Li Jiancheng and the two brothers Li took the initiative to give up Daxing and go north, although it was forced, but it was also quite a correct decision, at least to keep a part of the army, so that they had some strength to fight back and replenish grain and grass on the way north, during the northward journey, they successively looted the grain depots of Huayuan, Tongguan and the three internal counties, and obtained the food needed for the journey, and all the food that could not be taken away was distributed to the people of the three counties under the banner of righteousness, so that the Sui army Qu Tutong Department who followed the pursuit suffered from lack of food, and Yan zhòng affected the speed of pursuit.

When Li Jing broke Xue Renguo in Fufeng County, the Li family brothers who were in a hurry like frightened birds also retreated all the way to Hukou with the remnants of the defeated army, which was okay for the Li family rebels, the current Wencheng Taishou Zheng Zeng on the other side of the Yellow River was the son of the former Taishou Zheng Yuanshou, Zheng Yuanshou had been killed by Chen Fuliang with artillery, Zheng Zeng and Chen Fuliang were also considered to have a grudge against their father, and Zheng Zeng was also the cousin of Li Jiancheng's wife Zheng Guanyin, and Li Jiancheng had a relationship with Li Jiancheng and had a good relationship, and did not hesitate to organize the Wencheng rebels to receive the Li brothers across the river, The Li family brothers, who had been displaced for many days, had a relatively safe place to stay, and they also relied on the natural danger of the Yellow River to temporarily stop Qu Tutong's pursuers.

Of the 100,000 rebels in Daxing City, less than 20,000 of them were able to escape the Yellow River with the Li brothers, and nearly half of them were wounded soldiers.

Dozens of civil and military officials, including Liu Wenjing, Zheng Yuanshou, Wang Changhui, Dou Cong, Li Xiaogong, Li Xiaochang, Ma Yuangui and Xu Shixu, either died on the battlefield of Daxing or fell on the way to escape. However, Zhu Cang, who Chen Fuliang didn't look down on at all, was very lucky to follow Pei Lin all the way to Wencheng, and because Chen Fuliang could never forgive him, he won the forgiveness and understanding of the Li family brothers, and re-served as a general with troops in the Li family's rebels - no matter what, Zhu Cang is indeed a general who can lead troops and fight.

Because Chai Shao first betrayed Daxing Miyagi, the Li brothers of Li Yuan's corpse parked in the palace city failed to bring it back, although it is very clear that it is unlikely that Chen Fuliang's hypocritical character deliberately insulted Li Yuan's corpse and self-destructed reputation, but with this reason, after living in Jichang City, Wencheng County, Li Jiancheng and the two Li brothers still cried bitterly for this, sad and self-blamed for not being filial and failing to save their father's body, but in fact, they were glad that their brother escaped death and saved his life. The rest of the rebel soldiers also cried loudly, glad that they were able to return to their hometown in Hedong alive.

Qu Tutong, who was getting older and weaker, gave the Li brothers a chance to breathe, and the Yellow River was frozen in the middle of winter, and even if there was no ferry, they could cross the river on the ice thick, but after launching a strong attack and being repelled by the Wencheng rebels, Qu Tutong, who was worried about the fatigue of the army and lack of food, took the initiative to stop the attack, and instead let the army rest and collect grain and grass. The exhausted Li Yuan rebels were able to rest and recuperate in Wencheng, regain their strength and regroup the scattered defeated troops, and at the same time caused an unexpected situation - the news that Li Mi and Zhai Rang's coalition forces had broken through the Tiger Prison Pass and Luokoucang suddenly reached Wencheng County, and the Li Yuan rebels, who had planned to withdraw to the Taiyuan Lair, saw the dawn of the counteroffensive and had the idea of adjusting their strategy.

But the hope of a counterattack is also very slim, even if the Wencheng rebels are added, the Li brothers only have more than 20,000 demoralized defeated troops in their hands, and it is already difficult to hold the Yellow River, even if Chen Fuliang leads the Sui army in the eastern capital to return to the army to save Luoyang, the hope that the Li brothers can regain Daxing is pitiful, so whether it is Li Jiancheng or Pei Lian, they only think about it a little and give up this idea.

Only Li Er refused to miss this slim hope, and after some careful consideration, Li Er privately found Li Shentong, Duan Zhixuan, and Tang Xian to get close to the civil and military, and discussed with them the plan to stay in Hedong, Jinnan, and wanted to volunteer to Li Jiancheng and Pei Lin to lead an army to stay in southern Shanxi to resist the counterattack launched by the Sui army against Taiyuan, and also wait for the opportunity to counterattack Daxing.

Li Er's plan surprised Li Shentong and the others, and Li Shentong, the clan uncle who had the best relationship with Li Er, also exclaimed: "Erlang, are you crazy? Chen Yingliang's dog thieves took Daxing, and it is likely that he will personally lead the army to attack us, Qu Tutong is on the other side of the Yellow River, and he may cross the river to kill at any time. ”

"Of course I'm not crazy, I've thought it through." Li Er shook his head and said in a deep voice: "I think it is very unlikely that Chen Yingliang will personally lead the army to attack southern Jin, he now has the direct danger of Xue Ju and Bai Yupo in front of him, and there are Li Mi and Zhai Rang behind him, and further away, Li Liang and the Western Turks may take the opportunity to enter the pass, and it is almost impossible for him to personally lead the army to march to southern Jinnan in a short period of time." So as long as we defeat Qu Tutong, we can hope to gain a foothold in Jinnan and wait for the opportunity to counterattack the attack. ”

Shaking his head, Li Er raised three more fingers and continued: "And I also think that there are three advantages for me to stay in Jinnan, the first is to keep the communication with Li Mi and Zhai Rang unimpeded, take the opportunity to get their direct help by various means, and use the soldiers, horses, grain and grass in their hands to weaken the enemy for us." ”

"What about the other two?" Li Er's henchman Duan Zhixuan hurriedly asked.

"The second advantage is to avoid conflicts between me and my brother." Li Er said: "After the death of my father, my brother and I were in charge of the military together, such a situation is short for a short time, it is good to say, after a long time, the contradictions will inevitably intensify, the conflict will expand, rather than such a situation in the future cheap foreign enemies, it is better to part ways earlier, each in charge of an army, to avoid fighting for power and profit, but also to avoid cannibalism, both defeats." ”

Duan Zhixuan and Tang Xian nodded together, both feeling that Li Er's words were quite reasonable, and Li Shentong lowered his voice and said, "Erlang, of course what you said makes sense, but don't be stupid to stay in Jinnan?" Your father has been operating in Taiyuan for many years, with a solid foundation and abundant grain and grass, which is ten times better than that of Jinnan, such a good place, you are willing to give it to your brother? Pei Lin is actually facing you, and it is not hopeless that you return to Taiyuan to take charge of the military alone. ”

"That's the third advantage I'd like to mention." Li Er said in a low voice: "I also know that Taiyuan is a good place, but Liu Wuzhou in the north and Liang Shidu in the west are all looking at Taiyuan and delaying it, and when they hear that our army is defeated, they will inevitably have the intention of taking advantage of the fire to rob, after our army retreats to Taiyuan, we first have to face their direct threat, in fact, it is the same as my stay in Jinnan, I have the initiative to attack the south in Jinnan, I can not only justifiably ask my brother for food and weapons, but also let my brother defend the north for me, Wouldn't it be better than me and him returning to Taiyuan at the same time to fight for power and profit, and be beaten passively? ”

Listening to Li Er's words, Li Shentong found out that this was indeed the case, Li Er volunteered to stay in Jinnan, strategically there are indeed many benefits, Li Jiancheng in order to allow Li Er to resist the Sui army's counterattack for him, he will definitely not be stingy with the support of grain and grass weapons to Li Er, at the same time, most of the counties in Jinnan were peacefully liberated before, and they were not greatly affected by the war, and the population base is still there, as long as there is food and weapons, it is not difficult to pull up the army again. Thinking about this, Li Shentong nodded and said: "Erlang, if you are determined to stay in Jinnan, then I don't force you, I can also accompany you to stay, it's great that you can't hold Jinnan, and it's not too late to withdraw to Taiyuan." ”

Li Er was overjoyed, and then said: "I must be able to hold it, my father brought more than 100,000 soldiers and horses into the pass, most of them are Jinnan soldiers, they cannot be wiped out by the official army, most of them must have just been scattered, or it will not be long before they will return to their hometowns, as long as we recruit these guerrillas back, the troops will soon be defeated by Qu Tutong again, and the location is in our hands, it is not difficult to defeat Qu Tutong." ”

Seeing that Li Er was so confident, Duan Zhixuan and Tang Xian held the idea that they could still flee back to Taiyuan even if they couldn't hold it, and they all expressed their willingness to stay with Li Er, Li Er was even more overjoyed, and after comforting them with good words, they immediately ran to find Li Jiancheng and Pei Lian, and asked to lead an army to stay in Jinnan to resist the counterattack of the Sui army.

After listening to Li Er's request, Pei Lian, who was secretly facing Li Er, was of course taken aback, and quickly hinted that Li Er should not be stupid, but unfortunately Li Er pretended not to know. However, Li Jiancheng was overjoyed, and after pretending to persuade Li Er a few words, he gladly accepted Li Er's request, and then not only decided to leave most of the soldiers and horses to Li Er, but also promised to send Li Er grain, grass and ordnance immediately after returning to Taiyuan to help Li Er station and rebuild the army for a long time. Li Er ignored Pei Lian's hint and objected, and thanked his brother with a smile on his face.

Afterwards, Pei Er naturally had to complain about Li Er's stupid hat, and Li Er could only nag Pei Lonely again about his plan, and finally let Pei Shan accept his point of view, and then Li Er pleaded with Pei Shan again: "Uncle, after you and your brother return to Taiyuan, please say a lot of kind words in front of your brother, so that he must keep his promise and send me grain, grass and weapons as soon as possible." Also, my fourth brother Li Yuanji, please take care of him and let him continue to command the army, and never let my brother take away the military power in his hands. ”

"Don't worry about the grain, grass and ordnance, your brother's personality is quite kind, and he shouldn't be able to do such a thing as breaking his promise." Pei Lin replied casually, and asked suspiciously: "However, what is the matter with your fourth brother?" Why do you want him to continue to command the army? ”

"The little nephew is for your safety, uncle." Li Er smiled and said: "When I was in Daxing before, uncle, you secretly looked at the little nephew, my brother has long known this, uncle, you returned to Taiyuan with him, I am afraid that he will have a desire for revenge." My fourth brother Li Yuanji was ordered by his father to stay in Taiyuan and master the Taiyuan army, and my brother went back and wanted to collect the military power, the fourth brother will definitely be dissatisfied in his heart, uncle, as long as you stand on the side of the fourth brother and help him master some of the soldiers and horses, wouldn't you be as stable as Mount Tai in Taiyuan? ”

After being stunned for a while, Pei Lian went up and down Li Eryi as if he didn't know him, and then he arched his hand and said: "The second son is clever, and the lower officials admire it." ”

So, in the case of everyone's great joy, on November 11, Li Jiancheng and Pei Lin returned to Taiyuan with 3,000 troops, leaving the volunteer Li Er to lead the army to stay in Wencheng, supplemented by Li Shentong, Duan Zhixuan, Tang Xian and Zhu Cang and other civil and military officials, to resist Qu Tutong's pursuers, and at the same time, Li Er was also in charge of Jiangjun, Longquan and Linfen counties, and the rebel Lu Shaozong who was withdrawing from Hedong to Wencheng was also assigned to Li Ertong.

Immediately afterwards, Li Er, who was finally in charge of his own affairs, after Li Jiancheng and the others left, the first thing he did was to order all efforts to collect the defeated rebels who were fleeing back from Guanzhong one after another, and the second thing was to send people east into Hanoi to contact the Zhai and Li coalition forces, asking for an alliance with Zhai Rang Li Mi, and expressing his willingness to serve Li Mi as the leader of the alliance. In fact, Li Yuan also expressed his willingness to take Li Mi as the leader of the alliance in exchange for a temporary friendship with Li Mi.

In addition, in addition to taking the opportunity to plead with Li Mi Zhai Rang for assistance from the army and grain and grass, Li Er also offered a plan to Li Mi to build a group of Li Mi troops to march westward to attack the Cuihan Road west of the eastern capital, cutting off the road for Chen Fuliang to return to the eastern capital, and Li Er was willing to send an army to cross the river in Shaanxi County, join forces with Li Mi's army to capture Changping next to Shaanxi County, and jointly establish a bridgehead for Li Mi's army to take Guanzhong in the west.

Next, of course, Li Er will have to face a battle with Qu Tutong immediately, but fortunately, Qu Tutong's army has been running around inside and outside Guanzhong over the years, fighting again and again, and his soldiers are exhausted and war-weary, and the situation is not better than Li Er's soldiers and horses, and Li Er's self-confidence can still support it.

…………

Jiang County is basically still in the control of Li Yuan's rebels, and Pei Renji, a professional household of the pit father, took the opportunity of Wang Shichong to go south to aid the eastern capital Luoyang, and led the army into the hinterland of Hanoi County again, and in the area of Huojia, he simply beat away his former colleague Huang Taoshu, and went straight to Hanoi to threaten the county governance, which greatly facilitated the contact between Li Er and Li Mi, and on November 18, the envoy sent by Li Er set up a line with Pei Renji, and then quickly crossed the Yellow River with the help of Pei Renji's army, and got in touch with the main force of Li Mi's army.

When the envoy Jin Xiaomo sent by Li Er saw Li Mi, Li Mi and Zhai Rang had already fought outside Huiluocang, Wang Shichong's army was tired of fighting, and only dared to defend Cangcheng and did not dare to attack, and the reinforcements sent to Wang Shichong by the Eastern Capital were also defeated by the Zhai and Li coalition forces in Pingyuan, and the main general Liu Xu was captured and surrendered, and the total strength of the Zhai and Li coalition forces had exceeded 250,000, and there were 200,000 soldiers outside Huiluocang alone, and the momentum was extremely huge. Under such circumstances, it had already been discovered that Li Yuan was dead, and the Li family brothers fled in defeat, and the Zhai Rang family, who was born in Tubaozi, of course did not have a good face for Jin Xiaomo sent by Li Er, and they didn't even bother to arrange a seat for Jin Xiaomo, which made Jin Xiaomo very embarrassed and depressed.

Fortunately, Li Mi, who was born in a famous family, was very personable and cultured, and did not despise Jin Xiaomo because of the rapid decline of Li Yuan's rebels, in order to understand the specific situation of the Hedong battlefield in Guanzhong, Li Mi received Jin Xiaomo very warmly, while carefully inquiring about the current situation of the Li brothers and the various situations of Chen Fuliang, while picking up Li Er's handwritten letter and reading it carefully, after thinking about it in his heart, Li Mi also handed the letter to Zhai Rang and others to read, so that they could also know it.

Li Er's plea for food and reinforcements made Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou, the straw bale father and son, scream very much, saying, What are you kidding, why should you give Li Er precious food? Although Li Mi, who held the two warehouses of Luokou and Liyang in his hands, did not feel sorry for this bit of grain, he was also unwilling to work hard to send grain to the Hedong battlefield.

Li Mi's staff member Zu Junyan was also very interested in this mentions, and said to Li Mi: "Duke Wei, although the scale of Chang Ping is not as large as Luokoucang, it is much larger than the Huiluo Cang in front of us now, and there is a lot of grain in stock, and at the same time, Kuihan is steep and narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack, if our army can take Chang Ping first and hold the danger of Kuihan, Chen Yingliang will definitely not be so easy even if he wants to return to Luoyang, the eastern capital. In the future, after we take the eastern capital, if we want to enter the Tongguan in the military pass, the stored grain that is often closed can be used for us as military rations, which can save a lot of trouble in the transportation of grain and grass. ”

Li Mi nodded and said: "That's exactly what I mean, taking Chang Ping first and choking the dangerous road of Cuihan will benefit us without harm, but it's just ......, it's just ......." ”

"Just what?" Zhai Rang next to him interjected and asked.

"It's just that I can't find a suitable person to lead the army." Li Mi said with some hesitation: "I know very well the situation in the area of Changping, there is indeed a lot of grain in the warehouse, and the adjacent Hongnong Palace is the palace where the tyrant Yang Guang has lived every time between Luoyang and Daxing, and the treasures in the palace are piled up, if you can take it down, it will be of great help to our army." But now who are we going to send to attack the Chang Ping? The generals of our army who can fight well all have their own heavy responsibilities, and I really can't find a suitable candidate ....... ”

Before Li Mi's words were finished, the eyes of Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou father and son had already lit up, and after glancing at each other, Zhai Hong and his son said in unison: "Duke Wei, why don't you let us go?" ”

"Duke Xingyang, Zhai Changshi, do you want to go?" Li Mi asked in surprise.

Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou nodded hurriedly, and patted their chests to promise that they would be able to take Changping and Hongnong Palace, and seize the grain, gold, silver and jewelry there for public use, Li Mi hesitated again, and then turned his head to ask Zhai Rang what he meant, Zhai Rang of course knew what the idea of the baby brother and the baby nephew was fighting, and couldn't bear to refute their interest, so he said: "Duke Wei, since they are interested, let them go, anyway, we have so many soldiers and horses now, let them take a partial division to give it a try." ”

Seeing that Zhai Rang also agreed to let his two most reliable accomplices attack Chang Ping, Li Mi, who had long known that Chen Fuliang's wife and uncle Gao Shilian was Hongnong Taishou, hesitated again, and then nodded and agreed that Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou father and son would lead an army of 10,000 to attack Chang Ping. At the end, Li Mi still told him with anxiety: "Xingyang Gong, Zhai Changshi, you must be careful and safe, it doesn't matter if you can win Chang Ping or not, but you must come back alive." ”

After telling Zhai Hong's father and son, Li Mi turned to Jin Xiaomo again, promising to give Li Er support after opening up the land contact, and asked him to contact Li Er immediately, so that Li Er could send troops to Shaanxi County and join forces with Zhai Hong and his son to seize Changping. discussed various joint matters with Jin Xiaomo, but said with a sneer in his heart: "Li family child, is it a fool to be a father?" In your current situation, can you still have the spare strength to enter Shaanxi County? I want to use the regular closing of the warehouse to deceive my father-in-law into sending troops and share the pressure for you, but my father-in-law is not stupid enough to that extent! ”

"But it's okay, the trap set up by Chen Yingliang's thief in Changping can just be given to the Zhai family, the straw bale father and son, to see if they have the opportunity to instigate Zhai to make Lao'er the emperor in the future, and force me to be a dog for the Zhai family for the rest of my life!" said in unison: "Duke Wei, why don't you let us go?" ”

"Duke Xingyang, Zhai Changshi, do you want to go?" Li Mi asked in surprise.

Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou nodded hurriedly, and patted their chests to promise that they would be able to take Changping and Hongnong Palace, and seize the grain, gold, silver and jewelry there for public use, Li Mi hesitated again, and then turned his head to ask Zhai Rang what he meant, Zhai Rang of course knew what the idea of the baby brother and the baby nephew was fighting, and couldn't bear to refute their interest, so he said: "Duke Wei, since they are interested, let them go, anyway, we have so many soldiers and horses now, let them take a partial division to give it a try." ”

Seeing that Zhai Rang also agreed to let his two most reliable accomplices attack Chang Ping, Li Mi, who had long known that Chen Fuliang's wife and uncle Gao Shilian was Hongnong Taishou, hesitated again, and then nodded and agreed that Zhai Hong and Zhai Mohou father and son would lead an army of 10,000 to attack Chang Ping. At the end, Li Mi still told him with anxiety: "Xingyang Gong, Zhai Changshi, you must be careful and safe, it doesn't matter if you can win Chang Ping or not, but you must come back alive." ”

After telling Zhai Hong's father and son, Li Mi turned to Jin Xiaomo again, promising to give Li Er support after opening up the land contact, and asked him to contact Li Er immediately, so that Li Er could send troops to Shaanxi County and join forces with Zhai Hong and his son to seize Changping. discussed various joint matters with Jin Xiaomo, but said with a sneer in his heart: "Li family child, is it a fool to be a father?" In your current situation, can you still have the spare strength to enter Shaanxi County? I want to use the regular closing of the warehouse to deceive my father-in-law into sending troops and share the pressure for you, but my father-in-law is not stupid enough to that extent! ”

"But it's okay, the trap set up by Chen Yingliang's thief in Changping can just be given to the Zhai family, the straw bale father and son, to see if they have the opportunity to instigate Zhai to make Lao'er the emperor in the future, and force me to be a dog for the Zhai family for the rest of my life!"