Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 445 Taking advantage of the situation
There was smoke in the hall, and there was a gray-haired witch doing rituals with her bare feet and shaking a bunch of grass in her hand. An Lushan danced and murmured prayers to the portrait of Lingguang God.

Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the bed again from exhaustion.

Li Zhuer then stepped forward and reported in a low voice: "Sage, Taoist Master Li is here."

Because the Zoroastrian priest had just left, Li Zhuer was worried that it would not be convenient for An Lushan to see Li Xiazhou, so he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. But An Lushan said: "Quick, let Daochang Li come in!"

The thin figure entered the palace. Before Li Xiazhou could approach, An Lushan couldn't wait to ask: "Taoist Priest, can my enthronement ceremony be brought forward?"

"If the saint's birthday is not brought forward, how can the ceremony be changed?" Li Xiazhou said in a detached tone, even with a faint smile: "Needless to say, needless to say, I know what the saint is worried about, everything is just a fate. That’s all, after overcoming the tribulation, the saint can transform from a black pig into a dragon.”

Here in Anlu Mountain, black pig is not an insult, but one of the incarnations of the god of war. Therefore, "black pig turns into a dragon" is actually their idea, which shows that the world believes that a Sogdian and Zoroastrian is a real dragon. The emperor's statement has been spreading everywhere recently.

"Taoist Master, don't lie to me!" An Lushan's eyes were still unfocused, his face twitched slightly, and he said with cruelty: "Even if I'm going to die, I have to be an emperor before I die!"

Although his birthday was on the first day of the first lunar month, had it not been for Li Xiazhou's instigation, he would have ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor a few months earlier. Now none of the smooth scenes described by Li Xiazhou have come true. The situation is getting worse and worse like the damn disease. He begins to feel that he has been deceived by Li Xiazhou.

First he was deceived into taking over the Eastern Capital, which had no grain reserves, and then he was deceived into not even being regarded as the emperor. Wouldn't it be too stupid? !

"The first month has not yet come, how can we recognize the saint?" Li Xiazhou said calmly.

An Lushan patted the bed and cursed: "Get out! When Li Daozhang left Hunjun and lived in seclusion in the mountains, how could he be Xue Bai's internal agent?!"

Seeing him like this, An Lushan finally lost his temper and regretted his unreasonable behavior. So he rolled on the bed and behaved like a child, saying: "I want to ascend the throne earlier, but the Taoist priest can't obey me even once." Well?"

An Lushan summoned him immediately. Soon, Yan Zhuang stepped inside and saw that Li Yazhou was also there. He saluted directly and said: "Sage, I am here to take Li Yazhou. I have already interrogated Da Xixun, and it is indeed Xue Bai who is the internal responder. Li Yazhou It’s very suspicious to be introduced by him.”

"Daozhang Li! What else do you have to explain?!"

"Ashna Chengqing is already on his way back with his troops. As soon as Fan Yangxiao's cavalry arrives, Xue Bai will die. I will cut him into pieces!"

Tian Qianzhen scolded: "Can't I tell whether it's a estrangement or not?!"

Tian Qianzhen knew that although An Lushan often liked to say innocent words, he was actually not confused about major matters, so he said directly: "I have a plan, and I can use it to annihilate Xue Bai!"

At this time, a chamberlain came forward and said: "Sage, Prime Minister Yan is here."

"The star in the giant gate is moving, it's dangerous, it's dangerous."

An Lushan was doubtful and said, "Taoist Priest, how do you explain it?"

An Lushan couldn't see clearly and heard Tian Qianzhen's voice, so he asked: "Ah Hao, what are you doing? Director Li has something important to tell me!"

"Sage, An Shouzhong also secretly turned to Xue Bai."

Just as Li Yazhou was about to speak, there was a sudden commotion outside the hall.

"I have proof." Tian Qianzhen said, "I noticed something was wrong with An Shouzhong a few days ago. After careful inspection, I found that his business has always been related to Xue Bai's Fenghui Bank, not to mention his relationship with Li Xiazhou He moved around a lot. Therefore, I arranged for my confidants to keep an eye on him, and I found out that he was moving around a lot tonight."

"Xue Bai used gunpowder to attack the city tonight, but it was actually to deliver a secret message to An Shouzhong. However, An Shouzhong got the letter but hid it secretly. He must not have reported it to the saint?"

"I want to see the saint!"

Li Yazhou smiled faintly and didn't answer.

He obviously had more evidence, and without waiting for Li Xiazhou to quibble, he added: "I have checked that although Li Xiazhou once served the emperor, he was just a charlatan who offered counterfeit medicine. After the failure, he quietly absconded. The emperor did not dare to publicize it because of his reputation. , It is only said that he is living in seclusion, but many princes have used the Xingyang Centipede Bag to no avail. However, there is no news about Li Xiazhou in these years. He is not living in seclusion in the mountains, but in fact he has been working under Xue Bai. "

"Hahaha." Li Xiazhou seemed to have heard the joke and laughed heartily. His voice was clear and his laughter alone made him appear sincere and magnanimous.

An Lushan swore fiercely, and then he thought about the fluctuation of people's hearts in the city, and if something else happened, he asked: "Ahao, what's his clever plan? If it's not a clever plan, I won't listen."

An Lushan was so shocked that he fell down on the bed, raised his fist and hit it hard, and shouted again: "I don't believe it!"

After that, no matter how angry and threatening An Lushan was, Li Xiaozhou always looked calm and calm. Even if An Lushan threatened to cut him in half, he would not relent and let An Lushan ascend the throne in advance.

"If you are forced to ascend the throne before your birthday, your destiny may be taken away by evil stars."

"so what?"

"I do not believe."

"General Tian, ​​you can't force your way in!"

When Yan Zhuang left Ziwei Palace, the first thing he did was to ask his subordinates about the matter.

"Maybe he will report it to me soon?"

"A saint must not have such unlucky words." Li Xiazhou twisted his long beard and said: "I look at the sky at night, and the saint's destiny star is in the middle of the sky, Enguang Yanghuo, Longchifengge. Recently, there are evil stars shining on my destiny, and I want to take away According to the destiny of a saint, fortunately, Tanlang, Jumen, Lianzhen, and Wuqu meet each other, and the life-saving stars will be safe. Therefore, in the first month, danger will be turned into safety. "

"Back then, Pindao was in Chang'an and was respected by the emperor. However, Pindao saw that his star of fate was dim and drifted away, unburdened by fame and wealth. To this day, Pindao is not frightened by swords, axes and axes."

Yan Zhuang said: "The saint does not need to pay attention to his monstrous words to confuse the public. He only needs to hand him over to his ministers. Under the three trees, there is the truth."

"Why?"

~~
"Have you found Lu Yi's box?"

Tian Qianzhen took out a few letters from his arms and said: "Sage, this is the letter written by Prime Minister Gao to me. He once captured people from Luhun Villa for interrogation and found out that the man who refined gunpowder for Xue Bai was an old Taoist with a thin body. With his long beard, isn’t he Li Xiazhou?”

Tian Qianzhen said: "These past few nights, you and An Shouzhong have been playing dominoes, right?"

"The saint no longer has to listen to Li Yazhou's nonsense, this person is Xue Bai's internal agent!"

"You're still lying to me!" An Lushan got angry and yelled.

Tian Qianzhen did not compete with Yan Zhuang for the initiative in this matter, but allowed him to take Li Yazhou away. He stayed alone because he had more important things to report to An Lushan.

"The greedy wolf star is moving, and the main star is in danger." Li Yazhou didn't take it seriously. He waved the dust in his hand and said, "This is just Xue Bai's plan to divorce."

"It will be too late when the first month comes!"

However, the answer he got surprised him.

"No."

"How could it be?" Yan Zhuang asked, "Have you searched for both Lu Zhai and Yushitai?"

"I've looked for it all. The box should have been placed on the censor's desk before. It is said that Lu Yi was still reading the scroll inside before he died."

Yan Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "I remember that Lu Yi's son was named Lu Qi, right? But he took him away?"

"Probably not. The villain asked the soldiers who captured Lu Yi and said that they did see the box on the day they broke into the city. They saw that it was full of books and they didn't even bother to touch it. Oh, before Lu Yi was tied up, he even held his hand Put the volume inside."

"That is to say, when we entered the city, that box of books was still sitting there?"

"Yes."

"In that case, where else can we go?"

"The villain doesn't know."

"Let you check!"

It seemed like a small matter, but Yan Zhuang realized that the situation was very serious. If any civil servant in the Yan Dynasty took away the policy of governing the country, they would probably all turn to Xue Bai.

But who could it be?
Zhang Tongru? Calm? These two people had known Xue Bai in the past and were very suspicious. It's just that they are following An Qingxu to attack Tongguan. If they can't take away such a large box of books, they can check their mansion.

In addition, where are the explosives that Yan Chunqing brought into Luoyang?
Yan Zhuang turned his head, glanced at the high bright hall, and walked towards it.

Ziwei Palace has a front dynasty layout with sleeping quarters in the back. Mingtang is in the front dynasty, which is equivalent to the imperial city of Chang'an and is where national policies are handled. During Wu Zetian's period, people were even allowed to visit.

In order to prepare for the enthronement ceremony of Anlu Mountain, it is now being repaired day and night and adding a sacred throne.

"Take down all the craftsmen!"

"Here!"

The arrest of the craftsmen went very smoothly, and no one resisted. Yan Zhuang first checked all the materials and found no problems. Then he took people into them to check carefully, but there was still nothing unusual.

Finally, he locked his eyes on the dragon chair and was stunned for a long time until someone behind him called him.

"Senior Prime Minister."

Yan Zhuang turned his head and nodded when he saw Li Zhuer coming.

The two of them were not familiar with each other, but because they had both been whipped by An Lushan, they had a vague sympathy for each other.

"Sage Dragon Chair has ordered people to investigate, and no explosives were found." Li Zhuer said, "The entire Mingtang is all over. I brought more than ten hounds to smell it carefully, and there is no pungent smell at all."

"That's good."

"There is one more thing." Li Zhuer said, "Since Li Xiazhou is a fake expert, the saint does not want to wait until the first day of the first lunar month to ascend the throne. He wants to do it earlier."

Yan Zhuang pondered: "It is not appropriate to ascend the throne when the Tang army is attacking the city. How about annihilating Xue Bai?"

"Knowing that Prime Minister Yan would say this, the saint asked his slave to tell Prime Minister Yan that Xue Bai would be annihilated soon."

"Yes, clowns are nothing to be afraid of."

Yan Zhuang still checked the Mingtang, but still found no abnormality, so he stood at the highest point. After waiting for a short time, he saw a golden sun slowly rising from the Luoshui River flowing to the sky.

He sighed tiredly, but could not stop his busy work and turned around to interrogate Li Xiazhou.

~~
"There is no need to resort to punishment, just a simple punishment."

Li Yazhou had just been tied to the torture rack. His expression had changed, and he even had a friendly smile on his face.

Yan Zhuang said: "Using punishment can help you think more and move faster."

"I can make gunpowder." Li Yazhou was still smiling, but the smile in his eyes didn't seem to be trying to please, but seemed to be a little proud.

"Wait a minute."

Yan Zhuang still raised his hand, stopped the torture, and said: "Strike first."

"Back then, after I deceived the Hunjun of Chang'an, I was indeed captured by that boy Xue Bai. He took a fancy to my ability in alchemy and held evidence of my crime in his hand, saying that if I didn't serve him, it would be a death sentence. I had no choice but to do things for him.”

Li Xiazhou recruited happily and said: "When Fan Yang's army arrived, Yan Chunqing took me to Luoyang, wanting me to arrange gunpowder to help Gao Xianzhi defend the city. But then I met Gao Xianzhi, and a mutiny broke out in Luoyang not long after. The rewarded soldiers killed people and opened the city gate. I took advantage of the chaos to escape and left Yan Chunqing, but my old arms and legs were too slow to escape. Fan Yang's army had already entered the city. By chance, I saw Da Xixun leading the way for the new king. I was an old acquaintance of him, so I approached him and asked him to introduce me. "

"Mr. Mo said it was useless." Yan Zhuang sneered tiredly and said, "I want to know where the explosives you brought into Luoyang are."

"If I remember correctly, Gao Xianzhi was shipped to Shaanxi County." "He didn't leave them in Luoyang for a raid?"

Li Xiazhou said: "If the explosives are left behind, they must be ignited by dead soldiers. Gao Xianzhi went to Luoyang alone to recruit soldiers, how could he have the manpower to arrange them?"

"He doesn't have it, how can Xue Bai not have it?" Yan Zhuang said: "For example... you."

"Gao Xianzhi was unwilling to let go of this sharp weapon easily. For him, if he can make good use of firearms in the narrow channel of the Yellow River Gorge, it will be a great achievement if he can defeat the main force of the rebels."

"The old guy is thick-skinned. He won't do it without punishment."

"I can tell you everything I know. There are many things about Shouyang Mountain that you want to hear?" Li Xia Zhou said: "Before Fan Yang's army crossed the Yellow River, Da Xi Yingying went to Shouyang Mountain in person to talk to Yin Liang about supporting the crown prince. They roped in Ge Shuhan."

Yan Zhuang's expression changed, he could not ignore the 200,000 troops in Tongguan, and said: "Tell me carefully."

"..."

Li Xia Zhou talked for a long time, but someone came to invite Yan Zhuang, saying that he was summoned by An Lushan.

The light in the torture chamber was dim, but the sky was bright outside. Yan Zhuang squinted his eyes and finally got used to the light. When he entered the Yisui Palace, it was very dark inside.

"saint."

An Lushan on Hu's bed was like a pile of dead meat, which suddenly came to life and said: "Xue Bai's envoy is here!"

"What?" Yan Zhuang was stunned for a moment.

"He asked me if I was willing to go to Chang'an together to support Li Cong. Afterwards, I was named King of Yan. I will be hereditary and rule Youzhou forever."

Yan Zhuang turned his head and glanced at Tian Qianzhen who was standing in the hall. Seeing that the other party did not speak, he responded: "It can happen once, but it cannot be done again. Xue Bai has deceived Li Huaixian with this trick, and now he is repeating his old plan to deceive Li Huaixian." Am I a fool?"

It should be that An Lushan and Tian Qianzhen have agreed not to take a stand and wait to see what Yan Zhuang says first. Upon hearing this, Tian Qianzhen became excited and said, "Sage, what Prime Minister Yan said makes sense."

"I'll be the emperor first. If Chang'an can't be conquered, why not return to Youzhou?" An Lushan wanted to ascend the throne as soon as possible, but it was a failure. Seeing that he had a way out, his mentality changed again, and said: "Ah Hao, you were He also said that if things don’t work out, he will break the earth and become the king.”

"The key is that Xue Bai is not sincere. He has bullied Li Huaixian once before."

"I have read Li Huaixian's letter. Xue Bai also meant the same thing at the time." An Lushan said suspiciously: "Ah Hao, it's really not you who killed Li Huaixian?"

"I grew up as a saint and you watched me grow up. If the saint doesn't believe in me, I will take out my heart and show it to him!"

"Don't look at Xue Bai's majesty now. Hunjun also wants his life. Let's see, when Ashina Chengqing's army arrives and Xue Bai is desperate, of course he will have to beg me."

Yan Zhuang suddenly said: "What the sage said makes sense..."

Seeing the change in Yan Zhuang's attitude, Tian Qianzhen was so anxious that he suddenly figured it out and said hurriedly: "I understand, Xue Bai must be testing it!"

"what for?"

"I made a plan with the saint to lure Xue Bai into Hanjiacang City and annihilate him in the name of An Shouzhong." Tian Qianzhen said: "Xue Bai is cautious and trustworthy and does not dare to send troops rashly, so he sends an envoy to explore. This is to contact An Shouzhong to confirm the truth of this matter."

"That's how it should be." Yan Zhuang nodded.

An Lushan was still worried and said: "He has always been stupid. If he cooperates with me from the beginning, we will benefit from cooperation. He will not seek death."

"Xue Bai is so hateful, the saint just bypassed him and went straight to talk to Ge Shuhan."

"Wonderful." An Lushan was overjoyed and said: "As expected of the strict prime minister, this is what happened. Get rid of Xue Bai and recruit brother Shu Han... He is also a thief. He humiliated me in front of the faint king. For the great cause, Just bear with him."

~~
"Hu Laishui, the general of the Hengyang Army of the Tang Dynasty, came to the city to appease him on the orders of Governor Xue of Changshan!"

Following this shout, a young general wearing armor drove his horse to the gate of Luoyang City and shouted loudly.

Hu Laishui has been following Xue Bai for seven years. At first he was just a clerk at Fenghui Bank, and gradually he was trained as a spy and bodyguard. In the past two years, he has been training as a private soldier with Fan Lao on Shouyang Mountain, and also traveled around Chang'an and Luoyang. This time, it was a rare opportunity for him to experience fighting with the king, and it was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Because he was Xue Bai's confidant, he was temporarily appointed as a general during the war. He was already a high-ranking official that had never been seen in their village. Once the war was calmed down, his future would only be better.

However, he felt that he was not worthy of such an official position and wanted to perform meritorious service, so he asked for orders to enter the city this time.

Soon, the city gate slowly opened, and on both sides were cavalry standing upright with their swords raised. It was really scary, but Hu Laishui was not afraid and drove his horses into the city.

"drink!"

Just after the city gate was closed, the guards on both sides suddenly shouted and waved their swords as if they were going to chop Hu Laishui. However, he laughed loudly and said loudly: "I have been ordered by Governor Xue to hand over the credentials. If An Lushan doesn't want him, just do it. If he wants to kill him, then kill him. No need to bluff!"

On the top of the city, Tian Qianzhen sneered slightly when he saw this scene. Although there was killing intent in his eyes, it was not directed at the rampant pawn. As long as Xue Bai can be tricked into Hanjiacang City, all the Tang troops will be annihilated by him.

"General An, make sure he trusts you."

"Ah Hao, I really didn't collude with Xue Bai." An Shouzhong said with a bitter face.

"I don't care." Tian Qianzhen said, "I just want you to use your plan. Please show your authority and let Tang Jun see that you are still in charge of Luoyang Guards."

"Ok."

An Shouzhong sighed and galloped on top of the city. Someone behind him raised his flag. He saw that although he was still a general, the defense of the city had been transferred to Tian Qianzhen's hands.

Yan Zhuang watched these situations in the Mingtang. When Tian Qianzhen entered the Mingtang, he couldn't help but ask: "Changing generals before the battle, the generals don't know the soldiers, and the soldiers don't know the generals. Can you really annihilate Xue Bai?"

"He was lucky last time. This time, I will kill him." Tian Qianzhen said through gritted teeth.

Yan Zhuang felt uneasy, thinking that Tian Qianzhen was a little too impulsive in order to avenge Gao Shang. If an army is defeated once in anger, it is often easy to be defeated a second time.

Fortunately, Hanjiacang City still has a partition wall. An Qinghe, son of An Lushan, will personally defend it tonight. Even if Tian Qianzhen's plan fails, Xue Bai will not be able to enter Luoyang.

"It's a pity that it's not Xue Bai or Wang Nan who came, but just an unknown person..."

At this time, An Lushan had been carried over and placed on the second floor of the Mingtang. He rubbed his eyes and his vision was blurred.

"Saint, the messenger has arrived."

An Lushan was too lazy to look and murmured: "I really want to kill him."

Under the bright hall, Hu Laishui could only reach the base of the platform, and rows of soldiers had raised their bows and arrows to point at him.

He had no consciousness of being a nobody at all, and was very dissatisfied with such treatment. He raised his head and looked at Anlu Mountain above.

"The governor wants to discuss important matters with the Prince of Dongping. Why would the prince be so reluctant to grant me a meeting?"

After shouting, Hu Laishui untied his belt, took off his armor and even the robe underneath in front of countless arrows, and stood naked on the cold snow.

"So, Prince Dongping would like to grant you a meeting?!"

Unfortunately, when he reached this point, Anlu Mountain above the Mingtang could not be seen at all.

An Lushan only heard people say that the messenger took off his clothes and the bird was about to freeze to death, so he said: "Let him freeze."

After a long time, An Lushan couldn't sit still and asked, "Are you freezing to death?"

"Back to Saint, not yet."

"It's so cold-resistant."

Finally, Tian Qian couldn't bear it anymore and said: "Sage, we still need to let him go back to report the news to Xue Bai."

"Okay, let him put on his clothes." An Lushan was greatly disappointed.

"Here."

Li Zhuer then walked down the hall, walked up to Hu Laishui, and said, "The saint ordered you to put on your clothes."

"Please give me permission to see Prince Dongping!"

Li Zhuer shouted loudly: "Give me the letter, and you go back and tell Xue Bai that Fan Yang's army is coming soon. If he wants to talk to the saint, he will come in person. Get out!"

"Please give me permission to see Prince Dongping!"

"Hey, you idiot."

Seeing this, Li Zhuer had no choice but to pick up the clothes on the ground, put them on Hu Laishui, and cursed.

Probably because Hu Laishui exposed his crotch in public, but Li Zhuer had already lost the object, and felt very complicated, so he couldn't help but reach out and touch it.

Although all the guards around him saw it, they knew that An Lushan didn't see it, and no one said anything about this trivial matter. They had all heard that Li Zhuer was castrated by the saint himself.

……

Over there, Hu Laishui left Luoyang and passed by the upper east gate. He saw An Shouzhong passing by while patrolling the city. He glanced at him lightly and nodded.

The meaning is obvious, we can attack the city tonight.

~~
After everyone left, Yan Zhuang still stood in the Mingtang, looking at the city of Luoyang in the sunset. He thought about it again in his mind and realized that An Lushan was right.

Xue Bai seems to be very powerful, but he has two fatal weaknesses. First, he lacks the strength to attack by force, and second, he lacks time and cannot fight for a long time. The internal agents in the city were also screened out, and Xue Bai lacked an opportunity to really quickly break through Luoyang.

Tian Qianzhen advised An Lushan to replace An Shouzhong, that would be invincible. No matter whether the plan succeeds or not, Luoyang City can be defended.

Unless Tian Qian is really an insider, but that is obviously impossible.

"Senior Prime Minister."

Someone came up behind Yan Zhuang again and asked, "Has Prime Minister Yan found more internal contacts in the city?"

"There should be none." Yan Zhuang said, "So far, Xue Bai has no one who can really help him seize the city. Neither Da Xixun nor Li Xiazhou can do it. They were not trusted from the beginning, and neither can An Shouzhong. He couldn't make up his mind."

"Then... how about I point out someone for Prime Minister Yan?"

"Oh?" Yan Zhuang thought of the box of books that had disappeared inexplicably and asked, "Who?"

"It's you, Yan Xiang."

"I?"

Yan Zhuang burst into laughter, waved his hands repeatedly, and said, "You misunderstood. I have been looking for an internal agent in the city. How can I be an internal agent?"

The next moment, his expression hardened, as if he had some realization, he turned around and asked again.

"Me? It turns out to be me."

(End of this chapter)