Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 24
"Thank you, father, and my son will leave." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he gave his father a grateful look, turned and left.

6
The victory boosted Xue Ju's self-confidence, and the passion to rule the world rolled in Xue Ju's heart.The current situation is very obvious. If Li Yuan can be destroyed, the world will belong to him, Xue Ju, so he summoned Prime Minister Hao Yuan to discuss and said:
"Now that I have defeated the Tang army and captured Gaochao, my emperor's son Rengao has gone to besiege Ningzhou, and I believe it will be captured soon. With the situation like this, do I think we should do something bigger?"

"Now we have defeated the Tang army and captured several of their generals alive. There has already been panic in the city of Chang'an. If we take this opportunity to send troops to Chang'an, we will achieve twice the result with half the effort and achieve great things in one fell swoop. Winning Chang'an is like winning the world!" After finishing speaking, Hao Yuan nodded towards Xue Ju.

Xue Ju laughed out loud.Smiling, she blew her beard and said, "What Aiqing said is exactly what I want. This matter is settled. Aiqing hasten to prepare. After three days, immediately send troops to take down Chang'an City!"

However, the world is changeable, life is good and bad, and sometimes there are accidents.The body is very strong, Xue Ju, who was in his prime, died of illness in bed overnight!In the middle of the night, he only said he had a headache, but in the morning he was speechless.After Xue Rengao heard the report, he had no choice but to abandon Ningzhou, which was about to be attacked, and return to Qicheng.Xue Ju was full of ambition, and his eyes were wide open after death.Xue Rengao stepped forward and closed his father's eyes, and buried him in the Xishan Mausoleum that had already been built.Then he recruited all the ministers and made himself emperor.Before he had time to catch his breath, Li Shimin's army built a strong fortress on the east side of the city.

"The defeated general dares to come again." With the experience of the last victory, Xue Rengao no longer took Li Shimin seriously.He ordered Song Luohou, a brave and skilled general, to go out of the city to call for a fight and provoke the Tang army.

At this time, Li Shimin, surrounded by Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Hou Junji, and Marshal Shi Qututong, was sitting on a hill in the east of the city, closely watching the movement in the city.Suddenly seeing the east gate of the city opened wide, and Song Luohou led the army to rush out, Li Shimin immediately said loudly to Hou Junji:

"Give me the order, let the enemy provoke and scold me, I will not be able to stick to it, and those who disobey the order will be killed!"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui listened, looked at each other and smiled appreciatively.General Song Luohui led the army out of the city, rushed to the front of the Tang army camp, raised his gun and jumped on his horse, looking around, expecting a bloody battle, but unexpectedly the other side ignored him.Song Luohou was a little surprised at first, and then burst out laughing. "Tang Jun, you are so timid that you dare not come out of the nest?" He said loudly to the generals on the left and right, and everyone laughed together, and then there was an even more unbearable ridicule.

From a distance, Li Shimin looked at them with a smile on his face, turned around and said to Fang Xuanling: "Although Xue Rengao is brave, it is a pity that he is still a man. If he is proud of winning, he will definitely lose."

"It's best to let him be proud of the internal discord, and then we can decide in a battle." Du Ruhui said.

"How can we help him?"

"Send one of the most elite small troops to the high mountain to defend for half a month."

"This is……"

"Gao Qiang is the barrier of the city. I occupy Gao Qiang, and Xue Rengao will come to attack. Gao Qiang is steep and steep to the east, easy to defend and difficult to attack. What's more, I have chosen the elite among the elite. At that time, Xue Rengao's generals will not be able to attack." If we conquer, we must send a second general. As long as our army gritted its teeth and insisted on defending, Xue Rengao would definitely change futures to attack Gaoqian. How can Xue Rengao, who has followed Xue Ju for so many years, allow Xue Rengao to reprimand him indiscriminately, then he will definitely resent him and betray Qin and descend to Tang."

"As expected, if you defeat Xue Rengao, you will be the first to join the army."

"Don't dare." Du Ruhui said with a smile: "The first merit should be credited to the general who sticks to the high bay."

"According to what the army said." Li Shimin said, turning around to the general beside him, and asked: "Who is willing to make this first contribution?"

"The final general is willing to go." Hou Junji stood up and said.

"I think you are very suitable to go, go and pick up three thousand elite soldiers..."

"Impossible." Du Ruhui interrupted Li Shimin, saying: "A thousand elite soldiers are enough."

"Is it too little?"

"This will annoy Xue Rengao even more."

"Okay, one thousand elite soldiers. Hou Junji, you can only choose one thousand elite soldiers."

"Eight hundred is enough for me."

After hearing this, Li Shimin turned his gaze to Du Ruhui, saw him nodding happily, and said to Hou Junji, "Eight hundred is enough, then eight hundred, if it is urgent, I will send another two hundred reinforcements."

Hou Junji shook his head, bowed to Li Shimin, got up and went down the mountain.

6
"The grass is low and the fog is high, and the jade gate is windy under the trees." Hou Jun picked out [-] strong men out of a hundred, and rode his horses all the way to Gaoqiang.Along the way, the westerly wind was blowing, the vegetation was scattered, and there were many chilling sounds.Hou Junji shouted happily: "It's really a good day for killing people! Come on everyone!" As he spoke, he raised his horsewhip, and all the soldiers shouted after seeing him:

Good weather to kill, kill Qin Jianbing!

The yelling aroused everyone's enthusiasm, and everyone raised their whips and spurred their horses to gallop forward.After a while, these eight hundred strong men came to Gaoqian,
Standing on the wall, Hou Junji looked up.I saw that the steep stone wall was facing the western city where Xue Rengao was defending, while the east side connecting to my rear was a gentle slope. I couldn't help but feel very happy: "Jianjun is really familiar with geography. If I wait here to guard, the people of Qin will never come up." " After Hou Junji finished speaking, he laughed loudly, and ordered everyone to build more stone piles and prepare more bows and arrows, so as to wipe out the enemy under the cliff.Just as they were preparing, there was a ferocious cry of killing from a distance.

It turned out that since Tang Jun came to Longyou again, Qin Jun has been challenging in front of the camp, yelling and scolding repeatedly, but Tang Jun just closed the village, Qin Jun was so annoyed that his heart was smoking.Seeing that a small group of Tang troops dared to garrison at Gaochai in front of the county, Xue Rengao heard the news and sent General Mou Juncai to attack.This Mr. Mou was tall and strong, and he fought with Xue Ju all his life on the battlefield, and his martial arts were very good.He proudly led the military order, and with 3000 troops, he attacked Gaoqian without any hesitation.

When he got to the foot of the wall, Mou Juncai didn't say a word, and rushed up the mountain with his horse. 3000 people followed closely behind.Hou Junji from above saw him and looked at him coldly, but he didn't issue an order to fight back.Eight hundred elites, like tigers waiting for their prey, quietly lay on the mountain, motionless.The mountain is steep and the road is dangerous. The Qin army is all fighters, so it is not too difficult. After a few flashes, they quickly reached the top of the mountain.Only then did Hou Junji's tiger eyes widen, and he roared like a hungry wolf:

Kill and repel them!

Shen Wei's voice came out, and the long arrow in his hand also shot out, and it hit Mou Juncai's left arm.Only Mou Jun shook his hands, and the long knife fell to the ground.It is true that Mou Juncai is a veteran in the battlefield. After being shot by this arrow, he didn't panic, he just followed the arrow's direction with his angry eyes to visit.Seeing Hou Junji smiling at him from a distance, he couldn't help but burst into anger. He pulled out the arrow on his arm with one hand, turned off his horse, picked up the long knife, and was about to mount the horse and charge again.But at this moment, there was a loud sound, and another arrow shot, and Mou Juncai's helmet fell to the ground.Mou Juncai was a little panicked at this moment. He raised his eyes and saw arrows raining down on the wall. Many of his 3000 troops were killed or injured.Mou Juncai couldn't help being shocked, so he raised his long knife and shouted angrily:

"withdraw!"

Watching the enemy retreat, Hou Junji stood up, drew out his long sword, and was about to shout for chase when someone held him down.Turning around, he saw that it was actually Marshal Li Shimin, and he couldn't help being surprised and said:

"How can you come up here?"

"We were originally good brothers. If you can be here, why can't I? It's just that brothers belong to brothers, and military orders belong to military orders. Remember: stand firm and don't attack. If the enemy is defeated, you attack, and I will follow the military order."

"Junji abides by the order. But, how long will it last?"

"If you want to defend until it's time to attack, I will tell you in advance."

"Okay, Marshal don't come to this kind of place again." Hou Junji said sincerely.

"You must not violate the military order. I will not protect you when the time comes. Please remember." Li Shimin looked into Hou Junji's eyes and said.

"Junji remembers it, and never dares to disobey the military order again." Hou Junji said frankly, meeting Li Shimin's gaze.Then hugged Li Shimin: "Shall I send you back to the camp?"

"No, you stay here, and you can't leave for a minute. Whether you can win Xue Rengao in a single battle, the key lies in your defensive battle here. Remember: if you stick to it and don't attack, you will follow the military law."

"I will never forget it again. You can go at ease, King Qin." After hearing Hou Junji's words, Li Shimin nodded and left quickly.Hou Junji watched him affectionately, watching him disappear into the mist in the distance.

6
Xue Ju fell ill and died suddenly, and the young Xue Rengao succeeded to the throne hastily. Many old generals naturally did not respect him as much as they respected his father.Seeing this, Xue Rengao was already very unhappy in his heart.Now seeing Mou Juncai returning from defeat, Xue Rengao was really furious.With a long face down, he shouted loudly:

"Push it out and chop it!"

Generals Song Luohu and Liang Hulang were shocked when they heard this, looked at each other, knelt down at the same time, and interceded for Juncai.

"Now that the war has just started, beheading the general will not be good for the war. Please forgive me this time, Your Majesty." Song Luohou said.

"The Tang army came prepared this time, and only stood firm in the high and dangerous places. Originally, they wanted to take advantage of the danger to injure our army. Now, although Mou Juncai failed in the first battle, he was able to return with most of the troops. Please recite his past hard work, Your Majesty. Don't punish him." Liang Hulang said.

When Xue Rengao heard this, he wanted to get angry, but when he thought of Tang Jun on the opposite side, he had to swallow his breath, stared at Mou Jun and said loudly: "For the sake of all my lovers, I will spare you death. It's just that although the death penalty is spared, the life penalty is still the same. Take it a little longer. Drag it out and punish the twenty army sticks!"

When the guards dragged Mou Juncai away, Xue Rengao asked, "Who wants to take Gaoqian again?" He asked three times, but no one answered.Xue Rengao was very angry, pointed at the general Liang Hulang, and said, "I will order you to lead six thousand elite troops to attack Gaoqi."

Although Liang Hulang was a brave general with a strong army, Hou Junji's subordinates were not idlers, they defended against danger, were tenacious and brave.After a solid month, Gao Qiang is still as solid as gold.Xue Rengao was furious when he saw that Liang Hulang had repeatedly attacked Gao Qi, and wanted to kill Liang Hulang again. Fortunately, the counselor Hao Ai came to his rescue, so he was spared death and was beaten with twenty army sticks.Liang Hulang was wounded in many places when he attacked Gaoqian, now he is bloody and unconscious after being beaten with twenty army sticks.After driving out of the main hall, he was like a dead man. As soon as the guard let go, he fell down like a log.Mou Juncai, who had been waiting outside for a long time, quickly reached out to support him.

"It's really cruel." Mou Juncai looked at Liang Hulang in a place where no one was around, and said angrily.

"Such an emperor is really not worth our lives for him." Liang Hulang shook his head painfully with half-opened bloody eyes.

"We descended to the Tang Dynasty. I heard that the King of Qin is a man who respects the virtuous and loves talents. He returned in a disastrous defeat last time, but he didn't punish anyone for it. When we come here this time, Qin will surely perish."

"Yes, let's descend to Tang." The two generals nodded to each other.That night, taking advantage of the moonlight and autumn wind, they hurried to the gate of Tangying.The guards stopped them and they were questioning, Li Shimin rode over to welcome the two into the tent to talk.

The next day, when Xue Rengao learned that Mou Juncai and Liang Hulang had entered the Tang camp, he couldn't help being furious.Song Luohu was sent as the vanguard, and he personally led 5 horses, and the imperial chariot personally marched to fight Li Shimin.Li Shimin was overjoyed when he saw it, and said to Fang Xuanling and others:
"It's time to fight them decisively." Fang Xuanling nodded,
Du Ruhui said: "It's the best time."

After hearing this, Li Shimin discussed with everyone again, and decided to form a formation in Qianshuiyuan to face Xue Rengao.Therefore, Hou Junji was ordered to quietly withdraw from Gaoqi, and join Yin Kaishan in the shallow water plain battle.

At this point, the two sides have been confrontation for a full sixty days.Li Shimin's army stood firm and did not fight, recharging their energy and recharging their energy. In addition, Gao Qi's defense battles were victorious again and again, and the morale of the whole army was very high.However, Xue Renguo's army was running out of food and soldiers. In addition to Gao Qi's defeat and the surrender of the two generals to Tang, the soldiers were distracted and their morale was low.After Li Shimin ordered Hou Junji and Yin Kaishan to set up a formation in Qianshuiyuan, he ordered Liu Wenjing to go to meet him, and he led Li Jing, Qu Tutong and the only [-] elite cavalry around him to attack the enemy from the north of Qianshuiyuan .

This battle, in the same place, is exactly the opposite of the previous one.After several charges, the Qin army suffered heavy casualties and fled in all directions.However, Li Shimin's subordinates rushed to kill the enemy bravely and tenaciously.From a distance, Li Shimin saw Xue Rengao's battle flag flying into the city.He frowned, raised his long sword, tightened the reins, turned his horse's head, and was about to pounce on Xue Rengao.When Qu Tutong saw him, he hurriedly grabbed his shirt and begged, "Xue Rengao is surrounded by fierce generals, the marshal must not put himself in danger."

Li Shimin held Qu Tutong's hand, said with a smile, "Don't worry, Chang Shi, the enemy is already frightened. I take advantage of the situation to pursue fiercely, and I will definitely be like a broken bamboo. There is no danger."Seeing Qu Tutong, he looked helplessly at Li Jing beside him.Li Jing smiled slightly, waved his hand, and led his elite soldiers to chase after him.When Qu Tutong saw him, he clamped his horse's belly and galloped after him.

Li Shimin came down to earth like a god, with his long sword held high, he slashed and killed all the way, flying flesh and blood all the way.The Qin army, who was extremely fierce in the past, is now as Li Shimin said: everyone is scared out of their wits and only knows to run for their lives.Li Shimin rushed to the bottom of the city in one breath, his body was already splattered with blood.Xue Rengao was fleeing into the city in a hurry, shouting loudly as he ran all the way: "Close the city gate quickly, close the city gate quickly!"Before the city gate was closed, Li Shimin rushed in on a flying horse, raised his sword and fell, cutting down those Qin troops who were about to close the city gate.When he looked forward again, Xue Rengao had long since disappeared.

At this moment, Qu Tutong and Li Jing led elite troops to chase after him. "Quickly, Li Jing goes to the left, Hou Junji goes to the right, we must catch Xue Rengao." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he raised his sword and rode his horse, galloping towards the middle road.

At this time, Hou Junji, Yin Kaishan, etc. who were annihilating the Qin soldiers outside the city, saw the marshal rushing into the city first, they were all inspired by him, and shouted sharply:
"Qin City has been broken, and the Qin army will surrender!"

After Qin Jun heard this, he threw away his weapons and knelt on the ground.Hou Junji and Yin Kaishan didn't care about the captives for a while, so they rushed into the city with whips and horses.At this time, I saw Li Shimin walking slowly on a tall horse.Liu Hongji and other captured generals escorted Xue Rengao, the emperor of Western Qin who looked depressed, and followed closely behind Li Shimin.Hou Junji and Yin Kaishan were overjoyed when they saw each other, they both got off their horses and paid homage to Li Shimin.

It turned out that Li Shimin quickly spotted Xue Rengao after galloping in towards the middle road, and he kept chasing after him.Shimin's horse was fast, and soon caught up with Xue Rengao, and after only two meetings, he knocked Xue Rengao off his horse.Li Shimin stepped forward, pointed at Xue Rengao with his sword and asked:

"Where are my king's generals, Liu Hongji and others being held?"

"Death row!"

"Take this king quickly!" Li Shimin said solemnly.

Under the threat of Li Shimin's long sword, Xue Rengao took Li Shimin to the death row of Qin Palace, rescued Liu Hongji and others, and then escorted Xue Rengao out.

In this battle, the Tang army captured more than [-] elite soldiers from the Western Qin Dynasty and more than [-] male and female civilians.Li Shimin cherished Xue Rengao's bravery, and wanted to stay in the mansion to listen to him, but after he was taken to Chang'an, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan couldn't let go of the hatred of losing soldiers and generals last time, so he insisted on beheading him.

Li Shimin had no choice but to bury Xue Rengao generously.At this point, the Western Qin Dynasty perished.

(End of this chapter)