Chapter 541 National Mourning
The Tang army had achieved certain results on both the east and west fronts, and the situation looked very good.

After the Battle of Fangtou, the Tang army was even able to directly threaten Yecheng. As for another important city, Jinyang, it had been completely besieged by the Tang army from the west.

The failure of several direct battles between the two armies made Liu Xuanji realize that in the past few years, the Tang Dynasty had been expanding its territory, and the strength of the two countries had been increasing and decreasing.

It's not just a gap in national strength, but also in the overall quality of the military.

There are many factors involved. Liu Xuanji is also clear about the situation of the Northern Han. The elite troops who started with him in the past have actually been almost consumed after so many years of fighting, and the main body of the current Han army is already supplemented later.

The strongest time for the Han army was before the founding of the country, when it was the Yan army. It defeated the Tang army's northern expeditions one after another, forcing the world's number one Tang to take a defensive stance. But after the founding of the country, the Han army launched consecutive southern expeditions, but failed to achieve any results. Instead, it suffered heavy casualties.

Therefore, after the founding of the country, due to the loss of war, a large number of elite soldiers died in battle, and the army was expanded twice on a large scale. The number of troops increased, but the combat effectiveness did not increase significantly. In addition, the corruption of generals at all levels made the quality of the army even more difficult to describe than before.

Especially after the Battle of Fangtou, although the Han army still maintained a strong combat effectiveness, Liu Xuanji knew that due to various factors, the Han army had fallen into a disadvantage in the battle.

Throughout May, the Tang army on the east route continued to advance, and in mid-May, they captured Chaoge. In late May, Li Yuanhui led the imperial guards, the army under the tent, the Beiwei army, the Shen Ce army, the Shenwu army, the Pengri army, the Tianwu army, the Xuanjia army, the Longjie army, the royal guards, and the 25 Zhechongfu of the Right Guard, totaling more than 60,000 people. They confronted Liu Xuanji's six Kaifu armies with more than 80,000 Han troops in Anyang and Dangyin.

Zhu Deyu and Chang Yanheng led the left and right armed guards and the detachment led by Huaiyang Prince Li Heng, with more than 60,000 people, to besiege Liyang.

The people guarding Liyang were Zhu Chaoshi, the founding general of the Northern Han Dynasty, and his 7,000-plus soldiers, but the problem was that they only had two months' worth of food. Normally, if the Tang army hadn't attacked, they would have had food after the summer wheat harvest, and even more food in the fall, but the Tang army attacked.

If Liu Xuanji wanted to relieve Liyang, he had to expel the elite Tang army led by Li Yuanhui first.

The two sides had 60,000 and 80,000 troops respectively, with the Han army having a slight advantage, but it was hard to say who would win in a real fight. But Liyang had to be saved.

Fortunately, reinforcements arrived at this time. Liu Xuanji ordered Wei Xiaoju, who was guarding Shangdang, to attack the rear of the Tang army. He led the army to fight against Li Yuanhui's troops, and transferred General Zhu Lingshi, the General of the Northern Expedition, to lead the army to rescue Liyang.

As brothers, Zhu Lingshi and Zhu Chaoshi certainly risked their lives for the rescue, and the 20,000 infantry and cavalry under their command were all elite troops from Youzhou border.

Zhu Lingshi was originally stationed in Youzhou, and was transferred to Yecheng only after the defeat in Fangtou.

Along with Zhu Lingshi, the brave cavalry general Hulu Jin and his 20,000 tribal cavalrymen also went south. The two armies, totaling 40,000 people, rushed straight to Liyang. Liu Xuanji led his troops to actively attack the Tang army.

After being beaten for more than a month, the Han army launched the strongest counterattack. Facing the sudden attack launched by the Han army, although the Tang army did not have an advantage in terms of manpower, it relied on its elite troops and high morale, and its momentum was not inferior to that of the Han army.

Zhu Lingshi led his troops to successfully break the siege, and with the help of internal and external forces, he pulled out Zhu Chaoshi's troops. Then he fought and retreated, and under the pursuit of Zhu Deyu and Chang Yanheng, he went all the way north to meet up with Liu Xuanji.

Zhu Deyu and Chang Yanheng led the left and right guards to the battlefield. The Battle of Changbaigou in the sixth year of Wude was the area where the two sides are now confronting each other, but nearly eight years have passed.

Eight years later, the offense and defense changed again, which also meant that the strategic initiative was once again in the hands of the Tang army.

The Han army had superior military strength, but they were surrounded by deep trenches and high ravines, making them unable to move forward.

In Jinyang, Li Sanlang led his army to besiege and launched a series of strong attacks, but he was unable to break the city. The war on the two fronts lasted until August.

The Tang Emperor Li Sanlang, who led the expedition in person, ordered the chief military commander Li Huaizhen to lead the troops to continue the siege of the city, while the emperor himself rushed back to Chang'an overnight. The Prince of Jin Li Chenghui, who stayed in Chang'an to supervise the country, was seriously ill.

Li Xuanqing was very surprised why his eldest son, who had always been in good health, suddenly became seriously ill.

After returning to Chang'an, he found out that it was poisoning. Li Xuanqing was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, but the result of the investigation made Li Xuanqing even more furious.

Li Chenghui was poisoned because of the actions of his own wife, Princess Jin.

Princess Jin was born into the Jingzhao Wei family, and was the granddaughter of Duke Xun Guo Wei Cheng. This noble Wei family girl had a problem, that is, she was jealous and had a strong personality. Li Chenghui also liked the concubine Sun in the mansion. Therefore, he neglected his wife.

The daughter of the Wei family did not like Sun, so she ordered people to poison Sun's food. Coincidentally, Li Chenghui entered Sun's yard as soon as he came back from the palace, and ate with her. As a result, she suddenly became seriously ill, and all the imperial doctors were helpless. Later, they found out that it was a sign of poisoning.

Something happened to the prince who was the regent, and Empress Xue had no choice but to send a letter to the emperor. Xue suspected that the person who poisoned him might be related to Dongdu, so Li Xuanqing hurriedly left the war behind and went back to Chang'an to deal with it.

But upon investigation, it turned out that Li Chenghui was the one causing trouble in his own backyard.

A few days later, Li Chenghui still could not be saved and died.

Li Xuanqing was both heartbroken and angry about this. He had high hopes for his eldest son. Moreover, Li Xuanqing himself had few children, only three sons, two legitimate and one illegitimate.

Except for the eldest son, the other two sons are not very old. The second son is less than ten years old, and the illegitimate son is even younger, only three years old.

Li Xuanqing had always wanted to make his eldest son the crown prince, but he had too many concerns and never dared to do so. However, he made him the King of Jin and appointed him as the Grand Marshal of the Wei Campaign, which was actually paving the way for his son.

But no matter how much he planned, the eldest son, whom he had always valued and cultivated with great care, actually died in such a thing.

Li Xuanqing's mentality was about to collapse. So, all the women in the Jin Palace "voluntarily" asked to be buried alive with him, including the Jin Princess, a noble lady from the Wei family.

This is clearly out of the ordinary.

But the Wei family, a wealthy family in Jingzhao, did not even raise the slightest doubt, and Duke Xun Guo Wei Cheng also committed suicide by taking poison in panic, thus using his life to save his family from a disaster.

After Jin Wang Li Chenghui "died of illness", Li Xuanqing also lost interest in the Northern Expedition. He issued an edict to entrust all military affairs to Zhao Jun Wang Li Huaizhen. He had originally planned to stay in the capital for a while and then return to the front line to take charge of the overall situation.

As for having a few prime ministers staying in Chang'an, there should be no problem.

But soon after, Empress Xue, who had always been in poor health, became overly sad over the death of her eldest son and became bedridden and seriously ill.

Before Li Xuanqing could go north, Queen Xue died.

Empress Xue and Li Xuanqing were young couples with deep feelings. Before her death, Empress Xue gave Li Xuanqing the following advice: "Do not let my son fight with his uncle."

Li Xuanqing lost his son and his wife within a month, and was heartbroken.

After finishing the funeral of Queen Xue, he directly ordered the two armies to return. After all, it was not suitable to continue to use troops at this time after the funeral.

After receiving the imperial edict to return the troops, Li Yuanhui was helpless. The Tang army had the upper hand in the current situation, but they could not do anything about the Han army which was located in deep trenches and ravines and had strong defenses.

The two sides are basically engaged in a war of attrition.

The Tang army was not afraid of fighting such a long-term confrontation, as they could fully keep up with the food and supply transportation by guarding the waterways.

But now that something has happened and Liyang and Chaoge have been taken, it makes sense to withdraw the troops.

So Li Yuanhui left Liu Fuwei and Chen Zhen to guard Liyang and Chaoge respectively, Xu Qiande to guard Fangtou, and Zhang Qiong to guard Yongyucheng, and left enough troops behind. Then he returned to Luoyang.

After the two northern expeditions of the Tang Dynasty ended in the fourth year of Zhenguan, the two sides fought several more battles on the borders of the areas they actually controlled.

First, Wei Xiaoju and Yang Kan led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Hedong via Wenxi Road, but failed and retreated. Yubi defender Xu Maogong led his troops to pursue, but was repelled by Yang Kan.

In the fifth year of Zhenguan, Li Huaizhen, the Prince of Zhao, led 40,000 infantry and cavalry to capture Xihe County. Yang Kan and Wei Xiaoju led their troops to rescue them. Li Huaizhen led his troops to besiege Lishi and ordered Xu Maogong and Yuwen Xiao to lead their troops to block the attack. The two sides fought in Zhongyang. It was not until the governor of Xihe, the prefect of the Northern Han Dynasty, committed suicide and the soldiers and civilians in the city surrendered that Yang Kan and Wei Xiaoju led their troops to retreat.

Lishi is very close to Jinyang and not far from the Yellow River. By taking this place, the Tang Dynasty would have an additional fulcrum in Bingzhou, but it would have little impact on the overall situation.

On the eastern front, the Han army tried several times to recapture Liyang and Chaoge, but their manpower was limited and they returned empty-handed.

Sporadic wars between the two countries continued until the sixth year of Zhenguan.

In September, the retired emperor Li Yuan was ill, so Li Yuanhui sent someone to inform Li Zhiji, the king of Chu, and Li Cheng'an, the king of Zhao, and took his second son Li Chengdao to Chang'an. Li Chengqian, Li Chengtai, Li Yanzong, and Li Changgong, who were in Luoyang, all went with him, and Wang Fobao, Han Quan, Duan Wuda, and Yuchi Jing, the four general managers, led 800 guards to accompany them.

They rushed all the way and arrived in Chang'an in mid-September.

Emperor Retired Li Yuan was already on his deathbed, and Li Yuanhui hurried over to see his father for the last time.

At the bedside, the emperor and Princess Zhaoyang had been taking care of him for several days without taking off their clothes, and all the princesses, princes, and grandchildren were guarding in the Wude Hall.

Li Yuanhui rode directly into the palace with a group of young people. The moment he saw Li Yuan, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The people outside heard the footsteps and saw Li Yuanhui coming, so they hurriedly made way. Li Yuan looked at him, blinked, and then smiled.

"Shiro."

Li Yuanhui strode forward and came to the bed. Li Yuan stretched out his hand and Li Yuanhui took it. Then Li Yuan looked at Li Yunning and Li Xuanqing who were standing beside him. They also stretched out their hands and held each other.

In September of the sixth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taishang Huang Li Yuan died in Wude Hall. He was temple-named Gaozu and posthumously named "Shenwu". He was buried in Xianling Mausoleum together with Empress Taimu.

(End of this chapter)