First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 255 Lujiang King Li Yuan

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When Gao Chong and the others came to Ankang City, the Jinzhou prefecture, they were even more puzzled. The gates of the city were closed tightly, and no one came in or out in broad daylight.

If it weren't for the Tang character flag still flying high above the city, Gao Chong would have thought that there was a mutiny in Jinzhou.

When he came to the city, Kaohsiung stepped forward and raised his voice and shouted: "Sima, the governor of Kuizhou, Anling Bo Gao rushed to see the king of Lujiang."

When the people at the top of the city heard the words, they didn't dare to delay, and rushed to report.

Not long after, the gate of the city opened wide, and Li Yuan, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, galloped out of the city. When he came to him, he got off his horse and said with an extremely eager smile: "It is true that you are face to face. I haven't seen you for several months. You are becoming more and more powerful and majestic." ".

Gao Chong raised his eyebrows, Li Yuan is not right, he has seen Li Yuan long ago, Li Yuan also attended the wedding ceremony because he was born in the royal family, but at that time Li Yuan was very close to Li Jiancheng, while Gao Chong was often with Li Shimin , Li Yuan faintly didn't want to see Gao Chong.

When we met today, Li Yuan was so enthusiastic, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"Gao Chong has seen the king", Gao Chong also got off his horse, put on a smile, bowed and said: "The king's demeanor is still the same, you admire him very much."

Li Yuan laughed and stepped forward to hug Gao Chong, was about to speak, when he suddenly saw Jiang Baoyi behind Gao Chong, he was startled, "Jiang Song? You... Are you a human or a ghost?"

Seeing this, Jiang Baoyi smiled wryly and said: "Jiang Song has seen the king."

Seeing that Li Yuan was so terrified, Gao Chong felt a little amused in his heart, and understood where Li Yuan's cowardly and incompetent comment came from, so Gao Chong hurriedly explained.

Little did they know that Li Yuan was also extremely eager when he heard the words, "It was the king who was rude just now, as long as Baoyi has nothing to do, as long as there is nothing to do", then he enthusiastically dragged the two of them into the city.

Just now when he entered the city, Gao Chong frowned. Jinzhou Ankang City is a big city after all, but now the streets are empty and desolate. Occasionally, he saw people walking in a hurry with their bags on their backs.

Seeing that Gao Chong and others were suspicious, Li Yuan sighed, "Later, I will hold a banquet at the general manager's mansion, and I will tell you about the matter here."

Gao Chong and the others had no choice but to put away their doubts and came to the general manager's mansion. After the food and wine were ready, Li Yuan took the lead to take a glass, and then his face became heavy.

"You don't know something, but there is a big mountain in the south of Jinzhou, called Daba Mountain, and the barbarians gather in the mountain", Li Yuan gritted his teeth when he said that.

"The leader of the barbarians is named Deng Shiluo. He is cruel and fierce. In the past, he lived in peace with us in the Tang Dynasty, but this year, Xiao Mi frequently mobilized troops, bought Deng Shiluo with a lot of money, and named him the king of Shu. Deng Shiluo actually belonged to Xiao Liang. , Repeatedly invaded Golden State.

The barbarians are fierce and good at fighting, and they are like fish in water in the mountains. This king has repeatedly conquered but failed, and he has no generals in his hands. As a result, the barbarians have grown up, which is really a debt to the emperor."

Gao Chong and the others suddenly realized, and asked directly: "Why didn't your majesty report to the court?"

"A mere savage, with a disease of ringworm and scabies, why should a saint be alarmed?" Li Yuan said with a flick of his beard, as a matter of course.

Gao Chong was speechless for a moment. In the huge Jinzhou, the official roads were empty, and the people fled one after another.

"Your Majesty, don't think so," Gao Chong said sternly, "When I came, there was no one in the government, and the flight of the people became more and more serious. Sooner or later, the court will know that if the Majesty conceals the truth and does not report it, he will be impeached by the officials."

Because of emotion and reason, Gao Chong can't just sit back and watch Li Yuan hide and not report.

Hearing this, Li Yuan's face turned bitter, "How dare this king not report it, I just want to report it after defeating Deng Shiluo, so that the merits and crimes can be redeemed, but it's just that I have no generals under my command, today Youzhi, Baoyi At this point, I feel that there is hope to defeat the enemy, and I also ask the two of you to help me defeat the barbarians. After I succeed, I will ask you two to ask for credit."

Gao Chong was stunned, it turned out that Li Yuan's purpose was actually this, no wonder he was so enthusiastic about him, Li Yuan also knew that Gao Chong and Jiang Song's skills must be stronger than the local military generals, so from the beginning it was Enthusiastic attitude.

Gao Chong did not refuse to help Li Yuan deal with Deng Shiluo. Jinzhou is located in an important point, if Deng Shiluo was allowed to harm the people, Gao Chong would not bear it.

What's more, Deng Shiluo has surrendered to Xiao Xian, so he is destined to be Gao Chong's enemy. If Deng Shiluo is left alone, when he conquers Jiangling in the future, he is afraid that Deng Shiluo will stir up trouble in the rear and affect the battle situation.

In terms of emotion, reason and the overall situation, it is necessary to assist Li Yuan in conquering Deng Shiluo, but Li Yuan is a prince's party after all, and he is not close to him in the first place, so he must not agree easily.

Gao Chong frowned, with a distressed expression on his face, "The barbarian thieves harmed the common people, and you wished he could kill them, but he was ordered to go to Kuizhou to take up his post. If there is a long delay, I'm afraid the sage will downgrade him."

Li Yuan became anxious immediately when he heard the words, and said directly: "Youzhi is proficient in the art of war, defeating Deng Shiluo is easy, but you can't ignore the people of Jinzhou. If the sage lowers the responsibility, I will bear it myself."

Gao Chong secretly laughed in his heart, Li Yuan's words were open and bright, but all this is just that Li Yuan is really helpless, helpless against the barbarians in Daba Mountain, so he treats Gao Chong so eagerly just now, once he succeeds, according to Li Yuan's temperament, he will naturally Change to another face.

"Since Your Majesty has said so, it's okay for me to try my best, but..." Gao Chong pretended to be embarrassed.

"Just what?" Li Yuan asked eagerly.

"It's just that my brother Baoyi just came back from northern Xinjiang, and he has no official title. When Baoyi returns to Beijing to face the saint in the future, I hope the king will have a few words of kind words," Gao Chong said directly.

"It's easy to say, Baoyi is so loyal, this king will definitely ask him to seal him," Li Yuan said, patting his chest, because Li Yuan also knew that Jiang Baoyi was a member of the prince's family.

Gao Chong had exactly this idea. Jiang Baoyi was obviously a prince. No matter whether it was Gao Junya, Gao Chong or Li Shimin, it was difficult to speak for him. Only those who belonged to the prince's party could justifiably serve Jiang Baoyi. "A few words of kindness".

"Since that's the case, I hope Your Majesty will tell you the truth, how many soldiers and horses are there in each military mansion in Jinzhou?" Gao Chong asked directly.

Li Yuan was a little hesitant when he heard the words, Gao Chong said seriously when he saw this, "Your Majesty even hides the strength of his troops from me, so how can I defeat the enemy?"

Hearing this, Li Yuan gritted his teeth and said: "There are more than [-] people on the surface, but in fact it is less than [-], and there are more than a thousand old and weak among them."

Gao Chong was startled when he heard this, "There are more than ten military mansions in Jinzhou, how come there are only 5000 people left?"

"I'm not going to hide it, this king has been defeated three times and suffered repeated losses, yet he was still lying in ambush in the north of the city yesterday, losing thousands of people," Li Yuan said straightly through gritted teeth.

Gao Chong's face suddenly changed, "How dare the king hide his defeat? Aren't you afraid of the saint's downfall?"

Li Yuan waved his hand and didn't care, "As long as Youzhi helps me defeat Deng Shiluo, it will be a great achievement, what a failure."

(End of this chapter)