Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 16
3
Li Yuan sent Liu Wenjing away, his heart was still hanging, and when he was fidgeting, Li Shimin, his eldest brother Li Jiancheng, his third brother Li Yuanji, and Pingyang's younger sister and Chai Shao's family arrived.When Li Yuan saw him, his heart sank immediately. He looked at the tall and straight Jian Jiancheng and Yuan Ji one by one, and suddenly asked:

"Where's Xuanba?"

With a sound of "Wow", the Pingyang girl cried out.

The three Jiancheng brothers also had tears in their eyes and were extremely sad.

"Xuanba..." Li Yuan stared at Li Shimin.

"He was caught by the government, and he was executed when we went to rescue him." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he hugged his father and burst into tears.

For a while, Jiancheng, Yuanji, and Pingyang girls all cried loudly.At this time, Liu Wenjing brought the Turkic general Kang Jiaoli to see Li Yuan.

After Liu Wenjing reported the situation, Li Yuan turned his sorrow into joy, and asked Shimin to resettle Jiancheng, Yuanji and Pingyang's younger sister, and asked Liu Wenjing to resettle Turkic soldiers, while he summoned Pei Ji and others to discuss plans to raise troops.When everyone arrived, Li Yuan signaled that Liu Wenjing got up first, and explained his contacts with the Turks to everyone, and then expressed his views, saying:
"Although we now control Taiyuan and the surrounding areas, the situation is not optimistic: although the Turks in the north are temporarily united, under the instigation of Liu Wuzhou, there is still the possibility of invading the south; Be loyal to Emperor Sui and fight against me. From the perspective of the whole country, there are currently considerable forces, first of all, the three major forces of the Sui Dynasty: First, Emperor Sui Yang's Imperial Forest Army in Jiangdu. Although there are not many people, they are all brave and skilled fighters; The second is Yangdi's prince guarding Luoyang, the eastern capital. 13 years old, weak and incompetent, but Qu Tutong, the famous general who defended the capital, was brave and resourceful. In addition, he had many soldiers and generals, so he should not be underestimated. Excluding the three major forces in the Sui Dynasty, they are the three strongest rebel armies. The first point Counting Li Mi, there are 30 strong generals under him, and he is also quite capable. He keeps attacking Luoyang and only wants to occupy Luoyang City; The third is Du Fuwei of Jianghuai, who is known as a crowd of [-]. Among these many forces, we seem to be no better than any other in terms of our current strength. life in order to win the final victory.”

Liu Wenjing said this in one breath, inspected the civil servants and generals, and then looked at Li Yuan expectantly, waiting for his instructions.

When Li Yuan was young, he was brave and brave. He once led twelve brothers to defeat the grass bandit Wu Duan'er with [-] people.He gets along with people, regardless of high or low, with a pair of wise eyes, he can know people best.He is well aware of the major events in the world, and he planned to rebel against the Sui Dynasty long ago.Up to now, Li Yuan, who has already had a plan in mind, has made every battle serious in order to let everyone know the truth without being rash or impetuous. This is why Liu Wenjing is the first to speak, so that everyone can get acquainted with the situation before them again and realize that facing a strong enemy , everything should not be taken lightly.At this time, Li Yuan saw Liu Wenjing looking at him, and all the civil servants and generals were also looking at him, so he couldn't help smiling, and said:
"What Jinyang Ling said just now is true. Our situation is indeed not optimistic, but as long as we all work together, we will be able to defeat all enemies and win the final victory. The so-called knowing ourselves and the enemy, we have achieved this first victory." One step. Now, it is necessary to have a specific analysis of the situation and decide every step we will take in the future. Please consider this matter seriously. We will come here to discuss again in three days. Whoever comes up with a good strategy must As a reward, you will be promoted."

When Li Yuan said this, he looked around at the civil servants and generals, his eyes were piercing, and he raised his voice and said:
"Now, I announce two decisions: one is to establish the Grand General's Mansion, and the prince of the country will hold the seal of the Grand General. The second is to hold an oath meeting in front of the hall tomorrow, and the chief secretary Pei Ji will announce the crimes of Emperor Sui Yang. Ministry, be sure to arrive on time without any delay."

"As ordered!"

After Li Yuan finished his announcement, everyone responded in unison and dispersed one after another.Li Yuan watched the crowd and nodded frequently.

3
The next day was a rare fine weather in May.The blue sky is bright, the white clouds are flowing lightly, Hexi's sunshine is shining all over the earth, and the distant mountains and nearby trees are lush.The sun has just passed the peak of Longshan in the east, and all the generals have led their troops and gathered in front of the main hall.Li Yuan's heart was excited and his face was solemn. He had been concentrating on the generals and groups of soldiers coming to gather.

This is my Li Yuan's army, I, Li Yuan, can have so many troops of my own!Li Yuan kept repeating this sentence in his heart, staring blankly at the [-] soldiers who had already arrived.After killing Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the [-] soldiers belonged entirely to Li Yuan.They only obey the orders of Li Yuan alone, and Li Yuan is their highest and final command.As a descendant of several generations of military groups, Li Yuan knew what this meant.In the past, his father, his grandfather, although he also led thousands of troops, commanded them, ordered them to charge forward and kill the enemy.However, what they command is the emperor's army, and the highest and final commander is still the emperor, and they are only commanding for the emperor.Alas, poor grandfather and father, although they are majestic and majestic, if they want to let the army advance, the emperor wants the army to retreat. In the end, they can only carry out the emperor's order.But now, Li Yuan can do whatever he wants, and he can even order his army to attack the emperor!This is such a joyful thing!Thinking of this, Li Yuan couldn't help laughing out loud.

Pei Ji knew why Li Yuan was smiling, so he pointed at the troops assembled below when he was happy, which clearly said: Everyone is here, it's time for a meeting!

Li Yuan woke up from his contemplation, and said to Pei Ji, "Read out the call for action!"

Pei Ji picked up the proclamation, walked to the center of the high platform, cleared his throat, and read it aloud.He called the soldiers and brave men "righteous men", and his arguments were convincing. Finally, he said: "...Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty avoided Yangzhou and ignored the government, which led to the desolation of the government, the chaos of the world, and the suffering of the people. For this reason, special Raise volunteers, go to Chang'an, respect Sui Yang Emperor as the Supreme Emperor, and appoint Prince Yang You as Emperor."

Pei Ji's voice was up and down, and he read the call to action vividly and vividly.After reading, the crowd was excited and cheered.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Li Yuan was overjoyed. The next day, he summoned civil servants and generals to gather in Jinyang Palace to discuss strategies for advancing troops.Li Shimin was very scheming. He heard Liu Wenjing's words last time. After returning to the mansion, he summoned the elder Sun Shunde, Hou Junji and others to discuss carefully. He already had a clear plan, so he was the first to stand up and said:

"My son thought that to raise an army and fight for thousands of miles, you need to consolidate the rear first. Now that the foreign aggression Turkic has been temporarily stabilized, the internal aggression is high, and the king is punished, but there are still Liaoshan and Xihe counties who refuse to obey orders, so they should be eliminated first. , only then can we command Chang'an."

Li Yuan had been thinking about this military campaign for a long time, and he had a good chance of winning. After listening to Shimin's words, he guided him and said: "My son is right. The target of our first attack should be Chang'an. Now, Li Mi and Wang Shichong We fought fiercely in Luoyang, and we just took advantage of the opportunity to attack Chang'an. If we want to enter Chang'an, Xihe is the place we must pass through. We must capture it as soon as possible before we can send troops to Chang'an. As for Liaoshan, it is not on the way south, so we can temporarily ignore it and go When it comes naturally."

After hearing this, Li Shimin thought about it carefully, and suddenly his heart brightened, and he said loudly: "Father's words are very true. My son is willing to lead the army and horses of our army to take Xihe County and open the way for our army to enter Chang'an in the south."

After hearing this, Li Yuan said: "Xiao Yu, the former prefect of Xihe County, was recently transferred back to Chang'an. Gao Deru, the prefect who took over, was a famous general in the Sui Dynasty. He fought for a long time on the battlefield and was proficient in the art of war. He was not an idle generation. Emperor Yang placed him in The only way from Taiyuan to Chang'an shows that he has long been suspicious of me, Li Yuan. Now, with your strength alone, it may be difficult to defeat Gao Deru. I will let your elder brother go with you, what do you think?"

After hearing this, Li Shimin nodded immediately and said, "I am very happy to have my elder brother go with me."

"It's so good. With the strength of your two brothers, you can win Xihe County in one fell swoop."

After Li Yuan finished speaking, his eyes covered Li Jiancheng.Seeing him, Li Jiancheng stepped forward and said:

"I would like to obey my father's order, and would like to go with my second brother to take Xihe County. It's just that I'm worried that my sergeants have just been assembled and rushed into battle. They need strict military orders before they can enter the army. For this reason, I have already Draft the military law, and ask my father to read it."

Li Yuan received the military order drafted by Li Jiancheng and was very happy after reading it. He said: "Let's declare this to the whole army, so that the three armies will obey this military order and not violate it."

"Thank you father, with this military order, the boy has more confidence in taking Xihe County."

"Not only must you have confidence, but you must win Xihe County in one fell swoop. This battle is of great importance, so don't be careless." Li Yuan said, looking around at the two brothers.

Jiancheng and the people of the world replied in unison: "My son will definitely live up to my father's expectations."

"Your brothers, especially Shimin, are too young to have fought a big battle. It's just that your father has just taken over the military power, and he doesn't have any capable generals under him. What's more..." Li Yuan lowered his voice and said, "This time The battle is of great importance, and I need to take away two-thirds of my army. Who else can I trust except you two brothers? Therefore, I entrust this day's big battle to you. Let's discuss and proceed with caution."

"I would like to obey my father's order." Li Shimin said: "I would like to issue a military order that I cannot take Xihe this time, and I would like to be dealt with by military law."

Li Yuan listened, nodded with a smile, asked someone to take a pen and paper, asked Shimin and Jianjian to issue a military order, and then called Taiyuan Lingwen Da, saying:

"Although it was built a little longer, the people of the world are still too young. In this campaign, please go with them and advise the military. When they have something they don't understand, they can get advice from the Taiyuan order. When they come back with great achievements, I will definitely reward them to you."

After hearing this, Wen Da bowed his hands to thank him and said: "Eldest Young Master, Second Young Master is super intelligent and strategic. Wen Da received the order of the General to go with the army, and he will do his best to help and make contributions. Please rest assured, the General."

Li Yuan nodded and gave the order:

"Li Yuanji stayed in Taiyuan, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng and Taiyuan ordered Wen Da to send troops to Xihe! All generals, work hard to move forward, obey the military orders, and make no mistakes!"

After the order was issued, Li Yuan led the Chinese army himself, and then responded.

3
On the day of dispatching troops, spring is in full bloom.Along the way, there are green mountains and clear waters, and you smile lightly, and the fields are full of fragrance.White clouds float leisurely in the blue sky, and mountain eagles spread their wings under the clouds.The sky is high and the ground is vast, the wind is quiet and people and horses are noisy.On the vast plain between Taihang Mountain and Luliang Mountain, the left and right armies of the Li family were leaving Taiyuan and heading south in a hurry.

Fighting a tiger requires brothers, and Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng go hand in hand.This is May of the 13th year of Daye. The elder brother Li Jiancheng, who was born in 589 AD, just turned 28 years old; Li Shimin, who was born in 599 AD, was just 18 years old.In order to seize the empire of their father's cousin and their cousin Emperor Sui Yang, they each led [-] soldiers and marched towards Chang'an.Li Shimin was blessed by nature, he had been instructed by his father to "become a hero". At this time, he had Hou Junji, Duan Zhixuan, Yin Kaishan, Changsun Wuji, Liu Hongji, Changsun Shunde and other civil servants and generals by his side.In contrast, Li Jiancheng is not inferior.Because Li Yuan told Li Shimin to "make friends with heroes", he also told Li Jiancheng in Luoyang to "make close friends". First-class civil servants and generals.With confident smiles on their faces, the two brothers walked at the forefront of the army. Behind them were dozens of close confidants, and behind them were a group of generals who absolutely obeyed their orders and an army of [-] eager to create a new world.Although they have not undergone strict training, and most of them have just been summoned, they are walking neatly and vigorously.

When it was getting dark, the troops came to a town. Li Jiancheng looked at the winding city wall in front of him, and at the tired soldiers behind him, and said to Li Shimin:

"Second brother, let's set up camp here, rest for one night, and go forward tomorrow."

Li Shimin nodded, and shouted behind him: "Stop moving forward, set up camp!"

Yan Bi got off his horse and saw a soldier carrying a heavy backpack, Li Shimin stepped forward to catch him and put it down.Seeing Li Jiancheng, he nodded and walked forward.A few soldiers are setting the pot and cooking, preparing meals.Not far from them, there was a green vegetable field, which was very attractive. A soldier was watching blankly. Li Jiancheng approached him and said:
"You are not allowed to take food from the people, and you must not harass the people. I will reward you after Xihe is captured."

After hearing this, the soldier laughed and said, "I'm just looking at it, and I dare not disobey the military order." After hearing this, Li Jiancheng nodded and left.

At that night, the weather changed suddenly, the wind blew up and thunder blew, and within seconds, it rained heavily.Jiancheng and Shimin were in the tent discussing the matter of marching troops, when they heard the sound of thunder, they rushed out of the tent.Braving the heavy rain, they searched around, commanded the sergeant, and moved the people living in the low-lying place to the high place.Seeing a soldier coughing, Shimin asked to help him into his tent to rest.The other soldiers were very moved when they saw it.

On the second day, after the troops arrived at the city of Xihe and set up camp, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin hurried to survey the terrain before they had time to put on their armor, and issued an order: Although Xihe was surrounded, the people were not allowed to be hurt!They decided to take great military risks and allow the people to come and go freely.For this reason, the people of Xihe rushed to praise each other, saying that the troops of the Li brothers knew how to show compassion for the people.An official in the city named Duan Qingyu heard about it and contacted Li Shimin on his own initiative.Because he had already been extremely disgusted with Emperor Sui Yang's labor and imperialism.Li Shimin met Duan Qingyu, and after talking for a while, he was overjoyed.Let him respond internally and open the city gate tomorrow.

The next day, a large-scale attack on the city.Brothers Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng took the lead and rushed to the forefront.The soldiers were encouraged and scrambled forward.Dozens of volunteers carried a ladder, and dozens of ladders approached the city wall in unison.The people in the city, under the leadership of Duan Qingyu, secretly opened the city gate.All of a sudden, the Li family's army swarmed in.After Gao Deru saw it, he was shocked and ordered the soldiers to kill the people.When the soldiers were hesitant, Li's army had already swarmed in. In the melee, Gao Deru was killed by his men.

This battle was surprisingly smooth.The soldiers arrived at the city - that day, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin took Xihe County before Li Yuan's arrival of the troops.When Li Yuan arrived, he burst into tears with joy, held Jiancheng and Shimin in his hands, and said:
"My sons are all capable, so if you use this to use troops, the world will run amok." Then he ordered the opening of warehouses to relieve hunger and recruit soldiers.

Now that the checkpoint leading to Chang'an has been cleared, Li Yuan decided to rest the troops and award meritorious ministers.In the compound of the sheriff, on the second day, Li Yuan rewarded the officials:
He appointed Pei Ji as chief historian and Liu Wenjing as army commander; granted Li Jian the title of Duke of Longxi and governor of the left army, commanding the left army; granted Li Shimin the title of Duke of Dunhuang and governor of the right army, commanding the right army; appointed Tang Jian and Wen Daya as records Wen Daya and his younger brother Wen Dayou were in charge of secrets; the warrior Xun was Kaicao (the warrior Xun was a wood merchant and the father of Wu Zetian, the only empress in Chinese history), and Liu Zhenghui, Cui Shanwei of Wucheng, and Zhang Daoyuan of Taiyuan were the householders. Cao, Jinyang Chang Jiangfan joined the army as Sigong, Taigu Changyin Kaishan as Fujun; Changsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Dou Cong and Ying Yanglang generals Wang Changxie, Jiang Baoyi and Yangtun served as the left and right commanders and deputy commanders ; The rest of the civil and military personnel are appointed according to their talents.So everyone was happy, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted.

The victory in the first battle to seize the throne made Li Yuan full of confidence in his two sons. In order to encourage them and help them develop well and unrestrictedly, Li Yuan not only placed Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin brothers in the positions of all brothers The general also allowed them to set up officials and subordinates, in order to establish their own small dynasties, develop their respective forces, and show their talents.Because at this time, Li Yuan couldn't trust anyone except his own son.

40,

Many people gathered in the General's Mansion today.Xihe has been captured, Li Yuan summoned a group of ministers to discuss the matter of entering Guanzhong.Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng have discussed this matter many times, and they have found out the situation of Huo Yi. After Li Yuan's words fell, Li Jiancheng signaled his second brother Li Shimin to get up and express their views:
"Going west to Guanzhong, we must first take Huoyi. For this reason, we have sent people to find out the situation of Huoyi, and we feel that it is not difficult to take Huoyi. In the northwest of Huoyi, there is Jiahu Fortress. It is said that it is the gate of Huoyi. If the soldiers stand firm and lean on each other with Huoyi, Huoyi will be difficult to break through. It is a pity that Song Laosheng, the guard of Huoyi, did not let anyone guard it. We only need to quickly occupy Jia Hu Bao, it can be said that he has entered the gate of Huoyi, and then he will attack Huoyi, and the soldiers will be ready to go down."

After hearing this, Li Yuan didn't gnaw, and turned his eyes to the ministers, only to see that the ministers whispered in admiration, only Liu Wenjing smiled and said nothing.At this moment, Li Yuan had some literati and military talents beside him, but none with outstanding talents. Besides his son, he was the only one who planned the strategy and tactics.Li Yuan is quite self-aware, he knows himself very well, he is first-class in strategic planning, including his two sons, no one can match.It's just that when it comes to tactics, it seems to be a lot of effort to think about, so he looked at Liu Wenjing with his eyes, hoping that he could talk about his views.Liu Wenjing did not give a direct answer, but instead asked Li Yuan:
"I wonder if the general is worried about sending troops this time?"

"I'm worried about Li Mi." Li Yuan blurted out.

Liu Wenjing clapped her hands and said: "The general's worry is exactly the same, and the humble minister also has the same worry. Now Li Mi has tens of thousands of people. Although Luoyang has not yet been captured, the cities around Luoyang have been occupied by him. He not only captured the Sui Dynasty The dynasty has a large number of good horses, knives and equipment, and several large granaries around Luoyang. It can be said that the soldiers are well-stocked and the morale is high. Li Mi is not like an idler, and has always been quite ambitious. If I take Huoyi from the west, Li Milai When the time comes, our army will inevitably be attacked by the enemy, and the battle will be difficult. Judging from the current situation, our army can only take advantage of the chaos to develop, and if there is a war with heavy losses, we must not go." Li Yuan listened , very happy, stroked his beard and nodded:
"It's good to take advantage of the chaos to develop, well said!" He slowly slid his eyes from Liu Wenjing to Brother Li Shimin, and said earnestly: "If you want to develop, you can't lose your wife and lose your army." After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze again Turning to Liu Wenjing: "Go ahead!"

"I think that if you want to take Huo Yi, you need to caress Li Mi first." Liu Wenjing said.

After hearing this, Li Yuan lowered his head and pondered.After a while, I raised my head and saw the Li Shimin brothers suddenly opened up. Then I smiled with satisfaction and asked the Li Shimin brothers:

(End of this chapter)