First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 240 Capture King Xia Alive
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Hearing Yang Wuwei's shout, Gao Chong looked for the sound, and saw that there was also a Tang general holding a spear on the other side fighting like this. He waved his spear and shouted: "Two generals, join me in capturing and killing Dou Jiande."

Yang Wuwei was on the left side, the Tang general stepped forward, leaning against Gao Chong's right side, with a long spear in his hand, he was very mighty, and said: "General Baitu, the chariot and cavalry general, has seen Gao Sima."

"Good brother", Gao Chong grinned, looked straight ahead at Dou Jiande who was fleeing with his arms covered, and snapped, "Don't leave Dou Jiande."

Immediately using Gao Chong as an arrow, Yang Wuwei and Bai Tu asked the two generals, one on the left and one on the right, and the three of them formed a cone shape and rushed straight towards Dou Jiande. With the assistance of these two generals, the pressure on Gao Chong dropped sharply. With one hand holding the long spear stabbed up by the soldiers of the Xia army in front, he raised the long spear and threw it at Dou Jiande with all his might.

"My lord, be careful." Seeing this, the guards around Dou Jiande hurriedly rushed forward. The spear pierced both man and horse. Dou Jiande fell off the horse, and the guards around him hurriedly surrounded him.

Just at this delay, the three of Gao Chong rushed to the front, seeing that the king was about to be captured, the three of them were exceptionally brave, how could Dou Jiande's personal guards resist, just when Gao Chong swung his spear against Dou Jiande's chest.

Dou Jiande shouted in panic: "I am the king of Xia, don't hurt my life, but you can keep you rich."

Gao Chong grinned, and couldn't help twitching because of the injuries on his body, "Ah Xiong, tie it up", Kaohsiung behind him was covered in blood, brought a spare horse, and tied Dou Jiande firmly to the horse's back. Dare to act rashly.

"Dou Jiande has been captured alive, you will not die if you surrender," Gao Chong hissed.

Seeing that Dou Jiande had been tied to his horse, the surrounding soldiers of the Xia army abandoned their weapons and surrendered, and the king was captured alive, it would be meaningless to continue this battle.

"Brothers, I will report the merit of this assistance truthfully," Gao Chong said with a smile to the Second General Yang Bai beside him.

The two were overjoyed when they heard the words, and hurriedly expressed their thanks.

"Yuzhi", Li Shimin's hearty laughter was heard from a distance, "Among the ten thousand troops, the leader of the thief was captured alive, this battle of Youzhi should be sung forever."

With Dou Jiande captured, the situation on the battlefield was coming to an end, Li Shimin sent Dou Gui and Dou Kang to gather the surrendered Xia army, and they came straight to Gaochong.

Hearing this, Gao Chong got off his horse, came to Li Shimin and said with a smile: "Historical records: 'Three thousand kings of Qin defeated Xia's hundred thousand troops, and Sima Gao Chong captured the leader of the bandits alive'." After speaking, the two looked at each other and laughed.

Seeing Li Shimin looking at Dou Jiande, Gao Chong turned around and brought Dou Jiande to him, "Your Majesty, I present Dou Jiande, the leader of the bandit, in front of the driver, please give me a lecture."

Li Shimin nodded, looked at Dou Jiande who was in a state of distress, and sternly reprimanded: "This king is ordered by the holy order to exterminate the puppet Zheng with the righteous soldiers. You have lived in Hebei, why did you come here to fight against the heavenly soldiers?"

Dou Jiande looked calm when he heard the words, he straightened his head and said: "This time, the king came here uninvited, so I can save your army from going all the way to attack."

Gao Chong was stunned when he heard the words, Li Shimin was also slightly taken aback, then shook his head and said with a smile: "Dou Jiande, you knew today, why did you bow your head to survive, it's too late now."

As soon as this remark came out, Dou Jiande was shocked immediately, and hurriedly said: "This king still has the lands of Hebei and Shandong. If this king is not worthy of the position of prince, he will personally recruit all the lands to come to the Tang Dynasty."

Dou Jiande thought that even if he was defeated, he would still be a prince in Li and Tang. This is indeed the case. In this era, as a prince, even if he is defeated, if he still has a little value, he will not lose his glory and wealth. Like Li Mi, The army was defeated and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. With the word Li Mi, he was still the Duke of the state.

Li Shimin heard the words and said bluntly: "Your life and death are determined by the sage", and then ordered someone to take him down and imprison him.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, Pei Ju fled in panic with more than a dozen bodyguards, and his followers asked, "Your Majesty, where are you going?"

"The situation in the world is now clear. If you don't want to go back to the mountains and forests, you have to go to Tang Dynasty." Pei Ju sighed up to the sky.

"Why did Jiang Tang go north?"

"Let's go to find the step to enter the body." Pei Ju drank a bag of water hastily, looked to the north and said with a beard.

All the way to the north, crossing Mingshui, Pei Ju encountered a large group of Xia's defeated army. Seeing that they were fighting under the Qi character banner, a strange look flashed in Pei Ju's eyes.

"Is Mr. Pei in front?" A cavalry from the rout of the army shouted loudly.

"Old man Pei Ju", Pei Ju beat his horse and came out.

"Qi Xianggong is sentimental," the knight stepped aside and said respectfully.

Pei Ju didn't change his face, he rode his horse and walked straight to the army.

In the military tent on the bank of Mingshui, a group of people were downcast, and a woman sat high above them all. Pei Ju entered the tent, looked around and bowed, "My subject, Pei Ju, has seen the queen."

"Pei Xianggong is an auspicious person, and finally returned safely." The woman is Dou Jiande's queen Cao, "please sit down."

"I thought Prime Minister Pei had voted for Tang?" A general who looked like Cao's under his seat said aloud, his tone was actually quite sarcastic.

"Second brother, don't want to be presumptuous," Cao reprimanded upon seeing this.

It turned out that the man was Cao Zhan, Cao's younger brother.

Pei Ju just closed his eyes and didn't speak, and didn't care about Cao Zhan. Seeing this, Cao said directly: "Now that the army is defeated and the king is suffering, what should I do? I would like to ask you to come up with an idea."

After the words fell, one of the generals under his seat said: "This place is not a place for discussion. Why don't you go back to the palace and discuss with Cao Shangshu before making a decision."

Hearing this, Pei Ju opened his eyes, nodded and said, "What Mr. Qi said makes sense."

The person who spoke was none other than the left servant of Shangshu who shot Qi Shanxing.

Seeing that the servants on the left and right agreed, the others had nothing to say, even Cao Zhan nodded and said: "Of course such a big matter should be decided by the elder brother."

Xia Guoshangshu is Cao Dan and Cao Zhan's eldest brother Cao Dan. Cao Dan is both civil and military. He has great prestige in Xia Guo. He once defeated Li Shiji in Henan County. Fan Dou Jiande went south to help Zheng attack Tang, so he handed over the capital Mingzhou to Cao Dan to stay behind, and trusted him very much.

Mingzhou, Wanchun Palace, Cao Dan was furious when he heard about it, "The one hundred thousand army was destroyed, and the king fell into the hands of thieves. It's a shame, a shame."

After calming down, Cao Dan returned to reality, and said bluntly: "The country cannot be left without a master for a day, and the king is in trouble. If you have any ideas, please speak freely."

Hearing Cao Dan's words, even several generals, led by his wife and brother Cao Zhan, came out together, "Brother, the king has no sons, only the adopted son can inherit the hegemony, how about we support the adopted son of the king to succeed you?" ?”

"Nonsense", as soon as Cao Dan heard this, he reprimanded: "The righteous son of the king is only six or seven years old. Now that Daxia is in danger, how can he take on the big responsibility."

(End of this chapter)