Yanshi County.

On the wharf outside Yingxian Gate, the rebels seized a large number of ships and grain goods, and collected the workers.

In the midst of the heat, Yan Zhuang rode his horse, rushed to the city gate, and asked the guards guarding the gate, "Where is the noble?" ”

"In the west of the city, Fenghui Bank."

The county seat "although the sparrow is small, all the organs are complete", the main street is full of shops on both sides, although the door is closed, the signboard is varied, and Fenghui Bank is hidden in this bustling market, the outside looks just an ordinary façade, but there is another pattern inside, extending in all directions.

When Yan Zhuang found Gao Shang, Gao Shang was squatting in front of a split wooden stake.

"What are you looking at? At present, military affairs are tedious, but you still have leisure to be in a daze here. ”

"It was split with a knife." Gao Shang stretched out his hand and touched the crack of the stake, got up, pointed to a huge stone lock next to him, and said, "You pick it up and take a look." ”

Yan Zhuang also had great strength, walked over and held the stone lock, and lifted it hard, but it didn't move at all.

"Ah Hao usually picks stone locks, but there are people here who are heavier than him." Gao Shang looked around the courtyard, "I can see that some people often practice martial arts here." ”

"So what?"

"I know a person with this courage, named Fan Gao." Gao Shang said: "In the past, my righteous brother served as a county lieutenant here, and he dealt with him, but unfortunately this person later attached himself to Xue Bai. In the past few years, Fan Gao often recruited displaced people from the county and brought them to the Shouyang Mountains. Occasionally, people saw him come to live in Yanshi, with more than a dozen fierce disciples around him, and the traces in this courtyard were left by them. ”

Yan Zhuang was a little impatient, and asked again, "So what?" ”

"There is a grain shop behind the alley, which is also Xue Bai's property, and the account books have been burned, but judging from the taxes it left at the North City Gate and the rental records in the carriage and horse shop, they have raised at least a thousand people on Shouyang Mountain."

"Why do you care so much? With an army of 100,000, it is easy to set foot on Shouyang Mountain. ”

"Tian Chengsi was in a hurry to attack Luoyang, leaving only a team of men and horses to block Shouyang Mountain, but the mountain road was narrow, and he couldn't attack it for the time being."

"The disease of ringworm and scabies can be dealt with after the big things are done."

"Come with me."

Gao Shang skirted the alley with Yan Zhuang and entered a warehouse, which was already empty.

"Guess what was originally stacked here?"

Yan Zhuang frowned impatiently, looked around, and muttered: "Look at the road and threshold, the things transported are very heavy......"

"Ironstone." Gao Shang said: "There is leather, cow tendon, and animal horns, and these raw materials are purchased from all over the world and transported to Shouyang Mountain, where they are made into armor, bows and arrows, saddles, leather boots, and other things. ”

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

"Private soldiers. Xue Bai raised a private army on Shouyang Mountain, with at least a thousand people. That's just my estimate, and it's bound to be more than that. ”

Yan Zhuang shook his head and said: "It's normal for such a big Lu Hun to recruit some people to take care of the home and nursing home." If there are really a thousand elites, Tian Chenghei attacked, how could he not encounter any resistance? ”

"This is the most suspicious part." Gao Shang said: "Yan Chunqing, the county leader of Yanshi, is the cousin of Xue Baizhangren, since this person arrived as Yanshi, he has been in the annual class examination, and he has changed two county orders, all of which have been set aside by him and the recorder Guo Lian, and he can't interfere in any county affairs. This time, our army came, and the new county commander Pei Ji surrendered, but Yan Chunqing and Guo Jian fled into Shouyang Mountain with people, not only that, but you can see how many people they took away. ”

Yan Zhuang came all the way, and he had already felt the emptiness of Yanshi County.

He groaned and said slowly: "It's not surprising, Xue Bai was the first person to guess that the prince of the palace was going to raise troops, but I'm afraid he was preparing for a long time." ”

"But how long has he been in Yanshi? After leaving office for so many years, he still has such a strong control over this place. Gao Shang's eyes showed the color of recollection, and said: "The county government has a bad handsome, Qi Chou, who used to belong to the righteous brother, and this time he also fled to Shouyang Mountain, with most of the errand and officials. How could these people give up the Yanshi so easily? ”

"What can you do with it? Strive for two or three days, so that Gao Xianzhi can gather more rabble, what's the use? Yan Zhuang said: "I can only say that they know very well that Luoyang can't hold it." ”

"Xue Bai won't be untargeted." Gao Shang pondered and wondered: "He didn't even transfer these private soldiers to Changshan, why?" ”

Yan Zhuang finally faced up to this matter, turned his head to look at the wheel corridor hidden in the sky of Shouyang Mountain in the distance, suddenly thought of a possibility, frowned slightly, and said: "I haven't been able to take care of it, Fujun did not cross the border from Yanshi, but went around to Luoyang from the south of Yishui." ”

Gao Shang nodded, feeling a little relaxed, and said, "I do suspect that Xue Bai has hidden an elite army in Shouyang Mountain, or has the intention of raiding the Mansion Monarch." But if you only use this trace to remind the monarch, it will inevitably seem timid. ”

Of course, it would be timid, first of all, how could Xue Bai have predicted that An Lushan would pass through Luoyang a few years in advance and prepare for an ambush? And An Lushan has more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, how can he be afraid of the surprise attack of a private army?

But Gao Shang was the person who valued Xue Bai the most among the rebels.

He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the bulging scar on his face with his fingertips, reminding himself that it was not too cautious to face Xue Bai.

"But you know, Xue Bai has a thunderous weapon in his hand."

"In this way, it is really prescient for the prince to bypass Shouyang Mountain." Yan Zhuang said: "When I crossed the Poppy Valley before, a Tang army guard shot an arrow into the carriage of the prince. If it were the explosives, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

"Huh."

Although Gao Shang laughed, his terrifying face might as well not smile.

He has been very concerned about Shouyang Mountain these days, and at this time, it seems that no matter what kind of arrangement Xue Bai left behind in Shouyang Mountain, it will definitely be in vain.

Who would have expected that Li Fei Shouyu's erroneous arrow would startle the snake and ruin Xue Bai's long-planned plan.

"If what I expected is right, when Shouyang Mountain finds out that Fujun has bypassed Yanshi, he may also support Luoyang City."

"It's okay", Yan Zhuang said: "A private soldier and some opportunistic things can't save Luoyang." ”

~~

The next day, south of Luoyang City, Longmen County.

An Lushan came for the name "Dragon Gate", and he hoped that he would become a real dragon after jumping over the Dragon Gate.

Although he was a believer in Zoroastrianism, and at the beginning of the army, he promised to "burn the sins of the world with the fire of light", but he still had a deep awe for the Tang culture in his heart.

He looked at the dragon gate in the distance, and couldn't see the exploits of Dayu Jishi to guide the water, his eyes were full of desire for power and status, and he beckoned Zhang Tongru and asked: "It is said that the fish jumps over the dragon gate, but I don't think I'm like a fish, can I also jump over the dragon gate?" ”

"The prince of the house is the ...... of the hidden dragon"

"You don't have to say it, I know what I look like." An Lushan patted his belly, thinking about his humble background, and said: "I am a pig, and I will also jump over the dragon gate and become a pig dragon." ”

I had made up my mind and was about to cross the river, when a letter horse hurried to the east and handed over a noble and solemn handwritten letter.

An Lushan heard that someone had read it, shook his fat hand, and ordered not to cross the river, saying that it would be okay for Longmen to jump later.

It turned out that their letter said that Xue Bai had hidden private soldiers in Shouyang Mountain and had the advantage of firearms, and this army was likely to have rushed to Luoyang for reinforcements.

An Lushan had heard of the thunderous power of explosives, and he was afraid of it, and he didn't want to get too close to the battlefield. It was decided to temporarily set up the big tent in Longmen to facilitate the command of the army and the dispatch of grain and grass.

"I just said, I guessed that he was bent on murdering me!"

Thinking of Xue Bai, An Lushan's mania began to attack again, and he grabbed the whip and began to whip the people around him, even Zhang Tongru was whipped by him a few times.

It's really because over the years, Xue Bai has simply targeted him everywhere, blocking him from getting rid of Wang Zhonghei in his early years, and now he even orders the counties of Hebei to rebel against him, which is too annoying.

When his temper came up, he lost confidence again and became pessimistic about the situation.

"I believe your nonsense, the back road was cut off by him, and the front road was blocked by him, I will personally kill him back to Changshan and break him into ten thousand pieces."

"The prince of the palace is angry, the court is in charge, Gyeonggi is eroded, Luoyang will be defeated with one blow, and no human power can stop ......"

"Take Luoyang, can't pass Tongguan, in this situation, can I still be a dragon?!"

An Lushan couldn't control his emotions, his joy and sorrow fluctuated like a tide, and he thought of his humble life experience, and felt that he was not worthy of jumping over the dragon gate.

"Report!"

This time, Shinma came from the north, shouting in a high voice from afar.

"General Tian won the first battle and defeated Gao Xianzhi in Kwai Garden!"

"Our army won the first battle, Gao Xianzhi has retreated into the Upper East Gate, and General Tian is pursuing with victory!"

Although Gao Xianzhi is a famous general in the world, there is only a group of rabble in Luoyang who have no experience in battle, and this result was expected by Zhang Tongru.

An Lushan was a little surprised, Xue Bai made a lot of preparations in Shouyang Mountain, but he bypassed Yanshi, and it was too late for his private troops to support Luoyang......

~~

Luoyang, South City.

Lu Qi handed out a large bag of peppercorns and took the reins from the horse dealer.

On the other side of the reins were two horses, and he stepped on one of them neatly and drove them to the imperial city.

He carried a bag with many things in it, but there was no flying money.

There is a reason why Lu Qi doesn't need to fly money, because he found out that the proprietor behind Fenghui Bank is likely to be Xue Bai, and he has a holiday with Xue Bai. He originally had a good future, and he moved to the position of Jingzhao Mansion Facao at a young age, but he offended Xue Bai in the bamboo paper case, so he had to escape from Chang'an with his father's protection and demote himself to Shuofang. Because of the hardships of Shuo Fang, he resigned due to illness.

In addition, he knows very well that now that the war is raging, Henan is about to fall into the hands of the rebels, and it would be strange if the flying money could still be used at that time.

At this time, Luoyang City was already panicked, and when they heard that the rebels were coming, many officials and people packed up their belongings and fled, and Gao Xianzhi began to conquer the strong men after entering the city, which caused chaos.

Now that the city gate is closed, many nobles are dissatisfied, and they lead their troops to break open the city gate and flee to Chang'an.

"Lu Qi!"

Bypassing the Daode Square, Lu Qi was walking along Luoshui when he suddenly heard someone shouting at him.

When I turned my head, it was a group of disciples of Luoyang Guozijian, and one of the leaders was Lu Qi's classmate, named Feng Sheng.

He didn't want to pay attention to Feng Sheng, and was about to leave the horse, but the people fleeing in front of him were congested, and the horses couldn't go fast, so Feng Sheng strode up and grabbed his reins.

"Lu Qi, I'm going to help the officers and soldiers defend the city, are you willing to go with you?"

"I'll go to the Imperial City to have an official business." Lu Qi said: "You can't stop me. ”

"What's the business? Do you want me to help? ”

"Don't, get out of the way!"

Lu Qi was unceremoniously, sat on the saddle, and kicked Feng Sheng away with his foot.

The two of them actually had a holiday, Lu Qi was also in Luoyang Guozijian when he was young, and he always despised Feng Sheng's poor background, and once in order to tease Feng Sheng, he searched Feng Sheng's backpack directly, and found that there was nothing except a piece of ink, so he laughed at it. At that time, Feng Sheng was angry, stepped forward and snatched Lu Qi's backpack, and shook out all the objects inside, only to find that there were two or three hundred copies of the famous thorns used to visit officials, and as a result, Lu Qi fell into the title of "fame and fortune slave" among his classmates.

At this time, as soon as he moved his feet, all the disciples were angry and stepped forward to pull him.

Someone scolded: "Fame and fortune! As the son of a high-ranking official, you used to keep serving your family and country, but today you will run for your life, how can you dare to beat someone? ”

The two sides argued, and in the confusion, the disciples ripped off Lu Yan's backpack, and all the objects rolled out, all of which were gold, silver, soft and dry food, and things used to escape for their lives.

Feng Sheng looked at it, was stunned, and said, "Fame and fortune, you have become a ghost who is afraid of death now!" ”

The memories of his youth came to mind, and Lu Qi was also furious, scolding: "Get out, a group of nosy poor and sour talents!" ”

In a hurry, he simply picked up his horsewhip and waved it at them.

The conflict became more and more intense, Lu Qi was outnumbered, and was quickly pulled off his horse, he hurriedly shouted: "My grandfather is the Zhongcheng of the imperial history of Taiwan, who dares to bully me?!" ”

Because of this shout, a team of guards in Luoyang City was alarmed, and they hurriedly rushed over.

"It's really Lu Langjun, drive those poor scholars away! Fast! ”

"Let us go, we're going to help the officers and soldiers defend the city!"

"Lu Duxian's Langjun, you dare to move?!"

"Eat dog intestines! When the national crisis is at the head, you don't defend the people, and you are a dog for the powerful here, no wonder the rebels will be killed in the eastern capital in a month! ”

"Reprimand, take all ......"

The upward and downward effects, because everyone in the court likes to use the crime of "reprimanding and taking advantage of public opinion" to exclude dissidents, and there are also examples everywhere in the world. Even if he is a student of the National Prison, if he falls into such a crime, he will be the credit of these guards.

Feng Sheng was quickly suppressed, and he couldn't help but be so angry that his blood was surging, and his face was red.

"Let go of me! Although I am a scholar, I am willing to kill a thief and die, not to die at the hands of fame and fortune! ”

"Hit!"

In the confusion, Lu Qi glanced back at his classmates coldly, and turned over again.

Escorted by the guards, he finally ran through the Tianjin Gate and rushed to the imperial city.

Luoyang is the eastern capital, and the sage still came to eat from time to time more than ten years ago, so he retained a set of left-behind officials, with the same rank as Chang'an. Lu Qi's grandfather, Lu Yi, has now moved to stay in Taiwan.

Lu Yi had already asked his wife and children to secretly go to Chang'an with the official seal, and he continued to go to the imperial city of Yushitai as usual.

After Lu Qi went out of the city with his family, he heard the latest battle report and turned back, wanting to take Grandpa away.

On that day, the huge imperial history platform was empty, and there was no longer the situation of officials going back and forth in the past.

"Grandpa?!"

Lu Qi was not sure if Lu Yi was still there, so he hurried into the lobby of the middle courtyard.

Stepping into the hall, Lu Yi, who was wearing a red official robe, was sitting there flipping through a book.

This situation is exactly the same as every time Lu Qi went home in the past.

"Grandpa!"

Lu Qi shouted and bowed down directly.

Lu Yi raised his head from between the scrolls, frowned slightly, and asked, "Why did you come back?" ”

"Gao Xianzhi fought with the rebels in Kwai Yuan, was defeated, and now retreats to the East Gate. I'm afraid Luoyang City can't hold it, Grandpa, come with me! ”

Compared with his son's panic, Lu Yi seemed extremely calm, put down the scroll, and said in a calm tone: "The Eastern Capital is a person like you who is bent on fame and fortune, how can you keep it?" ”

He even had the leisure to mock.

Suddenly there was a shout in the distance.

Lu Qi glanced back and said, "When the child came, he saw that Youxungui was about to leave the city in front of the Xuanhui Gate, and the city gate must have been opened at this time. Grandpa, let's go, if you don't leave, the thief is coming. ”

"The thieves are coming, but they are still opening the gates." Lu Yi closed his eyes and shook his head.

Lu Qi got up and stepped forward, wanting to forcibly take away his grandfather.

"You dare?!" Lu Yi shouted, "The body can be killed, but the festival cannot be taken away." If you dare to destroy the old man's loyalty, you are unfilial! ”

"Child......

"Get out!"

Lu Qi hesitated for a while, finally kowtowed, turned around and ran out.

He ran out of the Imperial City, following the crowd past the gates that had been breached.

Gao Xianzhi did give a strict order to close the city gate, but Gao Xianzhi's command was not the Anxi army that traveled thousands of miles with him back then, but the temporarily recruited small people in Luoyang City.

Running out of Luoyang City, you can see people fleeing all over the mountains.

In the face of danger, the slowest to flee were the untouchables who could not even afford to eat salt and therefore had no physical strength, followed by ordinary people who had no horses or dry food.

Lu Qi straddled his steed, crashed into those who stood in his way, and soon left many people behind.

After that, he could faintly hear the sound of tens of thousands of horses galloping at the same time, mixed with the sound of trumpets and drums, like muffled thunder.

The rebels have arrived.

I wonder how many days Luoyang City can be held?

Lu Qi glanced back, knowing that if he caused trouble again in the future, there would be no grandpa to carry him around......

~~

Ten days later, Plains County.

Yan Gaoqing stood at the head of the city, raised a clairvoyant mirror and looked at the enemy camp in the distance, and a head appeared in his sight, hanging under the rebels' flag, shaking.

The man who was killed was a fifty-year-old man, who was still upright when he died, and presumably scolded the rebels impassionedly before he died.

The other party is a famous minister, Yan Gaoqing had seen him when he was in Chang'an, so he recognized him as Lu Yi, who stayed in Taiwan.

There were two other heads hanging on the rebel flagpole with Lu Yi, which Yan Gaoqing did not recognize.

"Listen, city people!"

Gradually, the rebels had advanced to the point under the walls.

"I would like to introduce you to these three important ministers of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yi in the Imperial History, Li Xi in Luoyang, and Jiang Qing, the judge in Luoyang! Hahaha, do you know what it means to kill these three people?! ”

The presumptuous cry reached the city, Yan Gaoqing frowned, he had a hunch in his heart that Luoyang might have been lost, but he couldn't believe it, and he was more willing to believe that this was a trick by the rebels to shake the hearts of the army.

He couldn't stop the rebels from talking.

"Let me tell you, the prince has captured Luoyang! The so-called famous general Gao Xianzhi, whom you have high hopes for, has been defeated again and again! ”

With these words, an exclamation suddenly sounded on the head of the city, the reason why the generals and soldiers followed Yan Gaoqing to join the imperial court was because they believed that the powerful Tang Dynasty could quell the rebellion, but if the country was captured, the blow to them would be huge.

Seeing this, Yan Quanming hurriedly laughed and shouted, "Who do you want to deceive when you wait for this kind of coaxing trick?!" ”

Having said that, the worries in the hearts of the soldiers of Pingyuan County Jingsai have not been dispelled......

"Luoyang has been keen! The soldiers in the city are not too late at this time anyway, and those who kill Yan Gaoqing will be crowned with knights and rewarded heavily! ”

The general who led the rebels to attack the city was named Duan Ziguang.

He was ordered by An Lushan to take these three heads to Hebei to show the public, and successfully threatened the county guard through Wei County, Pingyang County, and Guangping County, and successfully subdued the land of the three counties.

But Pingyuan County is different, the county guard Yan Gaoqing is Xue Bai's in-law, therefore, the rebels are very vigilant, and even give up persuading Yan Gaoqing to surrender, and after shaking his military heart, he is ready to attack the city.

The Pingyuan County Administration is in Pingyuan County, the terrain is flat, there is no danger to defend, Yan Gaoqing has been in office for a short time, he has no time to strengthen the city wall, and he has not even had time to completely subdue the defenders, so it is very difficult to face the offensive of the rebels at this time.

After only half a day of fighting, the rebels had attacked the city for the first time, and Yan Quanming personally led people to repel the rebels on the city, so he held this wave of offensive in danger and danger.

But before long, dust and smoke were billowing in the distance, and reinforcements from the rebels had arrived.

As a result, the Jingsai army was even more chaotic, and some generals were hesitating to betray Yan Gaoqing in order to save their lives, and finally made up their minds at this time.

As if it was fate, Yan Gaoqing still fell into the situation of being trapped in a lonely city.

He himself did not care about his life, and still calmly clinged to the clairvoyant mirror and looked at the flag that came from afar.

"It's our reinforcements!" Yan Gaoqing suddenly put down the clairvoyant mirror and shouted, "Master Wang has arrived!" Fight the enemy! ”

Even Yan Quanming was a little suspicious that his grandfather was lying to boost morale, however, he looked into the distance, and gradually saw that the words "Changshan Taishou Xue Bai" were written on the banner.

"Counterinsurgency!"

When Duan Ziguang learned of the movement in the rear, he also thought that it was to support his soldiers and horses, but when the other party rushed closer, he found that it was actually reinforcements from the Tang Army, and there were 8,000 people.

Looking at the flag, there are Changshan too shou Xue Bai, Yunzhong military envoy Wang is rare, and Beihai is too shou Helan Jinming. Rushing forward were two thousand cavalry, with their horns sounding in unison, launching a relentless assault on the rebels.

Caught off guard, Duan Ziguang was unable to organize a strong defense.

The Don army quickly tore through his rear.

Seeing this situation, Duan Ziguang still wanted to escape, but a horse caught up with him on a fast horse and pinched him under the horse with a shot.

Immediately, with the sound of the wind, his banner slowly fell and slammed into the ground.

Even the heads of the three people hanging on the banner fell.

Someone stepped forward, picked up the head, looked at it carefully, and led it into Plains City.

……

"No blame? It's you! ”

Yan Gaoqing strode out of the city gate, grabbed Xue Bai with both hands, and said excitedly: "Why are you here?!" ”

Xue Bai saw that Yan Gaoqing was fine, but he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

As far as he is concerned, Yan Gaoqing is not dead, and he dares to be sure that he is making changes little by little.

Xue Bai would not declare this thought, and with a confident smile on his face, he responded: "I heard that the rebels will return to the north soon, and I will come to support Yan Taishou." ”

As he spoke, he noticed that the generals behind Yan Gaoqing were a little uneasy, so he turned his head and looked in the direction where their eyes were looking, and saw the three heads.

"Fake."

Xue Baiyun said lightly: "I have been the county lieutenant of Yanshi, and I know all the officials in Luoyang, but they are all fake." An Lushan was also desperate, and fled back to Fanyang with all his heart, using this kind of small trick. ”

(End of chapter)