First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 328 Flooded Eastern Han Army

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Hearing Li Shimin's question, Gao Jifu leaned over slightly, and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty uses soldiers like a god, how dare the lower officials fight against each other with axes."

As soon as this remark came out, the generals frowned, Li Shimin's expression froze, and he was very curious immediately, sat up straight, and asked: "Is there really an omission? Ji Fu, but it doesn't matter."

For Li Shimin's question, if the normal answer would be "Your Majesty uses soldiers like a god, I admire you so much", instead of "How dare you use an axe in front of others", since Gao Jifu said so, it shows that Gao Jifu really has some different ideas in his heart .

"Your Majesty is very thoughtful, and the coincidence is perfect. With the cooperation of Mingshuicheng and Zhaozhou divisions, and the Hedong cavalry attacking from the rear, the bandit army will definitely be crushed," Gao Jifu said directly, considering his words.

Everyone listened quietly, knowing that there must be a follow-up.

Sure enough, Gao Jifu changed the subject, "However, firstly, most of the rebel army in Hebei is cavalry, and secondly, because of the flood, it is difficult to expand the results even if they win a big victory. Although the rebel army is defeated, the main force is still there, and their vitality is not damaged."

The light in Li Shimin's eyes flashed away, he nodded in praise and said: "What Ji Fu said is very true, since Ji Fu has seen the problem, there must be a clever way to solve it?"

Obviously, Li Shimin had already thought of this problem, but he never thought of a better solution.

In Li Shimin's mind, he thought of defeating the bandit army first, and none of the generals in the army thought of this, but they didn't expect to have a banquet tonight, and Gao Jifu pointed it out in public.

Of course, it's not that the generals in the army are incompetent, it's just that a wise man will make mistakes if he thinks about it, and no one thinks about the problem 100% thoroughly.

"Your Majesty, it snowed heavily a few days ago, but now the snow has melted and the water has risen sharply. Since we are fighting near the water, why not use water to annihilate the enemy?" Gao Jifu said softly, his attitude was very respectful, without the slightest complacency, Gao Jifu was very pleased It is clear that if you offer a plan rashly, if you are a little careless, you may offend King Qin and the generals.

Everyone was shocked when they heard the words, including Li Shimin, "Flooded?"

Gao Jifu nodded, "You can cut off the upstream water and break the weir when the bandit army crosses the river. The Mingshui river is narrow and narrow, and the river flows from top to bottom, swiftly and ruthlessly. It should be able to annihilate the bandit army to the greatest extent."

Everyone gasped when they heard the words, and felt a bit of chill in their hearts.

Since ancient times, water and fire have been ruthless. Once water and fire are used, the lethality will be huge and the death will be tragic. In terms of kindness and compassion, it will harm the peace of heaven.

But after a moment of astonishment, everyone present was overjoyed.

"Your Majesty, this plan is feasible. The weather has turned fine recently, the snow has melted, and the river has indeed skyrocketed." Fang Xuanling said in surprise, and then said with admiration: "Such a clever plan, I spent all day on the edge of this Mingshui, unexpectedly never thought of."

Looking at Fang Xuanling's excitement, he didn't feel that the flooded bandit army was cruel at all, after all Fang Xuanling was not a rotten scholar.

Li Shimin was overjoyed from the bottom of his heart, but his face was calm. After all, his identity was there.

Water and fire are ruthless, once the water floods this place, it is destined to kill too much, and it will definitely affect the people in the Mingshui River Basin, and it will inevitably hurt innocent people.

If Qingliu Yushi knew about it, impeachment would be unavoidable. Although Li Shimin was not afraid of impeachment, what he was worried about was whether he would be infamous because of it.

"Your Majesty, since this plan was proposed by the lower officials, the lower officials are willing to come forward to facilitate this matter."

Such a person as Gao Jifu could see why Li Shimin hesitated, and immediately came out and said, although the words were extremely euphemistic, everyone could understand, that means that if there is any infamy, Gao Jifu will bear it alone.

Although Gao Jifu was born as a scholar, he studied martial arts diligently since he was a child.

His brother Gao Yuandao was the county magistrate of Ji County. The rebels invaded Ji County and killed Gao Yuandao. Gao Jifu was furious. Gao Jifu was only in his early twenties.

Later Gao Jifu saw that the Sui Dynasty was about to be in chaos, so he followed Ge Qian to raise troops. After Ge Qian was defeated, he defected to Wagang and continued to fight against the Sui Dynasty.

It can be seen from this that Gao Jifu is not a soft-hearted person at all, he has always slashed when he raised a knife when he disagreed with him, such a person would not care about infamy.

If it were any other general, if someone came forward to take the blame, he would gladly agree, but Li Shimin is not that kind of person, he waved his hands and said with a smile: "Ji Fu is worrying too much, this plan is very good. There is no other way to stabilize Hebei."

Then he looked at Fang Xuanling: "Xuanling, immediately write to the Governor's Office of Zhizhou to enlist Cao Canjun Gao Feng, a householder in Zhizhou, as the Sima of the march, and immediately join the army to conquer Liu's bandits."

Everyone was not surprised by this order, Fang Xuanling agreed and Gao Jifu thanked him.

Marching Sima is a temporary official position set up during wartime. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was called Junshi Jijiu. During the Jin Dynasty, it was taboo and changed to Junju Jijiu. This position was often set up by generals who went out to fight, and most of them were held by scribes. They assisted in handling military affairs and participated in military discussions.

As the marshal of the marching army, Li Shimin was ordered to conquer Liu Heita, envoy Chijie, and had the power to recruit subordinate officials. For Gao Jifu, this was also a rare opportunity.

It is extremely difficult for a civil affairs official like Cao Canjun in Zhizhou to make political achievements. It is often only when the merits are tested at the end of the year that the political achievements can be evaluated through the growth and changes of warehouses, government treasuries and household taxes.

This kind of political achievement in charge of the people is not as refreshing as the achievements of the army. If the army is successful, it is a real military achievement, which is far better than the bitter civilian achievements.

"Gao Sima, there are ten thousand auxiliary soldiers and civilians in the camp. I will give them all to you. You go to the upper reaches of Mingshui to build a weir to intercept the flow. When the time comes, you will break the weir and release the water." Li Shimin looked at Gao Jifu and said seriously.

Gao Jifu's eyes flashed with excitement when he heard the words, and he promised loudly, "You will not be dishonored if you have a humble position", his upright body and sonorous words did not look like a scholar at all.

The opportunity to make contributions has come, Gao Jifu is full of fighting spirit, and he doesn't want to think about the complicated agriculture and mulberry of those households in Zhizhou for a moment.

Just when all the generals were full of confidence, the scouts at the gate of the camp rushed to report: "Your Majesty, a child came to the gate of the camp, claiming to be the son of Cheng Mingzhen, begging to see your majesty."

Li Shimin was startled, and hurriedly said: "Bring it in quickly", and then asked suspiciously: "I heard that Cheng County Magistrate's family has been lost in Yongnian City...".

Not long after, the soldiers led a ragged child into the camp. Everyone looked at him and saw that the child was about six or seven years old, with disheveled hair and scantily clad clothes, dressed like a little beggar.

But everyone can tell that this child is not a beggar, because although this child looks embarrassed, he is very strong, and he is not afraid of everyone's attention.

"You, you are the King of Qin in the Tang Dynasty?" The child looked a little trembling, and asked hesitantly when he looked at Li Shimin who was sitting upright.

"I am the King of Qin, Li Shimin." Li Shimin nodded, and looked at the child seriously, with some appreciation in his eyes, "Are you the son of Cheng Mingzhen?"

"My name is Cheng Wuting. I have met the king. I am Cheng Mingzhen. My lord, where is my aye? Hurry up and save my grandma and grandma, they have been arrested."

The little boy was a little cold, shrunk his body, and saw that the man in front of him was really Li Shimin, the King of Qin.

(End of this chapter)