Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 476 Liar
Hanzhong.

There is a noodle stall on Beiguan Street in Liangzhou City. There is a bamboo pole sandwiched between two big rocks beside the stall. The flags on the pole are waving in the wind.

A middle-aged man walked by with two horses, looked up at the flags and streamers, and murmured: "Tianhan soup cakes, wow, what a big breath."

"Sir, this is 'Da Han Soup Pancake'. The banner was torn, so I patched it with ramie cloth. There is an extra horizontal line. My soup pancake is enough for a big man to eat."

The middle-aged man squinted his eyes and looked again, and said, "Here's some soup cake."

He sat on the stall, looked around, and said, "Guanzhong is in turmoil with war. I don't think Hanzhong has much impact?"

"How can it not be affected? This soup cake has increased by two cents per bowl."

The middle-aged man didn't take it seriously and couldn't understand what a mere two pennies for an increase in food means to ordinary people. His eyes fell on the young man at the opposite table, he looked at him carefully and said hello.

"Lu Qi, Fan Yang Lu's family, my father stayed in Taiwan to serve as an imperial official, Zhongcheng, Ba Yi. Little brother, I think you should be the imperial emissary?"

"It turned out to be Lu Zhongcheng's husband. I'm disrespectful. Lu Zhongcheng will not surrender until his death. I have great admiration for you."

"Of course it's a lie. The saint is still in Chang'an."

Lu Qi immediately became interested, and after taking a closer look at the old man, he found that although he was not a saint, his speech and behavior were somewhat majestic.

Lu Qi looked around and saw that the old man looked about sixty years old. He was quite dignified. He was different from ordinary people. He should be from a famous family. He couldn't help but become confused and asked: "What has he committed?"

"How did you come up with this idea?"

Lu Qi followed his gaze and said, "I heard that the person with the highest official position currently stationed in Liangzhou is Cui Yuan, deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiedu. Didn't you give him your postal message?"

"Oh?" Lu Qi asked, "Who are you still looking for?"

"Cheating? Are you cheating? You pretended to be a saint and committed the capital crime of beheading!"

Lu Qi shook his head and thought, with the rebellion, all kinds of trouble will happen in this world.

Lu Qi turned to the old man again and asked, "How did you come up with this idea?"

"Are there many scams like this lately?" Lu Qi couldn't help but ask.

"There are a few cases, but this is a serious crime of decapitation, and not many people dare to commit it." Qu Shuaitou said.

"Shop, do you know how long those Shu County officials have been here?"

Gao Shi glanced at Lu Qi for the last time. He was not interested in such a person who was keen on power, and led the postman into the Liangzhou Yamen Office.

"The little old man cheated and got some gold, silver and silk, and he has returned them."

"Then I don't know, sir. Oh, sir, does Mr. Wang know what the old guy did that I took today?"

Lu Qi turned around and saw that the policeman from Liangzhou City was passing by with his guards, and he was taking an old man with white hair and beard into custody. He invited the other party to have a drink and introduced himself to his family again.

"The son of Lu Zhongcheng, the imperial censor who stayed in Taiwan, likes to inquire."

"No no."

~~
"Here comes the soup cake!"

Lu Qi's eyes showed grief. Seeing that the other party did not deny the identity of the post envoy, he summoned the stall owner again, took the other party's account, and asked: "I see there is a brand on your horse, Shimen Post, from the north, I don't know." What's the new news in Guanzhong? Alas, the country is in danger, which makes people worried."

"Who was that person you were talking to?"

"I also met Cui Jieshuai once. I seem to have heard that the imperial edict he received was not from King Qin of Guanzhong, but to greet the Holy Emperor. The rest, I only know that this month, every quarrel in the government office hall happened. Also, the army is stationed outside the city and there is not enough food and grass.”

Lu Qi sat upright in the gaze of people, calm as usual, but tapped his fingers lightly on his knees, and asked casually: "I also heard a piece of news, saying that the saint... had an accident when he was in Chencang. Don’t know whether it’s true or not?”

The local officials were not as well-informed as the Imperial Guards in Chang'an. They were much more attentive to a well-known official like Lu Qi, nodding and bowing, and answering all questions.

"It's been going on for more than a month."

"I didn't know that this little old man was guilty of beheading. He really just wants to make a living..."

There is a high platform in front of the office called "Hantai", which was the foundation of Liu Bang's palace when he was the king of Hanzhong.

While they were talking, the stall owner next to them had already boiled a large pot and put the noodles into the pot. The steam was rising. When he opened the big vat containing the marinade, the aroma was so fragrant that the refugees in the distance looked straight at it.

When he got close, he handed over a talisman and said softly: "May I ask who is Tongyi Gao Changshi? There is an urgent letter from Chang'an."

He rewarded the handsome man who caught the bad guy with a sling of money, asked the stall owner to bring him tea, and sat there and listened carefully.

Lu Qi said: "But the Holy Master has returned to Chang'an."

When the postman answered, he happened to see a group of people riding horses from the south. He hurriedly handed over his hands, picked up the luggage that was always on his knees, stood up, and hurried over with extremely strong skills.

It turned out that the old man ran to Ershilipu in the north of the city, knocked on the door of a wealthy family, and claimed to be a saint. On the way from Chang'an to Shu County, he got separated from the escorting soldiers and horses, and ordered the wealthy family to escort him to Shu County. There is a reward for every effort. That night, the old man ate and drank at the wealthy family's house, and even let a beautiful concubine sleep with him at night. The next day, they set out for Liangzhou City. On the way, the old man made an excuse to go to the toilet and ran away with the gold and silver.

"I heard about it too. I live in Shimen Town. I heard that someone pretended to be a saint and defrauded money. I was confused for a moment."

If he ran away like this, the guards wouldn't be able to catch him, but he was greedy. Then he ran to deceive another country squire. Unfortunately, that country squire had already heard of similar scams. He called "Your Majesty" on his lips, but secretly sent someone to report him to the official, and captured the old man while he was bathing and changing clothes.

"Don't worry, the emperor is guarding the capital and the situation is still stable."

"How can I understand this...? Here comes Commander Qu. I just chopped half a catty of dog meat this morning. I want to honor the commander, so I will bring it to him."

"The official document has been handed over."

The messenger spoke in a tight tone, and still stared at the government office at the other end of the long street when he spoke.

Lu Qi asked again: "Why don't you go to Guanzhong to serve the king?"

"Recruit it yourself!"

After eating soup cakes, he went to visit Cui Yuan. Because he and Cui Yuan actually had a relationship. In their early years, they had both been recommended by Xiao Jiong, who was then Jingzhao Yin. Lu Qi became the legal director of Jingzhao Mansion, and Cui Yuan was the wailang of the Si Xun Yuan.

Unfortunately, Lu Qi was later involved in the papermaking case, offended Xue Bai, and abandoned his official position and fled Chang'an. On the contrary, Cui Yuan relied on Yang Guozhong and rose to prominence.

On that day, Lu Qi led his horse to the government office, handed over his name card and asked to see Cui Yuan. He said that he was an old friend visiting, and he was led into the small hall and sat down. Afterwards, one of Cui Yuan's staff came to receive him.

Lu Qi then chatted with the other party and asked how Cui Yuan became attached to Yang Guozhong.

This matter is a bit strange. It is said that Cui Yuan had a relative, Li Yanyun, who served as Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment in Luoyang. One time, Cui Yuan went to Jianghuai to serve as an official. He passed by Luoyang and lived in the Li Mansion. Li Yanyun dreamed that night that he was wearing shackles and being taken into the government office to await trial. When he looked up, he saw that the senior official in purple robes sitting above him was Cui Yuan. After waking up from the dream, Li Yanyun believed that Cui Yuan would be valuable in the future, so he introduced him to Yang Guozhong...

"Purple robe?" Lu Qi murmured, feeling envious and jealous in his heart.

He knew that the reason why Li Yanyun dreamed that Cui Yuan would be rich in the future was not because of that dream at all, but because Cui Yuan was born in the Qingzhou Fang of the Cui family in Qinghe and had a very prominent family background. Emperor Gaozong's edict prohibiting mutual marriage explicitly prohibited each other. One of the "seven surnames and ten families" who intermarried, this edict not only did not weaken the Cui family's influence, but instead elevated its status. The reason why Yang Guozhong treated Cui Yuan favorably was because he liked the Cui family's noble family background.

While they were talking, another official came over and called Cui Yuan and invited Lu Qi to come in.

"Here you go."

Lu Qi stood up with his knees on his knees. When he glanced outside the government office, he was stunned for a moment.

He saw an old man in the crowd glance at the government office and then walk away.

"Lu Langjun, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, I was just dazzled for a moment." Lu Qi rubbed his eyes and continued to see Cui Yuan.

For a moment, he stopped.

"wait for me."

With that said, he strode out of the government office and looked around, looking for the figure he had just seen.

~~
Cui Yuan had just met Gao Shi, and the two had a bad conversation.

After that, he originally planned to see Lu Qi, but for some reason, Lu Qi didn't come over right away. Cui Yuan was not in a hurry, rubbing his brows and thinking about the current situation.

He was a member of Yang Guozhong. After the rebels captured Tongguan, he got news from Yang Guozhong and knew that the saint might take refuge in Shu County. Therefore, he prepared troops and horses in advance, built a palace, actively arranged for the reception, and personally went to Hanzhong to wait for the Holy Emperor.

The Holy Master didn't come, but what came was dazzling news. To put it simply, he now had two choices. One is to believe the decree sent by Lingwu, the saint has passed away, and he will respect the new emperor from now on; the other is to believe the official document from Chang'an and send troops to King Qin of Guanzhong, which is what Gao Shi tried to persuade him to do just now.

Gao Shi talked a lot about the strategy, the state of the country, and how the situation in the world would improve if the troops in Jiannan reached the pass and the siege of Chang'an was lifted. However, Gao Shi forgot to mention what would happen to Cui Yuan.

The first question before us is that Gao Shi and Xue Bai have a close relationship. They are obviously members of King Qing's line, who have defended Chang'an, and there is no need to elaborate on their future. But as an official, Cui Yuan was not familiar with King Qing's family.

Personal gain is nothing more than Cui Yuan's. The more important thing before us is, can Jiannan's soldiers and horses rashly enter Guanzhong to deal with more than 100,000 brave Fan Yang's cavalry? It is obviously impossible. Acting impulsively will only harm the country and the people.

The only ones who can compete with Fan Yang Xiaoqi at the moment are the border troops in Anxi and Heshuo.

In addition, Li Heng's decree was also delivered, and he praised Cui Yuan quite a lot. Cui Yuan indeed wrote a petition acknowledging the new emperor. Of course, this is just a statement, and more things are still uncertain.

Thinking of this, Cui Yuan thought of the dream that Li Yanyun had said, saying that sooner or later he would definitely put on a purple robe, and the time to stand in front of him was the time to make a big gamble.

"Jie Shuai, Lu Qi is here."

Cui Yuan originally thought that Lu Qi was not coming, but after taking a look, he realized that Lu Qi was half an hour late. He felt unhappy, but it didn't show on his face, and said, "I'll go and greet him personally."

Of course he was not doing it for Lu Qi, but for the sake of his father Lu Yi's face.

"Ziliang, I am sorry and accept the change."

As soon as they met, Cui Yuan patted Lu Qi on the shoulder and said with great sadness: "I have heard that thieves invaded the Eastern Capital, but Lu Zhongcheng is the only one who is upright and guarding his position. He does not run away and is willing to die for justice. How can he be so loyal?!"

"Mr. Cui."

Lu Qi wiped his tears twice as a way of mourning for his deceased grandfather, and then hurriedly whispered to Cui Yuan: "I have something very important to tell you."

Cui Yuan originally planned to cry in memory of Lu Yi, but was stunned when he heard this. He led Lu Qi inside, backed away from others, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Lu Qi actually moved his hands and feet, pulled his sleeves and walked a few steps in. In a mysterious tone, he said, "Mr. Cui handed over the gift form to Lingwu."

"What do you mean?"

"Please Cui Gong quickly send someone to recover Feng Biao."

Cui Yuan was immediately displeased and said with a sullen face, "Why?"

"The saint is still alive, and the loyal king ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor without permission. How is it different from treason?"

"It turned out to be Prince Qing's lobbyist." Cui Yuan flicked his sleeves and scolded: "If this is the case, there is no need to talk anymore, and I won't send him far away."

"Mr. Cui misunderstood, I was not sent by King Qing."

"please."

Lu Qi had no choice but to hold on to Cui Yuan's sleeve, leaning over to whisper again. Cui Yuan didn't expect him to be so rude. While avoiding him, he shouted: "Here comes someone!"

"Master Cui, listen to me, I saw the saint today."

Cui Yuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lu Qi, his eyes gradually solidified, as if he was looking at a fool.

"Mr. Cui, you shouldn't give a favor to King Zhong. Fortunately, this matter can be remedied..."

"You were deceived." Cui Yuan sighed.

Lu Qi was stunned for a moment, and then the door of the room was banged open. Two guards came in and held him straight.

"Be gentle." Cui Yuan raised his hand and said, "He didn't mean to hurt me. He met a liar."

"I'm not……"

"I know that those swindlers are very clever at deception." Cui Yuan sighed, "Last time, even I believed it and went to Yangzhou to greet him in person. I was disappointed. In anger, he killed the traitor who dared to pretend to be the emperor. Beheaded."

Lu Qi was stunned for a moment and said, "No wonder the saint doesn't believe you. Listen to me..."

Suddenly, soldiers rushed over.

"Jesushuai, that's not good!"

"Why are you panicking?"

"Gao Shi, Yan Wu, Tian Shengong and other generals summoned King Qin's troops without authorization, broke camp and headed north!"

"presumptuous!"

Cui Yuan was furious and shouted: "They don't have military symbols, how can they mobilize their troops?!"

"Gao Shi received the imperial edict, and Yan Wu took Li Jieshuai's military talisman."

"what?"

Cui Yuan opened his mouth and was speechless. He knew that the imperial edict that Gao Shi called was delivered from Chang'an, with the seal of Prince Qing and the seal of Zhongshu's family. As for the military talisman of Jiannan Jiedu envoy Li Mi, Yan Wu must have taken advantage of this period to rush to Shu County to get it. He has been called the Commander-in-Chief for so long that he often forgets that he is just a Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

It's useless to think about this. What's important is, in this situation, whether we should deploy troops to stop Gao Shi and others. The other party was ordered to go to Guanzhong to help the king. Once he was stopped, what if the situation changed?

Over there, Lu Qi opened his mouth to speak several times, but seeing Cui Yuan's indecision, he gave up.

If some things were told to Cui Yuan now, it would be difficult to guarantee that they would not fall into the ears of King Qing and his family.

~~
Shu Road is difficult, and it is difficult to ascend to the sky.

The plank road from Hanzhong to Qinchuan is definitely not easy to walk.

Gao Shi was holding a long spear, either horizontally or vertically on his back. In the end, he had to take it off and use it as a crutch.

Sometimes he would look back and see soldiers one after another. The team was so long that there was no end in sight, but in fact there were only five thousand soldiers, and they didn't bring much food and grass. After arriving in Guanzhong, they probably wouldn't be enough for a month.

This was the fifth day they entered Chencang Road. In the evening, they went down to a river valley and camped for a while.

The leader of the team was Yan Wu. He had the same official position as Gao Shi, but was more talented in military strategy. Gao Shi therefore appointed him as the leader and himself as deputy.

Yan Wu is a very serious person, with a fierce look in his eyes. He doesn't talk much, but he does things vigorously and resolutely. When the news came from Chencang and others were still hesitant in Hanzhong, he decisively rushed back to Shu County to persuade Li Mi.

But the situation is still not optimistic. The rebels have more than 100,000 elite cavalry, but they only have this small force. Even if they want to bluff and pretend to be the Anxi and Shuofang armies, it is difficult.

"I'm afraid this battle won't be easy to fight." Privately, Gao Shi finally said with emotion.

"As long as Chang'an is still there, we will definitely not be the only one supporting the army." Yan Wu's voice was hoarse and low, and said: "The harder the battle is, the more meritorious it will be."

"There's something I don't understand." Gao Shi asked, "How did you convince Li Jiedushi?"

Yan Wu said: "I put the knife on his neck."

If someone else said this, Gao Shi would not believe it, but Yan Wu's character has always been extremely domineering, and he killed his father's concubine when he was a child. This kind of thing is really possible.

"Really?"

"Fake." Yan Wu said, "For us officials in Jiannan, it is best to wait and see what happens. Like Cui Yuan, his contribution will be indispensable in the end, but what Li Mi is worried about is another matter. thing."

"what?"

"Tibet."

Gao Shi understood as soon as he heard that a rebellion had developed into full swing, although Tubo did not know it yet. But if the rebellion cannot be suppressed as soon as possible, Tubo will take advantage of it.

In terms of rebellion alone, it could not stop the fortunes of the Tang Dynasty. However, Datang and Tubo were two fierce tigers fighting each other. Once one of them was slightly injured, there was a possibility of being bitten to death by the other. As the governor of Jiannan, Li Mi had to consider this aspect and sent 5,000 soldiers and horses north to Guanzhong. If he could save Chang'an, he would have done a great job and put an end to the rebellion as soon as possible. If not, he should try his best.

After talking for a while, Gao Shi took out a flag and sewed it up himself.

What he wanted to sew were the battle flags of Shuofang's army. This expedition was too urgent, so these were not prepared in advance and could only be prepared on the road.

"Would you still do this?"

"When I was young, my family was poor and I had to do everything myself."

"General!" Suddenly a soldier strode over and said, "We found a stone carving over there. General, please go over and have a look."

……

It is said that it is a stone carving, but in fact, someone used the blood of prey to write a text on the stone. Some charcoal and leftover bones were also found beside the stone.

Gao Shi didn't care about this trivial matter at first, but seeing Yan Wu squatting there and looking at it seriously, he couldn't help but ask: "What is written on it?"

"You see."

Gao Shi then leaned over and looked at it, and was stunned at the first sight, because the first sentence on it was "I have been ordered by heaven to reign as emperor for forty-two years."

Some of the words on the stone have been washed away and dried, making them unrecognizable, but the general content can still be seen. It was someone who recounted the mutiny in Chencang in the voice of the emperor. It was mentioned that Qing Wang Li Cong, Zhong Wang Li Heng, Xue Bai, etc. were all traitors.

"This……"

"It's fake. It's no wonder that many people in Hanzhong dare to pretend to be saints and cheat."

Yan Wu said, stepping on the stone with the sole of his boot, pushing hard, pushing the stone into the creek.

Gao Shi quickly understood that the rebel pointed out on the stone was the key figure currently organizing the counter-rebellion in the Qinling Mountains. If they were all labeled as rebellious, the Tang Dynasty would probably lose half of its territory like the Western Jin Dynasty.

~~
Outside Chang'an City.

Cui Qianyou felt very confused.

He originally thought that with the news of Li Heng proclaiming himself emperor, the people in Chang'an would be shaken and would collapse without attacking. But the result was that he suffered a small setback, and after that, there was no more civil strife in Chang'an City.

"That's not right. The less food the Tang army has, the less they should stand together like this."

"Yes." Tian Chengsi was also surprised and said, "There is no news from the spy I installed in the city."

Although their soldiers and horses are brave, they are not without pressure.

The current situation of the entire Dayan is that it is unfavorable to advance westward, and it is not smooth to advance eastward. Not only was the city of Chang'an not captured, but the soldiers and horses sent by An Qingxu to Donglue were also stopped at Yongqiu and could not advance even an inch. In other words, once they met a famous general, the weakness of Saibei cavalry's inability to attack cities was exposed, which resulted in them having nowhere to plunder and running out of food and grass.

At the same time, Li Heng proclaimed himself emperor in Lingwu and was obviously gathering troops to prepare for a counterattack against the rebels.

There was actually not much time left for Cui Qianyou to take Chang'an City. An Qingxu had already made plans to retreat to Fan Yang, and issued several orders to urge him.

From a certain point of view, An Qingxu's idea was correct. As long as the lair was there and the troops were there, temporarily abandoning the plundered Heluo area, and come back later, the harvest might be even greater.

Cui Qianyou didn't want to be a bandit who only knew how to invade. The only reason he could persuade An Qingxu to continue attacking Chang'an was that the Li family was fighting among themselves, and Li Heng accused Li Cong of regicide. This is a golden opportunity to take Chang'an.

He always believed that winning Chang'an was equivalent to winning the Tang Dynasty.

Tian Chengsi's eyes once again fell on the strategic map sent by Bian Lingcheng, and he pondered: "Tell me, is this fake?"

"It doesn't look like it. If there are no reinforcements, what are they doing guarding Chang'an?"

While they were discussing, a sentry horse suddenly arrived.

"Report!"

"General, another Sentinel Cavalry of Shuofang Army was discovered in the west of Chang'an City!"

Cui Qianyou asked: "How many people?"

"Not many, just a few dozen riders. However, the general has some doubts..."

"Say!"

"The general noticed that the defenders at the top of Chang'an City cheered when they saw the flag of Shuofang's army."

This matter is a bit strange. Even if Li Heng wants to send Shuofang's army to relieve the siege of Chang'an, the regicide rebellion in the city should not be cheered.

Cui Qianyou couldn't figure it out, so he simply rode out of the camp himself.

He rode to the west of Chang'an City. From a distance, he saw smoke billowing by the Zao River. Dozens of knights under the banner of Shuofang Army tried to break out and rushed to Chang'an City. The Yan Army's cavalry tried to shoot them.

Shuofang's cavalry retreated as soon as they saw it, and then came back when the Yan army's cavalry returned to camp.

Cui Qianyou raised his head and looked towards the top of the city.

His eyesight was very good, and he could see some officials in purple and red robes had climbed to the top of the city and looked into the distance. From their body movements, Cui Qianyou could feel their joy.

It seemed that the previous internal fighting in the Li clan was not as intense as he had previously thought.

Therefore, the Yan army sent the sentry horses further. After a few days, the sentry horses reported back and discovered the advance direction of Shuofang's vanguard in Qifeng.

"I still can't wait to come."

"They are one family after all, can they still watch us take Chang'an?"

Tian Chengsi pointed to the strategic map and said: "Perhaps the Tang army is pretending to be at odds and wants to sneak attack on us."

Cui Qianyou pondered and said: "No matter what, we can't be led away. We just need to think about one thing clearly - should we continue to attack and defend with the Tang army, or fight in the field?"

"You mean... march westward and attack them secretly?"

(End of this chapter)