First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 221 Liu Wuzhou wants to vote for the Turks

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Song Jingang was defeated and fled, and Jiexiu City became an isolated city. Li Shimin led the army to continue chasing Song Jingang, and ordered Gao Chong to lead Qin Qiong to lead an army of three thousand to attack Jiexiu.

Under the city of Jiexiu, Qin Qiong took the initiative to invite Ying, "Youzhi, let me attack for a round, and try the defense of the bandit army."

Gao Chong shook his head when he heard the words, "It's just an isolated city, there is no need to attack it by force. I heard that the guard Zhang Wansui is a capable man, and I want to surrender."

"Long live Zhang?" Qin Qiong frowned, "This person's reputation is not obvious, how did you know?"

Gao Chong smiled mysteriously when he heard the words: "A scholar can know the affairs of the world without going out."

Zhang Wansui... His name is very domineering. His only achievement under Liu Wuzhou's command was to kill Mayi prefect Wang Rengong, and he supported Liu Wuzhou as the main one. After that, he has no outstanding achievements.

But Gao Chong knew that Zhang Wansui's ability did not lie in military talent, but in animal husbandry.

After Zhang Wansui surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he was appointed as the Minister of Taipusi and managed the horse administration of the Tang Dynasty. Under Zhang Wansui's management, the quality of the war horses of the Tang Dynasty was greatly improved. In the early years of Zhenguan, there were only more than [-] war horses in the Longyou Racecourse of the Tang Dynasty. After Tang Gaozong succeeded to the throne, the number of war horses surged to more than [-] in just over [-] years, which was the highest in all dynasties and surpassed the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

According to the "Tang Tong Ji" written by the Tang Dynasty, the Zhang Wansui family started from Zhang Wansui and managed the horse administration of the Tang Dynasty for three generations. The word "year" in the name, people all over the world call the age of a horse a tooth, which shows the influence of Zhang Wansui.

Later generations often say that "Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, Tang horses have been the most prosperous", so Gao Chong remembered Zhang Wansui, the horse breeding hero behind the scenes.

Seeing Gao Chong's mystery, Qin Qiong was also puzzled, but what surprised Qin Qiong even more was yet to come.

That night, Gao Chong stationed troops outside Jiexiu City, wrote a handwritten letter, and ordered people to send it to the city, and handed it to Zhang Wansui by name.

The guards didn't dare to delay, they put down the hanging basket to catch the letter, and immediately sent it to Zhang Wansui.

Zhang Wansui thought it was a letter of persuasion, but when he opened the letter, he stood there in a daze, and saw only one line in his heart, "The talent of a king is not in military affairs, but in looking after horses and raising horses." Signed: Bohai Gaochong .

Seeing this line of words, Zhang Wansui was very excited, Gao Chong understood him.

Zhang Wansui grew up in Beidi since he was a child. He is a wealthy family in Longyou, and his family also has a horse farm. Zhang Wansui was born and raised in the horse farm. He has made horses his friend since childhood. Zhang Wansui loves and is proficient in everything about horses.

But in today's troubled times, a mere horse breeder, the one who doesn't sound good is the groom, how can he be valued, even though Zhang Wansui is good at looking after horses and raising horses, in Liu Wuzhou's eyes, he is far inferior to a reckless general who rushes into battle important.

Now that Zhang Wansui is able to lead the army alone, it also depends on his support in the past. Compared with the military camp, Zhang Wansui obviously wants to return to the racecourse and be with those galloping horses.

It just so happens that Longyou is now under the rule of Li Yuan, and Zhang Wansui also knows something about Gao Chong. He is the son of Gao Junya, the prime minister of Li Tang. , is better than fighting on the battlefield, not to mention Liu Wuzhou is retreating steadily now.

After thinking about it all night, Zhang Wansui immediately returned to the city. Not only did Gao Chong take down Jiexiu City without spending a single soldier, but he also recruited a horse breeder from Datang.

On the other side, Li Shimin chased and beat Song Jingang all the way, and killed Song Jingang. He crossed the Fen River in a panic and fled back to Taiyuan. Li Shimin had no choice but to give up the pursuit and turned his head to Zhang Nanbao.

Zhang Nanbao was originally a military fort set up by King Kong of Song Dynasty on the bank of Fenshui River.

Li Shimin led the army to the outside of the fort, and saw that the Tang army was like a defeated army, and the general flag had also been lost. Fan Botong and Zhang Dezheng were surprised, and hurriedly asked the general.

Li Shimin took off his helmet, rode his horse and came up to him, "I am Li Shimin, king of Qin."

Looking closely, it was indeed Li Shimin. Fan and Zhang wept with joy, and hurriedly opened the castle.

"The last generals Fan Botong and Zhang Dezheng met the King of Qin." After Fan and Zhang defeated Zhang Nanbao, Liu Wuzhou attacked many times. Fan and Zhang lost their troops and lost their generals. , overjoyed.

The only thing to worry about is that Zhang Nan Fort is a transit place for grain and grass set up by Song Jingang. There is plenty of grain and grass. General Fan and Zhang Er have enough grain and grass.

"The two generals have worked hard." Li Shimin helped the two of them, and was quite moved. He was really a good general of the country. He broke Zhang Nanbao, which made Song Jingang in Weizhou cut off the grain and grass from the side of Fenshui, and even set up a camp in Fenzhou. A single nail restrained part of Liu Wuzhou's troops, and he did a great job.

After welcoming Li Shimin into the fort, Li Shimin took off his armor, but the armor stuck to his inner clothes, the blood clotted and was extremely dirty. Li Shimin sighed: "Since Baibi attacked, I haven't taken off my armor for three whole days. I only eat one piece of armor. Hubing, a bowl of mutton soup, how difficult it is.”

The generals were also very moved when they heard the words, Liu Hongji smiled and said: "Your Majesty took the lead in defeating the Song thieves and annihilating [-] to [-] enemies. Such achievements should shine through in the annals of history, even the famous generals of ancient times, no less."

Li Shimin shook his head straight after hearing the words and said: "The stalemate lasted for more than half a year, and finally let the Song thief escape. There is nothing to be proud of."

That night, after the generals took a bath, facing the wine and meat on the table, Li Shimin was so excited that he was about to shed tears. Li Shimin rolled up his sleeves and said bluntly, "I'll have a good meal tonight, no need to be polite." After finishing speaking, he grabbed a leg of lamb He just gnawed, without the demeanor of a dignified prince.

Liu Hongji even slapped his bow on both sides, feasting on it.

The two generals Fan and Zhang accompanied him and did not drink alcohol. Zhang Nanbao still needs to guard against death, and must not be completely drunk.

At this time, Liu Wuzhou, who was retreating to Jinyang, also received the news of Song Jingang's defeat. He was terrified, and when he counted his troops, it turned out to be less than [-].

This time Liu Wuzhou sent all his troops to the south, and now he was defeated, with less than [-] soldiers. Even if he returned to Mayi, he would have no soldiers to defend. He was afraid of Li Shimin's pursuit.

As soon as Liu Wuzhou expressed his idea, he was strongly opposed by the internal historian Yuan Junzhang.

Yuan Junzhang dissuaded: "Your Majesty can give up Taiyuan and return it to Tang Lord Li Yuan, or even give up Loufan, Yanmen and other counties, and you can also pay tribute to Li Yuan, but you must not give up all your foundations and go to the Turks alone.

Once His Majesty joins the Turks alone, in the eyes of the Turks, His Majesty will no longer have any value for support and use, and will definitely abandon His Majesty, instead of bowing to Li Tang as a minister, in exchange for life."

(End of this chapter)