First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 12
Jinyang City, at the city gate, people come and go. Although the world is in chaos today, the traffickers, soldiers, farmers, and scholars who come and go seem not to be affected by the general trend of the world. Under Li Yuan's governance, Taiyuan County still lives and works in peace and contentment. .

At this time, the side of the city gate was surrounded by a crowd, whether they could read or not, they were all stretching out their heads to read the notice posted on the city wall.

"My lord, what is written on it?" A woodcutter carrying firewood looked around curiously.

The Confucian scholar who was asked heard the words and raised his head with his hands behind his back and said: "Wu Benlang colluded with the Turks with Wang Wei, intending to lure the Turks into the city to plunder. Fortunately, he was exposed by Sima Liu Zhenghui. Tang Guogong has now beheaded him and sent the second son to kill him." Li Shimin went to stop the Turks...".

"Huh? Turks?"

"This damned Wang Wei, Zhiniang thief, he is the general of the imperial court, and he even joined the Turkic people to rob Jinyang City?"

"Hey, shitty imperial court, shitty general, I think Mr. Tang is the only good official in the world..."

"Is this true?" A burly man grabbed the Confucian scholar's shoulders and asked in a buzzing voice with wide-eyed eyes, "A certain family used to be the soldiers of General Wang Lang, General Wang Lang is not such a person. ".

The Confucian scholar's shoulder hurt from being caught, and he struggled to get away, with a displeased expression on his face, "The notice is true. It was revealed by Sima Liu Zhenghui when he saw Wang Wei's correspondence with Turkic when he was dealing with documents. The evidence is convincing. How could he be wronged?"

When a trafficker carrying a burden heard this, he said eagerly, "I came from Loufan County. I heard that the Turkic people had already arrived in Loufan, so I rushed to Taiyuan."

"Turks really went south?"

After hearing these words, everyone stopped doubting and scolded Wang Wei angrily.

Not far away, a scribe in a round-neck gown saw all this and couldn't help but nodded slightly and muttered: "Mr. Tang is really good at tricks, but the Gao family and his son are quite decisive...".

Jingle City, as the seat of Loufan County, is connected to Mayi in the north, Taiyuan in the south, Shuofang in the west, and Yanmen in the east. Its geographical location is very prominent.

Therefore, after Liu Wuzhou occupied the whole territory of Loufan, he garrisoned in Jingle City, looking at the south. He had a posture of learning from the Xianbei of the Xiongnu back then. Taiyuan County in the south is as solidly managed as an iron bucket, but Li Yuan is powerful, which really annoys Liu Wuzhou.

At this time, outside Jingle City, Li Shimin and others held high the banner of Duke Tang, and the big banner with Tang characters fluttered high, but the gate of the city was closed, and it seemed that they were not welcome.

Liu Hongji was about to call for the city, but was stopped by Li Shimin, "I'm waiting for you to come here with such great fanfare, it's impossible for Liu Wuzhou not to know that the city gates are closed in broad daylight, and the people in the city act as if they didn't see us. It must have been ordered by Liu Wuzhou. Let’s find a place to camp first and discuss the countermeasures.” Several people agreed, retreated a few miles, and camped on a hillside.

"Speak freely, what do you think about this matter?" Li Shimin asked first after he settled down.

Jiang Song frowned when he heard the words, "I called the city directly, and told the reason why, so I shouldn't fail to open the door."

Hearing this, Gao Chong shook his head, "There was Huang Ziying before, and now the city gates are closed. Liu Wuzhou now plainly doesn't want us to have contact with Shibi. He is eager for the Turks to fight openly with Tang. In that case, regardless of victory or defeat All in his favour.

When we arrived outside the city, he pretended not to know and refused to let us enter the city at all. As long as he waited for a long time before we arrived, lost his patience, and directly sent troops in anger, he would succeed. At Shibi, Liu Wuzhou didn't dare to stop him."

After Gao Chong's simple analysis, several people were also frowning, unable to think. Li Shimin said: "The person who contacted Shibi before came back and reported that Sibi promised us to talk in Jingle City. Since Huang Ziying dared to come to test this morning, it means Shibi is now in Jingle City. But if we send envoys now, Liu Wuzhou will definitely not see him behind closed doors, after all, the city gate is still under his control."

Liu Hongji was displeased when he heard the words, "This Liu Wuzhou is just playing a rogue, he shuts the door and refuses to enter, and he didn't even know we were here from the beginning to the end."

This Liu Wuzhou knew that they were here for a meeting with Shibi, so he didn't dare to do anything to them, but he chose to close the door and not let them in. This seemingly rogue's trick had miraculous effects, which really made them a little helpless.

"This huge Jingle City has tens of thousands of households and is located in a traffic fortress. It is impossible for him to close the door all the time," Jiang Song said, looking at the tall city wall in the distance.

"Three days, just close for three days. Those who are arrogant and arrogant will probably not be able to bear it. They will feel that we are not sincere. After all, it is only a mere two hundred miles from Jinyang City to here." Gao Chong shook his head and laughed. Said, "And even if the door is opened, the defenders won't let us in, and we can't attack by force."

Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he saw Gao Chong's leisurely appearance, he immediately understood, and said with a smile: "It seems that Youzhi has a solution? Tell us quickly, don't make us rush." ​​Jiang Song and the two also looked at Gao Chong rush.

I saw Gao Chong smiled meanly, "Isn't Liu Wuzhou Shibi's dog? It shouldn’t be difficult for people to do something for us, right?”

Li Shimin and the others were stunned for a moment, and Gao Chong continued: "Go and buy some Turkic people, put on the clothes of Turkic envoys, and say that according to Shibi's order, they will take us into the city for peace talks. If this is the case, then Liu Wuzhou dares to stop it No."

Li Shimin and the others were stunned again, "Pretending to be an envoy, passing orders?" Li Shimin was dumbfounded, "How can you still do this?"

Gao Chong pouted his mouth in the direction of Jingle City, "He can close the door and not let in, why can't we pretend to be emissaries and sneak in."

Li Shimin looked at Liu and Jiang, Jiang Song frowned and remained silent, as if he felt something was wrong.

However, Liu Hongji looked excited, "This plan is feasible, Second Young Master, there are a lot of Turks in Loufan County, and there are also a lot of people who work hard for money. I can't get in Jingle City. I'll go to the one next door." Look at Xiurong, if I go now, I can bring a few people back tonight."

Li Shimin frowned and asked, "If Shibi asks, how should I explain it?"

Gao Chong listened and laughed, "If Shibi asks, Liu Wuzhou should be the one who should panic even more. He dares to stop those who give gifts to Shibi outside the city. Don't worry, Second Young Master, as long as you see Shibi, these are trivial matters." .

Li Shimin gritted his teeth and hesitated for a moment, then slapped his thigh, "He, Liu Wuzhou, can do such a thing as being behind closed doors, so don't blame us for finding another way." He immediately made a decision and asked Liu Hongji to go to Xiurong City next door with a lot of money. , and bought a few obedient Turkic people over.

(End of this chapter)