This was another bold and risky decision for him, and he had never forgotten the cultivation of an heir over the years. Not only let Li Xu learn the Spring and Autumn Period, Zuo Chuan, the Art of War, the annals of history, but also Confucianism and the like. He also taught his son some alternative modern concepts, such as land annexation, redistribution of means of production, imperial and black empires, continental hegemony, maritime hegemony, Malthusian population trap theory, and the replacement of human rule with the rule of law. These fresh thoughts had a huge impact on Li Xu's heart, who had read poetry and books since he was a child, and made him have an absolute admiration for his father Li Siye.

In Li Xu's view, his father is a person who is beyond this world, and it is a pity that his father participated in the war of the world, if he hides in the mountains to study knowledge, he will definitely be able to create a school that will be passed down through the ages like Laozi, Confucius, Mencius, and Guiguzi.

Li Xu has been in Chang'an to control the situation in Guanzhong on behalf of his father over the years, and many non-major decisions have been made by Li Xu himself, and even some decisions that even Prime Minister Xu Bin did not dare to make. Therefore, the people of Chang'an call him the hidden prince. It is not an exaggeration to say that because Li Siye has been leading troops to fight abroad all the year round, many times Li Xu is the controller of the north.

Therefore, Li Siye's biggest worry is not that Li Xu will not be able to inherit his inheritance, but that he will die in the process of conquest, and these troops far away from Chang'an to conquer Jiangnan will no longer be under Li Xu's control, or they will all fall under Li Chongbao's command.

As for Chang'an, what he was most worried about was that after Li Xu left, someone would take the opportunity to prosper and raise the puppet emperor to take away his base camp. Therefore, Li Siye arranged for the most trusted Michagan and Yan Xiaosi to stay in Chang'an, Cen Shen and Bai Xiaode to stay in Luoyang, and Prime Minister Xu Bin was on the way with Li Xu.

In order to maintain the smooth and orderly progress of the Southern Expedition, Li Siye would not cause the generals to disagree and split after his own return, nor could he lose his command because of the death of the commander, which would make the current good situation go down the drain.

He manipulated the process well when he was seriously ill, and in order to allow Li Xu to better control the situation, the letters he wrote to them also made a good time difference. Li Xu came to the quarrying front line first, and Li Siye naturally transferred the position of commander of the three armies to him, and patrolled the army with his son.

At this time, his illness was already very serious, but he still rode a war horse to inspect the camp with Li Xu, and said to the lieutenant generals and lieutenants of the various armies: "Li Xu is old and serious, and he is deeply lonely, and he will lead the three armies in the future to complete the great cause of the unification of the southern expedition." ”

He said to Li Xu beside him: "These soldiers are all lonely robe brothers, you have to treat them more favorably after I leave." ”

The soldiers were deeply moved, raised their swords and guns and shouted long live.

After returning from the inspection of the army, he said to Li Xu, who was riding on a horse: "You live in Beijing all the year round to deal with government affairs, and you are not proficient in combat, so you should listen to the opinions of the prime minister and the generals in general, and do not interfere with the plans of the generals below in combat, as for how to control the army, you only need to remember twelve words, reward and punish strictly, know people well, and be considerate of the soldiers." ”

Li Xu supported him beside him, and said in a choked voice: "Son, remember." ”

He let out a coughing sound, but he had no intention of returning to the camp, and stretched out his hand to a hill by the river and said, "Go, follow me over there to see the scenery." ”

"But, Father, your body."

"It doesn't matter, I can still hold on a little longer."

He didn't let the guards follow, Li Xu knew in his heart that his father might want to give him a face-to-face lesson, so he helped him to climb to the top of the mountain, and the cool river breeze was blowing in front of him, and the weather in the south was relatively hot, but at this moment Li Siye was shivering with cold, and his upper and lower teeth touched and said: "There is a book I wrote in vernacular under the stone bricks under the Hu bed in the Jiaotai Hall of the Jingshi Yongwang Mansion, which is reserved for you." I think it's more valuable than the legacy you've left behind. ”

"I still have something to say to you, remember, land annexation is the root cause of the demise of most dynasties, and even if you can't completely eradicate it, you have to find a way to curb it at the source.

"There will never be a vacuum of power, there is no benefit to too much power, you and I can't guarantee that the children and grandchildren will not come out of the faint king, the power of the faint king will be borrowed by the ministers and careerists around him, and the greater the power at that time, the greater the harm.

"Everyone in the world has selfish desires, but the law has no selfish desires, it is there to maintain order, and as a king, you must maintain the credibility of the law, and you can see everything else in books."

Li Xu knelt on the ground with tears in his eyes, and knelt three times and bowed to his father: "My son only wishes that my father can live a long life and teach more in front of my son." ”

Li Siye helped his son up, dusted off the dust on his shoulders, and said, "Let's go, I won't close my eyes until you lead the three armies on the right track." ”

That being said, after Li Siye returned to the Chinese army's tent, he fell into a coma for a while. Li Xu has been staying by his father's side and has no intention of supervising the battle, so all the units of the Yongjun army besieging the quarrying are resting and waiting step by step.

Gu Huaien, the general of the Tang Army, who had gained a respite from the siege of the enemy, hesitated in his heart, wondering why the Yongjun army no longer besieged, but he also did not expect that the commander of the Yongjun army, Li Siye, was no longer good, but he took this opportunity to repair the fortifications and missed the only opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

Zang Xiye and Li Chongbao came to the quarry by boat one after another, and they stood worryingly outside the big tent and waited. Li Siye first ordered someone to invite Zang Xiye in, and raised his hand from the sickbed with difficulty.

General Zang walked quickly to Li Siye, knelt on the ground and held his hand, and said in a low voice: "If the lord has any orders, Xiye will complete his oath to death." ”

Li Siye was out of breath and spoke very slowly: "After my death, my son Li Xu will take over the throne of King Yong, and will be responsible for all the affairs of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and I hope the general can fully assist him." ”

Li Xu knelt beside him and choked with tears, and Zang Xiye nodded solemnly: "The lord's order, swear to obey each other." ”

After Zang Xiye went out, he called his second son, Li Chongbao, in.

Li Chongbao had already cried when he entered the tent, and suddenly saw his younger brother kneeling in front of the bed, obviously unable to believe his eyes, and then he reacted, hiding a trace of dissatisfaction in his heart, and quickly knelt in front of Li Siye's bed and cried: "The child is late, and he can't be filial in front of his father, it's really ashamed." ”

Li Siye first said angrily: "You have managed Youyan well, I am very pleased." He beckoned to Li Xu, who was kneeling beside him, Li Xu stretched out his hand, and he used his weak strength to hold the hands of the two brothers together, and whispered: "After I leave, you should do your best to assist Xu'er, and you two brothers will work together to create a great cause." Your brother is good at war, so listen to his advice when it comes to soldiers. ”

When they heard this, they both cried and nodded in response.

"You go out and call Prime Minister Xu Bin in."

Xu Bin entered the tent and took off his mask to reveal his scarred face, his expression unable to tell whether it was sadness or sorrow.

Li Siye whispered to him: "Li Xu has outstanding ability, I don't have anything to worry about, the only thing that I can't worry about is Chongbao, he has outstanding merits, he has always been conceited, until now he doesn't know that he is not my own child, I am afraid that he has a covetous heart for the big position, I hope you can be good at appeasing and guarding, don't let him have undesirable ambitions, and don't let the two of them fall into a situation of brotherly rivalry." ”

Xu Bin choked up in reply, and Li Siye stuffed a note into his hand again.

The prime minister took out the note and looked at it, only to see that it read, "The whole division will do its best to attack Jinling." ”

After Li Siye confessed his last words, he refused to give up, presumably waiting for the victory to be established before he could close his eyes.