Datang: Li Shimin begged me to rebel

Goguryeo started from the separatist regime established by Fuyu Prince Zhu Meng in Liaodong in 37 BC. During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Goguryeo once competed with Murong Xianbei’s Qianyan for the hegemony of Liaodong, and was almost defeated by the Murong family. Later, the Murong family put the main force into it. It was not until the Central Plains battlefield that Goguryeo escaped.

After the decline of Murong Xianbei, the vacuum in the Liaodong area was quickly filled by Goguryeo. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Goguryeo's territory stretched from Liaoshui to the west, the Sea of ​​Japan to the east, the Huifa River to the north, and the Han River to the south.

"Sui Shu" records: two thousand miles from east to west, and more than a thousand miles from north to south.

Different from the nomads rising on the grasslands, Goguryeo has a high degree of Sinicization. During the period of the Five Husbands, they absorbed a lot of advanced technology from the Central Plains, and sitting on the rich iron ore resources of the Liaodong Peninsula, they could "use bows, arrows, knives and spears To be a soldier, every family has its own armored battle" ("Wei Shu").

At that time, Goguryeo had armored cavalry troops armed with horses and horses.In addition to armored cavalry, Goguryeo's cavalry and archery troops are also very powerful, because the Liaodong area has rich forestry resources, and the wind of shooting and hunting is prevalent. They are rich in a compound bow called "貊mo bow", which is short and powerful. Very powerful, very suitable for riding and shooting.

The most frightening thing about Goguryeo is that it also has a very terrifying military mobilization ability. At its peak, it had 60 troops and tens of thousands of cavalry ("History of Goguryeo in China"). 80 only.

Therefore, Goguryeo has never been a weak country. Don't think that it is also a weak country just because it has a very similar name to a country in later generations.

In the 19th year of Zhenguan in history, when the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, Li Ke's father Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo, and captured "one hundred thousand horses and cattle, and ten thousand collars of Mingguang armor!" ("New Tang Book")

This is also one of the reasons why Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Goguryeo three times and failed in the end. Regardless of whether it was Emperor Yang of Sui or Li Shimin, it was clear that Goguryeo was a serious problem for the Central Plains Dynasty. Emperor Yangdi had a completely different tactical approach.

Datang has now absorbed the experience and lessons of Emperor Sui Yang who wanted to complete his achievements in one battle, and was finally dragged to death by the long supply line. After the elimination of Eastern Turks in the fourth year of Zhenguan and the initial disaster, Datang began to play with Goguryeo. war.

Since the fifth year of Zhenguan, Datang has continuously dispatched small groups of troops to conduct reconnaissance deep into the territory of Goguryeo, and began to explore the planned terrain.

Later, after Li Shimin's personal conquest, he gradually turned into a large army. He did not pursue siege, but implemented a scorched-earth policy on a large scale, destroying production, weakening national power, and separating people's hearts. This policy continued from Li Ke's Taizong Dynasty to Li Zhi's Gaozong Dynasty. Then Goguryeo couldn't hold it anymore.

Are you familiar with this tactic? In fact, it is somewhat similar to the strategy that the nomads have always implemented against the Central Plains dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo are playing with national power.

To be honest, if it weren’t for the Tang Dynasty, which was also at its peak, standing in front of Goguryeo, Goguryeo could be like the Northern Wei Dynasty, with troops stationed in the north, and then rule the Central Plains in any weaker country.

But now, for Li Shimin, Goguryeo is a serious problem.

"How do you target the heavy cavalry?" Li Shimin sat up straight, and so did Li Chengqian.

"Father, you should have seen it tonight. The height of my fireworks can reach about 150 to 200 meters." Li Ke said.

"Rice?" Li Shimin frowned.

"Oh, this is a brand-new length unit invented by Erchen. All of them use the decimal system. At present, some length measurement conversions in Datang are too complicated, which is not conducive to promotion." Li Ke said helplessly, "But at present The minister did not announce it to the people, but his own craftsmen are using it. About three feet is one meter."

Li Ke gave an approximate conversion ratio, and Li Shimin knew the height.

"Father, think about it, if I am on the battlefield and the enemy's heavy cavalry rushes over, I use this thing to aim at the enemy's cavalry, lay it down sideways and shoot at the enemy, what kind of scene would it be like?" Li Ke said. road.

Li Shimin pondered for a while, and then asked: "Is it loud?"

"Yes, it is very large. Although the color is not conspicuous during the day, it will also make a loud noise. But in fact, when it explodes in the air, if it is placed on the ground and a person without armor stands nearby, it may It was killed directly, that is to say, it has a certain lethality."

"If I put some iron filings or iron pieces inside the firework, it will explode more powerfully!"

"Of course, I don't expect it to kill directly, but the enemy's horses have not received such training at all. Once they confront each other like this, the opponent's cavalry formation and horses will be shocked!" Li Ke didn't describe too much here.

Li Shimin was shot on horseback. Of course, he knew very well what would happen if the horses were frightened when the cavalry charged on the battlefield, and it was frightened on a large scale.

If our war horses have been trained again, at this time, it will be a massacre for the opponent.

"Good stuff, but why did you take it out, shouldn't it be made in secret?" Li Shimin asked.

"Secret production is possible, but its sound is not small. It is not convenient for us to train war horses, etc., so I disguised it as fireworks. In this way, when training war horses in some places in the future, it can also be said to be a celebration of marriage. Ah, or other happy events, festivals, etc. Anyway, excuses are easy to find." Li Ke said with a serious face.

Li Shimin looked at him suspiciously, are you sure?Isn't it because fireworks are fun?

"Of course, another reason is that they are made into fireworks, so no matter what festival, if we set off fireworks in large quantities, we can increase the production of gunpowder inside, which is conducive to training a large number of skilled workers. Enough is enough to be able to produce more, and even improve."

"If we just produce it in secret and don't use it, we don't know its effect, we can't figure out its performance, the speed of improvement will be slow, and the speed of worker training will also be slow." Li Ke added.

Li Shimin nodded silently. This is true. Li Ke has always been considerate in this regard, and this is a good consideration.

"Okay, you've done a good job, Chengqian, what do you think?"

"Father, my son thinks that it is enough to leave it to Sanlang to be in charge. When we are ready to use troops on a large scale against Goguryeo, Sanlang will take it out directly, and the cavalry that should be trained will be trained in secret." Li Chengqian thought for a while before opening his mouth. He said that it is not suitable for Li Ke to hand over this matter to anyone else, because other people are not as easy as Li Ke to keep it secret.

Li Chengqian didn't know how loyal those firms under Li Ke's command were, but Li Chengqian knew one thing, that is, Sanlang used craftsmen of ordinary background, ordinary people, etc., let alone whether there were ordinary people in them, and these people It can be said that Saburo has been kind to them all.

As a prince, Li Chengqian knows the family and the people very well. He knows very well that because of various interests, if they are handed over to those with the power of the family behind them, they will never be able to escape the kidnapping of interests. But here, the craftsmen under his command And the people, if you put a knife on their necks, they may not even speak.

That's the big difference.

"Okay, let's forget about this matter. You go to accompany your mother and they play a few rounds of mahjong, and your sister has been waiting for you all night." Li Shimin glared at Li Ke and said.

"Yes, my son has gone." Li Ke smiled and stood up.

The vigil in the second half of the night was not a big problem. In fact, everyone was thinking about the vigil, so they caught up on sleep during the day yesterday. Although sleepy was a bit sleepy, when a group of people played, they were not so sleepy.

Today's court meeting is very early and very long, because of its large scale, some princes who don't usually go to court will go to court. Among these people are Li Shimin's brothers, uncles, etc., anyway, it is Datang clan.

Many do not have specific positions, but they will all go to court today.

Similarly, envoys from various countries in Honglu Temple will come to court today with tributes to congratulate Li Shimin.

All in all, today is the day of crucifixion for the officials of the Ministry of Rites. As for Li Ke, he simply hid behind Li Chengqian in the court hall, and then leaned on the back of his chair and began to doze off.

From his angle, it was not easy for the ministers below to find out, but Li Shimin, who was sitting on the throne, saw it clearly.

Fortunately, the envoys of various countries will not be so close to the court, so they probably won't see it, but the corners of Li Shimin's mouth are twitching endlessly. I have played mahjong all night, and I still need to sit here now. Straight up, I'm not tired, but you are?

I wanted to let you go, but you made me angry, so you can't blame me for being ruthless.

Li Chengqian was also a little helpless, third child, you are really a role model for my generation, you dare to do anything.

The long court meeting finally came to an end around half past three o'clock in the morning, a little more than two hours, which was really not easy.

"Wait, I finally announced something." Seeing that everyone was tired, Li Shimin said slowly.

"The king of Qin, Li Ke, was devoted to having fun yesterday. He invented fireworks to celebrate Yuanzheng. It is harmless, but he didn't want to inform the court in advance, which caused the people in Chang'an City to shake and panic. Therefore, he punished Li Ke, the king of Qin, to assist me in dealing with it after the Shangyuan Festival. There are two months of state affairs in the memorial, and no vacations are allowed, so as to imitate others." Li Shimin said lightly.

"Ah?" Li Ke, who had just been confused for a while, was sober-minded when he heard Li Shimin's words, his whole body was struck by five thunderbolts.

Who the fuck backstabbed me?Is this a move that Lao Li could come up with?I do not believe!Who the hell came up with this trick? !