The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 848: The Furious Goguryeo King and Ministers

Seeing the two men in deep thought, Tang Jian adopted a teaching tone: "The greater the loss of our Tang Dynasty, the more criticism we receive, and the heavier the blame we bear. Once we 'drive' the Turks away, the subsequent appeasement work will be easier."

"This time, we let Jie Li fight the war to recover Liaodong."

"What we in the Tang Dynasty need to do is to win this invisible war of public opinion and win the hearts of the people. This is more important than fighting on the battlefield. It doesn't matter if we are misunderstood. The more pressure we bear, the more at ease we will feel when rewarding people for their merits in the future. The emperor will naturally understand this."

Tang Jian was a mature and prudent man who could plan for the country, so it was no wonder that Li Shimin kept him in Liaodong and appointed him as one of the deputy generals.

The words spoken by Gaowu Jianling were well-organized and balanced between public and private interests. Even Changsun Wuji looked like he was being taught a lesson: "What Lord Tang said makes sense and is shocking."

"Listening to your talk is worth ten years of reading." Hou Junji nodded sincerely.

As they were in public in the hall, it was inconvenient to reveal their identities, so the two men raised their glasses to express their gratitude to Tang Jian.

Tang Jian nodded calmly, looked at the two people with a teachable demeanor, then stood up and said, "I still have to go check out the situation in other places, so I won't accompany you. You can chat for a while."

"How about we go together?"

Tang Jian quickly declined, "No need, no need, this is my task, you guys should just focus on your own things and leave me alone."

After saying this, he quickly left the teahouse without waiting for Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji to reply.

Seeing Tang Jian's somewhat hasty figure, Hou Junji said thoughtfully, "Old Tang is in such a hurry to leave, I always feel like something is wrong?"

"Oh no, I got fooled by this old bastard!"

Chang Sun Wuji was startled for a moment, then reacted in an instant. He looked at the noisy crowd with a dark face and said, "The rumors are all belittling us, but they just brushed aside old man Tang Jian. He must have specifically said so. How can this be absurd?"

"Uh"

Hou Junji also suddenly realized what was going on. He slammed the table and stood up, angrily saying, "Let's go and talk to this old guy. If he doesn't give me an explanation, I won't let this matter go."

Zhang Sun Wuji first said, then a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes, and finally he shook his head with a wry smile. Tang Jian clearly saw that the two of them were in power and led troops outside, and the subsequent Liaodong war had made great contributions.

However, he and Hou Junji were young and too popular, so they were bound to be envied.

This was to help the two of them do something to defile themselves in advance, so that the emperor and the court could be reassured, and to avoid falling into the same situation as Li Jing, who was completely ignored after the war. It was a well-intentioned move, and Changsun Wuji felt a warm feeling in his heart.

The two teammates arranged by the emperor this time were both very good. Changsun Wuji looked at Hou Junji who was walking quickly to the door, a smile from the heart appeared on his face, and he followed him calmly.

Soon after, the news of the Tang army's defeat and the Turkic victory began to spread in all directions.

When the news spread to the Tang Dynasty, it caused public discussion, but it only caused some complaints from the people. After all, in this era, the Turkic cavalry had always been rampant all over the world.

Before the Battle of Dingxiang, the Tang Dynasty lost more than it won in every battle with the Turks, and it was normal to lose tens of thousands of people in a battle.

It was during these years that the Tang Dynasty recovered the western grasslands and disintegrated the Great Turkic Khaganate, becoming invincible in the world.

Such a sudden "battle damage" reminded the people of the Tang Dynasty of the past, and their complacency about being invincible was also calmed down a lot.

But when this news reached Goguryeo, it was like shocking news.

Especially in Pyongyang, the capital city that was heavily surrounded by Shi Luodi's army, when it learned that the reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty were defeated, suffered heavy losses, and were almost wiped out, it was like a thunderclap that struck the sky, dealing a heavy blow to Goguryeo.

There was a sense of despair everywhere in the city, and it seemed that there was no hope anymore.

Upon hearing the news, King Gao Jianwu arrived at the top of the city wall and looked out at the endless Turkic soldiers below the city, who were as dense as a black cloud. Not only did they not attack the city, but they slowly retreated. This was completely different from what he had expected, that the Turkic soldiers would take the opportunity to attack the city.

Gao Jianwu asked in surprise: "Da Duilu, why didn't the Turks attack the city and even withdrew? Is the news from the east wrong?"

The minister beside Gao Jianwu was Goguryeo's equivalent of prime minister, Lu Yuan Gaesomun. Although the two of them usually competed for power and had a bad relationship, when facing the crisis of national destruction, they both put aside their usual prejudices and joined hands to fight the enemy.

It was precisely because of the cooperation between the two that Goguryeo was able to firmly hold on to this most important core area. As long as Pyongyang was not lost, Goguryeo could restore its country even if it lost the country's land and cities.

This had already been proven during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui.

Therefore, when the capital was besieged, neither Go Geon-mu, Yeon Gaesomun, nor the common people in the city panicked too much. Instead, they fought the battle to defend the capital in an orderly manner, strengthening the defense while asking for help from the Tang Dynasty.

Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun both knew that although the Central Plains and Goguryeo had a grudge, Goguryeo was after all isolated in a corner and posed little threat to the Central Plains dynasty. If the Turks were allowed to fight in the northeast, the Tang Dynasty would never have peace.

No matter how much the Tang Dynasty hated Goguryeo, it would definitely stop the Turks when it was time to send troops. Things turned out just as they thought, and the Tang Dynasty really took action, but the result was very different from what they expected. The huge Tang Empire actually won first and then lost to the Turks, so that Goguryeo, who was looking forward to rescue, was also frustrated.

"It is true that the Tang army was defeated. Although the Turks besieged the city, they did not cut off the news from inside and outside. The intelligence sent by our spies from the east also confirmed this."

"My king, the situation is not good!"

Yeon Gaesomun looked at the slowly retreating Turkic army, frowned and analyzed the current situation, and said worriedly: "The Turks have been attacking Pyongyang for nearly two months. Although the offensive is fierce, it cannot shake the city of Pyongyang."

"The city has sufficient food and grass, the city walls are tall, and the people of Goguryeo are united as one."

"The Turks are not good at attacking strongholds, and they don't have complete siege equipment. According to the previous situation, even if Shi Luodi attacked for a year, he would not be able to break through the city."

"The Tang Dynasty sent reinforcements at this time, which gave everyone great hope. The subjects in Pyongyang were all cheering and felt that the Turks would soon be trapped in a situation of fighting on both sides and would retreat soon."

"But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."

"It would be better for the Tang Dynasty not to send troops at all. This way, we can resist them on our own."

Yeon Gaesomun had a bitter look on his face. "Now, the reinforcements were defeated at Liaoshui. The Turks, who had been unable to conquer the city for a long time, suddenly became more motivated. We, on the other hand, have suffered a heavy blow and our morale has been low."

"As the situation becomes increasingly unfavorable to me, the biggest crisis in Pyongyang is about to come."

After hearing this, Gao Jianwu thought for a moment, and his expression instantly became extremely ugly, as gloomy as ice. He cursed: "The Tang Dynasty defeated Jie Li in the Dingxiang battle and made him flee everywhere. How could you be so useless when facing Jie Li now?"

"Your Majesty, I have told you before that the Tang Dynasty's victory over the Turks was purely a fluke."

Yeon Gaesomun said proudly: "I found out everything afterwards. Li Shimin used despicable means to secretly bribe Tuli, the second Khan of the Turkic Khanate, and instigated the rebellion of Yi Nan and the tribes of He Jieli's generals, including He Biheli."

"At the critical moment, we worked together inside and outside, and that's how we managed to win by chance."

"The Tang Dynasty itself was not very powerful, and it suffered more defeats than victories against the Turks. In addition, the few troops with decent combat power were stationed inside the Great Wall. The people in Hebei were just soldiers guarding the city, and they probably had never seen cavalry."

"We relied on sneak attacks and using our numbers to defeat the few before, and because Jie Li had too few troops in Huaiyuan, we were able to gain a slight advantage."

"Once Jie Li gets serious and launches a counterattack, the true strength of the Tang Dynasty will be exposed."

After Goguryeo defeated Yang Guang on the frontal battlefield and then brought down the Sui Dynasty, the entire country fell into ecstasy, but also became arrogant, thinking that the Central Plains dynasty was nothing great, and even had a heart of contempt for the world.

In order to strengthen the self-confidence of the people and consolidate the will of the people, the Goguryeo upper class further fueled this kind of thinking, belittled the Central Plains dynasty, promoted themselves, and further encouraged the arrogance of claiming to be invincible.

Therefore, over time, people from all walks of life came to believe that the Central Plains dynasty was nothing special.

The right to interpret the Tang Dynasty's victory over the Turks was in the hands of the Goguryeo people, and at this time Yeon Gaesomun blurted it out.

Gao Jianwu's expression suddenly froze, as if he had been kicked in the heart. He had a lot of anger but nowhere to vent it. He felt as if his heart was about to explode. Facing the south, he gritted his teeth and said, "Why send troops if we can't fight?"

"This victory and this defeat have dampened the morale of Goguryeo. It's really more of a hindrance than a help."

"Forget it, my king. The Tang Dynasty has just been defeated. I don't think we can count on them for the time being."

Yeon Gaesomun also said unwillingly: "The Turks are at their peak. They are retreating at this time, probably to accumulate strength. I'm afraid they will recover for a few days. But this is the calm before the storm. The more this happens, the more terrifying it will be when they are ready to attack."

"Should we go back to the city to eliminate the impact of the Tang army's defeat and mobilize all our forces to deal with the offensive in a few days?"

Gao Jianwu said worriedly: "Why don't we send some more envoys to persuade the Turkic upper echelons to attack the Tang Dynasty?"

"it's useless"

Yeon Gaesomun shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, we have sent messengers to Jieli and Shiluodi all the time, and Shiluodi has sent one messenger every day. But he is unmoved and is determined to destroy Goguryeo and ascend the throne of Khan with this achievement."

"Unless we help him get rid of Jie Li and You Xian Wang now, he will never withdraw his troops."

Gao Jianwu thought about the Right Wise King who was staying in Liaodong City and acting as cautiously as a dragon in the abyss, and Jie Li who was threatening the north bank of the Liao River again with a great victory. He sighed helplessly, and returned to the city with Yeon Gaesomun, preparing to win the hearts of the people and strengthen the city defenses.

But at this time, the Goguryeo monarch and his ministers did not know that the defeat of the Tang Dynasty not only affected the momentum between the two countries, but also lost countless food and supplies, as well as various well-made siege equipment, which were continuously flowing into Pyongyang.

(End of this chapter)