It rained heavily in the night, but Dou Rail's thorough support made Li Yuan's spirits uplifted, with Dou Rail's beginning, it was very likely that he would peacefully settle the private affairs of some Guanlong nobles, and when it was time for him to make a big move, even if there was turmoil, his influence and destructive power would be greatly reduced.

At this time, a eunuch reported at the door: "Qi Sheng, His Royal Highness the King of Jin is asking to see him outside the palace." ”

"Who?" Li Shimin was defending the Sui army of Nanjun in Yiling, and his sudden arrival made Li Yuan not react for a while.

"His Royal Highness the King of Jin asks to see you." The eunuch outside the door said again.

"Announce his audience!"

Li Shimin had already returned to the house to change into clean clothes, but his tired face was still there, he walked all the way into the imperial study, and saluted: "The son sees his father." ”

"The emperor is flat." Seeing that Li Shimin's hair was wet, Li Yuan knew that he had changed his clothes and came to Jin. And the betrayal of the Guanlong nobles made Li Yuan realize the importance of family affection and the credibility of his relatives, so his voice was very gentle, "Sit down." ”

"Thank you, Father." Li Shimin sat at the bottom of the head, which belonged to his own position. "Why is the emperor here?"

"Father, Erchen learned about Li Mi's demise through Nanjun Xizuo, so when he returned to Beijing to meet his father, Erchen felt that my Tang Dynasty had to deal with it, otherwise I would be caught off guard by the Sui army."

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about. What does the emperor think? Li Shimin wrote a book some time ago, clearly pointing out that the strategy of the Sui army is to destroy Li Mi first, and the suppression of Nanyang is just a bluff, and all the facts that happened next have not departed from Li Shimin's expectations, and now he has lost Li Mi, a natural ally to resist Sui, so that Li Yuan has some regret in his heart, if he sends troops to support, or creates momentum on the border of Sui and Tang, Li Mi may not be defeated so quickly, in this way, the pressure on Li Tang will be reduced a little, but things have happened, and it is too late to regret it. The current internal and external difficulties of the Tang Dynasty make people unable to see a ray of light, and Li Yuan also wants to hear the opinion of his second son.

"Erchen thinks that Yang Tong's attack on Li Mi is actually only the first step, and the next step must be to use troops in the area of Jingxiang of the Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin glanced at his father's face, and said: "At the end of last year, the Sui army raised a huge army, known as a million heroes, but the number of troops invested in the battle of Sui and Wei was less than 200,000, and another eighty percent of the troops were stimulated by the battle of Sui and Wei, and they were eager to make merit in our Tang Dynasty, so the Sui army did not need to rest to fight. And we have invested too many troops in the Hanshui defense line, once all parts are contained, the Sui army will inevitably storm Chungling, and Xiaogong and Sichang only have 100,000 troops in their hands, if they fail, the Sui army can reach the city of Xiangyang. Father, son, is really worried now. ”

This is also the real reason why Li Shimin rushed to Xiangyang, if the Tang army is consumed in Jingxiang, Bashu will not be able to keep it even if it is dangerous.

Li Yuan didn't speak for a long time, Li Shimin's views were the same as his, and he and Li Jiancheng also thought that the Sui army would inevitably attack Jingxiang this year, and even made the decision to move the capital, as long as the army was in hand, everything was easy to say.

"How does the emperor think we should deal with the danger of Jingxiang?" Li Yuan knew that since the second son came to talk about this matter, he must have an idea.

"Except for the west, we are attacked on three sides, and we cannot be prevented." Li Shimin smiled bitterly: "The situation is not as good as people, we have to recognize it." The meaning of Erchen is to move the capital into Shu, defend Bashu steadily, conquer Nanzhao to train troops, befriend Tubo and Tuyuhun to get war horses, and then turn back to fight with the Sui Dynasty. ”

Although Li Yuan decided to move the capital, he was unwilling in his heart after all, and at this time, he was disappointed when he saw that Li Shimin, who was always the main battle, also said that he would move the capital.

"Father." Li Shimin thought that his father was unwilling to move the capital, so he persuaded him: "The geographical location of Xiangyang is relatively special, and it happens to be at the junction of the east and west parts of the world and the south and north parts. To the north is the Central Plains, to the west is Bashu and Guanlong, to the south is Jingnan, to the east is the land of Jianghuai, which can be defended and warn. Especially during the period of confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xiangyang was an important military town for the Southern Dynasty to protect its life. Therefore, the top of Jingzhou's topography is in Xiangyang, and if you fight for the world, you will fight for Xiangyang. ”

"For us now, the key is not to get Nanjun, it can not only attack Xiangyang through Changlin County, but also attack Yiling from Xuanchang, cut off my road to Shu, and cut off my materials for Bashu."

In addition, the Hanshui outside Xiangyang City, it originates in Hanzhong, and then passes through Xicheng and Xiyang two counties to Xiangyang and then to Jiangxia. This also means that the Sui army's five-tooth ships can go straight downstream, or they can go upstream, and the five-tooth ships that are a few zhang high can form a condescending trend on the Xiangyang city wall, and the Sui army's weapons and equipment are extremely sophisticated, especially their new crossbows, which have almost no way to defend. So now it is completely nonsense to say that Xiangyang is unbreakable. ”

Li Yuan sighed abruptly, as if talking to himself, and said as if asking: "Except to retreat to Bashu, is there no other way?" ”

"Yes."

"What's the solution?"

"Erchen has three strategies." All of a sudden, Li Shimin suddenly became interested, and said loudly: "Shangce secretly transferred the army of Xicheng and Fangling, cooperated with Xiaogong to attack Yang Shanhui, and attracted the Sui army to Nanyang and Chungling; The other way is to attack Nanjun, as far as Erchen knows, Qin Qiong and Pei Renji have gone to attack Lin Shihong, Nanjun only has Duan Decao's army, we have a great chance of winning, as long as we defeat Nanjun, then we can take the land of Jingzhou south of Hanshui in one go. ”

Li Yuan thought about it carefully, and then asked, "What is the middle strategy?" ”

"The middle strategy is to give up the Jingxiang counties, simply return to Bashu, and make every effort to ensure that Bashu is not lost."

"The next strategy is to concentrate all forces to attack Nanyang, as far as Erchen knows, most of the Sui army is still in Huaiyang, and most of Yang Shanhui's army is new soldiers, as long as we attack rapidly, take advantage of Yang Tong's time to return to the army, push it to Xiangcheng County in one go, even if you can't capture Xiangcheng County, it will make Luoyang shake, Yang Tong has to give up the plan to attack Jingxiang."

Li Yuan thought silently, Li Shimin's three strategies can accept the two strategies. But when he poured out his troops and turned his passive into an active decisive battle with the Sui army in advance, he was not mentally prepared, he sighed and said: "Rong Zhen think about it!" ”

Li Shimin saluted and said, "Then the ministers will not disturb the rest of my father." ”

"I have something to discuss with you."

"Please make it clear to my father."

"I plan to quickly cut through the chaos to solve the internal worries, so before the news of Li Mi's defeat came, I released the voice of the Western Tour of Bashu, the purpose of which is to attract all the disloyal people so that they can be caught in one net." Speaking of this, Li Yuan handed the petition to Li Shimin: "Look at it. ”

Li Shimin took a look, his face became extremely ugly, and the dense collection of more than 160 names shocked him, and asked, "What is my father going to do?" ”

Li Yuan said viciously: "Arrest them all, and force them to hand over their personal parts one by one." ”

Li Shimin frowned and said, "This is too much." ”

"When the interruption continues, it will be chaotic." Li Yuan glanced at Li Shimin and said, "I will give them two more days to reflect." If someone comes to confess before dusk the day after tomorrow, I can give them a chance to repent. If not, let's go to the prison together and confess. The emperor came back just in time, and you will take over the defense of Xiangyang from tomorrow. At dusk the day after tomorrow, no one is allowed to enter or leave Xiangyang. ”

"The retainers obeyed." Li Shimin also knew that it was not the time to talk about mercy, if he missed this time and let some people flee in advance, then they would definitely concentrate their private forces to rebel, which was an unbearable price for the Tang Dynasty. At this time, Li Shimin thought that he hadn't said anything yet, so he said: "Father, Erchen encountered an assassination outside Xiangyang City, and he used a rhubarb crossbow, and the crossbow arrows were quenched with poison. ”

Li Yuan was stunned, and then became furious: "The prince was assassinated at the gate of the national capital, what are these officials eating?" ”

"Assassins make people separate, I really can't blame the local officials, and the retainers didn't take it to heart." Li Shimin can see it openly, and he is more objective in what he says.

"Who did it, it was the Sui Dynasty?" Li Yuan asked with a pale face.

Li Shimin shook his head: "Erchen is in a hurry to return to Beijing, and the assassination and the corpses of the Red Armor Army are handled by local officials, how do you know who did it?" However, Erchen believes that the Sui army is now in an absolutely dominant position, and there is no need to do such a dirty thing, so Yang Tong's suspicion is the least. ”

Li Yuan groaned slightly and said, "The emperor is extremely right, so who do you think it is?" ”

"Erchen thinks that the Dugu faction is very likely." Li Shimin expressed his suspicions very calmly, and analyzed: "The Dugu clan estimated that they also got the news of Li Mi's defeat, and knew that the Sui army was going to attack the Tang Dynasty, so they acted in accordance with the promise of the internal and external cooperation. ”

Li Yuan nodded, "Be careful, Emperor." ”

"Thank you for your concern, my sons will be careful." Li Shimin said: "The Red Armor Army is useful, should you use it when arresting people?" ”

Li Yuan said with a smile: "This kind of offending thing is better to leave it to Wu Chuan Division." All you have to do tomorrow is lock down the city. ”

"Erchen understood." Li Shimin knew that Wuchuan Division was a sharp blade in the hands of his father, representing the will of his father, but since Li Yuanji went to Bashu, this army was controlled by Han Zhi who had no background, and this person had offended too many people, and he could only follow his father closely to survive; Some dark things are far better for him than for the regular army. And if Wuchuan Division is notorious, he can use Han Zhi's head to calm down the people's grievances.