Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 449 Joy and Madness

"I dreamed about Emperor Xuanyuan again last night."

There were a lot of plum blossoms in the palace courtyard. Yang Yuhuan had just asked the maids to warm up a pot of wine and was about to enjoy the plum blossoms and drink it himself, when he saw Li Longji came over for a rare occasion, and even more rarely spoke with a smile.

"I then asked our ancestors why rebellions have been so frequent recently. He said... the golden body is old."

Yang Yuhuan was listening to the sage's high opinions. When he heard the words, surprise flashed in his eyes. Unexpectedly, the sage gave such an explanation. Who could comfort him?

Li Longji put his hands behind his back and said: "I plan to rebuild the Yingxiang Temple and continue the boundless body and extraordinary celebration of our ancestors."

"Sanlang is in a good mood today. I guess the state affairs have been sorted out?"

"It's coming soon, maybe it won't delay the Lantern Festival."

It was a beautiful day with clear snow and beautiful scenery. Li Longji couldn't help but chant: "The north wind blows the same clouds, and the same clouds fly with white snow. The white snow suddenly disperses, how tragic the same clouds are."

Yang Yuhuan raised his eyes to look at the sky, feeling that this poem was really suitable for the scene, but he didn't know if the clouds and snow meant something? How is it that when the north wind blows, the clouds fly and the snow falls, both of them disappearing?
"I haven't seen the hot spring ice, I would rather know that the fire well is extinguished..."

"Regardless of whether it's true or false." Yang Guozhong said: "It is an indisputable fact that Xue Bai repeatedly stole credit and even secretly colluded with the rebels. Otherwise, how could it have been so smooth? It can be seen that they must use the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion to support the East Palace."

This move immediately attracted crowds of people to rush for it, and in a chaotic and noisy way, it took the celebration to a new level.

However, for such a simple matter, Yang Guozhong became a little embarrassed and said in a hushed tone: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's too late."

"Ok?"

Soon, word of mouth spread even in Xingqing Palace.

An official passed by on horseback and turned around to see this scene. His eyes showed a thoughtful look and he murmured to himself: "Who doesn't want to make progress?"

After a while, Li Longji asked: "Do you believe it?"

In the Qinzheng Building, Yang Guozhong had already arrived. As soon as Li Longji entered the hall, he stepped back and asked, "How is it?"

"Have you heard? Have you heard?!"

Now that the emperor's prestige has fallen to the bottom, Li Longji will never allow those who are disobedient to have their achievements shine through, and decisively issued the first order.

"When Lu Jiong learned about the battle report, he publicized it without asking the reason or distinguishing the authenticity. When the Yiqi entered Chang'an, he had already publicized it loudly along Zhuque Street..."

"I heard that Xue Lang has recaptured Luoyang and captured An Lushan alive!"

A servant hurried out and shouted at the top of his lungs: "It's time to loose the money! In order to congratulate Xue Lang for defeating the thief, Mrs. Guo took out ten boxes of copper coins and scattered them among everyone!"

Not long ago, he heard that Xue Bai's troops had entered Luoyang and had received good news today. He then wondered whether Xue Bai had won a small victory. Which rebel army had he defeated outside Luoyang City?

"Your Majesty, the news is not from Tongguan, but from Luoyang."

Before the poem was finished, a eunuch hurried towards the corridor, obviously important news had arrived. Since the rebellion, it has often been difficult to have a good conversation.

"boom--"

The Yiqi who ran through Zhuque Street made Chang'an excited with a few words.

Although he said it, he didn't believe it at first, saying: "Because the main force of the rebels was in Shaanxi County, they blocked the road between Luoyang and Tongguan. The news was first sent to Nanyang, and then delivered to Chang'an by Lu Jiong, the prefect of Nanyang."

As the saying goes, "when something goes wrong, there must be a monster." It is unreasonable for An Lushan to be captured by Xue Bai. There must be a conspiracy. The first thing Li Longji felt was the threat coming towards him.

People who had suffered all kinds of suffering due to the war rushed out to discuss the sudden news.

~~
"Good news! Master Wang has regained Luoyang, Xue Bai captured Anlu Mountain alive, the rebellion has been resolved, and the world is at peace!"

He raised his hand to stop the eunuch who was about to speak, and said, "Go to the Qinzheng Tower."

"Your Majesty, good news!"

Li Longji was surprised, thinking that he had just driven his brother Shu Han out of Tongguan, and there was a victory, but he didn't know the casualties of the 200,000 soldiers and horses.

Fireworks were set off over Mrs. Guo Guo's residence in Xuanyangfang.

They called this small move "improving" and crowded into the crowd with their hands raised, shouting "Let me also make progress, make progress."

"Good news?" Li Longji's face turned solemn.

There are families fleeing from Luoyang hugging each other and crying, businessmen stuck on the road clapping their hands and laughing, and residents whose relatives are trapped in Henan crying with joy. There are all kinds of things in the world.

Not only is Xuanyangfang bustling, but also at the inscription area of ​​the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Many literati have gone over to touch Xue Bai's inscription in the hope of getting some luck and achieving great achievements in the future.

"Saburo?"

"call out--"

Having said that, thinking that the prince assisted by Xue Bai was the general of the expedition, his eyes lit up, he pulled the reins and turned the horse's head, heading towards Du's house in Shengpingfang.

"I'll come see Taizhen later."

"Here."

Yang Yuhuan heard excited shouts outside the palace. Looking out from the railing, he saw several little palace ladies gathering together to discuss regardless of the rules.

The whole city was filled with ecstasy, like a blazing fire that could not be extinguished.

"Block the news first."

Seeing Li Longji leave in a hurry, Yang Yuhuan's eyes flashed, he called Zhang Yunrong and whispered: "We have to find out clearly this time."

Yang Guozhong said: "The news may not be true. It is said that...Xue Bai has recovered Luoyang and captured An Lushan alive."

"So fast?"

"really?"

"You shouted when the Yiqiu entered the city, how can it be false?"

"Ah! How can there be such a gentleman, who is both civil and military, and a hero."

"It's not your fault. What you admire is the younger Mr. Cui Dong. Xue Lang is mine."

"Shameless, where is yours?"

"..."

After a while, the maids were seen laughing and making a fuss, not only looking forward to the Lantern Festival, but also looking forward to seeing Xue Lang's heroic appearance when he presented the prisoners to the palace.

Yang Yuhuan saw it funny and thought that these little girls were too stupid. After that, he accidentally thought of his own girlhood and felt that it was so far away.

At this time, Zhang Yunrong hurriedly ran back and said: "Concubine, I found out this time."

"I already know, do I still need you?" Although Yang Yuhuan was scolding, when he turned around, there was a smile on his charming face.

Zhang Yunrong was dumbfounded and thought that the imperial concubine had not been so happy for a long time.

After all, under the threat of rebellion, how can one be happy no matter how much food and clothing they have?

"My sworn brother has never disappointed anyone." Yang Yuhuan muttered to himself and said, "In this case, the huge sin must be wiped off in front of the saint, right?"

~~
Qinzheng Building.

The atmosphere in the hall was depressing, and Yang Guozhong said: "I believe that the only solution now is to send the imperial guards to urge Ge Shuhan to fight the rebels before the remaining rebels surrender. Those who rebel must not be treated leniently, but must be severely punished!"

At present, An Qingxu Zhengzheng is leading generals such as Tian Chengsi and Cui Qianyou to attack Tongguan with a main force of 100,000. If these people fall to the Donggong group, the consequences will be disastrous.

The time left for the court was already very tight, and the decree had to be issued before the news reached Ge Shuhan's ears.

Seeing that Li Longji didn't speak, Yang Guozhong said again: "Brother Shuhan's battle of 200,000 against 100,000 people was already a sure win. With this change, it will be difficult for both of them to lose. Should I pass a decree to Tian Liangqiu?”

"Do it quickly."

"According to the order."

Yang Guozhong went to do it immediately, racing against time, lest Xue Bai put down the rebellion in advance.

He personally flew to Nanya, summoned the generals of the imperial army and said: "The saint not only wants to rush for 500 miles, but also wants to rush for 800 miles. You have to rush to Ge Shuhan's army today."

"Here!"

A reply was already three steps away.

Yang Guozhong breathed a sigh of relief and turned around. There were still many things to do. The post-horse from Nanyang had to be taken down. Lu Jiong, the prefect of Nanyang, was suspected of constructing the East Palace and needed to be replaced.

In addition, Xue Bai's charges should be determined as soon as possible.

This was something that the sage had been urging for a long time. Before that, Yang Guozhong had thought that Xue Bai would miss his old relationship and have a way out. Now it is clear that once Xue Bai takes advantage of the situation, military remonstrance is inevitable, and it is impossible to be ruthless.

"Go to Dali Temple."

~~
Shengpingfang, Duzhai.

Du Youlin was currently at home free of charge.

Since it was said that Xue Bai forced him to rebel against An Lushan, he was dismissed from office because of the incident. In the face of rebellion, he was quite tolerant of his personal ups and downs.

On this day, Du Youlin was reading at home, and there was an endless stream of officials coming to visit, most of whom were his colleagues in Shanchunfang.

First, after learning about Xue Bai's recapture of Luoyang, Du Youlin looked calm and said calmly: "I treat him like a nephew, but I never thought that he could make such a great contribution to the country."

But after the first guest left, Du Youlin stood on tiptoes and watched the other person's back leave. He could no longer suppress the ecstasy in his heart and started dancing.

After that, more people came to see me, and the conversations were probably all about goodwill, but occasionally there were some radical words.

"The saint is old. Fortunately, the prince employs people wisely and saves the country from disaster."

Faced with words like this, Du Youlin often turned around and looked at the number "Be careful in your words and actions, and walk on thin ice" hanging on his wall.

He has never forgotten what happened to Tianbao for five years.

Suddenly, there was a sound of horses neighing from the front yard, and then Du Si and Du Si, dressed in men's clothing, hurried back. Without saying a word, one hurried to the backyard and the other to the study.

"What do you look like?!" Du Youlin scolded with a straight face.

"It happened. Grandpa, follow us quickly."

"what?"

Du Jin was very strong, with a solemn expression on his face, and said, "Let's go!"

Immediately two guys came over and took Du Youlin, who was confused, away.

Over there, Lu Fengniang, Xue Yunniang and other family members were also brought over.

"What happened? Wulang is not at home!"

"Where did he go?"

"I said I was going to Dali Temple to visit my friends."

"Then I can't control him anymore. Let's go first."

The family hurriedly got into the carriage, and after just a stick of incense, the guards rushed in through the door, shouting.

"Du Youlin's false claims of prophecy, the construction of the East Palace, and his criticism of Chengyu, take it down!"

~~
Dali Temple Prison.

Du Wulang walked through the familiar corridor and walked to a cell. He opened the cage and took a look and said, "Ah! It's really you."

Yan Jiming, who was sitting in the cell, raised his head and saw Du Wulang. He smiled and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Why are you here?" "I have a classmate who is Yang Guozhong's son. I heard He said you were caught and asked someone to come in and see you."

"Introduce Wu Lang." Yan Jiming walked a few steps in the prison, introduced the middle-aged man sitting in the cell next door, and said: "Yuan Gong, the long history of Changshan, was the first to advocate righteousness in Hebei."

"I've met Mr. Yuan." Du Wulang hurriedly saluted, "I've heard about Mr. Yuan's deeds for a long time, but I didn't expect to meet here."

Yuan Luqian nodded and smiled slightly. He was not in good spirits and seemed a little listless.

Yan Jiming then sat down by the fence and whispered about the experience of being imprisoned.

"At present, it seems that we are being persecuted by Helan Jinming. When he was in Pingyuan County, he competed with Xue Bai for credit, and he had a grudge. After that, he took revenge on Xue Bai's men. Li Sheng protected some people at Tumen Pass, but Helan Jinming didn't Dare to touch them, so they used this as an excuse to accuse us of having different intentions. At that time, I was helping Li Guangbi recruit soldiers in Taiyuan, and I was accused of recruiting private soldiers..."

Du Wulang was surprised when he heard this and asked: "So, Xue Bai and I are even closer, but they haven't taken me out yet."

"I guess you have no official status and are not a big threat." Yan Jiming said with a smile, "But you must be careful."

"I'll see if I can get you out."

Seeing these people who devoted themselves to the country being imprisoned for no reason, Du Wulang was very angry, but just as he said this, the warden came over, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Wulang, I'm sorry."

"Is it visiting time?"

"The villain is also acting under orders and must capture you."

"I?"

Dali Temple Prison worked very quickly, and half an hour later, Du Wulang was tied to the torture rack.

He had been imprisoned many times, but he had not been punished many times, so he inevitably felt nervous. Seeing the flickering fire in a daze, someone walked into the execution room.

"Goro, do you still recognize me?"

"Eh? Yuan Zai?"

"I have been ordered by the Right Prime Minister to handle this major case." Yuan Zai said, "For the sake of getting acquainted with each other, how about you please cooperate?"

He knew that Du Wulang was a little stupid, so he asked: "All your children have escaped, but you know that your crime is heinous?"

"Huh? Escaped? Then...maybe?"

"Du Youlin has always had ulterior motives. He took in Xue Bai, the criminal in the three commoners case, and secretly colluded with Prince Qing. You used the marriage of Princess Rongyi and the Anqing clan to collude with Yan Zhuang, the counselor around An Lushan, to force , encourage An Lushan to rebel, and then contact the internal forces in the rebel army to put down the rebellion, and then unite with Ge Shuhan to remonstrate with the troops, right? "

Du Wulang was stunned when he heard this, and responded: "My grandfather can't do such a big thing."

"You mean, Xue Bai is the mastermind."

"I didn't say that!"

Yuan Zai took out some confessions and said: "This is the testimony of Yang Guanghui, pointing out that Xue Bai wooed the generals in the army and forced An Lushan to rebel; this is the testimony of the people of Hebei, saying that they saw their independent Guangwu Army; this is the testimony of Yan Jiming's recruitment The private military register; and this, it is the official robe of the puppet court that Yuan Luqian received... The evidence is solid, is it possible to quibble? "

Du Wulang felt that it was useless to say anything, so he simply kept silent.

"It doesn't matter whether you recruit him or not." Yuan Zai said, "This is a serious crime of treason, and you will not be short of a confession."

"Huh? Then you still ask me."

Yuan Zai took two steps forward, leaned towards Du Wulang's ear, and whispered: "The saint only wants to know one thing - is Xue Bai the son of the deposed prince Ying?"

"what?"

Yuan Zai carefully observed the changes in Du Wulang's eyes, smiled, and said, "You don't know? But you suddenly understood, right?"

Du Wulang really figured out a lot of things at once. Why did Xue Bai have such a calm and extraordinary temperament? Why do Xue Bai and his two sisters always have so many secrets? At this moment, even he believed that what Yuan Zai said was the truth.

"You and I will get to know each other, so that you will suffer less before your death." Yuan Zai was too lazy to interrogate him again, and said loudly: "Take him to Duliu Shu Prison and wait for execution!"

Du Wulang had heard the name of Du Liushu Prison a long time ago and knew that there would be no chance of survival this time. He couldn't help but said: "It doesn't matter if you kill me, but Yan Jiming and Yuan Luqian are innocent. They..."

"Don't worry, they will kill you together."

~~
Shaanxi County.

This place is located between Chang'an and Luoyang and has a special location. Therefore, many famous officials have served as governors of Shaanxi County, such as Wei Jian and Li Qiwu.

Later, the governor of Shaanxi County was Dou Tingzhi. When the rebels came to kill him, Dou Tingzhi fled back to his hometown in Hedong. At that time, all the officials were dispersed. After Gao Xianzhi retreated from Luoyang to Shaanxi County, he was worried that Tongguan would not have enough troops, so the rebels bypassed Shaanxi County. Capturing Tongguan would put Chang'an in danger, so they had to retreat to Tongguan in a hurry.

In the twelfth lunar month, the government office lobby, which had been repaired by successive prefects, had lost its original elegance. Wine jars and stolen goods taken by the rebels were everywhere.

An Qingxu had dark circles under his eyes and looked worried as he sat there.

He was in dire straits. Two hundred thousand Tang troops were coming from the west, Luoyang had been lost to the east, and even his grandfather was captured. Although there are more than 100,000 warriors from the frontier army in hand, the food and grass can no longer last for more than a few days.

While he was drinking wine to relieve the irritability in his heart, Ping Lie walked in quickly and said: "Erlang, Ashina has arrived from the ceremony."

"I'll go see him."

An Qingxu threw away the wine jar in his hand with an attitude of breaking a can and smashing it, and strode out. When he saw Ashina bowing from a distance, he felt that the other person was a little listless.

"What? Grandpa was really caught?"

"Yes."

"Can it still be saved?"

Ashina shook his head politely and sighed: "Erlang, surrender Xue Bai."

"Hey." An Qingxu said, "You came here to tell me this? I still have a hundred thousand elite soldiers at hand!"

"My brother also wanted to scare Xue Bai, but it didn't work. What is in front of us is that our army is trapped between the Qinling Mountains and the Yellow River. There is no place to advance and no way to retreat. In a few days, we will run out of food and grass. Great collapse.”

"But what if we surrender? We have rebelled, will the foolish emperor let us go?!"

"Therefore, instead of surrendering to Prince Hun, we surrender to Prince Li Cong."

An Qingxu was stunned and quickly understood what this meant. But his first consideration was not the situation in front of him, but his envy of Li Cong.

He had a thought that he had been hiding in his heart recently but never said it out - if An Lushan had died instead of being captured, the situation would have been better.

Looking at Li Cong now, one has the feeling of "sitting back and watching the fishermen, only envying the fish".

When he came back to his senses and looked at the situation in front of him, it seemed that surrendering temporarily was the only way to help Xue Bai help the crown prince. When the new king came to the throne, he would inevitably have to win over these generals, and maybe find a chance to return to Fan Yang.

"Where's Ge Shuhan?" An Qingxu asked.

"Xue Bai has already made arrangements with the Longyou Army."

An Qingxu sighed helplessly and said, "Okay, the condition is that I have to talk to him in person. Also, I have to see my grandpa."

They acted decisively and decisively. After making a decision, Ashina immediately reported back to Xue Bai's army.

The two sides sent envoys to each other and quickly agreed that An Qingxu and An Lushan would meet in the Yellow River Gorge to discuss surrender.

By this point, the rebellion was almost coming to an end soon.

An Qingxu straightened his appearance slightly in front of the shiny sword, put on a white robe, with disheveled hair, and walked out of the camp listlessly. He looked at the sky and saw only a desolate winter sky.

"lets go."

Not long after the team set off, there was the sound of horse hooves chasing behind them.

"Erlang!"

An Qingxu turned around and saw Zhang Tongru.

Zhang Tongru was still handling military affairs in Cui Qianyou's army. He was sweating profusely from rushing in the winter. He stepped forward and said hurriedly: "Erlang, wait a minute, things are turning around."

"Ho?"

An Qingxu didn't believe that things could turn around now, but he still stood on horseback and listened to Zhang Tongru's detailed report.

"Previously, General Cui noticed that there seemed to be two groups of sentinels from the Tang Army, so he personally led his men to intercept and kill them. Sure enough, one group was sent by Ge Shuhan, while Chang'an also sent a group of sentinels to investigate at any time. The War at Tongguan.”

"Why?"

"It must be that the foolish emperor does not trust his brother Shu Han." Zhang Tongru said: "General Cui took advantage of this matter and sent internal agents to Tongguan. The Tang armies were not under each other's control, and they did not find out. Originally, he planned to wait for the right time to open the city gate, but this time he failed A secret military information has been discovered, which may be used to defeat the Tang army. "

An Qingxu still had no confidence and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult."

"It depends on manpower. Although the Tang army is 200,000, it is a mob with inconsistent orders and intrigues. Our elite soldiers may not be incapable of fighting." Zhang Tongru grabbed An Qingxu's reins and said, "I just ask Erlang to wait for another half day." There will be results.”

~~
Yellow River Gorge.

In the heavy snow, Hu Laishui raised his hand and pointed, saying: "The other side is my hometown, Pinglu."

Xue Bai looked at the horse, and saw that the current of this section of the Yellow River was rapid, and it was not frozen in the cold winter, so it was still rough, while Pinglu County was hidden on the other side in the wind and snow.

"In the first year of Tianbao, Li Qiwu opened three canals on the Yellow River. My father-in-law and mother died in the Yellow River. But Li Qiwu dug out an ancient blade from the river with the word 'Pinglu' on it, which was auspicious." Hu Laishui said again.

"It seems that everything in Shaanxi County is auspicious."

Xue Bai thought that the spiritual talisman that changed Yuan's "Tianbao" was also dug up in Shaanxi County. Lingbao and Pinglu were not far apart.

Gradually, they arrived at the place agreed with An Qingxu.

The sentry horses dispersed and reported back: "Report! An Qingxu hasn't arrived yet."

"Wait for him."

Xue Bai had a telescope and was watching from a high place, not afraid of being ambushed.

They tied An Lushan and placed them on a cart, like a sacrificial animal, but one was worth three.

After waiting for a long time, until the sun was about to set, An Qingxu still didn't arrive.

Jiang Hai couldn't help but said to Xue Bai: "Mr. Lang, I'm afraid something has changed. Could it be that An Qingxu has gone back on his word?"

"Unless he breaks through Tongguan overnight, what other way out is there?"

"The way out? Is it possible to jump into the Yellow River?"

"coming."

Xue Bai put down the telescope and waited for a while, then he saw a small group of unarmored cavalry coming this way and stopped at a distance.

Jiang Hai rode forward and shouted: "An Qingxu, why don't you come to see your grandpa?!"

An Qingxu did not move forward, only said: "I'll send someone to identify my grandpa, can you?!"

"Can!"

Soon, a thin soldier rode out without any weapons. When he got close, he dismounted and walked straight towards Anlu Mountain.

"Just stand there and watch, can it be fake?" The guards around him didn't let him get too close, and stopped shouting when he was still two steps away.

"Who?!"

An Lushan was still blind and sat up alertly, looking a little uneasy.

Then, he wrinkled his nose, sniffed hard, and suddenly shouted: "What smell? What is this smell?!"

Jiang Hai was staring at An Qingxu, and when he heard this, he was about to look back at An Lushan.

Suddenly, several winter thunders sounded on the horizon further away, seemingly in the direction of Lingbao.

(End of this chapter)