Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 413 Choice
"Cui Qianyou! I will punish your mother!"

In the big tent, Cui Qianyou heard an angry curse as soon as he entered. He turned around and saw that the person scolding him was Wu Lingxun.

Both of them are An Lushan's confidants, but Cui Qianyou has a withdrawn personality and is not as close to An Lushan as Wu Lingxun. This closeness sometimes seemed to translate into some kind of power, which made Wu Lingxun regard himself as an official and yell at the generals at the same level.

Cui Qianyou didn't respond when he was scolded. He had a cold face and showed no anger.

"The prince deliberately feigned defeat, which led to Wang Zhongsi's pursuit." Wu Lingxun then scolded: "You can't even successfully set up an ambush, delaying important events, you are a waste!"

The generals in the tent were all disheveled and disheveled. They looked embarrassed because they had fled for their lives in a hurry when they were defeated. Some of them even had their heartbeats slowed down. He was deeply afraid that An Lushan would be held responsible for the defeat, and he was extremely frightened.

There is a reason for this fear. You must know that the last time An Lushan was defeated by the Khitan, he killed Ge Jie to take the blame. Later, Shi Siming gathered his troops and returned to Fan Yang. He sighed privately, "To behave in society, you must advance and retreat appropriately. If I come back earlier, I may be the one who is killed."

Therefore, seeing Wu Lingxun find a target to attack, people soon started to support him.

"That's right, Cui Qianyou missed the opportunity to fight and ruined Fujun's plan to lure the enemy!"

Amid the buzzing discussion, An Lushan, who had become increasingly irritable in recent years, actually sat there without saying a word. It wasn't until Cui Qianyou sneered and was about to speak back, that he waved his hand and said, "That's enough! Can you blame Cui Lang? Don't let me hear you blaming each other again."

"Yes...well!"

Yang Qixuan was stunned when he heard this conversation. He didn't expect that Ji Wen would guess like this. Thinking about it again, Ji Wen himself is such a person, and what he thinks and sees is naturally the same.

"Guanpi, why did I wrong you?"

When everyone looked at it, the soldier's bloody palm was spread out, and a heart was displayed in front of them, and it actually seemed to be beating slightly.

He was hanging at the camp gate, his empty body swinging in the wind like an eaves bell.

Cui Qianyou didn't say anything after being scolded just now, but he didn't say anything when faced with An Lushan's relief, and still stood there with a sullen face.

Jiwen couldn't believe it and was dumbfounded.

Yang Qixuan didn't notice what order was given just now. His heart was anxious and his armpits were sweating. After waiting for a while, I saw the soldier running back with his hands full of blood.

~~
The wind blew, and Ji Wen turned to look south.

"despair."

"That's not right." Ji Wen suddenly exclaimed.

"Who brought the food yesterday?"

He guessed what was going on, then pointed at Wu Lingxun and shouted: "You found someone to perjury, don't think I don't know! There are also treacherous ministers around the emperor!"

"not me!"

"Chicken tongue plague, I've seen that you are not the same as us!"

"I'm not. Mr. Fu, please listen to my explanation."

"Ji Wen! You are indeed a spy sent by Yang Guozhong!"

It is easy to apologize but difficult to take responsibility. Seeing that he could not blame Cui Qianyou, Wu Lingxun glanced at the tent and still did not see Li Guiren. The general Yiluohe who should bear the greatest responsibility might have died in the rebellion.

If someone saw his nervous look, they would inevitably become suspicious. But in this tent, there were so many advisers and fierce generals as rain, no one looked at him at all.

Ji Wen quickly opened his mouth to defend, saying that he would never collude with Wang Zhongsi, but it was better that he didn't speak, but when he did, his stench offended others.

Amidst the noise, no one noticed that someone was trying to shrink his body and hide behind An Shouzhong and An Qingxu. That was Yang Qixuan, who was lowering his head and glancing at Ji Wen with furtive eyes.

Including Ji Wen, he was also very active, helping to recall and analyze last night's battle, and worked hard to reach a consensus with everyone. However, suddenly, someone said something that shocked and frightened Ji Wen.

"..."

His strong aura was revealed at this time, and he was not afraid of being cold or embarrassed. After a while, An Lushan felt a little embarrassed. Because Cui Qianyou was a talented and useful general and could not be killed, he had no choice but to laugh twice, pointed at Wu Lingxun and said: "Quickly apologize to Cui Lang."

He was very charismatic. Once he raised a question, the generals in the tent would echo him and discuss it endlessly.

"what?"

"Did Wang Rao come with the food transport team?"

Blood flowed from his stomach and dripped down his crotch.

Yang Qixuan's heart was lifted immediately. He took a peek and saw that Ji Wen had twisted his neck and looked towards him. The two looked at each other. He wanted to hide, but it was too late. Ji Wen opened his mouth and shouted.

A soldier had already covered Ji Wen's mouth and dragged him out.

Yang Qixuan was horrified and wanted to die. His vision went dark and he almost fell over.

Ji Wen had wronged others all his life, and he was so anxious that he was wronged. He simply knelt down in front of An Lushan and shouted: "Master Fu, do you want me to cut my heart out and show it to you? I really didn't collude with the king." rare."

"Master Fu, it's rare for the king to suddenly come out from behind. I find it very strange."

He felt relieved and ashamed of Ji Wen.

He was still able to accept his defeat to Wang Zhongsi. He put on a relieved smile on his fat face and said, "Cui Lang, don't pay attention to them. They are all rough people and they speak without restraint."

"Hahaha." An Lushan showed his naive smile again and asked, "Do you think Ji Wen's heart is loyal or not?"

"Master Fu, please take a look."

An Lushan had a deep relationship with him. Seeing that his expression was sincere and not fake, he couldn't help but become suspicious.

Li Guiren raised his head and saw a pair of soles, so he took two steps back, only to see that the dead person was Ji Wen.

However, soldiers soon came back to report that Wang Hao's Yunzhong Army followed Ji Wen's team to Shiling Pass with a military order to transport grain.

"Yes, send people to check at various levels."

He was stunned for a moment, thinking that if he came back earlier, he would definitely be the one killed.

"General Lee."

Li Guiren was hesitating whether to return to camp when he suddenly heard a call. Turning around to look, it turned out to be An Qingxu.

An Qingxu walked quickly to the camp gate and lowered his voice: "General, don't worry. This battle was because Ji Wen colluded with Wang Hao and launched a sneak attack on Yiluohe. The general is not to blame. I have already explained it clearly to my grandfather."

Li Guiren felt a little relieved when he saw that he was still trying to please and win over him.

"What is more important right now is not to pursue the blame. It is that the matter has come to this, and it is time to decisively raise troops." An Qingxu said, "We are ready to persuade Grandpa."

"The war has already started, brother, are you still hesitating?"

Li Guiren was very surprised. In his opinion, they were already fighting each other, which was equivalent to An Lushan rebelling, but they were still discussing this topic.

An Qingxu also frowned and said slowly: "I still want to wait and see if the court believes that he has rebelled or that Wang Zhongsi has rebelled."

"What's the point of waiting?"

Li Guiren walked into the big tent and unexpectedly found that what filled the big tent was no longer the shadow of defeat, but a kind of excitement and restlessness.

~~
"Reverse it!"

"Let's just send troops, march into Chang'an, and seize the throne!"

"Your Majesty, make up your mind!"

In this manic atmosphere, An Lushan, who was sitting in the main seat, was very patient.

He has been taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of these subordinates against the Tang Dynasty, promising them better prospects, and has come step by step to where he is today. But now he is the king of Dongping County, and he has become the one who is least willing to take risks.

"You don't know the saint, but I know him." An Lushan could not refuse to rebel, waving his hands and saying: "Since we can't defeat Wang Zhongsi, we should go back to Fan Yang and wait for the saint's order to get rid of him."

"We have already raised our troops, how can there be any reason to shrink back?!"

"Calm down and don't be impatient." Zhang Tongru had no choice but to stand up and said: "What the Lord Fu said is a truly wise move. It is precisely because our established strategy is right. Wang Zhongsi was anxious and took the risk of a sneak attack. Although he preached He won by luck, but will this change the saint's mind? The saint will still kill him. We just need to wait and see what happens. On the contrary, it would be a big mistake if we lose our sense of proportion due to a small defeat and rush to raise our troops. How wrong.”

"Zhang Tongru, do you still have the nerve to speak?! If it weren't for your crooked idea, we would have taken Taiyuan long ago!"

Zhang Tongru looked bitter and thought to himself, the facts proved that these generals were no match for Wang Zhongsi, which showed that his method was correct. However, these people were more noisy. When doing big things, they were most afraid of the excitement of the crowd. Follow blindly.

He looked at Gao Shang, Yan Zhuang, Ping Lai and others, knowing that they could see the situation clearly, and hoped that they would say a few words. However, these people are bent on rebellion and know that this is not a good opportunity, but they still keep silent.

An Lushan had no choice but to slam the table and shouted: "Shut up! Before I even raised the flag, my Eight Thousand Yiluohe was gone. There is nothing else to say. I have made up my mind to go back to Fanyang to rest!"

A pot of water that was about to boil was temporarily suppressed by his lid.

An Qingxu was so disappointed that he wanted to rebel soon. He was about to persuade An Lushan again, but Pingli gave him a hand, shook his head, and said something in his ear.

"Er Lang, don't be anxious. It's not a bad thing to go back to Fan Yang..."

After hearing this, An Qingxu raised his eyebrows and nodded.

~~
Shiling Pass.

Yang Guanghui looked at the soldiers and horses under Guancheng, as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

The situation before him was that if he did not open the city gate and let Wang Zhongsi in, the enemy might attack easily; but if he opened the city gate, he did not think he could successfully capture Wang Zhongsi and fulfill the saint's instructions.

While he was struggling, a general drove his horse to a place under the city wall.

"Prefect, be careful." Someone immediately exclaimed on the top of the city: "That's Li Sheng of Longyou!"

Yang Guanghui still didn't know what this sentence meant, but with a "swish", an arrow was nailed to the battlement in front of him. He was so frightened that he fell into the arms of two soldiers. When he took a closer look, he saw the shaking arrow. There was a letter tied to it.

Unfolded, it was Xue Bai's handwriting, inviting him to talk privately.

Yang Guanghui thought about what he had to talk about with this rebel. Then he thought about Xue Bai's life experience and his relationship with Gao Lishi and Li Tan in the court, and he hesitated whether he really wanted to form a relationship with such a character. hatred.

"Write a reply," he thought to himself.

At this time, there was another movement on the official road to the south, and soon a soldier came to report: "Yin, the saint's decree has arrived."

……

To the north of Shiling Pass, Xue Bai was stationed on horseback looking at Guancheng.

He held up a telescope and could see Yang Guanghui's general reaction.

Things are certainly very tricky now that they are at this point. Fortunately, Yang Guanghui is a weak opponent, and Xue Bai is confident to convince him and continue to "defend" Taiyuan. As for the court, it depends on how Gao Lishi turns around.

In sight, Yang Guanghui opened the letter, and sure enough he didn't tear it up. He walked back and forth for a while and left the city. But unexpectedly, after a while, the city gate slowly opened.

"Huh?" "Yang Guanghui is so bold." Li Sheng was also surprised, "Aren't you afraid that we will kill him?"

Xue Bai thought for a moment and said, "It's not Yang Guanghui."

Following these words, someone drove their horses out of Shiling Pass.

The light in the cave was poor, so we could only see this man wearing light armor, tall and straight. His horse was very slow, and he looked very calm and calm, giving people a strong sense of oppression.

It wasn't until he came into the sunshine that Xue Bai saw his appearance clearly. He was a handsome man in his forties, with bright eyes, a calm and strong temperament, and no anger or authority.

He was not afraid of the soldiers arrayed outside the city, and drove his horse to within a stone's throw. He reined in the horse only ten steps away from Xue Bai, opened his mouth, and shouted in a clear voice.

"Axun! How about coming up and meeting?!"

Ah Xun is Wang Zhongsi's nickname, and this man is obviously Wang Zhongsi's old friend.

Xue Bai then kicked the horse's belly and drove the horse forward.

"Xue Bai, the prefect of Changshan, was fortunate enough to accompany Wang Jieshuai to resist the rebels. May I ask who you are?"

"Jinwu General Li Xian."

"I've admired you for a long time."

Xue Bai had indeed admired Li Xian for a long time and knew that he was a very important figure.

First of all, Li Xian's life experience is unusual. His great-grandfather was Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, his great-grandfather was Li Ke, King of Wu, and his father was Li Yi, the former Jiedushi of Shuofang and Hedong towns, and the king of Xin'an who had the most military exploits during the Kaiyuan period.

Nowadays, almost all the major foreign enemies of the Tang Dynasty, including the Turks, Khitans, Xi, and Tubo, were defeated by Li Yi. Shibao City was recovered by him, and the Khitans and Xi were conquered by him. Unfortunately, his successors failed to continue his military exploits. , lost Shibao City, rebelled against Li Huaixiu and Li Yanchong, and a series of subsequent incidents occurred.

Li Yi is not only the highest martial arts master in the clan, but also a good teacher. His three sons, Li Xian, Li Yi, and Li Xian, are all famous sages today.

When Li Xian was young, he became famous in Chang'an and went to practice Buddhism. Later, due to various reasons, he became an official and served the country. Over the years, he has been working in various places, and Xue Bai and he met for the first time today.

"A Xun doesn't want to come see me?" Li Xian glanced at Xue Bai and then scanned the troops in front again.

"Wang Jieshuai was injured and is recuperating." Xue Bai said, "General Li asked me the same thing."

"Alright."

Li Xian actually got off his horse, raised his hand, and asked Xue Bai to take him to the tent to talk.

This move frightened Yang Guanghui who was behind him. He waved repeatedly, hoping that the imperial envoy sent by the saint would pay attention to his own safety. However, Li Xian didn't see it at all, and Yang Guanghui did not dare to step forward and was so anxious that he stamped his feet.

~~
After entering the tent, Li Xian saw that there was no one around, so he let out a sigh and said directly, "Do you know that what you are doing is tantamount to treason?"

Xue Bai asked back: "Does General Li know that An Lushan is going to rebel?"

Li Xian looked him up and down and said, "In the eyes of the saint, you are the ones who rebelled."

From the first half of this sentence, Xue Bai could already feel his attitude and asked: "Why is General Li here?"

"you guess."

Xue Bai pondered and asked, "Is it related to General Gao?"

"Not bad." Li Xian said: "General Gao persuaded Yang Guozhong to recommend him and let me clean up this mess in Hedong."

"That's great." Xue Bai did not hide his surprise, and even deliberately exaggerated his expression of surprise, saying, "This is better than I expected."

"What do you expect the situation to be like?" Li Xian asked. He wanted to know what Xue Bai would have done if he had not come. Maybe he and Wang Zhongsi would occupy the east of the river and no longer listen to the imperial decree?

"I am ready to die unjustly." Xue Bai replied: "But it doesn't matter if Wang Jieshuai and I die, lest no one dares to remind the saint again, when the rebels start an army, all lives will be ruined, and the country will be destroyed."

Li Xian did not answer immediately, but only looked at Xue Bai, using silence to exert psychological pressure, but Xue Bai had been tested for a long time and showed a magnanimous look, as if he had no selfish intentions.

"We still can't persuade the saint." After a while, Li Xian finally showed his cards and said: "I want the saint to believe that it was An Lushan who rebelled. That's a story for later. The more important thing at the moment is to calm down the saint and keep Wang Zhongsi." , to protect you, and to protect Hedong from falling into An Lushan’s hands.”

Xue Bai asked: "How to do it?"

"First of all, we must let the saint know that his will can still be implemented to the letter in Hedong." Li Xian emphasized: "This matter is very important. Only by obeying the order can you explain that you have not rebelled." Accused An Lushan of being traitorous."

"After saying so much, the general still wants to take away Wang Jieshuai?"

"I will not harm Ah Xun." Li Xian said: "Your situation is also very dangerous. The threat from Wang Zhongsi is too great at the moment, and the saint has not noticed you yet. Only by taking him away can I try to save you."

Xue Bai shook his head and said: "I don't believe that he can save his life after returning to Beijing. And once he dies, Hedong will still lose control."

"General Gao recommended me because he believed in me." Li Xian asked, "What about you? Do you believe him or not?"

Xue Bai said: "The saint's will is opposite to the future of the country. How is it possible for the general to coordinate the two?"

Li Xian said: "What you mean is... that the saint has rebelled?"

He was frightening Xue Bai, using a rebellious word to force Xue Bai so that he could no longer stop him from taking away Wang Zhongsi.

However, Xue Baizhen answered.

"Yes."

Li Xian frowned.

His small action failed to stop Xue Bai's rebellion.

"The whole world knows An Lushan's heart, but the saint always wants to protect him. This is a betrayal of the people of Shengli and a betrayal of the ancestral society."

"You are so brave!"

"General, you belong to the Li clan! Then I dare to ask General, if you inherit the blood of Taizong and are worshiped by the people, do you have the responsibility to contribute to the country and the ancestral temple?!"

"That's enough! It's not your turn to teach me!" Li Xian yelled angrily.

He just felt that Xue Bai was really too courageous. No wonder he could instigate Wang Zhongsi to go against the will of the Holy Spirit. As a result, this errand will be difficult to handle.

Li Xian did not forget that he came to the camp alone.

"Yanjian."

Suddenly someone called Li Xian's cousin outside the tent. Li Xian heard that the voice sounded like Wang Zhongsi's, but was a little different. He turned around and saw Wang Zhongsi being carried in.

"Axun, how did you... become like this?"

"I'm old and sick." Wang Zhongsi raised his hand, held Li Xian's hand, and murmured: "Seeing you reminds me of the time when I studied the art of war with your grandfather."

"What are you doing?"

"I heard someone ask your grandpa before, why go to war in the north and south, why not keep a low profile and bide your time. He said that everyone is thinking of themselves, and there is no shortage of him. When the Tang Dynasty is handed down to this generation, someone will have to bear the responsibility... "

"I remember, I remember." Li Xian said, "Stop talking about it, I will take you back to Beijing to intercede with the saint, okay?"

Wang Zhongsi turned his head to look at Xue Bai and saw Xue Bai shaking his head.

"Xue Lang, let me talk to Yanjian alone."

Xue Bai reminded again: "Commander Ji should know that if you are not here, Hedong still cannot be defended."

After that, he left the tent, leaving Wang Zhongsi and Li Xian space to talk alone.

In the tent, Wang Zhongsi whispered: "You have also seen my situation. It doesn't matter if you can't save me, but you have to save Xue Bai."

Li Xian had been watching Xue Bai's leaving figure, but now he turned around and said, "He is younger and sharper than I thought."

"I plan to leave everything to him." Wang Zhongsi murmured: "He can also bear it."

~~
Xue Bai came out of the tent and soon found Wang Nan and Li Sheng.

Compared with Wang Zhongsi, who was raised by Li Longji since childhood, these two generals were bolder in some aspects.

"Li Xian wants to take Wang Jieshuai away." Xue Bai said, "If we want to keep Hedong, we can only rely on Wang Jieshuai's prestige."

After saying that, he turned around and looked at the city gate of Shilingguan. The city gate was still open, and a group of officials were still waiting there anxiously for Li Xian.

Xue Bai dared to detain Li Xian, then forcibly entered Shiling Pass and took control of Taiyuan Mansion. He would rather bear the name of rebellion, but also want to keep Wang Zhongsi and Taiyuan Mansion. This is a bet that the seemingly wise and powerful Li Longji will finally compromise.

There was a voice in his heart that encouraged him to boldly offend Li Longji. The old and dim emperor was no longer able to deal with major disturbances. If Wang Zhongsi could adopt a tough attitude, he thought Li Longji would give in and send someone to appease him.

After a year or two of appeasement, he can better contain An Lushan.

This is the agreed plan.

However, Wang Ruolan changed his attitude today and said: "Tan Ma Tan has found out that An Lushan has retreated to Fan Yang."

Xue Bai knew what this meant. Li Longji must have issued an imperial edict, ordering An Lushan to return to Fanyang and not to move rashly. But until now, An Lushan was still playing the role of an obedient minister.

"Where is Yanmen Pass?"

"It hasn't been found yet."

"I bet that An Lushan cannot abandon Yanmen Pass. Only by occupying Yanmen can he isolate Shuofang and Hedong. And returning to Fan Yang does not mean that he has no ambition." Xue Bai said: "On the contrary, returning to Fan Yang will make it easier to raise troops."

His words reminded Wang Nan and Li Sheng that An Lushan's trip was to occupy Hedong. If he failed to occupy it, he should not have started an uprising directly in Hedong. That was a sign of hot-headedness.

In other words, even if An Lushan wants to cause trouble, he will return to Fan Yang first.

Li Sheng's mind moved and he thought of something. Before he could open his mouth, Xue Bai waved his hand, still unwilling to let Wang Zhongsi return to Beijing.

"We don't have much time, and we can't be weak at this time."

Of course Wang Jieshuai is not a weak person, on the contrary, he has a harder heart than Xue Bai, saying: "I understand what you mean, but Wang Jieshuai just talked to us, and he wants to use himself to fight for more opportunities for us. "

Xue Bai didn't understand and frowned: "What does this mean?"

"Jie Shuai is willing to return to Chang'an to see the saint for the last time." Wang Nan said: "He hopes to leave the unfinished business to you."

"I?"

Xue Bai thought he had heard wrongly. In terms of military exploits and official positions, he was not as good as Wang Jin.

Wang Nan said: "I have discussed it with Li Sheng, and we also hope to keep you first..."

(End of this chapter)