Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 412 Poetry Expresses Ambition

Xinzhou.

When the noise came, Xue Kui was nervously sitting in the restaurant having a drink with Li Bai.

"Did you hear that, sir?" He lowered the felt hat on his head, covered his face with his hands, and looked out the window. He saw businessmen and common people pouring in from outside the city gate, "They are shouting for war."

"Walk."

Li Bai picked up the sword placed on the table and immediately left the restaurant.

"Sir, where are we going?"

"Look, I didn't pay."

"Ah?" Xue Kui didn't know why, "Then I'll get married."

Before he finished speaking, Li Bai pulled him and strode into the crowd. He turned around and saw that the men who were protecting Li Bai had been stopped by the waiter in the restaurant. They threw a bunch of money and quickly followed him.

They walked against the crowd and walked hard to the south of the city. All they felt along the way was the panic caused by the war. The world had been at peace for a long time, and even cities like Xinzhou that were not too far from the frontier had no memory of the war. , so everyone’s reaction is chaotic and delayed.

When they arrived at the south city gate, the gate was not closed yet. The guards actually wanted to close the door, but unfortunately they had no experience at all. At this time, they had no choice but to shout angrily: "No more squeezing! No more squeezing in, kill!"

If they were not allowed to squeeze into the city, Li Bai would squeeze out. This was by no means an easy task. Xue Kui's boots were quickly stepped off, and his chest seemed to be squeezed flat. For a moment, he felt like he was going to suffocate to death in the crowd.

Finally, they squeezed out of Xinzhou City. After letting out a long sigh of relief, they walked forward for a while. There was a "bang" sound behind them, followed by a cry.

"Let us in!"

That means the city gate has been closed.

Xue Kui couldn't help but said: "Sir, your companions couldn't squeeze out."

"If we are allowed to follow them, how can we be allowed to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy." Li Bai said proudly. He still maintained a sense of audacity and freedom. He adjusted his clothes, hung the long sword back on his waist, and said: " Let’s go.”

"Where to go?"

"Join the army." Li Bai's tone was casual, as if he wanted to change to a restaurant to drink. "A while ago, we did a big thing and helped General Wang of the Yunzhong Army bypass Taiyuan. Oh, I won't tell you the details. I see today's situation, General Wang must have won, I plan to go find him and recommend myself to the Yunzhong army."

"Ah? Sir, you didn't even resign from the Imperial Academy, how could you want to serve in the Yunzhong Army Shogunate?"

"Those who know me tell me that I am worried; those who don't know me tell me what I want."

Xue Kui said ashamedly: "I mean, we don't have armor or horses. If we are in chaos, what if..."

"Aren't you a veteran?"

Xue Kui wanted to say something more, but Li Bai had already walked away, leaving only a bohemian back, which did not look like a man over fifty years old.

Although it sounds like a very risky thing, Li Bai is not reckless. He has already paid attention to the terrain. He knows that there is a Nanshan mountain beside Zhiguan Road, which can be seen in the distance. He led Xue Kui up the mountain, and sure enough he saw dust and smoke coming from the south.

"It's really An Lushan's defeated army. We must kill this beast today!"

"Yun Zhongjun is chasing us!"

Xue Kui was so fascinated by what he saw that he wished he could join the pursuers and join the battle to avenge General Xue Zhi.

Suddenly, he seemed to see the reflection of the armor in his peripheral vision, and a poem even came to his mind, which was the line "The light of the armor opens to the golden scales of the sun."

He squinted his eyes and looked at the woods on the other side of the official road in the southeast.

"There seems to be an ambush." ​​Xue Kui said with some hesitation.

"where?"

Li Bai followed the direction Xue Kui pointed and looked towards the woods. After a while, the sun came out from the clouds. Under the sunlight, sparkling light came out from the gaps in the woods.

Looking back at the official road, Anlu Mountain's defeated army was galloping past the bottom of Nanshan Mountain non-stop for a long time, but the ambush troops did not take action. It can be seen that they were Fan Yang's men and horses.

The officers and soldiers were almost catching up, getting closer and closer to the location of the ambush.

"Come with me!"

Li Bai immediately ran to the top of the mountain.

~~
In the woods, the war horse lying on the ground snorted and tried to stand up.

A palm was placed on its head and rubbed gently, and the war horse was comforted.

Its owner is a middle-aged man with clear-cut cheeks and deep Sichuan lines between his eyebrows, which makes him look deep and resolute. He is Cui Qianyou, the military envoy under An Lushan.

Cui Qianyou seemed a bit withdrawn among Fan Yang's generals. He kept to himself and did not like to talk to others. He didn't seem to have many friends, so even his robes didn't know much about his origins. They could only guess based on his name and conversation that he might have come from a run-down family of the Bolingcui family.

After all, the name "Qianyou" is too big, and most children often can't bear it and don't dare to name it. Cui Qianyou's aura is unstoppable, and his ambition is as big as the universe.

Today, Cui Qianyou was not ordered to set up an ambush. He came to support Anlu Mountain. He happened to hear the soldiers reporting the situation of the battle at Shiling Pass, so he conducted a temporary ambush.

Being able to allow soldiers to enter the woods in an orderly manner under such circumstances shows his commanding ability.

He squatted in the bushes, with only a pair of bright and lively eyes. He saw that after An Lushan's still-organized soldiers and horses rushed past, what came running was the defeated troops of the Yiluohe Army.

In fact, Cui Qianyou has always looked down on Yiluohe. In his eyes, gathering a group of strong men selected from thousands of people and adopting them as adopted sons is not called an army. In his eyes, the army is about the discipline of abiding by orders and the authority of the general to make the soldiers die fearlessly with just one word. The army should be cold.

A group of trash ran past, and behind them, the Yun Zhong Army chased them. The leader was a brave general holding a spear and wearing a full silver helmet. He was very experienced in chasing down defeated soldiers. He only occasionally used his gun to kill people, leading the soldiers. They drove away the Yiluohe army.

"General, that is Wang Rao." Cui Qianyou's general Neng Yuanhao came forward and whispered: "Shall we kill him?"

Cui Qianyou said nothing to show his rejection of Neng Yuanhao's proposal. He had a greater appetite and wanted to annihilate Wang Zhongsi's troops instead of just protecting Anlu Mountain.

The shouts of killing on the official road covered up the noise in the woods. The soldiers of Fan Yang's army had raised their crossbows, bows and arrows, and the sharp arrows were pointed at the soldiers of Yunzhong army.

suddenly.

"Woo——"

The horn sounded with rapid frequency, and Yun Zhongjun stopped advancing.

Cui Qianyou was very surprised and immediately looked towards Wang Ranran. He saw that Wang Ranran had reined in the reins and turned to look in his direction.

"Discovered?"

Cui Qianyou's doubts flashed through his mind, and he ordered without hesitation: "Fire the arrow!"

~~
"Look!"

"Look!"

On the top of Nanshan Mountain, Xue Kui was shirtless and shouting desperately down the mountain. His shouts echoed between heaven and earth.

Beside him, Li Bai was holding a bamboo pole high and waving it vigorously.

The cloth on the bamboo pole was blown out by the wind and whirred.

"Hoo, ho, I can't swing anymore."

"I come!"

Xue Kui's voice was hoarse as he took the bamboo pole from Li Bai and swung it vigorously. Li Bai was so tired that he sat on the rock and wiped the sweat off his face. He accidentally kicked the brush on the ground.

In the depression of the mountain stone, there is the ink he just grinded out using the mountain stone as an inkstone.

"Sir, can they really see it?" Xue Kui asked.

"Yes!" Li Bai gasped, but he hadn't recovered yet.

"I'm afraid it's too far."

Li Bai grinned and said haha: "I know there is a thing in the army called a telescope. They can definitely see it."

"it is good!"

Xue Kui then played harder and harder.

Above his head, written on the fluttering cloth robe, there is only the word "volt" with dragons and phoenixes dancing in it.

~~
In the telescope, the word "volt" flashed past, and Xue Bai recognized Li Bai's handwriting in an instant.

"There's an ambush!" he shouted, and immediately ordered the troops to retreat.

The golden sound spread to the front.

Wang Rao looked towards the woods and immediately realized the danger.

"Fire arrows!"

There were loud shouts in the woods, and at the same time, a rain of arrows immediately hit Yun Zhongjun.

If the soldiers under Wang Jin's command at this time were the soldiers of the Heyuan Army, they would have been able to turn around immediately with the help of their arms and fingers. But when he first came to Yunzhong, his command was definitely not as smooth as before. It was fine when fighting with a favorable wind, but if something unexpected happened, the soldiers would be a little unable to react.

~~
"It's rare to kill a king."

Following Cui Qianyou's order, Neng Yuanhao led his troops out of the woods and rampaged, intending to split the Yunzhong Army into two.

The bushes were trampled down, their branches flying.

Fan Yang's military force was different from the Yiluohe army, which fought independently. They were well-trained, ruthless, and only knew how to obey orders.

They had sufficient troops and were a fresh force. They had also set up an ambush in advance, so they had the upper hand as soon as they came out.

Wang Nanran quickly returned to his horse, retreated with the whole army, and soon fell into siege.

When Cui Ganyou saw this, he looked away, glanced at the battlefield, got on his horse, and prepared to pursue Wang's rare defeat.

He is a very ambitious man and is not satisfied with just defeating Yun Zhongjun.

Even if the ambush was alerted and discovered, he still believed that he could defeat Wang Zhongsi, and furthermore, he would take advantage of the situation to capture Taiyuan City. He helped Anlushan capture Hedong and forced Anlushan to raise troops to rebel.

He, like many people in Fan Yang, has a fanatical obsession with rebellion.

Just after he pulled the reins, Cui Qianyou was suddenly startled. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a scene that surprised him again. He turned around and saw that Wang Ruolan had galloped in front of Neng Yuanhao. He stabbed three times with the spear in his hand like lightning, stabbing two soldiers to death and stabbing Neng Yuanhao's heart mirror heavily.

The breast shield shattered instantly.

With one shot, Neng Yuanhao was knocked off his horse.

Although it was unknown whether anyone was dead, the king's rare bravery shocked the soldiers around him.

"Retreat!" Wang Rao saw that Neng Yuanhao was being protected by others, so he did not pursue him. He only called on his soldiers to take the opportunity to retreat.

Cui Qianyou frowned habitually and personally led his troops to make up for it. In order to defeat the Yunzhong Army and realize their tactical intention of driving them to defeat the enemy.

He could see that all the Yun Zhong Army, including Wang Denan, were exhausted.

If the battle continues, victory will definitely belong to him.

"General, go! I'll cut off the queen!"

However, suddenly a veteran general led his troops to kill and blocked the army with a small number of troops.

This veteran was very experienced and did not like to fight. He protected Yun Zhongjun from the fight, and then retreated while fighting. He simply destroyed Cui Qianyou's tactical intention.

Cui Qianyou sneered slightly and waved his troops to pursue him.

At this time, Yunzhong's army retreated south, but a horse among them came up in the opposite direction, holding a spear, and threw it in the direction of Cui Qianyou without any explanation.

The two sides were too far apart, so it was obviously impossible for the spear to be thrown in front of him. Cui Ganyou didn't care at all. Sure enough, the spear slid out of an arc in the air and began to fall, still more than ten steps away from him.

However, a sudden change occurred.

"boom!"

"General, be careful!" Cui Ganyou felt water splashing on his face, like rain, and then the horse was frightened. He almost fell off the horse. He quickly comforted the horse and finally managed to stabilize it.

But the fear of the soldiers could not be easily stabilized. Just now they clearly saw that a comrade was blown to pieces, and there were two or three people around him who were seriously injured and missing arms, and were wailing on the ground.

The ambush ended up being like this.

Cui Qianyou was so frightened and angry that he ordered his soldiers to continue chasing, regardless of the possibility of another explosion. He whipped several people one after another, and when he looked up, he saw that even the enemy troops behind him were running away.

He then drove his horse forward, grabbed a bow, drew the bow and nocked an arrow himself, and shot an arrow at the veteran's back.

The arrow slammed hard into the veteran's back. The veteran vomited a mouthful of blood and continued to gallop away.

Cui Ganyou dropped his bow, glanced around at the soldiers, and ordered the troops to withdraw.

A pile of corpses was left on the battlefield, and the sand and gravel were stained red with blood. The wounded were groaning, and in the sky there were tired birds returning to the forest and chirping.

~~
On the top of Nanshan Mountain, Li Bai witnessed the battle outside Xinzhou City. He felt regretful and fortunate.

When the dust and smoke on the battlefield cleared, he turned around and went down the mountain. He was in a depressed mood and didn't speak for a long time.

"What are you thinking about, sir?" Xue Kui was not used to Li Bai like this and couldn't help but ask.

"Sad and angry."

Li Bai only answered in two words.

As the sky grew dark, they headed south, from dusk to late night, and were finally surrounded by people in front of a camp.

"Who is coming?!" Several scouts rode around them and asked.

Seeing that Li Bai was silent, Xue Kui had no choice but to report his name and serial number. It's not that he thinks his name is of any use, but he's afraid that if Li Bai's name is too big, he might get into trouble.

Unexpectedly, his name is also somewhat useful.

"He claims to be Xue Kui from Yanmen Pass, go find his brother."

Faintly, he could hear the scout speaking in a low voice, and Xue Kui couldn't help but look forward to it.

After waiting for a while, a horse came running towards me in the darkness.

"Jiro?!"

"Brother!"

Xue Song rushed to Xue Kui, immediately stretched out his hands to hold his head, and looked at him carefully.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"No. Brother, I told you, this is Li..."

"Come with me and see General Yan!"

After entering the camp, they hurried towards a tent and opened the curtain with a swipe, only to see many people standing in the tent.

Yan Weiyue was lying there on his side, muttering something in his mouth.

"Eight thousand Yiluohe in Anlu Mountain were wiped out by us in one battle. There is nothing to regret. It was worth it..."

"General!"

When Xue Kui saw this, he cried sadly, threw himself in front of Yan Weiyue, and said: "The general has received the military order, but he did not invite reinforcements. Please let the general handle it."

It took Yan Weiyue a while to recognize him in the firelight. He smiled happily and said, "I was afraid that I would harm you by transferring you to Daizhou. I can't help your brother."

"At the end of the day, please ask for orders and follow the general to take back Yanmen Pass."

"I can't wait any longer." Yan Weiyue's eyes dimmed again, and he muttered a lot more. Finally, he glanced tiredly outside the tent, and murmured regretfully: "I haven't talked to Xue Bai yet. ah."

"Xue Lang is coming soon." Xue Song responded.

According to some information he heard, the reason why Xue Bai hasn't come over yet seems to be because Wang Zhongsi's condition is not good either. It's hard to tell Yan Weiyue this, lest he worry even more.

Yan Weiyue closed his eyes. Everyone in the tent was worried that he would never wake up again, but they heard him ask a question.

"Xue Kui, you're not bragging. Was that poem really given to me by Xue Lang?"

"Yes, it's true." Xue Kui said quickly.

"I want to talk about that poem." Yan Weiyue whispered to himself.

He joined the army at the age of fifteen and spent his entire life on the frontier. He had seen too much of the blood and fire of war. In his last moments, he wanted to talk about something he really loved - poetry.

Because of guarding the border, his only hobby had been delayed for sixty years. When the time came, it would be great if he could put aside the war and immerse himself in poetry.

"General Yan."

Suddenly someone called in his ear and said, "I'm a little late due to delays in official duties. General, don't blame me."

Yan Weiyue tried his best to open his eyes, and in a daze, he saw a young face, which reminded him of his youth.

"Is it...Xue Lang?"

"Yes, I have heard about the veteran's deeds for a long time." Xue Bai said, "Today I finally have the opportunity to fight the enemy side by side. I am very lucky."

"I want to ask Xue Lang." Yan Weiyue became weaker and weaker, "Is that poem really for me?"

"of course."

"But the sound of trumpets fills the sky...why is it in the autumn colors?"

Xue Bai put his ear close to listen. He thought Yan Weiyue had something important to say, but when he finally heard it clearly, he was startled.

Then, he saw the look in his eyes and immediately understood that this was a very important matter to him.

"Because it was still autumn when I wrote the poem, but it was already spring when I sent it to Yanmen Pass."

There was a smile in Yan Weiyue's eyes.

"I see, I'm afraid Xue Kui is bragging again."

"No." Someone said from the side: "Xue Kui is still a real person."

"Staying in Yanmen Pass all my life, meeting Cui Hao and Xue Bai this time, is enough."

Yan Weiyue muttered and closed his eyes with satisfaction. It seemed that he was not going to open them this time... but he suddenly heard a name in his ears.

"There is also Li Bai. The general would like to meet Li Bai."

"Li Bai's poems are so immortal."

"Li Bai is right in front of you. General, please open your eyes and take a look."

Yan Weiyue didn't believe it, but he still opened his eyes.

He saw a man with three long beards standing there, but he didn't look like Li Bai as he imagined, so he shook his head slightly.

"Today I saw the general killing the enemy." Li Bai said, "Shall I write a poem for the general?"

Yan Weiyue still didn't believe it. His eyelids became heavier and he felt very sleepy, but two lines of poetry fell into his ears.

"The harsh wind blows the frost and the seaweed withers, and the sinews are strong and strong, and the horses are proud."

These two sentences are so-so, not quite like Li Bai.

But the man continued to recite the poem, his tone was gloomy, filled with sadness and anger. Later, the sadness and anger gradually turned into passion, passion and heroism, and gradually reached the point of being radiant.

"The Han family has three hundred thousand soldiers, and the general also leads the prostitutes Huo and Yao."

"The white feathers of meteors are inserted into the waist, and the sword flowers and autumn lotus light come out of the box."

"..."

Yan Weiyue finally opened his eyes and stared at Li Bai's face, his face regained its vitality.

He did not expect that at the last moment of his life, he would see Li Bai write a poem, and write it to him in person, and it was such an ambitious poem.

"The enemy can be destroyed. He can be destroyed by raising his head. He can walk on the intestines of a tiger and touch his blood!"

Li Bai saw the situation of killing enemies on the battlefield today, and he was very excited. At the end of the poem, every word was as tense as a sword.

Yan Weiyue wished he could sit up and read this poem with him.

Poems express his ambitions, and he fulfilled his ambitions with actions throughout his life. However, he had too many emotions in his chest and never expressed them. He wanted to express his ambitions through Li Bai's poems.

So, Li Bai finished the poem and recited it a second time. This time, Yan Weiyue was finally able to follow suit.

Their voices grew louder and louder, until the last line.

"But when the storm is high and the clouds are flying, there are strong warriors guarding all sides!"

"Hahaha!"

Li Bai's depression disappeared, he felt happy and burst out laughing.

"Eight thousand Yiluohe were wiped out in one battle. It was because Hu had no one and the Han Dynasty was prosperous! It is Li Bai's good fortune to meet the generals today. I am very lucky. I should get drunk with the generals before they break up, and think that the generals are celebrating their victory!"

"Bring the wine." Xue Bai looked at the smile on Yan Weiyue's face, and didn't want to spoil their fun, so he made an exception and ordered.

Li Bai was overjoyed, turned to another person in the tent, and said loudly: "There is a view in front of me, and Cui Hao wrote a poem on it. So today I will write a poem first to attract others, and ask Brother Cui to write a masterpiece."

Cui Hao was also surprised to meet Li Bai here tonight, but he never had the chance to meet him. Since Yan Weiyue likes poetry, he is not stingy, and immediately said: "Okay! Today we have a great victory over the enemy, and it's time to celebrate. I will present a ugly poem, and then ask Xue Lang to compose a poem."

Xue Baisui also responded with a smile.

Cui Hao put his hands behind his hands and pondered for a moment, then spoke immediately.

"Young men are courageous and brave enough to regain their knowledge."

"Go out with your sword, and the lonely city will be surrounded..."

After chanting a few words, he was stunned and stopped.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that the smile on Yan Weiyue's face was still there, but it was stiff.

Cui Hao's thoughts immediately became confused.

He thought that he had passed the imperial examination at a young age, and that Meng Lang was frivolous and wasted half of his life in the prosperous age of singing and dancing. Now, the veteran who had guarded the border for Shengshi all his life was gone, and Shengshi seemed to be gone too... He had this premonition.

"Killing people on the Liao River, flying horses and fishing sun to return."

I reluctantly read another sentence, but the poem I had originally planned could no longer be recited.

Cui Hao then bowed to the crowd and said with shame: "Forget it, I have feelings in my heart but cannot express them, Li Bai wrote a poem on it."

There were tears in Xue Kui's eyes. He stretched out his hand and wanted to close Yan Weiyue's eyes, but he couldn't bear it.

He would rather let the old general talk to these poets for a while, so he did not dare to break the atmosphere and giggled twice to cheer for Cui Hao.

"I didn't know poetry was such a good thing before."

~~
The night is deeper.

Xue Bai walked out of the tent and took a deep breath.

He thought to himself that this battle severely damaged An Lushan's private soldiers and defended Taiyuan Mansion. It must be able to prevent the Anshi Rebellion from happening, right?
There are probably two possibilities. One is that Anlushan's vitality was severely damaged and he did not dare to fight back. The most important thing next is to deal with the court's questioning; the other is that Anlushan officially raised his troops after this battle, so instead of It's easy to explain to the court, just fight with all your strength.

But I wonder what An Lushan would choose? He also didn't write poetry, which made it difficult for Xue Bai to figure out his ambition.

(End of this chapter)