Accompanying Xue Ju's second son, Xue Renyue, to stand on the castle wall of Changwu City, Yu Wenxin, the envoy sent by the Li family brothers, couldn't believe his eyes, and couldn't believe that these soldiers who were staggering and in a state of distress were under the city. These blood-stained and haggard soldiers are the main force of the Longxi army that even the main force of Li Yuan's army in its heyday was afraid of three points.
Xue Renyue, who was appointed King of Jin, also couldn't believe his eyes, and couldn't believe that the small group of soldiers who had fled from the city, these distressed soldiers with crying and tears on their faces, were the soldiers who had just left the army when they went out to fight. Xue Renyue didn't dare to imagine what it would be like when the main force of his own army was defeated, and he didn't know how his father who was brave and resourceful fought against his brother who was known as the enemy of ten thousand people. The one who lost this battle, and why did he lose so badly.
General Zhang Gui, whose armor was in tatters, rushed up to the fort wall with blood stains all over his body. Ji Shou knelt in front of Xue Renyue, and reported to Xue Renyue the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Tingkou with a crying sound, explaining that the self-armed army was because of After being deceived into unfavorable terrain by the devoid of conscience, Xue Renyue suddenly realized that he scolded Chen Sangliang for being treacherous and despicable, and quickly asked Zhang Gui, "Where is the father? Where is my elder brother? How are they doing?" gone?"
"Your Majesty and the Crown Prince haven't come back yet?" Zhang Gui asked in surprise, "The Emperor and the Crown Prince have been with the cavalry all this time, so they should have come back first? Why? They haven't come back yet?"
Hearing Zhang Gui's rhetorical question, an ominous premonition immediately enveloped Xue Renyue and Xue Jujun's civil and military hearts. The only hope for the heroes of the world to contain Chen Yingliang's traitor, if you die, no one in the world will be able to restrain the great-grandson of that little county magistrate."
Fortunately, there is still hope. At this time, it is close to the third watch and the sky is already completely dark. It is the best opportunity for Xue Ju, Xue Renguo and others to take the opportunity to escape back to Changwu City. Xue Jujun is full of hope for Xue Ju's smooth return However, Xue Renyue, who has not had a good relationship with his irritable brother, still had the idea, "I hope that my father can bring more troops back. As for my brother... it's best not to come back."
It is true that many Xue Jujun, civil and military, escaped under the cover of night, including Yixing King Zong Luohu, Neishi Ling Zhai Changsun, General Liang Hulang, and Qiang General Liang Lisu, but even Zong, who served as the rear of the palace during the retreat, Both Luo Hui and Liang Liya fled back with a few cavalry, but they never saw Xue Ju, Xue Renguo, Hao Yuan and others. At the same time, some defeated soldiers reported to their superiors that they had heard the Sui army's attack on the way. The soldiers cheered and said that they had captured Xue Ju, Xue Renguo and his son alive, but because they didn't see it with their own eyes, they couldn't prove the truth yet.
The time to test Xue Renyue's commander-in-chief ability is approaching. The missing father and brother are panicking in the army, and the morale of the main force is depressed after a disastrous defeat. But fortunately, after the incident, Xue Juqi asked Xue Renyue to lead the army alone many times. Xue Renyue had some experience in these aspects, and quickly vacated the camp to house the defeated soldiers, and gave them more wine and meat to stabilize people's hearts. At the same time, the defense of the camp was immediately strengthened to prevent the Sui army from taking the opportunity to attack. As a result, in the morning of the 11th day of the first lunar month, Xue Renyue actually took in more than 16,000 stragglers who fled back from defeat, and regained some overall combat effectiveness.
At the same time, the news that Xue Ju and Xue Renguo were both captured alive by Qu Tutong was finally confirmed. Zong Luohui, Zhang Gui and other Xue Ju army generals were shocked, but they didn't dare to dream of saving Xue Ju, but they just urged them together. Xue Renyue gave up on Changwu and withdrew to Zheyu City farther to the west. Going there to regroup and retreat back to Tianshui's lair was also convenient. The distraught Xue Renyue agreed and immediately led the army to retreat westward. He voluntarily gave up. Changwu City, a major military base. And after Yu Wenxin got the news, he also breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that there is still hope for him to complete the mission. Even if Xue Jujun has no power to seriously threaten Chen Sangliang's western front, he may still stare at him like a shit stick. Chen Sangliang continued to disgust Chen Sangliang on the western front.
Here is also the time to introduce Yu Wenxin's origin and purpose. As the son of Yu Wenkai, a talented engineer in the Sui Dynasty, although Yu Wenxin's attainments in construction engineering are far behind his father, he has also received a lot of true teachings. After the Twelve Generals of the Western Wei Dynasty, one of the important members of the Guanlong family, when Li Yuan entered Daxing for a short time, Yu Wenxin was immediately appointed as the head of the water conservancy department, which was equivalent to the minister of water conservancy. Chen Sangliang was sent by Li Yuan to Taiyuan to assist Li Yuanji before Chen Sangliang counterattacked Daxing. By the way, he took care of the water conservancy problem in Li's Taiyuan lair, and luckily escaped the flames of war when Chen Sangliang counterattacked Daxing.
Afterwards, Li Jiancheng and Li Er fled back to Taiyuan in succession. They huddled in a small place with the three brothers Li Yuanji, who had previously held the power in Taiyuan alone. For the sake of the overall situation, it not only resolved the conflicts between many Li family brothers, but also won the love and trust of the three Li family brothers, becoming an indispensable and important figure in the Li family army. This time risking his life to sneak into Guanzhong to contact Xue Ju, Yu Wenxin volunteered to take up this position for the sake of the future of the Li family, his benefactor and family friend. It also made the three brothers of the Li family unify their opinions twice. There is no need to take the risk yourself, and then because of Yu Wenxin's repeated insistence, he agreed unanimously.
Previously, because of the shameless betrayal of Xue Renguo by Li Yuan's two relatives, Dou Jing and Da Xiao Guoshu, Xue Ju had already killed Wen Daya, the envoy Li Yuan sent to Tianshui before his death. In addition to making an apology, another important purpose is of course to conclude an anti-Chen alliance with Xue Ju. Right now, Yu Wenhuaji, Wang Shichong, and Li Mi are seriously threatening Chen Sangliang's eastern front. Liang Shidu in the northeast is also skeptical of Daxing, and has formed a secret alliance with the Li family brothers. If Xue Ju is pulled into this battle again Che, everyone joined hands to pit Chen Sangliang, and the Li brothers, who were almost cornered by Chen Sangliang, had hope of making a comeback.
The plan did not change quickly, and the road was blocked and it was difficult to transmit news. To Yu Wenxin's great joy, when he changed his name and changed his surname and went through all kinds of hardships to come to Guanzhong, Xue Ju had already entered Anding County first, and his momentum was like lightning. He won many important passes; and when Yu Wenxin happily came to Anding to see Xue Ju, he had just met Xue Ju's second son Xue Renyue, and saw with his own eyes the defeat of the main force of Xue Ju's army across Longyou, and Xue Ju's father and son were killed. The tragic ups and downs, the rapid transition between heaven and hell, made Yu Wenxin dumbfounded, and also made Yu Wenxin want to cry without tears.
Fortunately, there is another Xue Renyue. Although I don't know whether Xue Renyue has the courage to continue to fight Chen Sangliang regardless of the safety of his father and brother, but in order to win the last hope and opportunity, Yu Wenxin still has to follow Xue Renyue on the way to Zheyi City. He bought Xue Renyue's cronies through bribery, and was able to ride with Xue Renyue on the road, taking the opportunity to test Xue Renyue's true attitude, and also tried to encourage Xue Renyue to continue to fight Chen Sangliang to the end.
"His Royal Highness Jin, although the envoy is an outsider, but the matter has come to this point, the envoy still wants to ask a question boldly, what is the next step after His Highness withdraws from Zhexi City?" Yu Wenxin asked straight to the point.
"I wish I knew." Xue Renyue replied angrily: "Unfortunately, father was captured and elder brother was murdered. Now that the morale of the army is unstable, this king wants to find someone to ask what to do next. "
Taking a peek at Xue Renyue, seeing that his irritable expression was definitely not fake, Yu Wenxin probably knew that Xue Renyue did not intend to surrender to Chen Sangliang, and then said: "Your Highness, the envoy thinks that if you want to There is only one way to save the Great Qin Emperor, after returning to Zheyi City, we must not hesitate, we must immediately lead our troops back to the west, return to Tianshui, guard against the natural danger of Longshan Mountain, and continue to fight Chen Yingliang's traitors to the end!"
"What did you say?" Xue Renyue was taken aback, turned to look at Yu Wenxin, and asked in surprise, "The only way I can save my father is to immediately withdraw to Tianshui and continue the war with Chen Yingliang's traitor?"
"That's right." Yu Wenxin nodded vigorously, then smiled and said, "Your Highness must ask, what if Chen Yingliang's traitor kills His Majesty the Emperor? But your Highness, why don't you think about it? If Chen Yingliang's traitor forces your army to surrender, how is it possible?" Are you willing to kill His Majesty the Emperor? He is not afraid that after killing your father, he will completely anger His Highness and your soldiers, and continue to fight him to the end with the same hatred?"
As he said that, Yu Wenxin took a peek at Xue Renyue's expression, and saw that his expression had already wavered thoughtfully, so he took the opportunity to say: "So the envoy thinks that the more His Highness refuses to surrender to Chen Yingliang's traitor, the more your father will be." The more stable it is, because killing your royal father, apart from getting a head and the hatred of Longxi soldiers, he can only get infamy for killing prisoners, nothing else!"
Xue Renyue finally nodded, and said: "Sir, what you said is reasonable, yes, Chen Yingliang's traitor captured my father, he would only think of using my father to force us to surrender, and he would never kill him lightly. The more I insisted on refusing to Submit and continue to fight him to the end, the less he will dare to kill my father."
"Your Highness is brilliant, that's right!" Yu Wenxin applauded, and then said in a low voice: "Your Highness, forgive me, but I have to say something offensive. If Your Highness chooses to surrender to Chen Yingliang's traitor because he is afraid that Chen Yingliang's traitor will kill your father , then the real catastrophe is imminent for His Highness's family. Because after His Highness surrendered and handed over the army and territory in his hands, your family will become useless in front of Chen Yingliang. Not only will Chen Yingliang not give His Highness's family glory, And I will definitely be afraid of the basic prestige of His Royal Highness's family in Longxi, thus giving birth to murderous intentions!"
The muscles on Xue Renyue's face twitched, and he was immediately moved by Yu Wenxin's words, and Yu Wenxin continued to encourage him: "Take ten thousand steps back and say, even if Chen Yingliang's traitor has no murderous intentions, after you surrender, Your Highness, at most you can't pass by." There are no more than four or five people in the entourage, and you have to look at the face of the enemy at any time, swallow your anger, life is worse than death, how can His Highness take sole power after withdrawing to Tianshui, and inherit the glory of the Great Qin Dynasty in the future?"
Everyone has selfishness, and the son Xue Ju taught, who is not a good thing, is naturally not a good thing. After hearing Yu Wenxin's instigation, Xue Renyue nodded without any hesitation and said, "Thank you, sir, for your guidance." , this king understands what to do. Don't worry, my father and elder brother are unfortunately captured by Chen Yingliang's bandit army. The Daqin army should be under the command of this king. This king promises you now, and your two armies will conclude an alliance from now on. We will advance together and retreat together, and we will never stop fighting if we don't break Chen Yingliang's traitor!"
Yu Wenxin was overjoyed, and quickly thanked Xue Renyue, and then said in a low voice: "Your Highness, if someone in your subordinates is wavering, or someone is worried about your father's safety, besides telling them the reason why Chen Yingliang's traitor will never kill your father You can also tell them that Chen Yingliang's traitors are surrounded by enemies on all sides right now, and they are hard to care about. In the future, you will definitely have a chance to break through Daxing and rescue your father, so they will have nothing to say."
Xue Renyue was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly thanked Yu Wenxin sincerely. Yu Wenxin smiled and said thanks, but sighed in his heart: "It's really like the three sons left by the general. Those three sons will be... alas!"
As expected, in the afternoon, an envoy from the Sui army with a white flag in his hand caught up with Xue Renyue's army quickly, and handed Xue Renyue a letter from Chen Sangliang to persuade him to surrender, and Xue Ju asked Xue Renyue to lead the remaining troops to lay down their weapons A handwritten letter of surrender from the Sui army. Xue Renyue did not hesitate either, and immediately summoned all the civil and military personnel under his command, showed them Chen Sangliang's persuading letter and Xue Ju's letter, and then asked them for their opinions.
Most of the civil and military officials remained silent, only Chu Liang, the servant of Huangmen, carefully persuaded Xue Renyue to think about Xue Ju's safety, but Xue Renyue immediately scolded Chu Liang bloody, and took the opportunity to teach Yu Wenxin why he should not surrender He made a public announcement, asking all the generals under his command to withdraw to Tianshui to defend the territory, making Chen Sangliang even more afraid to hurt Xue Ju's hair, and promised to break through Daxing to save his father in the future, and promised to continue to reuse him after returning to Tianshui Everyone, giving them more glory, wealth, wealth and beautiful women really touched the hearts of many Xue Jujun civil and military people.
Birds of a feather flock together, and most of the civil and military courtiers brought out by Xue Ju, who is known for his brutality, are of course not good people. Considering that the surrender was definitely not as comfortable as it is now, most of the civil and military officials in Xue Ju's army really supported Xue Renyue's decision to refuse to surrender. The perverted and violent general Zhang Gui knew very well that he would not end well if he surrendered with blood on his hands, so he jumped out and shouted that he would not surrender to the death, and he wanted to show his determination by slaying the envoy of the Sui army. Fortunately, Xue Renyue still had some sense, and he didn't agree to kill the envoy, but just ordered the Sui army envoy to be beaten away with sticks.
After the envoy of the Sui army who had been beaten by Xue Renyue's army came back to Chen Sangliang, the generals of the Sui army who were chasing the enemy with Chen Sangliang were of course furious, and they all wanted to cut off Xue Ju, who was captured. He vented his anger with Xue Renguo and his son, but Chen Sangliang looked calm. He just asked the emissary from the army about the contact with Xue Renyue, and found that Xue Renyue's attitude of refusing to surrender was very firm. The messenger, Chen Sangliang probably has a bottom line in his heart. Then Chen Sangliang did not hesitate, and immediately ordered Xue Ju and Xue Renguo to come to see him.
Next, of course, it was the turn of the actor of the Great Sui Dynasty to perform wonderful acting skills. After personally helping the Xue Ju father and son who pleaded guilty, Chen Sangliang comforted them with kind words and greeted their relatives, not only promised that he must serve the father and son in front of Emperor Yining. Their father and son asked for pardon, and they also took the initiative to ask about Xue Renguo's marriage and children. After learning that Xue Renguo was married and had a daughter, Chen Sangliang unceremoniously asked Xue Renguo to marry him for his son, and asked Xue Renguo to send his daughter to him. Marrying his third son, Xue Renguo, whose life was hanging by his hands, certainly couldn't wish for it. Overjoyed, he immediately agreed, and according to Chen Sangliang's request, he and Chen Sangliang immediately called each other brothers.
After becoming relatives with Xue Renguo, Chen Sangliang summoned the envoy who had been beaten before, and asked the envoy to introduce the mission to Xue Ju and his son. Xue Ju also asked to surrender his own troops before the battle. Chen Sangliang agreed with a smile, and then said: "Uncle Xue, regarding the surrender of the rest of your army, I really think that it is not enough for you to come forward to surrender, because you are now It is true that you are still a prisoner of our army. If I ask you to go to the front of the battle to surrender, your old soldiers will think that you were coerced by me and forced to persuade them to surrender. I am afraid that it is still difficult for them to understand this matter because of their scruples. Prime Minister’s sincerity in recruiting surrender, and will not just surrender.”
Xue Ju nodded, admitting that this was indeed a problem, and then Xue Ju asked cautiously: "Prime Minister, what do you think should be done?"
"I mean, I want to ask Brother Renguo to work hard." Chen Sangliang turned to Xue Renguo and said with a smile: "I want to ask Brother Renguo to go to Brother Renyue's army in person and explain to me the details of our army in person. Surrender policy, persuading brother Ling and General Zong Luo to lead the army to surrender, I wonder if brother is willing to do it for you?"
"Prime Minister, you want me to surrender?" Xue Renguo's eyes almost popped out, and he exclaimed, "I heard that right? Prime Minister, you sent me to surrender? Are you afraid that I won't come back after I go?"
"No need for suspects, no doubts for employers, I dare to ask you to go to surrender in person, brother, of course I believe you will not leave without returning." Chen Sangliang smiled, and said: "Besides, brother, you and I are now separated. It's my son and daughter's in-laws, I can't even trust my own in-laws, how can I trust others?"
He looked at Chen Sangliang dumbfounded for a while, and confirmed again and again that Chen Sangliang was not joking. Xue Renguo didn't hesitate any longer, and immediately knelt down to Chen Sangliang, clasped his fists and said, "Prime Minister, since you trust the criminal general, the crime will be wiped out." , I was smashed to pieces, there is no way to repay your kindness! Please rest assured, the prime minister, if you commit this crime, you will definitely lead the army to surrender. If you have two hearts, heaven and earth will not tolerate it! If my second brother is stubborn and refuses to accept the prime minister’s surrender With good intentions, the criminal will chop him off with a single knife, and hold his head up to apologize to the Prime Minister!"
Chen Sangliang laughed loudly, and hurriedly helped Xue Renguo to comfort him, and then said to Xue Renguo: "Brother Renguo, the road is difficult and the road ahead is dangerous. To be cautious, you go to the prisoners of our army and choose 300 soldiers to take with you." Come on, I will return the armor, weapons and horses to them, and let them protect you and go north to chase your second brother. Set off immediately when you are ready, there is no need to say goodbye, go back quickly, I will wait for your good news!"
Xue Renguo was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly thanked Chen Sangliang, and then immediately followed Chen Sangliang's personal soldiers to select guards in the prisoner-of-war camp. Chen Sangliang ordered Sun Fujia to write for him immediately, and then wrote to Xue Renyue He wrote a letter of surrender, which was sent to Xue Renguo for him to take to surrender. It was also at this time that Chen Sangliang turned his gaze to Xue Ju. Seeing that Xue Ju looked at him with dull eyes and trembling lips, as if he wanted to say something, Chen Sangliang smiled and said actively: "Uncle Xue, if there is any Whatever you want, just say it, don't worry about it."
"Prime Minister, you... you are so ruthless!" Xue Ju whispered what was in his heart.
"Uncle Xue, don't blame me. It's your son who wanted me to kill you. I can't bear the name of killing prisoners, so I can only do this." Chen Sangliang smiled and sighed again: "I hope you can teach your son well, Uncle Xue. If you have a filial son among your two sons, maybe you can preserve the incense of your Xue family. If they don't take your life and death seriously, then I really can't help it, and you can only blame yourself There is no way to teach a child."
After finishing speaking, Chen Sangliang sighed softly again, and said: "Actually, I really like your eldest son. His temper is a bit irritable, but his personality is straightforward and he doesn't play tricks. Even if he is not handsome, he can be regarded as A rare fierce general. That's why I specially asked him to choose 300 guards on his own, so that he would not even have the strength to fight back. If he doesn't do anything wrong, even if he fails to recruit, Uncle Xue, I will also protect you and him Wealthy life."
Xue Ju was silent, and said after a long while: "Ren Guo's talent is enough to take on the big responsibility, and he is still somewhat filial to this old man. I only hope that he can still be like this this time."