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The Sui and Tang dynasties were both sources of the same lineage and were relatively tolerant of each other's ministers. As long as they had not served other rioters, or Yu Wen and Wang Shichong, who had a bad reputation, they would generally be valued.

For experienced famous generals like Qu Tutong, Yang Yuanqing first tried his best to win over them. Even if they were not placed in the army, they could also be placed in the Imperial College professors and students to cultivate reserve talents.

Yang Yuanqing looked at him and said slowly: "The first way is that you were a general of Sui, but you had to surrender to the Tang Dynasty due to the situation. I don't care that you have taken a detour. If you are willing to return to Sui, I will continue to use you."

Qu Tutong sighed, "I am unfaithful when I betray the Sui Dynasty and surrender to Tang Dynasty. If I betray the Tang Dynasty and surrender to you again, it will be unrighteous. How can I face my ancestors if I am unfaithful and unrighteous?

"You are not unfaithful and unrighteous, but awakening. Only in this way will your ancestors' spirit in heaven forgive you."

Qu Tutong smiled bitterly, "Why did the ancestors blame me for more than a dozen countries in the north and south dynasties?"

He looked at Yang Yuanqing deeply again, "Emperor Tang treats me well, I will not betray him. You don't have to persuade him anymore, let's talk about the second way!"

Yang Yuanqing sighed, "I don't want you to go the second path, you can think about it carefully! I'll give you three days."

After saying that, Yang Yuanqing ordered his personal soldiers to "Don't bind them anymore, treat Duke Qu Tu well."

He turned around and walked out of the tent. Although Yang Yuanqing knew that it was unlikely to persuade Qu Tutong, he still wanted to do his best.

Back at the central army tent, Xie Sili greeted him and asked with concern: "Your Highness, is he willing to surrender?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "He said Li Yuan treats him well and does not want to betray him. He is willing to die for Tang. Humph! The late emperor treats him well and does not treat him well. Why doesn't he die for Sui?"

"Maybe he feels there is still hope to return to Tang. After all, he is the Minister of War of the Tang Dynasty. Bei Zhi believes that the Tang Dynasty will definitely pay a lot of money to redeem him, but I don't know your highness......"

Xie Sili was a little biased towards obtaining enough ransom from the Tang Dynasty. He knew that Qu Tutong was important to the Tang Dynasty.

But Yang Yuanqing was unambiguous on this issue, "If the world's most powerful general Li Xuanba is also in my hands, then I would rather redeem Li Xuanba for him than let Qu Tutong go. Li Xuanba is just a brave man who can hurt my Sui army for up to more than a hundred people. But letting Qu Tutong go will become a nightmare for tens of thousands of brothers. If he does not surrender, I will kill him."

Xie Sili shut up in time and dared not persuade Yang Yuanqing to exchange Qu Tutong for ransom. Yang Yuanqing walked to the sand table. At this time, he did not care about Qu Tutong, but he was concerned about the battle on the Eastern Front.

The battle of Xiangcheng County was the turning point of the entire battle, and the victory of this battle meant that he could close the net.

Yang Yuanqing wrote a receipt order at his desk and handed it to his personal soldiers next to him, "I will give it to Li Changshi immediately in an urgent manner."

.........

An uneasy feeling enveloped the sky above the Chang'an Palace. On the other side of the Wude Hall Square, two eunuchs walked in front of the way. Behind them, four strong guards carried a carriage and walked quickly across the square and walked towards the steps in front of the Wude Hall.

Li Jiancheng sat on the carriage, frowned slightly, and his father summoned him for an urgent matter. Although the eunuchs didn't know what it was, they knew that the emperor was in a low mood, which made Li Jiancheng feel a little uneasy. He vaguely guessed that it should be the situation of the Central Plains war.

Walking to the steps, the guards put down the carriage carefully, "Please be careful with your highness!"

Li Jiancheng stood up and walked up the steps quickly. He walked quickly into the hall. An old eunuch came up, "Please go directly to the imperial study. The emperor is waiting for His Highness to meet him!"

Seeing that the guards were standing far away, Li Jiancheng didn't look back and asked without saying a word: "What happened?"

The old eunuch stepped two steps and whispered: "It seems that something happened to Xiangcheng County."

Li Jiancheng let go of his heart a little. As long as something happened to the Xinjun, he would not have to be so nervous.

When he walked to the imperial study, a eunuch reported to him, "Report to the Lord, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."

"Let him in!"

Li Yuan's voice came from the room, and endless fatigue was revealed in the voice. Listening to the sound, the situation was very serious. Li Jiancheng took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and walked into the imperial study room.

In the room, several eunuchs were busy cleaning up the porcelain pieces on the floor, and the water traces had been wiped dry. Li Yuan was standing in front of the window with his hands facing away from the door. Li Jiancheng was shocked. His father actually threw his cup. What major incident happened here?

He became a little nervous and quickly stepped forward and bowed, "Son of mine, please see my father!"

"You all retreat!" Li Yuan said in a deep voice.

Several eunuchs hurriedly retreated, and Li Jiancheng asked carefully: "Father, is something wrong with the Central Plains?"

After a while, Li Yuan sighed, "Just just received the news that Xiangcheng County was defeated again, and the 20,000 Tang troops were wiped out, and even Qu Tutong was captured."

Li Jiancheng was shocked, "Is it the Eastern Front Army?"

"It's the Tang army on the Eastern Front. Li Xiaogong's report has not been received yet. I have received the Eagle News from the King of Qin."

"Father, in this way, Xiaogong's army will have only 50,000."

Li Yuan was in a very heavy mood. Since the defeat of the Weishi, Li Yuan realized that the ratio of troops between the two sides had reached an extremely subtle moment, and they could not experience another failure.

They had to continue to win the battle of the Central Plains, but he did not expect the victory, but received news of another crushing defeat, which made Li Yuan furious and smashed his beloved teacup.

After being furious, he was deeply disappointed and exhausted. Li Yuan walked to the sand table and stared at Yingchuan County without saying a word.

Li Jiancheng was extremely dissatisfied and said, "How dare he attack Xiangcheng County without authorization? Did his father allow him?"

Li Jiancheng refers to Li Xiaogong. He has always been dissatisfied with Li Xiaogong's support for his second brother, King Qin. The last time he was defeated in Weishi County, he was afraid that his emotions would affect the overall situation, so he endured it and did not accuse Li Xiaogong.

But this time, Li Xiaogong violated the pre-determined plan and attacked Xiangcheng County without authorization, resulting in a crushing defeat, which made Li Jiancheng unable to restrain his inner dissatisfaction anymore.

Li Yuan shook his head, "Now is not the time to hold you accountable. I'm here to discuss with you. What should we do next?"

Although the traditional saying is that "no father is better than a father", it can also be said that "no father is better than a son". Li Jiancheng knew his father very well. Originally, his second brother and Li Xiaogong both proposed to withdraw his troops, but his father refused, which led to the defeat of Xiangcheng.

Now the father regrets it, but he took the initiative to withdraw his troops due to his poor face. This would make him stupid in his last decision. So the father brought himself in, asked him to withdraw his troops, and then announced to the minister that it was the prince who insisted on withdrawing troops, and he had no choice but to agree to withdraw his troops.

At this time, Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng meaningfully again and sighed: "Hey! It would be right if I insisted on withdrawing the troops last time."

This sigh made Li Jiancheng stunned. Last time, it was obviously his father who refused to withdraw his troops, so why did he become his "if he insisted on withdrawing troops?"

After a change of thought, Li Jiancheng suddenly realized that his father wanted him to take responsibility for him for not withdrawing his troops last time. Otherwise, if such a major matter would have been so important, he would not have summoned the prime ministers to discuss, but he would have asked himself to do first?

After understanding this, Li Jiancheng knew what kind of responsibility he should bear. Although he was not willing to bear this responsibility, as the prince, he was in control.

Li Jiancheng apologized: "Father, the son-in-law should not insist on fighting again last time. The son-in-law is responsible. The son-in-law advised the father to immediately withdraw his troops and preserve his strength."

Li Yuan's eyes showed a smile of praise, but it was the prince who understood the truth and was willing to take on this responsibility for himself. As an emperor, he certainly could not bear any responsibility for failure.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "I will hold a military and national meeting immediately and formally discuss the withdrawal of the troops. You can also participate!"

"My son obeys the order, and in addition to the matter of Qu Tu, I hope that the father will not give up."

"I understand this. I have ordered the King of Qin to save the Secretary of Qu Tu at all costs."

......

The third day has arrived. The sky is not yet completely bright, and the sky is light, giving the Sui Army camp a light blue color. The dot has ended. The generals returned to the camp and the soldiers also started a day of training. At this time, a soldier guarding the camp hurried to the central army tent and said to his personal soldiers: "Please report to the general manager, the Tang army envoy is asking for a meeting outside the camp."

He took out a letter of letter and handed it to his personal soldiers. The personal soldiers immediately entered the big tent. In the central army tent, Yang Yuanqing was reviewing several urgent memorials that had just been sent from Taiyuan. The personal soldiers reported at the door, "Report to the general manager, there is a Tang envoy outside the camp to ask for a visit, and he has submitted his letter of letter."

The personal general presented his name and Yang Yuanqing saw that it said, "General of the Tang cavalry, Yu Wenshiji, the military officer of the Tiance Mansion Records Office," and it turned out that it was him. Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Take him to the side tent and wait for him to see him!"

...........

In the side tent, Yu Wenshi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and he felt very anxious.

Yuwen Shiji was sent by King Li Shimin of Qin to the Sui army camp to discuss the redemption of Qu Tutong and Shi Danai.

Li Shimin put a lot of pressure on him, so he must convince Yang Yuanqing to release Qu Tutong and Shi Danai back, and he is willing to offer generous conditions.

Yu Wenshi knew very well that Qu Tutong was important to Li Shimin. Qu Tutong was the Minister of War and one of the few important officials in the court who supported the Qin King. If Qu Tutong was lost, it would not only be a military loss for Li Shimin, but also a major political loss.

As for Shi Danai, Li Shimin also needs this general who is loyal to him.

But how could he convince Yang Yuanqing? Yu Wenshi had no clue. What conditions would Yang Yuanqing offer?

At this time, Yang Yuanqing's voice came from outside the tent, "Is Yuwen's army in the tent?"

"Report to the general manager, Yuwen has been waiting for a long time."

......{Piaotian Literature www.PiaoTian.com Thanks to all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!