Chen Fuliang has never deliberately blocked the external communication channels of the Daxing rebels, the reason is that it is very difficult and the troops are insufficient, and the second is that the counties and counties in Guanzhong are turning against each other one after another when they see that the situation is not good, so that the rebels know that they can just hit the enemy's morale, so naturally there is no need to spend great efforts to blockade and cut off, and ordered Li Jing and Qu Tutong to launch a strong attack on Xinfeng to put pressure on the rebels, and it is also because Chen Fuliang expected that Li Yuan's father and son would always maintain contact with the Xinfeng rebels, and they would soon know the news.

There are advantages and disadvantages, the agency is too smart, and Chen Fuliang, who has done a lot of evil, did not expect that he would bring a very dangerous consequence by doing so, and it may even lead to the terrible consequences of losing his achievements before the Great War in Guanzhong! On the same day that the Sui army was ordered to launch against the Xinfeng rebels, and it was also the same day that Chen Fuliang received the bad news that the Tiger Prison Pass had fallen again, in the afternoon, Pei Shufang, Li Mi's envoy disguised as a common man, carried Li Mi's letter, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Sui army soldiers did not block the big and small roads, and came to Daxing City to ask for Li Yuan, and was able to enter the city immediately after identifying himself.

The enemy of the enemy is a friend, Li Mi and Li Yuan, who also hate Chen Fuliang to the core, and Li Yuan and his son have had secret contact in private, exchanging information from time to time, and the gunpowder in Li Mijun's hand is still a gift from Li Yuan and his son to Li Mi, and Pei Shufang, the brother-in-law of Li Mi's student Wang Bodang, was also an important party at that time, and Li Yuan's father and son and Li Mi's in-law Liu Wenjing were all old acquaintances, and after entering the city, they were naturally summoned immediately by Li Yuan's father and son, and they were also warmly welcomed by a very grand ceremony.

Li Yuan and his son warmly welcomed Pei Shufang, the purpose was of course to be anxious to understand the situation outside the customs and to let the Zhai and Li coalition army share the pressure for Li Yuan's rebels, but unfortunately this conveyed the wrong information to Pei Shufang, knowing that Li Yuan's rebels had recently lost a series of battles and lost a lot of momentum, and Chen Fuliang's soldiers were in a critical situation under Daxing City, and saw Li Yuan's father and son personally go out of the palace to greet them, Pei Shufang, who was born as a small landlord in the countryside, was inevitably a little proud, and his attitude was quite arrogant. He only sneered in his heart at Pei Shufang's villain, but he still laughed freely on the surface, and quickly took out a lot of important information outside the customs from Pei Shufang's mouth.

Pei Shufang can provide Li Yuan's father and son with information outside the customs is also mostly outdated news, Pei Shufang knows that the latest big move of the Zhai and Li thief army is just Zhai Rang and Li Mi took the opportunity of Chen Fuliang's westward expedition to join forces to invade Hanoi County, which has lost the protection of Linqingguan, in addition, Pei Shufang heard the news on the road, saying that in order to ensure the safety of the northern front, the Eastern Capital has arranged for Wang Shichong to lead an army of 50,000 to cross the river to reinforce Hanoi. Pei Shufang, who came from the trail, didn't know anything.

Zhai Rang and Li Mi will definitely make a move after Chen Fuliang leaves the Eastern Capital, which was expected by Li Yuan's father and son, and it can definitely be regarded as good news, but Li Yuan's father and son were not satisfied with this, and after roughly understanding the scale of Zhai Li's thief army's march to Hanoi, Li Er couldn't wait to ask Pei Shufang a key question, "Brother Shufang, what about the Tiger Prison?" Did your army send troops to Tiger Pass? ”

"Absolutely." Pei Shufang said with some pride: "Our army is strong, with a total strength of more than 200,000, and it is a piece of cake to march to Hanoi and Hujiao Pass at the same time, in order to share the pressure on the main battlefield in Hanoi, Wei Gong sent General Fang Xuanzao Fang to lead an army of 15,000 to cross the river at Niuzhukou, and garrison troops outside the Tiger Prison Pass, the officers and troops of the Tiger Prison Pass did not dare to fight at all, and hid in the city like a turtle with a shrunken head and did not dare to come out. ”

At present, Li Yuan's father and son, who are also working as shrinking turtles, did not care about Pei Shufang's map cannon, Li Yuan also quietly exchanged a look with Pei Lian, Li Jiancheng and others, and concluded in his heart that the news of the fall of Tiger Prison Pass declared by Chen Fuliang was not tangible, and he was pretending to be unconscious in public, but Li Er became more and more suspicious in his heart, and couldn't help but ask Pei Shufang again: "Brother Uncle Fang, General Fang Xuanzao was ordered to attack Tiger Prison Pass, and he didn't launch a single siege?" How does General Fang share the pressure for your main force? The officers and troops only need to hold the Tiger Prison Pass to deal with your army's partial division, and how can your army's partial division effectively contain the reserve force of the official army in the eastern capital? ”

"It's ......." Pei Shufang, who relied on nepotism, couldn't answer, so he could only say vaguely: "I don't know this very well, in short, Duke Wei arranged it like this, and the Tiger Prison Pass is notoriously strong and majestic, easy to defend and difficult to attack, General Fang can contain the defenders in Guanzhong, it is good." ”

Li Er closed his mouth at this time, but he was suspicious in his heart, and Pei Shufang was afraid that Li Yuan's father and son would hurt his face by asking questions that he couldn't answer, so he quickly took out Li Mi's handwritten letter, handed it to Li Yuan casually and said: "Tang Guogong, this is our handwritten letter from Wei Gong to you, please take a look." ”

Very politely took the letter with both hands, and when Li Yuan opened it to read the contents, he suddenly laughed dumbly, only to find that not only was the messenger Pei Shufang sent by Li Mi a ridiculous clown, but Li Mi himself was a clown who did not know the height of the sky, and even directly asked Li Yuan to take him as the leader of the alliance, hinting that Li Yuan was required to lead thousands of elite soldiers east to Hanoi to join him and formally sign an alliance - the speed of news transmission in this era was too slow, and Li Mi did not know when he wrote the letter, At that time, Li Yuan's strength and control territory had actually surpassed him.

Of course, Li Yuan, who was old in the city government, did not care about Li Mi's arrogant letters, not only was he not angry, but he also immediately ordered to prepare a banquet for Pei Shufang to wash the wind and dust, and arranged two beautiful maids to serve Pei Shufang to bathe and change clothes, and then hold a banquet to drink. Pei Shufang happily said goodbye and left, but as soon as he left with his front foot, the rebel Zhu Wenwu who was accompanying him immediately scolded him, all of whom were annoyed by Pei Shufang's villain, but Li Yuan didn't care, waved his hand and smiled: "What are you doing with these little things?" We now need Li Mi to share the pressure for us, these trivial things, just endure them. ”

After that, Li Yuan showed Li Mi's handwritten letter to several civil and military henchmen, and Pei Lian, Dou Cong and others were even more furious when they saw it, angrily reprimanding Li Mi for not knowing the height of the sky, and building a-for-tat confrontation with Li Yuan, and in turn asked Li Mi to lead the army into the alliance and let Li Mi serve Li Yuan as the leader of the alliance. Li Yuan laughed even more when he heard this, and said, "Why are you so angry? A little tongue is cheap, what's the point of caring more? Now we need Li Mi Xiaoer to disrupt the rear of Chen Yingliang's thief, what are we doing to stiffen the relationship with him? It's better to flatter him for the time being, so that he can attack Chen Yingliang's thief even harder, so that it is in our best interests. ”

Li Yuan himself could endure such humiliation, Pei Lian, Dou Cong and the others didn't have much to say, they could only nod their heads and sing promises, and it was also at this time that Li Er, who had been thinking about it all the time, suddenly opened his mouth and said: "Father, do you think there is something a little strange, after Chen Yingliang's thief entered Guanzhong in the west, Zhai Rang and Li Mi did not take the opportunity to take the eastern capital Luokoucang, but wanted to put the main force into the relatively minor Hanoi battlefield?" ”

"What's so strange about that?" Li Yuan replied casually: "Pei Renji has already taken Linqing Pass before, and there is no danger to defend in Hanoi, so Li Mizhai can attack any city in the hinterland of Hanoi at will, and it is convenient to enter the army." If you want to fight the Eastern Capital and Luokoucang, you must first take the Tiger Prison Pass, even if Chen Yingliang's thief is not in Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, with Wang Shichong's ability, it is very certain to hold the Tiger Prison Pass, Li Mizhai let him avoid the real and make it false, what is strange? ”

"Avoiding the real and being false is indeed the right thing for a soldier." Li Er groaned and said: "But attacking Hanoi is not the best strategy for Zhai Li's thief army, not to mention that it will also be stubbornly blocked by the Sui army of the Eastern Capital led by Wang Shichong, even if Shun Lì takes the whole county of Hanoi, he will not be able to get much food, and the Eastern Capital still has the Yellow River to defend, although Li Mi is arrogant and proud, his ability to use military tactics is not under Chen Yingliang's thief, it should be impossible not to see this." ”

"What's the use of seeing this, but not being able to do it?" Li Yuan sneered and continued to say casually: "Is the Tiger Prison Pass so easy to take? Before, Chen Yingliang's thief couldn't take the Tiger Prison Pass for almost half a year, so he could only rely on Wang Shichong to help force Zhai Rang and Li Mi away, Li Mi wanted to take the Tiger Prison Pass quickly, unless he ....... ”

"Wait!" Li Yuan's face suddenly changed and he came to his senses, and then he jumped up directly and blurted out: "Li Mi's main force invaded Hanoi County, could it be that he was attacking the east and the west?" The purpose is just to introduce the main force of the Eastern Capital led by Wang Shichong into Hanoi County, cover the Fang Xuanzao partial division he arranged outside the Tiger Prison Pass, highlight the strange soldiers, and suddenly use his strength to take the Tiger Prison Pass, and then take advantage of the void to attack Luokoucang? ! ”

"That's what the kids are skeptical." Li Er nodded, and said in a gloomy voice: "The child even suspected that Li Mi and Zhai Rang had been operating the Tiger Prison Pass for nearly half a year, and they had taken the opportunity to leave something behind during the period, so they were willing to give up the Tiger Prison Pass generously, and then they dared to use the main force to cover the partial division to sneak attack the Tiger Prison Pass, and kill the Eastern Capital by surprise!" ”

Li Yuan began to show ecstasy, and said in his heart that if this is the case, then the old man really doesn't have to worry about anything, once the Eastern Capital is in an emergency, Chen Yingliang, who is the thief who stayed behind in the Eastern Capital, will definitely have to be forced to come back to help, and the old man can boil him until he retires even if he boils it, and he doesn't have to worry about running out of food and breaking the city at all. And after thinking about it carefully, Li Yuan's heart suddenly pounded, and he said secretly: "Is it true?" Could it be that what happened the night before was true, and that the thief Chen Yingliang was really sick? That's why he bluffed again and again, intimidating the old man not to dare to go out of the city for a decisive battle? So that he can take the opportunity to recuperate, and then calmly retire to save the Eastern Capital? ”

Fast or slow, the rebel army and other civil and military ministers have also woken up to the key, and they are showing ecstasy, but there are officials outside the hall rushing to report, saying that the Sui army division filled the moat of the south gate of Xinfeng at noon, and immediately launched a strong attack on Xinfeng, the offensive is very fierce, although Duan Lun and Qiu Shili tried their best to counterattack, but they have never been able to repel the Sui army's attack, and both the offensive and defensive sides have suffered a lot of losses.

Chen Fuliang, who didn't like a frontal attack, launched an ant-attached siege against the city, combined with various intelligence from other aspects, Li Yuan's heart suddenly became clear, knowing that Chen Fuliang was taking precautions, and taking Xinfeng could free up the Sui army's partial division to help the main force, and he could take precautions to remove the only obstacle on the way for the Sui army's retreat, so that the main force of the Sui army could withdraw in the future. Thinking of this, Li Yuan rarely showed some relaxed smiles for many days, and ordered with a smile: "Give Duan Lunxian's son-in-law an order, and order him to resolutely resist, as long as he holds Xinfeng for the old man for a few more days, the battlefield in Guanzhong will definitely take a turn." ”

The official in charge of liaison sang a promise and immediately went down to make arrangements, and Li Er asked Li Yuan, "Father, what should I do?" Do you want to give it a try? ”

"No hurry, let me think again." Although he was already very suspicious that Chen Fuliang was really sick, Li Yuan still didn't dare to make a decision lightly, and still decided to think carefully for a while, and at the same time, Li Yuan still had such a plan in his heart, "Don't take the risk of fighting?" Chen Yingliang's thief is very likely to be in an emergency, and with the help of Jiancheng, he will be consumed, although he is a little embarrassed, but it is better to be safe, and he can also take the opportunity to preserve his strength. ”

In the evening of the same day, Li Yuan, who was finally in a somewhat relaxed mood, held a grand banquet in the Wude Palace, warmly entertained Pei Shufang, the envoy of Li Mijun's army, and also took the opportunity to relax the generals under his command who had been nervous for many days. And after Pei Shufang enjoyed the beautiful maid sent by Li Yuan to serve him to change clothes and bathe, he was embarrassed not to give Li Yuan any face, and his arrogant attitude was much more restrained, which could be regarded as a joy for the guests and hosts, and they were happy up and down.

"General Yu, Chen Yingliang's dog thief sent a messenger to the city with a white flag, asking to see you, and saying that there is a gift to present to you in person."

At the happy moment, Chen Fuliang, who had lost his conscience, suddenly sent someone to make trouble, and received the news that Chen Fuliang's envoy asked to see him, although he knew that Chen Fuliang did not have any good intentions, but in order to further grasp the situation of the Sui army, Li Yuan still ordered to receive him, and then soon, the Sui army envoy with a gift in his hand was led into the Wude Palace, and was led to Li Yuan, who was having a banquet with many subordinates - this was also Li Yuan's bad luck.

For Li Yuan, what is even more unfortunate is that the gift envoy sent by Chen Fuliang this time is not an ordinary person, and other envoys saw so many rebel civil and military forces present, in order not to completely provoke Li Yuan into anger, he may also save some face for Li Yuan and invite Li Yuan to the side to give gifts alone, but unfortunately the messenger sent by Chen Fuliang this time is called Zhang Yongtong, who is the most fearless messenger under Chen Fuliang, seeing so many rebel generals present, Zhang Yongtong not only did not have the slightest scruples and fears, but also saluted directly and said: "Little envoy Zhang Yongtong, On the orders of Ambassador Chen, the ambassador who stayed behind in the eastern capital of the Great Sui and Guanzhong, he met with Grandma Li and Grandma Li Jin'an. ”

The banquet hall, which was still noisy just now, suddenly became silent, and Li Yuan also suspected that he had heard it wrong, and asked in surprise, "What do you call the old man?" ”

"Grandma Li." Zhang Yongtong replied loudly, his words were round, and he raised his head and said: "Grandma Li, the little envoy has sent you a letter of appointment for war on the order of Chen Liushou, asking you to fight a decisive battle outside the city tomorrow. In addition, Chen Liushou also asked the villain to bring you a set of women's clothes, if Grandma Li doesn't have the courage to fight with us, just wear this set of clothes in public, and we Chen Liushou will not give you a war letter in the future. ”

The sound of choking swords out of the sheath was endless, and the rebel soldiers who escorted Zhang Yongtong also kicked Zhang Yongtong to the ground from behind, Zhang Yongtong was not afraid after falling, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, it is a group of eggless young people, who will only hurt people in the back, I have sent Zhai Li thief army three times this year, and three times I have written to scold Li Mi Zhai Rang, those ant thieves have not done this to me." After returning the fucking fame, phew! Even Zhai Rang's tasteless little Facao is not as good! ”

Several rebel generals stepped forward with swords, but fortunately Li Jiancheng shouted in time: "Stop! The two countries are fighting each other, and they don't cut it off! Chen Yingliang has never hurt our envoy, do you want to lose the face of our righteous teacher? ”

"But this puppet spits evil words and insults the general!" Wang Chang said with a blushing face.

Li Jiancheng didn't answer, but turned to Zhang Yongtong, who had already stood up again, and shouted: "The envoy over there, don't you even know a little etiquette?" Is there a messenger like you in the world? ”

"The villain is commanded to do what he is told, and he is not to be done." Zhang Yongtong smiled, and said to Li Yuan: "Grandma Li, don't blame the little envoy for being rude, it is Chen Liushou's order, the duty of the little envoy is to act according to the order, this is our letter and gift from Chen Liushou to you, please take a look." ”

As he spoke, Zhang Yongtong handed the letter and the woman's clothes forward, smiled and waited for Li Yuan's reaction, but Li Yuan was trembling with anger, and only after a while did he grit his teeth and ask: "Piff, aren't you afraid that the old man will kill you?" ”

"I'm afraid, of course I'm afraid." Zhang Yongtong replied very frankly, and said: "But there is no way, Chen Liushou has an explanation, and the little envoy can only act according to the order, and the little envoy also believes that after you kill me, Chen Liushou will definitely avenge me." ”

Zhang Yongtong's arrogant attitude completely angered every rebel civil and military, shouting and shouting and killing, but Li Yuan calmed down, knowing that killing Zhang Yongtong was not only useless, but also would only leave an empty killing infamy, gritted his teeth and ordered the letter to be submitted, Li Yuan saw that the content was indeed about himself to fight tomorrow, and he humiliated himself as timid as a mouse, and did not dare to go out of the city according to the empty army, which was no different from a timid and afraid old woman, Li Yuan's face suddenly became more ugly.

Li Er came up, carefully read Chen Fuliang's signature, and reminded in a low voice: "Father, pay attention to the signature." ”

Of course, Li Yuan had already paid attention to Chen Fuliang's signature, and found that Chen Fuliang's signature was the same as the arrow book in the morning, both of which were weak wrist strength and slightly trembling, and his heart had already been more shaken, but he was still a little afraid to make up his mind, and he quickly calculated in his heart, "This is Chen Yingliang's thief's plan to lure the enemy?" Or did his continued bluff strengthen my determination to defend the city? ”

At this time, Zhang Yongtong spoke again, and his attitude finally improved a little, and said with a smile: "Senior Li, now the little envoy is speaking to you on behalf of himself, and he respectfully calls you an old-timer, old-timer, you still forget it, you know that this is our Chen Liu's plan to lure the enemy, why jump down when you know that this is a trap?" You must not learn from our General Chen Ling of the Great Sui, who was provoked by Du Fuwei and went out of the city, but was beaten by Du Fuwei and fled for his life alone, and was laughed at by our Chen Liushou for a few words, which is better than your hundreds of thousands of troops being wiped out by our Chen Liu. ”

Li Yuan glared at Zhang Yongtong angrily, Zhang Yongtong smiled more calmly, and said: "Senior Li, it seems that the villain has run for nothing this time, say goodbye, the villain will go back and report to Chen Liushou, senior, you still don't have the courage to fight a decisive battle, we still attack the city directly." ”

After that, Zhang Yongtong turned around and left, and Li Yuan finally made up his mind and shouted: "Stop!" Go back and sue Chen Yingliang for the thief! See you on the battlefield tomorrow morning at three o'clock! ”

Zhang Yongtong's body shook, he didn't look back, he just said with a smile: "Senior, have you thought about it carefully?" It's still too late to retract what you just said, now the soldiers of the Eastern Capital are brave, all with their lives, and they will fight us tomorrow, I'm afraid that you will stand up and go out of the city and lie down and go back here. ”

"Don't talk nonsense, tomorrow's decisive battle, I'm afraid you won't dare to come!" Li Yuan slapped the table and shouted: "Kick this arrogant man out of the city, and don't let him stay in the city for a moment!" ”

The soldiers in the palace sang a promise, and immediately stepped forward to expel Zhang Yongtong, Zhang Yongtong was not afraid, flicked his sleeves and left with his head held high, and as soon as Zhang Yongtong left with his front foot, Pei Lin immediately came up and said in a low voice: "General, we must prevent Chen Yingliang's thief from deliberately luring the enemy and deliberately provoking our army to fight." Although our army promised a decisive battle, it could also find an excuse to break the appointment. ”

Li Yuan kept silent with a straight face, but there was a constant battle between heaven and man in his heart, hesitating whether to break his promise and release Chen Fuliang's pigeons, but after hesitating for a long time, Li Yuan finally made up his mind in his heart, and said secretly: "The old man doesn't believe it, the old man personally led the army out of the city for a decisive battle, and he is not the opponent of Chen Yingliang's thief!" Beat! If Chen Yingliang's thief is really sick, take the opportunity to break him in one fell swoop and take revenge on the old hatred! If Chen Yingliang's thief is a fake disease, after the old man tests the truth, he can still retreat to Daxing City and consume him! What is it to die some soldiers, lose some rabble, and just save food for the old man! ”

Thinking about this, Li Yuan finally spoke, and ordered word by word: "Order the whole army, prepare for battle, tomorrow morning, the old man will personally lead 70,000 troops out of the city and fight a decisive battle with Chen Yingliang's thief!" There is a humiliation of being as timid as a mouse, and not daring to go out of the city because of the empty soldiers, no different from a timid and afraid old woman, Li Yuan's face suddenly became more ugly.

Li Er came up, carefully read Chen Fuliang's signature, and reminded in a low voice: "Father, pay attention to the signature." ”

Of course, Li Yuan had already paid attention to Chen Fuliang's signature, and found that Chen Fuliang's signature was the same as the arrow book in the morning, both of which were weak wrist strength and slightly trembling, and his heart had already been more shaken, but he was still a little afraid to make up his mind, and he quickly calculated in his heart, "This is Chen Yingliang's thief's plan to lure the enemy?" Or did his continued bluff strengthen my determination to defend the city? ”

At this time, Zhang Yongtong spoke again, and his attitude finally improved a little, and said with a smile: "Senior Li, now the little envoy is speaking to you on behalf of himself, and he respectfully calls you an old-timer, old-timer, you still forget it, you know that this is our Chen Liu's plan to lure the enemy, why jump down when you know that this is a trap?" You must not learn from our General Chen Ling of the Great Sui, who was provoked by Du Fuwei and went out of the city, but was beaten by Du Fuwei and fled for his life alone, and was laughed at by our Chen Liushou for a few words, which is better than your hundreds of thousands of troops being wiped out by our Chen Liu. ”

Li Yuan glared at Zhang Yongtong angrily, Zhang Yongtong smiled more calmly, and said: "Senior Li, it seems that the villain has run for nothing this time, say goodbye, the villain will go back and report to Chen Liushou, senior, you still don't have the courage to fight a decisive battle, we still attack the city directly." ”

After that, Zhang Yongtong turned around and left, and Li Yuan finally made up his mind and shouted: "Stop!" Go back and sue Chen Yingliang for the thief! See you on the battlefield tomorrow morning at three o'clock! ”

Zhang Yongtong's body shook, he didn't look back, he just said with a smile: "Senior, have you thought about it carefully?" It's still too late to retract what you just said, now the soldiers of the Eastern Capital are brave, all with their lives, and they will fight us tomorrow, I'm afraid that you will stand up and go out of the city and lie down and go back here. ”

"Don't talk nonsense, tomorrow's decisive battle, I'm afraid you won't dare to come!" Li Yuan slapped the table and shouted: "Kick this arrogant man out of the city, and don't let him stay in the city for a moment!" ”

The soldiers in the palace sang a promise, and immediately stepped forward to expel Zhang Yongtong, Zhang Yongtong was not afraid, flicked his sleeves and left with his head held high, and as soon as Zhang Yongtong left with his front foot, Pei Lin immediately came up and said in a low voice: "General, we must prevent Chen Yingliang's thief from deliberately luring the enemy and deliberately provoking our army to fight." Although our army promised a decisive battle, it could also find an excuse to break the appointment. ”

Li Yuan kept silent with a straight face, but there was a constant battle between heaven and man in his heart, hesitating whether to break his promise and release Chen Fuliang's pigeons, but after hesitating for a long time, Li Yuan finally made up his mind in his heart, and said secretly: "The old man doesn't believe it, the old man personally led the army out of the city for a decisive battle, and he is not the opponent of Chen Yingliang's thief!" Beat! If Chen Yingliang's thief is really sick, take the opportunity to break him in one fell swoop and take revenge on the old hatred! If Chen Yingliang's thief is a fake disease, after the old man tests the truth, he can still retreat to Daxing City and consume him! What is it to die some soldiers, lose some rabble, and just save food for the old man! ”

Thinking about this, Li Yuan finally spoke, and ordered word by word: "Order the whole army, prepare for battle, tomorrow morning, the old man will personally lead 70,000 troops out of the city and fight a decisive battle with Chen Yingliang's thief!" ”