Early in the morning on August 6th, before dawn, the sound of horse hooves on Tianjie woke up the people of Chang'an from their morning dreams. Immediately afterwards, Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, Li Gang and other important officials in the court went to the gate of the palace city.

Official office.

Soon after Li Yuan led his army to Tongzhou and the Sui army surrounded Chang'an, the small court in Chang'an severed contact with Li Yuan's army. The Sui army blocked the south bank of the Wei River extremely tightly. Li Xiaoji sent many people to Tongzhou to deliver messages, but there was no response.

The situation of Li Yuan's army has always made the entire small court uneasy.

This news about Li Yuan, if it is not clear, it will be a shocking thing.

Xu Luoren, the close general beside Li Yuan, desperately fled back to Chang'an City from Weibei. Li Yuan's main force was trapped by the Sui army in a position north of the Wei River and south of Baiqu, unable to move. Li Yuan ordered Chang'an to seize the opportunity to go north to occupy the Dongwei Bridge (today's Shaanxi Province).

(Baijiazui Village, Geng Town, Gaoling County) ferry to meet the main force of the Tang Army returning south.

Xu Luoren is the younger brother of Xu Shixu, who was the founder of the Jinyang Army and served as a military officer in the Prime Minister's Office. He was also a general who followed Li Yuan from the beginning of the Jinyang Army.

At this time, Xu Luoren, covered in blood and stained with embarrassment, recounted the situation of Li Yuan's army, including the defeat of Luoshui, the martyrdom of Feng Shaoshi and others, and the heavy casualties of the Tang army.

After hearing the news, several ministers who stayed behind looked at each other in disbelief.

Although these days, there have been constant rumors about Li Yuan's defeat, and everyone was half-believing it, and even prepared for bad news, but when the news was told by one of their own people, it still shocked everyone.

Xu Luoren knew how shocking the news was. He lowered his voice and said with a helpless look: "Although the eastward crossing of Luoshui suffered heavy casualties, the Tang Dynasty King had not lost his foundation. Originally, the Tang King planned that the armies should return to Chang'an and defeat the attackers who raided Chang'an first.

The Sui army then established a defense line on the Wei River and tried to revive. Unexpectedly, Dou Kang, who was supposed to join Xuange's army in Jingyang along the Jing River, fled, leaving our army's right wing wide open. Huang Mingzheng detoured back to the west bank of the Jing River,

Completely block the west side of our army.

The King of Tang led his army all the way to Gaoling County, and the Sui army was in hot pursuit. The King of Tang had to camp at the Wei River and choose an opportunity to cross the river. However, the Sui army on the south bank set up defenses on the south bank of the Wei River and attacked our army with the Sui army on the north bank. Our army several times

We tried to cross the river but failed. Seeing that the morale of the three armies was low and the army was about to run out of food, the King of Tang sent dozens of people including me to break out of the encirclement in different directions and rush to Chang'an to ask for reinforcements."

As he spoke, Xu Luoren took out Li Yuan's autographed letter, handed it to Li Xiaoji, and said: "The king of Tang has said that the Duke must send troops to respond."

Everyone was stunned and speechless. Li Yuan's troops were the last main force of the Tang army. If Li Yuan was defeated, Li Tang would be destroyed.

Li Xiaoji took the letter and checked it carefully. It was indeed Li Yuan's letter.

Li Xiaoji put down the letter and circulated it to everyone for review, and he himself asked: "How is the situation of the king and the three armies?"

Xu Luoren said: "The king is doing well, but he is a little tired from running around for days. The army is not in good condition. The three armies have suffered heavy casualties and are exhausted. Coupled with the lack of food, rumors and rumors are rampant throughout the army, causing people to panic.

,turbulent."

Everyone became even more silent after hearing this. No one expected that Li Yuan's condition would be so bad.

Xu Luoren said again: "My lord, gentlemen, please quickly send troops to help King Tang cross the river. The tens of thousands of troops cannot hold out for more than a few days."

At this time, Pei Ji stood up and said: "Even if the king has an order, we must act according to the order without hesitation. The most urgent task is to send troops to Dongwei Bridge to meet the king."

As Li Yuan's closest confidant and an important minister in the court, Pei Ji must set a good example.

Everyone nodded.

At this time, Lee Hyo-ki did not speak.

Pei Ji is a civil servant and does not care about soldiers, so it can be generous to say that he does not need to lead troops anyway. But as the commander-in-chief of the three armies and the general person in charge of the defense of Chang'an City, Li Xiaoji has far more to consider than everyone else.

After much hesitation, Li Xiaoji said: "There are few soldiers in Chang'an, and the situation at Dongwei Bridge is unclear. This battle will not be easy to fight."

Before Li Xiaoji finished speaking, Li Youliang suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Li Xiaoji, and said viciously: "Li Xiaoji, what do you mean? I know you are ambitious. You don't want to save the king, but want to become the king yourself. You want to

If you don’t go, I will go and save the king myself.”

Li Youliang attacked first and took the opportunity to seize the initiative.

Li Xiaoji was also a little confused. Li Youliang pulled his clothes and he didn't know what to say.

At this time, everyone saw a conflict between the two and hurriedly pulled them apart.

Qi Chongchen, a dignified minister of the country, turned out to be like a gangster, pulling and pulling, which was really unbecoming.

At this time, Li Xiaoji also understood the lethality of Li Youliang's words. His authority in Chang'an came entirely from Li Yuan. Li Youliang's accusation of ulterior motives completely shook his foundation.

Therefore, Li Xiaoji said: "Li Youliang, what are you talking nonsense? When did I say that I will not save the king? It's just that our army is small, and the Sui army's cavalry is wandering outside. Once we fail to deal with it, both the king and Chang'an will fall."

A dangerous place."

Li Youliang heard it, but he didn't take it seriously and said: "It sounds grand, who knows what you think."

Li Xiaoji also knew that Li Youliang was a bastard, so he stopped entangled with him and looked at Pei Ji and others. At this time, he found that Pei Ji and others looked at him with a somewhat confused look. He knew that Li Youliang's words just now might have confused everyone.

In his heart, he could only say: "Prime Minister Pei, the rescue of Dongwei Bridge is a matter of life and death. I am going to go to the rescue myself. However, there are too few soldiers in Chang'an, and I don't have many left. After I leave, the affairs of Chang'an will

I’ll leave it to Prime Minister Pei.”

After saying that, he bowed to Pei Ji.

Li Xiaoji knew that the rescue was a foregone conclusion. If there were any more words of evasion, everyone might really think that he deliberately did not save the king of Tang, and the group would be in chaos.

In order to show his determination, Lee Hyo-ki volunteered.

Originally, the most suitable rescue coach was Li Youliang. After all, Li Xiaoji, as the general person in charge of Chang'an, could not leave his post without permission, and Li Youliang was the second in command of the army, so he was the most suitable. Not to mention Li Youliang's run, just considering that Li Youliang was

A bastard was asked to lead a rescue force. Facing the elite Sui army, the consequences were unpredictable, and Li Xiaoji had to go out in person.

Pei Ji saw this and quickly returned the gift.

"Don't worry, Lord Rong, I will do my best."

Although Pei Ji has the highest official position among everyone, the power is actually in the hands of Li Xiaoji. This time, Li Xiaoji's entrustment can be regarded as authorization.

Li Xiaoji added: "Although the Sui army is knocking on Chang'an, all its forces have been transferred to Weibei at this time. If the battle in Weibei is not over, the Sui army may not have time to take care of Chang'an.

My husband is in Chang'an, so we must try our best to stabilize people's hearts and gather the ships at the same time. I predict that there will be a shortage of ships at the king's place. If the East Wei Bridge cannot be used, our army will have to forcefully cross the Wei River."

Pei Ji nodded.
Chapter completed!