The autumn atmosphere became stronger and the weather was getting colder day by day. News came from Liaodong that Su Dingfang led a side army to Goguryeo, robbing people when they saw them and burning grain when they saw them. It was the autumn harvest season, and the fields were full of ripe food. With a fire on the wind, they could burn dozens of miles. In just over a dozen days, they brought extremely heavy losses to Goguryeo.

Speaking of which, Goguryeo was built by the people of Fuyu. The royal family in the country was the people of Fuyu. The lower class was the various ethnic tribes in Liaodong. In the past, they mainly made a living by hunting. There was a big disadvantage of hunting, which was that the food source was unstable. In addition, the winter in Liaodong was very long. Therefore, before winter, a large amount of food was needed to store for the winter, otherwise they would die of freezing and starvation. Later Oroqen people retained this very ancient custom.

Goguryeo is the Lin country of the Central Plains. The borders of the two countries are connected. Later, due to war or natural disasters, some Han people moved to Goguryeo to live. Therefore, the people in Goguryeo also gradually learned to cultivate. In some areas close to the Tang Dynasty, an agricultural area was gradually formed. Compared with hunting, agriculture can provide a relatively stable source of grain, so it has also become the main grain-producing area in Goguryeo, and the economic structure of Goguryeo has also become half-hunting and half-agricultural.

Li Xiu originally presented Li Shimin with a strategy of slow bloodletting to Goguryeo. His main goal was to get close to the grain-producing area of ​​the Tang Dynasty. Su Dingfang was also very smart. He left every time. His main task was to set fire to fire grain. For a time, the entire Goguryeo border was filled with smoke, and many Goguryeo people near the Tang Dynasty were directly abducted. You should know that the Tang Dynasty allowed slaves to buy and sell, especially the Tang Dynasty nobles liked Silla maids, but the real Silla maids were relatively expensive, so many people liked to catch Goguryeo women pretending to be Silla maids. As long as they were cheaper, some people also bought them.

"Old Su is still not cruel enough. If I were in Liaodong, there would be no need to grab people. It would be more convenient to cut it with one knife. In just a few years, it would be able to reduce the large population of Goguryeo. At that time, the resistance to attack Goguryeo will be even smaller!" Cheng Yaojin raised his wine glass and said loudly.

"Do you, the butcher, think that there are too few people to kill? Don't forget why Your Majesty transferred you back to Chang'an this time!" Ma Master said to Cheng Yaojin at this time.

When Cheng Yaojin attacked Dangxiang last time, he killed too many people and was impeached by many people at that time. Fortunately, Li Shimin protected him and used the excuse to let him stay in the southwest to guard him, so he did not punish him. However, after the limelight came, Li Shimin hurriedly transferred him back and did not allow him to lead his troops for the time being. The main purpose was to calm the anger of the ministers in the court. After all, the random killing has always been inconsistent with the Confucian viewpoint.

"There are no immortals on the battlefield. If you don't want to be killed, you have to kill people. In my eyes, as long as you stand in front of my army, all the enemies are enemies. Only those sour scholars will clamor for killing innocent people!" Cheng Yaojin shouted dissatisfied at this time. After returning to Chang'an this time, he also felt a lot of pressure, mainly from the civil servant group, so he was quite dissatisfied with this.

"Zhijie, we are not young anymore. Even if we don't think about ourselves, we should think about our children and grandchildren. So I think you should calm down and avoid leaving a bad reputation for our children and grandchildren!" At this moment, Qin Qiong, who was sitting on the other side of Mr. Ma, also advised Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin has a stubborn temper and does not accept anyone. Only Qin Qiong can listen to Qin Qiong's words. If Qin Qiong had not stopped him before, he would have slaughtered the entire 300,000 people in the Dangxiang. Therefore, he nodded and said, "Shubao, I know what you mean, and I will pay attention to it in the future. However, as we are older, the chances of leading troops in the future will probably be less and less, and the descendants will have their own blessings. If they are not good, it will be useless even if I leave them more property."

"I agree with General Cheng's last words. I remember someone once said that what descendants are stronger than me, and what is left to keep money? If the virtuous and more wealth is damaged, the descendants are not as good as me, and what is left to keep money? If the foolish and more wealth is more wealth, the fault will increase. Although it is said to be wealth, it is very suitable for other aspects!" Li Xiu, who was sitting at the end, also smiled and said.

"Thorough! This sentence is said thoroughly. When I go back, I will write it down and hang it in the ancestral hall to do family precepts!" Cheng Yaojin slapped the table and laughed when he heard Li Xiu's words. He was a person with a temperament and said whatever he thought.

In fact, Li Xiu still understood Cheng Yaojin's behavior of killing people like slaughtering dogs, because Cheng Yaojin was born in the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty. At that time, people's lives were like grass, and they could kill people for half a piece of steamed bun. Although Cheng Yaojin was born in an official family, he could not escape the influence of the chaotic times. In order to protect himself, he had to become ruthless. Human life was indeed nothing in his eyes.

"By the way, I heard that the candidate for the Crown Princess has been decided this time. Do you know which woman from the son-in-law is selected?" At this moment, Qin Qiong suddenly asked with interest.

"Why is General Qin interested in this?" Li Xiu couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard this. If he remembered well, the woman in Qin Qiong's family did not participate in this concubine selection.

"Haha, I'm not interested in this matter, but a girl from my brother-in-law reported it to me. I don't know the result yet, so I asked me to inquire many times!" Qin Qiong said the truth now. His wife is also from a noble family. Although she is not as good as the five surnames and Qiwang, she is also a famous big family.

Changsun Wuji had already determined the three candidates for the Crown Princess before, but this matter has not been made public yet. Moreover, since the last discussion, Li Xiu suggested asking Li Chengqian about his own opinions, but he did not expect that there was no news for a long time and the court had not announced it, so people from the outside world knew even less about it.

"So that's it. The Duke of Qi has set up three alternative candidates for the Crown Princess, namely Wang, Lu and Su. Among them, Wang has the greatest hope. His Majesty and the Queen are more inclined to her, but it seems that they have not been confirmed yet!" Li Xiu nodded first, and then told the news he knew. Anyway, this matter will be announced sooner or later, and with Qin Qiong and others, it would be fine if he knew it in advance.

"It seems that there is no hope for my wife and brother, but this is fine. There are too many intrigues in the palace, and it may not be a good thing to enter the palace!" Qin Qiong's wife's surname is Jia. When she heard that the three daughters who did not have their own wife and brother's family were relieved. It seemed that his thoughts were similar to Li Xiu.

"Hehe, Shubao, look at the people on my wife's side, and directly rejected the imperial edict of the prince to choose a concubine. Your Majesty still has no choice but to do anything to them!" At this moment, Cheng Yaojin suddenly smiled proudly.

Cheng Yaojin's wife's surname is Cui, and she was born in the famous Qinghe Cui family. Speaking of which, the Cheng family was also a prominent family before, but it was very difficult to marry a Cui girl, but it was allowed to marry him. Therefore, this has become one of his favorite capitals to boast about. Even if he was a Duke, he was still proud of it. From this we can see the influence of the Qinghe Cui family.

"Hmph, Qinghe Cui clan is arrogant and even looks down on the royal family. With His Majesty's temper, they will suffer in the future!" Ma Master snorted coldly at this time. His family has been generals for generations, and he has never liked these aristocratic families. He has been in charge of the Feinusi for many years, and he is the most aware of the filth behind these aristocratic families.

"The aristocratic families are not easy to deal with. It is even more difficult to eliminate their influence than to destroy the Turks at the beginning!" Qin Qiong couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this. He had absolute confidence in dealing with the enemies on the battlefield, but he felt helpless about these ubiquitous aristocratic families in China, and even did not have much optimism about Li Shimin.

"Let's stop talking about such a headache. Li Xiu, you know His Majesty's thoughts best. Tell me when His Majesty will send troops to destroy Goguryeo?" Cheng Yaojin didn't like to discuss the affairs of the aristocratic families again, and now he turned the topic to Goguryeo. After all, they are military generals and are most concerned about war affairs.

"Su Dingfang and his team mainly sent troops to give Goguryeo a little bit of blood. However, if you want to achieve the expected results, it will probably take at least four or five years. By then, our strength will be almost accumulated, and we will definitely destroy Goguryeo in one fell swoop!" When Li Xiu said the last, he took a special look at the excited Qin Qiong and Ma Ye.

"That's great. I can finally avenge the brothers who died in Liaodong!" Master Ma immediately slapped the table and said excitedly. As the person who fought for Goguryeo three times, his greatest wish was to fight back to Liaodong and avenge the brothers he had in the past!

Qin Qiong's face turned red when he heard this, and his fists were clenched tightly, his eyes full of determination. He had two great wishes in his life. The first was to destroy the Turks and avenge his father. This had been realized, and the second was to destroy Goguryeo, and at the same time he also packed up the corpses for his brothers who died in Liaodong.

"Old Ma, it's not me who said you. Shubao and I are young. You are not young now. Can you last another five years?" Cheng Yaojin had nothing to say about this stinky mouth, but what he said was the truth. Mr. Ma is over 60 years old this year. In this era when medical treatment is underdeveloped and the average life expectancy is extremely low, Mr. Ma is considered to be old.

"Get out of here, I'm in good health. Not to mention five years, it's okay to live for another fifty years!" Ma Master couldn't help but curse, but Li Xiu found that he had put down the wine he was going to drink. Speaking of which, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin were rarely visited today, so he was allowed to drink some wine by Princess Guanghua, otherwise he wouldn't even allow meat to be eaten, let alone wine.

Cheng Yaojin is not easy to get along with. He drank some wine today and started to scold Ma Ye now, but their tempers are much better now. In the past, they would even fight with him if they drank some wine.

But at this moment, a guard suddenly rushed over, then leaned into Li Xiu's ear and reported a message in a low voice, which made his face darker, which made Ma and the other two a little strange. They asked one after another, but Li Xiu slowly said: "The final candidate for the Crown Princess has been decided!"
Chapter completed!