Outside the Yangxin Hall of Tai Chi Palace, Li Jiancheng stood alone at the foot of the steps. He had been standing for nearly half an hour, but there was no movement in the hall. At this time, Li Jiancheng could no longer bear it and walked up the steps to the hall. He had just left.
When he arrived at the entrance of the palace, several guards stopped him.
"Your Highness, please don't disturb His Majesty while he is resting."
"But I have something urgent, please let me in!" Li Jiancheng became angry and stared at the guards with sharp eyes.
But the guards were unmoved and still blocked Li Jiancheng's path with their halberds. They repeated the same words in a cold tone, "No one is allowed to disturb the Holy One while he is resting!"
Li Jiancheng stomped his feet with hatred, turned around and walked down the steps. He was anxious in his heart, but he could do nothing. He paced back and forth in front of the steps with his hands behind his back. At this time, Chen Shuda hurried over. Seeing that Li Jiancheng had not entered the palace, he asked in surprise:
"The Holy One hasn't woken up yet?"[
Li Jiancheng shook his head, "I know everything about the situation in the palace."
Chen Shuda pulled Li Jiancheng aside and whispered: "I just heard the news that just an hour ago, two hundred men in black entered the city from Jinguang Gate."
Li Jiancheng was shocked and became furious, "How dare Duan Decao do this!"
"I'm afraid this is not Duan Decao's intention. The people below have been bribed by King Qi. The guard of Jinguang Gate is called Yang Xiao. He has nearly a thousand people under his command. There must be others who have been bribed. Ru..."
Chen Shuda glanced at the guards and lowered his voice: "Is it possible that the guards in the palace have also been bribed by King Qi?"
Li Jiancheng walked a few steps with his hands behind his back. It was very likely that he had been in trouble since he entered the inner palace. If he hadn't been familiar with some of the guards, he wouldn't have been able to enter the inner palace, but he was still stopped in the Yangxin Hall. Regarding him,
No matter how you say it, you are not allowed to enter the temple. This was unimaginable in the past.
At this moment, a eunuch ran out of the palace. This man's surname was Gu, and he had some status in the palace. After saying a few words, the guards let him out. When Li Jiancheng saw him, he perked up and immediately went to greet him.
, "How is my father?"
"Your Highness, Your Majesty's situation is not good. He fainted and has not woken up."
"What about the royal doctor?"
Li Jiancheng was worried, "Are they coming?"
"Yi Wang and Doctor Zhang are running out of time to save the Holy Lord. Whether they can wake up or not is still a question."
Li Jiancheng was stunned and his father didn't have much time. He had known it for a long time, but if he couldn't wake up, how could he get back the military power?
At this time, Chen Shuda stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, you are still with the King of Qi. Your Highness has a talk with him and hopes that he will take the overall situation into consideration and send troops to assist the King of Qin."
Li Jiancheng pondered for a moment and then asked: "What is the attitude of other countries?"
"Both Xiangguo Xiao and Xiangguo Pei supported sending troops, but Xiangguo Dugu and Xiangguo Dou did not come to the political affairs hall."
Li Jiancheng sighed. It seemed that neither the Dugu family nor the Dou family supported the Tang Dynasty. Seeing that his father's road was dead, he had no choice but to nod, "Okay! I'll go find him now."
…
…
Not only did Prince Li Jiancheng go to find Li Ji, but more than a dozen important officials from the Tang Dynasty, headed by Xiao Li and Pei Ji, also arrived outside Prince Qi's Mansion. They also received news that King Qin had defeated Qianshuiyuan, and rushed to Prince Qi's Mansion to ask King Qi to send troops for assistance.
The Tang army retreated south to Xinping County.[
However, they were not able to enter Prince Qi's Mansion, but were blocked outside the gate. A eunuch serving Prince Qi shouted loudly: "Dear ministers, Prince Qi fell ill due to hard work day and night. His condition is very serious.
I cannot come to see you, so please forgive me!"
The eunuch's words aroused the anger of the courtiers. Xiao Li stepped forward and grabbed the eunuch's clothes and shouted: "What's wrong with you? Who can you deceive with lies? Let him hand over the military power. It is the imperial army, not his private army!"
"
The eunuch was so frightened that he trembled, "I'm going to report it right now!"
Xiao Li threw him away, and the eunuch crawled into the palace. The door slammed shut, but there was no movement. Not long after, Li Jiancheng also arrived at Qi Prince's Mansion. When his car stopped, the ministers stepped forward one after another.
Greetings.
"Why, he doesn't want to see everyone?" Li Jiancheng frowned and asked.
Pei Ji shook his head, "He excused himself as sick and refused to come out or express his position."
Xiao Li also said worriedly: "Your Highness, what we are most worried about now is that the news will spread. I heard that some defeated soldiers have escaped back. Tomorrow it will probably spread throughout the city. At that time, the morale of the army and the people will be unstable, and we will be in trouble."
Li Jiancheng nodded, "I'll talk to him about how to get him to send troops."
At this time, more than a dozen East Palace guards finally knocked on the door, but Wang Shubao walked out of the house. King Qi would definitely not show up, so he would be the full representative.
Wang Shubao was brought to the carriage of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng by the guards. Wang Shubao saluted and said, "See His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Li Jiancheng glanced at him coldly, "So, King Qi is unwilling to come forward?"
"Reporting to His Highness, His Highness King Qi is indeed ill. He is also very anxious about the situation on the front line, so he entrusted me to discuss with His Highness and ministers how to save the crisis."
Li Jiancheng's thoughts changed, and he suddenly understood why the King of Qi refused to let them enter the palace. The palace of the Prince of Qi must be filled with thousands of brave men he had recruited. If they entered the palace, the private army would be exposed, and the King of Qi could only pretend
If they are sick, they are not allowed to enter the house.
Thinking of this, Li Jiancheng snorted coldly, "I don't care whether King Qi is really ill or fake. I just want a clear explanation. Will King Qi send troops?"
Wang Shubao was extremely talented, but he was gradually abandoned by Li Yuan because of his poor character. However, he knew how to deal with the situation in front of him. He said calmly: "Your Highness, the Holy One made it very clear when he handed over the power of 40,000 troops to King Qi.
These 40,000 troops are responsible for defending the capital city and are not allowed to leave the city at will. His Highness the King of Qi obeys the Holy Will and does not dare to make any mistakes. Now His Highness the Crown Prince requires the army to go out of the city to fight. I would like to ask Your Highness, which is the Holy One's will?
Or is His Highness’ will greater?”
"You six
Li Jiancheng was annoyed when he heard what he said so rudely. He finally endured the tone and said: "The King of Qin was defeated in Qianshuiyuan and is in urgent need of reinforcements. Now the Tang Dynasty only has these 40,000 troops to mobilize. I hope the King of Qi can take the overall situation into consideration.
Put the overall situation first.”
"Your Highness is surprised by what he said. King Qin's army has lost and needs reinforcements. I can understand it, but if the army is defending the city, isn't it taking care of the overall situation? Where is there no crisis in Guanzhong now? Cheng Yaojin's army before Tiantian still appeared in Bashang, and the army of 150,000 has already
We have occupied Guandong and are heading towards Chang'an. If His Highness the King of Qi sends the army out, what will happen to Chang'an? Which is more important now, Chang'an or Xinping County? I think the King of Qin should withdraw his army to Chang'an in time. This is to take into account the overall situation."
…
The argument between the two factions finally broke up. Qi King Li Ji still refused to relent on sending troops. In desperation, Li Jiancheng had no choice but to return to the East Palace. On the carriage, Li Jiancheng was very worried. He was considering the final countermeasures, although there were some things he did not want to face.
He didn't want to think about it, but as the crisis deepened and time became increasingly urgent, he had no choice.
Perhaps the final solution to the crisis is to let the King of Qin return to the capital. Let the King of Qin deal with Ji. However, before making this decision, he still needs to do one thing. He needs to visit Sun Shunde, the general of the Yulin Army. Thinking of this
Li Jiancheng immediately ordered: "Go to the imperial city!"
…[
Xinping County is about 80 miles away from Qianshuiyuan. It is the first county town after moving south from Qianshuiyuan. After the defeat in Qianshuiyuan, Li Shimin led the remaining army to retreat here and reorganized the defeated troops, leaving only more than 17,000 people.
Most of the people and the army have lost. More importantly, the Tang army has lost all its food and military supplies. The food stored in Xinping County can only last for four days.
In other words, if the food cannot be delivered to Xinping County in time within three days, then even if the Sui army does not go south, the Tang army will have to evacuate Xinping County and return to Chang'an.
In the night, Li Shimin walked slowly on the county wall with his hands behind his back, thinking heavily. He had to consider the future of the Tang Dynasty and his own destiny. In fact, Li Shimin knew very well that after the defeat of Jingxiang, the Tang Dynasty was doomed.
The fate of destruction, Hanzhong was captured by the Sui army, and the moment of destruction was coming.
The general trend has been decided. At this time, even if the Tang army wins another battle, it will not change the fate of final defeat. Li Shimin's heart is full of bitterness. If Yang Yuanqing does not appear, as long as the Sui Dynasty is destroyed, then no matter whether it is Xue Ju, Liu Wuzhou, or Liang Shi,
Whether it was Dou Jiande or Li Mi, Wang Shichong, and Xiao Xian, for the Tang Dynasty, annihilating them was not a problem, because these separatist warlords had no foundation and could not get the support of powerful forces like the Guanlong nobles. They were destined to be in power for a long time.
But the new Sui Dynasty established by Yang Yuanqing was different. He not only received the support of the forces of the Sui Dynasty, but also the power support of the Shandong gentry. It was the support of these forces that enabled the new Sui Dynasty to gain a firm foothold in Hedong, Hebei, and Hebei.
Encroaching on the world step by step.
As for the Tang Dynasty, the success was also due to the Guanlong nobles, and the failure was also due to the Guanlong nobles. If it weren't for the Guanlong nobles' massive control over the land, and if the Tang Dynasty could successfully implement the land equalization order, the Tang army would not be as passive as it is today.
"Your Highness, do you want to fight the Sui army again?" At some point, Fang Xuanling appeared behind him.
Li Shimin nodded and sighed: "I am really unwilling to fail like this!"
"Your Majesty, I think you should let go." Fang Xuanling said in a low voice.
Li Shimin didn't speak for a long time. He stared at the night in silence. The night was so deep that he couldn't see the end.
"Does Your Highness still plan to return to Chang'an?" Fang Xuanling asked implicitly.
Li Shimin smiled bitterly, "To be honest, I don't know either."
He looked at the night sky with his hands behind his back and let out a long sigh, "Even if we succeed in seizing the throne, what's the point of being the king of a subjugated country?"
At this moment, a messenger cavalry rushed over quickly, and in a moment he rushed to the city and shouted: "I am His Highness the Prince sending troops to deliver a message to the King of Qin. Please open the door quickly!"
Not long after, several soldiers brought the messenger to the top of the city and came to Li Shimin. The messenger took out a letter and presented it to Li Shimin with both hands, "His Royal Highness the Prince's urgent letter, please go first to the King of Qin..."
Li Shimin took the letter and opened it. A soldier lit a torch and illuminated the letter. Li Shimin read it again, with a sneer on his face. Even now, King Qi still clings to military power. It seems that he really hopes that he will
He’s back in Beijing. If that’s the case, let’s help him!
Li Shimin no longer had any doubts and immediately ordered: "Pass my order, the army will assemble and return to Chang'an immediately."