On the night of the Yuan Dynasty, the newly crowned Emperor An Qingxu of Yan ordered a lantern festival and held a banquet in the Mingtang to entertain the generals.
Brother Shu Han also attended this banquet. He suffered a stroke and was paralyzed. He leaned behind the small table and just opened his mouth, while Cao Buzha fed him the dishes. He looked even more impressive than An Qingxu.
When Tongguan was defeated, Ge Shuhan might have had a chance to escape, but his general Huo Ba Guiren did not dare to return to Chang'an because of the lessons learned from Gao Xianzhi, and forced him to surrender to the rebels. At that time, Ge Shuhan cursed Huo Ba.
Gui Nhon claimed that he would rather die than surrender, but when he arrived among the rebels, Xu even thought of coming. He quickly surrendered to An Qingxu and expressed his willingness to recruit Li Guangbi who was in Hedong for the Yan Dynasty, and Li Guangbi of Henan.
Lu Jiong and An Qingxu from Nanyang were overjoyed when they came to Qiu, thinking that Ge Shuhan had not even looked down on Anlu Mountain in the past, but now he was willing to surrender to him, which shows that he is better than his master.
For An Qingxu, this was one of the pleasures of power he felt after replacing An Lushan. But gradually, he began to dislike Ge Shuhan, and felt that his power overshadowed his own.
At this moment, all the ministers stood up to propose a toast, but Shu Han struggled a few times and could not stand up.
"I wish the saint Shangyuan to be prosperous and prosperous for the country of Yan!"
"Congratulations to all your lords!"
An Qingxu glanced past Ge Shuhan and saw that there was an empty seat aside, which was reserved for Cui Qianyou. Now Cui Qianyou was sitting in Tongguan, preparing for the offensive on Chang'an City. He had originally promised to come back to attend the Shangyuan Banquet.
, but arrived later than An Qingxu.
When the country was first established, these ministers were still ignorant of etiquette. We should find ways to remind them in the future.
"Originally, I planned to hold this Shangyuan Banquet in Chang'an City, but it was a bad luck. But it doesn't matter. Since I scared the Hunjun and fled, I will soon hold another banquet in Chang'an City to entertain all the ministers."
The misfortune An Qingxu mentioned here refers to the fact that Xue Bai is still alive. Xue Bai's propaganda of his father-killing remarks caused him a lot of trouble and delayed the capture of Chang'an. He only dealt with it not long ago.
Didn't Maodun Chanyu kill his father and stand on his own initiative, unify Mobei and establish the most powerful Xiongnu dynasty on the grassland? An Qingxu now worships Maodun. Compared with Li Longji's timidity, he just killed his father.
What are the rumors?
Sure enough, all the ministers laughed and laughed at Li Longji. This was the first program at the banquet, which livened up the atmosphere very well.
"I remembered something. Once, I bought a chicken in Nanshi. When I was walking, I looked down and found that the chicken was not in the cage. Guess what happened?"
"I know."
In the seat, Wu Lingxun, the Minister of Household Affairs of Dayan Kingdom, was already slightly drunk. He stood up and said with a smile: "Because he is Li Longji."
An Qingxu asked: "What does this mean?"
"Chicken out of the cage, chicken out of the cage."
An Qingxuzha was stunned for a moment. He actually felt that this kind of joking was a bit boring. But he still had fun and cheered up the atmosphere.
"Ha ha ha ha."
A group of people in the hall burst out laughing. An Qingxu patted his knees. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that only his brother Shu Han was not laughing. Instead, he had the sadness of a hero in his twilight years. He suddenly felt dissatisfied.
In fact, the three people who Ge Shuhan wrote to surrender have made it clear that they will not surrender, and even scolded the messenger. An Qingxu had good intentions and did not make it public in order not to affect tonight's imperial banquet.
Soon, the dancing girl entered the palace, her long sleeves fluttering, and the fragrant breeze hit her.
An Qingxu's eyes fell on their fragrant shoulders and jade arms, and he gradually became distracted.
Recently, he was looking for the joy of being an emperor, but found that the emperor could not get everything he wanted. For example, he originally thought that an emperor who established a country at a young age would be loved by young ladies, but the emperor who surrendered in Luoyang City
The girls from the same family with five surnames still looked down upon him, but he pestered them and took pleasure in it, not thinking about tea or food all day long.
His elder brother was able to marry the princess of Li Tang. Now that he is the emperor, why can't he win the heart of a girl with the fifth surname? An Qingxu doesn't believe this evil. He thinks it is Sogdian customs that make him look rude, and he is learning to imitate it.
How to become noble like a noble family.
The generals in the palace who supported An Qingxu's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty were either common people from poor families or barbarians. They acted because they were full of resentment against the noble families, but they did not expect that their emperor's heart had already turned towards the noble families. On the other hand, they themselves
They are also working hard to become a famous family.
There was singing and dancing, and the party was going on all night without realizing it. Everyone was drunk, and they suddenly didn't realize that it was bright.
Cui Qianyou's position was always vacant. He must have had a chance to conquer Chang'an and failed to come back as promised. Unexpectedly, when the royal banquet was about to break up, he actually arrived and rushed back overnight. He rode into Ziwei Palace.
The horse was dismounted outside the Mingtang.
After hearing the report, An Qingxu was half sober and a little unhappy. He thought that too much horse shit near Mingtang would affect his prestige as emperor. Cui Qianyou still didn't take him seriously.
After ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor, he was so immersed in the praise of his brilliance and martial prowess that he completely forgot that if it had not been for these generals during the Battle of Tongguan, he would have surrendered to Xue Bai.
"Hahaha, Cui Qing, I thought you weren't coming. Come on, I'll give you three drinks as a penalty."
"Your Majesty!" Cui Qianyou put on his armor and entered the palace. He cupped his hands and strode straight to An Qingxu, saying, "Hunjun has returned to Chang'an."
"What?" An Qingxu couldn't understand and asked, "How dare he? I wonder if we, with more than 100,000 warriors on horseback, are going to send troops to take Chang'an?"
Cui Qianyou said: "He won't come back to die, he must have something to rely on. I thought about it, if it weren't for the elite soldiers from Heshuo, it would be Guo Ziyi, and Li Guangbi's troops had already returned to the army, so they rushed back to present themselves to the saint.
"
Although he came close to speak, he did not deliberately suppress his voice to hide it from others. After hearing this, the generals started shouting.
"Just in time! We will rush into Chang'an and capture this foolish king alive!"
"How dare you cause trouble? Who is afraid of that old thing?!"
Having said that, everyone knows that whether Li Longji is there or not, there will be a big gap in Chang'an City's defense strength.
Not to mention anything else, with the Emperor of Tang guarding Chang'an, the morale in the city will inevitably be boosted, and the time it will take for the Yan army to conquer the fortified city will be much longer. During this period, troops from various places will continue to arrive. So, the number of troops that the Yan army needs to send, The food and fodder will have to be much more than originally planned.
We must be prepared to fight a big war and a long war from the beginning.
Otherwise, why would Cui Qianyou rush back in person? Why would he ask An Qingxu for advice?
An Qingxu didn't want to appear that he cared about this matter, and was also worried that he would be unable to answer in a hurry, so he pretended to be bold and said with a smile: "We will discuss this matter tomorrow. Cui Qing, please sit down and take a look at the new arrangements I have made." Singing and dancing, haha, you just happened to catch the last dance."
He doesn't quite look like An Lushan, but he already has a bit of Li Longji's style.
Cui Qianyou was about to ask for soldiers, horses, money and food, but he was blocked in this way, so he nodded and said: "I raided various counties in Guanzhong and gained a lot. If the saint likes to sing and dance, he will be in Lantian another day." Wang Wei, who was captured by the county, was brought back and composed poems for the saint."
An Qingxu was not completely sober and did not hear Cui Qianyou's knock or sarcasm. Instead, he thought that the women with the fifth surname he had recently courted all liked poetry. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and said with a smile: "Okay! I have heard about this person's reputation. , it’s time for the Great Yan Kingdom to have more talents.”
~~
After resting for a night in Luoyang, Cui Qianyou woke up. He was not in a hurry to see An Qingxu again. Instead, he called his subordinates and listened to their reports.
"There has indeed been a lot of news from the DPRK in the past few days. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi originally planned to attack Fan Yang, but now they have withdrawn their troops and even voluntarily abandoned various counties in Hebei."
"Sure enough, how dare they not first pay attention to the king?"
"The general saved Shi Siming."
When Xue Bai called on all the counties in Hebei to return to the Tang Dynasty, An Lushan sent Shi Siming northward. As a result, Shi Siming first let Xue Bai escape, and then he was repeatedly defeated by Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, and retreated to Fan Yang. As far as the rebels were concerned, the situation was indeed real. It was a critical moment. Fortunately, the Battle of Tongguan was a great victory and Li Longji fled, reversing the situation in one fell swoop.
Cui Qianyou didn't feel happy for long, then he heard his subordinate continue to report.
"The saint ordered Zhang Zhongzhi to lead 30,000 elite troops to regain Hebei, open up the channel with Fan Yang, and send the gold and silk children back to Fan Yang..."
"What did you say?" Cui Qianyou frowned and said angrily: "We are waiting to conquer Tongguan, we are very close to Chang'an, and we can break it in a day, but he is still attached to Fan Yang?!"
"I don't know what will happen next."
"Put on your court clothes and I'll go and see the saint."
Cui Qianyou stood by the window. When he raised his head, he could see the Qionglou Yuyu in the distance, and could still hear the faint sound of singing and dancing.
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It had only been half a month since the founding of the country, but he could already feel that the monarchs and ministers of the Yan Kingdom were rapidly becoming corrupt...
~~
After An Qingxu got hungover, he got up from the crowd of women and pushed away a white and tender thigh that was draped over him.
His eyes were stagnant for a while, and then he murmured: "This is the first year of the Great Yan Shengwu, and I am the Great Yan Saint An Qingxu."
To be honest, this throne came quite suddenly, and because he indulged in lewdness, he often had to wake up after drinking to remember who he was.
"Sage, it was my slave's turn last night."
"roll!"
An Qingxu pushed away the dancing girls who were approaching him, and thought about when he could conquer those noble women of the fifth surname.
After conquering Luoyang, of course he also captured some and raped them several times. Gradually, he found that what he wanted was not just sensuality, but a noble feeling.
"It's just cheap." He gave himself a gentle slap, and then giggled twice.
This is the imperial life that he is still adapting to, a luxurious and boring imperial life.
"Sage, Cui Qianyou wants to see you."
"Call."
Enjoying too much is also tiring. An Qingxu would rather sit in a daze than deal with government affairs. Recently, he has been thinking about whether there is a way to enjoy the power of the emperor without having to deal with everything. For example, appointing a knowledgeable person The Prime Minister of your own choice?
But how should the military power be arranged? If a brave and strategic general like Tian Qianzhen does not watch carefully, he will inevitably have dissent. It would be great if there is a general who can be trusted and is not qualified to overstep his authority.
Just thinking about these things, An Qingxu still had no time to relax. When he turned to the main hall, Cui Qianyou had been standing there waiting for a long time.
"Sage, if you want to capture Chang'an, you need to send more troops, horses, money and food."
"Cui Qing." An Qingxu felt a headache when he heard the word "money and grain" and said, "You also know that Hanjiacang is empty. Now Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun are blocking our way south to get money and grain from the Jianghuai River. Where do you want me to get the money and food from?"
Cui Qianyou took advantage of the situation and asked: "I heard that the saint sent elite troops to regain Hebei."
An Qingxu said: "Fan Yang is the foundation. If we do not regain Hebei and open up the channel to Fan Yang, the morale of the army will be unstable. All the ministers in the court agree with this matter, so I have not asked Cui Qing."
"Then the saint can't wait to transport his children of gold and silk to Fan Yang?"
"Have I ever made such a decree?" An Qingxu said angrily: "Think about how many Hu generals there are in our army and where are their homes? As soon as I heard that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had withdrawn their troops, they clamored to go to Fan Yang. I Can you stop it?!"
Cui Qianyou frowned, raised his voice, and shouted: "What do you think, Your Majesty? Is it enough to found a country and become the emperor of Qin and Han, or is it enough to break the earth and proclaim yourself a small king? Why don't you give me a sure answer!"
An Qingxu was taken aback and was reluctant to answer such a question because he had never thought about it.
Since he came to the throne, he has only cared about enjoying himself. At this time, he had to think about what his ambition was. After a while, he wanted to say that he wanted to become a Modun Shanyu, but he hesitated but did not speak.
What if? Li Longji has already escaped once. What if these arrogant soldiers really create a foundation for him? Just like Li Yuan founded the country, it may not necessarily be because of the talents of his people.
"I want to capture Chang'an and dominate the world!"
"In that case, your Majesty, please make a desperate move and attack Chang'an with all your strength."
An Qingxu was a little embarrassed and said: "In addition to regaining Hebei and connecting Fan Yang's troops, what about Cui Qing's control of the rest of the troops, horses, money and food? I will appoint you as the military envoy of the world and take over the military power."
Cui Qianyou did not accept the order immediately and asked again: "Your Majesty must be rich all over the world, why are you still attached to Fan Yang?"
"My uncle An Taiqing used to be very poor. Later, he robbed Henan and gained a lot of property. He transported these property back to his ancestral home to protect his children and grandchildren, and then continued to rob." An Qingxu explained earnestly, saying : "Let them have no worries so that they can fight with all their strength."
Cui Qianyou didn't agree with An Qingxu's idea of pursuing big things at the expense of his own life, but he not only got his promise to support his attack on Chang'an, but also achieved the purpose of his return.
~~
A few days later, a large flag with the words "The Great Yan's Military Envoy" was erected at the top of Tongguan City.
Cui Qianyou got An Qingxu's promise and led 70,000 elite troops to attack Chang'an City as he wished. This was regarded as his emphasis on Li Longji's return to Chang'an.
During this trip to Luoyang, he could feel the smoky atmosphere in the Yan Dynasty Hall, and deeply felt that An Qingxu was insufficient and resourceful.
However, he still had confidence in this battle, especially when he returned to Tongguan and saw the soldiers under his command.
In today's world, the emperor may not be very good, nor the prime ministers. The lazy emperor and the jealous prime minister have promoted mediocre people to high positions, but those soldiers in the border army who can't find a way out are All of them have real abilities and all of them are good men who have been on the battlefield for a long time!
The jealousy of talents in the imperial court happened to be within this period of more than ten years, and the tradition of "establishing military merits and seeking titles" in the Tang Dynasty was still maintained. Therefore, although the emperors of the Tang and Yan Dynasties were dim-witted, they all had the most powerful people under their command. Elite soldiers and horses.
"There is new news!" Tian Chengsi said as soon as he saw Cui Qianyou: "Shuofang troops from the Tang Army are coming."
With that said, a strategic plan was handed to Cui Qianyou.
When he saw it, he was surprised and asked: "Where did you get it? Is the information reliable?"
"Reliable." Tian Chengsi said, "A eunuch named Bian Lingcheng is a sworn enemy of Xue Bai. If he doesn't surrender to us, he will die in Xue Bai's hands. This is his letter."
Cui Qianyou did not read Bian Lingcheng's letter first, but stared at the strategic map, his eyes became solemn again, and murmured: "It came so fast? If he had such skill, why did he run away in the first place?"
"The city of Chang'an is strong and Shuofang's army is also elite. This is a tough battle."
"If the saint finds out, I'm afraid he will be shaken again."
It is conceivable that once they found out that Chang'an was such a hard nut to crack, those Hu generals in the Yan Kingdom who were accustomed to the frontier life would go back again clamoring for looting.
"It can be captured." Cui Qianyou thought for a long time and said slowly: "The biggest weakness of Chang'an is not the lack of troops, but..."
"No food!"
The two pointed this out in unison.
"That's right." Cui Qianyou pointed at the map and said: "Xue Bai also took this into consideration, so he asked people to transport grain from Ziwu Road to Chang'an, and asked Shuofang's army to rush to Ziwu Road to receive the grain and grass first."
"Once the Tang army opens up the food route, it will be impossible to conquer Chang'an."
"Shall we block Meridian Road first?"
"No." Cui Qianyou shook his head, "If Shuofang's elite troops are available to support them, they can find other food transportation routes without taking Ziwu Road. Sending troops and horses to block it will only expose Bian Lingcheng."
Tian Chengsi understood immediately and muttered: "I don't know the Tang army's plan for the time being. I will send an ambush force. When Shuofang's army has not gained a stable foothold, I will attack and annihilate them and seize the Tang army's food and grass."
"In this case, Chang'an has no help. It won't be long before we run out of food and collapse without attack. Then you and I can capture that faint king."
~~
Chang'an.
Xue Bai, Yan Zhenqing and others were waiting for news on the tower.
When the sentry horse returned, he reported: "The rebels have reinforced their presence."
"The number of elite soldiers has reached 70,000." Yan Zhenqing looked worried, and placed a few more war chess pieces on the map, and said slowly: "Remembering a story, there was a boy in Chang'an who was fishing by the Wei River, using thick mud earthworms as bait. , I wanted to catch a big fish, but when the fish bit the hook, it dragged the boy into the water."
"Why?"
"The fish is too big for the boy to pull."
Xue Bai smiled bitterly and said, "My father-in-law, are you kidding me?"
Yan Zhenqing pointed at Xue Bai, pointed at himself, and then pointed at the city of Chang'an, saying: "The troops in Chang'an are very few, like a child."
"No matter how big the fish is, as long as the fish basket is covered, it can't fall out."
Xue Bai said, and started drawing on the map.
"Our plan is to set up an ambush on Ziwu Road, use kerosene and explosives to pretend to be a grain truck, and lure the rebels into robbery. At the same time, we will use a bluff of troops and horses to make the rebels think that Shuofang's army has arrived."
Yan Zhenqing tapped the back of his hand with the penholder and thought his handwriting was ugly. Then he drew a stroke on the picture and said: "At that time, the main force of the rebel army must be besieging Chang'an. After learning that the main force of Shuofang has arrived, it is necessary to send Troops and horses support Ziwu Road."
"As a result, Tongguan is empty." Xue Bai said: "We only need to use a surprise force to lie down in Gaofu, north of the Yellow River, and take advantage of the chaos to occupy Tongguan. Then the rebels will be cut off from front to back, and they will be short of food and grass, and they will become a turtle in a urn."
"Although it is a beautiful thought," Yan Zhenqing said, "but these are 70,000 fine cavalry, coming and going like the wind, from Chang'an to Ziwu Road, it only takes an hour. How many troops do we have to fight with them in the field and make them mistakenly think Shuofang's troops have arrived? The bandit cavalry can reach Tongguan from Chang'an in half a day. Who can capture Tongguan so quickly? Furthermore, with only this small force, how can we force the bandit general to dispatch Tongguan troops and horses?"
This is always the case when making plans. At the beginning, there is only a general framework, but later on, you will inevitably encounter various practical problems.
Xue Bai originally thought that An Qingxu was not brave enough. Seeing that Li Longji returned to Chang'an, he would definitely decide to retreat to Fan Yang. Then, there would not be many troops to attack Chang'an, so he could try to intercept them.
But the situation did not develop according to this best situation, so naturally it was time to prepare more backup plans.
"The rebels are increasing their troops, and we are also increasing our troops." Xue Bai pointed at the map and said: "It's time for Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to come to serve the king, but there may be some changes. They are afraid that the rebels will intercept them at the Yellow River and force them to detour to Shuofang.
, The second reason is that they are afraid that they will take a detour to Shuofang and be intercepted by Li Heng, so they need to send someone to contact them again."
Yan Zhenqing nodded, called Yan Jiming, and said, "Are you willing to go to Taiyuan again?"
"I'm willing to go." Yan Jiming agreed without hesitation.
Xue Bai looked at Yan Jiming, but thought of Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun in Yongqiu.
Then he thought of Yin Liang and Yan Zhuang who were staying in Luoyang to deal with the aftermath. After the Battle of Tongguan, they voluntarily abandoned Luoyang and retreated to Yongqiu to join Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun.
Also, after Lao Liang sent Yan Yan to Yangzhou, he should have gathered people to collect food and grass and transport it to Yanshi. If it was blocked by the war, he probably also arrived at Yongqiu.
If Yongqiu was not surrounded and was willing to contact him, a letter should have arrived in the next few days.
In addition, it might be time for Li Sheng, Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu and others who are at Tumen Pass to send people over.
At this moment, Xue Bai needed reinforcements the most, but the expected news had not yet arrived.
"The war rages for three months, and a letter from home is worth ten thousand gold."
He murmured this poem, knowing that several places were not surrounded. The main reason why the news did not reach Guanzhong was that the passage in Guanzhong was not smooth, so he looked at the map and thought about where to find an opportunity to break the situation.
~~
Lantian County, Wangchuan.
Wangchuan is located more than ten miles south of Lantian County, with winding green mountains. It is also on the road to Wuguandao, which is an important road connecting Chang'an and Nanyang. It is known as "the hub of Qin and Chu, and the barrier of Sanfu".
Now that the rebels are attacking Chang'an, this place has naturally become the main route for King Nanyang's army.
That day, when Xue Bai was thinking hard about how to contact his old department, someone on the mountain near Wangchuan was looking at the beautiful scenery of Wangchuan with a telescope.
"Eating dog intestines, Gaoguan is occupied by rebels."
"Want to take a detour?"
"There's no way around it."
Lao Liang shook his head, looked at it for a while, and suddenly said: "They are all Wang Mojie's subsidiaries over there. Maybe we can contact him and try to help us get there?"
"But I heard that Wang Mojie has surrendered to the rebels."
"Really?" Lao Liang thought for a while and suddenly said: "This is a good thing. If others surrender, their hearts may not be depressed..."