Chapter 25 5. Knowing Heroes with Insightful Eyes: Discovering Xu Shi, who wrote the surrender form

For the vigorous development of the Tang army, Li Yuan and Li Shimin, under the advice of Pei Ji, Tang Jian, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and other advisers, searched for talents everywhere and used them.Their selection of talents can be said to be eclectic. Whether they are surrendered soldiers or prisoners, whether they are celebrities of the gentry or mountain hermits, they will try their best to dig out them. Many of them will be reused even if they are discovered accidentally.They strive to get more useful people to serve this gradually developing dynasty. In the process of Li Tang's development, many rivals who were equal to or even stronger than him were defeated one by one, including Li Mi who was once expected by everyone.At the beginning of Li Yuan's rebellion, all the rebels in the world took Li Mi as their leader. Li Yuan and others also jointly wrote a letter to Li Mi, asking him to become emperor, and promising to support him.It is all because the Wagang Army led by Li Mi not only has many talents, but also has a strong military force, which is unmatched in the world.However, the arrogant Li Mi was defeated by the cunning Wang Shichong.In Luoyang, Wang Shichong consumed a large amount of Wagang Army's military power again and again. Li Mi was desperate and even wanted to commit suicide with his sword. Fortunately, he was stopped by Wang Bodang beside him.At that time, Li Yuan had already arrived in Chang'an, supported Emperor Gong of the Sui Dynasty, and regarded himself as a great prime minister, with real power in his hands.Although other rebels also had some who claimed to be emperors, they were vacillating.And because Li Yuan had an old friendship with him before, Li Mi still decided to join Li Yuan.

After Li Mi's defeat, there was actually one of his old troops far away in Liyang, that is, part of the army led by Xu Shi.Xu Shi was originally Zhai Rang's old subordinate. He and Zhai Rang worked hard to build Wagang Village, but they were finally captured by Li Mi.After Zhai Rang's death, Li Mi didn't kill Xu Shi in order to appease the old ministry, but he was not at ease with him.Because in his heart, Xu Shi was not his own after all, and he was afraid that he would do something to harm him because of his loyalty to Zhai Rang, so he asked him to lead a part of the army to leave Luoyang and station in Liyang far away to wait for dispatch.Unexpectedly, after Zhai Rang's death, Wagang Village gradually declined, and was finally destroyed by Wang Shichong.Li Mi thought over and over again, if he went to Liyang under such circumstances, Xu Shi might be disadvantageous to him.So he gritted his teeth and went directly to Chang'an, thinking that if he hadn't blocked the Sui army, how could Li Yuan take Chang'an so easily, and hoped that Li Yuan, who was once called "brother", could treat him kindly.

When Li Yuan saw Li Mi coming to vote for him, although he was secretly happy in his heart, he still respected him and called him "brother", but he only gave Li Mi the position of Guangluqing without real power, which was different from the treatment Li Mi expected. too big.But depending on others, he had no choice but to endure it. But Xu Shi in Liyang was not what Li Mi thought. He saw Li Mi's defeat and was preparing to pick him up, but he learned that Li Mi had already surrendered to Tang.Liu Xie, the counselor under the tent, said to Xu Shi: "At the beginning Li Mi killed Zhai Rang with a heartless heart, but he also had evil intentions towards you. If it weren't for the fact that there was a team of loyal people following him, he might also be against you. Now He ended up like this, and he asked for it.”

But Xu Shi shook his head and said: "When Zhai Rang was killed, many generals in Wagangzhai were forced to leave. Cheng Zhijie, Luo Cheng, Qin Shubao, etc. all went to Tang, but I didn't go because I took Wagang as my mission. I watched it build up bit by bit. Although Zhai Rang is dead, I don't want it to be destroyed. Now that Li Mi is defeated, I am actually very sad." Liu Xie gave advice to Xu Shi, suggesting that he just take this opportunity to establish himself as king and lead the remaining Wagang army to win a corner.But Xu Shi didn't want to. He analyzed the current situation and found that Li Yuan had already controlled most of the troops and had the upper hand.If I raise troops at this time, I can only wait for Li Yuan to destroy me, so I might as well go to Tang myself.

Liu Xie said: "Since the general wants to vote for Tang, we can also gain glory and wealth by dedicating Liyang, where we are currently stationed, to Tang." Xu Shi said: "If I vote for Tang, it will be in the name of Wagangzhai, not for my own glory." He made statistics on the army, weapons and land in the city, and all the luggage and property he owned After compiling it into a book, he went straight to Chang'an all the way. Li Yuan heard that Xu Shi of Wagang Village had arrived in Chang'an, and said to Pei Ji beside him, "The only thing left in Wagang Village is Liyang. This time Xu Shi came here, he must have come to offer the city. So far, we have All Wagang villages have been annexed, so this time we can give a big reward, and it is not an exaggeration to give Xu Shi high-ranking officials a generous salary."

Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others all praised and echoed by their side.Unexpectedly, until the next day, I still did not see Xu Shi coming to visit.Li Yuan was deeply surprised, so he asked Li Shimin to find out what was going on. Did Xu Shijin have other plans in Chang'an? After learning about it, Li Shimin reported to Li Yuan: It turned out that after Xu Shi entered the city, he did not come to join Li Yuan, but went to visit Li Mi first, and dedicated all the atlases of Li Yang's military and land in his hand to Li Mi. Li Yuan was puzzled, and said to Li Shimin, "this Xu Shi is really strange!" Then Uncle Xuan Wang came to see him and asked him what happened.

When Uncle Wang saw that Li Yuan attached great importance to this matter, he reported the incident in detail.It turned out that after he met Xu Shi, he persuaded him to come directly to visit Li Yuan and dedicate the album to him.But Xu Shi said: "I was originally from Wagang Village. Since Li Mi is my lord, how can I go over him to pay a visit to Tang Guogong? Even if I want to offer Li Yang, I should let the lord Li Mi come to offer it. It's not me." Wang Bodang told him that if he directly offered Li Yang to Li Yuan, he might be able to win Li Yuan's favor, not to mention high officials and rich salary.But Xu Shi remained unmoved, and insisted on handing over the album to Li Mi, and it was up to him to decide when to dedicate it to Li Yuan.And a group of old friends from Wagangzhai came to persuade him to visit Li Yuan first, but Xu Shi was still unmoved.

After Xu Shi met Li Mi, he respectfully presented Li Yang's album.Li Mi was greatly moved. He never imagined that after his defeat, Xu Shi would still be so loyal and respectful to him. He said to him: "At the beginning, I really misunderstood you. I always thought that you would be unfaithful to me." Xu Shi said: "Zhai Rang is naturally the master of my Wagang Village, but he is no longer here. Now you are the only one who can lead Wagang Village, so my loyalty to Wagang Village means loyalty to you." Li Mi was ashamed and didn't dare to take it, he only lamented that he hadn't treated him with sincerity at the beginning.

After listening to Wang Bodang's description, Li Yuan was deeply moved by Xu Shi's loyalty. In the current turbulent situation, any general who holds military power may rebel and stand on his own. It is really rare to be loyal to Li Mi.He ordered Wang Bodang to send Xu Shi to visit him quickly. When Xu Shi came to Li Yuan, he was neither humble nor overbearing in his respect.Li Yuan asked him: "Why didn't you dedicate Li Yang's album to me? Instead, you dedicate it to Li Mi? Do you still have the intention of treason?" Xu Shi said: "I take Li Mi as my lord, so naturally I put him first in everything. I am here to offer the city, so how can I have the heart to disobey?"

Li Yuan pretended to be angry and said: "Now that Li Mi has voted under my banner, since you are his subordinate, you are naturally also my subordinate. Shouldn't you put me first?" Xu Shi still said neither humble nor overbearing: "The most important thing for a courtier is the word 'loyalty'. I have been a Wagangzhai person for a day, and I will be a Wagangzhai person for the rest of my life. Although I have voted under your banner now, I First of all, you should be loyal to your lord. If you go over him and offer the city to you, that is disloyal to your lord. How can such a subject be considered a loyal person?"

The words made Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others around Li Yuan nod repeatedly, and Li Yuan also praised him greatly in his heart. This kind of person is very precious in troubled times, and it is exactly what Li Yuan needs.Li Shimin stood up and said: "Xu Shi is loyal to the old master, and the situation is justifiable. I am willing to intercede for him, and ask my father not to punish him." Li Yuan laughed, and said to Xu Shi: "I was just trying to test it, and I am also deeply impressed by what you have done! The more loyal people like you, the more peaceful the world will be." Pei Ji also said: "Xu Shi could have won more wealth and honor for himself, but he didn't care about it. He put his character first. The lord should reward him so that everyone in the world can follow suit." Li Yuan said: "You are right. Since he does not seek wealth and honor, I should give him a higher reward. Then give him the national surname 'Li' and make him Cao Guogong!" Xu Shi heard that Li Yuan praised him not only, but also bestowed him with the surname of the country. He was very happy and moved.It turns out that Tang Guogong is so kind, no wonder the situation has been overwhelming since the beginning of the army, so it seems that the world must be owned by the Li family.When he entered this gate, he was still a defeated general who came to surrender, but when he walked out of this gate, he was already Cao Guogong Li Shi.