Guanzhong, Chang'an, Daxing Palace, Wude Palace.
The hall was brightly lit. The important officials of the Tang Dynasty, including Prince Li Jiancheng, Prime Ministers Liu Wenjing, Pei Ji, Dugu Zhen, Dou Wei, Chen Shuda and General Dou Gui, all sat solemnly on their seats, lowering their heads and frowning in thought.
Li Yuan, who was dressed in a yellow dragon robe, sat on the dragon chair and slowly said to everyone: "Dear ladies, there have been frequent reports of the defeat of the Tang Dynasty in recent days. First, King Li Yuanji of Qi was captured in Hanoi, and then the prince consort. Chai Shao was captured in Jingxiang. Last night, another report of defeat came in Bingzhou. General Li Keyong was ambushed by Zhao Kuangyin and the grassland barbarians. He suffered a disastrous defeat and lost the Queshu Valley Fortress. Now the situation in Bingzhou is worrying! "
Li Yuan's voice was very hoarse, not only because of the frequent reports of the Tang army's defeat in recent days, but also because of his excessive indulgence since he ascended the throne.
Prime Minister Liu Wenjing stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Bingzhou is extremely important to the Tang Dynasty. Not only because it is your Majesty's place of Longxing, but also once the entire territory of Bingzhou is lost, Zhao Kuangyin can follow your Majesty's march route and raise troops to invade Guanzhong. So. Wei Weichen thought that he could only recall King Qin's army at this time, and first pacify Zhao Kuangyin in Bingzhou."
Since Pei Ji was humiliated by Yang Gao in Jiangdu, he has always regarded Yang Gao as an sworn enemy. Asking Li Shimin to withdraw his troops would be equivalent to handing over the Central Plains to Yang Gao. In addition, Liu Wenjing, who proposed this opinion, has always been at odds with him, so he would not agree even more.
Pei Ji immediately stood up and retorted: "What Liu Xiangguo said is wrong. If His Highness the King of Qin is asked to withdraw his troops and return to Guanzhong, it will be equivalent to handing over the Central Plains to Yang Gao'er. This is absolutely unacceptable!"
Liu Wenjing glanced at Pei Ji disdainfully and said coldly: "Then what better idea does Mr. Pei have?"
Pei Ji said in a deep voice: "Although Queshu Valley has been lost, there is still a dangerous pass like Pujin Pass in the pass, so why be afraid of a rat like Zhao Kuangyin!"
Liu Wenjing didn't even raise her eyelids and said calmly: "Even Queshu Valley can be lost, how can Master Pei ensure that Pujin Pass is not lost?"
"this..."
Pei Ji was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
At this time, another prime minister, Chen Shuda, also raised objections: "Liu Xiangguo, letting the King of Qin's troops return to the court can certainly stabilize the situation in Guanzhong. But this time our Tang Dynasty's five-way eastward expedition is huge, with 300,000 troops. , returning without success will cause a huge blow to the prestige of the Tang Dynasty, and the great families of the Central Plains will also be disappointed with us."
Liu Wenjing slightly arched her hands towards Chen Shuda and said: "What Mr. Chen is worried about is that compared with the safety of Guanzhong, he can only give up this little face. Moreover, the Central Plains has experienced years of military disasters, refugees are everywhere, and people are living in dire straits. Yang Gao occupied The Central Plains is actually a huge burden. It will take at least one or two years to appease the local Yang Gao, and we, the Tang Dynasty, can also take this opportunity to destroy Zhao Kuangyin and accumulate strength."
Li Jiancheng also persuaded Li Yuan: "Father, my second brother has been blocked in Hongnong County by Wang Shichong for more than a month. I'm afraid it will be difficult to accomplish anything if I stay here any longer. In my opinion, it would be better for my second brother to withdraw his troops and defend Guanzhong." .”
Li Yuan nodded slightly, then turned to ask Dou Wei, Dugu Zhen and others who had been silent, "What do you think, my dear friends?"
Dou Wei and Dugu Zhen are both leaders of the Guanlong nobles. Guanzhong is their home base. They are naturally more concerned about the safety of Guanzhong than the Central Plains. They immediately raised their hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think Guanzhong is our Tang Dynasty." The foundation must not let any mistakes occur!”
Li Yuan saw that most of the important ministers supported Liu Wenjing's suggestion, and he himself was worried about the safety of Guanzhong, so he immediately made a decision, "pass the decree and order the King of Qin to immediately abandon the attack on Hongnong County, return to the court with troops, and defend Guanzhong."
Prince Li Jiancheng spoke up again: "Father, now the King of Qi and his consort Chai Shao have fallen into the hands of the Sui army. These two are both relatives of the emperor, and they also made a lot of contributions at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty. I suggest that I send an envoy to Jiangdu to redeem the two of them."
Pei Ji stood up again and objected: "No! Yang Gao'er is greedy. This time our Datang Five-Road Eastern Expedition has cost a lot. If Yang Gao'er is allowed to blackmail me again, my Datang's treasury will be at its bottom!"
"Is it possible that Prime Minister Pei wants his third brother and his son-in-law to be humiliated in Jiangdu?"
Li Jiancheng glared at Pei Ji displeasedly, even though Pei Ji was his helper in the court. However, Li Jiancheng was a generous man. Except for Li Shimin, who threatened his status, he had extremely good relations with his other brothers and brother-in-law. At this moment, hearing Pei Ji's objection, he immediately became angry.
When Pei Ji saw Li Jiancheng getting angry, he was shocked and sat down hurriedly, not daring to speak any more.
At this time, the Prime Minister Chen Shuda stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think what the Crown Prince said is very reasonable. King Qi will not mention it, Chai Consort has been working hard and uncomplaining since His Majesty raised the army. He defeated Guanzhong, fought against Xue Ju, and made many military exploits. If he is allowed to stay in jail, I am afraid that it will chill the hearts of all the ministers!"
Li Yuan nodded and said: "What Chen Xiangguo said is absolutely true. But I don't know who among the ministers can go to Jiangdu as an envoy to meet Yang Gao?"
As soon as Li Yuan said these words, several prime ministers quickly lowered their heads. This mission to Jiangdu was more difficult than the last time. The last time Liu Wenjing went to Jiangdu as an envoy, she signed a contract with the Sui Dynasty, agreeing not to attack each other within three years.
Although everyone knows that this is just a false accusation, as long as it is profitable, Tang Sui will quickly break the contract. But now it was the Tang Dynasty that had torn up the contract. The Tang Dynasty was in the wrong first, and this mission would definitely be met with all kinds of difficulties from the Sui Dynasty.
Seeing several important ministers lowering their heads, Li Yuan's face suddenly darkened. He glanced at the important ministers with sharp eyes and suddenly said: "Liu Xiangguo, you were the envoy to Jiangdu last time, so this time I will do it." I leave this important responsibility in your hands again."
Hearing this, Liu Wenjing couldn't help but moan secretly, but Li Yuan had already opened his mouth, so Liu Wenjing could only bite the bullet and accept the order: "Wei Chen obeys the order, but Wei Chen begs your Majesty to send someone to be Wei Chen's deputy!"
Li Yuan stroked his beard and smiled: "I wonder who Liu Aiqing wants?"
Liu Wenjing raised her hand and said: "Wei Chen hopes that your majesty can send Yu Wenshi, the Minister of War, and Wei Chen's deputy. Lord Yu Wen's wife, Princess Nanyang, is still in Jiangdu, and Wei Chen thinks that we may be able to take advantage of this relationship during negotiations."
When Jiangdu rebelled, although Yu Wenshiji did not participate in the matter, he was afraid of being implicated because of his relationship with his brother Yu Wenhuaji. So he followed Yu Wenhuaji and fled north. Later, Yu Wenhuaji was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang in Wei County and died in defeat. He then defected to the Tang Dynasty.
Liu Wenjing proposed to let Yu Wenshiji be his deputy. After thinking about it for a while, Li Yuan felt that what he said made sense, so he nodded and agreed to Liu Wenjing's request.
