Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

In fact, if the Tang Dynasty had been more financially secure, Li Shimin might have been able to launch a two-front war, leading his own army to fight Goguryeo while sending another army to attack Xueyantuo.

The commander of the other route, whether Li Ji or Li Jing, can achieve almost the same destructive effect as Li Er.

The early Tang Dynasty was truly a constellation of brilliant military talents, with a dazzling array of generals.

Li Shimin possessed military talent and had the corresponding talent pool, but the Tang Dynasty lacked the necessary war resources to support him. Ultimately, this was because the Tang Dynasty's foundation was weak.

In addition to dealing with enemies on the frontier, Li Shimin also needed to use the victories and spoils of war to appease the tribes that had submitted to him on the grasslands, as well as the servants and vassal soldiers who had sworn allegiance to the Tang Dynasty.

"Since ancient times, all people have valued the Chinese and despised the barbarians, but I alone love them equally." This is a famous saying of Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Er).

This can be glimpsed from the inclusive music and dance of the Zhenguan court.

In reality, Emperor Taizong of Tang never made any major mistakes in handling border ethnic issues.

Later on, Wu Zetian showed obvious contempt for the barbarian tribes on the frontier, and even allowed cruel officials to frame chieftains and generals of ethnic minorities, which ultimately led to extremely serious consequences.

Li Longji, however, was easily swayed by others and was overly lenient with the border regions, which ultimately led to the An Lushan Rebellion, bringing disaster to the country and its people.

When the music ended, Emperor Taizong clapped his hands and laughed.

"Your choreography is excellent, a reward!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The music and dance troupe left, and Li Shimin began to discuss state affairs with several important ministers.

"Xuanling, when I go out on a military expedition next year, you will assist the Crown Prince in overseeing the country."

"I obey your decree."

"This time, all the veterans who could go went along. They're all old bones; if they don't get some exercise, they'll all rust!"

"promise!"

Veteran generals such as Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, and Xue Wanche shouted particularly loudly.

Like Li Shimin, they all hoped to return to the battlefield and fight again.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Wei is seriously ill and may be unable to participate in the battle," Changsun Wuji added at the opportune moment.

"Is Li Jing still not better?"

"No, the Imperial Medical Bureau has sent doctors to check on him multiple times, and they said he can only rest and recuperate."

The emperor sighed.

Time really flies!

Just then, a palace eunuch hurriedly entered from the corridor and presented Li Shimin with an urgent military report.

Li Shimin opened the letter and saw that the military report had been sent from Jiangzhou.

"...All the warships were burned by the rebels, the Jiangzhou shipyard was reduced to ashes, and the same was true for Raozhou and Hongzhou. I deserve to die a thousand deaths..."

The emperor looked bewildered, then kicked over the table, causing the military report to fall to the ground.

"Yan Lide!"

Several senior officials found it strange, as the emperor rarely lost control of his emotions. What was going on?

"Your Majesty, what did the military report say?"

Li Shimin did not respond. He pointed to the military report on the ground, indicating to the eunuch to pick it up and give it to him.

After reading it several times, Li Er's old headache flared up again.

"Go, bring Yan Lide back to me! Bring him back!"

"Investigate! Find out exactly who did this!!"

The emperor was furious, and the ministers dared not remain seated; they all stood up.

"...More than three hundred warships at the Jiangzhou Shipyard were burned..."

"Burned?"

"How could that be?"

"Did Yan Lide burn the boat himself?"

"You all, take a look..."

Li Shimin closed his eyes, put his hand to his forehead, and felt a sharp pain in his head.

The head eunuch, seeing this, quickly stepped forward and helped press the acupoints on the emperor's head to relieve his father's pain.

Several high-ranking officials of the imperial court had quite interesting expressions after reading the military report.

"Oil? This must have been done by the military!"

"Could it be that rebels have appeared near Jiangzhou?"

"I don't think so. If they were rebels, why didn't they take advantage of the situation and seize Jiangzhou?"

"In that case, wouldn't Zhang Liang's navy be completely powerless...?"

After a while, Li Shimin's blood pressure dropped slightly, but his anger did not subside.

"Fuji, Xuanling, do you have a good plan?"

Changsun Wuji said, "In my opinion, investigating the Jiangzhou shipyard is secondary at this time. The most important thing right now is to immediately adjust the deployment at the front."

Fang Xuanling said, "I second that suggestion. We have no warships left, and very few ships that can cross the sea. It is no longer possible to launch a pincer attack. In my opinion, we should have the main force at the front retreat first to avoid wasting money and supplies. In addition, we should immediately reinforce the military supply and grain depots in Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Bozhou to guard against any possible enemy attacks."

Li Shimin realized what was happening: "Immediately send documents to the prefectures along the canal, ordering them to strengthen their defenses of the armories and granaries!"

"promise!"

"As for the army at the front... Zhang Liang's force will retreat from Yingzhou to Jizhou first."

"promise!"

"Li Ji and Li Daozong... were ordered to retreat to Youzhou and await imperial orders."

"promise!"

"Li Daliang, Minister of Works, Cen Wenben, Grand Secretary, and Ma Zhou, Minister of Personnel, shall immediately enter the palace to discuss matters."

"promise!"

As imperial edicts were issued one after another, the atmosphere in the Taiji Hall became tense.

The emperor turned to look at the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory hanging on the wall and began to strategize.

The ministers and generals present also began to use their brains, considering various possible scenarios and responses.

After a while, Li Daliang, Cen Wenben, and Ma Zhou arrived at the main hall to participate in the discussion.

Among them, Ma Zhou was carried in by servants.

Due to the worsening of his diabetes, he is now unable to walk on his own and can only seek help from others.

A moment later, Li Shimin had already conceived a new strategic plan.

As a decisive and extremely confident emperor who rose to power through military force, Li Shimin's determination to eliminate the northern enemies was not shaken by the current temporary difficulties.

But now, the four hundred large ships have been reduced to ashes and are gone.

With the Jiangzhou shipyard paralyzed, the plan to launch a two-pronged attack on Goguryeo next spring will obviously be impossible to implement.

Li Shimin's gaze shifted from the right side of the map to the left side.

"Gentlemen, a war against Goguryeo is no longer possible, but our Tang army has already marched beyond the Great Wall. Rather than wasting money and supplies, wouldn't it be better to have Li Ji and Li Daozong turn west and attack the Xueyantuo tribe? Is that feasible?"

The ministers began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, and others felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing Li Shimin's plan.

Changing the target of an attack is certainly possible.

However, the allocation of military supplies had to be changed, adding more than a thousand miles to the journey, which would increase the financial and human resources required.

The attack on Goguryeo would be somewhat easier, as supplies could be transported by water.

Xueyantuobu is located in the northern grasslands, and can only be transported by land, which is much more expensive than by water.

However, the ministers understood Li Shimin's character; Xueyantuo and Goguryeo were two issues that had to be resolved, the only question being the order in which they would be dealt with.