Huoyi County is located in the middle of the Bird Mouse Valley.

From Taiyuan Trail to Guanzhong, you have to pass through Hedong, but you have to go to Hedong, and you have to go through the Sparrow Mouse Valley first.

Under the pressure of Luliang and Wangwu Mountains, the Bird Mouse Valley is actually the main road connecting Taiyuan and Hedong, the terrain is narrow and rugged, and Huoyi County is in the middle of the Bird Mouse Valley, which is the checkpoint of the main road.

Li Yuan was in Huoyi City at the moment, frowning, anxious in his heart.

He is not easy to be an ambassador of comfort, he seems to be glorious, but he is similar to the guard of the Eastern Capital, Shaoqing, flashy and unrealistic, strong on the outside and capable in the middle.

When the news of the siege of Taiyuan City reached Li Yuan's ears for the first time, he could only sigh that God was really mean to him. As an imperial prince, he has been the object of ridicule by the emperor all his life, his surname is Li, but after the fall of the Li valve in the eastern capital, he is the only person surnamed Li among the officials who does not fall but rises, others are envious, but he knows it. Of course, this is due to the sacrifice of the third Li Xuanba, but there is also a very important point that Yang Guang, who is ambitious and talented, has always looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.

Being looked down upon is sometimes a blessing, and when Li Yuan thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a little sad in his heart. After the New Year, he was also half buried, he only thought that under Yang Guang's hands, it was already good to have a good end in this life, but he didn't expect Yang Guang to let him be an ambassador of Hedong and Shanxi to comfort him, this is a nominal official title, in fact, anyone who holds military power looks down on him. It's just that this is also an official title with a lot of things, some time ago he defeated the Wuwei of Longmen, and in a blink of an eye he caught up with the siege of Yanmen, he worked hard to recruit rescue soldiers, and did not wait to get to Taiyuan, but was pulled out by Xiao Buyi, fortunately, Li Shimin finally had some credit for King Qin, and he was without merit. But in a blink of an eye, Li Shanfei attacked Taiyuan City again, and he couldn't help it.

If there is a big chaos today, not only Shandong, Hebei, Henan and other places are full of smoke, but even began to spread to the fortress of Shanxi, Li Yuan clenched his fists when he thought of this, it seems that the world has changed from small chaos to medium chaos. Now, if the Sui room falls, the world will be in chaos in an instant, he doesn't think about the Sui room, he always has to think about the Li family. But now Xiao Buyi, as the general of the right Xiaowei, is in charge of Hedong and Shanxi, regardless of asking, this is a move by the saint, he raised Xiao Buyi to fight against the Guanlong lords, maybe he also let him monitor himself by the way, Xiao Buyi won and the foundation is unstable, don't be too jealous, Xiao Buyi loses for him Yang Guang, it doesn't hurt his muscles and bones, it's a big deal to find another person to carry the black pot. The Guanlong lords must have also known the emperor's intentions, otherwise they would not have been slow to send troops in the siege of Yanmen, and the thieves in Lishan Fei sat back and ignored them, although the saint was the son of heaven, but they were helpless.

"Dad, the child wants to invite a team of elite soldiers to raid Lishanfei." Li Shimin walked in at some point and said loudly.

"Nonsense." Li Yuan's contemplation was interrupted, and he couldn't help but scold: "Shimin, you are becoming more and more ignorant now, how can you dare to enter the Sparrow Mouse Valley alone with a few hundred soldiers, if it weren't for the fact that your father led the troops and then rushed to take you back to Huoyi, you might have died at this moment, do you know?" ”

Li Shimin was a little unconvinced: "Dad, I think you are too cautious, Lishanfei is just a group of rogues this time, what can I do, if I come to lead the troops, I will arrive at Jiahu Fort early, and defend according to the danger, why should I be trapped here?" Now the Jiahu Fort, which has been robbed by Alexandra for dozens of miles in the northwest, is fighting against us at risk. There are only 2,000 soldiers in the city, so when will it take to defend or defend it? Now Lishan Fei reinforcements are arriving in an endless stream, although they are not moving, they can capture Taiyuan City, it is inevitable that they will not go straight south, and then we will bear the brunt of Huoyi, alone, and sooner or later they will not be able to hold it. ”

Li Yuan frowned and scolded: "What do you kid know, do you think you and Yun Dingxing will know how to use soldiers when they go to Xinkou?" I'm telling you, you're still too far away! You have to have half of your eldest brother's calmness and pragmatism, why are you and I trapped like this now? I usually told you to read more about the art of war, how can you read it? Although the terrain of Jiahu Fort is dangerous, but our troops are limited, and it is easy for Lishanfei to break through the scattered garrison, and now two thousand elite soldiers are guarding Huoyi, pinching Lishanfei's southward artery, Huoyi has no worries about grain and grass, and it will not be able to conquer it for several months, but your eldest brother and infantry can arrive soon, and it is not too late to plan again. Now the thieves are strong, we bring our own hard-recruited soldiers, extremely useful to our Li family, hundreds of war horses are also raised for a long time, you took hundreds of horses to break into Jiahu Fort, lost half of the horses, my hard work has been abolished by you, you still have the face to ask me for elite soldiers? ”

"Then Taiyuan won't be saved?" Li Shimin was unconvinced and said: "Dad, if Taiyuan City is lost, the Holy Lord will definitely find trouble for you." ”

Li Yuan snorted coldly, "You know to save, save, save immediately, do you know that Taiyuan City is an important city for the Great Sui, the soldiers are good enough to eat, even if Lishan Fei conquers it, how can the imperial court watch it fall into the hands of thieves, how long can he occupy it?" Now that bandits are rampant in the Central Plains, Zhai Rang, Dou Jiande, Wang Bo, and Du Fuwei are all considered to have been rebellious for a long time, who can capture the important town and defend it? Besides, the city of Taiyuan is thick and thick, how did Lishan Fei overcome it eagerly? The thieves are greedy for money and spare their lives, of course they will not sacrifice their lives to attack, we dragged the thieves, and naturally we will be considered a credit. If you were to be asked to choose the same as sacrificing the elite soldiers of the Li family in the siege of Taiyuan City, how would you choose? ”

Li Shimin said after a while: "Then I am afraid that the credit for relieving the siege of Taiyuan this time will be robbed by Xiao Buyi again." ”

"You've finally got some insight this time." Li Yuan suddenly sighed, "Shimin, you don't know the difficulties of being a father, now the saint is suspicious and suspicious, he promoted me and Xiao Buyi at the same time, but with Li Jing, his intention is self-evident, he wants us to help him die, and he wants us to contain each other." Even if you send troops to relieve the siege of Taiyuan City, you may not be jealous and slandered, but you will cause trouble, and we will not allow you to squander it anymore. ”

"Li Jing seems to have two shots with soldiers." Li Shimin suddenly asked, "But Dad, you and him have always had contradictions, Xiao Buyi is powerful, Li Jing is afraid that it will give you a headache for Dad." ”

Li Yuan was silent for a long time before he said: "For my father's own plans, Shimin, you must remember that you must not act rashly and send troops again." After your mother passed away, let me take good care of your brothers and sisters, Xuanba just went, it already made my heart ache, I don't want to send white-haired people to black-haired people, so how can I explain to your mother under Jiuquan? ”

When he said this, his eyes were a little red, and Li Shimin said for a long time: "Dad, I was wrong, next time I will definitely not be greedy and rash to worry you." ”

Li Yuan smiled and patted the back of Li Shimin's hand, "That's the best." ”

**When Li Yuan's father and son were talking, a person outside the door suddenly arrived in a hurry, "Lord Li, things are strange. ”

"Zhixuan, what's the matter?" Li Yuan stood up, "Has the enemy army attacked the city?" ”

The person who came was a slightly stocky medium stature, with a black face and big eyes, and a stubble of iron and blue, "Lord Li, the thieves in the north of the city are in chaos, and their subordinates have asked if they want to take the opportunity to attack." ”

Li Yuan frowned, the person who came was called Duan Zhixuan, he was born in the military, he used to be just a team, but he was brave and good at using soldiers, Li Yuan rushed to rescue him this time and brought him to his side.

Hearing Duan Zhixuan's suggestion, Li Yuan grabbed his wrist, "Zhixuan, take me there." ”

Li Shimin followed behind the two excitedly, and suddenly thought of something, "Dad, is it Xiao Buyi and their reinforcements have arrived?" ”

Li Yuan frowned and said, "If he wants to rescue, he will go to Taiyuan City first, how can he arrive at the Sparrow Mouse Valley soon?" ”

Knowing that Duan Zhixuan was very steady and would never be untargeted, Li Yuan led the two of them up to the city tower, raised his eyes and looked over, only to see that the thieves were already in chaos, shouting and clamoring for conflicts. A team of men and horses fought across the country, and the thieves were torn apart.

"Dad, that person is Li Jing." Li Shimin shouted loudly.

Although Li Yuan is old, his eyes are not dazzling, and when he saw Li Jing galloping across the country, killing all directions in a majestic manner, he was stunned: "He is not with Xiao Buyi, how can he come here to help me?" Could it be that the siege of Taiyuan City has been lifted, how is this possible? ”

Li Yuan's suspicion is not unreasonable, just because he knows that Li Shanfei is known as a hundred thousand troops besieging Taiyuan City this time, although there are more than 10,000 people in the Bird Mouse Valley, but Xiao Buyi took office in a hurry, and the troops mobilized are more than 10,000 at most, and they can solve the siege of Taiyuan is not bad, how can they still have the spare strength to hit the Bird Mouse Valley?

"Master Li, do you want to send troops?" Duan Zhixuan asked in a low voice.

Li Yuan's heart was slightly cold, and when he saw that the thieves were already scattered, although he was reluctant, he could only say: "Zhixuan, you opened the city and brought five hundred elite soldiers to help Li Juncheng." ”

"Order." Duan Zhixuanru flew down the city gate tower and ordered the elite soldiers out of Huoyi City, but at this moment, the suppression of bandits outside the city had come to an end, and when he saw that a team of elite soldiers had been killed in the city, he had already lost his fighting spirit and fled for his life. After Duan Zhixuan and Li Jing converged, they were in a mess, and the fields were mourning.

"Dad, what do we do now?" Li Shimin wanted to fight too, but was stopped by Li Yuan, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Since he gave up the idea of being a ranger, he has always longed for Li Jing to be like this, but he has never had a chance.

This time, he was going to take hundreds of elite soldiers to attack the bandits, but if it weren't for his father, maybe he would have been in the wilderness long ago, and using soldiers was indeed not as simple as he imagined.

"Welcome Li Jing into the city, but didn't Xiao Buyi come?" Li Yuan muttered to himself.

**When Li Jing entered Mayi City, he was not as high-spirited as Li Yuan imagined, and Li Jing could be said to be a completely businesslike face.

Li Yuan looked at Li Jing's face and actually wanted to fight, he felt that Li Jing's attitude towards him was very disrespectful.

From Xijing to Dongdu, Li Jing was trampled under his feet, and people have been stepped on many times, and they also want to step on people. Li Yuan has not been comfortable all his life, and when he sees Li Jing's life even more uncomfortable, he always feels a little relieved, but Li Jing always has a posture that is higher than him.

The last time he went to Li Jing to ask for a horse, he was flatly rejected by Li Jing, Li Yuan felt very angry, but soon found out that the white horse was actually Xiao Buyi's, so he quickly dispelled the idea of begging for a horse, but what he didn't expect was that Xiao Buyi inexplicably bowed to Li Jing, and now, Li Jing, a small county man, looks even more arrogant than him, the ambassador of comfort.

"Li Juncheng, I didn't expect you to arrive in the Bird Mouse Valley soon, I don't know where General Xiao is now?" Li Yuan asked with some humility.

Li Jing's answer was simple and clear, "General Xiao set out with an army of 5,000 from Mayi, defeated tens of thousands of ambushes of Lishanfei more than 100 miles north of Taiyuan City, and relieved the siege of Taiyuan by the way, and beheaded the enemy general Yang Defang. Knowing that Li Shanfei still had the rest of the people confronting Lord Li in the Bird Mouse Valley, he asked the lower officials to come to help the adults. It's just that after Lishan flew away and fled, he didn't stay after arriving in the Bird Mouse Valley, and left directly with the elite soldiers, leaving behind only a group of rabble who didn't know the truth. This allowed the subordinate to take advantage of the situation and succeed in one blow, which is ashamed to say. ”

Although Li Jing said it respectfully, when it came to the rabble who didn't know the truth, Li Yuan felt as if he had been slapped in the face, and said after a while: "I see, but I neglected to overlook." It's just that God bless the Great Sui, with famous generals like Li Juncheng leading the army, the old man is old. ”

When he said that when he was old, he shook his head again and again, but he held down Li Shimin's hand.

Li Shimin originally wanted to theorize, but finally swallowed this breath, he was indeed very unconvinced. Li Jing brought 2,000 soldiers this time, and if he also gave him 2,000 elite soldiers according to Li Shimin's idea, he would not necessarily do worse than Li Jing. However, the military power is always in the hands of his father, and he has been lobbying for a long time with hundreds of people, if there are really two thousand elite soldiers available, he will march all the way, and he may have hit Taiyuan City at this moment.

Thinking of his father's fear of wolves and tigers, and the psychology of not seeking merit but seeking no fault, Li Shimin could only sigh, in his opinion, it is necessary to avoid indecision in war, how can his father get credit for this method of leading troops?

"Now that the siege of Huoyi has been lifted, the lower officials are preparing to turn around today, I don't know what else Lord Li has to order?"

"Why did Li Juncheng leave so early, he always had to rest."

Li Jing smiled, "Lord Li is really polite, General Xiao asked the lower officials to turn around immediately after relieving the siege of Huoyi, there must be other orders, and the lower officials did not dare to disobey the order." ”

Li Yuan hesitated, "The old man, as an ambassador of comfort, since he knows that General Xiao is in Taiyuan City, and he only goes to the thieves, of course he has to go to see the situation, but he can go all the way with Li Juncheng." ”

**When Li Yuan arrived in Taiyuan City, he found that there were more than 2,000 right guards in the city, and he couldn't help but be secretly frightened.

Originally, I always thought that Li Jing was somewhat exaggerated, but after a little calculation, I knew that Xiao Buyi did not lead many troops this time.

Xiao Buyi and Li Jing joined forces, only brought more than 5,000 soldiers, and broke the thieves with tens of thousands, and the Lishan Flying Desert fled, with this battle, it can almost be compared with Zhang Xutuo, Wang Shichong, Yang Yichen and a group of famous generals.

With these two people sitting in Hedong, Shanxi, he Li Yuan's words don't look good.

Li Yuan is not not good at using the army, in fact, he is also a rare handsome talent, which can be seen only by using more than 1,000 soldiers to defeat Longmen. However, he led the army to strive for victory in a stable manner and won the battle with one blow. If you have 5,000 elite soldiers, I feel that there will be no problem in defeating Lishan Fei, the key is whether you can fight so cleanly or not, it is still debatable.

However, Li Yuan, who came to Taiyuan City, couldn't think too much about it, after all, he Li Yuan and Xiao Buyi had never had any conflict, and this time Xiao Buyi sent Li Jing to Huoyi to relieve the siege, on the one hand, it may be to show off his prestige, and on the other hand, it may also be to win over.

Li Yuan never knew Xiao Buyi's thoughts, let alone Xiao Buyi's intention to hug his thighs at the beginning, but he was thinking about the little Jiujiu in his heart.

When he saw Xiao Buyi, he was accompanied by Murong Luoyu, a partial general of Taiyuan City, and a group of Taiyuan City officials, Li Yuan strode forward, saw Xiao Buyi stand up to greet him, took advantage of the situation and grabbed Xiao Buyi's hands, and said with a hearty smile: "General Xiao, farewell to the Eastern Capital, I didn't expect to see the general's majesty today." As early as when I was in the Eastern Capital, I knew that General Xiao was by no means a thing in the pool, and now I can see the general and eliminate ugliness, which is really comforting. ”

When everyone saw him with a beard, they couldn't say that they were groveling in front of Xiao Buyi, but the meaning of clinging was obvious, and many people showed disdain.

Li Shimin followed behind Li Yuan, and also echoed: "When Xuanba was here, he sighed that he was not as good as Brother Xiao, but now if he knows under the spring and knows that Brother Xiao has finally shown his strengths, he must also be gratified." ”

"Shimin, how can you be called like General Xiao." Li Yuan turned around and reprimanded.

Xiao Buyi said with a smile: "Lord Li is really serious, I am still the cloth Yi from the Eastern Capital, and I am also a friend of Brother Xuanba, the people call me that, I can only be happy." It's just that I'm busy for a while, and I don't have time to worship Brother Xuanba, which is rude. ”

Li Yuan's eyes were a little red, and his throat was choked in an instant, "General Xiao is so affectionate, it really touches the old man." General Xiao only relieved the siege of Yanmen and broke the Lishan Snitch Army, even if he didn't go to see Xuanba, I think this friendship is also touching. ”

Xiao Buyi took Li Yuan's hand and sat down, like an affectionate old friend, and the officials next to him also sat down with a sigh, waiting for General Xiao's orders.

Originally, Taiyuan was the largest in Taiyuan City, and Taiyuan Left-behind Mansion was under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan, Mayi, Yanmen, Loufu and Xihe five counties, and the power chased the generals of the Twelve Guards.

Pan Changwen was appointed to stay in Taiyuan for a few days, and he was appointed at the same time as Xiao Buyi.

It is only because there are many thieves in Shanxi, coupled with the recent Turks here, that they are at odds with the Turks, and Yang Guang's original intention was to rule the five counties and send troops to fight against the Turks, so there is this Taiyuan to stay.

didn't expect Pan Changwen to be left behind, maybe he was eager to perform meritorious service and prove his competence, or he couldn't hold his breath, he was provoked by Lishanfei and led the army to fight, but he was booby-trapped by Lishanfei.

After Xiao Buyi defeated the remnants of Li Shanfei, he first reported the specific situation of quelling the chaos to the upper level, according to the usual words, the saint wanted to reappoint Taiyuan to stay in this position, he didn't have anything important to do when he came, and he had to deal with the aftermath when he came, and he stayed in Taiyuan City for a while.

Some of the people present knew and some didn't, but Xiao Buyi acted as the master and introduced Li Yuan one by one.

Li Yuan didn't let Li Shimin speak, but he was afraid that he would say something wrong, although most of them knew each other, they still greeted each other one by one.

Xiao Buyi watched coldly, and secretly said that Li Yuan's old slippery and forbearance skills were extremely powerful, making people unable to grasp the handle.

Li Yuan has never let others feel that he is a threat, which is actually a skill to survive in troubled times.

In addition to the partial general Murong Luoyu, there were also Wang Wei, Gao Junya, deputy guards of Taiyuan, Sima Liu Zhenghui of Taiyuan Yingyang Mansion, and others.

Wang Wei looks like a weak scholar, smiling before speaking, very amiable, Gao Junya is powerful, more like a butcher, both of them seem to be unworthy of their names, as for whether they are the same on the outside or not, it is unknown. Liu Zhenghui looks like a gentleman, and Mr. Teach.

Li Yuan was very polite to Wang Wei and Gao Junya, but politeness was sometimes a kind of estrangement, and he pulled his hand towards Liu Zhenghui and asked, "Ling Zun is Liu Youcheng?" ”

Liu Zhenghui had a somewhat surprised expression, and said after a while: "I don't want Lord Li to know the cheap name." ”

Li Yuan laughed, "The Liu clan of Luoyang is one of the eight Xianbei surnames in the Kanto region, how dare I not know?" ”

He asked rhetorically, and Liu Zhenghui's eyes showed warmth, and he just said, "Master Li laughed." ”

Xiao Buyi has been in Taiyuan City for a few days, and he knows a little bit of the inside story. Liu Zhenghui, this Liu is not a surname in the Central Plains, but Liu who changed his surname to Xianbei Dugu during the period of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. This Liu is one of the eight surnames of Xianbei in the Kanto region, and it is quite influential in the Kanto, Liu Zhenghui's father was the Shangshu Youcheng of the Great Sui, so Li Yuan asked Lingzun if he was Liu Youcheng?

Everyone greeted each other for a while, and sat down according to their dignity, but they all felt that they had nothing to say for a while.

There are a lot of sycophants, and they are also numb, and they want to talk about the topic, but they are wary of each other. In addition to Liu Zhenghui, Li Yuan, Murong Luoyu, Wang Wei, and Gao Junya all seemed to be wary of each other.

When Xiao Buyi saw everyone's expressions, he secretly laughed and felt the subtleties. As soon as Pan Changwen died, the position left behind in Taiyuan seemed to be a piece of fat, and there were really many people who wanted it.

Of course, there are many people who are in line with this left-behind position, Gao Junya and Wang Wei are both deputy left-behind, and it is normal for them to ascend in turn, but Murong Luoyu feels that he has led the army to defend Taiyuan City, and he has made a huge contribution, saying that he doesn't want this left-behind position to be fake. But the biggest threat to the three of them is Li Yuan, after all, Li Yuan has no merit, and he also has hard work, plus he is a royal prince, and now he is slowly gaining Yang Guang's trust, and it is very possible to be left behind in Taiyuan. Of course, he Xiao Buyi is also a strong contender for this position, and no one can compare with him. After all, it is not a boast of a war feat to defeat the tens of thousands of thieves in Lishan Fei with 5,000 Sui troops, although Li Jing's campaign to quell the chaos accounts for the vast majority of the credit, but Xiao Buyi is the head of the camp after all, and he has always been his subordinates who work hard, and it is the leader who shows his merits, which is the case in ancient and modern times.

But Xiao Buyi felt that he had the least chance of becoming this left-behind guard, just because now he was the best official, as the general of the right Xiaowei, if he concurrently served as the Taiyuan guard, it would be equivalent to Yang Guang completely handing over Shanxi to him Xiao Buyi, with Yang Guang's suspicious surname, with their current situation, Yang Guang would definitely not deal with it like this.

"It's okay, then let's all go back and rest." Xiao Buyi had a headache when he thought about it, but he didn't want to ask for it, so he explained, and walked out of the government office, preparing to return to the general's mansion.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what was wrong with the general's temper, so they got up and said, "Send the general." ”

Xiao Buyi didn't turn back, but he felt that Li Yuan and Li Shimin were all saluting behind him, respectful with awe, and he didn't know how to feel for a while.

If he still has to hug Li Yuan's thigh now, it sounds crazy.

After Xiao Buyi returned to the General's Mansion, he saw Li Jing sitting in the hall, like a wood carving, and couldn't help but smile: "Second brother, who do you say will be left behind in Taiyuan?" ”

"Li Yuan." Li Jing said without hesitation.

Xiao Buyi was stunned, "Why is the second brother so sure?" ”

"You are now a master, your power and prestige are unparalleled for a while, and you have a bit of capital to fight against the Guanlong Hedong valve, but it is inevitable that you will not be suspected of slander. In order to prevent you from becoming dominant, the saint must find a person to balance you, otherwise he would not have appointed you as the general of the right Xiaowei, but he gave the position left behind in Taiyuan to others, but Gao Junya and Wang Wei are obviously not enough to confront you, Li Yuan is deep and forbearing, and it is still not a bad chess piece to deal with you. The corners of Li Jing's mouth showed a sneer, "Of course you understand this, otherwise you wouldn't have asked me." ”

Xiao Buyi smiled and said, "Then how do we deal with it?" ”

Li Jing said lightly: "What to do, just do it, what does Li Yuan have to do with you?" ”

The advice he gave was perfectly correct, no matter what, just go your own way. Xiao Buyi only smiled bitterly when he heard this, he didn't bother to think about it anymore, and a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Although I'm not sure who sits in the position left behind in Taiyuan, I can calculate one thing." ”

"What's the matter?" Li Jing asked curiously.

"I calculate that we can make a windfall in the next few days," Xiao Buyi said lazily: "Second brother, you just wait to share the spoils." ”.

(To be continued)