Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 435: Settlement of Accounts after Autumn
Changshan County.

To the north of the city, the rebel camp stretched.

Because Jingxing was captured by the Tang army, Cai Xide was unable to attack Taiyuan for a long time, so he had to retreat to Feihukou and then take a detour to Changshan County. Unfortunately, he missed the best opportunity. Changshan County had already spread the word to Hebei, and all counties had troops and horses to support him.

The important road of Jingxing must be captured, otherwise the soldiers and horses from Hedong and Shuofang will continue to attack Hebei. Cai Xide had no choice but to send envoys one after another to seek help from Shi Siming.

Unexpectedly, Shi Siming did not come, but Li Guangbi arrived first.

"Damn it, why doesn't Geng Renzhi come back?"

Here Cai Xide was still yelling in the camp, but over there, Changshan County was full of joy.

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

Amid the cheers, the city gate opened wide, and Li Guangbi rode in first. Yuan Luqian hurried from the city gate to greet him. Before anyone arrived, he already said: "As soon as Master Wang arrives, all counties in Hebei will have no worries."

He did not wear the purple robe given by Anlu Mountain, nor was he killed because Changshan County was attacked. He smiled in the sun.

"No, I'm just a pariah, and I just changed my name to suit Cai Xide."

The reason why he knew about this was because Helan Jinming submitted a separate memorial to report his merits.

"Where is Helan Jinming, the governor of Beihai?" Bian Lingcheng asked again.

The answer was that the situation was not good.

But after dispatching the supervisor, Li Guangbi took charge of Changshan County and quickly focused on arranging military affairs.

The next day, five thousand rebel troops followed Cai Xide's previous orders to transport fodder back to camp from Xingtang County. After crossing the Cihe River, they were suddenly attacked by the Tang army and were defeated halfway across the river.

The rebels suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat to the main camp.

"Gao Xiuyan was defeated in Hequ and retreated to Yunzhong and Mayi. Guo Ziyi pressed forward step by step. Gao Xiuyan was defeated again and has now retreated to Yanmen Pass to defend. He sent envoys to ask for help. I had to divide my troops to support."

Yuan Luqian was stunned, turned around and saw a strong, white-faced and beardless general riding his horse and looking down at him.

Cai Xide still did not dare to engage in the battle, so he had to move far away and wait for Shi Siming to come and join him. Although the casualties in this battle were not large, the morale of the rebels was further damaged and their morale was shaken.

……

Suddenly, the Tang army's cavalry was everywhere, but Cai Xide did not dare to act rashly, allowing Li Guangbi to revive the people's hearts.

That night, Shi Siming was still worried. He didn't go to bed until late at night without taking off his armor. He had just fallen asleep and heard the noise outside the camp again, so he covered his ears in frustration.

"How can a man debase himself like this?!"

However, after listening for a while, Shi Siming suddenly sat up.

Shi Siming then knew that the time left for them to defeat Li Guangbi was already very tight. If this battle is defeated, the Tang army will continue to rush in through the gap in Jingxing like a flood rushing down an embankment.

"Yuan Changshi has made a great contribution." Li Guangbi got off his horse, exchanged some greetings, but stepped aside and said, "The border supervisors are here too."

After being defeated one after another, Cai Xide did not dare to leave the camp easily, so he had to quickly send a letter and horse to urge Shi Siming. He was invited to lead his army to the north quickly and attack Changshan County from a flank.

Li Guangbi took a deep look at Cai Mingyi, and immediately made a judgment, stepped forward to untie him, and said in a deep voice: "The rebels are unjust and have few helpers. Are you willing to surrender to the imperial court?"

In addition, Li Guangbi's act of paying homage to the soldiers and civilians won a lot of people's hearts. A group of Changshan disciples who had been trained as regiment drills by the rebels decided to act righteously. They captured their general Cai Mingyi that night and defected to Changshan County.

They never expected that the Tang army would know their movements and go around to the north of the rebel camp. They were defenseless and were almost killed and annihilated.

As the saying goes, "The most important thing of the country is to sacrifice and serve the army." The first thing he did was to send troops outside the city to rescue the people, search and bury the corpses, and set up an altar to pour wine to commemorate the soldiers and civilians who had died since the rebellion.

Bian Lingcheng could not help but frown, and glanced at Yuan Luqian with dissatisfaction, and immediately asked to send a message to the counties in Hebei to summon Xue Bai and Helan Jinming back to Changshan as soon as possible to receive the imperial edict. He was the military supervisor, so Li Guangbi had no choice but to obey.

Li Guangbi then seized the fodder and the horses of the five thousand rebels, and returned to Changshan County along the original route, bypassing the rebel camp.

Shi Siming was also a famous general. He soon realized Li Guangbi's purpose and quickly sent an envoy to Cai Xide's camp to ask him when Guo Ziyi would arrive on the battlefield.

"Where is Xue Bai, the governor of Changshan? Why don't you come to greet me?" Bian Lingcheng asked.

"Prefect Xue has led troops to Pingyuan County to provide support."

He was finally willing to order a strong attack, and the rebel soldiers built ladders, drove the regiment to practice local bravery, and attacked the city with ants, hoping to capture Changshan regardless of casualties.

Li Guangbi personally comforted the regiment disciples, looked at the rebel general they had captured, and asked, "Cai Mingyi? Are you Cai Xide's brother?"

First, Guo Ziyi, the deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, also sent a message that he had recovered the Jingbian army, killed the rebel general Zhou Wanqing, and defeated the rebel general Gao Xiuyan at the bend of the river. At the same time, he heard that Pingyuan County had blocked Shi Siming's army for long enough, and Hebei The counties had not yet fallen again; later, news came from Qinghe and Boping counties that Xue Bai actually led his army in a circle with Shi Siming, defeated the rebels, and captured Wei County...

Since Shi Siming had not arrived yet, Li Guangbi immediately ordered all his troops to leave the city to counterattack Cai Xide's camp.

As for Shi Chaoying, Li E would definitely not dare to kill her easily. So instead of waiting at the gate of Qinghe City, it would be better to defeat Li Guangbi first and recapture Jingxing, then the counties in Hebei will naturally surrender.

In one day, more than 3,000 people were killed or injured in Changshan County, and the walls on all sides were stained with blood.

Because every night, Li Guangbi would send a team of light cavalry to harass his camp. That was the commander of Longyou Xiaoqi. He had been ambushed several times and was exhausted from being played. He didn't want to pay attention at this time.

Li Guangbi was well prepared. He and Yuan Qianlu built deep ditches and high fortresses in Changshan County and stood ready. They proposed the tactics of "defend when thieves come, pursue them when they leave, show off their troops during the day, and kill their camps at night." To retreat from the enemy, they only wanted to exhaust the two rebels, Shi Siming and Cai Xide.

Then Li Guangbi's strategic purpose is very clear. He will cooperate with Guo Ziyi to defeat the rebels Cai Xide and Shi Siming, stabilize the situation in Hebei, and even regain the entire territory of Hebei, turning the rebels stationed in Luoyang into rootless people. In this way, even if Luoyang is lost, the rebellion can still be put down as soon as possible and the harm can be minimized.

Shi Siming was besieging Qinghe County, but he did not attack by force, and divided his troops to cross the Yellow River to search for Xue Bai's traces. With Cai Xide's urging, knowing that the situation in Hebei would be extremely delayed, he had no choice but to let Xue Bai go and gather troops to go north.

More than 20,000 cavalry advanced first, and in just three days they reached the south bank of the Hutuo River, and attacked Changshan County with Cai Xide's troops. At the same time, Shi Siming was still mobilizing troops and horses to crush Changshan County's military morale first.

"Prefect Helan and Prefect Xue went to the plain to provide support."

At the same time, another piece of good news came from Tang Jun.

When Cai Xide heard the news, he was surprised at first, and then became angry and raised his troops to intercept. However, Li Guangbi was well prepared and had sent three thousand light cavalry to hide in the woods. At this moment, he suddenly came out and ambushed them with powerful crossbows.

There's something wrong with the sound tonight.

"Enemy attack!"

He shouted loudly, went out of the tent, went to the tent next to him, kicked Shi Chaoyi awake, and cursed: "The enemy is attacking! Why don't you play the drum yet?!"

"Grandma? Not every night..."

Shi Chaoyi also heard that something was wrong, and quickly jumped up and followed Shi Siming out of the tent.

But at this time, the entire tent camp seemed lagging and stiff due to Li Guangbi's constant harassment. But tonight is indeed not a harassment, a Tang army has already entered the camp on horseback.

Amidst the shouts of death, fires burst out, reflecting a large flag.

"Guo!"

"Is it Guo Ziyi?! Shuofang's army is coming! Shuofang..."

If Guo Ziyi arrives, it means that all the rebel arrangements in Hebei have been broken, all the channels between Shuofang and Hebei have been opened, and it means that the elite northwest soldiers of the imperial court can enter the battlefield at will.

The rebels suddenly felt great despair.

"It's not Guo Ziyi!"

Shi Siming was still trying to boost morale and sent a letter to Cai Xide's camp to ask for help. Soon, he received a reply.

"Report! General, no good, General Cai has been defeated and fled!"

"What? Get out! Get out!"

Shi Si knew that the war was irreversible, so he had to lead an elite group of confidants to withdraw.

Just after escaping from the camp, in the chaos, a sharp arrow suddenly shot at him.

When the wind broke, Shi Siming quickly reined in his horse.

"puff."

The sharp arrow immediately hit his horse, and with the horse neighing sadly, he fell off the horse.

"Where can the traitor escape?!"

A general from the Tang army came running with a bow, it was Li Sheng.

"Grandma!"

Seeing this, Shi Chaoyi looked back and shot an arrow at Li Sheng. He abandoned his bow and stepped forward on Pegasus. He pulled the fallen Shi Siming onto his horse, shouted "Quick", and ran away without stopping.

Li Sheng shot down Shi Siming with an arrow, and when he was about to pursue him again, he felt an arrow coming. He quickly lowered his head, and there was a "ding" sound, and the arrow hit his helmet. When he looked up again, Shi Siming and his son had been killed by him. The soldiers blocked it.

In this battle, Shi Siming and Cai Xide were defeated and fled north to Boling.

~~
"Big victory! Big victory!"

"Changshan rescues the siege and Hebei is restored!"

The sky was shining on the city tower of Changshan County. Yuan Luqian, who had been busy all night, suddenly heard the shouts of horses outside the city. He looked up at the sky. Suddenly his eyes became sore and tears fell like rain.

He thought of himself standing in front of the obese An Lushan, bending down and holding up the purple official robe.

No matter how much humiliation I endured, it was finally over after enduring it to this moment.

"Yuan Changshi, Yuan Changshi?"

Yuan Luqian looked back with tears in his eyes, only to see Li Guangbi had arrived in front of him.

Last night, Li Guangbi ordered a group of soldiers and horses to attack Shi Siming with Guo Ziyi, while he led his army to defeat Cai Xide's troops. At this time, his armor was covered with blood, but his face rarely showed a relaxed smile.

"Let's go, follow me to meet Guo Ziyi."

"Allow me to change my clothes so as not to be rude."

"No need."

Li Guangbi mounted his horse and walked away first. As he was walking, he suddenly said: "Guo Ziyi and I have never been on good terms."

"What?" Yuan Luqian has not yet reacted.

"Anyway, we can't get along."

When Yuan Luqian heard this, he was worried and thought about what to do if the two generals from Hedong and Shuofang didn't get along. Looking back at the large array of Bien Ling City behind me, I felt even more worried.

They rushed to the rebel camp and saw that the Tang army was counting the heads of the rebels. The bloody heads were loaded on carts like cabbage.

Bian Lingcheng was delighted when he saw it. He stepped forward to check it out and waited here for Guo Ziyi to come to pay him a visit.

Li Guangbi and Yuan Luqian walked to the main tent.

Yuan Luqian entered the tent first and saw an old man six feet tall with a long beard and a gray beard, leaning on Shi Siming's couch and sleeping soundly. As soon as he heard someone coming in, he immediately opened his eyes. At that time, the whimpering and sometimes high-pitched snoring suddenly stopped, and I didn't know whether he was asleep or not.

He was not wearing armor, and Yuan Luqian was not sure whether he was Guo Ziyi. He turned to look at Li Guangbi. Li Guangbi had a cold face and said nothing. He stared at Shi Siming's fallen hair. He stepped forward to pick it up and took a look, showing surprise.

"May I ask who you are, Mr. Guo?"

"No."

Yuan Luqian was stunned and stared at the bags under the other person's eyes for a moment.

"Hahaha, soldiers never tire of deceit." Guo Ziyi laughed loudly, stood up with a body as tall as a mountain, and said: "Guo Ziyi, deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, it's a pleasure to meet you. Yuan Changshi has made a great contribution to defeating the thief."

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

While talking, Guo Ziyi looked at Li Guangbi. The two looked at each other without saying a word, which made Yuan Luqian feel very embarrassed.

Finally, Guo Ziyi spoke first.

"I've taken a fancy to that spear." Li Guangbi then put down the long spear and listened to what he continued.

"Since you like it, I'll give it to you."

"Okay. I have been recommended by others, and now my official position is no less than yours."

"Hahaha." Guo Ziyi laughed loudly, simply put on her shoes and stepped forward, patted Li Guangbi on the back, and said: "Today's rebels are rebelling against the country, and we urgently need you and me to work together. How can we still harbor selfish resentment?"

Li Guangbi was also cheerful and immediately bowed his head in salute and said: "We are willing to work together to defeat the thieves."

"it is good!"

Yuan Luqian originally thought that their "disharmony" was due to the partisanship and opposition to dissent, but he did not expect such childish vindictiveness. He was overjoyed to see that the two of them could put aside their past feud.

"The two commanders have been working together to defeat thieves. They can be said to be heroes who have the same vision."

"It's just a tacit understanding." Guo Ziyi waved her hand.

"Change your clothes and go meet the supervisory army." Li Guangbi said.

Guo Ziyi didn't see anyone outside, so she started to put on her clothes in front of the two of them, and asked as if telling a family story: "Why haven't you seen Xue Lang? I've heard his name for a long time, but I haven't met him yet."

"Prefect Xue went to Pingyuan County to provide support. He conquered Wei County not long ago and has chased the rebels across the Yellow River."

"Xue Lang is indispensable for Hebei's success."

As he said that, Guo Ziyi raised his hand, pointed to a few generals in the distance, and said: "Those are brothers Xue Song and Xue Kui. It is thanks to them that we can retake Yanmen Pass this time. And it was Xue Lang who arranged for them to come to meet me. , what a foresight.”

Then he pointed to Li Sheng in the distance and said: "Li Sheng is stationed at Tumen Pass. It is invulnerable to wind and rain and makes Jingxing unobstructed. This is also the reason why I can rush to Changshan."

Li Guangbi nodded and said: "Xue Lang saw through An Lushan's treachery a few years ago, stopped him from plotting to seize the Hedong Jiedushi, and defended Taiyuan. With this situation today, we must not forget his contribution. "

"Just now Yuan Changshi said that Xue Lang and Governor Helan were supporting Changshan. Last night, my sergeant found a prisoner of war among the rebels, claiming to be..."

Halfway through Guo Ziyi's words, he saw the supervisor Bian Lingcheng in front.

In addition, who is standing next to Bian Lingcheng if it's not the prisoner of war who claimed to be Helan Jinming last night?

"Ha, he's pretty fast."

Guo Ziyi straightened her gray beard, stepped forward, and said with a warm smile: "It's Guo's fault that the border supervisors failed to meet us from afar!"

Li Guangbi was heartbroken. He had not been on good terms with Guo Ziyi before because he thought he was too smooth. But now that he was working together, he realized that many things were blocked by Guo Ziyi, so he could relax a lot.

"I have heard about Mr. Guo for a long time." Bian Ling said with a sincere smile: "I just saw Mr. Guo chatting happily with Mr. Li and Yuan Changshi. I wonder what they were talking about?"

"I'm talking about the contribution of Xue Bai, the governor of Changshan."

"Xue Bai?"

Bian Lingcheng pondered for a moment. Some things were better left to others to explain. Then he introduced him sideways: "This is the governor of Beihai Helan. He comes from a famous family. I believe you have heard of his poems?"

Guo Ziyi was very amused, stroking his beard and said: "Prefect Helan's poetry is elegant and elegant, good poetry, good poetry."

"Prefect Helan is also the newly appointed envoy to Hebei by the imperial court." Bian Lingcheng smiled and patted Helan Jinming on the back, "He was trapped in the bandit camp, but he is mighty and unyielding, fearless, and loyal."

Helan Jinming immediately stepped forward and greeted them with an upright look.

"Just now, Duke Guo and Duke Li mentioned Xue Bai's achievements. He has achievements... I'm afraid they were deceived by him. Duke Guo recovered the bend of the river, captured Yan Pass, and defeated the bandits. They all used their lives, and Duke Guo commanded Ruoding. What does it have to do with Xue Bai? This person is always willing to use his words to put credit on others. "

Listening, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi looked at each other, turned away and said nothing.

He Lan Jinming continued: "Xue Bai had ulterior motives and deliberately forced An Lushan to rebel. I escorted him to the capital according to the secret decree of the imperial court. He got wind of it in advance and deliberately seized my military power, trapped me as a thief, and caused my second brother to die tragically in battle."

"I'm afraid there may be a misunderstanding on this matter."

Yuan Luqian's face turned solemn. Knowing that Helan Jinming had Bian Lingcheng's support behind his back, he still stepped forward and said, "I worked with Prefect Xue, and I know him as a person, so I can't..."

"enough!"

Helan Jinming suddenly raised his hand and pointed, shouting: "I don't know who informed Xue Bai and framed my brother for killing, it was you!"

Yuan Luqian was not afraid of him and said: "Prefect Helan? You are trapped in the bandit camp, so you will inevitably get excited. Please calm down before talking!"

"I ask you, where are Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu, Yang Qixuan and other traitorous officials? Where are Xue Bai's family members?"

"They contacted Jia Xun and Liu Kenu to instigate rebellion against Fan Yang and Yu Yang. They have made great contributions to the country. What do you mean by this?!"

"I just asked you where they are?!"

"It's not in Changshan County anyway."

"Yuan Luqian, you surrendered to the rebels, tipped off the key criminals, and indulged their family members. You are guilty of conspiracy!"

"Helan Jinming! How dare you slander anyone?!"

Bian Lingcheng suddenly smiled, waved his hand to stop the increasingly fierce quarrel, looked at Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, and asked: "What do the two commanders think about this matter?"

Guo Ziyi was the first to say: "With the current national affairs, it is better to wait until the rebellion is completely suppressed before discussing these small matters."

"The two generals are trustworthy." Bian Lingcheng said with a smile: "As for the others... why not ask Governor Helan and Yuan Changshi, as well as a group of 'meritorious officials' to go back to Chang'an first to report their merits. Is it appropriate?”

As he said this, a horse neighed from the other side of the camp, as if a flag was flying away.

Bian Lingcheng turned to look at the flying smoke and asked, "What's the matter?"

Guo Ziyi narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Oh, I just gave the order to send Li Sheng back to Tumen Pass to garrison first."

"I see, what about my proposal just now?"

Just as Li Guangbi was about to step forward, Guo Ziyi calmly blocked the way and said with a laugh: "I will be in charge of killing the enemy in the battle formation. As for these matters, it is up to the supervisory army to decide. Each has its own division of labor and works together."

Bian Lingcheng understood clearly that the implication of the old man Guo's words was that he, the supervisor, should not interfere with the battle formation.

For him, it’s all about taking the credit.

"Okay, let's follow what Mr. Guo said."

The matter was settled. Helan Jinming, the new official of the Hebei imperial edict, took office and planned to take Yuan Luqian back to Chang'an to report his merits. As for Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu, Yang Qixuan, etc., they were also important witnesses and needed to be found.

On the same day, an official document was delivered to all counties in Hebei along with the military order. While announcing the victory of the Tang army, it also asked the county guards to take Xue Bai into custody as soon as they saw him and report it to Hebei to recruit envoys.

Just two days later, Li E, the governor of Qinghe County, saw the messenger. He was just happy about the situation in Hebei, but soon he was surprised again.

"Planning something evil? Prefect Xue?"

"Yes, now that Hebei is about to be restored, it's time to deal with Xue Bai."

Li E continued to ask: "Hebei is restored, but Xue Bai has to be dealt with?"

"Yes, please ask Governor Li to hand him over."

"Follow me." Li E climbed to the top of the city, pointed in the distance, and said, "I just want to recruit envoys to go to the south bank of the Yellow River to capture Xue Bai."

~~
On the south bank of the Yellow River, in Lingchang County, Xue Baizheng was stationed in the mountains and forests to rest.

If you go to the southeast, you can go to several canal fortresses that are still in the hands of the Tang army; if you go to the west, you can go to Shouyang Mountain, but you have to pass through the Kaifeng and Yingyang lands that have fallen.

The morale of the Guangwu Army was quite high, because the battle in Qinghe County made them feel that the counter-insurgency situation in Hebei was very good. All the counties were holding on, and reinforcements from Hedong were coming soon. Shi Siming came aggressively, but ended up fighting You have to pay attention to one thing and lose the other, and you are fooled around.

Under such circumstances, the army actually had doubts about Xue Bai's insistence on going south, and even Wang Ruolan raised questions.

"I promised to listen to you, and I didn't ask when the crisis came. But I don't understand, why did we capture Wei County but not defend it?"

Wang Rao was a person who knew strategy. He squatted on the ground, drew a situation map casually, and continued to ask questions.

"To the east of Wei County is Fukou County, one of the Eight Governors of Taihang. Li E said that the imperial court has appointed Cheng Ang, the former Protector of Beiting and General Youjinwu, as the governor of Shangdang County, and troops will soon be sent out of Fukou County. Xing, if we hold on to Wei County, we can cooperate with Cheng Ang to quickly capture Hebei. There are many officers and soldiers on the canal, and there is no shortage of more than 10,000 of us, at least for now. Why do you have to cross the Yellow River and go south?"

Xue Bai pondered and said, "Maybe I have selfish motives."

"Selfish?"

"I never told you that the imperial court appointed Helan Jinming as the envoy to Hebei Province and wanted to escort me to the capital." Xue Bai took out the secret edict again and said: "Now I am no longer the leader of the counties in Hebei Province and have become a wanted criminal. "

The reason why he told Yan Gaoqing first but never told Wang Ruan was because he needed to convince Yan Gaoqing, but Wang Ruan didn't need to be persuaded before.

"I don't dare to stay for more than a day in Qinghe County." Xue Bai said with a bitter smile, "The siege of Qinghe was only solved because of deep fear. Li E got the news from the court and wanted to take me into custody."

Wang Rao looked at the edict and said, "What happened?"

He was talking about their private blood-letter alliance and their support for the crown prince.

Xue Bai shook his head and said, "Probably not."

"That is?" Wang Ruo was confused and didn't understand.

Xue Bai was very hesitant, and after a while he slowly said: "It should be because my life experience has been exposed."

"What's your life experience?"

"..."

At that time, Xue Bai simply told Yan Gaoqing the reason why he was wanted by saying "the sage is incompetent", but he trusted Wang Nandi more and dared to reveal deeper secrets.

After Wang Rao heard this, his eyes showed some shock at first, then gradually became serious, and finally became determined.

After the battle of Qinghe County, his friendship with Xue Bai and his admiration for Xue Bai were enough to support his choice to assist Xue Bai.

"how do you want to do it?"

"Have you never thought about detaining me to serve as an envoy to Hebei Province?"

"There is no need to talk about the friendship between men." Wang Nan said: "Just tell me your plan."

"I have a private army in Shouyang Mountain." Xue Bai said: "Don't look at it. There are not many people. How can I put it? I have been running Shouyang Mountain for many years. It is not said to be impregnable, but it is also easy to defend and difficult to attack. Luhun Villa is It is equivalent to my 'Martial City'. If the food, grass, and armaments in it can equip our more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, we can become a powerful army."

Wang Nan couldn't help but smile, not knowing whether he believed it or not.

Xue Bai continued: "The rebels are attacking Tongguan with all their strength, but Luoyang's defenses are empty, and people's hearts are floating. I even heard that Hanjiacang is also empty. We have a strong army, maybe we can take the risk and put down the rebellion in one fell swoop?"

The reason for taking risks is because of ambition. The greater the ambition, the greater the risk. If he only wanted to be promoted to an official position, Wang Bao could only stay in places like Jingxing and Fukouxing, which were both safe and secure. credit.

But Xue Bai wanted far more than just this.

"Only by personally quelling the rebellion can I achieve unparalleled momentum and be able to resist the saint's... persecution after the rebellion ends. Only then can I use the power of Henan and Hebei to ask the saint to abdicate and ask the prince to ascend the throne."

"It's done!" Wang Rao replied simply. After a moment, he added: "It's time to kill treacherous villains like Yang Guozhong and restore a bright future to the Tang Dynasty."

"Under prosperity, the system is corrupt, and we must rebuild the country."

"Okay, let's go to Dongdu!"

Wang Rao stood up proudly, first looking to the north at the roaring Yellow River, and then looking to the west amid the strong wind, trying to see Luoyang, which was trapped by the rebels, with great ambition.

He vowed to climb to Lingyan Pavilion.

On the contrary, Xue Bai was thinking deeply. Everything he said had been planned before, and there would inevitably be many changes. What's more important is that his current news channel is cut off. He doesn't know what's going on in Shouyang Mountain, Luoyang, or even Chang'an.

What the two of them could talk about today was more about thinking about their future aspirations, until they saw Jiang Hai coming from the foot of the mountain from a distance.

"Lang Jun."

Jiang Hai rushed to Xue Bai, cupped his hands and said: "I heard that Chenliu in the south fell long ago. Later, the magistrate of Yongqiu County, Ling Huchao, surrendered to the rebels. Now both the west and south sides are rebel territory. Guarded by the rebel Li Tingwang..."

(End of this chapter)