In fact, from the moment Xue Renyue chose to flee to the southern mountainous area, the short-lived Western Qin regime was doomed to be completely destroyed. The reason is also very simple. Time, with this time, the main force of the Sui army advancing along the spacious official road has already entered Tianshui, and will not give Xue Renyue any hope of making a comeback.
It turned out to be very trouble-free. Following Xue Renyue fled into Sishan Mountain, seeing the Sui army's pursuit was too tight, and seeing that the mountain was covered by heavy snow and there was no way out. If he fled into the mountainous area, he would either die of starvation or be frozen to death. He grabbed Xue Renyue's head, held his head and ran back to the Sui army to surrender. It's a pity that Zhang Gui, who was born as a slave, has a bad reputation. He is famous for being evil, cruel and perverted, and he likes to kill innocent people indiscriminately. Asked about the crime, and finally cut off his head with a knife in Daxing.
Zong Luohui, a heavy general of Xue Jujun, chose to surrender to the Sui army. Chu Liang and Zhai Changsun, two important civil servants who also surrendered to Chen Sangliang, Liang Lisu and Liang Hulang and many other Xue Jujun generals died in the rebellion. Many Qiang soldiers under his command also chose to surrender to the Sui army. The Sui army in Guanzhong recruited and accepted the rebels, received nearly 20,000 surrendered soldiers and a large number of war horses, and obtained tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Longxi after selecting the best. powerful army. Xue Renguo, who was injured in the melee, was affirmed and rewarded by Chen Sangliang because of his firm attitude at the last moment, and was left in the army to listen to him. With the help of his eldest son, Xue Ju could at least have a happy life with good food and drink. end.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Sangliang ordered Ma Sanbao to lead an army of 10,000 troops into Tianshui, and appointed Jiang Mo, a cavalry servant recommended by Fang Xuanling, as the prefect of Tianshui. After forming an alliance with Xue Ju and going south, Li Gui and Liang Shi both found out the news of Xue Ju's army's demise, they also retreated and fled back to their lair to protect themselves. They went home and waited for Chen Sangliang to send someone to kill their family. Given that the Turkic support was weak and weak, it was destined to be unable to stir up any major disturbances. The Sui Army's western and northern fronts, which were once turbulent, turned the crisis into safety.
At the same time, Chen Sangliang also attached great importance to the envoy of the Li family, Yu Wenxin, who was accidentally captured by his soldiers on the battlefield. He not only ordered to treat him kindly, but also took some time to meet Yu Wenxin alone, try to recruit him, and learn about the Li family's army by the way. Now the specific situation in order to choose the next shot object.
The general situation has been settled, and he feels that his two years of hard work has repaid Li Yuanzhi's great kindness. Yu Wenxin quickly accepted Chen Sangliang's surrender, and expressed his willingness to be Chen Sangliang's cow and horse to help the evildoers. Chen Sangliang was overjoyed, Immediately playing Yu Wenxin as Dushui Supervisor, Jia Chaosan Doctor, and after Yu Wenxin thanked him, Chen Sangliang asked Yu Wenxin about the recent situation of the Li family and the specific situation of the Taiyuan army.
Yu Wenxin answered Chen Sangliang's question truthfully, and said: "The Prime Minister, Taiyuan is the place where the Li family started. It is rich in products, has enough soldiers and food, and its strength should not be underestimated. As far as I know, the scale of the Li family's troops is actually large. There are more than 60,000 of them, including more than 26,000 elite soldiers, enough food and grass for five years, weapons and armor enough to arm one hundred thousand troops, and extensive trade with Turkic tribes, exchanging war horses, and the size of the cavalry has reached Reaching more than 8,000, in terms of strength alone, it is enough to compete with any of the prime minister's subordinates on the battlefield. Even if you encounter the prime minister's main force, you can rely on the natural danger of the sparrow valley to compete with the prime minister's main force. two."
"Brothers of the Li family are still so powerful?" Chen Sangliang asked with some doubts, and then said: "From the situation that our army has carefully grasped, there should be only about 40,000 soldiers and horses in Taiyuan, and 5,000 cavalry at most. Come on, it’s not as much as you said, sir? As for the grain and grass, the tax stipulated by the Li family the year before last was two stones per dime, two bolts of silk, and three taels of raw silk. Adding 20% to this basis, you would rather lose the support of the people than reduce or exempt taxes, doesn't it look like you have enough food and grass?"
"That's the plan of Mr. Li Jiancheng." Yu Wenxin replied: "Except for the prime minister, you never announce the size of the military force of today's powerful, all of them are bluffing and exaggerating their strength. For example, Xue Ju, including the old and weak soldiers, is only 130,000. People dare to claim 300,000 elite soldiers. Li Mi's bandit army has only 60,000 to 70,000 elite soldiers, but they still dare to claim 500,000 elite soldiers. In front of a real powerful enemy, apart from being ridiculed by others, it does not actually have much effect, and it may attract the vigilance and hostility of the enemy and become the target of public criticism."
"In view of this situation, Mr. Jiancheng feels that we should keep a low profile, so as not to be too aggressive and attract outsiders, especially the prime minister, to attack you first." Yu Wenxin explained: "So he came and did the opposite, and returned to Taiyuan Later, he paid special attention to the control of the army. It was announced that there were 40,000 troops in 8 generals, but in fact there were more than 60,000 troops in 13 generals, and five of them pretended to be civilians to conceal their true identities. In the middle, it is falsely claiming that the old and weak soldiers are stationed in the fields, and they are stationed in Loufanlishi and other places that are difficult for the prime minister to take care of. This army is hidden from the eyes and ears, not to mention the secret work under your command, Prime Minister, even Liu Wuzhou's army, who is close at hand, has always thought that there are only more than 40,000 troops in Taiyuan."
"The same is true for food and grass." Yu Wenxin explained: "Actually, Taiyuan Mansion has never been short of food and grass. When Li Yuan went south, in order to leave a way out, he left a large amount of food, grass and military supplies in Taiyuan just in case. Every grass and grain in Taiyuan has not been used, and there is always room for the so-called open warehouses to release grain. Usually, only a small part of the grain stored in the county warehouse is released, and a large amount of grain is hidden for preparation for wartime. Increase taxes. , It’s just a trick for Mr. Jiancheng to deceive outsiders, especially you, the prime minister. The purpose is to make outsiders feel that the Li family is no longer good enough to be feared, so as to hide their strength and avoid becoming the prime minister’s primary target.”
Seeing that Chen Sangliang's expression was fluctuating, and he seemed to be skeptical, Yu Wenxin hurriedly added: "Prime Minister, I think you also have inside secret operations in Li's army, but they will definitely not be able to detect these situations, because Mr. Jiancheng's Not only did the measures not be announced to the public, but they were also kept as secret internally as possible. In fact, if Li Yuanji hadn’t been assisted to stay in Taiyuan before he was dismissed, he would not have been able to know the real situation of the Taiyuan army if he hadn’t been trusted by Li Yuanji to take charge of the secrets of money and food. The lower official got some information through Li Yuanji's channel, so he guessed it himself."
Hearing this, Chen Sangliang laughed and said: "Thank you for your guidance, sir, now I finally understand why Fanzi Gai Fan, who was kind to me at the beginning, stayed behind and failed in cleaning the Taiyuan army , Leaving so many loopholes for the old thief Li Yuan to take advantage of, now it seems that Mr. Jiancheng is indeed a great expert in pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger."
"That's right." Yu Wenxin nodded, and said: "Mr. Jiancheng is indeed a rare benevolent gentleman, magnanimous and broad-minded, but he is also an ambitious hero in troubled times. The reason why he has been hiding his strength In addition to not wanting the prime minister to be too wary of him, his purpose is to wait for the opportunity to go south again and recapture the middle ground of Hedongguan. This time he not only sent his subordinates to Xijin to seek an alliance with Xue Ju, but also sent another envoy Secretly contact Liang Shidu, Dou Jiande and others to seek an alliance, avoid direct conflict with them and consume their strength, and use their strength to weaken other enemies."
The Li family brothers will definitely collude with Liang Shidu, Dou Jiande and others secretly. This was already expected by Chen Sangliang, so not only was Chen Sangliang not surprised, he also smiled contemptuously and asked casually: "Mr. Have you secretly contacted Wang Shichong and Li Mi?"
"No." Yu Wenxin's answer stunned Chen Sangliang, and then Yu Wenxin explained: "In fact, many people suggested that Mr. Jiancheng should seek an alliance with Wang Shichong and Li Mi, especially Mr. Shimin, after returning to Taiyuan. He asked for an alliance with Wang Shichong and Li Mi several times, but Mr. Jiancheng flatly refused."
"Why?" Chen Sanghao asked curiously.
"It's also to avoid attracting the Prime Minister's idea." Yu Wenxin replied: "Young Master Jiancheng, you will never allow Wang Shichong to occupy the Eastern Capital for a long time, and Li Mi to occupy the Luokou Warehouse for a long time. I know that once you free up your hand, you will definitely be the first." To start with them, he also knows that Wang Shichong and Li Mi are despicable and cunning people. Once they form an alliance with them, they will definitely have the intention of attracting disasters, and they will do everything possible to lure the prime minister. So I deliberately kept a distance from Wang Shichong and Li Mi, so as not to anger you and cause a catastrophe."
Chen Sangliang was a little tongue-tied, and suddenly realized that Li Jiancheng was indeed extremely smart, and he knew his own thoughts very well—because once Li Jiancheng formed an alliance with Wang Shichong and Li Mi and openly hostile to him, then he would be able to rely on his good faith. There are natural dangers to defend, and you can try to make Wang Shichong and Li Mi, the enemies of each other, restrain each other. 90% of them will choose to attack Taiyuan first, completely solve the hidden dangers on the northern line, and then deal with Wang Shichong and Li Mi who are restraining and guarding each other.
After the shock, Chen Sangliang quickly laughed again, and said to himself: "Brother Jiancheng, I was almost deceived by you, but unfortunately you are unlucky, and someone who knows your inside story happened to defect to me. Okay , when I clear things up a bit on the Eastern Front, you will be the next one."
There is not enough traffic, and the means of news dissemination is backward. Chen Sangliang didn't know that Old General Yun had tormented Brother Hua, Wang Shichong and Li Mi's three families, so he said this to himself, and Yu Wenxin over there Of course, I don’t know the situation in the Eastern Capital battlefield. After a little hesitation, Yu Wenxin still took the initiative to say: “Prime Minister, as far as I know, your Eastern Front is currently The situation is complicated, and we are unable to send troops to Taiyuan for the time being. If the Prime Minister is willing, the lower officials have another plan, which can make the Li family in Taiyuan go into chaos without fighting, and weaken their own strength, which is beneficial for the Prime Minister to advance troops in the future."
"What's the master plan?" Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard that, and then he immediately came to his senses, and said, "Could it be that the master wants me to separate the brothers of the Li family, so that Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin can kill each other?"
"Li Shimin?" Yu Wenxin was stunned, and said in doubt: "Prime Minister, I want to suggest that you use tricks to separate the brothers of the Li family, but it is useless to separate Li Shimin? He was severely injured by you in Huoyi, Hedong. As the governor of the right, in fact, the army that is really loyal to him is only five or six thousand people, and he is often placed by Mr. Jiancheng at the forefront of the northern line to compete with Liu Wuzhou for consumption. All food, grass and military supplies have to rely on the breath of Taiyuan. Is it stormy?"
"Then alienate who?" Chen Sangliang asked in a daze - Li Er was very uncomfortable after he fled back to Taiyuan. Brothers, of course Chen Sangliang's first reaction was to drive a wedge between Li Da and Li Er.
"Li Yuanji." Yu Wenxin gave an answer that surprised Chen Sangliang, and then Yu Wenxin explained: "Prime Minister, you must not underestimate this Li Yuanji. Although he is only seventeen years old now, he said With great ambition and vicious personality, he is definitely above his two elder brothers. Before Li Yuan asked him to stay in Taiyuan, he was in charge of all the money and food of the Taiyuan army, and the officials and generals were all killed by him. He said that he was the emperor of Taiyuan. Not too much."
"Later, Li Jiancheng fled back to Taiyuan with his army. Because Li Yuanji was ranked fourth and was only fifteen years old at the time, he listened to everyone's advice and handed over the power of Taiyuan to his elder brother Li Jiancheng." Yu Wenxin continued: "But soon Yes, Li Yuanji felt regretful. He wanted to take back the power of Taiyuan from Li Jiancheng, and because of his previous power in Taiyuan, he had many confidantes in the army, so he formed a clique behind his brother's back, and his future was overshadowed by him. Although Li Jiancheng was aware of this, he thought Li Yuanji was too young and ignorant and voluntarily handed over the military power in Taiyuan, so he was more tolerant of this, and even let three of Li Yuanji's absolute cronies serve as the supervisors. , mastered more than 15,000 troops, and formed its own line in the Taiyuan army."
Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly asked again: "What about Li Erlang? What kind of relationship does he have with Li Yuanji now?"
"The official is not very clear about the specific situation." Yu Wenxin shook his head, and said: "But the official suspects that Mr. Shimin and Mr. Yuanji may have secretly concluded an alliance to fight against their elder brother Mr. Jiancheng."
"Is there any evidence?" Chen Sangliang hurriedly asked.
"Yes." Yu Wenxin replied: "Li Yuanji is lustful. There are more than 60 concubines, and he is still not satisfied. He still takes folk women as concubines from time to time. Li Jiancheng has stopped and persuaded him a lot. He didn't comment, but the two beautiful women he obtained during the battle with Liu Wuzhou appeared in Li Yuanji's back room. Because Li Yuanji had trusted Li Yuanji before, the lower official could often go in and out of his mansion, so he accidentally knew With this matter, the lower officials suspect that Li Yuanji and the Second Young Master may have secretly made friends and are planning to join forces to deal with the First Young Master."
Chen Sangliang nodded in satisfaction, and also very much agreed with Yu Wenxin's analysis - because in Li Er's current situation, if he wanted to win the military power from Li Da and be his own master, it was undoubtedly the only choice to form an alliance with Li Yuanji secretly. It is absolutely possible for Li Yuanji, who kills Li Er and then kills his elder brother to become the emperor himself, to make a 180-degree turn and join forces with Li Er for his own benefit. Thinking of this, Chen Sangliang hurriedly asked again: "Mr. Yuwen, how should I start a divorce?"
"It's very simple, just pretend that Li Yuanji is in charge of Taiyuan alone." Yu Wenxin replied: "Li Yuanji's character is sinister and arrogant, but his ambition is not very great. The lower officials can see that he just wants to continue to be the leader of Taiyuan. The local emperor, like Li Jiancheng, can't stop his extravagance and lust. He doesn't have the same idea of going south to compete like Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin. Accept the prime minister’s offer to buy, and use it for your prime minister’s use, and then prime minister, you will drive him to launch a mutiny to capture Li Jiancheng, no matter whether he succeeds or not, the Taiyuan army will definitely be in chaos, creating a good opportunity for you, prime minister.”
Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard that, first applauded, and then asked Yu Wenxin carefully about the inside story of the Taiyuan army. After he had a deep understanding of the internal situation of the Li family brothers, Chen Sangliang let Yu Wenxin go down to rest. However, after Yu Wenxin left, Chen Sangliang sneered again, and secretly said: "After all, he is not a time traveler. It would be great if Li Yuanji only satisfied Taiyuan. This kid is much more ruthless than his big brother, and his ambition is no less than his. I'm so young. But, Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng's current relationship can be put to good use."
Twirling the microbeards that gradually grew on his lips, Chen Sangliang found that this matter is still relatively dangerous. It is definitely not difficult to separate Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, but he must prevent Li Er from taking the opportunity to reap the benefits. Chen Sangliang is not afraid of Li Jiancheng becoming the boss Not to mention that Li Yuanji, who is ambitious but incompetent, is in charge of the Li family's army alone, but he is still very wary of Li Er. Let's talk about it after solving the Eastern Front issue and freeing up our hands. However, in order to take precautions, Chen Sangliang felt that he should get in touch with Li Yuanji first, so as to facilitate the next action plan, and immediately thought about it.
In fact, even Chen Sangliang did not expect that the Eastern Front issue would be solved so perfectly by General Yun. After basically solving the aftermath of Anding and Beidi counties, Chen Sangliang, who dared not leave Daxing for a long time, just ordered to lead the main force Instructor, Old General Yun sent someone to send the good news that he had successfully injured Brother Hua Ji, Li Mi, and Wang Shichong in three defeats. Chen Sangliang was overjoyed and immediately promoted Old General Yun to rank and rank, and let the army Speed up your pace and return to Daxing, ready to start arranging the next stage of the war to calm down the world.
At the end of the first month, Chen Sangliang led the main force back to Daxing smoothly, and offered prisoners to his honorary boss Yining Emperor Yang Xingji. However, at the celebration meeting, even Chen Sangliang was caught off guard. Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others suddenly jumped out and jointly played to Yang Xingji, saying that Chen Sangliang's meritorious deeds are world-class, his virtue matches the world, and he should be crowned king. Before the shocked Chen Sangliang came back to his senses, including Qu Tutong, Pang Yu and other civil and military officials, including the veterans of the former court, have already seconded their proposals, and they asked for Chen Sangliang to be crowned as a prince. Chen Sangliang Jiuxi directly pushed Chen Sangliang to the position of Cao Boss Sima's old thief.
Yang Xingji, who was only seven years old, couldn't even speak well, so he could only turn his attention to Chen Sangliang for help. Opposed, many officials also made it clear that if Chen Sangliang did not accept Wang Jue, they would crash to death on this golden palace! Chen Sangliang was forced to be helpless. In order to save the precious lives of these upright and capable ministers, he could only reluctantly accept the kindness of the officials, but he resolutely thanked the gift of Jiuxi—this thing is too ostentatious, too much. It will damage Chen Sangliang's image as a loyal minister, so Chen Sangliang doesn't want it yet.
Then, of course, it was time to discuss Chen Sangliang's title of prince. Civil and military officials didn't know Chen Sangliang's intentions, so they didn't dare to speak casually. Yang Xingji also asked Chen Sangliang to decide on his own. Chen Sangliang only hesitated for a moment, and quickly said: "Then Tang, the last decree of the late emperor before he was killed was to change me to Tang Guogong. The decree of the late emperor must not be violated, so let's still be Tang."
"Congratulations to Your Highness for being crowned King of Tang! His Highness is a thousand years old!"
Standing beside the little emperor Yang Xingji with his sword on his shoes, holding his head upright to accept the salutes from civil and military officials, Chen Sangliang was full of thoughts. Li Yuan, who was buried dead, sighed in his heart, and secretly said: "Old Li, this is fate, you can rest assured and close your eyes, trust me, I will definitely create a more brilliant and great Tang Dynasty for you!"