One way up the mountain, another way up the water, walking towards the bank of Yuguan, it’s late at night and there are thousands of tent lights.
The wind is blowing, the snow is blowing, my hometown is shattered, my dreams are gone, and there is no such sound in my hometown.
——"Sauvignon Blanc·A Journey to the Mountain" Nalan Xingde (Qing Dynasty)
…
Entering the second half of the year, the Tang army began to prepare for war intensively.
On July 16, the Tang Dynasty court began to mint a large coin worth ten coins, with the words "Qianyuan Chongbao" cast on the coin. Qianyuan coins were one inch in diameter, and each string weighed ten kilograms. They were popular at the same time as Kaiyuan Tongbao. Casting "Qianyuan Tongbao"
The money "Yuan Chongbao" was suggested by Yushi Zhongcheng Wiqi, whose purpose was to seize wealth from the people and prepare military pay for the upcoming war against rebellion.
"Qianyuan Chongbao" has a very poor fortune. As soon as it was released, it immediately depreciated. Folks began to collect "Kaiyuan Tongbao", and some even began to mint it privately.
All this was within the expectations of Bai Fu and others.
On July 25th, Guo Ziyi, the commander of the Jiedu Envoy of the Shuofang War Zone, came to the capital to meet with him.
On August 3, the imperial court appointed Xu Shuji, the military envoy of the Five Prefectures of Qingdeng, as the Military Envoy of the Six Prefectures, commanding the troops and horses of the six prefectures of Hua, Pu, Qing, Mi, Deng, and Lai.
On August 11, Li Guangbi, the governor of Hedong Province, came to the capital to pay homage.
On August 17, the imperial court awarded Guo Ziyi the title of Zhongshu Ling and Li Guangbi the title of Shizhong. The new official positions of Guo and Li were jointly called prime ministers, and they were called ambassadors.
On August 18, Guo Ziyi returned to the defense.
In the same month, the Duke of Huihe Tele died, and General Di De led 3,000 elite cavalry to assist the Tang Dynasty in attacking the puppet Yan An Qingxu. The imperial court ordered Shuofang Zuowufeng's envoy Pugu Huai'en to command the Huihe army.
On September 1st, Zhao Si, the general of Youyu Lin, was appointed as the governor of the three states of Pu, Tong and Guo, with jurisdiction over the three states of Pu, Tong and Guo.
The imperial court frequently mobilized troops and generals, causing shock in all walks of life. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that a war was imminent. Prices of food, cloth and other materials in Chang'an, Luoyang and other places soared.
After the Anlu Mountain Rebellion, the borders of the Tang Dynasty have been in turmoil. The Dangxiang tribes in the mountains in the northwest of Bashu continued to move north to attack Pizhou and Ningzhou.
The fourth brother of the Sichuan Gang, "Wolf Chaser" Ma Muye, was guarding Wuwei and sent his generals to recruit Wang Zhongsheng, the party envoy, to lead his troops to put down the rebellion.
On September 7, Wang Zhongsheng, the envoy who summoned Dangxiang, beheaded Tuoba Rongde, the chief of the Dangxiang tribe, and sent his head to the capital for public display, eliminating a hidden danger on the border of the Tang Empire.
With the war approaching, Bai Fu was not idle. In recent times, he rarely stayed in Chang'an, but stayed in Zhongnan Mountain for a long time.
In the valley of Zhongnan Mountain, the Sichuan Gang and the Tang Sect built a new secret base. Recently, a team of 800 people arrived in batches.
This group of disciples has been trained by the Sichuan Gang and the Tang Sect for many years, and they are the best among the best.
Before the Sichuan Gang and Tang Sect disciples rushed to the battlefield, Jiang Gang Leader and Tang Sect Master deliberately gathered them in Zhongnan Mountain, with Bai Fu as the base commander, and conducted final training before the war. The purpose was to make these elites follow Bai Fu
Have a deeper contact so that you can trust and obey absolutely in the future.
For this reason, the Sichuan Gang and the Tang Sect specially sent several hall masters to assist Bai Fu in managing these disciples.
The army is different from gangs and gangs, and it is also different from the official system of the imperial court. Without absolute loyalty and belief, once it encounters a bloody battle or a critical moment of stalemate, it will collapse.
Gang Leader Jiang and Leader Tang were both famous generals and had been in the military, so they knew how to lead troops.
Bai Fu was overjoyed when he heard about it.
But a new problem arose. Where could these eight hundred people hide so that they would not be discovered? Huang Zhen and Tang Kui were troubled.
Bai Fu pondered for a moment and said, "I know a place that is extremely secret and almost unknown to anyone. I can use it here."
The secret place Bai Fu mentioned was the prison where General Wang Zhongsi and himself were imprisoned - Lihentian.
This place is extremely secretive, and even the rebels who invaded Chang'an have not discovered it.
After Chang'an was recaptured, Bai Fu secretly returned to Lihentian according to the memory of his escape route. Lihentian had been abandoned for many years, the jailers and guards had long since fled, and the huge camp was deserted.
Bai Fu took General Zhongsi's coffin out of the ground and handed his bones to General Zhongsi's descendants for a proper burial.
After thinking of this location, in order to ensure nothing went wrong, Bai Fu asked the Tang Sect's mechanism experts to work with the Sun brothers to renovate the entrance and exit of Lihentian.
After the project was completed, even if the former jailers, officers and soldiers returned again, they could not find a way in.
Subsequently, Bai Fu and others transformed Lihentian into a base for training elite soldiers and assassins based on the needs of pre-war training. Bai Fu himself nominated the base-"Yanwu Hall"!
The disciples of the Sichuan Clan and the Tang Clan each had their own characteristics, and Bai Fu divided them into two camps accordingly.
The disciples of the Sichuan Clan were strong, strong in martial arts, and good at bloody battles on the battlefield. Bai Fu followed the training methods of Wei soldiers to lead his own troops in the future and cultivate an elite group of generals and captain-level elites to create the backbone of the army.
Since they are training generals to lead soldiers, Bai Fu's requirements for these Sichuan gang disciples are that it is not easy to train them, and they should not commit suicide or die easily.
Disciples of the Tang Sect are highly skilled in light skills, good at concealment, assassination, and are good at using various hidden weapons and poisons. Bai Fu followed the training methods of secret spies and assassins to cultivate a group of dead warriors for the future when they go deep behind enemy lines.
…
On the opening day of the camp, the military flags were fluttering and the troops looked solemn. Eight hundred Bashu disciples lined up neatly in several rows. Three hundred of them were particularly eye-catching because they all covered their heads and their faces could not be seen clearly.
These disciples were about the same age as Bai Fu, and some of them even participated in Bai Fu's Bashu sword debate.
Back then, both in terms of martial arts and knowledge, there was not much difference between them. But today, Bai Fu's martial arts are unparalleled, his military exploits are outstanding, his martial prowess is invincible, and he was named the 'First Pioneer of the Tang Dynasty' by Suzong. He has already become the pride of Bashu disciples.
Everyone in Bashu looked at this brave young general with admiration.
Bai Fu walked up to the high platform with piercing eyes. His eyes slowly swept across the crowd, as if he wanted to memorize everyone's appearance in his mind.
Contrary to what the disciples expected, Bai Fu did not have any passionate words, but spoke as if talking about everyday things.
Bai Fu said to everyone: "Like you, I am a country boy who came from the mountains of Bashu. I was once like you, eager to make achievements on the battlefield, glorify my family, and make my name go down in history.
But after I experienced the cruelty of war, I realized that there is no romance or glory in war, and then I realized what war means: it means blood flowing in the oars, mutilated limbs and heads; it means corpses everywhere, and bones thousands of miles away;
It means separation of flesh and blood, human tragedy...
I hate war, I hate war. If I could turn back time, how I wish I was still the little Taoist boy in Qingcheng who complained all day long and gave his master a headache.
Some people may also ask why we need to sacrifice our lives to pay for the catastrophe caused by the emperor's absurd actions. To be honest, I have asked myself this question more than once.
Have you seen that stone arch bridge spanning two mountains?"
Everyone followed Bai Fu's hand and saw that there was a three-hole stone arch bridge made of granite across the middle of two cliffs hundreds of feet deep. The bridge deck was about four to five feet wide and about ten feet long.
.
The cliffs on both sides of the bridge are steep and steep, making it difficult for monkeys to climb.
Bai Fu's tone was no longer calm and he said angrily: "The military camp in front of you used to be called 'Lihentian'. Before the rebellion, it was a place where serious criminals called 'Living Dead' were imprisoned.
This stone arch bridge was the prison where I was imprisoned. I was imprisoned here for three full years!
Back then, Mr. Xuanzong sent Gao Lishi to capture me and put me in a prison.
In the prison, a prince used witchcraft to suck away my internal energy, cut off my hand tendons and hamstrings, cut off my right thumb, disabled my martial arts, and tortured me. There was not a single intact bone or intact skin in my body.
The maggots survived by drinking sewage...
After escaping from Lihentian, I saw with my own eyes in Maweipo that Xuanzong issued an edict, ordering Gao Lishi to hang Concubine Yang in the Buddhist hall and bury her in a tomb. This is the emperor who keeps claiming that his love is stronger than gold!
When it comes to hatred, I hate Mr. Xuanzong more than An Lushan!
I can't wait to take up the black iron sword, go to the Jinluan Palace, and cut this man into pieces with a thousand knives.
When it comes to hatred, my master and Mr. Xuanzong are even more incompatible!
But despite such a bloody feud, Master still sacrificed his life to save Xuanzong at Jianmen Pass. Before his death, he repeatedly warned me not to do evil, not to kill indiscriminately, and to help the Tang army put down the rebellion.
In order to fulfill my master's last words, I joined the Tang army to join the war.
When I went deep into the war zone, I saw with my own eyes that the rebel soldiers slaughtered unarmed women, children and the elderly, raped women, dragged Confucian scholars to death on powerful horses, and teased dying babies on spears... Everywhere I went,
More ferocious than jackals, tigers and leopards.
Only then did I realize Master’s good intentions.
National hatred is greater than personal hatred!
Whether it’s Qingcheng, the Tang Sect of the Sichuan Gang, the Tang Army, or the gangs of Jianghu, what we want to defend is not the king sitting on the dragon’s throne, but the bottom line of human beings, humans and animals.
boundaries!
…
A few months ago in Puzhou, I asked Mr. Yan Zhenqing, 'More than thirty members of the Yan family died at the sword of the rebel army. Why do they still remain loyal to this former emperor who was surrounded by concubines and eunuchs?'
Master Yan answered me: 'He is not foolishly loyal to the emperor, but loyal to the family's beliefs. When the world is in danger, there must be someone who upholds benevolence, righteousness, morality, and morality! Even if he goes through fire and water, even if he sacrifices heroically, he will not hesitate.'
I think this is not only the duty of the Yan family, but also the duty of our generation. In order to stop this war as soon as possible and in order for the people to return to peace, someone must shed blood and sacrifice, and someone must die for the country.
He who loves to fight bravely is no more than a tyrant. He who serves the country and the people is a great chivalrous person."
…
Every Bashu disciple present had firm eyes and tears.
Bai Fu waved his hand, and the curtain behind him opened, revealing a huge painting. The giant painting was composed of hundreds of portraits, each portrait was a portrait of a person, and the characters in the painting were lifelike.
The disciples took a closer look and saw that they were portraits of themselves and their comrades.
Bai Fu said loudly: "Yes, these are exactly the portraits of each of you, there are five hundred in total. There are also three hundred brothers. Since they have to go deep behind enemy lines, not only do they have to wear masks and hoods to train during this period, their
The portrait cannot be displayed publicly now.
After today, these portraits will be sent back to Yizhou and secretly hidden in Tangmen.
In the future, if one of our brothers here unfortunately dies, this portrait will be sent to his family for their memory and worship.
At the same time, the Sichuan Gang will carve this portrait into a stone tablet and stand it in Wuhou Temple.
We may be ordinary and unknown when we are alive, but after death, we can be covered with glory, surrounded by the five generals, Liu Huangshu, Zhuge Prime Minister, Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma and Huang, and be remembered by our descendants and admired by all generations!