In Luoyang City, after solving An Lushan with a final word in one night, Yan Zhuang began to plan An Qingxu's claim to be the emperor. Although he has been proclaimed emperor, because of his size and body, An Lushan does not go to court every day, and summoning ministers of civil and military affairs is also irregular, and because of his violent temper, facing the saint has become the most feared thing for everyone. Therefore, when Yan Zhuang pretended to go to Hanyuan Hall early in the morning and came back, and then told Gao Shang and Ashina Chengqing that An Lushan wanted to canonize An Qingxu as the crown prince, and Mrs. Kang, whose whereabouts were unknown, as the queen, he saw that although the two colleagues were stunned, they did not suspect it.

"Doesn't it mean that His Majesty has always preferred An Qingen? Why did you suddenly change your mind? ”

The canonization of the crown prince is a great event for any dynasty and generation, but now Luoyang is embattled, so after subconsciously asking, Gao Shang came back to his senses and coughed dryly: "This matter is a family affair of His Majesty, we have no right to put our beaks, so let's do what we want." But does Majesty have an explanation for the current situation? It must be known that Du Shiyi and Guo Ziyi's two armies will soon come to the city, although there are still forty or fifty thousand soldiers and horses left in Luoyang City, which can hold on, but Guanzhong can levy more soldiers, and Hebei Province has been turned upside down by Du Shiyi's Anbei army, so if this continues, Dayan has no chance of winning. ”

Yan Zhuang didn't know that this was the truth, he had also answered this question when he faced the anxious An Qingxu in Hanyuan Hall just now, and then said with a smile: "If Du Shiyi personally led the troops to Hebei, it would be fine, but he shouldn't have sent a Zhang Xing." Although Zhang Xing has the name of a capable official, don't forget that he was originally the secretary, and later the judge of the festival, and he has never really led the army! How many years has Shi Dashuai followed His Majesty to the east and west, how can it be easy to fight with his generation, and he can pacify Hebei with his backhand! Therefore, as long as An Shouzhong Tian Chenghei can recover Lingchang and Yongqiu and return to Luoyang, we can safely overwhelm the rebels! ”

Speaking of this, seeing that Ashina Chengqing was a little disapproving, Yan Zhuang cheered up again: "What's more, Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen and Sun Xiaozhe are recruiting troops everywhere in Heluo, and they will come back soon." And Li Guiren, the king of Beiping who guards the lack of doors in the west of Xin'an, is a fierce general by His Majesty's side, and he will not disappoint! ”

"I'm afraid that the facts are going to disappoint Brother Yan!"

The door of the council hall of the political hall was suddenly pushed open, and it was Zhang Tongru who came in with a frosty face. He glanced at the three of them and said bluntly: "The good news is that Cui Qianyou and the three have returned, no matter what means they use, they have finally put together an army of 30,000 people. As for Li Guiren, who Brother Yan just said, he also came back, but there were only a dozen stragglers left under his command, according to him, Xin'an guarded Li Mingjun defected to the enemy, he couldn't bear the enemy on his back, so he fled back, and now, the missing door and Xin'an have all been lost, and the west of Luoyang is equivalent to falling into the hands of Du Shiyi! ”

Although he knew that it was only a matter of time before he lost the door and Xin'an, but in the face of such bad news, Yan Zhuang was certainly like ashes, and Gao Shang and Ashina Chengqing were no better. Gao Shang even said indignantly: "Li Mingjun actually lost His Majesty, but Li Guiren is useless!" But if it weren't for Cui Qianyou and the three of them being defeated in Guanzhong, how could Luoyang's troops be so stretched now? ”

"Now is not the time to blame anyone for incompetence, it is a big deal to immediately deploy Luoyang's defense, when I came, I had ordered people to close all the gates of Luoyang, sent troops to strictly guard the palace, and messengers all entered the city with hanging baskets." Although Zhang Tongru was once suspected by An Lushan, he still looked to An Lushan from the bottom of his heart. Seeing that Gao Shang took the initiative to ask Ying to go with him to deploy defense, and at the same time discussed the deployment of defense with Cui Qianyou and others, he found that Yan Zhuang stood there in a daze and did not move, and Ashina Chengqing seemed to be absent-minded, and he didn't bother to pay attention to these two colleagues, so he pulled Gao Shang and turned around and left. From beginning to end, he didn't mention how to report to An Lushan, and he didn't want to be whipped.

It wasn't until Zhang Tongru and Gao Shang had completely disappeared that Ashina Chengqing slowly paced to Yan Zhuang's side and said in a low voice: "Old Yan, how is the palace settled?" ”

With such an easy-going and casual tone, Yan Zhuang was already a little absent-minded because of the bad news, and then instinctively continued: "Nature is foolproof, just wait for King Jin to ascend the throne." ”

"It seems that His Majesty is dead."

Yan Zhuang came back to his senses at this time, he stared at Ashina Chengqing in horror, his heart was full of murderous intentions, but he didn't want Ashina Chengqing to shake his finger lightly.

"You don't need to think about it, His Majesty is now like this, and it is no longer called gathering people's hearts, and it is already good that he does not lose people's hearts. As long as Cui Qianyou and the three of them are wooed, they will be lenient with Li Guiren, and it will not be difficult for them to support King Jin. As for Zhang Tongru and Gao Shang, they should also accept the facts. The time I have followed His Majesty is not shorter than yours, and your specialty is not to march and fight, so I have to remind you that once Guo Ziyi defeats Shou'an again, the west and south of Luoyang will be completely exposed to the Tang army's front, if we can't hold out, we will only let Du Shiyi and Guo Ziyi sweep other states and counties in Heluo, and completely isolate us in Luoyang. Therefore, you'd better tell An Qingxu to immediately start preparing to withdraw from Luoyang! ”

Yan Zhuang never thought that before he could push An Qingxu to the throne, he would already have to face such a difficult choice as withdrawing from Luoyang City. He opened his mouth to insist on his opinion, but in the face of Ashina Chengqing's smiling expression, he immediately realized that the other party enjoyed a very high reputation in the army, as long as he raised his arms, he could use the charge of killing the king to push him into the abyss of no return. So, after weighing it for a long time, he finally asked, "Then what do you want?" ”

"I don't have a big appetite. King Jin is not assertive, he needs one more person to assist, the Central Plains has a saying that the left is the right man, or the right arm, Brother Yan should know very well, right? ”

understood that Ashina Chengqing was reminding himself not to eat alone, but Yan Zhuang relaxed a little. His influence in the army was far less than that of Ashina Chengqing, so he immediately agreed. Remembering that Li Guiren had just fled back to Luoyang City, and that Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen and Sun Xiaozhe all had all kinds of intimate relationships with An Lushan, in contrast, Li Guiren, who was born in the Khitans, was undoubtedly the best target, so he mentioned it to Ashina Chengqing, and the other party really agreed to contact him without saying a word, but repeatedly reminded him not to forget to take advantage of An Qingxuxiao.

But as soon as Ashina Chengqing left, Yan Zhuang sat down with a butt, and his face was blue and white. Thinking that after evacuating Luoyang, this Great Yan Dynasty was only afraid that it would be even more stormy, and he didn't know how long it would last, he couldn't help but clench his fists, and a thought in his heart that he had never had before.

Could it be that from the very beginning, he followed An Lushan on a road of no return?

All kinds of war reports in front of them naturally have to be concealed from the officials and people of Luoyang City, even the nominal prime ministers like Da Xixun and Chen Xilie. But Xue Chao not only hung an empty name, just relying on those various legendary scripts that slandered the Tang Dynasty, it was enough for him to fall into the hands of the Tang army and die more than a hundred times, so even if An Lushan's monarchs and ministers couldn't talk about trusting him very much, but the battle report that the lack of doors and new security were lost, he still knew it at the first time. He tried his best to deliver the news back to Xiuwenfang's mansion, and Pei Ning learned about it in the evening of the same day, so he had to immediately go to an inconspicuous house in Sishunfang, west of Nanshi.

When he opened a mechanism from the cupboard, and then entered through a secret door, and went down a dozen steps, and finally got down to the ground, he saw several old men with messy hair and beards sitting there, talking with one pair and one without a match. Seeing him come in, Li Xi was the first to stand up and said, "Is there any good news?" ”

From the initial hunger strike and waiting for death, to the current full expectation, needless to say, it is all the result of the good news in the past few days. Lu Yi and Zhang Jieran also got up when they heard the news and surrounded Pei Ning tightly, their haggard and old faces full of expectations. Sure enough, under their excited gazes, Pei Ning took a moment to say the news that Du Shiyi had arrived in Xin'an, and there was a burst of irrepressible cheers from the small cellar. Li Xin's knees were even weaker, and he almost collapsed on the ground.

"Thanks to Junli, thanks to Junli, no wonder Yan Gong said that Junli is very human!"

"Datang is really lucky!" Lu Yi also breathed a sigh of relief. After standing up straight supporting the wall, he looked at Pei Ning and asked, "Then do you want us to go out and raise our arms and call on the Luoyang army and people to drive the rebels out of Luoyang City anyway?" Or do you want to open the gates? ”

Seeing that this old Imperial Historian was so impulsive, Pei Ning immediately shook his head and said: "The two-way army is about to come to the city, and the rebels will only take strict precautions. Please cherish the useful body. ”

Zhang Jieran is the most impatient one, he, the envoy of Henan Jiedu, has almost lost the whole of Henan, even if he returns to the dynasty, this great crime is enough for him to cut off all his official positions and be scolded by the public, so he immediately asked regardless of it: "But didn't Pei Saburo say that to save our lives was to recapture Luoyang?" ”

"That's what I say, but it's not that the three of them should fight a battle without a plan, and use their weaknesses to touch the enemy's strengths. Now, if the rebels hold on to Luoyang, the two armies can besiege Luoyang all the way, sweep all the way to Heluo, and finally turn Luoyang into an isolated city, so if my expectations are correct, An Lushan should abandon Luoyang. And before abandoning the defense, they will definitely try to plunder all kinds of gold and silver treasures, so as not to leave a single star left in the army, that is, the common people will also suffer an unprecedented catastrophe. ”

Seeing that all three of them were disgusted, Pei Ning arched his hand and said, "Although my words may be out of place, I want to say that instead of thinking about how to communicate with the army now, it is better to accumulate strength and deal a heavy blow to the rebels at the last moment!" ”