Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 528 If you come out to fool around, you will have to pay back sooner or later.

In Yong County, the capital of Qizhou, west of Chang'an in Guanzhong, there were only a few people guarding the low city walls. The few soldiers were all wearing straw raincoats and dared not take a rest in the heavy rain.

Fang Youde put his hands behind his back and looked towards the east with a resolute expression on his face, looking like a sculpture.

He stood at the door of the signing room on the top of the city wall, watching the raindrops turn into a line and flow down the stone eaves. The rain flowed into the moat along the drainage ditch on the city wall.

It was a heavy rain, and each layer of autumn rain brought a chill. After this rain, the hottest time of the year was over, and each time it rained, it would get a little colder until winter came.

Fang Youde felt that his heart, like the weather, was slowly growing colder.

Seeing Fang Youde standing at the door in a daze and not speaking for a long time, Li Jiaqing, a subordinate, came over and asked in a low voice: "General, Gao Xiuyan, who was guarding Longmen Pass, fled without a fight and later opened the gate of Puzhou City. Now the troops from Hedong have entered Guanzhong."

Fang Youde already knew the news. Li Jiaqing said this to remind him: Now is the moment of life and death, and he can no longer ignore it as he did in the past.

"I asked you to recruit a group of united soldiers in Qizhou before. How many did you recruit?"

Fang Youde asked a very strange question and did not give Li Jiaqing the answer he wanted.

"About 10,000 people, but..."

Li Jiaqing wanted to say something else, but Fang Youde gently waved his hand and said, "That's enough."

He did not say why it was enough, nor did he say how these 10,000 people would be used.

But what Li Jiaqing actually wanted to say was... these weaklings can only bully the common people! If they are really dragged out to fight, they will only be beaten! Even if they are used to defend the city, it will be difficult!
Not to mention there are only 10,000 people, even if there are 100,000 people, it won’t be of much use!

"You go back to Longzhou Weiyuan to train the troops first. Make sure the men have good food in the near future and obey my orders.

Don't worry about defeating the enemy, I'll hold up the sky even if it collapses!"

Fang Youde waved his hands gently, looking like he didn't care about winning or losing.

But this calm attitude could not dispel Li Jiaqing's worries. He finally couldn't help but remind him: "Marshal, the troops brought by the emperor this time are all elite troops from the border, not the useless ones temporarily recruited from Hebei."

"A spent crossbow cannot penetrate a piece of silk.

The Western Army came from thousands of miles away and had been staying in Hedong for a long time. After entering Chang'an, they would plunder for at least three days, and the soldiers were lazy.

When the time comes, you will protect the emperor and I will defeat the enemy."

Fang Youde explained calmly, as if he didn't take it to heart.

Seeing him like this, Li Jiaqing was somewhat puzzled, so he asked, "Since the Marshal is so confident in defeating the retired emperor's troops, why is he frowning all day long?"

"You don't understand, so let's not talk about it."

Fang Youde sighed, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he didn't want to explain anything.

Yeah, so what if we win?
Aren’t the rich and powerful in Chang’an living a life of luxury and debauchery? Do we have to kill all of them?

The people of Hebei are already alienated from the imperial court. Do we have to kill all of them?

The entire Tang Dynasty is in pieces, people's hearts are divided, and ambitious people will emerge in endlessly. Do we have to raise our butcher knives and kill all these people?
Besides killing or killing!

At this moment, Fang Youde suddenly felt that he could do nothing except killing people with a knife.

He could not build a new dynasty, nor could he form his own political faction.

If one just wants to muddle through, if one just wants to restore the "small court and big vassal states" structure of the Tang Dynasty, then Fang Youde can create such a world with just a knife.

But this is not what he wants!

If he sticks to this pattern, Fang Youde can easily become the biggest vassal leader!

"Jiaqing, do you think that if I kill everyone who deserves to be killed, the world will be better?"

Fang Youde suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Jiaqing and asked.

This was the first time he showed a hint of helplessness and weakness in front of his subordinates.

Marshal Fang, who is armed to the teeth and capable of doing what others cannot do, has things that he cannot do even at the cost of his life.

Li Jiaqing did not answer, which was actually a silent answer, that is, this idea was naturally impossible to achieve.

If killing could solve all the problems in the world, then the world would have been killed to the point where there would be no one left.

Li Jiaqing felt that even a soldier like himself who had not received much education understood that killing people could not solve all problems. The invincible Marshal Fang must have understood this even more.

At this moment, a personal soldier hurriedly walked up to the tower. The other party Youde clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "General, Li Mi is here to visit you. He is just below the tower."

Li Mi?
Fang Youde sneered silently, nodded slightly and said: "Then bring the person up."

After a while, Li Mi was brought forward. He was completely wet by the rain, as if he had been fished out of soup, and looked very embarrassed.

His usual Taoist and sage-like demeanor was gone, and the yellow mud on his robe was proof that he had suffered greatly in the heavy wind and rain along the way.

"I cannot stand being slovenly. Someone, take Mr. Li to take a bath, change clothes, and return to the government office!"

Seeing Li Mi's expression, Fang Youde directly gave an order to his subordinates, without listening to what Li Mi said, and turned and left.

Fang Youde never believed in the saying “It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge”.

Li Mi was also responsible for driving him out of Chang'an. Even if he didn't do it on purpose, he couldn't escape the blame.

Fang Youde was a man of sentiment, and now the other party needed something from him, so he didn't give Li Mi a good look at all at this moment.

Half an hour later, after washing and bathing, Li Mi finally met Fang Youde in the study of the government office.

He had a helpless smile on his face, and the other party politely said, "Marshal Fang, how are you?"

"Yes, it's very good. I can eat five dou of rice every day."

Fang Youde replied very coldly.

"The Emperor has led his troops to Guanzhong. Yan Zhenqing has assembled a small force of about 20,000 to 30,000 men, and plans to stop them in Weinan County.

What does the Marshal think of the battle situation?

Li Mi asked cautiously.

"It doesn't matter. The soldiers under the command of the Supreme Emperor are now eagerly looking forward to looting Chang'an for three days.

They don't like to reason with others.

They would kill anyone who blocked their way, so Yan Zhenqing was bound to lose this battle.

If Yan Zhenqing returns victorious, you can come here and take my head."

Fang Youde explained it in a nonchalant tone, as if he was talking about a trivial matter rather than a major event that would lead to the fall of the capital Chang'an.

Li Mi nodded slightly without saying any nonsense.

In fact, this result was similar to what he expected. But when Fang Youde said it, it was more like a stone falling to the ground.

Instead of worrying, it’s better to give up.

Now listening to the comments of "professionals", I have really given up hope.

"Does the Marshal have any plan to defeat the enemy?"

Li Mi asked without any hesitation.

Fang Youde didn't bother to be polite with him, he just nodded and said, "Yes."

"How confident are you?"

Li Mi continued to ask.

"It's a sure thing."

Fang Youde responded casually, with the same calm yet slightly arrogant tone.

He seems to be bragging, but his past achievements are actually the biggest proof.

No need to brag.

If Marshal Fang says it is stable, then it is really stable!

"Chang'an will probably not be able to be defended. When the emperor moves to Longzhou, can Marshal Fang protect His Majesty?"

Li Mi finally revealed his ultimate purpose of coming to Yong County.

"Yes, but only the emperor can come here, and at most his personal eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen. If there are more people, my ability is limited and I can't protect them."

Fang Youde said this in a firm tone, not allowing any questioning or bargaining.

Since Li Heng came to Qizhou alone, there would be no problem of the army being blindly commanded or someone sending intelligence to Brother Ji.

This is also Fang Youde’s bottom line.

Li Mi nodded slightly and said, "This is what should be expected."

He knew very well that everyone has a temper, let alone a commander like Fang Youde who was invincible in every battle.

It's normal to have a bit of temper.

Marshal Qiu Fang remembered clearly that those people had excluded Fang Youde from the decision-making circle.

"In that case, Mr. Li can return to Chang'an to report."

Fang Youde made a gesture of invitation, obviously to see the guest off.

"Farewell."

Li Mi saluted Fang Youde with his hands crossed, turned around and left.

The two men's official attitude was very stiff and strange no matter how you looked at it.

If it were an ordinary person, no matter which one of Li Mi and Fang Youde was replaced, this conversation would end in vain.

Li Mi viewed the Tang Dynasty as an RPG game for worldly experience, while Fang Youde only cared about the glory of the Tang Dynasty. Both of them were indifferent to the influence of external things.

Negotiations between the two sides were extremely straightforward.

After Li Mi left, Fang Youde shook his head with some disappointment.

In fact, he had already sent people to contact the top brass of the Shuofang Army, asking them to hold their troops for the time being and not go to Chang'an. This was his backup plan.

Once things went wrong, he would take Li Heng from Longzhou and take the Lingwu Road to Lingzhou to regroup in Shuofang. He would then slowly make plans based on the Shuofang Army.

It was a foregone conclusion that the troops from Hebei would enter Chang'an. The troops from Guanzhong and Hedong would fight to the death, and one would be killed and one wounded. It was inevitable that the rebels from Hebei would take advantage of them.

With Huangfu Weiming's ability, it would not be difficult for him to take control of Chang'an.

However, no matter whether it was Li Wan or Huangfu Weiming, they were unable to clean up the mess that had occurred in the world.

It is inevitable that resistance will continue in various places, and the war will continue.

Wave after wave.

All of these were within Fang Youde's expectations, and there was even a high possibility that they would happen.

Because of this, he felt very painful and confused.

Although Fang Youde was aware of the general trend, estimated the outcome, and had some spare energy to make preparations, many things that were supposed to happen would still happen and could not be stopped by individual power.

Fang Youde found himself becoming "Guo Ziyi of the Tang Dynasty" in a sense.

A "Guo Ziyi" whose surname is not Guo.

“Would it be better if I just let it go?”

Fang Youde was the only one left in the government office's study at this moment. He sat on the cushion and muttered to himself.

……

Just after Puzhou was captured, heavy rains hit Guanzhong. The bad weather blocked Ji Ge's progress.

His illness was getting worse and worse, so much so that he had to wear a brocade robe in the summer to cover his whole body, otherwise he would be unable to hide his ulcers from others.

In addition, Ji Ge became sensitive and irritable, and even Gao Lishi was beaten by him many times.

There were many skin injuries on his body.

"Sage, Li Guangbi sent someone to report that Yan Zhenqing has built a camp outside Weinan County, installed fences, and dug trenches to prevent the royal army from advancing to Chang'an."

In a secluded and simple courtyard room in Puzhou City, Gao Lishi walked in hurriedly and said to Ji Ge who was dozing on the couch.

"Is the Guiling soup ready?"

Brother Ji slowly opened his eyes and asked with a tired look.

He looked like an 80-year-old man, and even some red spots began to appear on his face.

"Not yet, Saint, please wait another half an hour."

Gao Lishi said cautiously.

"Why isn't he well yet? Where did they find the medical officer? Do they want to watch me die?"

Ji Ge suddenly got up from the couch and started punching and kicking Gao Lishi.

Gao Lishi didn't dare to fight back. He curled up on the ground, holding his head to protect the vital parts of his body, and allowed Ji Ge to kick and hit him.

After all, he was a 60-year-old man, and a terminally ill patient. After venting his anger, Brother Ji was so tired that he sat on the bed, panting heavily, his face so gloomy that it seemed like water was about to drip out.

“The saint calms down his anger, the saint calms down his anger.”

Gao Lishi knelt on the ground and begged bitterly.

Brother Ji sighed helplessly and helped Gao Lishi up.

"My illness makes me crazy. Thank you for your hard work."

He brushed the dust off Gao Lishi and said.

"I don't want to work hard, I just want the saint to live forever."

Gao Lishi choked up and burst into tears.

Brother Ji wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, not knowing what to say.

It took a long time for the two of them to calm down.

Gao Lishi seemed to have remembered something, and whispered to Ji Ge: "I think Li Guangbi, Gao Xianzhi and others are quite obedient. Besides, they are under the banner of revenge for Wang Zhongsi, so there is no need to worry too much. But the soldiers are complaining about not having military pay and not having enough food, so the saint should also be on guard against their mutiny."

Gao Lishi raised something that made Ji Ge shudder.

"Didn't Puzhou raise any grain?"

Brother Ji asked in a deep voice.

"We have the grain, but how much is in the government warehouse? Do we need to ask the local big farmers for it?"

Gao Lishi asked in a low voice.

"Then lift the ban and let the soldiers go to the wealthy families to get it."

There was a gleam of ruthlessness in Brother Ji's eyes, and he spoke with certainty and determination.

Now that the decisive battle has come, Brother Ji would not hesitate to kill all the local people in Puzhou, let alone robbing food from Puzhou.

The sky is big and the earth is big, but nothing is bigger than his throne.

If Li Guangbi's army was defeated due to lack of food and he, the emperor, died as a result, then what was the use of all this bullshit morality?
I don't care if there's a flood after I die! Brother Ji no longer thinks about what will happen after his death.

Hearing Ji Ge's horrifying order, Gao Lishi nodded silently and did not dare to interrupt.

“Also, tell Li Guangbi, Gao Xianzhi, Guo Ziyi and others that after conquering Chang’an, all those traitors who cling to Li Heng should be killed without a single one left alive!
All their assets were confiscated and distributed among the soldiers.

This is my reward to the entire army!"

Brother Ji said viciously, his face as ferocious as a devil.

"Yes, I will do it right away, please rest assured, Saint."

Gao Lishi said this with his head lowered, then quietly left the room.

Only Brother Ji was left, staring blankly in the room, as if time in this world had stopped.

(End of this chapter)