Wang Sili and Li Fuguo exchanged glances, and then crossed their hands and said: "Your Majesty, why don't you go straight down to Nanyang from Wuguan and enter Xiangyang City, Jingxiang and Jiangdong have not been affected by the war, and they are still prosperous and rich. After His Majesty went south, he could rely on these two places to continue his foundation. After the traitor Li Siye took Guanzhong, he must have the ambition of becoming the emperor, and he will be condemned by the whole world and will be defeated and killed. At that time, His Majesty waved a hundred responses from the south of the Yangtze River and returned to Guanzhong to revitalize the Tang River and Mountain. ”

Li Heng listened to Wang Sili's analysis and agreed with it in his heart. Originally, because of the relationship between the emperor, he didn't have a good impression of this place in Shuzhong. Now that Li Siye occupies Fengxiang and blocks his route to Lingwu in the west, Chen Cangdao is also blocked, and the only place that can meet his psychological expectations of fleeing south is Jiangnan.

"In that case, I will follow what you say, and take the ministers of the court to Jiangdong."

When Li Fuguo heard this, he suddenly stepped forward and interjected: "Jiangdong and other places are not comparable to Shuzhong, although Lu Jiong has resigned from the post of envoy of Xiangyang Festival in Huaixi, but there is no leader so far. Lai Yao, Gao Shi, Wei Zhi, and others occupy the east of the Lianghuai River, although they claim to be loyal to Your Majesty, but they must not be guarded against, Your Majesty only takes these thousands of imperial forest troops, I am afraid that it will be damaged by Tianwei. The slave maid thought that Yu Chaoen should be summoned to lead 30,000 dragon troops to escort south. ”

Li Heng said worriedly: "That's what I mean, it's just that Guo Ziyi is leading the two armies of Shuofang and Longxiang to hold off with Li Siye in Guanzhong, and I will withdraw the Longxiang army, wouldn't it be a salary draw for him?" ”

"Guanzhong has long been unable to hold it, whether or not to transfer the Long Xiang army is meaningless to the battle situation, why doesn't Your Majesty give Guo Ziyi an order, let him lead the Shuofang army to withdraw to Shuofang to hold on."

Li Heng sighed faintly and said, "Isn't there a chance that Guo Ziyi will win against Li Siye in Guanzhong?" ”

Li Fuguo shook his head helplessly: "General Wang Sili is right, Your Majesty will retreat to Jiangdong for a while, and you will be able to return to Chang'an in the future." ”

Wang Sili frowned on the side, looked at Li Fuguo's face but did not speak. Did Li Fuguo transfer Long Xiang's army to leave Chang'an and go south to protect the emperor? Wrong! It's to protect himself. Whether it is Lu Jiong, Lai Yao, Gao Shi, Wei Zhi and others are all officials appointed by the emperor, they will not be unfavorable to Li Heng morally or emotionally. However, during the period when Li Fuguo monopolized the government in Chang'an, he used the prosecutor's office to suppress them, and he dared not speak out.

Once the emperor fled to Jiangdong, the envoys of these places would inevitably not be able to tolerate him, so the Longxiang army, which had more than 30,000 people, was his life-saving card for living elsewhere.

Li Hengshang did not understand this, so he returned to the chariot and spread out the silk cloth to write the holy decree, and then stamped the seal and handed it to Li Fuguo, who in turn handed it over to a small eunuch under his command, and asked him to go to the suburbs of Chang'an with the holy decree to Guo Ziyi and Yu Chaoen respectively.

……

Guo Ziyi led two armies to take the initiative to attack the Hexi Army led by Bai Xiaode and Zhao Chongyu in Sanyuan County, and the two suffered repeated defeats and retreated to the area of Liquan County, waiting for Li Siye to return to the army from Longmen Ferry.

After Duan Xiushi occupied Fengxiang, he took the initiative to march to Liquan County, and joined Bai Xiaode and Zhao Chongxuan, who had retreated there, and prepared to launch an attack on Guo Ziyi.

Li Siye led his own troops to Liquan County, and after he arrived, he immediately suspended the campaign against Guo Ziyi, even if Guo Ziyi took the initiative to attack, he ordered the troops to defend passively.

The generals were puzzled, Bai Xiaode and Zhao Chongyu took the initiative to ask Li Siye for battle, patted their chests to sign the military order, and vowed to make the last contribution to this pacification pass.

Li Siye smiled and put his arm around the shoulders of the two and said, "We already have the chance to win, why be so impatient?" ”

Bai Xiaode couldn't understand: "We could have won quickly, why wait?" My lord, since the soldiers joined the party and attacked the two prefectures of Jiangpu, they have been fighting for more than two months, and they all want to repair as soon as possible. If you wait any longer, the soldiers are tired, and I am afraid that they will have to complain. ”

Li Siye said with a smile: "We can't afford to wait, Guo Ziyi can't afford to wait even more than us, the court is under the pressure of fleeing, and this pressure is borne on Guo Ziyi, how can he bear it?" Since the soldiers are already tired, why look forward to the last battle, I believe that it will not be long before the Tang army will take the initiative to lose and retreat. ”

The two were suspicious, so they had to obey Li Siye's decision and set up camp in Liquan County to settle down. No matter how Guo Ziyi challenged, the Hexi Army only stuck to the defense.

……

The envoy sent by Li Fuguo arrived at the garrison of Guo Ziyi and Yu Chaoen in Sanyuan County, and the two hurriedly went out of their tents to meet the holy envoy. Guo Ziyi also hoped to meet the emperor in person and show him his position and confidence, but the contents of the holy envoy's Zhang Kai Edict completely shattered his faith.

"Under the door! Guanzhong withered, His Majesty intended to tour the south, and specially appointed Yu Chaoen as the governor of the escort army, and led the Longxiang army to escort the court south. Guo Ziyi was appointed as the envoy of the three towns of Shuofang Longyou Hexi, and led the Shuofang army to retreat west to Lingwu! The edict is on the right, please follow it. ”

Guo Ziyi raised his head in surprise, facing the holy envoy, he couldn't say a word, he couldn't persuade himself to accept this cruel truth.

Li Heng did not accept his suggestion to drive the expedition in person, but just wanted to flee south, and also took away the Long Xiang army from his hands. Without the Long Xiang Army, what else would he do with the remaining 20,000 Shuo Fang troops in his hands?

Li Heng appointed him as the envoy of Shuofang, Longyou, and Hexi Jiedu, which was equivalent to drawing a big pie for him. It is impossible for the people of the imperial court not to know that Li Siye has cut off the passage from Guanzhong to the west, how can he withdraw to Shuofang?

Guo Ziyi said weakly: "Where is Your Majesty now, I want to ride a fast horse with the holy envoy and personally present my case to him." ”

The holy envoy puffed up his sleeves with both hands and said: "Your Majesty has now retreated south to Sihaoyi in Shangluo County, but our family wants to persuade Guo Sikong, Your Majesty's southern tour is already a sure thing, if you go to persuade him to stay in Guanzhong, I advise you not to waste this effort." ”

Guo Ziyi resolutely bowed his hand and said: "I went to see Your Majesty not only because of this, but the time is urgent, and the holy envoy is afraid that he will not be able to withstand the repeated rush, so I have to take the first step." ”

Among Guo Ziyi's many mounts is a white camel, known for its endurance and speed, and is said to have traveled hundreds of miles without getting tired of climbing mountains and mountains. Back then, Ge Shuhan rode such a white camel from Longyou to Chang'an for more than 800 miles, and he could arrive in one day and night.

He set out from Sanyuan County alone, drove for two hours in a row, and finally bumped into the imperial court's team at Sihaoyi outside Shangluo City.

When Li Heng saw him coming from afar, he was surprised and hurriedly hid in the imperial palace and said to Li Fuguo, "Why is he here?" How can I see him? ”

Li Fuguo knew that he was damn ashamed, and hurriedly said to him: "He is a courtier, you are the emperor, how can an emperor hide from a courtier." Whatever it is, you have your own reasons, which is the turn of one of his courtiers to question. ”

Guo Ziyi had already come to the door of Sihaoyi, knelt on the ground and said, "Minister Guo Ziyi has come to see Your Majesty." ”

Li Heng refused to agree to meet him, Guo Ziyi also knelt on the ground and couldn't cross his hands, and Prime Minister Li Kuo hurriedly came to the main hall of the post station, but was stopped by Li Fuguo. Li Kui had no choice but to kneel outside the hall and said loudly: "Guo Ziyi is a counterinsurgency hero, although he has suffered a new defeat, he is loyal to His Majesty and the court. His Majesty avoided seeing it now, which inevitably hurt the heart of the old minister. ”

Li Heng had no choice but to move to the inner hall, only separated from the outer hall by a layer of gauze tent, and ordered Li Fuguo to pass on the decree and order Guo Ziyi to meet in the outer hall.