Chapter 78 After fighting all your life, can’t you just enjoy yourself?

Li Shimin was a little disappointed to see that Tianmu did not continue to mention Xue Rengui, but he vaguely felt that this man should be a rare general.

……

[The Tang army and the Anshi army fought back and forth.]

[The Anshi Army was unable to capture the city after a long siege, and the war lasted from summer to autumn.]

[The Liaodong region was cold early in the morning. When the Tang army arrived, they were only wearing summer clothes. The court did not prepare seasonal clothing for them. The wind was biting cold, and the food and grass were running out. Li Shimin knew that he might not be able to capture the city.]

[Li Shimin had no choice but to issue an order to withdraw his troops.]

[The last battle he personally commanded in his life. It started with a gorgeous tune, but ended with a sad withdrawal.]

……

"pity."

During the Yongle reign, Zhu Di sighed with regret, and could not help but think of the spring of the second year of Jianwen, when Tie Xuan defended the city of Jinan and hung the tablet of Emperor Gaozu on the city wall, forcing his army to be unable to advance for four months and almost causing his own failure.

Fortunately, with the old monk's advice, the army bypassed important places such as Jinan and did not attack the city. Instead, it quickly moved south and directly attacked the capital city which was short of troops, thus achieving the success of the Jingnan Campaign.

The black-robed monk at the side fiddled with his rosary beads and shook his head slightly.

At the beginning, Li Daozon once suggested to Li Shimin to bypass the Anshi Army, but unfortunately his suggestion was not adopted. If it had been adopted, history might have ended differently.

……

[On the way back to the army, Li Shimin ordered his men to bring back the remains of all the soldiers who died in Liaodong, and he personally wrote a memorial for them.]

……

"If we can serve such a wise ruler, we will die without regrets."

Southern Song Dynasty.

Yue's army watched these scenes with envy in their eyes.

"I will repay your kindness from the Golden Terrace and die for you, supporting the Jade Dragon." Yue Fei recited this line of poetry by the Ghost Poet and felt a sense of loss in his heart, as if something was missing.

Such a wise ruler is really something people yearn for.

With such a wise ruler, there is no need to worry about not achieving great things.

"Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin..." The young Liu Che imprinted this picture firmly in his mind, and his body showed obvious signs of trembling.

"Your Majesty, my Lord."

……

[Li Shimin said to the young general Xue Rengui, "I am not very happy about this expedition to Goguryeo. What makes me happiest is that I have obtained a brave general like you."]

[My generals and I are all old, the future depends on you. ]

[The implication is, young man, can you destroy Goguryeo for me one day? Judging from the later outcome of Goguryeo, Xue Rengui should have said: OK.]

……

"He is indeed a fierce general."

Li Shimin showed great interest. From the fragments of words from Tianmu, he keenly explored the subsequent development of the matter: "From what Tianmu said, it seems that Xue Rengui later destroyed Goguryeo for me?"

Li Shimin's imagination ran wild.

……

[Li Shimin's clothes have become smelly after not changing them for several months.]

[People around him advised him to change, but Li Shimin said that he had an agreement with the crown prince and would not change until they met.]

[When Li Shimin heard that the prince had come all the way to greet him, he was very happy. Perhaps he was anxious to change his clothes, so he rode his horse at full speed and finally met the prince and changed his clothes.]

……

"A promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold." Seeing the reunion of the father and son, countless people showed relieved smiles. After Tianmu's introduction, many people who did not know the history of the Tang Dynasty were attracted by the unique charm of Emperor Tang.

……

[After Li Shimin returned to Chang'an, he was still upset about not being able to destroy Goguryeo.]

[So he sent someone to call the nearly 80-year-old veteran Li Jing and said, "I have mobilized the whole country, but I can't defeat a small country like Goguryeo. Why do you think this is the case?"

[Li Jing said, "I don't know. You should ask Li Dao Zong."]

[Li Daozong said, when we were attacking Anshi City, I suggested that you bypass it and go straight to Pyongyang. You remember, but you didn't listen at that time.]

[Historical records show that when Li Shimin heard this, he said with a sense of loss, "I can no longer remember what happened at that time."]

……

Many people felt deep regret when they saw this.

Zhu Zhanji said with emotion: "Grandpa listened to the old monk's advice and bypassed Jinan City and headed straight for the capital. This is why the Jingnan Campaign was successful. If the Tang Emperor had bypassed Anshi City, perhaps Goguryeo could have been conquered."

Zhu Gaochi smiled and said, "It's enough. Yang Guang's three expeditions to Goguryeo cost a lot of money and manpower, but gained nothing. He didn't advance when he should have, and didn't retreat when he should have. He made strategic mistakes step by step, and ended up losing his country. Compared with Emperor Yang of Sui, Emperor Tang did a good enough job. Besides, wasn't Goguryeo finally destroyed by Xue Rengui? It can be regarded as the fulfillment of his long-cherished wish."

Zhu Zhanji snorted coldly and said dissatisfiedly: "Is Emperor Yang of Sui also worthy of being compared with Emperor Tang?"

……

[On the way to withdraw from Goguryeo, Li Shimin fell ill. ]

【After returning to Chang'an, things still didn't get better.】

[In the following two years, he fell ill one after another. As his health deteriorated, Li Shimin probably realized that he didn't have much time left, so he wrote a book "Emperor's Model" and gave it to the crown prince in the 22nd year of Zhenguan.]

[The book gives very practical suggestions on everything from establishing correct values ​​to how to treat people, from rewarding and punishing people to farming and fighting. It can be seen that Li Shimin was really worried about the crown prince.]

[In this book, Li Shimin also briefly reviewed and reflected on his life. ]

[He said that when I was young, I wanted to quell the war and bring peace to the people. At the beginning of my reign, I worked diligently and cautiously. But the hardest thing is not to do well for a short time, but to do well for a lifetime.]

【Later, I also began to pursue beautiful clothes, a big house, cockfighting, and dog racing, and indulged in sensual pleasures. Every time I think of these, I blush for myself.】

[But, after all, I have pacified the world, so my merits are greater than my faults, and my virtue has not been lost. ]

……

This brief narration makes one feel as if the short yet glorious life of this heroic leader flashes before one's eyes, and one's heart is filled with emotion.

"Who can compare with such an emperor throughout history?" Liu Bei sighed, his heart full of admiration.

"It's a pity that I can't get the "Emperor's Model" to warn Zener." Liu Bei felt very sorry.

Looking at the ministers below the stage, Cao Cao sighed: "It is a good thing that these people were not born in the same era as me. Otherwise, even if we put our wisdom together, we would not be able to match such people."

……

[His achievements were great, his shortcomings were minor. This is a very objective evaluation of himself by Li Shimin.]

【Li Shimin and his Zhenguan Reign ended the turmoil that had lasted for more than 400 years since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. 】

[When Li Shimin first ascended the throne, he encouraged people to speak freely and worked hard on government affairs, making life better for the people.]

[However, in the later period of his reign, Li Shimin did begin to slack off. He listened more to the opinions of his ministers than he did, and he also did many things that wasted the people's money and time.]

[However, no one is perfect, and Li Shimin, who had great achievements but few shortcomings, can definitely be called a great leader. ]

……

As a guest in Wu, the slightly tipsy Liu Bei saw that the wise and illustrious Emperor Tang was enjoying himself, which undoubtedly relieved a lot of burden from his heart. Facing Zhao Yun's admonition, he could not help but angrily said: "After fighting for a lifetime, can't I enjoy myself?"

After scolding Zhao Yun, Liu Bei looked at the dancers around him indifferently and raised his hand:

"Keep playing music, keep dancing!"

(End of this chapter)