Chapter 536: Unparalleled
The 100,000-strong army that set out from Jingzhou tried their best but still failed to reach Jianye before the city was captured.

The emperor died in battle, all the royal family members surrendered, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty was actually destroyed.

However, it will still take some time to pacify all parts of Jiangdong, and even Lingnan further south.

So even though the Jingzhou army couldn't eat meat, at least they had bones and soup.

After Zhu Deyu captured Jianye, he dispatched Zhang Jian, Zhang Zhen'e, Chang Yanheng, Liu Fuwei and others to lead their armies to conquer Jiangdong. Then, at the suggestion of Li Yaoshi, he left the land of the Three Wus to the Jingzhou army to "conquer".

As for the more distant Lingnan, Zhu Deyu suggested sending envoys to pacify the area in the military report sent to Luoyang.

This battle report rushed all the way north, changing people and horses along the way, and finally arrived in Luoyang on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

"General Zhu conquered Jianye, and Cao Rong, the ruler of Wei, was killed. It was a great victory."

At this time, Li Sanlang was still in Luoyang, living in Taiji Palace.

Upon hearing the news, he immediately rushed to Qianyang Palace and happened to meet Li Yuanhui.

"Silang, these elite soldiers and generals under your command are really well hidden. When we took Jingzhou last year, Li Yaoshi led the way alone and won victory after victory. He is a famous general of the time, not inferior to Han Bai, Wei Huo, and this year we have Zhu Deyu, a fierce tiger from the right side of the Huai River, who swallowed up Jiangdong in one gulp. He is truly a hero of the time. If he can break Jianye in 20 days and destroy the Eastern Wei, it will surely terrify all directions and make everyone in the country submit."

Li Yuanhui laughed and said, "Hahaha, brother, you are too kind. My Great Tang has already taken over Jiangdong. From now on, all the land north of the Yellow River is Tang territory. I believe the day of unification of the world is not far away."

Li Sanlang also laughed and clapped his hands.

Even though he knew that if he asked his son to take credit, he would most likely not be able to get the first credit, he was able to capture Jingkou and Jianye in succession within 20 days, and fought what was almost the shortest war of annihilation in the War between the North and the South.

Compared to the years of planning and months of success for Wei and Yan's hundreds of thousands of troops to destroy Wei, the Tang Dynasty, without unifying Hebei, only planned to destroy the country for a few months, and actually started the action for only 20 days. This was enough to make Zhu Deyu, Li Yaoshi, Chang Yanheng and others who participated in this battle go down in history.

More importantly, after the assessment of Jiangdong, the entire southern country became part of the Tang Dynasty's possession, and it could concentrate all its energy on dealing with the Northern Han.

It can even be said that this was the key to the Tang Dynasty's breakthrough.

If the Tang Dynasty had to face the problem of being attacked from both the north and the south before, after that it only needed to accumulate national strength to wear down the Northern Han.

Although Jiangdong is only half the size of Yangzhou, it has millions of households. Once it is fully digested, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty will surely reach a new level.

Together with Jingzhou which was captured last year, the country's national strength is far beyond the comparison of the three states in Hebei.

As for Yecheng, it also received this "good news" before the New Year.

In the palace, in front of the empress and the crown prince, Liu Xuanji said with a smile: "I knew Zhu Deyu was not a simple man. He crossed the Yangtze River in 20 days and conquered Jianye. When it comes to identifying and employing people, I am not as good as Li Silang."

Queen Li said: "Now that Jiangdong has been taken over by the Tang Dynasty, there will be no more wars in the South. If Chang'an and Luoyang join hands to deal with Hebei, wouldn't Your Majesty be worried about this?"

Crown Prince Liu Chengyou also looked at his father with a worried look.

Liu Xuanji said: "In terms of national strength, Northern Han is far inferior to Great Tang. The reason why it has been able to survive until today is that, firstly, the men of Yan and Zhao are good at fighting and are not inferior to the elite troops of Guanlong. Secondly, Great Tang is located in the Central Plains and is surrounded by enemies. Thirdly, the Li brothers compete with each other, while Northern Han is united from top to bottom."

"However, if you think about it carefully, although the Li brothers competed with each other for the throne, they almost never hindered each other when fighting against each other. Although the Tang Dynasty lost the Battle of Yecheng and the Battle of Baigou, it was not because of the Li brothers that they lost. Instead, it was your uncle who did it."

"Now, within two years, the Tang Dynasty will take over the entire Southern Kingdom, and Li Yuan will abdicate. Although the Li brothers have quarreled with each other, they have been able to restrain each other and tolerate each other for the sake of the country. It is not easy."

"Come to think of it, for all these years, I, the Cao father and son, and that Cao Xuan, have actually been waiting for the Li brothers to fight against each other like the Yuan brothers did, but we haven't waited for it, hahaha." Queen Li felt mixed emotions when she listened to Liu Xuanji's words.

Since Liu Xuanji was nominated as the governor of Youzhou, Empress Li knew that the man chosen by her family was destined to fight for supremacy in the world, and all of Li's previous plans would inevitably fail.

A man like Liu Xuanji is destined to be useless to others.

So over the years, whether Queen Li was the Princess of Han or now the Queen, she has never spoken on behalf of her natal family.

There was no other way. For the sake of her son, she had to go all the way. She could only cut off contact with the Longxi Li family.

But now the Tang Dynasty has basically completed the unification of all regions except Hebei, and the Northern Han has actually lost the qualifications to compete for the world.

After all, her surname is Li, so even after she gets married, she still has the surname Li.

She still hopes that the Li family will be well, but now it is too well. As a wife of the Liu family, she already feels threatened.

Even her husband was still smiling and talking at this moment.

Liu Chengyou is still young after all. He is only fourteen or fifteen years old this year and is still quite youthful and energetic. He immediately said, "Father, I heard that Li Yuanhui joined the army when he was fourteen years old. He shot and killed the enemy general on the battlefield and thwarted the rebels' intention to seize the Eastern Capital. Later, he and you killed the rebel leader Yang Xun in the Battle of Dongduyuan. Since then, he has made great contributions and has risen to prominence. I am now the same age as he was then, and I can also share your worries. Please give me 100,000 soldiers and horses, and watch me capture Luoyang for you."

"Hahahaha. Good, good, good."

After hearing what his eldest son said, Liu Xuanji couldn't stop laughing.

Liu Chengyou thought his father was happy and was about to continue talking, but suddenly he saw his mother shaking her head at him, as if to signal him not to say anything more? What did this mean?
Is it because my mother is from the Longxi Li family and doesn’t want to hear this?

It seems that next time when I discuss national policy with my father, I should avoid discussing it with my mother.
After Liu Xuanji laughed, his face gradually became serious, and then he asked: "Let me ask you, when you are riding a horse and shooting within a few dozen steps, how many of the ten arrows can you hit the bull's eye?"

Liu Chengyou heard this and said in embarrassment: "I can only hit three or two arrows."

Liu Xuanji sneered, because the last time he was tested on his archery skills, he didn't hit the bull's eye with a single arrow.

Liu Chengyou said: "I heard that a general's command of troops is not based on bravery, but on military tactics."

Liu Xuanji said, "What a great military strategy! Let me ask you another question. When the scouts in the front raise black flags during a march, what does it mean for the situation ahead?"

"I don't know this yet."

"Let me ask you again, how much food do 10,000 soldiers need in a day? What else is this grass good for besides feeding horses?"

"In addition to feeding horses, maybe grass can also be used to satisfy human hunger?"

"Ridiculous, you let the soldiers eat grass to fight for you? They will chop you, the commander, down first! The hay is used to keep warm and get rid of moisture. Let me ask you again, why did our army attack Pingyang? Why not go around Wenxi Road to attack Hedong?"

".I don't know."

Liu Chengyou let out a sigh and said a little frustrated.

Liu Xuanji said, "Li Yuanhui, at the same age as you, could already command thousands of elite soldiers, as if he were using one's own arm. Even your father had to learn military tactics from him, but at the time I just thought he was a generous person because he had more experience than me due to his family background. I didn't notice anything unusual about him, but after so many years, I haven't seen another person who can compare to him."

(End of this chapter)