Emperor Sui Yang

Xu Yuanlang was also very lucky. As soon as he withdrew from Juancheng, Yang Xuanzong arrived with his army. As soon as he arrived, he sent a message to Li Jing, asking for instructions on how to fight next.

After all, he is not familiar with the situation yet.

Li Jing is also an old Yinbi. He guessed that Xiao Mian must want to cross the river as soon as possible, so he sent someone to Yuancheng to tell Xiao Mian that I was going to Hebei and accidentally bumped into you. My target is not you. Let's go to each other. Let's go our separate ways.

Xiao Mian is not an ordinary person. As the saying goes, a soldier never tires of deceit, so it is impossible for him to believe Li Jing's words.

But Li Jing did withdraw.

The rangers sent by Xiao Mian found out that Li Jing's army had already headed towards Linhuang County in the west.

This time Xiao Mian learned his lesson and sent people to build three pontoon bridges on the river bank east of Yuancheng. After the pontoon bridges were built, he first sent more than 1000 scouts across the river, and then spread out to detect traces of the government troops.

After confirming that there were no whereabouts of officers and soldiers, he began to direct the army to cross the river.

At the same time, according to Li Jing's arrangement, Yang Xuanzang set off from Juancheng and walked downstream along the Yellow River. After passing Fan County, it was Xiao Xian's crossing point.

Fan County in later generations was to the north of the Yellow River, and in the Sui Dynasty to the south of the Yellow River. The county magistrate and other chief officials have long since disappeared. The city is currently occupied by a gangster leader in the city, that is, HSH.

As soon as Xuan Zong's army arrived, the gangster leader Xu Min opened the city to greet them. This is a smart man who suddenly changed from black to white.

In fact, Li Jing's deployment this time was a prediction. He estimated that Xiao Mian would continue to cross the river at a certain time, and he would cooperate with Xuan Zong to attack the other side from both sides.

The art of war involves planning and calculation. Whether the plan is accurate depends half on the general and half on luck.

But as long as there's a three-point possibility, it's worth a try.

After half of the army passed, Xiao Mian received intelligence that Li Jing had come back again. Xiao Mian, knowing that he had been deceived, led his confidants across the river first, leaving two generals, Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan, to defend Yuancheng.

Li Jing deployed his formation outside the city and remained motionless.

The opponent reacted too quickly. Yuancheng had already put up a defensive posture. Li Jing was unwilling to attack the city by force. He just stayed here, interrupting the opponent's crossing of the river and cutting Xiao Xian's army into two parts. Then what happened next? After coming down, we can only rely on Xuan Zong to kill them on the other side.

Xuan Zong had a long journey and came a little slower. Although he collided with Xiao Xian's army, they kept running southward. He marched for a day and night, but he couldn't catch up anymore. He could only watch Xiao Xian do this. Sneaked away.

Keep chasing, it's impossible. Shandong is full of rebels. If he dares to go deep into the hinterland, he will become a target.

So Xuan Zong was stationed on the other side of the river, which was equivalent to blocking the retreat of Yuancheng's Xiaoguo Army.

There were still more than 5000 rebels in the city. Under this situation, Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan knew that the situation was over and the best way was to surrender.

So Li Jing took back Yuancheng without spending a single soldier, and subdued the rebels Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan.

"These two are the chief culprits and must be killed," Han Xiaoji suggested.

Li Jing smiled and shook his head.

Liu Hongji said: "We can't kill them. They surrendered voluntarily. If we kill them, no one will dare to surrender to the court. They should be entrusted with the important task of joining me in attacking Zhai Mohou who is stationed in Wuyang County."

Li Jing nodded and said: "Bring these two people in first."

After a while, Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan were brought to Li Jing. They were both generals in the army and came to protect his children during the Northern Expedition. However, they were bewitched by Xiao Mian and became rebels.

In fact, they just chose life between life and death, just like surrendering to Li Jing this time.

"As long as you two assist me in capturing Wuyang County, you should atone for your sins through your merits. I can recommend you two to continue to lead the army," Li Jing said with a kind expression: "After capturing Wuyang, you can go back to Jiangnan to assist the defenders. Fairness determines the South.”

Xu and Wan looked at each other and said in disbelief: "Can Manager Li trust us?"

Li Jing smiled and said: "Half a year ago, you two and I were still in the same position. Things in the world are unpredictable, which led to today's situation. Today, you two have found your way back and surrendered to the imperial court. It is an act of great justice. Your Majesty treats the southerners kindly. You know it well. The general does not want to embarrass you. The Wagang bandits are the chief evil of the country. I have been ordered to destroy them. It is the time for you to make meritorious deeds. In Guixiang County, the capital, you come to fight to prove your sincerity to the court."

I asked you to be cannon fodder, but I said it clearly.

Li Jing's frank disclosure also made Xu and Wan feel more at ease. It's not like they have never done it before as cannon fodder. This time, with the support of elites from the imperial court, it will definitely be easier to fight.

The reason why the two of them believed in Li Jing was because the other party's reputation in the military was so good. They both knew that Li Jing was a man who kept his promises.

If it were Yang Xuanzang, they wouldn't believe it easily.

"The two of us are willing to be the vanguard under the General Manager and attack the fortified city," the two said.

Li Jing nodded and said to Liu Hongji: "Send a message to Qu Tutong of Xingyang and allocate [-] shi of grain to be sent to Fan County."

After saying that, Li Jing looked at Xu and Wan: "These grains will be used for your journey south."

Xu and Wan looked at each other, cupped their hands and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li, for your kindness."

In this way, Li Jing took the lead and captured Guancheng in the south of Wuyang County in the late first month of the first month, while Xu Xuanche and Wan Zan led [-] Xiaoguo troops to attack Guixiang.

As for the direction of Jijun, it has become a pot of porridge.After Shi Huaiyi landed in Tuwanxu, he supported Li Jing in Wei County as quickly as possible, while Zhai Rang's main force was to fight against Li Yangcang.

At first, Tu Wanxu and Su Lie couldn't bear it, but with the arrival of Huangfu Wuyi, they gradually regained some of their disadvantage.

Liyangcang, one side must defend and the other must win, so it will inevitably become an endless strangulation game.

Countless people were killed on both sides, and the fighting was brutal.

At this time, Yang Ming was already preparing to leave Luoyang.

The heavy snow melted, the weather was sunny and cloudy, and it was time for the main cavalry to go out.

Yang Ming transferred another 5000 people from the Luoyang garrison to form an army of 3 and marched towards Xingyang.

In Xingyang City, Qu Tutong met his old acquaintance.

When Yang Ming was very young, he was already very familiar with Qu Tutong, because at that time Qu Tutong was the head of the imperial guards of Yong'an Palace, and he often shoveled shit for Yang Ming.

"Tiger father has no dog son, Mingquan (Qutu Shou) did a good job this time," Yang Ming smiled at Qu Tushou and said: "Follow me from now on, always under your father's wings, even the eagle can hardly spread its wings. .”

Qu Tushou was overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down to Yang Ming.

Qu Tutong laughed and said, "I don't feel sorry for him. Serving the country is our family's purpose. If he dies on the battlefield, I will only be proud."

"Haha." Yang Ming said with a smile: "Don't say such things in front of me. Others don't understand you, but I don't understand you?"

Others also laughed.

People who serve top leaders are the most talkative. Qu Tutong is such a person. Yang Ming has been familiar with him since he was a child. He knows very well what kind of person the other party is. He is not reliable with his words, but he is very reliable. Spectrum.

Then, Yang Ming looked at Zheng Xu and said with a smile: "The Duke defended Xingyang to the death, which is a lesson from his loyalty. Now in Dading, Henan, to deal with the aftermath of Xingyang, you have to assist King Xi. After the canal is stabilized, water transportation will be continued, and food will depend on Luoyang. , Luoyang cannot live without Xingyang."

"I will keep this in mind," Zheng Xu nodded. He already knew about Zheng Guanyin's entry into the East Palace. Although he did not have a status at the moment, he knew that his status would be a matter of time.

Yang Qingzhi, who was sitting below, also felt very guilty. As the governor of Xingyang, he had not done a good job. After getting the news that the prince was coming to Xingyang, he had not slept well for fear that Yang Ming would scold him.

At his level, not many people dare to scold him. After all, his biological father is Yang Hong.

Waiting to be scolded, it is better to take the initiative to admit his mistakes, so Yang Qingzhi took the initiative to plead guilty and said: "I was at fault. I failed to guard Xingyang well, which led to the bandits raging, water transportation being interrupted, and the country suffering serious losses. It is all my fault."

"Brother, you are serious," Yang Ming raised his hand and said with a smile, "Wagang is huge. We used tens of thousands of elites to suppress the rebellion, but we still can't wipe it out quickly. Brother, I have tried my best to hold on to Xingyang and prevent the city from being broken."

Yang Ming really felt that Yang Qingzhi had nothing wrong. The other party's greatest advantage was that he knew he was not good enough and gave up power to Qu Tutong.

A person who is self-aware is a capable person.

Historically, this person was quite awesome. He endured humiliation and endured heavy hardships, and he was able to survive in an ignoble way, which he used to the extreme.

After Yang Guang was killed in Jiangdu, he first surrendered to Li Mi and changed his surname to Guo. After Li Mi's defeat, he surrendered to Wang Shichong and changed his surname back to Yang. He was the first to support Wang Shichong in killing the Yue King Yang Tong of the same clan to usurp the throne, so Wang Shichong married his niece.

After Wang Shichong became emperor, he changed his surname to Guo, presumably because he knew that what he was doing was not human affairs.

As a result, seeing that Li Yuan was powerful and Wang Shichong was about to be defeated, he abandoned his wife and mother and took refuge with Li Yuan. He was granted the title of Duke of Xi, and his surname was changed back to Yang.

He is a top-notch speculator who spends his life trying to make ends meet.

Yang Ming would definitely not trust such a person and would not regard him as one of his own. Don't you like the surname Guo?

"Shi Wanbao first led an army of [-] to Fan County to replace Xuan Zong, who immediately crossed the river to support Li Jing." Yang Ming, who received the latest military information, decisively ordered: "Taking Wuyang will create a pincer attack from the east and west. Wagang The thieves are about to be destroyed."

Yang Xuanting said: "Then my cavalry can also set off."

"You leave now," Yang Ming nodded: "Immediately cross the river to support Li Yangcang."

Xuanting was stunned, I shouldn't talk so much, I haven't eaten yet, you want me to leave now?
Glancing at Xu Shiji behind him, they both stood up at the same time and left.

After they left, everyone started to eat.

The people in the city can no longer live anymore, but the food here is still very hard.

Yang Yichen and Dou Kang did not come with them this time. They knew in their hearts that the prince would not use them, mainly because they were not familiar with them.

They are not familiar with the prince, and the prince is not familiar with them, which makes it difficult to work with them.

Although Yang Yichen was once Shi Wansui's subordinate, this man was the first to quit during the credit-stealing incident. At that time, Shi Wansui hardly recognized him.

So in ancient times, if you identified a big brother, you had to be devoted to him, otherwise he would be a different person inside and out.