With the mountains undulating in the distance, and the majestic walls of Luoyang City in the distance, and the Upper East Gate still standing in front of him, Li Chongjiu withdrew his gaze from his horse, and now he led the army back to Luoyang again.

Along the way, you can see the camp left by the Tang army from the siege of the city, the construction of beacon towers and dock forts along Luoshui, and the siege weapons created. However, Li Chongjiu knew that Li Xiaogong, who was under Luoyang City, was just acting like a show. Li Xiaogong's real intention was to block the exit of Luoyang, and then attack Yanshi, Luokoucang, and Tiger Prison to cut off the eastern defense line.

Luoyang City has not gone through the war, and it is still safe and sound.

Approaching the Luoyang city wall, I saw Xue Wanshu, Xu Shiji, Yang Jun and others leading the defenders to greet them in front of the Upper East Gate.

Xue Wan said: "I heard that His Majesty led reinforcements to arrive, and the Tang army under the city did not dare to fight, and all of them retreated yesterday, and according to the news, the Tang army on the north bank also retreated. His Majesty, Weichen and others did not disgrace their mission and defended Luoyang! ”

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "I know that there will never be a mistake in handing over Luoyang to Xue Aiqing. ”

Li Chongjiu praised Xue Wanshu fiercely, and then the gentry of Luoyang bowed down to Li Chongjiu. Among them, the white-haired Su Wei said: "Your Majesty, in the two months since the siege of Luoyang, we have not worried about food and clothing, and not even a beggar in Luoyang City has starved to death. ”

"Our people are able to survive thanks to His Majesty, His Majesty is rich all over the world, and the old decay has nothing to repay, so I can only kneel down here and kowtow to His Majesty!"

Seeing that Su Wei was so old that he still had to kneel down for himself, Li Chongjiu immediately helped him up and said, "Su Gongli is heavy." You're getting older, get up. ”

Although Su Wei was supported by Li Chongjiu. But behind him, the Luoyang gentry knelt down in a large area. When Li Chongjiu saw this scene, he wondered if it was Su Wei's fame. This person used to like to welcome the emperor the most.

Yang Xuan stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, Duke Su and the people of Luoyang came spontaneously, this time Luoyang besieged the city, and the people did not suffer, thanks to the benevolence of His Majesty and Xue Fujun." ”

Li Chongjiu heard Yang Yun say this, so he believed it.

The gentry in Luoyang all said in unison: "Yes, please accept my majesty's prayer." ”

Looking at the crowd of black pressure below, Li Chongjiu said: "Everyone, I just did what I should do. Since ancient times. The rise and fall of the world is chaotic, but a surname is prosperous, the people are suffering, I was not a big ambition when I was a cloth, I just wanted to follow the Ming Lord, hang the master to fight the violence, and relieve the people of the world from hanging upside down. ”

"Unexpectedly, when the crown was weak, the world overturned. The rebellious army rose up, Beidi stole the artifact, Li Yuan was in Chang'an, and Wang Shichong harbored the traitorous heart to kill the monarch and usurp the throne. Dou Jiande, Liu Heimin pretended to be the destiny of heaven and claimed to be Luo Yi. Du Fuwei, Zhu Cang is violent and arrogant. Elected by my subordinates, Yu Youyan raised troops. So he took it as his mission to restore China and save the people of the world. ”

I saw Li Chongjiu talking eloquently, and the hundreds of Luoyang gentry and people below were all listening carefully and refused to miss a word.

Li Chongjiu's gaze swept over the people: "The defeat of the previous dynasty lies in not sparing the people, not raising the people's strength, and not taking the suffering of the people as the suffering of the Son of Heaven. I know why you are standing here today, and I also know that you have been suffering from the chaos of the world for a long time, can there be a great rule after the chaos? Will it be difficult to cure after the chaos? Can the people live and work in peace and contentment? ”

Speaking of this, Li Chongjiu paused, and everyone was attracted by Li Chongjiu's words, and the audience was silent, and all sides fell silent.

Li Chongjiu looked at everyone present, stretched out his right fist and said, "I am willing to move forward with you!" ”

The two fronts of the upper east gate of Luoyang slammed to the ground, slowly opened from the inside from both sides, and the light suddenly shone in from outside the door, and the streets of the city gate were crowded with the people of Luoyang who were waiting for them.

Li Chongjiu saw this scene and said to Zhang Xuansu: "I remember that when I was still clothy, the first time I came to Luoyang, it was the small gates on the left and right sides of the main gate to enter the city, but now that I am the son of heaven, I can finally take the central royal road." ”

Zhang Xuansu saw Li Chongjiu's high spirits and said with a smile: "When Han Gaozu went to Xianyang, he saw the Qin Emperor's honor guard, and the Taoist husband should be like this. When Emperor Guangwu was in Chang'an, he was an official Mo Ruo who held Jinwu, and his wife should be like Yin Lihua. Now that His Majesty has returned to Luoyang, is it just to be able to walk the royal road in the middle? ”

When Li Chongjiu heard Zhang Xuansu say this, he immediately laughed.

At that moment, Li Chongjiu ordered the army to be stationed outside the city, and he and Shan Xiongxin led 10,000 horses into the city. On both sides of the royal road, the people of Luoyang welcome the road, and burn incense to worship, there is no lack of food pot pulp on the street, than Li Chongjiu last time after breaking the king of the world to Luoyang, the scene of a hundred families closing their doors, that is completely different.

Isn't it that when besieging the city, the grain and grass will be distributed to the people, which is easier said than done, and the ancient defense of the city is a history of blood and tears, and when it comes to the real poverty, the soldiers who defend the city even eat the people, how can they treat the people well. And now the people of Luoyang, everyone is not hungry, but they look rich, and this alone is enough for Li Chongjiu to win the hearts of 100,000 Luoyang people in the city.

Even Ji Chuan, who rode into the city with Li Chongjiu, sighed: "In the past, I thought that only those who became emperors could be admired by all the people. ”

"And today?" Zhang Xuansu asked on the side.

Ji Chuan pointed to the people on the street and said: "Today I learned that the emperor has a bright monarch and a faint monarch, and becoming an emperor may not be admired by all the people, but only those who can be admired by the people are qualified to become emperors." ”

Hearing Ji Chuan say this, Zhang Xuansu nodded, revealing a look of deep understanding, and Yang Xuan's body trembled when he heard this, and his eyes showed a complicated look.

Zhang Xuansu sighed: "Brother Ji, whether those who win the hearts of the people can win the world, these words are too ethereal, I can't see it, but from the immediate point of view, Li Tang's army of more than 200,000 people can't capture Luoyang, and His Majesty not only defended Luoyang, but also won the hearts of the people. ”

After entering Luoyang City, Li Chongjiu stayed in Luoyang Palace City.

At that moment, Li Chongjiu was in the main hall and asked the generals of all parties to come to the military discussion to summarize the success or failure of the battle of Luoyang this time. The generals of the government army such as Xue Wanche, Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiji, Wang Mahan, and other generals such as Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, Tan Zong, Su Dingfang, Cheng Mingzhen, and Wu Gu Nai were also summoned to discuss the matter.

The first is to reward the meritorious heroes, this time in the battle of Luoyang, the first credit pushed Su Dingfang. It was he who stuck to the Heyang pontoon bridge and resisted the Tang Army's hundreds of thousands of troops who could not cross the river.

The second is Luo Shixin, who stuck to the tiger prison, so that Li Jing's army on the southern route did not cut off the back road of Luoyang, and pushed the second gong.

In the end, Cheng Mingzhen's sailors blocked the banks of the Yellow River and promoted the third merit.

Li Chongjiu immediately promoted Su Dingfang to the general of the tiger Benlang, gave the county duke, gave ten tilts of food fields, ten horses, one hundred forgings, and one hundred money. Gave Luo Shixin and Cheng Mingzhen respectively as county marquises, and each gave five tilts of food fields, five horses, fifty forgings, and hundreds of money.

Su Dingfang, Luo Shixin, and Cheng Mingzhen all thanked them with gratitude, and the rest of the soldiers also had their own rewards, but they were not as heavy as these three people.

After that, the analysis of the war, before the battle of Luoyang, the Zhao army swept Dou Jiande, Liu Heimin, Wang Shichong, and newly broke the Khitan, Goguryeo, and achieved a big victory both internally and externally. Therefore, all the generals believed that the Zhao army would have a certain advantage over the Tang army.

However, after the Battle of Luoyang, Zhao Jun's understanding of the Tang Army changed greatly.

Li Chongjiu asked his chief adviser Zhang Xuansu to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the Tang army and the Zhao army compared with the generals.

Zhang Xuansu said: "Our army has always taken the line of elite soldiers, relying on the strength of the first soldiers, and then using the strict selection method of eliminating the weak and retaining the strong, selecting the government soldiers, selecting brave men who are good at fighting, leaving work as soldiers, and strictly training, so since the start of the army in Youzhou, our army has been able to break the strong enemy and have been able to win consecutive battles. ”

"But the Tang Army is not inferior to us in these points, as everyone has seen through a series of battles. The soldiers of the Tang army in Guanzhong were mostly selected from the children of the good family in Guanzhong, and most of the soldiers were the Xianbei Hu people at the beginning, as well as the children of the Han Qiangzong, who were very brave themselves, and with the establishment of Li Tang and the southern and northern wars, they all accumulated rich combat experience. ”

"The soldiers of the Tang Army are farmers in peacetime and soldiers in wartime, and they have strict drills on weekdays, and they have been fighting in the past few years, so they are not inferior to the elite soldiers of our government in terms of training."

"The only advantage that our Zhao army has over the Tang army is the advantage in weapons and armor, but the equipment of the Tang army is not bad, such as the elite soldiers of the Tang army's government soldiers, which are basically armored, and the Tang army's bows and crossbows are not inferior to our army at all, but the crossbow beds, stone throwers and other large siege weapons, as well as the boat fleet are inferior to our army."

Zhang Xuansu analyzed this, and all the generals agreed.

Li Chongjiu said: "Zhang Aiqing's words are very pertinent, although our army won the battle of Luoyang this time, although it was a strategic victory, but there were many tactical failures, you should learn from it, what Zhang Aiqing said today, I will order someone to copy a copy and send it to the generals, do you have anything to add?" ”

At this time, Xu Shiji got up and said: "Your Majesty, the last general has a word, what Zhang Shilang said is insightful, the last general thinks that the Tang sergeant is not only brave and good at fighting, but there are also famous generals among his generals, as far as the last general knows, such as Li Xiaogong, Li Jing and others needless to say, the rest such as Qu Tutong, Chai Shao, Zhang Gongjin, Liu Hongji, Sheng Yanshi and others are all generals who can lead an army alone. ”

"But these people are all gone, and the last general is indeed the King of Qin, Li Shimin, who is most worried. As we all know, Li Shimin excluded Li Yuan in this war and did not fight, but this person's position in the Tang Army is unshakable. ”

Xue Wanche also said on the side: "I also heard when I was in Youjing that the Tang soldiers admired the generals with outstanding military achievements the most, and when it came to marching and fighting, the Tang soldiers hoped that Li Shimin would command them the most, followed by Li Xiaogong." (To be continued......)