Li Jiancheng returned to Chang'an City with illness, in fact, his illness was not serious, but he was infected with a cold, and his body was a little feverish, and he could overcome it by drinking some decoction, but Li Jiancheng did not take medicine, nor did he make up makeup, and deliberately made himself look haggard, which seemed to be more serious than the actual condition.

This has his intentions, and he does not want to let this incident of defeat in the battle with the Northwest Dahua Army affect his own influence and be attacked by the ministers, weakening the impression of his wisdom and talent.

Ten miles outside the city, some ministers were stopping, looking into the distance, waiting to welcome the prince's return.

These ministers are all spontaneous, get together, talk and laugh, and call themselves a group. Because Li Yuan is more than half a hundred years old and has a limited reign, the crown prince is the person they will be loyal to in the future, and he stands in line in advance, also in order to have a good impression and be reused in the future.

"The prince is here!" Someone shouted, and several courtiers gathered around.

Li Jiancheng got out of the carriage, he had been recuperating in the car, and after getting out of the car, he looked depressed, and said with emotion: "There are a few adults who have come to greet His Royal Highness." ”

"The prince has worked hard, this time he defeated Xue Rengao and eliminated Western Qin, which can be described as a brilliant achievement."

"Yes, even the King of Qin suffered a big loss, he was defeated by Western Qin, the prince went out of the horse, and he was captured, or His Royal Highness the Prince's ability to lead troops is better!"

"Wen can be anbang, incapable of determining the country, the prince is wise and martial!"

These six or seven ministers, you say a word to me, patting the sycophants, for Li Jiancheng's defeat to Dahua this time, the loss of half of the territory of Fufeng County, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of stones, grain and grass, did not mention at all, just picked up the good side.

After listening to it, Li Jiancheng knew that what these people said was a little biased, but he was comfortable in his heart, no matter who he was, he liked to listen to compliments and was unwilling to accept accusations.

He smiled and said: "I also did my best, thanks to the heroic fighting of the soldiers, but this time, because the climate in the northwest is not adaptable, accidentally infected with the wind cold, the body is a little unbearable, negligent, so the Dahua army has a chance, this time back to Beijing, His Royal Highness will ask His Majesty for punishment." ”

"Where is the fault of the prince, as the prince, he should share his worries for His Majesty and learn to govern the country, not to fight on the battlefield, this time the prince has done his best, because of physical reasons, he suffered a small loss, but he will not cover up his achievements."

"That's right, King Qin claims to have military talent, but he hasn't lost to Xue Ju, he has suffered heavy losses, he came back to recuperate, and he hasn't recovered yet, so the prince doesn't have to blame himself."

These people are excusing the crown prince, constantly praising and covering up the side of defeat, and taking advantage of this to reach a consensus.

Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, surrounded by the ministers, pedaled again, and then entered Chang'an City.

He did not go back to the East Palace directly, but went to the palace first, greeted his father, and at the same time reported the situation ahead, showing his 'seriously ill' appearance.

In the Qiande Palace, Li Yuan was reviewing the recital, and when he heard that the prince had returned and wanted to meet at this time, he immediately put down the recital in his hand and announced the audience.

"Son-in-law, please greet my father!" After Li Jiancheng came in, he knelt down directly and saluted.

Li Yuan was startled when he saw his eldest son looking so haggard, this is the crown prince, the prince of the imperial court, and the person who will ascend the throne in the future, so there can be no mistakes.

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's okay, it's just that I contracted the wind cold, and it didn't get better for a while, and I can recover after a period of recuperation."

Li Yuan didn't care about anything else at this time, he attached great importance to the prince's illness, and didn't mention this defeat, thinking that the prince could be sick like this, and insisted on commanding the three armies on the front line and fighting against the elite Northwest Army, which was already commendable.

As for the two small defeats, there is no way, who is against Luo Cheng, who dares to say that he will win?

Li Jiancheng said: "Although Erchen defeated the Western Qin army, but Dahua's army is all elite border soldiers, and has been stationed in the northwest for many years, very familiar with mountain and mountain warfare, took the opportunity to sneak attack the grain road, and countered the Tang army generals to attack the city, our Tang army did not fight with the Dahua army at all, it was already lost, this Luo Cheng, the use of troops is really insidious." ”

Li Yuan's expression was deep, and he sighed, "It's insidious and clever, Luo Cheng's person, it can be said that we are all familiar with each other, we were all colleagues back then, and we have witnessed a lot of his achievements." To deal with him, you can't be anxious, you can't relax, and you have to consider his tricks and tactics, go to the army to fight and plot, and he uses his virtue very well, and he can't be sloppy, and the court really can't pick out any big generals who can deal with him. ”

Li Jiancheng said with some resentment: "This Luo Cheng has long been anti-minded, but he has always pretended to be a loyal and patriotic minister, and he almost attracted the generals of the Sui Dynasty in private, Xue Shixiong, Lai Hu'er, Qu Tutong, and Chen Qi are all Sui Dynasty generals who are in charge alone, as well as Li Jing, Hou Junji and others, they were all promoted by him, but they are handsome talents, and we prepared late, and we did not attract enough commanders and generals who can send troops alone." ”

Li Yuan said: "At present, I Li Tang is the enemy of Dahua in the west, and Liu Wuzhou in the north, fighting on two fronts, the situation is not optimistic, fortunately, Hanguguan defended the Central Plains, and did not dare to knock rashly, Wang Shichong, Li Mi, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, Du Fuwei, etc., are attacking each other, annexing the Xiaolu Righteous Army, expanding the territory, and have no intention of advancing westward, so our number one enemy is Dahua!" ”

"Father, what are we going to do?"

Li Yuan's eyebrows tightened, and said: "United with the Liang Shidu in the Yulin area, he has 100,000 soldiers and horses there, how to join forces with us, can defeat Qu Tutong's team, and then join Yin Kaishan's troops to go south, you can defeat Dahua and make it withdraw from Fufeng County." ”

Li Jiancheng questioned: "But, can Master Liang agree?" ”

Li Yuan smiled bitterly: "He has no choice, if our Li Tang fails, how can he keep it?" His lips are cold, he will not worry about his situation, Luo Cheng has the heart to annex the world, and he will not let him exist in the territory north of Guanlong, so he must ally with Li Tang in order to survive, in the Three Kingdoms era, Shu Wu united with Chibi to fight against Cao, this is the reason. ”