In the twelfth year of Bao, An Lushan forward general Cui Qianyou defeated Feng Changqingyang in Luoyang, Feng Changqing desperately escaped, and then ran to Shaanzhou, the Wantang army was annihilated, Gao Xianzhi's army moved to Shaanzhou, and Cui Qianyou iron cavalry encountered head-on on the north bank of Tianbao Canal, the Tang army gathered superior forces and the sharp Youzhou iron cavalry decisive battle, but Cui Qianyou dragged on without fighting, on the third day of the first month of March, Cui Qianyou attacked the Tang camp at night, Shi Siming's army suddenly killed from the north, the two armies attacked, 200,000 Tang troops were defeated in a battle, the soldiers had no will to fight, each fled with their belongings, this war corpse was all over the field, The blood flowed like a river, the Tang army was killed up to 80,000 people, the rest either surrendered or fled, and finally Gao Xianzhi only led less than 20,000 remnants of the army to escape back to Tongguan.

Cui Qianyou iron cavalry attack Tong Pass can not fall, then retreat back to Luoyang, in March, An Lushan in Luoyang called the emperor, named Xuzhou Sima Chen Xilie as the right minister, An Qingxu as the Tai, the founding of the country as Yan, Chang'an government and the opposition were shaken by this.

The spring rain has been falling for ten days, the streets of Chang'an are sparsely populated, occasionally a carriage drove by the road, splashing a splash, three or two passers-by in a hurry, soon disappeared in the misty smoke and rain.

Xingqing Palace, the footsteps of the palace people have become extremely slight, they live every day with fear, and the atmosphere does not dare to come out a little, in the past half a month, hundreds of people have been killed by the cane, and even for no reason, or because of a cough, or the footsteps are a little heavier.

'Bang! There was a slight sound in the study, as if something had fallen to the ground and shattered, which immediately made everyone shudder, and some even closed their eyes.

"The emperor spares his life! Spare your life! ”

The five little eunuchs were dragged out by the fierce guards, and their helpless wails echoed in the palace, making everyone seem to see their own end, and since the news of the defeat came, the laughter in the Xingqing Palace had been lost.

In the imperial study, Li Longji's anger had already penetrated his heart. He lay on his back on the dragon chair with a haggard heart, his eyes full of murderous intent, he wanted to kill people, in order to vent his fury.

The insomnia of the whole night made him seem to be ten years old in less than half a month, and he had been preparing for a year, but almost in one day, all his hard work was wasted.

300,000 versus 100,000, he was originally confidently waiting for good news, but what he was waiting for was the news of the annihilation of the entire army. Li Longji was hit the hardest blow in his life.

Cao Yun was broken, the eastern capital fell, and An Lushan became the emperor, each one more serious than the other. Not only that, Chang'an has severed ties with Hedong and Shandong. Over the past year, large-scale troop transfers from various localities to Chang'an have emptied the forces in Jianghuai, Liangzhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shannan. Li Yu's improper transfer of troops was also a major reason for this defeat, and his ability was also unprecedentedly questioned, and all the emperors rushed to the letter, resolutely opposing him as the prince.

All the questions became so acute after the First World War that he couldn't get started. But if you don't care. That will mean the destruction of the Tang River and the mountains.

"What should I do?" Li Longji was puzzled. He closed his eyes in weariness.

"Your Majesty, Bian Lingcheng is back. Waiting outside the door! Gao Lishi whispered in Li Longji's ear, at this time only what he said Li Longji could listen to a little, but he didn't dare to say more, every day carefully for the ministers, what should be said, what should not be said, he had to carefully sort, dare not make the slightest mistake.

At the beginning of the report, he impeached Gao Xianzhi for robbing the major warehouses in Shaanzhou, so that the soldiers had the selfishness to protect their property, so no one was willing to fight to the death and die for the country, and then he accused Gao Xianzhi of being passive and slack, and did not dare to launch a general offensive for a long time, and lost the opportunity to win again and again, so as to give the rebels the opportunity to assemble, which led to the defeat, and finally he wrote a few big words, 'A hundred deaths are not enough to atone for his sins. ’

This is a very timely report, and the defeat of the army naturally requires people to take responsibility, and this person cannot be Li Longji, who is usually desolate to the government, let alone Li Yu, who has already caused a change in storage due to lack of experience.

Gao Xianzhi is undoubtedly the best scapegoat, so as soon as this report came, Gao Lishi gave it to Li Longji as soon as possible.

There is another report in the hands of Gao Lishi, which is a report written by Li Qing from Anxi Jiedu, which is a suggestion to the current situation, but Gao Lishi did not immediately give it to Li Longji, and Li Yudi must first be held accountable, otherwise he will be defeated in the front, and Li Qing will suggest in the back, which will have no effect.

"Your Majesty, Bian Lingcheng is back, waiting outside the door!" Seeing that Li Longji didn't seem to hear, he repeated it in a low voice.

"Oh!" Come! ”

After a while, Bian Lingcheng walked in tremblingly, knelt down on his knees, and kowtowed three times to Li Longji, "The slave has come to confess to the emperor!" ”

He rushed back to Chang'an yesterday, he was the supervisor of the army, only to monitor whether the general had any dissenting intentions, and did not interfere with the deployment of the operation, but the evaluation of Gao Xianzhi's battle was greatly beyond the scope of his duties, and his deployment of troops and even the arrangement of troops were severely criticized, especially the matter of Gao Xianzhi's arson looting the warehouse, which was rendered in thick ink, but after the report was handed over, he was worried again, if the emperor asked him why he didn't report it early, how to answer.

Li Longji raised his eyelids, glanced at him and said, "Don't talk about the sin first, I came to ask you, you are reporting."

There is a chance to win, but where does the chance come from? ”

"Your Majesty, the slave thought that this defeat was due to Gao Xianzhi's hesitation and indecision in using his troops, and the slave had advised him to either fight a decisive battle with the rebels in one go, or surprise the rebels to bypass the rebels and attack Luoyang, forcing the rebels to return to help, so as to pursue the rebels at the tail end, and then defeat the rebels, but Gao Xianzhi said that the rebel cavalry was maneuvering, and the intention of avoiding not fighting was dragging down the Tang army, so he responded with immobility, and when the enemy army was tired, he would naturally retreat, so that the fighters were lost again and again, and in the end, how could they not be defeated?"

"Then he ransacked the warehouse in Shaanzhou, why didn't you report it early?"

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Bian Lingcheng's heart sank, what he was most worried about finally came, and his delay in reporting it was naturally because he wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail Gao Xianzhi, but he was dragged by Gao Xianzhi until before the war, and finally rejected him, but how can this be said, Bian Lingcheng was in a hurry, and kowtowed again and again: "Your Majesty." The slave has selfish intentions in this matter, and he does not dare to hide it from His Majesty! ”

"What selfishness? Come on! Li Longji had already sat up, and he stared at Bian Lingcheng with a stern gaze.

"Your Majesty, the minions also listened to Gao Xianzhi's words, thinking that the plundering of the soldiers might stimulate morale, and considering the overall situation, the minions concealed it for him, but when the rebels attacked the Tang camp at night, those soldiers wanted to protect the looted property. Everyone scrambled to flee for their lives, causing the army to collapse without a fight. Only then did the minions realize that Gao Xianzhi had made a big mistake. That's why it's the evening newspaper. ”

After that, Bian Lingcheng kowtowed again and again to ask for guilt, but Li Longji had a gloomy face and slowly flipped through Bian Lingcheng's report. After a moment of silence, he said lightly: "I heard that the King of Chu handed over the military power to Gao Xianzhi due to illness, but is there such a thing?" ”

Bian Lingcheng was stunned, Li Yu had been staying in Tongguan, and he had never heard that he was sick. Bian Lingcheng raised his head and was about to answer. Suddenly, he noticed that Colliers was glaring at him. He suddenly woke up and hurriedly replied, "His Royal Highness the King of Chu is indeed sick. The slave once advised him to go back to the long and quiet recuperation, but he said that the soldiers were bloody in front, and his little illness was not in the way, and the slave was so admirable! ”

Li Longji finally showed a smile, he threw Bian Lingcheng's fold back to him, and said, "Return this fold to you, along with the illness of King Chu, write another one!" ”

But at the moment when he raised his hand, Gao Lishi suddenly found that on the last page of the book, Li Longji had already written two shocking big words: "All beheaded!" ”

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When Li Longji went out to change clothes and came back, he suddenly found that there was another book on the table, and looked at it, it was actually a fold written by Li Qing, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and looked at Gao Lishi in confusion, Gao Lishi hurriedly said: "This is Li Qing sent someone to send in the afternoon, the old slave saw that His Majesty was tired, and he couldn't bear to let His Majesty work too hard, so he wanted to submit it again tomorrow, but now His Majesty is in good spirits, so he dared to take it out, please forgive Your Majesty!" “

Li Longji smiled, "You care about me, how can I blame you!" ”

With that, he sat down and picked up the fold and read it carefully, and gradually, his eyes became brighter.

"The minister heard that the Tang army was newly defeated, and he was worried, but Tongguan was not lost, and he felt that God blessed me with the Tang Dynasty, and the minister thought that An Lushan Luoyang usurped the rebellion, showing its wolf ambitions, which has made the people of the world angry, and made the minister see the turning point, although the Tang army is defeated, but there are still no less than 100,000 soldiers with armor, as long as it is used to be long, avoid its short, the adverse trend may not be reversed, and the minister offers three strategies for His Majesty's reference.

First, Tongguan is dangerous, is the gateway to the gate, the minister suggested that the general can be selected to lead a heavy army to guard, when the refusal to go out, must not compete with the enemy, so that the Beijing division is not lost.

Second, Shi Siming's army went south, and the east of the river was bound to be empty, and the minister suggested that the Shuofang army could go out of the well from the east to attack Taiyuan, and then turn to Hebei to take the old nest of An Lushan.

3. Although An Lushan usurped and rebelled, the hearts of the people of the Tang Dynasty were still there, and the minister suggested that His Majesty should issue an edict to the world, calling on the people of the Tang Dynasty to kill the national thieves, and the brave ones could be selected to reward them to inspire the people of the world.

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"Good idea!" Li Longji couldn't help but shoot the case, and he excitedly said to Gao Lishi: "Li Shilang can offer this good plan at my most critical time, which shows that he is loyal to the heart of the Tang Dynasty, and I am extremely pleased."

Gao Lishi saw that Li Longji's joy was overflowing, so he hit the railway while it was hot: "Since Li Shilang can come up with such a good plan, he must have a way to deal with it, why didn't His Majesty call him to replace Gao Xianzhi?" ”

Li Longji nodded and smiled: "I also have this intention!" ”

He walked quickly to the front of the case, picked up the pen and was about to comment on Li Qing's recital, suddenly he seemed to think of something, put the pen down again, and said with a faint smile: "This matter will be considered by me." ”

Gao Lishi sighed secretly, Li Longji must have discovered the loophole of this letter and knew that Li Qing was no longer in Anxi at this time.

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The rain is still dripping and dripping non-stop, the sky has been dark, this time is not the time to close the city gate, but there is no pedestrian on the street, at the beginning of the An Lushan rebellion, the citizens of Chang'an did not take it to heart, but after the news of the defeat of the Tang army, Chang'an immediately panicked, the price of rice skyrocketed, only a few days, a bucket of rice has risen to five hundred, because the grain depot in Shaanzhou was burned, the transportation was cut off, the military grain also began to be tight, Li Longji ordered to transfer rice from Shu, the grain merchants took the opportunity to hoard, the price of rice rose sharply again, the rice was worth thousands of dollars, and the imperial court was unable to close the position.

In this case, some people began to move their families to escape the military disaster, or moved to Shu, or moved to Longyou, or even moved to distant Anxi.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the vision was blurred thirty paces away. The sound of horses' hooves came from afar

Suzaku Street was galloping, and gradually a carriage appeared in the rain, hundreds of clusters, and the carriage turned around in Fengle Fang, and then drove into the door.

This is Yang Guozhong's carriage, the place he is going to is Ge Shuhan's house, inside the carriage, Yang Guozhong's eyes flickered, as if he was thinking about something? From time to time, a smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The Don army was defeated. It is bad news for everyone, but it is a happy event for Yang Guozhong. In this way, Li Yu could not escape the blame, and he was indignant by the crowd. The emperor may no longer dare to take this risk and forcibly appoint him as a prince.

Yesterday, 33 princes and heirs jointly wrote a letter opposing the establishment of the emperor's grandson as the prince, and even the Taimiao Temple also went to the water to warn, which is a good sign. When Yang Guozhong was about to despair, he suddenly saw a turning point.

And tonight, he wants to get the support of Zuo Xiang's brother Shuhan, and set off a campaign among the courtiers to 'investigate the responsibility for the defeat and oppose the prince of Chu'.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of Geshuhan's mansion, and Geshuhan had already heard the news. Come out and greet you in person. It's strange to say. Since Ge Shuhan became the left minister, his foot disease has been miraculously cured. Not only can you run, but you can also drink, and you can fight but get drunk!

"Yang Xiangguo doesn't say anything first if he wants to come, what if Brother Shu has something to do?"

Ge Shuhan complained on the one hand, and put his hand on Yang Guozhong's shoulder, his tone was extremely intimate, Yang Guozhong was hugged by him and felt uncomfortable, so he had to laugh dryly and said: "Such a heavy rain, I think Zuo Xiang should stay at home and drink, and will not go out." ”

Ge Shuhan looked up to the sky and laughed, "Yes! Yes, extremely! Now that he has guessed it, Yang Xiangguo must be drunk with Ge Shu, so don't leave tonight. ”

Yang Guozhong was taken aback, and hurriedly refused: "I have something important to discuss with Zuo Xiang tonight, and I can't drink!" ”

"Then it doesn't hurt to have a small drink!"

Half an hour later, Yang Guozhong, who was red-faced, was helped to Geshuhandi's study, he sat down, picked up the tea bowl and drank it all, and then let out a long breath and said: "Geshu Xiangguo's amount of alcohol, Guozhong has seen it, and he can't be fooled again!" ”

"Yang Xiangguo is also a good amount of alcohol, Geshu admires it!"

That being said, Ge Shuhan's face was not at all drunk, he also picked up the tea bowl and sucked it carefully, but his eyes were secretly looking at Yang Guozhong, guessing his intentions for coming tonight.

"When you're done drinking, it's time to get down to business." Yang Guozhong burped, only to feel that his heart was beating hard, he closed his eyes and waited for a while before saying: "This time the Tang army was defeated, and the 300,000 army was defeated by 100,000 rebels, I thought that the commander should be held responsible." ”

He should have cautiously tried to say the earth, but at this time he said it casually, Ge Shuhan sneered in his heart, he already understood that Yang Guozhong was coming to the place tonight, he was the left minister, and if he wanted to oppose Li Yu Lichu, he had to get his own support.

Frankly speaking, Ge Shuhan also did not want Li Yu to establish a prince, he supported the Yongwang Li Luan, but Li Luan has been suppressed by Li Cong, the king of Qing, and has no chance to get ahead, but after Li Cong was given death, Ge Shuhan saw Li Luan's hope, and the two immediately discussed how to fight for the East Palace, but before they could discuss a result, the imperial grandson was suddenly named the king of Chu, and the intention of establishing a prince was extremely obvious.

But then Li Yu was named the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and led the army to the east to conquer An Lushan, just when everyone thought that this was Li Longji's move to strengthen the power of the king of Chu, Ge Shuhan knew that this matter would definitely bring variables to Li Yuli.

Sure enough, the Tang army was defeated, and the call to denounce Li Yu rose again, and Ge Shuhan was waiting for the opportunity, and today, Yang Guozhong finally came to the door.

He smiled and said quietly: "The king of Chu is the generalissimo personally appointed by the emperor, I am afraid that the emperor will not hold him responsible." ”

Yang Guozhong laughed, and said very proudly: "You only know one thing, but you don't know the other, on the surface, the emperor trusts Li Yu and makes him the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, but if he really believes it, why does he send a prison army?" Has Geshu Xiangguo thought about it? ”

"Yang Xiangguo means to say.

"That's right, I have news from the palace, and the emperor is not completely at ease with Li Yu." Speaking of this, Yang Guozhong owed a debt forward, and said very sincerely: "So Li Yu's army is defeated, the emperor is afraid that he will reconsider the matter of establishing a prince, and I plan to launch a joint rebellion against Li Yu as a reserve in the courtiers, and I hope to get strong support from Geshu Xiangguo in this matter." ”

Ge Shuhan smiled faintly and said, "Then Yang Xiangguo has not thought about who to recommend to replace him as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses?" ”

At this time, Yang Guozhong had calmed down, he heard Ge Shuhan's words, it seemed that he was going to promise to give him the post of generalissimo, and this was his condition.

This condition is not a problem, Yang Guozhong wanted to agree, but he was afraid that Ge Shuhan would look down on him if he agreed too quickly, so he was silent for a long time before he cautiously asked: "Then Ge Shuxiangguo has a good candidate?" ”

Ge Shuhan sneered in his heart, and then he said in a resolute and non-negotiable tone: "I recommend Yongwang Li Lan as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses. ”

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