More than ten days later, Liu Heimin personally led a large army to attack the eastern capital - Luoyang. After the king of Henan and the eastern capital stayed behind Li Daoxuan and Liu Heimin to win a small victory. However, he was attacked by 50,000 Turkic elite cavalry borrowed from the Turkic Jieli Khan, and suffered heavy losses, but fortunately he held Luoyang City and confronted Liu Heimin.

The defeat of Luoyang, the entire Guanzhong, and the entire Tang Dynasty were shaken.

In Chang'an, the imperial capital, Emperor Li Yuan supplemented troops and equipment for Luoyang on the one hand, and urgently convened an inner court meeting on the other hand, summoning the crown prince Jiancheng, the king of Qin Li Shimin, the king of Qi Yuanji, the left servant Pei Lian, the right servant Feng Deyi and the imperial historian Xiao Yu.

At the meeting, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, once again asked for war and came up with a detailed battle plan, claiming that as long as the emperor allowed him to lead 200,000 Tang troops to conquer the traitor Liu Heimin, he promised that it would only take three months to capture the traitor Liu Heimin alive and sacrifice him to Chang'an.

After thinking about it, Emperor Li Yuan ruthlessly rejected the invitation of Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

After the meeting ended, the prince Jiancheng and Qi Wang Yuanji returned to the prince's east palace sullenly.

The crown prince Xian Ma Wei Zheng was waiting anxiously in the East Palace, and when he saw the crown prince Jiancheng and the king of Qi Yuanji, after saluting, Wei Zheng asked, "Your Royal Highness the prince, what is the result?" Who is the commander of the rescue troops sent to Hebei? ”

The crown prince replied angrily: "Do you still need to ask?" It must be him in the end. ”

Wei Zheng asked, "Is it still the King of Qin?" ”

The crown prince Jiancheng picked up a cup of tea on the table, drank it all and said: "As soon as my father finished talking about the situation on the front line, he King Qin asked for war again, and he also came up with a complete battle plan. The number of armies to be transferred, how many cavalry, how many infantry, where to fight first, where to fight later, and how to transport the grain over, all talked about it. None of the others was sure to win the battle, so they had to let him perform alone. But fortunately, after some thought, my father finally rejected his request to fight, and I don't know why. ”

Wei Zheng analyzed: "My prince, why haven't you seen it yet? A few years ago, as long as there was a war in the Tang Dynasty, whether it was Xue Ju, Wang Shichong, or Dou Jiande, as soon as His Majesty received an urgent document from the front line, within three days, he decided that the King of Qin would lead the army and quell the war. But what about this time? The traitor Liu Heimin has been rebelling for half a year, and the urgent documents are also sent to His Majesty's hands one by one, but His Majesty just does not send the King of Qin to lead the troops, until now the entire Hebei region has become the territory of the traitor Liu Heimin, and the land of Henan is also in danger, and the war has been corrupted to such a point, so he was forced to convene an inner court meeting to discuss the matter. Didn't His Highness see any clues from His Majesty's behavior and the behavior of his old man? ”

Li Jiancheng's eyes suddenly widened, and he said, "Are you saying that this time my father doesn't want King Qin to be so handsome?" ”

Wei Zheng nodded and said: "King Qin's power in the army is too great, and now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the King of Qi have joined forces, so that they can be evenly matched with King Qin." If King Qin expands his strength again after conquering the traitor Liu Heimin, who else in my Datang will be able to compete with him in the future? Your Majesty will sit on the dragon chair as if he were sitting on pins and needles. The former Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty killed the monarch and killed his father, Emperor Wen of the former Sui, after he grasped the military power. The lessons from the past are only more than ten years ago. ”

The crown prince was built, and the king of Qi, Yuanji, suddenly felt the seriousness of the problem. The crown prince Jiancheng said: "Even if Yuanji and I have the heart to lead the troops, but Liu Heimin's momentum is too great, the whole 400,000 troops, and the help of the Turkic Jieli Khan, I'm afraid it will be difficult to win if you want to?" Could it be that my Tang Dynasty really doesn't need him, Qin King Li Shimin?

The crown prince Jiancheng, Qi Wang Yuanji, and the crown prince Xian Ma Wei Zheng felt very embarrassed. I want to fight, but I don't have the strength; I want to retreat, but I am very reluctant in my heart.

Chang'an, the palace of the king of Qin. Li Shimin, the king of Qin, had just returned to the palace. He felt very aggrieved in his heart: "The two requests for war were rejected by my father, is it true that my father doesn't even want the land of Hebei and Henan in order to suppress himself?" That's the land that hundreds of thousands of Tang soldiers exchanged for their lives. ”

He felt depressed. At this time, a housekeeper came to report that Li Xuan, the king of Yong'an, had come to visit.

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, suddenly felt a burst of joy, and hurriedly said, "Please." ”

After Li Xuan saw Li Shimin, the king of Qin, he bowed and said, "Li Xuan pays a visit to His Royal Highness the King of Qin." ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, helped Li Xuan up and said happily: "My son's room has arrived." Come on, come on, quickly analyze with me, why didn't my father allow me to lead troops and pacify the traitor Liu Heimin? Before, he wasn't like that. ”

Li Xuanluo pondered, and then replied: "Your Highness's power in the army is too strong, and his prestige in the army is too high. Your Majesty is worried that you have pacified the traitor Liu Heimin, and after the power is expanded again, no one in the entire Tang Dynasty will be able to compete with you anymore? Emperor Yang of the Reverse Sui Dynasty killed Emperor Wen and ascended to the throne after mastering military power. The lessons of the past are still fresh in your Majesty's memory. ”

"Huh? How could my father think like that? Li Shimin, the king of Qin, stood up and said.

Li Xuan replied, "Your Highness." Why can't Your Majesty think so? He is the emperor, will he give his military power to His Highness completely? In the battles again and again, His Royal Highness has repeatedly made great contributions, and the military power in His Royal Highness's hands has been handed over to His Royal Highness again and again. Now the military power in the hands of His Highness is too great, and it has threatened His Majesty's throne. Your Highness looks at it, how much His Highness controls the entire Tang Dynasty army now, and how much His Majesty can really mobilize. His Highness controls at least sixty percent, while His Majesty controls less than thirty percent. In such a situation, even if the traitor Liu Heimin rebels, will His Majesty be willing to give His Highness another chance to increase his military power? ”

"This?" Li Shimin, the king of Qin, felt embarrassed.

After a long time, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, asked Li Xuan: "You are resourceful, do you have a clever plan to alleviate such a crisis?" You can't just watch me lose the land of Hebei and Henan. ”

After Li Xuan groaned, he said: "His Royal Highness King Qin, now there is only a surprise victory. ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, hurriedly asked, "What is a surprising way to win?" ”

Li Xuan replied: "Fight a big battle that the entire imperial court thinks is impossible to win!" ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, asked again: "How can we fight a big battle that the entire imperial court thinks is impossible?" ”

Li Xuan replied: "I hope that Your Highness will ask tomorrow to bring only 30,000 people to quell the rebellion, and guarantee to pacify the whole of Hebei within a month." ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, said in surprise: "30,000 people to suppress the rebellion? Pacify the whole of Hebei in a month? That's impossible. The traitor Liu Heimin has an army of 400,000 troops, and also has the help of the Turkic Jieli Khan, if I lead the army, I will need at least 200,000 horses to pacify. The rest of the court led the troops to quell the rebellion, and they needed more soldiers and horses. ”

Li Xuan laughed and said: "30,000 people, pacifying the entire Hebei in a month, His Royal Highness thinks it is impossible." Then His Majesty, the crown prince, the king of Qi and other important ministers of the court will also feel that this is impossible. In this way, they will agree that His Highness will lead the troops to quell the rebellion. Because many of them hope that His Highness will suffer a defeat, and his prestige in the army will fall, and he can also take the opportunity to take back some military power in the hands of His Highness. ”

Li Shimin questioned: "In this way, they will definitely agree to me leading the army." But even if they agree with me to lead the army, what can these 30,000 people do? This is absolutely impossible to defeat the traitor Liu Heimin. ”

Li Xuan said with a smile: "Militarily speaking, if you fight hard, Your Highness's 30,000 horses are indeed not the opponent of the traitor Liu Heimin, but politically speaking, Your Highness's 30,000 horses are more than enough to pacify the traitor Liu Heimin." ”