Chapter Twenty-Nine: Wanting to Hide

Feng Changqing, who retreated from the eastern capital of Luoyang, and Gao Xianzhi, who retreated to Tongguan, were united with the soldiers of Gao Xianzhi, preparing to resist the enemy with the danger of Tongguan, and the defenders of Tongguan divided 10,000 troops as the vanguard led by Li Hu, a general of Guide Zhonglang, stationed in the area of Cuihan, from the east of Tongguan, Tongyu, Shantangyi, Qinglong Town, and Hangu Pass, all stationed 2,000 to 3,000 sergeants, and formed a confrontation with the rebels who were eyeing outside Hangu Pass.

Gao Shuai and Feng Shuai are both Anxi border generals, experienced on the battlefield for a long time, although Luoyang battle, the war was unfavorable, defeated and retreated, gave up Shaanzhou and retreated to Tongguan. But An Lushan knew very well the strength of the two, and the battle of Luoyang was defeated by the soldiers, not the commander. The Tang Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time, and the people have been comfortable for many years, lacking military equipment, and the war is together, all of them have lost their claims and are panicked. After the rebellion, Feng Shuai was appointed by the Son of Heaven to envoy Fan Yang Jiedu, to Luoyang to recruit troops to stop the rebels, but the recruited soldiers were all children of the market, impatient and hard-working, undisciplined, and lack of training, a touch of the collapse, not only lost Luoyang, but also with Gao Shuai in Shaanzhou after the rendezvous, the two discussed to abandon Shaanzhou, retreat to Tongguan, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.

An Lushan returned to Fanyang from Chang'an via Tongguan several times, knowing the importance of Tongguan's natural hazards, and did not dare to move forward rashly. Although, everywhere the iron hoof went in the previous month, there were all chickens and dogs, and how many cowards were seen along the way either abandoned the city and fled, or surrendered the city, except for a few who were in the corner of the stubborn resistance, most of the Hedong and the Central Plains were put into the bag, and the trend of fighting against the imperial court had been formed. But before arriving at Tongguan, if you talk about it, you have to restrain your arrogance, otherwise if you are not careful, you will lose all your efforts. He was waiting, he didn't just plant a few scouts at the pass, in fact, he had planted chess pieces around the emperor, waiting for the day when they could come in handy.

For many days, Nalan and Duguyue had not found any trace of Murong Cheng and the others, and they decided to confront Huangfu Dan head-on. So he took more than 20 sergeants to the shop and surrounded the shop.

Huangfu Dan didn't panic when he saw this scene, and hurriedly came out to greet him: "Do you want to eat the barbecue, I'll go bake a few and make a good dipping ......."

Duguyue said: "I won't eat it, come with us!" ”

"Why is that, Chief? Want me to take a trip? What's the matter with me? ”

"Don't be verbose, you'll know when you go!"

"Chief, I usually treat you like a sister, why don't you recognize people today."

"One yard to one yard, it has nothing to do with sisters or not. Come with us first. If you had nothing to do, what are you doing here, you would have left with us a long time ago. ”

"Alright! I don't have the same knowledge as you, don't think I dare not go with you, lead the way! ”

"Hey! You don't know as much as we do. You know what you've done. Nalan Duguyue said this, and quickly patted her arm. Duguyue didn't continue.

But Huang Fudan's attitude surprised Nalan and Duguyue, and they didn't see her use any powerful tricks, nor did they perform any illusions (maybe it was too late). When he arrived at the Barberry Inn, he found a room and began to interrogate her. In order to prevent her from jumping off the wall, Nalan arranged more than 20 personal soldiers outside the house, and burned a few pots of fires to prevent her from using them until they were scattered.

Nalan asked: "It snowed heavily on the day the post chief went to Nanshan to look for horses, and in the evening, why did you drive the carriage to the direction of Tongguan?" ”

"I need piglets, and the piglets are gone, so I'm going to buy them, what's the problem?"

"Why don't you go early, it's going to be evening, you're a woman, what if you encounter a snowstorm?"

"When Lord Xuanyuan came to the town that day, the slave family thought that the adults would ask for my money, so they went to buy piglets despite the wind and snow. Who would have thought that the adults had rushed to Tongguan before me that evening, and this was also something that I didn't know until I came back. ”

"That day I also rushed to Tongguan in the evening, and saw a carriage only four or five miles away from the Tongyu Station, and after careful observation, it was your carriage, why did you drive so far, and there were no piglets on the carriage, and I did not see you. Why is that? ”

"That must be the captain mistaken, the slave family didn't go that far, only stopped at the Shantang Station, hid in a dilapidated house to hide from the wind and snow, and came back without buying piglets. It was the middle of the night when I came back, and I was so scared. I regret that I shouldn't have made this trip. ”

Seeing that Huangfu Dan avoided the important and avoided many practical problems, Duguyue slapped the table and asked angrily: "Ling Huyan was tied up by you, right?" ”

"Chief, why did you wronged me like this? I'm a woman, and I don't know anything else except how to do it. Isn't it because I usually offend you that you have collected all this incriminating evidence? ”

"It's nonsense, don't talk about gourds and melons, if you have nothing to do, what are we going to do with you? Don't think we've got nothing to do after dinner, and we're going to play with you. ”

"Good sister of the post chief, you really can't do this to me. I really don't know anything about that. ”

Nalan has been observing, knowing that this is meaningless, maybe she doesn't care about taking herself and Duguyue as opponents at all, and now the only old Mr. Linghu who knows the inside story has fled to the east, and there is really no way to take her without any evidence, when he was about to call Duguyue to negotiate outside.

The voice of Zhonglang General Li Hu came from outside the door: "Captain Nalan ......"

As soon as the words fell, Li Hu broke into the door, and when he saw that Huangfu Dan was angry, he reprimanded: "Captain Nalan, you told me last time that Huangfu Dan had a problem and wanted to be arrested." I asked you if you had any evidence, and you couldn't show it. At the moment of the great enemy, you don't want to think about how to resist the enemy, but you are detaining the people here. Is it tolerable or intolerable? ”

When Nalan and Dugu Yue were about to explain, they saw Huangfu Dan standing up unhurriedly and said to Li Hu: "Official, don't be difficult for the captain and post chief, they are all acquaintances near this Hangu Pass, don't be angry." After speaking, he took Li Hu's arm and looked at Nalan and Duguyue with a smile.

Nalan only asked in surprise, "When did Boss Huangfu marry General Li Hu?" None of us know. ”

Li Hudao smiled proudly: "Just the last time I transported grain to Tongguan, I met the emperor's wife, and the general fell in love at first sight, and it was a match made in heaven!" You guys, don't get along with my wife in the future......"

"Official, the slave family is going to make you a roast, a good dip in water, and I am sure to satisfy you."

"Good...... By you, everything depends on you, hahaha"

Li Hu hugged Huangfu Dan and walked out of the house laughing wildly, and Nalan came out for a long time before saying to the sergeants: "It's all withdrawn." ”

Duguyue walked out of the room and asked after a self-deprecating "poof": "Is this what Old Man Linghu told you before leaving?" Or did you hear it wrong? ”

"How is that possible? I think it's getting more and more complicated. ”

"How complicated?"

"At the beginning, after An Lushan rebelled, I heard that Gao Shuai and Feng Shuai arrived in Luoyang to meet the enemy, and I felt that Chang'an could be protected and the rebels could be destroyed. However, in addition to the An Lushan Division, which fought with the Khitan for a long time in Fanyang, the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were the soldiers of Anxi. However, once the troops of the four towns of Anxi are withdrawn, then the Tibetans and Turks will come back. However, Chang'an and Luoyang had no soldiers to adjust, and Gao Shuai and Feng Shuai had to re-recruit new soldiers to defend against the enemy, and the people recruited were all market disciples in Chang'an and Luoyang, and they were not fully trained, so they were defeated by the rebels. ”

"People in the market are afraid of death! Overwhelmed. ”

"Why do you say that?"

"My father said that."

"Does he have a basis?"

"When I was eight years old, my father took me to the Wei River for spring, and it was the time of the wheat festival, and I happened to see a man lying in the grass by the roadside, covered in blood and dressed in a feather forest guard suit. The father hurriedly carried it back and asked Lang Zhong to treat him and revive him. Later, I learned that he and more than 20 people from the Yamen went to arrest the rebels, but they never thought that although there were only a few people against the party, they fought to the death, but they knew that the 20 or so arresters were defeated at the touch of a button, causing him to resist desperately, and he was stabbed several times, and after running away, he fainted in the grass. Luckily, my father helped me. ”

"That doesn't prove that the children of the market are too big to use!"

"I'm not done yet. Later, when my father asked about the fact that more than 20 people were killed by five or six people, my uncle said that the 20 or so were recruited by the Yamen from the market at that time, and they were greedy for life and afraid of death. Since then, I have remembered my uncle's words, that I do not fight with the people of the market, and that none of the postmen I recruit are from the market. ”

"So long ago, something has affected you so far? Then the rebels were all caught? ”

"After my uncle recovered from his injury, he was young and handsome, and in gratitude to my father, the two of them became Jinlan. Every time he saw me, he pinched my face very happily and said, "If only I had a girl!" My father said, "If you don't dislike it, marry your family." It's just a joke that I promised to this more than 20 years ago. Actually, I still don't know who that uncle's name is. ”

Nalan snickered in his heart after hearing this, it turned out that this family business still has such a relationship, and his father didn't talk about it, he really wanted to marry the woman in front of him, so strong, it would be strange if he didn't draw a knife in the future. The war is coming, and I don't bother to think about it, life and death are fateful, and wealth is in the sky! Then he said: "Post Chief, Huangfu Dan we have to avoid its edge, and we can't find Murong City, how can we be good?" ”

"Why don't we ask five hundred sergeants from the garrison to go to Nanshan to search the mountains?"

"Do you have to catch Murong Cheng?"

"I have to!"

"I think it's better to wait for the rabbit than to search aimlessly like this."

"But if they don't get rid of it, sooner or later it will be a big deal?"

"But at present, there are more than 100 sergeants under my command, all of whom have entered Nanshan, like a few grains of rice falling into the beach, what is the use. Looking at Li Hu's attitude now, is he willing to send troops? ”

Duguyue wanted to convince Nalan again.

A soldier outside the door came to report: "Many of the sergeants in the garrison vomited and leaked, and General Li Hu came to ask the captain to go quickly." ”

……