First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 192

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Hearing An Xinggui's words, Li Yuan thought for a long time, nodded in response, looked at the confident An Xinggui and said bluntly: "If you succeed, you will not lose your position as Duke."

After hearing this, An Xinggui was overjoyed, and hurriedly thanked him.

Li Shimin led his own army to confront Xue Rengao in Jingzhou. An Xinggui traveled all the way to Liangzhou and was recommended to Li Gui by his younger brother An Xiuren.

Li Gui had also heard about the reputation of An Xinggui, the eldest son of the An family, and he couldn't help being overjoyed when he saw him trekking across mountains and rivers to vote, so he immediately named him General Zuowei.

Seeing that An Xinggui came from Guanzhong, Li Gui immediately looked for an opportunity to ask: "General An, Li Yuan in Guanzhong is tyrannical, how can I feel safe in Hexi?"

An Xinggui knew Li Gui's temperament, although he was ambitious, he was also a bit timid, so he said tentatively: "Liangzhou is remote and lacks financial resources. There are Turks, and there is Tuyuhun in the south, who are ambitious and ready to face enemies at any time.

Now that Li Yuan occupies the land of Gyeonggi, he has a great view of the world, and he must conquer and win in battle. This is the destiny. If your majesty takes the land west of Hexi to the Tang court to help him unify the world, he will not lose his position as a prince."

Li Gui remained silent after hearing this, An Xinggui didn't panic either, he just sat there calmly, for a long time, Li Gui raised his eyebrows and looked at An Xinggui, "Is General An a lobbyist for Li Yuan?"

An Xinggui shook his head and smiled, "No, the An family lived in Wuwei for a long time, and the old minister traveled thousands of miles to return to his hometown to vote. No matter whether your majesty is advancing or retreating, the minister must do his best."

Hearing this, Li Gui nodded. The foundation of the An family is in Wuwei, which cannot be changed. Dang even sighed: "In the Han Dynasty, Wu Wang Liu Bi only had the land on the left of the river and could still call himself the Eastern Emperor. The Han court contends, I occupy the land of the five prefectures in the west of Hexi, and have more than [-] troops, far superior to Liu Bi in terms of land and military strength, so can I not be called the emperor of the West?"

An Xinggui smiled when he heard the words, "So Liu Bi was defeated."

Seeing the change in Li Gui's face, An Xinggui hurriedly said: "I know your majesty's intentions, and I will not say anything about returning to Tang from now on. Thanks to your kindness, I am now an official worshiping the general, which is considered a return to my hometown. My younger brother Xiuren They are also listed in the Shangshu, and the children of the whole family have received His Majesty's kindness, and they will dedicate themselves to their duties to repay His Majesty."

Li Gui was very satisfied when he heard the words, and he straightened his beard and praised: "Although the An family is a Hu descendant, they are loyal and righteous far beyond others."

However, Liang Shuo, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was originally Li Gui's mastermind, and he was quite strategic. He once had a bad relationship with An Xiuren.

"Your Majesty, the Hu people from the Western Regions are becoming more and more prosperous, and they all focus on the An family, and the An family brothers are in charge of the army and the household department.

Liang Shuo said earnestly: "And your majesty has just proclaimed himself emperor, and he is at war with Li Tang. An Dalang came from the pass to vote. It is really suspicious. I hope your majesty will learn from him."

Li Gui was having a banquet, and waved his hands drunkenly after hearing this, "Liang Qing is worrying too much, An Dalang just wants to return to his hometown, seeing that I am powerful, he just came to vote, and he has no other intentions."

Liang Shuo was anxious when he heard this, and was about to persuade him again.

Li Gui stared drunkenly, "Don't mention this again, so as not to hurt the peace."

Liang Shuo had no choice but to back down, and this scene happened to be heard by a young man in the corridor. This young man was named Li Zhongyan, and he was Li Gui's second son. He was about eighteen or nineteen years old.

Hearing Liang Shuo's words, a stern look flashed across Li Zhongyan's eyes, and he secretly hated: This time, Liang Shuo's head will fall to the ground.

Then he turned around and went out of the palace, and went straight to a large house in the city, only to see "Anfu" written on the door plaque.

It turned out that Li Zhongyan once toasted Liang Shuo at a banquet, but Liang Shuo did not come to greet him. Li Zhongyan thought that Liang Shuo underestimated him, and thus resented Liang Shuo.

That night, in Anfu's study, a big event was being planned.

In Anding City, Li Shimin garrisoned troops here, and did not come out for many days. No matter how the Western Qin General Zong Luohu fought, he still stood firm and did not fight. There were many discussions among Tang generals about this.

In the county office, the outspoken Qiu Xinggong immediately shouted: "Your Majesty, the last general invites you to fight, and I will definitely make Zong Luohu look good."

"The last general also invites to fight", the general Pang Yu also looked angry, "That dog thief Zong Luohou scolded so badly".

Li Shimin's face was calm when he heard the words, "I understand your thoughts, but when Pingyuan Gong (Liu Gan) was martyred, he once said that when the thieves ran out of food, our army should stick to it to consume their food and grass.

Furthermore, when our army is defeated at the beginning, morale is low, and the bandit army is proud of its victory, so it is really inappropriate to confront each other. As the saying goes, we will go all out, then decline, and three will be exhausted. We only need to stick to it for a few days. The general's morale will surely drop, and then it will be the time for our army to avenge its shame."

Gao Chong on the side also nodded in agreement, "If you hold on for several days, the enemy army will not be able to attack for a long time. Seeing that the bandit army is no more than this, our soldiers will become more courageous."

Hearing these words, the generals also understood, after all, the capital built by [-] Tang army leaders was really terrifying, most of the soldiers of the Tang army were frightened, and the bandit army went deep alone, delaying it would be beneficial and harmless to Datang.

So the two sides held each other in Jingzhou for more than ten days, during which Xue Rengao personally led the army to attack the city in a rage, but how capable the Tang army was, and how capable Li Shimin and others were, how could they lose the battle of defending the city? It's still an unfinished business.

Gao Chong went to overlook the West Qin camp every day, just to observe the smoke of the enemy's cooking.

After half a month, Gao Chong was overjoyed when he saw that the cooking smoke had decreased significantly, and immediately went to find Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, the smoke from the bandit army's cooking has decreased, which should be due to the shortage of food and grass," Gao Chong said bluntly.

Li Shimin was also overjoyed when he heard this, he waited for many days, just waiting for this moment, and immediately said: "Maybe you can go to the camp and have a try."

Gao Chong heard the words, but said: "It is better to persuade the surrender than to attack the camp."

"Persuade to surrender?" Li Shimin frowned, and then he understood, "You mean that the bandits' army will run out of food, and the soldiers will be separated, so they persuaded them to surrender to break their morale."

Gao Chong nodded, "Soldiers will complain if they don't have enough to eat, maybe you can give it a try."

Li Shimin immediately agreed and asked Gao Chong to handle the matter.

Suddenly, Li Shimin paused, looked at Gao Chong and said with a smile: "If my guess is correct, there must be a sentence: You are already surrounded, don't make unnecessary resistance."

Gao Chong laughed when he heard the words, "This is necessary, this is a fixed template, Gao Chong's first and unique."

Even if it is just a pen to write, it is a letter of persuasion.

Li Shimin took it and took a look, "Continue to resist, you will die... You have no food, have you not had enough food for several days? Come here, there will be wine and meat...".

After seeing it, Li Shimin couldn't help laughing and said: "This speech is as concise and clear as ever, and it is extremely provocative."

Dang even asked to copy two thousand copies, and ordered Qingqi to shoot to the camp of Xiqin. As the two of them expected, Xiqin was really facing a shortage of food, but within two days, the effect of the persuasion letter was reflected.

(End of this chapter)