Qingqu is less than fifty miles west of Baqiao in Chang'an City, Xijing.
Baqiao is the main thoroughfare in and out of Xijing. Officials and scholars leaving Xijing would break willows at Baqiao to say goodbye.
Guo Ziyi looked at Ba Bridge from the high platform of the camp. When he came out of Xijing and took office as the governor of Shuofang, his friends from the DPRK and China broke willows to bid farewell to him at Ba Bridge.
But now Guo Ziyi wants to lead an army to attack Baqiao. In addition to making Guo Ziyi lament that things have changed, he can only feel the cruelty of war.
In order to prevent the Tang army from setting fire, the willow trees on both sides of Baqiao have been cut down by the rebels. The originally spacious and prosperous Baqiao is no longer accessible to ordinary people. There are only rebel soldiers in armor, nervously carrying supplies.
Less than fifty miles away from the gate of Xijing, Guo Ziyi slowed down the pace of the siege. On the one hand, he asked the soldiers to camp beside the Qingqu to rest, and on the other hand, he urged the grain and grass from the rear to be transported up as soon as possible, preparing for a long battle.
Guo Ziyi understood that his soldiers mainly came from Longyou and Shuofang. The summer in the northwest was not as hot as Guanzhong. The soldiers fought continuously and did not adapt to the climate of Xijing at all.
This year's summer is hotter than in previous years, and the scorching sun makes the soldiers complain incessantly.
In Guo Ziyi's view, the city of Xijing is highly fortified. The rebels have occupied two capitals, have also looted several Changping warehouses in Guanzhong, and have accumulated a large amount of military supplies in Xijing. It is not easy to conquer Xijing at once.
On the contrary, the rebels are now in internal chaos, An Lushan was killed by his son, and now the counselor Yan Zhuang is in charge of An Lushan's army.
However, Yan Zhuang was just An Lushan's adviser and did not have enough prestige to overwhelm these proud and powerful generals.
The reason why An and the thieves were able to work together was because the Tang army was less than fifty miles away from Xijing.
It was also because of the pressure from the Tang Dynasty that there was no internal division among the An rebels, so Guo Ziyi formulated a counter-rebellion strategy of "siege Xijing and wait for the rebels to rebel."
In Guo Ziyi's view, as long as the Tang army did not show a strong desire to attack the city, the internal conflicts among the An thieves would be revealed.
An Qingxu killed his father and rebelled, obviously unwilling to be a puppet.
An Shouzhong had been following An Lushan in battles. He had military exploits and prestige, but he was unwilling to serve under An Qingxu, who committed patricide.
The counselor Yan Zhuang took control of An Qingxu and ordered the army, but he did not have enough prestige in the army.
And Shi Siming, who was in a cooperative relationship with An Lushan, has now been transferred back to Jicheng, the rear area of An Lushan. How will Shi Siming, who knows that An Qingxu killed his father and became independent, face An Lushan's successor?
As long as the Tang army's offensive slows down slightly, the internal conflicts among the An thief will definitely break out. By then, when the An thief is in civil strife, it will be a matter of course to recapture Xijing.
It can be said that Guo Ziyi's counter-insurgency plan has no military problems.
But Li Chu, the Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses, the Prince of the East Palace, and the King of Guangping who were also in the military camp, didn't think so.
The army was stationed in Qingqu, but it did not attack Xijing for a long time. This has aroused the dissatisfaction of the father.
Some people in the imperial court had even begun to stir up trouble, saying that the reason why the Tang army was unwilling to attack Xijing was because Li Chu and Guo Ziyi wanted to support the bandits in their self-respect.
The imperial court searched for supplies from all over the country. As soon as the Yongwang rebellion was put down in the Jianghuai region, supplies were transported non-stop to Fengxiang Mansion.
The daily cost of an army of 150,000 was almost overwhelming the Tang Dynasty, not to mention the desolation of farmland caused by the soldiers' expeditions. The once prosperous Guanzhong has been reduced to scorched earth, and not even one out of ten households is left alive.
The emperor issued edicts every day asking about the progress of the army. Guo Ziyi, the deputy marshal of the world's military forces, actually bypassed himself as the general and wrote to the emperor requesting that the rebels besieged.
King Guangping naturally knew how his father would react after receiving this memorial, and he could even imagine how his father would be suspicious of him.
Now that his father has handed over most of the troops to Guo Ziyi, the emperor of Fengxiang Mansion must be uneasy, not to mention that there is a prince named Guangping who is supervising the army.
What if these 150,000 troops attack Fengxiang Mansion?
If all these 150,000 troops belong to King Guangping, then according to the tradition of the old Li family, will the emperor also have to abdicate in favor of a worthy person?
Another eunuch sent by the emperor to oversee the army, Li Fuguo, the most favored eunuch around the emperor, had publicly quarreled with Guo Ziyi many times, demanding that he immediately send troops to attack Xijing.
Regarding the differences in the army, Guangping King Li Chu was naturally aware of the differences. Although he did not deal with Li Fuguo, he was also urging Guo Ziyi to send troops as soon as possible to capture Xijing as soon as possible.
The door of Guangping King Li Chu's camp was opened, and a white-faced and beardless eunuch walked in.
Li Chu immediately welcomed the eunuch in and asked anxiously: "What did Commander Guo say?"
The young eunuch said in a sharp voice: "Shuai Guo still refuses to march. He said that the summer heat is so hot now and our soldiers cannot tolerate the heat. It is not safe to attack Xijing by force. We must besiege the city until autumn before attacking."
Li Chu patted the chair and said: "Will it be delayed until autumn? My father has issued three edicts in succession ordering him to march. Why is he still resisting the edict and disrespecting it? Is it possible that our Tang Dynasty's 150,000-strong army can't defeat a mere five
Ten thousand rebels?”
This eunuch's name was Cheng Yuanzhen, and he was an eunuch in Li Chu's palace. Because he was well versed in military affairs, he was highly valued by Li Chu and was brought to the military camp.
Cheng Yuanzhen said: "Your Highness, if you delay sending troops, I'm afraid your Majesty will become suspicious. Where is Queen Zhang?"
The Empress Zhang mentioned by Cheng Yuanzhen was Zhang Liangdi who fled to Shuofang with the emperor.
While on the run, Zhang Liangdi was pregnant and still had to sleep on the outermost side of the tent every day, alerting the emperor around the clock.
Three days after giving birth, Zhang Liangdi personally mended clothes for the soldiers outside the camp.
Now that she had given birth to a prince, she was made a queen by the emperor. Now she was connected with the number one eunuch Li Fuguo, and she was extremely powerful.
Queen Zhang naturally wanted to make her son the prince, and naturally there were opportunistic ministers in the court who turned to her.
Li Chu had been extremely careful, but he was still impeached by courtiers, and the calls for a new crown prince were getting louder and louder.
Cheng Yuanzhen said: "Your Highness, although Marshal Guo is the commander-in-chief of the three armies, you are the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, and you can also control the army."
Li Chu was stunned for a moment. What his father likes to do most is to arrange two people to check and balance each other.
For example, Fang Guan was appointed as the governor of Hexi Province, and his younger brother King Jianning was placed in charge of Longyou.
This time, let me, the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, be the military supervisor, and let Guo Ziyi, the deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, be the commander-in-chief.
Originally, Li Chu didn't want to deprive Guo Ziyi of his military power. After all, this Pingzhang military official could really fight!
But now, Li Chu urgently needs a military exploit to regain Xijing as soon as possible to restore his weight in the heart of his father.
Li Chu gritted his teeth and said: "Take my marshal's tiger talisman and go to Guo Shuai's account!"