The city of Hezhou was filled with a dull aura because of the breakout of His Royal Highness. The guard Guo Shifeng knew that His Royal Highness was not in danger and was fighting wits and courage with Lu Dongzan on the grassland outside the city. He knew that this was His Royal Highness's plan, but he was worried. Who said that Li Hong was the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, and who said that he was the garrison of Hezhou City? But he was worried that it was useless. Li Hong gave him a simple order, to repel the Tubo people who attacked Hezhou City and defend the city strictly. Therefore, even though he was very worried and anxious, he could only sit in the city and wait, except to send more scouts out of the city to investigate, to Pei Xingjian of Liangzhou and Sun Chu County, and to pass the message to Chu County Sun.

Sun Chu of Chu County was waiting for a few days, but he still couldn't sit still after he didn't hear the news that the prince had returned to the city. He immediately rushed to Hezhou City with Dai Zhide.

This makes the atmosphere in Hezhou City even more solemn.

If the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was captured alive by Tubo, it would have greatly dampened the spirit of the Tang Dynasty and would have embarrassed His Majesty. If it really reached this point, I guess everyone involved in this war would not be able to get rid of dry cleaning, right?

Maybe everyone's career will end here.

Seeing Sun Chuyi's anxious look with Guo Shifeng and others, Liu Wenjie and Yuwen Chongtian asked for battle many times, asking Guo Shifeng to order them to lead the Iron Cavalry out of the city to find His Royal Highness, but Guo Shifeng did not agree.

On this day, Sun Chu asked Guo Shifeng and Heichi Changzhi and the other two to look out from the city tower to discuss whether they should go out of the city to find His Royal Highness, and then he saw a fast horse rushing to the city of Hezhou. Guo Shifeng saw that this was the prince's scout, so he hurriedly led the soldiers to open the door and led the scout to the city tower.

When Guo Shifeng and the other two learned from the scout that the Crown Prince defeated Lu Dongzan and were about to return to the city, they were both happy and surprised. They were happy that His Highness could finally return to the city. They were surprised that His Highness had only less than 5,000 iron cavalry by His Highness when they broke through the city. How could they defeat Lu Dongzan, who had more than 50,000 iron cavalry?

However, when they knew that there were 20,000 Tubo elite cavalry to assist Li Hong, they felt relieved.

Of course they didn't know that Delehei had rebelled against Li Hong, and the scouts did not explain in detail. Otherwise, they would be even more surprised by His Royal Highness's command ability and the combat ability of his cavalry under their command.

"Sun Sun, can you sleep peacefully now?" Guo Shifeng asked with a smile. Sun Chu has been staying up late for the past few days for the prince's affairs. He often climbed up to the city tower to see if he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. Guo Shifeng knew that he was worried about the comfort of His Highness the Prince.

Sun Chuyou smiled heartily, "Not only can I sleep peacefully, but Su Xiang and Le Xiang can sleep peacefully."

The Su Xiang and Le Xiang he mentioned were Su Dingfang and Le Yanwei. Su Dingfang was a veteran in the army and was very famous in the Northwest Army. He was also the young prince guard. He was valued by Li Hong. Sun Chuyou respected him very much. Le Yanwei and Sun Chuyou got the title of Prime Minister together, but he was not as long as Le Yanwei's time to surrender to Li Hong. Now Le Yanwei's position in the prime minister's group is ranked before him, so he can only call Le Yanwei as Le Yanwei.

"Yes, I almost forgot about this matter. I immediately sent someone to send a letter to Chang'an." Guo Shifeng suddenly realized and hurriedly went down the city tower.

During this period, Su Dingfang and Le Yanwei sent messengers to Hezhou City to inquire about Li Hong's news. Even though Su Dingfang knew Li Hong's overall plan, he was somewhat worried about Li Hong, who was still the leader of the prince for the first time.

When the news that the Crown Prince of Guo Shifeng was about to return to the city soon and defeated Lu Dongzan's 60,000 troops was informed by the people of Hezhou, the people in the city were very excited, because defeating Lu Dongzan's army was equivalent to protecting Hezhou City, their homes, and their relatives.

For a moment, the image of Prince Li Hong once again penetrated into the hearts of the people of Hezhou City.

Li Hong jumped from a weak and sickly crown prince to become the guardian god in the hearts of the people of Hezhou City.

When the news of Prince Li Hong's defeat of Lu Dongzan reached Chang'an City, Su Dingfang laughed wildly when he heard the news. After all, he did not read the wrong person and chose the wrong person. The prince really lived up to his talent and courage, and proved his talent with such a refreshing battle.

At the beginning, he didn't know how to do Chang'an City, but he just didn't want to participate in the struggles within the royal family, such as the struggles between Wu Empress and Emperor Gaozong, and the struggles between Wu Empress and the prince. He just wanted to protect himself and be a person who was out of the court.

However, Li Hong's letter of title and Gaozong's rewards completely broke his defense. He was appointed as prime minister and inherited the position of Prince Li Ji's Shaobao. Su Dingfang was an old man in the officialdom. How could he not understand the intention behind Gaozong's rewards? This was to let him become the prime minister as a soldier in order to compete with Li Ji's strength in the court. Therefore, how could he not know who was behind this reward? So this reward forced him to make a choice between the prince and the queen!

Because of this, Su Ding did not return to Chang'an City as soon as possible on the grounds that there were too many military affairs and it was difficult to make a short period of time. Instead, he returned to Chang'an City after Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu left.

When he arrived in Chang'an City, he wanted to learn from Li Jing, but refused to join the government for the reason that he was sick and unable to manage politics. He was preparing to leave the guests at home and ended up with him.

Unexpectedly, after he arrived in Chang'an City, he was very moved by Li Hong's series of actions. When he heard Li Hong's bold words and ambitions, Su Dingfang's mind changed. He felt that following His Royal Highness the Crown Prince might not be a bad thing. Maybe he could really achieve something?

At that time, he chose to be loyal to Li Hong, and there was a big bet on the one hand.

Su Dingfang bet right, and His Highness the Crown Prince was really not ordinary, but very powerful. In time, when His Highness the Crown Prince became emperor at the level of Emperor, he believed that His Highness the Crown Prince would definitely reach the height of Emperor Taizong, and might even surpass Emperor Taizong and become a hero like Qin Emperor and Han Wu.

When Sun Chuyou learned that news had reached Chang'an City in Hezhou City, he hurried to Su Dingfang's mansion. When he learned from Su Dingfang that the prince was defeated by Lu Dongzan, his excitement was hard to express. He was a naughty figure, otherwise he would not have offended Empress Wu and was almost dismissed from his post. After following Li Hong, he was appreciated and supported by the prince. Not only did he not restrain his personality, he became more ostentatious.

So he knew very well that everything he had to attribute to the prince. Once the prince lost power, the first person who was unlucky was himself. He was betting that the prince would not be crushed by the Queen of War and would fight back.

Unexpectedly, he bet right.

Yes, he was very betting right.

After this battle against Tubo, if the prince could destroy Lu Dongzan's army, who would have the merits besides the few veterans of the Tang Dynasty, who would have the merits to compare with him? In addition to the achievements made in literature and recognition in handling government affairs, he would be the crown prince who could be good at martial arts and literature. Such a prince would, even if the power of the martial arts queen, could he shake his position? Not to mention that the prince had received the support of Su Dingfang and gained the morale of the Northwest Army.

Thinking of this, Le Yanwei was happier than Su Dingfang.

Being an official, being a marquis and minister, and glorifying the ancestors is everyone's dream, but everyone takes different measures for this dream. Some people become villains, some become treacherous ministers, and some become cruel officials.

"Su Xiang, should you inform Your Majesty and the Empress of the news that the Crown Prince defeated Lu Dongzan?" Le Yanwei asked.

Su Dingfang nodded slightly and said, "Your Majesty and Empress are very worried about the situation of the war in the northwest. They are also worried about the safety of the prince. They must pass the news to Luoyang as soon as possible. However, we still need detailed information about this war. Otherwise, if Your Majesty and Empress ask about specific details, we may find it difficult to answer."

"Yeah." Le Yanwei nodded and agreed with Su Dingfang's opinion. He and Su Dingfang are now in charge of government affairs in Chang'an City. Su Dingfang is the main force, and he assists from the side. This is the prince's arrangement. Le Yanwei does not object to this. He is very happy to accept Su Dingfang's guidance on government affairs.

"It seems that Your Highness can destroy Lu Dongzan's army without the support of the Northeast Army and relieve the siege of the Northwest?" Le Yanwei sighed. With just a few troops in the northwest, he could solve Lu Dongzan's 200,000 Tubo elite cavalry. Such a brilliant result can probably be achieved by the person in front of him, right?

"This war will not be used for the Northeast Army, but it may not be possible for the next war." Su Dingfang nodded and said.

Le Yanwei was shocked and asked quickly, "Su Xiang, after hearing what you said, the prince doesn't want to stop there?"

He didn't want to stop after destroying Lu Dongzan's 200,000 army. Could it be that the prince wanted to destroy Tubo in one breath? If the prince really destroyed Tubo, it would be a great achievement than Taizong! When Taizong was alive, the Tang Dynasty did not have the ability to destroy Tubo when its national strength was strong, so he had to marry Princess Wencheng to Tubo. If the prince destroyed Tubo this time, Le Yanwei would not dare to think about it later.

"Although the Tang Dynasty is very powerful, it has not yet reached the point where the surrounding countries are afraid of being unrestrained, just like Tubo, like Tianzhu, etc. Therefore, if you want to completely pacify the Western Regions and stabilize the Tang Dynasty's rule in the Western Regions, you have to kill the chicken and warn the monkey. This time, destroying Tubo and stabilizing the Western Regions Governor's Office is what Your Highness will do next." Su Dingfang said slowly.

In fact, these were just his guesses, but Li Hong mentioned them to him before, and now he said that Le Yanwei had heard this. When Le Yanwei heard this, his eyes widened because he couldn't believe that the prince really wanted to destroy Tubo.

"Do you want to tell Your Majesty about this?" Le Yanwei said for a moment.

"How can the prince not tell His Majesty about such a big thing? But wait a little longer. As long as the prince returns to Hezhou City, he will probably write a letter to His Majesty immediately." Su Dingfang said. Le Yanwei nodded slightly. He was indeed shocked when he talked to Su Dingfang today.

...

When the news that Li Hong defeated Lu Dongzan and annihilated Lu Dongzan's 100,000 troops reached Luoyang, Gaozong, who was still using breakfast, immediately put down his bowls and chopsticks and walked back and forth in the hall excitedly. He knew how powerful Tubo was. At the beginning, his father defeated the Turks in the Tang Dynasty, which made neighboring countries tremble. Now, Tubo's national strength has increased again under the management of Lu Dongzan, and its strength has become stronger than ten years ago. But what can it do? Wasn't it defeated his son? Through the news from Su Dingfang in Chang'an, he could analyze that if the plan for this battle was more detailed, the Tang Dynasty not only destroyed Lu Dongzan's army, but also killed Lu Dongzan, a giant Tubo!

His father was known as the Khan of Heaven, but he did not defeat Tubo in his time. But at his own hands, he not only defeated the powerful Tubo and destroyed their hundreds of thousands of troops, but he could pacify the Three Kingdoms of Northeast Goryeo in a few years.

Has such great achievements surpassed the father?

The Tang Dynasty was compatible with the people of the great power, from emperors to ministers, from ordinary people to merchants and fishermen, from peddlers to mountain village women, and they all had the demeanor of being a great country.

Emperor Gaozong did not dare to surpass his ancestors as hypocrisy and fearless as the emperors of all generations later. Therefore, when he thought of this, he was very excited to be able to surpass his father, Tian Khan Li Shimin.

When he wanted to go to Mount Tai, many ministers opposed it, saying that the Tang Dynasty has not reached the point of Fengshan. To put it bluntly, his achievements are not enough. Now that his son has defeated Tubo, it is just around the corner to pacify the Three Kingdoms of Goryeo. Who dares to say that the time for Fengshan is not ripe enough?

Emperor Gaozong walked around the hall excitedly, but Empress Wu's face turned ugly. She didn't expect that Lu Dongzan would be so good. 200,000 Tubo elite cavalry attacked the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty had less than 100,000 defenders in the Western Regions. In addition, Li Hong brought the troops from Chang'an City to Hezhou, less than 200,000. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of these soldiers was comparable to that of Tubo elite cavalry?

However, under the command of Li Hong, a horse soldier defeated Lu Dongzan one after another and annihilated Lu Dongzan's army.

Now, he defeated Lu Dongzan's personal guard army, and killed Lu Dongzan fled everywhere like a dog. Empress Wu really couldn't imagine when his son became so powerful? Why didn't he discover it before? Is it too late to deal with him now? Li Hong, who had experienced the Tubo War, had the support of a group of military generals such as Su Dingfang, and the assistance of the new prime ministers such as Le Yanwei and Sun Chuyou, as well as the strong support of the founding heroes such as Qin, Cheng, and Yuchi, did he still have the capital to compete with his son for his strength?

At this moment, Empress Wu's thoughts on fighting for power with Li Hong were a little shaken.

If this continues, he knew very well that the Tang Dynasty's decisive battle in the Northeast would not be Li Ji's turn. Compared with Li Ji's army leading the victory, Emperor Gaozong hoped that his son could achieve the war.

In this way, the Tang Dynasty royal family can stand firm and convince the Shandong gentry.

Did she just accept her fate? Empress Wu was very conflicted because she couldn't think of any way to deal with Li Hong, who is now rising. Now there are all civil officials and military generals around Li Hong, and they are all younger generations, all of them are capable and ambitious. On the other hand, the old ones are old and the ones are incapable. When Empress Wu thought of this, she felt that her future path was even more difficult. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!