The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1226: The Right Wise King's Army Marches South

In the following period of time, the two sides completely tore their relations apart. Chang'an and Luoyang began to get busy, making intensive preparations for a war that would decide the fate of the world.

Li You ordered Shi Luodie to lead the Turks to continuously attack cities and seize land around Luoyang, break through the fortresses and manors of some noble families, plunder their wealth and food, drive the nobles to Chang'an, and distribute their land to the surrounding people.

There was just one more condition added: only those who were willing to support the King of Qi and join the rebel army could be allocated the land.

If they were unwilling, it would have nothing to do with the land distribution, and Li You would distribute the land to the families of his soldiers. This policy led to Li You increasing his military strength by 100,000 in Luoyang, and the response from Hebei, Qi, Jianghuai, Jingxiang and other places.

In just half a month, Li You had gathered 300,000 troops in Luoyang. Together with the previous 200,000, there are now no less than 500,000 troops.

As Chang'an was the gathering place of the noble families, the major families tried their best to mobilize resources. In addition, they transferred back border troops from the north, the Western Regions, Hanzhong and the southwest, and gathered an army of 500,000 in Chang'an. Together with the troops originally stationed in the capital, the number reached 700,000.

As soon as the emperor gave the order, they would go to the front line and fight a decisive battle with Li You.

Just like that, in August of the first year of Kaiyuan, the northern part of the Central Plains was once again divided into two opposing camps, with tensions rising and a war imminent.

Just when the entire court and the rest of the country thought that an unprecedented war was about to break out in the heartland between the two capitals of the Tang Dynasty, unexpectedly, the prelude to the war had already been started in the far north.

"Kill! The Right Wise King has issued an order that anyone who rushes to the top of the city wall will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins."

Gurentu, the Right Great Danghu of the Turkic Khanate, with a ruthless face, drove his two great captains, four great chiefs, and several thousand captains to launch fierce attacks on Fengzhou City, an important town in the north of the Tang Dynasty again and again.

Fengzhou was the most important frontier town in the northern part of the Tang Dynasty, and one of the four major border towns that conducted trade with the Turks.

Over the years, the Tang Dynasty has continued to add bricks and tiles, making the city extremely tall and solid.

In normal times, no matter how many Turks there were, it would be difficult to conquer. This was because Fengzhou was across the Yellow River, and it formed a pincer with Yongfeng City a hundred miles to the west. In the back, there were two cities guarding Jiuyuan and Feng'an, forming an unbreakable line of defense.

However, during this period, in order to suppress the internal rebellion of the King of Qi, the Tang Dynasty withdrew a large number of troops from the border towns to Chang'an, resulting in a lack of border defense. The original 100,000 garrison troops were now less than 20,000, which gave the Turks an opportunity to take advantage of.

The lack of manpower brought a fatal threat. The generals defending the city saw the overwhelming Turkic cavalry outside the city, whose scale was no less than that of the 10th year of Zhenguan. They felt a burst of despair in their hearts. After thousands of people were killed and wounded and the Turks climbed up the city like wolves, the generals looked to the south in despair.

He shouted in grief and anger: "Your Majesty, I have tried my best."

After saying that, he drew the sword from his waist and rushed to the place where the Turks were the most. However, two fists could not defeat four hands. Under the general trend, personal bravery was of no use at all. After killing five or six Turks, the guard was hacked to death by random swords.

The Turkic captain swung his sword and cut off the Tang Dynasty banner on the top of the city wall, shouting: "The defender is dead. Below Fengzhou, the Right Wise King has ordered that those who surrender will not be killed."

The Tang soldiers who were still fighting bloody battles on the city walls saw this painful scene, and after struggling for a long time, they reluctantly put down their swords and arrows. Some of them surrendered to the Turks, while others retreated back into the city and escaped through the back door.

Gu Rentu in the rear received the news that the city had been captured, and ordered the army to enter the city. He then deployed the two great captains and leaders to lead 100,000 troops each to capture the two cities of Jiuyuan and Feng'an in the rear. Then he turned around and returned to the foot of Yinshan Mountain.

He came to a gorgeous tent embroidered with exquisite dragon and phoenix patterns, opened the curtain and walked in, and said to the middle-aged man of noble status at the top: "Your Majesty, it is just as you expected. The border of the Tang Dynasty is poorly guarded. We only sent a team of 10,000 people to take it."

"Haha, the Tang Dynasty is in civil strife."

Li Yan, the incarnation of the Right Wise King, sat in the main seat, shaking the wine in the golden wine glass, and smiled: "A prince raised an army in Luoyang, colluded with Shi Luodie who fled to the Central Plains, and rebelled against the Tang Emperor together. The Tang Emperor sent all the troops back to fight the civil war."

"Now the northern towns of the Tang Dynasty are all short of troops. I want you to march day and night to the north bank of the Wei River and take over the entire Hetao area within half a month."

On the other side, the left Danghu Hermu asked in confusion: "My king, since the Tang Dynasty is going to fight a civil war, why don't we go south when they are both defeated? Wouldn't we be able to take advantage of it then?"

"It's a bit early to enter the market now. Will it backfire and make them stop and unite to face the outside world?"

Gu Rentu also had such doubts, but he was loyal to the Right Wise King. He would do whatever the Right Wise King asked him to do, even if it was wrong, he would not hesitate.

Li Yan wanted such a general, with the civil and military separated and restraining each other, which was not only about the scope of responsibilities and powers, but more about keeping to one's duty. Generals only needed to be loyal to the king and follow orders. Political matters were too complicated and everything made sense.

If a military officer gets involved and has his own thoughts and judgments, he will always be at odds with his superiors. Therefore, military officers, whether they have political acumen or not, will never interfere in government affairs. Even if what you say is right, if the superiors notice that you have your own ideas and can think independently, sooner or later you will be in opposition to the superiors because of different governance concepts. This is a taboo.

Those who are in charge of weapons and guns are not responsible for command, and those who are in charge of command are not responsible for weapons and guns. This is an iron rule.

But Hermu was different. Although he was the Zuo Da Danghu, his actual position was equivalent to that of a prime minister in charge of internal affairs. It was his duty to make suggestions and discuss government affairs, so he could raise his doubts without any scruples.

Li Yan's expression froze. He knew that from a strategic point of view, it would be more appropriate to wait until the Tang Dynasty was in chaos before taking action. However, he was wearing a wolf's skin, but he had a red heart. The purpose of this turmoil was to scrape the bones of the nobles, not to destroy the Tang Dynasty.

But it doesn’t matter. As I said before, political matters are too complicated. Any explanation makes sense. I can explain the big game I’m playing.

As for how big it is and how to play it?
I'm sorry, that's a secret, how can I tell you little people like you? You just need to follow orders.

"How could this king not know what you are talking about?"

After thinking for a while, Li Yan's face became serious and he said with regret: "If it was Li Tai, the Prince of Wei, or Li Ke, the Prince of Wu, who rebelled this time, I would have just sat on the sidelines and watched. Because their foundation and talents are enough to fight a protracted war of equal strength with the court and bring down the Tang Dynasty."

"What a pity, it happened to be this loser Li You."

"This man has great ambitions but little talent, and is extremely mediocre. If there is no powerful external interference, he will be pacified by the Tang Dynasty in less than a month or two. Even with the help of Shi Luodie, a stray dog, he won't last much longer."

"If we sit back and do nothing until the Tang Dynasty mobilizes its military to pacify Li You, we will miss this rare opportunity."

Hermu was a Sogdian from the Western Regions. He had been doing business since he was a child and had traveled around everywhere. He had no idea how much impact Shi Luodie's land distribution within the Tang Dynasty would have. So judging from the superficial comparison of strength alone, Li You really couldn't make much of a splash.

"I see. No wonder the king was so eager to send out his troops."

After figuring out the mystery, Hermu nodded silently and said, "The civil strife in the Tang Dynasty may seem mighty, but it won't last long. If we don't hinder it from behind, the Tang Dynasty will recover soon."

"If we attack from the north, it would be like opening up a battlefield behind the Tang Dynasty, making it impossible for the Tang Dynasty to put down the Luoyang Rebellion with all its strength. If we contact Li You, we can even attack the Tang Dynasty from both the north and south."

"If we fight two wars like this, and fail to take care of both ends, the Tang Dynasty will surely be defeated."

After hearing such a detailed explanation, Gu Rentu suddenly realized and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I admire you very much."

Li Yan waved his hand and said with a heavy face: "As you know, I am the eldest son of Li Jiancheng, the former crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, and the true heir of the Tang Dynasty. Over the years, I have been wandering in the grasslands, and I have always wanted to return to the Central Plains and inherit the country left by my grandfather."

"Unfortunately, although Li Shimin was a despicable and shameless person, he was an undoubted hero. His literary and military strategies, courage and boldness were second to none. Among the emperors of the Central Plains throughout the dynasties, few could compare with him."

Li Yan sighed: "Alas, if Yu was born, why was Liang born? God did not bless my eldest son's family. My stepfather's defeat was not unjust."

In the character created by Li Yan, he is the abandoned child who was left outside by Li Jiancheng since childhood.

Therefore, every time he mentioned it, he would always complain and call him his stepfather. Hermu and Gu Rentu knew this very well. In their minds, their king hated and regretted the Tang prince who died in Xuanwu Gate.

Hermu and Gurentu's expressions darkened when they heard this. In addition to Li Shimin's own great talent and strategy, the name of Heavenly Khan was feared both at home and abroad, and he had countless civil and military officials under his command who were outstanding in all dynasties.

Zhangsun Wuji, Li Xiaogong, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing, Xiao Yu, Duan Zhixuan, Liu Hongji, Qu Tutong, Yin Kaishan, Chai Shao, Zhangsun Shunde, Zhang Liang, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Cheng Yaojin, Yu Shinan, Liu Zhenghui, Tang Jian, Li Ji, Qin Shubao, Luo Cheng, etc.

Any one of these people would be enough to give the Turks a hard time.

What's more, these famous generals and counselors who have made great contributions to the history appeared together in the Zhenguan period. This was extremely difficult and made people feel powerless from the bottom of their souls.

Whether it was Jie Li or Shi Luodie, or the unparalleled hero Right Xian Wang, they were all outstanding figures of their time. But it was also their misfortune to be born in the same era as a monster like Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)