Jizhou in the Tang Dynasty belonged to Hebei Road. In terms of geographical location, Jizhou was the Tianjin of later generations.

Jizhou is very far from Goguryeo's borders and is still nearly a thousand miles away, but it is the front line of the battle against Goguryeo.

Just because Jizhou is close to the Bohai Sea, exiting from the Bohai Sea, and taking a boat to the east is the hinterland of the Goguryeo Kingdom, the two cities of Jizhou and Laizhou, which are close to the Bohai Bay, belong to the front line of the Eastern Expedition.

The Sui Dynasty attacked Goguryeo three times. Except for the last time that the Goguryeo king was so scared that he asked for surrender without sending troops, the two firsts were advancing on land and water, and the water route was to build ships from Laizhou and go to sea, with the troops heading straight to Pyongyang.

Li Shimin's strategy for the Eastern Expedition was also like the Sui Dynasty. When the army marched by land, Zhang Liang, the chief marching officer of the Pyongyang Road, had built ships in Jizhou City under the order, with a total of more than 500 warships of all sizes and led 20,000 naval troops to gather at the port outside Jizhou City to stand by.

After Li Shimin's central army arrived in Jizhou, he ordered camps by the sea. People inside and outside the camp shouted horses neighing, and flags were waving. Veteran generals quickly walked out of the camp with arrows in and out of the camp. Scouts rode fast horses in and out of the camp gate. The soldiers on standby quietly grind swords in front of the camp. The dust rolled up by the hurried sound of horse hooves flew and drifted in the camp...

After more than two months of marching, Li Su didn't really feel the arrival of war until now. The battles inside and outside the camp were covered with clouds, as if a powder barrel approaching the critical point. With just a little Mars, it could completely detonate it.

Li Su is a person who has experienced war. Although the atmosphere in the camp made him feel a little depressed, it did not affect his leisurely life.

He knew very well his position in this war. He was not a general who commanded thousands of troops, nor was he the commander who planned the plan, nor was he a soldier who had to go to the battlefield to fight with the enemy. He was just a strategist around Li Shimin. If he had to say that he was a strategist was different from others, he might be lazy.

The king's army was stationed on the beach outside Jizhou City, and hundreds of thousands of troops were officially entering the first-level combat readiness. Li Shimin convened the veterans to discuss the military deployment day and night. Li Su was usually reluctant to attend such high-level military meetings, because in his experience, if this kind of meeting is not held for 17 or 8 times, the final decision of the meeting is often very different from the tone at the beginning, so the previous meetings are nonsense and you can not attend them at all.

Unless Li Shimin personally waved his whip and beat Li Su. There is no way, everyone must have a trembling heart before the wise and powerful Heavenly Khan.

…………

"The sea, so much water, horse, four legs..."

By the Bohai Sea, Li Su stood on the beach with her hands behind her back, unable to help but recite a poem.

Fang Laowu next to him had a dull look, but Zheng Xiaolou had no expression on his face. It was obvious that Li Su's poems did not suit their tastes.

"Master, are you... not suitable for the local environment?" Fang Laowu said carefully.

Li Su glared at him: "You mean I'm sick?"

Fang Laowu hurriedly denied: "The villain dares not..."

Zheng Xiaolou was very straightforward: "Yes."

Li Su began to praise his good character. After so many years, he had not killed this honest guy, which shows that he was tolerant and all-encompassing...

"Brother Xiaolou, can you swim?" Li Su patted his shoulder and smiled.

Zheng Xiaolou frowned, turned his head and looked at the hand that Li Su slapped on his shoulder, curled his lips with disgust, and moved two steps silently.

"Won't."

Li Su took a deep breath, not angry, now in war, he needs to protect himself, and he will kill him when he goes back...

"Do you want to eat fresh things?" Li Su asked in unyieldingly.

"I don't want to." Zheng Xiaolou replied hard.

Li Su said to himself: "Think about it? It's so easy to deal with. There are many new things to eat in the sea, such as shellfish, sea fish, big lobsters, big crabs, tender and fresh meat, roasted slowly on low heat, sprinkled with pepper and Wu salt, and took a bite and the gravy splashed everywhere. The taste was, tsk, it was very beautiful..."

Zheng Xiaolou was indifferent with a coffin face. Fang Laowu was obviously down-to-earth and couldn't help swallowing his saliva and smiled: "Master, there are so many people in our department who are good at water. Since the Master is very happy, why not let the villain pick up a few brothers who are good at water and get some things for the Master to change his appetite?"

Li Su was very pleased: "Uncle Fifth is indeed a smart person. I can guarantee that you will live longer than those stuffed jars in the future. Go quickly!"

Fang Laowu waved his hand, and several water-conscious people behind Li Su stood up, took off his outer clothes and moved his hands and feet casually, then slowly walked into the sea water, and the last one plunged into the deep water.

The remaining few gangs were not idle either. They consciously picked up dead branches and wood in the woods by the beach, and then formed a bonfire. As for the seasonings and barbecue utensils commonly used by Li Su, the gangs carried them with them and soon arranged them into neat rows by the bonfire.

Everything was ready, Li Su squatted down and began to fiddle with the seasonings.

Zheng Xiaolou stood quietly behind him. Seeing Li Su's heartless look, Zheng Xiaolou couldn't help it and said, "You don't seem to care about the battle of the Eastern Expedition?"

Li Su was stunned and then smiled: "How should I be considerate? Do you have to stay in the tent of the veteran generals all day long and argue with His Majesty and the veteran generals?"

Zheng Xiaolou shook his head: "With your personality, you won't argue with others, even in front of the current emperor. But I just see that you don't care about it, it seems... you don't want to participate in this battle?"

Li Su's expression gradually became so cold that he sighed and said, "This battle... shouldn't have happened."

Zheng Xiaolou glanced at him in surprise and said, "Do you think you will lose?"

Li Su sighed: "Losing is not the case, but winning may not be necessary. There are not only two results on the battlefield, including losing and winning. If it is just a miserable victory in the end, what is the difference between losing and losing? "

Zheng Xiaolou was silent for a moment and said, "...you should do your best."

Li Su looked at him with great interest: "It's rare to see you care about war and have a compassionate side..."

Zheng Xiaolou said coldly: "The world is not bad, and I still hope it will be better every year. The people of the Tang Dynasty die less and the people's lives will be better. You should know these principles better than me."

Li Su sighed: "In fact, the good and bad of the world are in the hands of the emperor. I don't have much to do. After all, my family is more important than the country. I have a wife, children, and young people behind me. I don't have the courage to follow Wei Zheng's offense to Long Yan again and again. Before this war began, I did everything I could do, including buying grain and admonishment."

Zheng Xiaolou stared at him: "You should be able to do something else."

Li Su smiled bitterly: "I can only say that I will do my best to do something while ensuring my life is safe."

Looking up at the endless sea, at the distant end, the sea and the sky are the same color, gulls fly and fish leaps, but the sky is so gloomy.

Li Suda opposes this war from the bottom of his heart and has always been pessimistic.

This battle was launched too hard and too hasty. Li Shimin's mentality has become increasingly unstable in recent years. With the deaths of a group of famous ministers and veterans, the prestige between the country and the country reached its peak again. Therefore, the problem of being very happy with merit gradually rose, and the monarchs and ministers in the court seemed to have developed this problem. Since he was overwhelmed by the world, what is Goguryeo? It's just easy to pacify it.

It is said that people must do two things in their life, a love that is desperate and a journey that can go on. However, for Li Shimin, it doesn’t seem important whether they do these two things, but there is one thing that he must do, that is, a war that can go on as he says.

It’s so stiff and so stubborn. I am the emperor and my boss, and I specialize in treating all kinds of disobedience, especially those of Goguryeo.

The halo of invincibility for many years was on his head, and everything Li Shimin did showed its correctness. Gradually, the courtiers were also blinded. Ah, the boss said he could do it, so let's do it, follow the boss to have meat to eat...

With the excitement of the crowd, what should Li Suneng do as a few clear-headed ministers?

Of course I chose to forgive, what else can I do?

…………The group caught a lot of seafood, including crabs as big as washbasins, scallops as big as fists, and large lobsters as long as feet, and had a very rich harvest.

A bonfire broke out on the beach. Under the eyes of a cadre, Li Su personally cooked seafood. After the fat, tender and juicy seafood was cooked, the songs couldn't wait to put them into their mouths. Li Su smiled and prepared to welcome the praises of all heroes, but saw that the songs all turned pale and even wanted to vomit. In the end, Fang Laowu couldn't help it and vomited cleanly. Someone took the lead, so the songs were not polite. They vomited out one or two, regardless of Li Su's face.

The head of the family personally barbecued it, and his skills have always been good. A group of guys actually vomited it out in person, which is a huge sin.

Fang Laowu and others felt rude and hurriedly knelt down to apologize. Zheng Xiaolou did not eat a bite, and now he hugged the sword and sneered.

After explaining, Li Su understood.

Seafood is actually correct, and its craftsmanship is still as normal as ever, but the people of Guanzhong are really unable to eat seafood, especially the fishy smell of seafood. In the years since the Tang Dynasty, Li Su's craftsmanship has not been treated gentle by the world for the first time.

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The army was resting in Jizhou for three days, so Li Shimin could not discuss strategies and tactics with the generals all day long. As His Majesty, who was rare to have a long distance, traveling and inspecting was also a matter of course.

Li Shimin was very conservative when he went on a tour and only wandered around Jizhou City. There were not many people accompanying him. There were only a team of guards disguised as civilians, as well as Chang Tu, Li Ji and others. Of course, Li Su couldn't avoid it. Li Shimin specially pointed out Li Su's name before his trip.

Li Su had to follow him with a bitter face. He knew that Li Shimin might not be very satisfied with his recent performance. As the attendant of the Sanqi Servant who was with the Emperor, he had absent several imperial military meetings. He should have beaten him to give him a long memory.

Jizhou City is not big. As a harbor city, the population of the people in the city is only about 100,000, and the buildings and streets in the city seem very dilapidated. The only thing that can be considered slightly prosperous is the market in the east of the city. No matter how barren, it is still geographically beneficial. The seaside port here connects neighboring countries such as Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje. The merchants who travel from south to north have long realized the importance of this port city. Therefore, although Jizhou is not prosperous, there are many ports and vendors, especially the market in the east of the city, which brings together various specialty goods from surrounding countries. People come and go in a hurry. Even if the Tang Dynasty Kings Army is about to start a war against Goguryeo, the prosperity of the market has not been reduced by half.

Li Shimin was wearing casual clothes and looked at the noise and noise in the market with great interest. He listened to the vendors' hissings, the rough shouts of the boat boss, the scolding of the officials, the bargaining of the people, and the shouts of women from somewhere. The children cried. Li Shimin became more and more interested. He stood in the market and suddenly closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fireworks in the world.

"Yes, this is the peaceful and prosperous era." Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction and concluded shamelessly.

Li Su turned his head away and curled his lips unaware.

Li Shimin seemed to sense Li Su's expression, and looked at him with a smile and said, "Zi Zheng, what do you think?"

Li Su hurriedly said: "It is bustling with people, and the profits come and go. I congratulate Your Majesty on such a beautiful country."

Who can become a high-ranking official in the court? Who can't speak beautiful words?

After Li Su finished speaking, he quickly glanced at a group of refugees slowly walking in the distance from the corner of his eyes.

Well, I won’t say anything about the slap in the face, let Li Shimin discover it himself.

There were about twenty or thirty refugees, who were ragged and had a good meal. I don’t know how long they had been hungry. Every step they took seemed very difficult. Occasionally, people or vendors on the street gave a piece of leftover cake or noodle soup, and the refugees were busy thanking them.

Li Shimin also discovered this group of refugees at this time. His bright face suddenly became gloomy, his eyes were staring at them, not knowing what he was thinking.

Li Su looked at the group of refugees carefully, but her brows became tighter and tighter without realizing it.

It is very common for refugees to appear in Jizhou City. Li Su has been wandering around Jizhou City these days. He knew that there were no less than 10,000 refugees inside and outside the city, all of whom were fleeing from Liaodong.

The war between the two countries is about to begin, and the border war is densely covered, and Goguryeo cannot react at all. Before the 300,000 army led by Li Shimin reached the border between the two countries, Goguryeo had already taken the lead in attacking, and the border people in Liaodong were in trouble. Before the royal army arrived, the enemy slaughtered swords and slaughtered, and there was no choice but to lead the whole family to escape to the south. Most of the refugees gathered outside the city of Jizhou City had the same fate.

Li Su frowned because he felt something was wrong with the group of refugees ahead.

The words and deeds of these twenty or thirty refugees were normal, and their expressions were consistent with the refugee's identity. Li Su couldn't tell what was wrong, but his feelings told him that there was something wrong with this group of people.

His eyelids twitched, and Li Su turned his head to look at Li Shimin and Chang Tu, Li Ji and others who were accompanying him, and then turned around to look at Fang Laowu, Zheng Xiaolou and other teams behind him. Li Su's heart turned and hesitated for a moment, but finally hesitated and didn't say anything.

I really couldn't see any problem, I only had a vague intuition. Li Su really didn't want his inexplicable intuition to cause these poor refugees to suffer disaster.

As the refugees got closer and closer, their pace was still very slow. Every step they took had a small pause. The eyes of pedestrians and vendors on the street were filled with desire and begging, but they did not say a word of begging. In the extreme poverty and even despair, they still tried to retain the last bit of self-esteem.

Li Su stared at them without blinking, but her suspicion gradually faded.

Maybe... I'm too sensitive?

Li Su was about to turn his attention elsewhere, but he saw two officials passing by the refugees.

The refugees' performance was not abnormal. The two officials just glanced at them habitually and then continued to move forward.

However, the refugees flashed over and bowed to give way to the official officer. One of the middle-aged refugees in their thirties also showed a cowardly and flattering smile to the official officer. It was not until the official officers passed that the refugees raised their heads and continued to walk slowly towards Li Shimin, Li Su and others.

Li Su's eyes tightened, and his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of a needle point. He looked at Li Shimin with a little nervousness. Seeing that Li Shimin was not alert and his eyes were still a little pity and guilt when he looked at the refugees, Li Su's heart sank, and then suddenly turned around and reached out to pat Fang Laowu and Zheng Xiaolou's shoulders.

Fang Laowu and Zheng Xiaolou were stunned, and then saw Li Su's eyes tilting towards the refugee. After being together for a long time, the three of them had a tacit understanding, so Fang Laowu and Zheng Xiaolou nodded slightly without notice. The two seemed to look around casually, and walked forward two steps without leaving any trace, blocking Li Su behind him.
To be continued...