Li Jiancheng has followed his father for many years, and has always been his father's assistant, he rarely has his own opinions, most of the time he implements his father's instructions, and it is precisely because of this that he has won Li Yuan's trust, which is Li Jiancheng's way of life, disguise his personality, show obedience, and he hopes to be able to take over his father's throne safely.

However, the strength shown by his brother Shimin in the case of his fourth brother Li Yuanji made Li Jiancheng feel a threat, although Shimin has not yet threatened his crown princehood, but if he allows this momentum to develop, Shimin will sooner or later threaten his crown princehood.

What worries Li Jiancheng even more is that his father does not seem to be disgusted by the strength of the people, but has an attitude of resignation, Li Jiancheng began to be vigilant in his heart, he realized that he can no longer be the same as before, blindly obedient, he must show his ability, Li Jiancheng also knows that his father is now in a passive decline, and urgently needs to get rid of the unfavorable situation, Li Jiancheng knew that his opportunity has come, this time he seized the opportunity to put forward his own opinions, and won the praise of his father.

But a proposal for the imperial examination is not enough, he also needs to put forward more powerful suggestions, concrete plans that can get out of the predicament.

Li Jiancheng saw that his father was engrossed in hearing his suggestion, so he said unhurriedly: "Father, the second suggestion of the sons is that the sons advocate making peace with the Northern Sui and eliminating the hostility between us and the Northern Sui.

Li Jiancheng thought about this suggestion for a long time, he wanted to put it forward several times, but the timing was not right, Hongnong County was defeated, he couldn't put it forward, it would stimulate the hearts of many people, and it would be regarded as a weak surrender, and now with the passage of time, the shadow of Hongnong's defeat has faded, Li Jiancheng thought that the time was ripe, and today he took this opportunity to solemnly put forward this major proposal to his father.

Li Yuan's expression was very solemn, and he made peace with Bei Sui, which was undoubtedly admitting that Bei Sui's occupation of Hedong made him emotionally a little difficult to accept, Li Yuan walked to the window with his hands behind his back and was silent for a long time.

Li Jiancheng continued: "Father, the reason why Hongnong failed miserably is because of our strategic mistakes, or our strategy is not clear, whether we want to go east or restore Hedong, we haven't figured it out ourselves, if we are just to advance eastward, then we should not have a heavy army in Pujin Dutun and threaten Hedong, which makes Yang Yuanqing think that the purpose of our eastward advance is to recapture Hedong, so he and Wang Shichong joined forces to defeat us, but if we really want to recapture Hedong, then we should not occupy Hongnong County, As long as we march from Pujindu, we occupy Hongnong County, which makes Wang Shichong feel threatened, father, this is the fundamental reason for our defeat of Hongnong. ”

"I know it too!"

Li Yuan's voice was very low, although he never admitted it, he knew in his heart that it was his strategic mistake that led to Hongnong's fiasco, which caused the Tang Dynasty's plan to advance eastward to suffer a great blow.

"Father Yang Yuanqing's strategy has been very clear, he wants to fight for Hebei, so he and Wang Shichong formed an alliance to stabilize the south, recently Erchen also heard some sayings, many people think that Yang Yuanqing can attack Hebei when we attack Hedong from behind, Erchen thinks, this is an extremely dangerous idea, if we do not face the reality and continue to fight with Yang Yuanqing, then in the end it will be a defeat for both sides, our foundation will be ruined, and other forces will be fulfilled."

Li Yuan didn't speak for a long time, many of the people Li Jiancheng said, including him, but that was in the past, since the defeat of Hongnong, his idea has become weaker and weaker, since the establishment of the Northern Sui, he has realized that he has not yet been able to destroy this new dynasty that is on par with the Tang Dynasty, and similarly, the Northern Sui does not have the ability to destroy the Tang Dynasty, and the two regimes will coexist for a period of time, so in what way to coexist, is it a Cold War hostile, or as Li Jiancheng said, a temporary reconciliation, Li Yuan has indeed not made up his mind.

Li Jiancheng saw his father's hesitation, and he persuaded again: "Reach a reconciliation with Yang Yuanqing, we can concentrate on dealing with internal affairs and exterminate Xue Ju, father, we also need time." ”

"But...... He will inevitably put forward a request not to set foot in Hongnong County, what should we do with our eastward expansion plan? ”

"Father, this is actually just a truce and reconciliation, not an alliance clause, as long as our time is ripe, we can throw away this reconciliation at any time, without being bound by it, in fact, Yang Yuanqing is the same, when his Hebei affairs are completed, he will also turn around and deal with us, but during this period, everyone maintains a tacit reconciliation, in this way, it is conducive to preventing some unnecessary misunderstandings, as for the east, we can go to Wuguan into Nanyang, in fact, it is the same Li Yuan pondered for a long time, and sighed softly"You have a point, now I really don't want to be an enemy with Yang Yuanqing, the Tongguan incident is too big a blow to our army, I need time to repair it, so be it! First send someone to Taiyuan to contact Yang Yuanqing to see the other party's attitude, and then determine if there is any possibility of reconciliation......"

Speaking of this, Li Yuan glanced back at his eldest son, "Who do you think is more appropriate?" ”

Li Jiancheng had already made up his mind about this candidate, and he hurriedly said: "This matter has not yet become a resolution of the imperial court, it is best to keep it secret, and not to send courtiers, and at the same time, in order to show the importance and sincerity of the emperor on this matter, the son-in-law suggested that it is most appropriate for the uncle to go." ”

Li Yuan thought about it, it was indeed the most suitable for his clan brother Li Shentong to go, so he nodded and agreed, "Okay!" It was up to him to go to Taiyuan. ”

Xue Ju, the overlord of Western Qin, has not been able to recover since he was defeated by the combined forces of Li Yuan and Li Liang, although he is familiar with the fact that he still occupies five counties, including Gohan County, Xiping County, Douhe County, Heyuan County and Xihai County, and the territory is vast, but the population is very sparse, and the money and food are insufficient, which makes it a big problem for him to replenish his troops.

Xue Ju tried his best, and even requisitioned more than 20,000 foreign armies such as Qiang, Di, and Tuyuhun, but his strength still did not exceed 50,000, which was a full 60% reduction compared with the 130,000 army in his heyday.

What made Xue Ju even more headache was that he conscripted Xirong as a soldier, which made the power of Tuyuhun and Qiang people rapidly expand to the east, and a large number of Han people moved to Tianshui, Jincheng, and Longxi, and that side has become the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

In just one month, his courtiers were cut in half. This hit Xue Ju deeply, and most of the time, he used wine to drown his sorrows and indulged in wine-colored singing and dancing. Don't ask about the government.

And at this time, his two sons, the crown prince Xue Rengao and the Jin king Xue Renyue had an internal struggle for power, Xue Rengao was supported by the general Zong Luohou and had 20,000 troops, while Xue Renyue, the king of Jin, was supported by Liang Shidu and also had 20,000 troops, and the two fought openly and secretly. Plundering each other's population and food. The infighting was intense. It greatly weakened the strength of Western Qin.

Xue Ju turned a blind eye to the chaos in the Western Qin State, and his henchman Hao Ying withdrew his military power and stopped the brothers' infighting, but he also turned a deaf ear, and soon, Hao Ying died of grief and anger, and no one dared to persuade Xue Ju.

Night. Xue Ju's palace in Huangshui County, Xiping County, sang and danced, and the sound of laughter could be heard from time to time. The guards frowned and smiled bitterly, feeling powerless for the Lord's decadence.

About twenty miles south of Huangshui County, an army quietly approached the capital, this was the 20,000 army led by Xue Renyue, the king of Jin, who had arrived silently in the capital of the Western Qin State.

Xue Ju divided his army into three, ordered the crown prince Xue Rengao and the general Zong Luohu to lead 20,000 troops to garrison Caohan County, and ordered the second son Xue Renyue, the king of Jin, and the general Liang Shidu to lead 20,000 troops to garrison Shuihe County and Heyuan County, and he himself led 8,000 people to sit in Xiping County, and concentrated all the money and grain in the capital Huangshui County, so as to control the two sons.

The reason why Xue Renyue led the army to Huangshui City was because his military rations were about to be cut off, and he urged his father to ask for food several times, but he couldn't get a response, Xue Renyue got the news, and his brother Xue Rengao also ran out of food, and he couldn't urge food, under the persuasion of Liang Shidu, Xue Renyue resolutely made up his mind that he wanted to launch a mutiny before his brother and seize power and grain, so he used a lot of money to buy the general Zhong Lishu and the eunuch Duobao next to his father.

In the dark, Xue Renyue was anxiously waiting for news, and the Liang divisions beside him patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness's seizure of power is in accordance with the will of heaven and the army, no one wants the Western Qin State to die out like this, as long as His Royal Highness can work hard and actively prepare for war after seizing power, I believe that His Highness will be supported by everyone, and I will also find a way to get Northern Sui to support His Highness." ”

Xue Renyue sighed and said, "What's the use of Bei Sui supporting me, can it support me with money and food?" ”

Liang Shidu's eyes narrowed into a slit, flashing a sly smile from time to time, he comforted Xue Renyue earnestly and said: "Definitely, our eyes should be a little farther, the Tang Dynasty cannot be consumed with us all the time, sooner or later we will withdraw our troops back to Guanzhong, then our opportunity will come, Your Highness does not have to worry about the future, now seize power first, and then cut off the grain of Caohan County, force them to surrender, we have 40,000 troops in our hands, enough to compete with the Tang army." ”

Xue Renyue nodded silently, his eyes fell on the distant Huangshui County again, can he succeed tonight?

The golden walls of the palace are splendid, the lights illuminate the hall as if it were day, the musicians are playing melodious tunes on both sides, and a group of dancing girls are dancing.

The ivory gold table on the jade step was full of delicacies, Xue Ju didn't know how much wine he had drunk, he was already in a state of semi-drunkenness, but his spirit was very excited, there were three delicate girls on each side, he poured wine and beat his legs, scratched his ears and cheeks for him, so that Xue Ju was very useful.

"Good! Well jumped. Xue Ju applauded loudly.

At this time, his personal eunuch Duobao stepped forward with an ivory box and said with a sneer: "Your Majesty, the secret essence pill is here." ”

Xue Ju's spirits were lifted: "Bring it to me!" ”

The secret essence pill is a magic medicine offered by a Tuyuhun wizard, it is said that it can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, and it can be a hundred women, Xue Ju has been waiting for it.

He impatiently took the box and opened it, only to see that there were three vermilion pills inside, the size of a bird's egg.

Xue Ju picked up a pill and held it in the light, the pill flashed with a faint light, he squinted and stared for a long time, and then turned back to ask the eunuch, "Just take it directly?" ”

"The wizard said that one piece a day, after taking it with wine, the effect is immediate, and eating three pieces in a row can last for half a year."

Xue Ju laughed, "Take it with wine, good!" I like it. ”

Without hesitation, he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it, raised his glass and drank it all, slowly closing his eyes, as if waiting for the power of the medicine to be exerted.

That night, Xue Ju was exhausted, and Xue Renyue, the king of Jin, took advantage of the night to seize Huangshui City, the capital of the Western Qin State, he blocked the news, and did not mourn secretly, and then ordered Xue Rengao, the prince of Xuan, to enter Beijing to discuss the battle against the Tang army.