In the evening, when the exhausted Chen Sangliang returned to Yuci with the Nationalist Army, Yuci City had already fallen into the claws of the Sui Army. Yang Jun and his general Li Zhongwen jointly killed him. Fortunately, he trapped Liu Wuzhou in the city and forced Ding Yang Jun to break into the city. Count first. In addition, it is not bad for the old Liu family. Liu Jizhen's younger brother Liu Liu'er survived until the Sui army entered the city, so that the old Liu family would not be reduced to a tragedy where no one could come to Chen Sangliang to ask for rewards after making great contributions. the point.
At this point, the battle between the Sui army and the Dingyang army finally came to an end. After three large-scale fierce battles in less than a day, the main force of the Sui army led by Chen Sangliang finally defeated the Dingyang army completely, and captured the self-proclaimed Dingyang army alive. Emperor Yang's Liu Wuzhou and his general Zhang Wansui captured all the food, supplies and war horses of Ding Yang's army, and more than 21,000 people were beheaded and captured. Establish a business and protect the capital of the family. Although Song Jingang and Xun Pingding General Yang Jun fled northward to Mayi with some remnants of the defeated army, they were also grasshoppers after autumn, and they would not be able to reach for a few days, and the remaining strength was far from enough to protect themselves. Not to mention another threat to interfere with the Sui army's main attack on Taiyuan.
Of course, the main force of the Sui army was elite and good at fighting, and it also suffered a lot of losses in such a high-intensity and high-density fierce battle. The Qi County veteran Xiong Wei also died in this battle, and nearly 4,000 soldiers were killed and wounded. , but Chen Sangliang no longer cared about going to pay homage to the fallen soldiers to buy people's hearts. After returning to Yuci City, he saw that the situation in the city had stabilized. The point is, the first thing Chen Sangliang asked for was to sleep, and he didn't even care to wash off the dust on his face, so he just lay down on the gums, snoring loudly and fell asleep immediately.
After a good night's sleep, Chen Sangliang, who didn't pay attention to hygiene, lazily got up to wash and change clothes, and dealt with various aftermath affairs until the next day. However, at this time, an unexpected messenger suddenly came Arriving in front of Chen Sangliang—Xue Wanshu, the great warlord of Zhuo County Luo Yi, sent Xue Wanshu as an emissary to copy the Taihang Mountain trail to seek an audience. He not only brought Chen Sangliang the good news that Luo Yi agreed to surrender to the Yining court, but also gave Chen Sangliang the good news. It brought the great news that Luo Yi had sent troops to Hengshan to prevent Dou Jiande from reinforcing the Li brothers. Of course Chen Sangliang was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately ordered to be summoned.
Xue Wanshu is the eldest son of Xue Shixiong, the former Right Royal Guard General. He once met Chen Sangliang at the end of the Yanmen War, and they had a good impression of each other. Of course, they are very happy to reunite, but it is a pity that Xue Wanshu not only has to be the same as last time. He kept praising Chen Sangliang's various great achievements, and even saluted Chen Sangliang Jishou as a minister, calling himself a minister. Fortunately, Chen Sangliang still considered saving face, and personally left the table to help Xue Wanshu, and gave Xue Wanshu a seat and a reward on the spot. Seal hundreds of food towns. Xue Wanshu was also overjoyed, and hurriedly kowtowed to Chen Sangliang again to thank him.
After the necessary cutscenes were over, and the host and guest were seated, Chen Sangliang naturally hurriedly asked why Luo Yi suddenly figured out how to accept his surrender, and even took the initiative to send troops to contain Dou Jiande for him. Xue Wanshu replied truthfully: "His Royal Highness Tang, in fact, King Yan had already intended to surrender, but he was in the gap between the two powerhouses of Taiyuan Li and Dou Jiande at that time, and the premature change of flag would inevitably attract two powerhouses." The enemy was besieging, so it was too late to make up your mind. This time, I heard that your highness, you personally led the king's army to attack Taiyuan in the north, and you fought all the way to the Taiyuan city. His highness, King Yan, has no worries, so... "
"Stop, stop, stop, stop." Chen Sangliang hurriedly stopped Xue Wanshu's eloquence, and said with a smile: "Brother Wanshu, in the court, I am the king of Tang and you are a minister, so I should say some euphemisms. But now We are not talking in court, but in private, so there is no need to waste saliva on those scenes. Tell the truth, how did King Yan make up his mind? This is very important to me, and it is equally important to King Yan. "
"Your Highness is still as straightforward as five years ago." Xue Wanshu smiled, and then said: "Since Your Highness doesn't want to listen to polite words, then I will tell the truth. King Yan heard that Your Highness, you are flying in a day. The matter of recruiting Wang Fubao for two hundred miles made him decide to return to Yizhi. King Yan said that if you can recognize talents and love talents so much, then he will not suffer any grievances when he comes to your command, let alone worry about what kind of birds will die. Gongzang, rabbit dead dog cooking."
Speaking of this, Xue Wanshu hurriedly said: "As for sending troops to Hengshan to contain Dou Jiande, it was the suggestion of Xue Wanjun, the third brother of the last general. The third brother of the last general thinks that Your Highness, you will lead the main force in the northern expedition to Taiyuan, and you must not want to prolong the war. Relying on Dou Jiande's support, we will definitely defend Taiyuan's strong city with all our strength and wait for reinforcements. Therefore, instead of directly sending troops to Taiyuan to participate in the siege war, it is better to send troops to contain Dou Jiande's reinforcements, so that His Highness will have no worries, and also directly hit the morale of the Li brothers. , Let the Taiyuan bandit army know that there is no rescue and the morale of the army collapsed. Yan Wang also listened to the suggestion of the third brother of the last general, so he sent the third and fourth brothers of the last general to lead an army of 8,000 to attack Hengshan County to prevent Dou Jiande from reinforcing Taiyuan. "
"Okay, okay, okay." Chen Sangliang was so happy that he didn't even know how to speak. He patted his thigh and applauded happily, "In the future, I must thank Brother Wanjun well. His strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao is really helpful. I'm in a hurry, Zhuojun's army attacked Hengshan County to cut off Dou Jiande's way of advancing, it is indeed hundreds of times stronger than directly sending troops to Taiyuan to help me attack the city. Great plan! Brother Wanjun is really a general. He will be promoted heavily!"
Overjoyed, Chen Sangliang simply smiled at Xue Wanshu and said, "Wanshu, would you like to work hard for me and lead an army of two thousand to march eastward to capture the two cities of Shouyang and Shiai in the east of Yuci?" , seize Jingxing Pass by the way, and open up direct contact with your two younger brothers?"
"Your Highness sent me, how dare the general refuse to follow?" Xue Wanshu hurriedly cupped his hands, and said in embarrassment: "But the general came on a mountain road this time, and there were only two followers with him, so he didn't have any troops to use?"
"It's okay, I'll give it to you." Chen Sangliang smiled and said, "I'll give you 800 elite soldiers and 1,200 new attached troops, and let you take the two cities and one pass for me."
As soon as he returned, he was granted military power by Chen Sangliang, and he was able to take charge of his own side. Of course, Xue Wanshu was very excited. He immediately knelt down and swore his lifelong allegiance to Chen Sangliang. Chen Sangliang picked him up again with a smile, comforted him with kind words, but muttered in his heart: "I don't know who you Xue family brothers are? I'm not being generous to you, how can I treat your third and fourth brothers Pulled from Luo Yi? Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche are both super fierce generals with a hundred loyalty points! There is also the future Xue Rengui, who seems to have something to do with you. Catch them all?"
Chen Sangliang's shit luck after becoming king and hegemony was surprisingly good. He had just sent Xue Wanshu down to rest, have a banquet and prepare for the expedition. Liang reported a great news—that is, Li Jiancheng secretly hoarded a large amount of food and grass in Yuci City for the reinforcement of Dou Jiande. , It also greatly eased the urgent need for difficult grain and grass transfer.
While smiling happily, Chen Sangliang did not forget the situation of the Taiyuan battlefield in the west. Fortunately, the road is not far away, and Li Jing also reported the situation of the Taiyuan battle to Chen Sangliang at any time, so Chen Sangliang just asked, and the confidential secretary Sun Fujia immediately He reported to Chen Sangliang: "Your Highness, please rest assured that everything is going well in Taiyuan. After we found out that our army ambushed Liu Wuzhou, although Li Jiancheng once sent an army to share the pressure for Liu Wuzhou, but the old general Qu Tu fought back. They had no choice, so they abandoned the camp and returned to the city at four o'clock the night before, and the old general Qu Tu took advantage of the momentum to pursue and kill more than 1,800 Taiyuan rebels, and also captured a lot of military supplies."
"Also." Sun Fujia smiled and added: "Yuan Shangshu also reported to you, His Royal Highness, that he discovered that the wind direction had changed the night before, and within ten days, the flow of Fenshui must begin to increase. So Li Shangshu asked for instructions. , Should our main force move camp? The Chongsheng Temple in the northeast corner of Taiyuan (later also known as Tongping Temple, Pingjin City, Jinyuan Town today) is a good choice.”
Although he has been avoiding this question, but at this point in the war, Chen Sangliang has to face this cruel choice. Is he responsible for the lives of his soldiers? Or is it responsible for the lives of innocent people in Taiyuan City
So after hesitating for a long time, Chen Sangliang still remained silent and did not make any statement. Sun Fujia, who had followed Chen Sangliang for nearly two years, observed Chen Sangliang's hesitation and said cautiously: "Your Highness , students know that you can’t bear it, but we have no choice. The city of Taiyuan is high and deep, the walls are strong, and the food and grass in the city are abundant. For a long time, not only the people in Taiyuan will suffer, but the people all over the world will suffer."
Chen Sangliang still didn't speak, and after a long time, Chen Sangliang said slowly: "Reply to Li Shangshu, agreeing to move his camp to Chongsheng Temple, and tell him by the way, I will go back to my teacher the day after tomorrow to meet with you." He meets."
"Promise." Sun Fujia hurriedly clasped his fists and sang the promise, saying that His Royal Highness Tang finally figured it out, and quickly wrote a reply letter to Li Jing for Chen Sangliang. Chen Sangliang signed the letter and asked Sun Fujia to send a fast horse to deliver it Back to the main camp, he asked Sun Fujia to send someone to escort Zhu Can by the way. Sun Fujia, who was already very familiar with Chen Sangliang's bad character, was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, do you want Zhu Can to pretend to run away?" Go back to Taiyuan City to act as an internal response for our army? Zhu Can is a capricious person who forgets righteousness when he sees profit, is he unreliable at all?"
"It's not just capricious? Seeing profit and forgetting righteousness?" Chen Sangliang said with a sneer, "It's an insult to describe him as a wolf, a dog, and a beast, so you still have to ask Yuchi Jingde to personally put Zhu Can in custody." Come on, I have to prevent this beast from jumping over the wall in a hurry, which is not good for me."
Sun Fujia was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly asked again: "Your Highness, since you know Zhu Can's nature very well, why do you still want to see him? Wouldn't it be over if you cut him off?"
"Because I want to use his insidious viciousness to deal with an even more insidious and vicious enemy for me." Chen Sangliang replied lightly, waved his hand again, and said, "Don't ask any more questions, go pass the order."
Only then did Sun Fujia take the order to leave, and Chen Sangliang, who was always lazy, rarely picked up a pen himself, wrote a few lines on a piece of official defense document, signed it and stamped it again. Not long after that, Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia brought Zhu Can to Chen Sangliang. What made Chen Sangliang dumbfounded was that Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia seemed to be frightened by his previous words. Not only did they bring Zhu Can with five flowers tied up, but they also brought in ten knife and axemen, who surrounded Zhu Can in a circle, ready to cut people at any time.
Of course, Zhu Can is also a character who can bend and stretch. Facing this kind of serious mistrust of himself, Zhu Can still dare not show the slightest dissatisfaction on his expression, and still obediently knelt down on his knees, and said respectfully: "The guilty minister Zhu Can, kowtow to His Highness the King of Tang, Your Highness..."
"Shut up!" Chen Sangliang interrupted angrily, and roared: "Criminal? Under my command, when have I ever had a subject like you? I have been fighting for eight years, and I have commanded more than a million soldiers? Among the millions of soldiers, You are such a scum, almost caused the death of tens of thousands of my soldiers in vain! In the end, you helped the villains of the Li family and killed hundreds of soldiers under the command of the king with your own hands! This king is ashamed of using you , and never appointed you any position, what qualifications do you have to call yourself a criminal in front of this king?!"
It's rare to see the mild-mannered Chen Sangliang get so angry, Yuchi Jingde didn't even bat an eyelid, grabbed Zhu Can by the back of the neck with his left hand and lifted him up, and punched Zhu Can directly with his right hand On the face, Zhu Can's face was covered with blood, and blood was flying from the mouth, and several teeth fell out. Zhu Can hated secretly in his heart, but he didn't dare to resist and couldn't resist, so he could only beg for mercy with his mouth full of blood, "Your Highness, forgive me, Your Highness, forgive me, the sinner is convicted, the sinner deserves death, the sinner deserves to die, please Your Highness look at the sinner For the sake of usefulness, spare the life of the sinner."
Stopping Yuchi Jingde and continuing to beat Zhu Can, Chen Sangliang said to Zhu Can again: "Yes, what you said is good, you are still useful to this king, and this king may consider spare your life, but well, It depends on whether you are obedient or not."
"Sinners are obedient, and sinners must be obedient." Zhu Can nodded his head quickly, and then asked cautiously: "Your Highness, do you want Sin Jiang to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan...?"
"Why are you all smarter than the other? Can you all guess what this king is planning?" Chen Sangliang smiled, and said with a smile: "Yes, this king wants you to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan and return to Li Erlang's side for the sake of you." He works."
As soon as Zhu Can heard the complaint, he hurriedly said with a mournful face: "Your Highness, it's not that the sinner is unwilling to serve you, but you also know that Li Erlang is very cunning, and the sinner will definitely suspect the sinner when he goes back now, and will not immediately trust him." Sinners. Moreover, Taiyuan City is heavily guarded and it is difficult to get in and out. Even if the sinners detect some military aircraft, they will not be able to send them out of the city?"
"Your Highness, if you still don't believe in sinners, then let them be siege vanguards." Zhu Can also put up a fight and volunteered: "Your Highness, when you attack Taiyuan City, sinners, please let them join the Death Squadron." city, or the sinner will bring back ten bandit heads to make atonement, or the sinner will fight to the death of the city leader to make atonement with death.”
"My king doesn't want you to attack the city with ants, and I don't want you to be an internal response to spy on military planes for this king." Speaking slowly, Chen Sangliang walked up to Zhu Can with the official defense that he had written in his own handwriting. Guan Fang turned to Zhu Can and said, "I just want you to take it to Li Erlang."
Taking a closer look at the official document in Chen Sangliang's hand, Zhu Can was dumbfounded on the spot, and almost suspected that his eyes had been broken by Yuchi Jingde and misread it. He was carrying Zhu Can's Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia They also widened their eyes at the same time, and exclaimed together: "Your Highness, are you joking?"
The content of the official defense signed by Chen Sangliang and printed is very simple, and the full text is as follows: Li Shimin was named Wei Guogong, Youxiao Cavalry General, Jin Ziguanglu Doctor, rewarded gold and silver each with a thousand taels, and granted death certificates, except for treason, life Don't die!
Unbelievable effort blinked a few times, and repeatedly confirmed that he was not mistaken, Zhu Can asked in surprise: "Your Highness, do you want sinners to recruit Li Erlang for you? Don't you always hate that traitor to the bone? How could you even think of recruiting him? Give him such a great grace?"
"This king always likes to repay grievances with virtue. As long as they surrender, this king has no habit of killing." Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "This king also doesn't like Li Erlang very much, but there is a big event coming soon, and I will use him again." power, so as long as he is willing to do something for this king, this king can give him these graces."
"Your Highness, what do you want Li Erlang to do for you?" Zhu Can asked timidly.
"Let him persuade Li Jiancheng to surrender in Kaesong. If he succeeds, I will give him this grace." Chen Sangliang said coldly: "If Li Jiancheng refuses to surrender, Li Erlang will kill Li Jiancheng and lead the defenders and clan to surrender in Kaesong. This king will still give him this kind of grace! The Li clan, this king will never kill!"
Zhu Can was speechless, and after a little calculation, Zhu Can asked timidly: "Your Highness, what if Li Erlang chooses to refuse to surrender again?"
"Then you can find an opportunity to kill Li Erlang for me." Chen Sangliang said bluntly: "After you return to the city, you can directly tell Li Erlang that you were captured alive by me, and then say that you pretended to surrender and I tricked you into living Go back to the city and be forced to bring him a letter and a message. If he agrees to surrender, you will help him. If he refuses, you will find an opportunity to kill him and come to me with his head. Whether you can Help me persuade Li Erlang to surrender, or help me obtain Li Erlang's head, I will pardon your previous crimes, and give you a five-rank official position, a thousand acres of fertile land, gold and silver in the house, and a nobility. "
After thinking about it for less than three seconds, Zhu Can agreed to Chen Sangliang's request - because at least he could escape immediately to save his life. Chen Sangliang was not very reassured about Zhu Can, and arranged for someone to secretly escort Zhu Can back to Taiyuan and hand it over to Li Jing, and then asked Li Jing to send someone to monitor Zhu Can carrying books into the city, and even confessed to his subordinates in front of Zhu Can, saying yes Once Zhu Can is found to have committed any wrongdoing, he can be executed immediately! Then Chen Sangliang put the official defense in an envelope, sealed it with wax paint and handed it to Zhu Can.
Zhu Can was escorted away, and Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia were also very puzzled, and hurriedly asked together: "Your Highness, are you really planning to recruit Li Erlang? Didn't you always hate him to the bone, why do you still want to surrender?" Him? Also, our army has already reported that Li Erlang is weak in Taiyuan's bandit army, and he can't beat Li Jiancheng at all, so it's useless to recruit him?"
"Don't underestimate Li Erlang, he doesn't have many soldiers, but his identity is there after all, and he still has a certain voice and influence in the Taiyuan bandit army." Chen Sangliang said calmly: "There is also the Li clan. Before, the Li family brothers were fighting for power in Daxing, and the Li clan stood by Li Er's side. Later, after Li Er was driven back to Taiyuan by us, the situation weakened, and the Li clan was attacked by Li Jiancheng in retaliation. Li Shentong is surnamed Li alone, and now that the situation has reached this stage, these members of the Li clan will probably still stand by Li Er."
"Then Your Highness, why didn't you just recruit Li Jiancheng?" Yuchi Jingde asked suspiciously: "Your Highness, you and Li Jiancheng have always had a very good relationship. During the Tongguan war, you even entrusted each other's family members before the battle. You should personally recruit him. Very hopeful?"
Chen Sangliang smiled, very bitterly, and said: "If Li Jiancheng can be recruited so easily, then he won't think about attacking our army in Queshu Valley, let alone drag Dou Jiande and Liu Wuzhou into the battlefield , retreated to the city of Taiyuan and made a dying struggle. Flooding Taiyuan may break the city, but it may not force him to surrender."
Yuchi Jingde closed his mouth, and then Sun Fujia cautiously reminded: "Your Highness, if Li Erlang really accepts your offer to surrender, and really persuades Li Jiancheng to surrender or kills Li Jiancheng to surrender, then how What to do? His ambition and scheming are very dangerous?"
"For the sake of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Taiyuan, I am willing to take the risk of keeping Li Erlang by my side!" This was Chen Sangliang's beautiful answer.
"It's true that I wrote the check, but this bank... huh." This was Chen Sangliang's sneer.