Sometimes, when Xue Bai faced Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Yan Zhenqing, Yan Gaoqing, Zhang Xun and others, he would think of what Yuan Zai said to remind him to take advantage of the war to gain more private power.
The reason why these people are temporarily willing to obey Xue Bai is because they believe he is Li Qian, and because the current chaotic situation makes it unsuitable for internal fighting within Datang. But in fact, they are loyal to Datang, which will inevitably bring some
Constraints.
"Zhang Xun wrote me a reply."
Xue Bai put Zhang Xun's letter on the desk and said, "He thinks that Li Zhi is mature and prudent and is a clan minister worthy of being entrusted. He advises me not to replace him on the spot."
Yan Zhenqing said: "This is the advice of an old man to seek the country. Even if you ask the Supreme Emperor to issue an edict to replace Li Zhi, others will think that you are selfish and take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents. Shi Siming has already reached the Yellow River, so you must not act like this now."
"I can't replace him either."
Xue Bai knew that he did not have the power yet.
He is now King Yong, the Grand Marshal of the world's troops. The Grand Marshal sounds very powerful. The only people who have held this position are the princes and grandsons, and they are all temporary positions. The actual commander is the deputy marshal. He took advantage of the Anshi Rebellion.
Through personal means, he controlled part of the military power in this name.
As for the handling of government affairs and the appointment of officials, Xue Bai often did it through his party members. For example, Yan Zhenqing was the prime minister, Yuan Zai was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Du Youlin was his decoration in the Ministry of Personnel.
Well, Xue Bai's current power was not enough to control local officials. So he deliberately asked Nan Jiyun to get rid of Helan Jinming in a seemingly unexpected way.
This kind of thing can never happen again. Since He Lan Jinming was killed, it was time to win over Li Zhi more.
Hitting one and pulling another is the correct rhythm to eliminate dissidents.
"Then issue an edict to appease Li Zhi and ask him to fight the enemy wholeheartedly and not let the rebels cross the Yellow River."
"good."
Yan Zhenqing then picked up his pen and wrote a memorial in his majestic and regular handwriting, preparing to submit it to Li Cong.
They discussed political affairs, submitted memorials, approved by the emperor, and conveyed to the secretary. This was a process they were very accustomed to. Even honest and loyal Yan Zhenqing gradually adapted to this feeling of having great power.
Xue Bai looked at the rows of beautiful Yan Kai and thought, if one day Li Cong vetoes Yan Zhenqing's memorial, can Yan Zhenqing accept losing this power calmly?
He knew that one day, Li Cong would eventually be unable to resist seizing power.
But right now, the most important thing for Xue Bai is to defeat Shi Siming and truly achieve "the most important thing".
~~
Two days later, Xue Bai finally received a letter from Huainan, and it was from an old friend, which made him feel like "the war rages on for three months, and a letter from home is worth ten thousand gold."
When you unfold the letter, you will see a little poem.
"Thousands of barriers have been blocked, when will the year of return come?"
Xue Bai couldn't help but smile when he saw this poem. Although the artistic conception of this poem is desolate and sad, it was written by Li Bai.
After Li Bai asked him when the year of return would be, he dared to answer that he hoped it would be next year.
Next year will be the second year of Yingshun and the fourteenth year of Tianbao. He hopes that the Anshi Rebellion can be completely subsided and Li Bai can return to Chang'an to sing during the day and keep his youth company.
Thinking of this, Xue Bai also thought of Du Fu. But there were too many things to do, so he withdrew his mind and focused on reading the contents of Li Bai's letter.
Li Bai has followed Li Xuan, the prefect of Guangling, to escort 70,000 shi of grain to Suiyang.
It turned out that they had already arrived in Bozhou, but Helan Jinming sent people to take over the food and grass they had brought, and refused to allow their men to cross the border on the grounds of chaos and danger in the north. Li Xi refused and stopped to inquire about the news. He met someone in the south.
Jiyun was furious about killing Helan Jinming, so he entered Ningling and temporarily calmed the situation.
Xue Bai's original intention was to let Zhang Xun take over the two states of Bian and Song Dynasties temporarily, but he did not expect that Li Long would come. Li Long was also a member of the royal family, and was the successor of Li Ke, the king of Wu. He was the nephew of Li Yi, the king of Wu, and the eldest son of Li Yi, the king of Xin'an County.
In short, the uncle and nephew came together to the front line of the Yellow River.
Fortunately, Li Ao appreciated Nan Jiyun quite a lot and did not make things difficult for him.
Li Bai praised Nan Jiyun's chivalrous style of "killing one person in ten steps" in his letter, and used his relationship with Xue Bai to intercede for him.
Xue Bai could imagine that Li Bai patted Nan Jiyun on the shoulder and said with a loud smile: "Hahaha, it's okay. Sanlang and I are old acquaintances, so I will edit a letter for you."
Nan Jiyun had no idea who ordered him to kill Helan Jinming.
Finally, Li Bai also mentioned in the letter what he had experienced in Yangzhou this year, mainly talking about his family. His wife Zong, Yan Yan and others were placed in a very safe place in Dongguan, Yangzhou, and they all looked forward to it.
If Shi Siming is pacified and the rebellion ends, he can return to Chang'an.
Xue Bai looked at the envelope again and saw letters from Yan Yan and Qing Lan. Although they usually received letters, they still had to have someone bring letters to him whenever they had the chance.
The beautiful and clumsy handwriting caught his eye, and Xue Bai inevitably became a little anxious, hoping to clear up the mess as soon as possible and take his wife back to Chang'an.
But it's not possible now. Shi Siming may cross the Yellow River at any time.
~~
This time when he returned to Chang'an, Xue Bai had another habit.
He converted a house next to the Marshal's Mansion into a Taoist temple. Whenever he had time every day, he would go to the Taoist temple, staying at least half an hour, sometimes several hours, and even spending the night in the Taoist temple.
Others said that King Yong took the opportunity to place Li Linfu's daughter in this Taoist temple to have sex secretly.
But in fact, after Li Tengkong returned to Chang'an, he still lived with Li Jilan in Yuzhen Temple. Xue Bai saw another Taoist priest every day.
"Let me show you."
A map was unfolded. Xue Bai rubbed his hands with some excitement, pressed a corner of the map with a war chess, and said, "Let's see if you can guess my strategic intention."
"I no longer care about worldly matters, why don't you let me return to the mountains and forests?"
"Guess it." Xue Bai said, "I can't let you go anyway. If you are idle, you will be idle."
Li Bi said: "I have been thinking recently that the story you told about the Song Dynasty was not a metaphor for the Jin Dynasty."
"oh?"
"Is that what you think about the next dynasty after the fall of the Tang Dynasty?"
Xue Bai asked: "Why do you guess so?"
"Khitan." Li Bi said, "You are not talking about the Xiongnu or Xianbei, but the Khitan. The Khitan is still weak today, so there is a possibility of establishing a country as the Liao Dynasty? Where did the Jurchen come from?"
"It's a long story." Xue Bai said: "If we can't deal with the rebels well, in the future the military governors will not be able to lose their tails, and there is no guarantee that no one will cede the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to borrow troops from the Khitan. You see, betraying the country.
Li Heng started to seek personal gain, how can Datang be better off?"
Whenever Li Mi heard Xue Bai slandering Li Heng like this, he remained silent.
"What if Tubo were allowed to control the Hexi Corridor again, and Tang Dynasty would lose Anxi and Beiting, wouldn't the territory only be so large?"
Xue Bai finally attracted Li Mi's attention to his map. He drew a circle with his finger and said: "This is the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty that I deduced... Of course, the novelist's words cannot be trusted and are just fabricated."
Li Mi's face remained calm, but he couldn't help but raised his hand and pointed on the map a few times.
"Going further, if we lose the counties east of Hebei and Hebei, we will be unable to contain the grassland tribes, lose the land for horse herding, lose the danger of the Great Wall, lose the barriers of Yanshan and Taihang Mountains, and sooner or later we will lose the Central Plains."
"So, I told you the story of the Song Dynasty's journey to the south."
"A random fabrication?"
"I made it up with my heart." Xue Bai said, "Okay, let's stop talking. Guess how I plan to pacify Shi Siming? Complete the chaos of Ping An Shi."
He emphasized his tone and added the following sentence. This was very important, otherwise he would subconsciously think that it was easy to pacify Shi Siming, and that this person had been pacified in the original history. But in fact it was not, it was just appeasement.
Xue Bai had no intention of appeasement.
Li Mi could feel this determination in his eyes.
So, Li Mi casually clicked on a place on the map and said quietly: "Really?"
"As expected of Brother Changyuan." Xue Bai asked, "Do you think it's feasible?"
"Who are you sending?"
"Who else can it be?" Xue Bai said: "Of course he is the general who is best at running thousands of miles."
Li Mi nodded, moved his eyes to the line of the Yellow River on the map, and muttered: "The premise is that Chang'an must be defended and not retreat."
Xue Bai asked: "Do you find it difficult?"
Li Mi asked rhetorically: "Can we fight head-on? Can the Tang Dynasty bear such losses? Can the generals and officials from all over the country bear it?"
Xue Bai didn't answer.
Li Bi said: "At that time, when I offered advice to King Zhong, I said that the rebels were powerful, had abundant food and grass, and had high morale. They were all strong border defense troops, good at field battles, and good at speedy battles. It would be unwise for a wise man to confront them face to face. Today
Although the imperial court has famous generals such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, there will definitely be damage in a decisive battle. Once the military strength is greatly damaged, the imperial court's prestige will not be enough to deter the town officials. If there is a defeat, the terrain of Luoyang will be difficult to hold, and the eastern capital will be lost again, and the world will be determined.
People's hearts are in turmoil..."
This is all the evil consequences planted by Li Longji. Tongguan was lost once, and the emperor fled. As a result, the rebels went south for the second time, and the endurance of the army's morale and morale was much lower. The Tang army could not afford to lose, and if it could not afford to lose, it would
If you don’t dare to fight, it will be easier to lose.
It's like if a hammer is knocked open once between the handle and the iron block, even if it is connected, it will be easier to break off the next time it is knocked, and the person using it will not dare to use any more force.
Furthermore, even if Shi Siming could be defeated, Xue Bai would not want to lose too many troops.
"Brother Changyuan, do you have any strategies to teach me?"
"Don't let Shi Siming cross the Yellow River. If the bandit army reaches Henan, the army and people of Luoyang will be frightened and difficult to defend. Guo Ziyi's troops should be ordered to leave Changshan to cut off the bandits' food route. Once Guo Ziyi moves, the thieves will enter Shangdang, so Cai Xide must be defeated first.
.”
Having said this, Li Mi frowned and thought of something else.
"Shi Siming is a veteran general. He will not fail to guard against Chang Shan. He even wants to take Taiyuan... How to do it?"
Xue Bai was also reminded by Li Mi that he thought of this problem. After thinking for a while, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said in unison with Li Mi: "Huihe?"
"Not bad, Huihe."
Previously, when Xue Bai forced Li Heng to surrender, Pugu Huai'en betrayed Lingwu. At that time, Xue Bai had no time to go west, so he just wrote a letter to Pugu Huai'en to express his righteousness. After returning to Chang'an, he asked Guo Ziyi to send someone to recruit him.
.Now, the person sent by Guo Ziyi has not replied yet.
But if he were Shi Siming, he would definitely borrow troops from the Khitan, Uighurs, and even Tubo, and he would definitely win over Pugu Huaien.
Thinking of this, Xue Bai stood up and started to leave. After taking two steps, he came back, put away his map and took it away.
When Li Mi saw this, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "Can I still leak the military plane? It's just that I have the intention and can get out."
"Li Changyuan, as a prisoner, you still have the heart to joke?"
Xue Bai said something casually, not having time to talk much, so he left in a hurry.
Li Mi sat cross-legged independently, shook his head and smiled bitterly. He originally planned to continue practicing. When he closed his eyes, the territory map of the Tang Dynasty appeared again. He seemed to be able to see the displaced people in it.
After a long while, he opened his eyes. Instead of doing his homework today, he picked up a pen and wrote a few letters, preparing to write to some old acquaintances in Shuofang's army.
After writing the letter, he sat there and waited, knowing that Xue Bai would definitely come again.
Waiting, waiting, he couldn't help but muttered.
"Tao is confused."
~~
"I want you, Yan Wu, Tian Shengong and others to be stationed in Jingyuan, Fengxiang, Fengtian and other places to prevent Pugu Huaien from colluding with Huihe or Tubo to go south, and never allow them to enter Guanzhong."
??????55.??????
Lao Liang was stunned, looked at Xue Bai, pouted, and hesitated for a moment.
His background was too low and he had never read a book. Although he has a high official position now, he is not confident that he can take charge of his own affairs. This is because this time it is not only a war, but also a party to govern.
"Langjun, can I do it?"
That is, Lao Liang could ask Xue Bai directly like this.
"You can do it, just go and sue me." Xue Bai waved his hand and said: "I will write another letter to appease Pu Gu Huai'en, but he may not call. Therefore, when you arrive in Jingyuan, the most important thing is
To stabilize the people's hearts, we will start building military camps after the beginning of spring."
This was a difficult problem for Lao Liang. He had a sad look on his face, but he quickly responded.
Xue Bai made arrangements, and thinking about recruiting his servant Gu Huaien, he went to ask Li Mi again.
Li Mi was very straightforward this time and gave him an idea directly.
So, half an hour later, Xue Bai went to see Li Yuetu.
"Hey, it's rare for brother to come to see me."
Li Yuetu was now a brother and sister with him, but they were getting closer and deliberately complained: "I thought brother wanted to alienate us father and daughter."
Xue Bai said: "Come today, I have something serious to ask you."
"What?"
"You are not young enough to find a husband..."
As Xue Bai spoke, Li Yuetu stretched out his hand, waved it in front of him, and asked, "Brother is not the one who said these words."
"What I am paying attention to is Pugu Huaien's son."
, good-looking."
"Brother, if this matter is decided, can I still refuse?"
"I'm here to ask you. If you don't want to, you can refuse."
"That's really weird?" Li Yuetu asked curiously: "If we were to marry a general, why wouldn't my brother think of Princess Boping first and come to ask me instead? Aren't you afraid that my grandpa will get close to Pugu Huai'en again?"
"This is the intention of the clan and Pugu family to resolve their past feud."
In fact, there is another reason. Xue Bai felt in his heart that Li Yuetu was delayed by himself and would marry as soon as possible if there was a suitable candidate. Li Yiniang had lived in the palace for a long time and was too simple to marry in a hurry. There would be more suitable candidates in the future.
"I won't marry." Li Yuetu quickly answered.
"good."
Xue Bai actually didn't force it, he got up and left.
Li Yuetu thought for a while and suddenly said: "I want to tell brother a secret, is it okay?"
Xue Bai guessed something and didn't want to hear her secret, but he still stopped.
"Actually, I seem... I seem to be more willing to stay with women." Li Yuetu whispered, "Brother, do you think someone like me is strange?"
"Not surprising." Xue Bai breathed a sigh of relief.
"I guess I can only be like Princess Yuzhen in the future, right?"
“It’s good to be free.”
Xue Bai answered casually and perfunctorily, and then went to find Li Yiniang. When he learned that she was in the palace, he went to see her.
On this day, Li Yiniang was meeting Li Cong with several brothers and sisters. When she heard that Xue Bai was coming, she was very happy and quickly called "Sanlang" to talk to him.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Xue Bai said: "Pugu Huai'en's son Pugu Zhen is a good husband-in-law candidate..."
He knew that Li Yiniang would definitely agree if he mentioned the marriage, but when he said this, he suddenly hesitated.
"oh?!"
Li Cong was surprised. He first looked at his adopted daughter, Princess Rongyi, who was once married to Anqingzong. When Anqingzong died, he kept his daughter, and now she has been renamed Princess Ningguo.
After all, she was raised by herself, and Li Cong had always hoped that this daughter could remarry. But marriage was not easy. The children of the aristocratic family were unwilling to marry the widow of Anqing Zong, and pointed out that he did not have the ability to marry someone else.
Finally, Xue Bai said that it was necessary for the descendants of the clan to marry the Pugu family, and Li Congdang immediately brought it up.
Li Yiniang was also very happy and said: "Sanlang, let Pu Guzhen come and marry my sister?"
"That's fine."
Xue Bai rarely relented and allowed Li Cong to marry the general. For this reason, Li Cong was very happy and stayed up all night.
~~
A few days later, Lingwu.
The palace where Li Heng once lived has been occupied by Pugu Huai'en, and he just received Shi Siming's envoys and Uighur envoys here today.
The purpose was very simple. He introduced the Uighur envoy and asked him to tell Shi Siming that he was the father-in-law of the Uighur prince, show his strength, and discuss the matter of attacking the Tang Dynasty together.
There are two routes, one is to attack Chang'an, and the other is to attack Taiyuan.
Shi Siming hoped that Pugu Huai'en could attack Taiyuan, and promised to make him the King of Jin after the success, and his descendants would be princes for generations to come.
Pugu Huai'en wanted to make an agreement with Shi Siming that the first person to enter Guanzhong would be the emperor. To this, the envoy was furious and said that Pugu Huai'en was fanciful.
The two sides could never reach an agreement on this point, and the plan was shelved.
Fan Zhicheng was the one who advised Pugu Huai'en. He urged Pugu Huai'en to pretend to agree to Shi Siming's request, train his troops and horses, and prepare to attack Taiyuan. When Shi Siming and the court were both injured, he suddenly sent troops to capture Chang'an.
"The general is destined to receive his destiny, but God does not accept it, so he will be blamed for it!"
Pugu Huai'en's blood was boiling with enthusiasm when he was told that. At this moment, a servant came over and said: "General, the old lady calls you over."
"Go right now."
Pugu Huai'en has always been filial, and he immediately strode to his mother's residence. As soon as he entered the door, he said with a smile: "Auntie, son..."
There was a loud "bang" and he was hit with a broom on his back.
"Aniang?"
"Goucai, how dare you betray the imperial court?!"
Pugu Huai'en had always kept the rift between himself and Tang Ting a secret from his mother, but he didn't know who told the secret. When he looked at his old mother, his face was full of anger. He quickly said: "My mother has misunderstood, and my son has been wronged."
"You still dare to quibble? There's nothing I don't know about the things you do!"
The old mother said in a stern voice: "The court has favored you, the son of a rough and slutty Hu man, to marry a princess with golden branches and beautiful leaves. Why don't you immediately kill the traitor's envoy and go to Chang'an in person to confess your guilt and thank you?!"
"How did Auntie know?" Pugu Huai'en was still confused. He looked at the people around his mother, thinking that he had only discussed this matter with Fan Zhicheng, and it could not be Fan Zhicheng's tip.
"You still ask? Why don't you do it quickly?!"
"But my son is aggrieved." Pugu Huai'an said, "My son is loyal to the imperial court, life and death, but how does the imperial court treat his son? Since working for the imperial court is not worth it, why can't my son enter Chang'an and seize the throne..."
"How dare you?!"
The old mother was furious, threw away the broom in her hand, turned around, picked up a knife, and cursed: "I will kill you, an unfaithful and unfilial traitor, to repay the great kindness of the Tang Dynasty!"
"Tiger--"
The knife struck down without mercy.
If Pugu Huaien hadn't been able to hide quickly, he would have been split into two pieces by his mother-in-law.
He was so shocked that he turned around and ran out of the main room, exclaiming: "Are you crazy? My son wants to take over the throne and make you the queen mother. You really want to kill me..."
"My God, Khan, I will take the heart and heart of this traitor and show it to the three armies!"
"Crazy?!"
Pugu Huaien turned around and ran away.
He thought about it over and over, wondering who told his grandma about it, so he called some of his generals to discuss it.
"Is that you?" He asked Fan Zhicheng first.
"General, it was I who advised you to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, how could it be me?"
"Is that you?" Pugu Huaien looked at a general named Hun Shizhi.
"General, in my opinion, the imperial court directly gave the edict to the old lady." Hu Shi said.
"Of course I know. What I'm curious about is, who brought the imperial envoy to see my mother-in-law?" Pugu Huaien said: "I checked, and I think you are very suspicious."
Hun Shizhi quickly reiterated: "General, it's definitely not me..."
"It's me!"
Suddenly, a clear voice sounded.
Everyone looked around and saw a young general striding out, but it was Hun Shizhi's son, named Hun Yao.
Hun Yao is only nineteen years old this year. Although he is young, he has achieved great military exploits. He joined the army with his father at the age of eleven. At that time, Zhang Qiqiu, who stayed behind in Shuofang, teased him and asked him if he had brought a wet nurse. As a result, he was killed on the second day of the war.
In 2000, Hun Yao made great achievements by killing the enemy. Later, he followed the army to defeat the Helu tribe, participated in the battle of Shibao City, recaptured Longju Island, won the battle with all the troops, and moved to Zhechong Guoyi.
Pugu Huai'en has always liked Hun Yao, so when he returned to Lingwu this time, he tried to win over him more.
When the young general faced Pugu Huai'en, he showed no fear on his face and asked with a righteous expression: "Guo Jieshuai ordered the general to go to Chang'an to accuse him. It's been half a month, why hasn't the general taken action yet?!"
"Hunyao, you..."
"I know what the general is thinking." Hun Yao said proudly, "To be honest, the imperial edict was delivered to my grandfather."
"Hunyao, you..."
"If the general dares to rebel, have you ever thought about the consequences?" Hun Yao said: "Our Shuofang army officers and men will definitely not want to follow. General Jieshi might as well step on the bones of me, my grandfather, and tens of thousands of people to send troops again!"
Pugu Huaien was furious and suddenly became murderous.
Hun Yao was unafraid and said: "But where can the general send his troops? To Chang'an. In the past, when the general served King Zhong as his master, he was still defeated by King Yong. Now he has betrayed the Tang Dynasty. It is unfair and unfair.
, is there even half a chance of winning?! Going to Taiyuan, Guo Jieshuai does not need a single soldier, but rides alone to fight. Who under the general dares to attack Jieshuai?!"
"Shu Zi, what do you know?!" Pugu Huai'en scolded, but he did not order Hun Yao to be taken down.
"The general keeps saying that 'The Tang Dynasty has failed the general', but the fact is that the general mistrusted King Zhong, followed King Zhong to rebel, and was defeated by King Yong. This is because the general failed the Tang Dynasty, not the Tang Dynasty failed the general. The imperial court ignores the past grievances and regards the princess as
To marry the son of a general is a sign of great kindness from the king."
Hun Yao yelled loudly, his momentum increased a little, and he said: "The general led the soldiers of Shuofang Army to cause chaos. When the time comes, his wife and children will be separated and his bones will be buried in a foreign land. Is the general worthy of his soldiers?!"
Hun Shizhi quickly prostrated himself in front of Pugu Huai'en and cried: "General, a dog has no shape, but he is thinking about the general's future and life. Why should the general abandon the wealth of his descendants and seek death?"
"Can you not know whether I am loyal or rebellious?" Pugu Huai'en stepped forward to support Hun Shizhi and said, "Get up and I will tell you in front of Guo Jieshuai..."
"General, you can't listen..."
"puff."
Suddenly, Hun Yao pulled out Pugu Huaien's saber, turned around, and chopped off the head of Fan Zhicheng next to him.
Fan Zhicheng was about to speak, but when he opened his mouth, his head fell to the ground. Blood spurted out from his neck, and the scene was very horrifying.
Hun Yao killed someone without any fear, and his face only had a perseverance that was inconsistent with his age.
He threw the knife on the ground with a clang, clasped his hands in his fists, and said: "I have eliminated the rebellion for the general. I only ask the general to kill Shi Siming's envoy, take his head, and lead the way to Chang'an!"
Pugu Huai'en was a fierce man, but he was shocked at this moment. When he looked around, he saw that the young general's face was covered in blood.
But what moved him even more was Hun Yao's passion, which he had also experienced before...