Vol 2 Chapter 2485: Plan ahead

Chapter 2485 Plan ahead

Chapter 2481: Plan ahead

 Things in the future will only happen in the future, and if Li Shimin cannot deal with the mess in Chang'an, he may not even have a future.

After much deliberation, Li Shimin finally decided to launch a few captains to take the blame, and pretended to investigate to the end in order to appease the families of those families and common people who died unjustly. But in fact, this was just his way of delaying time. .

The Chang'an riot caused too many casualties and involved too much, and there was no way to deal with the aftermath and satisfy all parties.

Li Shimin couldn't convict the soldiers who participated in the massacre, as well as Li Kui, Li Chunfeng, and Li Si who ordered it?

What's more, the order to "kill the wrongdoer rather than let go" was given by himself.

However, if Li Shimin's attitude is not clear, it is likely to trigger a riot among the people in the city. Now that the Tang army has just been defeated and its strength has been greatly reduced, Chang'an city can no longer withstand the slightest turmoil.

Li Shimin's behavior indeed appeased many people, but it could not fool Yang Biao, the head of the Yang family.

Yang Biao is a veteran in politics. How can you not see that Li Shimin's move is actually doing one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes? So he came directly to the door, questioned and forced Li Shimin, hoping that Li Shimin would give him an explanation for the Yang family.

Li Shimin was full of guilt for the Yang family who had been helping him but was destroyed. He really wanted to solve the Yang family's problems. The most important thing was that he did not want to alienate Yang Jian because of this, so he sent Li Chunfeng to thoroughly investigate the Yang family. There are various doubts in the murder case, but because the time is too short, nothing has been discovered yet.

Li Shimin felt guilty and neither dared nor knew how to face Yang Biao, so he declined on the pretext of feeling unwell.

Yang Biao didn't even see Li Shimin's face, so naturally he didn't want to let it go.

Yang Biao is a man who values ​​his face more than his life, but now that his wife and children died in vain, and all his relatives were killed, he has no love left and is determined to die, so naturally he doesn't care about face.

In order to force Li Shimin to see him, Yang Biao and young Yang Chenxiang not only held up banners outside Tang Gong's mansion to avenge his injustice, but also rolled around, beat drums and cursed, and even prepared to commit suicide.

 The idea of ​​committing suicide frightened Li Shimin. After all, if this old guy really committed suicide in front of his own house, then Yang Jian would have to do the opposite if he didn't do it. So he met Yang Biao and Yang Chenxiang.

After meeting, Yang Biao said directly: "Is Mr. Tang afraid of seeing my grandson?"

Li Shimin felt guilty about the Yang family, so he kept his attitude low when facing Yang Biao's grandfather and grandson. But no matter how he apologized or confirmed, Yang Biao's words left him speechless.

“How is Mr. Tang going to seek justice for my Yang family?” Yang Biao said coldly.

How can I seek justice?

How do you want to seek justice?

 Kill Zhang Shigui?

Zhang Shigui was not dead. Yuhuatian did not kill him, but killed Yang Xiu. The purpose was to put Li Shimin in a dilemma.

If Li Shimin killed Zhang Shigui and avenged the Yang family, Zhang Shigui's tribe would definitely rebel.

Since the Lord will kill Zhang Shigui to seek justice for the Yang family, will he also kill them? After all, they were all involved in the destruction of the Yang family.

 In addition to Zhang Shigui's troops, what would the other three generals think? After all, they also have innocent souls on their hands.

The Lord will seek justice for the Yang family, but won’t he seek justice for other families?

Therefore, even if Li Shimin cares more about the Yang family, it is impossible to take action against Zhang Shigui at this time. After all, Chang'an cannot withstand any turmoil now, so he can only ask Yang Biao to give him some time to find out.

“…Old Taiwei, don’t worry, I, Li Shimin, will seek justice for the Yang family.”

Li Shimin patted his chest and promised, but didn't say anything specifically about what to do.

Li Shimin's perfunctory attitude made Yang Biao extremely desperate. He said with a miserable face: "Okay, okay, I'm blind. I'm bringing it upon myself."

Until this moment, Yang Biao finally saw clearly what kind of person Li Shimin was, and there would be no consequences if he continued to stay. He would only bring humiliation to himself, so he took Chenxiang and prepared to leave Tang Gong's Mansion.

Two grandfather and grandson, one big and one small, relying on each other, with their backs dim, it can be said to be extremely desolate.

 Agarwood, who was pulled by Yang Biao, turned back to look at Li Shimin, and was discovered by Li Shimin.

 After the two people's eyes met, Li Shimin was stunned.

Obviously he is a child under ten years old, at the age of innocence and innocence, but this child's eyes are full of hatred. It is obvious that the experience of his family being broken up has made this child grow up in an instant.

 “Brother Yang Jian, the people of the world are ashamed of you.”

As he spoke, Li Shimin couldn't help but burst into tears.

Yang Jian is one of the few friends he can be close to, and the Yang family has been very helpful to him. But now that the Yang family has been exterminated because of him, he can't even get justice for the Yang family.

When Chen Xiang saw Li Shimin crying, a hint of ridicule appeared on his lips. This hero he once admired was simply extremely ugly in his eyes.

As soon as Yang Biao, Chenxiang, and grandson left, Li Shimin fell to the ground and fainted.

 Li Shimin suffered major blows one after another, and he has not yet completely recovered. Not only did he have to deal with so many messes in Chang'an, but he was also humiliated by Yang Biao and his grandson. His physical and mental conditions have reached the extreme.

 It was an hour later when Li Shimin woke up again.

In just one day, Li Shimin fainted three times, which made Li and Tang generals increasingly worried about his physical condition.

 After sending away the generals who came to visit him, Li Shimin leaned on the bed, enjoying this moment of tranquility that belonged to him alone.

Ji Fa, who was standing guard for Li Shimin, saw this, hesitated for a while and then said: "My lord, if you feel that you are exhausted mentally and physically and are unable to handle these affairs, you can leave the affairs of Chang'an to others."

Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh and said, "Oh, no one can share my worries."

Li Shimin also wanted someone to help him deal with it, but Li Kui was still seriously ill, Li Chunfeng could not take on the big responsibility, and Li Si had no time to spare. No one in Chang'an could take care of his worries.

Ji Fa heard this and said, "Master, why don't you recruit Master Jiang to return to Chang'an? With Master Jiang's talents, he might be able to solve the current dilemma."

Ji Fa was just talking. After all, Li Tang's current predicament could not be solved by manpower, and he didn't think Jiang Shangzhen could do a better job than Li Shimin.

 It can be said without intention, but the listener has intention.

Li Shimin was exhausted mentally and physically at this time and was eager to find someone to share the burden for him, and in his opinion, Jiang Shang was the best and only candidate at the moment.

“Yes, Mr. Jiang is very resourceful. He must have a good plan to help me.”

Li Shimin looked excited, like grabbing a straw after drowning and refusing to let go.

"But now Baling City has been besieged by the Qin Army. Even if I attack, how can Mr. Jiang leave Baling?" Li Shimin looked distressed and regretted in his heart. Why not before the Qin Army besieged the city? Jiang Shang has summoned Chang'an.

After Ji Fa thought for a while, he said: "My lord, Junior Brother Tu Xing Sun is also in Ba Ling City. He has cultivated the earth magic to great perfection. He can escape and walk as if walking on the ground. He may be able to bring Uncle Jiang out of Ba Ling City." Door."

Ji Fa didn't know that Tu Xingsun had rebelled, so he immediately thought that he could use Tu Xingsun's earth skills to bring Jiang Shang out of Baling City.

When Li Shimin heard this, there was a look of surprise in his eyes. He obviously knew how difficult it was to practice the art, and he never expected that there would be someone among the younger generation who could achieve great success.

“Great, with this Tu Xingsun here, we will definitely be able to hide it from the Qin army and send Mr. Jiang out of Ba Ling.”

After finishing speaking, Li Shimin wrote a letter in his own hand, notifying Li Mu via flying pigeon, asking him to let Jiang Shang come to Chang'an to help.

Under the cover of night, dozens of carrier pigeons flew out of Chang'an, but most of them were shot down by Baima Yicong's vulture team, and Li Shimin's handwriting also fell into Wang Jian's hands.

At this time, the three western armies led by Wang Jian completely disagreed with the disgraceful defeat of the Tang Army in Chang'an, and the entire army was filled with the joy of a great victory.

 Thirty thousand against sixty thousand, 25,000 were killed and 20,000 were captured.

If it were other princes, such a record would not be extraordinary. After all, in terms of the combat power of the Qin army, it is not unprecedented for ten thousand to defeat one hundred thousand.

But if it were the Tang army, such a record would be very impressive. After all, the Tang army was famous for its ability to fight, far beyond the comparison of princes such as Yuan Shao and Han Fu.

 But after the great victory, troubles also followed one after another.

In the Battle of Haojing, although the Qin army defeated the Tang army, it also lost one-third of its troops, leaving only a little over 20,000 troops, but 20,000 Tang soldiers were captured.

This group of prisoners must be sent to the rear for guarding.

In addition, the wounded soldiers also had to be transported to the rear for treatment, and some of Wang Jian's troops had to be taken away.

 After some deployment and division of troops, Wang Jian only had 15,000 infantry and cavalry left in his hands. Moreover, they were still tired from the battle and were obviously unable to continue fighting.

So Wang Jian gave up his plan to besiege Chang'an.

First, he had too few troops to surround the huge city of Chang'an.

 Second, he was afraid that the Tang army would come out of the city again. Even if this possibility was slim, after the previous big bet, Wang Jian didn't want to bet again even if he won the bet.

"How was it? Was it successful to convince the captured Tang general?" Wang Jian asked.

Ji Dan and Bismarck both shook their heads.

Seeing this, Wang Jian looked surprised and said, "Is there no one except Ma Shanwei who is willing to surrender?"

You must know that this time the Qin army captured more than 20 generals including Changsun Wuji, Xu Rong, Ma Shanwei, Xin Wenli, Kang Anyu, Kang Junli, Guo Chongtao, Shi Jingsi, and Nangong Shi.

Ji Dan said: "Only Kang Junli and Guo Chongtao were asked to surrender by us, and the other generals were unwilling to surrender."

The look of surprise on Wang Jian's face was even worse. He did not expect that Li Tang's country was about to fall, but these generals were still so loyal.

"It seems to me that these people are just unwilling to betray the name of the Lord, and their families are all in Chang'an. Once Chang'an is conquered, they will naturally surrender," Bismarck said.

Wang Jian nodded in agreement, and then soldiers came to report.

“The report... Li Shimin’s handwriting was found among the intercepted carrier pigeons of the Tang Army.”

 “Hurry, the courier is coming.”

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After Wang Jian took the letter, he scanned it ten lines at a glance. After reading it, he laughed and said: "Li Shimin is already at his wits end, so he placed his hope on Jiang Shangyijie. It shows that he has no solution."

"Captain, Jiang Shang still has some abilities. The two generals Gongsun Yan and Gongsun Xuanyuan were defeated by him before. If he is allowed to return to Chang'an, things may change." Ji Dan added.

Wang Jian thought for a while and then said: "This is reasonable. If so, then Jiang Shang should be prevented from returning to Chang'an."

Having said that, Wang Jian immediately wrote a handwritten letter, conveying the news of the victory at Haojing and the civil strife in Chang'an, as well as Li Shimin's handwriting, to Wu Qi in Ba Ling via flying pigeons, so that Wu Qi could think of a way to prevent Jiang Shang from returning to Chang'an.

"If Wu Qi, the governor, fails to stop Jiang Shang from returning to Chang'an, and he affects the layout of Chang'an, Ban Chao can make plans in advance as appropriate." Wang Jian said.

I have to say that Wang Jian's work was flawless. He didn't even know whether Jiang Shang would return to Chang'an, but he had already made all the preparations. Even if Jiang Shang did come back, it would still be of no avail.

Li Mu received the letter from Fei Ge before Wu Qi, but Li Shimin's letter to him did not mention the news of the defeat of Haojing and the Chang'an riot.

 After all, these two are not news. Once spread, it will definitely affect the morale of the defenders, and Li Shimin is also afraid that Yang Jian will know the news that the Yang family was wiped out by the Tang army.

 So, Li Shimin’s Fei Ge Biography only asked Li Mu to send Jiang Shang to Chang’an as soon as possible.

 After Li Mu read the letter, he went to find Jiang Shang overnight.

Jiang Shangzhi was so close to a demon that he could tell at a glance that something must have happened to Li Shimin, and it was most likely that he had failed to win the battle outside the city. However, he did not expect that such a tragic incident would happen in Chang'an.

 After listening to Jiang Shang’s analysis, Li Mu was immediately shocked.

He led a partial army to fight alone and was not defeated, but he never expected that the lord's main army would be defeated before him. So what's the point of his persistence on Ba Ling's side?

 Li Mu was confused for a while, and Jiang Shang tried to calm him down before Li Mu recovered.

"Tang Gong urgently summoned me to Chang'an. He must be entrusted with important tasks. I have to go to Chang'an." Jiang Shang said.

“But Tu Xingsun’s injury has not healed yet. Can I take you, sir, to escape from the city?” Li Mu asked.

With the joint efforts of Jiang Shang and Yang Jian to conceal it, Li Mu still doesn't know that Tu Xing has actually rebelled against Sun and has been imprisoned by the two.

Jiang Shangze said: "Tu Xingsun's injuries have mostly recovered, so there should be no problem."

 “That’s good.” Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Jiang Shang said this, in fact, he was also beating the drum in his heart. After all, Tu Xingsun had no moral integrity at all. If he really asked him to take him out of the city alone, I'm afraid Tu Xingsun would send him directly to Qin. Military camp.

 (End of this chapter)