After the emperor's envoy left, Wang Sili, who was sitting aside, said to Li Guangbi:
"Li Shuai, the people of Xiangzhou are still undecided. If we continue to fortify the walls and clear the country, I'm afraid Xiangzhou will be in chaos!"
Li Guangbi shook his head and sighed without saying anything.
Wang Sili is also a veteran. He once followed Ge Shuhan to attack Shibao City and made military exploits.
Later, when Ge Shuhan was defeated at Tongguan, Wang Sili led his troops to escape and was convicted by the court.
Later, it was Li Heng who overcame all objections and pardoned Wang Sili, allowing him to lead the remnants of Guannai Dao to participate in the battle to regain the two capitals.
Wang Sili performed outstandingly in several battles, and in the Battle of Shaanxi Gorge, he guarded the channel for the puppet Yan army to escape north, making great contributions to the Tang army's complete annihilation of the puppet Yan army.
Wang Sili was appointed as the military governor of Luzhou, and now he is leading his generals in Xiangzhou to assist Li Guangbi in his battles.
According to the plan reported by Li Guangbi, the Tang army guarding Anyang City continued to attack and eliminate the remnants of the puppet Yan army fleeing in Xiangzhou.
At the same time, the imperial court appointed officials to gradually win back the hearts and minds of the people in Xiangzhou.
As long as An Qingxu's passage back to the north was guarded so that he could not escape back to Hedong, and he cooperated with Guo Ziyi in Luoyang City, it would only take a year or two for the imperial court to win back the hearts and minds of the people of Xiangzhou under attack from both sides.
But it seems that the court can't wait any longer.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the emperor suddenly ordered the change of the Yuan Dynasty, and changed the reign name of Zhide to Qianyuan, taking the meaning of "Great Qianyuan, the beginning of all things" in the Book of Changes.
His Majesty's sudden change of Yuan Dynasty, combined with the previous horoscope of "Dou Xing entering the Ming Palace", the emperor's determination to quickly put down the rebellion and unify the Tang Dynasty was already clear.
Li Guangbi was not a reckless man. Of course he knew that the current trend was unavoidable and could only accept the imperial edict.
In addition to being sent to Xiangzhou, the emperor's imperial edict was also sent to Luoyang City.
Now Zhang Xun is left behind in Luoyang, while Guo Ziyi leads the main force of the Tang army and is stationed outside Luoyang City.
The army led by Guo Ziyi and Zhang Xun's army are clearly distinct. Ever since Guo Ziyi annexed Luoyang, the relationship between the two armies at all levels has been tense.
The reason is also very simple. Guo Ziyi's army believed that Zhang Xun entered Luoyang City first and took credit for their efforts.
In the Battle of Shaanxi Gorge, Guo Ziyi's army spent a lot of money to cripple it, and the main force of the puppet Yan was wiped out in the Battle of Shaanxi Gorge.
It was clear that Luoyang had already sent a message to Luoyang, and it would be fine as long as the army came over to accept the surrender.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xun from the east road took the lead. Yan Zhuang led the puppet Yan court to surrender to Zhang Xun, and Zhang Xun's army entered Luoyang City.
Although this prevented the Uighur mercenaries from plundering Luoyang, Guo Ziyi's army also lost a lot of achievements.
Now that the world is about to be peaceful, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to make meritorious deeds, and the middle- and lower-level officers are also getting emotional.
However, the relationship between the generals of the two armies is quite good.
Zhang Xun invited Guo Ziyi to visit the Daxiangguo Temple outside Luoyang City. The two visited the Buddhist hall and wandered around the pagoda forest in the backyard of the Daxiangguo Temple.
After abandoning his bodyguards, Zhang Xun said to Guo Ziyi: "Duke Dai, your Majesty has also given you an order, right? Your Majesty asked us to lead troops north to the prime minister, Wei, Qi, and Qingzhou to sweep away the remnants of the puppet Yan. I don't know.
What do you think, Duke?"
"Zhang stayed behind. The three towns in Hedong have surrendered. Now your Majesty is anxious to bring peace to the world."
Zhang Xun said quickly: "Your Majesty has the ambition to pacify the world. Isn't this the great fortune of the Tang Dynasty? Since the foundation of Lingwu was laid, and he has been marching east and west on behalf of the Duke, isn't it also to pacify the world as soon as possible?"
But Guo Ziyi sighed and said: "The people's support is in me to regain the two capitals. The people of the capital are looking forward to Wang Shi day and night. Only then can Guo quickly regroup after two defeats and finally drive away the false emperor."
"But the four states of Xiang, Wei, Qi, and Qing are different. Although this is not the home of the puppet Yan, the people of the four states have always resented the Tang Dynasty. When Anlu Mountain raised troops, these four states were the fastest to respond."
Zhang Xun was silent. He was once the county magistrate in Suiyang, and he also knew from the merchants in the north how alienated the four states of Xiang, Wei, Qi, and Qing were from the Tang Dynasty.
The four prefectures of Xiang, Wei, Qi and Qing were lined up, almost covering the area from Anyang City in Henan Province to the Shandong Peninsula today.
Xiang, Wei was the land of the Wei State during the Warring States Period, while Qi and Qing were the hometowns of the Qi State. These areas were also the core areas of Chinese civilization.
However, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the conflict between the Guanzhong area and the hometown of the Six Kingdoms still continued into the Tang Dynasty.
The Guanlong area's long-term systematic discrimination against the Hedong area, coupled with the Tang's exploitation of these areas, made local powerful people and people hostile to the Tang army, which made Li Guangbi's Tang army make slow progress in Xiangzhou.
Guo Ziyi also knew that after recovering the two armies, a sense of arrogance began to permeate the army. He stationed the army outside Luoyang City because he did not want the soldiers to harass the people of Luoyang.
However, during these days, the soldiers in the camp went out privately, and the number of troublemakers gradually increased. Guo Ziyi had to personally execute several soldiers who did not abide by military discipline, and this was the only way to intimidate his men.
However, Guo Ziyi knew very well that today's military discipline is forcibly suppressed by relying on his own prestige. A kind of quick victory argument is forming in the military camp. Many soldiers also want to quickly pacify the four states and return home in glory.
In terms of commanding on the battlefield, Guo Ziyi is probably last among the military strategists of the past dynasties, but in terms of strategizing, Guo Ziyi is worthy of being the military god of the Tang Dynasty.
The problem of the Tang army was that they recovered the two capitals too quickly. After the defeat of the puppet Yan, the soldiers were quickly defeated. However, in order to achieve the political goal of recovering the two capitals, the Tang army did not dare to divide its troops to pursue them.
The two capitals were recovered, but after the defeat of the puppet Yan, the number of soldiers killed by the Tang army on the battlefield was not as many as the soldiers of the puppet Yan captured by the Tang army after the war.
These soldiers fled back to the north in twos and threes, but Li Guangbi blocked the passage home.
The arrogant soldiers faced the sad soldiers, and Guo Ziyi felt vaguely uneasy.
However, he was not as pessimistic as Li Guangbi on the front line. As long as he fought steadily and gradually eroded the remaining puppet Yan army, this rebellion could always be put down.
After the two coaches exchanged views, Zhang Xun rode back to Luoyang City.
Nan Jiyun and Zhang Duanyang came to welcome them. After the Eastbound Brigade was disbanded, Zhang Duanyang, who wanted to experience the military life, joined Zhang Xun's command.
Because of his bravery in battle, Zhang Duanyang quickly rose to prominence and became Zhang Xun's most trusted general, second only to Nan Jiyun.
Nan Jiyun was eager to fight, so he quickly asked: "Stand behind, when will Marshal Guo send out troops? Should we also send out?"
Zhang Xun knew that Nan Jiyun hated the fake Yan deeply, and he was the most active in pursuing An Qingxu.
After having a secret conversation with Guo Ziyi today, Zhang Xun also felt that the prevalence of pride in the military did not seem to be a good sign.
However, when his subordinates asked for a fight, Zhang Xun could not dampen Nan Jiyun's spirit. He said:
"Your Majesty has a decree to order General Li Guangbi stationed in Anyang City in Xiangzhou to send troops before February or March to wipe out the remnants of An Qingxu in Xiangzhou."
"Our Suiyang army will be led by General Nan and follow Marshal Guo's Western Army to the north to put down the rebellions of Wei, Qi and Qing!"
Nan Jiyun was naturally overjoyed when he heard this arrangement. He and Puppet Yan had a blood feud. He stayed in Luoyang to rest during this period, but Nan Jiyun was frustrated.
When Nan Jiyun left excitedly, Zhang Duanyang, who was familiar with history, couldn't help but remind him:
"Zhang Shuai, the main force of the puppet Yan was defeated, but there was not much loss. The people of Xiangzhou are not in the Tang Dynasty. I have to remind General Nan to be cautious."
Zhang Xun looked at Zhang Duanyang in surprise, not expecting that his judgment was similar to Guo Ziyi's.
No one is perfect. Although Zhang Xun is good at defending the city, he can also share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. He can be said to be a first-rate master of city defense.
However, his strategic vision was far inferior to that of Guo Ziyi, and he was also somewhat foolishly loyal to the emperor and the court.
Zhang Duanyang advised: "Shuai Zhang, can you discuss with Marshal Guo and let General Nan lead the troops to attack Qingzhou first?"
Zhang Xun knew Zhang Duanyang's strategic vision and asked, "Why is this?"
Qingzhou is the current area of Zibo, Shandong Province. Qingzhou borders Zizhou to the west and Laizhou and Dengzhou to the east. It is located in the middle of the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Qingzhou is also a very important passage for the remnants of the puppet Yan army on their way back north. Qingzhou has also been a place with strong folk customs in the past dynasties. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao occupied Qingzhou, and his Qingzhou soldiers were also brave and good at fighting. They were a famous and powerful army during the Three Kingdoms period.
After the collapse of the puppet Yan court, the defeated troops of the puppet Yan who fled north, together with local bandits in Qingzhou, and the Qingzhou wealthy families who secretly funded the bandits and opposed the Tang Dynasty, also pulled up a force called the "Qingzhou Army" and occupied the Qingzhou government.
So Qingzhou City also controlled two important towns in Qingzhou, Linzi and Beihai.
Compared with Weizhou and Qizhou, Qingzhou's remnants of the puppet Yan are the strongest.
Zhang Xun didn't understand why Zhang Duanyang suggested that Nan Jiyun go to Qingzhou.
Zhang Duanyang said confidently: "The Qingzhou bandits may seem powerful, but they are the easiest to deal with among the four states."
"Zhang Shuai, please take a look."
Zhang Duanyang pointed to the map and said: "Zizhou between Qingzhou and Qizhou is still under the control of the imperial court. After Li Changyan, the governor of Zizhou, raised his army from the puppet Yan, he has always stood firm in Zizhou to resist the thieves and was loyal to the Tang Dynasty."
"Li Changyan's Zizhou has cut off the connection between Qizhou and the Qingzhou rebels. Although the Qingzhou rebels are powerful, their strength is on the table."
Zhang Xun nodded repeatedly.
Zhang Duanyang added: "Let's talk about Laizhou and Dengzhou. Although the governors of these two states were killed in the war against the puppet Yan, the people of Laizhou and Dengzhou still yearn for the Tang Dynasty."
Zhang Xun didn't know much about the situation in the northern states of Henan Province, which was normal. Before guarding Suiyang, Zhang Xun was just a county magistrate in Zhongxian County, and he didn't know the specific situation in these northern states.
Zhang Duanyang said: "Laizhou Dengzhou is close to the sea, and sea trade is developed. Most people make a living by engaging in sea trade and salt industry. Several states in the northern part of Henan Province are also considered wealthy."
"But after the puppet Yan rebellion, all sea trade between the north and the south was cut off, and the puppet Yan court repeatedly extracted salt from Laizhou and Dengzhou, so the people in the two states hated the puppet Yan to the core."
"So after the puppet Yan court was overthrown, the people from Dengzhou revolted under the leadership of the county magistrate and expelled the state governor appointed by the puppet Yan."
"The east and west sides of Qingzhou are under the control of the imperial court, and there are great rivers and natural dangers to the north. Isn't it the best to attack among the four states?"