The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 215 War resumes
Jiannan.

Li Mi hurried to find Li Lin.

Li Lin was checking the effectiveness of the military training at the moment. When he saw Li Mi, he asked without waiting for Li Mi to speak, "General Li, do you think our Jiannan soldiers are capable of fighting?"

"Of course." Regardless of whether he could win or not, Li Mi could not disrupt the morale of the army and had to give a positive answer.

Li Mi returned to Li Lin and presented him with a letter, saying, "Your Highness, Nanzhao Piluoge sent a letter."

"Really?" Li Lin didn't care. He opened it and took a quick look. He handed it to Li Mi and said, "Pi Luoge is really shameless. He actually said that Zhang Qiantuo was rude first and Nanzhao had no choice but to kill him. He said that the march to Yaozhou and eastern Yunnan was to help the Tang Dynasty quell the rebellion. He said all the good things."

Li Mi took the letter and read it carefully, then replied: "Your Highness, if it was Zhang Qiantuo who was rude first, we can send someone to investigate and find out. Moreover, Pi Luoge promised to return Yaozhou and eastern Yunnan to the Tang Dynasty. If we can avoid sending troops, we will return to our old land. This matter..."

"General Li, do you really believe that Nanzhao will give up Yaozhou and eastern Yunnan?" Li Lin interrupted Li Mi.

Li Mi said: "Whether it is true or not, we can talk about it. Even if this is a delaying tactic of Nanzhao, Jiannan can take this opportunity to intensify military training..."

"General Li," Li Lin interrupted Li Mi again, "I know that you and Ge Luofeng have a deep relationship, but I hope you will not bring your personal feelings into state affairs. Personal feelings are small, and the country is big. I hope General Li will keep this in mind."

Li Mi said: "Your Highness, this is not out of personal feelings..."

"That's enough," Li Lin interrupted Li Mi again, "I respect General Li, but General Li should not push his luck. If General Li continues to speak for Nanzhao like this, there may be people who will accuse General Li of colluding with the enemy."

Li Mi was startled when he heard this, and said helplessly: "Yes."

Li Lin glanced at Li Mi, picked up the bow and arrow, shot an arrow, and hit the edge of the target.

The soldiers present cheered and praised Li Lin.

After hearing the praise from everyone, Li Lin also felt that he was invincible and laughed proudly: "Nanzhao betrayed the Tang Dynasty and occupied the Tang territory. I will send out the troops in ten days. This time, I will definitely crush them in one fell swoop."

As Li Lin spoke, he added in his mind: "At the same time, I want to avenge my last defeat!"

Li Mi looked at Li Lin's smug look, and returned to his tent in disappointment.

Li Zhenyuan in the tent saw his father looking dejected and couldn't help asking, "Did Grandpa run into a wall with His Royal Highness Prince Yong again?"

Li Mi sat in a chair in despair, sighed, and said, "Pi Luoge wrote a letter telling about Zhang Qiantuo and was willing to return Yaozhou and the eastern Yunnan region in order to regain friendship with the Tang Dynasty."

"His Royal Highness Prince Yong refused?" Li Zhenyuan asked.

Li Mi nodded.

Li Zhenyuan said: "Your Highness Prince Yong has just been defeated by Nanzhao. He is holding back his anger and is eager to make achievements. The court doesn't just care about eastern Yunnan and Yaozhou, it wants the entire Nanzhao. Therefore, Prince Yong will reject my grandfather for both public and private reasons."

"I also know what you said." Li Mi put away his emotions, analyzed carefully, and said: "Pi Luoge sent this letter. Whether Nanzhao is sincere in peace talks or not, they will be at a high moral point. As long as we refuse, we will be at a low moral point. In this way, we have no reason to be a teacher. This is only one reason. Second, our newly recruited soldiers have only been trained for more than half a year, and it is difficult for them to compete with Nanzhao's elite. Third, we have not thought of a way to deal with the miasma. Fourth, Nanzhao has an elite navy, and our navy's ships are still insufficient. Fifth, the confidant of the Tang Dynasty should be Tubo, and now we should win over Nanzhao to deal with Tubo. With these reasons, even if Nanzhao pretends to negotiate, we should seize the opportunity."

Li Zhenyuan nodded in agreement and said, "Grandpa, what you said makes sense. How would Your Highness Prince Yong respond?"

"Your Highness Prince Yong didn't listen at all." Li Mi stood up and stood with his hands behind his back. "The court is eager for quick success, and Prince Yong is eager to conquer Nanzhao one day. Prince Yong has decided to send his generals to war in ten days."

"So fast!" Li Zhenyuan was surprised. "Yes, so we have to hurry up." Li Mi held the long sword, "How is the situation over there?"

When talking about the war plan, Li Zhenyuan became serious and said, "My Lord, civil strife is about to break out."

After Nanzhao occupied eastern Yunnan, in order to win over the Cuan clan, Li Mi married two of its royal children to the sons of King Cuan Gui and King Cuan Chongdao, who were the two major leaders of the Cuan clan. King Cuan Gui and King Cuan Chongdao did not want to see them unite and rely on Nanzhao, so he used a strategy of sowing discord.

"Very good." Li Mi nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "I originally thought that we could wait until they had internal strife first, but now Prince Yong is eager to use troops. We can't wait, we need to speed up and let our people add fuel to the fire."

"I understand, I'll go and deliver the message right away." Li Zhenyuan took the order and walked out.

Li Mi watched his son walk away, picked up Pi Luoge's letter and read it again. In the letter, Pi Luoge sighed: "It is difficult for the emperor to accept the favor of such a person, and how can a loyal minister be harmed by a treacherous person?"

Li Mi did not think about whether Pi Luoge was sincere, but thought that these words might be about his destiny.

……

Ten days later.

Li Lin ordered his generals to lead 60,000 troops to Nanzhao, and still left Yang Guozhong to coordinate logistics.

This time, Li Lin led an army of 60,000. The Cuan clan fell into Li Mi's trap and had no ability to organize any resistance. Therefore, Li Lin easily crossed Zhuti and came to Dongchuan.

The last time, Li Lin’s camp was attacked in Dongchuan. As the saying goes, “Where you fall, there you get up.” Therefore, Li Lin stationed his troops in Dongchuan and summoned all the generals to discuss how to capture Shicheng.

While everyone was discussing, the guards suddenly came to report, "Your Highness, Cuan Chongdao has raised the white flag to surrender!"

"Oh?" Li Lin was surprised, and then said to Li Mi: "General Li, wherever our flags point, the enemy will surrender. In this way, there is no need to worry about not achieving our mission!"

After that, he turned to the guard and said, "Let him into the tent."

"Yes." The guard came out of the tent and brought Cuan Chongdao in after a while.

As soon as Cuan Chongdao entered the door, he bowed and said, "I, the guilty minister, Cuan Chongdao, greet Your Highness."

Li Lin looked at Cuan Chongdao and recalled what happened last time.

The last time, it was Cuan Chongdao who pretended to attack the camp and lured away Jing Yao and Yan Jingzhi of the Right Army, which led to his defeat. Jing Yao and Yan Jingzhi were also killed by Cuan Chongdao.

Recalling the past, Li Lin couldn't help but get angry and said, "I thought General Cuan would attack the camp again this time, why did you think of surrendering?"

"I am guilty!" Cuan Chongdao kowtowed to Li Lin, pretending to be wronged, and said: "I have received great favors from the Tang Dynasty and am loyal to it. Last time Your Highness came here, I wanted to greet you, but Cuan Guiwang and Cuan Riyu did not allow it. I am a descendant of the Cuan family, so I had to listen to them."

Li Lin asked: "Then why are you here again this time?"

Cuan Chongdao replied, "As a minister, loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of one's conduct. Loyalty and righteousness cannot be achieved at the same time, so one should give up righteousness for loyalty. This time, I have returned to the right path and killed King Cuan Gui and Cuan Riyu, and have come to welcome Your Highness into the city."

"What?" Li Lin was shocked. He stood up and blurted out, "Really?"

(End of this chapter)