest son in the face of great rights and wrongs, but this alone cannot make the eldest son feel cold, and more importantly, Li Shimin's dominance in the army makes Li Yuan a little uneasy, and he naturally does not want Li Shimin to take the opportunity to become bigger.

Li Jiancheng settled down and said frankly: "It's not that he doesn't have confidence, the key is that Erchen has no experience in leading the army alone, let alone dealing with major military incidents, for fear that he will not be able to correctly judge the battle situation at a critical moment and make a decision to delay the fighter." If it was peacetime, the sons would naturally not object to anything from their father, but this battle was very important, and it was a battle that they couldn't afford to lose, and the sons really didn't dare to ......."

"It's true that you don't have experience leading the army, but how did you forget about filial piety?"

"Hyo-gong?"

"yes!" Li Yuan said with a smile: "You see Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan, Niu Jinda, Wei Chigong and other generals under Yang Tong, which one is not used out of the ordinary?" ”

"Can it still be like this?? Is this really okay? Li Jiancheng was dumbfounded.

"Of course, although he was deposed by me as a citizen, I didn't say that I would never hire him. It is reasonable for you, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, to promote talents from the people, and it has nothing to do with me. ”

"......" Li Jiancheng unexpectedly found himself speechless, and there was only one echoing thought in his heart: since ancient times, the formulator of the system is the master who plays with the laws of the country, and in front of his father, he is still tender.

After staying for a long time, Li Jiancheng stopped mentioning this matter, and changed the topic: "Father, the specific plan for recruiting troops has been handed over to the Ministry of War, and I hope that my father will approve the implementation." ”

Increasing troops is also an imminent matter for the Li Tang Dynasty, the Tang army is not as good at fighting as the Sui army, the key is that the number of troops is not as good as others, this national situation, so that the court feels huge pressure, especially the Tang army was embarrassed when the Sui army was raided by the Sui army, so that every minister's heart is heavy, and everyone realizes that the army must be expanded.

It's strange enough to say, Li Xiaogong is obviously fighting on his own soil, but he feels like a lone army fighting in a foreign country. If the Tang Dynasty had enough troops to sit on the border, then Li Xiaogong's withdrawal would have at least someone who could help him, and the result might not have been so badly defeated.

Now a consensus has been reached on the withdrawal of troops in the short term, but Li Shimin's request for an increase of 300,000 troops has discouraged many ministers, who believe that the imperial court cannot bear such a large military expenditure for a long time, but Li Tang Junchen finally reached a compromise, first recruit 100,000 young and strong for emergency training, and then gradually increase the number of troops within two years, so that the 'standing army' of the Li Tang Dynasty increased to 400,000.

Of course, Li Yuan knew the serious consequences of insufficient troops, and he immediately said to Li Jiancheng: "I will approve the recruitment plan today, you go and prepare for the birth first!" ”

"The retainers retired."

"Your requisition of filial piety must be kept secret, I hope he can surprise Yang Tong."

"Whoa!"

……

Li Yuan immediately appointed the crown prince Li Jiancheng as the second route marshal of the Western Expeditionary Army, the general of the Left Guard, and the general of the hussars, and led 40,000 cavalry out of Xiangyang to urgently aid the Hongnong Tang Army, which added a few variables to the Central Plains campaign.

vertex