The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 995
Three days later, night fell quietly, and the camp of the Sui army outside Chengdu lit torches, which looked like a square circle of fire around the city, which was extraordinarily spectacular.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Li Yuan was named the Great General of Weiwei and the King of Shu. He commanded [-] recruits to be responsible for the defense of Mingde Gate, Anhua Gate, and the southern gates of Qixia Gate. The King of Shu was only a flash in the pan, and he didn't care about it. He was worried that Yang Tong would settle his score in the fall, but now he got a letter written by Li Jiancheng himself. After reading Li Jiancheng's persuading letter, he was no longer afraid.

Since Yang Tong didn't even kill Li Jiancheng, he certainly wouldn't kill such a small person as himself in the end. Even if he couldn't enjoy the glory and wealth in the future, at least his family wouldn't have to die. What's more, Yang Tong promised to only collect the land and not confiscate money. It also means that even if you lose all your land and servants, you can still keep your money. He has been the clan king for so many years, and he has a lot of savings. My heart became firmer.

Of his [-] troops, [-] were soldiers under the control of the Sui army, and the other [-] were recruits who had just joined the army. Most of these people were jobless vagrants and hooligans in the city, with no combat power or military discipline at all.

Although Li Yuan could open the door to welcome the Sui army into the city at any time, in order to avoid fierce street fighting when entering the city, Yang Tong still adopted a tactic of attacking the heart first.

Outside the Qixia Gate in the night, dozens of bamboo baskets were hoisted up by ropes. Inside the baskets were [-] copies of the "Confession to Chengdu Military and Civilian Book" written by Yang Tong himself and printed with movable type. This was urgently printed within three days. , and now it can finally come in handy.

[-] leaflets have to be distributed overnight, and the task is very difficult. However, the Black Ice Terrace fighters gathered by Han Zhi, Jiang Zhen and others have experience in this field. They can use the people in the city to distribute together, and things will become easier. too much.

"The focus is on the military camp in front of Suzaku's gate. At least [-] copies should be distributed." After reading the letter specially addressed to him, Li Yuan hurriedly instructed the soldiers to nod their heads and run quickly with bamboo baskets in hand, distributing them to all levels of staff. .

"Mr. Han, why did the Holy Majesty focus on the Long Live Army barracks?" Li Yuan was from the Sui Dynasty, he was too lazy to use his brain, and An Anxin became a puppet, so as not to die of his own cleverness.His attitude was undoubtedly comfortable, but it was also easily manipulated.

Because of this character in history, he fell into the trap of Li Shimin, and was lured step by step into the abyss of rebellion by Li Shimin's confidant general Wang Junkuo. Li Yuan's family was ruined and his wife was taken by Li Shimin. Wang Gui said that Li Yuan's murder of his husband and his wife was a cruel act, Wang Gui couldn't stand it any longer, and directly replied: After you kill Li Yuan, what's the point of bringing his wife into the palace?
After the incident was full of turmoil, Li Shimin, unable to explain to his clan and Li Jiancheng's old ministers, had no choice but to silence Wang Junkuo.

But now with the arrival of Yang Tong, Li Yuan's fate has obviously undergone earth-shaking changes.

"The Holy Majesty wrote very clearly in the letter to the soldiers and civilians in Chengdu that the Long Live Army can protect their wealth and avoid their crimes if they surrender voluntarily; if they surrender after the city is broken, they will collect all their wealth and hold them accountable. These people have followed Li Shimin for many years, and Li Shimin is now In order to make these soldiers die for him and give them great rewards, these hard-working soldiers finally got huge wealth, and what they fear most is getting caught and losing money, so with this guarantee, won’t the Long Live Army scramble to surrender?” Han Zhi smiled and said, "But the most powerful move is to sow dissension."

"That's true." Li Yuan nodded and said, "These Qingqiang soldiers are full of wildness. After they entered the city, they had constant conflicts and conflicts with our soldiers. There have been complaints for a long time, but now if we provoke them, this long-standing conflict will definitely explode."

"This is the biggest difference between the present and the past. In the past, the imperial court would rather hand over their wealth to foreigners than to give even a little bit to their own people. If things go on like this, it will not only encourage the greed of other peoples, but also make the people of their own people alienated." Han Zhi smiled indifferently: "But the sage is wise and powerful, and he pursues the national policy of Sui supremacy. Any ordinary person is full of confidence in front of foreign princes and ministers. If you go to Luoyang or Daxing, you will find that those foreign envoys are like grandsons. The tens of millions of people in my Great Sui Dynasty are proud of being the people of the Great Sui Dynasty, and their cohesion is unprecedented. But Li Shimin is still using the old formula of alien supremacy, can the people of his family not be separated from their virtues? It is no wonder that the soldiers of our family can work hard for him. "

Li Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded silently, feeling that Han Zhi's words were reasonable.

People pay taxes to the imperial court, and the imperial court uses them as military salaries, official salaries, and disaster relief for disaster victims. This is called taking from the people and returning to the people. It is used by the emperor for enjoyment, and the people take it for granted. thing, no complaints.

But the previous imperial court has always been generous. As long as the envoys of foreign races say a few beautiful words, praise the prosperity of the Shang Kingdom, and verbally express their loyalty, the emperor of Longyan Joy will reward a lot of treasures and use money to promote the so-called magnificence of the Shang Kingdom to the foreign races. In the past, everyone didn't think there was anything abnormal, but after Yang Tong came up, he stopped messing around with money-losing boys. The culture of diplomatic relations of "mutual benefit and mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, and fighting against disobedience" was pursued by Wen and Wu of the Sui Dynasty. From a certain To a certain extent, this is a variant of non-my race that must have a different heart. I don't believe that other races really obey the orders of the 'Saint Khan', let alone be fooled by this false name. One and two are calm and fulfilled. Terrible.

In contrast, Li Shimin continued to play the same old tricks, which dissatisfied the soldiers of the Tang army and the people of the Tang Dynasty who were deeply influenced by the thoughts of the Sui Dynasty. Even Li Yuan felt that Li Shimin was capitalizing on the enemy.

Of course, Li Shimin may have wanted Qing Qiang to work for him, but what do the soldiers care about?They only know that everyone is a Tang Dynasty soldier, and they all work for you, Li Shimin. Why do you give more money to the Qingqiang soldiers, and why do you favor the Qingqiang soldiers?
"Your Highness." At this time, a captain of the Tang Army rushed to report: "The manpower for distributing leaflets has been arranged, and they can be distributed at any time!"

"Let the brothers send it out, be careful."

"Here."

When the captain gave an order, countless soldiers and civilians disappeared into the night. Leaflets quickly scattered into every barracks like snowflakes. Soldiers of the Tang Army scrambled to find literate soldiers to read to them.

Not only Nancheng, Dongcheng and Xicheng distributed countless leaflets, even the Tai Chi Palace could not escape. The Flying Army used the Flying Shenzhou to drop [-] leaflets to the Red Armor Army barracks stationed in the palace.

Except for the barracks, the soldiers of the Black Ice Terrace climbed over the high wall and sent leaflets to various squares. The entire city of Chengdu was covered by leaflets.

All kinds of reactions were staged throughout the city. Soldiers gathered in small groups and whispered together. Many patrol soldiers directly took off their armor and fled home. Under the influence of the Tang army, deserters from the Tang army began to appear in large numbers in Chengdu.

……

Xiao Mansion, Xiao Yu was woken up, he carefully read the contents of the flyer under the light, his face changed greatly, the [-] Qingqiang soldiers in the city are the limit that Li Shimin can mobilize at present, once these Qingqiang soldiers arrive Li Shimin, as if he saw a savior, not only reused them, but also treated them preferentially. Even if these people rudely harassed the people in the city, Li Shimin also adopted a laissez-faire attitude.

Xiao Yu and Yin Kaishan had persuaded Li Shimin before, saying that most of the soldiers of this clan were related to the people in the city, so they should not favor Qing Qiang too much, so as not to chill the soldiers of their clan, but Li Shimin did not listen to the advice at all. In his opinion, as long as Qing Qiang Soldiers can fight for him on the battlefield, and everything else is unimportant. His attitude not only fueled the arrogance of Qingqiang soldiers, but also aggravated the conflicts between soldiers of the two races. To the point of compatibility, but the soldiers who were full of resentment towards the Qingqiang soldiers and Li Shimin, now being provoked by the leaflet of the Sui Dynasty and the meticulous work in the city, they will definitely respond one after another.

Yin Kaishan was also woken up by the night guards, who also took a list and handed it to him...

Even Miyagi flew into dozens of lists, and after some Gong'e picked them up, they ran to Queen Dugu Mingxiu.

At three o'clock, Li Shimin was also woken up.Although he has already ascended the throne, in order to be able to deal with military affairs in time, he did not stay in Miyagi, but was permanently stationed in the military camp of the imperial city.As for government affairs, there is no time to manage them. In fact, there is no government affairs to deal with.

He has been living a miserable life these days. Since the day of the Double Ninth Festival, the hearts of the people and the army on his side have been in chaos. The Tang army deserted almost every day. Although Li Shimin made timely countermeasures, there was no effect at all, especially After the Sui army adopted the tactic of encircling Chengdu and not attacking it, in just three days, the former 7 army now has only more than [-] left. New forces join in.It's just that the people in Chengdu City are very repulsive to him now, even Yin Kaishan, Xiao Yu and others are powerless in the face of such a situation.

After all, the people are not fools. Since the Sui army came to the city, they have realized that the puppet Tang Dynasty is about to end. If they are still joining the army at this time, they are looking for death?Hiding at home and watching the changes is king.

The point is that the city of Chengdu is too big, and there are no people living in the southern quarters. Now it has almost become a paradise for deserters. Li Shimin knew that they were there, but he didn't dare to be arrested, let alone killed, because he Now most of the troops in the city are from Shu County and Chengdu. If they really do that, the soldiers in the city will definitely turn their spearheads and point at their own generals.

"Your Majesty." Du Junchuo came in from outside the tent, cupped his hands to Li Shimin and said, "The Sui army used the flying Shenzhou to drop many leaflets from the sky, and the soldiers in the army are already in chaos."

"Go and have a look." Li Shimin was shocked when he heard the words, and quickly took Du Junchuo to the school grounds. When they came to the school grounds, they found that the Red Armor Army was in a mess.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!" Zhai Changsun saw Li Shimin approaching, and quickly said, "Yang Tong is really disgusting. He didn't want to attack the city head-on, so he used the conflict between the soldiers of the two tribes to stir up chaos. The soldiers are afraid It's going to be a mess."

Li Shimin took it over and took a look, the corner of his mouth twitched fiercely a few times, and said angrily: "This is another shameless conspiracy, what should I do?"

Zhai Changsun was silent when he heard the words, and it would be no problem for him to fight, but the morale of the army has been disturbed, and he has nothing to do. Right now, these soldiers are Li Shimin's last support, and there must be no chaos. The most urgent thing is to try to appease the soldiers of the two tribes.

Li Shimin still has a certain prestige, his arrival and the fuss of the generals finally calmed down the army temporarily, but everyone's heart is heavy.

Li Shimin's mood was not relaxed because the army's morale was appeased, because he knew that appeasement was not a long-term solution. If the Sui army attacked the city now, all the conflicts would be between the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but Yang Tong did not enter. If this continues, without the Sui army taking action, the army in the city will collapse completely.But as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he has nothing to do at this moment.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!" Just as Li Shimin looked up to the sky and sighed, Xiao Yu and Yin Kaishan hurried over.

Li Shimin forced a smile: "What's the matter with the two prime ministers?"

"Look." Xiao Yu handed over a leaflet, "The leaflet says that if someone in the army can bring back a Qingqiang soldier's head, he will not only be exonerated, but also be rewarded."

Li Shimin took a look, a chill quickly spread to the whole body, and Li Shimin's complexion suddenly turned pale. He didn't have time to figure out the reason in order to appease the soldiers, but now he finally knew why the Red Armor Army was in chaos. His lips trembled a few times. Suddenly, he sternly said: "Immediately order the entire army to be under martial law. Without a military order, no one is allowed to leave the camp without authorization, including those Qingqiang soldiers!"

Li Shimin's order is considered timely, but how can we prevent it at this moment?At this moment, I heard a burst of noise, and saw Du Junchuo running in from outside with an ugly face: "My lord, something is wrong, He Yuegu brought someone in, and General Ma is following him." He confronted."

"Go, take a look." Li Shimin took a deep breath, and led the generals out of the Zhuque Gate. Under the firelight, he saw He Yuegu leading the Qingqiang soldiers to confront Ma Sanbao. There are more than 20 bloody human heads, and the heads covered with braids are extremely dazzling.

"General He, what do you mean?" Li Shimin glanced at the head and frowned at He Yuegu.

"Then I have to ask you?" He Yuegu sneered and said, "Your Majesty Tang, I kindly helped you defend the city, but your soldiers retaliated by attacking one of our night watchmen and cutting off their heads in an attempt to escape. How can this be explained?"

Li Shimin's heart clenched into a ball, he never expected that the last thing he wanted to see happened.

"General He, this fact is not our intention, but Yang Tong's trick, intending to provoke the relationship between our two families." Yin Kaishan stepped forward and told the news about Yang Tong sending people to distribute leaflets, and said He handed over the flyer in his hand.

"That's your business, I don't care about it, and I don't want to, but my soldiers can't die in vain!" He Yuegu didn't accept the leaflet. Xiaoen Xiaohui, he picked up the soldiers of his clan. Not long ago, he was caught by the Sui Army's suspicious strategy in Wenchuan City. He was bewitched by Wynn and fled to Chengdu with the warriors of the clan. Soon he was surrounded by the Sui Army regiments. He felt that he Being cheated by Li Shimin, I was already extremely upset, but now that something like this happened, I was even more angry.

"It's none of our business anymore, what can we do. What do you want?" He Yuegu's attitude angered Ma Sanbao.

"Your people killed all my soldiers, and you still ask me what I want?" He Yuegu snapped.

"General Ma, don't be rude!" Although Li Shimin is also very angry, but now he has to rely on He Yuegu, even if he doesn't want to at this moment, he can only hold back the anger in his heart, and comforted He Yuegu with good words: "General He please Don't worry, I will keep a close eye on you."

"This is the best!" He Yuegu glanced at the depressed Ma Sanbao, snorted coldly, and was about to take people away. At this moment, a few poisonous arrows flew out from the crowd, shooting several people around He Yuegu away. A personal guard shot to the ground.

"Who did it?" He Yuegu couldn't recover, and Ma Sanbao asked furiously.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

What Ma Sanbao answered was a sound of piercing through the air, and a sharp arrow poured out of the darkness into the crowd of He Yueluo, and a large group of Qingqiang soldiers who had no defense at all were shot down in an instant.

"Brothers, kill them all for me. After beheading, you can claim credit and reward."

Among the two sides facing each other, countless Tang Jun looked at He Yuegu and the others with green eyes.In particular, He Yuegu's head is the most valuable. As long as he gets it, not only will he not be punished, but he can also be promoted to a higher rank. Li Shimin and others stopped him before, and everyone dared not do it. Blockbuster, everyone's emotions were ignited.

"Stop! Stop everything!" No matter how you look at He Yuegu, Ma Sanbao, Zhai Changsun and others know that He Yuegu cannot die here. In the meantime, blood flowed like a river, so he led the red armor army forward and stopped the rebels.

However, they cared about their own soldiers and would not kill them, but the Qingqiang soldiers led by He Yuegu didn't care about this. When they saw the crowds coming, they swung their knives and slashed, and this undoubtedly angered the soldiers of the Tang army. They ignored Li Shimin and others order, one by one rushed towards He Yuegu with red eyes

Li Shimin keenly discovered that among the soldiers of the two sides fighting together, there were many extremely fierce and fierce people, not only killing the Qingqiang soldiers, but even killing their own people. , to kill the black sheep that appeared in front of his eyes one by one.

"Brothers, have you seen it? The dog emperor even killed his own people in order to please the foreign thieves who harmed us." Some people in the crowd shouted: "Such a traitor, what right does he have to make us loyal? Reverse."

"Reverse, reverse!"

"Turn against him, against him!"

Under the instigation of these fine works, a massacre started in front of Suzaku's gate, and an air of iron and blood permeated the air.

"Kill!" Li Shimin knew that this matter could not be resolved, pointing at the soldiers of the two armies who were killing each other, he sternly shouted at the Red Armored Army: "Kill these Sui soldiers carefully."

. . . . . .

But what Li Shimin didn't know was that there was an army preparing to kill here.

In front of the Golden Light Gate at this time.

"Soldiers, Li Shimin killed his brother and father, and the gods and men were angry together. So on the day of Chongyang, the gods warned us. If we continue to serve him, we will be punished by the heavens." Xie Yingdeng raised his left arm and said loudly to thousands of soldiers: " That's all, this heinous person regards us as worthless, but has repeatedly shielded the Qingqiang alien race. Now, I have decided to obey the destiny, surrender to the Sui Dynasty, and use the head of the Qingqiang thief to make atonement. I am willing to kill the thief and make meritorious service with me Or, please tie the white cloth in your hand to your left arm."

It’s ridiculous and sad to say that Xie Yingdeng, Li Daliang, and Cheng Chumo were separated from Yang Tong’s army in Luoxian County. They sneaked into Chengdu with [-] elite soldiers. There was a civil uprising. In order to appease the grievances of the people, Li Shimin had to kill the big households, and used the food from the big households to help the victims outside the city. The [-] Sui soldiers headed by Xie Yingdeng received Li Shimin's relief.

Later, after Li Yuan surrendered to Jiang Zhen, he was sent by Li Shimin to recruit new soldiers. Xie Yingdeng, who received the order, asked Li Daliang to bring [-] soldiers into the army, and controlled Li Yuan's two middle schools at every level. Cheng Chumo brought another [-] soldiers to join the Tang army, followed Yin Kaishan to Yang'an County, and after returning from a trip to Yang'an County, Yin Kaishan recommended him to Li Shimin and became Zuo Wei of the Tang Dynasty General Wei has a higher official position than he did in the Sui Dynasty.

Xie Yingdeng was serving in the Long Live Army, and he had [-] soldiers in his hands. In addition to the [-] soldiers in the headquarters, the other [-] were elite soldiers selected from the various armies that were defeated in Chengdu at the order of Li Shimin. The army, like Li Yuan's, was completely controlled by the Sui army at various levels. They were responsible for defending the Jinguang Gate west of Suzaku Gate and the area around the West Market. Before that, he had received orders to disrupt the Long Live Army. After arriving at the whole army, seeing that the soldiers had been encouraged by offering rewards, they provoked disputes.

"Kill the thief, make meritorious deeds and atone for crimes." Thousands of soldiers tied white cloth strips at the same place, and under the bewitching of Xie Yingdeng and others, they turned around and headed east to the barracks of Qingqiang soldiers.

Now that the army of the Sui Dynasty is approaching the city, surrounding the whole city, teams of Sui cavalry and rows of siege equipment are so devastating that the soldiers of the Tang army don't even have the courage to resist. The soldiers are already afraid of God's punishment. , and dissatisfied with Li Shimin's preferential treatment of Qing Qiang. As the leaflets that kill Qing Qiang can redeem sins and receive rewards for meritorious service flowed into the army, the soldiers were already tempted. In addition, Sui soldiers such as Xie Yingdeng and Cheng Chumo contributed to the flames, and they did not have much belonging to the Tang Dynasty. Soldiers of the Tang army with a heart are choosing to follow the crowd and follow the masses blindly.

(End of this chapter)