A few days later, the cavalry led by Li Shimin arrived in Chang'an first, Li Yuan had already received a message from the flying pigeon, knowing that the second son had withdrawn, he immediately sent people to wait outside the city, and when Li Shimin arrived in Chang'an, he was immediately accepted into the Taiji Palace.

Li Yuan was already very anxious, he got the information from Luoyang, Zhang Xuan invited Wang Shichong to hunt Wagang together, and Li Yuan sent an 800-mile urgent express to inform Li Shimin to withdraw the army.

Of course, Li Yuan didn't want to exterminate Liang Shidu in one go, but Li Yuan considered that Liang Shidu's problem was essentially a Turkic problem, and it was not so easy to solve it.

On the contrary, once Zhang Xuan and Wang Shichong reached an agreement to divide the Central Plains, he would only kill him afterwards, which would only lead Wang Shichong and Zhang Xuan to join forces against him, and once the Northern and Southern Sui formed an alliance, the Tang army would be passive, so Li Yuan was extremely anxious, he must use the pretext of exterminating the bandits as an excuse to enter the Central Plains to get a piece of the pie, and at the same time prevent Zhang Xuan and Wang Shichong from forming an alliance.

Li Shimin came to the outside of the imperial study of the Wude Palace, and some guards immediately went to report to Li Yuan, the son of heaven, and after a while, an old eunuch came out and saluted: "Your Highness, please come in!" His Majesty waited in his room. ”

Li Shimin tidied up his clothes and walked quickly to the imperial study, Li Yuan's imperial study is very large, like a small hall, at this time in the imperial study, more than a dozen important ministers have gathered together, Xiangguo Pei Lian, Liu Wenjing, Chen Shuda, Dou Wei, Dugu Huaien, in addition to the crown prince Li Jiancheng, as well as Shangshu left and right Cheng and various important ministers, Shilang and other important ministers.

Li Shimin nodded to everyone one by one, stepped forward and bowed, "Son, see your father!" ”

Li Yuan's eyes showed a sense of relief, he was afraid that the second son would refuse to accept the edict and come back, so he would lose the majesty of the king, he smiled and said: "The emperor has worked hard all the way, give me a seat!" ”

A eunuch laid a cushion for Li Shimin, and Li Shimin was about to report on the battle of Lingwu County, but Li Yuan understood his thoughts, waved his hand and said: "The situation in Lingwu County will be reported later, and we will continue to discuss the matter of the Central Plains." ”

Li Shimin was a little lost in his heart, he knew that his father no longer considered Liang Shidu, solved Xue Ju and Li Rail, the rear of the Tang Dynasty was much easier, and the remaining Liang Shi couldn't turn over the wind and waves, as for Liu Wuzhou, he might threaten Taiyuan, but not Guanlong, and the Tang Dynasty's strategy to the east was irreversible.

But Li Shimin is not an ordinary person, after he saw the eastward turn of the Tang Dynasty's strategy, he also quickly adjusted his state, and temporarily forgot about the conquest of Liang Shidu, at this time, he noticed that a huge map of the Central Plains was hung in the lobby, and Zhao Cijing, the squire of the military department, was standing in front of the map.

Li Yuan nodded and said to Zhao Cijing: "Zhao Shilang will tell King Qin about the situation in the Central Plains again!" ”

Zhao Cijing is Li Yuan's son-in-law, his appearance is unusually handsome, known as the first beautiful man in Chang'an, his mother is filial piety, and his talent is not bad.

Zhao Cijing bowed slightly to Li Shimin, pointed to the map with a wooden pole and said: "According to the latest information, the Sui army is divided into four roads, one is Pei Xingyan's cavalry, he divided 10,000 cavalry to the south after capturing Xuzhou, and captured Qian County, Ruyin County, Runan County and Huaiyang County, and the other 20,000 cavalry marched into Liang County, currently stationed in Gushu County, east of Songcheng County, this is the cavalry all the way, the second road is Luo Shixin's army, they killed from Qi County into Dongping County and Jiyin County, and have now included the two counties, At present, Luo Shixin's army is stationed in the area of Kaocheng County in the north of Liang County, and the third road is that Li Jing led 10,000 troops into Dongjun to prepare to capture Wagangzhai, and Wang Shichong is on the side"

"Wait a minute!"

Li Shimin interrupted Zhao Cijing's introduction and asked, "Just now Zhao Shilang said that Zhang Xuanbing was divided into four roads, but now only three roads have been introduced, so what about one more way?" ”

Zhao Cijing pointed the wooden pole at Hanoi County, "There is still a road here, Wei Wentong's army, ready to cross the Yellow River and enter Xingyang County at any time." ”

Li Shimin understood a little, and he said to Li Yuan: "Father, does Zhang Xuan want to use the Tiger Prison Pass in the north as the boundary, and they occupy most of the Central Plains, including Xingyang County. ”

Li Yuan snorted coldly and said: "The emperor is right, judging from the current direction of Zhang Xuan's troops, he plans to do so, the north is bounded by Hujiao Pass, the south is bounded by Yingchuan County, the east belongs to Northern Sui, and the west belongs to Wang Shichong." ”

"And what about our goal?"

Li Shimin remembered Qu Tutong's speculation, and secretly thought in his heart, "It won't be accurate by Qu Tugong!" ’

Li Yuan glanced at Li Jiancheng, "Da Lang, you come and tell Shimin!" ”

"The retainers obey!"

Li Jiancheng got up and walked to the map, Zhao Cijing hurriedly presented the wooden pole to him, Li Jiancheng nodded, pointed to the map with the wooden pole and said: "Take the first line of Tongguan, we are sad to pass the danger of Kunguan, we can't take Luoyang, we can't go east, so we can only go Wuguan at present!" ”

Li Jiancheng pointed the wooden pole to Shangluo County and said to Li Shimin: "First organize the people to transport grain and grass materials to Shangluo County, and then go south along the Danshui, use the Danshui to transport grain and grass baggage, and enter Nanyang County out of Wuguan, and now Wang Shichong has sent the general Yuwen Chengdu to lead 20,000 troops south, that is to say, we will compete with Wang Shichong's army for Nanyang, Xiyang and other six counties in the southwest of the Central Plains, and a big war will be inevitable." ”

Li Shimin was stunned and didn't speak, he was very shocked in his heart, but he was shocked not because Qu Tutong had said the plan of the Tang Army, but because of Zhang Xuan's foresight, after a while, Li Shimin said slowly: "Zhang Xuan has already calculated that we will go south through Wuguan!" ”

Li Yuan's face was a little ugly, although he also knew that he was not as far-sighted as Zhang Xuan, but he didn't want to lose face, and said coldly: "This is normal, we can't pass Luoyang, anyone can think that we will take the road of Wuguan." ”

He didn't want to talk about Zhang Xuan anymore, so he said to Li Jiancheng: "Keep talking." ”

Li Jiancheng continued: "At present, the area of Nanyang and Xiangyang is occupied by the bandit Zhu Ji, this person has an army of 80,000, using human flesh as food, and is extremely brutal, Yuwen Chengdu's army is fighting fiercely with Zhu Ji's army in the area of Luyang Pass, we can take the opportunity to enter and seize Nanyang County and Xiangyang County." ”

Li Shimin frowned, in this case, 30,000 troops are enough, what are you doing in such a hurry to urge yourself to come back?

Li Yuan saw the dissatisfaction of the second son, and was slightly unhappy in his heart, and said to Li Shimin: "Although we have 200,000 troops, but it is not enough, your third brother led 50,000 troops to confront Liu Wuzhou in Bingzhou, and 20,000 troops were needed to defend Yizhou, and 30,000 troops were needed in Zhongzhong, so 100,000 troops went, and there were garrisons in Hexi and Hehuang to prevent the old Xue clan and Li Liang's people from coming back, we actually have no troops to send, just waiting for your 80,000 troops to come back." ”

"Keerchen's 80,000 troops will not be able to come back in at least three days, and the child is afraid that he will miss the military plane."

"This doesn't matter, there are 20,000 imperial forest troops in Chang'an that can be used temporarily, and I will hand over your 30,000 troops from your supernatural uncle to you, and you will lead you to Wuguan, so that I must capture Nanyang, open up the line of Nanxiang, and lay the foundation for us to march into the south."

Li Shimin understood his father's ambition to seize Nanyang and Xiangyang, and marched to the south based on this, although he wanted to take his old troops to the expedition, but now he had no room to refuse, and immediately bowed down and said: "The child will never let his father down!" ”

After a pause, Li Shimin said again: "The Southern Expedition needs a large number of people, and it takes time to dispatch the people, so it is better for Erchen to wait for the Western Expeditionary Army to come back, and I don't care about the three days." ”

Li Yuan thought about it and agreed, "Okay, then wait for another three days!" ”

At this time, Li Shimin remembered something again, and hurriedly said: "Before the return of Erchen this time, Duan Decao was appointed as the governor of Pingliang, and he led 20,000 troops to continue to deal with Liang Shidu, and implored his father to approve the appointment of Erchen. ”

Li Yuan is so old and sophisticated, he smiled faintly: "Since the emperor has been appointed, I will approve it." ”

Li Shimin was overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Thank you for your father's permission!" ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Yuan ordered Pei Lin to recruit 200,000 people in Guanzhong to transport grain, and Li Yuan named Li Shimin, the king of Qin, as the generalissimo of the expedition to the east, and led 30,000 troops to crusade against the rebel thieves Zhai Rang and Zhu Wei.

Li Shimin, who had only rested for three days in Chang'an, led 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry to march towards Shangluo County, and Li Yuan immediately appointed Liu Wenjing, the prime minister, as the marshal of the grain rear army, the governor of 200,000 people's husbands, and the logistics of grain and grass transportation.

This was a major decision of the Tang Dynasty, marking the shift of the Tang Army's strategy from the West to the East and the beginning of the journey of the Central Plains for hegemony.

(To be continued.) )