With the gradual end of the war in Hebei, the battle in the south also came to an end, the two Tang armies under the leadership of Li Shimin, the king of Qin, flanked left and right, and defeated the 200,000 army led by Xiao Milling in the first battle of Nanjun, Xiao Milling fled eastward in panic, and the Western Liang State, which claimed to have an army of 400,000, collapsed overnight.

The Tang army was like a bamboo, continuously occupying more than a dozen counties of Jingxiang such as Yiling, Nanjun, Handong, Anlu, Jingling, Baling, Changsha, etc., Xiao Milling retreated to Yuzhang County, at this time the army around him was less than 3,000 people, but the 300 warships led by the general of the navy to Hu'er, nearly 50,000 sailors did not disperse, and became Xiao Mill's last hope.

Although Xiao Mo should be annihilated in one go, at this time, Li Shimin got the news of the end of the war in Hebei, and he resolutely ordered to stop the eastward attack, leaving only Li Xiaogong to lead 30,000 Bashu troops and 80,000 elite troops to defend Jingxiang, and the remaining 200,000 troops were gathering in Xiangyang and preparing to return to Guanzhong.

In Anlu County, an army of tens of thousands of people was marching west along the official road, and in the team, Li Xiaogong asked Li Shimin with some concern, "Is it a little unwise that we didn't wipe out Xiao Miao?" ”

Li Shimin smiled slightly, "What does the second brother think is the reason for Xiao Miao's fiasco?" ”

Li Xiaogong thought for a while and said: "Two days ago, I talked about this matter with Gai Yanju, the governor of Jiangzhou who surrendered, Gai Yanju said that there are two factions in Xiliang, one is the South China faction, one is the military general faction, the two factions attack each other, fight for power and profit, the struggle is fierce, Xiao Milling is biased towards the South China faction, and constantly weakens the military power of the military general faction, resulting in general dissatisfaction among the generals. ”

Li Shimin smiled and agreed with Li Xiaogong's judgment, "Xiao Mo is soft on the outside and strong on the inside, extremely suspicious, and narrow-minded, he can't tolerate people, and even Wang Mo, who followed him to found the South China Association, was finally forced to death by him. What great things can such people who can only share in weal and suffering but not with wealth and prosperity accomplish? So I don't take him to heart, just a little trick, I can re-divide him internally, and sooner or later he will be destroyed by Lin Shihong. ”

Speaking of this, Li Shimin smiled bitterly again, "Then again, although Xiao Mo is extremely suspicious. But he also excelled. Otherwise, it is impossible for him to restore Xiao Liang Kingdom in a short period of time, and it stands to reason that I should annihilate him all to prevent future troubles. However, after the end of the war in Hebei, Yang Yuanqing must lead the army back to Hedong, and the troops in Guanzhong are insufficient. I must return to the army as soon as possible, and the matter of Jingxiang will be handed over to you. ”

Li Xiaogong nodded silently, his immediate priority was not to continue to annihilate Xiao Miao, but to consolidate the Tang army's occupation of Jingxiang.

At this time, a soldier pointed to the distance and said, "Your Highness, Jingshan County has arrived!" ”

Li Shimin stared at a swarthy county town in the distance, and ordered his guards: "Bring Li Jing up!" ”

In a moment, several soldiers brought up a captured Western Liang Dynasty official, who was Yang Yuanqing's uncle. Li Jing, Shaoqing of Honglu Temple in the Western Liang Dynasty, after the city of Nanjun was broken, he escaped from the city and prepared to go to Jiangxia County to find his eldest son, but was arrested by Tang army scouts on the way.

Li Shimin was very interested in Li Jing, this turned out to be Yang Yuanqing's uncle, and he wanted to bring this person back to Chang'an. Although Li Jing was captured, he was still courteous, neatly dressed, well fed and lodging, and he stepped forward to salute. "See His Royal Highness King Qin!"

Li Shimin pointed at Jingshan County with a horsewhip and said with a slight smile: "This is Li Shaoqing's hometown!" ”

Li Jing lowered his head. There was a look of nervousness on his face, if he was going back to Xiangyang, it would definitely be a long detour to Jingshan County, but King Qin actually walked from here, obviously he had his purpose, Li Jing had already vaguely guessed what King Qin's purpose was, and he began to feel uneasy in his heart.

Seeing that Li Jing refused to answer, Li Shimin did not force him, and ordered his soldiers: "Quickly bring me the Jingshan County order." ”

In a moment, Jingshan County Ling and several other county officials hurriedly ran over and bowed in front of Li Shimin's war horse, "Humble Jingshan County Commander Fan Zhongli to see His Royal Highness King Qin!" ”

"Fan County's order is exempt!"

Li Shimin asked in a gentle tone: "Can the soldiers of the Tang Army have lax military discipline and violate the people?" ”

The Tang army stationed a battalion of 300 soldiers in Jingshan County, although these soldiers were relatively rude, ostentatious and swaggering, and sometimes there would be drinking and not giving money, but there had not been a serious case of committing adultery, and Fan Zhong was still a little worried, after a long time, a big case would definitely occur.

He said respectfully: "There are no vicious cases for the time being!" ”

Li Shimin's face changed, and he whipped Yao Shun, the governor of Anlu County, with a backhand, and scolded: "How did I tell you, Jingshan County is extraordinary, you must take military discipline seriously, and the captain is not strict in governing the army, give me a hundred heavy blows, and immediately replace me." ”

Captain Yao Shun was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, and hurriedly ran to transfer troops to replace people, and the county commander Fan Zhong was grateful, and hurriedly said: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your compassion for the place!" ”

Li Shimin smiled faintly and asked him again, "Where is the Mausoleum of the Queen Mother of Chu?" I want to check it out. ”

Next to Li Jing's face turned pale in an instant, King Qin came to Jingshan County really for Yang Yuanqing's mother's mausoleum, and the county commander Fan Zhongli was also a little uneasy, he was afraid that King Qin would destroy the tomb, and he would not be able to explain to the Sui Dynasty in the future.

But he didn't dare not agree, so he had to take Li Shimin and his party to the tomb of the Queen Mother of Chu a few miles away, and saw a magnificent cemetery from afar, covering an area of 100 acres, surrounded by high walls, the woods in the mausoleum were dense, and on both sides of a white jade avenue stood the giant statues of 12 people in civil and military affairs, as well as stone statues such as war horses and camels, and directly above it was a hemispherical white jade dome mausoleum.

The entire mausoleum was built according to the specifications of the Empress Dowager, at this time the mausoleum had been closed, and the soldiers originally sent by Xiao Mo to station here also fled, and the entire mausoleum was deserted, with only one old man watching the mausoleum.

Li Shimin stared at the mausoleum for a long time, and immediately ordered: "Open the gate!" ”

At this time, Li Jing couldn't hold back any longer, and bowed down and begged: "Your Highness, the ministers who keep virtue do not disturb the ancestors, although the Sui and Tang Dynasties are enemy countries, they have nothing to do with the ancestors, please let the mausoleum go!" ”

Li Shimin looked at him strangely, and after a while, he shook his head and said: "It turns out that Li Shaoqing thought that I was here to destroy the tomb and break the tomb, who do you think of me Li Shimin?" ”

He snorted heavily, ignored Li Jing, and strode towards the cemetery, Li Jing was stunned for a moment, did he misunderstand?

Li Shimin walked up to the mausoleum and came to the front of the dome tomb, and on the front was a five-foot-high tombstone with a few big characters written on it: 'The tomb of the deceased mother Li. ’

There is a line of small words below, 'Yang Yuanqingli, the ninth day of October in the fourth year of Renshou'.

Li Shimin stared for a long time, then turned back to his own soldiers and ordered: "Put on the sacrifice!" ”

More than a dozen personal soldiers put on the sacrifices that had been prepared, Li Shimin took the three incense sticks, bowed respectfully and performed three salutes, Li Xiaogong also performed three salutes, Li Shimin said to Li Jing: "Although Yang Yuanqing is my enemy, but not before, I came to worship his deceased mother for the old feelings, but this does not mean anything, he is the same life and death on the battlefield." ”

Li Shimin also instructed Fan County to order, "In the future, half of the annual tax in Jingshan County will be used to maintain the mausoleum, and Jingshan County should take good care of the mausoleum." ”

"Humble duty, remember the words of His Highness!"

Li Shimin glanced at his entourage again, "General Yao is here?" ”

Captain Yao Shun hurriedly walked out from behind, "The last general!" ”

Li Shimin ordered him: "Another team of soldiers can be sent to guard the mausoleum, and no one is allowed to trespass without the consent of Fan County's order." ”

"The last general obeys!"

Li Shimin arranged them one by one, and he saw that it was not too early, so he smiled at Li Xiaogong, "That's it!" The second brother stayed behind to guard Jingxiang and defend against Xiao Mo and Lin Shihong, and I will go back to Chang'an. ”

Li Xiaogong patted him on the shoulder, "Take care all the way!" ”

Li Shimin turned over his horse, urged his horses, and led thousands of people to gallop to the northwest......

Yuzhang County, which was originally Lin Shihong's territory, was a fierce battle more than a month ago, Xiao Milling Army won a big victory, annihilated tens of thousands of enemies, Lin Shihong led the remnants of the army to retreat east to Poyang County.

But the joy in Xiao Miao's heart has not faded, 200,000 Tang troops divided into two ways, lightning attack Jingxiang, a day of 100 miles, a few days later surrounded Jiangling City, Xiao Mi led the army to panic in response, but was the Tang army to wait for work, under Jiangling City, a battle will crush his 200,000 army.

Xiao Mo led 3,000 remnants of the army to flee all the way east to Yuzhang City, only to be frightened.

Nearly half a month has passed since the defeat of Gangneung, and Xiao Mo has gradually recovered from his extreme depression, and he has begun to think about his future.

Although this fiasco almost uprooted his foundation, he still has a little residual strength, the 50,000 sailors led by Lai Hu'er did not participate in the war, thus surviving, at this time, more than 1,000 large ships were parked on the Gan River, in addition, he also gathered nearly 20,000 Nanhuahui soldiers, so that he still has 70,000 troops, and the fertile land on both sides of the Gan River and Poyang Lake is enough to feed these troops.

What made Xiao Mo even more fortunate was that the Tang army did not chase him to Yuzhang County, which gave him a chance to breathe.

"Your Majesty, Weichen heard that it was because of the end of the war in Hebei and the Tang Army that Li Shimin had to withdraw because of the loss of Guanzhong."

He is only twenty-four years old this year, young and promising, in charge of the secrets of the Western Liang Dynasty, deeply trusted by Xiao Miao, and it is his repeated encouragement that Xiao Mi slowly came out of the shadow of failure.

Xiao Milling is only thirty-six years old this year, his face is still resolute and mature, but his hair has been gray, quite a little crane hair and childish face, Xiao Milling stood in front of the window, staring at the Ganjiang River in the distance, and the thousands of masts on the Ganjiang River, with thousands of thoughts in his heart.

He sighed, "I still resented the Sui Dynasty for failing to support me, but now it seems that the Tang Army seized the opportunity of the Sui Army to attack Hebei, and only complained that my strength was too weak, and I was defeated by Li Shimin in a battle. ”

"Your Majesty....."

As soon as Cen Wenwen spoke, Xiao Mo interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "From now on, I have decided to surrender to the Sui Dynasty, remove the title of emperor, and call myself the Duke of Liang, you don't call me Your Majesty anymore." ”

"Yes! In order to ensure the supply of military food, you can first take Yichun County and Luling County, and the army will go south from the Gan River, which is like a bamboo. ”

Xiao Mo walked a few steps behind his back and said to Cen Wenwen: "The top priority now is to obtain the political support of the Sui Dynasty, so please ask Mr. to go to Taiyuan and have a good talk with Yang Yuanqing." ”