Like a saint, his sorrow increases endlessly, and he worries about the people and the country.
The two beards are covered with snow and clear sky, and there is no dust in the sky.
——"The King of Shu Climbs the Fagan Temple Pagoda" Guanxiu [Tang Dynasty]
…
After hearing this, Bai Fu frowned and said to Huang and Tang: "Wu Chengen carried the iron coupon and went deep into the dangerous and unpredictable Fan Yang's lair. If Ashina Chengqing failed to kill Shi Siming and the matter was exposed, Wu Chengen
How to bring the iron coupons back to Chang'an and hand them over to the court?
According to the imperial court's previous approach to the rebels, only the culprits of the puppet Yan generals were punished, and the accomplices were not punished.
In order to appease Fan Yang's cavalry, the imperial court would only kill Shi Siming and pardon Fan Yang's other rebel generals.
Is there any reason to create a roster and list the names of the traitorous generals? This roster will only make the generals mistakenly think that the imperial court is a waste of money, and they will be liquidated according to the list in the future. It is extremely ridiculous!
I thought General Guangbi would never do such a stupid thing with his wisdom.
This secret letter from Li Guangbi to Wu Chengen must be a forgery! Then he used this as a reason to accuse General Guangbi of killing someone with a borrowed knife.
It can be deduced from this that this list of rebel officers and soldiers is also a forgery. The purpose is to anger Fan Yang's generals, tie him to his warship, and cut off his escape route. He threatens and warns the generals not to fight at both ends, except with himself.
There is no other choice but to rebel together!
If His Majesty is confused for a moment, just like Xuanzong killed Gao Xianzhi and granted him the title of General Changqing, to get rid of his serious troubles, then it will be Shi Siming's wish; even if His Majesty sees through this plan, Shi Siming can use this to win people's hearts and find a way to rebel in the future.
Excuse."
Bai Fuyan poked, Huang and Tang nodded frequently.
Bai Fu stood up, walked around, thought about it, and said: "Shi Siming dared to take advantage of Wu Chengen's incident and asked the court to execute Li Guangbi so arrogantly, which shows that he is ready for war.
If my predictions are correct, he will start a rebellion this year!"
Huang Zhen said: "Shi Siming still has more than 100,000 Fan Yang soldiers and horses, all of whom are Hu cavalry. If they rebel again, I wonder if the Tang Dynasty will have the strength to destroy them?"
Tang Kui said: "With the current military strength of the Tang Dynasty, it should not be a big problem to deal with Shi Siming. Besides, there are also famous generals such as Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and Li Siye sitting in command."
Bai Fu looked solemn and said: "General Zhongsi always said that in a battle between two armies, the winner or loser is often not won or lost in the military camp, but in the temple.
The Tang Dynasty was not monolithic, and there were undercurrents. Emperor Xuanzong, Prince Li Chu, Empress Zhang, eunuch Li Fuguo and others were all vying for the highest power, and internal strife continued.
At that time, Mr. Li Mi's counter-rebellion strategy: instead of rushing to regain the two capitals, he asked Li Tan, the king of Jianning, to go north from the Yellow River, bypass the Great Wall, and lead the Huihe cavalry to capture Fan Yang's lair; he ordered Marshal Guo to lead the main force of the Tang army to attack from the west.
Chang'an; ordered General Li Guangbi to lead Shuofang's army from Hedong Road south to Luoyang, waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.
With the Tang army's troops deployed in this way, An Lushan's rebels were like rats in a bellows, unable to keep track of their head or tail.
Although Mr. Li Mi's strategy took a long time, it could once and for all eliminate the rebels in Anlu Mountain and clear out the rebel nests in Fanyang and Pinglu. This strategy can be compared with the Shu general Wei Yan's troops marching out of Ziwu Valley.
After formulating the strategy, the Uighur Khan sent his minister Ge Luozhi to lead an army into the territory of the Tang Dynasty to help the Tang army conquer the rebels. Ge Luozhi led 2,000 cavalry to suddenly kill Fanyang City, forcing Yin Ziqi to give up the attack on Jianghuai and hurriedly returned to Guard Yang.
…
However, this plan failed as soon as it was implemented.
Shortly afterwards, while the suppression of the rebellion was still in progress, Li Tan, the extraordinarily heroic King of Jianning, was forced to commit suicide, and Mr. Li Mi returned to seclusion again. These things seemed strange at the time, but now that I think about it, they are actually related to the struggle for the highest power.
What's more, after the Anlushan Rebellion, His Majesty will no longer trust any Jiedushi to control the army, and will definitely try every means to wait for an opportunity to take back military power. It has not been a good thing since ancient times for monarchs and ministers to be suspicious of each other. I guess the process of countering the rebellion will not be smooth sailing.
There will definitely be waves again.”
Huang Zhen and Tang Kui looked at each other and took a breath.
Huang Zhen asked: "According to what you said, if Shi Siming rebels against the Tang Dynasty again, how should we deal with it?
The emperor doesn’t give you military power now, and he can’t even train the army. Without a well-trained army, how can we fight the rebels to the death? Can we just sit in Chang’an and stare at it?”
Bai Fu's eyes flashed with sparkle, and he said: "Of course we can't just sit idly by, let alone wait for death. Shi Siming, a reckless man, can still use tricks, and our scholars' books are not in vain?"
Tang Kui was overjoyed and said: "Brother Fu, what's the plan?"
Bai Fu touched the severed fingers of his right hand and said, "I gained a lot from this trip to Puzhou. Lord Yan Zhenqing said it right, An Lushan and his like have no faith and only have 'desire' and 'profit' in their eyes."
Those who are blinded by lust and interests will surely die because of lust and interests.
There was a power struggle in the Tang Dynasty, but there was no internal power struggle between An Qingxu and Shi Siming in the pseudo-Yan Dynasty?"
After that, Bai Fu whispered to the two of them.
…
On this day, with the moon rising above the willow branches, Yan Zhuang and his wife Xue were sitting under the wisteria flower stand in the courtyard, having a drink.
Mrs. Xue toasted and said: "I would like to propose a toast to you, sir. I have something unclear, please give me some advice."
"Speak!" Yan Zhuang raised the wine cup carelessly.
Xue said: "I dare to ask my lord, you have been in the Yan State from the official position to the prime minister, and the county king, and you have so much power for a while. Why do you want to join the Tang Dynasty and be willing to be a third-rank Sinongqing?"
Yan Zhuang drank it all in one gulp and said with a smile: "You women are like women, you have long hair and short knowledge, so how can you understand the pros and cons?
This moment, that moment!
I led the Yan army and fought three battles with Guo Ziyi's Tang army in Chang'an, Shaanzhou and Luoyang, but were defeated in each battle. I knew full well that the Yan army's strength was greatly reduced and it was no match for the Tang army.
In addition, An Qingxu, a dandy, drank and had fun every day and ignored the government affairs. His father's confidants and generals were either fighting among themselves or secretly seeking refuge with Shi Siming. The Yan Kingdom was in ruins from top to bottom.
A smoky atmosphere.
At the moment, the Yan Foreign Affairs Bureau in Yecheng, Xiangzhou, is just a flower frame. It can no longer hold on and cannot survive for a few days.
If I still stay in the Yan Kingdom, I will either be framed to death by Gao Shang, Zhang Tongru and others, or I will be killed by the Tang army and sentenced to death.
Since we can't fight, we might as well surrender. If we want to surrender, we might as well surrender as soon as possible.
At present, the Yan State is relatively safe and still has more than 100,000 troops. Although the Yan Army is unable to attack the Tang Army, it will not be easy for the Tang Army to destroy the Yan Army in a short time.
What's more, Shi Siming was eyeing Fan Yang and might go south to rescue the Yan army at any time and rebel against the Tang Dynasty again.
During the stalemate stage of the war, as the prime minister of Yan, I have the highest status. If Yan is really defeated, the head on my head is not worth a damn."
Xue asked: "Didn't Shi Siming surrender to the Tang Dynasty? It is said that His Majesty had great trust in him. For his sake, he demoted Zhang Hao, the Henan Jiedu envoy who impeached him, to Jingzhou defense envoy."
When An Lushan died, the Yan army lost its backer. Logically speaking, it was too late for Shi Siming to thank Tian En, so how could he rebel again?"
Yan Zhuang sneered and said: "If you want to blame it, blame An Lushan for having too much money under Fan Yang.
All the wealth that An Lushan saved and the wealth he robbed from the two capitals were in Fan Yang. He needed money and food, as well as men and horses. When he died, Shi Siming benefited in vain.
Fan Yang's military supplies gave Shi Siming enough confidence. The main force of Fan Yang's army and the powerful Hu cavalry in hand further fueled his arrogance.
Shi Siming has a lot of desires to fill, and he also wants to be like An Lushan, and take advantage of the instability of Li Tang to get a taste of the dragon's throne. Once the Tang army is frustrated and the court is at war, he will definitely raise an army to rebel."
Xue said: "Since Shi Siming's army is so powerful, why don't you take refuge with Shi Siming?"
Yan Zhuang shook his head and said: "Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger! Shi Siming was a man of suspicious nature, cruel and bloodthirsty. If those around him were slightly disobedient, they would lose their heads at worst, or be executed by the clan at worst.
Therefore, many generals under Shi Siming were in awe of him on the surface, but in fact they had already separated from him. If the war goes well, if the Yan army is frustrated, his head will be the name of his generals who want to sell themselves to others and seek glory."
Xue said: "My lord, I still have something unclear. Why did you ask me to pretend to be Yang Yichan, the wife of King Yong Li Lin, and go to the military camp to ask for a meeting with Generalissimo Li Chu and Guo Ziyi?"
Yan Zhuang held the rat's beard in his hand and said with a smile: "Li Chu and Yong Wang Li Lin, uncle and nephew, have always been good friends. Yong Wang Li Lin was defeated and killed, and his wife and concubines were escorted to Bashu for questioning. Li Chu has always been worried about this.
Li Chu has always had doubts about whether Yongwang Li Lin's rebellion in Jiangling is true. When he heard that Yongwang Li Lin's wife Yang Yichan asked for an audience, she will definitely meet you in person.
He is the best choice for the imperial crown prince. Once he agrees to accept my surrender conditions and issues me a death-free ticket in front of the three armies, it is equivalent to the emperor's golden promise. Only then will my life be guaranteed and I will dare to surrender.
"
Speaking of this, Yan Zhuang was slightly tipsy, with a look of pride on his face, and said: "I often say that before doing anything, you must first judge the general trend, and be smart and decisive when making up your mind. Only in this way can you take advantage of the trend and take full advantage of it."
And retreat.
Now defecting to the Tang Dynasty is of great significance to the Tang Dynasty court. I am the highest-ranking official of the Yan State to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, which fully shows that the officials of the Yan State are not optimistic about An Qingxu's fate. For the purpose of breaking the will of the Yan army and persuading the generals of the Yan State to surrender,
Quickly suppressing the rebellion has great propaganda value.
In short, the period of stalemate between the various forces is the best time to surrender to the Tang Dynasty!"
Xue was silent for a moment and said: "As your Excellency said, in terms of timing, now is the best time. But when you evacuated Luoyang, you killed all the captured Tang Dynasty generals and officials, including General Ge Shuhan
, Shangdang County Magistrate Shi Cheng Qianli, Suiyang Prefect Xu Yuan and more than 30 people.
You killed so many people, don't you worry about the imperial court settling accounts in the future?"
Yan Zhuang sighed and said: "This matter is indeed a big failure of mine. If my hands were not stained with the blood of the Tang army, I would be more able to deal with the government now. But now that the matter has come to this, it is too late to regret it. I can only think about it in the long term."
When the Tang army's suppression of the rebellion is about to end, I will take the initiative to make a minor mistake and have the court ban me from the capital.
Before Fan Yang raised the army, I deliberately made friends with the Fusang royal family and had already arranged an escape route in Fusang Kingdom. When the time comes, we will grease our feet, run away without anyone noticing, and continue to enjoy the glory and wealth in Fusang."
Yan Zhuang was so proud of himself that he heard the sound of applause and cheers coming from the night sky, which seemed particularly clear and harsh in the middle of the night.
A deep and deep voice lingered in Yan Zhuang's ears:
"Wonderful, Lord Yan is indeed the number one counselor under An Lushan, and he is very good at making calculations. A man who knows the current affairs is a hero, and he is talking about people like Lord Yan, right?"
When Yan Zhuang heard this, he was stunned. (To be continued)