Or the Lantern Festival of the fifteenth day of the first month of the fourteenth year of the great cause, at night, a very rare winter rainstorm (historical facts) fell in the area of Luoyang, the eastern capital, the weather was extremely cold, the soldiers on duty at night froze to death several people, and then in the early morning of the 16th, the inside and outside of Luokou Cangcheng, it turned into a crystal world again, the flowing rain froze on the city wall, formed a continuous ice fall, and it was magnificent.

"God, do you already have a premonition that something big is about to happen? That's why such a spectacle descended? Then please sue me, is it right or wrong for me to do this? ”

Appreciating the miracle of the crystal icefall, Li Mi sighed again and again, and didn't understand that such a rare spectacle appeared on the day of the hand, was it a coincidence? Or does Heaven already know what is going to happen today? I don't know what God is expressing, and I don't know if it's right or wrong for me to do this? What will be the consequences in the future?

No matter how much you sigh and hesitate, it is useless, the arrow has been wound, and if you stop it now and leak the news in the future, the consequences will be even more unimaginable, so after shaking her head, Li Mi sighed again, and still ordered Zheng Ying, who was waiting for his life next to him: "Go, please come to me at noon to drink." Remember, if you want to invite both Zhai Mohou and Wang Ruxin, just say that the weather is cold, and I will invite them to eat a warm pot. ”

Zheng Ying agreed, and immediately rushed to Zhai Rang's brother's camp to invite them, Li Mi turned to Fang Xuanzao and Wang Bodang and other henchmen next to him, and said lightly: "Act according to the original plan, go and prepare." ”

Fang Xuanzao, Wang Bodang and the others agreed, and they also immediately went down to prepare, leaving Li Mi to continue to be in a daze beside the spectacular ice falls, and after a long time, Li Mi also muttered in a low voice, "Don't blame me, Dongjun Gong, you and your family forced me." ”

In view of the relationship between Zhai Rang's brothers and Li Mi recently, Bing Yuanzhen and Shan Xiongxin are a little afraid to rest assured, Jian yì Zhai Rang is best to act cautiously and not take risks alone, but Zhai Rang refused to listen, just temporarily decided to bring Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiyun and Pei Renji to accompany him as a guard, Bing Yuanzhen was really helpless, and could only repeatedly tell Zhai Rang to be careful.

Bing Yuan was really worried and seemed to be a little suspicious, after entering the Luokou Cangcheng controlled by Li Mijun, Zhai Rang and Zhai Hong's father and son and others were received the warmest reception by Li Mijun, and even Yang Jishan, who had always looked down on the Tubao Zhai Rang's family, followed Li Mi out to greet him, and respectfully invited Zhai Rang and others into the warm pavilion, and the ceramic warm pot was also set up on the charcoal stove early, and the broth was tumbling, exuding a mouth-watering fragrance.

Very politely invited Zhai Rang to the upper seat, Li Mi took the initiative to drive away his own personal guards, leaving only Cai Jiande, the captain of the personal soldiers, to guard beside him, and also explained that no one was allowed to come in and disturb, he was going to get drunk with Zhai Rang today, Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiyun were very careful to continue to stay behind Zhai Rang, but Pei Renji, a professional household of the pit father, was able to sit in the warm pavilion by virtue of his age.

When the beautiful maid began to serve wine, Fang Xuanzao, who presided over the banquet arrangement, smiled and said to Li Mi: "Duke Wei, today is a party to drink, there is no need for so many people to serve, why don't you set up a banquet in the warm pavilion next door, and let the subordinates of Dongjun Gong also drink a few glasses of wine to warm up?" ”

"It depends on what Dongjun Gong means." Li Mi replied with a smile, then turned to Zhai Rang and asked, "Dongjun Gong, I don't know what you think?" ”

Zhai Rang, who was admiring the maid's appearance, was distracted, and it wasn't until Li Mi asked again that Zhai Rang came back to his senses, nodded quickly, and instructed Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shichang behind him: "You guys go and have a few drinks, it's none of your business here." ”

"Thank you for the kindness of the East County Princess, there will be no need for the general." Xu Shixian, who had been advised by Bing Yuanzhen beforehand, was loyal to his duties and refused to leave.

"Go ahead, it's okay, I'm here." Pei Renji opened his mouth, expressing his willingness to take on the responsibility of protecting Zhai Rang alone, and Zhai Rang was impatiently urging, Xu Shichang was helpless, so he and Shan Xiongxin led Zhai Rang's soldiers to leave the warm pavilion and followed Fang Xuanzao to drink next door.

Zhai Rang's subordinates in the warm pavilion have only left Zhai Hong's father and son, Wang Ruxin, Pei Renji, Li Mi's subordinates are only Yang Jishan, Zheng Ying and Cai Jiande, the cabinet is no longer crowded, at this time, Li Mi suddenly ordered Cai Jiande to take out a jade wall, saying that it was something that Yang Qing gave himself after the surrender of King Xun, please Zhai Rang appreciated and commented, Zhai Rang is a greedy person, and he praised it when he took over the jade wall. They didn't pay attention to the fact that Cai Jiande, who was famous for his bravery, had already stood behind Zhai Rang and quietly held the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Seeing that the time had come, Li Mi covered his mouth with the back of his hand and coughed heavily, this sound also killed Zhai Rang, Cai Jiande, who had already put on a posture, suddenly pulled out his knife and slashed it with all his strength, hitting Zhai Rang's neck, blood splashed, Zhai Rang's neck was cut off in half, and there was a sound like a cow's roar.

The incident happened too suddenly, Zhai Hong's father and son and Wang Ruxin were all stunned, but Pei Renji immediately jumped up and drew his knife, but unfortunately Pei Renji slashed down, but the person who killed was Zhai Mohou next to him, and then Yang Jishan also suddenly jumped up and grabbed it, and also slashed at Zhai Hong's head who had just gotten up, and then Cai Jiande, Yang Jishan and Pei Renji joined forces, and the three of them slashed down with three knives, and hacked Wang Ruxin, who had just jumped up and screamed, to death on the spot, and then quickly mended the knife, and cut off the Zhai Hong father and son, who were still dying.

Zhai Rang didn't breathe yet, and stretched out his finger with difficulty, trembling and pointing at Li Mi, Li Mi understood what he meant, and said calmly: "Don't blame me, I was forced, if it weren't for your brother and nephew being vexatious and pushing forward step by step, I would also like to be friends with you forever, but there is no way, they are too stupid, they are stupid, and they will be stupid too, if I don't do this, sooner or later I will be killed by you." That's all I can do to protect myself. ”

Zhai Rang turned his angry gaze to Pei Renji again, Pei Renji had no guilt, and said confidently: "Dongjun Gong, you are sorry for me, I have paid so many sacrifices for your big things, and my wife and daughter are still locked up in the Dongdu prison, but what did you give me?" It is you who bear me first, Wei Gongzhi respects talent, of course I have to go with him. ”

This is a very well-prepared fire and seizure of power, Zhai Rang breathed at the same time, although he had heard Zhai Hong, Wang Ruxin and others dying screams, but when Xu Shiyun and Shan Xiongxin and other Wagang generals rushed over to check the situation, they suddenly opened their mouths and suddenly found that outside their door, they were already full of heavily armed Li Mi soldiers, under the leadership of Wang Bodang, with countless hard crossbows that had been wound at them, and at the same time, the back door was suddenly opened, and a large number of Li Mijun soldiers also rushed in, surrounding them.

Surrounded by Pei Renji, Yang Jishan and others, Li Mi Shi Shiran appeared and said to Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiyun and others: "Zhugong, I raised an uprising with you in order to eliminate violence and peace and overthrow Yang Guang, but the Duke of Dongjun is arbitrary, greedy and tyrannical, **** colleagues, Yan zhòng shakes the foundation of our anti-Sui righteous teacher. In order not to abandon the great cause of the anti-Sui dynasty, and for the sake of the lives of hundreds of thousands of righteous soldiers, I can only kill his family, I hope you can understand my suffering. ”

Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiyun and others, you look at me, I look at you, all of them are silent, in the weather where the dripping water turns into ice, Zhai Rang's subordinates are all cold sweat rolling on their foreheads. Li Mi observed his words, and took the opportunity to say: "Princess, now that Zhai Rang and Zhai Hong's father and son are dead, their sins have been eliminated, although you are his subordinates, I will not implicate you." If you are willing to go with me, not only will I not be able to treat you badly, but I will also hand over all Zhai Rang's troops to your commander, and further reuse you. With that said, you decide. ”

The short-sighted Zhai Rang is indeed very good at entrapping his subordinates, Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou, the jealous and insatiable straw bale father and son, also dragged a lot of Zhai Rang's hind legs, and learned of the death of Zhai Rang's family, Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shichang and others not only did not have any idea of avenging them, but after listening to Li Mi's persuasion and solicitation, Shan Xiongxin also threw away his weapon first, knelt down and kowtowed to Li Mi, and said respectfully: "I am willing to listen to Wei Gong's dispatch." ”

Shan Xiongxin took the lead, Xu Shixin and other Zhai Rang subordinates also laid down their weapons and surrendered to Li Mi on their knees, Li Mi was overjoyed, and personally picked up Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shichang with kind words and comforted, beckoned everyone to get up, and arranged for Pei Renji and Shan Xiongxin to immediately rush back to Zhai Rang's military camp to appease the army's heart, and then Li Mi personally went to Zhai Rang's military camp alone, personally came forward to stabilize the army's heart, and incorporated Zhai Rang's army.

is slightly different from history, after Li Mi rode into the camp of Zhai Rang's army alone, although the agitated tongue quickly stabilized the heart of the Wagang army, but Mulan, who was bent on avenging Zhang Xutuo, took the opportunity to instigate Shan Xiongxin to kill Li Mi, wanting to kill the two enemies who killed Zhang Xutuo in one fell swoop, but Shan Xiongxin, who was a little poor in character, categorically refused Mulan's request, and Mulan wanted to assassinate Li Mi herself, but considering her special identity, she could only grit her teeth and give up after hesitation. watched Li Mi foaming at the mouth of the camp and making nonsense in Zhai Rang's camp, encouraging people's hearts.

Li Mi's eloquence is also very good, not long after killing Zhai Rang, just with an impassioned speech, he made tens of thousands of generals and soldiers under Zhai Rang's command believe that he killed Zhai Rang for the sake of the world, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the righteous army who rose up against Sui in order to be oppressed, and expressed his willingness to serve Li Mi and accept Li Mi's orders. Li Mi was overjoyed, and issued an order on the spot, allowing Xu Shixian, Shan Xiongxin, Pei Renji, Wang Bodang and others to divide the elite left by Zhai Rang, quickly stabilize the morale of the army, and control the elite soldiers of Wagang. In order to retain her useful body, Mulan, who was unwilling, could only accept Li Mi's appointment with reluctance and continue to assist Shan Xiongxin to be a cow and a horse for Li Mi.

Although it came a little late, but the time to come will come after all, the sixteenth day of the first month of the fourteenth year of the Great Cause, Li Mi, who gradually intensified the contradiction with Zhai Rang, finally suddenly plotted to kill his ally Zhai Rang and annex the allies when he couldn't bear it. When the news reached the Eastern Capital, Wang Shichong, who had withdrawn to the city to rest, was taken aback, and couldn't help but scold, "Traitor! No wonder they had to suddenly withdraw from the army on the fourth day of the first lunar month, and this is the purpose of doing it for a long time! If I do it in Shangluocang, my chance will come! ”

Although it was a little late, Wang Shichong, who was indeed loyal to Emperor Yang of Sui at present, still refused to let go of this opportunity, and hurriedly asked Yang Tong to ask Yang Tong to replenish his army, rotate the tired division under his command, and let him lead the new army to take the opportunity to launch an attack to attack Li Mi's army, which was in a turbulent period, and promised that even if Li Mi's army could not be defeated, he could win one or two battles to boost the morale of the army and weaken the overall strength of Li Mi's army.

This was an era of internal strife, and Wang Shichong had the hope and ability to seize this precious opportunity to deal a heavy blow to Li Mijun, whose morale had not yet been completely stabilized. However, to Wang Shichong's anger and helplessness, Yuan Wendu once again persuaded Yang Dong not to delegate too much power, and refused to hand over the military power of the Eastern Capital to Wang Shichong, who was sorry for his character, and strongly persuaded Yang Dong to send Duan Da to lead the army to attack, Yang Dong was also unwilling to hand over all the military power to a courtier, refused Wang Shichong to adopt Yuan Wendu, and arranged Duan Da to lead an army of 60,000 to the east to attack Li Mi's army, which was in a weak period.

Sometimes loyal ministers are often more misguided than traitors, Yuan Wen is opposed to letting Wang Shichong run the army alone, although it is out of a sincere loyalty, but Yang Tong soon paid a heavy price for his misemployment, when Duan Da led the army east to Luokoucang, the total strength of Li Mi, who had exceeded 300,000, sent 200,000 troops to meet the battle, and before he could fight with his momentum, he had already frightened the cowardly Duan Da and his subordinate generals, Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiyun and others led the army to compete for the first place in order to show their loyalty, and fought bravely, and the Sui army in the eastern capital was defeated. Wei Anshi, the deputy marshal of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was killed by Shan Xiongxin himself, and a large number of civil and military officials, including Heyang Wei Dugu Wudu, surrendered to Li Mi's army, and the 60,000-strong army was annihilated, Duan Da led less than 100 cavalry to flee back to the eastern capital, and Li Mi's army counterattacked, taking advantage of the victory to capture Shangluocang City and Jinyong City, and once again approached Luoyang City.

Stealing chickens and rice, not to mention the loss of 60,000 troops, even the Acropolis Jinyong City was also lost, Yang Tong and Yuan Wen both simply had the heart to vomit blood and die, and then Yang Dong no longer dared to adopt Yuan Wendu's anti-ear advice, and quickly appointed Wang Shichong, the most capable of fighting in the Eastern Capital, as the commander of the whole army, and handed over all the Eastern Capital troops except the Imperial Forest Army to Wang Shichong under the command, so that Wang Shichong was responsible for defending the city. Although Wang Shichong was full of resentment and dissatisfaction, he still took over the mess for the sake of the overall situation, and hurriedly reorganized the army to organize and defend the city to resist the upcoming attack of Li Mi's army.

In such a situation, Yang Tong and Yuan Wendu and others of course immediately remembered Chen Fuliang who was far away in Daxing, but the house leak happened to rain overnight, just when Yang Tong and Yuan Wen discussed how to ask Chen Fuliang for help, Yuan Wendu's baby son Yuan Ji hurried back to Luoyang City, and also told Yang Tong and Yuan Wen that Chen Fuliang was preparing to rebel - although it was just a misunderstanding caused by coincidence, Yuan Ji was definitely not wronged Chen Fuliang when he said this.

It is conceivable that Yang Tong and Yuan Wen were surprised and frightened when they learned of this bad time, and Yuan Wen was so anxious that he scolded in front of Yang Dong, and scolded Yuan Ji angrily: "Little brute! Do you understand? Was there a misunderstanding and a lie? Chen Liushou has always been loyal to the imperial court, how could he do such a thing? ”

"Children don't dare to lie." Yuan Ji shook his head and said in a deep voice: "On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Liushou deliberately asked about the origin of the Lantern Festival, hinting that the emperor would be abolished and a new emperor would be established. In addition, Chen Liushou also appointed a large number of civil and military officials without being invited, including many civil and military officials of the thief army who had previously conspired against Li Yuan's rebellion. And ......, and ....... ”

"What else?" Yuan Wendu hurriedly asked.

"Also, it is very likely that Chen Liushou will still be in the harem and commit adultery with the people of Daxing Palace." Yuan Ji swallowed and vomited, and reported to Yang Tong and Yuan Wen what he saw when he first arrived in Daxing, and then, Yuan Ji said: "At that time, I saw very clearly that the pregnant woman was very similar to Princess Yang Yu, but because of reason, I didn't dare to ask in person. ”

With a bang, Yang Tong slapped the bookcase in front of him heavily, his face was ugly, and he said secretly: "Chen Qing, this king married you in front of his mother and concubine, and respects you as a brother, Yang Yu is my aunt, if you really commit adultery with her and become pregnant, then won't you become my uncle?" ”

Yuan Wendu was also confused, he couldn't believe his son's words, but he understood that his son couldn't lie to him, and he didn't know what to do for a while. Over there, Yuan Ji urged again: "Your Highness, father, this matter must be reported to His Majesty, and we must also try our best to come up with a countermeasure, otherwise, once Chen Liushou really raises the flag and rebels, the Great Sui World will really be over." ”

Yang Tong nodded again and again, feeling that Yuan Ji was reasonable, but he didn't know how to deal with it. Yuan Wendu over there quickly calmed down, and after thinking for a while, Yuan Wendu said: "Your Highness, it must be too late to report to Your Majesty, one is that the road is impassable, and the other is that the distance is far away. Now, Your Highness, you can only make a decision and decide on your own decision! ”

"How is the tribunal decided?" Yang Tong hurriedly asked.

"Confiscate Chen Yingliang's military power, detain him and detain him, and then investigate his treason in detail, once he gets the evidence of the crime, he will be punished immediately, and he will be eliminated forever!" Yuan Wendu replied categorically.

"Yuanqing, Chen Yingliang is far away in the Eastern Capital, how can this king confiscate his military power and detain him?" Yang Tong hurriedly asked.

"Your Highness, if you want, we can follow Li Mi's example and kill Zhai Rang." Yuan Wendu said: "Chen Yingliang's command, there are still some officials and generals loyal to the imperial court, Your Highness may wish to ask Chen Yingliang for help under the pretext of urgency, send an envoy to Daxing again, let Chen Yingliang return to the army to save the Eastern Capital, of course, it is the best, His Royal Highness can temporarily endure and borrow his hand to relieve the crisis in the Eastern Capital, and then slowly deprive him of his military power and act according to the plan." ”

"If Chen Yingliang still refuses to send troops, or only sends a few reinforcements perfunctory, it proves that he has indeed rebelled." Yuan Wendu continued: "At that time, the envoy sent by you, Your Highness, secretly contacted the loyal ministers of the imperial court, followed Li Mi's example to invite Chen Yingliang to the banquet, captured him during the banquet, and then showed your majesty's decree to take over the Daxing army, eradicate Chen Yingliang's henchmen, and lead the Daxing army back to Luoyang to rescue. ”

After that, Yuan Wendu looked at Yang Tong's expression, and saw that he was just thoughtful and did not object, so he said again: "This envoy can be served by the right Wuwei general Huangfu Wuyi, although General Huangfu has always been in poor health, but he is loyal to the court and His Majesty, and he is worthy of entrusting him with a heavy responsibility." At the same time, he was also Chen Yingliang's boss, and he was also the boss of many of Chen Yingliang's subordinates, and even the generals of the national army had a deep relationship with him. ”

Yang Tong nodded slowly, and after a moment of silence, Yang Tong asked, "Among the generals under Chen Yingliang, who can cooperate with Huang Fuqing?" ”

"There is a person who has a close relationship with Chen Yingliang, is like a brother, and is loyal to the imperial court, so he can be entrusted with important tasks." Yuan Wendu Yin Yin said: "Your Highness only needs to give him a secret decree and let him cooperate with General Huangfu to act, and he will come forward to invite Chen Yingliang to a banquet, and Chen Yingliang will inevitably be captured!" ”

Yang Tong hurriedly asked the person's name again, Yuan Wendu replied in a low voice with three words, Yang Tong was shocked when he heard it, and said, "How is it possible?" What is the relationship between him and Chen Yingliang, how can he capture Chen Yingliang for this king? ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, he will." Yuan Wendu said confidently: "He has had a friendship with Chen Yingliang, but he is more loyal to the court and His Majesty, and he is from a famous family, and he is favored by the king, Your Highness, you give him an order in the honor of the court, as long as you promise to capture Chen Yingliang and not kill him, he will definitely not refuse!" ”

Yang Tong pondered, nodded after a long time, and said: "Okay, just him, he succeeded, this king named him the general of the right military guard, and replaced Chen Yingliang to lead the army back to the eastern capital!" "Conspiracy against the crime, once you get the evidence of the crime, you will immediately be punished and the future troubles will be eliminated forever!" Yuan Wendu replied categorically.

"Yuanqing, Chen Yingliang is far away in the Eastern Capital, how can this king confiscate his military power and detain him?" Yang Tong hurriedly asked.

"Your Highness, if you want, we can follow Li Mi's example and kill Zhai Rang." Yuan Wendu said: "Chen Yingliang's command, there are still some officials and generals loyal to the imperial court, Your Highness may wish to ask Chen Yingliang for help under the pretext of urgency, send an envoy to Daxing again, let Chen Yingliang return to the army to save the Eastern Capital, of course, it is the best, His Royal Highness can temporarily endure and borrow his hand to relieve the crisis in the Eastern Capital, and then slowly deprive him of his military power and act according to the plan." ”

"If Chen Yingliang still refuses to send troops, or only sends a few reinforcements perfunctory, it proves that he has indeed rebelled." Yuan Wendu continued: "At that time, the envoy sent by you, Your Highness, secretly contacted the loyal ministers of the imperial court, followed Li Mi's example to invite Chen Yingliang to the banquet, captured him during the banquet, and then showed your majesty's decree to take over the Daxing army, eradicate Chen Yingliang's henchmen, and lead the Daxing army back to Luoyang to rescue. ”

After that, Yuan Wendu looked at Yang Tong's expression, and saw that he was just thoughtful and did not object, so he said again: "This envoy can be served by the right Wuwei general Huangfu Wuyi, although General Huangfu has always been in poor health, but he is loyal to the court and His Majesty, and he is worthy of entrusting him with a heavy responsibility." At the same time, he was also Chen Yingliang's boss, and he was also the boss of many of Chen Yingliang's subordinates, and even the generals of the national army had a deep relationship with him. ”

Yang Tong nodded slowly, and after a moment of silence, Yang Tong asked, "Among the generals under Chen Yingliang, who can cooperate with Huang Fuqing?" ”

"There is a person who has a close relationship with Chen Yingliang, is like a brother, and is loyal to the imperial court, so he can be entrusted with important tasks." Yuan Wendu Yin Yin said: "Your Highness only needs to give him a secret decree and let him cooperate with General Huangfu to act, and he will come forward to invite Chen Yingliang to a banquet, and Chen Yingliang will inevitably be captured!" ”

Yang Tong hurriedly asked the person's name again, Yuan Wendu replied in a low voice with three words, Yang Tong was shocked when he heard it, and said, "How is it possible?" What is the relationship between him and Chen Yingliang, how can he capture Chen Yingliang for this king? ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, he will." Yuan Wendu said confidently: "He has had a friendship with Chen Yingliang, but he is more loyal to the court and His Majesty, and he is from a famous family, and he is favored by the king, Your Highness, you give him an order in the honor of the court, as long as you promise to capture Chen Yingliang and not kill him, he will definitely not refuse!" ”

Yang Tong pondered, nodded after a long time, and said: "Okay, just him, he succeeded, this king named him the general of the right military guard, and replaced Chen Yingliang to lead the army back to the eastern capital!" ”