More than twenty miles south of the Anyang city wall, there is a river called Youhe River.
You Xianzheng was standing on his horse by the river, looking at the Tang Army camp to the south with a dazed expression in his eyes.
He is fifty-seven years old this year. In his life, he has experienced the Mongols' destruction of the Jin Dynasty, the conquest of the Song Dynasty, and up to now, the most turbulent decades in the Central Plains.
Therefore, his whole person looked tired.
After waiting by the river for a while, You Yongxi rode his horse to You Xian's side and said, "Father, if Li Xia doesn't come, but instead sends a force to kill father..."
"Young people are so afraid." You Xian said, interrupting his son.
There was a look of reminiscence in his old eyes, and he added: "When I survived Xuzhou and fled back to the north from the Song Dynasty, was there not a narrow escape from death? Is there ever a time when I was as scared as you?"
"This is what my father taught me."
There was a cavalry attack from the south, and they were already on the other side of the river.
You Xian squinted and quickly recognized Li Xia.
His posture and demeanor are hard to recognize.
But what really surprised him was that Li Xia was not afraid of being attacked. He dismounted from his horse and came over in a small boat himself.
You Xian hesitated slightly, then he dismounted, took off his saber and armor, and ordered You Yongxi to take the horse away.
He was alone in civilian clothes and waded into the water to greet Li Xia.
But when the boat got closer and Li Xia looked over with his starry eyes, You Xian fell silent again.
After a while, he said: "I didn't expect that His Majesty would actually come in person."
At this time, Zhang Hongdao had stood in front of Li Xia and looked at You Xian with vigilant eyes.
Li Xia, however, looked very confident and waved slightly to Zhang Hongdao.
"I'm very curious, what made you abandon your wife and children and return to the north from the Song Dynasty? Was it homesickness?"
The wind was strong by the river, ruffling You Xian's beard and hair.
He stood by the river and looked up at Li Xia. He hesitated several times before saying, "I'm afraid your Majesty won't believe me if I tell you, but I still tell the truth."
"good."
"I was less than thirty years old at that time, and I was guarding Xiangyang with the Mongolian general Aslan, and was later captured by the Song army. The Song general Liu Shihe appreciated my talent and recommended me to Marshal Meng Gong..."
This was something Zhang Hongdao had never heard of before, and Li Xia never thought that You Xian had actually met Meng Gong.
You Xian sighed and continued: "At that time, Marshal Meng intended to regain Henan and had a strategy. He took advantage of the opportunity when Ogedai died of illness to send troops several times to attack the Mongolian fortress and burn the grain and grass, which improved the situation in Huaibei for a time.
At that time, he persuaded General Fan Yongji of the Jin Kingdom to surrender to Mongolia. Unfortunately, the Song court did not allow it, and instead became suspicious of Marshal Meng. As a result, Marshal Meng fell ill and died with regrets."
Li Xia once heard about the experience of Bai Pu's father Bai Hua, which was also related to this old incident, so he asked: "So, you escaped from the Song camp in despair and ran back to the north?"
"If so, I should have a plan, why would I abandon my wife and children." You Xian closed his eyes, sighed deeply again, and said, "I returned to Mongolia before Marshal Meng died of illness. My wife and children at the time were
He stayed in the Song Dynasty as a hostage, while I went north alone to contact Fan Yongji for Marshal Meng."
Zhang Hongdao opened his mouth and was stunned for a moment.
"It's funny that Meng Gong repeatedly broke ground, and the situation in Beijing and Lake improved for a time. It's funny that he was impassioned at that time. I really thought he could accomplish something. I abandoned my wife and children and went north to take risks for him. What was the result? He died. What should I do?
"
It seems that recalling his wife and children aroused You Xian's resentment towards Meng Gong.
Zhang Hongdao looked at You Xian again, and suddenly understood many things again, and asked: "So, do you really have contact with Li Fen?"
You Xian nodded, shook his head, and said: "I did meet Li Fen several times, but I saw that he was not a successful person. After that, I gave up my thoughts of betraying Mongolia and just wanted to govern the people."
Zhang Hongdao asked again: "Is your refusal to drink the wine given by Brother Meng related to this?"
"Back then, I advised Brother Meng not to attack Shu. In fact, I had secretly sent the message to Xiangyang. When Brother Meng gave the wine, I thought it was because the matter was exposed and I was given poisoned wine, so I was panicked and dared not drink it."
Saying that, You Xian shook his head mockingly and looked at Li Xia.
"For these years, sinners have been trembling with fear. Now that I finally meet the Holy Lord, I can express my thoughts that have been buried in dust for many years. Now I am willing to show my virtue and have the name and two palaces submit to me. Your Majesty will rule the world with your holy virtue, and the sinners will die without mercy.
regret……"
After hearing these words, Li Xia clearly thought about it for a moment, weighed the pros and cons, and then suddenly jumped out of the boat and stepped into the river.
"His Majesty!"
"His Majesty!"
The attendants around were shocked.
But anyway, Li Xia's boots and pants were already wet, so he took two steps forward regardless of wading in the water, helped You Xian up with his own hands, and said a few words of sincere comfort.
"You don't have to pretend to be guilty. You are devoted to the laws of the Han Dynasty and love the people. Now that you can bring the city to surrender and submit to the people, you will have done great service to the country and made great contributions to the country..."
~~
That night.
After Li Xia and Zhang Wenjing talked about what they saw and heard during the day, Zhang Wenjing thought for a while and then asked: "Does your Majesty really believe what You Xian said?"
Li Xia smiled and asked, "Do you believe it?"
"If You Xianruo really planned to surrender, why didn't he surrender earlier? He had to wait until His Majesty arrived in person. It seems that His Majesty was asking for your Majesty's golden words to come to a conclusion for him."
"Yeah?"
"If he told Fifth Brother what happened back then, and when the war is over, Your Majesty will investigate, and if it is found that what he said was a lie, he will be punished. Who dares to investigate now?"
"These are all old stories. Did he abandon his wife and children to be loyal to Mongolia at that time, or was he really entrusted by Meng Gong to join Mongolian activities? Maybe both. At least he was a good official and treated the people well, and he has this
Submission is of great significance to the Northern Expedition, and this is what is important."
“If the water is clear, there will be no fish?”
Li Xia shook his head slightly and said: "It's not just that. It's really not easy for the people in the north these decades and hundreds of years. If you can reduce the disasters of war, let's do it as little as possible."
Then, he laughed at himself: "Before, the princes from the north said that Kublai Khan was lenient and that I was harsh. Now it's time for me to show my generosity."
"Your Majesty is truly tolerant. Kublai Khan was just tolerant. Meng Yuan was tolerant to the princes but treated the people harshly. Now that the benevolent king has come to the north, it is self-evident to say what the people want."
Li Xia nodded and looked at the map.
Zhang Wenjing followed his gaze and realized that by conquering Zhangde and the two daimyo mansions this time, they could reach the Zhending mansion by going north.
Then it will be closer to Baozhou.
She became more and more homesick and worried...
~~
In the following days, with You Xian's surrender, the Tang army's Northern Expedition accelerated again and quickly occupied the cities around Daming Mansion.
On September 21st, the Tang army surrounded Xingzhou.
One difference between Xingzhou and other places is that there is Purple Mountain Academy to the west of Xingzhou, and many important officials of the Meng Yuan Dynasty came from here, including Liu Bingzhong, Zhang Wenqian, Wang Xun, Guo Shoujing, and Zhang Yi.
These five people were once important ministers of the Yuan court. Although Guo Shoujing has surrendered and Zhang Yi is dead, the Zijinshan School is still an important part of the Jinlianchuan shogunate.
Therefore, Li Xia did not order a fierce attack on Xingzhou City, nor did he allow his soldiers to enter Purple Mountain Academy.
He still hopes to recruit Xingzhou to surrender.
This would be a big blow to the entire Han official system in the Yuan Dynasty.
As soon as we set up camp and went down to the stronghold, some soldiers came forward and announced: "Your Majesty, General Huo is back and has brought several great scholars from the north with him."
Li Xia knew as soon as he heard that Wang E and others had arrived. After thinking about it for a while, he came up with an idea.
He planned to invite Wang E to visit Purple Mountain Academy.
…
"Purple Mountain?"
When Wang E arrived in front of Li Xia, he had not yet recovered from the grace of this young Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He was a little stunned when he heard that he was going to Purple Mountain Academy.
Wang E then hurriedly bowed and said: "If your Majesty wants to care for the students in Purple Mountain Academy, I am willing to wait for you. Your Majesty does not need to go to that high mountain and dangerous place."
"Let's travel together." Li Xia said, "This is my attitude towards the scholars in the north."
Wang Yun stood behind Wang E and listened, feeling uneasy.
He had met Li Xia before, and at that time he could feel that Li Xia did not appreciate his poetry, but seemed to have an attitude that scholars from the north should not serve in Mongolia and help the tyranny.
"Your Majesty, all the students in Purple Mountain Academy are Liu Bingzhong's students. Because they were born in the north and were taught by Mongolia since childhood, they are somewhat unclear about righteousness. It is better for the guilty minister to teach them a lesson first and then bring them to the audience."
Li Xia could understand Wang Yun's thoughts and shook his head with a smile.
At this time, at that time, he did blame the northern scholar Ning Shi Meng Yuan for not submitting to him. But now that times have changed, this blame has long been gone.
Although he is not a scholar, he really has a deep affection for Chinese culture.
"Don't worry, I understand that it is not easy to preserve some cultural context in the North. Now that there is a real emperor of the Han Dynasty, it is time for the literature and scholarship in the North to be carried forward."
When Wang E and Wang Yun heard this, they immediately felt a completely different aura from when they were officials in the Yuan Dynasty.
They could already foresee that Li Xia's influence on the Xingzhou School would definitely cause the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties to continue to be turbulent...