Regarding whether to move forward, the team argued for a long time, one was that they could not fully believe the words of Li Yuan's family, and the other was the hope in the hearts of the exiled prisoners. In the end, Meng Kunpeng sent Yang Lei to inquire about the news, and Wei Yuanzhao agreed to continue to command the team forward.

When they arrived in Wuwei County, Wei Shizheng and Wei Yuanzhao were clansmen, and when they heard the news, they rushed to the gate of the city to greet them, and said gratefully: "Yuanzhao, you came at the right time, with this thousand soldiers, I am much more relieved." ”

Wei Yuanzhao hurriedly asked, "Is the city still unstable?" ”

Wei Shizheng said helplessly: "Feng Xiaoci is arbitrary, he can't listen to opinions at all, regardless of our worries and fears in Wuwei, I heard that Bai Yu appeared, and I hurriedly went over, no matter how much persuasion was useless, I didn't expect to be ambushed, so that the good situation died in a blink of an eye." Now Yuan Hongji has appointed the local Li Liang as the general of Yingyanglang, and has wantonly recruited Hu people to join the government army, and it is estimated that there will be a move soon. ”

In the crowd, Ying Yanglang of Hongnong County squeezed Yang Ji to Wei Yuanzhao's side and said: "We need to find a safe place to camp, Yuan Hongsi is nothing more than two ways, one is to write to the imperial court, saying that Li Yuan mutinied, and he successfully quelled the rebellion; The second is to directly send troops to attack the counties of Longyou and force Chang'an. ”

Wei Yuanzhao's face changed, Yang Ji said that it is very possible, as long as Yuan Hongsi has military power in his hands, one day Yang Xuangan is not killed, the court will not care about him for a day, and even comfort Yuan Hongsi with kind words, lest Yuan Hongsi insert a knife in Chang'an in the back. Before Yang Ji's words fell, a group of cavalry of more than 100 people rushed in like a whirlwind, and the first knight was burly and strong, his spirit was flying, and he laughed loudly: "Yuanzhao, you have arrived, we can finally send troops." ”

It turned out to be Yang Xuanzong who spoke, Wei Yuanzhao secretly complained, no wonder the situation in Wuwei was confusing, there was Yang Xuanzong, the great god, in Wuwei; More than a thousand exiles were overjoyed, and Yang Xuanzong's appearance showed that Wuwei City had been taken. Meng Kunpeng stepped forward and asked, "Yang Xuanzong, what's going on?" ”

Yang Xuanzong said without scruples: "The news just came that Yang Chong led the iron cavalry to defeat the 10,000 horses of Zhangye Taishou Huangfu Juan, and had captured Zhangye, and Zhang Ju, the defender of Yumen Pass, led 2,000 people to surrender, and deceived the gate of Xijun; At present, the two counties of Xijun and Zhangye have been occupied by Yang Chong, and the road from the Western Regions to Guanzhong has been cut off by Yang Chong. ”

Wei Yuanzhao and Meng Kunpeng's faces changed greatly, Yang Chong has defeated Tiele, Turkic, and Tuyuhun in the past two years. Meng Kunpeng said in disbelief: "Yang Chong will not rebel. ”

Yang Xuanzong nodded in agreement and said: "Yang Chong, this kid just wants to be famous, he first caught the horse thief Bai Yu, ambushed Feng Xiaoci on the way, and found two letters from Feng Xiaoci's body, Wei Xuan and Pei Ju's, Wei Xuan wanted Feng Xiaoci to kill Yang Chong when he saw Yang Chong, and then kill Yang and other criminals in the name of suppressing the rebellion; Pei Ju is even more desperate, and even Yiwu's people don't let go. Yang Chong decided to be Zhangye's Taishou, and he had already sent someone to deliver the letter, but he didn't expect him to be so able to fight. ”

Wei Yuanzhao took a breath, but Yang Chong still chose to take a step back, just wanting to take advantage of the rise of Yuan Hongsi and Yang Xuanzong to force Chang'an to appoint him as Zhangye Taishou; At this moment, the situation in Chang'an is dangerous, and it is likely that he will choose to compromise. Yang Xuanzong said to Wei Yuanzhao: "Lord Yuan is waiting for you in the mansion, and the team will be handed over to Meng Daxia, don't worry, with me, nothing will happen." No, you stay and ask again how many people are willing to rebel. ”

When they arrived at the county guard's mansion, the banquet had been set up, and six Hu girls were dancing whirling dances, all of them were sixteen or seventeen-year-old beauties, with white dresses and long skirts, their sleeves raised above their heads in the chord singing, their clothes fluttering, turning like fairies, from Wei Yuanzhao entering the house to sitting down, Hu Nu's figure turned left and right, and it seemed that she never knew tiredness.

Xie Tongshi and Wei Shizheng really took refuge in Yuan Honghei, and there were also the four Xiang Yang who killed Li Jing and Li Liang, Guan Jin, Li Yun, An Xiuren and others from Wuwei, which can be described as full of talents. During the banquet, Yuan Hongsi smiled gloomily and said: "Yuanzhao, I can't help it, I want to go back to Chang'an to confess, who would have thought that the people of the Yang family are so capable." I don't want to die now, there is only one way to go to the dark, I don't know what you think? ”

Yuan Hongji is a famous ruthless man. At that time, Yan Rong took Yuan Hongsi into prison under the pretext of arresting him, and cut off his rations, Yuan Hongsi was so hungry that he took out the cotton wool in the cotton clothes and swallowed it with water, until Emperor Wen of Sui sent an envoy to investigate the case, and finally Yan Rong was requisitioned back to the capital to die. After Yuan Hongji replaced Yan Rong as the governor of Youzhou, every time he interrogated a prisoner, he had to pour vinegar into the prisoner's nose or destroy his lower body; The prisoners did not dare to have any hidden feelings, so that Youzhou held his breath for a while.

Wei Yuanzhao seemed to have heard a joke, and reminded with a sneer: "Lord Yuan, you are still an official of the imperial court, so I will naturally continue to escort the exiles to Gaochang tomorrow." ”

Yuan Hongsi is far worse than Yang Chong, since he has conspired with Yang Xuangan, Yang Xuanzong is here, what else is there to hesitate, this kind of self-confession scene should not say a word. Changed to Yang Chong, I am afraid that when Li Yuan escaped, he would have already killed Jincheng and other places, Wei Shizheng sneered and said: "Yuan Zhao, if it weren't for your safety, Lord Yuan would have sent troops a long time ago." ”

Wei Shizheng was a little unbearable under Wei Yuanzhao's gaze, Yang Xuanzong hurriedly changed his smile and said, "Yuanzhao, since you don't want to talk about things, let's drink." ”

Yuan Hongsi understood that even if he defeated Luoyang Chang'an, he would not be able to treat the powerful and the nobles well, Wei Yuanzhao was Yang Yong's son-in-law, and his identity was special, so he could not be offended. So Yuan Hongsi clapped his hands, signaled for the song and dance to stop, and all the musicians went out, before he picked up his wine glass and said: "I have made up my mind, I will send troops tomorrow, Yang Xuanzong will attack Xiping County, and Li Liang will attack Jincheng County." ”

Wei Yuanzhao returned to the barracks and met Yang Chong's envoy Bai Litao, only to learn further details, Yang Chong considered the uniqueness of Gaochang, and when he gave up Gaochang, he ordered Sikong Xing, Wei Chigong, Shan Xiongxin, and Ma Delai to come out with only 3,000 cavalry, 1,000 infantry, and nearly 2,000 caravan dependents. Also resigned with Sikong Xing were Du Yan, Yan Kuo, Liang Shuo, Kan Zhong, and Ye Heilong; Jiang Fei, Meng Fu, and Yuan Renhui concentrated the troops in Yiwu, as well as the 7,000 people who controlled the strings of Tuoba Qiang, Xi Fengqiang, and Baishan Tiele.

The 4,000 cavalry of Shan Xiongxin, Liang Shuo, Ma Delai, and Tuoba Anhu were the second army to bypass Dunhuang, a month later than Xie Yingdeng, and pretended to be horse thieves in the line from Juyan to Jiuquan, and learned that Zhangye had changed hands, and immediately occupied Jiuquan County and attacked Yumen Pass; Zhang Ju, the defender of Yumen Pass, surrendered, and went together to deceive the gate of Xijun. Although Xijun is only a small city with a population of 5,000, it is connected side by side with Zhangye, which just chokes the trade route of the Western Regions.

Bai Litao showed Yang Chong's letter, in which Yang Chong discussed with Wei Yuanzhao to hand over in Zhangye as soon as possible, once Yuan Hongsi played the anti-flag, many things would become uncontrollable; Yang Chong specifically pointed out that if there were people among the prisoners who wanted to follow Yuan Honghei, they should not be stopped, so as not to cause extraneous branches. Wei Yuanzhao couldn't help but smile bitterly, tonight's barracks was already full of voices calling for friends, what else could he do, he could only do what Yang Chong said, and hand over the errand and return to Chang'an as soon as possible.

(End of chapter)