Li Xiaogong was defeated and fled back to Guanzhong, shaking the Chang'an government and the opposition, this time sending troops to Hongnong County was the first step of the Tang Dynasty to march into the Central Plains, but it ended in a fiasco, the horse, the soldier Zhao Cijing was killed, what is even more unacceptable is that this defeat is still under the knife of the fallen old opponent Yang Yuanqing, which makes countless people sigh, for several days, Chang'an up to the minister, down to the porter and peddler are talking about this unacceptable fiasco.

However, Emperor Li Yuan was uncharacteristically silent on this matter, and just hurriedly threw out a conclusion that 'the timing of sending troops was wrong', and then he no longer mentioned this matter, nor did he discuss it in the court meeting, let alone make any decision to punish the defeated general Li Xiaogong.

Chang'an Mingde Gate, a team of hundreds of cavalry escorted the Qin King Li Shimin from outside the city rushed back, the people in the city cave scattered to both sides, the cavalry rushed straight into the city, dozens of soldiers guarding the gate could not stop, had to watch them run away on the Vermilion Bird Street.

"That's His Royal Highness King Qin, how could he force his way into the city gate today?"

The soldiers defending the city talked a lot, and they couldn't understand that the King of Qin, who had always been extremely disciplined, would force his way into the city gate like the son of a powerful person.

"Maybe His Royal Highness King Qin is annoyed! After all, the fiasco of Hongnong County will not feel good in anyone's heart. "There were empathetic soldiers who guessed that Li Shimin was in a bad mood.

"King Qin actually rushed back from Longxi, the situation in Hongnong County must be very serious."

"I heard that it has something to do with King Qi...."

"Shhhh Don't talk nonsense. ”

The soldiers whispered and watched the King of Qin, Li Shimin, go away.

Li Shimin led the army to confront Xue Ju's army in Longxi, three days ago he got urgent information, Li Xiaogong's army defeated Hongnong County, Zhao Cijing was killed, 30,000 troops were almost wiped out, the fiasco of this battle made Li Shimin resentful, as early as his father sent reinforcements to Hongnong County, instead of withdrawing Li Xiaogong's army, he knew that the battle would be lost.

His father, the Emperor, placed too much emphasis on territory and despised his soldiers. It was this concept that led the father to make a wrong decision, and then the father made a series of mistakes, sending Yu Zhining to investigate the Tongguan robbery incident, at the moment of war, it should be the first change of commander, and then slowly investigate after the battle, while investigating, while fighting, how could two hostile commanders cooperate in battle.

Now Li Shimin is worried about the morale of the military. The father's missteps in handling the Tongguan incident have led to the instability of the army. If this matter is not handled well, it will greatly affect the confidence of the soldiers of the army to serve the Li dynasty.

Li Shimin's heart was extremely worried, and at the same time, he was also full of resentment towards his brother Li Yuanji, the king of Qi. He knew his brother well, he was selfish and narrow-minded. Ruthless, making him the commander of the reinforcements is the mistake of his father, Li Shimin bit his lip tightly, galloped all the way, and soon returned to the Qin Palace.

The Qin Palace, located in Chongrenfang, was the residence of Yang Jun, the former Qin King of the Sui Dynasty, and after being renovated, it became the palace of Li Shimin, and the Qin Palace's Mansion was more than just a residence. At the same time, it is also the office of the subordinates of the Qin Palace, including Changshi, Sima, Literature, Records to join the army, Liucao to join the military, as well as many of Li Shimin's staff, the scholars of the Literature Museum, etc., all work here.

At present, the chief of the Qin Palace, the eldest grandson Wuji, Sima is Duan Zhixuan, and literature is Fang Xuanling. The record joined the army as Yan Shigu, the eldest grandson Wuji and Duan Zhixuan are now in the Longxi army, and Fang Xuanling is in charge of the daily affairs of the Qin Palace.

Li Shimin turned over and dismounted, and hurriedly walked into the mansion, and Fang Xuanling heard the news and greeted him. He didn't expect Li Shimin to come back so quickly, and he couldn't help but be surprised and happy. "Has His Highness rushed back so soon?"

"Hey!"

Li Shimin sighed, he saw that there were several engaged on both sides, so he held back the emotion in his heart, and pointed to his official room, "Go to the room and talk!" ”

Li Shimin walked into his room, and a maid took off his coat for him, wearing a moon-white tight-fitting hero's robe with a leather belt around his waist, and he looked particularly energetic, but he couldn't shake his mood, he waved his hand and asked the maid to retreat.

Fang Xuanling walked in and said with a smile: "Are you still depressed in your heart?" ”

"It's evening." Li Shimin sighed, he couldn't go to see his father today, he turned around and looked out the window again, the western sky was cloudy and hazy.

"Maybe I should calm down....."

Li Shimin's voice still had a taste of contemplation, it seemed that his thoughts had wandered to a distant place again, Fang Xuanling looked at him quietly, and then Li Shimin suddenly turned around and looked at Fang Xuanling, "What does Mr. mean in the letter persuading me to openly crusade against the fourth brother Yuanji?" ”

Fang Xuanling shook his head, "This is not actually what I meant, it is Pei Xiangguo's meaning, but I think his thinking is very reasonable." ”

"Pei Lian?" Li Shimin was stunned for a moment.

Fang Xuanling smiled, "On the night when the news of Hongnong's defeat came, Pei Xiangguo came to me, and I knew that he wanted to tell His Highness through my mouth, but I think he was right, so I added his opinion in the letter to His Highness." ”

Li Shimin fell into deep thought, and after a while, he suddenly realized that he was still standing and talking to Fang Xuanling, he smiled apologetically, and hurriedly said, "Sir, please take a seat!" ”

Li Shimin also sat down, picked up the small bell on the table and shook it twice, the bell sounded crisply, and soon the maid appeared at the door, Li Shimin ordered: "Pour two cups of tea for me and Mr. Fang." ”

In such a short period of time, Li Shimin has gradually tasted the meaning of that sentence and openly crusaded against Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, which was asking him to buy the hearts of the army.

"Sir, do you mean to let me win the hearts of the army?" Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling with some surprise.

"It's just the surface, it's a little shallow, it does mean this, but it's not quite."

Fang Xuanling's face always had a mysterious smile on his face, which made Li Shimin feel a little dazed, he was just about to ask again, but he bit his lip again, the maid came in with two cups of tea gracefully, Li Shimin glared at her with some annoyance, she appeared at an inopportune time, interrupted his train of thought, and waited for the maid to put down the tea tray, he immediately waved his hand impatiently, "Quickly retreat, you are not allowed to come in again!" ”

When the maid walked away, Li Shimin asked impatiently: "What if you look deeper?" ”

Fang Xuanling stood up and closed the doors and windows, and then sat down and said in a low voice: "The crown prince supports King Qi, which makes Li Xiaogong very helpless, what Pei Gong means. This is a great opportunity to win over Li Xiaogong. ”

Li Shimin was stunned, Fang Xuanling's words contained a lot of meanings, which made his mind dizzy, but after all, he had a peerless smart mind, and immediately grasped the core content of this sentence, Pei Lin and Fang Xuanling meant to let him and the prince fight against each other and replace him in the future, which made Li Shimin so shocked that he couldn't say a word.

Fang Xuanling also knew that Li Shimin was difficult to accept for a while. He smiled lightly: "Anyway." His Royal Highness should gradually seize the military power, Li Xiaogong is the second largest force in the military, and His Royal Highness should not let go of this opportunity to win him over. ”

Li Shimin nodded silently. He needs time to think about it.

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Taiji Palace Ganlu Palace, this is Li Yuan's study in the inner palace, and it is also the place where he reads books and urgently receives important ministers after returning to the palace. On the corridor outside the Ganlu Palace, several eunuchs were lighting lanterns, guiding the crown prince Li Jiancheng to hurriedly walk towards the Ganlu Palace.

The Tang Dynasty had just been established, and all kinds of rules and etiquette had not yet been perfected, coupled with Li Yuan's importance to Li Jiancheng, so Li Jiancheng could enter the inner palace and discuss military affairs with his father. Summoned by his father to the inner palace for questioning, Li Jiancheng was very nervous, lest his father lose his mind for a while and commit irreparable consequences, he did not want Emperor Wen of Sui to kill his son The human tragedy reappeared, which was an important reason for the final defeat of the Sui Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty finally had no support from the imperial family.

He has lost a brother Zhiyun, no matter what. He didn't want to lose his second brother, Huang Junhan had surrendered to Yang Yuanqing, this public case was not difficult to deal with, it could be completely ignored, Li Jiancheng was very worried that his father would make an irrational decision.

Inside the side hall of the Manna Temple. Li Yuanji knelt on the ground, his waist straight. There was a fierce light in his eyes, but instead of looking at his father, he stared at several palace maids standing in front of the curtain, which made several palace maids feel timid in their hearts.

"Father, I didn't rob that woman, that woman is a prostitute in Luoyang, no matter how bad the child is, he will not destroy his reputation for a prostitute, why doesn't the father listen to the child's arguments, he must believe those accusations without evidence, those nonsense."

Li Yuan was so angry that his face was full of iron, he had good intentions for this son, and he had taken on a lot of trouble for him, but now, in front of him, he still didn't admit it, Li Yuan gritted his teeth with hatred, and slammed the table and scolded: "Evil obstacles, will Huang Junhan wronged you for no reason?" What ugly things you did in Taiyuan thought I didn't know? It's not been a day or two since you robbed people's girls. ”

At this time, Li Jiancheng had already entered the side hall, and he stepped forward and whispered to persuade his father: "Father, the anger hurts your body, don't be angry, listen to Yuan Ji's explanation first?" ”

Li Yuan always had the phenomenon of fainting during this time, the imperial doctor advised him not to be angry, try to keep a peaceful mind, Li Yuan just forgot for a while, and now with the persuasion of his eldest son, the anger in his heart calmed down a little, and said: "Okay! You explain it to me, and if it doesn't make sense, I will punish you severely. ”

Li Yuanji was thinking about countermeasures all the way, and now the most beneficial thing for him was that Huang Junhan surrendered to the Northern Sui, Zhao Cijing, who knew a little, died, and that woman was also killed by him, and everything was dead without proof, and now as long as he bites to the death and does not admit it, his father has no way to take him, with the lesson of Taiyuan, he knows that he must not admit it honestly.

At this time, Li Jiancheng also said softly: "Yuanji, think about it carefully, don't make your father angry anymore." ”

In fact, Li Jiancheng also knew that his father just wanted a reasonable statement, which could gag everyone's mouths and appease the courtiers, so this matter was over, at this time, how could he hit the prestige of the royal family.

Li Yuanji glanced at his brother gratefully, and then said slowly: "Father, although the child has had some stubborn things in Taiyuan, it is just young and ignorant, after the tragic lesson of the loss of Taiyuan, the child has changed his past, Tongguan robs people, the child is indeed innocent, father, people's hearts are unpredictable!" That Huang Junhan had already had the heart to surrender to Yang Yuanqing, but he didn't want to fall into the notoriety of betraying the master, so he came up with this plan to kill people with a knife, on the pretext that I robbed his woman, so he surrendered in anger, in this way, he was a loyal and righteous man, but the child became a despicable villain. ”

This explanation was barely plausible, Li Yuan's face was a little better, and he continued to ask him: "Then why don't you save Xiaogong and make him isolated and helpless, so that he will be defeated!" ”

"Father, I really wronged the child."

Tears of grievance welled up in Li Yuanji's eyes, "Hongnong's army was defeated, and all the blame was pressed on the child, could it be that the child just ignored the overall situation?" Yang Yuanqing personally led tens of thousands of main forces to seize Ruxiang County, Tongguan to aid Hongnong's army could not pass at all, Zhao Shilang ignored the child's dissuasion, he must go to rescue the army of Shaanxi County, so that he was ambushed and the whole army was annihilated, this matter The child has been full of remorse, why not forcibly stop him? ”

Speaking of this, Li Yuanji's voice choked, Li Yuan's heart softened, this is his son, he believes that his son is telling the truth, no matter how bad he is, he can't be so bad, he also let out a long sigh, sad for Zhao Cijing's death.

"But... You should go and save Cijing, he is your brother-in-law after all, how can you watch him die in battle? ”

Li Yuanji's eyes turned red again, and he said in a trembling voice: "The child didn't know that he would die in battle, thinking that he would break through and escape, if he knew, the child would fight to save him, at that time, the child was responsible for Tongguan, Yang Yuanqing personally led the army on the side, if he lost Tongguan.... The child is really.... I really don't dare to act rashly. ”

Speaking of this, Li Yuanji cried bitterly, and Li Jiancheng also knelt on the ground and pleaded for his brother, "Father, the fourth brother's explanation is completely reasonable, he has the heavy responsibility of holding Tongguan, and he really can't act rashly, and he can't put the responsibility for the defeat on the fourth brother." ”

"Get up, all of you!" Li Yuan let out a long sigh.

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Early the next morning, Li Yuan announced at the court meeting that Hongnong's army was defeated, and the king of Qi did not save him, and Yang Yuanqing led a heavy army in Ruxiang County to lure the army of Tongguan to attack, which means that in Guanzhong, the king of Qi bears the heavy responsibility of Tongguan, and cannot act rashly, and it is handled properly, and there is no merit but no fault.

The defeat of Hongnong, not the fault of the war, was the wrong timing of the imperial court's eastward advance, Dou Jiande failed to contain Yang Yuanqing, so that Yang Yuanqing returned to the army in time to aid Luoyang, non-Li Xiaogong's command was not effective, pardoned Li Xiaogong for his innocence, and all the fallen soldiers were doubled to show the emperor's grace.

A fiasco in which 30,000 people were almost wiped out ended in a way that no one was held responsible, and Li Xiaogong was full of grief and indignation, but he was helpless.

That night, Li Shimin came to Li Xiaogong's house.

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[Tears run! When I got up in the morning, I found that I didn't get a single vote, a dazzling 0 votes, which brother voted for the old high, cover up the ugliness! 】