LFHYB -Chapter 74 The Tuyuhun Collapses at a Touch

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba’s skills, which shocked Pei Shiju, were already restrained.

Apart from a little strategic analysis by Li Shimin, the two mostly just presented data.

Yet this ability to organize and present information was enough to amaze Pei Shiju.

Li Shimin whispered to Li Xuanba: “You insisted I say Teacher Gao taught us. If Teacher Gao saw what we wrote, he would definitely scold us and make us rewrite it.”

After speaking, Li Shimin shook his head and imitated Teacher Gao’s scolding: “Donkey brays, dog barks, frogs croak, cicadas chirp—purely annoying!”

Li Xuanba tried not to laugh: “Although Teacher Gao did scold us like that before, this time it’s not that bad.”

Li Shimin hugged his arms, shaking his little head: “Not bad, just perfunctory. If my skills were really poor, Teacher Gao wouldn’t scold; he would patiently teach. Teacher Gao hates perfunctory work the most.”

Li Xuanba said, “True. But the teacher would understand that we are hiding our abilities.”

Li Shimin sighed: “If I were already fifteen or sixteen, I wouldn’t hide my skills. I’d impress His Majesty with a campaign report and become Marquis Champion before I turned twenty!”

Li Xuanba said, “At twenty, you’ll never become Marquis Champion.”

Li Shimin was wide-eyed: “Ah? Already that early?”

Li Xuanba nodded.

Li Shimin hadn’t planned to ask further, but didn’t expect it to come so soon.

He grabbed Li Xuanba by the shoulder and whispered mischievously, “Come on, A-Xuan, quietly tell your brother… how old are we… hmm, you know what I mean.”

Li Xuanba replied: “You rebel at eighteen, become the Prince of Qin at nineteen.”

Li Shimin couldn’t believe it. “Qin… Prince of Qin? Why Qin?”

He felt extremely wronged.

Li Xuanba looked puzzled: “Isn’t being Prince of Qin good?”

Li Shimin pouted. “What’s good about it? Cruel and ruthless… died in the second generation.”

Li Xuanba paused for a moment before realizing something. Qin Shi Huang’s reputation only improved in modern times. At this time, he was synonymous with tyranny. Even when temples were built for emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Qin Shi Huang received no offerings, being considered a “tyrant overthrown, ruler of a fallen state.”

Historically, Emperor Taizong of Tang really disliked Qin, often reflecting on Qin Shi Huang and the Second Emperor of Qin to admonish himself.

Li Xuanba tried to persuade him: “Titles are granted according to the strength of the fiefdoms in the Zhou era. ‘Qin’ and ‘Jin’ are first-class titles.”

Li Shimin said, “Then I’ll be Prince of Jin! Those who were Princes of Qin before all had bad endings!”

Li Xuanba: “Ah? Let me check.”

Borrowing books from Pei Shiju’s study, Li Xuanba consulted the historical records: “During the Wei and Jin periods, Princes of Qin all died young, but during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Princes of Qin were fine, some even became emperors.”

Li Shimin crossed his arms. “I still don’t like it.”

Li Xuanba replied: “You can like it. Later generations praise Qin Shi Huang highly. Besides, you’re the one who brings the title ‘Qin’ back to its peak. There will still be many Princes of Qin in later times, but when people speak of ‘Prince of Qin,’ they’ll only think of Qin Shi Huang and you, Li Shimin. If you refuse the title, we’ll lose a fun historical joke about you traveling back to be Qin Shi Huang’s son. That would be boring.”

Li Shimin was dumbfounded, once again shocked by the absurdity of people in later times.

Why do I have to be Qin Shi Huang’s son?! I absolutely don’t want to be his son!

He asked for more spoilers voluntarily, only to be so annoyed by Li Xuanba’s revelations that he ignored him for half a day.

Half a day later, Li Shimin approached Li Xuanba to make peace: “From now on, let’s tell Father we want to switch our titles, okay?”

Li Xuanba replied, “No switching, scram.” After all, how could Li Shimin not be Prince of Qin?

Li Shimin glared at his brother in frustration, then sighed in resignation.

Fine, I’ll be Prince of Qin. I’ll single-handedly change the reputation of ‘Prince of Qin’—fist raised!

Pei Shiju prepared lessons for a whole day, using the materials Li Shimin and Li Xuanba brought, combined with his knowledge of the Western Regions, to resume teaching them.

He worried about their health and didn’t want to give them too heavy a workload. But seeing their diligence, Pei Shiju couldn’t just go through the motions.

Moreover, he genuinely enjoyed teaching talented students.

Without the fatigue of travel, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba could easily keep up with Pei Shiju’s lessons.

With servants managing the teahouse and intelligence gathering, the brothers only needed to check the accounts and intelligence reports once every ten days. The rest of the time, they followed Pei Shiju, learning constantly.

Although Pei Shiju’s teaching skills weren’t as strong as the other tutors, his fondness for Li Shimin and Li Xuanba meant that even when on official business, he brought them along. They assisted him like civil officials, managing administrative tasks and learning a great deal.

With each day filled only with study and official duties, time flew for the brothers.

In August, Pei Shiju, in order to weaken Tuyuhun before the Sui launched a full-scale attack, persuaded the Tiele tribes to attack Tuyuhun. The Tiele agreed to send troops.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba observed Pei Shiju’s negotiation techniques firsthand.

That night, they whispered to each other under the covers.

Li Shimin: “Lord Pei’s persuasion skills are impressive. He’d make a competent envoy.”

Li Xuanba: “But he shouldn’t have persuaded the Tiele tribes, right?”

Li Shimin sighed: “Yeah. Lord Pei’s strategic vision isn’t as sharp as Teacher Gao’s or my father-in-law’s.”

Li Xuanba mischievously speculated: “Maybe he knew, but didn’t care. Flattering the emperor is what matters most.”

Li Shimin advised: “A-Xuan, Lord Pei treats us very well. Don’t judge others with ill intent. Keep a positive mindset.”

Li Xuanba: “Oh, so he’s useless.”

Li Shimin was speechless: “Watch your words.”

Li Xuanba didn’t mean to insult Pei Shiju.

The Tiele were originally a branch of the Western Turks.

In the third year of Emperor Wen of Sui’s Renshou reign, Changsun Sheng managed the Western Regions. After lying low for years, he struck when the moment was right. The Turks split into factions, and after bloody internal struggles, both Eastern and Western Turks submitted to Sui. Among them, more than ten Tiele tribes, under Changsun Sheng’s stratagem, betrayed Datu Khan, who refused to acknowledge Sui, and pledged allegiance to the Sui-supported Qimin Khan.

Thus, the Tiele troops were nominally Sui troops. Pei Shiju’s actions seemed justified.

But Tuyuhun was weak, and Sui’s political strength was at its peak. Even without the Tiele, Sui could easily win.

Since a war was inevitable, one must calculate the gains.

Although nominally loyal to Sui, the Tiele were still Turks. If they attacked Tuyuhun first, knowing their nature, they wouldn’t commit to total annihilation but would loot and retreat.

Not only could Li Shimin see this, but even Li Xuanba, who had no war talent but had been trained by Gao Jiong, could see that a tribal war without a decisive battle only invites a resurgence.

The Tiele appeared to weaken Tuyuhun but in fact only alerted them, allowing the main forces to escape.

Moreover, the Turks would not always obey Sui.

If Sui wanted to use Turkish forces, the proper method would be for both armies to march together, with land and population under Sui and spoils shared evenly.

If the Turks marched first and won decisively, they would occupy fertile borderlands, plunder large numbers of people, and Sui’s later victory would yield far less territory. Developing Tuyuhun after population losses would be very difficult.

The purpose of attacking Tuyuhun was to annex and consolidate it, not merely to claim a grand victory.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba both felt that Pei Shiju’s actions were inappropriate. But they were just children, and Pei Shiju had surely reported his plans to the emperor first. All they could do was mutter a few words under their blankets.

Li Shimin: “I hope the Tiele and Tuyuhun will weaken each other and end up in a stalemate.”

Li Xuanba: “I’d rather the Tiele be defeated than see them crush the Tuyuhun.”

The two children prayed.

Less than half a month later, the battle report arrived: their prayers had failed.

The Tiele had decisively defeated the Tuyuhun. The Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun fled eastward into Xiping territory.

Li Shimin held his head: “At least the Tiele will take half of Tuyuhun’s territory, right?”

Li Xuanba said: “And more than half of Tuyuhun’s population.”

Li Shimin comforted himself: “But didn’t the Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun surrender to the Sui? If he did, that’s fine. If he surrenders, the Sui won’t need to send troops—they’ll get the remaining cities and people for free. Not a loss!”

Li Xuanba punctured his older brother’s fantasy: “Lord Pei didn’t secretly go to persuade the Tiele. Now the Tuyuhun Khan may have been caught off guard and doesn’t yet know it was the Sui who sent Lord Pei to urge the Tiele to attack. It’ll take at least ten days for the emperor’s envoy to reach him. In that time, the Tuyuhun Khan will definitely find out that the Sui acted first.”

Li Shimin frowned: “Once he finds out, he won’t surrender?”

Li Xuanba said: “Even if he wants to surrender, the tribal nobles under him who have lost lands, cattle, sheep, and people will hate the Sui and refuse to submit.”

Li Shimin sighed: “I hope not… though I think you’re right, A-Xuan.”

As it turned out, the two boys’ gloomy predictions came true.

The Tuyuhun nobles indeed refused to surrender to the Sui, and the Tuyuhun Khan had no choice but to flee westward with his army.

The envoy sent by Yang Guang, Yuwen Shu, transformed into a military commander, donned armor, led troops in pursuit, and captured 200 Tuyuhun nobles and 4,000 commoners. The Tuyuhun Khan held firm at Fuyuan River. The Sui gained control over most of Tuyuhun’s territory.

Li Shimin: “But there’s no one left.”

Li Xuanba: “Almost all the major Tuyuhun nobles have escaped. Governing this land will be extremely difficult.”

Li Shimin comforted himself: “It seems the emperor doesn’t intend to stop fighting. He’s gathering a large army to eradicate them completely. If the Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun dies, the Tuyuhun will collapse entirely.”

Li Xuanba: “That only works if it’s done in one decisive strike—don’t give the Tuyuhun army a chance to regroup. Even though they’ve suffered a few defeats, their losses aren’t large—they can still fight one more battle.”

Li Shimin smiled: “A-Xuan, don’t worry about that. With so many veteran generals in the court, and the emperor himself having accompanied troops when he was a prince, he certainly won’t make a major military mistake. Don’t look at your ‘book of secrets’ for now—let’s wait for news! Just watch, I’ll be right.”

Li Xuanba nodded.

Fine, no need to search my memory for now—besides, it wouldn’t help. He remembered that Emperor Yang of Sui had decisively defeated the Tuyuhun, bringing the Sui to its peak. Looks like his older brother had been right.

Soon after, they followed Pei Shiju and received a secret letter from the emperor.

The emperor wrote that the Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun was ungrateful, and he must completely annihilate the Tuyuhun himself, personally leading the campaign!

However, he was currently occupied and needed to go to Mount Heng to perform sacrifices. By the time he finished and arrived at Zhangye, it would already be autumn and winter, too cold for battle. Therefore, he decided to personally lead the campaign in the spring next year, putting this matter aside for now.

“Pei Qing, your current task is to invite as many Western countries as possible to Mount Heng to assist in the sacrifices.”

Li Shimin stammered for a while: “It’s only August now! The army led by Duke Xu is already here. If they strike now, they could take the Tuyuhun Khan before the first snowfall!”

With the Tuyuhun’s army in such a fragile state, Duke Xu could even finish just in time for the Double Ninth Festival!

Pei Shiju advised Li Shimin: “Duke Xu’s victory without pursuing the enemy must already be under the emperor’s orders—he’s leaving the Tuyuhun Khan for the emperor to strike personally. The Tuyuhun are already defeated; there’s no need to worry. Next, I’ll teach you how to send letters to the various states.”

Li Shimin anxiously: “But the Tuyuhun have already been routed…”

Pei Shiju patted Li Shimin on the shoulder: “The emperor’s will is the most important. Since the Tuyuhun have no strength left to resist, the final strike must come from the emperor himself, to truly display his prestige.”

Pei Shiju looked at the naive Li Shimin and thought: a boy is still a boy—talented, but still inexperienced in worldly matters.

Li Xuanba tugged at his older brother’s sleeve: “Alright, Lord Pei is right.”

Li Xuanba: “Next year, they will also win. Don’t worry.”

Li Shimin pressed his lips together, eyes lowered.

Next year, the Sui would surely defeat the Tuyuhun. But how much more manpower and resources would be wasted now? If too much is spent and the victory isn’t complete, can the Sui really occupy the Tuyuhun lands?