Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

"The food and grass are safe."

Liu Hongji looked at Liu Heier, paused and added: "Although more than ten thousand Turks entered Jinzhou, they soon returned north. Within half a month, there were only thousands of Turks cavalry lingering in Jinzhou and Jiangzhou, making it difficult to cut off the Fen River. .”

Liu Heier nodded, took out a letter from his arms and handed it over, "The previous Bingzhou battle report was a messenger from Tongjunchuan?"

"The battle reports from Yuci and other places go thousands of miles away, and the battle reports from Shouyang and other places go to Tongjunchuan." Liu Hongji couldn't help but ask: "Is this the Pengzhou Liu family or the Jingzhao Wugong Liu family?"

Liu Hei'er cursed in his heart, but Hou Hongtao happened to be nearby and said with a smile: "Ren Guogong, Ah Hei is Ji Hu Liu, so it should be Henan Liu."

During the Wu Hu period of chaos in China, many Xiongnu people had the surname Liu, which later evolved into the Liu family in Henan. Jihu was also considered a branch of the Xiongnu in his early years, and could barely be linked to it.

"Ah Hei is the commander of Ah Lang's bodyguard. In fact, Duke Ren has seen that Ah Hei led the army in putting down the rebellion in Renzhi Palace." Hou Hongtao continued: "This time in Tai Chi Palace's fight against the rebellion, Ah Hei was the first to enter the Xuanwu Gate. His Majesty has given him the title of General Zuo Wuwei."

Liu Hongji was relieved. He had known Hou Hongtao since they were in Renshou Palace, and said with a smile: "It turns out that he is the commander of the bodyguard of Wei Siwang again."

Su Dingfang, Zhang Zhongjian, and Qu Hong successively appeared, and Li Shan's bodyguards took charge of this position... In later generations' terms, he was particularly prosperous.

"In this battle, Alang led the left army along the Gushe Mountain and went north to Jinzhou. Brother Jingde, Duke of Wu, led the right army from Fengling Ferry to the east of the river. If there is no accident, they will arrive tomorrow at the latest."

Liu Hongji blinked, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, do you regard Wei Siwang as your commander-in-chief?"

"Yes." Hou Hongtao was a little surprised as to why Liu Hongji asked this. "Alang was appointed as the Marching Marshal of Hedong Road, with Brother Dingfang, Duke of Zhao, as his deputy, and Gong Yanbo of Xihe County, Minister of Civil Affairs, as the chief history officer."

The corner of Liu Hongji's mouth moved. There is no need to ask anymore. He is so trusted by His Majesty and His Royal Highness... It seems that the news from Chang'an is correct. This time it is Li Huairen who suppresses the rebellion again.

Liu Heier then handed over the letter again, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wrote a letter personally instructing Cheng Mingzhen, the general manager of Luozhou in Hebei Province, to send troops to annex the state and arrive in Shouyang around October 23rd."

Liu Hongji nodded in agreement, "It will definitely be delivered, but after Yuci, Jinyang...Qixian County was captured, it will be difficult for the messenger to reach it."

"It doesn't matter." Liu Hei'er said concisely and concisely: "Send troops tomorrow. After passing Queshu Valley, the Turks will definitely make some moves, and the Bingzhou army will definitely notice it."

"Sending troops tomorrow?" Liu Hongji was surprised. The army has not arrived yet. Are you in such a hurry?

"Alang has an order, instructing the Duke to lead the infantry to send out troops tomorrow, march slowly through Queshu Valley, with Wu Guogong Wei Chigong as the backing." Liu Heier said simply: "The Jiangzhou infantry and the Chinese army will arrive in Huoyi the day after tomorrow. .”

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Heier added: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was also there at that time."

Liu Hongji immediately responded, obviously having full confidence in Li Shimin. Although he suffered a defeat in Jiexiu and lost the passes such as Lingshi County and Jiahu Fort, he still had more than 5,000 infantry under his command and lacked weapons, food and grass. lack.

If the Turks wanted to stop the Tang army's infantry in the narrow and tortuous Queshu Valley, they would pay an extremely heavy price. Liu Hongji was quite confident... In fact, if Li Shimin hadn't suddenly returned to Beijing and Chang'an had undergone drastic changes, Liu Hongji would have been the first to defeat the Queshu. valley.

After everything was explained, Liu Hongji smiled and talked about the war just now, praising King Wei Si for being able to discern people, and Liu Heier for being proficient in the art of war. Judging from Liu Hongji's qualifications, there is really no need to do this. Even though Li Shan has numerous military exploits now, and even though Li Yuan and Li Shimin have great trust, Liu Hongji was the first direct descendant to follow Li Shimin. "Lie down and rise together", the friendship is very deep.

When Jinyang raised troops, it was Liu Hongji and Changsun Shunde who captured Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the deputies left behind in Taiyuan. Later, they killed Song Laosheng in the Huoyi Formation, which was a great achievement. He was also the first general to arrive in Chang'an and win the first battle. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he ranked first among the Yuanmou heroes in Taiyuan.

In the following years, Liu Hongji participated in various battles in Qianshuiyuan, Baibi, and Luoshui under Li Shimin. Especially in the second year of Wude, Liu Hongji defeated the enemy in Huoyi, passed through Queshu Valley, and fought with Li Shimin in Jie Xiu joined forces and defeated Song Jingang.

Speaking of which, Liu Hongji has a close relationship with Queshu Valley.

Liu Hei'er was not good at words and made a few modest remarks. Liu Hongji smiled and said: "Just now, the Querat Valley was unlocked so that the Turks had a chance to escape. Once the Turks were halfway into the valley, they struck with thunder and took advantage of the situation to cover up the kill. This shows that there is a strategy behind them." , not just a fighting general."

"It also made the northern end of Queshu Valley aware that the army was coming for reinforcements, and they were wary." Hou Hongtao said with a smile: "It's okay for Duke Ren to speak directly."

Hou Hongtao also noticed something strange. There seemed to be something wrong with Duke Ren... It should be related to Alang.

He was quite clever. Liu Hongji smiled bitterly and said, "We have no friendship before, so I begged you rashly... I don't want to bother His Highness the Crown Prince with family affairs, so I would like to invite King Wei Si..."

Although he was far away in Hedong, Liu Hongji was very well-informed. He was now older, in his fifties, and his hair was white. Jiexiu had lost a game, and he had no desire to win. His only concern was his heirs.

Liu Hongji had a son and a daughter, and his only daughter married into Jingzhao Weishi. His grandfather was Wei Qingjian, Wei Yunqi's cousin. However, unlike Wei Yunqi who was neutral, Wei Qingjian joined Li Jiancheng's family in his early years.

Li Jiangong's rebellion failed, and Wei Qingjian and his family were exiled to Lingnan. Liu Hongji's daughter and two grandchildren were also exiled... Liu Hongji wrote to Chang'an to persuade his daughter to divorce, but was firmly rejected.

After thinking about it again and again, Liu Hongji felt that it was not appropriate for him to come forward, but he could ask Li Shan to intercede... After all, because this person was not only trusted by His Majesty, but also rescued several times, His Majesty would feel guilty if he did not make some demands. .

Didn’t you see that Li Qianyou, a disciple of King Qi, was able to recover?

Liu Hongji regretted that he had no friendship with Li Shan before, so he let Hou Hongtao know if there was any chance.

Hou Hongtao and Liu Heier looked at each other. Although Alang valued friendship, this kind of thing was not easy to deal with.

After thinking for a while, Hou Hongtao said: "If Duke Ren has merit in this battle..."

Liu Hongji smiled bitterly and said, "I will try my best."

Hou Hongtao now also knows the inside story, thinking that your grandson may have some adventures in exile in Lingnan.

The three of them were talking. There was a lot of smoke and dust on the north side. The scouts reported back. Duan Zhixuan and Qu Hong led their troops back. Although they were tired, everyone was in high spirits. Their mounts were covered with Turkic heads.

After a while, Liu Hei'er's face turned gloomy. Duan Zhixuan, who had not changed his ways despite repeated admonitions, actually walked through Queshu Valley and ran around outside Jiahu Fort before returning in a show of force.

Hou Hongtao clicked his tongue twice, "Just watch and see how Alang deals with you!"