Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 178 Meeting Li Shimin for the first time

Some people said, why couldn't the Li family's troops, who were only sixty miles away, pursue Wang Shichong's troops heading eastward?
Hey, if we wanted to fight them, we would have caught up with them days ago. Why would we wait until they rest for five, six, seven or eight days before thinking of attacking?

The Li family's goal is to reap the benefits, not to serve the country. It would be best if they could kill two birds with one stone, but if the shot fails, at least it won't cause them any damage.

In short, warlords claim to be more loyal than anyone else, but their business acumen is really surging.

How did the chaotic times come about? Didn't the chaos begin from the beginning? The drama of warlords fighting each other has never stopped from the Zhou Dynasty to the present and even in the future. Power is really addictive. Even Xia Lin, a small county magistrate, is a little addicted, but his cognition is a little clearer. What's more, those higher-level leaders, that kind of condescending feeling is really too confusing.

At this moment, the gate of Luoyang City was still closed. In the evening, just as Xia Lin had expected, a large flag with the word "Li" appeared outside the east gate. Leading the way was a young man riding a tall horse. He was probably around 20 years old, about the same age as Xia Lin.

However, some people are truly born protagonists. With so many people around, Xia Lin can lock his eyes on him from a distance. Although there is no special light effect, this person is shining in the crowd.

The young man on the horse urged the warhorse to quickly arrive at the city of Luoyang. When he saw the corpses all over the ground, he was shocked. He didn't expect that Wang Shichong's siege would be so brutal. The man defending the city was indeed a ruthless character.

"Listen, Luoyang defenders! We are the Longxi Li family coming to support Luoyang. Please open the city gates and let the army enter the city to rest!"

Hearing his words, Xia Lin slowly poked his head out of the city wall, looked at the young general, and then shouted, "Who is coming?"

"Longxi Li family, Li Shimin."

Um~~~~The Heavenly Khan is here.

Xia Lin sniffed, feeling a bit like a fan seeing a star, but he didn't show it on his face: "What are you doing in Luoyang City?!"

Li Shimin stopped his horse and shouted, "I have been ordered to capture the bandits and protect Luoyang City. I order you to quickly open the city gates and welcome the Eastern Expedition Army into the city."

Xia Lin's face gradually drooped. "My troops have been ordered to defend Luoyang City to the death. We will not open the gates without an imperial edict. May I ask if General Li has any imperial edict or handwritten instructions on him?"

"This happened suddenly, and there was no imperial decree. Please open the gate and welcome the troops to capture the thieves."

At this time, Xia Lin turned around and took a booklet from the soldier next to him, picked it up and read aloud: "Luoyang City is an important military base. During wartime, it is not under the control of the various provinces, counties, states, and prefectures. Without the imperial edict, we will not obey orders. Here, I would like to say sorry to the rebel army. Without the imperial edict, the city gates must not be opened. If your troops force their way in, it will be regarded as an attack on the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, the archers on the city wall drew their bows in unison. Their movements were uniform and their momentum was astonishing.

Li Shimin looked at Xia Lin coldly but said nothing more. He just turned around and returned to the camp silently.

Afterwards, Li Yuan's troops did not leave to pursue the rebels but settled down outside Luoyang in the name of rest and recuperation. To put it bluntly, it was a disguised siege. They did not attack the city, but as soon as the city gates were opened, they would immediately enter Luoyang.

In fact, at this point, everyone knew that they were eager to take Luoyang City. However, since they were friendly forces, it was difficult to attack them, so they could only wait for an opportunity. After all, the city gates would eventually be opened, either now or someday in the future.

However, compared to Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin whom they had met before, the soldiers led by the Li father and son gave people a completely different feeling. There was a real aura of murderousness in them. If they really had to force their way through, Luoyang City might not be able to be defended.

Xia Lin stood on the top of the city wall and looked in the direction where Li Shimin left. He was somewhat unsure. After all, he was facing the strongest carbon-based creature in the seventh century AD, the governor of Asia, the boss of the Eastern Hemisphere, the man with the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix, the Grand Marshal of the Tang Dynasty, Situ, the Minister of the Chancellery, the Minister of the Central Chancellery, the Minister of the Grand Secretariat of the East Shaanxi Road, the Minister of the Executive Office of the Yizhou Road, the Governor of Yongzhou, the Governor of Liangzhou, the Left and Right Wuhou Generals, the Left and Right Twelve Guards Generals, the Supreme Pillar of the State, the King of Qin, the General of Tiance, the Heavenly Khan, and the Emperor Taizong Wen of the Tang Dynasty, who single-handedly led the Tang Dynasty to the prosperous Zhenguan period.

According to historical records, all those who were enemies of Li Shimin started with a default disaster difficulty. Wherever he went, he could be said to have swept across the world and ruled the world. The Tang Dynasty enjoyed a reign of 289 years, Li Shimin alone enjoyed 145 years of national fortune, and the remaining 20 emperors shared the remaining 145 years.

And now, Xia Lin is facing such a man who holds the destiny of the country in his arms. Even at this moment, Xia Lin suddenly felt the same powerlessness as Wang Mang when facing the great mage Liu Xiu. After a moment of trance, he even felt that he should just surrender to him now.

But after thinking for a moment, Xia Lin still stood firm. No matter how wise Li Shimin was, he would not indulge him like Emperor Hongbao. The current Li Shimin was not the Li Shimin who was scolded by Wei Zheng and cried, but the decisive and scheming Li Shimin, AKA the Xuanwu Gate bandit, the only male vocal in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the God of War in the Northwest who had never been defeated in hundreds of battles - Li Shimin!

If I were really in his camp, then my good days would probably be over. The key is that I am still so weak and can't withstand his troubles now.

After a few days of stalemate, Luoyang's spies reported that Fenyang Guo Ying's troops had led their troops to face Wang Shichong's troops in Zhengzhou, and now Zhengzhou was in a mess. Qin Qiong's troops took the opportunity to go east through Xuchang and sold out Wang Shichong's troops.

However, even so, the situation was not optimistic, because there was another piece of news that was not very good. That was that the Po Lu Army encountered strong resistance from the Lingnan rebels in Shaoguan. Now both sides were unable to advance or retreat and were deadlocked there. This winter, Lingnan experienced a rare winter flood in a century, with landslides and river diversions. The battle situation in the entire Lingnan Road became confusing.

In short, the situation is not so good. Xia Lin now seems to have no particularly good way out except to stay in the isolated city. The only consolation is that Tang Baoer is now safe in Shanxi and will not be affected for a while.

"This won't work. How about I go out and talk to the Li family?"

Of course, Lao Zhang saw Xia Lin's dilemma, so he volunteered to create a second mouth-cannon miracle, but this time he was stopped by Xia Lin.

"It won't work this time. The Li family is not a family of heroes. If you go, you will just be giving them a gift."

"Just waiting like this? That's not a solution either."

Xia Lin pursed his lips and walked around in circles, then raised his head to look at Lao Zhang, and then walked around a few more times.

"No, you donkey? If circling is useful, then every donkey is Zhuge Liang."

Lao Zhang's foul mouth didn't give Xia Lin any ideas. He was still beating around the bush. Then he raised his head and asked, "Is Wang Shichong still fighting against Guo Ying's troops in Zheng Z?"

"Correct."

Xia Lin thought about it, then made up his mind: "What do you think about me leading a thousand men to attack Wang Shichong?"

"Are you crazy? Their army has at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and you only have a thousand soldiers. Who of us is going to be the extra one?"

"I want to take a gamble." Xia Lin bit the dry skin on his lip lightly, narrowed his eyes and said, "Learn Wang Shichong's troops to Luoyang."

"what?"

"Or we can lead Li Shimin's troops to Zheng Z and see who will be fooled. He doesn't want a direct confrontation, so I will find a way to make him confront it head-on."

"You are really brave, aren't you afraid of death?"

"What else can we do if we are still here? Let's do it, young man. Twenty years old is the right time to go out and explore. I will go to Captain Hong to borrow some soldiers!"

After he finished speaking, he patted Lao Zhang on the shoulder and said, "If I come back alive, I will introduce you to some beautiful old ladies. If I die, you go find Chuntao. There is a box under her yard. Inside is the 30,000 taels of silver that I secretly falsified accounts. Take this silver and go to Li Shimin. Remember, it must be Li Shimin!"

Xia Lin was making a huge bet. He couldn't bet that Li Shimin was a fool, but Wang Shichong was an iron fool. If these 1,000 men could change the entire battle situation in the Central Plains and let Wang Shichong and Li Shimin have a fight outside Luoyang, then his plan would be successful.

He couldn't remember what it was called in the Art of War, but this move was indeed worth a try. After all, even if Sun Wu was reborn, he would never have thought that someone would use this method to provoke a fight between two forces.

When Shoubei Hong heard his idea, he was also touched, because this method was extremely risky and had almost no tolerance for error. There was only one chance, and if they failed, they would be eaten by Wang Shichong's troops or they would be exhausted and freeze to death in the wilderness.

But there seemed to be no other choice to break the impasse at the moment, so when Xia Lin asked him to borrow troops, Guardian Hong tried to keep him, but in the end Xia Lin decided to take a gamble.

He made a bet with Li Shimin, betting on whether the fortune of this son of destiny was better or that of this demon from outside the domain was better.

Life is like rolling the dice, and rock, paper, scissors is the ultimate way to resolve disputes and differences.

That night, Xia Lin secretly led a thousand cavalrymen out of Luoyang City under the cover of darkness, relying entirely on the moonlight.

Shoubei Hong and Lao Zhang were looking out from the top of the city wall. Although they could not see anything, they still watched this group of knights rushing towards the east, seemingly seeking their own death.

Old Zhang felt dizzy at the moment, his heart was pounding, and he couldn't muster any strength in his body. He didn't know what chances Xia Lin had of winning, and he didn't even care whether Luoyang would fall into the hands of the Li family. He just knew that his brother might never come back.

(End of this chapter)