When Li Xuanba was still on the way, Li Jing had already arrived in Xingyang first. But Li Xuanba didn't expect Li Jing to come so quickly, and he didn't leave a token.

Although he knew that the city was a soldier of the imperial court, in the troubled times, there were not a few soldiers who rebelled, and Fang Xuanling certainly did not dare them to enter the city. Li Jing had no choice but to station the army outside the city. However, since Li Xuanba has returned, he will naturally not let them continue to stay outside the city.

Two thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry entered the city in a majestic manner, Li Xuanba looked at those well-equipped soldiers and understood that Li Yuan was not hiding his secrets, these 10,000 people may not be as good as the soldiers under Zhang Xutuo's command, but they are all people who have experienced the battlefield.

"The Wagang thieves have taken control of Dongjun, how could General Li come so quickly?" Li Xuanba and Li Jing stood on the city wall, seeing that the army had all entered the city, he raised his head slightly and asked. Li Jing has a sturdy figure, a head and a half taller than Li Xuanba, and in front of Li Jing, Li Xuanba is like a child.

From the beginning of seeing Li Xuanba, Li Jing's mood was very complicated, in his opinion, how could Li Xuanba be so young, how could he take on the responsibility of guarding a county? He even looked down on Li Xuanba a little, and only felt that he relied on Yang Guang's favor to get to where he is today.

"Returning to my lordship, the virtual is real, and the real is virtual." Li Jing deliberately made a fool of himself and replied: "The last general led the soldiers and horses to pass through the east of the river in a grand manner, and the Wagang thieves did not know the intentions of our army, so they naturally did not dare to send troops easily. ”

Li Jing's attitude was very arrogant, but Li Xuanba didn't care, he said slowly: "So, the Wagang thieves already know that Xingyang has reinforcements?" Li Mi is so shrewd, he shouldn't have the idea of fighting Xingyang again. ”

"Your Excellency borrowed troops from Taiyuan, isn't it planning to exterminate the Wagang thieves?" Li Jing frowned and said, "If it's just to keep Xingyang, isn't the soldiers and horses in the hands of the adults enough?" ”

"Do you know how many soldiers and horses the Wagang Thieves have?" Li Xuanba said coldly: "Exterminate the Wagang thief? General Li, how do you think you compare to General Zhang Xutuo? Even he didn't dare to lead troops to attack Wagang Village, who in the world do you think can use this bit of soldiers and horses to exterminate the Wagang thieves? Could it be that the general thinks he can? ”

Li Jing was stunned when he heard this, bowed his head and said nothing, although he had led his troops to repel the Turks, but he still did not dare to compare with Zhang Xutuo. Zhang Xutuo once dragged tens of thousands of troops with five horsemen, and Li Jing was ashamed of himself for this alone.

"The general's desire to serve the imperial court, Xuanba understands it very well." After Li Xuanba finished singing with a black face, he sang with a red face again, and he said: "There is a shortage of grain and grass in Dongjun, the Wagang thieves will definitely take action, and there will always be a time when the general will go into battle to kill the enemy in the future." The general's task now is to integrate the more than 20,000 soldiers in Xingyang City. ”

Li Jing looked at Li Xuanba in disbelief and said, "Lord Tongshou, are you relieved to hand over such an important matter to the end of the world?" "To integrate the army, the commander usually does it himself, otherwise the soldier doesn't know the commander, how can he let the soldier work for him? So it was difficult for Li Jing to understand Li Xuanba's thoughts.

"There is no suspicion in employing people, and there is no need to suspect people." Li Xuanba replied nonchalantly: "Xuanba invited you from Taiyuan, naturally hoping that the general can show his talents. ”

"Li Jing must live up to his mission." Li Jing bowed and replied respectfully.

"You go back and rest first, and tomorrow I will gather the other generals so that you can get acquainted with each other." Li Xuanba felt the change in Li Jing's attitude, and returned the salute and said: "In the future, General Lao will have a lot of trouble about leading troops to fight. ”

Li Jing nodded, said goodbye and left.

"Childe, was your decision too hasty?" When discussing with Fang Xuanling in the evening, Li Xuanba said that he planned to reuse Li Jing, and Fang Xuanling questioned it and said: "Although Gongzi can make General Li grateful to Dade by doing this, it is too risky. ”

"There are more than 20,000 people, half of them are General Zhang's soldiers and horses, and the other half are my father's soldiers and horses." Li Xuanba said with a smile: "No matter how capable Li Jing is, it is impossible for these 20,000 people to only obey his orders, where will there be any danger?" You don't need to persuade me about this, I know it in my heart. ”

Fang Xuanling didn't trust Li Jing, whether it was his loyalty to Li Xuanba or Li Jing's own ability. But Li Xuanba is not worried about these two issues, Li Jing can become a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, he must have real talent and real learning, and as for loyalty, Li Xuanba does not plan to rebel, Li Jing is loyal to him or loyal to the imperial court, in fact, it does not matter.

Li Xuanba has already made up his mind, and Fang Xuanling no longer persuades him, after all, from the time he knew Li Xuanba to the present, Li Xuanba's decisions are almost all correct.

"For some reason, my father did not intend to give up his military power." After talking about Li Jing, Li Xuanba mentioned Li Yuan again, and he said: "Actually, my father also has the intention of forcing His Majesty to abdicate, but he is not ready for the time being. ”

Fang Xuanling was silent for a moment and said: "Your Majesty has begun to suspect Tang Guogong, if you can't hide it from Your Majesty, I'm afraid that Tang Guogong will have to raise troops in advance." ”

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Li Xuanba nodded and said, "Sir, how do you think Xuanba should reply to Your Majesty?" ”

"First of all, Tang Guogong has never seen a secret envoy, and Tang Guogong's edict is also the first time he has seen it." Fang Xuanling frowned, quickly stretched out, and replied with a smile: "Childe can see the content of the edict?" ”

"When I'm bored on the road, I open it and take a look." Li Xuanba scratched his head embarrassedly and said: "Your Majesty asked my father to hand over the military power to Wang Wei and Gao Junya, the two deputy guards, probably because I was afraid that my father would use the Turkic southward as an excuse and was unwilling to break up the army. ”

Fang Xuanling chuckled, didn't ask Li Xuanba about peeking at the edict, and said: "If those two deputy tongshou collude with the Turks, Gongzi thinks that Tang Guogong should hand over the military power?" Even if Your Majesty doesn't believe it and sends someone to investigate, it will take a month for Jiangdu to go back and forth from Taiyuan, which should be enough for Tang Guogong to prepare for the army. ”

In fact, when Li Xuanba saw the content of the edict, he thought of this method. Yang Guang was able to tolerate the people of the Great Sui gathering to be thieves, but he could not tolerate the invasion of foreign races, and the names Goguryeo and Turkic have always been a big problem for Yang Guang.

Since Yang Guang has begun to doubt Li Yuan, it is better to make him more suspicious, and it is best not to believe anyone. What Li Yuan needs is not Yang Guang's trust, it's just time.

"Mr. Lao Fu will help Xuanba write a note, and I will send someone to Jiangdu tomorrow." Li Xuanba arched his hand and said: "Xuanba's handwriting is really ashamed to show people. Fang Xuanling did not shirk, nodded in response, and indirectly admitted that Li Xuanba's handwriting was ugly, which embarrassed Li Xuanba.

Fang Xuanling went back to the room to draft the recital, Li Xuanba was also tired after a day on the boat, he washed up, lay down on the bed, thought about some messy things, and then lost sleep again.