Tibet

Chapter 885 Mixed joys and sorrows

The next morning, the Anxi Army returned with tens of thousands of prisoners of war. Basically, these prisoners of war came from all over Henan and were all recruits with less than a year. Li Ye ordered people to register them, and each of them was given a bucket of rice and a hundred coins. , and returned their belongings and let them go back to their hometowns directly. The prisoners of war were all grateful and returned to their hometowns overnight.

Li Ye immediately ordered Bai Xiaode to lead 50,000 Anxi troops and 20,000 Jingzhou naval forces to blitz Wu Lingxun's army. Wu Lingxun was An Lushan's favorite general and had been appointed as the governor of Xu Ruyu's three states. He was relatively weak. But he was very good at surrendering. He surrendered to An Qingxu and then to the Tang Dynasty. After Shi Siming occupied Luoyang, he surrendered to Shi Siming again.

Although Wu Lingxun was relatively weak, Li Ye took a fancy to his 30,000 troops. Li Ye immediately ordered Xiangzhou Jiedushi Ji Guangchen to lead 20,000 troops to participate in the encirclement and suppression of Wu Lingxun.

At the same time, Li Ye wrote to Nanyang Jiedushi Li Xian, hoping that he would also participate in sending troops to encircle and suppress Wu Lingxun.

Li Ye was based in Luoyang and continued to command the battles outside Luoyang. Xu Shuji, the military governor of Puhua, Zhang Zhongzhi, the military governor of Bian Song Dynasty, and Wu Lingxun, the military governor of Ruyu, defeated these three military governors of the Yan army outside Luoyang. If it falls, Luoyang will be stable.

Li Guangbi got the news that Li Ye had captured Luoyang, and Shi Chaoyi fled to Hebei in a hurry. This news shocked and delighted Li Guangbi. He was shocked that Li Ye captured Luoyang so quickly. Li Ye only had 50,000 troops. How did he defeat Luoyang's 200,000 troops? Yan Jun? He was puzzled.

But he later learned that Bai Xiaode had led 50,000 Helong troops to the south and joined Li Ye in Luoyang. Li Guangbi suddenly realized that Li Ye had sent 100,000 troops, not 50,000. This is understandable.

In the camp of the Tang Army in Zhengzhou, Wei Zhi, the defender of the Eastern Capital, hurriedly found Li Guangbi. After Shi Siming occupied Luoyang, Wei Zhi, the defender of the Eastern Capital, fled and stayed in Li Guangbi's military camp.

Wei Zhi said worriedly: "Does the deputy marshal think I should return to Luoyang?"

After the prince died of illness, King Zhao Li Xi assumed the post of Grand Marshal of the Military and Horse Mansion, and Li Guangbi replaced Guo Ziyi as Deputy Marshal and concurrently served as Minister of War.

Li Guangbi thought for a while and said: "Once Li Ye completes his mission, he will lead his army to withdraw westward. I will leave three thousand troops behind. You can go back to Luoyang first!"

Although Wei Zhi was a little afraid of Li Ye, he finally made up his mind, "Then I will set off this afternoon."

Wei Zhi left in a hurry, and his aide Xiao Liang said to Li Guangbi: "I guess King Qi will take away all the loot. Wei Zhi went to Luoyang, and I'm afraid he will quarrel with Li Ye."

"It would be too much to transport them all away. The people of Luoyang will eat whatever they want. I think King Qi will leave some food for Luoyang Mansion. Also, King Qi has an agreement with the court, and he will leave some food and grass supplies for the court."

In fact, Li Guangbi didn't care much about the distribution of the spoils. He only cared about how to defeat Zhang Zhongzhi and Xu Shuji now, and Wu Lingxun's army in the south was also restraining him, which really gave him a headache.

Staff officer Xiao Liang then suggested: "Since Luoyang has been recaptured by the Tang army, the garrison in Hedong is no longer necessary. I suggest the general transfer them to Zhengzhou immediately."

Li Guangbi nodded, Xiao Liang's suggestion was exactly what he wanted. Luoyang was captured by the Helong Tang Army, and Li Guangbi no longer had any worries.

He immediately ordered: "Immediately order Pugu Huai'en to lead 30,000 troops to Zhengzhou to join forces!"

At this moment, a soldier said at the door of the tent: "Deputy Commander, King Qi of Luoyang sent someone to deliver an express message!"

Li Guangbi quickly ordered: "Please come in quickly!"

After a moment, a messenger soldier walked in quickly, knelt down on one knee and performed a military salute, "See General Li!"

"Excuse me, where is His Highness Prince Qi's letter?"

The messenger soldier stood up and took out a letter and presented it to Li Guangbi. Li Guangbi smiled and asked, "Is there any other message?"

The soldier shook his head, "That's it!"

Li Guangbi ordered his personal soldiers to take the messenger soldiers down to rest and entertain them.

He then opened the letter and read it carefully. He was pleasantly surprised by the content in the letter. Li Ye sent 50,000 Helong troops, plus 30,000 troops from Nanyang Jiedushi Li Xian, and 20,000 troops from Xiangyang Jiedushi Ji Guangchen. , and Jingzhou's 20,000 navy troops, a total of 120,000 troops surrounded and suppressed Wu Lingxun's army.

Li Guangbi slammed the table, "This way, I won't have any worries!"

He handed the letter to his aide Xiao Liang. Xiao Liang read the letter and said with a smile: "I heard that King Qi still has great influence in Jingxiang. He can mobilize Jingxiang's troops, but he may not be able to mobilize Li Xian's troops." .”

Li Guangbi smiled and said: "Li Xian will definitely send troops. If he doesn't seize this opportunity, he will be marginalized."

"It is estimated that it will take some time for King Qi to contact Li Xian. The deputy commander has just transferred 30,000 troops to Zhengzhou. Once Wu Lingxun is destroyed, it will be the time for the deputy commander to send troops!"

Li Guangbi immediately wrote a reply to Li Ye and told Li Ye about Wei Zhi's return to Luoyang. He handed the letter to the messenger and rewarded him with ten taels of silver. The messenger rushed back to Luoyang overnight. In Chang'an, the news that Qi King Li Ye had recaptured Luoyang reached Chang'an. At the same time, it was also reported to Chang'an that the Helong Army defeated 20,000 Huihe troops on the Yunzhongdao grassland, cutting off the Huihe's attempt to plunder Hebei.

These two news made Chang'an excited, and all the officials in the court also cheered and celebrated the victory.

For several days, the people of Chang'an spontaneously took to the streets, singing and dancing to celebrate the recapture of Luoyang and the elimination of the threat from the north.

But some are happy, some are mixed, and some are annoyed.

The emperor Li Heng and the prime ministers of Zhengshitang had mixed feelings. They were happy to regain Luoyang, but also worried about how much loot Chang'an could get.

In the Imperial Study Room, Wei Jiansu said to the Emperor Li Heng: "Your Majesty, we must send a special envoy to Luoyang immediately. We have several hundred dan of food. We cannot let the Helong Army family devour it alone."

Li Heng was worried not only about food, but also a large amount of wealth. He originally thought that the Helong army would fight with the Yan army and lose both sides, and then ordered Wang Sili and Li Guangbi to send troops to Luoyang to pick this big peach. He did not expect that the Helong army would take it so quickly. After landing in Luoyang, Shi Chaoyi fled north in a hurry.

Li Heng's wishful thinking failed, which made him feel really bitter, but he couldn't express it.

Li Heng said after a while: "Why don't you ask Wei Xiangguo to take the trouble to make a trip to Luoyang?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Weichen will leave early tomorrow morning!"

Next to him, Pei Mian glanced at Li Dai coldly and suggested: "Your Majesty, I suggest that Li Xiangguo and Wei Xiangguo go to Luoyang together. His Highness King Qi may leak some more to us!"

Li Heng smiled and Li Dai said: "Then please help Li Xiangguo and follow Wei Xiangguo for another trip."

Li Dai was really embarrassed, so he had to bow and said: "I obey the order!"

At this time, Xiangguo Xiao Hua also said: "Your Majesty, I heard that King Qi dredged the underwater boulders in Sanmenxia. The minister suggested that Wei Xiangguo inspect it when passing by Sanmenxia. If it is really possible to pass grain ships, it would be a miracle. What a great thing!”

Li Heng said happily: "If this is true, I really want to be grateful to King Qi. He has really done something good for the country and the people."

Everyone dispersed, and only Wei Jiansu and Emperor Li Heng were left in the imperial study. Wei Jiansu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Li Ye has regained Luoyang, and it is not good for Wei Chen to go to Luoyang empty-handed!"

Li Heng sighed and said after a while: "After much thought, I can only canonize him as a first-class prince, and there are no other titles available."

"Your Majesty, do you have any ideas?"

Li Heng nodded, "I'm considering changing him to the title of King of Qi!"

At the beginning of night, a middle-aged man came to Li Fuguo's mansion. The guard ordered: "This is the important place of the royal palace. The rest of the people should leave immediately!"

The middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed, "I'm here to give a heavy gift to the prince. This is a greeting card. Please hand it over for me!"

Li Fuguo has rules and the gift giver cannot neglect it. He will decide whether to receive it himself or the butler according to the thickness of the gift.

The soldier took the invitation and went into the mansion to report.

Li Fuguo was eating, and the butler placed a greeting card on the table and whispered: "Someone is here to give a gift!"

Li Fuguo nodded, put down the bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a towel, then took the invitation and opened it and took a look, his heart was soaring! 'The ground jumped.

The greeting card read: "Pinglu Jiedushi Li Huaixian sent a special envoy to send hundreds of top-quality pearls." '

It was actually Li Huaixian who sent someone to deliver the gift. Wasn't Li Huaixian one of Shi Siming's people?

He was stunned for a long time and couldn't figure out the reason, so he nodded and told the butler: "Take the gift-giver to your guest room and wait. I'll be here right away!"

(End of this chapter)