Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 20 Entering Chang'an (2)
After Li Shimin heard this, he was about to refuse, but Fang Xuanling knelt down with tears in his eyes and said, "Father's illness may last for a few more years. It is impossible for Xuanling to get married before his father recovers from his illness. This sitting In the small courtyard, if your younger sister can come to live in it, Xuanling will settle her mind. Please, Commander, you must agree."

After hearing this, Li Shimin nodded in agreement.Sticking to Xuanling's hand, he said, "I promise you, I will let my little sister move in tomorrow. But, you have to promise me one thing."

"what's up?"

"You must come and help me and create a great cause together."

Fang Xuanling nodded excitedly, and said: "I have been waiting for the governor, and when my father passes out of illness, I will come to serve in the governor's shogunate."

Li Shimin nodded happily: "I hope my uncle will recover from illness soon, and I will wait for your arrival in the mansion."

After speaking, Li Shimin left with Hou Junji.Fang Xuanling sent it all the way outside the county office, looking at Li Shimin's back, reluctant to leave for a long time.After Li Shimin rode his horse for a long distance, thinking about the scene just now, he couldn't help turning his head, only to see Fang Xuanling still standing there, looking at him with great reluctance.Li Shimin didn't want to leave right away, so he rode his horse and ran back. When he arrived in front of Fang Xuanling, he got off his horse, held onto his hand and said:

"Lieutenant Xi Cheng, I'll wait for you, I hope your father will recover soon, and we will meet soon!" After saying that, he let go of his hand and got on the horse again.

Fang Xuanling's eyes were wet, and he stood there motionless, looking at Shimin who was going all the way away.

50,

Half a month passed in a blink of an eye, and Li Shimin dreamed of Fang Xuanling again, and he said loudly to himself: Talent comes first in order to achieve great things.Li Shimin woke up, it was twilight, and when he walked out of the tent, he took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Fang Xuanling, why haven't you come yet?" He said to himself, looking up at the clear sky, but he saw light clouds slowly moving, and frightened birds hurried.In the swishing cold wind, Li Shimin's young heart was scorching hot, and he was full of endless energy.With the battle imminent, he wasn't nervous at all, but he felt a little sad because he didn't see Fang Xuanling.He drew out the long sword on his waist, danced a few moves in Linfeng, and ordered the guards:
"Invite Zuo Yuhou to come."

Not long after, Hou Junji came in a hurry, Li Shimin saw him, and shouted loudly:
"Quickly draw your sword." The words came out and the sword stabbed at Hou Junji.

Hou Junji flashed his body, and instantly drew his sword in his hand.The two of you slashed and stabbed each other, and the dragon and the tiger fought, and it was a lot of fighting.When I was enjoying myself, someone came to report: "There is a middle-aged man with long beard outside the door asking to see him."

"Fang Xuanling!" Li Shimin was overjoyed, he slashed Hou Junji back three steps with his sword, quickly put away his long sword, and went out to welcome him.Seeing Fang Xuanling, he hugged him tightly and said, "You are finally here."

"Here we come." Fang Xuanling replied happily.

"How is uncle?"

"He, he's gone." Fang Xuanling's eyes were wet, and then sparkled again.Said: "From then on, I can follow Dudu wholeheartedly."

After hearing this, Li Shimin immediately led Fang Xuanling into the Governor's Mansion, appointed him as the secretary to join the army, and cited him as the main staff officer.Then in the Governor's Mansion, he personally selected some of the best rooms for him.Everything was arranged properly, Li Shimin wanted to pick up a big ingot like a poor man, and he looked very happy.Since Hou Junji followed Li Shimin, the two of them have been very affectionate and get along almost day and night. He has never seen Li Shimin so happy before, so he couldn't help asking:
"Fang Xuanling came to seek refuge, why is the governor so happy?"

"If you want to achieve great things, talent is the first. Don't you know?" Li Shimin wanted to continue, but Fang Xuanling came in hurriedly, hurried up and asked:

"Can you tell me something good?"

Fang Xuanling heard this, and said with a smile: "It's really a good thing. Just now I was only busy with my own affairs, but I forgot. I should be punished severely."

"What's a good thing to say quickly?" Li Shimin asked.

"I want to recommend someone to you."

"It's really a good thing."

Fang Xuanling nodded, and said: "This man is 6 years younger than me. He is from Duling, Jingzhao. His name is Du Ruhui, and his style name is Keming. His grandfather Du Guo was a minister of the Ministry of Industry in the Sui Dynasty, and his father Du Zha was the governor of Changzhou in the Sui Dynasty. This Du Ruhui is smart and enlightened since he was young, he is good at talking about literature and history, he is good at making decisions, he is a rare genius. Because he is dissatisfied with the official position of Fuyang Wei, he has abandoned his official position and has been living at home for half a year."

"In that case, I will go with you to invite him." Hou Junji said.

"I hope the governor can go with me to invite him."

"How capable is a little Lieutenant Fuyang, and the governor needs to go there in person," Hou Junji said.

Li Shimin listened and said: "Don't talk nonsense, doesn't Junji hear the saying that like attracts like? A hero knows a hero, and the person recommended by the army will be worthy of a great job. Let's go, let's invite him together."

Under the introduction of Fang Xuanling, Li Shimin invited Du Ruhui. From then on, Ruhui often engaged in conquests, participated in confidential and military affairs, and made judgments.Fang Xuanling exhausted all her efforts towards Li Shimin and knew everything she could do. Every time she conquered a city, everyone competed for treasures. Xuanling alone searched for useful talents and kept them in Li Shimin's shogunate. When he came to the counselors and fierce generals, he became life and death friends with them and served Li Shimin together.

Later, when Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, he once said to his courtiers, "Xuanling knows the opportunity well enough to be appointed. Every time I present something for our people, I will surely win people's hearts. Thousands of miles away, I still talk face to face." When Li Shimin took his father away For a period of time after taking the throne, Fang Xuanling and Ruhui were in charge of the government together, and the rules and regulations were both decided by them.At that time, it was said that obscurity was better than judgment, and Xuanling was good at planning. The two cooperated tacitly and assisted Li Shimin together.Later generations talked about the good prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty, and Fang and Du were the first to be promoted.This is something.

5
The people of the world were proud of Fang Xuanling, and a think tank headed by him was soon formed in the shogunate, including Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Tang Jian, Hou Junji, etc.Whenever something happened, Shimin would call them together to discuss countermeasures.

At this time, Li Yuan personally led the army and stationed troops at Chunming Gate, one of the three east and west gates of Chang'an City. , stationed troops in the old city of Chang'an.Three armies, more than [-] in total, surrounded the capital of the Sui Dynasty, which had neither defenders nor reinforcements.

In the face of Li Yuan's army, the 13-year-old grandson of Emperor Yangdi and acting king Yang You was helpless.Now that the matter has come to this point, Li Yuan still cares about the various forces of the Sui Dynasty and does not want to be known by the public.Although he ordered the Sui capital to be surrounded, his subordinates were not allowed to attack the city.Li Shimin was a little puzzled, so he summoned Fang Xuanling and others to ask for advice.

Hou Junji, the Marquis of Zuo Yu, had long been looking forward to the siege, and when Li Shimin asked about it, he was the first to express his thoughts:

"Now Chang'an has been besieged for nearly two months. Considering our strength, it's not that we can't defeat it. I really don't understand why we have to siege for so long."

After hearing this, Li Shimin didn't say a word, he just turned his eyes to Fang Xuanling, wanting to hear his opinion.Since Fang Xuanling had just arrived, he wanted to listen to other people's opinions before expressing his own, but seeing that Li Shimin wanted to listen to his opinions first, he stroked his beard and said:

"I think that for the Sui capital, the reason why Tang Gong besieged and did not attack is mainly due to these two reasons: first, Tang Gong, as a veteran official of the Sui Dynasty, could not bear to storm the capital and make people miserable; second, and most importantly, Tang Gong wanted to When the battle situation in the Eastern Capital is clear, we will capture Chang'an."

"I can understand the former reason, but for the latter reason, please join the army and make it clear." Hou Junji asked persistently.

After Fang Xuanling heard this, he didn't say anything, but just looked at Du Ruhui.The meaning is clear: it's time for you to express your opinion.Du Ruhui naturally understood Fang Xuanling's meaning, glanced at Hou Junji, and said slowly:

"To clarify this issue, we must first analyze the battle situation in the Eastern Capital. Li Mi, Dou Jiande and other rebels have surrounded the Eastern Capital for a long time. Not long ago, Dou Jiande defeated the Sui Zuoyuwei General Xue Shixiong in Hejian County. Leader. In this way, Li Mi not only has more troops, but also expands his territory. Xu Shiji, a counselor next to him, suggested that besieging the east is not worth the loss. He is just as smart. If we adopt his strategy and attack Chang'an, we will fight for the world, but we will have an extra formidable enemy. However, Li Mi did not adopt Xu Shiji's suggestion. He cannot attack the Eastern Capital for a long time, and if he retreats halfway, he will feel ashamed. In this way, Li Mi lost his only chance to compete with us. Now, Emperor Yang of Sui wanted to destroy him even more. The headquarters of the Wagang Army in Luokou attacked to destroy Li Mi. The first battle: Li Mi’s general Chai Xiaohe was killed. Wang Shichong’s camp was almost taken away by Li Mi. Both of them had their own victories and casualties, and the battle was in full swing. According to me It seems that for the sake of face, Li Mi is already riding a tiger, and his status will soon be difficult?"

"Since this is the case, it is very beneficial to us. We can attack Chang'an right away?" Hou Junji asked again.

"Yes, what the general said is right. It has been nearly a month since the Duke of Tang sent someone to surrender the Dai Wang Yang You, and he still has no idea. It seems that the Dai Wang does not want us to enter Chang'an without bloodshed, and the two armies of Li Mi and Wang Shichong After fighting fiercely for many days, both sides have already suffered losses. I think Duke Tang ordered the attack on the city in the near future." Fang Xuanling took Du Ruhui's words.

When Li Shimin saw the two of them, he analyzed the problem clearly with each other, and was overjoyed. He nodded to Fang and Du knowingly, and told Hou Junji, "Call all the generals at the top of the army immediately. Get ready to attack Chang'an."

On the second day, the special envoy brought Li Yuan's order to attack the city, and at the same time Li Yuan's strict order: "The siege army must not offend the Seven Temples, the Daiwang, and the clan, and offenders are the barbarians." Li Shimin read it Pass it to grandson Wuji.

"Duke Tang was loyal to the Sui Dynasty." Changsun Wuji said with emotion.

Fang Xuanling listened, bowed his head and remained silent, Li Shimin leaned into his ear and asked in a low voice: "What do you think..."

"Duke Tang worked hard to win the hearts of the people, and the governor must strictly order his subordinates not to disobey." Fang Xuanling also whispered in Li Shimin's ear.

Li Shimin listened and nodded with a smile.

5
This is a windy winter day, the sky is cold and blue, and the north wind is called dry mulberry.Outside the eastern capital city, Li Mi's Wagang Army and Wang Shichong's Sui Army set up a battlefield for the second round of battle.This time, under Li Mi's generals Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and Yuchi Jingde, Wang Shichong finally collapsed and fled west.

Unfortunately, Li Mi, who won the battle, was almost killed by Zhai Rang's brother Zhai Kuan.It turned out that when Zhai Rang voluntarily gave up the position of leader to Li Mi under the persuasion of Xu Shiji and others, there were many other people who advised him not to do so, and his elder brother Zhai Kuan was one of them.However, the loyal Zhai Rang finally listened to the advice of Xu Shiji and others, and insisted on handing over power to Li Mi.His elder brother, Zhai Kuan, could not swallow this breath all the time.This time, Li Mi defeated Wang Shichong and returned with a great victory, even more complacent, quite defiant.When Zhai Kuan saw it, he was very angry, and said to his subordinates: "My brother is so stupid. I let the emperor refuse to do it, and let others do it. He really refuses to do it, so I have to do it." After finishing speaking, he ordered his subordinates to do it well. Prepare to try to kill Li Mi at the celebration banquet.At this time, Li Mi was already in power, and his eyes and ears were everywhere.Zhai Rang took the initiative to give up his seat to him. He was grateful at first, but now that he heard about it, he decided to act first.With one order, he beheaded the Zhai brothers and their cronies one by one, and divided their tribes among the other tribes.Although the situation calmed down, it hurt Li Mi a lot.It was on this day that Li Yuan ordered the three armies:

Attack Chang'an, the capital of the Sui Dynasty!

Following Li Yuan's order, Li Jiancheng from the east and south, and Li Shimin from the west and north, a total of more than 20 people, launched a fierce attack on the Chang'an defenders who had fewer than [-] defenders and had completely lost their fighting spirit. .

On this day, Li Shimin, wearing thin clothes, leaped into the army and commanded the siege.The cold wind was blowing head-on, and Hou Junji beside him couldn't help shivering. Seeing Fang Xuanling, he said to Li Shimin:
"The weather is too cold, it is advisable to order the soldiers to attack the city as soon as possible."

"If you don't kill the severe winter, how can you see the sunny spring?" Li Shimin nodded with a smile, raised his sword and pointed at the east gate, and shouted: "Whoever climbs the wall first will be rewarded with a thousand gold."

After Hou Junji heard this, he didn't answer, and was the first to rush forward. Chai Shao, Yin Kaishan, Duan Zhixuan and others saw each other, and led the officers and soldiers from their headquarters, and rushed towards the east city together.

The defenders of Chang'an City seemed to have no resistance, so they fled in all directions.Hou Junji was the first to climb the city wall, beheaded several people in succession, and took advantage of the chaos to let him down to cross the bridge.Chai Shao, Yin Kaishan and other generals led their soldiers and attacked the city.Li Shimin welcomed Li Yuan and slowly entered Chang'an.The people in the city lined up to welcome them.It was expected by Li Shimin that Chang'an City was vulnerable to a single blow; the people welcomed Li's army so warmly, but it made Li Shimin think a lot, and even let his imagination run wild.

Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, what my father said is true.In this Great Sui world, it seems that the surname is going to be Li!Li Shimin followed behind Li Yuan, thinking in his heart: He looked up at his father, thinking of his father's series of strategic decisions since he started the army, and he was full of admiration.For many things, especially big things, you really need to be patient, and you need to be quite patient.Have vision, look at the right moment, and catch him.It seems that there are still many things that I have to learn from my father.Thinking of this, Li Shimin followed his father into the East Palace where the acting king Yang You lived.

The eldest brother Li Jiancheng entered the city first again this time, and was already there to meet him.The acting king Yang You, together with his concubine and eunuchs, stood pitifully in a row, waiting to be punished.Li Shimin looked at them curiously, and suddenly an interesting thought popped into his mind: This emperor without power is really worse than a dog!Thinking of this, he almost laughed out loud.

At this moment, Li Yuan's expression was solemn, just like the old days when he was presented with the emperor, he stepped forward respectfully and saluted the king on behalf of him.

Li Shimin couldn't help asking from behind: "How to deal with them?"

Li Yuan turned his head, glared at Li Shimin, turned his head, and still respectfully said: "Please move to the Daxing Hall for the time being."

In the past, the majestic acting king took a look at Li Yuan, lowered his head, and walked towards Daxing Hall.A large group of princesses and eunuchs followed him dejectedly one by one.

Four days passed, and under Pei Ji's hard work, everything was ready.Li Yuan ordered a new emperor enthronement ceremony.He announced to the world:
Li Daiwang Yang You is the emperor!Respect Sui Yangdi who is far away in Jiangdu as the Supreme Emperor!
Everything was arranged by Li Yuan. As the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Yang You, if he wanted to save his life, he could only obey Li Yuan like a slave.Many of Li Yuan's subordinates didn't understand this, and wrote to ask Li Yuan to be the emperor himself.Li Yuan read these excerpts, secretly amused in his heart.

(End of this chapter)