The Tang army currently has a total of over 300,000 troops... divided into six major factions, one is Li Shimin's Guanxi faction, which has about 100,000 troops, and the other is Li Xiaogong's Sishu and Jingxiang factions, which also has about 100,000 troops.
The two major factions formed the main force of the Sui army and were called the King of Qin faction by those familiar with the matter.
Secondly, there are a small faction, one is Li Jiancheng's Guandong faction, about 30,000 people, then there is Li Shentong's Guannei and Hexi faction, also 30,000 people, and then there is Li Yuanji's New Army faction, also 30,000 people.
The last one is Chai Shao's Chang'an Nine Cities Faction, with about 20,000 people, responsible for maintaining public security in Chang'an.
Among these four small factions, except for Chai Shao who is from the Conglong faction, the other three factions are all from Li Jiancheng's forces, and they are all also called the Prince's faction.
In addition to these six major factions, the Tang Dynasty military also had tens of thousands of Li Yuan's Yulin Army. This time Li Shimin requested additional troops, there were only two sources, either to draw troops from Li Jiancheng's faction, or to recruit new soldiers.
As night fell, a carriage stopped in front of the palace of Qi King Li Yuanji. Since the Tongguan Incident, Li Yuanji had been demoted to civilian status to appease the anger of the military.
But he was Li Yuan's legitimate son after all, and punishing him was just a show of force. Not long after, he quietly regained his title as king, and was immediately sent to Ba Shang to train new soldiers.
In the past two days, Li Yuanji happened to return to Chang'an and rest in his mansion.
The carriage waited for a moment at the gate of the palace. A steward came out quickly, held his hands in front of the carriage and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please invite the servant to come into the mansion for a chat."
The carriage door opened, and Feng Deyi, the Minister of Internal Affairs, walked out of the carriage and said with a smile: "I came uninvited and disturbed your prince's rest."
"Where! Where! Your Majesty has always been accommodating to guests, and you very much welcome the Minister to visit."
The butler waved his hand and said, "Servant, please!"
Feng Deyi clasped his hands behind his back and followed the housekeeper calmly to the palace. He walked all the way to the living room, where he saw Li Yuanji personally greeting him at the steps.
Li Yuanji wore a brocade robe of white satin embroidered with dragons, a golden crown on his head, and a jade belt around his waist. He looked like a jade tree facing the wind. After Li Yuanji was dismissed from his post as a citizen, Li Yuan handed him over to the control of the prince Li Jiancheng.
In the past year, Li Yuanji had kept a very low profile, and there were no serious incidents such as robbing women and injuring people with horses. Li Yuan was also quite satisfied with his transformation and named him a champion general and was responsible for the training of the Chang'an recruit camp.
Li Yuanji met Feng Deyi twice. He knew that his father favored this former first emperor of the Sui Dynasty and that such a person would be useful to him, so he waited in front of the steps. When he saw Feng Deyi arriving, he quickly stepped forward to salute.
"Please forgive me for Yuanji not being able to leave the house to greet Mr. Jing Feng."
Feng Deyi chuckled, "Your Highness is too polite. I came uninvited and disturbed Your Highness's rest."
"It's too outrageous for Mr. Feng to say this. I can't even invite a guest like Mr. Feng. How dare I say the word 'bother'? Please come in, Mr. Feng!"
Li Yuanji invited Feng Deyi into the guest room and ordered the maid to serve tea. The two exchanged a few words with Feng Deyi and then turned to the main topic.
"Today, Your Majesty talked to me about the battle in Luoyang. Your Majesty is very worried about the battle in Luoyang!"
"snort!"
Li Yuanji snorted coldly, "That's because someone is incompetent and cannot lead a hundred thousand troops to attack Luoyang. He failed to live up to his father's expectations and brought shame to the entire Tang Dynasty. If he is so incompetent, why is he still occupying a high position?
?”
Feng Deyi smiled a little awkwardly, "Your Highness, after all, this battle is of great importance, and it is normal for the Holy One to be worried. Now that King Qin is asking the Holy One to send reinforcements, the Holy One feels very embarrassed."
"Reinforcements?"
Li Yuanji had a look of disdain on his face, "He already has an army of 100,000, and Li Xiaogong still has an army of 80,000, which is far more than the Sui army. He actually wants reinforcements. It's a shame he can say it out loud."
"But the Holy One also mentioned His Highness."
Li Yuanji was startled, and his face immediately sank, "What did my father mention about me?"
Feng Deyi said calmly: "Actually, it was not the Holy One who mentioned His Highness, but the Holy One who said that there were no troops to send in Guanzhong, so Yu Wenshiji mentioned the new army!"
"Asshole!"
Li Yuanji stood up and cursed: "It's not enough for him to have an army of 100,000. He wants to recruit my army again. I have never seen such a shameless person."
"Your Highness, calm down."
Feng Deyi hurriedly waved his hand and explained: "Your Majesty did not agree to this matter. Your Majesty only said that it needs to be considered again. I am just here to remind His Highness that if His Majesty summons Your Highness, please understand His Majesty's difficulties and do not offend him too much."
, he is under a lot of pressure now."
Li Yuanji suppressed the anger in his heart, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Sir Feng, for reminding me. I will not anger my father."
...Feng Deyi said goodbye and left. Li Yuanji was sitting alone on the couch, his face was livid, and the anger in his eyes flashed in and out. He couldn't bear the fact that his second brother was planning to create a new army for him.
Li Yuanji and Li Shimin had never had any bad relations since childhood, and they had always had a good relationship. However, Li Shimin shot Li Zhiyun to death, which made him feel chilled. Even his own brother could do this. This man was really ruthless. He was his biological brother. One day he would not...
Will he also attack himself?
It was Li Zhiyun's incident that made Li Yuanji wary of Li Shimin. In contrast, his elder brother Li Jiancheng was generous and treated him with brotherly love, which moved Li Yuanji, who had always been indifferent to others.
More importantly, during the Tongguan Incident, Li Shimin supported Li Xiaogong in attacking him, which led to his eventual dismissal as a civilian. It was this incident that made Li Yuanji and Li Shimin enmity, and he began to fully support his eldest brother Jiancheng.
Li Yuanji thought for a long time, then he stood up resolutely and said: "Get ready to drive, I want to go to Xianyang."
... At this time, Li Jiancheng was not in the capital, but in Xianyang to inspect Xia Zhong. Li Jiancheng did not participate too much in this Central Plains war. On the one hand, he had heavy government affairs, and on the other hand, this Central Plains war was fought by the Qin King's troops.
He doesn't want to get too involved.
Summer planting in the Guanzhong area is a few days later than in Henan Province. The paddy fields are filled with water and farmers are busy planting rice seedlings in the fields. The land of Guanzhong is very busy.
Li Jiancheng wore a bamboo hat on his head and a short coat like the farmers, with his trouser legs rolled up high. He had just planted half an acre of rice seedlings and was sitting on the edge of the field drinking water and chatting with several old farmers.
A guard filled his big bowl with herbal tea and handed it to him, "Your Highness, please drink some water!"
Li Jiancheng took the tea bowl and asked several old farmers with a smile, "How is the summer harvest in Xianyang today?"
Although Li Jiancheng was the prince, he was approachable and worked with the farmers, so no one was afraid of him. The six old farmers sighed and said: "This is a small year, and the harvest of crops is generally not good, and even the fruits on the trees are sparse."
, This year’s wheat production is 20% lower than last year, and it is estimated that the autumn rice will not be very good. Your Highness, I have something to say, I don’t know whether to say it or not.”
Li Jiancheng nodded, "My father-in-law, just say it!"
"Your Highness, can you please ask the court to make some changes in the land tax? For example, when production is reduced in the off-season, can the land tax be slightly lowered?"
The old farmer said this suggestion, and the other old farmers all agreed. When it came to their hearts, Li Jiancheng pondered and said: "What you said makes sense. I will go back to discuss this matter with the ministers, and then draft a reasonable plan to strive for
Your Majesty agrees."
The old farmers were overjoyed and thanked them one after another. At this time, another farmer finally couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, I have something to report."
Li Jiancheng smiled, "But it doesn't matter!"
"I have a nephew who was captured during the Battle of Goryeo. He has been doing hard labor in Goryeo. He was rescued by the Sui army a few months ago. He later returned home and brought back a horse given to him by the Sui Dynasty. This situation
Next, it is human nature for him to be grateful to the Sui Dynasty. Occasionally he would think of the benefits of the Sui Dynasty. Unexpectedly, he annoyed the government. He insisted that he was a spy of the Sui Dynasty and arrested people and took them to the government. His horses were also confiscated. Now people
He is still detained in the county government office, I wonder if His Highness can..."
"That's unreasonable!"
Li Jiancheng's face immediately sank, and he took out his gold medal and handed it to the guards behind him, "Just say it's my order and ask the county government to release the man immediately and return the horse to others, so that nothing like this happens again."
The old farmer immediately knelt down, feeling extremely grateful and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your generous help!"
Li Jiancheng quickly helped him up, "No need to be polite, I didn't notice this matter. I will order the local governments not to arrest the soldiers who were returned from Goryeo. The Sui Dynasty rescued people, but we arrested them. This time
Have you chilled the hearts of people all over the world?"
"Your Highness is a truly kind man. I wish all the officials of the Tang Dynasty would be like Your Highness. That would be a blessing to us, the common people."
Just as he was talking, a guard ran over and reported: "His Royal Highness, King Qi is here and said there is something urgent."
Li Jiancheng saw a carriage parked on the official road not far away, and there were more than a hundred mounted guards beside it. He stood up and walked towards the carriage. Soon he came to the carriage. Li Yuanqing had stepped out of the carriage. He saw his elder brother Jiancheng
Dressed in a farmer's attire, with mud still on his legs, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "How come my eldest brother has become an old farmer?"
Li Jiancheng sighed: "If you don't do farming and don't know how to show mercy to farmers, if you sit in the temple every day, how can you know the suffering of the people? Forget it, I won't tell you this, what's the important thing for you?"
"Brother, please get on the carriage and discuss it in detail. It has something to do with my army."
The two brothers got on the carriage, and Li Yuanji told him in detail about Feng Deyi's visit last night. Li Jiancheng squinted his eyes and suddenly asked: "Are you familiar with Feng Deyi?"
"I have met him twice, and our relationship is very normal. I don't have a good relationship with him and Yuwenxuan, but Yuwenxuan never told me. I was also very surprised last night as to why he came to me and why he told me this matter.
"
Li Jiancheng shook his head slowly, with a faint smile on his lips, "He's not looking for you, he's actually coming for me. Do you understand? He knew you would turn around and come to find me."
It suddenly dawned on Li Yuanji that he suddenly felt like he was being used, and he said bitterly for a while: "I asked him why he suddenly became so enthusiastic about me. It turned out that he just asked me to take care of him, but he didn't know why he was so scheming.
It’s unpleasant.”
Li Jiancheng smiled slightly and said: "This is normal. Don't blame him. He is deeply trusted by his father. If he comes to me openly, it will make his father suspicious and affect his career. This man is very good at doing things."
.
"Okay! Even if I don't blame him, what should I do about this matter? How should I deal with the second brother's idea of my new army?"
Li Jiancheng sneered, "He wants to take advantage of this battle in the Central Plains to seize all military power. Today is your new army, and in a few days he will mobilize my Kwantung Army. I know what he is thinking."
Very, hum! He can't get his wish."
...(To be continued) [This text is provided by Qingfeng, the Zhanyi update team] [Zhanyi is recruiting new recruits, if you are interested, please apply at Zhanyi] Among the four small factions in the front row, excluding Chai Shao who is from the Dragon sect, the other three factions
They are all Li Jiancheng's forces, and they are all also called the Prince's faction. Top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top top front row, who is in the front row? Front row front row @卷巍大华xia in these four small
Among the factions, except for Chai Shao, who is from the Conglong faction, the other three factions are all Li Jiancheng's forces, and they are all called the Prince faction. "Okay! Even if I don't blame him, what should I do about this matter? The second one is beating me up.
How should I respond to the army's ideas?"
Li Jiancheng sneered, "He wants to take advantage of this battle in the Central Plains to seize all military power. Today is your new army, and in a few days he will mobilize my Kwantung Army. I know what he is thinking.
Very, hum! He can't get his wish."
Why should I save him?" Yu Guozhen shook his head and said: "Li Yan is always against me, but he won't appreciate it when I save him - and my fundamental foundation is in the south. Now when the world is in chaos, there will be gangs of thieves in the south.
Zhang Xianzhong is as ambitious as Li Chuang. Knowing that I am not here, he will definitely take the opportunity to seize Guangdong and Guangxi. I have to go back to deal with him, so how can I have time to take care of Li Yan?" Li Yuan's words were very tactful, Yu Wenshi and
I understand. In fact, the Holy One does not agree with the King of Qin's withdrawal. He hopes that the King of Qin can defeat Yang Yuanqing. Yu Wenshiji secretly sighed in his heart. The Holy One's attitude was expected by the King of Qin.
Since the Holy One refused to withdraw his troops, Yuwen Shiji could only retreat and do the next best thing. "Your Majesty, if it is really difficult to withdraw the troops, can you increase the troops appropriately? King Qin hopes to send 20,000 or 30,000 troops from Tongguan and from the west."
By putting pressure on Yang Yuanqing's army, we will be even more certain of winning."
"this……"
There were not many troops in Guanzhong, so Li Yuan was a little embarrassed. He said after a while: "Let me think about the additional troops again!" Li Jiancheng sneered, "He wants to take advantage of this battle in the Central Plains.
Opportunity, seize all the military power. Today is your new army, and in a few days I will mobilize my Kwantung Army. I know very well what he is thinking, huh! He can't get his wish."