Li Yuan stood on the bank of the Yellow River, the water of the Yellow River mixed with sediment rolled eastward, the sky was high and the clouds were light, only the lone boat fishing on the river was dotted, due to the war, the general merchant ships had taken the initiative to avoid, only the civilian ships at the ferry still came and went on both sides of the Yellow River; In the distant fields, the golden waves of wheat rise and fall with the autumn wind, flocks of birds peck at the fields, and farmers are busy harvesting wheat.

Li Yuan was a little restless, and Yang Chong's army was progressing more smoothly than expected; The ministers behind him were all pondering their own, Li Shimin stepped forward and said with a faint smile: "Father don't worry, Yang Chong will make up his mind and then act, when he promises us, I'm afraid he will have everything calculated." Running thousands of miles, there was no backup, and Yang Chong really went right, but when he conquered the territory of Yan'an County, we also arrived at Longmen. ”

Li Shimin has a majestic figure, sword eyebrows and starry eyes, wearing a silver chain of iron armor, and he does not lose his elegant style in the dragon and tiger steps; Li Yuan felt the cool breeze, shook his head and said, "You can't sit still, if Yang Chong crosses the river and arrives at Luliang Mountain, who knows what else will happen." We can't watch Yang Chong approach Taiyuan step by step in the name of quelling the rebellion. No, absolutely not, to stop him by all means. ”

Even if Yang Chong kept his promise and stopped at Lishi County and did not attack Taiyuan, Li Yuan was a little depressed when he thought that the wolf of the Hexi Army would be coiled in his backyard, and Li Shimin was about to persuade again, Duan Zhixuan hurriedly ran along the river embankment and said: "Tang Gong, something happened, Chang'an agreed to the surrender of Liang Shidu, and ordered Liang Shidu to guard Shuofang County." ”

Li Shimin's face turned cold, and he thought about it and said: "As long as Yang Chong crosses the Yellow River, Lishi County will be in chaos, and Wang Jian, the county guard, may not be able to control the situation; Yang Chong's goal is to leave Shijun and Zuoguocheng and control the area of Luliang Mountain, which is similar to the last time he sent Wuduan to occupy Liupan Mountain and attack Honghua County. In this way, even if we enter Chang'an, the territory in the west will be all obtained by Yang Chong, and it depends on whether Hedong County can hold it. ”

Li Yuan and the ministers were shocked, originally Li Shimin was prepared to ignore Qu Tutong in Hedong, and use all kinds of strategies in Guanzhong to contain Li Jing, forcibly cross the river, and break into Chang'an; Yang Chong In this way, Qu Tutong is likely to hand over Hedong to Yang Chong, then Guanzhong is almost under Yang Chong's three-sided attack, if Taiyuan is lost again, it will almost be left to guard Chang'an. Li Yuan frowned and asked puzzledly, "Could it be that Yang Chong got our plan?" ”

Li Shimin, Duan Zhixuan and others didn't dare to answer, and they also put a lot of effort into understanding Yang Chong, but only when they really faced it, did they realize how powerful Yang Chong was, every move seemed to be a hole candle opportunity, just like playing chess, taking the lead. Everyone didn't dare to speculate randomly, not to say that they were wrong, just guessing the turmoil of the investigation could make the army fall into chaos, and the results might not be found.

Li Shimin paused for a moment and said affirmatively: "I believe that Yang Chong calculated it even more, just like Dingxice." ”

Li Yuan bowed his head, clapped his hands and said: "The first time I fought with Yang Chong, it was a battle for the Mandate of Heaven, and at that time, I was just instigated by the Quentian Pavilion to try it, but I didn't expect to cause trouble for myself; Later, when I came to Bingzhou from the Western Regions, either I troubled him, or he troubled me. Yang Chong has always been not a simple person, he said that Shimin is one of the few generals in the world, and Li Jing and Xu Shiji of Wagang, but he has never used secret tricks; I don't understand Xiuning's matter until now, at least, if I were to be built, one of the people of the world should be a hostage. Since you can't understand it, you don't care about him, he beats him, I beat mine, and see whose life is hard. ”

In the minds of the ancients, the society of the country is also a nonsensical thing, there are many people who believe in fate in the emperor and general, and Li Yuan's heart for hegemony was provoked by Shi Shiliang when he met him, and he cared more about these. At the critical time, Li Yuan still showed the bearing and decisiveness that a hero should have, and the ministers spoke out in agreement; Li Shimin was speechless, and the question that had puzzled him for a long time floated in his heart, why did Yang Chong want the third sister to go to Zhangye, and is the third sister okay now.

Li Xiuning is doing very well, and is sandwiching a piece of tender lamb meat ready to be put into the hot pot to be hot; There are 12 kinds of hot pot ingredients on the table, both meat and vegetarian, with the aroma of hot pot permeating the room, which makes people have a great appetite. The men and maidservants on the side waited, and the guards who followed Li Xiuning all sat in the lobby, as long as Li Xiuning did not suddenly rush out of the hot pot restaurant, he would never step into the box half a step; Li Xiuning scalded the mutton, motioned to the maidservant to pour a glass of wine, and ate and drank it with taste.

Li Xiuning lived in Zhangye for two months, and gradually got used to this idle life, and found that Zhangye is a good place, in late summer and early autumn, the weather temperature is very high, and the ice in his residence is available at any time, as well as all kinds of ice products. It was getting colder, and the house was warmed with a kang and briquettes; Hot pot restaurants have become popular on the street, and three or five people get together to brush a pot of meat and vegetarian food, which does not cost much and eats happily.

Li Xiuning often comes out to eat hot pot now, and naturally all the guards who follow pay the bill, which is strange to say, the officials in Zhangye seem to have forgotten Li Xiuning, no one cares about her at all, and they don't seem to be afraid of Li Xiuning's contact with Li Yuan's people at all. Li Xiuning carefully observed, there seemed to be no requirement to apply for where he went to hang out in the city every day, and the guards who followed him did not run out every day to report; Li Xiuning concluded that this was a way to capture the old man, that is, to wait for himself to escape from Hexi, and then find an excuse to start a war with his father.

Li Xiuning was very concerned about his father Li Yuan's movements, but fortunately, in the streets and alleys of Zhangye, the government propaganda did not avoid these, and the news of Li Yuan's army kept coming. Li Yuan led an army of 30,000 to swear to the army, and officially set up troops in the name of "abolishing the faint and establishing the Ming, supporting the acting king, and restoring the Sui room"; After taking the oath, Li Yuan and his eldest son Jiancheng and his second son Shimin waved their troops south, breaking through Huoyi, Fenyang, and Jiangxian, and were rapidly advancing to Chang'an in the southwest.

Yang Chong's news was also public, occupying a large area of land in Yanchuan and other four counties, and establishing the four counties of Xiazhou, as long as he crossed the river from Yanfu County, he could reach Lishi County. According to Yang Chong's ability, Li Xiuning didn't think that Lishijun and Liu Miaowang could stop Yang Chong's footsteps, if Yang Chong didn't have any ideas about Taiyuan, he could solve the problem by sending a general. Li Xiuning's heart suddenly moved, and he stopped his chopsticks, feeling that he might have discovered a secret of Yang Chong, and he could deduce from the person who went to Lishi whether Yang Chong planned to capture Taiyuan.

(End of chapter)