On the ninth day of the seventh month, Li Shimin was reading in his mansion when Duan Zhihong entered and said: “Your Highness, Assistant Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat Tang Jian requests an audience!”
“He has finally come!” Li Shimin set down his book, his eyes cold as ice. “Let him in.”
“Yes.” Shortly after Duan Zhihong left, Tang Jian entered and respectfully said: “This official Tang Jian pays respects to Prince Qin!”
“Master Tang, no need for ceremony.” After granting him a seat and offering tea, Li Shimin said: “Master Tang has always been busy with official duties. What brings you to my Prince Qin’s mansion today?”
“To be frank, this minister has come because there’s a letter I want Your Highness to see.” With these words, Tang Jian took out a letter from his sleeve. “This letter is one this official copied of His Majesty’s secret correspondence. Yesterday, His Majesty wrote a secret letter to the garrison commanders of several places in Shanxi. Thanks to His Majesty’s trust, this official was present when the letter was written.”
Li Shimin’s expression changed abruptly. “How dare you! You actually dared to privately copy His Majesty’s secret correspondence. Do you know this is a capital offense!”
Tang Jian said calmly: “This official knows, but compared to the matter in the letter, this official’s life or death means nothing at all.” Saying this, he rose and presented the letter with both hands to Li Shimin. “Please examine it, Prince Qin.”
Li Shimin stared at the letter for a long moment, then shook his head. “No, I cannot read it. You should leave. I’ll pretend I heard and saw nothing.”
“Your Highness!” Tang Jian said excitedly: “Do you want to watch helplessly as Shanxi completely becomes Liu Wuzhou’s territory, and see our Great Tang’s capital region exposed to Liu Wuzhou’s eyes?”
Li Shimin asked in surprise: “What do you mean by this?”
Tang Jian did not answer, only pushed the letter forward again. This time, after brief hesitation, Li Shimin took the letter. After reading its contents, he said in shock: “Father Emperor wants to abandon Shanxi?”
“Correct. His Majesty believes Liu Wuzhou is too powerful, and our Great Tang has just been established, making it difficult to contend with him. Therefore, he would abandon Shanxi and defend Chang’an!”
“But Liu Wuzhou is no saint. His ultimate goal in attacking Shanxi is to seize Chang’an. Once we abandon Shanxi, Chang’an will constantly face his attacks, surrounded by danger.”
Tang Jian sighed. “How could His Majesty not know this? But with the Fourth Prince, Minister Pei, and General Li all suffering defeats in succession, His Majesty truly has no other options.”
Li Shimin shook his head. “Even so, we cannot hand over Shanxi on a silver platter.”
“This official thinks the same way, which is why I risked His Majesty’s punishment to privately copy this letter.” Saying this, he continued excitedly: “In the current situation, only if Your Highness leads troops into battle can we retake Shanxi.”
“Me?” Li Shimin pointed to himself and smiled bitterly. “Father Emperor has already relieved me of all duties. How could I lead troops into battle?”
Tang Jian said urgently: “Actually, this official can see that His Majesty very much wants to use Your Highness again, but it’s just inconvenient for him to speak up. As long as Your Highness takes the initiative to request battle from His Majesty, he will certainly agree.”
Li Shimin said dejectedly: “I have angered Father Emperor twice. How could I have the face to actively request battle? Besides, would Father Emperor forgive me?”
“You and His Majesty are blood father and son. How could there be overnight enmity? This official can see that His Majesty still cares about you very much in his heart.” Seeing Li Shimin remain silent, he continued: “Besides, if Your Highness retakes Shanxi, wouldn’t that be exactly making up for past mistakes with merit?”
“This…” Seeing Li Shimin wavering, Tang Jian quickly said: “Your Highness, opportunity knocks but once!”
His words finally made Li Shimin determined. Gritting his teeth hard, he said: “Good! Tomorrow morning I will go to court and request battle from Father Emperor. Shanxi is the foundation of our Great Tang. Even if I have to risk my life, I absolutely will not let it fall into Liu Wuzhou’s hands!”
Hearing these words, Tang Jian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally completed the task Li Yuan had assigned him. He flattered: “With Your Highness going to battle, we will surely be invincible in attack and undefeated in battle!”
The next day, Li Shimin, who had been absent from court for a full year, once again stepped into Taiji Hall, actively requesting from Li Yuan to go to the Shanxi front to battle Liu Wuzhou.
Li Yuan, who had already received Tang Jian’s report, naturally would not object to this. He immediately allocated thirty thousand Tang soldiers to Li Shimin, with Liu Hongji, Du Ruhui, Zhangsun Wuji, and Duan Zhihong accompanying the expedition.
Upon learning there were only thirty thousand Tang troops, everyone except Liu Hongji showed dissatisfaction. When Li Yuanji, Peiji, and others had previously gone on expeditions, they had commanded around one hundred thousand Tang troops. This time there were only thirty thousand Tang troops – wasn’t this too much favoritism?
Hearing the words of those around him, Liu Hongji smiled slightly. “Fewer is better – it will make Your Highness’s divine military skills even more apparent. I believe that when we return victorious, Your Highness’s position will be unshakeable by anyone, not even His Majesty!”
“If we return victorious, naturally everything will be fine. I just fear…” Zhangsun Wuji didn’t continue, but how could Liu Hongji not understand his thoughts? He laughed: “Haven’t you always believed in His Highness? Why are you worried now?”
Zhangsun Wuji frowned. “His Highness is indeed a rare military genius under heaven, but there are still limits. He cannot possibly resist thousands of troops with one person’s strength.”
“You’re right, but His Highness is not alone now – he has us and thirty thousand soldiers.” Before Zhangsun Wuji could speak, Liu Hongji continued: “Believe in His Highness. He can certainly create another miracle.”
“I believe in His Highness, just as I did at Jiangdu!” These words came from Du Ruhui. Seeing them speak thus, though Zhangsun Wuji still had concerns, he said nothing more.
After Li Shimin arrived in Shanxi, he decided to establish camp at Baibi. This location was in the lower reaches of the Fen River and was the necessary route from Chang’an to Taiyuan – truly a strategic chokepoint. Liu Wuzhou’s logistical supplies basically all passed through the Fen River valley. Stationing troops here was like a thorn in Liu Wuzhou’s throat, making him extremely uncomfortable!
At the same time, Li Shimin divided part of his already limited forces to threaten Xia County. The Xia County commander Lü Chongmao had originally been a Tang Dynasty man, but after Liu Wuzhou captured Shanxi, he had surrendered to Liu Wuzhou – truly a fence-sitter with no principles whatsoever.
Xia County’s forces numbered thirty to forty thousand, but unfortunately Lü Chongmao was a man of little ability who was also cowardly. Even facing ten thousand Tang soldiers, he dared not give battle, huddling tightly within Xia County. This way, Li Shimin need not worry about attacks from behind.
After arranging all this, Li Shimin immediately issued proclamations to reassure the people, announcing that they would definitely not disturb the populace and would make every effort to restore production, allowing the common people to rest easy.
Previously, Li Yuanji had not treated the common people as human beings, killing when he wanted to kill and capturing when he wanted to capture. Later, Peiji had abandoned the people and even had soldiers rob the people’s grain, causing widespread resentment and extreme dissatisfaction with the Tang army. Whenever Tang troops came seeking grain, they would hide it away, preferring to let rats gnaw it all rather than give it to the Tang army. Li Jing had suffered because of this, leading to his defeat and return.