Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

In the twelfth month of the fifth year of Zhenguan, the Eastern Turks suffered a rare heavy snowfall. Countless cattle and sheep froze to death in the Eastern Turkic tribes, and the tribes were plunged into famine.

In the past few years, Jie Li has been increasingly exploiting the tribes of the Eastern Turks, and the people of the tribes have long been complaining. Under the instruction of Li Chengqian, the Jinyiwei took advantage of the snowstorm in the Eastern Turks to spread rumors everywhere, saying that the snowstorm was caused by God's punishment for Jie Li Khan's tyranny. For a time, the people of the Eastern Turks were unstable and resentment arose.

The Tang Dynasty took the opportunity to sell food to the tribes at low prices, or even give them food for free, in order to win their hearts. The tribes saw that the Tang Dynasty sold food at low prices, or even gave them food for free. They all praised the Tang Dynasty for its kindness, and they thought it was better to join the Tang Dynasty than to starve with Jie Li.

The private contacts between the tribes and the Tang Dynasty became increasingly frequent, and some tribes were ready to submit to the Tang Dynasty.

Eastern Turkic tent.

"A rare heavy snow fell in the Eastern Turkic region, freezing countless cattle and sheep to death. The people were left without food and clothing, and resentment arose everywhere. Could this be the punishment from the Eternal Heaven for this Khan?" Jie Li sighed.

"Khan, this is a natural disaster. What does it have to do with you? It will be fine when the weather warms up next year." Zhishisili said.

"Great Khan, people are now dissatisfied and the people are unstable. We need to find a way to divert people's attention." Yin Zitan said. In the past few years, Yin Zitan has been doing well in East Turkestan and has won the trust of Jie Li, who has made him his confidant.

"How to transfer?" asked Jie Li.

"Maybe you can go south." Yin Zi replied.

"Oh? Yehu means to declare war on Tang?" Jie Li asked.

"Yes, declaring war on the Tang Dynasty can, firstly, divert people's attention. Secondly, we can plunder Tang territory to provide food and clothing for the people. Thirdly, our Eastern Turks have been preparing for a long time, and it is time to start a war of revenge." Yin Zi nodded.

"What does the Imperial Master think?" asked Jie Li.

"I agree with Ye Hu's opinion." Liang Shidu said after thinking for a while.

"In that case, let's plan how to attack Tang." Jie Li nodded.

“I think that our army should recruit 50 troops this time, concentrate superior forces to attack the Tang Dynasty from Lingzhou, and order the cavalry of the Bayegu and Tongluo tribes to besiege Wucheng and contain the main force of the Tang army.

After taking Lingzhou, we will go directly south to Chang'an City. We will take Chang'an in one fell swoop and capture Li Shimin. Then we will make plans in the Central Plains, drink water from the Yangtze River, and force the Tang Dynasty to cede the north of the Yangtze River to the Turks.

In this way, the strength of the Tang Kingdom will be greatly reduced, and the Eastern Turks can slowly plot the land south of the Yangtze River. I believe that in the near future, the Tang Kingdom will become the Eastern Turks' horse farm. It's just that those noble families are really incompetent and failed to assassinate Li Shimin. Otherwise, they would have been able to defeat the Tang Kingdom in one battle. "Liang Shidu said slowly.

"Well, what does Yehu think?" asked Jie Li.

"I agree. The war slaves I train can serve as the Khan's personal army, specifically to deal with Li Chengqian's Feilong Army and Xuanwu Army." Yin Zitan said.

"Okay. Imperial Master, listen to my order. Immediately, collect 50 men and horses from all tribes. Yehu, listen to my order. The 1 war slaves you have trained will be my personal army. Follow me south to deal with the Feilong Army and Xuanwu Army under Li Chengqian. Everyone, when the spring comes and the weather gets warmer next year, follow me to the Central Plains and capture Li Shimin alive." Jie Li gave the order. Everyone got the order and left the tent.

What Jie Li didn't know was that Li Chengqian's Feilong Army had expanded to 5, the Xuanwu Army to 2, and the Feiyi Archer Cavalry to 3. Li Chengqian deliberately concealed the expansion, and few people in the entire Tang Dynasty knew about it.

Li Chengqian has made a lot of money in the past few years, and he has spent a lot of money to build his troops. (Flying Dragon Army armor, the system finished product is 3 system coins per set, equivalent to 60 strings of cash, 5 Flying Dragon Army armor is 300 million strings of cash. Black Tortoise Army armor, the system finished product is 5 system coins per set, equivalent to 100 strings of cash, 2 Black Tortoise Army armor is 200 million strings of cash. Winged Archer Cavalry Superior Light Armor, the system finished product is 1 system coins per set. Equivalent to 20 strings of cash, 3 Winged Archer Cavalry armor is 60 strings of cash. In addition to horses, weapons, consumables and military pay, the cost is huge.)

All the troops under Li Chengqian have replaced their system equipment, and their combat power has been improved by several levels. If Jie Li knew about this, he would not dare to attack easily. But Jie Li did not know this.

Yin Zitan returned to his tent, and his wife Ashina Baozhu saw Yin Zitan coming back and hurriedly poured him a cup of mare's milk. Ashina Baozhu was ordered to monitor Yin Zitan from the beginning, but later she was fascinated by Yin Zitan's demeanor and fell in love with him completely.

"It's freezing outside. My husband, please drink a glass of wine to warm yourself up. I will cook for you after I feed the child." Ashina Baozhu then picked up the child and fed him.

Yin Zitan has been in Turkic for 5 years and recently had a son, named Yin Cheng'en. He said to the public that he named his son Cheng'en out of gratitude for Jie Li's kindness. But only Yin Zitan knew whose kindness he was actually expressing.

Yin Zitan took a sip of the mare's milk and frowned. This stuff is still so hard to drink, I can't get used to it. Yin Zitan thought to himself.

Putting down the wine bowl, Yinzi asked, "Has the merchant selling medicinal herbs arrived?"

"Here he is. He arrived early in the morning. My husband was called by our father Khan to discuss matters early in the morning, and he is waiting outside the tent now." Ashina Baozhu said.

Yin Zitan bought the medicinal materials he used to refine war slaves from fixed merchants, and he had to personally inspect the medicinal materials. This was well known in the Yazhang, and for this reason, Jie Li repeatedly praised Yin Zitan for his seriousness and responsibility.

Yin Zi poked his head out of the tent and saw a merchant standing at the door of a tent. The merchant leaned over and said with a smile, "Ye Hu, I have prepared the herbs you want. Please come into the tent and check them out." Then he lifted the door curtain and made a gesture of invitation.

Yin Zitan nodded and walked into the tent expressionlessly. After the merchant followed him in, he lifted a corner of the door curtain and carefully observed. Seeing that there was no one outside the tent, the merchant immediately changed his expression, knelt on one knee, and saluted with a serious face.

"I'm Leng Ming, a captain of the Northern Pacification Division of the Jinyiwei. I'm here to see the Northern Pacification Envoy." In recent years, Yin Zitan has been passing on intelligence through Jinyiwei disguised as medicinal material merchants.

"Captain Leng, you and I have known each other for many years, so there's no need to be so polite." Yin Zitan helped Leng Ming up and said.

"The pacification envoy has been lurking in the tiger's den for our lord for many years. We all admire him very much." Leng Ming bowed and smiled.

"My lord has been very kind to me, so such a trivial matter is not worth mentioning. Is my lord okay?" Yin Zi asked.

Leng Ming smiled and said, "My lord is in good health, and is becoming more and more wise and powerful. My lord often asks the commander about the pacification envoy's recent situation, and is very concerned about the pacification envoy. By the way, I am fortunate to have the lord personally summon me and receive his edict this time. The lord has an edict for the Northern Pacification Envoy, Wu Qianyuan." Leng Ming said with a serious face.

"Wu Qianyuan, the pacification envoy of the Northern Pacification Division of the Jinyiwei, kneels to receive the lord's order." Yin Zitan knelt on one knee hurriedly.

"You have gone deep into the tiger's den for the Tang Dynasty and implemented the 'secret assassination' plan. You have made great contributions. I hope you will put your own safety as the first priority. If something goes wrong, you must escape unscathed. Your life is more important than intelligence. When you retire, I will report your achievements to the emperor." Leng Ming said solemnly.

"I am willing to die for my lord." Yin Zi lowered his head and replied. Then he stood up and said.

"Old Jie Li plans to raise an army of 50 to attack Lingzhou when the weather warms up next spring. He will order the cavalry of the Bayegu and Tongluo tribes to besiege Wucheng and tie down our main force. Send this information back to the guards immediately."

Leng Ming received the order and immediately converted the information into a ciphertext, which he then sent to the Jinyiwei via several carrier pigeons. The ciphertext contained the medicinal materials, weight and price. Even if it was intercepted, it would not arouse suspicion. After finishing the work, Yin Zitan returned to the tent to rest.

The secret text was soon passed to Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian looked at the secret text and thought to himself: It is indeed different from the history I know. There was no snow disaster in the fifth year of Zhenguan in the previous life, and the Turks had been destroyed by the Tang Dynasty due to the division of various parts.

He also asked the system whether his appearance changed history. Ling'er told him that the time and space he was in was a brand new time and space, which could be understood as a parallel space, so that Li Chengqian did not need to worry too much.

At this time, the New Year holiday was not over yet, Li Chengqian took the secret report to the palace to ask for an audience with Li Shimin. After reading it, Li Shimin immediately summoned Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and the generals in Beijing to discuss countermeasures. After the ministers read the intelligence, Li Shimin spoke.

"Gentlemen, what do you think?"

"We should strike first." Li Jing stroked his beard and said.

"Brother Yao is right." Fang Xuanling nodded.

"Then how can we take the initiative?" Li Shimin asked.

"Your Majesty, I think we should take advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation and gather troops from Datong, Bingzhou, Dingxiang, Jinhe, Heng'an, Lingzhou, and other places, plus the 10 troops under the command of His Royal Highness, for a total of 25. We should attack from multiple directions and lure Jie Li to confront our army outside Liangzhou.

I will lead a light cavalry army from Mayi, take advantage of Jie Li's escape, march overnight, approach the Turkic camp, and cut off its roots. Then, several armies will surround it and defeat the Eastern Turkic in one battle. "Li Jing said while pointing to the map.

"What do you think, Dalang?" Li Shimin asked.

"Using the right tactics to win, and the unexpected to win, Uncle Yaoshi is worthy of being a famous general of the time." Li Chengqian sighed. Li Jing even said he was not worthy of it.

"I think I should lead the Feilong and Xuanwu armies out of Liangzhou as bait to lure Jie Li here. Uncle Li Jing will lead the Feiyi archers to leave Mayi according to my uncle's plan. I have nothing else to add." Li Jing was a famous general of his time, and the plan he proposed was already very complete.

Li Chengqian never dared to underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. Besides, everyone has his own expertise, and a monarch should know how to appoint people and make the best use of the talents of his subjects, instead of doing everything himself.

"Well, all we need is a reason." Li Shimin said.

"This is easy. Just let the Jinyiwei create a scene where the Turks are robbing Tang Dynasty merchants, isn't that enough?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

"Okay. This time, the Tang Dynasty will divide its troops into six groups to destroy the Eastern Turks. I will personally be the Grand Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition and the Commander-in-Chief of the Dingxiang Road Army, and the Crown Prince will be the deputy commander, leading the central army.

Xu Shiji, Duke of Ying, the governor of Bingzhou, was the commander-in-chief of the Tongmo Road army. He led the main force from the east to directly attack the heartland of the Eastern Turks.

Chai Shao, the Duke of Huo and the governor of Huazhou, was the commander-in-chief of the Jinhe Road army. He was advancing along the Yellow River in the west, echoing me and Xu Shiji from afar.

Li Daozon, the Minister of Rites and Prince of Rencheng, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Datong Road army, with Shibobi and Qibi Heli as his deputies. They advanced from Lingzhou to the northwest.

Wei Xiaojie, the acting governor of Youzhou, was appointed as the marching commander of Heng'an Road, guarding the Yanyun area to prevent the Turkic army from escaping eastward.

Li Jing, Duke of Dai and Minister of War, was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition. He led the Flying Wing Archers out of Mayi and, taking advantage of Jie Li's absence, marched overnight and approached the Turkic camp.

I order the Crown Prince to lead the Flying Dragon Army as the vanguard and go out of the pass to meet the enemy first. The Black Tortoise Army will follow my central army.

"Order Li Tai, the Prince of Wei, and Li Ke, the Prince of Shu, to jointly supervise the state, and Fang Xuanling, the Minister of the Left, the Duke of Wei, and Changsun Wuji, the Minister of the Right, the Duke of Zhao, to assist them and ensure the logistics of the army," Li Shimin ordered.

"Once the Jinyiwei finish setting up the plan, we will send troops immediately. Gentlemen, this is a war to annihilate a country, and I hope you will fight bravely." Li Shimin said.

"We will follow His Majesty's instructions." Everyone clasped their fists.

A few days later, a group of Tang merchants in the Eastern Turkic territory were robbed by the Eastern Turkic. Of course, this was planned by the Jinyiwei.

The news was immediately passed back to the Tang Dynasty, and was deliberately exaggerated by the Jinyiwei. The people of the Tang Dynasty were very excited, and Li Shimin took the opportunity to use it as an excuse to issue an imperial decree to send troops to attack the Eastern Turks.

Li Chengqian had already secretly led the Feilong Army to Liangzhou first. Liangzhou Governor Xue Wanche greeted Li Chengqian outside Liangzhou City.

When Li Chengqian saw Xue Wanche, he immediately dismounted. He saluted and said with a smile, "General, I haven't seen you for many years. I hope you are well."

"Your Majesty, I am Xue Wanche, a former general of the Prince's Mansion and the Governor of Liangzhou. I am here to pay my respects to His Majesty the Crown Prince." Xue Wanche knelt on one knee and saluted.

"Haha, the general is an old general in my mansion. Being so polite will make you look distant with Chengqian." Li Chengqian laughed and helped Xue Wanche up.

Xue Wanche stood up and invited Li Chengqian into the city to welcome him. Li Chengqian followed Xue Wanche into the city, and the Feilong Army stationed outside the city.

A few days later, Li Shimin led the Imperial Guard and the Xuanwu Army to arrive lightly. Li Chengqian and Xue Wanche welcomed him and reorganized the troops. Then they joined forces and entered the territory of the Eastern Turks. At this time, the rest of the troops had already set out according to the plan.

When the news reached the Eastern Turkic garrison, Jie Li was shocked. After discussing with Liang Shidu and Yin Zitan, they decided to lead their army to attack Li Shimin, the center of the Tang army, in order to capture the king first.

At this time, the Eastern Turkic tribes had not yet assembled their 50-strong army, so Jie Li ordered all tribes to organize their troops to gather. However, what Jie Li did not expect was that all the tribes under the Eastern Turkic tribes were dragging their feet and delaying the dispatch of troops for various reasons.

Jie Li was so angry that he cursed endlessly, but he could do nothing. Jie Li had to lead all 20 troops to meet the enemy.

A few days later, the front reported that the Eastern Turkic troops were less than 30 miles away from Li Shimin's central army. Li Shimin ordered the central army to set up camp.

When Jie Li learned that Li Shimin's central army was less than 30 miles away from him, he immediately ordered his troops to set up camp and sent an envoy to ask Li Shimin why he tore up the alliance and sent troops to attack the Eastern Turks.

The envoy arrived at the Tang camp, met Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, and explained his purpose. Before Li Shimin could speak, Li Chengqian suddenly swung his sword and cut off the envoy's right arm.

"I'll spare your life. Go back and tell old Jie Li that you shouldn't bring up the alliance. How dare you, the Turks, kill our Tang merchants and still dare to mention the alliance to me?

My army has arrived. If Jie Li surrenders, I can spare his life. Otherwise, let old Jie Li wash his neck and wait for death. I am too lazy to negotiate with him this time. See you tomorrow on the battlefield. "

The messenger covered his wound and left the Tang camp to return to the Eastern Turkic camp. The messenger repeated Li Chengqian's words to Jie Li, who was furious and cursed. He ordered a decisive battle with the Tang army tomorrow.

On the Tang camp side, Li Shimin also ordered a major battle with the Eastern Turks tomorrow.

A sudden war is about to break out.