Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 422 Benefactor
After the battle of Shiling Pass, it was rare that Wang Yunzhong, the envoy of Yunzhong, still stayed in Taiyuan with his troops.

Even though official documents from the imperial court were issued frequently, new military envoys were appointed, and soldiers and horses were ordered to return to their respective stations, in the eyes of the generals, they only felt that the imperial court had lost its head. An Lushan had visibly rebelled. Even if Yun Zhongjun wanted to Those who listened to the imperial court could not go back, so they began to do their own thing, listening to the instructions but not the announcement.

Of course, if such a force is stationed at Shiling Pass and cannot leave, food and grass will be a big problem. Fortunately, after the newly appointed deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, Li Guangbi, arrived, he checked the vacancies of the Tianbing Army and allocated some money and food to the Yunzhong Army.

This was not a long-term solution, but Wang rarely reassured Li Guangbi that this situation would not last long.

Until May, An Lushan's general Cai Xide sent a messenger, saying that he was inviting the king to a banquet, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding. He also said that the court had appointed a new Yanmen Pass guard to ensure that they could return to their base safely.

"Shit."

When Li Guangbi recruited people to Taiyuan for discussion, Wang Rao only responded with these two short and powerful words.

They are all acquaintances of Longyou, and they are not afraid to speak. Li Sheng said: "I think the saint is getting more and more old and confused."

"Shut up!" Li Guangbi's face darkened, "I reminded you not to talk nonsense anymore, you are becoming more and more unruly!"

Li Sheng had no choice but to laugh and apologize with a military salute.

Only then did Li Guangbi let him go and reminded him: "It doesn't matter if I hear these rebellious words. Don't let them fall into the ears of Wang Jieshuai."

After he left, Li Sheng immediately said: "Wang Jieshuai, Wang Chengye must be worthy of it."

"Deputy Commander Li still protects the saints."

Wang Ruolan didn't say much just now. He had been observing Li Guangbi's reaction and thinking about whether he could be included in their group that signed the blood letter. At this time, it seemed that the time had not come yet.

"Let's go back to camp."

They are still occupying the camp where Anlu Mountain attacked Shiling Camp. On the way back to the camp, Wang Rao suddenly talked about the plan that Li Xiu had mentioned at that time. Li Heng wanted to use the fireworks ceremony to change the throne but failed. .

"The last time I saw Xue Lang, it seemed that he no longer supported Prince Zhong?"

"Yes, he seems to support Prince Qing more." Li Sheng responded, "After all, Prince Qing is the crown prince now."

"But this His Highness's prestige and strength are too weak." Wang Ruanlan sighed inexplicably.

Li Sheng could vaguely feel the deep meaning of what he said. It can be seen that after the battle at Shiling Pass, he was disappointed with the saint to the greatest extent.

Before they reached the camp, they encountered a horse in front of them. They were Wang Rare's personal soldiers. After seeing the ceremony, he did not speak immediately. Instead, he got off his horse and stepped forward to whisper.

Wang Rao is worthy of the mentality of a famous general, and the expression on his face is calm and unchanged.

It wasn't until he returned to the camp that he recruited Li Sheng and said in a low voice: "The news I received is that Anlu Mountain has rebelled. The rebels have arrived at Changshan County. Xue Lang has arrived at Tumen Pass. You can lead an army first." Go support him."

Li Sheng asked: "Why have we never heard of such a big move?"

"Maybe the news is blocked in the north, and Yanmen and Feihukou are in the hands of the rebels." Wang Nanran warned: "But the news may not be true. Be careful that An Lushan deceived us. When you go to Jingxing, be careful of being ambushed. "

This is due to the caution of a general when facing news.

Li Sheng said: "Okay, I'll take a few people with me first, dress lightly and be simple, and then report the news to you after confirming the authenticity."

Wang Rao's face became increasingly calm and he said: "Whether the news is true or false, the rebellion has already come."

Li Sheng ordered more than a hundred horses that day and hurried on the starry night. He did not encounter an ambush on the road, but there were shouts of killing in front of Guancheng.

"quick!"

Li Sheng quickly waved his whip, rode his horse to the city, shouted loudly, and asked the Guancheng defenders to open the west gate.

In this state where there was no time to confirm the situation, there was obviously a risk in opening the city rashly, but the city gate was still opened.

Li Sheng didn't see Xue Bai, and he thought that if it was a trap, he would rush into the city and become a turtle in the urn. However, in the face of a formidable enemy, he had the determination to fight without hesitation.

He took off his armor from the back of another war horse and put it on. He strode forward without any trace of fatigue after running around, and seemed extremely energetic.

"Enter the city! Follow me to retreat from the enemy!"

The armor clanked, and as he climbed up the steps, Li Sheng already held the bow in his hand and nocked the arrow. With this choice of weapon, he did not consider the possibility of being ambushed at all.

In front, by the battlements, a heavily armed general was holding a mo knife to chop down the enemy soldiers who had climbed up the ladder, and turned around amid the splash of blood.

The style of this man's armor is a little different from that of ordinary generals. I can't tell what grade he is in, but it is very majestic. He exuded a fierce aura, with scars on his face and a grin that looked particularly wild.

"Jiang Hai!"

As soon as Li Sheng saw Jiang Hai, he knew that Xue Bai had arrived and was immediately overjoyed.

His way of expressing his joy was very simple. Instead of saying hello, he rushed to the wall with his bow, and with a sharp glance, he targeted a rebel captain who thought he was hiding in a safe place.

"Whoosh!"

When they first arrived at Tumen Pass, Li Sheng was still a bit unskilled. The arrow missed slightly and missed the rebel captain's neck. It hit his face. He screamed and fell to the ground, screaming in pain. It seemed extremely tragic.

"Their reinforcements have arrived!" someone from the rebels shouted, their morale plummeting.

After another fierce battle for nearly half an hour, the rebels saw that they could not capture Tumen Pass today, so they ordered their troops to withdraw and retreated like a tide before sunset.

Li Sheng put away his bow and arrows and heard Jiang Hai praise highly: "He is indeed an enemy of ten thousand people!"

Speaking of which, one of them was an unknown soldier and the other was a general. When they both worked for Longyou, they were in two different classes and it was unlikely that they could talk to each other on an equal footing. But now, although Jiang Hai has no rank, he is not afraid of Li Sheng mentally. He dares to laugh in front of him and even steps forward to give him a bear hug.

Jiang Hai couldn't tell where this sense of relaxation came from, but he knew it must be because of following Xue Bai.

Compared with fame and fortune, it is precisely because of this self-achievement that he is loyal to Xue Bai.

Li Sheng also laughed loudly and said, "Quick, take me to see Xue Lang."

"General, come with me... The person in command is Jia Shen, the captain of Tumen County. I'll meet him later."

"it is good."

Li Sheng felt that Jiang Hai was a little different today. He was particularly good at making arrangements and had a unique temperament.

They entered the tower and climbed the steps.

"Prefect, General Li Sheng is here."

When the door was opened, Li Sheng first saw three women dressed in men's clothing. He was stunned. After hearing the introduction, he realized that they were Xue Bai's friend Ji Lanzi, a maid, and a female guard.

The light here is very dim, and the sunlight can only penetrate through the narrow arrow windows.

Li Sheng first took a glance and saw Xue Bai sitting on a stretcher, looking out of the city through the arrow window, with some bandages wrapped around his head and body. He had lost a lot of weight, but his tough and upright temperament had not changed.

"Xue Lang is injured?"

When he asked, Li Sheng was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously shrugged his shoulders, making a small defensive movement.

He recognized that the person in front of him was not Xue Bai at all. He was much smaller in stature, not to mention his appearance and voice.

"Are you...Li Qiniang?"

"Yes."

In fact, Li Tengkong was not pretending to be Xue Bai, but Xue Bai asked her to go first to ensure that she was sent away safely first.

But when she was riding in the team wearing men's clothing, some people who didn't recognize Xue Bai always thought of her as Prefect Xue, so she subconsciously wrapped up the curtain and easily assumed his usual demeanor, hoping to share his burden. Some danger.

"I have met General Li. Xue Lang will arrive soon. Let us tell the general first to send troops to Changshan as soon as possible, in order to put down the rebellion as soon as possible..."

Li Sheng felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

If the troops under his command were mobilized, he would be obliged to do so without blinking an eye. But now that Hedong was asked to send troops, he did not have such great power. News of the rebellion had not yet reached the court. Without an order, he would naturally be unable to send troops.

But it's not completely hopeless. At least he and Wang Jin are the ones who signed the blood letter, and they don't have to wait for the decree to come down.

This matter requires Wang Nan to persuade Li Guangbi...

~~
Xue Bai dreamed of his teacher's calligraphy again. It was a piece of running script, written in one go, but there was sadness and indignation in the words.

"The thieves and ministers are not saved, the isolated city is besieging them, the father is trapped and the son is dead, the nest is overturned..."

He leaned over the yellowed paper and looked at it, and suddenly realized that it was a copy of the "Manuscript of Memorials to Nephew" that he had seen in his previous life, so he realized that it was in a dream.

Realizing this, his brain seemed to be ready to wake up, but his body was still weak.

The calligraphy in the dream seemed to be a picture. It was after the fall of the north. Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Changshan, advocated great righteousness, preached to the counties and counties, and killed the rebel generals, which made the first turning point in quelling the chaos.

However, Hedong did not send troops to rescue Changshan County.

So the rebels surrounded Zhending City, and Yan Gaoqing asked for help from Hedong. After the city was breached, all the people were captured. An Lushan was angry at his betrayal, tied him to a bridge pillar, dismembered him and ate his flesh. Yan Gaoqing cursed endlessly, and his tongue was cut off. He died in the midst of vague curses. His family members were also cut into pieces and died.

Xue Bai wanted to change these, but it was not enough to replace Yan Gaoqing as the prefect of Changshan. He believed that without Yan Gaoqing, there would still be Yuan Luqian.

He had to learn his lesson and ensure that Hedong could send troops before letting Changshan County send a message to quell the rebellion.

"The king is rare..."

In his sleep, he thought that he must go to see Wang Ruanlan, and he tried hard to open his heavy eyelids.

But I heard shouting.

"Little brother, little brother, is he dead?"

After being slapped roughly on the face several times, Xue Bai finally woke up.

When he opened his eyes, what he saw was not Li Tengkong's beautiful face, but a large, rough face.

A peasant woman he didn't know was squatting there and looking at him. She was chewing something in her mouth and speaking in a muffled voice.

"Who is the eldest sister?"

Xue Bai asked in a low voice, vaguely remembering the scene before he fainted.

The peasant woman spat out a lump of black stuff on her hand, then suddenly opened his robe and tried to slap the stuff on his wound.

"Don't."

At this moment, even Xue Bai, who had always been calm, was a little panicked and struggled twice in his weakness.

He knew that there was a wound on his back, and he was afraid that if he got it, he would get infected and die.

But that somewhat disgusting warm feeling was already attached to the wound.

"Don't..." "What are you afraid of, herbal medicine!"

"disinfect……"

"How could it be poisonous? This is how the village has always been treated, and this is how it has been here these past few days. I also know that the people in your government are rich and expensive, and they are not used to these wild herbs, but where can I find expensive medicine for you now? "

Now that it's already like this, there's no point in thinking about it. Xue Bai took a look at the place where he was and saw that it was an ordinary farmhouse.

"Thank you for saving my life, eldest sister. I haven't asked what to call you yet."

"Excuse me, if you ask me, a pariah with a surname of Deng and no name, they all call me 'Siniang'."

"Is there anything to eat?"

Deng Siniang then took out two soil-covered mushrooms and said, "I found them when I was collecting herbs. I'll cook them for you."

Xue Bai looked around and found that they were varieties he had never seen before, so he finally asked.

"Aren't these wild mushrooms poisonous?"

Deng Siniang was lighting a fire, rolling up her sleeves. Her arms were covered with scars. She was always scratched by thorns every time she went up the mountain. She had long been accustomed to it. She had several more scratches today because of these two mushrooms.

Looking at the cautious look on Xue Bai's face, she shook her head and said, "It's good if you have something to eat. The rebels have swept away everything."

She thought, these people in the government are troublesome, afraid of this poison, afraid of that poison. She has been eating whatever she picked since she was a child, and isn't she living a good life? It’s because there are so many officials who don’t understand people’s livelihood that the world has become so chaotic.

After fetching water, cooking mushrooms, and adding some black plants scraped from stones, Deng Siniang finally cooked a bowl of thick soup.

"Eat."

Where Xue Bai looked, he saw the hand holding the broken bowl. The fingers were filled with black dirt, and it was even soaked in the soup.

He just pretended not to see it and drank the hot soup, finally feeling a little stronger.

"You were injured and soaked in the water. When you developed a fever, I made you a medicinal soup to relieve the fever. Every time my children have a fever, they pick this herb..."

Deng Siniang herself didn't realize that the reason why she was willing to save someone was just to find something to do so as not to indulge in the sadness of losing all her family members.

Xue Bai touched the gap in the bowl with his fingers and said thoughtfully, "Can you please take me to Neiqiu County?"

He originally thought that Deng Siniang would not nod, and was already thinking about how to persuade her. Unexpectedly, although she was a village woman, she was very chivalrous and agreed without hesitation.

……

In the past few days, the main force of the rebels has moved south one after another, and the follow-up troops, horses and baggage are still being transported in a steady stream.

The order was not good, and rebel soldiers occasionally robbed villages. Just when they are motivating their morale to rebel, generals often do not punish them severely. This kind of connivance may lead to more burning, killing and looting.

Of course, An Lushan is not a bandit. If he wants to achieve great things, he must win over people's hearts. Therefore, some large cities still maintain order on the surface.

Fortunately, Xue Bai was half-carried by Deng Siniang and reached Neiqiu County safely.

It was his first time here, but he seemed very familiar with the county. He didn't even raise his head and said, "Let's go to the city entrance."

Whether it's flying money or restaurants and tea shops, the businesses he opens are often in the busiest places in the city. The rebels could be wary of the Fenghui Bank's signboard, but they could not ban all business travel.

Deng Siniang has been working very hard recently. She has already experienced a catastrophe, but she still has to take care of such an injured person. When she walked to Neiqiu County, she could no longer hold up and was about to collapse at any time.

She managed to help Xue Bai to the vicinity of Nanshi in Neiqiu County, feeling hungry and tired. Finally fell over.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already lying on a soft and clean bed. Next to her, an old doctor with a long beard was diagnosing her pulse.

Deng Siniang quickly withdrew her hand.

"This lady..."

"Don't tell me, I can't afford medical treatment, and I won't pay for it even if you tell me."

"No money, no money, my boss has already paid for it." The old doctor waved his hand quickly, "The lady is just overworked and depressed. She has encountered something sad recently, right?"

Deng Siniang didn't answer. She realized that she had saved the fake governor. They killed the rebels to avenge her. She had repaid the favor and her worries were over.

Thinking of this, she once again felt that living was meaningless, and she wanted to go down below to find her man and baby.

"Just don't tell me, madam." The old doctor twirled his beard, pondered for a long time, and asked: "Are you... are your menstruation accurate?"

Deng Siniang didn't even care about living anymore. How could she have cared about these things? He didn't even pay any attention to the old doctor.

"Okay, I have to treat another patient. Madam, please take a good rest."

~~
A pair of tweezers were roasted on the fire, then wiped with a cloth soaked in wine. They were slowly inserted into the wound on Xue Bai's back, clamped the arrowhead stuck inside, and pulled it out twice, but failed. come out.

"Bring me the dagger."

The old doctor said, took the dagger and continued to process it.

Xue Bai bit a piece of cloth tightly, and big drops of sweat kept flowing down. Finally, with a "ding" sound, the arrowhead was thrown onto the floor tiles.

Sprinkle medicine on the wound and apply gold wound.

"Okay. Fortunately, the original local method was treated in time, and the injury did not worsen."

"Thank you very much, doctor." Diao Bing said, "Doctor, please stay for two more days."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

The old doctor was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and said, "By the way, that lady..."

"how?"

"It seems like there is a joy."

"What?" Diao Bing was startled and turned to look at Xue Bai, with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He understood for a moment that this was impossible.

Xue Bai recovered from the severe pain and asked, "May I ask what the doctor wants to say?"

"That lady must have encountered something among the rebels."

"The doctor hasn't told her yet, has he?" Xue Bai asked.

"Never."

"That's good." Xue Bai said, "Let her calm down before we talk about this matter."

He didn't know if Deng Siniang could withstand a series of blows, so he planned to have a good talk with her before telling her, using his later generations' ideas to tell her that she could give birth to the child and that the child had done nothing wrong.

"If it hadn't been for Deng Siniang this time, I would have died." Xue Bai said, "I have to repay this life-saving grace."

"Don't worry, Mr. Lang." Diao Bing said, "I have already made arrangements. There will definitely be no shortage."

"That's good." Xue Bai said weakly and asked, "Is there any news?"

"Tumen Pass was blocked by the rebels, and we couldn't find out the situation." Diao Bing said, "But we know that Anlu Mountain has passed the boundary of Changshan County."

"Is the baggage coming?"

"The movement has already begun. When the troops and horses in the rear formation pass, the time will come. It will take less than ten days."

Xue Bai nodded, thinking that he had to go to Hedong as soon as possible.

"Over at Changshan, how is Yuan Changshi?"

"It should be a near miss. It seems that An Lushan sent his staff to arrange the counties in Hebei to keep an eye on Yuan Changshi, but did not touch him."

"Really?" Xue Bai murmured to himself: "Who is planning the troops, horses, grain, grass, and arrows to attack Tumen Pass?"

Diao Bing couldn't answer, so he quickly went to call the spy responsible for gathering information. He was a shopkeeper of Fenghui Bank.

"Back to Langjun, the villain bribed the officials in Neiqiu County. According to them, the rebels had emptied the county warehouse, and several aides from Anlushan Mansion came."

"Do you have a name?"

"The official didn't dare to ask, and he couldn't remember clearly. However, there was a person with a very special name that he remembered. His name was Dugu Wensu."

Xue Bai had heard of this name before. Yan Yan told him about it.

Therefore, he has some understanding of Dugu Wensu.

According to the intelligence analysis provided by Cui at the time, Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu were both ministers of the Qing Dynasty, but were persecuted by Li Linfu and finally lived in Fanyang.

Xue Bai failed to return to Taiyuan smoothly. This was an unplanned change, but he was thinking that maybe he could do more with this.

If we can contact the core figures of the Anlushan shogunate, we may have a greater impact on the battle situation.

This matter is not impossible. He remembers that he still has a hidden clue Yang Qixuan buried among Fan Yang officials.

I also know that Dugu Wensu has a hobby of playing dominoes, so maybe he can give it a try.

While he was deep in thought, one of his men hurried over and said, "Mr. Lang, something happened."

"how?"

Xue Bai was worried that Tumen Pass had been lost, and his expression became serious.

"The peasant woman who came back to rescue Lang Jun, she... was a villain who failed to take good care of her. Please forgive Xue Lang... Lang Jun?"

Xue Bai didn't finish listening and immediately got up and walked to the guest room, even though the movement affected the wounds on his body.

When she opened the door, blood slowly flowed to the threshold. Deng Siniang had a pair of scissors stuck in her throat and had already died.

This incident was so sudden that Xue Bai didn't even have time to explain some of his arrangements for her, so he stood there and stared for a long time as if in a daze.

Deng Siniang just didn't want to accept everything that the war brought to her. She would rather choose to die and not miss the so-called wealthy and peaceful life she was about to have.

As for Xue Bai, he really wanted to repay Deng Siniang and tell her that he was really the governor of Changshan and was not lying to her. He could personally arrange a better future for his benefactor, but he, the governor, failed to protect an ordinary peasant woman under his command.

He has been striving for improvement all his life, but he has never realized what a bad official he is like now.

He asked himself, what is it that he really wants to protect in this chaos?
If we talk about the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, it was due to the decay of the system, the accumulation of contradictions, the fault of the superiors, and various reasons. Xue Bai was willing to admit that he was also an innocent snowflake in this avalanche.

Xue Bai then held his hand and saluted Deng Siniang on the ground. He learned from the painful experience, but he could not be discouraged and had to continue to clean up the mess.

(End of this chapter)