Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 408 Crimes other than war
Although the city gate of Shilingguan is narrow, it can just accommodate a carriage. Countless wheels passed by, leaving two deep ruts on the bluestone road in the city cave, which were three inches deep.

From this we may see the frequent trade exchanges between Taiyuan and Xinzhou, Daizhou, Yunzhou, Ningzhou and Shuozhou in the north.

Although a small battle, it blocked the originally busy business travel.

Xue Bai looked at the closed city gate at the end of the rut mark and couldn't help but wonder, is this cessation of trade temporary or will it last for several years? From this small incident, he saw signs of the interruption of the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty, and his heart became heavy.

It was night, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep well. Living on the city tower, one can always hear the whining sound as the mountain wind passes through the gaps in the rammed earth city wall, followed by the heavy footsteps of the patrol soldiers, reminding him of how heavy the armor on his body is.

However, he was too tired, so he lay there with his eyes closed until dawn, when the sound of the horn suddenly woke him up. After walking out of the city tower, the bright sunlight had already shone on the battlements covered with arrow marks, and a black line appeared at the junction of the blue sky and the pale mountains.

That was the arrival of An Lushan's army.

Caught off guard, the rebellion seemed to have occurred.

Xue Bai suddenly realized at this time that the Anshi Rebellion that he was trying to prevent had already appeared before his eyes before he could react, and all he needed was An Lushan's official announcement.

As a result, he stood there in a daze for a long time.

The sergeant guarding him sneered and didn't bother to answer him.

"Shut up. Now that you know what to do, go and get the paperwork approved." Xue Bai said lightly, "Don't let me hear you talking nonsense to others again."

"Xue Lang."

Yang Guanghui was greatly annoyed and felt extremely aggrieved. However, before he could calm down, the horns and war drums blared loudly, and the overwhelming noise came like a mountain. Even the dust on the beams was shaken and fell on the water in the bowl. He was so frightened that he thought it was an earthquake and hurriedly shrank down. Bottom of the table.

With that said, Yang Guanghui retreated, thinking that the more rude Xue Bai's tone was, the more he regarded him as a confidant.

Returning to a small room in the city tower, Yang Guanghui waved his hand to the sergeant guarding him with dignity and said: "Bring the four treasures of the study, I will write official documents for Wang Jieshuai and Prefect Xue."

This sentence is incomprehensible, but the idea is very simple. He believes that Xue Bai is the one who rebelled, and An Lushan is here to quell the rebellion.

"I swear to be loyal to my husband to the death, and I will fight through fire and water without hesitation!" Yang Guanghui responded without hesitation.

~~
"From now on, you are one of your own, so you don't have to stare at me like this."

He was very satisfied with his performance today, like a libertine who captured the heart of a lady with bold words. But he never thought that Xue Bai had the ambition of a tiger and a wolf, how could he have the mentality of a lady?
There is a vicious tiger hidden behind the bead curtain. How can he be moved by a few compliments?

Yang Guanghui was quite confident in his boasting skills. After some words, he felt that he had become Xue Bai's confidant, and he was one of the first people to come to him. In the early Tang Dynasty, he was a minister of the dragon like Changsun Wuji.

Xue Bai's ambitions have always been hidden, as reserved as a lady hiding behind a bead curtain. This is the first time he has heard such unrestrained and exaggerated expressions. It seems that Yang Guangfeng can really praise him with just a few words. As a direct emperor and grandson of the Tang Dynasty.

It is best to be prepared with both hands. If Xue Bai and Wang Zhongsi are defeated, people must know that he surrendered himself to the thieves and was just an excuse. In fact, his heart was with the country.

"Ah."

During the process, the noise outside the city tower was always thunderous, and occasionally soldiers and generals from both sides could be heard clearly accusing each other of rebellion.

"I want to say a few words to Xue Lang." Yang Guanghui politely asked the sergeant who was guarding him to leave, walked to Xue Bai, looked into the distance, and murmured: "An Lushan is here, and he also knows that Lang You know your life experience, right?"

"Ah? I, I, my tooth fell out." Yang Guanghui calmed down a little, stood up and showed the tooth in his hand, saying: "Fan Yang's army is attacking the city, is there such a big movement?"

"Lang Jun." Seeing that Xue Bai didn't speak, Yang Guanghui said again: "Your Majesty dares to guess Lang Jun's plan and force An Lushan to rebel in order to continue to cover up your identity and take the opportunity to gain military power, right?"

"Click."

As a result, his heart began to shake easily just like his teeth. He would not "dedicate himself" to Xue Bai as he said before, saying that he was the son of the deposed prince Li Ying, with no name and no status. Worth a penny.

Someone behind him called him in a very soft voice. Xue Bai turned his head and saw Yang Guanghui walking over with someone escorting him.

"Yang Fuyin?"

"Don't worry, Sir. Your subordinates must be careful in their words and deeds."

Yang Guangdi was not only afraid that the flying arrows would hurt him, but also eager to know how far the war was progressing. He wiped his sweat and asked the sergeant guarding him: "How is the war going?"

Yang Guanghui would rather believe that Xue Bai was the emperor's grandson than dare to face An Lushan's rebellion.

Nervous sweat dripped from the tip of Yang Guangpeng's nose and spread on the bamboo paper. He took a sneak peek and quickly pulled the secret letter into his sleeve when no one was prepared, rolled it into a small section as thick as chopsticks, and stuffed it when he stood up. in the cracks in the wall.

His character and ability may not be good, but his ability to flatter people is very good. Jun drove him, and his words became more explicit and exaggerated.

Glancing up, I saw that the sergeant standing there was illiterate and didn't look at the desk at all. Yang Guanghui rolled his eyes and pretended to continue writing the official document, but secretly took a piece of paper and hid it under the official document to record what he saw and heard in the bandit camp.

After finishing all this, it was already afternoon, and he got three Hu biscuits, a few strips of dried meat, and a bowl of boiling hot water.

In this way, no matter who wins or loses, he will have a backup plan to save his life.

"I found out that Xue Bai was actually the son of Li Ying. He colluded with Gao Lishi and Li Tan to release Wang Zhongsi privately and plotted to gain military power in Hedong..."

Yang Guanghui was overjoyed and hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "I am willing to serve my husband in front of and behind the horse, and do my best to do the work of the dog and horse."

Also brought in was his seal. He quickly followed Xue Bai's instructions and wrote an official document dispatching officials at all levels in Taiyuan Prefecture, and reported An Lushan's rebellion to the court.

Xue Bai no longer knew how to refute his absurd cognition, pointed to the approaching army in the distance, and asked: "If Anlu Mountain breaks Shiling Pass, will you do your best for me?"

With this sound, an old tooth still collapsed.

Yang Guanghui had never eaten such hard biscuits in his life. After chewing hard for a while, he expressed his dissatisfaction. However, he learned that Xue Bai and Wang Zhongsi were also eating the same food, so he had to continue chewing and irritably Pull hard.

"Lang Jun is a man of extraordinary talent and extraordinary human talent. Today, the saint is old, the loyal king is cowardly, and the Qing King is mediocre. None of the emperors and grandsons can compare to Lang Jun. In the future, the Tang Dynasty will be ruled by Lang Jun..."

As for why Xue Bai rebelled? He had actually heard of a secret rumor in the palace city, saying that Xue Bai was the son of the deposed prince Li Ying. The rumor had been proven to be false, but sometimes it seemed so reasonable.

Yang Guangfei was uneasy, thinking that Xue Bai was so calm and calm and had Wang Zhongsi as his assistant, so he wouldn't be unable to defend Guancheng... But what if? In fact, An Lushan obviously had a larger force.

Xue Bai finally looked back at him.

In the panic, he didn't care about the structure of the writing. He just remembered whatever came to his mind.

The sergeant didn't speak to him at all, and showed an increasingly contemptuous expression after hearing this.

"You." Yang Guanghui was about to have a fit, so he held back his temper and said, "I want to see Xue Lang."

Xue Bai was also in the tower, just on the upper floor. Yang Guanghui carefully walked up the creaking steps and saw archers lying in front of the window, with arrows in their baskets densely packed, and Xue Bai was there. in.

"Mr. Lang, be careful."

Yang Guanghui stepped forward and stretched out his hand to tug on Xue Bai's cloak, trying to pull him back.

"What's the matter?"

"I would like to ask how the battle is going so that I can do my best for my husband."

"What's the situation of the battle?"

"An Lushan's army, attack, attack..."

"He dares to try to attack the city." Xue Bai snorted coldly, with a look of disdain in his tone.

Yang Guanghui was stunned for a moment, and finally dared to look out the window, and saw Fan Yang's army arrayed just a stone's throw outside the city. They were just shouting there, and they were not attacking the city at all.

~~
The Hengye army at the forefront was beating drums and trumpets, shouting loudly at the city wall, asking whether the Heavenly Soldiers had rebelled and why they had turned against the Khitans when they were attacking Hedong.

On the high ground behind the Yokoye Army, waiting in formation was a murderous army of soldiers and horses.

Most of these soldiers are Hu people, but there are also Han people. To be precise, they don't care about race at all. They are composed of Turks, Khitans, Xi, Sogdians, Heishui Mohe and other ethnic groups, but they have a common father - Anlu Mountain.

There are eight thousand of them, and each one of them is An Lushan's adopted son. Every time they conduct military exercises in front of An Lushan, the sound of "Ah Ye" resounds loudly, which is very spectacular.

Because they were private soldiers and did not have the designation of the Tang Dynasty army, the name of this army was also named after Anlu Mountain. It was called "Yiluohe", which means "strong man" in Turkic language.

In the name of "strong man", of course everyone is a strong man. They stand proudly in front of Shiling Pass, as if they can destroy the city with only murderous intent.

The leader of Yiluohe is Li Guiren. Li Qie of this caste has names such as "Gui" and "Loyalty, Righteousness, Renxiao", which are often the names given by the court after tribal leaders surrendered. Li Guiren is the Turkic Tongluo tribe. One of the leaders.

"Tongluo" means "leopard" in Turkic language. The Tongluo tribe also has two leaders, one is Abusi who was given the name Li Xianzhong, and the other is Gejie. Now that he was on the run or dead, Li Guiren was naturally in complete control of Yiluohe.

Li Guiren was tall and majestic, with a proud look on his face, and a sense of irritability in his behavior. He has been waiting in front of Shiling Pass all day and has long been impatient.

"Do you think we dare not attack the city?!"

Seeing that the battle did not start for a long time, he finally shouted loudly and drove his horse towards the big tent.

In the tent, An Lushan was being supported by An Qingxu and others, standing there listening to the deserters' detailed account of how the battle at Shiling Pass was defeated.

"After Wang Zhongsi came to kill, General Sun died soon..."

"Pfft." Li Guiren stepped forward and stabbed the deserter who was talking to An Lushan with a stab in his hand.

"Brother, you don't need to listen to his words that shake the morale of the army. We will flatten this city and march into Taiyuan!"

He was able to lead Yiluohe for An Lushan because he and An Lushan were also sworn brothers, and he was probably considered the uncle of Ba Qian's adopted son.

An Lushan was not angry with his sworn brother. He waved his fat hand and said, "Don't worry, Wang Zhongsi is at Shiling Pass."

"I'm not afraid of Wang Zhongsi." Li Guiren said, "I'm just looking forward to a battle with Wang Zhongsi."

An Lushan didn't say anything. He rolled his eyes and looked at Zhang Tongru, indicating that this older and calm staff member would do the talking.

"I believe that General Li will definitely be able to defeat Wang Zhongsi." Zhang Tongru said, "But how much damage will Yiluohe suffer from such a fierce battle? These are all the righteous soldiers selected by the prince. "

"The reason why we are called strong men is that they are not afraid of death." Li Guiren said loudly.

Zhang Tongru quickly raised his hand to appease him and said, "There is a better way. We can kill Wang Zhongsi and conquer the heavenly soldiers without using swords."

Li Guiren frowned, already impatient to listen to the chatter of these counselors. He is a brave man, even if he knows that he can outwit, he still thinks that attacking by force is more enjoyable.

Zhang Tongru talked and analyzed a lot. The general idea was that when the news reached Chang'an, the emperor would definitely think that Wang Zhongsi was the one who rebelled. At that time, there is no need for Fan Yangjun to take action at all, Chang'an will send an envoy to kill Wang Zhongsi, and the post of Hedong Jiedushi will naturally return to Anlu Mountain.

"Based on my understanding of the Chang'an court, I am at least 90% sure of this matter." Zhang Tongru said.

Li Guiren was still dissatisfied and said: "Brother, we have already started fighting, haven't you made up your mind yet? The heroes are willing to risk their lives to rebel against the Tang Dynasty with you, but you still have to wait for the emperor to make the decision for you?" !”

An Lushan had no choice but to comfort him and said: "The heroes are willing to throw their lives away, but I have to cherish their lives. Why should I attack by force if I can get rid of Wang Zhongsi and take Hedong without any harm?"

"With so many people stationed here, where will the food and grass come from?" Li Guiren said, "We have made such a big fuss. How could the Tang court not suspect my brother? They will definitely be alert. Why don't we rebel against the Tang Dynasty now."

In the past, if he had encouraged her like this, the big tent would have been filled with an atmosphere of impatience. But this time it was different. The person standing in front of them was Wang Zhongsi. Everyone knew that if Wang Zhongsi did not die, An Lushan would not dare to rebel, so no one stood up to help.

Instead, an aide named Li Shiyu said: "We don't have enough food and grass, so we might as well send back some of our troops..."

"What?!" Li Guiren was shocked to hear such a bad idea, and he directly scolded: "If there are fewer troops, and the Tang army comes out of the city to attack, will you resist it?!"

If he hadn't understood Li Shiyu's experience, he would have almost thought that Li Shiyu was harboring other small thoughts.

Li Shiyu was a native of Zhaozhou, Changshan County. He was a Jinshi in the 21st year of Kaiyuan. He started as an official with the title of Secretary Sheng Zhengzi and served as Chang'an County Lieutenant and Supervisory Censor. This promotion step shows that he actually plans his official career for high-ranking officials. Unfortunately, he offended Li Linfu and was framed and demoted.

Therefore, Li Shiyu hated the imperial court and served An Lushan from then on. In short, his experience was very similar to Ji Wen.

"All the generals know very well what kind of combat power the Tianbing Army has." Li Shiyu responded, "The reason why the prince was blocked in front of Shiling Pass is because the pass is dangerous. We will send back some soldiers and horses. If the king If Zhongsi really comes out to attack, don’t you generals have confidence?”

"Have."

"In this way, we can not only save fodder and grain, but also make the court more convinced that the rebel is Wang Zhongsi." Li Shiyu said: "We can capture Hedong without a bloody blow."

"fart!"

Li Guiren cursed and saw the silence in the tent, then he looked at Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang, but he did not expect that the two people who were most eager to encourage An Lushan to rebel would not speak today.

He then looked at An Qingxu, hoping that this ambitious young man would take responsibility.

However, An Qingxu actually avoided his gaze and lowered his head.

In the end, An Lushan made the final decision: "Don't be upset. We have already captured Yanmen Pass. Hedong will definitely fall into my hands. It will only be a matter of a few days sooner or later."

Li Guiren still obeyed An Lushan and shook his head angrily, showing a helpless expression.

An Lushan burst out laughing and said: "When I write a letter to the saint to complain, saying that I was ordered to enter the court, but Wang Zhongsi blocked me here. Let you see whether the saint believes more in his adopted son or the adopted son of the imperial concubine. ,Hahaha……"

~~
The troops from both sides faced off at Shiling Pass.

A few days later, as night fell, the north side of Guancheng once again lit up with little fires, like a sky full of stars.

Xue Bai and Wang Zhongsi were walking on the city wall, admiring the night view and discussing military affairs. They felt the weakness in Wang Zhongsi's voice. Xue Bai couldn't help but said: "Commanders should take care of themselves."

"If you take care of yourself, you won't die, or what?" Wang Zhongsi didn't want to talk about this for a long time, and brought the topic back to business, saying: "Looking at the layout of Fan Yangjun's camp, they are secretly reducing the number of soldiers."

"How can you tell?"

"They don't plan to attack by force, so they don't need to have so many soldiers and horses waiting under the city. Besides, the camps are so scattered, which only increases the difficulty of transporting food."

"I see."

Wang Zhongsi said: "It can be seen that An Lushan is confident and is sure that the court will believe that we are the ones who rebelled."

"It looks similar to me," Xue Bai said with a smile.

"If this continues, even if we are not defeated in the war, we will lose the trust of the court." Wang Zhongsi seemed to be thinking of Xiang Yu who committed suicide in Wujiang River, and murmured to himself, "It is a crime other than war."

"Jie Shuai is not someone who feels sorry for himself. There must be a way."

"It's nothing more than repelling An Lushan before the imperial court comes to summon us."

"Okay." Xue Bai said.

"It's difficult. Fan Yang's powerful army is not easy to defeat." Wang Zhongsi squinted his eyes and looked north, saying: "I have to wait for a good opportunity... I hope I can hold on."

Before leaving Chang'an, he had secretly met with two of his old subordinates. With the help of these two people, he might be able to try his best to save Hedong.

~~
There are four main armies in Hedong Road, Tianbing Army, Datong Army, Hengye Army, Kelan Army, as well as garrisons in Xinzhou, Daizhou, and Lanzhou. In addition, there is also an army named "Yunzhong Shouchu" ".

"Shouchuo" and "army" are both the garrison areas of the Tang army. The larger ones are called the army, and the smaller ones are called the Shouchuo. However, the levels are different and there is no superior or subordinate relationship.

There is not even a clear boundary between the two. For example, "Yunzhong Shouchuo Envoy" will also be called "Yunzhong Military Envoy" because there are 7,700 people in Yunzhong Shouchuo's military register, which is more than Kelan. The army's 1,000 men were much more.

In early spring, when the snow on the fortress was about to melt, more than ten cavalrymen came galloping on horseback and rushed to guard the city.

The leader took out a talisman that did not belong to Hedong Road and asked the defenders with a slightly arrogant attitude: "Is Captain Fan here?"

"Here, are you?"

"Didn't you see?" The visitor raised the talisman in his hand again, turned it over twice, and said, "Under the command of Prince Dongping, you and I, Captain Fan, are old acquaintances!"

The guard was literate, so he squinted and saw that one side of the talisman said "Dongping County Prince's Mansion Joins the Army to Record Events", and the other side said "Li Jiba".

This didn't look like a serious object, it was probably a private seal. However, the name of Prince Dongping was very scary. After the defenders reported it, they still opened the city gate, let them in, and led them to see Captain Fan Chang.

Li Jiba was still dissatisfied and said: "Why is it so troublesome this time? I have come to trade goods several times. Can't you find a soldier who recognizes me to come and visit?!"

He is the son of Li Guiren, the leader of Yiluo River, and his character is inevitably domineering.

Soon, Captain Fan Chang came out and led Li Jiba to his residence. He said, "No wonder, there is a new general in Yunzhong. He is very difficult to deal with, so the city gate is a little tighter."

"Wang is rare?" Li Jiba snorted, "How can you not control an outsider from Longyou?"

Fan Chang said: "You don't know something. Wang Sijing, the father of Wang Lan, has always been an old subordinate of Wang Zhongsi. In his early years, he fought in all directions and was stationed in Yunzhong City. In addition, Wang Lan is not only famous in Longyou, but his deeds are also legendary. Arriving at Hedong..."

"I'm not here to hear what you say!" Li Jiba interrupted Fan Chang's nonsense.

The purpose of his visit this time was very simple, to make Yunzhong Shouchuo follow An Lushan in rebellion. This matter had actually progressed in the past two years, but suddenly a Wang Lanlan came.

"I originally thought that you could make Wang rare remain in the army in name only. Did you do it?"

Fan Chang showed hesitation and said: "Most of the soldiers in the army still listen to me, but it is rare for the king to have some strength. If he confronts me head-on, I'm afraid he won't be able to gain favor... Prince Dongping, are you in a hurry? Occupy Taiyuan, The troops are sufficient, right?”

Hearing him ask two questions in a row, Li Jiba immediately frowned in displeasure and said, "If the Lord is not in a hurry, can I just let you do nothing and make no progress?!"

However, after scolding him, he returned to the subject and said: "Before I came, I just received news from the messenger that Wang Zhongsi was guarding Shiling Pass..."

"Wang Zhongsi?" Fan Chang asked in surprise: "Isn't he already dead?"

"Soon." Li Jiba said, "Believe it or not, when the news reaches Chang'an, those idiots in the court must think that Wang Zhongsi is the one who rebelled."

His attitude is different from his grandfather, and he is very optimistic about this matter.

However, while he was talking, he didn't notice that someone had walked into the hall. He turned his back to the door and talked about what would happen after Fan Yang's army occupied Hedong.

Fan Chang sat opposite Li Jiba, with a helpless bitterness in his eyes. He glanced up, lowered his head, and continued to test.

The shadow of the visitor gradually moved forward. The man was holding a long spear, and the tip of the spear was pointed at Li Jiba's neck. After a while, he asked.

"You just said that An Lushan himself is outside Shiling Pass?"

(End of this chapter)