Fang Jun secretly looked at His Majesty Li Er's expression, and when he saw that he was not angry, he continued: "...With the strength of the navy, it is completely possible to storm Pyongyang City. Even if it cannot be defeated for a while, it can still give the enemy Serious casualties and containment, His Majesty will lead the army from Liaodong, attack cities and strongholds all the way to the south, and then the navy will transport some troops along the Zhu River to land near Pyongyang City. The two will echo each other, attack from the north and the south, and soon If we can sweep across Goguryeo, why let the powerful force of the navy go unused and instead go head-to-head and advance step by step, fight for every city, and fight to the death with the Goguryeo army?"
And the crux of the problem is that if you do it this way, it is likely to lead to failure just as it happened in history!
His Majesty Li Er drank tea and listened quietly. At the end, he just took the teacup and said slowly: "You still don't understand the affairs of governing the country. Because of the existence of the aristocratic families, various forces in the court are entangled in attacks and criticisms, and there is never peace. Not only did it greatly consume the power of the empire, but it also posed a serious threat to the stability of the empire. Do you think that the Eastern Expedition was just an impulsive move by me to achieve great success and to surpass the Qin Emperor and Han Dynasty? No. I really wanted to achieve great success, but I have not yet done it. To the point where you can ignore the outcome of such a national war and still be stubborn. However, you must understand that this war is not only to attack Goguryeo, an enemy country that is an extremely threatening threat to the Tang Dynasty, but also to take the opportunity to weaken various factions. The hostility and competition between the forces. Therefore, even if the Eastern Expedition fails, I have to make such a decision. A defeat cannot shake the country. At the worst, we can gather the remaining soldiers, reorganize the army, and fight again. With the strength of the Tang Dynasty, It’s okay even if such a war lasts for three to five games. But once the various factions in the court are in cahoots and have their own plans, the building may collapse very quickly.”
He himself was very helpless, but what could he do?
Aristocratic families, this cancer attached to the empire, makes the empire prosper because of it, and it may also die because of it. If all parties cannot obtain sufficient benefits to balance the situation between them, it is very likely that all conflicts will break out in the near future.
The nobles of Guanlong who are dying and struggling to survive, the Shandong aristocratic family with many talented people and great ambitions, the Jiangnan nobles with profound heritage and unwilling to be lonely...
The various forces built the foundation of the Tang Dynasty and made the Tang Dynasty a first-class power in the world, but they also planted dangerous seeds - uneven distribution of interests and mutual fighting. Once this seed takes root and grows, it can easily break through the foundation stones and cause the entire empire to collapse.
Nobles and poor families, courts and localities, the entire empire, are all fighting openly and secretly for interests. This is the great crisis hidden in the depths of the seemingly powerful Tang Dynasty.
Compared with this, what is an Eastern Expedition?
If necessary, His Majesty Li Er was even willing to make the Eastern Expedition completely fail, in order to weaken the strength of all parties and reduce the potential crisis of the empire.
Since ancient times, war has never been just a simple war. The essence of any war is just to pursue the war itself. Instead, there are various factors hidden behind it, as well as unspeakable exchanges of interests and political demands.
Even an emperor must compromise tactfully in order to achieve a balance of interests.
Fang Jun remained silent.
His Majesty Li Er looked at his expression and frowned: "You still want to mention your rhetoric about 'arrogant soldiers will be defeated'? It's just nonsense. In the past few years, you have indeed led the army to fight and made many military exploits. But you have to know that when it comes to the art of marching, fighting, and forming troops, you are not qualified at all."
Fang Jun nodded: "I know this, and I will never dare to be arrogant or arrogant."
This is a fact. He will never be arrogant enough to think that he is "like a god with his troops" just because he has won a few battles, because most of his victories are achieved through the crushing of equipment. When it comes to how to arrange the enemy's formation, The troops were deployed, and at least twenty people in the court surpassed him.
His Majesty Li Er continued: "The heart of arrogance cannot grow. If you are arrogant and arrogant, you will easily lose your true heart. You will not be able to carefully consider and repeatedly weigh the enemy's shortcomings to get the best combat plan. However, you also need to know, Arrogance will also boost the morale of the army. 'Contempt the enemy strategically', isn't this what you said? That's the truth. Besides, the so-called 'burning the cauldron' is a rare case of defeating more with less, so that's why It is widely spread that the Eastern Expedition was a war, an all-round war involving the national strength and military strength of the two countries, rather than a battle, and the kind of lucky results would never happen."
It sounds well-founded and reasonable, but Fang Jun still wants to say: Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty probably thought the same way as you, but he was defeated like a mountain...
After all, keep your mouth shut.
Because His Majesty Li Er's self-confidence will never allow such arguments as "a proud soldier will be defeated" to appear again and again, even if you lie in his ear and talk all day long, it is impossible to impress his reasoning about war.
The most important thing for a great person is to have an unswerving character. Once he thinks that he is doing the right thing, he will ignore the gossip and go all the way to the end with determination.
You may make various mistakes because of this, but the premise is that without such a character, it is impossible to achieve success...
Therefore, all the outstanding figures and outstanding figures of the past and present are always stubborn in their own opinions and are not swayed by the opinions of others.
It can be said that success is stubborn and failure is stubborn.
But it is also an indispensable element for success.
How else to persuade? I can only keep my mouth shut knowingly.
His Majesty Li Er saw that Fang Jun had kept silent, but the worry still lingered on his face. Knowing what he was thinking, he smiled and said: "You kid, you are too young to have witnessed the southern expedition that I commanded." The majesty of the Northern War, Qianshui Plains defeated Xue Rengao, and Hulao Pass defeated 3,000 people by 100,000. How could such a powerful enemy not bow down in front of me and disappear into thin air? Goguryeo was just a chicken and a dog. It was wiped out in an instant. How could I stop it? Live in my black armored cavalry?"
The words are exciting and the spirit is high.
However, he was definitely not arrogant. It was he who tried his best to persuade the great ancestor Li Yuan to raise troops in Jinyang, and then occupied Guanzhong to overlook the world, and finally achieved the grand hegemony of the Tang Dynasty. Li Jiancheng's ability is indeed very good. If he really became the emperor, his achievements may not be much worse than His Majesty Li Er. However, the most important battles for the Tang Dynasty's foundation were fought by His Majesty Li Er. For Datang, His Majesty Li Er was indispensable.
An emperor with great ambitions in his heart, went through countless dangers and defeated countless powerful enemies, and finally reached this point. I ask, who would seriously take Goguryeo in their eyes?
Not to mention that the previous Sui Dynasty suffered several defeats in Liaodong. Although Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was considered a tycoon, and his ability to govern the country was rare throughout the ages, when it came to leading troops to fight, he was indeed not as good as His Majesty Li Er...
His Majesty Li Er is indeed proud, but people have the capital to be proud.
Fang Jun sighed: "Your Majesty is arbitrary, and I have nothing to say. But I still want to say something more. The authenticity of the map is doubtful, not to mention whether Changsun Huan dared to deceive Your Majesty. He was in Goguryeo." In the center, there are powerful people from Goguryeo on both sides. Who can know whether someone has deliberately leaked the news to him and used him to lay a trap for the Tang Dynasty? Your Majesty should be careful to avoid falling into the trap."
His Majesty Li Er snorted and said: "If you had pointed out the doubts so calmly just now, why would you have fought with Duke Zhao? You are relieved. With Zhao Guogong's character, this matter will definitely not be solved. I originally wanted to After the Eastern Expedition, I asked you, Song Guogong and Zhao Guogong to assist the prince in supervising the country. Now it seems that it is better for me to take Zhao Guogong with me. Otherwise, once I personally go to Liaodong, no one knows what methods Zhao Guogong will use. To deal with you. Don’t think that just because you have been assassinated several times, you think that this is all Zhao Guogong’s means. When it comes to insidious plots, looking at the court, everyone will be behind them, which will make you unable to guard against them.”
With the ruthlessness of Changsun Wuji and the arrogance of the Guanlong nobles, no one could guess what methods these people would use to deal with Fang Jun and the prince once he, the emperor, left Chang'an.
He was leaning toward Yi Chu, but that definitely didn't mean he was willing to see the city of Chang'an become bloody and murderous because of Yi Chu's incident, and he didn't want to see the prince and Fang Jun fall into a pool of Yi Chu's blood.
*****
