As the war in Hebei gradually ended, the southern battle came to an end. The two Tang armies, led by King Li Shimin of Qin, attacked left and right, defeated the 200,000 army led by Xiao Xian in the battle of Nanjun. Xiao Xian fled east in panic, and the Xiliang Kingdom, which claimed to have an army of 400,000, collapsed overnight.

The Tang army was unstoppable and successively occupied more than a dozen counties in Jingxiang, including Yiling, Nanjun, Handong, Anlu, Jingling, Baling, Changsha, etc. Xiao Xian retreated to Yuzhang County. At this time, the army around him was less than 3,000, but the 300 warships led by the navy general Lai Huer, and nearly 50,000 naval troops did not collapse, becoming Xiao Xian's last hope.

Although Xiao Xian should be wiped out in one go, at this time, Li Shimin received the news that the war in Hebei was over. He resolutely ordered the cessation of the attack eastward, leaving only Li Xiaogong to lead 30,000 Bashu troops and 80,000 elite troops to guard Jingxiang. The remaining 200,000 troops were gathered in Xiangyang and ready to return to Guanzhong.

In Anlu County, an army of tens of thousands of people was heading west along the official road. In the team, Li Xiaogong asked Li Shimin with some concern, "Is it a bit unwise to not wipe out Xiao Xian?"

Li Shimin smiled slightly, "What is the reason for Xiao Xian's miserable defeat?"

Li Xiaogong thought for a while and said, "Two days ago, I talked about this with the surrendered Jiangzhou General Gai Yanju. Gai Yanju said that there are two factions in Xiliang, one is the South China Association faction and the other is the military general faction. The two factions attack each other and fight for power and profit. The struggle is fierce. Xiao Xian is biased towards the South China Association faction and constantly weakens the military power of the military general faction, which leads to general dissatisfaction. Last year, the Grand Marshal Dong Jingzhen was killed in rebellion, and hundreds of people were killed together, causing the morale of the army to be disintegrated. I think this is the root cause of Xiao Xian's failure."

Li Shimin smiled and agreed with Li Xiaogong's judgment, "Xiao Xian is gentle on the outside and harsh on the inside, and has a strong suspicion. In addition, he is narrow-minded and unable to tolerate others. Even Wang Mo, who followed him to found the Nanhua Society, was finally forced to death by him. What big things can such people who can only share hardships but not wealth? So I don't take him to heart. Just use a little trick to divide him inside, and sooner or later they will be destroyed by Lin Shihong."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin smiled bitterly, "Anotherwise, although Xiao Xian is extremely suspicious, he is also extraordinary. Otherwise, he would not have been able to restore the Xiaoliang Kingdom in a short period of time. Logically, I should have wiped out all of him to eliminate future troubles. However, the end of the Hebei war, Yang Yuanqing would definitely lead his army back to Hedong, and Guanzhong lacks troops. I must return to the army as soon as possible, and the matter of Jingxiang will be left to you."

Li Xiaogong nodded silently. His top priority was not to continue to wipe out Xiao Xian, but to consolidate the Tang army's occupation of Jingxiang.

At this time, a soldier pointed to the distance and said, "Your Highness, Jingshan County has arrived!"

Li Shimin stared at a dark county town in the distance and ordered his personal guards to come: "Bring Li Jing up!"

After a while, several soldiers brought a captured official of the Western Liang Dynasty, who was Yang Yuanqing's uncle. Li Jing, the young minister of the Honglu Temple of the Western Liang Dynasty. After the Nanjun City was broken, he escaped from the city and was about to go to Jiangxia County to find his eldest son, but was captured by the Tang army scout on the way.

Li Shimin was very interested in Li Jing. This was Yang Yuanqing's uncle. He wanted to bring this person back to Chang'an. Although Li Jing was captured, he was still treated with courtesy, dressed neatly and had good food and accommodation. He stepped forward to bow. "See Your Highness, King of Qin!"

Li Shimin pointed at Jingshan County with a horse whip and said with a smile: "This is Li Shaoqing's hometown!"

Li Jing lowered his head and showed a nervous look on his face. If he was going back to Xiangyang, it would definitely be a long way to go to Jingshan County. But the King of Qin actually walked from here, obviously with his purpose. Li Jing had already vaguely guessed what the King of Qin's purpose was, and he began to feel uneasy.

Seeing that Li Jing refused to answer, Li Shimin refused to force him and ordered his personal soldiers to say, "Come to me quickly."

After a moment, the magistrate of Jingshan County and several other county magistrates rushed over and bowed in front of Li Shimin's war horse, "I am not in charge of Jingshan County Magistrate Fan Zhongli to meet His Highness the King of Qin!"

"Mr. Fan is exempted from gifts!"

Li Shimin asked in a gentle tone: "Does the Tang army soldiers have poor military discipline and violate the people?"

The Tang army stationed a battalion of 300 soldiers in Jingshan County. Although these soldiers were rude and were scattered, they would sometimes drink and not pay for money, but there had not been any serious cases of committing crimes. Fan Zhongli was still a little worried that a major case would definitely occur over time.

He said respectfully: "No vicious cases have occurred yet!"

Li Shimin's face changed, and he whipped the commander of Anlu County Yao Shun with a backhand, scolding: "How did I tell you? Jingshan County is extraordinary. We must strictly enforce military discipline. The lieutenant is not strict in governing the army. He beat me a hundred sticks and immediately replace me."

The commander Yao Shun was so scared that he was sweating profusely. He hurriedly ran to transfer troops to replace the people. County Magistrate Fan Zhongli was grateful and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for caring for the local people!"

Li Shimin smiled faintly and asked him again, "Where is the tomb of the Queen Mother of Chu? I want to go and see it."

Li Jing's face turned pale immediately. The King of Qin came to Jingshan County for Yang Yuanqing's mother's tomb. County Magistrate Fan Zhongli was also a little uneasy. He was afraid that the King of Qin would destroy the tomb and that he would not be able to explain to the Sui Dynasty in the future.

But he did not dare not refuse to agree, so he had to take Li Shimin and his party to the Queen Mother Mausoleum of Chu several miles away. From a distance, he saw a magnificent cemetery covering an area of ​​100 acres, surrounded by high walls, dense forests in the mausoleum, and a twelve statues of civil and military personnel, as well as stone statues such as war horses and camels. Just above is a hemispherical white jade dome.

The entire tomb was built in the specifications of the Empress Dowager. At this time, the tomb had been closed. Xiao Xian originally sent the soldiers stationed here to escape. The entire tomb was deserted and there was only one old man watching the tomb.

Li Shimin stared at the tomb for a while and immediately ordered: "Open the door!"

At this time, Li Jing could no longer help and stepped forward and bowed to ask, "Your Highness, I heard that those who keep virtue will not disturb our ancestors. Although the Sui and Tang Dynasties were enemies, they had nothing to do with our ancestors. Please let go of the tomb!"

Li Shimin looked at him strangely, for a while, shook his head and said, "It turns out that Li Shaoqing thought I was here to destroy the tomb and destroy the tomb. Who do you think of me, Li Shimin?"

He snorted heavily, ignored Li Jing and walked into the cemetery with big strides. Li Jing was stunned for a moment. Did he misunderstand?

Li Shimin walked up to the tomb platform and came to the tomb. On the front was a five-foot-high tombstone with a few big words: "Tomb of the Dead Mother Li's family."

There is a line of small characters below, "Son Yang Yuanqing is located on the ninth day of the 10th month of the fourth year of Renshou."

Li Shimin looked at him for a while, turned around and ordered his personal soldiers: "Prepare sacrifices!"

More than a dozen personal soldiers placed the offerings that had been prepared. Li Shimin took three incense sticks and bowed respectfully to perform three tributes. Li Xiaogong also gave three tributes. Li Shimin then said to Li Jing: "Although Yang Yuanqing is my enemy, it was not before. I came to worship his deceased mother for the love of old friends, but this does not mean anything. In the future, I will be alive and death on the battlefield."

Li Shimin also ordered County Magistrate Fan, "In the future, half of the annual taxes in Jingshan County will be used to maintain the tombs, and Jingshan County should take good care of the tombs."

"I am honest and remember your highness's words!"

Li Shimin glanced at his entourage again, "Can General Yao be there?"

The commander Yao Shun hurriedly walked out from behind, "The last one is here!"

Li Shimin ordered him: "You can send another team of soldiers to garrison the tomb. Without the consent of County Magistrate Fan, no one is allowed to enter without permission."

"I will obey the order!"

Li Shimin made arrangements one by one. Seeing that it was getting late, he smiled at Li Xiaogong, "That's it! My second brother stayed to guard Jingxiang and defended Xiao Xian and Lin Shihong, and I will go back to Chang'an."

Lee Hyo-gong patted his shoulder, "Take care all the way!"

Li Shimin turned over his horse, urging the horse to fight, and led thousands of people to run northwest.

.........

Yuzhang County was originally Lin Shihong's territory. In a fierce battle more than a month ago, Xiao Xian's army won a great victory and wiped out tens of thousands of enemies. Lin Shihong led the remnants of the army to retreat east to Poyang County.

But the joy in Xiao Xian's heart had not yet faded. The 200,000 Tang troops divided into two groups and attacked Jingxiang like lightning. One day and a hundred miles, and a few days later, they surrounded Jiangling City. Xiao Xian led his army to fight in a hurry, but was waiting for the Tang army. He defeated his 200,000 troops in one battle under Jiangling City.

Xiao Xian led three thousand remaining troops to flee east to Yuzhang City, and was shocked just now.

Nearly half a month has passed since Jiangling's defeat, and Xiao Xian has gradually recovered from extreme depression. He began to consider his future.

Although his defeat almost wiped out his foundation, he still had some remaining strength. The 50,000 naval troops led by Lai Hu'er did not participate in the war, thus surviving. At this time, more than a thousand large ships were parked on the Gan River. In addition, he also collected nearly 20,000 soldiers from the South China Association. In this way, he still had 70,000 troops, and the fertile land on both sides of the Gan River and the shore of Poyang Lake was enough to support these troops.

What made Xiao Xian even more grateful was that the Tang army did not chase Yuzhang County, which gave him a chance to breathe.

"Your Majesty, I heard that it was because the war in Hebei ended and the Tang army was worried that Guanzhong would be in trouble, so Li Shimin had to withdraw his troops."

The person who spoke was Cen Wenben, the Minister of the Secretariat of Xiao Xian. He was only twenty-four years old this year, young and promising, and was in charge of the secrets of the Western Liang Dynasty. He was deeply trusted by Xiao Xian. It was his repeated encouragement that Xiao Xian slowly emerged from the shadow of failure.

Xiao Xian is only 36 years old this year. His face is still firm and mature, but his hair is already gray, and he has a little bit of a childish look. Xiao Xian stood in front of the window, staring at the Gan River in the distance and the thousands of masts on the Gan River, with a lot of thoughts in his heart.

He sighed, "I was resentful of the Sui Dynasty for not supporting me, but now it seems that the Tang army seized the opportunity of the Sui army to attack Hebei, and only blamed me for being too weak and being defeated by Li Shimin in the battle. If I could hold on for another half a month, the situation might be different."

"His Majesty....."

As soon as Cen Wenben spoke, Xiao Xian waved his hand and interrupted him, "From now on, I have decided to submit to the Sui Dynasty, remove the emperor's name, and regard myself as Duke Liang. Don't call me Your Majesty anymore."

"Yes! The humble position means that the lord can develop eastward, destroy Lin Shihong, gather his army, and make a comeback. In order to ensure the supply of military rations, he can first take Yichun County and Luling County, and the army will move south from the Ganjiang River, with an unstoppable momentum."

Xiao Xian walked a few steps behind his back and said to Cen Wenben: "The most urgent task now is to get political support from the Sui Dynasty. I would like to ask Mr. to go to Taiyuan and have a good talk with Yang Yuanqing."

............{Piaotianwen Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!