If the battle for Hedong is compared to a game of chess, then, the capture of Taiyuan City is undoubtedly the most critical step in this game of chess, although a game of chess will not be completed in two or three steps, but the capture of Taiyuan is like capturing a big dragon, the general trend has been achieved, and the whole chess game will be smooth.

Yang Yuanqing's strategy was to besiege the city and send reinforcements, before launching the Taiyuan offensive, it was necessary to clear the reinforcements in Taiyuan one by one, and divide and annihilate them before the Tang army's forces did not converge, the most important of which was Li Shuliang's 20,000 elite soldiers, this army was personally operated by Yang Yuanqing.

The 10,000 soldiers of Hedong County were contained by Su Dingfang's 5,000 cavalry, the reinforcements of Changping County and Shangdang County were contained by Pei Xingyan's 5,000 cavalry, and Longquan County and Wencheng County were contained by Luo Shixin.

After he left Mayi County and went south, he also reorganized the army, cut off 20,000 old and weak troops, and reorganized them into 30,000 elite soldiers, and went south from Taiyuan County all the way to occupy Wangwu County of Hanoi County, which is located at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain, and at the same time, fertile fields and large populations are rich, and it is a rich place in Hanoi County.

After Song Jingang's dark chess move fell in Hanoi County, he not only became Li Yuan's back enemy to support Hedong, but also blocked the northward march of the Wagang army to Hedong, and was a pivotal chess piece for Yang Yuanqing in the entire Hedong chessboard layout.

After the annihilation of Li Shuliang's 20,000 troops in Zhengping County, Yang Yuanqing urgently ordered Luo Shixin to lead the army from Wencheng County to assist Xu Shiyun to rectify and surrender his soldiers, and left 3,000 troops Xu Shixian, Yang Yuanqing led the rest of the army north to Taiyuan, launched the Taiyuan offensive, this time was the middle of July, he must rush before Li Yuan's second wave of reinforcements arrived, take Taiyuan City.

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In the middle of July, the east of the river has passed its hottest time, and summer is about to be crowded out by autumn, but summer lingers and refuses to go, the air still trembles and glistens in the scorching sun, and the sky is blue and dazzling, with the orange and yellow that is about to turn fiery red.

At dusk, a carriage slowly drove into Taiyuan City, surrounded by four or five horseback attendants, and the curtain was opened, revealing a slightly pale face, this person was Pei Shiqing who came from Wenxi County.

People come and go in front of the city gate, especially lively, Taiyuan City has been under the threat of war for several months, it is rare to have such a free moment out of the city.

"Sir!"

An attendant whispered in front of the car window: "I went to ask just now, and the city defenders said that it was because Yang Yuanqing's army withdrew north from Loufu County a few days ago, and Taiyuan was no longer threatened, so people were allowed to enter and exit freely like this." ”

Pei Shiqing nodded, he vaguely guessed that this was Yang Yuanqing in order to create conditions for himself to enter Taiyuan City, so he specially retreated north, Pei Shiqing was a little uneasy in his heart, and he didn't know if this trip to Taiyuan would be successful.

"Stop!"

A stern order interrupted Pei Shiqing's train of thought, the carriage stopped, and saw more than a dozen soldiers step forward, and the leading officer looked them up and down, and said: "The Duke of Qi has an order, men under the age of thirty, and the three of them must be strictly checked when they enter the city together, so as to prevent spies, where do you come from?" ”

An attendant stepped forward and saluted, "We are from Wenxi County, Jiangxian County. ”

I heard that he was from Jiangxian County. The captain was taken aback and hurriedly shouted, "Surround them!" ”

The news of Yang Yuanqing's defeat of Li Shuliang's army in Jiangxian County came through unknown channels, and it had already spread throughout Taiyuan City, and everyone in the city knew about it, and even Li Shuliang was shot by Yang Yuanqing with an arrow and became a topic of conversation in Taiyuan City.

It is for this reason that when the soldiers heard that they were from Jiangxian County, they immediately pulled Yang Yuanqing and became all soldiers, and dozens of soldiers surrounded the carriage, as if facing a great enemy. ”

The tone of the general was also very stern, he held the hilt of his sword, his eyes squinted at several of his attendants, and if they dared to resist, he would immediately start killing them.

Pei Shiqing took out the Wenxi County Order Zhao Shou'an to send him a document, and ordered his entourage to hand it over, "This is the official document, it should be okay!" ”

Du Wei took the text and looked at it, he couldn't understand what was written on it, but he recognized the red and glamorous official seal, and the nervousness in his heart went a little, returned the text to Pei Shiqing, squinted and said: "But it's okay, it's just that the county government is too low, if it's the county government, then there will be no problem at all." ”

If it is true that it is like a great enemy just now, then it is a little difficult now, Pei Shiqing understood the meaning of his words, and his face showed a slight gloom, how could it be the Pei family who bribed and bought.

"It is clearly written in the Kaihuang Law, and the documents for customs clearance and going out are all issued by the county government, when will it be the turn of the county government?"

Pei Shiqing's righteous words made Du Wei dare not underestimate him, but if he let the other party enter the city like this, he couldn't let go of his face, Du Wei's eyes rolled, and he said coldly: "In the past, it was true that the county government was true, but now it is wartime, and your number exceeds the upper limit stipulated by the Duke of Qi, and it is our duty to strictly search, unless you have a famous person in Taiyuan City to guarantee it, please get out of the car, if I find a weapon, I will take you to prison." ”

At this moment, a man's voice came from the side, "How about I vouch?" ”

As soon as everyone turned around, they saw a group of people on horseback, followed by all officials, the head of the official was about forty-seven or eighteen years old, with fair skin, clear eyes, three long beards, he was dressed in a Confucian robe, wearing a black gauze hat, and he looked quite elegant and elegant.

When Pei Shiqing saw this person, he immediately laughed, "It turned out to be Brother Wen Jin, what a coincidence!" ”

This person's surname is Wang Mingxu, the official is the magistrate of Taiyuan County, he is also the head of the Wang family of the famous Taiyuan family, and his sister is Yang Yuanqing's mother-in-law.

The lieutenant hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "See Wang Changshi!" ”

He secretly screamed in his heart that he was lucky, it turned out that he knew Wang Xu in the carriage, and he almost got into trouble.

Wang Xu was originally the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, because of the death of his mother, he went to work and kept filial piety at home, and was hired by Li Yuanli as the magistrate of Taiyuan County, and Taishou is Li Yuanji, the Duke of Qi, Wang Xu actually holds the power of government affairs, but Wang Xu's prestige does not lie in his official position, but in his other identity, the head of the Taiyuan Wang family, the Taiyuan Wang family is the most prominent family in Taiyuan, one of the five surnames and seven hopes in the world, not a small lieutenant can afford to provoke.

However, if this lieutenant knew that it was the deputy head of the Wenxi Pei clan sitting in the carriage, he would also break out in a cold sweat.

Wang Xu saw Pei Shiqing winking at him, and he understood in his heart, so he smiled and said: "This is my friend, I will vouch for him, you can enter the city!" ”

Du Wei secretly wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and said continuously: "No problem! No problem! Please go into town first. ”

Pei Shiqing's carriage entered Taiyuan City, Wang Xu simply sat in the carriage, and he smiled meaningfully: "How did you think of coming to Taiyuan?" ”

The Pei family and the Wang family are generations of marriages, for example, Wang Xu's wife is the eldest daughter of Pei Yun, and his sister Wang is married to Pei Wenyi, the two families are hundreds of years of friendship, but the Taiyuan Wang family is relatively weak in the Sui Dynasty, especially after Yang Guang ascended the throne, because the Taiyuan Wang family had supported the Han King Yang Liang, so Yang Guang was coldly treated, there are not many people in the Shi clan, and there is a weak situation in Hedong where Pei Qiang is weak, despite this, the two families are still closely related, this time Pei Shiqing promised to help Yang Yuanqing, in fact, it refers to the use of the power of the Taiyuan Wang family.

Pei Shiqing smiled slightly, "You are asking knowingly!" ”

The two glanced at each other, they both laughed, and Wang Xu said again: "I'm very strange in the past two days, obviously Fengzhou has occupied Jinyang Palace, why did he suddenly retreat north, I am puzzled, your arrival today makes me understand, it turns out that the Fengzhou army is to create an opportunity for you to enter the city, it seems that Yang Yuanqing has high expectations for you." ”

Pei Shiqing glanced at him disappreciatively, "Are you giving me a problem?" I actually came to Taiyuan to look for you, what hope can you give me? ”

Wang Xu was silent for a moment and asked Pei Shiqing, "Recently, there has been a lot of rumors in Taiyuan City, saying that Fengzhou completely annihilated Li Shuliang's 20,000 elites in Zhengping County, and even Li Shuliang was killed, but we have not officially received official information, is this true or false?" ”

Pei Shiqing nodded, "It's true, Yang Yuanqing personally led 10,000 cavalry to annihilate Li Shuliang's army, and Li Shuliang was also shot by Yang Yuanqing, I know very well." ”

Wang Xu was moved, and hurriedly confirmed: "Then their next step is to attack Taiyuan!" ”

Pei Shiqing showed a look of dissatisfaction on his face, he was dissatisfied with Wang Xu's acceptance of Li Yuan's appointment, when Pei, Cui, Wang, and Lu held a meeting last year, everyone reached a consensus to support Yang Yuanqing, but Wang Xu's will was not strong, and he actually accepted Li Yuan's official position.

He said coldly: "The attack on Taiyuan is an obvious matter, and I don't need to explain it again." ”

Wang Xu felt a trace of dissatisfaction in Pei Shiqing's tone, his face flushed, and he sighed, "This matter is a long story, let's talk about it when we go home!" ”

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Wang's mansion is the largest mansion in Taiyuan City, covering an area of 90 acres, of which 30 acres are set aside for Wang Xue, presided over by Wang Xu's younger brother and famous educator Wang Tong, with thousands of disciples, and Wang's mansion covers an area of 60 acres, hundreds of Wang family children live in the house.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the palace, Wang Xu invited Pei Shiqing into the study, the two sat down, a maid served him tea, Wang Xu picked up the teacup, and then sighed and said: "When Li Yuan gave me an official position, I didn't accept it at that time, and it wasn't until Li Yuanji sent troops to surround the Wang family that I was forced to agree, and I was really forced to agree." ”

Pei Shiqing knew very well in his heart that in fact, the fundamental reason was that the Wang family was not optimistic about Yang Yuanqing and thought that Li Yuan could achieve great things, so he reneged on the agreement between the four families, but he had nothing to say, didn't the Pei family also accept Pei Lian's visit?

Pei Shiqing didn't mention this matter, so he asked him directly, "Then you can tell me clearly, this time Yang Yuanqing attacked Taiyuan, did the Wang family contribute?" ”

Yang Yuanqing exterminated Liu Wuzhou, annihilated Li Shuliang, and was about to attack Taiyuan, which made Wang Xu see a glimmer of hope again, and he smiled bitterly and said: "I am Minqiu's uncle, do you think I can not contribute?" It's just that I have no soldiers in my hands, and it is impossible to directly help him capture the city, so I can only find an opportunity to help him when the situation develops to a certain point. ”