Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 466 Emperor Yan
Luoyang.

On the night of the Yuan Dynasty, the newly crowned Emperor An Qingxu of Yan ordered a lantern festival and held a banquet in the Mingtang to entertain the generals.

Brother Shu Han also attended this banquet. He suffered a stroke and was paralyzed. He leaned behind the small table and just opened his mouth, while Cao Buzhe fed him with dishes. He looked more impressive than An Qingxu.

When Tongguan was defeated, Ge Shuhan might have had a chance to escape, but his general Huo Baguiren did not dare to return to Chang'an because of Gao Xianzhi's mistakes, so he took him and surrendered to the rebels. At that time, Ge Shuhan yelled at Quy Nhon and claimed that he would rather die than surrender. But when he was among the rebels, Xu even thought about it. He quickly surrendered to An Qingxu and expressed his willingness to serve as the leader of the Yan Dynasty. The imperial court summoned Li Guangbi who surrendered in Hedong, Lai Yi in Henan, and Lu Jiong in Nanyang. An Qingxu was overjoyed, thinking that Ge Shuhan had not even looked down upon An Lushan in the past, but now he was willing to surrender to him, which showed that he was better than his master.

For An Qingxu, this was one of the pleasures of power he felt after replacing An Lushan. But gradually, he began to dislike Ge Shuhan, and felt that the other person's momentum overshadowed his own.

At this moment, all the ministers stood up to propose a toast, but Shu Han, the elder brother, struggled a few times and could not stand up.

"I wish that the saint will be prosperous and prosperous in the Yuan Dynasty!"

"Congratulations to all the gentlemen!"

An Qingxu glanced past Ge Shuhan and saw that there was an empty seat aside, which was reserved for Cui Qianyou. Now Cui Qianyou is sitting in Tongguan, preparing for the offensive against Chang'an City. He originally promised to come back to attend the Shangyuan Banquet, but he arrived later than An Qingxu.

When the country was first established, these ministers were still too ignorant of etiquette. We should find ways to remind them in the future.

"Sure enough, how dare they not be diligent with the king first?"

"How dare you cause trouble? Who is afraid of that old thing?!"

Not to mention anything else, if the Tang Emperor is guarding Chang'an, the morale in the city will inevitably be boosted, and the time it will take for the Yan army to conquer the fortified city will be much longer. During this period, soldiers and horses from Qin Wang from various places will continue to arrive. Then, the Yan army needs to send much more troops, food and grass than originally planned.

An Qingxu's eyes fell on their fragrant shoulders and jade arms, and he gradually became distracted.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Cui Qianyou's position was always vacant. He must have had a chance to win by capturing Chang'an, but he failed to return as promised. Unexpectedly, when the royal banquet was about to break up, he actually arrived and rushed back overnight. He rode into Ziwei Palace and dismounted outside the Mingtang.

The generals in the palace who supported An Qingxu's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty were either common people from poor families or barbarians. They acted because they were full of resentment against the noble families, but they did not expect that their emperor's heart had already turned towards the noble families. On the other hand, they themselves He is also working hard to become a famous family.

In the seat, Wu Lingxun, the Minister of Household Affairs of Dayan Kingdom, was already slightly drunk. He stood up and said with a smile: "Because he is Li Longji."

"Just in time! We will rush into Chang'an and capture this foolish king alive!"

"Chicken out of the cage, chicken out of the cage."

At the beginning, Xue Bai called on all counties in Hebei to return to the Tang Dynasty, and An Lushan sent Shi Siming northward. As a result, Shi Siming first let Xue Bai escape, and then he was repeatedly defeated by Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi and retreated to Fan Yang. For the rebels, the situation was indeed at a critical point. Fortunately, the Battle of Tongguan was a great victory and Li Longji fled, reversing the situation in one fell swoop.

There was singing and dancing, and the party was going on all night without realizing it. Everyone was drunk and suddenly it was dawn.

An Qingxu had not yet completely sobered up, so he did not hear Cui Qianyou's knocking or sarcasm. Instead, he thought that the women with the fifth surname he had recently courted all liked poetry. He couldn't help being overjoyed and said with a smile: "Okay! I've heard about this person's reputation. , it’s time for Great Yan to have more talents.”

"Originally, I planned to hold this Shangyuan Banquet in Chang'an City, but it was a bad coincidence. But it doesn't matter. Since I scared the Hunjun and fled, I will soon hold another banquet in Chang'an City to entertain all the ministers."

A group of people in the hall burst out laughing. An Qingxu patted his knees, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw that only his brother Shuhan was not laughing. Instead, he had the sadness of a hero in his twilight years, and he suddenly felt dissatisfied.

Cui Qianyou said: "He will not come back to die, he must have something to rely on. After thinking about it, if it wasn't for the elite soldiers from Heshuo, then Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi had already returned to the army, so they rushed back to present themselves to the saint. "

"There has indeed been a lot of news in the past few days. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi originally planned to attack Fan Yang, but now they have withdrawn their troops and even voluntarily abandoned the counties in Hebei."

He doesn't quite look like An Lushan, but he already has a bit of Li Longji's style.

Having said that, everyone knows that whether Li Longji is there or not, there will be a big gap in Chang'an City's defense strength.

An Qingxu didn't want to appear that he cared about this matter, and was worried that he would be unable to answer in a hurry, so he pretended to be bold and said with a smile: "We will discuss this matter tomorrow. Cui Qing, please sit down and take a look at what I have newly arranged." Singing and dancing, haha, you just happened to catch the last dance.”

After ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor, he was so immersed in the praise of his brilliance and prowess that he completely forgot that if it were not for these generals during the Battle of Tongguan, he would have surrendered to Xue Bai.

We must be prepared to fight a big war and a long war from the beginning.

The misfortune An Qingxu mentioned here refers to the fact that Xue Bai is still alive. Xue Bai's propaganda of his father-killing remarks caused him a lot of trouble and delayed the capture of Chang'an. He only dealt with it not long ago.

An Qingxu asked: "What does this mean?"

"Your Majesty!" Cui Qianyou put on his armor and entered the palace. He cupped his hands and strode straight to An Qingxu. He said, "Hunjun has returned to Chang'an."

"The general saved Shi Siming."

"Hahaha, Cui Qing, I thought you weren't coming. Come on, I'll give you three drinks as a penalty."

Cui Qianyou was about to ask for soldiers, horses, money and food, but was blocked in this way, so he nodded and said: "I raided the counties in Guanzhong and gained a lot. If the saint likes to sing and dance, he will be in Lantian another day. Wang Wei, a prisoner from the county, was brought back and composed a poem for the saint."

After hearing the report, An Qingxu was half sober and a little unhappy, thinking that too much horse shit near Mingtang would affect his emperor's prestige, but Cui Qianyou still didn't take him seriously.

"I know."

He was recently looking for the joy of being an emperor, but found that the emperor did not always get everything he wanted. For example, he originally thought that an emperor who founded a country at a young age would be loved by young ladies, but several women with five surnames who had joined Luoyang City still looked down on him. Instead, he pestered them and took pleasure in it all day long. I don’t think about tea or rice.

Although he came close to speak, he did not deliberately suppress his voice to hide it from others. After hearing this, the generals started shouting.

His elder brother could marry the princess of Li Tang. Now that he is the emperor, why can't he win the heart of a woman with the fifth surname? An Qingxu did not believe this evil, thinking that the customs of the Sogdians made him appear rude, and he was learning how to become noble like a noble family.

"What?" An Qingxu couldn't understand and asked, "How dare he? Don't you know that we, with more than 100,000 soldiers on horseback, are about to send troops to take Chang'an?"

~~
After resting for a night in Luoyang, Cui Qianyou woke up. He was not in a hurry to see An Qingxu again. Instead, he called his subordinates and listened to his report.

Soon, the dancing girl entered the palace, her long sleeves fluttering, and the fragrant breeze hit her.

Otherwise, why would Cui Qianyou rush back in person? Is it possible to ask An Qingxu for advice?

"I remembered something. Once, I bought a chicken in Nanshi. When I was walking, I looked down and found that the chicken was not in the cage. Guess what happened?"

In fact, the three people who Ge Shuhan wrote to surrender have made it clear that they will not surrender, and they also scolded the messenger. An Qingxu had good intentions and did not make it public in order not to affect tonight's imperial banquet.

Didn't Maodun Shanyu, who killed his father and set himself up on his own, unified Mobei and established the most powerful Xiongnu dynasty on the grassland? An Qingxu now admires Maodun. Compared with Li Longji's cowardice, what are his mere rumors of patricide?
Sure enough, all the ministers laughed and laughed at Li Longji. This was the first program at the banquet, which enlivened the atmosphere very well.

An Qingxuzha was stunned for a moment, actually feeling that this kind of joking was a bit boring. But it was still a joy to hold hands and stimulate the atmosphere.

Cui Qianyou was not happy for long, and then he heard his subordinate continue to report.

"The saint ordered Zhang Zhongzhi to lead 30,000 elite troops to regain Hebei, open up the channel with Fan Yang, and send the gold and silk children back to Fan Yang..."

"What did you say?" Cui Qianyou frowned and said angrily: "We are waiting to conquer Tongguan, we are very close to Chang'an, and we can break it in a day, but he is still attached to Fan Yang?!"

"I don't know what will happen next."

"Put on your court clothes and I'll go and see the saint."

Cui Qianyou stood by the window. When he raised his head, he could see the Qionglou Yuyu in the distance, and he could still hear the faint sounds of singing and dancing.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It had only been half a month since the founding of the country, but he could already feel that the monarchs and ministers of the Yan Kingdom were rapidly becoming corrupt...

~~
After An Qingxu got hungover, he got up from the crowd of women and pushed away a white and tender thigh that was resting on his body.

His gaze lingered for a long time before he murmured, "This is the first year of the Great Yan Shengwu era. I am An Qingxu, the Great Yan Saint."

To be honest, the throne came quite suddenly, and because he indulged in lewdness, he often had to wake up after drinking to remember who he was.

"Sage, it was my slave's turn last night."

"roll!"

An Qingxu pushed away the dancing girls who were approaching him, thinking about when he could conquer those noble women of the fifth surname.

After conquering Luoyang, of course he also captured some and raped them several times. Gradually, he found that what he wanted was not just sensuality, but a noble feeling.

"It's just cheap." He slapped himself lightly, and then giggled twice.

This is the imperial life that he is still adapting to, which is both luxurious and boring.

"Sage, Cui Qianyou wants to see you."

"Call."

Enjoying too much is also tiring. An Qingxu would rather sit in a daze than deal with government affairs. He has recently been thinking about whether there is a way to enjoy the power of the emperor without having to deal with so many things every day. For example, appoint a prime minister who understands his own thoughts?
But how should military power be arranged? If a brave and strategic general like Tian Qianzhen doesn't watch carefully, he will inevitably have dissent. It would be great if there is a general who can be trusted and is not qualified to take charge of the army for him.

Just thinking about these things, An Qingxu still had no time to relax. When he turned to the main hall, Cui Qianyou had been standing there waiting for a long time.

"Sage, if you want to capture Chang'an, you need to dispatch more soldiers, horses, money and food."

"Cui Qing." An Qingxu felt a headache when he heard the word "money and grain" and said, "You also know that Hanjiacang is empty. Now Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun are blocking our way south to get money and grain from the Jianghuai River. Where do you want me to get the money and food from?"

Cui Qianyou took advantage of the situation and asked: "I heard that the saint sent elite troops to regain Hebei."

An Qingxu said: "Fan Yang is the foundation. If we don't regain Hebei and open up the channel to Fan Yang, the morale of the army will be unstable. All the ministers in the court agree with this matter, so I will not ask Cui Qing."

"Then the saint can't wait to transport the gold and silk children to Fanyang?" "Have I ever made such a decree?" An Qingxu said angrily: "Think about how many Hu generals there are in our army and where are their homes? As soon as I heard that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi are clamoring to go to Fan Yang after withdrawing their troops, can I stop them?"

Cui Qianyou frowned, raised his voice, and shouted: "What do you think, Your Majesty? Is it enough to found a country and become the emperor of Qin and Han, or is it enough to break the earth and proclaim yourself a small king? Why don't you give me a sure answer!"

An Qingxu was taken aback and was reluctant to answer such a question because he had never thought about it.

Since he came to the throne, he had only cared about having fun. At this time, he had to think about what his ambition was. After a while, he wanted to say that he wanted to become Modun Shanyu, but he hesitated but did not speak.

What if? Li Longji had already escaped once, what if he really established a foundation for himself with these arrogant and brave generals? Just like Li Yuan's founding of the country, it was not necessarily because of his ability.

"I want to capture Chang'an and dominate the world!"

"In that case, please make a desperate move and attack Chang'an with all your strength, Your Majesty."

An Qingxu was a little embarrassed and said: "Except for the troops who regained Hebei and connected to Fanyang, how about the rest of the troops, money and food are all at Cui Qing's disposal? I will appoint you as the military envoy to the world and take over the military power."

Cui Qianyou did not accept the order immediately and asked again: "Your Majesty must be rich all over the world, why are you still attached to Fan Yang?"

"My uncle An Taiqing used to be very poor. Later, he robbed Henan and gained a lot of property. He transported these property back to his ancestral home to protect his children and grandchildren, and then continued to rob." An Qingxu explained earnestly, saying : "Let them have no worries so that they can fight with all their strength."

Cui Qianyou did not agree with An Qingxu's idea of ​​​​sparing his own life for big things, but he not only got his promise to support his attack on Chang'an, but also achieved the purpose of his return.

~~
A few days later, a large flag with the words "Great Yan's Soldiers and Horses Envoy in the World" was erected at the top of Tongguan City.

Cui Qianyou got An Qingxu's promise and led 70,000 elite troops to attack Chang'an City as he wished. This was regarded as his emphasis on Li Longji's return to Chang'an.

During this trip to Luoyang, he could feel the smoky atmosphere in the Great Yan Dynasty Hall, and deeply felt that An Qingxu was insufficient and resourceful.

However, he still had confidence in this battle, especially when he returned to Tongguan and saw the soldiers under his command.

In today's world, the emperor may not be very good, and the prime ministers may not be very good either. The lazy emperor and the jealous prime minister have promoted mediocre people to high positions. However, those soldiers in the frontier army who can't find a way out are They are all good men with real abilities and battle-hardened experience!

The jealousy of talents and talents in the imperial court happened to be more than ten years ago, and the tradition of "establishing military merits and seeking titles" in the Tang Dynasty was still maintained. Therefore, although the emperors of the Tang and Yan Dynasties were dim-witted, they all had the most outstanding talents under their command. Elite soldiers and horses.

"There is new news!" Tian Chengsi said as soon as he saw Cui Qianyou: "Shuofang troops from the Tang Army are coming."

With that said, a strategic map was handed to Cui Qianyou.

When he saw it, he was surprised and asked: "Where did you get it? Is the news reliable?"

"Reliable." Tian Chengsi said, "A eunuch named Bian Lingcheng is a sworn enemy of Xue Bai. If he doesn't surrender to us, he will die in Xue Bai's hands. This is his letter."

Cui Qianyou did not read Bian Lingcheng's letter first, but stared at the strategic map, his eyes became solemn again, and murmured: "It came so fast? If he had such skill, why did he run away in the first place?"

"The city of Chang'an is strong and Shuofang's army is also elite. This is a tough battle."

"If the saint finds out, I'm afraid he will be shaken again."

It is conceivable that once they found out that Chang'an was such a hard nut to crack, the Hu generals in the Yan Kingdom who were accustomed to the frontier life would go back again clamoring for looting.

"It can be captured." Cui Qianyou thought for a long time and said slowly: "Chang'an's biggest weakness is not the lack of troops, but..."

"No food!"

The two pointed this out in unison.

"That's right." Cui Qianyou pointed at the map and said: "Xue Bai also took this into consideration, so he asked people to transport grain from Ziwu Road to Chang'an, and asked Shuofang's army to rush to Ziwu Road to receive the grain and grass first."

"Once the Tang army opens up the food route, it will be impossible to conquer Chang'an."

"Shall we block Ziwu Road first?"

"No." Cui Qianyou shook his head, "If Shuofang's elite troops are available to support them, they can find other food transportation routes without taking Ziwu Road. Sending troops and horses to block them will only expose Bian Lingcheng."

Tian Chengsi understood immediately and muttered: "I don't know the Tang army's plan for the time being. I will send an ambush force. When Shuofang's army is not stable, I will attack and annihilate them and seize the Tang army's food and grass."

"In this case, Chang'an has no help. It won't be long before we run out of food and collapse without attack. Then you and I can capture that faint king."

~~
Changan.

Xue Bai, Yan Zhenqing and others were waiting for news on the tower.

When the sentry horse returned, he reported: "The rebels have received reinforcements."

"The number of elite soldiers reaches 70,000." Yan Zhenqing looked worried, and placed a few more war chess pieces on the map, and said slowly: "Remembering a story, there was a boy in Chang'an who was fishing by the Wei River, using thick earthworms as bait. , I wanted to catch a big fish, but when the fish bit the hook, it dragged the boy into the water. "

"Why?"

"The fish is too big for the boy to pull."

Xue Bai smiled bitterly and said, "My father-in-law, are you kidding me?"

Yan Zhenqing pointed at Xue Bai, pointed at himself, and then pointed at the city of Chang'an, saying: "The troops in Chang'an are very few, like a child."

"No matter how big the fish is, as long as the fish basket is covered, it can't fall out."

Xue Bai said, and started drawing on the map.

"Our plan is to set up an ambush on Ziwu Road, use kerosene and explosives to pretend to be a grain truck, and lure the rebels into robbery. At the same time, we will use a bluff of troops to make the rebels think that Shuofang's army has arrived."

Yan Zhenqing tapped the back of his hand with the penholder and thought his handwriting was ugly. Then he drew another stroke on the picture and said: "At that time, the main force of the rebel army must be besieging Chang'an. When I learned that Shuofang's main force had arrived, it was necessary to send Soldiers and horses support Ziwu Road."

"In this way, Tongguan will be empty." Xue Bai said: "We only need to use a surprise force to lie down in Gaofu, north of the Yellow River, and take advantage of the chaos to occupy Tongguan. Then the rebels will be cut off from front to back, and they will have no food and grass, and they will become a turtle in a urn."

"Although it is a beautiful thought," Yan Zhenqing said, "but these are 70,000 fine cavalry, coming and going like the wind, from Chang'an to Ziwu Road, it only takes an hour. How many troops do we have to fight with them in the field and make them think they are Shuofang's troops have arrived? It takes half a day for the rebels to reach Tongguan. Furthermore, how can they force the rebel generals to send out troops and horses at Tongguan so quickly?

This is always the case when making plans. At the beginning, there is only a general framework, but later on, you will inevitably encounter various practical problems.

Xue Bai originally thought that An Qingxu was not brave enough. Seeing Li Longji return to Chang'an, he would definitely want to retreat to Fan Yang. Then, there would not be many troops to attack Chang'an, so he could try to intercept them.

But the situation did not develop according to this best situation, so naturally it was time to prepare more backup plans.

"The rebels are increasing their troops, and we are also increasing our troops." Xue Bai pointed at the map and said: "It's time for Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to come to serve the king, but there may be some changes. They are afraid that the rebels will intercept them at the Yellow River and force them to detour to Shuofang. , Secondly, they are afraid that they will take a detour to Shuofang and be intercepted by Li Heng, so they need to send someone to contact them again. "

Yan Zhenqing nodded, called Yan Jiming, and said, "Are you willing to go to Taiyuan again?"

"I'm willing to go." Yan Jiming agreed without hesitation.

Xue Bai looked at Yan Jiming, but thought of Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun in Yongqiu.

Then he thought of Yin Liang and Yan Zhuang who were left in Luoyang to deal with the aftermath. After the Battle of Tongguan, they voluntarily abandoned Luoyang and retreated to Yongqiu to join Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun.

Also, after Lao Liang sent Yan Yan to Yangzhou, he should have gathered people to collect grain and grass and transport it to Yanshi. If it is blocked by war, it is likely that it will arrive at Yongqiu.

If Yongqiu was not surrounded and was willing to contact him, a letter should have arrived in the next few days.

In addition, it might be time for Li Sheng, Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu and others who were at Tumen Pass to send people over.

At this moment, Xue Bai needed reinforcements the most, but the expected news had not yet arrived.

"Fenghuo lasted for three months, and the family letter was worth ten thousand gold."

He murmured this poem, knowing that several places were not surrounded. The biggest reason why the news did not reach Guanzhong was that the passage in Guanzhong was not smooth, so he looked at the map and thought about where to find an opportunity to break the situation.

~~
Lantian County, Wangchuan.

Wangchuan is located more than ten miles south of Lantian County, with winding green mountains. It is also on the road to Wuguandao. Wuguandao is an important road connecting Chang'an and Nanyang. It is known as "the hub of Qin and Chu and the barrier of Sanfu".

Now that the rebels are attacking Chang'an, this place has naturally become the main route for King Nanyang's soldiers and horses.

That day, while Xue Bai was thinking hard about how to contact his old department, someone on the mountain near Wangchuan was looking at the beautiful scenery of Wangchuan with a telescope.

"Eating dog intestines, Gaoguan is occupied by rebels."

"Want to take a detour?"

"There's no way around it."

Lao Liang shook his head, looked at it for a while, and suddenly said: "They are all Wang Mojie's subsidiaries over there. Maybe we can contact him and try to help us get there?"

"But I heard that Wang Mojie has surrendered to the rebels."

"Really?" Lao Liang thought for a while and suddenly said: "This is a good thing. If others surrender, their hearts may not surrender..."

(End of this chapter)