Yang Hui held a piece of bacon and put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it. He frowned with a look of disgust. He didn't know whether he disliked the bacon or Li Cong.
"Xue Bai killed so many people, which is tantamount to rebellion. Your Highness did not deal with him, but instead stepped forward to support him and beheaded Bian Lingcheng?"
"Don't forget, Xue Bai has always supported Li Cong as the crown prince."
The people gathered together to discuss today are all sons, nephews and sons-in-law of saints. The one who spoke at this time was Siqi King Li Zhen, who looked very similar to Li Longji. He sneered as he spoke, "Otherwise, how could Li Cong with that damn appearance?" Enter the East Palace?"
"They confiscated all the food stored in the city." Rongyang King Li Jue said leisurely: "Is it really to quell the rebellion?"
"I think those people are right. Xue Baicheng's mansion is very deep and his intentions are unpredictable."
Yang Hui couldn't help but feel filled with emotion when he heard this. He still remembered that when he first met Xue Bai, he was just a boy his wife bought back to play with. In the blink of an eye, he had become a powerful minister.
He chewed the bacon in his hand. He was too old and the food was tasteless. The food stored at home had been requisitioned. Every time the rations were distributed, there was very little meat. It was a pity to throw it away. Therefore, he could not help but feel resentful and said: "He has so much in his hands." Just forget about this life?"
"More than just forgetting it?" Li Zhen said: "I'm afraid Xue Bai will go further."
Yang Hui asked: "What? Do you still want to ban him?"
At this time, a eunuch came to deliver a message, saying that the saint had summoned them to the Forbidden Garden for a celebration banquet tonight.
"Celebrating?" Yang Hui was surprised, "Celebrating for what?"
"His Highness said that the rebels' plot to attack Chang'an was foiled, and I would like to congratulate you."
Yang Hui and Li Zhen looked at each other and said, "Sure enough..."
The Forbidden Garden is located to the north of Chang'an. It was originally the Daxing Garden of the Sui Dynasty. It covers a vast area and was a place for royal tours, hunting, and horse training. It also grew fruits, vegetables, poultry, and fish. In addition, the Sixth Army of Bei Ya was stationed in it, so it is also An important defensive base to protect the capital.
For example, when the rebels attacked Chang'an, they would rather attack the Chang'an City Wall than the Forbidden Garden because it is adjacent to the Wei River to the north, Chan River to the east, and Chang'an City to the southwest. There are twenty-four palaces in it.
This time the Qing Palace Banquet was held in the Wangchun Palace in the Forbidden Garden, east of the Daming Palace, adjacent to the city wall of the Forbidden Garden and very close to Guangtai Gate in the east.
When the princes and nobles arrived, they saw no singing or dancing, only the soldiers of the imperial army lined up neatly, flags flying, and the scene was grand and solemn.
"It doesn't look like a banquet," Li Zhen said, "but rather like a war."
Yang Hui licked his lips and said, "I haven't drank for several days, and I thought I could satisfy my craving today."
"Let's go."
There were a lot of people from the clan, hundreds of them. After everyone sat down, Li Cong just walked over. The scars on his face looked a bit ferocious in the sun, but it made people feel at ease at this time when Chang'an was under siege.
Li Cong was followed by several of his children, but what caught people's attention was that Xue Bai was also walking among them, which was particularly conspicuous.
At this glance, Li Zhen realized what the purpose of this so-called celebration banquet was to officially give Xue Bai a clan title. What was deplorable was that he, the Zong Zhengqing, was not informed of this matter in advance.
"Today is a family banquet, and it is also a celebration banquet. I invite all uncles and brothers to come, and I have some good news to announce to you!"
"Your Highness, the siege of Chang'an has not been lifted yet, and we are still hungry. May I ask if there is any good news?" Li Zhen asked loudly, deliberately trying to dismantle Li Cong.
He looks more like Li Longji, and he always looks down on Li Cong, who has a scratched face, and occasionally likes to make jokes like this that are not too excessive.
Li Cong was not angry either. He turned around, raised his hand and pointed at the Guangtai Gate in the distance, directing everyone to look at the Guangtai Gate in the distance and said, "Open it!"
As a result, the Guangtai Gate was slowly opened.
All the clan members stood up one after another, looking at the scene behind Guangtai Gate, and exclaimed.
Thousands of corpses were piled up outside the city gate. Their bodies were burnt black and broken, and their flesh and blood were blurred. If you look carefully, you can see their extremely distorted faces. They obviously suffered great pain before they died.
There was even black water flowing from the mouth of the corpse, which was very scary.
The exclamations stopped, and everyone watched this scene in silence, until Li Cong put his hands on his hands and laughed, saying: "Yesterday, the rebels colluded with the people in the city to incite the officials to cause chaos, and wanted to forcefully invade the Taiji Palace. I ordered Xue Bai, Wang Nannan to wait.
They quelled the turmoil, annihilated the rebels who entered the city, and thwarted their conspiracy!"
"Your Highness is so mighty and powerful that he is truly a blessing to the Tang Dynasty."
The person who received the most praise was Li Jie, the heir apparent. He was young, only twelve or thirteen years old. He spoke with a childish tone and his voice was drawl, but he had a high seniority and title.
There is an anecdote about Li Jie being able to inherit the throne of King Xu. His grandfather, Li Guan, had a son when he was old. After Li Guan died, his brothers suspected that Li Jie was not his biological son and wanted to seek his title. At that time, he was just entering the officialdom.
With Xue Bai's help, Li Jie was able to inherit the title.
Today, the reason why Li Cong is willing to cooperate with Xue Bai in hosting such a celebration banquet is to show his merit. As a political figure, facing Xue Bai's aggressiveness, what he did was not only to confront, but also to take advantage of Xue Bai.
energy to demonstrate his authority.
After showing off his martial arts, Li Cong glanced in Xue Bai's direction reluctantly, and then said: "Let's talk about the second happy event. My brother Li Ying was wronged..."
No one listened carefully to Li Cong's words, and all their eyes fell on Xue Bai unconsciously. Until finally, following Li Cong's guidance, Xue Bai walked calmly in front of everyone.
"I will introduce you to my uncles and brothers again today." Li Cong picked up a glass of wine and said with a smile: "He is your majesty's long-lost grandson, my nephew, and my adopted son, Li Qian."
Yang Hui had been staring at the wine glass on the table for a long time, always wondering where all the fine wine in Chang'an City had been confiscated. After finally seeing everyone toasting, he quickly raised his glass, but after hearing this, he hesitated whether to
Should drink.
He recalled the winter of Tianbao's fifth year, when he first saw Xue Bai at home. The young man's eyes were simple, showing fear, and he felt that he was not deeply involved in the world and that humans and animals were harmless. He confirmed that he was right, but now he looked at Xue Bai.
Bai, his eyes are clear and unfathomable, and they don't look like the same person at all.
So, Xue Bai was just pretending in the beginning, in order to take revenge on the couple? It should be noted that the case of the Three Common People was created by him secretly advising Concubine Wu Hui.
Yang Hui drank the wine in one gulp, knowing that he was in danger and had to think of a way.
At the same time, Xue Bai's peripheral vision also caught sight of Yang Wei. He did not hate Yang Wei, but since he became Li Qian, he had to deal with Yang Wei.
"I have asked the saint for a decree." Li Cong said: "Give the emperor's grandson Li Qian the title he deserves and reward him for his merits."
As soon as he signaled, a eunuch naturally stood up with several imperial edicts and read them loudly in front of all the clan members.
First, he vindicated the three cases of common people, but did not punish the consequences in advance. He only posthumously awarded Li Ying the title of crown prince, and restored the titles of Li Yao, Li Ju, and Xue Xiu during their lifetimes.
"The branch of life is divided into the concubine's position. After extensive research, he is called Dayou. The son of Crown Prince Ying, Qian, observes his knowledge of weapons and equipment. He has a clear understanding of intelligence, a majestic expression, and a long-term elegance. The clothes and crown are in order, so it is appropriate to award them.
It is an honor for you to be in a position of honor, to open up new territories with your well-being, and to still carry on your family's business. You can make Qian the Prince of Beiping..."
"Prince of Peiping County?"
Li Zhen frowned after hearing this. She immediately thought of An Lushan's title of "Dongping Commandery Prince" and even felt that Xue Bai was even less worthy because he was too young.
Although it has always been customary to grant the title of prince to a county based on the status of the emperor's grandson, he felt that Xue Bai's status as the emperor's grandson was doubtful. At least, he did not see the saint admit it in front of the clan. For example, he looked exactly like the saint when he was young.
, has always suspected that he is the illegitimate son of a saint, but even so, he did not get the qualification to compete for the throne because of this. This is decency.
"This is not appropriate." Li Zhen muttered.
"King Qi." Yang Hui gently pulled Li Zhen and whispered: "Objection. We can't let him get the title of county king easily."
Li Zhen pondered and was about to speak when suddenly, someone exclaimed and pointed outside Guangtai's door.
"What is that?!"
All the clan members turned their heads and looked away. From a distance, they saw rebel sentries appearing on the other side of the Chan River.
Those sentry riders obviously also saw the corpses piled up on the west side of Chanshui River, and they were very angry at first. Then, they saw that the Guangtai Gate was not closed. They were surprised and blew the horns, urging more rebels to come and attack the city.
Soon, more rebel sentries arrived and swam straight towards the city gate.
"Close the city gate!" Li Zhen was horrified and shouted quickly.
Li Cong looked back and said as if nothing had happened: "I have soldiers from the Forbidden Army here. How can a few rebels attack? Continue to confer, Li Qian, why don't you accept the order?"
Xue Bai then walked slowly towards the eunuch who was delivering the order.
Whether they were in favor or against his knighthood, their minds were not on this matter at all at this time. They were all staring outside the city, watching the rebels crossing the river and preparing to attack here, but they encountered the arrows of the imperial guards at the top of the city.
.
They just wanted to leave this dangerous place and hoped that Xue Bai would move faster.
Finally, Xue Bai took the scroll with both hands and said loudly: "I accept the order and thank you."
"Congratulations to the Prince of Peiping. Here are your ribbon, fish charm, and fabric for your uniform."
"Thank you, Your Majesty for your grace."
Xue Bai was very calm. There was not much difference to him at this moment, it was just an extra name.
But for many people, it gave them more confidence in the Tang Dynasty clan, or in other words, they had one more person to choose from.
"Fight into the city."
Then came the shouts of the rebel generals.
Since Chang'an was besieged, this was the first time that the clan members felt that danger was so close to them, and many people shouted that it was time to retreat to the city.
"What are you afraid of?!"
Xue Bai, who had just been named the Prince of Peiping, still held the imperial edict in his hand, but he encouraged people's hearts and said: "Since we are here to celebrate today, we should defeat the enemy's majesty again. Please join me on the top of the city."
, repel the rebels."
"What?" Li Zhen asked in surprise: "Are you crazy? We are all members of the clan."
"Yes, Your Highness is here, and many clans are here. If the rebels come in and catch them all, the Tang Dynasty will be over."
Of course they were unwilling. However, as Xue Bai ascended the city first, the imperial guards behind them actually held up their halberds and "invited" them to go up to the top of the city to take a look.
The wind roared over the city. Li Zhen looked around and saw that a large number of rebels had appeared on the other side of the Chan River. When they saw the wide-open city gate, they cheered and approached him with terrifying murderous intent.
"The main force of the thieves is here!" Yang Wei exclaimed, "Is Xue Bai trying to kill me?!"
He was so frightened and panicked that he didn't even realize that he was shouting out his worries. In fact, he didn't ask Xue Bai at all and didn't want to hear the answer.
However.
"That's not the main force of the rebels, there are only more than 2,000 people by visual inspection." At some point, Xue Bai walked up behind him, answered casually, and patted Yang Hui on the shoulder.
Yang Hui thought Xue Bai was going to push him down, and when he looked back, as if he had been shocked by electric shock, his face was completely pale.
"We are here to celebrate, so we must show off our momentum." Xue Bai said, "You are all members of the Tang Dynasty clan. Today is a war, so why not beat the drums to help inspire the soldiers?!"
As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Zhen and said with a smile, "I heard that King Qi plays the drum well?"
Li Zhen was indeed good at the Jiegu drum, but she learned it to be more elegant and unrestrained like a saint, not to entertain the lowly soldiers in the army. At this time, she was forced by Xue Bai and couldn't help but feel very unhappy, but the drumstick had already been handed to her.
He had no choice but to take it.
"Dong dong dong!"
What he played was the rhythm of "Broken Formation Music".
Xue Bai was satisfied and asked again: "Consort Yang?"
"I don't know anything." Yang Hui said anxiously. He saw rebels crossing the river downstream of Chan River and heading here to fight.
"Then shout!"
"Shout? What are you shouting for?" Yang Hui's forehead was dripping with sweat. He suddenly heard the soldiers singing military songs along with the drums of "Breaking Formation Music", so he also shouted loudly along with them.
"Accept the law and resign the head of state, and the prime minister will punish the rebellious ministers."
"Xiange breaks the formation and enjoys the music of the Taiping people together!"
Xue Bai was still not satisfied, so he patted Yang Hui on the back and said, "Louder."
Yang Hui had no choice but to try not to look at the enemy who was approaching more and more, and shouted with all his strength: "Xiange breaks the formation and has fun, let's enjoy the peace together!"
He used all his strength to suck the milk, clenched his hands, and his face turned red. After shouting, he was a little surprised to find that he was not as scared as before...
~~
The military song was loud and carried to the other side of the Chan River with the wind.
Cui Qianyou came on horseback and heard the Tang army's military song. He couldn't help but hum along, because when he first joined the army, he sang such military songs to attack foreign enemies.
"Bullshit 'share the peace'." He finally cursed.
When he drove his horse to the edge of Chan River, he squinted and saw that on the top of the city stood many red and purple officials and ministers of the Tang Dynasty.
He frowned, went to the sentry horses, and ordered them to find out what happened in the Forbidden Garden. After that, he heard a somewhat unexpected answer.
"Someone on the top of the city announced a decree to us, persuading us to surrender, and also made Xue Bai the Prince of Beiping..."
"Prince of Peiping County?"
Cui Qianyou quickly thought of Anlushan, and then thought of Anlushan's death at the hands of Xue Bai, and deeply felt the provocation of the Tang army.
He counted the flags on the head of Guangtaimen City, and the officials began to think deeply.
The team that invaded Chang'an City yesterday was defeated. Today, Li Cong, Xue Bai and countless clan members gathered here and deliberately opened the city gate. It looked like a trap to lure the enemy.
Even if it is not a trap, the terrain between Guangtaimen and Chanshui cannot move troops and horses. The Forbidden Garden is where the Forbidden Army is stationed. It is easy to mobilize troops. And even if you attack the Forbidden Garden, there is Chanshui separating it, and a large number of troops will follow. It's impossible to keep up in time.
All in all, considering the right time, place and people, it is not a suitable fighter aircraft at the moment.
Therefore, Cui Qianyou looked coldly at the clamoring clan officials on top of the city and decisively ordered the withdrawal of troops.
"General? They put our bodies there!"
"Can't you see that I deliberately lured you to die?!"
Although the rebels were strong and well-equipped, they would not die casually. They quickly left this battlefield with poor terrain.
As a result, many clans on the top of the Forbidden City were astonished.
"Have we driven back the rebels?"
Yang Hui couldn't believe it and murmured: "Did I repel the rebels by singing "The Music of Breaking the Formation"?"
He fell to the ground, turned around and looked around, and found that all the clan members looked happy to have escaped death. Li Cong had walked to Xue Bai and was whispering something to him.
As a result, before the siege of Chang'an was relieved, Xue Bai massacred the ministers of the family, and no one would dare to mention it again.
No matter how they felt about Xue Bai, they could no longer stop the Peiping County Prince from taking advantage of the situation.
~~
It was night, and the Yan army was encamped.
"Prince of Beiping County?" Tian Chengsi muttered these four words and said, "If he hadn't been from the clan, this would be a title comparable to that of Prince Dongping."
"Do you really think he is Li Qian, the grandson of some emperor?" Cui Qianyou said: "This title is to reward his military exploits."
"I don't care, whether he is the emperor's grandson or not." Tian Chengsi said, his voice became gloomy, and said: "I only know that he must be eliminated."
Cui Qianyou said: "At the beginning of the incident, we did not expect that we would be frustrated again and again because of such a young man."
Tian Chengsi frowned and looked at the map with him. On the map, they had drawn circles of Chang'an City, which showed that they were eager to capture the city, but they had to sigh.
"It will be difficult to attack Chang'an for a while."
Not willing to accept it, but it is true. And a large part of the reason is that Xue Bai first captured An Lushan, which destabilized the Yan army and delayed a lot of time; then Xue Bai deliberately spread rumors, which made An Qingxu anxious and unable to go west. ; In the end, it was Xue Bai who invited Li Longji back.
"Now that Xue Bai has been awarded the title of king, it can be seen that he has straightened out the people of Chang'an. Even if the people are not united, the government orders are smooth."
Tian Chengsi nodded and said: "Our soldiers have never attacked such a fortified city in the frontier fortress. All the way south, they were defeated by the wind. Now that Xue Bai is defending, our army's weakness of not being good at attacking fortified cities will be revealed. .”
Cui Qianyou said: "There are only more than 100,000 elite soldiers, but they are full of success. From the saints to the generals, everyone's thoughts are on Hebei. Once the casualties in the attack are too heavy, the saints will definitely be angry."
"Should we just give up the attack on Chang'an? We finally captured Tongguan."
"No." Cui Qianyou said, "Chang'an has one fatal weakness that has not changed - there is no food. As long as we continue to besiege the city, Chang'an will be defeated in less than a month."
"In one month, I'm afraid the reinforcements from the Tang Army will arrive."
"Are we afraid of fighting in the wild?"
Tian Chengsi smiled and grinned, showing a tiger-wolf look.
They were Fan Yangxiao cavalry. They had repeatedly clashed with the Khitan and Xi people's cavalry in the northern wind and snow. They were not afraid of field battles at all, but missed them very much.
"Jianpi, the attack on the city made me angry. I wish I could have a fierce field battle!"
"Then how to take Chang'an is very clear." Cui Qianyou said, "Continue to surround it and annihilate its reinforcements."
With a "swish" sound, Tian Chengsi spread out another drawing. On it, the direction of the Tang army's reinforcements and food and grass reinforcements were clearly marked.
After a while, he frowned and raised a doubt.
"I just suffered a big loss at the hands of Tang Jun yesterday. Isn't this another trick?"
"Don't worry, we'll find out after you explore."
~~
Pingliang County.
This place is located in Longshan, at the intersection of Guanzhong, Longyou and Shuofang Roads, and belongs to Shuofang territory.
When the team arrived at Pingliang County, it was considered to have left Guanzhong.
"Ms. Shen, take a rest."
The speaker was the leader of the team, a Forbidden Army general named Gao Shen. He was originally a subordinate of Guo Qianli. During the Chencang Incident, he was the first to defect to Xue Bai. Seeing that he was both civil and military, Xue Bai appointed him as an envoy escort to Shuofang to announce the edict.
As for the envoy, it is still Chen Xilie, after all, he is very senior.
At first, Gao Shen felt that bringing a woman like Shen Pearl was slowing down his journey. But after getting along with him, he found that although Shen Pearl was weak, he was able to endure hardships, and he was somewhat impressed.
That day, they were resting in Pingliang County. Shen Zhenzhen was busy carrying fodder to feed the horses. Gao Shen felt sorry for her, so he stopped her and said, "You are a noble person, you don't have to do this."
"She's not a noble person, she's just a concubine from the Guangping Palace." Shen Zhenzhu lowered her head slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm afraid I'm dragging you down."
"Nothing."
Gao Shen knew that many imperial soldiers in the team did not like Shen Zhenzhu. It was simply because they thought Prince Zhong and his son had rebelled and refused to save Chang'an. It was not against her.
He was just thinking about how to comfort her, when suddenly, someone shouted outside the post house.
"King Quang Binh is here!"
"So fast?"
Gao Shen couldn't help but think that King Guangping must have followed King Zhong to Lingwu. Being able to arrive at Shuofang at this time showed that he was very well-informed.
Looking back again, Shen Pearl was overjoyed. She threw away the fodder in her hand, picked up the hem of her skirt and ran out.
Along the way, he had never seen her look so happy and excited, as if she had been reborn, and even her flying hair showed a different look.
But he still stopped her, thinking that he could return Lady Shen to King Guangping, as long as King Guangping agreed to a few simple conditions.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Shen. After we have discussed the business, I will ask you to return to King Guangping." Gao Shen stepped forward and said, "Can you trust the general?"
"That's natural, thank you General Gao."
When they went out to greet him, they saw Li Chu dismounting from his horse, talking to Chen Xilie, and walking into the post house.
"I'm here to deliver good news. The saint appointed King Zhong as the governor of Shuofang and led the troops back to the capital for King Qin." Chen Xilie stroked his beard and laughed and asked, "Is King Zhong here? If he comes, , please ask him to come and receive the order."
"My grandpa is recruiting troops in Lingwu." Li Chu looked calm. He must have known the news a long time ago, and said calmly: "I'd like to ask Mr. Chen to go to Lingwu..."
Seeing this scene, Gao guessed Li Chu's thoughts and guessed that they hadn't figured out how to deal with it yet, so they used delaying tactics. After all, whether they accepted the order or not, it was possible that King Zhong would be passive. This must be the reason. The reason why King Guangping specially came to Pingliang to greet the envoy.
Sure enough, after listening to the conversation between Li Chu and Chen Xilie, Li Chu first inquired whether Chang'an could be defended.
If Chang'an falls, many problems will naturally be solved for Li Heng.
Chen Xilie expressed the stability of Chang'an with a smile, and added: "The saint was worried that Prince Fengjie had no one to take care of him outside, so he asked the old minister to bring his biological mother. In addition, the saint also missed the palace people who were separated in Chencang, and did not know his loyalty. Did the king bring them to Shuofang? Now that the situation in the capital is getting calmer, it’s time to take them back to the capital."
In fact, this is not an exchange condition. In Xue Bai's plan, it is more of a declaration. It shows to the world that the saint cares about his children and grandchildren and misses his concubines. It shows that Chang'an is safe, and then shows that the saint is in Chang'an.
Therefore, when Li Chu heard this, his first reaction was to frown slightly.
Gao Shen's eyes were very sharp, and he immediately caught the change in Li Chu's expression, so he turned to look at Shen Zhenzhu, only to see that Shen Zhenzhu was still looking at Li Chu intently, with admiration still on his face.