Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 709 Welcome to the Troubled Times

In fact, Li Guiren is not as calm as he appears.

In other words, the idea of ​​digging the Yellow River embankment to release water was not something that a soldier like him could come up with. If he had such a brain, he would have gotten out of this predicament long ago, and would not have been caught between two sides.

All of this was planned by Shi Siming, and the idea was also proposed by his advisers.

Li Guiren was intimidated by the powerful strength and effortless tactics of the Bianzhou court. In order to protect himself, he had to join forces with Shi Siming. According to his past behavior, Shi Siming would be polite if he did not give Li Guiren a big fight.

But after dealing with Shi Chaoyi, Shi Siming was in a good mood, or maybe he was very proud of his victory. After learning that Li Guiren wanted to join the army, Shi Siming immediately gave Li Guiren an option:

You go and dig up the embankment on the south bank of the Yellow River, and offend the court of Bianzhou to death. In this way, you have no way out, and we are all in the same boat.

Otherwise, why should I believe you?

It has to be said that Shi Siming's proposal was well thought out and very shrewd, and he was able to control Li Guiren.

In order to gain Shi Siming's trust, Li Guiren had to do this.

Just as he controlled the families of the laborers and made them go to the South Bank to do work, Shi Siming also grasped Li Guiren's sore spot and made Li Guiren do things for him.

We are not in control of our own destiny in this world. This is how it is in troubled times. Many times, whoever has a lower bottom line will take the initiative.

These people may not be able to establish a new world, and they certainly cannot have the last laugh. However, in troubled times, human life is worthless, and living one more day is good. Why should we care about whether we are immoral?
Several waves of civilians were wiped out. When Li Guiren learned about this, he felt uneasy.

Li Guiren knew very well that this move was like shit on the head of the Bianzhou court.

If Fang Qing didn't deal with him, how could he convince the people? How could he explain to his subordinates and confidants? How could he explain to the people of Bianzhou?
Therefore, Li Guiren was afraid that Fang Qing would send someone to assassinate him, so he had several hundred personal soldiers living around his courtyard. On weekdays, when he went out, he would always be accompanied by no less than fifty people, just for fear of being stabbed by an assassin from Bianzhou.

That day, Li Guiren received a reply from Liu Longxian. Seeing that the general who delivered the letter, Zhang Tongwu, looked unhappy, he asked in a deep voice, "What did General Liu say?"

"I dare not say."

Zhang Tongwu shook his head. His face was covered with bruises. It seemed that he had been beaten a lot when he delivered the letter this time.

Li Guiren's face instantly turned gloomy. He snatched the letter, opened it, and almost fainted from anger!

In the letter, Liu Longxian cursed Li Guiren for being so cruel and insane that he was worse than a beast. He actually sent people to dig the riverbank on the south bank of the Yellow River, which was outrageous to both humans and gods.

Because Li Guiren has become a beast, Liu Longxian decided to be irreconcilable with this chief general of Yecheng and cut off all ties with him!

If the Bianzhou court attacks Yecheng, he himself will be the vanguard!

This guy was very serious and spoke in a very coherent way, which made Li Guiren sneer endlessly.

Haha, Liu Longxian must have been waiting for this day for a long time, right?

I couldn't find an excuse before. After all, we had worked together for quite a long time. It would be a lie to say that we had no friendship.

Liu Longxian was too embarrassed to take the initiative to turn hostile, for fear of causing embarrassment to his subordinates.

However, just as Li Guiren said that Liu Longxian had instigated him to surrender falsely when he surrendered to Shi Siming, Liu Longxian should have done the same thing, but the targets he faced were the Bianzhou court and Fang Qing.

The two people who once worked closely together and overcame many crises eventually parted ways because of their own interests.

Can Liu Longxian be blamed for this?
The Bianzhou court appointed him as the defense commander of the three cities of Heyang, which was equivalent to a military governor. In such a chaotic world, who can resist such a temptation?
Since you have set up your own business, it is normal to have your own interests.

Thinking of this, Li Guiren sighed.

So, why didn't he follow Liu Longxian's example and join the Bianzhou court?
Because Fang Qing already had a large group of brothers around him. These people had already occupied key positions and had great trust in Fang Qing.

If I go there, I will just be a dog, a dog that will be cooked and killed sooner or later.

The court in Bianzhou is no longer the same as before, and there is no need to "buy bones for a fortune" anymore.

Li Guiren did not want to give up the power in his hands. As Yecheng was sandwiched between Youzhou and Bianzhou, he could only vote for the weaker side. Only in this way could he show his own value.

Adding icing on the cake is far less important than providing timely help.

The reason why Li Guiren wanted to dig the river bank was not because he despised Fang Qing, on the contrary, he was well aware of Fang Qing's power. Because of this, he knew that without his help, Shi Siming would definitely lose!

By the time the Bianzhou army crosses the river, he may not even have the chance to be a dog.

"What are you still standing there for? Don't you have any sense?"

Seeing Zhang Tong standing still, Li Guiren waved his hands at him impatiently.

"Well... I will take my leave."

Zhang Tongwu saluted with an embarrassed look on his face, then turned and left.

Li Guiren didn't care what these small fish and shrimps thought. He was just a messenger. Even though he knew that the other party would be taught a lesson by Liu Longxian, he did it for his own good.

After Zhang Tongwu left, Li Guiren sat down at the table and thought quietly. He smelled a sense of uneasiness, and this battlefield intuition saved his life many times.

But, what is wrong?
Li Guiren couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He fell on the soft couch in the study, squinted his eyes, and his mind began to go blank.

He had been worried these days, and he felt exhausted physically and mentally. Now that the Bianzhou army hadn't made any moves, it was likely that the other side would not attack in the near future.

Shi Siming's army has already set up camp near Fushuixing, and there will be backup at any time. As long as he doesn't open the city gates and doesn't engage in battle with the Bianzhou army, what can Fang Qing do to him?

Even if he was going to die, it would be after Shi Siming.

Li Guiren couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

With his eyes squinted and thinking about random things, Li Guiren slowly fell asleep.

He had a vague dream.

In the dream, Fang Qing and Shi Siming were leading their own troops on the battlefield, fighting fiercely, with heavy casualties among their troops, while his own troops were unscathed because they did not participate in the battle.

In his dream, Li Guiren saw himself defeating the Bianzhou army, beating Shi Siming to death, and finally capturing the two men. Seeing Fang Qing and Shi Siming kneeling in front of him and begging for mercy, Li Guiren couldn't help laughing out loud in his dream.

"Hehe, hehehehe..."

In the study, he was smiling somewhat neurotically, when suddenly he heard some noise outside, which seemed to be a little bit wrong!

Quiet, too quiet!
Li Guiren's residence was located in Yecheng, and there were at least hundreds of trusted soldiers around him. These soldiers were bored and made trouble all day long. There were definitely no big things, but there were many small things that caused a lot of quarrels on weekdays, and there were even fights in the middle of the night.

Why is there no sound today? Even if the soldiers on duty outside the door were changing shifts, there would be footsteps, right?
Li Guiren woke up from his sleep, and hurriedly patted his body, and found nothing unusual, so he breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he opened the door, he found that... the personal guards who were supposed to be on duty were not even one person?

what happened?

Li Guiren hurried to the lobby, only to find Shi Siming sitting in the main seat. His own generals were sitting in other seats. It seemed as if Shi Siming was the master of Yecheng and Li Guiren himself was a guest.

"General Li, I have been waiting for you for a long time.

You have just come here, do you know your sin?"

Shi Siming asked with a smile, seeming to be in a good mood, and was still teasing Li Guiren.

“You, you guys, you guys…”

Li Guiren was incoherent and terrified, as if he had seen the most horrible thing in the world! His own generals were actually bribed by Shi Siming without saying a word!

When did this start?

Could it be that Shi Siming could have killed him at any time, but had other intentions?
Li Guiren couldn't figure it out, but he vaguely felt that in today's chaotic times, it was common for sons to kill fathers and fathers to kill sons, and there was nothing that was incomprehensible.

"If I take Yecheng, they will die. If the Bianzhou army takes Yecheng, they will still die.

If you were them, how would you choose?

You stupid pig! "

Shi Siming sneered. "Fuck you! Shi Siming! You are so despicable!"

Li Guiren pointed at Shi Siming and cursed him. At this point, there was nothing to say, everything was just Shi Siming's scheme.

"Despicable? How can I be more despicable than you, a madman who dug the Yellow River embankment and was hated by both humans and gods?
Look at what you did. You actually sent people to dig the riverbank on the south bank of the Yellow River. Do you know how many innocent people will die?"

Shi Siming actually questioned Li Guiren in a righteous manner.

"Haha, hahahahahahahahaha! Great, great, Shi Siming, ah Shi Siming, you are amazing!
Li admires you, I really admire you! "

Li Guiren was so angry that he couldn't stop laughing. At this moment, even a fool would come to his senses.

Shi Siming's cunning was well-known in Youzhou back then.

So many years have passed, but it can be said that the dog can't change its eating habits, and its character hasn't changed at all.

In comparison, Fang Qingqing was very "good". Although he was also an old coin, he at least had a bottom line in doing things, and at least he would never use the shady killing tricks like Shi Siming.

"Li Guiren, don't blame us, we had no choice.

You can't defeat either the Emperor of Dayan or the Bianzhou Army.

You also dug your own grave by digging the Yellow River embankment, and now everyone in Bianzhou wants to eat your flesh alive.

When the time comes, we will also be affected. We don’t want to die.

Since it was you who gave the order, why don't you take the responsibility for it?

His Majesty has promised to send someone to send you to Bianzhou to explain to Fang Qing and give an account to the people of Bianzhou. He will not kill you.

So we are not betraying our master, right? A wise bird chooses the right tree to inhabit.”

Zhang Tongwu, who had just returned from Liu Longxian's place, bravely served as a spokesperson for the generals present.

"Did you hear me? I won't kill you.

Come here, tie up Li Guiren and send him to Kaifeng City to be dealt with by Fang Qing. This is my gift to him.

Then tell Fang Qing that I have always admired him and ask him if he is willing to come to Dayan."

Shi Siming waved his hand impatiently, as if he was chasing Li Guiren away like a fly.

"You don't have to tie me up, I can walk by myself!"

Li Guiren shouted loudly.

No one stepped forward to embarrass him. Everyone was very tolerant towards those who were bound to die. Who would go against the dead?

When a person dies, all debts are settled. No matter how deep the hatred is, it ends when the other party dies. This is people's simple value.

Li Guiren turned his head, stared at Shi Siming and said, "Shi Siming, I will go first and wait for you in the underground! Haha, your good days are coming to an end."

"It's pointless to talk about this. It's not your business."

Shi Siming said calmly that he was too lazy to waste words with Li Guiren, and he was not interested in arguing with a dead man.

Li Guiren turned and left, and several of Shi Siming's personal soldiers followed him without stopping him. In fact, even if they released Li Guiren now, digging the Yellow River embankment would leave Li Guiren with nowhere to go.

People like this, no matter what happens or not, others are happy to stab them to vent their anger.

At this moment, Li Guiren remembered a story Liu Longxian had told him before. It was said that Fang Qing told it when he was chatting with Liu Longxian.

Fang Qing said that if a person has positive energy, evil spirits cannot get close to him. Once he goes astray, his good fortune will go with him, and then the evil spirits will start to harm him.

Li Guiren just laughed it off at the time, thinking it was nothing but evil and nonsense.

Now it seems that Fang Qing is the one who truly understands. What is evil? People like Shi Siming are living evil!

If it weren't for greed, how could he be betrayed by his subordinates?
Those who try to get the skin of a tiger have never had a good ending since ancient times. Why didn’t you think about it at the beginning?

Li Guiren was regretting it so much at this moment!

His troops did not rebel in the past because they knew they could surrender to the imperial court in Bianzhou, and at worst they could go home and farm, without having to worry about their lives.

Li Guiren cut off his own retreat, and naturally the retreat of the troops following him was also cut off. In this day and age, the troops and the commander are one and the same, if the commander suffers, the troops cannot escape either!

We are all capable of acting intelligently. If we don't defect to others now, will we wait until the Bianzhou army's knife is on our necks before we think of running away?
"Shi Siming! After we go to Bianzhou, Li will ask Fang Qing to keep my head with him. I want to see how you die with my eyes wide open!"

Li Guiren had already walked to the lobby door, but suddenly turned around and roared at Shi Siming! His eyes were full of resentment!

"You're still being stubborn! You still dare to be stubborn! Who the hell do you think you are!"

Shi Siming was so angry that he was furious and could no longer maintain his emperor's dignity.

He ordered two of his personal soldiers to pin Li Guiren to the ground, took the wooden stick handed over by the eunuch, and hit Li Guiren twice on the back!
Then, one stick after another hit Li Guiren!

"Your Majesty, Li Guiren will be sent to Bianzhou. It will be bad if he dies."

Zhang Tongwu moved closer to Shi Siming and spoke in a low voice, feeling worried.

Li Guiren was killed by Fang Qing, so it had nothing to do with them. But if Shi Siming killed Li Guiren himself, they would not be able to escape responsibility for the incident.

This fig leaf, like a cover-up for stealing a bell while covering one's ears, has no practical significance to these rebellious generals, but it is also very important.

Perhaps because he felt that it was really boring to fight with a dead man, Shi Siming threw the stick to the ground. He was very measured in his attack, and those few blows only caused flesh wounds at most, and it was impossible to kill Li Guiren.

If he was really beaten to death, it would not have the effect of disgusting Fang Qing, and it would be very unprofitable.

It would be really satisfying to let Fang Qing kill Li Guiren with his own hands.

Thinking of this, Shi Siming couldn't help but smile triumphantly.

……

Fang Chongyong naturally didn't know what happened in Yecheng because he had a lot of things to do.

When the flood came, although some losses were avoided due to timely mobilization, there were still places affected, and not all of them were in Bianzhou.

Since the Bianzhou court was called the court, it naturally had to exercise the functions of the court, and disaster relief was the job of the court.

Allocate food and fodder, maintain river embankments, carry out "harmless" treatment of flooded areas, prepare medicinal materials for the plague, resettle refugees affected by the disaster, etc.

For a moment he was so busy that he couldn't keep up with the pace.

As the relief work continued, the advantages of the Bianzhou Canal, which was well connected, began to show. The grain in the granary reached the disaster area through the canal, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

That night, Fang Chongyong was still reviewing official documents in the study of the government office.

The court planned to establish a new "craft school" to train various apprentices and establish new industry standards. These existed in the Tang Dynasty, but they were not systematic. The palace served as a "craft school" to a certain extent, but the exploitation was extremely serious, and the apprentices were used as corvée.

Since we are going to change the dynasty, it must not be worse than before. There is still a lot to do in this regard, and it is far from complete.

"Sir, General Che wants to see you. He says he has something important to tell you."

Da Congming walked into the study quietly, and the other party, Chongyong, saluted and reported.

"Let him in."

Fang Zhongyong said without raising his head, his attention still on the manuscript.

(End of this chapter)