Colorful flags cover the mountains and rivers, brown dust and smoke fill the world, under the dust and smoke, the total strength of more than 110,000 Dou Jiande's army along the post road, divided into three teams marching together, riding a high-headed horse cavalry in front of the road, the infantry on both sides of the queue is neat, stepping on the wasteland grassland is no less than the post road solid road, the rear transport grain and grass ordnance of the baggage vehicles are densely packed, stretching for several miles, walking in the middle is the most distinctive armor of Dou Jiande's Chinese army, and the middle of the Chinese army team is Dou Jiande's imperial chariot and his guard team, There are also civil and military officials of the Great Xia court.

Wearing a golden helmet and gold armor, sitting on the exquisite royal chariot with eight white horses, commanding such a large army, the high-spirited Dou Jiande of course felt that he wanted more scenery and scenery, and how proud he was, and suddenly laughed out loud for no reason on the imperial chariot, and when he asked Dou Jiande about his happiness, Dou Jiande replied: "I was laughing at the traitor Chen Yingliang who didn't know that his death was approaching, and even more laughing at the thief Chen when he heard that I personally raised an army of 300,000 to conquer him in the south. I don't know what kind of panic I'm going to be. ”

"At least pee your pants, I heard that the traitor's health is not very good, maybe he may faint on the spot!" There is no shortage of sycophants under Dou Jiande's command, and some sycophants immediately echoed loudly. Hearing this, Dou Jiande laughed even more, and the hundreds of civil and military officials in Xia Ting also laughed out loud, even Li Mi, who had never liked to participate in this kind of thing, laughed happier than anyone else.

Of course, Li Mi is not smiling at Chen Fuliang, but his current master, Dou Jiande, the emperor of Great Xia on the Golden Car Imperial Chariot, Li Mi, who has eaten and seen it, can also see at a glance the real reason why Dou Jiande laughed for no reason - the mud legs who have been farming for generations, have not received any good education, and have become a hegemon in just a few years by chance and luck, and have recently ascended the throne as emperor. did not follow the example of Emperor Yang of Sui when he went out on patrol with yellow sand pads, and wrapped the trees in colored silk, which can already be regarded as the last sober mind left in Dou Jiande's mind.

"It's a bit like me used to be."

After laughing, Li Mi couldn't help muttering softly in his heart, because Li Mi regretted it afterwards and found that he had also made a mistake of getting carried away when he was in his heyday, refusing to adopt the advice of Pei Renji and others, and listening to and believing in the carelessness of the enemy, which gave Shichong the opportunity to create a miracle of turning the tables. At the same time, Li Mi also admires his sworn enemy Chen Fuliang in this regard, he is also from a poor background, no matter when, Chen Fuliang always maintains a cool head, lustful but not greedy, greedy and not abused, he can still maintain humility after being strong, he is good at adopting the direct advice of his subordinates, never underestimates the enemy and never is hot-headed!

Therefore, Li Mi has also made up his mind more than once that if he can really make a comeback in the future and regain the glory of his heyday, then he must learn from Chen Fuliang, and no longer be his former self and the current Dou Jiande!

Dou Jiande was sent out on March 28, in order to avenge the revenge of the Linfen War, and in order to take advantage of the situation to annex the remnants of Wang Shichong and the Central Plains at the end of the road, Dou Jiande moved out almost all of his family resources, the main force of 110,000 foot cavalry, plus more than 20,000 remnants of Li Mi who were newly attached, the total strength of the Xia court into the Central Plains battlefield this time was almost close to 140,000, and Dou Jiande, who became more and more good at great achievements, also waved his big hand and decided to call the size of the army 300,000. The number of troops on the books has also become more than three times the strength of the Sui army, which claims to be 80,000, so it also takes advantage of some verbal advantages in propaganda.

After Song Zhengben, who opposed Dou Jiande's direct dispatch of troops to Luoyang, landed on the ground, there was no voice in the Xia court to oppose Dou Jiande's army to go south directly through Wei County and Ji County. Therefore, the advance speed of the Dou army was also very fast, and the 110,000 army advanced to the city of Ye County in Wei County in just over three days, and there were only three or four days left from the Yellow River.

However, at this time, the envoy sent by Wang Xuanying for help also brought the news that the Sui army of the Eastern Expedition was in the city of Hujiaoguan, and Wang Wan, the envoy of the Zheng army who accompanied the Dou army to the south, and the eldest grandson An Shi did not dare to slack off, and immediately visited Dou Jiande and implored Dou Jiande to immediately send an army to help the defenders of Hujiaoguan resist the attack of the Sui army. Li Mi and the generals of the Dou army, Fan Yuan and Hu Daen, also suggested that a cavalry should be sent south first, and they hurried to the Tiger Prison Pass to participate in the battle, so as to boost the morale of the defenders of the Tiger Prison Pass and ensure that the road to the army was unimpeded. However, after Dou Jiande asked the Ming Eastern Expeditionary Sui army of only more than 30,000 people, he said: "There is no need to send a partial division to the south first, my army can reach the Yellow River in four days at most, and then cross the river in another day, and then you can completely annihilate the Chen thief and the partial division in one fell swoop." ”

Hearing Dou Jiande's words, Li Mi, who had already understood Dou Jiande's personality and temper, immediately closed his mouth and stopped saying a word, but Fan Yuan, Hu Daen and others refused to give up, and insisted on asking Dou Jiande to divide the troops quickly. It's a pity that Dou Jiande puffed out his eyes and shouted, "What's the hurry? Could it be that the Tiger Prison can't hold out for even five or six days? Now immediately divide the cavalry and go south, Chen Thief's partial division saw the banner of my army, retreated in advance and ran away, and then want to annihilate the partial division of Chen Thief's army and the main force together, isn't it much more difficult? Haven't you heard of the tactics of various breakdowns? ”

Fan Yuan and the others had no choice but to shut up, and they all said depressedly in their hearts: "It would be good if Song Zhengben and Wang Fubao were still here, one of them dared to speak out and dare to admonish, dared to go against the scales and admonished to the end, and the other was good at rushing and assaulting, but he was the most suitable pioneer candidate at the moment." ”

Li Mi refused to say a word in front of Dou Jiande, but after returning to Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance and other henchmen, Li Mi sneered again and again, and said: "In the past, Xiang Yu abandoned Guanzhong and returned to Pengcheng, Han Sheng laughed at him for being a monkey and crowned, like a macaque wearing only a hat. Since Chen Thief's partial division dared to bypass Luokoucang and go straight to the Tiger Prison Pass, it shows that this partial division must be full of strong generals and elite soldiers, and its combat power is strong and not afraid of two-front battles. In a head-to-head battle, it is still unknown whether Dou Jiande, the hundreds of thousands of rabble, can win, and he even dares to release wild words to annihilate this Chen thief division in one fell swoop, ridiculous! ”

"Teacher, since you know very well that this Chen thief division should not be underestimated, then why don't you persuade Dou Jiande to send cavalry to reinforce the Tiger Prison Pass first?" Wang Bodang asked suspiciously: "The terrain of the Tiger Prison Pass is very important, only by ensuring that the city is in hand, can Dou Jiande's reinforcements directly reach Luoyang City, and create the biggest trouble for our sworn enemy Chen Yingliang traitors?" ”

"Do you want to let the teacher be cooked alive by Dou Jiande like Han Sheng?" Li Mi asked with a wry smile, and sighed again: "Dou Jiande, a villain with dirt buns, has the ambition to be ambitious, and he can't listen to any contrary advice, although he is a teacher, he is also very clear?" There is a guarantee that the Tiger Prison is in hand, so that the Chen thief can be weakened more by Dou Jiande's hand, but there is no way, Dou Jiande, the puppet, can't listen to the persuasion, so he can only go with him, and he can only pray that the Tiger Prison can hold on until Dou Jiande's puppet arrives, and don't be broken by the Chen thief's division in advance. ”

After that, Li Mi sneered again: "But it doesn't matter, anyway, Dou Jiande can rescue Wang Shichong has nothing to do with us, he can't reach Luoyang directly after being blocked by the Tiger Prison, and then I volunteer to go to the Central Plains counties to organize the old department to help him in the war, maybe the certainty of success is greater." ”

Facts have proved that if Dou Jiande immediately sent cavalry south to reinforce the Tiger Pass, the Xia Zheng coalition army should be very hopeful of keeping the Tiger Pass, Dou Jiande received the news of the attack on the Tiger Pass at noon on the afternoon of the second day of the fourth month of April, and the Sui army of the Eastern Expedition was not until the early morning of the fourth day of the first month to help enter the Tiger Pass, and it was not until the fourth day of the first month that it was close to noon before the whole city of the Tiger Pass was really taken, so if Dou Jiande could send the cavalry south first, the cavalry of the Xia army rushed forward, and there was every hope that they would rush to the Tiger Pass in advance regardless of distance and time. Sabotage Chen Fuliang's plan to seize the pass.

However, it is a pity that God blesses the evil and does not bless the good, Dou Jiande only lightly underestimated the enemy, and immediately gave Chen Fuliang a chance to take advantage of, and then on the fifth day of the fourth month, the news that the Tiger Prison Pass had fallen was sent to Dou Jiande again. Dou Jiande was stunned and simply regretted his intestines, but there are all kinds of medicine in this world, but there is no regret medicine, and in desperation, Dou Jiande can only hurriedly summon the civil and military officials to the royal chariot that carves dragons and phoenixes, and discusses with everyone the next opportunity to enter the army.

During the discussion, some people proposed to continue to the south, take advantage of the opportunity of the Sui army's unstable foothold to quickly recapture the Tiger Pass, and reopen the road to Luoyang; Some people also proposed to divert the route to the west, to attack the Linqing Pass, which was far less strong than the Tiger Pass, to march into Heyang to threaten the northern front of the main force of the Sui army, and to force the main force of the Sui army to divide troops to resist and also wait for the opportunity to enter Hedong through the Yiguan. Dou Jiande, who already regretted his underestimation of the enemy, was shaken for a while and wanted to go to Linqingguan, but Wang Wan and Changsun Anshi and others kowtowed in front of him and cried, constantly begging him to continue to enter the Tiger Prison Pass, first save Wang Xuanying and Zheng Jun, who had been beaten by the door, and then save Luoyang, and then shake Dou Jiande again.

At the critical moment, Li Mi once again proved that his magnanimity and repaying grievances with virtue were not under the hypocrisy of the hypocrite Chen Fuliang, and stood up to persuade Dou Jiande to continue to take the Tiger Prison Pass, and said with a heartfelt voice: "Your Majesty, our army has three advantages in taking the Tiger Prison Pass, the first is to grasp it greatly, at present, the more than 20,000 troops of Wang Xuanying, the prince of Zheng State, are still holding on to Luokou Cang, and they can cooperate with our army to flank the Chen thief army that has not gained a firm foothold, and our army's grasp of quickly recapturing the Tiger Pass is far greater than the grasp of seizing Linqing Pass." ”

"The second is to ensure that the grain and grass from Luokoucang are supplied to the army, reduce the burden of money and food on the people of Great Xia, and defeat the thief army! Your Majesty has said before that if you can annihilate the Chen thief's eastward division, it will be very beneficial for our army to break the main force of the Chen thief again. And Zheng ** team has not confirmed whether Chen Thief is in the Eastern Expeditionary Army, if Chen Thief is really in the Tiger Prison Pass, then His Majesty can not only defeat the Chen Thief army, but even have a great hope of capturing the thief first to capture the king, and capture Chen Yingliang himself first! ”

"And a third!" Speaking of this endlessly, Li Mi paused, bowed to Dou Jiande, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, forgive your ministers for saying an unlucky word, even if our army can't recapture the Tiger Prison Pass in the end, it will still be more beneficial than disadvantageous for our army to directly enter the Tiger Prison Pass." Because after His Majesty stationed troops and tigers in the city, he could immediately block the road of Chen Thief's army out of the Guandong and into the east, and not give Chen Thief the opportunity to expand, and then His Majesty only needs to divide a small number of partial divisions, and he can annex the land of the twelve counties in the south of the Yellow River in one fell swoop, drink the Yangtze River, follow the west to take Jingchu, and trap Chen Thief to death in the hinterland of the Central Plains. ”

Li Mi has said sweet words to this point, is there still a possibility for Dou Jiande to continue to hesitate? After slapping the dragon chair hard, Dou Jiande shouted decently: "Aiqing's words are in harmony with my intentions!" Spread the order to the whole army, continue to march south, cross the Yellow River and take the Tiger Pass, and do not give the Chen thief army a chance to breathe! ”

In this way, when the road to the army had been choked by the Sui army, Dou Jiande's army still drove towards the Tiger Prison Pass. Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi and other Zheng Jun envoys were grateful for this, and once again came to Li Mi with heavy gifts to thank him for repaying virtue with grievances, and begged Li Mi to continue to persuade Dou Jiande to recapture the Tiger Prison Pass, rescue the dangerous Luokoucang and reinforce Luoyang City, Li Mi agreed, and also accepted the gift of Wang Shichong, who was also a mortal enemy.

Seeing that Li Mi finally accepted the valuable gift from the army, Wang Wan and the eldest grandson An Shi were overjoyed together, and said that they would ask Li Mi for help in the future. Wang Bodang, Wang Xuance and other Li Mi's henchmen were puzzled by this, and as soon as they sent Wang Wan and the others away, they immediately asked Li Mi together: "Duke Wei, didn't you never accept gifts from Wang Shichong's husband before?" Why did you break this case today? ”

"We are about to leave, and we may not be able to go back to Baima to meet Yang Jishan first, and there is a lack of road expenses and military expenses, so we can only accept it." Li Mi replied quietly.

"We're leaving? When? Wang Bodang was taken aback.

Li Mi nodded, and said very easily: "In the past two or three days, after crossing the Yellow River, I will go to see Dou Jiande and ask him to allow me to go to Liang Chen Qian Peng to recruit soldiers and horses from the old army to help in the war, take the opportunity to get out, and never return to Dou Jiande's account." ”

"Gong Wei, so urgent?" Wang Xuance asked in surprise.

"It has to be so urgent." Li Mi replied with a sneer: "If you don't hurry up, I will be in danger if I don't do it." ”

Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance were even more shocked when they heard this, and when they hurriedly asked the reason, Li Mi smiled and said: "Today I strongly persuade Dou Jiande to continue to enter the Tiger Prison Pass, it is pure nonsense In order to give myself a chance, Dou Jiande will not be able to get it back, and if he can't attack Dou Jiande for a long time, he will definitely take out his anger on me, and he will definitely send my descendants to participate in the battle in Baima, not only will I be in danger at that time, but my last lineage team will definitely have heavy casualties." Therefore, I can only get out as soon as possible, and I cannot continue to stand under the dangerous wall. ”

Wang Xuance, who wanted to give Li Mi's head to Chen Fuliang as a reunion gift, refused to give up, and asked again: "Duke Wei, do you think Dou Jiande can't get back the Tiger Prison?" ”

"Of course I can't get it back." Li Mi said with a smile: "What kind of terrain is Tiger Prison Pass, don't you know?" The Chen thief army only needs to divide a little strength, it can easily block Dou Jiande's army, and take the opportunity to free up his hands to clean up Luokoucang Wang Xuanying, Luokoucang is broken again, and Dou Jiande has no chance to take the Tiger Prison Pass. And Chen Thief has another choice is to only guard the Tiger Prison and ignore Luokoucang, Dou Jiande will inevitably force Wang Xuanying to send troops to attack Luokoucang in order to break the city, and then Chen Thief wants to kill Wang Xuanying in the field, it will be even easier. ”

"The teacher is clever, we can't wait for death in the tiger prison, we must get out as soon as possible." Wang Bodang nodded hurriedly, and then asked with some concern: "Master, but what if Dou Jiande refuses to agree?" ”

"Judging from Dou Jiande's recent attitude towards me, there should be a lot of hope." Li Mi replied confidently, and said with a smile: "And we have another way, Wang Wan's puppets have gold, silver and jewelry in their hands, and they are in a hurry to save Wang Shichong, as long as I explain to them clearly what it is beneficial for them for me to recruit the old department to participate in the war, they will definitely pay for and help buy the buns under Dou Jiande's command to help me speak." With the help of these soil buns, with Dou Jiande's soft ears, it is difficult to agree or not. ”

Wang Bodang was overjoyed when he heard it, and quickly praised his mentor for his cleverness, Wang Xuance was silent, he didn't know what he was thinking in his heart, Li Mi also said that Wang Xuance was afraid, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "Don't worry, my father has this certainty, you are loyal to my father, and after my father's comeback, I will definitely not treat you badly." ”

After that, Li Mi also selected a few of the most valuable pieces of gold and silver jewelry sent by Wang Wan and others, and gave them to Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance in two............

That night, Dou Jiande's army was stationed in the northern suburbs of Wei County for the night, Wang Xuance found an excuse to leave Li Mi's camp, pretending to wander in the camp, and after repeatedly confirming that he was not followed, Wang Xuance quietly slipped to the back door of Dou Jiande's imperial camp, indicating his identity and begging to see Dou Jiande. However, Wang Xuance quickly took out the jewelry that Li Mi gave him during the day, stuffed it into the hands of the doorkeeper at the back door, and said respectfully: "General, please be sure to report to Your Majesty, just say that there are 100,000 urgent confidential matters to report to him." If Your Majesty doesn't see it, the villain will immediately turn around and leave, and if Your Majesty feels that the villain has offended his Tianwei, he will behead the villain to show the public, and the villain will never blame you. ”

For the sake of the precious jewelry, and listening to Wang Xuance's words so serious and solemn, the Houying gate official still reported the letter to the suspicious, but Dou Jiande, who was already about to fall asleep, began to be a little angry and said How can I see everyone? However, after hearing clearly that it was Li Mi's confidential secretary Wang Xuance who asked for a meeting, Dou Jiande was still suspicious, and immediately issued an order to summon him - in the troubled times, if Dou Jiande didn't even have such a little vigilance, he wouldn't be able to live today and not be able to get to this point.

Soon, Wang Xuance was led to Dou Jiande's bedroom, after meeting, Dou Jiande asked Wang Xuance what he wanted to see, Wang Xuance didn't answer, just looked left and right, Dou Jiande understood, and said: "Say, here are all my henchmen and guards, no one will leak the news." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Xuance thanked him respectfully, and said very seriously: "Your Majesty, before reporting a confidential matter to you, I also ask you to agree to the lowly position, and after listening to the report of the lowly position, I will immediately behead the lowly position and put it to death!" ”

"Why?" Dou Jiande was confused.

"For the lowly will do unrighteousness!" Wang Xuance kowtowed and said: "If you don't show it to Your Majesty, it will be disloyal, but if you don't show it to Your Majesty, it will be unjust, and it is difficult to have both loyalty and righteousness!" However, the lowly position is originally a subordinate official, and he has been saved by His Majesty's holy grace, and he has been given food and clothing by His Majesty, so he should be loyal to His Majesty, so there is nothing to be done about the humble position, so he can only be loyal to His Majesty first, and then ask His Majesty to execute the lowly office, so as to cure the unjust sin of the lowly position! ”

The expression on Dou Jiande's face became serious, and he paused for a moment before saying, "Say, let me say your words of loyalty, and let me decide whether I should cure your unrighteous sins, or whether I should forgive and forgive you." ”