Colorful flags cover the mountains and rivers, and brown dust filled the sky and the earth. Under the dust smoke, Dou Jiande's army, with a total force of more than 110,000, was divided into three teams along the post road. Cavalry riding tall horses rode in front to open the road. The infantry lined up on both sides, and stepped on two roads that were no less solid than the post road on the wasteland grassland. The rear was packed with loads of food, grass and weapons, and the continuous continuous several miles. In the middle was Dou Jiande's central army, with the most distinctive armor, and the middle of the central army were Dou Jiande's imperial chariot and his guards, as well as the civil and military officials of the Daxia court.

Wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, sitting on the exquisite imperial chariot riding by eight white horses, commanding such a large army to command the army in person. Dou Jiande, who was full of energy, certainly felt that he was more glorious and proud. He suddenly laughed loudly on the imperial chariot for no reason. He was so happy that he asked Dou Jiande about his happiness. Dou Jiande replied: "I am laughing at the traitor Chen Yingliang who knew that he personally raised a 300,000 army to attack him in the south, and I don't know what he was going to panic."

"At least, wet my pants. I heard that the traitor was not in good health, and maybe he might faint on the spot!" Dou Jiande's command was also full of flatterers, and there were immediately flatterers who agreed loudly. Hearing this, Dou Jiande laughed loudly, and Xia Ting's civil and military officials laughed out loud. Even Li Mi, who had never liked to participate in such matters, laughing happier than anyone else.

Of course, Li Mi was not laughing at the mortal enemy Chen Sangliang, but his current master, Dou Jiande, the Emperor of Daxia on the imperial chariot of the golden carriage. Li Mi, who had seen him, could see at a glance that the real reason why Dou Jiande laughed for no reason - the mud legs that have been farming for generations, have not received any good education. He has become a overlord in just a few years by chance and luck. He has recently ascended the throne and became emperor, but suddenly it broke out like this. Anyone would be proud and arrogant. He did not imitate Emperor Yang of Sui on his tour with yellow sand mats and colorful silk to wrap trees, which was already the last time Dou Jiande was so clear that he had left his mind.

"It's really a bit like me before."

After laughing, Li Mi couldn't help but mutter softly in her heart, because Li Mi regretted afterwards, and found that she had been so proud that she had also committed the problem of being proud of her at the peak of her life. She refused to adopt the unpleasant words of Pei Renji and others, and listened to the enemy and underestimated her own carelessness, which gave Shichong the opportunity to create a miracle of turning the tables. At the same time, Li Mi also admired her archenemy Chen Sangliang in this regard. Both were from a poor family. No matter when, Chen Sangliang always kept a calm mind, lustful but not greedy, and did not abuse power. After being strong, he was still humble, good at accepting loyal advice from his subordinates, never underestimated the enemy, and never felt nervous!

So Li Mi made up his mind more than once that if he really could make a comeback in the future and regain his glory at his peak, he would have to learn from Chen Sangliang and no longer be the self he used to be and Dou Jiande now!

Dou Jiande sent out his troops on March 28th. In order to avenge the battle of Linfen, and to take advantage of the opportunity to annex the remnants of Wang Shichong and the Central Plains, Dou Jiande moved out almost all his family. The main force of the infantry and cavalry was 110,000, plus the newly attached Li Mi remnants, the total force of the Xia court invested almost nearly 140,000 in the battlefield. Dou Jiande, who became more and more fond of merit, also waved his hand and decided to call the size of the army 300,000, and the number of troops on the books became more than three times the strength of the Sui army, which was only 80,000, and therefore he also took some verbal advantage in publicity.

After Song Zhengben, who opposed Dou Jiande's direct troops to Luoyang, could no longer find any voice in the Xia court oppose Dou Jiande's army heading south by Weijun Jijun. Wherever the army went, all counties and cities were welcomed. Some local people who had received favor from Dou Jiande also burned incense and worshiped him, carrying pots and carrying slurries to wish Dou Jiande's victory and pacify this chaotic world of war, which was as cheap as pigs and dogs. Therefore, the Dou army's advancement speed was very fast. The 110,000 army advanced to the city of Ye County, Weijun in just over three days, and there was only three or four days left to the Yellow River.

However, at this moment, the envoy sent by Wang Xuanying to seek help also brought the news that the Sui army in the Eastern Expedition to the Hulao Pass. Wang Wan and Changsun Anshi, the envoys of Zheng who followed the Dou army south, dared not neglect. They immediately paid homage to Dou Jiande to send troops immediately to help the Hulao Pass defenders resist the Sui army's attack. Li Mi, Dou army general Fan Yuan, Hu Daen and others also suggested sending a cavalry to the south first and rushing to Hulao Pass to participate in the war, to boost the morale of the Hulao Pass and ensure that the road to advance was unobstructed. However, Dou Jiande asked the Ming Dynasty that there were only more than 30,000 Sui troops in the Eastern Expedition to say that "there is no need to send a side army to the south first. My army can reach the Yellow River at most four days, and then it takes another day to cross the river, and then it can wipe out the Chen bandit side army in one fell swoop."

Hearing Dou Jiande's words, Li Mi, who had already figured out Dou Jiande's temperament, immediately closed her mouth and stopped saying a word. Fan Yuan, Hu Daen and others refused to give up, and insisted on asking Dou Jiande to divide the troops quickly. Unfortunately, Dou Jiande bulged his eyes and shouted: "What's the hurry? Can't Hulao keep it for five or six days? Now we will immediately divide the cavalry and go south. When the Chen thief's partial army saw my army flag, he retreated early. If we want to annihilate the partial army and the main force of the Chen thief's army, isn't it much harder to get rid of the tactics of each defeat? Have you never heard of the tactics of each defeat?"

Fan Yuan and others were helpless and shut up, and they also said depressedly in their hearts: "It would be great if Song Zhengben and Wang Fubao were still there. One of them dared to speak out and advised the enemy, and the other was good at rushing and assaulting, and the other was the most suitable pioneer candidate at the moment."

Li Mi refused to say a word in front of Dou Jiande, but when he returned to Wang Bodang, Wang Xuance and other confidants, Li Mi sneered and said: "In the past, Xiang Yu abandoned Guanzhong and returned to Pengcheng. Han Sheng laughed at him as a monkey with a hat, like a macaque with only a hat. Today's sentence is not bad to describe Dou Jiande - he wiped out the Chen thief's partial army in one fell swoop. This sentence is also a pity that Dou Jiande can say! Since Chen thief's partial army dared to bypass Luokoucang and go straight to Hulao Pass, it means that this partial army must have gathered strong generals and elite troops, with strong combat power and no fear of fighting on both sides. Head-on battle, it is still unknown whether Dou Jiande's ten thousand mobs can win. He dared to make crazy words to wipe out the Chen thief's partial army in one fell swoop. It's ridiculous!"

"Mr., since you know very well that this Chen thief's partial army should not be underestimated, why don't you urge Dou Jiande to send cavalry to reinforce Hulao Pass first?" Wang Bodang asked in confusion: "The terrain of Hulao Pass is important. Only by ensuring that the city of Guan is in hand can Dou Jiande's reinforcements be directly driven to the city of Luoyang, causing the biggest trouble for our mortal enemy Chen Yingliang?"

"Do you want your teacher to be cooked to death by Dou Jiande like Han Sheng?" Li Mi asked back with a wry smile, and sighed, "Dou Jiande, a native bun, has succeeded and has no way to listen to any unpleasant words. Although he is also very clear about it? Only by ensuring that Hulao is in hand can you use Dou Jiande's hands to weaken Chen Thief more. But there is no way. Dou Jiande, a common man, cannot listen to his advice, and can only let him go, and he can only pray that Hulao Pass can persist until Dou Jiande's ordinary man arrives and not be attacked by Chen Thief's partial master in advance."

After saying that, Li Mi sneered again: "But it doesn't matter. Anyway, Dou Jiande's ability to rescue Wang Shichong has nothing to do with us. After being blocked by Hulao Pass, he could not reach Luoyang directly. I volunteered to go to the Central Plains counties to organize his old subordinates to help the battle for him. Maybe he has a greater chance of success."

Facts have proved that if Dou Jiande sent cavalry south to reinforce Hulao Pass immediately, the Xia and Zheng coalition should have great hope of protecting Hulao Pass. Dou Jiande received news of the attack on Hulao Pass in the afternoon of the second day of April. The Sui army in the eastern expedition did not rely on their internal help to enter Hulao Pass until the early morning of the fourth day of the first day, and it was not until the fourth day of the first day that it was actually captured Hulao Pass. Therefore, if Dou Jiande could send cavalry south first, the Xia cavalry would advance quickly, regardless of the distance and time, there would be a hope to get to Hulao Pass first and destroy Chen Sangliang's plan to seize the pass.

However, it was a pity that God blessed evil but not good. Dou Jiande only underestimated the enemy a little, and immediately gave Chen Sangliang an opportunity to take advantage of it. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the news that Hulao Pass had fallen was sent to Dou Jiande again. Dou Jiande was stunned and regretted it, but there were all medicines in this world but no regrets. In helplessness, Dou Jiande could only hurriedly summon all civil and military officials to the imperial chariot of the dragon and the phoenix to discuss the next opportunity for advance with everyone.

During the discussion, some people suggested continuing to move south, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Sui army's unstable foothold, and quickly regaining the Hulao Pass and reopening the main road to Luoyang; some people also suggested changing the way westward to attack Linqing Pass, which was far less solid than Hulao Pass, and entering Heyang to force the main force of the Sui army to separate their troops to resist and wait for an opportunity to go to Hedong to enter Hedong. They each had their own reasons, and there was no conclusion in the dispute for a long time. Dou Jiande, who had already regretted that he underestimated the enemy, was shaken for a while and wanted to fight Linqing Pass, but Wang Wan, Changsun Anshi and others kowtowed in front of him and cried, constantly begging him to continue to enter Hulao Pass, first to save Wang Xuanying and Zheng Jun's life-beaten Luokoucang, and then save Luoyang, and shake Dou Jiande's request again.

At the critical moment, Li Mi once again proved his magnanimity and repaying his grievances with kindness is not under the hypocritical hypocrite Chen Sangliang. He stood up and urged Dou Jiande to continue to go straight to Hulao Pass, and said with confidence: "Your Majesty, our army has three advantages to directly take Hulao Pass. The first is to have a great grasp. At present, more than 20,000 troops of Prince Wang Xuanying, the prince of Zheng State, are still persisting in Luokou Cang. We can cooperate with our army to attack the Chen thief army that has not yet established a foothold. Our army's grasp of quickly recapturing Hulao Pass is far greater than that of seizing the customs clearance."

"The second is to ensure that the grain and grass are supplied to the army from Luokou Cang, reduce the money and grain burden of the people of Daxia, and defeat the thieves one by one! Your Majesty said before that if the Chen thieves could be wiped out from the east, it would be very beneficial for our army to destroy the main force of the Chen thieves again. Although the Chen thieves luckily took down Hulao Pass, our hope of defeating the Chen thieves each one still exists. Moreover, the Zheng State army has not yet confirmed whether the Chen thieves are in the Eastern Expedition Army. If the Chen thieves are really in Hulao Pass, then Your Majesty can not only defeat the Chen thieves each one, but also have great hope of capturing the king first to capture the thieves and killing Chen Yingliang's traitor himself!"

"There is a third!" Li Mi paused and bowed to Dou Jiande, saying respectfully: "Your Majesty, I wish you an unlucky word. Even if our army cannot finally take back Hulao Pass, directly entering Hulao Pass will still have more benefits than disadvantages for our army. Because after Your Majesty stationed troops at Hulao Pass, you can immediately block the Chen thief army's way out of Guandong and not give Chen thief a chance to take the opportunity to expand. Then Your Majesty only needs to divide a few partial troops to annex the land of the county and county twelve counties in the southern part of the Yellow River, drink horses and Yangtze River, and then seize Jingchu westward, trap the Chen thief to death in the heart of the Central Plains. Advance can plot against Guanzhong, and retreat can divide the world equally with Chen thief. Isn't that great?"

Li Mi said sweet words to this point, and there is still a possibility of Dou Jiande's continued hesitation? After slapped the dragon throne heavily, Dou Jiande shouted in a decent manner: "Your words are in line with my intentions! I will send an order for the entire army to continue advancing south, cross the Yellow River and go straight to Hulao Pass, and do not give Chen's army a chance to breathe!"

In this way, while the road to advance was strangled by the Sui army, Dou Jiande's army still drove towards Hulao Pass. Wang Wan, Changsun Anshi and other Zheng army envoys were very grateful for this, and once again came to Li Mi with a heavy gift for gratitude for his kindness. He begged Li Mi to continue to persuade Dou Jiande to regain Hulao Pass, save the invasive Luokou Cang and reinforce Luoyang City. Li Mi agreed immediately and accepted the gift of Wang Shichong, who was also a mortal enemy, for the first time.

Seeing that Li Mi finally accepted the precious gift from his own army, Wang Wan and Changsun An Shi were overjoyed and said that they would be more important to ask Li Mi for help in the future. Wang Bodang, Wang Xuance and other confidants were puzzled by this. As soon as Wang Wan and the others left, they immediately asked Li Mi together: "Duke Wei, have you never accepted gifts from Wang Shichong before? Why did you break this example today?"

"We are leaving soon, and we may not be able to go back to Baima to meet Yang Jishan first. There is a shortage of travel expenses and military expenses, so we can only accept them." Li Mi replied calmly.

"We are leaving soon? When?" Wang Bodang was shocked.

Li Mi nodded and said with great ease: "In the past two or three days, after crossing the Yellow River, I went to see Dou Jiande and asked him to allow me to go to Liang Chen and Qiao Peng to recruit old troops to help the war. I took the opportunity to escape and would never return to Dou Jiande's account."

"Duke Wei, is so anxious?" Wang Xuance asked in surprise.

"It must be so urgent." Li Mi sneered and replied: "If I don't hurry up, I might be in danger."

Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance were even more shocked when they heard this. When they asked the reason again, Li Mi smiled and said, "Today I urged Dou Jiande to continue to enter Hulao Pass. It was just nonsense. In order to give me a chance, Dou Jiande could not get it back. If Dou Jiande could not capture him for a long time, he would definitely vent his anger on me, and would definitely dispatch my direct line in the White Horse to participate in the battle. At that time, not only would I be in danger, but my last direct line team would also have heavy casualties. Therefore, I can only escape as soon as possible and cannot continue to stand under the dangerous wall."

Wang Xuance, who wanted to give Li Mi's head to Chen Sangliang as a gift for reunion, refused to give up and asked again: "Duke Wei, do you think Dou Jiande can't get back to Hulao Pass?"

"Of course I can't get it back." Li Mi said with a smile: "What is the terrain of Hulao Pass? Don't you know? The Chen thief army only needs to distribute a little force to easily block Dou Jiande's army, and take the opportunity to free up his hands to clean up Luokoucang Wang Xuanying. When Luokoucang is broken, Dou Jiande will have no chance to take down Hulao Pass. Moreover, Chen thief has another choice, which is to only guard Hulao Pass and ignore Luokoucang. In order to break the city, Dou Jiande's husband will inevitably force Wang Xuanying to send troops to attack Luokoucang. At that time, Chen thief will want to kill Wang Xuanying in the field. It will be even easier for Chen thief to kill Wang Xuanying in the field."

"Mr. Gao Ming, we cannot wait for death in Hulao Pass. We must get out as soon as possible." Wang Bodang nodded quickly, and then asked with some concern: "Mr., but what if Dou Jiande refuses to agree?"

"From Dou Jiande's attitude towards me recently, I should have a lot of hope." Li Mi answered confidently and said with a smile: "And we have another way. Wang Wan and his men have gold, silver and jewelry in their hands, and are anxious to save Wang Shichong. As long as I explain to them clearly the benefits of recruiting old subordinates to participate in the war, they will inevitably pay and work hard to bribe the buns of locals under Dou Jiande's command to help me. With these locals, it is difficult to do so with Dou Jiande's soft ears."

When Wang Bodang heard this, he quickly praised his mentor Gao Ming. Wang Xuance did not say anything, not knowing what he was thinking. Li Mi also said that Wang Xuance was afraid, so he patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, I have this confidence. You are loyal to me. When I make a comeback, I will definitely not treat you badly."

After saying that, Li Mi also selected a few of the most expensive items from the gold and silver jewelry sent by Wang Wan and others, and gave them to Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance in two. After Wang Bodang and Wang Xuance thanked each other, he looked at the precious jewelry in his hand. An amazing idea suddenly flashed through Wang Xuance's heart, and he quickly gritted his teeth and made up his mind...

That night, Dou Jiande's army was stationed in the northern suburbs of Wei County for the night. Wang Xuance found an excuse to leave Li Mi's camp and pretend to wander in the camp. After repeatedly confirming that no one was followed behind him, Wang Xuance quietly slipped to Dou Jiande's back door, indicating his identity and begging to see Dou Jiande. Of course, the guards of the imperial camp refused to report to Wang Xuance, who was the humble official. However, Wang Xuance quickly took out the jewelry that Li Mi gave him during the day and stuffed it into the hands of the back door official, and said respectfully: "General, please be sure to report to Your Majesty, and say that the humble official has a confidential matter of 100,000 urgent. If Your Majesty does not see him, the villain will turn around and leave immediately. If Your Majesty feels that the villain offends his power, he will be beheaded and displayed in public. The villain will never blame you."

For the sake of precious jewelry, Wang Xuance said so seriously and solemnly, and the officials of the Houchang Gate still reported the truth with skepticism. As a result, Dou Jiande, who was ready to fall asleep, was really angry at first and said, "How could anyone see you?" However, after hearing it clearly that it was Li Mi's confidential secretary Wang Xuance requesting Jin to see you, Dou Jiande was still suspicious and immediately issued an order to summon him. In the chaotic times, if Dou Jiande had no such a little vigilance, he would not have lived today and could not have survived.

Soon, Wang Xuance was taken to Dou Jiande's tent. After meeting, Dou Jiande asked Wang Xuance what he wanted to see. Wang Xuance did not answer, but just looked around. Dou Jiande understood and said, "Tell me, this is my confidant guard, and no one will leak the news."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Xuance thanked respectfully and said in great seriousness: "Your Majesty, before reporting a secret matter to you, I would like to agree to you. After listening to the report of Bei Zhi, I will behead and executed immediately!"

"Why?" Dou Jiande was extremely confused.

"Because, a humble position must do unrighteous things!" Wang Xuance kowtowed and said, "If you don't report to Your Majesty, you will be unfaithful. However, a humble position is a surrendered official who has been saved by His Majesty's grace and can enjoy His Majesty's salary and clothing. You should be loyal to Your Majesty. Therefore, the humble position has no choice but to do it. You can only be loyal to Your Majesty first, and then ask Your Majesty to execute the humble position to punish the unrighteous crime of the humble position!"
Chapter completed!