Li Yuan, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande officially announced to the world that they would form a coalition against the Hexi Army; Gao Kaidao, Meng Haigong, and Xu Yuanlang announced their dedication to Chang'an and served as envoys to Yuyang, Qingyan, and Cao respectively. Li Shimin mobilized troops from Beiping and Liaoxi to attack Yuyang; Dou Jiande ordered his left servant to shoot Qi Shanxing and Xingtai Cao Dan to attack Xu Yuanlang and Meng Haigong respectively, and he led an army of 100,000 to approach Xu Shiji's army.

Li Yuan and the others knew in their hearts that Chu Luo Khan had agreed to form an alliance, just to win public opinion among the people, standing at the height of righteousness, no one announced this matter to the outside world, and everything was going on quietly. Chuluo Khan had already made a plan, preparing to order Mohe to invade Wuyuan, Nibu and Liang Shi both went to Yinzhou, Chuluo's army attacked Taiyuan, and Tuli Khan gathered Xi, Jing, Khitan, and Jinqian to attack from Youzhou Dao.

The Hu and Han ten-way alliance army is even more powerful than the five-way strategy of cutting down Shu offered by Sima Yi during the Three Kingdoms; But just when Li Yuan and the others went all out and the army was exhausted, a surprising news came from the Turks that Chuluo Khan suddenly fell ill. It is said that the city of Dali was in chaos, and the envoys of all tribes were rushing to the court tent, and the first Bi Khan was assassinated when he was preparing to deal with Yang Chong, and the Luo Khan was so sick again, and no matter how dull the people were, they also understood that the Turks had a big deal.

The Hexi Army was not affected in any way, but changed its tactics, no longer continuing to approach Luoyang, but divided its troops to the south, attacking Shangnan, Luhun, Jutan and other counties, and forcing Dengzhou and Nanyang; Li Shentong and Li Jiancheng Chen Bing Jutan, and Wang Shichong sent the general Yang Gongqing to lead 20,000 troops to join forces with Xianzhou Assassin Shi Tian Zan to assist Li Tang in the battle. When the battle between the Tang Army and the Hexi Army was raging, a strange news suddenly turned the entire battle situation upside down.

Yang Gongqing and Zhang Xingcheng, the secretary of Zheng Guodu, who allocated grain and grass in Xianzhou, killed Tian Zhan, the assassin of Xianzhou, and led an army of 40,000 to attack Nanyang under the pretext of reinforcements. Before the thousands of defenders on the periphery of Nanyang City could react, they were all killed, and Li Yuan led more than 10,000 officials, harems, and troops to flee Dengzhou in a hurry; 30,000 Tang troops were suddenly attacked by the enemy, ten died in the first battle, more than 1,000 people such as Li Jiancheng and Qin Qiong fled, 7,000 surrendered, Wang Changhuan, the prince's protector, was killed in battle, and the main general Li Shentong, Gao Shilian, and Zhou Shaofan, the general of the chariot and cavalry, were captured.

It turned out that Xingyang, which was controlled by Li Tang, had become a piece of fat, and this fertile area west of Zhengzhou, east of Bishui Tiger Pass, north of Fuxi Mountain in the eastern section of the Songshan Mountains, and south of Guangwu Mountain had completely become an isolated island. Zheng Yuanshou, the general of Xingyang in Li Tang, and Liu Jun, the pacification ambassador of Henan Province, surrendered to Wang Shichong on behalf of Xingyang, Chenggao, Mi, Neimu, Yuanling and other counties, together with more than 20,000 Tang troops stationed in Xingyang.

The situation of the Turks became clear, and after a few days of vomiting blood, he took Wushisan, and died of a scab attack; He ascended the throne of the Great Khan and declared war and trade with the regimes of Yang Chong, Gao Kaidao, Yang Zhengdao, Liang Shidu, and Liu Wuzhou. In order to prevent the Turkic army being mobilized from attacking them, Dou Jiande and Li Shimin had to stop fighting in Hebei and Shandong and return to their own territory.

The victories in Hanoi and Nanyang meant that the Hexi Army had officially gained a firm foothold in the Kwantung region, and Shangshu Province suddenly announced that it would increase the administration of the ten counties of Hanoi, Liyang, Wei County, Nanyang, Shangluo, Hongnong, Huai'an, Qi, Jiyin, and Qian County in accordance with the plan discussed in advance. The sound of firecrackers in Chang'an City is continuous, and many shops are playing a game of discounting and urging sales, and from time to time a few smiling customers come out and leave satisfied.

In the attic room on the second floor of Jiangnan Restaurant, a table of wine and food is placed, surrounded by sandalwood; Li Wuji, the former owner of the South Tibetan Monastery of Tiemen Temple, was still rich, looked at the scenery downstairs, and said to Wei Yijie lightly: "It's not interesting for you to do this, Li Tang is already a passing eye, why bother to compensate yourself for a family affair." Say something that shouldn't be said, Li Tang can give you the glory and wealth, and Yue Guogong can also give it to you. ”

Wei Yijie originally followed Wei Yuanzhao to the Western Regions, and later took charge of the Wei family's Yushan, and when the family and Wei Yuanzhao turned their faces, they defected to Li Yuan and married their sister Wei Qi to Li Shimin; This was originally an obvious political marriage, and there was no need to think about the mess of morality, but Wei Yijie seemed to be obsessed with it, and he actually threw himself into such a dangerous game. As Li Yuan's brother, Li Wuji admits that he doesn't have the courage to go to the trouble, but after all, he has a good relationship with the Wei family, and he still hopes to persuade Wei Yijie not to do stupid things.

Wei Yijie took a sip of cold wine, looked down on Li Wuji's courage a little, and said sarcastically: "You are no longer the master of the Southern Tibetan Monastery of Tiemen Temple, why don't you go to Yang Chong for an official position." Li Xiaochang welcomed the Hexi army into the city, and now he is the squire of Shangzhu State, Yi'an County, and Criminal Department, is it happier than serving as the king of Yi'an in Li Tang. ”

Li Wuji shook his head with a smile and said: "Li Xiaochang is really happier than when he was in Li Tang, he is now the first person in the Li clan in Longxi to support Yang Chong, how could Yang Chong treat him badly." It is said that in Qinghai, Yang Chong allocated a piece of salt field to him, and also gave him a thousand acres of fertile land in Longxi. Yijie, Wei Yuanzhao will soon arrive in Chang'an, whether you want to do business or be an official, you can discuss with him. ”

"Not necessarily." As soon as the curtain was lifted, a bejeweled woman walked in, tall and thin, concave and convex, melon seed face, big eyes, and a jasmine feeling when she smiled, which made people involuntarily want to get close to Fangze. Li Wuji snorted, stood up and greeted: "It turned out to be Miss Xing Ruyan, I haven't seen her for a long time." ”

When Li Wuji was still the head of the Southern Tibetan Monastery of Tiemen Temple, he was a neighbor with Xing Ruyan, a famous prostitute in the south of the Yangtze River, and he had met several times; Xing Ruyan sat down beside Li Wuji and said with a smile: "Master Li has a good complexion today, although Wei Yuanzhao is deeply trusted by Yang Chong, he is unwilling to meddle in the affairs of the Wei family, it is said that he is not even willing to give up the shares of the jade mine that he has occupied, what kind of official can Master Wei give to him?" ”

Wei Yijie is a person who has done the history of Yuzhou Thorn, and his smaller official position is not eye-catching at all; Li Wuji was originally going to say a few perfunctory words, but when he saw Xing Ruyan's fingers casually drawing a flower on the teacup, he knew that if he didn't agree, he might even have to lose his life here. Li Wuji changed his smile and asked, "What advice does the girl have?" ”

Xing Ruyan poured himself a cup of tea and said: "Yang Chong is now personally leading the troops outside, which is an opportunity for us, we are ready to support Yang Yu, the acting king, as the emperor, and hope that Senior Li will participate in the grand event." I know that Senior Li has other identities, after the death of Master Fojia, only the predecessors know about the treasures in Tiemen Temple, and now is the time to play the role of that money. ”

(End of chapter)