Autumn is getting stronger, the weather is also cold like a day, news came from Liaodong, Su Dingfang led a partial division to kill Goguryeo, see people to rob, see grain burning, it was the autumn harvest season, the fields are full of grain that is about to ripen, put a fire with the wind, you can burn out dozens of miles, just ten days, it brought extremely heavy losses to Goguryeo.

Speaking of Goguryeo was built by the Buyeo people, the royal family in the country is the Buyeo people, and the lower class is the various ethnic tribes in Liaodong, which used to mainly live on safari, and safari has a big disadvantage, that is, the food source is unstable, and the winter in Liaodong is very long, so before winter, it is necessary to reserve a large amount of food for the winter, otherwise it will freeze and starve to death, and the Oroqen people of later generations have retained this very ancient custom.

Goguryeo is a neighboring country in the Central Plains, the border of the two countries is connected, and later because of war or natural disasters and other reasons, some Han people moved to Goguryeo to live, so the people in Goguryeo also slowly learned to farm, in a part of the area close to the Tang Dynasty, slowly formed an agricultural area, compared with hunting, agriculture can provide a more stable source of food, so it has also become the main grain production area of Goguryeo, and the economic structure of Goguryeo has also become half hunting and half farming.

Li Xiu originally offered Li Shimin the strategy of slow bloodletting to Goguryeo, the main goal was to be close to the grain-producing area of the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang was also very shrewd, every time he was a dip and left, the main task was to set fire to the grain, for a time the entire Goguryeo border was thick smoke, and many Goguryeo people close to the Tang border were directly taken away, you must know that the Tang Dynasty allowed slave trading, especially the Tang nobles like Silla maids, but the real Silla maids are more expensive, so there are many people who like to catch Goguryeo women and pretend to be Silla maids, As long as it's cheaper, there are people who buy it.

"Lao Su is still not ruthless enough, if I am in Liaodong, where can I still rob people, how convenient it is to cut it directly, as long as it takes a few years, I can reduce the large population of Goguryeo, and then the resistance to attack Goguryeo will be even smaller!" On the bank of the Huangqu River, Cheng Yanjin held a wine glass and said lightly.

"Don't you butcher still kill too little, don't forget why His Majesty transferred you back to Chang'an this time!" Ma Ye glanced at Cheng Jin at this time and said.

The last time he attacked the party, Cheng Biting Jin killed too many people, and was impeached by many people at that time, fortunately Li Shimin protected him, and let him stay in the southwest under the pretext of guarding, so he was not punished, but after the limelight passed, Li Shimin also hurriedly transferred him back, and did not let him lead the troops for the time being, mainly to calm the anger of the ministers of the DPRK and China, after all, indiscriminate killing has always been in line with the Confucian view.

"How can there be immortals on the battlefield, if you don't want to be killed, you have to kill, in my eyes, as long as those who stand in front of my army are all enemies, only those sour people will shout for indiscriminate killing of innocents!" Cheng Yanjin shouted unconvinced at this time, after returning to Chang'an this time, he also felt a lot of pressure, mainly from the civil official group, so he was also quite dissatisfied with this.

"Zhijie, we are not young anymore, even if we don't think about ourselves, we have to think about our children and grandchildren, so I think you should restrain your temper, so as not to leave a bad reputation for your children and grandchildren!" At this moment, I saw Qin Qiong, who was sitting on the other side of Ma Ye, also persuaded Cheng Yanjin.

Cheng Biting Jin has a stubborn temper, and he usually doesn't accept anyone, but he can still listen to Qin Qiong's words, if Qin Qiong hadn't stopped him before, he could have slaughtered the entire party's 300,000 people, so at this time, he nodded and said: "Uncle Bao, I know what you mean, I will pay attention to it in the future, but we are older, I am afraid that the opportunity to lead the army in the future will become less and less, and the descendants have their own children and grandchildren, if they don't succeed, even if I leave them more family property, it is useless." ”

"I very much agree with General Cheng's last sentence, I remember someone once said that children and grandchildren are stronger than me, what to do with money, virtuous and wealthy, it will damage their ambition; My children and grandchildren are not as good as me, what do I do with my money, and I am foolish and rich, and I will increase my faults. Although it is about money, it is also very applicable in other aspects! Li Xiu, who was sitting at the end, also said with a smile at this time.

"Thorough! This sentence is said thoroughly, and when I go back, I will write it down and hang it in the ancestral hall as a family motto! Cheng Yanjin also slapped the table and laughed when he heard Li Xiu's words, he is a lover and will say whatever comes to mind.

In fact, Li Xiu still understands Cheng Biting Jin's behavior of killing people like slaughtering dogs, because Cheng Biting Jin was born in the troubled times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, when human life was like grass mustard, and he could kill people for half of the nest, although Cheng Biting Jin was born in an official eunuch's family, but he could not escape the influence of the troubled times, in order to protect himself, he had to become ruthless, and human life was indeed nothing in his eyes.

"By the way, I heard that the candidate for the crown princess has been decided this time, do you know which woman was selected?" At this moment, I saw Qin Qiong suddenly ask with interest.

"Why is General Qin interested in this matter?" Li Xiu couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this, if he remembered well, the women in Qin Qiong's family did not participate in this concubine selection.

"Hehe, I'm not interested in this matter, but my wife's brother's family has a daughter who has reported it, and I don't know the result yet, so I have asked me many times!" Qin Qiong said honestly at the moment, his wife is also from a big family, although she is not as good as the five surnames and seven wangs, but she is also a famous big family.

Previously, the eldest grandson Wuji had already determined the three candidates for the crown princess, but this matter has not been made public for the time being, and since the last discussion, Li Xiu suggested asking Li Chengqian his own opinion, but he didn't expect that there was no news for a long time, and the imperial court had not announced it, so people from the outside knew even less about it.

"I see, the Duke of Qi has already set three alternative candidates for the crown princess, namely the Wang family, the Lu family and the Su family, among which the Wang family has the greatest hope, His Majesty and the queen are more inclined to her, but it seems that it has not been determined yet!" Li Xiu nodded first, and then told the news he knew, anyway, this matter will have to be announced sooner or later, and with Qin Qiong's identity, even if they know in advance, it is nothing.

"It seems that there is no hope for my wife and brother, but it's okay like this, there are too many intrigues in the palace, and it may not be a good thing to enter the palace!" Qin Qiong's wife's surname is Jia, and when she heard that there was no daughter of her own wife and brother among the three candidates, she was also relieved at the moment, it seems that his thoughts are similar to Li Xiu's.

"Hehe, Uncle Bao, look at the people on my lady's side, they directly rejected the prince's holy decree to choose a concubine, and Your Majesty still can't do anything about them!" At this moment, I saw Cheng Yanjin suddenly smile proudly.

Cheng Yanjin's wife's surname is Cui, who was born in the famous Qinghe Cui family, speaking of which, their Cheng family used to be a famous family, but it was still very difficult to marry a Cui girl, but he let him marry, so this has become one of his favorite boasting capitals, even if he is a national prince, he is still proud of it, which shows the influence of Qinghe Cui's family.

"Hmph, there is no one in the eyes of the Qinghe Cui clan, even the royal family can't look down on it, with Your Majesty's temper, they will suffer in the future!" Ma Ye snorted coldly at this time, his family has been a general for generations, and he has never liked these big families, and he has been in charge of the Feinu Division for many years, so he knows the dirt behind these big families best.

"The family is not easy to deal with, and it is even more difficult to eliminate their influence than to destroy the Turks in the first place!" Qin Qiong couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this, he had absolute confidence in dealing with the enemies on the battlefield, but he also felt helpless about these ubiquitous families in China, and he was not even very optimistic about Li Shimin.

"Let's stop talking about this kind of headache, Li Xiu, you know your majesty's mind best, tell me when your majesty is going to send troops to destroy Goguryeo?" Cheng Yanjin didn't like to discuss the affairs of the family anymore, so he pulled the topic to Goguryeo's affairs at the moment, after all, they were military generals and they were most concerned about the war.

"Su Dingfang and they sent troops, mainly to give Goguryeo a little bit of bloodletting, but if you want to achieve the desired effect, it is estimated that it will take at least four or five years, and by then our strength will be almost accumulated, and we will definitely be able to destroy Goguryeo in one fell swoop!" When Li Xiu said the end, he also deliberately glanced at the excited Qin Qiong and Ma Ye.

"Great, I can finally avenge the brothers who died in Liaodong!" When Ma Ye heard this, he immediately slapped the table and said excitedly, as a person who had conquered Goguryeo three times and finally survived nine deaths, his greatest wish was to kill back to Liaodong and avenge his brothers!

Qin Qiong's face was also flushed when he heard this, his two fists were clenched tightly, his eyes were full of perseverance, he had two major wishes in his life, the first was to destroy the Turks to avenge his father, this has been realized, and the second was to destroy Goguryeo, and at the same time to clean up the bones of the brothers who died in Liaodong.

"Old Ma, it's not that I'm talking about you, Shubao and I are young, you're not young now, can you last another five years?" Cheng Biting Jin's stinky mouth has nothing to say, but what he said is also the truth, Ma Ye is in his sixties this year, in this era of underdeveloped medical treatment and extremely low life expectancy, Ma Ye is also considered to be old.

"Get out of the way, Lao Tzu's health is good, don't say five years, it's no problem to live another fifty years!" Ma Ye couldn't help but scold angrily at this time, but Li Xiu found that he put down the wine he was going to drink, speaking of which, it was rare for Qin Qiong and Cheng Yanjin to be guests today, so he was allowed to drink a little wine by the county lord of Guanghua, otherwise he was usually not even allowed to eat meat, let alone wine.

Cheng Yanjin is not easy to get along with, and he drank some wine today, and he and Ma Ye are also scolding at the moment, but their temper is much better now, and they used to drink some wine and even fight.

But at this moment, a guard suddenly came in a hurry, and then leaned down to Li Xiu's ear and whispered a message, which made his face gloomy all of a sudden, which made Ma Ye and the three of them also a little strange, and they asked one after another, only to see Li Xiu say slowly: "The final candidate for the crown princess has been decided!" ”