"Xianggong, the person who should be killed hasn't been killed yet, why did it suddenly stop?"

Gao Xianzhi put down the brush in his hand and looked up at the fire that was persuading him. Huo Ba Guiren stood firmly on his side in this purge, and contributed a lot, and he was already his right-hand man.

"Before the big war, if it spreads too much, the effect will backfire and shake the morale of the army!"

The purge was ostensibly to purge the army of generals and colonels who were more or less in collusion with the rebels, as a deterrent to those who were half-hearted. But in fact, it has a deeper meaning, Gao Xianzhi summed up the benefits and disadvantages after the battle of Shangyang Pass, and what made him feel the most was the constraints of his subordinates.

Although there are many factors in the formation of this kind of constraint, the most direct reason is that the generals in the army have their own backgrounds, and they are inseparable from him.

After learning from the pain, Gao Xianzhi decided to carry out a purge in the army, originally he didn't plan to make such a big move, but the peace talks incident made by Yang Guozhong gave him a just right excuse, so the purge of cleaning up the rebels and rebels against the party began.

Gao Xianzhi specially transferred Huoba Quy Nhon back to Tongguan from the front of the confrontation between the two armies, and was responsible for participating in this purge. It can be said that Huo Ba Guiren's performance greatly exceeded Gao Xianzhi's expectations, and this kind of action involving interests will definitely encounter great resistance in the army, but with the participation of Huo Ba Guiren, a large number of lieutenant generals and colonels who were on a vegetarian diet were actually cleaned up without any danger.

However, Gao Xianzhi's purpose in doing this was not just to seize power, his root was to make the army unite and work together to fight and even defeat An Lushan's rebels. Therefore, just when Ho Ba Quy Nhon suggested that the purge should be expanded, it decisively stopped this purge that could cause it to get out of control.

Gao Xianzhi's worries are not exaggerated, as long as this kind of purge in the name of purging the anti-party has formed an inherent thinking in the army, the biggest enemy that the army will face in the next endless up and down fighting, even if he Gao Xianzhi has three heads and six arms, it may be difficult to bridge this rift and estrangement.

Now, almost more than eighty percent of the generals and colonels in the army have been replaced by cronies promoted by Gao Xianzhi, and they can accept it when they see it, and there are more important things waiting for them than seizing power.

"Huoba Guiren, you remember, our purpose is not to kill people, if we continue to kill, I don't know how many people will be involved, and everyone is in danger, where is there still the mind to fight against the rebels?"

Huo Ba Guiren didn't seem to have any intention of continuing to argue, but nodded in agreement:

"Xianggong is very worried, if it continues to expand and alarms the court and the Son of Heaven, I am afraid it will take more words. ”

It seems that he is not very jealous of the court and the Son of Heaven in his tone, but there is a sense of contempt. In fact, Huo Ba Guiren's contempt for the imperial court has his own reasons, and it is definitely not arrogant arrogance.

Since Ge Shuhan was killed, looking at the whole court regardless of prestige, qualifications, and ability, only Gao Xianzhi is left, if the Son of Heaven wants to replace Gao Xianzhi, or get rid of Gao Xianzhi, then there must be a candidate who can be replaced, but does the Son of Heaven have it? The answer is no, so the fire with thick thighs has the capital to despise the imperial court.

"It's a pity that Yang Xingben ran away, if this person's head can be returned to Yang Guozhong, it's ...... pleasure to think about."

Huoba Guiren is the old department of Geshuhan, and he has no good impression of Yang Guozhong, especially after the battle of Shangyangguan, he got more reliable news, and this person played a certain negative role in it, so he hated this person even more. can't kill Yang Guozhong, and killing Yang Guozhong's nephew is also a very happy thing.

It's just that Yang Xingben doesn't seem to be a mediocre person, and he still has some ability, he was able to get out of it under the encirclement and interception of several arrows in his body, and the cavalry chased and intercepted him, which made Huo Tu Guiren a great honor, and it has always been a pity.

"Yang Xingben was born in the Shenwu Army, if he didn't have some skills, how could he be reused by Qin Jin, and then let Yang Guozhong take it back?"

Gao Xianzhi knew Yang Xingben's details very well, and when he mentioned Qin Jin, he was faintly irritable.

"Qin Jin? Xianggong is also too elevated, I heard that this liao was just a county lieutenant a year ago, if it wasn't for luck, how could he become a taishou in one go?"

There was a faint hint of yin and yang in Huo Ba Guiren's words, and even he himself was a little inexplicable, why he had such a bad feeling for this person who couldn't fight with him.

Seeing Gao Xianzhi frowning and pondering, he thought that he was worried about Yang Xingben's escape.

"Although the name of Qin Jin is outside, do you still dare to use Yang Xingben's rebellious excuse to be the enemy of Xiang Gong? Isn't it to hit a stone with an egg? Besides, he has been seriously injured, even if he escapes our pursuit, he will not be able to escape the order of God, please rest assured, maybe this person has become the food of the beasts in the mountains. ”

Gao Xianzhi shook his head and said:

"Whether Yang Xingben escaped or not is not worth worrying about, what I am worried about is Sun Xiaozhe's next move, and he must deal with it as soon as possible!"

When it comes to Sun Xiaozhe, Huo Ba Guiren's view is relatively optimistic.

"This person has a good reputation, isn't he still defeated outside Shangyang Pass?"

"Do you think Sun Xiaozhe's loss is in Shangyang Pass?"

"Isn't it?"

Of course not, Sun Xiaozhe's most fundamental plan is to attack Hedong City, and then use Hedong City as a springboard to capture Pujin Bridge. ”

Hearing this, Huo Ba Guiren's hands were clenched, and the pinched joints rattled.

"This thief has some tricks, if the Pujin Bridge is in the hands of the rebels, the danger of Tongguan will be greatly reduced!"

In fact, if the Pujin Bridge is lost, the danger of Tongguan will be discounted, but it is very likely that it will face the situation of being attacked by the enemy.

Thinking about it, it makes people feel afraid, it turns out that Sun Xiaozhe's plan is not Shangyangguan at all.

"Otherwise, with the location of Shangyang Pass, is it worth the death and injury of tens of thousands of people to launch a strong attack?"

Huo Ba Guiren was speechless, Gao Xianzhi was right today, Sun Xiaozhe wanted to tie up all the Tongguan army in Shangyang Pass, and then free up his hands to attack Hedong City. It's just that Sun Xiaozhe made a mistake, and Feng Yijun guarded Qin Jin and also kept an eye on Hedong City, which made his plan come to naught and fall short.

As a result, the plan to attack Hedong City failed completely, not to mention, even Shangyang Pass suffered a big loss, and 30,000 or 40,000 people were killed and wounded in vain.

That is, the victory of this war made the ** stationed in Tongguan gain unprecedented self-confidence since An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.

Gao Xianzhi cherished this kind of self-confidence very much, and even did not hesitate to openly disobey the secret instructions of the Son of Heaven, and also maintained and protected this hard-won military morale.

"As far as the last general knows, Qin Jin's actions in Hedong Road are becoming more and more terrifying, and he actually wants to take the initiative to attack and fight a decisive battle with Shi Siming's department in Jiangzhou. ”

Gao Xianzhi had also heard about this for a long time, and when Huo Ba Guiren learned the news, he must have his own channels.

"That's right, Huangfu Ke had a letter a few days ago, saying that he was confronting the rebels in Xia County in Anyi, and asked Gao to send troops to echo him. ”

Huo Tu Guiren's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly and nervously:

"Can the prime minister agree?"

However, Gao Xianzhi shook his head.

"The battle of Shangyang Pass has just ended, and the losses are extremely heavy, so it is not appropriate to act rashly at this time. What's more, the purge has just ended, and the morale of the army is still fluctuating......"

"It's a pity, it's a pity! If you can take the opportunity to echo Huang Fu Ke, maybe there will be an unexpected gain!"

Unlike the blind optimism of Huo Ba Guiren, Gao Xianzhi was obviously more cautious.

"Don't you know that the rebels gathered in the Xia County area are the main elite of Sun Xiaozhe who threw himself into the battle of Hedong City? Their strength is no worse than that of those who were invested in Shangyang Pass, if you start a war rashly, you think about it carefully, can we still withstand a big battle like Shangyang Pass in a short period of time?"

Indeed, judging from the current state of the army, it is really inappropriate to take the initiative to provoke another major war without any plan just after the end of the Shangyang Pass War.

Huo Ba Guiren seemed to have suddenly thought of a key question, "If we don't send troops to echo Huangfu Ke from afar, won't he be in danger?"

No matter how powerful Huang Fu Ke is, there are only 20,000 or 30,000 men under his command, not to mention that he was originally reattached to the rebels, and the difference between the fighting will and military spirit of his soldiers can also be imagined.

On the surface, the imperial court announced that the main credit for the first battle of Hedong City was Huangfu Ke, but a discerning person could see at a glance that the real contributors were Qin Jin and the Shenwu Army.

Therefore, Huoba Guiren did not think that Huangfu Ke would be able to block the hard blow of Sun Xiaozhe's rebel elite. Even if Huangfu Ke can't hold on, I'm afraid he will be stretched, this person is actually ready to move, and he has to fight to annihilate the enemy, I really don't know who gave him this kind of confidence.

Huo Ba Guiren secretly slandered Huangfu Ke, and at the same time felt sorry for not being able to fight. As a military general who leads the troops, what he is most looking forward to is the battle, especially the big battle like Shangyang Pass, but unfortunately it is Qi Bihe who is in the limelight in the battle of Shangyang Pass, and he himself only plays the role of green leaves and red flowers.

Therefore, Huo Ba Guiren was also holding his breath in his heart, and he was eager to prove his ability to lead troops to fight in front of Gao Xianzhi, instead of fighting for power and profit.

"You're right, although you can't start a war rashly, you can't completely ignore the crisis of Huangfu Ke. ”

Gao Xianzhi added another sentence, which made hope return to Huoba Guiren's chest.

"Xianggong, the last general is willing to ask for orders to lead the troops......"

Gao Xianzhi laughed, he knew early on that Huo Tu Guiren was eager to fight, but it was precisely because of this that he couldn't use this person to echo Huangfu Ke. Otherwise, as long as Huoba Querhon led the troops away, he would definitely wait for the opportunity to fight, which was not what he wanted to see.