In Yuci County, Taiyuan, a rain has been falling for ten days, the rain is not strong, but the ground is particularly muddy, and the official road is full of muddy puddles and mud, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk an inch.

Thirty miles east of Yuci County are desolate wild meadows and large thickets, and a few miles away is an endless forest, which has been connected to the Taihang Mountains beyond.

To the south of the official road is an endless rice field, where the autumn wheat has been harvested and the wheat field has become bare.

On this morning, there was a fierce sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and after a while, a group of Tang horsemen galloped in the rain and fog, and muddy water splashed under the horses' hooves, which frightened several villagers and peasants to rush to the field stalks to hide, and they could vaguely hear them cursing at the back of the cavalry.

The common people really hated the Tang army stationed in Yuci County.

The 5,000 Tang troops stationed in the past were Taiyuan soldiers, and they never disturbed the people, but since Shangshu's right servant shot Pei Lin came to Taiyuan from Guanzhong, he not only replaced the defenders with the high-flying Guanzhong soldiers, but also endlessly conscripted labor.

The people were requisitioned to repair warehouses and city walls, and then an even greater nightmare followed, nearly 100,000 villagers were forcibly requisitioned to demolish the city walls in Yuci County, and after they were finished, they rebuilt a new and taller city wall.

This repair was three months, which caused the people to miss the farming time, and Pei Lin also forcibly took away their excess rations.

If Pei Lin is the devil, then these Guanzhong soldiers are the messengers of the devil, so how can the people not hate him?

This Pei Lin was sent to Taiyuan a few months ago, his mission was to assist Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, to garrison Taiyuan, Pei Lin adopted defensive measures to bloom on all sides, the stamen is Taiyuan City, and the six military forts on the periphery of Taiyuan City are petals

Yuci County is located thirty miles east of Taiyuan City, is a large county with a population of nearly 100,000 people, and is also the largest petal of the defense of the Sui army.

The Tang cavalry that had just passed by was the outlying patrol post of Yuci County, consisting of fifty cavalrymen, patrolling within 100 miles of Yuci County.

The cavalry galloped along the official road, and in addition to the villagers cursing along the way, there was also a Tang soldier who was complaining and cursing in extreme irritability.

"This is our fourth patrol, but the Wu Hai team didn't get their turn once, it's really fucking unfair at all, how much benefit did the captain get from Wu Hai?"

The voice of this Tang rider was still very immature, and he babbled and complained all the way, and finally angered the team at the front.

"Shut up!"

The team was rude and stern, and the indifferent gaze made the young Tang Qi close his mouth tightly in fright, and he felt that he was going to be unlucky.

As he expected, at noon, when everyone was resting and eating dry food, the long-winded cavalryman was sent to stand guard and enjoy the cold wind and rain.

An army is an army, and for ordinary soldiers, the anger of the fire commander and the captain is even more terrible than that of the commander.

"Team, let that kid rest! He's still young after all. A well-fed veteran with a hint of pity in his heart.

"Leave him alone, his broken mouth will kill everyone sooner or later." In the indifferent voice of the team, there is a heart of caring for the soldiers.

"Team Zheng, do you say that the Sui army will fight Taiyuan?"

"Don't talk about the Sui army and the Sui army, now the Sui is divided into north and south, everyone calls Jizhou the Northern Sui and Luoyang the Southern Sui. It's just that the Northern Sui is not only more backbone than the Southern Sui, but also better than the Southern Sui, they fought from the Central Plains Wagang to the Turks, and they were stunned that they had not tasted defeat, and Lao Tzu was really convinced. The team looked at everyone, and then said: "The Northern Sui army will definitely fight Taiyuan, as for when it will fight, I don't know." To be honest, I'm not optimistic about Master Pei at all, how can a literati know how to fight? It would be nice if he surrendered the city directly, so that we would not have to worry and fear all day. ”

"Team Zheng, did you say that Pei Xiangguo surrendered?"

"He is a member of the family and the Xiangguo of the Tang Dynasty, he will definitely not surrender to the Northern Sui, and it is impossible for the King of Qi to surrender."

"Don't mention King Naqi, I get goosebumps all over my body at the mention of his name, that guy is so ugly, more ugly than a monkey."

"You can't see anywhere."

There was a commotion among the crowd, and at that moment, a cold arrow swept in front of them, nailed hard to the tree, and the strong force made his arrows buzz, and everyone jumped in fright, but then they all squatted down with their heads in their hands.

It's very funny.

But the reality is not ridiculous at all, because around them, at some point, hundreds of Northern Sui cavalry appeared, and hundreds of crossbows were coldly aimed at this Tang army sentry, among the hundreds of Sui troops, a young Tang soldier with a panicked face was particularly conspicuous, and he looked at his companion timidly.

Tang Jun glared at him fiercely, and what the team said was true, everyone was really killed by him.

"Take them all!" The Sui generals led by the army gave the order.

Dozens of Sui soldiers stepped forward, stole their weapons, and forced them to rush towards the forest to the north!

Hundreds of cavalry rushed out of about 20 miles, in a forest surrounded the hills, suddenly appeared countless tents and dense Sui troops, in the middle of the camp stood a 'Sui' character red flag, next to a banner with the word 'Li' written on it.

The Tang army patrol posts were all stunned, and when they inspected here yesterday, they couldn't see a single figure, why did Li Jing's army appear all of a sudden today.

"Take them for interrogation, the general is still waiting for news!"

The chief general shouted a loud order, and fifty patrolmen were brought into each tent.

That's right!

This is the 60,000 Sui army led by Li Jing, who has been stationed in Fenyang County, and after receiving the order from Yang Tong to recover and annex the state, Li Jing began to assign tasks to his generals.

And Li Tang side.

The Li Tang forces led by Li Yuan got the news: after Yang Tong moved south to Yecheng, he immediately held the annual 'three pavilions and one pavilion' civil and military event in Yecheng, and everyone agreed that he would not launch a large-scale campaign against Bingzhou within two months, so it was only then that he was relieved to boldly pacify the large and small forces in Guanzhong, and when the two months passed, the foundation of Guanzhong had been consolidated, and at that time, he would turn around and wrestle with Yang Tong.

But Yang Tong himself is a person who does not play cards according to common sense, and there is the support of Yang Gongren, Fang Xuanling and others, so when he has not yet arrived in Yecheng, the battle order has already reached Li Jing's hands.

At this time, in the big tent of the Chinese army of the Sui army, the young Tang soldier knelt on the ground, trembling with fright, like a little lamb about to be slaughtered, and his face turned blue and white due to excessive panic.

Li Jing glanced at him and asked, "How old are you this year?" ”

"Tiny... The villain is sixteen this year! ”

"You became a scout at the age of sixteen, and your riding skills are good!"

Li Jing's gentle smile and amiable tone gave this Tang Jun hope of survival.

"Thank you for the general's praise, the villain has not done anything bad, I beg the general to spare my life."

Li Jing said with a smile: "Our Sui army is orthodox in the world, and we will never kill our compatriots in vain, and we have always only punished evil heads, and you don't look like a person who has done much bad things at your age, as long as you answer my question honestly, I will not only not kill you, but also let you go home." ”

"The villain's name is Zhang Xian, his father Zhang Xinbao, runs a restaurant in Taiyuan, the villain's family is a little better, so he has been riding horses since he was a child, and he only joined the army in the first month of this year."

He was the only Taiyuan person in this Tang army, and Li Jing wanted to understand the situation in Taiyuan through him.

"You're only sixteen, and your father let you join the army?"

Li Jing's pleasant face made Zhang Xian's fear gradually subside, and he said in a low voice: "My father and five guys have also been incorporated into the county soldiers. ”

This is the problem that Li Jing is most concerned about, they have previously received information that Pei Lin immediately formed a county army of 50,000 after arriving in Taiyuan, this county army seems to be just a rabble, and most of them are forced to be soldiers, and the combat power is not enough to worry about. But Li Jing is cautious in his use of soldiers, he needs to understand this county soldier from the bottom, from the current point of view, the intelligence is not very accurate, Zhang Xian in front of him is the best example, from the fact that he mixed with the old army, it can be seen that the people also entered the regular army of the Tang Dynasty, and it is roughly a team of ten newcomers, because in addition to Zhang Xian, there are nine ordinary people from Xihe County.

"Are your fathers and buddies cavalrymen like you?"

"No, they all went to the logistics camp to take care of the war horses."

"What about your neighbors? Do you know how many people are in the army? ”

"Everyone who is about my age has joined the army, but they all have to be trained, and there are very few people like me who are directly in the army." Speaking of this, Zhang Xian seemed to understand something, and then said angrily: "General Su, we have all been deceived. At that time, the Tang army said that the Turks occupied Mayi and Yanmen, and gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, calling on us to defend the country together, so everyone actively joined the army, and I also took the initiative to show my riding skills, if I knew that I was fighting with you, I would not participate in the killing. ”

Li Jing smiled and asked, "Do you know the truth about your father?" ”

Zhang Xian said indignantly: "My father doesn't know, in fact, everyone doesn't know, I just guessed it when I saw the Great Sui army." ”

Li Jingqi said: "Why? ”

Zhang Xian replied: "It is impossible for the Turks to kill from the east and south. ”

"You're smart!" Li Jing has now finished asking for the information he wants, looked at Zhang Xian's bamboo-like figure, and felt a trace of pity in his heart, according to the regulations of the Great Sui: domestic prisoners of war generally have to build roads for free for five years before being released, this young man is quite tragic, he thought for a while and said: "You can ride, and you are so clever, are you interested in being my scout of the Great Sui?" ”

"General Li, I'm so willing! I dreamed of killing the Turks under the command of King Qin. ”

Zhang Xian was so excited that he was incoherent, it was his dream to become a mighty soldier, but it didn't mean that he wanted to join the army of traitors, and now he would become an invincible, invincible, civilized and mighty Sui soldier, if his father knew it, he would be proud of him.

Li Jing laughed softly and said to a pro-soldier: "Take him to change his armor, and then hand it over to Su Dingfang!" ”

After Zhang Xian left, Li Jing stood in front of the map and was silent.