"The emperor of Chang'an didn't treat Guo Ziyi favorably, but Guo Ziyi spared no effort to support him. Do you know why?" Pu Gujuan suddenly asked Ren Pen while walking on the dilapidated stone road in the city.
"You don't know," Ren Pen said.
"What he talks about is that the country is stable and the country is selfless." Pu Gujue said: "His family comes from a branch of the Guo family in Taiyuan, the Guo family in Huayin. They have numerous fertile fields in Huazhou. Their ancestral tomb is in Fengqiyuan on the outskirts of Chang'an.
Therefore, even though he was leading troops outside and holding great power, he never had any intention of separatist rule."
With that said, Pu Gujuan patted Ren Pen on the shoulder.
"You are still young. Don't believe that they worry about the common people in the world and are loyal and courageous. People who are able to get involved in political power talk about morality, but all they think about is profit."
"The big man has seen clearly, and the little man has learned a lesson."
"I tell you this to let you know that Guo Ziyi, who is famous all over the world, is also a human being. You don't need to look up to him or be afraid of him." Pugu Jianyun said calmly.
Ren Pen still looked like he was bowing his head and listened attentively, and he said "yes" honestly.
In fact, he was not afraid of Guo Ziyi at all. Instead, he felt that Pugujuan was talking about this all day long, which seemed too guilty.
Soon, they arrived at Guo Ziyi's residence and followed Pugu Huai'en inside.
"Guo Gong."
"You're here." Guo Ziyi was sitting upright, then stood up and said: "Let's go, hand over the military affairs."
Although everyone knew that he was acting, this movement was so natural and smooth that Pugu Huai'en had no choice but to step forward and stop him with a sarcastic expression.
"Guo Gong, wait a minute, the military affairs are not ready for delivery yet, not yet ready."
"oh?"
Although Guo Ziyi was in the guest seat, she took it easy. First she feigned anger and stayed on the bed, and then said with a straight face: "Are you trying to push me away?"
"Don't dare."
Pugu Huai'en took out a few letters from his sleeves, which were the information he had recently obtained.
He did not say that the Tang army took the initiative to attack Shanzhou, but only said: "I learned that it is rare for the king to go to war with Dazalu Gong at the moment. I am afraid that the court will have a hard time coping with it, so I am willing to support him. Unfortunately, there is an urgent report from Zhongshou surrender city that Huihe is attacking."
At this point, he changed his tone and said: "The current situation is difficult. Pugujun is familiar with Shuofang's military situation. I recommend him to lead the army to resist the Uighurs."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi sat back on the couch and said slowly: "I chatted with the soldiers yesterday, and they said that you have received many rewards since the beginning of the new year, including a 10% increase in pay. You love your soldiers like your own son."
"These are all learned from Mr. Guo."
"The food and grass for Shuofang's army were previously supplied by the imperial court. When Zhang Qiqiu was in office, Li Linfu just withheld the food and grass. The soldiers almost mutinied and killed him. At that time, you worked with me to quell the rebellion, so quickly.
Just forget it?”
Guo Ziyi was still trying to figure out the pros and cons and told Pugu that Huaien's confrontation with the court would not bring good results.
Pugu Huai'en said, "Who is Zhang Qiqiu? How can his achievements be compared with those of Mr. Guo? I'm afraid he is not as good as me. I don't ask for much, I just want to find a way out."
It is useless to talk more. Guo Ziyi closed his eyes and rested, thinking that several days have passed and the news from Longyou has been transmitted. Why hasn't Du Wulang come yet?
Pugu Huaien then spread out the map and talked about the current situation. He knew that the Tang army was mainly attacking the Helong battlefield, so he mainly talked about Uighur.
"Yidi Jian did not go after Ye Hu, but sent troops to wander around the border of the Tang Dynasty, just to take advantage of the opportunity. When he learned that the Tang Dynasty and Tubo were at war again, he would definitely send troops..."
As they were talking, someone suddenly came forward to report: "Jie Shuai, Du Wulang is here."
"Which Du Wulang?" Pugu Huai'en didn't know why.
"It's Du Wulang from Chang'an."
Guo Ziyi seemed to be the owner of this place. When others were stunned, she said, "Call him in."
After a while, Bai Yuanguang came in with Du Wulang.
~~
After grazing sheep on the Saishang grassland for a while, Du Wulang lost a lot of weight and had a short, messy beard on his lips, but he looked calmer and more capable.
But as soon as he entered the lobby, he was still the one with the weakest aura.
Pugu Huaien turned around and glanced, wondering why he could escape. There was a faint murderous intent in his eyes, but he did not actually order Du Wulang to be taken down.
This is the difference between Guo Ziyi's presence and absence. When he is there, there are rules.
No one spoke, they all stared at Du Wulang. The atmosphere was so dull that it was uncomfortable.
After all, there are many things that need not be said to know that Du Wulang was able to come here because first of all, Shuofang general Bai Yuanguang turned to the imperial court, and secondly, the Baye ancient tribe obviously no longer supported Pugu Huai'en.
The situation has changed, and everyone needs to reassess.
"Generals, long time no see."
After all, it was Du Wulang who spoke first, but he did not accuse Pugu Huaien of imprisoning him privately. Instead, he said with a smile: "Everyone said that the scenery in Helan Mountain is good, so I went to take a walk again."
Guo Ziyi also smiled, stroked his beard and said, "Wu Lang is afraid that he will be detained if he returns to Chang'an."
"Haha, Mr. Guo still understands me."
The atmosphere became a little more relaxed. Du Wulang turned to Pugu Huai'en and asked tentatively: "Since Mr. Guo is here in person, Pugu Jieshuai must be coming to Beijing soon, right? Why don't we go together? We will have more contacts in Chang'an in the future.
Listening to the opera and playing dominoes, I feel so uncomfortable."
From the moment he walked in the door, he was releasing goodwill.
First, he stated that he would not pursue the matter of Pugu Huai'en's detention because he had gone shopping by himself. Then he said that returning to Chang'an would definitely not harm Pugu Huai'en's life.
It's a pity that Pugu Huaien doesn't appreciate it at all.
"It's good to teach Mr. Guo to know that Du Qi was spying on military affairs, and it was me who had him detained!"
Guo Ziyi said: "I remember that this is not what your memorial said."
"That's why I'm giving face to the imperial court." Pugu Huaien's attitude was like breaking the pot, "If Mr. Guo wants me to tell the truth, I can just make another confession and plead guilty, and ask the imperial court to punish me!"
After saying these words, his face was full of murderous intent, displaying the arrogant, domineering, and unreasonable aura of a vassal town.
If Xue Bai just sent some civil servants and eunuchs as envoys, and saw that the matter suddenly fell apart, he would be scared to wet his pants and couldn't wait to give in. Even if he knew that Pugu Huai'en was trying to scare people, he still had to take the overall situation into consideration.
.
Du Wulang was also timid, and when he saw the bloody mouth opening and closing in front of his eyes, the fishy smell hit his nostrils, as if a beast was going crazy, and his face turned pale with fear.
Only Guo Ziyi laughed, pointed at Du Wulang and cursed: "I know that you kid said nice things, but it made this bastard get eccentric."
"Young man knows your mistake."
Du Wulang looked at Pugu Huai'en and said, "Now that we've got the words out of the way, that's good. Cao Lingzhong has left Lingwu territory and gone to Chang'an."
"So what?"
"The reason why you detained me is simply because I was investigating Cao Lingzhong's affairs. Anxi and Beiting are isolated outside the territory. It's not easy to send an envoy. If you dare to stop it for your own selfish purposes, you have violated the emperor's bottom line. Just wait.
Let the imperial court raise an army to attack!"
These words came from Du Wulang's mouth. If they were to scare others, they would be fine, but if they were to suppress Pugu Huaien, they were indeed not strong enough.
Pugu Huaien just sneered and said: "My Pugu clan has been loyal for generations. If the imperial court wants to attack us, just come!"
Du Wulang stopped talking. He couldn't make decisions for Xue Bai.
The current situation is a bit like when he was quarreling with other children when he was a child. The two of them stared at each other, their heads almost touched, and shouted: "Fight! Fight!"
In fact, no one really wants to start a fight.
Pugu Huai'en was the older child, holding his head high and proud, thinking he had seen through the child's timidity and could snatch the candy from the child's hand without hitting him.
But he didn't know that some children were cruel and crazy.
~~
More than ten days later, Chang'an.
Cao Lingzhong looked up at the towering brackets on the Xuanzheng Hall and slowly walked up the stone steps. Every step reminded him of the vast Gobi desert and towering snow-capped mountains on his way home.
After many years of guarding the border, the emperor had already changed when he returned.
Sitting on the royal couch is a young man, majestic and vigorous, like the rising sun in the east.
"The last general, Cao Lingzhong, pays homage to the saint!"
"Get up. You have traveled thousands of miles to return home. It's easy to imagine the hardships. You are a hero."
Xue Bai paused, as if he didn't know what to say. This detail showed that he was not a skilled emperor, but it revealed his heartfelt emotions.
Cao Lingzhong also paused, and a hot tear fell on the carpet of the hall.
He is a bloody man who can kill people without giving a nod. He will not cry even when he dies. He couldn't help but cry today, not because of anything the emperor said. In fact, he went from Beiting to Chang'an, returned to his homeland, and climbed up to this supreme palace.
It makes people emotionally ups and downs and makes them unable to control themselves.
But he still suppressed it and said: "The general will act according to orders and cannot bear the praise of a saint."
"Tell me about your experience."
"According to the decree, during the Anshan rebellion, the imperial court mobilized soldiers and horses from the north court of Anshan several times..."
Cao Lingzhong first talked about his experiences in Yizhou. The Tubo took advantage of the chaos and captured the Hexi Corridor. The roads were cut off and the governor's office was unable to contact the imperial court and faced numerous difficulties.
Not having enough food to eat and being insecure are the second most unbearable things. The most unbearable thing is the loneliness and insecurity that they, the Central Plains people, feel after they are far away in the Western Regions and cut off from the motherland.
Speaking of these places, Cao Lingzhong choked up several times until he mentioned that Feng Changqing had returned to Tubo. He was full of hope and reported back to the Tang court.
Then, he talked about his experience in Lingwu.
"We thought that Pugu Huai'en was a loyal minister and good general, and we had great trust in him. But for some unknown reason, he detained us and never allowed us to set off back to Chang'an. After I made several requests, he let us go, but asked the guide to
We were brought to the territory of the Beyegu tribe so that we could be detained."
"At first, I thought the guide had gone the wrong way. It wasn't until Du Wulang persuaded the leader of Ba Yegu to release us that we found out it was Pugu Huai'en who had given the order. But I didn't know why. After questioning, I found out that he was worried.
After the recovery of Hexi, Marshal Fengjie and his generals performed meritorious service, so that he could no longer use troops to coerce the imperial court to reward his son. I...can't believe it."
Xue Bai asked: "Why can't you believe it?"
Cao Lingzhong said: "It is difficult for me to understand how a famous general of the Tang Dynasty could endanger the great affairs of the country in such a way for something that may not hinder him."
Xue Bai was silent for a while and looked at the officials of His Highness.
"Have all the ministers heard it?"
"Return to the saint, everyone has heard it."
"That being the case, hereby convey my decree and order my servant Gu Huai'en to come to Beijing within one month to plead guilty." Xue Bai's tone was calm, but it contained a majesty that could not be offended. He added, "If you fail to do so within the time limit, it will be regarded as treason."
As expected, a bunch of officials quickly tried to dissuade him.
"Your Majesty? I ask your Majesty to think twice. This is too arbitrary!"
"Yes, Pugu Huai'en has made great achievements in battle, how can he incite crime with just one word?"
Faced with these dissuasion, Xue Bai had a tough attitude and said: "What is arbitrariness? The imperial court issued decrees several times to summon him, but he refused and blocked him. Now he is just asking him to go to Beijing to defend himself. What does it mean to incriminate him with just one word?"
Cui Youfu couldn't help but panic when he saw that things were developing out of control.
"Your Majesty! The Tang Dynasty has been in turmoil for many years, the people's livelihood is in decline, and the national treasury is not rich. This is definitely not a good opportunity to raise troops for such trivial matters. I ask your Majesty to take back your order!"
He was so excited that Xue Bai remained unmoved. He waved his hand and said, "I have called you here today to see Cao Lingzhong. If there is anything else to report, we can discuss it later."
After saying that, he withdrew from the court.
The courtiers then went to persuade the prime minister one after another to persuade the emperor to calm down.
After that, the officials contacted the table, and Xue Bai seemed to be touched and his attitude softened.
When the Umrah meeting was held again two days later, Xue Bai finally became impatient with their verbosity and relaxed his tone a little.
"Let's do this. Draw up two edicts and give them to Ma Xiang and Yi Di Jian respectively."
As soon as everyone heard this, they knew that the emperor had long been worried about it, and he was just talking about it now just to appease them.
They glanced at the several prime ministers, thinking that His Majesty would personally come forward for such a big matter, but the prime ministers remained silent, which showed that His Majesty had made a strong determination.
Xue Baixuan said: "The letter to Ma Xiang asks Tubo to return all the territories it has invaded in recent years, including Hexi, Longyou, Sichuan and Shu, and rejoin the Tang Dynasty as the country of my nephew. I will send envoys to pay tribute. Then we stopped the army; as for the letter to Yi Dijian, I can canonize him as Huihe Khan, and I only need him to profess his vassal to the Tang Dynasty."
After hearing this, Cui Youfu immediately understood what Xue Bai meant. It was nothing more than continuing to put pressure on Pugu Huaien to prevent the battle from happening, but his essential attitude remained unchanged.
"Why would Your Majesty rather negotiate peace with Tubo and Uighur than give Pu Gujuan an official position?"
"Because this case cannot be made." Xue Bai said: "If you feed meat to wolves, no matter how much meat you eat, they won't be enough."
"Can……"
"Cui Qing doesn't need to say any more. If the imperial court is so reticent and Pugu Huaien is still determined to rebel, then it is better to fight this battle sooner rather than later."
Before Cui Youfu could say anything more, Yuan Zai had already come out to speak.
Yuan Zai did not want to force Pugu Huai'en to rebel, but his mind had already turned to dealing with the Xingqing Palace. For this reason, he unintentionally began to express support for Xue Bai's severe persecution of Pugu Huai'en.
"Your Majesty, I have this memorial, which is about the restoration of Xingqingfang."
~~
On the way back from Baye Gubu, Hu Luo asked Du Wulang.
"How could Wu Lang know the leader's interests and harms? It's so easy to survive. It's not like before."
"This is nothing." Du Wulang said: "I have seen a lot of His Majesty's side, so I will know it naturally. Just like you, you should learn more skills during this trip, so that you can use them in the future."
"The villain is just a slave, there is no time to use such skills."
"You are like this again." Du Wulang said: "Your Majesty, in the past... In short, as long as you are smart and diligent, you will definitely have a future."
He originally wanted to know how Xue Bai's status was different from Hu Luo's when he was in the Du family.
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized something was wrong.
He had never thought about this issue before. Xue Bai was a runaway slave and eventually became an emperor. If he used this incident to motivate the slaves, it would seem to make the slaves think that he could become an emperor, and then cause chaos.
At least, if it were an ordinary person who became the emperor, they would be very taboo in their hearts to mention these things in the past.
The solution is to deliberately emphasize the identity of "Li Qian" and no longer mention her previous experience in the Du family.
Xue Bai never did this, so the Du family only realized it later and never considered it.
At this time, Du Wulang suddenly realized that the Du family might be in a very dangerous position. He had always paid attention to being wise and protecting himself, knowing that since ancient times, many of the heroes like the Du family who knew the emperor's disgraceful side were rare. Good ending.
He couldn't help but secretly think that after returning to Beijing this time, he must persuade his grandfather to become an official, and then ask his sisters to hand over those businesses and keep a low profile in the future.
It was not the time to think about this now, he just buried this thought deeply in his heart for the time being.
After returning to Lingwu City, he had a talk with Pugu Huaien, but failed to reach an agreement, so Du Wulang stayed with Guo Ziyi.
He even got to know Guo Ziyi privately.
"Mr. Guo, I've noticed that if you want to kill Gu Huai'en and his son, you may not have a chance."
Guo Ziyi said: "It seems that His Majesty has placed people around Pugu Huai'en."
Du Wulang was shocked. He felt that the old man in front of him was really a god, with a sharp eye.
He quickly denied it and said: "I mean, doesn't Duke Guo have many old troops in Shuofang's army? With just one order, they can take down Pugu Huai'en."
"We haven't reached that point yet." Guo Ziyi asked, "Do you know why His Majesty refused to give Pugujuan the banner of Jiedushi?"
"I don't want to condone rebellion."
"This is not an example. Nowadays, all the vassals and towns in the world are staring at Pugu Huai'en." Guo Ziyi said: "If His Majesty gives in, they will rush to follow suit. Military envoys from all over the country want to be Jiedushi.
They want to pass on their position to their son; if Your Majesty directly kills Pugu Huai'en, they will panic, be afraid of the imperial court, and form a group to fight against the imperial court."
Du Wulang was in trouble and said: "It's neither comfort nor killing. Then we can only shock or beat?"
"Yeah, it's best to be able to intimidate." Guo Ziyi said: "Once a war starts, it will cost money to raise troops and food. If any vassal town responds to Pugu Huai'en, the consequences will be disastrous. But then again, the court will not
I am afraid to fight this battle, but if I fight it, I must win it.”
When he said the last four words, there was a light in his eyes.
Du Wulang understood what he meant by "the time has not come yet" and said: "If there is really going to be a war, Guild Guo will take action to capture Pugu and his son?"
"How can it be so simple? Just go back to Chang'an."
"There's no rush." Du Wudao said, "I want to stay with Mr. Guo and learn some wise ways to protect myself."
"You don't want to learn my art of war and martial arts, but you learn this?"
"Yes, Mr. Guo understands the world very well, and I really admire him."
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and smiled, and said: "That's right, I finally figured it out. People say you, Du Wulang, are stupid, but you are actually as smart as a fool."
He actually saw through Du Wulang's worries, or in other words, he realized the hidden worries behind the Du family's prominence earlier than Du Wulang.
"The foundation of the Du family is that they knew His Majesty's life story from the beginning and worked hard to protect and rescue him. It is up to the Du family to dispel the words of others who slander His Majesty. Wu Lang has a long way to go."
Du Wulang was stunned for a moment after hearing this.
He understood what Guo Ziyi meant. It was the Du family who should step forward and tell the world that His Majesty was Li Qian from the beginning, not Xue Ni or a runaway slave.
But what confused him was why Xue Bai never revealed this meaning?
Maybe if this is the case, he will have to deny their shared weal and woe since Tianbao Five Years...
In the following days, as news from Chang'an reached Lingwu, the relationship between Pugu Huai'en and Guo Ziyi became even more tense.
This morning, Du Wulang was still sleeping, but he was woken up by Hu Luo.
"Wu Lang, Mr. Guo is going to force Servant Gu Huaien."
"today?"
Du Wulang woke up with a start.
Hu Luo said: "His Majesty's decree has come. He asked Pugu Huai'en to go to Beijing to plead guilty within a month. It took eight days to deliver the decree, and he had to go back to Chang'an. There was not much time left for him to make a decision. Guo Gong said, go today.
It was to save his life."
"Is this... forcing me so hard?"
Du Wulang was very surprised. He got up in a hurry and rushed out without washing. He happened to see Guo Ziyi preparing to go to Jie Mansion surrounded by people.
Judging from Guo Ziyi's calm look, it seemed as if the people sent by Pugu Huaien to monitor him were all his own.
"Mr. Guo, wait for me, let's go together."
"That's fine." Guo Ziyi nodded casually.
Du Wulang asked: "Does Mr. Guo have any instructions? Is there anything you need me to do?"
"All the moves that need to be made have been made, it just depends on what Pugu Huaien chooses."
"Ah, really?"
~~
"Shuzi! Can you scare me?!"
Pugu Huai'en had just finished reading the news about Chang'an, and angrily threw the paper in his hand on the ground and stamped on it.
He has always been a hard-nosed person, and his opinions rarely change.
However, the news this time came, which caused some changes in Pugujuan's attitude.
Although Jiedushi was going to be betrayed by Pugu Jing, and he was always the loudest and always said "rebellion", but when things came to a head, he suddenly realized that rebellion would not be easy.
In addition to the issue of money and food mentioned before, Xue Bai, who would rather sell Xingqing Palace than suppress the rebellion, is not as fierce as a young eagle hiding under his father's wings. This is what Pugu Jian cares about even more.
The thing is, he really can't trust Yi Dijian and Da Zha Lu Gong. These people may indeed stab him back and turn around and cooperate with Tang Ting.
Thinking of this, the position of the troubled Jiedushi Commander gradually became less favourable.
Mr. Ye loves dragons, nothing more than that.
"Grandpa." Pu Gujuan hesitated and said, "How about..."
"Rebellion, right? I know you are anxious." Pugu Huaien never said that he wanted to rebel, but his attitude was still tough, saying: "If you really push us hard, you will do the opposite, but the time has not come yet.
"
As soon as Pu Gujian heard this, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Just as he was hesitating about what to say, Guo Ziyi arrived.
"Go, the swordsman is ready."
When the matter came to the last moment, Pugu Huaien became rude and said to himself: "The imperial court thought that this method could scare me and let them see the real chapter."