Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 34
After Fang Xuanling came, he asked about the situation, asked people to prepare the four treasures of the study, and in front of Li Shimin and Du Ruhui, the letter was completed in an instant.With the scroll in hand, he opened his mouth and said:
"The land of Zhao and Wei has been owned by me for a long time, and it has been invaded by my step. But at the ceremony in Huai'an, the princess was able to return, so the relatives and friends calmly relieved their grievances. Shi Chongqian and his step have repaired each other, and they have tried repeatedly. It is not the best policy to lure each other with pretexts, but to use the three armies to support others, and to sit and pay for foreign expenses. It is not a good idea. If we meet at the front, the other will collapse. If you do not serve, you may regret it. Difficult to follow."

After hearing this, Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Wonderful, wonderful, Shimin once again appreciates Mr. Li's literary talent. Thank you, thank you!"

When Fang Xuanling heard this, he raised his hands and said, "Xuanling is very grateful for the love of the King of Qin. Serving for the King of Qin is what Xuanling should do. The thank you from the King of Qin is really embarrassing for Xuanling."

After hearing this, Li Shimin said: "You and I have a deep brotherhood. I don't need to say thank you. It's just that I admire you for being so literary and reliable. I blurted out. Please don't mind."

After hearing this, Fang Xuanling admired Li Shimin even more.

Fang Xuanling's letter was sent to Dou Jiande, and Dou Jiande read it, although he also felt that the text was rich in emotion, but he couldn't be tempted.The special envoy sent by Li Shimin to deliver the letter was politely sent away, and everything was still in the tiger prison with Li Shimin according to the original strategy.For more than a month, although there has been no major war between the two sides, the small battle has never stopped.Either Dou Jiande intercepted Li Shimin's grain and grass, or Li Shimin robbed Dou Jiande's military supplies.Seeing this, Li Shimin dispatched additional manpower to further strengthen the reconnaissance, hoping to capture more favorable opportunities to attack Dou Jiande more powerfully.Dou Jiande also racked his brains to find a way, hoping to defeat Li Shimin.At this time, Ling Jing, Dou Jiande's first adviser, suggested to him after thinking hard for many days, saying:
"Your Majesty can take advantage of this to send troops to the river, attack Huaizhou and Heyang, and then send heavy generals to guard them. Then sound the drums and build the flag, cross the Taihang, join the Shangdang, occupy Fen, Jin, and take Pujin. We have three advantages: one is that if no one enters the country, we can win without fail; the other is that we can expand the land and collect the crowd, and the situation will become stronger; gone."

When Dou Jiande heard this, his heart lit up.This Ling Jing is really brilliant!If his suggestion is put into practice, the Tang army's advantage over Hulao Pass will be lost.After our army went deep into Shangdang, Yufen, and Jin, it would definitely shock Guanzhong and send Li Shimin back to his division for rescue.At that time, the Tang army will be in chaos, the siege of Luoyang will not be solved, and I will be like the wind and the rain. The whole battle situation will follow my Dou Jiande's will and do whatever I want.Thinking about this, Dou Jiande immediately ordered someone to call Wang Shichong's younger brother Wang Shibian.

Like this, like this, like this, Dou Jiande put together Ling Jing's suggestions.Then he told Wang Shibian, saying:
"Ru go to Luoyang now, inform Wang Shichong, stay at ease, and wait for good news from me."

8
When Wang Shibian heard that Dou Jiande was going to send his troops across the river to attack Shanxi, he was flustered for a while, so he hurried to Luoyang and told Wang Shichong about Dou Jiande's plan.Li Shimin had besieged Luoyang for more than half a year, and Wang Shichong had fallen into a desperate situation. Unexpectedly, there was a hopeless situation, and Dou Jiande led his troops to rescue him once he woke up.He, Wang Shichong, is as talented as the rain and dew in the drought, and he has long regarded Dou Jiande as a life-saving dragon. He didn't want this dragon to fly to Shanxi to make troubles.In Wang Shichong's view, once Dou Jiande abandoned him, he would have no choice but to die immediately, so he was horrified, opened his eyes wide, looked at his brother, and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Wang Shibian was even more impatient when he saw that his brother, who was once such a hero, was so distraught. He didn't expect that in his desperation, he would come up with a way and said to Wang Shichong:

"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry. If Dou Jiande is not going to attack Shanxi, there is no other way?"

"What can I do, tell me quickly." Wang Shichong grabbed his younger brother's arms tightly.

"You let go, my arm is about to break."

Only then did Wang Shichong let go of his hand, his eyes widened like copper coins, and he urged:
"Tell me quickly, is there any way to keep Dou Jiande from leaving this place?"

"I have been with Dou Jiande for more than a month, and I know Dou Jiande's character well. Although he is brave and good at fighting, he often buys people's hearts with small favors, but he is very suspicious, especially for Ling Jing and other advisers. He takes some of his generals very seriously, and listens to their opinions easily. I was with him, the emperor, and after seeing this, I became very friendly to his most trusted generals, such as Gao Zengsheng and Liang Jianfang. The shots are very generous, so I have a very good relationship with them. Now, as long as I give them some benefits, it is not difficult for them to persuade Dou Jiande not to attack Shanxi."

After hearing this, Wang Shichong grabbed his younger brother and said loudly: "Emperor, you are really my good brother! You can take the gold and silver treasures in my palace, as long as Gao and Liang can persuade Dou Jiande to stay here, how much do you want?" How much to give them."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll take some gold and silver and go back immediately. Generals like Gao and Liang must persuade Dou Jiande not to go to Shanxi."

"Okay, okay, that's good!" Wang Shichong let out a long sigh of relief, and said, "Go, go, brother is here waiting for your good news."

Wang Shibian brought a large amount of gold and silver treasures, hurried back to Banzhu, gave the gold and silver treasures one by one to Gao Zengsheng, Liang Jianfang and others whom Dou Jiande trusted very much, and asked them to intercede for Wang Shichong, and never leave Banzhu to attack Shanxi.These generals saw that Wang Shichong was subdued, and they got a lot of gold and silver from him, so they came to Dou Jiande one by one, saying that it is not suitable to attack the counties in Shanxi at this time.

"Who is Ling Jing? He was born with a book. How can his words be used when he knows the war!" Liang Jianfang and others said eloquently.

At first, Dou Jiande insisted on his own opinion, arguing for Ling Jing, saying that although he was a scholar, he had used his brains this time and came up with a good idea, but he couldn't stand the repeated persuasion of the generals, so he finally changed his mind and treated Ling Jing Jing said:

"The fighting spirit of the generals is high now. I think it is God's will to defeat Li Shimin here! It is God who wants me to defeat Li Shimin here. Now I have no choice but to follow the general's heart and fight Li Shimin decisively. Therefore, I We can only change our plan to attack Shanxi."

After hearing this, Ling Jing felt resentment in his heart, and couldn't help but said to Dou Jiande: "When a righteous man acts, once he says a word, it is hard to follow. The emperor is the mouth of ten thousand lords. Once the word is said, how can it be changed."

After hearing this, Dou Jiande was speechless and angry. He wanted to imprison Ling Jing, but his empress Cao Shi said: "Although Ling Jing's words are offensive to the emperor, everything is reasonable and loyal. That's it. Still being detained will chill the hearts of the counselors, please think twice, Your Majesty."

The queen's words made Dou Jiande calm down, and after a long silence, he said: "This Ling Jing is really hateful. The reason why I changed my plan is because I suddenly woke up. Otherwise, I would almost be deceived by him and become a little boy who fears the enemy and betrays his trust." people."

"How should I say this?" asked the Queen.

"I came to rescue Zheng, and I promised Wang Shichong that I would help him out of the siege. Now I haven't solved the siege, but I want to leave him. Is it because I am afraid of the enemy and abandon my trust? Faithful, I will not imprison him."

Therefore, Dou Jiande did not punish Ling Jing, and also refused to accept Ling Jing's suggestion, and continued to confront Li Shimin.

8
In the evening of May, "the mountain light suddenly falls to the west, and the moon gradually rises to the east." Wang Shichong walked on the high platform in front of the hall worriedly, looking straight at Banzhu in the east.He still doesn't know whether the things promised by the emperor's younger brother can be done well, and he is in a state of uncertainty, when he suddenly sees his younger brother Wang Shibian, happily pulling up his clothes and walking quickly.Not caring about the emperor's dignity for a moment, Wang Shichong hurried up to meet him, and asked anxiously:

"How's it going?"

"Thanks to the emperor's blessing, everything has been settled. Dou Jiande has already decided to stay in Banzhu, and waits for Li Shimin to be destroyed."

"Okay, okay! For the past few days, I have been thinking hard about how to defeat Li Shimin, and now I finally have a good idea."

"Ah! Your Majesty has fought all battles and is well versed in strategy and tactics..."

"I think so." Wang Shichong interrupted the emperor's brother and said, "The advantage of the Tang army in combat lies in the cavalry. Now, the Tang army is short of food and grass, and the green grass is green in the north of the Yellow River. In order to save food, the Tang army will definitely go to Hebei. Herd horses. Let the horses go to Hebei. During this period, the cavalry has no horses to ride. At this time, Dou Jiande launches a general attack, which will surely defeat the Tang army."

Wang Shibian was overjoyed when he heard this, and said happily, "Your Majesty is truly well versed in strategy and tactics..."

"I will write a letter and tell Dou Jiande my opinion." Wang Shichong interrupted the emperor's brother again, saying: "My brother must try his best to persuade him from the side, and we must not lose this rare opportunity."

After hearing this, Wang Shibian said yes again and again, took Wang Shichong's letter, got off the high platform, got on his horse, and hurried to Banzhu.Unexpectedly, less than ten miles away from Luoyang City, Wang Shibian's horse was knocked down by a rope that restrained the horse.Because of the high speed, the horse's legs knelt down, and Wang Shibian was thrown more than ten steps away. He happened to hit his head on a stone again and died instantly.

The person who intercepted was none other than the detective commanded by Hou Junji.

It turned out that when Wang Shibian came to Luoyang, the detectives had already found out, and they just obeyed Hou Junji's order to arrest him when he came back, so they stayed here all the time.Several detectives came out and saw that Wang Shibian had died in Huangquan, they searched carefully and found a letter from him, and rushed back to the camp to hand it to Hou Junji.After reading the letter, Hou Junji didn't dare to take it easy, and immediately took the letter to see Li Shimin.After reading the letter and asking about the situation, Li Shimin suddenly had an idea, and called Hou Junji to his side, and whispered a few words.When Hou Junji heard it, he understood, and brought the letter to the place where Wang Shibian was intercepted.Wang Shibian was still lying there, and the horse beside him was snorting sensiblely.Hou Junji asked someone to stuff the letter into Wang Shibian's lapel, put him on the horse's back, patted him lightly, and the horse supported Wang Shibian and ran towards Banzhu steadily.

Soon, Dou Jiande got the letter from Wang Shichong, read it in one breath, and said to himself: "'Waiting for the Tang army to run out of food, herding horses in Hebei, and attacking the tiger prison, defeating the Tang army in one fell swoop.' Wonderful! Wonderful! It's really wonderful! Wang Shichong is worthy of being a military general with brains." Speaking of this, he looked at Wang Shibian's body, nodded slightly, and said: "Xingtai, although you are dead today, the letter has been delivered. I must be big I will avenge you for defeating Li Shimin." After saying this, he ordered the guards to bury Wang Shibian, and then summoned his confidant Liang Jianfang to monitor the Tang army.

"At Jieshi, my whole army attacked Li Shimin, where did you escape!" Dou Jiande said confidently, looking at Hulao Pass in the east.

Hou Junji ordered Wang Shibian to be put on the back of the horse, and followed him from a distance. After watching Wang Shibian's body enter the summer camp, he returned to Hulao Pass and told Li Shimin the situation.

Li Shimin learned that Wang Shichong wanted Dou Jiande to launch a general attack while he was grazing horses on the North Bank of the Yellow River, so he decided to use his plan. After confirming that Dou Jiande had received Wang Shichong's letter, he immediately made major arrangements.He was at his wit's end, but now he wanted to seize this opportunity that came by chance to draw Dou Jiande's army out of the Banzhu camp, and then gather and annihilate them in Hulao.

"The yin and qi in the middle of summer begin, and the clouds and the scenery in autumn." Li Shimin and Dou Jiande, together with their army, have no one to appreciate the beautiful summer scenery.Both Tang and Xia were busy arranging the arrangements, both confidently believed that their own ideas were very clever, and that when the time came, they would definitely be able to put the other party to death.

The final cruel decisive battle is about to begin.

90,

The spring breeze blows overnight, and the new grass is green.On the north bank of the Yellow River, thousands of miles away, it is a golden place for horse herding.Li Shiji led more than a thousand soldiers and thousands of horses under the command of King Qin, crossed the Yellow River to the north, and grazed the horses by the river.

It was getting dark, and when it was time to drive the horses back to the camp, Li Ji just didn't return.He set up camp by the river and let the horses stay in the green grass.The purpose was to let Dou Jiande understand that the Tang army had indeed run out of fodder, and the horses could only stay overnight in the grassland by the river.When Dou Jiande heard that the spies had come to report, he was really overjoyed, thinking that this was an opportunity he could take advantage of.He quickly summoned the generals and ordered them all to dispatch according to the original deployment.From Banzhu to Niukou, with Dahe in the north, Bosi River in the west, and Que Mountain in the south, from north to south, hundreds of generals, leading more than [-] troops, lined up for more than [-] li.Following Dou Jiande's order, the drummers beat the drums to cheer, and the soldiers shouted for strength.It is so majestic and majestic that even ghosts and gods are frightened by it.If Dou Jiande wants to fight Li Shimin to the death, he must first overwhelm the Tang army in terms of momentum.

"In this way, the Tang army will be scared to death." Dou Jiande sat firmly in the middle army, thinking proudly.

When the generals of the Tang Army saw this, some of them were really timid, thinking that Dou Jiande had many soldiers and would be defeated if he fought, and advocated retreating; Xia Jun's camp.After hearing this, Li Shimin was not in a hurry to express his opinion. He personally led dozens of generals to the high hills to look at the enemy's positions.After a long time, he rode his horse down the high hill, summoned all the generals and said:

"Dou Jiande made a lot of noise when he crossed the danger zone, trying to show off his arrogance. When he lined up in front of the city, he even despised our army. If I stay with such an arrogant soldier, he will become more irritable. Arrogance means lax guard, and impetuosity means lack of patience. Such an army has been lined up for a long time, hungry and tired, and we will take advantage of the momentum to pursue it, and we will definitely not be hit. Dou Jiande will definitely be defeated overnight!"

Li Shimin's words made the hearts of all the generals feel hot, and they were full of energy.At this time, Dou Jiande only sent five generals and three hundred cavalry to cross Sishui westward, stop at the place where the Tang army barracks was within a stone's throw, and shouted:
"Great Xia General Wang Wan and others have come to challenge the Tang army. Anyone who is not afraid of death can come and fight!"

After hearing this, Li Shimin raised his eyes and saw Wang Wan's horse was tall and majestic, and his armor was even more bright and gorgeous.He smiled and said to the generals around him: "The king knows this horse. It was originally the horse that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty rode. It is really a thousand-mile horse."

When Yuchi Jingde saw Wang Wan's arrogant appearance, he wanted to kill him, but now he heard King Qin praised him for his good horse, so he threw up Zaoyang and said, "Wait for me to kill Wang Wan and take the horse to offer." To King Qin."

But Li Shimin shook his head and said, "It's absolutely impossible, why would this king let his general take risks just because of a BMW?"

After hearing this, Yuchi Jingde was even more unconvinced, and said loudly: "Wang Wan, what can I do?"When Li Shimin saw it, he was secretly proud, turned his head and said to Hou Junji, "General Yuchi's going here will be a lot of fun. You can go to the north bank of the Yellow River and drive back all the herd horses. The armed cavalry lie on the west side of Xia's army, waiting When I attack here, you can lead the whole army to fight out, only advance but not retreat, and force Xia Jun to be killed."

Li Shimin watched Hou Junji go away, and looked back at Yuchi Jingde.I saw him single-handedly rushing into the enemy army, raising his spear and dropping it, smashing two generals off their horses.When Wang Wan saw it, she raised her gun and went forward to fight Yuchi Jingde. After three rounds of fighting, she was out of arms.The two generals who came together met and stepped forward together, and the three Xia Guo generals, Qi Zhan Yuchi Jingde.Tang Junzhong Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao and other generals met and wanted to help the battle, but Li Shimin stopped them.

"I have made General Yuchi suffocate. He is full of energy at the moment, and nothing will happen. When he is really exhausted, I will go again, and it will not be too late to help." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he quietly said watch the battle.

Unexpectedly, Yuchi Jingde not only did not lose his strength, but became more and more courageous as he fought.He smashed several lances and forced the two generals to retreat. Wu lances went straight after Wang Wan.Wang Wan heard the news about Yuchi Jingde's Zao lance, and dared not take the lance again, so he pulled out his horse and fled towards Sishui.Wang Wan's horse was fast, and seeing that he was about to reach the river, Yuchi Jingde became anxious, he raised his spear and flew towards Wang Wan's back.There was a muffled sound, and Zaoqiang pierced Wang Wan from his back. Before he could cry out, he fell to the ground and died.Following Zaoqiang, Yuchi Jingde came to Wang Wan's side, flew off the horse, pulled the Zaoqiang from Wang Wan's body with one hand, pulled Wang Wan's BMW with the other, turned over, and returned to Tangying.The soldiers on both sides of Tang Xia were shocked when they saw it.

It was already after noon, Dou Jiande's soldiers waited in line for a long time, everyone was hungry and tired, and the formation began to disperse.Many soldiers, throwing away their guns and knives, rushed to the river to drink water, and they were in a mess for a while.When Li Shimin saw this, he was secretly happy, so he ordered Li Shiji, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie and others to attack from the front, while Yin Kaishan and Yuchi Jingde led the troops to attack from the left and right.The soldiers and horses of the five routes rushed towards Dou Jiande's army like the flood of the Yellow River in the spring news, shouting loudly.Xia Jun, who was hungry and tired, was frightened for a moment, picked up knives and guns in a hurry, and came to meet the enemy.How can I resist the turbulent momentum of the Tang army, as soon as they make contact, they retreat one after another.Seeing this, Dou Jiande drew out his sword, raised it high, and shouted loudly: "The Tang army is alone, all officers and men should not panic, kill the Tang army, I will reward you very much."

As soon as the words fell, and Xia Jun hadn't responded, Xi Ze rushed thousands of cavalry.Hou Junji took the lead and went straight to the emperor.Dou Jiande was shocked when he saw this, and retreated surrounded by all the generals.Three thousand cavalry, fierce as tigers, swarmed towards them. Hou Junji raised his sword and fell, and quickly killed the generals, approaching Dou Jiande.

Dou Jiande used to be very skilled, but after becoming emperor, he has stopped wielding swords and guns for many years, how can he be against a fierce general like Hou Junji.After a few rounds, he was picked off the horse by Hou Junji's spear and escorted to Li Shimin.Li Shimin didn't pay attention to Dou Jiande, just raised his head to the sky and laughed.After laughing, he shouted in a long voice: "Dou Jiande has been captured, Xia Jun is not going to surrender!"

The sound was like thunder, spreading far and wide on the battlefield.After hearing this, Tang Jun shouted one after another.For a time, Li Shimin's words resounded on the battlefield dozens of miles away.

"Dou Jiande has been captured, Xia Jun still hasn't surrendered?!"

The two armies of Tang and Xia, each with more than [-] horses, are fighting in full swing.After Hou Junji led thousands of elite cavalry to attack from the west, Xia Jun was already frightened. Hearing Li Shimin's call, he lost the courage to fight again, and surrendered to Tang Jun.At this time, Li Shimin turned around, looked at Dou Jiande and said:

"What does this king want to do with you in defeating Wang Shichong? Why do you overestimate yourself and seek your own death?"

Dou Jiande was speechless for a while, just lowered his head and sighed.Li Shimin ordered General Li Shiji to clean up the battlefield and count the prisoners. There were more than 5 prisoners.

"Now that the victory of the Eastern Expedition has been decided and the powerful enemy has been destroyed, Wang Shichong of Luoyang is just the turtle among the Wengzhong. Keeping these prisoners of war is just a waste of state funds." Li Shimin thought so, and ordered decisively:
"Immediately dismiss the prisoners of war and return them to their hometowns."

To deal with the prisoners of war, Li Shimin ordered people to detain Dou Jiande, came to Luoyang City, and shouted loudly to the city:
"Wang Shichong listened to the order. Dou Jiande has been captured alive. If you persist in your obsession, this king will immediately step into Luoyang City."

Hearing this, Wang Shichong came to the head of Luoyang City, looked at Dou Jiande in custody from a distance, wept for a long time, sighed, and said:
"Since God wants to destroy me, don't hurt the soldiers and people in the city again because of me." After finishing speaking, he ordered his subordinates to open the city gate and surrender to Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)