(Thanks to Melancholy for the domineering reward. This is the third leader in this book. This week, we will add a more gentle leader, and next week we will add another week to thank Melancholy for the reward!)
Chapter 451: You finally admit it
Although they have survived two winters, when the weather suddenly turned cold, the Sui soldiers still felt a little intolerable. In the past two winters, they had not come down from the village in Langru Mountain, so it was not difficult to spend their days by the stove. But now they face hundreds of thousands of rebels and a howling north wind.
The cold cavalrymen in Northern Liao are not at all uncomfortable with such weather. In their opinion, it is already much warmer than the Shiwandashan Mountains. If you haven't been to that place, you can't understand what the real cold weather is.
Li Xiaozong huddled in a chair covered with thick velvet blankets, staring at the smoke rising from the stove in a daze. For some reason, he suddenly thought of his days in Fan Gu.
One sunny day after snow, the young man named Fang Jie came in from outside. As usual, he stuck his buttocks out and warmed himself by the fire. Then he took out a wad of silver notes from his arms and handed it to him. That is the dividend of the three major industries in Fangu City. Because of this young man, the lives of the people and border troops in Fangu City are getting better and better day by day.
After going out to suppress horse thieves, the young man would always drag his friends to Yunji Dog Meat Shop for a drink. When he thought of this, Li Xiaozong couldn't help but pursed his lips.
He thought of the smell of pear blossom wine in the dog meat shop. It seemed that he had never drunk such a mellow wine in the past few years. He thought of the honest and stupid Su Tugou, and of the unique and charming landlady. Then he thought of what the landlady said to him that night with a bright moon.
That night, he originally planned to kill Fang Jie.
¡°Then he thought about the scene where Li Yuanshan¡¯s cavalry slaughtered Fan Gu¡¯s 800 border troops. At that time, he watched everything happen with his own eyes, but he didn't even have the courage to stop it. He could remember the faces of each of those eight hundred people. When he closed his eyes, the voices, faces, and smiles of those people were still so familiar.
He can still call out those names, and he can¡¯t call any of them wrong.
When he thought of this, Li Xiaozong felt even colder. He tightened the fleece blanket wrapped around him, feeling that the cold wind could still penetrate into his heart unbridled. He has never regretted any decision, nor does he believe that there is any karma in this world. He only firmly believes in one truthOnly the strong can gain a foothold.
¡°I don¡¯t know why, but he couldn¡¯t sleep last night.
He has never felt this way in all these years. No matter what difficult or happy things he encounters, he can keep himself sleeping well. He could fall asleep in the snow, in the wilderness, even among the dead.
It¡¯s still dark outside, and it¡¯s not time to raise the tent yet.
It¡¯s dark outside, and it¡¯s even darker inside the tent.
The fire was the only light source in the tent, but for some reason Li Xiaozong suddenly discovered that the area illuminated by the fire today seemed particularly small.
Is it because of excitement?
He asked himself.
probably.
The answer I gave was not positive.
He should really be excited, because he just made a decision yesterday. He planned to ask Cui Zhongzhen to take people to the rebel west camp to call for battle. His crony Liu Silang had already rushed to the rebel west camp to meet Meng Wansui. If nothing unexpected happens, Cui Zhongzhen will die under Liu Silang's arrow after dawn. He was very confident in Liu Silang's shooting skills, just as he was equally confident in Fang Jie's shooting skills.
Three days later, he will order the army to return to the mountain stronghold. He would ask Mou Liangbi to lead a group of people to protect the baggage and leave first. Of course, there was not much baggage left to bring down the mountain, so even if he was ambushed by the rebels, the loss would not be unbearable. He had already observed the terrain of Jiazigou and found it to be the most suitable for an ambush. Mouliangbi is the best logistics officer. He can sort out and arrange everything in an all-round way. But he is not a qualified general. Once he is surrounded by rebels, he will only die. As long as Li Xiaozong's rescue is a little slower, Mouliangbi will become a corpse.
All this has even formed a picture in Li Xiaozong's mind.
¡°As long as Cui Zhongzhen is dead, the only evidence that might know that he killed Prince Xu will be gone. In fact, Cui Zhongzhen did not see him kill Xujun Wang Yang Kai. But Li Xiaozong was not sure, so Cui Zhongzhen must not be retained. As long as Mouliangbi dies, this team of nearly 50,000 people will completely fall into his hands. Fifty thousand elites are enough for him to settle down in the northwest.
But that¡¯s not enough.
He made an agreement with Meng Wansui a long time ago that the two of them will advance and retreat together. Once Li Yuanshan was defeated, the two of them joined forces to attack Xiangzhou from behind. Xiangzhou is the foundation of Li Yuanshan and was designated as the capital by Li Yuanshan.??Of course, the most perfect capital in Li Yuanshan's mind is Chang'an, the most majestic city in the world.
As long as Xiangzhou is captured, the imperial court must recognize Li Xiaozong's achievements. Prince Xujun is dead, Mouliangbi is dead, and the two main people responsible for the fiasco of the Western Expedition are dead. Will the court still point the finger at him? You must know that during the Western Expedition, he was just a general under Li Yuanshan. He resolutely left the rebels and made many achievements in the past two years. These are all real and not fake.
Of course, this is not enough.
Because these alone are not enough for the court to take him seriously.
Therefore, Meng Wansui is also going to die. As long as he kills Meng Wansui again and uses the nearly 300,000 rebels for his own use, even the emperor will not dare to underestimate him. With an army of hundreds of thousands and then conquering the rebel capital, wouldn't it be enough to replace him with a third-grade general?
enough
Thinking of this, the chill in Li Xiaozong's heart finally dissipated a lot.
¡°I¡¯m not very greedy, am I?¡±
He murmured, feeling that he was indeed not very greedy. Compared to Li Yuanshan, he is really not greedy. Li Yuanshan wanted the country, but Li Xiaozong knew he didn't have that appetite. All he wanted was glory. A third-grade general, opening a government office, and establishing a family of his own are much smaller than the dream of a country in Li Yuanshan's heart.
People can¡¯t be too greedy, especially greedy for illusory things.
Li Xiaozong knew that the road had to be walked step by step.
At this moment, the wake-up call sounded outside. The sun will soon shine on the earth and a new day will begin.
He lifted off the fleece blanket wrapped around him and stretched his body.
A difficult night has passed.
I hope I can have a good sleep when it gets dark again.
He is in the dark, waiting for the light.
¡¡
¡¡
The soldiers helped Li Xiaozong put on the armor. Li Xiaozong lowered his head and looked at the armor on his body, and suddenly he was in a trance The sunlight outside shone in, and the armor reflected a light golden brilliance. It looked as if the iron armor on his body had turned into golden armor.
Li Xiaozong smiled and thought this was a good sign.
"Have all the generals gone to the main tent?"
he asks.
"It's in the past."
The soldier replied: "The general gave instructions yesterday to go to the rebel camp today to call for formation, so the generals were waiting outside the big tent early, just waiting for the general to raise the tent."
Li Xiaozong hummed and ordered: "Go and release Cui Zhongzhen. There is no need to go to the big tent to listen to orders. Choose a Zhechong camp with an uneven number of people and let him be ready to take the lead."
"Here"
The soldier agreed and gave Li Xiaozong the sash tightly.
After Li Xiaozong was dressed neatly, he walked out of the tent. When he went out, he took a deep breath of the cold air, and the sleepiness of a night without sleep was dispelled.
When the soldiers saw him, they saluted respectfully, which made Li Xiaozong feel very comfortable. He likes to sit in the big tent and distribute military affairs. It feels like he is giving guidance to the country. He is the son of a concubine of the Li family. If he wants to become a master, he can only rely on his own efforts. He was sure that one day, sooner or later, the direct descendants of those wealthy families would also pay homage to him.
Men, who doesn¡¯t have the dream of becoming a master?
Sitting down in the tent, Li Xiaozong made arrangements for today's battle, and then mentioned to the generals that if they could not defeat the rebels' Western Camp, they would have to withdraw. When he said this, his tone was heavy and his eyes were filled with sadness. After fighting with the rebels for a month, he failed to avenge King Xu. It seemed that he was particularly unwilling.
But the generals also know that the weather is so cold that it is not suitable for fighting at all. The rebels have strong troops and no shortage of food, grass and uniforms. The Sui army couldn't do it. If they wanted to survive the cold winter, they could only return to the mountain stronghold to rest.
No one doubts the sadness in Li Xiaozong's eyes, and no one can detect the joy in his eyes.
Li Xiaozong suddenly felt that if he were an actor, he would be famous all over the country.
Just after the military arrangements were completed, the soldiers outside came in and whispered something to him. Li Xiaozong's expression changed slightly, and then he asked the generals to wait for him in the big tent, and he went out of the big tent alone. As the soldier walked away, he said, "My subordinate just went to let Cui Zhongzhen go. He refused to come out. He only asked you to go there in person. He has something to ask. If General, you don't go, he would rather die than get out of the prison." "
Li Xiaozong frowned: "Has anyone ever seen him?"
"Wanyan Zhongde went to see him last night and gave him a pot of wine and a plate of cooked meat."
"SaidWhat? "
¡°I just said it¡¯s getting cold and asked Cui Zhongzhen to take care of himself or something.¡±
Li Xiaozong hummed. Although he felt a little weird, he didn't pay much attention to it. The place where Cui Zhongzhen was imprisoned was very close to Wanyan Zhongde's Cold Cavalry station, which was what Wanyan Zhongde requested at the time. Li Xiaozong knew that Wanyan Chongde and Cui Zhongzhen had a good personal relationship, so he agreed. After all, he wanted to kill Cui Zhongzhen, so there was no need to do it in the camp. Locking Cui Zhongzhen near Hanqi Camp will make people think he is generous.
This is an independent tent, and inside the tent is a cage made of wood. When Li Xiaozong walked to the door, he felt a lot more at ease when he saw his own soldiers. They were all his people outside the tent, and anyone approaching would be warned in advance. He opened the curtain and walked in, seeing Cui Zhongzhen sitting with his back to him.
"What do you want from me?"
Li Xiaozong asked
Cui Zhongzhen did not look back. He was silent for a while and suddenly said: "That day, I actually saw it."
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Xiaozong's expression suddenly changed.
Cui Zhongzhen said in a calm tone: "I know that you sent me to call the formation today, saying that you were guilty of meritorious service, but in fact you wanted to kill me, right? Li Xiaozong, I still misjudged you Although I I saw you kill the prince, but I still helped you hide it. What I didn't expect was that you actually wanted to kill me. I never said it, but I still had fantasies about you. If you don¡¯t tell them, you probably won¡¯t kill them all.¡±
"Whatare you talking nonsense about?"
Li Xiaozong looked around and said coldly: "The reason why you are trapped in the cage is because you were disadvantaged in the battle. The prince was killed by the rebels. My fault is that I failed to rescue the prince."
"There's no one else here, why do you have to be so pretentious?"
Cui Zhongzhen turned around fiercely, looked into Li Xiaozong's eyes and said seriously: "Let's make a deal. As long as you don't kill me, I promise not to tell you about killing the prince, how about it?"
Li Xiaozong was silent, then shook his head: "I don't know what you are talking about. If you don't call for formation today, I can't help you. If you make a mistake, you must make up for it. If you can't make up for it, I will deal with you according to military law. ¡±
Cui Zhongzhen sneered: "It seems that I am certain to die Actually, I also know that you found the prince because of Li Yuanshan's instructions, right? Your purpose is to kill the prince and then send all the soldiers into the tiger's mouth! Li Xiaozong , do you really think Li Yuanshan will win?"
"I did not think"
Li Xiaozong shook his head: "So now I am working hard to be a general of the Sui Dynasty. Cui Zhongzhen, you are indeed an idiot. No wonder you can't even enter the martial arts academy. If you were smart enough, you wouldn't say these words, because After you tell meI won't keep you anymore."
Hearing these words, Cui Zhongzhen¡¯s eyes lit up.
He couldn¡¯t help but applaud: ¡°You are finally willing to admit it.¡±