Next, let's take a look at the situation on the Eastern Capital battlefield. Chen Sangliang supported a puppet emperor in Daxing to set up a new central government. This incident surprised many people, including Chen Sangliang's father-in-law Wang Shichong and Zhun Father-in-law Pei Renji never expected that Chen Sangliang, who had always been more loyal than anyone else, would be so rebellious, and in fact he was worse than them! In this regard, Wang Shichong, who is the same as Chen Sangliang in his bones, is envious and jealous. He only hates that he can't become a son-in-law, but Pei Ju, a professional cheater, shakes his head and sighs, "I finally understand why this little thief, Chen Yingliang, is messing around in the officialdom." It's so good, just because of this thick-skinned and black-hearted, the old man can't keep up with flattery."
Only Li Mi was not particularly surprised. As early as during the Meng Haicheng battle, Li Mi had already seen that Chen Sangliang, who deliberately let him go, was a ruthless character with a hidden knife in his smile. It's strange, but on the contrary, I admire Chen Sangliang's forbearance and good luck, that he was able to wait until today, for such a good opportunity.
Li Mi didn't have the time and mood to be amazed that Chen Sangliang's true nature was revealed. After receiving the news of Jiangdu's mutiny, in order to quickly understand the situation in Jiangdu, Li Mi used the power of the surrendered counties to quickly establish a news transmission channel directly to Jiangdu. What made Li Mi angry and helpless was that he had just built this channel, and the first news he received was that Yu Wenhua and the rebels were heading north to return to Guanzhong along the Tongji Canal. Du Fuwei's army in Anyi and other places did not stop Yu Wenhuaji at all. On the contrary, they gave up the Hangou Canal, which was firmly in their hands, and sent Yu Wenhuaji's army out of the country as a gift, allowing Yu Wenhuaji to cross the area under his control .
Of course, Du Fuwei did this to preserve his strength, and he didn't want to fight head-on with Yu Wenhua and his army who were eager to return to the north, but it made Li Mi miserable. The counties and counties along the Tongji Canal were not directly controlled by Li Mijun. It is to surrender to Li Mi's army in terms of reputation, Yu Wenhua and marching along the Tongji Canal must attack these counties and counties. The main force of Li Mi's army is too far away to rescue, and they must have to watch these counties and counties fall. And even if Li Mi can ignore these counties and counties that have not even paid their taxes once, Yu Wenhuaji will sooner or later hit the back of the main force of Li Mi's army. When it comes to culture and violence, Li Mi's joy cannot be greater.
What worries Li Mi even more is Yu Wenhuaji's strong military strength. After careful investigation, Yu Wenhuaji's military strength is about 120,000 to 30,000. Although the military strength is not as good as Li Mi, who currently has more than 300,000 troops, the equipment is not. They are sophisticated enough to make Li Mi vomit blood with envy, and their combat effectiveness is also very strong—all strong and elite soldiers! Among them are more than 30,000 cavalry and a large number of veterans with rich experience! As far as military strength and equipment are concerned, not to mention that the peasant uprising army under Li Mi's command is hard to catch, even Chen Sangliang's army currently occupying the Guanzhong area will be at a disadvantage!
It’s not bad for Li Mi, the counties and counties in the Central Plains are still under his direct and indirect control, and only he and a few of his confidants know about the news that Yu Wenhua and his chrysanthemums are coming. Contingency preparation time. Therefore, Li Mi once considered such a strategy. First, quickly take down Luoyang, the eastern capital, and then defend Xiaohandao in the west to prevent Chen Sangliang from taking advantage of the fire. Grass and geographical advantages consume Yu Wenhuaji.
Wang Shichong quickly dispelled Li Mi's idea. Through scouting and careful internal reconnaissance, Li Mi found that the Dongdu army, which had been expanded many times, had gradually been trained and formed under Wang Shichong's strict training, although its strength and combat effectiveness were still not as good as Li Mi's army. Wang Shichong, the main force, adopted the correct strategy of sticking to the war and at the same time vigorously strengthened the city defenses, built a large number of defensive weapons, and dug ditches around the imperial city and palace city, built fortifications and sent troops to the imperial city. To transfer food, if Li Mijun launches a frontal attack, even if he can take down the inner and outer cities of the Eastern Capital, it will definitely take a long time, and countless teeth will be broken. , and will soon fall into the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy, so even if Li Mi has a certain advantage, he still dare not make up his mind to attack the Eastern Capital City with all his strength.
What Li Mi didn't expect was that just when he was worrying about the danger of facing the enemy on both sides, Yang Tong sent a surrender edict in a very whimsical way, asking Li Mi to surrender to him and accept his edict order! Of course Li Mi was amused and curious about this, and almost wanted to ask Yang Tong's envoy face to face, what qualifications did Yang Tong have to ask him to surrender? But after calming down, Li Mi changed his mind again. He neither rejected nor accepted Yang Tong's imperial edict. He also used an excuse to congratulate Yang Tong on his enthronement, and sent his confidants Li Jian and Chai Xiaohe to the city to visit Yang Tong with gifts. The reason and purpose of recruiting surrender, as well as testing Yang Tong's sincerity in recruiting surrender.
In the end, what Li Mi did not expect was that Li Jian and Chai Xiaohe received a grand reception in the Eastern Capital. Yang Tong personally received them and gave them a banquet. Singing and dancing to add to the fun, he really showed his sincerity and wanted to get along with Li Mijun friendly. After drinking for three rounds, Yuan Wendu, Duan Da and others deliberately brought up the topic of Chen Sangliang, who supported the false emperor in Guanzhong, cursed at Chen Sangliang's despicable deeds, and kept bringing up Chen Sangliang and Li Mi In the end, Yuan Wendu begged Li Jian and Chai Xiaohe to persuade Li Mi to accept Yang Tong's consolation and join hands to defeat the common enemy Chen Sangliang.
The truth came to light. After hearing the reports from Li Jian and Chai Xiaohe, Li Mi immediately understood that this was Yang Tong's plan to kill with a knife. Both sides were injured in the fight, and Yang Tong happened to reap the benefits of the fisherman. And considering that Yu Wenhua and his elite teachers were coming to kill his chrysanthemum, Li Mi also quickly made up his mind, and took the initiative to express his surrender to Yang Yu, and promised to conquer and kill Chen Sangliang to make atonement, and took the opportunity to temporarily make peace with Yang Tong. Dong reconciles, so that he can free up his hands to fully deal with the threat of Yu Wenhuaji.
Then there was the news that Chen Sangliang's army found out carefully. In order to pull Li Mi over as a running dog and let him out to bite people, Yang Tong generously sealed a lot of important official positions for Li Mi, and also sealed a lot of important official positions for Li Mi's subordinates. There are a lot of official positions in the imperial court, and Li Mi's bandit army is included in the honor - thanks to this, Pei Renji, who has followed Li Mi back to the embrace of the Sui court in terms of reputation, picked a big bargain, and he was imprisoned for more than a year. He and his daughter were released from prison and returned home to house arrest. Then within a few days, naturally, Yang Tong, who still didn't know about Yu Wenhua and its situation, sent people out of the city to preach an order, asking Li Mi to send troops to the west to attack the traitor Chen Sangliang and capture and kill the false emperor Yang Xingji. .
Li Mi was so stupid that he left the Luokou warehouse and ran to Guanzhong to fight with his difficult enemy Chen Sangliang. He immediately showed Yang Tong envoy the information that Yu Wenhuaji was going north, and told Yang Tong envoy that Yu Wenhuaji had already been released. In other words, Luoyang, the eastern capital, must be taken first, and then Daxing in Guanzhong should be taken, and then the world should be unified. Yang Tong's envoy was shocked, and rushed back to the city to report to Yang Tong, Yuan Wendu and others. Yang Tong and Yuan Wendu were also shocked by this, and immediately turned the historical track back to the original direction, and asked Li Mi to clean up first. Yu Wenhuaji, the king-killing traitor, promised that once Li Mi took care of Yu Wenhuaji, the number one traitor in the world who killed Sui Yang Emperor, he would let Li Mi go to the Eastern Capital to preside over government affairs and assist Yang Tong in governing the world.
"Presiding over government affairs? Assisting in governing the world?"
Looking at Yang Tong's imperial edict, Li Mi sneered and doubted Yang Tong's promise. However, Li Mi and his subordinates all felt that this was a great opportunity, and they all pointed out to Li Mi that Yang Tong was young, and his succession was not stable. It is absolutely impossible to turn his insignificant imperial decree into a piece of waste paper by turning his back on his promise. Since the army defeated Yu Wenhuaji, it is very likely that Yang Tong will fulfill his promise to let Li Mi enter the court. With the power of the army in hand, it would be a piece of cake to imitate Chen A and Sangliang and make Yang Yu monopolize power, so they all suggested that Li Mi accept this order, first to eliminate the enemy Yu Wenhuaji, and then enter the dynasty and annex the Eastern Capital court.
Li Mi's acceptance of Yang Tong's surrender was originally to prepare for the war with Yu Wenhua and, of course, he was even more excited after hearing the instigation of a cadre. As envoy of Hong Jian, Xiong Wulang brought Yu Wenhua and the emperor Yang Hao's imperial edict to meet him, and had been sent to Jinyong City by the guards of Hulao Pass. Li Mi couldn't help but sneered again, and said: "Another person came to appease me, tell him to come in and see what official Yu Wenhuaji has appointed me, and what wishes he has made."
The soldiers agreed, and immediately went out to lead Yu Hongjian to have an audience, but Pei Renji who was next to him hurriedly dissuaded him: "Duke Wei, Yu Wenhua and the regicide are guilty, and the whole world is indignant. You have accepted the imperial edict from His Majesty the Emperor of Dongdu, and you have become the king again. Minister of the Great Sui Dynasty, if you meet his envoy again, it will definitely attract criticism. According to the opinion of the last general, it is best to capture this Yu Hong immediately after he was established, and send him to the Eastern Capital as a prisoner, so as to prove that you have given Yang Tong The sincerity of His Majesty's surrender can also let the people in the world know that you are different from Yu Wenhua and the traitors, and applaud your righteous deed."
Pei Renji, a specialist in cheating, managed to come up with a reasonable opinion. Although this opinion is still cheating in depth, Li Mi still took it seriously, nodded and said: "General Deben is reasonable, Yu Hongjian It’s gone, take him into prison immediately. Yu Wenwen, go and ask for a confession, let him explain the current situation of Yu Wenhua and the rebels. Oh, by the way, bring in the imperial edict he brought, let me see Culture and how much skill you have in terms of buying and recruiting."
Yu Wenwen agreed, and immediately went out with his own soldiers to take people, and soon, Yu Hongjian's roar came from outside the door, and then the edict he brought, Yu Wenhua and the gift for Li Mi were also brought into the room In the end, what made Li Mi laugh out loud was that Yu Wenhuaji, who had swallowed all the treasures in the Jiangdu Palace, was so stingy that he only gave him a pair of jade walls and ten pearls as a meeting gift, showing a petty air in his bones. After seeing the so-called imperial decree issued by Yu Wenhua and Yang Hao to himself, Li Mi laughed even louder. It turned out that Yu Wenhua and he only sealed the position of Minister of the Ministry of War and Henan Yin for Li, and asked Li Mi to donate a hundred dollars. Wan Shi's army rations, and opened the Hulao Pass to let Yu Wenhua and transit.
"So cunning, why are you afraid? Yu Wenhua and his children have become the public enemies of the world. They are still stingy with official rewards, blindly relying on their strength to bully others. Such an incompetent person, even if he has a million soldiers in his hands, is nothing You are nothing to be afraid of, just a clown!"
Laughing and coming to this conclusion, Li Mi was no longer afraid, and was more determined to fight Yu Wenhua to the death. However, at this moment, another soldier came to report outside the door, saying that Li Er had sent Ren Yu as an envoy to visit him again. , He also said that there was an urgent matter, and asked Li Mi to meet him immediately. Li Mi needed Li Er to restrain Chen Sangliang for him, so he didn't put on any airs, and immediately agreed to meet him, and soon, the most outstanding Ren Yu under Li Er's command was led into the hall. After saluting, Ren Yu was not polite , After a few polite words, he asked directly: "Duke Wei, my Tang Guogong received the news that Yu Wenhua and his soldiers from Jiangdu went north along the Tongji Canal and are coming to kill you behind. This matter?"
"How did you know?" Li Mi's shock was no small matter, because even the court of the Eastern Capital, which was close at hand, had to rely on Li Mi's assistance to find out about this news. for surprise.
"It was the news that our army spying on." Ren Yu replied respectfully, but he couldn't help but cast a glance at Zu Junyan next to him from the corner of his eyes.
"Your meticulous work is really capable." Li Mi snorted, then nodded and said: "There is such a thing, why? Does your Tang Guogong have anything to say?"
"That's right." Ren Yu nodded, cleared his throat again, and said, "Wei Gong, Yu Wenhua and going north along the Tongji Canal will inevitably threaten the back of your eastern front. Tang Guogong is very worried about this and is very worried." I am worried that you, Duke Wei, will be fighting on two fronts, and you will be in crisis. The right governor of my family heard that you were recruited by His Majesty the Emperor (Yang Yu) the day before yesterday, and you were named the Taiwei of the court by His Majesty. Duke Tang was very happy for Duke Wei. It is inevitable that I am more worried about your dangerous situation, Duke Wei, so I specially sent an envoy here..."
"Report." The soldiers who suddenly entered the door interrupted Ren Yu's series of lies, and said to Li Mi: "Report to Wei Gong, the pseudo-prime minister Chen Yingliang sent General Zhaoyong and Qian Niu Beishen Zhang Yongtong as envoys to visit Wei. Mr. Zhang Yongtong was taken by General Yang Defang in Mianchi, and he has been escorted to Jinyong City."
"Chen Yingliang's traitor also sent someone to visit me?" Li Mi was startled, and said in surprise, "What does that traitor want to do?"
"I'm definitely here to appease you, Duke Wei." Pei Renji said confidently: "Chen Yingliang, the little thief, supported the puppet emperor, proclaimed himself the prime minister and general, and held the military and political power in his hands. Just like usurping the Great Sui Jiangshan Sheji, he will of course have the same desire to appease Wei Gong like the Eastern Capital court."
Li Mi didn't say a word, he just scolded Pei Renji in his heart for being an idiot, not to mention that he and Chen Sangliang had a mortal hatred, and they hated each other deeply, so Chen Sangliang must have received the letter that he had accepted Yang Tong's surrender News, how could it be possible to waste effort to appease me again
Seeing Li Mi's unkind expression, Ren Yu was secretly delighted at the misunderstanding, and hurriedly winked at Zu Junyan next to him. Zu Junyan, who had received countless benefits from Li Er behind his back, understood, and immediately said: "Wei Gong, General Deben just now That's right, you are already a courtier of the Emperor of Dongdu, so it is not appropriate to see the rebel envoy again, why not follow the example of Yuwen's rebel envoy, and take down Chen Yingliang's traitor envoy and present it to His Majesty the Emperor. Definitely more important."
Zu Junyan had quite a few friends in Li Mi's shogunate, and when he opened his mouth, several people naturally agreed with him. Pei Renji, who was full of envy and jealousy towards his son-in-law, also ran out to deceive his son-in-law, and urged Li Mi to take Zhang Yongtong down and hand him over to Yang Tong. Ren Yu also took the opportunity to say: "Duke Wei, the envoy is a foreigner, so he shouldn't have intervened in your internal affairs, but since it happened to happen, the envoy boldly added a sentence--Chen Yingliang is a traitor and treacherous. Come, it must be malicious, uneasy and kind, Wei Gong had better not see him."
Zu Junyan and others echoed together. At this time, Wang Xuance's voice suddenly sounded from the corner of the hall, and he said respectfully: "Wei Gong, if you don't want to see the envoy of Thief Chen, how about asking Xiaosheng to meet him instead? The road in Guanzhong is blocked. The thieves are strictly guarded, our army knows very little about the situation in Guanzhong, and Xiaosheng just happened to inquire about the situation in Guanzhong for you."
Turning his head to look at Wang Xuance, Li Mi smiled, and said: "Your ambition is commendable, but you are not that Zhang Yongtong's opponent, let him come in, I haven't contacted that little thief directly for a long time, I still miss him, Let's meet. Otherwise, that little thief will definitely laugh behind my back again that I don't have the guts to even meet his envoy. Tell that Zhang Yongtong to come in."
Wang Xuance was as disappointed as Zu Junyan and others—because Wang Xuance was very suspicious, and the envoy sent by Chen Sangliang probably wanted to take the opportunity to get in touch with him. Ren Yu also glanced at Wang Xuance quietly, and said in his heart: "I don't think the old fox Li Mi can listen to what this brat said. We must try to pull him over."
Under the disappointed eyes of Zu Junyan, Pei Renji and others, Zhang Yongtong, who had represented Chen Sangliang in front of Li Mi more than once, strode into the hall, bowed his hands and saluted Li Mi, and said with a smile: "Little envoy Zhang Yongtong, welcome to the Prime Minister of the Sui Dynasty." Master Xu Chang ordered me to come to see Mr. Fazhu, sir, and you are welcome. After many years, Mr. Fazhu still looks good, it is really gratifying to congratulate."
"It's you?" Li Mi also recognized Zhang Yongtong, and said with a smile: "My good boy, when I saw you last year, I remembered that you were just a fake school captain, and it's only been a year, and you've already become a sixth-rank official." General Zhaowu, who is also the sixth-rank Qianniu Beishen, followed Chen Yingliang, a traitor who steals the country, and climbed very fast."
"Thanks to Mr. Master Fazhu, the envoy was sent to your army on behalf of the Prime Minister several times last year, and he did not disgrace his mission, and was appreciated by the Prime Minister." Zhang Yongtong always spoke neither humble nor overbearing, without fear, and said with a smile: "Thank you too Thanks to the old thief Li Yuan, the Prime Minister followed the imperial edict of the late emperor to march west to Guanzhong, and made minor contributions in the battle to wipe out the old thief Li Yuan, so he got these two positions by chance."
Ren Yu's face suddenly became a little ugly, and Zhang Yongtong smiled again: "Mr. Fazhu, whether the small envoy can be promoted and rewarded in the future depends on your support. I also ask Mr. Fazhu to enter Guanzhong as soon as possible and fight with our army." If you fight to the death, then the little envoy will have another chance to accumulate meritorious service and be rewarded."
"As expected of Chen Yingliang's traitor, he speaks so directly." Li Mi laughed loudly and said, "Don't worry, I will give you this chance sooner or later, but I can assure you that when the time comes for the duel, I will definitely give you a chance." You captured him alive and killed him by chariots, in order to punish you for your sins of speaking rudely in front of me several times."
"The envoy is not afraid." Zhang Yongtong replied with a smile, "Because the envoy knows that that day will never come."
Li Mi laughed again, admiring Zhang Yongtong's courage, then Li Mi smiled and said: "Listen to you, the little thief Chen Yingliang sent you here today, it seems that he is using the false emperor's name to recruit me to surrender?"
"Of course not." Zhang Yongtong replied with a smile: "Mr. Fazhu, who are you, how could you accept our prime minister's offer to surrender? Take ten thousand steps back, Mr. Algorithm, for various reasons, you pretended to accept our prime minister's offer." Surrender, our prime minister wants Mr. Fazhu and Mrs. Wang's only son to be sent to Daxing as a hostage. Are you willing, Mr. Fazhu? So our prime minister said, instead of pretending to be friends with you, Mr. Fazhu, it is better to directly It’s easier to be the enemy directly, Mr. Fazhu, don’t you think?”
Li Mi laughed loudly again, and said: "Chen Yingliang's traitor speaks directly, yes, it is far more enjoyable to be a direct enemy with a traitor like your pseudo prime minister than pretending to be friends! Let's not talk nonsense, just say it, Chen Yingliang's traitor, What kind of despicable tricks have you been sent to play again?"
"Our prime minister has always been generous, so how could we use some despicable tricks?" Zhang Yongtong said something absolutely unconscionable without blushing, and then said: "Mr. There is only one purpose in coming here, and that is to save your life, Mister Fazhu!"
Li Mi raised his head and laughed, and said with a smile: "I still have the face to say that I'm not here to play a dirty trick? Startle first and then caress, a typical lobbyist's trick, first use big words to threaten me, and then use sweet words to lure me into the trap, right?"