Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 501 Lost
On the vast plain east of Fengxiang City, the troops of both sides formed their battle arrays, confronted each other, and prepared to fight.

Although Li Chu was the marshal in name only, he was still young. Most of the orders were issued by Pugu Huai'en, who did not rush to beat the drums and charge, but kept listening to the reports from the scouts, estimating where the Uighur cavalry had reached.

It was past noon when drums finally sounded.

The first to charge was Pugu Huai'en's second son Pugu Yin. He led the charge and bravely attacked Xue Ni's rebel army.

"What a brave general!" Li Chu, who was watching the battle from behind, could not help but praise Pugu Huai'en again, "General Pugu played a great role in the restoration of the Tang Dynasty."

In terms of bravery, he was not as good as Li Tan, but he was better at employing people. When Li Heng and Xue Bai had a grudge, he was able to put aside his pride and propose marriage between his sister and Xue Bai. Now he can get along well with the generals.

Pu Gu Huai En was already brave, and with Li Chu's praise, he was even more willing to die in return. He kept encouraging his men, and the morale of the soldiers was high, and they soon gained the upper hand on the battlefield.

"Report!"

Suddenly, a pair of horses galloped over, and the leader was a white-faced, beardless man named Yu Chaoen. He shouted hurriedly, "Your Highness, it's bad! The traitor Xue has entered Xijing City!"

Before Li Chu could react, many soldiers around him were already frightened and started talking about it.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't shake the morale of the army!" Li Chu hurriedly stopped him, called Yu Chaoen to his side, and asked in a low voice: "What happened?"

He couldn't believe that Xue Bai would suddenly rush into Fengxiang without any clues, and thought he had misunderstood. However, Yu Chaoen not only reiterated the matter, but also said that the saint was in danger.

Li Chu was extremely surprised, and then he realized that there was some clue to this matter, as Li Neng had reminded him of it earlier.

"Didn't you say Xue Bai wasn't in Jiucheng Palace?"

"I did see it with my own eyes. The camp was empty." Yu Chaoen quickly explained, and then suddenly said, "I understand. Prince Jianning may have colluded with the traitor Xue, so the saint had to punish him."

"Shut up!" Li Chu was furious and said, "Don't slander my brother."

Now is not the time to pursue these things. The most important thing is to return to rescue the emperor. Li Chu then summoned Pugu Huai'en to discuss the matter.

Upon hearing this shocking change, Pugu Huai'en immediately expressed that the troops should be withdrawn to rescue the saint first, and then he turned to look at the battlefield.

There, his son Puguyin had just broken into the enemy camp. Once this side retreated, Puguyin would inevitably be trapped in the enemy's army and would find it difficult to escape.

Pugu Huai'en gritted his teeth and chose to put the overall situation first and gave the order immediately.

Soon, the horn sounded.

Puguyin was in the middle of a fierce battle. When he heard the gong, he was overjoyed. He thought that Xue Ni's rebels had retreated, so he shouted, "My men, defeat the enemy!"

He drove his horse forward two more steps, and then, a spear came at him from the side. He wondered why the cover behind him was gone, and he fell under his horse. Looking up, he was shocked to find that his troops were retreating without any warning.

As the son of a commander-in-chief, he never dreamed that his grandfather would suddenly retreat without informing him in advance. Was he ambushed?

Blood splattered, his personal soldiers were killed, and the rebels had cut the knife out of his hand and were holding him down.

~~
Looking at the big flag with "Pugu" inscribed on it heading westward, Lao Liang put down the telescope in his hand and frowned, wondering if this was a strategy of the rebel army of Prince Zhong to lure the enemy, or if Langjun's surprise attack on Fengxiang had been successful?
When marching and fighting, such choices are often the key to victory or defeat, testing the wisdom and luck of the general. If you win, you can grow, but if you lose, you may die.

Just as they were hesitating to raise the flag, a soldier in front came back and reported: "General, we have captured a great general of the enemy army, his name is Pugu Yin, the son of Pugu Huai'en."

Lao Liang's eyes moved, and he immediately made up his mind and ordered: "Go and kill them!"

Suddenly, drums sounded in the army, and the cavalrymen flowed westward like water.

If you zoom out, more than fifty miles to the southeast, the Wei River is flowing slowly. A floating bridge has been built downstream, and teams of Huihe cavalry are crossing the river, holding bows and swords in their hands, looking murderous.

~~
Fengxiang, Marshal's Office.

Li Mi did not sleep all night, and was always dealing with official business, as if he could not wait to stabilize the country and retire to the mountains and forests.

"Sir!" A general rushed in and said, "I heard that Prince Jianning was sentenced to death. Is that true?"

The man was named Ma Lin, a brave general in the Anxi Army. He led 3,000 men to Lingwu to defend the king. Li Heng liked him because of his straightforwardness and loyalty, so he promoted him to the position of the commander of the army in the capital.

Ma Lin was from Qizhou. Although he was born into a prominent family of generals, he lost his father at a young age and wandered until he was 20 years old. Later, he read the biography of Ma Yuan in the Book of Han, "A man should die in the frontier, and return home wrapped in horsehide." He took up his sword and served in the Anxi Army... These were his words of loyalty to Li Heng, but the actual situation was that he was unable to obtain land after he became an adult and could not pay the rent and labor service. In addition, the court had been recruiting soldiers to expand the border, so he went.

After arriving in the Western Regions, he was indeed brave in battle and made many outstanding achievements. He was appreciated by the Jiedushi Fu Menglingcha, but he disliked Gao Xianzhi. At that time, there were many people in the Anxi Army who disliked Gao Xianzhi, such as the deputy governor Cheng Ang. Because Gao Xianzhi was handsome, Cheng Ang privately said that he looked like a woman. Gao Xianzhi said that Cheng Ang looked like a man but his heart was like a woman. In short, this trip back to Guanzhong to serve the king was no longer suppressed and he wanted to show his skills. He admired Li Mi very much and was determined to follow Li Mi to do something big.

Li Mi was still deeply saddened by Li Tan's death today, but he took the overall situation into consideration and did not complain about it. Instead, he said: "Prince Jianning has violated the national law. Your Majesty enforces the law strictly. Even if the prince has violated the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people."

In one sentence, a tragic case of murder in a power struggle was passed over.

Ma Lin stood up in awe and said, "The sage will surely rebuild the court's laws and restore the Tang Dynasty."

At this moment, a palace guard rushed over, broke into the hall, and exclaimed, "Sir, Xue Ni has entered the city!"

Li Mi was greatly surprised and murmured to himself, "How could this be?"

"The saint is in danger, please make a decision quickly, sir!"

Li Mi did not react immediately, but thought of Li Tan's death and sighed deeply.

"Sir?" Ma Lin asked hesitantly, "Could it be that the Tang Dynasty has run out of luck?"

"No." Li Mi shook his head and said, "I once observed the stars at night and the Tang Dynasty is prosperous and there is no sign of the country's demise."

He spoke with such confidence and his tone was very convincing that Ma Lin remembered this sentence deeply in his heart. He also became excited and said, "Then please give your orders, sir, and rescue us quickly!"

Li Mi immediately sent Ma Lin to rescue the emperor, and then summoned all the generals to make various arrangements.

In times of crisis, he even did not forget to send people to send out his relatives in the city and Li Neng's family.

Ma Lin received the military order and rushed to the palace. From afar, he saw the rebel cavalry riding their horses in the city and shouting, "The Emperor of Chang'an has suppressed the rebellion, and only the rebel leader, Prince Zhong, Li Heng, will be punished. The rest will not be punished!"

Soon, the enemy also saw Ma Lin's troops and shouted to him: "The ones coming in front are our Tang generals, why don't you abandon the dark and join the light and share the prosperity?!"

"Thief."

Ma Lin's face was stern, he was not bewitched at all, instead he drew his bow and put his arrow on it. The rebel cavalryman saw this and pulled the reins to run away, Ma Lin shot an arrow and still shot him down.

He continued to rush to the palace, and soon he saw Li Heng who was being hunted.

On the other side, it was Fan Lao who was chasing Li Heng.

Fan Lao turned around the long street and saw Ma Lin shooting his own soldiers. He was furious and decided to capture Li Heng first. He rushed forward and killed several guards in succession. A long spear was already in front of him.

"when."

When the weapons clashed, Fan Lao's mouth trembled, and the sword in his hand was almost knocked off. He quickly retreated, cursing: "Thief, you don't know what's good for you!"

"I am a loyal and righteous man who protects the Tang Dynasty. What reason do I have to have with a traitor like you?!" Ma Lin shouted and thrust his spear to kill Fan Lao again.

The two men fought in the street for several rounds. Li Mi arrived with his troops and protected Li Heng and left. Ma Lin stayed behind to cover their retreat, fighting as he retreated.

Li Heng rushed to Li Mi as if he had been pardoned, and shouted, "Changyuan, save me...Xue Bai wants to kill me!"

However, his memory was distorted. In his panic, he only remembered hearing Xue Bai say that he wanted to bury him alive, but he completely forgot who said it.

Li Mi frowned, thinking that Xue Bai's "favors must be repaid, debts must be repaid" character might really do such a thing. This was the evil result left by the saint's trust in eunuchs in the past, but it was a pity that he still did not change. Now was not the time to advise. Fengxiang City was in chaos, and the generals were difficult to command. Many people surrendered to Xue Bai. The only way now was to go out of the city to find Li Chu.

However, he did not run straight to the east gate, but instead set up false formations and sent people to pretend to be Li Heng to disperse the pursuing troops of the rebels, which gradually widened the distance between him and Fanlao.

however.

"The one wearing the Taoist robe is Li Mi!"

After Li Heng's tracks were covered, as such shouts continued to be heard among Xue Ni's rebels, more people began to chase Li Mi. After all, everyone knew that there was a "white-robed hermit in Li Heng's court, whose power exceeded that of the prime minister."

Li Mi had no choice but to whisper, "Your Majesty, go ahead. I will lead the pursuers away."

"No!"

The same situation happened for the second time today. Li Heng could let Li Fuguo do this, even if Li Fuguo was captured or killed. But he absolutely did not want Li Mi to be captured. If Xue Bai got this rare talent, it would be a disaster.

He quickly reached out to pull Li Mi's sleeve, but the Taoist robe had already floated away like a cloud.

"Changyuan..."

Li Heng wanted to give chase, but he just couldn't muster up the courage to face the murderous Xue Ni rebels, so he could only stamp his feet in hatred.

Zhang Ting was relatively calm, and even looked at her children from time to time along the way. Seeing this scene, she still did not forget to get rid of Li Mi, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, if you let him go, he will definitely join the traitor Xue."

"How could I not know? Alas!"

Although Li Heng was unable to let go of the matter, he could only escape under Ma Lin's protection.

~~
"I lost Li Heng. Please punish me, Prince Yong!"

Fan Lao was originally full of confidence, but he didn't expect that he couldn't capture Li Heng under such circumstances, and he was very upset.

However, Xue Bai, holding a telescope, looked at the most intense street fighting in the city. He did not show any anger, but only ordered: "Go and capture Li Mi to make up for the mistake. Remember, take him alive."

"Here!"

Fan Lao could hear that in Xue Bai's mind, capturing Li Mi was no less important than capturing Li Heng, so he did not rest for a moment and hurried on.

In the July weather, he was wearing heavy armor, and it felt like he was trapped in a steaming pot, sweating all over. He rode his horse to a place not far from Li Mi, and saw the wide and light Taoist robe. He could not help but cursed: "This Taoist priest really knows how to enjoy himself... Stop, don't hurt that Taoist priest!"

Those who were holding crossbows and drawing their bows had to put down their weapons.

Seeing this, Li Mi immediately ran into an alley. Fan Lao jumped on his horse, stretched out his hand, and lifted Li Mi onto his saddle, like capturing a prey.

This was the skill he used to catch thieves when he was a thief in his early years.

"Good!" The soldiers cheered.

The anger in his heart finally dissipated, he laughed heartily twice, and took Li Mi to see Xue Bai. Unexpectedly, before he even climbed to the top of the city wall, Xue Bai had already rushed down and scolded him.

"Nonsense! Who told you to treat Brother Changyuan like this? Put it down!"

"It was I who was rude."

Fan Lao had never been in the officialdom, so he didn't know what Xue Bai was thinking. He was really frightened and quickly helped Li Mi off the saddle. Li Mi smiled bitterly and said to Xue Bai, "Why do you and I have to be so hypocritical?"

He was captured, his Taoist hat was scattered, his clothes were messy, and he was in a state of extreme embarrassment. But strangely, he still looked calm and elegant, like a Taoist.

As acquaintances met, Xue Bai couldn't help but smile and said, "This is my sincerity to Brother Changyuan."

"That's not necessary." Li Mi waved his hand. "You and I can be friends, comrades, or even enemies, but we can never be king and subject."

"Brother Changyuan, you are too kind."

"I have made up my mind." Li Mi said, "If you force me, you might as well kill me."

Xue Bai asked: "Have you ever thought that Li Heng is really a rebel? And I am really the grandson of the Tang emperor."

"It's not important." Li Mi said, "It's more important to have a legitimate succession. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it has experienced the changes of Xuanwu Gate, Wu Zhou, Shenlong, Jinglong, Tanglong, and Xiantian. What it needs is not a wise and powerful saint, but a legitimate succession."

"You've said too much." Xue Bai said, "There was also the Chencang Incident, and it was Li Heng who planned it. Is this what you mean by 'legitimate'?"

Li Mi looked at Xue Bai and smiled, obviously thinking that the Chencang Incident was planned by Xue Bai, and said, "Stop it, for the sake of the stability of the Tang Dynasty for hundreds of years to come."

"Don't worry, one day you will find that I am right."

"Xue Bai, it's never too late to mend your ways..."

At this time, a horn sounded from the top of the city. Xue Bai said, "I'm still busy. I won't talk to you anymore. We will have plenty of opportunities to chat next."

He was very confident because Li Mi had become his prisoner.

Li Mi smiled and seemed quite confident, knowing that Li Chu's troops had already arrived at the city, so Li Heng might have escaped safely.

~~
Li Chu looked up at Fengxiang City, his eyes filled with anxiety.

Behind him, the scouts kept reporting that Xue Ni's rebels were coming from the east. His morale was low, and he did not dare to fight the three thousand elite cavalrymen. He only hoped to rescue Li Heng before they arrived, and retreated for the time being.

He murmured to himself, "I must be safe", and at the same time thought to himself, if he lost his father now, then with his status as the emperor's grandson and the title of a prince, it would be impossible for him to expect anything great, and perhaps he could only flee to Shu County.

Finally, a general appeared in front of them, fighting bravely. He first killed several rebels with a spear, and then a brave figure jumped out on his horse. It was Ma Lin.

Li Chu was overjoyed and immediately ordered Pugu Huai'en to lead his troops to provide support.

The two fierce generals fought desperately and finally rescued Li Heng.

"I am late in coming to your rescue, Father. Please forgive me for my delay."

"Let's go." Li Heng was still in shock and didn't care to say anything else.

Li Chu wanted to find Li Mi, but he couldn't find him. Fortunately, he saw his beloved Dugu Qin, and he quickly got off his horse and supported her, asking, "Are you okay?"

Dugu Qin said: "Fortunately, Mr. Li arranged for someone to escort the servants out in time."

"That's good. Don't worry, I will protect you."

"Sister Shen lives far away, and she is among the palace servants..."

Li Chu hummed, glanced around, and seeing that his children were still there, he stopped worrying about his family and went to pay his respects to Li Heng. This time he heard about Li Mi being trapped in the city.

"The gentleman is lost? How could the gentleman be lost?!"

This was the first time that Li Chu lost his composure in front of Li Heng. He knew very well that if he wanted to wipe out the bandits and restore the Tang Dynasty, he could not do without Li Mi's talents.

Li Heng, however, did not realize the accusatory tone in his son's voice, and ordered, "Quick, send a general to rescue Changyuan."

"Report! The rebel cavalry has chased to five miles to the east."

Suddenly, military intelligence came again. Li Heng frowned and asked Li Chu what to decide, whether to return to attack Fengxiang or retreat temporarily.

Soon, another soldier escaped and said that Li Mi had been captured alive. The father and son's faces suddenly changed. Zhang Ting lost no time and said, "He must surrender to Xue Bai."

"Will not."

Li Chu closed his eyes in pain, helplessly enduring the worry brought about by Li Mi's capture, but he was unable to refute Zhang Ting.

The gains and losses of a city or a place are not worth lingering on. Li Chu quickly made a decision and said, "Your Majesty, retreat."

The horn sounded again, and before more Xue Ni rebels arrived, Li Heng's troops decisively withdrew from the battlefield.

~~
"Wan Sheng!"

Cheers rang out in Fengxiang City.

In this battle, although Xue Bai failed to capture Li Heng, he thwarted Li Heng's plan to take Chang'an in the east, which was bound to have a crucial impact on the people's hearts and minds throughout the country.

All Tang officials had to rethink whether Li Cong, who had only been crown prince for a short time, was qualified to succeed the throne without Li Longji's approval, and whether Xue Bai, whose background was still unclear, was qualified to be crowned king. Despite these and other problems, the new court in Chang'an once again proved its strength.

Xue Bai did not indulge in the joy of a small victory, but strictly ordered his soldiers not to rob the people in the city.

Since the rebellion, it has become common for soldiers to rob civilians, and the trend is getting worse. The domineering attitude of the soldiers is gradually rising, and the court is indeed short of food, so it is actually difficult to control them.

Xue Bai had several temporary solutions. One was to supplement military expenses with salt monopoly, the second was to establish military settlements, and the third was to reward military merit with land instead of money and property rewards. He hoped to restore the agriculture and economy of Guanzhong as soon as possible, and have a direct army composed of good family sons with land.

Of course, everything is still early, and various measures have their pros and cons. He urgently needs a talented person to help him promote the reform and construction of these systems, and Li Mi is a good candidate.

In short, on the day of the capture of the city, Xue Bai not only restrained the soldiers, recorded the military merits, but also appeased the newly surrendered generals. Although there was a small disturbance in the city, it gradually subsided.

That night, a woman's scream was heard in the alley in the east of the city.

A group of soldiers who were patrolling the city stopped and the leading officer said, "Let's go and take a look."

He walked quickly through the alley with a torch in hand, and saw two scoundrels chasing a woman, presumably trying to take advantage of the chaos in the city.

"Take it!"

The soldiers quickly captured the two scoundrels, but the rescued woman, perhaps because she was afraid of the soldiers, continued to run with her head down.

"Young lady, don't panic. We are the king's teachers and will not harm anyone... Is it you?"

The captain caught up with the woman and shone a torch on her. He was surprised. He never dreamed that he would see Shen Zhenzhu again.

"Don't be afraid, Madam Shen. It's me, Gao Can, the imperial guard who escorted you to Pingliang." Gao Can thought that Shen Zhenzhu would not remember him, so he told her his name.

"I know."

Seeing that she couldn't escape, Shen Zhenzhu closed her eyes sadly, tears streaming down her face.

Gao Shen came, and although he felt a little soft-hearted, he still hardened his heart and said, "Madam Shen, please."

He escorted Shen Zhenzhu to the palace which had been demoted to the Qizhou government office. On the way, a soldier asked him who this beautiful woman was. After he told him, the soldiers didn't believe him.

"No way? After all, she is the princess who gave birth to the eldest son. How can she lose him twice?"

"War and chaos, got away."

"The child didn't even get away, but a beautiful woman like this could get away. How strange."

Another soldier shook his head and said, "If I had a beautiful woman like this, I would tie her to my legs even in my dreams!"

They were all a bunch of rough guys, all laughing. Someone started to make a noise, "Hahaha, Wang Datou, which leg are you talking about?"

"Shut up!"

Gao Can shouted and cursed: "King Yong has repeatedly said that we are the king's army and are forbidden to molest decent women. Do you want to be punished by my military law?!"

It was rare for him to get so angry. After he scolded the soldiers with a flushed face, he looked at Shen Zhenzhu's slender back and sad posture in front of him, scratched his neck, and lowered his head in inferiority.

When he reported the matter to Xue Bai, Xue Bai was also surprised that Li Chu could lose this woman twice.

"You should be thankful that you met Master Wang, otherwise, you know what would have happened to you." Xue Bai looked at Shen Zhenzhu and said.

Shen Zhenzhu and Xue Bai had nothing to say, they bowed down and cried, "Please grant me death."

"It's not your fault that you were not protected during the turbulent times. Why would I sentence you to death?" Xue Bai said, "Don't worry, I will send you back to Li Chu."

Shen Zhenzhu was stunned.

"Let's settle down first."

After Xue Bai gave the order casually, he looked at the map and frowned. He had just received news that the Huihe troops had arrived at Panshi Town, not far from here, and were looting everywhere.

Just as he was thinking about how to break the spell, a soldier came to report that Prince Yehu of the Uighurs had sent someone.

Xue Bai nodded and allowed them to come and meet him. Soon, several Uighurs were led and walked into the hall arrogantly. When they saw Xue Bai, they did not greet him but just looked at him coldly.

"Earlier, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty requested us to send troops to support him, and promised to give us gold, silk, and children in Chang'an and Luoyang after the success. Now that he has been defeated, we cannot come here in vain."

Hearing this, Xue Bai's face turned cold.

The Huihe envoy continued, "Prince Yehu is giving you a chance now. If you can give us the gold, silk, and children from Qizhou, Jingzhou, Longzhou, and Yuanzhou, we can withdraw our troops..."

"Cut out his tongue."

Before the Uighur envoy could finish speaking, Xue Bai had already given the order.

The generals in the hall immediately stepped forward, held down the Uighur envoy, and even though he continued to struggle and shout, they grabbed his tongue and cut it with a dagger.

"What are you doing?! The Tang Dynasty is..."

"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is your Heavenly Khan." Xue Bai said, "If you dare to offend the Heavenly Khan, you will be punished. This is the rule."

He turned to the Huihe people who came with the envoy, and seeing that they were pale, he said, "Go back and tell Yehu to submit to Chang'an and apologize to the true emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, his visit to Guanzhong this time will be regarded by the royal army as an invasion of Tang territory."

After saying this, he had the messengers taken away, leaving only half of their tongue on the ground.

(End of this chapter)