The Guanzhong area consists of three counties, Fufeng County in the west, Jingzhaofu in the middle, and Feng Yi County in the east, of which the army of Fufeng County is Li Shimin's force and is known as the army of Kansai, and the army of Feng Yi County is called the army of Kanto, which is naturally Li Jiancheng's force.

There are three main garrisons in Feng Yijun, one is Yongtongcang, with 10,000 garrisons, led by the general Sheng Yanshi, followed by Pujin Pass, which is also 10,000 garrisons, led by the general Chang He, and Tongguan, with 10,000 garrisons, led by the general Luo Yi.

After Luo Yi returned to the Tang Dynasty, he was given a cold reception by the Tang court, Li Yuan made him an idle official, and the prince was gone, but the crown prince Jiancheng recommended him again and again, and finally persuaded Li Yuan.

At the suggestion of the crown prince, he was named the chief general of Tongguan, and Luo Yi also reciprocated Li by taking the initiative to submit to Li Jiancheng's faction and became a capable cadre under Li Jiancheng.

It was Sheng Yanshi, He Chang and Luo Yi who worked hard to make Li Jiancheng have his own descendant army.

Coupled with the 30,000 recruits of the fourth brother Yuanji and the 30,000 Guannei army of his uncle Li Shentong, Li Jiancheng had nearly 100,000 troops, as well as the support of hundreds of officials in the imperial court, making his power stronger than that of his second brother Li Shimin.

But at this time, Li Jiancheng was a little more worried, he suddenly found that the King of Qin actually took advantage of the opportunity of the Central Plains War to begin to devour his military forces, which made him extremely dissatisfied, and Li Jiancheng had no intention of continuing to inspect Xia Chong, and returned to Chang'an on the same day.

Li Jiancheng returned directly to the palace, it was already afternoon, the weather was very hot, Li Jiancheng stood in front of the Wude Hall and waited profusely, at this time, an old eunuch hurriedly ran over, "His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

The old eunuch panted and ran closer, and saluted, "Let Your Highness wait for a long time, and the Holy Majesty will ask Your Highness to come to your court." ”

Li Jiancheng wiped the sweat from his forehead. Walking quickly towards the imperial study, he seemed to think of something, slowed down, waited for the eunuch to step forward, and asked in a low voice, "Has the Holy Lord decided on the matter of increasing troops?" ”

The eunuch whispered, "It doesn't seem to be yet." ”

Li Jiancheng knew in his heart that his father still had to listen to his opinion on this matter. He quickened his pace again.

The emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties were different from the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, and it was difficult for the emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties to do what he said, he had to listen to the opinions of the important ministers below, and even had to struggle to persuade Xiangguo to support him. Otherwise, the Inner History Province and the Menxia Province will not be stamped with the Great Seal, and the emperor will not even be able to pass on the holy decree.

Of course, the emperor also has his own power, if Xiangguo is really unwilling to compromise. He removed and changed the prime minister and replaced it with an obedient prime minister. For example, Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong in the Middle Tang Dynasty.

In the late Tang Dynasty, in order to expand the imperial power, the emperor did not hesitate to use eunuchs to override his power, but he became a puppet of the eunuchs, which is a long story. Let's go back to Li Yuan first.

At this time, Li Yuan was also waiting for the return of the crown prince, and the reason why he did not immediately agree to the matter of Yuwenshi and the increase of troops. It was because he knew that if he wanted to increase his troops, he had to get the support of the crown prince, and he was well aware of the factional structure in the army.

As the emperor, Li Yuan did not alike this faction of power, and he was very supportive of the existence of this faction. This is the core of the emperor's art, dividing and transforming his subordinates. In this way, the courtiers only have the desire to fight each other, and there is no desire to improve, and since ancient times, leaders have all been familiar with this technique.

Of course, Li Yuan also has to abide by the rules, since it is Li Jiancheng's force, he must obtain Li Jiancheng's own consent before he can consider increasing troops, and this kind of thing cannot be said explicitly, he can only go around in circles from far and near, and say some glossy reasons, this is politics, and the words on the stage are always just an excuse, and the truth of the matter can only be understood through the final result.

Li Jiancheng walked into the imperial study and gave a deep salute, "The son sees his father!" ”

Li Yuan saw that his skin was quite tanned, so he smiled and asked, "How about going to Xianyang to inspect?" ”

"Back to my father, now is the busy time for farming, and my sons and daughters also go to the fields with farmers to plant seedlings, experience the hardships of farming, and gain deeply."

Li Yuan was greatly relieved to hear that his son actually went to the field with the peasants to plant seedlings, so he nodded and smiled: "I am deeply pleased that the emperor can go so deep into the people and experience the hardships of the villagers. ”

"My father has this heart, which is the blessing of the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

The two said a few words, and Li Yuan's topic turned to the Central Plains Campaign, and he sighed slightly and said: "Now the Central Plains War is unfavorable, Changyuan County's logistics center was attacked by the Sui army, the main general Shi Danai was captured, and Xiaogong's side suffered a fiasco in Weishi County, although these two defeats did not hurt the fundamentals, but the morale was hit, and even I felt very depressed, not to mention the generals and soldiers in the army, the situation is very unfavorable for us!" ”

"What is the father's plan, is it decided to withdraw the army and come back, or continue to fight?" Li Jiancheng asked cautiously.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, "Your second brother and Xiaogong both have the idea of withdrawing the army, but I don't want to give up like this, if I don't fight a battle, just give up, I also find it difficult to explain to the countrymen, but there is no certainty of victory, what your second brother means, I hope we can increase the army appropriately, twenty or thirty thousand is enough, does the emperor think it is feasible?" I want to hear from you. ”

Li Jiancheng thought all the way, and he was already confident, he couldn't say that he would not increase his troops, and if King Qin failed, he would put the blame on him.

But he can't agree to it, then his power will be weakened, and the best way is to withdraw the army, but it is clear that his father is unwilling to withdraw the army, so he can only use a workaround.

"Father, the most worrying thing is that Yang Yuanqing dragged the main force of our Tang army on the battlefield in the Central Plains, and then he used tens of thousands of elite soldiers to attack Chang'an from the pass, Chang'an was empty at that time, how should we resist?"

"This ......"

Li Yuan also hesitated, this is indeed a problem, the Sui army has already broken the armistice agreement before, so their sneak attack on Chang'an can also become a reality.

Li Jiancheng said: "Even if the Sui army has few soldiers and can't capture Chang'an, as long as they enter the pass, this will be a great blow to the Tang army in the Central Plains. ”

After a while, Li Yuan showed a look of disappointment on his face, and asked helplessly: "What does the emperor mean to say that he supports them to withdraw his troops?" ”

Li Jiancheng shook his head, "Erchen doesn't mean that, Erchen is saying that letting the reinforcements go out of Tongguan does not necessarily have to participate in the war, mainly to oppress the Sui army with momentum, and at the same time increase the morale of the Tang army. ”

Li Yuan understood what Li Jiancheng meant, he was afraid that his power would be eaten by the King of Qin, at this time, he suddenly had a thought, could it be that the King of Qin asked for more troops, was he fighting this idea?

Thinking of this, Li Yuan's heart was a little annoyed, when has this been, it is a matter of the future and safety of Datang, and the two brothers are still intriguing, completely ignoring the overall situation.

The discord between the Li brothers is actually largely related to Li Yuan's deliberate provocation, but at the critical moment, Li Yuan hopes that their brothers can give up their past suspicions and work together, which is the same as hoping that the horses will run fast and that the horses will not eat grass.

Annoyed is annoyed, Li Yuan is helpless, he knows that this is a concession of the built, if he does not agree, I am afraid that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will come to put pressure on the withdrawal of the army.

"Alright! The emperor also has a point, just do what you say. ”

Li Jiancheng immediately said: "Erchen Bao Yuanji is the main general, and he led 30,000 new soldiers out of Tongguan to support the Hongnong Tang army. ”

Li Jiancheng thought carefully, he knew that if Luo Yi was allowed to lead the troops, with the second brother's viciousness and decisiveness, it was very likely that he would kill people and seize the power of the army, and let the fourth brother go, there would be no such consequences.

Li Yuan pondered for a long time, he did not agree with Li Jiancheng's suggestion, "It's not appropriate for Yuanji to go, it's better to change the main general." ”

Although the reinforcements are just to strengthen the momentum and contain the Sui army, they are afraid that the situation is critical and when they need support, if Yuan Ji is the general, they will most likely ignore the King of Qin, resulting in the final defeat, Li Yuan is not confused at this point, he knows it.

His father's opposition made Li Jiancheng a little helpless, he thought for a while, "The minister suggested that He Chang be the main general." ”……

After some internal bargaining over the Tang Dynasty's reinforcements, a compromise was finally reached, and Li Yuan immediately appointed He Chang, the chief general of Pujin Pass, as the general of Zuo Wuwei, and led 30,000 new troops out of Tongguan to support the Hongnong Tang army, which added a few variables to the battle of the Central Plains.

At the same time, there were some subtle changes in Qingzhou controlled by Dou Jiande, and in Licheng County, a children's song was widely circulated among the neighborhoods, "There is a demon road in Youzhou, saying that you are subduing the demon god, driving the clouds out of the white sea, and falling into the Qingdi".

This children's song is quite weird, like a proverb, and after being circulated in the market for several days, it finally reached Dou Jiande's ears.

The outbreak of the Central Plains War, as a bystander, Dou Jiande has been closely watching the development of the war, his biggest expectation is that the Sui army is defeated, the remnants of the army retreat to Hedong, at this time Hebei is empty, he can return to Hebei, revitalize the imperial industry.

But Dou Jiande has been killed by Yang Yuanqing, although the Hebei army is indeed empty at this time, only the general Qin Qiong led 20,000 troops to be stationed in Dongjun, he still does not dare to cross the Yellow River north, unless Yang Yuanqing is defeated by the Tang army, then he will have the courage.

In the room, Dou Jiande stood in front of the sand table and carefully deduced the possible results of the Central Plains War, but the results of the deduction really made him a little frustrated, and he also found that the Tang army was in an unfavorable situation, and the Sui army had already grasped the strategic initiative.

At this time, there was a pro-soldier outside the door to report: "Lord Wang, Mr. Kong has arrived." ”

Dou Jiande retracted his thoughts, he came to Kong Deshao because he had another important matter, so he nodded, "Please let him in." ”

The door opened, and Dou Jiande's mastermind, Kong Deshao, walked in, bowed and saluted: "See the prince!" ”

"Sir, don't be polite, please take a seat!"

Dou Jiande invited Kong Deshao to sit down, and ordered someone to serve tea, then took a report from the table and handed it to Kong Deshao, "Recently, there was a proverb in Licheng County, which is quite strange, I can't figure it out, can you please ask Mr. to interpret it for me." ”

Kong Deshao took the report, only to see that it was written: There is a demon road in Youzhou, saying that he is a demon god, driving the clouds out of the white sea, and falling into the green emperor'