Chapter 243: Northern Attack
The most difficult thing to deal with the Turks is that they have too many cavalry, while the northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and there are Turkish troops to support them, so it is understandable that they are unwilling to retreat.

Li Jiancheng listened to the slightly frightened arguments of the court officials below. As Xu Shiji was defeated step by step, more and more people in the localities openly criticized the emperor, especially the children of prominent families.

It's not just about what he did after he ascended the throne, even his behavior in his youth seemed to be deliberate and intentional.

But they are right about this...

The poor children and common people in the world do not have mouths. Only the noble families have mouths, so their words are the will of the people.

The vast majority of the people are ignorant and blindly follow others. In their short-sighted understanding, the words of an emperor whom they have never seen will not be more authoritative than those of the nobles who have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds or thousands of years at their doorstep.

So no matter how much preparation Li Jiancheng had made, the people had generally turned against him.

If he was really forced to sign a humiliating treaty with the Turkic army at the gates of his city, his situation would be very bad.

Compared to other places, the situation in the capital is indeed much better now. Even though it is so dangerous, people are still praising the emperor everywhere.

After the court was dismissed, Li Jiancheng left only a few confidants. Wei Zheng, who had been unusually silent in the court, said, "Your Majesty, if you are not sure of victory, the most urgent thing is to summon troops to defend the king. If you let the Turkic troops surround Chang'an, it will be disastrous."

Wang Gui, the Minister of Civil Affairs, advised: "Your Majesty is right to suppress Guanlong, but you must always promote Shandong or Jiangnan families. Now you suppress them together without any special support. This is the reason why the local people are against you."

In the past, Emperor Yang was so hated by the gods and the people, but he still has the support of the people in Jiangnan. The gentry and common people in Jiangdu still worship Emperor Yang to this day.

Li Jiancheng simply asked, "How is Liaodong?"

The assistant minister in charge of the Ministry of War replied: "Silla and Baekje sent troops to Goguryeo according to the order, but they were just pretending, and their total number of troops was only a few thousand.

The Duke of Rongping and the Duke of Xiangyang led their troops from Liaodong City, and won consecutive victories over the Prime Minister of Goguryeo, Yizhi Wende, and successfully deployed their troops in Pyongyang, and are currently attacking the city.

Li Jiancheng nodded: "The food and fodder are ready, right?"

The emperor's words were mixed, but his subjects could not find fault and could only answer respectfully.

After the emperor knew everything he wanted to know, he ordered them to leave. The confidants could only leave the palace with full of worries and deal with the officials in the court who were responsible for their duties.

Now no one has the courage to openly disobey the emperor, but small actions are inevitable.

After they left, Li Jiancheng immediately wrote several letters. He ordered the Bingzhou Zhechou Duwei not to rush to Chang'an for assistance, but to immediately march north, gather the garrisons at Mayi and Yanmen, and attack the Turks from Yulin.

He also ordered Li Shimin to immediately lead the 80,000 troops under his command and take the canal north to Zhuo County. Luo Yi, the governor of Youzhou, left 50,000 Yanyun cavalry for him.

When they entered the Turkic kingdom from the Xi State, they could have attacked directly the Turkic capital, Dali City, without Princess Yicheng's troops to support and guide them.

Jie Li led his own army of more than 100,000 men southward, and not long ago he mobilized another 70,000 to 80,000 men to rush to the vicinity of Wuyuan Yulin County to wait for support.

How many people in the Khan's court were truly loyal to him? What's more, there was Yicheng, the third generation of Turkic Khan's Khaganaten, who was there to support him.

At this point, how could Li Jiancheng just want to repel Jie Li? He would not eat, but would swallow half of the Turks! Only in this way could he have enough prestige to intimidate the noble families in the world, thereby promoting the poor, and thus implementing the monarchical centralized political system reform to the maximum extent.

The current system of multiple prime ministers is also a constraint on the monarch's power. It may be most appropriate to let the prime minister become a secretary or a mouthpiece.

People like Wei Zheng will be sent to other places in the future. Li Jiancheng has already lost trust in so-called loyal advice and courage to criticize. A lonely man only needs tools, not a mirror.

…………

After receiving the emperor's letter, Bingzhou Zhechou Duwei immediately went to see His Royal Highness the King of Chu, the governor of Bingzhou. After the news of the Turkic invasion came, Bingzhou prepared its troops and was ready to be called to defend the king at any time.

But the imperial edict had not come yet, and they did not dare to act rashly for fear of being considered to have ulterior motives.

And now there is finally an imperial decree, although it is only a letter from His Majesty and has not gone through the three provinces before being issued.

So he had to see the King of Chu first to explain the reason. After reading the letter, King of Chu Li Zhiyun said: "Of course I have to obey your majesty's order, but is Chang'an really okay?
In my humble opinion, Your Majesty's strategy seems to be to besiege Wei to save Zhao. Will it really work?"

Facing the King of Chu's concerns, the Bingzhou Commandery Commandant comforted him, "Your Majesty has always been a man of foresight. It will not be so simple. Only after the event can we see clearly what your Majesty is doing."

Li Zhiyun felt slightly relieved, and then he gave his full support, and the army quickly headed north.

Li Shimin, who was gathering troops near Luoyang, also received the imperial edict. He was extremely excited and took the canal dug by Emperor Yang to the north with his troops and food at a very fast speed.

After arriving at Zhuo County, where his elder brother started his career, and seeing the extremely powerful Yanyun Cavalry, Li Shimin was so happy that he almost cried. With such brave cavalry, there was no need to worry about achieving great things!

The commander of the Yanyun Iron Cavalry was a member of the royal family, and the deputy general was Yuchi Jingde. After being captured by Qin Shubao, Yuchi Jingde would rather die than surrender.

But as his lord Li Mi surrendered, he naturally had no reason to persist, so he surrendered as well. He was recommended by Qin Shubao to serve under Zhang Huli and garrison Liaodong City.

After wandering around and joining Luo Yi's army, he was appointed as the deputy general of the Yanyun Cavalry, but in fact he was the main general.

I originally regretted not being able to destroy Goguryeo, but I didn't expect to have the opportunity to attack the Turkic royal city.

Li Shimin did not stop and led his troops straight out. With the royal family members and Yuchi Jingde who was determined to make achievements, there was no need for any adjustments.

However, Hejian King Li Xiaogong was still slowly gathering his troops and marching towards Chang'an, fearing that if he moved too quickly he would scare away the prey that had already been bitten.

For this, he even had to endure those idiots in his family. They were so stupid that they actually thought that His Majesty could be so easily overthrown.

He is the one who has been with Your Majesty the longest in this world. Even the Queen may not be able to compare with him. Only those who do not understand Your Majesty would want to betray you and delusionally imagine that they might win.

Your Majesty has spent more than ten years to gain this world, but this group of people only want to use a plan that has been prepared for only a few months to force the emperor to abdicate and seize power. How ridiculous is that?

Moreover, as the only prince in the royal family besides your Majesty's blood relatives, he is extremely wealthy and prominent. What reason could he have to betray his brother whom he respected and followed for twenty years?
...............

(End of this chapter)