The middle of the seventh month in Chang 'an was still hot.
Outside of Chang 'an City, the mighty army was marching toward the city of Chang' an.
This was the army led by Li Shimin.
More than two hundred thousand soldiers had left Chang 'an and headed to the Western Regions to attack Du Qi. But now, they had returned without success. Li Shimin's mood was heavy. This trip to the Western Regions was too frustrating.
Li Shimin was vexed.
Zhangsun Wuji was pained. After all, his son Zhangsun Chong was going to be used as a hostage to exchange for Hou Junji. The other generals did not have much fighting spirit.
They did not fight this battle, but in reality, it seemed like they had lost. But even so, Li Shimin announced that he had led the army to the border. After a discussion with Du Qi, Du Qi had voluntarily released the captive Tang soldiers. Thus, Li Shimin had spared Du Qi and retreated.
When the ordinary people heard this, they did not doubt him.
They all thought that he had won.
For those who were truly insightful to know that something like this had happened, there was obviously something fishy going on. If Du Qi was no match for Li Shimin, Li Shimin would not have retreated.
This was not how a war was fought.
This was clearly a loss.
But Li Shimin did not care about the discussions of the people. The army returned to their positions, and the generals returned to the court to take up their posts.
Li Shimin dragged his slightly tired body back to the palace. He returned to the rear palace and went straight to Zhangsun Wugou's palace. Zhangsun Wugou was surprised that Li Shimin had returned in such a short time. He said, "Your Majesty, you returned from the Western Regions so quickly. Has the matter of Erlang been resolved?"
"Lost!"
Li Shimin sighed.
Zhangsun Wugou was even more shocked. He asked, "Your Majesty, how could an army of more than two hundred thousand be defeated so quickly? How many soldiers did you lose in this battle? "
In Zhangsun Wugou's view, a battle of hundreds of thousands of soldiers was not something that could be completed in a day.
But Li Shimin had come and gone very quickly.
Calculating the time, after deducting the time needed to go back and forth, he had only spent a few days in the Western Regions.
Li Shimin said, "When I led the army to the Western Regions and confronted Du Qi at the border, I did not actually fight. But in this battle, We lost. "
Zhangsun Wugou was instantly curious and asked, "Your Majesty, what's going on?"
At this moment, Tang Zhen entered.
He walked to Li Shimin's side and quickly said, "Your Majesty, Retired Emperor invites you."
"Got it."
Li Shimin nodded.
After Tang Zhen left, Li Shimin briefly told Zhangsun Wugou about the battle in the west region, as well as Zhangsun Chong's situation as a hostage. After Zhangsun Wugou heard this, he could only sigh. With Zhangsun Chong as a hostage, although Zhangsun Wugou was unwilling, there was nothing he could do. After all, Hou Junji was a Great General of the Imperial Court, and they couldn't just ignore him.
After Li Shimin finished speaking briefly, he ordered, "Guanyin maid, comfort Fuji well. Tell him that Zhangsun Chong will be fine in the Western Regions. This time, I have let him down. Moreover, although Du Qi wanted Zhangsun Chong to be a hostage, he was only targeting the auxiliary machine. That's because the dispatch of troops this time was facilitated by the auxiliary machine. "
Zhangsun Wugou said, "Your Majesty, because of you, the Zhangsun family can enjoy glory and wealth. Now that we need to exchange Hou Junji, the Zhangsun family is duty-bound. Moreover, he's only a hostage. I believe that Du Qi won't do anything to harm Zhangsun Chong. Furthermore, this can be considered as training for Zhangsun Chong. "
Li Shimin said, "It's good that you can think this way. In any case, comfort Fuji. "
"I understand."
Zhangsun Wugou urged, "Your Majesty, please go and see Imperial Father. I believe that Imperial Father is also very anxious now."
Li Shimin nodded, got up, and left.
After Li Shimin left the imperial harem, he went straight to Li Yuan's palace. At this moment, when he faced Li Yuan, he sighed in his heart. Because he had lost this time, it was quite embarrassing.
Li Shimin stepped forward and said, "Imperial Father!"
When Li Yuan saw Li Shimin, he put down the wine bottle in his hand and said with a slight smell of alcohol, "How was the battle against Du Qi in the Western Regions this time?"
"Neither victory nor defeat!"
Li Shimin replied directly.
In front of Li Yuan, Li Shimin changed his words.
Li Yuan said, "What is neither victory nor defeat?"
Li Shimin said in a deep voice, "In the Western Regions, Du Qi is famous for his new weapons of grenades, gunpowder, and landmines, which are extremely powerful. In addition, there are also Tufan troops at the Tang Dynasty's border. If the Tang Dynasty and Du Qi go to war, Tufan will seize the opportunity to plunder the Tang Dynasty. Because Du Qi's strength is not weak, and Tufan is also eyeing covetously, this son did not go to war in the end, but led the troops back. "
After a pause, Li Shimin continued, "For the time being, let's ignore Du Qi and stabilize the internal conflicts first. Next, we will deal with Tufan, Goguryeo, and others. After these internal troubles are settled, we will deal with Du Qi. This time, Du Qi is fully prepared, so we can't take down Du Qi. "
Li Yuan said, "Although you haven't gone to war, for you, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, sending troops is like unsheathing a sword. If the sword doesn't drink blood, it's defeat. This time, you've lost. "
Li Shimin did not speak.
Li Yuan continued, "I've already warned you that going to war with Du Qi is not worthwhile and not wise. Because this kid Du Qi is extremely cunning, he can be called a crafty rabbit with three burrows. You'll never be able to predict his means. "
After a pause, Li Yuan continued, "In fact, it's also good not to go to war. I'm just worried that after you and Du Qi go to war, the Tang Dynasty will fall into a quagmire. At that time, once there is chaos in the country, the consequences will be unimaginable. Stopping the war now is a good choice. "
Li Shimin's cheeks slightly twitched.
A good choice?
He has already lost to Du Qi, but it's still a good choice. It makes people feel helpless.
Unfortunately, the one who lost was Li Shimin. For a moment, Li Shimin's heart was depressed. But Li Shimin did not open his mouth to speak, he just quietly waited for Li Yuan to continue.
Li Yuan continued, "Emperor, when you and Du Qi go to war, even if you don't fight, as long as you bring soldiers and even arrange for Hou Junji to go, there will already be a gap between you and Du Qi. At this time, you still let Du Qi go, it's actually not worth it. If you don't kill the tiger, you'll be injured by the tiger, this kind of logic can be found everywhere. "
Li Shimin said, "This is something that can't be helped."
Losing this war, Li Shimin is already helpless, because Du Qi is not easy to deal with.
Li Yuan continued, "Actually, it's not wrong, the reason is very simple, because if this war really goes to war, it's easy to affect the country, it's easy to affect the livelihood of the people of the Tang Dynasty. There's no war at the moment, so it won't affect the people. The situation in the country also won't be affected, so it can continue to develop. If the Tang Dynasty really falls into a quagmire, the Tang Dynasty will also fall into a crisis. "
Li Shimin said, "This son will remember Imperial Father's teachings."
Li Yuan changed the topic, no longer talking about the country, and said, "Previously, according to the report, Du Qi, this kid, in the short time he was in the Western Regions, he was able to gather quite a strong force. Now, does Du Qi really have 100,000 people? "
"Yes!"
Li Shimin answered with certainty.
Then, Li Shimin continued, "Now, this kid, Du Qi, in the Western Regions, has already become a huge monster. It's like a country like Goguryeo and Tubo, even stronger than Tubo and Goguryeo. Letting Du Qi go to the Western Regions, I'm letting the tiger return to the mountain. "
Li Yuan sighed, "You reap what you sow. You connived with Zhangsun Wuji, targeting Du Qi everywhere, even treating Du Qi as a money tree. Naturally, there will be today's situation. Emperor, if you don't consider the problem from the point of view of an emperor, but only from the point of view of Du Qi's elder, perhaps Du Qi would still be in Chang 'an, still loyal to the Tang Dynasty. "
After a pause, Li Yuan continued, "When a person is an emperor, sometimes it's good to be rational, but sometimes it's rare to be muddle-headed and can't be too rational. It's hard to grasp the scale inside. "
Hearing these words, Li Shimin's heart felt even worse.
He didn't feel that Li Yuan was enlightening him.
On the contrary, he felt that these words were full of mockery towards him. Because previously, when he sent out troops, Li Yuan had spoken out against it, but Li Shimin stubbornly wanted to suppress Du Qi, resulting in today's situation.
Li Shimin didn't waste any more time, directly taking his leave. After Li Shimin left, Tang Zhen hurriedly entered, with a letter in his hand, he said, "Your Majesty, this is a letter from Governor Su."
Li Shimin took it and quickly browsed through it. When Li Shimin finished reading the letter, he snorted with a dissatisfied expression.
Tang Zhen said, "Your Majesty, is there any more news?"
Li Shimin said, "Du Qi, that brat, is really arrogant. He now dominates the Western Regions, but now he arranged for an envoy to personally come to Chang 'an for an audience. According to Su Dingfang's report, Du Qi sent an envoy to inform Du Qi of the establishment of the country. "
Tang Zhen said, "Du Qi is arrogant!"
Li Shimin sighed and said, "Du Qi is very strong, and he already has a relationship with Tufan, especially when Du Qi is remotely controlling the direction of Tufan's situation. Therefore, even if Du Qi arranged for an envoy to come, there's nothing he can do. "
After a pause, Li Shimin looked at Tang Zhen and instructed, "Tang Zhen, arrange for someone to keep an eye on Ma Zhou."
"Yes!"
Tang Zhen immediately agreed.
After Li Shimin dealt with all the government affairs, he went straight to Zhangsun Wugou's palace in the harem.
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