Travel to the early Tang Dynasty and become a salted fish

What made Li Shimin even more angry was that since the fall of Hangzhou, the group of pirates used Hangzhou City as their base and began to attack the inland areas of the Tang Dynasty.

The other side even directly joined forces with the defenders of the Zhou Dynasty and asked the Zhou Dynasty army stationed in Nanjing to hold back the Jiangnan East Road and Jiangnan West Road armies and tightly control them in Jiangning without any movement.

The group of pirates went all the way north, approaching Jiangning, hoping to form an encirclement and annihilate the two armies of Jiangnan East Road and Jiangnan West Road.

What made Li Shimin most depressed and puzzled was that for some reason, this group of pirates only had less than 20000 people at the beginning, but as they attacked, their number did not decrease but increased.

The report just received shows that the number of pirates has exceeded 50000.

The most terrifying thing is not the increase in the number of pirates.

Ever since he had firearms, Li Shimin knew that the key to winning or losing a future war was no longer limited to the number of people on both sides. The most important thing was the quality of the firearms on both sides.

What angered him most was that the other party could not only recruit troops quickly, but also provide a steady stream of firearms.

Especially those artillery pieces, they seemed to be free of charge.

According to the battle report, the opponent used artillery to clear the way wherever they went, and the number of artillery pieces at each time was definitely not less than 100.

Li Shimin felt frightened when he thought of the scene of hundreds of cannons firing.

What frightened him even more was that the opponent's artillery seemed to never run out of shells, and they didn't even know what saving was.

Looking at the urgent reports on the desk, Li Shimin felt a sense of powerlessness.

Compared to Dazhou in the north and Lingnan in the south, what he feared most now was this pirate of unknown origin.

As for Dazhou, Li Shimin was confident that he would eliminate the opponent within five years.

As for Lingnan, although Li Shimin had a headache, there was nothing he could do.

The only person who is great in Lingnan is Yang Hongyu.

But Yang Hongyu has obvious shortcomings. As long as he finds his loopholes and exploits them, he is not afraid of the other party not compromising.

But what really gave him a headache was the pirates who appeared out of nowhere.

He didn't know where they came from, he didn't know why they had firearms that far exceeded the number of Tang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty, and he didn't know what the bottom line of these pirates was.

Is it simply to plunder wealth, or does he want the position under his butt?

Li Shimin cannot tolerate things that are not within his control.

But no matter how many spies he sent and what methods he used, he could not find out the details of the other party, which made him really powerless.

Just as he was racking his brains, wondering whether he should use all his resources to capture this pirate force, Olizi, the head eunuch, walked in.

Since Wang Dehai was sent to Lingnan and disappeared, Li Shimin promoted Xiao Lizi to the position of chief eunuch.

First of all, the other party is very powerful and is an out-and-out master. With him by his side, he is safe.

Secondly, the other party has a keen and perceptive mind. He has been with his father for many years and understands all the affairs in the palace. He is a rare helper.

Although he used to belong to his father, since he promoted him to the head of the Enshrinement Court, the other party has become like a person in the same boat as him, and he must be trustworthy in terms of loyalty.

Finally, and most importantly, since Li Shimin forced Li Yuan to abdicate, there have been many objections from the DPRK, China and the people.

Those old ministers of the former dynasty were worried about settling accounts in the future, and they were in panic all day long.

The common people believe that their position is unfair and they are not worthy of the current rights of accidental injury.

Therefore, some educated people simply looked down upon themselves as the emperor.

In order to reassure the government and the public, and to quell the grievances of the people, Li Shimin deliberately kept Xiaolizi by his side.

He wanted to take it as an example to tell the world that his throne was recognized by his father.

He can accommodate even the people closest to his father and emperor, so how can he not tolerate their veterans?

Even if he dares to use his father's most trusted person without any scruples and use it openly and honestly, how can he be said to be unfair?

"Your Majesty, the guard of the Vermillion Bird Gate has sent a carriage, saying it is a gift from the Yang Mansion to you, and he wants to ask what you mean."

Xiao Lizi walked up to Li Shimin and bowed.

"Yang Mansion? What Yang Mansion?"

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked:

"You're talking about the Yang family where food is the sky, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. It is said that the person who gave the gift has a high status in the Yang family. He is holding the Yang family's seal. They all saw it with their own eyes."

Li Shimin's frown deepened after hearing Xiao Lizi's report.

Everyone knows that since he gave Yang Erbao the title of Queen of Lingnan and built the Yang Mansion on the former site of Yuan Shi Weitian, the Yang family only used it as a stop for traveling, except for the crazy girl Yang Hongzhu who occasionally returned to Beijing and stayed there for a while. Outside of time, basically no important Yang family members lived there.

Now such a guy comes out of nowhere and gives me a gift at such a sensitive time. What is his plan?

After thinking for a while, Li Shimin asked:

"What does that person look like? How old is he? Have you given his name?"

Xiaolizi shook his head:

"Your Majesty, according to the guard's report, the person who gave the gift is no more than 30 years old. He is a foreign barbarian, but he speaks fluent Chinese."

"Moreover, the opponent is carrying a team of no less than a hundred people behind him. From the looks of it, they must have just entered the city."

"For details, my subordinates have sent people to investigate. I believe there will be a reward soon."

Hearing that someone had been sent to investigate, Li Shimin's brows relaxed slightly, then he nodded and said:

"Do you know what is on the carriage?"

A smile flashed in Xiaolizi's eyes, and then he came closer and said:

"Your Majesty, in the car is a girl with curly hair and a graceful figure."

Li Shimin was a little surprised when he heard that the Yang Mansion sent him a woman.

After his throat rolled involuntarily, he couldn't help but ask:

"How does the other party look? How old is he?"

Xiaolizi smiled slightly, shook his head and said:

"The girl was tied up with a hood on her head, so she couldn't see clearly."

"But judging from her figure and appearance, the other party should not be very old. I think the person who can be presented to His Majesty as a gift by the Yang family is definitely not a mortal woman."

Hearing Xiao Lizi's explanation, Li Shimin's eyes shone brightly, and he walked directly out of the palace without saying a word.