Li Shimin's army finally arrived at Tongguan before dark. Under Tongguan City, five thousand cavalry stood in darkness. In front of the team, hundreds of torches illuminated the city gate like daylight.

Li Shimin's eyes were filled with ecstasy. This damn Luo Yi knew that he was coming and yet he dared not open the city gate. Was he impatient?

Li Shimin didn't know that Luo Yi also wanted to show off, otherwise he would open the door to welcome Li Shimin when he came. Even if the emperor didn't care, the prince would not spare him.

Li Shimin's face darkened and he snorted coldly, "Does a small Tongguan guard dare to keep me out of the city?"

Next to him, Yu Chigong took the lead and shouted at the city gate: "His Royal Highness the King of Qin has arrived, why don't you open the door yet?"

A captain on the top of the city shouted loudly: "Your Highness, please wait a moment. We have already gone to report to General Luo and will be there soon. We have no right to open the city gate."

Li Shimin was sullen and silent. After about a quarter of an hour, the gate of Tongguan City opened with a rumble. Li Shimin's nearly 1,000 personal guards waiting outside the city had already been simmering with anger. As soon as the city gate opened, they crowded around.

And enter.

In Tongguan City, thousands of guards held torches, illuminating Tongguan City like daylight. Every soldier was wearing armor and wearing a sword, and they were filled with murderous intent.

In the middle stood Tongguan General Luo Yi, wearing a silver helmet and iron armor, and a sharp blade on his waist. He was tall and tall, like half a black tower, with cold eyes. He was also betting on whether he could save his life tonight.

The seizure of military power has always been cruel and merciless, and he will not be spared just because he is obedient. Otherwise, how can he, Li Shimin, explain to the emperor?

Although the attitude of the Tongguan defenders was somewhat rude, Li Shimin's soldiers did not dare to break out. What would they dare to do? Once internal strife between the two sides was triggered and His Highness the King of Qin was hurt, who could bear the responsibility?

The soldiers suppressed their anger and moved to both sides. Li Shimin entered Tongguan City surrounded by hundreds of cavalry.

The murderous situation in front of him made him slightly stunned. He also had to admire Luo Yi's courage, daring to confront him and risk his life to survive.

It was very easy for him to kill Luo Yi. There was no reason to blame him for the crime, and he didn't care that he committed this crime. However, Luo Yi put on a desperate attitude, telling himself that his military power was not so easy to seize.

.

When Luo Yi saw that Li Shimin had entered the city, he took a deep breath. He stepped forward and knelt down on one knee. He clasped his fists with both hands and said, "Your Majesty, Duke Yan, General Luo Yi of the Right Wuwei Guard, pays homage to His Highness the King of Qin!"

He was reminding Li Shimin that he was a dignified prince and general, so if you wanted to kill him, you had to take it easy.

Li Shimin sneered in his heart. He actually threatened himself with the official title. Do you think he didn't dare to kill him? A terrifying murderous intention flashed in his eyes. But his face didn't show any emotion, and he said calmly: "General Luo, thank you for your hard work in guarding Tongguan."

Already."

"Don't dare to claim that it's hard work for a humble job, it's the hard work for Your Highness."

Luo Yi stood up, turned around and shouted, "My sons, please see His Highness the King of Qin!"

He gave an order, and the eight thousand defenders knelt down on one knee, "See His Highness the King of Qin!"

The movements were uniform and the momentum was huge. The sound resounded throughout the city, which made Li Shimin secretly frightened. Although he knew that Luo Yi was protecting himself, he did not expect that Luo Yi had such a strong appeal.

This made Li Shimin wary. If he killed Luo Yi rashly or imprisoned him, it would probably cause conflicts. If a mutiny occurred, he would still have to cut him with a soft knife.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin also had a smile on his face. He urged his horse forward, his slender face dimming in the firelight. He raised his voice and said loudly to the troops: "Brothers, guard Tongguan. I have a heavy responsibility.

As Shangshuling, Admiral Tiance, I have a deep understanding of the hard work of all brothers, and I will commend everyone's achievements to the Holy One."

The troops once again shouted: "Thank you, His Highness King Qin!"

.......

Li Shimin did not leave through the pass, but stationed himself in Tongguan. The reason was very simple. It was already dark, and the soldiers had worked hard all the way and needed to rest for a night before leaving.

Luo Yi arranged hundreds of large tents and arranged dinner. He was busy for nearly an hour before finally heaving a sigh of relief.

Li Shimin didn't kill him on the spot, at least his life was temporarily saved. Luo Yi knew very well that it was his prestige among the Tongguan garrison that made Li Shimin a little shy.

With an order, nearly ten thousand soldiers knelt down in unison. Not everyone can cultivate this kind of military quality. If Li Shimin dared to kill him, his army would turn against him and mutiny on the spot.

Luo Yigang was about to return to his place of residence. When he reached the door of his room, a soldier of Li Shimin ran up from behind, bowed and saluted, "General Luo, His Majesty the King of Qin invites you to come."

Luo Yi's heart tightened. It was already past Haishi. Would it be good if he was called so late? Maybe there would be a swordsman ambushing him in his tent.

There was a slight sweat on Luo Yi's forehead. He forced a smile and said: "It's too late to disturb His Highness King Qin's rest. I will go to see His Highness tomorrow."

The soldier sneered and said: "What kind of status is His Highness the King of Qin? If he wants to kill you, does he need to ask you to go to the big tent? General Luo thinks too highly of himself."

Luo Yi's face heated up, and he was really a little angry. He actually said such harsh words. But then again, what this private soldier said was indeed reasonable. If King Qin wanted to kill him, there was no need to call him to the big tent. He could do it now.

.

"Okay! I'll go right away."

Luo Yi glared at the soldier fiercely, turned around and walked quickly towards Li Shimin's tent. Not long after, he arrived in front of the tent, and the soldier immediately reported: "Your Highness, General Luo has arrived."

"Invite him in!" Li Shimin's voice came from the big tent.

Luo Yi walked into the outer tent. Generally, the general's tent is a double-layered tent. There is a three-foot-wide passage between the outer tent and the inner tent, which can directly lead to the rear tent. According to legend, the swordsman is ambushing in the outer tent.

In the aisles, people threw cups as a sign, and people swarmed out.

At this moment, the corridors of the big tent were empty. According to Luo Yi's intuition, there was no one ambushing him. This made Luo Yi feel relieved. He walked into the big tent. At this time, Li Shimin had taken off his armor and changed into a new suit.

Wearing a white brocade robe, a purple gold crown on his head, and a jasper belt around his waist, he looked quite handsome and elegant. He was sitting in front of the couch reading a book.

Luo Yi quickly stepped forward and bowed to salute, "See you, Your Highness!"

Li Shimin put down the book and smiled, "General Luo, thank you for your hard work tonight!"

His smile was no longer as cold as it was at dusk, and it became a little more humane. His tone was also a little more grateful. Luo Yi quickly said: "I serve His Highness in a humble position. This is my duty. I don't dare to accept His Highness's words."

boast."

Li Shimin nodded, "The word 'service' is used very well, but there is still a little shortcomings. If the word 'lao' is changed to the word 'loyalty', it will be perfect."

After saying that, Li Shimin looked at Luo Yi with a half-smile. He was waiting for his formal reply. He was attracted by Luo Yi's commanding ability and troop training ability. He could train eight thousand soldiers in such a coordinated manner. He had never seen it before.

On the battlefield, these eight thousand people were a powerful army, worthy of being the general manager of Youzhou. Even Dou Kang could not compare with him. Li Shimin was moved by his love for talents, so he wanted to take Luo Yi for his own use.

Luo Yi's heart jumped suddenly. It turned out that Li Shimin wanted to bribe him and make him loyal to him. In fact, he had thought about this issue a few months ago. He also knew the political situation of the Tang Dynasty. If he wanted to serve in the military

To gain a foothold, one must either seek refuge with the King of Qin or seek refuge with the Prince.

From the perspective of military power, the King of Qin is obviously stronger than the prince, and it seems more promising to follow the King of Qin. However, Luo Yi understands in his heart that the King of Qin has many generals, and they can be divided into direct lineages and collateral lines. The direct lineages are such as Changsun Wuji and Yuchi Jingde.

and others. I have followed him for many years and gained his trust.

Collateral members such as Duan Zhixuan, Liu Hongji, Yin Kaishan and others all followed him in their positions, but he was born as a general manager in Youzhou and had no backstage background. Basically, he could not become a direct lineage, or even become a second-rate collateral lineage.

The King of Qin had many generals under his command. It was difficult for him to stand out. In addition, he had extremely strict control over the military power. Those who followed him would be nothing more than a top soldier.

But it was different when the prince was established. There were many officials under the prince, but he lacked generals. If he relied on him, with his qualifications, he would be reused and become his right-hand man.

More importantly, the prince did not lead the army and did not have strict control over the military power. He was more likely to let him do what he did. Therefore, he was able to use brainwashing methods to train the soldiers in Tongguan and make the 10,000 Tongguan garrison loyal to him. He was absolutely unstoppable under the King of Qin.

Impossible.

Luo Yi's heart was like a mirror. He would never give up the importance of the prince and become loyal to the king of Qin. This was called being the head of a chicken rather than the queen of an ox.

Luo Yi knelt down and kowtowed respectfully. Li Shimin thought he had agreed, and a happy smile appeared on his face.

Unexpectedly, Luo Yi said in a deep voice: "Thank you very much for His Highness King Qin's love for me. I am loyal to the Tang Dynasty and to the Holy One. This is the duty of a minister. Your Highness is the Prince of the Tang Dynasty, the head of the Shangshu, and the general of Tiance.

It is natural to serve His Highness. In my humble position, I will abide by military orders and behave as a subordinate."

Li Shimin's face changed. Luo Yi was implicitly rejecting him. He felt annoyed. How dare Luo Yi toast and not eat as a penalty?

"General Luo, you have to think carefully about the consequences of rejecting me!" Li Shimin said coldly.

Luo Yi sighed in his heart, and his attitude became tougher, "Your Highness, it is still a war period, and the Tongguan garrison is on first-level alert. If something happens to me, I am afraid it will trigger a mutiny. I am worried about endangering the safety of Your Highness."

"You dare to threaten me?" Li Shimin's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and his hand had already grasped the hilt of the sword.

"I don't dare to do it. If His Highness wants to kill Beizi, it will indeed trigger a military rebellion in Tongguan. If His Highness just wants to take over the defense of Tongguan, as a subordinate, I will naturally obey the order."

Li Shimin stared at him fiercely. After a long while, his expression finally softened a little and nodded, "I don't want to kill you, but I'm worried that Yang Yuanqing will attack Tongguan. You are not capable enough to hold the pass, so I decided to take over Tongguan."

For defense, I will be appointed as the commander-in-chief of Tongguan. As for General Luo, he can temporarily serve as the deputy-general of Tongguan."

"Your Highness has an order, and I can only obey it. In addition, my mother is not in good health. I would like to take leave to go back to Beijing to visit my mother. I hope your Highness will grant you permission!"

Li Shimin stared at him for a moment and finally nodded, "I allow you to return to Beijing to visit relatives!"

...

A quarter of an hour later, Luo Yi had gained nothing and led more than a hundred soldiers on horseback to rush out of Tongguan City and rush toward Chang'an.

That night, Li Shimin purged the Tongguan generals overnight, and replaced all officers above the rank of captain with his own personal guards, turning the 10,000 defenders of Tongguan into his own power.
Chapter completed!