Less than half a day later, I saw a looming city surrounded by hills ahead.
Seeing that Li Shimin had not yet passed the Wutong Mountain mentioned before, he couldn't help but sigh:
"It's really like 'looking at the mountain and running to death'. Chen Zhong once said before that if you pass Wutong Mountain in front of you, you will reach the boundary of Nanguang.
Unexpectedly, we have only been walking for half a day and have not yet passed the mountain. "
Jiang Wei also looked forward, made a rough estimate, turned around and said to His Majesty:
"Your Majesty, don't be anxious. From what I see, we can cross Wutong Mountain in half an hour at most."
At this moment, dust was flying across the official road, and a group of about ten people galloped towards Li Shimin and others.
Li Shimin looked at it carefully, then smiled and said:
"Chen Zhong came all the way to look for you, but he didn't expect that the two of us had already joined forces."
Jiang Wei chuckled, gently pinched the horse's belly, and was about to go forward to greet Chen Zhong.
Li Shimin became interested when he saw Jiang Wei urging his horse, so he also patted his horse to speed up and headed towards Chen Zhong.
Zhang Yan was not in such a good mood. Marching was too boring, and Zhang Yan almost fell asleep while riding the horse.
Not long after, the three of them gathered their horses, and Chen Zhong complained angrily and said angrily:
"General Bo Yue, this is a tough time for the general. In order to find the general first, the general almost ran his horse to death. Who could have imagined that the general missed the general and made this trip in vain!"
Li Shimin and Jiang Wei comforted Chen Zhong while laughing heartily.
Now that they have met, everyone no longer hesitates, and everyone speeds up and heads straight to the walled city ahead.
It was already dusk when we arrived at the Walled City.
As soon as he got off his horse, he saw Zhang Ni, Ma Zhong, Huang Chong and Lai Zhong waiting outside the gate for a long time in the walled city.
When Li Shimin saw people coming to pay their respects, he hurried forward and helped a few people.
"You all have worked hard to quell the rebellion for the imperial court in these high mountains. You have all made great achievements. There is no need to pay such a big courtesy."
Jiang Wei also stepped forward and said:
"Today, I wanted to take a shortcut and contact the surrounding barbarian tribes that had surrendered. Unexpectedly, I encountered a rebel tribe on the way back. Thanks to His Majesty and the people who helped me, it is still unclear whether I would be able to come back alive."
Zhang Yan knew that Jiang Wei was being modest, so she curled her lips and said sarcastically:
"I don't know which general, alone, with a spear and a horse, chasing the poor bandits, forcing the defeated army to fight to the death..."
Jiang Wei couldn't help being speechless after hearing this, smiled awkwardly, and stood behind His Majesty, waiting for His Majesty to speak.
Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh when he saw Jiang Wei was defeated.
After adjusting his mood slightly, he said seriously:
"I came here today mainly to visit the soldiers who are fighting the rebellion, and I want to have a drink with them here to comfort the three armies.
You must first properly place the barbarian prisoners captured today, and then distribute the imperial wine I brought with you to everyone. I have given permission for the officers and men in the army to stay drunk tonight! "
Everyone heard the words and shouted long live.
The soldiers in the stronghold had already taken away all the barbarian prisoners, and then soldiers moved Yujiu into the stronghold.
After everything was settled, Li Shimin set up a big case in the stronghold. After sitting in the case with Jiang Wei and other generals who had countered the rebellion, all the other soldiers had wine.
After everyone was seated, Li Shimin raised his glass and said:
"The stability of our country in Sichuan depends on all the soldiers. I traveled across mountains and rivers from Chengdu just to drink with the soldiers.
Everyone, please raise your glasses. I wish all the soldiers a speedy victory. When Shu is strong and prosperous, I hope all the soldiers will work tirelessly to follow me north to the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty! "
All the soldiers, regardless of their sect, were greatly encouraged, vying to clink glasses with His Majesty from a distance, shouting, "Strengthen Shuchu and launch the Northern Expedition!"
Li Shimin felt very relieved when he saw this.
In fact, ordinary soldiers did not care about the interests of the nobles. They only thought about the prosperity of the country and that they could live in peace and contentment.
Those who truly opposed the Northern Expedition and were even willing to surrender were all powerful local families.
Ordinary soldiers, whose wealth and life were in the hands of aristocratic families, were naturally easily coerced by the nobles, and then became those who surrendered and subjugated their country.
As long as you can clean up the government, strengthen the country to inspire soldiers, and attack the powerful to give hope to the people. Then the Northern Expedition, and then the unification of the world, will be a matter of course.
During the banquet, Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong first toasted to His Majesty individually. Their words were full of expectations for Your Majesty and their hopes for the Northern Expedition.
Li Shimin also responded positively, which made the two of them more aware of His Majesty's talent and strategy, and then became more loyal in their hearts.
Huang Chong and Lai Zhong, the juniors, waited impatiently to toast to His Majesty after Zhang Yi and Ma Zhong had finished talking to His Majesty.
Li Shimin was very relieved to see that the two of them had become more mature and steady after this period of experience, and he praised them greatly.
The two of them were also full of gratitude, each expressed their loyalty, and their words were full of sincerity.
After three rounds of drinking, Li Shimin saw that everyone was in groups, arming arms and loving each other, and realized that the time had come.
So he gave Jiang Wei a wink. Seeing that His Majesty wanted to have a private conversation with him, Jiang Wei made an excuse and walked to his dormitory first.
Li Shimin asked Zhang Yan to accompany him, leaving Chen Zhong at the table to hold a cup with everyone. Use "Urine Escape" to follow Jiang Wei.
When he arrived at the dormitory, Jiang Weiping retired the soldiers on duty and asked them to drink some wine to reward the troops before returning. Seeing that there was no one else around, he entered the room alone.
Li Shimin saw Jiang Wei dismiss his guards and enter the dormitory alone, so he followed Zhang Yan.
"Little sister, please guard outside the door and don't let others get close."
Zhang Yan held the sword in her hand and nodded in agreement.
After entering the room, they saw that Jiang Wei had already lit the candle and was waiting for His Majesty at the door.
"Boyue, there is no need to be formal, please take a seat quickly."
As soon as Li Shimin entered the door, he pulled Jiang Wei to kneel down at the table. Then he said softly:
"After the death of my prime minister, more than two months later, Bo Yue must have heard about several major events in the court."
Jiang Wei nodded in agreement.
Li Shimin continued:
"I originally wanted to appease the court, stabilize Shuzhong, and then implement the new policy.
Once this move is made, it will definitely affect the interests of the nobles, and there will be a bloody storm inside and outside the court.
I am afraid that the Yizhou gentry will desperately oppose the implementation of the New Deal. When the time comes, I will suffer from having few useful soldiers and loyal ministers around me, and the New Deal will inevitably be abandoned halfway.
Now that the court is temporarily stable and the New Deal has not been implemented, it is the best time to cultivate close friends who will die.
A few days ago, I personally set up the Baiqi Division, among which Mingli set up Feiqi and Honglu Guards. In fact, there is still a guard named "Dark Guard" who has never been put on the table.
I moved you to be the governor of Xijiang, and also took charge of sporadic rebellions in various counties. The purpose is to use this convenience to allow you to secretly select people who can join the secret guard.
I came here for a secret meeting today just to personally issue this order to you.
The ultimate goal is to strengthen the army and the country and then go out of Hanzhong and Yong'an to compete with Wei and Wu. "
After Jiang Wei heard this, he couldn't help but feel grateful. He never imagined that His Majesty would trust him so much and would go all the way to see him in person and discuss national affairs.
"How can a general be so virtuous and capable? His Majesty is so proud of him!
Not to mention that he went all out to fulfill His Majesty's entrustment. Even if His Majesty ordered the general to head north to the Central Plains, one person and one horse, the general would not blink an eye.
Your Majesty, please rest assured that the general will be able to complete the tasks entrusted by Your Majesty on time. After that, your majesty has the urge to do so, and the general will not hesitate to do so even if he is heartbroken! "
Jiang Wei has shown his loyalty, and Li Shimin is determined.
“This is a secret between you and me, only God knows and earth knows.
From now on, you should secretly collect young people under the age of the weak from all over Shu, preferably orphans, refugees, and loyal barbarians.
Let me first select and screen here, and keep the smart and capable ones to test their loyalty. If everything goes as expected, you will secretly order them to gather in small groups at the Jinxiu Inn in Chengdu.
When they arrived at the Jinxiu Inn, they asked the elders among them to walk around the streets of Chengdu every day with their tokens, so that they would be recognized by others.
As long as I don't tell you to stop, you can just follow this method and select talents for me until I tell you to stop. "
After saying this, Li Shimin took out a package of tokens that he had prepared and handed them to Jiang Wei.
After handing it to Jiang Wei, Li Shimin added:
"If anyone asks, you just say that you want to send orphans, refugees, etc. to the counties in central Sichuan to replenish the number of households."
Jiang Wei took the token, stood up and said:
"The general will definitely live up to His Majesty's great trust!"
After the secret meeting between the two was over, Li Shimin left Jiang Wei's dormitory and took Zhang Yan back to the banquet.
Jiang Wei waited for His Majesty to leave without stopping for a moment, then went out and returned to the banquet.
On the way, Zhang Yan was curious and asked His Majesty:
"Brother Adou, what's the secret behind such a mysterious tryst between you and Jiang Wei?"
Li Shimin was afraid that Zhang Yan would accidentally spill the beans due to her outspoken nature, so he had to laugh and prevaricate:
"I have admired Jiang Wei for a long time. Today's secret meeting is just for in-depth communication."
Zhang Yan didn't know why, and she muttered softly.
When Li Shimin saw Zhang Yan showing his temper, he coaxed Zhang Yan:
"My dear sister, when did you see that I hid something from you? It's just that today's matter is of great importance. I promise that when the time comes, I will be the first to tell you!"
Seeing His Majesty making her happy, Zhang Yan couldn't help but feel sweet in her heart, and a smile appeared on her lips unconsciously.
Li Shimin stayed in Nanguang County for two days, during which he participated in an operation to suppress bandits.
It was a pity that the bandits, who numbered several hundred in number, surrendered without any resistance as soon as the official troops arrived.
Li Shimin, who once again felt unsatisfied, left Nanguang County angrily and went straight to Zangqi County in the east.
Halfway through the journey, they met a herald team that was about to go to Chengdu to report their victory.
It was learned that the Bamboo King of Yelang State knew that it was difficult for the army to resist, and he could not wait for reinforcements to arrive, so he simply surrendered with his family.
Jufu and others showed kindness and power, and the Bamboo King was convinced and signed a covenant never to rebel.
At this time, Jufu and others were recovering the surrendered barbarians in the territory of Zanggao to stabilize the people's hearts.
When Li Shimin received the news, he couldn't help but feel happy. He turned around and headed straight to Chengdu, hoping to rest in Chengdu before heading north to Wenshan County.
