Datang: From exiled prince to eternal tyrant

Chapter 38 The Bank of the Weishui River, the Arrogant Jieli Khan
On the outskirts of Chang'an, on the banks of the Weishui River.

The Turkic army led by Jieli Khan was stationed on the north bank of the Weishui River. At this moment, the banners were flying and the drums were beating loudly.

This momentum shook the city of Chang'an across the river to the point of collapse.

And on the river bank on the south side of the Weishui River, Li Shimin led Chang'an officials to stand in battle.

Li Shimin is now wearing armor, just like a few years ago when he was wearing strong and sharp and led the army to conquer the Tang Dynasty.

But what is different from the past is that now, he can no longer jump on the horse and swagger like in the past, and fight recklessly.

As a monarch, you must consider the importance of gains and losses, and understand that the overall situation is the most important.Behind him are tens of thousands of Tang people, the folks who need his protection.

At this moment, looking at the menacing Turkic army on the other side, Li Shimin squeezed the whip in his hand and creaked it with hatred. He wished he could lift the knife and straddle the horse himself to wipe out the enemy.

"Small country, how dare you offend my Tianwei!"

Li Shimin slammed the whip on the ground and cursed bitterly.

"Your Majesty, be patient!"

Standing beside Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling said anxiously: "Our plan has been successful, but Jieli has not dared to cross the river for so long, he must be afraid of my mighty power. Your Majesty must not act impulsively, and put the overall situation first. ah!"

Fang Xuanling previously made a plan to suspect the soldiers, using a large number of people and war horses to create a maze, creating the illusion that the army is standing firm.

Now that this plan has been successfully implemented, Jieli Khan dared not divide his troops to cross the river even though he was under pressure, but only beat drums and clamored on the other side of the river.

"Eh!"

Li Shimin heaved a long sigh, gritted his teeth and said, "Should we just stick to the river and wait to sign that shameful alliance under the city?"

How humiliating he is at this moment, when he was newly ascended to the throne, he was attacked by the Turkic army to Chang'an. The best outcome of this painstaking plan is to sign a shameful covenant with the other party and just survive.

If it were an emperor who was greedy for pleasure, he would naturally be able to accept the current situation.But he is Li Shimin, and he is determined to leave a name in history, to be the unrivaled hero of the ages and one emperor. How could he be willing to add such a shame to his ruling resume?

"For the great cause, we can only endure!"

Fang Xuanling frowned, looked at the Turkic army on the other side of the river, and sighed: "Right now, we can only hope that the other party will accept as soon as they are good, and don't ask for too much, which will hurt the foundation of my Tang Dynasty."

Even seeking peace with wealth is not a panacea. If Xieli is insatiable and asks for money excessively, it will also cause huge damage to the people's livelihood and economy of Datang.

Of course Fang Xuanling's strategy was not to beg for mercy blindly, he just hoped to survive in the cracks and buy time for the Central Plains to recuperate.When the time is right, go north in one fell swoop and sweep the Turks.

However, if the Turkic people demanded too much and tried their best to ask for money, when will the Tang Dynasty recover its vitality and when will it be able to conquer Mobei?
At this moment, the sound of drums on the other side of the river stopped for a while, and the army spread out, and a tall figure stepped out from it.

Jieli Khan stood out from among the sergeants. He was also a generation of heroes who overwhelmed the nine major Turkic families and unified the eastern part of Turkic. Now he has invaded Chang'an again.

"You young man who murdered his brother and imprisoned his father, how dare you confront me?"

Jieli Khan's roar was like thunder, and his clamor resounded throughout the world.

His furious curse caused the Turkic army to burst into laughter, pointing at Li Shimin and yelling and cursing non-stop.

"This bird man dares to speak rudely. Look at my old Cheng leading the troops to poke him a few holes!"

Cheng Yaojin couldn't take it anymore, he wanted to rush out angrily.

"Your Majesty, give the order to attack quickly. I will fight to the death to kill this thief for Your Majesty and Datang!"

Yuchi Jingde was also at the side asking for a fight, he originally had a dark face, but now that black face was flushed red.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to fight to the death!"

At this time, all the generals stood up and begged for orders to fight, and wanted to vent this anger on Li Shimin's behalf.

Li Shimin's face was ashen, he held the sword tightly in his hand, trying to suppress the anger in his heart.

At this moment, Najieli Khan continued to clamor: "Now our Turkic heavenly soldiers are suppressing the border. If you want to fight, let's open up the battle and fight him! If you want to make peace, take out food and grass, and kill me. My son is full, so I might spare you, a shameless child!"

He spoke more and more wantonly, making Tang civil servants and generals furious and cursed again.

Li Shimin was still enduring, his right hand holding the sword was already shaking.

Seeing this, Fang Xuanling immediately stepped forward to stand in front of Li Shimin, begging bitterly: "Your Majesty, you must put the overall situation first!"

This sentence puts the overall situation first, which finally appeased Li Shimin.

Sighing heavily, Li Shimin asked Jieli in a deep voice, "How much food and grass do you want, tell me the number!"

Jieli Khan laughed a few times, with a smug look on his face.

"My Turks have a population of 300 million. This time, the whole country is preparing for the war. If you contribute so much, this king will naturally decide for them!"

"You take out enough food for my 300 million people to survive the winter, and then enough fodder for my Turkic war horses to survive the winter, and this king will lead the troops back to Mobei."

"If we can't come up with this amount, then we will have to see the truth on the battlefield!"

Jieli Khan said it lightly and freely, but the food for 300 million people and the fodder for millions of war horses are simply astronomical figures.

If he agreed to such an unreasonable request, it would be the year of the monkey if Datang wanted to regain his vitality.

"Your Majesty, you must not agree!"

Before Li Shimin opened his mouth to refute, the generals stepped forward to dissuade him.

These military generals would never tolerate Datang paying so much food and grass. If they really lost all their family fortunes, when would they be able to send their troops northward and take the Turkic lair directly?
"Your Majesty, the main force of the Turkic people is stationed on the steep slopes on the north bank, and the terrain on both sides is steep. I, Old Cheng, led the troops to fight with him. Maybe we can capture that Jieli alive!"

Cheng Yaojin suggested at this time.

Li Shimin thought about it again and again, and finally shook his head.

He said helplessly: "The enemy's army is numerous, and we don't have enough soldiers to meet the enemy. If we really open up the battle, our army will definitely suffer!"

Who is Li Shimin?The founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, he conquered the entire northern region of the Tang Dynasty with his own hands, and his military calculations were far beyond those of ordinary people.If there was a chance of victory, he would have sent troops to attack.

The terrain where the main force of the Turks was stationed was indeed steep. If they could win, they would be able to surround the main force on the high slope.

It's just... there are no soldiers to use, and there are many generals in the Tang Dynasty, what's the use?

Silence, after a long silence, Li Shimin finally let out a long sigh. He planned to smash his teeth and swallow this shame.

In his heart, the words that Fang Xuanling said kept lingering.

"The big picture matters!"

With a wry smile, Li Shimin lost his eyesight and said, "Yes, the overall situation is the most important thing!"

He has decided to agree to Jieli Khan's shameless request, and to stay a few more years, Xu Tu's plan of revenge.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong over there!"

At this moment, Li Jing, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly spoke. He stared at the Turkic camp on the north bank of the Weishui River, with sparks in his eyes.

Li Shimin hurriedly looked to the other side of the river. At this moment behind the Turkic camp, dust was flying, and the sound of horseshoes was resounding. It seemed that a large army was coming.

Amidst the sand and dust in the sky, a mighty cavalry unit showed its real body. The cavalry unit was wearing silver armor and holding long spears. Looking at their posture, they were rushing towards the Turkic army.

"This... Where did the heavenly soldiers come from? Are they here to save the people of Tang Dynasty?"

Li Shimin's lips trembled, and his eyes were dazed.

(End of this chapter)