“The terror of the Turks – Second Young Master understands this better than anyone. If we cannot pacify them here, when we’re fighting the Sui army, the Turks along with Liu Wuzhou and others will launch a surprise attack on us. This would be fatal for us.”

Li Shimin’s face turned pale as he said gravely, “But the Turks make their home everywhere, have no fixed dwelling, and men, women, old and young can all serve as soldiers. They have always been a persistent threat to every dynasty. How easy would it be to pacify them!”

Liu Hongji sighed, “Just as Second Young Master said, I’ve been pondering methods to pacify the Turks these days, but unfortunately, I still have no clue.”

Li Shimin remained silent. After walking for a while, he suddenly said, “Since they cannot be pacified, why not ally with them?”

Even Liu Hongji was greatly startled upon hearing Li Shimin’s words. He stared at the latter in disbelief, and after confirming that Li Shimin wasn’t joking, said, “What does Second Young Master mean by this?”

Li Shimin said slowly, “On the battlefield, there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends. What is truly permanent is interest. We rebel against the Sui for our own benefit and that of the people under Heaven. When the Turks come to attack us, isn’t it also for their own interests?”

“I naturally understand this, but our interests and those of the Turks can never be unified.” As soon as Liu Hongji finished speaking, Li Shimin said, “Speaking fundamentally, naturally it’s impossible, but on the surface it might not be impossible.”

Liu Hongji lowered his head for a moment, then said, “Does Second Young Master wish to employ the method of ‘appeasement and favor’?”

“Correct. In these extraordinary times, we can give the Turks some benefits, even temporarily compromise, to stabilize them. This way, not only can we resolve our worries about the rear, but if done well, we might even borrow Turkic military strength – killing two birds with one stone.”

Li Shimin’s words made Liu Hongji’s eyes brighten as he slowly nodded, “This is indeed a good method, especially for us who are still in a period of weak military strength. If my previously offered strategy doesn’t work, Second Young Master can tell Lord Li of this idea. Lord Li very likely would agree.”

“I know.” Having responded thus, Li Shimin said, “By the way, has Master’s injury mostly healed?”

“It still hurts occasionally, but it’s no longer serious. Second Young Master need not worry.” Facing Liu Hongji’s words, Li Shimin said, “Fortunately Master brought guards with him at that time, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable. Wang Wei and his companion have such vicious hearts – they deserve death.”

Liu Hongji looked at him for a moment, then suddenly said, “Has Second Young Master ever considered that perhaps those who tried to assassinate me were not sent by Wang Wei and his companion?”

Li Shimin said puzzledly, “In all of Taiyuan City, only those two harbored hostility toward Master. If not them, who else could it be?”

“It’s…” Liu Hongji had only said one word before stopping and instead said, “Nothing, I must be overthinking.”

Seeing he was unwilling to speak, Li Shimin didn’t force him and said, “Having discussed for so long, Master is also tired. Go back and rest. I’ll keep a close watch on the Turkic situation.”

The Turkic soldiers stationed outside Taiyuan’s outer city discovered one day to their surprise that a large contingent of troops was racing from the distance, riding into Taiyuan City – they must be reinforcements summoned by Li Yuan.

If it were just this one contingent, it would be one thing, but in the following days, almost every day a contingent of reinforcements arrived. Roughly speaking, each contingent of reinforcements numbered several thousand men. Adding them all up front and back, there were nearly ten thousand men, and it looked like it wasn’t over yet.

Strange – where exactly was Li Yuan summoning so many reinforcements from?

Taiyuan City already had tens of thousands of troops, and with these additional reinforcements… the Turkic officers and soldiers began to feel uneasy. Not to mention how many more cards Li Yuan might still hold, just considering Li Yuan’s divinely assisted military tactics.

They hadn’t forgotten those two battles at Yanmen and Mayi. Despite having several times the enemy’s numbers, they suffered unprecedented crushing defeats. Just thinking about it made their hearts tremble with fear.

Finally, when the sixth contingent of reinforcements arrived, the Turks quietly retreated on a dark and windy night.

When the city defenders discovered that there was no longer any trace of Turkic troops outside the city, they were overjoyed and quickly reported this to Li Yuan in Jinyang Palace. The latter had just been preparing to rest when he heard this news, immediately losing all sleepiness. He put on his shoes and personally climbed the city walls. Seeing not a single Turkic person below the city, he laughed heartily, “Excellent! Excellent!”

Just then, a voice came from behind him, “Father is heroically divine and martial, beyond compare. Following Father, we will certainly overthrow the tyrant’s harsh government and create an immortal foundation for ten thousand generations!”

The speaker was none other than Li Shimin. After him, the soldiers on the city wall also knelt down one after another, saying in unison, “We are willing to follow the General to the death and help the General create a foundation for ten thousand generations!”

The voices spread in waves, echoing throughout all of Taiyuan City. Looking at the countless officers and soldiers kneeling before him, Li Yuan felt boundless heroic spirit rise in his heart and declared loudly, “I, Li Yuan, swear here that I will certainly lead you to ultimate victory and will never break my word!”

These words made the morale below even higher. After cheering, someone first called out “Ten thousand years to the General!” and soon everyone joined in unison: “Ten thousand years to the General! Ten thousand years to the General!”

That night, the shouting continued for a long time, and Li Yuan, amid such shouting, became the god in the hearts of all the army’s officers and soldiers – irreplaceable!

In fact, there were no reinforcements at all. Li Yuan at present, aside from some troops in Hedong, was completely isolated and without aid. But Hedong was at least several hundred li away – how could they arrive so quickly?

The troops the Turks saw were actually the troops from within Taiyuan City itself. Taking advantage of the darkness, they quietly left the city and camped not far outside. When morning came, these soldiers pretended to be reinforcements and entered the city with great fanfare, repeating this cycle. In this way, to the Turks it appeared that reinforcements were arriving endlessly, causing them to retreat. Of course, this was also because the previous battles had made them fear Li Yuan too deeply.

However, for Wang Wei and Gao Junya, this was certainly not good news. The Turkic invasion confirmed their crime of colluding with the Turks, and all the city’s people were clamoring for their execution. Li Yuan naturally “responded to popular will” and sent them to the execution ground.

“Li Yuan, if you kill us, don’t expect to survive either,” Gao Junya said with a face full of terror. “His Majesty has always valued you highly. It’s still not too late to turn back now. Brother Wang and I will certainly speak well of you before His Majesty and ensure your safety!” Before his words finished, countless vegetable leaves had already fallen on him, thrown by those angry common people.

Wang Wei stared grimly at Li Yuan not far away and said through gritted teeth, “Li Yuan, I’m giving you one last chance. As long as you turn back, I’ll act as if nothing happened!”