Before the third watch, the rebel vanguard battalion had begun to wake up from its slumber, and the men turned the bonfire, set up a cauldron, and boiled water.

Someone walked into the camp in the firelight, carrying a bamboo basket on his back, limping and limping.

"Who?!"

"The villain is Zhai Wande, the housekeeper of Changshan Yuan Changshi, who came to deliver medicine to my family."

"Bring it to the back basket, I'll take a look."

The patrol soldiers approached the torches and saw a weather-beaten face, scars on both cheeks, and a lean look in his eyes.

"The housekeeper? You're afraid you've killed someone, right? ”

"The villain used to be a ranger." Zhai Wande said, "Later, I injured my foot, but fortunately Ah Lang took him in." ”

"Yuan Changshi stayed in our camp tonight?"

"Yes." Zhai Wande said: "I was injured on the way to escort Xue Bai, so I should stay in the camp to recuperate." ”

said that he was recuperating, but in fact, Yuan Luqian was detained, and he temporarily lived in the tent of Lu Ziqi, who had died.

Zhai Wande was brought in, lifted the curtain and called: "Ah Lang? ”

There was a fishy smell in the tent, and Yuan Luqian was sleeping on the felt carpet, when he heard the words, he got up and lit a candle by the faint moonlight.

"Ah Lang, I brought medicine."

"Okay, put it on for me when it's boiled." Yuan Luqian said, "I didn't expect Xue Bai to keep this hand, and he almost killed me." ”

As he spoke, he lifted his sleeves, hissed in pain, and cursed in a low voice, "Damn." ”

"Young Ji Ji can be a Taishou, there are many crooked ways, Ah Lang endures it."

"General Tian has sent someone to kill that shaft, and I can also let out a bad breath."

As he spoke, Zhai Wande took out a small stove from the back basket, lit a fire, and began to boil the medicine. He laid out a small stone slab, dipped his fingers in the medicinal soup, and wrote on the slate.

First, the word "Lingshou", and then he wrote the words "order", "reverse", "captain" and "loyalty".

Yuan Luqian squinted at the stone slab and nodded, to show what this meant, the Lingshou County Commander had chosen to attach himself to An Lushan, and the county lieutenant Feng Qian was loyal to the imperial court and was an object that could be united.

According to their plan, they have now sent fast horses to remind Luoyang to take precautions, and when the rebels continue to march to the Yellow River, the troops and supply lines will be lengthened. Waiting for Yuan Luqian to contact and integrate forces, he can then raise troops to call on all parts of Hebei to quell the rebellion and cut off the rebels' strength and supplies.

But the crux of the plan was that Taiyuan had to send troops and horses to support.

Changshan County Governor Zhending City has no danger to rely on, the troops are weak, and even the people's hearts are not aligned, it is destined to be impossible to hold for too long under the siege of the rebels, in case Yuan Luqian moves, and the reinforcements do not arrive, the matter will be defeated.

They didn't dare to pin their hopes on the new Hedong Jiedu envoy Wang Chengye, the former general Yulin had always been unknown, and it seemed that he was a nominal general who worshiped the imperial front and sent the forbidden army. As for Li Guangbi, whether he has arrived in Taiyuan now or not, whether he has military power or not, this matter is still unknown.

Only Xue Bai went to go in person, and went through the well to ensure that he could lead the troops back.

When there are three capitals today, Chang'an is located in Guanzhong, connecting the Western Regions, and all countries come to the court; Luoyang is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow Tour, a thoroughfare in all directions, and is distributed by land and water; Taiyuan is the gateway, the mountains and rivers inside and outside, looking down on the two capitals, is the key to quelling the rebellion in the early stage.

What Yuan Luqian needs to do now is to gain Tian Chenghe's trust and wait for the opportunity, but there is one thing he can't rest assured. That was the news he got from Lu Ziqi's mouth, and he learned that Tian Chengsi had sent soldiers and horses to Tumen Pass.

He stretched out his hand to open a packet of medicine, unfolded the cloth wrapped in the medicine, took out pen and ink from his sleeve, and wrote a letter to Feng Qian, the lieutenant of Lingshou County, by candlelight.

"Aaron." Zhai Wande looked at the letter and said, "When the king of Dongping County arrives, he will appoint you as the taishou, right?" ”

At the same time, his finger also wrote a "danger" on the slate, reminding Yuan Luqian that the time had not yet come, and contacting Feng Qian now would only make Tian Chengsi suspicious.

Yuan Luqian watched the word "danger" written by the potion gradually dry up and disappear, took a deep breath, and continued to write.

Of course, he knew that he had not yet fully gained Tian Chenghe's trust, and he might expose himself by contacting Feng Qian, but it was more important to let Xue Bai arrive in Taiyuan......

Suddenly, there was a noise of people and horses outside the tent, and the master and servant were startled, and hurriedly put the letter they were writing into their sleeves, ready to throw it into the fire.

The curtain was lifted with a bang, and a herald rushed in recklessly and shouted: "The general has an order, immediately order the troops to follow him out of the camp!" ”

After passing the military order, the herald saw that it was not Lu Ziqi in the tent, so he was stunned for a moment, did not speak, and ran to other tents to continue shouting.

Yuan Luqian hurriedly rushed out of the tent and looked at the school yard from afar, only to see Tian Chenghe, who was fully armored and majestic, leading a group of generals to stride towards the war horse, and at the same time, thousands of personal soldiers also got on the horse.

This hasty dispatch is obviously not to pull out the camp.

"What happened?"

Yuan Luqian guessed that such a battle should not be for Xue Bai, right? But Xue Bai only has that little manpower, so he shouldn't ......

~~

Nanbai Village.

Tian Tinglin couldn't believe it, only a few or so horsemen charged towards him.

But no matter how many troops he brought on his side, at the moment of attack, the soldiers who could have the will to fight were only afraid that there were not yet thirty horsemen.

"Stop them!"

Tian Tinglin shouted hoarsely, trying to gather soldiers and horses to fight the cavalry that rushed up.

But the explosion in the village had frightened his soldiers, and the sudden attack made it impossible for him to mobilize such a response in such a hurry.

He has a very strong brother Tian Chenghe, who has always done everything very smoothly thanks to his brother's ability since he was a child. As a result, when a really difficult situation happens, he can't go so smoothly and is not capable enough.

"Hurry!"

It was too late, the enemy had already rushed in front of Tian Tinglin.

The sharp Mo knife rose and fell, slashing the guards one by one, and the blood splashed, with a sense of madness.

Tian Tinglin was extremely frightened, but she squinted her eyes in such a bloody light, and noticed a person on the opposite side of the battle array.

More than 20 paces apart, across the hellish battle scene, there was a man standing there observing the battlefield, this person first noticed not his handsomeness, but a calm and powerful aura.

Tian Tinglin recognized who this was at a glance, the soldiers surrounded Zhending City and searched for so long, and it was only at this time that he finally saw the other party.

"Xue Bai!"

When Xue Bai heard this, his eyes moved away from the firelight in the distance and fell on Tian Tinglin, without any reaction.

Because he saw that Diao Bing had already broken through the line, he raised his Mo knife high.

"Xue Bai, you're dead!" Tian Tinglin, who was furious, roared as hard as she could, using all her strength to pick up the same knife and sweep towards Diao Bing.

He still has more troops, his brother still has tens of thousands of horses, and his prince has more than 100,000 troops, as long as he arrives, he can trample Xue Bai into pulp. Just let him survive and bring the troops over.

He had to block it.

"Drink!"

Tian Tinglin's desperateness also aroused Diao Bing's blood surge, roaring, the long-handled Mo knife did not change direction, and directly smashed into Tian Tinglin's hard helmet.

"Bang!"

In the loud sound, Tian Tinglin's helmet was not broken, but the skull was shattered, and blood kept flowing down his face.

Diao Bing's breastplate was also hit, and with a "ding" sound, he was swept to the ground, but he rolled twice in a pool of blood, and let out a roar, venting the agitation of the life struggle just now.

"Are you alright?!"

A companion rushed past him and went on a rampage, killing the remaining rebels in a stream.

"Ahem...... It's okay. ”

Diao Bing touched his breastplate and was relieved to see that it was fine. He used to be poor, and even now that he is prosperous, he cherishes things very much. Just as he was about to sit up, someone came to him and stretched out his hand to him, it was Xue Bai.

He hesitated, wiped the blood on his hands, held Xue Bai's hand, sat up with Xue Bai in his arms, and said, "Lang Jun, fortunately, I am not dishonored." ”

"Let's go, poor Kou Mo chase."

"Whoa!"

Diao Bing responded, put his finger on his lips, and whistled hard, but there was a sharp pain in his chest and lungs, and his face turned pale.

"Hurt?" Xue Bai asked.

"Yes." Diao Bing didn't dare to hide it, and was a little worried.

"It doesn't matter." Xue Bai said, "We have temporarily shaken off the pursuers, you go to Neiqiu County to settle down temporarily, recover from your injuries and then go to Taiyuan." ”

Diao Bing joked: "I'm afraid that I will recuperate from my injuries for too long, Lang Jun has already quelled the rebellion, and he has not been able to make a contribution." ”

"Let's hope so, go ahead, take all the wounded soldiers away."

More than half of the more than 30 people were killed or injured in this battle, and after Diao Bing counted them, he found that there were only more than ten people left around Xue Bai. He was actually reluctant to go, but he was injured and didn't dare to drag Xue Bai down, so he had no choice but to lead people to the north.

Looking back, Xue Bai had led more than ten horsemen to the west along the Hutuo River.

~~

The night was still dark, and he couldn't see the road clearly, Xue Bai cherished horsepower and didn't gallop his horse. While driving the horse, I estimated all aspects of the situation in my head.

If he just wanted to escape, he could have fled directly, but escape was not the goal, it was to achieve various tactical goals.

He attracted the attention of Tian Chengsi and sent a messenger to Luoyang; He made the illusion that he was captured and helped Yuan Luqian gain the trust of the rebels; He scattered several different troops and horses to leave, and sent Li Tengkong and Li Jilan away; He attacked Tian Tinglin, hoping that the rebels heading to Tumen Pass would notice......

At present, it is also necessary to temporarily maintain the containment of Tian Chenghei to ensure that this kind of arrangement can be completed.

Interestingly, on this night of blood and fire, this section of the road along the Hutuo River is very quiet.

Until a subordinate came on horseback.

"Lang Jun, the arranged boatman and the boat are gone."

There are often countless small details in a whole big plan, Xue Bai is very accustomed to having details go wrong, and there are two ways for him to deal with it, one is to be prepared for two or even more, and the other is to stay in danger.

"What about the other ships?"

"Three miles upstream."

"Let's keep walking."

Xue Bai's tone was very calm, and as he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the moon. It seems that he is not running for his life, but taking a walk under the moon and being at peace with what happens.

"Lang Jun, it's the villain's fault, I didn't choose the right boatman."

"Go back and get the punishment again, do things first, don't mess up." Xue Bai said, "Oh, I will swim in the water, and you should be ready to swim across the river." ”

This sentence is a joke, it is one thing to swim in the water, without horses, food, weapons and other items, even if you swim to the other side of the river, it is difficult to go to Taiyuan. But because of this tone, the subordinates were relieved and continued on their way.

After a while, there was an earthquake-like movement behind him.

Xue Bai glanced back, and saw that the eastern road was full of soldiers and horses, and the fire was bright, as if it was a rising sun.

~~

A rising sun.

The boat swayed and anchored in the reeds on the west bank of the Hutuo River.

Deng Siniang gritted her teeth and tied the cable to a dead tree, stepped on the water, dragged the young man from the boat off the boat, placed him on the shore, and pressed his abdomen, trying to drain the water out.

"Ahem."

The man woke up spitting water, waved his hand and said, "It hurts...... Don't press it anymore. ”

"You drowned, I saved you."

"Hit the arrow...... I'll swim, not drown. ”

Deng Siniang turned his body over and took a look, only to see that there was really a wound on his back, but he didn't see an arrow.

On closer inspection, the rod was broken, and the arrow was buried in the blurred flesh of flesh, and blood spilled out of it.

"You're hurt?"

"Yes, thank you for saving your life." The young man spoke very politely, and although the wound was painful, there was a polite smile on his face.

When Deng Siniang saw it, she immediately felt that he was a good person, so she was willing to say a few more words, and said, "Little brother, you are a person who guards the mansion too much, right?" ”

Her accent was so strong that the young man listened for a while before he understood, and was about to answer, when suddenly there was another great movement on the other side of the river.

Deng Siniang is now very accustomed to such people neighing, and raised her head very calmly, but not only did there be cavalry running on the shore, but there were also soldiers sitting on bamboo rafts and rowing diagonally to this side.

"There's a ship over there!"

"Chase, don't go Xue Bai!"

The injured young man heard the movement and whispered in a weak voice, "Sister, run for your life." ”

"What about you?"

"I'll hide, you can escape."

Deng Siniang was not afraid of death, but there was nothing to hide, so she carried him and left, and said: "You were chased and killed by those thieves, you are a good person, I can't leave you." ”

The young man smiled bitterly, and turned his head to see that the pursuers were almost on the shore.

"Whoosh ......"

Several bows and arrows landed in the reeds behind them.

The young man pushed Deng Siniang several times, wanting her to let herself go down to find a way to survive, but Deng Siniang ignored it like a reckless cow, and the two did not speak smoothly.

He simply closed his eyes, thinking about how he would save his life if he was caught. Suddenly, there was a sound of gold in the distance.

The pursuers who had landed on the shore stopped and asked loudly towards the east bank, "What's the matter?!" ”

"The general has ordered the troops to be withdrawn!"

"Why? We've all found the boat! ”

"General Wu sent a letter from Tumen Pass......"

Deng Siniang exerted her strength to plough the field, gritted her teeth, and forcibly carried the tall man on her shoulders for two miles.

She was finally tired, and when she heard that there were no pursuers behind her, she stopped, and sat in the mud panting.

"Little brother, have you fainted?"

"It's coming." The young man replied weakly.

He's in poor shape, and he's trying to maintain his will.

Deng Siniang glanced back again and said, "Don't worry, the thieves didn't catch up." You say, I didn't save the wrong person, right? ”

"I am Changshan Taishou Xue Bai, send me to Neiqiu County, there will be a retribution."

"Little brother, you coax me." Deng Siniang said: "I know that you are not Xue Taishou." ”

"Am I not?" The young man closed his eyes and answered without a match.

"Of course you're not, I've seen Xue Taishou, he's much more handsome than you."

"More handsome than me?"

"Isn't it? In front of me, you can't pretend to be Xue Taishou. ”

Deng Siniang took a closer look at the man in front of her at this time, only to find that his bloodstained face was actually very handsome.

But she thought about it again, the Xue Taishou she saw on the official road yesterday morning was indeed whiter and more handsome than the man in front of her.

She, a village woman, is not stupid, and knows that this is a fake guard, used to attract pursuers.

"I heard what the thieves said. Really Xue Taishou has already arrived at Tumen. ”

"Really?"

The young man muttered, finally closing his eyes and fainting.

~~

"General, we ......"

"Eat dog intestines!"

Tian Chengsi didn't wait for his subordinates to report a word, and he had already whipped him in the face.

He had just received the news that Xue Bai had arrived at Tumen Pass with Jia Shen, the lieutenant of Tumen County.

There is no doubt about this matter, Xue Bai has already ordered the Tumen soldiers to guard the pass with the letter of Changshan Taishou, and guaranteed that the soldiers and horses of Hebei will soon support.

It was a dangerous pass in the Taihang Mountain Well, and it was not comparable with the Zhending City of Pingchuan, and even Tian Chengsi did not dare to guarantee that he could capture Tumen Pass within half a month. In this way, it is equivalent to leaving a nail behind him that could hit him in the back of the abdomen.

"General, are you storming Tumen Pass?"

Tian Chengsi is not a brainless person, and after a moment of anger passed, he shook his head and said, "Go back to the camp first." ”

He rebelled with An Lushan, in order to be prosperous and wealthy rather than to prove his ability, attacking Luoyang is the top priority, there is no need to bite a hard bone.

The thousand horsemen quickly swept away and rushed back to the camp outside Zhending City.

"Is Yuan Luqian still in the camp?!"

"Back to the general, here."

"Bring it!"

Tian Chengsi seemed to have endless energy, although he didn't sleep all night, he was still in good spirits, and when Yuan Luqian entered the big tent, he looked at him, his eyes were like arrows.

Yuan Luqian had an injury on his leg, stepped forward with difficulty, and asked, "General Tian, I don't know what happened?" ”

"You conspired with Xue Bai to harm my general and play tricks on me?"

"What?" After a moment of stunnedness, Yuan Luqian said, "Why does the general think so? ”

Tian Chengsi didn't answer, and the killing intent in his eyes gradually brewed.

Yuan Luqian felt uneasy and said, "If the lower official had such a friendship with Xue Bai, he would not have taken him down and handed him over to the general. ”

"I didn't see him!"

"The prince of the palace was ordered to quell the rebellion, but the general was entangled in a vertical here, but ...... Where did the subordinate offend the general? ”

Yuan Luqian lowered his posture, and he already had a deep sense of crisis in his heart.

At present, his only reliance is that he can ensure the stability of Changshan County and supply the logistics of the army. But if Tian Chengji doesn't care about this, it is possible to kill him in a fit of rage.

Tian Chengji was indeed thinking about whether to kill someone.

Although he is decisive in killing, the history of a county magistrate is really a very important official, and once he is killed at this time, there will be a big mess in the future.

Before he could think about it, Xinma had already arrived and said, "General Gao Miao has arrived." ”

~~

Tian Chengsi did stay in Changshan for too long, which made Gao Miao, who arrived later, very surprised, and after asking for details, he heard Tian Chengsi say that he planned to kill Yuan Luqian, Gao Miao hurriedly shook his head.

"Why is General Tian like this?"

"I suspect that Yuan Luqian and Xue Bai are in tandem." Tian Chengsi said firmly: "You don't really belong to the prince of the mansion at all. ”

"How so?" Gao Miao said: "Since the beginning of the Fujun, the land of Hebei has come to the wind, but how can everyone really belong to it?" Before this march, the prince of the palace also specially said that the quick capture of Luoyang and Chang'an is the most important thing, so why bother with these details. ”

Tian Chengsi said: "Xue Bai first guarded Taiyuan, then went to Changshan, and then according to Tumen, the intention of threatening the back of my army is obvious. ”

"Xue Bai is difficult to deal with, and Fu Jun has always known that he will not blame General Tian. But if you can't take Luoyang quickly, the attitude of the prince will be different. Gao Miao said: "No matter what, Yuan Luqian didn't let Xue Bai go in advance, and the person was lost in the hands of Lu Ziqi." ”

Tian Chengsi's eyes showed a slight gloom.

Gao Miao had no choice but to laugh twice and reminded: "The Fujun will be here soon, and Yuan Luqian will be handed over to the Fujun to deal with, how about it?" ”

"Okay."

This time in Changshan, Tian Chengsi suffered a loss after all, and he broke two generals, but he didn't even see Xue Bai's shadow, and in the end, he couldn't even kill Yuan Luqian to vent his anger.

But for the sake of the big picture, he can only distract from these trifles.

The next day, on the fifth watch, Tian Chengsi was finally about to leave this gloomy place, he calmly faced, got out of the big tent, drew his knife and shouted: "Pass the order!" Pull out camp now! ”

"Whoa!"

Soon, one by one, the generals turned on their horses and shouted to boost morale.

"Brothers, conquer the Eastern Capital, and enjoy the wine and beauty!"

The morale of the army was greatly boosted.

……

Gao Miao watched the vanguard army leave, returned to Maxi to look, and at the end of the line of sight, Taihang Mountain stood majestically.

"Damn, what a piece of shit."

He scolded, determined to sue Tian Chenghei in front of An Lushan.

"Tian Chenghei was incompetent, so Xue Bai arrived at Tumen Pass."

~~

A few days later, Yuan Luqian stood in front of An Lushan with a bow, and said with sincere fear: "When I returned to the palace, the lower officials thought that if it weren't for the lower officials' best efforts, Xue Bai would not only occupy the Tumen Pass...... He should have occupied Changshan County. ”

"Hahaha." An Lushan sat on the main seat with a belly, and the civil and military forces gathered on both sides, and laughed: "Yuan Qing thinks he has merit? ”

Yuan Luqian was stunned for a moment when he heard this title, lowered his head, covered the different color in his eyes, and responded: "Yes." ”

"Good! Good! ”

I don't know if it's obesity or other reasons, An Lushan looks much better than Tian Chenghe, and a naïve smile often appears on his face.

He raised his fat hand, beckoned Li Zhu'er, and said, "This king wants to reward Yuan Qing and bring things." ”

"Whoa."

Yuan Luqian waited for a while, and watched Li Zhu'er's boots arrive in front of him, his eyes moved up, and he saw a stack of clothes in the tray.

"Yuan Taishou, Yuan Taishou, go on."

Li Zhu'er called twice in a row, and Yuan Luqian reacted and took the tray.

"Xie Fujun."

Looking up, I saw An Lushan with a gentle smile in his eyes, and encouraged: "Try it." ”

"Whoa."

It was a brand-new official uniform, but it was not the official robe of the Tang Dynasty.

said that he was ordered to beg for thieves, but before he raised troops, the ambition of the puppet dynasty was already unconcealed.

Yuan Luqian hesitated for a moment, unbuckled his belt in front of everyone, took off his Tang official robe, and accepted the reward.

An Lushan laughed again, like a god of wealth. He is not Tian Chenghei, he has to test whether these local officials are sincere, he just needs to let them wade into the dirty water.

"Yuan Qing go back to Zhending City and govern Changshan."

"Whoa." Yuan Luqian retired with a salute.

An Lushan looked at his back, and the smile on his face gradually solidified.

He didn't want to restrain the irritability in his heart anymore and desperately wanted to vent.

"My little uncle, he is not dead yet, he is in the place where I can see, in the Taihang Mountain! You're all rubbish! ”

"The prince of the mansion is angry, and the last general will immediately take the Tumen Pass......"

~~

The new Changshan Taishou Yuan Luqian finally left the rebel camp.

When he looked down, he saw a brand-new pseudo-court official robe, and a strong sense of humiliation flashed in his heart.

After that, the rebellion was quelled, and he was also a person who accepted the official position of the puppet dynasty, and it was impossible to clear it without great achievements.

Fortunately, he has the opportunity to make great contributions.

Yuan Luqian turned his head to look at the majestic Taihang Mountain, and told himself that he had to endure the humiliation and bear the burden, and wait patiently until the moment when the humiliation was eliminated......

(End of chapter)