Chen Ying said with a sad and indignant face: "It's not just danger, it's the end of the world!" In a place called Tumubao, this empire suffered the most painful defeat since the founding of the country, 200,000 troops were killed by the enemy army with only 30,000 people, more than 50 civil and military ministers were buried on the battlefield, several generations of emperors worked hard, and the accumulated elite soldiers and talents were swept away, and even the emperor was taken prisoner! ”

Li Jiancheng was silent for a moment and said: "This result is also expected, but I still don't understand your intention in telling this story." ”

Chen Ying smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the story is not over yet." After learning of this bad news, the ministers of this empire greeted the emperor's younger brother with unprecedented efficiency, and said to the enemy that the prisoner has expired, you can kill if you like, let go if you like, we don't care at all, if you want to fight, we will accompany you to the end! These are all normal, but there is one thing that is very abnormal......"

Chen Ying paused, noticed that Li Jiancheng was listening carefully, and continued: "When the new emperor first went to the court, all the civil officials who were so frightened by that fool in the past that they didn't dare to breathe jumped out, and blamed all the blame for the defeat on the stupidity of that fool, and asked the emperor to destroy that guy's nine clans. I didn't wronged the idiot, he deserved to die, but ...... The ministers seemed to be too excited, and the emperor had not yet made a decision, so they fought in front of the emperor and beat three of them to death in the court, which really made the emperor see the blood and might of these weak scholars, and it is said that the emperor was so frightened that his face was pale. ”

Li Jiancheng frowned and said: "This is too presumptuous, if it is placed in our Datang, no matter what the reason, anyone who does this kind of thing will be punished extremely severely, and it will never be forgiven." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the emperor probably wants to punish them, but he really doesn't have that confidence, because the most loyal troops and nobles to the imperial family are buried outside the gate......" Chen Ying looked at Li Jiancheng and said: "In the end, he had to pinch his nose and acquiesce in the ridiculous behavior of the ministers, and execute all the stupid henchmen." There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but it is not difficult to see from the right and wrong itself, the founding of the country overthrew the imperial power, and since then the civilian clique has firmly controlled this huge empire, no matter how corrupt they are, intrigue, and make a mess of state affairs, no one has helped them, and this pattern has continued until the fall of the dynasty! ”

Li Jiancheng seemed to have understood what Chen Ying meant at this time.

The Son of Heaven and the scholars rule the world together, this is the lofty ideal of the Wenchen, and it is also their lifelong pursuit, is this view wrong?

Li Jiancheng had all kinds of doubts in his heart, but he had to continue listening patiently.

Li Jiancheng began to think, which dynasty is the Ming Dynasty that Chen Ying is referring to? Could it be ...... What Li Jiancheng didn't understand when he wanted to break his head was that this Ming Dynasty was still eight hundred years later.

Chen Ying let out a long sigh, and continued: "This incident completely changed the fate of the empire, before that, the empire was determined to forge ahead and surrendered, and after this war, this empire became closed and conservative, and quickly lost the bloodiness of the founding emperor who swept the desert. ”

Chen Ying paused again, and said with some self-deprecation: "However, there are exceptions to everything, just like the Han Dynasty, from Gaozu to Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, they are all afraid of the Huns like tigers, and after Emperor Wuwen of the Han Dynasty, this situation was completely reversed." Decades after the death of the emperor who was defeated at the border pass and even took prisoner himself, his grandson sneaked out of the capital and ran to the border, mobilized a large army to fight a fierce battle with the nomads who frequently violated the imperial border, and it was a great battle of more than 100,000 troops repeatedly rushing and killing, and finally helped the grandfather to get the field back, so that the nomads did not dare to be arrogant for a long time after that, but the funny thing is that the history books record that the imperial army killed sixteen enemies in this battle! ”

Li Jiancheng is a soldier, and he blurted out: "How is this possible!" More than 100,000 troops fought to the death, even if they didn't use knives or guns, they only used bricks to smash them, and more than just killed such a few people! Tens of thousands of people gather and hundreds of people die in a stampede! Surely I am mistaken! ”

"The minister also hoped that this was wrong, but this is not wrong, sixteen enemies were killed, and the emperor personally stabbed one enemy soldier, which was recorded in the history books in a dignified manner." Chen Ying spat indignantly and said, "It's really ridiculous! ”

"If so, it's even more unlikely! The emperor personally stabbed one enemy soldier, which shows that the battle was extremely fierce, and the enemy army broke through the defenses and killed in front of the emperor, how could it be possible to destroy only sixteen enemy soldiers! Li Jiancheng suddenly remembered the newly revised "Book of Jin", one of which recorded a battle.

In the battle of Liantai in the eighth year of Jin Yonghe, Murong Ke connected the war horses with iron locks, and selected 5,000 brave and not self-righteous people among the Xianbei soldiers who were good at shooting, and marched in a phalanx. When Ran Min, the lord of Wei, led his troops to repeatedly rush to the front of Murong Ke's array, and Gao Kai, who joined the army, was stabbed by Ran Min with a spear in order to save Murong Ke and died.

However, although Murong Ke won that battle, his 140,000 infantry cavalry was disabled by Ran Min's 10,000 infantry and completely lost his combat effectiveness. But as long as Murong Ke still has the slightest strength, he will definitely not give up the merit of destroying the country.

What's even more regrettable is that Former Yan was really sent to control all parts of the Central Plains two years later, because Wei used a soldier of less than 20,000 to fight out the 200,000 elites of Former Yan, and Former Yan was worried that it would enter the Central Plains and attract the interference of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

"In other words, it is a minister, and the minister does not believe it, an army of seventy or eighty thousand went out to war, killed sixteen enemies, and the emperor stabbed one person, that is to say, the tens of thousands of troops only eliminated fifteen enemy troops, and the emperor could grab one in this way, so the luck could not be better! However, this is what the historians recorded, and so did the civil officials. Chen Ying smiled bitterly: "In the original battle of Lingzhou, the minister annihilated more than 40,000 Turkic men and horses, and the only enemy that the minister killed with his own hands was to clean up the battlefield after the war!" ”

At this time, Li Jiancheng finally came back to his senses.

He blurted out: "It must be because the civil officials don't want the emperor's true achievements to be known and improve the emperor's prestige, so they hide the true record of this battle, yes, it must be like this!" As you said earlier, after the fiasco of Tumubao, the civil officials overwhelmed the emperor for the first time, and for the sake of their own power and status, of course they did not want to have variables and let the emperor suppress them! ”

He clapped his hands excitedly and said: "It seems to be inferred from this that in that fiasco, it is very likely that the civil class was not innocent, and perhaps they were looking forward to the emperor's fiasco, and buried all the troops and generals loyal to the emperor outside the pass, so as to realize their family's ambitions......"

Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng was suddenly shocked and dumbfounded.

Because he suddenly thought of the former Sui and Yang Guang's million-strong army.

It was also an expedition with absolute superiority, and it was also an inexplicable defeat, and the elite was almost lost, and it was the same ...... Everything, what happened to Yang Guang, how similar is it to the unlucky emperor of the Ming Dynasty!

However, what is ashamed is that the level of these clan gate lords seems to be inferior to the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty, at least those civil officials are not obvious, and they are so explicit!

Yang Xuangan's rebellion, who is behind it, Li Jiancheng knows very well.

What is going on with the thirty-six roads in the world against the king and the seventy-two roads of dust and smoke, Li Jiancheng knows better. In fact, the Li Tang court also played a disgraceful role in this fission.

The method is the same, the result is the same, and even the ultimate goal is the same!

After the three expeditions to Goguryeo, Yang Guang buried a million troops loyal to him, and finally died tragically in Jiangdu, which ended up with no bones.

However, during the same period of time, he has been angry, confused, I don't know that those guys are desperately dragging their feet, and they do not hesitate to conspire to force Chen Ying, once the Anxi army and the court turn against each other, the world will definitely be in chaos, Li Jiancheng can't figure out what they are trying to do, and now lightning has cut through the fog, and the terrible answer with a bloody conspiracy slowly appeared in front of his eyes.

They want power! Supreme power!

Those guys are already beyond the law in Datang, they have supreme power, for fear of being taken away by others.

In order to keep the power in their hands forever, they will do whatever it takes to eliminate the challengers, even if they are ruined.

Despicable, shameless!

Li Jiancheng's eyes were full of anger, and the cup in his hand rattled, bursting out thin cracks.

Chen Ying noticed the tragic experience of the cup, and did not speak again, hiding a smile in his eyes.

This conversation is very casual, somewhat marginal, but like a 10-million-ton nuclear bomb thrown into the sea, about to set off a monstrous wave.

At this moment, Li Jiancheng finally understood something.

The army is his only reliance. As *** said, Russia has only three allies, the army, the air force and the navy.

Then the Tang Dynasty, Li Jiancheng's allies, in fact, only have 16 guards, 360 armies in the world, four major protectorates, and only those generals who started by relying on military merits.

If there were no military generals to check and balance the civil officials, they would expand unlimitedly, and finally suppress the imperial power under their feet and ravage it wantonly.

Chen Ying's story is over.

Li Jiancheng was still pondering, his hands trembling slightly, presumably there was a fierce battle between heaven and man in his heart.

Chen Ying stopped talking, he said everything that should be said, it depends on how Li Jiancheng decides.

He took a glass and tasted the wine, waiting patiently.

After a while, Li Jiancheng raised his head and said with a reluctant smile: "This dream of yours is very exciting." ”

Li Jiancheng took a sip of wine fiercely, and said with palpitations: "Those businessmen ......"

"It is basically impossible to win the battle if Chongwen overthrows the military, and Chongshang suppresses the military...... It will only lead to perdition! Chen Ying looked at Li Jiancheng and said solemnly: "Shangjia, you can only use it, but you can't reuse it, these two food wars in Guanzhong, one is my passive counterattack, and the other is provoked by me, this is not important, the important thing is that they are all greedy rats." Whether it is a family or a businessman, they are all the same dog, regardless of each other! In the eyes of the merchants, they don't care, even if the dynasty falls, they can still make money! For them, the whole dynasty is just a market, and if it is not mixed well, they can withdraw their funds and leave at any time! ”

Li Jiancheng slammed his fist on the table again, but this time it was heavier, and his fist was already bleeding.

Li Jiancheng said as if unconsciously: "Don't mention these unhappy things, tell me about your dream, you seem to have said that this dynasty has fallen, how did it die?" ”

"They perish in internal and external troubles. In the last fifty years of this dynasty, the border troubles became more and more serious, and the terrible Xiaoice River period was encountered, the climate became extremely bad, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and officials became more and more rampant. The most terrible thing is that even if they have come to this point, the civil and military officials in the court are still fighting endlessly, dragging each other back, when the last batch of soldiers who can fight, the last few generals who can fight are cut off by them one by one, and the dynasty that has enjoyed the country for 300 years finally collapsed. ”

Chen Ying's eyes showed sincere sadness, he sighed, and then said: "The emperor is still good, until the end he did not borrow troops from foreign clans to deal with the peasant army, when he lost the country and the capital, he hanged himself on a tree, and the hateful thing is the civil and military officials!" The emperor borrowed money from them to defend against the enemy, and they all cried and shouted that they had no money, but after the peasant army broke through the imperial capital, they copied 70 million 200 silver from their homes in one go, which was equivalent to the income of the entire imperial treasury for twenty-four years! ”

Li Jiancheng looked at Chen Ying and said: "This scene is familiar!" ”

"Yes, in the fourth year of Wude, our Datang and Wang Shichong fought Luoyang!" Chen Ying seemed to have returned to that time when his blood was boiling, and said with a confused face: "The King of Qin was defeated in Luoyang, and the imperial court lost 100,000 troops, and the imperial court borrowed money from them......"

Li Jiancheng said indignantly: "They took the opportunity to start a family and wanted to divide the land of Henan Mansion, after the victory of Henan, the court owed them a lot of debt!" ”

Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng suddenly got up and said, "I finally figured it out!" ”

"It's good to figure it out!" Chen Ying sat there calmly.

Li Jiancheng looked at Chen Ying and said: "I know that you are very wronged and unwilling now, I will give you an explanation!" ”

In the seventh year of Kaiyuan, many things were discovered, first of all, the Tang Dynasty Political Hall became a thing of the past.

Li Jiancheng set up the Datang responsibility cabinet system, with the Datang responsibility for a ten-year term, the prime minister of the cabinet is responsible for forming cabinet members, and the cabinet is responsible for the daily operation of the imperial court.

At the same time, the military department was established independent of the cabinet.

The emperor is the sole leader of the army, and the cabinet and the localities are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the local military. At the same time, local security was separated from the regular army, and the original Zhichong Mansion, which was the main force of the Tang Army, continued to be retained, but the Zhichong Mansion was only responsible for internal security affairs, such as quelling local riots and dealing with emergencies.

Foreign wars are dominated by the military.

One of the most casual things also quietly spread.

In April of the seventh year of Kaiyuan, Queen Zheng Guanyin died twice because of dystocia.

In May, he was denounced by the palace people.

Li Chengdao, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, had incest with Concubine Pei Shu.

Li Jiancheng deposed Li Chengdao as the crown prince and exiled him to Lingnan for the crime of great unfilial piety.

Li Chengde, the third son of the emperor, became the prince of the Tang Dynasty and entered the East Palace.

In June, Chen Qian, the king of Anxi, was engaged to Princess An Ning.

……

The city of Guangzhou in June is already very hot.

Li Shimin was very unaccustomed to the climate of Guangzhou, and he could only relieve the dampness and heat by soaking for two hours a day, however, in the end, he did not have to worry about the sultry heat of Guangzhou, because he was now looking at the battle report in front of him, and his hands and feet were cold.

"Before the tenth month, the Battle of the East China Sea broke out, 413 warships of the Fusang Tang Dynasty were destroyed, and Sun Hengan, the then general of the Fusang Tang Henghai, died in battle, and the 125,000 Fusang Tang Army had not had time to land on the land of the Tang Dynasty, and it had already been buried in the belly of the fish."

"Seven days ago, Zhang Cong, the brother-in-law of Li Shimin, the eldest grandson and the eldest grandson, was seriously wounded, and the 110,000 troops under his command were either killed or surrendered, and the whole army was annihilated!"

After reading the report, Li Shimin's hands trembled uncontrollably, his whole body was cold, it was difficult to breathe, and he was almost suffocated!

How so? It was also victorious. The attention of the Li and Tang courts was attracted to Anxi or Anbei by Cheng Zhijie or Qin Qiong, and the most unfortunate was also attracted to Lingnan.

According to the intelligence, Li Jiancheng and Chen Ying had an estrangement, and even if they didn't meet each other, they would run angrily.

Especially his brother-in-law Zhang Cong, this is a buried talent. As the second brother-in-law of the eldest grandson Wuji, he has always been a civil official, and he did not expect that the first leader at the age of forty-two would show extraordinary talent.

In the first battle, Fuzhou was conquered and the governor of Fuzhou was captured.

In the second battle, Quanzhou was taken.

It's almost effortless.

In the second battle, he defeated Xiao Nuo, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty and a rising star, and Xiao Nuo, a disciple of Li Jing, the god of war of the Tang Dynasty, and directly attacked Xiao Nuo for 300 miles.

It can be said that Zhang Cong occupied two-thirds of the southeast along the way, and miraculously captured Zhangzhou and defeated the last army of the Tang army in the southeast.

The dawn of victory, so to speak, has appeared!

However, in the blink of an eye, the situation came to a 180-degree reversal, and the invincible armada of the Fusang Tang Dynasty won first and then lost, and was outnumbered by the Tang army, almost killing a piece of armor!

What the hell went wrong?

Li Shimin couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly, Du Ruhui beside him seemed to suddenly realize: "Is it because of Chen Ying?" “

Li Shimin hesitated and said, "Chen Ying? “

Li Shimin became solemn at this time: "He's not dead yet?" “

"I originally thought he wasn't dead, maybe he really wasn't dead" Du Ruhui smiled bitterly: "When he was assassinated, news of Chen Ying spread everywhere, but no one has ever seen Chen Ying's real body, so I speculated that he really suffered an accident!" “

"It's a conspiracy!" Li Shimin suddenly felt sweetness in his mouth, and he didn't lift it in one breath.

"Poof......

A mouthful of blood spurted out, and Li Shimin staggered.

Du Ruhui said with a pale face: "Your Majesty ......"

Li Shimin shook his head tenaciously and roared with a hideous face: "I'm fine, I won't lose again!" Whether it's Jiangnan or Lingnan, it's not important in itself, our decisive battlefield is in Anxi, in Anbei, Qin Qiong and Cheng Zhijie will definitely not disappoint me! ”

As if to convince Du Ruhui, Li Shimin said solemnly three times in a row: "They won't let me down!" ”