Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 527 Brothers

Shi Siming should have expected that the Tang army would launch an attack.

Since he had sent his generals to Jianghuai to rob and capture people, Xue Bai and Li Guangbi were unable to stop them, so they would certainly take advantage of the reduction in the strength of his camp to launch a surprise attack.

Even when he first made the strategic plan, his goal was to force the Tang army out of the city for a decisive battle. However, he was distracted by Yan Zhuang's instigation of Shi Chaoyi's rebellion in the past two days and ignored it for a while.

The trouble started from within the family, and the impact on the head coach and the entire battle situation was much greater than expected.

"Accept the challenge!"

Shi Siming immediately jumped on his horse and personally led the Yan army to resist. Unlike An Lushan, he was very thin, with high brow ridges and a fierce look like an eagle. This domineering aura caught the eyes of the Yan army generals, who shouted to follow him to kill the enemy.

However, misfortunes never come singly, and the news of Shi Chaoyi's death had already reached the camp.

As the eldest son and King Huai of the Great Yan State, Shi Chaoyi was kind to others, and the number of soldiers who placed their trust in him far exceeded Shi Siming's estimation.

If the Tang army had not suddenly attacked, these soldiers should have been appeased or dealt with by means of both kindness and severity. But now, when the horn of the night attack sounded, they would of course turn to the Tang army.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!" a soldier came running over and shouted in panic.

Shi Siming, who was as mighty and fierce as an eagle, was about to kill the enemy. Upon hearing this, he turned around and shouted, "Speak!"

"Zhou Zijun, a subordinate of Luo Yue, led his people in rebellion and shot and killed the general sent by Your Majesty to intimidate them!"

Before he finished speaking, Shi Siming killed the messenger on the spot with a single blow. He listened carefully and indeed heard shouting getting closer in the night wind.

"King Huai is dead, and Great Yan is unlikely to rise again. Follow me to restore order and seek wealth and glory together."

"Kill Shi Siming and return to the Tang Dynasty, and you will not lose your future achievements!"

"Kill!"

The shouting was getting closer and closer, Shi Siming became furious and ordered his generals to quell the rebellion first.

Cao Huai immediately led his troops out and rushed into the camp, shouting, "Who dares to rebel? Kill them all!"

An arrow came from the side and hit Cao Huai's neck.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Zijun rode over on his horse.

This general was young and bold. He was not afraid of Shi Siming. He waved his bow and kept inciting the soldiers of the Yan army.

"The Tang Dynasty has been established for hundreds of years and is prosperous. The Li family has been emperor for seven generations, but you don't want to serve them. Instead, you work for the Hu rebel Shi Siming. Is it worth it?!"

For a time, the morale of the Yan army collapsed.

The guards who had fled back from defeat hugged Shi Siming eagerly and wanted to escape.

"Quick, protect His Majesty!"

Shi Siming pushed aside his guards and rode towards Zhou Zijun. He knew very well that if the rebellion could not be suppressed, the army would be defeated.

On the other side, Zhou Zijun saw Shi Siming coming to kill him, but instead of retreating, he advanced, vowing to use the rebel's head as a ladder to success.

"Hu Ni, give me your life!"

"puff."

A head fell to the ground and blood spurted into the sky.

Shi Siming slashed with his sword, bathed in the rain of blood, pulled the reins, and stared fiercely at the people in front who were rushing towards him with a lot of noise.

After a long time, he spoke.

"Prince Huai is guilty of treason. No one else should be implicated!"

Soon, the Yan army conveyed Shi Siming's order in an attempt to appease the rebels.

But the Tang army had already reached the camp, how could they be appeased?

Not only did Shi Chaoyi's cronies defect to the Tang army, but some people were secretly close to Shi Chaoyi, and although no one else knew about it, they were afraid of being implicated when they heard about the incident. Even some generals who had only spoken a few words to Shi Chaoyi simply defected with him.

This situation caused panic to spread rapidly.

Shi Siming finally used his mighty momentum to scare off the traitors who were rushing towards him, and the Tang army had already been picked up at the camp.

A big fire started with a loud roar.

When the soldiers saw the fire, they became even more confused.

"what happened?!"

"King Huai plotted rebellion and killed Your Majesty. Those who have surrendered to King Huai will not be implicated."

"What? King Huai has killed your majesty?"

"There are rebels supporting King Huai. It seems we have no choice but to join the Tang army..."

It is not known whether the imperial intention to appease the soldiers was misheard or misdelivered, and the person who died was Shi Siming.

As a result, some generals loyal to Shi Siming turned around and joined the Tang army.

After dealing with all these matters with great anxiety, Shi Siming finally had some free time. He felt that it was daylight, and when he looked back, he was greatly surprised.

"Why did the fire start so quickly?!"

"Your Majesty, the Tang army is good at using firearms. Fire and water are merciless. If your Majesty is injured, retreat quickly."

"No retreat!" Shi Siming said angrily, "Follow me to kill the enemy!"

As he spoke, the fire had suddenly risen a lot higher, and even he could feel the heat wave coming towards him.

The anger in his eyes was also burning.

His ambition to conquer the world had not yet been satisfied, and the long-awaited decisive battle had just arrived. He had to flee before he even met his enemy.

"Ming Jin!"

The Yan army finally began to retreat northward in large numbers.

Shi Chaoyi's body was carried up. At first, the Yan army soldiers did not want to let the body of King Huai of Yan fall into the hands of the Tang army.

But before they could leave the camp, the body had been thrown in front of the stable.

Horse hooves passed by it, followed by pairs of feet stepping on the corpse. Soon, the fire spread, burning Shi Chaoyi's clothes and hair, and making his skin drip oil.

Shi Siming had already ridden his horse out of the camp and galloped in the night wind, without ever looking back at his son.

Just like how he had taken possession of that unknown Xi slave girl many years ago, put on his clothes and left without even looking back at the seed he left behind. At that time, all he thought about was how to survive.

It's the same today.

Behind him, the flames from the camp over ten miles wide shot up into the sky, burning brightly all night long, making the Mengzhou area as bright as day.

~~
Finally, the sun rose in the east, and the light of fire and the light of the sky merged together, illuminating the bloody earth.

A group of Tang cavalrymen who had been chasing the rebels returned on horseback, led by none other than the main general Li Guangbi.

Li Guangbi led his troops in a night attack and began pursuing the rebels before even entering the Yan camp. Until now, there has been no time to count the results of the battle.

Xue Bai was responsible for burning the camp, accepting the defected soldiers and generals in the Yan army, and counting the results of the battle. Therefore, he asked directly, "Where is the King of Yong?"

"In the North Camp."

The so-called North Camp was where the rebels stored their baggage. When they set up camp, they were prepared for the Tang army's fire attack and dug deep trenches between them and other camps, so they were not affected by the fire.

Li Guangbi rushed to meet him without even wiping the blood off his armor. When he lifted the curtain, he saw Yan Zhuang, covered in wounds, kneeling before Xue Bai with a solemn look as if he was willing to die for the Tang Dynasty.

"Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and alienated the Shi family father and son."

"Get up." Xue Bai helped Yan Zhuang up personally. "You have done a good job. The court will not underestimate your contribution."

Li Guangbi did not get Shi Siming or Shi Siming's body, nor could he be sure which of the Shi father and son was evacuated last night. After all, the scene was chaotic at the time, and there were all kinds of rumors, some even saying that both Shi father and son were dead.

Hearing Yan Zhuang say this, he thought Xue Bai's plan had worked, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Life is unpredictable. I didn't expect that your arrangement would really lead to the murder of their father and son."

The feeling when I said this was a mixture of joy and helplessness, as I felt I was unlucky.

In fact, Xue Bai had already heard someone report that "King Huai was dead" and was regretting that he lost the bet with Li Guangbi. He did not expect that the news would be delayed.

How can a person in a powerful position not be shameless? His eyes flickered slightly and he asked with a smile: "Are you willing to accept the loss?"

Li Guangbi sighed helplessly and said reluctantly: "I accept the defeat."

"Prepare incense threads and rice wine." Xue Bai ordered immediately.

He was rarely happy and patted Yan Zhuang on the shoulder, indicating that he had done a good job.

Naturally, there were people who dissuaded him. A general under Li Guangbi tactfully stated that it was extremely inappropriate for the marshal and the deputy marshal to become sworn brothers.

"Is it inappropriate?" Xue Bai asked in return, "Prince Guangping Li Chu can become sworn brothers with the Huihe Yehu, but I can't become sworn brothers with my sworn brother?"

"But Prince Yong suppressed Prince Guangping's rebellion, didn't he?"

"I'm willing to accept the loss, so you don't need to say anything more."

So, in front of all the generals, Xue Bai and Li Guangbi each lit incense sticks to pay tribute to heaven and earth, became brothers, and each drank a cup of rice wine.

"Sworn brother."

"King Yong."

"Brother, just call me by my given name."

"Okay." Li Guangbi was not happy, and sighed and called out, "Wujiu."

A sincere smile appeared on Xue Bai's face, and he thought that the purpose of winning over Li Guangbi on this trip had basically been achieved, or it could not be done better.

It would be even better if Guo Ziyi could be brought along so that the three of them could become sworn brothers.

"I have a sworn brother, so why not include him in the list?" That night, Xue Bai dreamed of himself saying this to Li Guangbi in his sleep.

Unfortunately, their loyalty did not last long.

A few days later, Li Guangbi strode into Xue Bai's tent with an unhappy look on his face and threw a battle report in front of Xue Bai.

"Please have a look, Prince Yong."

"Brother, why don't you call me by my name?" Xue Bai asked knowingly.

Li Guangbi said: "Shi Siming is not dead yet. The loser of the bet between you and me is you."

"Is Shi Siming still alive?"

Xue Bai was surprised, and focused on suppressing the rebellion. He pondered and said, "If this is the case, we won't be able to suppress the rebellion quickly."

Li Guangbi said: "Yes, he has fled back to Weizhou and gathered troops. The rebels he sent to Jianghuai have all returned north."

"This is a good thing." Xue Bai said, "This way, we can avoid the suffering of people in Henan and Jianghuai. In this battle, my brother has done a great service to the people."

"I am no longer worthy of being called 'brother' by King Yong. After all, I have to accept defeat."

"Okay, I'll admit defeat."

Xue Baiyun smiled calmly, raised his finger to the sky, and said, "I swear that I will never disturb the Tang Dynasty. Are you satisfied, brother?"

"Prince Yong, please stop addressing me like that."

"This was a misunderstanding between the rebels. Perhaps it was God's will. It was the fate between you and me as brothers."

Li Guangbi said coldly and sternly, "I can't bear it."

"Ok."

Xue Bai didn't force it. After all, many things, once they spread, could no longer be determined by the wishes of the parties involved.

No matter how much Li Guangbi denied the sworn brotherhood in the future, he would only be regarded as guilty.

~~
"I am late in protecting you, Your Majesty. Please forgive me." In Weizhou, Xue E, Wang Tongzhi, Xu Jingguang and other generals of the Yan army who were recalled just after crossing the Yellow River bowed before Shi Siming and pleaded guilty.

They blamed the defeat in Heyang on their own leading troops away, simply to give face to Shi Siming.

Of course, Shi Siming could not really blame them. He helped them up one by one with a friendly face and said, "Li Guangbi was cunning and attacked the camp with firearms. I want to retreat to Fanyang first, regroup and then march south to capture Chang'an in one fell swoop. What do you think?"

"The sage's clear guidance."

As Shi Chaoyi said, the Yan army had to retreat back to Fanyang. Unfortunately, his words were right but his actions were wrong.

The dead are gone, but the living must live. Shi Siming immediately sent an envoy back to Fanyang to convey his imperial decree, appointing Shi Chaoqing as the crown prince. The crown prince is the foundation of the country, and this move can calm the people of Fanyang.

Afterwards, he issued another decree, ordering Cai Xide not to attack Shangdang by force, but only to block the entrance to Fu and ensure the safety of Xiangzhou.

After making all the arrangements, he personally led the defeated army and retreated to Xiangzhou.

Xiangzhou was the place where Shi Siming killed An Qingxu. He planned not to retreat once he reached Xiangzhou, but to hold his ground and repel the Tang army to ensure the territory of Dayan.

The spring breeze of March caresses my face, and as I go north, it gradually becomes less warm.

In the distance, Xiangzhou City is in sight, and fast horses are galloping ahead.

"Report——"

"Your Majesty, Cai Xide has left the city to welcome Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Shi Siming raised his hand, stopped walking, and looked puzzled.

The generals were puzzled, so Xue E stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, do you have any concerns?"

Shi Siming was actually a very suspicious and jealous person, otherwise he would not have killed even his own son.

He pondered and said, "In the past, I, Cai Xide, An Shouzhong, and Li Guiren were all generals under the previous emperor, and we were all famous. Now I am the emperor and they are ministers. They may not be convinced in their hearts. I know Cai Xide's temper. When he heard that I was defeated, he must have some ulterior motives. Why would he come out of the city to welcome me?"

"Your Majesty, are you saying that he has changed his mind?"

Shi Siming himself had seized the throne from the An family, so he was of course worried about retribution, so he called back all his soldiers before daring to return north, and ordered his soldiers to be on high alert.

The army continued to move forward and finally saw Cai Xide's team coming to greet them.

~~
"Your Majesty is welcome to enter the city."

Cai Xide, wearing Ming Guang armor, dismounted and walked in front of Shi Siming, showing a respectful look.

He looked much more tired these days when facing Guo Ziyi. His thick and rough beard had turned a little gray, but his eyes were sincere.

Unexpectedly, Shi Siming refused to enter the city but gave a look. Xue E and Wang Tongzhi led their troops to control Cai Xide's generals or rode into the city to check.

"Your Majesty, what is this for?"

Cai Xide was greatly surprised and said angrily, "Your Majesty, are you doubting me?!"

His demeanor made Shi Siming waver, and he thought he was too suspicious.

At this moment, something unexpected happened ahead.

"Whoosh."

An arrow shot down from the top of the city wall, knocking Xue E off his horse just as he crossed the moat.

"kill!"

As the shouts and cries of killing were heard, large flags fluttered on the city walls.

However, to Shi Siming's surprise, it was actually the flag of the Tang army!
A cavalry unit of the Tang army had already rushed out from the city gate.

At the same time, deafening shouts and screams were heard from the mountains and forests on both sides, with billowing gray smoke and an extraordinary momentum.

"It's Guo Ziyi!"

Finally, someone saw clearly that the word written on the majestic flag of the Tang army was "Guo".
On the other side, there was a word "Cheng" on the flag of the Tang army, which referred to the Tang army general Cheng Ang who was captured by him.

Shi Siming had expected Cai Xide to have the intention of usurping the throne, but he was shocked to find that Guo Ziyi had quietly arrived in Xiangzhou.

"kill!"

Cai Xide's plan was to lure Shi Siming into the city and then kill him. He thought that Shi Siming would not doubt him because of their long-term friendship. He did not expect that Shi Siming did not trust him so much, and he could not help but get angry.

Now that the Tang army has launched an attack ahead of time, he is trapped in Shi Siming's army. If he retreats, he will die, but if he advances, he may still have a chance to survive.

So he pounced on Shi Siming.

The heavy armor hit the horse and knocked Shi Siming to the ground. Cai Xide was overjoyed and quickly pressed his heavy body on him.

"Die!"

A huge shadow fell over him. Shi Siming ignored the severe pain in his leg. He rolled over, pulled out the dagger from his boot and stabbed at Cai Xide's armor for the first time. With a "clang" sound, his neck was strangled.

"Don't come over here!" Cai Xide roared.

Shi Siming was suffocating, angry that no one could save him among the thousands of soldiers. He had no choice but to desperately stab the dagger in the gap of Cai Xide's hakama.

"what!"

As screams were heard, Cai Xide loosened his grip a little.

Shi Siming then stabbed Cai Xide twice, struggled free, grabbed a knife, and chopped off Cai Xide's head.

"You useless people! Why don't you save me?!"

"Your Majesty is so powerful, we didn't have time to wait."

When Shi Siming looked up again, he was surprised to find that Wang Tongzhi had also been killed in the battle. Guo Ziyi's banner had advanced from the mountains and forests to the left wing of the Yan army's front, intending to split the marching Yan army into two.

Faced with such an experienced opponent, Shi Siming had no confidence to fight again, and decisively ordered the sounding of the horn. He did not dare to enter Xiangzhou City, but directly fought his way out and ran north.

He must return to Fan Yang. As long as he returns to Fan Yang, today's defeat will be nothing. Within a few years, he can gather a powerful army and march south.

Shi Siming was an experienced soldier, who had won many battles and lost many as well, and was very experienced in escaping from defeat. He did not try to gather his troops, as the main force of the Yan army was mostly brave cavalry with fast horses, and as long as they escaped the battlefield and saved their lives, they would return later.

Soon, he led more than a thousand personal guards out of the battlefield and fled north.

However, Guo Ziyi obviously had no intention of letting him go and was already prepared to capture him.

A troop of Tang cavalrymen quickly caught up with them, roaring and rushing.

"The man wearing the imperial robe is Shi Siming, stop him!"

Shi Siming was shocked and quickly took off his imperial robe and put on the armor of an ordinary general while running away.

But the Tang army had a telescope and could see the whole process of him changing clothes clearly.

"The one wearing the golden helmet is Shi Siming!"

Shi Siming had no choice but to quickly take off the glittering armor.

His hair was already thin, and it fell out faster as he got older. He already had a large bald patch on his head. When he took off his helmet, his bald head still reflected light, but the light was softer.

"The bald man is Shi Siming!"

Shi Siming was furious, cut off a piece of cloth and wrapped it around his head. He raised his knife and shouted to the guards beside him: "Cut off your hair!"

The Yan army soldiers had no choice but to take off their helmets and shave their hair, becoming bald.

~~
"Report! We have captured more than 20 bald men and are asking them to identify Shi Siming."

After hearing the report, Guo Ziyi no longer had high hopes for capturing and killing Shi Siming. He had a thoughtful look in his eyes, worried that the rebellion would be a long and arduous journey.

The reason why he was in Xiangzhou was that he had defeated and captured Cai Xide a while ago. What was even more rare was that he took advantage of the terrain of Shangdang and made it impossible for the defeated rebels to cross the Taihang Mountains.

Afterwards, Guo Ziyi personally persuaded Cai Xide to surrender and took over Xiangzhou City without losing a single soldier.

At that time, Li Guangbi's message happened to arrive, saying that the rebels had divided their forces and entered Jianghuai. Guo Ziyi was hesitating whether to raise the flag and cut off Shi Siming's retreat to force him to return. The scout reported the news that the rebels had returned in defeat.

Guo Ziyi then planned an ambush on Shi Siming, but unfortunately the villain was too suspicious and did not take the bait.

"Mr. Guo!"

Someone was shouting and walking towards this side, with a limp. It was Cheng Ang who was captured by the rebels in Shangdang.

After being captured, Cheng Ang was first detained in Weizhou by Shi Siming and then transferred to Xiangzhou. After finally escaping from the trap, he rushed to the battlefield and fought fiercely, feeling very happy.

"After such a great victory, Mr. Guo, what else do you have to worry about?"

"The war has been going on for a long time. Now that Shi Siming has left, I am afraid the court will want to recruit him again."

Cheng Ang was puzzled and asked, "We have won such a great victory and are only a few steps away from suppressing the rebellion. Why would they still try to pacify us?"

He was also a military governor, and Guo Ziyi was willing to discuss some secret matters with him. After thinking for a while, he slowly began to speak.

"Recently, there have been some rumors against Prince Yong in the court. Prince Yong was assassinated in Luoyang. He told me in a secret letter that it was done by the military supervisor Bai Zhongzhen."

Cheng Ang frowned. Although he had no evidence, he was very convinced that this was true.

He had known about the controversy surrounding Xue Bai for a long time, but because the rebellion had not yet been quelled, everyone deliberately suppressed the topic.

"After the rebellion is quelled, the sage will certainly reduce the power of Prince Yong."

Guo Ziyi actually supported this, but he still said, "I am afraid that this incident will affect the court's efforts to suppress the rebellion and fail."

Some things have not happened yet, but he can already glimpse clues from the clues and smell the risks.

While the Tang army was still counting the results of the battle, fast horses arrived from the south, bringing news of Li Guangbi. After these great victories, the two Tang armies were able to join forces and pursue Shi Siming.

This was the second time that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi cooperated to recover the counties of Hebei and march north to Fan Yang.

Having learned from the previous failure, this time, what they were most worried about was not the success or failure on the battlefield, but the various constraints in the court.

However, this time Xue Bai is in their army, so many things can be discussed face to face.

~~
"King Yong."

"Mr. Guo, please don't be too polite. I was thinking that if I could become sworn brothers with Mr. Guo and Mr. Li and work together to suppress the rebellion, it would be a great story."

"Hahaha."

Guo Ziyi's personality was very different from Li Guangbi's, he was much more cheerful. When he heard that Xue Bai wanted to become sworn brothers with him, he laughed heartily and said, "Great, great, it would be my honor to become sworn brothers with King Yong, and it also shows that I am not old yet!"

This kind of behavior is very pleasing.

Li Guangbi, on the other hand, always had a stern face every time he heard about the matter of sworn brotherhood, as if Xue Bai owed him 80,000 strings of cash.

But after Guo Ziyi smiled enthusiastically, he waved his hand and sighed, "That won't work. The three of us are leading the army. If we become sworn brothers, others will say that we are conspiring and colluding. It's hard to explain."

Being able to state the reason for refusal so naturally, without offending Xue Bai given the previous preparation, is also a kind of skill.

In terms of human relationships and worldly affairs, Guo Ziyi was obviously much more experienced than Li Guangbi.

Xue Bai knew that it would be difficult to set a trap for Guo Ziyi this time, so he focused his attention on suppressing the rebellion.

"To be honest with you two, now that we have defeated Shi Siming, I am afraid the imperial court will not support us in continuing the Northern Expedition."

"Prince Yong holds great power, but he can't make the decision?"

"In times of danger, I can temporarily make some decisions, but that doesn't mean I hold great power." Xue Bai said, "Now that more than half a year has passed since the siege of Chang'an was lifted, the power of the world has naturally been returned to Your Majesty."

What he said was half true and half false, but what he said next was the key point.

"Someone in the court must think that you and I are colluding and don't want us to continue commanding the army. In addition to false accusations and assassinations, there may also be restrictions on the appointment of officials and the supply of food and grass. I went to Luoyang to stop everything that could be stopped. Next, if the emperor summons you back to the court, please don't obey the order and wait for me to mediate."

These words were somewhat alarmist, but Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi knew that it was indeed possible. Although they felt that Xue Bai had deliberately made the court suspicious of them, it was also true that they had become close to Xue Bai during the rebellion and aroused the court's suspicion.

As he said this, someone came in from outside the tent and reported to Guo Ziyi: "General, the imperial envoy has arrived..."

(End of this chapter)