Chapter 61 Yan Wang Li Yi

The imperial edict issued by Shangshu Province to confer the title of General Wang Zuoyiwei of Yan County, General Tianjie, General Manager of Jingzhou Road, Li Yikai, Fu Yitong and the Third Division was issued to Jingzhou on June 23, the ninth year of Wude. They all came to congratulate.Li Yi didn't turn everyone away, he set up a reward banquet in his own army to entertain the local officials who congratulated him.At the banquet, everyone said congratulatory and beautiful words can be counted, and even Liu Chengdao, the prefect of Jingzhou, praised: "There are 1,200 households in the city, and even King Zhao, who has made great contributions to the southeast, is no more than that! It seems that this time Crown Prince Tiance is in charge, and the King of Yan will make a great use of it!" Yizhou Shoumu complimented him so much, and the others even intensified their praises to Li Yi.

While Li Yi took his younger brother Li Shou, the governor of Lizhou, to thank his colleagues with a wine cup, he humbled himself "received reward for no merit, and I am extremely ashamed". Li Yi's real name is Luo Yi, and his courtesy name is Ziyan. He was originally from Xiangyang, Xiangzhou. He lived in Yunyang, Jingzhao in his early years.Luo Yi had the courage to fight since he was a child, he was good at archery, especially with a spear, and he claimed to be equal to Yuchi Jingde.After joining the army, he made many meritorious service in battles and was promoted to General Huben Zhonglang in Dayezhong.

In the eighth year of Emperor Yangdi's great cause, the imperial court conquered Goryeo, ordered Luo Yi to oversee Beiping County, and was under the command of Li Jingjie, the general of Youwuwei.Luo Yi has been in charge of the army since he was a child, with strict orders and strong combat effectiveness, and he has just shown himself on the battlefield. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, anti-kings all over the country rose up one after another.Zhuo County, where Luo Yi was stationed, was rich in products. When Emperor Yangdi conquered Korea, most of the Sui army’s equipment and supplies were kept in Zhuo County.Zhao Shizhu, He Lanyi, Jin Wenyan and others, the left-behind officer of Zhuojun, could not resist. Only Luo Yi fought alone.Later, Zhao Shizhu and others were jealous of Luo Yi and secretly tried to harm him. After receiving the letter, Luo Yi simply took the opportunity to stand on his own.In the twelfth year of Daye, he publicly announced his oath to raise troops, claiming to be the governor of Youzhou, governing Youzhou and Yingzhou, with 100,000 troops, and became a major separatist force in the north.

The geographical location of Youzhou is extremely important, and it has always been a battleground for military strategists. It connects Turks in the north, and attacks Jin, Hebei, and Lu in the south, so the anti-kings from all over the country have been wooed.Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao once sent envoys to talk about Luo Yi.That's all for Gao Kaidao, Dou Jiande just captured Jizhou in November, and his prestige is in full swing, all the military officials in Youzhou feel that they should take the initiative to join, but Luo Yi refuses after careful consideration.At that time, Zhang Daoyuan, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty, was lobbying in the Shandong area. When he learned that Luo Yi wanted to return to the Tang Dynasty, he immediately sent people to Youzhou, and Luo Yi sent his entire army to the Tang Dynasty.On December 13th of the first year of Wude, Shangshu Province issued an imperial edict, appointing Luo Yi as the general manager of Youzhou.And in October of the following year, Luo Yi was given the surname Li, and he was named the King of Yan County. Since then, Luo Yi has changed his name to Li Yi.

On the 6th, Li Yi led his army to defeat the Jiande army in Hengshui.In May of the third year of Wude, Dou Jiande sent his general Gao Shixing to attack Youzhou. Li Yi defeated his army in Cage Fire City and beheaded five thousand people.In October, Dou Jiande led an army of 200,000 to attack Youzhou again. In December, Li Yi attacked Cage Fire City again and defeated Dou Jiande's army again.Only three years after Li Yi returned to Tang Dynasty, he repelled the invasion of Youzhou by Dou Jiande's army several times.At that time, the Xia army traveled freely and horizontally in the lands of Hebei and Shandong, and they were conquered in every direction. Only Youzhou was defeated repeatedly, and the worries of looking south were like thorns on their backs.In a sense, Li Shimin's ability to defeat Xia Jun in the battle of Wulao had nothing to do with Li Yi's remote control.

In July of the fourth year of Wude, Dou Jiande was defeated and killed in Chang'an. His old generals who hid among the people were afraid of being chased and killed by Tang officials, so they elected Liu Heita, the former general of Dou Jiande's department, as the commander-in-chief, and rebelled against Tang on the 19th.On the 22nd, Tang ordered Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, to shoot at the right servant of Daoxingtai in Shandong Province and lead his troops to conquer.In the eighth month, Liu Heikai, with a crowd of two thousand, built an altar in the south of Zhangzhou to pay homage to the King of Xia.The emperor ordered 3,000 cavalrymen to be dispatched in Guanzhong, and ordered General Qin Wutong and Dingzhou Governor Li Xuantong to lead the army to conquer. At the same time, he also ordered Li Yi to lead troops south to suppress Liu Heita.

In September, Li Shentong led troops from Guannei to Jizhou, joined forces with Li Yijun, and recruited more than 50,000 soldiers from Xing, Ming, Xiang, Wei, Heng, Zhao and other states to fight Liu Heita's army in Raoyang (now Raoyang, Hebei) Northeast) south of the city, Tang Jun was defeated by Liu Jun when he had an absolute military advantage. Li Yi saw that the army was at a disadvantage, so he had to lead his army back to Youzhou.This battle achieved Liu Heita's prestige, and also won the reputation of "the idiot king" for Huai'an County King. Soon, Li Yuan ordered Qin Wang Li Shimin and Qi Wang Li Yuanji to lead troops to attack Liu Heita, and at the same time ordered Li Yi to go south from Youzhou to attack from both sides.On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Wude, Li Shimin led the Tang army to recover Xiangzhou, marched into Feixiang, and forced Liu Jun into the camp water case.Li Yi led an army of tens of thousands to Gucheng to threaten Liu Jun's rear.On the 30th, Li Yi led his army to fight Liu Jun in Xuhe for half a day, defeated his army, and captured 8,000 people.On February 24th, Li Yi Keding, Luan, Lian, and Zhao Sizhou led an army to join forces with Li Shimin.In March, Li Yi and Li Shimin camped in the south of Mingshui and divided their troops to the north of Mingshui.So the next day Li Shimin led his army to defeat Liu Heita's army in Mingshui, and Liu Heita led the remnants to flee to Turkic.

In June of the same year, Liu Heita raised troops again and led Turkic troops into Shandong to harass Shandong. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan ordered Li Yi to crusade.In October, Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan was defeated and died in Xiabo.Liu Heitai regained his old ground within ten days, and his momentum was greatly improved.In November, Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan ordered Prince Li Jiancheng to attack Liu Heita with his troops.On December 16th, Li Yi recovered Lian and Ding prefectures, and joined forces with Li Jiancheng in Ming prefecture.On the 25th, the Tang army defeated Liu Heita's army.On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Wude, Liu Heikai was captured, and the Hebei area was restored to Tang You.This battle made Li Yi get acquainted with the prince of the Tang Dynasty. Li Jiancheng praised Li Yi's military strategy a lot, and the two have been friends since then.

When Liu Heimai was destroyed, Li Yi asked to enter the court, and Li Yuan treated him well in Chang'an.On February 24th, he worshiped Li Yi as General Zuo Yiwei and lived in Chang'an.It was at this time that Li Yi was involved in the struggle for the position of the Tang royal family.General Zhang Shigui of Tiance Mansion came to his camp for business, but he actually made him wait for two full hours, after meeting Zhang Shigui said a few more words on the grounds that he was ordered by the king, Li Yi ordered the soldiers to release him on the spot.Forty boards were replayed. When Li Yuan heard about this, he was furious and ordered Li Yi to be imprisoned in the prison of Dali Temple. After some days, he was released and returned to his original post.At that time, the Turks repeatedly violated the border, and the emperor was well-known for Li Yi, who was feared by the Turks. On June 14, the eighth year of Wude, he ordered him to be the general manager of the Tianjie Army, guarding Jingzhou, and stationed troops in Huating and Tanzheng Gorge. , in preparation for the Turks.

After the banquet was over, Li Yi left his younger brother alone, summoned Shi Chenfeng and Sima Du Zhongda, the chief ministers of the palace, and threw the silk book sent by Shang Shusheng on the case, saying: "This thing It’s here, please tell me, how do we go next?” Chen Fengdao: "This is obvious. The Kaifuyi and the three divisions are the King Qin's plan to stabilize the King. The Lujiang King's rebellion has just subsided, and the King of Qin is not yet ready to attack the King." Li Shoudao: "Brother, this is an extraordinary time. The crown prince has always been known as benevolent and loving in the court, and his people are loyal to him. Now he is being murdered by the King of Qin. The civil and military forces in the capital are intimidated by the King Qin's power. News, even His Majesty is under house arrest by the King of Qin at this moment. Such a good opportunity cannot be missed. As long as the eldest brother raises his arms and calls out the banner of punishing the King of Qin and the King of Qing, and avenging the Prince and King of Qi, all states and counties in the world will inevitably respond. We send troops to Chang'an , kill Li Shimin, hold His Majesty hostage, hold the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and the big things will be worry-free!"

"Fart!" Li Yi dismissively scolded his whimsical brother: "You think the King of Qin is a three-year-old child who can be bullied at will? He can rule the world without being defeated. It's not because of his fists and legs. Just us With this amount of troops at hand, why not send troops into Chang'an? Li Shimin sent troops to fight over, and it would be good if we could hold Jingzhou." After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at Sima Du Zhongda. Du Zhongda thought for a while, and said slowly: "There is a detailed report, the Turkic army has left Dingxiang at this moment, and it seems that it seems to be going south in a big way at this moment. The Lujiang King's crime happened, and Wang Junkuo took office for the first time. Everything is uncertain, and the people in Youzhou are unstable; The combination of those two things seemed like a good chance for us to go home." Hearing this, Li Yi's eyes lit up immediately, and he said with a smile, "It really is a clever plan!" He thought for a while and said, "Jingzhou City is too small, there are not enough warehouses and resources, and the population is not large, and it is surrounded by Li Jing, Qu Tutong, Ren Gui and Chai Shao's army, and is surrounded by enemies. We have The army is less than 40,000, and the city defense and the local area are not our people, rather than suffering here, it is really better to go back to Youzhou!" Li Shou said excitedly: "That is, we have been operating in Youzhou for many years, and the people there are willing to go back. The city defenses and places are all cultivated by him. The city is tall and strong, with abundant warehouses and rich resources. It's just that Wang Junkuo is Li Shimin's confidant, I'm afraid he won't let eldest brother enter the city." Li Yi said with a smile: "What is Wang Junkuo? At best, he is just an obedient dog of Li Shimin. If the King of Qin leads his troops, I should stay away from him. Wang Junkuo is nothing more than dealing with Lujiang King and other idiot kings." , as long as I can leave this place and reach the city of Youzhou smoothly, it won’t take me even a day to enter the city. To be honest, thanks to the Turkic southward movement, Li Shimin, Li Jing and others are all staring at the north. If we leave at this time, Li Shimin will Even if we want to divide our troops to chase us, we will be powerless. If we wait until he is free, we may not be able to leave even if we want to." He raised his head and asked Li Shou, "Is there any news about Wan Che?" Li Shou shook his head: "I haven't found him yet. I only heard that he is hiding in the west of the Wei River. I don't know where exactly!" Li Yi sighed: "It's a pity, if I had him by my side, then Li Shimin would have come in person, and we wouldn't be powerless." He said to Du Zhongda, "If we want to go back to Youzhou, we need to open a passage through Binzhou, Fangzhou, and Tongzhou, and cross the river from Longmen Ferry to Hedong." Du Zhongda pondered and said: "I'm afraid this matter is not easy to implement now, and nothing else can be considered. Ren Gui is in Taihang, blocking the way of our army, Qu Tutong is in Luoyang, Li Shiji is in Bingzhou, threatening our army from the south to the north." Flank, if you raise your troops and leave now, the river east will be the place where our army will die!" "That's right, if we leave now, we are indeed asking for our own death. What we have to wait for is actually the moment when the Turkic army arrives from the south!" Li Yi sneered. Du Zhongda said: "That's right, if the Turkic army comes to the south, as long as the king withdraws from the front and does not confront the Turkic army, the cavalry outside the Great Wall will go straight to Chang'an. At that time, Li Shimin will definitely call Qu Tutong, Li Shiji, Ren Gui and other troops. Qin Wang Chang'an. When the two armies start fighting under the city of Chang'an, even if Li Shimin wins by chance, his strength will be severely damaged. At that time, we will move our troops eastward, cross the great river, and pass through the Taiwu. All the way will be unimpeded. The heavy troops of the imperial court are all fighting against the Turks in Guanzhong. Wherever the king goes, he almost enters the land of no one. After returning to Youzhou, if the battle situation is not conducive to the imperial court, it is impossible to form an alliance with the Turks in Hebei with Youzhou as the rear. !" A smug smile appeared on Li Yi's face: "So right now we have to stabilize the new crown prince Li Shimin, and issue the seal of congratulations on his entry into the East Palace and the seal of thanks for ennobling me as Kaifu Yi and the third division. Humility and obedience, I have to plead guilty to Zhang Shigui last time, anyway, no matter how I say it, I want him to feel that my enemy will follow his lead in everything in the future, and the two statements are drawn up by Mrs. Chen, cheat or not If you beat Li Shimin, it depends on how well you can read the book!" "Your Majesty is wise!" the three of them chanted together.