Zhou Meng did not disappoint Laihu'er, it only took two days for the people he sent to dig through the stone wall, find the undercurrent of the water source, and lead all the mountain springs to the outer city, the roaring spring water flowed out of the stone wall, all the way out of the cave, and flowed down the mountain along the stone wall outside, forming a new mountain stream.

Laihu'er was overjoyed, rewarded twenty-four cave masons, and ordered 8,000 soldiers to go up the mountain to prepare to intercept the breakthrough of the Goguryeo soldiers.

The mountain spring water was led away for the five thousand Goguryeo soldiers on the mountain, it was undoubtedly a fatal blow, although there was a lot of food, but there was no water, they could not hold on for three days, on the afternoon of the third day, the soldiers guarding the stone wall received a letter from the mountain, the Goguryeo army could not find a new water source in two days, and at the same time exhausted the last drop of stored water, the whole army fell into a desperate situation, they were forced to surrender to the Sui army.

At the request of Laihu'er, the 5,000 Goguryeo soldiers were divided into ten teams and surrendered in turn, each soldier was shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts, and did not have any weapons in his hands, and walked down to surrender with his hands raised.

Lai Hu'er looked at the groups of Goguryeo soldiers who went down the mountain naked and surrendered, and couldn't help but smile proudly, he remembered what Zhang Xuan said before he set out on the expedition, "If Gong can take the Liaodong Peninsula without blood, I will make Gong a general." ’

At this time, the city of humble luxury was taken, which meant that the Liaodong Peninsula fell into the hands of the Sui army

In Pyongyang City, a splendid carriage drove into the palace under the escort of dozens of cavalry, stopped in front of a large hall, and a guard stepped forward to open the door of the carriage and helped Mo Lizhi Yuan Taizuo get out of the carriage, Yuan Taizuo was draped in a black coat, his skin was pale, and a pair of slender eyes flashed with a terrifying cold light.

With a scepter in his hand, he walked briskly towards the main hall under the guidance of several guards.

The power struggle within Goguryeo continued, and the relationship between the three powerful ministers of Yuan Taejo, Kwon Huan, and Ulji Moondeok was at the right time, constantly stirring up storms in Goguryeo, but because Yuan Taizuo had the support of Baekje and the Khitan, he gained the upper hand in the power struggle.

However, despite the internal power tilt of Goguryeo, there was a striking unanimity in their attitude towards the Sui dynasty, and all three believed that the great rebellion at the end of the Sui Dynasty was an opportunity for them to seize Liaodong, and if they could deploy their troops to the line of Linyu Pass in Beiping County, then they would have the capital to fight for the Central Plains.

At this time, the defeat of the traditional ally Gao Lie made them find an excellent excuse to march into the Central Plains and support the restoration of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

"Don't leave Lord Zhi!"

With the shouts of the guards, Yuan Taizuo walked into the main hall quickly, and several ministers sitting in the hall stood up one after another, in addition to Yizhi Wende and Quan Huan, there were also two young imperial generals, Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen, the two of them were the result of the compromise between Yuan Taizuo and Gao Yuan, and divided half of the army guarding the capital to the imperial commander.

Gao Yuan, the king of the infant sun, sat high on the throne, his face was still as bloated as before, his eyes seemed to be unable to open, only a thin slit was exposed, and his fat body made it difficult for him to get up.

"Lord Mo Lizhi walks like the wind, and seems to have brought important news?" Gao Yuan's deep voice echoed in the main hall.

Yuan Taizuo stepped forward and bowed, "Back to His Majesty the King, Weichen did bring two important news, just half an hour ago, Weichen received an eagle letter from Beilu City, and the Sui army began to attack Beilu City in a big way. ”

This news caused an uproar in the hall, and Gao Yanshou asked loudly: "May I ask Lord Mo Lizhi, where did the Sui army come from?" ”

Yuan Taizuo's snort! "It seems that General Gao has just returned from hunting in the mountains, and he doesn't know that the current Sui army is another name for Zhang Xuan's army!" ”

Gao Yanshou is tall and handsome, he is a well-known beautiful man in Goguryeo, and he is brave and good at fighting, and Yuan Taizuo's son Yuan Gai Suwen is known as the hero of the younger generation of Goguryeo, he also realized that he had said the wrong thing, his face flushed, and he hurriedly argued: "Of course I know that it is Zhang Xuan's army, I just want to ask how many troops attacked the city of Beixuan?" ”

"I don't know how many troops there are, but since Ning Hanyi sent an eagle letter, it means that it is not a simple temptation, but a large-scale attack, with at least more than 20,000 troops."

"May I ask Lord Mo Lizhi, how should we deal with it?" Another young general, Gao Huizhen, asked.

Yuan Taizuo glanced at Quan Huan, only to see that he was in a state of concentration with his eyes closed, as if everything that happened had nothing to do with him, Yuan Taizuo couldn't help but curse secretly, "Bastard thing!" ’

Of course, Yuan Taizuo knew the reason for Quan Huan's indifferent attitude, because the Liaodong Peninsula was his fiefdom of Yuan Taizuo, and the soldiers on it were all his army, and Quan Huan's sphere of influence was in the east, so Quan Huan never asked about the Liaodong Peninsula, indicating his attitude of staying out of the matter.

But Quan Heng has a premise for staying out of the matter, that is, he can't harm his interests, once Yuan Taizuo's actions damage his Quan Huan's interests, then he will also not forgive.

Yuan Taizuo's eyes fell on Ezhi Wende again, since Yuan Taizuo came to report this matter to Gao Yuan, it meant that he hoped that the imperial court would solve the matter, rather than completely consuming his resources, Yuan Taizuo asked with a dry smile: "What do you suggest?" ”

Yizhi Wende smiled faintly, "The soldiers are coming, the water is flooding, since the Sui army is attacking the Liaodong Peninsula, it is enough to send troops to support, but I am more concerned about the situation in Liaodong, now that it is spring, we should be able to enter Liaodong." ”

At this time, Quan Huan opened his eyes and asked, "The second important news of Lord Mo Lizhi should be related to Liaodong!" ”

Yuan Taizuo saw that the two of them didn't care about the Liaodong Peninsula, he scolded secretly in his heart, so he had to reluctantly put down the matter of the Liaodong Peninsula for the time being, and bowed down to Gao Yuan and said: "Your Excellency, the second important news that Weichen wants to say is Liaodong, Weichen got the latest news, I'm afraid the Khitan is also fighting Liaodong's idea." ”

"What!"

Everyone was taken aback, this news came too suddenly, the Khitan was actually fighting Liaodong's idea, wouldn't that conflict with their plan?

Gao Yuan finally couldn't help but ask: "Mo Lizhi said 'I'm afraid', isn't this news confirmed yet?" ”

"Back to the king, because the Khitan has not sent troops yet, it can't be said that it will happen, but Wechen got the information from within the Khitan, I think it should be true, and Wechen is at least ninety percent sure that this will happen."

Gao Yanshou and Gao Hui looked at Yizhi Wende at the same time, Yizhi Wende was the main general of this western expedition to Liaodong, and he immediately decided: "Your Majesty, we can't delay, we must immediately send troops to Liaodong, Liaodong is related to the overall situation of our advance into the Central Plains, and we must not let the Khitan take the lead." ”

Gao Yuan was not in a hurry, he knew Yuan Taizuo, since Yuan Taizuo came to report this matter, he must have made up his mind, Gao Yuan waved his hand, signaling Yizhi Wende not to be excited, he looked at Yuan Taizuo and asked: "Mo Lizhi should have a plan!" ”

Yuan Taizuo said unhurriedly: "Liaodong is very important to us, but it is also very important to Zhang Xuan, I heard that he has given up Yancheng, concentrated his forces in Liucheng, and sent Li Chun, the squire of the Ministry of Works, to build fortifications in Liucheng, so the key to capturing Liaodong lies in Liucheng, even if we take Liucheng, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, if the Khitan is willing to fight the first battle for us, Weichen feels that this is not necessarily a bad thing." ”

Everyone immediately understood what Yuan Taizuo meant, and asked the Khitan to weaken the defense of Liucheng for them, and then they came to pick up the bargain, Yizhi Wende snorted extremely dissatisfied: "What if the Khitan captures Liucheng?" ”

Yuan Taizuo said lightly: "I think Zhang Xuan will not sit idly by and watch Liucheng fall, he will definitely let the Sui army attacking the Liaodong Peninsula rush to aid Liucheng, maybe this is the only chance we can keep the Liaodong Peninsula." ”

Gao Yanshou immediately reacted, "Lord Mo Lizhi is talking about encircling Wei to save Zhao?" ”

"Exactly! However, we can't sit idly by, once the Sui army on the Liaodong Peninsula supports Liucheng, that is, when we send troops to Liaodong. ”

Everyone discussed until very late before they dispersed, and only two people were left in the main hall, Quan Huan and Gao Yuan, the king of Yingyang, and all the importance of Quan Huan was because his sphere of influence was the tax center of Goguryeo, and Quan Huan also served as Goguryeo's big opponent Lu, that is, the prime minister, and controlled Goguryeo's financial power.

Quan Huan is also Gao Yuan's confidant, Yuan Taizuo controlled most of Goguryeo's military power, including the 30,000 defense troops in the capital, which made Gao Yuan very jealous of him, and Quan Huan, who knew the holy will, stuck Yuan Taizuo's military food supply, forcing Yuan Taizuo to cede 30% of the capital defenders to Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen, which made Gao Yuan very grateful to Quan Huan.

"What do you think Yuan Taizuo means tonight?" Quan Huan asked Gao Yuandao puzzled.

Gao Yuan sneered, "Don't you think it's strange for the Khitan to send troops?" ”

Quan Huan realized, "What does the king mean is that it was actually Yuan Taizuo who asked the Khitan to send troops to Liaodong?" ”

"This matter is obvious, according to the plan, Lord Yizhi will send troops to Liaodong in the next few days, and at this critical moment, the Khitan involvement in Liaodong suddenly appeared, it is obvious that Yuan Taizuo secretly instigated, he wants to prevent Lord Yizhi from sending troops to Liaodong, and then he will lead the army to invade Liaodong, this person wants to take Liaodong as his own."

Quan Huan thought for a while and said: "But the Khitan is not a fuel-efficient lamp, they take advantage of the situation, once they occupy Liucheng, I think the Khitan will never let Liaodong out, I am afraid that at that time, Yuan Taizuo will lose his wife and lose his army." ”

Gao Yuan said coldly: "Isn't he just making a loss-making deal now?" He wants the Liaodong Peninsula wholeheartedly, and I will give it to him, and now that Zhang Xuan has sent troops to the Liaodong Peninsula, I want to see how he ends! (To be continued.) )