The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 203 Defeat
Hun Weiming felt something was wrong and asked in confusion, "According to the agreed time, they should have joined us in three days. Why did they come so early without informing the envoy first? And even if Nanzhao didn't inform us, Xianyu Zhongtong and Zhang Qiantuo from Yaozhou should have sent us a letter."

After Hun Weiming said this, Li Lin also noticed something unusual.

Li Lin immediately said to another general, Gao You: "General Gao, you must immediately lead your men to stop the Nanzhao army and retreat 15 li to set up camp."

"Yes."

Gao You took the order and left with a team of light cavalry.

After Gao Youxing walked more than three miles, he met Ge Luofeng who was leading the team.

Gao You immediately shouted: "The order of the Yongwang of the Great Tang Dynasty, you are ordered to stop immediately..."

Before Gao You could finish his words, Ge Luofeng shot him dead with an arrow without hesitation.

When Gao You's subordinates saw that their leader had been killed, they realized they had fallen into a trap and turned around and ran away.

Ge Luofeng led the light cavalry in pursuit.

Not long after, a group of knights under Gao You who had fled back at the risk of their lives shouted, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Nanzhao has rebelled! Nanzhao has rebelled!"

"Really rebelled?"

Li Lin felt his head buzzing for a moment.

A few days ago, Ge Luofeng wrote to him, wanting to join him in attacking Shicheng. Why did he suddenly rebel now?

Li Lin stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Hun Weiming, who had been through many battles, reacted instantly and said, "Your Highness, Nanzhao must have conspired with Cuan Chongdao. They deliberately let us enter Dongchuan in order to encircle and suppress us. Your Highness! Retreat quickly!"

"Retreat?" Li Lin had not yet recovered from the backstabbing by Nanzhao, and asked confusedly, "Where to retreat?"

"Retreat north!" Hun Weiming saw Li Lin's expression and knew that he could not rely on Li Lin, so he made arrangements and said, "Please ask General Ji to lead the left army to cover the retreat, and I will lead the central army to cover Your Highness's retreat."

"Okay, okay." Li Lin agreed.

Hun Weiming asked the guards to bring the war horses and said to Ji Guangchen, "General Ji, the matter of cutting off the retreat is entirely up to you."

"Yes."

Ji Guangchen took the order, saluted to the confused Li Lin, sighed silently, and then led his troops away.

Hun Weiming immediately ordered his generals to escort Li Lin in his retreat.

Li Lin and his entourage fled north overnight, all the way to Zhuti, and then encountered the Tubo army coming from Yizhou.

Hun Weiming guarded loyally and led his men to resist the Tubo army, while letting Xue Liu, Li Taiqing, Wei Zichun and others take Li Lin to escape from the northwest.

Li Lin then fled in a panic and fled all the way to Luzhou.

When they reached Luzhou and crossed the Chishui River overnight, only about twenty people were left around Li Lin.

Xue Liu cut off the Chishui Bridge, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Your Highness, it's safe now."

"Ah."

Li Lin was panting and was about to dismount to rest when he suddenly heard the howling of a wild beast in the mountains.

Li Lin was startled and said, "It's still not safe. We need to move forward."

Xue Liu saw that Li Lin was like a frightened bird, and he sighed secretly and said, "Your Highness is right, we need to go back."

"good."

Li Lin nodded, and rode forward carefully, looking left and right.

……

Li Lin was making a detour, and Zhang Chou Jianqiong, who was in Yizhou, had already received the news of Li Lin's defeat.

In this battle, Nanzhao captured Yaozhou, joined forces with the Cuan clan, and took over all of Zhuti.

Zhang Qiantuo, the deputy governor of Yunnan, was killed, Xianyu Zhongtong, who was appointed as the governor of Yaozhou, escaped and fled back to Jiazhou. Li Lin, the Prince of Yong, was nowhere to be found, and his army was completely destroyed. When the Tubo captured Xizhou and Lizhou, they surprisingly did not burn, kill, or plunder, but opened the warehouses to release grain.

Zhang Chou Jianqiong was in a state of depression, slumped in his chair.

"Report it to the court." Zhang Chou Jianqiong said weakly.

"General, this cannot be possible!" Yang Guozhong stepped forward and said, "The most urgent task is to find Prince Yong first. We cannot lose the land and Prince Yong as well."

"Yes, you are right." Zhang Chou Jianqiong agreed, "But we don't know where Prince Yong has gone. If the government sends a letter to look for him, the news of the defeat will spread throughout Jiannan in an instant, and then directly to Chang'an."

"It seems that I have no choice but to ask him for help." Yang Guozhong was very unwilling.

Zhang Chou Jianqiong asked hurriedly, "Who are you asking for help?"

Yang Guozhong said, "My uncle Yang Xuanlu. My uncle is the governor of Shuzhou and the leader of the Yang family. He is well-informed."

Zhang Chou Jianqiong said, "Then go quickly."

"Yes."

Yang Guozhong retreated and immediately rushed to Shuzhou to ask Yang Xuanlu for help.

Yang Xuanlu followed Li Heng's previous instructions and did his part.

Finding Li Lin was his duty as a subject, so he did not refuse and immediately sent someone to look for him.

After a few days, they found Li Lin who had returned to Lingzhou from Luzhou.

Li Lin returned to Yizhou and immediately wrote a letter to Li Longji.

……

Changan.

Xingqing Palace, Purple Palace.

Li Longji slammed the table and said angrily: "Shame! Shame! The Tang Dynasty hasn't suffered such a big defeat in several years. The last big defeat was when Dong Yanguang fought in Shibao City."

Wang Jin, the Imperial Censor, said, "Your Majesty, we should hold those responsible accountable for this defeat."

"Oh?" Li Longji looked at Wang Jin, "Are you referring to Prince Yong or Zhangchou Jianqiong?"

Wang Jin said: "Who should be held accountable? I think we should investigate and deal with it according to the facts."

"Prince Yong submitted a memorial." Li Longji asked Gao Lishi to take Li Lin's memorial to the officials for review, and then continued: "Prince Yong submitted a letter requesting punishment, and at the same time explained the reasons for this failure. Prince Yong believed that there were three reasons for this failure. First, it was the rebellion of Nanzhao. Nanzhao rebelled because Jiannan Jiedushi Zhangchou Jianqiong and Nanzhao King Piloge had always had a grudge, and this time Nanzhao took the opportunity to retaliate. Second, Jiannan military envoys Yuan Jingyao and Yan Jingzhi acted on their own, which shows that Zhangchou Jianqiong was incompetent. Third, Zhangchou Jianqiong used the excuse of defending Tubo and did not provide timely support. Do you think these three reasons are true?"

Li Shizhi, the left prime minister, said: "According to my understanding, this is indeed the case."

Li Shizhi did not mean what he said.

First, Piluoge and Zhangchou Jianqiong had been at odds for a long time, and Li Shizhi knew about it. But Zhang Qiantuo's incident had just happened, and Zhang Qiantuo was already dead. As long as there was no letter from Nanzhao, the court would have no way of knowing.

The second and third points also actually happened.

Seeing that Li Shizhi agreed, Li Heng said, "After the great defeat, General Zhangchou did not choose to report immediately. If he was not guilty, he would not have delayed the time of reporting."

Li Shizhi and Li Heng sang the same tune and basically confirmed Zhang Chou Jianqiong's fault.

Li Linfu felt that this matter was not that simple, but he did not refute it.

Because he has deeper considerations.

Li Linfu felt that if this matter was really as Li Lin said, then there was no need for him to refute it. If not, then the truth would eventually come to light.

When the truth comes out, Li Shizhi and Li Heng's current statements will become their future sins.

Therefore, Li Linfu was silent for a moment and said, "The accountability is secondary. What is more important is how to deal with it next."

(End of this chapter)