After listening to Yin Kaishan's analysis, Li Yuan nodded and said, "Before, we planned to level the Liang Division first, but it seems that the plan can't catch up with the changes." "Top novel, now that Xue Rengao is plundering and helping the wind, although we can change from the same to change, if we don't give them a head-on blow to frustrate their sharpness, I'm afraid that people's hearts will be lost. ”

Before entering the customs, Li Yuan and his subordinates had made a plan to stabilize Guanzhong, and it was natural that the first thing they wanted to eliminate was Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe in the north of Chang'an, because their territory was officially the horse breeding base of the Great Sui. - Meander area.

War horses are not an animal that can be bred in large quantities everywhere, and there must be a suitable climate, a very large area of grassland, and it is best to have a thousand miles of grassland with abundant water and grass enough for horses to graze and gallop back and forth.

Restricted by these conditions, the main production areas of war horses in the Sui Dynasty included the Turkic, southwestern and meandering regions.

Turkic horses belong to small and medium-sized horses, they do not run very fast, their strength is not strong enough, and their legs are short, which makes them look rustic. Turkic horses, on the other hand, have stout limbs, are extremely adaptable and enduring, and can eat very poor feed without getting sick; After a little taming, you can do it on the battlefield without panic or deception, and you are extremely brave!

The excellent performance of Turkic war horses is destined to be the best choice for light cavalry, so over the years, the war horses of the Great Sui have mainly relied on imports from the Turks, and now Li Yuan, Liu Wuzhou and others have also received assistance from the Turkic war horses.

The main production area of southwest horses is in Nanzhong, which is characterized by small body size and good at walking mountain roads; However, on the battlefield, its physical strength and endurance are inferior to those of Mongolian horses and Hequ horses, and can only be used as war horses.

Su You has been in Nanzhong for many years, and has always only used the southwest horse as a means of transportation.

Most of the horses used by Su You's cavalry were bred and imported from the Western Regions for the war horses he brought before, which was also the main reason why Su You had only trained 2,000 heavy cavalry for many years of preparation.

The Hequ horse refers to the horses produced near the meanders of the upper reaches of the Yellow River, which are better than the Turkic horses in terms of height and weight, and have a stronger weight-bearing capacity, but are not as good as the Turkic horses in terms of endurance.

The production of Hequ horses is not high, but it is the most suitable horse for heavy cavalry, Li Yuan has long wanted to have a heavy cavalry unit, which is why he wanted to take Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe earlier.

Because of the reason for wanting to establish heavy cavalry, Li Yuan wanted to take the Hequ area as soon as possible, but from the perspective of strategic extension, it was also imperative to eliminate Xue Ju's forces.

If Li Yuan wants to send troops to Bashu, he must take the Dasanguan, which is now Xue Ju's territory.

Especially after listening to Li Shimin's analysis of the situation from Fang Xuanling, Li Yuan thought about how to take Xue Ju, and the news that Xue Ju's son was robbing Fufeng immediately came over.

If these are the internal reasons that are imperative, starting from the external face, Li Yuan can't turn a blind eye to Xue Rengao's robbery, otherwise where is his face?

Glancing at the eagerness of his two sons and daughters and sons-in-law, Li Yuan was very satisfied, but he quietly turned to Liu Wenjing and asked, "Wenjing, what do you think?" ”

"There must be something strange about this matter" After Liu Wenjing finished saying this, he suddenly saw that Li Yuan's face was not very good, and immediately coughed, and said solemnly, "Xue Rengao is coming strongly, if we have a hard fight with him, I am afraid that Brother Peng will lose both sides and suffer heavy losses." Judging from the intelligence, he has worked far away, and food and grass are a problem, and if we resist it with deep ditch barriers, we can be invincible."

Liu Wenjing's words were obviously what Yin Kaishan said just now, and Li Yuan didn't have anything new when he heard it, and his heart sank.

But I heard Liu Wenjing continue, "On the one hand, we can sabotage his attack from the grain channel that harasses him, and secondly, we can contact Zhang Changxun, the Taishou of Wuyuan, who is now neither demoting Li Liang nor Yu Xue Ju, which is the object of our fighting; If Zhang Changxun could send troops in time to cut off Xue Rengao's back road, then he would be at both ends of the rat and collapse without a fight. Thirdly, we can also contact the Turks."

"Since the death of Shibi Khan, the Turkic armies have retreated to their royal courts, but I am afraid that far water will not quench the thirst of the near; Besides, didn't Shibi Khan swear not to use troops against the Central Plains again? What's the use of us contacting them? Li Shimin waited for Liu Wenjing's voice to fall, and immediately said with some disapproval.

Liu Wenjing shook his head and said with a smile, "The main force of the Turks has indeed retreated to their royal court, but now the younger brother of Luo Khan of the Turkic Department is operating in the north of the Five Plains, this person is greedy for money and stingy, and it is very likely that Xue Rengao will move troops against us this time, and he will make trouble behind his back; If we also persuade him to support it with heavy profits, then what advantage does Xue Rengao have at all? ”

As soon as Liu Wenjing's words came out, everyone nodded involuntarily, and the eldest grandson Shunde's face also showed admiration, "Wenjing's plan is very good, I think it is feasible." ”

Li Yuan finally showed a happy smile on his face, and asked, "Dubi is greedy for money, but the Turks have always been cruel and untrustworthy, and I don't know who to send to persuade Dubi?" ”

Liu Wenjing immediately said, "My subordinates are willing to go." ”

"Then there is Lao Wenjing." Li Yuan nodded, and continued to say to everyone, "Now that we have decided on Guanzhong, I don't know what good strategies you have for consolidating Guanzhong?" ”

"My daughter has a proposal." Li Xiuning saw that everyone was bowing their heads and thinking, so she immediately stopped her eyebrows and spoke.

Three months ago, after Li Xiuning received the news that Li Yuan asked her to escort her family out of the Eastern Capital, she immediately understood what her father was going to do, so she quickly fled Chang'an with her family.

After escorting his family to Hedong, Li Xiuning sneaked back to the vicinity of Chang'an with more than a dozen guards, and recruited troops on the spot to echo Li Yuan; The reason why Li Yuan easily entered Guanzhong was that Li Xiuning really contributed to it.

Of course, Li Yuan would not take lightly his daughter who had made great contributions, and immediately said with a smile, "Xiuning, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Li Xiuning then said, "The terrain of Guanzhong is narrow, we should expand our territory as soon as possible if we want to compete for the world, and the three places of Longyou, Bashu, and Hedong are indispensable; After defeating Xue Rengao, we should take these three places first. ”

After listening to Li Xiuning's suggestion, everyone nodded one after another, Li Yuan glanced at Li Shimin, and then said with a wry smile, "Xiuning's proposal coincides with what Shimin said just now. If you want to expand rapidly, Longyou is really our roadblock, and if we can't take Xue Ju, we naturally can't send troops to Bashu; As for Hedong, this must also take Hedong City first."

Everyone looked at each other, secretly thinking that Li Jiancheng was now fighting against Qu Tutong, and they didn't know when this Hedong City would be taken.

Li Xiuning was about to open his mouth to persuade him, but another soldier sent an urgent document, Li Yuan seemed to be a little surprised and a little incredulous after reading it.

After stabilizing his emotions, Li Yuan finally announced calmly, "Jiancheng has persuaded Sang Xian and Kaesong to surrender, Qu Tutong has surrendered to the enemy." ”

Taking Hedong City means that Guanzhong and Hedong are connected, and Chang'an no longer has to worry about being attacked on its back.

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, and they congratulated Li Yuan one after another, "Congratulations to King Tang!" ”

Li Yuan smiled, this news meant that he had made up his mind to take Chang'an's correctness first.

Liu Wenjing immediately got up and asked, "Lord, it is not too late to persuade Du Bi to do a matter, and his subordinates should go immediately, I don't know if it is possible?" ”

"Wen Jing has worked hard, you can go now! As for money, jewelry, and other items you use, you should always act cheaply, and always pay attention to safety on the road. Li Yuan nodded, stood up and walked to the door with him, and said another word.

After Li Yuan turned around, everyone continued the plan to send troops just now, and then decided to let Li Shimin bring 30,000 elites to fight against Xue Rengao; After the defeat of Xue Rengao, Li Shimin continued to conquer Longxi, and Li Xiaogong led 10,000 troops out of Dasanguan and marched into Bashu.

Li Xuanba led 30,000 troops to use troops against the Liang division, and he must take the Hequ area within a month; Li Xiuning, Li Shentong, and Zhang Daoyuan led 10,000 troops to pacify Hedong.

Li Jiancheng led 30,000 troops to hold Hedong City, maintained an offensive posture against Dongdu and Hebei, and was ready to send troops to these two places at any time.

Of course, Li Yuan did not forget Li Shimin's suggestion at the beginning, and at the same time sent Dou Liang and Wen Daya to envoy the eastern capital and Hebei

Eastern Capital.

After Wang Shichong launched a mutiny and killed his political enemies Yuan Wendu and Lu Chu, Duan Da and Huangfu Wuyi and others pledged their allegiance to him, so Wang Shichong, like Li Yuan, completely controlled the military and political power of the Eastern Capital, and Yang Tong, the emperor of Taitai, completely became a puppet.

In these troubled times, as long as there are soldiers in hand, even Wang Shichong, Hu Er, can become the first person in the Eastern Capital.

If you have milk, you are a mother, Wang Shichong knows this truth very well, so he is also like Li Yuan, who is benevolent and has many rewards for the soldiers; This made the soldiers of the Eastern Capital only know that Wang Shichong is the same, but they do not know that there is an emperor.

The eastern capital has been besieged by the Wagang army for a long time, and there is a lack of food, and after the last time Li Mi was recruited, the emperor proposed to let Li Mi support the grain, so that Li Mi played a Tai Chi, and Li Duo ignored it and blocked it back.

The eastern capital had little food, but the Wagang army was short of clothes, and after Zhai Rang repelled Yu Wenhua and afterward, it was obvious that he could not appreciate it with food, so he began to use grain and cloth as currency with the eastern capital to start trading with each other.

On the face of it, the deal is a win-win situation.

After Zhai Rang had gold and silver wealth, he could reward his subordinates and appease their emotions; And Wang Shichong got food, his army could be fed, and the people's hearts in the eastern capital could be temporarily stabilized.

In fact, of course, it was the Wagang Army that suffered, after all, after all, Dongdu could temporarily relieve its breath after it had food.

Today's Wagang Army is the weakest time in history, and it also needs to breathe a sigh of relief, but relatively speaking, the transaction between the two sides is very unfavorable to the Wagang Army.

Wang Shichong knew that he could not place high hopes on this kind of deal, and that if he wanted to survive, he could only hope that the outcome of the war would be settled and that the problem would be solved by force.

The Wagang army does not need to gather heavy troops to attack the eastern capital, but as long as it sweeps the surrounding area of the eastern capital and cuts off the connection between the eastern capital and the outside world, the eastern capital, which lacks food, can only surrender without a fight.

Because of this clearly, Wang Shichong resolutely prepared to launch the final blow against the Wagang army.