On July 11, Wang Jue and others landed at the mouth of the Baijiang River.

On July 13, Liu Renliang and others landed at the mouth of the Baijiang River.

On July 17, Liu Renliang, Wang Jue, Sima Jiong, Cheng Chuliang and others joined forces, and 200,000 troops surrounded the capital city of Jubacheng.

Buyeo Huai, the cousin of the Baekje general King Muwang Fuyuzhang, withdrew from the battlefield of the attack on Silla, and seeing that the domestic situation had become unrecognizable, he simply defected to Goguryeo with 70,000 Baekje troops.

The lord of Goguryeo, Yuan Gai Suwen, originally wanted to send troops to rescue Baekje, but the Tang army in the Liaodong region was overwhelmed, and he had no time to take care of Baekje, so he ordered the withdrawal of troops from Silla, and withdrew to Goguryeo with Buyeo Huai and other Baekje troops.

At this time, Jubal City completely cut off foreign aid.

On July 19, Wang Xuance and Yan Changhan entered Juba City to persuade them to surrender, and Wang Xuance told Fuyuzhang about the treatment of the Tang Dynasty towards the lords of Gaochangguo and other countries in the Western Regions, and Fuyuzhang finally surrendered to the Tang army reluctantly.

At this point, the Baekje Kingdom, which had been established for nearly 500 years, came to an end. The Baekje Kingdom, which was 450 miles from east to west and more than 900 miles from north to south, had 67 large and small cities, and had a population of more than 1.3 million people.

On July 28, Li You, Hou Junji, Zhang Liang and others entered the city of Jubal.

Chang'an City.

This time, Li Shimin was determined to destroy Goguryeo in one fell swoop, so he calmed down and made full and solid preparations.

He ordered Yi Ji to lead his troops to Liaodong to contain the Goguryeo people and respond to Yi You's rescue of Silla. He himself mobilized troops and horses in Chang'an and prepared supplies.

In the blink of an eye, it is August 15th, and tomorrow is the day when the army will go out.

Liangyi Palace, study.

The eldest grandson Wuji is still worried that Li Shimin's personal expedition will be defeated again. After thinking about it, he decided to advise Li Shimin again before he set out on the expedition.

The eldest grandson Wuji said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that a small Goguryeo does not need Your Majesty to drive the expedition in person, just send the general Li Jing and them." Li Jing, Li Ji and Hou Junji are all victorious generals, and you have nothing to worry about.

Besides, even if they can't defeat Goguryeo for a while, it won't have any effect. ”

What he wanted to say most was the last sentence, he was worried that Li Shimin would not be able to defeat Goguryeo again this time, which would seriously affect Li Shimin's prestige.

Li Shimin was very unhappy and said: "Auxiliary, this matter has already been decided, so don't discuss it anymore." If you don't have anything else to do, you can step down. ”

At this time, Fang Xuanling and Wei asked for a meeting.

After the two came in, Li Shimin frowned and said, "If you come to persuade me not to take the royal conquest, you will not be able to open your mouth." ”

Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng really came to this matter.

Fang Xuanling saw Li Shimin's attitude, and stopped talking with interest.

Wei Zheng is a stubborn man, he doesn't care what Li Shimin thinks, and said directly: "Your Majesty, there is no objection to attacking Goguryeo, but it is completely unnecessary for you to drive the expedition in person, the general Li Jing is the first person in my Tang Army, and you said this personally."

Since the great general Li Jing went to Goguryeo, is it still necessary for you to drive the expedition in person? ”

Wei Zheng's words were simply a slap in the face, which meant that Li Shimin's royal expedition was to add to the chaos. Although the words make sense, this is too direct and faceless.

As soon as Wei Zheng's words fell, the eldest grandson Wuji and Fang Xuanling looked at Li Shimin worriedly, and sweated deeply for Wei Zheng.

Sure enough, Li Shimin's face turned red and black, and his eyes widened with anger, which was a prelude to going crazy.

At this moment, Li Chengqian asked to see him.

Li Shimin was angry, he was angry with Wei Zheng, but it was always okay for him to be angry with his son. He said angrily: "Prince, are you also here to persuade me not to take the imperial expedition in person? ”

Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment and said: "No, father, on the contrary, the sons are here to persuade you to hurry up and take the imperial expedition, if you go late, Goguryeo will not be your turn." ”

"What do you mean?" Li Shimin and the others looked at Li Chengqian in puzzlement.

Li Chengqian said with joy on his face: "Father, look at this. ”

Saying that, he handed a battle report to Li Shimin and said, "Erchen just met the messenger sent by the fifth brother, so he personally sent it to you. ”

In fact, Li You specially sent someone to report to Li Chengqian, so that he would not do anything to persuade Li Shimin. Li Chengqian said that he met the messenger by chance, because Li You should have reported the victory to the military department first, which was unruly.

Li Shimin read the good news, laughed, and said, "You still come to persuade me, let's see for yourself." As he spoke, he first handed the good news to Wei Zheng, who was the most opposed.

Wei Zheng finished reading the good news, didn't say anything, and grinned there with a big mouth.

The eldest grandson Wuji and Fang Xuanling hurriedly went to see the good news, and after reading it, they congratulated Li Shimin together.

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Qi is a lucky general, as long as he is on the horse, there will always be good news." His words inadvertently slapped Li Shimin in the face again, but Li Shimin didn't care about this at all, his son Niu Cha also showed that his father was amazing.

Li Shimin said with a smile: "The most powerful thing about Li You is not that he can fight, but that he can look at people." This time, Sima Jiong, Cheng Chuliang, Liu Renliang and that Wang Jue recommended by him are all talents, amazing! ”

Speaking of this, even the eldest grandson Wuji, who has been in charge of personnel for many years and was born in the Ministry of Officials, has to be convinced. He praised: "Yes, the military and political officials recommended by His Royal Highness King Qi are all outstanding figures.

Your Majesty, the minister withdrew his exhortation to you, and approved of your personal expedition. ”

The situation was so good that Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling were also full of confidence in the victory of this eastern expedition to Goguryeo. Together, they expressed their approval of Li Shimin's personal expedition.

At this time, Fang Xuanling remembered something, and he said, "Your Majesty, I don't know how you plan to reply to the letter you received from Queen Silla two days ago?" ”

Not long ago, Li Shimin received a letter from Queen Kindman of Silla, in which he not only expressed his gratitude to Li Shimin for extending a helping hand to save Silla, but also raised the issue of 200,000 yuan of war grain and grass and 500,000 yuan of military expenses. The letter said that the Tang Dynasty was a big country, and His Majesty the Emperor was rich and did not care about this little wealth. And these finances are now crucial for Silla. Please ask His Majesty the Tang Emperor to have mercy on the people of Silla and exempt these food and military expenses.

Lee Se-min was moved by the words of King Jindeman of Silla, and he immediately decided to exempt Silla from these food and military expenses. It's just that I've been too busy these two days to write a reply to Queen Kinderman.

Lee Se-min said, "I'm ready to accede to the request of the queen of Silla. ”

Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty, the minister has a suggestion, I don't know if I should talk about it or not?" ”

"Xuan Ling, you can say it." Li Shimin said.

Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that His Royal Highness the King of Qi and the Silla people want these grains, grass and military expenses, I am afraid that he has his own intentions, whether to let His Royal Highness the King of Qi deal with this matter himself, how about it?" ”

Li Chengqian said: "Father, the son agrees with Lord Fang's opinion, and it is better to leave this matter to the fifth brother to deal with." ”

Li Shimin didn't figure it out for a while. "Is there any meaning in this?" he asked. ”

Li Chengqian said: "Father, the son of the emperor carefully considered this matter, and suddenly thought of a question, I don't know if I think right? ”

Li Shimin said: "Don't babble, just say what you have to say." ”

Li Chengqian said: "Father, now that Baekje has been defeated, it won't be long before Goguryeo will be destroyed. At that time, will there still be a need for this Silla country to exist? ”

The eldest grandson Wuji also figured it out at once. He praised: "Your Majesty, what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said makes sense! The minister thought that His Royal Highness King Qi must have done it deliberately to ask Queen Silla for food and military expenses.

He calculated that the queen of Silla would repay the debt, and this would be a good excuse to destroy his Silla kingdom in the future. ”

Li Shimin suddenly realized, he patted his head and said with a smile: "This son of mine has a lot of eyes, and he has calculated all these surrounding countries. Haha, okay, just transfer the letter from Queen Silla to Li You intact and let him handle it himself. ”

Wei Zheng watched as these guys were always calculating others, and sneered at their despicable behavior. However, he was also full of joy to be able to expand the territory for the imperial court, and he didn't mind being in the same league with these guys, so he didn't raise any objections.

Regarding Li Chengqian's progress, Li Shimin said happily: "Very good, the prince is now willing to use his brains in case of trouble, and he has made great progress." This time, I am still in charge of the country by the crown prince, and I am very relieved. ”

Li Chengqian was overjoyed and said: "Thank you for your father's trust, my sons must conscientiously perform their duties, take care of their homes for their father's royal driver, and not let my father be distracted by trivial matters in the court." ”

The next day, Li Shimin personally led the army to leave Chang'an and went straight to Liaodong. u