The reason why Li Ye did not pursue him immediately after defeating the main force of Li Lin's army was that he had received news that Wang Ruxiao's navy fleet had entered Bashu. There were warships on the water to intercept them and cavalry on the land to pursue them. Unless Li Lin could fly into the sky, he would have no way out.
escape.
Wang Ruxiao is about fifty years old. He is not tall but extremely strong. He has three sons, all of whom are brave generals in the navy.
Different from Ji Guangchen, Wang Ruxiao is a more down-to-earth person and does not stand in two boats. He recognized Li Ye back then and has been loyal to him ever since. However, he is relatively low-key and rarely shows off his talents, but as long as Li Ye needs him, he will
He immediately stood up, from sending cars and ships to Longyou, from sending troops to support Luoyang, etc., he showed his seriousness and loyalty.
His loyalty naturally paid off, and he was one of the ten county officials awarded by Li Ye for the first time.
Wang Ruxiao brought 200 warships and 12,000 men. It seemed that the strength of the army was almost the same as that of Li Lin's army. There were even 100 fewer ships. However, Wang Ruxiao's army was a real naval force, and every one of them could jump into the water and lift a boat.
They can capsize the opponent's ships, but Li Lin's army is just ordinary infantry, and many soldiers don't even understand water. There is a big difference between the two.
Not long after the war started, Li Lin's fleet lost control one after another. The reason was that the boatmen all jumped into the water to escape. Without the boatmen, Li Lin's fleet could only circle on the river, and was soon towed away by Jingzhou Navy warships.
shore.
Wang Ruxiao's 3,000-stone warship stared at Li Lin's ship. The two ships approached. Wang Ruxiao led a hundred Jingzhou Navy soldiers to jump onto the other ship. Dozens of Li Lin's personal guards came out to fight, but the ship shook violently.
The guards were unable to stand firmly and were chopped down one by one by the navy soldiers and fell into the water.
Wang Ruxiao rushed into the cabin with a shield and short spear in hand. He saw that the cabin was brightly lit and full of people, including men, women and children. The leader was a prince in his forties, who looked at him coldly.
Wang Ruxiao recognized the other party at a glance. It was Li Lin. Wang Ruxiao was Li Lin's subordinate back then. He was deceived by Lei Wanchun to go to Dongting Junshan to suppress bandits and was captured, so he surrendered to Li Ye.
Wang Ruxiao put down his shield, clasped his fists and said, "I'm sorry to see you, Your Majesty!"
Li Lin said coldly for a while: "Who did I ask? It turned out to be General Wang. Were you ordered to take my life?"
"I don't dare to hold such a humble position. I am following the order of His Highness the King of Qi to escort the prince and his family back to Chengdu."
Li Lin felt relieved when he heard that Qi King Li Ye would not kill him. He nodded, "My family and I will stay in the cabin. I hope your soldiers will not disturb us!"
Wang Ruxiao withdrew and ordered the fleet to dock.
After the large ships docked, the soldiers jumped ashore one after another to escape, but 20,000 cavalry had laid a dragnet, and the soldiers could not escape at all. Facing the murderous cavalry, the soldiers had to kneel down and surrender.
It was getting daylight and the battle was over. Except for a small number of stubborn soldiers who had resisted, all the remaining nine thousand soldiers surrendered and all the wealth and materials were seized, including Li Lin's wealth that filled three ships.
Wang Ruxiao transferred more than thirty members of Li Lin's family to the Jingzhou Navy's 3,000-stone ship. The fleet set off and returned to Chengdu. Nine thousand prisoners of war also returned by ship.
Li Ye had been waiting at the Chengdu pier for a long time. When the ship docked, Wang Ruxiao and his son came forward to see the ceremony. Li Ye comforted them heavily and asked them to rest for a few days before returning to Jingzhou.
At this time, Li Lin was brought down. Li Ye clasped his fists slightly and said with a smile: "It's been five years since we said goodbye to Xuanzhou. Is your lord doing well?"
Li Lin said coldly: "The winner is the king, and the loser is the bandit. I have nothing to say. If you want to kill him, just kill him!"
Li Ye smiled lightly and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will treat you and your family politely and send you back to Chang'an."
After speaking, he ordered the soldiers to take Li Lin's family to the military camp and place them under house arrest.
At this time, Bai Xiaode stepped forward and handed a large wooden box to Li Ye, "This was found in Li Lin's luggage!"
Li Ye opened it and found that there were indeed six jade seals. The five jade seals except the Order Treasure were all there. Li Ye nodded. With them, he could negotiate with Li Heng.
When he learned that Li Ye had led his army into Bashu in advance, Li Heng sat stunned for a whole stick of incense, unable to say a word.
He thought that by accepting Li Guangbi's persuasion, he could finally capture Bashu before Li Ye did. Unexpectedly, he was still one step too late. It seemed that it was more than one step too late. When the news of the death of the Supreme Emperor came, the other party took action.
At this moment, Li Heng didn't know what to do. After being in a daze for a long time, he sent someone to summon Wei Jiansu.
He always felt that since Wei Jiansu was the bridge between him and Li Ye, Wei Jiansu should know what he should do?
Not long after, Wei Jiansu hurried to the imperial study, bowed and saluted, "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"
Li Heng said coldly: "Li Ye led an army of hundreds of thousands and rushed into Bashu ahead of the imperial court. Does Wei Aiqing know?"
Wei Jiansu shook his head and said, "Report to Your Majesty, I don't know!"
"But you can guess it, right?"
After a moment of silence, Wei Jiansu nodded, "This is in line with Li Ye's style. Wei Chen is really not surprised."
"What's his style?"
"Your Majesty has been keeping an eye on Li Lin. In fact, Li Ye is also the same. So when the news of the death of the Supreme Emperor came, he immediately sent troops. This is his advantage. It is normal for Your Majesty to lose to him."
"Advantage? I don't understand what you mean!"
Wei Jiansu sighed and said: "When the Supreme Emperor passed away, your Majesty's first thought was not to send troops, but to grieve, pray for the Supreme Emperor, and keep vigil for the Supreme Emperor. This is inevitable for a son of man and a king. After seven or eight days of peace for the Supreme Emperor,
Then His Majesty considered Bashu, but he could not send troops immediately because the troops were unknown. His Majesty wanted to issue an order to abolish the emperor's younger brother and investigate the crime of unfilial piety of the fourteenth son. Only when there are sufficient reasons, could His Majesty formally send troops. At this time, the emperor was not far away.
Half a month has passed since the collapse.
But Li Ye didn't need these tedious processes, let alone the consideration of the Supreme Emperor. As soon as he got the news of the Supreme Emperor's death, he immediately sent out troops, and even had already stationed heavy troops in Xingzhou early. Your Majesty, this is his advantage, he has no
The burden of Chao Gang's ethics."
Li Heng sighed, "Wei Aiqing is right, he does have an advantage over me, but the question is, what should I do now?"
Wei Jiansu bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I received news yesterday that Liu Yan has set off from Longyou to the capital, perhaps to negotiate with the imperial court on the follow-up treatment plan for Bashu."
Li Heng was silent for a while, and Wei Jiansu persuaded again: "Your Majesty, Li Ye's sending troops to exterminate the Fourteenth Prince is not necessarily a bad thing for the court. If the court sends troops, it will have to use at least 200,000 troops, as well as huge financial and material resources.
, the imperial court is already financially tight, and the imperial court may not be able to bear such a huge burden. Since Li Ye is willing to share the worries of the imperial court, why wouldn't your majesty do it?"
Li Heng said helplessly: "It is certainly a good thing that he is willing to send troops to share my worries, but I am worried that the price will be too high."
"This requires negotiation between the two parties. Let's have a good talk with Liu Yan after he arrives!"
Li Heng was helpless. He talked with Guo Ziyi for a while in the afternoon. Guo Ziyi also believed that it was unrealistic to send troops at this time. Unless the Helong army in Bashu was completely destroyed and the seats were vacant, the imperial court would have the opportunity to send troops. But the problem is,
If even the Helong army was completely destroyed, what chance would the imperial army have of winning?