Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 455: Go back quickly
Xue Bai hugged Du Jin carefully. During this period, he had seen atrocities that frequently cut people into two pieces. Facing the white, delicate and fragrant beauty in front of him, he was afraid that he would break her with any force.

When I returned to Chang'an, I felt like I was in another world.

Du Jin, however, ignored the blood and stench all over his body and tried her best to hug him tightly. She had many things to say.

"Let's eat first."

Xue Bai now wanted to fill his stomach more than those intrigues and power struggles. He felt that he was so hungry that he could swallow a cow. Hungry had been the norm since the war began.

Many small tables were set up in the two front yards of Du's house, and they were placed with biscuits, bacon, pickled radish in vinegar, candied garlic, and all kinds of snacks to serve the many personal guards brought back by Xue Bai.

Afraid that they would not have enough to eat, Du Youlin ordered some hens in the backyard that were used to lay eggs to be burned.

The courtyard suddenly became lively, and a group of men grabbed the cakes and stuffed them into their mouths like hungry tigers snatching food, and devoured it. Du Wulang was also arranged to sit at the same table with them. When he raised his chopsticks, he found that the dishes on the plate were empty. He took back his outstretched hand and scratched his head to hide his embarrassment.

"Goro, here it is."

A big man tore off half a piece of biscuit and handed it over. Du Wulang took it and said, "Thank you, general."

"You're welcome, Goro."

The voice sounded familiar to Du Wulang. He turned around and felt that the other person looked familiar. When he looked at it again, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"Hu Laishui? Are you so strong now?"

He recognized Hu Laishui. When Fengwei Restaurant first opened, he often went to develop new dishes. Hu Laishui was also a clerk he recruited. Although he was very hardworking and willing to work at that time, he did not expect that there would be such a big change in just a few years. .

In fact, Hu Laishui not only became stronger, but also had a mighty murderous aura, which made Du Wulang think he was a general.

The two have different backgrounds, one is diligent and the other is lazy. Although they are both by Xue Bai's side, the gap in positions has now reversed.

"The food was good in the past few years, but I have lost some weight due to hunger this month." Hu Laishui giggled, and with the accent, the original earthy flavor emerged.

"Then you eat more." Du Wulang handed the Hu biscuits back, "I just ate them."

"Thank you Goro."

Du Wulang looked up and saw Xue Bai walking out of the backyard, and chuckled twice. He thought it was great that the boy was back. He couldn't help but sigh: "We thought he died in the hands of the rebels. Do you know how he came back?"

"know."

"what?"

Du Wulang didn't expect that Hu Laishui really knew about it, so he quickly urged him to tell him. Hu Laishui then put the Hu cake into his mouth, swallowed it, and started talking.

"An Qingxu was about to surrender, but he suddenly regretted it and sent troops to surround and kill Lang Jun. We were forced into the Yellow River Gorge, with cliffs on one side and rivers on the other. There was no way to escape. I thought of Li Li in those days. When Qiwu was digging for water transportation, my villagers dug many caves on the mountain wall for resting at night. "

"Remember, you are from Pinglu County." Du Wulang said. He had an impression of this matter. Hu Laishui's mother-in-law was the civilian husband who died while driving a canal.

"We deliberately left our clothes and armor by the river, pretending to be crossing the river and were washed away. After the rebels searched, I swam to the other side at night and asked the villagers to row a boat to meet me."

"and then?"

"When he arrived at the north bank of the Yellow River, Lang Jun originally wanted to return to Luoyang. He heard that the saint had escaped and that the major rebels had advanced and blocked the road to Luoyang. So he went north to look for reinforcements from Hebei. When he arrived at Xie County, he met up with Magistrate Yuan and hurriedly came to support Chang'an."

Speaking of these, even though Hu Laishui was from a humble background, he couldn't help but show his dissatisfaction with the saint.

"We fought to the death, captured the leader of the thieves, blocked the thieves' momentum, and suppressed the rebellion. The saint ordered the Tongguan garrison to go to war for no reason, and then abandoned the defense of Chang'an... Oops!"

This was not Hu Laishui's style of speaking. He had obviously heard it too. There must have been a lot of complaints in the army.

The two sighed for a while. Hu Laishui felt that he was not full enough. He looked at the plate and saw that it was completely empty of food.

"I'll ask someone to get some more food." Du Wulang stood up and said.

He walked to the lobby and heard Du Youlin and housekeeper Quan Rui talking.

"Go back to Alang. It's really gone. Once the saint escapes, you won't be able to buy anything in the city. My family may be out of food starting tomorrow."

Chang'an has a large population but little land, so food has to be transported outside the customs for a long time. With the war, the food route was naturally cut off.

Even Du's house is out of food, so you can imagine the situation of ordinary people.

~~
The thirteenth year of Tianbao, the first day of the first lunar month.

The morning sun shines on the magnificent Daming Palace. It's a new year, and Li Cong also has new problems.

"Your Highness, Xue Bai is here."

There was an uneasiness in Bian Lingcheng's voice. As someone who had offended Xue Bai, he was strongly wary of Xue Bai's return.

Even Li Cong realized something was wrong. He announced in public that Xue Bai was Li Qian. The premise was that Xue Bai was dead and he needed to get the power left by Xue Bai. At the moment, he couldn't help but feel deeply deceived. In addition, he also smelled It smells like conspiracy.

But now was not the time to fall out. In the name of letting Xue Bai recuperate, he spent the whole night digesting his emotions. At this time, he rubbed his face and was able to show his joy.

As soon as he saw Xue Bai entering the palace, he immediately greeted him personally, put his arms around Xue Bai's shoulders affectionately, and said with concern: "Okay, okay, I'm finally back!"

"I failed to bring An Lushan back, which disappointed His Highness."

"No, I am very happy that you are safe." Li Cong smiled and said: "Also, there is no need to hide your life experience anymore, I know it all."

Xue Bai deliberately froze there, as if he didn't know how to respond.

Li Cong turned around and waved to his four sons: "Come, meet your brothers."

"Saburo."

The first person to come over was the eldest son Li Yan, who was over thirty years old. He had a good appearance but not a strong aura. He nodded politely and called out, and stood aside without saying a word.

The second son Li Shen, who was in his mid-twenties, looked at Xue Bai with some suspicion in his eyes. Then he shook his head and whispered something to Li Qiu. Although his voice was soft, it was still heard.

"I think it's not like when I was a kid."

Li Qiu was the fourth son. He was nineteen years old, tall and tall, with a gentle temperament. As if he didn't hear Li Shen's whisper, he stepped forward, saluted Xue Bai and said, "Third brother."

Xue Bai took a step back and said, "I can't do it."

Li Ren was only one year younger than Li Qiu. Perhaps because he had no memory of the three commoners case and had a much more cheerful personality, he asked directly: "Are you really the third brother? Grandpa said yes, but the second brother still didn't believe it."

"It doesn't matter whether it is or not." Xue Bai said: "As long as the unjust case can be vindicated."

Although this sentence did not admit it, it seemed to admit it and brought everyone to a common position. Li Yansui nodded, he was most gratified to be able to vindicate the case of the three common people.

Li Shenze sneered in his heart, thinking that Xue Bai was very scheming, and said: "How can you say it's not important? I have already announced your life experience, and you should also bring out the token to convince the clan."

Xue Bai was not led away by his words, and said: "The top priority right now is to put down the rebellion. As for the small matters of personal honor and disgrace, how about we talk about it later?"

He has the strength in his hands, so naturally he has the final say on these matters.

Li Cong could tell that Xue Bai was not going to fulfill Du Jin's promise to kill Xue Bai. He was depressed, but he knew that talking was useless, so he scolded Li Shen and turned to talk to Xue Bai about Chang An's precautions. .

"I instigated many important figures among the rebels, such as Li Shiyu, Dugu Wensu, and Yan Zhuang. The reason why they were willing to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side was because they knew very well that the rebels could not succeed. Why? There is no clear answer program."

"Plan?"

"The rebels have never thought about how to govern the country. What they have done most since they started the army is looting. They even transported the looted treasures to Fan Yang at first. They are thieves and thieves. It is precisely because of this characteristic that An Lushan was After being captured, the rebels were not in chaos. For them, as long as they could lead them to loot, it didn't matter who made the decision. If An Lushan died, An Qingxu would still be there, and if An Qingxu died, Shi Siming would still be there. However, it is precisely because of this characteristic that after conquering Tongguan, An Qingxu did not approach Chang'an immediately, but chose to head east to Luoyang. He wanted to be able to withdraw to Fan Yang at any time. "

Li Cong said: "You mean, if the saint doesn't leave, An Qingxu can still withdraw his troops?"

"Although the rebels won a great victory in the Battle of Tongguan, the Tang Dynasty's elite troops are still there. If the saint guards Chang'an, An Qingxu will probably send a troop to test him. By forcing Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to come back for help, he can retreat to Fanyang calmly. We only need to take advantage of the situation and defeat the rebels when the main force of the rebels returns. Within three to five months, we can completely put down the rebellion."

"Well, since the saint is gone, what's the point of talking about this?"

Xue Bai said: "The saint must not have gone far yet."

Li Cong was stunned for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and said: "You don't want to chase the saint back, do you? The saint is surrounded by guards from the Sixth Army of Beiya."

"That's why we need to bring back saints and guards to guard Chang'an."

"But the rebels are about to attack, how can we make it in time?"

Xue Bai said: "The art of war is nothing more than exploiting strengths and avoiding weaknesses. The rebels are powerful, but their hearts are in confusion. Attacking the heart is the priority, which may slow down their attack on Chang'an."

~~
Luoyang.

On the first day of the first lunar month, Ziwei Palace looked even more magnificent.

Brand-new flags were erected, each with the word "Yan" written on them, symbolizing that the Yan Kingdom was finally established.

An Qingxu, dressed in court uniform, sat high in the Mingtang, accepted everyone's worship, and began to appoint hundreds of officials.

This feeling of ascending to the top of power made him feel elated and calmed the worries he had felt when he was under siege before.

To be honest, before defeating Ge Shuhan, he really felt that he had no choice but to surrender. It was because he was afraid of being liquidated and sentenced to death that he decided to fight with his back under the persuasion of Cui Qianyou and others, hoping to return to Fan Yang. Even after the victory in the Battle of Tongguan, he did not think that he could capture Chang'an. First of all, he thought that he could not surrender the generals without the prestige of Anlu Mountain.

Unexpectedly, the generals did not remember An Lushan much, but couldn't wait to push him to the throne.

Unexpectedly, Li Longji actually escaped.

An Qingxu believes that he is very lucky. This is God's favor and destiny. With this idea, his mentality also changed a lot. He began to have the confidence to conquer Chang'an and become the master of the world. If he is given some more time, he will begin to realize that the Yan Kingdom needs a program, such as formulating a fairer reward and punishment system for those soldiers who fought hard on the border but did not receive the rewards they deserve.

He was vaguely aware that those generals were willing to follow him in rebellion out of resentment for injustice.

Of course, all this had to wait until Chang'an was captured and Hebei was recovered. At present, what An Qingxu was most concerned about was that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi occupied Hebei, cutting off his connection with Fanyang.

Presumably, they will naturally retreat once they capture Chang'an.

When his heart was full of ambitions, a soldier came around from the side and hurried to An Qingxu's ear, whispering: "Your Majesty, Ashina sent news from Chang'an overnight from Li Congli."

"What can't be discussed later?" An Qingxu complained casually as he was not used to being an emperor.

"General Ashina said that Xue Bai is still alive and has led troops from Hebei to Chang'an for support."

"Alive?" An Qingxu was surprised and said: "It turns out that he also said that he had killed Xue Bai."

This matter is not a big deal. In the current situation, whether Xue Bai is dead or alive, it is difficult to make any big changes. An Qingxu is busy ascending the throne, so he just ordered people to suppress the news and ignore it for the time being.

A few days later, Zhang Tongru reminded An Qingxu of a small incident.

"It seems your Majesty should pay attention to the rumors in the military."

"what for?"

"I heard that there is a rumor circulating among the soldiers in the Pioneer Army." Zhang Tongru paused for a moment, then said: "They said that His Majesty... committed patricide."

At an imperceptible moment, An Qingxu squinted his eyes, his eyes flashing with defensiveness. At that time, he ordered Ashina to annihilate Xue Bai as a courtesy because he did not want this matter to spread.

"Absurd!" An Qingxu said angrily: "This is a rumor spread by Xue Bai. Ashina Congli is a waste. Can't it be stopped?!"

"The problem is that Xue Bai's head is still hanging on the gate of Tongguan City, but he is already standing on the top of Chang'an City. The soldiers will inevitably have doubts. What's more, some people think that he has the magical power of resurrection from the dead. fear."

What Zhang Tongru didn't say clearly was that this incident obviously triggered a crisis of trust in An Qingxu among the vanguard army's sergeants.

Since the public beheading of Xue Bai was false, is the killing of An Lushan true? Are the many prospects promised in the past true again?

"Why don't you take down the heads hanging in Tongguan?!"

An Qingxu scolded angrily, feeling helpless. He could not continue to insist that Xue Bai in Chang'an City was fake.

Of course, this was just a small matter, which had an impact on the morale of the army, but it could not change the overall combat effectiveness. An Qingxu then issued an order, ordering Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi to lead the main force to break through Chang'an as soon as possible.

The two men had just participated in Dayan's founding ceremony in Luoyang, and soon began to mobilize troops and generals to prepare for the westward march to Chang'an.

Just at this moment, someone tipped An Qingxu off and told him news that horrified him.

"Cui Qianyou wants to investigate His Majesty's crime of patricide, kill Your Majesty in the name of disloyalty and injustice, and establish himself as emperor..."

"Will not."

An Qingxu didn't believe it at first, but as the rumors became more and more widespread, he gradually couldn't hide the fact that he killed An Lushan.

In this way, he could not help but wonder whether Cui Qianyou really had the idea of ​​​​reliance.

~~
Chang'an, Xuanyangfang.

Since returning, Xue Bai has been busy for a long time, and today he finally has time to go home and take a look.

The house has become empty, and Yan Yan, Qing Lan and other family members have been sent to Yangzhou. Li Tengkong and Li Jilan, who travel frequently, are still in Taiyuan. Chang'an City can't help but look a little lonely.

Xue Bai took some changes of clothes and went out. He turned around and saw that Yang Yuyao's house opposite had been rebuilt, so he walked over.

He hadn't seen Yang Yuyao for a long time and missed her a little.

However, on the day Li Longji fled, Yang Yuhuan did not forget this sister and took Yang Yuyao away. Upon entering, we saw various objects scattered in the house, indicating Yang Yuyao's haste when she left.

Xue Bai was about to leave when he suddenly heard singing coming from the depths of the yard. He walked over following the singing and saw a woman in red playing the piano and singing his old lyrics from afar, but it was Nian Nu.

"Lang Jun?"

When Nian Nu raised her eyes and saw someone coming, she hurried over and prostrated herself in front of Xue Bai, crying: "Lang Jun is finally back."

"Get up and talk."

Xue Bai stretched out his hand to pick her up, feeling light in his hands. A closer look revealed that she was already very thin.

"hungry?"

Nian Nu nodded in shame and looked at Xue Bai blankly, looking even more fragile.

Xue Bai thought about the words "Niannujiao" and said, "Let's go and have something to eat."

He then took her out of Mrs. Guo's house, as if he was taking her out of a monastery.

But he has no control over the many musicians and actors in the studio now. He doesn't know when they will be able to sing and dance again.

When they arrived at Du's house, Xue Bai handed Nian Nu over to Du Jin to settle down. Afterwards, he returned to the west wing to talk. He pondered and said, "The sentry horse is back. Li Longji is not walking fast and has not reached Fufeng County yet."

"You still want to chase?"

Because she met Nian Nu today, Du Jin felt a little jealous and said leisurely: "Is it to get your Yao Niang back?"

Xue Bai shook his head and said: "On the one hand, Chang'an needs troops. The Sixth Army of Beiya must be brought back; on the other hand, Li Longji cannot be left out, otherwise the two orders will be sent out, which will cause endless disasters. I must go and deal with Li Longji Only by solving the problem of the rebels.”

He has now seen more clearly that the impact of the Anshi Rebellion is far more than just the losses caused by An Lushan's rebellion, but a series of far-reaching impacts caused by it. Among them, the consequences caused by Li Longji's selfishness and stupidity Decision-making errors cannot be ignored.

In the original history, the Tang Dynasty had countless opportunities to put down the Anshi Rebellion as quickly and completely as possible, but they missed it because of political accounts one after another. In the end, the three generations of emperors did not completely solve the chaos, but only made peace with the rebels. As a result, the vassal town was unable to be defeated, and even the capital fell six times and the emperor moved nine times. The prestige of the imperial court fell to the bottom again and again.

These were not caused by An Lushan, but were caused by the intrigues between the emperor and the prince, the emperor and the emperor.

Since it was useless to get rid of An Lushan, Xue Bai had to deal with Li Longji this time.

He was very anxious. He knew that there were still many urgent matters in Chang'an and Luoyang that needed to be solved, but he had to put them at the back of the queue.

Du Jin understood these truths, but he still said worriedly: "The troops left behind are not enough to defend the city. How can you deal with the imperial army?"

"It doesn't matter, I have arrangements in Shu County and Hanzhong." Xue Bai said: "The rebel army's morale is slightly unstable at the moment. There are teachers, Wang Sili, Li Chengguang and others guarding the city. It should be safe for ten days and a half, waiting for me to come back "

"You also have to be careful." Du Jin said, "I have tricked Li Cong, and he will not be willing to accept it. There are many people in the clan who do not believe in you. I am worried that they will harm you."

"I'll be on guard."

Xue Bai thought for a while and said, "Let Wulang come with me."

Speaking of Du Wulang, because he had served as a captain in Jincheng County and Maweipo was in Jincheng County, Xue Bai had been having a doubt recently.

He sent sentry horses to inquire about Li Longji's whereabouts and found that no mutiny occurred when the team passed Maweipo.

This is of course because he has changed a lot of things, but he is still wondering, where are the specific changes?

Why didn't the Imperial Guards mutiny? This escape was also in a hurry and they didn't bring much food. They must be hungry. In addition, there must be resentment towards Li Longji and Yang Guozhong's stupidity.

In almost the same situation, there are two results. Is it just that the emotion just didn't reach that point?

Xue Bai thought about it and found that only one thing was different - Li Heng was not the prince.

Assuming that the Maweipo Mutiny in history was planned by Li Heng, if Li Heng did not do this now, does he have any other plans?
These problems can only be known when you go to Fufeng County.

The city of Chang'an was in turmoil, and he had to leave quickly and return within half a month.

~~
"I heard that there was some criticism against you in the court, saying that you wanted to follow the saint and flee to Shu County."

Du Wulang got on his horse, drove his horse to Xue Bai's side, and whispered.

"It doesn't matter, we'll deal with it when we get back."

"Can you come back?" Du Wulang was very worried. "We only brought 500 cavalry on this trip to the west, but the saint has nearly 10,000 Beiya Imperial Guards with him."

"They are all from Chang'an. They followed because they were afraid that Chang'an City could not be defended. Now that they see that Chang'an is still there, they will want to come back."

"I understand." Du Wulang said: "You are going to persuade the imperial army to support the prince. No wonder you want to bring me with you. It turns out you want to use my eloquence. But there is a problem. I'm afraid you haven't arrived in front of the generals of the Sixth Army yet. , will be killed by the saint."

"I brought you here not because of your eloquence, but because you are familiar with Yang Xuan and can contact me."

"Who to contact?"

"We'll find out then."

Xue Bai swung his whip on Du Wulang's horse's butt, and the horse immediately jumped out.

Du Wulang almost fell off his horse, and quickly grabbed the saddle ring and said, "I know it even if you don't tell me. You went to Mrs. Guo's house today, and you must have gone to get a token..."

The team swept past and quickly disappeared on the outskirts of Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)