Li Kuo's heart suddenly felt a stern and a burst of sorrow and pain arose.
An Lushan has a total of 200,000 iron cavalry in his hands, which is not something ordinary military soldiers can stop. Even if Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing are famous generals of a generation, they may not be able to gain any advantage in the battle with An Lushan.
What's more, the soldiers they led were recruited from Chang'an and Luoyang temporarily, and their combat effectiveness was basically negligible.
No wonder His Majesty the Emperor temporarily recruited the veteran general Bi Sichen to go to the eastern capital Luoyang to rescue the siege. Is it that my great Tang Dynasty has become so talented?
"General Li, General Li, please accept the order!" Zhu Gui finished reading the imperial edict for a long time, and saw that Li Kuo was still stunned and urged him to raise something.
"Ah!" Li Kuo realized that he was kneeling and listening to the imperial edict, so he quickly tidied up his clothes and said respectfully: "My minister, Li Kuo, received the imperial edict!"
Zhu Gui handed the imperial edict written in the yellow silk in his hand to Li Kuo, and then he helped Li Kuo up with a smile: "Oh, General Li, you are so lucky. You are so envious of the miscellaneous families."
He helped to flick the floating gray on Li Kuo's clothes and said, "The family has been walking in front of the imperial family for many years, but I have never seen His Majesty value a junior who is so respectful to him. The family is honest, those behind us in the Tang Dynasty are the ones who are behind us.
I was born late and I was a rich man who used his father to make up for his shortcomings. These people were nothing in normal times, but they just took advantage of the hierarchy to make some money. But when it came to war, the gap was seen. Those rich young men were the ones
You cannot protect the country and defend the enemy outside the country's gates. Second, you cannot provide advice and resolve dangers invisibly. Tell me, can your Majesty and his old man not be angry?"
After a moment of pause, Zhu Gui continued: "But you are different. You are really relying on your own strength to become the governor of Shule. This military merit is unparalleled. Now An thief rebelled and the court is on the verge of employing people.
Your Majesty uses talents in a non-discipline manner, but you have the opportunity to reach the sky in one step."
He got the benefits of Li Kuo, so he helped Li Kuo think about everything. What he said is true. Now the whole Tang Dynasty has focused on the An Lushan rebellion. Now the rebels are in great momentum, and the court urgently needs an outstanding person.
The generals stood up and turned the tide.
Among the older generation of generals, such as Gao Xianzhi and Ge Shuhan, they are all plagued by injuries and cannot exert their maximum strength. The younger generation of generals are mostly rich children who rely on their relationship to make military achievements. It is simply a matter of relying on them to be alone.
The idiot says dreams.
A young and outstanding general like Li Kuo who started his own business entirely on both hands is afraid that he can count both hands. No wonder His Majesty the Emperor has high hopes for him.
Li Kuo nodded and said, "Goodbye Zhu is more important, but Li is dedicated to the country, so he is not as good as fame and fortune."
Zhu Gui laughed twice: "General Li is so childish again, right? You deserve this fame, why don't you fight? You led the Jianghuai Prefecture Army to Guanlong to serve the king. This is to repay your kindness.
I deserve a reward. If you don’t want this reward, wouldn’t it be difficult for Your Majesty to do?”
After all, he is a person who has been walking in the palace all year round. Zhu Gui's vision of the problem is very vicious. With just a brief analysis, he pointed out the crux of the problem: "Besides, now Hebei is storming, Your Majesty urgently needs a leading figure
I will set an example for those who are ambitious in the world. Do you think this person is not only you, but others to choose from?”
Li Kuo bowed to Zhu Gui and said, "Eunuch Zhu is very much, but Li doesn't know what Your Majesty said about serving the king? How many soldiers should be assigned, and where should I enter Guanzhong?"
It’s not that Li Kuo talks a lot. After all, His Majesty the Emperor did not explain so much in the imperial edict. What if he understands the wrong intention and does the wrong thing, wouldn’t it delay the big thing?
"Well, General Li doesn't have to worry about this. Your Majesty also asked the Miscellaneous Family to give you a verbal order, which is what you said."
Zhu Gui looked around for a week, deliberately glanced at Dou Qing and others and coughed lightly, "Please please let General Li take his back!"
Yangzhou League Training Camp, School Field.
Li Kuo was frowning and thinking about his next plan.
If the imperial edict written by His Majesty the Emperor is an official article, then the oral edict conveyed by Zhu Gui can represent his true meaning. People in the officialdom always like to say one thing and do another, but in this regard, they actually have to do it.
Even His Majesty the Emperor cannot escape the vulgarity.
"Your Majesty, he hopes that you can enter Jingji from Duji Road, and go west of Tangzhou, Dengzhou, and Shangzhou to Chang'an to protect your lords." (Note 1)
Whenever I think of what Zhu Gui said with a smile, Li Kuo started a cold war all over his body. Now that the east is surrounded, it is impossible to enter Guanzhong from Hedong, but why should I abandon the east road in Shannan?
And what about going around the world from Dogi Province?
In fact, from Huainan Road to Shannan East Road, from Shangluo, and from Shangqiu to Lantian, you can go directly to Xijing. It is faster than from Duji Road. Your Majesty, he will not be confused about this, so the only way to let him
The reason for making this decision was that he was worried about himself!
Li Kuo unfolded a map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty sent by his personal soldiers and painted it with a charcoal pen.
Judging from the map, Dogi Province is closer to An Lushan’s base camp Hebei Road, and the pressure on An Lushan cavalry is obviously much greater than that of Shannan East Road. The most important thing is that the eastern capital Luoyang is located in Dogi Province, and is being slapped at this moment
At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor actually ordered him to go around the east. Could it be that he was trying to help Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing?
It’s just that I have trained the Jianghuai regiment to train the military forces for less than half a year. Although the appearance of the soldiers has improved greatly, it is still impossible to reach the strength of the border army. If you command such an army, you will be 20,000 or 30,000, so I’m afraid it’s not.
I can't compete with a Youzhou cavalry with ten thousand people!
His Majesty the Emperor likes to read military books and will never know this truth. Could it be that he wants to kill someone with a knife?
Li Kuo had just come up with this idea and gave himself a harsh mouth. He kept mocking himself, "This country belongs to His Majesty the Emperor. If he really wants his life, he can just give an imperial edict, so why bother."
Using such shameful means?
But the reason he deliberately found did not have a good comfort effect. Not long after, he fell into suspicion of His Majesty the Emperor and the court. The reason why he became suspicious was the last sentence Zhu Gui said
talk.
"Your Majesty hopes that you can send Deputy General Zhang Yanji to Anxi to serve to make up for the lack of Anxi generals."
At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this sentence. After all, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing led many direct generals to fight against Chang'an to fight against the king, and there was a serious lack of generals from the four towns of Anxi. But if you think about it carefully, this arrangement is full of loopholes.
Just imagine, Zhang Yanji has just followed him to participate in some battles in Anxi, and his qualifications are far inferior to some veterans who have been struggling in Anxi for many years. It would be fine if he was a general, but if he wanted to be the chief general of one army and one town, he would not have a comprehensive view of the overall situation.
He is definitely not competent. Even if he is forced to take office, he will be harmful to the army without any benefit.
Zhang Yanji is not suitable to be the chief general of the first army.
This is basically a misunderstanding based on Li Kuo’s understanding of Zhang Yanji.
Instead of transferring someone who is not suitable for being the leader to join Anxi to take charge of the first army, it is better to promote some veterans from the direct line of the Anxi Army, so that they can save time and convince the public.
The reason given by His Majesty the Emperor was that Zhang Yanji had experience in joining the army in Shule. If we want to say this, according to the regulation that the military generals rotated every three years of the Tang Dynasty, almost all senior generals had Anxi background.
Why did the Emperor of Tang focus his attention on an incompetent young general? Why did he spare no effort to transfer him to Anxi?
Li Kuo didn't like to focus on planning and thinking about these things, but His Majesty the Emperor had no choice but to think about this strange decision.
In fact, since he went to Anxi, he felt the subtle changes in His Majesty the Emperor's attitude towards him. Before that, His Majesty the Emperor praised him very much and treated himself as the successor of Geshuhan and Gao Xianzhi.
After he went to Anxi, although His Majesty the Emperor often sent envoys to reward him by taking advantage of the opportunity of rewarding the three armies, the indifference could be clearly seen from the lines.
His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t care about himself!
Li Kuo felt cold. Although he was unwilling to think about it, he inevitably thought of that thing. And this matter was naturally related to the Imperial Concubine.
For some reason, after he became the archery master of the Imperial Concubine, he went to and from the palace to the forbidden palace, rumors spread in the market that he had an affair with the Imperial Concubine.
A large part of the reason he went from Chang'an to Anxi was the rumor. Now it seems that he is afraid that this matter has turned into a feud by His Majesty the Emperor. He doesn't know who the matter is from, but this matter is undoubtedly
It has had a great impact on one's future.
With His Majesty’s temperament, although he didn’t say it on the surface, he was afraid that he would be disgusted with him. Such things cannot be explained clearly, cannot be explained completely, and cannot be explained completely. It depends entirely on His Majesty’s attitude!
"Now, I'm afraid I can only take one step, look at it." Li Kuochen sighed, shook his head and smiled bitterly.
What else can I do? If I disrespect myself to the order, I am afraid that I will be labeled as a traitor immediately? An Lushan has the capital to compete with the court with 200,000 cavalry, so what do I have?
So, I seemed to have no choice
ps: Yes, guess what role Li Ku played in the restoration of the Anshi Rebellion.