83, Yangu Valley Entrance

After the rebels conquered Luoyang, An Lushan sent Duan Ziguang as an envoy and brought the heads of Li Xin, Lu Yi, and Jiang Qing, who were left behind in Tokyo, to show off their military prestige in the counties of Hebei.

When he arrived in Pingyuan County, Yan Zhenqing was worried that when the soldiers defending the city saw the heads of the three adults, they would shake the hearts of the army because of fear, so he encouraged the generals and said: "I know everything and others, and none of them are the first. "New Tang Dynasty Book.

The meaning is: I am old friends with Li Xi and others, how can I not know their appearance, these skulls are not theirs, don't fall for the enemy's tricks.

Secretly, Yan Zhenqing sent people to kill Duan Ziguang, recaptured the heads of the three adults, made human bodies out of grass and trees, and buried them well.

At that time, Yan Zhenqing's cousin Yan Gaoqing served as the Taishou of Changshan, and Yan Zhenqing secretly contacted him to discuss the plan to get rid of the thief, and finally Yan Gaoqing secretly organized the rebel army, designed to kill the rebel general Li Qincuo, captured Gao Miao and He Qiansui, and recovered Changshan County.

Seventeen counties in Hebei, including Guangping, Julu, Zhaojun, Shanggu, and Wen'an, responded to the annexation and elected Yan Zhenqing as the leader of the alliance, and the imperial court appointed him as the envoy of Hebei to recruit and interview, and organized a total of 200,000 soldiers and horses to resist the force, from which the rebels' communication was cut off and the rebels' rear was severely damaged.

The resistance coalition formed by Yan Zhenqing and Yan Gaoqing's brothers became an important force in quelling the Anshi Rebellion.

In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756 AD), in order to consolidate the situation in the rear, An Lushan assigned Shi Siming to turn around and counterattack the coalition army of the seventeen counties, and most of the counties fell again.

Yan Gaoqing's son Yan Jiming was killed defending the city, Yan Gaoqing, his youngest son Yan Dan, nephew Yan Xu, and Changshan Changshi Yuan Luqian were captured and swept to Luoyang.

An Lushan pretended to be the grace of the past and asked Yan Gaoqing, "What is the reason why you carry me?" "Old Tang Book".

What am I sorry for you, that you should betray me?

Yan Gaoqing scolded: "I am a Tang minister in my life, always abide by loyalty and righteousness, indulge in your performance, and compound from you!

You An Lushan was originally a sheep slave in Yingzhou, deceived the emperor's favor, and then became prosperous and rich, what did the Son of Heaven do to be sorry for you, and you rebelled against the court?

Yan Gaoqing was a Confucian student, in the face of the crowd, he was fearless, righteous and strict, which made An Lushan angry and angry, and ordered someone to tie him to the Tianjin Bridge on the Luoshui River outside the imperial city, cut off his hands and feet, and made people eat his flesh raw.

Seeing that he was still scolding, the rebels were angry, and cruelly hooked his tongue with a hook, Yan Gaoqing was still not afraid, and scolded vaguely until he died in the rebels' torture.

Yan Dan, Yan Xu, and Yuan Luqian were also first cut off their hands and feet, and finally brutally cut to death by the rebels.

Loyal to the monarch and protect the people, refuse to be a traitor, and the Yan family is loyal to the martyrs.

At this time, Dugu Huan had already come to the front of Plains City.

The winter morning sun swept over the tall city walls, casting a warm glow of hope on the land.

Sure enough, as the legend says, the city wall of Pingyuan County is more than a foot higher than the ordinary county city wall, and many horse faces (that is, a section of the city wall protruding from the city wall) are built along the city wall, which is very conducive to holding.

The soldiers defending the city were all in high spirits and had no intention of slacking off.

After a series of checks, the general guarding the city ordered to lower the drawbridge and let Duguhuan enter Pingyuan City.

At present, there are more than 15,000 soldiers and horses in Pingyuan County. Among them, the regular army of the imperial court, the Jingsai soldiers, originally only had 3,000 people, and Yan Zhenqing selected elite soldiers and horses from the recruited rebels, expanded the original Jingsai soldiers to 6,500 people, and divided them into two elite armies, the Haoran Battalion and the Zhengqi Battalion.

Early in the morning of the second day when Dugu Huan arrived on the plain, Yan Zhenqing transferred 500 elite cavalry in the Haoran and Zhengqi Second Battalions, led by each free horse Xiangru and Li Hu, and Yan Zhenqing personally commanded, galloping towards Yanshan with Dugu Huan.

Before the An Lushan rebellion, Yan Zhenqing had secretly sent a scout battalion to explore the terrain in the counties of Hebei, and after seeing the route of the black dragon reverse vein described by Shi Siming, Yan Zhenqing made up his mind, bypassing the counties occupied by the rebels, and taking remote trails, and the road was also very smooth.

Dugu Huan has also dealt with the army many times, but where the brave and good fighting force, the soldiers are often ruthless and brave, and there is no lack of domineering, but the heroic and righteous spirit led by Yan Zhenqing, people can't help but work their own, along the way the military discipline is strict, the steps are neat, and there is more majestic and righteous above the bravery.

There are rumors in the army that it is said that Yan Zhenqing trained the soldiers, not only to train the soldiers to fight the military formation, but also to educate the soldiers of Confucius and Mencius Confucianism, loyalty to the monarch and love the people, and now it seems that this rumor should be true.

When Yan Zhenqing was doing imperial history in Chang'an, Duguhuan had already served in Dali Temple, and the two were also old acquaintances.

"Shi Siming-want to surrender?" Yan Zhenqing asked in disbelief.

"Yes, this matter was also facilitated by Brother Zhang Jiwu. ”

"Zhang's family is a big family, the official and his old lady also have some friendship, in order to be able to keep Pingyuan County, the official has lobbied around the Hebei generation of the gate lord family, his old lady generously donated a lot of money and food. ”

"There is such a thing? I have never heard the Zhang brothers mention it. Dugu said happily.

originally thought that the Zhang brothers were just desperate, so they returned to the imperial court, but he didn't expect his father to be such a patriotic man who knew the general and the righteousness.

"Well, Mrs. Zhang believes in Confucianism, is honest and loyal, and has a good reputation in the township, I think he secretly assisted the imperial court, and he never mentioned it to his sons. ”

"This also makes sense, they grew up under An Lushan, and if anything goes wrong, it will be a disaster of extermination. ”

"Yes, so the Zhang family is obedient, and the official is not surprised, but this Shi Siming-"

Yan Zhenqing still has reservations about Shi Siming's attitude, but at the moment of the overall situation, it seems that he should not make more presumptuous discussions, so as not to affect the court's appeasement plan.

"Lord Yan, is it that when Shi Siming recaptured the counties of Hebei, he killed Gao Qinggong and his sons and nephews, which made the adults' hearts palpitate?"

Yan Gaoqing's family of three and his subordinate generals were plundered to Luoyang by Shi Siming, and finally suffered ** Ling Chi, Dugu Huan naturally knew.

Hearing Dugu Huan say this, Yan Zhenqing's face was straight: "Hehe, Lord Dugu said this, he looked down on Yan, my brother was a loyal martyr, but he died for the righteousness of the country, and now if Shi Siming sincerely submits to the imperial court, first, he can restore the unification of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible and stabilize the world, and secondly, he can also save the people from suffering from misery and less suffering from war, which is also the righteousness of the country, how can Yan be a person who is narrow-minded because of his private interests." ”

"It's Dugu who lost his words, I just want to know from the side, Lord Yan's understanding of Shi Siming, and whether he has any concerns about his submission, Dugu is not good at words, and I hope Lord Yan will bear with me. ”

Yan Zhenqing looked back, and against the wall in the hall, there was the spiritual seat of the civil and military generals who had been killed in the counties of Hebei Province against the An Lushan rebels over the years, among which there were the spiritual seats of Yan Gaoqing's father and son, Li Xin and others, and then waved his hand.

"It's okay, haha, what's the matter? Brother Dugu is still the same all these years, and he doesn't like to travel with people?"

"Almost, it's the same old age. ”

"It's not a bad thing to make more friends, although there are a lot of fish and eyes in Chang'an, but there is always no shortage of handsome people. ”

"Well, what Brother Yan said is very true. ”

"Oh, if Shi Siming can be truly obedient, it is naturally a good thing, this person is strict in governing the army, brave and cruel, and the counties attacked cannot be defended, it can be said that An Lushan's right-hand man, and also a strong enemy of our army, he is better than following An Lushan. ”

After speaking, Yan Zhenqing smiled and nodded vigorously, as if he had convinced himself - the enmity between his brother and nephew was nothing compared to the righteousness of the country and the people living and working in peace and contentment?

"Brother Yan's mind is admirable. ”

"Brother Dugu laughed, but-"

"But what?"

"I heard that you have been following a Taoist cultivator from Zhongnan Mountain?"

"Yes, it's just a matter of practicing some fist and foot kung fu to strengthen your body. ”

"Oh-then Yan Mou said it bluntly, you know that Yan Mou is a Confucian student, Zi Bu is silent, strange and confused, I really don't agree with those statements about the dragon vein of the dream of the black dragon, I can't imagine that even Guo Ziyi and Li Mi still believe in these things. ”

“......”

Dugu Huan smiled, without words, before leaving, Guo Ziyi reminded himself that Yan Zhenqing did not think of Buddhism, Taoism and witches, and so on, so there was no need to emphasize the matter of the dragon vein too much, just act when the opportunity arises.

"You don't speak, what do you Taoists say about dragon veins and the like?"

"Hehe, the Daomen originally started in Lao Zhuang, but the schools of later generations are mixed, some people cultivate their minds and practice qi, some people pursue alchemy to become immortals, and some people combine the five elements gossip with the Taoist mysticism, and do some divination and fortune watching the heavens. ”

"Heavenly Machine-According to Yan's view, the so-called Heavenly Opportunity is just the people's back, An Lushan and his ilk did rely on some heresies at first, and indeed won a lot of people's hearts, and later his greed made his selfish desires more and more inflated, cruel and violent, and ruined the lives of the people, even if such a person gave him the right time and place, he would eventually lose in the hearts of the people. ”

......

galloping all the way, Dugu Huan followed closely behind Yan Zhenqing's horse, and his back gradually overlapped with this righteous and mighty military formation. Dugu Huan couldn't help but think of yesterday's chat, having such an open-minded and loyal and brave man is really a blessing for Datang and the people.

The two battalions of Haozheng led by Yan Zhenqing were all fast horses and light horses, each of them only brought seven days of dry food, and the ordnance was as simple as possible, so they came to the place twenty miles away from the mouth of the Yan Valley as Shi Siming said before sunset.

The Scout Riders reported that a walled city had been built in the valley ahead, with about a thousand men stationed there, and that it was necessary to break through the walled city before entering the valley.

"What? Shi Siming's intelligence did not mention this walled city. Dugu Huan said cautiously.

"Judging from Shi Siming's mark on the map, it should be the valley ahead, as for the walled city, it may also be newly built later, after all, he has become an emperor on his own, and many things can be done with great fanfare. ”