Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 518 Integration
Shi Siming looked at the big "An" flag on the top of Xiangzhou City being chopped down, and the anger in his eyes faded a little.

It took much longer than he expected to capture the city. Just yesterday he received a letter saying that Li Longji had returned to Chang'an, the Tang court had ended the chaotic political situation, and completed the transfer of power earlier than the Great Yan Kingdom.

This cast a shadow on his mood until good news finally came.

"Report, our army broke through the palace and captured An Qingxu at the north gate."

"Bring him here!" Shi Siming said, "Interrogate this traitor who killed his king and his father in the camp!"

The person responsible for detaining An Qingxu was Shi Siming's eldest son Shi Chaoyi.

Shi Chaoyi was thirty-one years old, with a short, beautifully trimmed beard. He liked to play dominoes, and he was not particular about who he played with. Even ordinary soldiers could sit at the same table with him and play as long as they were good at playing cards.

He was generous, even if he didn't play big every time, he would give money to the soldiers whenever he won, just to have fun. Because of this habit, he was very popular, and the Yan army soldiers liked him very much.

When Shi Chaoyi arrived at Xiangzhou City on orders, he soon saw An Qingxu being brought in with heavy hands and tied up, looking extremely miserable.

"Shi Chaoyi, have you forgotten the kindness my grandfather showed you and your son?" An Qingxu shouted as soon as he saw him, "How dare you raise an army to rebel?!"

"I know everything. The Saint was captured by Xue Bai, and you arranged for someone to blow him up." Shi Chaoyi asked, "How did you do it?"

"I didn't." An Qingxu quickly denied.

The two were old friends who had known each other for many years. He knew that he could not hide his true character from Shi Chaoyi, so he whispered, "Save me, I can give the throne to your grandfather."

"I also hope to play dominoes with you in the future. When I see Grandpa, I will plead for you."

"Thank you, brother."

An Qingxu was filled with gratitude, crying as he walked, saying how helpless he was along the way. Shi Chaoyi could not empathize with him at all, and kept shaking his head. In his opinion, An Qingxu had brought this situation upon himself.

When they arrived at the camp, An Qingxu looked around and found that Shi Siming was no longer submissive as he was when he served under An Lushan. His aura was much stronger than that of him, the Emperor of Great Yan. So he was so scared that he immediately knelt on the ground.

"An Qingxu, the guilty minister, kowtows to the Great Sage King Zhou!"

Shi Siming was not someone who could be easily fooled. He was not flattered by such flattery. Instead, he looked at An Qingxu with more vigilance, thinking that this boy could bend and stretch, and could be ruthless at the critical moment, so he must not let him live. So, he suddenly had the intention to kill him.

"You call yourself a criminal, but do you know what crime you have committed?"

When asked, An Qingxu took advantage of the situation and said, "As a minister of the Great Sage King Zhou, I failed to manage the army and failed to defend Luoyang. I was also besieged by the Tang army. This is a serious crime. Fortunately, the king helped me in time. The kindness is as deep as the sea. I can only repay you with loyalty. Please make the king the emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom!"

These words were very touching. Shi Chaoyi nodded repeatedly as he listened to them, thinking that there was no need for him to plead for mercy as An Qingxu was able to save himself.

However, they all underestimated Shi Siming.

An Qingxu's words were effective for others, but Shi Siming's ambition was to rule the world. With An Qingxu's abdication, he could easily take the throne of Great Yan. But since he had done so in the name of "suppressing the traitors who killed the king and his father", how could he go back on his word?
If we show leniency just because An Qingxu gave up the throne, people will only say, "See, Shi Siming really wanted to seize the throne, and everything else was just an excuse." If we cannot put our words into practice, how can we enforce military law?
Thinking of this, Shi Siming suddenly became furious and shouted, "An Qingxu! As a son, you killed your father and usurped the throne. Heaven and earth will not tolerate this. I sent troops to fight against the rebels for the late emperor. Do you want to deceive me with flattering and false words?!"

"Your Majesty, forgive me."

An Qingxu didn't expect Shi Siming to be so determined. He panicked and looked at Shi Chaoyi quickly.

Shi Chaoyi stepped out immediately and said, "Grandpa, for the sake of the late emperor..."

"Shut up." Shi Siming shouted, "Do you want to excuse this traitor who murdered his father?!"

This sentence was too harsh. Shi Chaoyi was so frightened that he dared not answer.

Zhou Zhi stepped out from the side and said, "An Qingxu murdered his father and usurped the throne. His crimes are extremely serious and he should be sentenced to death."

Shi Siming was worried about the news from Chang'an and had no time to waste, so he immediately ordered the death penalty.

A soldier dragged An Qingxu out of the tent and tied a rope around his neck.

"Brother...save me..."

An Qingxu looked straight at Shi Chaoyi, regarding him as his last straw. Soon, his face turned red, and his eyes were full of pleading.

Shi Chaoyi felt as if his heart was being grabbed when he was looked at by him, but he dared not ask for mercy again. So, he wished that An Qingxu would die soon.

These two people who had known each other since childhood, just watched one of them being strangled to death, feeling his fear, helplessness, and even curse.

Finally, An Qingxu died, his face had turned completely purple and black. When the soldiers loosened their hands, his broken neck could no longer support his head, and he immediately fell to one side, looking weird and sick. Only his round, dead fish-like eyes were still staring at Shi Chaoyi.

Shi Chaoyi was horrified by the look on his face. He turned around and still felt someone staring at his back. While Shi Siming was busy strangling An Qingxu's brothers, he quickly ordered someone to close An Qingxu's eyelids.

The friendship between the two, which began and ended with power, finally ended.

~~
After An Qingxu was strangled to death, Shi Siming entered Xiangzhou City and cleansed out the remaining followers of An Qingxu in the city. The next thing he had to do was to proclaim himself emperor.

Yan Zhuang was the first person to rush to persuade him to take the throne.

He was originally sent to Weizhou, but he withstood the temptation and was able to return to Shi Siming.

"The Tang court was ruled by an incompetent ruler, and its fate had run out. The previous emperor led the people of Fanyang to expel the incompetent ruler, but he was assassinated before his cause was accomplished. Now, the king is destined to save the people and inherit the cause of Great Yan. I ask the king to ascend the throne of emperor."

Zhou Zhi, Geng Renzhi and others had been with Shi Siming longer and had more experience. They finally assisted Shi Siming in accomplishing his mission, but unexpectedly, someone else beat them to the throne. They were very anxious and could only follow in his lead.

According to custom, Shi Siming simply declined twice and then stopped nagging. He was a warrior and was more concerned with practical issues, such as the rewards for the generals of the Yan army after he became emperor.

In addition, Yan Zhuang believed that he should return to Fan Yang to ascend the throne. Fan Yang was the foundation of Great Yan. All the wealth and population looted by the Yan army were transported back to Fan Yang, which led to Shi Siming's current momentum. In addition, Luoyang was lost, so Fan Yang should naturally be the capital of Yan.

Shi Siming agreed with this. But it would take at least four to five months to go back and forth. On the other hand, the newly-appointed emperor of the Tang court was rapidly stabilizing the political situation and winning the hearts of the people.

If it dragged on, he was afraid that the Tang court would complete preparations for suppressing the rebellion faster than he expected.

"Do not."

Shi Siming was not as selfish and short-sighted as the An father and son. He was not tempted by external things and was very determined to achieve his strategic goals.

"I will ascend the throne in Xiangzhou and tell the soldiers that I will reward the army once Luoyang is captured!"

When he called himself "I", he paused, feeling a little uncomfortable, but then he felt refreshed.

Soon, Shi Siming set up an altar and ascended the throne, calling himself Emperor Yingtian of Great Yan. He changed the era name to "Shuntian" and made his wife Xin the empress.

However, he did not make Shi Chaoyi the crown prince, but only named him King Huai.

In November, there was heavy snow in Hebei. The Yan Emperor Shi Siming finally cleared up the internal chaos and led his army south, preparing to recapture Luoyang before the New Year.

He divided his troops into five routes, and personally led the main force of the central army to pass through Pujin to attack Li Guangbi who was stationed in Heyang; he ordered General Cai Xide to station at Hukou to prevent Guo Ziyi of Shangdang from leaving Hedong, thus eliminating his worries; he sent Linghu Zhang to lead 5,000 people to cross the Yellow River from Liyang to take Huazhou in Henan; he ordered Shi Chaoyi to pass through Baigao Ferry; and he ordered Zhou Zhi to pass through Huliang Ferry.

Except for Cai Xide's troops that blocked Guo Ziyi, the other four armies agreed to meet in Bianzhou after crossing the Yellow River.

~~
Amid the heavy snow, the Yellow River is showing signs of freezing.

Someone was walking on the south bank of the Yellow River against the fierce north wind, looking towards the north with a worried look in his eyes.

He was only in his forties, but his hair was completely white, he was very thin, his cheeks were deeply sunken, and his cheekbones were as hard as iron.

The wind ruffled his beard, but failed to shake the determination in his eyes.

This person was Zhang Xun, the newly appointed governor of Bianzhou by the Tang court.

"Your Majesty!"

A knight came rushing out of the wind and snow, and without waiting for his horse to stop, he jumped off his horse swiftly and put a thick coat on Zhang Xun.

"Why are you patrolling the river in such thin clothes?"

As Nan Jiyun spoke, white air kept coming out of his mouth.

He was full of passion, so his breath was naturally hot, and the white breath he exhaled was bigger and thicker than that of others.

"There is good news. The imperial court has arrived. The imperial court has ordered all the food and fodder needed for Bianzhou's resistance to be sent from the canal in the south." Nan Jiyun said, "With this document, if Helan Jinming tries to withhold our food and fodder again, he will be committing a serious crime."

Zhang Xun knew Helan Jinming's character and was worried that he would find other excuses to delay, so he said, "Send a team to Ningling again to urge for food and reinforcements."

"Here!"

Nan Wenyun took out another letter and said, "Envoy, this is a letter from Prince Yong."

He had no idea what the content of the letter was.

Zhang Xun took the letter, read it through, and his eyes showed some thoughtfulness.

In the letter, Xue Bai asked him about his opinion of a certain person, who was the highest-ranking and most powerful person in the court in Henan Province, Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was a senior official of the imperial clan, the great-grandson of Emperor Taizong of Tang and grandson of Li Ke, the Prince of Wu. During the Shenlong period, he was canonized as the successor to the Prince of Wu. During the Tianbao period, he served as the governor of Dongping. Because of An Lushan's rebellion, Li Longji appointed him as the governor of Chenliu and the governor of Henan, and also appointed him as the Minister of the Imperial Household and the Minister of Imperial Clan Affairs, and asked him to preside over the situation in Henan Province.

At that time, Zhengzhou and Luoyang were lost one after another. Li Zhi had been staying in Dongping and even took refuge in the Taishan area for a while, isolated from the court. Unlike Zhang Xun and others, he did not face the rebels directly and fought endlessly, so his momentum was not high.

But his position was there, and Shandong was not a major battlefield, so it was relatively peaceful. As a military governor, Li Zhi was quite powerful and was a force in Henan that could not be underestimated.

Before Li Heng surrendered to Li Cong, Li Zhi received the imperial edict from the retired emperor and also raised the flag to attack the traitor Xue.

Now, Xue Bai wrote to Zhang Xun to ask what he thought of Li Zhi. It could be that he was preventing Li Zhi from taking advantage of Shi Siming's rebellion to harm him, or he was taking the opportunity to deal with Li Zhi.

On one side is King Yong, and on the other side is the successor King of Wu. Zhang Xun couldn't help showing an embarrassment when looking at the letter.

~~
"Whoa!" Nan Jiyun pulled the reins in front of a tall city.

Even his breath was steaming. Looking up, he could see the words "Ningling" on the city gate through the snowflakes.

But the arrow that he shot at the city wall in anger last year when he came to ask Helan Jinming to send troops to rescue Xue Bai but failed is no longer there.

His resentment towards Helan Jinming could also be eliminated. After all, the country is in trouble right now, and it is important to work together to quell the rebellion and ensure that the people live and work in peace... provided that Helan Jinming is willing to cooperate.

After handing over the badge and official documents, he led 20 people into the city. However, Nan Jiyun did not see Helan Jinming, and was only arranged to stay at the post house.

"This is an emergency military situation."

Nan Jiyun shook the document in his hand and said, "I need to see the Helan governor immediately. Otherwise, the suppression of the rebellion will be delayed. Can you afford it?"

"The governor has received the imperial decree and is busy preparing food and fodder to be sent to Bianzhou. Please wait for two days, General."

After receiving this answer, Nan Jiyun was speechless and waited in the posthouse, suppressing his temper.

On the other side, there was still singing and dancing in the government office.

Helan Jinming was as elegant as in previous years, sitting upright in the main seat, but there was a hint of thoughtfulness between his brows.

He was feasting with several of his aides, discussing the changing situation in the court.

"A few days ago, I received the decree from the Supreme Emperor. You all know the content. It simply asked us to be loyal to the Emperor of Chang'an. However, the attitude towards Xue Ni has changed."

An aide responded, "It must be that the traitor Xue held the emperor hostage and issued a false edict."

Someone else murmured, "Perhaps the Emperor and the Saint put the overall situation first and recognized the son of the deposed Crown Prince Ying. Now that the Crown Prince has been appointed and the heir has been determined, it's just another prince's title, which will not affect state affairs."

"No." Helan Jinming frowned and said, "When I was in Hebei, the saint gave me a secret decree. The traitor Xue pretended to be the grandson of the emperor and colluded with An Lushan, causing chaos in the world. Now this traitor has not been eliminated, but has risen to a high position in the temple. Is this a blessing for the country?"

He thought about his brother and his grudge with Xue Bai. Now that Xue Bai was in power, he had not touched him for the time being because Shi Siming's rebellion had not been quelled, and Xue Bai chose to appease him first. But when Xue Bai pulled his hand away, how could he let him go?

"Mingsir, the Emperor and the Saint have not spoken of Xue's crimes. If we rely on ourselves, I'm afraid it will be difficult to accomplish the task."

"The reason why the Emperor and the Saint are doing this is because the current situation is turbulent, and it is not the right time to punish Xue Bai." Helan Jinming said, "But sooner or later, an imperial edict will order us to go to the capital to defend the king and eliminate this traitor."

At this point he finally revealed his thoughts, saying: "Therefore, we must not obey this forged imperial edict and let the traitor Xue waste our money, food and soldiers. Now we should accumulate strength and wait for the imperial edict to eliminate the traitor in the future."

If there had not been the previous preparation, Helan Jinming's words would have meant that he wanted to pretend to obey but actually disobey, accumulate his own strength, and then raise an army to purge the emperor's side in the future.

But when he was in Hebei before, he did have Li Longji's secret decree. He took it out now to prove that the retired emperor had once convicted Xue Bai of a serious crime, which showed that he was very loyal and painstaking.

Soon, everyone understood Helan Jinming's idea. Only Wang Zhongsheng, the general of Huainan, had some doubts and asked, "Mingsir, Shi Siming has sent troops south now. If we don't help Zhang Xun defend the city, what if Bianzhou is captured by the rebels?"

Helan Jinming said, "Shi Siming did not go south earlier or later, but chose to go south at this time. He must be colluding with the traitor Xue. The emperor has already noticed it. Don't you understand?"

"The general understands!"

Wang Zhongsheng then bowed in response and dared not say anything more.

There was another general standing behind Wang Zhongsheng, named Liu Zhan, who also lowered his head like Wang Zhongsheng. However, as he watched this scene, a hint of sneer appeared in his eyes, as if he had seen through these people's little thoughts.

After a few more discussions, an aide reminded Helan Jinming that in order to avoid being blamed by the court, or to avoid being eliminated by Xue Ni, he should contact Henan Jiedushi and successor King of Wu Li Zhi to reach a consensus.

Helan Jin had frequent correspondence with Li Zhi in the morning. He immediately wrote another letter, expressing his difficulties and worries in earnest words, and asked Li Zhi to join him in guarding against Xue Ni.

……

Nan Jiyun waited in Ningling City for two days and went to the canal dock to check. He found that the Ningling defenders had not loaded the grain and grass in the warehouse onto the ship at all.

He then realized that he had been deceived by Helan Jinming.

In a rage, Nan Jiyun wanted to question Helan Jinming again. Just as he grasped the hilt of the knife, he saw his broken finger.

Last time, he had no choice but to cut off his finger to leave Helan Jinming's banquet. What could he do this time? He was a boatman, so he couldn't think of many ideas.

So he went to ask for an audience with Helan Jinming.

Just like last time, there was still a banquet in the government office, and there was still music and dancing. Although it was snowing, there were still dancers singing and dancing, their skin was faintly visible under the light gauze.

"General Nan is here again. Please wait for a few more days." Helan Jinming said, "I have received the letter from the court and am making arrangements. Food, supplies and reinforcements will arrive in Bianzhou soon."

"Helan Taishou is just a three-year-old child." Nan Jiyun frowned and said, "There is not a single grain ship on the canal. Is this what you said will be delivered soon?!"

"How dare you! I know my limits. How can you spy on military affairs?"

Nan Jiyun held up the document and questioned, "The rebels are about to cross the river, and the Helan governor is disobeying the order. Is he colluding with Shi Siming to rebel?!"

He pointed a finger at the words on the document and read out the following sentence: "Anyone who dares to delay military operations will be charged with treason."

Helan Jinming's eyes fell on the hand holding the official document and saw his missing middle finger. He regretted being frightened by him last time and letting him go. He must not make the same mistake a second time.

"Come here, Nan Jiyun is spying on the secrets, arrest him!"

"Who dares to touch me?!"

If you ask what is the difference between this time and the last time? Nan Jiyun thinks it is in the name. He came here with the imperial court documents, and the people behind him are the governor of Bianzhou, the Prince of Yong, and the righteousness.

The last time Helan Jinming refused his request for help, he was acting out of convenience; this time he was disobeying orders and resisting the imperial order.

Nan Jiyun was fearless. He turned to look at the soldiers who were about to step forward and said loudly, "You have come all the way south from Beihai County, but you don't care about your parents, wives and children? Why don't you want to put down the rebellion as soon as possible and return home in glory?!"

"This is an official document from the imperial court. We must wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop. Helan Jinming dared to disobey the order and will be punished and dismissed from office. Do you want to suffer humiliation with him, or follow Governor Zhang of Bianzhou to gain wealth and honor?!"

When Zhang Xun's name was mentioned, the soldiers couldn't help but stop.

Now in the Hehuai area, who doesn't know that Zhang Xun resisted the rebels' southward advance and drove An Qingxu out of Luoyang? Zhang Xun jumped from a county magistrate to a governor, and it was obvious that he would be promoted soon. The soldiers who followed Zhang Xun also received rewards, which was much better than what they had received when they followed Helan Jinming.

Among them, there were some soldiers from Beihai County who had followed Xue Bai in fighting the rebels on the plain. When they knew that Governor Xue had become King of Yong, they regretted it a long time ago.

So everyone looked at each other and stopped trying to capture Nan Jiyun.

Nan Jiyun strode towards Helan Jinming with a stern and intimidating look on his face.

At this moment, he remembered the oath he had made -

"I'll leave my arrow here today to show my determination. When I defeat the bandits and come back, I'll kill Helan Jinming!"

Feeling the murderous aura, Helan Jinming was stunned and quickly ordered the guards around him to stop it.

"Stop him!"

"puff."

Nan Jiyun rushed forward, grabbed a saber and killed one of them. As blood splattered on the spot, everyone at the banquet screamed in fear and fled in all directions.

Helan Jinming did not dare to stay and turned around and ran away, giving orders non-stop while running.

"What are you standing there for? Capture this murderer!"

When he ran to the yard, he met Wang Zhongsheng, Liu Zhan and others who were wearing armor. Helan Jinming was overjoyed and kept calling for help.

Nan Jiyun chased after him with a knife in hand, angrily shouting, "Helan Jinming disobeyed the order and delayed military operations. Who dares to stop me from arresting him?!"

Helan Jinming then pulled out his old edict from his sleeve and shouted, "I did not disobey the order. This is..."

As he was speaking, someone suddenly bumped into him.

It was Liu Zhan. He ran towards Helan Jinming. Perhaps he was too anxious and he knocked Helan Jinming down.

"puff."

Before Helan Jinming could unfold the old edict in his hand, he had already fallen backwards.

Nan Jiyun took advantage of the situation and thrust the knife in his hand into Helan Jinming's back, the white blade going in and the red blade coming out.

He had nothing to be afraid of after killing this so-called Hebei Recruiting Envoy, as he had already received an explanation.

"Anyone who delays military action will be executed!"

Nan Jiyun kicked Helan Jinming's body to the ground, threw away the bloody knife in his hand, raised the official document again, and shouted: "Who dares not to obey the imperial order?!"

~~
The post horse rushed an official document to Chang'an and handed it to the Secretariat.

"Helan Jinming is dead?"

Yan Zhenqing read it, handed it to Xue Bai, and asked, "Did you arrange this?"

If someone else asked, Xue Bai would definitely deny it, saying that it was an accident and the court had not arranged a new official to replace Helan Jinming in advance.

But in fact, he did know that Nan Jiyun and Helan Jinming had a grudge, and planned to let Zhang Xun temporarily coordinate the Bian and Song areas so that the troops, horses, money and food would not be restricted in order to deal with Shi Siming's attack.

After pondering how to answer, Xue Bai slowly responded: "I can tolerate Helan Jinming, but I will not allow anyone to delay the suppression of the rebellion. Luoyang cannot be lost again. This time, we must minimize the impact of the rebellion, and that requires power. The troublemakers who do not obey orders must be eliminated, and eliminated as quickly as possible."

(End of this chapter)