Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 28 Attacking Luoyang (1)
7
When Li Shimin and Liu Wuzhou's army fought a decisive battle in Shanxi, the four powerful armed forces of Wang Shichong, Li Mi, Yu Wenhuaji, and Dou Jiande in the Kanto were also fighting endlessly.Yu Wenhua hanged and killed Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and made Yang Hao, the son of King Qin Xiao, emperor. After claiming to be the prime minister, he led more than [-] troops back to the west.Soon, a dispute broke out within him, and Yu Wenhuaji killed Sima Dekan.The officials who stayed in the eastern capital, Fengyue King Dong Jidi was located in Luoyang, recruited Li Mi, the leader of the Wagang Army, as Taiwei, and crusaded Yuwenhuaji.In the battle of Liyang, Yu Wenhuaji was defeated and fled to Wei County.Due to Yu Wenhua and his violent nature, he is not good at controlling people, so many of his subordinates vote for Li Mi.Knowing that he would be defeated, Yu Wenhuaji poisoned Yang Hao decisively and became the emperor himself. He said very proudly: "You must die in life, why don't you become an emperor in one day!"

After Li Mi defeated Yu Wenhuaji, he was too late to be happy, and internal changes also occurred.Wang Shichong used his military power to launch a coup d'état, and Li Mi was seriously injured in the Battle of Tongshan.Wang Shichong took the opportunity to attack and defeated Li Mi again in Yanshi, recruited Li Mi's general Shan Xiongxin, and captured Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, Niu Jinda and others alive.Li Yuan was overjoyed when he heard the news, so he sent someone to take the opportunity to lobby Wei Zheng, Li Mi's subordinate, and asked him to persuade Li Mi to return to Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Bing Yuanzhen, the general who guarded Luokou for Li Mi, had surrendered to Wang Shichong.Only Xu Shiji cleaned up Li Mi's remnants and defeated generals, and stood firm in Liyang.Due to Xu Shiji's skillful leadership, strategies and tactics, he always made surprises, and he always won the offensive and defensive battles. More and more troops followed him, and it became a trend.Li Michu had a very close relationship with Xu Shiji, and he was able to persuade Zhai Rangchan to take his place because of Xu Shiji, and he also obeyed Xu Shiji's advice.It's just that after the army had grown to tens of thousands of people, Li Mi couldn't listen to Xu Shiji's words anymore, and sometimes lashed out at him.Now that the army is defeated, Li Mi wants to go to Liyang, but he is afraid that Xu Shiji will hold grudges against him and take the opportunity to murder him.

At Liyang, Xu Shiji, who was sincerely preparing to welcome Li Mi, knew that Li Mi had surrendered to Tang Dynasty, and he was very regretful.Patting his forehead with his hands, he said with emotion: "Why didn't I take the initiative to meet Wei Gong?! I killed him!" Just as he was feeling, he heard that Wei Zheng came to see him.Xu Shiji asked him to come in, and said to Guo Xiaoke, the chief historian, "Wei Zheng is here to persuade me to surrender to the Tang Dynasty." As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Zheng came in.Sure enough, Xu Shiji was persuaded to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

Wei Zheng was originally Li Mi who joined the army. He was originally under Xu Shiji and went to Tang Dynasty with Li Mi.Feeling grateful for Li Yuan's kindness, he came to persuade Xu Shiji to return to the Tang Dynasty.In fact, in Wei Zheng's future, Xu Shiji already wanted to descend to the Tang Dynasty, and now seeing Wei Zheng coming, he gave him a favor and let Wei Zheng leave happily.

"The general really wants to descend to the Tang Dynasty?" After Wei Zheng left, the chief shi Guo Xiaoke asked.

Xu Shiji nodded and said: "Duke Wei returns to Tang, it is useless for me to hold on here. How long can Liyang be defended? Once it is broken by others, so many soldiers will be involved. For the current plan, the only way to do it is to bring these The guards have all surrendered to the Tang Dynasty."

Guo Xiaoke heard this and said: "Now the general has tens of thousands of troops, and several prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction, all of which are dedicated to the Tang Dynasty, and he must be named a minister. That's very good."

Xu Shiji's countenance changed when he heard the words, and he said seriously: "I was originally a subordinate of Duke Wei, and the troops and territory belonged to Duke Wei. He has returned to Tang now. I should make a record of the land, population, and number of troops and hand it over to Duke Wei." , Let Duke Wei himself dedicate himself to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, this is in line with love."

After hearing this, Guo Xiaoke was speechless.I secretly praised Xu Shiji's loyalty in my heart, and helped Xu Shiji clear up the number of people and make a list.

In the past, when Li Yuan wanted to take Chang'an, in order to prevent Li Mi from attacking Taiyuan, he took Li Mi as his master and was willing to stay on his side.In his heart, Li Yuan looked down on Li Mi at all.After Li Mi surrendered, Li Yuan was superficially enthusiastic about him, but only named him Guangluqing and a false title of Xing Guogong.Then he ordered Wei Zheng and Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, to accompany him and lead a troop to recruit Li Mi's old department.When approaching Wei County, Li Shentong and Wei Zheng had recruited more than 8000 Li Mi's subordinates.After Li Yuan knew about it, he ordered Li Shentong and Wei Zheng to lead the [-] men to attack Wei County.Yu Wenhuaji had just fled here, but his foothold was not stable, and he was short of food and equipment for defending the city. Wei County was quickly overrun by Li Shentong.Yu Wenhua and lost to Liaocheng.For a time, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty in Shandong was at its peak.Li Yuan hated Wen Wenji, so he ordered Li Shentong to go to Liaocheng after killing him.

However, after Dou Jiande defeated Sui general Xue Shixiong and conquered Hejian, when Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an, he also made his capital Leshou, named his country Daxia, and called him King Xia.In his opinion, the biggest threat to him is the Tang Empire.He didn't want to see the power of this empire grow stronger in Shandong.Therefore, when Li Shentong raised his troops to attack Liaocheng, Dou Jiande took the first step and conquered Liaocheng in the name of rebellion.Yu Wenhua and his father and son were captured without a fight, and Dou Jiande beheaded them in Xingtai.After killing Yu Wenhuaji, Dou Jiande took advantage of the victory and went south to attack the Tang army.Not only captured Xiangzhou and Liyang successively, but also captured Li Shentong, Xu Shiji's father Xu Gai, Li Yuan's sister Tong'an Princess, Wei Zheng and others alive.

At the time of the border, Wang Shichong also took the opportunity to launch an offensive against Tang wantonly, constantly capturing Tang's towns in Henan.In view of the difficulty of the battle between Li Shimin and Liu Wuzhou, Li Yuan did not dare to dispatch Li Shimin's troops to recruit reinforcements. He could only look helplessly at the Kanto land, which was occupied by Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong one by one.When Li Shimin recovered the lost land in Shanxi and returned triumphantly, all the land occupied by the Tang army in Kanto had been lost.

This gain and loss made Li Yuan mixed with sorrow and joy, and also filled with emotion.In the Warm Spring Palace, Li Yuan put on a big drink to welcome Li Shimin.After Jiu Sanren left, Li Yuan left Li Shimin and the prince behind, and wanted to have a good talk with Li Shimin.Although the father and son have always gathered less and separated more, but at this time, their hearts are connected to each other. .Li Yuan didn't speak, just looked at Li Shimin quietly, and sighed softly for a long time.

"Father, don't worry, the child is willing to fight again." Li Shimin deeply understood his father's mood at the moment, and a single word reassured Li Yuan.

"Ah... good!" Li Yuan said, "However, Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande are not comparable to Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou."

"My child knows." Li Shimin smiled slightly, glanced at Prince Li Jiancheng, and said confidently: "Today's child is not comparable to Li Shimin two years ago."

When Li Yuan heard this, his brows trembled, and his heart was almost completely let go, his face gradually filled with joy, and he said, "Yes, my father believes in you."

"Boy, thank you, Father."

"For this expedition, don't be too hasty, rest for a few more days before going."

"No, my son has a day off, and then he will lead the army out of the pass and march eastward against Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande."

"Who do you think they should hit first?"

"My boy thinks that Wang Shichong should be beaten first." Li Shimin replied seriously.

"Tell me your reasons."

"Wang Shichong concentrates his forces in Luoyang, which is easy to wipe out. Luoyang is the eastern capital of the Sui Dynasty. After it is conquered, it will have a greater political and military influence. At the same time, the boy also thinks: If Dou Jiande is attacked first, Wang Shichong will inevitably send troops to attack, so that I will suffer from the enemy; On the contrary, if Wang Shichong is attacked first, it will be very difficult for Dou Jiande to help him."

After hearing this, Li Yuan looked at his son, who had just turned 22, and secretly marveled in his heart: "One generation is better than another, thanks to the virtues of my Li family ancestors, who can have such a military genius to protect my Li family."When Li Yuan was sighing happily, he suddenly heard that Xu Shiji's envoy asked to see him.Li Yuan was brought in, and the envoy presented a thick letter, saying that it was to be handed over to Li Mi.Li Yuan felt strange when he heard this, and insisted on asking the envoy to explain the whole story.The envoy couldn't be compelled, so he told the story that Xu Shiji had made a record of the territories, soldiers and common people, and wanted to hand it over to Li Mi and present it to Li Yuan.Li Yuan was overjoyed after hearing this, and said to Li Shimin:
"This Xu Shiji, when Li Mi was down and out, was still so grateful for virtue and meritorious deeds, he is truly a loyal man."

Therefore, Li Yuan ordered Xu Shiji to be the governor of Liyang and the Duke of Lai.Soon after, Xu Shiji was named General Youwuhou and Xu Shiji was given the surname Li.From then on, Xu Shiji changed his surname to Li Shiji.After Li Shimin became emperor, in order to avoid the taboo, Xu Shiji removed the character "Shi" in the middle and named him Li Ji, which he used throughout his life.This is something.

7
Li Yuan sent off Li Ji's envoy, feeling extremely happy in his heart.Although he is only in his 40s, he has experienced many major events, and he has a lot of feelings about life and the world.He knew that a person's life is often like this: if things go well, good things will happen unexpectedly; if things don't go well, bad things will come to you.

It's just that whether it goes smoothly or not, many people believe that it is fate.However, Li Yuan understood in his heart: the success and failure in life are all caused by his past actions.For example, if you go to fight Wang Shichong this time, if you win, it means that he has accumulated enough strength to come;Therefore, if you want to win, you have to be serious and meticulous in all aspects of preparation.Although Li Yuan thanked his ancestor Youde for having such a military genius like Li Shimin, in his heart, he calmly analyzed whether he was fully prepared and whether he could win this battle.Thinking of this, he said to Li Shimin:

"After you send troops, when Xu Shiji comes to surrender, I can let him restrain Wang Shichong's troops from the direction of Liyang."

"It's so good, if there is one more force to contain Wang Shichong, the child will have a better chance of winning." Li Shimin said.

"Even so, this battle is still very difficult and dangerous." Li Yuan said thoughtfully:
"Wang Shichong has occupied Luoyang for many years. He is familiar with the surrounding terrain and has been attacked by Li Mi for many years. His defense is very strict, his defense experience is very rich, and his morale is very high. It is not an easy task to capture Luoyang. If you go here, be sure Strategies come first, tactics are studied in depth, and wisdom and courage are combined to defeat the enemy."

"The child must obey the emperor's order."

"Okay, if the emperor can do this, I'm relieved." Li Yuan said: "Now that the Turks are going north, Luo Yi of Youzhou has surrendered to our Tang Dynasty, and we can contain Dou Jiande's army from the north. The north will be safe for the time being. You this time Besieging Luoyang, Xiao Xian, who is entrenched in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, may take advantage of the opportunity to attack you. I have sent Hejian King Li Xiaogong and Li Jing to lead an army from Jinzhou to Shu, and go down the Yangtze River to his Jiangling, so that he can't take care of himself. Ya, you can’t make a difference. Li Xiaogong and Li Qing can also form an echoing trend with you, threatening Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande’s army.”

It is said that Cao Cao will arrive, and Li Yuan just mentioned Li Jing, and Li Jing sent Yuan's special envoy to report the success:

Li Jing defeated the barbarians, killed the barbarian leader Ran Zhaoze, and captured more than 5000 barbarians.

After hearing this, Li Yuan's spirits lifted.I thought to myself, my son has better eyesight than me when it comes to Li Jing's matter, what a formidable younger generation!
It turned out that on the way Li Jing was ordered to fight against Xiao Xian, when he passed through Jinzhou, he happened to meet Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang, who was fighting the barbarian Deng Shiluo here.Due to Deng Shiluo's large population, the King of Lujiang was defeated repeatedly, and when he was at his wit's end, he met Li Jing.After inquiring about the situation, Li Jing went to the front of the formation to investigate in person, and then gave Lujiang King a trick, and the barbarians were defeated.Li Jing just passed Jinzhou and arrived in Xiazhou.When Xiao Xian heard that Li Jing was coming, he set up checkpoints along the way. In addition to the many dangerous roads, Li Jing moved slowly. Li Yuan heard that Li Jing had not yet arrived in Kuizhou.Xu Shao got along with Li Jing for a long time, and knew Li Jing well, so he saved his life by pawning his life.At this time, Ran Zhaoze, the leader of the barbarians in Kaizhou, rebelled against Tang and led his people to invade Kuizhou.Li Xiaogong, Prince of Zhao County, led the Tang army and was defeated. Fortunately, Li Jing led 5000 soldiers to attack the barbarian camp at night.The barbarians were terrified, and they were defeated and scattered for their lives.Li Jing took advantage of the victory to pursue, and earlier set up ambushes on various roads.In this battle alone, Ran Zhaoze, the leader of the barbarians in Kaizhou, was killed and more than [-] barbarians were captured. Li Jing then sent a special envoy to Chang'an to report.

Li Yuan looked at Li Shimin and said, "Li Jing is really handsome. Now that he has defeated the barbarians and recaptured Kaizhou, he is just in time to contain Wang Shichong's troops for you. When my son attacks Luoyang, he has another helper from the side."

After Li Shimin listened, he nodded frequently, and said: "Father has planned carefully. In this way, the king and Dou are already intimidated by me from all sides."

"Having said that, their respective forces are very powerful. If they unite, we will not be able to defeat them. Fortunately, they each have their own interests, and they will not unite for a while. We must seize this opportunity and defeat them one by one. The most important thing for me now What I worry about is that if you don't have an overwhelming advantage in your military strength, Luoyang city is strong, and it will be too difficult to attack."

At this point, Li Yuan stopped talking for a while, and Prince Li Jiancheng at the side saw him, thought for a while and said: "Since the King of Qin lacks an advantage in military strength, I am willing to give the three elite troops under his command to the King of Qin to command, so that the King of Qin can seize Luoyang." , I also ask Father for permission."

Li Yuan listened, looked at Li Jiancheng, nodded appreciatively, and said: "It's rare for the prince to have such a mind. Your brothers are united, and the Tang Dynasty is as solid as gold. As a father, I will transfer three troops to the King of Qin to rule as you said." .At the same time, I have to assign several generals around me to King Qin's command for unified command."

When Li Shimin heard this, he was pleasantly surprised and excited. He looked at his elder brother Li Jiancheng, and then at his father Li Yuan. A teardrop came out of his eyes, and he said in a trembling voice:
"Shimin thank you father! Thank you prince!"

"They are all my own brothers, so why should I thank you?" Li Jiancheng pulled Li Shimin and said, "I only hope that you will go here and come back victorious."

Seeing Li Yuan at the side, he felt very relieved. "Raising a child is like this, why do you want it?" He said to himself in his heart.After being relieved, I remembered that this battle was indeed too difficult and dangerous, so I couldn't help but told Li Shimin:
"In this way, although we have surpassed either Wang or Dou in terms of military strength, this battle is still extremely difficult and dangerous. We need to be careful in doing so."

"Thank you, Father, I will be careful and return home triumphantly."

"Okay! After you leave, I have one more thing to do. Immediately implement a new order in Guanzhong. Arrange twelve troops in various states and counties in the pass, and let them drill while cultivating wasteland to provide enough for the front. Soldiers and provisions ensure the victory of the war."

Li Shimin was still excited when he came back from Nuanchun Palace with Prince Li Jiancheng.On the way, he held his elder brother's hand tightly and said, "With Father's plan and your support, I will definitely fight this battle well."

Li Jiancheng nodded, and sincerely wished again: "I wish you a successful start and success in no time."

"Thank you bro."

"Brother should be thanking you. Without your successive victories, how could the capital be so peaceful, and it would be difficult for the father to implement his land equalization system and rent adjustment, and rebuild the military system. These are all related to your victories in the front. "

Li Shimin listened and hugged his eldest brother.Under the deserted moonlight, both brothers felt the warmth between each other.It was already past midnight when we returned to Prince Qin's mansion, Mrs. Changsun was still awake and was sitting alone by the window, when he heard his footsteps, he came out to meet him.The two of them didn't speak, they just hugged each other tightly.

Waking up early the next morning, Changsun packed Li Shimin's luggage, recalling the conversation with his father and the prince last night, Li Shimin couldn't help but said with emotion: "I feel more and more that my father is a great military strategist."

"Aren't you?" Changsun looked at him and said.

"Me, you think I'm also... a great military strategist?"

"Yes, in terms of fighting, you are not inferior to the emperor at all."

"However, he is more comprehensive and thorough than I thought."

"In a few years, you will too."

Li Shimin glanced at Changsun gratefully, and said, "You know how kind my elder brother is to me. He even gave me his most elite troops."

After hearing this, Changsun said nothing, but looked at Li Shimin affectionately.

"Where's our Chengqian?" Li Shimin suddenly remembered his son and asked loudly.

"I was still here just now. I was worried that he would quarrel with you, so I asked Hongxiu to take him out. I'll send someone to find him."

After a while, Hongxiu came in with Chengqian in his arms.The chubby son can already be called "Daddy".Li Shimin still lifted him up high like the last time he parted, flipping him in the air.

At this time, there were no young eagles in the sky, and Xiao Chengqian was no longer afraid of the strong light in the sky, and kept smiling happily.Li Shimin stared closely at Xiao Chengqian, and from his son, he saw the continuation of his life.

7
As early as May 618, when Luoyang heard the news that Emperor Sui Yang had been killed, the guards supported the son of Yang Zhao, the eldest son of Emperor Sui Yang, and Yang Yu, the king of Yue, as emperor, and changed it to Yuan Huangtai.In April of the following year, Wang Shichong seized power in a coup and changed the name of the country to Zheng.After Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi, he also owned the Kanto region, and his power became stronger.When Wang Shichong was complacent and complacent, he heard that Li Yuan had sent his second son, Qin Wang Li Shimin, to attack Luoyang. Tens of thousands of Tang troops had reached Xin'an, 5 miles away from Luoyang. "This kid has defeated Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou successively. It seems that he is not an easy person." Wang Shichong said to himself in his heart: "I, Wang Shichong, am not Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou."

Although he was full of confidence in himself, Wang Shichong acted nervously: on the one hand, he dispatched a large number of scouts to closely monitor Li Shimin's every move; on the other hand, he mobilized soldiers to carefully arrange and deploy Luoyang's defense; Against Li Shimin.

Xin'an is the base of Luoyang and the gateway to the west. It is connected to the ancient Hanguan Road, connected to Zhengbian in the east, and connected to Chang'an in the west.The mountains here are high, the mountains are many, the river valleys are broken, and the terrain gradually decreases from northwest to southeast and from west to east.Li Shimin stationed troops here to deal with Wang Shichong's army coming from the east. They could defend when retreating and attack when advancing.When troops were stationed in Xin'an, the county mansion became Li Shimin's temporary headquarters.

Compared with the previous campaign against Liu Wuzhou, although the opponent was much stronger, Li Shimin, as the commander in chief, had indeed matured a lot.He also thought very thoroughly about this war.In particular, personnel arrangements, each according to their ability, each perform their duties.Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji were in charge of logistics; Du Ruhui, Yin Kaishan, Yuchi Jingde and other generals were in charge of military staff... Beside him were Hou Junji, Qu Tutong and others.The final decision-making and supreme command of the military belonged to King Qin himself.With doubts, he called a military council at any time.It is said that Wang Shichong has personally led 3 horses and rushed west towards Xin'an.Li Shimin immediately recruited Du Ruhui, Yin Kaishan, Yuchi Jingde and other staff generals to discuss how to deal with it.

"Guard of Luoyang, how did Wang Shichong arrange it?" As usual, Du Ruhui always had to ask before he had a clear understanding of all aspects of the situation. This time, it was no exception.

When Du Ruhui asked about Wang Shichong's guard in Luoyang, Qu Tutong, who was in charge of the detective work, laughed and said:
"Wang Shichong didn't believe anyone this time. He sent his brothers and nephews to each of the five key cities of Luoyang to defend one city: Qi Wang Shiyun guarded the south city, Chu king Shiwei guarded the treasure city, Prince Wang Xuanying guarded the east city, and Han Wang Wang Xuanshu guarded the city. Hanjia City, Lu Wangdao guards Yaoyi City."

(End of this chapter)