After Li Ji left the wounded barracks, he wandered around Mingshui City aimlessly until the sky turned completely dark, and then moved into the house prepared for him by Qu Tutong.
It is a large house that is not luxurious. The main house and the back house were damaged by huge rocks, and only the wing rooms on the left and right sides are still intact.
Li Ji's residence is in the left wing.
The furnishings inside are also very simple, with only a bed and a long table.
After Li Ji simply washed up, he went to sleep.
…
Just when Li Ji fell asleep, people sent by Qin Qiong rushed to the place where Li Shimin was temporarily stationed.
After Li Shimin chased Liu Heitai for a day, he temporarily settled on the bank of Zhangshui River, which was still some distance away from Quzhou where Liu Heitai was.
The reason why he was stationed by the Zhang River was to avoid forcing Liu Heitai to jump over the wall and fight him to the death.
Li Shimin didn't care about Liu Heita's life or death.
But Li Shimin cared about the lives of the rebel troops under Liu Heitai.
Those rebel armies were under Liu Heitai's hands, they were rebels, but under his hands, they were the people of the Tang Dynasty.
As long as those rebels were willing to put down their weapons obediently, he would forget about it, let them return to their hometowns, and reintegrate them under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, allowing them to contribute to the population and tax of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty is now experiencing a shortage of food and people. Every person is very important to the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin is not willing to go on a killing spree unless it is absolutely necessary.
"Have the people who went to negotiate with Liu Heita come back?"
Li Shimin, wearing a suit of armor and wearing a large horse and a golden sword, sat in the temporary handsome tent and asked Changsun Wuji beside him.
The war in Hebei had already come to an end when Liu Heitai was forced into a desperate situation.
In this case, there is no need to rush to kill all the enemies. If you can persuade them to surrender, you must persuade them to surrender.
If this battle can be ended without bloodshed, it will be a good thing for both sides.
Therefore, after Li Shimin forced Liu Heitai into a desperate situation, he did not rush to send troops again. Instead, he sent his important ministers to persuade him to surrender.
Changsun Wuji sat under Li Shimin, sighed, and said: "I'm back, but the deal didn't work out."
Li Shimin frowned slightly, "How could the negotiation not be concluded? Does Liu Heitai think that he still has a chance to stand up? Or does he think that the Turks can come to save him now?"
He, Li Yi, and Du Fuwei surrounded a small Quzhou with tens of thousands of people. Liu Heitai only had less than 30,000 defeated soldiers in his hands.
What did Liu Heita do to turn around?
Liu Heitai is not Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu. He has the courage to be unstoppable by ten thousand men. He can lead 30,000 to 50,000 people and suppress more than 100,000 people to fight.
A small group of Turkic soldiers and horses broke through the defense lines of Li Shentong and Li Shiji and appeared in the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but the large group of Turkic soldiers and horses were still blocked outside the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
Even if the Turks broke through the Tang Dynasty's defense and appeared in the Tang Dynasty, they would not be able to reach Quzhou in time to save Liu Heitai's life.
Liu Heitai now has no room for a desperate struggle, so why not surrender?
Changsun Wuji smiled bitterly and said: "Liu Heitai's request was a bit excessive, so the negotiation was not successful."
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, looked at Changsun Wuji in confusion and said, "What can he ask for?"
Changsun Wuji hesitated for a moment and said frankly: "Liu Heitai said that as long as the Tang Dynasty recognized the identity of King Dong of the Han Dynasty and allocated ten states in Hebei Province to him as fiefs, he would be willing to surrender."
Li Shimin's face suddenly turned dark.
Liu Heitai was making demands, and Liu Heitai was just wishful thinking.
Let the Tang Dynasty recognize his identity as the Eastern King of the Han Dynasty and allocate ten states in Hebei to him as fiefdoms?
So why did the Tang Dynasty conquer him? When he conquered the entire Hebei Province, they could just send someone to canonize him.
"He is unwilling to surrender, so he is teasing us with this wishful request!"
Li Shimin said with some annoyance.
Li Yi and Du Fuwei brought a large territory and tens of thousands of elite soldiers to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but they did not dare to make such a request.
Liu Heitao was already beaten to a pulp and defeated. How dare he make such a request?!
"Pass the order, after dawn tomorrow, all the ministries will gather in Quzhou! I want to see where Liu Heitai got the courage to make such a request to the Tang Dynasty."
After Li Shimin knew that Liu Heitai would not surrender, he lost the idea of continuing to persuade Liu Heitai to surrender, and immediately ordered the entire army to gather in Quzhou to give Liu Heitai the final blow.
Changsun Wuji agreed and ordered a messenger to go out and deliver the order. After the messenger left, Changsun Wuji said with emotion: "Liu Heitai is really not willing to give up until the last moment."
At this time, there is no such saying as "Don't cry until you see the coffin, don't give up until you reach the Yellow River", otherwise Changsun Wuji would definitely say this.
"Then just send him to the last moment."
Li Shimin said without emotion.
Since Liu Heitai insisted on seeking death, he could only send Liu Heitai to die.
He will never be polite to those enemies who would rather die than bow their heads.
"marshal……"
At this moment, the guard guarding the door suddenly appeared in the tent and bowed to report.
"General Qin's tribe asks for an audience."
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, "Shubao's people?"
Li Shimin muttered in confusion, "Why did Shu Bao send people to see me? Could it be that there were some changes in the war in Mingshui City?"
In Li Shimin's view, there are Qu Tutong, Luo Shixin, and a group of soldiers from Prince Qi's Mansion in Mingshui City. Outside Mingshui City, there are four brave generals: Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Wu Heitai, and Niu Jinda.
It should be more than enough to hit the enemy, and there won't be any variables.
"Call him in!"
Li Shimin gave orders while thinking about what would happen in Mingshui City.
The guard agreed and left the temporary tent.
The next moment, Qin Qiong's Buqu appeared in the tent, knelt on one knee in front of Li Shimin, and saluted Li Shimin.
After the salute, Qin Qiong's Bu Qu told Li Shimin exactly what happened outside Mingshui City in a deep voice.
Li Shimin didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard that Yuchi Gong ran to compete with Li Yuanji's people for credit.
He understood Yuchi Gong's temperament. Yuchi Gong could do such a thing.
Li Shimin frowned slightly when he heard that Yuchi Gong had taken action against Su Dingfang.
In his opinion, it was a bit embarrassing for Yuchi Gong to take action with the generals of Prince Qi's palace.
No matter how you say it, Yuchi Gong is still a general. Going to fight with the soldiers and generals of Prince Qi's Mansion is not only embarrassing, but also losing his identity.
Li Shimin stared in shock when he heard that Su Dingfang was holding a horse spear and was able to follow Yu Chi on the ground to perform two moves.
In his impression, there were very few people who could fight Yuchi Gong for several rounds on the Ma Shan Road.
It is even more rare that Su Dingfang can deal with Yuchi Gong with a horse sword on the ground, and can also defeat Yuchi Gong twice.
You must know that the horse weapon is a weapon on horseback, and it can only show its full power on horseback. If it is on the ground, no matter how powerful the horse skill is, half of it will be useless.
Su Dingfang could fight Yuchi Gong in two moves on the ground, but he might be able to fight Yuchi Gong for a long time on horseback.
"When did Yuanji have such a powerful person under his command?"
Li Shimin blurted out.
In his impression, only Xie Shufang and Yu Wenbao under Li Yuanji could barely use them.
Uncle Xie can be talented in literature and martial arts, and if he is nurtured and trained, he can stand on his own.
Although Yu Wenbao was incompetent in literature and martial arts, he was not stingy and could help Li Yuanji solve many things that were difficult for Li Yuanji to deal with.
He had never heard of Su Dingfang.
Anyone else would definitely not be able to answer Li Shimin's question, but Qin Qiong's Buqu knew some inside information.
Because he was also present when Li Yuanji took away Su Dingfang and Gao Yaxian by name in Feixiang.
"Back to Your Highness, Su Dingfang was captured by His Highness the King of Qi when he was in Feixiang. He used to be Gao Yaxian's general under Liu Heitai, but now he serves as the brigade commander under His Highness the King of Qi."
"..."
Li Shimin sighed with regret.
Such a person should have been taken under his command, but was cut off by Li Yuanji.
For such a person to be able to turn from darkness to light, at least he has to be appointed as deputy commander of the army or brigade commander, which is a bit stingy.
Li Yuanji is wasting his talent.
If he wasn't worried about Li Yuanji getting angry, he would definitely start poaching people.
"Your Highness, after Su Dingfang and General Yuchi fought for several rounds, His Highness King Qi ordered General Yuchi to stop, but General Yuchi did not listen..."
Qin Qiong's part didn't know what Li Shimin was thinking, so he continued.
When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes suddenly widened and his heart became excited.
Yuchi Gong didn't take Li Yuanji seriously at all.
With Yuchi Gong's arrogant temperament, it was reasonable not to take his subordinates' defeat seriously.
The problem is, Li Yuanji is not easy to mess with now.
If you are angry, you will get angry.
"General Niu and General Wu tried to persuade them from the side, but General Yuchi still ignored them. This move angered His Royal Highness King Qi. His Highness King Qi ordered people to prepare war horses and personally went to compete with General Yuchi..."
"Yuanji is not injured, is he? That idiot Jingde won't take Yuanji's horse again, right?"
Li Shimin asked nervously.
If Yuchi Gong hurt Li Yuanji, he would inevitably have to take the punishment on Yuchi Gong's behalf.
If Yuchi Gong takes away Li Yuanji's horse again and hurts Li Yuanji's face, Li Yuanji will go crazy, and he doesn't know what will happen.
Qin Qiong's Buqu shook his head slightly and said with a complicated expression: "No... Your Highness, Prince Qi..."
What?
Defeated in one fell swoop?
Li Shimin stared at Qin Qiong's song nervously and anxiously.
Changsun Wuji couldn't help but urge: "You should tell me quickly, what's wrong with Yishu?"
Qin Qiong's tribe gritted his teeth and said: "General Yuchi was dismounted in one fell swoop. Three of General Yuchi's ribs were broken. General Yuchi's horse was killed on the spot..."
The reason why Qin Qiong was hesitant to talk about this is because he still can't believe that Li Yuanji, who was easily teased by Yu Chi Gong in the past, can now easily beat Yu Chi Gong until he can't fight back.