Although Li Yuan issued an order to ban the defeat of Li Xiaogong's army in Yingchuan, his report to the court only said that Li Xiaogong's troops were withdrawn to Xiangyang under the order.

But the paper could not contain the fire. The news that Li Xiaogong was defeated by the Sui army in Yingchuan County and the entire army was wiped out. The Chang'an government and the country were shocked and in an uproar.

This incident caused Li Yuan to be in a great passive state. He was helpless. Li Yuan had to dismiss the Minister of War Yang Ze for the crime of deceiving the emperor and concealing it. He immediately ordered the Secretary of Shangshu Pei Ji to be the inspector of Jingxiangdao, and led the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, and the Imperial Secretariat to go to Jingxiang to investigate the truth.

But the leaking house was rained all night again. Li Yuanji was ambushed by the Sui army on the western front in Chousang Town. News that 30,000 new troops were wiped out immediately. Li Yuan almost collapsed and both sides were defeated. Not only did he hand over the Central Plains to the Sui Dynasty, but he also lost 110,000 elite troops.

Under a series of heavy blows, Li Yuan finally couldn't stand it and couldn't afford to get sick.

In the East Palace, Li Jiancheng has been particularly busy these days. His father fell ill and almost all the government affairs were handed over to him. All kinds of tedious things came one after another, so busy that Li Jiancheng didn't even have time to take a sip of tea.

Although Li Jiancheng was busy, he also paid attention to the battle in the Central Plains. The battle in the Central Plains was a foregone conclusion. He was unwilling to think too much, and he paid more attention to the changes in the interest pattern after the Battle of the Central Plains.

Not only the changes in the world's forces, but also he was more concerned about the changes in the interest structure within the Tang Dynasty. In particular, Luo Cheng, the son of Luo Yi, brought him news about Tongguan, which made Li Jiancheng angry. The King of Qin actually seized his power in Guandong.

In the study room of the Prince of Mingde Hall, Li Jiancheng's face turned pale, and he stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, listening to Luo Yi telling what happened in Tongguan without saying a word.

Luo Yi had just fled back from Tongguan and had rejected Li Shimin's favor, so he had to turn this rejection into praise from the prince.

"At that time, Bei Zhi felt that there was a knife and axe hidden in the tent. Bei Zhi knew that as long as he said a wrong sentence, his head would fall to the ground. At that time, Bei Zhi suddenly had the courage. He refused to win over the Qin King. At that time, the King of Qin's face had changed, but in the end, Bei Zhi still saved his life. Now, it was because the King of Qin was afraid of killing Bei Zhi, and he would lead to a mutiny. Bei Zhi could not protect the soldiers in Tongguan for His Highness. He was really guilty. Please punish him!"

After Luo Yi finished speaking, he looked at the prince carefully. Seeing that he stood with his hands behind his back like a sculpture, motionless. He could not see his expression change. Luo Yi felt a little uneasy and wanted to say something. But there was no way to start. He lowered his head.

The study room was very quiet, so quiet that you could hear the prince's slightly heavy breathing. After a long time, Li Jiancheng slowly said: "General Luo would rather die than surrender to him. I am very pleased that he is loyal to me. He is here in Tongguan as the King of Qin. If you can't keep the military power, I won't blame you, don't worry! I will make a plan for you, and I will not treat anyone who is loyal to me unfair."

Luo Yi was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to salute, "Luo Yi is willing to serve the prince with all his heart!"

Luo Yi's heart was like a mirror. Now that the King of Qin has almost controlled the power of the Guanzhong army, the prince wanted to reuse himself and could only enfeoff Bashu and Jingxiang. The further away from Chang'an, the greater his power, which was something he had been looking forward to.

"You go down and rest! Reunite with your family. I also like Luo Cheng, the son-in-law Luo Cheng very much. I have appointed him as the guard general of the Eastern Palace. I hope you don't object."

Luo Yi was shocked. Is he going to take his son hostage? But after a second thought, the prince gave him the first place, which should not be the intention. He really admired his son very much. He quickly said, "It is his blessing to be valued by the prince. Humiliar position to thank the prince for him."

"Go!"

Luo Yi bowed and slowly retreated.

Luo Yi walked out of Mingde Hall, and the bright sunshine shone on him, making him breathe a sigh of relief. The nightmare of losing Tongguan has passed, and he will usher in a new spring again.

His pace also became lighter. He had just walked down the steps, but found two officers leaning against the stone railing not far away, talking about something, one of them was his son Luo Cheng.

Luo Yi hurriedly left and shouted, "Dalang!"

Luo Cheng turned around and saw that it was his father, he was shocked and happy. He was worried that his father would escape Li Shimin's clutch. He said happily: "Father, are you okay?"

Luo Yi felt warmer from his son's heart. He nodded with a smile, "I'm fine. I heard from the prince that you have appointed you as the General of the Eastern Palace. Congratulations first."

Luo Cheng took office on his first day today, mainly to be familiar with the situation in the East Palace. He scratched his head a little embarrassedly and introduced the officer next to his father, "This is General Yang, the rank of the East Palace, and also the immediate boss of the child. Today he took him to familiarize himself with the situation in the palace."

A trace of surprise flashed in Luo Yi's eyes. He knew that the person in front of him was Yang Yuanqing's brother Yang Rong, and there was also a eldest brother Yang Jun. The three brothers had a bad relationship because of legitimate and illegitimate issues since childhood. In addition, Yang Jun and Yang Rong surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and led to Yang Xuangan being killed, the three brothers were already incompatible.

Although Yang Jun and Yang Rong were trusted by the prince because of the prince's concubine, they were Yang Yuanqing's brothers after all, and they were suspected of killing their father. The prince actually appointed Yang Rong as the rank of the Eastern Palace without any suspicion. Isn't this a bit?

．

．

．

．

．

At this moment, Luo Yi also felt that the prince was a little too tolerant. Although he thought so, Luo Yi had a smile on his face. After all, Yang Rong was his son's immediate boss and it was not easy to offend him. He hurriedly bowed: "It turns out to be Yang Xiannie. Thank you for your care for the dog son!"

Yang Rong was promoted a few months ago because of the murder of Liu Wenjing. After Liu Wenjing was killed, many officials in the East Palace were implicated and dismissed. There were a large number of vacancies in the East Palace. Li Jiancheng was unwilling to enter the East Palace by outsiders, so he recommended a group of officials.

Among them are Yang Rong as the General of the Eastern Palace Guards, and Yang Jun as the Prince Xima. Although Chen Shuda and other prime ministers believed that the two brothers were Yang Yuanqing's brothers, they had no reputation and were not suitable for use.

However, Li Yuan was ashamed of the prince because of Liu Wenjing's affairs, so he disagreed with the public and approved the prince's recommendation. The two brothers were finally able to make a comeback.

Yang Rong was in his early thirties at this time, no longer having young and crazy, gradually matured and became calm. He saw that Luo Yi's eyes were surprised, and he was secretly annoyed, but he smiled back without expressing his voice: "Uncle Shi is polite, Brother Luo is young and promising, and is highly valued by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His future is limitless and enviable."

He laughed dryly, his tone filled with philosophies. Luo Yi nodded and said to his son: "You are in your official business now. You won't bother you for your father. Let's talk to you in the evening. Let's take a step for your father."

"Father, please go slowly!"

Luo Yi bowed to Yang Rong again, turned around and left, looking at Luo Yi walking away, Yang Rong smiled at Luo Cheng again, "Where are we talking about it? By the way, there are two generals in the Eastern Palace, one is me, and the other you should be very familiar with, that is Xue Wanjun, but......"

However, Yang Rong looked at both sides and lowered his voice: "The water in the East Palace is very deep. This person is recommended by the Dugu family. You must be careful not to get too close to him. You must learn to protect yourself."

For some reason, Luo Cheng felt an indescribable disgust when he saw Yang Rong's treacherous face.

At this moment, a eunuch shouted in the distance: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is going to come to the palace to meet the saint, and the guards are ready to go!"

Yang Rong hurriedly pulled Luo Cheng, "Come with me!"

.........

After thinking about it for a while, Li Jiancheng still felt that he would explain the seizure of power in Tongguan clearly and would never allow his second brother to do whatever he wanted. If he did not express his opinion in time, his second brother's next goal is Linjinguan and Yongtongcang.

Although Li Jiancheng also knew that his father was ill, he could implicitly tell his father that the fundamental reason why his second brother did not rescue his third brother was that he wanted to seize military power and would rather let the Sui army annihilate Yuanji's 30,000 new soldiers.

Li Jiancheng was resentful, and got on the carriage and headed towards the harem.

Li Yuan did not attend court because he fell ill yesterday and was not in the imperial study room. He is currently resting and recuperating in Jingxin Hall. Although the hall is called "Jingxin", Li Yuan's heart cannot calm down at all. The disastrous defeat in the Central Plains made him feel a sense of despair, and he felt that he was powerless to win the world.

Li Yuan was actually more of a heart disease. He was lying on the sickbed, and his favorite concubine Zhang Jieyu was taking care of him carefully, while Empress Dou sat aside and talked to him. She smiled, but her eyes occasionally glanced at Zhang Jieyu who was serving tea and water.

Empress Dou is the legitimate daughter of the Dou family. When Li Yuan's father died early, the Li Yuan family's status among the Guanlong nobles was low and they were almost driven out of the Guanlong nobles. It was because the Dou family and the Dugu family brought Li Yuan to the official position at the critical moment, and Li Yuan married the Dou family and gave him a backstage.

Li Yuan entered Guanzhong to establish the Tang Dynasty, which was also inseparable from the full support of the Guanlong nobles. Among them, the Dou family and Dugu family supported the greatest support, which enabled Li Yuan to obtain troops and food, and quickly established his power. In order to repay the favor, Li Yuan naturally wanted to make his wife Dou family the queen.

Dou is kind and kind to others. Everyone in the palace respects her very much. Since Li Yuan's mother, Empress Dowager Dugu, Dou has become the lord of the harem, and she is in charge of many of Li Yuan's concubines.

Among her husband's many concubines, Dou only dislikes Zhang Jieyu, thinking that she has made the emperor too much trouble. Every time she is lucky to come to her bedroom, the emperor is always exhausted. Dou believes that she is a vixen and does not know how to cherish men.

However, the emperor loved this woman very much, which made Dou's heart hate her, but she had no choice. She pretended to be tolerant and caring for her on the surface, and just waited to find an opportunity to deal with this woman. At this time, while her husband diverted her attention, Dou's cold eyes glanced at Zhang Jieyu.

At this time, Li Yuan was wrapped in a sick towel on his head, looking at a tired face, and was lying on the couch to read a memorial just sent by King Li Shimin of Qin. Li Shimin suggested that the court recruit troops in Bashu and Jingxiang quickly to prevent Jingxiang from being killed by Xiao Xian and Du Fuwei.

At the same time, it is recommended that the court temporarily adopt a defensive force to consolidate Guanlong and Jingxiang, and not rush to expand. Li Shimin also pointed out that although the Sui army won the Central Plains, it was actually exhausted and exhausted. It also had to fill two big holes in Hebei and Central Plains. It was temporarily unable to attack Tang, so I asked my father to be too worried.

The suggestions and consolation of the second son Li Shimin hit Li Yuan's heart, which made him feel very relieved. He Yang's memorial and smiled at Dou's: "Erlang is really good, very insightful. No wonder the queen pampers him so much."
Chapter completed!