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Chapter 848
Outside Zhao Jun's tent, all the generals talked happily.

More than a hundred generals gathered together, their voices were loud and loud, and even when they sneezed and sneezed, they were all pneumatic.This is also the usual style of warriors, and it looks a bit vulgar.Wenchen also stood aside and chatted.Zhao Guo didn't have a special approach to civil and military affairs, so the ministers of civil and military affairs also stood together and chatted.The scene outside the tent is called, the generals are like clouds, and the counselors are like rain

In the big tent, several generals and important advisers were also sitting there with smiles on their faces.

Wang Mahan dragged off his muddy riding boots, put them by the fire and said, "From Hanoi all the way to the east of the river, and then across the Yellow River, the distance to Chang'an is only more than 200 miles. If we work harder, we can go home and pick up the baby." gone."

Wang Mahan's optimistic mood drove the generals.
Xue Wanche looked around and said with a smile: "Among the six major government armies of the Zhao army, the fifth army army has crossed the Yellow River and joined forces here. There are nearly 15 elite troops. Your Majesty, I will only listen to your words when I go straight to Chang'an."

Hearing what Xue Wanche said, Xu Shiji immediately said: "General Xue, General Wang's words are too optimistic. We crossed the Yellow River, but there has been no news from the West Route Army. My heart is uneasy. According to my opinion, Right now, we should send people to search in the direction of Hexi, and make a decision after we get news from the West Route Army."

"This is the safe view." Yu Shinan agreed.

The generals on both sides insisted on their own opinions. At this time, Li Chongjiu asked: "A few days ago, I asked you to investigate the movements of Li Tang's main force. How did you go?"

Zhang Xuansu said: "The Department of Rumors is already dealing with this matter. According to reports, those who appeared by the Yellow River a few days ago were not Li Shimin's troops, but suspicious soldiers deliberately arranged by him. In fact, they were only a few thousand brave men. Emperor Li Tang's imperial flag is also fake, and Li Shimin is not here."

When Zhang Xuansu said this, all the generals were surprised. If Li Shimin's main force is not on the bank of the Yellow River, then it is obvious that Li Shimin is not in Chang'an.

Wang Mahan asked curiously: "Why is Li Shimin playing tricks like this? Is it just to cover up that he is not in Chang'an?"

"That's right." Xue Wanche also sat up straight at this moment and said, "Since Li Shimin is not in Chang'an, he must have gone to Hexi or Luoyang, so he deliberately set up a suspicious army to prevent us from crossing the Yellow River easily. In Jiangzhou, Pu Jinguan’s blockade is also to delay our advance.”

When Xue Wanche said that, the happy atmosphere in the tent was swept away.

The generals couldn't help wondering whether Li Shimin went to Luoyang or Hexi.

Yu Chigong asked, "What news is there from Luoyang?"

Hearing this, Ji Chuan said: "As far as Luoyang is concerned, we have a waterway to communicate with, and we can check the situation in Luoyang at any time. When we entered the army before, we asked the water station to report the Tang army's news every six hours. The latest news is that in two days, Luoyang According to the report, there is no movement from the Tang army in the direction of Tongguan. After about three hours, the situation yesterday should have arrived."

Hearing what Ji Chuan said, everyone was relieved that since this was the case, there should be no problem with Luoyang.

"Since Tang Jun didn't go to Luoyang, there is only one possibility, and that is to go to Hexi!" Shan Xiongxin said.

"Hexi? Hexi has my army of 20 soldiers? Li Shimin has such a good appetite to eat it in one bite? I don't believe it." Xue Wanche first objected.

"So how can it be explained that there is no news about Hexi?" Shan Xiongxin questioned.

Yu Shinan immediately said: "General Shan doesn't know something. According to the news from the Department, Li Shimin is planning to abandon Chang'an and flee to Shuzhong under the leadership of our Great Zhao."

Wang Mahan nodded and said, "I think it's possible."

Yu Shinan and Wang Mahan's thoughts are all wishful thinking. In the past, during a war, one side attacked the enemy's capital, and when the soldiers were approaching the city, the leader of the country led the army and surrendered.But this does not apply to the current Li Tang. At least we know that Li Tang's [-] elite main force has not been defeated, and it is impossible to surrender now.

The generals held their own opinions and hesitated about where Li Shimin was.

Xue Wanche said at this time: "It's meaningless to guess where Li Shimin's strength is. Chang'an is two hundred miles away right now, and we can get it at our fingertips. We have no reason to give up Chang'an and wait for news from the West Route Army. If we face a decisive battle with Wang Duhu's West Route Army, and the outcome is still undecided, then our army can take this opportunity to capture Chang'an City."

What Xue Wanche meant was recognized by all the generals, because Zhang Xuansu and the others had also conceived the same way when they made the plan to march.

Chang'an is the center of gravity of Guanzhong, and the significance of capturing Chang'an is self-evident.

Li Chongjiu also agreed to continue marching towards Chang'an. At this time, Ji Chuan said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is Li Shimin's scheme. If the Tang army lures our army to go deep into Chang'an, it is not impossible."

"Impossible! Even if Li Shimin defeats Wang Junkuo, with an army of more than 20 people, no news will leak out after a defeat." Xue Wanche explained.

Li Chongjiu nodded. He still had confidence in Wang Junkuo. With 20 grassland elites, Li Shimin didn't have such a good mouth.But now that the army has crossed the Yellow River, Chang'an is right in front of them, if there is no news of the West Route Army, they would not dare to march into Chang'an.Not to mention these generals, even the soldiers below will be paranoid.

What does it mean that the arrow is on the string and has to be, it is like this now, he has rushed all the way for thousands of miles, and he has defeated several Tang troops, and now Chang'an is right in front of him, but his hands are tied, this is not his way of general.

At that moment, Li Chongjiu stretched out his hand and pressed it, and all the generals stopped arguing.Li Chongjiu glanced at the crowd, and said affirmatively: "I have made up my mind, no matter how Li Tang's main force moves, I will march into Chang'an tomorrow!"

After crossing the Yellow River, there is not much rest.Although there was no news of the West Route Army, Li Chongjiu still decided to march to Chang'an.Li Tang sent Qi Ashu, a general of the Shidexi Department of Shanxiongxin Department, to lead [-] cavalry to search west to find out news about the West Route Army.

After that, Li Chongjiu left another [-] troops to guard Pujin to guard the pontoon bridge and the food road. In addition, there were nearly [-] troops left in Hedong and Jiangzhou.Li Chongjiu's strategy is to fight steadily. Although sending troops to stay behind will weaken the strength of the front army's attack, but in order to protect the thousands of miles of food roads, this is the price that has to be paid.

In the end, Li Chongjiu led an army of 15 to Chang'an.Although the number of soldiers and horses has been reduced from 20 to 15, they are all the most elite troops in Zhao State.

Before marching, a Confucian scholar from the local area volunteered to Li Chongjiu and said, "Your Majesty's army is pouring over the country. The city of Chang'an is strong and strong, and it is not easy to go down overnight. However, Li Tang's virtuous master is descended from Lao Tzu and came from the royal family of Xiliang. He is also the emperor of the royal family. Your Majesty launched an army crusade for his own selfishness. Wouldn’t it be famous for being dishonest and saying that it’s not going well?

Li Chongjiu listened to the Confucian scholar's words, and smiled to the left and right: "This is the view of corrupt Confucians."

The Confucian said: "I am not a corrupt Confucian. Back then, Xiang Yu did not follow the Confucian opinion, burned Xianyang, and lost his hegemony, but Liu Bang followed the Confucianist's advice, but won the world. Your Majesty must think twice."

Li Chongjiu scolded angrily: "Chang'an is right in front of you. If you dare to talk nonsense in front of the army, come and kill him."

Minister Ji Chuan couldn't bear to see this and said, "Your Majesty, don't be convicted of your words."

Li Chongjiu said: "This man has shaken the morale of our army, and if he doesn't kill him, it won't be enough to appease my anger."

After speaking, this Confucian scholar was dragged out and beheaded like the Confucian scholar who persuaded Xiang Yu in history. In the end, Li Chongjiu did not listen to the Confucian scholar, but led his army to Chang'an.

Although it is more than two hundred miles away from Chang'an, as a political center, Chang'an has a large area.For example, Tongzhou in the front was called Zuo Fengyi in the Han Dynasty. In the past, Jing Zhaoyin and You Fufeng were collectively called Sanfu. In the Han Dynasty, it was managed by three senior officials who managed Jifu.

Zuo Fengyi's jurisdiction today is in Tongzhou and Heyang.

The vanguard of Li Chongjiu's army arrived in Tongzhou, Tongzhou City was already an empty city, all the residents in the city were gone, and there was not even a trace of food and fodder.And Heyang in the left vicinity is also average. After Zhao Jun's forward arrived, he found that it was also an empty city.Li Shimin didn't even defend Heyang and Tongzhou, obviously he was going to give up the second city.

"This is to fortify the wall and clear the field!"

The generals of Zhao Jun had also experienced battles for a long time, and they immediately recognized Li Tang's routine.

"Could it be that Li Shimin really wants to stick to Chang'an and wait for our decisive battle?"

At this time, many generals of Zhao Jun also wavered, and advised Li Chongjiu to wait for the whereabouts of the West Route Army before making a decision, otherwise they would really go deep alone.Of course, more generals believed that Li Shimin had no spare power to defeat the West Route Army. If he was afraid to move forward, he would lose the opportunity to capture Chang'an.

Li Chongjiu did not stop marching at the moment, but personally led the troops to continue advancing.

A day later, Zhao Jun's soldiers and horse forwards arrived in Jingyang, which was only forty miles away from Chang'an.

There were no villages along the way, but the seedlings in the field were all placed there, but no one cultivated them. Li Shimin actually evacuated all the people in more than ten counties south of the Yellow River. .

General Shan Xiongxin proposed to send another army to guard Tongzhou to strengthen the protection of the grain road. Otherwise, once the grain road is cut off, the 15 Zhao army will be in a situation of running out of ammunition and food within five days.After hearing this, Li Chongjiu agreed to send Shan Xiongxin with 5000 troops to guard Tongzhou and Sanyuan County for the safety of the road ahead.

But after the army arrived in Jingyang, they finally saw the soldiers and horses stationed by the Tang army.The scouts ahead reported that Jingyang City was tightly guarded and could not be scouted.

After Li Chongjiu learned about it, he sent General Ke Mulun and 2000 troops to pass through the Zhongwei Bridge on the Weihe River to investigate under the city of Chang'an.

But half a day later, Ke Mulun returned to the big tent.

Seeing Ke Mulun, Li Chongjiu asked, "Have you fought Tang Jun?"

Ke Mulun cupped his fists and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

It turned out that Ke Mulun's [-] cavalrymen crossed the Zhongwei Bridge from the Weishui River, and circled to the Hengmen to the west of Chang'an.

As soon as he arrived at the city, he was ambushed by Tang cavalry.There were [-] cavalrymen of the Tang army, but after a fight, Ke Mulun repelled the cavalry of the Tang army and retreated completely.At the same time, Ke Mulun returned to the city of Chang'an, with countless banners and soldiers guarding the city with armor.

Hearing the news of Ke Mulun's return, all the generals of Zhao Jun felt relieved immediately. It turned out that the main force of Tang Jun didn't go anywhere, but stayed in Chang'an.

"Li Shimin, do you really want to stick to Chang'an and fight us?"

"Impossible. Although the city of Chang'an is tall and strong, it has a circumference of more than 3000 miles. Even if the soldiers of the Tang army stationed [-] men and horses for a mile, they would not be able to defend it."

"What's the matter, Tang Jun may just need to defend the imperial city. It's not the case that Wang Shi served as the guard of Luoyang for a year. Li Tang didn't take it down after besieging it for half a year."

"So you said, Tang Jun wants to stick to Chang'an and fight us?"

"Yes, but don't be afraid. Although our army's supply road is long, if we divide our troops and break through Tongguan, it will be much more convenient to transport food from Luoyang."

The generals told you all about the Tang army in Chang'an.

Will Li Shimin learn from Wang Shichong and stick to Chang'an?Li Chongjiu is 1 unbelievers. Since ancient times, without foreign aid, there is no city that must be defended.When Wang Shichong defended Luoyang, he believed that Li Chongjiu would lead an army from Hebei to Luoyang to rescue him, so he gritted his teeth and persisted for half a year.

But today Li Shimin is trapped in Chang'an, so where is he going to count on people to rescue him?

As for the consumption of military food, 20 troops besieging Chang'an City is enough. With Zhao's current grain and grass reserves, there is absolutely no problem in besieging Chang'an City for a year by transporting food from Luoyang.

Li Chongjiu said: "There's no need to argue, I'm going to visit the city in person to find out what is true in Chang'an."

All the generals were surprised when they heard this, and they said together: "The last general is willing to lead his troops to join His Majesty."

Li Chongjiu waved his hand and said: "It doesn't need to be so many people, as long as my court guards are with me."

"How is this possible?"

"Your Majesty has too few troops. What if the main force of the Chang'an Tang Army attacks."

Li Chongjiu shook his head and rejected the suggestion of his subordinates.

The next day, Li Chongjiu led five thousand court guards to the city of Chang'an.

The majestic Chang'an City Wall stands in front of it. According to historical records, Chang'an City is 9721 meters long from east to west, 8651 meters wide from north to south, and 36.7 kilometers in circumference. It was the largest city in the world at that time.In contrast, Constantinople, which the Eastern Roman Empire was proud of, was only worthy of being the acropolis of Chang'an City.

In China, Chang'an is also far better than Luoyang City, where Wang Shichong was stationed. At that time, the city of Luoyang was only a dozen kilometers away.

Therefore, it is impossible for Li Chongjiu to believe that Li Shimin is planning to defend Chang'an City and fight Zhao Jun under the city. How can the 36-kilometer city wall be defended?

However, when Li Chongjiu came today, he wanted to explore the reality of Chang'an City.

Li Chongjiu first led his troops across the Weihe River from the Zhongwei Bridge, wandering in the north of Chang'an.Immediately, Ji Chuan, Zhang Xuansu, and Yu Shinan pointed at the city wall of Chang'an City, looking like pointing Jiangshan.And the bright yellow dragon flag behind Li Chongjiu made the soldiers of the Tang army in Chang'an City know that it was the Emperor Zhao who had arrived in person.

Immediately, the flag danced on the top of the city, and a large number of soldiers of the Tang army in armor moved on the city wall, setting up their bows and crossbows to stand ready.

When Li Chongjiu first saw that there were many Tang soldiers in the city, he couldn't help being surprised. There were so many troops on just one city wall. If it was like this everywhere in Chang'an City, then Li Shimin's main force was really stationed in Chang'an City.

Although Li Chongjiu was skeptical in his heart, he talked and laughed freely on the surface, and then rode away around the city with his subordinates.Li Chongjiu rode from the north of Chang'an City to the east of Chang'an City.

To the east of the city is the place where Ba River, Jing River and Wei River intersect.Ahead across the Ba River is the rumored Ba Bridge.

Li Chongjiu rode his horse and Zhang Xuansu and others stood on the Baqiao together, pointing their whips at the top of the city, chatting and laughing, and at the same time observing the movement of the Tang army on the city.But not long after, on the city wall, groups of soldiers of the Tang army were transferred from afar.

There are thousands of soldiers and horses.

Seeing the scene, Ji Chuan and Yu Shinan beside Li Chongjiu both said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it seems that the main force of the Tang army is in Chang'an City, otherwise it would be impossible to mobilize so quickly. This is a false alarm for us."
Li Chongjiu shook his head when he heard this, and then suddenly rode his horse towards the city wall.

"His Majesty!"
"His Majesty!"

Ji Chuan, Yu Shinan and the others all exclaimed.Li Chongjiu personally rode his horse and approached the city, what if he got hit by some arrows.

But seeing Li Chongjiu lightly ride forward, two hundred steps below the city, he draws a bow from the side of the saddle, and rein in the horse to stop halfway.Then Li Chongjiu drew an arrow with his bow and shot towards the top of the city.Tang Jun on the top of the city couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise, raising their shields or bending over to dodge one after another.

But I heard Zhao Jun cheering together suddenly under the city.

Tang Jun put down his shield and looked, but saw a flag with Tang characters painted on one side of the tower hanging slowly from the top of the city, obviously shot down by Li Chongjiu with an arrow.

Zhao Guo's three armies all cheered!

Tang Jun on the top of the city couldn't help being annoyed, and they drew their arrows to fight back.

Li Chongjiu had already rode his horse back at this time, and turned his head to look at Tang Jun, but he saw Tang Jun soldiers fighting back, their bows were weak, and most of them fell halfway through the shot.But the soldiers didn't know that they were still shooting arrows down the city desperately, until one of them shouted to stop, and then all the soldiers stopped.

Seeing this, Li Chongjiu nodded, knowing it in his heart, and immediately reined in his horse and returned.

Yu Shinan, Ji Chuan, and Zhang Xuansu all led the court guards to catch up.

Yu Shinan said: "Your Majesty, shooting down the Tang army's flag is enough to destroy the courage of the Tang army. After one arrow, no one in Chang'an will dare to sleep peacefully tonight."

Hearing Yu Shinan's praise, Li Chongjiu let go of his bow and couldn't help laughing out loud: "Back then we had thousands of troops and one arrow shot Shibi Khan, but today it's nothing."

As soon as Li Chongjiu finished speaking, Ji Chuan said, "Your Majesty, don't take risks so lightly, beheading generals and capturing the flag before the battle. This is just a brave general. How can he be the emperor of Zhao?"

Hearing Ji Chuan's blunt words, Li Chongjiu smiled without saying a word. At this time, Zhang Xuansu slowly said: "Your Majesty is wise, this arrow has tested the reality of Chang'an City!"

With Zhang Xuansu's glance, Ji Chuan and Yu Shinan were puzzled.

At this time, at the head of Chang'an City, a scholar in a straight gown walked up the tower and said, "Could it be that the Emperor of Zhao is under the city? My servant Xuanling is being polite here!"

Li Chongjiu couldn't help but raised his head to look, but saw that the other party was over forty years old, holding a folding fan, with a calm demeanor.

Li Chongjiu said: "When I was in Youjing, I heard for a long time that among the aides of the King of Qin, there was no real conspiracy. It was a worthwhile trip to see Mr. Du today, but I don't know where the other Mr. Du is?"

When Fang Xuanling heard what Li Chongjiu said, a smile appeared on his face, obviously because the dignified Emperor Zhao was happy to hear about his reputation.But Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Your Majesty is so scheming, could it be that he asked Mr. Du to guess where my lord is?"

Li Chongjiu laughed loudly and said: "Mr. Fang is underestimating my strength by saying that. I have already confirmed that Li Shimin is not in the city at this moment, so Du Ruhui must be driving away, right?"

Fang Xuanling smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you don't need to deliberately try again. Fang is not a three-year-old child, so His Majesty won't let you out of him. You came to the city just to see His Majesty's demeanor. In words of advice, Your Majesty has a lot of soldiers and is brave enough to sweep across the world, but now he is rushing forward lightly. Don't you hear the truth of the end of the battle. Your Majesty has fallen into my lord's plan to fortify the wall and clear the country. If you retreat early, you will still be safe Half the country, without losing the ruler of a country, insists on wasting it under the city of Chang'an, so His Majesty's life needless to say, the hundreds of thousands of troops may disappear in a blink of an eye."

"Bold!"

"presumptuous!"

Ji Chuan and Yu Shinan cursed at the same time, this Fang Xuanling really didn't know what to do.

Li Chongjiu stopped the two of them, and said with a calm smile: "Mr. Fang, I have heard this countless times since I led the army, and my ears are callused. What about now? I am still fine, but I have said it to me. Those who speak these words have become my prisoners."

"Mr. Fang, since I have something to persuade me, then I also have something to persuade you. It is possible to govern a county with your ability after dedicating the city of Chang'an early and surrendering to me. As for Du Ruhui, if he surrenders to me, he can Govern a county. How about thinking about it?"

After Li Chongjiu finished speaking, all the soldiers of Zhao Jun burst out laughing.Fang Xuanling laughed loudly on the top of the wall, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is eloquent, Zhang Yi and Su Qin can't match it, but a battle cannot be won with just a word of mouth, I will wait and see here."

"Then I will wait and see!"

Li Chongjiu nodded. He had already seen the Tang army on the city wall, quietly transporting two large crossbow machines.Li Chongjiu knew what Tang Jun was going to do, Fang Xuanling was really vicious, talking to him here, and sending someone to plot against him there.

At that moment Li Chongjiu pulled up his horse and left.Zhao Jun crossed the Wei River again from the Dongwei Bridge.

Seeing that Tang Jun did not come after him, Ji Chuan couldn't help asking: "Why does Your Majesty know that Li Shimin is not in Chang'an City?"

Li Chongjiu said: "You also saw that I just shot an arrow towards the top of the city, and the Tang soldiers defending the city counterattacked with arrows, and the shots were chaotic, not to mention that the bows they used were no more than one stone. Such soldiers are called Xiangyong at most. How could it be Li Shimin's elite soldiers trained in Guanzhong for a long time."

Hearing this, Ji Chuan suddenly realized, but at the same time said: "Then His Majesty shouldn't take the risk himself."

Li Chongjiu smiled and said: "If I didn't come to the city in person and use my body as bait, how could the soldiers of the Tang army guarding the city easily shoot them with bows? As for safety, I have my own discretion."

Hearing this, Himekawa couldn't help admiring him, so he didn't say anything now.

At the moment when the court guards returned to the big tent, all the generals had been worried for a long time, and they were all overjoyed to see that Li Chongjiu was safe and sound.

Li Chongjiu said: "The city of Chang'an is not brave, not the elite. Now that our army has reached the city of Chang'an, attacking the city is not the best strategy. I already have..."

Just as Li Chongjiu was discussing with the generals, a general came in and said, "Your Majesty, the people from the Department of Rumors have learned of Li Shimin's strength and have come to report to His Majesty."

"Let him come in quickly." Li Chongjiu's face remained unchanged.

Not long after, a man rushed into the big tent and said to Li Chongjiu, "My subordinates have heard that Qin Lan from the Luoyang Department is visiting His Majesty."

Someone had already checked the identity of this person, and it was indeed rumored that the Department was stationed in Chang'an and was working carefully.Li Chongjiu said: "The people from Chang'an's Rumor Department, why did you come to report the news to me today?"

Qin Lan wept and said: "Your Majesty, it's not that your subordinates are ineffective. A month ago, Li Shimin made a sudden move and sent his confidant Yu Zhining to lead his troops to destroy several strongholds of our Rumor Department in Chang'an. Dozens of brothers were captured. He was killed, or his whereabouts were unknown. At that time, the humble officer was lucky enough to go out to do errands, and he escaped with his life when he saw his companion carved a warning signal on the tower."

The Department of Rumors has been stationed in Chang'an for several years, brought a lot of important information to Zhao Guo, and made a lot of contributions, but it has not been targeted by Li Shimin before.But this time Li Shimin made a sudden move to destroy the stronghold of the Rumor Department. It was obviously a thunderous blow, and it had been planned for a long time.

Li Shimin's purpose is to destroy all the eyes and ears of Zhao State before the war, so that after Li Chongjiu enters Guanzhong, he will lose the information to help him and become deaf and blind.

"Li Shimin is really ruthless." Li Chongjiu couldn't help sighing, he still underestimated this strong opponent.

"So where is Li Tang's main force now?" Xue Wanche asked directly without waiting for the other party to explain.

"Still in Hexi, but already returning to Chang'an."

"Then, Li Shimin's Tang army's main force fought against Wang Junkuo's 20 troops?" Xue Wanche immediately asked.

Everyone was staring at Qin Lan, the secret agent of the Rumor Department.

Qin Lan nodded and said: "It should be because of the battle. This is because the news department's intelligence network was destroyed, and I don't know a lot of news, but this time I came to see His Majesty because the brothers from Fufeng told me that the main force of the Tang army in Hexi, Send people to Chang'an to announce the victory, and tell them along the way that they have completely wiped out Zhao's West Route Army!"

"nonsense!"

"Spoofing!"

"Li Shimin's trick!"

"How could the 20 army be wiped out!"

No one at General Zhao Jun believed it.

(End of this chapter)