Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 448: Driving away wolves and devouring tigers
It’s half past the winter month, and many people in Chang’an City are already looking forward to the Lantern Festival.

In the palace courtyard named "Golden Flower Fall" in the northeast corner of Xingqing Palace, two young palace maids who were not aware of the world's affairs felt as if they were far away when they talked about the rebellion that swept through Tongguan.

"It's really annoying. If the rebellion continues not to be put down, I'm afraid it will delay the Lantern Festival."

"I've been looking forward to the Lantern Festival for a long time. Now that I've entered the palace, I should be able to see Xue Lang in the Flower Calyx Tower, right?"

"What else can Xue Lang expect? His reputation has been passed down for many years, so he must be getting old. The youngest and most handsome talent in Chang'an today is Cui Dong, the direct son of the Cui family, with a noble birth and a brilliant literary talent..."

"Look over there, the news is coming. The imperial concubine has been paying attention to the war. He must be here to deliver news to the imperial concubine."

They took a sneak peek and saw Xie Aman walking hurriedly, looking around furtively, and turned around the corridor.

Yang Yuhuan was lazily leaning against the window and watching the snow scene, with his eyes slightly closed, looking a little bored.

"Your Majesty, I heard about it." Xie Aman stepped forward and whispered: "He defeated the rebels in Yongqiu more than a month ago and wanted to regain Kaifeng."

"Where are the people who are going to get him? The saint is very urging."

Xie Aman said: "It is said that Helan also crossed the Yellow River during the Ming Dynasty, but don't worry, noble concubine. It is said that the rebellion will be put down soon. When there is peace, what can't be explained slowly?"

Yang Guozhong knew very well that once Xue Bai and Ge Shuhan wanted to establish a new king, the first person to be killed would be himself, a sycophant, in order to rectify the world. He then brushed aside his past habit of reporting good news but not bad news, and said, "Sage, there is one more thing."

"I had expected it." Li Longji was not surprised and said in a matter-of-fact tone: "Hu'er is so delusional that he dares to rebel in a mere place in Hebei. How can he withstand my huge army?"

Yang Guozhong quickly leaned over and replied: "We are stationed at Bashang, practicing day and night to defend the saint!"

In the hall, Li Longji's face was very solemn, and he personally told Yang Guozhong the information he had just obtained.

He was invited by Ge Shuhan to discuss the military situation. After observing the military situation, a banquet was held in Tongguan. Wang Sili toasted to him frequently, hoping to get him drunk and find out the saint's attitude.

"explain."

Victory was a matter of course. Li Longji had never taken Zahu seriously. He was worried about another thing, so he lowered his tone and asked, "How is the new army you have been training?"

Yang Yuhuan then called Zhang Yunrong and said, "Go to the saint's place to find out whether it is sunny or rainy..."

The person who came was Tian Liangqiu, a loyal minister arranged by the saint in the army. He ducked into the room and said, "But the saint ordered you to come?"

Initially, Yulin General Wang Chengye was in charge of Taiyuan, and Jinwu General Cheng Ang was in town to ensure that Anlu Mountain could not threaten Chang'an from the west of Taihang Mountain; then Wei Weiqing Zhang Jieran was in charge of Kaifeng, and Gao Xianzhi was in Luoyang to ensure that Anlu Mountain could not threaten Chang'an. Threaten Chang'an from Henan. He just didn't expect that Zhang Jieran and Gao Xianzhi would disappoint him so much. The rebels defeated Dongdu within a month and shocked the world. This really broke his plan. Fortunately, the situation did not reach an irreversible point. He calmly arranged the situation and used Ge Shuhan to lead an army of 200,000 to garrison Tongguan and contain their westward offensive.

The snow was still falling, and it was a cloudy day with low clouds and a dull feeling.

At this time, Li Longji first talked about Xue Bai's victory in Yanshi, and then asked about this new army. The implication was obviously to prevent Xue Bai from colluding with Ge Shuhan.

However, when someone knocked on the door at night, he woke up immediately, his eyes bright, how could he still be half drunk?

"It seems that the rebellion will be put down soon." Yang Guozhong responded cautiously and said softly: "In any case, this matter is gratifying and congratulatory."

But in fact, even Yang Yuhuan didn't know what serious crime Xue Bai had committed this time, which made Li Longji so strict to arrest him.

They originally wanted to mobilize Fang Shuo's army to enter Guanzhong to escort them, but Ge Shuhan produced personal and material evidence to point out that An Sishun was colluding with An Lushan. In this regard, Li Longji felt more threatened by Ge Shuhan, but against An Sishun was also wary, so he sent trusted ministers to Lingwu to rectify Shuofang's army first, and then asked Yang Guozhong to train the new army.

"The saint is meeting Yang Guozhong, no one is allowed to disturb him."

Once the war entered such a stage of attrition, the Tang court's victory was already doomed, because the rebels could not fight for long. Li Longji, who had been emperor all his life, knew this very well, but for him, just defeating An Lushan was far from enough to restore his prestige. He needs a big win.

An Lushan was about to be submerged by the Tang army at any time before he even had time to proclaim himself emperor. All this was due to the strong national power of the Tang Dynasty and the wise emperor.

As the prime minister, Yang Guozhong should have thought of a response before he dared to report, and said: "I think it is not a bad idea. If you don't agree to this matter, Ge Shuhan will be wary. But if you agree, I dare to make a statement , Ge Shuhan still cannot mobilize the new army, but allows Du Qianyun to test his mind..."

The guards shook their heads sternly. Although they were speechless, they also showed that something bad had obviously happened.

"What happened again, so serious?" Zhang Yunrong pretended to be relaxed and asked with a sweet smile.

Presumably, Xue Bai came back in peacetime, just to clear his name while talking and laughing in front of the emperor as before, not just once or twice.

Tongguan is blocked, but the news is that Helan Jinming sent it from Ningling, passed through Nanyang, and took the Wuguan Road to Chang'an. The post horse traveled 500 miles a day, which was very timely. But the situation is changing rapidly, and no one knows what will happen tomorrow.

Even so, he did not dare to show joy on his face.

The purpose of stationing troops in Bashang would naturally not be in the name of "preventing Ge Shuhan", but to resist the rebels and support Tongguan at any time. In this way, the reasons given by Ge Shuhan were so high-sounding that it was difficult for the court to refuse.

~~
"The latest news is that Xue Bai has conquered Yanshi and his troops have entered Luoyang."

Therefore, he ordered Guo Ziyi to lead the Shuofang Army and Li Guangbi to lead the Hedong Army, and march eastward, defeating the rebels again and again, and regaining Hebei. As a result, officials from various places also participated in countering the rebellion, including Xu Yuan in Suiyang, Lai Qi in Yingchuan, Li Zhi in Dongping, Lu Jiong in Nanyang, and even Zhang Xun and Jia Ben in Yongqiu... On Li Longji's map , the flags of the Tang army were already planted all around Luoyang.

"You also know that Third Sister is always asking about Xue Bai, so I want you to be more careful about it." Yang Yuhuan explained, with a rare smile on his face and said: "In short, it will be good if the rebellion is put down."

After hearing this, Li Longji's face became darker and he said nothing, because he had never found that Ge Shuhan had such powerful power in the past.

Du Qianyun understood clearly and pretended to be drunk to reveal that Yang Guozhong was worried about the rebels' attack on Tongguan.

Xie Aman added: "When I came just now, I saw an urgent delivery of five hundred miles. There should be new news, but I couldn't find it."

"The noble concubine wants to see the saint."

An imperial aura suddenly emanated from the imperial couch.

Outside the main building of the Qin Government Affairs Office, the guards standing there all stood upright, not swaying at all in the wind and snow. When they saw Zhang Yunrong coming from a distance, they didn't dare to please her as before, so they placed two halberds directly in front of her to block her.

She tried to calm down the saint's anger with witty words as she had done before, but she was scolded. After that, the saint started to ignore her for a while, obviously asking her to reflect on herself and stop worrying about irrelevant people. .

"Ge Shuhan said that the war in Tongguan was tense, and as a precaution, he requested that the Bashang New Army be subordinated to him to facilitate emergency mobilization in times of crisis."

The leader of this new army is Du Ganyun, who was carefully selected by the monarch and his ministers. He is loyal and good at fighting.

~~
Du Qianyun boarded Tongguan and looked around. The Yellow River was surging to the north and the rebels were like clouds to the east.

He had always been confident of defeating An Lushan and made the most appropriate response after the rebellion.

"Exactly, the saint suspected that my brother Shu Han had done something strange, and ordered me to change my subordinates to him, so as to find out his intentions more easily."

Tian Liangqiu asked: "Where is the suspicion?"

Du Qianyun said: "I suspect that he is responsible for constructing the East Palace. Xue Bai is involved in this matter, right?"

"I did find some abnormalities in the army." Tian Liangqiu's eyes were full of worry, and he hesitated before speaking, "There are some people hidden in Ge Shuhan's army who are not willing to let me see them. "

"Who?"

"I'm not sure, but there is one person among them whom Yan Zhenqing calls 'Brother'."

Du Qianyun was surprised and said: "But Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Pingyuan? I heard that this man and Xue Bai moved to fight in Yongqiu. How could he be in Tongguan?"

Tian Liangqiu said: "I haven't seen anyone, so I can't be sure. I once secretly hid outside the house in the name of military affairs and listened to their conversation. Although it was intermittent, there were some key sentences in it."

At this point, he unconsciously lowered his voice and said: "They said 'Xue Bai is right', 'Gao Xianzhi is deeply disappointed in the saint', and they also said 'explosives have been deployed'."

"what?!"

"Shh, be quieter."

Du Qianyun was horrified and asked: "What do these words mean? Hasn't Gao Xianzhi been beheaded? What are they planning?"

"There is no further evidence at the moment, but I would like to ask the saint to be careful. In any case, we will wait until Zahu's rebellion is put down before we can talk."

It was inconvenient to talk much at night, so Tian Liangqiu left quickly and disappeared quietly into the night.

Du Ganyun looked at the outline of the Qinling Mountains in the night and digested the news he heard tonight. Gradually, he felt that the mountains in front of him seemed to be trying to snatch people away. He couldn't help but shudder and murmured to himself.

"When the rebellion is put down, I'm afraid it will be too late."

After tossing and turning all night, the next day it was light and Du Qianyun had already gotten up and patrolled around Tongguan City, intentionally or unintentionally going to the residence of the supervisor Wu Yuanzi. When they got nearby, they were stopped by two soldiers.

After a few pleasantries, I learned that Wu Yuanzi was ill.

"I see. I hope Wu Jianjun recovers soon." Du Qianyun said casually, "After hearing that Gao Xianzhi was beheaded, Wu Jianjun personally verified that the head and body were buried together?"

"Yes, Gao Xianzhi was still shouting when he was escorted from the top of the city. The army sergeants saw him beheaded with their own eyes. What doubts does General Du have?"

"I didn't ask that." Du Qianyun smiled and said, "I mean Wu Jianjun is kind-hearted."

When he turned to leave, the smile on his face quickly fell off, and he ordered his personal soldiers: "Go, leave Tongguan immediately!"

He hurriedly picked up the horses and ran towards the city gate, only to see Wang Sili coming in front.

"Du Ganyun, Commander Jieh hasn't ordered you to leave yet!"

"I have urgent military matters and I need to return to Bashang!"

"Stop immediately, otherwise you will be punished for violating military orders!"

Instead, Du Ganyun waved his riding whip and rushed to the city gate. He knew that Tian Liangqiu must have been detained, and he must leave Tongguan as soon as possible and report Gao Xianzhi and the explosives to the saint.

"Stop!"

"drive!"

Before the west gate was closed, Du Qianyun ran directly into it; Wang Sili sat astride his horse and without saying much, he picked up the long sword with both hands and swept straight through.

This is a showdown of determination and strength.

"drive……"

"puff!"

The war horse is still running forward, and Du Ganyun's body is still sitting there on the saddle, but the head is gone, and only the broken part of the neck is still gushing with blood...

~~
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Yang Guozhong almost ran into the Qinzheng Building, staggered, and almost fell in front of Li Longji. He couldn't care about any of this, and he reported hastily: "Brother Shuhan...beheaded Du Qianyun!" Li Longji's eyes widened and he was silent for a long time.

He suddenly looked much older, not because of a sudden wrinkle on his face, but because of a feeling of mental and physical exhaustion. Although he originally looked like a seventy-year-old man, his mental temperament would not make people realize that he was old, but at this moment, his old state was like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon, which could no longer be contained.

"Sage, Ge Shuhan must be rebelling!" Seeing that he was silent, Yang Guozhong had no choice but to remind him again.

"Take Li Cong into custody for trial!"

"The minister obeys the order."

Yang Guozhong accepted the order, but did not leave because he knew that it would not solve the actual problem and would even intensify the conflict. Sure enough, Li Longji quickly rejected the order.

"Wait! It's inappropriate." Li Longji said: "You are my prime minister, what should I do with you?!"

"I think you may have replaced Ge Shuhan?"

"He deliberately 'had a stroke' just to test my mind. I had not replaced him at that time, let alone today, once the decree is issued and 200,000 troops march westward to remonstrate, will you stop him?!"

In the cold weather, sweat kept dripping from Yang Guozhong's forehead, and the word "Bingjian" was like a knife on his neck.

When Ge Shuhan's troops arrive, what will he use to admonish the saint? Of course it is the head of his prime minister.

"With An Lushan rebels in check..."

"Containment? What if Ge Shuhan and An Lushan join forces?"

"This……"

Yang Guozhong couldn't answer, so he had to say: "Maybe Ge Shuhan just had a conflict with Du Qianyun, not necessarily a rebellion."

Seeing that he was still thinking about luck at this time, Li Longji became angrier, but he was too lazy to talk to him anymore and paced back and forth, thinking about countermeasures.

For a long time, Li Longji's eyes flickered and he asked slowly: "What if I take the initiative to abdicate as the Supreme Emperor and let Li Cong ascend the throne?"

"No!"

Yang Guozhong was so shocked that he kowtowed quickly.

Li Longji said with a sarcastic tone: "Everyone in the world says that my connivance with An Lushan led to the rebellion, and there are widespread complaints. Only if I abdicate can the people of the world express their resentment."

He was very dissatisfied with the words of others who accused him of causing the rebellion. Instead, he felt that everyone in the world was wrong.

"Your Majesty! You must not think like this. It was a conspiracy hatched by Xue Bai to support the crown prince. They deliberately forced Zahu to rebel. How can your Majesty take the blame? Absolutely not!"

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has always been no shortage of emperors. If Li Longji abdicates, at least he can continue to enjoy himself. But Yang Guozhong is obviously destined to die. Otherwise, even the saints will be blamed. How can the new emperor not kill any sinners?
Yang Guozhong begged for a long time in panic. He couldn't help but glance up, saw Li Longji's cold eyes, and finally realized - how could a saint be willing to abdicate? It's absolutely impossible, he's just beating himself up with words.

He was supposed to know the saint best, but he was really too frightened just now and forgot that the saint cared about power the most.

"Calm down and think carefully about what to do now." Li Longji scolded.

"Here."

Yang Guozhong swallowed and thought about it.

Ge Shuhan could not be replaced, nor could the saint abdicate. There are only two ways to go now. One is to keep everything as usual, just follow the established strategy, there is no doubt that Anlu Mountain will be pacified, and then Ge Shuhan will be transferred back to Chang'an to be raised. But in this case, everything is just hoping that Ge Shuhan will be loyal and obedient. In fact, everyone is a knife and a slave, and I am a fish and meat...

This road is definitely not possible.

"Sage, I have a solution."

"explain."

Yang Guozhong also knew that what he said next was very shameless, and he was worried about being punished, so he said in a very weak tone: "Drive out the wolf and devour the tiger. Instead of waiting for brother Shuhan to remonstrate with his soldiers, it is better to order him to fight the rebels as soon as possible. At the moment, any way to deal with brother Shu Han's will may force him to rebel, but he cannot refuse to urge a decisive battle. If he is cowardly and refuses to fight, how can he convince the people? "

Li Longqi couldn't have thought of this method, but he didn't say it. When Yang Guozhong proposed it, the meaning was completely different.

Because the memorials of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were placed on the case, and every word of them analyzed the general trend of the world very clearly.

——The ministers and others will lead troops north to capture Fan Yang, overthrow the thieves' lair, and use the thieves' wives and children as hostages. If they are recruited, the thieves will be defeated. The Tongguan army should only hold on and kill them with time. They must not leave lightly.

At this time, the rebels were like a hungry tiger locked in a cage in Shaanxi County. They knew they were about to die. At the most ferocious moment, they drove Ge Shuhan's army of 200,000 veterans and recruits into the cage. , what will it look like to be bitten? How many people are going to die?
But no matter how many people die, we can definitely win. The original intention was to let them die, but then both sides would suffer, and no one would have the ability to remonstrate with them.

Li Longji and Yang Guozhong are actually the same. They have paid a lot to get to their current position...

"His Majesty!"

Yang Guozhong knelt and crawled forward two steps and said: "Xue Bai has entered Luoyang. If we don't fight decisively, the rebellion will be put down first!"

Li Longji closed his eyes, opened his lips, and spit out a word easily.

"allow."

He couldn't even see the 200,000 men who were guarding the pass at Tongguan, let alone remember that they were also other people's husbands, sons, and fathers... He just wanted them to die.

He can ruin the happiness of millions of people with just one word, because he is the closest thing to God in the world.

The only thing he was caressing with his hands was the chair under his butt.

~~
Tongguan.

On the official road to the west of Guancheng, the dust and smoke raised by horse hooves never settled. The saint issued three decrees a day and sternly ordered Ge Shuhan to send troops immediately. This is no longer a discussion tone, but a formal decree.

"If you ask me, just run back to Chang'an and capture Yang Guozhong."

In the city tower, Wang Sili gritted his teeth and said something, his eyebrows raised up, showing his determination.

"Shut up!" Ge Shuhan, who was lying on the couch, yelled and said, "The rebellion is not over yet. Once Chang'an is in turmoil and the rebels survive the desperate situation, how long will the world continue to be in chaos?"

"But what is the purpose of this decree? If the spitting pot is not planning to kill someone with a borrowed knife?"

"An Lushan Qingjun side, do you also Qingjun side?!" Ge Shuhan was so angry that his hair and beard were bulging, and he just calmed down Wang Sili.

He coughed twice, then lowered his voice and said: "I can't decide matters in the army. Not to mention Tian Liangqiu, Wu Yuanzi and others are watching, even among the Longyou generals, how many people Dare you follow our military advice?"

"Why don't you dare to support the prince? Aren't these stupid moves of the saint enough to disappoint them?"

"Have you forgotten, how long has King Qing been in charge of the East Palace? Is it true that everyone is dissatisfied with the saint's fame all his life?" Ge Shuhan said: "Also, how many people in the army are the confidants of King Zhong? If King Zhong steps in to suppress the soldiers' remonstrances, , are you really sure?"

"Prince Zhong..."

"He will not let Prince Qing ascend the throne easily."

Wang Sili was speechless.

"Now, what is your name for the military admonishment? Can you tell the world, 'We do not want to put down the rebellion, but only want to support the crown prince'?" Ge Shuhan said, "No matter what, we must first put down the rebellion before we are qualified to talk about these things."

In fact, they have another way out, which is to cooperate with the rebels and "clear the emperor's side" together. An Qingxu has sent envoys to persuade Ge Shuhan more than once about this matter.

But they are Longyou soldiers.

After guarding the yellow land of the frontier for half their lives, they guarded not only the saints and Chang'an, but also countless people behind them, because they were the husbands, sons, fathers, brothers, friends, and even strangers of those people.

They go into battle to kill the enemy, and have long been accustomed to risking their lives to deal with anything they encounter.

"it is good!"

Wang Sili was silent for a moment, and finally uttered a word in a depressed tone. Afterwards, he felt much happier.

"Then put down the rebellion first, and then use the power of suppressing the rebellion to raise your arms."

"This is the Longyou general." Ge Shuhan said, "Please invite Yan Zhenqing and Gao...Zhang Guangsheng to come."

After a while, several people gathered on the tower to discuss the decisive battle with the rebels.

Yan Zhenqing entered first, followed by a person who looked very similar to him. He also had the same majestic figure and a serious face, but he was older and his beard and hair were gray. He was Yan Chunqing, the Prime Minister of Yanshi County.

There were two more generals behind Yan Chunqing. The armor on their heads was held down very low, and their faces were wrapped with bloody bands, making it difficult to see their faces.

"Since the saint has issued an edict, I intend to fight the rebels and annihilate them in one battle." Ge Shuhan said, "If you agree, I will inform the whole army."

The reason why he did this was because these people were the most likely to disagree with him in his army, but no one had any objections, and they all nodded.

"Now that the Holy Will has been decided, this is the only way. Otherwise, if it continues, the court will pursue the blame and cut off the food and grass in Tongguan. If the army mutinies, it will be even more inappropriate."

Yan Zhenqing didn't mention the killing and rushing to Chang'an at all. He only talked about the consequences of resisting the decree. In short, there was nothing he could do against the saint.

After hearing this, Wang Sili thought to himself that this father-in-law is really not as decisive as his son-in-law. If Xue Bai were here today, he might have a different opinion.

"Then let's discuss how to defeat the enemy." Ge Shuhan said.

"Alright."

The map was spread out, but everyone first looked at one of the generals wrapped in a bandage.

"Gao...Zhang Guangsheng, you go ahead."

Zhang Guangsheng was tall and had sharp eyes. He stepped forward and said, "Before I retreated to Tongguan, I thought about ambushing the rebels, so I set up a plan at Taolinsai. Unfortunately, before the decisive battle, I have... That’s all.”

As he spoke, he looked at the other person and said, "Fan Lao, tell me."

"Okay." Fan Lao lifted the wrapping around his face, pointed to the map, and said, "There is a narrow passage in the Taolin Saixi Plain, which is the place where the magic talisman was dug out."

Everyone knows this. Taolinsai is located east of Tongguan, also called Taolin County. In the first month of the 29th year of Kaiyuan, the sage dreamed of Laozi, who told him that "there is a body without borders, and there are extraordinary celebrations." So, Some officials saw that Lao Tzu had hidden the magic talisman in Yin Xi's hometown, and when he dug it, he found it. So he renamed Taolin County Lingbao, and changed the reign name of "Kaiyuan" to "Tianbao".

In the eyes of many courtiers, this was the beginning of the saint's transformation from wise to foolish.

"So, we set up the ambush site there." Fan Lao said, "We are going to end the rebellion there..."

(End of this chapter)