Chapter 445 Shallow Water
The olive branch from Zheng family of Xingyang was extended through Li Yuan.

Zheng Yan and Zheng Guo had a good relationship with Li Yuan. After all, they had been relatives for so many years. So Li Yuan could not refuse the request of the Zheng brothers. He could only ask the Minister Pei Ji to issue an imperial edict, saying that the Zheng daughter had outstanding character and was virtuous and kind, and could enter the Qi Wangfu as a Confucian scholar.

As for such a small matter, Li Yuanhui was very willing to give face to the old man. For this purpose, he went to Taiji Palace specially and played a game of chess with the old man.

"The Zheng family of Xingyang is different from our Longxi Li family. Our family originated from the border and made our fortune through military merit. Although we later lived in Jingzhao and Luoyang for a long time, we are still different from the Shandong gentry. The Zheng family of Xingyang, the Wang family of Taiyuan, and the Cui family of Qinghe are all aristocratic families that have prospered since the Later Han Dynasty. They all relied on famous people who flattered each other, and won the first prize during the change of dynasties, to achieve their current glory for hundreds of years. You can use the Zheng family of Xingyang, but you must also be careful of their double-dealing."

Li Yuan looked at the chess game and said irrelevant words, but these words, which were quite instructive, also surprised Li Yuanhui.

Li Yuanhui saw that his white chess pieces on the chessboard had no chance to survive, so he grabbed a handful of chess pieces and admitted defeat. Then he asked tentatively, "Are you not angry anymore, Master?"

Li Yuan sneered and said, "What's there to be angry about? After all the fighting, in the end, it still has to be handed over to you brothers."

Li Yuanhui thought to himself that at least the old man spoke in a very free and easy manner, but as for what he was thinking in his heart, no one knew.

However, he was still very happy to ease the relationship with the old man, so he often asked the Princess of Qi to bring several of the imperial grandchildren to visit Li Yuan.

After all, they are father and son.

"Compared to the Zheng family of Xingyang, I actually want to get the help of the Cui family of Qinghe and the Li family of Zhaojun. This way it will be much easier to conquer Hebei."

Li Yuanhui helped Li Yuan to stand up while talking to him. The father and son stood up and walked out of the hall.

Li Yuan laughed at him and said, "You are dreaming. Qinghe, Cui, Zhao, Jun, Li, Fan, Yang, and Lu are all surnames from Hebei. You haven't even taken over Hebei yet, so why would you ask for their help?"

Li Yuanhui said: "Cui Huaishen and Cui Bi from the Baimafang of the Qinghe Cui family, Lu Yan and Lu Zhun from the Liaoxifang of the Fanyang Lu family, and people from the Bohai Gao family serve in the Shaanxi East Grand Secretariat and the Qi Wang Palace. Only the Zhaojun Li family has no talents in Luoyang."

Hearing this, Li Yuan put away the smile on his face and said, "You are prepared for a rainy day and have a long-term vision. However, even so, before you lead the army to the north to conquer Hebei, you will only have these people at your disposal, no more."

Li Yuanhui said: "Father is right, so I have recently been planning to recruit Zheng family from Xingyang and the nobles from the Central Plains. Most of the former Korean nobles in Luoyang are good at military affairs, but not good at governing the local area, criminal law, and taxation. The nobles from Yingchuan do have some people who can be used, but after decades of wasting time, I don't know how many people are available in the clans."

As Li Yuan listened to Li Yuanhui talking to him about these plans, he had a much higher opinion of Li Si.

"It seems that you also know that we can't just rely on Jianghuai warriors to conquer the world."

"That's natural. Most of the Jianghuai warriors are from humble backgrounds, brave and good at fighting, and fierce by nature. But if we let them govern the country, there will be chaos. When the world is at peace in the future, we will naturally give them high positions and generous salaries, but we can't let them be officials and govern the people."

The father and son talked a lot, and at least on the surface there seemed to be no more conflicts between them, but Li Yuanhui knew that if the old man had the chance he would definitely try to take back the power.

You should still be filial when you should.

In Liyang, soldiers who had been released were exchanged back in batches, most of whom were from Guanzhong and Hexi Longyou.

When Liu Xuanji selected the elite troops to stay, he adopted a voluntary and induced model. Anyone who was willing to stay in Hebei was granted land.

Therefore, the soldiers whose families were in Guanzhong and who had already formed their positions would naturally not be willing to stay, but many of the Yanzhou troops previously led by Chai Rong remained in Hebei, and some of them even secretly crossed the Yellow River and brought their families over.

Li Yuanhui turned a blind eye to this and did not allow anyone to stop him. As long as he did not run away openly, he would let him go.
However, after the people from Guanzhong arrived, Li Yuanhui saw that he had spent so much grain and could not suffer any loss, so he had to take advantage of it.

Then he discovered that many of these people were his former subordinates, the Xiaoguo Army!

So he kept more than 2,000 of the tens of thousands of captured soldiers in Guanzhong who were willing to stay under his command and formed a separate army, still called the Xiaoguo Army. Xue Wanche and Pei Xingyan were appointed as the left and right commanders. Yang Xianguo, whose troops were killed in the Battle of Baigou, stayed in Luoyang and was appointed as a guard by Li Yuanhui, replacing Xue Wanche. Most of the rest were given food and travel permits to return to Guanzhong.

Of course, a team was also sent to supervise them. After all, these people were captured, and who knows what problems they might have.

Moreover, these people were all young and strong, and they were traveling in groups, which might have a negative impact on local security, so Li Yuanhui did not dare to be careless and sent the guards and the cavalry of the Beiwei Army to travel light and monitor them all the way. At least they could not be allowed to cause trouble to the local area.

Just after the exchange between the two sides was completed, in the twelfth lunar month, Liu Xuanji, who had been awarded the Nine Gifts, mobilized an army of 180,000, set out from Yecheng and marched towards Liyang.

Because there was military rations, and they were all stored in Yongyu City, there was no need to recruit civilians to transport them. Therefore, the army moved very quickly and reached Liyang in just a few days.

The Tang army had been prepared for this. Liu Yuanqing, Shi Yanchao, Han Duo and others stationed in Liyang immediately led more than 7,000 Liyang defenders to abandon the Yellow River and relocated thousands of Liyang households to Baima.

Liu Xuanji immediately appointed Yang Kan and Dongfang Di as the left and right generals, divided his troops into 80,000 troops, and attacked Henei.

Yang Kan and Dongfang Di led the army and they were unstoppable. Huaixian, Jixian, Xiuwu, Zhouxian and other counties in Henei were lost one after another. The Yan army marched straight to Luoyang.

Li Yuanhui led an army of more than 10,000 to Mangshan, guarding the river bridge and confronting the Yan army. They had made preparations to cut the ice after the Yellow River froze to prevent the Yan army from crossing the river and attacking after the river was frozen.

But the Yellow River in the fifth year of Wude was not very friendly to the Tang army. In the summer, the river water rose sharply, and in the winter, the water of the Yellow River became increasingly shallow, so shallow that the water at the shallowest point was just up to the belly of a horse. The river bridge became useless, and the work of breaking ice was even more useless.

In order to avoid being surrounded by the Yan army in Mangshan, Li Yuanhui had to retreat to Jinyong City.

The 80,000-strong Yan army crossed the river to the south, leaning against Mang Mountain in the west and Heqiaoxiazhai in the north, stretching for dozens of miles, with great momentum, and the sound of gongs and drums resounded through the sky and the earth. The momentum was great. However, Liu Xuanji led a large army in the back, but did not cross the river but stayed in Wen County, Henei, to guard the rear.

The Tang army had actually already made arrangements for the various citadels and passes around Luoyang.

Zhu Deyu led 5,000 troops to garrison Luokou Warehouse, where military supplies were gathered, Xu Qiande led 3,000 troops to garrison Gongxian, Xiao Shizhi led 3,000 troops to garrison Hulao, Huang Junhan led 3,000 troops to garrison Yanshi, and Li Yuanhui led more than 10,000 troops to garrison Jinyong City.

In Luoyang, only a few thousand people were left to guard it.

But in order to reassure the people of Luoyang, Li Yuanhui ordered the Luoyang defender He Gui to follow the example of Dong Zhuo and have the army leave the city at night and enter the city during the day. In this way, the people and officials of Luoyang thought that reinforcements were constantly entering Luoyang, so they all felt at ease.

In fact, the garrison in Luoyang consisted of less than 5,000 troops.

At the same time, Li Xuandao, the governor of Yanzhou, Lu Xiang, the governor of Beiyuzhou, Guo Fenghe, the governor of Nanyuzhou, Chen Zhen, the general of the Right Guard, Liu Yuanqing, and Murong Sanzang, the general of the Left Guard, all received military orders from Li Yuanhui and rushed to Luoyang for assistance.

But the reinforcements were on the way, so it was impossible for them to reach the Luoyang battlefield in a short time.

The morale of the Yan army was high, and it was very obvious that they wanted to quickly defeat the Tang army and capture Luoyang before reinforcements arrived.

After careful consideration, Li Yuanhui made a decision that seemed not so rational.

Dugu Ying, the Chief Secretary of King Qi, and Li Qinglian, the Sima of Tiance Palace, both advised Li Yuanhui to hold Jinyong City, consume the morale of the Northern Yan army, and wait for reinforcements to arrive for counterattack.

But this time, the usually steady General Tiance broke with his usual behavior and slammed the table.

"Gather the cavalry and march out of the city to fight."

(End of this chapter)