It is said that Li Yuanji's life is not good, he was originally going to return to Jinyang, who knew that he had a whim halfway to turn to the state, and soon after arriving in the state, Liu Wuzhou came to force the state to merge the news, and Li Yuanji, who learned the news, was shocked at the moment, but as a prince, he could not escape lightly, so he deceived his Sima Liu Dewei and said: "You take the old and weak to defend it, and I will take the strong soldiers to fight." ”

Liu Dewei, a native of Pengcheng County, Xuzhou (present-day Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province), accompanied Pei Renji to suppress the Jianghuai rebel army. The army was defeated and returned to Li Mi, the Duke of Wei, and was ordered to defend Huaizhou. In the first year of Wude (618), he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Li Mi and was awarded the title of General Zuo Wuhou and Duke of Teng County. He served as Sima of the Governor's Office of Bingzhou, and was responsible for assisting Li Yuanji, the king of Qi.

Because Li Yuanji has always been treacherous and dishonest, Liu Dewei, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, listened to Li Yuanji's words and secretly became vigilant in his heart.

On the 16th of Xinsi, Li Yuanji sent troops in the middle of the night, and fled back to Chang'an with his wife and concubine. As soon as Li Yuanji left on the front foot, Liu Wuzhou's army arrived at the city, and Xue Shenxian, a local powerful man in Jinyang, accepted Liu Wuzhou and captured Liu Dewei and handed it over to Liu Wuzhou.

In the Assassin's Mansion in Bingzhou City, Liu Wuzhou sat on the top, looked at Liu Dewei in front of him, and said coldly to a group of pro-soldiers: "You bunch of rabbit cubs, let you treat General Liu well, is this how you do things for me? ”

As soon as the voice fell, several pro-soldiers stepped forward to untie Liu Dewei's shackles, and the blood was temporarily unobstructed due to being tied for a long time, Liu Dewei hurriedly moved his arm that was a little numb, and said with a little sarcasm: "What does Captain Liu mean?"

"Bold, I didn't kneel when I saw Dingyang Khan. When the soldiers on the side heard Liu Dewei call Liu Wuzhou Lieutenant Liu, they immediately took out the long knife on their waists and scolded loudly.

Seeing this, Liu Wuzhou, who was on the side, shouted sharply: "Get out of here, what kind of system is it to make a noise?" Seeing this, a group of pro-soldiers in the house hurriedly put away their weapons and retreated.

At this time, Liu Wuzhou stretched out his hand to Liu Dewei, motioned for him to sit down, and then personally poured him a cup of tea, and said slowly: " In fact, I also know that I will not win this battle, but General Liu, you have to admit that only the three sons of the Li family in the Li Tang Dynasty can fight well in the Qin Dynasty, but now they are lost in Changchun Palace; Qu Tutong and his ilk are either sticking to a city, or they are already above the court, so you Datang is really a withering talent. ”

Liu Dewei knew that he was captured at this time, and there was no hope of escaping for the time being, and he still needed to plan before moving, so he relaxed his heart and picked up the teacup, put it to his lips and took a sip, and then said with a smile: "Captain Liu said that our talents in the Tang Dynasty are withering, it seems that you have forgotten one person, right?" His Majesty's personal title of Qi Guogong, the hussar general of the Tang Dynasty, and His Majesty's shoulder-to-shoulder horse Chu Mofeng, I think if this person goes out on the expedition again, you must not be his generals, right?"

After hearing Chu Mofeng's name, Liu Wuzhou's eyelids jumped inadvertently, how many years the arrogant figure in his mind has never been able to disperse, thinking that he made a big fuss in Mayi, killed two of his generals in one night, and set fire to a quarter of the county town of Mayi, this incident was deeply remembered by Liu Wuzhou.

Thinking of this, Liu Wuzhou smiled and said: "I know the person you said, we had a relationship back then, but this person is now in charge of all the movements of your troops and horses in the Tang Dynasty, and it seems that he can't go out lightly, right?"

Thinking that his own marshal had not fought on the battlefield for a long time, Liu Dewei couldn't help but feel a little lost in his heart, and this emotion was instantly caught by Liu Wuzhou on the side, and took advantage of the situation to say: "General Liu, I don't say anything to make you surrender, I just hope that you can go around with me in my army, take a look, and then decide for yourself to go and stay, do you think it's okay?"

As everyone knows, Liu Dewei has his own thoughts in his heart, and he wants to go to see his troop deployment, or if he escapes back to Chang'an at that time, he will report to the marshal, so he stood up and nodded and said: "Then I will have to bother Captain Liu to lead the way." ”

Liu Wuzhou was overjoyed to see this, and hurriedly took Liu Dewei to the camp to inspect, all the way to see, Liu Dewei forced himself to keep the situation of the entire camp in mind, and after the inspection was over, the two returned to the Assassin's Mansion.

As soon as he entered the door, Liu Wuzhou turned to Liu Dewei and said, "General Liu has gone all the way, what do you think of my soldiers?"

I saw Liu Dewei say slowly: "To tell the truth, your soldiers are indeed strong against ordinary soldiers, I don't know if you know that our commander has a team called Tiance Army? ”

Knowing that Xue Rengao was dead, Liu Wuzhou couldn't help but slander in his heart, "Your talk is really too choking, let me go to a dead man for questioning, isn't this indirectly cursing me to death?" Then he said to Liu Dewei: "Then whether General Liu is going or staying?"

"If you are a trustworthy person, please let me go. When they meet on the battlefield on another day, I will let you go. Liu Dewei arched his hand at Liu Wuzhou, but he kept thinking in his heart, I hope you kid keep his promises, otherwise I have to find another way to escape.

I saw Liu Wuzhou stunned for a while, and then laughed: "Okay, as the saying goes, a twisted melon is not sweet, today I will release you, the general, he will meet on the battlefield on the other day, if you are captured by me again, I will not forgive, you go." ”

Listening to Liu Wuzhou's words, Liu Dewei arched his hand as if he had been amnestied, turned around and ran out of the Assassin's Mansion in the direction of Chang'an.

Perhaps because of the unsuccessful recruitment of Liu Dewei, Liu Wuzhou occupied Taiyuan on the second day, sent Song Jingang to attack and conquer Jinzhou, captured Liu Hongji, the general of the Tang Dynasty's right Xiaowei, Liu Hongji, who had a captured experience, took advantage of the unpreparedness of the guards and fled back to Chang'an, and then Song Jingang entered Jiangzhou and captured Longmen.

For a time, there was little space left for the Tang Dynasty in the entire Guanzhong region, and after the news was transmitted back to Chang'an, Li Yuan was furious, and the court wanted to severely punish Liu Dewei and Liu Hongji and others.

However, Liu Wuzhou's general Song Jingang did not stop the pace of the attack, and Song Jingang continued to attack with a great victory and conquered Huzhou.

Pei Lian, who had regained his life under Li Yuan's care, still followed his cowardly character, and instead of organizing a large army to counterattack, he only sent messengers to urge the inhabitants of Yu and Taizhou to enter the castle and burn their savings.

The people were frightened, anxious, sad and complained, and they all wanted to be robbers, and Lu Chongmao, a resident of Xia County, gathered people to claim to be the king of Wei, in order to respond to Liu Wuzhou.

The news came back again, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty cursed this person in their hearts, and Li Yuan, who was sitting on the dragon chair, couldn't hold it on his face, so he ordered Chu Mofeng, the Duke of Qi, to give a way to deal with it, Chu Mofeng thought about it for a long time, and begged Li Yuan to issue an edict to order Li Xiaoji, the king of Yong'an, Dugu Huaien, Yu Yun, the governor of Shaanxi, and Tang Jian, the waiter of the internal history, to lead troops to attack Lu Chongmao.

Li Yuan heard this and readily agreed, but the loss of Taiyuan was like a thorn in Li Yuan's heart, Li Yuan and Chu Mofeng sat together in the imperial study, and outsiders seemed to be the monarch and ministers discussing important matters, and at this time, if someone pushed the door in to take a look, they would find that the two were sitting at the table facing each other, each holding a porcelain bottle in their hands.

I saw Li Yuan put down the porcelain vase in his hand, sighed heavily and said: "Taiyuan has lost a lot of complaints in the court and in the army, and I don't know what to do at this time. ”

Chu Mofeng poured a sip of wine when he heard the words and said: "Your Majesty, the minister's words later may be a little too harsh, if you feel uncomfortable, it is right to be the minister's loss of words after drinking." ”

Li Yuan nodded, thinking that you kid probably won't scold me, right? If that's the case, you really have to think that you are drunk and lost your words.

I saw Chu Mofeng stand up and say: "First of all, our four princes are really a waste, last time Zhang Da was a thing, and this time Liu Dewei was a moth, aren't they all moths made up by this kid?"

Listening to Chu Mofeng's first words, Li Yuan suddenly had a headache, his fourth son was really useless, and he had to wipe his ass by himself when he made mistakes, thinking of this, Li Yuan said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow, I must lock up this rebel for a long time." ”

"Your Majesty, put aside his advance in advance, let's talk about the matter in front of us first, why Taiyuan is lost, there are quite a few words in the army, don't forget that most of our soldiers are people from the Taiyuan area, they follow the army to fight in the east and west all the year round, but the family is left in the hometown, and now the hometown has fallen, and no one can sleep peacefully. Chu Mofeng took out a list of soldiers from his bosom and put it in front of Li Yuan, and opened a few pages at random, and the column of origin on it was all Jinyang, Bingzhou and other areas under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan.

"I know that if I don't go on the expedition, it will inevitably chill the hearts of the soldiers, but the question is who will go on the expedition? Qu Tutong in the court is already old, Chai Shao and Pingyang have been guarding Niangziguan, maybe ......" Speaking of this, Li Yuan's figure of Liu Wenjing appeared in his mind, maybe he ordered Liu Wenjing to be executed was really a wrong move.

After raising the porcelain vase and pouring it again, Chu Mofeng's eyes were a little red and said: "Who said that no one in the court can go on the expedition, and the two of them will definitely be able to pacify Liu Wei and recover the lost territory." It's just that this matter depends on His Majesty's approval. ”

As soon as he heard that there were still people in the court who could be ordered to go out to meet the enemy in danger, Li Yuan was full of doubts in his heart, but looking at Chu Mofeng's sworn appearance, Li Yuan stood up suddenly and said: "You said, no matter who can relieve the danger of Taiyuan, I will not allow it. ”

"The minister Bao lifted His Royal Highness the King of Qin, Li Shimin, and the Duke of Qi Chu Mofeng to lead the troops to break the enemy, and I hope Your Majesty will agree!" Chu Mofeng knelt down in front of Li Yuan after speaking.

Chu Mofeng's words were like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which shook Li Yuan's mind for a sudden burst of clarity, yes, is he really old? How can he forget these two boys?

But after thinking about it, didn't he send Erlang to Changchun Palace just to take into account the prince's feelings? And Chu Xiaozi's high position, wasn't it also caused by himself? Now let the two of them go into battle, and then Liu Yiping and the two of them will have outstanding merits, which will inevitably affect the prince.

Seeing the uncertain look on Li Yuan's face, Chu Mofeng knew that this old guy was still worried about Li Jiancheng's feelings, so he immediately got up and said to Li Yuan: "Since Your Majesty can't agree, then please forgive the minister for not being able to do anything, and the minister will retire for the time being. With that, he turned around and walked towards the outside of the imperial study.

Maybe it was because Chu Mofeng's words were reasonable, or maybe it was the desire for the unification of imperial power that overcame family affection at that moment, when Chu Mofeng was about to walk to the door, Li Yuan suddenly shouted: "Order Li Shimin, the king of Qin, to hand over the matter of guarding the Changchun Palace and return to Beijing as soon as possible, and after the king of Qin returns to Beijing, he will order Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Chu Mofeng, the prince of Qi, to lead an army to set off to conquer Liu Yiwu Zhou, and the territory will no longer be allowed to return to Beijing." ”

Listening to Li Yuan's words, Chu Mofeng immediately turned to Li Yuan and said, "Minister Chu Mofeng respectfully obeys His Majesty's will. After saying that, he laughed three times, pushed the door and walked away.

That night, Li Shimin, who was in the direction of Changchun Palace, received a flying pigeon from Chu Mofeng, and immediately decided that he could not deliver the edict and immediately set off to return to the capital. After handing over the town guards, Li Shimin led his personal soldiers and the Tiance army to return to Chang'an overnight.

In the early morning of the second day, after the army arrived in Chang'an City and instructed his soldiers to return to the camp, Li Shimin came to the Qiguo Mansion in Yiningfang alone, and the two brothers were very happy to see each other again.

In the study room of the Guogong Mansion, Li Shimin and Chu Mofeng sat on the ground, eating and drinking in front of them, only to see Li Shimin raise his head and pour a sip of wine and say, "This is the timing that your kid said before, right?"

"Otherwise, what do you think?When you let that idiot brother stay in Jinyang, why did I let the Mansion move to Zhangye, now you know?" Chu Mofeng glanced at Li Shimin angrily, and said one after another: "It's not that I look down on him, your bastard prince and eldest brother are better than him." ”

"Then what should we do next? Prepare for the expedition in the next few days?" Hearing that Chu Mofeng opened his mouth to evaluate his brother, Li Shimin couldn't say anything, so he hurriedly changed the topic.

"What are you in a hurry? Wait for Your Majesty's will first, and then you have to go home and see that little prince of your family, right? By the way, start to organize your armaments, I think Your Majesty will definitely summon you into the palace for questioning. Twisting a peanut and throwing it into his mouth, Chu Mofeng stood up and walked to the wall on the side, stretched out his hand and dragged down the cloth hanging on the wall, and what appeared in front of the two of them was a military map, which clearly marked the current movements of various forces and the deployment of troops.

As soon as he saw this map, Li Shimin put down the things in his hand and jumped up, walked quickly to the map and looked at it carefully, "Hey, your map is really detailed, it took a lot of effort to collect intelligence, right?"

"You don't have to worry about this, what I want to say is that if Your Majesty asks you how many soldiers and horses you need, you must tell him in a firm tone that it only costs 30,000, and then I think Your Majesty will send someone to contact all parts of Taiyuan to help us. Chu Mofeng skillfully avoided the topic of intelligence gathering, and said to Li Shimin with a solemn face: "But there are two issues that must not be forgotten, the first is grain and grass, if we want to force the Yellow River to recover the lost land, the problem of grain and grass is the most important;

"Well, I'll figure out a way to do this, can there be a suitable general candidate for this expedition? At that time, you draw up a list, and I will ask my father for someone. Li Shimin thought that he could let Qin Qiong and the others go out with him to make contributions, and asked at the moment.

", you don't know how hard it took me to transfer you back this time? If you ask your father for someone, your father will be foolish again, and you can draw up a list when you go back, and I can directly transfer you in the name of the Ministry of War. Chu Mofeng knew Li Shimin's purpose for being an important person, so he dispelled his thoughts and said, "There is one person I want to take with me this time, maybe I can use it, but only this time." ”

"Who? can make you Qi Guogong so important?" Hearing that Chu Mofeng proposed to ask for someone alone, Li Shimin couldn't help but be a little surprised, this kid has always been above the top, when will there be someone who can enter his eyes.

"Pei Lian, this person is also from a Taiyuan family, if there is not enough food and grass or if you need to spy on intelligence and buy people's hearts, these children of the family can still come in handy. When I mentioned Pei Lin Chu Mofeng, I thought of Jiang Baoyi and Liu Wenjing, if these two were there, there would be two more generals around me.

"Cheng, I'll go talk to him about this. Li Shimin nodded, turned around and sat down in Fang Cai's position, picked up the porcelain vase and poured it again, and said in a slightly joking tone: "I heard that Lao Liu was captured again?"

When he mentioned Liu Hongji, Chu Mofeng couldn't hold back his laughter instantly, walked up to Li Shimin and sat down and said: "Don't mention it, Lao Liu should be unlucky, but fortunately, he ran back, and he and Liu Dewei went into battle this time." ”

"Then my fourth brother, you didn't do anything to him, did you?" Li Shimin only remembered to ask Chu Mofeng about Li Yuanji at this time.

"I didn't have time, I originally thought that I would kill him directly today, but it just so happened that you came back and indirectly saved his life. Speaking of Li Yuanji, Chu Mofeng felt nauseous in his heart, thinking that my mother's master will go to your house tonight to do you, so as not to cause trouble to the world again, and to remove a resistance for Li Lao Er in the future.

As if he had guessed what Chu Mofeng was thinking, Li Shimin said slowly: "You can go to his house and beat him up, but don't kill him, no matter how you say that the three of us are still brothers of the same mother, I know that you are for my good." ”

"That's it, you Li Lao Er should be broad-minded, I have to obey my orders, but this beating is not light. Chu Mofeng shook his head helplessly when he heard this, and then gritted his teeth and said, "Do you remember Dou Dan?" It is said that now when he hears my name, he trembles, and he has protested with His Majesty many times for this matter. As a result, I went to their house a few days ago, and then he stopped chattering in front of His Majesty. ”

When Li Shimin heard this, he thought that this kid was now like a tyrant in Chang'an, and he was too unscrupulous to rely on his father's favor, so he asked sharply at the moment: "You say, you won't even beat Dou Kang, right?"

Picking up a peanut and throwing it on Li Shimin's face, Chu Mofeng immediately raised the porcelain bottle and drank it all and said: "Are you an idiot like Li Yuanji? If I really beat Dou Kang, it is estimated that the old man will not be able to protect me, I just threw a copy of the pleadings of the people of Jinyang against his son and Li Yuanji to Dou Kang." It is said that Dou Dan was beaten again that night, and he was beaten by Lao Tzu himself. ”

After speaking, the two laughed, it was the night Li Shimin returned to the Qin Palace, and Chu Mofeng made a plan to go out overnight, who knew that the news came from the palace on the second day, His Majesty decided to let the army set off from Changchun Palace, and His Majesty would come to see off the army at that time, Chu Mofeng, who learned the news, hurriedly informed Li Shimin of the matter, and in desperation, Li Shimin hurriedly left to return to Changchun Palace, and Tiance Army stayed in the capital and handed it back to Chu Mofeng.

Another day later, Li Yuanxia wrote an edict in his own hand: "The thieves are so powerful that it is difficult to fight against them, so it is advisable to abandon the area east of the Yellow River and guard the western part of the country." ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who returned to the Changchun Palace, said: "Taiyuan is the foundation of the royal industry and the foundation of the country; I hope to give 30,000 elite soldiers to the ministers, and I must be able to eliminate Liu Wuzhou and recover Fen and Jin. ”

So Li Yuan ordered the requisition of all troops in Guanzhong to expand Li Shimin's troops and let him attack Liu Wuzhou. On the 20th, Li Yuan arrived in Huayin under the escort of Chu Mofeng and the 400 Tiance Army, and went to Changchun Palace to see off King Qin and others.

When he arrived at Changchun Palace, Li Yuan met Li Shimin first, affirmed his exploits in guarding Changchun Palace, and indirectly mentioned that this expedition was suggested by Chu Mofeng, although the two had already passed the qi, but Li Shimin still showed a look of ecstasy, and then Li Yuan asked slowly: "What kind of strategy will you use to deal with Liu Wuzhou?"

I saw Li Shimin think for a moment and replied: "Defend first and then attack, make use of your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and wait for work with ease." ”

"Well, in this way, I can rest assured, this time you two brothers must discuss what happens, and you must not go your own way. Li Yuan nodded, looking at the second son in front of him, and there was a faint reluctance in his heart, since the date of Longxing, the big and small battles were all this son rushed to the front without regrets, and in order to take into account Li Jiancheng's feelings, he actually 'dispatched' him to Changchun Palace, thinking of this Li Yuan was extremely remorseful, so he whispered to Li Shimin: "After this battle is settled, return to Chang'an." ”

Hearing this, Li Shimin nodded vigorously and said, "The son will definitely live up to His Majesty's trust." ”

Then Li Yuan left the Changchun Palace and returned to the capital, and at this time the Changchun Palace became the 'world' of Li Shimin and Chu Mofeng, and the two of them acted separately every day, rectifying the soldiers and horses, inspecting the ordnance, raising grain and grass, and purchasing medicinal materials.

Chu Mofeng, who received the news, couldn't help frowning tightly, the old man's move also meant to be a hostage, and in desperation, Chu Mofeng had no choice but to put away his other thoughts and concentrate on preparing for the work before the expedition.

October 28, Longmen. The surging Yellow River froze into a long mirror that twisted and twisted, and a group of Tang troops walked across the Yellow River on solid ice, and from time to time someone stepped on his or her feet, and his body slipped far away, and the knives and guns slipped even farther, causing a burst of laughter around.

Time blink of an eye to November, Jimao (14th), Liu Wuzhou invaded Haozhou. And Li Shimin's army, which learned the news, took the frozen hard, led his troops to cross the Yellow River from Longmen, and stationed at Baibi to confront Song Jingang. At this time, a serious problem arose, Li Shimin, who had planned to supply on the spot after crossing the river, suddenly found that after many raids by both sides, the warehouses of various prefectures and counties in Hedong were empty, and the people were hiding in the mountains, forests and castles.

However, the Tang army did not carry much food, and the rear could not help for a while, so Cangcao Guan went to the people to collect grain, but he got nothing. For this reason, Chu Mofeng was furious in Li Shimin's big tent, blaming him for not preparing grain and grass according to his instructions in advance.

In desperation, Li Shimin ordered Fang Xuanling to write a proclamation urging the people to support the Tang Army, which was widely distributed to the Quartet. When the people heard that Erlang personally took command of the expedition, they were overjoyed and fled to the Longmen area.

Li Shimin ordered Cangcao officials to spend money to buy grain from the people, and soon solved the temporary supply problem. Soon the grain from Yongfeng Cang was delivered.

As the Tang army gradually requisitioned grain, the army was sufficient. So he suspended the troops and fed the horses, and only ordered the generals of the non-main force to find a gap to plunder.

When Song Jingang learned that the Tang army was coming again, he led a large army to approach Baibi in the snow. Before setting out for the expedition, Liu Wuzhou specially instructed Song Jingang to find out who the leading commander on the opposite side was.

Li Shimin and Chu Mofeng ascended to Yubi City in the east of Baibi to observe the enemy's situation. Under the deep, dark and low sky, almost clinging to the mountain beams, the enemy lined up in formation on the snow, with majestic horses and swords and guns. Li Shimin stared at it for half an hour, the heavy snow was falling, but the enemy formation stood still.

Chu Mofeng looked at the enemy army in the distance, and said with a smile: "Let them continue to stand stupidly there, the whole army must not attack without an order, and those who violate the order will be killed!" After speaking, he turned around and walked under the city wall......

As the saying goes, waiting for the attack is like waiting for work, and watching Li Shimin guard the Baibi and wait for the opportunity to move, Chu Mofeng is wise enough to go out to suppress the thieves, I want to know what will happen next, and listen to the next decomposition......