Chapter 419: All the princes

As everyone speculated, after receiving the news of his son's death, An Lushan stamped his feet and beat his chest, burst into tears. He vowed to avenge his eldest son, and immediately ordered the three armies to mourn. Without waiting for the court to make any statement, he personally led 100,000 elite soldiers to kill Tongguan, using the excuse to search for the murderer who killed his son.

At the same time, 40,000 Jingzhou soldiers led by Li Mao had already arrived in Hanzhong and occupied Nanzheng. They were ready to fight for the sword and pointed at Chang'an. The 100,000 Jiannan soldiers also turned to Chen Cang under Gao Xianzhi and were preparing to enter Guanzhong from there. Several large armies came from all sides. For a time, the war over Chang'an was covered with clouds.

In order to cope with this complex situation, Li Yu also made active arrangements. On the one hand, he divided the 200,000 Guanzhong army into three, and 80,000 troops to Tongguan. The commander of Tongguan Wang Sili was commanded to defend An Lushan's army. He also sent 100,000 troops to Hanzhong, appointing the General of Jinwu Guard Meng Yun as the head commander, and the General of the Left Wu Guard Luo Zhengyi as the deputy head commander. Finally, Changsun Quanxu was commanded by 20,000 troops to guard Chang'an. On the other hand, Li Yu issued several orders to transfer 30,000 Shuofang Army and 20,000 Liangzhou into Guanzhong. The two armies merged into one army, ordered Guo Ziyi as the head commander, and quickly drove to Chang'an.

Since Guo Ziyi became the governor of Shuofang, his main task was to recruit troops and train troops, and to restore the Shuofang army that had been repeatedly attacked as soon as possible. However, due to the insufficient money and food allocated by the court, he was limited in recruiting troops. In nearly a year, less than 20,000 troops were recruited. In desperation, Guo Ziyi had to change the route of elite troops and strengthen the training of the army. In just one year, the new Shuofang army was trained into an elite army, which only lacked practical training.

After receiving Li Yu's order, Guo Ziyi left only 5,000 troops to defend Jiuyuan and Lingzhou. The remaining 30,000 elite soldiers all raised their troops south, marched day and night, and went to Huizhou and Liangzhou to meet. Two days later, Huining City was already far away.

Huizhou is today's Jingyuan County, Gansu. It is located on the east bank of the Yellow River. It is surrounded by mountains and water and has a vast area. It has been a must-pass passage from the Central Plains to the Western Regions since ancient times. It is one of the important towns on the northern line of the Silk Road. It is known as the Qinlong Pillar and is a strategic location for the eastern advance of the Western Regions.

The river level in this area is gentle, which is conducive to crossing the river. Most of the merchants who go to the Western Regions cross the river here. There are hundreds of ferries at the pier on both sides, and the boats come and go, which is very lively.

But the river surface was deserted and the merchants disappeared in the past few days. The ferry was occupied by an army. One day and one night, the river surface was full of troops. This army was the Liangzhou army transferred from Hexi. They had arrived for two days and were waiting for the Shuofang army to meet.

Li Yu's envoy to mobilize troops was a life-saving straw for Cheng Qianli. He rescued him at his most critical moment. Over the past year, Cheng Qianli has been facing high pressure from the Anxi Army. In Juyanhai in the northern part of Ganzhou, about 60,000 Hu soldiers from the three divisions of Anxi were eyeing Ganzhou under the command of General Cui Qianyou. In Suzhou, 40,000 Anxi Army was waiting for him and would launch an attack on Ganzhou and Liangzhou at any time.

Over the past year, Cheng Qianli has not been at peace day and night. A few days ago, he received another report from the scout. The Anxi Army in Suzhou increased its troops in large numbers, with about 80,000 people. Cheng Qianli immediately guessed that it was very likely that Li Qing'an also heard the news and came to Suzhou in person. There were 120,000 strong things in the west, and 60,000 tiger and wolf army in the north. The 180,000 Anxi Army formed a force to hunt Hexi, which scared Cheng Qianli and was extremely frightened.

But at this moment, the emperor's order to dispatch troops was reached, and Cheng Qianli felt relieved. He didn't even have time to report it to the local officials, so he rose up and set off overnight. Until he crossed the Yellow River, his heart finally let go.

At this time, a scout rushed to report, "Governor, Shuofang Army has arrived ten miles away, and General Guo has arrived."

Cheng Qianli quickly climbed up to the viewing platform and looked north. He saw dust flying in the distance. Sure enough, a large army was coming. He was overjoyed and shouted: "Prepare horses for me, I'll go to welcome the general!"

After a moment, Cheng Qianli led more than 100 cavalry to run north.

Guo Ziyi led the army to finally arrive in Huizhou after two days of march. The city ahead was Huining County, the prefecture of Huizhou. Guo Ziyi was wearing a silver helmet and iron armor, majestic and strong, and he looked into the distance with a serious look.

His mission to enter Beijing this time has been clear, and he will face Gao Xianzhi. If he wants to choose, Guo Ziyi will choose to fight against An Lushan without hesitation. No matter what, An Lushan and Gao Xianzhi have completely different natures. An Lushan is a local prince with an anti-minded intention. The battle with him is to protect the interests of the Tang Dynasty and do nothing to him. However, Gao Xianzhi is different. When he faces him, he is actually involved in the power struggle between the royal family. One is the current saint and the other is the late emperor. Both of them are his monarchs, which makes him feel extremely embarrassed. He is also facing a choice to take the team. Whether to finally be on the top or be loyal to the late emperor, he can't make up his mind all the way. He didn't even sleep all night last night.

It was only now that he finally made up his mind to support the emperor. After all, the emperor trusted him very much, and the emperor's determination to reform was the hope of the Tang Dynasty. The late emperor had become corrupt and he should no longer have the idea of ​​restoration.

Guo Ziyi made up her mind and immediately cheered up. At this time, a personal soldier beside him shouted: "Master General, it seems that Governor Cheng is coming in front of him."

Guo Ziyi looked at the curtain of the thug and saw a team of cavalry coming. The leader was Cheng Qianli. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Stop moving forward!"

The order was ordered to move, and the Shuofang army immediately stopped moving forward. After a moment, Cheng Qianli arrived. He bowed and smiled from a distance, "Master, thank you all the hardships all the way."

Cheng Qianli was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou, while Li Qing'an also served as the governor of Hexi. Logically, Cheng Qianli should be under the jurisdiction of Li Qing'an, but in fact, Cheng Qianli was a subordinate of Guo Ziyi. It was not that Guo Ziyi could manage Liangzhou, but Cheng Qianli also served as the deputy governor of Shuofang. This was a very strange arrangement and a kind of helplessness.

Guo Ziyi also bowed his hands and smiled slightly, "Thank you for your hard work, Governor Cheng."

"Where is the Lord! The emperor has the will, so I led my army to come quickly. Now two trillion are stationed in front of me, just waiting for the general to come and meet the soldiers."

"Very good! We will meet soldiers immediately, and then head to Chang'an immediately. I connected to the three sides of the emperor to urge soldiers. The emperor ordered us to march forward in a hurry. The situation is probably very critical."

"But my brothers will be very tired when they march all the way. It's better to take a half day off before leaving."

"No!" Guo Ziyi did not give in to the trail: "I am not tired of this old bone. Why are they tired? Let's go immediately after the army."

"Subordinate to obey the order!"

Cheng Qianli turned his horse's head and walked side by side with Guo Ziyi. At this time, he whispered: "Before leaving, I received a military message from scouts, and the Anxi army increased its troops to Suzhou by 80,000. I guess Li Qing'an arrived."

Guo Ziyi said lightly: "Have you reported to the Lord?"

"Before, my subordinates naturally have to report to the commander first, otherwise they will be suspected of being out of level."

Guo Ziyi glanced at him. This cunning guy would take responsibility. He pondered for a moment and asked without saying a word: "I heard you just now. It seems that Li Qing'an has arrived. Can't you confirm it?"

"The subordinates cannot confirm it. The scout did not see Li Qing'an and did not get any clues to prove that Li Qing'an has arrived."

"Since you can't confirm, don't make random guesses. Perhaps this is just a normal defense change for the Anxi Army, so you don't have to think too much about it. Now you must firmly implement the orders of the Lord, rather than be distracted from other things."

Cheng Qianli secretly gave a thumbs up and praised him. It was indeed a cunning man. He just said a few words. He quickly responded: "The General is right. Our top priority now is to go to Beijing, not to consider other issues. Besides, even if Li Qing'an comes, the emperor is willing to return Hexi to him, so it doesn't matter."

Guo Ziyi frowned. Why did Cheng Qianli get darker and darker the more he drew. He immediately shook his head and said, "That's your random thoughts. The emperor didn't say that, nor did he mean that."

Cheng Qianli wanted to say something else, but Guo Ziyi waved his hand and interrupted him, "General Cheng, I just said that the emperor has already urged us to enter Beijing from three sides. It's urgent to say anything else."

He urged the horse and turned around and shouted to everyone, "Everyone should hurry up and take a rest in Huining for an hour."

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On the third night when Shuofang and Liangzhou troops met in Huining, an army of about 50,000 people also left Shanzhou and quickly advanced towards Chang'an. At this time, Geshuhan's Longyou Army was no longer willing to be lonely.

Since Li Yu ascended the throne, Geshuhan has been keeping a low profile and is almost forgotten, but this does not mean that Geshuhan is indifferent to the situation in the court. In fact, he has been paying attention to the changes in the current situation of the court. At the same time, he is also secretly recruiting troops. Longyou is a wealthy place in the Tang Dynasty, with a large population and abundant food, which has made Geshuhan's recruitment strongly guaranteed. Despite this, Geshuhan did not dare to recruit soldiers on a large scale. One was worried about being criticized by the court, and secondly, his military supplies were insufficient, such as weapons and armor, which could not meet the needs of more soldiers.

Therefore, over the past year, Geshuhan only recruited 40,000 troops, and together with his original 40,000 troops, he had 80,000 troops under him. During this Chang'an crisis, Li Yu did not give him an imperial edict. It was not that Li Yu forgot about him, but that he was not sure of his attitude and did not know who he supported. Similarly, Li Longji did not consider him, nor did he know who he would support at the last moment.

At night, Geshuhan's army arrived in Lanzhou. He was about to cross the Yellow River from here. It started to rain lightly in the sky. Geshuhan came to the Yellow River with more than a dozen generals to inspect the possibility of crossing the river. In the light rain, the Yellow River flowed darkly. Although the water was smooth, it had murderous intent. You can see whirlpools appearing on the river from time to time.

At this time, several personal soldiers brought an old boatman forward, "Prince, this old boatman has been walking on the Yellow River for thirty years. He knows whether he can cross the river."

The old boatman stepped forward and knelt down and bowed, "Small people meet the Prince of Pingxi."

Geshuhan is different from other governors who like to call him a general or a general. He likes to call him a prince because he is the prince of Pingxi. He almost even paid for this title, so how could he not use it?

Ge Shuhan glanced at the old man and saw that he was quite pleasing to him, and smiled and said, "Then tell me, you may cross the Yellow River at night?"

The old boatman waved his hand and said, "No, there is a saying in the Yellow River, "The Yellow River ghosts board the boat in May," which means that you must not cross the Yellow River at night in early summer."

"Why can't you pass? I think the river is quite smooth, can you not take a big boat?"

"The prince doesn't know anything. It's one thing to see from the shore, but it's another thing to reach the center of the river. There is a turbulent water flow and turbulent vortexes, which are very easy to capsize. It's not impossible to take a big ship, but the risk is too great. You can't see the river clearly at night, and you'll be caught in if you are not careful."

Seeing that he was speaking seriously, Geshuhan believed it a little, so he sighed and said to his left and right: "Tell me my order, the army will be stationed on the spot and cross the river after dawn tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, a personal soldier ran from behind and said anxiously from a distance: "Prince!"

"What's up?"

The personal soldier said a few words to him. Ge Shuhan was shocked and hurriedly said, "Where are others?"

"I've been waiting in the prince's tent."

Geshuhan turned over and said to everyone: "Go and go to the camp immediately, rest early, and cross the river early tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he urged his horse and rushed towards the place where the army stopped.

Geshuhan's 50,000 troops were already starting to camp. A tent appeared in the rain and fog. This was just a simple camping and no fence was established. The soldiers were exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they fell into the tent.

Geshuhan's big tent has been laid first, located in the middle of the military camp, and there is a side tent next to it, living in Geshuhan's three concubines. This is Geshuhan's characteristic. He cannot live without women for a moment, and he must bring his favorite concubines with him wherever he goes.

The tent was brightly lit, and a figure could be seen pacing back and forth. Geshuhan walked into the tent and turned around and ordered: "Without my order, no one can enter the tent."

As soon as he walked into the big tent, the man in the tent turned around and smiled: "I almost missed it with Geshu Dashu."

Under the light, the young man turned out to be Li Qi, the adopted son of King Qing Li Cong, but he had no relationship with Li Cong. He is now the confidant of the Supreme Emperor Li Heng. Although he did not call Ge Shuhan the prince, Ge Shuhan didn't care. He waved his hand and said, "Please sit down with him!"

The two sat down, and a concubine gave them hot tea. Brother Shuhan waved his hand and said, "Get back!"

When the concubine left, Brother Shuhan asked, "Is the little prince going to find me?"

Li Qiu took a sip of the thick hot tea and said with a smile: "I crossed the Yellow River in the afternoon and was about to go to Shanzhou to find the Grand Marshal. But when I got halfway through, I heard that the Grand Marshal had passed, so I quickly turned around and chased after him. Fortunately, I caught up."

"What, has the Supreme Emperor changed his mind again?"

Li Qiu shook his head, took out a letter and handed it to Geshuhan and said, "This is the handwritten letter from the Supreme Emperor to the Grand Marshal. Everything he wants to say is in this letter."

Ge Shuhan opened the letter and read it for a moment, his brows frowned and said, "Didn't the Supreme Emperor ask me to enter Chang'an? Why did he change it to deal with Gao Xianzhi?"
Chapter completed!