Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 428 Leader
Beihai County.

This is in the east of Qingzhou, Shandong, in the area of ​​Weifang and Laizhou, on the edge of the Bohai Sea.

In the fifth year of Tianbao, Li Yong served as the governor of Beihai and was called "Li Beihai". When the Du Youlin case broke out, Li Yong was almost implicated by Liu Ji. Later, because of Xue Bai's relationship, the case was hastily settled. However, Li Yong was old and returned to his hometown after serving as an official within two years. Today, Helan Jinming is the prefect of Beihai.

The Helan family came from Xianbei and became Chinese very early. They were relatives as far back as the Northern Wei Dynasty, and they are still called "noble" today. Like the Xue family, their family had many handsome men and beauties, and many married into the imperial family. Helan Jin's ancestor was related to Wu Zetian. There was a famous person in his ancestors named Helan Minzhi, who was famous for his "young beauty".

Helan was forty-six years old when he entered the Ming Dynasty. He had a good appearance. He was handsome and handsome when he was young, but now he is elegant and graceful. He was also very talented and learned. He was awarded Jinshi at the age of twenty. He wrote good poems, was ancient and elegant, and was elegant.

Such a person would naturally look down on a bastard like An Lushan. Although An Lushan's army passed through the border, Helan Jinming was forced by the situation and immediately surrendered. However, he knew that the Tang Dynasty was powerful and the saints were wise and powerful. Sooner or later, the rebellion would be put down. He was worried about this and was deeply afraid of the imperial court after the rebellion was put down. of liquidation.

Two days ago, he received a message from Yuan Luqian of Changshan County. He was willing to respond, but he was worried that the time had not come and the court had not had time to send troops.

This matter is really difficult to grasp.

"Ugh."

It was a hot day. Helan Jinming was wearing a plain gauze singlet and wooden clogs, sitting in the lobby and thinking.

"Brother, there is another message!"

His younger brother Helan Zhijia hurried from the front yard, holding two rolls of paper, and unfolded one of them in front of him.

Helan Jinming looked at it intently, and the first thing he noticed was the handwriting. It was an extremely upright regular script that did not hide the murderous spirit in the strokes. The iron strokes and silver hooks were majestic.

"Good words."

Looking at the content again, it was reported by Xue Bai, the prefect of Changshan, that he had killed the rebel generals Li Qincuo and Gao Miao, and brought tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Hedong. He defeated the rebel general Cai Xide at Jingxing and beheaded 1,300 people. Today, we are sending a message to the twenty-four counties in Hebei Province to promote righteousness.

Compared with Yuan Luqian's impassioned letter, Xue Bai's letter contained few words but was very powerful in content.

Helan Jinming was moved, stood up quickly, and said, "Has the imperial army arrived?"

Not long ago, he was afraid of rising too early, but now he was worried that it would be too late to initiate justice anyway.

"It's not mentioned in the memorandum, but Yuan Luqian said that the imperial court has appointed the prince as generalissimo and sent 300,000 troops."

"What Yuan Luqian said doesn't count." Helan Jinming frowned and said to himself, "Why didn't Xue Bai mention it?"

"Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Pingyuan, has also advocated justice. Brother, look at it."

Helan Zhijia sent another message and told the latest news.

"Not only Changshan, it is said that Pingyuan County is also very powerful. There were originally 3,000 Jingsai Army soldiers there. Yan Gaoqing recruited 10,000 more soldiers, appointed Li Zejiao, Diao Wansui and other generals, and gave them a big reward at Ximen. Soldiers and horses, morale is high.”

"What do you want to do?" Helan Jinming asked.

"We also respond!" Helan Zhijia said: "Yan Gaoqing was so impatient when he first arrived in Pingyuan. It must be because he is related to Xue Bai by marriage, has connections in the court, and is well-informed."

Helan Jinming nodded immediately after hearing this and said: "Okay."

"Brother, in my opinion, we can't stick to Beihai." Helan Zhijia continued to give advice, saying: "Beihai is remote. If the rebels come to kill, there will be no way to escape; if the officers and soldiers suppress the rebellion, they will not get the credit. show.”

"What about that?"

"Recruit troops and lead the army to Changshan to support Xue Bai, Yuan Luqian and others. Changshan County is close to Jingxing and is a strategic location. It can respond to the imperial army as quickly as possible. When you see the prince, if something goes wrong, you can retreat to Taiyuan to protect your safety. troops."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Helan Jinming has an elegant personality, and his younger brother helps him make decisions on many things. This has been the case since they were young.

There was only one thing on which he ever disagreed with his brother, and that was about his first wife.

When Helan Jinming was eighteen years old, he was unparalleled in beauty and talent. He was admired by the daughter of the Linghu family in Dunhuang. The Linghu family fell in love with Helan Jinming. In order to please him, he often gave gifts to his family, which made the Helan family full. favorite. But Helan Zhijia disliked this Linghu family very much and deliberately lied to her that her brother really wanted a lacquer-backed golden mirror from the Youxiang Mansion. The next day, Linghu actually went to Youxiang Mansion to visit Li Linfu. The eldest daughter sneaked into Yanyue Hall quietly, but was shot dead by the guard with an arrow when she escaped.

This matter sounded extremely ridiculous and unbelievable, so some strange theories were derived, saying that Linghu was the incarnation of a white fox, and that the guards of the Youxiang Mansion only shot one fox at that time. But in the final analysis, it was just that Linghu fell in love with Helan Jinming so much that she completely lost her head.

Helan Jinming later blamed his brother for this incident, but Helan Zhijia only said, "I was just joking. Who knew she would really go, let alone the people in the Youxiang Mansion would release arrows without any explanation." .

It was an honest mistake after all, and the two brothers finally reconciled.

Helan Zhijia had no intention of pursuing an official career, and had always stayed with Helan Jinming to take care of his affairs. Unlike his brother who was quaint and elegant, he was quite skillful in his actions.

So, within a few days, they recruited soldiers and horses, plus the original defenders of Beihai County, totaling 5,000 people, and rushed to Changshan County to respond to Xue Bai.

By the time they arrived, 15 of the 24 counties in Hebei had responded.

~~
In the distance, the towering Taihang Mountains can be seen.

Zhending City was already in sight. Deep trenches were dug outside the city and earth walls were piled up one after another to block cavalry charges.

There are many banners on the city top, not only the banners of the Hengyang Army of Changshan County, but also the Taiyuan Tianbing Army, Pingyuan Jingsai Army, Boling Beiping Army, etc., sounding fiercely in the wind.

From time to time in the south, you can see horses galloping past, waving flags towards the top of the city.

There were people supporting the old and the young, pushing wheelbarrows toward the west, escorted by rows of officers and soldiers on horseback.

Helan Jinming raised his eyes and looked into the distance, murmuring: "What is that doing?"

"Could it be that the population is being sent to Hedong?"

"Isn't Xue Bai confident in holding Hebei? Didn't he say that the imperial army of 300,000 will arrive soon?"

Thinking like this, Helan Jinming felt worried in his heart.

The top of the city had long noticed the movements of their large group of soldiers and horses, and a school captain led his troops to come forward to inquire.

They then replied loudly: "The governor of Beihai has led five thousand elite troops to support us!"

But Changshan seemed very cautious. Even after checking the official seals and talismans, they still did not let them cross the border immediately. They actually waited for officials in the city to come down to identify them. After that, they were arranged to be stationed in the camp outside the city that had been set up.

"Why don't you see Governor Xue?"

"Forgive me, Governor Helan. The Governor has just met the people from Pingyuan County and will come to greet them immediately."

"Oh? Yan Gaoqing is here too?"

"No, I sent an envoy."

Helan Zhijia said: "Prefect Xue went to greet the envoy, but left my brother and cousin the prefect here to hang out?"

"Shut up." He Lan Jinming stopped his brothers and said, "Let's set up camp first..."

Before he finished speaking, a loud shout came from the distance.

"Wang Tao, the prefect of Ye County, has led three thousand elite troops to respond to Prefect Xue! I would like to recommend Prefect Xue as the leader of the alliance against thieves!"

More than 3,000 people shouted in unison, the momentum was overwhelming.

Helan Jinming turned to look at the city gate and saw a row of rebel generals' heads hanging there. He couldn't help but whisper to Helan Zhijia: "The leader of the traitor alliance is much more powerful than expected."

"We were both county governors, but with one order from him, more than twenty counties bowed their heads at the same time. This is so majestic." Helan Zhijia murmured, "This is the power of the Jiedushi."

"That's how a man should be born."

Hearing what his brother said, Helan Zhijia immediately began to think. He rolled his eyes left and right twice and said, "Xue Bai is young and has no qualifications. I don't know what credit he has for convincing so many county guards?"

"He said in his statement that he defeated Cai Xide's troops."

Helan Zhijia said: "Have we not seen many false reports of military exploits in recent years? For a nepotistic minister who associates with people like Yang Guozhong, isn't the best thing he is good at doing?"

"Yang Guozhong." Helan Jinming stroked his long beard and shook his head to show his disdain for Yang Guozhong.

As a result, Xue Bai's image became much clearer in the eyes of the two brothers. They also had a ready reference, that is, their brother-in-law Helan Minzhi, a libertine who was good at getting under the covers of women and using women to wield power. .

After waiting for a while, Xue Bai simply held a banquet and invited the Helan brothers to the big tent to discuss the matter of countering the rebellion, as people from all counties and counties were sent.

It would inevitably seem rude for young people to do this, so Helan Jinming decided to see what kind of person this was.

"Brother, there is no need to be curious. I bet that Xue Bai will not be able to suppress so many people."

……

There were no luxurious decorations in the big tent, and it was filled with the smell of blood.

But the soldiers guarding outside the tent had sharp eyes and a murderous aura all over their bodies. This could not be achieved through training alone, but only through the baptism of the battlefield.

Their spears were held diagonally. The blood on the wooden poles had dried and turned ink, but the spear tips were wiped clean. The iron tools were polished to a sharp point, reflecting a breathtaking light.

Helan Jinming recognized Xue Bai as soon as he entered the tent. He was standing at the top, talking about something with others.

At first glance, He Lan Jinming thought that Xue Bai looked too much like himself when he was young, talented, beautiful, and romantic. But soon, he realized that the two were different.

At this time, Xue Bai was wearing armor, which had not been washed for several days. The armor was covered with blood, in various colors. The blood was covered with mud, and the mud was covered with blood. He must have killed people at different times, but he was not wearing it. Helmet, so you can see the blood stains left behind when you wiped your face but failed to wipe your temples.

His eyes were resolute, exuding an aura of decisiveness and determination, not stained by the romantic charm of Chang'an City.

"I am Xue Bai, this is Changshan Changshi Yuan Luqian, and this is Yunzhong Army Envoy Wang Ruolan. Today, regardless of the hardships and dangers, you came to Changshan County to respond to your righteousness. Yuan Changshi, General Wang and I have neglected you. "

"Prefect Xue is polite." But Xue Bai was not polite, and said in a matter-of-fact tone: "Fortunately, after the rebellion was put down, I was promoted to a higher position, and my name will go down in history. Everyone is not short of good hospitality, so please bear with it now."

"it is good!"

In the tent, there were Lu Quancheng, the governor of Raoyang, Wang Huaizhong, the chief historian of Qinghe, Li Guan, the Sima of Jingcheng, Wang Tao, the governor of Yejun, and others, who all applauded.

Since Xue Bai was respected as the leader of the alliance, he had no intention of being modest. He walked to a huge map with a sense of responsibility and pointed at it to explain the "imperial court's" next strategic intention.

"Now An Lushan has arrived at the Yellow River to attack Luoyang. He claims to have 200,000 troops, but in fact he only has more than 100,000 troops, and they are all gathered along the Yellow River. And where will his food, grass and baggage be supplied? Xiongwu City, Youzhou, the entire The logistics line has been completely cut off by us.”

Just then, there was a whistle in the distance, followed by warm cheers.

"Report!"

A group of cavalry rushed to the tent, dismounted, and reported: "Report to the prefect, we defeated another rebel carriage team, beheaded thirty-seven people, seized eighty carriages, two hundred healthy mules, and five hundred grains." Eight hundred stones and beans, and more than a hundred sheep.”

"Pass on the order, make rice and cook the sheep, and reward the whole army."

"Here!"

Wang Tao, the prefect of Ye County, quickly ran out of the tent and looked outside the camp. Sure enough, he saw a lively scene of many mule carts returning to the camp, and the soldiers were busy going back and forth.

As a result, everyone's confidence is greatly increased and their morale is boosted.

Xue Bai was not surprised. He even had a straight face and tapped the map a little impatiently, drawing everyone's attention back to analyzing the situation.

"You ask where the generalissimo appointed by the imperial court is, and where the 300,000-strong army is. Let me tell you. The vanguard army has arrived in Taiyuan and is currently being prepared. That's why I can lend 5,000 troops and horses from Taiyuan. , where are the rest?"

The word "Tongguan" on the map was clicked by Xue Bai. He looked determined, as if he knew the entire battlefield well.

"The saint has ordered the generals to leave Tongguan and fight An Lushan at the foot of Luoyang City..."

Suddenly, someone interrupted Xue Bai and asked the first question. It was Helan Jinming. He didn't quite believe Xue Bai and asked: "Who did the saint send to lead the army?"

"Gao Xianzhi." Xue Bai quickly went through it in his mind and said, "Gao Xianzhi is in Chang'an and has already rushed to Luoyang at night."

Helan Jinming asked again: "An army of three hundred thousand? Can the court mobilize it in a hurry?"

Xue Bai's face sank, and he said: "Why does Prefect Helan ask such a question? Can't Luoyang, the capital of the capital and the sacred capital, have a mere 300,000 troops and horses mobilized?!"

He Lan Jinming had no ill intentions at first, but he just thought that the Nanyafu soldiers in Chang'an City couldn't stand a fight, so he asked casually. He never expected to be scolded by Xue Bai. Although he knew that he had said the wrong thing, he was still very unhappy.

"Shuzi!" Helan Zhijia immediately stood up and said: "How dare you be so rude to my brother, do you really think you are above the county governor?!"

Xue Bai actually ignored him at all, looked around the tent, and said to everyone: "I reiterate, this is an extraordinary situation, and anyone who dares to disturb the morale of the army will be punished without mercy, regardless of intention or not!"

Recently, people have been coming from all counties and counties, and there are all kinds of problems. Xue Bai has to take care of everything. When presiding over this situation, there is no use in explaining things nicely. He must have tough measures.

It was not directed at Helan Jinming, but he asked this kind of question without restraint. If Xue Bai answered, there would be more questions later. It would be better to push back from the beginning. No matter whether it is embarrassing or tense, let others realize When the leader of the alliance speaks, he cannot be interrupted or questioned.

Seeing that Xue Bai ignored him, Helan Zhijia was stunned for a moment and wanted to make trouble. With a "bang", Wang Rao pulled out his sword and spat out two simple and powerful words.

"Deliberation."

Xue Bai then ignored this minor conflict and continued: "Since the officers and soldiers were confronting the rebels in Heluo, at this time, if we cut off the rebels' food routes and their way back, the rebels' morale will inevitably be in chaos, and if An Lushan dares If you send troops to attack us, your troops will be insufficient and you will be defeated by the officers and soldiers.”

As he spoke, he drew a line on the map from Changshan County to Pingyuan County.

"We only need to concentrate our forces to defend Changshan County, Zhao County, and Pingyuan County. This will be enough to cut off the rebels' food routes, concentrate our forces, and hold on. We can just wait for the rebels to be defeated."

Xue Bai probably knew what changes he had triggered. He prompted Taiyuan to send troops to protect the main road of Jingxing, and advanced the time for the counties and counties in Hebei to surrender to the Tang Dynasty before Anlu Mountain captured Luoyang.

This must have an impact on the morale of the rebels.

Regarding the Battle of Luoyang, he had done everything within his ability. Whether the imperial court could win or not did not depend on him. Only the emperor can decide who to send to fight, how many troops and horses to send, and what strategy to use.

Even a prince has to wait until he ascends the throne before he can influence such a major event.

And Xue Bai is not even a prince yet.

In short, he drew cakes for these people. There were many deceptive parts in his words to encourage people, but they were not entirely false.

By holding on to the cities in Hebei, they can indeed create very favorable conditions for the battle in Luoyang.

Under such circumstances, the possibility of officers and soldiers winning should be greatly increased.

~~
Yang Qixuan was also in the tent during this military meeting. Although he was squeezed into a corner, he felt more confident after listening to it.

He touched his knocked out front teeth and realized that he had been so stupid before and chose to be jealous of Xue Bai. Now that a big chaos is over, Xue Bai's life experience and abilities have just been revealed. How can this be a love rival? He should be someone worthy of serving.

After finally waiting until midnight, when all the chores in the army were finished, Yang Qixuan immediately went to see Xue Bai.

"Lang Jun!"

"Get up." Xue Bai hadn't taken off his armor yet, rubbing his eyes that were almost too sleepy to open. He caught a glimpse of Yang Qixuan kneeling on the ground and said, "Speak directly if you have something to say, and don't say anything useless."

"Yes, I found out today that Helan Jinming was not convinced by Lang Jun, so I came here to remind him."

"What can be done if he doesn't accept it?"

Yang Qixuan had no opinions, mainly to show his attitude of considering Xue Bai wholeheartedly.

So, he took two small steps forward and whispered: "Helan Jinming is a blind person. He is jealous of Lang Jun being promoted as the leader of the alliance. But he doesn't know that he has no qualifications to be jealous."

Xue Bai closed his eyes and fell asleep, seemingly listening but not listening.

Yang Qi declared: "In my opinion, so far, regardless of whether the counties in Hebei can defend it or not, Lang Jun's goal has been achieved."

"Huh? Why did you say 'can you keep it'?"

"Mr. Lang, please don't blame me for disturbing the morale of the army. I am planning with you in private."

"it is good."

Yang Qixuan whispered: "Others don't know, why don't they know that I came out of Chang'an? In such a hurry, the imperial court couldn't even mobilize troops to defend Luoyang, and it was impossible to send troops to Hebei for the time being. That man An Lushan has a hot temper, and he will definitely send troops to Luoyang immediately. When the general comes back, we will not be able to defend these small towns with no danger and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from all sides, but Lang Jun is afraid that they will be difficult to defend. "

Xue Bai didn't answer. He tapped his knees lightly with his fingers, and the scene in Yanshi County came to mind again.

When Yang Qixuan came tonight, what he really wanted to talk about was not the battle situation, but the struggle for power that he was better at.

"Mr. Lang, you don't have to worry. I just said that your goal has been achieved. You are the first to advocate righteousness and have been elected as the leader of the alliance by the counties in Hebei. Such a reputation is enough."

"What is my purpose?"

"Of course it's to protect the Tang Dynasty!"

Xue Bai did not refute.

Seeing that he was right, Yang Qixuan said again: "Now the rebels are approaching Luoyang City, which is only separated from Chang'an by Tongguan. Sheji is in danger. From what I see, Lang Jun does not need to stay in Hebei for too long, but should take the safety of the saint as his priority. Seriously, recruit people from Yan and Zhao, lead tens of thousands of people through Hedong, and return to the capital to serve the king!"

He boasted that he had come up with a brilliant idea, and after talking about it, he became excited and salivated.

"Lang Jun, think about it. Since the rebellion, you have been the only one who has shouldered the heavy responsibility and won the trust of the generals of the two towns. You are also the pillar of the East Palace. If you return to Chang'an at this time, the saint will definitely reward you, and the prince will definitely rely on you even more. With your ability and these tens of thousands of troops, it is not difficult to get the prince to take command. If you ask the prince to vindicate the unjust case, you can lead the troops to quell the rebellion as the county king..."

Sure enough, Xue Bai opened his eyes and glanced at Yang Qixuan.

At this moment, Yang Qixuan was a little different from the past. He vaguely looked like the rebellious Wang Welding back then, no, more like Li Shiniang.

As long as he dares to think, his ambition will be ignited and he will become crazy.

Yang Qixuan was a little frightened by Xue Bai's eyes, so he simply knelt down on the ground again and said in a trembling voice: "I said something rude, but it was all for the consideration of Mr. An Lushan. Hebei must be the most powerful place for An Lushan's troops." Attacking the land can enhance Langjun's reputation, but to protect the country, we have to look at Chang'an."

"Let me ask you." Xue Bai said: "Did you think of these yourself, or did Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu and others say this?"

"Yes...yes..." Yang Qixuan hesitated for a while and said, "I talked to them and was deeply inspired."

"Then why didn't they tell me?"

"They are not as sincere to my husband as I am." Yang Qixuan said: "I only think about my husband, they have too many distracting thoughts."

Xue Bai shook his head, knowing that Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu were loyal and would not persuade him to abandon Hebei and flee so quickly. After all, it still made sense to stay here now.

But he didn't pour cold water on Yang Qixuan, and was actually willing to have a few words with him.

"Do you know why I asked Yuan Luqian to surrender?"

"Because Changshan County just couldn't resist the rebels at that time." Yang Qi declared: "Let the rebels pass through the border and then cut them off so that they can't see each other."

"Yes, I have brought about this current situation. How can I let it go so easily?"

"But even so," Yang Qixuan whispered: "How can the imperial court have 300,000 troops to guard Luoyang?"

Of course Xue Bai also knew this. He thought that Anlu Mountain should be approaching Yanshi soon, and he sighed rarely and said: "Some things you said are good, but they are not perfect. If I want to return to Chang'an, I have to be so famous that When nothing more can be added..."

(End of this chapter)