Late Tang

Outside the Great Wall at the end of October, it was already very cold in the morning and evening.

The days are getting shorter and shorter, the sun has just set, and in a blink of an eye, the earth is already pitch black.

Lingqiu City on the northern border of Daidai is the seat of Weizhou.In the Tang Dynasty, the county was changed to a prefecture, and the Weizhou government was first located in Lingqiu, and later moved to Anbian City, and now it has moved back to Lingqiu.This Datong Basin located in the Sanggan River Basin is also known as the Saishang Miliang River.If it is not too close to the barbarians on the grassland outside the Great Wall, this is actually one of the few pieces of fertile soil in the east of the river.

Because it is on the Miliang River, and it is an important place to go out of Jin and into Yan, and even into the grassland, it can not only go out of the fortress, but also turn over Taihang through the military capital and enter Guizhou in Lulong Town.It is also possible to enter Hebei Yiding through Puyinxing and Feiguxing. Therefore, although Lingqiu City is on the frontier, it is known as the frontier on the south of the Yangtze River.

At the most prosperous time, there were 6 to 40 people in Lingqiu City, among which there were dozens of specialized workshops, and the city had more than 3 rows of different sizes.Every day, the officials who collect the city tax in front of the city gate will be excited from ear to ear.The restaurants and inns in the city are even more prosperous.Feigufang in the east of the city is also known as Xiaopingkangfang.When it was most prosperous, it was not only the place where more than [-]% of the brothels in the entire Lingqiu City were concentrated, but also more than half of the brothels in Daibei, with as many as a thousand prostitutes.It is said that Pingkangfang in Chang'an has more than [-] prostitutes. Although Xiaopingkangfang is not as good, it is also famous in Daibei.There are so many brothels and prostitutes in a small border area, which shows how prosperous Lingqiu City was back then.

Now that the night is falling, it is the time when brothels and restaurants are in full swing, but the four gates of Lingqiu City have already been firmly closed.The gates of the squares are also closed, and there are no pedestrians on the streets in the lanes, only patrol soldiers passing by from time to time.

There were even broken doors and windows in many courtyards, and tall wormwood grew in the courtyard, swaying feebly in the evening autumn wind.

Except for a few sporadic lights and the occasional barking of dogs, the whole city is filled with a complex of panic and despair.Drifting in all directions with the new wind, pervading in this suffocating silent space.

As the night grew darker, the few lights gradually went out, and finally only those in the north of the city were left with lights.

This is the mansion of the Shatuo Zhuxie family. When Li Keyong's grandfather was the governor of Weizhou, he built this mansion in the north of the city.Later, Li Ke used his troops to station in Yuzhou and lived here all the time, where he married Mrs. Liu.

Around Zhu Xie's mansion, there are many houses. These are the houses of Li Keyong's generals.

At this time, Zhu Xie's mansion and the surrounding houses were still brightly lit, and the people in the mansion were busy busy.However, everyone's face was full of horror and despair.The laughter of the past is gone.The servants and maidservants in the mansion are busy packing and loading the house's soft and other things into cars.

Many people are busy, but they are surprisingly silent.

Many people don't know what happened, and those who do know say nothing.

After this panic had been brewing for a long time, various rumors slowly began to erupt everywhere.

Rumors spread one after another like the wind, each of which seemed to be true, but each of them was also making everyone's already fragile nerves even more fragile.

An hour ago, a small group of cavalry galloped into the city before sunset.These people were in a panic, they touched a hundred riders, most of them died, and their bodies were covered in blood.As soon as they entered the city, they went straight to the north of the city.

Then, there were rumors that the Zhigu Pass to the north of Lingqiu had fallen.I heard that all the soldiers guarding the pass died in battle except for the blood-stained knights.However, only half an hour later, the rumors changed again, and it became that the defenders of Zhigu Pass had mutinied, opened the door to surrender, and surrendered to the Tang army.It is said that it was Youzhou soldiers who came to fight this time, and the leader of the soldiers was Zhang Gongsu, the commander of Youzhou.

But then a businessman who traveled all over the world retorted: "Zhang Gongsu was driven away by Li Maoxun, the envoy of the Qingyi Army in Guizhou two months ago, and the current commander of Lu Long is Li Maoxun. The last time Li Ya'er sent troops to Attacking the Ningwu army in Guizhou probably offended the Uighurs, and now Li Maoxun must be leading the troops to take revenge."

But not long after that, someone who just came from Youzhou immediately retorted, "You don't know yet, Li Maoxun and Li Jing from the Zhendong Army teamed up to drive away Zhang Gongsu. Who would have thought that Li Maoxun and Li Jing would fight again later?" Overturned. Then, Li Jing sent troops across the sea to attack Youzhou, and defeated several groups of soldiers in Youzhou in a row. Does the Gao family in Guizhou know that they are very famous in Guizhou, and they were all defeated by Li Jing. Now They all belonged to Zhendong Army. Li Maoxun was so angry that Li Maoxun's son is now in charge of Lu Longjun. However, I heard that many generals of Lu Long refused to accept it. Li Maoxun's son Li Keju had already recognized Li Jing as his uncle. I have convinced the dissatisfied generals of Lu Longjun again. The ones coming now must be Li Jing's Zhendong Army and Li Keju's Youzhou Soldiers!"

These words were well-founded, and many people believed that it was the coalition forces of Li Jing and Li Keju who came.

But not long after, another news spread in the city, saying that Li Zhenwu sent troops to attack Tuoba Sigong, governor of Yuzhou, but the Tiande army and the Helian tribe of Tuyuhun, young and old, suddenly sent troops and captured Huyan Pass without bloodshed. Then the cavalry raided the Chanyu Duhu Mansion, the home of the Zhenwu Army for four hundred miles.Li Zhenwu's family members in Shanyu Duhu's Mansion, as well as many family members of the Zhenwu Army, have already fallen into the hands of the Tiande Army.

Then there were rumors that Li Ya'er was defeated in Taiyuan and was hunted down all the way, and now he is withdrawing his troops to Weizhou.etc.Later, some people said that the defender of Shuozhou had turned against Shatuo and joined the Tang army, and even sent troops to help the Tang army swindle Yunzhou, and now he is rushing to Weizhou.

Every news has its own nose and eyes, but every time, a new rumor will come out.

In Lingqiu City, although the doors and houses were closed, and even the lights and fires were turned off, few of the people, residents, and traders in the city really fell asleep.Everyone is paying attention to the troubles outside, because it is related to the fate of most people in the city for the rest of their lives.

All kinds of news were flying all over the sky, but all the news gathered together, none of them was good news for Shatuo people, Li Guochang and his son.These news gathered more and more, and slowly, in the hearts of everyone, the Shatuo people were besieged on all sides and completely defeated.At this time, all kinds of Tang troops seemed to be encircling Lingqiu with their armor on, as if they were about to break through the dark night and jump out of the mist at any time.

"Brother, what's the matter with you? You say everything, and I always feel uneasy in my heart. Which of them is telling the truth?" In a horse team that was walking from Zhu Xie's mansion to the north gate, A family member will look around and lower his voice to ask another family boy who looks younger.

"I don't know." The person who was asked replied in a daze. He looked up at the sky, "If there is a heavy rain at this time, it may be difficult for the soldiers of the Tang army to march. Or, because of the heavy rain, maybe After Zhenwu and his stay, he could not escape from the pursuit and siege of the Tang army. Wars are unpredictable, and who knows what the outcome will be, just like gambling. Sometimes it all depends on luck. No matter how good a war is, if the luck is not Well, it's useless."

"Can fighting be as simple as gambling?" The older family members were puzzled, "Stop coaxing old brother, everyone can gamble, but not everyone can know how to fight."

"Gambling is not for everyone, unless you don't care about winning or losing. Otherwise, gambling is also very skillful. Generally speaking, there are two ways to gamble. One is to play steadily and carefully. If you win, you will not win." If you lose too much, you won’t lose the old man all at once. The other is to rely entirely on luck, indiscriminately betting all-in at once, whether you are dead or alive, and it’s up to God to deal with it.” The younger servant controlled the horse’s head, and the white horse was on the sidelines. Walking uneasily in the rain, the old general smiled, took off his leather helmet and ran his hands through his hair: "That's right, I like to go all-in at once."

"Wealth is in the sky, life and death are up to fate." The young man nodded. "It's the same in war. Back then, Tang Taizong had two generals, one was Li Ji, and the other was Xue Wanche. Emperor Taizong said that Li Ji was cautious in fighting. He would not win a big victory, but he would not lose a big one. Xue Wanche fought bravely. If you advance aggressively, you will either win big or lose big. You said, isn’t fighting a war just like gambling?”

The old general was taken aback for a moment, and then laughed loudly: "It's really the same after hearing you say that. Little brother is a bit interesting, how did I see you in the mansion before?"

"I'm 14 years old." Nian Xiaojia Ding was silent for a moment, "I just came back from Zhiguguan. I didn't have a surname before, but now my surname is Li, Li Siyuan."

"Li Siyuan?" The old general was pondering on the horse, and suddenly remembered a rumor, "Li Siyuan? You are Miao Jilie? The newly adopted son after staying here not long ago? Your father is Li Ni?" Li Siyuan nodded in the rain, I can't tell how I feel.Li Siyuan's father, Li Ni, and his uncles Li Ting, Li Lei, and Li Zhen were all brave and good at fighting, and they were important generals of Chief Li Guochang.Last month, father Li Ni and uncle Li Zhen, Li Lei and Li Ting followed Li Keyong to go to Zhelu City.In that battle, Shatuo's army once again demonstrated their invincible bravery, and even Kedai, Xin, and Lan in one fell swoop, approaching Taiyuan.However, these few battles were also fought fiercely. His father Li Ni, uncle Li Lei, Li Ting and Li Zhen joined the conquest. In the end, the third uncle Li Ting brought back the bodies of the three brothers.After hastily burying the three of them, Li Ting was ordered to go to Zhenwu Army. Before leaving, his uncle told him that he had agreed to adopt him as a foster son, and even gave him a Chinese name, Li Siyuan. .

Miao Jilie changed his name to Li Siyuan and became the adopted son of Li Keyong, the young master of Shatuo.Although he hadn't met his adoptive father after his father's death, Li Keyong had arranged for him to go to Zhiguguan as a military academy.Unexpectedly, within a month after he arrived at Zhigu Pass, Zhigu Pass was suddenly breached the night before.If it wasn't for the fact that the guard at the pass was his father's general who sent someone to cover him to break through, he would have died at Zhigu Pass by now.

Sha Tuo rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and after only half a year of fighting, his father and two uncles died, and he had just experienced the rest of his life after a catastrophe.Riding on the horse, he suddenly thought, why did they turn against Tang?

(To be continued)