The night was getting deeper, and the lights were still on in Wu Zetian's imperial study, and the two little eunuchs on duty yawned quietly, almost unable to stay sleepy, "When is it?" a eunuch asked in a low voice.

Another eunuch held up a finger to indicate that it was already one watch, and both of them showed surprise in their eyes.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps not far away, and I saw Shangguan Wan'er walking quickly towards this side, several eunuchs stood up one after another, Shangguan Wan'er pointed to the imperial study, and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty hasn't cleaned it up yet?"

The chief eunuch shook his head, "Your Majesty doesn't seem to be in a good mood, and we don't dare to persuade you." ”

Shangguan Wan'er thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll persuade her." ”

In the room, Wu Zetian was standing in front of the window with his hands in his hands, staring at the night sky for a long time, her mood was really not good these days, the Tang border was restless, the Turks, Tubo and Khitan, almost at the same time, attacked the Tang Dynasty, abducted the population, looted property, destroyed farmland, and repeatedly trampled on Hexi, Hehuang and Liaodong, as the respect of a country, but unable to protect his subjects, Wu Zetian was also deeply uncomfortable.

Although after Wang Xiao's outstanding army in Liangzhou, the Turkic army has retreated, and Tubo does not seem to be as tough as before, but what really worries Wu Zetian is the invasion of Khitan, the northeast region has always been the trouble of the Central Plains Dynasty, since the era of Emperor Yang of Sui, the Central Plains army has repeatedly used troops against Goguryeo, and it took nearly a hundred years of two dynasties to finally destroy Goguryeo and establish the Andong Protectorate.

The Khitan rebellion will undoubtedly seriously impact the security of Liaodong, shake the Tang Dynasty's rule over the Northeast region, and affect the strategic capital of the Tang Dynasty.

But what made her feel even more upset was that today, Wei Anshi, the squire of the Ministry of War, wrote a letter to impeach Wu Youyi, the general of the Right Weiwei, for standing still in Youzhou and losing his fighter plane.

Wu Zetian also noticed Wu Youyi's unreasonable behavior, and actually stationed troops in Youzhou for nearly ten days, not to save Yuguan, nor to attack the Khitan in Liaodong, and the explanation he gave was to implement his will and train Hebei Xiangyong, which made Wu Zetian speechless for a while.

Before, she did order to release criminals, ransom house slaves, and join the army to fight in Liaodong, but soon she realized that she was putting the cart before the horse, Datang has nearly a million troops, why do you need to fight criminals and house slaves?

And it takes a long time to train them, and when they can fight, I am afraid that Liaodong and Hebei have fallen, and Wu Zetian will never mention this matter again, but Wu Youyi takes her words seriously, with an army of 100,000, but she wants to train Xiangyong, it feels ridiculous to hear.

Wu Youyi seems to be obedient to the holy will, but in fact it is a manifestation of incompetence, as a general, it is the primary duty to defend the territory and retreat from the enemy, knowing that the above ideas are unreasonable, but he does not persuade them, and blindly implements them, so that he makes absurd moves.

This is still a shrewd and capable person she selected from the Wu family, but her performance is so incompetent, which makes Wu Zetian deeply disappointed in Wu Youyi and even the entire Wu family, there is no talent in her family at all, either a gentleman, or a cowardly and incompetent, or a fierce and cruel person, how can such a family replace the Li family and establish a new dynasty?

At this time, Shangguan Wan'er's voice came from the door, "Your Majesty, it's not early, let's rest."

Wu Zetian sighed softly, "Wan'er, the situation in Liaodong is inevitable for me to worry."

Shangguan Wan'er knew Wu Zetian very well, and her worry was that she should not appoint Wu Youyi as a general because she used the wrong person, and Shangguan Wan'er persuaded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Di Renjie should have arrived in Hebei, I believe he will consider the overall situation and make a wise decision." ”

At the mention of Di Renjie, Wu Zetian's anxious heart felt a little more comfortable, and she also nodded and said: "You are right, Wu Youyi is too tender, no matter the qualifications, experience or strategy are too far behind, but Di Renjie is here, he can make me feel relieved, and he has Li Zhenzhi's martial arts assistance, I believe he will not sit back and wait for Yuguan to fall." ”

As soon as Wu Zetian said this, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside, and a eunuch reported outside the door: "Your Majesty Hebei has sent an urgent battle report of eight hundred miles." ”

Wu Zetian was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Where is the battle report, send it to me quickly." ”

Not long after, Wei Anshi, the squire of the military department, walked into the imperial study quickly, holding a volume of war reports in his hand, Shangguan Wan'er recognized that the seal on the war report was Li Zhen's handwriting, and she secretly wondered in her heart, "Could it be the war report sent by Li Zhen?"

Wei Anshi stepped forward to salute, and couldn't help but say excitedly: "Your Majesty, good news from the former enemy"

Wu Zetian was even more anxious, urging and asked, "Tell me what happened in Hebei?"

"Your Majesty, Yuguan was a great victory, and General Li led 3,000 Lu Long troops to attack the Khitan army at night in Yuguan, destroying more than 10,000 enemies, and the Khitan front army attacking Yuguan has been wiped out. ”

After speaking, he held up the former enemy's battle report high and dedicated it to Wu Zetian, this news made Wu Zetian overjoyed, she hurriedly took the express report and opened it to take a closer look, the battle report was written by Li Zhen, telling in detail about their defeat of the Khitan army in Yuguan, and there was Di Renjie's signature below, expressing his approval of Li Zhen's battle report.

The news of this victory swept away Wu Zetian's gloomy mood for several days, and she couldn't hold back the joy in her heart, and said to Shangguan Wan'er: "I know that he will not disappoint me."

Shangguan Wan'er said with a smile: "With his own strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get this opportunity, and there should be the credit of Di Ge Lao." ”

Wu Zetian understood what Shangguan Wan'er meant, without Di Renjie's support, Li Zhen might not be able to get the army, and this battle report should have been sent by Wu Youyi, it seems that his strategy is not wrong, use the Wu clan people as the main general, but he can't completely rely on the Wu clan.

At this time, Wei Anshi reminded Wu Zetian again: "The defeat of Khitan Yuguan will definitely hit its military morale, how can Li Zhizhi give up, once he finds that the Tang army in Yuguan has very few troops, he will definitely attack Yuguan on a large scale and seize the pass to boost the morale of the army, and the minister implores His Majesty to order Wu Youyi to lead a large army to support Yuguan quickly, so as not to waste all his previous achievements"

Wu Zetian nodded, "Wei Aiqing is reasonable, I will make an order." ”

She immediately said to Shangguan Wan'er: "The edict of the swift draft of me has ordered Wu Youyi to immediately send troops to Yuguan to meet the Khitan army. ”

After pondering for a moment, Wu Zetian said again: "In addition, Li Zhen is appointed as the governor of Pingzhou, but he is not subject to the control of the governor of Qingbian, and commends his great victory in Yuguan, and rewards 5,000 colored satins, ten pearls, and the founding marquis." ”

Shangguan Wan'er sighed secretly in her heart, the saint was as careful as a hair, she knew that Li Zhen's unauthorized success would cause Wu Youyi's dissatisfaction, and if it was not handled properly, there would be internal strife, so she proposed that Li Zhen was not controlled by Wu Youyi, it seems that the saint's heart is like a mirror

But Shangguan Wan'er didn't say anything, and waved the edict with a pen, and stamped it with the imperial seal.

Just as Wei Anshi's worries, the Khitan chief Li Quanzhong learned that Sun Wanrong was defeated by the Tang army in Yuguan and almost wiped out the whole army, so he couldn't help but jump like thunder, and ordered Sun Wanrong who fled back to be beheaded to show the public.

Li Quanzhong strode out of the camp and scolded: "You attacked Danzhou Buke, lost your troops, and suffered a fiasco in Yuguan, almost all the troops were wiped out, what else do you have to say?"

Sun Wanrong argued loudly: "The disadvantage of attacking Danzhou is because there are not enough siege weapons, the big chief should kill the main general of the Hou Maker, the fiasco of Yuguan is a sandstorm sent down by heaven, what does it have to do with me? I am willing to offer a strategy, but the Tang army can be completely annihilated, if it fails again, what does it matter if I die ten times?"

Li Qianzhong also knew that if he killed Sun Wanrong, his clan would be afraid of chaos, so he held back his anger and said, "Push him in."

Several guards pushed Sun Wanrong in again, and Li Quanzhong asked him with anger on his face: "Tell me quickly, what plan do you have to break the Tang Army?"

Sun Wanrong bowed and said: "Yuguan city is strong and dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the Tang army defends Yuguan, it is difficult for us to break through, it is better to use the strategy of luring the enemy to go deeper, we pretend to attack the rear of the Turks, withdraw from Yingzhou and retreat north, the Tang army will definitely go north, at that time, we will send another surprise army, seize Yuguan by surprise, trap the main force of the Tang army in Liaodong, and then annihilate it in one fell swoop." ”

Li Qianzhong thought about it, and also felt that his plan made some sense, and asked again: "Do you think their main force will go north?"

Sun Wanrong said with a smile: "I heard that the army that attacked Yuguan this time was led by Li Zhen, he and Wu's relatives have always been at odds, and the relationship with Wu Youyi will not be good, this time he has made a great contribution, how can Wu Youyi be willing, he will definitely lead the army north to occupy Yingzhou and take back the credit." ”

Before Sun Wanrong finished speaking, Li Qianzhong already understood, he was overjoyed in his heart, and said with a smile: "You have always been unintelligent, how could you think of this plan?"

"This is actually a ploy by my brother-in-law. ”

Li Quanzhong thought that he could monopolize Liaodong and Goguryeo, he was very happy in his heart, and the frustration of defeat had long disappeared, so he immediately said happily: "Okay, this time I will follow your words." ”

Sun Wanrong whispered a few more words, and Li Qianzhong nodded again and again, "This method is good, just do it?"

In the conquest of Yingzhou and later in the battle with the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan had captured nearly 10,000 Tang soldiers, and the Khitans forced them to perform various kinds of labor, and sent Xi and Xiao soldiers to take care of them.

In front of a forest outside Yingzhou City, dozens of simple wooden houses were built, and five or six hundred captured soldiers of the Tang Army were forced to cut wood for the Khitans, working every day at sunrise and returning at sunset, the labor intensity was extremely high, and the food was extremely poor, and most of the people were so thin that they were skinny and bone-like, and they were miserable.

These Tang prisoners of war are guarded by a team of Xiao soldiers, Xiao soldiers are very brutal, often scolded and whipped, many Tang soldiers were tortured to death, the leader of the Xiao soldiers is a fierce centurion, nickname, all day long carrying a leather whip back and forth in the Tang Army, to see that people are not pleasing to the eye, the leather whip will be pulled down fiercely.

That night, the Tang prisoners of war who had worked all day drank gruel and lay down exhausted, as usual, most of them would quickly fall asleep, but tonight the atmosphere was a little unusual, and the Tang prisoners of war immediately whispered and talked after the guards left.

"Did you hear what they said today?"

A Tang military captain who knew Khitan shouted to everyone in a low voice, and all the prisoner soldiers sat up and asked, "What did they say?"

"I heard that the Khitan army was defeated in Yuguan, and more than 10,000 people were wiped out. ”

The soldiers of the Tang Army suddenly became excited, and someone scolded in a low voice: "Good kill, these bitches raised it"

"Are our reinforcements coming?"

This is what the soldiers of the Tang Army are looking forward to the most, they are looking forward to the Tang Army killing and rescuing them day and night, and they ask nonsense: "Captain Zhou, what else?"

"And there seems to be an accident behind them, didn't you see that wild boar was a little worried this afternoon?"

Everyone felt this reminder, as if the centurion was a little wrong, at this time, the door was suddenly pushed open, and everyone immediately quieted down, only to hear a Xiao Ren soldier shouting: "Officers above the rank of captain have come out, there is something to discuss"

The two Tang lieutenants stood up and walked outside the house, but they saw that in the night, several Tang lieutenants also came out of the other prisoner of war rooms, and everyone looked at each other, not knowing what happened?

They were taken to the house of the centurion of the Xiaoren, only to see that the centurion was unusually fierce, beckoned them to sit down, took out a few bowls, poured a bowl of wine for each of them, and said with a smile: "This time has also been hard for everyone, we are also enslaved by the Khitans, and we don't want to die for them, so we really have no choice but to obey." ”

The captain surnamed Zhou knew the Khitan language, and he translated it for everyone, and everyone didn't know what was going on, and they were extremely surprised in their hearts, and they were surprised to be surprised, but they couldn't refuse the temptation of wine, and they all picked up their bowls and drank the wine.

The centurion nodded and said, "Actually, we don't need any wood, it's a waste of food to raise you, and I feel pitiful for killing you, so I thought about it and decided to let you go." ”

When everyone heard that they were going to be released, they couldn't believe it, and Captain Zhou asked, "What happened?"

The centurion smiled bitterly and said: "To tell you the truth, the Turks attacked our hometown, and many people's wives, daughters, cattle and sheep were taken captive, so I decided to take the brothers home tonight, and not to sell my life to the Khitans. ”

Speaking of this, the centurion waved his hand again, "Alright, you all go back and clean up yourself, and you'll know tomorrow." ”

The lieutenants left suspiciously, and the Tang prisoners of war stayed awake all night, anxiously waiting for the dawn to come.

At dawn the next day, someone shouted outside, and hundreds of Tang Army prisoners of war rushed out of the wooden house, only to see that it was empty outside, and the usually fierce Xiaoren soldiers were gone, and the Tang soldiers suddenly cheered, and many hugged each other excitedly, and they were finally free.

Several Tang military captains discussed, although the Xiao soldiers have fled, but they are still in Yingzhou, the situation is still very dangerous, must escape back to Yuguan to be safe, everyone will Xiao soldiers left dozens of bags of chaff as a grain belt, and made dozens of pairs of earthen bows and arrows, easy to hunt and forage along the way, hundreds of prisoners of war left the lumberyard, fled to the south.

Soon, the news of the Turkic army's attack on the rear was like paper that could not contain fire, and quickly spread among the army, and the Khitan army was suddenly panicked, and they asked to go home to rescue, Li Quanzhong ordered to abandon Yingzhou and retreat north, and at the same time sent an envoy to find Wu Youyi, expressing his willingness to negotiate peace with the Tang army