Now that he had decided to fight the Tiger Pass with the Tang Army, Dou Jiande no longer hesitated. The next day, the army was driven to the front of the Tiger Prison Pass, arranged in formation, bordered by the Yellow River in the north and the Bishui in the west, spanning more than 20 miles. These more than 100,000 people marched forward, and the scene was grand and spectacular.

The 3,500 cavalry Tang army looked at the Xia army under the city, all trembling and showing timidity. 3,500,000 to 100,000, the gap is really too big, fighting a war is not a dinner party, it is a fight for life, and anyone in this situation of being outnumbered will be afraid. But in Li Shimin's heart, he was not afraid of this word at all. The more dangerous the scene, the more excited he became, and he was the one who was born for this kind of big scene.

Li Shimin pointed to Xia Jun and said to the generals: "You see that these people are noisy and undisciplined when they cross the river. Arrayed next to the city, it is to look down on our army. Let's not move for now, to see that they have enough, and when they are hungry, they will naturally lose their strength. When the time comes, rush out and them, and you will definitely beat them down. Does anyone bet with me? As soon as noon is over, we can defeat them. ”

Although Dou Jiande was defeated by Li Shimin, he still didn't take Li Shimin too seriously by virtue of his superiority in troops. Three hundred cavalry were sent to provoke the Tang army, "Come on!" Do you dare to come out and make a little game? ”

Of course, there are people in the Tang army who are not afraid of death, and the fierce Wang Junkuo rushed out with a team of two hundred spears. Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Wan rode a green horse and showed off his might in front of the battle. This horse was originally the mount of Emperor Yang of Sui, quite a divine horse, Li Shimin drooled when he saw it, and exclaimed: "This horse is really good!" ”

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention. Wei Chi Jingde, who was worried about how to repay Li Shimin's kindness, saw that Li Shimin liked this horse, so he didn't say a word, got on the horse and took the two of them, followed behind the retreating Xia Jun, and went straight to Dou Jiande's army.

When he got close to Wang Wan, Wei Chi Jingde rushed forward and shouted, "Where to go?" ”

Wang Wan was defenseless, and was caught by Wei Chi Jingde, and his mount was also taken away. Wang Wanwan did not expect that he would suffer such a catastrophe in his own military camp, and even his people and horses were taken away by Wei Chi Jingde. Some people in the Xia army chased them out, but they were all stabbed under the horses with a lance by Wei Chi Jingde, and no one dared to come closer.

Wei Chi Jingde's recklessness in this matter was extremely reckless. He never thought that once he lost the enemy position, it would have much impact on the morale of the Tang army. Fortunately, his combat effectiveness was super strong, and he retreated with his whole body, which on the contrary ignited the fighting spirit of the Tang Army.

"An army of 100,000 actually allows one person to come and go so freely in front of the battle, and Dou Jiande is nothing more than that!" This is exactly what Li Shimin wants.

At this time, the formation of the Xia army was already scattered, some went to the river to drink water, and some sat on the ground, and the arrogance was not as good as it began. Li Shimin saw that the other party's anger had been discharged, and said to the generals, "It's time to show your sword!" ”

Li Shixian, Cheng Yanjin, Qin Shubao, Wei Chi Jingde and others received Li Shimin's order, and they all rushed towards the Xia army like tigers out of the mountains and into the sea. Three thousand five hundred elite horsemen smashed into the enemy's position like a sharp arrow.

In the Xia army, Dou Jiande looked at the day and was discussing with the generals whether to eat hot pot or barbecue for lunch, and suddenly the Tang army came over like the wind, and it was too late to complete the team, so he could only order the cavalry to resist first, and Dou Jiande retreated to the eastern slope with the infantry.

Everyone in the Tang Army knew that this battle was a matter of life and death, and in the face of an enemy dozens of times their size, if they couldn't defeat the Xia Army spiritually and give them a chance to breathe, the next one to fall would probably be themselves. Therefore, all the generals and soldiers, everyone moves forward, and everyone competes for the lead. Even Li Shimin's cousin, Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang, was in and out of the enemy formation several times, and he was covered in arrows, like a hedgehog. This battle was only fought in the dark, and the sun and moon were dark.

Under the onslaught of these horsemen, Dou Jiande's army soon showed signs of defeat. Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao and others rushed behind the enemy formation, and suddenly set up the banner of the Tang Dynasty. All the Xia troops didn't know why, but they saw a Tang Army flag fluttering in the wind behind them, thinking that they were surrounded, and immediately attacked the enemy, and began to rout like a tide.

Dou Jiande was wounded by a lance in the chaos and fled to Niukouzhu, where he was caught up by the Tang general Bai Shirang. Dou Jiande was already trembling with fright, and was stabbed under the horse by Bai Shirang. Bai Shirang planned to stab him to death again, and Dou Jiande shouted, "Be merciful, I am King Xia!" Bai Shirang didn't recognize Dou Jiande, but when he saw that he was shining with gold armor, he was a big official at a glance, and he had been chasing after him, and then he reported that he was Dou Jiande, the king of Xia, and he was tied up at that time.

In this battle, more than 100,000 of Dou Jiande's people died, those who fled, and more than 50,000 people became prisoners. Dou Jiande was brought to Li Shimin, and Li Shimin asked: "I came to ask Wang Shichong, what does it have to do with you, why did you come to join in this fun?" ”

Dou Jiande pondered for a long time and said a hilarious joke, "I didn't send it to the door today, and I have to ask you to arrest me in the future!" Judging from this sentence, Dou Jiande is still a very humorous person.

The Battle of Tiger Prison Pass is a classic case of winning more with less. Relying on his extraordinary military talent, Li Shimin used the principle of "crossing the river before it can be helped, and hitting its upper stream" to create a military myth. It is impossible for Dou Jiande to understand how the 100,000 army he led was defeated by 3,500 iron horses.

Solved Dou Jiande, Luoyang City is really Li Shimin's bag. With Yu Wei, who had defeated Dou Jiande, he returned to Luoyang City and said to Wang Shichong, "Come!" Lao Wang, look at who this is? Tang Jun pushed out the prisoner cart holding Dou Jiande, Wang Wan, Wang Anshi and others.

Wang Shichong looked down from the city tower, almost didn't plant the city from the upper floor, and the last glimmer of hope was shattered, it seems that Luoyang City is only a matter of time, and there is no point in holding on to it. On the same day, Wang Shichong was dressed in white and led the civil and military officials to open the city and surrender.

After entering Luoyang City, the Tang army began to take over the city defenses and seal the treasury. Wang Shichong's comrades committed more crimes, and they were all beheaded by Li Shimin, including the fierce general Shan Xiongxin. Li Shixin and Shan Xiongxin used to be very good brothers, and at this time, they pleaded with Li Shimin and let Shan Xiongxin go, but Li Shimin did not agree.

When Li Shiyun arrived at the execution ground, he cried and said to Shan Xiongxin: "We have sworn to live and die together, I am not afraid of death, but I am dead, and no one will take care of your wife and children." After speaking, he cut off a piece of meat from his thigh and gave it to Shan Xiongxin to eat, "Let's put this piece of meat into the ground with my brother!" Even if the previous vow is fulfilled. "The brotherhood between these two people is really moving.

Su Wei, an important minister of Emperor Yang of Sui, has been serving in Wang Shichong's court, and he wants to see Li Shimin at this time, but he relies on the old and sells the old, and he doesn't want to bow to Li Shimin. Li Shimin said to him: "You are the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty, you can't support the Sui Dynasty and cause the country to perish. Since you are old and sick, you don't have to come to see me! So he threw Su Wei out. Later, when he returned to Chang'an, Su Wei wanted to see Li Shimin again, but Li Shimin still did not answer him, and finally the old man died at home.

Li Shimin is a polite and virtuous corporal, and he attaches great importance to capable people, but from the point of view of Su Wei's matter, it can be seen that his principle of employing people can be seen. Qin Qiong and Cheng Zhijie were both used by Li Mi, and then descended to Wang Shichong, and finally returned to Li Shimin, why Su Wei didn't use it, it was nothing more than that Su Wei was old and weak, and he had no use value. This incident tells us that at all times, we must be a useful person to others, and if there is no value, we will abandon it.

Li Shimin's eastward expedition to Luoyang finally came to an end with a brilliant record that far exceeded expectations. In one fell swoop, they swept most of Henan, Hebei and Shandong, and the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande surrendered to the Li Tang Dynasty one after another.

On the ninth day of July in 621 A.D., outside Chang'an City, Li Shimin, wearing a golden armor, and his Eastern Expedition soldiers entered Chang'an City with neat steps. Looking at the vigorous and heroic spirit exuded from this golden-armored son, the fifty-five-year-old Li Yuan's heart swelled with a trace of unease. In just four years, Li Shimin pacified Longxi, recovered Taiyuan, captured Dou Jiande, forced Wang Shichong to surrender, and half of the Tang Dynasty was established by him. His merits have far surpassed that of the crown prince Li Jiancheng, and even overshadowed himself, the supreme son of the Tang Dynasty, with the overall improvement of meritorious power, will he have the ambition to covet the imperial power?

This concern was soon replaced by something more important. Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong were captured by Li Shimin and brought back to Chang'an, the fate trajectories of these two are similar, the same emperor, the same capture, but Li Yuan's treatment of the two is completely different.

treated Dou Jiande, Li Yuan was very simple and killed him directly. And Wang Shichong, Li Yuan wanted to kill him too, but under Luoyang City, Li Shimin promised to spare his life, so he surrendered the city. Li Yuan couldn't ignore what the second prince agreed to, so after reprimanding Wang Shichong in court, he demoted him to a concubine and moved to the land of Bashu with his sons and nephews.

At that time, the land of Bashu was not like the country of abundance now, but the barbaric and barbaric outer borderland, and Li Yuan sent Wang Shichong there. It's just that Wang Shichong didn't have to travel so far for thousands of miles, and before he left Chang'an, his enemy's son, Dingzhou Assassin Shi Dugu Xiude, killed him with his brother.

Li Yuan agreed to keep Wang Shichong alive, and there were still people who dared to kill him, and the murderer was still an official of the imperial court, Dugu Xiude and other serious crimes should be executed, and Li Yuan just dismissed his official, which inevitably made people smell a trace of conspiracy.

For the emperor who surrendered, those in power will not let it go easily. You may have questions, why kill them when they have already surrendered and not resisted? This brings us to an agricultural problem – cutting the grass and eradicating the roots. Let's explain the necessity of cutting the grass and eradicating the roots: First, the person who has been the emperor once reigned in the world and was worshiped by tens of thousands of people, but now he is under the fence, there will be a big gap in his heart, and he is naturally extremely resentful and resentful. Second, if such a person lives in the world, once there is a stir, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be embraced by some old ministers and old friends, and then make waves. Killing him can cut off the rekindled hearts of these people and eliminate hidden dangers.

Therefore, those who have been emperors will not end up very well after surrendering. I won't kill you in front of me, but sooner or later I will give you a charge of rebellion and kill you, and you don't even have a place to redress your grievances. Therefore, it makes sense to say that "the king dies and the Son of Heaven guards the country".