In the evening, when the exhausted Chen Fuliang returned to Yuci with the newspaper **, Yuci City had already fallen into the clutches of the Sui army, and Liu Jizhen, the Yuci guard general who impulsively offered the city, had been killed by the Dingyang army and the general Li Zhongwen before the Sui army entered the city, but fortunately, he trapped Liu Wuzhou in the city, forcing the Dingyang army to break in, and the Sui army also took the opportunity to follow into the city, so Chen Fuliang was able to take the rapid Yuci City, and Liu Jizhen still had to be counted as the first merit.

In addition, it is not bad for the old Liu family, Liu Jizhen's brother Liu Liu'er was lucky to save his life and insisted until the Sui army entered the city, so that the old Liu family would not fall to the tragic point that no one could go to Chen Fuliang to ask for merit and reward after making great achievements.

At this point, the war between the Sui army and the Dingyang army finally came to an end, after three large-scale fierce battles in less than a day, the main force of the Sui army led by Chen Fuliang finally completely defeated the Dingyang army, captured Liu Wuzhou, who claimed to be the son of Dingyang, and his general Zhang Wansui, captured all the grain, grass, baggage and more than 1,000 horses of the Dingyang army, beheaded and captured more than 21,000 people, basically in one day, the Dingyang small court was wiped out of the foundation and family capital.

Although Song Jingang and Xun Xiangzhi and the generals of the Dingyang army fled north with some of the remnants of the defeated generals, they were also grasshoppers after the autumn, and they couldn't jump for a few days, and the remaining strength for self-protection was far from enough, not to mention threatening to interfere with the main force of the Sui army to attack Taiyuan again.

Of course, the main force of the Sui army is then elite and good at fighting, and it has also paid a lot of losses in such a high-intensity and high-density fierce battle, and Xiong Wei, the general of Qi County, also unfortunately died in this battle, and the soldiers were killed and wounded nearly 4,000, but Chen Fuliang can no longer care about pretending to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers to buy people's hearts, and after returning to Yuci City, he saw that the situation in the city has been stabilized, and Wei Chi Jingde and Kan Ling and other generals have led the army to firmly guard the key points in the city, Chen Fuliang's first thing is to ask for sleep, and he can't even wash off the dust on his face, Lying directly on the gum, I don't know who is wrong, and I snore loudly and immediately fall asleep.

Meimei slept a full night, until the next day, Chen Fuliang, who did not pay attention to hygiene, lazily got up to wash and change clothes, and dealt with all kinds of aftermath affairs, but at this time, an unexpected messenger suddenly came to Chen Fuliang's front Zhuo County warlord Luo Yi sent Xue Wanshu to make a copy of the Taihang Mountain Trail to ask for a meeting, not only brought Chen Fuliang the good news that Luo Yi promised to return to the Yining Imperial Court, but also brought Chen Fuliang the great news that Luo Yi had sent troops to Hengshan to block Dou Jiande to reinforce the Li family brothers.

Chen Fuliang was of course overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately ordered a summons.

Xue Wanshu is the eldest son of Xue Shixiong, the former general of the right imperial guard, and once met Chen Fuliang in the later stage of the Yanmen War, and their impression of each other is also quite good.

Fortunately, Chen Fuliang also gave face, and personally left the table to pick up Xue Wanshu, and gave Xue Wanshu a seat and a reward, and also gave Xue Wanshu a light car general from the five grades on the spot, and gave him the title of Wuqiang County Duke, and actually sealed a hundred households.

Xue Wanshu was also overjoyed, and hurriedly kowtowed to Chen Fuliang again to thank him.

After finishing the passing scene that should be taken, after the guests and hosts took their respective seats, Chen Fuliang naturally hurriedly asked why Luo Yi suddenly figured out why he accepted his surrender, and took the initiative to send troops to contain Dou Jiande for himself.

Xue Wanshu replied truthfully: "His Royal Highness the King of Tang, in fact, King Yan has long intended to surrender, but he was in the gap between the two strong Li clan and Dou Jiande in Taiyuan at that time, and the premature change of banner will inevitably attract the siege of two strong enemies, so he didn't dare to make up his mind." This time, I heard that Your Royal Highness, you personally led the royal division to the north of Taiyuan, and fought all the way to the city of Taiyuan, His Royal Highness King Yan had no worries, so he ....... ”

"Stop, stop, stop, stop."

Chen Fuliang hurriedly stopped Xue Wanshu's inexhaustible talk, and said with a smile: "Brother Wanshu, in the court, I am the king of Tang and you are a minister, so you should say something euphemistic." But now that we are not in the court, we are talking in private, so there is no need to waste saliva and say those scenes, you tell the truth, how did King Yan make up his mind? This is important to me, and it is equally important to Yanwang. ”

"Your Highness is still speaking directly as it was five years ago."

Xue Wanshu smiled, and then said: "Since Your Highness doesn't want to listen to polite words, then Your Majesty will tell the truth, King Yan He heard that Your Highness you flew two hundred miles in one day to recruit King Fubao, so he made up his mind to surrender to Yizhi, King Yan said that Your Highness, you can be so knowledgeable and lovely, then he will not be wronged when he comes to your command, let alone worry about what birds are hidden and rabbits are dead and dogs are cooked." ”

Speaking of this, Xue Wanshu hurriedly said: "As for sending troops to Hengshan to contain Dou Jiande, it is the suggestion of Xue Wanjun, the third brother of the last general, the third brother of the last general thinks that Your Royal Highness personally led the main force to the north of Taiyuan, and you must not want the war to be delayed for a long time, and the Li family brothers rely on Dou Jiande as their aid, and they will definitely defend Taiyuan Jiancheng with all their strength and wait for reinforcements, so instead of directly sending troops to Taiyuan to participate in the siege war, it is better to send troops to contain Dou Jiande's reinforcements, so that His Royal Highness can worry about the future, and also directly hit the morale of the Li brothers. Let the Taiyuan thief army know that there is no rescue and the army's heart will collapse. King Yan also listened to the advice of the third brother of the last general, so he sent the third and fourth brothers of the last general to lead an army of 8,000 to attack Hengshan County to prevent Dou Jiande from reinforcing Taiyuan. ”

"Good, good, good."

Chen Fuliang was so happy that he didn't even know how to speak, patted his thighs and applauded, and said happily: "In the future, I must thank Brother Wanjun, his plan to encircle Wei and save Zhao has really helped me a lot, and the Zhuo County army attacking Hengshan County to cut off Dou Jiande's march road is indeed a hundred times stronger than directly sending troops to Taiyuan to help me attack the city." Coup! Brother Wanjun is really a general, I not only want to thank him heavily, but also promote him heavily! ”

Overjoyed, Chen Fuliang simply smiled at Xue Wanshu and said: "Wanshu, are you willing to work hard for me, lead an army of 2,000 to the east, go to take the two cities of Shouyang and Shiai east of Yuci, and by the way, seize Jingcheng Pass, and open up direct contact with your two younger brothers?" ”

"Your Highness sends, the last general dares to disobey?"

Xue Wanshu hurriedly surrendered his hand, and said in embarrassment: "But the last general came by mountain road this time, and there are only two entourages with him, and there is no army available?" ”

"It's okay, I'll give it to you."

Chen Fuliang smiled and said, "I'll give you 800 elite soldiers and 1,020 new annexed troops, and let you go and capture these two cities and one pass for me." ”

As soon as he returned, he was granted military power by Chen Fuliang, and he was able to take charge alone, Xue Wanshu was of course very excited, and immediately knelt down and swore allegiance to Chen Fuliang for life.

Chen Fuliang picked him up again with a smile, comforting with kind words on his lips, but muttered in his heart: "I don't know what kind of goods your Xue family brothers are?" I'm not generous to you, how can I pull your third and fourth brothers over from Luo Yi? Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, they are both super fierce generals with hundreds of loyalty! and Xue Rengui in the future, it seems that he also has something to do with you, if I don't envelop you better, how can I wipe out your Xue family? ”

After claiming the king's hegemony, Chen Fuliang's **** luck was surprising, just sent Xue Wanshu to rest and feast and prepare for the expedition, Liu Liu'er, the brother of Liu Jizhen, the general of Yuci, came to meet Chen Fuliang, and reported a major good news to Chen Fuliang that Li Jiancheng secretly hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in Yuci City for Dou Jiande's reinforcements.

Fortunately, the road is not far away, and Li Jing also reported the situation of the Taiyuan battle to Chen Fuliang at any time, so Chen Fuliang just asked, and the confidential secretary Sun Fujia immediately reported to Chen Fuliang: "Your Highness, please rest assured, everything is going well in Taiyuan, after our army ambushed Liu Wuzhou, although Li Jiancheng once sent an army in a vain attempt to share the pressure for Liu Wuzhou, but the old general Qu Tu fought and retreated, Li Jiancheng had no choice, abandoned the camp and returned to the city at the fourth watch on the night before, and the old general Qu Tu took advantage of the situation to chase and kill, a total of more than 1,800 Taiyuan thieves were killed and captured, and a lot of military baggage was also captured. ”

"And."

Sun Fujia smiled again and added: "Yuan Shangshu also reported to Your Highness, saying that he found that the wind direction had changed the night before, and within ten days, the flow of Fenshui would inevitably begin to increase. So Li Shangshu asked for instructions, should our main force move the camp? Chongsheng Temple in the northeast corner of Taiyuan (later also known as Tongping Temple, Pingjin City, now Jinyuan Town), is a good choice. ”

Although he has been avoiding this problem, but the war has come to this point, Chen Fuliang must face this cruel choice, is he responsible for the lives of his soldiers?

Or is it responsible for the lives of innocent people in Taiyuan City?

So after hesitating for a long time, Chen Fuliang still didn't say a word, did not make any statement, Sun Fujia, who had been following Chen Fuliang for nearly two years, observed the words and looks, and saw the hesitation in Chen Fuliang's conscience, so he said cautiously: "Your Highness, the student knows that you can't bear it, but we also have no choice, Taiyuan City is high and deep, the city wall is strong, and the grain and grass in the city are very sufficient, if the defenders refuse to surrender, we don't know how many troops and money and food will be spent to break through the city, and the delay will be long, not only the people of Taiyuan will suffer, All the people of the earth shall suffer. ”

Chen Fuliang still didn't speak, and after a lot of time, Chen Fuliang said slowly: "I wrote back to Li Shangshu, agreeing to him to move the camp to Chongsheng Temple, and by the way, I will go back to the teacher to meet him the day after tomorrow." ”

"No."

Sun Fujia hurriedly hugged his fists and sang a promise, saying that His Royal Highness the King of Tang finally figured it out, and hurriedly wrote a reply letter to Li Jing for Chen Fuliang, Chen Fuliang signed the letter with a seal, and asked Sun Fujia to send a fast horse back to the main camp, and asked Sun Fujia to send someone to escort Zhu Cang by the way, Sun Fujia, who was already extremely familiar with Chen Fuliang's bad character, was shocked when he heard it, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, do you want Zhu Cang to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan City and serve as an internal response to our army?" Zhu Cang is capricious and forgetful of profit, so he can't be relied on at all? ”

"Is it more than capricious? See profit and forgetfulness? ”

Chen Fuliang sneered and said: "What kind of wolf-hearted, dog-lung, beast is better to describe him, it is an insult to these words, so you have to ask Wei Chi Jingde to personally escort this Zhu Cang, I have to prevent this beast and dog from jumping off the wall in a hurry, which is not good for me." ”

Sun Fujia was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, since you know Zhu Cang's nature very well, why do you still want to see him?" Wouldn't it be over if you cut him with a knife? ”

"Because I'm going to use his insidious viciousness to deal with an even more insidious and vicious enemy for me."

Chen Fuliang replied lightly, waved his hand again, and said, "Don't ask more, go and give orders." ”

Sun Fujia took the order and left, and Chen Fuliang, who has always been lazy, rarely picked up the pen in person, wrote a few lines on an official defense document, and used it again after signing.

Then it didn't take long for Yu Chi Jingde and Sun Fujia to take Zhu Cang to Chen Fuliang's face, in addition, what made Chen Fuliang cry and laugh was that they seemed to be frightened by their previous words, Yu Chi Jingde and Sun Fujia not only tied Zhu Cang up, but also brought in ten knife and axe hands, surrounded Zhu Cang in a circle, and was ready to cut people at any time.

Of course, Zhu Cang is also a character who can bend and stretch, in the face of this kind of pomp and circumstance of seriously distrusting himself, Zhu Cang still didn't dare to have the slightest dissatisfaction on his expression, still knelt on his knees obediently, and said respectfully: "Sinner Zhu Cang, knock on His Royal Highness the King of Tang, His Royal Highness ......." ”

"Shut up!"

Chen Fuliang interrupted angrily and roared, "Sinner? Under the command of this king, when has there ever been a courtier like you? In the eight years of this king's campaign, how many commanders and soldiers have been millions? Among the millions of soldiers, there is such a scum as you, who almost caused tens of thousands of my soldiers to die in vain! In the end, he also helped the Li traitors to abuse, and killed hundreds of soldiers under the command of this king with his own hands! This king is ashamed of using you, and he has never appointed you to any position, what right do you have to call yourself a criminal in front of this king?! ”

It was rare to see the mild-mannered Chen Fuliang so angry, Wei Chi Jingde didn't even blink his eyelids, grabbed the back of Zhu Can's neck with his left hand and lifted him up, and smashed his right hand directly on Zhu Can's face, which immediately beat Zhu Cang's face all over the place, blood foamed in his mouth, and several teeth fell out.

Zhu Cang secretly hated in his heart, but he didn't dare to resist and couldn't resist, so he could only beg for mercy with blood spurting his mouth, "Your Highness spares your life, Your Highness spares your life, the sinner knows the crime, the sinner deserves death, the sinner deserves death, I beg Your Highness to spare the sinner a dog's life for the sake of the scold's usefulness." ”

After drinking Wei Chi Jingde and continuing to beat Zhu Can, Chen Fuliang said to Zhu Cang again: "Yes, you are good at what you said, you are still a little useful to this king, and this king can also consider sparing your life, but well, it depends on whether you are obedient next." ”

"Sinners are obedient, sinners must be obedient."

Zhu Cang hurriedly nodded his head, and asked cautiously: "Your Highness, do you want the sin general to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan ......?" ”

"Why are you all smarter than the other? Can you guess the king's intentions? ”

Chen Fuliang smiled and said with a smile: "Yes, this king wants you to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan and return to Li Erlang to serve him." ”

When Zhu Cang heard the bitterness, he hurriedly said with a sad face: "Your Highness, it's not that sinners don't want to serve you, it's Your Highness that you also know that that Li Erlang is extraordinarily cunning, and when the sinner goes back now, he will definitely suspect the sinner and will not trust the sinner immediately." Moreover, the city of Taiyuan is tightly guarded, and it is difficult to enter and exit, even if the sinner detects any military aircraft, he can't send it out of the city? ”

"Your Highness, if you still don't believe in sinners, then let sinners be the siege vanguard."

Zhu Cang also let go out, and took the initiative to ask: "Your Highness, when you attack Taiyuan City, the sinners please order to join the death squad to attack the city, either the sinner will bring ten thief heads back to atone for his crimes, or the sinner will die in the city and atone for his sins." ”

"This king doesn't want you to attack the city, and I don't want you to do internal response, spying on military opportunities for this king."

Saying slowly, Chen Fuliang walked in front of Zhu Cang with the official defense in his previous handwriting, flashed the official defense to Zhu Cang, and said, "I only need you to bring this to Li Erlang." ”

Taking a closer look at the official document in Chen Fuliang's hand, Zhu Cang was dumbfounded on the spot, and almost suspected that his eyes were broken by Yu Chi Jingde, and he was wrong, and Yu Chi Jingde and Sun Fujia, who were carrying Zhu Cang, also widened their eyes at the same time, and exclaimed together: "Your Highness, you're not joking, are you?" ”

The official defense content signed and printed by Chen Fuliang is very simple, and the full text is as follows: Feng Li Shimin is the Duke of Wei, the general of the right Xiao cavalry, the doctor of Jin Ziguanglu, the reward of gold and silver is 1,000 taels each, and the gold coupon is given to avoid death, except for rebellion, he will be free from death for life!

After blinking his eyes a few times in disbelief, and repeatedly confirming that he was not mistaken, Zhu Cang asked in surprise: "Your Highness, do you want sinners to recruit Li Erlang for you?" Haven't you always hated that traitor to the bone? How could you think of recruiting him? Give him back such a great grace? ”

"This king has always liked to repay grievances with virtue, as long as it is a person who surrenders, this king has no habit of killing."

Chen Fuliang smiled and said: "This king also doesn't like Li Erlang very much, but there is a big event soon, and I want to use his power again, so as long as he is willing to do one thing for this king, this king can give him these graces." ”

"Your Highness, what do you want Li Erlang to do for you?"

Zhu Cang asked timidly.

"Let him persuade Li Jiancheng to surrender Kaesong, and if he succeeds, this king will give him this grace."

Chen Fuliang said coldly: "If Li Jiancheng refuses to surrender, Li Erlang will kill Li Jiancheng and lead the defenders and clans to open the city and surrender, and this king will also give him this grace!" The Li clan, this king will never be killed! ”

Zhu Cang opened his mouth and stammered, and after thinking about it for a while, Zhu Cang asked timidly: "Your Highness, what if Li Erlang chooses to refuse to surrender again?" ”

"Then you will find an opportunity to kill Li Erlang for me."

Chen Fuliang said unceremoniously: "After you return to the city, you can directly tell Li Erlang about you being captured by me, and then say that you pretended to surrender and I deceived you to return to the city alive, and were forced to bring him a letter and a message, and then if he agrees to surrender, you will help him act, if he refuses, you will find an opportunity to kill him and bring his head to see me." Whether you can help the king persuade Li Erlang to surrender, or help the king obtain Li Erlang's head, this king will pardon your previous sins and give you an official position of the fifth grade, thousands of acres of fertile land, gold and silver in the house, plus a knight. ”

After thinking about it for less than three seconds, Zhu Cang agreed to Chen Fuliang's request, because at least he could get out immediately and save his life.

Chen Fuliang was not very relieved of Zhu Can, and arranged for someone to secretly escort Zhu Cang back to Taiyuan and hand him over to Li Jing, and asked Li Jing to send someone to monitor Zhu Cang's entry into the city with the book, and also explained to his subordinates in front of Zhu Cang, saying that once Zhu Cang was found to have any misdeeds, he could be executed immediately!

Then Chen Fuliang put the official defense into an envelope, sealed it with fire paint and handed it to Zhu Cang.

Zhu Cang was escorted away, and Wei Chi Jingde and Sun Fujia were also puzzled, and hurriedly asked together: "Your Highness, do you really plan to recruit Li Erlang?" Haven't you always hated him to the bone, why are you still trying to recruit him? Also, our army has already reported that Li Erlang is weak in the Taiyuan thief army, and he can't fight Li Jiancheng at all, so it's useless to recruit him over? ”

"Don't underestimate Li Erlang, he doesn't have any soldiers and horses, but after all, his identity is there, and he still has a certain voice and influence in the Taiyuan thief army."

Chen Fuliang said calmly: "There is also the Li clan, before the Li family brothers were fighting for power in Daxing, the Li clan stood on Li Er's side, and later Li Er was weakened after we drove him back to Taiyuan, and the Li clan was retaliated by Li Jiancheng, and the thirteen governors of the Taiyuan thief army only had Li Shentong surnamed Li, and now the situation has come to this point, these Li clan members are likely to stand on Li Er's side." ”

"Then Your Highness, why don't you just recruit Li Jiancheng?"

Wei Chi Jingde asked suspiciously: "Your Highness, you and Li Jiancheng have always had a good relationship, during the battle of Tongguan, you even entrusted each other's families before the war, you personally came forward to recruit him, it should be very promising?" ”

Chen Fuliang smiled, smiled very bitterly, and said: "If Li Jiancheng can be so easy to surrender, then he will not think about attacking our army in the Bird Mouse Valley, let alone pulling Dou Jiande and Liu Wuzhou into the battlefield and retreating to Taiyuan City to do a death struggle." Flooding Taiyuan may be able to break the city, but it may not force him to surrender. ”

Wei Chi Jingde closed his mouth, and then Sun Fujia cautiously reminded: "Your Highness, if Li Erlang really accepts your offer to surrender, and really persuades Li Jiancheng to surrender or kill Li Jiancheng to surrender, what should I do?" His ambition and scheming are very dangerous, right? ”

"For the sake of hundreds of thousands of innocent Taiyuan people, I am willing to take the risk of keeping Li Erlang by my side!"

This is a beautiful answer from Chen Fuliang's mouth.

"The check is written by me, but this bank is ......, heh."

This is a sneer in Chen Fu's conscience.