Li Siye sent someone to send a stagecoach to send the song to the Daming Palace, the court and the whole government never expected that after he defeated the hundreds of thousands of troops of the imperial court by driving the tiger and devouring the wolf with strength, he could still be regarded as a peaceless person to ask for the position of Henan Yin and Hebei Jiedu envoy, his treacherous and bottomless style of action made everyone in the court unable to adapt.

The mood of the civil officials is good, the worst thing is the military attachés, the rebels include An Lushan Li Siye, it is already equivalent to two pieces of rotten meat and a full pot of soup, can this still make the emperor believe them, can this still be the monarch and the ministers? It's chilling to think about.

Emperor Li Heng convened a court to ask Guo Ziyi, who was dismissed, and Li Guangbi and other generals came to discuss countermeasures and discuss how to deal with Li Siye.

"Rank ministers, you all talk about it, Li Siye wolf ambition, after annexing tens of thousands of people in my Tang Dynasty, he asked for Hebei Jiedu envoy and Henan Yin. Is he against or not? On the contrary, why do you still ask me for an official? ”

Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi looked at each other, do you still need to doubt this matter? Since he took away part of the Anxi army in the north of Hexi before he attacked Yecheng, he has completely broken with the imperial court, and the officials in front of him are just vain and wrong.

"Your Majesty." Li Guangbi crossed his hand and said: "Rebellious people, the world can rise up and punish them, Li Siye is indeed a rebellion." But the state of Wei and Xiangzhou, where he was at this time, were between the imperial court and the rebel forces, although both sides were defeated by him. He can't fight on two fronts, he should concentrate his forces to solve the hidden dangers in the north first, so he asked the court for an official position, in fact, he wanted to stabilize the court. “

Li Heng scratched his head and asked, "Then according to Situ's opinion, should this official be given or not?" ”

Li Guangbi said categorically: "Of course you can't give it!" Your Majesty, after Li Siye led the Hexi Army to mutiny, he suddenly had more than 70,000 soldiers and horses, and in the battle in front of the Anyang River in Xiangzhou, the prisoners collected 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses of the imperial court, and obtained 20,000 rebels and Luo Qidan cavalry and Youyan soldiers, and the total strength has been more than 100,000. After he led his troops north to conquer Shi Siming's Fanyang lair, he recruited troops from Hebei, and the total strength could reach more than 200,000. ”

"The reason why traitors are hated by the people of the world is that they have set up a different banner and tried to divide and overthrow the court, and if Your Majesty lists him as a rebel against the world, it will also make the people recognize his traitorous nature. But once His Majesty gave him the title of official, the people could not distinguish between traitors and loyal ministers and let him take advantage of them, wouldn't the situation become more and more unfavorable to the imperial court? ”

Li Heng nodded firmly, Li Guangbi's opinion is quite pertinent, but the imperial court can restrain him just by not sealing the official?

Zhongshu Lang Cui Lian stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, as Li Situ said, Li Siye intends to go north to attack Shi Siming's nest Fan Yang, which will greatly benefit the imperial court, and we will have plenty of time to recover and organize the army. ”

"Therefore, the minister suggested that he only be given the title of Hebei Jiedu Envoy, and also to stabilize him, not to turn around and attack the imperial court, so that we can have a chance to recover our strength."

In fact, the defeat of the imperial court in several battles before and after has completely destroyed all the elite troops owned by the dynasty, and the Shuofang army was directly defeated under Yecheng, and the Hedong army in the hands of Li Guangbi was originally formed later, and when the imperial court really had the strength to deal with the forces of Youyan Domain, it was already the late Daizong to the Dezong period.

Li Heng nodded tiredly: "Okay, according to your decision, give him the envoy of Hebei Jiedu, and let him occupy the twenty-six counties of Hebei." ”

He set his eyes on the two meritorious ministers below, but the entanglement and suspicion in his heart became more and more intense, analyzing the similarities and differences between the two of them and the other two traitors, and he had to analyze them thoroughly to rest assured.

The two Hu people and the Han people who rebelled were the first to have the strength of the three towns, and An Lushan had to understand it directly and thoroughly. However, Li Siye went around and around, at first he was determined to quell the rebellion and recover Chang'an Luoyang for the imperial court, but in the end he was stripped of his military power and entered Chang'an, and even let him run out in a daze, as if I forced him to rebel.

Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi in front of him both started under his promotion, because he Li Heng had never experienced counterinsurgency and was not familiar with routines, which led to the three princes who were given to these two people in the early middle and early stages, such as Sikong and Situ, which also made their prestige gradually soar, but fortunately, they did not have many troops.

Li Heng's mind turned in a big circle, and finally figured out that the most fundamental reason for An Lushan and Li Siye was that they had heavy troops, which caused them to have different aspirations, if they were only envoys of one town from the beginning, and the troops in charge did not exceed 50,000 people, could they still have an unrealistic rebellion plan?

The people below looked up in surprise at the flow in Li Heng's eyes, and even the breath of his breath became solemn. Li Fuguo, who was standing in front of him, glanced at the emperor, and chose not to speak.

The emperor pursed his lips and smiled, and said to Guo Ziyi: "Guo Sikong, I know that this battle is not your fault, and I also know that anyone who encounters this unsolvable battle situation will not do better than you, but the rules of the court are greater, and I can't be unreasonably biased, I want to keep your title and stay in Chang'an to rest for a while." ”

Guo Ziyi hurriedly knelt on the ground in panic, bowed and thanked: "Weichen thank Your Majesty for your kindness." ”

The emperor looked at Li Guangbi at a glance, and his expression was much more serious: "Li Guangbi, you temporarily replace Guo Ziyi as the deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, Shuofang Jiedu envoy, preside over the defense of Henan, your Hedong Jiedu envoy is handed over to Wang Sili, and he will preside over the defense of Hedong, and the envoy of Longyou Jiedu will be handed over to Guan Chonghei, and the rest of the Jiedu envoys of the other ministries will still be in their original positions." You have to be the main force of Li Guangbi, cooperate with his command and dispatch, if there is anything he can't command, each of you has the right to go up and down, and you can explain it to me. ”

After the emperor finished speaking, everyone fell silent, and there was still a strong sense of distrust in what he said just now. At present, the troops in the hands of the envoys of the various sections in the north are not sufficient, some only have a few thousand left, and some only have more than 10,000 left, each scattered in these places in Guanzhong and Hedong in Henan, even if they add up, they do not exceed 50,000 people. In the current difficult situation, it is all the more necessary to concentrate these forces on the line south of the Yellow River, and let a general like Li Guangbi or Guo Ziyi who can sit on one side be under centralized control, so as to be able to withstand the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered by Li Siye.

In general, this war is the original team, that is, the Tianbao Ten Sections of the Border Pass before the rebellion, in addition to the central army of the imperial court is vulnerable, and the regimental training of each province makes the township Yong organized even more ineffective. So much so that at the beginning of the war, Hebei, Henan and the land of Qilu were completely in an armed vacuum, so that the Yan brothers and Gao Xianzhi could only spend money to temporarily recruit Ding.

Therefore, at present, those who have combat effectiveness are all border soldiers and horses such as Shuofang, Hedong, Hexi, and Anxibeiting. However, such as the Guannei Jiedu envoy, the Henan Jiedu envoy, and the Huaixi Xiangyang Jiedu envoy, these newly established military towns, are all forcibly recruited from the local people, and even many soldiers must wear flails when they are not fighting, otherwise they will run away from the army, how can such an army have combat effectiveness at all?

……

The official documents of the imperial court were transmitted to Weizhou through the post station, and the holy decree transmitted from the flying horse only allowed Li Siye to serve as the envoy of Hebei Jiedu, but rejected his request to serve as the envoy of Henan Jiedu. The subtext of this message is that I don't allow you to collect grain and grass from south of the Yellow River. The three prefectures of Hebei that he now occupies have been damaged too badly by the war, and the people are struggling to make a living, and they are unable to supply the army.

Previously, Li Siye ordered Tian Zhen and Yan Xiaosi to lead the Hexi Army to the north to attack Zhaozhou, and after breaking through Zhaozhou, he attacked Jizhou Xindu, but he was met with a lot of resistance, and the rebel general Zhang Zhongzhi held on to the city, even with the help of artillery, it was very difficult.

When he decided to personally lead his troops north, his staff member Xu Bin stood up and admonished: "My lord, I think that the land of Youyan cannot be attacked. Previously, the lord used the yellow finch to defeat more than 100,000 horses in the imperial court and 70,000 horses in Shi Siming, and obtained a large number of heavy prisoners, and the army was temporarily strong. But this is only superficial, and we have not really digested and absorbed it. Not to mention defeat, but if there is the slightest setback, these people will return to their original camp in a scattered way. ”

"Besides, Youzhou, Zhuozhou, Yingzhou and other places are the nests of An Lushan for many years, and the city must be strong, and he has hoarded a lot of grain and grass in the city, if Shi Siming chooses to stick to the city to wait for work, even if we take Youzhou by then, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses, wouldn't it make the imperial court a yellow finch lurking behind?"

Li Siye pinched his chin and thought: "Shi Siming's foundation is still shallow, and his influence and control in the land of Youyan are not as good as An Lushan, but if he relies on the money he has stolen to establish a solid foundation, we may have to uproot the tumor of Youyan Domain Town in the future." It's just that if I don't go north, will I go south and enter Luoyang, Henan? But Luoyang is in no danger compared to Guanzhong and Youyan, and the grain in Hanjiacang is only consumed and not replenished, and I am afraid that there is not much left. ”