Chapter 17 sixteen

In order to avoid the intrusion of the Ashina family, Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, and Li Yuanji all advocated moving the capital to Fan and Deng, but finally gave up because of the opposition of Li Shimin, who was still in charge of most of the military power in the Tang Dynasty.In the eighth year of Wude, Jieli personally led tens of thousands of cavalry to the south, and after plundering Shuozhou, he invaded Taiyuan. Tang general Zhang Jin fought with him in Taigu, and was defeated. Wen Yanbo, the servant of Tang Zhongshu who supervised the army, was also captured.Zhongshu Shilang's status is very high, but he was captured alive by the enemy, which shows that this battle was fought in a mess.The Battle of Taigu was the biggest disastrous defeat suffered by Tang and Jieli in the past years. After the battle, Li Yuan had to send several famous generals among Tang generals, such as Li Jing and Li Shi, to Lingzhou, Li Shi, etc. in the northeast. The front line of Bingzhou was deployed along the Great Wall.

The threat from the northeast has not been eliminated, and there is another warning message from the northwest, which really poses a problem for Li Yuan.Li Jing and Li Shi's troops are going to deal with Jieli and Tuli and cannot move, so who should he send to deal with Yu Sheshe?Send Li Shimin to go, with his strategy, he can naturally deal with Yu Sheshe.The problem is that Yu Sheshe brought tens of thousands of elites, and the Qin government's soldiers and horses alone are definitely not enough. This way, other troops have to be transferred to Li Shimin, and the tiger amulet is bound to return to Li Shimin's hands. Of course, Li Yuan doesn't want to see this of.But if Li Jiancheng is sent to lead the troops, he is really worried.The Battle of Taigu last year was unforgettable for him. That Zhang Jin was a Tang army general who had followed him for many years, and he was beaten to annihilation, which shows the strength of Ashina's cavalry.After all, Li Jiancheng had never fought any bad battles. Although he was able to beat Liu Heitao, he did not rely on formations, but the technique of attacking the mind. It is difficult to guarantee that the mistakes of Taigu's defeat will not be repeated.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan couldn't sleep or eat. He summoned important ministers several times to discuss the matter. He also summoned some generals of the Tang army from various places to ask advice, including Li Jing, the governor of Lingzhou, and Li Shi, the general manager of the army, and others.After three days of discussion, there was no result. Everyone knew in their hearts that the most suitable candidate was Li Shimin, but no one proposed it, because everyone knew that the emperor did not want to use Li Shimin.Li Jiancheng wanted to be handsome, but Zhang Jin's defeat also made him feel terrified of Ash's army. He hesitated several times, and almost wanted to ask for a fight, but in the end he still didn't speak out in front of his father.On the night of the third day, Wucheng sent three emergency documents in a row. Li Jiancheng's cronies in the Ministry of Education reported the matter to the emperor and at the same time passed the news to the East Palace. Li Jiancheng never sank again. Hold on.

In the past few years, Li Yuan has deliberately supported Li Jiancheng. Even in the seventh year of Wude, the governor of Gyeongju, Yang Wengan, who used to be the guard of the Eastern Palace, conspired against him. Li Yuan did not give up on him, which made Li Jiancheng more powerful than before. opportunity to be close to his father.The closer he got, the more Li Jiancheng could see through the mind of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He had already figured out that his father's current mentality was to break the siege of Wucheng, but he was unwilling to return the tiger talisman to Li Shimin.However, Li Jiancheng knew better that this kind of delay has a limit after all.Once Wucheng is lost, Yu Sheshe's army may go south along the Hexi Corridor and threaten Chang'an.No one would be willing to expose their heart to the sword of others. At the last moment, Li Yuan would make a compromise no matter how unwilling he was. The three documents that arrived were actually announcing the arrival of the last moment.He, Li Jiancheng, must immediately come up with a solution, otherwise, the Tiger Talisman will definitely return to the Qin Mansion!At this time, Li Jiancheng thought of Wei Zheng again.

Three years ago, Wei Zheng's strategy allowed Li Jiancheng to achieve the only brilliant achievement in his life that can be recorded in the annals of history. After returning to Chang'an from Shandong class teacher, the actual status of the Eastern Palace in the court skyrocketed, and Li Jiancheng became a veritable prince for the first time. At that time, the courtiers began to be optimistic about his market, and many people who followed the trend all voted under his account, and the once deserted East Palace was full of people for a while.At this time, Wei Zheng gradually disappeared from Li Jiancheng's sight.

In fact, Li Jiancheng didn't understand Wei Zheng's character all the time, and he was surrounded by those people who were stalking him every day, so he didn't have the heart to learn about a five-rank Xima in detail.Wei Zheng was born in a poor family but was aloof by nature, not the kind of person who earns a living by wagging his tail.When Li Jiancheng went to the east, he had to ask Wei Zheng for advice every day.After the battle was over, all the people used explicit or covert methods to ask for rewards from Li Jiancheng, but Wei Zheng never took the initiative to approach Li Jiancheng, let alone mentioned any rewards.And Li Jiancheng, who was born as a young master, never knew how to care for his subordinates. He would reward him with a bite if he shouted hungry in front of him every day, and he would soon forget about those who didn't move.Therefore, many people got benefits from the Eastern Expedition, but Wei Zheng got nothing.He never complained about this. He hid in the library and collected all kinds of documents and historical materials left over from the previous Sui Dynasty with all his heart, preparing to write a book "Sui Shu" describing the history of the Sui Dynasty.

That night, he was flipping through piles of old papers covered in dust in an attic of the Eastern Palace Sijing Bureau. Sun Da came over panting with a wind lantern, and shouted loudly: "Master Wei, Lord Wei!" Wei Zheng stuck his head out from the pile of books and said, "I'm here, what's the matter?" Sun Da said loudly, "Follow me quickly, His Royal Highness is anxious to see you." Wei Zheng looked at his dusty body, He said to Sun Da: "Wait a minute, I'll go back and change my clothes first!" Sun Da said anxiously: "No, His Royal Highness is anxious to see you!" Then he stepped forward and dragged Wei Zheng away, he is a martial artist The person who was walking was taking bigger steps than ordinary people, Wei Zheng followed behind, almost trotting all the way, pleading: "General Sun, slow down, I can't even keep up." Sun Da didn't stop a step, Because his master has already fired three times.

When we arrived at the East Palace study, Li Jiancheng was waiting at the door. When he saw Wei Zheng, he stepped forward and grabbed Wei Zheng's hand as if he had seen a savior: "Xuan Cheng, what have you been doing these days, and you didn't come to see me? Hurry up, Quickly enter the room and talk." After entering the study, Wei Zheng remembered something, raised the corner of his robe to kneel, and said in his mouth: "Look at me, I was dragged by Sun Da and ran so out of breath, I forgot to salute Your Highness Already." Li Jiancheng pushed him down on the stool and said modestly, "What kind of friendship do you and I have, why bother with these vulgar rituals, just sit down."

Wei Zheng had no choice but to sit down, looked up at Li Jiancheng and asked: "Your Highness summoned the minister so late, is there something important?" Li Jiancheng glanced at Wei Zheng: "Yes, when I encountered difficulties, I thought of you. Great brains!" As he spoke, he went to the desk and reached out to grab the tiger talisman, held it up in front of Wei Zheng, sighed and said, "Three years ago you tried your best to snatch this tiger talisman from King Qin's hand. Now, I'm afraid I have to send it back to others!" Wei Zheng's expression changed, and he hurriedly asked what happened.Li Jiancheng then stated the critical situation in Wucheng to Wei Zheng, and then confessed all his worries.In front of Wei Zheng, Li Jiancheng was straightforward. He asked Wei Zheng if he could think of a way to keep the tiger talisman in the East Palace.Wei Zhenglue thought for a while, and said, "According to the current situation, it may not be easy to keep the tiger talisman in the East Palace, but if you want to prevent the Qin government from retaking the tiger talisman, I can give your highness some advice." Li Jiancheng For a moment, this answer was really beyond his expectation.