The school competition is still in full swing, but Li Shimin has returned to the big tent, this time he led 100,000 elite soldiers to attack Luoyang, which is bound to win, but the southern pressure of the Sui army makes him worried.

Just as the Sui army had received the information that he was stationed in Shangluo County, Li Shimin also received the news that Yang Yuanqing led 20,000 troops south, which made him immediately realize that this battle of Luoyang would be a melee.

In Li Shimin's big tent, there is also a huge sand table, which shapes the terrain of the entire Central Plains, with cities, mountains, and rivers all in place, which are very finely made.

Li Shimin walked to the big tent and looked at Hanoi County north of the Yellow River, and if Yang Yuanqing went south, he would most likely cross the Yellow River from Hanoi County.

"Your Highness, if the old minister didn't guess wrong, Yang Yuanqing should be in Heyang County at this time."

Behind Li Shimin, the veteran Qu Tutong said in a deep voice, this veteran who is 60 years old is still in good health, the sword is not old, he is the official secretary of the military department, this Eastern Expedition is Li Shimin specially asked Li Yuan to make him a deputy general, with this veteran in charge, so that this Eastern Expedition has a little more certainty of victory.

Li Shimin nodded, "I also think that Yang Yuanqing is in Heyang, and he is not here to support Wang Shichong, I suspect that he himself also wants to take Luoyang, but it just happens to be together with our Luoyang campaign." ”

Li Shimin glanced back at Qu Tutong and smiled slightly, "Does the old general think my idea is correct?" ”

"After the end of the Hebei Campaign, Yang Yuanqing deployed heavy troops on the north bank of the Yellow River, which is of course for defense, but more for the south, and now Wang Shichong usurped the throne, which just gave him the excuse to attack southward, I think His Royal Highness's inference is not wrong, Yang Yuanqing really wants to attack Luoyang, and it just so happens that we also have this intention, this battle of Luoyang actually became a confrontation between the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

This is Fang Xuanling also walked in, and added on the side: "If Yang Yuanqing is planning to go south, then how will he deal with Li Mi's Western Wei army, has His Highness considered it?" ”

Li Shimin picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Liyang. "There are tens of thousands of Sui troops stationed here in Liyang, and I think that once the war starts, this Sui army will go south to Dongjun and disperse the main force of the Western Wei army from the flank, so as to support the Sui army attacking Luoyang."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin glanced at Fang Xuanling and saw that he was smiling and silent, which was obviously a reservation. Li Shimin couldn't help but be stunned. "Sir, do you think I'm not right?"

"Your Highness is right, but you underestimate Yang Yuanqing too much."

Fang Xuanling smiled and took the wooden pole and pointed to the land of Jianghuai. "If I'm not mistaken, Yang Yuanqing has already made an alliance with Du Fuwei, and Du Fuwei will contain Li Mi from the south. In this way, even if Li Mi wants to help us, he will not do his best, plus the Sui army in Dongjun is contained, so Li Mi's assistance will not be too large, at most it will only be a symbolic dispatch, and His Royal Highness cannot expect too much from Li Mi. ”

Li Shimin was silent, although the imperial court had long expected that the Sui Dynasty would send troops to interfere in the Eastern Crusade, so he specially contacted Li Mi. An alliance was formed to jointly deal with the Sui army's southward movement, but Yang Yuanqing's alliance with Du Fuwei was unexpected by him, so he could not expect much from the Western Wei army.

Li Shimin reluctantly smiled and said: "We should fight the Sui army alone without Li Mi's foreign aid!" ”……

Two days later, 100,000 Tang troops set off for the eastward expedition and marched in the direction of Hongnong County. In order to cope with this campaign, the Tang Dynasty allocated 300,000 stone grain from Xiangyang as military rations, and mobilized a total of 150,000 people in Xiangyang, Nanyang, and Xiyang counties for logistics transportation. The army of 100,000 people could not see the end at a glance, stretching for dozens of miles.

The shadow of war loomed over Luoyang. There is constant news that the Tang Army's vanguard has arrived in Lushi County, and the Tang Army's vanguard has arrived in Changyuan County, and one news after another has come one after another, pressing in the hearts of Luoyang people and causing panic in Luoyang City.

The first is that the price of grain has skyrocketed again, and the price of rice has soared from 300 yuan to the 1,000 yuan mark, followed by the price of animal power, a donkey asks for 100,000 yuan, and then the price of gold and silver has soared, and the price of one or two gold has approached 500 yuan on the black market, and gold and silver are scarce, and no one is willing to exchange gold and silver anymore.

Panic rush began to break out in Luoyang City, people are scrambling to buy, as long as everything can be bought, everyone is desperately buying, at this time, there is no point in storing copper coins, and the actual materials are the foundation of survival.

The wave of fleeing emerged again, tens of thousands of Luoyang people fled from the city, rushed to Hedong and Guanzhong, and officials also fled in large numbers, on the second day of the news of the Tang army's large-scale attack on Luoyang, there began to be officials who did not come to the court, a few days later, nearly forty percent of the middle and low-level officials of the imperial court departments and temples have fled.

Although Wang Shichong ordered grain to be put into the market three times in order to calm the chaos, it had no effect, and the price of rice remained high.

The Tang army's attack and the large-scale panic in Luoyang turned Wang Shichong, who had only been on the throne for more than a month, into a fish in boiling water, and he almost ignored the government and spent his days in a state of restlessness.

In the Longhua Palace, Wang Shichong, who was wearing a crown and a red dragon robe, was listening to the report on the Tang Army of Hongnong County with his eyes closed.

"After occupying Changyuan County, the Tang army advance eastward along Luoshui, according to the information just obtained, the Tang army advance has entered Yiyang County, Henan County, and the county commander Zhang Wudao has opened the city and surrendered....."

Before the guards finished reading, Wang Shichong jumped like thunder, "Get out!" ! ”

The two guards turned pale with fright, and ran to the outside of the palace with a rolling belt, Wang Shichong was furious, "Is the money I gave is not high enough?" Or I don't care about them, I gave three times as much as the Tang Dynasty, I don't want you to kill yourself, you have to defend the city for at least two days, give me a face, okay, the Tang army surrendered before it arrived, where will I put my face? ”

Wang Shichong scolded the officials who surrendered, and the palace maids and eunuchs around him were terrified, and no one dared to show their faces.

At this time, Wang Ren hurriedly came from outside the palace, and the Tang army's large-scale attack on Luoyang also made him very worried, he was the commander of the army, and the pressure he was under was even greater than that of ordinary people.

Although he was a little afraid to meet the emperor's uncle at this time, the grim situation forced him to go to the saint.

As soon as he walked to the gate of the palace, he heard the roar and scolding of the emperor's uncle inside, which made Wang Renze's footsteps hesitate, is it a bit ...... to go to face the saint at this time

Before Wang Ren turned around, the mouthy guards shouted loudly: "King Tang has arrived!" ”

His whereabouts had been revealed, and Wang Ren couldn't go back, so he couldn't help glaring at a few guards, walked up the steps stiffly, bowed down and said, "Minister, Wang Ren, will meet His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

After a while, Wang Shichong's shouting and scolding stopped, and a eunuch came out and said with a smile: "Your Highness, please on the Holy Lord!" ”

Wang Ren had no choice but to walk into Wang Shichong's inner hall, at this time Wang Shichong had calmed down, standing in front of a sand table and pondering.

Wang Ren hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "Minister, Wang Ren will see His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

Wang Shichong nodded, "The imperial nephew came just in time, I also want to discuss the military situation with you, and now I want to know, is there no longer the whole county of Hongnong County?" ”

Wang Ren nodded silently, "Your Majesty, not only Hongnong County has been lost, the Tang army is divided into two routes, one is led by the eldest grandson Wuji with 10,000 people, who has arrived at Hangu Pass, and the other is the vanguard of the general Chi Gong, who led the army of 5,000 to take the Luoshui Valley Road, and has occupied Yiyang County, Henan County, and the front is less than one hundred and fifty miles away from Luoyang. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Ren cautiously glanced at Wang Shichong's face, and saw that although his face was ugly, he was not angry, and he suddenly realized that maybe the Holy Lord was angry about this matter just now, and he already knew the danger of the situation.

Wang Renze's heart was slightly relieved, as long as the saint was not angry, then the following things would be easy to say, and he continued: "Your Majesty, Weichen estimates that the day after tomorrow, the Tang army's vanguard will arrive in Luoyang. ”

Wang Shichong has calmed down from his anger, and he also realizes that anger cannot solve the problem, since the Tang army is attacking on a large scale, then he can only escape by actively responding.

Wang Shichong saw that Wang Ren had something to say, so he asked, "What do you want to say?" ”

Wang Ren hurriedly bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the minister is thinking about whether he can gather all the troops, now the army is scattered and defended, and it is very easy to be broken by the Tang army." ”

"You mean to say, give up Hangu Pass?" Wang Shichong understood what he said.

Wang Ren did mean this, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Tang army is divided into two roads, the light troops go to Hangu Pass, the minister thinks, this is to disperse our troops, in fact, the Tang army is advancing east from the Luoshui River Valley, and it is no longer meaningful to defend Hangu Pass, it is better to withdraw the army and come back to defend the city." ”

Wang Shichong took a few steps behind his back, this is actually a matter of strategic decision-making, whether his army will take the outer defense route or the lonely city defense route, after all, the Tang army is only 100,000 people, and the strength is not sufficient.

After pondering for a long time, he finally nodded, using the defense of Luoyang Jiancheng, they could occupy a favorable position, and the 70,000 army was enough to deal with the 100,000 Tang army.

"Yes! I agreed to withdraw all my troops to Luoyang City. ”

Wang Ren was overjoyed, and when he withdrew the army, one of the problems he was most worried about was solved, and there was another expectation that had to be solved, "Your Majesty, in addition, Weichen suggested asking for help from the Sui army, so that it would be more certain to defeat the Tang army." ”

Wang Shichong didn't answer, but pondered for a long time with his hands behind his back, and finally he shook his head lightly and vetoed Wang Renze's proposal.

Wang Ren was stunned, this was the most sure proposal he was in, and his uncle actually refused, "Your Majesty, this is ..... Why? ”

"No why?"

Wang Shichong sighed deeply, and his tone became extremely weak, "We are just a sheep, sandwiched between a tiger and a wolf, in the past, Yang Yuanqing helped me, but because he wanted to fight Hebei, and now that the Hebei campaign is over, will he look at me as a fat sheep and be indifferent?" ”