Xia Yu, who had been practicing swordsmanship for a day, had just taken a shower and changed into fresh clothes to prepare for dinner, when the Jujiang drum rang in his ears.
Something big happened!
Xia Yu jumped up instantly, threw her chopsticks, and hurried straight to the army.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw that the other people were not slow and were already more than half seated. He glanced at Li Shimin's face, but it was particularly solemn.
As Xia Yu sat down, she already had a guess in her mind.
After a while, the drums of the three generals gathering at Santong finished ringing, and all the civil and military personnel gathered together.
Li Shimin glanced at everyone, with a solemn expression, and slowly said: "Gentlemen, there is good news and bad news."
Everyone was stunned: What a coincidence, they collided together?
Cheng Yaojin shouted: "Your Highness, it's better to hear the good news first."
"The good news is that with the clever calculation of the military strategist, Li Shiji captured Hulao Pass without a single blow last night!" Li Shimin looked relaxed and happy.
"Very good!"
The crowd cheered for a moment. It was a blessing from the Tang Dynasty that these important passes were achieved so effortlessly.
"Military advisor," Cheng Yaojin looked at Xia Yu sourly: "In the future, if you have such unearned achievements, please take care of me, old Cheng."
"Yes, yes, we can't just do hard and tiring work." All the generals agreed.
Obviously, everyone will be extremely jealous of Li Shiji's good fortune. Even if Xia Yu is the main contributor, it is still a big deal for Li Shiji to do some hard work.
After all, we have recovered nearly a hundred cities in ten states, and there is also a world-famous gate like Hulao. How can the reward be less?
Xia Yu was speechless: Although the idea came from me, it was Li Er who did the dispatching of the troops. He glanced at Li Shimin.
Li Ertong was very embarrassed and coughed lightly: "Well, there will always be opportunities to make meritorious deeds. Don't worry, everyone."
Recovering Zhengdong and advancing towards Hulao were of great importance. Of course he wanted to use the most capable candidate. It was not that he was partial to Li Shiji.
When the generals heard this, they smiled happily.
Don't think that since Li Shimin was a British leader, his subordinates would be harmonious.
In fact, civil servants, military generals, and civil and military generals are all fighting openly and secretly. After all, opportunities are always limited.
If you don't fight or grab, unless your strength crushes everyone else, you won't get anything.
It can be said that under Li Er, the only one who can be so aloof is Xia Yu, a weirdo with cheats.
"Your Highness, what about the bad news?" Changsun Wuji, his brother-in-law, was considerate and quickly changed the subject for Li Shimin.
"The bad news is: I just received the secret message that Dou Jiande took the oath in Mingzhou yesterday and went south in a big way." Li Shimin's expression suddenly became solemn.
When everyone heard this, their faces were stunned. This was indeed bad news!
No matter how confident Xia Yu was before, when Xia Jun actually came, the huge oppression was still suffocating.
This is a hundred thousand Yanzhao army, not a hundred thousand mob!
"Your Highness," the veteran general Qu Tutong said anxiously, "Where are Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiong? Can they lead an army to intercept them?"
Li Shimin looked at Qu Tutong with admiration, nodded and said: "The second general heard that the Xia army was dispatched, and led his army to seize Yanjin, the ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River, at night, blocking the Xia army's way."
"Currently, Wang Wan, the forward of the Xia army, leading five thousand cavalry, has arrived outside Yanjin City and is currently confronting the two generals."
After everyone heard this, they were temporarily relieved.
In this case, as long as Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiong can block Dou Jiande for some time, they will have enough time to deal with it.
"Your Highness," Gao Shilian said: "Generals Xu and Meng have limited capabilities and only have 30,000 troops. They may not be able to stop Dou Jiande for a long time. We still need to quickly enter Hulao Pass and prepare for the battle."
Li Shimin nodded: "What my uncle said is absolutely true. Just as it happens, my father sent Dou Gui, the general manager of Yizhou, to lead Ba, and 15,000 soldiers from Shu came to help. They will arrive the day after tomorrow."
"When Dou Gui arrives, the King of Qi will sit in Qingcheng Palace on behalf of Gu and continue to besiege Luoyang. According to the plan, the military advisor and I will lead the Xuanjia soldiers eastward to Hulao to face the Xia army."
"By then, our army will have more than 70,000 people under Luoyang City, almost twice as many as Zheng's army. Even if Wang Shichong counterattacks, he can suppress it."
When Li Yuanji heard this, he became energetic.
He started to raise troops in Taiyuan. Because of his violent temper, arrogance and willfulness, he rarely had the chance to stand alone. Today he finally got the chance.
"Second brother, don't worry and go to Hulao. I'm here in Luoyang."
"That old thief Wang Shichong has no good generals and lacks food and grass. I don't believe that he is so bold that he dares to take the initiative to go out of the city to ask for a fight."
"If he is really dizzy, I will capture him and fix him in Luoyang as soon as possible."
Li Yuanji looked confident.
Li Shimin, however, had a dark look on his face and snorted coldly: "Okay, although you will be in charge on my behalf, you only need to coordinate the generals and communicate with each other. If there is a war, Old General Qu Tu will make the decision."
When Xia Yu heard this, she almost laughed out loud.
Li Shimin's implication was that Li Yuanji only needed to be a mascot, while the one who really held the military power was the veteran general Qu Tutong.
Li Yuanji became anxious when he heard this: "Second brother, why is this so? I can really do it."
"Is it just like Taiyuan?" Li Shimin's face was as heavy as water.
Li Yuanji was speechless for a moment, his face flushed with embarrassment.
Everyone immediately winked and almost laughed out loud.
This is an old thing from back then.
After Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, he led Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to kill Guanzhong and went straight to Chang'an, leaving Li Yuanji to guard his hometown Taiyuan.
As a result, Li Yuanji was extremely arrogant when he succeeded in his ambition and made the poor suddenly rich.
He spent the whole day either drinking and having fun, or hunting and playing, and he did not pay attention to military affairs at all. It can be said that his military equipment was lax and his military morale was slack.
As a result, Liu Wuzhou saw the opportunity and marched southward from Mayi to kill Taiyuan.
But Li Yuanji thought he was brave and invincible, so he didn't take Liu Wuzhou seriously and led his troops into battle rashly.
As a result, Liu Wuzhou's general Song Jingang easily defeated Li Yuanji, a middle school boy.
Poor His Highness the King of Qi, he almost became a mere commander and fled back to Taiyuan in embarrassment.
Then, Song Jingang attacked the city and captured territory all the way, and soon occupied most of Shanxi. However, Li Yuanji, who had lost his courage, could only hide in Taiyuan City and do nothing.
One day, Li Yuanji, seeing that the situation was not going well, took his wife and children with him at night and ran away, causing Taiyuan to fall.
This scandal almost made Li Yuan so angry that he went to heaven.
If he hadn't considered that he was his biological son, Li Yuan could have chopped him into eighteen pieces and brought the nine tribes to be buried with him.
In the end, it was Li Shimin who took action and fought hard to capture Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang.
However, after this battle, His Royal Highness Li Yuanji, the King of Qi, had revealed his true colors in front of the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty. Everyone knew that this guy was a fool with great ambitions and talent, arrogance and no morals, but also a fierce personality.
Therefore, when Li Shimin mentioned old things, Li Yuanji immediately became embarrassed.
To be honest, if it weren't for the Battle of Hulao Pass and the need for Xia Yu's strategic help, it would have been Li Yuanji's turn to stay in Luoyang.
This product is so unreliable!
"Old General Qu Tu," Li Shimin was too lazy to pay attention to his stupid brother. He looked at Qu Tu Tong and said solemnly: "After Gu and the military advisor leave, I will take care of you here in Luoyang City."
Qu Tutong was very excited. This was a sign of trust in him. He quickly said: "Your Highness and the military advisor, please rest assured that I will live up to my trust."
He has been in the army for more than thirty years, fought countless battles, and has extremely rich battlefield experience.
Coupled with the absolute superiority of troops and cavalry, Qu Tutong believed that even if Wang Shichong dared to fight, he would not get a favor.
"Your Highness, Military Advisor," Changsun Wuji couldn't help saying at this time: "The Xia army is huge, and Yan and Zhao have many strong men since ancient times. No matter how elite the Xuanjia soldiers are, they still have few soldiers. You must be careful when you go!"
"Yes, Dou Jiande is a great hero and has countless good ministers and generals under his command. Don't be careless!"
When everyone heard this, they also spoke out one after another.
Again, even though Xia Yu performed like a god, everyone still felt a little guilty in the face of Xia Jun's terrifying military might.
After all, with one against dozens, it sounds mysterious and scary no matter how you sound!
Li Shimin glanced at Xia Yu.
Although he has always been confident, in terms of military strategy, no one in the world can match him.
But facing such a huge disparity in troop strength ratio, although he was not as guilty as others, he was somewhat uneasy and unsure.
Seeing this, Xia Yu felt that this state was not good, so he cheered: "Although Xia's army is numerous, in my opinion, it is defeated in four ways."
"The first defeat: Dou Jiande had a reputation for fighting for his talents and was too generous to his subordinates. Therefore, his subordinates respected him but were not afraid of him. Therefore, Xia's army seemed strong, but in fact it was loose."
"Second defeat: Dou Jiande claims to love talents, but he has no knowledge of people. His subordinates, such as Ling Jing, Liu Heitai, Su Dingfang and other talented people, did not succeed. Instead, they were dominated by villains."
"The third defeat: Dou Jiande loved to listen to flattery and did not defend slander. As a result, the cliques under his command formed a clique and attacked each other. It was like a miasma, like scattered sand."
"The fourth defeat: Dou Jiande appeared to be benevolent, but in reality he was cruel and fatuous. The chief counselor Song Zhengben was killed for admonishing him. The chief general Wang Fubao was extremely successful, but he found an absurd reason for treason and killed him. The good general Gao Shixing was also killed.
He was forced to defect to Luo Yi."
"Based on these past experiences, Xia Jun has actually become estranged from its moral principles for a long time. Everyone is wise to protect themselves, and no one dares to tell the truth."
"So, although Xia Jun looks powerful, he is actually a clay-footed giant who can fall down with just one push!"
"It's ridiculous that Dou Jiande was so stupid that he didn't realize it and dared to come to Hulao to die!"
"So, don't worry, everyone, and wait here for the good news from His Highness and me. It will take at most one month to capture Dou Jiande alive and make the trip to the north!"
When everyone heard it, they all felt it made sense.
Unexpectedly, Xia Jun, who seemed to be strong, was actually so weak inside. For a moment, everyone was refreshed and confident.
Li Shimin also gave a thumbs up secretly, feeling that this talk of four defeats really spoke to his heart! For a moment, he couldn't help but secretly feel proud: Such an awesome military advisor was easily picked up by him, isn't it destiny!?
