"Boom!" There was a loud bang, the palace door was kicked open, and dozens of soldiers rushed into the back hall. Wang Shichong was drunk and lying on the table, falling asleep. Beside him, the headless corpse of his confidant eunuch was still there.
He fell to the ground and his blood had dried.
The huge impact and the fierce murderous intent woke Wang Shichong up. He slowly raised his head and looked at the large group of sergeants in front of him with drunken eyes. The leader was holding a halberd and staring at him fiercely. It was Li Junxian, his hussar general.
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Without waiting for Wang Shichong's reaction, Li Junxian shouted, "Wang Thief, take your life!"
The halberd shook and stabbed Wang Shichong as fast as lightning. Wang Shichong was shocked. He was half awakened by the drunkenness. He kicked the table over violently and grabbed the sword casually.
The heavy halberd pierced the table and collided with the sword with a 'Dang!' sound, and the sword was knocked out. However, Wang Shichong escaped the disaster by deflecting the halberd slightly.
"stop!"
Wang Shichong took a few steps back, leaned against the columns in the hall and shouted loudly.
He pointed at Li Junxian and yelled: "Li Junxian, I treat you badly, why do you want to kill me?"
"Treat me well?"
Li Junxian gritted his teeth with hatred: "My father was imprisoned in the palace by you last night and starved to death. You still dare to say that you treat me badly? Go to hell!"
He jumped up and stabbed him with another halberd. Wang Shichong was completely frightened out of his drunken state, and his martial arts skills were not weak either. Before the halberd could hit him, he turned sideways to avoid another column.
"Listen to me, I didn't harm your father. I never had such an idea!"
Wang Shichong dodged while arguing. "I don't know about this either. I allocated money and food to order officials to be kind to you. But they deducted food and killed your father. If it was me, how could I let you lead the army? How could I let you lead the army?"
You want your brother to go out on business? Li Junxian. Think about it clearly."
Of course Li Junxian knew that it was someone below him, but the culprit was Wang Shichong, who imprisoned his father. He already hated Wang Shichong and was determined to kill him.
Li Junxian said nothing, swung his halberd and stabbed again. At this time, he had forced Wang Shichong into a corner, and saw that Wang Shichong could no longer escape this disaster.
Suddenly there was a loud shout from outside the door: "Stop!"
The soldiers at the door moved out of the way, and more than a hundred Tang troops poured in. The leader was Li Shimin.
Li Shimin had just received the news that Li Junxian had gone to assassinate Wang Shichong, which shocked him. He could not kill Wang Shichong now. If Wang Shichong was killed, no one from the various princes in the south would surrender to the Tang Dynasty.
He hurried over and drank Li Junxian at the critical moment.
Although Li Junxian hated Wang Shichong very much, he did not dare to offend Li Shimin. Li Shimin controlled his career. Li Junxian put down his halberd and glared at Wang Shichong fiercely, hoping to kill him again in the future.
Wang Shichong was stunned. He looked at Li Shimin blankly. He knew Li Shimin. They had interacted with Li Shimin when he led his army to Yanmen County to rescue him a few years ago.
An unprecedented despair poured into Wang Shichong's heart. He finally understood why Li Junxian dared to kill him. Luoyang City had already been breached. It was even this Li Junxian who sacrificed Luoyang City.
He slid weakly against the wall and sat on the ground, lowering his head deeply. Li Shimin glanced at him coldly, then turned back to wink at the soldiers.
The soldier stepped forward and placed an official hat and a small red porcelain bottle a foot away in front of Wang Shichong.
"You choose! The bottle contains Crane Crown Red." Li Shimin said in an extremely cold tone.
Wang Shichong slowly raised his head and stared at the two items in front of him. He swallowed and crawled forward with difficulty. A proud smile appeared on Li Shimin's lips.
Wang Shichong climbed up to the two items and reached out his hand to grab the official hat without hesitation...
Yonghe County, Longquan County, Hedong Road is close to the east bank of the Yellow River. On the opposite bank is Yan'an County, Guannai Road. The surging Yellow River rushes through the county three miles away.
At this time, the weather was severely cold, and heavy snow covered the official roads and ferries in Yonghe County. There were only a few sleigh riders sitting in the pavilion by the ferry, chatting, and waiting for guests to come.
At this moment, a traveler stood up, pointed into the distance and shouted in surprise: "Look, an army is coming."
The rest of the people stood up one after another, and they also saw a mighty army coming towards the ferry, and they couldn't see the edge at a glance.
Someone shouted "Run!", and several travelers hurriedly ran into the Yellow River, got on their sleds, drove their donkeys, and fled to the north...
A Sui army composed of 30,000 people passed through Yonghe County and was heading towards the ferry in a mighty manner. The team's flags were fluttering and their momentum was huge.
At the front of the team, under a red eagle flag, was Yang Yuanqing's confidant Qin Qiong. After Qin Qiong blocked 30,000 Turkic cavalry into Jingxing, he received an order from Yang Yuanqing, ordering him to hand over the matter of Zhongjingxing.
Li Jing quickly rushed to Yan'an County with 30,000 troops.
Yang Yuanqing had twelve sharp horizontal knives made of Damascus steel, which he obtained from Yu Qingze's mansion. Later, he gave these twelve horizontal knives to twelve generals respectively, and had numbers cast on the handles.
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This kind of number represents a kind of confidant level. Although Yang Yuanqing never said it, everyone knew it in their hearts. For example, he gave the No. 1 Hengdao to Yang Sien. After Yang Sien became disabled in both legs, he left the military and entered politics. He is currently the Minister of the Ministry of War. This
A horizontal knife is Yang Sien's house treasure.
The second horizontal sword was given to Yang Wei. Although Yang Wei seemed to be a little less capable of standing alone and becoming a prince, in terms of Yang Yuanqing's trust, he was second only to Yang Sien.
The third horizontal sword was given to Ma Shao. He had followed Yang Yuanqing since he was a soldier. Although he was not capable, he was loyal and never had the slightest dissent, and he had withstood the test of twenty years.
The fourth horizontal sword was given to junior brother Luo Shixin, while Qin Qiong got the fifth horizontal sword.
Qin Qiong and Yang Yuanqing actually didn't stay together for a long time. He was not as good as Su Dingfang or Pei Xingyan, but his sword number was higher than those of these two. This level of trust moved Qin Qiong very much.
It is precisely because of this trust that Qin Qiong followed Yang Yuanqing's orders more cautiously. No matter how 30,000 Turkic cavalry wreaked havoc across Hedong. Even when the Turkic cavalry came to provoke Taiyuan City and burned most of Jinyang Palace, Qin Qiong still gave strict orders not to do so.
Attack.
He was very aware of the consequences if Taiyuan City fell, and he also understood Yang Yuanqing's philosophy that only people could be saved and all wealth could be re-created.
Qin Qiong understands the way of being a human being, and the key is to understand his own weight. Some people can be heroes and dominate the world, but some people can only be generals. Following the entrepreneurial journey, Qin Qiong does not have that kind of ambition and courage, so he cannot be a hero.
.He can only be a general and start a business with his master.
Then following Yang Yuanqing is undoubtedly the best choice. Qin Qiong has never been optimistic about Li Tang. He is from Qi, and the Tang Dynasty dominated by Guanlong nobles will not have a future for him.
"General Qin!"
A scout rushed from the front, interrupting Qin Qiong's thoughts, and Qin Qiong reined in the reins.
"What's up?"
"Reporting to General Qin, we found that Tang troops are stationed at Wuyun Castle across the Yellow River."
Wuyun Fort is close to the Yellow River ferry on the other side. It was a military fort built by the Sui army to control the ferry. There are usually 500 troops stationed in it. Qin Qiong pondered and asked: "Do you know how many enemy troops there are in the fort?"
"Reporting to the general, I don't know the exact number of Tang troops."
Qin Qiong also knew that the capacity of the military fort was not large and could only accommodate 800 people at most. He did not hesitate to order, "Cross the river immediately and raze Wuyun Fort!"
The army walked into the biting ice of the Yellow River and marched quickly towards Yan'an County on the other side...
Ten thousand cavalry led by Yang Yuanqing had arrived in Huining County. At night, the ten thousand cavalry were stationed in a valley about fifty miles away from Huining County. The soldiers obtained hundreds of tents in Pingliang County, allowing them to stand in the cold wind.
There is also a place to live in the valley.
The Sui army found a valley about two miles long in the valley. It was just right for setting up camp without the biting cold wind. After marching for a day and a night, they were exhausted. After eating their dry food, they fell asleep, and the war horses also entered.
After leaving the tent, the soldiers spent the night together.
Among hundreds of tents, a large tent still had lights on, and there was Yang Yuanqing's handsome tent. It was already one o'clock in the morning, and he had not yet fallen asleep. The screams of the cold wind came intermittently from outside the tent, and from time to time there was a burst of flying sand and rocks.
Densely packed small stones crackled against the big tent.
The tent was very quiet and the lights were bright. Although Yang Yuanqing was the king of Chu and the actual creator and controller of the new Sui Dynasty, he always adhered to a principle in the military and shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, including eating the same meals and
The same goes for dry food and even accommodation.
The furnishings in his tent were simple, with two sheepskins on the floor and a military blanket wrapped around him. It was exactly the same as the soldiers. The slight difference was that he had a small table and a bookcase.
In addition, there is a sand table in the middle of the tent. It is a sand table from the Guan Nei Road. It is one foot long and wide and is also made up of sixteen small sand tables. At this time, Yang Yuanqing was standing in front of the sand table, thinking about his Guan Nei Road.
Tao plan.
There are several white flags planted on the sand table, respectively in Huining County, Honghua County, southern Yan'an County, Beidi County, Shang County and Anding County. This is where the 50,000 Tang troops are distributed. In addition, in the Hexi Corridor
Another 30,000 Tang troops were deployed in Wuwei and Zhangye counties, and another 30,000 Tang troops were deployed in the Hehuang area.
But this time, Yang Yuanqing did not consider the Hehuang area for the time being. He held several red flags in his hands, including 10,000 cavalry in his hands, 15,000 Fengzhou troops from Pei Renji, and 30,000 troops brought by Qin Qiong, a total of five
Fifteen thousand troops.
This time he not only wants to regain his original territory, but also seeks greater benefits.
Yang Yuanqing's eyes fell on the Hexi Corridor. The Hexi Corridor was the Tang Army's horse base. More than 80% of the Tang Army's war horses came from the Hexi Corridor. He got information from Su Dingfang. The Tang Dynasty raised 400,000 war horses in several large ranches in the Hexi Corridor.
, has gradually reached the release period, and is about to deploy the Tang Army.
Yang Yuanqing was not in a hurry to consider Hexi, but 400,000 war horses, an extremely huge strategic resource, was even more important than Yan'an County's kerosene. How could he let these hundreds of thousands of war horses fall into the hands of the Tang army?
A cold smile appeared on Yang Yuanqing's face. He leaned forward and placed the small red flag in his hand on the Hexi Corridor.