The imperial army left a small number of troops to garrison Xiangcheng, and the 400,000 soldiers marched bravely with high morale, and all of them were in high spirits. People who are still alive after the war felt that they had cleared the fog and gradually saw their bright future clearly. They are just ordinary people, what they think about is how to make meritorious service on the battlefield every day and survive. They can't think about any conspiracy, nor can they think about the country.
They only knew that Xiangcheng had already been broken, and Li Yuanshan retreated with hundreds of thousands of remnants, so there was no reason not to pursue them at this time. They only see victory in sight, not any pitfalls.
There is a lot of grain and grass in Xiangcheng, because Li Yuanshan is worried that if he transports all the grain and grass away, the emperor will be suspicious. After supplementing the supplies, the 400,000 army was divided into three groups and continued to march westward.
Sitting on the tall and magnificent imperial chariot, the emperor specially ordered people to open the windows to look at the still depressed scenery outside. This imperial chariot is also called the Xingdian, and it takes hundreds of horses and manpower to pull it. Jin Shixiong sat beside the emperor nervously, looking down at his toes.
The emperor slowly looked away from the window, feeling that the temperature of the hand stove was already slightly cold, but he was too lazy to pass it to Su Buwei to change the charcoal fire. He stuffed the hand stove into his cuff, not sure whether he wanted to warm himself or keep the hand stove for a while longer. temperature.
"Do you know why I took you with me?"
asked the emperor.
Jin Shixiong nodded first, then shook his head immediately: "I don't know."
The emperor sighed slightly: "I took Su Buwei to let him follow me to the end. I took you not to let you die, but to entrust you with an important errand. I won't tell you Where is the knife I hid in this battle, but I can tell you that I will not lose this battle. After the rebellion, the endgame in the Northwest is too chaotic and bad, there must be someone with stronger wrists to guard it... After the decisive battle, I let you sit in the northwest and help the prince clean up this mess."
"Chen..."
Jin Shixiong got up and knelt down: "Your Majesty, please consider again. Since Your Majesty is sure of winning this battle, why take the risk yourself... I am willing to lead 400,000 bravely to pursue Li Ni, and will never disappoint Your Majesty's trust."
"It's not that easy."
The emperor smiled, seeming a little bitter.
"If I don't chase after him personally, Li Yuanshan won't try his best for the final battle. But the most important thing is not this, but the knife I hid in advance, and I have to go there in person to reveal it. I can't do it yet. Let me tell you, you don’t need to ask. There is no room for redemption in this matter, you just need to remember what I told you.”
"I... obey the order."
Jin Shixiong bowed his head.
The emperor said: "Get up, you and I have been a monarch for more than ten years, and have never been restrained like this. Don't be sad, the peace in the northwest is just around the corner, and most of the moths and tumors in the court have been gouged out, so there is nothing to be unhappy about." Unhappy things, if you think that I did this because of a forced decision, then you are wrong... Now I don’t plan to hide anything anymore, my body can’t bear it for a long time, and I will die no matter what. It’s better to walk grandly than to groan on the sickbed, I’m really happy in my heart.”
He asked Jin Shixiong to sit down: "Northwest, it is not easy to govern after chaos. You are a military general, but you are careful and prudent, and I can rest assured that I will hand over the stalls in the Northwest to you. You must remember that even if the people in the Northwest follow the thieves, they will not count." But don't be strict with the law, but give more kindness. The existence of a country is not to kill the people until they are obedient, but to support them so that they can live and work in peace. The people are safe and the country is stable. Regarding the remnants of Li Ni, Kill. For the common people, raise. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Um."
The emperor seemed a little tired, shrank his body into the large seat: "Looking at the uneasy look on your face, I know what you are thinking in your heart. Now I have explained to you how to deal with the chaos, but you have no way to let it go." You are confident in your victory, right?"
"Chen..."
Jin Shixiong opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
"Look."
The emperor waved his hand lazily: "I have made such a big bet, and I know what I will exchange my life for. I thought, if my body is still allowed after defeating Li Ni, I will go to see Langrushan When I first met with Kuoke Taimengge, I came and went in a hurry, so I didn’t take a good look at the westernmost scenery of my river and mountains. Or if I walked around more, maybe I could get better with the spiritual beauty of heaven and earth nourishing my body Woolen cloth?"
He said with a smile: "I used to look at things from the bad side. Now my mind has changed a little, and I want to look at the good side."
"Your Majesty is sure!"
Jin Shixiong said as if swearing.
"Ha ha."
The emperor smiled freely: "I hope so... By the way, there is one more thing that you may not know. Fang Jie is a person you don't know, and you probably have heard of his name before."
"The first name in the Yanwu Academy's entrance examination, I know."
"Well, now your team, he is leading."
The emperor turned his eyes to the window again and said in a natural and calm tone: "I will let him return the military power to you after the war... I always have a feeling."
Jin Shixiong didn't hear what was said later.
"We can't let him lead troops for too long..."
said the emperor.
…
…
270 miles southwest of Xiangcheng
With Sipan Town as the center, there are camps in a radius of more than ten miles. Hundreds of thousands of fine armor have been stationed here for more than ten days, and the people nearby have all avoided the disaster of war. At a glance, there were murderous soldiers everywhere, so that the weather was affected and became colder.
The patrolling soldiers in thick leather armor walked by in a neat formation, and the icicles hanging on the spears were chilling to the heart.
A general in iron armor walked quickly, ran to the tallest military tent in the camp, yelled, and then opened the heavy curtain to get in.
"General, Xiangcheng is broken!"
The person who came in was a man in his twenties, and the armor on his body made a dull sound when he clasped his fists. Just like his voice, it was low and slightly hoarse.
His name is Luo Xiaotu.
A cold and arrogant man who seldom speaks, but today, he couldn't hide the joy on his face.
The middle-aged man sitting behind the table stopped his hand movements and glanced at the half-written characters. There were three thick ink characters written on the rice paper, but these three characters seemed incoherent.
Allow
snatch
expand
Hearing the news that Xiangcheng had been broken, he paused for a moment and finished writing the last word.
Certainly
Luo Xiaotu looked at the four characters on the rice paper, and the joy on his face gradually calmed down.
"Xiao Tu...you are still not calm enough."
The middle-aged man who wrote hung the wolf hair on the pen stand, turned around and walked to the map to look at it: "You look very happy, so tell me, what is there to be happy about?"
Luo Xiaotu pondered for a while and said: "Back to the general, Xiangcheng has been broken. The emperor led an army of 400,000 to pursue the remnant of Li Yuanshan, and he has entered Li Yuanshan's ambush. Things are going well, so the subordinates feel more at ease. Practicing down is not enough."
"400,000?"
Luo Yao was slightly taken aback: "According to calculations, there are far more troops left in the imperial court than this number."
"Back to the general, according to the news from the spies, the emperor took Gao Kaitai as the main general and led an army of 200,000 to garrison in the Qinchuan area. The emperor brought 400,000 people with him to cross Xiangcheng and head west."
After Luo Yao was silent for a while, he couldn't help but smiled: "The emperor is still worried about me. Gao Kaitai used his troops calmly. The emperor asked him to garrison Qinchuan with 200,000 people. It was me who was guarding... What the emperor was worried about was that he would bring The soldiers chased after Li Yuanshan, and I led the soldiers to copy the back route of the imperial army, hehe... If the emperor does not trust his ministers, and his ministers do not respect the emperor, the strength of the Sui Dynasty is really coming to an end."
"General, what shall we do?"
Luo Xiaotu asked a question.
"Do you think Li Yuanshan's strategy is really so easy to succeed?"
Luo Yao looked back at Luo Xiaotu and said indifferently: "I told you, the emperor is an unborn emperor. It was the first time that Li Yuanshan cheated the imperial court's 700,000 troops in Mandu Banner. The emperor fell into his trap. Wrong. But the emperor is not the kind of person who would trip over the same rock twice. It would be a joke if he couldn't see through Li Yuanshan's arrangement. Moreover, Li Yuanshan set up an ambush circle as big as 270 miles away , With the troops in his hands now, it is impossible to trap the emperor to death...Put your hopes on me, on the people of Mengyuan, Li Yuanshan has already lost."
He kicked an opponent out of the game with an understatement: "He is no longer qualified to stay on the chessboard because he is too arrogant. People in Mengyuan will not be willing to only make knives. The Yuan people couldn't resist, and Kuoketai Mengge had been looking forward to it for more than ten years, but the Mengyuan people's thoughts were not only on the emperor, as long as the emperor died, the Mengyuan people would also get rid of Li Yuanshan before returning to the grassland. "
"Why?"
Luo Xiaotu asked.
"Because Koktemongo doesn't want a neighbor with a strong army."
Luo Xiaotu was silent, and then asked: "Then shall we march or not?"
"Enter."
Luo Yao said with a smile: "Naturally, I want to enter the army. Otherwise, what would I do with the troops in the northwest? Whether Li Yuanshan plots against the emperor, or the emperor plots against Li Yuanshan, I am still an outsider until now. Only when I enter the army can I truly enter the game." .No matter what the emperor's calculations are, he only has those troops left. No matter what Li Yuanshan's calculations are, he doesn't have many people in his hands. Gao Kaitai... I haven't paid attention to it yet. "
"Send someone to tell Kuoketai Menglie to fight Gao Kaitai. Two hundred thousand wolf cavalry fight two hundred thousand infantry, and the scene should be spectacular."
"Then where are we going to march?"
"Another game."
Luo Yao smiled lightly and said: "The situation I set up... I have already ordered all the troops in Yongzhou to mobilize, so I should have already crossed the Yishui River. As long as I cross the Yangtze River again, the 700,000 troops will send troops to the Central Plains. I will lead the troops to the east Crossing the river and joining forces with Yongzhou soldiers, I have never set my sights on this exhausted place in the northwest, but on the city called Chang'an."
Luo Xiaotu was taken aback for a moment, and then cupped his fists together: "This subordinate is willing to follow the general and create a great cause that will last forever!"
Luo Yao smiled and said nothing.
He picked up the pen again and wrote a line of small characters on the rice paper.
West becomes east and becomes ethereal without a trace, south and north also have a beginning and no end
Luo Xiaotu glanced at it, but didn't understand.