Wang Yuan was also shocked in his heart, although he knew that there would be a stormy baptism in the Tang Dynasty in the near future, and An Lushan was the initiator. But at this moment, there are still nearly ten years before that major event happens, and in Wang Yuan's consciousness, An Lushan at this time should not be so blatant.

With An Lushan's shrewdness, providing weapons and materials to the Xi people for free is absolutely not going to be done at a loss. The reason why An Lushan can do this must be extremely beneficial to himself. And the only reason Wang Yuan could think of at this moment was that An Lushan was arming them, and the reason for arming them was self-evident. In other words, in fact, this is not a free supply, but a secret transaction, giving the Xi people much-needed material help, and the Xi people will give An Lushan another kind of return.

Although it is too early to draw this conclusion, Wang Yuan still feels that this is the greatest possibility. If this is the case, it means that the historical facts we know are deviating, or accelerating. Nine years later, the Anshi Rebellion is advancing, because An Lushan has begun to sharpen his sword.

Wang Yuan did not inform Gongsun Lan of the heavenly opportunity of the Anshi Rebellion, but he still informed Gongsun Lan of his speculation on this matter, and Gongsun Lan was also surprised after hearing it, and said in a daze: "What does Erlang mean is that An Lushan and the Xi people have colluded together?" Providing weapons and materials to the Xi people, is this to use the power of the Xi people to rebel? ”

Wang Yuan said softly: "This possibility cannot be ruled out, but there may be another reason." Maybe it is not known what other important materials An Lushan and the Xi people traded, but the leader of the Xi tribe you asked did not know the content of the transaction. Or maybe An Lushan didn't know anything about this, but the generals under An Lushan were doing this business of selling weapons and armor, in short, everything is difficult to determine. ”

Gongsun Lan thought carefully for a moment and said, "Erlang, I think there must be a big secret in this. Yan Zhuang said clearly in Xiongwu City, saying that An Lushan personally ordered that no one should be allowed to enter that forbidden place, why is this? The only explanation is that An Lushan knew about the deals, so he strictly covered up the matter. Based on this alone, it can be ruled out that the generals under An Lushan's command did it privately. ”

Of course, Wang Yuan understood that what Gongsun Lan said was the truth, but he didn't want to explain this matter too clearly, because he didn't want to pursue this matter too much at this moment, even if he knew, what could he do? His strength at the moment is completely insufficient to prevent this from happening, and if he is not good, he will be killed.

Gongsun Lan was still thinking seriously: "Since An Lushan secretly colluded with the Xi people, when he went to the banquet in his mansion that day, he said that the Tong Xi people have been fighting fiercely on the border in the past few years, which is obviously a cover-up, but the so-called fierce border war he reported to the capital is also a lie about the military situation, and he is even deceiving the imperial court, obviously covering up some big conspiracy." I think An Lushan is very ambitious, maybe he really wants to rebel. ”

Wang Yuan praised Gongsun Lan's ability to analyze and reason, and the facts presented by Gongsun Lan also reminded Wang Yuan to firmly believe that An Lushan was actively preparing for rebellion. Now that he has come to this point, Wang Yuan also plans to seriously discuss this matter with Gongsun Lan.

"What my cousin said is reasonable, he lied about the military situation, I am afraid that it is a cover-up, and secondly, it creates a false impression of border restlessness, which makes the court more dependent on him, and at the same time, he can also ask His Majesty to allocate more weapons, armor, materials, food and grass to him on this ground. In this way, he can speed up the pace of arming the Xi people. Wang Yuan said.

Gongsun Lan raised her eyebrows and said: "What Erlang said is very true, this forms a vicious circle, An Lushan is really a powerful thief." Jiro, what should we do now? Do you want to go back to Beijing to expose his conspiracy? ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said: "No, returning to Beijing at this time will arouse their suspicion, I can conclude that once we propose to interrupt the errand and return to Beijing, they will definitely think of exposing the secret to them, and we will immediately be killed." Moreover, even if we manage to get out and return to the capital, we can't accuse him of bad intentions, because we have no real evidence. The empty accusation of rebellion against An Lushan was unscathed, and I might immediately lose my official position and die in prison without a place to bury. ”

Gongsun Lan nodded slightly and said: "You're right, you really can't talk nonsense without evidence, An Lushan is now being favored, and without real evidence, he can't get Yang Guozhong's support, and he will indeed cause a big disaster." So what do we do now? ”

Wang Yuan said: "Do nothing, everything is as usual, if possible, I would even prefer not to know this secret." In any case, after these two months, we will talk about it later, and when we return to the capital safely, we will think about it in the long run. Even if I can't expose An Lushan, at least I can make a suggestion to Yang Guozhong, let Yang Guozhong control An Lushan's material allocation, so that An Lushan can't send these materials to the Xi people so blatantly. Now it's all about complete secrecy, when nothing happens. This matter is only known to you, me and Qing'er, and must not be known to others. ”

Gongsun Lan nodded and said, "I know, let's do as you say for the time being, but I don't think this matter will be so simple." You know, I can't kill all the soldiers and horses of the Xi clan who are hundreds of people, and the news will leak after they escape, and they will also know that Yan Zhuang An Qingxu is the only good thing is that they may not suspect that we did it. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said: "This is indeed a tricky problem, I also thought about this matter just now, so I said that I can't interrupt the trip and propose to return to Beijing, because once I put it forward, it is equivalent to taking the initiative to confess, and it will be a fatal situation." And if they pretend to be nothing, they may be suspicious, but they may not be sure that we did it. If they were sure that we knew the secret and intercepted the Xi convoy, it would have been providential. When the time comes, you will fight to the death, and if you can live, you will live, and if you can't, you will just live. ”

Gongsun Lan stretched out her hand to hold Wang Yuan's hand, and said in a low voice: "It's that I didn't think it through, it's okay to follow them, you shouldn't kill people, just let them go and startle the snake." ”

Wang Yuan squeezed her soft palm and smiled: "Don't blame yourself, things may not be as dangerous as imagined." Even if it's a dead end, what's the point? With my cousin and Qing'er by my side, I was dumbfounded when I died. ”

Gongsun Lan hurriedly said: "Don't worry, if a real disaster comes, I will desperately save you out." ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Liu Jun must be rescued, this is my promise to Mrs. Qin Guo, as for me, it is not that important." ”

Gongsun Lan said: "Then I will rescue them together, it's a big deal to die together." ”

Qing Yun'er, who had a serious expression on the side, also said softly: "Yes, it's a big deal to die together." ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "How can it be like a catastrophe is about to happen, but we really have to be prepared, from tomorrow I will ask Liu Dehai to strengthen vigilance, and all personal guards must also be more vigilant, we must also observe Yan Zhuang and An Qingxu's actions more, and we must not be kept in the dark." ”

The three of them sat and talked under the lamp for a long time, until the third watch, when they saw Gongsun Lan's tired face, she should have suffered a lot in the past few days, and Wang Yuan couldn't bear to let her suffer anymore, so they dispersed.

……

The Qingyi army was originally only a military town, and the scale expanded a lot after becoming the seat of the Yanzhou administration, and Fan Yang Jiedu made the soldiers and horses stationed here under its jurisdiction 13,000 people, distributed in the Qingyi military town and seven or eight defensive military towns in the north, and the Qingyi army only had 5,000 soldiers and horses stationed here.

But after all, the scale is limited, the whole city of soldiers and horses together with the common people is only 20,000 people, in the border danger place, there is no prosperous business and luxury places, the street is basically visible is the leather medicine merchant's shop, here is rich in fur and medicinal herbs, other entertainment facilities are basically none.

Wang Yuan and his entourage were too lazy to visit this gray and tasteless city in the cold weather, and planned to stay in Qingyi Military Town for a day to rest. Yan Zhuang and An Qingxu obviously didn't want to bother more, and sent someone to ask what arrangements the envoy had in the morning, and after learning the news that the envoy was tired from the journey and didn't want to go out, they were also happy.

The day passed quickly, and it was almost dark, and a small group of cavalry dressed in Tang army armor outside the north city gate arrived at the city in the dark twilight. Taishou Qian Wenkui was accompanying Yan Zhuang and An Qingxu to drink in the back hall of the yamen, and found two prostitutes from the only Qingguan in the city to accompany them to drink and sing songs.

After the letter was delivered, Qian Wenkui was stunned when he opened the letter, and immediately handed the letter to Yan Zhuang and to read, Yan Zhuang took out the parchment letter in the envelope, and when he saw the crooked signature on it, he immediately put the two prostitutes who were giggling and pouring wine. The woman pushed them away and scolded them to exit the house.

Two prostitutes. After the woman reluctantly left, Yan Zhuang said in a low voice: "Qian Taishou, please go and give them an order to enter the city." ”

Qian Wenkui gave up his promise and got up, An Qingxu drank half of the scent, and was surprised because the woman next to him was retreated, and when he heard the words, he knew that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Yan, what happened?" ”

Yan Zhuang handed the letter to An Qingxu and said, "Take a look." ”

An Qingxu glanced at Leng and said, "Isn't this the secret pass we awarded to General Tuoba?" How did he get here? Isn't he in charge of the escort of supplies this time? It should have been past the north a long time ago. ”

Yan Zhuang said: "I also feel strange, I'm afraid that something will happen, so I asked Qian Wenkui to let him into the city." ”

An Qingxu frowned and said, "It can't be that something went wrong." ”

"I hope so." Yan Zhuang smacked his lips.