Chapter 364: Crisis is on the rise

In the northern capital Taiyuan, a cavalry team of about 3,000 people from Hebei slowly entered the Longxing City of the Tang Empire. In the middle of the cavalry, An Lushan opened the curtain and squinted his small eyes the size of a mung bean to look at the magnificent city. At this moment, his army had occupied the entire Hedong territory. Except for Puzhou, which was close to Tongguan, which was the southernmost point, this was a noble idea. Leaving a little distance from Guanzhong would make the court acquiesced to his occupation of Hedong. An Lushan adopted this suggestion. In fact, it only took half a day for him to occupy Puzhou to save some face for the court, which would help him successfully serve as the governor of Hedong.

It can be said that he had been waiting for the wealthy land in Hedong for many years, which allowed him not only to obtain large-scale military resources, but also to obtain enough wealth. However, the real reason for An Lushan to run to Taiyuan was not because of Taiyuan surrender, but because An Lushan received news that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty Li Longji was critically ill in Qinggangling, Shuofang. This news made An Lushan's ambitions rapidly expand, and he could no longer sit still and rushed to Taiyuan overnight.

When An Lushan's army had just entered the city gate, the Hedong chief general Shi Siming and Gao Shang, the counselor who inspected military discipline in Hedong, had been waiting at the city gate for a long time, and the two hurriedly came to the carriage to salute.

"Masterman has worked hard all the way!"

An Lushan opened the curtain and smiled at the two of them, "Thank you for your hard work. I will reward you on my own. I will never treat the soldiers unfairly."

Shi Siming clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, the general, for his compassion for his soldiers, and for his humble duties, he is willing to be the pioneer and attack Chang'an for the general."

"Haha! You have a commendable courage, but things are not as simple as you think."

An Lushan waved his hand and his tone gradually became harsh. "Your responsibility now is to restrain the army and no incidents similar to Shouyang County are allowed to occur again, otherwise I will ask you!"

An Lushan's army went smoothly from Jingxing to Hedong. At first, the soldiers also obeyed military discipline. Although sporadic incidents occurred from time to time, no large-scale robbery and killing occurred. When an army of 3,000 people attacked Shouyang County, he was rejected by the county magistrate and denounced An Lushan's rebellion. The chief general He Qiannian was so angry that he ordered the army to break open the city gate and cut the county magistrate's family into slaughter, which triggered great public anger. The people of Shouyang County began to resist An Lushan's army. At this time, a case of five soldiers sneaking into the household and raped women and being killed. He Qiannian was furious and ordered the city to be massacred. More than 10,000 county people were massacred and the whole county was looted.

This incident reached An Lushan's ears, and An Lushan was furious. At this time, his strategy was to invite the people of the world and had no plans to directly rebel. He Qiannian's move would undoubtedly bring great passiveness to An Lushan in politics and hinder his conscription in Hedong. He immediately ordered He Qiannian to be beheaded and all the women he captured were released, and Gao Shang was sent as an observer of military discipline to Hedong to inspect military discipline.

Shi Siming was also responsible for the general in the Shouyang incident. At this time, he did not dare to argue, so he could only respond in a low voice: "Remember the Huyi. If there is another massacre incident, please ask the Grand Marshal to take the Huyi to sue him."

An Lushan's face cleared a little, and he nodded and said, "Go! Since I'm here today, I can arrange to reward the three armies and let the soldiers remember my kindness."

Shi Siming bowed and left. An Lushan smiled at Gao Shang again and said, "Sir, please get in the car. I have something to discuss with you."

Gao Shang understood in his heart, and he did not delay, so he got on An Lushan's carriage and got on the carriage. Gao Shang sighed and said, "There is a little bit of a general that the general needs to make it clear to all generals that the generals enter Hedong only takes over as the governor of Hedong, and does not rebel and occupy Hedong. Otherwise, if the general will misunderstand, the consequences will be very serious."

An Lushan was stunned and asked quickly: "What does sir mean?"

"The Grand Marshal deployed too many troops in Hedong. Almost every state has troops stationed. Cases of stealing people's wealth and raped women occur frequently and are difficult to ban. This has caused officials in Hedong's prefectures and counties to seriously doubt the motives of the Grand Marshal. Some prefectures and counties have shown signs of recruiting rebels. I am worried that if this continues, the prefectures and counties in Hedong will resist in groups. Not only will Hedong be unable to protect, but Hebei will also be affected. At that time, the Grand Marshal will not be able to obtain Hedong, but Hebei will also be lost, which is not worth the loss!"

An Lushan pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Sir, since I took over as the governor of Hedong, I should not have been too wide. Then, according to Mr., I will shrink my army to important prefectures and counties and strictly enforce military discipline."

Seeing that An Lushan accepted his advice, Gao Shang couldn't help but feel relieved, and said with a smile: "Actually, the Grand Marshal does not have to worry about the court. As long as the Grand Marshal can maintain stability in Hedong and do not interfere in local government affairs, I think the court will soon admit that the Grand Marshal is also serving as the governor of Hedong, and the court also needs face."

"I will give the court face, but what I want is definitely not just Hedong, do you understand?"

"Of course I understand!"

Gao Shang gently stroked his beard and smiled: "I have thought of three strategies for the general in response to the current situation, which can ensure that the general will eventually enter Guanzhong and take over the world."

An Lushan was overjoyed. This was his real purpose in Taiyuan. He hurriedly cheered up and said, "Sir, please tell me."

"The three strategies for the long-range and near are the nearest. Let me first talk about the nearest. Now the Guanzhong army has been brought to Shuofang by Li Longji, and now it is stalemate in Qinggangling. We might as well take this opportunity to take over Guanzhong, control the court, and use the emperor to command the princes."

Before Gao Shang finished speaking, An Lushan stroked his hands and laughed: "Mr.'s plan is exactly what I want, so I will send troops into Guanzhong now."

"No! No! No!" Gao Shang waved his hand quickly, "If you can't send troops directly, it's no different from rebellion. Moreover, there are still some defenders in Tongguan, so you may not be able to attack. I have a plan to hide the truth and realize this plan."

"How can you hide the truth? Sir, please tell me!"

Gao Shang narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Didn't the Chang'an officials complain that the victims of Hedong entered Guanzhong and stole a lot of plowing oxen? The Grand Marshal might as well use this as an excuse to send a batch of plowing oxen and horses to Beijing, which is said to be compensation from Hedong. Then, one cattle and one horse each sent a civilian husband to take care of it. In this way, 6,000 people followed the three thousand and three thousand horses into Beijing. Does the Grand Marshal understand?"

"Okay! What a trick to hide the truth."

An Lushan praised: "In this way, I will have 6,000 troops entering Guanzhong, including 3,000 cavalrymen, and I will also enter Beijing."

"The Grand Marshal might as well slow down, so that Qingxu can enter Beijing first. The Grand Marshal leads 30,000 troops outside Tongguan. As long as Qingxu controls the court, the Grand Marshal can enter Beijing according to the order."

"Yeah! Not bad, good plan, then what about?"

"Then it is Zhongce. The general controlled the court, and he could support Li Yu as the emperor and the general was the right prime minister. He ordered Qingxu to return to Hebei to take charge of the army. When the situation stabilizes, Li Yu will be killed suddenly. The general will be a young emperor. Isn't the world under the control of the general? The general will buy the hearts of the scholars in the world and use the power of the emperor to pacify the princes. When the time is ripe, he can order the Li family to abdicate the country and rebuild the new dynasty. This is a long strategy. There are three strategies that are close to and far, but you can slowly plan to do so. Don't be too hasty, and you should pay attention to buying people's hearts. This is the reason why I repeatedly asked the general to strictly enforce military discipline."

"Why didn't you say it earlier? Now I'm just talking, and it's very clear. I'll do it. The most urgent thing is to find a cow as soon as possible."

Gao Shang smiled, "There is no need to find any cows, it's just an excuse for the court. After entering the capital, I will explain it if I can't find the cows, and they will be replaced with horses. What's wrong?"

An Lushan slapped his forehead and laughed: "I'm so stupid. I really want to find a cow. Well, I'll be my destiny to Qingxu go to Beijing immediately."

He immediately ordered: "Let An Qingxu come to see me immediately!"

At this time, Gao Shang added: "If you want to succeed in the plan to offer a cow, you have to put some effort into it. Moreover, the general is too weak in the court, so you can take this opportunity to win over a group of court officials. The general might as well think about who is the most suitable in the court?"

The residence of Chen Xilie, the Minister of War, is also in Wubenfang. It is not far from Dugu's house, only two streets away. In the past few days, Chen Xilie has been quite uneasy. He followed Zhang Yun to oppose Li Yu's ascension to the throne. He was afraid that Li Longji would wake up again, but after the objection, he regretted it. If Li Longji couldn't wake up, wouldn't he offend Li Yu? Since Li Qing'an led his troops to Beijing, he fell into anxiety.

Although Chen Xilie broke up with Yang Guozhong in Qinggangling and expressed his loyalty to Li Heng, he did another stupid thing after entering the court, that is, he could not resist Zhang Yun's win over and followed him to oppose Li Yu's ascension to the throne. This made Chen Xilie regret it. After all, it was because of the root of the disaster left by his betrayal of Li Linfu and his loyalty to Yang Guozhong. He was like a woman who kept remarrying and always wanted to find the best husband, but after he was disappointed in marrying several times, he finally realized that a good husband might not want him.

The problem is that the officialdom is not as good as marriage, and a remarried woman can eventually get married, but a politician who loses his integrity may not have a future. Li Yu will definitely not forgive him again. He is even worse than Yang Guozhong. Chen Xilie was discouraged, but he was always a little unwilling to end his official life like this. He dreamed of being the right prime minister for a few years!

Chen Xilie had no intention of going to court these two days. He locked himself in the room all day long and drowned his sorrows and lamented the unfairness of fate. That morning, Chen Xilie was hiding in the study and drinking when someone suddenly came to report that Minister Ji of the Ministry of War asked for a meeting.

Chen Xilie was the Minister of War, and Ji Wen was his deputy. Chen Xilie and Ji Wen had a good relationship. At the beginning, they worked for Li Linfu and often drank together to discuss politics. Later, Li Linfu fell and they went their separate ways. Ji Wen surrendered to An Lushan and became An Lushan's spokesperson in the court. Chen Xilie defected to Yang Guozhong, and was dismissed from the left prime minister and demoted to the Minister of War.

Therefore, although Ji Wen was Chen Xilie's deputy, his reputation and real power in the court were higher than Chen Xilie. He had An Lushan, a big backstage with military power, and no one dared to offend him. Chen Xilie was pulled away and was despised by the court officials.

"Ask him what's wrong?"

Chen Xilie was a little unhappy. Ji Wen didn't come to him normally, but at this time he came to him. He didn't have the heart to deal with the court affairs.

"Mr. Ji said that it has nothing to do with the court, he just came to visit the master."

"Tell him that I am in good health and don't need to visit me." Chen Xilie's thoughts changed. It was inappropriate to offend people like this, so he relieved his breath, "Okay! Please come to my study."

Chen Xilie struggled to sit up and ordered his concubine to quickly clean the study, take away all the wine pots and glasses, and lit the incense again. But that's it. When Ji Wen entered the room, he still smelled a strong smell of wine.

Needless to say, Ji Wen came to win over Chen Xilie when An Lushan ordered him to win over Chen Xilie. An Lushan took a fancy to Chen Xilie. He was very old and did not have a relationship with a certain prince like Zhang Yun. He had a simple background and should be very easy to win over.

An Lushan has two confidants in Chang'an. One is Liu Luogu, who is not in the power center and does not belong to the official system. He is equivalent to An Lushan's director of the Beijing office. Many shameless activities are done by Liu Luogu.

The other is Ji Wen. Ji Wen was appointed as the Minister of War and had a high position and power. He was An Lushan's spokesperson in the officialdom. Many of the major strategies involving An Lushan were proposed by Ji Wen to the court. For example, An Lushan used the excuse that the Turks on the border to be difficult to control and asked them to be incorporated into the army, but they did not belong to the normal Fan Yang army organization. This major proposal was proposed by Ji Wen, and was finally approved after being reported to Li Longji.

It is precisely because of the success of this incident that An Lushan trusted Ji Wen more and became his confidant.

This time Ji Wen came to win over Chen Xilie and received An Lushan's handwritten letter. He repeatedly told him to take Chen Xilie to his own camp.

As soon as Ji Wen entered the house, he smelled the strong smell of alcohol. It would be understandable if he smelled the smell of alcohol at night, but now it is morning. Chen Xilie is very good at nourishing himself and even drinking like this. Ji Wen has a clear idea in his heart. Today's win-win situation will be successful.

"I am Ji Wen, the subordinate, meets the prime minister!"

As soon as Ji Wen entered the door, he bowed deeply, and Chen Xilie waved his hand and said, "Don't be polite, come in and sit down!"

Ji Wen sat down and the concubine served tea to the two of them. Chen Xilie was a little drunk and quickly drank a few big sips of tea to moisten his throat. Then he coughed and said, "I have been in a state of discomfort these two days and haven't been to court. I wonder what happened in the court? Is there a major event in the Ministry of War?"

Ji Wen pointed to the north and smiled, "The person who happened lived near Chen Xiangguo. Can Chen Xiangguo not feel it?"

"How could I not know? The Dugu Mansion has been crowded in the past two days, and the important officials and the weak officials are coming one by one. Alas, people are so tempted by the enemy! Unlike me, I just refuse to go there. Even if I go out, I have to take a detour. I should be a little arrogant in my life."

Chen Xilie sighed to the sky, as if everyone in the world was unscrupulous, but Chen Xilie was the lonely Mei Aoxue. In fact, if Li Qing'an really came to visit him, he would probably run out to greet him before he even had time to wear his shoes. He only regretted that Li Qing'an would not have the heart to visit him at all.

Ji Wen despised himself, but agreed: "Chen Prime Minister has always been a model of court officials, and is the pillar of my Tang Dynasty. If everyone in court officials is the same as Chen Prime Minister, then my Tang Dynasty will not be so weak, and people's hearts are not old!"

Ji Wen's flattery made Chen Xilie feel extremely comfortable. He squinted his eyes, gently stroked his two long white beards with fairy style, and laughed.

"Mr. Ji has been awarded too much. I just don't want to be with Xiaoxiao, so I rest at home. Alas! The black air in the court is filled with me, and there is no place for me to live in."

Seeing that Chen Xilie took the initiative to raise the topic, Ji Wen followed his words: "How can the court be without Prime Minister Chen? In fact, those who do great things should not only be as noble as Chancellor Chen, but also be good at using various conditions that are beneficial to them. In this regard, I personally think that Prime Minister Chen is slightly inferior to Secretary Zhang."

Although Ji Wen's words sound a bit bad, they hit Chen Xilie's key point. Yes! Zhang Yun is the culprit who opposed Li Yu's ascension to the throne. However, Li Qingan not only did not regard him as an enemy, but also came to visit him in person, which made Chen Xilie extremely angry. Although he also understood the reason, he was unwilling to face it and never thought about why Zhang Yun was called a tumbler in the officialdom.

This is the weakness of human nature. Most people often blame others when encountering setbacks. They always think that it is others who cause their own failures, and they never want to reflect on themselves. Chen Xilie was the same. He was so anxious because he offended Li Yu. However, he refused to admit that he was unstable. Instead, he blamed Zhang Yun for being unfair, instigated him to make mistakes, or just complained about his bad fate and the unfairness of God. In short, he would not consider his own problems.

It was not until Ji Wen's frank position today that Chen Xilie woke up and he bowed his head and said nothing.

Ji Wen hit the railway while the hot: "Although Zhang Shangshu has connections left by the old prime minister, he believes that the real reason is that he is good at winning over all forces. For example, he is a literati leader in Chang'an and has long controlled the Ministry of Revenue. Now, except for the Left Minister Pei Min, the Ministry of Revenue, the rest of the Ministry of Revenue are his people, so Yang Guozhong still finds it difficult to enter the Ministry of Revenue. Not only if, but more importantly, he has strong foreign aid."

"You mean Jiannan Gao Xianzhi and Ying Wang?"

"Yes! This is the real reason why he dared to take the lead in opposing Li Yu. He is actually creating opportunities for King Ying to ascend the throne. As long as King Ying cannot ascend the prime minister, once King Ying leads his army to come, the throne may not be Li Yu. That is, Zhang Shangshu is the right prime minister. Wang Gong has Li Qing'an's support, and the left prime minister cannot be abandoned. Only Secretary Chen is weak and will have nothing at that time."

Chen Xilie also knew the reason, but he never wanted to face it. Now that Ji Wen suddenly revealed it, Chen Xilie couldn't help but feel disappointed. He was extremely depressed and sighed, "I am going to retire and return home, and I don't want to be an official anymore."

Seeing that Chen Xilie had a little childish temper, Ji Wen said that the wind was raining, and he did not have the unfathomable cunning of Zhang Yun at all. He couldn't help but feel funny, so he changed the topic: "In fact, the Prime Minister Chen has a chance to compete with Zhang Shangshu, and even can rule the government and become the right prime minister. Why did the Prime Minister Chen give up easily?"

Chen Xilie was excited and quickly bowed, "Please give me advice!"

Ji Wen smiled but said nothing. Chen Xilie suddenly realized that Ji Wen refers to An Lushan. His mind turned very quickly. The only person in the world who can compete with Li Qing'an was An Lushan. This time, An Lushan occupied Hedong, which caused a lot of criticism, but Chen Xilie disagreed. Didn’t Li Qing'an occupy Hexi the same way? Why didn’t the court officials say about him?

If he can get the support of An Lushan, then what is Zhang Yun, what is Wang Gong, and what is Yang Guozhong? Although Chen Xilie had the intention to set up a arch, he did not do the work of setting up a arch. At this moment, his fickle nature broke out again. He immediately bowed and said, "If I can get the support of the Prince of Dongping, I am willing to serve him. Please ask Mr. Ji to tell the Prince of Dongping on my behalf that Chen Xilie is willing to work hard for him."

Even Jiwen didn't expect that Chen Xilie would agree so readily. He originally thought that Chen Xilie was going to talk about conditions, but it seemed that he was really desperate. Jiwen couldn't help but secretly despise this man's humble character, and he was actually the Minister of War!

Since Chen Xilie had decided to surrender to An Lushan, Ji Wen did not turn around and took out a letter: "This is a handwritten letter from the Prince of Dongping to Chen Xiangguo. He wants to transport oxen and horses to Beijing. Please make sure that Secretary Chen must accomplish this."
Chapter completed!