First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 374 Using Li Jing
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Last winter, there was a heavy snowstorm in Turkic, and Li Daen, the governor of Daizhou, wrote a letter: "Turkic hunger, Mayi can also be pictured".

Li Yuan was overjoyed, so he ordered Dugu Sheng, the young supervisor in the palace, to lead the Northern Expedition, and join forces with Li Dayen of Daizhou to attack Yuan Junzhang, who ruled Mayi.

However, when Li Dayen had already traveled to the new city less than a hundred miles away from Mayi, Dugu Sheng failed to arrive within the appointed time.

In this era, the state soldiers could not advance or retreat. In desperation, Li Dayen had no choice but to capture Xincheng and defend it.

At this time, the Turkic Jieli Khan had already noticed something strange, and it happened that Liu Heita fled to the Turks. Hearing that Liu Heita was brave, Jieli Khan sent Liu Heita to join the army and attacked Li Dayen.

Dugu Sheng's troops failed to arrive, but Li Da'en held on to the city, facing the onslaught of Turkic soldiers, Daizhou soldiers suffered heavy losses.

Liu Heitai took the opportunity to offer advice to Jieli Khan: The new city is very small, and there is not enough food and grass in the city. Li Dayen must break through, and perhaps show his flaws properly to lure Li Dayen to break through, and then surround and wipe them out.

Jieli Khan immediately agreed and promised Liu Heita that as long as he broke through the city, he would give him a thousand elite cavalry to help Liu Heita make a comeback.

Liu Heitai was overjoyed, and immediately made careful arrangements.

As he expected, Li Daen in the city is indeed planning to break out.

That night, seeing that the Turkic soldiers in Ximen were lax in their defense, the timing was just right, and they immediately ordered to break through from Ximen, but unexpectedly, they fell right into Liu Heita's plan, and after leaving the city, Li Dayen was deeply encircled.

Jieli Khan had long heard of Li Dayen's reputation for loyalty and bravery, and intended to surrender, but Li Dayen vowed not to surrender, and died in a fierce battle.

Later, Jieli Khan fulfilled his promise and donated [-] cavalry to Liu Heita.

With the help of these thousand cavalry, Liu Heikai rushed to Dingzhou for a long distance. Jiang Yu, the governor of Dingzhou, thought that only a small number of Turkic cavalry went south to plunder, so he led his troops out of the city to conquer, but unfortunately fell into ambush and died as a martyr for the country.

The bad news has spread in Hedong and Hebei, and it is expected that Chang'an should have heard of it.

Ma Kuangwu made up his mind to demolish the houses near the city gate, take their bricks and stones, and stand by for help.

Poor Handong King Liu Heita was still showing his weakness to the enemy, adopting a posture of being loose on the outside and tightening on the inside, luring Ma Kuangwu to rob the camp.

Little did he know that with the lessons learned from Li Dayen and Jiang Yu, Ma Kuangwu was extremely cautious and did not dare to take any risks.

In Chang'an, Li Yuan was furious, and Liu Heikai revived and killed two important ministers.

On the same day, at the court meeting, he disregarded the emperor's honor and cursed loudly. In Li Yuan's view, this was a serious provocation to the Tang Empire.

"Who is going to destroy this thief?" Li Yuan asked sullenly, "I want to sacrifice the head of Liu thief to pay homage to Li Jiang Erqing."

Li Shimin immediately came out angrily, "I am willing to go out and vow to kill the thief to make up for the crime."

Li Yuan's face softened a little when he heard the words, and he stretched out his hand to comfort him: "Liu Thief is treacherous, and it is not the Qin King's fault to escape by chance."

Considering that Li Shimin had experience in dealing with Liu Heitai, Li Yuan was about to respond, when suddenly Li Jiancheng also came out, with a sad face.

"My minister and Yingzhou Jiang Shijun have never been against each other. Now Jiang Shijun has been murdered, and I am very sad. I will kill Liu thief to worship Jiang Shijun's heroic spirit. I hope His Majesty will make it happen."

The two sons competed to go to the battle, which made Li Yuan a little embarrassed, and saw the two standing side by side in the hall, without any intention of giving in.

At this time, Pei Ji chuckled and said, "Liu's bandit has no more than ten thousand soldiers, and the ears of a trapped beast can't be killed with a bull's knife. According to the old minister, the king of Huaiyang has a strategy, and he may be able to make the king of Huaiyang attack him."

Li Yuan frowned and thought about it, "King Huaiyang is only nineteen years old, and he has never had the experience of leading an army alone."

Gao Junya, who was sleeping with her eyes closed, opened her eyes at this moment, and said respectfully: "I have heard for a long time that Li Jing of the Shangkai Mansion is well versed in the art of war and quite strategic. Fill in the gaps and assist the King of Huaiyang, and you will definitely win."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

"Daoxuan has more than enough bravery, but lacks composure. Li Jing is over fifty years old and has studied the art of war all his life.

At this time, Li Shimin was very grateful to Gao Junya from the bottom of his heart.

Since Li Jiancheng took the initiative to invite Ying, and Pei Ji suggested Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan to go out, Li Shimin knew that he had no chance.

There is no other reason, only because Li Shimin's military exploits are already extremely prominent, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties have always had the tradition of the clan being the commander. He, Li Shimin, could not go to war, and he could not give Li Jiancheng this opportunity.

Li Daoxuan followed Li Shimin to fight in the north and south since he was a child, and he has a deep relationship. If Li Daoxuan is given this opportunity, Li Shimin is willing.

Li Jing is now a member of the three guards of the Prince Qin's Mansion. If Li Jing can be made to join the army, Li Shimin will definitely support him.

It's just that Li Yuan seemed a little upset when he heard the words, because he had a prejudice against Li Jingsu, because Li Jing had offended Li Yuan twice.

The first time was in the ninth year of Daye. At that time, the prophecy "Li Shi should be the emperor" was widely circulated, and Yang Guang was suspicious of Li Yuan because of this.

Dou, Li Yuan's wife, knew that Yang Guang liked good horses and horses, so she persuaded Li Yuan to cater to Yang Guang's hobby, collecting BMWs and donating them to Yang Guang, so as to win Yang Guang's favor.

However, Yang Guang, an ordinary BMW steed, also looked down on him. At this time, Li Jing served as a member of the driving department, Wai Lang, in charge of the emperor's chariots and cars, and mastered the world's horse resources.

Li Yuan invited Li Jing to a banquet, hoping that Li Jing could help him collect the BMWs, but Li Jing was so upright that he refused mercilessly and spread the word about it.

Since then, the relationship between the two has been concluded.

The second time was in the 13th year of Daye. Li Jing was the governor of Mayi. He realized that Li Yuan, who was left behind in Taiyuan at the time, had the intention of rebellion, so he pretended to sneak to Chang'an and tried to report Li Yuan. When he arrived in Chang'an, he was caught halfway.

After these two incidents, Li Yuan ordered Li Jing to be beheaded without hesitation. Fortunately, Li Shimin and Gao Chong rescued Li Jing on the execution ground, so Li Yuan escaped his life.

Now that Gao Junya and Li Shimin recommended Li Jing at the same time, Li Yuan was very upset for a while, and immediately snorted: "Li Jing is a guilty person, why should he command the three armies?"

Gao Junya laughed and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. There is a saying in the Han Dynasty: 'It is better to make merit than to make mistakes'. Li Jing is full of talents and learning, and he has spent half his life. If he is used by His Majesty, he will be loyal and do his best to repay His Majesty's kindness."

"What Gao Xianggong said is very true", Chen Shuda also came out and said: "If your majesty reuses criminal generals, how broad-minded is this kind of mind."

Li Yuan frowned, pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "As you said, use Li Jing, all the past, let the past not be blamed."

"Your Majesty is holy", all the ministers shouted and bowed.

Li Yuan immediately decreed that Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang County, was appointed as the chief of the Hebei Road Army, Shi Wanbao, the former Duke, as the deputy commander of the army, and Li Jing as the commander of the army, to lead the army to attack Liu Heitao.

In Prince Qin's Mansion, Li Jing, who was on duty at the three guards, was very excited after receiving the imperial decree.

"Li Jing thanked the King of Qin for his kindness in recommending him, and he will surely live up to the high expectations of the King of Qin." After Li Shimin returned to the mansion, Li Jing went to thank him immediately.

Poor Li Jing Wen Tao Wu Lue, who just got this opportunity when he was over half a hundred years old, he was so unexcited, there was never a shortage of talents, what was lacking was an opportunity to show his talents, and now this opportunity fell on Li Jing.

(End of this chapter)