The night was extremely quiet, and the dark sky was suddenly pierced by a flash of lightning. Then there was a thunder, announcing the arrival of spring, the roof was pounding, and the spring rain fell, sneaking into the world with the wind, nourishing all things.

The spring rain is getting heavier and heavier, flowing down the eaves, forming thousands of beads, and forming thousands of streams, flowing happily. The water in the pond is rising, the water in the Luo River is rising, and the water in the Yellow River is also rising.

, the weeds in the field are sprouting, the willows by the river are sprouting, frogs are jumping, insects are chirping, and the old cow is stretching its back.

This is all the beginning of spring!

Spring is warm and gives people hope, but at this moment, Li Shimin is living in the cold spring. Even the continuous spring rain is so melancholy in his eyes, and the boundless rain is as thin as sorrow!

Spring rain brought the imperial envoy from Chang'an, and Li Shimin received the imperial edict from his father Li Yuan in the humid courtyard of Changping County. The edict did not reprimand him, but only relieved him of his military power and called him back to Chang'an, while Li Xiaogong was appointed Shannan

The marching commander temporarily took over all defenses and was responsible for guarding the three passages from Changping County to Hanoi County to guard against the Qi army's attack.

Li Shimin silently accepted the imperial edict, got extremely drunk that night, and walked into the rolling spring rain to drink and sing wildly. For the first time, he summoned several brothel girls to indulge all night long. Fang Xuanling and others did not persuade him, because of this

At that time, Li Shimin really needed to vent.

On the morning of the third day, Li Shimin regained his composure, as if nothing had happened, and silently packed his bags and returned to Chang'an. The setback was not terrible, but what was terrible was that he could not stand up after being knocked down by the setback. Li Shimin had never been such a coward, and he also

I don't believe that his father Li Yuan would let him be such a coward.

A few days later, Li Shimin returned to Chang'an after a long journey, and knelt down in front of the Emperor Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. The prince of the country, Li Jiancheng, stood aside with his hands down, his expression neither sad nor happy.

"Father, please give Shimin another chance. Next time, Shimin will definitely defeat Gao Changqing and take back Luoyang." Li Shimin said with a firm expression.

Li Yuan shook his head and said: "Shimin, you have been leading your army to fight for many years, and you are tired. Please take a good rest and don't worry about the war anymore."

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat and he quickly said: "Shimin is not tired. Leading troops to fight is actually Shimin's fun."

Li Yuan frowned and said: "Even if you are not tired, you should rest for a while. You are not young anymore. Even your fourth brother Yuanji has been a father for two years, and you are still unmarried. You are almost twenty years old, so you should be

For the sake of your own life-long affairs, I have ordered the prince to find a suitable candidate for you, and then you can go and meet him."

Li Shimin was speechless. He casually glanced at his eldest brother Li Jiancheng next to him from the corner of his eye, and then said silently: "I understand, my father and eldest brother have to worry about it."

Li Yuan nodded, waved and said: "Get up, go down and take a shower and change clothes first, and then have a good rest for a few days."

Li Shimin stood up and suddenly reminded him solemnly: "Li Jing is not a trivial person. Now he is raising troops south to attack Taiyuan. My father must not take it lightly. His fourth brother Yuan Ji is by no means his opponent. It is best to send an experienced veteran at this time."

Assist Yuanji."

Li Yuandan said calmly: "I understand."

Li Shimin had no choice but to retreat silently, listening to his father Li Yuan's wishes. Before he got married, he was afraid that he would not be given the opportunity to lead the army again. He didn't know if his eldest brother had said anything in front of his father. He felt that his father was comparing him to him.

I was a lot colder before.

Li Jiancheng looked at Li Shimin's slumped away figure with complicated emotions. Originally, the relationship between the two brothers was quite good, but as they grew older, they became more and more alienated, especially after the interest relationship was involved.

.

Li Jiancheng was the prince and heir to the throne, and Li Shimin was the king of Qin, serving as Shangshu Ling. He had great military exploits and many talents under his command. His reputation was even higher than that of the prince Li Jiancheng. Naturally, it was difficult for Li Jiancheng not to feel threatened, and the people around Li Jiancheng

Everyone was advising him to be careful and looking for opportunities to weaken Li Shimin's strength so as not to lose his big tail.

This time Li Shimin failed to capture Luoyang, and was defeated by Gao Changqing. Li Jiancheng felt mixed, because if Li Shimin succeeded in capturing Luoyang, his credit would be even greater, and his reputation and popularity would definitely overwhelm him as the prince, or even surpass him.

Father Emperor Li Yuan.

Therefore, Li Shimin's failure was a good thing for Li Jiancheng, but it was quite bad for the entire Li Tang Dynasty. This time the Tang army was defeated and suffered heavy losses. Gao Qi captured the Central Plains area with great momentum.

, will inevitably further squeeze Li Tang's sphere of influence. If Li Jing seizes the Hedong area again, then Li Tang will have no choice but to hide in a corner of Guanzhong.

Li Yuan was obviously very aware of the seriousness of the situation, so he decisively recalled Li Shimin to Chang'an, not because he did not trust Li Shimin's ability, but because he planned to make peace with Gao Qi temporarily. There was no way, Gao Qi was too powerful, and now he was so powerful that Li Yuan

Tang needs a chance to breathe and regain his strength.

Children who like to watch football games should be very aware of this tactic. When one's own team is at a disadvantage and the opponent scores consecutively, a smart coach will immediately call a timeout. This can interrupt the opponent's rhythm and allow one's own team to take a breather and summarize.

Opportunities for lessons learned.

Li Yuan's ability to lead troops in battle may not be very good, but he is undoubtedly an excellent strategist. He knows how to seize opportunities, control the rhythm, and also knows how to use "off-site" power.

What is "off-site" power? Naturally, it is the Turks. Li Yuan also used the power of the Turks to win Guanzhong. Now that Gao Qi is powerful, he thought of the Turks again, and Li Yuan recalled Li Shimin to Chang'an this time.

, in fact, it is also related to the Turks.

It turns out that the Turkic Shibi Khan suddenly died of illness. Now that his younger brother Chuluo Khan has succeeded to the throne today, Li Yuan plans to send Li Shimin as a representative to express his condolences at the Turkic Yazhang, attend the funeral of Shibi Khan, and have a blind date or something like that.

.

On February 20th, Li Yuan mourned Shibi Khan at Changle Gate and ordered his officials to pay tribute to the Turkic envoy. The next day, he sent Qin Wang Li Shimin as the Tang envoy to deliver 30,000 pieces of silk (white cloth) for the memorial ceremony.

Go to the Turkic Yazhang to express condolences to Shibi Khan.

…………

When the first spring rain fell, Xu Shiji broke through Wangwu County, captured Wang Shichong, Wang Renze and others, and also obtained a large number of talents under his command, including Pei Xingyan's father, Pei Renji.

Pei Renji and Zu Junyan were both members of Li Mi. They were captured by Wang Shichong in the Battle of Mangshan. In order to save their lives, they had no choice but to be loyal to Wang Shichong. Now that Wang Shichong was defeated by Xu Shiji, they became prisoners again.

Because of his relationship with Pei Xingyan, Xu Shiji was quite polite to Pei Renji and sent someone to send him to Luoyang.

Gao Bufan was currently thirsty for talents, so he immediately took Lao Pei in. In addition, Zu Junyan was very good at writing, so he also took him in to do paperwork. In addition to Pei Renji and Zu Junyan, Du Ruhui also discovered a secret among the prisoners.

A large number of talents, such as Zhang Zhenzhou, Zhang Liang, Liu Changgong, etc.

Zhang Zhenzhou and Liu Changgong were veteran generals of the Sui Dynasty, and they were quite famous in the past. Zhang Liang was not well-known, but he was one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion in history. He could not lead troops to fight generals, and his literary talent was not outstanding, but he

He was proficient in practical matters and was a master of politics. He was spotted by Du Ruhui and Changsun Wuji, and was assigned to the position of chief of the household department, where he really shined.

Let’s talk about Wang Shichong and Wang Renze. After the uncle and nephew were captured, they were taken back to Luoyang for trial. They were eventually sentenced to be cut in half by the Ministry of Punishment. They were beheaded in Xishi on the first day of March. Eight brothers and nephews from the Wang family were also executed together.

These were all those who had been tried by the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the evidence was conclusive that they were guilty of capital crimes. As for other minor crimes, they were exempted from punishment.

In this way, Gao Bufan fulfilled his promise to Wang Jundu, and the Wang family was lucky enough to preserve part of their bloodline inheritance.

In the spring of March, the weather is getting warmer and warmer, and the branches are blooming with flowers. After more than a month of busy work, everything is gradually on track, and Gao Bufan finally has some leisure time.

On this day, Gao Bufan was planning to take a day to accompany Yang Qingruo to the countryside for an outing, and let the Gongsuns play the flute and sing. As a result, an envoy from the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan, arrived, and this envoy was of great importance. He was none other than Li Yuan.

Li Xiaogong, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty.
Chapter completed!