Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 27 Destroying Wu Zhou (3)
After hearing this, Li Shimin shook his head and said, "It's no exaggeration to those who don't know, we all have been completely unrecognizable, and we don't know ourselves, let alone others, what a crime."

When Fan Botong heard the words, he had mixed feelings, and ordered the sergeant to quickly prepare food and wine to comfort Li Shimin's army.Li Shimin came to Fan Botong's mansion after eating a little rough food, fell asleep before he could disarm, and when the good wine and food came, he couldn't wake up.

With tears streaming down his face, Fan Botong asked people to set up a banquet beside the sleeping Li Shimin, drank the drinks and waited quietly by himself, waiting for King Qin to wake up.

70,

Song Jingang was defeated and retired from Jiexiu. He was going to let Yuchi Jingde and Xunxiang, who were guarding Jiexiu, flee north with him, but Li Shimin didn't come after him, so he ate a meal in peace.He has fought on the battlefield all his life and encountered countless powerful enemies, but he has never met such a fierce tiger and wolf master like Li Shimin.Now that he was defeated again and again, it was only then that he remembered what Yuan Junzhang, the internal historian, said to him at the beginning:
"The lord of the Tang Dynasty took all the people from one state and went straight to Chang'an. He was invincible. The bravery of his army is beyond comparison. To the south of Jinyang, the roads are dangerous and narrow, and the army is deep, and there is no follower. It is a long-term strategy to persuade the emperor to connect the Turks in the north, the Tang Dynasty in the south, and call the Gu in the south."

Thinking back to these words, Song Jingang heaved a long sigh, and said: "I regret that I should have shown my courage for a while, and persuaded the emperor and the Li family to fight for the world. Now that they are so defeated, there will be no day of recovery. It was unified by the Tang Dynasty of the Li family." After saying this, he said to Yuchi Jingde: "I am so defeated now, I have no face to go to see the emperor, so I can only go north to Shanggu and contact the Turks. If the Turks help, maybe I can revive the rivers and mountains, and repay my favor. Your Majesty's kindness. After I leave, the Emperor's country will be guarded by General Lao."

Yuchi Jingde heard this, and said: "The Turks have no benevolence at all, they just choose the strong and use them for them. Now that the defeated soldiers ask for it, they will definitely not respond. I think it is better for the King of Song not to go."

Song Jingang shook his head and said, "I have a good relationship with Turkic people. What's more, this is the only way to go. I've made up my mind, and the general doesn't need to persuade me anymore."

Yuchi Jingde is a loyal and courageous person, after getting along with Song Jingang, he won his trust.There is gratitude in my heart.Seeing that Song Jingang insisted on going in order to regain his strength, he thought of the dangers and dangers along the way, so he said: "In this case, I would like to go with King Song. The journey is difficult and dangerous, and we can take care of each other."

"It doesn't have to be like this, you and Xunxiang will stay here, if you can keep it, then you can keep it, if you can't keep it, then go north and meet me immediately."

After paying and waiting, Song Jingang went north to Shanggu overnight.As Yuchi Jingde said, when they arrived in Shanggu, the Turks saw his remnants and defeated generals, and his arrogance, so they captured him soon after, cut him in half in the city, and dumped his body in the wild.It's a pity that Song Jingang, originally a steely hero, died in the wilderness of the northern desert because of his belief in the Turks.When Yuchi Jingde heard that Song Jingang had been killed, he shouted: "Song King!" Then he took two capable followers and went to Shanggu to collect Song Jingang's body.This is something.

When Li Shimin woke up, the sky was already bright, smelling the aroma of wine and meat, he jumped up.Nodding with Fan Botong, after wolfing down a lot, he gained strength, changed his armor, and walked out the door.But when he saw "the plum blossoms are exhausted in the cold snow, and the willows return in the spring breeze," Li Shimin felt refreshed, and asked Fan Bo the way:

"Have all the soldiers rested?"

"I've eaten and rested." Fan Botong replied, "I have ordered the soldiers guarding the city to strengthen their guards everywhere."

Li Shimin nodded, thought for a while and said, "I don't know how Jiexiu's situation is?"

"It's all been found out. Song Jingang has led more than a thousand elite cavalry to the north, and his subordinates have escaped halfway. Now Jiexiu City is guarded by Yuchi Jingde, and there are only more than [-] guards in the city. "

"This Yuchi Jingde! He and Song Jingang once captured our Jin and Hui prefectures when they invaded the south, and later captured our generals Wang Xiaoji, Lonely Huai'en, Tang Jian and others alive in Xia County."

"That's right, this Yuchi Jingde has killed many of my Tang Dynasty generals. Now, he is a trapped beast. After all the soldiers have a full day's rest, they must capture Jiexiu and kill Yuchi Jingde."

"He is a fierce general. Although I hate him, I really don't want to kill him." Li Shimin said: "What's more, there are [-] elite soldiers in Jiexiu City. If they can be used by me, it will really increase our army. Strength. There is a saying in the military book: "Soldiers who subdue others without fighting are the battles for the superior.""

"King Qin has such a heart, it is really a blessing for Yuchi Jingde and others, and now it is not difficult to recruit Yuchi Jingde."

"Does the manager have a clever plan to recruit Yuchi Jingde?" Li Shimin asked happily.

"If the king of Qin trusts me, I intend to go single-handedly and persuade Yuchi Jingxie to come back."

"No matter what, the risk is too great, how sure can we be?"

"At least there are seven or eight points. First, Yuchi Jingde is very aware of the disparity in strength. Second, Yuchi Jingde is a loyal and brave soldier, and he cherishes the lives of soldiers very much. If he expresses his interests, he will definitely surrender."

"Sure enough, I'll ask the manager to go through this. But, I still need to find you a companion to go with you, so the chances of winning are eight or nine."

"Who does the King of Qin want to send with his humble ministers?"

"Qu Tutong!"

"Okay, that's great! I know that Qu Tutong and Yuchi Jingde are very close, but I was in a hurry, but I didn't expect it. Thanks to King Qin's careful thinking, I will definitely persuade Yuchi Jingde to surrender."

"My lord wishes you great success." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he sent someone to send Qu Tutong, and he told them again, and sent the two of them out of the city.

7
The spring breeze clears the green frontier trees, and the veteran joins hands in the enemy camp.Early the next morning, Fan Botong and Qu Tutong arrived at the city of Jiexiu under the breeze and morning mist.Since Song Jingang left, Yuchi Jingde went to the top of the city to supervise the situation of the city defense.Seeing that the soldiers had little food and clothing, and their morale was low, I couldn't help worrying secretly. At this moment, it was reported that two people from the Tang camp had come down from the city.

Yuchi Jingde approached the city wall, covered his eyebrows with his hands, looked down, saw Qu Tutong, and couldn't help asking loudly:

"General Qu, you don't stay in the Tang camp, and you don't bring troops to come, just the two of you, are you going to bully me to Jiexiu?"

When Qu Tutong heard this, he laughed loudly: "Your name of Yuchi Jingde is frightening to anyone who hears about it. Who would dare to bully you? Don't gossip, put down and cross the bridge, this general wants to be your friend."

"In that case, please come in and talk." After finishing speaking, Yuchi Jingde asked the soldiers to put them down and cross the bridge.

Fan Botong and Qu Tutong rode their horses into the city, and Yuchi Jingde went down to welcome him to the mansion. Before Qu Tutong could speak, Yuchi Jingde said:

"I know the purpose of the general's visit; I also accept the general's friendship. As a soldier, you can only fight for the emperor. You two go back and tell King Qin what I mean, and then lead the troops to attack If you can't break through the city, it's because of your inability, if you break through, I will die."

Qu Tutong listened, laughed, and said: "Since you let me enter the city, you will naturally listen to me. If you don't like me then, it's not too late to drive us away. Besides, we are old friends. Could it be that you drive us away without even offering me a cup of tea?"

Yuchi Jingde also laughed when he heard this, and said: "Yes, yes, yes, drink tea before leaving." After speaking, he asked someone to offer tea.

After three cups of tea, Qu Tutong said: "You guessed right. We came here this time to persuade you to surrender under the orders of the King of Qin. Please think twice about this matter."

"I've already thought about this matter, so there's no need to think about it again." Yuchi Jingde replied with a smile.

"It's better to listen to my opinion. I, Qu Tutong, am not good at words, and you know that. There are three reasons why I was ordered to come here: First, your situation is very similar to mine. You have killed many people in the Tang Dynasty. General. I was defeated and had no choice but to surrender to Tang because I didn’t want the people to be slaughtered with me. To be honest, when I surrendered to Tang, I didn’t think that I would come to be a lobbyist for him today, but that I would die if I hugged him. However, King Qin has always treated me like a brother, so I have to do my best to serve him."

Speaking of this, Qu Tutong raised his thick eyebrows, opened his tiger eyes wide, and went to look at Yuchi Jingde. As expected, seeing his long eyebrows move, he couldn't help smiling, and continued: "The second is to use the strength of the two sides at present. Look, the battle is bound to be defeated. For the general, it is natural that he would rather die in battle than surrender. But he has to pay for the lives of [-] soldiers. Not only the general can't accept it, but I, Qu Tutong, can't accept it either. At the beginning, that's what I thought. Like the general, I was the one who led the army to fight, and I was the one who won the glory of the general through the fighting of the soldiers. The civil servants couldn't understand our relationship with the soldiers. You But I understand it very well in my heart. Although we ordered the soldiers to charge, we are not willing to sacrifice a soldier's life in vain unless it is absolutely necessary. This is why I voluntarily asked to persuade you." Qu Tutong stopped here again Come down to see Yuchi Jingde.Seeing his long eyebrows move again, Qu Tutong became happy and blurted out:

"What's more important is that the situation of the Li family's dominance of the world has been formed, and I am afraid that no one else can change it. And the king of Qin, Li Shimin, is a dragon among men, generous, benevolent, and unrivaled by ordinary commanders. If the general submits to this, he will surely win You have made immortal contributions in the war. Your subordinates can also follow you to make contributions, proud and proud."

After saying these words, Yuchi Jingde's long eyebrows twitched a few times, then he lowered his head again, lowered his head in deep thought.Qu Tutong didn't speak anymore, both of them just sat quietly, drinking tea slowly.After a while, Yuchi Jingde raised his head and said:

"That's the only way to go. You go back and tell the King of Qin that I will immediately gather the troops and tell them about surrender. After I arrange everything here, I will come to Zhangjiabao and surrender to the Tang army."

Qu Tutong and Fan Botong were overjoyed when they heard this, and returned to Zhangjiabao to report the situation to Li Shimin one by one.After hearing this, Li Shimin said happily:
"This king has gained another strong general, who can defeat a hundred thousand elite soldiers."

Therefore, Qu Tutong and Fan Botong were rewarded heavily, and the three armies were ordered to be ready to go to Jiexiu to accept Yuchi Jingde's surrender at any time.

7
After Qu Tutong and Fan Botong left, Yuchi Jingde sat in a daze for a long time, then he let out a long sigh, stood up and said to Xunxiang, "Qu Tutong is a loyal man, and his words were dull in the past. Today's words, But the words are logical and correct, I have thought about them for a long time, and think they are words from his lungs. In order to save the lives of these [-] soldiers, I feel that we have to surrender all the way.

"What the general said is very true, surrender for the time being, and then we can look at the opportunity to make great achievements." Xun Xiang said solemnly.

When Yuchi Jingde heard this, his complexion changed drastically, and he said repeatedly: "I surrendered to the King of Qin because of the lives of [-] soldiers, and because of the sincerity and kindness of the King of Qin. Once I surrender, how can I have another heart?"

After hearing this, Xun Xiang said hesitantly: "Everything is subject to the general's order, I am just saying it by the way."

"How can you talk casually about such a big matter?" Yuchi Jingde glanced at Xun Xiang, and sincerely warned: "After you have surrendered to the king of Qin, you must not have such words."

"I must follow the teachings of the general."

After hearing this, Yuchi Jingde was relieved.Instruct Xiang Xun to summon the troops and gather in front of the Taimiao.

"In the spring breeze, the peach and plum blossoms bloom, and in the autumn rain, when the leaves of the phoenix tree fall", the flowing clouds are leisurely in the high places, and the cold wind is blowing happily from the north. Twenty thousand soldiers stand in front of the Taimiao, waiting for their commander's order.These are all battle-tested soldiers. Although they are ordinary, everyone has had the joy of massacre and the pride of chasing the enemy.But now, they all know that they are facing a powerful enemy that they have never encountered in their life.Whether to fight or surrender, they can only let the commander decide.Yuchi Jingde climbed to the high platform in the north, looked around, he saw twenty thousand pairs of expectant eyes.These eyes are full of trust in him, but also full of doubts about the future.

"All soldiers! You followed me in the north and south, and you have always won. Each of you has enjoyed the glory of victory. But this time, we can't win! It's not that you are incompetent, nor is it my Wei Chi. Jingde is timid, this is God's will..."

Yuchi Jingde, who usually seldom speaks, said a lot this time, expressing his thoughts one by one.Speaking of sad places, he almost shed tears.The [-] soldiers listened quietly, the doubts on their faces dissolving.Soldiers who once lived under the threat of death began to feel the hope of life and saw another future.At this time, they heard Yuchi Jingde's last words:
"Nowadays, if we fight, we only have one death; if we surrender, we can live and go to pacify the world with King Qin. Therefore, I chose to surrender. You are all my good brothers who share life and death. At this critical moment, I hope that you will all make your own Choose, those who are willing to stay, open the city gate with me to welcome the King of Qin, those who do not want to stay, can take the package and go home."

After Yuchi Jingde finished speaking, twenty thousand soldiers shouted in unison:

"Stay here and settle the world with King Qin!"

After hearing this, Yuchi Jingde stepped down from the high platform, got on his horse, ordered the army to stand by, and drove towards Zhangjiabao with Xun Xiang.

When Li Shimin heard that Yuchi Jingde had come to surrender, he came out of the castle to greet him, as if he were an old friend, and asked with a smile on his face:
"Why did the general come at this time, making me wait so hard."

"Because I haven't reached a desperate situation before, I can only fight to win. Now there is no one-ten-thousandth chance of winning, so I can only choose to surrender. It is really a last resort."

"You..." Hou Junji next to him heard this, and was about to get angry, but was interrupted by Li Shimin's loud "haha" laughter.

"The general is really an open-minded hero." Li Shimin said with a smile: "You friend, I'm sure!" Then he asked the attendant to bring the wine.

Li Shimin handed a glass of wine to Yuchi Jingde with his own hands, picked up another glass himself, and said sincerely: "I hope that after drinking this glass of wine, we can get along with each other openly and never deceive each other."

"Thank you King Qin! I, Yuchi Jingde, have never been bullied." After Yuchi Jingde finished speaking, he drank it down in one gulp, with tears in his eyes.

When Li Shimin saw it, his heart moved unknowingly, he raised his glass and drank it all, saying: "This king will temporarily order you to command the army of Youyi Mansion, commanding the troops of Jiexiu and Yong'an. Afterwards, you will be rewarded for your meritorious service."

Yuchi Jingde knelt down and thanked him.Since then, Li Shimin has another invincible brave general under his command.However, because of Li Shimin's extra trust in Yuchi Jingde, the generals were dissatisfied. After that, Yuchi Jingde was sued many times, and even Qu Tutong persuaded Li Shimin to kill Yuchi Jingde.But Li Shimin insisted on reusing him, making him the seventh of Tang's 24 founding heroes.This is something.

At this time, Liu Wuzhou was in Shuozhou ruled by the Turks. Hearing that Song Jingang fled north and Yuchi Jingde descended to Tang Dynasty again, he planned to flee back to Mayi again in order to make a comeback.When the Turks knew about it, they killed Liu Wuzhou immediately.

At this point, all Liu Wu Zhou tribes perished, and all the lost lands in Shanxi that he occupied in the original Tang Dynasty were recovered by Qin Wang Li Shimin, and the Daibei area was all owned by the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)