Although the city gate hole of Shiling Pass is narrow, it is just enough for a carriage to pass through, and countless wheels have passed by, pressing out two deep rut marks on the bluestone road in the city cave, which is three inches deep.

It may be seen that Taiyuan has frequent trade with Xinzhou, Daizhou, Yunzhou, Ningzhou and Shuozhou in the north.

A small battle, but it blocked the otherwise busy business travel.

Xue Bai looked at the closed city gate at the end of the rut print, and couldn't help but wonder, is this kind of severance of commerce temporary or will it last for several years? Seeing the signs of the interruption of the Tang Dynasty from this small incident, his heart sank.

It was night, and he tossed and turned, and he couldn't sleep well. Living on the castle tower, he could always hear the sobs of the mountain wind as it passed through the cracks in the rammed earth walls, followed by the heavy footsteps of the patrol guards, reminding him of the inadequacy of the armor on his body.

However, his body was too tired, and he lay with his eyes closed until dawn, when the sound of the horn made him wake up suddenly. Walking out of the tower, the bright sunlight was already shining on the battlements full of arrow marks, and a black line appeared at the junction of the blue sky and the pale mountains.

That's An Lushan's army coming.

Suddenly, a rebellion seemed to have taken place.

Xue Bai suddenly realized at this time that the Anshi Rebellion he was trying to prevent had appeared under his nose before he could react, just the official announcement of An Lushan.

As a result, he stood there for a long time.

"Xue Lang."

Someone behind him called him in a very soft voice, Xue Bai turned his head, and saw Yang Guanghui walking over with someone escorting.

"I want to say a few words to Xue Lang." Yang Guanghui politely invited the sergeant who was guarding him, walked to Xue Bai's side, looked into the distance, and muttered: "An Lushan is here, he also knows Lang Jun's life experience, right?" ”

This sentence is inexplicable, but the idea is very simple, he thinks that it is Xue Bai who rebels, and An Lushan is here to quell the rebellion.

As for why Xue Bai rebelled? In fact, he had also heard a secret rumor in the palace that Xue Bai was the son of the deposed prince Li Ying, and the rumor had been proven to be false, but sometimes it seemed so reasonable.

Yang Guanghui would rather believe that Xue Bai was the emperor's grandson, and did not dare to raise troops to rebel in the face of An Lushan.

"Lang Jun." Seeing that Xue Bai didn't speak, Yang Guanghui said again: "The lower officials dare to guess Lang Jun's plan and force An Lushan to continue to cover your identity and take the opportunity to grasp the military power, but right?" ”

Xue Bai finally glanced back at him.

Yang Guanghui was overjoyed, and hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "Xia Guan is willing to saddle Langjun before and after the horse, do his best, and serve the work of dogs and horses." ”

Xue Bai didn't know how to refute his ridiculous cognition, pointed to the approaching army in the distance, and asked, "If An Lushan breaks through the Shiling Pass, you will also do your best for me?" ”

"The lower official swears allegiance to Lang Jun to the death, goes to the soup and fights the fire, and never gives up!" Yang Guanghui replied without hesitation.

His character and ability may not be good, but his flattering skills are very good, Xue Bai responded, he climbed up the pole, and enthusiastically began to make suggestions, first saying that the 30,000 heavenly soldiers of Taiyuan Mansion were driven by Lang Jun, and then his words became more and more explicit and exaggerated.

"Lang Jun is peerless, very human, the saint is old, the loyal king is cowardly, the king of Qing is mediocre, there is no one among the emperors and grandchildren who can compare with Lang Jun's case, and the Tang Dynasty will be the ......world of Lang Jun in the future."

Xue Bai's ambition has always been hidden, as subtle as the ladies hiding behind the bead curtain, and it was the first time he had heard such a presumptuous and exaggerated expression, Yang Guanghui seemed to be able to really praise him as the grandson of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty with a few words.

Yang Guanghui was quite confident in his touted work, and after a few words, he felt that he had become Xue Bai's confidant, and he was still the first group of people to take refuge in him.

"Shut up, you know what to do, go and approve the paperwork." Xue Bai said lightly, "Don't let me hear you talking nonsense with others again." ”

"Lang Jun rest assured, the subordinate must be cautious in his words and deeds, and be cautious in his words and deeds."

Saying that, Yang Guanghui retreated, thinking that the more unkind Xue Bai's tone was, the more he regarded him as a confidant.

He was very satisfied with his performance today, it was like a prodigal man who used bold words to conquer the hearts of everyone's girlfriends. But he didn't think that Xue Bai had the ambition of a tiger and a wolf, how could he be the mentality of everyone's ladies?

There is a vicious tiger hidden behind the bead curtain, how can he be moved by a few words of praise.

~~

"From now on, it's your own person, you don't have to stare at me like this."

Returning to a room in the city tower, Yang Guanghui waved his hand to the sergeant guarding him very majestically, and said, "Bring the four treasures of the study, and I will write official documents for Wang Jieshuai and Xue Taishou." ”

He quickly wrote an official document dispatching officials at all levels of Taiyuan Mansion according to Xue Bai's intentions, and reported An Lushan's rebellion to the imperial court.

It was already afternoon when he had done this, and he had three cakes, a few strips of jerky, and a bowl of boiling hot water.

Yang Guanghui had never eaten such a hard cake in his life, and after gnawing hard for a while, he expressed his dissatisfaction, but learned that Xue Bai and Wang Zhongsi also ate the same food, so he had to continue to gnaw and pull it irritably.

"Click."

With this sound, an old tooth still collapsed.

Yang Guanghui was greatly annoyed and suddenly felt extremely aggrieved. However, before he could dissipate his emotions, the trumpets and war drums sounded loudly, and the strong noise poured like a mountain of seas, and even the dust on the beams of the house was shaken down on the water in the bowl, so frightened that he thought it was an earthquake, and quickly shrank to the bottom of the table.

"Yang Fu Yin?"

"Huh? I, I, my teeth fell out. Yang Guanghui calmed down a little, got up and showed the teeth in his hand, and said, "Fan Yang's army has attacked the city, and the movement is so big?" ”

The sergeant guarding him sneered, not bothering to answer him.

Yang Guanghui was uneasy, thinking that Xue Bai was so calm and calm, and with the assistance of Wang Zhonghei, he would not be unable to hold the city...... But what if? In fact, An Lushan is obviously more powerful.

As a result, his heart began to shake as easily as his teeth, so that he would not "do his best" for Xue Bai as he said before, saying that he was the son of the abolished prince Li Ying, who was nameless and worthless.

It's best to prepare with both hands, if Xue Bai and Wang Zhongji are defeated, they must also let people know that he is just a false thief, but his heart is in the community.

Looking up, the sergeant standing there must have been illiterate, and he hadn't looked at the table at all. Yang Guanghui rolled his eyes and pretended to continue to write official documents, but secretly took a piece of paper to hide under the official documents, recording what he saw and heard in the thief camp.

In a panic, he didn't care about the rules of the text, he remembered whatever he thought.

"The minister found out that Xue Baishi was the son of Li Ying, and colluded with Gao Lishi and Li Qi to release Wang Zhonghei privately, and plotted to ...... military power in Hedong"

Nervous sweat dripped from the tip of Yang Guanghui's nose and blurred on the bamboo paper, he stole a look, took advantage of the unpreparedness, quickly pulled the secret letter into his sleeve, rolled it into a small section as thick as chopsticks, and when he got up, he stuffed it into the crack in the wall.

In this way, no matter who wins or loses, he has a back hand to save his life.

In the process, the noise outside the city tower was always like thunder, and occasionally the soldiers on both sides could be heard accusing each other of rebellion.

Yang Guanghui was afraid that the flying arrows would hurt him, and he was eager to know how far the battle had progressed, so he wiped his sweat and asked the sergeant guarding him, "How is the battle?" ”

"Huh."

The sergeant didn't speak to him at all, and his expression became more and more contemptuous.

"You." Yang Guanghui was almost about to have a seizure, and said with a temper: "I want to see Xue Lang." ”

Xue Bai was also in the city tower, just one floor above, Yang Guanghui carefully walked up the creaking steps, only to see archers lying in front of the window, the arrows in the basket were densely packed, and Xue Bai was among them.

"Lang Jun, be careful."

Yang Guanghui stepped forward and reached out to pull Xue Bai's cloak, trying to pull him back a little.

"What?"

"Xia Guan wants to ask, how is the battle going? Do your best for Lang Jun. ”

"The battle situation?" Xue Baiyun snorted lightly and said, "How can there be any battle situation?" ”

"An Lushan's army, attacking, attacking ......"

"He dared to attack the city." Xue Bai snorted coldly, and there was a tendency to look at it in his tone.

Yang Guanghui was stunned for a moment, and finally dared to look out the window, and saw that Fan Yang's army was arrayed outside the city, but it was just shouting loudly, and there was no siege at all.

~~

At the forefront of the formation was the Hengye Army, beating drums and blowing trumpets, shouting loudly at the city, asking if the Heavenly Soldiers had rebelled and why they had turned against the Khitans when they attacked Hedong.

On the high ground behind the Yokoye Army, waiting in formation was a murderous army of soldiers and horses.

To be precise, they don't care about race at all, and they are composed of Turkic, Khitan, Xi, Sogdian, Heishui and other ethnic groups, but they have a common father - An Lushan.

There are 8,000 of them, each of whom is the righteous son of An Lushan, and every time they exercise in front of An Lushan, the sound of "Grandpa" shook the sky and sounded, which was extremely spectacular.

Because they are private soldiers and do not have the number of the Tang Army, the name of this army is also from An Lushan, called "Luoluohe", which means "strong man" in Turkic language.

In the name of "strong man", of course, everyone is a strong man, standing proudly in front of Shiling Pass, as if he can destroy the gate city with only murderous spirit.

The lord of the Luoluo River is Li Guiren, who has the surname Li and names such as "Gui" and "Loyalty, Righteousness, Benevolence and Filial Piety", which are often given by the imperial court after the tribal leaders are attached, and Li Guiren is one of the leaders of the Turkic Tongluo tribe.

"Tongluo" means "leopard" in Turkic, and there are two leaders of the Tongluo tribe, one is Absi, who was given the name Li Xianzhong, and the other is Ge Jie. Now that they are fleeing and dying, the Luoluo River is naturally completely controlled by Li Guiren.

Li Guiren was tall and majestic, with a look of arrogance on his face, and a sense of irritability in his demeanor. He had been waiting in front of Shiling Pass all day, and he had already become impatient.

"When I can't wait to attack the city?!"

Seeing that the battle had not started for a long time, he finally let out a loud cry and drove his horse to the big tent.

In the tent, An Lushan was supported by An Qingxu and others, standing there and listening to the detailed account of the deserters, saying how the battle of Shiling Pass was defeated.

"After Wang Zhongji was killed, General Sun was killed soon after......"

"Poof."

Li Guiren stepped forward and stabbed the knife in his hand, but he killed the deserter who was talking in front of An Lushan.

"Brother, you don't have to listen to him say these words that shook the hearts of the army, we bulldozed this Guancheng and entered Taiyuan!"

He was able to lead the Luoluo River for An Lushan, because he and An Lushan also became brothers, probably the uncle of the eight thousand righteous sons.

An Lushan was not angry with this righteous brother, waved his fat hand, and said, "Don't worry, Wang Zhongji is in Shiling Pass." ”

"I'm not afraid of Wang Zhonghe." Li Guiren said: "I am looking forward to fighting with Wang Zhonghei." ”

An Lushan didn't speak, his small eyes rolled and he looked at Zhang Tongru, signaling to this older, calm staff member.

"I believe that General Li will be able to defeat Wang Zhonghei with his troops." Zhang Tongru opened his mouth and said, "But in such a fierce battle, how much loss will there be in the river?" These are all the righteous sons selected by the prince of the government. ”

"The reason why he is called a strong man is that he is not afraid of death." Li Guiren made a loud noise.

Zhang Tongru hurriedly raised his hand to appease and said: "There is a better way, you don't need to use the sword soldiers, you can kill Wang Zhonghei and subdue the heavenly soldiers." ”

Li Guiren frowned, he was already impatient to listen to these strategists. He is a brave man, and even if he knows that he can outwit, he thinks that a strong attack is the more pleasant thing.

Zhang Tongru talked and analyzed a lot, to the effect that when the news reached Chang'an, the emperor would definitely think that Wang Zhongji was the one who plotted rebellion. At that time, there is no need for Fan Yangjun to do anything, Chang'an will send an envoy to give death to Wang Zhonghei, and the post of Hedong Jiedu will naturally go to An Lushan.

"According to my understanding of the Chang'an Imperial Court, this matter is at least ninety percent certain." Zhang Tongru said.

Li Guiren was still dissatisfied, and said: "Brother, they are already fighting, haven't you made up your mind yet?" The strong men are willing to leave their lives behind you to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, but do you still have to wait for the emperor Lao'er to be your master?! ”

An Lushan had no choice but to comfort him: "The strong men are willing to leave their lives, but I have to cherish the lives of the strong men. ”

"With so many people stationed here, where will the food and grass come from?" Li Guiren said, "We made such a big move, how could the Tang court not suspect Brother A?" I will definitely be vigilant, it is better to betray Tang now. ”

In the past, if he instigated him like this, the big tent would definitely be filled with an atmosphere of impatience. But this time it was different, it was Wang Zhongsi who stood in front of them, everyone knew that if Wang Zhongsi did not die, An Lushan would definitely not dare to rebel, so no one stood up to help.

Instead, a staff member named Li Shiyu spoke: "If there is not enough food and grass, it is better to send back some soldiers and horses......

"What?!" Li Guiren was greatly surprised to hear such a bad idea, and directly scolded: "If there are fewer troops, the Tang army will come out of the city to attack, will you resist?!" ”

If he hadn't understood Li Shiyu's experience, he would have almost thought that Li Shiyu was hiding other thoughts.

Li Shiyu is a native of Zhaozhou, Changshan County, a jinshi in the 21st year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and was appointed as the official of the secretary of the province, and served as the lieutenant of Chang'an County and supervised the imperial history. This kind of promotion step shows that he is actually planning his official career for high-ranking officials and important ministers. It's a pity that he offended Li Linfu and was framed and belittled.

Therefore, Li Shiyu hated the imperial court and served An Lushan from then on, in short, the experience was very similar to Ji Wen.

"What kind of combat power the Heavenly Soldier Army is, all the generals know very well." Li Shiyu responded, "The reason why Fujun was blocked in front of Shiling Pass was because of the danger of the city. We sent back some soldiers and horses, and if Wang Zhonghei really went out of the city to attack, would the generals not have confidence? ”

"Yes."

"In this way, it can not only save grass and grain, but also make the court more convinced that it is Wang Zhonghei who rebelled." Li Shiyu said: "The soldiers are bloodless, take Hedong." ”

"Fart!"

Li Guiren scolded, and when he saw that there was silence in the tent, he looked at the solemn and noble, but he didn't expect that the two people who were most eager to instigate An Lushan's rebellion would not speak today.

He then looked at An Qingxu, hoping that this ambitious young man would take responsibility.

However, An Qingxu avoided his gaze and lowered his head.

In the end, An Lushan clapped his hand and said: "Don't worry, you have already taken Yanmen Pass, Hedong will definitely fall into my hands, just a few days earlier and a few days later." ”

Li Guiren still obeyed An Lushan, shook his head angrily, and showed a helpless expression.

An Lushan laughed and said, "When I write a letter to the saint to complain, saying that I was ordered to enter the court, I was blocked here by Wang Zhonghei." Let you see if the saint believes in his adopted son more, or the adopted son of the noble concubine, hahaha......"

~~

The soldiers and horses of the two sides then confronted each other at Shiling Pass.

A few days later, night fell, and the north side of the castle lit up again, like a sky full of stars.

Xue Bai and Wang Zhongsi walked on the city wall, enjoying the night view, discussing military affairs, feeling that Wang Zhongsi's voice was weak, Xue Bai couldn't help but say: "The festival commander should still take care of his body." ”

"If you take care of yourself, you won't die, or what?" Wang Zhongsi didn't want to talk about it for a long time, so he brought the topic back to business, and said: "Looking at the camp layout of Fan Yangjun, they are secretly reducing the stove. ”

"How can you tell?"

"They don't plan to storm it, so they don't need to have so many soldiers and horses waiting under the city, not to mention that the camp is so scattered, which will only increase the difficulty of transporting food."

"I see."

Wang Zhongsi said: "It can be seen that An Lushan has confidence, and he is sure that the imperial court will believe that it is us who rebel." ”

"I think so." Xue Baiwan said.

"If we go on like this, even if we are not defeated in the war, we will lose to win the trust of the imperial court." Wang Zhongsi seemed to think of Xiang Yu, who killed himself in Wujiang, and muttered to himself, "It's not a crime of war." ”

"Jieshuai is not a person who feels sorry for himself, there must be a way."

"It's nothing more than to repel An Lushan before the imperial court comes."

"Okay." Xue Bai said.

"It's difficult, Fan Yang's strong team, it's not easy to beat." Wang Zhongsi squinted his eyes to the north and said, "I have to wait for a good fighter...... Hopefully I can hold on. ”

Before leaving Chang'an, he had secretly met with two old subordinates, and if they helped, he might still be able to do his best to keep Hedong.

~~

There are four main armies in Hedong Province, the Heavenly Army, the Datong Army, the Hengye Army, and the Lan Army, as well as the garrisons of Xinzhou, Daizhou, and Lanzhou.

"Guarding and capturing" is the same as "army", both of which are the garrisons of the Tang Army, the big ones are called the army, and the small ones are called guards, but the levels are different, and there is no subordinate relationship between the upper and lower levels.

There is not even a clear line between the two, for example, the "Envoy in the Clouds" will also be called the "Envoy in the Clouds", because there are 7,700 people in the army book of the Guards in the Clouds, which is much more than the 1,000 men of the Lan Army.

In the early spring, when the snow on the plug was about to melt, more than a dozen cavalry rode horses and galloped to the city to defend the city.

The leader took out a sign that did not belong to Hedong Dao, and asked the defenders in a slightly arrogant attitude: "Is Captain Fan here?" ”

"Yes, who are you?"

"Don't you see?" The visitor raised the talisman in his hand again, flipped it twice, and said: "Your Majesty the King of Dongping County, I am an old acquaintance with you Fan Duwei!" ”

The guard was literate, and when he squinted, he saw that the sign on one side was written "Dongping County Wangfu Joining the Army", and on the other side was "Li Jiba".

This doesn't look like a serious object, it should be a private seal, but the name of the king of Dongping County is very scary, and the defenders still opened the city gate after reporting it, let them in, and led them to see the captain Fan Chang.

Li Jiba was still dissatisfied, and said: "Why is it so troublesome this time, I have come to trade several times, can't I find a soldier who recognizes me to come to the door?!" ”

He is the son of Li Guiren, the main general of the Dragloge River, and his personality is inevitably a little domineering.

Soon, Captain Fan Chang came out, led Li Jiba to the residence, and said: "No wonder, no wonder, there is a new general in the clouds, it is difficult to entangle, and the city gate is a little stricter." ”

"The king is rare?" Li Jiba snorted, "An outsider from Longyou, can you not be calm?" ”

Fan Chang said: "You don't know, Wang Sijing, the father of Wang Rare, has always been the old department under Wang Zhonghei, who fought in all directions in the early years, and also stationed in Cloud City. In addition, it is rare for the king to not only be famous in Longyou, but his deeds have also spread to Hedong......"

"I'm not here to hear you say this!" Li Jiba directly interrupted Fan Chang's nonsense.

The purpose of his visit this time is very simple, to let Yunzhong Shou follow An Lushan to rebel, this matter has actually made progress in the past two years, but it is rare for a king to come suddenly.

"I originally thought that you could make Wang rare in the army, did you?"

Fan Chang hesitated and said: "Most of the soldiers in the army still listen to me, but the king is rare and has some force, if it is hard, I am afraid that it will not be pleased...... Dongping Junwang's side, is he in a hurry? To occupy Taiyuan, the troops should be enough, right? ”

Hearing him ask two questions in a row, Li Jiba immediately frowned unhappily and said, "Could it be that if the prince is not in a hurry, you can be allowed to have nothing to do and make no progress?!" ”

However, after the reprimand, he still got back to the point, saying: "Before I came, I just received a message from the messenger that Wang Zhonghei was guarding the Shiling Pass ......."

"Wang Zhonghei?" Fan Chang was surprised: "Isn't he already dead?" ”

"It's coming." Li Ji said domineeringly, "Believe it or not, when the news reaches Chang'an, those fools in the court must think that Wang Zhongsi is the one who rebelled." ”

His attitude is different from that of his grandfather, and he is very optimistic about this matter.

It's just that he didn't notice that someone had entered the hall while talking, he turned his back to the door and talked eloquently about the situation after Fan Yangjun occupied Hedong.

Fan Chang sat opposite Li Jiba, with a helpless bitterness in his eyes, raised his eyes to glance, lowered his head, and continued to probe.

The shadow of the person who came gradually moved forward, this person was holding a spear, the tip of the spear was glowing with coldness, it was aimed at Li Jiba's neck, and after a while, he opened his mouth to ask.

"You just said that An Lushan himself is outside Shiling Pass?"

(End of chapter)