Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 697: The Old Waist Flashes

Li Weicheng felt terrible after learning that Li Weiyue was in trouble.

It's not that he cares about Li Weiyue's life or death, but if Li Weiyue gets into trouble, it means that the three cities of Heyang will be in trouble. At the same time, Luoyang's defense has also been weakened.

Li Weiyue led his troops to take over Huaizhou, but the cavalry in front was out of touch with the infantry behind, and the cavalry was ambushed in a valley and wiped out.

The strangest thing is that no one knows whether Li Weiyue is alive or dead, and no one knows whose troops ambushed them.

When the infantry behind arrived, the enemy had disappeared without a trace.

From this incident, Li Weicheng came to two very bad conclusions.

First, a new player has entered the game. It is still unknown who it is, but it is very likely that it has already occupied Huaizhou. This army is strong and moves quickly. It can leave after fighting without any delay.

It is very likely an elite force.

Second, Dad Li Baochen left at the wrong time, and the attack on Luoyang is likely to fail!
What should I do?
Li Weicheng thought of Li Baochen's instructions, and then he made up his mind and decided to "respond to ever-changing situations with the same attitude".

Will his brother Li Weiyue care about it?
No matter what, as long as we defend Luoyang.

If the three cities of Heyang are attacked, should we dispatch troops?

No matter what, as long as we defend Luoyang.

Li Weicheng insisted on one thing, that is, to defend Luoyang to the death. As long as he defended it, the situation would not be so bad.

On the one hand, Li Weicheng sent people on fast horses to chase Li Baochen's troops, inform him of recent events, and ask him to return to Luoyang as soon as possible to maintain the situation east of Tongguan.

On the other hand, Li Weicheng also ordered the Luoyang defenders to shrink their defenses, abandon three of the four major areas, and only guard the imperial city and important warehouses such as Hanjia Granary.

I have to say that Li Weicheng's response was very appropriate.

Avoiding the mobilization of troops will prevent the enemy from being besieged and attacked, and being ambushed along the way. Defending the city means that the enemy must attack Luoyang City by force, which increases the difficulty of the enemy's siege.

However, just because he holds on tightly here doesn't mean it will be the same elsewhere.

Two days later, a bolt from the blue came and made Li Weicheng very upset: the three cities in Heyang were lost and they couldn't even hold them for a day!

Li Weicheng looked at the battle report left on the signing room on the top of the palace wall with a look of disbelief. He looked at the general who had escaped from the three cities of Heyang and asked, "How many enemy troops are there and who they belong to? You don't even know these?"

"Replying to General Li...I really don't know. It was not easy to escape."

The lieutenant general replied helplessly. The enemy's siege was too fierce, and they had just arrived at the three cities of Heyang not long ago, and the defense had not yet been deployed. The Beizhong City was breached in just one encounter, so it's better not to mention what happened next.

Li Weicheng was wondering who was behind this.

The three cities of Heyang were used to defend against enemies from two directions.

One is the west of the pass, and the other is the east of Yecheng. Huaizhou is temporarily unowned and can only be occupied by enemies from Yecheng or Zezhou.

It is impossible for the troops in Guanzhong to attack the three cities of Heyang. If they want to occupy them, they must use a soft knife. So the answer is obvious. The enemy is from Huaizhou.

Hedong had never been too concerned about getting involved in Luoyang, and I hadn't heard of any action from them before. So the answer was obvious.

It’s Li Guiren from Yecheng!

This One has the ability and the motivation to do so.

Li Guiren was nominally under the jurisdiction of the court in Bianzhou, but in reality he obeyed orders but not decrees. Bianzhou was in a hostile relationship with Li Baochen.

Li Baochen probably didn't expect that Li Guiren was so bold. With such a small territory, he dared to capture cities!
This is getting difficult!

"Step back. Your crime will be recorded first, but you will be allowed to make meritorious contributions while serving your sentence."

Li Weicheng spoke coldly to the general who had escaped back.

After he left, he instructed his personal soldiers: "Pass the order, all city gates are closed from today onwards, no one is allowed to open the city gates without my order. No one is allowed to leave Luoyang City, and anyone who wants to leave the palace needs my order."

Li Weicheng's face was solemn. His personal soldiers did not dare to be negligent and hurried down to pass on the order.

Li Weicheng rubbed his sore temples, feeling extremely anxious.

He always felt that something important had been overlooked, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't remember what it was.

Just when Li Weicheng was ordering his troops to defend Luoyang to the death like a frightened bird, Liu Longxian, who had just captured Beizhong City, also received bad news.

"General Liu, General Li Jie ordered you to withdraw to Huaizhou. Here is the military order."

A messenger handed Li Guiren's military order to Liu Longxian and then stepped aside.

For a moment, Liu Longxian thought he had misheard. He had just taken over the three cities of Heyang, and before he could even sit down, Li Guiren asked him to go back?

When he looked at the military order again, Liu Longxian took a breath of cold air.

Li Guiren said that he had detected enemy troops changing their guard at Chenguan Pass, and it was very likely that fresh troops had arrived from Guanzhong, and they were not far away from the three cities of Heyang.

The three cities of Heyang are now located right between the two iron pincers. If the enemy at Chenguan and the enemy at Luoyang cooperate, the prospects of this battle will not be good. It is better to retreat to Huaizhou first and make plans later.

To be fair, Li Guiren's statement makes sense.

But Liu Longxian was unwilling to give up.

The three cities of Heyang will be his territory from now on! And Huaizhou as well!
If we retreat back to Huaizhou, the Bianzhou court will not recognize this promise. These days, it is really difficult to get things done without a righteous cause.

Once a person's ambition is aroused, it is very difficult to extinguish it. It is like asking a person who has made it big to work at the grassroots level again. Many people would not be able to accept it.

He has clearly reached the threshold of Jiedushi, but now he is asked to step back and serve as a deputy general for others... To be honest, the gap is a bit too big.

"General Liu, Marshal Li is waiting for your report."

The messenger couldn't help but give a reminder.

Since hearing that Liu Longxian was going to be the defense commander of the three cities of Heyang, Li Guiren's troops were also divided. After all, Liu Longxian also had his own trusted team.

If these people followed him to the three cities of Heyang, many of them would be promoted.

Even if Liu Longxian is willing, they will not be willing.

"How dare you! How can I reply to the commander-in-chief without your intervention?"

Liu Longxian shouted loudly.

The messenger was so frightened that he dared not say a word and had to shut up.

"Go back and tell Marshal Ji that Liu knows about it. The three cities of Heyang are very important and must not be given up easily."

Liu Longxian said righteously.

The messenger did not dare to refute, so he had to retreat in disappointment and headed towards Huaizhou on horseback.

After he left, Liu Longxian thought about it and felt that something was wrong.

Li Guiren asked him to return to Huaizhou. Whether he meant it sincerely or not, he had already said it. If he could defend the three cities of Heyang, it would be fine. If he couldn't, he would inevitably be punished!

People have no intention of hurting the tiger, but the tiger hurts people's hearts.

What should we do?

Liu Longxian paced on the top of Beizhong City, thinking about countermeasures.

Luoyang is a place with many passes, making it easy to enter but difficult to exit.

There is a saying since ancient times that "If you enter Luoyang, you will die, and if you leave Luoyang, you will live."

Regardless of whether this is superstition or not, it is true that Luoyang is difficult to defend and has leaks everywhere.

The commanders who did not enter Luoyang watched the show from the sidelines, as if all the players were fools. However, once they entered the game, they were like being tied up, not much better than those "players" before, or even worse. Liu Longxian felt this way at the moment.

"I must seek external help, otherwise I will be dead in this battle!"

Liu Longxian muttered to himself in a low voice.

He found his confidant, took him to a deserted place, and whispered a few instructions to him. After nightfall, the confidant came to the South City, took a boat from the South City Ferry, and went directly east.

……

There is a curfew in Kaifeng County, but not outside the city.

As the construction of Bianliang City was in full swing, the city was actually taking shape quickly, and the streets were slowly being laid out as planned. The only difference was that the outer city walls had not yet been completed.

After nightfall in Bianzhou, the shops lined up along the canal were still open. These days, ordinary people have nothing to do at night except make love, and since there is no curfew, more and more people are hanging out at night.

It looks like a distorted scene of prosperity.

Li Weiyue was strolling along the canal, thinking that he had traveled through time and space and arrived in Chang'an, the prosperous Tang Dynasty decades ago!

"General Zhang, you actually allowed Li to go out at night. Aren't you afraid that Li will run away?"

Li Weiyue asked Zhang Guangsheng beside him.

Hearing this, Zhang Guangsheng almost laughed out of anger. He accompanied Li Weiyue to the street tonight, nominally to guard the prisoner, but in fact he was bored and wanted to go out for a walk.

It has nothing to do with Li Weiyue.

"Actually, if you run away on your own, Marshal Che will be relieved. The court won't have to provide you with food and shelter.

We didn't capture you. Li Guiren wanted to kill you but was afraid of your father's authority, so he sent you to Bianzhou in an attempt to frame you.

You don’t really think you’re important, do you?”

Zhang Guangsheng looked at Li Weiyue as if he was a fool and asked back.

Am I really not important?
A question popped up in Li Weiyue's mind, but he didn't dare to ask it out loud.

At this moment, a storytelling stall on the roadside attracted Li Weiyue.

"What I want to talk about today is the story of how Fang Qing beheaded the River God and restored peace to the area when he governed Bianzhou.

It is said that in Bianzhou, a village near the Yellow River, sacrifices were offered to the River God every year. A boy and a girl were prepared, along with a cow or a sheep, and they were placed on the bank of the Yellow River..."

A storyteller in a Taoist robe was telling a story with saliva flying all over his body. The audience couldn't help but cheer.

Anyway, I'm just sitting around doing nothing, and it doesn't cost any money. If you have money, you can support the show with money, if you don't have money, you can support the show with your presence, just to kill time.

"The prosperity of the city of Bian is not as good as that of Chang'an."

Li Weiyue couldn't help but sigh.

During the years he spent in Chang'an, he found that Chang'an was not as prosperous as he had imagined. The city was empty, the population was decreasing, and all industries were in recession. Several times when he went to the south of the city, Li Weiyue suspected that he had entered a ghost town, because he could not see a single person for a long time.

"Thanks to the good governance of the government, the people live and work in peace and contentment."

It took Zhang Guangsheng a long time to utter these words.

At this moment, a soldier from Che Guangqian's personal side came up breathlessly, clasped his fists and saluted Zhang Guangsheng, saying, "General Zhang, Marshal Che has an urgent order. Please follow me back to the government office as soon as possible."

Going to war?

Zhang Guangsheng's heart sank, and then he nodded and said, "I will go with you."

He looked at Li Weiyue and said, "You go back by yourself."

You just dumped me here?
Li Weiyue was shocked!

Then he felt a little pathetic.

So what if he is not in Bianzhou? It is thousands of miles away and there is chaos and war. Where can he go if he leaves Bianzhou? He doesn't have a penny on him.

If I go back to Luoyang, there is a war going on there and it is hard to say what Li Weicheng's attitude towards me is.

He somewhat understood why Zhang Guangsheng and others didn't care whether he ran away or not.

Li Weiyue found the storytelling stall he had just been at, found an empty spot and sat down casually.

On the other side, Zhang Guangsheng came to the study of the Bianzhou government office and saw many generals waiting there. He couldn't help but feel his heart in his throat.

coming soon!
"In one hour, we will set out immediately to attack Luoyang.

Xue Qitong's people would open the north gate of Hanjia Cang at Chou time. This gate is close to the abandoned river and is rarely visited.

Li Baochen probably forgot that he had been in Luoyang for quite a while and many of his soldiers were from Luoyang.

At that time, each army will have its own military orders and act according to the plan.

You all just need to follow the orders. You are not allowed to discuss with others, reveal your own military orders, or inquire about other people's military orders.

Issue the military order now, and go to the camp immediately after receiving it!"

Che Guangqian waved his hand, and the soldiers around him handed the military orders in envelopes to the corresponding people. The name of the executor was written on each envelope.

Zhang Guangsheng also received his military order. After leaving the government office, he returned to his residence and opened it. He saw the contents of the military order written in detail on it.

To sum it up in one sentence: Capture Li Weicheng alive! Do not harm his life.

Of course, if Li Weicheng died in the chaos of war, that would be another story.

What Zhang Guangsheng had to do was very simple, which was to find Li Weicheng in the midst of the chaos, arrest him and put him under house arrest, and prevent him from dying an unnatural death.

Che Guangqian also reminded: It is very useful.

This can be considered as knowing the right person for the right position. Zhang Guangsheng is particularly good at this kind of small-scale raids, and he is the most suitable person to capture Li Weicheng.

"It's really a big event."

Zhang Guangsheng couldn't help but sigh.

But he didn't dare to delay, and immediately picked up his sword and bow and arrows and left. As for putting on armor, that was something to do after arriving on the battlefield. If he put on armor in Bianzhou, he would be exhausted by the time he arrived in Luoyang.

He came to the military camp and called up his trusted soldiers, that is, the personal army that guarded Fang Zhongyong himself. This personal army had never had the opportunity to go into battle, after all, Fang Zhongyong's opportunities to go into battle were getting fewer and fewer.

Seeing that there is a battle to be fought, everyone is ready to give it a try.

Seeing his soldiers so excited, Zhang Guangsheng suddenly felt a little overwhelmed.

Should that military order be announced now?
Their mission was not to fight in battle, but to break into the Luoyang Palace and capture Li Weicheng. It seemed dangerous, but in fact, when the real fight started, the soldiers around Li Weicheng all went to the city wall.

Zhang Guangsheng had a lot of experience in war, so he knew that they couldn't have any major battles in this battle. If they did, it would mean the failure of the battle, and Che Guangqian had messed up the game.

"Don't fight recklessly tonight. All of you must follow Zhang's orders. Our mission is to break into the imperial city and capture Li Weicheng. Here is his portrait."

Zhang Guangsheng showed Li Weicheng's portrait to several officers in the team.

Holding the portrait, Zhang Guangsheng paused, and suddenly slapped his forehead in annoyance, cursing himself in his heart for being as stupid as a pig!
Li Weicheng must look a lot like Li Weiyue. Besides, whether it is Li Weicheng or not, Li Weiyue can just point it out!

Wouldn't it be better to bring Li Wei Yue with him in this battle? Using a portrait to identify a person is like trying on shoes with a ruler. How stupid!

"Hurry up and go to the streets on the south bank of the canal to see if you can find Li Weiyue."

Zhang Guangsheng said to a junior officer under his command who had met Li Weiyue.

(End of this chapter)