Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 210: Li Er, who was humiliated, vowed to get back at his enemies
Li Shimin quietly watched the arrival of the Turkic army, and behind Li Shimin, the young and strong men organized by Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others put on armor, held weapons and stood in the back. From a distance, it was impossible to tell that they were a group of ordinary people who had never been to the battlefield.

These weapons were acquired by Li Shimin after he opened the treasury in Chang'an and took out all the weapons. And they were only available in the front and on the two sides. The young and strong men in the middle still had no armor or weapons.

However, Jie Li, who was on the other side of the Wei River, could not see any of this at all.

Jie Li was originally very proud of himself. Through the planning of his wife, Princess Yicheng of the Sui Dynasty, he was able to unify the Turkic tribes. This time, he was able to take advantage of the emptiness of Chang'an and march his troops to the gates of Chang'an. Jie Li was extremely excited.

However, the loss of the vanguard and Li Shimin personally leading the army into battle immediately made Jie Li alert. Although everyone in the vanguard said that the army led by Li Shimin was no more than two or three thousand people, Jie Li still remained skeptical. Until now, Jie Li looked at the army behind Li Shimin and the crowds on the city wall of Chang'an from afar, and his heart sank.

At this time, Jie Li was no longer angry or proud, but was filled with confusion.

At this point, he was unwilling to retreat, but he had to fight with Li Shimin. Even if he defeated Li Shimin in a field battle, Li Shimin could defend the city. If he could not break through Chang'an in a short period of time, once the Tang army outside surrounded him, he would not be able to leave even if he wanted to.

As for looting the surrounding areas? Jie Li had never thought about it. He had already arrived in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. If he was going to do something, he had to do it on a big scale!
At this moment, under Jie Li's shocked gaze, Li Shimin, accompanied by Qin Qiong, Duan Zhixuan and twenty riders, walked onto the temporary bridge over the Wei River and came towards him. Jie Li's pupils shrank.

At this moment, a Tang cavalryman rode his horse to the front of the Turkic army. Even though the Tang cavalryman was now within the range of the archers of Jie Li's army, he did not show any fear and even had contempt in his eyes.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang orders! Turkic Khan Jie Li, do you have the courage to speak to me in front of the battlefield?"

Jie Li's heart sank even more, and he looked at Li Shimin with fear. He then led twenty cavalrymen and two warriors into battle. Li Shimin was in such a state, he could not be weak, otherwise how could he continue to command the Turkic tribes?
As soon as Li Shimin and Jie Li met, they started to talk. After a while, they each put forward their own conditions. Now one of them was unable to fight and the other did not dare to fight. One wanted the Turks to withdraw, and the other wanted to gain benefits in Chang'an and at the same time increase his influence within the Turks and further command the various tribes.

"Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, if you are still less than me and don't even agree to these, then there is no point in talking. Let's fight!"

Li Shimin looked at Jie Li's murderous eyes and was full of disdain.

"Fight? Do you think I dare not? If you want to fight, then come! My army is surrounding this place from all directions. I want to see what you will do then."

Even though Li Shimin only had such a small number of men now, and the so-called large army behind him and on the city walls were all bluffs, but now that Jie Li was intimidated, Li Shimin's back suddenly became much straighter.

Jie Li stared at Li Shimin with a bad look for a long time, and finally re-set the conditions. After hearing this, Li Shimin also put forward his own conditions.

"If you want to get these, you have to meet my conditions. You need to return the people of the Tang Dynasty that you looted, and give them horses, cattle and sheep. Otherwise, there is no point in talking!"

Jie Li was obviously not a good person either.

"Don't go too far. Otherwise, let's have a fight! The armies around you want to come, but it will take more than half a month. Can they come? Half a month is enough for me to break through Chang'an, kill you, and then leave.

Don't forget, there is still a King of Qi in the Tang Dynasty, whose strength is no less than yours. If I support the King of Qi to ascend the throne, I can get even more!"

Li Shimin was silent for a while after hearing this. Li Yuanji had now become a pain in his heart. This pain was far beyond what Jie Li could compare to.

After hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly laughed.

"You can try!"

The two talked for an hour and finally reached a preliminary agreement. Li Shimin returned to the city and summoned Fang Xuanling and others to begin discussions.

"These are Jie Li's conditions, please take a look."

After reading it, Fang Xuanling and others were all shocked and looked at Li Shimin with wide eyes.

"Your Majesty, this is not possible! Once these are given to Jie Li, the treasury of Chang'an will really be emptied. It will take at least two years to fully recover!"

Fang Xuanling was filled with grief. It was really too much that Jie Li asked for. Now the court needed money and grain in all aspects. If this money, grain and cloth were taken out, the price of grain would be difficult to control, and the court would not have that much money to invest in disaster relief.

That is to say, Li Yuanji was not here. If Li Yuanji knew that the reason why grain prices rose so high in the early Zhenguan period was because of this, he would have laughed at Li Shimin loudly.

At this time, Du Ruhui expressed a different opinion.

"Your Majesty, I think we should agree, but this matter must be kept secret. Even the historians must keep it secret and it must not be spread outside!

When the time comes, let Jie Li send back the looted people, and send war horses, cattle and sheep. It must be widely publicized that your majesty has successfully rescued the people of the Tang Dynasty from the Turks, and also let Jie Li send war horses. Sending war horses can greatly enhance your majesty's prestige and help stabilize the world.

The most important thing for us now is not to let Jie Li discover your Majesty's suspected troops. Once Jie Li is pushed too far and a war breaks out, and Chang'an is breached, by then the call for the King of Qi to ascend the throne will become increasingly louder in the Tang Dynasty.

This kind of thing must be stopped!

Jie Li is equally anxious now. After all, he is in more danger with every day that passes. Jie Li must be aware of this.

Your Majesty can push Jie Li a little, but don’t push him too hard. These conditions must be negotiated!"

Li Shimin agreed with what Du Ruhui said. There was no other room for maneuver now. This was the only way to enhance his prestige. It was undoubtedly the best choice.

But in the deepest part of Li Shimin's heart, he still felt extremely humiliated. Being beaten under the capital and signing the treaty under the city walls was a shame.

Just then, a guard came in hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from the south!"

Li Shimin immediately took the urgent report. He knew that it was sent by Wei Zheng. There were two letters, and one was addressed to Li Shimin alone. After he opened it and read it, he became extremely gloomy.

"You guys take a look." Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji and others were all shocked after seeing it. They looked at each other for a while, feeling heavy-hearted. This was really like adding insult to injury.

Finally, Fang Xuanling spoke helplessly and bitterly.

"Your Majesty, we have no choice but to agree now. If we can't get the King of Qi to withdraw his troops, we will really be unable to take care of it."

Du Ruhui did not say anything, obviously agreeing with what Fang Xuanling said, but at this time Changsun Wuji had an objection.

"Your Majesty, I think we should not agree to this. Now that we are about to reconcile with the Turks, if the King of Qi dares to continue to send troops, the northern army will be in place by then. We can take this opportunity to directly destroy the King of Qi and shock the world!"

Changsun Wuji's hatred for Li Yuanji was extraordinary. Now his back could not be straightened, his old illnesses often relapsed, and coughing had almost become a normal state. He wished he could kill Li Yuanji with his own hands to avenge himself.

Fang Xuanling shook his head after hearing this: "If we pull all the troops over to deal with the King of Qi, the north will be empty. Since Jie Li can retreat, he will surely be able to send out troops again. How will we respond? Will we expose Chang'an to the Turkic army again? Will we make another surrender?

By then, I'm afraid that even if we want to sign the treaty, Jie Li will not agree easily. Moreover, the King of Qi has 300,000 elite soldiers, which has been confirmed by intelligence from all sides. How many troops do we need to destroy the King of Qi?
Where will the money and food for the army come from? Will the people of the world need relief? Will people's livelihood begin to recover?
If we don’t do this, and the people of the world rebel, and war breaks out everywhere, what should we do then?”

Fang Xuanling's series of questions left Changsun Wuji speechless and silent. He was even a little angry and embarrassed, but he didn't know how to refute Fang Xuanling for a moment. He was obviously very anxious, but he had no way out.

Then Changsun Wuji thought of something and looked at Li Shimin again.

"Your Majesty, even if that is the case, Wang Gui cannot be given to the King of Qi. If Wang Gui goes to Lingnan, he will attack us. Why should we help the enemy?

And Wei Zheng, he must be brought back. What is he doing staying with the King of Qi? He is betraying His Majesty!

In my opinion, these must have been done by Wei Zheng and the King of Qi. Wei Zheng was originally a member of the East Palace, so he cannot be trusted!"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui looked at Changsun Wuji expressionlessly, and then stopped talking.

When Li Shimin looked at Changsun Wuji, there was not only coldness in his eyes, but also great disappointment.

"Changsun Wuji!"

When Changsun Wuji heard the name Li Shimin, he suddenly panicked and became extremely flustered.

Before Changsun Wuji could speak, Li Shimin's voice came.

"You said that, Xuancheng, but you know that the King of Qi originally wanted you and your family to go to Lingnan. It was only after Xuancheng argued with reason that the King of Qi changed his mind and allowed Xuancheng and Wang Gui to go to Lingnan!
If you and your family were allowed to go to Lingnan, what would happen to you? I don't need to remind you, right? Now you are slandering Xuancheng like this, Changsun Wuji, you are doing very well! "

Li Shimin was really disappointed with Changsun Wuji. Whenever it came to matters involving Li Yuanji, Changsun Wuji seemed to have lost his mind, and Li Shimin didn't know what to say.

Originally, he felt very guilty towards Changsun Wuji, because it was he who insisted on letting Changsun Wuji go to Lingnan. Now he was tortured like this by Li Yuanji. Sometimes Li Shimin wondered whether he should help Changsun Wuji so that he would no longer suffer these pains.

Every time he saw Changsun Wuji, Li Shimin felt a little regretful. If Changsun Wuji had told him before he attacked Li Yuanji, he would have arranged it personally and killed Li Yuanji directly in Lingnan. There wouldn't be so many things happening now.

Li Shimin no longer paid attention to Changsun Wuji, who was in a daze and panic, but looked at Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui.

"I agree to the King of Qi's requests. I will arrange for him to be sent to me later. But I feel so ashamed of Xuancheng!

Xuanling, you should arrange this matter yourself. You must send Xuancheng's family to Lingnan safely, along with Wang Gui and his family."

Compared with Jie Li's current conditions, Li Shimin really felt that the conditions proposed by Li Yuanji were too little. He was too lazy to bargain with Li Yuanji. The only thing that he found difficult to accept was that Wei Zheng entered Lingnan and Quanzhou became Li Yuanji's fiefdom.

As for the population, there are only three million people, which Li Shimin can afford. Moreover, it will be difficult for him to govern all places at once. Even if he does not give it to Li Yuanji, I am afraid that many people will starve to death or freeze to death.

Moreover, going to Lingnan would consume Li Yuanji's extra money and food, so he could only think in this direction.

But even so, Li Shimin still felt extremely aggrieved. He had to sign a humiliating treaty with Jie Li here, and various compensation clauses with Li Yuanji. Although the compensation from Li Yuanji was much less than that from Jie Li, both made him feel extremely humiliated.

After finally succeeding in the mutiny, killing his eldest brother and imprisoning his father, he originally wanted to realize his grand ambitions and let Li Yuan and the people of the world know that he, Li Shimin, was better than Li Jiancheng in terms of governance ability.

However, all this had not yet begun when he was hit hard by two unequal treaties, which nailed him to the pillar of shame. Li Shimin felt very depressed!
Fang Xuanling agreed immediately. After a while, Li Shimin suddenly spoke.

"The Japanese envoy, Soga Hyuga, right? He said that Japan was occupied by the Marisi faction, and that the Marisi faction had the support of the Tang Dynasty. Is Wei Ting there?"

Fang Xuanling said immediately: "Your Majesty, it is true. Wei Ting is behind the Mo Li Shi, which means that the King of Qi is behind the Mo Li Shi and is in control of the power of Japan."

Li Shimin asked someone to bring a map. Looking at Li Yuanji's current fiefdom, he turned his attention to Japan and its surrounding areas.

"No, we can't let the King of Qi control Japan anymore. Look at the King of Qi's current fiefdom, which has grown from a small area in Lingnan to such a large area. If the King of Qi controls Japan and radiates to Baekje, Silla, Goguryeo, and even the Turks, then his fiefdom will be almost as large as the territory of the Tang Dynasty!

The external development of the King of Qi must be curbed and cannot be allowed to grow!

You must immediately formulate a strategy, and I will summon Soga Hinata later. Since King Qi supports Mori, then I will support Soga Hinata!
At that time, we will use Japan as the battlefield and fight a great battle with the King of Qi. Not only will we control the King of Qi's external development, but we will also be able to see what the King of Qi's army is like!"

Li Shimin had made up his mind. Now that he was being humiliated on both sides, one day, he would destroy the Turks and Li Yuanji as well to avenge today's shame with blood.

But now, Li Shimin was very happy to be able to regain a foothold in Japan and test Li Yuanji's strength.

They knew too little about Lingnan. Even though it sounded scary that Li Yuanji had conquered so many countries, he really wanted to see how powerful Li Yuanji's army was this time!
(End of this chapter)