Li Jiancheng felt a little guilty. After all, Master Sheng Yan was his confidant. Master Sheng Yan should bear great responsibility for his surrender. He also had certain responsibility for the death of the emperor's uncle Li Shenfu. After all, he tried his best to persuade his father to send troops from Hexi.

But the father did not ask for responsibility at all, which moved him very much. Only by sharing his worries for the father could he feel at ease.

As soon as Li Jiancheng finished speaking, Chen Shuda opposed: "It is inappropriate. Your Highness is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. He should not take risks. He is willing to go on an envoy."

Chen Shuda was worried that after the prince was sent to the Sui army, Li Shimin would use cold arrows behind his back and provoke a war again, and the prince would become in danger in the Sui army, so he opposed the prince's personal mission.

Li Jiancheng had his own ideas. He needed to dominate the relationship between the Sui and Tang dynasties politically. When the war was defeated, he wanted to regain the dominance of the Sui Dynasty, which would be of great benefit to consolidating his position as crown prince.

Li Jiancheng waved his hand, "Captain Chen does not need to persuade him. Time cannot be delayed. We must negotiate peace as soon as possible. Direct negotiations with Yang Yuanqing will be more fruitful. According to the principle of reciprocity, I should talk to Yang Yuanqing. As for the danger, there is no need to worry. Yang Yuanqing is a dignified King of Chu and will not hurt me."

Li Yuan also tended to be negotiated by the prince. At this moment, a guard reported outside the hall: "Your Highness of the King of Qin is asking for a meeting!"

In fact, this time the military and national court discussion also had something to do with Li Shimin. He should have called him to discuss matters together, but Li Yuan heard that Shimin was sick, so he did not send anyone to notify him.

Now that Shimin has arrived, he can only attend the meeting. Li Yuan nodded and said, "Present him to meet!"

"Your Majesty has an order to announce the Qin King's visit!"

Amid the guards' shouts, Li Shimin hurried into the side hall. He was about to kneel down to salute, but Li Yuan stopped him, "The emperor is sick. There is no need to give a big gift, give him a seat!"

"Thank you for your kindness!"

Li Shimin walked to the last seat on the right, but he did not rush to sit down and bowed, saying, "Father, my son has important things to tell my father."

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment. In fact, he didn't want his second son Shimin to participate in the discussion. There was another deeper reason, that was because Shimin was a pro-war faction. Li Yuan didn't want him to disturb the peace talks. Now Shimin had something to say, but Li Yuan guessed a few points.

"What's wrong with the emperor? Let's talk about it later!"

Li Shimin bit his lips, "But, the matter is indeed very urgent."

Seeing that he had to say something, Li Yuan's face slightly sank. He said reluctantly: "What's wrong with the emperor?"

Li Shimin took a step forward and bowed and said anxiously: "Father, 20,000 Hexi troops were wiped out in Huining County. Now there are only 10,000 troops in Zhangye, Hexi. How could Yang Yuanqing not know that he would definitely send troops to seize Hexi. My son begs his father to send troops to reinforce Hexi immediately and protect our ranch."

Of course, Li Yuan knew that Hexi was in danger, but now he was afraid of fighting with Yang Yuanqing again, so he deliberately did not mention the matter in Hexi. Everyone also understood Li Yuan's thoughts. He kept silent about Hexi, but Li Shimin suddenly revealed the matter.

Li Shimin's suggestion hit Li Yuan's sore spot. He said in great displeasure: "Now the financial resources of the court can no longer support the war. How do you ask me to send troops?"

Li Shimin felt his father's displeasure, but he had to say something. From his father's tone, Li Shimin also heard that he seemed to be ready to give up Hexi. He was very anxious and hurriedly said: "Father, there are 400,000 war horses in the Hexi ranch. Most of the Tang army's war horses are old. It is the time to change horses. If Hexi is occupied by the Sui army, the Tang army will have no cavalry. The father, the strategic location of Hexi will never be lost!"

Li Yuan had a gloomy face and said nothing. The court was silent, and the atmosphere was awkward and tense. Pei Ji knew that Li Shimin's words had angered the emperor and made the emperor unable to come to Taiwan. He was secretly anxious.

Seeing that no one was talking, Pei Ji had to persuade Li Shimin: "Your Highness should not be determined to do whatever he wants. Of course, the emperor would not want to throw away Hexi, and no one would want to. But now we need to consider the overall situation and reconcile with the Sui Dynasty first. This is the top priority. If Hexi is lost, it is only temporary. When we have enough strength, we can take it back!"

Li Shimin was also a little annoyed, and his voice became stern, "What does it mean to wait for us to be strong enough? Are we not strong enough now? There are 210,000 troops in Guanzhong and 20,000 Tang troops in Guannan. How many troops does Yang Yuanqing have? He simply sent more than 10,000 troops from Pei Renji to attack Hexi, and at most 10,000 troops from Su Dingfang. Now the Huining army is only 10,000 troops left. He also wants to recruit surrendered troops. What are we afraid of?"

Li Shimin took another step forward and begged Li Yuan: "Father, please let my son lead 30,000 troops. If I don't attack Hexi, I will directly attack Huining County. Pei Renji's army will inevitably withdraw. At this time, another 20,000 troops will be sent to support Hexi. Hexi can protect him, and 400,000 war horses can protect him. I am willing to ask my father to agree."

Li Yuan slowly said: "I just listened to you, sent troops to the Central Plains, and sent troops to the pass. What's the result? Chang'an was captured, I was almost captured, my queen was frightened and collapsed, but you delayed time and refused to return to help. I no longer want to worry about you, but you are ungrateful and forced me to send troops. You can let Tang Feng monitor me! Grab my handle, I will obediently listen to you. Is it okay?"

Li Yuan spoke very slowly and his tone was not harsh, but every word he said stabbed Li Shimin like a knife. He knelt down on his knees and said in tears: "My son is devoted to the Tang Dynasty and has no selfishness. I am willing to give it to his father!"

All the ministers felt Li Yuan's murderous intent, and they knelt down together, "Your Majesty, the King of Qin is for the country, and his opinions may be different, but he does not deceive the king."

Li Jiancheng also stepped forward and bowed and said, "Father, my second brother is in charge of military affairs and does not understand the government affairs. My son can understand his anxiety and beg his father for his sake to forgive his crime of being rude to the people."

Li Yuan felt exhausted. He had not recovered from his illness and had no energy to take care of so many things anymore. He sighed and said, "Look at your brother. At this time, he still pleads for you. Don't you feel ashamed? Well, for the sake of your devoted purpose in the country, I will not pursue it. Let your Shangshu Ling be temporarily put down, go!"

The root cause of Li Yuan's crime of prosecuting Li Shimin was that after receiving the imperial edict, Li Shimin did not return immediately, but continued to attack Luoyang.

At the same time, Li Shimin attacked Luoyang and now he has to hand it over to the Sui army, which makes Li Yuan unable to explain to his subjects. This makes Li Yuan extremely dissatisfied with Li Shimin and even a little suspicious.

Some people often say, "The general is outside, and the king will not accept the orders." But in fact, whoever dares not accept it is death. This has been the case since ancient times. Isn't the root of Zhou Yafu's death the root of Xiliuying?

This is true for outsiders. The military power dispute between father and son is an insurmountable gap. Li Yuan can tolerate his son in anything, and even the prince and Concubine Yin De had secret contact. As long as there is no man or woman involved, Li Yuan can not pursue it. However, Li Yuan will not tolerate any of the military power.

After receiving the imperial edict, Li Shimin only sent 10,000 troops to support him. Two days later, he sent 30,000 troops. Although he explained that 10,000 troops were just a vanguard, Li Yuan sent 30,000 troops after he captured Luoyang two days later. He knew that Li Shimin didn't want to send reinforcements at all. He wanted to capture Luoyang, regardless of his life or death, Li Yuan suddenly thought of the death of his fifth son Li Zhiyun.

Li Yuan suppressed hatred and suspicion in his heart. Today, he couldn't bear it anymore and revealed a little bit. It was this little bit that he dismissed Li Shimin as the Minister of Shang, which shocked Li Shimin.

He kowtowed three times with tears in his eyes, slowly retreated, and walked outside the hall. Li Shimin suddenly remembered that his mother was dead and no one spoke for him since then. He couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears.

.........

Li Yuan rejected Li Shimin's request to send troops to Hexi, and finally made a resolution, with the crown prince Li Jian as the envoy, Chen Shuda as the deputy envoy, and general Duan Decao led 3,000 troops to escort them to Huining County to negotiate with Yang Yuanqing.

Dou Gui came out of the palace and was really depressed. He did not go back to the house to have lunch, but changed into casual clothes and came to a restaurant in Dongcheng City for dinner. The restaurant was called Lantian Family, which was the Dou family's industry and could rank in the top five in Chang'an City.

Due to the influence of the Sui army's capture of Chang'an City, the business in Chang'an City is generally not very good these days. Everyone refused to spend money easily and saved money for urgent needs. Lantian Restaurant used to be full of guests, but these days there were obviously insufficient guests, and half of the seats on the first floor were empty.

Dou Gui entered the wine shop. When the shopkeeper saw that the head of the family was coming, he was so scared that he hurried forward to serve him. He ordered someone to go to the fourth floor to arrange a seat on the fourth floor. Dou Gui waved his hand, "Don't go to the fourth floor, just find a seat by the window on the second floor. Give me a pot of wine and a few side dishes."

"The villain understands, please go upstairs by the head of the family!"

Dou Gui went up to the second floor. There were a little more people on the second floor, but 40% of the seats were empty and the voices were noisy. They were discussing topics of interest. After listening carefully, most of them were related to Huining County.

Dou Rui sat down at a table beside the window. A friend rushed to deliver food and drinks. Dou Rui nodded and said to the shopkeeper and the friend: "You guys go and do it! I'll do it myself."

The shopkeeper and his friend slowly retreated. Dou Gui poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all. He couldn't help but sigh. He was very anxious. As the head of the family, he could not ignore the future of the Dou family. He could see clearly the current situation. It was a general trend for the Sui Dynasty to occupy Guanzhong and drive the Tang Dynasty to the south. What should the Dou family do at that time? What should the Guanlong nobles do?

In the past, Dou Gui always felt that the Tang Dynasty had Hexi, Relevant Long, Bashu, and Jingxiang, with an army of more than 300,000, which was strong. However, the Sui Dynasty had only one Hedong, Hebei and the Central Plains were riddled with holes, with a sharp decline in population, and severe economic damage. The Sui Dynasty's strength was obviously weaker and was no match for the Tang Dynasty at all.

But since he saw Yang Yuanqing lead 10,000 cavalry to sweep Guanzhong and break through Chang'an with his own eyes, he understood that the Tang Dynasty was no match for the Sui Dynasty at all, and he was defeated repeatedly. He also knew very well where the Tang Dynasty failed?

If the Tang Dynasty is compared to a person, he has a vision, a big picture, a strong strategic vision, and can see everything in advance. He is also burly and strong, and seems to be very powerful.

But when it comes to doing things in detail, it is not the case. It is nepotism, stubborn, suspicious, and does not use any talented people. Pei Ji and Feng Deyi, who boast about horses, are very useful. Because of this, this talent has been defeated repeatedly and failed in everything he does. He only relies on his old life to destroy a good empire.

Didn’t the Tang Dynasty decline day by day? In the end, the people and the army were lost and the people betrayed their relatives.

Dou Gui poured himself a glass of wine, and he couldn't help but sigh again. He also knew that the Dugu family and the Sui Dynasty had secretly communicated with each other and found a way out for him. Could it be that the Dou family also wanted to take this path?

......(To be continued...)
Chapter completed!