Although Li Yuanji was incompetent, he still had a few people under his command who could see the situation clearly and knew the priorities. Under the strong advice of Li Keyong, Xin Yunjing, Li Sizhao and other generals, the Tang army and the Turkic army quickly broke out and attacked Jingxing. , only Zhu Yuanzhang's army was left to set up defenses along the Zhang River to intercept Yue Fei's troops.
Li Yuanji left Zhu Yuanzhang 15 days' worth of food and grass, but the food and grass was managed by his confidant Xue Bao. Before leaving, Li Yuanji secretly ordered Xue Bao that if Zhu Yuanzhang dared to seize food, grass and baggage or withdraw his troops without authorization, he should not hesitate. Burn all the food and grass immediately.
Xue Bao was Li Yuanji's loyal confidant. Historically, he presented a talisman to Li Yuanji and said, "The two characters of the king's Yuan Ji combined are the characters of Tang." He encouraged Li Yuanji to kill his two elder brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin at the same time. When the emperor heard Li Yuanji's order, he immediately nodded fiercely.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew this very well, and his view of the future of the three coalition forces was even more bleak. When the soldiers under his command heard about this incident, they were even more indignant. They cursed Li Yuanji for shamelessly using their Hebei soldiers as cannon fodder. At the same time, they also had feelings for following Zhu Yuanzhang. A little shaken.
"Stand up and don't let down. The Sui army may attack at any time."
Ruan Junming, a general under Zhu Yuanzhang, led a few soldiers to patrol the defense area he was responsible for. He found a few soldiers taking a nap on the ground and immediately stepped forward to scold them.
With the departure of the Tang army and the Turkic army, the offensive and defensive situation on both sides of the Zhang River suddenly reversed. The remaining Zhu Yuanzhang army had fully turned to the defensive, relying on the camp to confront the Sui army. In order to strengthen defense, middle-level generals like Ruan Junming would come out for patrols from time to time.
"General Ruan, Brother Ruan!"
Just when Ruan Junming was scolding a few lazy soldiers, there was a burst of shouting. Ruan Junming looked up and saw that it was his colleague Dong Kangmai.
"Brother Dong."
Ruan Junming, like Dong Kangmai, was a general who had already rebelled during the Dou Jiande era. He had a good personal relationship with him. He immediately raised his hand and said in greeting: "Why are you here?"
Dong Kangmai first looked at the trembling soldiers who were being scolded by Ruan Junming, and said calmly: "Brother Ruan, for my sake, just let them go. Brothers, it's not easy now, Xue Bao That man pinched our grain very hard and passed it off as good quality. The brothers will inevitably become lazy if they don't have enough to eat."
Ruan Junming glanced at the soldiers, waved his hand and said: "For the sake of General Dong's intercession for you, I will spare you this time. If I catch you again in the future, I will definitely not forgive you lightly!"
The soldiers thanked him profusely and left quickly.
"Brother Dong, what is going on?"
Of course Ruan Junming knew that Dong Kangmai could not come here for a few soldiers. When he saw a few soldiers walking away, he turned to look at Dong Kangmai and asked.
"There is indeed something I want to discuss with Brother Ruan. Come on, go to my place!"
Dong Kangmai nodded and pointed to his tent. Ruan Junming understood, and the two of them walked towards the tent Dong Kang bought one after another.
Ruan Junming walked into the tent and found that there were already several people sitting around, and several people were familiar to Ruan Junming, including Liu Ya, Cao Zhan, and Wang Xiaohu, all of whom were Dou Jiande's old subordinates.
"Everyone is here!"
After Dong Kangmai took Ruan Junming to sit down, he walked back to his seat and sat down. He turned to say something behind the curtain.
As soon as he finished speaking, a scholar in Confucian robes slowly walked out. The expressions of Ruan Junming, Liu Ya and others suddenly changed, because they all knew this man. He was Zhu Yuanzhang's counselor before, and he later went to Youzhou to defect to the Sui army and was deceived. Temujin succeeded in whatever he wanted.
"Why are you here, sir?"
Ruan Junming was the first to ask: "I heard that my husband has now taken refuge with Emperor Yang Gao of the Sui Dynasty. Could it be that the man who treated me badly over there wants to return to the lord's service?"
Suihe heard the sarcasm in Ruan Junming's words, but he didn't care and said calmly: "Your Majesty has been as kind as a mountain to me. Suihe deeply feels the emperor's kindness and has no intention of treason. I came here today to save you all. The general’s life.”
Liu Ya on the side snorted coldly: "Since Mr. Yang has identified Yang Gao as the master, we are enemies with him. How could you be so kind and come to save our lives? Why do we need Mr. to save our lives?"
Sui He smiled faintly and said: "You generals understand the current situation very well. Your majesty's surprise troops have already cut off your way back. Then Li Yuanji, a common man, took your palace behind and held your food, grass and baggage. We are fighting together. Generals What do you think you have a chance of winning?"
"Eating the king is the only way to be loyal to the king."
Liu Ya cupped her fists and cupped her hands and said, "We are all under King Ming, so naturally we will fight to the death for King Ming!"
"General Liu is wrong!"
Suihe said in a deep voice: "When did Zhu Yuanzhang become your master? Generals, you must forget that your benefactor is Master Dou Jiande. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, without Master Dou, how could he be where he is today?"
Several people fell silent when they heard this. Dong Kangmai over there had obviously followed He and stood on the same line, and immediately said: "Mr. Sui said, there is only one lord that I, Dong Kangmai, recognizes, and that is Brother Dou. Now that Brother Dou has surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, I should naturally follow Brother Dou."
After a pause, Dong Kangmai continued: "Brothers, do you still remember Princess Hongxian? She has now become the concubine of His Majesty the Emperor, and Brother Dou is the head of the country. With their relationship, we old brothers can still Are you afraid that you won’t have a good life? I’ve had enough of living here hungry and full, and having to bear the wrath of that common man Li Yuanji and the Turks!”
"Yes!"
Cao Zhan spoke up and said: "We are all from Hebei. These damn Turks have committed so many crimes since they came to Hebei. If we still help them to commit evil, how can we have the face to meet our ancestors in the future?" ?”
"Brother Cao is right!"
Several more voices came out to help. On the one hand, they hated the Turks for burning, killing and looting in Hebei. On the other hand, they knew that according to the current situation, it would be difficult for them to survive if they resisted to the end. Before, they were afraid that they would surrender to the Sui Dynasty. The imperial court was going to settle accounts after the fall, but now they discovered that their old master Dou Jiande had become the head of state of the Sui Dynasty. With this big brother here, what did they have to fear?
"Brother Ruan, Brother Liu, what do you say?"
Dong Kangmai laughed and asked Ruan Junming and Liu Ya who had not expressed their opinions yet.
Ruan Junming and Liu Ya's expressions changed several times over there. They gritted their teeth and said with heartfelt thoughts: "What you brothers are saying makes sense. Mr. Sui, tell me what you need us to do!"
