The news of Sheng Yanshi's surrender, Li Shenfu's death, and the Hexi Army's crushing defeat in Huining County spread to Chang'an only two days later.

The news also came that 30,000 Sui troops sent troops to Yan'an County, and the Tang army stationed in Yan'an County was forced to retreat south, and a series of painful defeats hit the Tang court who had not recovered from the fall of the capital and the death of the empress.

In the palace of the king of Qin, Li Shimin had just returned triumphantly from Luoyang, and there was no joyful gongs and drums to greet him, no father and emperor led hundreds of officials to greet him, and there was no pot pulp for the people of Chang'an.

There was only a series of heavy blows, and Chang'an City was broken by the 10,000 Sui cavalry led by Yang Yuanqing in a sneak attack; His father was forced to agree to withdraw his troops from Luoyang, which was equivalent to him killing 20,000 Tang Army soldiers, and Luoyang, which he fought desperately, was finally handed over to the Sui army.

What's more important is that the death of the queen mother made Li Shimin no longer able to withstand the heavy blow, and he also fell ill, in the ward, Li Shimin lay quietly on the couch, looking at the roof blankly.

The ambition he once had in his heart had passed away like a river at this time, and he would never return, and Li Shimin, who had suffered repeated setbacks, was finally a little disheartened.

He felt that his strategic vision was not wrong, but why did he repeatedly fail in the application of specific tactics, in his memory, it seemed that he had never won Yang Yuanqing once, why did he repeatedly lose in front of Yang Yuanqing.

Maybe failure can make people sober-minded, and after thinking about it for a long time, Li Shimin gradually understood that there are many reasons why Yang Yuanqing has won many victories.

For example, employing people, he was born in the Hongnong Yang family, but he never reused the children of the Yang family, Li Jing, Xu Shiji, Qin Qiong, Su Dingfang, Pei Xingyan, Luo Shixin, etc., these generals can all stand alone, and he fully believes in handing over the army to them and letting them command the side.

He even handed over the army to Qin Qiong. Entrusting the capital to him, this trust has made his subordinates talented and bright.

However, his father never handed over the army to commanders outside the clan, and even his own son did not believe it. It was this narrow-minded vision that made the Tang army deeply fetters, and perhaps it could defeat small forces such as Wang Shichong and Xiao Miao, but when it came to dealing with the more powerful and vigorous Sui Dynasty, it would be defeated again and again, and finally even the capital was breached, and the morale of the army and the people was completely lost.

If you look deeper, it is actually the Shandong Shi clan that defeated the Guanlong nobles. The new Sui Dynasty supported by the Shandong Shi clan was strong, while the Guanlong nobles supported the Tang Dynasty but declined in the Rì Yi - good-looking novel: the latest chapter of the Seven Swords.

So far, even the Juntian system can not be implemented, the land of Guanlong is still lined with large manors, the interests of the Guanlong nobles have not been touched, the emperor's relatives and relatives have a large number of fiefs to occupy the land, Yin Guiping and others have no merit to be rewarded, but they are unwilling to reward meritorious soldiers. In this way, how could the Tang Dynasty get the support of the people at the bottom of Guanlong, and how could it make the soldiers die?

It can be seen from the case of Yin Guiping. The emperor's relatives and Guanlong nobles have extended their monopoly hands into Bashu and even Jingxiang, and Yin Guiping's case was finally closed under the protection of his father, which made Li Shimin's heart full of indignation and helplessness.

In contrast, Yang Yuanqing used iron-fisted means to clean up the Taiyuan royal family and clean up the officialdom in Hebei, so that the officials of the Sui Dynasty ruled the Qingming Dynasty, and the Shandong scholars did not dare to seize profits and invade the people.

One clear, one muddy. As the days went by, Li Shimin was extremely worried, and he gradually lost confidence in the future of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Li Shimin's wife, Changsun Shi, walked in cautiously with the medicine, and when she saw that her husband was fine, her eyes were full of sorrow. He persuaded him softly: "The queen mother was tortured by illness, and now the immortal is gone, in fact, it is also a kind of relief, people can't be resurrected after death, and the husband wants to open a little!" ”

Li Shimin sighed, "I'm not worried about the death of my mother, I'm worried about the future of Datang. ”

The eldest grandson laughed, "If that's the case, you shouldn't sigh for a long time, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and the husband is a general who leads the troops, so why worry about it, find someone to talk to, maybe it's better, Mr. Fang is still waiting for his husband in the outer study?" ”

When Li Shimin heard that Fang Xuanling was coming, he hurriedly sat up, "I have to go see him!" ”

"Put on a garment and go."

The eldest grandson put a thick jacket on him, and let him drink the medicine, and then let Li Shimin go out.

In Li Shimin's outer study, Fang Xuanling, who had always been calm, was no longer calm, the news that Sheng Yanshi had surrendered and the Sui army had completely annihilated Li Shenrune's army made him extremely anxious, and he knew very well the seriousness of this matter, not only the crisis of Guannei Dao, but also the Hexi Dao.

If Hexi Road is not guaranteed, the 400,000 war horses of the Tang Dynasty will become a bubble, which is the only hope for the Tang Dynasty to strengthen the army, without the war horses, the Tang army has no hope.

But what made Fang Xuanling even more anxious was that the news came early in the morning, but now it was almost noon, and the hundred officials of the imperial court were only talking about Li Shenfu's death, but no one mentioned Hexi, couldn't they realize the serious consequences of this fiasco?

But Fang Xuanling was also a little hesitant, he was hesitating whether he should tell Li Shimin about it, the queen had just died, Luoyang had been lost and lost, Li Shimin had suffered too many blows, could he still hold on to the matter in Hexi? Fang Xuanling was very worried, but he couldn't say it, the situation was so critical that his eyebrows were burned.

At this time, there was a heavy footstep behind him, Fang Xuanling was very familiar with this footstep, it was King Qin who had arrived, but some of the steps were heavy, it was obvious that Fang Xuanling was a little hesitant in his illness.

"Is there anything urgent for me, sir?" Li Shimin walked into the house and asked with a smile.

"I'm here...... Come and visit His Highness's illness. Fang Xuanling sighed secretly in his heart, he still couldn't tell the truth.

"I'm fine, it's not a big problem, I'm not feeling sick at all."

Li Shimin sat down and pointed to the couch, "Sir, please take a seat!" ”

A maid came up with two cups of tea, Li Shimin took a sip of the teacup, and said with a smile: "Mr. Say it!" What's up? ”

"I did come to visit Your Highness."

Li Shimin laughed, "How can there be any reason to visit patients in the study, I don't matter, if there is anything urgent, just say it, I can stand it!" ”

Fang Xuanling sighed, "Then I'll say it bluntly, Sheng Yanshi surrendered in Huining County, and Li Shenfu led 20,000 troops to support, but as a result, the whole army was wiped out, and Li Shenfu didn't know whether he was alive or dead-other book friends were watching: Magic Dance Music." ”

"Ahh

This news shocked Li Shimin into shock, and he said hurriedly: "What about Hexi, did the saint send reinforcements to Hexi?" ”

Fang Xuanling sighed secretly, worthy of being the King of Qin, he saw the crux of the problem at a glance, he smiled bitterly and said: "This is what makes people anxious now, the saint and the imperial court don't seem to realize this consequence, and there is no news yet." ”

"No! I'm going to find my father. ”

Li Shimin was anxious, he knew very well that once the Hexi Road was not secured, the Tang Dynasty would lose its war horses, and the plan of the whole army to become cavalry would be completely frustrated, 400,000 war horses!

He got up to change into court clothes, walked to the door and said to Fang Xuanling: "You go and inform Pei Lin and let him go to the imperial study immediately, without further ado, go now." ”

"Your Highness, wait a moment." Fang Xuanling stopped him.

"What else?"

Fang Xuanling cautiously reminded him, "Your Highness must insist on the responsibility of liquidating Huining County. ”

Li Shimin hesitated, he knew what Fang Xuanling meant, this time the fiasco in Huining County was the deployment of the prince, including the Hexi crisis and the death of Li Shenfu, all of which were caused by the prince, and the prince could be held responsible, although this was the case, Li Shimin felt that now was not the time for infighting.

Fang Xuanling saw Li Shimin's hesitation, and reminded: "I mean, if the prince wants to hold him accountable for this troop dispatch......"

Li Shimin nodded, he understood what Fang Xuanling meant, "I know, I will depend on the situation." ”

Li Shimin left the door and hurried to his inner room......

In fact, things are not as Fang Xuanling thought, no one cares about the defeat of Huining County, in the side hall of Wude Palace, Li Yuan and the five Xiangguo and the crown prince are urgently discussing the crisis caused by the defeat of Ningjun, but it is not the same thing as Li Shimin, not wanting to send troops to recapture Hexi, but everyone is discussing peace with the Sui Dynasty.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the war has been endless, the imperial court has reached the verge of collapse, the people are determined, I don't want to fight anymore, so I want to discuss with you Aiqing, how to negotiate peace with the Sui Dynasty, the two sides will strike the army, stop the flag, and recuperate the people's livelihood."

Chen Shuda stood up and said peacefully: "Your Majesty is very right, Wei Chen visited the market, and he really felt that the people were tired of war, and now the morale is low, Your Majesty advocates that the truce is in line with the will of the people and the army, and the minister resolutely agrees." ”

Li Yuan nodded, and asked Xiao Yu again, "What about Xiao Aiqing's opinion?" ”

Xiao Yu understood in his heart that everything Li Yuan said was an excuse, in fact, to put it plainly, he was afraid of Yang Yuanqing, but Xiao Yu himself was more opposed to fighting, and the burden of war on the court was too heavy.

Since Li Yuan asked him, he naturally had to answer, "Your Majesty, this year's grain harvest is poor, and the tax is only seventy percent of last year's, which can no longer meet the expenses of the imperial court. Not to mention the expenditure of Lu rice for hundreds of officials at the end of the year, the question now is, if the Sui Dynasty asks for compensation, what will we do? ”

There was silence in the hall, Xiao Yu's words reached the critical point, there was no money and food, what to use to negotiate peace with the Sui Dynasty?

After a while, Li Jiancheng said: "Father, the sons consider that the Sui Dynasty has just experienced a great war with the Turks, and they are also exhausted, and the hinterland of Hedong has been seriously damaged, and the sons think that Yang Yuanqing does not want to fight anymore, so as long as the two sides treat each other sincerely, there may not be any compensation, and the sons are willing to go to Huining County to negotiate with Yang Yuanqing in person." ”