Tibet

Li Mi took out a map, spread it on the table and said: "We don't need to enter Guanzhong. We go south from Lanzhou to Weizhou, then south to Chengzhou, and enter Hanzhong along the Lianyun West Road. In fact, we are walking along the Western Han River. It takes three days to reach Xingzhou in Hanzhong. After arriving in Hanzhong, we can walk eastward along the Han River and reach Xiangyang in one month at most, thus bypassing Guanzhong."

Li Ye was overjoyed. This road is good. In the future, the troops coming from Anxi can take this road if they go to Xiangyang.

He quickly asked: "Are there any passes along the way? How is the road condition? Can we use cavalry and camels?"

Li Bi smiled slightly and said: "This road was told to me by the Sogdians. I specifically asked the businessmen who had passed this road. They said that there is a Tonggu Pass on the Chengzhou side, and there are no other passes. The Te people all travel with camels, so it’s definitely possible to travel with camels or horses. We can just find a few guides to lead the way, it won’t be a big problem.”

Li Ye was determined. This plan not only perfectly solved the border crossing problem, but also opened up a strategic channel for him to connect Xiangyang and Ganzhou.

Ten days passed in a flash. That morning, Li Ye went to the military office to inquire about the news. As soon as he walked to the gate of the military office, he met his grandfather Pei Fang who was coming out of the military office. Pei Fang had a serious face. When he saw Li Ye, he said: "I just collected it." After receiving an urgent message from your father-in-law, An Lushan openly raised his troops to rebel!"

Although this news was expected by Li Ye, it still shocked him. History only changed the time slightly, but it still advanced according to the original path.

Pei Fang ordered someone to get a copy of the Eagle Letter and handed it to Li Ye. Li Ye took it and looked at it carefully. He found that the time for raising the troops was five days ago. An Lushan's slogan was "Get rid of the traitors in the country and clear the emperor's side." He issued a revolt to the world and demanded The emperor executed Yang Guozhong and issued an edict to thank the world for his sin.

It was impossible to kill Yang Guozhong or issue an imperial edict to offend him. This was An Lushan's open rebellion.

Five days have passed, and An Lushan's army should have invaded Hebei.

Li Ye took the copy of the Eagle Letter and hurriedly went to find Li Mi.

Li Mi looked at Ying Xin, nodded and said, "This day has finally come."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and asked: "I don't understand. Since An Lushan is the governor of Hedong, he can definitely bring the army to Hedong, deploy a surprise force in the southeast of Hedong, and capture Pujin Pass while announcing the rebellion. , the gate of Guanzhong was opened, and then the army rushed into Guanzhong, sending tens of thousands of cavalry to seize Chang'an as quickly as possible, and the emperor would probably not be able to escape."

Li Bi smiled slightly and said: "Jieduzhi's strategy of sneak attack on Chang'an is indeed very clever. He can even send thousands of soldiers to sneak into Chang'an in advance, and then cooperate inside and outside to capture Chang'an. Maybe the emperor can escape in a hurry, but all the other relatives of the emperor will run away. No, this is actually the issue of momentum and strategy that I mentioned before, which is also the issue of strategy and tactics that Young Master said.

Jiedushi thought about it, if An Lushan did this, he could indeed capture Guanzhong and Chang'an, but could he still hold Youzhou? The Tang army in Hedong will definitely cut off his retreat and the Jingxing passage, and the Tang army in Hebei will advance into Youzhou.

An Lushan moved the base of the rebellion from Youzhou to Guanzhong. Do the people of Guanzhong support him? The Tang army attacked King Qin of Guanzhong from all directions. How long can An Lushan sustain it?

If An Lushan did this, his strategy would be successful, but it would inevitably fail. Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang would never agree with him using this strategy, or even agree with him to attack Hedong first. Jiedushi knew why? "

Li Ye was really ashamed. He thought too simply. Li Ye nodded, "I am willing to listen to your teachings, sir!"

Li Bi said slowly: "This matter has to start hundreds of years ago. After Er Zhurong launched the Heyin Revolution, the Northern Dynasty was divided into two parts, the Guanlong Clan and the Shandong Clan. The Northern Wei Dynasty also split. It was the Eastern Wei and Western Wei, and then was replaced by the Northern Qi and the Northern Zhou. Their foundations were the Shandong gentry and the Guanlong nobles.

In the Sui Dynasty, the focus of the Sui Dynasty's governance was on bridging the north and the south. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty dug the Grand Canal and made three trips to Yangzhou, all in order to integrate the north and the south. Even the Queen Xiao was the daughter of a noble of the Southern Dynasties. This shows that the rulers of the Sui Dynasty had great concerns about the relationship between the north and the south. of attention.

The Sui Dynasty also attached great importance to the relationship between the East and the West. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang in order to resolve the hostility between the Guanlong faction and the Shandong faction. Unfortunately, the time was too short and the effect was not great. The last few major anti-Sui forces were from the Shandong faction, such as Shandong Wagang Army, Hebei Dou Jiande, Luoyang Wang Shichong and so on.

It has been more than a hundred years since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. The hostility between East and West has disappeared, but the discrimination between East and West is still there, and it is very serious. Everyone in the world knows it. Therefore, An Lushan's rebellion will definitely take the path of East-West confrontation politically.

I concluded that he would never go east of Hedong, and would definitely seize Hebei Road, Henan Road and Duji Road, add his hometown Youzhou, make Luoyang the capital, and establish a new dynasty to confront Guanlong, just like the confrontation between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty. "

Li Ye nodded. Li Bi saw clearly that in history, An Lushan's rebellion did go like this. This explained his doubts for many years. It was clear that An Lushan was also the governor of Hedong, so why didn't he rebel in Hedong?

At the same time, it also explains the political basis of the feudal system. The root cause is the confrontation between the East and the West, and the feudal town is supported by the local nobles.

Li Bi sneered and said: "But what? An Lushan is a Hu, and his army is mainly composed of Hu soldiers. Brutality is their nature. Even if Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang know how to win over the Hebei gentry, they cannot control the army. As long as An Lushan's army infringes on the interests of the nobles, the situation in Hebei will soon be reversed. After all, the Tang Dynasty has been established for more than a hundred years and has a deep foundation. At most, Guanxi and Shandong are just discrimination, not hostility, so as long as the court If handled properly, An Lushan's rebellion will last only a year or two at most."

Li Ye was silent. He knew that the corruption in the imperial court was too deep. How could it be possible for the imperial court to deal with it appropriately?

Two days later, the Eight Thousand River Army led by Pei Xiu and An Taixuan arrived in Zhangye, accompanied by 20,000 camels. These camels carried not only food and grass, but also a large amount of supplies and armor. Among them, Li Li What Ye was looking forward to was six thousand barrels of kerosene.

The army was stationed outside Zhangye City. The generals of this army were basically the 300 Pei soldiers he took away from Ganzhou. Through them, Li Ye had a very firm control over the Hezhong Army.

In addition, he himself had a high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers in the Hezhong Army, and all the soldiers were willing to die for his service.

In the camp, Li Ye gathered eight thousand soldiers. When he stood on the high ground, the eight thousand soldiers cheered and saw their commander again.

Li Ye waved his hand, and everyone fell silent. A pair of bright eyes looked at their commander-in-chief with great reverence.

“I’m so excited to see everyone again!”

After Li Ye said these words, the eight thousand soldiers immediately raised their arms and shouted, "Serve the governor! Work for the governor!"

Li Ye waved again, and the soldiers became quiet again.

"I want to tell you something important. An Lushan has rebelled in Youzhou, and the world is about to be in chaos. Following the emperor's order, I will lead the Hezhong Army to defend Xiangyang."

The eight thousand soldiers were silent, and everyone's eyes were full of worry. Li Ye knew that they were worried about their families.

"The enemy troops from Anlu Mountain will definitely attack Guanzhong, and Guanzhong will become a battlefield. In order to relieve everyone's worries, I will prepare land in Jingxiang and resettle the families of all the soldiers. Next, you have to write letters to your families and mobilize The family moved to Jingxiang, which is a safe place and a land where the elderly and children can survive."

All the soldiers cheered suddenly. Only when they were relieved of their worries and ensured the safety of their families could they devote themselves wholeheartedly to the new battlefield.

Next, a hundred students from the state school entered the military camp and were responsible for writing letters home to the soldiers. Pei Jian promised that he would personally take charge of the matter and form a letter delivery team of 300 people to deliver the letters home from the soldiers to their families.

Three days later, Li Ye set off with eight thousand soldiers, taking with him two million gold coins stored in Ganzhou.

Li Ye's wife and daughter were also traveling with him. Dugu Xinyue carried the child on her back with a sling and package, and followed her husband on a camel. She was extremely skilled in martial arts, and even surpassed Li Ye in light kung fu.

There was no problem for her to take the child with her. Several other maids, maids, and wet nurses refused to return to Guanzhong and insisted on going to Xiangyang. Li Ye had no choice but to let them ride camels, so that they could also help Dugu Xinyue take care of the child on the way. .