The news of the fall of Chang'an reached Wang Yuan's ears on the second day of the second month of February, when Wang Yuan had just escorted the frightened Xuanzong and the more than 100,000 troops who had just come out of the mountain pass to converge. When Wang Yuan reported the news to Xuanzong, Xuanzong's eyes were tearful and he was silent for a long time.

"Your Majesty, the matter has come to this, please don't be sad, Your Majesty. The minister promised that he would take Chang'an back for His Majesty. Wang Yuan comforted in a low voice.

Xuanzong sighed and said, "How did I get to this point today? What did I do wrong? My capital fell into the hands of traitors, my country was shattered, my beloved concubine died, how did things become like this in just a few months? Is it because I am not qualified as an emperor? Since I ascended the throne, the people of the Tang Dynasty have been stable, the national strength is strong, and all countries have come to the court, I don't dare to compare myself with Yao Shun, but I won't become the king of the country, right? Wang Yuan, you tell me, what did I do wrong? ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said for a long time: "Your Majesty, the minister can't answer you, maybe one day the minister will think about this question and give His Majesty an answer, but not now." The minister doesn't have the energy to think about this now, and the minister has a lot to do now. ”

Xuanzong sighed: "Yes, I'm afraid no one will be able to answer this question, I'm afraid I won't understand until I die." ”

Wang Yuanxin said: I know the reason, but I can't tell you.

"Your Majesty, don't mind, although the overall situation has been eroded, it is not yet that the building will collapse. Your Majesty should take care of yourself, and the ministers will escort Your Majesty to Chengdu, which should be a safe place. The subjects of the world will also be relieved to know that His Majesty is safe. The courtiers and the common people will follow. ”

Xuanzong wiped away his tears and nodded: "That's the only way to do it." Wang Yuan, can you recapture Chang'an for me? We still have so many soldiers and horses, maybe we can take advantage of its unstable foothold to counterattack and recapture Chang'an City in one fell swoop. ”

Wang Yuan frowned, thought about it and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to say, if there is any offense, please forgive your majesty." ”

Xuanzong hurriedly said: "You say, how can I cure your sins, you can say it quickly." ”

Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty still remembers the defeat of Tongguan? ”

Xuanzong was stunned and said: "It's only been a month, can I forget?" That defeat is unforgettable, of course I remember. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Your Majesty just remembers, what does Your Majesty think is the reason for the defeat of Tongguan?" ”

Xuanzong thought for a while and said, "I don't know. ”

Wang Yuan said: "If Your Majesty doesn't know, the minister will tell Your Majesty." The defeat of Tongguan was caused by His Majesty. It can be said that His Majesty led to the defeat of Tongguan, led to the loss of Chang'an, and now has to go on the road to the west. It's all His Majesty's fault. ”

Xuanzong looked at Wang Yuan in surprise and stammered, "Are you ...... You mean, I ...... My fault? ”

Wang Yuan said: "The minister's words may be offensive, but Your Majesty should face this matter head-on." If Your Majesty hadn't issued an order to kill Feng Changqing and belittle Gao Xianzhi, but believed in Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing's defense strategy, how could you have today? Natong Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the rebels are attacking and killing all the way, and the momentum is flourishing. An Lushan has worked hard for so many years, and the soldiers and horses under his command are all elite soldiers, how can they be ordinary soldiers and horses? In view of this, Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing decided to stick to Tongguan. But His Majesty was suspicious of the two of them, and ordered Gao Xianzhi to fight in Tongguan, which was a taboo in the art of war. It is true that Gao Xianzhi does speak too straightforwardly, but he is an experienced leader of the army, how much does His Majesty know about the matter of leading the army? His Majesty's killing of Feng Changqing and belittlement of Gao Xianzhi was a self-destruction of the Great Wall. ”

Xuanzong looked at Wang Yuan blankly, he wanted to be angry, but he found that he couldn't get angry at all, he wanted to admit it, but he didn't have the courage to admit that it was his fault. It was very embarrassing for a while.

"The minister didn't mean to say this to His Majesty. I just want to tell Your Majesty that Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven of the Tang Dynasty, who can be a minister but may not be able to control soldiers, Gao Xianzhi is a general, and his ability is to lead the army to fight. Your Majesty does not respect those who can fight, but wants to make ideas for them. The most important thing for His Majesty to do is to give the generals who lead the army the power to make their own decisions, not to interfere with them. Therefore, the battle of Tongguan was defeated. That's not Ge Shuhan Li Guangbi's fault, it's your majesty's fault. His Majesty just asked what caused the current situation, and the minister thought that His Majesty should think about it carefully, instead of asking His Majesty this question. ”

Wang Yuan had tried his best to say these words in a soothing tone, but despite the soothing tone, the weight of the words was still quite heavy.

Xuanzong looked at Wang Yuan blankly and said, "So, is it all my fault?" Did I single-handedly cause today's erosion? ”

Wang Yuan sighed: "Your Majesty is indeed responsible, but many people are responsible. Even ministers are responsible. Your Majesty, I don't mean to hold anyone accountable, I mean it's not too late to make amends. If Your Majesty fails to learn from this, he will make mistakes again and again. ”

Xuanzong said: "I have understood...... Something I did wrong, I ...... I won't make that mistake again. When I turned around and went to Chengdu, I would issue an order to rehabilitate Gao Xianzhi and rehabilitate Feng Changqing. Gao Xianzhi is nowhere to be found, and I may be able to reuse him to make up for my mistakes. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "Does Your Majesty really know that you are wrong?" The minister expressed skepticism. ”

Xuanzong said: "What do you mean by this? ”

Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty's words just now exposed your heart, and Your Majesty did not realize the mistake. ”

"What did I say?" Xuanzong was stunned.

Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty just asked me to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the Chang'an rebels to recapture Chang'an City. That's it. ”

Xuanzong was surprised: "Is this sentence wrong?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "It's a big mistake, Your Majesty still hasn't gotten rid of the problem of liking to interfere." Your Majesty wants me to lead the army to recapture Chang'an, isn't this the same as when Gao Xianzhi was ordered to recapture Luoyang? ”

Xuanzong blinked and said, "This ...... Isn't it possible? ”

Wang Yuan said: "Of course not, at the moment, the morale of the rebels to seize Chang'an is at their peak, and the rebels are entrenched in Chang'an with 150,000 rebels, but Your Majesty wants me to lead the more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in my hands to seize the city?" Your Majesty thinks this is a good idea, doesn't it? ”

“……”

"Is it better for the minister to obey the order or not to obey the order? If the minister obeys the order, this battle will be lost, and these more than 100,000 soldiers and horses will also be buried under Chang'an City. If the minister does not obey the order, will Your Majesty treat me like Gao Xianzhi again? Say that I have a different heart, say that I disobey the will? ”

"This ...... How could I do that, I wouldn't have done that. Xuanzong said busily.

Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty will not do that, but it doesn't mean that Your Majesty doesn't think so in your heart." Your Majesty, if you really feel that you are wrong, you should ask me if there is any possibility of leading an army to retake Chang'an, rather than ordering me to do so. Your Majesty is the king, the monarch is the minister and the minister, Your Majesty cannot be the soldier, and Your Majesty has to order in the war, isn't this the same old road? ”

Xuanzong was speechless, he really wanted to order Wang Yuan to recapture Chang'an, he was completely unaware of the other possibilities. In fact, before Wang Yuan came to report the news of the loss of Chang'an, he already wanted to summon Wang Yuan and let Wang Yuan lead his troops to fight the rebels.

"Your Majesty, the minister and Your Majesty have spoken thoroughly today. Does Your Majesty want to go back to Chang'an? Want to quell the rebellion? Wang Yuan said in a deep voice.

"Of course I think, do you need to talk about it?" Xuanzong Dao.

"Well, who does Your Majesty want to use to quell the rebellion for you?" Wang Yuan asked again.

"Naturally, it's you, who else can it be?" Xuanzong said busily.

"Well, since Your Majesty wants to put down the rebellion and recapture Chang'an Luoyang. Then the minister has a request, and His Majesty agrees to the minister, and the minister will bow down and die without regrets, otherwise he will ask His Majesty to order others to quell the rebellion. ”

"You said, slow talk is a request, that is, a hundred thousand, but if you can quell the rebellion and stabilize my Tang Sheji, I will also agree." Xuanzong said loudly.

"You don't need a thousand hundreds, you only need one. That is, the ministers will lead the army to quell the rebellion, and Your Majesty should not interfere. Your Majesty should not issue an order to force the ministers to do something, the ministers will put down the rebellion step by step. Your Majesty either does not need a minister, or he believes in the minister and gives the minister the right to lead the army independently. If His Majesty feels that this request cannot be tolerated, the matter will be stopped, and the minister will not worry about this heart, lest he will be killed by his head and body, and step Gao Xianzhi will follow in the footsteps of Changqing. ”

Xuanzong actually had no other choice, and Wang Yuan's words were not actually a request, but a condition that had to be agreed. At present, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses under Wang Yuan, where else can the soldiers and horses in Datang compete with the rebels? Except for Wang Yuan, who can command these hundreds of thousands of divine troops? Who else can I rely on besides Wang Yuan? The answers to these questions are obvious. Although Wang Yuan's words today were a little rude, and even a little blunt, after experiencing the changes of Ma Weipo, Xuanzong was no longer the arrogant and arrogant Xuanzong he used to be, and suddenly became self-pitying, self-pitying, inferior and self-pitying. He hadn't come out of the shadow of that incident, and he couldn't get out of it at all.

"I promise you, I promise you everything, as long as you can quell the rebellion for me and return the Tang Dynasty. I can't be ashamed of the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty. I'll never point fingers again, I'd better stay quietly, quietly waiting for your good news. Xuanzong said softly.

Wang Yuan suddenly felt a little sorry for Xuanzong, the process of a generation of kings transforming from a tiger to a kitten was actually very sad. Wang Yuan didn't want to say these words to stimulate him, but if he didn't say these words clearly, his actions would be more restricted, and he had to say them clearly.

"Well, with Your Majesty's words, the minister is full of confidence. The minister swore here that he would put down the rebellion, recapture Chang'an and Luoyang, and break An Lushan's corpse into ten thousand pieces. Danchen now has to make a decision, that is, the army will no longer march eastward, but return to Longyou and Jiannan. Chang'an has been lost, there is no need for rescue, what does Your Majesty think? ”

Xuanzong frowned, opened his mouth, and said in a deep voice after a while: "If you think it is appropriate to do this, you can do it yourself, and you can make your own decisions in military operations in the future, and you don't need to ask my opinion." ”

Wang Yuan thanked him and bowed to resign. After leaving the account, he turned around with a smile on his face.

In the tent, Xuanzong silently watched Wang Yuan's departing figure, until Wang Yuan's footsteps disappeared, and then slowly sat down. Stretched out his hand and took out a golden hairpin with a peony flower from his arms to look at it, and muttered in his mouth: "Concubine, do you know how much I miss you?" Do you know where I am now? I'm literally gone, I'm alone. ”