Chapter 370 Guo Ziyi's touch

"My general Cai wants to surrender to the prime minister, please include it." The man in black knelt down and bowed respectfully to Li Qing, then took out a letter from his arms and held it over his head, watched the personal soldiers who were escorting him to take it and handed it to Li Qing.

General Cai was Cai Xide. He suffered heavy losses due to the defense of the Western District of the Anxi Army's attack. Seeing that more than half of the troops were lost, An Qingxu not only had no intention of assistance, but instead took the opportunity to send his confidant to the army to supervise, trying to take away his subordinates. Seeing that the Tang army was about to break through the city and the rebels were out, Cai Xide made up his mind to surrender Li Qing.

However, Li Qing did not rush to open the letter, but asked the man in black coldly: "When the Tang army attacked the city in the afternoon, General Cai of your family resisted fiercely. The emperor could not tell that he had the intention to surrender. Now less than three hours apart, he said he wanted to surrender. How can people believe in his sincerity?"

The man in black was stunned for a moment, and he immediately said anxiously: "The Prime Minister doesn't know anything. General Cai's son was taken hostage by An Qingxu, and he had to obey. But as soon as the war subsided today, An Qingxu sent the left prime minister Zhang Tongru to supervise the army, accusing our general of ineffective combat, and privately meeting his generals, urging them to rebel against General Cai. Our general was desperate and decided to surrender to the prime minister. It was definitely not a false statement."

Li Qing nodded, "It's the truth!" He then opened Cai Xide's letter. Cai Xide spoke very flatteringly in the letter and swears loyalty to Li Qing, but does not mention the court at all. It seems that these rebels are also very clear about the situation in Chang'an.

Li Qing pondered for a moment. The root of the separatist rule of the vassal states in history was when the Tang Dynasty quelled the Anshi Rebellion. Instead, they were allowed to retain their troops and entrusted them with great use. Of course, this was also a compromise method adopted by the court at that time who was unable to completely quell the rebel generals and was worried that the Shi Siming Rebellion would repeat, but it eventually led to a great disaster.

Now he, Li Qing, naturally, will not take this step again, but it is politically stupid to just kill. There must be some choice. Judging the situation is the best choice. Thinking of this, he said to Cai Xide's special envoy: "General Cai wants to abandon the secret and turn to the light, so I will certainly welcome it. Things should be done sooner rather than later. In order to show my sincerity, I will also send someone to help General Cai with you."

To put it bluntly, it is to monitor Cai Xide to prevent him from making fraud or going back on his word. Li Qing immediately called Xin Jinggao, the yamen in front of his subordinates, and finally wrote a letter and handed it to him: "In addition to monitoring Cai Xide, you can do something for me and hand it to their prime minister Yan Zhuang..."

Late autumn is a foggy season. The night is deep and the fog gradually rises, covering the towering Luoyang City with a layer of gray gauze. Li Qing looked at the city from Tangying. The fog was heavy and the fire on the city could no longer be seen. What he cares about was not what Cai Xide would do? It was Yan Zhuang, which involved whether one of his plans could be completed smoothly.

"Is the prime minister worried that Cai Xide would be cheating?"

Li Qing turned around quickly and saw Guo Ziyi coming over with a smile. Although Li Qing had just killed Pugu Huaien an hour ago and took away his subordinates, Guo Ziyi seemed to have nothing happened and still had a smile. This is his smoothness. He also knew that Li Qing's purpose of killing Pugu Huaien was just to attack the Hedong army and to gain power in the Hedong army. Another purpose was to take away the five thousand elite cavalry in Pugu Huaien's hands. In fact, although Guo Ziyi was the governor of Shuofang and Hedong towns, the time was still short, and some generals who depended on him could not control him, such as Li Baoyu, Wei Boyu and Pugu Huaien, so Li Qing's killing Pugu Huaien did not have much impact on him. His direct troops, about 60,000 soldiers, were left in Hedong, led by the general Li Guochen, and did not go south with him.

Li Qing smiled faintly and said, "Whether Cai Xide really surrendered or fake surrender, what's the harm? However, this attack on Luoyang is of great importance, so I should be more cautious."

He stopped, but did not see Guo Ziyi's answer. Li Qing was slightly surprised. He looked up at Guo Ziyi. Seeing that his eyes were worried, he wanted to say something but stopped. He seemed to have something to say to him, so he pointed to the two big stones beside him and smiled: "Gen. Guo might as well sit down and chat."

"I heard that the Prime Minister's family has returned to Chang'an?"

Guo Ziyi sat down and smiled at Li Qing, "I heard that when I entered Chang'an, there were thousands of cavalry guards left and right, which caused a sensation in Chang'an. Even my family wrote to me."

"There's nothing. Li Qing has offended many people in his reckless work, so of course the guards must be tighter."

Guo Ziyi seemed to be chatting with him about family matters, with a calm and calm expression, but Li Qing knew that he was step by step to the point. Sure enough, after only a few words, Guo Ziyi's words turned around and got to the point.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Although it is a taboo for people to say that it is a low-level relationship, and my status is low, and it is not easy to sit side by side with the prime minister. How dare I say anything else? But I am more than 60 years old this year and have been in the army for nearly 40 years. I dare not say that I am a senior of the general. But veterans can be regarded as a senior. I have been in my heart for a long time, but I have never had a chance. Now it is rare to be alone with the general. These words are like a thorn in my throat, and I will not vomit easily. If there is any rudeness, please forgive me."

Seeing that he had gradually changed his name to General, Li Qing knew what he was going to say, so he smiled slightly and said, "It's okay to talk to the old general."

Guo Ziyi coughed gently and said, "The Prime Minister can predict that the enemy will be the first, defeat Cui Qianyou's cavalry and force us to win the Tang Dynasty in danger. This incident alone is enough to make Ziyi admire him, but if the Prime Minister can take another step back, then Ziyi will not only admire him, but also admire the character of the Prime Minister."

"According to the old general, how should Li Qing retreat?" Li Qing asked without saying a word.

"With the wisdom of the general, do I need to point it out?" Guo Ziyi sighed regretfully and said, "Don't the general know that the road he is taking is very dangerous? In fact, the general can do many things smoothly and can be tolerant. For example, the general can find some big merchants to attack the land for recruiting troops. Why bother to touch the royal family and embarrass the emperor? This will bring disaster to the general in the future!"

"Smooth?" Li Qing sneered, "Since I joined the officialdom in the third year of Tianbao, I have always been focusing on smoothness and concessions in my work, so that I can get to this day step by step. But some things cannot be achieved by just smoothness and concessions. For example, land annexation, how many times did the Supreme Emperor give a restriction order, and then concessions again and again, but in the end, what happened? The wind of land annexation is becoming more and more intense, and eight out of ten of the fertile land in the world are occupied by the powerful and nobles, among which the royal family accounts for more than 60%. They are like locusts, endless greed, and the millions of people in the Tang Dynasty have no place to stand. God bless me, the Tang Dynasty, and finally An Lushan rebelled, giving us a chance. If Chen Sheng and Wu Guang raised their arms, can you and I still have a heart-to-heart talk here?"

Speaking of this, Li Qing paused for a moment, controlled his slightly excited mood. He looked up at the sky and breathed a long sigh and continued: "My mentor Zhang Qiuxiangguo also realized the seriousness of the problem. Land annexation will continue to threaten the century-old foundation of the Tang Empire. He knew that this was difficult and dangerous, but he still did it without hesitation. I still remember that he once pressed my shoulder and said, if he failed, I hope I could continue his will. He really failed, and he died in pain and could not rest in peace until his death. From then on, I knew that if I wanted to solve the land problem, it would not work at all with a gentle land limit order. No one would be willing to give up his vested interests. He had to change it with tough means. At this point, tolerance is not exchanged for land, and the principle cannot be conceded to smoothness!"

Speaking of this, he gently patted Guo Ziyi's hand and said, "Do you understand the old general? What Li Qing did is not just for his own selfishness, but for the Tang Dynasty to continue to be strong for thousands of years. Now some people say that I monopolize the power, bully the royal family, and build private affairs. Some even compare me to Dong Zhuo of the Han Dynasty. I don't want to defend these things, and I don't bother to pay attention to them, but I hope the old general can understand my painstaking efforts."

Guo Ziyi remained silent. He said for a long time: "But the emperor is also young and promising, with lofty ambitions in his heart. Why didn't the general give him a chance? He insisted on causing trouble for everyone in the world that the ruler and his subjects were in conflict. They all pointed to the general's backbone and said that this was Dong Zhuo of Tang, but in fact, this was a huge misunderstanding?"

Li Qing shook his head, "I am the emperor nowadays. Of course I know that he is a wise king. Otherwise, why wouldn't I support the royal family who is incompetent and only knows how to enjoy themselves in the palace all day long? Wouldn't that be more convenient for me?"

He looked at Guo Ziyi and said with great sincerity: "The Supreme Emperor is also a promising monarch, but it only took more than ten years from the Kaiyuan period to the rebellion of An Lushan. Why is this? Have the old general thought about it?"

Guo Ziyi was shocked. He thought about this question, but he couldn't find the answer. In the end, he could only attribute it to Li Longji's inattention to employ people. An Lushan's wolfish ambition. Today, Li Qing suddenly mentioned this question, which really shocked his heart.

"Please speak frankly, General!"

Li Qing slowly walked into a circle of night fog with his hands behind his back, staring at the dark city wall, and suddenly turned around and smiled faintly, "Actually, the old general can think of it. The decline of the military system of the government began in the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Why do people have no land? But the halo of the prosperous Kaiyuan era was too dazzling to cover up this serious problem. By the end of Kaiyuan, the halo became fading, and the problem of war without soldiers was prominent. With the wisdom of the Supreme Emperor, the magical and martial arts of the Supreme Emperor could not solve this problem. Now the emperor is young and weak, how can he touch the interests of those royal families? There is no way, I can only be the evil person. When one day I ease the land conflicts and realize that the people in the world have their own land, I will naturally hand over the power to the emperor and let him show his ambitions to the fullest!"

After a deep conversation, Guo Ziyi was obviously moved. He lowered his head and said without saying a word for a long time, and finally sighed: "Maybe the general has made some sense. Although Guo Ziyi cannot do his best, he will never obstruct the general. Today, the matter of Pu Gu Huai'en is revealed!"

Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly walked forward, held Guo Ziyi's hand and said, "The night is cold in late autumn. Please rest as soon as possible. Tomorrow will be the most critical day. Li Qing still has to rely on the cooperation of the veteran general to capture Luoyang City!"

Guo Ziyi clicked, "General, please rest early!"

The two bowed and returned to the tent.

Let’s talk about Li Qing’s special envoy Xin Yungao and Cai Xide’s confidants coming to the west wall together. The people waiting here pulled them up the wall with a basket. Xin Yungao immediately met Cai Xide and said that Li Xiangguo accepted his surrender and did not delay it. It was scheduled to be tomorrow morning. Cai Xide was overjoyed and summoned his confidants to discuss the arrangements for surrender tomorrow overnight.

However, Xin Yungao quietly disappeared in the thick night fog. Xin Yungao was the consul of Xin Yunjing, the current rank of the Yulin Army. He was tall and powerful, with high martial arts skills. He was a rare general. In the Anxi Army, he was only able to compete with Li Siye. But contrary to his appearance, Xin Yungao thought carefully and was able to speak with knowledge, so Li Qing promoted him to become the general of his tent, which was the general of two thousand personal soldiers. Tonight, Li Qing sent him to Luoyang City to complete one of his plans.

Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang looked quite similar, with a yellowish complexion, and a goatee on their long and thin face. They were tall and thin, like a big shrimp. However, Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang were good at strategy. He was better at internal affairs. When he was in Hebei, it was because of his extensive collection of money and grain that An Lushan was able to recruit soldiers year by year and gradually grow stronger. After An Lushan became emperor in Luoyang, he immediately appointed him as the right prime minister of the Secretariat and handed over all his government affairs to him.

At this moment, the prime minister of the Great Yan Kingdom sat in the study, staring blankly, his eyes full of worry. He had proposed to An Lushan the political proposition of proclaiming emperor and dividing land, but An Lushan did not adopt it. He quickly claimed to be emperor shortly after conquering Luoyang, but he lost the support of the gentry class. However, at that time, he won the military victory at that time, and Yan Zhuang did not persuade him much. However, after Cui Ganyou's entire army was wiped out and Tongguan was lost again, Yan Zhuang saw the crisis. He urged An Lushan to give up Luoyang, either return to Hebei to re-operate, or go to Shengzhou (now Nanjing) to build a capital, and seize half of the southeast.

But An Lushan was hesitant. Just when he finally made up his mind to return to Hebei, An Qingxu's father-killing and the throne happened. An Lushan died, and Yan Zhuang also lost An Qingxu's trust. An Qingxu's confidant Zhang Tongru was named the left prime minister and knew about politics and gradually replaced Yan Zhuang.

There was a large-scale attack by the Tang army outside, but there was an internal strife in the Yan army. Even An Qingxu, these leading generals were in formation, plotting against each other and destroying each other. Their forces were originally smaller than those of the Tang army. How could they protect Luoyang? The situation was hopeless!

Yan Zhuang sighed and threw the memorial halfway aside. What's the use of writing? Will An Qingxu listen?

At this time, the butler's low voice came from outside the door, "Master, someone outside the house is asking for a meeting? He refused to tell his identity clearly."

"Everyone wants to see me." Yan Zhuang waved impatiently, "Tell him, I won't see you!"

After a while, he did not hear the footsteps of the butler leaving. Yan Zhuang frowned and said unhappily: "Do you want me to say it again?"

"Master, he also said that if the Master doesn't see him, in the future, in the future..." The butler's voice trembled and he couldn't continue.

"What's the future? Say!"

The housekeeper finally plucked up the courage and said, "He said that if the master did not see him, he would die in the future without a place to bury him!"

"Nonsense!" Yan Zhuang slapped the table hard. He was about to say that he would drive this person away with a stick, but suddenly, he woke up. Could it be that this person was? ． ． ． ． "Hurry! Please come in!" The housekeeper was about to leave, but Yan Zhuang added, "Don't go to the main entrance, send someone to take him in through the back door."

Yan Zhuang was tidying up the table and was waiting nervously and nervously. He had already guessed that the person who came was probably from Tangying.

After a while, the housekeeper brought an extremely majestic man, about thirty years old. He didn't say anything, and handed Yan Zhuang a famous post. Yan Zhuang only glanced at a few words "Zhongshu Ling Right Prime Minister". He was panicked and immediately drove the housekeeper out and closed the doors and windows himself.

Then Xin Yungao bowed and said, "I am the general of the yamen in front of the tent of Prime Minister Li. He came here to see Mr. Yan under the order of Prime Minister Li."

"The Prime Minister is looking for me..." Yan Zhuang said halfway, and felt that it was inappropriate. Now they are still standing against each other, so why can we keep a low voice? He adjusted his mind and continued to ask: "What's the matter with Li Caoguo?"

Xin Yungao smiled but did not answer. He took out Li Qing's letter from his arms and handed it over, "This is my handwritten handwritten by my prime minister. Mr. Yan will know after reading it!"

Yan Zhuang's hands were trembling. He swallowed dryly, opened the letter tremblingly, slowly, carefully looked at it, carefully pondering the meaning of each word.

In fact, the content of the letter was very simple. He asked him to write a reply letter to Zhang Yi, the assistant minister who was far away in Chang'an. He first implied in the letter that he had written a surrender to An Lushan before, but this time he ordered him to use counter-espionage tricks to deceive Li Qing back to Chang'an. If he could do this, Li Qing would at least guarantee that he would have a life of Yan Zhuang in the future, and even appointed him as an official.

Yan Zhuang was extremely conflicted. Li Qing's letter was written with confidence. He obviously saw through the fact that the civil and military officials under An Qingxu had the desire to protect themselves. Yan Zhuang was excluded, and the loss in his heart made him more likely to be moved.

Indeed, since An Lushan died, An Qingxu was also a reckless man with a narrow mind. He would sooner or later die with him. Now with Li Qing's guarantee, Yan Zhuang was not moved, and what he did was more important was to make what he did. He had a letter written by Zhang Yi to An Lushan after the imperial examination incident that year, of course, to ask An Lushan to plead for Li Longji. Although it was normal to write such a letter at that time, once An Lushan was identified as a rebellious person, he would be suspected of supporting the letter.

Yan Zhuang thought for a while before finally picking up his pen and writing a letter to Zhang Yi, ordering him to make suggestions in front of the emperor, provoking the relationship between the emperor and Li Qing, and transfer Li Qing back to Chang'an. After writing, he found more than a dozen letters from a box that ministers had privately loyal to An Lushan, and gave them to Xin Yungao.
Chapter completed!