The news of Sheng Yan's surrender, Li Shenfu died, and the news that the Hexi army was defeated in Huining County was as if it had grown wings and spread to Chang'an in just two days.

There were also 30,000 Sui troops sent troops to Yan'an County. The Tang army stationed in Yan'an County was forced to retreat south. A series of painful failures hit Tang Ting, who had not recovered from the fall of the capital and the death of the queen. The clouds of sorrow over Chang'an were shrouded in sorrow that the good news of the breakthrough of Luoyang could not break through the clouds above Chang'an.

In the Qin Palace, Li Shimin had just returned from Luoyang in triumphantly. There was no joyful sound of gongs and drums, no father and emperor led all officials to welcome him, and no food and pots of Chang'an people.

With only a series of heavy blows, Chang'an City was captured by 10,000 Sui cavalry led by Yang Yuanqing by sneak attacks; his father was forced to agree to withdraw his troops from Luoyang, which meant that he killed 20,000 Tang soldiers. Luoyang, which he fought to the death, was finally handed over to the Sui army.

More importantly, Li Shimin could no longer withstand the heavy blow, and he fell ill. In the ward, Li Shimin lay quietly on the couch, staring at the roof with a dull look.

The ambitions he had in his heart were now like rivers passing east, leaving them forever. Li Shimin, who suffered repeated setbacks, was finally a little discouraged.

He felt that his strategic vision was not wrong, but why did he fail repeatedly when applying specific tactics? In his memory, it seems that he had never beat Yang Yuanqing once, and why did he fail repeatedly in front of Yang Yuanqing?

Perhaps failure can make people clear-headed. After long-term thinking, Li Shimin gradually understood that there are many reasons for Yang Yuanqing's repeated victory.

For example, when employing people, he came from the Yang family of Hongnong, but never valued the Yang family's children, Li Jing, Xu Shiji, Qin Qiong, Su Dingfang, Pei Xingyan, Luo Shixin, etc. These generals can all stand alone. He trusts to hand over the army to them and let them command one side.

He even handed over the army to Qin Qiong and entrusted the capital to him. This trust made his subordinates emerge in many talents and shine with stars.

However, the father never handed over the army to commanders outside the royal family, and even his own sons did not believe it. This narrow vision made the Tang army deeply bound and might be able to defeat Wang Shichong and Xiao Xian, a small force like Xiao Xian, would be defeated repeatedly when dealing with the more powerful and vibrant Sui Dynasty, and eventually even the capital was captured, and the morale of the army and the people were lost.

If you look deeper, it is actually that the Shandong gentry defeated the Guanlong nobles. The New Sui Dynasty supported by the Shandong gentry became increasingly powerful, while the Guanlong nobles supported the Tang Dynasty were increasingly declining.

So far, even the equal-field system cannot be implemented, and there are still large estates on the land of Guanlong. Not only are the interests of the Guanlong nobles not touched, the royal relatives also occupied a large number of land. Yin Guiping and others were rewarded without any meritorious service, but they refused to reward the soldiers who had meritorious service. In this way, how could the Tang Dynasty get the support of the people at the bottom of Guanlong and how could the soldiers work hard?

It can be seen from the Yin Guiping case that the royal relatives and Guanlong nobles had already extended their hands to monopolize land into Bashu and even Jingxiang. The Yin Guiping case was finally left unresolved under the protection of his father, which made Li Shimin full of indignation and helplessness.

In contrast, Yang Yuanqing used iron-fisted means to clean up the Wang family in Taiyuan and clean up the officialdom in Hebei, which made the Sui Dynasty govern the administration of the Qingming Festival. The Shandong gentry did not dare to seize profits and invade the people. The rewards and punishments were clearly distinguished and the soldiers used their lives. The Qingming Festival received support from the people.

One was clear and one was muddy. One was long and one disappeared. Li Shimin was extremely worried. He gradually lost confidence in the future of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Li Shimin's wife Changsun walked in carefully with the medicine. Seeing that her husband was in good spirits, she was filled with sorrow. She advised him softly: "My mother was tortured by illness. Now that the immortal is gone, it is actually a kind of relief. People cannot be resurrected after death. Husband wants to be more open!"

Li Shimin sighed, "I am not worried about my mother's death, but about the future of the Tang Dynasty. Can I still get rid of such a big setback this time?"

Changsun laughed, "If this is the case, we shouldn't sigh even more. Victory and defeat are common things in military affairs. Your husband is a general who leads troops. Why bother to worry about being in the heart and find someone to talk to you? Maybe it's better. Mr. Fang is still waiting for his husband in the study outside?"

When Li Shimin heard that Fang Xuanling was coming, he quickly sat up and said, "I have to go see him!"

"Put on a piece of clothing before going."

Changsun put a thick jacket on him and asked him to drink the medicine again, so he let Li Shimin go out.

In Li Shimin's outer study, Fang Xuanling, who had always been calm, was no longer calm. The news that Sheng Yan's army surrendered and the Sui army wiped out Li Shenfu Army made him extremely anxious. He knew very well the seriousness of this matter. Not only the crisis in Guannei Road, but also the Hexi Road could not be saved.

If Hexi Road is not guaranteed, the 400,000 war horses of the Tang Dynasty will become a vain. This is the only hope for the Tang Dynasty's strong army. Without war horses, the Tang army will have no hope.

But what made Fang Xuanling even more anxious was that the news came early in the morning, but it was almost noon now. All the officials of the court were only talking about Li Shenfu's death, but no one mentioned Hexi. Could it be that they did not realize the serious consequences of this disastrous defeat?

But Fang Xuanling was also a little hesitant. He was hesitating whether he should tell Li Shimin about this. The queen had just passed away and Luoyang lost again. Li Shimin had suffered too many blows. Can he still hold on to the Hexi affairs? Fang Xuanling was very worried, but it would not be possible if he didn't say it. The situation was so critical that it was so fierce.

At this time, heavy footsteps came from behind. Fang Xuanling was very familiar with the footsteps. It was the King of Qin who arrived, but some of the steps were heavy. It was obvious that Fang Xuanling was a little hesitant when he was sick.

"Sir, do you have any urgent matters to come to me?" Li Shimin walked into the house and asked with a smile.

"I'm here... to visit Your Highness's illness." Fang Xuanling sighed in his heart, but he still couldn't tell the truth.

"I'm fine, there's no big problem, I'm feeling a little bit."

Li Shimin sat down and pointed at the bed, "Sir, please sit down!"

A maid came up with two cups of tea. Li Shimin picked up the teacup and took a sip. He smiled and said, "Sir, tell me! What's the matter?"

"I'm indeed here to visit His Highness."

Li Shimin laughed, "There is no reason to visit patients in the study. I can do anything urgent. Just say that I can hold on!"

Fang Xuanling sighed, "Then I will just say it. Sheng Yan's army surrendered in Huining County. Li Shenfu led 20,000 troops to support him. As a result, he was trapped and the entire army was wiped out. Li Shenfu didn't know the life and death."

"ah!"

This news shocked Li Shimin to his mind. After a while, he said anxiously: "What about Hexi? Does the emperor send reinforcements to Hexi?"

Fang Xuanling sighed secretly, worthy of being the King of Qin, and saw the key to the problem at a glance. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's this now. Neither the Emperor nor the court seem to have realized the consequences. There is no news yet."

"No! I want to go to my father."

Li Shimin was anxious. He knew very well that once Hexi Road was out of control, the Tang Dynasty would lose its war horses, and the plan to become cavalry in the entire army would be completely lost, with 400,000 war horses!

He got up to change court clothes, walked to the door and said to Fang Xuanling: "You go and inform Pei Ji and let him go to the imperial study room immediately. Without further ado, go now."

"Your Highness, wait for a moment." Fang Xuanling called him.

"What else?"

Fang Xuanling carefully reminded him, "Your Highness must insist on liquidating Huining County's responsibility."

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment. He knew what Fang Xuanling meant. The disastrous defeat in Huining County was the deployment of the prince. The Hexi crisis and the death of Li Shenfu were all caused by the prince. The prince could be held accountable. Although this is the case, Li Shimin felt that this is not the time for internal struggle.

Fang Xuanling saw Li Shimin's hesitation and reminded him: "What I mean is that if the prince wants to hold the prince responsible for this dispatch...."

Li Shimin nodded. He understood what Fang Xuanling meant, "I understand, I will depend on the situation."

Li Shimin left the door and hurried to his inner room.

......

In fact, things were not as Fang Xuanling thought. No one cared about the defeat of Huining County. In the side hall of Wude Hall, Li Yuan and five prime ministers and the prince were urgently discussing the crisis caused by the defeat of Huining County. However, they were not thinking the same as Li Shimin. They were not trying to send troops to regain Hexi, but they were discussing peace with the Sui Dynasty.

"Dear friends, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, wars have continued. The court has reached the brink of collapse. The people are determined and I don't want to fight anymore. Therefore, I have to discuss with you all about how to negotiate peace with the Sui Dynasty. Both sides will stop their troops, stop the flag and rest, and rest for the people's livelihood."

Chen Shuda stood up and responded, "Your Majesty is right. I really feel that the people are tired of war when I visit the market. My morale is now sluggish. Your Majesty advocates that a ceasefire is an act of conforming to the people's hearts and the morale of the army. I firmly agree."

Li Yuan nodded and asked Xiao Yu again, "What about Xiao Aiqing's opinion?"

Xiao Yu knew in his heart that everything Li Yuan said was an excuse. In fact, to put it bluntly, he was afraid of being beaten by Yang Yuanqing, but Xiao Yu himself was also more opposed to war, and the war burdened the court too heavily.

Since Li Yuan asked him, he naturally had to answer, "Your Majesty, this year's food harvest is poor, and the tax is only 70% of last year, which can no longer meet the daily expenses of the imperial court. Originally, after we paid the Sui Dynasty food, there were still surplus grains to support disaster resistance and the payment of the Lumi rice at the end of the year. However, this time, the troops sent to Luoyang and the Guanguan City have consumed 300,000 stones of grain, and the pensions of the fallen soldiers. I calculated that it would cost at least about 250,000 stones, and the stored grain in the official warehouses in various places was only 200,000 stones, which was not enough to pay the pensions for the dead, let alone the expenditure of the Lumi rice at the end of the year. The question now is, what should we do if the Sui Dynasty requests compensation?"

The hall was silent, and Xiao Yu's words were at a critical point. If there was no money and food, what would you use to negotiate peace with the Sui Dynasty?

After a while, Li Jiancheng said: "Father, I think that the Sui Dynasty had just experienced a war with the Turks, and was equally exhausted. Moreover, the hinterland of Hedong was severely damaged. I think Yang Yuanqing didn't want to fight again. Therefore, as long as both sides treat each other with sincerity, there may not be any compensation. I am willing to go to Huining County to negotiate with Yang Yuanqing in person."

.............(To be continued...)
Chapter completed!