Chapter 16 The Sixteenth Chapter Wang Daoist made short remarks on the secrets of heaven and Yu Zhining elaborated on water warfare

When Li Shimin arrived in Songyang, he asked Shi Wanbao about the progress of the war. He was very dissatisfied with Shi Wanbao's delay in getting through the contact with Wang Junkuo of Luokou, and said that it must be completed within five days.After that, he led Yuchi Jingde and the thirteen stick monks to leave Songyang.Li Shimin did not return to Luoyang by the same road, but took the road to the north, bypassing Hulao Pass, passing through Luokou and going straight to Beiman Mountain. Three days later, when Li Shimin returned to Beiman Daying, all the generals heard the news and came to ask each other.At that time, the story of his distress in Shaoshi Mountain had not yet been reported here, and Li Shimin himself did not mention it.After the people dispersed, Li Shimin left Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui behind for a secret talk.

Du Ruhui said: "To make the King of Qin happy, I have been investigating secretly for a while, and finally found out who secretly sent military information to Shan Xiongxin. Yesterday, brother Xuanling and I secretly arrested this person, and he is now imprisoned in the back tent." Fang Xuanling said: "Speaking of it, the King of Qin might not believe it, but this man was brave and good at fighting in battle, and he was just promoted to be the leader of the army." "Who is it?" Li Shimin asked with concern. "His name is Di Shuren, and he is now under the tenure of gold. At the beginning, when Shubao and Shixin came to the Changchun Palace to vote for the King of Qin, they brought more than ten riders with them, and this Di Shuren was one of them. Brother Xuanling and I secretly arrested him and did not say anything about it. On weekdays, Zhai Shuren and Yao Jin talk and laugh freely, we are afraid that this will implicate Yao Jin."

Li Shimin raised his head and said: "No wonder, no wonder, every time I go out to camp, Shan Xiongxin knows my actions like the palm of his hand. Do you know? I was attacked in Shaoshi Mountain this time, and Shan Xiongxin is determined to win." Li Shimin then briefly described the distress. again. Du Ruhui said in shock: "Damn! Speaking of which, it is inevitable to find Di Shuren this time. The previous few times when King Qin was in danger, it was strange. This time, as soon as King Qin left, Di Shuren went out in a sneaky way. I sent someone to follow him secretly, and I saw him We are in contact with Wang Shichong's people, and he will be secretly arrested after he returns, but his letter has still spread."

That day when Zhai Shuren left the camp, Du Ruhui immediately sent someone to follow him.Zhai Shuren made a long circle around the city to the south, and then stopped at the bank of Luoshui.After a while, several people dressed as farmers came to join him.Seeing that there were many people on the other side, those who watched him did not dare to speak out, and they arrested Zhai Shuren after he returned to the camp. Li Shimin didn't answer the question, and was figuring it out by himself, after a long time, Fang Xuanling said to Fang Xuanling: "Xuanling, what is the most important thing in Luoyang right now?"

"Needless to say, of course it's food. This time we occupied Huiluocheng and Luokou, cut off the supply of food and grass in Dongdu, and the people in the city were starving. There is also a large granary there. If the grain is transported back, the people in the city can use it for a month. It hinders our army from stationing troops along the way, and he is afraid that the grain will fall into my hands again, so he dare not start transporting it for a while. This king is full of tricks , to cover up this granary so that there is no trace of it, and I sent people to secretly investigate the Hulao area, but nothing was found."

Li Shimin said with a smile: "I have been frightened several times in a row, and I want to get back some money. This matter will fall on Di Shuren. Xuanling, Ruhui, if I spare Di Shuren's life, he will send another piece of information to Shan Xiongxin? I think he will! This matter has nothing to do with Yaojin, but Yaojin has nothing to hide, so he should be beaten. Ruhui, you go, bring Di Shuren, and call Yaojin over. " After a while, Di Shuren was taken into the tent by Wuhua Da, and Cheng Yaojin came in a few steps later. When he saw Di Shuren, Cheng Yaojin scolded: "You doghead, where have you been all these days? You didn't even say hello. .You are tied up now, could it be that you have offended King Qin?"

Li Shimin's face was serious, and he said: "Brother Jin, do you know how much this Di Shuren has done behind your back? The king has been attacked several times, and it was all the news from this dog head." When Cheng Yaojin heard this, he was annoyed and frightened, he stretched out his hand and stabbed Zhai Shuren with his sword, but Du Ruhui grabbed hold of his back and persuaded him: "General Cheng, don't make mistakes, this man is still useful." "Plop" knelt down on the ground, and said to Li Shimin, "King Qin, Yaojin was negligent. This dog has been making out with me in different ways all day long, and more than half of King Qin's whereabouts have been leaked from Yaojin's mouth. It is a crime to bite Jin. Willing to be punished."

Li Shimin stepped forward to help Cheng Yaojin, and said: "Those who don't know are innocent. If I have a suspicion against you, will I still call you here today? But, brother Yaojin, you are open-minded and funny by nature. This is your kindness." True character, if you say something inappropriate, you should think twice." Cheng Yaojin became more and more ashamed, blood rushed to his face, and his blue face instantly turned a purple one. Li Shimin patted Cheng Yaojin on the shoulder, motioned him to sit down, and then said to Di Shuren, "Zhai Shuren, you have made trouble for the king several times, and deserved to die several times, are you guilty?"

Di Shuren was so frightened that he turned into a puddle of mud and fell on the ground. Li Shimin continued: "It's still useful to think about you. I can spare your life. You write to Shan Xiong, saying that I want to shrink my troops, and I have ordered Wang Junkuo and Huang Junhan to withdraw and return to Luocheng and Luokou. Write the letter After it’s done, send it out the same way.” Zhai Shuren must have died, but now he heard that there was still a ray of life, and there was light in his eyes. He kowtowed like a chicken pecking rice, and said: "The villain is willing to listen to the king of Qin, and the villain is willing to write letters." Li Shimin waved his hand. , Du Ruhui took him out of the tent.

Fang Xuanling and Cheng Yaojin were left in the tent, and Li Shimin said: "Xuanling, after the secret letter written by Di Shuren is sent out, you write an official document to Wang Junkuo and Huang Junhan, ordering them to pretend to withdraw from the army within two days, and return at night. Sneak quietly into the mountains on both sides of the official road between Luoyang and Hulao to ambush. Brother Jin, you and Jingde will bring another 10,000 soldiers to support them. When Wang Shichong hears that we are retreating, he will definitely send people to Hulao to transport food , When they enter your ambush, you will disperse them. It would be better if the food can be seized, if it is inconvenient, then it will be set on fire."

Cheng Yaojin hastily left his seat to receive the order. Fang Xuanling smiled and said: "If this move can be done, it will be a fatal blow to Wang Shichong. King Qin, at that time, there will be no reinforcements outside Luoyang, no food and grass inside, let's see how long they can last!" That night, the clouds were low and the wind was low, and another snowfall was about to come.Li Shimin read the book of war against the charcoal fire in the tent, but he was agitated and put it down again.Before I arrived at several cases, I wanted to fly the pages of the book, but the ink in the inkstone was not flowing smoothly due to the low temperature, so I gave up the brush again.He called Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and the three of them walked out of the tent together and walked along the edge of the stream. On both sides of the river, a thick layer of ice has formed where it meets the water.The boots of the two stepped into the ice from time to time, only to hear the sound of ice.That day Li Shimin had a meeting with Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang in Shaolin Temple, and he still couldn't let go of it to this day, so he told them about his depression. Fang Xuanling was silent for a long time after hearing this, and finally said cruelly: "King Qin, there is no one around here, so Xuanling just said the words in his heart. King Qin, you are still the man of your dreams! "Among the princes, the emperor is the king of Qin. You started your army in Taiyuan from the emperor, and since then you have won all the battles in the west and north. You have defeated most of the Tang Dynasty. The ministers of the court and the generals of the army , everyone regards the King of Qin as a heavenly man. You follow the good, the soldiers return to their hearts, and the light shines on the sun and the moon. Not to mention the prince and King Qi, even the emperor's light is covered by you: In fact, everyone does not say anything, but there is something in their hearts. The big question is, where will your King Qin position be in the future?" Li Shimin was puzzled, and asked: "My father-in-law is just a vassal prince. Now that Dalang is the crown prince, where else can I think of?" "Yes, you can be safe when the emperor is alive, but at the moment when the emperor finally returns to heaven, the prince will ascend the throne and become the emperor. At that time, when it comes to martial arts and governance, and the return of the world, he will be ruled by you, the emperor's younger brother." Let’s compare it. In the past, Huo Guang was very powerful in the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty often felt like a thorn in his back when he saw him. This was the root cause of Huo Guang’s troubles. At that time, hehe, King Qin, the emperor only has one position. Although you don’t want to, others will guard against you what!" Li Shimin thought about it deeply, although the surrounding area was icy and cold, he was sweating profusely, and said in a trembling voice: "After this battle is won, and when the world is stable, Shimin will follow his father and return to the mountains and forests. It is enough to be a rich man." Seeing that his words were insincere, Fang Xuanling stopped answering, and let him think along the train of thought.After a long, long time, Li Shimin turned around and looked at the lights of the camp, and sighed softly: "Yes, how can others know what I think?" Fang Xuanling said: "Nowadays foreign troops are frequently used. Suppressing the world is the top priority. If the world is peaceful, swords and swords will be seen above the court and in the palace. Although the historians whitewash, they will finally be able to see one or two in the gaps between the books. .Speaking of which, what Mr. Chunfeng said is the biggest battle. It is obvious that the crown prince is weak, and the king of Qin has made great achievements. If Luoyang is taken down this time, I can't think of anything else the emperor can come up with. The position is here to reward you! As the saying goes, 'the master of high merit', the prince must be uneasy at the moment. I want to pass on the word to you, but later I have nothing to say. In fact, the emperor often wavers when it comes to major events. On the matter of who will inherit the great power, on the one hand, it is the tradition of establishing the eldest son, and on the other hand, he loves you very much and appreciates your contributions. It's hard to decide for a while. With such a swing, the rift between you and the prince has been established, and there is no room for change in the end." "According to what you said, how should I deal with it?" "Xuanling thinks that you, King Qin, are admired by everyone and should succeed you. To put it in a selfish way, we all follow you loyally, and we can't bear to fall into a situation where the trees fall and the monkeys scatter." Li Shimin was extremely shocked when he heard Fang Xuanling's words.He has been running around all these years, and in his heart he really wants to share his father's worries and make decisive decisions, but he often does it rashly.When he and Jiancheng met, they were also polite and courteous, and they never wanted to seize the heir apparent.As for Yuan Ji, he really hated what he could do, and bored in his words and actions.However, Fang Xuanling's words made sense.Although the surnames of the royal family are different, the struggles in the court are similar.Thinking of this, he told Fang Xuanling: "Xuanling, I know you are loyal to me, I should think carefully about what you said today, and don't let it out. Let's go, let's go back to camp." Du Ruhui followed them all the time without interrupting, and only now said: "Your Highness, do you still remember what the three of us said in Changchun Palace?" Li Shimin nodded and said: "Remember, that was after Brother Zhao passed away." "That day we mentioned that there were many subtleties in the incident, and now it is becoming clearer. In fact, King Qi and Pei Ji had already regarded His Highness as an opponent at that time. Will there be a shadow of the prince behind them? Excuse me, now King Qin's merits are shocking to the world, if the crown prince had to choose, would he be more intimate with King Qin? Or be friendly with King Qi and the others?" Li Shimin pondered and said: "According to what Xuan Ling said just now, the crown prince will not favor me. As far as feelings are concerned, since childhood and adulthood, Dalang and Shiro have a deeper bond." "That's right, there are more benefits in the current situation. Whether His Highness is willing or not, since the death of Lord Liu, they have all regarded King Qin as their opponent. You have to choose according to the situation." Li Shimin fell into deep thought after hearing the words. Xuanling suddenly remembered something, and said: "King Qin, you may think Xuanling's words are extreme, but they can't relieve the doubts caused by Li Chunfeng's words. I remembered that there is a place called Matun in Beimanshan Yin , there lived a Taoist priest in Jielu, it is said that he can calculate yin and yang, and know what is going on behind him. Luoyang dignitaries often ask him for divination, and he is very famous. If nothing happens tomorrow, how about we go visit together?" Li Shimin had already been aroused by the words of Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang. Hearing that there was another strange person nearby, he agreed: "Okay, we will go tomorrow. If it is dark, there is no need to go. You and I will visit in casual clothes and listen to him." Say something?" The Taoist priest living in Matun is indeed a different person. His name is Wang Yuanzhi, a native of Langya.I first learned from Tao Hongjing, and then from Mr. Zongdao Zang Jing.He made his debut after studying and became famous all over the world.Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty summoned him and placed him in the Xuantan of Yuqing in Chang'an.Later, Emperor Yang wanted to be lucky in Jiangdu, Wang Yuanzhi advised him not to stay away from the capital, but Emperor Yang refused to listen.Wang Yuanzhi then left Chang'an and lived in Jielu in Matun. Early in the morning, Wang Yuanzhi went to the mountain to practice Tuna Kungfu. Just after he came back, he saw two scribes, one senior and one young, drifting over. The elders asked, "Excuse me, is Daoist Wang there? We are traveling here. Come and see you." Wang Yuanzhi looked at the two of them carefully, and saw that the square scarves on their heads and the long robes on their bodies were very neat. Although there was some dirt on their feet and the hem of their clothes, it was not too much.The older man has a wise face, and the wrinkles on his face are getting more mellow due to the weather; the young man is heroic, although his face has a bookish look, but his bright eyes are restrained and his bearing is extraordinary.He thought that there was a lot of war in this place, and the people who studied abroad had long ago been wiped out. Luoyang was trapped, and no one could get out.He suddenly thought of a person, so he said: "The old man is Wang Yuanzhi. There must be a saint among those who come. Could it be the King of Qin?" It was Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling who came. When Wang Yuanzhi said the word "King Qin", they were shocked and knew that they had met a god.Li Shimin took a step forward, cupped his hands and said, "I am Shimin, who has heard of the Taoist priest's name for a long time, and I am here today to ask for clarification." Wang Yuanzhi flicked his sleeves and said, "The old Daoist nunnery is filthy, and it is difficult for the King of Qin to stay here. Please invite the King of Qin to return to the camp. There are many important events there, and the King of Qin is in charge of them all. We have a long time to come, and we will meet again in the future. As for the death of the King of Qin, the old Daoist I just want to send you a word: Qin Wangfang will be the Son of Heaven, and I wish to cherish myself." After finishing speaking, he was about to close the door and shut the two of them outside. Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling stood in front of Chai Fei in amazement for a while, and stayed there for a long time. Seeing that Wang Yuanzhi was silent, they had to go back to the camp.On the way, Fang Xuanling said: "Congratulations, King Qin, listen to what the Taoist Wang said, you will be able to be the Emperor of Taiping in the future." Li Shimin didn't speak a word. In the past few days, he had a night talk with Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang first. Last night, he heard Fang Xuanling express his feelings. Today, the strange Taoist Wang uttered that short sentence. Lan.Only at this moment did he firmly establish his ambition. After a few days, Wang Shichong really sent Prince Wang Xuanying to lead five thousand troops to Hulao Pass to take out the grain from the secret warehouse and transport it to Luoyang.Since the information that Zhai Shuren sent out several times before was very accurate, Wang Xuan should feel at ease and boldly ordered all his soldiers to drive food carts, and did not set up an army of guards.Their journey went smoothly, so the food team arrived at Luokou.Wang Xuanying thought to himself, if he traveled at such a speed, he could reach Luoyang at night.Just as he was proud, he only heard the sound of a cannon, and suddenly Tang Jun rushed out.To the north, Wang Junkuo and Huang Junhan led their troops out; to the south, Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Yaojin led their troops to respond.They approached the valley like a tiger driving a sheep, quickly dispersed Zheng Jun, and then divided and surrounded them to kill each one.Wang Xuanying saw that the opportunity was not good, so he ran away. Fortunately, his horse was a thousand-mile horse named "Yuhuacong", which was the imperial horse of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. Even faster, everyone couldn't catch up, and he escaped in the end.The Tang army here quickly defeated the five thousand Zheng army. They cleaned the battlefield and got a lot of food out of thin air. Wang Junkuo and Huang Junhan occupied Luokou again and returned to Luocheng.At this time, Shi Wanbao in the south finally made progress. The former army was only more than 20 miles away from Hulao Pass, basically forming an encirclement of Luoyang.Three days later, Wang Shichong's Zhengzhou soldier Shen Yue saw that his future was hopeless, so he quietly wrote a letter to Li Shi who was stationed in Beimang Mountain, expressing his willingness to contribute to Hulao Pass as an officer in the Tang army.Shen Yue turned out to be from Li Shi's old department. Li Shidang handed this letter to Li Shimin. After reading it, Li Shimin was overjoyed and ordered Li Shi to go to Luokou and lead an army eastward to attack Hulao Pass together with Wang Junkuo. When Li Shi arrived at Luokou, he and Wang Junkuo led the army to Hulao Pass at dusk.Before dawn when they reached the pass, Shen Yue set fire to the city, and took advantage of the chaos to open the city gate and let Tang troops in.Hulaoguan easily fell into the hands of Tang Jun. Losing Hulao Pass, Wang Shichong's only passage to Hebei was blocked, and Luoyang truly became an isolated city.On this day, Li Shimin ordered that the army move out of the camp and leave Beiman Mountain, and began to besiege the palace city of Luoyang.In order to command nearby, Li Shimin moved the tent of the Chinese army to Qingyang Palace.Qingyang Palace is only two miles away from Luoyang Palace City. Wang Shichong used this place as his residence some time ago. Unexpectedly, within two months, Wang Shichong was forced to retreat into Luoyang Palace City, and this place became Li Shimin's frontier instead. handsome mansion. On the eighth day of February in the fourth year of Wude, Li Shimin ordered to attack Luoyang Palace City. Luoyang was called Luoyang in the Warring States Period. It was established here as a county in the Qin Dynasty. It was Henan County, Henan Prefecture, and Henan Road Government in the Western Han Dynasty. After that, it was the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Three Kingdoms Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, and Sui.The current Luoyang City was built ten miles west of Seoul by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in the early years of Daye.The city is about 70 miles around, crossing the Luoqu Canal from north to south, and from east to west.At that time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty "distributed exotic materials and rocks from the south of the great river and north of Wuling, and sent them to Luoyang; he also asked for beautiful trees and grasses, rare birds and animals in the sea, and used them as gardens", and built a capital city in Luoyang according to the pattern of Chang'an City. .The walls around the city are all built with blue bricks, and the joints between the bricks are glued with glutinous rice juice and ash. The gates of the city are made of solid wood up to two feet thick with copper nails.Such a newly built city is much stronger than Chang'an City. Li Shimin ordered Li Shi, Qin Shubao, and Luo Shixin to lead 40,000 people to attack Chunmen in the east; Attack at Xining Gate; the south wall of the palace city faces Luoqu, and the squares in the south of the city were burned to the ground by Li Mi when he attacked Luoyang. .Tang Jun saw that it was not appropriate to send people here because he could not stop here, so he only sent a few people to guard and did not send heavy troops to attack.Li Shimin himself, Qu Tutong and a group of civil servants were sitting in the Qingyang Palace. In front of him, Yuchi Jingde, Changsun Shunde, and Liu Hongji were leading 50,000 troops to attack Ximen day and night. Wang Shichong in the city ordered Shan Xiongxin to line up troops to defend on all sides. While dispatching soldiers and horses, Shan Xiongxin took out two powerful weapons made by skilled craftsmen in the city and put them on the surrounding walls.One is called Cannon Flying Stone, which weighs 50 catties and can shoot more than 200 steps; the other is called Eight Bow and Crossbow Arrow, which can shoot 20 arrows in each row. The arrowheads are like giant axes and can shoot more than 500 steps.As soon as these two weapons were put into use, the Tang army under the city was wailing and howling. The damage was serious, and the Tang army could not approach the city wall.Yuchi Jingde showed the flying stone and the giant arrow to Li Shimin and the others, Qu Tutong sighed: "I never thought there would be such a capable person in Luoyang City who could make such a weapon." Li Shimin's will was firm, and he ordered the generals from all walks of life to attack hard.On this day, he personally went to Ximen to observe the situation of launching stone arrows in the city, and said to Yuchi Jingde and others: "You can't just go forward and fight to the death, you can attack frequently to lure them to launch. Luoyang has now become an isolated city. Limited, and there is no external support, when the stone arrowheads are exhausted." Since then, the Tang and Zheng armies have been in a stalemate under the city wall, and more than ten days have passed without realizing it. That day Liu Hongji came down from the front of the battle line and begged to see Li Shimin, saying: "King Qin, the two armies are in a stalemate like this. We can't advance, we can't retreat, and the soldiers are exhausted. In my opinion, we should retreat for the time being and rest. Attack again in a while." Li Shimin was surprised when he heard this. In his impression, Liu Hongji shouldn't be like this: "Brother Hongji, how can you say such a thing? We came here in a big way, and now the eastern states and counties have surrendered, and there is only Luoyang left in front of us." The isolated city cannot be broken for long, so we should take it all at once. In this way, the east of Chang'an can basically be settled once and for all. The success is coming, so how can we abandon it?" Li Shimin's tone was quite severe, and Liu Hongji listened carefully. Thinking about it, I felt that Li Shimin's words were very reasonable, so I couldn't help but feel extremely ashamed, and said: "Hongji also knows this truth, but the soldiers want to return, so we can't move the army's morale because of this. Please ask the king of Qin to arrange it properly." Seeing Li Shimin thinking there, After saluting, he turned around and ran forward again. Li Shimin asked everyone, "What do you think of what Liu Hongji said just now?" Xiao Yu said: "There is a reason for the soldiers to be exhausted and want to return. This battle has indeed taken a little longer. It has been nine months since I left Chang'an in July last year." Feng Deyi said: "What the King of Qin said to Director Liu just now is very reasonable! Now that the arrow is on the string, how can we not shoot it? Since ancient times, when we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins. Now we have to compete with Wang Shichong not only for courage, but also for patience. If he retreats at this time, Wang Shichong will be able to Take a breath." Everyone discussed again, and finally everyone reached a consensus, that is, to continue to attack Luoyang.Li Shimin then said to Qu Tutong: "Qu Gong, you should draw up a military order immediately: if Luoyang is not broken, the division will not be returned, and anyone who dares to speak out against the division will be executed!" Qu Tutong nodded and said: "Okay, this can completely dispel the illusions of some people in the army! King Qin, I will do it right away." The next day Qu Tutong notified the whole army of the military order.In the afternoon of this day, Yu Zhining came to Qingyang Palace in Luoyang from Chang'an with two servants.Yu Zhining read Li Yuan's imperial decree to everyone, most of which were words of comfort.After that, he dragged Li Shimin to the back hall, and quietly handed Li Yuan's secret decree to him.Li Shimin unfolded it and saw that Li Yuan had also learned about the battle here in Chang'an, and secretly ordered Li Shimin to retreat if it was difficult to capture Luoyang for a while. Yu Zhining whispered beside him: "King Qin, these days the intensive concerts from the front line have flown to Chang'an like snowflakes. I heard that King Qi played one every day. The ministers in the court and the central government talked a lot. It made it difficult for the capital to support, and the crowd demanded a strike. But I listened to the tone of the emperor, and I really trust the king of Qin. He asked you to make a decision here." Li Shimin said: "Mr. Yu, I don't need you to tell me. I think the old man Pei Ji in the court is probably the loudest. Mr. Yu, you can't stay here too long. I will let Feng Deyi go back with you tomorrow." Let’s go to court, and tell the royal father and the ministers about the pros and cons. The royal father doesn’t know much about the situation here, so you have to be more prepared. I know that the royal father is cautious when deciding on important matters.” In the evening, Li Shimin hosted a banquet in honor of Yu Zhining. During the meeting, he mentioned that Yu Zhining and Yan Shigu were envoys to the south, and Li Shimin said: "Mr. Yu, I heard the story of Brother Xiaogong and Brother Yao who defeated Xiao Xian. Unfortunately, we don’t know the details. You and Mr. Yan happened to be in their prime, today we have a lot of wine and talk, how about letting us listen to the story?" Yu Zhining gets very excited every time he mentions the story of the big break.Now listening to Li Shimin's question, he took a sip of his wine and said, "If you don't think I'm wordy, I'll give a speech. It's said that that day Li Yaoshi offered ten strategies to defeat the enemy to King Xiaogong of Zhaojun, and the army sent troops to attack the enemy. Kuizhou advances by land and water, and goes down the river..." Seeing Yu Zhining shaking his head there, Xiao Yu couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect Zhining to become a storyteller again after just a short farewell." There was a lot of laughter at the banquet, Li Shimin also found it very interesting, and he signaled Yu Zhining to continue the topic. "At that time, Xiao Mian was in Jiangling, and all the land in the south of the Yangtze River belonged to him. During the process of Xiao Mian's rule of Jiangnan, his generals were still able to obey orders and fight. Xiao Xian was narrow-minded and suspicious. Seeing that the generals were domineering, he was afraid of endangering his own position, so he declared that he would stop soldiers and farms and seize the military power of the generals. Xiao Xian was wiped out. Afraid of getting involved, Dong Jingzhen led his troops to join Zhao Junwang. Originally, Li Yaoshi had planned ten strategies for Zhao Junwang to destroy the enemy. Unexpectedly, Xiao Xian himself came to help, messing up his position and ruining his subordinates. Soldiers, turned out to be the biggest strategy besides Li Yaoshi's plan." Fang Xuanling interjected: "If the internal forces are sincerely united, and outsiders come to attack, it will take a lot of effort." Yu Zhining continued: "On that day Zhaojun Wang Xiaogong led the twelve generals out of Kuizhou, and three other soldiers and horses also rushed to Jiangling. They are: Lujiang King Li Yuan left Xiangzhou as the marshal of Jingxiang Road, Qianzhou The governor Tian Shikang left Chenzhou, and the governor of Huangzhou Zhou Faming left Xiakou. A total of 180,000 land and water troops rushed to Jiangling in mighty force. "The battleships of the brigade arrived at the Three Gorges. It was the autumn flood season. The river was swollen and the water was urgent. Some of the generals proposed to wait for the water to fall before moving forward. At this time, Li Jing said: "Soldiers are precious, and the opportunity must not be missed. Now that the army has just assembled, Xiao Mian still doesn't quite understand our actions. If we take advantage of the rising tide and arrive at the city suddenly, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, we will surely win a big victory. Moreover, Xiao Mian will also think that the Three Gorges road is dangerous, our army must not enter, and we will be paralyzed Unprepared.' Hearing Li Jing's words, King Zhao commanded more than 2,000 warships to go eastward, and took advantage of the emptiness to capture Jingmen and Yidu towns. After that, the large army of warships arrived at Yiling directly. In a panic, he urgently ordered the scribe Hong stationed at Jingjiangkou to lead 50,000 elite troops to rush to help. "Seeing the arrival of Wen Shihong's army, King Xiaogong of Zhaojun lost his mind. According to Li Jing's opinion, the enemy's troops are sharp and sharp, and it is not appropriate to confront them head-on immediately. It is suggested that our own army stay on the south bank and wait for their spirit to weaken, and then take a picture of them." Unexpectedly, King Zhao Jun refused to listen, leaving Li Jing to guard the camp, and led his own troops to attack Wen Shihong, but he was defeated, and the army he led was scattered and fled to the south bank of the river." Li Shimin sighed: "Brother Xiaogong is still in a hurry. Wen Shihong's army is only 50,000, and he came to help in a hurry. How can there be any reason to come and attack immediately? I think of my battle in Feiyun Valley in Longxi. Senior brother and others’ advice failed in the end. Haha, senior brother Yao will definitely shake his head when he sees my brothers from the Li family, right? Mr. Yu, drink some more wine to moisten your throat.” Yu Zhining said: "Brother Shigu and I were still on the road at that time, so we didn't see the scene that day." He drank a sip of wine, saw that the people around him were listening intently, and continued: "This battle is our army. We were defeated. I didn't want Wen Shihong's subordinates to see our army running around, leaving a lot of items on the ground, abandoning their boats to grab the spoils, and the army was in chaos. At that time, Li Jing had been climbing on the other side to observe the battle situation here. Seeing the situation here, Immediately led the remaining soldiers and horses to kill and rush to the south bank. This turned defeat into victory and defeated the scribe Hongjun. More than 20,000 of his army were beheaded and drowned, and the remnant army fled towards Zhijiang. He gave another blow head-on. In this campaign, more than 400 boats were obtained. "Li Jing led another 5,000 light soldiers to attack Jiangling that night, followed by the army commanded by King Zhaojun. Brother Shigu and I were already in the army that night, and we went down the river with Zhaojun Wang Xiaogong on his boat. The sky was full of stars, The river gently lapped the side of the boat, and there were more than 2,000 boats on the river without any fanfare, and it was truly spectacular under the moonlight. At that time, I asked King Zhao Jun, whether this move could take Jiangling? He was full of pride, and said that as long as Li Jing can encircle Staying in Jiangling, if you don't let Xiao Xian escape, you will be sure of winning. At that moment, I suddenly became concerned about Li Jing's itinerary. Galloping on horseback? It has been a night of worry. When we arrived in Jiangling tomorrow, we saw Li Jing's five thousand troops guarding the main roads of Jiangling, and they had captured Xiao Mian's water city. Speaking of which, it was Xiao Mian who helped us, he He weakened the military power of the generals by calling off troops and camping farmers. At this time, there were only a few thousand guards staying in Jiangling City. Seeing that the army was pressing down on the border, he also heard the news of Wen Shihong's defeat, so he hurriedly dispatched troops, but all his troops were outside Jiangling , It is difficult to gather in a hurry, so we have to stay in the city obediently and wait for reinforcements." Hearing this, Li Shimin clapped his hands and said, "Okay, senior brother Yao changed his formation at the last opportunity and surrounded the city with light cavalry, catching Xiao Xian by surprise. This way, we can capture the leader of the bandit first, so we don't have to worry about Jiangnan's failure." Yu Zhining said with a smile: "Looking back on Li Jing's fighting style that day, it was very similar to that of King Qin. Later, when I went back to Chang'an, I heard Yin Shangshu talk about King Qin, when you chased King Kong of Song, you had no food for three days, and your clothes were naked. Chasing eight battles a day, scared away both Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang. All heroes who can be recruited have the same opinion, right?" The people at the table compared the two things briefly, and they were indeed very similar, so they clicked their tongues repeatedly.Feng Deyi clasped his hands and said: "My emperor is very talented, and even the king of Qin and the king of Zhao Jun are victorious in the north and south. King Qin, you two are young heroes, and you have made extraordinary achievements for the Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin shook his head and said: "You can't say that. Brother Xiaogong has Brother Yao to assist; here I have a large group of civil servants and military generals. Without your loyal assistance, how could such a feat be achieved? Think of Xue Ju and his son, Liu Wuzhou, and even the people in front of us. Wang Shichong, who was born today, has courage and resourcefulness, and the reason why he can't last is because the hearts of the people are divided. If the father and us are alone, no matter how brave or wise, it will be useless. Mr. Yu, see that we are far away, you continue to say." "On that day, on the wall of the Jiangling Water City, everyone discussed how to proceed. At that time, there were thousands of Xiao Xian's warships parked in the water city. Li Jing pointed to the ships and said, "To capture Xiao Xian, we will land on these warships!" He Suggested to King Zhao Jun that these warships should be released into the river and let them float downstream. Everyone was puzzled and asked what was going on. Li Jing explained: "The land of Xiaoxiao is located south of the Ridge and east of Dongting. We are alone. Go deep, Jiangling City is strong, if we are unable to break through it now, and its reinforcements arrive, we will be in a dilemma of being attacked by enemies inside and outside. Now we release these warships along the river and let them go down the river. Xiao Mian's When the reinforcements saw these drifting boats, they must have thought that Jiangling had already been captured by us, and they would not dare to advance lightly. It would take at least ten and a half months for them to reconnaissance clearly, and we would have already captured Jiangling by then. Even if they got It's too late for real information." Jun Wang accepted Li Jing's suggestion and put all the warships in Shuicheng into the river. "Sure enough, as Li Jing expected, the reinforcements Xiao Xian summoned from all over the country saw the ships going down the river and thought that Jiangling had been breached. They immediately lost their fighting spirit and hesitated to come to the rescue. At this time, King Zhao commanded the army to attack the city with all their strength. Seeing that the water city had been broken and there was no hope of reinforcements, Xiao Xian had no intention of waiting any longer, so he led his ministers to open the city and surrender on October 22. A few days later, more than 100,000 reinforcements had gathered in Baling. Jiangling has been broken, one after another disarmed and surrendered, and the main force of Xiao's army collapsed. The southern states and counties heard about it, and they all hoped to return." Xiao Yu drummed his hands and said: "Okay, let me add a few more sentences for Mr. Storyteller: Let the boat lightly cross the Ten Thousand Mountains, and send the thief away to the thousands of lakes. Mr. Yu, how about my dog-tailed mink?" Everyone laughed. Li Shimin raised the wine bottle: "Come on, everyone, Mr. Yu has worked tirelessly to practice the battle formation in this banquet. Let's toast him." Everyone stood up one after another, raised their bottles together, raised their heads and drank the wine in the bottles in one gulp. Li Shimin put down the wine bottle, picked up the chopsticks and signaled to Yu Zhining: "Mr. Yu, you patronize and talk, but you haven't eaten a few bites of the food. Come, you can taste the lamb meat produced in Beiman. It's not greasy and refreshing. Qingxiang, I think you will not be able to taste such delicious food in Jiangling." Yu Zhining hurriedly took a piece, put it in his mouth and chewed slowly, and said: "It tastes really good. I am in Jiangling, and this time I have had enough fish addiction. The fish in the river and the fish in the pond are all kinds of things. I don’t know what the name is. Even today, I’m still confused, those fish that I ate in my belly may still be yelling at me right now.” Everyone laughed again, Feng Deyi said: "I never imagined that Mr. Yu, who is usually gentle and polite, can learn so much humor in a short trip to the south of the Yangtze River." Li Shimin said: "After listening to Mr. Yu's introduction, I thought that my brother Xiaogong lived up to the emperor's expectations, and Shimin was greatly shocked. Brother Xiaogong is two years old, but he can accept all opinions and finally succeed. This reminds me When Shiro came, some people said that I was very demanding of him. In fact, he was really inferior compared to brother Xiaogong. If he had his own flaws and refused to advise him arrogantly, how could he succeed? I heard that he spoke in Cijian , Said that I deliberately put him in the cold palace, and ended up hunting and playing with dogs all day. We came to attack Luoyang, and it was a military and national event, how can it be trifling?" Everyone knows that King Qin and King Qi are at odds.At this point, most of the people's thoughts were on King Qin. Seeing that it was getting late, Li Shimin ordered everyone to have a feast and go back to their rooms to rest. Feng Deyi and Yu Zhining returned to Chang'an together, and they rode fast on the road day and night. Feng Deyi did not disgrace his mission this time. When he met Li Yuan, he made a statement and said: "Although Wang Shichong acquired a lot of land, he still belonged to each other. Now the King of Qin has besieged Luoyang on all sides, and there are many people from the prefectures and counties to which he belongs. The only thing Wang Shichong can really rely on is the city of Luoyang. He has tried his best to be poor and lingering. If we retreat now and let him breathe, the bandits are bound to reinvigorate, and it will take more effort to attack again in the future. Only when he is now When it is weak, it can only be achieved in the long run by defeating it in one fell swoop." After hearing this, Li Yuan said: "I know that Luoyang is lonely, and I am really afraid that Dou Jiande will come to rescue him. At the beginning, it was Wang Shichong who plotted, and I have already taken the land of Jiande to make friends with him. Now Luoyang is in danger, and Wang Shichong sent people one after another. Asking for help. Dou Jiande turned to Wang Shichong on this matter, and his letter to me also urged me to withdraw my troops. If Dou Jiande was not busy attacking Meng Haigong and got caught up, the result would be unpredictable. I am afraid that if he comes to help, Erlang will be attacked, and it will be difficult. Parrying." Feng Deyi said earnestly: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. The King of Qin is now attacking Luoyang with less than half of his troops. If Dou Jiande comes to help, he will not get any benefit." “好，朕愿听此话！封爱卿，你速返前线，告诉二郎：今取洛阳，止欲息兵！克城之日，乘舆法物、图籍器械由他代朕收取，其余子女玉帛，可以分赐将士。” 封德彝得了李渊的这些言语，星夜赶回洛阳城外。李世民得知李渊同意暂不撤兵，大喜，赞封德彝立了大功，连连督促众将士加紧攻打洛阳。 李世、秦叔宝和罗士信等人见一味猛攻非但无效，反而伤亡重大。商议之后，令众军士在城东上春门前五百步外掘堑筑垒，以此和郑军相持，争取不放郑军一人出城。这样一来，郑军的飞石与弩箭打不到唐军，唐军伤亡顿时为零。那日李世民轻控“青骓”巡视至此，见到如此堑、垒，大赞李世他们会想办法，遂令其他将士推广其法。一时间，洛阳宫城外堑壕纵横，原来四通八达的官道被掘得七零八落。 官道一断，郑军行动更为困难。城中存粮无多，其皇家贵戚及守城兵士尚有少量粮食可以维持，其余人可就遭罪了。为了获取粮食，一开始绢一匹值粟米三升，布十匹可换盐一升。到了后来，粮食罕见的时候，服饰珍玩皆贱如土芥。城内草根树叶先被众人剥光，他们又到水渠边上取水，在桶内澄清后倒去清水，剩下的浮泥加入一些米屑，然后做饼食之。不数日，食饼之人身肿脚弱，死者相枕于道。当初杨侗进入洛阳宫的时候，宫城内共有三万人家，到了现在已经锐减为不足三千家。一些人想逃出城外找粮，然王世充守御极严，见人逃跑，立即射杀。 王世充内无粮草，唐军又在城外闸断了自己和外方的联络通道。那些天，他常常遥望东方，心中唯一的指望，就是窦建德赶快出兵来援。