The old Li family is indeed very good at buying people's hearts, after conquering Huoyi, in addition to the routine opening of the warehouse to release grain, Li Yuan also ordered that all the old people over 70 years old in the city be granted loose officials (there are officials who have no official rights), and the gentry and students who are willing to serve Li Yuan's rebels can meet Li Yuan at any time for an interview, and they will appoint officials on the spot in a few words - the speed of awarding officials is too fast, and there is no time to receive the official seal of the official order, and these people can only receive a note with the name of the official position.

Although the process was rough and rash, the effect was very good, in order to really get the official position written on the small note, these small landlords who had studied for a few days and studied martial arts for a few days still followed Li Yuan for a reason, and were willing to act as pawns for Li Yuan. And the most ruthless is the prisoner policy, for the captured soldiers of the Daxing Sui Army, Li Yuan's rebels do not kill any of them, and are willing to join all the rebels' take-in, Guanzhong prisoners who want to return to their hometown in Guanzhong are released on the spot, given dry food for the journey, and are all awarded Wupin Sanguan, as a result, these released prisoners naturally become the best propaganda machine for Li Yuan's rebels.

The first to be bitter by these propaganda machines is still Pang Yu and Huo Shiju led by the Daxing Sui army, the wolf bèi unbearable fled from Huoyi to Linfen County to Linfen City, Pang Yu and Huo Shiju who refused to give up gathered the remnants of the defeated army and prepared to fight again, accidentally gathered a lot of these prisoners into the army, the result is naturally conceivable, lost Huo Yi and grain and grass hundreds of miles to flee to Linfen, Daxing Sui army was tired and hungry, fled to Yan zhòng, and lost consecutive battles and demoralization, After listening to the Li Yuan's rebel prisoner policy propagated by these captives, the army's morale was suddenly even more shaken. When Li Yuan's rebel army approached Linfen City on the eighth day of the eighth month of August, it had just launched a siege of the city, and a rebellion had already occurred within the Sui army.

With the expansion of the city and the increasingly fierce offensive of the rebels, Pang Yu and Huo Shiju once again had no choice but to continue to flee south with the army that could still be commanded around them, as a result, the 60,000 troops they brought from Taiyuan, only less than 1,000 people escaped from Taiping Pass and entered Jiangjun, and the rest were either killed or surrendered to the rebels, and they could not be defeated again, and they could not lose again, Pang Yu and Huo Shiju both cried loudly, and then they didn't even dare to stay in Jiangjun, and directly crossed Jiangjun to Hedong to defect to Qu Tutong, and Li Yuan's rebels continued to surrender and rebel all the way, marching forward and quickly entering Jiangxian County, all the large and small cities and passes along the way are looking forward to the wind and descending, and there is no horse to stop Li Yuan's footsteps.

On August 12th, the Li Yuan rebels who advanced the speed approached the Zhengping City of Jiangjun County, and the troops stayed in Gushan, Jiangjun Taishou wanted to open the city and surrender, Chen Shuda, who was loyal to Emperor Yang of Sui, killed Taishou and led the troops to hold the city, but unfortunately only one day passed, Li Yuan's rebels launched an attack, Chen Shuda was also betrayed by his subordinates, and was knocked unconscious by his subordinates. It also includes Wenxi County, the base of Lao Pei's family.

The advance is so fast, the battle is so smooth, the replacement of the commander may have been carried away and empty-eyed, but as the commander-in-chief, Li Yuan's father and son are very calm, because they know very well that the reason why the self-army has achieved such results is entirely because of the weaker opponent, the enemy's commander's successive decision-making mistakes and the good luck of the self-army, the further south it goes, the more difficult it will be, and the hidden dangers of the self-army are countless, first of all, the problem of grain and grass, such a crazy and rapid advance, it is impossible for the grain transportation team in the rear to keep up, At the same time, Taiyuan also had many problems in the rear, with the threat of Liu Wuzhou, Wei Dao'er and the remnants of the Sui army in Yanmen, and the grain production was far from enough to supply the increasingly large contingent of Li Yuan's rebels.

Although Li Yuan's rebels could take grain from the conquered and surrendered counties at will, at most they could only maintain no shortage of military rations, and it was difficult to ensure long-term supply, and the only way to obtain a sufficient and stable supply of grain and grass was to seize a state-owned granary as much as possible, and there were only two state-level granaries placed in front of Li Yuan, one was Yongfeng Cang in the western suburbs of Tongguan, and the other was Changping in Shaanxi County -- but with a few guts from Li Yuan, he didn't dare to fight the idea of Changping. If Li Yuan's rebels really dared to cross the Yellow River from Sanmenxia and take Chang Ping, Chen Fuliang's mouth could laugh crookedly. So Li Yuan actually has only one choice, which is to take Yongfeng Cang as soon as possible.

Yongfeng Cang is not so easy to take, there are two roads from Jiangjun to Yongfeng Cang, one is the flat and wide Hedong Road, take the Hedong to take the Pujin pontoon bridge to cross the Yellow River directly, the advantage of taking this road is that it is relatively safe, you can maintain contact with the rear, the difficulty is that the famous general of the Sui army Qu Tutong sits in the east of the river, and if you want to cross the Yellow River, you must pull out the nail of Qu Tutong.

The other way is to cross the Yellow River directly by Longmen or Hukou, bypassing the east of the river and going straight to Yongfengcang, but this road is more dangerous, after the main force crosses the river, Qu Tutong can send troops at any time to cut off the contact between Li Yuan's rebels and the rear, and can also pass the Guò Pujin Bridge to the west at any time to intercept the rebels to the south, and what is more terrible is that once the main force of the rebels crosses the Yellow River and enters Guanzhong, Daxing will ask for help from the eastern capital, and then Chen Fuliang will lead his troops into Tongguan to control Yongfengcang, which is only five miles away from Tongguan, Qu Tutong also cut off the communication between the rebels and the rear of Taiyuan, so there is no need to fight, and the rebels of Li Yuan can starve to death if they are hungry!

There was no choice, Li Yuan could only refuse the proposal of individual strategists to directly cross the Yellow River, and decided to lead the army to take Longmen first, open up the connection with Feng Yi's rebels, and then go south to attack Qu Tutong, and at the same time, in order to contain the most terrible enemy Chen Fuliang, Li Yuan, whose team had expanded to more than 120,000 people, resolutely divided 30,000 rebels and handed them over to Duan Zhixuan, a general who had been outstanding in the previous battle, supplemented by Zhang Daoyuan and Tang Jian, and ordered Duan Zhixuan to lead this partial division to go south to Jiangxian County, and then go east to Hanoi after arriving in Yuan County, Attack Hanoi and coerce Luoyang, and do his best to contain the Sui army in the eastern capital, so that Chen Fuliang has no time to advance west to reinforce Daxing.

"General Duan, although you are a partial division, the weight of your responsibilities is not under the main force at all, and it depends on you whether our army can enter the pass first." This is Li Yuan's original words to Duan Zhixuan, "The two counties of Jiangyuan have already sent envoys to surrender, you can rest assured that you will go south, the time is urgent, you must rush to Yuan County within three days, attack the king in the east, threaten Yiguan, and force Hanoi to ask for help from the eastern capital!" ”

"Remember! Be sure to spread the news along the way, just say that you are just my vanguard, and our army will take Hanoi first, and then the eastern capital! If Dongdu does not send troops, or Dongdu sends other generals to reinforce Hanoi, you must do your best to launch an attack and pressure, if Chen Yingliang comes in person, you must defend yourself, and you must not be greedy for merit and advance lightly, giving Chen Yingliang a chance to win quickly, at that time, as long as you can drag Chen Yingliang for ten days, after our army takes Daxing, I will also give you the first credit! ”

After the first song was sung, Duan Zhixuan immediately took the partial division to the south, but Li Yuan still refused to rest assured, and asked people to contact his friends and relatives in the eastern capital, so that they could come forward to exert pressure, and encouraged Yang Tong to send Chen Fuliang to Hanoi to ensure the safety of the eastern capital, and at the same time pray for the fulfillment of the prophecy of the second son, Li Mi also sent troops to attack Linqing Pass to coerce Hanoi, creating more panic in the eastern capital Luoyang.

…………

Li Er's crow's mouth has always been very smart, and on the same day, the rebel messenger with the same speed also successfully delivered Li Yuan's handwritten letter to Liyang Cang, and to Li Mi, who was licking his wounds, and after reading Li Yuan's letter, Li Mi suddenly smiled and said: "With Duan Zhixuan as the vanguard into Hanoi, the main force will arrive later, and then the army will be under the county to govern the city?" Tang Guogong is so calculating, he wants to trick me into sending the main force into Hanoi to help him share the pressure, which is quite beautiful. ”

"Wei Gong Gao, this is indeed just Li Yuan's bait." Zu Junyan, who had recently taken refuge in Li Mi, nodded in agreement, and pointed out: "Li Yuan is the head of the Li Valve family, one of the eight major valves of Guanlong, the foundation is in Guanzhong, Guanzhong is empty, Luoyang has Chen Yingliang in charge, and there is the risk of Wangwu and the Yellow River, it is far more difficult to take the eastern capital than to take Daxing, as long as Li Yuan is not stupid, the primary goal will definitely be Daxing in Guanzhong!" The purpose of his sending a partial division to the east is nothing more than to lure us to send troops to Hanoi, coerce Luoyang, and contain Chen Yingliang, a terrible enemy, for him, and we must not be fooled! ”

"It can't be said absolutely, Li Yuan's should not be all, but it can't be at all." Li Mi smiled and said: "Our best choice should be to also send a partial division to attack Linqing Pass and coerce Hanoi." And we can't be perfunctory yet, we have to really attack with all our might! ”

"Teacher, if you do this, what if you really recruit Chen Yingliang?" Wang Bodang asked worriedly.

"Bodang, do you think Chen Yingliang really can't see that Li Yuan's real goal is Guanzhong?" Li Mi laughed and said: "The enmity between Li Yuan and Chen Yingliang is different from the sky, if Li Yuan is allowed to obtain Guanzhong, he will be in danger of mountains and rivers. Can he Chen Yingliang thief still have a peaceful birthday? I dare to conclude that Li Yuan's plan to lure the enemy will never succeed, and it is absolutely impossible for Chen Xiaobao to really send troops to rescue Hanoi. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Zu Junyan applauded and said: "If our army captures Linqing Pass and looks down on the hinterland of Hanoi, and Chen Yingliang leads the army west to rescue Guanzhong, Hanoi is at his fingertips, and if he takes Hanoi, he can condescend and look down on Luoyang, cross the river and forge ahead if he has the opportunity, and defend the river if he has no chance, waiting for a better opportunity to appear!" ”

Li Mi smiled and nodded, agreeing with this judgment, except for Fang Xuanzao, who had already led the southern expedition, the other Li Mijun generals also stood up and volunteered to take on this task, but Li Mi decisively shook his head and refused, saying: "Don't go, let Pei Renji and his son go!" ”

"Let Bae In-ki go?" Wang Bodang and the others were all in one place, and they all reminded him: "Duke Wei, Pei Renji is Zhai Rang's person?" ”

"Pei Renji is Zhai Rang's person, but he can't be reused, and he is very aggrieved under Zhai Rang, so I want him to go." Li Mi smiled and said: "I not only want Pei Renji to go, but also let him take my Wei Gongjun to go, what do you say, what will Pei Renji think?" ”

Li Mijun Wenwu smiled, and at that moment Li Mi immediately sent someone to invite Zhai Rang to discuss with Zhai Rang about the westward expedition to Hanoi, and under the pretext that Pei Renji was familiar with the internal situation of the Sui army, he asked Zhai Rang to send Pei Renji as a general to lead the army to the west. And after Pei Renji, who was depressed in the Wagang Army, learned about this, he was naturally grateful to Li Mi, and his butt position naturally took the initiative to move closer to Li Mi.

"Remember! Our dispatch this time is not a perfunctory response, but a real attack on Hanoi! Chen Yingliang and Li Yuan have a deep enmity like the sea, we will never let Li Yuan not fight, come to attack us first, we must take this opportunity to take Hanoi, coerce Luoyang, grasp the strategic initiative, wait until Chen Yingliang sends troops to deal with Li Yuan, and then we will enter the eastern capital, Luoyang is at our fingertips! This is Li Mi's clear explanation to Pei Renji.

…………

Then it was soon the turn of the Hanoi side to complain, the west had just found 30,000 Li Yuan rebels to kill the Yiguan, and the east side flew to Pei Renji to lead an army of 20,000 troops to clear the pass, and the east and west were in an emergency, and the Hanoi Tongshou Meng Shanyi and the Duwei Dugu Wudu were left and right, and they were in a hurry, and the civilian Taishou Liu Xie was even more frightened and trembled, and had to jointly report to the eastern capital in the south, asking the eastern capital Luoyang to send reinforcements to the north to help the Hanoi side resist the rebels.

Chen Fuliang's life is not easy, the reason is that during the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, the big and small thieves in the Central Plains took the opportunity to rise, and more than a dozen counties around Luoyang, the eastern capital, have already become a pot of porridge, and countless thieves of all sizes have emerged, most of which have not even heard of the name Chen Fuliang, although these thieves do not have the courage to go deep into Henan County to find death, but they keep fighting piecemeal around Henan County, creating trouble for Chen Fuliang, and creating a large number of refugees and victims to flock to the relatively peaceful Luoyang, Although these displaced people provided Chen Fuliang with a sufficient source of soldiers, they became a time bomb in the eastern capital, which was very difficult to contain.

In particular, the Hanoi side reported that Li Yuan's rebels and Li Mi's thief army both threatened to join forces with Hanoi to capture Luoyang, and in addition, some people deliberately spread rumors, alarmists, and exaggerated the threat of these two thieves to the eastern capital Luoyang, and the Eastern Capital Imperial Court headed by Yang Dong was even more worried, and had to discuss the matter at the court on the morning of August 17 to discuss the matter and discuss the matter of sending troops to rescue Hanoi.

Of course, Chen Fuliang could see at a glance that Li Yuan and Li Mi, the wolf bèi traitorous family, were just trying to contain themselves, and he also publicly pointed out in the court that Li Yuan's real goal could never be the Eastern Capital but Daxing, but the problem was that the two partial divisions of the thief army were not feints, but real attacks with real swords and guns, and if Hanoi was not saved, this strategic place might really fall. Therefore, although Yang Tong, Yuan Wendu, Duan Da and others felt that Chen Fuliang's analysis was reasonable, because of the successive emergencies on the Hanoi side, they still proposed that they must send troops to Hanoi to ensure the safety of the northern front.

Chen Fuliang casually dispatched some recruits to deal with the matter, but as the eastern capital was left behind, Chen Fuliang could not help but consider the safety of the eastern capital, and at the same time, if Hanoi really fell, the eastern capital was in an emergency, and he wanted to send troops to rescue Guanzhong, I am afraid that Yang Tong would not be so easy to be in a hurry. As a last resort, Chen Fuliang could only ask Yang Tong to give him a day to think about it, and then decide how to deal with it the next day, Yang Tong agreed, and after the dispersal of the dynasty, Chen Fuliang also immediately summoned his accomplice lackeys and asked them to help him figure out how to deal with the situation.

First of all, it was very clear that he could only send some recruits north to reinforce at most, and Chen Fuliang let a group of lackeys speak freely, Fang Xuanling first said: "Brother Xian, only send some recruits to deal with perfunctory, I'm afraid it's difficult, Li Yuan's purpose is very obvious, that is, to storm Hanoi to contain you, if you don't go to Hanoi in person, Li Yuan's rebel division will never stop attacking." The foolish brother speculated that the purpose of Li Mi's side should be to take advantage of the opportunity that you need to watch out for Li Yuan to seize Hanoi and seize the initiative, so if we don't show strength, Li Mi's thief army will definitely not slow down the offensive. ”

Chen Fuliang rubbed his forehead in distress, knowing that Fang Xuanling was reasonable but helpless, he could only rub his head and say, "Do you have any methods or strategies to let these two thieves retreat?" ”

Fang Xuanling shook his head, Wei Zheng and Yuan Tiangang also shook their heads, and the eldest grandson Wuji, who was clumsy in military strategy, shook his head into a rattle, but Chen Fuliang's distant cousin Pei Xingfang didn't say anything, and kept looking at the military intelligence report brought back by Chen Fuliang, and suddenly said: "Brother, Pei Renji is here, and the younger brother has a plan to retreat." ”

"What's the plan?" Chen Fuliang asked with great joy.

"Linqing Customs Detective, the army led by Pei Renji is all the soldiers under the command of Li Mi's traitors." Pei Xingfang held up a military intelligence report, pointed out the contents and replied: "Pei Renji surrendered at that time was Zhai Rang, why did Li Mi let Pei Renji lead his subordinates to the battle, although the younger brother does not know, but this is definitely a great opportunity to disturb the enemy." The elder brother might as well send an army north to help guard Linqing Pass, and ask His Royal Highness the King of Yue to issue an edict, and read out the summons to Pei Renji in front of the public at Linqing Pass, and at the same time send people to spread rumors, saying that Pei Renji wants to let the generals and soldiers of Li Mi's thief army deliberately send them to death, as a meeting gift to His Royal Highness the King of Yue, Pei Renji's army will inevitably be suspicious from top to bottom, panic without a fight, and no longer be afraid. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Chen Fuliang was overjoyed, patted his thigh and said, "Brother Xian, you are careful, why didn't I find this detail just now?" This strategy has a great chance of success and is worth trying! There is also Li Yuan's thief army, do you have a clever plan to deal with it? ”

"The intelligence is insufficient, and the little brother has nothing to do." Pei Xingfang replied with a wry smile: "The junior brother has never even heard of the names of Duan Zhixuan, Zhang Daoyuan and Tang Jian, the names of these thieves, and I don't know their personality and family background, so I really can't formulate a plan to break the enemy." But ......, but ....... ”

"But what?" Chen Yingliang hurriedly urged: "Brother Xian has something to say, even if he speaks bluntly, it doesn't matter if he is wrong. ”

"However, the junior brother thinks that since Li Yuan sent Duan Zhixuan to contain you, he must want to buy time, and he will not ask Duan Zhixuan to rush to fight with you." Pei Xingfang hesitated and said: "Junior brother thinks that since this is the case, we might as well let our reinforcements confront it under your banner, Duan Zhixuan will definitely not rush to attack." ”

"Brother Xian, this can't be done." Chen Fuliang shook his head and said weakly: "We are too unsupported by the people, there are too many channels to leak the news, and there are too many thieves and traitors in the eastern capital. ”

Pei Xingfang was silent, silent for a moment, and then Pei Xingfang suddenly said: "Brother, if you can trust the younger brother, you can send an army north to Hanoi, supplemented by a small number of elite generals, and let the younger brother serve as the staff officer of the army, formulate strategies for the whole army, plan tactics, and defeat the thief army head-on." ”

Chen Fuliang fixed his eyes to look at his distant cousin, Pei Xingfang's face was full of solemnity, and said: "Brother, the younger brother has this confidence, Li Yuan's thief army is coming from the east, its purpose is to contain you, if you don't force you close to Hanoi, the thief army will not stop attacking, if you are slightly frustrated, you will be anxious, if you are in a hurry, you will be chaotic, and if you are chaotic, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of it, and the younger brother has the confidence to seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy!" ”

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Fuliang, who had nothing to do, made up his mind, nodded and said: "Okay, I will let Liu Changgong lead an army of 10,000 to meet Duan Zhixuan, you serve as a staff officer, give you 1,000 elite soldiers, a regiment of soldiers to serve the country, and a hundred musketeers, and then send Liu Heimin to you!" But you have to promise me one thing! ”

"Brother, please command." Pei Xingfang hurriedly replied.

"Win or lose." Chen Fuliang said word by word: "You have to come back alive for me!" ”

Pei Xingfang was shocked, and then he got up and bowed his hand to Chen Fuliang and said, "Brother, don't worry, the little brother will definitely come back alive!" "Don't be afraid."

"Brilliant plan!" Chen Fuliang was overjoyed, patted his thigh and said, "Brother Xian, you are careful, why didn't I find this detail just now?" This strategy has a great chance of success and is worth trying! There is also Li Yuan's thief army, do you have a clever plan to deal with it? ”

"The intelligence is insufficient, and the little brother has nothing to do." Pei Xingfang replied with a wry smile: "The junior brother has never even heard of the names of Duan Zhixuan, Zhang Daoyuan and Tang Jian, the names of these thieves, and I don't know their personality and family background, so I really can't formulate a plan to break the enemy." But ......, but ....... ”

"But what?" Chen Yingliang hurriedly urged: "Brother Xian has something to say, even if he speaks bluntly, it doesn't matter if he is wrong. ”

"However, the junior brother thinks that since Li Yuan sent Duan Zhixuan to contain you, he must want to buy time, and he will not ask Duan Zhixuan to rush to fight with you." Pei Xingfang hesitated and said: "Junior brother thinks that since this is the case, we might as well let our reinforcements confront it under your banner, Duan Zhixuan will definitely not rush to attack." ”

"Brother Xian, this can't be done." Chen Fuliang shook his head and said weakly: "We are too unsupported by the people, there are too many channels to leak the news, and there are too many thieves and traitors in the eastern capital. ”

Pei Xingfang was silent, silent for a moment, and then Pei Xingfang suddenly said: "Brother, if you can trust the younger brother, you can send an army north to Hanoi, supplemented by a small number of elite generals, and let the younger brother serve as the staff officer of the army, formulate strategies for the whole army, plan tactics, and defeat the thief army head-on." ”

Chen Fuliang fixed his eyes to look at his distant cousin, Pei Xingfang's face was full of solemnity, and said: "Brother, the younger brother has this confidence, Li Yuan's thief army is coming from the east, its purpose is to contain you, if you don't force you close to Hanoi, the thief army will not stop attacking, if you are slightly frustrated, you will be anxious, if you are in a hurry, you will be chaotic, and if you are chaotic, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of it, and the younger brother has the confidence to seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy!" ”

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Fuliang, who had nothing to do, made up his mind, nodded and said: "Okay, I will let Liu Changgong lead an army of 10,000 to meet Duan Zhixuan, you serve as a staff officer, give you 1,000 elite soldiers, a regiment of soldiers to serve the country, and a hundred musketeers, and then send Liu Heimin to you!" But you have to promise me one thing! ”

"Brother, please command." Pei Xingfang hurriedly replied.

"Win or lose." Chen Fuliang said word by word: "You have to come back alive for me!" ”

Pei Xingfang was shocked, and then he got up and bowed his hand to Chen Fuliang and said, "Brother, don't worry, the little brother will definitely come back alive!" ”