There is a noodle stall on Beiguan Street in Liangzhou City. There is a bamboo pole sandwiched between two big rocks next to the stall. The flags on the pole are waving in the wind.
A middle-aged man walked by with two horses, looked up at the flags and streamers, and murmured: "Tianhan soup cakes, wow, what a big mouthful."
"Sir, this is a 'big man's soup cake'. The flag is torn. I used Gebu to patch it up, and there is an extra horizontal line. This little man's soup cake is enough for a big man to eat."
The middle-aged man squinted his eyes and looked again, and said, "Here's some soup cake."
He sat on the stall, looked around, and said, "Guanzhong is in turmoil with war. I don't think Hanzhong has much impact?"
"How can it not be affected? This soup cake has increased by two cents per bowl."
The middle-aged man didn't take it seriously and didn't understand what a mere two pennies for an increase in food means to ordinary people. His eyes fell on the young man at the opposite table, he looked at him carefully and said hello.
"Lu Qi, Fan Yang Lu's family, my father stayed in Taiwan to serve as an imperial official, Zhongcheng, Ba Yi. Little brother, I think you should be the imperial emissary?"
"It turns out that he is Lu Zhongcheng's husband. I am disrespectful. Lu Zhongcheng will not surrender until his death. I have great admiration for you."
Lu Qi's eyes showed grief. Seeing that the other party did not deny the identity of the post envoy, he summoned the stall owner again, took the other party's account, and asked: "I see that your horse has a brand, Shimen Post, from the north, I don't know."
Is there any new news in Guanzhong? Alas, the country is in danger, which makes people worried."
"Don't worry, the emperor is guarding the capital and the situation is still stable."
The messenger spoke in a tight tone, and when he spoke, his eyes were still fixed on the government office at the other end of the long street.
There is a high platform in front of the office called "Hantai", which was the foundation of Liu Bang's palace when he was the king of Hanzhong.
Lu Qi followed his gaze and said, "I heard that the person with the highest official position currently stationed in Liangzhou is Cui Yuan, deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiedu. Didn't you give him your postal letter?"
"The official document has been handed over."
"Oh?" Lu Qi asked, "Who are you still looking for?"
"No, no."
While they were talking, the stall owner next to him had already boiled a big pot, put the noodles into the pot, and the steam was rising. Then he opened the big vat with marinated sauce, and the aroma was so fragrant that the hungry refugees in the distance were attracted.
Look straight this way.
Lu Qi sat upright in the gaze of people, calm as usual, but tapped his fingers lightly on his knees, and asked casually: "I also heard a piece of news, saying that the saint... had an accident when he was in Chencang.
Don’t know whether it’s true or not?”
"Of course it's a lie. The saint is still in Chang'an."
When the postman answered, he happened to see a group of people riding horses from the south. He hurriedly raised his hand, picked up the luggage that was always on his knees, stood up, and hurried over with extremely vigorous skills.
When he got close, he handed over a talisman and said softly: "May I ask, who is Tongyi Gao Changshi? There is an urgent letter from Chang'an."
"Who was that person you were talking to?"
"The son of Lu Zhongcheng, the imperial censor who stayed in Taiwan, likes to inquire."
Gao Shi glanced at Lu Qi for the last time. He was not interested in such a person who was keen on power, and led the postman into the Liangzhou Yamen Office.
~~
"Here comes the soup cake!"
"Shop owner, do you know how long those Shu County officials have been here?"
"It's been going on for more than a month."
Lu Qi asked again: "Why don't you go to Guanzhong to serve the king?"
"How do you know this, little man? Ah! Here comes Commander Qu. I just chopped up half a catty of dog meat this morning. I want to honor the handsome man, so I will bring it to him."
Lu Qi turned around and saw that the policeman from Liangzhou City was passing by with his guards, and was holding an old man with white hair and beard in custody. He invited him to have a drink and introduced himself again.
The local officials were not as well-informed as the Imperial Guards in Chang'an. They were much more attentive to Lu Qi, a member of a well-known official family, nodding and bowing, and answering all questions.
"I have also met Cui Jieshuai once. I seem to have heard that the imperial edict he received was not from King Qin of Guanzhong, but to welcome the Holy Emperor. As for the rest, I only know that this month, every quarrel in the government office hall happened.
Also, the army is stationed outside the city and there is not enough food and grass."
Lu Qi said: "But the Holy Master has returned to Chang'an."
"Then I don't know, sir. Oh, sir, does Mr. Wang know what the old guy did that I took today?"
Lu Qi looked around and saw that the old man looked about sixty years old. He was quite dignified. He did not look like an ordinary person. He should be from a famous family. He couldn't help but become confused and asked: "What has he committed?"
"Recruit it yourself!"
"The little old man cheated and got some gold, silver and silk, and he has returned them."
"Cheating? Are you cheating? You pretended to be a saint and committed the capital crime of beheading!"
Lu Qi immediately became interested and took a closer look at the old man. He found that although he was not a saint, his speech and behavior were somewhat majestic.
He also rewarded the handsome man who caught the bad guy with a sling of money, asked the stall owner to bring him tea, and sat there and listened carefully.
It turned out that the old man ran to Ershilipu in the north of the city, knocked on the door of a wealthy family, and claimed to be a saint. On the way from Chang'an to Shu County, he got separated from the escorting soldiers and horses, and ordered the wealthy family to escort him to Shu County.
There were many rewards. That night, the old man ate and drank at the wealthy family's house, and even let a beautiful concubine sleep with him at night. The next day, they set out for Liangzhou City. On the way, the old man made an excuse to go to the toilet and ran away with the gold and silver.
If he ran away like this, the officers couldn't catch him, but he was greedy enough. He ran to deceive another country squire. Unfortunately, that country squire had already heard of similar scams. He called "Your Majesty" secretly.
But he sent someone to report it to the official and captured the old man while he was bathing and changing clothes.
"Are there many scams like this lately?" Lu Qi couldn't help but ask.
"There are a few cases, but this is a serious crime of decapitation, and not many people dare to commit it." Qu Shuaitou said.
Lu Qi turned to the old man again and asked, "How did you come up with this idea?"
"I didn't know that this little old man was guilty of beheading. He really just wants to make a living..."
"How did you come up with this idea?"
"I've also heard about it. I live in Shimen Town. I heard that someone pretended to be a saint and defrauded money. I was confused for a moment."
Lu Qi shook his head and thought, with the rebellion, all kinds of trouble will happen in this world.
After eating soup cakes, he went to visit Cui Yuan. Because he and Cui Yuan actually had a relationship. In their early years, they had both been recommended by Xiao Jiong, who was then Jingzhao Yin. Lu Qi became the legal director of Jingzhao Mansion, and Cui Yuan was Si Xun.
Yuanwailang.
Unfortunately, Lu Qi was later involved in the paper-making case, offended Xue Bai, and abandoned his official position and fled Chang'an. Instead, Cui Yuan attached himself to Yang Guozhong and rose to great power.
On that day, Lu Qi led his horse to the government office, handed in his name card and asked to see Cui Yuan. He said that he was an old friend visiting, and was led into the small hall to sit down. After that, one of Cui Yuan's staff came to receive him.
Lu Qi then chatted with the other party and asked how Cui Yuan became attached to Yang Guozhong.
This matter is a bit strange. It is said that Cui Yuan had a relative, Li Yanyun, who served as the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment in Luoyang. One time, Cui Yuan went to Jianghuai to serve as an official. He passed by Luoyang and lived in the Li Mansion. That night, Li Yanyun dreamed that he was wearing shackles.
, was taken into the government office to await trial. When he looked up, he saw that the senior official in purple robes sitting above him was Cui Yuan. After waking up from the dream, Li Yanyun thought that Cui Yuan would be valuable in the future, so he introduced him to Yang Guozhong...
"Purple robe?" Lu Qi murmured, feeling envious and jealous in his heart.
He knew that the reason why Li Yanyun dreamed that Cui Yuan would be rich in the future was not because of that dream at all, but because Cui Yuan was born in the Qingzhou Fang of the Cui family in Qinghe and had a very prominent family background. Emperor Gaozong's edict prohibiting mutual marriage clearly prohibited each other.
One of the "Ten Families with Seven Surnames" who intermarried, and this edict not only did not weaken the Cui family's influence, but enhanced their status. The reason why Yang Guozhong treated Cui Yuan favorably was because he valued the Cui family's family status.
noble.
While they were talking, another servant came over, called Cui Yuan, and invited Lu Qi to come in.
"Here you go."
Lu Qi stood up with his knees propped up. When he glanced outside the government office, he was stunned for a moment.
He saw an old man in the crowd glance at the government office and then walked away.
"Lu Langjun, what's wrong?"
"It's okay, I was just dazzled for a moment." Lu Qi rubbed his eyes and continued to see Cui Yuan.
For a moment, he stopped.
"Wait for me a moment."
With that said, he strode out of the government office and looked around, looking for the figure he had just seen.
~~
Cui Yuan had just met Gao Shi, and the two had a bad conversation.
After that, he originally planned to see Lu Qi, but for some reason, Lu Qi didn't come right away. Cui Yuan was not in a hurry, rubbing his brows and thinking about the current situation.
He was a member of Yang Guozhong. After the rebels captured Tongguan, he got news from Yang Guozhong and knew that the saint might take refuge in Shu County. Therefore, he prepared troops and horses in advance, built a palace, actively arranged for the arrival, and went to Hanzhong in person
Waiting for the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Emperor did not come, but what came was dazzling news. To put it simply, he now had two choices. One was to believe in the will delivered by Lingwu. The Holy Spirit had passed away and respect the new emperor from now on; the other was to believe in Chang'an.
According to the official document, King Qin sent troops to Guanzhong, which was what Gao Shi had just tried to persuade him to do.
Gao Shi talked a lot about the strategy, the state of the country, and how the situation in the world would improve after the soldiers and horses from Jiannan reached Guanzhong and lifted the siege of Chang'an. However, Gao Shi forgot to mention how Cui Yuan would be like.
First of all, the question before us is that Gao Shi and Xue Bai are close. It is obvious that they belong to the Qingwang family and have guarded Chang'an. There is no need to elaborate on their future. However, Cui Yuan, as an official, is not related to the Qingwang family.
Ripe.
Cui Yuan doesn't care about personal gain. The more important thing in front of him is that if Jiannan's soldiers and horses rush into Guanzhong, can they deal with more than 100,000 brave Fan Yang's cavalry? It's obviously impossible. Acting impulsively will only lead to
Disaster for the country and the people.
The only ones who can compete with Fan Yang Xiaoqi at the moment are the border troops of Anxi and Heshuo.
In addition, Li Heng's decree was also sent, and he was quite complimentary of Cui Yuan. Cui Yuan did write a letter of apology to acknowledge the new emperor. Of course, this was just a statement, and more things are still uncertain.
Thinking of this, Cui Yuan thought of the dream that Li Yanyun had said, saying that sooner or later he would definitely wear a purple robe, and the time to take sides now was the time to make big bets.
"Jie Shuai, Lu Qi is here."
Cui Yuan originally thought that Lu Qi was not coming, but after taking a look, he realized that Lu Qi was half an hour late. He was unhappy in his heart, but it didn't show on his face, and said, "I'll go and greet him personally."
Of course he was not doing it for Lu Qi, but for the sake of his father Lu Yi's face.
"Ziliang, I'm sorry and accept the change."
As soon as they met, Cui Yuan patted Lu Qi on the shoulder and said with great sadness: "I have heard that thieves invaded the Eastern Capital, but Lu Zhongcheng is the only one who is upright and guarding his position. He does not run away and is willing to die to save the country. How loyal and loyal?!"
"Mr. Cui."
Lu Qi wiped his hands and cried as a memorial to his dead grandfather. After that, he hurriedly whispered to Cui Yuan: "I have something very important to tell you."
Cui Yuan originally planned to cry in memory of Lu Yi, but was stunned when he heard this. He led Lu Qi inside, screened away the others, and asked, "What's the matter?"
Lu Qi even moved his hands and feet, pulling his sleeves and walking a few steps inside, and said in a mysterious tone: "Mr. Cui handed over the gift form to Lingwu."
"What do you mean?"
"Please Cui Gong quickly send someone to recover Feng Biao."
Cui Yuan was immediately displeased and said with a sullen face, "Why?"
"The saint is still alive, and the loyal king ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor without permission. How is it different from treason?"
"It turned out to be Prince Qing's lobbyist." Cui Yuan flicked his sleeves and scolded: "If this is the case, there is no need to talk anymore, and I won't send you far away."
"Mr. Cui misunderstood, I was not sent by King Qing."
"Please."
Lu Qi had no choice but to hold onto Cui Yuan's sleeve, leaning over to whisper again.
Cui Yuan didn't expect him to be so rude. While avoiding him, he shouted: "Here comes someone!"
"Master Cui, listen to me, I saw the saint today."
Cui Yuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lu Qi, his eyes gradually solidified, as if he was looking at a fool.
"Mr. Cui, you shouldn't give a favor to King Zhong. Fortunately, this matter can be remedied..."
"You were deceived." Cui Yuan sighed.
Lu Qi was stunned for a moment. Then, the door of the room was banged open, and two guards came in and held him straight.
"Be gentle." Cui Yuan raised his hand and said, "He didn't mean to hurt me. He just met a liar."
"I'm not..."
"I know that those swindlers are very clever at deception." Cui Yuan sighed, "Last time, even I believed it and went to Yangzhou to meet him in person. I was disappointed. In anger, he killed the traitor who dared to pretend to be the emperor.
Beheaded."
Lu Qi was stunned for a moment and said, "No wonder the saint doesn't believe you. Listen to me..."
Suddenly, soldiers rushed over.
"Jie Shuai, that's not good!"
"Why are you panicking?"
"Gao Shi, Yan Wu, Tian Shengong and other generals summoned King Qin's troops without authorization, broke camp and headed north!"
"presumptuous!"
Cui Yuan was furious and shouted: "They don't have military symbols, how can they mobilize their troops?!"
"Gao Shi received the imperial edict, and Yan Wu took Li Jieshuai's military talisman."
"What?"
Cui Yuan opened his mouth and was speechless. He knew that the imperial edict Gao Shi called was from Chang'an, with the seal of Prince Qing's Supervisor and the seal of Zhongshu's family. As for Li Mi, the envoy of Jiannan Festival
Yan Wu must have taken advantage of this period to rush to Shu County to get the military talisman. He had been called the Commander-in-Chief for a long time, and he often forgot that he was just a Deputy Commander-in-Chief.
It's useless to think about this. The important thing is, in the current situation, should we deploy troops to stop Gao Shi and others? The other party has been ordered to go to Guanzhong Qinwang. Once they stop them, what if the situation changes?
Over there, Lu Qi opened his mouth to speak several times, but seeing Cui Yuan's indecision, he gave up.
If some things were told to Cui Yuan now, it would be difficult to guarantee that they would not fall into the ears of King Qing and his family.
~~
The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the blue sky.
The plank road from Hanzhong to Qinchuan is definitely not easy to walk.
Gao Shi was holding a long spear, either horizontally or vertically on his back. In the end, he had to take it off and use it as a crutch.
Sometimes he would look back and see soldiers one after another. The line was so long that there was no end in sight, but in fact there were only five thousand soldiers, and they didn't bring much food and grass. After arriving in Guanzhong, they might not be enough for a month.
This was the fifth day they entered Chencang Road. In the evening, they went down to a river valley and camped for a while.
The leader of the team was Yan Wu. He had the same official position as Gao Shi, but was more talented in military strategy. Gao Shi therefore appointed him as the leader and himself as deputy.
Yan Wu was a very resolute man, with a fierce look in his eyes. He didn't talk much at ordinary times, but he acted vigorously and resolutely. When the news of Chencang came and others were still hesitant in Hanzhong, he rushed back to Shu County decisively to persuade
Li Mi.
But the situation is still not optimistic. The rebels have more than 100,000 elite cavalry, but they only have this small force. Even if they want to bluff and pretend to be Anxi or Shuofang's army, it will be difficult.
"I'm afraid this battle won't be easy to fight." Privately, Gao Shi finally said with emotion.
"As long as Chang'an is still there, we will not be the only ones supporting the army." Yan Wu's voice was hoarse and low as he said, "The harder the battle is, the more meritorious it will be."
"There's something I don't understand." Gao Shi asked, "How did you convince Li Jiedushi?"
Yan Wudao: "I put the knife on his neck."
If someone else said this, Gao Shi would not believe it, but Yan Wu's character has always been extremely domineering, and he killed his father's concubine when he was a child. Such a thing is really possible.
"real?"
"False." Yan Wu said, "For us officials in Jiannan, it is best to wait and see what happens. Like Cui Yuan, his contribution will be indispensable in the end, but what Li Mi is worried about is another matter.
thing."
"What?"
"Tibet."
Gao Shi understood as soon as he heard that a rebellion was developing into full swing. Although Tubo did not know about it for the time being, if the rebellion could not be put down early, Tubo would take advantage of it.
In terms of rebellion alone, it could not stop the fortunes of the Tang Dynasty. But the Tang Dynasty and Tubo were two fierce tigers fighting each other. Once one of them was slightly injured, there was a possibility of being bitten to death by the other one. Li Mi Shen
As the military envoy to Jiannan, I had to consider this aspect and sent five thousand troops north to Guanzhong. If I could save Chang'an, I would have done a great job and put an end to the rebellion as soon as possible. If I couldn't, I would do my best.
After talking for a while, Gao Shi took out a flag and sewed it up himself.
What he wanted to sew was the battle flag of Shuofang's army. This expedition was so urgent that he had not prepared these in advance and had to prepare them on the road.
"Would you still do this?"
"When I was young, my family was poor and I had to do everything myself."
"General!" Suddenly a soldier strode over and said, "We found a stone carving over there. General, please go over and have a look."
…
It is said that it is a stone carving, but in fact, someone used the blood of prey to write a text on the stone. Some charcoal and leftover bones were also found beside the stone.
Gao Shi didn't care about this trivial matter at first, but seeing Yan Wu squatting there and looking at it seriously, he couldn't help but ask: "What is written on it?"
"Look."
Gao Shi then leaned over and looked at it, and was stunned at the first sight, because the first sentence on it was "I have been ordered by heaven to reign as emperor for forty-two years."
Some of the words on the stone have been washed away, dried and unrecognizable, but the general content can still be seen. Someone recounted the story of the mutiny in Chencang in the voice of the emperor. He mentioned the king of Qing, Li Cong, the loyal king, Li Heng, and Xue.
Anyone waiting in vain is a traitor.
"this……"
"It's fake. It's no wonder that many people in Hanzhong have dared to pretend to be saints recently and cheat."
As Yan Wu spoke, he stepped on the stone with the sole of his boot and pushed hard, pushing the stone into the stream.
Gao Shi quickly understood that the rebels pointed out on the stone were the key figures currently organizing the counter-rebellion in the Qinling Mountains. If they were all labeled as rebels, the Tang Dynasty would probably lose half of its territory like the Western Jin Dynasty.
~~
Outside Chang'an City.
Cui Qianyou felt very confused.
He thought that with the news of Li Heng proclaiming himself emperor, Chang'an City would be shaken and would collapse without attacking. But instead, he suffered a small setback, and after that, there was no more civil strife in Chang'an City.
"That's not right. The less food the Tang army has, the less they should stand together like this."
"Yes." Tian Chengsi was also surprised and said, "There is no news from the spy I installed in the city."
Although their soldiers and horses are brave, they are not without pressure.
The current situation of the entire Dayan is that it is unfavorable to advance westward, and it is not smooth to advance eastward. Not only did the city of Chang'an fail to be captured, but the soldiers and horses sent by An Qingxu to the east were also blocked in Yongqiu and could not advance. In other words, once they encountered a famous general, , the weakness of the Saibei cavalry that was not good at attacking cities was exposed, which resulted in them having nowhere to plunder and lack of food and grass.
At the same time, Li Heng proclaimed himself emperor in Lingwu and was obviously gathering troops to prepare for a counterattack against the rebels.
There was actually not much time left for Cui Qianyou to take Chang'an City. An Qingxu had already made plans to retreat to Fan Yang, and issued several orders to urge him.
From a certain point of view, An Qingxu's idea is correct. As long as the base is there and the troops are there, temporarily abandoning the Heluo area that has been completely plundered, and come back later, the harvest may be greater.
Cui Qianyou didn't want to be a bandit who only knew how to invade. The only reason he could persuade An Qingxu to continue attacking Chang'an was that the Li family was fighting internally, and Li Heng accused Li Cong of regicide. This was a golden opportunity to take Chang'an.
He always believed that winning Chang'an was equivalent to winning the Tang Dynasty.
Tian Chengsi's eyes once again fell on the strategic map sent by Bian Lingcheng, and he pondered: "Tell me, is this fake?"
"It doesn't look like it. If there were no reinforcements, what would they be doing guarding Chang'an?"
While they were discussing, a sentry horse suddenly arrived.
"Report!"
"General, another sentinel of Shuofang Army was discovered in the west of Chang'an City!"
Cui Qianyou asked: "How many people?"
"Not many, just a few dozen riders. However, the general has some doubts..."
"explain!"
"The general noticed that the defenders at the top of Chang'an City cheered when they saw the flag of Shuofang's army."
This matter is a bit strange. Even if Li Heng wants to send Shuofang's army to relieve the siege of Chang'an, the regicide rebellion in the city should not be cheered.
Cui Qianyou couldn't figure it out, so he simply rode out of the camp himself.
He rode to the west of Chang'an City. From a distance, he saw smoke billowing by the Zao River. Dozens of knights under the banner of Shuofang Army tried to break out and rushed to Chang'an City. The Yan Army's cavalry tried to shoot them.
Shuofang's cavalry retreated as soon as they saw it, and then came back again when the Yan army's cavalry returned to camp.
Cui Qianyou raised his head and looked towards the top of the city.
His eyesight was very good, and he could see some officials in purple and red robes who had climbed to the top of the city and looked into the distance. From their body movements, Cui Qianyou could feel their joy.
It seemed that the previous internal fighting in the Li family was not as intense as he had previously thought.
Therefore, the Yan army sent the sentry horses farther away. After a few days, the sentry horses reported back and discovered the advance direction of Shuofang's vanguard in Qifeng.
“I can’t wait to come.”
"They are one family after all, can they still watch us take over Chang'an?"
Tian Chengsi pointed to the strategic map and said: "Perhaps the Tang army is pretending to be at odds and wants to sneak attack us."
Cui Ganyou pondered and said: "No matter what, we can't be led away. We just need to think about one thing clearly - should we continue to attack and defend with the Tang army, or fight in the field?"
"You mean... march westward and attack them secretly?"