Hebei, Zhaozhou. The capital of Liu Heimin, the king of Handong. Since the battle of Luoyang, with the help of the sneak attack of the Turkic Jieli Khan's 50,000 elite cavalry, the great victory over the king of Luoyang, the eastern capital left behind Li Daoxuan, due to the heavy snowfall, Li Daoxuan and the wall cleared, refusing to fight, Liu Heimin was forced to lead the troops back to Zhaozhou for two months. In the past two months, Liu Heimin has been preparing for the next attack on Datang.

A sergeant of the Xia Dynasty wearing a uniform and carrying a small flag galloped on his horse and arrived at the Xia army camp outside the city of Zhaozhou. got off the war horse, ran all the way, and came to the camp of Liu Heimin, the king of Handong.

Liu Heimin, the king of Handong, likes military affairs and has nothing to do, so he stays in the military camp at this time.

When the sergeant saw Liu Heimin, after saluting, he reported: "Li Jiancheng, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, was appointed by Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, as the generalissimo of Daxingtai in Eastern Shaanxi Province and Xingtai in Shandong Province, commanding 20,000 troops to conquer my Hebei, and now he has entered Luoyang City. ”

Hearing the sergeant's report, Liu Heimin laughed and said, "Twenty thousand troops? An army of 20,000 is trying to pacify my army of 400,000? Big joke! beat the drums to gather the generals, gather the soldiers and horses, capture Luoyang with me, and capture the Tang prince Li Jiancheng alive. ”

A few days later, Liu Heimin, the king of Handong, led an army of 400,000 to Luoyang City.

The city of Zhushui (Quzhou, Hebei), located in the first line of the confrontation between the Xia Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty and Liu Heimin, was controlled by Liu Heimin.

The city is built next to the water, and is made of huge stones, and the city is tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The river is narrow, and the current is deep and rapid. A stone bridge on the river leads directly to Hebei, and this stone bridge is the only stone bridge that is thousands of miles up and down the river. The city is located on the side of the Tang Dynasty, it is the bridgehead of the Xia Dynasty's army into Henan, and it is also a sharp sword hanging above the head of the Tang Dynasty, threatening Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty.

The sky is dark, the dark clouds cover the moon, and the entire city is melted into the boundless dark night, only the two military lights in front of the lord's mansion of the water city are flickering and flickering, like distant stars in the sky, fluttering with the wind.

Suddenly, as if the sky had fallen, a thunderous shout of killing suddenly erupted outside the City Lord's Mansion of the Water City, and in an instant, countless torches poured out, whistling and shouting, and rushed into the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord's Mansion was almost unprepared, and now it was attacked by someone at night in his sleep, and immediately fell into a boundless chaos, and the guards of the City Lord's Mansion fled in a daze, trampling on each other, and completely collapsed. Soon the sneak attacker entered the city lord's mansion and killed the city lord of the city of Muddy Water.

After dawn, the gate of the city was opened, and a young man in white led a team of guards to leave the city and galloped towards Luoyang, the eastern capital, not far from the city.

In the eastern capital of Luoyang, Wei Zheng, the military advisor built by the prince, hurriedly walked into the mansion built by the prince.

Seeing that the crown prince was completed, Wei Zheng saluted and said, "His Royal Highness the prince, good news, good news." Pan Daoyi, the head of the Pan family in the city, has always been inclined to my Tang Dynasty, and last night he personally led the guards in the clan to break through the mansion of the lord of the city and kill the lord of the city. This morning, Pan Daoyi's son has come to Luoyang and dedicated the city to the Tang Dynasty. ”

The crown prince was pleasantly surprised, and said, "The water city now belongs to my Datang?" Great, the water city is like a sharp sword, always threatening my Datang's eastern capital Luoyang and Henan, with the water city, my Datang will hold the hilt of this sword, and the sword will instantly be on the neck of the traitor Liu Heimin, and you can threaten the entire land of Hebei. It's just great. ”

Wei Zheng suggested to the crown prince: "Your Royal Highness the prince, for the sake of today, how to defend the water city? The city is very important, and this is a battleground for both sides. ”

The crown prince thought thoughtfully.

Qi Wang Yuanji, who was standing beside the prince, said: "Brother Prince, I recommend one person, and I will definitely be able to defend the water city." ”

Prince Jiancheng hurriedly asked, "Who is it?" Yuanji, who do you recommend? ”

Qi Wang Yuanji said: "Duke of Tanguo, Luo Shixin, the governor of Jiangzhou. ”

"Luo Shixin?" The crown prince was displeased. Li Shimin, the king of Qin, he is the most disgusted, Li Shimin's henchman loves Luo Shixin, and the crown prince is also very disgusted because of Li Shimin, the king of Qin.

Qi Wang Yuanji explained: "The water is a place where both sides must fight. Guarding the city of Zhushui must be a bitter battle, since it is a bitter battle, do you still use our people without his Qin King Li Shimin's people? No matter who has a loss, whether it is the king of Qin or the traitor Liu Heimin, they are all our enemies, and they are all good for us. ”

The prince suddenly realized: "Drive the wolf and chase the tiger, and we will reap the benefits of the fisherman." ”

Qi Wang Yuanji looked at the crown prince and nodded secretly.

The crown prince Jiancheng ordered Feng Li, the commander of the six guards of the East Palace: "Give Luo Shixin 5,000 soldiers and horses, and let him guard the city of Zhushui." ”

Qi Wang Yuanji hurriedly dissuaded: "Brother Prince, five thousand soldiers and horses are too many. Five hundred people are enough. ”

Prince Jiancheng was surprised: "Five hundred? ”

Qi Wang Yuanji said: "The traitor Liu Heimin is just a small trouble, he can't be pacified this time, and he can be pacified next time." King Qin is the confidant, if we are defeated by King Qin, we will completely die without a place to be buried, and there will be no chance to turn over. ”

The crown prince fell into thought.

Wei Zheng said: "Five hundred people guarding the city of Zhushui will not be able to stop the 400,000 army of the traitor Liu Heimin no matter what. His Royal Highness the King of Qi, are you giving up the military battleground of the Water City? ”

Qi Wang Yuanji smiled: "Lord Wei, you are confused. What's the use of defending a water city, the opportunity we are waiting for is that the traitor Liu Heimin has no grain and grass, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit, and then capture and kill the traitor Liu Heimin in one fell swoop. Consuming his soldiers and horses of King Qin, creating an opportunity for the prince's brother to defeat the traitor Liu Heimin, what is not to be done? ”

After thinking about it, the prince said: "What Yuan Ji said is extremely true. Then, he gave an order to Feng Li, the commander of the six guards of the East Palace: "Give Luo Shixin 500 soldiers and horses, and let him garrison the city of Zhushui." ”

"Yes." After Feng Li agreed, he turned to leave.

Looking at Feng Liyuan's back, Wei Zheng asked, "Five hundred soldiers and horses?" Will Luo Shixin go to garrison the city of water? ”

Qi Wang Yuanji said: "Your Majesty, a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses were given to the prince's brother to quell the rebellion. gave him five hundred soldiers and horses, how much more he wanted. Isn't he a world-famous general? Isn't it as famous as General Wei, the left leader of the Tang Dynasty, and Qin Qiong, who stepped on both sides of the Yellow River and beat one hundred and eight counties in six prefectures in Kyushu, Shandong? Isn't it easy to take the head of a general among thousands of troops? It was enough to give him five hundred soldiers and horses. ”

Wei Zheng was silent.