After a few days of trekking, the army was getting closer and closer to Fufeng County. Xue Rengao rode a horse to the side of the queue, and a divine horse galloped in front, and immediately sat a dark-skinned general, who was Zong Luohu.

After Zong Luohu led his men to defect to Xue Ju, he was named the king of Yixing by Xue Ju, and Xue Ju sent him to assist Xue Rengao. Zong Luohu came to him with a horse, turned his horse's head, and walked side by side with Xue Rengao, saying: "Prince, the scout sent by the last general came back to report that Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Kingdom, sent Li Shimin, the king of Qin, to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to meet us. ”

"Li Shimin?"

"Yes!" Zong Luohu said, "The last general heard that Li Shimin is brave and good at fighting and scheming, so we have to be careful!" ”

Xue Rengao pursed his lips and disdainfully: "What's so great about Li Shimin?" His Abba is the Emperor, and my Abba is also the Emperor. He is the king of Qin, and I am still the crown prince! Besides, our army is more numerous than him, so why fear him? ”

"That being said, it's better to be careful."

On the official road outside Fufeng County, there were more than a dozen people standing in the cold wind, and the person in front looked to be in his thirties and wore a purple python robe. He was of medium stature and had a clear countenance. This person is Fufeng Taishou Dou Jin.

About a month ago, Dou Jin sent an envoy to Chang'an to propose to Li Yuan to return to the Tang Dynasty. Recently, he heard that Li Yuan was going to send Li Shimin to lead an army to attack Xue Ju and his son. After receiving the exact news, he led his officials out of the city for five miles to meet the army.

At this moment, the officials faced the direction of Chang'an and waited eagerly. Suddenly, someone shouted, "Here we are!" Dou Jin Dingqing took a look, and sure enough, he saw the dust at the end of the official road, the flags were waving, and a large army was driving towards this side.

The army is getting closer. Dou Jin tidied up his official uniform, looked up, and saw a young general in his twenties sitting on a white dragon horse at the front. His demeanor is calm, his bearing is extraordinary, his whole body is neatly draped, and his armor is bright. Dou Jin secretly wondered, could it be that this is Li Shimin, the king of Qin?

The young general drove his horse to him, turned over and dismounted. Dou Jin hurriedly greeted him and arched his hand: "Dare to ask the general, is it the King of Qin?" The other party clasped his fists and saluted: "It's this king." Who are you? ”

"Xiaguan Fufeng is too guarded by Dou Jin."

"It turned out to be Lord Dou, disrespectful! Disrespectful! ”

"His Royal Highness the King of Qin led a large army from afar, and it has been hard all the way!" Dou Jin said, "According to the scout report sent by the lower officials, Xue Ju sent his son Xue Rengao to lead an army of 30,000 to attack Fufeng County, which is currently less than fifty miles away from the county seat, please lead the army into the city!" ”

Li Shimin shook his head with a smile and said, "Lord Dou doesn't have to be polite. The king has decided that in order not to disturb the people, the army will be stationed outside the city tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will open and go to meet Xue Rengao! When Dou Jin heard this, he hurriedly said: "The enemy is outnumbered, Your Highness should lead the army into the city to defend it." The city was full of warehouses, enough to support the army for several months. Xia Guan heard that Xue Rengao's army did not carry much food, and they could not attack for a long time, so they would inevitably retreat, so it seemed more secure. ”

Li Shimin restrained the smile on his face, and said: "Abba asked this king to lead the army to attack Xue Ju's father and son, and this king An can retreat in the city?" Please rest assured, Lord Dou, this king has his own strategy to break the enemy! ”

Although Dou Jin tried hard to persuade him, Li Shimin had made up his mind. Dou Jin had no choice but to say goodbye to Li Shimin and lead his men back to the city. After walking for more than a mile, he glanced back and said to a subordinate walking beside him: "I have long heard that Li Shimin is a wise and martial artist, and he is a generation of heroes. When I saw it today, it really lived up to its name. If you are not like this, how can you eliminate the troubles of the world? ”

At night, in the tent of the Chinese army, two butter candles on the candlestick flickered with dazzling light, illuminating the tent as if it were day. Li Shimin gathered his generals together to discuss tomorrow's operational arrangements.

The generals sat around a desk with a military map. Li Shimin pointed to a place on the map and said, "This place is called Luqiyuan, and it is the place where Xue Rengao's army must pass. General Qin, tomorrow you will lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to be stationed in Luqi Plain to meet Xue Rengao. This king led 10,000 horses from the north to the back of Xue Rengao, we will be able to defeat the enemy army by attacking back and forth! When Qin Qiong heard this, he stood up and hugged his fists and said, "The last general will obey the order!" ”

Early the next morning, the army set out of camp and marched about ten miles to Luqiyuan. It is a flat, open field, high in the north and low in the south, and the official road passes through the middle.

Qin Qiong led 10,000 horses and stationed them in Luqi Plain, cutting off the official road. Li Shimin led 10,000 horses into a low hill in the northwest and disappeared into the jungle.

After about two incense sticks, Xue Rengao led the army to Luqi Plain. As soon as he saw the Tang army lined up in front, he hurriedly ordered his soldiers and horses to set up a formation, and the two sides faced each other in this open area, and the two armies were about fifty zhang apart.

Xue Rengao put a horse on his hip, held a big knife in his hand, and looked at the opposite side, only to see that the Tang army on the opposite side was in a strict formation, and the soldiers were clearly armored. A general in front of the battle, with gold helmets and silver armor all over his body, is burly and tall, and he doesn't know if it's Li Shimin.

Xue Rengao didn't care so much, and ordered the soldiers to beat drums and cheer. Then, he took the lead and led his men to rush over. The two sides fought hand-to-hand combat against generals and soldiers, and the battle was dark and bloody.

Although Qin Qiong was brave, he had no choice but to have few major generals, and after fighting with Xue Rengao for half an hour, he saw that he could not support it, and he was about to be completely defeated. At this time, Li Shimin appeared behind Xue Rengao's army. With two steel swords in hand, he led dozens of horsemen to rush down the northern slopes and attack the enemy's ranks.

Li Shimin killed dozens of people with his own hands, and both knives were cut off. Splatters of blood stained his sleeves, and he shook it off to fight again. The 10,000 horses that followed Li Shimin also rushed over, and attacked Qin Qiong's soldiers and horses back and forth, and the enemy's formation wavered, and they suddenly fell into chaos.

Xue Rengao saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ordered a retreat. He led his men out of the battlefield and fled westward. Is Li Shimin willing to give up? He led the army to pursue the victory and pursued it all the way to Longdi.

Longdi, also known as Longban, Longshan, Longshou, is another name for the southern section of Liupan Mountain, located at the junction of Shaanxi and Gansu. Long is the abbreviation of Gansu, Di is a high slope, and Longdi is a dangerous point in the central and western parts of the country. In later generations, Liupan Mountain was the last mountain crossed by the Red Army's Long March, and was known as the "Mountain of Dawn of Victory" of the Red Army's Long March.

In that year, the great man climbed Liupan Mountain, was shocked by the majestic Liupan Mountain and the revolutionary situation, and wrote the poem "Qingping Le Liupan Mountain": "The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the geese flying in the south are broken." If you don't get to the Great Wall, you are not a hero, and you can only travel 20,000 yuan. On the peak of Liupan Mountain, the red flag swept the west wind. With the long thread in your hand today, when will you tie up the dragon? ”

Li Shimin saw that the mountains in this area were steep and the terrain was dangerous, and it was not suitable for a lone army to go deep, so he ordered the pursuit to be stopped. Only then did Xue Rengao lead the remnants of the remnants of the horses over Longdi and fled.

In this battle, the Tang army killed thousands of enemy soldiers and captured a large number of military baggage. The soldiers beat the drums, beat the gongs of victory, and happily triumphantly marched their teachers.

In Qinzhou City, in the hall of the imperial palace, dozens of ministers stood there in groups of three or five, whispering and chattering. The news of the prince's defeat had reached Qinzhou, and the ministers were discussing the matter. Many had solemn faces and worried faces.

At this time, the eunuch standing at the door shouted loudly in a sissy voice: "The emperor has arrived!" As soon as the ministers heard this, they immediately lined up according to the rank of civil and military goods, and stood neatly like Shinto stone statues to welcome the emperor to the court.

After a while, Xue Ju, under the guidance of the attendant who held a fan, walked into the hall and sat on the throne. The hall was silent, and the ministers stared at the emperor with wide eyes. Xue Ju cleared his throat and said, "Zhongqing, you all know the war ahead, right?" Li Shimin is brave and invincible, if he crosses Longdi to attack Qinzhou, what should we do? When the ministers heard this, they exchanged their heads and whispered to each other, but no one came out to answer.

Xue Ju asked again: "Zhongqing, has there been a surrender of the Son of Heaven since ancient times?" At this time, a Wenchen in his thirties stood up, he was Chu Liang, the waiter of the Yellow Gate. Chu Liang arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Zhao Lun belongs to the Han Dynasty, and Liu Chan serves the Jin Dynasty. In modern times, Xiao Cong is still prominent and noble, and this kind of turning disaster into blessing has existed since ancient times. ”

As soon as Chu Liang finished speaking, a minister in his forties came out of the queue and walked forward quickly. This person's name is Hao Ai, it turned out to be the Jincheng Order of the Sui Dynasty, and when Xue raised his troops, he was kidnapped. After Xue Ju ascended the throne, he appointed him as Wei Weiqing.

Hao Ai walked to the throne and arched his hand: "Your Majesty shouldn't ask about this kind of thing!" How ridiculous Chu Liang's words were! In the past, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, fled and failed repeatedly, and Liu Bei, the ancestor of the Shu Han Dynasty, repeatedly lost his wife and son, but they all completed the imperial business in the end. How could Your Majesty have to plan to destroy the country because he lost World War I? ”

Xue Ju was just frightened by Li Shimin, Hao Ai's words cleared his mind, and he also regretted it, so he looked for himself: "I'm just trying you with this." So, Xue Juzhong rewarded Hao Ai and made him his most important adviser and obeyed his words.

On this day, Xue Ju invited Hao Ai to his inner room to discuss the "big plan" with him. Hao Ai said: "Chang'an is one of the two capitals of the Sui Dynasty, and occupying Chang'an is equivalent to occupying half of the Sui Dynasty. His Majesty raised troops before Li Yuan, but Chang'an let Li Yuan take it away, what a pity! Xue Ju nodded and said, "I feel the same way, but what else can I do now?" ”

Hao Ai said: "The Liang division occupies Shuofang, Diaoyin, Honghua and other counties, with more than 100,000 soldiers. His Majesty can send an envoy to contact Liang Shidu and ask him to join forces to attack Chang'an. In addition, His Majesty can also send an envoy to the Turkic Mohe Lushi Department, bribe Mohe Lushi with a lot of money, and ask him to also send troops to assist us in attacking Chang'an. In this way, the three of us together will greatly surpass the Tang State in terms of troops, and we will definitely be able to defeat Chang'an! Xue Ju listened, thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Your idea is good, then do it!" ”