The sun is rising. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Longxi City is like a new life, piles of fires are rising, bones are burning, and Longxi City is also reborn in blood and fire.

"We should make peace with the Tuyuhun people now before they know what I am doing." Zhang Chao calmly said his suggestion.

"Peace?" Li Shimin had negotiated peace once before, but it was just a delaying tactic and a fraudulent surrender.

"Yes, peace." Zhang Chao nodded, "We can deceive Murong Fuyun, but we can't deceive ourselves." Our current strength is far inferior to that of the Tuyuhun people, and we can't defeat tens of thousands of Tuyuhun people with only a few thousand tired soldiers. Make peace with them now. ”

Zhang Chao believes very much that war is for politics. There are things that you can't get on the battlefield, but you can get them from the negotiating table.

What is the purpose of this dispatch?

Zhang Chao asked Li Shimin.

Li Shimin was asked by this question, why did he send troops? Of course, it was because the Tuyuhun people openly provoked, violated the border of the Tang Dynasty, and seized several states in a row.

Zhang Chao asked again, why did the Tuyuhun people commit the border of the Tang Dynasty, and why did they dare?

yes, why do they dare? At the time of the Sui Dynasty, he directly destroyed Tuyuhun, and beat Murong Fuyun again and again, and he could only hide in the Great Snow Mountain. How dare he commit the Datang border now?

Because of the Turks.

The Tang Dynasty and the Turks were at war in an all-out way, and there was still civil strife in Jianghuai, so Tuyuhun wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob.

"Your Highness, in the final analysis, the most important thing now is to resist the Turks, and the second is to pacify the Jianghuai civil strife, as for Tuyuhun, they are considered old, and they are not even qualified to be our main opponents. Now it's just a clown who is robbing while the fire is hot, let's ignore him for the time being, and make peace with him first. We don't have the extra energy and troops to be transferred over at the moment, so we might as well appease him first, and then settle this account in the future after the north is stable! ”

Fighting a war is also a matter of prioritizing priorities, not fighting when you see someone, and going to war everywhere. No empire, no matter how strong, can do this.

"Negotiate peace with Tuyuhun, let them withdraw from Fang, Min, Wei and other occupied places, and even give them some gold and silver. Your Highness, the purpose of our dispatch this time is to defend Guanzhongji, protect Longyou, prevent Tuyuhun and Liang Shidu from converging with the Turks, and prevent them from annexing our Longyou. As long as we can get Tuyuhun to withdraw, then our goal this time will be achieved. As for revenge, that's a matter for the future, one by one, and you can't rush it. ”

"Can Murong Fuyun talk?" Li Shimin asked.

Zhang Chao smiled, took a sip of tea, and moistened his throat.

"I think it will, it depends on Murong Fuyun not intercepting us from entering the city today, and giving up Longxi City, which is readily available, which shows that Murong Fuyun has concerns, and he doesn't want to fight with us. Since he will take the initiative to retreat today, it is not completely impossible for us to hold peace talks with him. ”

"Besides, even if he doesn't agree for a while, it doesn't matter, we can talk about it first, this is also a delaying tactic. If we drag it out for a day, we will be able to regain more strength. It is possible to recruit more soldiers and horses from the rear to replenish more rations. If we can delay the war in the north until there is a result, then it will be better, when the army returns to the DPRK, transfers troops, and directly starts fighting. ”

Li Shimin shook his head and chuckled.

"I was a little ill-thought out and rash. Wen Yuan, who do you think can take on this important task and go to negotiate with Murong Fuyun? When Li Shimin said this, he also looked at Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao just didn't see it, anyway, no matter what, he would never be a peace envoy. This time, even if Li Shimin speaks in person, he will refuse.

Fortunately, Li Shimin's eyes seemed to be just a joke.

"Yan clan, would you like to go to the Murong military camp?" Li Shimin finally looked at Xu Jingzong.

The corners of Xu Jingzong's mouth twitched, although it was not a life or death to negotiate, it was indeed dangerous. Moreover, negotiation is not a letter delivery, negotiation must also have skills and ability, and the goal must be achieved.

If you want the Tuyuhun people to agree to the peace negotiation and agree to withdraw the troops, it can't be too humiliating condition, it's very difficult. Xu Jingzong also wanted to be like Zhang Chao and didn't answer, but he didn't dare.

"My subordinates are willing." He, the commander of the Left Rear Army, has no soldiers, and is currently only Li Shimin's staff member of the Chinese army.

"Okay, I'll have someone prepare a batch of gold, silver, silk, etc., for you, and you will go immediately!"

Zhang Chao looked at Xu Jingzong with a smile.

"Manager Xu, when you arrive at the Murong military camp, remember not to be humble or arrogant, and don't be too eager to make peace. Otherwise, it will be easy for Murong to see the reality of our army, even if we take the initiative to negotiate peace, we can't follow them too much. Remember a few bottom lines, Wei, Min, Fang, Tao four states, Tuyuhun must be returned to my Datang. The money and grain captured by Tuyuhun can be taken away, but the people of the Tang Dynasty must return it. As for those rebellious party Xiang Qiang, you can leave with them! These three are the bottom line and cannot be backed down. ”

Concessions without a bottom line will only allow the enemy to find out your truth and truth, and will make them gain an inch.

And what Zhang Chao said is indeed something that cannot be backed down. Even if it's just a delaying tactic, there must be a bottom line. Otherwise, even if the peace talks are successful, it will be a serious failure for Li Shimin.

At that time, the court will not be able to explain, and will even let the prince use this as an excuse to attack.

"Then let's do it first, the city defense will be handed over to the right rear army to defend first, I'll go take a shower and get some sleep first, I haven't had a good sleep for many days. I hope that when I wake up, what I hear is not that Tuyuhun is besieging the city again, but that I have agreed to evacuate! ”

The generals also had no opinion on Li Shimin's handing over the important task of Longxi city defense to Zhang Chao.

With the wonderful performance along the way, Zhang Chao is not only a famous doctor and bachelor, but also a genius general. Everyone relieved that Longxi City was handed over to Zhang Chao, and then went to take a bath and sleep.

A calm day.

Murong Fuyun directly withdrew his troops to Xiangwu City, the administrative office of Weizhou, thirty miles away, and Xu Jingzong took a few carts of money to negotiate.

Zhang Chao sat at the head of the city and watched the scenery for a day.

Night.

In the cool night breeze, there was also a smell of blood and corpses.

The city is so quiet that it seems to be sleeping in the darkness of night. But the swords and swords reflected in the moonlight above the city showed that the city was actually lurking, ready to fight at any time.

The night breeze was slightly cool, and Li Shimin looked out from the city gate, and the wind swept his red coat fluttering.

Zhang Chao stepped on the horse road and walked down the steps, he changed into silk armor, and the armor made of silk was much lighter and cooler.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and the guards scattered far away, walking twenty steps away to guard.

Zhang Chao came to him and saluted him.

"This time it's all thanks to you sacrificing your life to help, without you, I would have turned into a handful of dirt outside the city." Li Shimin looked at the night and didn't look back.

"Jiren has his own natural appearance, how can something happen so easily. This is the Mandate of Heaven, King Qin will be the Son of Heaven of the Tang Dynasty, I was able to annihilate the three thousand Qiang thieves this time, and successfully scare off Murong Fuyun, it was just God borrowing my hand. Zhang Chao also looked at the night, and said in a mysterious and mysterious way.

"The Yan clan has been gone for a day, and there has been no response, so I don't know how the talk is."

"No news, that's good news." Zhang Chao said with a smile, "This shows that Murong Fuyun is at least thinking about it, and if he is thinking about it, it means that he also means this." This is like in front of the shop stalls in the East and West markets, and those who are willing to ask the price are more or less intentionally want to buy. If they bargain, they are more willing to buy, and if they don't even want to ask about the price and don't want to pay it back, most of them have no intention of buying. ”

"I wonder what's going on with the prince?" Li Shimin slapped his hand on the battlements, "This battle is really humiliating, I have never fought such a fire-fighting battle." ”

"This is not because of His Highness, but because His Highness has no generals and no soldiers in his hands. It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, no matter how strong the general is, he can't lead a group of farmers to be invincible. It's great to be able to do this. ”

"But you led a group of farmers to create one battlefield miracle after another!"

"Only this time, your identity must have been revealed." Li Shimin said with some regret, "He has always regarded Zhang Chao as the most powerful killing move, and he is ready to use it at the most critical time to give the prince a fatal blow." But this time, Zhang Chao sacrificed his life to save him, and after the prince knew about it, he would definitely have doubts about Zhang Chao's identity. Even if there is no evidence, they will be estranged from Zhang Chao, and it will be difficult to fully trust him anymore.

This is also a gain and a loss.

Zhang Chao was silent for a while.

When he came to rescue Li Shimin, he had already thought about that problem and made a choice.

"Your Highness, maybe it's time to make a choice."

"What to choose?" Li Shimin asked, in the dark night, his eyes looking at Zhang Chao were exceptionally bright.

"Your Highness has a destiny, but His Highness is still planning to follow the method that Yang Guang did back then, and wants to compete for the heir, I think it's too difficult. From my observation, His Majesty is very inclined to the crown prince, and most of the prime ministers and ministers of the court and the central government support the crown prince. His Royal Highness's supporters are more in the army, and they don't have much influence in the court struggle. ”

Li Shimin didn't speak, and he knew what Zhang Chao said.

"In my judgment, this time the prince will not win a big victory against the Turks, but it is impossible to lose. The elite of the DPRK and China are exhausted, and the elite soldiers are fierce, but if they just defend the war, they have a great chance of winning. As long as the prince is not greedy for merit and does not go out of the gate, it can be said that the probability of defeat is very low. The greatest possibility is that the prince relieved the siege of Youzhou and Yanmen and recovered the lost territory in northern Xinjiang. Then Wei Zheng and other strategists are very likely to persuade the prince to negotiate peace with the Turks, and the final possibility is that the Turks will withdraw to Guanwai with the money, grain, population and livestock they have grabbed, and the prince will relieve the siege of Youzhou and Yanmen, and recover the lost land such as Jizhou. ”

Such a result is definitely a good result for the imperial court, but it is certainly not good news for Li Shimin.

If the crown prince wins this battle, the prince's prestige will be greatly increased.

And even if he regains the lost territory in Longyou, he will be far from being able to compete with the prince.

The crown prince won this battle, and the emperor must have supported the prince even more.

"Please make the most decisive decision Your Highness, there will be no result in the competition for the heir, if you want to obey the destiny of heaven, you can only do extraordinary things!" Zhang Chao bowed to Li Shimin. He has long stood on Li Shimin's side, and of course he can only hope that Li Shimin can sit in the world as he did in history.

Li Shimin turned around, his eyes cold.

"Do something extraordinary, you let me rebel and usurp the throne?"

"The crown prince's talent is far inferior to His Royal Highness, but he is not the incompetent Yang Yong. After winning this battle, how could His Majesty, who was already inclined to the crown prince, and the important ministers of the court still have the heart to change the prince? ”

Zhang Chao shook his head and said that the current situation is very different from the original history.

Historically, until Li Shimin succeeded in seizing the throne, he was still in charge of the Taishang Book Order of the Great Bank of Eastern Shaanxi Province, and the base area in Luoyang has been operating very well. Li Yuan was not completely inclined to the crown prince, and he was still wavering.

"My father is the emperor and my brother is the crown prince, how can I do it? How? Wait until the emperor is in a big line, the crown prince succeeds to the throne, and then raise troops? But I don't think I'll have to wait until that day, and I may not have a chance to command the army again after this battle. ”

"You don't need to wait until then." Zhang Chao said in a deep voice, "After this battle, His Royal Highness has always been in the capital, and he will not stay away from the capital. Fight the snake seven inches, capture the thief and capture the king, as long as the plan is good, you don't need 100,000 elite soldiers, you only need 800 dead soldiers, you can control the center and win the world in one fell swoop! ”

Li Shimin didn't answer for a long time, turned around and looked into the distance.

After a long time, he asked in a low voice, "Wen Yuan, are you persuading me to kill my father and brother?" ”

Zhang Chao couldn't see the look on Li Shimin's face in the dark night, and probably felt a tremor in his voice.

"No, Your Highness, a preemptive strike can take the initiative and control the situation. As long as we grasp it well, we don't need to kill the king or kill the brother, we can control the palace, coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and then let His Majesty issue an edict, abolish the prince, and set up His Royal Highness as the prince, and then His Royal Highness will supervise the regent of the country, and after all parties in the world are stable, we will add yellow robes and reign over the world. ”

"What about the emperor and the crown prince?"

"Respect Your Majesty as the Emperor and support the palace. The abolished prince is a concubine, secluded in Beijing, and after ten years, he can be exiled to the South China Sea Island! ”

"Is it really going to get there? Even if I can win the world in that way, but in the eyes of the people of the world, my palace will change and seize the throne, and everyone will call me a usurper, right? Li Shimin said quietly. He has never thought of coming to this point, what he was working hard before was to be like Yang Guang, to win the throne through the court, become the crown prince, and then wait for the emperor to inherit the throne and become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

But today, Zhang Chao's words made him can't help but think about that.

Be the first to do extraordinary things.

But none of these things can hide the fact that even if he succeeds, he is also a usurper who has seized the throne. It will be a chaotic minister and a thief, and it will be abandoned by the people of the world.

Really going that step?

"Your Highness, the East Palace is pressing forward step by step, if you don't make a decision early, it will be difficult to have a chance once the time passes. Is His Highness really willing to be under house arrest in Beijing for the rest of his life? Be a rich idler? Zhang Chao asked.

"History is written by the victors, when His Royal Highness becomes His Majesty, when His Highness you and he break the Turks, Dingtu Guhun, Ping Goguryeo, the world is stable, the people are rich, the Tang Dynasty is prosperous, and the merits are better than the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, at that time, who cares how His Royal Highness sits on the throne of course, and the people of later generations will only praise His Highness for the achievements he has made, and praise the territory laid down by His Royal Highness!"

"History is written by the victors." Li Shimin smiled. Success and defeat have been the same since ancient times.

Zhang Chao also smiled, and the two smiled at each other.

"What do you mean I should do?"

"One person counts short, two counts long. Such a big event, when Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and the eldest grandson Wuji are invited to participate, maybe Gao Shilian can join, but it is not appropriate to let too many people know immediately, these people are enough at present, first plan a plan, and then find a way to implement it, contact the relevant people, if you don't move, you will succeed! ”

Li Shimin nodded.

"Wait for me to reign over the world, and let you be glorious for generations!" (To be continued.) )