Chapter 357 Silly child, run!
“He actually treated me as a turtle in a jar… Hehe, quite interesting, that guy is really quite interesting!”

Li Shimin sat in the bumpy carriage, looking at the undulating mountains outside the window, laughing and squeezing out a few words viciously from between his teeth.

This made the servants around him afraid to approach, as they didn’t know whether the emperor was happy or angry.

Under the command of the retired emperor, the Tang army rushed around so fast that even they themselves were at a loss.

When their military rations were running out and they thought they had nothing left.

Suddenly, His Majesty launched a desperate counterattack and led them to break through the Ming army camp.

Just when they thought that there was light at the end of the tunnel, they were ready to teach the Hebei guys a lesson and turn the tables.

However, His Majesty only allowed them to replenish supplies in Shuozhou for a few days before they set out again with light equipment. However, they did not attack Hebei to the east, but retreated to Jinzhou to the south.

What’s the purpose of this trip, a cross-country training?

Not just the lower-level soldiers.

Even the commander of the Tang army was confused by your majesty’s orders.

Yes, General Tian Ce is still General Tian Ce, his skills are still as sharp as ever, and he can still lead his brothers to win some key battles.

However, after contracting the wind disease, General Tian Ce was no longer the same person he was before.

He kept doing weird things in small matters and destroyed the trust that everyone had just built up.

“Stop, rest here, make a fire and cook!”

After a day and night of forced march, the Tang army stopped briefly.

Taking this opportunity, the three main generals Li Shiji, Ashina She’er and Guo Xiaoke met together for a short meeting.

“His Majesty the Emperor suddenly gave up chasing the remaining enemies and turned south. What do you think?”

The Grand Eunuch Li Shiji went straight to the point and asked for opinions.

Li Jing’s troops have been defeated, and now is the best time to pursue the victory and expand the results of the battle.

The combat loss ratio is achieved in such pursuits.

As a result, His Majesty simply ordered the entire army to march south, and the duck that was in hand flew away.

Is this a stupid move by Your Majesty?
Ashina She’er immediately expressed his opinion:

“We should resolutely implement all the strategies of the Khan, and we should always follow all the decisions of the Khan!”

There is no two suns in the sky. In the heart of Ashina, a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty, there was only Li Shimin, the Khan.

Guo Xiaoke expressed a different opinion:

“I’m not saying that His Majesty the Emperor is old and confused, but just last night, His Majesty suddenly shouted something like ‘The trees in the forest are talking, the Ming army is ambushing,’ and ordered the soldiers to march to the center of the Fen River, which almost caused a disaster.

“As a result, when he woke up, the emperor remembered nothing.

“I’m not just being old and confused. I’m just sharing my recent experiences with you two.”

As a man who was kicked out to the northwest to be the “Protector of Anxi” at a ripe old age and who only finally made a comeback last year, it was inevitable that he had some opinions about the Tang court in his heart.

“This is simply treason and a distortion of right and wrong!” When the loyal minister Ashina She’er heard someone slandering the Khan, he became furious.

“If it weren’t for the Khan’s good strategy, you and your troops would have starved to death in some deep mountain forest!”

Being criticized by his colleague in front of him, Guo Xiaoke got angry and immediately refuted:

“Then why didn’t you jump into the Fen River last night? Don’t say you didn’t hear it!”

“You…are an unfaithful and unfilial person!”

The two of them started arguing.

Li Shiji felt a headache.

It is understandable that his subordinates have such disagreements, because Li Shimin’s state during this period was fluctuating between “spirit” and “nervous”.

Although a brilliant battle was fought strategically, there were many more mistakes, but for the sake of respecting the elder, not every single one of them was recorded in detail.

God knows whether His Majesty’s order to retreat south this time was a “god operation” or a “crazy operation”.

If Your Majesty has always been confused, that would be fine, it can also serve as a reverse indicator.

What I fear most is this kind of instruction that you don’t know is right or wrong, like opening a blind box.

At a time when the Tang Dynasty is in turmoil, if the wrong blind box is opened, everyone will be doomed.

“Anyway, I’ll go and find out what His Majesty means.”

Li Shiji interrupted their quarrel.

“If your Majesty’s words make sense, then we will obey your orders.

“If Your Majesty is wise and yet still makes mistakes… then I will speak out and give you advice, after all, this concerns the future and fate of our army and the Tang Dynasty.”

This is a safe approach and there is no reason to object.

“Then please ask the chief steward to find out the exact number for us.”

Ashina She’er and Guo Xiaoke were fighting with each other while they turned around and said to Li Shiji.

“…” Li Shiji didn’t want to continue dealing with these two idiots, so he stood up and walked towards His Majesty’s dragon chariot.

In front of the dragon chariot, Li Shimin was standing crookedly with the help of his attendants, stretching his muscles.

“I have to give him some good advice.” Li Shiji said to himself.

The escape of Li Jing’s troops was like a thorn in his throat.

According to general experience, the main force of 80,000 people should not have suffered huge losses during the siege phase.

The bulk of the losses are usually incurred during the “chasing the enemy to the north” phase.

As a result, just as I was about to exert my strength and a great military achievement that would go down in history was about to occur, His Majesty pulled me back by the reins.

Who can survive it?
That’s right, there was indeed bad news from the court. Li Ming was taking actions in the Central Plains and the South.

However, those places were originally empty, and the Ming army took advantage of the opportunity to occupy them. It does not mean that Li Ming created two teams of Martian soldiers out of thin air.

It does not mean that the Tang army must shift its main attention to resisting that “army”.

Compared to the army whose authenticity is unknown, Li Jing is a visible threat.

When Li Jing reorganizes and trains again, the 80,000 men will be 80,000 brave men again. What should we do when there is noise from the north?
The opportunity to defeat Li Jing, the top general at that time, was right in front of him, but in the end that old guy found a way for him to survive. How could Li Shiji not feel resentful?

He took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and then walked out from behind the tree when Li Shimin was about to go back to the car for a rest, clasped his fists and said:
“Your Majesty, regarding the journey south…”

“Oh, Shiji, I just happened to need to talk to you about something.”

Li Shimin did not give him a chance to speak, and immediately ordered:
“I’ve thought about it, and it’s not a good idea to rush to the south.”

Li Shiji breathed a sigh of relief.

Your Majesty, you finally got it!

“Then when will our army advance eastward into Taihang Mountains, capture Hebei, and sweep away the bandits?” he asked.

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows in confusion:
“Go east? What east? What I mean is that our previous considerations were not appropriate. We shouldn’t all rush to Puzhou in the south of Shanxi.

“After arriving in Jinzhou, I will stay in Jinyang. You lead a troop to continue south, and you go to guard Puzhou.”

what? What?
Maybe it was because Li Shimin spoke unclearly or too quickly, but Li Shiji found that he was completely unable to follow the retired emperor’s train of thought.

“Ah? Shall I go?”

“That’s right. You have the ability to lead troops alone. You are the most suitable person to go.” Li Shimin patted his subordinate on the shoulder and encouraged him:

“This battle is time-sensitive and the mission is heavy. Puzhou is where the Fen River merges into the Yellow River. You must strengthen the local city defense and river defense at the same time.

“If necessary, use iron chains and other means to block the river area and don’t give the enemy any chance to take advantage!

“The journey is dangerous, you must always be careful of ambushes in the woods, and you can escape to the Fen River if necessary.

“besides……”

Li Shiji could only listen patiently to this speech which was unclear whether it was serious or nonsense.

I didn’t expect that Lao Li would continue to talk for more than a quarter of an hour. At the end, he yawned and said:

“Let’s do it this way. I’m sleepy.”

He stretched lazily and went back to rest.

Li Shiji was listening in a daze, and he was startled and hurriedly stopped the other party.

“Your Majesty! There is one fact that I really don’t understand. Please help me to understand it.” Li Shimin looked at his beloved general in confusion:

“What’s wrong? Tell me.”

“The great opportunity to annihilate Li Jing is right in front of us. Why doesn’t our army attack Hebei but turn south?” Li Shiji asked the question bluntly.

Li Shimin’s answer was also very straightforward:
“Didn’t I tell you? Li Ming’s troops will be coming from the Central Plains soon.

“To go from the Central Plains to Shanxi, he must take the river, so Puzhou is the only way. You must defend it well.”

One sentence made Li Shiji full of complaints:

“Zhongyuan was just defensively weak, and the enemy took advantage of it. It doesn’t mean that they really conjured up an army out of thin air that could rival ours, right?

“Is it okay to send only a small army to guard Puzhou City?

“Besides, if the other side really had such a large army, they could have attacked Luoyang and Chang’an, but there was no urgent news from that direction.

“Why does your Majesty insist that they will skip the Eastern and Western Capitals and attack Shanxi first?”

This is so illogical!
But Li Shimin was stubborn:

“You don’t know Li Ming. What’s the point of temporarily occupying a few cities? He won’t do such a futile thing.

“He must have made all the necessary preparations beforehand and must not take it lightly.”

No matter how well prepared he was, could it be that Li Ming was a magician who could cast beans and turn them into soldiers out of thin air… Li Shiji suppressed the complaints in his heart.

“Then Chang’an is even more…”

“Who is Chang’an? How could he be interested in him? Li Ming’s only target has always been me!”

Li Shimin interrupted impatiently.

Your Majesty, you seem to be a little overly self-conscious… Li Jing was complaining in his heart when he sent a message to report.

“Your Majesty, a secret letter from Chang’an.”

“Secret message?”

The two of them were stunned for a moment.

Li Shimin took it and his eyes immediately turned red after reading a paragraph. He was so angry that he threw the letter away.

“idiot!”

“Your Majesty, what happened…”

“The Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty left Chang’an and came to Shanxi to ‘hunt in the north’!”

“oh oh……”

Li Shiji thought to himself that it was well done, it turned out that there were still normal people in the Li family.

“Why did those two idiots come to Shanxi to cause trouble at this time? Don’t they know that this will soon become the main battlefield between me and Li Ming?” Li Shimin said angrily.

Did Li Ming know that this would become the main battlefield… Li Shiji silently retorted in his heart.

Li Shimin naturally had no idea what his men were thinking about him, so he anxiously ordered:

“Don’t delay any longer, head south to Puzhou quickly, strengthen the city’s defenses, and persuade those two idiots to go back!”

“But Your Majesty…”

“Do as I say! Even if the country is destroyed, it is my responsibility!”

Now that things have come to this, what else can Li Shiji say?
He could only iron his twitching eyelids and say humbly:
“Follow the order.”

…………

Although he had a thousand complaints in his heart, Li Shiji dared not neglect the orders of His Majesty.

He led his team to travel day and night and arrived at Puzhou City two days ahead of schedule.

When the army arrived, the governor of Puzhou was shocked.

“Why is the chief steward here? Could it be the bandits from the north…”

“It’s okay. The war in the north is going well and the enemy has been driven into Taihang Mountains.” Li Shiji replied.

“God bless the Tang Dynasty…” The governor breathed a sigh of relief, then asked doubtfully:
“Why did the chief steward go south…”

Shouldn’t we press on to win?
Alas… Li Shiji let out a breath silently and answered in a businesslike manner:
“According to intelligence, the enemy reinforcements will enter the Fen River from the Dahe River, flow upstream, and attack our army together with Li Jing’s troops.

“So, Your Majesty sent me here to strengthen the city and river defenses.”

Ah? Li Ming wants to attack Puzhou?

The governor was also full of questions.

But there must be a reason why the higher-ups do this.

The two top workers, one civil and one military, did not dare to be negligent. Although they did not understand the emperor’s will, they still faithfully carried out the orders of His Majesty Li Shimin.

Work diligently to consolidate the defense of Puzhou and its surrounding areas and repair various loopholes in the defense line.

However, an order from His Majesty put the two brothers in a dilemma.

“Iron chains across the river, blocking the Fen River… Chief Steward, look at this…”

The governor was in a very difficult situation.

“Is there any problem?” Li Shiji asked.

The governor sighed and said:
“As you know, Puzhou is where the Fen River merges into the Yellow River. It is a transportation hub with many merchants coming and going.

“It’s hard to say whether the iron chain can stop the bandits, but our own merchant ships will definitely be stopped.

“not to mention……”

“What’s more, the Fen River transportation is also one of the important channels for our military logistics.” Li Shiji added the second half of the sentence for him.

Logistics are already difficult enough, and now we have to cut off our own logistics lines.

This is probably the stupid move made by Your Majesty when he was not in his right mind.

“Then, what should we do?” the governor asked tentatively.

He might have to disobey the order, but it was unlikely that he would do so.

Li Shiji naturally knew what this old man was thinking, and said:
“Your Majesty didn’t actually say it very clearly. He just mentioned the iron chain when he gave an example…”

“Are you sure that the Grand Steward is correct? Are you sure that’s what the emperor said?” The governor stared at Li Shiji.

Li Shiji raised his eyebrows and shook his head:

“Maybe I remembered it wrongly.”

The two workers hit it off immediately and happily ignored the order, allowing the boats to come and go on the river as usual.

…………

After making all the preparations, the people of Puzhou began to wait anxiously, just like Brother Cheng Yaojin.

However, compared with the highly uncertain Li Ming, the two people more likely to visit Puzhou are Li Chengqian and Li Zhi who escaped from the “Northern Hunt” in Chang’an.

Li Shiji was not very excited about meeting the two superiors who were leaving Chang’an.

“Persuading the Emperor and the Crown Prince to return to Chang’an…will they listen to me? If something happens, how can I take the responsibility?
“But this is an important matter that the Emperor has personally instructed us to do. We can’t just brush it off…”

Li Shiji felt like a sandwich, with one stubborn sticking point blocked at both ends.

When they were in a dilemma, the eunuch soon came to report:

“His Majesty the Emperor will be passing through Puzhou. Please be prepared to receive him.”

Your Majesty is here so soon?

Li Shiji immediately climbed up the city wall and looked towards the river.

At the confluence of the Yellow River and the Fen River, there is indeed a fleet slowly sailing towards here.

Wherever the fleet went, other ships gave way and dared not act rashly.

That should be the dragon boat that Your Majesty is riding on.

“Hiss…what’s following behind the dragon boat?”

(End of this chapter)