The twenty-third day of the lunar month, the new year!

Today in previous years, even if it is a poor family, it will think of a way to get some dry goods for its old people, no longer drink gruel paste, try to make some lump cakes or something, the hard work of the whole year, will start to draw a bar from today, and in the next seven days, do not plow or weave, the firewood is prosperous, try to eat, how to be comfortable.

It's just that for the people of Changshan County, the fourteen-year-old Chinese New Year's Eve of Tang Tianbao is destined to be uncomfortable.

The angry An Lushan sent his first general, Shi Siming, to order his personal commander 30,000 elite stars to set off, and he must take down Yan Gaoqing and others in the fastest time, control the army and people in Changshan, and stabilize the situation in Hebei. After that, An Lushan still felt uneasy, so he pulled out 10,000 horses from between his teeth, and rushed to Changshan County led by the general Cai Xide to join Shi Siming's department. Before the army started, An Lushan gritted his teeth and told Cai Xide that he must capture the repeated villain Yan Gaoqing alive for me.

Yan Gaoqing slaughtered Li Qincuo on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and gave him a funeral with the last full moon of the whole year, and then captured Gao Miao and He Qianqian with a strategy, and sent his son to send these people to Taiyuan on the 18th, and heard that An Lushan had captured Luoyang on the 12th, he was worried about the comfort of Chang'an City, so he could only officially raise the banner of the Tang Dynasty on the 23rd of the lunar month, and publicly denounced An Lushan, intending to contain An Lushan's troops and relieve the pressure on the defenders of Tongguan.

Yan Gaoqing's actions are the biggest threat that An Lushan has encountered since the rebellion, Yan Gaoqing killed his cronies and guards, captured the left and right think tanks, and retreated to surround Raoyang's Zhang Xiancheng, gathered the strength of Hebei counties in four ways, and stole his hometown Fanyang in five ways. One ring after another, one move after another, as long as An Lushan himself is a little careless, when the emperor comes back to his senses, the two sides will attack back and forth, and the huge rebellion will immediately be abandoned!

For the rebellion, An Lushan has been planning for more than 20 years, and he is extremely thoughtful, and all forces in the world have been thoroughly studied by him. Although he was anti-minded, before he really did it, he didn't know what to say to his own people. It wasn't until he got the news that Yang Guozhong raided his house and killed his people that he finally gritted his teeth and did it ruthlessly. Two or three days before the rebellion, he hosted a banquet for more than a dozen generals under his command in the mansion, during which he gave each general a generous reward, and placed a huge map in the hall of the mansion, indicating the dangers of the mountains and rivers in various parts of the Tang Dynasty and the offensive route, and each of them sent a similar reduced map. An Lushan even gave strict orders to all generals, and those who dared to violate this plan were beheaded and exterminated. This map clearly marks the military operations up to Luoyang, and all the generals only need to break through according to the map. These generals knew that this was a real thing, and they didn't dare to make a noise when they took the map, and they were ordered to leave, preparing their own horses and horses, and waiting for the attack on all fronts at any time. Until An Lushan captured Luoyang later, the marching route of the various armies was completed in full accordance with the instructions in the map. It can be seen that An Lushan's scheming, his strategy of leading his troops, his courage in battle, and his control are really an extremely terrifying hero.

Therefore, how could such a strategizing figure allow such a big variable as Yan Gaoqing to appear under his control, and the trouble of Changshan is already a thorn in the eye, and he has to be killed quickly!

On the first day of the first month of the fifteenth year of Tianbao, Shi Siming, who had assembled in front of Changshan County, burned incense and prayed to the sky, begging God to bless him with victory on the first day of the new year and capture Changshan County as soon as possible. Although Yan Gaoqing had already made a lot of efforts, he didn't expect An Lushan to attach so much importance to his Changshan County, and he actually sent 40,000 elites to attack him, and the artillery and ballistas were readily available. What's more arduous is that although the forces of the counties and counties of the Hebei Alliance have echoed, but the integration of men and horses has not yet been completed, he sent his son Yan Quanming to ask his boss Wang Chengye for help, it has been many days or the stone has sunk into the sea and there is no response, there is no way he has to rush to the battle, with the men and horses of Changshan County to defend day and night, desperately fighting. Changshan County is weak after all, the soldiers in the city are short, and the rebels attack day and night, and finally outnumbered, and the enemy's materials are slowly exhausted.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the city of Changshan, which was full of wounded soldiers, finally fell, and Yan Gaoqing, Yuan Luqian and others were personally captured by Shi Siming and sent to Luoyang City on the same day.

Before Yan Gaoqing and others were escorted to the prisoner car, Shi Siming, in accordance with An Lushan's instructions, tied Yan Gaoqing and others to the high cart, and was pulled by horses to shuttle through Changshan County. The animals tortured the surviving defenders, mutilated the defenseless people, burned everything that could not be taken away, the women were raped in the streets, and even more outrageously the children were thrown alive into the pot of boiling water and covered with lids, and the rebels laughed and commented on which children had the strength to resist, and when the children were no longer struggling, they picked them up from the pot with knives and guns, put them on the table and cut them into pieces, and gnawed them like fish. In addition, the parents of the children will be escorted to the pot so that the parents can witness how their flesh and blood are boiled alive, and they will pry open their mouths so that they can eat their children. What is heartbreaking is that there are really people who take the initiative to eat their children in order to survive, ignore those abuses and ridicule, and live for the next life. ”

Zhang Xun watched Mo Sheng say these words in disbelief, he really couldn't imagine that Changshan County under the sword and axe could be described as miserable, it was simply purgatory!

The city is full of mountains, and there is no white snow in sight, and there are dead people everywhere, ashes everywhere, and blood like red plums everywhere. Yan Gaoqing and his party on the carriage witnessed everything, the blood and tears of anger had dried up, the roaring roar had been silent, and the sad spirit had become numb, and they asked themselves in their hearts, whether it was right or wrong to do this!

Shi Siming Cai Xide, who captured Changshan County, took advantage of the momentum and went on to attack other counties, Ye County, Guangping County, Julu County, Zhao County, Shanggu County, Boling County, Wen'an County, Wei County, and Xindu District, all of which were reoccupied by the rebels.

On the 11th day of the first lunar month, on the first day of the first lunar month, An Lushan, who officially sacrificed to the heavens in the eastern capital Luoyang to announce the establishment of the Great Yan Empire and proclaimed himself emperor Jianyuan Shengwu, saw Yan Gaoqing who was escorted, his eyes were angry and round, and the fat of his body trembled with his breathing. An Lushan saw Yan Gaoqing who was lying on the ground, his fat body trembled, stood up and pointed at Yan Gaoqing and asked through gritted teeth:

"You slave, in the past, I invited you from Fan Yanghu Cao Ren to be a judge, so that you can serve as Guanglu and Taichang Ercheng, and also use your dog thing to act as Changshan Taishou, trust you well, and before leaving, I taught you in a purple robe, what point do I can't live with you, you want to bear me?"

Yan Gaoqing's chest exploded, he glared at the stupid pig angrily, and cursed:

"My family has been a minister of the Tang Dynasty for generations, and I will always be loyal and righteous, even if you have to ask the acting officer, should I still rebel with you? Besides, you were originally a lowly slave of the Qiang tribe who shepherded sheep in Yingzhou, and because you stole the emperor's favor, you have today's scenery, what did the Son of Heaven fail you, and you want to rebel against the court! ”

An Lushan hated people to expose his shortcomings the most in his life, Yan Gaoqing's words made him very angry, but he was speechless, but he didn't give up, Yan Gaoqing was too powerful, and he was too unwilling not to accept it for his own use. The furious An Lushan sent someone to pull Yan Gaoqing's youngest son Yan Jiming in front of Yan Gaoqing, put a blade on his neck, and shouted condescendingly to Yan Gaoqing:

"Descend to me, be a living son!"

Yan Gaoqing looked at his most beloved son, not sad or happy, not speechless, An Lushan knew that this person had already saved the heart of death, and it was impossible for him to persuade him to surrender anymore, so he ruthlessly ordered Yan Gaoqing's family of more than 30 people to be pulled in front of Yan Gaoqing, cut off their hands and feet, and tortured them to death. But what An Lushan didn't expect was that none of the more than 30 members of the Yan family surrendered to death, and An Lushan, who was angry and ashamed, tied Yan Gaoqing to the Tianjin bridge pillar, dismembered him on the street and ate his flesh to warn the people. Yan Gaoqing, who was tortured, still scolded An Lushan, and An Lushan sent someone to cut off his tongue, to see how you can scold, Yan Gaoqing gasped out his last breath in the vague scolding, at the age of sixty-five. On the same day, the relatives of Yan Gaoqing's subordinate officials were also amputated first, and then slowly tortured to death. He Qianqian's younger brother was angry that Yan Gaoqing Yuan Luqian captured his brother, cut off his own rich and noble road, and personally supervised the execution of torture, he walked in front of Yuan Luqian and cursed, Yuan Luqian waited for him to get closer, and a mouthful of blood sprayed on his face, so he was cut down more cruelly, and the passers-by could not do anything except tears in their eyes.

Hearing that Yan Gaoqing, Yuan Luqian and others, who were all iron-clad, were straight until death, Zhang Xun in the snowy night also asked himself in his heart, if I am like this, what should I do? Is Changshan's tragic situation Suiyang's tomorrow, and whether Yan Gaoqing, who was cut off his tongue, is his own end. After thinking about it in his stomach for a long time, Zhang Xun secretly laughed, how confused was he, such a question still needs to be considered for so long, being able to become a person like Yan Gaoqing is the glory of his life, I hope that I will be you in the future. Suiyang's heart is unstoppable!

Mo Sheng's narration also came to an end with the murder of Yan Gaoqing. The two of them were sad for Yan Gaoqing and the others for a while, and then packed up their minds, analyzed the reasons for the fall of Changshan, and learned from each other's strengths.

"I think that in addition to the strong enemy and internal weakness that Mr. Mo said, there is a third reason for the defeat of Changshan, that is, foreign aid is not saved."

Zhang Xun looked at Mo Sheng and continued:

"Changshan City is slight, and there is no danger to defend, but at that time, the counties of Hebei have reached a consensus, and the momentum of the alliance has risen, as their commander-in-chief of the county, why didn't Taiyuan Yin send troops to help, Taiyuan County, as the land of the Tang Dynasty, has always been strong and strong, especially the archery and horse archery is the best in the country, Wang Chengye knows the weight of Changshan, why not send troops to help?"

Mo Sheng looked at Zhang Xun with a puzzled face, knowing that because of his humble position, his knowledge was naturally unknown, and explained:

"Do you remember what I said about Yan Quanming and his entourage going to Taiyuan County?"

Zhang Xun replied:

"Naturally remember, didn't you say that Wang Chengye hospitably entertained Yan Quanming and his party, and what he said was also resolute, and he was on the same page as the rebels, and he valued Yan Gaoqing very much? Could it be that he is also pretentious, false and wronged, openly returning to the Tang Dynasty, but secretly planning to collude with An Lushan? ”

Mo Sheng heard the obvious reproach from Zhang Xun's tone, you must know that in terms of official position, Wang Chengye is enough to crush Zhang Xun, but Zhang Xun is not conscious, and his indignation is overflowing.

"No, Wang Chengye still hates An Lushan, and he also sincerely defends the Li family's court, and he has no half-heartedness. It's just that he has a shortcoming, that is, he is extremely keen on the pursuit of fame and fortune, and even has some pathological madness. ”

"Oh, then what does this have to do with not saving Yan Gaoqing?"

Mo Sheng paused, took a sip of wine, adjusted his sitting posture, and replied: "Yan Gaoqing is not wrong, Yan Quanming is not wrong, Wang Chengye was not wrong at the beginning, the fault is that they brought one more person in their line."

"Who is the one more person you brought with you?" Zhang Xun is a qualified listener and responds to Mo Sheng in a timely manner.

"Zhang Tongyou!"

"Zhang Tongyou? Who is that? ”

"Zhang Tongyou is a small miscellaneous fish, just a county lieutenant in Neiqiu......" As soon as he blurted out the words, Mo Sheng regretted it, in his opinion, the county lieutenant is indeed a small miscellaneous fish, but at this moment the Zhang Xun sitting in front of him was also a county lieutenant, that is, the little miscellaneous fish in his mouth, he commented so much, I am afraid that there is a suspicion of scolding Huai, fortunately, Zhang Xun, who was sitting on the seat, did not look different when he heard the words, it seems that he will pay more attention to his words in the future. The moment went on to explain:

Although Zhang Tongyou's official position is not obvious, his brother is a famous person. An Lushan has many generals, but this person is suspicious, and there are not many real cronies, and even his biological son An Qingxu is also very guarded. But although Cao Cao is treacherous, he believes in Guo Jia, although he is noble and solemn, although his status is high, but among the courtiers who are really at ease in An Lushan, Zhang Tongru is the first. This person is knowledgeable, well-versed in the past and the present, extremely deep in thought, especially good at dealing with politics, although the family is not obvious, but relying on his own step by step, step by step to consolidate himself, and finally become An Lushan's right-hand man, is a very threatening figure, with his guarantee, An Lushan can worry about the future. An Lushan proclaimed himself Emperor Dayan in the eastern capital, this thief took Luoyang's defeated general Da Xixun as his servant, Zhang Tongru as the Zhongshu Order, noble and solemn as the Zhongshu Servant, Zhang Tongru can be the prime minister of An Lushan, how can he be a mediocre person. ”

"Oh, I see. Then is this person like his brother to be the canine tooth of An Lushan? ”

"No, on the contrary, although this person is Zhang Tongru's brother, but he is clearly distinguished, especially after learning that An Lushan rebelled, he was afraid of being influenced by his brother, he rushed to Changshan County against all odds, and showed Yan Gaoqing his heart to Tang with tears, and later he learned that Yan Gaoqing captured Gao Miao He Qianqian, and wanted to escort the two to Taiyuan, and even cried and asked for companionship, saying that he would go to Taiyuan County to draw a clear line with his brother to ensure that the clan was not affected. Yan Gaoqing mourned and allowed him to go with his son Yan Jiming. ”

Zhang Xun listened to Mo Sheng's description, and continued to listen while calculating in his heart.

After Yan Quanming and his entourage arrived in Taiyuan County, they were treated unprecedentedly, after all, this can be regarded as the first big heel planted on the road of An Lushan's rebellion, and it should be celebrated. It's just that Zhang Tongyou is treacherous, knowing that the festival makes Wang Chengye always greedy for power, and he is greedy for the merits of his subordinates, and he is a villain who forgets his righteousness. This time, Yan Gaoqing made such a great contribution, he should think of a way, so that Wang Chengye could get a big favor and hug this thigh. So after the banquet was over, he found an excuse that night, met Wang Chengye, and dedicated the plan he had thought hard to Wang Chengye. He told Wang Chengye that the reason why Yan Gaoqing was able to make such a great contribution was entirely the credit of his brothers, and his brother Zhang Tongru was coerced by thieves, and he couldn't help himself, and he had the heart to resist but was afraid of losing his life in vain, so he had to conspire with the two brothers to come up with this plan and kill several people to hand them over to the court.

In this way, the two talked secretly for half the night, and on the second day, the overjoyed Jiedu made Wang Chengye first appease Yan Quanming, Jia Shen and others, and then privately withheld Yan Gaoqing's form, and instead submitted the form seal by himself, he wrote on the table how he killed the thief and presented the important figures of the rebels to the court. In this way, he stole the beams and changed the pillars, and turned the hard work of Yan Gaoqing and others into his own credit. Xuanzong, who was in the temple, didn't know the inside story, he was overjoyed when he read this book, when even if Wang Chengye was promoted to a general, one of his subordinate generals was enlightened, and he was rewarded with more than 100 chickens and dogs. Poor Yan Gaoqing, who was in Changshan, fought bloodily, looking forward to the rescue of the imperial court and Taiyuan, until he died, he was still a fool. An Lushan was stabbed by He Qianqian, Zhang Tongyou gave Yan Gaoqing a slap, you come and go, hurt each other!

Wang Chengye turned a deaf ear to Yan Gaoqing's letter requesting to send troops to help Changshan, and just sent people to entertain Yan Quanming and others, expecting Shi Siming to quickly break through Changshan and capture Yan Gaoqing, so that there would be no proof of death. Tiangong is beautiful, the day of the eighth day of the first month of the first month of Changshan City is broken, it is the time when Wang Chengye is rewarded for his face, and the so-called time is also fate, poor Yan Gaoqing's generation of heroes was destroyed on these two villains, and even tens of thousands of lives in Changshan were buried in the hands of these two people, which is really embarrassing! ”

Hearing that Yan Gaoqing and a group of righteous people in Changshan County sacrificed their lives for the country, Zhang Xun had a lot of thoughts, he hated the brutality of An Lushan Shi Siming's rebels, and was angry at the shamelessness of Wang Chengye Zhang Tongyou and others, sighing that Yan Gaoqing Yuan Luqian's ambition was unpaid, and at the same time he was thinking about himself in his heart, if he replaced Changshan with Suiyang, how should he deal with it, will he also encounter all kinds of immeasurable unexpected factors, it seems that he has to work hard to put in a lot, he has to meet Mosheng tonight, and he can learn these inside information from the mouth of this hermit hero, and he has really benefited a lot, It's like getting lost and meeting a good teacher, how fortunate it is!

Zhang Xun raised the wine bottle in front of him and shook it, the wine in the pot had frozen, and it shook it with a long noise, Zhang Xun smiled embarrassedly, still holding the pot in both hands, stood up and bent down to fill the wine bottle in front of Mo Sheng, and said respectfully:

"Sir, please drink this cup full, and the student Zhang Xun will serve it!"

Mo Sheng was very surprised, this Zhang Xun and his peers have been talking for more than an hour, obviously an ordinary person, in the middle of the night in this harsh winter, his lips have been frozen slightly purple, but he is still humble and polite, completely ignoring the difficult environment around him, he still looks like he is still unfinished and humbly asks for advice, whether it is a coy gesture or true feelings, at this moment, I am afraid that a blind person can also see it.

Mo Sheng didn't get up, he sat upright, held the bottle in his right hand, supported each other with his left hand, and drank this cup of "disciple wine" very boldly, and then the two looked at each other and smiled, and continued to talk.

The snow outside the broken house stopped and stopped, stopped and fell, and the cold was raging, but it couldn't stop the sincerity of the two people at all, and the fire in the hearts of the two people was raging and crackling!

At the same time, Zhang Xun's mansion was silent, only one room in the backyard bedroom was still lit. The bedroom is clean and elegant, spotless, there is a lamp lit on the table in the room, there is an iron charcoal stove on the ground in the center of the room, a woman is more than forty years old, dressed decently but not flashy, at this moment she is holding a tongs, adding charcoal to the charcoal stove, the red fire in the brazier is quiet, burning, driving away the cold in the house, the bed is a quilt that has been spread, and the new flower bedding sent by Xu Yuan is soft and comfortable. When the woman had finished adding charcoal, she went to the bed, reached into the quilt, groped for a black iron box the size of a pillow, took it to the charcoal brazier, and pulled it to the right. The woman took out the burnt charcoal, re-took out a few red-burning charcoal in the charcoal brazier, carefully put it into the inner box, buckled it, and then pushed the lid back on the outside, holding the box and putting it back into the quilt.

After setting up the warm box, the woman came to the window, she pushed open a slit, looked out of the house through the snow, and the cold air drilled down the slit, and the woman could not help shivering, and quickly closed the window, walked back to the charcoal stove, picked up the sewing kit on the round stool beside the stove, and began to sew and mend clothes. After sewing for a while, he was absent-minded, but he was pricked by a needle several times, frowned slightly, listened to the movement outside the house, and fidgeted.

After suffering like this for a while, the woman stood up, put down the needle and thread in her hand, and came to the bedside table, she opened the cabinet door, rummaged through it, and from the pile of clothes sent by the Taishou, picked out a long warm robe, compared it up and down on herself, put it on the bed, and found a fox coat, and then took a wool felt blanket, and folded three pieces neatly, and put on a warm robe for herself, she lit a gauze lamp, hugged the three pieces of cotton, opened the thick warm curtain, opened the door and closed the door, looked up at the sky, and then lowered her head, Facing the wind and snow, we walked towards the gate. The courtyard was not long, and it was not long before it would go out of the gate, and the night guard at the gate saw someone coming out, and recognized the person by his appearance, and the guard quickly stepped forward and saluted respectfully and asked:

"Hello Second Madam, are you in such a hurry on such a snowy night?"

This is called the second lady is Zhang Xun's concubine lady, she followed Zhang Xun from Yongqiu to Suiyang, responsible for taking care of Zhang Xun's daily life, looking at the night guard who greeted her, she replied with a smile on her face:

"Sanyong, it turns out that tonight is your shift. I see that your Ah Lang does not return late at night, I think that the matter has not been done yet, but I don't want to snow, your Ah Lang wears armor when he goes out, I am afraid that he will be cold late at night, so I took some warm clothes for him, nothing important. ”

This is called Sanyong is one of the sergeants that Zhang Xun has followed since the beginning of the Yongqiu army, he is brave in battle, quick-witted, and his skills are even better, he has the strength close to the three products, and was arranged into Zhang Xun's personal guard battalion, specifically responsible for protecting Zhang Xun's safety, and Zhang Xun's family members are naturally very familiar with Zhang Xun's family, and Zhang Xun's family members also treat these loyal and brave guards as relatives.

"Why don't you let me send it, it's not easy to walk on this snowy day."

"No need, you also know your Ah Lang's temper, he may complain about me a lot of things when I go, and if these trivial things affect your position, he will blame you even more."

Sanyong also understood Zhang Xun's temper, so he no longer shirked at the moment, pointed out the path and direction of Mosheng's residence to the second lady, and repeatedly told his wife to be careful on the road before returning to his post and continuing to patrol the night.

The weather is cold and green, and the north wind is called dry mulberry.

In the wind and snow, the gauze lamp gradually faded away, and finally loomed, and the series of footprints left in the snowy night were gentle, lingering, and inextricably linked.