Li Jiancheng felt a little sorry in his heart, Biyin Sheng Yanshi was his confidant, Sheng Yanshi's surrender, he should bear a lot of responsibility, and the death of the emperor's uncle Li Shenfu, he also had a certain responsibility, after all, he tried his best to persuade his father to send troops from Hexi.

But his father did not mention the pursuit of responsibility, which made him very moved in his heart, and only by sharing his father's worries could he feel at ease.

As soon as Li Jiancheng's voice fell, Chen Shuda objected: "No, Your Highness is the prince of the Tang Dynasty, and you should not risk yourself, and Weichen is willing to send an envoy." ”

Chen Shuda was worried that after Tai Yanzi sent an envoy to the Sui army, Li Shimin would use a cold arrow in his back and provoke a war, and Tai Yanzi would be in danger in the Sui army, so he opposed Tai Yanzi personally sending an envoy.

Li Jiancheng had his own ideas, he needed to dominate the relationship between the Sui and Tang dynasties politically, and in the event of a defeat in the war, he wanted to seize the dominance of the Sui Dynasty, which would be of great benefit to consolidating his position as the prince.

Li Jiancheng waved his hand, "Chen Xiangguo doesn't have to persuade each other, time can't be delayed, peace must be negotiated as soon as possible, direct negotiations with Yang Yuanqing will be more fruitful, according to the principle of reciprocity, it should be up to me to talk with Yang Yuanqing, as for the danger, then don't worry, Yang Yuanqing is the dignified king of Chu, so it won't hurt me." ”

Li Yuan was also inclined to negotiate with the princess, and at this moment, a guard reported outside the palace: "His Royal Highness the King of Qin asks to see!" ”

In fact, this military court meeting also had something to do with Li Shimin, and he should have been called to discuss it together, but Li Yuan heard that Shimin was sick, so he didn't send someone to inform him.

Now that Shimin has arrived, he can only be allowed to participate in the meeting, Li Yuan nodded and said, "Announce his visit!" ”

"Your Majesty has a decree, Xuan Qin King will come to see you!"

In the shouts of the guards, Li Shimin hurriedly walked into the side hall, he was just about to kneel down and salute, Li Yuan stopped him, "The emperor is sick, there is no need to make a big salute, give him a seat!" ”

"Thank you for your grace!"

Li Shimin walked to the last seat on the right, but he didn't sit down in a hurry and bowed down and said, "Father, the son has important things to tell his father." ”

Li Yuan hesitated, in fact, he didn't want his second son Shimin to participate in the deliberations, and there was a deeper reason, that is, because Shimin was the main battle faction, Li Yuan didn't want him to disturb the peace, and now Shimin had something to say, Li Yuan guessed a few points.

"What's the matter with the emperor, it's late: let's talk about it later!"

Li Shimin bit his lip, "But Father, the matter is indeed urgent." ”

Seeing that he had to say, Li Yuan's face sank slightly, and he reluctantly said, "What's the matter with the emperor?" ”

Li Shimin took a step forward and said hurriedly: "My father's 20,000 Hexi army was wiped out in Huining County, and now there are only 10,000 garrisons in Zhangye in Hexi. ”

Of course, Li Yuan knew that Hexi was in danger, but now he was afraid of fighting with Yang Yuanqing again, so he deliberately did not mention the matter of Hexi, and everyone understood Li Yuan's thoughts, and he did not mention Hexi, but Li Shimin suddenly revealed this matter.

Li Shimin's suggestion just hit Li Yuan's sore spot, and he was extremely displeased: "Now that the imperial court's financial resources can no longer support the war, how do you let me send troops?" ”

Li Shimin felt his father's displeasure, but there were some things he had to say, from his father's tone Li Shimin also heard that he seemed to be ready to give up Hexi, he was in a hurry, and hurriedly said: "Father, there are 400,000 war horses in Hexi Ranch, and most of the Tang army's war horses are old, it is the time to change horses, if Hexi is occupied by the Sui army, the Tang army will have no cavalry, father, Hexi strategic place, never lose it!" ”

Li Yuan's face was calm, he didn't say a word, and there was silence in the court, the atmosphere was awkward and tense, Pei Yuan knew that Li Shimin's words had angered the saint, so that the saint couldn't come to the stage, and he was secretly anxious in his heart.

Seeing that no one spoke, Pei Lin had to persuade Li Shimin: "Your Highness, don't insist on going your own way, of course the Holy Lord doesn't want to lose Hexi, no one wants to, but now we need to consider the overall situation and reconcile with the Sui Dynasty first, this is the top priority, Hexi is only temporarily lost, and when we have enough strength, we can take it back!" ”

Li Shimin was also a little annoyed, and his voice became stern, "What do you mean that our strength is enough, and now our strength is not enough?" There are 210,000 troops in Guanzhong, and there are 20,000 Tang troops in Guannan, how many troops does Yang Yuyuan have in Qingqing? He just sent Pei Renji's more than 10,000 troops to attack Hexi, plus Su Dingfang's 10,000 troops at most, so now the Huining army only has Yang Yuanqing's 10,000 troops, and he still has to collect and surrender the army, what are we afraid of? ”

Li Shimin took another step forward and pleaded with Li Yuan: "Father, please let your son lead 30,000 troops, if I don't fight Hexi, I will directly attack Huining County, Pei Renji's army will inevitably withdraw, and then send another 20,000 troops to rush to Hexi, Hexi can be guaranteed, 400,000 war horses can be guaranteed, and I am willing to ask my father to agree." ”

Li Yuan said slowly: "I just listened to your words, sent troops to the Central Plains, and sent troops to the Guannei, what is the result?" Chang'an was breached, I was almost captured, my queen was also frightened and collapsed, and you delayed time and refused to come back, I don't want to deal with you anymore, but you don't know what to do, and you want to force me to send troops, you can let Tang Feng spy on me! Grab my handle, and I'll listen to you, okay? ”

Li Yuan spoke very slowly, and his tone was not harsh, but his every word was like a knife piercing Li Shimin's heart, he was so shocked that he knelt down on his knees, and said with tears streaming down his face: "Erchen is dedicated to the Tang Dynasty, and he has no selfishness, and he is willing to give his father and emperor!" ”

All the ministers felt Li Yuan's murderous intention, and they knelt down together...... Your Majesty, the King of Qin is a member of the community, and his opinions can be different, but he does not deceive the king. ”

Li Jiancheng also stepped forward and bowed and said: "Father, the second brother is in charge of the military and does not understand the situation of government affairs, and the sons can understand his anxiety, and beg his father to forgive him for the sake of his dedication to the society." ”

Li Yuan only felt that he was exhausted, his illness had not yet recovered, and he really didn't have the strength to take care of so many things anymore, so he sighed and said, "Look at your brother, he is still interceding for you at this time, don't you feel ashamed?" Well, for the sake of your dedication to the community, if I don't pursue it, your Shangshu order will be put down for the time being, go! ”

Li Yuan investigated Li Shimin's crime, and the root cause was that Li Shimin did not immediately return to the army after receiving the holy decree, but continued to attack Luoyang.

At the same time, Li Shimin attacked Luoyang, and now he has to hand it over to the Sui army, which makes Li Yuan unable to explain to his subjects, which makes Li Yuan extremely dissatisfied with Li Shimin, and even has a little suspicion.

Some people often say, 'The general will not be subject to the life of the king...... but in fact, whoever dares to accept it is death, it has been like this since ancient times, Zhou Yafu's death, isn't the root in the fine willow camp?

Outsiders are still like this, the battle for military power between father and son is an insurmountable gap, Li Yuan can tolerate his son in anything, even including the secret connection between the prince and Concubine Yin De, as long as it does not involve men and women, Li Yuan can also not be held accountable, but Li Yuan will not tolerate it at all in terms of military power.

Li Shimin only sent 10,000 troops to support after receiving the holy decree, and sent another 30,000 troops every two days, although he explained that 10,000 troops were only the vanguard, Li Yuan only sent 30,000 troops after he broke Luoyang every two days, and knew that Li Shimin didn't want to send reinforcements at all, he wanted to break through Luoyang, regardless of whether he lived or died, Li Yuan suddenly thought of the death of his fifth son Li Zhiyun.

Li Yuan suppressed hatred and suspicion in his heart, and today he couldn't bear it anymore to reveal a little bit, and it was this point that he dismissed Li Shimin from his post as Shangshuling, which shocked Li Shimin.

He kowtowed three times with tears, slowly retreated, and walked outside the main hall, Li Shimin suddenly remembered that his mother was dead, and no one spoke for him since then, he couldn't help but feel sad and cried loudly.

……

Li Yuan rejected Li Shimin's request to send troops to Hexi, and finally made a resolution, with Li Jiancheng, the prince of Tainanzi, as the main envoy, Chen Shuda as the deputy envoy, and the general Duan De Cāo led 3,000 troops to escort them to Huining County to negotiate peace with Mei Yuanqing.

Dou Liang came out of the palace, he was really a little depressed, he didn't go back to the house for lunch, but directly changed into civilian clothes, and came to a wine shop in Dongshi to eat, the wine shop is called Lantian people, which is the industry of the Dou family, and the scale can also rank in the top five in Chang'an City.

Due to the influence of the Sui army's attack on Chang'an City, the business of Chang'an City these days is generally not very good, everyone is not willing to spend money easily, save money for urgent needs, Lantian Wine Shop used to be full of guests, and these days there are obviously not enough guests, half of the seats on the first floor are empty.

Dou Liang entered the wine shop, and the shopkeeper saw that the owner of the house was coming, so he was so frightened that he hurriedly stepped forward to serve, and ordered someone to go to the fourth floor to arrange a private seat, and waved his hand, "You don't need to go to the fourth floor, just find a seat by the window on the second floor, bring me a pot of wine, and a few side dishes." ”

"The villain understands, the head of the house, please go upstairs!"

Dou Liang went up to the second floor, there were a little more people on the second floor, but there were also forty percent of the seats vacant, and the voices were noisy, each talking about the topic of interest, listening carefully, most of them were related to Huining County.

Dou Rail sat down at a table by the window, and there were already guys rushing to deliver wine and food, Dou Rail nodded, and said to the shopkeeper and the guys: "Go get busy!" I'll do it myself. ”

The shopkeeper and the guy slowly retreated, Dou Liang poured himself a glass of wine, drank it all, and couldn't help but sigh a long sigh, he was very anxious in his heart, as the head of the family, it was impossible for him not to consider the future of the Dou family, he had already seen the current situation in front of him very clearly, the Sui Dynasty occupied Guanzhong, and it was the general trend to drive the Tang Dynasty to the south, at that time, what should the Dou family do? What should the nobles of Guanlong do?

In the past, Dou Liang always felt that the Tang Dynasty had Hexi, Guanlong, Bashu, and Jingxiang, with an army of more than 300,000 and strong strength, while the Sui Dynasty had only one Hedong, Hebei and the Central Plains were riddled with holes, the population was sharply reduced, the economy was seriously damaged, and the strength of the Sui Dynasty was obviously weaker, and it was not the opponent of the Tang Dynasty at all.

But since he saw with his own eyes that Yang Yuan Yuqing led 10,000 cavalry to sweep through Guanzhong and break through Chang'an, he understood that the Tang Dynasty was not the opponent of the Sui Dynasty at all, and he was defeated repeatedly, and he also knew very well where the Tang Dynasty failed?

If you compare the Tang Dynasty to a person, this person has a vision, a sense of the overall situation, a strong strategic vision, can see everything in advance, and is burly, strong, and seems to be very powerful.

But when it comes to doing things specifically, it's not like that, nepotism, rigidity, suspicion, and no use of talented people, but people like Pei Lin and Feng Deyi who boast of patting horses have to be useful, because of this, this person has been defeated repeatedly, has failed in everything, and has destroyed a good empire with just a little old Bendu.

Wasn't this how the Tang Dynasty was declining day by day? In the end, the hearts of the people and the army were lost, and everyone rebelled and left.

Dou Liang poured himself another glass of wine, he couldn't help but sigh again, he also knew that the Dugu family and the Sui Dynasty had secretly communicated and found a way back for themselves, should the Fu family also take this road?