A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"That makes sense, then we won't go to the palace."

Li Bai nodded slightly, turned around, and addressed the assembled ministers.

"I will dispatch the Imperial Guards and the Central Army to garrison government offices and your residences."

"Everyone, please continue with your duties. If you have any important matters, you may come to the Ministry of Personnel to find me. You may all leave now."

After saying this, Li Bai led the way and left the palace gate.

They didn't even give An Lushan a chance to persuade him to stay.

No, so you're not going to attend court anymore?

Was Li Bai really that tough?

No wonder Li Longji was so stupid and so easily subdued. He was just a useless piece of trash. He was bullied by Li Bai and was so badly bullied that he issued an edict to send them to the capital to serve the emperor.

"General, what should we do?"

Shi Siming asked.

A fierce glint flashed in An Lushan's eyes. "I don't believe everyone is as tough as Li Bai."

"It's good that they're separated; it makes it easier for us to defeat them one by one."

"The court's military power is currently in the hands of Zong Shen of the Imperial Guard and Gao Shi of the Ministry of War. As long as we take down these two men, we can take down the Imperial Guard and the Central Army."

"According to the information I've gathered, Gao Shi is Li Bai's confidant, but Zong Shen only recently joined Li Bai's ranks, so we'll target him."

Zong Shen was dispatched by Li Bai to the palace gate to monitor the Pinglu and Fanyang armies under the control of An Lushan and Shi Siming.

If An Lushan and Shi Siming make any unusual moves, they can react quickly and launch a counterattack.

Seeing An Lushan and Shi Siming walking towards him, Zong Shen was a little puzzled. What did they want with him?

"Commander Zong, I have long admired your name."

An Lushan revealed a hearty smile and took the initiative to bow to Zong Shen, as if yesterday's conflict had never happened.

"How long have you been in favor of Military Governors An and Shi?"

Zong Shen said expressionlessly, and his words of surprise caused many of his guards behind him to burst out laughing.

They are all professionally trained and generally do not laugh.

Unless you can't help it.

An Lushan's face flashed with anger, but he forced himself to suppress it. The most important thing now was to win over Zong Shen.

"Commander Zong probably doesn't know yet, but yesterday His Majesty appointed General Shi and me as Grand General and General of the Cavalry."

An Lushan said smugly, "Commander Zong, you've guarded the gate for His Majesty for so many years, and you're still just a captain. What a pity."

"With Colonel Zong's abilities, he is more than qualified to be a General of Chariots and Cavalry. What do you think, Colonel Zong?"

Zong Shen suddenly realized that An Lushan and Shi Siming wanted to win him over, and they offered him the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry right away. What a grand gesture!

But he was not the kind of person to compromise his principles for a mere pittance, so how could he possibly collude with An Lushan and Shi Siming and bear the infamy?

Not to mention that Li Bai helped him avenge his entire family, a debt of gratitude that would make Zong Shen willing to go through fire and water for him.

Recalling what Li Bai had just said, Zong Shen smiled knowingly.

"The process of conferring titles upon high-ranking officials such as Grand General and General of Chariots and Cavalry requires the joint consent of the heads of the three ministries and discussion in the imperial court. Finally, the Secretariat drafts the document, the Chancellery reviews it, and the Ministry of Personnel issues it to the whole country. This is a complete process."

"Governor An, Governor Shi, how could you make the same mistake three times?!"

Triple kill!

"You're asking for it!"

Upon hearing this, An Lushan flew into a rage, unable to contain his anger any longer. It was one thing for Li Bai to mock him, but who was Zong Shen to dare to use the same words to ridicule him!

An Lushan drew his sword and slashed at Zong Shen.

Zong Shen snorted coldly and drew his sword to block the attack.

An Lushan's guards and Zong Shen's imperial guards also charged towards the enemy.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle right at the solemn and majestic gates of the palace.

The power of the Tang Empire had weakened to this extent.

An Lushan's army was stationed in various places, and not many remained here.

Zong Shen's imperial guards were few in number, but their fighting strength was not weak, and they were able to hold off An Lushan's attack.

Seeing that he had no choice but to give up, An Lushan also abandoned any thought of winning over Zong Shen.

Judging from Zong Shen's behavior, he is determined to follow Li Bai.

No matter how hard you try to win them over, you can't.

This incident alone made An Lushan realize that they simply could not gain the approval of the many ministers in the court.

It was impossible to gain their approval; he and those ministers had been on opposing sides from the very beginning.

Since that's the case, then don't blame him for being ruthless.

If you can't be used by me, then die!

An Lushan thought ruthlessly.

"General Shi, you must have noticed it too, right?"

"These people never treated us like human beings from the beginning."

"I am prepared to kill all the ministers who are unwilling to submit to us. I do not believe that the officials in the court are all so stubborn."

An Lushan said viciously.

Shi Siming nodded. He was also furious. No matter what, before he came to the capital, he was a regional military governor with all military and political power. He was a local emperor.

But now he is looked down upon everywhere. Even a clay figure has some fire, let alone him, the former military governor and now the General of the Cavalry.

"The Imperial Guards under Zong Shen's command are a thorn in our side; we must eliminate them first!"

An Lushan and Shi Siming immediately gathered their men, preparing to devour Zong Shen and his group in one fell swoop.

The mobilization of troops was a big commotion, and naturally it did not escape Zong Shen's notice.

Zong Shen, with a solemn expression, sent someone to inform Li Bai, then arranged the battle lines and prepared for battle.

When Li Bai saw the mention of the Grand General and the General of the Cavalry in Zong Shen's letter, he knew that he had lost yesterday's bet.

An Lushan and Shi Siming were indeed reckless fools, completely lacking in intelligence, and couldn't even last a day.

I'm afraid His Majesty is now under their control. I suppose His Majesty should be able to realize his mistakes now?

Since that's the case, An Lushan and Shi Siming are no longer of any use, so it's time to deal with these two traitors.

"Go and inform Minister Gao and General Cen to prepare for action."

After Li Bai finished speaking, he personally hurried towards the palace gate.

When he arrived, the two armies were already locked in battle. Zong Shen's imperial guards were clearly at a disadvantage, but thanks to their superior equipment and training, they were still able to hold off An Lushan and Shi Siming's armies.

Li Bai quickly pulled a signal flare from his sleeve, lit it, and the flare shot into the sky and exploded in mid-air.

When An Lushan and Shi Siming saw the signal flare, a bad feeling arose in their hearts.

Gao Shi and Cen Jian, who had been prepared, saw the signal flare and led their 100,000 troops out from two different directions.

One army, led by Gao Shi, attacked from the rear of An Lushan and Shi Siming.

Another army, led by Cen Shen, attacked from the flanks of An Lushan and Shi Siming.

In addition, there was a third army, which consisted of the private troops of all the powerful families and high-ranking officials in the capital. They were also assembled and led by Gao Xianzhi, a newly promoted general of the court, and attacked from the other flank of An Lushan and Shi Siming.