Li Jiancheng made up his mind. For the future and long-term stability of the court, he did not hesitate to offend his father and other important officials, and must completely dig out the bad roots of the court's direct command of the generals to fight.

Li Jiancheng continued: "We might as well ask General Xiaogong and listen to his thoughts at that time."

Li Jiancheng turned around and said to Li Xiaogong: "His Highness Zhao County Prince, if you were the only one who made the decisions on the Jiangxia Battle at that time, what would you do?"

Li Jiancheng had communicated with Li Xiaogong before and had a deep understanding of the situation at that time. If the court had not decided to let Li Xiaogong's army go to rescue Jiangxia at that time, the final outcome would have not been so clean.

Li Xiaogong said slowly: "At that time, Weijun had nearly 100,000 troops, most of which were Xiao Xian's surrendered troops. When the news of the Sui army capturing Baling County came, the morale of the army was a little unstable. At that time, all the generals advised me to return from the original route and take back Baling County while the Sui army was not stable. With the sufficient food and food resources and solid defense in Baling County, and the important strategic position of Baling County, even if the Sui army seized Jiangxia, it would be difficult for him to take down Nanjun. But in the end, Weijun went north to Jiangxia and was blocked on the south bank of Fushui. The food was about to be cut off. If he wanted to go to Baling County, there was no food support. It was not until Weijun used the strategy of cutting off his arms to survive and lost most of the troops, so he was able to concentrate food and retreat westward. However, the remaining 20,000 troops could no longer regain Baling County."

"Did you know the difficulty of crossing Jiugong Mountain at that time?" Li Jiancheng continued to ask.

Li Xiaogong nodded, "The guide made it clear. He calculated the food at that time and could fully support it to the north bank of Fushui. Although the marching was a little more difficult, the losses would not be too great."

"Why?"

Li Jiancheng pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Why was the general only considering supporting the north shore of Fushui?"

Li Xiaogong glanced at Li Shenfu and said hatefully: "Because the Jiangxia army should have been stationed on the north bank of Fushui to meet us, instead of watching tens of thousands of Sui army troops enter Fushui from the waterway, intercepting us on the south bank of Fushui, and falling into a dilemma and falling into a desperate situation."

Everyone looked at Li Shenfu. If it was just a strategic decision-making mistake, it was just a matter of responsibility. But the current problem became that Li Shenfu refused to save him, which was a crime, and this problem suddenly became bigger.

In order to prepare for this day, Li Shenfu explained to the emperor more than once that he had obtained the emperor's understanding. Now that Li Xiaogong publicly attacked him, how could Li Shenfu show weakness? He said calmly: "The prince is too excited. This will destroy the atmosphere of the political affairs hall to discuss politics, and it is not the original intention of the emperor."

A big hat first cast Li Xiaogong to death. Li Shenfu stood up and bowed to Li Yuan and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister does not want to affect the political discussion, but it is related to reputation. The old minister has to say, please allow the old minister to defend himself."

Li Shenfu had long seen through Li Yuan's surface and did not want to hold any responsibility in his heart, so he stated that he did not want to affect the political discussion. The implication was that I didn't want to be troublesome, but the other party forced me to say that he first accused Li Xiaogong of destroying the atmosphere, and then clearly stated his attitude, and cleverly pushed the responsibility to Li Xiaogong with a small skill.

At this moment, Li Yuan's anger disappeared instead. He became hidden and no one could see what he was thinking. Li Yuan nodded, "Agree!"

Li Shenfu walked to the atrium and bowed to Li Yuan and his ministers, then slowly said: "The Battle of Jiangxia is a pain in my heart. I didn't want to mention it anymore, but General Xiaogong imposed a crime of not saving me, which shocked me. In order to safeguard the credibility of the emperor and my own reputation, I had to stand up and defend it.

First of all, we need to make it clear that the battle of Jiangxia was fought, not the battle of Fushui. Why should we make it clear? This is why I defended Wuchang County to the death. The 100,000 troops of the Northern Sui Dynasty were led by Zhang Xuan to attack Jiangxia. Fushui interception was just a division of troops, not the main goal. Their main goal was still Wuchang County. If you capture Wuchang County, you will also take the opportunity to capture Jiangxia. Therefore, I cannot give up Wuchang County and go to station troops in Fushui. To put it bluntly, that is, you are not doing your job properly."

Just as Li Xiaogong was about to refute, Li Shenfu waved his hand and said coldly: "Your Highness, please allow me to finish my words, just like I didn't interrupt you just now."

Li Xiaogong had to suppress the anger in his heart. The other party was simply turning black and white, talking nonsense, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Li Shenfu continued: "100,000 Northern Sui troops stationed troops on the other side of the Yangtze River, and thousands of warships surrounded Wuchang City. I prepare for my troops every day and prepare to fight the Northern Sui troops to the end. Even if I die to the last person, I will never give up. But I am also worried. Jiangxia is the main production area of ​​the Tang Dynasty's pig iron, and there are tens of millions of pig iron in the Wuchang warehouse. I am not willing to die in battle. However, if I lose Jiangxia, it will seriously endanger the national strength of the Tang Dynasty. Later, I received a military report from the court that the army of the Eastern Expedition would aid Jiangxia in the north. I was overjoyed at the time. The soldiers celebrated their wise decisions and cheered for the court's wise decision."

At this time, Li Jiancheng's face began to change. Li Shenfu was no longer targeting Li Xiaogong, but began to point his finger at him. He just said that the court had interfered too deeply in the military and made a wrong decision. However, Li Shenfu praised the court's wise decision-making as the general in question. However, Li Jiancheng was very well-educated. He did not interrupt Li Shenfu's words, but asked him to continue speaking.

Not only did Li Jiancheng hear the implicit sound of Li Shenfu, but all the ministers in the hall understood it. Everyone had to admire Li Shenfu's smooth and experienced officialdom. In contrast, Li Xiaogong seemed too hard, too straightforward, hard and easy to fold, and simply fragile. Li Xiaogong was still a little tender when talking about military affairs in the court.

Chen Shuda was secretly paying attention to the emperor's attitude. He found that although Li Yuan was still silent, a hint of undetectable praise flashed in his eyes. Chen Shuda sighed in his heart that this time, this time, Li Xiaogong would probably not be able to escape responsibility.

Li Shenfu continued: "The Eastern Expedition Legion went north to Jiangxia, which is a strategic plan. Since it is a strategic plan, of course it should be decided by the court. However, when it comes to the specific north, it is not as simple as treating guests. But even if it is treating guests, both sides must communicate in advance. When will the guests come? The host can prepare the meal on time and pack the hospitality hall. This is the etiquette that small families should also talk about when treating guests.

But our Prince Zhao is different from others and does not send anyone to contact me in advance. I look at each other at the top of the city every day, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, but no news came. Finally, when I received the news of the two sending soldiers, Prince Zhao had already led his army to the south bank of Fushui, which shocked me very much. Just as the guest suddenly appeared in front of the master's door without prior notice. The master was not ready yet. Now Prince Zhao accused me of not going out to greet him. The ministers commented on him, was it because my master was not well treated well, or was Prince Zhao's guest embarrassed by the master?"

Li Shenfu was very well prepared. He avoided the light and took the heavy weight. He applied the example of treating guests to dinner, which everyone understood, and almost all the responsibility was pushed to Li Xiaogong. Li Xiaogong had no contact in advance and committed a military taboo.

Li Xiaogong said coldly: "Have you finished speaking?"

Li Shenfu smiled, "Of course I haven't finished speaking, but seeing that His Highness the Prince seems to be unable to bear it anymore, so I might as well listen carefully first."

"It's simply nonsense!" Li Xiaogong could no longer hold back his anger and squeezed out a angrily scolding from the cracks of his teeth.

All the ministers changed their faces. This was a matter of the Political Affairs Hall. How could Prince Zhao be so disobedient? Even Li Jiancheng on the side couldn't help but remind him: "General Xiaogong, you should ask the emperor first."

Li Xiaogong suddenly woke up and had to hold back his anger and bow to him, "Please ask Your Majesty to defend me."

Li Yuan still had no expression and said lightly: "Accurate!"

Li Xiaogong then retorted: "War is not about treating guests to dinner. The two armies should be fighting, and the enemy should be expected to be ahead. Zhang Xuan did not know the decision of the Eastern Expedition Army to go north to Jiangxia, but he could lead the army into Fushui in time. However, the prince said that he knew nothing and did not act, and he also put the blame on the Eastern Expedition Army. How could the Sui army know to divide the troops to intercept, but the prince did not know how to divide the troops to rescue?"

"The reason for this is clearly stated just now. Our strength is not as strong as the other party. The Sui army's warships controlled the Yangtze River. Of course, they knew very well about the every move of the army in the east, but how could I know? If I could control the entire situation in Jiangxia like the Sui army, would I still need the army in the east to provide assistance?"

"This is wrong. Just now, the prince himself admitted that 100,000 Northern Sui troops stationed troops on the other side. Jiangxia only had thousands of warships cruising on the river, but there were no Sui troops on the land. Even iron mines were still mining normally. The prince still controlled Jiangxia, how could he say he knew nothing?"

"The situation is not as simple as His Highness the Prince thought. The reason why the Sui army did not land in Jiangxia was that they were waiting for me to divide the troops south, and then they could annihilate them in one fell swoop. In fact, I did divide the troops south. General Li Shilei led 10,000 troops to go south to Fushui support. What happened? Tens of thousands of Sui cavalry had been ambushing and waiting, and General Li Shilei's 10,000 troops were completely destroyed."

"That happened later. The Sui army had already landed. At that time, we had cut off food and could not continue to survive. I had already led the army to retreat westward. The prince sent troops to support him. But before the Sui army landed, why did the prince stop moving?"

The two of them faced each other's reasons. In fact, several smart ministers had already understood that Li Shenfu was indeed suspected of being passive and unwilling to rescue Li Xiaogong's army. However, Li Shenfu was well prepared. From various perspectives, he also took good care of the emotions of the court and the emperor. He was very clever and successfully concealed the fact that he was unfavorable to rescue.

However, Li Xiaogong is really not good at court fighting. He is obviously the victim, but he acts in a rude way and insists on grasping Li Shenfu in advance and fails to do anything. The reason seems very pale, and Li Shenfu has obviously gained the upper hand.

Li Shenfu felt that he was sure to win, but he still needed to stab Li Xiaogong hard at the end. Li Shenfu sneered and said, "Did the Sui army land and ambush? No one knew at that time that the prince was making speculation here now. Zhuge Liang was just afterwards. The first principle for generals is to be cautious. Without absolute certainty, I would not divide my troops south before. Once I was divided and surrounded by cavalry and defeated each one, Wuchang would be over. In fact, Wuchang County has never been lost, and I have never been defeated. The court has the capital to bargain with the Northern Sui Dynasty. The reason is that I adhere to the principle of prudence.

On the contrary, His Highness, the Prince of the Prince, took the principle of caution very lightly. I really can't figure out how the general was to only bring dry food for a few days. Isn't that put himself in a desperate situation? The defeat of Prince of Zhao Fushui was actually destined when he was in Jiujiang County. There was no need to put the blame on me, let alone the responsibility on the court."

Li Xiaogong was almost madly angry. He roared without thinking: "You can't walk on Jiugong Mountain, I can only bring food for seven days at most. Who made the decision? Is it me?"

There was a silence in the hall for a moment, and Li Yuan's face was extremely cold.
Chapter completed!