Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 31 Attacking Luoyang (4)
"Now because Xunxiang wants to defect, some people suspect that the general will also betray Datang. This king thinks absolutely not, and is worried that it is because you saved this king's life and blindfolded him. Now, this king is special Please ask Yin Kaishan and Qu Tutong to ask their opinions. As a result, they both think the same as this king, and they both say that General Yuchi Jingde is loyal and loyal, and he will never betray Tang. From now on, this king I have no doubts about you."

After saying that, Li Shimin looked at Yuchi Jingde quietly.I saw that he was a man of eight feet and eyebrows, a brave general who had never been timid in a bloody battle, at this moment he was so excited that his eyes were filled with tears, he gave a deep bow to Qu Tutong and Yin Kaishan, then knelt down on his knees, and spoke to him in a trembling voice. Li Shimin said:
"Thank you King Qin for your trust. I, Yuchi Jingde, will definitely repay you with all my might."

Li Shimin stepped forward, helped Yuchi Jingde up, ordered his attendants to bring a box of gold, and said to Yuchi Jingde:

"The general saved my king's life. It was supposed to be a reward long ago, but it was delayed until today because of the busy battle. It's just a small gift. It's a little gift from my king. Please accept it."

Yuchi Jingde took the gold and looked at Li Shimin gratefully.

"This time, some people doubted the general and made the general wronged." Li Shimin took Yuchi Jingde's hand and said: "The big man got together because of his like-mindedness. Please don't mind these small things. This king will never I will listen to those slanderous words to hurt loyal and good people, and I hope that the general will boldly make some achievements for this king for my sake."

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Yu Chigong became even more excited, tears bursting out of his eyes.Since then, Yuchi Jingde has been loyal to Li Shimin all his life, and has become a model of the relationship between monarch and minister in the dynasty.This is something.

8
After dealing with Yuchi Jingde's affairs, Li Shimin felt much more relaxed, but he couldn't help frowning when he thought that Luoyang would not be broken for a long time.On this day, the wind is sunny and the spring mountains are smiling.Li Shimin walked out of the tent and looked up at the blue sky and white clouds for a long time.Suddenly, he came up with a plan, hurried back to the camp, and said to Du Ruhui:

"Rather than us attacking him like this, it's better to lure him to attack us." After he finished speaking his thoughts, Du Ruhui couldn't help praising him again and again, saying:

"In this way, Wang Shichong's cannon, flying stones, and eight bows and crossbows will not be effective."

After saying that, the two monarchs and ministers looked at each other and nodded, laughed loudly, and hurriedly started to arrange the arrangement.Li Shimin summoned Hou Junji and asked him to quietly deploy elite troops in Beimang Mountain, and then move the troops to Qingcheng Palace with no barriers, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend.Wang Shichong was really happy to see him.His eyes were wide open, he stroked his beard and said triumphantly: "Sure enough, you are a young child. Make the following inferior move. Let's see how I deal with you!" After saying this, he ordered the whole army to come out.

The sun is still so bright, and the mountain wind is blowing quietly in the distance.Wang Shichong, riding a silver elephant horse, led the [-] defenders of Luoyang, rushing out of the city like a swarm, and approaching Qingcheng Palace.He wants to fight to the death with Li Shimin to vent his hatred of being besieged for a long time.

At this moment, Li Shimin, Qu Tutong, Yuchi Jingde and other generals had already boarded Wei Xuanling, and saw Wang Shichong's actions clearly.Li Shimin said to Qu Tutong: "You lead five thousand infantry and attack across the water quickly. Once you meet Wang Shichong and start a war, you will release the smoke."

Qu Tutong took the lead and led a Qingqi to cross the Gushui quickly.As soon as the horseshoe landed on the shore, Wang Shichong's vanguard came.When Qu Tutong saw him, he immediately made people let out smoke.I yelled: "Come on!" The people followed the sound and fought against Wang Shichong's vanguard.When Li Shimin saw the smoke of the war, he personally led the elite cavalry to the south, and joined Qu Tutong to attack Wang Shichong's vanguard.But seeing steel knives flickering, blood splattered and flesh flying, it didn't take long for Wang Shichong's 3000 men, the most elite vanguard soldiers, to be beheaded to death.

Wang Shichong came with a large army and looked at the corpses of Zheng Jun everywhere. He didn't want to be so angry that he gritted his teeth. "I will ask you to pay back your blood!" Wang Shichong yelled loudly, taking the lead and leading the main force, rushing towards Tang Jun like a wave.

For a time there was a great disparity in strength, and Li Shimin's army was less than half of Wang Shichong's.Li Shimin had no fear at all, and commanded the troops calmly to face Wang Shichong.However, Wang Shichong had a large number of people, and soon he divided and surrounded the generals who followed Li Shimin.Li Shimin was alone, surrounded by Wang Shichong and several of his generals, hacking and killing him in turn.The generals were eager to win, and wished they could kill Li Shimin immediately to make such a remarkable military exploit.One by one, wielding their swords and wielding their swords, they desperately attacked Li Shimin.Li Shimin brandished his long sword, let out a long roar, and beheaded two generals.Just as he was about to swing his sword at Wang Shichong, his horse was killed by a stray arrow, and Li Shimin jumped off his horse.When Wang Shichong saw it, he was overjoyed, raised his machete, and returned to his horse to kill Li Shimin.In a blink of an eye, he was in front of Li Shimin, the steel knife was about to cut off, but was stopped by Yuchi Jingde's steel whip who rushed in.A burst of fierce dragon whip, Wang Shichong was beaten back a few steps by Yuchi Jingde.Yuchi Jingde didn't want to fight, he turned his head and got off his horse, gave his mount to Li Shimin, held the steel whip by himself, and tried his best to protect it.

Li Shimin and Yuchi Jingde rushed out of the siege, and Yin Kaishan and others also led the army to arrive.This time, the situation changed again. The strength of the two sides happened to be almost the same. Tang Jun and Zheng Jun each happened to be [-].Li Shimin turned his horse's head, commanded Tang Jun, and rushed to Zheng Jun's camp.The two sides fought a life-and-death battle by the valley water.This battle, from early morning to noon, killed the mountains and rivers to change color, and the valleys and rivers were exhausted. Zheng Jun finally failed. Although Wang Shichong's eyes were burning with hatred, he could only order to retreat to Luoyang.

In this battle, although Tang Jun was killed and injured a lot, Zheng Jun was killed and injured more than half.Even so, Wang Shichong was unable to attack the Tang army because of the danger of the high ground in Luoyang City.In a blink of an eye, more than a month has passed.Li Shimin was thinking hard about a plan to break the city, when he suddenly received a secret decree sent by the special envoy, Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan:
Quickly retreat!
Li Shimin looked at these four words and fell into deep thought.For my father, because of my mother, I respect and miss him very much since I was a child.Because at that time, I spent less time with my father than I did with my mother, and I was not as deep emotionally as I was with my mother.The figure of his father was not very clear in his young mind.It wasn't until after his mother passed away that Li Shimin came to his father's side. At this time, he had grown up and became his father's most powerful helper in his plans for the world.In a series of wars to establish the Tang Dynasty, he obeyed his father's order and fought from Taiyuan to Chang'an.He made great achievements in battle.In this short period of more than a year, he deeply felt his father's wisdom beyond ordinary people, appreciated his father's foresight, and also saw his father's occasional overly cautious.Li Shimin's talent and personality prevent him from blindly following others at a young age, including his respected father.In case of trouble, he will have his own judgment and decision.

In terms of strategy, my father's sophistication is indeed unmatched. I have learned a lot from him, and I am very grateful.However, my father sometimes worries too much.In this regard, it was my persistence that helped my father dispel his worries.Li Shimin pondered and fell into deep memories: For example, I urged my father to join the army at the right time, and I cried and persuaded my father to insist on taking Huoyi... All these things proved me right afterwards.These, if I hadn't insisted... Thinking of this, Li Shimin's heart suddenly increased more confidence and courage.

Yes, in recent years' unified campaigns, my father has always been able to proceed from the overall situation and foresight.However, father, not all are correct.My mother taught me since I was a child: no one is a sage, and nothing is wrong.Whether it is strategy or tactics, my father has shown the wisdom of an outstanding military strategist and statesman in the unified war.Li Shimin admired his father from the bottom of his heart and was grateful to his father. The father and son had always cooperated very well.Only this time, he had a disagreement with his father.After much deliberation, he said to the envoy:

"This king came to attack Luoyang with a big plan, and it should be done once and for all. Now that the eastern states have accepted the Great Tang, only the lonely city of Luoyang is left. Although it can't be attacked for a long time, as long as you persist, you will definitely be able to take it. Go back and tell your father Your Majesty, I can't just abandon Luoyang and return to the army after failure."

After Li Yuan's special envoy left, Fang Xuanling said to Li Shimin: "The emperor's secret order, if the king of Qin refuses it like this, the emperor will definitely be unhappy. Please think about it again." looked at Du Ruhui intently.

"This minister also thinks that it is best for the King of Qin not to disobey the emperor's order like this, he can temporarily stand still and go to the capital to explain the reason, and then ask for an imperial edict."

After hearing this, Li Shimin raised his head and looked at Fang Xuanling, his eyes were clearly asking: "What do you think?"

Fang Xuanling met Li Shimin's gaze, and said frankly: "The emperor is no longer the former Duke of Tang. Now that the imperial decree has been issued, how can he change it at will. When King Qin arrives in the capital, he can only return to the army. It is better to return to the army at this time, so as not to hurt the harmony of father and son. "

"Although my father is the emperor, my father is still my father, and every sentence I say may not be the truth. What's more, Chang'an and Luoyang are thousands of miles away. It is difficult for my father to know the truth for a while. If I make a mistake, why can't I change it?" Li Shimin said to himself. The language seemed to be asking Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and it seemed to be asking himself.

"If it is me, even though I am the emperor, if the opinions I express are against the truth, I will definitely take them back."

Li Shimin's desire was not exhausted, and he blurted out this word again, he couldn't help being surprised.Going to see Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, seeing them smiling slightly, looking at Li Shimin happily.Li Shimin couldn't help laughing at himself and said:

"Brother is the prince, how can I be the emperor in this life! Even so, for the sake of the unification of the Tang Dynasty, I still cannot withdraw my troops. I must insist on continuing to besiege Luoyang until I completely win the Eastern Expedition."

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui listened, they were speechless, but they were thinking in their hearts, this act offended the emperor, how should they deal with it properly in the future!

(End of this chapter)