After listening to Wei Zheng's words, Li Jiancheng was silent.

Although Wei Zheng's words were very polite, they spoke to his heart.

At this time, his reputation is far inferior to Li Shimin, and he really can't afford to lose.

Moreover, not long after Li Shimin pacified Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, the triumphal ceremony that caused a sensation in the whole city is still talked about by the people of Chang'an City.

At this juncture, if he loses the battle, the contrast will be too stark, and then in the hearts of the people, his prestige as a prince will plummet.

Although he could feel his father's expectations of him, he couldn't take the initiative to fight.

Xu Shimo also agreed with Wei Zheng's opinion: "Has Your Highness ever thought about why the King of Qin stayed in the Literature Museum all day long and ignored the war when the situation in Hebei was so grim? ”

Li Jiancheng was stunned: "...... Why? ”

"Because for this war, the King of Qin has no bottom in his heart, and His Majesty does not mention letting him go on the expedition, so he simply ignores it and hides in the literature museum every day to recite poems." Xu Shimo replied.

"Won't it?" Wei Ting didn't quite understand, "King Qin has always been very confident in his combat skills, when Liu Heimin first raised his army, King Qin also asked His Majesty to fight, he doesn't look like he has no confidence." ”

"That was the beginning, and now it's a different situation." Xu Shimo explained: "Now that Liu Heimin's rebels are getting stronger and stronger, almost all of Dou Jiande's old troops have joined him.

"They are Dou Jiande's people, the army's heart is solidified, and His Majesty executed Dou Jiande, the people of Hebei are resentful in their hearts, and they are even more hostile to our army.

"The power of hatred should not be underestimated."

He paused for a moment and continued: "What's more, in order to pacify Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, King Qin used a large number of firearms, but now that there is a shortage of firearms, of course King Qin has no confidence. ”

This is also the reason why Li Jiancheng did not dare to take the initiative to ask for war.

When he had firearms, he was not sure to pacify Liu Heimin, let alone when firearms were in short supply.

After listening to Xu Shimo's words, Wei Ting suddenly realized: "In this way, Your Highness can't take the initiative to ask for battle, if Your Majesty intends to let you go on the expedition, you must also refuse." ”

Otherwise, if you fail, the prestige of the prince will be lost, what will you do to fight with King Qin?

Other subordinate officials also chimed in.

As a result, Li Jiancheng put Wang Yu's words behind him and refused to mention the matter of applying for war.

After a long time, he didn't see any movement in the East Palace, and Li Yuan didn't send Li Jiancheng to the expedition, so Wang Yu knew that Li Jiancheng didn't listen to her advice.

She smiled, unconcerned.

Soon after, Du Fuwei, the king of Wu, eliminated the forces of the traitor Li Zitong, captured Li Zitong alive, and sent people to send Li Zitong to Chang'an and present it to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan was overjoyed, rewarded Du Fuwei lavishly, and gave him the surname Li.

Since then, Li Zitong has been placed under house arrest in Chang'an by Li Yuan.

After the elimination of Li Zitong, Du Fuwei sent his adopted son Wang Xiong to encroach on other separatist forces in Jianghuai, and it did not take long for Du Fuwei to gain the land of Jianghuai.

......

Approaching the end of the year, Liu Heimin did not stop, and successively conquered Jizhou, Xingzhou, Weizhou, and Xinzhou, and killed the governors of each state everywhere.

In less than half a year, Liu Heimin restored all of Dou Jiande's territory.

In the first month of the fifth year of Wude, Liu Heimin proclaimed himself the king of Handong, and the name of the building year was made in heaven, and the capital was in Zhou.

With Fan Yuan as the left servant, Dong Kangmai as the secretary of the military department, and Gao Yaxian as the general of the right military candidate, all the officials of Dou Jiande's old department were reinstated, and everything was implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Xia Dynasty.

On the Shangyuan Festival, the eight-hundred-mile urgent military information was sent to Li Yuan's imperial case.

Li Yuan suspended the banquet and convened six ministers of the three provinces to discuss state affairs.

"Last year, Jieli Khan personally led more than 10,000 cavalry, united with more than 6,000 people from Liu Wuzhou's old department Yuan Junzhang, to encircle Yanmen, but fortunately Li Daen repelled them.

However, the Turks kidnapped Zheng Yuanxuan and the eldest grandson Shunde, and Gu therefore detained the Turkic envoys.

"Now that Jieli Khan has returned the eldest grandson Shunde and others, offering fish gelatin for peace, what do you think?"

Xiao Yu took the lead in saying: "For a long time, the Turks have supported traitors, stirred up the situation in the Central Plains, and prevented us from unifying the Central Plains.

"Now Liu Heimin and Xu Yuanlang are in turmoil one after another, and although Du Fuwei has shown goodwill to our court, he is like a hegemon.

"At this time, if the Turks move south, the situation in the Central Plains will be even worse.

"I think that before the unification of the Central Plains, we still have to stabilize the Turks."

"That's right." Chen Shuda agreed with Xiao Yu's opinion, and he proposed to Li Yuan: "Since Jieli Khan has returned our envoy, then we will also release the Turkic envoy as a gesture of friendship." ”

Other ministers were also in favor of stabilizing the Turks.

So, Li Yuan issued an order to release the Turkic envoy Telehan and others, and rewarded them generously, and sent people to send them back to the Turks.

However, it didn't take long for Li Daen to play to Li Yuan: there was a famine in the Turks, and Jieli Khan and Yuan Junzhang joined forces to invade Daizhou again.

At the same time, there was also a famine in Youzhou, and Li Yi borrowed grain from Gao Kaidao, the governor of Ulzhou, and Gao Kaidao agreed.

So, Li Yi sent 3,000 soldiers, hundreds of carriages, and more than 1,000 horses and donkeys to Ulzhou to escort grain.

As a result, Gao Kaidao detained chariots, horses, and soldiers, accepted the canonization of the Turks, and openly betrayed the Tang.

At the beginning of February, Jieli Khan personally led a large army to unite with Liu Heimin and attacked Xincheng, and Li Daen was killed in battle.

The Turkic iron cavalry entered the Central Plains, and rebellions broke out in the north, which shocked the government and the public.

Faced with the unoptimistic situation in the north, Li Yuan finally regretted that all this was because of Liu Heimin's head.

If Liu Heimin had not raised troops against the Tang Dynasty, then Xu Yuanlang, Gao Kaidao and others would not have followed suit, and the Turkic cavalry would not have been able to enter the Central Plains so recklessly.

If he had listened to Wang Yu's words at that time and ostensibly pardoned Dou Jiande, he would not have aroused the anger of the military and people in Hebei.

Taking a step back, if he could properly appease the military and people of Hebei, he would not have reached this point today.

Pity...... It's a foregone conclusion.

After Li Yuan received the military information, he asked Li Jiancheng in private: "Now that the Turks are going south and the north is in danger, I want you to lead troops to resist the Turks and crusade against Liu Heimin, what do you think?" ”

Hearing this, Li Jiancheng shuddered in his heart, and hurriedly said, "Aya, I'm ...... I don't have faith. ”

At this moment, he can only tell the truth.

If he agrees to this and loses the battle, his position as prince will be in jeopardy.

Li Yuan was very disappointed in his heart, but Li Jiancheng could tell him truthfully that it was better than being rejected after he was named in the court.

The prestige of the prince cannot be reduced, whether he is as an emperor or as a father, he must maintain Li Jiancheng's prestige and prevent others from taking advantage of it.

But now the situation is imminent, and in desperation, Li Yuan instructed Yue Yu: "Go to the Literature Museum and call King Qin over to me." ”

When Li Jiancheng heard this, his heart sank suddenly, and in the end, he still came to this point.

At this moment, a strong sense of powerlessness surged in Li Jiancheng's heart, and then this powerlessness turned into strong jealousy.

Long gave birth to nine sons, why is Li Shimin good at fighting, but he can't?

If he wasn't born as the eldest son, I'm afraid the current prince would be Li Shimin......