The Eastern Capital competes for the front line, and the world looks at each other.

But when Xiao Buyi was the foundation of stability and the battle of Luoshui was fierce, Guanzhong, thousands of miles away, was also engaged in a life-and-death battle. In order to protect the foundation of Dongdu, Xiao Buyi did his best to eliminate the major problems in his heart, and Li Yuan was also doing his best to protect the land of Guanzhong.

The two have too many differences, but the endings are still similar. They have made careful plans and finally achieved the victory they want.

Xiao Buyi cleared the resistance of the old lords in a battle, led Li Mi to the south of Xingyang, and penetrated the north and south channels. His hegemony had begun to take shape, but Li Yuan fought for Fufeng and pursued Xue Renguo's army for hundreds of miles, and chased him to Longshan and return to victory. After this battle, Li Yuan temporarily stabilized the morale of the Guanzhong army.

Everything is planned, and if it is not planned, it is a waste. In order to fight against Xue Renguo, Li Yuan was actually prepared very well, and winning was expected. Just like he went south to take Guanzhong, everything was under his control, and taking Guanzhong seemed to be just a process.

But Li Shimin didn't think so. He felt that this battle he finally fought the most meaningful battle in his life, which was also a real battle. It was even more independent battle he broke away from his father and elder brother's wings, so he was very excited in front of his father. Although this battle was still planned by Li Yuan.

Since Li Yuan’s uprising, until today, Li Shimin also knows that although he has been slowly tempering, he is still far behind Xiao Buyi. When he took Xihe, his elder brother was in charge of the overall situation. He just killed Gao Deru. When he fought against Huoyi, he cooperated with his father to perform a play. Ding Jiang County was the will of the people, but it was the credit of his elder brother to recover Yongfeng. Attack Tongguan, forcing Qu Tutong to surrender, and defeating Sui general Sang Xianhe was the credit of Liu Wenjing. Of course, if he defeated Chang'an, he could be considered his credit.

After all, he was also one of the four armies, nominally commanding. But he knew that at that time he was dragged behind by the old ministers such as Yin Kaishan and did not allow him to attack the city personally. Of course, he knew that Yin Kaishan and others were also kind-hearted, and the son of a daughter. He had to worry about being hit by tiles while sitting under the eaves. How could these old ministers assisted him to take risks? But when he saw Sun Huazhong die of arrows and the army leader Lei Yongji took the lead to climb the city, he felt quite uncomfortable. This situation was still far from what he imagined.

Xiao Buyi shook the grassland, fought against the Turks, pacified Wagang, conquered Xiangyang, and killed countless bandits in the Central Plains. They all did it themselves. It was a mountain that he could not cross and also a mountain that he always looked up to. He has been living under the wings of his father and elder brother, but he has always lived under the shadow of Xiao Buyi. Xiao Buyi has reached his current status step by step, and it was entirely based on his own hands. Li Shimin actually yearned for Xiao Buyi's fighting method. But he also knew that there was no possibility for the time being.

Everything is already done under the careful planning of my father, just follow the steps.

My father has the ability to control the overall situation. But he is too cautious and always takes care of his work. This makes Li Shimin fight only two words, that is, he is unhappy!

So when he talked about the process of defeating Xue Renguo with a gaze, he secretly expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Dad, you don't know... Xue Renguo is known as the enemy of ten thousand people, but when the army is defeated, she is abandoned by ten thousand people!"

"Dad. You don't know... The Xue family army is actually not as powerful as you imagined. They have the land of Director Mu. The army and horses are strong, but they are not as brave as our iron cavalry. In this battle, we killed more than a thousand enemies, which can be said to be a tremendous shock to Guanzhong."

"Dad, you don't know... When I chased me all the time to Longshan, if you had any support, I could cross Longshan, go straight to Tianshui, and even capture Xue Ju alive."

"Dad, you don't know... Xue Renguo returned from a crushing defeat. Xue Ju even asked his subordinates and was about to surrender to Ju County. Dad, you don't know..."

"Shimin, enough." Li Jiancheng said in a deep voice, interrupting Li Shimin's endless talk and secret dissatisfaction, "Dad actually knows everything."

Li Shimin snorted, "Brother, it was me who fought on the front line this time, not you and dad. How do you know the situation at that time?"

Li Yuan kept looking down at the copywriting, and finally raised his head and frowned, "Shimin, don't think that you are far away in Fufeng, and your father won't know what you are doing. Do you know how dangerous it is to lead the cavalry to pursue it personally? Do you know that your life was almost lost in Longshan this time? Do you know that if Liu Hongji and others had not led the army to arrive, your iron cavalry might have been wiped out? Do you know that Xue Ju is not bad at being a father, and he has a lot of experience. What ability do you have to make him surrender?"

Li Shimin blushed, "Did Yin Kaishan tell you these things?"

"Whoever tells the land is not important." Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly: "Shimin, this time you can defeat Xue Renguo, it is definitely not that your army is strong, but that you have surpassed Longyou. Longyou has always been an important place to guard against the Turks and Tuyuhun. The people are strong and the generals of the Great Sui Mu are stationed. The army and horses there are really the elites of the Great Sui! We have won the Guanzhong geographical advantage, but Xue Ju takes all the war horses there. Now the strength is stronger than us. It is difficult for us to win the front line for the time being. It is definitely not a matter of day and night to take Xue Ju. This time it must be Changsun Shunde who convinced the Turks to support us and let Zhang Changxun cut off his retreat. Xue Renguo has poor food and grass. How could he withdraw his troops in such panic? This time it is just a test, and the tough battle is still behind."

Seeing his younger brother's face unhappy, Li Jiancheng smiled and patted his shoulder, "Shimin, my father and I said you... it's not that you blame me, but that you care. Do you understand?"

Li Shimin said after a while: "We are using troops in a strange way. If we wait for such troops to send troops, we will return immediately after victory. I wonder if we want to get all the land in Guanlong, and we have to wait until the year of the Monkey and Horse Month?"

Li Yuan finally stood up, walked to his son, patted his shoulder and said, "Shimin, this world cannot be achieved overnight. You are still too impatient, making it difficult for me to hand over many things to you. * Dad originally asked you to break through Longxian and turn around, but you chased him all the way to Longshan. If Xue Renguo really knows how to use troops, setting up an ambush there and turning defeat into victory is not a bad idea."

"But in fact, he did not set up an ambush." ​​Li Shimin said with his neck.

Li Yuan shook his head and was speechless for a while. This son has been stubborn since he was a child. He did not do what he told him, which made him feel a little uneasy.

"Shimin, Dad doesn't want you to take risks. Xue Renguo did not set up an ambush, but when he turned around, you could no longer resist. If Liu Hongji hadn't led his troops in time, the victory or defeat was really hard to say. Longxian could be defended, but what's the use of chasing Longshan? Every part of our strength should be used in the most critical place, rather than showing off the courage of an ordinary man."

"Dad... this is not the courage of an ordinary man." Li Shimin said loudly.

"Let's stop this for now." Li Yuan waved his hand, and displeasure flashed across his face. "Shimin, thank you for your hard work this time..."

"Dad, I have something to say." Li Shimin said in a hurry.

This meeting was considered a meeting between Li Family, and only Li Yuan and two sons were present. Qu Tutong had surrendered, Sang Xian and Yi Tongguan surrendered. The defense line to the east was expanded to the east of Tongguan, and Li Jiancheng would not be required to station in Jieguan for the time being, so he would also temporarily turn to Xijing.

Li Yuan frowned slightly, signaled Li Shimin to wait for a moment, and asked softly: "Cared, how is Hedong now?" In his mind, Shimin said that it could be temporarily suspended. What he is most worried about now is the land of Hedong. Li Yuan went south to take Guanzhong, but in fact he was detouring the southeast of Hedong. Hedong was now guarded by the Sui minister Yao Junsu. He blocked between Taiyuan and Xijing like a wedge, which made him unable to remove it.

Li Jiancheng said in a deep voice: "Dad, Qu Tutong, Sang Xianhe has surrendered. Yao Junsu, who is guarding Hedong, was originally a subordinate of Qu Tutong. I asked Qu Tutong to go to Hedong to persuade him to surrender. According to my ideas, there should be news soon."

Li Yuan smiled and nodded, "If Hedong is taken, we will have no worries anymore, so we can concentrate on dealing with Xue Ju first..." Before he finished speaking, a servant rushed to come and presented the military article. Li Yuan opened it and looked at it slightly. Li Jiancheng also frowned.

When Li Shimin saw this, he couldn't help asking, "Dad. What's wrong?"

Li Yuan sat down slowly, shook his head and said, "Yao Jun has never surrendered!"

"What is he still insisting on? Yang Guang is dead." Li Shimin frowned.

Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly and said, "There are always one or two dead minds in this world."

But Li Shimin remembered something, "Dad, I'm about to tell you a few things."

"Tell me." Li Yuan frowned.

"The first thing is that I heard that Xiao Buyi had sent a cavalry to raid Chang Ping's position and approached Tongguan. I think his hostility towards us is obvious. Since we have taken Tongguan, how can we ignore it? At present, Xiao Buyi is fighting with Wagang with all his might, so he will definitely have no time to draw troops to guard Chang Ping's position. If we follow my suggestion, we can send troops out of Tongguan to collect Chang Ping's position, laying the foundation for our future advancement to the Central Plains."

Li Yuan frowned and said, "Isn't that going to openly become an enemy of Xiao Buyi?"

"So what?" Li Shimin was indifferent, and seemed to have forgotten his retreat. "We will fight him sooner or later, and we can see his reaction now. If we don't send troops, the six hundred miles east of Tongguan will be criticized by Xiao Buyi. It will be too late to regret it. Sending troops may not necessarily lead to the Chang closing position. If we don't send troops, we will definitely not get anything! Besides, we have the danger of Tongguan, and the worst is that we will retreat back to Tongguan, which is not serious."

Li Yuan shook his head and said, "No... At present, we must not take the initiative to send troops to provoke. We should focus on forming alliances. Shimin should not be reckless."

Li Shimin smiled bitterly and said, "Dad, you are too careful. If we follow my previous thoughts, we will send troops to Tongguan to contain Xiao Buyi's army, but let Li Mi attack Dongdu urgently. At that time, Xiao Buyi's troops are insufficient, and he will definitely return to defend Dongdu. At that time, we can take all the land six hundred miles west of Dongdu. How can he let him do whatever he wants and take all the land in Henan now? But you are careful and dare not offend him. But in secret, they contact Luo Yi and Dou Jiande, wanting them to deal with Xiao Buyi separately. Then they want to bribe Li Mi.

Wang Junkuo, his subordinate, advised the Wagang people to come and rely on it. You want Li Mi to win and collapse Wagang's strength. Isn't it a contradiction and ridiculous? I want Luo Yiyuan to be in Yanzhao and send troops unsustainable. Dou Jiande has no ambitions and is only ready to secede the king and occupy the land of Hebei. The two have always had grudges. How could these people work together to attack Xiao Buyi as you wish? Li Mi has internal and external troubles, and with a few allies with dissatisfaction, his strength may not be enhanced, but only weaker. This time, Dad, you are really looking for fish in the wood."

Li Yuan said angrily: "What do you, a child with yellow mouth, know?"

When Li Jiancheng was furious when he saw Li Yuan, he said hurriedly: "Shimin, you are indeed wrong this time. If your father doesn't send troops this time, he has no choice but to do anything?"

"What are the difficulties, why don't I know?" Li Shimin curled his lips.

Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly and said, "First of all, Xue Renguo's troops are at the city. If we don't eliminate the worries in front of us, we will be voluntarily. The officials and people in Guanzhong will definitely not want to do so. Secondly, Xiao Buyi has more than one Dongdu. He also has the land of Xiangyang. If we attack Dongdu, if they send troops from Xiangyang and cut off our way back, how can we deal with it? But the most important point is that we are not yet at the time to tear off our faces with Xiao Buyi. If we fight against the two tigers, we will definitely be injured. If we don't remove Xue Ju, Li Gui, Liang Shidu, Liu Wuzhou and others from Guanlong, if we are enemies with Xiao Buyi, we will definitely be invaded from both sides and suffer unspeakable."

"But Xiao Buyi also has Li Mi, Dou Jiande, Du Fuwei, Wang Shichong, Xu Yuanlang, Luo Yi and other great enemies, so he may not be polite to us! His enemies are only more than us at the moment!" Li Shimin frowned and said, "But he took it as soon as he said he could take it, without any hesitation."

Li Yuan sighed lightly: "We are not strong enough, what can I do?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Jian rushed in, his face turned pale and said, "The King of Tang, there are eight hundred miles of urgent letters in the east."

Li Yuan suddenly stood up, "What do you say?"

Tang Jian unveiled his letter and said tremblingly: "The Sui army's Wagang army fought fiercely in Luoshui, and the Sui army won a great victory. They conquered Luokou Cang, Yuecheng, and Hulao, and now they have made every effort to recover Xingyang. Li Mi lost and fled, missing! Luo Yi, Yanyun Iron Cavalry suffered a severe blow in Niukou, and only a hundred people turned back to the Yanzhao land."

Li Yuan sat down powerlessly and said in a lost voice: "Li Mi lost so quickly?"

After listening to Tang Jian's reading the news, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng also changed their faces. They all knew keenly that Xiao Buyi had already taken the lead in the battle for the world.

"Sima Tang, send orders to convene all officials in Wude Hall to discuss major plans." Li Yuan quickly regained his composure. He actually knew that Li Mi would be defeated, but he didn't expect that Li Mi would be defeated so quickly. But since things happened, complaining and regretting would never help. The most important thing now is to think about countermeasures.

Tang Jian followed the order and hurriedly stepped down. As soon as Li Yuan got up, Li Shimin stopped him, "Dad, I have something to say."

"Long story short." Li Yuan was a little helpless.

"This time, Hedong failed to defeat for a long time. Brother made Qu Tu's plan to persuade him to surrender useless. I wonder what kind of tricks did you think of, Dad?" Li Shimin asked.

Li Yuan frowned and said, "I don't have it, do you have it? Li Shimin smiled and said, "I really have it."

"Since Shimin has a clever plan, it's better to say it early and don't keep it in a silence." Li Jiancheng smiled. Although Li Shimin stabbed him just now, he has always loved this younger brother and did not take his ridicule to heart.

"Dad... why did you forget one person?" Li Shimin frowned and said in confusion: "I think Liu Wenjing was actively giving advice to my Li family when his father had not rebelled. * If he had not been on the grassland and had obtained the support of Shibi Khan, our uprising would not have been so smooth. If he had not persuaded Qu Tutong to surrender to Sang Xianhe, Tongguan would not have been in our hands at this moment, right? If it were for the uprising, in my opinion, the civil officials should be led by Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji. But Pei Ji was just a gift for offering Buddha at the beginning, but Liu Wenjing was a great achievement, but you always refused to use Liu Wenjing. Pei Ji was incompetent, but you let him be above Liu Wenjing, wouldn't you let the meritorious ministers feel disheartened?"

Li Yuan snorted coldly, "Shimin, Liu Wenjing is a man who is talented and ambitious. If he is allowed to be the leader, he will be afraid that there will be trouble."

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Dad, you said Liu Wenjing has ambitions, why didn't I see it?"

Li Jiancheng said on the side: "Shimin, Dad will never be targeted. There are some things you don't know about."

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, "No matter what, Liu Wenjing is finally a talented person. It's a pity to abandon it without using it. I hope my father will think twice before he can do it."

"Then what do you mean?" Li Yuan asked with a frown.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "I suggest that my father send Liu Wenjing to get Hedong, which may be effective."

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then follow what Shimin said."

"But should Dad promote Liu Wenjing and give him a reward?" Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng and frowned and said, "I'll talk about everything when he conquers Hedong."

"Dad, I have something else to do." Li Shimin said again.

Li Yuan sighed and said, "You have something to do, can't you tell me all of it?"

"Today is the last thing." Li Shimin smiled and said, "Dad, the battle between Fufeng made me understand that cavalry is crucial to the confrontation between the two armies. The most urgent task at the moment is to build an elite cavalry to charge. The key to Xiao Buyi's ability to shock Henan is that he has black armored cavalry in his hand. But this advantage is not absolute. If we spend a lot of money to build a black armored cavalry, we can ensure that we do not lose the disadvantage against the enemy in the future."

Li Yuan sighed lightly: "Of course I know that the Guanlong horse farm is mostly divided by others. Xue Ju is the best. We have few horse sources, and cavalry is scarce at present. Relying on the Turks alone to provide horses is by no means a long-term way..."

"Relying on the Turks to provide horses is not a long-term way, but it is a must-pass. Liu Wenjing and Changsun Shunde have all had relationships with the Turks. If these two people were sent to contact us, we would be able to accomplish anything. Dad. You will never hesitate about this matter. If we wait until Xiao Buyi fights to Guanzhong, we will be afraid that it will be too late to regret it! Training elite cavalry is an urgent task at present. In my opinion, we must first buy horses from the Turks for continuous use. If we wait until Xue Ju is defeated and all the horses in Longyou, we should never be inferior to Xiao Buyi."

Li Jiancheng raised his eyebrows. "Dad, what Shimin said is not bad. I will wait for the people of Guanzhong. It will be a matter of time before the defeat of the Guanlong clans. At present, the enemy should be Xiao Buyi. It is not advisable to retreat blindly now. We should rise up and consider how to deal with him."

Li Yuan considered it seriously this time: "Since that's the case, I will discuss this matter with Changsun Shunde. As for Liu Wenjing, let him attack Hedong and Shimin first, and you and Chai Shao, the general manager of the Ma Army, are fully responsible for the establishment of the black-armored cavalry. Don't let your father down." Li Yuan said this. He patted Li Shimin's shoulder heavily, full of expectations.

Li Shimin agreed loudly and excitedly left the Prime Minister's Mansion. Li Yuan shook his head and sighed softly: "Jiancheng, Shimin is still young, but I don't know why. Sometimes he speaks the earth and gives advice very reasonable?"

Li Jiancheng smiled and said, "Shimin was just young and energetic at the beginning, but has been constantly being tested by war in recent years. He is far from the yellow boy he saw in his father. He can also consider the overall situation now. Besides, he now has Fang Xuanling, who is extremely intelligent. Shimin always likes to discuss the world trend with him during this period, and his knowledge has increased greatly. Dad... Don't always hit him in the future, give him some confidence, isn't it better?"

Li Yuan sighed and said, "Cultivated, Shimin is actually smart, but it's too impetuous. In addition, in the past, there were many respects from the emperor, so he was inevitably arrogant. I am also doing it for his own good. Just talking about this battle of Fufeng, he just didn't listen to me and insisted on his own. Fortunately, he won. If he was defeated, the loss of troops and generals would be the second. If he sacrificed his life, what should I do? His personality will not change, and it will eventually be difficult to become a great person. If he had to exchange for a painful failure to learn a lesson, I would rather not lead his troops to the war."

Li Yuan said this, and his old eyes said with tears in his eyes: "Jiancheng, after Xuanba's death, I am the only three of you who can be used now. You can rest assured that Yuan Ji is stubborn. If Shimin had another slight flaw, how could I be worthy of your dead mother?"

Li Jiancheng was also full of sighs, "Dad, it's a pity that Shimin doesn't understand your deep meaning now. This time you probably used Jian cavalry to hone his character for a while, right?"

Li Yuan wiped the corners of his eyes and nodded, "That's right, his personality is suitable for more training to become a great man. I hope he won't let me down. It's just that he has to deal with Xiao Buyi's land, and we can't take care of ourselves. Isn't Xiao Buyi the same? We are anxious to pacify Guanlong, and he also wants to pacify the Central Plains. The most important thing at the moment is not to prepare horses as Shimin said, but to plan Bashu and quickly seize Hedong. Hedong's confidant troubles must be eliminated. As long as Bashu is taken down by us and pacified Guanlong, we will send troops from Tongguan, Bashu and Jingxingguan to attack Henan, Jingxiang and Hebei. Xiao Buyi will definitely be at both ends and it will be difficult to take into account. At that time, we can make great achievements."

Li Jiancheng admired: "Dad is planning and not surprised when encountering chaos. I admire him. But... do we really want to send Liu Wenjing to take Hedong? Dad, you have always suppressed Liu Wenjing and always let Pei Ji be above him. In fact, what Karen said is nothing wrong. Liu Wenjing is really making contributions to her father's achievements today. Your approach will only make some people dissatisfied."

Li Yuan snorted coldly, "The only one who is dissatisfied with Liu Wenjing. Apart from a person like Shimin, how can others be dissatisfied? What's the use of merit? This person's origin is unknown, who knows what he intended? The greater his contribution, the greater the conspiracy. Pei Ji and I have been incompetent for decades, but they are absolutely loyal to me and can bear great responsibility. After the completion of the matter, you must remember that being talented must be wary, and being able to use loyal people is the most important. In the future, you will be the crown prince. Take over the world of father and rule the world. Remember what your father said today."
To be continued...