First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 507

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Hearing the exclamation of the guards, Li Yi's heart was shocked, and he hurriedly rode up to check, only to see a group of people suddenly appearing on the distant mountain ridge, touching about a thousand people.

"Yang?" Li Yi squinted his eyes, his face suddenly changed, "Yang Ji".

"My lord, retreat quickly", Tang Wanren immediately made a decisive decision, and shouted loudly: "I have heard for a long time that Yang Ji and Zhao Cihao have a good relationship, and the person who came was not kind."

Li Yi applauded and left without hesitation.

At the foot of the mountain ridge in the distance, Yang Ji saw more than a hundred riders turn around and run away, and quickly reacted, "No, Li Yi has to run."

"Boys, capture and kill the traitor Li Yi, kill him." Yang Ji raised his spear and charged towards him, followed by hundreds of cavalry.

Zhao Chiman's eyesight was very good, and he saw Zhao Cihao on the horse's back at a glance, his eyes turned red immediately, and he exclaimed, "Aye..." and rushed forward with his horse.

Although Zhao Chiman is not very old, but he is good at riding. He rushed to the front very quickly. Seeing the distance approaching, Zhao Chiman did not slow down his horse's speed at all. "The thieves don't leave."

Yang Ji was stunned, and then spit, "The mother is not as good as a child, rushing at full speed."

The troops of Liangyuan Mansion guarding Heihe and guarding the Northwest Gate were originally the elite of Jingzhou. Seeing Zhao Chiman charging forward at this time, they immediately aroused blood and rushed to kill.

"Your Majesty, hurry up, Erlang is dead," Tang Wanren looked back and shouted loudly.

Without hesitation, Tang Wanyi straightened out his long spear and led more than a dozen people to kill him, "It's the Zhao family boy, looking for death." Tang Wanyi saw Zhao Chiman rushing towards him, and immediately grinned grinningly and patted his horse to meet him.

"Don't love to fight," Tang Wanren immediately shouted when he saw his second brother standing above him.

"Full holding...", Zhao Cihao's face turned pale when he saw this.

"Tang Er is coming at me," Yang Ji shouted after seeing this with staring eyes.

Zhao Chiman stretched his bow and set his arrows, then suddenly turned his horse's head and left.

"Where is the kid running away?" Tang Wanyi laughed grinningly, and chased after him.

Suddenly I saw Zhao Chiman lying on the horse's back, turned around and let go of the arrow.

The arrow pierced through the air, Tang Wanyi was startled, there was no time to resist, he saw the arrow was piercing the horse's neck, the horse sat down and suffered pain, raised its front hooves and was thrashing and struggling.

"Hahaha Tang Er is dead", Yang Ji was overjoyed when he saw this, he rushed forward and stabbed out.

Tang Wanyi was very angry, and he raised his gun to fight. The strength of the two was only between brothers, but Tang Wanyi's horse was injured, and he refused to obey orders and kept struggling.

Facing Yang Ji's head-on shot, Tang Wanyi wanted to block it, but just sat down on his horse and pouted. The shot went straight into Tang Wanyi's shoulder, dripping with blood.

Tang Wanyi screamed, his body wobbled and almost fell off his horse.

"Leave this thief behind," Yang Ji called the captain behind him to come forward, and then chased Li Yi away.

Tang Wanren saw that Yang Ji and others quickly caught up, and he knew that the second brother was in danger, and he looked sad, "My lord, go quickly", and then turned around and died.

Li Yi was terrified in his heart, nodded straightly and said: "Da Lang must survive", before he finished speaking, he flattered his horse and left.

After Yang Ji led people to solve Tang Wanren, Li Yi disappeared, and Yang Ji hated him greatly.

At this time, the left and right stepped forward, "Command the army, the young master of the Zhao family has caught up."

"What?" Yang Ji was shocked, looking around, he did not see Zhao Chiman's figure, "The infantry will take care of the aftermath, and the cavalry will follow me to continue the pursuit."

Li Yi ran madly all the way, and at sunset, he was exhausted. At this time, there were only twenty riders around Li Yi, and one of them was Zhao Cihao who was tightly bound.

"Your Majesty, the Wuzhi Post is nearby." A backward cavalryman stepped forward and said, "It's better to go in and rest for a while."

Li Yi was a little hesitant, but he was exhausted after running away for a day, so he could only nod his head in agreement.

Wushi Post, located at the border of Ningjing and Jingzhou, is a first-class post, equipped with a post chief, 25 post men, [-] post horses, and rents [-] yuan for post buildings, post stables, post halls, post warehouses, etc. Yu room.

According to the system of Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, a post station was set up every [-] miles. However, depending on the geographical environment, there is often a post station within ten to twenty miles near Gyeonggi. In remote places such as Bashu and Lingnan, some post stations are separated Even reaching one or two hundred miles away.

According to the "Liu Dian of Tang Dynasty": By the beginning of the Kaiyuan period, there were 630 and nine stations in the world, including 290 and 260 water stations and [-] water stations, and the rest were both water and land stations, with more than [-] people .

In a post room in Wushi Station, a woman sat paralyzed on the ground, terrified, and said tremblingly: "You said you wouldn't kill me, why did you bring me here?"

"Miss Li, don't worry, as long as Li Yi comes to Wushiyi, I will let you go, and I will give you gold and silver, so that you and your lover can stay and fly together." The first man in black sipped his tea slowly and chuckled. , and then looked at the sky outside the window, "Looking at the time, it should be almost here."

"He will definitely come, Ming Lang won't lie to me," Mrs. Li said hastily.

This woman is indeed the witch Li Niangzi in Li Yi's mansion who claims to be able to understand ghosts and gods. Now she is slumped on the ground with a terrified expression, she doesn't have the slightest demeanor of a master.

"Here we come", after Mrs. Li's voice fell, the man in black at the top changed his expression, stood up abruptly, and ordered, "Gag her mouth and prepare to act."

"The postmaster", the previous guard dismounted and rushed to the front hall, shouting carelessly: "Where is the postmaster? King Yanjun is here, and the postmaster hasten to greet him."

"Ren Xuanming, don't speak too loudly," Li Yi glared at the guard, and reprimanded him.

As soon as the words fell, the postmaster hurriedly came out from the backyard, and when he saw Li Yi, he fell down in panic, "The postmaster Wu has seen the king."

"Hurry up and prepare food and drink," Li Yi waved his hand wearily, "Feed the horses with high-quality fodder, hurry up."

The postmaster was busy getting ready.

Not long after, the wine and food were served, and Li Yi was eating.

"Your Majesty, it's so strange that the Postmaster recognizes you?" A personal guard frowned and said, "Why are you trembling?"

Li Yi was stubborn and suspicious, when he heard this, he frowned, and put down the drink he was about to drink.

"What's so strange about this?" The personal guard named Ren Xuanming shook his head and said with a smile, "The king's prestige, no one knows, this postmaster is a wealthy local family, he should have met the king in Anding City."

In the early Tang Dynasty, the postmasters of the post stations were generally served by local wealthy households. After the rich households successfully ran for postmasters, they could drag their families into the post station and directly manage the post stations. Later, the postmasters were appointed by the official uniform. , As for the postman, the local villagers take turns to serve, and the corvee can be reduced or given corresponding wages.

Li Yi nodded when he heard the words, and drank it in one gulp, "Eat and drink quickly, we'll go all night, we can't stay for long."

Everyone listened to the words, more than twenty bodyguards let go of their stomachs and ate to their heart's content, when suddenly they heard a sharp neighing of war horses.

Li Yi's expression changed immediately, "Wu Ming?"

When Li Yi was in Youzhou, he bought a BMW from the Turks, named it Wuming, and regarded the Wuming horse as a treasure.

Li Yi stood up abruptly, "Go and have a look."

Just when he turned around, he heard a loud shout from behind, "Kill the thief".

I saw Ren Xuanming slashing with his knife, the distance was too close, Li Yi had no time to react, he was hit on the shoulder, and instantly fell to the ground with serious injuries.

"You, Ren Xuanming, what are you doing?" The guards were shocked and were about to draw their swords.

Dozens of black-clothed men rushed in at the door, slashing at anyone they saw, and the guards who hurriedly fought went in without knowing it, and soon fell into a disadvantage.

Ren Xuanming stepped forward and put the knife across Li Yi's neck, and shouted: "Stop".

Seeing this, the guards were hesitant, two guards yelled and rushed to kill Ren Xuanming, they heard two bangs, the crossbow arrows entered the body, they fell to the ground, the rest of the guards didn't dare to move.

"Ren Xuanming, you, why did you harm me?" Li Yi asked while holding the back of his neck, gnashing his teeth.

Ren Xuanming's face turned pale, and he could only say: "This subordinate has no intention of rebelling."

After finishing the words, there was only an exclamation, "Minglang...".

I saw Mrs. Li stumbling in and rushing in to hug Ren Xuanming tightly.

"Miss Li? It's you..." Li Yi's eyes widened with disbelief.

"Your Majesty, I... I was forced too." Lady Li didn't dare to look at Li Yi, "Ming Lang and I are sincere..."

At this time, dozens of men in black slowly moved out of the way, and a man in black stepped forward, looked at this scene, and said in a deep voice, "Luo Yi, let's go."

Then turned around and went out, leaving only four words, "Not one left".

As soon as the words fell, Ren Xuanming was unprepared and was hit by two arrows, "You, you guys don't keep promises...".

Li Yi suddenly understood, gritted his teeth with a ferocious face and said with a grin: "Good means, good means, Li Shimin, you are cruel enough..." Before he could finish speaking, he died of anger.

Half an hour later, Zhao Chiman came to the Wushi post in a hurry, and saw Zhao Cihao sitting in the side hall of the post, the post chief was serving him respectfully, and the station chief hurriedly entered and left the front hall to clean up the scene.

Zhao Chiman looked blank, "Hey, Aye, what's the situation? Where's Li Yi?"

Zhao Cihao slowly cut the roasted meat, "My son is brave and fearless today, and I am very pleased to be my father. Come on, you must be hungry after a day of running around, eat some quickly."

Zhao Chiman was indeed hungry, swallowed his saliva, and still asked: "Aye, what's going on? Li Yi, Aye, how did you get out of trouble?"

"These are not important, Li Yi is already dead," Zhao Cihao smiled and handed over a plate of roasted meat, "Come, let's eat first, we will go back to the city overnight."

Youzhou, Jimen Pass, more than ten miles to the north is an open plain of Yimapingchuan. Gao Chong specially ordered people to build a high platform on a high slope in the distance.

Climbing to the high platform and looking at the endless wilderness, I feel refreshed.

Gao Chong suddenly turned his head to look at Wang Shen, with a strange expression on his face, "Then Tuli really wants to come to watch the ceremony?"

Wang Shen also smiled wryly when he heard the words: "Yes, who knows what he thinks, he insists on respecting the prince as his brother with the seven-year covenant of Wude, but he is, but he is called Mr. to the lower officials, and he is very eager to come and watch. It’s really hard to refuse.”

Liu Hongji and others on the side also shook their heads and laughed, and were a little speechless about this nervous Tuli.

This joint military exercise was originally intended to deter Turks so that Turks would not dare to invade and loot south this winter, but now it actually made Tuli request to come to watch the ceremony, which is really dumbfounding.

However, this would definitely be the best for Datang. Firstly, it showed that Tuli had a good impression of Datang, and secondly, it could promote Datang's military power.

As for the seven-year covenant of Wude mentioned by Wang Shen, Gao Chong also knew that he was recruiting the Tian family in central Guizhou at that time.

At that time, it was raining in Guanzhong and the imperial court was tired of disaster relief. Jieli took the opportunity to lead more than [-] Turkic cavalry to the south, breaking through Yuanzhou and approaching Gyeonggi.

Li Shimin only led hundreds of Qingqi to the front of the battle, went straight to find Tuli Little Khan, narrated the old covenant, asked why Tuli broke the covenant, if he insisted on fighting, he would personally lead the army to fight to the death.

Due to the power of the King of Qin, Tuli couldn't answer, so he had to retreat. In fact, on the other hand, he didn't want to obey Xieli's call.

When Jieli saw Tuli retreating, he was furious immediately, and then vaguely heard Li Shimin talking about the old covenant with Tuli, recalling his relationship with Tuli's father Shibi Khan when he was in Jinyang, Jieli Khan felt immediately. Suspicion, fear of fraud, had to retreat with hatred.

This is actually Li Shimin's divorce plan, which happens to be the key point of Zhongjieli. After Jieli retreated, he sent Tuli Khan and Teqin Ashina Simo to the court to seek peace and continue their friendship. During this period, Li Shimin was in Tuli. The Shibi Khan who kept mentioning in front of him was called Tuli Yi's brother.

So now that Tuli is talking about the elder brother of the prince, this makes Gao Chong and the others very tired.

The preparations for the upcoming joint military exercise are in full swing at Jimen Pass, and the Tuliya Tent is also very lively.

The 23-year-old Tuli Khan was trembling with anger, staring fixedly at the tribal leaders in front of him, "Are you sure you won't hand over?"

"Little Khan, you have to give our people a way to survive."

A barbarian with high cheekbones and a thin, pointed face shouted angrily: "The amount of cow and sheep fur that my Khitan tribe handed over to you is three times what it was three years ago. Now you are asking me for food. I, a Khitan, have always It’s herding horses and herding sheep, but you can’t grow food.”

"Dahe Mohui, are you sure you don't want to hand it over?" Tu Li said in a deep voice, "You plundered hundreds of thousands of grains from the Tang people, and now you don't want to hand over only one hundred thousand?"

"Don't say one hundred thousand dendrobiums, even one hundred dendrobiums," the Hu stared back in anger.

This person is called Dahemohui, the chief of the Dahe clan of the Khitan tribe, and is now the leader of the Khitan tribe. He is less than 30 years old, and he is the age with the most staunch personality. Sad and indignant.

"The Dahe clan is not the only one in your Khitan tribe!" Tuli slapped the table and yelled: "If you dare to make another mistake, this Khan will report to the Great Khan, slaughter all the Dahe clan, and establish another chief."

"You..." Da He Mohui's eyes were red and he was furious, but he was sweating profusely when he heard the word, but he held back and did not explode on the spot.

Dahe Mohui's father, Dahe Duluo, was quite powerful in the Youyan generation. He once captured Pingzhou under Luo Yi's command, and the Khitan was very prominent.

It was only after the death of Chuluo Khan that Jieli Khan succeeded to the throne, and Jielixiong was even more powerful than Chuluo, overwhelming all the tribes in the grassland. Dahe Tuoluo had to lead the Khitan to submit to Jieli Khan.

Later, Jieli Khan enfeoffed Ashina Shibobi as a small Khan, who was a small Khan of Tuli. He bestowed the eastern tribes on Tuli, and Khitan was among them. He will succeed to the throne and lead the Khitan tribe.

After Dahe Mohui succeeded to the Khitan chief, he suffered from the exploitation of the Turks, and the endless taxation made the Khitan people miserable.

In the original history, it was this Dahemohui. Seeing that after Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, the national power of the Tang Dynasty rose, and he took the lead in defecting to the Tang Dynasty, which indirectly triggered the Tang Dynasty's battle to destroy the Eastern Turks.

Khitan voted for Tang, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among Jieli, so he sent an envoy to Chang'an, claiming that he would hand over all the Liang masters who ruled Shuofang to Tang for disposal. As long as he rebelled against Dahe Mohui, Li Shimin would definitely not agree.

In the court hall, Li Shimin said in public: "Khitans and Turks are different types. Why do you ask them to surrender to me now?

The capital of the teacher was originally a Chinese, and according to our state city, he thought that the Turks had tolerated theft for no reason. When my teacher went to ask for it, he came to rescue him.Even if it is not possible, it will not be exchanged with Khitan."

Turks and Khitan are not of the same race. Now that Khitan surrendered to me, you have no reason to ask for it. Liang Shi occupies my state city. Every time I go to crusade, you come to rescue. I believe that he will be captured and killed soon, even if I kill him. Without Liang Shidu, without Shuofang, I would not trade Khitan.

This passage is very tough, which is enough to prove that Li Shimin's attitude towards the Turks is definitely not servile.

The Khitan was greatly moved, and they were even more devoted to the Tang Dynasty. Later, when Li Shimin attacked Goguryeo, the Khitan tribe actively responded to the call. When Li Shimin returned to the court, Dahe Mohui was dead. His son Dahe Kuge succeeded to the throne, and Li Shimin rewarded him with silk , Feng Dahe Kuge was named General Zuowuwei, and later he was given the surname Li, and he was appointed as the governor of Songmo.

After the empress claimed control, she appointed cruel officials wantonly. Zhao Wenhong, the governor of Yingzhou, was headstrong and ruthless, and governed well.

Li Jinzhong, the Khitan chieftain who was the governor of Songmo at that time, was the grandson of Dahe Kuge. He led the rebellion, proclaimed himself the Supreme Khan, and separatist Yingzhou.

Until Li Jinzhong died of illness, Wu Zhou still failed to destroy him, but changed Li Jinzhong's name to Li Jinmi after his death to vent his anger.

(End of this chapter)