At the foot of Yanjin City, tens of thousands of Xia troops were waiting in formation, with high morale and murderous intent. Looking from a distance, it looked like the military was in full bloom.
Before the battle formation, there was a gorgeous yellow umbrella. Under the umbrella, on a dragon chair, a big man sat.
This man was tall and majestic, with a majestic beard. He was none other than Dou Jiande, who came from a rough background, but within a few years he dominated Hebei and became the leader of a country.
Behind him were a group of civil and military officials from the Xia Kingdom.
Wu You: Zhang Qingte, Han Hong, Fan Yuan, Dong Kangmai, Wang Wan, Yin Qiu, Shi Zan, etc.
In addition, Guo Shiheng, the general who came to the rescue from the Zheng army, was also among them.
The authors include: Qi Shanxing, Ling Jing, Kong Deshao, Liu Bin, Zhang Xuansu, Wei Zheng, etc.
It seems that there are strong soldiers and horses, and there are many talents.
However, those who are familiar with history can see the problems at a glance.
Wen Chen, Qi Shanxing, Ling Jing, etc. were all extremely resourceful people, and Wei Zheng was even more famous as a wise prime minister in history.
Therefore, the civil servants of the Xia Kingdom were not weaker than those of the Tang Dynasty.
The problem lies with the generals.
Zhang Qingte, Han Hong, Fan Yuan, etc., none of them can fight. Although they cannot be said to be losers, their abilities are indeed mediocre.
There are actually only four truly powerful generals in the Xia Army.
First of all, Liu Heitai, how awesome is this person?
After Dou Jian's death, Liu Heitai launched an army to seek revenge and proclaimed himself the Eastern King of the Han Dynasty. He successively defeated Li Shentong, Luo Yi, and even Li Shiji.
Even Li Daoxuan, the most powerful general in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, died in battle, and Luo Shixin, the super fierce general, died in battle one after another!
From this we can see how ferocious and good at fighting Liu Heitai was.
In the end, it was Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng, the two most outstanding commanders of the Tang Dynasty royal family, who went to war and finally solved the difficult Liu Heitai.
Followed by Su Dingfang.
Needless to say, this guy is a great general. He was a famous general throughout the ages, a master of destroying countries, and was regarded as one of the seventy-two famous generals in the Martial Temple after his death.
First destroy the Eastern Turks, destroy the Western Turks alone, and then fight to destroy Baekje.
Such glorious country-destroying martial arts are rare in ancient and modern times.
In addition to these two super famous generals, Xia Army generals Cao Dan and Gao Yaxian are also quite powerful, at least comparable to Yin Kaishan, Duan Zhixuan, Wang Junkuo and other good generals.
But it is a pity that Liu Heitai, Su Dingfang, Cao Dan, and Gao Yaxian did not accompany the expedition this time.
These four generals all stayed in Mingzhou, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, to prevent Luo Yi, who occupied Youyan, from taking advantage of his expedition to attack his old nest.
The direct consequence of this is that the Xia army in the southern expedition seemed to have a great military appearance, but in fact there was no good general.
Therefore, under Hulao Pass, when Li Shimin launched a surprise attack and captured the Chinese army, poor Dou Jiande was alone. No one under his command could turn the tide, and he was ultimately defeated!
Dou Jiande's arrangement can be described as a mysterious operation!
Perhaps, he was too worried about Mingzhou's safety and too confident in his own strength, so he kept Liu Heitai and other four generals.
Or maybe Dou Jiande simply didn't understand people well and couldn't see clearly the true strength of the generals. He cleverly took away the mediocre ones but kept the truly outstanding ones.
After thousands of years, the real answer has been unknown.
It can only be said that Li Shimin was very lucky and was truly the chosen one. Otherwise, if Liu Heitai, Su Dingfang and the other four would come in half, Li Shimin would not be able to steal the chicken easily.
But there are no ifs in history, and Dou Jiande's end is already doomed.
However, Dou Jiande is now very satisfied.
Because the two grass-headed kings Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiigong were besieged by him for several days, they were already hungry and their horses were thin, so they surrendered obediently.
In any case, Xu and Meng were also famous rebels in the late Sui Dynasty, but they were defeated by him in ten days, and they naturally felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Now, he is waiting for Xu and Meng to lead their troops to surrender.
After a moment, smoke and dust rose up in front, and footsteps rumbled, indicating that a large army was approaching. When Dou Jiande raised his head, he saw the flags of the two generals.
"Your Majesty." Behind Dou Jiande, Ling Jing, who was offering wine from the Imperial College, took two steps forward.
Since the death of the super counselor Song Zhengben, Ling Jing has become Dou Jiande's chief counselor, and his status is as high as that of Guo Jia.
"Ai Qing, is there something wrong?" Dou Jiande turned around with a happy face.
"Your Majesty," Ling Jing said with a worried look on his face, "Xu and Meng are cunning, cunning, and capricious people. This surrender may not be sincere, but forced."
"So I think that these two people are useless and can be eliminated after gathering their troops!"
As soon as Ling Jing's words came out, everyone was stunned.
"No!" Zuo Pu shot Qi Shanxing and immediately objected: "Your Majesty has a reputation as a virtuous man. If you kill him now, your benevolence will be damaged. Who will dare to surrender to me in Daxia again in the future?"
"What Master Pushe said is true." Zhongshu Ling, Kong Desao, a descendant of Confucius, also said: "Don't let the world laugh at your Majesty for being incapable of tolerating others. Moreover, when a gentleman lives in the world, integrity should be the most important thing!"
However, Wei Zheng stood up and supported Ling Jing: "I think what Ling Jijiu said is reasonable. Xu and Meng are repeated scoundrels towards Qin Muchu. They must not be used. If they are not eliminated, they will be troublesome in the future!"
For a time, all the civil servants started to quarrel and refused to give in.
Speaking of which, it is common practice for Xia State's civil servants to be disunified. Whatever you agree with, I will oppose. Anyway, I cannot let His Majesty listen to you alone.
Seeing that the civil servants were arguing again, all the generals looked at each other.
They are not good at this kind of brainstorming and reasoning work, so they all remain silent to avoid getting burned.
Dou Jiande was annoyed by the quarrel among the civil servants. He waved his hands and said: "Okay, stop arguing. What a shame! I have my own idea."
He thought for a while and said: "The only thing I rely on for my rise is benevolence and trustworthiness. Since Xu and Meng have surrendered, I cannot go back on my promise, otherwise, the world will laugh at me and think that I cannot tolerate others."
"However, I know the moral character of these two men, so you don't have to worry. When the two armies meet later, you must not be rude."
"promise."
Seeing that Dou Jiande had made the final decision, the civil servants all rested. Although Ling Jing was unwilling to give in, he did not dare to give any more advice.
He always remembered Song Zhengben's lessons learned from the past.
However, an inexplicable worry still lingered in his heart, lingering for a long time.
Soon, a quarter of an hour later.
Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiigong led more than 20,000 surrendered troops to the front of the battle. These former Shandong men were now sallow, thin, and weak.
This really echoes the old saying: People are like iron, and food is like steel. If you don’t eat one meal, you will be hungry.
As soon as they saw Dou Jiande coming to greet him in person, Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiigong also hurriedly dismounted their horses, walked forward quickly from a distance, and bowed to the ground.
"I am guilty of resisting the power of God and deserve to die. Fortunately, Your Majesty does not give up and is willing to accept me. I am so grateful that I shed tears of gratitude."
Seeing Xu Yuanlang and Meng Hairen choked up and looking very remorseful, Dou Jiande felt happy and felt that these two people seemed to be sincere. Repeatedly in the past, most of them were in the world and couldn't help themselves.
"Two generals, please get up." Dou Jiande hurriedly stepped forward, helped the two of them up, and said boldly: "From now on, we are a family. There is no need to mention the past."
"Now I confer the titles of Generals Dragon and Tiger on the two generals. From the second rank, I still lead the old army. I wonder if that's okay?"
When Dou Jiande was in a good mood, he did not treat them badly.
According to the summer calendar, this official position is not low, it is the same as Zhang Qingte, Cao Dan, Gao Yaxian, etc., second only to the hussar general Liu Heita.
What's more important is that the two men are still allowed to lead the old department without splitting up, which is extremely generous.
When Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiong heard this, they were really overjoyed.
The two of them were originally worried, fearing that their subordinates would be split up and swallowed up by Dou Jiande. In this case, they would become mere commanders, and their life and death would be in the hands of others.
Now, I am very determined, and I feel that Dou Jiande is worthy of his reputation as a benevolent person, and he is so magnanimous.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness. I am so grateful that I can't help but shed tears." Generals Xu and Meng hurriedly knelt down again and thanked him again and again.
Behind Dou Jiande, Ling Jing and Wei Zheng turned green.
They originally looked down upon Xu and Meng, but they never expected that Dou Jiande not only refused to kill them, but actually let them take charge of his old army.
This is really just raising a tiger to cause trouble for a little fame!
Ling Jing and Wei Zheng wanted to remonstrate, but Dou Jiande always had a good face. How could he go back on his word now that he had spoken out in full view of the public?
If they forcefully remonstrate, they will only anger Dou Jiande.
Thinking about the lessons learned from Song Zhengben and Wang Fuwei, even a stubborn person like Wei Zheng sighed in his heart and gave up.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, for gaining two more good generals."
Qi Shanxing said with a smile at this time, the Prime Minister was good at internal affairs and weak at military affairs, but he did not see the possible harm.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Seeing that Qi Shanxing had taken the lead, all the civil and military officials also applauded.
As for who really agrees and who is opposed in his heart, it is difficult to say.
Dou Jiande was so happy that he felt like he had the aura of a king. Any hero who saw him would have no choice but to bow down and bow to him.
He helped Generals Xu and Meng up and said happily: "Okay, you two generals don't need to be polite. Qingte."
"His Majesty."
Zhang Qingte, the general of the rear army, quickly came out.
"You arrange for the two generals to camp, provide grain, grass, wine and meat, so that the soldiers can eat well. Then take the two generals into the city. Today I will reward the three armies."
"No." Zhang Qingte agreed.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
…
Upon hearing that the three armies were being rewarded, tens of thousands of Xia soldiers were overjoyed, and they raised their arms and shouted wildly. The sound shook the sky and made the heaven and earth change color.
