Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 173 We're All Brothers
Pingyang, Baima City.

As dawn broke, Li Shuang emerged from the house, looking somewhat haggard.

After several days of persuasion, Li Shuang finally resolved the crisis in the inner quarters, restoring harmony to the household.

Large quantities of supplies and personnel traveled along the Fen River from Bingzhou to Pingyang, making the city of Jinzhou appear somewhat crowded.

Now, tents stretch across the open space between Li Shuang's fortified village and Baima City.

Upon hearing that Li Shuang was ordered to attack Xiao Baoyin and enter Guanzhong, the Shedi and Dugu tribes were the most supportive.

Needless to say, the Dugu tribe also moved south in its entirety under the leadership of Shedi Gan.

In the Duke of Tang's mansion, She Digan was lying under a big tree, basking in the sun, his eyes half-closed, when he suddenly sensed someone approaching.

As soon as Shedigan opened his eyes, he saw Li Shuang standing in front of him.

When She Digan saw Li Shuang, his face first lit up with joy, but then he showed worry.

"Duke Tang, it's been so many years, why do you look so haggard?"

"Well, that's naturally due to my dedication to serving the country!"

After listening, She Digan sighed:
"The Duke has truly worked so hard for the sake of the country and its people!"

Li Shuang laughed.

"It should!"

After walking side by side for a while, Li Shuang asked:
"You have a family and business in Mayi, what brings you here?"

The Shedi tribe was not a small tribe; it had two thousand elite cavalry. Li Shuang was somewhat surprised by Shedi Gan's actions.

Upon hearing this, Shedi Gan complained:

"Your Excellency, you don't know, those sons of the Erzhu family are really no good. The previous Erzhu Tianguang was still considered good, and we got along fairly well. But then Erzhu Zhongyuan came, and that guy has lost all his virtue. He punishes people for the smallest things. He doesn't dare to make things difficult for the Dugu tribe, so he keeps a close eye on me."

The sons of the Erzhu clan were brave and skilled in martial arts, but incapable of handling political affairs. After Erzhu Rong gained power, the Qihu people were tyrannical and indiscriminately bullied all foreigners.

She Digan said, still feeling quite fortunate.

"Seeing the situation was urgent, I followed the Duke's instructions and headed south. Even so, I was still skinned alive by the Erzhu clan."

After listening, Li Shuang patted She Digan on the shoulder.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you, my friend. I'll host a banquet for you tonight, and tomorrow I'll have someone allocate three thousand cattle and sheep to your tribe."

Hearing this honest truth, She Digan felt a warmth in his heart.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. I feel at ease working with the government.”

Li Shuang led She Digan into the main hall, where Li Shuang's subordinates were already waiting.

The people in this room can be mainly divided into three groups:
Retainers such as Gao Ang, Yang Kan, Hou Jing, Jia Sixie, and Su Chuo!

Wang Sizheng, Pei Qingsun, Xue Xiuyi and other local generals from Hedong!

Peng Le, Xue Guyan, and other generals from the Six Garrisons who surrendered during the Battle of Hulao Pass.

Among the last group, Peng Le goes without saying, and Xue Guyan is also a renowned and brave general.

Xue Guyan's surname was not Xue, but Xue Gu, and he was a Xianbei from Dai Commandery.

Although he was brave, he had the same flaw as Li Yuanzhong: he loved wine!

Li Shuang led She Digan in, introduced him to everyone, and then got down to business—

To punish Xiao Baoyin!
Li Shuang said:

"Pingyang is not a place to stay for long; we must enter Guanzhong as soon as possible."

Pingyang is located in the Fenhe River Valley, with a pleasant climate and fertile land, making it a famous agricultural area.

This place is rich in resources, and its textile, iron smelting, ceramics, and brewing industries are all highly developed.

Moreover, this is a vital route from Bingzhou to Hedong and even Guanzhong, making it a commercial hub.

But even with a thousand advantages, it's hard to hide one flaw.

This place is too close to Jinyang!

There is almost no buffer.

Li Shuang naturally wouldn't fall out with Erzhu Rong; in fact, he planned to maintain a good relationship with him in the future. However, Li Shuang has now parted ways with Erzhu Rong.

Would Erzhu Rong simply ignore the seven thousand armored soldiers stationed not far from Jinyang?

Moreover, these seven thousand armored soldiers were only the troops under Li Shuang's Duke's mansion, not including the local troops from Hedong and the Hu and Han soldiers from various places who had surrendered to Li Shuang.

Although Hedong was wealthy, it lacked the city that Li Shuang envisioned as a long-term base.

Baima City is small and too close to Jinyang.

Anyi, relying on the salt industry, has a thriving commercial sector and is an economic center, making it unsuitable for stationing troops and training soldiers.

In the vast area from Guanzhong to Hedong, there is a city that meets Li Shuang's requirements!

Chang'an City!
But Chang'an is now in Xiao Baoyin's hands.

After hearing Li Shuang's words, Xue Xiuyi was the first to speak.

As the garrison commander of Longmen, he later occupied Puzhou City during the chaos in Hedong, controlling Hedong's access to the outside world.

He was very familiar with the situation in Guanzhong.

"Xiao Baoyin is a very cunning fellow!"

Everyone looked at Xue Xiuyi, and they heard him say:
"Xiao Baoyin has never won many battles in Guanzhong, but he always resorts to underhanded tactics, spending huge sums of money to bribe generals in the northwestern nomadic tribes and assassinate their tribal leaders. That's how Mo Zhe Niansheng fell into his hands."

Mo Zhe Niansheng was initially doing very well. After Li Shengui left, Wan Qichounu and Suqin Mingda retreated to Lingzhou and took over Binzhou, Dongqinzhou and other places. It seemed that they were about to attack Yongzhou.

Xiao Baoyin bribed Du Can, one of Mo Zhe Niansheng's subordinates, to assassinate Mo Zhe Niansheng.

After Mo Zhe Nian's death, his followers scattered, and Xiao Bao Yin seized the opportunity to ascend the throne and establish the Qi Kingdom.

Li Shuang asked:

"Where did Xiao Baoyin get so much money?"

"To be honest, Duke Tang, Xiao Baoyin has spent all the money that should have been used for land reclamation, raising troops, and building water conservancy projects. As far as I know, there is not much money or grain left in the Chang'an treasury."

After listening, Li Shuang felt a sense of urgency.

Sin!
"We can no longer let this traitor Xiao Baoyin continue like this."
-

Go to the party.

After repeated urging from the imperial envoys, Erzhu Rong finally returned to Shangdang after nearly two months.

Erzhu Rong originally wanted to wait and see, but with Li Shuang's precedent, the officials in Luoyang, as well as the emperor and Empress Hu, showed unprecedented unity, giving Erzhu Rong no chance to take advantage of the situation.

Erzhu Zhao failed in his mission and came to Shangdang to apologize in disgrace, only to be slapped by Erzhu Rong.

Erzhu Zhao felt wronged and happened to run into Gao Huan as he went out.

"Why is General Erzhu acting this way?"

Erzhu Zhao felt wronged, grabbed Gao Huan, and asked:

"You little rascal, tell me, why did your uncle hit me?"

Gao Huan looked at the big, clumsy guy in front of him and asked:
"What did General Erzhu say?"

“Everything was fine up ahead. I told my uncle that I hadn’t stopped Da Ye Shuang’s troops and supplies. He scolded me for trying to stop them, but he didn’t do anything. Later, I told my uncle that my daughter, Xiao Er Zhu, was still in Pingyang and that I had to find a way to bring her back. I couldn’t let her suffer the same fate as Ying E, from the clutches of that lecherous Da Ye Shuang.”

Upon hearing this, Gao Huan said:

"So the General of Chariots and Cavalry attacked you?"

“That’s right. My uncle was furious. I’ve never seen him so angry before. He slapped me right away. He also told me to stop spreading rumors and that Ying’e’s child wasn’t Da Ye Shuang’s.”

Gao Huan said:
"There are some things that, even if you know them in your heart, you still can't admit them on your face!"

Erzhu Zhao listened, seemingly lost in thought.

"He Liuhun, you'd better give me some advice in the future so I can get beaten up less often!"

"General Erzhu, rest assured, we are all brothers!"

"Brothers!"

……

(End of this chapter)