Li Na's disastrous defeat at Xuzhou completely disrupted Li Zhengji's deployment, and with the 20,000 troops killed and wounded in several battles with the Hebei army, his main army had lost more than half of his main army, and he was unable to control the three prefectures of Pu, Ji, and Yun that he had occupied before.

Li Zheng was already pacing back and forth in the big tent with his hands in his hands, his heart was extremely disturbed, he didn't expect his son to be defeated so quickly and completely, Xuzhou was not occupied, and Yanzhou and Caozhou and 20,000 troops were lost.

In the final analysis, it was because he underestimated Guo Song and Li Yu, the Son of Heaven, and thought that Guo Song was just an assassin, but Li Yu, the Son of Heaven, let him lead the army as the main general, and the results proved that Li Yu, the Son of Heaven, used people properly, and he was completely blind.

What should I do now, the whole army retreats to Qizhou? Li Zheng was really unwilling, he lost 40,000 troops, and finally gained nothing, which made it difficult for him to accept.

If the troops were divided to occupy the three prefectures of Pu, Ji, and Yun, they were likely to be broken by the imperial army.

Li Zheng had been hesitating for a long time, and he finally took a risk to add a bargaining weight to himself.

Li Zheng immediately wrote a letter and handed it to his soldiers: "Rush to Huazhou immediately, and be sure to hand over this letter to Tian Yue." ”

If he joined forces with Tian Yue, the situation would turn in his favor, and he could bargain with the imperial court to keep the three prefectures of Pu, Ji, and Yun.

........

Tian Yue has fought twice in a row with the imperial army, both of which were defeated in two battles, and his total strength is now only more than 30,000 people, and the prince himself has led an army of 100,000 troops to Weicheng County, and there are 40,000 troops led by Li Zheng in Puzhou.

What's even worse is that Tian Yue's army has less than half a month's grain and grass, but there is still no way to cross the river, which makes Tian Yue very anxious.

In the big tent, Tian Yue stood in front of the big tent and stared at the sky, silent for a long time, just in the morning, he received a pigeon letter from his uncle Tian Chenghei, giving him the final instructions, and even let him surrender to the court, which made Tian Yue really unacceptable.

Yang Xin, a staff member behind him, persuaded in a low voice: "The old prince's suggestion is also reasonable, since this is not the time to seize the Central Plains, then we will wait for the next opportunity, the young master was originally appointed by the imperial court to inspect the right scattered cavalry, and he did not commit a crime like Li Zhongchen, and he will not be held accountable if he surrenders to the imperial court, and tens of thousands of soldiers will finally be disarmed and returned to the field, and they must return to Hebei again, and they can be re-recruited, I think this is the best way to return to Hebei, and the cost is the smallest." ”

Tian Yue sighed lowly, "Defeat and surrender, this is the great humiliation of my life!" ”

"The young master's words are bad, the big husband can bend and stretch, the hero has always written history with the final success or failure, Han Gaozu was defeated in a hundred battles, and even his children were discarded and discarded, but in the end he was able to seize the world, in comparison, what can a small defeat of the young master be?"

Tian Yue nodded, "Mr. is right, I'm afraid to surrender now, the conditions of the imperial court are too harsh." ”

"You can talk to the imperial court and strive for the best conditions."

At this moment, a soldier knelt down on one knee at the door to report, "Young Master Qiqi, Li Zhengji sent someone to deliver the letter!" ”

Tian Yue was stunned, what did Li Zheng mean by sending a letter to himself at this time, and he asked, "Where is the letter?" ”

After a while, the personal soldier led a messenger up, and the messenger knelt down on one knee and presented a letter to Tian Yue, "This is a handwritten letter from my lord to the general, please take a look at it!" ”

Tian Yue took the letter and asked his subordinates to take the soldiers who sent the letter down to rest, he opened the letter and read it, and couldn't help laughing, he just wanted to sleep, Li Zheng had already sent a pillow, what a providence!

He handed the letter to Yang Xin and said with a smile: "Sir, take a look!" Very interesting letter. ”

Yang Xin opened the letter and read it carefully, he read it again, and immediately laughed dumbly, "Li Zheng also wants to use the young master to join forces to change the form, as the capital of his negotiations with the imperial court, he was defeated in Xuzhou, lost Yanzhou and Caozhou, it is estimated that he is now in a dilemma, so he wants to empty the gloves of the white wolf, and force the imperial court to promise him to legally occupy Pu, Ji, and Yun. ”

Referring to the defeat in Yanzhou, Tian Yue frowned and said: "This Guo Song suddenly appeared, could he be the cavalry that destroyed our crossing of the river?" ”

"It must be him!"

Yang Xin said without hesitation: "He definitely won't come out of nowhere, he must have been in the Central Plains all along, if he didn't guess wrong, he was a secret chess piece planted by the Son of Heaven in the Central Plains, our ships were burned, Li Lingyao was accidentally assassinated, it should all have something to do with him, the last time Kuang County Commander said that their grain was robbed by a thief of unknown origin, I guess it was Guo Song who led the army to dress up, where did the general thieves dare to confront the officers and soldiers." ”

"Let's leave him alone, let's talk about Li Zheng's letter, which came in a timely manner, and just gave me the capital to negotiate with the imperial court."

Tian Yue's mood suddenly became better, and he said to Yang Xin: "Please ask Mr. to go to Weicheng County, talk to His Royal Highness the Prince, and strive for the greatest benefits for me." ”

Yang Xin bowed and saluted, "Young master, rest assured, the humble position will definitely strive for the best interests." ”

.........

The crown prince Li Shi personally led an army of 100,000 to Weicheng County, Huazhou, and he listened to Li Mian's advice and did not attack Tian Yue's Wei Bo army, but waited for them to run out of food and collapse without a fight.

Guo Song defeated Li Na's army in Xuzhou, annihilated nearly 20,000 enemies, and recovered Yanzhou and Caozhou one after another, crushing Li Zheng's attempt to expand southward and westward, and the battle of the Central Plains has gradually become complete.

At this time, the voice of Li Mian, the envoy of the Biansong Festival, came from outside the tent, "Your Highness, Weichen has something to ask to see!" ”

"Please come in!"

Li Mian walked in quickly, Li Mian is currently one of the five phases of the imperial court, but he is not in the imperial court, and at the same time he is only a virtual phase, so he has little influence in the court, and is currently leading the Biansong Festival envoy with the position of Shangshu Zuo Servant, and at the same time serving as the Yongping Army Festival envoy, sitting in the Central Plains, a few days ago, he led the army twice to defeat Tian Yue's army, and won the trust of the prince Li Shi.

Li Mian bowed and said, "Your Highness, Tian Yue sent his staff Yang Xin to ask for peace!" ”

Li Shi was stunned, put down his pen and smiled: "Finally, can't you hold on?" ”

"It is estimated that they will last about ten to fifteen days at most, and there is no hope of crossing the river at all, so they have no choice but to sue for peace."

"And then?"

"Tian Yue sent a letter, which Li Zheng had written to him, please look at it."

Li Mian presented Li Zhengji's letter to Li Shi, Li Shi opened the letter and read it, and couldn't help sneering: "Is Li Zhengji also in a hurry?"

"Your Royal Highness, the battle of Xuzhou has had a great impact on Li Zheng, making him fall into passivity, obviously, he and Tian Yue just want to increase the right to speak, want to bargain with us, and keep the three states of Yun, Pu and Ji that are currently occupied, but he didn't expect Tian Yue to also plan to surrender, his letter has become Tian Yue's bargaining capital, as long as we solve Tian Yue's army, Li Zheng's army will have to return to Qizhou."

Li Shi nodded, "What are the conditions for Tian Yue?" ”

"Tian Yue has three conditions, the first is that the court will not investigate him and Tian Chenghei's crimes; The second court provided them with three large ships, so that they could take five hundred men north; Third, he could hand over the army to the imperial court, but hoped that the imperial court would let the soldiers return to their hometowns to work in agriculture and resume production. ”

"What about Lee Sang-kook's opinion?" Li Shi asked again.

"Weichen thinks it's acceptable, although Li Zheng and Tian Yue have their own ghosts, if they are forced to be anxious, it is really possible to join forces, if they are alarmed by Chengde Jiedu Li Baochen and Youzhou Jiedu Zhu Tao, prompting them to join forces to rebel, then we will be in big trouble, so accepting Tian Yue's conditions and splitting the alliance between them is the best policy for the current situation."

"But if the army is disarmed and returns to their hometowns, won't they be called up for the army again?" Li Shi was a little worried.

"Not necessarily, many of the troops under Tian Yue are soldiers from the former Zhaoyi Festival, all of them are from Xiangzhou and Cizhou, and now the general Li Baozhen is the Zhaoyi Army Festival Envoy, once the soldiers are disarmed and return to their hometowns, it will be difficult for Tian Chengsi to recruit them again."

Li Shi took a few steps with his hand, nodded and said, "I can agree to Tian Yue's request for peace, and after the two sides sign the agreement, I will send a boat!" ”

.........

After a brief negotiation between Tian Yue and the crown prince Li Shi, the two sides reached an agreement on the withdrawal of the troops, and the Tang army accepted the surrender of 30,000 Wei Bo's troops, and sent three 3,000-stone ships to Tian Yue and his generals above the rank of captain to retreat to the north shore.

According to the agreement reached between the two sides, all 30,000 soldiers returned to their hometowns and returned to their farms after their identities were screened.

After Li Zheng had withdrawn from Tianyue to the north, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops from Puzhou, Jeju and Yunzhou and return to Qizhou, and a rebellion in the Central Plains that lasted for nearly four months finally came to an end.