Xinye County, Nanyang County, is a gathering place for many rivers. It originates from dozens of large and small rivers in the Funiu Mountains in the north. It rushes south, gathers near Xinye County, and finally flows into the Han River in the Xiangyang area in the south.

It was precisely because of the passage of many rivers, abundant water sources and fertile land that made Nanyang County a rich place. During the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Nanyang County also encountered a huge impact. The bandit Zhu Jie burned, killed and looted all the way, and finally stationed troops in Nanyang County.

Years of destruction have also made Nanyang County devastated, withered people's livelihoods, and the villages are deserted and the county towns are dilapidated. The population has dropped by more than 60% compared with the peak of Daye in the early years.

However, in the latest agreement reached by the Sui and Tang dynasties, Nanyang County and Xiyang County to the west were included in the Sui Dynasty together. The new prefect appointed by Yang Yuanqing had already taken office, and the population and land survey was underway, laying a solid foundation for the next step of the implementation of the equal-field system.

But on the other hand, since Nanyang County is close to Xiangyang County, it became the front line of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Shortly after the signing of the contract, Xu Shiji sent his deputy general Gao Zikai to lead an army of 10,000 to Nanyang County, but this was just a kind of security garrison.

Shortly after the New Year, the Sui army stationed 30,000 troops in Nanyang County, bringing the 40,000 troops in Nanyang County to 40,000 troops. Xu Shiji personally led a 40,000 troops stationed in Xinye, and the troops were suppressed by Xiangyang County, which was only twenty miles away from Xiangyang County.

In a wilderness about thirty miles south of Xinye County, close to the west bank of the Pure Water, a huge barracks covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres stand. The barracks are built in a wall-like shape, about 10,5 feet high, and are strong and sturdy.

The battle flags were flying over the barracks, and the flags were waving, and the three-meter-high Red Eagle battle flag was flying over the camp gate.

On both sides of the camp gate were two equally three meters tall sentry towers, each with two sentry patrolling the towers, alert to the situation around them.

About seven or eight miles away from this camp, there is a low small hill, about ten feet high, and two miles long east-west to Xiangyang, the spacious avenue passing by this hill.

The hills are lush with lush vegetation, and it is early spring and the plants are full of vitality. All kinds of birds are chirping in unison on the big trees. At this time, on a lush tree, two Tang army scouts were looking at the Sui army camp in the distance.

From their seats, you can clearly see the situation in the camp in the distance. A white tent is arranged neatly, and a group of soldiers are practicing on the school grounds, and hundreds of sentries walking back and forth on the board wall.

"Can you count clearly? How many big tents are there?" a Tang army scout asked in a low voice.

"There are about a thousand large accounts, all of which are medium accounts, one account and one team of soldiers."

"That means there are 50,000 Sui troops."

The Tang army scout on the tree shook his head, "The ordnance tent needs to be removed. There are about 40,000 Sui troops, and half of them should be cavalry."

The scouts of Tang County under the tree quickly drew the terrain and camping map on the paper, and marked the number of troops and the number of war horses next to them.

"Did you see the handsome flag clearly?"

The Tang army scout on the tree looked for a while, frowned and said, "I can't see the words on the commander-in-chief's flag clearly. However, their Red Eagle Army flag is silver edge, so they should be the chief general at the level of the general manager, and it is very likely that it is Xu Shiji."

As he was speaking, a team of Sui army patrol cavalry rushed towards this side from the official road, scaring the scouts on the tree jumped off the tree and crawling in the grass.

When the patrol cavalry passed, the two quietly left the hill, pulled out the war horses in the woods at the foot of the mountain, turned over the horses, and rushed to the south.

...........

Xiangyang City is the location of the Jingxiang Xingtai General Administration of the Tang Dynasty. Li Xiaogong, who had just been promoted to King of Jing, became the General Administration of the Xingtai General Administration, and held the military and political power of Jingxiang.

Like the Chang'an court and the country, Li Xiaogong was also paying attention to the changes in the political situation in Chang'an. Like everyone else, he was deeply anxious about the internal and external troubles of the Tang Dynasty. He did not cover his eyes. He also saw that the Sui Dynasty became stronger and it was only a matter of time before the full attack on the Tang Dynasty was launched.

In fact, Li Xiaogong didn't believe that the Sui army would abide by the agreement. If the war was truce for two years, it would probably not be possible for half a year. If the Sui army did not take advantage of the opportunity to defeat the Turks, it would be unfavorable to the civil strife of the Tang Dynasty, then Yang Yuanqing would be incompetent.

Thinking of the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty, Li Xiaogong was even more worried. He was a high-level bystander and could see clearly than the parties involved and more thoroughly than ordinary bystanders.

Several major wars made him slowly recall it. In fact, the failure of the Tang Dynasty was due to civil strife. From the failure of the First Central Plains War to the failure of the Second Central Plains War, the two major defeats laid the foundation for the current situation of the strong Sui Dynasty and the weak Tang Dynasty.

This time the defeat was due to the civil strife of the Tang Dynasty. The decision-making mistakes of the senior officials and the two brothers of the Prince and the Qin King seriously affected the military and national decision-making of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, internal instability is the source of chaos.

On the contrary, the Sui Dynasty condensed into iron blocks. Yang Yuanqing dared to delegate power and let the seven ministers of Ziwei Pavilion decide government affairs together. He led the military, helped the civil service and military strategy, and complemented each other, which made the Sui Dynasty not only not defeated but became stronger when facing the severe Turkic invasion.

Li Xiaogong stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back and sighed deeply. The defeat of the Tang Dynasty was not due to the strong enemy, but to the internal struggle for power and profit.

Today, the emperor finally understood that he had begun to seize the military power of the King of Qin, but now the King of Qin has already completed his wings, is it still too late?

Li Xiaogong was originally a staunch supporter of the King of Qin, but in order to stabilize the Tang Dynasty, he resolutely gave up his support for Li Shimin and instead fully supported Emperor Tang Li Yuan to carry out internal purging.

This does not mean that Li Shimin was a traitor in the Tang Dynasty. At least Li Xiaogong did not think so. Li Shimin had military talents and had strong ability to command troops. However, under the current situation, the Tang Dynasty could only cut off its armies and win a new life.

If the emperor wants to keep the country from chaos, he will undoubtedly be able to protect the crown prince, so he will have to give up King Qin Li Shimin.

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Xiaogong finally accepted Li Yuan's title and was named King Jing, becoming the first Li clan clan to be named King of Kings of Jing.

After deciding his position, Li Xiaogong's mentality also changed. He now hopes that the emperor can seize the military power of the Qin King as soon as possible and stabilize the Tang Dynasty. In that way, perhaps they still have a glimmer of hope.

At this moment, a report from a personal soldier came from outside the door: "Report to Your Highness, there is information coming from the Scout of Xinye!"

Li Xiaogong turned around suddenly. He had been waiting for news from Nanyang County these two days. Two days ago, he received emergency information. The Sui army brigade entered Nanyang County, which made him feel a sense of pressure and a hint of murderous aura.

"Pick it in!"

The door opened, and the personal soldiers walked in quickly, knelt down on one knee and presented a volume of information to Li Xiaogong. Li Xiaogong opened the information and took a look. His face changed slightly. There were 40,000 Sui troops stationed in Xinye County, about twenty miles from Xiangyang County, and it was very likely that it was Commander Xu Jiye.

Li Xiaogong quickly walked to the sand table and found Liangjiangkou where the Sui army stationed, according to the place mentioned in the information. His face changed even more. From there, he went south to the flat road, and it only took half a day to reach the city of Xiangyang.

But the intelligence said that the Sui army built the Banyun Military Camp, which made him feel a little relieved. Banyun Military Camp focused more on defense, but...

Perhaps this was the plan of the Sui army's void soldiers, which made them think that the Sui army only defended but did not attack, and not for attack, so why were they not stationed in the city?

The 40,000 troops entered the border. Could it be that... Li Xiaogong thought of another information he received. Xiao Xian and Du Fuwei were simultaneously dispatching troops and acting as if they were preparing to jointly attack Li Mi.

Li Xiaogong suddenly understood that it was the Sui army that was restraining himself and not allowing him to attack the Xiaodu coalition from behind. This must be the case.

Li Xiaogong's eyes were fixed on Jiangdu. He became more and more suspicious that Yang Yuanqing was not trying to attack the Tang Dynasty, but to attack Li Mi first.

At this moment, another personal soldier outside the door reported: "Report to Your Highness, Li Mi's Special Envoy arrived in Xiangyang and asked to see Your Highness."

The special envoy Li Mi actually came, which was reasonable, but it surprised Li Xiaogong a little. After pondering for a moment, he guessed the purpose of the envoy, probably because he wanted to attack the Xiaodu coalition from behind.

Li Xiaogong smiled bitterly. It seemed that Yang Yuanqing had already confirmed that Li Mi would come to find him and make plans for Jiangnan, which was linked together!

But it was not good to see him. Li Xiaogong nodded, "Please invite someone to go to the outer hall for a while!"

.........

Soon, several soldiers invited Li Mi's special envoy to the outer hall of the General Administration Office. Li Mi's special envoy was named Zu Junyan, who was a military officer in Li Mi's record room. This man was short, ugly, and not good at speaking, but his literary talent was extremely high. Li Mi's military letters and edicts were all from others.

This time he was sent by Li Mi to envoy Xiangyang, indeed to join forces with Li Xiaogong to deal with Xiao Du's coalition forces.

Zu Junyan was invited to the outer hall. After waiting for a moment, Li Xiaogong walked in slowly with his hands behind his back. Zu Junyan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed deeply, "Junyan meets His Highness King Jing!"

Li Xiaogong smiled slightly, "It turns out that he joined the army. I have heard of Daqin for a long time. Please sit down!"

He waved his hand, and the two of them took their seats. A maid brought two cups of tea. Li Xiaogong asked with a smile: "Is Zu Zongjun coming from Jiangdu? Is the journey going smoothly?"

"Oh! Don't mention it."

Zu Junyan smiled bitterly, "I originally crossed the border from Du Fuwei's territory, and there was a lot of guarding. I checked all the way. Later, I should go on the water route, so I avoided the investigation. It was really not easy to come here!"

"Now I heard that the situation in Jiangnan is very tight. Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian are showing signs of joining forces to deal with Jiangdu. It is estimated that another war is about to break out. The Wei army should be ready!"

"We are already fully prepared. We must not only deal with the Du Xiao coalition, but also prevent the Sui army from invading from the north. The pressure is very high, so my lord specially sent me to Xiangyang to envoy, hoping that Wei and Tang can join forces to deal with Du Fuwei and Xiao Xian. After destroying the two families, Xiao Xian will return to Tang and Du Fuwei will return to Wei. I wonder what Your Highness thinks?"

Li Xiaogong would not wade into this muddy water. Not to mention that the Sui army restrained the Tang army in Xinye, even if there was no Sui army restraint, he would not join forces with Li Mi. Instead, he would sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight, and wait until they both ended up losing both sides before they could get the results.

However, he could not refuse Zu Junyan openly. He had already thought of a plan to refuse. Li Xiaogong sighed and said, "Of course I am willing to hunt Jiangnan with Lord Wei, but I don't have the right to send troops without authorization. I must ask the emperor for the matter and wait for the emperor's consent."

..........)

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