Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 471 The Prince
"Your Highness is too weak."

Yang Hui held a piece of bacon and put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it. He frowned and showed disgust. He didn't know whether he disliked the bacon or Li Cong.

"Xue Bai killed so many people, which is tantamount to rebellion. Your Highness did not deal with him, but came forward to support him and beheaded Bian Lingcheng?"

"Don't forget, Xue Bai has always supported Li Cong as the crown prince."

Those gathered here to discuss today are all sons, nephews and sons-in-law of saints. The person speaking at this time was Li Zhen, the Si Qi King who looked very similar to Li Longji. He sneered as he spoke, "Otherwise, would Li Cong have entered the East Palace based on his damn appearance?"

"They confiscated all the food stored in the city." Rongyang King Li Jue said leisurely: "Is it really to quell the rebellion?"

"I think those people are right. Xue Baicheng's mansion is very deep and his intentions are unpredictable."

Yang Hui couldn't help but feel filled with emotion when he heard this. He still remembered that when he first met Xue Bai, he was just a boy bought by his wife to play with. In the blink of an eye, he had become a powerful minister.

He chewed the bacon in his hand. He was too old and the food was tasteless. The food stored at home had been requisitioned. Every time the rations were distributed, there was very little meat, so it was a pity to throw it away. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel resentful and asked: "He has so many lives in his hands, so let's just forget about it?"

"More than just forgetting it?" Li Zhen said: "I'm afraid Xue Bai will go further."

Yang Hui licked his lips and said, "I haven't drank for several days. I thought I could satisfy my craving today."

There was even black water flowing from the mouth of the corpse, which was very scary.

The exclamations stopped, and everyone watched this scene in silence, until Li Cong put his hands on his hands and laughed, saying: "Yesterday, the rebels colluded with the people in the city, incited the officials to cause chaos, and wanted to forcefully invade the Taiji Palace. I ordered Xue Bai, Wang Nan and others to wait. The people quelled the turmoil, annihilated the rebels who entered the city, and thwarted their conspiracy! "

He recalled the winter of Tianbao's fifth year, when he saw Xue Bai for the first time at home. The young man's eyes were pure, showing fear, and he felt that he was not deeply involved in the world, and that humans and animals were harmless. He confirmed that he was right, but now he looked at Xue Bai. Bai, with his unfathomable eyes, doesn't look like the same person at all.

Yang Hui asked: "What? Do you still want to ban him?"

Many clan members came, hundreds of them. After everyone sat down, Li Cong just walked over. The scars on his face looked a bit ferocious in the sun, but it made people feel at ease during this time when Chang'an was under siege.

For example, when the rebels attacked Chang'an, they would rather attack the Chang'an City Wall than the Forbidden Garden because it borders the Wei River to the north, Chan River to the east, and Chang'an City to the southwest. Among them are twenty-four palaces.

As soon as he signaled, a eunuch naturally stood up with several imperial edicts and read them loudly in front of all the clan members.

Yang Hui drank the wine in one gulp, knowing that he was in danger and had to think of a way.

"It doesn't look like a banquet," Li Zhen said, "but rather like a war."

Li Cong was followed by several of his children, but what caught people's attention was that Xue Bai was also walking among them, which was particularly conspicuous.

Thousands of corpses were piled up outside the city gate. Their bodies were burned black, broken, and bloody. If you look closely, you can see their extremely distorted faces. They obviously suffered great pain before they died.

The Forbidden Garden is located to the north of Chang'an. It was originally the Daxing Garden of the Sui Dynasty. It occupies a vast area and was a place where the royal family visited, hunted, and trained horses. Fruits, vegetables, poultry, and fish were also grown. In addition, the Sixth Army of Beiya is also stationed in it, so it is also an important defense base to defend the capital.

Yang Hui and Li Zhen looked at each other and said, "Sure enough..."

When the princes and nobles arrived, there was no singing or dancing, only the soldiers of the imperial army lined up neatly, with flags flying, and the scene was grand and solemn.

"Celebrating?" Yang Hui was surprised, "Celebrating for what?"

At the same time, Xue Bai's peripheral vision also caught sight of Yang Wei. He didn't hate Yang Wei, but since he became Li Qian, he had to deal with Yang Wei.

"Prince of Peiping County?"

First, he vindicated the case of three common people, but without any consequences in advance, he only posthumously awarded Li Ying the title of crown prince, and restored the titles of Li Yao, Li Ju, and Xue Xiu during their lifetimes.

Li Cong was not angry. He turned around, raised his hand and pointed, directing everyone to look at the Guangtai Gate in the distance, and said: "Open it!"

He looks more like Li Longji, and he always looks down on Li Cong, who has a scratched face, and occasionally likes to make jokes like this that are not too excessive.

At this time, a eunuch came to deliver a message, saying that the saint had summoned them to the Forbidden Garden for a celebration banquet tonight.

"Your Highness, the siege of Chang'an has not been lifted yet, and we are still hungry. May I ask if there is any good news?" Li Zhen asked loudly, deliberately trying to undermine Li Cong.

As a result, the Guangtai Gate was slowly opened.

The person who received the most praise was Li Jie, the heir apparent. He was young, only twelve or thirteen years old. He spoke with a childish tone and his voice was drawn out, but he had a high seniority and title.

All the clan members stood up one after another and exclaimed when they saw the scene behind Guangtai Gate.

"Today is a family banquet and a celebration banquet. I invite all uncles and brothers to come, and I have some good news to announce to you!"

After showing off his martial arts, Li Cong glanced in Xue Bai's direction reluctantly, and then said: "Let's talk about the second happy event. My brother Li Ying was wronged..."

There is an anecdote about Li Jie being able to inherit the throne of King Xu. His grandfather, Li Guan, had a son when he was old. After Li Guan died, his brothers suspected that Li Jie was not his biological son and wanted to seek his title. At that time, he had just entered the officialdom. Only with Xue Bai's help did Li Jie inherit the title.

"I will introduce you to my uncles and brothers again today." Li Cong picked up a glass of wine and said with a smile: "He is your majesty's long-lost grandson, my nephew, and my adopted son, Li Qian."

Today, the reason why Li Cong is willing to cooperate with Xue Bai in hosting such a celebration banquet is to show his merit. As a political figure, facing Xue Bai's aggressiveness, he not only resisted, but also took advantage of Xue Bai's energy to demonstrate his authority.

At this glance, Li Zhen realized what the so-called celebration banquet was for. It was to officially give Xue Bai a clan status. What's damning is that he, Zong Zhengqing, was not informed about this matter in advance.

This time the Qing Palace Banquet was held in the Wangchun Palace in the Forbidden Garden, east of the Daming Palace, adjacent to the city wall of the Forbidden Garden and very close to Guangtai Gate to the east.

No one listened carefully to Li Cong's words, and all their eyes fell on Xue Bai unconsciously. Until finally, following Li Cong's lead, Xue Bai walked calmly in front of everyone.

So, Xue Bai was just pretending in the beginning to get revenge on the couple? It should be noted that the case of the three common people was created by him secretly advising Concubine Wu Hui.

"Go over there."

"Your Highness is so mighty and powerful, you are truly a blessing to the Tang Dynasty."

Yang Hui had been staring at the wine glass on the table for a long time, always wondering where all the fine wine in Chang'an City had been confiscated. After finally seeing everyone toasting, he quickly raised his glass, but after hearing this, he hesitated whether to It's time to drink.

"His Highness said that the rebels' plot to attack Chang'an was foiled. Congratulations."

"The branch of destiny is listed in the concubine position. After extensive research, he is named Dayou. Qian, the son of the crown prince Ying, observes his knowledge of weapons and equipment. He has a clear understanding of intelligence, a majestic expression, and a long-term elegance. The clothes and crown are in order, so it is appropriate to award them. It is an honor for you to be in a position of honor, to open up new territories with your well-being, and to still carry on the family business. You can make Qian the Prince of Peiping..."

"I have asked the saint for a decree." Li Cong said: "Give the emperor's grandson Li Qian the title he deserves and reward him for his merits."

Li Zhen frowned after hearing this, and immediately thought of An Lushan's "Dongping County Prince", and even felt that Xue Bai was even less worthy because he was too young.

Although it has always been a common practice to grant the title of prince to a county as an imperial grandson, he felt that Xue Bai's imperial grandson status was doubtful. At least, he did not see the saint personally admit it in front of the clan. For example, he looked exactly like the saint. When he was young, he always suspected that he was the saint's illegitimate son. But even so, he was not qualified to compete for the throne. This is decency.

"This is not appropriate." Li Zhen muttered.

"King Qi." Yang Hui gently pulled Li Zhen and whispered: "Objection. We can't let him get the title of county king easily."

Li Zhen pondered and was about to speak. Suddenly, someone exclaimed and pointed outside Guangtai's door.

"what is that?!"

All the clansmen turned their heads and looked away. From a distance, they saw rebel sentries appearing on the other side of Chan River.

Those sentries obviously also saw the corpses piled up on the west side of Chanshui River, and they were very angry at first. Afterwards, they saw that the Guangtai Gate was not closed, and they were pleasantly surprised. They blew the horns and urged more rebels to come and attack the city.

Soon, more rebel sentries arrived and swam straight towards the city gate.

"Close the city gate!" Li Zhen was horrified and shouted quickly.

Li Cong glanced back and said as if nothing had happened: "I have soldiers from the Forbidden Army here. How can a few rebels attack? Continue with the canonization, Li Qian, why don't you accept the order?"

Xue Bai then walked slowly towards the eunuch who was delivering the order.

Whether they were in favor or against his knighthood, their minds were not on this matter at all at this moment. They were all staring outside the city, watching the rebels crossing the river and preparing to attack here, but they encountered the arrows of the imperial guards at the top of the city. .

They just wanted to leave this dangerous place and hoped that Xue Bai would move faster.

Finally, Xue Bai took the scroll with both hands and said loudly: "I accept the order and thank you."

"Congratulations to Prince Beiping. Here are your ribbon, fish charm, and fabric for your uniform."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Xue Bai was very calm. There was not much difference to him at this moment, it was just another name.

But for many people, it means they have more confidence in the Tang Dynasty clan, or in other words, they have one more person to choose from.

"Fight into the city."

Then came the shouts of the rebel generals.

Since Chang'an was besieged, this was the first time the clan members felt that danger was so close to them, and many people shouted that it was time to retreat to the city.

"What are you afraid of?!"

Xue Bai, who had just been named the Prince of Peiping, still held the imperial edict in his hand, but he was inspiring people and said: "Since we are here to celebrate today, we should defeat the enemy's majesty again. Please join me on the top of the city." , to repel the rebels.”

"What?" Li Zhen asked in surprise: "Are you crazy? We are all members of the clan."

"Yes, Your Highness is here, and many clans are here. If the rebels come in and catch them all, the Tang Dynasty will be over."

Of course they were unwilling. However, as Xue Bai ascended the city first, the imperial army behind them actually held up their halberds and "invited" them to go up to the city to take a look.

The wind was whistling over the top of the city. Li Zhen looked over and saw a large group of rebels appearing on the other side of the Chan River. Seeing the wide-open city gate, they cheered and approached him with terrible murderous intent.

"The main force of the thieves is here!" Yang Wei exclaimed, "Is Xue Bai trying to kill me?!"

He was so frightened and panicked that he didn't realize that he had shouted out his worries. In fact, he didn't ask Xue Bai at all and didn't want to hear the answer.

however.

"That's not the main force of the rebels. There are only more than 2,000 people by visual inspection." At some point, Xue Bai walked up behind him, answered casually, and patted Yang Hui on the shoulder.

Yang Hui thought Xue Bai was going to push him down, and when he looked back, there was no blood on his face as if he had been shocked.

"We are here to celebrate, so we must show off our momentum." Xue Bai said, "You are all members of the Tang Dynasty clan. Today is a war, so why not beat the drums to help inspire the soldiers?!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Zhen and said with a smile, "I heard that King Qi plays the drum well?"

Li Zhen is indeed good at Jie drum, but she learned it to be more elegant and unrestrained like a saint, not to entertain the lowly soldiers in the army. Being forced by Xue Bai at this time, he couldn't help but feel very unhappy, but the drumstick had already been handed to him, so he had no choice but to take it.

"Dong dong dong!" He was playing the rhythm of "Broken Formation Music".

Xue Bai was satisfied and asked again: "Consort Yang?"

"I don't know anything." Yang Hui said anxiously. He saw rebels crossing the river downstream of Chan River to fight here.

"Then shout!"

"Shout? What are you shouting for?" Yang Hui's forehead was dripping with sweat. He suddenly heard the soldiers singing a military song to the drums of "Breaking Formation Music", so he also shouted loudly along with it.

"Accept the law and resign the head of state, and the prime minister will punish the rebellious ministers."

"Xiangge breaks the formation and enjoys the music of the Taiping people together!"

Xue Bai was still dissatisfied. He patted Yang Hui on the back and said, "Louder."

Yang Hui had no choice but to try not to look at the enemy who was approaching more and more, and shouted with all his strength: "Xiange breaks the formation and has fun, let's enjoy the peace together!"

He used all his energy to suck the milk, clenched his hands and his face turned red. After shouting, he was a little surprised to find that he was not as scared as before...

~~
The military song was loud and carried to the other side of the Chan River with the wind.

Cui Qianyou came on horseback and heard the Tang army's military song. He couldn't help but hum along, because when he first joined the army, he sang such military songs to attack foreign enemies.

"Bullshit 'sharing the peace'." He finally cursed.

When he drove his horse to the edge of Chanshui River, he squinted his eyes and saw that on the top of the city stood many red and purple officials and ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

He frowned, went to the sentry horses, and ordered them to find out what happened in the Forbidden Garden. After that, he heard a somewhat unexpected answer.

"Someone on the top of the city announced a decree to us, persuading us to surrender, and also made Xue Bai the Prince of Beiping..."

"Prince of Peiping County?"

Cui Qianyou quickly thought of An Lushan, and then thought of An Lushan's death at the hands of Xue Bai, and deeply felt the provocation of the Tang army.

He counted the flags and officials on the head of Guangtaimen City and began to think deeply.

The team that invaded Chang'an City yesterday suffered a new defeat. Today, Li Cong, Xue Bai and countless clan members gathered here and deliberately opened the city gate. It looked like a trap to lure the enemy.

Even if it is not a trap, the terrain between Guangtaimen and Chanshui cannot move troops and horses. The Forbidden Garden is where the Forbidden Army is stationed, so it is easy to mobilize troops. And even if you attack the Forbidden Garden, there is Chanshui separating it, and a large number of troops will follow. There is simply no way to keep up in time.

All in all, from all aspects of the time, place, and people, it is not a suitable fighter aircraft at the moment.

Therefore, Cui Qianyou looked coldly at the clamoring clan officials on the top of the city and decisively ordered the withdrawal.

"General? They put our body there!"

"Can't you see that I deliberately lured you to die?!"

Although the rebels have strong military strength and elite troops, they will not die casually. He quickly left this battlefield with a bad geographical location.

As a result, many clans on the top of Jinyuan City were astonished.

"Have we driven back the rebels?"

Yang Hui couldn't believe it and murmured: "Did I repel the rebels by singing "The Music of Breaking the Formation"?"

He fell to the ground, turned around and saw that the clan members all looked happy to have escaped death. Li Cong had walked to Xue Bai and whispered something to him.

In this way, no one would dare to mention Xue Bai's mass murder of noble officials before Chang'an was relieved.

No matter how they felt about Xue Bai, they could no longer stop the Peiping County Prince from taking advantage of the situation.

~~
It was night, and the Yan army was encamped.

"Prince of Beiping County?" Tian Chengsi muttered these four words and said, "If he hadn't been from the clan, this would be a title comparable to that of Prince Dongping."

"Do you really think he is some kind of emperor's grandson Li Qian?" Cui Qianyou said: "This title is to reward his military exploits."

"I don't care, whether he is the emperor's grandson or not." Tian Chengsi said, his voice became gloomy, and said: "I only know that he must be eliminated."

Cui Qianyou said: "At the beginning of the incident, none of us expected that we would be frustrated again and again by such a young man."

Tian Chengsi frowned and looked at the map with him. On the map, they had drawn circles of Chang'an City, which showed that they were eager to capture the city, but they had to sigh.

"It will be difficult to attack Chang'an for a while."

Not willing to admit it, but it’s true. And a large part of the reason lies in Xue Bai, who first captured An Lushan, which destabilized the Yan army and wasted a lot of time; then Xue Bai deliberately spread rumors, which made An Qingxu anxious and unable to go west; in the end, it was Xue Bai who Invited Li Longji back.

"Now that Xue Bai has been awarded the title of king, it can be seen that he has straightened out the people of Chang'an. Even if they are not united, the government orders are smooth."

Tian Chengsi nodded and said: "Our soldiers have never attacked such a fortified city in the frontier fortress. All the way south, they were defeated by the wind. Now that Xue Bai is defending, our army's weakness of not being good at attacking fortified areas will be revealed. ”

Cui Qianyou said: "There are only more than 100,000 elite soldiers, but they are full of small achievements. From the saints to the generals, everyone's thoughts are on Hebei. Once the casualties in the attack are too heavy, the saints will definitely be angry."

"Should we just give up the attack on Chang'an? We finally captured Tongguan."

"No." Cui Qianyou said, "Chang'an has a fatal weakness that has not changed - there is no food. As long as we continue to besiege the city, Chang'an will be defeated in less than a month."

"In one month, I'm afraid the reinforcements from the Tang Army will arrive."

"Are we afraid of fighting in the wild?"

Tian Chengsi smiled and grinned, showing a tiger-wolf expression.

They were Fan Yangxiaoqi, who had repeatedly clashed with the Khitan and Xi people's cavalry in the northern wind and snow. They were not afraid of wild battles at all, but missed them very much.

"Jianpi, the attack on the city made me angry. I want to have a fierce field battle!"

"Then how to take Chang'an is very clear." Cui Qianyou said, "Continue to surround it and annihilate its reinforcements."

With a "swish" sound, Tian Chengsi spread out another drawing. On it, the direction of the Tang Army's reinforcements and food supplies was clearly marked.

After a while, he frowned and raised a doubt.

"I just suffered a big loss at the hands of Tang Jun yesterday. Isn't this another trick?"

"Don't worry, we'll find out soon."

~~
Pingliang County.

This place lives in Longshan, at the junction of Guanzhong, Longyou and Shuofang roads, and belongs to Shuofang territory.

When the team arrived at Pingliang County, they had left Guanzhong.

"Ms. Shen, take a rest."

The person who spoke was the leader of the team, a Forbidden Army general named Gao Shen, who was originally under Guo Qianli. During the Chencang Incident, he took the lead to defect to Xue Bai. Seeing that he was both civil and military, Xue Bai appointed him as an envoy to escort him to Shuofang to declare the imperial edict.

As for the envoy, it is still Chen Xilie, after all, he is very senior.

At first, Gao Shen felt a little dissatisfied with bringing a woman like Shen Zhenzhu with him, slowing down his journey. But after getting along with him, he found that although Shen Zhenzhu was weak, he was able to endure hardships, which made him a little surprised.

That day, they were resting in Pingliang County. Shen Zhenzhen was busy carrying fodder to feed the horses. Gao Shen looked apologetic, so he stopped her and said, "You are a noble person, you don't have to do this."

"She's not a noble person, she's just a concubine of Prince Guangping." Shen Zhenzhu lowered her head slightly, thought for a while, and said, "I'm afraid I'm dragging you down."

"Nothing."

Gao Shen knew that many imperial soldiers in the team did not like Shen Zhenzhu. It was simply because they thought Prince Zhong and his son had rebelled and refused to save Chang'an. It was not against her.

He was just thinking about how to comfort her when suddenly, someone shouted outside the post house.

"King Guangping is here!"

"So fast?"

Gao Shen couldn't help but think that King Guangping must have followed King Zhong to Lingwu. Being able to arrive at Shuofang at this time showed that he was very well-informed.

Looking back again, Shen Zhenzhu was overjoyed. She threw away the fodder in her hand, picked up the hem of her skirt and ran out.

Along the way, he had never seen her look so happy and excited, as if she had been reborn, and even her flying hair showed a different look.

But he still stopped her, thinking that he could return Lady Shen to King Guangping, as long as King Guangping agreed to a few simple conditions.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Shen. After we have discussed the business, I will let you return to King Guangping." Gao Shen stepped forward and said, "Can you trust the general?"

"That's natural, thank you General Gao."

They welcomed him out and saw Li Chu dismounting from his horse, talking to Chen Xilie, and walking into the post house.

"I'm here to deliver good news. The saint appointed King Zhong as the governor of Shuofang and led the troops back to the capital for King Qin." Chen Xilie stroked his beard and laughed and asked, "Is King Zhong here? If so, , please ask him to come and receive the order.”

"My grandpa is recruiting troops in Lingwu." Li Chu looked calm. He must have known the news a long time ago, and said calmly: "I'd like to ask Mr. Chen to go to Lingwu..."

Seeing this scene, Gao guessed Li Chu's thoughts and guessed that they hadn't figured out how to deal with it yet, so they used delaying tactics. After all, whether they accepted the order or not, it was possible that King Zhong would be passive. This must be the reason. The reason why King Guangping specially came to Pingliang to greet the envoy.

Sure enough, after listening to the conversation between Li Chu and Chen Xilie, Li Chu first inquired whether Chang'an could be defended.

If Chang'an falls, many problems will naturally be solved for Li Heng.

Chen Xilie expressed the stability of Chang'an with a smile, and said: "The saint was worried that Prince Fengjie had no one to take care of him outside, so he asked the old minister to bring his biological mother. In addition, the saint also missed the palace people who were separated in Chencang, and did not know his loyalty. Did the king bring them to Shuofang? Now that the situation in the capital is getting better, it’s time to take them back to the capital.”

In fact, this is not an exchange condition. In Xue Bai's plan, it is more of a declaration. It shows to the world that the saint cares about his children and grandchildren and misses his concubines, which shows that Chang'an is safe, and further shows that the saint is in Chang'an.

Therefore, when Li Chu heard this, his first reaction was to frown slightly.

Gao Shen's eyes were very sharp and he immediately caught the change in Li Chu's demeanor, so he turned to look at Shen Pearl, only to see that Shen Pearl was still looking at Li Chu intently, with admiration still on his face.

(End of this chapter)