First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 58
56. Biejia, the General's Mansion
At night, Zhengping City was deadly silent, and the streets were empty.

Suddenly, a group of people broke the silence of the night. This group of people went straight to the sheriff's mansion, scaring the guards of the mansion into panic.

"Who is it? Stop," the guard hurriedly asked while holding a knife.

"I am Chen Shuda. I have something important to see the sheriff." With the sound of horseshoes, Chen Shuda rode forward and said.

The guards took a closer look, and found that Chen Shuda was leading hundreds of troops, wearing helmets and armour, holding knives and bows.

At this moment, the door of the mansion opened wide, and a scribe came out. When he saw Chen Shuda, he bowed down and said, "I have seen Chen Tongshou".

"Zhang Sima?" Chen Shuda couldn't help being startled when he saw this person, and then suddenly reacted, looking into the mansion, "Where is the county guard?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sima hurriedly said: "The sheriff went out of the city in the evening, saying that the general guard will come to give us a good future tonight, and ordered me to wait here after nightfall, waiting for orders."

As soon as the words fell, three or five people came out of the mansion one after another, all of whom were Jiangjun adjutants Chen Shuda knew well.

Chen Shuda was startled when he heard the words, got off his horse, and went straight to the middle hall, only to see a wooden box on the desk, Chen Shuda's eyes were fixed, he knew what the wooden box contained.

When I opened it, as expected, it was the official seal of Jiangjun County Magistrate, and there was a letter at the bottom of the box, with "Chen Shuda's personal letter" written on the cover, Chen Shuda was startled, and hurriedly opened it.

"Since Zi Cong has the heart to dedicate himself to the city, I will consider it the beauty of an adult for the sake of the people of Jiangjun...".

Counting crosses in a few lines, Chen Shuda has mixed feelings after reading it.

"Chen Tongshou, where shall I go?" Zhang Sima hesitated for a moment, then asked immediately.

"Kaicheng, welcome Tang Gongyi's army to enter the city," Chen Shuda looked at the assistant officers present, and said in a deep voice.

"The next official takes orders", Zhang Sima and others were overjoyed when they heard this, and hurriedly prepared to welcome the ceremony.

Seeing that Chen Shuda was a little dazed, and then, looking at the letter in his hand, he also shook his head and smiled wryly: "It seems that Governor Pei knew the result a long time ago."

Not long after, the gate of the city was opened wide, and Chen Shuda led the generals and subordinates of Zhengping City to the Tang camp overnight, respectfully inviting the Tang army to enter the city.

That night, Zhengping City, the prefecture of Jiangjun, belonged to Tang Dynasty.

Early the next morning, Li Yuangao sat at the head of the prefect's mansion, divided into civil and military ranks on the left and right, full of high spirits.

"My lords, the soldiers are very fast. Tomorrow, they will enter Longmen and go straight to the east of the river." Li Yuan was so excited that he slapped the desk.

The generals were also extremely excited when they heard the words, seeing that Wang Tu's hegemony can be achieved, and his wife and son are in sight, how can they not be excited.

At this time, Li Shimin came out and said: "Aye, there is Qu Tutong defending the river east, and it may be difficult to break through for a while. Now that Gao Changshi has broken through Wencheng County, there is no obstacle to go west. It is better to use Wencheng County on the way, and then go to the west." Wouldn't it be better to go south and attack Chang'an directly."

Li Shimin was also inspired by Gao Junya's repeated victories, why bother to attack every city and place step by step, and take a detour to attack Chang'an, Chang'an is sure, Guanzhong is in his pocket.

Originally, going south from Taiyuan, it was necessary to break through Hedong to plot Chang'an, but now that Wencheng County has been broken, it is possible to march from Wencheng County to Chang'an, and there is no need to pull out the hard nail of Qu Tutong in Hedong County.

Li Yuan couldn't help being moved when he heard the words, Liu Hongji also chimed in and said, "It makes sense, there is really no need to go head-to-head with Qu Tutong, if we break through Chang'an, the event will be settled."

Li Yuan kept nodding his head, Li Shimin was about to invite Ying to fight, when suddenly, Pei Ji spoke out.

"Not right," Pei Ji shook his head and said.

Everyone looked at Pei Ji, only to see that Pei Ji said very solemnly: "Soldiers, it's a big deal, how can we take risks.

Yin Shishi, Gu Yi, and others in Chang'an are not mediocre, and Chang'an City has high walls and thick soldiers, and sufficient food and supplies. If it cannot be breached quickly, Dong Qutu will lead troops to attack. Then the enemy will be attacked from the front and back, and the overthrow will only happen overnight." .

Hearing Pei Ji's words, Li Yuan was startled. Seeing this, Pei Ji continued: "Don't be fascinated by the temptation of Chang'an, it's safer to take one step at a time."

The word "safety" immediately entered Li Yuan's heart, and he immediately decided: "We should follow the previous strategy, break through the east of the river first, and then go west. Don't take risks."

Hearing Pei Ji's words, some people unconsciously nodded in agreement. Pei Ji's words were well-founded and appropriate. Put He Dong Qu Tutong behind him to ignore them and go straight to Chang'an City in front. If Chang'an City is not captured in a short time , and Qu Tutong led troops to attack again, and when the time comes, he will be attacked by the enemy, but it will really be called "every day, and the earth will not work."

Li Shimin frowned slightly when he heard the words, rather unwilling, "But now that Gao Changshi has broken Wencheng County, we can go straight to Chang'an City. It would be a pity if Wencheng County is so advantageous and not used."

Gao Chong had an idea when he heard the words, and immediately said: "In this case, why not divide the army into two groups, besiege Hedong all the way to deal with Qu Tutong, go straight to Chang'an all the way, and look for opportunities to break through the city."

When everyone heard this, their glasses lit up, and they also felt that it was reasonable, and nodded one after another.

"We have many soldiers and generals now, so it is indeed feasible to divide the troops into two groups," Pei Ji said with a nod.

All the way south, Li Yuan's soldiers and horses not only did not lose, but they fought more and more. It can be said that there are many soldiers and generals.

Seeing that Pei Ji, who was equally cautious, also agreed, Li Yuan thought it over and said: "Then divide the troops."

After some discussions, Li Yuan led the army to go straight to Chang'an, while Li Shimin led the right leader to cross the river from Longmen to resist Qu Tutong.

To Gao Chong's surprise, Li Yuan intentionally kept Gao Junya by his side, so he announced that he would set up the post of Biejia for this reason. Chen Shuda served as the leader of the government.

This appointment really surprised everyone, and Liu Wenjing, who had just rushed back from Turkic, had her nose crooked when she heard the news.

It is said that he went to Li Yuan to discuss it, but Li Yuan took out Gao Junya's achievements in defeating the two counties and persuading Jiang County to surrender. Gao Chong knew that his family was feuding with Liu Wenjing.

You must know that Biejia’s job background is not small. It originated from the Han Dynasty. Biejia was appointed as the assistant official of the governor of the state during the Han Dynasty. .

In the third year of Daye, Yang Guang abolished the state and set up a county, and changed Biejia to Changshi. Therefore, Changshi and Biejia actually have the same authority, and they are both the first assistant officials of the chief official.

Originally, Liu Wenjing claimed to have known Li Yuan and Li Shimin for a long time, and had always regarded herself as an "old man". Even Pei Ji was not convinced, let alone other people. Above, how can Liu Wenjing bear it.

Gao Chong expressed that he was helpless about this, but he also had an indifferent attitude, because Gao Chong vaguely remembered that Liu Wenjing seemed to die soon.

(End of this chapter)