In October of the ninth year of Tianbao, when Wang Zhongsi led his troops deep into Nanzhao, there was also a war going on in the northeastern part of the Tang Dynasty.
An Lushan commanded 60,000 troops in Fanyang and Pinglu towns, claiming that 150,000 troops were sent to attack the Khitan. The reason why he raised the army was not only because he had boasted about Haikou in front of the saints at the imperial banquet of Shangyuan Dynasty, but also because he had been trapped and killed many times.
Khitan chiefs and plundered their tribesmen, exacerbating the conflict between the two sides and leading to a fight to the death sooner or later.
With two thousand Xi people as guides, he traveled more than a thousand miles north from Pinglu to Beihuang River, which is also known as the "Tuhu Zhen River". According to reliable information, the big tent of Khitan King Li Huaixiu is to the north.
An Lushan held a military meeting overnight, but did not give the generals a chance to talk. He sat there with his big belly in his hands and arbitrarily said, "The way to destroy the Khitans is very simple. Let's march over quickly and kill them all when they are not prepared."
Can."
Brother Xie, the Turkic Zuo Xian Wang who had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, was stunned when he heard this and couldn't help asking: "Jie Shuai, this place is at least three hundred miles away from the Khitan tent. After marching there, the warriors and horses are very tired."
Gejie is a member of the tribe of Turkic leader Absi, and he was transferred from Shuofang at the beginning of the year.
That year, Wang Zhongsi defeated DTZ, and Abusi led his troops to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. He was named the King of Faith, named Li Xianzhong, and was appointed deputy envoy of the Shuofang Army. But obviously, the Tang Dynasty did not fully trust Abusi, so at the beginning of the year
Ask Absi to move his people to Fanyang.
Why Fan Yang? Because the saint most trusted was An Lushan.
In short, due to these reasons, Ge Jie was transferred to An Lushan's command. Usually they just dislike each other. Today, Ge Jie thought that if An Lushan's reckless attack style was followed, the soldiers would be exhausted.
It would be very dangerous to fight again.
"Tired?" An Lushan suddenly got angry for no reason and shouted: "I walk around with such a heavy belly every day. Aren't I tired? I'm not even tired. What grievances do you have?!"
Ge Jie disagreed in his heart. But Fan Yang and Lieutenant General Pinglu Army were all An Lushan's confidants. Whenever anything happened, An Lushan would tell the truth. No matter how many reasons he had, it was useless, so he simply shut up.
"Although the journey is long, the only way to defeat the Khitan is to fight here." An Lushan's anger came and went as quickly as it came, and he smiled and said: "Let each soldier bring a rope and tie the Khitan prisoners to Chang'an to offer them as prisoners!
"
"Ha ha ha ha."
The phrase "rope" was actually a joke told by An Lushan that was not funny. Everyone in the army laughed. Brother Xie felt depressed, but he had to laugh along with him and secretly cursed the fat pig.
The next day, before dawn, the Tang army began to march. From day to night, it rained heavily on the grassland. An Lushan ordered that they continue marching at night and must reach the Khitan camp before dawn.
An Qingxu, the second son of An Lushan, was riding in the middle of the army. After listening to the generals' feedback, he rushed to An Lushan and loudly reported: "Master, the arms and strings of the bow will be soaked by the rain."
broken!"
An Lushan was riding a tall horse, and many servants including Li Zhuer beside him were trying hard to hold up the chariot to protect him from the rain.
"Great!" An Lushan said: "Tell the soldiers that the Khitan people are good at riding and shooting, and their bows and arrows will become weak when it rains. This is God helping us!"
"Here."
Encountering such a strong commander, the soldiers had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue marching.
Finally, they traveled more than 300 miles day and night and arrived at Tianmen Ridge before dawn.
This is a mountain ridge on the grassland. A river named "Laoha River" flows north from Tianmen Ridge and merges into the Xilamulun River. There are many Khitan tribes scattered along the Laoha River, and the Xilamulun River is
The birthplace of the Khitan people, Li Huaixiu's royal tent was there.
Before the small Khitan tribe noticed, the Tang army quickly attacked, kicked into tents one after another, hacked and killed the men, pushed the women into the tents, and tied them up with ropes.
The heavy rain was still pouring down, and among the cries, blood formed and flowed into the Laoha River.
The war progressed smoothly. The Tang army advanced with great success, annihilating the small tribes along the river one by one, and rushed to the west of the Lamulun River together with the water of the Laoha River.
"Woo——"
When the bugle sounded, Khitan King Li Huaixiu reacted and quickly summoned the tribes to fight.
On the north bank of the Xilamulun River, the two armies faced off against each other. Due to the heavy rain, the bows and arrows on both sides were not easy to use. From the beginning of the war, it was a brutal hand-to-hand combat.
The Tang army was very fierce at first, but they attacked for more than 300 miles day and night, with the purpose of sneak attack and victory when the Khitan people were unprepared. Once the battle reached a stalemate, their physical disadvantage became more and more obvious.
An Lushan had a huge advantage in military strength and was determined to sweep across the Khitan with his force. He ordered General He Side to lead his troops in a detour to attack the Khitan flank.
He Side did not realize a problem. The bows and arrows carried by the Tang army on the road were damaged by the rain and difficult to use, but the Khitan people's bows and arrows were always hidden in their tents for safekeeping.
When he led his troops towards the main force of the Khitan, the heavy rain had already stopped, and the sun had just emerged from the clouds and shone on the grass. There was a "swish" sound, and a bloody arrow was nailed to the grass.
"Swish swish swish."
Arrows came, and the Tang troops running in front were shot to the ground. He Side was also hit by an arrow in the face. He reined in his horse in panic, but was knocked to the ground. Soon, another burst of arrows came.
.
"An Lushan was shot!"
The Khitan army burst out with overwhelming shouts and quickly spread the news to the entire army.
It should be noted that An Lushan has been trapping, killing and plundering over the years, and the Khitan people have hated him to the core. When they first heard that he was shot to death, the joy was very inspiring, and the morale of the Khitan army was greatly boosted.
Li Huaixiu was fighting in person.
His real name was "Di Nian Zuli". In the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, after Zhang Shougui planned to provoke civil strife in Khitan, Li Huaixiu attached himself to the Tang Dynasty, worshiped the governor of Songmo, granted the title of King Chongshun, and married Princess Jingle.
Half a year later, he couldn't bear the plundering of Anlu Mountain, so he made an appointment with King Xi Li Yanchong to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. He personally killed Princess Jingle and proclaimed himself the "Zhangwu Khan".
At this time, Li Huaixiu rushed to the front of the formation and saw two thousand Xi people's cavalry among the Tang army. He knew at a glance that they were the Xi people who had been captured by An Lushan, so he shouted in Xi language.
"Xi people! I am Zuwu Khan and the brother of King Xi! An Lushan has been shot by me. Let's counterattack the Tang army together!"
The Khitan people then shouted and encouraged the two thousand Xi people to guide them.
"Counterattack the Tang army!"
"kill!"
The Tang army was severely defeated.
Once they are defeated after attacking for more than three hundred miles, they will be completely defeated.
Shi Siming, the pinglu military commander of the Tang Army, originally wanted to persuade An Lushan to withdraw his troops temporarily, but he did not expect that the defeat would come so suddenly. Even the well-trained soldiers under his command were in chaos and trampled on each other, let alone others?
Shi Siming had no choice but to lead his Qingqi to withdraw from the main army, hide in the valley, and collect the defeated troops.
Over there, An Lushan was stared at and charged by Li Huaixiu, and he was even more embarrassed. He was fat and attracted attention, and he was tired after getting off the horse. Li Huaixiu caught up with his horse and shot off his helmet with an arrow.
An Lushan was so frightened that he shouted "Save me". Upon seeing this, An Qingxu quickly grabbed An Lushan, pulled An Lushan's reins with all his strength, and led him out of the battlefield.
They didn't know how long they ran. It wasn't until nightfall that they finally couldn't hear the Khitan people's terrifying shouts of killing behind them. An Lushan looked around and saw that the only ones following him were An Qingxu, Li Zhuer and others.
I couldn't help but burst into tears.
Amid the cries, more than 20 horsemen came rushing towards him. An Lushan was startled and tried hard to shrink his fat body in the night. However, he saw that it was his subordinate general Sun Xiaozhe who arrived on horseback under the moonlight.
When Li Zhuer saw that it was Sun Xiaozhe who was coming, he couldn't help but lower his head, his eyes flickered, and he guessed what Sun Xiaozhe would do.
The reason for his speculation was that Sun Xiaozhe was actually a Khitan and was captured like him. In addition, although Sun Xiaozhe's mother was older, she was quite coquettish and got together with An Lushan.
Therefore, Li Zhuer wondered whether Sun Xiaozhe would take this opportunity to kill An Lushan and return to Khitan with this fat head.
"Fu Jun!"
However, to Li Zhuer's expectation, Sun Xiaozhe fell to his knees when he saw An Lushan from a distance, crawled over, and cried bitterly: "The end is too late, let the prince suffer!"
"Is my Azhe here?"
An Lushan stood up with difficulty, spread out his hands, hugged Sun Xiaozhe, and cried: "I knew you were the most reliable, Azhe, as reliable as my son."
An Qingxu felt disdainful after hearing this.
He thought that he performed extremely well this time and saved his father's life. In the future, the position of Prince Dongping, or some other position, should be given to him.
~~
After a big defeat, An Lushan went straight to Pinglu City. It was difficult for him to carry a fat belly, but it did not affect his flexibility at all, and he galloped all the way without any delay.
In the next few days, various generals collected their defeated troops and came back, counted the number of people, and found that more than half were casualties and escapees. An Lushan could not help but worry that this defeat would affect his prestige in the army.
Zuo Xian Wang Ge Xie has been complaining everywhere since he returned to Shizhou, saying that he had reminded An Lushan to cherish the physical strength of the soldiers. When the news came back to Pinglu, An Lushan was furious. He put the responsibility for the defeat on Ge Xie.
He went up and chopped off his head with a knife.
Shi Siming heard about this and wanted to rush to dissuade him. When he arrived at the Pinglu Governor's Mansion, he saw that Ge Jie's head had been hung on the door.
"Why is the prince doing this?" Shi Siming asked: "Do you really intend to report the truth to the court, saying that this time the battle was defeated?"
"Of course we don't plan to do that." An Lushan responded matter-of-factly. "Of course we should report the victory and go back to capture some prisoners and send them to Chang'an."
"In this case, why do you still want to kill Brother Jie?"
"I get angry too easily!" An Lushan slapped his thigh, his fat face trembling, and shouted: "When anger comes up, I can't control it. I'm always furious! Furious!"
Shi Siming was an old acquaintance of An Lushan and knew that he had not been like this before. Over the years, as his official position got higher, his body became fatter and his temper became worse and worse.
"Okay, I'll kill them all. But Mr. Fu, have you ever thought about it, Ge Jie is a Turk inside, and if you kill him for no reason, Abu Si won't let it go."
"It's so annoying!" An Lushan cursed, his eyes rolled again, and he said: "Yes, Abbs has long disliked me, and now that I have killed his people, he and I are even more incompatible."
He was so angry that he rolled his eyes back and forth, but he still thought of a way.
"Yes, I am reporting to the court that we have won a great victory against the Khitan. Unfortunately, we do not have enough troops to destroy the country in one fell swoop. Please ask the sage to transfer Abu Si to Fan Yang to serve as the Deputy Envoy of Jiedu. When he arrives, we will kill him first!"
"
"Okay." Shi Siming asked, "Can the court believe it?"
"Can believe it."
An Lushan was actually not sure, but he patted his chest and vowed: "The one the saint believes in most is Hu'er, hahaha."
A piece of good news was delivered from Fan Yang to Chang'an.
~~
Chang'an, winter, Laba.
It's snowing heavily.
Tongshan Temple in the south of the city was offering porridge relief today. Early in the morning, a long queue formed in front of the temple gate.
"Amitabha, the temple is giving away Laba porridge today, and each donor can receive a bowl."
The person who spoke was a priest in the temple. He was wearing a gray monk's robe and had kind eyes. After speaking, the poor people around him praised him.
When Dian Zuo raised his head, he saw a middle-aged man in brocade robes coming with his followers. He quickly greeted him and called out, "Almsgiver Li."
Li Xiu glanced around and said with a smile: "You spend so much money on accumulated incense that you only give out a few bowls of worthless Laba porridge during the holidays?"
"The donor laughed. Although the porridge in the temple is not valuable, it is plentiful. It is a meritorious deed to use the accumulated incense money to help living beings."
"I can't help you, a monk. Let me ask you something." Li Xiu waved his hand, lowered his voice and asked: "Two or three months ago, did someone redeem Zheng Hui's family from you?"
"I don't remember this matter. I need to look at the account book."
"Poor monk?" Li Xiu smiled and said, "Come on, Zheng Huisi Tianbao borrowed a hundred guan from your temple in the seventh year, and the profit increased by the end of the ninth year, probably two or three times."
The Dianzuo still took his ridicule calmly. He went to the accounting room to look through the account books and replied: "Donor Li is right. Someone has indeed redeemed Zheng Hui's family."
"Who redeemed it?"
"He is the husband of Uncle Yang's family."
"Yang Guozhong?"
Li Xiu sneered, took the account book, and left Tongshan Temple.
Before leaving, he looked back at the scene of serving Laba porridge, and suddenly felt that it was like today's Tang Dynasty. It looked like it had countless merits, but in fact, it was already breaking bones and sucking marrow.
All the way back to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Xiu rushed to the main room first, only to see Zhang Jibo, the third son-in-law of the Prime Minister's Mansion, walking in the corridor with a few people.
"Brother-in-law, are you awake?"
Zhang Jibo shook his head, looked sad, and sighed: "Winter is the hardest to endure. It would be great if the old man could endure it until spring."
Li Xiu's expression couldn't help but darken.
"How's it going?" Zhang Jibo asked: "Have you found any evidence against the spitting pot?"
"We have some clues," Li Xiu said. "If we start with Zheng Hui, the magistrate of Xilu County who surrendered to the enemy, we should be able to cure the crime of spitting pot."
"My father-in-law's situation... you and I should discuss it first."
Zhang Jibo didn't usually take care of the affairs of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion in the past, but now that Li Linfu is seriously ill, he has to shoulder the burden.
Li Xiu nodded, walked to the side with him, and said: "Zheng Hui was able to make up for the magistrate of Xilu County by passing the Ming Dynasty, but it was because he bribed Shihu. I have the evidence for this matter; Zheng Hui surrendered to Geluo Feng wrote the surrender letter on his behalf, and the facts are there; Yang Xuan redeemed Zheng Hui's family members, which may involve the spitting pot."
"Just like this, you can't defeat him, right?" Zhang Jibo said: "The saint has always had great faith in the spitting pot."
"I got a piece of news, which was sent together with the battle report of Nanzhao yesterday." Li Xiu glanced around, with a somewhat mysterious tone, and whispered: "The grandson of Ge Luofeng has been found. Zheng returned to hide."
"First tie Zheng Hui to death and make him a gangster, and then expose this matter to the saint?"
"Yes, Shihu is now bent on taking Nanzhao's military achievements on himself, regardless of it, so we will use this to set a few more traps for him..."
The two discussed and came up with a rough idea.
Zhang Jibo frowned slightly and said, "One more thing, where does Xue Bai stand?"
"I have already written to him."
Li Xiu said in a hesitant tone: "But when it comes time for us to break up with Shihu, who he will help depends on the interests at the time."
Zhang Jibo asked: "Don't you care about his friendship with Qi Niang?"
"People like Xue Bai." Li Xiu shook his head, "It's difficult."
"This is another variable."
I have to admit that whenever there is a power struggle between the DPRK and China, Xue Bai has become a force that cannot be ignored.
Zhang Jibo spoke depressingly, sighed and said: "After fighting so many people, who would have thought that one day we would have to fight that unlearned and unskilled spitfire as a political enemy? He is not qualified to make us high."
Take a look. Alas, when will it end?"
Li Xiu turned to look at the main room and said with a wry smile: "I used to hope that these days of fighting would come to an end. But now I am very afraid. I am afraid that if it really stops one day, then... the Right Prime Minister's Mansion
It’s going to decline too.”
"No."
Zhang Jibo patted Li Xiu on the shoulder and comforted him.
Finally, the door of the main room opened with a creak, and Li Tengkong walked out together with several doctors and Taoist priests. Just now, everyone was treating Li Linfu.
Li Xiu hurriedly caught up and asked, "How's it going?"
Li Tengkong looked a little hesitant, pursed his lips and said nothing.
Other doctors and Taoist priests also shook their heads and said nothing. Only an old Taoist priest waved the whisk in his hand and said calmly: "I have a golden elixir. I just need to grind it and give it to the right minister with talisman water. Then the right minister can take it."
Wake up."
"Then please ask the Taoist Priest to help you, and the Prime Minister's Mansion will thank you greatly."
The old Taoist priest glanced at Li Tengkong, leaned forward and said, "It's a pity that the young master doesn't believe in Pindao's medical skills and refuses to let Pindao save him."
Li Tengkong said: "I smelled your golden elixir, but there is no special medicinal material."
"Taoist Master, please come here. Do you dare to ask Mr. Gao's surname?"
"A poor Taoist is a great emptor."
Not only did Li Xiu seek medical treatment because he was ill, but he was willing to treat the patient as a living horse. He asked the old Taoist priest to whisper a few words.
After that, he turned to Li Tengkong and said, "You too, my father is so ill. I can't help but try my best to treat him. You and I do not violate our filial piety."
Li Tengkong himself was highly skilled in medical treatment, but he was helpless when faced with his grandfather's illness. He had to close his eyes and swallow the bitterness, speechless.
Li Xiu ignored her and hurriedly asked Fang Daxu to give Li Linfu medicine.
Li Tengkong had already smelled the golden elixir. There was nothing special about it, but it was not poisonous. He gave it to Li Linfu together with the talisman water. Fang Daxu applied the needle again and muttered something. After a while, Li Linfu was really wandering around.
Awake.
Li Xiu was overjoyed and asked hurriedly: "Master, how do you feel?"
Li Linfu had a pair of dull eyes open, his face was lifeless, but he didn't have any energy to speak.
At this time, the servants at home hurried over and whispered to Li Xiu: "Shilang, there is a good news from Fan Yang. You must give it to Alang for review."
"I'll go take a look."
Li Xiu saluted Fang Daxu and asked him to do his best to treat him. He hurried to the meeting hall and felt that he was very busy every day.
The messenger sent by An Lushan was named He Qianqian. He was a middle-aged man with a round face. There was a smile on his face, which made people feel warm before he opened his mouth.
"After meeting Juro, Juro becomes even more majestic."
He Qianqian stepped forward, bent deeply to hold the gift, handed over a gift list, and said: "This is Hu'er's gift to honor the right prime minister. In addition to the gold, silver, jade, wisteria and incense that he had in previous years,
I also added some ginseng from Changbai Mountain."
"Mr. Anfu is interested." Li Xiu has been having a hard time lately. Being treated with such thoughtfulness and respect, he couldn't help but feel warmer in his heart.
But he still remembered the business and said: "Bring me the good news you want to send."
"Yes, yes, this is a gift list for Juro alone. Juro please accept it first."
He Qianli then took out a long battle report and said: "At the Lantern Festival imperial banquet, Hu'er boasted to the sage that he would destroy the Khitans this year. The results are certain and not small. But those who travel a hundred miles can only do half a dozen.
Ninety, Hu'er can only say that it is half done, half done."
Li Xiu took a look at the battle report and saw that it was written in great detail.
Of course, you can't tell anything by just looking at the battle report. He was worried about Li Linfu's illness, so he sent He Qian away and then strode to the main house.
"Grandpa, Hu'er won another battle. Do you want to take a look?"
Li Xiu opened the battle report and placed it in front of Li Linfu.
For a moment, it was obvious that Li Linfu's eyes were shining brightly again, and his withered hands tried hard to press the mattress.
"Help...help me...get up."
The old man's desire for power is like an eternal charcoal that burns again when he blows on it.
Li Linfu gasped, sat up, and stared at An Lushan's memorial. At this moment, he seemed to have returned to being the leader above ten thousand people.
"Master, look here." Li Xiu said: "An Lushan wants to transfer Li Xianzhong from Shuofang to Fanyang, but I think this is inappropriate."
"Li Xianzhong?" Li Linfu murmured.
Li Xianzhong was Absi, a Hu general whom Li Linfu trusted very much. Li Xianzhong even said before that he wanted to be recognized by Li Linfu as his adoptive father in order to prevent his people from settling in Hebei.
"Yes, grandpa, what do you think?"
"Li Xianzhong?" Li Linfu murmured again.
"Grandpa doesn't think it's appropriate, either?"
Li Xiu waited nervously for an answer. After waiting for a while, he heard Li Linfu murmur: "Yes."
"Grandpa? Do you mean 'yes'?"
"Can."
"Can?" Li Xiu asked, "Can Li Xianzhong be transferred to the deputy envoy of Fan Yang Jiedu?"
After waiting for a long time, he didn't hear Li Linfu's answer. The old man actually closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
"Grandpa?"
Li Xiu asked a few more questions, and had to stand up anxiously, turned to Fang Daxu, and said: "My grandfather still has many important things to deal with. Can the old immortal cure his illness?"
"I have just tried my best to bring the soul of the Prime Minister back from Jiuyou Underworld, but I have spent too much energy."
"Replenish! I will replenish the old god's vitality!" Li Xiu quickly ordered people to fetch gold, silver and jewelry.
Fang Daxu, however, waved his hands repeatedly and sighed: "That's not what I mean, the blue water falls in the yellow spring, a trace of a wandering soul, the water and land submerge, and the octopus is hard to find. The right prime minister's vitality is exhausted, even if he returns to the Yang world, he will have no energy.
.”
"Then what should we do?" Li Xiu begged: "As long as you can save my grandpa, the Right Prime Minister's Office will pay you any amount of money."
Fang Daxu stroked his beard and thought, his eyes twinkling slightly.
"Ask the old god for help."
"Well, there is a way for poor Taoists." Fang Daxu said: "The saint is the master of the world, and he has the most abundant vitality. If the right minister can face the saint and be contaminated by the emperor's vitality, he can recover."
"real?"
Fang Daxu nodded firmly and said: "A poor man will not lie."
Li Xiu finally got a hope and couldn't help but be overjoyed. He had to hand over the gold, silver and jewels to Fang Daxu as a token of gratitude.
Soon, a cart full of treasures was loaded. Fang Daxu could not refuse, so he had to lead the carriage and leave. Before leaving, he told his right minister that the longer he stayed in front of the saint, the more vitality he would absorb, the better. Li Xiu was extremely grateful.
"Farewell."
Fang Daxu then cupped his fists and floated away.
He left Chang'an City, stroking his long beard, laughing loudly, and said to himself: "Tit for repayment, it's not that I won't retaliate, the time has not yet come."
I recall that in the fifth year of Tianbao's reign, he was practicing Dharma in Du's house in Shengpingfang. For no reason, he was accused of making false claims of prophecy by Youxiang Mansion. He almost died, but fortunately he was saved by a nobleman.
After so many years, the Youxiang Mansion really couldn't remember him at all.
~~
However, it was said that Li Xiu had obtained Fang Daxu's method, so he hurriedly wanted to see the saint and begged the saint to meet his grandfather. But Li Longji was now in Huaqing Palace, so Li Xiu prepared his horse and galloped to Lishan Mountain that day.
After finally arriving at the Huaqing Palace, the eunuch informed Li Longji that he couldn't help but wonder why Li Xiu came in such a hurry, but did not see him. Instead, he asked Gao Lishi to ask what happened.
"Saint, the old slave asked, it is the right minister who wants to meet the saint and get the vitality of the saint..."
"Oh, Juro's filial piety is so touching."
After hearing this, Li Longji sighed with emotion, leaned back, sipped his wine, and had a complicated look on his face.
He couldn't tell how he felt. First of all, he was a little proud. He was similar in age to Li Linfu, and now Li Linfu was seriously ill, but he was still in good health, and he had a cool and unrestrained way of watching the fire from the other side.
After that, I felt a little bit sad. Without Li Linfu, a capable prime minister to handle state affairs, I would have to worry about everything in the future, and I might grow old quickly.
But apart from this sadness, Li Longji felt even more angry.
Although the so-called "vital energy" theory of the Taoist is absurd, it is better to believe that there is something in the world than to believe that it does not exist. Li Linfu was infected with a serious disease, but it also came to take advantage of his vitality. If Li Linfu got a little more, wouldn't he have to...
One point less.
Because of this incident, Li Longji felt an inexplicable dislike for Li Linfu.
For the first time, he realized that the right prime minister could no longer do anything for him but was trying to gain his strength.
That day, Li Xiu knelt in front of the Huaqing Palace. He had not yet realized that all the evil consequences that the Right Prime Minister's Mansion had sown in the past had begun to pay off.
And the Youxiang Mansion has made countless enemies, and this is just the beginning...
~~
In the last month of Tianbao's ninth year, Li Linfu became seriously ill, and many state affairs saints had to deal with it personally.
Against Nanzhao and the Khitan, they won two battles one after another. Li Longji was very happy and issued an edict to encourage Yang Guozhong and An Lushan, promising a heavy reward.
He approved Yang Guozhong's request to return to Chang'an, and also approved An Lushan's request to transfer Absi to Fanyang.
In this way, both north and south will be settled, and the world will be at peace.
…
On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, the imperial edict reached Yizhou.
Yang Guozhong was overjoyed after receiving the decree, but soon he heard the news that An Lushan had defeated the Khitan, and his face sank.
"It's fake. Zahu's battle report must be fake!"
"This...how can uncle Guo make such a claim?"
"I just know it!"
Of course, Yang Guo knew that An Lushan's battle report was false, because before he conquered Taihe City, he had already sent the victory report back to Chang'an in order to make the saint happy before the New Year.
People like An Lushan must have done the same thing.
"Za Hu deserves to make great contributions like me." Yang Guozhong couldn't help but said angrily: "My contribution is real!"
This was perhaps what made him most angry. Originally, everyone would fool the saints. This time, he did something practical, but An Lushan also fooled him and got the same credit. How could he not be angry?
"Write me a letter to Xue Bai and tell him that it's time to return to Chang'an to seize power."
"yes."
"Wait!" Yang Guozhong turned around and thought, then raised his hand and murmured: "Let me think about it... don't tell him yet, let him stay in Yaozhou first, I have to go back first."