After Bai Fuxing and Tang Kui returned from Fang Shuliu's mansion, the Tang Sect and the Sichuan Gang began to secretly investigate the situation of the Maitreya Cult. However, the Maitreya Cult was deeply hidden and there would be no other gains for a while.
…
During this period, the Tang army began to fight, and good news came frequently.
Guo Ziyi led his army across the Yellow River from Xingyuan and attacked Huojia (today's Huojia County, Henan Province) eastward. He defeated the Yan army guard An Taiqing, killed 4,000 enemies and captured 500. An Taiqing retreated to Weizhou (
Today's Weihui City, Henan Province), Guo Ziyi took advantage of the victory to pursue and marched to surround him.
On October 7, Guo Ziyi sent an envoy to report the victory to the court.
Lu Jiong crossed the Yellow River from Yangwu (now Yuanyang County, Henan), Ji Guangchen, and Cui Guangyuan crossed the Yellow River from Suanzao (now Yanzhou City, northeast of Yuanyang County, Henan), and together with Li Siye's army, they advanced together and followed Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army at the foot of Weizhou City.
Reunion.
An Qingxu gathered 70,000 soldiers and horses from Yecheng to rescue Weizhou. The troops were divided into three groups. Cui Qianyu led the upper army, Tian Chengsi led the lower army, and Anqingxu Yujia led the middle army.
Guo Ziyi sent 3,000 sharp archers to hide in the fortress walls and set up an ambush.
Not long after the battle with An Qingxu, Guo Ziyi pretended to be defeated and fled. An Qingxu was overjoyed and ordered the Yan army to pursue him despite the dissuasion of the surrounding soldiers.
When Guo Ziyi led his troops to retreat into the camp, the Yan army's pursuers followed closely. The ambush archers suddenly appeared at the top of the wall, and arrows poured down like a waterfall in an instant.
The Yan army retreated in a hurry. The Tang army's trumpets sounded. Guo Ziyi returned to fight back and defeated the Yan army.
In this battle, the Tang army captured An Qingxu's younger brother An Qinghe alive and beheaded him in front of the battle line, thereby conquering Weizhou.
An Qingxu fled all the way, and Guo Ziyi pursued him all the way to the vicinity of Yecheng. Xu Shuji, Dong Qin, Wang Sili, and the Hedong military envoy Xue Jianxun all arrived with reinforcements one after another.
An Qingxu gathered his remnants and hurriedly counterattacked at Choosigang (southwest of today's AY City, Henan Province), but was defeated again by Guo Ziyi. The Tang army killed 30,000 rebels and captured 1,000 people.
Anqingxu fled back to Yecheng in a panic and firmly defended it. Guo Ziyi and other military governors led more than 200,000 Tang troops to surround Yecheng.
An Qingxu was helpless and in dire straits, so he sent an envoy Xue Song to Fan Yang to ask for help from Shi Siming and claimed that he was willing to give up the throne of the puppet Yan.
Yecheng is Fan Yang's barrier. If Yecheng is lost, Fan Yang will directly face the Tang army's troops. After weighing the pros and cons, Shi Siming decided to rescue Yecheng.
Shi Siming personally led an army of 130,000 Fan Yang and went south to rescue Yecheng (today's AY City, Henan Province). He patrolled and observed, but did not go straight in.
Shi Siming ordered the forward general Li Guiren to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry troops to station in Fuyang (now Ci County, Hebei Province).
Fuyang, where forward Li Guiren was stationed, was only sixty miles away from Yecheng, and he could reach the city gates in one day on foot and horse. However, Shi Siming ordered Li Guiren to wave the flag and shout in support of An Qingxu, and not to act rashly.
Shi Siming's attitude is obvious - the snipe and the clam are fighting to reap the benefits!
…
Cui Guangyuan, the military envoy of Henan Province, captured Weizhou (today's Daming County, Hebei). On November 17, the imperial court appointed Xiao Hua, the former minister of the Ministry of War, as the defense envoy to Weizhou.
At this time, Shi Siming's troops were divided into three groups: one from Xingzhou (today's XT City, Hebei Province) and Mingzhou (today's Old Yongnian Town in the southeast of Yongnian County, Hebei Province), the other from Jizhou (today's Jizhou District of HS City, Hebei Province), and the other from Beizhou (today's Hebei Province, Jizhou District).
Qinghe County), work together to rescue Weizhou.
As soon as Shi Siming's army arrived, the pressure on Weizhou increased greatly. The military was in a tight situation, so Guo Ziyi went to the army and suggested that Cui Guangyuan should replace Xiao Hua.
On December 5, Li Heng ordered Cui Guangyuan to serve as governor of Weizhou.
On December 6, Wei Huangshang, the governor of Shengzhou, was appointed as the newly established Zhejiang West Road Jiedushi (headquartered in Shengzhou, today's NJ City, Jiangsu Province), with jurisdiction over ten states including Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Changzhou.
On December 12, Zhejiang East Road was newly established (headquartered in Yuezhou, today's SX City, Zhejiang Province), with jurisdiction over eight states including Yuezhou, Quzhou, and Wenzhou. Li Long, the Minister of Household Affairs, was appointed to concurrently serve as Zhejiang East Road and Huainan Road (headquarters).
Set up two military envoys in Yangzhou).
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The Tang army was victorious day after day, and news of success reached Chang'an. Every household was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and there was great joy.
On December 21, hundreds of civil and military officials presented the title of Emperor Suzong: Qianyuan Great Saint Guangtian, Civil and Military Emperor Xiaogan.
The business of the famous restaurant in Chang'an is also very good. All the private rooms have been booked three days in advance. The whole Chang'an is singing and dancing, and singing every night.
That evening, Bai Fu was copying calligraphy in the backyard. Two brothers, Li Yan and Li Qiu, came over. Without any explanation, they took Bai Fu out of the room and went straight to Changle House, a wine shop in Pingkangfang.
This restaurant is the property of King Qing, and the two brothers Li Yan and Li Qiu have just decorated it.
When they arrived at the box, Beihai Gang leader Jia Chang and others had been waiting for a long time. As soon as Bai Fu arrived, Jia Chang immediately ordered the banquet to be served.
Bai Fu frowned and said: "The rebellion has not been put down yet, but everyone is drinking so happily. Is there something wrong?"
Li Qiu smiled and said: "Now that An Qingxu is over, the city is about to be destroyed, let's have a small banquet for now. After An Qingxu is wiped out, we will drink for three days in a row until we are drunk."
Bai Fu said: "Although An Qingxu is vulnerable, Shi Siming's Fan Yang army is a tiger and wolf army and cannot be careless."
Li Yan smiled and said: "As far as I know, Shi Siming went south just to go through the motions. An Qingxu killed his father and killed the king. No matter whether it was the rebels or Fan Yang's army, all the soldiers wanted to die."
To be honest, I was looking forward to Shi Siming sending troops to cause chaos. This man was as ambitious as An Lushan. Now, under the leadership of famous generals such as General Ziyi and Pugu Huai'en, the Tang army was well-equipped with sophisticated equipment and well-prepared troops, and its troops could overwhelm Fan Yang.
military.
Shi Siming's battle with the Tang army was like hitting an egg against a stone.
What's more, Shi Siming's nemesis, General Li Guangbi, has been watching from the sidelines and has long wanted to eliminate him."
After Li Yan finished speaking, he burst into laughter. After a high-pitched discussion and prodding, everyone took turns toasting again, drinking and drinking, and both the host and the guest were happy.
Suddenly, the street downstairs was buzzing with gongs and drums, drums and music, and the sound of firecrackers, making it very lively.
Li Qiu called his attendants and asked. It turned out that more than a dozen children from aristocratic families had been awarded honors by the Ministry of War today and were about to go to the battlefield in Yecheng.
Tonight, these families jointly hold a banquet to celebrate the family's children.
In addition to "Channgle House", the three nearby restaurants were all booked and decorated with lanterns and colors for a feast.
Everyone came to the terrace and looked down. They saw more than a dozen disciples of aristocratic families dressed in military uniforms, draped in red and green, riding on Hualiu horses, like new champions, riding through the streets to show off their power.
These people are smug, arrogant, and pretentious.
After taking a closer look, everyone laughed, and Li Qiu said with a smile: "Who do I think I am? Aren't these the gang of dandies who were destroyed by the Fu Brothers?"
It turned out that this group of people was none other than the young men from the five surnamed Qiwang families, including Xingyang Zheng Lu, Qinghe Cui Xunhe, Fan Yang Lu Zi and others whom they met during the spring outing.
…
It turned out that seeing that the Tang army was about to wipe out the rebels in minutes, and that the puppet Yan was about to overthrow, the wealthy families with five surnames and seven hopes also had their thoughts moved.
During the Western Wei Dynasty, the Eight Pillar States, represented by Yu Wentai, Dugu Xin, Li Hu, Hou Mo, Chen Chong and others, stood out and established the Guanlong military aristocratic group by relying on their government soldiers and integrating the military talents of Hu and Han.
In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty, he was the prime minister when he entered, and he was the general when he came out. It was very prosperous for a while and cannot be compared with it.
The Shandong aristocratic family represented by the Five Surnames and Qiwang has lasted for hundreds of years. The family's descendants have been in officialdom for generations, and they have been married and intermarriage.
Huge power.
An Lushan's rebellion reignited war in the world.
Although these famous families are still prominent and prosperous, in the war years, without military power, all their glory and wealth were like smoke.
Several family patriarchs gathered together by chance and secretly discussed sending their children into the army. Firstly, they would gain military merit and accumulate contacts and resumes for future generals and prime ministers; secondly, the war would be over and they would not have to worry about their lives if they entered the army.
.Joining the army at this time can be said to be full of benefits and no regrets.
This time it would be impossible to wait until the time of Wu Zhao and Xuanzong.
Suzong Lingwu proclaimed himself emperor, and his position was unfair. In order to hide it from the world, he needed the support of these powerful families with five surnames and seven hopes.
In addition, you can also take the opportunity to share the military expenses of suppressing the rebels, grain, grass, and other military supplies.
Suzong thought about it again and again, and finally agreed, granting these sons the fifth-grade military rank, such as General Dingyuan, General Ningyuan and other military officers. He ordered these sons to serve in the frontline army stationed in Yecheng to encircle and suppress the rebels.
…
Li Yan said angrily: "If we leave Brother Fu, the number one pioneer of the Tang Dynasty, unused, and allow such a young man to pretend to be the leader of the military, can such a court be saved?"
Li Qiu sneered and said: "I think the court's idea of killing two birds with one stone is a good one. Go ahead and let these dandies treat war as a joke. It's best if they all die on the battlefield!"
Jia Chang looked at Bai Fu and said: "Young Master Bai, you stood firm in Suiyang and fought bloody battles at Xiangji Temple. You achieved such military exploits but were left idle and neglected. Looking at these bastards, leading the army with no merit, you can swallow this
Tone?"
Bai Fu looked as usual, picked up a piece of skin duck with chopsticks, dipped it in water, put it into his mouth and tasted it, while chewing it he muttered: "Little prince, your duck is really well done!"