First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 41
40. Veterans go out
Xihe County was broken in five days, and Longquan County fell in anticipation of the wind, which greatly boosted the morale of the whole army. Li Yuan immediately made a decision, did not rest and reorganized, and continued southward with all his strength, until he approached Huoyi, the seat of Linfen County.

As for the city of Chang'an in Xijing in the Sui Dynasty, after Li Jiancheng and others broke through Xihe County, the news of the Taiyuan uprising spread to Chang'an.

The diehard loyalists of the Sui Dynasty, such as General Zuo Yiwei Yin Shishi and Jingzhao County Prime Minister Gu Yi, yelled at him and persuaded Yang You, the acting king of Chang'an, to send troops to conquer Li Yuan.

Chang'an City, Daxing Hall (later Taiji Hall)
The dragon chair at the upper head in the middle is vacant, and the 12-year-old acting king Yang You sits on the side of the lower head, and the hall is full of people.

"Your Highness, the traitor Li Yuan has led his troops to the south, and he still needs to send elite soldiers and good generals to conquer. Your Highness, please make a decision early," General Zuo Yiwei Yin Shishi came out and said directly.

Yin Shishi is the son of Yinshou, the founding hero of Zhao Jun. He has a loyal personality and is quite skilled in martial arts. He has a typical appearance of Xiliang people, with a stout figure, high cheekbones, and a hooked nose.

Although Yang You, who was the leader, was smart since childhood, he was only a child of twelve or thirteen years old. Hearing that his relatives and elders Tang Guogong Li Yuan had also rebelled, he couldn't help being anxious and afraid, and said tremblingly: "But It will be fine according to the arrangements of the princes." Although Yang You is young, he also knows that the few assistant ministers left to him by the emperor's grandfather Yang Guang are all loyal.

Master Yin didn't think too much when he heard the words, he looked at the bone instrument of Jingzhao County Cheng, and looked at each other, all the tools came out together.

"I recommend Huyalang General Song Laosheng to serve as the governor of Linfen County and guard Huoyi.

Qu Tutong, the general of Zuo Xiaowei, served as the governor of Hedong County and stationed in Yongji. comfort.

Yang You took a deep breath, nodded, and was about to speak, but saw the old Jingzhao Nei Shi Weixuan who was sleeping with his eyes closed.

Yang You recalled that Wei Xuan was an old minister, who was over seventy years old, and was rejected by his grandfather Yang Guang several times. Sample?"

As soon as these words came out, all the people in the hall looked at Wei Xuan, and Wei Xuanan sat on the same spot, keeping his head down and eyes closed, and there was no response for a long time.

Seeing this, Yin Shishi snorted coldly, "Wei Wensheng wakes up." Although Yin Shishi is over fifty years old, he is full of energy, and his voice is like a bell, shaking the hall.

Wei Xuan trembled, as if awakened from a start, raised his head and asked in doubt: "Who is calling me?"

Seeing this, Yang You coughed and repeated it again.

Wei Xuan seemed to be deaf and unresponsive, it took him a long time to react, he coughed a few times tremblingly, and then said: "Your Highness, this old minister is very old, his body is no longer what it used to be when he suppressed Yang Xuangan, and he is already powerless to suppress the bandits. Xing is... ".As he spoke, he coughed violently again, "Xing is not far from the day of death."

Seeing Wei Xuan's appearance, some people lamented the lateness of the famous general, while others scoffed.

"Old man, be afraid of death".Master Yin snorted coldly.

But Wei Xuan closed his eyes and said nothing, as if he didn't hear it.

Yang You had no choice but to say: "Let's do what General Yin said. Where are Qu Tutong and Song Laosheng?"

The two of His Highness heard the words and came out, "The minister is here."

I saw these two people, one of them was over sixty years old, with white beard and hair, and a burly and resolute face, but not like the faces of Han people. This man was from the Xi tribe, his surname was Qu Tu, his first name was Tong, and his character was Tan Douba. General.

The other has a broad back and round waist, strong and powerful, with a face like a purple eggplant, an upturned nose, protruding ears, and a white beard floating under his chin. He is nearly sixty years old, but he is majestic and majestic.

"Two generals, deploy as General Yin said, and go to office immediately."

The two took orders seriously, Song Laosheng cupped his hands towards Qu Tutong, cheered up, and strode away, while Qu Tutong, on the other hand, walked slowly, as if he was thinking.

"Great General Qu Tu", Yin Shishi suddenly shouted, and then actually bowed, bending his vigorous waist, "Please".

Although there are not many words, they are full of emotion and unconsciously revealed.

Qu Tutong took a deep look at Master Yin, "After a hundred years, you will be rated as a loyal minister and righteous man", then he bowed solemnly to the acting king Yang You, and strode away.

"Farewell to General Qu Tutong", Yin Shishi said in a loud voice, the voice resounded through the hall, many Sui officials watched Qu Tutong's tall back gradually go away, and there was no lack of sadness in their hearts.

Wat Tuk

"What?" A middle-aged man stood up awkwardly, with a look of shock on his face, "Aye, are you going to Hedong?" This man is Qu Tushou, the eldest son of Qu Tutong.

Seeing this, Qu Tutong frowned, "Sit down, after I leave, you need to guard the gate of the house, keep less contact with others, and refrain from interfering in current affairs."

"Aye, the world is in turmoil, and there are wars everywhere. Even if you lead an army of [-] to guard Hedong, how can you restore the situation? Li Yuan is cautious by nature, but now he brazenly raises troops. He must be fully prepared. Aye, you have [-] soldiers. What can Ma Ruzhi do?" Qu Tushou hurriedly tried to persuade him.

Qu Tutong closed his eyes, "I have been eating Sui Lu for a long time, there is nothing I can do."

Although Qu Tutong was born in the Eastern Huxi family, he was loyal and brave. If he said that he was not deeply involved with the Sui Dynasty, he could be ignored. can't do it.

The army continued to march south from the side of Fenshui. Li Yuan was thinking about the speed of his soldiers, but he didn't expect that when he reached Jiexiu, it rained suddenly, which greatly restricted his marching speed.

The road was muddy, and even the cavalry had difficulty marching. Gao Chong watched the pouring rain and suddenly remembered something.

It seems to have been seen before, not long after the Jinyang army was raised, the army encountered heavy rains for several days, which caused the transportation of food and grass to be blocked, and there was a shortage of food for a while. Therefore, Li Yuan thought of withdrawing the army, retreating to Taiyuan, and going south another day, but Li Shimin firmly opposed it...

There are many discussions about this matter. Some people say that it is impossible for Li Yuan to be so short-sighted. He withdrew his army just now. .

Now that the heavy rain has just arrived, how could Gao Chong not take the credit for sending it to him.

After the army was stationed that night, Gao Chong found Li Shimin.

"Second Young Master, if it rains heavily today, according to my observation, the rain will not stop for a short time. Once it rains for several days, the grain road will definitely be affected. We should make preparations early to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Li Shimin was surprised when he heard this, "Won't it stop for a short time? How long is this short time? Youzhi, do you still watch the weather?"

"Now it's summer. As the saying goes: Grain in Ear and the Summer Solstice is the Water Festival. If there is no rain, it means drought. Looking at the weather, it will definitely not be a drought. Seven or eight mounds have fallen, since there is rain today, and it is warm and cold again, there will definitely be rain in the next few days," Gao Chong said firmly.

(End of this chapter)