Chapter 2238: Talking while fighting, ending war with war
Chapter 2238: Talking while fighting, ending the war with fighting
It has to be said that Jiang Shang, who has both wisdom and political power, is really powerful. He is worthy of being called the originator of military strategists and the master of hundreds of schools. From an overall perspective, he is unparalleled in the world.
Jiang Shang discovered the problem that Li Tang and the rest of the country had not discovered, and even gave him a solution.
Jiang Shang's plan was both soft and hard. If Li Shimin adopted it, it would be a real trouble for Qin.
The enemies of Qin are all the princes, not just Tang. The reactions of other princes must be considered.
For Li Shimin, Jiang Shang's letter was a timely gift and a guiding light. It not only made him understand his situation, but also made him understand what to do next.
Of course, Li Shimin would not completely follow Jiang Shang's method, he had his own ideas.
It is right to endure humiliation and bear the burden, it is right to promote peace through war, and it is right for all the people to be soldiers, but let him go to the king's position and declare himself a vassal to Qin?
Sorry, it's impossible.
Li Shimin understood the truth, but if he surrendered so easily, he would not be Li Shimin.
"Immediately send an order back to Chang'an and order Li Shangyin to be the envoy to the Qin camp to ask for peace from the Qin army."
Li Shimin's eyes were full of aggrievedness, and he said in a deep voice: "Tell Li Shangyin that as long as the Qin army is willing to retreat and call a truce, we, the Tang State, are willing to cede territory and pay indemnity to compensate for the Qin army's losses.
As for the bottom line, all the occupied territory can be given up, and the five counties of Xincheng County can be ceded. The total amount of compensation cannot exceed 500 million yuan."
"promise."
After his men left, Li Shimin looked at the letter in his hand and suddenly came to his senses, and quickly left the camp to catch up with Jiang Shang.
Although Li Shimin was not prepared to fully adopt Jiang Shang's strategy, he also knew that Jiang Shang's talent was rare in the world, so he could not let this great sage go.
With Li Ru and Du Ruhui killed in battle, Changsun Wuji captured alive, only Li Kui was left among the four great military advisors of Li and Tang.
Li Kui: Commander 78, Force 60, Intelligence 94, Politics 102, Charisma 97;
Li Kui, who was born in Legalism, was good at politics but weak at military strategy.
In terms of government affairs, every time Li Shimin went on an expedition, he left the rear to Li Kui to take care of it. Even now that he was besieged by five forces, there was no internal turmoil in the Tang Dynasty.
But military strategy was not Li Kui's strong point, and he could not give Li Shimin much help.
Li Ruhui, Du Ruhui, and Changsun Wuji, these three counselors who are good at military strategy are no longer there, which makes Li Shimin have to be both a monarch and a military advisor. Naturally, he wants to recruit a top counselor to help him share the pressure.
Jiang Shang, one of the war gods of the Han Dynasty, was not only a top strategist, but also a top commander. If he could be assisted by this person, Li Shimin believed that he would be able to defeat Li Jing and protect Guanzhong.
Li Shimin was so fascinated when he read the letter just now that an hour had passed since he finished reading it, and Jiang Shang had long since lost track of where he had gone.
Li Shimin chased for ten miles, but not only did he not find Jiang Shang, he didn't even find any trace. This was a bit strange.
Li Shimin, who has an intelligence of 99, is so smart that he immediately realized that Jiang Shang was deliberately avoiding him, so he gave up temporarily and returned to the camp with a disappointed look on his face.
"Wu Ji, why are you hiding from me?" Li Shimin asked in confusion.
Wu Ji thought for a while and then answered honestly: "Maybe it's because the lord is Dong Gong's son-in-law."
Li Shimin suddenly realized that although Jiang Shang, who had assisted two generations of Han emperors, was heartbroken by the Han court, his heart was still towards the Han Dynasty. Naturally, he could not have a good impression of himself as Dong Zhuo's son-in-law?
The reason why they offered help? I'm afraid it was because of Wu Ji, or because they didn't want Qin, which was about to replace Han, to seize Guanzhong.
At this thought, Li Shimin's heart was filled with disappointment and pain.
It is a painful thing for any monarch to have such an astonishing talent so close to him, but he has no chance to do so, but there is nothing he can do about it.
The status of Dong Zhuo's son-in-law not only brought convenience to Li Shimin, but also destined him to miss out on some talents. Even Ying Hao, who was about to proclaim himself emperor on behalf of the Han Dynasty, would not be able to conquer the old officials of the Han Dynasty such as Jiang Shang.
Although Li Shimin knew that it was impossible to conquer Jiang Shang, he would not give up. Instead, he ordered officials from various places to pay attention to Jiang Shang's movements and report them immediately if they discovered them.
Whether they can be recruited is one thing, but whether they can be recruited is another.
Even if there is only one chance in ten thousand, Li Shimin will give it a try. Even if he fails, he will just pass by a great talent, and there will be no substantial loss.
Let the talented people in the world see how thirsty the king of Tang was for talents.
For Li Tang, the most important thing now is not to recruit Jiang Shang, but to cease the war with the Qin army as soon as possible.
Li Shimin has already issued the order for all the people to become soldiers.
Nowadays, 36 of the 38 counties in the three counties of Guanzhong have stopped production, closed the city gates tightly, and no one is allowed in, and a large number of people are recruited as soldiers to defend the city.
Lantian and Qixian counties were not implemented because they were captured by the Qin army.
The universal soldiers implemented by Jiang Shang and Li Shimin were obviously not all soldiers in the true sense. They just recruited as many people as possible to defend the city.
In the true sense, all people are soldiers, which means that all people, regardless of gender, old or young, participate in the war. However, Li Tang obviously did not have such appeal, and forcibly implementing it would only aggravate domestic turmoil.
However, this castrated version of all the people becoming soldiers was enough for Li Tang. After all, Li Shimin's purpose was not to let the people who had no fighting ability participate in the war, but to show the Qin State that Li Tang was determined to fight to the end.
Of course, only determination cannot protect Guanzhong, so the next battle is crucial.
If you want to negotiate peace with the Qin army, it is not the key to mobilize all the people, but to promote peace through war is the key.
Therefore, Li Shimin decided to fight Huo Qubing.
If he wins, Li Tang will be more confident in negotiating, and may not even need to pay compensation in ceding territory.
If Qin loses, even if Qin is willing to negotiate peace, the previous conditions will definitely not satisfy Qin, and Li Tang will definitely pay a more painful price.
The outcome of this battle will affect the future of the entire Tang Dynasty.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin felt a heavy burden on his body and asked to his left and right: "Where is Li Siyuan's current position?"
"My lord, General Li Siyuan has arrived at the designated position and can launch an attack on the Qin army on time."
"That's good."
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On a certain hilltop in Wuzhangyuan, Jiang Shang, whom Li Shimin could not find, was standing on top looking at the Tang Army's camp.
Li Shimin couldn't find Jiang Shang, so he thought Jiang Shang had left. However, he didn't know that Jiang Shang had not left at all. Instead, he had been paying attention to the trends in Tangying.
Just seeing the frequent mobilization of troops in the Tang camp, Jiang Shang knew that Li Shimin had not fully adopted his strategy, otherwise the Tang army would have defended Wuzhangyuan with all its strength instead of sending troops to fight Huo Qubing's cavalry.