In the Tang army camp on the north bank of the Wei River, Tang Shang Shuling, Yongzhou Mu, and Qin King Li Shimin were training soldiers and horses.

Although he was only in his early twenties, he had already been on the battlefield, and he had fought several times as the commander of large armies.

Just a year ago, Li Shimin independently commanded the Tang army and wiped out one of the great rivals of the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop - Xue Ju and Xue Rengao of Jinzhou.

In the battle with the Xue clan of Jinzhou, Datang absorbed a large number of talents into the imperial court, not only opening up the trade route to the Western Regions, but also absorbing strategic resources such as horse ranches and mines in Longyou.

At this time, the Tang Dynasty was still in the war years, and the first war was won, and the national strength was greatly supplemented.

Li Shimin, the commander of the Tang Dynasty who won the war, has been famous since then! Therefore, Li Yuan personally appointed him as the pastor of Yongzhou and established a large camp on the north bank of the Wei River, where the recruits recruited by the entire Tang Dynasty were trained first and then marched to the battlefield.

It can be seen that Li Shimin's talent has won the full trust of his father, Li Yuan. The disastrous defeat of the Tang army in Hedong made Li Shimin deeply ashamed and sad, although the battle was not commanded by him, he had secretly determined to reverse the decline of the Tang army.

Li Shimin no longer had the intention of training the new army, he rode his beloved Persian little red horse, galloped all the way, and went straight to the imperial city.

Ascending the majestic Wude Palace, Li Shimin walked in directly without being summoned, and the sword he carried with him did not need to be removed, these were the privileges given to him by his father. He just took the red jade waist card given to him by his father, glanced at it in front of the guards on duty, and took three steps and two steps, and walked up quickly!

He came at the right time, and Li Yuan was gathering his ministers to discuss the war in Hedong and the handling of the aftermath.

Qu Tutong, the secretary of the military department, was the first to speak, he said: "The two successive defeats in Hedong, as well as the rebellion in Bashu, were actually caused by the Luo Khan. Our real enemy is actually Chu Luo Khan, and Song Jingang is nothing more than an eagle dog. ”

Pei Lin has been imprisoned at this time, waiting to be released. Therefore, Li Yuan asked Xiao Yu, an important minister, "What does Lord Xiao think about this?" ”

Xiao Yu hesitated slightly, and he said solemnly: "The minister advocates giving up Hedong for the time being, and making peace with the Khan of Chuluo!" According to Datang's current national strength, it seems that it can't fight a decisive battle! ”

Li Yuan not only looked up to the sky and sighed: "Eighteen Grasslands! Ay! In the past ten years, they have dominated Mobei, and my Datang has always kept the covenant, why does he have to get along with my Datang? ”

Li Shimin saw that his father was still in awe of the Turks, so he pleaded: "Father! Erchen has something to say! ”

Li Yuan nodded, waved his hand, and said, "Say it!" Li Shimin bowed down and said, "Okay! ”

After that, he turned around and bowed to the ministers on all sides a few times, and said in a loud voice: "Father, all the ministers. As the old saying goes, 'The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it!' 'My Datang has developed rapidly in recent years, how can I not be alert! The hostility of the Luo Khan to our Tang Dynasty has been planned for a long time, as evidenced by what Qu Shangshu said. Erchen is afraid that the intention of seeking peace is just wishful thinking on the part of my Datang. Chu Luo Khan categorically ignored it, and he would definitely continue to send troops south to capture Chang'an. ”

Li Yuan stopped: "Is it wishful thinking, it is better to send an envoy to negotiate peace first." Even if you have to prepare, at least you can buy some time! ”

When all the ministers heard this, they all said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty! ”

The court meeting was dissolved amid the cheers, and the ministers returned to their respective palaces.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Li Shimin came to Li Yuan's bedroom and wanted to say something from the bottom of his heart to Li Yuan, who was his father and emperor.

Obviously, these words have been held in his heart for a long time.......

"Does the father really hope for peace? With the ambition of Luo Khan's wolf son, sooner or later there will be a decisive battle between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty! ”

"Of course, we can't hope for peace talks, but the Turkic soldiers and horses are not strong for a day or two, and with the current national strength of our Tang Dynasty, can we be sure of winning?"

"Erchen is willing to lead 30,000 elite soldiers to recover Hedong. If you don't repel the Turkic soldiers and horses, you swear not to return to the court! ”

"Father knows that you are eager to win, and he has no doubts about your determination. You know, the Turkic soldiers and horses are all from their carefully trained cavalry, do you have a way to deal with this? ”

"This matter has already been planned! The son is ready to ask his father to be gracious and hand over the right to select troops for the entire Tang Dynasty army to the son minister. Erchen will definitely be able to train an elite cavalry that is more elite and brave than the eight hundred elite cavalry selected by General Li Jing in Xiazhou! ”

Li Yuan finally breathed a long sigh of relief, he agreed to all of Li Shimin's requests, and asked him to rush back to the Weibei camp to recruit troops first.

The 5,000 warriors selected secretly went to Longshan, where they underwent extremely harsh training and selection.

In order to facilitate this matter as soon as possible, Li Yuan specially ordered Li Jing to go to Longshan to assist Li Shimin in selecting elite soldiers.