The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 960
Jinyuan County, Shu County is located to the west of Mianshui and east of Shicheng Mountain. It is a middle county with mountains and rivers on its back. Feiwu County, the county, is where Su Dingfang and Huang Junhan are now stationed.

The Jinyuan camp has only [-] defenders, and it can't stop Su Dingfang and Huang Junhan's [-] troops. Therefore, this is not just a matter of Zhang Shigui's containment, but also concerns the safety of Chengdu. The iron chain bridge and the stretch of water may be even more difficult to resist the Sui army, and Ma Sanbao, because of his illness, was obsessed with him and refused to show up for a long time, which also made Li Shimin very annoyed.

In the final analysis, he has been leading troops outside, and his background in the court is seriously insufficient. He has just successfully seized the military and political power of the Tang Dynasty, and various Sui armies launched fierce attacks from all directions. At that time, Yang Tong had already arrived in Mianzhu County silently.Li Shimin firmly believed that if he was given a year to stabilize his power, he would not have fallen into this situation.

This war is no longer a question of the ownership of Yizhou, but a matter of the life and death of the Li and Tang Dynasties.Although Li Shimin is the de facto emperor, the current Li Tang Dynasty is not the Li Tang that owns Bingzhou, Guanzhong, Jingbei, and Yizhou. With the fall of Jingzhou, the system of the Li Tang Dynasty has begun to collapse; Li Shimin now only feels Regret, if he launched a military coup in Xiangyang when he attacked Li Mi and Meng Haigong in the Sui Dynasty, he would have at least half a year to rectify.

But that's the end of the matter, it's all pointless to say,

Now he has an army of tens of thousands in Luo County, and the defenders of Jiulong and Xingle have also formed an offensive and defensive mutual assistance with him, and have a well-founded horn of advance and retreat, and he is well-versed in military affairs. It is the safest place to break Luo County, and the south has many soldiers and generals. This is the safest place. At present, Jinyuan County in the west is the one to worry about. The [-] soldiers in the army are Li Shimin's few remaining trump cards. Once these people are sent out, if a certain line of defense collapses, it means that he will no longer have strong troops to send.

Unable to use his hole cards, Li Shimin finally decided to send Li Yuan's [-] recruits to the Jinyuan Camp.Although this is a recruit who has not received much training and his combat power is not reliable, but at this time he can no longer care about these things, not to mention that Su Dingfang and Huang Junhan's troops are not too many, so he had to use the advantages of terrain and numbers to go up first for a while.

"Your Highness, the King of Lujiang has arrived." Just as Li Shimin was frowning and thinking, a guard's voice came from outside the door.

"Please hurry up." Li Shimin hurriedly got up to greet him, now he not only needed Li Yuan's army, but also needed Li Yuan's reputation to raise more troops for him, so he didn't dare to act like a prince.

"The final general will see Your Highness." Li Yuan, who had not slept all night, walked into the East Palace with bloodshot eyes, and when he saw Li Shimin coming to welcome him, he stepped forward to salute with flattery.

He had been thinking about Yuwen Shiji's intentions last night, but he believed that Li Shimin was planning to kill him, and Yuwen Shiji's "Holy One" was nothing more than wanting him to belong to the imperial party for follow-up actions.

After reaching this conclusion, his wife Wei Xiao's suggestion haunted his mind all the time, but his biggest problem now was the secret agent of the Sui Dynasty that he needed to find. Otherwise, how could Yang Tong Will you believe that he, a county king, surrendered?
Just when he was thinking about nothing, he got the news that Li Shimin had summoned him, so he ran here frightened.

It's no wonder that Li Yuan was afraid of getting to this point. After all, Li Shimin even killed his own brothers, and if they were replaced by other people, they would not dare to risk the lives of the whole family and bet on Li Shimin's benevolent treatment of the former prince's supporters.

If Li Shimin knew what he was thinking, he would probably vomit three liters of blood. After all, in Li Yuan's heart, he was a model of "a thief for a day, a thief for life"!
Isn't it just following people's hearts and burning Li Yuanji who has no conscience and commits crimes?I'm killing relatives for righteousness and eliminating harm for the people, okay?Comparing those sloppy princes in the history books, they are kind enough and too much benevolent.

Fortunately, Li Shimin doesn't have mind-reading skills, otherwise, Li Yuan's worry may soon be realized.

"Brother Wang, please come in, please come in." Li Shimin welcomed Li Yuan into the hall with great enthusiasm.

His idea is that it is not strange to ask for others and be polite to many people, but in Li Yuan's eyes, it is a weasel giving New Year greetings to chickens-uneasy and kind, but the matter has come to an end, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into the hall nervously, respectfully Jing said tentatively: "His Royal Highness, when you go to the localities to recruit recruits, the local officials are very unstable, and some people even hang up their seals and resign, which makes some localities fall into a state of government without officials."

"Really?" A nameless anger rose in Li Shimin's chest. When the Tang army invaded Guanzhong, people who had nothing to do with him came to the door one after another, but now, have the trees fallen and the monkeys scattered?
"It's true, it is said that Du Zhenglun, who was transferred to be the prefect of Shilongshan, has also left..." Li Yuan was about to continue to say something, but Li Shimin suddenly turned his head, his wolf-like eyes made Li Yuan suffocate, and he couldn't say anything Come on.

"Don't care about them... just let them go..." Li Shimin looked away, took a deep breath, suppressed the monstrous anger in his chest, and said indifferently: "I plan to send the [-] recruits of Brother Wang to Jinyuan , Let them keep guarding the big camp while training quickly, what do you think, Brother Wang?"

"Humble job, humble job has no objection!" Li Yuan was extremely shocked and terrified. What he was most worried about happened after all. Suppressing the shock in his heart, he lowered his head and asked just in case: " But I don't know who His Highness will be as general?"

"Li Xuansu knows both literature and martial arts, and he has been with me for many years, enough to take on this important task." Speaking of this, Li Shimin glanced at Li Yuan, and said: "From now on, Brother Wang will be the left servant of the Ministry of War. He will coordinate the recruitment of soldiers. I hope to get 50, [-], [-], [-] recruits in the shortest possible time."

"Humble position, obey orders." Li Yuan dared not object, so he had to agree first, but the anger and hatred in his heart had reached the extreme, all of Sichuan had been turned into soldiers, ten or twenty thousand young men could not be recruited, and 50?It's just a daydream, it's obviously driving him to death, if he can't complete this impossible task, I'm afraid he will be executed everywhere.

Li Shimin nodded: "Go back."

"Here." Li Yuan bowed in agreement, and retreated silently, but Li Shimin didn't notice that the moment Li Yuan turned around, there was a strong sense of fear and hatred in his eyes.

Leaving the East Palace, Li Yuan walked on the street with a heavy heart, walking, the passage suddenly narrowed, Li Yuan raised his head, and found that he was actually at the south gate of Puxingfang across the street from his house.

Li Yuan sighed secretly, he was so out of his mind, what would he do if he fell into the eyes of someone with a heart?Thinking that exiting like this was even more suspicious, so he simply walked in.

Not long after entering the square gate, he suddenly saw a familiar person wandering around. Li Yuan waited close and found that this person was Jiang Zhen, the banned general of the Wu Chuan Division. During his stay in Yizhou, he had a better understanding of Wu Chuansi who came to liquidate the assets of the nobles in Guanlong. Because Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, and Li Shimin's forces were blank here, Li Yuanji and Han Zhi were not as restrained as they were in Jingzhou. Those who are interested will guess that Wu Chuan Division is not as simple as it seems on the surface. Wu Chuan Director Shi Hanzhi has disappeared, and his confidant Jiang Zhen appears here. Maybe he can find Han Zhi through him. Maybe there is a way to contact the Sui Dynasty.Even one of his clan members "has different ambitions" in an attempt to protect himself. He doesn't believe that Han Zhi, who is wanted by Li Shimin, is still loyal to the Li Tang Dynasty at this time.As for whether the other party believed in him or not, Li Yuan, who felt that a catastrophe was imminent, couldn't care less.

"The king of Lujiang?" Jiang Zhen turned around and smiled when he reached a corner.

"Uh!" As for Jiang Zhen's detection, Li Yuan was taken aback, but he also knew that these people were sensitive, so he didn't think otherwise, he stepped forward quickly, and said in a low voice: "General Jiang, can I borrow a step?" say?"

"Okay!" Jiang Zhen nodded, took Li Yuan to a restaurant by the side of the road, and asked for a private room, everything seemed normal.

This Puxingfang is actually another big stronghold of Li Yuanji, and almost all of the four sects and songs are from Wu Chuansi.It's just that Li Yuan and Li Shimin have not been in Chengdu for a long time, and the two of them were attracted by various major events, so they ignored the immediate matter.Now that Li Yuanji is dead, these arrangements are cheaper for the Black Ice Terrace of the Sui Dynasty.

When Li Yuan started to follow, the person in charge of watching the wind passed the news to Jiang Zhen in a helpless way.

The two arrived in the private room and sat facing each other. Jiang Zhen saw Li Yuan's brows were deeply furrowed, and he looked worried, and asked with a smile, "I wonder what your Highness wants to order?"

"General Jiang is also a person wanted by the crown prince, and he is still wandering around the shop next to the palace so calmly, I admire his calmness!" Li Yuan said.

Jiang Zhen glanced at Li Yuan, shook his head and laughed: "The Sui army has now reached Shu County, and our army has no ability to defend against the enemy, and keeps losing territory on the front line. The government and the public are very disappointed. People in the city are fluctuating and panicking. Uneasy. Who cares about me as a wanted criminal? What's more, in the eyes of the Holy One, I am not a wanted criminal."

"This is true." Li Yuan said with a specious smile: "As far as I know, many officials in the city have the heart to defect to the Sui Dynasty. To be honest, if I am not a relative of the Tang Dynasty, I would rather go to Yang Yu. 'Cousin-in-law'."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhen's heart suddenly brightened. Since ancient times, every time when a country is about to perish, evildoers run rampant and demons dance wildly. Qing, there is nothing wrong with having this idea. There are countless people in Chengdu who have the same thoughts as him.Then he asked, "I don't know what your Highness is looking for me for?"

Li Yuan said: "I, I want to ask General Jiang, is there any way to contact Han Changshi?"

Jiang Zhen became vigilant, squinted his eyes and stared at Li Yuan, and asked without answering: "Han Zhi is a wanted criminal now, I wonder why Your Highness is looking for him?"

Li Yuan heard that the other party wanted to know Han Zhi's whereabouts, and he immediately felt relieved. He knew that he had something to ask for, and he had to show enough sincerity to gain the other party's trust, so he said: " I would like to ask Han Changshi, is there any channel to contact Sui Chao's detailed work?"

"Your Highness is the King of the Tang Dynasty, why do you want to contact the Sui Dynasty's spy?" Jiang Zhen, the leader of the Sui Dynasty's spy, revealed a strange look in his eyes.

Li Yuan gritted his teeth, and said in a low voice: "Because I belong to the former prince, Li Shimin wants to kill me, I don't want to sit and wait for death."

"The king of the county is not afraid that I will inform you? Use the king of the county to make meritorious service?"

"Even I don't look down on Datang. I don't believe that General Jiang, who was hit by Li Shimin as a wanted criminal, died for a ruthless person."

Jiang Zhen raised his gaze and stared at him sharply, "Your Highness means that if there is a connection, he will surrender the Sui Dynasty without hesitation, right?"

"This..." Li Yuan was embarrassed by Jiang Zhen's straightforwardness, and he didn't know how to answer.

"Your Highness, don't be embarrassed." Jiang Zhen smiled slightly: "You also know that Wu Chuansi is the eyes and ears of the Holy One, and knows a lot of news that others don't know. As far as we know, the former prince is now a guest at Emperor Shengwu. Take a seat."

"What?" Li Yuan asked dumbfounded, "The prince is not dead?"

"It was supposed to be killed by Li Shimin, but it seems that because of Princess Pingyang, Emperor Shengwu rescued him."

"General Jiang, are you connected with the Sui Dynasty?" Seeing that Jiang Zhen even knew such top-secret information, Li Yuan realized that he had found the right person.

"Even the county king doesn't look down on Datang, let alone me as an outsider?" Jiang Zhen said with a smile: "Since we have talked about this, I don't think we need to think about testing, what does the county king think?"

"Exactly." Li Yuan nodded hastily.

"But I don't know why Li Shimin wanted to kill the county king?"

"Because I have lost the value that can be used." Li Yuan told the whole thing angrily, and finally said: "Currently Shuzhong has been turned into a soldier, and there are no more than [-] to [-] young and strong. He will not I don’t know. But he wants me to raise hundreds of thousands of troops for him, obviously to embarrass me, and when I can’t finish it, he can execute me with a high-sounding sound.”

"..." Jiang Zhen was dumbfounded when he heard that. He finally understood what it means to worry about the sky. As far as he knows, the most different and most charming personality between Li Shimin and Li Yuan is that they are not suspicious of people, and they can give to others to the maximum extent. The courtiers have full trust.Li Shimin, who needed crazy recruits to deal with the Sui army, had come to rely on Li Yuan who had a good reputation in Shu, how could he be willing to kill Li Yuan?The so-called "raising hundreds of thousands of troops" is undoubtedly Li Shimin's expectation and encouragement for Li Yuan, but Li Yuan actually thinks that Li Shimin is deliberately embarrassing him and preparing to kill him, which is really speechless up.

However, this is undoubtedly a great thing for the Sui Dynasty. Jiang Zhen naturally would not point it out. Maybe he could use Li Yuan to recruit the Sui army among the recruits. Rong, also decided to serve the Sui Dynasty, such as recruiting troops, I will help you, and I will not make Li Shimin suspicious."

"How to help?" Li Yuan looked at Jiang Zhen with some puzzlement.

"I know that many people escaped the war and hid in some villages. As long as we recruit these people one after another, Li Shimin will realize that the king of the county is still useful to him, and what the king of the county has to do is to put this new soldier in prison. It is firmly in our hands, and it will play a big role at the critical moment." Jiang Zhen said with a smile: "If we can rely on this army to make contributions to the Sui Dynasty at the critical moment, we will not be able to be officials of the Sui Dynasty in the future, but At least, you can change to the household registration of an ordinary person, instead of being sent to the army for a lifetime."

Li Yuan nodded mechanically, unable to speak for a while, just felt that he was in front of the person in front of him, as if there was no cover, and everything was seen through by those eyes, which made Li Yuan feel that the man in front of him was absolutely not simple.Even, this is one of the big figures that the Sui Dynasty inserted into the Li and Tang Dynasty.After a long time, he said numbly: "Then...then I will retire first. I will leave everything to General Jiang."

"It's okay, we are all people who can't survive in the Tang Dynasty, so we should hug each other to keep warm."

(End of this chapter)