Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 498: National Destiny Is Not Exhausted
In a large mansion in the north of Hezhong Prefecture, Puzhou, there lived Li Guangbi's mother.

The old lady was nearly seventy years old. Although her family was Khitan, they had submitted to the Han Dynasty very early and were given the surname Wu and then Li. She had learned poetry and books since she was a child and was considered a talented woman. She was known as "the most talented and virtuous woman in the family", so she was able to teach a general like Li Guangbi who followed the Han etiquette.

On that day, several people arrived at Li's house in a dusty state. The guards in the mansion were familiar with them and greeted them happily. Afterwards, they took out Li Guangbi's letter, which turned out to be to take the old lady to see her son.

"My son was first afraid that Taiyuan was in danger, and then he said that Chang'an was not at peace. Now he is finally willing to come and pick me up?" Old Madam Li was in high spirits. Although she was deliberately blaming her son when she spoke, she could not suppress the smile between her brows.

The messenger then responded, "Don't worry, old lady. Chang'an is now stable."

Soon, Madam Li packed up and headed for Chang'an under the protection of the guards sent by her son. Everyone took good care of her along the way, so she didn't feel too tired. She saw a peaceful scene along the way.

After crossing the Yellow River and traveling for several more days, the team entered a city. Old Lady Li could not help but lift the curtain of the carriage and look outside. She saw the words "Fangzhou" written on the city gate, and she couldn't help but feel puzzled.

But the doubts in her heart soon disappeared because she met someone she could completely trust.

"I almost thought someone was trying to trick me with my son's soldiers, but I felt relieved when I saw General Guo Jie."

"Madam, you have worked hard on your journey." Guo Ziyi was ten years younger than Madam Li, so he treated her like a son and nephew. He picked up a long whip with both hands and handed it to her, saying, "You really tricked me to come here. If you are dissatisfied, just beat me to vent your anger."

"I would never dare to attack General Guo Jie. What's going on? Could it be that my son is rebelling?"

Old Lady Li had only heard of Guo Ziyi's name in Shuofang before, and had met him in Taiyuan during the early stages of the rebellion. She was confident that she was good at judging people, and believed that Guo Ziyi was loyal, diligent, smart, and knowledgeable. He was not as stubborn, harsh, and radical as Li Guangbi, and he knew how to deal with people better. Therefore, she would rather believe that Li Guangbi had rebelled than Guo Ziyi.

"That's not the case." Guo Ziyi waved his hands repeatedly and said, "The current situation is complicated and cannot be explained by the word 'rebellion'. Madam, please take a seat and let me explain it to you slowly."

Guo Ziyi was also reluctant to trick Li Guangbi's mother, but it was the idea of ​​Prince Guangping. Bringing her to Fengxiang Mansion for care would not only prevent Li Guangbi from going astray but also avoid a war, which was a good idea for everyone. Li Heng heard this and happily issued an order. Guo Ziyi had to obey the emperor's order.

After he explained the recent changes in the government and the causes and consequences, Madam Li was still puzzled and asked, "Although I don't know about state affairs, I read the newspapers. The newspapers said that Prince Zhong was ordered to mobilize the Shuofang Army to defend the king, but it ended up in rebellion. Prince Qing is the legitimate heir."

Guo Ziyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "The newspaper was published by Xue Bai, how can we believe what the newspaper says?"

"I see." Old Madam Li had always regarded newspapers as credible as imperial edicts, and she felt quite disappointed when she heard this.

Such a complicated power struggle was not something she could figure out in a short period of time. She thought for a long time and asked Guo Ziyi, "General Guo Jie thinks that Prince Zhong is the legitimate heir and can pacify the world faster, right?"

From the second half of the sentence, we can see that in Old Lady Li's mind, Prince Zhong and Prince Qing are both princes and have both served as crown princes. She has no intention of distinguishing who is more orthodox. Now she just wants to know which side Guo Ziyi is betting on.

She was well aware that her son often acted on impulse and was too impulsive. Guo Ziyi must have considered this matter more than Li Guangbi.

"There are some things I can only say to the old lady in private." Guo Ziyi said, "No matter what, Li Guangbi and I are equally loyal to the Tang Dynasty."

"Don't worry, Marshal Guo Jie, I know what's going on."

Guo Ziyi pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Prince Qing defended Chang'an. It seems that he was popular, but in fact he relied entirely on Xue Bai's strength. He issued an edict saying that Xue Bai was the son of Crown Prince Ying, but the retired emperor did not admit it. If Prince Qing ascended the throne, the crown prince position might fall into Xue Bai's hands, which would be suspected of usurping the throne. Now Prince Zhong has proclaimed himself emperor and can be called Your Majesty. The retired emperor has passed down the national treasure, which should be the legitimate one. Your Majesty will command Shuofang, Anxi, Hexi, and Longyou, and summon the reinforcements from Huihe. He will also command 200,000 people and pacify the rebels. I believe that the world will soon be peaceful and prosperous."

Fearing that Madam Li would not understand, he added in a low voice, "Think about it, your majesty was the crown prince for many years when he was in the palace. What about Prince Qing? Since Prince Qing's appearance was damaged, he has never been trained as the crown prince. How can he have a foundation?"

Madam Li nodded and said, "I understand."

"Li Guangbi's defense of Chang'an was a great achievement, not for his own future. Your Majesty has already made a clear order on this matter."

Guo Ziyi stood up and took out an imperial edict with both hands. It was stamped with the imperial seal. Li Heng really affirmed Li Guangbi's contribution and had no intention of blaming him. He also promised that if Li Guangbi led the people to surrender, he would forgive his past and give him a generous reward. He didn't have to attack Chang'an again and could just wait for peace to return to the world.

Once Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi expressed their stance, the forces in Hedong, Hebei and Henan turned to support Li Heng. Chang'an would become an isolated city, and the military and civilians would not be as resolute as when they resisted the rebels. Surrender would only take a month.

This is clearly the fastest way to pacify the world...if nothing unexpected happens.

Madam Li understood everything and said, "In that case, I will write a letter and ask Marshal Guo to pass it to my son."

"The old lady is wise and sensible. This is a blessing for the Tang Dynasty."

~~
An urgent message was delivered to Chang'an.

Xue Bai was training his troops and preparing for a surprise attack on Fengxiang. He rode his horse to Bailuyuan and felt much more relaxed. As a result, he learned that Li Guangbi's mother had been secretly taken away in Hezhong Prefecture.

He originally wanted to write a letter to Li Guangbi, explaining that Li Heng was by no means an wise ruler, but he changed his mind and realized that doing so would only have the opposite effect.

The reason why he dared to let Li Guangbi go out of the town was that he trusted him very much. But today he realized that if both Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi sided with Li Heng, he would not be able to resist, and the war would prolong, which would not be a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.

The only chance is to capture Fengxiang first.

The time left for him was even shorter, and he had to do it before Guo Ziyi's messenger found Li Guangbi.

Xue Bai wiped the sweat off his horse, handed it to the groom, and said, "Feed it more hay tonight, and prepare two more horses for me."

"Here."

"Pass the order down and set off tomorrow."

~~
On a map, several chess pieces were moved out of the location of Chang'an City.

"Xue Ni sent his rebel general Tian Chengsi to pursue the victory, and he has already reached the Meixian area." Li Chu said: "In my opinion, they are not trying to expand their victory, but to attack Chencang and cut off our connection with Shu County."

Li Heng asked, "How to deal with it?"

"Tian Chengsi has many brave cavalrymen from Fanyang under his command. We should send the Uighur cavalry to defeat them and dampen their fighting spirit."

Li Heng agreed in his heart, looked at Li Mi and asked, "What do you think, sir?"

Li Mi was more concerned about the overall situation and said, "The key to this battle is not Guanzhong, but to win over the hearts and minds of the people. The rebels' attack on Chencang is meaningless, and it is impossible to truly cut off our connection with Shuzhong."

Li Heng asked: "What if they want to plunder food and grass?"

"There is no need to come to Chencang to plunder food and grass. Besides, in the fight for the throne, attacking cities and plundering land is useless." Li Mi said, "Xue Bai will understand the situation. This army may be a false force."

"We will know whether it is a false army after a test." Li Chu said, "Now my army has been reassembled, and the enemy's coming here is just like an egg hitting a rock."

After discussion, they still decided to send Uighur cavalry to intercept Tian Chengsi.

Of course, even if it was a fraud, it didn't matter. Li Chu quickly arranged for the generals to guard the important towns in Fengxiang Prefecture.

After Li Heng proposed that Li Neng be appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Army but was dissuaded by Li Mi, he realized that allowing Li Neng to make achievements would threaten the status of his eldest son. Therefore, although he knew that Li Neng was brave, he did not want him to go to the battlefield unless it was necessary.

Therefore, after assigning tasks to all the generals that day, Li Tan was the only one left behind.

Li Shen had been thinking about what Li Mi said. Xue Bai sent Tian Chengsi as a false army, so what was his purpose?

He stared at the map in a trance, while the generals took orders and left one by one. The map was soon filled with military chess pieces. Afterwards, Li Heng ended the military meeting and asked everyone to leave.

"I'm waiting to retire."

Li Neng was about to leave when an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he said, "Your Majesty, I will guard Jiucheng Palace."

Jiucheng Palace is located in Linyou County, north of Fengxiang. It was the first imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty. It was built in the 13th year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty, supervised by Yang Su and designed by Yuwen Kai. Emperor Taizong of Tang liked it very much and stayed there five times, each time for half a year.

Li Chu had forgotten about Jiucheng Palace before. After a moment of thought, he said, "Is Sanlang worried that Xue Ni will send troops to attack Jiucheng Palace?"

Li Neng said: "Just in case."

"Of course not."

Li Chu imagined this and then shook his head.

Jiucheng Palace got its name because "Jiu Chong" means "nine layers", which means it is tall. The palace was built on Tiantai Mountain to the north of Dushui River, with Tong Mountain to the east, Fenghuang Mountain to the west, Shijiu Mountain to the south, and Bicheng Mountain to the north. The terrain is high and the roads are not easy, which is why Li Heng did not choose to stay in Jiucheng Palace.

If Xue Bai wanted to launch a surprise attack on Jiucheng Palace, it would be difficult to hide from the scouts. By the time he had passed the mountain road, his men and horses would be exhausted. Jiucheng Palace had two walls, with a circumference of 1,800 steps, and it was definitely not something that could be easily captured. Even if Xue Bai wanted to launch a surprise attack, he would have to go through Qiyang.

If we fail to capture Jiucheng Palace, it will be impossible to bypass Fengxiang from the north.

"Since I have no official position, why not let me guard Jiucheng Palace?" Li Neng said again. He was indeed thinking of just in case.

"But the troops."

"Five hundred people will be enough."

~~
A few days later, scouts reported that Xue Ni's troops were suddenly discovered in Qiyang.

"Who will lead the troops?" Li Chu asked, "Can we persuade them to surrender?"

"It's Xue Ni's troops."

"I asked who was leading the troops!"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, it is the traitor Xue. The enemy army is flying a large banner with the word 'Xue' on it. They have already arrived outside Qiyang City. Judging from their formation, they have 3,000 cavalrymen."

Li Chu's heart trembled, thinking that Xue Bai's march was very secretive. If he had not been cautious and sent more scouts, Xue Bai would have arrived at Fengxiang City without being noticed.

Now that Guo Ziyi and the Uighur cavalry were not there, he could only report to Li Heng immediately, then muster up the troops, with Pugu Huai'en as the vanguard, and go out of the city to meet the enemy.

Just after the battle formation was deployed, the general Xin Yunjing stationed in Qiyang had already retreated. He came to Li Chu to apologize, saying that he was ambushed by Xue Bai's elite cavalry and was unable to respond hastily.

As they were talking, dust rose up ahead and Xue Ni's rebel army had already arrived.

Although Li Chu had a large number of troops, too many of them were divided among them. In addition, the defeated soldiers broke up his formation, so he could only fight with 6,000 vanguards. The two sides quickly deployed their troops to fight. The rebels, with their high morale from defeating Fang Guan not long ago, were showing signs of breaking through Li Chu's vanguard line.

Once this happens, the rebels will be at the gates of Fengxiang City, which will be a major blow to the prestige of the imperial court.

In the moment of danger, Pugu Huai'en roared: "My men! Follow me and kill!"

He personally mounted his horse and charged into the enemy camp with his spear in hand. Behind him, his sons followed suit, and they killed several elite rebels in succession, stabilizing the situation.

In the melee, the horse of Pugu Huai'en's fourth son Pugu Yan was hit by an arrow and fell off the horse.

"Fourth brother?" Pugu Huai'en's eldest son, Pugu Yan, saw this and immediately shouted to remind him to rush to save Pugu Yan. However, several rebel cavalrymen had already rushed up and cut off a head with their swords.

"Fourth brother!"

Pugu Yan was furious and smashed the weapons in his hands around. He was famous for his bravery and was known as the "fighting general" in the army. He killed and injured many people at once.

"Grandpa, my fourth brother died in battle!"

Pugu Huai'en showed no trace of sadness, and shouted: "As my son, you should die on the battlefield and defeat the enemy!"

The commander said so, and the soldiers were all excited, their morale was high, and they rushed forward immediately. Soon, the sound of the horn sounded among the rebels.

The battle lasted from the afternoon to dusk. Li Chu was worried that the front line would not be able to hold out, but he was deeply moved by the bravery of Pu Gu and his son. When they returned on horseback, he personally went to meet them and held Pu Gu Huai En's hand.

Li Chu was speechless and could only say, "General, I am very sorry for your loss."

"Your Highness, please don't do that." Pugu Huai'en said, "I have received great favors from the Tang Dynasty for generations. Killing the enemy for the country is my duty!"

Li Chu watched the soldiers take back Pu Gu's head and sew it back to his body. He was deeply moved and tears fell from his eyes. He said, "I will remember your loyalty all my life and will never let you down!"

The news soon reached Fengxiang Palace. When Li Heng heard it, he felt fortunate to have such an outstanding eldest son, otherwise Xue Bai would have been able to attack the city.

~~
Jiucheng Palace.

The palace is very magnificent. It is said that when the palace was built, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, and his empress came here to escape the summer heat. When they saw it, they were furious and cursed: "Yang Su exhausted the people's efforts to build the palace, and he made the world hate him for me!"

But because Empress Dugu liked this place very much, Yang Jian changed his anger into joy and rewarded Yang Su.

More than two hundred years have passed, and the magnificent palace remains, but blood has been spilled beneath the palace walls.

"Hold on!"

"Quick! Bring us some wood and stones!"

Li Neng shouted angrily and pulled out the arrow that was stuck in his armor. The arrow was shot quite deep and blood gushed out as soon as it was pulled out.

He was completely unaware of this and instead drew his bow and shot an arrow at a rebel in the distance.

A small section of the palace wall had been blown down, so Li Shen had no choice but to lead his soldiers to defend it with their flesh and blood.

After he arrived at Jiucheng Palace, he observed that the palace wall was built along the watershed of the surrounding mountains, enclosing the commanding heights to prevent people from overlooking the palace. So he sent people to take turns to guard the high platform and restored the Jiucheng Palace's guards, which had been abandoned for many years.

Although Xue Bai had a telescope, Li Neng was lucky. The weather in Tiantai Mountain was clear for several days in a row, and the view was excellent. His men still saw the enemy's movement from a high place in advance. However, Xue Bai had his men blow up the city wall with explosives, which caught him off guard.

Li Tan first braved the arrows and stones to block the attack. When the soldiers brought wood and stones, he pulled a war horse and rushed straight to where Xue Bai's flag was.

This surprised the soldiers who were attacking the city. They did not expect that a prince and grandson of the emperor could be so fierce. Therefore, some officers did not wait for Xue Bai's flag and turned their horses to rescue him.

Li Dan saw the right opportunity and suddenly pulled the reins, changing the direction of the sprint. When he passed by the captain, he stabbed out with his spear and knocked the opponent off his horse!
"Wan Sheng!"

"Prince Jianning will win!"

The morale of the palace defenders was greatly boosted. Li Shen was no longer interested in fighting, so he rode his horse at full speed along the rugged mountain road, bypassed the east city, and returned to Jiucheng Palace from the Yongguang Gate in the south.

In this battle, facing Xue Bai's surprise attack, he blocked it with extremely cautious deployment and amazing bravery.

~~
"Mingjin."

Under the battle flag, Xue Bai saw that it was getting dark and the enemy's morale was greatly boosted, so he simply sounded the retreat.

According to his original judgment, he thought that there was nearly a 90% chance that there would not be a strong army garrisoned in Jiucheng Palace. Unexpectedly, there was that 10% chance.

In terms of combat power alone, Li Tan's troops were no match for him, but Jiucheng Palace was difficult to attack by force and occupied a strategic location, making it difficult to bypass.

"Let's explore the way." After careful consideration, Xue Bai called Jiang Hai and gave him the order.

"My dear, you're not going to attack anymore?"

"It doesn't make much sense." Xue Bai said, "Li Tan must have sent an envoy to Fengxiang. No matter how fast we attack the city, we can't be faster than his messenger. Instead of wasting time here, we should find another way as soon as possible."

"Here."

That night, Jiang Hai found a few hunters in the mountains to act as guides, saying that there was a small path to the north of Jiucheng Palace, which was the post road that Emperor Taizong used to send envoys to Shuofang when he was stationed there. It has been abandoned now and may be passable.

Xue Bai then ordered the entire army to rest for a night, stay in the camp temporarily the next day, and then leave quietly.

At five o'clock in the morning, Li Tan sent an envoy.

That was a guard of Li Tan named Gao Xiaoyi. A few years ago, when Xue Bai was in Chang'an, they played polo together. Thinking about it now, it seems like a lifetime ago.

"It's been many years since we last met. Mr. Xue looks even more charming than before." Gao Xiaoyi bowed as he entered the tent.

"You should call him King Yong." Diao Bing reminded with a cold face.

Gao Xiaoyi disagreed with Xue Bai's title and said, "I came here to show Xue Lang a way out. Whether Xue Lang is the son of Prince Ying or not, it is an indisputable fact that he disobeyed the emperor and attempted to usurp the throne. There are countless loyal generals like Marshal Guo and General Pugu in the Tang Dynasty, and they will not allow you to act like this. It is better for you to surrender today. Considering your contribution to protecting Chang'an, His Majesty will not treat you unfairly. Whether your background is true or false, you will still be the Prince of Beiping in the Tang Dynasty."

"I don't care." Xue Bai said.

Whether his background was true or false, whether he was a prince or a duke, he didn't care at all. What he wanted was to personally steer the rudder of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, no matter how many words of persuasion he had, he was too lazy to listen.

Before Gao Xiaoyi could say anything else, Xue Bai waved his hand and asked, "Did Li Tan ask you to come?"

"good."

"He is a good man. Tell him a few words."

"Yes."

Xue Bai said: "If Li Heng wins by chance, it is absolutely unacceptable to let the Huihe plunder the two capitals. There will be many places to spend money in the future."

When Gao Xiaoyi heard him calling Li Heng's name directly, she was about to scold him back, but when she heard the back, she remained silent.

"Tell Li Tan that he should be ruthless when necessary. If he is in power, he must not rely on eunuchs, must not condone rebellious generals, must not indulge military governors, must not undermine the prestige of the court, and must not look down on the Huihe and Tubo."

Although there was no sense of urgency with a knife on his neck, from the overall situation, he could be defeated at any time. Li Mi, Guo Ziyi and others attacked without any disturbance, and directly hit the vital point. It can only be said that the fortune of the Tang Dynasty has not yet ended, and there are still too many talented people, loyal ministers and good generals, and they do not quite recognize his identity.

however.

"State affairs must be considered in the long term, not for the sake of temporary convenience. We must reform the tax system, get along with the people, improve internal affairs, and reduce the influence of the aristocracy... There is a lot to do, so I'll do it myself, and you go."

As Xue Bai spoke, the occasional bit of dejection disappeared, and determination appeared in his eyes again.

He firmly believed that he could do better than Li Heng and his son, and that he could win.

Gao Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment and wanted to say something else, but the Diao brothers stepped forward and drove him out.

After leaving Xue Bai's camp, he returned to Jiucheng Palace and relayed Xue Bai's words to Li Neng. Li Neng's first reaction was not anger, but a sigh of regret.

"I know that his heart is with the country, and he is a good friend. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding and estrangement between him and my father and brother are too deep."

In Li Neng's opinion, Xue Bai's "Five Don'ts" were not something that wise and capable leaders like his father and brother would commit.

For him, now was not the time to think about these things, as the crisis of Jiucheng Palace had not been resolved. His troops were too few, and Xue Bai could attack Fengxiang at any time, whether by force or by detour.

Li Tan then sent an envoy to Fengxiang again to ask Li Heng for support.

~~
"Report! Urgent report from Jiucheng Palace!"

A messenger, covered in blood, almost crawled into the Fengxiang Palace, bowed in the hall, and presented Li Tan's letter for help.

Li Heng saw it and was greatly surprised. He looked at the eunuchs around him with an inquiring look.

"Your Majesty, Xue Ni is clearly fifty miles outside Fengxiang City. How could he be in Jiucheng Palace?"

"But what about the letter from Prince Jianning?"

"Are Xue Ni's thousands of elite troops fake?"

"..."

There was a lot of discussion in the hall, but Li Heng was not listening. He was about to call Li Mi alone to ask for his opinion, but Li Fuguo came forward and whispered something in his ear.

Li Heng's expression changed and he nodded. After a while, Zhang Ting came to the hall, sat beside him, and discussed with him in a low voice.

Later on, Li Heng suddenly raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Mr. Li is also involved?"

Zhang Ting sneered in his heart and said, "Your Majesty will know once you ask him."

Li Heng then pondered and said, "It is no small matter that Xue Ni appeared in Jiucheng Palace. If it is true, we still need to send someone trustworthy to lead the troops."

"We should send troops to guard the city." Zhang Ting said, "But where is the traitor Xue? Your Majesty, what are the use of these slaves? Send someone to the army outside the city and ask Prince Guangping and you will know."

This made sense, so Li Heng asked Li Fuguo to take people out of the city to ask.

Two hours later, Li Fuguo hurried back and reported: "Your Majesty, when Prince Guangping heard my question, his eyes were filled with grief and he did not answer for a long time. I asked again, and he said..."

"say what?"

"Prince Guangping said that if the main force of the Xue rebels was not outside the city, could it be that General Pugu's son died heroically in the feint attack of the rebels?"

(End of this chapter)