Tiantang Splendid

4249--Andrew
The rain is divided, the Wei River is soaring, and the shadow of Xianyang City is dim. The vast night covers a wasteland on the south bank of the Wei River. Under the weeds washed and fallen by the rain, there are debris of Qin bricks and Han tiles mixed in it. city.

The Xianyang Bridge spans the Weishui River, and the river flows under the bridge, looking at the old land of Qin and Han Dynasties and the Chang'an City rebuilt in the Sui Dynasty in the distance.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built a bridge over the Wei River in the third year of Jianyuan. It was called "Bianqiao" because it was opposite to the Bianmen Gate on the north side of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty. It was also called "Xiwei Bridge" because it was west of Zhongwei Bridge. It is called "Xianyang Bridge".

Compared with the Zhongwei Bridge, the Xianyang Bridge is wider and stronger, but it is slightly farther away from Chang'an City, so it has become an important traffic route to and from the Western Regions since the Han and Tang Dynasties, and it can also go west to Chencang and enter Shu...

……

To the north of Xianyang Bridge, a military camp stands amidst the rainwater and wild grass, shadowy and stretching, reaching as far as the eye can see under the night.The wind lanterns were hung in important places in the camp, and they swayed with the wind and rain. There were many guards on the left and right of the camp gate, and the night watch team was still shuttling through the camp, and the guards were strictly guarded.

Even though it was raining heavily and late at night, there was an atmosphere of being on alert and fully on guard.

In the Chinese military tent, Qibi Heli, who had taken off his armor and was wearing a silk costume, was sitting on a stool with a big horse and a golden knife. His beard under his chin was neat and shiny, his shirt was white and neat, and the nails on his right hand holding the pot were neatly trimmed. Clean, with a smile on his dark face, he looks like a Tang dignitary, rich and luxurious, how can he look like a Turkic Khibibe Khan?

It's just that the left ear is missing a piece, and the scar is hideous, showing a fierce spirit...

He filled the wine glass for Yuwen Shiji on the opposite side, and raised his glass with a smile, and Yuwen Shiji raised his glass accordingly, and drank it down.

A copper hot pot was placed on the table between the two of them. At this moment, the soup was boiling and boiling. Qibi Heli picked up a plate containing mutton, and used chopsticks to put the mutton into the pot, and put some vegetables into it. The fresh and tender mutton It was submerged in the boiling soup in an instant, and after a few tumblings, the color changed and the vegetables became greener.

The two each took a chopstick and put it on a plate, dipped it in the dense ingredients made of sesame paste, chive flowers, fermented bean curd, and chili oil, put it in their mouths and chewed, the meat was full of fragrance and moderately spicy, and the two of them praised it again and again .

After eating a few chopsticks in a row, a layer of sweat appeared on Yuwenshi's forehead. He raised his glass again and took a sip, praising: "Although this delicious taste is slightly inferior to etiquette, it is closer to nature. Tang people may not accept it, but for Khan It must be more appropriate.”

Qibi Heli put down his chopsticks, chewed and swallowed the mutton in his mouth, took a sip of wine, wiped his beard with a handkerchief, and said with a half-smile: "The name 'Khan' has not been heard for many years, even the servants under his command in the past Don’t call it that, but Duke Ying, you still remember it. Now, please call me ‘Great General’, I feel more powerful and domineering.”

When he entered the Tang Dynasty in the sixth year of Zhenguan, His Majesty Li Er appointed him as the "General of the Left Leading Army" and reorganized more than 6000 old Turkic tribes and Tang people brought under his command, with an elite force of about [-].To this day, his "Left Leader of the Guards General" has not changed, and the troops under his command have become a powerful force with great military exploits among the sixteen guards.

I have already been a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, so why mention "Khan"?
Yu Wenshi nodded, but the delicious food was obviously not reconciled to the taste, so he clinked glasses with Qibi He Li and said: "The general is loyal and unswerving to the Tang Dynasty. When you entered the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who didn't think so. Only Your Majesty believed in the general. You are a human being who supports you with all your strength and has no doubts. Even when you were captured by Zhenzhu Khan back then, and Zhenzhu Khan took you as a hostage and demanded a marriage with Datang, the late emperor also promised to exchange a princess for your freedom. What kind of courtesy is this? An ancient general, unprecedented."

Qi Bi He Li looked solemn, and nodded heavily: "The late emperor had a mind of the whole world, swallowed mountains and rivers, and was not inferior to the ancient sages. Bearing the trust of the empire, I would like to repay His Majesty Long's kindness with this body."

He said so, and he did so.

The Tang Dynasty embraced the whole world, and I don't know how many Hu people will be sent to serve in the Tang Dynasty, but there is no one else except him who can stay in the palace guard.And as the most trusted Hu general of His Majesty Li Er, Qibi Heli led his troops to swear allegiance to the death, fought bravely under His Majesty Li Er's military orders countless times, even if he was captured by Zhenzhu Khan, he would rather cut off his left ear to show his determination , Never betray Tang.

Yuwen Shiji sighed and said: "Yes, Hu people like you who entered the Tang Dynasty can still appreciate the kindness of the late emperor, but many Tang people who have received more favors in the past obeyed and swore to the late emperor, but now they put the late emperor's behest on the shelf. , Completely forgetting, only caring about the little interests in front of me, ungrateful, wolf-hearted."

Qibi Heli held the pot and poured wine for Yuwen Shihe, which was not easy for him to accept, and he could not accept it.

No matter how high the status and title of a mere barbarian surrendered, how can he comment on the loyalty of the princes in the court?
As for the purpose of Yuwen Shiji's visit, he also vaguely understood...

Seeing that Qibi Heli didn't answer, Yuwen Shiji also understood Qibi Heli's thoughts, he couldn't help frowning and asked: "Perhaps, the general also completely forgot about the late emperor's treatment of Long En?"

Qibi Heli glanced at him, took a sip of wine, and said in a deep voice: "My loyalty to the late emperor is as firm as a mountain and as long as a river. Whatever the late emperor ordered, I will go through fire and water and die. Regarding the news of the collapse, I wrote to the imperial court to beg to be buried in Zhaoling, but Your Majesty refused, so I gave up, and I ask the civil and military men of the Manchu Dynasty, how many people are willing to follow the late emperor underground, and be slaves for generations to come?"

This matter is naturally true, but at that time Li Chengqian replied to him that "there is no precedent for burial in the Tang Dynasty", so he gave up.

But Qibi Heli's loyalty really shocked the ruling and opposition parties.

The vast majority of loyalty is limited to talking about it, and few people actually do it, but there are only a few people who are willing to extend their loyalty beyond life and death.

Yu Wenshi was aggressive: "Since the general is so loyal, why do you turn a blind eye to His Majesty's will, turn a deaf ear to it, and abandon it, and let the villain steal the big position, while the real successor is trapped in Tongguan and will be destroyed soon?"

Qibi He Li's eyes were piercing, and he looked at Yuwen Shihe without giving in: "My loyalty is not that you, Yuwen Shiji, can comment and discuss. Who in the world can match the emperor's grace that you, the Guanlongmen Clan, have received so deeply? As a result, you are blinded by your profits. When the first emperor launched an expedition to Liaodong, he brazenly launched a mutiny to dethrone the crown prince appointed by His Majesty. At that time, why didn't you stand up and stop Changsun Wuji? I don't know who the real successor you call is. Since I am loyal to the first emperor, Naturally obey the late emperor, your majesty today is canonized by the late emperor, and his name is right and proper. I don’t care what the late emperor thinks, since the late emperor never deposed the prince from the beginning to the end, then after the death of the late emperor, the only heir is the prince, which is the righteousness. If you can Take out the imperial edict passed on by the late emperor when he was dying, and it has been approved by the government and the public, I will naturally obey it, if you can't, why bother making noise at my place?"

These remarks can be said to be without any sympathy, and they almost pointed at Yuwen Shiji's nose and scolded, "Your family is a traitor, so do you want to drag me to be a traitor?"
Wickedness can't be like this!
Yu Wenshi and his face were red, and a barbarian and general pointed to his nose and said, "You are not worthy to talk about loyalty with me". What kind of humiliation is this?

However, when the Guan Longmen Clan launched a mutiny to dethrone the prince, it really had nothing to do with loyalty...

I had no choice but to bear the humiliation, and said in a shy voice: "You really don't know the late emperor's intentions? After five years in Zhenguan, the late emperor revealed his intention to depose the crown prince more than once, even though the late emperor did not hesitate to "fake death" to connive at the Guanlongmen mutiny while in the army. Don’t you want to wait for the crown prince to be abolished? The late emperor’s mind was well known to the government and the public, but when the late emperor passed away, everyone ignored it... Poor late emperor was always generous to his ministers, but he couldn’t exchange the ministers’ sincerity.”

Qibi Heli snorted, refrained from being overbearing just now, ate a mouthful of meat, drank a mouthful of wine, and then said: "Some things, regardless of deeds, and some things, regardless of deeds, the late emperor did not promulgate in a day. The deposed edict, the prince is still the prince, how can it be judged purely from the heart? Duke Ying's statement is biased, and it is unreasonable."

As he spoke, he poured wine for Yu Wenshi and said: "It doesn't matter if I am obsessed with thinking, or even Ashina Simo, we are both barbarians and ministers of the Tang Dynasty. When the late emperor was here, we were loyal." The late emperor, the late emperor passed away, we are loyal to the Great Tang."

Yuwen Shiji took a sip of the wine, only to feel that the originally mellow wine was indeed full of bitterness.

Obviously, Qibi Heli had already secretly communicated with Zhishi Sili, Ashina Simo and others, and reached an agreement with each other. They may take a spectatory attitude towards the imperial power struggle, but they will never intervene rashly...

And there is no Qibi Heli Zuo Lingjunwei, Zuo Xiaowei who has lost his mind.Ashina Simo's former Turkic tribe, the west front of Chang'an City is solid, and the East Palace Liu rate has no worries. They can fight head-on with all their strength. How can King Jin have half a chance of winning?

After a long silence, Yuwen Shiji slowly said: "The general's loyalty, the old man is sincerely convinced, and I am very pleased. Since the general's intentions have been understood by the old man, then the old man also wants the general to make a promise. If the situation changes suddenly one day, the general can Are you willing to stand up to defend the stability of the Tang Dynasty and the survival of the country, in order to repay the kindness of the late emperor?"

Qi Bi He Li paused slightly, his heart skipped a beat, and he stared at Yu Wen Shi Ji coldly.

What does this mean?
As long as the western front is stable, Chang'an will be safe, and the imperial court is already invincible. It can advance, attack, retreat, and defend. How can the king of Jin, who is trapped in Tongguan, have the slightest chance?
But since Yuwen Shiji said so, it means that there will be a sudden change at a certain critical moment when everyone thinks that the overall situation is settled, and even turn defeat into victory...

After pondering for a long time and weighing repeatedly, Qibi Heli didn't ask the question, but nodded slowly, saying: "It should be so."

Yuwen Shi and Changchang let out a sigh of relief. Since Qibi Heli is unwilling to join forces, he can only retreat to the next best thing, which can be regarded as achieving the lowest goal of this trip...

(End of this chapter)