After these years of development, the Tang Dynasty became strong, especially after Li You's expansion in the Western Regions, Persia and other regions, and has established a strong psychological advantage in the minds of the monarchs and even the common people.

This spirit of defying all enemies and striving for progress is not easy to come by, and it must be constantly strengthened before it can truly integrate into the national character and make it a part of the national spirit.

The failure of Emperor Yang of Sui's Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo, coupled with the failure of Li Shimin's First Eastern Crusade, already had a subtle impact on the psychology of the Tang Dynasty. Not only the common people, but even the important ministers of the court also developed a fear of Goguryeo.

This kind of fear is nothing on the surface, such as Fang Xuanling, the eldest grandson Wuji, and people including Yin Hongzhi, let them compare the Tang Dynasty with Goguryeo, and they also think that the Tang Dynasty is stronger than Goguryeo.

However, deep down in their hearts, they are not optimistic about the conquest of Goguryeo, which is what they refuse to admit but vaguely think in the depths of their hearts.

And this kind of thinking has already influenced their behavior, as long as the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo is mentioned, their first feeling is to express their opposition. If you ask them if they are afraid of Goguryeo, everyone will not admit it, but will only admit that they are a little worried.

However, worry itself is fear.

This is by no means a good phenomenon, which shows that in the minds of the ministers and people of the Tang Dynasty, they still did not establish the kind of spiritual outlook that thought that the Tang Dynasty was incomparably powerful and then despised the world.

Driven by this kind of thinking, when conquest of Tibet or other powerful foreign enemies in the future, once we encounter difficulties, our position will waver.

If you can compromise with an enemy like Goguryeo, it will be taken for granted that you should compromise with other enemies.

Gradually, this idea of compromise will be integrated into all aspects of social life. The mentality of the entire nation will form a mode of thinking of being passive and slack, and even fearing the enemy and avoiding war.

The history of China has proven this many times.

The Tang Dynasty is currently one of the most powerful countries in the world, and at this critical moment in shaping the national character, the Tang Dynasty can fail, but it cannot compromise with the enemy for fear of defeat.

The people of the Tang Dynasty must have a strong determination to defeat all enemies without fear of hardship, bloodshed and sacrifice.

In order to do this, it is necessary to strengthen this confidence in victory with constant victory.

Li Shimin's imperial expedition, it doesn't matter if he fails once, with the strong national strength of the Tang Dynasty, he can fully support him to carry out the second, third, or even many imperial expeditions until Goguryeo is completely eliminated.

Just imagine, with the example of destroying Goguryeo here, any enemy would be afraid of the Tang Dynasty. Because they know that once they offend the Tang Dynasty, they will face endless blows until they perish, and they will not die.

This is the spirit that Datang needs - those who dare to offend Datang will be punished even if they are far away!

Therefore, Li You resolutely supported Li Shimin's personal expedition again, and he must completely eliminate Goguryeo.

As long as Li Shimin once again drove the expedition to destroy Goguryeo, the spiritual outlook of the entire Tang Dynasty would be raised to a considerable height. The monarchs, ministers, soldiers and people of the Tang Dynasty will no longer be afraid of any foreign enemies.

At the same time, the fact that the Tang Dynasty, which was built on the basis of the Sui Dynasty, was able to defeat the enemies that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty could not conquer, which was enough to prove that the Tang Dynasty was more reasonable and stronger than the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, the importance of this battle cannot be overstated.

In fact, the attack on Goguryeo did not require Li Shimin's personal conquest, as analyzed above, he personally commanded the army, which would tie the hands and feet of the soldiers, and the gains outweighed the losses from a tactical point of view.

However, Li Shimin was the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty in the true sense of the word, and his prestige would affect many generations of emperors of the Tang Dynasty in the future, so he must make a good start. It was necessary for him to personally conquer the country to complete the destruction of Goguryeo.

Yi You decided to focus his main energy on supporting Li Shimin's victory over Goguryeo for the time being.

Liangyi Palace, study.

After lunch, Li Shimin's state of mind had regained peace, and he and Li You returned to the study, wanting to continue to talk about the conquest of Goguryeo.

Li You looked at Li Shimin, who was tired, and said distressedly: "Father, anyway, this matter will be discussed in the afternoon, you might as well take a nap." ”

Li Shimin looked at Li You's concerned gaze, and could feel his sincere concern, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take a nap." ”

"The minister retired first." After Li You saluted, he withdrew from the study.

Li You came to the East Palace, Li Chengqian's chief of guard, Li Dezhi, had already returned to the East Palace after the Flying Tiger Army was gilded, and he heard that His Royal Highness the King of Qi had arrived, and hurriedly greeted him.

He said: "Your Highness, the villain has reported to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he has gotten up and is waiting for you in the living room. ”

Li Chengqian also had the habit of taking a nap, and after Li Dezhi woke him up, he came over to wait for Li You.

"Brother of the courtier, see brother of the prince." Li You saluted and said.

"No courtesy, fifth brother, I knew that there must be something important for you to come here at this time." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes, big brother. Here's the thing," Lee said.

Li You introduced what happened in the morning, and he said: "My father's eastern expedition to Goguryeo last year was not very smooth, and he wants to go on another expedition, and the ministers will definitely dissuade him." ”

When he said this, Li Chengqian asked, "You mean that I will also dissuade my father and emperor together?" ”

In Li Chengqian's heart, he also disapproved of Li Shimin's personal expedition in the second imperial car. Goguryeo is a thorn in the head, and it is a headache to mention.

The Central Plains people have been fighting Goguryeo for hundreds of years, and Emperor Yang of Sui was finally defeated by Goguryeo with the strength of the whole country, and Li Shimin's imperial expedition was also frustrated, and everyone did not want Li Shimin to follow the old path of Emperor Yang of Sui.

Li You shook his head and said, "Big brother, you must resolutely support your father in this matter." My father has already made up his mind to conquer Goguryeo, and all we have to do is to resolutely support him. not only support him in the court, but also vigorously support him in the next material support. ”

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian regretted it a little.

Last time Li Shimin went east to Goguryeo, Li Chengqian originally wanted to mobilize a large number of winter supplies to support, but was dissuaded by the eldest grandson Wuji and Zhang Xuansu.

They all thought that if they did that, they would be suspected of not being able to trust Li Shimin's ability. Because Li Shimin vowed to take Goguryeo before winter. If Li Chengqian does this, it may make Li Shimin unhappy.

When Li Chengqian thought of this, he sincerely regretted it. He felt that Li You was right: doing things from the heart, and there is no need to take care of so much. If he had cared about Li Shimin wholeheartedly and could have raised winter supplies and sent them to Li Shimin's army as soon as possible, Li Shimin would not have suffered this fiasco.

Li Chengqian listened to the words of the eldest grandson Wuji and Zhang Xuansu, and he suffered from gains and losses, and missed a great opportunity to make meritorious contributions, and at the same time caused Li Shimin and the Tang Dynasty to suffer heavy losses.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian said: "Okay, this time it is to pour the strength of the whole country, and we must also defeat Goguryeo." ”

Afterwards, he said to Li You: "Fifth brother, go to the Liangyi Hall in the afternoon to discuss matters, should we notify the other people in advance and let them support their father?" ”