Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 500 Finding Wealth in Danger

Weiyang.

This place also belongs to Fengxiang Prefecture and borders Longzhou to the north. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once kept the Huns out of Longshan Mountain. The Silk Road passed through Longguan and went through the Western Regions.

It was the hottest time of July. The soldiers temporarily stationed in Weiyang were counting food and grass. The leading general was named Wu Ju, who was getting a little anxious because Xijing kept sending people to urge him to do so.

Seeing Wu act like this, his chief clerk could not help but complain: "If the saint had not appointed Fang Guan as the commander and let General Jie lead the troops, the rebellion would have been suppressed and the two capitals would have been recovered long ago."

"Is it that simple?" Wu wiped the sweat off his face and said, "Our soldiers are all from Anxi. They are not afraid of cold, but they are afraid of heat. Now is the hottest time, so it is right not to use us as the main force. Moreover, Shuofang and Anxi are both strong armies, so we cannot favor one over the other, so we appoint Fang Xianggong as the commander."

"It was a very thoughtful decision, but it was a pity that we failed."

"Be careful with your words. We are in the capital now, not Anxi." Wu scolded.

"But if we don't stabilize the situation, the Tubo army will reach Longzhou."

Wu turned his head with a worried look towards the northwest and said, "The governor knows what to do. You don't need to worry about it."

Since An Lushan's rebellion, Tubo has been tentatively encroaching on the territory of the Tang Dynasty. First, the Yellow River Nine Bends and Qinghai Lake, which were recovered by Geshu Han, were successively returned to Tubo. A while ago, the Tibetan army passed Lintao and was not far from Longzhou.

Feng Changqing believed that when the autumn harvest came, Tubo would likely invade Longyou and test Longguan, but the court was busy recovering the two capitals and had no time to take care of this matter. Finally, Li Mi persuaded the emperor to let Feng Changqing garrison Longguan on the grounds that the Anxi soldiers could not stand the heat, but also transferred part of the troops to Fang Guan, which resulted in a great defeat at Weishui.

Wu Jue was somewhat dissatisfied, as he had suffered a lot in the past few years as a border garrison officer. However, this time, he felt that while they were fighting desperately to expand their territory, the powerful people in Guanzhong did not seem to care at all.

At this moment, a soldier came running from the top of the city wall and reported, "Judge Wu, there is a messenger who wants to see you."

Wu then went over to meet him.

He was a dark-faced young man with a sharp look. When he saw Wu Jue, he looked at him with a suspicious look and asked in a tentative tone, "Are you the judge of Anxi Jiedu?"

"good."

"Mr. Shantou?"

"What?" Wu was surprised.

"May I ask your name, Judge?"

"You are looking for me, but you ask me my last name." Wu said, "My last name is Wu, Wenshui Wu. Do you have a letter to give me?"

The messenger hesitated for a while, but did not take out the letter. He just said, "I was asked to deliver a letter home. May I ask, is there only one judge of Anxi Jiedu?"

Wu Jue laughed when he heard this and said, "You originally wanted to find Cen Shen. He replaced me as the judge of Anxi Jiedushi, but before I was given the new position, An Lushan rebelled. So the army called us all judges. He went to Pingliang on official business. Can you give me the letter from home?"

The messenger didn't expect such a thing to happen, and was stunned for a moment before hesitantly taking out the letter. Wu took it and took a look. Seeing that the envelope was signed by Cen Wei, Cen Shen's brother, he didn't think about anything else and let the messenger go.

That night, Wu recalled this incident and vaguely realized that something was wrong. He actually had a good relationship with the Cen Shen brothers and recognized Cen Wei's handwriting, which was clearly different from the one on the envelope.

He then cut open the letter, but to his surprise, there was a blank piece of paper inside.

The next day, he sent cavalry to the southern post station to inquire about the messenger's origin, but the result surprised him even more. Just this morning, a cavalry unit, with a letter from the Anxi Jiedu judge, transferred 500 shi of grain and fodder that were placed at the post station for transfer.

Wu Ju keenly realized that there was something fishy about this matter, so he ordered his men to guard the city, while he gathered the cavalry in the city and led more than 200 people to chase south desperately.

After running for more than thirty miles, they finally saw the troops ahead who were escorting food and fodder southward.

"Stop!"

Wu Jue's soldiers shouted, drove their horses over to stop the enemy, and asked, "Who ordered you to transfer the grain?"

Then a strong and powerful general came out in armor and replied with a stern look: "There is a shortage of food in Xijing, and Prince Guangping is leading his army to fight the enemy. He ordered us to transport the food and grass as soon as possible."

This batch of grain and grass was about to be transported to Xijing, but now Longzhou has begun to harvest wheat. Wu Ju was short of manpower and had originally thought of transporting it together in a few days. At this time, he looked over and saw that the other side had more than a thousand cavalry escorting them.

There were only 500 dan of grain and grass, but each of the more than 1,000 riders had three horses. The grain and grass were hung directly on the horses' backs, and there were many empty horses in the team. And they were all brave riders, most of them had good horses under their crotches, so using them to escort grain and grass was a waste of talent.

If Xijing sent elite troops to escort the grain, then they should have been ordered to collect more grain as quickly as possible and organize horse-drawn carriages and laborers to transport it, and they only had to follow on the two wings.

With all the suspicious points, Wu couldn't help but come up with a guess in his mind - Cen Shen might have secretly surrendered to Prince Qing and gave the rebels military orders so that they could quietly march to Weiyang. As for the messenger yesterday, he must have intended to contact Cen Shen in Weiyang City, but he didn't expect to meet him, "Judge Wu".

How to do it?

His military strength was inferior to that of the other side. If he rashly revealed the matter, the two sides would go to war and he might not be able to gain the upper hand. It would be best for him to pretend that he had not seen through it, save his life, and then send someone to inform Xijing.

"I see. I hope Prince Guangping wins a great victory." Wu pretended to be calm, clasped his fists, and was about to leave.

"Judge Wu." Suddenly someone called him.

Wu reined in his horse and looked, his eyes widened in surprise, and saw a heroic young man wearing armor and with a graceful demeanor.

He recognized the other party. It was a few years ago when he was dismissed from office. The envoys of Longyou, Fanyang and other places wanted to recruit him into the shogunate. Wu Jue also sent a letter of appointment on behalf of the Anxi Army. At that time, the other party was still the famous "Xue Lang" in Chang'an. Now he has become a rebel who pretends to be Yong Wang Li Qian and intends to subvert the Tang Dynasty.

But how dare Xue Bai ride so deep into the enemy's territory and appear here?
For a moment, Wu didn't dare to recognize Xue Bai, fearing that they would fight immediately. But Xue Bai seemed very calm, drove his horse to just two steps in front of him, and said with a smile: "Long time no see."

Wu didn't know what to say.

Xue Bai said: "The reason why I came here in person is to avoid some avoidable fierce battles and to persuade you as much as possible. We are not rebels. Prince Qing was the eldest son of the royal family and the crown prince. He was alone in Chang'an when the country was in decline. It was legitimate for him to ascend the throne and become the emperor. He is the orthodox of the Tang Dynasty. Li Heng colluded with Tubo and forged an imperial edict to invade. He is a traitor. Do you want to join the rebellion now?"

This time, Xue Bai had bad luck. He had originally planned to lead 4,000 cavalrymen to attack Fengxiang, but was intercepted by Li Chu. He then divided his 1,000 troops and took a detour to Jiucheng Palace, where he met Li Tan. He then took a detour to the north, planning to contact Cen Shen as an insider, but he failed to find Cen Shen and met Wu Jiu instead.

As expected, Wu Jue did not agree with him and said, "I saw it with my own eyes. The emperor passed the national treasure to the saint..."

"The Emperor is old and confused." Xue Bai said bluntly, "The Tang Dynasty is what it is today because the Emperor made a mistake. Do you want to continue to make the same mistake as him?"

These remarks concerning righteousness were not enough to convince Wu Jue. Both sides claimed that they were the legitimate ones and both were princes who proclaimed themselves emperors. Whoever could stabilize the situation faster would get the support of his subjects. Now, in his opinion, Li Heng's military force was stronger.

Wu said: "I just follow the orders of the commander."

He was looking for the right time to withdraw, and then send a fast horse to inform Xijing and report the matter to Feng Changqing. If there was a battle, he was confident that he could escape. After all, although he had few people, he was also a cavalry, and he would definitely not be wiped out.

Xue Bai also knew that if he couldn't convince Wu Jue, the news would leak out, so he said, "Let me introduce someone to you."

Wu thought that one of his relatives was in Xue Bai's army, but he saw Xue Bai waved to a general and shouted, "Zhang Guangsheng!"

The general was tall, with scars all over his face. The scars were so twisted and winding that his features could not be seen clearly. It was very scary. Only a pair of extremely sharp and penetrating eyes could be seen.

"Zhang Guangsheng?"

Wu was stunned when he heard the name. He looked at the other person straight for a long time. He shook his head and said, "No, you are not Zhang Guangsheng."

Because they were both in the Anxi Army, Wu Jue actually recognized Zhang Guangsheng, a soldier close to Gao Xianzhi, tall, handsome, and very young. But the man in front of him was not only disfigured, but also had white hair on his temples, so it couldn't be Zhang Guangsheng.

A soldier's card was taken out and thrown into Wu Jue's hand. Wu Jue took it and saw the number "Zhang Guangsheng, Assistant to the Anxi Army" on it. On the other side, there were a lot of worn and bloody lines, proving that it was from the Anxi Army.

"How did you get it?" Wu asked.

"Of course I do." The man called Zhang Guangsheng spoke, his voice hoarse and full of vicissitudes.

When Wu heard the voice, he felt like he was struck by lightning and his eyes widened immediately.

Zhang Guangsheng looked at him and said, "It's been many years since we last met."

Wu couldn't believe it, he dismounted, ran to Zhang Guangsheng in two steps, looked up, and said hesitantly: "Jie...Jie Shuai? Is that you?"

"I am no longer a general. I am now Zhang Guangsheng."

Wu was shocked. He looked at Xue Bai and asked, "What is going on?"

Xue Bai didn't say anything, but just said: "Fan Lao, you talk to him."

~~
Fan Lao is a brave and loyal knight-errant. He has followed Xue Bai for many years and now holds a high official position.

But he never thought that he could become a famous general, because he had seen with his own eyes how real famous generals were defeated.

In the early days of the rebellion, when Xue Bai was still struggling in Hebei, Fan Lao once came to support Luoyang. As Gao Xianzhi suffered successive defeats, the Hanjia granary was out of food, the promised rewards could not be paid, the soldiers were a mixed bag and full of complaints, and the officials in the Eastern Capital had their own thoughts... Finally, they retreated to Tongguan, and the saint sent the eunuch Wu Yuanzi to kill Gao Xianzhi.

Therefore, Fan Lao and Yan Chunqing, the magistrate of Yanshi County, worked together for Gao Xianzhi. They went to meet Yan Zhenqing, who was the military commander in Geshu Han's army at that time, and tried to ask Geshu Han to stop Wu Yuanzi and then submit a petition to plead for mercy.

However, while they were still discussing, they heard Gao Xianzhi's cries of grief on the execution ground on the top of Tongguan City and the roars of the Anxi soldiers.

"Chang'an is far away, there is no way to meet you, Tongguan is long, and I have no time to express my feelings..."

"Unjustly accused!"

"Unjustly accused!"

The soldiers recruited in Luoyang said that Gao Xianzhi withheld rewards, but the personal soldiers brought back by Gao Xianzhi disagreed. In anger, they rushed to the top of the city wall and rushed straight to Wu Yuanzi.

When Fan Lao climbed up to the top of the city wall, he saw such a chaotic scene. He was extremely disappointed with the incompetent sage and was happy to see the Anxi soldiers kill the eunuchs and rescue Gao Xianzhi.

However, at this moment, Yan Zhenqing ordered "Stop", and asked Fan Lao to stop the Anxi soldiers, and then said something.

"You are confused! Today, you killed the envoy and saved General Gao for a moment's pleasure. Will General Geshu let you out of the city? If not, you will die. If he is released, the court will punish him, and Tongguan will be breached. Will you not have wives and children in Guanzhong?!"

After hearing these words, the trembling Wu Yuanzi finally saw hope for survival and agreed repeatedly. Yan Zhenqing then drove all the soldiers off the city wall and said that he would not hold them responsible for the past.

At this time, a young Anxi soldier stood up and said, "I am willing to die in place of the commander!"

"You can't do it." Wu Yuanzi pointed at him and said sharply, "I came here in accordance with the imperial order, and I must bring Gao Xianzhi's head back to the capital."

The soldier ignored him, took out a dagger and slashed his face hard, blood gushing out, and said, "I am willing to die in place of the commander!"

"You!" Wu Yuanzi quickly looked at Yan Zhenqing and said, "Sir Yan, why don't you deal with this villain?"

"Zhang Guangsheng, you retreat." Gao Xianzhi shouted. "I am willing to die in place of the general."

The soldier named Zhang Guangsheng slashed his face with the knife over twenty times, leaving it bloody and mangled. This frightened Wu Yuanzi and moved Yan Zhenqing, Fan Lao and others.

"Sima Yan, please say something."

Yan Zhenqing sighed and said, "Please ask the envoy to return to Chang'an and tell him that Gao Xianzhi had no face to see the emperor and had to cut off his face to apologize."

On that day, with Wu Yuanzi's shout of "behead", a bloody head fell from the battlements of Tongguan, landed in the sand and rolled.

Gao Xianzhi held a dagger in his hand, pointed it at his handsome face, and stabbed himself again and again until he looked like a ghost. Wu Yuanzi made sure that no one could recognize him before he dared to let him go.

"I will now cut off my face to thank Your Majesty."

Gao Xianzhi muttered something and took out a certificate of the Anxi Army from Zhang Guangsheng's body.

From then on, he became Zhang Guangsheng.

~~
After listening to Fan Lao's story, Wu didn't believe it at first, then he looked at Zhang Guangsheng in front of him, as if he was in a dream.

He prostrated himself before the horse and said, "If General Feng knew about this, he would be overjoyed. And Li Siye, if he saw General Feng again, I don't know how happy he would be."

"What about you?" Zhang Guangsheng asked.

"I am delighted."

"Do you want to pacify the bandits, or do you want to be recognized for your support?" Zhang Guangsheng asked again, his tone somewhat cold.

When facing his comrades in the Western Regions, he did not seem enthusiastic, but rather somewhat cautious. He did not care which prince won the throne, he only cared that since he failed to defend Luoyang, he had to march to Fanyang, pacify the bandits, and win back his lost dignity.

Prince Qing, who defended Chang'an, was naturally more to his liking than Prince Zhong, who fled to Shuofang.

Xue Bai watched coldly, waiting for Wu Jue's reaction.

For Xue Bai, Zhang Guangsheng was a big trump card. He was not only brave and good at fighting, but also had a high prestige. He sent him to Shangdang to persuade Cheng Ang, a famous general of the Anxi Army who had served under him, to send troops to Hebei to force An Qingxu away.

The reason why they dared to launch a surprise attack on Fengxiang was precisely because of this famous general who had once launched a surprise attack on Xiaoboluo.

Xue Bai thought that the idea of ​​detouring Jiucheng Palace, detouring Longzhou, and pretending to be the Anxi Army was too risky. On the contrary, Zhang Guangsheng was determined to replicate his glory in the Western Regions and strongly encouraged Xue Bai to do so. Today's thousand people are just like Xi Yuanqing's troops who attacked Anu Yuecheng that year.

Of course, there is a seemingly more convenient way, which is to let Zhang Guangsheng meet Feng Changqing and Li Siye directly, and perhaps persuade them to turn against him. But it is just a possibility. After all, no matter how good the relationship between individuals is, it may not be able to influence the decision of major events. Over the years, they have seen too many betrayals for power.

At the moment, it’s hard to say whether Wu can be convinced.

After a long while, Wu finally responded, "I am willing to serve the commander as a dog and horse."

He had recruited Xue Bai for the Anxi Army back then, and now, they can finally fight side by side.

So the team continued to escort the food and fodder to Fengxiang, the Western Capital.

~~
Feng Xiang.

At the city gate, Wu Jue nervously handed over the badge and official documents, saying, "Anxi Army Judge Wu Jue is here to transport grain."

He did not think he could easily trick the city gate open, because their troops were not well disguised. The soldiers were strong, their horses were magnificent, they had little food but everyone was wearing armor, and the generals guarding the city would probably be able to see through them if they paid close attention.

You know, this city now gathers many famous generals of the time.

But there was no way out. The military situation was urgent and Xue Bai had no time to waste any more, otherwise the Uighur cavalry would have to return.

"Finally the food and fodder have arrived."

The general in charge of defending the city today is named Kong Deyao. He was originally a captain in the imperial guards. He currying favor with Li Fuguo caught the eye of Li Heng and was appointed General Jinwu, in charge of the defense of Xijing.

Of course, above the Jinwu General is the Jinwu Grand General. The Jinwu Grand General was originally a brave general. He followed Li Shen on the way to escape westward. He always took the lead in battle and protected Li Heng's safety. But he was dismissed a few days ago. Naturally, it was because he was involved in Li Shen's major case of wanting to murder his brother.

Kong Deyao has been busy these past two days purging those who disobey him in the army. He has replaced several generals in succession and is worried that he cannot reward his confidants. When he sees that food and fodder are being delivered, he wants to use his power to withhold some of them.

After all, I still have to give gifts to Li Fuguo later.

"Transport it to that granary." Kong Deyao raised his hand and pointed.

Wu didn't expect that he could get away with it so easily. Instead, he was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand to let the team transport grain into the city.

So, rows of elite cavalry slowly passed through the city gate. Only when more than a thousand people entered the city did Kong Deyao ask, "Where is the food? Is that all?"

"There's more behind." Zhang Guangsheng raised his hand and pointed to the west.

Kong Deyao stretched his neck to look, frowned and asked, "Is there?"

The sunlight reflected on the knife, and a flash of light appeared.

"puff."

With a sound, Zhang Guangsheng had already held Kong Deyao's head in his hand and shouted, "The royal army will suppress the rebellion! Those who do not want to join the rebellion should surrender immediately!"

Although he failed to defend Luoyang, he had already told Xue Bai that he was confident that he could launch a surprise attack on Fengxiang and would capture the city today.

Therefore, he, Xue Bai, Jiang Hai, Wu Jiu and others immediately divided their troops to seize the tops of the cities to prevent Li Chu from returning. In this way, a thousand men were not enough, and they had to act quickly. Once they controlled the city, they could wait for the three thousand elite soldiers outside to respond.

Fan Lao went to get Li Heng.

"Kill!"

There was no palace city in Fengxiang Palace, only a series of simple courtyard walls. Fan Lao was worried that Li Heng would escape during the fighting at the gate, so he ordered people to light a bag of explosives at the courtyard wall, which blew down with a "bang". Soon, everyone rushed into the palace.

~~
Today is Li Tan's funeral, and Li Heng is quite sad.

He felt that he was becoming more and more like Li Longji. He could now understand Li Longji's feelings of having to kill his son for the sake of the Tang Dynasty. This made him feel that Li Longji had actually been quite kind to him.

The hatred in his heart diminished, making him feel a little lost and thinking that all the grievances he had suffered in the past were in vain.

In addition, he somewhat regretted killing Li Tan. In this way, if Li Chu repeatedly made military achievements and his prestige became too high in the future, there would be no one to check and balance his eldest son.

At this moment, there was a sudden loud noise.

Li Heng first thought it was thunder, and then he heard someone in the palace shouting, "The rebels are coming!"

He didn't understand what was going on, so he stood up and walked out, and saw chaos outside.

"Your Majesty! Go quickly!"

When he turned around, he saw Zhang Ting coming, followed by the eunuch holding Li Qi.

She pulled him and ran away in a hurry. After running two steps, she turned back and saw Li Heng still standing there in a daze. She couldn't help but shout, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten about burying Xue Bai alive?!"

For a moment, Li Heng was so shocked that he suffocated, his back felt cold, and cold sweat broke out immediately. He ran after Zhang Ting.

The familiar fear and panic surged up in Li Heng's heart, and he seemed to have returned to the winter of the fifth year of Tianbao. Although he buried Xue Bai alive, he also felt like he was trapped in an airtight cage.

He finally regained his hatred for Li Longji. If Li Longji had not suppressed the power of the Eastern Palace and blindly believed in treacherous and treacherous officials, how could the country have come to this? !
~~
Following the crowd out of the palace, Zhang Ting had a clear purpose. He took Li Heng directly to the Marshal's Mansion, where there were many capable ministers and generals who were most likely to protect Li Heng's safety.

Sudden.

"Ouch!"

Zhang Ting looked back and saw that Li Heng had fallen to the ground. She couldn't help but get impatient, blaming him for delaying work at this time. When she looked over, she noticed that Li Heng's hair was already full of white hair.

She had only thought he was the crown prince and the emperor, but now she realized that he was so old, but he was only in his forties...

"Quick, stop the pursuers... Saint, leave!"

In the panic, someone came with soldiers and helped Li Heng up. It turned out to be Li Fuguo.

Li Fuguo had changed into a cloth robe, and was holding another cloth robe in his hand, which he put directly on Li Heng, and then he helped him escape quickly.

"Lee Hyung is there!"

Someone shouted this in the distance, and Li Heng was horrified when he heard it.

"I will lead them away." Li Fuguo said hurriedly. Just as he was about to leave, he looked and said, "Saint, beard."

Li Heng didn't care anymore and quickly took the knife and cut off the beard under his chin and handed it to Li Fuguo.

Li Fuguo took off his cloth clothes, took the dragon whiskers, covered his mouth with his hands, turned around, and went to attract the rebels.

Seeing this, Li Heng was deeply moved. He ran a few more steps and heard someone shouting behind him, "Li Heng went over there!"

He couldn't help but feel fortunate to have such a loyal servant who risked his life to save him.

Over there, someone shouted a few more words, then came up to Li Fuguo and whispered, "Does the Saint believe it?"

"I believe that wealth and honor are achieved through risk."

"Mr. Li, please leave quickly. The rebels are coming to kill us soon."

"it is good."

With a "puff" sound, Li Fuguo stabbed his trusted subordinate to death with a knife, smeared his blood on his face, put on his cloth clothes again, and hurriedly fled in the direction of Li Heng.

(End of this chapter)