"Report, report... Northwest Emergency Report, there is news, there is news!"
In the palace, a long chant interrupted the ongoing court meeting, and everyone turned their heads to look outside the Tai Chi Hall.
Lao Gao, the chamberlain, walked out of the palace gate quickly. A dusty border messenger was being helped up the stairs by the palace gate guards.
After asking about the situation, Lao Gao personally helped him and walked into the hall. The soldier who delivered the message could no longer stand and collapsed directly on the ground. His lips were chapped and his voice was hoarse and he could not speak. He just pointed at the mailbox he was carrying.
Lao Gao took it off, checked the fire paint seal, and after confirming that it was correct, he opened it and looked at it quickly, and then bowed and sent it to Li Er: "Your Majesty, the guard of Northwest Yumen Gate is eight hundred miles away. There is news about the Prince Consort."
Li Er exclaimed: "What? Finally there is news about Xiao Rui? Hurry, bring it up. Oh, by the way, send him to Tai Hospital for good care, and give him a banquet and reward. I will give him a reward when he recovers." Ask yourself about the situation.”
The messenger was so moved that he had tears in his eyes. It was the first time he saw the emperor. Such a high-ranking figure actually cared so much for me, a small soldier. He was so excited that he could only kowtow. He was quickly carried to the Tai Hospital on a stretcher. At the same time, someone went to the imperial kitchen to give instructions.
Opening the border emergency report, Li Er read it quickly, three times in a row, and couldn't help but cheer loudly.
Then he frowned and cursed, "Why did this bastard not come back and go to the Western Turks to stir up trouble? Although the Western Turks are now in disarray, everyone is a bad wolf and easy to deal with? What an extraneous matter. Do you think you are very capable?"
All the ministers looked at each other in confusion. His Majesty seemed to be scolding Prince Consort Xiao, but it always felt like he was bragging about his son-in-law. Listening to this meaning, nothing happened to Prince Consort Xiao, but he transferred to the Western Turks, and even participated in the internal strife and coup in the Western Turks?
After scolding people, Li Er passed the letter, "Read it, we are in Chang'an on tenterhooks. Xiao Rui went to Western Turks to eat the popular spicy food, and he has become a guest."
The chamberlain Lao Gao came down with the letter. The first person was Changsun Wuji. Without reading it, he handed the letter to Xiao Yu with a smile: "Let Song Guogong read it first."
Xiao Yu thanked him and started reading quickly. Like the emperor, he read it three times in a row. The expression on his face was even more exciting. After reading it, he couldn't help but cursed: "This bastard, since he escaped from Jieli If you don’t rush into the pass and come back, why are you stranded in the Western Turks? Just for a few war horses? The Tang Dynasty already has no shortage of war horses!"
Everyone became more and more confused. What on earth did Prince Consort Xiao do in the west?
Soon, the letter was sent to the hands of the ministers and the doubts were solved. Looking at the reports one by one, the knowledge of these veterans was refreshed again. How could this be possible? Aren't their group running for their lives? Where is there any remaining energy to interfere in the political situation of Western Turks?
At this time, Fang Xuanling put her hands on her hands and praised: "Wonderful! I remember that news came from Lingwu County not long ago, saying that the Turkic Chen Bing had not been to Lingwu County for a long time, and there seemed to be a big event. Now it seems that Chen Bing and Lingwu border are here to ambush , Prince Consort Xiao came back from Yumen Pass via the Silk Road, and Lingwu was the only way to go."
"Yes, the Turks must have anticipated the return journey of the Prince Consort. But they never expected that the Prince Consort would stay in Western Turks for many days, causing them to wait foolishly for many days. No wonder Lingwu said not long ago that the Turkic barbarians had withdrawn. It must have been After knowing the news, we chased the Western Turks." Du Ruhui agreed.
"No! If this is the case, I'm afraid they won't let the Prince Consort go if they chase them into the Western Turks. If they stay any longer, there will be danger. With the thousands of veterans at Yumen Pass, I'm afraid..."
Before the short-lived joy had time to celebrate, Du Ruhui's bad words once again raised the mood of the emperor and Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu said worriedly: "Is it still too late to send people to provide support?"
Fang Xuanling sent someone to bring the memorial from Lingwu County a few days ago, and sighed: "It's too late, the Turkic ambush has been set out for seven days. If the person commanding the troops and horses was not a fool, he would definitely block Yumen Pass first, and then follow An important person from the Western Turks."
Now what?
Li Er said solemnly: "Even if it is late, we must send people to support. Send the order..."
"Your Majesty, in order to rescue Youzhou, Shanxi sent 50,000 troops and Guanzhong sent 50,000 troops, and jointly captured Dingxiang. Another 50,000 were sent to Luoyang to pick up the horses, for a total of 150,000 troops. The treasury is empty and cannot last for a long time. We have already raised the army. We can't afford a large army to travel long distances to Yumen Pass." As the prime minister, Xiao Yu, it was most appropriate for him to stand up and persuade at this time.
Of course he did the same thing. A qualified prime minister should distinguish between public and private affairs.
Everyone knows that it takes a month to go from Chang'an to Yumen Pass, even if the army marches lightly. So, it was too late to rescue.
Hearing this, Li Er fell silent, his face showing tangle and pain again, Xiao Rui! If you can come back alive, it will be the reincarnation of the champion. Even if you never go to the battlefield again in this life, it will be a deterrent to the surrounding barbarians.
Just when everyone was contemplating and regretting, Du Ruhui stood up and suggested: "Your Majesty, there is no need for a large army to be sent to meet them. As long as they enter Yumen Pass and walk within the Tang Dynasty, they will be much safer. Why not send three thousand Xuanjia? ?”
Xuanjia Army? Xiao Yu's eyes lit up, yes, the Xuanjia Army is all heavily armored cavalry. Although it is difficult to travel with heavy armor, it can be done without wearing heavy armor and the light cavalry can rush on the road. Maybe it will take more than ten days to arrive.
However, the Xuanjia Army had been sent by Emperor Li Er to take care of the fairy food potatoes at this time, and they were transferred away. There were so many potatoes around Xiaojiazhuang, what should I do if something went wrong?
After a long silence, Li Er clenched his fists and said: "Pass the decree, order three thousand Xuanjia troops, all lightly armed and simple, with one person and two horses, to rush to the rescue of Yumen Pass. Find Xiao Rui, and you will see him dead or his corpse!"
Xiao Yu was moved and knelt down on his knees, "Old minister, thank you for your kindness."
As for the land in Xiaojiazhuang? We can only send more manpower to guard and guard. The outside is loose and the inside is tight. The Xuanjia Army is not around. It is ten miles around Xiaojiazhuang and it is not easy for a stranger to enter.
Li Er is rational. The news of Yumen Pass has been suppressed for the time being and has not been passed to the female relatives of Xiaojiazhuang. After all, the Turkic pursuers have also gone. What will happen next is all speculation. No one knows whether Xiao Rui can survive the disaster. So it’s better not to mention it.
At the same time, the attack and defense on Dingxiang City in the north changed. Li Jing and Li Ji combined 100,000 troops to break through Dingxiang City and captured the Turkic prince Ashina Dumin. At this time, Jieli's 100,000 troops attacked the city and Erli defended the city. The confrontation had been going on for many days.
Jieli suffered a lot of damage. After all, the Turks were not good at attacking cities. Fortunately, the Tang army defended Dingxiang. It was an isolated city and could not last long without supplies, so Jieli was still a little patient.
"Li Jing, if you are wise, hand over my son. I promise to let you and others escape Dingxiang City safely. Otherwise, when the city is destroyed, no one of you will be left alive, and all of you will die!"
The energetic old Li Jing has experienced many battles, how could he be frightened?
"Hahahaha, Jieli, thank you for making Dingxiang so prosperous. The food and grass in the city are enough for us to consume for half a year. If you have the ability to break the city, come here. I want to see how many lives you have to fill it in."
You... Jieli was so angry that he knew the other party was bluffing, but he couldn't do it. As soon as Li Jing said this, he, the Khan, didn't believe it, but his soldiers and horses did. This was a stratagem.
