Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 542 The North Wind Blows
For some fathers and sons, it is better not to meet each other, and the hatred between them is even greater than that between old enemies.

Ji Ge was brought back to Chang'an by Fang Youde and sent to the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace to meet Emperor Li Heng.

However, at this moment, the atmosphere in the Zichen Hall seemed a little awkward.

Brother Ji, wearing coarse linen clothes and covered in mud, looked in a miserable state. He looked at Li Heng sitting on the dragon throne and closed his eyes in pain.

He seemed to not want to say anything, and closed his eyes as if he were dead.

When the two met before, Brother Ji was always superior, but today their status has been completely reversed.

Not to mention that Brother Ji was a little uncomfortable, even Li Heng felt an inexplicable sense of disharmony.

It's like Tiangang is turned upside down and Tai'a is held upside down.

Ji Ge has been the emperor for decades and has formed a psychological inertia. Both he and most people are accustomed to this.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor left Chang'an to avoid war and was found by this humble minister at Mawei Posthouse.

The emperor is old, please let him live out his days in peace in Xingqing Palace and not worry about government affairs."

Fang Youde saluted Li Heng with his hands crossed.

"My dear ministers, I have something private to say to the Emperor. Could you please step aside for a moment?"

Li Heng stood up, walked in front of Brother Ji, but looked at Fang Youde and spoke.

The ministers could not refuse such a request.

Fang Youde was the first to leave the Purple Palace, and the others followed him out without anyone saying a word.

Ultimately, the Li family’s family affairs must be resolved by the Li family themselves, and outsiders cannot interfere.

After everyone left the hall, Brother Ji finally opened his eyes, looked at Li Heng calmly and said, "Don't think you are so proud for a moment, in fact, you dare not do anything to me."

"Really? Are you sure?"

There was a flash of madness in Li Heng's eyes, and this fanaticism frightened Ji Ge so much that his heart trembled.

He regretted his words just now. But once the words are spoken, they can be spilled. Since he has already expressed his toughness, it is impossible for him to give in again.

Brother Ji said with gritted teeth:

"Humph, if you kill me, you will be a traitor and everyone in the world will be able to kill you! Everyone will stand up against you!

At that time, will you still be able to sit firmly on the throne? How will you defeat those who oppose you? "

Brother Ji sneered, as if he thought he was still in power.

Hearing these crazy words, Li Heng suddenly laughed.

He suddenly realized that many people just looked intimidating.

When they have the strength, it seems that there is nothing wrong with them pretending to be so. But once they no longer have the strength, they still put on airs and bluff others, just like funny clowns making coquettish gestures.

Those people always think they are strong and always think they are in control of everything.

But he was not aware of the changes around him.

Snapped!
Li Ying walked up and slapped Brother Ji hard.

The force was so great that Ji Ge fell to the ground, leaving a bright red mark of five fingers on the left side of his face.

"Li Longji! You should change your address.

From now on, you are not allowed to call me "I" in front of me!
You think I can't touch you?

I won’t say whether I dare to touch you or not. Even if I don’t dare, killing Gao Lishi will be as easy as stepping on an ant!
Today I will teach you a lesson, you must remember it well. "

Li Heng scolded Brother Ji with a gloomy face, shocking the latter so much that he couldn't say a word.

"Someone is coming!"

Li Ying shouted.

Cheng Yuanzhen entered the main hall from the back hall, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, why did you call me?"

"Gao Lishi, the eunuch beside the Emperor, actually dared to beat me. How do you think this matter should be handled?"

Li Heng glanced at Cheng Yuanzhen and asked.

Gao Lishi was outside the hall, so how could he possibly beat Li Heng?
Obviously, the reason why Zhao Gao was infamous for calling a deer a horse was because he was not an emperor and did not have this privilege.

No one could stop the emperor from calling a deer a horse. This was a privilege that belonged exclusively to the emperor.

Cheng Yuanzhen's eyes turned and he suggested in a low voice: "God is merciful. Just cut off the hand that Gao Lishi used to hit Your Majesty. It is also a favor from the emperor to spare his life."

"Well, then go and pass on the order. Because Gao Lishi was disrespectful to me, cut off his left arm."

Li Heng had a calm expression and spoke nonsense in a serious manner.

For Li Ying, Gao Lishi was also one of the enemies who must be killed.

Brother Ji, who was slumped on the ground, wanted to say something, but his lips just moved a few times and he didn't say the last word.

"I will go and pass on the order."

Cheng Yuanzhen said with lowered eyebrows and walked out of the Zichen Hall step by step.

"Father, I still have many programs that I haven't let you watch! Later, I will serve them one by one for you to enjoy."

Li Ying squatted down and patted the other half of Ji's face that was not hit. The coldness on his face became even colder, like the north wind in the cold winter.

……

In a cell of the Dali Temple Prison, Zhang Guangsheng, with his disheveled hair and dirty face, and Yan Zhenqing, with his disheveled hair and dirty face, looked like two poor creatures forgotten by the world.

Sit together and chat.

They really have nothing to do, and their days in prison are almost forgotten.

After Ji Ge came to Chang'an, he lacked officials to handle the affairs, and everything was in a mess. Naturally, he could not take care of the execution of Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng. He just detained them in the Dali Temple Prison and did not pay any attention to them, and went to do other things.

In Ji Ge's opinion, they can't escape anyway, so they can just wait until the political situation in Chang'an is slightly stabilized before doing anything else.

At that time, these two people can be executed in front of the Suzaku Gate as a warning to others.

After Fang Youde defeated the punitive army led by Li Guangbi and others and occupied Chang'an, he no longer cared about Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng.

He was busy chasing after Brother Ji.

After all these trips, Yan and Zhang actually settled down safely in the Dali Temple Prison.

Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng also knew nothing about what was happening in the outside world. They had no idea that Brother Ji had already died, but that Li Heng had unexpectedly risen.

"Mr. Yan, what do you think Li Longji is up to? If you want to kill him, just give me a clear message. But you are just locking him up like this without any trial or questioning. What exactly does he want to do?"

Zhang Guangsheng asked with a puzzled look on his face.

He was already calling Brother Ji by his name, showing no respect at all.

The living conditions in the marble cell are acceptable.

After all, those imprisoned here were usually political prisoners and officials above the sixth rank. There were countless people who had been imprisoned in the Dali Temple Prison and then walked out and became officials again.

Therefore, the various conditions in Dali Temple Prison are incomparable to those in other prisons.

Zhang Guangsheng and Yan Zhenqing ate similar meals every day, which were barely edible but filling. There was no preferential treatment, nor was there any abuse.

This made them unable to understand what was going on outside.

Neither the person guarding the cell nor the person delivering meals spoke a word to them.

"Most likely something has happened."

Yan Zhenqing sighed lightly, staring at the wooden fence of the cell with lifeless eyes and said, "If Brother Ji wanted to kill them, he would have killed them long ago. There is no need to lock them up for so many days."

At this moment, there were slight footsteps outside the cell.

Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng looked up and found that Li Heng, wearing an ochre-yellow dragon robe, had arrived at the prison door, with Cheng Yuanzhen beside him, nodding and bowing, and whispering something.

"His Majesty!"

Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng were both horrified!
Even if Brother Ji came to send them off, it wouldn't be this scary.

They stood up subconsciously, and Cheng Yuanzhen had already opened the cell door.

Li Heng walked in and shook their hands, saying with emotion: "Thanks to Marshal Fang, the matter in Chang'an City has been dealt with."

Is it resolved? How?

That’s 60,000 elite border troops!

Yan Zhenqing, Zhang Guangsheng and others all had doubts about life. They knew exactly how many people Fang Youde had under his command.

He actually took care of the troops in Hexi and Longyou.

This world is a little crazy!
"This is not the place to talk. You two have both done great things for me. Please come to the Purple Palace to discuss state affairs!"

Li Heng suddenly said seriously. Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng were ecstatic!
It wasn’t easy, we actually won this time.

Of course, their bold attempt to assassinate Brother Ji, which almost succeeded, has already proved their loyalty!
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng knelt on the ground and prostrated themselves before Li Heng.

They followed Li Ying to the Daming Palace, but did not go directly to the Purple Palace. Instead, they were taken by the eunuchs in the palace to be served and bathed, and changed into their original official robes before coming to the Purple Palace.

The main hall of the Purple Palace is not large, and it is connected to the emperor's bedroom.

When Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Guangsheng arrived, the hall was already packed with people.

Among these people were absolute bosses like Fang Youde and Li Mi, as well as surrendered generals from the Western Army such as Li Guangbi, Gao Xianzhi, and Guo Ziyi.

These people were whispering in groups of three or five, as if they were discussing something important.

Li Ying sat on the dragon throne, seemingly lacking interest in this. He looked like he was in deep thought, or maybe he was distracted, but in short, he didn't seem to care much about this.

"Mr. Yan, do you need me to tell you what happened?"

Li Ying suddenly asked.

Sure enough, something happened!
Yan Zhenqing asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, what exactly happened?"

He also noticed that everyone present had a serious expression on their faces.

"Luoyang has fallen."

Fang Youde said four words concisely.

In an instant, a chill rushed from Yan Zhenqing's spine straight to the top of his head!
Luoyang! Huangfu Weiming occupied Luoyang!

Of course, this was actually expected. Lu Jing was guarding there with 5,000 men, some of whom were elite soldiers, but most of them were united soldiers.

It was impossible to stop Huangfu Weiming no matter what.

"Now Huangfu Weiming has divided his troops into two groups, one going through the Liangjing Road and the other going through Chenguan, to attack Tongguan and Puzhou respectively.

The saint summoned us here to discuss how to repel the enemy."

Li Mi explained to Yan Zhenqing that this was much more specific than the four words "Fang Youde".

Yan Zhenqing nodded slightly, roughly understanding what was going on.

Zhang Guangsheng was like a nobody and felt like he had no say at all!
"Marshal Fang, what do you think about this?"

Li Heng asked respectfully.

"Huangfu Weiming is good at making plans but has no decision-making skills. He is just a chicken and a dog.

It would be a piece of cake to just keep them out of Guanzhong.

But if you want to recapture Luoyang, I cannot do it now."

Fang Youde said it succinctly.

Everyone present took a breath.

Damn it, you really dare to say that!
But they had to believe it because it was Fang Youde who said it!

"How many troops are needed?"

Li Ying asked in a deep voice.

Fang Youde held up two fingers and said, "Twenty thousand people will be enough to go to Puzhou."

"What about Tongguan?"

Yan Zhenqing couldn't help but ask.

"Just let them go."

Fang Youde looked indifferent.

Let it go?
Now not only Yan Zhenqing, but even Li Guangbi and others were upset.

But Fang Youde has his own reasons for using troops, which cannot be judged by ordinary people's thinking.

In fact, the defense of Tongguan is... very complicated.

Fang Youde's understanding of these fronts far exceeded that of Li Guangbi, Guo Ziyi and others of that era.

During the An Lushan Rebellion, the imperial army suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tongguan. However, after returning from the defeat, there were actually more than 10,000 remnants of the army in Tongguan. If Tongguan was really the kind of place where "one man guards the pass against ten thousand men", why couldn't these more than 10,000 remnants of the army stop An Lushan's tens of thousands of men?

It can be seen that real war is not a simple addition and subtraction, nor is it a simple competition of terrain.

"why not……"

Yan Zhenqing seemed to want to say something, but considering that his ability to command battles was far inferior to Fang Youde's, he shut his mouth obediently.

"Tongguan cannot be defended, if it is defended for too long it will be lost.

It would be better not to resist, let the enemy army in and fight, and cut off one of their fingers.

Huangfu Weiming will naturally withdraw his troops at that time."

Fang Youde explained it patiently, which was rare.

Things like fighting a war require talent. Those who understand will naturally understand, and for those who don’t, no matter how much you say, it will be useless.

Li Heng nodded slightly to show his approval.

If they used conventional methods, they would definitely not be able to defend Guanzhong because they did not have enough troops.

Puzhou and Tongguan are two bottlenecks, and the existing military forces can only block one.

The fatal problem in Puzhou is that the enemy’s supply line is very short.

On the contrary, in Tongguan, it is not convenient to transport grain and fodder from Luoyang by land.

This actually limits the size of the army.

As for how Fang Youde is going to use an army to block two gaps that are not far apart, that is his ability and there is naturally no need to talk about it here. We just need to wait and see the final result.

"Marshal Fang, you are my Grand Marshal of the Army, and everything depends on you.

All the troops of the Tang Dynasty are under your control!"

Li Ying took out the tiger talisman from his arms, stood up and handed it to Fang Youde.

Zhang Guangsheng looked around at the crowd and found that although there were many people here, the only one whose words were effective was Fang Youde.

Yan Zhenqing also saw this, so he stopped talking after saying a few words.

As expected, this world only recognizes the strong.

If you can win battles and lead your soldiers to be invincible, then you are a true god!

The emperor will curry favor with you, his subordinates will support you, and you can have whatever you want!
Zhang Guangsheng had no doubt that if Fang Youde made some excessive demands at this moment, Li Heng would definitely agree to it with a wry smile.

This is the winner takes all!

The world has changed quietly. The golden age of warriors seems to have arrived inadvertently.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. It is not difficult to defeat Huangfu Weiming."

Fang Youde said calmly.

But what he didn't say was: It would not be easy to recapture Luoyang.

This time, with the help of some remnants of the Western Army, Fang Youde could finally give it a try.

"Guo Ziyi will be in charge of guarding Chang'an. The rest of you will follow me to the Xuanwu Gate camp to check the troops."

Fang Youde looked at Li Guangbi and others and gave orders without being polite at all.

He saluted towards Li Heng with his fists, then turned and left without stopping.

"Mr. Yan, you are responsible for recruiting soldiers in Guanzhong."

Li Ying said to Yan Zhenqing with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I will obey your orders. I am very familiar with this."

Yan Zhenqing smiled bitterly.

He had previously tried to stop the Western Army and organized a team of tens of thousands of people, but it was of no use.

"Okay, my dears, please go back."

Li Ying spoke to everyone, but he waved to Zhang Guangsheng calmly, motioning him to come to his side.

After the others left, Li Heng whispered to Zhang Guangsheng, "I want you to lead the troops to watch over the man in Xingqing Palace. Can you help me?"

(End of this chapter)