Chen Sangliang's aggressive tactics were quite effective. After the sneak attack was defeated by an ambush, some Wagang generals did suggest that Zhai Rang contact Li Mi, admitting that he had fallen into Chen Sangliang's plan to drive Li Mi away. With great momentum and not far away, Li Mi pulled back to Hulao Pass again, and fought to the death with the treacherous Chen Sangliang. However, Zhai Rang, who had been thoroughly enraged by Chen Sangliang, refused straight away, vowing to take revenge on his own without anyone's help, but although Zhai Rang said it beautifully, he no longer dared to send troops to fight with Chen Sangliang Fighting, hiding in Hulaoguan but just shutting the door.
Of course, Zhai Rang's decision hit Chen Sangliang's arms. He won the battle and boosted his morale. He refused to take the initiative to launch an attack. In addition to stepping up preparations and training the army every day, he patiently waited for Wang Shichong's reinforcements to arrive. The Sui Army in the Eastern Capital and the Wagang Army were only 30 miles apart, so they fell into a stalemate again.
On the third day after Chen Sangliang defeated the Wagang Army's sneak attack, the Eastern Capital suddenly sent Chen Sangliang a shocking news. Given Fan Zigai's old age and sickness, the situation in Taiyuan Corruption, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dispatched Xue Shixiong, the general of Zuoyuwei, who was left behind in Zhuojun, to replace Fan Zigai as Taiyuan's left behind. Wan Jun went to Taiyuan to take office, wiped out the bandits along the way, and also supplemented the gradually insufficient troops in Taiyuan.
Emperor Sui Yang's arrangements were meticulous, and Xue Shixiong's talents and abilities were also qualified for the post of staying behind in Taiyuan. Xuba happened to launch a sneak attack on Xue Shixiong's army. With no leader, Xue Shixiong's 30,000 elite soldiers were defeated.
Upon receiving this news that made people vomit blood, Chen Sangliang didn't know whether to cry or laugh except lamenting the irreversible will of God. After careful calculation, Chen Sangliang wrote a letter to his cousin Li Jing, Remind Li Jing to pay attention to the changes in the situation in Taiyuan, and prepare for self-protection. He also suggested that Li Jing try to return to Dongdu to join him as soon as possible, stay away from the place of right and wrong in Taiyuan, and if he needs any help with court procedures when returning to Dongdu, just ask himself. Chen Sangliang didn't explain how to do it. First, Chen Sangliang was far away from Taiyuan Mayi and didn't know enough about it. Second, Li Jing was smart, so Chen Sangliang didn't need to worry about it.
Arranging a reliable courier to send the personal letter to Mayi, Chen Sangliang turned his attention to Li Mi who was entrenched in Liyang Cang. It can only be described as a thousand miles a day. Almost in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen rebel teams, large and small, including neighboring Zhang Sheng, Li Wenxiang, and Zhao Junde, were incorporated, and they successfully recruited or captured seven or eight surrounding counties. The world has expanded to the northern part of the Eastern Capital. The big and small thieves who had risen before, such as Hao Xiaode, Fang Xianbo, Li Shicai, Wei Liuer, and Li Deqian, also took the initiative to bring their own teams, rushing to Liyang warehouse to join Li Mi, voluntarily coming The militant army that joined Li Mi's army continued to flow on the road. In just ten days, Li Mi's army had expanded to more than 180,000, and he had transformed himself into the de facto leader of the Central Plains Uprising Army. The Wagang Army that has made no further progress.
While marveling at the rapid rise of Li Mi, Chen Sangliang also became more and more worried that Zhai Rang and Li Mi would join forces again, and even more afraid that Zhai Rang would return to Li Mi, accept Li Mi's orders, and create more troubles for himself. But fortunately, judging from various signs, the Wagang Army did not take the initiative to contact Li Mi to restore contact, and he still had the opportunity to take back Hulao Pass first and then use Wang Shichong's hand to resist Li Mi, so Chen Sangliang was even more unwilling to arrive when Wang Shichong arrived. Before continuing to stimulate Zhai Rang, the deep trenches and high fortresses just confronted the Wagang Army patiently.
Chen Yingliang underestimated some of Li Mi's intelligence capabilities. In fact, on the second day after the Wagang Army's surprise attack on the Invincible Camp was defeated, Li Mi already knew the news that Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty sent Wang Shichong to reinforce the Hulao Pass battlefield. After obtaining this information through a special channel in the Eastern Capital, and finding out that Zhai Rang was tricked by Chen Sangliang and suffered a disastrous defeat, Li Mi resolutely held a military meeting in Liyang Cang after more than a day of deliberation, and expressed his gratitude to all his subordinates. It will be announced that Wang Shichong's upcoming aid and the defeat of the Wagang Army by Chen Sangliang will discuss the plan to rejoin the Wagang Army to fight against the enemy.
Li Mi's proposal surprised his accomplices, lackeys, confidantes, and thugs, and they were unanimously opposed. Even Wang Bodang, a student who obeyed Li Mi's words, refused to obey, and objected: "Master, why must we stick our hot face to Zhai Rang?" How did Zhai Rang treat you back then, have you forgotten your mentor? What does it have to do with us when Wang Shichong and Chen Yingliang attacked him? Why should we help them?"
"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold." Li Mi said calmly: "Although we have broken with Zhai Rang, we are still two grasshoppers tied by a rope. If Zhai Rang dies, we will face the little thief Chen Yingliang and other lackeys of the tyrant alone." Clamping and besieging, completely isolated and helpless. Only when Zhai Rang is alive and continues to pin down Chen Yingliang's thief and most of the official army for us, can we hide behind him, develop and grow calmly, and further expand our strength."
"Having said that, Zhai Rang did it so unfeelingly..."
Fang Xuanzao continued to object, but was interrupted by Li Mi waving his hand, Li Mi nodded and said: "Yes, Zhai Rang was very unfeeling to us at the beginning, but that is already a thing of the past, Liyang Cang is less than three hundred miles away from Hulao Pass The tyrant Yang Guang will never sit back and watch us occupy Liyang Cang for a long time. After Zhai Rang is captured by the government army, Yang Guang will definitely order Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong to attack us again. Even if we can stop the government army, we will definitely have to pay a heavy price , the loss is far greater than sending troops to help Zhai Rang now."
Speaking of this, Li Mi paused, and then said: "There is another benefit in rescuing Zhai Rang now, and that is to protect Hulao Pass for our anti-Sui rebels. As long as Hulao is in hand, the eastern capital Luoyang and Luokou Cang, Shangluocang and even Changpingcang are exposed to our knives at any time. We attack when we have the opportunity, and surrender insurance if we don’t have the opportunity. It is extremely difficult. It is true that Liyang warehouse is a big granary, but the grain storage of Liyang warehouse is less than a quarter of that of Luokou warehouse. If we do not make long-term plans, once the grain in Liyang warehouse is exhausted, then we will also Then it's game over."
Li Mi's words moved everyone under his command. Li Mi's army, who were firmly opposed to joining forces with the Wagang Army before, shut up, but Yang Jishan, whose temperament had changed drastically, said: "It is possible to join forces with Zhai Rang again, but it is not necessary. Take the initiative to send someone to contact him, as if we were begging him. When Zhai Rang is beaten by Chen Xiaothief and Wang Shichong, he can send someone to beg us, and it will not be too late for us to help him."
Fang Xuanzao, Wang Bodang and others applauded, and they all agreed with Yang Jishan's proposal, but Li Mi shook his head resolutely, and said seriously: "No! If you want to help Zhai Rang resist Chen Xiaothief and Wang Shichong, you must do it as soon as possible and get to the tiger prison in advance Take the initiative on the battlefield. Don't underestimate Wang Shichong. Although this Hu dog is a famous sycophant, he has never lost a battle on the battlefield just like the thief Chen Yingliang. This time the tyrant Yang Guang sent him to reinforce The battlefield at Hulao Pass was also because Chen Yingliang, the little thief, took the initiative to make this request to Yang Guang, begging Yang Guang to send Wang Shichong to reinforce Hulao Pass. Don’t you know who Chen is? Stubble?"
He felt that Li Mi's words were reasonable, and knew that with Chen Sangliang's virtue, the reinforcements he asked for by name would definitely not come to eat dry food. Li Mi's army, civil and military, had no objections. Now Li Mi made a final decision, and immediately wrote to Zhai Rang himself. Wrote a letter, telling Zhai Rang the news that Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty sent Wang Shichong to lead the army northward to reinforce Hulao Pass, and regardless of the previous suspicions, he offered to re-alliance with Zhai Rang to jointly resist the evil son-in-law Chen Sangliang and Wang Shichong. Flank. In the end, Li Mi also generously offered to provide the Wagang Army with 100,000 shi of military rations to help the Wagang Army, which is increasingly short of food and grass, solve its urgent needs.
It was only when the letter was finished that Wang Bodang, Fang Xuanzao, Zheng Detao and other confidantes realized that Li Mi seemed to have forgotten something, and hurriedly pointed out: "Pu Shangong, you seem to have forgotten the question of the leader, we formed an alliance with the Wagang Army Together, who is the leader and who commands whom? Why didn't you mention this in your letter?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten." Li Mi said calmly: "This matter cannot be mentioned in the letter, otherwise Zhai Rang will feel that I am oppressing him, which will lead to unexpected consequences. This matter only Our envoy can discuss with Zhai Rang face to face, and persuade him Zhai Rang to accept me as the leader of the alliance."
"Teacher, who should you send as the envoy?" Wang Bodang asked hastily.
Li Mi smiled slightly, and turned his attention directly to the face of Li Xuanying, a famous magician in the late Sui Dynasty. Li Xuanying, who was famous in history for interpreting "Tao Li Zhang", knew it, and immediately cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Pu Shangong, the students will definitely fulfill their mission."
"Thank you, Mr. Xuanying." Li Mi smiled and said, "Bring more gold and silver. Bing Yuanzhen and Jia Xiong are greedy for money. Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiji are smart people. Give them gifts and persuade them. I will speak for you in front of Zhai Rang. If you just bring four beauties to Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou, the lustful idiot father and son, they won't object too much."
Li Xuanying promised with a smile, and Li Mi's secretary Wang Xuance also volunteered to help, but Li Mi smiled and shook his head and said: "You don't need to go, Mr. Xuanying alone is enough to take on this task."
Wang Xuance was disappointed, but he didn't dare to persist, so he obediently withdrew, worrying secretly, thinking: "How can I get in touch with Chen Liushou? How can I destroy Li Mi and Zhai Rang's new alliance?"
…
No one can stop Li Mijun and the Wagang Army from re-aligning and joining forces. Wang Xuance and Chen Sangliang can't help it. Zhai Rang, who was at a loss in front of Liang, was shocked, and immediately went down the donkey. While entertaining Li Mijun's envoy Li Xuanying, he asked about the attitude of his subordinates, asking whether they should re-allocate with Li Mijun
Zhai Rang's question is tantamount to asking for nothing. Li Mi's so-called collusion with Chen Sangliang to frame Zhai Rang back then, Pei Renji has long since testified that it was nothing but Chen Sangliang's shameless trick. Wagang leaders, including Zhai Rang himself, have long regretted that Forcing Li Mi to break his own arm, now that Li Mi has a lot of momentum, has more troops and enough food, and is very generous in offering to help the Wagang Army solve the food and grass problem. If the people of Wagang object to form an alliance with Li Mi, who does not care about the past, then they will not be called stupid Gotta be called an idiot. So not only Bing Yuanzhen, Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiji and others agreed, but even Zhai Rang's idiot brother Zhai Hong and his precious nephew Zhai Mohou also raised their hands in favor. He agreed to restore the old friendship with Li Mi and form an alliance to fight against the powerful enemy.
Then there is the question of who is in command of who is the leader. Li Mi, who has the ability to know people, used the right messenger, and Li Xuanying, who is outstanding in eloquence, completed the task entrusted to him by Li Mi very well, and successfully flattered Bing Yuan with gold, silver and jewelry. Zhen and Jia Xiong, Zhai Rang's think tanks, also persuaded Wagang Generals Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiji to persuade Zhai Rang to accept Li Mi as the leader of the alliance. In addition, Li Mi was already extremely prestigious in the Wagang Army, and Pei Renji and his son also repeatedly mentioned the fact that the only person Chen Sangliang feared was Li Mi. Then Zhai Rang was as confused as in history, and agreed to respect Li Mi as the leader of the alliance. Li Mi's command.
It was too late for Chen Sangliang to find out about this situation. Overjoyed, Li Mi left behind his confidants Wang Bodang and Fang Xuanzao to guard the Liyang Cang, and he had already led an army of 100,000 directly to the west. When Diguan crossed the Yellow River, Chen Sangliang did not give Chen Sangliang a chance to stop him from crossing the river to reinforce the Wagang Army. Chen Sangliang was shocked when he heard the news, but he was blocked by Hulao Pass and could not stop him. He could only watch Li Mi successfully cross the river, and arrived at Hulao Pass on May 12th, where he formed an alliance with the Wagang Army , Li Mi and Zhai Rang, who once parted ways, joined hands again, and the strength of the Hulaoguan battlefield became clearer, and the Eastern Capital Army led by Chen Sangliang was even more at a disadvantage.
This is not over yet, on the second day of the meeting, Zhai Rang, under the instigation of a cadre, officially elected Li Mi as the general leader of the Anti-Sui Rebel Army, and named Li Mi the Duke of Wei. Complacent Li Mi also set up a high altar outside the east gate of Hulao Pass on the third day of the meeting, which was also the fourteenth day of the fifth month of the thirteenth year of the great cause. He called himself Wei Gong and changed his year name to the year of Wei Gong , Under the Wei Gongzhao amnesty for the world, set up the Marching Marshal's Mansion, set up civil and military officials, and arbitrarily bestowed officials and titles on his subordinates. Zhai Rang also had the cheek to call himself the Duke of Dongjun, Shangzhu Kingdom, and also granted a bunch of official titles to the Wagang Army.
The news that Li Mi ascended to the pole and changed the Yuan under his nose spread to Luokoucang. Chen Sangliang, who was beaten in the face, was a little angry no matter how much he could bear it, but he lacked strength in his hands. The alliance of the army has no way. However, what made Chen Sangliang even more furious was still to come. On May 17th, although the messenger sent by Wang Shichong finally made contact with Chen Sangliang for the first time, Chen Sangliang knew that Wang Shichong's 30,000 reinforcements had arrived. On May 15th, he arrived in Daliang and entered the territory of Xingyang County. However, Wang Shichong told Chen Sangliang shamelessly that his army rations were insufficient and he had to replenish food and grass in Guancheng before continuing northward. Wait for him a few more days.
"Damn old slicker, how shameless he is to this extent!" Chen Sangliang, the unscrupulous son-in-law, once again yelled at his father-in-law, throwing a bench on the table and yelling, "Son of a bitch, what is the shortage of military rations? When I met Li Mi and the Wagang thief, I was afraid that the Wagang thief would find him first, so I hid in Guancheng to avoid the limelight, and let the powerful Wagang thief come to trouble me first, so he can hide behind and pick up the cheap! Immortal, with a father-in-law like you, I am really unlucky for eight lifetimes!"
Hearing Chen Sangliang's scolding, Yuan Tiangang, Wei Zheng and others also looked depressed. They didn't expect Wang Shichong to be so thick-skinned. Jun first came to trouble Chen Sangliang. On the contrary, Pei Xingfang, Chen Sangliang's distant cousin, took it easy and said to Chen Sangliang: "Brother, since Wang Liushou is playing tricks, we can't completely place our hopes on him. Fight a few victories, dampen the spirit of the Wagang bandit army and Li Mi's traitor, let the bandit army retreat in the face of difficulties, turn around and go to Wang Liushou to fight for their lives. Otherwise, the geography is too unfavorable for us, no matter how strict we are. You will only be beaten passively all the time, and you will not be able to take the initiative."
"Although the words are reasonable, how can we take the initiative to forge ahead when the Wagang bandits hide in the Hulao Pass? We can't attack Hulao Pass head-on, right?" Chen Sangliang asked back, somewhat regretting that he had preserved his strength before and didn't take advantage of it. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Li Mi's absence to win Hulao Pass at all costs, he missed the best opportunity to reverse the passive situation on the Eastern Capital battlefield. — But when he thought of the huge threat behind him, Chen Sangliang didn't know if he was right or wrong in playing the enemy
"Brother, taking the initiative doesn't necessarily require a frontal assault on Hulao Pass?" Pei Xingfang reminded, "It's very difficult for us to storm Hulao Pass, a fortified city like Hulao Pass, but shall we fight the enemy in the wild?"
"Brother, don't make jokes." Chen Sangliang said with a wry smile: "Looking at the situation of the Dongdu army here, even if we defeat the main force of the Wagang bandits in the field, we will definitely suffer a lot of casualties, and it will be in vain to benefit others. If It's not because of these considerations, last time Zhai Rang challenged me to a decisive battle, I already agreed."
"Brother, it seems that you are on the edge of a dead end." Pei Xingfang said with a smile: "The Dongdu army is fighting the main force of the Wagang bandits who have experienced many battles. It is very difficult to win, but the mob who just got together under Li Mi's traitor In the decisive battle, with your ability, brother, can you not be sure of winning calmly?"
Chen Sangliang was stunned, and then suddenly remembered a major event. The overall combat effectiveness of the Dongdu army was indeed somewhat different from that of the Wagang Army, which had many elite soldiers, but compared with the mob that had just gathered under Li Mi's command, it was not as good. It can definitely be regarded as a strong army. As long as I avoid the Wagang army and find trouble with Li Mijun alone, the pressure I face will be much less.
"Brother, you and Wang Shichong are Weng's relatives staying behind, and you still have the intention of saving your strength and reaping the benefits, let alone Zhai Rang and Li Mi, a pair of partners who have had a estrangement before?" Pei Xingfang smiled and said: "So little brother I think that if you, brother, write a letter to ask Li Mi to fight, Zhai Rang will definitely have the desire to preserve his strength, and he will sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight and let you and Li Mi fight. No matter whether Li Mi forces Zhai Rang to fight or not, Zhai Rang will fight. If you don’t work hard in the end, these two seemingly incompatible rebels will inevitably have a rift between them, and there will be conflicts between them, so why don’t you immediately give your brother the best opportunity to attack?”
Hearing Pei Xingfang's words, Wei Zheng and Yuan Tiangang began to look happy, and Chen Sangliang even smiled, patted Pei Xingfang on the shoulder and laughed loudly: "Good brother, you are a conspiracy, he Li Mi Even if the traitor guesses your intentions and knows your purpose, he is doomed to have nothing to do with your scheme. That's it, I will write to him immediately, Li Mi, to greet his eighteenth generation ancestors, and ask him to come out of the city to meet me decisive battle!"
"Brother, write a letter to Zhai Rang by the way." Pei Xingfang suggested again: "Tell him Zhai Rang, and say that this is a personal grievance between you and Li Mi, brother, and has nothing to do with Zhai Rang, and advise him not to interfere. Then..., it doesn't matter if Li Mi knows it or not, and it doesn't matter if Zhai Rang complies..."
Speaking of this, Pei Xingfang smiled slightly and stopped talking, but Chen Sangliang laughed out loud knowingly. The room in Nuo Da was filled with the treacherous laughter of the unscrupulous brothers Chen Sangliang and Pei Xingfang .