Li Jiancheng didn't want to gamble, he hoped he could find a way to get the best of both worlds. But he didn't expect that winning the championship was originally a gamble, whether he wanted to or not, since the moment the Li family raised the army, he had already pressed everything he had. Victory is the glory and wealth that benefits generations, and defeat is nothing, including life. In addition, there is another gamble that has already begun, that is, the competition for the position of the prince of Tang Wang, there is also no way out, and the loser will have to splash blood for five steps.

Regarding the understanding of the latter gamble, Li Shimin, who is also the son of Li Yuan, is much more sober than his brother. When he found out that his father was vigorously consolidating his brother's position openly and secretly, instead of immediately putting away his ambitions, he tried every means to try to redeem his current disadvantage.

Fathers don't shoot directly at themselves. As the most favored son in the family, Li Shimin has always believed in this. On the one hand, his father needs to lead the army for him, although he occasionally makes some small mistakes, but in this troubled world, it is far safer to hand over the military power to his own family than to his foreign surname. This is also one of the reasons why although his brother has made no achievements after raising troops in Taiyuan, he can still sit firmly in the position of commander of the Left Route Army. On the other hand, Li Shimin believes that his father needs himself, a restless challenger, to put pressure on his brother and urge him to mature as soon as possible so that he can take over the burden of the head of the Li family in the future.

With these two security guarantees, Li Shimin can do some actions that are slightly out of line, but not very obvious. For example, establish your own employment, and vigorously make friends with your father's favored ministers. Although these piecemeal actions do not pose much threat to his brother's position and the unity and harmony of the family on the surface, they are of great help to Li Shimin's cultivation of personal power.

Since Li Jiancheng and Li Wan'er led the army to the north, almost all the generals who stayed near the Beijing division were deliberately accepted by the second son. Some are a few good horses, some are a good sword or a good bow, and some are purely military theoretical exchanges and exchanges. For Takeo, this kind of exchange is ordinary and does not represent much significance. However, with the increase in the number of courtesy exchanges, the number of guests in Li Shimin's mansion gradually increased.

For those who were unwilling to get involved in disputes between brothers, Li Shimin maintained the respect he deserved. Liu Hongji has currently been divided from his command by Li Yuan, and he alone led a sentry horse to "rescue" the eastern capital. Before leaving, Li Shimin not only transferred all the bows and arrows he collected from the treasury and selflessly handed them over to Liu Hongji for use. and personally sent a willow leaf armor copied from the palace to Liu Hongji's camp. The samurai is now in an important position, and in order to avoid suspicion, he can no longer take the initiative to visit the second prince's mansion. Li Shimin entrusted an important minister beside his father to recommend Wu Shiyu's own brother to the imperial court as Si Nongqing. Although this martial brother is a well-known honest man, it is impossible to give anyone any form of return.

For his cronies who have been following him, Li Shimin strives to fight for suitable treatment for them. Today, the eldest grandson Wuji is already a doctor of the four products, General Xuanwei, and Marquis of Fenyang County. Hou Junji, who was born as an ordinary soldier, also has many titles such as Zhongsan Doctor, General Mingwei, and Lancheng Bo. The rest of the brothers who fought the world together also gained a good position by virtue of their military exploits. 'The second son is fair in dealing with things and does not treat others according to his background' This is the praise of the brothers from the heart.

For other people who were not originally under his control, but who had the heart to make friends with him, Li Shimin gave them appropriate rewards. For example, due to injury, he did not go north with the Niangzi army, and the Qiu Shili brothers who stayed in the capital to garrison the nine gates, and Sun Hua's sworn brother Bai Wenjin, etc., have repeatedly received his "selfless" recommendations.

In addition to making all kinds of friends regardless of his background, Li Shimin tried not to let go of all the opportunities that could contribute to the family. He doesn't fight for credit, he doesn't ask about compensation, he just does things with his heart. Several times the old Sui forces in the vicinity of Gyeonggi counterattacked, but he quickly extinguished them in the starting state. In this way, even if he was dissatisfied with his second son's past performance, Li Yuan couldn't bear to ignore him for too long. It just so happened that Xue Ju annexed Tang Bi's troops and led an army of 60,000, claiming to be 300,000 to harass Fufeng. Tang King Li Yuan had to give his second son another chance to perform, and ordered him to march west with 50,000 soldiers and horses of the right army to resist Xue Ju at the two passes of Dazhen and Anyi.

After receiving his father's order, Li Shimin immediately recommended Qiu Shili's younger brother Qiu Xinggong as his deputy general, Hou Junji and Changsun Shunde as the first leader on the right and the second leader on the right, and Changshi Wuji as the chief of the march. The nephew of the samurai, Wu Kezang, joined the army for Sicang. Jingzhao County Cheng Bai Wen Jin was promoted to the military Sima. He also recommended Qizhou Jinshi Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the proud protégé of the great Confucian Wang Gui, to join the army for the record. Li Yuan was well known to Li Yuan about his abilities and conduct, so the appointment was approved without any hindrance.

When the army arrived in Fufeng County, Li Shimin immediately held a secret meeting in Yang Guangxing Palace and Qiyang Palace. In addition to the eldest grandson Shunde, the eldest grandson Wuji, Hou Junji and several other inherent henchmen, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and Li Jing were added. At the beginning of the secret discussion, Li Shimin unabashedly admitted that he was deliberately snubbed by his father, and singled out the favorable conditions of his brother at present. He told all his henchmen that he did not think his brother was capable of taking over his father's position and giving everyone a bright future. In order to avoid everyone falling into the abyss of no return, he must find a way to make his father realize the huge difference in the abilities of the two brothers, and let go of his inherent preconceptions about himself as soon as possible.

After listening to Li Shimin's words, the eldest grandson Shunde, Hou Junji and others were very anxious. Especially the eldest grandson Shunde, because he was too biased towards Li Shimin, he had been driven to Li Shimin from the position of his right-hand man by Li Yuan. This means that all his future prospects are closely related to Li Shimin's personal future, and he has to rack his brains to plan for the other party.

In a hurry, everyone talked a lot, but they couldn't come up with any good countermeasures. After all, the status of the established prince has been established for a long time, and it is not easy to shake. Moreover, the attitude of Tang King Li Yuan also determines the attitude of everyone. Since he sent Li Jiancheng and his athletes north with great fanfare, most of the core ministers of the Li family have taken the initiative to distance themselves from Li Shimin.

"Alas, Li has a thin life!" Seeing that everyone was helpless except to complain, Li Shimin shook his head and sighed.

"King Tang is indeed too biased towards the prince in this matter!" The eldest grandson, Shunde, sighed, his gray beard shaking up and down, looking like a ball of frost-stained withered grass.

"According to his subordinates, Tang Wang is a very measured person. His spring and autumn are not high, and he should have a long time to think about these things. Although Fang Xuanling had heard of the filthiness between the Li family brothers for a long time, he didn't expect that the two of them had reached the point where they were so different, so he hesitated and comforted.

"It's not that I'm alarmist, the so-called people have no foresight, but they must have near-term worries. Although the eldest brother is magnanimous, most of the credit for this southward journey is due to me and you. Once my father is a hundred years old, my brother is weak and my brother is strong..."Looking at the people with different faces, Li Shimin explained in a low voice.

Brothers are weak and brothers are strong, at least until the war against the Turks in the north was fought, and this was how the outside world felt. With the current power of Tang King Li Yuan, it is no wonder that Li Shimin is worried about his own safety. is the most ruthless emperor's family, if Li Yuan becomes the emperor, the relationship between Jiancheng and Shimin is like Yang Yong and Yang Guang back then. Although in the text written by Wagang Jun, he sharply condemned Yang Guang's crime of killing his brother and seizing the throne. But if Yang Yong is replaced as the emperor, I am afraid that he will not be able to tolerate a brother of a great general who once led an army of 400,000 to conquer the entire Jiangnan!

"The second son can keep his head in obscurity, or temporarily lead less troops to avoid the limelight of the world. Maybe Tang Gong wants you to do this! In line with Confucian thinking, Fang Xuanling continued to advise. Brothers, friends, and brothers are the ideal standards for family members to get along with each other. Although he knew that he was a little foolish to persuade him like this, he couldn't do it for the time being.

The eldest grandson Wuji scoffed at this statement, "The problem is that the second son can't help but come out now." There are enemies all around, and you can't hide in the capital and not fight. If there is a war, others will inevitably compare the results of the second son and the prince with each other! He shrugged his shoulders and continued to add in a mocking tone, "Fortunately, there is still Li Zhongjian among those who went north to fight against the Turks, otherwise, I might have to wear a left hat!" ”

"Even if the Turks are defeated, most of the credit probably goes to General Li. He has only lost once in the seven years since his debut. Hou Junji sneered and pointed out sharply. He was very dissatisfied with Tang Gong's practice of borrowing Li Xu's hand to create an opportunity for Shizi to become famous. Since it is a war involving the life and death of the Central Plains, the strongest person of the Li family should be sent out. What to do with a son who can't even fight? Of course, if you win, you can take the opportunity to stabilize your position, but what if you lose? After all, the Turks raised an army to conquer the country.

"I'm afraid that even if the Turks are blocked in this battle, it will be a crushing victory!" Speaking of military affairs, Li Jing, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. Since he became Li Shimin's staff, he has had the opportunity to participate in all secret discussions. But he is known for his viciousness, but he is like a different person, and rarely gives the mastermind any evil ideas that harm people.

"A pyrrhic victory?" Hou Junji, who was still complaining in his words just now, immediately jumped up. "Why did the pharmacist say this, haven't you heard of General Li's name?"

"I don't think I'm going to be defeated, right? After all, there is the Great Wall as a barrier! Eldest Sun Wuji's attention was also attracted by Li Jing's words, and he frowned and asked.

None of them wanted Li Jiancheng to gain fame with this battle, but deep down, they never wanted to see the Central Plains lose this war. Although after losing the war, Li Shimin will naturally take the place of his brother.

At this moment, they are all from the Central Plains after all.

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