Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 429 The conspiracy behind it

More than forty miles east of Yanshi County is Gong County.

An Lushan marched here and ordered the vanguard troops to attack Luoyang first. He stopped and temporarily stayed in Gong County to rest.

He occupied the Gongxian government office to accommodate his fat body, letting the fat on his belly hang on the couch, and his temper burst out like a torrent.

"Snapped!"

With a loud sound, the whip struck Li Zhuer's back hard, tearing his clothes apart and revealing a bloody streak.

"Do you know that I can't sleep lately?!"

An Lushan cursed loudly, his eyes were red, showing a violent attitude.

Li Zhuer lay on the ground shivering. He knew why An Lushan couldn't sleep peacefully. It was because of fear and regret, but he didn't dare to answer because the answer would kill him.

A smell filled the air from his crotch. Ever since he was castrated, Li Zhuer couldn't control his urine. The situation got worse under this kind of whipping. Soon his crotch was soaked. " Among the crackling sounds of the whip, the extremely subtle "tick-tock" sound was even more humiliating to him. He lowered his head, as if he would not make a sound until he was beaten to death.

Finally, Yan Zhuang and Zhang Tongru arrived. An Lushan stopped his whip, turned around and cursed.

"You bastards, after listening to your bird calls, I will die, die! Then the officers and soldiers will cut open my belly, use my anointing oil to light a lamp, and shine it on Auntie's vagina."

The more he cursed, the more unpleasant words he used. An Lushan was still angry, so he simply changed to Sogdian and cursed fiercely.

Zhang Tongru looked ashamed after being scolded and saluted: "Master, don't worry..."

With a "bang", An Lushan hit Zhang Tongru, a jade carving that was the favorite of the Gong County Magistrate, and it fell to the ground, shattering to pieces.

He vented his anger and slumped there, crying sadly: "It's over! I can't win. My good Prince Dongping has become a traitor."

"The situation is great, why do you say this?!" Yan Zhuang said loudly, "If it is because Xue Bai occupied several small cities in Hebei..."

"Small town?" An Lushan scolded: "Now nineteen of the twenty-four counties have rebelled. How many small towns can you name? With these two words, you want to blow me up to the sky?"

"Although Xue Bai's momentum is great, it is just a vain reputation. Hebei's elite troops have long been mobilized by the prince. His few troops are just a mob, not to mention that each county has its own ideas. There is no need to wait for the soldiers to know the news and shake the morale of the army. General Shi He must have recovered Hebei and captured Xue Bai. Don’t you believe him?”

An Lushan touched his bare belly, rolled around on the couch, worried, and shouted: "You are right, now the saint has sent Gao Xianzhi to Luoyang City to hold on. He is a famous general who destroyed Xiaobolu Kingdom. In just a short time He has recruited 80,000 soldiers and horses in a few days. Luoyang is definitely not easy to fight. He is the same as Xue Bai. As long as we close the city and hold on for a month, we will run out of food and grass, and I will be burned! "

"Master Fu, please listen to me. How many of the common people in Dongdu have ever fought in a war? I'm afraid they haven't even seen blood. Such a mob of 80,000 people..."

An Lushan's leg hurt so much that he interrupted their nonsense with a loud shout, saying that if Luoyang could not be captured, he would simply plunder, kill Fan Yang, break the soil, seal the king, and separate one side.

The closer he got to Luoyang, the more he had a bad feeling that there was danger lurking ahead. This is due to the awe and fear of the saint, just like the small animals smell the scent left by the beast and do not dare to enter the territory of the beast easily.

Although he is fat, he is extremely keen, and this intuition has saved his life countless times.

However, Yan Zhuang and Zhang Tongru never supported returning to Fan Yang. They rebelled out of their ambition to "govern the country and bring peace to the world", and they were persuaded endlessly.

"Ten days, just ten days, as long as Fujun waits patiently for ten days, Dongdu will belong to Fujun."

"You are always good at talking nonsense, ten days after another."

Yan Zhuang knelt on the ground and said: "Chang'an and Luoyang have been soaked in drunken dreams and death by the Hunjun. The Lord of Fu came with 200,000 border troops to kill Chang'an and seize the throne. It is easy. Within ten days, if If you can’t break Dongdu, please kill me!”

"Really?" An Lushan became suspicious, he was not very confident.

Zhang Tongru said: "Everything owned by Hun Jun will belong to Fu Jun. Please think about the charming Concubine Yang."

"what?"

An Lushan was happy and promised to wait another ten days. But when they retreated, he still felt uneasy.

After a while, An Qingxu also arrived. When he saw his son, An Lushan's face darkened and he ordered someone to hand An Qingxu a letter.

That was a letter written by Dugu Wensu to Zhang Xiancheng.

Zhang Xiancheng is the son of Zhang Shougui, and Zhang Shougui is An Lushan's old boss and foster father. This shows Zhang Xiancheng's status in the rebels. He is now the governor of Tanzhou and stays behind Fan Yang.

The content of the letter was that Dugu Wensu persuaded Zhang Xiancheng to surrender to the imperial court, and most of it contained commonplace talk. But there is one sentence in it that states that someone very close to An Lushan has agreed to kill An Lushan to quell the rebellion.

Seeing this, An Qingxu's pupils trembled in shock. He raised his head in fear and said, "Master, I..."

An Lushan squinted his small eyes and stared at his son's expression.

Every time he went to Chang'an, he would dance in front of the saint to dispel the saint's wariness, which made him suspicious. He is a master at hiding his true feelings, and he is also the most suspicious of people.

"Who do you think it could be?" he asked.

An Qingxu was frightened and said: "My father is surrounded by trustworthy people. I'm afraid this is their countermeasure!"

At this time, An Lushan's face showed the majesty of a saint.

"It must be Xue Bai's trick. He instigated Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu to rebel." An Qingxu swallowed and added: "If I believe him, I will really fall into the trap."

Mentioning Xue Bai, An Lushan felt more uneasy and asked, "Did Yanshi County be captured?"

"Yes, captured."

"Is there anything unusual?"

An Qingxu hesitated for a while and said: "It's nothing unusual, it's just that... the officials and people in the city all fled after hearing the news."

"Escaped? Where can you escape?"

"There are people who have fled to various places, such as Luoyang and Nanyang, and some people have fled to Shouyang Mountain." An Qingxu said: "Master asked this because he is noble? He cares about Yanshi County very much."

An Lushan waved his fat hand and dismissed An Qingxu, wanting to stay alone for a while.

He didn't tell anyone what he was thinking.

A few days ago... a small incident happened. After the rebels captured Xingyang, Cui Wuxu, the prefect of Xingyang, committed suicide in the battle to break the city. However, before the battle, he also sent a troop of troops to guard Sishui Pass, led by the general. Li Fei was commanded by Shouyu. The rebels continued to break through Sishui Pass and entered the Poppy Valley. Li Fei Shouyu still led the remaining troops to resist. He was indeed a rare brave man with superb archery skills. After the fall of Guancheng, he killed hundreds of rebels. .

At that time, An Lushan's chariot had not yet entered the Poppy Valley, and he was observing the terrain. Suddenly, with a "swish" sound, a sharp arrow was nailed to his chariot, and the arrow swayed and buzzed. He was immediately furious and ordered that Li Fei Shouyu must be captured and chopped into pieces. As a result, Li Fei Shouyu actually threw himself into the Yellow River and committed suicide.

This battle seemed smooth, but it left a big shadow in An Lushan's heart. He didn't even dare to pass through Poppy Valley, but took a detour to the south.

Coupled with Zhang Xiancheng's letter and Gao Shang's concern for Yanshi County, he was a little worried that Yanshi County and Shouyang Mountain would be the next Poppy Valley, which led to what happened today.

"Don't be afraid." An Lushan murmured to himself to comfort himself, "Uncle, I have guessed everything you are thinking. Don't be afraid, I will just go around."

After that, he twisted his body uneasily, and asked with a doubtful tone, "But saint, what are you thinking about? Hu'er has already attacked Luoyang."

~~
Chang'an, Xingqing Palace.

Yang Guozhong walked into the main hall of the Qinzheng Building with fear and fear. Feeling the solemn atmosphere inside, he bowed cautiously, not daring to look at Li Longji's majestic face.

The news of An Lushan's rebellion reached Chang'an on the seventh or eighth day after the rebellion, exactly one month has passed.

Within this month, Li Longji didn't believe it at first, thinking that people who hated An Lushan, such as Yang Guozhong, were making up lies. When he was finally convinced of the fact of the rebellion, he became furious. No one in the palace had ever seen such terrifying anger from the saint.

Yang Guozhong knew that he had forced Anlushan to rebel, and that he was the first target to be killed in the slogan of the Qingjun side of the rebels. He was always worried, fearing that the saint's anger would be poured out on him. Fortunately, the saint did not say that he wanted to conquer personally.

"I want to go to Luoyang and see Hu Erti's 200,000 troops coming. If they dare to kill me, they should kneel in front of me and beg for my life!"

The heroic and heroic figure who killed Empress Wei and Princess Taiping with a sword in his youth reappeared, like the light at dusk shining on a bright mirror, as brilliant as the rising sun.

At that time, Yang Guozhong was in awe of the emperor's domineering power, and he didn't know what to say. But he waited and waited, but received no further instructions from the saint.

As time passed day by day, the news that the counties in Hebei Province were watching the wind came like snowflakes. Finally, Yang Guozhong came to his senses and delivered a message to the palace. That night, Yang Yuhuan knelt in front of the saint, with tears streaming down his face, and begged him not to lead a military expedition in person. He said that a miscellaneous barbarian rebelled, so how could he bother the saint to fight in person?
The most touching sentence is "How could Sanlang be willing to risk his own life and make his concubine worried and restless?"

The saint helped her up and sighed: "I am trapped by Taizhen's tenderness."

As a result, the proposal of the emperor's personal conquest was abandoned.

Many officials in the court secretly scolded Yang Guozhong and Yang Yuhuan for this, but Yang Guozhong felt deeply wronged. In fact, he was confused when the rebellion started and he had no idea.

Soon, the sage appointed Gao Xianzhi, who happened to be in Chang'an, as the envoy of Fan Yang and Pinglu to send troops to quell the rebellion.

Xue Bai mentioned this appointment to Li Linfu many years ago, and also mentioned it to Yang Guozhong a year or two ago. Now it has finally been reached.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

At this moment, Yang Guozhong stood in the main hall, recalling the situation when Xue Bai persuaded him in the past, and regretted it, lest the saint would accuse him of being incompetent.

"What do you think of Wang Chengye's memorial?" Li Longji suddenly asked.

Yang Guozhong was stunned for a moment, surprised that the saint's tone was so calm. An Lushan is about to attack Luoyang, but the saint seems not to panic? Not as angry as before?

Not knowing why, he quickly raised his head and took a peek, but couldn't see anything. Then my mind returned to Wang Chengye's memorial, and I remembered that it was for Xue Bai, Yuan Luqian, Li Guangbi, Wang Nannan, Li Sheng, Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu and others. Also sent were Li Qincuo, Gao Miao's head greatly inspired the courtiers.

"Returning to the saint shows that all the counties in Hebei have their hearts set on the saint."

First, he said a few words of flattery, but Yang Guozhong couldn't say anything more reasonable, so he still followed the strategy stated in Xue Bai's letter to him.

"Although An Lushan reached Luoyang, the troops burned, killed, and looted wherever he passed, and the officials and the people resented him. Now Wang Chengye, Li Guangbi, Xue Bai and others have consolidated the wells and guarded Changshan, and spread the message to all counties in Hebei. Sooner or later, the rebels will have their morale There was a huge chaos and they returned to the army in panic. According to what Wang Chengye said, if one of the princes is appointed as the marshal, the rebellion can be stopped within ten months. "

Yang Guozhong really didn't want Gao Xianzhi to perform meritorious service, and wished he could replace his position with his confidant. Unfortunately, Gao Xianzhi offered prisoners several times and was very popular with the saint. Now he had to follow Xue Bai's plan to perform meritorious service. Fortunately, Wang Chengye was recommended by him, and he also contributed this strategy. Once the rebellion is suppressed, he will be the first to do so.

To be honest, after giving the advice, even he could feel Xue Bai's painstaking efforts. He had distributed the credit in all aspects and created a fairly favorable counter-insurgency situation.

However, when Li Longji spoke again, it was beyond his expectations.

"I'm not asking you about this, but can you see what's wrong with Wang Chengye's memorial?" Yang Guozhong was surprised. Seeing that the eunuch handed the memorial over again, he quickly took it and looked at it carefully. I just looked at it horizontally and vertically, but I didn't find anything wrong.

"I am stupid, please forgive me."

"It has only been a month since Hu'er's rebellion. In a moment, all the twenty-four counties in Hebei surrendered without a single loyal minister. In a moment, as soon as Xue Bai sent a message, Hebei returned to the imperial court again. Why?"

"This……"

Yang Guozhong couldn't answer. He didn't understand these things.

Li Longji's eyes were full of suspicion and he asked: "If you want any prince to be the marshal against thieves, who do you think is suitable?"

"It should be... the prince?"

"Why?"

"The prince has the highest status, and the East Palace is newly established. It is time for the prince to gain experience. If the other princes are in charge, it may cause an imbalance."

"Who told you?"

"No one has ever told me that I am..."

Yang Guozhong originally wanted to say "what I thought of", but stopped mid-sentence.

Li Longji didn't ask further questions and remained silent.

The atmosphere became increasingly oppressive.

At this time, Yang Guozhong discovered that there were not many waiters in the hall, not even Gao Lishi. So, no one else can hear what is being discussed today. He suddenly realized at this moment that he felt that he had vaguely captured the saint's thoughts.

"I see, something is indeed wrong. Anlu Mountain only holds two towns of soldiers and horses, and its strength is far inferior to that of Wang Shi. According to common sense, the officials of the counties in Hebei should not dare to rebel. Why did they allow the rebels to fight to the Yellow River and then join again? What's the situation? It's like letting An Lushan go to Luoyang on purpose?"

Speaking with a sense of probing, Yang Guozhong peeked over again and found that the saint's head hidden in the darkness apparently nodded slightly.

It seems that this time the saint’s true suspicions were revealed.

"Hebei surrendered in the face of the wind, Henan collapsed at the first touch, and Hedong relied solely on Taiyuan to hold on. Less than a month after the rebels launched their troops, they directly attacked the eastern capital. The local officers and soldiers were so embarrassed that I had to wonder..."

Yang Guozhong followed the holy will and guessed this. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind, and he was so frightened that he didn't dare to say anything.

"What are you doubting?" Li Longji asked.

"With the battle going like this, I'm thinking, maybe..." Yang Guozhong hesitated: "Is someone using An Lushan to force the palace in the name of 'Qingjun's side'? Are some people secretly working together?"

Two words that are extremely familiar.

These two words seemed to be the root of all changes during the Tianbao years. Every time something happened, Li Longji could always find the answer from these two words.

"Construction?" He asked slowly and deeply: "Construction of what?"

"Construction...East Palace?"

It seems that this is not the twelve years of Tianbao, but everyone has returned to the five years of Tianbao. After Yang Guozhong blurted out four words, he forgot about the rebels who were close at hand and found his true responsibility as prime minister.

He looked at Wang Chengye's memorial again and saw some reluctance between the lines and found some ambiguous hints.

"I am guilty." Yang Guozhong knelt on the ground and said, "I have recently heard about a mysterious thing. Because it is too ridiculous, I am still verifying it and have not reported it to the saint."

"explain."

"I dare to ask the saint to summon a witness, Yang Guanghui."

"Yang Guanghui? Is he not dead?"

"Replying to the saint, Li Xian had ulterior motives and detained him privately..."

Returning to the familiar power struggle, Yang Guozhong has become more confident.

He has long been wondering, how did An Lushan, an obese and incompetent waste, come to the Eastern Capital so unstoppably?

Others always say that the saint neglected government, plundered people's wealth, and spent money like water, which led to gangsters taking over, national affairs deteriorating, and government corruption, which gave An Lushan an opportunity... Fart!
The mediocre people are so short-sighted that they cannot see that there is actually someone deliberately manipulating behind this.

This time, Yang Guozhong will no longer be fooled by Xue Bai. He will follow the holy will and expose all this. Let the world see what kind of conspiracy is hidden behind An Lushan's "Qing Jun Side".

"Your Majesty, I am Yang Guanghui. I am wronged!"

As Yang Guanghui paid his respects to the Qinzheng Building, names were revealed one by one.

Just like Li Linfu's case of Wei Jian and Du Youlin, there must be many people involved in the East Palace. Wang Zhongsi, Li Xian, Li Guangbi, Wang Nannan, Yuan Luqian, Gao Xianzhi... and even Gao Lishi and Li Tan were involved.

Only by connecting these important figures together, all the problems will suddenly become clear.

Why would An Lushan, who was clearly trustworthy, rebel? These people forced it.

A saint who has been wise and wise all his life will never make mistakes. Everything has a reason.

"Your Majesty! I saw these with my own eyes at Shiling Pass!"

The more Yang Guanghui spoke, the more he felt that the saint agreed with his words, so he followed the holy will and spoke more energetically.

"There is one more thing that I dare to confirm. The reason why Xue Bai acted so wantonly is because he is the orphan of the three common people case and the son of the deposed prince Ying..."

"Boom!"

Li Longji suddenly pushed down the imperial court in front of him, whether out of anger or shock.

The cups and plates fell to the floor, and after the clanging sound, the hall became quiet. Yang Guangfeng knew that he was talking too much, and he was so frightened that he didn't even dare to breathe.

Li Longji still maintained the movement of reaching out, but there was only one thought in his mind.

"impossible!"

It was absolutely impossible. He had seen the child's body with his own eyes back then. Later, King Rong Li Wan gave birth to another child, and he gave the name "Li Qian" to the newborn child. The matter passed like this. For more than ten years, he never thought about it again.

It's fake, either Xue Bai is pretending, or Yang Guangfeng mistakenly admitted it.

But how could Gao Lishi also participate? Could it be that Gao Lishi also admitted his mistake?
Li Longji tried hard to recall, and suddenly found to his surprise that he could not remember what the grandson he saw before he saw the body looked like. He only remembered that the child was a bit unpleasant and looked down. Head, speaks softly and softly, not bold and lively enough.

Will he grow up to be like Xue Bai later?

Speaking of which, who did Xue Bai inherit his talent from?
Li Longji suddenly trembled and felt a biting sense of crisis. He thought about the one in ten thousand possibility that what Yang Guanghui said was true, and what kind of hatred Xue Bai came to him with.

And all this time, he didn't see any trace of hatred... This was the most terrifying thing.

"you."

Yang Guozhong hesitated for a moment, then realized that the saint was calling him, and said hurriedly: "I am here."

"Go ask Li Heng why he buried Xue Bai alive?"

"I... obey your order."

"That's all." The next moment, Li Longji waved his hand calmly and said: "Yang Guangfei is confused, but I will not listen to such ridiculous remarks."

Having said that, he has realized that behind An Lushan's rebellion is probably a campaign to force him into the palace.

The real crisis is not directed at Luoyang's military front. A bastard with dirty blood should not threaten such a noble emperor as him. The threat comes from his bloodline. Only those who inherit his noble bloodline can harm him. to him.

~~
Luoyang, the eastern capital.

This city is located in the north and south of Luoshui, and has an extremely magnificent scene.

It is richer than Chang'an. The food and various goods from Jianghuai are first transported to Luoyang and then dispersed to Chang'an or other places.

For the officials and people in Luoyang City, the war was sudden.

It seemed not long ago that they had admired the blooming peonies all over the city and indulged in the wonderful life of the prosperous age. The next moment, it was clear that thousands of sailors were coming from Luoshui, and the sound of the rebels' iron hooves was approaching.

Fortunately, the famous general Gao Xianzhi rushed to Luoyang City before the rebels reached the city.

He came almost alone. On the day he received the appointment, he rode his horse at full speed, heading straight to Luoyang without stopping. When he arrived, his horse fell to the ground with foam at the mouth, and the loins under his crotch were completely worn out and bleeding.

Gao Xianzhi is a man with a strong and ruthless personality, and he starts recruiting troops regardless of the situation.

From coming alone to gathering an army of 80,000, it only took him a few days. This is an almost impossible thing, but he has the determination to overcome all difficulties and dares to put a knife on the neck of every nobleman in Luoyang City, no matter what achievements the other party's ancestors have made, no matter whether his surname is Li or Wu Whether the surname is Wang or Cui, as long as there are servants in the house, he will take them all away.

Rangers in the city, farmers on the outskirts of the city, and men between the ages of fourteen and forty who were able to carry a sword were directly recruited into the army by him.

He knew that such an army was a rabble and had no fighting power. But even if he forced their bodies to block the rebel cavalry, he still had to slow down the rebels' offensive. He believed that using their lives could sharpen an army that was worthy of a battle.

As long as we can defend for twenty days, the frontier troops from Longyou will surely arrive to support us. Coupled with the efforts of the counties in Hebei to bring order to order, the situation will be different.

However, before Gao Xianzhi was ready, the rebel vanguard had already arrived at Kuiyuan outside Luoyang City. He was not in the mood to sit still and wait for death, and immediately decided to personally lead his troops to fight against Tian Chengsi.

When the war was about to begin, soldiers hurriedly arrived.

"General, someone asked to see you, and I brought this."

Gao Xianzhi squinted and the first thing he saw was a telescope...

(End of this chapter)