As predicted by Chen Sangliang, after Wang Shichong fully took over the Sui Army in the Eastern Capital, the once precarious situation on the battlefield finally took a turn for the better. Repulsed by the advantage, Pei Renji, a professional cheater, once entered the outer city of Luoyang from the south bank of Luoshui at night. He almost defeated Wang Shichong with internal and external cooperation, but was defeated by Wang Shichong again.
Wang Shichong's strategy was quite vicious. Seeing that Nancheng was in a hurry and it was too late to mobilize the army to counterattack, he ordered an army to pretend to be Li Mi's bandit army and take the lead in looting Luoyang Nanshi under the cover of night. In the chaos, forcibly robbing civilian women disturbed Li Mi's army, and led Pei Renji's army to join the ranks of robbing money and women. He missed the golden opportunity to seize Tianjin Bridge and other Luoshui bridges. Wang Shichong took the opportunity to organize death squads to launch a counterattack, defeating Pei Renji and regaining Luoyang At the same time, they attacked the main force of Li Mi's army in the northern city of Luoyang, who had launched a fortified battle head-on at the same time. The two cities in the north and the south killed Li Mi's army and achieved a great victory in defending the city.
After several battles, Li Mijun's arrogance was beaten to ashes, and his high morale began to decline. Li Mi, who had suffered a big loss in the Eastern Capital more than four years ago, saw that the situation was not good, so he could only quickly adjust his tactics. Give up the continuous strong attack that is destined to suffer heavy casualties and have extremely slow results, suspend the offensive to let the army rest, and at the same time renovate the city defenses, houses and official buildings of Jinyongcheng, move the general headquarters from Luokou warehouse to Jinyongcheng, and prepare for a long-term war with Wang Shichong. protracted war.
On the contrary, the morale of the Sui army in the eastern capital, which had been depressed to the extreme, gradually began to rebound. The army, which had been repeatedly expanded many times, had excellent generals to train and command, and gained practical training and experience accumulation in actual combat. Like Yang Xuangan in the battle back then, he was gradually able to stand up straight in front of the mighty Li Mijun, and Wang Shichong's own prestige also improved. view, but the relationship is still not harmonious.
Under such circumstances, of course, Li Mi also had to guard against Chen Sangliang's sudden return to the Eastern Capital, reversing the situation on the battlefield in the Eastern Capital. In order to prevent any contingencies, while adjusting his tactics, Li Mi decisively dispatched general Yang Defang to lead an army of 10,000 troops to take the battle to the west. In Xin'an City, Xiaohan Road was blocked to prevent Chen Sangliang from returning. What surprised Li Mi was that his arrangement had played an important role inadvertently. Yang Defang's army suddenly marching west happened to stop Huangfu Wuyi, Wei Yijie and others who were escorted by Chen Sangliang, and killed them. A small number of troops sent by Chen Sangliang captured two important prisoners, Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie.
After being captured, Huangfu Wuyi kept silent, but Wei Yijie betrayed the word Yijie in his name. In order to survive, he explained the reason for their escort back and the situation in Guanzhong to Yang Defang. Surprised and delighted, he quickly sent people to escort Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie back to Jinyong City to present them as prisoners. After Li Mi heard the news, he was even more overjoyed. The story of Sangliang and Yang Tong's breakup.
"God help Duke Wei! Duke Wei is blessed with great blessings! Gods bless you!" As soon as Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were escorted out temporarily, most of the civil and military officials in Li Mijun shouted joyfully, "Officer Chen Yingliang and Yang Tong children turned against each other and refused to follow Yang Tong's orders, our army no longer has to worry about the western front, we can attack the Eastern Capital with all our strength, and we don't have to worry about Chen Yingliang's sudden return to the army."
Although Li Mi, Zu Junyan, Pei Renji and a few civil and military officials were also surprised and delighted, they still kept calm. After careful consideration for a while, Pei Renji also warned Li Mi: "Wei Gong, don't be too optimistic. The little thief Chen Yingliang has always Treacherous, and has always been loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang. Although he and Yang Tong's children had turned against each other, he did not do everything right, and he did not directly stand up for himself. He even sent people to send Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie back to the Eastern Capital. There is still room for doing things, and there is still the possibility of returning to the Eastern Capital, we must not be negligent and give that little thief an opportunity."
Glancing at Pei Renji, Li Mi, who had gradually noticed Pei Renji's aura of cheating, finally understood why Pei Renji couldn't rise in the officialdom—this vision and focus were even more polarizing than polarizing.
Fortunately, Li Mi also has a few more reliable staff members. Zu Junyan, Yu Wenwen and Chai Xiaohe who surrendered Gongxian County all said immediately: "General Pei's statement is not true. Chen Yingliang turned against Yang Tong and expelled the Yang Tong envoy. On the surface, it seems that they are still loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang, leaving room for things to do, but in fact they are trying to gain fame and buy time, within a few months, Chen Yingliang will follow Li Yuan's example and raise the flag to rebel!"
"Raising the flag to rebel?" Pei Renji was startled, and then said in surprise: "How is that possible? That little thief Chen Yingliang has always been loyal to Yang Guang, how could he rebel?"
"If the little thief Chen Yingliang doesn't want to rebel, why doesn't he return to the army immediately to save Dongdu?" Li Mi couldn't help but sneered, and said, "Daxing has been recovered by him for more than four months, and Dongdu is in emergency one after another, but he He only cared about grabbing the granary and grabbing the territory, and refused to send a single soldier back to aid Dongdu. Didn’t he want to rebel? He took ten thousand steps back and said that even if there were other reasons for him not being able to return to the teacher before, Yang Tong misunderstood that he had rebellious intentions. , then when encountering Huangfu Wuyi, if he Chen Yingliang is really a loyal minister, he should immediately lead the main force to save Dongdu, and use his actions to prove that he was wronged! But he took the opportunity to turn against Yang Tong, Taking the opportunity to get rid of Yang Tong's control over him, isn't this plotting rebellion?"
"What Wei Gong said is very true." Yu Wenwen nodded and said: "Chen Yingliang sent Huangfu Wuyi and the others out of the country under the pretext that he only obeyed the imperial decree and did not receive it. This has two purposes. The first purpose is to appease people's hearts and let those The civil and military officials and military officers who are still loyal to the tyrant feel that he is still loyal to Yang Guang and will not turn against him directly; the second is to buy time, use this time to integrate the internal affairs, and weaken and eliminate the influence of the tyrant Yang Guang on his subordinates He also thoroughly eradicated those subordinates who were truly loyal to Yang Guang, and laid a solid foundation for him to raise the flag. Kill two birds with one stone, kill two birds with one stone, really cunning and abnormal."
Pei Renji opened his mouth wide. He couldn't believe that his distant nephew Chen Sangliang, who had always been more loyal than a loyal minister, turned out to be even thicker than him. However, Li Mi nodded, approved of Yu Wenwen's analysis, and said with a sneer: "There are people in Guanzhong." The mountains and rivers are dangerous, the people are outstanding, if the little thief Chen Yingliang establishes a foundation there and becomes a whole, then with his ability, he will not only become a great harm to our army, but also may become an emperor. One corner, claim the king by cutting the land. We have to guard against this point."
"Wei Gong, there is an opportunity for us to nip the little thief Chen Yingliang in the bud!" Zu Junyan said: "Chen Yingliang has always boasted of loyalty and hypocrisy. Among the civil and military forces under his command, there are also many people who are truly loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang. He can reject Yang Tong's imperial edict on the pretext that he is a minister of Yang Guang, not a minister of Yang Tong. His subordinates cannot use this as an excuse to reject his order. Use your hands to cut off this hypocrite with a human face and a beast heart!"
Speaking of this, Zu Junyan paused, and added viciously: "However, if we can think of a way to let the tyrant Yang Guang know about this and personally order to kill the traitor Chen Yingliang, then even if we can't kill Chen Yingliang Little thief, you can also make this traitor's army go into chaos without fighting, and their vitality will be greatly damaged, and they will no longer be able to dominate Guanzhong. It will be much easier for our army to capture Guanzhong in the future!"
"There is a ready-made solution." Li Mi smiled and ordered casually: "Invite General Huangfu and Wei Shilang in, I have something to say to them."
The soldiers agreed, and Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were escorted in front of Li Mi in a short while, and then Wei Yijie immediately saluted Li Miji, but Huangfu Wuyi still held his head high and did not kneel. The soldier forced him to kneel down, but Li Mi suddenly said: "No need, General Huangfu, your integrity is still admirable, I will not force you, Wei Shilang, you can get up too, you two can go."
"Can we go?" Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were both taken aback.
"Yes, you can go back to Luoyang City." Li Mi nodded and said with a smile: "You can go now, and if necessary, I can send someone to take you back to the city."
"Wei Gong, you really let us go?" Wei Yijie asked in surprise.
"Of course." Li Mi smiled more easily, and said: "Not only will I let you go back, but I will also ask you to send a message to His Royal Highness the King of Yue and Deputy Yuan Wendu to stay behind. On the matter of Chen Yingliang, if they are willing, I can help you get in touch with Jiangdu, and I can also send cavalry and horses to escort your envoys to Jiangdu, ensuring that your envoys can go back and forth between Dongdu and Jiangdu within a month, and deliver news at will."
"Why?" Huangfu Wuyi blurted out and asked, "Why did you do this?"
"Forget how much hatred I have with the traitor Chen Yingliang, and how much hatred I have with this traitor?" Li Mi smiled and said, "Since I assisted Chu Gong Yang Xuangan in his army, in more than four years, my Thousands of soldiers and comrades under his command died at the hands of Chen Yingliang's traitor? How much suffering have I suffered because of this traitor? Now this traitor is taking advantage of your opportunity to fight against me, and is preparing to plot rebellion Rebelling and establishing myself as a king, how could I endure such a useless attitude? How could I be willing to miss the opportunity to kill this traitor?"
After that, Li Mi smiled again and urged: "Go back to Luoyang, the enemy of the enemy is a friend. Now that Chen Yingliang's traitor has become our common enemy, I never mind being friends with you for a while. Tell His Royal Highness King Yue and Deputy Yuan stays behind, they can send envoys to contact me at any time, but the speed must be fast, Chen Yingliang's traitor is not an ordinary person, if the speed is slow, I am afraid that His Majesty's imperial edict will not work in Guanzhong."
Seeing that Li Mi's words didn't seem to be fake, Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie looked at each other, and then hurriedly bowed their hands and said goodbye. Li Mi returned the gift and arranged for people to escort them to Luoyang. After thinking about it, Li Mi said: "That's right. , General Huangfu, please send another word to His Royal Highness Yue, if he wants to contact Qu Tutong, old general Qu Tu, I can also help. Old general Qu Tu still has a certain number of soldiers and horses in his hand, and he has always been loyal to His Majesty the Emperor , is an ideal candidate for the crusade against Chen Yingliang's rebels."
Huangfu Wuyi glanced back at Li Mi, nodded his head to express his understanding, then followed Li Mi's soldiers and left without saying a word. Seeing their leaving backs, Li Mi smiled again, and murmured: "Little thief , want to emulate Liu Bang and become an emperor in Guanzhong? Dreaming! Even if I don’t have the strength to kill you now, I can still disgust you to death!”
…
After Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were sent back to Luoyang by Li Mijun, it was inevitable that there would be another flurry of chaos in the Eastern Capital. After learning about Chen Sangliang's reaction on this matter, Yang Tong and Yuan Wen waited Of course, people were furious, and the first thing they did was to order the arrest of Chen Sangliang's family members in the eastern capital for questioning! As a result, both Yang Tong and Yuan Wen vomited blood. Chen Sangliang's eldest wife, Sun Xiaoluoli, took their children to Hongnong to visit Gao Shilian. Wuji, the eldest grandson of Sangliang's mansion in the Eastern Capital, also took Chen Sangliang's beautiful concubine, Zixiao, mother and son, and mysteriously disappeared three days ago. Only Wang Xueji and Chen Sangliang's second son, Wang Xueji, were left at home.
No one dared to arrest Wang Xueji's mother and son. Even though Wang Shichong, the current Great Wall of the Eastern Capital, had expressed his willingness to exterminate the relatives righteously, Yang Tong obediently handed over Wang Xueji's mother and son to Wang Shichong, and asked Wang Shichong to take them home for education. Wang Shichong's eldest son, Wang Xuanying, was in charge of the Dingdingmen's city. Yang Tong and Yuan Wen were also very rational and restrained and did not investigate further. At the same time, Yang Tong and the others also understood one thing—Chen Sangliang is bad, it's not a day or two to hold back, but he was already ready for rebellion long before the western expedition to Guanzhong.
Finally seeing clearly the shameless face of the sworn brother Chen Sangliang, both Yang Yu and Yuan Wen felt evil from their hearts, and were furious. After a little discussion, they decided to accept Li Mi's kindness, and sent envoys out of the city to contact Li Mi. The guard of the army went to Jiangdu to restore contact with Emperor Sui Yang, and reported Chen Sangliang's vicious crimes, and asked Emperor Sui Yang to personally issue an order to kill Chen Sangliang, the most hypocritical and shameless treacherous traitor in the world! At the same time, he also decided to use Li Mi's help to get in touch with Qu Tutong who was in Hedong County, and asked Qu Tutong to organize Guanzhong soldiers and horses to subdue Chen Sangliang, a despicable traitor, by force!
Our Duke Wei, Li Mi, is a man of his word. He only had a little contact with Dongdu, and immediately sent a horse to escort Feng Ciming, the envoy of Yang Tong, to Jiangdu to contact Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. The government of the city that he surrendered provided full assistance. At the same time, they sent people to escort Yang Tong's envoy, Guo Wenyi, to Hedong in a hurry, and asked Li Er to help Guo Wenyi see Qu Tutong as soon as possible, so as to clear up the connection between Dongdu and Qu Tutong's army.
After such a toss, the relationship between Li Mijun and the Sui army in the eastern capital naturally eased a lot. Li Mijun relied on sufficient food and grass, and was no longer eager to attack Luoyang City. At the same time, it also consumed the increasingly urgent food and grass in the eastern capital. Wang Shichong also took the opportunity to train the army desperately, so that the newly formed army could form combat effectiveness, and waited for the opportunity to counterattack.
In this way, four days passed quickly. On the 25th day of March in the 14th year of Daye, when Li Mi was discussing with his subordinate Wenwu how to further expand the territory, a soldier outside the door suddenly reported that it was Li Er's. The envoy Ren Yu came to visit again. Li Mi was taken aback when he heard the news, and almost misunderstood the purpose of Ren Yu's visit. He asked suspiciously, "Guo Wenyi has already succeeded? So fast? How is it possible?"
The answer to the mystery was quickly revealed. Ren Yu didn't come here for Guo Wenyi's affairs. After entering the door, Ren Yu saluted Li Mi and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to Duke Wei, congratulations to Duke Wei, great news. You did something good enough to make you applaud, Duke Wei!"
"You man, you scared me." Li Mi cursed secretly, and then asked with a smile: "Doctor Ren, don't you mean that the traitor Chen Yingliang expelled the envoy from the Eastern Capital?"
"Wei Gong, you already know?"
Ren Yun was startled, seeing Li Mi nodding his head, Ren Yun was embarrassed, but he couldn't help admiring Li Mi's well-informed, then Ren Yun soon recovered his smile, cupped his hands to Li Mi and said: "Wei Gong, since you already know about the Daxing , then you don’t want to pour a pot of oil on the fire? Let the traitor Chen Yingliang sit on the mountain of swords and flames?”
"How to let the traitor Chen Yingliang sit on the mountain of swords and flames?" Li Mi asked curiously.
"Wei Gong, my right-hand governor believes that this is a great opportunity to weaken Chen Yingliang's traitor and even put him to death!" Ren Yu said eloquently: "Chen Yingliang's traitor has always shown his hypocrisy, and started his career by flattering and helping the tyrant Yang Guang. , Yang Guang mistakenly believed that he was a loyal minister and entrusted the military power in Guanzhong to him. Under his command, there were many civil and military officials who were still loyal to Yang Guang. If an imperial edict is issued to indict him and rule him as a traitor, then even if the traitor Chen Yingliang is not executed by the tyrant, he can only raise the flag of rebellion immediately and hastily rebel, even if he succeeds, he will definitely be greatly injured by it!"
Li Mi wanted to laugh, but at the same time he was very vigilant, secretly said: "I never imagined that the son of the old thief Li Yuan is so treacherous, he can see the crux of the matter at a glance like me, this person must not be underestimated!"
"In this case, why doesn't Duke Wei try to contact Dongdu and help them get in touch with Yang Guang?" Ren Yu said with a tempting tone: "If Wei Gong can help the tyrant Yang Guang send the imperial decree to Dongdu in a short time, send the imperial decree to Dongdu. When we arrived in Daxing, wouldn't the little thief Chen Yingliang be pushed to the forefront immediately? Pushed into the sea of swords and flames?"
Zu Junyan and the others next to him finally couldn't help laughing, and Zu Junyan also smiled and said: "Doctor Ren, if you wait for your right governor to give us Wei Gong's advice, I'm afraid the day lily will be cold. To tell you the truth Well, the envoy from Dongdu who contacted the tyrant Yang Guang had already gone to Jiangdu under the escort of our cavalry four days ago."
"What?" Ren Yu was stunned for a moment, also not expecting that since Li Mi would have the same thoughts as Li Er. After being shocked, Ren Yu hurriedly said: "Duke Wei, can you do me a little favor? Qu Tutong's army is still pressing our army every step of the way. If Wei Gong can help Yang Yu and Qu Tutong Get in touch and ask Yang Tong to send Qu Tutong back to the army to conquer Chen Yingliang's rebels, and my right-hand governor will definitely thank you with a great gift."
Li Mi's complexion changed slightly again, and he became more vigilant towards the alert Li Er, but Zu Junyan and the others over there laughed loudly and asked, "Doctor Ren, did you come by water?"
Ren Yu nodded inexplicably, and explained: "The emissary is on a boat in Yuan County, and came to Luoyang, the eastern capital, by water."
"I see." Li Mi smiled, picked up the teacup in front of him, and said with a smile: "You don't need to worry about this at all..."
"Report!"
The sudden sound of an urgent report interrupted Li Mi, and a busy messenger rushed into the room, and said to Li Miji: "Report to Duke Wei, report from Huaiyang, I heard news from Huainan that there was a mutiny in Jiangdu. , the tyrant Yang Guang was hanged to death by Yu Wenhuaji! Yu Wenhuaji, who proclaimed himself the great prime minister, was going to lead 130,000 Jiangdu soldiers back to Guanzhong! Another rumor was that Yu Wenhuaji was going north to cross the Huaihe River and go north along the Tongji Canal to attack us. behind the army!"
The whole hall was pale, the whole room was dumbfounded, the teacup in the hands of Li Mi, who had always been very deep in the city, fell to the ground with a slam, and his black face was full of stupidity, and after a long time, Li Mi jumped up abruptly, stamped his feet and yelled Said: "Impossible! It can't be true! Chen Yingliang's dog thief's luck can't be so good! Yang Guang can't die! You didn't issue an edict to execute the traitor Chen Yingliang, Yang Guang, you can't die!"