Cheng Biting Jin's bait did not fail, and half an hour later, several sneaky soldiers secretly ran back to find the shining spot on the hillside, and when they found that it was a silver ingot, the color of surprise had just been revealed, and before they had time to cheer, dozens of cold spears had surrounded them.

At this time, Cheng Yanjin strode over, he didn't say a word, rummaged over these soldiers for a long time, found his ingot of silver, and by the way, he took out more than a dozen pieces of money, put it in his arms, and then waved his hand, "Take it down for interrogation!" ”

Although there is not much information that a few small soldiers can provide, there are also points in the information, 5,000 people are stationed in Wen'an County, and Pingshu County in the south is also garrisoned by 5,000 people, in addition to the soldiers' equipment, morale, etc., ask and ask, there is only so much information, Xiao Yannian is a little discouraged, "Uncle Cheng Shi, such a little information is meaningless, let's go and explore the terrain and rivers to prepare for the army to go south." ”

Cheng Yanjin looked a little depressed, he originally planned to go to Wen'an County or Pingshu County to have a good time, but now that the enemy army has entered these two counties, his plan has been frustrated, he yawned, "You can use twenty brothers to explore the terrain, Lao Tzu will not accompany you, go back to sleep." ”

At this time, an interrogating soldier came to report, "General Cheng, there is new information, Dou Jiande has been named the King of Xia." ”

Cheng Yanjin's spirits perked up, "Who sealed it, is it self-sealed?" ”

"I don't know specifically, the captives said that their banner has been changed to Xia and called Xia Jun."

This information is not bad, Cheng Yanjin immediately had his spirits, and said to Xiao Yannian: "You go back with me!" ”

Xiao Yannian bit his lip and said, "Uncle Shi, I still want to explore the terrain before going back." ”

Cheng Yanjin secretly thought that there should be no danger, so he nodded, "Whatever you want, but go back as soon as possible." ”

He also instructed several veterans, "Keep your eyes sharp, run away when something is wrong, and my nephew will be handed over to you, and if there is any accident, Lao Tzu will skin you." ”

After giving the order, Cheng Yanjin turned over and got on his horse, and galloped towards Zhuojun with a few soldiers.

Xiao Yannian looked at Cheng Yanjin and walked away, he looked at a few captives on the hillside, a little embarrassed, "What should they do?" ”

The scouts of the Sui army did not hesitate, killed several captives one by one, and buried them on the spot.

……

……

In the camp of the Sui army, Yang Yuanqing listened to Cheng Yanjin's report, and he also got the same information from other scouts, Dou Jiande's military flag was written with the word 'Xia', Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and asked Li Jing, "What does Sima think it means for Dou Jiande to be the king of Xia?" ”

Li Jing thought for a while and said: "Dou Jiande is a relatively low-key character, when he fought with us, it was impossible for him to proclaim himself the King of Xia and anger Li Mi, I think there is only one possibility, he is the King of Xia and is sealed by Li Mi." ”

"You should be right." Yang Yuanqing nodded.

Li Jing smiled again: "We might as well continue to extend, Li Mi got the emperor's eldest grandson and Empress Xiao, although it has no impact on us and the Tang Dynasty, but it has an impact on Dou Jiande, Zhu Wei, Du Fuwei, Xu Yuanlang, Meng Haigong These separatist forces, I think Dou Jiande should have surrendered to Li Mi in order to find a way back for himself, so Li Mi named him the king of Xia in the name of Yang Tan." ”

Yang Yuanqing listened to Li Jing's analysis quietly, he seemed to have thought of something, walked quickly to the sand table, looked at Qi Jun, and said slowly: "I have an intuition that the reason why Dou Jiande surrendered to Li Mi is probably that he wants to retreat south to Qingzhou. ”

"It's very likely, do you want to order Xu Shiji to intercept Dou Jiande on the front line of the Yellow River?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "If he breaks his retreat, he will fight against the water, it is better to leave a way to live, so that his fighting spirit is not so firm." ”

Although Li Jing saw through the relationship between Dou Jiande and Li Mi, his worries were not here, he frowned slightly and said: "Actually, I am more worried about the Tang Army, we are attacking Hebei on a large scale, Hedong is empty, will the Tang Army surprise troops to attack Taiyuan, Chief, we have to guard against Hedong." ”

"I have taken this into consideration, I have ordered Wang Junkuo to lead 10,000 troops to guard Yan'an County, Xie Yingdeng to lead 10,000 troops to strictly defend Taiyuan, and Cui Pojun to lead 10,000 troops to guard Hedong County, and I ordered 15,000 troops from Fengzhou to go south to Lingwu County, and Yan'an County to form a horn trend, if the situation in Hedong County is critical, Xu Shiji's 40,000 troops can return to Hedong County at any time, not to mention strange soldiers, even if they send troops on a large scale, they may not be able to get a little cheap."

"But I think they will definitely take action, and we can't really sit idly by and miss this opportunity in vain when we attack Hebei." Li Jing still insisted on his own ideas.

Li Jing's insistence made Yang Yuanqing completely calm, he walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, his eyes staring out of the tent, "Maybe it's not necessarily aimed at us......"

……

Three days later, the Sui Army's North Route Army and the West Route Army advanced to Hejian County at the same time, Yang Yuanqing led 60,000 troops to surround Wen'an County, Wen'an County 5,000 defenders surrendered, the Sui Army then marched south to attack Pingshu County, Pingshu County guards fled in despair, Dou Jiande realized the disadvantage of dividing troops to defend the city, he immediately withdrew the garrisons of each county, and gathered 300,000 troops in Leshou City

On February 18, the 40,000 Western Route Army led by Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin captured Hejian City, and the Northern Route Army immediately went south to converge with the West Route Army in Hejian City, and the 100,000 troops of the Sui Army were integrated in Hejian City, and confronted the 300,000 Xia Army 40 miles away.

……

The seven-day mourning period in Chang'an City has ended, and in addition to the official gate still being wrapped in plain, ordinary houses have recently taken off their white cloths and started a normal life, and at this time...... A sultry news came from Nanyang County, and Duan Qu, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty who was ordered to persuade Zhu Ji to surrender to Nanyang, and dozens of his entourage were steamed and eaten alive by Zhu Ji.

This news shocked Chang'an and aroused great anger among the people of Chang'an, and tens of thousands of people went to the Suzaku Gate to petition, asking the imperial court to send troops to Nanyang County to kill the cannibal king Zhu Ji.

In the Qin Palace, Li Shimin was discussing the current situation with his staff member Fang Xuanling.

Li Shimin's mood is very depressed these days, and his father vetoed the plan to send troops to Hedong under the pretext of mourning, and he knew in his heart that this was because the prince built a joint court and exerted strong pressure on his father, forcing his father to accept their plan: abide by the contract and rest the army to recuperate in internal affairs.

Through this incident, Li Shimin deeply felt the weakness of his power in the imperial court, and the prince regarded himself as a righteous credibility everywhere, so that he won the support of nearly eighty percent of the courtiers, and the dispute over sending troops to Hedong was originally an internal secret dispute, but for some reason, the entire government and the opposition knew about it, and most of the courtiers clearly supported the prince's 'building of the country by faith' which made Li Shimin fall into great passivity, and he was saddled with the black pot of treachery.

Of course, Li Shimin knew that this was the trick of the crown prince, and the agreement with the Sui Dynasty was signed in the name of the imperial court, and if he wanted to tear up this agreement, it would undoubtedly tarnish the credibility of the imperial court, and the prince took advantage of this to skillfully arouse the dissatisfaction of the courtiers with him Li Shimin.

Through this incident, Li Shimin also learned the scheming skills built by his brother, and he was still a little tender.

Fang Xuanling had been dealing with the distribution of cattle and sheep a few days ago, and only rushed back yesterday, and when he learned of this situation, he immediately realized that Li Shimin was a little reckless in handling this matter, and he undoubtedly pushed himself to the opposite side of the entire imperial court in doing so, and lost points politically.

This matter should first create an incident of the Sui army breaking the contract, and then put forward a proposal to send troops to Hedong, so that the opposition of the imperial court will not be too fierce, and the prince will not be able to use this matter to make a fuss, Li Shimin is still a little too young and politically not old enough.

The matter has come to this point, Fang Xuanling didn't want to complain about Li Shimin anymore, he comforted Li Shimin and said: "Your Highness, the matter has passed, don't think too much, the incident in Nanyang County now is an opportunity, if Your Highness can seize this opportunity, whether it is the court or the people, this will greatly improve the prestige of Your Highness." ”

"Sir, do you mean to let me lead the army to capture Nanyang County?" Li Shimin said.

"And that's not all!"

Fang Xuanling smiled slightly, "Now that the Sui army is attacking Dou Jiande in Hebei with all its might, Yang Yuanqing has no time to take care of the south, how can we not use this opportunity?" Zhu Yi's equipment is backward, his morale is low, and the people are not attached, so he can be defeated in a battle, and then ......"

Li Shimin suddenly understood what Fang Xuanling meant, "Mr. refers to Xiao Milling in the south?" ”

Fang Xuanling nodded, "That's exactly what I mean, I heard that Xiao Mo killed the heroes, causing the military ministers to be centrifuged, and now he is fighting with Lin Shihong in Poyang, the west is empty, His Royal Highness can suggest that the Holy Lord order Li Xiaogong to send 100,000 troops from Dongchuan to Jinghui Road, attack Yiling County, His Royal Highness will personally lead 100,000 troops out of Wuguan, and after defeating Zhu Ji's department, he will kill directly to Xiangyang, take advantage of the opportunity of Xiao Mo being restrained by Lin Shihong, and seize Jingxiang in one fell swoop, the strength of our Tang Dynasty will be greatly enhanced, enough to compete with the Sui Dynasty, Your Highness, if this strategic opportunity is not seized, It's too late for us to regret it! ”

Li Shimin's eyes gradually came out, he wanted to attack Hedong, not hesitating to anger the ministers of the court, but he did not expect to develop to the south, if he could destroy Xiao Miao, seize Jingxiang Nanyang, and Shangluo County, this will indeed greatly increase the strength of the Tang Dynasty, and more importantly, capture Jingxiang, not only can more control the military power, but also greatly improve his prestige, both public and private.

But he was a little worried about his father's attitude, "But my father has decreed that he is not allowed to use weapons for three months, will this make him think that he is going back on his word?" ”

Fang Xuanling smiled slightly, "You only need a reason and excuse for anything, now that Zhu Wei has eaten the Tang envoy, it has aroused great indignation among the government and the opposition, at this time, the saint conforms to the will of the people and sends troops to attack Zhu Wei, not only is it not a rebellion, but it will win the popularity of the people, and his subordinates think that His Majesty will gladly agree." ”

"Will it be too late?"

Li Shimin was very cautious, "The Sui army is preparing for the battle of Hebei for a winter, and we don't have any combat preparations, can I hold on?" ”

"Your Highness, this time and that time! The Sui army wants to prepare for war, for a while because of the severe cold winter, secondly, Hebei has been full of devastation, hungry people everywhere, their army can not be replenished at all, at the same time the Sui army also helps the hungry people, so they must be prepared for war, and we are different, we fight in the spring, the climate is pleasant, and more importantly, Jingxiang is a rich land, do not worry about military food, let alone relief to the victims, we don't need any war preparations, what we need is the speed of soldiers! ”

Fang Xuanling's analysis made Li Shimin resolutely make up his mind, "What Mr. said is very true, I will enter the palace to persuade my father!" ”

On February 15, Tang Emperor Li Yuan strongly condemned Zhu Yi for the crime of indecency, and named Li Shimin, the king of Qin, as the generalissimo of the expedition to the east, and led 100,000 elite Tang troops to attack Zhu Ji in Nanyang, and at the same time secretly ordered Li Xiaogong, the king of Xi'an, to lead 100,000 troops stationed in Shu to return to the road and march to Yiling.

Just when the Sui army was attacking Hebei, the Tang army also launched the Southern Campaign, dispatching 200,000 troops to attack Jingxiang.