The light in the tent was very dim, and the dim light of the candlestick on the table reflected Li Shimin's instantly old face, like a lingering picture of the oil running out of the lamp.

Li Shimin's breath was weak and urgent, half lying on the bed, it seemed that he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes, but he was half-closed, gasping weakly.

Li Su knelt in front of him, with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he hated Li Shimin's rigid and conceited character, which led to the senseless casualties of tens of thousands of soldiers in this Eastern Crusade, on the other hand, he was very sympathetic to this emperor, who was deaf and confused in his later years, and lost his reputation for half his life.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, my king is only a small defeat, given time, I will be able to avenge today's revenge, Your Majesty should take care of the dragon's body, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers......" Li Su said comforting words against his will.

Li Shimin suddenly interrupted him: "Today's handsome tent to comfort me, they all say, 'Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers', I am really tired of hearing this sentence, Zi Zhengruo has nothing else to say except comforting words, it is better to shut up." ”

The corners of Li Su's mouth twitched and sighed.

Li Shimin turned his head to look at him and sighed: "Facts have proved that Zizheng's words are right, but I am wrong, I have been carried away by the courtiers' welcome and barbarian praise over the years, and gradually become arrogant, thinking that I can sweep the world, and there is no opponent in the universe, so there is today's defeat, today's evil consequences, which is the evil cause planted at the beginning of the Eastern Crusade, but ...... The price I paid is too great, all the mistakes are committed by me alone, and the crime is good for me alone, how can tens of thousands of children in Guan Zhonglang ......be innocent."

"Your Majesty's condolences, at least we have preserved most of our strength, and there are still more than 200,000 main forces at the moment, and it is Your Majesty's merit that they can return to Chang'an alive, and as for those who have died, Your Majesty will give more condolences."

Li Shimin said with tears: "I have always thought that I am a good emperor, in the early years of Zhenguan, I worked hard to govern the country, and I was like a stream, at that time, even the most picky Wei Zheng occasionally couldn't help but praise me a few words, if the time goes back ten years ago, I can pat my chest and say, I am indeed a good emperor, this sentence I said justifiably, but then Guanyin died early, many heroes died, and finally Wei Zheng also died, and my relatives and robes around me became fewer and fewer, and the court was becoming more and more complicated, I had to carefully read every word of my courtiers' advice, and wonder if there was any purpose behind what they said, and whether it was worth my adoption......"

Turning his head and glancing at Li Su, Li Shimin said softly: "After Zizheng was knighted, every time you get into trouble, there are always court officials who impeach you in the Golden Palace, those people have a righteous and awe-inspiring face, and the terms and conditions of your crimes are shocking, some of them are true, and some are deliberately fabricated, their purpose in participating in you is to kill you, Zizheng has been in the court for many years, and has experienced many impeachments, I must have a deep understanding, those who have participated in your impeachment are not many, but I must immediately distinguish the truth from the false in these notes of participating in you, and think about their purpose, Why do you want to put you to death, who is behind them, this is just because of your advice, Zi is thinking about it, there are so many state capitals in the Tang Dynasty, and I have to face a mountain of true and false recitals every day, some of the people who write these recitals are really worried about the world, and some have ulterior motives, I must distinguish them one by one, how can I really do it? Is an emperor who is too good at admonishment really a good emperor? ”

Li Su was stunned for a moment, and finally understood what Li Shimin meant.

He euphemistically explained to himself why he did not accept his own advice, because the emperor must be assertive, the emperor cannot be a soft ear, because the situation in the court is too complicated, and the hearts of the courtiers are also complicated, and the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty seem to be harmonious, but in fact, Li Shimin cannot trust all the courtiers, the more wise the emperor, the more suspicious he is, the first thing to do is to put a question mark in his mind, and the first thing to think about is not the right or wrong of the admonition itself, but the quality of the admonition. In particular, the admonition, which is completely contrary to his own ideas, is full of hesitation and resistance.

Therefore, after the Eastern Crusade, Li Su gave Li Shimin no less than ten admonitions, but Li Shimin refused to accept the advice, the reason is not only because of Li Shimin's arrogance, the more powerful the emperor is, the more assertive he is, the more he can't listen to other people's advice, not to mention, to put it bluntly, the courtiers of the Manchu Dynasty are not necessarily good people in the heart of this powerful emperor.

"The minister understands His Majesty's distress." Li Su sighed deeply.

Li Shimin's eyes flashed: "Do you really understand?" ”

"I really understand, to be honest, if you change the minister is Your Majesty, you may make the same choice, the fortune of the country is all borne by Your Majesty alone, the responsibility is so heavy, you can't choose to trust others, you can only faithfully follow your own ideas, anyone's advice is extremely risky in your eyes, because the courtier is only responsible for admonishment, but the responsibility for failure can only be borne by you."

Li Shimin nodded slowly, sighed and said, "Zizheng knows my ......."

Li Su suddenly raised his head and continued: "The minister understands His Majesty's suffering, but still does not agree with His Majesty's approach, it turns out that His Majesty is indeed wrong, and the responsibility for this failure can only be borne by His Majesty alone......

After a pause, Li Su hesitated, and finally gritted his teeth, and the anger and heartache that had been accumulated all day erupted at this moment

"Tens of thousands of Guanzhong Erlang died, all because of His Majesty's fault, as a courtier, we did our best, as the emperor, Your Majesty is behaving everywhere in this war, there are many ways to win a war, there are so many correct paths in front of your Majesty to choose, and Your Majesty has the ability to bypass all these correct paths, and unrelentingly chose a wrong path, such a ability, the minister can only say 'admiration'!"

With Li Su's straightforward accusation, Li Shimin's face gradually turned pale, with a little bruise in the white, and his breathing became more and more rapid.

"Er...... Ann dare to be so rude! Li Shimin glared at Li Su angrily.

Li Su looked at him fearlessly: "The minister's words are for the soldiers who died in battle, for those soldiers who died senselessly, tens of thousands of soldiers died without saying a word, Your Majesty is the emperor, no one dares to punish your crimes, however, tens of thousands of lives, can you change Your Majesty for a moment to reflect on yourself?" If Your Majesty wants to investigate the sins of the ministers, the ministers willingly accept it, and tens of thousands of people have died, not the only one who is not to be missed. ”

Li Shimin stared at Li Su's calm face angrily, for a long time, the anger in his eyes gradually subsided, and his expression was filled with guilt.

With a long sigh, Li Shimin closed his eyes in pain: "Zizheng is not wrong, I am wrong, Zizheng is seeking justice for the fallen soldiers, what is the crime?" After Wei Zheng's death, there were fewer and fewer courtiers in the court who dared to accuse me of negligence in person, and only a sound of praise was heard inside and outside the court, which made me more and more arrogant, so I was very relieved to have today's fiasco, and Zizheng had the courage to stand up at this time......"

The corpses of tens of thousands of fallen soldiers kept flashing in his mind, and Li Su's expression became painful.

Originally, he shouldn't be a person of this era, when he opened the history books, the cold numbers on it were just a flash, but when he really participated in this war and saw countless young and fresh lives disappear in the world in an instant, Li Su really felt sad.

Since he has come to this era, he is a person of this era, integrating into it, loving it, and being willing to do something for it, anything is good, which is the source of his courage to dare to scold the emperor in person.

"Minister...... I had the courage to stand up a long time ago, but Your Majesty didn't see it at that time......" Li Su shook his head sadly.

What else can be said about it now?

Too lazy to discuss right and wrong with Li Shimin, Li Su just wants to do something for the living now.

"I don't know if Your Majesty summoned the ministers to meet you for ......"

Li Shimin obviously didn't want to discuss the right and wrong of the defeat, so he changed the topic very cooperatively.

"Quangai Suwen personally led 150,000 troops from Pyongyang and went straight to our army, do you know this matter?"

Li Su nodded: "The minister heard about it outside the camp just now. ”

Li Shimin sighed: "I have ordered your uncle Li Ji to leave 20,000 light cavalry after the break, the main force of the Chinese army is slowly retreating westward, today our army's grain and grass have been burned countless by the Yan cavalry, the army is in danger of running out of food, the time and the situation do not allow me to continue to fight Goguryeo, the soldiers can not be hungry with me to fight against the rebels, I can only choose to retreat, about the retreat of the army, is Zi Zheng opposed?" ”

Li Su smiled bitterly, at this time, he finally showed his appearance of being obedient, don't you think it's too late?

"The minister does not object, grain and grass are the lifeblood of our army, since the lifeline has been cut off by the enemy, except for withdrawing the army, the minister really can't think of any other way to deal with it."

Li Shimin nodded: "Yes, today's Shuai Tent discussed this matter, and all the generals agreed, but the army retreated, and the Quangai Suwen behind was in hot pursuit, and our army was one due to lack of food, and the other was more footmen, and Quangai Suwen's 150,000 army would soon be able to catch up with the main force of our army, so I left Li Ji and 20,000 light horsemen behind......"

Looking at Li Su with deep meaning, Li Shimin said slowly: "Does Zi Zheng know the meaning of 'after breaking'?" ”

Li Su's expression became more and more bitter.

"After breaking", of course, it is not as simple as commanding a small army to harass the pursuing enemy army and add some blockage to the pursuing army, the broken rear is to hinder the footsteps of the enemy's pursuit, and to gain time for the retreat of the main force of our army to the greatest extent, leaving the broken army must be directly blocked in front of the enemy, not allowing them to move forward, and stopping the pace of the enemy army at all costs, to achieve this goal, it is not possible to do it with a few painless attacks, the commander of the enemy army is not stupid, he must be able to distinguish the intentions of the army after the break, And it will never be easily fooled, so in the end, the broken army has to face the enemy's attack head-on, simply put, from ancient times to the present, most of the broken army is the end of nine deaths.

Of course, Li Su is not stupid, Li Shimin said these words around the corner, and Li Su quickly understood Li Shimin's intentions.

"Your Majesty, the minister has known you for nearly ten years, and I have some understanding between each other, so please tell your majesty directly, do you need the minister to stay and break the main force of our army with your uncle?" Li Su smiled bitterly.

Li Shimin looked at him deeply, and said in a deep voice: "After being attacked by the Yan tribe today, I fainted at that time, and after the imperial doctor's diagnosis and treatment, I woke up and thought a lot of ...... alone in the handsome tent."

"Zizheng, do you know what I was thinking at that time?"

"I don't know."

"What I think about is you, Zizheng, ten years ago, since I first met you, it seems that you have never missed what you say and do, from the initial original smallpox cowpox, to the later Tuien Xue Yantuo Khan family, and then to the later recovery of Songzhou, the stubborn defense of Xizhou, the suppression of Jinyang, etc., until the strategy of dividing the troops and attacking me at the beginning of the Eastern Crusade,...... I have thought about it for a long time, I have done these things in ten years, I have not missed a single thing, anything is handed over to you, you can always make it flawless, I have to say, Zizheng, you have great talent. ”

Li Su sighed, Li Shimin has been laying the groundwork for so long, in fact, the fundamental purpose is to make him willing to stay and break off.

used to look at himself everywhere unpleasantly, and he was either scolded or sarcastic in person, and he praised himself inexplicably at this juncture, which shows that a heavy responsibility that is about to be sent to death is about to fall on his shoulders, otherwise Li Shimin would not be so polite.

"Our army was defeated at the beginning, the morale of the army was low, and what was worse was that most of the grain and grass were burned today, and the military spirit was already a little unstable, and the thief of Quangai Suwen fell into the well, taking advantage of the new defeat of our army, and ordered the troops and horses to pursue, if according to the current morale and military spirit of our army, the 150,000 soldiers and horses of Quangai Suwen can almost easily defeat our army, and kill them all, Zizheng, I have already lost one, and I can't defeat the second one, otherwise, the defeat is a trivial matter, and the shaking of the national headquarters is a major matter, I must bring back these 200,000 Guanzhong Erlang safely, so I must leave the broken soldiers and horses behind and entrust them to a battle-hardened commander......" Li Shimin spoke very slowly, and he couldn't hear the joy and sorrow in his words, but Li Su could feel the heaviness of his heart.

"Your uncle Li Ji is a very suitable candidate, and at the same time, he took the initiative to ask for the army to be broken, but I know the importance of this lonely army after the break, and I feel that I should also add a wise general to Li Ji, who can be literate and martial, always give him advice and share worries, it is a helpless lonely army, and the auxiliary general I sent to Li Ji cannot be his constraint and containment, he must be of the same heart as him, and at the same time, he must also be able to have whimsical ideas at critical moments, and use his whims to assist the right way, looking at the whole army, except for Zizheng you, There couldn't be a better fit......"

"Over the years, I know Zizheng's ability, no matter where I put you, you can perfectly do whatever I give you, including the bleak and difficult place in Xizhou at the beginning, you can defend it, this time, I can only entrust you and Li Ji with the heavy responsibility of the break, I hope that your uncle and nephew can stop the army of Quangai Suwen and buy more than five days for our army to withdraw, Zizheng, I ......"

Without waiting for Li Shimin to finish speaking, Li Su said decisively: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to stay and cut off for our army." ”

Li Shimin was stunned and looked at him in disbelief: "What do you mean...... You promised? ”

Li Su nodded: "The minister agreed." ”

Li Shimin frowned very unexpectedly: "Zizheng, I know your character, although you are a capable person, but you are also a very lazy and greedy person who is afraid of death, so in order to persuade you to stay, I have prepared a stomach of persuasion, you ...... Why did you say yes so easily? ”

Li Su's face darkened, if it weren't for the sick state of this guy in front of him, a little poisonous tongue might harm him to control Bintian, and Li Su's words could stimulate his heartbeat to double......

"Your Majesty, because my uncle stayed, therefore, the minister also stayed, and there is no other reason." Li Su said lightly.

Li Shimin looked at him deeply, for a long time, and nodded slowly.

"Zizheng is willing to share my worries, and I remember this affection in my heart."