At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 839
In Chang'an Martial Virtue Hall, Li Shimin held Gao Bufan's call to the world in his hand, his face was cold, his eyes were bleak, and all the courtiers present stood in awe.

After a while, Li Shimin's complexion returned to normal, and he tore up the call to pieces. In fact, before launching the Xuanwumen Mutiny, he, Fang Xuanling and other advisers had considered that Gao Qi would profit from it. As an excuse, with the posture of occupying the moral high ground, he blatantly tore up the peace treaty, and took advantage of Li Tang's internal instability to commit crimes.

Obviously it was Gao Qi who betrayed his promise, but he issued such a righteous and awe-inspiring crusade, scolding himself to the brim, Li Shimin was naturally very angry, but he could only be dumb and eat Huanglian. It's really dry, no matter how much you wash it, you can't wash it off.

Of course, even if you can't wash it off, you have to wash it. The public opinion position is there. If you give up, the enemy will occupy it without hesitation. Therefore, Li Shimin also found a pen and wrote an edict to announce to the world, explaining that he launched Xuanwu The mutiny was a passive counterattack for self-protection, and it was supported by the Supreme Emperor Li Yuan. At the same time, the imperial edict scolded Gao Bufan for treachery, treachery, and despicableness. .

However, in the war between the two countries, you can't win a war of words. In the end, it depends on whose fists are hard. So Li Shimin also dispatched troops to fight against the Qi army at Hedong and Hangu Pass. Almost all the elite of the Tang army were transferred. With these two places, they were finally able to withstand the Qi army's offensive.

However, before Li Shimin had time to breathe a sigh of relief, a very bad news came. Jieli Khan and Tuli Er Khan led 20 Turkic cavalry to break through Xiaoguan and Binzhou, and went straight to the Weihe River. Upstream Wugong County.

As a result, the entire city of Chang'an was shaken, and everyone was in danger for a while, because Wugong County was less than two hundred miles away from Chang'an, and 20 Turkic cavalry were close at hand. Who wouldn't be afraid?
Li Shimin was startled and angry, he slapped the case suddenly and said sharply: "Li Yuan and Zhang Jin, these two rebellious officials and thieves have misled the country and me, if they don't kill them, it won't be enough to appease the hatred in my heart."

It is said that if the Turkic army wants to go south to attack Guanzhong, it must cross the Loess Plateau. There are only three roads to go. The first road is to attack Lingzhou first, then go down along the Qingshui River, pass Xiaoguan, and walk back to the middle road or Bin (bīn ) Prefecture, then to Wugong County, and finally down the Wei River to Chang'an. This road is the best, because the road in the Qingshui River Valley is wide and flat, and the pasture is also lush, which is suitable for the cavalry to charge quickly.

However, this time Jieli Khan unexpectedly detoured to Huizhou, which is now Jingyuan in Gansu Province, and then turned back to Qingshui River and went down the river. In just 20 days, they reached Wugong County. It was like lightning, and Li Shimin was caught off guard.

In fact, Xiaoguan and Binzhou are both dangerous places, guarded by a large number of Tang troops. If these defenders actively resist, it is impossible for Xieli's 20 Turkic cavalry to reach Wugong County so easily. months, or even more than half a year.

Obviously, the problem lies with the defenders of Xiaoguan and Binzhou!

It turns out that the guard of the Tang army in charge of guarding Xiaoguan is called Li Yuan, and the guard of Binzhou is called Zhang Jin. Both of them belong to Prince Li Jiancheng. Li Shimin killed Li Jiancheng through the Xuanwumen mutiny and took the throne After getting it, although Li Yuan and Zhang Jin admitted Li Shimin's legal status on the surface and accepted Li Shimin's comfort, they were still extremely dissatisfied in their hearts, so when the Turkic cavalry came, Li Yuan just pretended to let the Turkic cavalry go. It passed, and Zhang Jin didn't even pretend to be pretending at all. He huddled in the city of Binzhou and let Jieli Khan lead the army across the border.

In this way, Jieli Khan killed Wugong County in the upper reaches of Chang'an with almost no effort. It is no wonder that Li Shimin is so angry, but when the enemy is in front of him, no matter how angry Li Shimin is, he can only find a way to retreat from the enemy first, and then settle accounts after the fall .

Inside the Hall of Martial Virtue, the atmosphere was unprecedentedly tense, and everyone held their breaths.The key members of the Tiance Mansion who participated in the Xuanwumen Mutiny that day have now become important officials in the court, but they did not expect that the Turkic army would be in sight less than a month after King Qin ascended the throne, and the Tang Dynasty was in danger of destroying the country. , Is this the retribution?

After Li Shimin was angry, he was surprisingly calm. He glanced at all the ministers present, and said indifferently: "The villain Gao Qi broke his trust and righteousness. Taking advantage of the instability in the country when I first became a great treasure, he brazenly tore up the peace treaty. It is shameless. Now my Tang army elite We defended against the invasion of the Qi invaders at Hedong and Hangu Pass, and the despicable man Jieli Khan suddenly attacked, and now Chang'an has only tens of thousands of troops, how do you think you should deal with it?"

Pei Ji immediately said: "Jieli has 20 troops, and the attack is fierce and unstoppable, but we are short of troops, so I think we should close the city and wait for reinforcements from all directions to arrive before attacking."

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Closing the city and sticking to it can certainly preserve Chang'an, but the people in Guanzhong will be plundered and trampled by the Turkic people, and the mourning will be everywhere. How can I bear it?"

Li Shimin had just ascended the throne, and his position was not right. The domestic situation was far from stable. If the Turks were allowed to wreak havoc in Guanzhong, it would only be even more unpopular.

Pei Ji obviously understood this too, so he retreated silently.

Fang Xuanling came out of the class to offer advice: "I want to report to the emperor that Jieli Khan came with an army of 20. It seems to be powerful, but in fact it is a lone army going deep, and the army is dangerous. He must be worried that he will be cut off and fall into a tight siege." , so I think that at this time, we should not show him as weak, but rather show him as strong, and skillfully deploy suspicious soldiers so that he does not dare to act rashly."

Li Shimin's eyes brightened and he said, "Fang Aiqing plans to come out?"

"First of all, the emperor should send a good general with elite troops to stop the enemy, and give the enemy a head-on blow, so that Jieli Khan will be aware of it and hesitate to advance, and then seek it out." Fang Xuanling said.

Li Shimin nodded and said: "This plan is very good. Yin Kaishan and Qu Tu listened to the order. I ordered you to lead [-] elite soldiers each to meet Jieli in Jingyang. The first battle may be won but not lost."

Yin Kaishan and Qu Tutong led [-] elite Tang troops to Jingyang on the north bank of the Weishui River and set up an ambush to wait for Jieli's vanguard to arrive.

Two days later, the vanguard of Xieli's army arrived in Jingyang. The Turkic general in charge of leading the army was named Astide Meidu. He walked unimpeded all the way, so he was a bit careless. In the end, he was attacked by Yin Kaishan and Qu Tutong. The sudden attack by people led to a complete defeat, and thousands of people were killed or injured, and even Ast was captured alive.

However, when Jieli Khan led the main army to Jingyang, Yin Kaishan and Qu Tutong did not dare to fight due to the disparity in their strength, so they took the initiative to retreat to the south bank of the Weihe River and confront Jieli Khan across the river.

Just as Fang Xuanling expected, although Jieli Khan had 20 soldiers, he was alone after all, and he was under a lot of pressure. If he was not careful, his retreat would be cut off, and the 20 belongings would have to be folded in Guanzhong, so he suffered a lot. After a small defeat, Jieli hesitated a little, and stationed his army in Jingyang to confront the Tang army across the river, and sent envoys to Chang'an to find out the truth.

The name of this Turkic envoy is Zhishisili. When he arrived in Chang'an City, he pretended to be an old man, arrogant, and bossed around Li Shimin. However, Li Shimin refused to accept this and ordered him to be beheaded. He was so scared that he begged for mercy. Later, under the plea of ​​the officials, Li Shimin spared him, but he was also imprisoned.

Then Li Shimin took Fang Xuanling and other six cronies to the bank of the Wei River to meet Jieli Khan.

There is a temporary bridge above the Wei River, which can only allow two people to pass side by side. Li Shimin stood alone on the side of the Wei River and shouted: "I am Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. How dare Jieli show up?"

Jieli Khan was a little unsure at first, seeing that Li Shimin came with only six people, looking full of confidence, he felt even more guilty, but if you lose, you don't lose, so Jieli only brought six people Appeared on the other side of the temporary bridge.

Li Shimin saw Jieli's appearance, his eyes flashed coldly, and he shouted sharply: "Jieli, Tang and Turkic are friendly countries, why did you break your faith and lead troops south to invade Tang's territory and plunder Tang's people?"

Jieli Khan laughed dryly and said, "Then why did you, Li Shimin, attack Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe again? They are all the subjects of this Khan. If it is said that they betrayed their trust, I am afraid that Li Tang was the first."

Li Shimin said indifferently: "Master Liang intercepted and killed me halfway, but it was only his own fault. As for Guo Zihe, he voluntarily surrendered to my Tang Dynasty."

"What about Liu Wuzhou? Did he offend you again?" Jieli Khan asked rhetorically.

Li Shimin said coldly: "I don't like Liu Wuzhou, so what if we kill him!"

Jieli Khan was stunned for a moment, and then sneered: "That Khan also dislikes you, Li Shimin, so can he lead his army south to attack Li Tang?"

Li Shimin said coldly: "That's different. There is an alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, but there is no alliance between the Tang Dynasty and Liu Wuzhou."

Jieli Khan sneered and remained silent, Li Shimin calmed down and said: "I have countless elite soldiers in the Tang Dynasty, and you Jieli just took advantage of the loophole to fight here. I really think that I, Li Shimin, are afraid of your failure. You If we withdraw our troops immediately at this time, I can pretend that nothing happened, and the Turks and Tang Dynasty will still be friendly countries in the future. If you are stubborn, I might as well let your 20 troops die in Guanzhong."

Jieli Khan sneered, "It's a big breath, but Ben Khan doesn't quite believe that you have this ability."

"Then we might as well wait and see." Li Shimin turned around and left after speaking.

Jie Li rolled his eyes and said loudly: "Wait a minute, maybe we can talk again."

Jieli Khan was not sure at first, and he suffered a small defeat not long ago, and now he saw Li Shimin's full confidence, so he felt even more guilty. If the chicken is not good enough, the rice will be eaten away.

When Li Shimin saw this, he knew that Jieli had been suppressed for the time being, so the two negotiated across the Weishui River. Finally, Jieli was persuaded and agreed to withdraw the troops, but Li Shimin had to bear the expenses of Jieli's sending troops this time and pay a certain amount of compensation. property.

Obviously, Xieli wanted to make a fortune before leaving. After some negotiations, Li Shimin and Xieli finally reached an agreement to kill Baima and sign a peace treaty, which was a bridge alliance.

In this way, Li Shimin temporarily resolved the biggest crisis he encountered after ascension to the throne. As for how much money he lost, it is unknown, but judging by the way Xieli returned with a full load, it should not be less.

Li Shimin watched Jieli's army retreat across the Wei River, clenched his hands and fists, and his eyes were full of murderous intent. After defeating Gao Qi for this lifelong humiliation, he will demand back from Jieli with all the benefits.

(End of this chapter)