Tibet

Chapter 678 There is no way out

Yan Zhuang regained consciousness for a while and asked again: "Did he ask you to take the message?"

Wang Shaoxuan nodded, "He let go of his humble position, just to let him deliver the message. My wife and children are still hostages in Shangzhou, and he is not afraid of me running away."

"Come on, what are you talking about?" Yan Zhuang asked anxiously.

"He said that his wife and daughter are also in Xiangyang. As long as his wife and daughter are fine, the eldest son will be fine too!"

Yan Zhuang narrowed his eyes and cursed fiercely, "This bastard!"

Despite the scolding, Yan Zhuang was still upset. He paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands, thinking about how to solve this problem that was as big as a mountain.

An Qingxu was easy to persuade, but the key was that his son fell into the hands of Li Ye. Once An Lushan knew about it, he would definitely put the responsibility of retreating on himself. What should he do?
But if Li Ye doesn't let his son go, won't he always hold his hand?

Or simply attack Xiangyang and capture Li Ye's wife and daughter for exchange?
This idea was immediately rejected by Yan Zhuang himself. Whether Xiangyang can be captured is still a big question. Even if it can be captured, if Li Ye's wife and daughter do not escape and wait obediently to be caught by the Yan army, he can exchange them for them. son?How could An Lushan and his son agree?

Yan Zhuang stopped and let out a long sigh. He had no choice.

Yan Zhuang turned to Wang Shaoxuan and said, "I understand your message. Go back and tell Li Ye and ask him to announce that my son is dead. Otherwise, I will not be able to obey!"

Anyway, the handle has been grasped by Li Ye, so stay hidden and don't involve yourself. In any case, keeping your son's life is the most important thing.

At this moment, Yan Zhuang really hated Gao Shang deeply. Only now did he understand Gao Shang's sinister intention of suggesting An Lushan arrange for his son to be the governor of Shangzhou.

Wang Shaoxuan fully understood Yan Zhuang's difficulties. Once An Lushan knew that his son had been arrested, An Lushan would abandon him. Only by announcing that his son had been killed in battle would his status not be shaken.

Wang Shao

Yan Zhuang sighed, "There are some things you don't know. Gao Shang supports An Qinghe, and I support An Qingxu. Seeing that the emperor's weight is still expanding, it is almost close to [-] kilograms. The imperial doctors are helpless. In two years at most, the emperor will lose weight." Bao, Gao Shang will never let me go at this critical moment. He persuaded the emperor to put my son in Shangzhou. I suspect that he is just waiting for this day. I have no choice."

"What about the prince? He should be able to help the prime minister!"

Yan Zhuang shook his head, "He dared to deal with Li Ye in private, which just gave the emperor an excuse to depose the prince. Although An Qingxu wanted to help me, he would never dare to deal with Li Ye in private. He had to go through the emperor. I know it well. , I will be eliminated in the end. If Gao Shang wants to support An Qing and ascend to the throne, he must first cut off An Qingxu’s minions, and that’s me!”

Wang Shaoxuan nodded, "I understand, I will go back and negotiate with Li Ye now!"

"Go quickly! Don't let An Qingxu know."

Wang Shao , allowing him to arrange his son to Shangzhou.

Now Li Ye has taken advantage of him, and he has been controlled by others ever since.

Yan Zhuang kept feeling sorry for himself until late at night, when he suddenly realized that the most urgent task now was to persuade An Qingxu to stop attacking Xiangyang.

Yan Zhuang pondered for a long time. He knew An Qingxu very well and knew how to persuade him.

At this time, the soldiers came back to report, "Prime Minister, Mr. Wang has been sent away!"

"No one saw it!"

"No, I said hello, but the guard on duty didn't ask. I sent him for more than ten miles and watched him ride away."

Yan Zhuang nodded and walked out of the tent to find An Qingxu.

An Qingxu was also drinking alone in the tent. He was also very troubled. The opponent actually had a thousand-stone warship and a powerful arson weapon. How could he cross the river?At this time, the soldiers reported at the door, "Your Highness, the Prime Minister wants to see you!"

"Let him in!"

After a moment, Yan Zhuang walked into the tent quickly and smelled a strong smell of alcohol. He frowned and said, "Your Highness, you have been drinking."

"Stop talking. I know you are not allowed to drink in the army. I was really upset, so I drank once."

Yan Zhuang sat down opposite him and said in deep thought: "Everyone is probably asleep now. I only dare to say some things because of my humble position."

An Qingxu was startled, "What do you want to say, sir?"

"I would like to ask first, does Your Highness think we can cross the river?"

An Qingxu sighed, "I received intelligence last time that Li Ye had seized hundreds of large ships from Li Lin. I didn't understand it. I saw these ten thousand stone ships with my own eyes today. I feel that even if all of our [-]-strong army were forced to cross the river, Everyone will be buried under the water, but if there is any hope, I will not sit here and drink."

"Your Highness is very awake, but His Highness doesn't see deeply enough!"

An Qingxu waved his hand and asked the soldiers to collect the food and drinks. The soldiers served two more cups of hot tea. Then An Qingxu asked, "Does the Prime Minister have anything to tell me?"

Yan Zhuang nodded silently, "Does Your Highness think that this dispatch of troops is really the emperor's intention?"

An Qingxu was startled, "Isn't that what my father meant?"

"The emperor's intention is correct, but someone must have reminded him that the emperor would think of the strategy of surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao."

"I don't quite understand what Xiang Guo means!"

Yan Zhuang sighed and said, "Your Highness also knows that the Emperor wants to make Prince Zheng the Crown Prince, but up to now the Emperor has not deposed His Highness and made Prince Zheng the Crown Prince instead. What does Your Highness think the real reason is?"

"Isn't it because everyone is opposed to it?"

Yan Zhuang sneered and said: "Your Highness is not the eldest son, so why should everyone oppose it? Gao Shang, Ashina Chengqing, Zhang Tongru, and Dugu Wensu all support King Zheng, Shi Siming and Cai Xide also support King Zheng, and Li Guiren , An Shouzhong, Zhang Zhongzhi, An Taiqing, and Sun Xiaozhe are even more loyal to the emperor. They will support whoever the emperor appoints. The only ones who truly support His Highness are Beizhi, Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, Tian Qianzhen, and Li Shihuan. Wait, will His Highness still think that this is the reason for everyone’s opposition?”

It took An Qingxu a while to react, "Then what is the real reason?"

"The real reason is that His Highness has an army of [-] men. The Emperor is afraid of His Highness's [-] men, so he dare not depose the Crown Prince and establish a new crown prince. Once His Highness is deprived of military power, or most of his troops are lost, the Crown Prince's status will not be guaranteed."

"What does that have to do with attacking Xiangyang?"

Yan Zhuang was really annoyed. He knew that An Qingxu was not clear-headed in such a complicated power struggle, so he had to tell him frankly, "I just said that someone encouraged the emperor to send troops to Xiangyang. This person is noble. He is actually killing people with a borrowed knife." , and used the Xiangyang army to completely deplete His Highness’s army. Without the army in hand, what kind of prince can Your Highness be?”

An Qingxu suddenly realized it. He gritted his teeth and said: "What a vicious trick to kill someone with a borrowed knife. If I ascend the throne, the first person I want to kill is Gao Shang!"

"For the same reason, if King Zheng ascends the throne, the first person to be killed will be of low rank."

An Qingxu nodded, "Then what should I do now?"

Yan Zhuang said calmly: "Withdraw your troops now, the Emperor will definitely blame His Highness for not being diligent. Then build the pontoon bridge every day and let the Tang army burn every day, but the army does not move. Just confront the Tang army on the north bank, and kill some horses after the food is exhausted." It’s hard for the emperor to say anything about food.”

An Qingxu nodded happily and said: "I will follow the arrangements of the Prime Minister!"

(End of this chapter)