This is a war without any suspense. Ten thousand elite cavalry fight against nearly 5,000 infantry. The formation cannot be set on the narrow mountain road, and the infantry cannot form a gun formation against the cavalry.

In addition, the Tang army was attacked and the morale of the army was in chaos. After a few attacks, the army quickly collapsed and became a one-sided massacre. The road to escape was blocked and there was no other way except to surrender.

The desperate Tang army raised their hands to surrender, and the ground was full of Tang soldiers begging for mercy. Chai Shao's siege was quickly over. The personal guards died or surrendered. Chai Shao was shot in the thigh and turned over and fell off the horse.

At this time, Chai Shao was sitting on the ground with a gloomy face. A female Sui army guard was quickly bandaging the wound on his leg to stop bleeding. There were dozens of Sui army soldiers holding horizontal swords standing around.

A general rushed over and reported to Pei Xingyan: "Report to the general, the Tang army has surrendered, with a total of more than 4,000 people. Our army was killed or injured, of which twenty-two people died in battle."

Pei Xingyan nodded, "Check out the bodies of the fallen brothers, bring prisoners of war, and return to Liangchuan County immediately."

After catching Chai Shao, the big fish, the Sui army began to withdraw its troops westward. They escorted more than 4,000 prisoners of war and marched westward. Chai Shao was locked in a carriage, and hundreds of cavalry were escorting the carriages.

, mixed in the team.

Chai Shao leaned weakly against the wall of the car, staring blankly at the hills on both sides. His heart was filled with an unspeakable bitterness. He was caught by the Sui army, which meant that there was no hope for him to fight for the inner road...

…”.”.”.”

An hour later, a team of more than 3,000 cavalrymen rushed from the east and rushed to the ambush place of the Sui army. The Sui army retreated in a hurry, and many dead bodies were too late to bury. Damaged weapons and large areas of shocking

blood.

Li Xiuning turned over and dismounted, looking at the tragic phenomena around her at a loss. The Sui army had already evacuated. She was one step late. Li Xiuning was a woman after all. Although she sent someone to send her husband a letter to her, she was still worried.

Several cavalrymen were sent to report the news, but the cavalry encountered defeated soldiers who fled from the battlefield halfway. Only then did Li Xiuning realize that her husband had been ambushed.

At this time, several Tang soldiers found a defeated captain from the woods. The captain escaped up the mountain by luck and saw the Sui army walking away. He quietly went down the mountain. The soldiers brought this person to Li Xiuning, "Your Highness, this person

Know something.”

Li Xiuning quickly walked up to him. Seeing him seemed familiar, it seemed like a veteran who followed him at the beginning. The biggest characteristic of a woman is that she can remember a lot of past events. Especially in terms of name and details, the memory of ordinary women is

Far more than men.

"You are..." Zhang Shun'er?" Li Xiuning finally remembered his name.

The captain knelt in front of her and started crying, "The villain is, Your Highness, Princess."

Li Xiuning asked him anxiously: "How did the Tang army lose? Haven't you received my letter?"

"It was because the princess received the princess' letter of help that she came to rescue her! And the princess' bracelet is for her."

Li Xiuning was stunned. She felt a splash of dizziness. Needless to say, she understood that the messenger she sent must have been caught by the Sui army, and her bracelet was used. After a while, she forced herself to come back to her senses and asked again.

He said, "Where is the prince consort? Did he escape?"

The captain shook his head sadly, "The prince-in-law was surrounded by the Sui army, and he was finally captured, the princess, more than 5,000 brothers. Most of them became prisoners of war, and we are no match for it at all."

The captain was taken down. Li Xiuning took a few steps and walked to the place where her husband was captured. The mountain wind at dusk blew the woods and rustled. Looking at the empty Chi Dao, tears surged out of Li Xiuning's eyes.

She sat slowly on the ground, her head buried in her knees, and she started crying silently. Three thousand soldiers looked at the princess silently, and no one dared to come forward to persuade her.

After crying for a while, Li Xiuning stood up. She wiped her tears, turned over her horse, and urged the horse to Yuchi Gong and said, "General Yuchi, you lead your army to Longxi to find His Highness the King of Qin. I will go back to Chang'an immediately to report to my father."

Yuchi Gong said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the Sui army will not be happy with the marching of prisoners of war. We can catch up with it, and there are thousands of Tang troops in Yuntian Fort, and maybe we can still fight."

Li Xiuning shook his head, "Thank you General Yuchi for his righteousness, but the prince-consort is in the hands of the Sui army. We are afraid of being ruthless and dare not act rashly. We still find a way to rescue our father."

Seeing that she refused to fight the Sui army, Yuchi Gong had to give up this idea and bowed to Li Xiuning: "I will go to Longxi County now. I hope Your Highness will take care of you!"

"General Yuchi is careful all the way!"

Li Xiuning bowed like a man, and she turned her horse's head and shouted to her personal soldiers: "Go back to Chang'an with me!"

She whipped the war horse hard, and the war horse ran away. Li Xiuning led five hundred soldiers to gallop towards Chang'an...".

The news that Chai Shao's army was ambushed and captured by the Sui army soon spread to the court. Although the court had become accustomed to the defeat of the Tang army, Chai Shao's capture was still shocked to the court and the public.

This is the highest-level official captured by the Sui army since the war between the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The bad impact of Chai Shao's capture far exceeds that of Dugu Huaien and Qu Tutong.

Chai Shao's capture caused Li Yuan to suffer a heavy blow. Chai Shao, like Li Jiancheng, was Li Yuan's right-hand man for a long time. When he launched an army in Taiyuan, Li Yuan even positioned Chai Shao as the third union behind Jiancheng and Shimin.

General of the soldiers.

Now Chai Shao's capture made Li Yuan almost lose confidence in the future. One afternoon, Li Yuan locked himself in the imperial study room, and no one saw him. The door of the imperial study room was full of anxious ministers. They were talking and didn't know what to do.

How to persuade the emperor?

At this time, a guard shouted loudly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is here!"

The ministers dodged to both sides, and Li Jiancheng hurried over, and he also learned about Chai Shao's capture.

Although this incident had a great impact, it was not as harmful to the interests of the Tang Dynasty as Qu Tutong's death, and even worse than the death of Li Shuliang. So as long as you take this matter a little lightly, it is actually no big deal.

Li Jiancheng walked to the door of the study, and everyone surrounded him and said in a lingering manner: "Your Highness, I would like to advise Your Majesty to think a little bit open. Victory and defeat are common in military affairs, so don't hurt the dragon body."

Li Jiancheng bowed and said to everyone: "Thank you for your concern. I will advise my father to be well, please go back to the court room to stabilize the mood of the court, and the morning court will be held normally tomorrow."

Everyone said a few more words and then they dispersed. Li Jiancheng quickly walked to the door of the Imperial Study Room and whispered loudly: "Father, Jiancheng is looking for a meeting!"

After a while, Li Yuan's tired voice came from the room, "Come in!"

Li Jiancheng pushed the door and entered the imperial study room. There were no eunuchs in the room. He saw his father, Li Yuan, standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, looking up at the white clouds and blue sky in a daze. Li Jiancheng hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Son Master, please see the father!"

Li Yuan asked after a while: "Are they leaving?"

"Report to my father, they were all persuaded to return to the courtroom by their sons."

Li Yuan sighed deeply, "How about you, the battles are defeated again and again?"

"Father, Liu Bang was defeated ten times by Xiang Yu in the past, and finally succeeded in the battle at Gaixia, establishing the Han Dynasty for four hundred years. This time, Chai Shao was captured, but it was actually a small defeat and did not hurt the main force of the Tang army. Why should the father be so pessimistic?

”

Li Jiancheng softly persuaded his father. He understood his father's mood and was defeated repeatedly. He had lost confidence. Now he must rebuild his confidence.

Li Yuan knew what Li Jiancheng said, but the problem was that he was not Liu Bang, and Yang Yuanqing was not brave but Xiang Yu. The combat effectiveness of the Tang army was weaker than that of the Sui army, which was indisputable.

More importantly, Yang Yuanqing had many generals who were good at fighting, including Li Jing, Xu Shiji, Luo Shixin, Qin Qiong, Pei Xingyan, Su Dingfang, etc., but he did not have such generals under him, and he relied on his second son Shimin to fight in the east and west.

In addition, the civil officials of the Sui Dynasty were also very capable and had good governance. Now the Sui Dynasty was temporarily underpowered because of the drag of Hebei and the Central Plains.

But once Hebei and the Central Plains began to recover, the Sui Dynasty would become stronger. Can the Tang Dynasty resist the Sui Dynasty's unification of the world?

"Built, I have a strong sense of crisis and am willing to work hard to govern, but I really don't know how to protect the Tang Dynasty. I even dreamed of the Sui army entering Chang'an." Li Yuan covered his face, and he was depressed.

Extremely, almost burst into tears.

Li Jiancheng bit his lip and said, "Father, we are not without a chance, but because Yang Yuanqing does not give us time to work hard to govern and harass us from time to time. My son has a plan that may be able to restore our decline."

A glimmer of hope arose in Li Yuan's heart and he hurriedly said, "I will say, what is the plan?"

"Father, the first step is that we need to admit defeat, agree to all the conditions of Yang Yuanqing, and get the prisoners of war and ministers back, even if we end the negotiations and end the nightmare of the Battle of the Central Plains."

"But Yang Yuanqing wanted 500,000 stones of grain, almost half of our treasury." Li Yuan was still a little unwilling.

"Father, give it to him. If he doesn't agree to him, he will have trouble. We must learn from Goujian, bow down, lie down, taste gall, and work hard to govern, strengthen the army and enrich the country."

Although Li Yuan was unwilling to accept it, he also understood that Jiancheng made sense. Now is the time when the Tang Dynasty tied up its tail and became a human being, and he had to accept reality.

Li Yuan had no choice but to grit his teeth and agreed, "Okay! I will give it to him, I will give it to him whatever he wants, and even my princess will give it to him!"

Li Jiancheng said again: "Father, being humble is just an attitude, but Yang Yuanqing is not Fuchai, and he will work hard to govern. Therefore, we must find powerful allies to help us deal with the Sui army and curb the development of the Sui Dynasty."

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, "You mean...Li Mi?"

"No!"

Li Jiancheng shook his head, "My son said it was Turkic."

"Turkish!"

Li Yuan was stunned for a moment. The Turks seemed to be a very distant thing to him, which made him a little confused for a moment.

But Li Jiancheng was extremely sober. He had long thoughts of the Northern Alliance Turks, but he knew that morality was a bit inappropriate, and his father might not agree. He was waiting for the opportunity. Today is the best opportunity to persuade his father..."
Chapter completed!