Chapter 483 Chapter 486
Shen Mu patted him on the shoulder and said, "The conversation between my two brothers tonight was very constructive. Everyone poured out what had been in their hearts for a long time. His grandma's bear, we have no other choice but to go see the old man according to the original plan. Dou, let's see which party God wants to help."

At night, the three of them continued their journey and drove at full speed. At dawn, they entered the sphere of influence of the Xia army, and hurried towards Liyang. Wuling, where Dou Jiande was stationed.

Just looking at the continuous camps outside Wuling City and the gathering of boats and boats in Qinshui, we can know that Dou Jiande intends to attack the Tang army in the west.

Because Ba Fenghan was not interested in seeing Dou Jiande, after discussion, Xu Ziling stayed with Ba Fenghan, and the two waited for news from Shen Mu on a hill outside the city.

When Shen Mu entered the city alone, Dou Jiande was holding a meeting with his generals. Hearing that Shen Mu had broken through from Luoyang, he was overjoyed to join Liu Heitai, Xu Yuanlang, newly surrendered Meng Haigong, general Zhang Qingshi, Liu Bin from Zhongshushe, and Guoziji. Jiu Ling respected all the generals and officials, and met Shen Mu in the lobby of the commander's mansion.

Except for Meng Haigong and Xu Yuanlang, everyone else had met him in the Liyang battle, and the reunion after a small farewell was a lively exchange of greetings.

Meng Haigong was about forty years old, with a rough face, a serious expression, and rarely smiled, but Shen Mu felt intuitively that he was the kind of person who was cold-faced and warm-hearted, who didn't make friends easily, but once he became friends, he could be friends He didn't even frown halfway.

Xu Yuanlang is at least ten years younger than Meng Haigong. He is slender and tough, with a calm demeanor. He always looks at people with an inquiring and examining look. He is a man of courage, wisdom and courage.

Both of these two monarchs used to dominate one side, and after surrendering to Xia Jun, they became Dou Jiande's most important team.

After the guests and hosts were seated, Dou Jiande and his subordinates asked about the situation in Luoyang in turn, showing their concern for Luoyang. Shen Mu answered one by one, frankly showing the dire situation in Luoyang, and finally said: "Since Song King Kong was defeated by Li Shimin in Baibi, The Turkic Khan Jieli’s plan to invade the Central Plains suffered serious setbacks. Tang ruled Guanzhong, Xia ruled Hebei, and Zheng ruled the Central Plains. The three-legged situation can no longer be maintained. The more powerful the Tang Dynasty, the more unfavorable it is to Zheng Xia. Now Li Shimin leads an army of 20 , with the force of Mount Tai, the troops were divided into multiple groups, and the surrounding cities of Luoyang were eaten away one by one. Now Luoyang is under heavy siege. The day Li Shimin breaks through Luoyang is the time when he will send his army north to attack Xia. At this moment of life and death, why don't Lord Dou let go? The old grievances, taking advantage of the Tang army's siege, sent troops to rescue Zheng, as long as the tiger prison can be regained, the Tang army will retreat, and at that time Master Dou's reputation will be greatly strengthened, who would dare not follow?"

Dou Jiande smiled and said, "Did Wang Shichong ask the young commander to ask me for help?"

Shen Mu smiled wryly, "I'm also thinking about my young commander."

Dou Jiande's eyes fell on Ling Jing, Xia Jun's chief adviser, and motioned for him to speak.

Ling Jing said: "The young commander has a close relationship with us. If the young commander is in trouble, the king will never sit back and watch, but Wang Shichong is always unreliable and untrustworthy. If he suddenly surrendered to the Tang family, wouldn't we be in a dilemma? "

Shen Mu begged for help and looked at Liu Heitai, who showed a helpless look in his eyes, and shook his head slightly, indicating that he should not interrupt.

Shen Mu understood that Dou Jiande was not willing to send troops, but wanted to fight for the most favorable conditions, not only Wang Shichong, but also Shen Mu.

The Dou Jiande I saw this time was very different from the Dou Jiande I saw in Liyang last time.Although he is still the same person, but his self-confidence, which seems to put the world under his feet, makes him seem like another person.

Shen Mu no longer has a close feeling for him, and can't help but think of Li Shimin's comment that "building virtue and defeating Meng Haigong will make the arrogant and lazy". Continuous success can indeed change people.

Shen Mu sighed: "I, Shen Mu, can assure the king that this kind of thing will not happen. To a certain extent, Luoyang can no longer be decided by Wang Shichong, unless he can kill me, Shen Mu and the elite of the five thousand young commanders first." , and this is something that Wang Shichong cannot do with his current strength."

Xu Yuanlang said in a deep voice: "If we break the siege of Luoyang, what good will Wang Shichong do? He is no longer able to defend Luoyang. At that time, Luoyang will either fall into the hands of the young commander, or it will be given to me by the Great Xia. It has nothing to do with being captured by the Tang army. What's the difference?"

An uncomfortable feeling filled Shen Mu's heart. Before meeting Dou Jiande, he still held the mentality of his family being talkative, and everything was discussed and discussed.When he saw Dou Jiande now, Liu Heitai had an unspeakable helpless expression, which made him feel that Dou Jiande was quite wary of him, allowing his subordinates to question him, which made him unable to tell the big plan, because it was no longer enough to persuade Dou Jiande to help him. easy.

Shen Mu said solemnly: "First of all, I, Shen Mu, solemnly declare that once Luoyang falls into the Tang army, or becomes a thing in the king's pocket, it will never fall into my hands. Tang Jun hurried back to Guanzhong."

After a pause, he continued: "As for why Wang Shichong begged for help from the king, I guess everyone has a sense of luck, and Wang Shichong can't avoid it. At this time when the mountains and rivers are at the end of the day, if you vote for Li Yuan, all the hard-earned achievements in the past will be wiped out." Fu Dongliu, and his situation is worse than that of Li Mi, he has no choice but to surrender. All the glory of being an emperor in the past is gone forever. As long as Wang Shichong thinks about Li Mi's situation and fate in Chang'an, he should know that it is not easy to turn back Walking is difficult, so I have to take advantage of the capital to fight for his mother's shop before dying. The ideal is that the king and Li Shimin will lose both sides in the fight, so that the situation of Li Mihuo's merger with Yu Wenhua and the past will repeat itself. If you look at it from this perspective There should be a big difference between surrendering to the Tang family and asking the king for help."

Another advisor of Dou Jiande, Liu Bin, smiled and said: "The young commander's eloquence is not hindered, which is admirable. However, the young commander's strategy of crossing the river and attacking the tiger prison still has room for discretion. With the strength of our Great Xia army and the strength of our attacking Tang army, it is a real challenge. Victory or defeat is hard to predict. The best strategy is to avoid the strong and attack the weak. When the Tang army is besieging the city, we will use troops to aid the river and attack Huaizhou and Heyang. , joined the Shangdang, favored Fen and Jin, and moved towards Pujin. There are three benefits in this way. First, it is like stepping into the land of no one, and victory can be perfect; , Zheng Wei explained himself. For the current policy, there is no more than this."

Shen Mu was stunned and said: "What the doctor said is really the best strategy, and it has indeed formed a huge restraint on the Tang army, but there are two major problems. First of all, our opponent is Li Shimin. If we know that the king will not cross the river and go west, we must do our best. Attack Luoyang regardless of other things. As long as the Tang army can block the river, the king can only rule temporarily on the north bank of the river. The second problem is that Luoyang has only half a month of grain left, so it won't last long. Evacuate Luoyang and return to Pengliang to see what else we can do."

Meng Haigong's face darkened: "The young commander's words are threatening, which is really unwise."

Shen Mu was furious, and thought to himself that he came here to ask for help without any selfish intentions, for the sake of all the people in the world, and the other party not only did not appreciate it, but also pressed him everywhere, making people feel angry.

Liu Heitai smoothed things over and said: "The young commander is only seeking truth from facts. I, Liu Heitai, dare to guarantee my life. The young commander here has good intentions for me, Daxia."

Dou Jiande also knew that it would be unwise to offend Shen Mu, nodded in agreement and said: "We once fought side by side with the young commander, we know the young commander well, Haigong is still the first to meet the young commander, so there is a misunderstanding."

Although Meng Haigong saw that Liu Dou and Liu Dou had said good things for Shen Mu one after another, he still refused to apologize, and he made a long face and didn't say a word.

Dou Jiande looked at Shen Mu for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Now the situation is different. The young commander is not fighting alone. Song Que has just occupied Hainan, and the Song family's fleet will go north at any time, making the situation in the north more and more complicated. For example, our Great Xia army and Li Shimin are fighting for Luoyang. When the stalemate is at stake, Song Que's army will kill us, whether it will benefit our Great Xia, or the Tang Dynasty, or in the end it will only benefit Song Que and let him reap the benefits of the fisherman, can the young commander relieve me of my doubts?"

Shen Mu suddenly realized that the key point was still Song Que, who was feared by everyone in the world. Since Li Yuan could not sleep peacefully because of this, Dou Jiande was also afraid.Under such circumstances, Shen Mu's Young Commander-in-Chief could never hope to cooperate sincerely with Xia Jun to capture Hulao.

Is Dou Jiande Li Shimin's opponent?Suddenly his optimism vanished, his future was bleak, and the possibility of dying in Luoyang increased sharply, and his two good brothers, Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan, would also be implicated.

After sighing, Shen Mu stood up and said solemnly: "I guarantee with my reputation and personality that when the victory of Luoyang is not decided, as long as I, Shen Mu, have breath, Song Que will never touch Luoyang. And Shen Faxing, Li Zitong is still there, and the Song family's position in Hainan is not stable, so the Song family's fleet will be able to go north when the spring is warm next year. As long as the king agrees to send troops to break the siege of Luoyang, I, Shen Mu, will defend Luoyang to the death and wait for the arrival of the king's troops. I am now We must rush back to Luoyang immediately, just waiting for the king to speak."

He didn't have the patience to continue talking, and wanted to have a showdown with Dou Jiande.

There was no sound in the hall, and all eyes fell on Dou Jiande.

Dou Jiande, who was sitting high in the dragon chair on the stone steps in the north of the hall, had twinkling eyes, stared at Shen Mu for a moment, and then said with a long smile: "Okay! The young commander is quick to speak, how can I, Dou Jiande, be procrastinating? In three days, the vanguard of my Great Xia will pass Dahe, if God thinks that I, Dou Jiande, are suitable for becoming an emperor, within half a month, the young commander-in-chief and I will meet outside Luoyang City. At that time, I hope the young commander-in-chief can give me a positive answer about my future. young handsome."

Ba Fenghan said: "What is Ziling thinking?"

Xu Ziling was gazing at the Qinshui flowing in the plain below the cliff. In the afterglow of the setting sun, the navy ships of the two Xia armies departed from Wuzhi's wharf and headed for the direction of the river. He had an accident."

Ba Fenghan smiled and said: "This may be the thoughts that are spinning in your mind at this moment, but before your eyes showed tenderness and nostalgia, then you must not be thinking about such a disastrous thing, right?"

Xu Ziling said embarrassingly: "I was thinking of the scene with Shi Qingxuan in Youlin Xiaogu, she was associated with the Great Ming Zunjiao, and then from the Daming Zunjiao to Yin Xianhe, if something happens to him, the Daming Zunjiao should not be able to get rid of the relationship .”

Ba Fenghan said: "Memory is like this, one thing is linked to another. So I seldom miss and recall, this is a big taboo in martial arts practice. Practitioners have no past, no future, only the present moment. Not only There is only this moment, and we must grasp this moment, know this moment, otherwise life will pass like a dream, unreal, and muddled. Just like I am not only looking at Wuzhi City, but also aware of the fact that I am looking at Wuzhi City. This is the most important mental method I have learned from my hundred-day practice in the desert."

Xu Ziling was silent for a while, then he said in shock: "Why have I never thought about such a simple mentality, but this mentality is easy to know but difficult to practice. Facing life and death on the battlefield, we are forced not to miss any moment in front of us." , but in normal times, we are distracted by a myriad of internal and external factors, and it is impossible to guard against it. Like I am talking to you at this moment, I will not be aware of the self who is talking to you, and I will not be able to grasp the moment in front of me."

Ba Fenghan smiled and said: "Zi Ling can do it, but you have no demands on yourself, so you have a mentality of being content with whatever happens, to the point of enjoying the dreamy, unreal, and muddled feeling of life. Ha! Suppose you don't have Shen Mu, a troublesome brother, you definitely don't have the achievements you have today."

Xu Ziling couldn't help laughing, nodded and said: "Brother Feng Han's view is correct, it should be so. There must be a ruler in the dark, Buddhists call it fate, and numerologists think it is fate, just like we met Brother Feng Han for the first time. How could I have imagined that I would form a life-and-death friendship with you, this may be fate."

Ba Fenghan showed a thoughtful expression and said slowly: "Zi Ling reminds me of my memories. Just temporarily let the mind at this moment fall. Frankly speaking, I never thought that I would make friends with anyone, I only admired being alone. A solitary way of life treats everything that happens around you as a passing thing.”

After a pause, he continued: "What really moved me was your sincere brotherhood. I have never seen such a selfless and sincere relationship like you, which made me completely hostile to you, and gave birth to a brother who can hand over to you. Two friends, live up to the joys of this life."

Xu Ziling's heart was agitated, Ba Fenghan seldom confided his inner thoughts like this, maybe because he was no longer optimistic about the battle of Luoyang after he tried Li Shimin's methods, and under the threat of life and death, he was easy to feel emotional.

Ba Fenghan stared at Wu Zhi and sighed: "It is really a very powerful move of the Demon Sect to make Li Yuanji Dong come to monitor Li Shimin and divide Li Shimin's military power."

Xu Ziling said in astonishment: "Brother Fenghan's words are strange. Letting Li Yuanji participate in the battle of Luoyang should be the intention of Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng. Why did it become a scheme and conspiracy manipulated by the Demon Sect?"

Ba Fenghan said indifferently: "Zi Ling is a fan of the authorities, and I am a bystander. Concubine Shixuan's selection of Li Shimin as the future Allah is really a stroke of genius against the two schools of evil and six ways. In fact, until that moment, Cihang Jingzhai and the devil The struggle of the sect is still at a disadvantage. Shi Zhixuan overthrew the Sui Dynasty first, causing the world to fall into chaos. If Bi Xiuxin hadn't restrained Shi Zhixuan, Shi Zhixuan would have replaced Yang Guang with Yang Xuyan and manipulated it from behind. The overall situation. The concubine Xuan Hui has eyes for heroes, and judges that the Li Clan is the most likely to unify the world. She also knows that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji have won over the two major forces of the Turks and the Demon Sect, so she decided to fully support Li Shimin and make Li Shimin a villain of the Li family. The only clear stream in the stream."

Xu Ziling revealed a thoughtful look, frowned and said: "But it will also push Li Shimin into a dangerous situation where he will turn against his father and fight with his brothers. Sigh! I really don't understand Feixuan on this point, at least I don't need to be so publicized."

Ba Fenghan shook his head and said, "This matter is very delicate. Li Shimin is the representative of the Li Clan. Shi Feixuan supports Li Shimin just as she supports the Li Clan. Li Yuan and Li Yuanji should be happy. Only the Demon Gate understands Shi Feixuan's intentions." They used their heart, so they did everything possible to destroy the unity of the Li Clan in various ways. They took advantage of Li Yuan's love for his concubines, Li Jiancheng's fear of Li Shimin's military achievements, and Li Yuanji's selfish desire to become the emperor. He firmly controlled the three parties. Therefore, the struggle between Li Shimin and his father and brother , In secret, it is actually a dispute between the two factions of Cihang Jingzhai and the Demon Sect."

Xu Ziling agreed: "Brother Feng Han's analysis is thorough and convincing."

Ba Fenghan said: "The thing that Momen is most afraid of now is that Li Shimin will reconcile with you in order to resist his father and brother. Sending Li Yuanji to the battlefield in Luoyang is precisely to prevent the situation from developing in this direction. If Momen disagrees, Concubine Yin De Li Yuanji, Dong Shuni, etc. will not speak to Li Yuan for Li Yuanji, and Li Yuan will not affect Li Shimin's military morale at such a critical moment. Let's wait and see, Li Yuanji will definitely do something to make us and Li Shimin form a stronger relationship For the deep enmity that cannot be solved, he has Li Yuan's secret order, and Li Shimin has to do some things according to his wishes."

The earth is gradually darkened, and the cold wind is blowing.Xu Ziling was speechless, feeling tired from the bottom of his heart.

Ba Fenghan's eyes sparkled and he said: "People are fragile, the past is a burden, and the unpredictable future weighs people down. So focusing on the present moment is not only a way of practice, It is also a necessary means to maintain a strong fighting spirit. Remember my words? Whoever is ruthless can survive. Since Ziling decided to fight with us, he should put aside everything. Ziling understands the meaning of what I said ?"

Xu Ziling nodded to express his understanding. As Li Shimin said, there is no third possibility on the battlefield.

……

Liu Heitai and Shen Mu arrived at the west gate together, and the gatekeepers stood in silence when they saw that it was Shen Mu.

Shen Mu said to Liu Heitai: "You don't need to give it away, the horse will be returned to you, it will be more convenient to go back to Luoyang on two legs."

Liu Heita said in a deep voice, "I'll see you off again."

The two walked all the way without saying a word.

Shen Mu shrugged his shoulders and said it was okay, followed Liu Heita and rode out of the city, left the official road, and rode slowly towards the grassland.

Liu Heita sighed: "I'm really worried that Master Dou will lose this battle."

Shen Mu smiled wryly: "The Dou Jiande I met just now is not the Dou Jiande I knew when I was besieging the city in Liyang, why is the same person so far apart?"

Liu Heikai said in a deep voice: "Because he has been going so smoothly these past few months! After conquering Liyang, outstanding figures in the Tang army such as Li Shiji were also defeated, and he also surrendered to Meng Haigong, making him feel that the throne of the emperor is within his grasp. Really. Temperament is revealed without restraint."

Shen Mu said in shock: "Brother Liu seems to be very dissatisfied with Lao Dou, what happened?"

(End of this chapter)

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