In the evening, when the exhausted Chen Sangliang returned to Yuci with the patriotic army, Yuci City had already fallen into the clutches of the Sui army. Liu Jizhen, the Yuci guard who impulsively dedicated his city, had been arrested before the Sui army entered the city. Yang Jun and his general Li Zhongwen joined forces to kill Liu Wuzhou. Fortunately, he trapped Liu Wuzhou in the city and forced Ding Yang Jun to break in. The Sui Army also took the opportunity to follow him into the city. Therefore, Chen Sangliang was able to capture Yuci City quickly, but Liu Jizhen still wanted to Count the first merit. In addition, it was not bad for the old Liu family. Liu Jizhen's younger brother Liu Liuer was lucky enough to save his life and persisted until the Sui army entered the city, so that the old Liu family would not be reduced to the miserable situation where no one could come to Chen Sangliang to ask for credit after making great achievements. situation. At this point, the battle between the Sui Army and the Dingyang Army finally came to an end. After three large-scale fierce battles in less than a day, the main force of the Sui Army led by Chen Sangliang finally completely defeated the Dingyang Army and captured the self-proclaimed Dingyang Army alive. Emperor Yang's Liu Wuzhou and his general Zhang Wansui captured all the food and baggage of Ding Yang's army and more than 1,000 war horses. They beheaded and captured more than 21,000 people. They basically wiped out all Ding Yang's small court in one day. Establish a business and protect the capital of the family. Although Song Jingang and Xun Ping and Ding Yang's generals fled north to Mayi with some of their remaining troops, they were still grasshoppers after the autumn and could not survive for a few days. The remaining strength was not enough to protect themselves. Not to mention once again threatening to interfere with the Sui army's main attack on Taiyuan. Of course, no matter how elite and skilled the main force of the Sui army was, they also suffered a lot of losses in such a fierce battle with high intensity and density. Xiong Wei, a veteran of Qi County, also unfortunately died in this battle. Nearly 4,000 soldiers were killed and injured. , but Chen Sangliang no longer bothered to pretend to pay homage to the fallen soldiers to win over people's hearts. After returning to Yuci City, he saw that the situation in the city had stabilized. Generals such as Yuchi Jingde and Kan Leng had led their troops to secure various places in the city. The key is that the first thing Chen Sangliang did was to ask for sleep. He didn't even bother to wash off the dust on his face. He just lay on his gums without knowing who was going on and snored loudly before falling asleep immediately. After a good sleep, it was not until midnight the next day that the unhygienic Chen Sangliang lazily got up to wash up, change clothes, and deal with various aftermath matters. However, at this moment, an unexpected messenger suddenly came. Arriving in front of Chen Sangliang, the great warlord Luo Yi of Zhuo County sent his general Xue Wanshu as an envoy to the Taihang Mountain trail to ask for an audience. He not only brought Chen Sangliang the good news that Luo Yi agreed to surrender to the Yining court, but also brought Chen Sangliang Here comes the great news that Luo Yi has sent troops to Hengshan to stop Dou Jiande from reinforcing the Li brothers. Chen Sangliang was of course overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately ordered a summons. Xue Wanshu is the eldest son of Xue Shixiong, the former Right Guards General. He once met Chen Sangliang in the later stages of the Yanmen War, and they had a very good impression of each other. Of course, he was extremely happy to meet old friends again. It is a pity that Xue Wanshu not only had to be like the last time He constantly praised Chen Sangliang's various great achievements, and even saluted Chen Sangliang as a minister and called himself a minister. Fortunately, Chen Sangliang still showed some respect and left the table in person to help Xue Wanshu. He also gave Xue Wanshu a seat and reward. He also gave Xue Wanshu a rank of light chariot general from the fifth rank on the spot, and he was given the title of Wuqiang County Duke. Enclose hundreds of households in the city. Xue Wanshu was also overjoyed and quickly kowtowed to Chen Sangliang to thank him again. After the necessary cutscenes were completed and the guests and hosts took their seats, Chen Sangliang naturally quickly asked Luo Yi why he suddenly thought of accepting his surrender and took the initiative to send troops to contain Dou Jiande on his behalf. Xue Wanshu answered truthfully: "His Royal Highness the King of Tang, in fact King Yan had already intended to surrender, but he was caught between the two powerful forces of Taiyuan Li family and Dou Jiande at that time. Changing the flag too early would inevitably attract the two powerful forces. The enemy was besieging us, so we all dared not make up our minds. This time, I heard that your highness personally led the king's army to attack Taiyuan, and the attack was like a ruthless attack all the way to the city of Taiyuan. His highness, King Yan, no longer had any worries, so" "Stop, stop. Stop it, stop it." Chen Sangliang quickly stopped Xue Wanshu from talking and said with a smile: "Brother Wanshu, I am the king of Tang Dynasty and you are the minister, so you should say something tactful, but we are not in the court now. , We are talking in private, so there is no need to waste words on those occasions. Tell the truth, how did King Yan make up his mind? This is very important to me, and it is equally important to King Yan. " "Your Highness still speaks. It was straightforward as five years ago." Xue Wanshu smiled, and then said: "Since His Highness does not want to listen to polite words, then I will tell the truth. King Yan heard that Your Highness traveled two hundred miles in one day to surrender. After Wang Fubao's incident, he made up his mind to surrender to Yi Zhi. King Yan said that your highness, if you can recognize and love talents so well, then he will not be wronged when he comes under your command, let alone worry about the birds hiding in their bows, and the rabbits hidden in the bow. "A dead dog is cooked." Having said this, Xue Wanshu quickly said: "As for sending troops to Hengshan to contain Dou Jiande, it was the suggestion of Xue Wanjun, the third brother of the last general. The third brother of the last general believed that Your Highness, who led the main force in the Northern Expedition to Taiyuan, would not want the war to prolong. , and the Li brothers, relying on Dou Jiande for support, will definitely defend Taiyuan Fort with all their strength and wait for reinforcements. Therefore, instead of directly sending troops to Taiyuan to participate in the siege, our army should send troops to contain Dou Jiande's reinforcements and allow His Highness to retreat.Wuyou also directly affected the military morale of the Li brothers, letting the Taiyuan bandits know that there was no rescue and their military morale collapsed. King Yan also listened to the advice of the third brother of the last general, and then sent the third and fourth brothers of the last general with eight thousand troops to attack Hengshan County to prevent Dou Jiande from reinforcing Taiyuan. " "Okay, okay, okay. "Chen Sangliang was so happy that he could hardly speak. He clapped his thighs and kept cheering. He said happily: "In the future, I will definitely thank brother Wan Jun. His plan to encircle Wei and save Zhao really helped me a lot. Zhuojun It is indeed a hundred times better for the army to attack Hengshan County and cut off Dou Jiande's advance path than to directly send troops to Taiyuan to help me attack the city. Great idea! Brother Wan Jun is truly a talented person. Not only do I want to thank him deeply, I will also definitely promote him! " Overjoyed, Chen Sangliang simply smiled at Xue Wanshu and said: "Wanshu, would you like to work hard for me and lead an army of two thousand to the east to capture Shouyang and Shi Ai'er east of Yuci? City, capture Jingxing Pass and establish direct contact with your two brothers? " "His Highness sends you an order. How dare you disobey me?" Xue Wanshu hurriedly handed over his hand and said in embarrassment: "But the general is coming via the mountain road this time. He only has two followers with him, and there is no army available?" " "It doesn't matter, I'll give it to you. Chen Sangliang smiled and said: "I will give you 800 elite soldiers and 1,200 new auxiliary troops, and ask you to capture these two cities and one pass for me." " As soon as he returned, he was granted military power by Chen Sangliang and was able to take charge of his own affairs. Of course Xue Wanshu was extremely excited. He immediately knelt down and swore to be loyal to Chen Sangliang for life. He would never betray him even if the earth fell apart and the sea dried up. Chen Sangliang helped him up again with a smile. , He said good words to comfort him, but he murmured in his heart: "I don't know who your Xue brothers are? If I don't be generous to you, how can I drag your third and fourth brothers over from Luo Yi? Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche are both super fierce generals with full loyalty! And Xue Rengui in the future seems to have something to do with you. If I don't win you over better, how can I wipe out all of your Xue family? " After becoming the king and hegemony, Chen Sangliang had surprisingly good luck. He had just sent Xue Wanshu down to rest for a banquet and prepare for the expedition. When Liu Liu'er, the brother of Yuci guard Liu Jizhen, came to visit Chen Sangliang, he An important piece of good news was reported to Chen Sangliang, that is, Li Jiancheng secretly hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in Yuci City for Dou Jiande's reinforcements. Chen Sangliang was overjoyed again when he heard the report, and rewarded Liu Liu'er heavily and gave Liu Jizhen a posthumous title. The county official also greatly alleviated the urgent need to transport grain and grass. Although he was smiling, Chen Sangliang did not forget the situation of the Taiyuan battlefield to the west. Fortunately, the road was not far away, and Li Jing also reported the battle situation in Taiyuan to Chen Sangliang at any time. As soon as Chen Sangliang asked, confidential secretary Sun Fujia immediately reported to Chen Sangliang: "Your Highness, please rest assured that everything is going well in Taiyuan. After we found out that our army ambushed Liu Wuzhou, although Li Jiancheng had sent an army in an attempt to replace him, Liu Wuzhou shared the pressure, but Old General Qu Tu fought hard and retreated. Li Jiancheng had no choice. He abandoned the camp and returned to the city at the fourth watch of the night before. Old General Qu Tu took advantage of the situation and pursued him, killing and capturing more than 1,800 Taiyuan rebels. They also captured a lot of military supplies. " "besides. Sun Fuga added with a smile: "Yuan Shangshu also reported to you, Your Highness, saying that he discovered that the wind direction had changed the night before, and that within ten days, the flow of Fenshui would inevitably begin to increase." So Li Shangshu asked for instructions, should our main force move the camp? Chongsheng Temple in the northeast corner of Taiyuan (later also known as Tongping Temple, Pingjincheng, today Jinyuan Town) is a good choice. "Although he has been avoiding this problem, when the war has reached this point, Chen Sangliang must face this cruel choice. Is he responsible for the lives of his soldiers? Or is he responsible for the lives of innocent people in Taiyuan City? So he hesitated for a long time. After that, Chen Sangliang remained silent and did not make any statement. Sun Fuga, who had been following Chen Sangliang for nearly two years, observed Chen Sangliang's hesitation and said cautiously: "Your Highness, the student knows that you We can't bear it, but we have no choice. Taiyuan City has high trenches and deep walls, strong walls, and plenty of food and grass in the city. If the defenders refuse to surrender, we don't know how much troops and money and food it will take to break the city. If the delay lasts for a long time, more than just If the people of Taiyuan suffer, people all over the world will suffer. " Chen Sangliang still didn't speak. After a while, Chen Sangliang said slowly: "Reply to Li Shangshu and agree to move his camp to Chongsheng Temple. I also told him that I will return to the army the day after tomorrow. Go and join him. " "No. "Sun Fujia hurriedly clasped his fists and sang a promise, saying that His Highness the King of Tang Dynasty had finally figured it out. He quickly picked up a pen and wrote a reply to Li Jing for Chen Sangliang. Chen Sangliang signed and stamped the letter, and asked Sun Fujia to send a horse back to the main force. Camp, and asked Sun Fujia to send someone to escort Zhu Can. Sun Fujia, who was already very familiar with Chen Sangliang's bad character, was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Your Highness, do you want Zhu Can to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan City?" , to act as an internal agent for our army? Zhu Can is a capricious person who sees profit and forgets his righteousness. He is completely unreliable, isn't he? " "Isn't it just capricious? Seeking profit and forgetting one's righteousness? "Chen Sangliang sneered and said: "To describe him with such words as wolf-hearted and dog-like, worse than a beast, are all insults. So you have to ask Yuchi Jingde to personally escort this Zhu Can. I have to prevent this beast from jumping over the wall, right? My disadvantage. Sun Fujia was stunned again after hearing this, and asked hurriedly: "Your Highness, since you know Zhu Can's nature very well, why do you still want to see him?" Wouldn't it be over if I cut him with one knife? " "Because I want to use his insidiousness and viciousness to deal with a more insidious and vicious enemy for me. Chen Sangliang replied calmly, waved his hand again and said, "Don't ask any more questions, just go and deliver the order." " Sun Fuga then took the order and left. Chen Sangliang, who had always been lazy, rarely took up the pen himself. He wrote a few lines on an official defense document, signed it and sealed it again. Not long after, Yuchi Jing De and Sun Fujia brought Zhu Can to Chen Sangliang. In addition, what made Chen Sangliang dumbfounded was that, seemingly frightened by his previous words, Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia not only tied up Zhu Can and held him captive. He also brought in ten knife and axemen, who surrounded Zhu Can in a circle and were ready to kill people at any time. Of course, Zhu Can is also a flexible character. Faced with this situation of serious distrust of himself, Zhu Can. He still didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction in his expression, and he still knelt down obediently and said respectfully: "The guilty minister Zhu Can, please bow to His Highness the King of Tang, Your Highness" " "shut up! "Chen Sangliang interrupted angrily and roared: "Guilty minister? When have I ever had a minister like you under my command? This king has been on campaign for eight years, and has commanded more than a million soldiers? Among millions of soldiers, there is only one scum like you, and you almost caused thousands of my soldiers to die in vain! In the end, he helped Li's rebels and killed hundreds of thousands of the king's soldiers with his own hands! This king is ashamed to have used you, and has never appointed you to any position. What qualifications do you have to call yourself a guilty minister in front of me? ! " It's rare to see the gentle Chen Sangliang get so angry. Yuchi Jingde didn't even blink his eyelids. He grabbed the back of Zhu Can's neck with his left hand and lifted him up. He punched Zhu Can directly with his right hand. Zhu Can's face was immediately beaten to the point where blood was flying from his mouth, and several teeth fell out. Zhu Can secretly hated it, but he did not dare to resist and could not resist. He could only spray blood from his mouth. Begging for mercy, "Your Highness, have mercy on me, Your Highness, have mercy on me. The sinner knows his crime. The sinner deserves death. The sinner deserves to die. I beg Your Highness, for the sake of the sinner's usefulness, spare his life." " After Yuchi Jingde continued to beat Zhu Can, Chen Sangliang said to Zhu Can: "Yes, you are right. You are still of some use to me. I can also consider sparing your life, but , it depends on whether you are obedient next. " "Sinners are obedient, sinners must be obedient. Zhu Can quickly nodded his head and asked cautiously: "Your Highness, do you want the guilty general to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan?" " "Why are you all smarter than the other? Can you all guess what this king is planning? Chen Sangliang smiled and said with a smile: "Yes, I want you to pretend to escape back to Taiyuan and return to Li Erlang to serve him." " When Zhu Can heard the complaint, he quickly said with a mournful face: "Your Highness, it's not that the sinner is unwilling to serve you. It's your Highness that you also know that Li Erlang is unusually cunning. If the sinner goes back now, he will definitely suspect the sinner and will not immediately do it. Trust the sinner. Moreover, Taiyuan City is tightly guarded and difficult to enter and exit. Even if the criminals detect some military planes, they will not be able to send them out of the city? " "Your Highness, if you still don't believe in the sinner, then let the sinner be the siege vanguard. Zhu Can also took the risk and volunteered: "Your Highness, when you attack Taiyuan City, the sinners will be ordered to join the death squads to attack the city. Either the sinners will bring ten thief heads back to atone for their sins, or the sinners will die in battle on the city walls." , to atone for one¡¯s sins by death. " "I don't want you to attack the city, nor do I want you to be an internal agent, spying on military aircraft for me. "Speaking slowly, Chen Sangliang walked up to Zhu Can with the official defense written in his own handwriting. He showed the official defense to Zhu Can and said, "I only want you to take this to Li Erlang. " Looking carefully at the official document in Chen Sangliang's hand, Zhu Can was dumbfounded on the spot. He almost suspected that his eyes had been damaged by Yuchi Jingde. He had read it wrongly. Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fu were holding Zhu Can. Jia Ye's eyes widened at the same time, and he exclaimed: "Your Highness, are you kidding me? ¡± The content of the official defense signed by Chen Sangliang and sealed is very simple. The full text is as follows: Li Shimin was granted the title of Duke of Wei, General of the Youxiao Cavalry Guard, and Doctor Jin Ziguanglu. He was rewarded with a thousand taels of gold and silver each, and was given a death certificate. Except for treason, Avoid death for life! After blinking his eyes with incredible effort and repeatedly confirming that he was right, Zhu Can asked in surprise: "Your Highness, do you want a sinner to surrender Li Erlang for you? Don't you always hate that traitor to your core? How could you still think of recruiting him? Give him such a great favor? ¡± ¡°This?I always like to repay evil with kindness, and I have no habit of killing anyone who surrenders. Chen Sangliang said with a smile: "I also dislike Li Erlang very much, but there is a big event coming soon, and I have to use his power again, so as long as he is willing to do one thing for me, I can give him these grace. " "Your Highness, what do you want Li Erlang to do for you? Zhu Can asked timidly. "Let him persuade Li Jiancheng to surrender in Kaicheng. If he succeeds, I will give him this grace." Chen Sangliang said coldly: "If Li Jiancheng refuses to surrender, and Li Erlang kills Li Jiancheng and leads the defenders and clans to open the city and surrender, I will also give him this grace!" I will never kill the Li clan! " Zhu Can was speechless. After some calculation, Zhu Can asked timidly: "Your Highness, what if Li Erlang chooses to refuse to surrender again? " "Then you find an opportunity to kill Li Erlang for me. "Chen Sangliang said unceremoniously: "After you return to the city, you can directly tell Li Erlang that you were captured alive by me, and then say that you pretended to surrender and I deceived you into returning to the city alive, and you were forced to bring him a message and a message. Then if he agrees to surrender, you will help him. If he refuses, you will find an opportunity to kill him and come to me with his head. Regardless of whether you can help me persuade Li Erlang to surrender or help me obtain Li Erlang's head, I will forgive your previous sins and give you a fifth-grade official position, thousands of acres of fertile land, a house of gold and silver, Plus a knighthood. " After only considering for less than three seconds, Zhu Can agreed to Chen Sangliang's request because at least he could escape immediately and save his life. Chen Sangliang was not very relieved about Zhu Can and arranged for people to secretly escort Zhu Can back. Taiyuan was handed over to Li Jing, and he asked Li Jing to send people to monitor Zhu Can when he brought the book into the city. He also told his subordinates in front of Zhu Can that if Zhu Can was found to have done anything evil, he could be executed immediately. Then Chen Sangliang put that person to death! The Taoist official put it into an envelope, sealed it with fire paint and handed it to Zhu Can. Zhu Can was taken away. Yuchi Jingde and Sun Fujia were also puzzled and asked together: "Your Highness, are you really planning to do this?" Recruit Li Erlang? You haven't always hated him to the core, so why are you still thinking of recruiting him? Also, our army has already reported that Li Erlang is weak among the Taiyuan rebels and cannot defeat Li Jiancheng. Is there no use in recruiting him to surrender? " "Don't underestimate Li Erlang. He doesn't have many soldiers anymore, but his identity is there after all, and he still has a certain voice and influence in the Taiyuan bandit army. "Chen Sangliang said calmly: "There is also the Li family. Before, the Li brothers fought for power in Daxing, and the Li family sided with Li Er. Later, after Li Er was driven back to Taiyuan by us, his power declined, and the Li family suffered. By the time of Li Jiancheng's retaliatory attack, only Li Shentong, the only person in charge of the Taiyuan bandit army's thirteen generals, was named Li. Now that the situation has reached this point, these members of the Li clan are likely to still side with Li Er. " "Then Your Highness, why don't you directly surrender Li Jiancheng? Yuchi Jingde asked in confusion: "Your Highness, you and Li Jiancheng have always had a very good relationship. During the Tongguan War, you even entrusted each other's families before the war. You personally came forward to recruit him, so there should be hope?" " Chen Sangliang smiled, very bitterly, and said: "If Li Jiancheng could recruit and surrender so easily, then he would not think of attacking our army at Queshu Valley Water, let alone drag Dou Jiande and Liu Wuzhou into it. On the battlefield, he retreated to Taiyuan City to make a death struggle. Flooding Taiyuan may destroy the city, but it may not force him to surrender. " Yuchi Jingde shut his mouth, and then Sun Fujia carefully reminded: "Your Highness, if Li Erlang really accepts your surrender and really persuades Li Jiancheng to surrender in Kaicheng or kills Li Jiancheng and surrenders in Kaicheng, then what to do? His ambition and scheming are very dangerous, right? " "For the hundreds of thousands of innocent Taiyuan people, I am willing to risk keeping Li Erlang by my side! "This is Chen Sangliang's beautiful answer. "It's true that I wrote the check, but this bank, ha. "This is the sneer in Chen Sang's conscience.