At the southwest foot of the Funiu Mountains, there are continuous mountains all around. There is a canyon several miles wide in the middle of the mountain ridge. Zhuyang Pass is built in this canyon. It is considered a dangerous pass. Limited by the terrain, it has a radius of more than 20 miles.

It is a difficult mountain road, and it is very difficult to march, so it can only be regarded as a small pass, but its geographical location is very important, and it is one of the important gateways to Heluo. However, it is limited by the terrain and deviates from Henan County, so it has never been included in the defense of Luoyang.

in the core system.

For Li Jiancheng, who is sitting here, it can be regarded as a kind of transgender exile! After inspecting the city as usual that day, Li Jiancheng returned to the tower and wanted to read for a while, but he couldn't get in.

As the crown prince of the Li Tang Empire, Li Jiancheng was not very happy these days when he was the "Second Marshal". Although he had achieved his wish and ensured that the army would not be cannibalized by Li Shimin, the corrupt situation in Li Tang made him worried.

With Li Xiaogong helping to arrange military affairs, he basically didn't have to worry about anything. He followed the instructions every day, and then did nothing... He felt that he was wasting his time. If he were in Xiangyang, he could visit many places these days to represent the Li Tang royal family.

He has won the hearts and minds of many counties, but the reality is that he is so helpless. Every moment of his life is extremely precious, but he has to live a life of eating and waiting for death. He has gone to the table many times, hoping that his father, who is driving the army personally, will use Li Xiaogong to let him

He took over the military power of Zhuyang Pass so that he could return to Xiangyang to sit in charge and handle various daily affairs. However, his father seemed to have other plans and repeatedly rejected his opinions.

Why?

My father, who was both civil and military, kind and benevolent, became so willful, unkind, and unreasonable?

Li Jiancheng couldn't figure it out, nor did he understand it.

After these days of calm thinking and sorting out, he found that Li Tang's predicament seemed to be entirely caused by his father. At the beginning of the uprising, Li Tang's territory was not weak to Yang Dong's, and his army, wealth, population, talents, and background were not

Yang Tong can match it. According to reports, after the victory, heroes and talents from all walks of life rushed to Daxing. The prosperity was unparalleled for a while. Li Jiancheng also thought that Li Tang would be able to unify the world with thunderous power. However, the situation was good one by one.

Buried. On the other hand, Yang Tong, because he is the grandson of the "tyrant and faint king", all the talents in the world who are deeply hostile to the "tyrant Sui" regard him as a wolf, a tiger, and a savage beast. Every step he takes is not smooth, and Li Tang is always against him.

This little prince who was beleaguered internally and externally didn't take it seriously, but this little prince pushed Li Tang to the ground again and again and ravaged him.

From the beginning to the end, the officials of the Li Tang Dynasty gave Li Jiancheng the impression that they were a group of second-generation ancestors, each and every one of them immersed in the glory of their ancestors. Their innate blind arrogance made them look down on Yang Tong, and even looked down on Jiancheng.

The poor scholars in the Sui Dynasty court system were obviously beaten by others and could not distinguish between east, west and north, but deep down they looked down on each other. These people had nothing but arrogance and nostalgia for the past glory of their families.

For this kind of people, Li Jiancheng was helpless, and felt ridiculous and sad. What was even more sad was that this kind of people occupied 90% of the official positions in the Li and Tang dynasties. How could he rely on such people to fight the Sui Dynasty? Just daydream.

Sometimes, Li Jiancheng really envied Yang Dong. Although he struggled at first, after he established his foothold in Jizhou and laid a solid foundation step by step, the fighting power unleashed by the land of Hebei, which was not favored by the world's princes in the past, is really frightening.

In the later stages, Yang Tong's path became smoother. On the other hand, Li Yuan, Li Mi, Xiao Xian and others, although they had rapid development in the early stage due to the support of the aristocratic family, and showed great signs of being unparalleled, they became more and more unsatisfactory in the later stages.

In the later period, the aristocratic families became more and more the source of disease that restricted the development of the country. For their own selfish interests, they jointly restricted the court at every turn. Many times, just to implement a decree, they had to weigh the pros and cons again and again before facing the officials, and then had to make countless compromises.

They were deleted and revised countless times before they could be promoted. This not only caused a lot of waste of time, but also changed the good government orders that benefit the country and the people beyond recognition. They are thousands of miles away from the original intention of the creation of the government orders, and some even run counter to them. Even if some government orders

It was successfully promoted because of the country’s sacrifice in other aspects;

And what about Yang Tong? As soon as the decree was issued, it could be quickly promoted in various places under his rule, and it could be implemented quickly and effectively without even raising any objections. Not only was this efficiency unrivaled in the world, it was completely unprecedented. The reason for this was

Because there is no family group under his rule, Yang Tong can act without scruples. Even if there is opposition, it is only a small group of people whose interests have been harmed. Put this group of people among the vast population of Sui Dynasty, just like

A drop of water in the ocean will quickly melt and be swallowed by the ocean without making any waves.

After letting out a depressed breath, Li Jiancheng walked to the top of the city tower and looked at the beautiful scenery in the sunset, with deep melancholy flashing through his eyes. This situation made him feel like, "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's almost dusk."

"Monster!" Looking at the brand new "Ren Jin's Collected Poems: Praise of Love" in his hand, Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly and sighed: "How can humans fight against monsters?"

"Your Highness!"

At this moment, a red-helmeted general with a mighty physique and extraordinary bearing came in a hurry. He was Li Junxian, who was ambushed by Xin Li'er. He retreated here and thought he would be criticized and punished, but the result was not only

Instead of being criticized by Li Jiancheng, he was praised. This moved him very much. After accepting the arrangement, he trained soldiers conscientiously every day, intending to avenge his previous shame.

"What's wrong, General Li?" Li Jiancheng looked at Li Junxian with a smile, looking quite gentle.

From the day he became the crown prince, it was destined that Li Jiancheng would not be able to discover and promote good generals through battles like Li Shimin did. In addition, he was in charge of political affairs, which made it even more difficult for good generals to join him, because good generals have their own unique vision and heart.

Knowing that if he follows Li Shimin to fight, he can get promoted through military merit, but it is difficult to get the opportunity to go to war under Li Jiancheng. If Li Jiancheng fails to take the position, he may not be able to make a difference until his death. Maybe Li Jiancheng will miss his old relationship, but at most it is better than nothing to arrange a relationship.

Therefore, although Li Jiancheng was the prince of Li Tang, he had no good generals to use. Otherwise, when Li Xiaogong was deposed, he would not have no generals to use, and was eventually forced to go to Zhuyang Pass in person.

Li Jiancheng had nothing to say about Li Junxian who came to his door. These days, Li Junxian talked about the world, talking about ancient and modern military techniques and the pros and cons of the court's policies. He was very close to him.

The more they chatted, the more Li Jiancheng admired Li Junxian. Not only was he well versed in military strategy, but he also had his own views on the general trend of the world. Although limited by his vision, Li Junxian's overall view and foresight were slightly lacking, but

As far as Li Jiancheng knew of the generals, Li Junxian was already a rare person with both civil and military skills. Not to mention on his own side, even among the good generals of his second brother Li Shimin, he was also an outstanding figure, and people who valued him had also changed.

It has to be taken for granted.

Li Junxian had defected to Li Tang not long ago, and he was unaware of the competition between the Li brothers. In addition, although Li Shimin admired him, he could not be too enthusiastic about a surrendered general, otherwise he would alienate all his direct descendants.

Therefore, compared to Li Jiancheng, who was eager for talents, Li Shimin's attitude was much inferior. As a result, Li Junxian's heart was naturally more inclined to Li Jiancheng's side. Furthermore, in terms of personal interests, it was even more

There is no reason to miss the crown prince Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng also introduced Li Xiaogong and Changsun Wuji to Li Junxian from time to time. The two understood Li Jiancheng's intentions and saw that Li Junxian was really talented, so they naturally added fuel to the flames and created a harmonious atmosphere. When they learned that Li Junxian

Xian had three years of experience as a cavalry officer under Li Mi and Wang Shichong. Li Jiancheng handed over his five thousand "victory army" to the other party without hesitation. After this round of dazzling operations, no matter whether Li Junxian wanted to

To be loyal to Li Jiancheng, in the eyes of everyone, he has been tied to Li Jiancheng's chariot.

Li Junxian did not feel this way. He had no trace of partisanship. He was only moved by Li Jiancheng's actions and had no other thoughts. As a result, in just one day, the most unjust person in history became Li Jiancheng's person.

"Your Highness! His Highness the King of Jin sent General Li Anyuan to see him, saying that there is an extremely urgent matter..." Li Junxian came closer and reported in a deep voice.

Li Jiancheng was stunned, then his heart suddenly tightened, and he quickly said to Li Junxian: "Let him come here."

He naturally knew Li Anyuan. He was originally the governor of Yunzhou in the Shangzhu Kingdom of the Sui Dynasty. He had been a general in his family for generations. When Li Yuan attacked Jiangjun, he and Jiangjun's general guard Chen Shuda presented the city to the Tang Dynasty and were appointed commander of the Youyi Guards.

The Duke of Zhengping County worked under Li Shimin. When he was young, he was misbehaving and associated with gamblers and rangers, which led to bankruptcy. However, he also learned the skills of rangers, especially the skills of assassins such as concealment. Now he is the dignified Youyi Wei commander.

However, Zhengping County Duke started to act as a scout. The second brother was obviously in big trouble, or simply suffered a huge defeat, so he asked for help.

While Li Jiancheng was waiting anxiously, Li Junxian quickly brought Li Anyuan over. At first glance, Li Jiancheng's heart went cold. Li Anyuan appeared in front of him in a very embarrassed state, with his clothes and armor gone, and his hair as messy as a chicken coop.

, as if a dog was gnawing at it, the white cloth bandaged in several places was still red, showing that it was injured, and the posture was still freshly bandaged.

"General Li Anyuan comes to see His Highness." Li Anyuan bowed and saluted.

"No need to be polite!" Li Jiancheng was anxious, but it was useless to be anxious at this time. He had to restrain his inner worries and asked with a forced smile: "Why does the general look like this? It's really unexpected."

Li Anyuan gave a wry smile, took out a layer-wrapped letter from his arms, and presented it to Li Jiancheng with both hands: "This is an autographed letter from King Jin to His Highness. Your Highness will understand it after reading it."

Li Jiancheng hurriedly read the letter and felt relieved. Although his second brother's situation was bad, it was not the total annihilation he thought. Instead, he had a way to save himself. He asked Li Anyuan to risk his own life to deliver this letter.

He asked himself to send troops out to respond, but... looking up at the vast mountains, Li Jiancheng felt a little hesitant.

After Li Anyuan read the letter, Li Jiancheng was silent and became very anxious. He couldn't bear it anymore and said: "Your Highness, the morale of the Eastern Expeditionary Army is low and food is insufficient. It is on the verge of collapse. Now the situation is critical. The King of Jin can only

I can listen to Liu Xiangguo's dangerous plan and build a dam on the Luoshui River, threatening the lives and property of the people of Heluo River, forcing Yang Dong to let my army cross south, and then come from the south bank of the Luoshui River to join His Highness. If there is no His Highness on the south bank,

In response, the angry Yang Tong is very likely to go back on his promise and deploy heavy troops on the south bank to deny our southward army a chance to breathe. Your Highness, that is our Tang Dynasty's 90,000-strong army. These soldiers have now transformed into elite men. They are

We cannot afford to damage the solid foundation of Datang."

Li Jiancheng pondered for a long time. It was not that he was unwilling to send troops, but he was afraid that his own small force would be trapped. However, when he thought that the main force of the Sui army was Yang Shanhui, who was a friend of the Lu family in Changyuan, and Xue Wanjun of Shangluo, plus Li Shimin had as many as nine troops.

With an army of tens of thousands, there are more than 100,000 brothers combined. No matter how hard it is, they cannot defeat the Sui army in Lu's territory. When he thought about it, he nodded: "General Li, just don't worry. Although I don't know how to fight, I can't do it."

Knowing what is right and wrong, I will organize an army to bring my second brother back."

Li Anyuan was overjoyed and gave a deep salute: "On behalf of tens of thousands of soldiers, I would like to thank His Highness for your righteous deeds."

"No need to thank you! This is what I should do." Li Jiancheng felt extremely bitter in his heart. All these military veterans only had eyes for the King of Jin, making himself, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, seem like an outsider. Although this was not the first time.

It was the second time, but Li Jiancheng still felt quite uncomfortable. He forced a smile and said: "Where do you plan to cross the river?"

"Xishui River Estuary." Li Anyuan replied quickly.

"I understand. General Li will rest peacefully in Guanzhong."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Please make arrangements as soon as possible."

"Don't worry! Jun Xian, take General Li down to rest, and be sure to take good care of him." Li Jiancheng felt unhappy and his tone became a little stiff.

"Here!" Li Junxian responded and took Li Anyuan away.

Li Jiancheng didn't know what he would save, but he knew that he couldn't sit back and watch its defeat, and must try his best to save it. This may be the reason why his father did not agree with Yuan Ji to guard Zhuyang Pass, because

My father is familiar with the temperament of each of his brothers, and he is even more aware of his own character. He knows that no matter how uncomfortable or unwilling he is, he will not miss the overall situation for his own selfishness.

This feeling of being eaten by someone really made Li Jiancheng feel uncomfortable. Even if the other person was his biological father, it still made him unable to have any fun, and the resentment in his heart could not help but deepen.

Looking at the sparkling river in the distance, Li Jiancheng let out a long sigh. Finally, he put aside all the distracting thoughts in his mind and had no choice but to invite Li Xiaogong and Changsun Wuji to the tower to urgently discuss sending troops to meet Li Shimin.

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Chapter completed!