Chapter 357 Northward and Westward
However, after the banquet, Zhu Yuanzhang, Chang Yanheng, Zhang Jian, Zhang Zhen'e, Xu Qiande, brother-in-law Guo Xing and others returned to the tent and took out more wine to continue drinking. After all, it was a celebration banquet hosted by His Majesty himself, so everyone drank heavily, which led to the second banquet.

At the table, Old Zhu looked at everyone with a clear mind and said, "We have all received great favors from the King of Qi. The King of Qi's affairs are our affairs. What do you think?"

"Brother Zhu's words are what we all think. If anyone dares to betray the King of Qi, I, Chang Yanheng, will be the first to disagree."

In addition to Zhu, Murong Sanzang and Huang Junhan from Wagang also gathered together, as well as Yu Zhongheng and the Dou brothers.

This also represents the major factions under Li Yuanhui.

The Jianghuai faction, the surrendered generals faction, as well as relatives and old friends.

In addition, the Jianghuai faction also has its own factions, among which the Zhang brothers are considered to be in-laws, the people of Tianzhu Mountain, and the Huaixi warriors headed by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although everyone has their own plans, one thing is certain: the interests of the Prince of Qi's Mansion are their interests. Of course, if the emperor personally came out to win over the people, it would be hard to say whether the situation would change.

On the other hand, before and after Li Yuan arrived in Jinyang, Liu Xuanji was ambushed by the Turks in the Yanmen area of ​​Dai County.

The Turkic Khan Shibi led 200,000 troops to invade Hebei, and sent his brother Jili Khan to lead an army of 100,000 to Dai County to block the Yan army from returning to Hebei for reinforcements.

Yu Jingxing has already been threatened by the Tang army. If the road from Daibei to Hebei is cut off, Liu Xuanji will face the situation of being trapped and killed.

However, before Liu Xuanji led his army to Dai County, the vanguard cavalry led by generals such as Dongfang Di, Han Gui, Lou Daiwen, Tuoba Tianmu, and Hulu Mingyue had already been entangled with the Turks for a long time.

The Yan army, whose return route was cut off, was also aroused to great fighting power. Liu Xuanji led 100,000 infantry and cavalry and advanced steadily. They encountered 100,000 cavalry led by the Turkic Jili Khan in Pingshu County, Daijun.

Dongfang Di Han Gui, Tuoba Tianmu and others tried their best to reduce the space available for the Turks to maneuver. Both sides could only fight in narrow valleys. The Turks were outnumbered, so Jili did not dare to delay and led his army to give up Dai County and retreat to Youzhou to join his brother Shibi Khan.

After retaking Daibei, the Northern Yan army made a brief rest before continuing to advance towards Youzhou.

So the situation became that Liu Xuanji had to cut off the Turks' retreat.

At this time, Jili in Youzhou also learned the news of Liu Xuanji's return, and quickly summoned all the troops to prepare to withdraw from Youzhou from Youbeiping area.

The Tang Dynasty's plan to sit back and watch the Northern Yan army fight a fierce battle with the Turks in Youzhou, resulting in both sides suffering heavy losses, also failed.

The Turks withdrew before Liu Xuanji's army rushed back, but they still caused great harm to the northern part of Youzhou.

However, the Tang Dynasty still reaped the benefits and obtained the strategic location of Jinyang.

Li Yuan stayed in Jinyang for a few days. After announcing that Tuoba Jun would be summoned to the court, he divided the army he had previously commanded into several parts and handed them over to his brother Tuoba Ci, his uncle Tuoba Yu, and several Xianbei chieftains such as Xi Gan and Houmochen Sui, and asked them to garrison in Jinyang, Xinxing, Hedong, Leping and other places respectively.

He appointed his nephew Wang Yi as the governor of Bingzhou, but the post of commander-in-chief of Bingzhou's military affairs was given to his sixth son, Prince of Wei Li Xiaozheng.

This personnel appointment was somewhat unexpected.

It is not a problem for the princes to go to local areas and serve as the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of a state.

But Jinyang is such a strategic place. Why don't they use the King of Qin, the King of Jin and the King of Qi and instead let the 17-year-old King of Wei, Li Xiaozheng, take charge? What's the purpose?

In this regard, many court officials advised Li Yuan that the King of Wei was too young. Although he was brave, he lacked experience. Jinyang was a strategic location that had been taken with great difficulty, so he needed to be cautious.

Li Yuan was right, so the troops left behind to guard Jinyang were thirty Zhechoufu selected by him personally from the Left and Right Guards and the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, with a total of more than 30,000 elite soldiers. He also left behind two trusted generals, Zhang Pinggao and Gao Zhenghui, and at the same time appointed Liu Wenhui, who was defeated in the Battle of Yecheng, as the prefect of Taiyuan.

At the same time, Li Yuan also cited the second and fourth brothers as examples, saying that the King of Qin became famous for his night attack on Fuhan at the age of eighteen, and the King of Qi was a high-ranking general stationed in Jianghuai at the age of sixteen. Now the King of Wei is also seventeen years old. Can't he share the country's worries like his two brothers?

What can the ministers say about this? Can your Li family produce such outstanding people as the King of Qin and the King of Qi?

It was obvious that Li Yuan was planning to take Bingzhou into his own hands, so not only did he not choose the second, third, or fourth princes as the governor of Bingzhou, but even the generals and local officials who guarded the city were all from his own lineage, without the elite soldiers and generals under the three kings. Li Yuanhui naturally had no objection, he had no interest in Bingzhou at all, and he would have declined even if he was allowed to stay in Bingzhou.

However, Li Yuan was sober after all. He retained Li Yuanhui's positions as commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the Guandong states and the Grand Chancellor of the Shaanxi East Circuit, and he still stayed in Luoyang.

After more than half a year of confrontation and fierce fighting, the Tang Dynasty won the Battle of Jinyang and completed the occupation of the most important strategic location in the north.

But at the same time, the victory in the Battle of Jinyang actually came at a considerable price.

There were tens of thousands of casualties, and Guanzhong and Luoyang mobilized huge amounts of supplies for support. Almost all of the Tang Dynasty's most capable generals were present, which could be called an all-star lineup.

It was only because of the Turks' behind-the-scenes instigation that Jinyang was captured.

At present, the situation between the Tang Dynasty and Northern Yan in the Hedong area of ​​Hebei is still very tense.

Although Jinyang was captured, Jingxing was still in the hands of the Yan army and was heavily guarded. In other words, the Tang Dynasty had not yet completely obtained Bingzhou.

Among them, most of the areas of the five counties of Taiyuan, Xihe, Hedong, Xinxing and Leping were under the control of the Tang army, while the Yan army controlled Shangdang, Yanmen and Dai counties.

To stop the fighting is just a temporary ceasefire.

Northern Yan currently still dominates the two states of Hebei. Although it seems to be at a disadvantage strategically, in fact, it is still not a goal that can be accomplished overnight for the Tang Dynasty to destroy Northern Yan and seize Hebei.

The Tang Dynasty won the Battle of Jinyang because it achieved its strategic goals, but it did not actually defeat the Yan army on the battlefield.

The Yan army retreated, but still retained its large army and could continue to deal with the Tang Dynasty.

So after Li Yuan made a rather unreliable appointment, he still let King of Qi Li Yuanhui stay in Luoyang and continue to be responsible for the war with Hebei.

After all, when it comes to long-term confrontation, local management, and overall strategic stalemate, these are undoubtedly the combat styles that Li Yuanhui is best at.

Because of the war, social organization and production in Luoyang and the entire Central Plains region suffered very serious damage, and it took several years for them to recover.

In the Battle of Jinyang in the second year of Wude, in order to support the front line, Li Yuan once again drained blood from the Central Plains and the surrounding areas of Luoyang, causing widespread complaints, and all of this needed Li Yuanhui to quell.

Even in the Hedong region, public resentment was boiling.

This was definitely not a good thing for the newly established Tang Dynasty, because if a new regime cannot gain the support of the people, it would be like a tree without roots.

Therefore, when Li Yuan was discussing with his sons, he also said that he planned to reduce or exempt taxes in the third year of Wude so that the people under his rule could recuperate.

And it would be best not to think about large-scale military operations in the next few years.

No one had any objection to this.

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Li Yuanhui first sent Li Yuan back to Guanzhong and then to Hedong. Then he led the team back to Luoyang from Chenguan.

The women of the Prince of Qi's palace and the families of many generals had already moved to Luoyang in the middle of the year. After all, the Prince of Qi might not return to Jianghuai in the next few years, and the strategic focus had shifted.

In addition, Luoyang's wealth and prosperity also attracted many people from Jianghuai. Luoyang opened its gates to the public, so the city was not affected by war, which allowed the prosperity of the former Great Yan's Eastern Capital to be preserved to a large extent.

Although many nobles moved to Chang'an for some reasons, Luoyang is still a more magnificent city than Chang'an.

Moreover, Li Yuanhui was also planning to operate Luoyang as an important base, which could be an important support for the Tang Dynasty's advance to the north, and also an important stronghold for Li Yuanhui's advance to the west.

(End of this chapter)