More than 20 carriages were frames of the heads of wealthy families in Jinyang or benchmark figures, including the special car of Pei Zhen, the head of the Pei family in Hedong, who could neither flee to the Turks, nor put down their faces and surrender to Yang Chong on their own initiative, and the best way was for Li Shimin to leave voluntarily. These people have all contributed to Li Yuan and Li Shimin, and it seems that they are all worried that after Yang Chong broke the city, he will look for compensation for the war for more than a year in them.

Yang Chong's friendliness to the people and the Hu people is well known, and similarly, Yang Chong's cruelty and ruthlessness to the wealthy families who are against him are also well-known all over the world. Yang Shanjing sighed, if Li Shimin disagrees, he is forcing the wealthy to take risks, if Li Shimin raises the butcher's knife like Yang Chong, Taiyuan may be able to hold it, and Chang'an may not need Yang Chong to send troops, and he will be in chaos.

is a good scheme, Li Shimin can obviously easily resolve it, for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, for the sake of the Li clan in Longxi in the gate valve, he can only obediently comply; In an instant, Yang Shanjing's understanding of Yang Chong's vicious methods rose to a new height. Two fast horses galloped from behind with the smell of gunsmoke, Zhang Changxun shouted and asked, "What's wrong, so panicked?" ”

Immediately, the officer leaned over and whispered: "Qingyuan Fort has been lost, Liu Shishan, the governor of Xizhou, has rebelled, and the Hexi army has been killed all over the world, and our army has been defeated." ”

Zhang Changxun was speechless, and hurriedly waved his hand and motioned for the officer to report the news quickly; Qingyuan Fort is the last barrier of Jinyang County in the south, and more importantly, there are still 20,000 Tang troops on the front line of Qingyuan Fort, which is the last main force in Li Shimin's hands. The other party has Liu Shishan as the internal response, and the time is accurate, that is, when Li Shimin returns to Jinyang to meet with the heads of several scholars; Yang Shanjing arrived at the Turkic post house and immediately asked Kang Sheli to inquire about the details.

In the evening, the gate of Jinyang City was closed, Kang Sheli came back with the news, after Liu Shishan rebelled, Su Dingfang, a young general of the Hexi Army, rushed directly to the tent of the eldest grandson Wuji, and forced to kill all the way, so that the eldest grandson Wuji could only flee and could not mobilize the army; Only Gongsun Wuda gathered less than 5,000 people to resist, and under the siege and killing of Yang Funian, Xunxiang, Zhen Zhai'er, and Liu Yun, he finally exhausted his strength and vomited blood and died.

Shi Wanbao collected the defeated soldiers, and less than 3,000 people returned to Jinyang with an army of 20,000, Pei Zhen, the head of the Pei family, Wang Shuyu, the head of the Taiyuan Wang family, and Wen Junyou, the head of the Wen family, are now in the same group with Li Shimin. Kang Shealy rubbed his hands together and said, "Amazing, amazing." All the previous actions were to let Li Shimin leave the front line, and then strike with all his might. Lord Yang, do you think Li Shimin will really give up Jinyang? ”

Yang Shanjing said with a smile: "Li Shimin still has more than 10,000 troops in his hands, but most of them are Taiyuan's subordinate soldiers, and the words of the family are more effective than Li Shimin." If Li Shimin insists on going his own way, if there is a second Liu Shishan, to put it mildly, if the various clans have already concentrated the family's private soldiers, Li Shimin will not even have the opportunity to set fire to the city now. What he is afraid of is Yang Chong, whether he is really willing to guarantee the safety of Li Shimin's southward journey. ”

Early the next morning, Kang Sheli got the news that Li Shimin was a person who did great things, and once he figured it out, he would not hesitate, and he had already sent Xue Shui to Yang Chong to discuss the way south. After Yang Chong met with Xue Shui, he replied very simply, and Li Shimin and others acted alone; The 10,000 Tang army was led by Xue Shu to the south, and after passing Tongguan, they returned their armor and horses.

Xue Shu asked casually, "Can I trust Yue Guogong?" ”

Yang Chong smiled and asked, "Can I trust Li Shimin?" ”

Xue Shu looked at Yuwen Chengdu beside Yang Chong and said: "The fierce generals under the Duke of Yue are like clouds, if the King of Qin is disarmed, he will become a fish on the chopping board, and he will no longer have the strength to fight back." If Yue Guogong has no better way, we would rather die in Jinyang. ”

Yang Chong took a sip of the tea in his hand and said lightly: "As long as Li Shimin is willing, you might as well give it a try." Li Shimin still has two days to go, and after two days, even if he opens the city and surrenders, I will not accept it, and all the soldiers who do not lay down their arms will be executed within two days, and the local people who participated in the defense of the city will sit together. ”

Xue Shui smiled and said: "Guogong, this price is a bit big, you have always advocated both love and pay attention to your reputation, for the sake of a Li Shimin, is it worth it?" ”

"It's worth it." Yang Chong said with certainty: "If there are 10,000 more deaths in Taiyuan, there will be 100,000 fewer deaths in Chang'an and Luoyang in the future." Although I don't approve of the use of heavy codes to govern troubled times, I will never sell my reputation and be deceived by people and gentlemen; There is no way, competing for the world, sometimes it is so cruel and goes against the original intention. ”

Yang Chong didn't have any excitement and pretentiousness, but made Xue Shui believe in Yang Chong's determination even more, Xue Shui's eyes burst with a spark of perseverance, and he said coldly: "Yue Guogong still showed his true face in front of interests? ”

Yang Chong spread his hands and said, "Otherwise, what else, tie yourself up and send it to Li Yuan for slaughter?" When Li Yuan destroyed the Yin Shishi and Guyi families in Chang'an, where was Mr. Xue? Where was the Tang army when the Turks were brutalizing the people in Jinyang? Li Yuan's father and son were only so arrogant when they reached an agreement on the exchange of interests with the so-called Gaodi Gate Valve at the beginning; In my eyes, they are not as good as Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong, and Du Fuwei, at most they are the same as Gao Kaidao and Liu Wuzhou. ”

Xue Shu's expression darkened, knowing what he was wrong, why Li Shimin, Pei Zhen and others were willing to sacrifice the city, not because they were afraid of their own life and death, but because Yang Chong really had a contempt for the scholars, once it reached that point, Yang Chong would never hesitate to use the butcher's knife. Xue Shui didn't give up, and continued: "Guogong, the people are innocent. ”

Yang Chong said solemnly: "The people who didn't take up arms are even more innocent, Li Yuan waved his pen, and the people of Wuyuan and other border areas were under the rule of foreign races. Xue Shu, if you really have pride, I will give you and Li Shimin a chance, you lead your troops to the north, as long as you recover Wuyuan, Yuzhong, Yulin and other counties that Li Yuan and his son betrayed to the Turks, I don't want Taiyuan. When you sent troops, you handed over Taiyuan City to the Pei family, the Wang family, and the Wen family, and I also opened up the trade routes to ensure the supply of materials. ”

Xue Shui was speechless, and instantly guessed Yang Chong's means after breaking the city, all the generals and scholars of the Tang Army would be executed in the name of traitors, and the official government would close the coffin, and the deceased would not even have a chance to turn over. Xue Shushu read history books, and naturally knew that history was written by the victors, and the five surnames and seven hopes could have a transcendent status, relying on mastering books and public opinion; As long as Yang Chong is the final winner, there is a way to splash dirty water on the losing opponent.

(End of chapter)