As predicted by Chen Fuliang, after Wang Shichong fully took over the Sui army in the eastern capital, the once dangerous battlefield situation finally took a turn for the better, and the morale of Li Mi's army launched several sieges, but was repelled by Wang Shichong, who was good at defending, with the advantage of city defense.

Wang Shichong's strategy was quite vicious, seeing that Nancheng was in a hurry and there was no time to mobilize the army to counterattack, he ordered an army to pretend to be Li Mi's thief army, and took the lead in robbing Luoyang South City under the cover of night, deliberately throwing valuable property all over the streets, and robbing the people's women in the chaos to disturb Li Mijun's heart, driving Pei Renji's army to join the ranks of robbing money and women, and missed the excellent opportunity to seize Tianjin Bridge and other Luoshui bridges, Wang Shichong took the opportunity to organize a death squad to launch a counterattack, and defeated Pei Renji to recapture Luoyang Nancheng, At the same time, the main force of Li Mi's army, which hurriedly launched a siege to attack the northern city of Luoyang, killed Li Mi's army in the north and south of the city, and won a great victory in defending the city.

After several battles, Li Mi's arrogance was beaten to ashes, and the high morale began to decline in frustration, and Li Mi, who had suffered a big loss under the eastern capital more than four years ago, saw that the situation was not good, so he could only quickly adjust his tactics, give up the continuous strong attack that was doomed to heavy casualties and had a very slow effect, suspend the offensive and let the army recuperate, and at the same time renovate the city defense, houses and official houses of Jinyong City, and relocate the general headquarters from Luokoucang to Jinyong City, preparing to fight a long-term and protracted war with Wang Shichong.

On the contrary, the morale of the Sui army in the eastern capital, which had been depressed to the extreme, gradually began to decline and rebound, and the army that had been repeatedly expanded many times had excellent generals to train and command, and had been trained and accumulated in actual combat, just like Yang Xuangan in the Great War that year, he was gradually able to straighten his waist in front of the mighty Li Mijun, and Wang Shichong's own prestige was also improved, Yang Tong began to rely on him as a confidant of the Great Wall, and Yuan Wendu, who had previously despised Wang Shichong as a person, gradually reversed his opinion of him, but the relationship was still not harmonious.

In order to prevent emergencies and adjust tactics at the same time, Li Mi decisively sent the general Yang Defang to lead an army of 10,000 to take Xin'an City in the west and block the Cuihan Road to prevent Chen Fuliang from returning to the army. As a result, to Li Mi's great surprise, his arrangement unintentionally played an important role, and suddenly Yang Defang's army marching west happened to stop Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie and others who were escorted by Chen Fuliang, killed a small number of people sent by Chen Fuliang, and captured Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie, two important prisoners.

After being captured, Huangfu Wuyi was silent, but Wei Yijie betrayed the word Yijie in his name, in order to survive, the reason why they were escorted back and the situation in Guanzhong were explained to Yang De, Yang Defang was surprised and happy when he heard the report, and quickly sent someone to escort Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie back to Jinyong City to offer prisoners, Li Mi was overjoyed after hearing the news, and quickly summoned all the generals to interrogate Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie, and quickly asked Chen Fuliang and Yang Tong to break off their friendship before and after.

"God help Wei Gong! Wei Gonghong is blessed with the sky! Gods forbid! As soon as Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were temporarily escorted out, most of the civil and military officials of Li Mijun immediately shouted with joy, "Chen Yingliang's dog officer and Yang Tong Xiao'er turned against each other and refused to listen to Yang Dong'er's orders, our army's western front has no worries, and we can attack the eastern capital with all our strength with peace of mind, and we don't have to worry about Chen Yingliang's dog officer suddenly returning to the army." ”

Li Mi and Zu Junyan, Pei Renji and a few other civil and military were also surprised and happy, but they still remained calm, after careful consideration for a while, Pei Renji also warned Li Mi: "Duke Wei, you can't be too optimistic, Chen Yingliang thief has always been treacherous, and has always been loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang, although he and Yang Tong Xiao'er turned against each other, but he did not do things perfectly, did not directly pull the flag to stand on his own, and also sent people to send Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie back to the Eastern Capital, there is still room for doing things, there is still the possibility of returning to the Eastern Capital, we must not be negligent." , giving the thief a chance. ”

Glancing at Pei Renji, Li Mi, who had gradually noticed Pei Renji's cheating aura, finally understood why Pei Renji couldn't rise in officialdom - this vision and focus are even more polarized than polarization.

Fortunately, Li Mi also had a few more reliable staff members around him, Zu Junyan, Yuwen Wen and Chai Xiaohe, who offered Gongxian to surrender, immediately said: "General Pei's words are not accurate, Chen Yingliang and Yang Dong turned against each other and expelled Yang Dong's envoys, on the surface, he is still loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang and leaves room for doing things, but in fact, it is to sell his reputation and gain time, within a few months, Chen Yingliang will inevitably follow Li Yuan's example and raise the banner to rebel!" ”

"Raising the flag for rebellion?" Pei Renji paused, and then said in surprise: "How is it possible?" Chen Yingliang, that thief, has always been loyal to Yang Guang, how could he rebel? ”

"If Chen Yingliang's thief doesn't want to rebel, then why doesn't he immediately return to the army to save the Eastern Capital?" Li Mi couldn't help but sneer, and said: "Daxing has been recovered by him for more than four months, and the Eastern Capital is in a hurry one after another, but he only cares about grabbing the granary and grabbing the land, and refuses to send a soldier back to help the Eastern Capital, isn't he trying to rebel?" Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if there are other reasons why he couldn't return to the division before, Yang Tong misunderstood that he had opposing intentions, so when it comes to Huangfu Wuyi, if he Chen Yingliang is really a loyal minister, he should immediately personally lead the main force to save the Eastern Capital, and use his actions to prove that he was wronged! But he took the opportunity to turn his face against Yang Tong, and took the opportunity to get rid of Yang Tong's accusations against him, isn't this trying to rebel? ”

"What Wei Gong said is extremely true." Yuwen Wen nodded and said: "Chen Yingliang sent the emperor Wu Yi and them out of the country under the pretext of only serving the holy decree and not receiving the Jun decree, the first purpose is to appease people's hearts, so that those civil and military officials and military officers and soldiers who are still loyal to the tyrant feel that he is still loyal to Yang Guang and will not turn his face directly with him; The second is to gain time, use this time to integrate internally, weaken and eliminate the influence of the tyrant Yang Guang on his subordinates, and completely eradicate those subordinates who are truly loyal to Yang Guang, and lay a solid foundation for him to raise the banner. Killing two birds with one stone, killing two birds with one stone, is indeed cunning and abnormal. ”

Pei Renji opened his mouth wide, and he couldn't believe that his distant nephew Chen Fuliang, who had always been more loyal than loyal ministers, was actually thicker than him, but Li Mi nodded, recognized Yu Wenwen's analysis, and said with a sneer: "There are dangers of mountains and rivers in the pass, outstanding people, if Chen Yingliang's thief establishes a foundation there and is self-contained, then with his ability, it will not only become a great harm to our army, but also may achieve the cause of the emperor. We can't afford to guard against this. ”

"Gong Wei, there is an opportunity now, so that we can nip Chen Yingliang's thief in the bud!" Zu Junyan said: "Chen Yingliang has always boasted of his loyalty, showing his hypocrisy as a hypocrisy, relying on his whiskers and helping Yang Guang tyrant to abuse his family, and among the martial arts under his command, there are also many people who are truly loyal to the tyrant Yang Guang, Yang Dong's decree He can refuse it on the pretext that he is Yang Guang's minister instead of Yang Dong's minister, and his subordinates cannot refuse his order on this ground, and cut off him for Yang Guang, a hypocrite with a beast's heart!" ”

Speaking of this, Zu Junyan paused and added viciously: "However, if we can think of a way to let the tyrant Yang Guang know about this matter and personally order the killing of Chen Yingliang, a traitor, then even if we can't kill Chen Yingliang's thief, we can make this traitor's army chaotic without a fight, and its vitality will be greatly damaged, and it will no longer be able to dominate Guanzhong, and it will be much easier for our army to capture Guanzhong in the future!" ”

"The solution is ready-made." Li Mi smiled and casually ordered: "Invite General Huangfu and Wei Shilang in, I have something to say to them." ”

The soldiers agreed, and after a while, Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were escorted to Li Mi again, and then Wei Yijie immediately saluted Li Miji, but Huangfu Wuyi still held his head high, and the escort soldiers forcibly knelt down on him, but Li Mi suddenly said: "No need, General Huangfu, your integrity is still worthy of admiration, I don't force you, Wei Shilang, you can get up too, you can both go." ”

"Can you go?" Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie are both the same.

"Yes, you can go back to Luoyang City." Li Mi nodded, smiled and said, "You can leave now, and if necessary, I can send someone to send you back to the city." ”

"Gong Wei, are you really letting us go?" Wei Yijie asked in surprise.

"Of course." Li Mi smiled more relaxedly, and said: "I not only want to let you go back, I also want to ask you to bring a message to His Royal Highness the King of Yue and the Yuan Wendu Yuan Deputy to stay behind, in the matter of Chen Yingliang, if they are willing, I can help you get in touch with Jiangdu, and I can also send cavalry and fast horses to escort your envoys to Jiangdu, to ensure that your envoys can travel back and forth between the eastern capital and Jiangdu within a month, and deliver news at will." ”

"Why?" Huangfu Wuyi blurted out, "Why are you doing this?" ”

"Forget how much hatred I have with Chen Yingliang and the traitor, and how much hatred I have with this traitor?" Li Mi smiled and said: "Since I assisted Yang Xuangan, the Duke of Chu, to raise the army, in the past four years, my soldiers and comrades-in-arms have died in the hands of Chen Yingliang's traitors. How much have I suffered because of this traitor? Now that this traitor is taking advantage of the opportunity of your war with me, and is preparing to rebel and establish himself as king, how can I endure this? How could I afford to miss the opportunity to let this traitor's head fall to the ground? ”

After that, Li Mi smiled again and urged: "Go back to Luoyang, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, since Chen Yingliang and the traitor have become our common enemy, I will never mind being friends with you for a while." Sue His Royal Highness the King of Yue and Deputy Yuan to stay behind, they can send an envoy to contact me at any time, but the speed must be fast, Chen Yingliang is not an ordinary person, if the speed is slow, I am afraid that the Holy Decree of His Majesty the Emperor will not work in Guanzhong. ”

Seeing that Li Mi's words did not seem to be fake, Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie glanced at each other, and hurriedly gave their leave, Li Mi returned the salute and arranged for people to escort them to Luoyang, and then Li Mi thought about it for a while, and then said: "By the way, General Huangfu, please bring another word to His Royal Highness King Yue by the way, if he wants to contact the old general Qu Tutong, I can also help, the old general Qu Tu still has a certain number of soldiers and horses in his hands, and he has always been loyal to the emperor, and he is an ideal candidate to crusade against Chen Yingliang's traitors." ”

Huangfu Wuyi glanced back at Li Mi, nodded to show understanding, and then followed Li Mi's personal soldiers without saying a word, looking at their departing backs, Li Mi smiled again and muttered in a low voice: "Little thief, do you want to emulate Liu Bang's career as an emperor according to Guanzhong?" Dream! Even if I don't have the strength to kill you now, I can disgust you to death! ”

…………

After Huangfu Wuyi and Wei Yijie were sent back to Luoyang by Li Mijun, there was naturally a burst of chickens and dogs jumping in the eastern capital, and after learning Chen Fuliang's reaction in this matter, Yang Tong and Yuan Wendu and others were of course furious, and the first thing they did was to order the arrest of Chen Fuliang's family members in the eastern capital to ask for guilt! As a result, what made Yang Tong and Yuan Wen vomit blood very much was that Chen Fuliang's wife, the eldest grandson Xiao Luoli, had already taken the child to Hongnong to visit Gao Shilian, and Chen Fuliang's old housekeeper Chen Laosan followed, and the eldest grandson Wuji, who stayed in Chen Fuliang's Dongdu Mansion, also took Chen Fuliang's beautiful concubine Zixiao's mother and son mysteriously disappeared three days ago, leaving only Wang Xueji and Wang Xueji's second son born to Chen Fuliang still at home.

No one dared to arrest Wang Xueji's mother and son, although the current Wang Shichong of the Great Wall of the Eastern Capital had expressed his willingness to kill his relatives in righteousness, Yang Tong still obediently handed over Wang Xueji's mother and son to Wang Shichong, and let Wang Shichong take them home for education, and at the same time found out that the eldest grandson Wuji was likely to be out of the city from Dingding Gate, which Wang Shichong's eldest son Wang Xuanying was responsible for, Yang Tong and Yuan Wen were also very rational and restrained and did not investigate further. At the same time, Yang Tong and others also understood one thing - Chen Fuliang was bad, and it was not a day or two that he was holding back, but he was ready to rebel long before the Western Expedition to Guanzhong.

Finally saw clearly the shameless face of the righteous brother Chen Fuliang, Yang Tong and Yuan Wen both started evil from their hearts, and they were angry to the side of the bold, and after a little discussion, they decided to accept Li Mi's kindness, sent an envoy out of the city to contact Li Mi, and relied on the protection of Li Mi's army to go to Jiangdu to contact Emperor Yang of Sui, report Chen Fuliang's vicious crimes, and ask Emperor Yang of Sui to personally issue an order to kill Chen Fuliang, the world's first hypocritical and shameless treacherous thief! At the same time, he also decided to use Li Mi's help to get in touch with Qu Tutong, who was in Hedong County, and let Qu Tutong come forward to organize the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong to recruit Chen Fuliang, a despicable thief, by force!

Our Duke of Wei, Li Mi, was a man of his word, and he only made a little contact and negotiation with the Eastern Capital, and immediately sent a fast horse to escort Yang Dong's envoy Feng Ciming to Jiangdu to contact Emperor Yang of Sui, and asked the Chengchi government that had surrendered along the way to provide full assistance in the name of Duke Wei. At the same time, he sent someone to escort Yang Dong's envoy Guo Wenyi to Hedong in a hurry, and asked Li Er to help Guo Wenyi meet Qu Tutong as much as possible, and dredge the connection between the Eastern Capital and Qu Tutong's army.

Li Mijun relied on the abundance of grain and grass, and was no longer in a hurry to attack Luoyang City, and was patient just waiting for the news of Emperor Yang of Sui and the civil strife in Guanzhong, and at the same time consuming the grain and grass that had become more and more urgent in the eastern capital, Wang Shichong also took the opportunity to train the army desperately, so that the new army could form combat effectiveness, and wait for the opportunity to counterattack, and the two armies would not fight again, and they would be more than 20 miles away from each other for a while.

In this way, four days passed quickly, on the 25th day of March in the 14th year of the Great Cause, just as Li Mi and his subordinate Wenwu were discussing how to further expand the territory, a personal soldier outside the door suddenly came to report, saying that Li Er's envoy Ren Bi came to visit again. So fast? How can it be? ”

The mystery was soon revealed, Ren Bi did not come for Guo Wenyi's business, after entering the door, Ren Bi saluted Li Mi and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to Duke Wei, congratulations to Duke Wei, great news, in Daxing City, there is a good thing that is enough to make Duke Wei applaud!" ”

"Piff, scare me." Li Mi scolded secretly, and then asked with a smile: "Doctor Ren, are you talking about Chen Yingliang's traitor's expulsion of the envoy from the Eastern Capital?" ”

"Gong Wei, you already know?"

Ren Bi was taken aback, seeing Li Mi nodding, Ren Bi was embarrassed, but also inevitably admired Li Mi's well-informed, and then Ren Bi quickly smiled again, and said to Li Mi: "Duke Wei, since you already know about Daxing, then you don't want to pour a basin of oil on the fire?" Let Chen Yingliang and traitors sit on the sea of swords and fire? ”

"How to let Chen Yingliang and the traitor sit on the sword mountain and the sea of fire?" Li Mi asked curiously.

"Duke Wei, the right governor of my family thinks that this is a great opportunity to weaken Chen Yingliang's traitor and even put him to death!" Ren Pi Zhenzhen said eloquently: "Chen Yingliang traitor has always shown his hypocritical face, relying on flattery and tyrant Yang Guang to help the abuse, Yang Guang mistakenly believed that he was a loyal minister, entrusted the military power of Guanzhong to him, under his command, there are many civil and military officials who are still loyal to Yang Guang, he excused himself not to be Yang Tong's courtiers refused to accept the order, but it is very reluctant to say, but if Yang Guang lowers the edict and sentences him as a rebel and rebel, then Chen Yingliang traitor even if he is not executed by the tyrant, he can only immediately raise the flag and rebel, and act in a hurry, Even if he can succeed, he will inevitably lose his vitality because of it! ”

Li Mi wanted to laugh a little, and at the same time he was very vigilant in his heart, and said secretly: "I didn't expect that this son of Li Yuan's old thief was so treacherous, and he could see the key to the matter at a glance like me, this person must not be underestimated!" ”

"In that case, why don't Wei Gong try to contact the Eastern Capital and help them get in touch with Yang Guang?" Ren Bi said with a seductive voice: "If Duke Wei can help the tyrant Yang Guang send the holy decree to the Eastern Capital and Daxing in a short period of time, then wouldn't Chen Yingliang's thief be pushed to the forefront immediately?" Advancing the sea of swords and fire? ”

Zu Junyan and the others next to him finally couldn't help laughing, and Zu Junyan also smiled and said: "Doctor Ren, if you wait for your right governor to give us Wei Gong an idea, I'm afraid that the daylily will be cold." Let me tell you the truth, the envoy from the Eastern Capital who contacted the tyrant Yang Guang had already gone to Jiangdu under the escort of our cavalry four days ago. ”

"What?" Ren Bi was stunned for a moment, and he also didn't expect that Li Mi would have exactly the same mind as Li Er. After the shock, Ren Bi hurriedly said, "Gong Wei, can you do a little more favor?" If Duke Wei can help Yang Tong get in touch with Qu Tutong and let Yang Tong send Qu Tutong back to the army to recruit Chen Yingliang's traitors, the right governor of my family will definitely have a heavy courtesy. ”

Li Mi's face changed slightly, and he was even more vigilant against the quick-witted Li Er, but Zu Junyan and the others over there laughed loudly and asked, "Doctor Ren, did you come by water?" ”

Ren Bi nodded inexplicably and explained: "The little envoy is a boat on Yuan County, and he came by water to Luoyang, the eastern capital. ”

"I see." Li Mi smiled, picked up the teacup in front of him, and said with a smile: "You don't have to bother ...... this." ”

"Report ————!"

Li Mi was interrupted by a sudden emergency report, and a dusty herald suddenly rushed into the room and said to Li Miji: "Qi Wei Gong, Huaiyang Song Bao, I heard the news of Huainan, there was a mutiny in Jiangdu, and the tyrant Yang Guang was hanged by Yu Wenhua!" Yu Wenhua and the self-proclaimed prime minister, ready to lead 130,000 Jiangdu soldiers and horses back to Guanzhong! There are also rumors that Yu Wenhua is preparing to cross the Huai River in the north, go north along the Tongji Canal, and attack the back of our army! ”

The hall was full of color, the house was full of stupidity, and the teacup in the hand of Li Mi, who had always been very deep in the city, also fell to the ground, and his black face was full of stupidity, and then after a long time, Li Mi jumped up violently and shouted: "Impossible!" It can't be true! Chen Yingliang's luck as a dog thief can't be so good! It is impossible for Yang Guang to die! did not issue an edict to execute Chen Yingliang, a traitor, Yang Guang, you can't die! "It's going to hurt your vitality because of this!"

Li Mi wanted to laugh a little, and at the same time he was very vigilant in his heart, and said secretly: "I didn't expect that this son of Li Yuan's old thief was so treacherous, and he could see the key to the matter at a glance like me, this person must not be underestimated!" ”

"In that case, why don't Wei Gong try to contact the Eastern Capital and help them get in touch with Yang Guang?" Ren Bi said with a seductive voice: "If Duke Wei can help the tyrant Yang Guang send the holy decree to the Eastern Capital and Daxing in a short period of time, then wouldn't Chen Yingliang's thief be pushed to the forefront immediately?" Advancing the sea of swords and fire? ”

Zu Junyan and the others next to him finally couldn't help laughing, and Zu Junyan also smiled and said: "Doctor Ren, if you wait for your right governor to give us Wei Gong an idea, I'm afraid that the daylily will be cold." Let me tell you the truth, the envoy from the Eastern Capital who contacted the tyrant Yang Guang had already gone to Jiangdu under the escort of our cavalry four days ago. ”

"What?" Ren Bi was stunned for a moment, and he also didn't expect that Li Mi would have exactly the same mind as Li Er. After the shock, Ren Bi hurriedly said, "Gong Wei, can you do a little more favor?" If Duke Wei can help Yang Tong get in touch with Qu Tutong and let Yang Tong send Qu Tutong back to the army to recruit Chen Yingliang's traitors, the right governor of my family will definitely have a heavy courtesy. ”

Li Mi's face changed slightly, and he was even more vigilant against the quick-witted Li Er, but Zu Junyan and the others over there laughed loudly and asked, "Doctor Ren, did you come by water?" ”

Ren Bi nodded inexplicably and explained: "The little envoy is a boat on Yuan County, and he came by water to Luoyang, the eastern capital. ”

"I see." Li Mi smiled, picked up the teacup in front of him, and said with a smile: "You don't have to bother ...... this." ”

"Report ————!"

Li Mi was interrupted by a sudden emergency report, and a dusty herald suddenly rushed into the room and said to Li Miji: "Qi Wei Gong, Huaiyang Song Bao, I heard the news of Huainan, there was a mutiny in Jiangdu, and the tyrant Yang Guang was hanged by Yu Wenhua!" Yu Wenhua and the self-proclaimed prime minister, ready to lead 130,000 Jiangdu soldiers and horses back to Guanzhong! There are also rumors that Yu Wenhua is preparing to cross the Huai River in the north, go north along the Tongji Canal, and attack the back of our army! ”

The hall was full of color, the house was full of stupidity, and the teacup in the hand of Li Mi, who had always been very deep in the city, also fell to the ground, and his black face was full of stupidity, and then after a long time, Li Mi jumped up violently and shouted: "Impossible!" It can't be true! Chen Yingliang's luck as a dog thief can't be so good! It is impossible for Yang Guang to die! did not issue an edict to execute Chen Yingliang, a traitor, Yang Guang, you can't die! ”