The snow in early spring had not had time to melt, but had been splashed with blood and trampled back and forth by military boots, turning it into slush, mixed with mud, and a mess.
The soldiers of the Tang army who had guarded the border for many years turned into cold corpses. They were thrown into Yanmenwaiguan like sacks and piled up into a hill. Occasionally, the undead groaned, and Soldier Fan Yangxiao conveniently landed and stabbed them.
The dull "pop" sound dotted the vast scenery, and sometimes the sound of wild geese echoed it.
The wild geese were still circling in the sky, but Leng Buding shot an arrow and shot it down.
The archer was a thin and sturdy man, riding on a saddleless pony. He had small, sharp eyes, a straight hooked nose, and his hair was left behind his head, tied into braids, tied with gold thread hanging down his shoulders, and a bird stuck in his head.
The tail is used as a decoration, and a necklace made of animal teeth is carried around the neck.
This is a Heishui Mohe man, his name is Wu'er.
The Heishui Mohe people are very good at archery, so every year Anlu Mountain selects more than ten Heishui Mohe as gifts and sends them to Chang'an for the saint, which are called "shooting hands", but all the shooters enshrined in Chang'an over the years
In terms of hands, no one can compare to Wu'er.
Soldier Fan Yangxiao galloped forward, picked up the shot down goose, and shouted in surprise.
"Hit the goose in the eye!"
There was a burst of praise in the army.
Wu'er didn't seem to hear anything, and the expression on his face didn't change at all. Maybe it was because he couldn't understand what they were saying. He just carefully put away his bow, took back his arrow, and rode his horse to
Why do you have to ask for rewards in front of thousands of years?
Behind him, the mournful cry of another wild goose came from the sky. Seeing its mate being shot down, the wild goose circled twice, then suddenly swooped down and hit its head on a rock.
This scene made many Fan Yangxiao soldiers feel sad. The funny thing is that thousands of people died last night, but they were indifferent.
The firewood was chopped and placed beside the mountain of corpses. The fire ignited and quickly swept towards the corpses. The smell of barbecue filled the air and black smoke rose into the sky.
The geese flying north saw this and stayed away from here.
On top of Yanmenguan City, Gao Shang closed his eyes and turned around, no longer looking at the scene of burning corpses.
"What?" Yan Zhuang asked with a smile, "Can't you bear it?"
"I don't like to see the light of fire." Gao Shang said lightly.
He took off the mask on his face, revealing his ferocious face, as if he was deliberately disgusting and solemn.
Yan Zhuang was still able to joke, saying: "It doesn't matter, they burned it more thoroughly than you."
While he was talking, a messenger arrived, but it was Ping Yan who had entered the Anlu Mountain curtain with Yan Zhuang.
"It seems that you have taken down Yanmen and closed it."
"As you can see."
Pingyi asked: "Master Fu, I want to ask you, will there be any remnants of the army who have escaped?"
Yan Zhuang subconsciously glanced in the direction of Yanmen Mountain to the east, because a group of people actually escaped into the steep mountains last night. But with a confident smile on his face, he said: "No."
Ping Lao nodded, emphasized An Lushan's meaning, and said: "The Lord of the Mansion is not ready to raise his troops yet. This time, Han Xiulin, the governor of Hedong Jiedu, was negligent and allowed the Khitans to occupy Yanmen Pass. Fortunately, the Mansion
You arrived in time and drove away the Khitans."
"Don't worry."
Yan Zhuang responded, turning his head and looking at each other with Gao Shang. Both of them were somewhat disapproving of An Lushan's attitude of carefully guarding against the court's suspicion.
There was even a hint of sarcasm in the corner of Gao Shang's mouth, and he said: "The whole Fan Yang supports the emperor's raising of troops, and hundreds of people responded to his call, so what preparations are needed?"
"Yes." Yan Zhuang put his arms around Ping Lai's shoulders and said with emotion: "In my opinion, the emperor overestimated Tang Ting. You and I also went to Chang'an to take the exam and saw Yang Guozhong, a man like this.
If you can be the prime minister, why should you fear Chang'an?"
"Of course I understand these truths, but I have to convince the governor. Today I will just leave the message." Ping Yan said: "Fan Yang has sent the news, and the governor asked you how to deal with it."
There are naturally many other counselors under An Lushan's command, so they need to specifically ask Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang. This shows that this matter is quite important.
"Let me tell you some good news first." Ping Lao said, "The saint has issued a summons, and he has been given the title of Minister Zuopushe, and he has stayed in Fanyang."
This is of course a great favor, and Li Longji expressed his trust in An Lushan.
However, this kind of tenderness did not bring them solemn and noble gratitude, nor did it dispel their thoughts of rebellion. What they got was only more ridicule.
"Sure enough." Gao Shang said, "The emperor is still afraid of the prince."
"You want to call but don't dare to call, it just adds to the laughing stock."
It is said that today's saints are wise and powerful, but this saint's intention to pretend to be extremely trusting despite his obvious suspicions has been clearly seen by them, and naturally they only have contempt.
After laughing for a while, Gao Shang said: "Although I have been given a worthless official position, I still have to go to Taiyuan."
"That's right, when the decree comes, Fujun will have already left." Yan Zhuang said, "otherwise, wouldn't the court want to impeach Fujun for supporting the army with self-respect?"
The two of them are obviously determined to win Hedong. Even if they lose the trust of the court this time, they will take Hedong by force.
Ping Lao understood it as soon as he heard it and said: "I will convey your thoughts to the prince."
"This is not only what we mean, but also what the entire Hedong means."
"By the way, there is one more thing." Ping Yi said, "The imperial court has appointed Xue Bai as the prefect of Changshan County."
"who?"
Gao Shang was very sensitive and became alert subconsciously, like a rabbit that heard the footsteps of a beast and pricked up its long ears.
"It's that Xue Bai." Ping Li said, "I think back when I was taking the exam in Chang'an, he was just a white man, but now he has become a prefect."
As he spoke, he noticed the terrifying look on Gao Shang's face covered with burn marks and stopped talking.
Yan Zhuang said: "Pei Yushu, the governor of Changshan, was dismissed a while ago for harboring Li Bai. The new candidate has not yet been decided. The prince is busy leaving for Taiyuan. The imperial court took the opportunity to insert such a character."
"Oh, he is given the title of Shangshu Zuopushe publicly, but secretly he sends people to restrain him. This is the trust of the saint."
If it was just a mockery just now, now it is a grudge against the saint for being promoted to an official position.
Among the three, Gao Shang cared most about Xue Bai. He sullenly murmured, "Where is Xue Bai now?"
~~
Two days later, Fan Yang's army completely controlled Yanmen Pass, and things went very smoothly. However, the only drawback was that a small group of Yanmen defenders fled to the northwest.
It's nothing more than sending cavalry to chase and suppress them.
Afterwards, Cai Xide was left to guard Yanmen Pass, while An Shouzhong led the generals to Daizhou, preparing to join forces and go to Taiyuan.
In the Daizhou Governor's Mansion, the blood stains on the floor tiles have not yet been wiped clean.
When the generals who came back from Yanmen arrived, they heard that An Lushan was sitting there losing his temper. The specific reason was not specified, but because of this sudden rage, An Lushan had executed many people.
"Let me see you first." Gao Shang said.
He has been An Lushan's confidant for many years. When he was the secretary-general, he often went in and out of An Lushan's dormitory. Sometimes An Lushan fell asleep while talking, and Gaoshang did not dare to wake An Lushan up.
Sitting there motionless and waiting, even if they waited all night, there was a sense of friendship between the two.
When I walked into the hall, I saw a corpse lying on the ground. It was a doctor.
An Lushan was standing there with a knife in his hand and an angry look on his face. He was too fat and looked very tired just standing.
"I wonder why Mr. Fu is angry?"
"I'm so angry!"
Gao Shang stepped forward and wanted to help An Lushan sit down first, but An Lushan refused to sit down. He leaned his heavy torso on Gao Shang and said, "I can't sit down."
"What happened to Mr. Fu?"
"Lift up your robe."
An Lushan didn't wear a belt, maybe because he didn't have such a long belt. Gao Shang lifted up his robe easily and saw layers of white fat.
What is shocking is that the fat meat is also covered with red sores, with pus flowing out of them and covering the entire buttocks.
"I have sores on my butthole!" An Lushan screamed in a strange voice: "My grandpa must have been cursed to 'give birth to a son with sores on his butthole'!"
Gao Shang knew that this was because he was too fat and had been sitting on a large mink blanket all year round, so he let him lean on him, tried hard to support his heavy body, and said slowly: "Master Fu, your skin is ulcerated.
The pain of being unable to sit or lying down...I understand."
An Lushan turned around and saw Gao Shang's burned skin. He burst into tears and shouted, "It's so painful, Ah Shang. They don't know my suffering and only try to persuade me, 'It's okay, it's okay.'
Kill them all!"
The two hugged each other for a long time, and Gao Shang could no longer hold it any longer, so he had to call Li Zhuer over and ask someone to hold An Lushan up so that he could stand and talk without getting too tired.
Later, An Qingxu arrived and saw that his grandfather was so tortured. He quickly stepped forward, knelt on the ground and dragged An Lushan's belly with his hands.
"Erlang, what are you doing?"
"My grandpa often says, 'How can I not be tired with such a big belly?' My son hopes that he can share his worries."
"Okay, okay, Erlang is really filial."
In this way, the discussion can finally begin.
Yan Zhuang saw that everyone was supporting An Lushan, so he also stepped forward to lend a hand and said: "Of the four armies that occupied Yanmen Pass, Daizhou, and Hedong, Tiancheng, Hengye, and Datong have almost all obeyed the government.
Jun Jie, only Yun Zhongjun has not yet responded. Currently, Cai Xide has sent people to appease..."
"But don't let the imperial court know about it." An Lushan shouted, "We have to accumulate strength quietly, and we don't dare to openly rebel against the saints."
He was so cautious that the generals had no choice but to follow his wishes.
Zhang Tongru said: "There is another trouble at the moment. The newly appointed deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, Taiyuan Yin Yang Guanghui, has gone to Taiyuan. He is Yang Guozhong's man. This time the accidental replacement of the state happened under his nose. I want to hide it from him."
Disaster."
"Then kill him!" He Qianqian was very decisive.
"Don't be anxious." An Lushan touched his belly and said, "When we get to Taiyuan, we will meet Yang Guanghui for a while and talk again. If we can win over anyone, we can win over anyone. Remember, we haven't rebelled yet."
An Qingxu was kneeling there, his legs gradually getting sore. He felt something sticky on his hands. When he looked up, he saw that it was the sore on his grandfather's waist that was leaking pus. He was very disgusted.
He couldn't help but wonder, how long can grandpa live like this? It must be because he knew that he would not live long, so he hesitated and refused to rebel, and said such weak words.
~~
Taiyuan.
This is the land of Longxing in the Tang Dynasty, and its status is beyond doubt.
If we want to talk about how it is different from the neighboring cities as the northern capital, first of all, there is a palace city in the northwest corner of Taiyuan City, named "Jinyang Palace". In the eleventh year of Kaiyuan, today's saint once visited and lived in Jinyang Palace. Taiyuan Yin is also known as
Taiyuan Liubei, the so-called "Liubei" refers to the officials who were appointed by the emperor to maintain order in the capital when he went on patrol.
In addition, Taiyuan is also the barrier of the entire Tang Dynasty. It is located in the hinterland of Shanxi, relying on the surrounding mountains of Longshan, Mengshan, Wohu Mountain and other large and small mountains, Shiling Pass, Tianmen Pass, Chitang Pass, Niangzi Pass, etc.
The pass has become a strategic location for "the fortress of the four fortresses and the control of the capital of the Five Plains". It also has a solid city wall with a circumference of more than forty miles and a height of four feet. It is composed of the West City, the Middle City, and the East City.
It is majestic, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
If such a northern capital falls, it means that Chang'an and Luoyang have lost their most important barrier, and the fall of the north of the Yellow River is almost imminent.
The current Taiyuan Yin is Yang Guanghui.
On January 25th, Yang Guanghui stood outside the Qianyang Gate in Taiyuan, looked up at the tall tower, and murmured: "This is Beidu, it's still not as good as Chang'an."
He has begun to miss the prosperity and prosperity of Chang'an.
Of course, Taiyuan is not bad either. Many officials from Taiyuan Prefecture have already been waiting outside the city to welcome the newly appointed governor into the city. They followed his wishes and arranged a grand welcoming banquet.
The banquet was held in the middle city across the Fen River. The restaurant was named Biyu Tower because from the top of the tower, one could see the Fen River with "flowing water like jasper", with willows lining the banks and connected by waves of smoke.
In fact, the entire city of Taiyuan is dotted with ponds and swamps, and is shaded by locust trees and willows. Such a scenic water town makes people think it is located in the south of the Yangtze River.
Outside the city, Yang Guanghui felt that Taiyuan City was not as prosperous as Chang'an, but after entering the city, he was attracted by the beautiful scenery of the water town...especially the tender singers. He kept stroking his hands and laughing.
As soon as he entered the city, he already felt the pleasure of being an official in a feudal territory, which was much more comfortable than serving a spitting pot in Chang'an.
"Please take a look, Governor Yin. From here you can go boating and get water to go to the Jinci Temple. Li Bai always went out to the west of the city from here. Every time the first moon shines, he returns home exhausted."
"Hahaha." Yang Guanghui said: "There is Beiqu in Pingkangfang, Chang'an, but I don't know what Xiqu is in Taiyuan?"
"Of course you are a beautiful girl."
The laughter spread downstairs to the restaurant. A man wrapped in a scarf raised his head and glanced upstairs when he heard the word "Li Bai". He coughed tiredly and walked towards the guard guarding the door.
"I want to see Taiyuan Yin."
"Who are you?"
The man glanced back unconsciously and then responded: "Mr. Boling Cui, Cui Hao."
The guards were frightened by Bolingcui's name and quickly went inside to report.
Cui Hao coughed twice again and looked a little weak. He actually knew his predecessor Yin Yuanqian of Taiyuan. Yin of Yuan had a son named Yuan Yan who was close friends with Li Bai. He once invited Li Bai to Taiyuan and gave him a five-flowered horse and a thousand pieces of gold.
Qiu, Li Bai then left a sentence: "I have been in Beijing for many years, and I feel that your righteousness is more valuable than gold." Cui Hao and Yuan Yan are also close friends.
Now Taiyuan Yin has been replaced, but Cui Hao has no more time at this time, so he can only find him.
He was quickly led into the restaurant and taken to a small room. An official asked him in a strong Guanzhong accent: "Which branch of the Boling Cui family does Mr. Cui belong to? Why do you want to see Fu Yin?"
"
"An Lushan rebelled." Cui Hao lowered his voice and said something, but the content was earth-shattering, "An Lushan went to Daizhou in the name of returning to Beijing and killed Han Jieshuai."
"You...don't dare talk nonsense."
"This is the declaration of joining the army from the Daizhou Governor's Office." Cui Hao lifted up his clothes, revealing an arrow mark on his lower abdomen.
The wound was bandaged with cloth and was already pus-filled.
"This is the mark left by the rebels who shot me after Han Jieshuai died."
"Cui Gong, wait a moment."
Obviously the official couldn't handle such a big matter, so he hurriedly left the hut. After a while, he was replaced by a more dignified official. Cui Hao hurriedly asked: "But the governor?"
In the end, this was still not Taiyuan Yin Yang Guanghui, and so on, and Cui Hao repeatedly emphasized that An Lushan had rebelled and would soon attack Taiyuan, and this finally attracted Yang Guanghui's attention.
"What?!"
Yang Guanghui was hugging two geishas at a banquet and teasing him. Someone whispered in his ear, which frightened him. He was wondering whether he should be so unlucky, right? He had just arrived in Taiyuan and encountered this.
Waiting for disaster.
"Where are the people?"
"It's in the small room downstairs."
"I'll go see you." In such an urgent situation, Yang Guanghui stood up and told his subordinates: "I have some official business. I will come back as soon as I go."
Before he could see Cui Hao, someone rushed to his side in a panic and whispered: "Fu Yin, someone wants to see you, and this is his invitation."
Yang Guanghui looked down and saw the words "Secretary Fan Yangzhang" on it, and he was frightened out of his wits.
~~
Cui Hao closed his eyes to rest for a while, then opened his eyes anxiously, wondering why Taiyuan Yin didn't come to see him despite such an urgent matter.
It took a long time before someone came over and said, "Mr. Cui, please come with me."
Cui Hao then followed the visitor to the backyard, and all the way to the secluded garden in the backyard of the restaurant, someone suddenly jumped out from the side and slammed him to the ground.
He was shocked, struggled a few times, looked up, and found several tough men standing in front of him with arms folded. Just by the unruly look in their eyes, he realized that they were men from Fan Yang's army.
.
"Let me go! An Lushan rebelled..."
"Crack!"
There was a loud sound, and a stick hit Cui Hao hard on the face.
"Listen clearly, Fujun did not resist. It was Han Xiulin who neglected his duties and allowed the Khitan people to attack Yanmen Pass and endanger Daizhou. Fortunately, Fujun rushed to his aid and Hebei was able to turn the crisis around."
"You are talking nonsense! Just wait..." Cui Hao could not say anything more, but his mouth was pinched hard.
"What is your purpose of coming to complain to Yang Fu Yin? Is it to force the emperor to rebel and plunge Taiyuan Mansion into war?"
In one sentence, Cui Hao was immediately horrified and understood why he was in such a situation. The new Taiyuan Yin Yang Guanghui did not dare to take responsibility. He was afraid that An Lushan would rebel, so he would rather hand him over and endure hardship.
Covering one's ears and stealing the bell, deceiving oneself and others, is extremely ridiculous and extremely cowardly.
"take away!"
Several rebels immediately escorted Cui Hao to the back door. One of the leaders turned around and said, "Yang Fu Yin, I will take you away. Soon Fu Jun will go to Chang'an via Taiyuan and come back to see you."
Cui Hao looked back and saw Yang Guanghui's frightened face. The smell of alcohol and makeup had not yet dissipated. How could such a Tang Dynasty official welcome An Lushan's rebellion?
"Cui Hao, you can write poems, right? I have a collection of poems you wrote in Daizhou. I will send someone to Chang'an to release a poem every once in a while. In this way, the world will think that you died of illness a year later, but no one knows
How did you die?"
"Ugh!"
Cui Hao wanted to yell angrily, but the rebel leader walking beside him laughed instead.
"The yellow crane will never return, and the white clouds will remain empty for thousands of years..."
"puff."
Before the last word of the poem could be read, they walked out of the back door of the restaurant. A Mo Dao slashed down without warning, quickly killing the rebel leader on the spot.
And the poem that could not be recited in full was really hard to get used to.
Suddenly, more than 20 people in the alley rushed forward, slashing several rebels to the ground with knives in their hands.
Cui Hao fell to the ground. He looked around in the chaos and saw a young man walking towards him. He helped him up with firm and powerful movements.
"Mr. Cui, I have admired your name for a long time. Let's talk about it here."
"Who are you?"
"Xue Bai."
"I've heard that you write good poems."
"I don't dare to do anything for my job."
Xue Bai used a knife to cut off Cui Hao's restraints and led him back into the restaurant. He happened to see Yang Guanghui looking at the small pavilion in the back garden. He must have heard the sound of fighting and wanted to investigate but wanted to escape. He was in a dilemma.
"Yang Fuyin doesn't have to leave. I encountered a few thieves and I have captured them."
"you!"
Yang Guangdi only looked at the bloody knife in the hand of the guard behind Xue Bai and knew what this Zhuzi had done. He couldn't help but turned pale with fright, raised his hand and exclaimed: "You are so wanton and reckless, you are not afraid of forcing An to rebel."
Lushan, will it cause a catastrophe?!"
Xue Bai had no intention of arguing with Yang Guanghui, but it was not the first time he heard An Lushan's statement about "forcing him to rebel", so he was willing to respond.
"Yes, I forced An Lushan to rebel. What can you do?"
"You! Now that you admit it, don't involve me again!"
Yang Guanghui yelled angrily, turned around and ran away.
This ugly appearance made Cui Hao feel confused for a while. When he was admitted to the imperial examination at a young age, what he saw was the most prosperous Kaiyuan era. There were numerous talents in the court, famous ministers and generals. Who could have imagined that in just thirty years, the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty
The atmosphere has changed so dramatically.
Xue Bai calmly led Cui Hao to a guest room in the restaurant and asked Cui Hao to treat his wounds. He then opened the window and looked at the flower boats on the Fen River, and waited for a while before speaking.
Talk about it.
"Thanks to the personal grudge between An Lushan and I, Mr. Cui must be able to trust me."
"Yes, I have heard about your deeds."
Cui Hao had quite a lot of literati habits and didn't have many palaces, so he immediately told Xue Bai about his experience in Daizhou.
Finally, he frowned deeply.
"Now most of the Fourth Army in Hedong has fallen to Fan Yang, and An Lushan will soon arrive in Taiyuan. I have just seen the virtue of Taiyuan Yin Yang Guanghui. Seeing this situation, I am afraid that the capital will be lost, and the world still does not believe that An Lushan has arrived.
On the contrary, it is ridiculous."
"Can't throw it away." Xue Bai said in a determined tone while still looking out the window.
Cui Hao shook his head and sighed: "You went to Hedong alone to take up your post. Faced with such a situation, what can you do? Just send someone to Chang'an to report the news."
"Don't worry." Xue Bai said: "I am not going to the post alone."