Li Longji often dreams about Xue Bai recently. Although he fled to Shu County, he still can't do without opera, poetry, dominoes, and cooking. Whenever the day's entertainment is over, in the dead of night, he always thinks about what Xue Bai seems to be like.
She ran to his royal couch and had a wonderful time with the beauties he raised.
How can you be so humiliated by a child in your old age if you have been a man of great talent and strategy throughout your life?
This idea supported his old body, cheered him up, and determined to work hard. Sooner or later, he would lead an army into Chang'an, wipe out the rebellion, and restore his past glory...
"Your Majesty, this is not good!"
The eunuch's eager footsteps disturbed the quiet night, and the palace door was pushed open, and the wind carried the distant screams.
Li Longji, who had experienced many upheavals in his life, was very experienced. He immediately realized that there was another rebellion. He stood up and angrily shouted: "Did Xue Ni send someone here?"
"I heard it was civil unrest in Yizhou."
Li Longji didn't believe it, so he went up to the Xuanying Tower in the palace to observe the formation.
Xuanying Tower is a new tall building in the palace. It was built on Fenghuang Mountain. It can overlook the scenery of Fujiang and Jincheng. More importantly, it can see the intruder's rebellion as early as possible. It can be seen that decades of power struggle have made Li
Longji had already anticipated today's disaster.
He climbed up the tower and looked out, and could see thousands of rebel soldiers fighting out of Yizhou City, holding open fire, and soon surrounded the palace.
At the same time, the escorting civil and military officials and generals also arrived. Cui Yuan and Lu Qi were young and strong. They ran to Li Longji faster than other courtiers and protected Li Longji nervously.
"I am waiting for the escort to arrive late. Please forgive me for my fault, the Supreme Emperor."
Others came later than them. If even they were to be found guilty, then the others deserved death. It was impossible for Li Longji to launch an attack on his ministers at this time, so he said: "I will grant you no guilt.
Get up and talk about how to defeat thieves."
Lu Qi had already known the cause and effect, and knew that his policies had forced some Yizhou soldiers and civilians to rebel. Hearing this sentence of acquitting him, he ignored the reason for the rebellion and said: "I thought the reason for these soldiers and civilians was
On the contrary, they were deceived by others and made angry for a moment. The Supreme Emperor only needs to issue an edict to remind them to return from their lost ways, pardon their innocence, and reward them with property, and then they can be appeased."
Seeing that the battle was making a big fuss and fearing that it would threaten his own safety, Li Longji agreed to what Lu Qi said and ordered him to recruit the rebels. Lu Qi quickly arranged for Wei Dubin and others to make a promise to Guo Qianren.
At this time, Wei Jiansu, Zhang Bian and other ministers arrived.
"Your Majesty, I believe that this rebellion must not be ordered to surrender, and we can only resolutely suppress the rebellion!" When Wei Jiansu saw that Lu Qi had sent people to surrender, he immediately bowed down and said, "The Emperor's favor to Shu is actually to raise food, money and military supplies.
In order to pacify the rebels, uninformed people misrepresented it in order to avoid disaster. If we encourage rebellion now, it will definitely damage the heavenly power of the Supreme Emperor and the national power of the Tang Dynasty."
"I second my opinion, only by killing the leader of the thieves can we serve as a warning to others."
After hearing what they said, Li Longji thought it made sense, so he asked Lu Qi to recruit Wei Dubin back first.
However, with the momentum that shook the sky, the rebels actually entered the palace and came to kill Xuanying Tower. The palace gate guard rushed over, strode up to the tower and fell down in front of Li Longji, saying: "I am guilty, the newly recruited
The troops are unable to fight, so I ask the Supreme Emperor to retreat temporarily..."
"Where is the Hunjun!"
Suddenly, the report was interrupted by shouts. It was the newly recruited Forbidden Army who were leading the way for the rebels. Soon, the rebels were surrounding Xuanying Tower.
"Whoosh."
From a long distance away, an arrow hit the railing of Xuanying Tower. Then a man of ordinary stature strode in and shouted: "The traitor to the Tang Dynasty, Yizhou soldier Jia Xiu, is a fool."
Die!"
He was originally an unknown person, but with this shout, his name will be passed down. It can only be said that "In prosperous times, one needs to survive, but in troubled times, one can only leave his name."
At this time, Princess Ning, accompanied by Zhang Bian, was driving beside Li Longji. Seeing that the arrow was still trembling on the railing, she was so frightened that she quickly pushed Zhang Bian and said: "Prince-in-law, protect my father and I."
Me."
Zhang Bian neither wanted to take risks nor seek the limelight, so he stood quietly beside him and quickly grabbed his wife.
Princess Ningqin continued: "My consort, you are both civil and military, and this is the opportunity to make achievements."
Following her words, everyone looked over. Li Longji's eyes also showed a look of relief, saying: "Back then, I wanted to make my virtuous son-in-law the prime minister, but Yang Guozhong made a mistake. Today, I can let all officials see it."
A prince-in-law is capable."
When things got to such a point, Zhang Bian had no choice but to go out in line and follow the order to repel the rebels.
Fortunately, he came from Lingwu as an envoy, and he brought many people with him. Among them was his servant Zhang Yin, who was a strong man who had been worshiped by the Zhang family for many years and was very brave. In order to repay the great kindness of the Zhang family for many years, Zhang Yin and his people
He rushed to the front to set an example for the Imperial Army and boost their morale, and soon joined forces with Jia Xiu.
At this time, all the dignitaries were standing around Xuanying Tower. Everyone was waiting with bated breath, watching a few little people fighting to the death with the soldiers to decide their fate and the fate of the Tang Dynasty.
"Jia Xiu, I'm here to help you! Hunjun is here to take your life!"
Finally, Guo Qianren arrived and immediately provided support.
When Zhang Yin saw this, he roared and slashed with his sword, killing Jia Xiu before Guo Qianren could reach him.
"The imperial lackey should die!"
Guo Qianren was furious and led his troops to kill Zhang Yin.
Seeing that his loyal servant was dead, Zhang Bian did not dare to stay any longer and quickly retreated. He was very conspicuous in the crowd because of his purple clothes. Guo Qianren immediately raised his knife and slashed at him. He ordered the high official not to leave. The rebels fired a hail of arrows at him.
.
In the chaos, Zhang Bian was hit by an arrow in the thigh. In pain, he felt that the biggest mistake he had done in his life was to marry Princess Ningqin.
"Consort! Quick, take the consort away."
However, it was his noble status as Prince Consort that caused the Imperial Guards to swarm over and protect him as he retreated to Xuanying Tower.
At this time, Chen Xuanli had arrived and sent his troops to kill the rebels. The rebels were originally a mob, that is, they rose up suddenly and caught the officers and soldiers by surprise before they could kill the marching palace. As soon as the regular officers and soldiers arrived, they were quickly defeated.
.
A rebellion was quickly put down. However, shouts were heard from afar.
"The treasury is open!"
~~
The palace was brightly lit.
While Chen Xuanli was busy rescuing the driver, he inevitably neglected to guard the treasury and internal funds. Few of the rebel rabble dared to fight to the death with the Supreme Emperor, and more people ran to plunder and gained a lot.
Taking advantage of the imperial guards escorting them, they held gold and silver jewelry in their hands and hung agate and jade stones around their necks, and rushed out of the palace with cheers. The Jiannan soldiers who were guarding outside rushed to support them. When they saw this, they robbed the rebels one after another.
The scene was chaotic.
On the other hand, many Jiannan soldiers saw that the Supreme Emperor Xing Shu had gathered so many treasures in such a short period of time, and their dissatisfaction quickly spread.
"The government army has so much money, why are they withholding our rewards?!"
"The Imperial Army's soldiers' pay is so much higher than ours? The imperial court has money, but it keeps saying it doesn't have it..."
In fact, Li Longji not only wanted to reward officials, grant imperial troops, win over people's hearts, guard against Tibet, and prepare to pacify Guanzhong, but he also maintained his usual luxurious life. The expenses were indeed stretched and he was very short of money.
It can only be said that these ordinary soldiers had never seen the big scene, and when they saw the money in the treasury that could make them rich for a lifetime, they mistakenly thought that the Supreme Emperor was extremely rich.
In the past, some generals were corrupt and gave out less money and food, or the Forbidden Army was treated better than the Jiannan Army, but everyone tolerated it. But today, when I see it, I feel sad.
This may be the biggest impact of the Guo Qianren Rebellion.
Guo Qianren led the remaining defeated soldiers to escape from the palace. Hearing the sound of horse hooves behind him, he felt anxious and had to consider what to do next.
He realized that he was just a small person. In anger, he engaged in rebellion. However, he would definitely not be able to overthrow the Tang Dynasty and become emperor. He had neither the talent nor the prestige. Even if he won tonight
If you wait until the officers and soldiers from all over the country return to help, you will definitely die.
But when things have reached this point, there is definitely no turning back. Surrendering will lead to death.
After thinking about it, Guo Qianren found that he had only three ways to survive.
The first is to go west and join Tubo. This is the best way. Tubo will definitely give him a way out as a high-ranking official. However, although he is just an ordinary person, he still has righteousness and bottom line. If he thinks of leading the Tubo people to invade Yizhou in the future,
He was ashamed of his fellow villagers, so he immediately shook his head and gave up the thought; secondly, he went north to join Shi Siming, but the journey was too far, and leaving his hometown was really not what he wanted; thirdly, he entered the mountains to the west and fell into the trap of bandits.
, I hid in the mountain den and never came out. It was a pity that I could no longer play dominoes with my old friends...
"Flee westward!"
He did not want to go to Guanzhong to join Xue Ni. Perhaps deep down in his heart, he felt that the Chang'an court was more orthodox to the Tang Dynasty than the Supreme Emperor. But now he has rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.
The team went all the way to the west, and gradually, they could see thousands of mountains in front of them.
In the forest, a small group of men and horses suddenly shot out diagonally, which startled Guo Qianren. However, the next moment, the opponent actually charged towards the Tang army and responded to them.
"There's an ambush!"
The generals of the Tang army who were chasing Guo Qianren were frightened and stopped quickly.
Guo Qianren did not dare to stay for a long time, and ignored the reinforcements, leading the remaining soldiers directly into the valley.
After finally getting rid of the pursuers, they stopped their horses to rest. Not long after, someone came to report: "General, someone has come to join us!"
"Who is it?"
"The villain doesn't know."
"Then you knew you were here to join us?"
"Isn't that what the story says? When Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty raised an issue, celebrities came to vote for him one after another."
What came was a tall man with a rough and fierce face, like a general, full of murderous intent, much more majestic than Guo Qianren.
As soon as they met, the visitor asked: "The general raised his troops to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and drove away the overlord. What are your plans for the future?"
"Go to the West Mountain and settle down." Guo Qianren replied.
"Haha, I thought you were motivated."
This person was none other than Jiang Hai. He did not expect that the young Yizhou general in front of him would do something that he had not been able to accomplish despite all his hard planning and careful planning.
It can only be said that things that happen naturally in the world are more aberrant and more absurd than premeditation.
Being alarmed by Guo Qianren, Li Longji must mobilize more troops for defense. Jiang Hai's original plan became even more difficult to implement. On the one hand, he sent people to notify Yan Wu to come as soon as possible. On the other hand, he also planned to recruit Guo Qianren's troops.
Centaur.
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"It's great for you to raise troops to start a war, but now if the soldiers and horses in Zhezhou and Jingzhou to defend against Tibet return, what will you do?" Jiang Hai said, "Winter is coming soon, and you have neither food nor a place to stay.
What should I do?”
Guo Qianren was laughed at, but he was not angry. Instead, he asked sincerely, "May I ask Mr. Ming how to make progress?"
~~
The palace is heavily guarded and is even more difficult to attack.
After the incident, the waiting officials gathered outside the palace gate in twos and threes, discussing something.
"Lu Qi has harmed the country and must not stay."
Wei Jiansu said loudly and resoundingly: "I would like to report to Your Majesty that I will banish you to Lu Qi. Would you like to join me in making a speech?"
Zhang Bian was injured on his leg, and his face was a little pale due to blood loss. Regardless of his injury, he came to discuss with Wei Jiansu, intending to get rid of Lu Qi. He immediately responded: "The mutiny was all caused by traitors, and we should get rid of them."
.”
Also discussing with them was Chen Xuanli, who had just put down the rebellion. He didn't say much and just nodded.
The matter was thus settled.
When the three of them were in Chang'an, they fought against Li Linfu, Wang Zhi, and at worst, traitors like Yang Guozhong. Lu Qi was young and inexperienced, and how could he be their opponent when he suddenly rose to a high position?
Especially Zhang Bian, who was injured this time, thought that he should become the prime minister and take charge of the government anyway.
At the same time, someone was watching the scene of their discussion from a distance, and then reported it to Lu Qi, who was more prepared to meet in person.
This is the strength of Lu Qi in uniting the party and combating dissidents. Earlier, when his colleagues were still paying attention to other important matters, he had already arranged informants in advance to eliminate dissidents.
Lu Qi was shocked when he heard the news. After that, he rolled his eyes, straightened his clothes, and calmly went to see Li Longji.
"Your Majesty, Guo Qianren was met by an ambush and left."
Li Longji's face darkened, showing anger, and said: "Can a Yizhou city gate garrison have such momentum?"
Lu Qi said: "I thought that Guo Qianren might have colluded with Xue Bai or the Tubo people, otherwise how could he dare to commit such a treasonous crime? I originally thought that he would go north after his defeat, but now he is returning to the west. I want to come to this thieves
He defected to Tubo."
After making noise all night, Li Longji was tired. After all, he was at his age and liked ministers like Li Linfu who could take charge of their own affairs. He also had such high hopes for Lu Qi and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"
"Tubo had previously sent envoys to ask for an alliance, saying that they would help the Tang Dynasty pacify Anlu Mountain, but the court suspected it was fraud and refused." Lu Qi said, "Now the Supreme Emperor has defeated Guo Qianren, a Tubo spy, and sent troops to defend Zhe.
Jingtang Prefecture. The so-called combination of kindness and power. Since the Supreme Emperor has shown his power, why not send a minister to Tubo? It will not waste troops, money and food, and solve a major problem. In this way, we can concentrate on pacifying Guanzhong."
After hearing this, Li Longji felt that it made sense.
His thoughts were all on Chang'an. It would be best if he could postpone the border conflict without spending a single soldier. He then asked: "Who do you think you will send there?"
Lu Qi said: "I am willing to go!"
His attitude was very firm, and he expressed his determination to die for Li Longji. However, he made a great contribution to saving Hanzhong, and Li Longji did not want him to take risks. He shook his head and said: "How can I send you there?"
?”
"This matter is of great importance, so we must send an important minister, preferably the prime minister. Is it because he has poor appearance and is too young to show the prestige of the Tang Dynasty?"
When Lu Qi said this, his opinion was very clear. Wei Jiansu was the prime minister, and he was handsome and elegant.
"It's appropriate to shoot Wei Pu..."
"Just send Wei Jiansu." Li Longji quickly made a decision.
Lu Qi rolled his eyes and narrated casually as if he had accidentally remembered: "Looking at Prince Consort today, all the loyal servants in the family are extremely brave."
Li Longji immediately narrowed his eyes, flashing a hint of fear.
He had always been suspicious of Zhang Bian, the prince-in-law, and now he even thought of Zhang Bian's protection of Xue Bai.
…
When Wei Jiansu, Zhang Bian and others came to see him, they saw Lu Qi standing aside.
They were confident in their hearts, but glanced at the young man briefly, and were about to demote him to a remote place in the south for a few years of training, but the Supreme Emperor spoke first.
"I intend to send Wei Qing as an envoy to Tibet. What do you think?"
Wei Jiansu was stunned. Before responding, he unconsciously glanced at Lu Qi again. This time, he was in a daze, feeling as if he had seen Li Linfu again.
Everything seems to have changed. The saint survived the chaos and became the Supreme Emperor. Everything seems to have remained the same. The emperor's heart is still the emperor's heart, and the prime minister is still the same prime minister who is good at amassing money and who agrees with party members and opposes differences.
As soon as they met, Wei Jiansu and Zhang Bian realized that they had lost. They had never won before.
~~
A few days later, Wei Jiansu led a group of envoys to the west. Among the mountains, another group of people was heading east.
The loyal ministers disappeared on the winding ancient road in the mountains with the setting sun, while the rebellious ministers and traitors climbed to the east mountain and once again overlooked the palace of Shu County.
Yan Wu's face was full of dust. He held up the telescope and observed for a long time, but he didn't know what he was thinking.
"Why did you bring so few people back?" Jiang Hai asked.
"When doing this kind of thing, if there are too many people, it will be easy to leak the news." Yan Wu said, "And the Tibetans invaded in large numbers, so Zhezhou's precautions cannot be neglected. I pretended to be injured, handed over the soldiers and horses to Wang Tianyun, and quietly retreated.
"
"Be cautious." Jiang Hai said: "But the palace is not easy to attack by force. Guo Qianren has already tried it once, and it was a surprise."
"No."
Yan Wu took the information sent by Tan Ma, looked at it for a while, and said, "Someone is helping us."
"who?"
Yan Wu quickly took action. He asked Guo Qianren to provoke the officers and soldiers, and then retreated into the mountains.
The Forbidden Army had the responsibility of guarding the Supreme Emperor and could not pursue them. As expected, Li Longji ordered Cui Yuan to send the generals of the Jiannan Army into the mountains to fight against the traitors. Guo Qianren was familiar with the terrain and had gone into hiding long ago. The Jiannan Army could not find these traitors, so they had to
He went back to report that the rebels had fled. But at this time, Guo Qianren sent out troops again, ready to attack the palace at any time.
Many generals of the Jiannan Army were punished for this. After two or three attempts, Cui Yuan ordered the Jiannan Army to extend the defense line far away to ensure the safety of the palace.
Previously, the palace treasury was robbed, and the soldiers' pay and rewards were insufficient. The Jiannan Army saw that the Imperial Guards guarding the palace were free and receiving generous salaries. Then look at their own army. Not to mention guarding the border and fighting against Tibet for many years, they also traveled thousands of miles south to conquer Nanzhao.
, made great military exploits, but exchanged their lives for only meager military pay, which inevitably caused complaints.
On that day, Cui Yuan once again urged to send troops to attack Guo Qianren, but the generals were unmoved and gathered together to discuss endlessly.
"Have you heard? The prince-in-law Zhang Bian performed a great service in protecting the emperor, and was even injured. But instead of receiving a reward, the Supreme Emperor also exempted Zhang Bian from Tongping Zhang."
"The Supreme Emperor is accustomed to trusting the villain Lu Qi, who has no way of speaking. How is it different from when he trusted Li Linfu?"
"Although Guo Qianren rebelled, he was forced by Lu Qi to make money. Rather than letting us fight against Guo Qianren, it is better to fight against Lu Qi."
"Hush, that means Mr. Qing is betraying you. Do you want to rebel?"
At this time, one of the captain's eyes flashed, he hesitated for a moment, and said: "You generals and villains have something to say..."
"explain."
"Have you forgotten, generals? King Qing has ascended the throne in Chang'an and brought stability to Guanzhong. He is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. And it was King Yong who assisted the emperor in conquering Hu Ni in the east and King Zhong in the west. He put down the rebellion in Nanzhao that year.
Although the Jiannan Army belongs to Xianyu Jiedu, it can be regarded as having made military exploits with King Yong. It can be called the 'old army'."
When they heard the word "old department", everyone's eyes lit up, and the captain's voice suddenly became infectious.
"The Supreme Emperor is old. He first believed in An Lushan and then in Lu Qi. Why don't we protect the Supreme Emperor when he returns to Chang'an and pay homage to all the previous emperors? To calm the hearts of the people and do great service to the emperor, this is loyalty; to reunite the father and son of the Tian family, this is loyalty.
Filial piety; recounting old friendships with King Yong and helping him pacify Hu Ni, this is integrity; giving rewards to soldiers, lovingly supporting parents, wives and children, this is righteousness. Loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness are all, isn't it better than being bullied by traitors and sycophants?"
"good!"
Immediately, someone jumped up and shouted: "The country is in such trouble, how can we take refuge in Shu? We should return to the capital in the honor of the Supreme Emperor and attack the rebellious officials and traitors!"
"Done!"
There were many reckless men in the army, not to mention the depression that had been weighing on their hearts for many days. Thousands of people soon gathered and rushed to the palace regardless, intending to rebel in the name of escorting the Supreme Emperor.
After the people neighed, the sound of horse hooves roared, and even the captain who spoke timidly was shocked. He himself did not expect that his words would cause such a situation, so he quickly flew west to report to Yan Wu.
Yan Wu was also shocked when he heard the news, fearing that these Jiannan troops would hurt Li Longji in anger. If so, the righteousness of the Emperor of Chang'an and King Yong would be seriously damaged, which would be very detrimental to the overall situation.
"Quick! Follow me to escort you!"
Yan Wu immediately got on his horse, gathered his troops, and rushed to the palace.
His behavior seemed upright and awe-inspiring, as if he was extremely loyal to the Supreme Emperor. Jiang Hai grinned when he heard this, secretly thinking that in this way, the nominal problem that Lang Jun was most worried about could be solved.
"Let's go! Escort!"
Guo Qianren was stunned for a moment, picked up Tang Jun's helmet and put it on, and immediately shouted: "Protect!"
~~
"Your Majesty, this is not good!"
Hearing such exclamations again, Li Longji stopped playing the drum in his hand and asked impatiently: "What happened again?"
"Back to the Supreme Emperor, there was a rebellion... This time it was the Jiannan Army who rebelled."
Li Longji's hands on the drum couldn't help but tighten, feeling a little angry. He was angry that God always liked to give him, the emperor, setbacks.
"Summon Chen Xuanli here. I want to see why the Jiannan Army rebelled."
With that said, he stood up and walked towards Xuanying Tower again. Before he arrived, he could already hear shouts of "The Emperor is returning to the capital" coming from far outside the palace.
"Guard you!" the imperial guards guarding the palace gate shouted one after another.
Soon, the Jiannan troops who came over shouted loudly: "We are here to protect you!"
Suddenly, the word "Guard" was heard all over the sky, and when it fell in Li Longji's ears, he felt even more terrifying.