In the Xia Army camp, in the imperial tent, Dou Jiande's face was gloomy and very ugly.
Yesterday, Yin Qiu, the imperial general, was shot and wounded by Li Shimin. He was looking furious and was preparing to regain some face today.
But I never expected that more than a thousand people were killed or wounded, and they returned in defeat without even touching the top of Hulao Pass.
You can imagine how ridiculed Qin King Li Shimin would be.
When he thought of this, Dou Jiande became even more angry and almost exploded with anger.
Seeing that the boss was in a bad mood, all the civil and military officials on both sides lowered their eyebrows and said nothing. Wang Wan, who was kneeling in the middle, did not dare to raise his head.
He took the lead in the attack. He originally wanted to make a contribution and get the limelight, but unexpectedly he hit a brick wall.
For a moment, Wang Wan felt regretful. If he had known that the terrain of Hulao was so dangerous, he would not have done this damn job if he was killed.
But it's too late now, God knows how Dou Jiande will punish him.
"Wang Wan!"
Dou Jiande's tone was fierce: "Tell me why you were beaten like this? If you can't explain it, don't blame me for asking you to test the knife!"
Wang Wan was so frightened that he lost his mind and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It's really not the general who has been waiting for his life." After saying that, he explained in detail the dangerous terrain where one man was guarding the cage and no one could escape.
After Dou Jiande listened, although he didn't say a word, his expression softened slightly.
After all, facing a powerful pass like Hulao, Xia Jun was completely unprepared mentally and physically, so it was strange that he could capture it.
"Your Majesty," Qi Shanxing said at this time: "I think that General Wang has tried his best, but our army really underestimated the enemy today."
There was no other way, Wang Wan was his, but he had to save him.
Dou Jiande's ears softened, and his face softened a little after hearing this, and he said calmly: "Since the Prime Minister is interceding, please get up."
"No, thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Wang Wan let out a long sigh and quickly stood up and returned to the team.
Seeing Dou Jiande being treated so loftily and lightly, the civil and military officials were not surprised, and had even become accustomed to it.
In order to show his kindness and generosity, Dou Jiande mostly scolded his subordinates for their mistakes and rarely imposed punishments.
Moreover, his ears are also soft, and he will usually get over it if others say something affectionate.
But there are exceptions.
For example: You must have the attitude of admitting your mistakes and not make the following mistakes.
In the past, Song Zhengben, the first counselor of the Xia Kingdom, did not understand this principle, but when he saw that Dou Jiande had something wrong, he severely reprimanded him.
However, not everyone has Li Shimin's broad-mindedness and good temper. When Dou Jiande couldn't bear it anymore, Song Zhengben died.
Another example: You cannot be involved in rebellion and seek to seize the power of Dou Jiande.
In the past, Wang Fubao, the first general of the Xia Kingdom, was falsely accused of treason because he was not as good as Qi Shanxing, Wang Wan and others.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Dou Jiande killed Wang Fubao without caring about his hard work and merit.
Therefore, Dou Jiande is actually a very contradictory and complex person, with tolerance and coldness, kindness and suspicion, strangely combined.
Dou Jiande glanced around: "I don't think this Hulao is so dangerous. My dear friends, do you have any countermeasures?"
"Your Majesty," General Zhang Qingte said unconvinced: "The general does not believe that Hulao can stop my army of more than 100,000 men. He has given me three days to build weapons and is willing to take over the headquarters and attack Hulao again."
When Dou Jiande heard this, he was very happy and thought Zhang Qingte was very brave.
He was about to agree, but Ling Jing said: "Your Majesty, I believe that formidable enemies are not the best strategy. According to General Wang, Hulao Pass has an obvious location and it is difficult to transport heavy equipment. Even if it takes a lot of effort, it can be transported to the bottom of the city easily.
be destroyed."
"Coupled with the narrowness in front of the pass, our army's strength advantage cannot be used at all. Wang Shichong has run out of food, and I am afraid that our army will not be able to slowly attack the city."
Qi Shanxing was also thinking of an idea when he heard the words and snorted coldly: "What do you mean by Master Yi Ling's opinion?"
Ling Jing ignored Qi Shanxing's cynicism and just said to Dou Jiande: "Your Majesty, why don't our army abandon Hulao, cross the river and go north, break into Hedong via Taihangxing, and make a posture of taking Taiyuan directly."
"Taiyuan is the foundation of Li Tang. Moreover, the Tang army in Hedong will either move south to attack Wang Shichong or north to defend against the Turks. It is very empty inside. It must be very scary to hear this."
Qi Shanxing didn't wait for Ling Jing to finish speaking, then interrupted: "Master Ling wants to surround Wei and rescue Zhao?"
Ling Jing raised his eyebrows and said proudly: "Avoiding the real and striking at the weak is a wonderful art of war. Why not?"
"Absurd!" Qi Shanxing immediately refuted: "Li Shimin is not a mediocre general. How can he not understand such a plan?"
"If he doesn't care about Hedong and only cares about surrounding Luoyang, what will you do?"
"Then occupying Taiyuan and taking all of Hedong will be a great foundation!" Ling Jing did not show any weakness.
"Hahaha!" Qi Shanxing laughed and said disdainfully: "Don't forget, Luoyang has run out of food! If we hear that our army is leaving, they will collapse and surrender in despair."
"No, let's think about it better. Even if Wang Shichong is willing to fight to the death, eating horses, cows, or even humans, how long can he last? One month, or two months?"
"In this short period of time, Hedong is known as a land of mountains and rivers, with many dangers and dangers. No matter how empty it is, we will definitely not be able to occupy much space."
"At that time, our army will be deep in the east of the river. Li Shimin will destroy Wang Shichong with his back foot, and then raise his troops to the north. Our army will have no way forward and backward. Isn't it dangerous?"
Dou Jiande was initially moved after hearing Ling Jing's words, but now he was shaken by Qi Shanxing's words.
"Your Majesty," Qi Shanxing said with a heartbroken look on his face: "Ling Jing's words are totally wrong. You must not listen to his nonsense. Furthermore, Your Majesty sent 100,000 troops south to rescue Zheng. It is known to the whole world that if there is any difficulty, he will take a detour.
If you leave, won't you make the heroes of the world laugh at you?"
Dou Jiande, who always had a good face, nodded frequently when he heard this.
At this time, Qi Shanxing winked at the two of them again.
One is Guo Shiheng, the general of Zheng, and the other is Sun Anshi, the envoy of Zheng. These two are guests, but they are also in the imperial tent.
The two of them looked at each other and immediately understood.
"Your Majesty!" Guo Shiheng and the two fell to their knees.
The eldest grandson Anshi even cried loudly: "Have mercy on me, the people of Luoyang. If you abandon it and leave, I'm afraid all 300,000 people will starve to death."
"Furthermore, His Majesty is so far away from Hebei. What a hero he is. If he is afraid of Li Shimin, a child with a yellow mouth, wouldn't he laugh at him?"
Dou Jiande was stunned: Yes, he is a majestic emperor of the Xia Dynasty, and he must not be laughed at, especially not by Li Shimin.
"Two dear friends, please rise. Please rest assured, I will save Luoyang and never let it go."
Guo Shiheng and eldest grandson Anshi were relieved and secretly rejoiced: Fortunately, they had previously bribed Qi Shanxing and a large number of people with large sums of money to help, otherwise, Zheng Guo would have been in danger!
This damn Ling Jing, and that Wei Zheng, don't accept our gift, just pretend to be noble, but actually ruin our good deeds, wait and see!
Dou Jiande turned to Qi Shanxing again: "Then what should we do if we follow the Prime Minister's wishes?"
When Qi Shanxing heard that he had the upper hand again, he couldn't help but be very proud. However, he had no good solution, so he could only vaguely say: "Your Majesty, our army has strong soldiers and horses, but I don't believe it. Why don't we attack Hulao Pass a few more times?"
Give it a try.”
"Furthermore, we can secretly carry out detailed operations, go deep into the mountains, search for local mountain people, and see if there are any paths that lead directly to the pass or weak points."
Dou Jiande thought for a while, and it seemed that this was all he could do, and then nodded in agreement.
"Your Majesty," Ling Jing became worried when he saw it: "If our army stays under the fortified city for a long time, I am afraid that not only will it not be able to save Wang Shichong, but it will limit itself to a dangerous situation."
"Once Luoyang cannot bear to surrender first and the main force of the Tang army comes to help, it may be too late for our army to retreat if we want to."
At this time, Ling Jing thought that Li Shimin wanted to use the Hulao Fort to block the Xia army, and wait until Wang Shichong couldn't bear it to surrender first, and then fight the Xia army in a decisive battle.
He never expected that Li Shimin and Xia Yu were ambitious enough to deal with Xia Jun first.
"Your Majesty," Wei Zheng couldn't help but support Ling Jing at this time: "Face is of small importance, but the overall situation is more important. Don't lose the big for the small."
Dou Jiande suddenly became unhappy. He felt that Wei Zheng was mocking him for being vain and not having a sense of the overall situation. He immediately said sternly: "That's enough. Don't say more. Just do what the Prime Minister says."
"Qingte, you will be in charge of the siege. Once necessary, all armies can be mobilized."
"General Wang, you are responsible for exploring the mountain roads."
"promise."
Zhang Qingte and Wang Wan quickly agreed that they still wanted to fight again. After all, they were military generals, and they would be afraid of slight setbacks, which would really harm their face.
Ling Jing and Wei Zheng were still waiting for further persuasion, but Dou Jiande had already waved his sleeves, said "dismissal" and returned to the back tent.
When everyone saw this, they dispersed one after another.
Qi Shanxing, surrounded by Kong Desao, Guo Shiheng and others, glanced at Ling Jing and Wei Zheng triumphantly, then Shi Shiran walked out of the tent.
Ling Jing and Wei Zheng looked at each other and sighed helplessly: The current King of Xia is no longer the soldier in the beginning, the King of Xia who accepted advice with an open mind!
"His Majesty."
As soon as Dou Jiande returned to the back tent, he was greeted by a young woman in her twenties, wearing a gorgeous phoenix dress and a phoenix crown on her head.
This example is Queen Cao of the Xia Kingdom. She is beautiful, generous, virtuous and intelligent, and has always been praised by the government and the public.
"It turns out to be the queen, is there anything wrong?" Dou Jiande put on a smile. He also loved and respected his first wife very much.
"Your Majesty, I just listened behind the tent and felt that what Ling Jijiu said was very reasonable."
"We traveled thousands of miles to save Zheng Guo. If we can save him, it's a favor. If we can't save him, we won't owe them anything. But we must not put ourselves in danger."
Empress Cao came from a noble family. Although she was a female, she was also very discerning.
Dou Jiande came from a rough background and had limited knowledge. Empress Cao helped a lot in state affairs. When the two of them encountered problems, they often discussed matters.
Therefore, there is no saying that women cannot participate in politics.
"Queen, there is no need to say anything." Dou Jiande made up his mind: "I raised troops to save Zheng, and everyone in the world knows that if I retreat after a slight setback, I will be laughed at by the world!"
"Furthermore, since Li Tang raised his army, he has conquered everything he has done. If he does not take advantage of the conflict between him and Wang Shichong to severely defeat him, he may never have such a good opportunity again."
In history, the rights and wrongs of many decisions vary from person to person and from time to time, and are not absolute.
From the perspective of modern hindsight, Dou Jiande was wrong.
However, if there had not been Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiong's double-dealing, and if Liu Heitai, Su Dingfang and other generals had been present, the outcome might have been different.
At least, Dou Jiande now thinks he is right.
Seeing this, Queen Cao also felt that what Dou Jiande said was unreasonable, so she could only sigh and say nothing more.
