Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Xuan De Hall of Jinyang Palace is one of the main halls in Jinyang Palace. In the old year, Qi Lord Gao Yan ascended the throne in this hall and later often held court meetings with ministers here. But now, the person sitting right above the hall has been replaced by the King of Wei Tang.

"Mr. Wang, a famous scholar in Hebei, Mr. Lu, a famous minister of the pseudo-dynasty, and the rest of you are also outstanding scholars of the time. Although I did not send a letter to summon you before, I have been eager to find talents and hope that you can return to justice as soon as possible. Today, the troops entered Jinyang and met you here. You are really lost and stubborn!"

Today, Li Tai personally went to this magnificent hall in Jinyang Palace to accept the surrender. Facing Wang Xi and others who surrendered in accordance with the Northern Qi Prince Gao Bainian, he did not say a word. He first frowned and reprimanded them, and then continued with a slightly slower tone: "I only think that you have served the former lord of the pseudo-Qi. Although you are in a desperate situation, I can't bear to abandon you. This time, your affection is also touching. .

Although the King of Qi was afraid to see me, he dared to sacrifice his life and accept the punishment from heaven. It can be seen that he was not a person who would not repent of his evil deeds. He knew that he was ashamed of morality and shamed to stand between heaven and earth. You should also tell the world about this to the old people who worked with you, and persuade the people of Hebei to accept my king's rule as soon as possible. Although the past can no longer be retrieved, there is still room for future. The King of Qi offered his heir to me, and I will treat him well. Since you are returning with me, you will live with me first, teach him the right way in the world, and go to Chang'an together tomorrow! "

"Your Majesty is magnanimous and willing to accept the surrender of criminals. We ugly people in the world are very grateful and will never forget it!"

After hearing this, Wang Xi and others kowtowed again.

Of course, they did not dare to expect to be entertained by the King of Tang. As the confidant of Qi Lord Gao Yan, they insisted on surrendering until the eve of the Jinyang Palace being breached. If they were replaced by a cruel enemy commander, they might have been killed directly. The King of Tang only scolded them a few times, and what he said was reasonable, not just humiliating them. This made them feel relieved.

And when they heard that the King of Tang was willing to entertain the Crown Prince Gao Bai Nian, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Although their former Lord Gao Yan had many flaws in his character and was not a perfect person, he was very generous to them, his old ministers and old subordinates. Although he was no longer there, they all hoped that his bloodline could be preserved.

Although Wang Xi and others were old people in Gao Yan's residence, they did not have much say in Jinyang in recent years. It was only because the situation in Jinyang turned into a crisis that some Jinyang nobles could not be trusted, so Gao Yan entrusted his affairs to them again.

Li Tai also had some understanding of the personnel in Jinyang, and did not expect these people to help stabilize the situation, so he only briefly met with them, and then placed them together with the crown prince of Qi, Gao Bainian, and waited until they returned victorious to make specific arrangements.

However, among the surrendered people, there were also several important figures, such as Tang Yong and Bai Juyi's ancestor Bai Jian. These two people have been in charge of the cavalry and foreign soldiers of Northern Qi for many years, and have a deep understanding of the military of Northern Qi.

Although Li Tai did not need to accept the Northern Qi armed forces in an organized manner, if he wanted to reorganize them more thoroughly, he could not avoid these two. In the previous battle, tens of thousands of soldiers were surrendered and captured outside the city of Jinyang. At present, no detailed reorganization has been carried out, and a lot of troops are still needed to guard them. Li Tai also needs the cooperation of the two to appease the Jinyang soldiers and split them up.

However, another Northern Qi minister Zhao Yanshen, who Li Tai was more impressed with, was not seen among the surrendered people. Zhao Yanshen is indeed a clear stream in the court of Northern Qi, which is mixed with royal family, nobles, aristocratic families and flatterers.

Li Tai was a little disappointed that he did not surrender, but that was all. He did not search the whole city for talents. It is not that he does not value talents, but Zhao Yanshen's growth experience is closely related to the development of Gao's regime, as if tailor-made. Even if Li Tai invites him with courtesy, he can only play a little united front value, and he may also harbor filth because of old feelings.

In the final analysis, Li Tai is not worried that swallowing Northern Qi will delay indigestion and increase internal friction, so he does not care about courtesy and hospitality for the important ministers and generals of Northern Qi. If he comes, he will be accepted for the time being. If he refuses to come, he will be strictly guarded, so as not to gather those old people who have lost their country to resist the subsequent rule by relying on his popularity. When the situation gradually stabilizes, it depends on each person's heart whether to kill or keep him.

Although Li Tai had already occupied Jinyang Palace, the attack on Jinyang City had not completely ended, but had become more intense.

After all, Qi Lord Gao Yan had died because of his betrayal and abandonment. The other Northern Qi soldiers and civilians who still had the will to resist would not give up their resistance because of his death. Moreover, Gao Yan had been burned to ashes. Even if Li Tai wanted to use his body to intimidate and force others to surrender, he could not do it.

At this moment, there were still some former Qi Army guards who had fled from Jinyang Palace but had not yet left the palace, and they were still resisting in their respective places. And just when Jinyang Palace caught fire and Wang Xi and others surrendered, Jinyang Luocheng also broke through.

At this time, Jinyang was like a big water bag that was blown up by a punch. The shell was gone, but the water stored in it was splashing everywhere. Fortunately, there were enough soldiers inside and outside Jinyang City, so they could take precautions everywhere.

Outside the city, Yang Zhong still led 20,000 soldiers to garrison Fenggu River in the north. When the Jinyang Luocheng army broke out, Yang Zhong led his troops to fight. Because Jinyang Nangong was connected to Jinyang South City, the situation was more complicated.

Jinyang Nancheng is where many nobles live, and many of these nobles serve in the Forbidden Army. As Lord Qi Gaoyan gave up resistance and threw himself into the fire and died, these noble officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army also wanted to go there. Nancheng fled, and there were many people who were still determined to introduce some of the noble tribes to Jinyang Nancheng, hoping to continue the confrontation with the Wei army.

Jinyang Xungui, or the soldiers of Beizhen Town, are a relatively contradictory group. They do not have a firm stand. They tend to act according to the prevailing situation and give in easily. However, if it is related to their own interests, they will become ruthless. Full of evil.

For example, the previous Yuwen family originally fought against the mutiny in the Six Towns, and both Yuwentai's father and brother died in this battle. However, because they were not properly resettled when they moved to Hebei, their family joined the rebellion again.

In the Battle of Fukou where Erzhu Rong defeated Ge Rong's rebels, Gao Huan persuaded several puppet kings and more than 10,000 soldiers among the rebels to surrender before the battle began. These soldiers were very delicate and gentle. However, after the rebellion was quelled by Er Zhurong, dozens of rebellions broke out due to the failure of the town soldiers to be properly resettled. Er Zhu Zhao, who succeeded Er Zhu Rong, was in tears, so he decided to The people of the six towns were put under the command of Gao Huan.

There is nothing wrong with striving for their own interests, but the constant changes in positions and camps of these soldiers reflect their political naivety, blindness and short-sightedness, enthusiasm for speculation, and the excessive greed of upper-level leaders.

It is very simple for Li Tai to resolve the resistance of the nobles in Jinyang Nancheng. As long as he announces that the treatment of the nobles will remain unchanged and selects a few representatives to focus on awarding awards, the resistance will soon subside.

After all, judging from past experience, crying children have milk to drink. Only by making trouble will their status rise. This principle has been reflected in the previous mutiny and the support of the coup in Northern Qi.

But these people have ignored another truth, that is, their original size and power are not the same as they are now. In the past, they were strong men over two meters tall, with big shoulders and round waists. Even if they made people feel disgusted, they still had to be patient and comfort them.

But now, after many years of confrontation with the Western Wei Dynasty, coupled with their own losses and elimination, their size is already very different from previous years. If they continue to play the same tricks as in the past, they may be greeted by a series of big enemies. Bidou!

Li Tai even sent envoys to Bingzhou City to persuade them to surrender, but he did not tolerate the nobles such as Jinyang Nangong and Nancheng. He deployed all the other men and horses in the camp who could still be mobilized around the area, and then launched a fierce attack without any explanation.

In order to strengthen the attack on these distinguished nobles of Jinyang, Li Tai even sent some of the Turkic soldiers recently recruited by Little Khan to the battlefield. He drove these remnants out of the palace in one fell swoop, and then returned Surrounding Jinyang Nancheng, they continued to attack.

The intensity of the offensive and defensive battles between them was much more intense than the previous attack on Jinyang Palace. On the third day of the battle, it finally ended with the complete defeat of all Jinyang nobles. At this time, most of the southern city of Jinyang had been destroyed, and the bodies of the war dead were scattered everywhere among the streets and ruins of buildings.

The tragic situation is also related to Li Tai's instigation. Shortly after the south city of Jinyang was surrounded, some nobles in the city submitted letters in an attempt to surrender, but Li Tai did not respond to any of them. He just ordered the offensive to continue in order to eliminate a large number of Jinyang nobles in the war.

This battle can be regarded as the battle in which the Wei army killed the most enemies since this battle. Just after the battlefield was cleaned up, tens of thousands of corpses were cleaned up, most of which were Jinyang Xungui's servants. .

Of course, those nobles were not spared, such as Lou Zhongda, the Puyang king of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Changle Wang Weican, who had been arrested before and returned to China, Han Jinming, the son of Han Gui, the Ande king, etc., all died in battle or were beheaded.

Even He Baren, the king of peace and stability who was almost the only one of the founding fathers of the Northern Qi Dynasty, was dressed in servant robes and prepared to escape when his home was breached. As a result, he was surrounded by the invading army in the street, and was beaten to death for resisting arrest. .

After Li Tai learned the news, he felt very sorry. A figure like He Baren can be said to be a living history book. Because he was deeply involved in the rise of Gao Huan, if he could be captured alive, Li Tai could ask him for first-hand historical facts since the mutiny, but the result was unexpected. Such a simple death.

Once the battle begins, chaos is inevitable. Therefore, it was not only He Baren and other Jinyang nobles who suffered, but even the dead were hardly spared.

Previously, Turkic troops participated in the war and were stationed in the South Palace of Jinyang. When searching the palace, they unexpectedly found a gorgeous coffin. After breaking the coffin, they plundered the funerary objects inside and immediately threw the body in the courtyard.

It took two days for Li Tai to find out that because the previous bombardment of Jinyang Palace had destroyed the coffin of the Empress Dowager Lou of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Yan, the head of Qi Dynasty, ordered that her mother's coffin be moved to a remote part of the Nangong Palace and hidden until the war was initially over. Then Lou Zhongda and others quietly moved him out of the city for burial.

However, because that palace was not an important part of the palace, the Wei army did not patrol it immediately. As a result, it accidentally fell into the hands of the Turks, and the coffins were broken and the bodies were dumped.

After Li Tai learned about this, he felt quite sad in his heart. He didn't know what Lord Qi thought after Tian Zhiling found out about this. Of course, he would not vent his anger by humiliating the deceased. Even the ashes of Lord Qi Gaoyan were collected and sent to the 100th anniversary of Prince Qi. Therefore, Lou's body was collected and buried outside Jinyang City. As for the Turkic soldiers who did this, they could not be held accountable because of the chaotic situation at the time.

After the battle in Jinyang Nancheng ended, the battle against the entire Jinyang City came to an end. Prior to this, Bingzhou City had surrendered, and as for Jinyang Luocheng, because the Qi army was still strong in strength, under the premeditated breakout, although Yang Zhong intercepted a considerable part of the breakout troops in time, the Northern Qi Bo Important figures such as the mausoleum king Gao Ji and Hu Luguang still broke through and fled north.

After Li Tai learned about this, he felt quite disappointed, so he arranged for General Li He to lead a group of soldiers to continue the pursuit. It's gratifying to be able to catch up, but don't worry about it even if you fail. The unification of the north is the general trend and will not be changed by the stubborn resistance of a small group of people.

Moreover, Hu Luguang honestly does not have the ability to run an exile regime. If Duan Shao escapes, Li Tai will still have to worry. But if it is Hu Luguang, it is destined to be a temporary disturbance and difficult to cause long-term trouble.

Apart from this, this attack on Northern Qi can be regarded as a complete victory. They successively captured the second capital of Northern Qi and most of Hebei. Even if the message cannot be sent to other places, it will be difficult to form a stubborn resistance.

Li Tai has been arranging the follow-up matters in Jinyang Palace recently. He no longer needs to personally direct the next war. All the generals can attack separately.

Because he was too focused on military affairs, Li Taidu somewhat ignored the fact that a strange atmosphere was developing in the army. Until that day, when he summoned the generals in Jinyang Palace, He Ruodun looked around the gorgeous palace after entering the palace, and immediately said: "The Gao family is ugly and has no merit in the world. They can still steal talismans and luck. Based on this, I am so prosperous. I have worked tirelessly to defeat thieves and have worked tirelessly for my master, but now my master has not yet fulfilled his role as the Supreme Being. When I think about this, I feel really regretful!"

These guys had obviously discussed it in private. As soon as He Ruoden finished speaking, the rest of the military and civil servants also bowed to him and shouted: "I respectfully request that your lord will assume your duties as soon as possible and be obedient to nature and people. To bring peace to the world!”

With Li Tai's prestige, no one dared to come forward and give him a yellow robe, even if the disciples tried to persuade him to come in. However, everyone was excited and eager, which forced Li Tai to pay attention to this issue.

He knew that whether he ascended the throne or not was no longer a personal issue, but related to the advancement and evolution of the entire Western Wei regime. The reason why the generals want to persuade them to advance while they are still on the journey is because there will be special rewards for destroying the country this time. Only by becoming ministers of the new dynasty can they accept the rewards with peace of mind.

But if you are rewarded in the name of an old Wei minister, the higher your position, the more embarrassing you will be in the future. Moreover, now that he can be encouraged to advance, he can be rewarded for both merits at the same time, which naturally makes everyone more happy.

It is not that Li Tai has not considered this issue. The reason why he was not in a hurry before was to avoid the personnel conflicts in the country from affecting the military process. Now that Northern Qi has been destroyed, he naturally does not have this concern, and he also needs to consider taking a further step. A legitimate question.

Facing the generals' demands, Li Tai first darkened his face, and then said seriously: "We and all of you are on the march, and we are in the military tent. We only talk about military affairs, and don't talk about other things!"

Seeing the serious look on King Tang's face, everyone lowered their heads for a moment, becoming a little uneasy and not daring to say anything more.

However, Li Tai's expression soon softened: "I'm summoning you all now to distribute the military force. I will return to the court first to ask for merits and titles for all the officers and men! In this battle, the thieves were wiped out, and the meritorious service was unprecedented since Zhengguang. If not, I share this honor with all of you, and we must give fair awards from top to bottom, otherwise God will not allow it!"

After hearing this, everyone pondered for a moment at first, and then everyone looked happy again and kowtowed in response. When they raised their heads, they couldn't help but look excited.

Because there was still one big thing to do, Li Tai did not stay in Jinyang for a long time. He temporarily appointed He Ruodun as the governor of Bingzhou, while his uncle Lu Shuhu stayed as the governor of Bingzhou. In addition, his third brother Li Ao, who was in Tangzhou in the south, also went north to serve as the governor of Bingzhou and the governor of Taiyuan.

As for Hebei, in addition to Gao Le, Li Mu and Wei Xiaokuan who were stationed in Yedu, Li Tai also temporarily led the Hebei military aircraft with Yang Zhong to dispatch the troops to wipe out the remaining aggressors.

After arranging the remaining personnel of all parties and determining the basic military and political routes, Li Tai led the remaining troops to go south along the Fen River, and by the way eliminated the remnants of the Qi army still stationed in Queshu Valley, and then took the road Longmen crosses the river.

At this time, the news of the victory of the Eastern Expedition Division had already reached Guanzhong before the Triumph Division Brigade. The soldiers and people of Guanzhong naturally rushed to tell each other and were extremely happy. Ordinary people were just relatively pure joy, and felt confident that the Tang Dynasty's expedition would naturally achieve such a great success. But those in high positions have even more problems on their minds.

After the good news of the Qi annihilation reached Chang'an, Gao Zhongmi immediately came to visit Yu Jin's house. The first thing he said after meeting was: "Does the Grand Master know that the Tang Dynasty King's army has successively defeated the thieves Qi and Qi?" A happy event for the destruction of the traitorous country?"

Although Yu Jin has obviously aged, his spirit is still strong. After hearing the words, he nodded and said with a smile: "How could I not know about such a great and happy event? I still have to thank Taibao Gao for coming to tell me. He was overjoyed when he heard the good news. He should be with me Taibao has a drink and congratulates on this great victory!"

"It's natural to drink wine to celebrate victory, but there's no need to rush it. I'm here to visit Taifu today and we have other important matters to discuss!"

After Gao Zhongmi heard what Yu Jin said, he waved his hand and said: "Since the king of Tang took charge, he has promoted politics internally, promoted martial arts externally, and re-established peace. His great achievements are in danger! However, his status is still humiliated and he cannot stand upright between heaven and earth. "If the people of the world rise up to speak out against injustice, how can the people of this dynasty stand on their own in this world?"

After Yu Jin heard this, he naturally understood what Gao Zhongmi meant. After pondering for a while, he nodded and said: "When I attacked Jiangling with the King of Tang, I knew that the world should deal with the King of Tang. The rest of the world may have some self-proclaimed heroes. It would be difficult for those who are unfaithful to be favored by heaven. Now that things have come true, it would be an honor for me to go to the Lord with Gao Taibao and others to persuade the Lord to obey God!"

Although Yu Jin has been out of touch with the current situation in recent years, he still has a deep understanding of the current situation and personnel. He knows very well that the King of Tang has already been favored by the public, and now that he is about to return to the court with the power of the country, he is naturally even more unstoppable. Now they just have to persuade them to get in because of their status and seniority, otherwise they might not even be ranked!

The two people quickly reached a consensus, and both felt that a broader consensus should be reached before persuading him to join, so they invited Guangping Gongzan and others to the palace to meet the emperor and discuss with him the abdication of the throne.

Originally, this kind of thing would be a huge shame and humiliation for the emperor to face, but when Emperor Yuan Kuo heard everyone's intention, he directly clapped his hands on the imperial bed and sighed: "How late are you, sir! This is what happened." I have been waiting for a long time, and I am just holding the throne for the king of Tang. Now that the powerful bandits have been eliminated, and my destiny has been fulfilled, I should be honored and honored by my ancestors."

As he spoke, the emperor personally took out the abdication edict that had been drafted for a long time, and ordered Guangping Gongzan, Yu Jin and Gao Zhongmi to lead all the ministers in the court to go to Longmen to welcome him and persuade him to enter.

At Longmen Ferry, as soon as Li Tai crossed the river and reached the other side, a crowd of people who were waiting to welcome him rushed forward and kowtowed to greet him.

Duke Guangping had previously made a persuasion on the emperor's order, and this time he was familiar with the family. He held the emperor's abdication edict in his hand, and shouted loudly: "The king of Tang defeated the giant bandits, and his fame resounded throughout the universe. Heaven's favor is prosperous. As everyone expects you to return, you should take advantage of the situation and fulfill your position as the supreme minister. I am lucky enough to follow heaven's advice. Please don't refuse, please obey heaven's advice!"

"Please, Lord, obey the heavens and obey the people, and fulfill your position of supremacy!"

As soon as Yuan Zan finished speaking, all the civil and military ministers and soldiers and civilians present kowtowed and shouted.

"The thief Qi Gao is a huge bandit who deceives heaven and steals the country. Since the Western Hunt, all people with lofty ideals in the world have wanted to kill him. I also served in Wei Tong to defend the law and fight against thieves. Now I have finally succeeded. I should report to Wei The ancestors of the clan are talking about future affairs."

Li Tai did not directly agree to everyone's persuasion. He still offered sacrifices to the ancestral temple as a minister of the Wei State, which could be regarded as a beginning and an end. Of course, he did not refuse everyone. After a short pause, he said: "The destiny of heaven is constant and orderly. Follow the heavens. It is our duty to respond to others. It is our responsibility to let go of the past and embrace the new."

So a group of people followed the Tang Dynasty King to Chang'an City in a mighty manner. When they arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Yuan Kuo had already greeted them at Ba Shang. Today he was not wearing an imperial crown, but was wearing civilian clothes. When he saw the King of Tang approaching, he stepped forward and held the bridle of his horse in person: "The King of Tang was not arrogant in his victory, but he still abided by his integrity and paid tribute to the ancestors of the Wei family. A certain anger After you have done something wrong, you should also show your kindness, bow to me in gratitude, and hold the bridle in front of you. Please don’t refuse me!”

Of course, Li Tai would not let the emperor hold the horse for him, no matter what the other person's reasons were, so he quickly got off his horse and walked side by side with the emperor. When he entered the city, there were cheers inside and outside Chang'an City!

This volume of content ends here. Next, there is another volume, which is also the final volume, "The King's Landing in the World", which provides a systematic summary and comprehensive conclusion of the plot and personnel. I have been mentally stressed and a little tired recently. I took a leave of absence when the plot came to an end, rested and adjusted for about a week, and then finished the final volume in one go. Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you all success in your work and a happy life! ! !