Chapter 584 Chapter Seven

Kou Zhong entered Cijian City and climbed the tower. Wang Shichong was overlooking Li Shimin's situation from a high altitude. , Song Mengqiu, and the surrendered generals Duan Da, Shan Xiongxin, and Bing Yuanzhen cast by Li Mi.Yang Gongqing was not among them. Seeing Kou Zhong coming, Wang Shichong smiled and said: "Young commander, please come to me quickly." Then he said to the other generals: "I want to speak to the young commander in private." The generals moved to the distance on both sides, leaving Wang Shichong standing alone on the tower. When Kou Zhong came to him, the first impulse in his heart was to ask him why he was so ruthless to Linglongjiao, and finally suppressed this impulse, and said calmly: "What is the order from the Holy One?"

Wang Shichong's expression became solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "Li Shimin is worthy of being a famous general in the world, and he came three days earlier than I expected. If the young commander hadn't made a decisive decision this morning and took the initiative to attack, my army would have been caught off guard when it arrived, although it was not decided like this Victory or defeat will definitely shake the morale of our army. Although the enemy has nearly 20,000 more enemies than us, we still have a city to defend, and the situation is still much more favorable."

Without Wang Xuanying being in the way, the atmosphere of the conversation between the two is relatively harmonious, and everyone is a person who knows how to fight, which can save a lot of unnecessary emotional disputes. Kou Zhong didn't answer, because he knew he had more to say. Wang Shichong meditated for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked, "Where did the other fifty thousand people go?" Kou Zhongdao: "I have something from the bottom of my heart, I hope the Holy Majesty can listen to it." Wang Shichong turned his head to look at him and said, "Speak!"

Kou Zhong smiled and said, "I'll talk about this later, the Holy Majesty summoned me, do you want to ask Ziling what he wants from me?" Wang Shichong said: "If you don't tell the secret words between you brothers, I will never blame you." Kou Zhong said calmly: "Although it is a secret word, it has a lot to do with the Holy Majesty. Ziling told me: Shi Zhixuan once again came to the world to do evil, his goal is to prevent me from leaving Luoyang alive, and Li Shimin cannot return to Guanzhong alive. The world is very likely to become something in Shi Zhixuan's pocket."

Wang Shichong showed a look of shock, then he calmed down again, and asked solemnly, "What does the young commander mean?" Kou Zhongdao: "If Luoyang is destroyed, the Holy Majesty only needs to say surrender to Li Yuan, and Li Shimin will never dare to touch you. It is because of Shuni's relationship, but Li Shimin will never allow me to live. Since Luoyang fell into Li Yuan's hands, and Li Shimin will never dare to touch you. Guanzhong echoes each other, and Dou Jiande can no longer do anything, and Li Shimin's use value will also come to an end at that time, my idea is that simple."

Wang Shichong sneered, "This is just Shi Zhixuan's wishful thinking. Luoyang will never fall, never will." Kou Zhongdao: "My heartfelt words are aimed at whether Luoyang can be saved or not. If the Holy Majesty can put aside all concerns, ignore how Li Shimin mobilizes to attack other important fortresses, and stick to Cijian, there will be a great chance to save Luoyang .” Wang Shichong said in a deep voice, "Do you know Li Shimin's overall plan?" Kou Zhongdao: "That's not hard to guess. Except for the 55,000 main force that came to attack Cijian, Li Shimin divided the rest of his troops into four groups, of which the main event was crossing the river from Heyang to attack Huiluo. The other three groups were just harassment. Its nature is to hold back the army of the Holy Majesty, so that the Holy Majesty does not dare to reduce the strength of Luoyang, and it is difficult for the troops from other cities to transfer to Cijian to join the battle."

Wang Shichong turned his eyes back to the distant enemy camp outside the city, and muttered twice: "Go back to Luocheng! Go back to Luocheng!" Kou Zhongdao: "Now Heyang is in command of the Tang army. Huang Junhan, as long as he defends Heyang, he can hold back our reinforcements and cannot advance or retreat. On the other hand, he cannot defend Cijian. The only way now is to let other cities go. Fallen, if you can keep Cijian, Luoyang will be as stable as Mount Tai. At that time, it will be Li Shimin's turn to sink in the mud, unable to advance or retreat. If Li Shimin is driven back to his hometown, won't the lost city be brought back at hand?"

Wang Shichong looked at him again, and asked after a long while, "Can we keep the Cijian stable?" Kou Zhong sighed: "I'm afraid only God is qualified to answer the question of the Holy Majesty, and it depends on the judgment and determination of the Holy Majesty. The relationship between Cijian is very important. Once it falls, the blow to the morale of the army is immeasurable. I am most afraid that there will be more Luo Shixin. Your Majesty will be overwhelmed." Wang Shichong said decisively: "Okay! I will stick to Cijian with all my strength according to the young commander's words."

Looking out of the city, he said slowly, word by word: "If I hand over the army to the command of the young marshal, what are the chances of the young marshal winning?" Kou Zhong was both surprised and delighted when he heard this, knowing that Wang Shichong lost confidence after seeing the military formation of the Tang Dynasty, so he became dependent on him.Wang Shichong knew very well that if he was Kou Zhong, he would not dare to face the enemy's army which was several times larger than his own. However, Kou Zhong was able to attack under this disadvantage and won a small victory. He has won Wang Shichong and the army. General's goodwill and respect.Otherwise, Wang Shichong would not have said this.

Kou Zhong glanced at the lights stretching across the enemy line, laughed and said, "Then Li, what a difficult trip today!" Li Shimin pondered: "Sometimes I really can't understand why you and Kou Zhong are together. Just by looking at your eyes, you can tell that you have completely different personalities. Kou Zhong seems to be looking for new things, adventures and excitement, defeating opponents and conquering all the time. Opportunities for your opponents, but Ziling, you don’t care about the world, you just want to live a life of peace with the situation. Does Ziling agree with my judgment of you?”

Xu Ziling said in a daze, "I never thought you would look at Kou Zhong like this. It is true that he is a person who is full of curiosity about new things, but he is not unreasonable. It is just that he has his own set of views and ideals, and it is not the case that others, including I can change him inside." Li Shimin said happily: "This is exactly what Feixuan thinks of Kou Zhong. She wants me to say what I think of the two of you, and then express my own opinion. She pointed out that unless I can win the battle of Luoyang Destroy Kou Zhong, even kill him, otherwise there will be a confrontation between North and South in the future, and then there is only one person who can resolve this deadlock, and that is you, Xu Ziling." Xu Ziling froze for a moment, then said bitterly: "Is that what she said? Feixuan thinks highly of me! Alas! The problem is that when the North-South confrontation forms, it is not about Kou Zhong alone, but about Song Que, the Song Clan, and the whole Southerners who supported the Han Tong, under the circumstances, I am afraid that there is nothing I can do.” Li Shimin sighed: "I also expressed the same opinion to Feixuan, but she didn't answer me directly. She only said that when the world needs Xu Ziling most, Ziling will do his part." Xu Ziling smiled bitterly and said, "This is called the unfathomable heart of the immortal. Didn't she want me to fight with Kou Zhong?" Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Tell Ziling frankly! I will do my best to avoid becoming a mortal enemy with Kou Zhong. But if my efforts fail, I will put everything aside and do my best to deal with him. Otherwise, if Song Que and Kou Zhong are united , the consequences would be unimaginable.” After a pause, he continued: "Shimin is really grateful to Ziling for telling about Shi Zhixuan's conspiracy. I will deal with it carefully, and I will not teach traitors to succeed, and follow in the footsteps of Sui Yang." Kou Zhong stepped out of the city gate, Yang Gongqing came up to meet him and said, "What did he say?" Kou Zhong whispered, "How about going outside the camp?" Yang Gongqing sent people to bring the horses, and the two rode out of the camp together. On the way, they met Ma Chang. Ma Chang smiled and said: "If it is not for the young commander to accompany him, the young general will definitely stop Yang Lao from leaving the camp. The young commander knows the strategy The government has the habit of sending people to fight with the enemy camp. They challenge another enemy repeatedly in the middle of the night. This can not only harass the enemy, but also show off their power if the other party can't shrink back. If you send troops out of the camp to hunt down, then say Maybe it will fall again. Ha! But this time they didn’t dare to repeat this technique, because we have a young commander to help us out, and they will go around endlessly if they are annoyed by the young commander.” Kou Zhong laughed and said: "Your elder brother's words made me very happy, and he is really a master of flattering." After leaving the camp, Kou Zhong said: "Ma Chang is quite a good guy, he is courageous and resourceful. Let's see that he can still joke around with ease. At that time, he didn't care about life and death." Yang Gongqing said: "This man is indeed a man. Yes! What tricks does Wang Shichong have?" Kou Zhong and him galloped up a small hill, carefully observed the situation far and near, and said with a smile: "Wang Shichong is afraid to fight!" Yang Gongqing was stunned and said: "He hasn't formally confronted Li Shimin yet, but he's actually scared, is he still using it?" Kou Zhongsun said: "What big battle did he fight? Li Mi's battle was won by Mr. Yang and I. His so-called victories in the past were just serving the strong and bullying the weak, and suppressing the rebel army who hadn't become a climate for Yang Guang. Li Shimin There are countless famous teachers in the world, the military strength is stronger than ours, the training is better than ours, his generals are like clouds, and his advisors are like rain. It might be better if he can't defend him behind the high wall of Luoyang. How can he not feel guilty and discouraged in the plain battle? Damn!" Yang Gongqing was puzzled and said, "Even if he was afraid, he wouldn't tell you." Kou Zhong stared intently at the brightly lit enemy camp in the distance, and said with a smile: "Of course he won't confide in me, but he asked me to offer advice by his side tomorrow, and if he indirectly commands the army for him, as a person, he is not a coward. How dare you make such an arrangement." Yang Gongqing said in astonishment: "Tomorrow? Li Shimin's position is not stable, so he shouldn't attack so soon!" Kou Zhong said in a deep voice: "This is exactly my strategy. It doesn't matter if Li Shimin comes to attack tomorrow or not, we will also send troops to demonstrate and invite Li Shimin to come to a small test. If he can't shrink back, we will Just take it as a rehearsal, if he dares to fight, he will be led by the nose." Yang Gongqing took a deep breath and said: "Will the young commander overestimate our combat capability? In this hilly plain, if we can win, we can go straight ahead, otherwise the army will be defeated like a mountain. Success, the whole army is exhausted at every turn. Li Shimin's Eastern Expeditionary Army is carefully selected from the 600,000 troops of the Tang Dynasty. It is the best of the best. It is unwise for us not to rely on the city to fight. The young commander must think twice." Kou Zhong smiled calmly and said, "I don't have the extravagant hope of defeating Li Shimin's army tomorrow, but how can we win this battle without taking some risks? If we wait for the Tang army to recharge their batteries and attack, it is better for us to strike first. If we can fight tomorrow If the spring is evenly divided, the morale of our army will be boosted, and the enemy will be just the opposite." Then he lowered his voice and said: "Mr. Yang, don't blame me for speaking bluntly. From the commander in chief to the soldiers, most people have the same opinion of Tang Jun as you, Mr. Yang. They thought that coming to Cijian was just a false story. In the end, I still have to go back to defend Luoyang. But I don’t think so, so I let Li Xiaozi show me Kou Zhong’s methods here.” Yang Gongqing pondered for a while, then sighed: "Now I understand more and more the difference between the young commander and us, but is that coward Wang Shichong willing to take this risk?" Kou Zhong laughed dumbly and said, "Who told him to be emperor, of course he has to bet on it! Come on! Let's have a look around, so that we can work hard for tomorrow's big battle." Li Shimin personally sent Xu Ziling out of the case, accompanied by Changsun Wuji, Yuchi Jingde, Pang Yu, Luo Shixin and more than ten escorts. Xu Ziling said embarrassingly: "Brother Shimin, you don't need to give it away!" Li Shimin said happily: "I'm just passing by! As usual, I'm going to visit the battlefield and do some homework. How about sending Ziling a horse?" Xu Ziling shook his head and said, "I still like to walk on two legs, brother Shimin, you're welcome." Li Shimin turned his head and said to the soldiers: "You stay here." Then he dragged Xu Yuling away for more than ten steps, and said in a low voice: "Do you still remember Chang Shanni of Yuhe Temple in Chang'an? Through her, the information can be sent to Cihang Jingzhai to Feixuan. Sigh! Do you think she should know about Shi Zhixuan?" Xu Ziling was shocked, suddenly, Shi Feixuan was no longer as unreachable as before, at least there was a way to contact her. Li Shimin said: "Ziling will figure it out!" Then he said a little bit hard: "When Ziling returns to Chang'an, can you do me a favor?" Xu Ziling collected his thoughts and said, "As long as we can do what we can, I will do it for Brother Shimin." Li Shimin's eyes flashed brightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Try to kill Yin Zuwen and anyone who is proficient in seven-needle god control. This kind of magic is a great threat to me." Xu Ziling agreed in his heart that even the toughest man would not be able to bear this kind of terrible torture. If Li Shimin's confidants were taken captive and tortured, maybe Li Shimin's secrets would be revealed.Just imagine if Li Shimin wants to deal with Jiancheng and Yuanji, and this matter is exposed again, how will Li Yuan deal with Li Shimin? He said lightly: "This matter is on me." Li Shimin smiled bitterly and said, "On the one hand, I beg you to do something, but on the other hand, I want to kill your brother! How will Ziling look at me, Li Shimin?" Xu Ziling accompanied him with a wry smile and said, "The two things should not be confused, I have no choice but to think so." Li Shimin said again: "There is also Yang Wenqian. Although Jingzhaolian has collapsed, Yang Wengan's power is still there. However, if he is transferred from the ground to the underground, if he is not eliminated for a day, there will be endless troubles in the end. Under normal circumstances, Yang Wengan will not be of much use, but In Chang'an, when the father is completely on the side of Jiancheng, Yang Wengan and his subordinates will be a force that cannot be ignored." Xu Ziling said: "I will try my best to dig him out, and put this on my mind for brother Shimin." Li Shimin pulled him up and shook his hands vigorously, saying: "Zi Ling cherishes it!" Kou Zhong and Yang Gongqing made a big circle, passed through a forest in the north, reined in their horses and stopped when they reached the edge of the forest. Yang Gongqing smiled and said, "Is the young commander already prepared?" Kou Zhong nodded and said: "Now I am more sure." Then he pointed to a small hill between the two camps and said: "If I were Li Shimin, I would use this hill as a commanding platform, so that I can see the whole situation and not be afraid of being attacked by the enemy." Raid." Yang Gongqing said: "What if we occupy this hill first?" Kou Zhong shook his head and said: "We can't force ourselves, we can only rely on the city to form an array like this morning, so that it is convenient to attack and retreat, unless Li Shimin dare not fight, we will climb up the hill to show off our might, and retreat after a good look. Ha! On the battlefield The scenery. Hey!" Yang Gongqing also saw more than twenty riders appearing on the top of the hill. Kou Zhonggong gathered his eyes together, stared intently, and said in shock, "Boy Li won't be so cheap to me! One of them seems to be him." Yang Gongqing was startled and said: "If Li Shimin is really patrolling the battlefield, then everyone else must be first-class masters. I'm afraid the two of us will suffer." Kou Zhong shook his head and said: "It's not two people, it's me alone. Mr. Yang is here to guard the battle for me. If I can be ruthless and kill Li Xiaozi, we can get back to Pengliang tonight. Damn it! I Whether we can do it in this situation, in the final analysis, Li Xiaozi and I have made friends." Yang Gongqing said: "On the battlefield, you die or I die. There is no one to talk about, and it is even more unscrupulous. The question is whether the young commander really has the confidence to deal with so many people. It would be safer to wait for me to go back and call in a group of good men to help out. " Kou Zhongdao: "Once the opportunity is gone, it will never come back. What's more, if a large number of people kill them in a mighty manner, it will only scare the snake. Look at me." After saying that, he flew off the horse. Yang Gongqing was taken aback, leaned forward and grabbed his shoulder, and persuaded him, "It's too dangerous!" Kou Zhong looked up at the starry sky and said with a smile: "Mr. Yang seems to have forgotten that I am not afraid of facing Jieli's thousands of horses and horses. There are more than 20 elite soldiers in the area. It is more than enough to scare others, but it is still not for me. Kou Zhong In the eye." Infected by his strong self-confidence, Yang Gongqing couldn't help letting go. Kou Zhongxun flashed out of the forest like light smoke, and under the cover of long grass and bushes, sneaked towards the enemy's horse like a ghost.