The negotiations between the Sui and Tang dynasties have entered the third round. Wei Yunqi, the Minister of Personnel, as the plenipotent representative of the regent Zhang Xuan, proposed three major conditions to the Tang side. First, the Sui army could withdraw from Pujin Pass and Hedong City, but the Tang side had to pay a price. Wei Yunqi offered a sky-high price of one million stones of grain, but this was only the first condition.

The second condition was that the Tang side had to hand over the 10,000 craftsmen living in Guanzhong to the Sui Dynasty; and the third condition was that Chang'an was unacceptable. The Tang side had to admit that Shangdang County and Changping County belonged to the Sui Dynasty, and on this basis, re-signed the armistice agreement between the two sides.

These three conditions were firmly opposed by Wen Daya, but he had no decision-making power, so he sent an eagle letter back to Chang'an for instructions overnight.

To Wen Daya's expectations, these three extremely harsh conditions also aroused strong indignation among the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty in Chang'an, especially represented by Li Shimin, a pro-war faction, who strongly demanded to regain the cities and land occupied by the Sui army by war and never give in.

Li Shimin gained unanimous support from the court officials. At this time, the prince Li Jiancheng, the prince, was forced to change his attitude and had to agree with Li Shimin's plan, supplementing the war to prompt Zhongdu to make concessions.

Li Yuan then made up his mind to command Li Shimin to launch a full-scale attack on Pujin Pass.

In the imperial study of Wude Hall, Li Jiancheng said to the emperor Li Yuan worriedly: "My son can understand everyone's anger, but if we can regain the land of Bingzhou in one battle, why should we send people to Zhongdu to negotiate? My son is afraid that he can't take Bingzhou and there is no room for bargaining."

"You think we can't get it?"

Li Jiancheng sighed and said, "Maybe he can take Pujin Pass, but Hedong City is tall and strong, easy to defend but difficult to attack. With only 30,000 troops, I think it is unrealistic, not to mention Shangdang County and Changping County. If an agreement is reached through negotiation, we can at least get back Hedong City. But if we fight and cannot take Hedong City, what should we do if Taiyuan? Father, it is easy to be angry, but it is difficult to be calm!"

Li Yuan walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. The eldest son's words were not unreasonable, but the conditions offered by Zhongdu were infuriating. Even if Li Yuan was the emperor, he could not risk the ruthlessness of the world to agree to Zhongdu's conditions!

After a while, Li Yuan couldn't help but sigh: "I want to calm down, but the conditions proposed by Zhongdu are too excessive. All the civil and military officials of the court unanimously support the King of Qin to fight. What else can I say? I can only hope that the Tang army will win the flag and win Pujin Pass and Hedong City."

Li Jiancheng was silent for a moment, but he finally did not say "What should I do if I can't take it?". He could understand his father's helplessness. His father was hostage by the civil and military officials of the court and had to agree to send troops.

Li Jiancheng stopped mentioning this matter and changed the topic: "Father, the son-in-law has come up with a specific plan for recruiting troops, and has now been transferred to the Ministry of War. I hope the father will approve the implementation as soon as possible."

It is also an imminent matter for the Tang army to increase its troops. At present, the Tang army's army has only 150,000 troops, while the Sui army has 250,000 troops, and it is said that it is still preparing to expand its troops to 350,000.

Judging from the number of troops, the Sui army had far surpassed the Tang army, which made the court feel huge pressure. Especially the embarrassment shown by the Sui army during this Eastern Expedition, which made every minister realize that if the Tang Dynasty had enough troops to defend Guanzhong and Bingzhou, the King of Qin would not have been forced to withdraw his troops when he was victorious.

The court reached a consensus in the short term, but Li Shimin's request to increase troops to 350,000 has made many ministers hesitate. They are worried that the court will not be able to bear such a large military expenditure, but in the end, everyone still reached a compromise, first increasing troops to 270,000, and then gradually increasing troops to 350,000 within three years.

Of course, Li Yuan knew the serious consequences of insufficient troops, so he immediately said to Li Jiancheng: "I will approve the recruitment plan today. You can go and prepare first!"

Pujin Pass is a natural danger to Bingzhou, and it is connected to the opposite bank of the Yellow River by a long iron chain bridge, but Pujin Pass is not a natural danger to Guanzhong. Since Pujin Pass and Guanzhong are connected by land, its military defense capabilities can only be regarded as a slightly difficult pass to attack.

Currently, there are 3,000 Sui troops stationed in Pujin Pass. The guard is Yuchi Gong's beloved general Wang Xuanjing. Several miles west of Pujin Pass, 15,000 Tang troops, led by General Li Shentong, built a camp to confront the Sui army. However, so far, the Tang army has not taken back Pujin Pass just to prevent the Sui army from entering Guanzhong.

That morning, Li Shimin led a 15,000 army to Pujin Pass. Together with Li Shentong's army, a total of 30,000 troops will participate in the battle to recapture Pujin Pass and Hedong City.

Li Shimin rode a horse to the pass surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. He looked at the pass from a distance hundreds of steps away. Although he had passed by Pujin Pass more than once, it was the first time he had looked at the pass from the west from a military perspective.

Pujin Pass is a small hill. Behind the mountain is the surging Yellow River. The hills are lush with trees and huge rocks. A straight mountain road leads directly to the majestic pass on the hills. However, the mountain road is not steep or long, only more than 80 steps.

Li Shimin used a horse whip to pass and smiled at Li Shentong: "Did Uncle San see that? Although Pujin Pass looks majestic, it is actually not difficult to hit."

Li Shentong and the Sui army have been confronted by more than 20 days and have already figured out every detail of the pass. When Li Shimin said this, he smiled and said, "The biggest advantage of this pass is that it has the natural danger of the Yellow River, but for us, the natural danger of the Yellow River is gone. Moreover, there are too many trees on the mountain, huge rocks stand, and trees are even born close to the city wall, which is convenient for attacking soldiers to block it, making the pass look majestic, but it is not difficult to seize it."

"Why didn't Uncle San take it off?"

Li Shimin's tone was very plain, but his eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction. This pass could be captured, but Li Shentong had 15,000 people but refused to work hard. He was just relying on hopes for negotiations.

"This emperor did not issue an order to solve the problem, so as a minister, it is not easy to send troops without authorization."

"But the emperor did not issue an order to give up Pujin Pass, Uncle San, I'm right!" Li Shimin looked at Li Shentong with a smile.

Li Shentong heard the dissatisfaction in Li Shimin's tone, and he sighed and said, "Shimin, please rest assured. This time, Pujin Pass was thrown in He Panyi's hands, which can be regarded as thrown in my hands. No matter what, I will definitely lead by example and take back Pujin Pass."

But what Li Shimin wanted was not Li Shentong who led the way. What he wanted was Li Shentong handing over the army to himself and he would coordinate the battle.

After a moment of silence, Li Shimin said: "This time I took back Pujin Pass and Hedong City by my father's will. My father gave me 30,000 troops. In addition to the 15,000 troops I brought, there were 15,000 people in the hands of Uncle San. I need to command this army with full authority and don't want to bother Uncle San."

Li Shimin said it very bluntly, that is, Li Shentong handed over the army and was under his unified command.

There were also many factions within the Li Tang Dynasty, which was directly related to Li Yuan's establishment of the Tang Dynasty. When Li Shimin was the left governor, he controlled the army in Taiyuan and the Sui army that later surrendered. Li Jian became the right governor, and the 30,000 troops he brought from Hanoi County.

In addition, Li Yuanji served as the left-behind leader in Taiyuan, and he also controlled 50,000 remaining troops in Bingzhou. He would never hand over this military power.

There are also the Bashu Army controlled by Li Xiaogong and the 30,000 Guanzhong Army controlled by Li Shentong.

Li Shentong's army was originally a rioter in Guanzhong. He was incorporated by him and was included in his command. His generals were such as Qiu Shili, He Panren, Sheng Yanshi and others.

Therefore, Li Shentong admitted that it was his responsibility to He Panyi for not defending Pujin Pass, and the logic was precisely because the Pujin Pass defenders were his army.

Li Shimin's frankness and frankness made Li Shentong look a little ugly, but he could not refuse Li Shimin's request, which was a clear statement in the imperial edict.

After hesitating for a while, Li Shentong had to nod, "Okay! I am willing to help Shimin seize Pujin Pass and Hedong City. I am just giving advice and the army will be temporarily handed over to Shimin Commander."

Li Shentong deliberately emphasized the word "temporary", and he must also be in the army to prevent Li Shimin from cleaning up and rectifying his army.
Chapter completed!