Changsun Wuji was stunned and immediately said anxiously: "Your Highness, Yang Yuanqing is peeping at us from behind. Whether we can withdraw from Hongnong successfully is here. Your Highness will leave the army at this time, which may be detrimental to the morale of the army."

Changsun Wuji was slightly dissatisfied in his tone. During this period, the King of Qin did not discuss many things with them. Yesterday, the army evacuated to Shan County. Unexpectedly, he had just set out dozens of miles and received the news that the King of Qi had arrived at the reinforcements camp. The army hurriedly retreated back to the Changyuan camp.

Early this morning, there was no sign, so the King of Qin ordered to evacuate to Tongguan. Now he actually wanted to lead his army to Tongguan first, which made Changsun Wuji feel a little overwhelmed.

Fang Xuanling next to him understood Li Shimin's thoughts. He wanted to enter Tongguan before Li Yuanji, which was feasible.

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "It's okay, although Yang Yuanqing was peeping behind, he was short of troops. The reinforcements on the Western Front were not here, so he would not risk chasing us. If Your Highness wants to go to Tongguan first, even if he goes, we will command the army and will arrive later."

Only then did Changsun Wuji realize that he felt helpless. He thought that the dispute between the prince and the Qin King would not affect the military operations of the Tang Dynasty, but in fact, the impact was quite huge.

Yang Yuanqing had only 50,000 troops, while Qin King had 80,000 troops, plus 30,000 new troops, and Tang army had 110,000 troops. If they could work together, they could concentrate their forces to defeat Yang Yuanqing, but this kind of internal discord led to the helpless withdrawal of troops in the end.

This depression that was held in my heart made Changsun Wuji helpless and had nodded, "I wish your highness a smooth journey and to enter Tongguan as soon as possible."

Seeing that both of them agreed, Li Shimin said happily: "I'll ask you all the things that come later!"

Li Shimin then took the captain Chi Gong and led five thousand elite cavalry to run towards Tongguan.

......

Just about two hours after Li Shimin's army left the camp in Changyuan County, Yang Yuanqing led a large group of troops to the already vacant Tang army camp.

At this time, this Tang army camp, which covers an area of ​​hundreds of acres, had been occupied by Xie Yingdeng and five thousand Sui cavalry.

When Yang Yuanqing's army arrived at the Tang army camp, Xie Yingdeng had been waiting at the door for a long time. He hurried forward to salute. "I am not good at the position to meet the general manager!"

Yang Yuanqing turned over and dismounted. He took a closer look at the vast camp. Except for the battle flags, there was almost no change in the rest. Even the mail tower still stood on both sides of the camp.

"Have you caught the guards?" Yang Yuanqing asked.

"Report to the general manager, he captured more than 100 soldiers and a Tang army warehouse manager."

Xie Yingdeng waved his hand. "Bring it up!"

Sui army soldiers brought an official forward. He was about forty years old, short and fat, wearing a crimson low-level official robe. He did not look like an official from the outside, but like a shopkeeper in a shop.

He looked frightened and stepped forward and knelt down, "Liar Gong Aimin, Cangcao is engaged. Please forgive me!"

Yang Yuanqing glanced at him and said lightly: "You don't have to be afraid, I won't kill you. Just use the account book to help me clear the warehouse. I will spare you."

Cangcao kowtowed repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Highness. The villain must do his best to help."

Accompanied by everyone, Yang Yuanqing entered the Tang army camp. Half of the tents were left in the camp. The soldiers' tents were covered with messes, and large items that could not be taken away could be seen everywhere. Yang Yuanqing frowned, "Why didn't the Tang army take these tents away?"

The Tang army's warehouse just now bowed and said, "Report to your highness, the main reason is that the Tang army lacks animal strength. The army recruits everywhere, and only recruits more than a thousand ox carts. Together with its own war horses, they can't carry so many supplies. Four thousand military tents only take away 1,800, and even soldiers have to carry armor."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Go to the grain warehouse!"

The group of people turned around and came to the large tents for storing grain. They were located north of Daying and composed of hundreds of tents. This was the Tang army's money and grain warehouse. In the hundreds of tents, he saw that the piles of grain were all packed in sacks and placed neatly.

Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed. As expected, as he expected, the Tang army did not transport the food away, nor did they destroy the food, which made him relaxed a little nervous.

Xie Silizai carefully looked at the grains in several large tents. He asked the person with curiosity: "I think the grains don't seem to be taken away at all, why is this?"

Engaged in the workplace smiled bitterly and said, "I can't take it away. All the big carts of animals are filled with armor, silver and tents. Even half of the tents are left, not to mention food, but they are all taken away."

"This is strange!"

Xie Sili said to herself: "We need to take away the armor and silver, but we don't want the food. Is it not important to the Tang army?"

Yang Yuanqing smiled and said, "This is normal. Only with soldiers, armor and silver money in his hands can you recruit new recruits. As for food, I think there should be a lot of food stored in Guanzhong, so it is not very important."

Yang Yuanqing asked again, "There are still food and grass in the military camp?"

"Report to Your Highness, you have about 230,000 stones of food and 500,000 dan of grass."

Yang Yuanqing nodded and said to Xie Sili: "I will leave it to you for counting the materials, keep the accounts one by one, and finally give me a general report."

"As for the order!"

.........

The direct military forces of Prince Li Jiancheng were mainly concentrated in Guandong, that is, east of Guanzhong, mainly including Guangtongcang, Linjin Pass and Tongguan, with about 30,000 troops.

Among them, Tongguan is the top priority of the prince's power. This eastern gate in Guanzhong plays an important strategic position for the entire Tang Dynasty. It is generally guarded by senior officials of the third-rank military.

The current commander guarding Tongguan is Luo Yi, who returned to the Tang Dynasty from Youzhou. After Luo Yi returned to the Tang Dynasty, he was named General of the Right Wu Guard. He was renamed Duke of Yan and had a high title. Li Yuan did not treat him badly, but this was just to show the Tang Dynasty's desire to buy bones with a wealth of money.

In fact, whether it is an official or a title, he is just a free position. He has nothing to do, and he has no soldiers and has nothing to do. He is wandering around Chang'an all day long.

But Prince Li Jiancheng took a fancy to Luo Yi's ability to lead troops and military qualifications. For Li Jiancheng, what he lacked the most now is such a high-qualified general.

It was under the strong recommendation of the prince that Luo Yi was appointed as the commander of Tongguan and in charge of 10,000 defenders of Tongguan. Luo Yi became Li Jiancheng's confidant and became the right-hand man in the Crown Prince's army together with Sheng Yanshi.

At the top of Tongguan City, the golden brilliance of the sunset gradually disappeared, and the sky dyed red by the sunset had darkened. The winding forests turned dark. The night began to fall, and the colorful night with the last afterglow of the sunset drove straight into Tongguan City.

Luo Yi was wearing armor and pressed the hilt of the sword in his hand. He stood on the head of the city and stared at the winding mountain path in the distance. The path was gradually blurred in the night, and his eyes were full of worry.

On the side, the eldest son Luo Cheng could feel his father's concern, so he asked with concern: "My father has been silent for a day. Has something happened?"

After a while, Luo Yi sighed softly and said, "If the Central Plains are defeated, the battle between the King of Qin and the Prince will become more intense, and we will inevitably be involved."

"Father, the child doesn't understand why the Central Plains failed and their struggle will intensify? The child thinks that at this time, they should work together to overcome the difficulties."

Luo Yi shook his head, "It's a pity that there is only one throne. What should they do if they don't fight? It had nothing to do with the King of Qin, but the emperor's attitude was ambiguous and gave him hope. Now the main military power is in his hands. If he wants to cut off his hope, it may not be so easy."

After a pause, Luo Yi said again: "This battle in the Central Plains has broken the original balance. It is estimated that the power of the Qin King will be severely defeated. He will not give up. He will inevitably make great efforts in the military. The prince also guessed his intention and persuaded the emperor to let the King of Qi go to Shan County to take charge of the 30,000 new troops in order to prevent him from taking the opportunity to seize military power."

Luo Cheng sighed, "Father, if we had known we should have surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, we would not have been involved in the internal strife of their brothers. To be honest, I really don't like the Tang Dynasty."

Luo Cheng was still worried about his father's return to Tang, but he did not dare to really blame his father, so he could only suppress this dissatisfaction in his heart. Today, he finally couldn't help but reveal it.

Luo Yi was stunned. He glanced at his son in surprise. Is his son still worried about returning to Tang?

He felt apologized in his heart and patted his son on the shoulder, "Don't worry, there are opportunities in the future. First of all, you need to have qualifications and status in the military. You are just a captain now. Even if you surrender, you are still only a captain. But if you are a general of the Tang Dynasty and surrender, you will be more valued. Please make sure that you will be promoted to general within three years for your father."

Luo Cheng nodded silently. At this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from the mountain road. A scout cavalry rushed towards him quickly and soon rushed to the bottom of Tongguan, shouting loudly: "General Luo!"

Luo Yi had seen the scout cavalry for a long time. He was stunned and walked to the battlement and leaned over and asked, "What happened?"

"General Luo, His Highness of the Qin King has arrived, leading five thousand cavalry, just ten miles away."

Luo Yi was stunned for a moment. The King of Qin led 5,000 cavalry to come. Why is this? Why are there only 5,000 people? Could it be that he was defeated in the Battle of Central Plains?

Luo Yi's mind was changing very quickly, and it was impossible that he was defeated. If he was defeated, he would have received the news long ago. Could it be?

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A thought surged in his heart, and he suddenly became nervous. He suddenly realized that Li Shimin's arrival would cause him great trouble.

Thinking of this, he immediately said to his son Luo Cheng: "You should immediately return to the capital and tell the prince Qin to come to Tongguan to seize power. I may not be spared. Let the prince report to the emperor as soon as possible."

Luo Cheng's voice trembled with nervousness, "Will something happen to my father?"

"Don't worry, my father will not give him a chance to kill me. I will cooperate with him to seize power, but I will tell the prince in advance so that the prince will not blame me for handing over the military power. Go quickly!"

Luo Cheng then felt relieved, and he rode out of the west gate and rushed towards Chang'an.

Luo Yi kept looking at his son and left before he returned to the front of the main gate of Tongguan. He saw a cavalry in the distance rushing towards the city gate.

.........{Piaotian Literature www.PiaoTian.com Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
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