Chang'an City.

All the arches in the city and the palaces are in chaos.

The news that the rebels broke through Tongguan reached Chang'an, and the city that was the most prosperous and confident in the past collapsed instantly.

Countless businessmen ran home crying and urged their wives to pack their luggage. The court officials were shocked. Some of them stood outside Xingqing Palace without even wearing official uniforms. Envoys from various countries were unbelievable. They didn't dare to believe that such a powerful empire could be attacked by a rebel army. However, the facts made them dare not disbelief, so they quickly left the city with their followers, and even had no time to hand over the letter of farewell.

The chaotic streets and alleys were as panicked as the end of the world. The people hurriedly fled with their families and their relatives. Those who committed crimes openly robbed the people's businessmen on the streets, but the officers and soldiers patrolling the streets were ignored. They were also anxious about their future and lives.

At some point, someone in the city's houses started a fire, and the fire destroyed the empty houses. Thick black smoke rose up, giving the once prosperous city an atmosphere of despair.

The unsuccessful literati were lost and passed by the noisy and crowded fugitives. They sighed to the sky sadly and recited the beautiful lines of the past in the past. At this time, it sounded like a poem to pay tribute to the prosperous times.

The monks holding pottery bowls were the calmest. They were wearing cassocks and walking against the crowd. There was no sign of anxiety and fear on their faces. They walked through the crowd calmly, stood at the end of the street and looked at the literati across the street, and then bowed to each other. The literati looked miserable and continued to recite poems and walked aimlessly in the city. The monks held the pottery bowls, with one palm standing in front of their chests, chanting scriptures silently, with sad voices, and the stern sounds penetrated the horror of the world, and tried to appease the panic of the world.

There was also a chaotic situation in Xingqing Palace.

Li Longji had already planned to leave Chang'an, but he did not expect Tongguan to be so suddenly lost. At this moment, the court officials outside Xingqing Palace knelt on the ground and cried, while the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were packing their luggage in panic. The Yulin Guards were frequently mobilized, and some eunuchs and palace maids took advantage of the chaos to escape from Xingqing Palace, disguised as common people, and said goodbye to this palace where singing and dancing became peaceful.

Li Longji stood under the pillars of the hall, looking at the chaotic and noisy scene in the palace that he had never seen before, and his expression was barely visible. Gao Lishi stood behind him in a panic expression, wanted to urge him but did not dare to urge him. Finally, he couldn't help it and said softly: "Your Majesty, the Yulin Guard has gathered, and the imperial guards have also loaded the carriage. Your Majesty is time to set off."

Li Longji did not move.

Gao Lishi said anxiously: "Your Majesty, the rebels have broken through Tongguan and will soon arrive in Chang'an. If they do not leave at this time, they will never be able to leave after the rebels besieged the city."

Li Longji raised his head, tears swelled, and sighed sadly: "I...I am sorry to my ancestors and the people, I am guilty!"

Gao Lishi comforted him: "It's just a temporary avoidance. Your Majesty does not need to blame himself. There are still millions of royal troops in the Tang Dynasty. In a short time, the royal troops will recover Chang'an and the world for Your Majesty. The rebels will not win the hearts of the people and will not be able to be proud for a long time."

Looking at the black smoke rising from afar outside the palace, Li Longji sighed and said, "I sent an order to keep Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Gao Xianzhi and other generals to stay in Guanzhong to continue fighting the enemy. I will delegate power to them. I can allow them to summon troops from various states, and also allow them to recruit young and strong people on the spot as united soldiers. I will tell the court officials in the capital that if you are willing to leave the capital and who are willing to stay in Guanzhong to fight the enemy, I will agree."

"Walking with Yulin Guards to clear the national treasury, not leaving a meter or a millet to the rebels. Those in the capital who are willing to walk with me will also allow it."

Gao Lishi hurriedly wrote down one by one and ordered the eunuch to go and pass the order quickly.

After a long time, Li Longji said again: "Where is my wife? Come on, Mrs. Xuan."

Gao Lishi ordered the palace maid to invite Yang Guifei.

Concubine Yang has been much clearer than before. Since Li Longji spoke unscrupulously last time, she seemed to have seen the nature of this Emperor Taiping overnight. Her relationship with him has been cold and close these days, and the two can no longer find the sweet and loving time of the couple.

Li Longji still favors him, but Yang Guifei woke up.

After seeing Li Longji, Yang Guifei saluted her. Li Longji helped her up and said softly: "My wife, the guards of Tongguan are not good and have been broken by the rebels. They are about to point troops to Chang'an. I will leave Beijing for a tour of luck with you. I will avoid it for a while and wait for the future..."

Yang Guifei's eyelids drooped, and she said softly.

Seeing Yang Guifei's calm and composed appearance, she seemed to be in no hurry to besiege the rebels, Li Longji couldn't help but be surprised. Thinking of Yang Guifei's cold attitude towards him these days, Li Longji sighed and could no longer bear to say hurtful words such as beauty.

"In this way, my wife will get on the carriage quickly. I decided to go to Shu to avoid it for a while. It is my wife's hometown. I will see where you grew up, how about it?" Li Longji smiled docilely.

Upon hearing this, Yang Guifei finally showed a hint of excitement in her eyes, and then she quickly recovered as before, and she lowered her eyelids and said softly: "Yes."

Seeing that her attitude was still cold, Li Longji sighed helplessly, climbed the imperial chariot parked in the palace gate with her, and then ordered the departure.

Outside the palace gate, countless court officials gathered. The Yulin Guards lined up to separate the people. The imperial chariot left the palace. The eunuchs and palace maids followed behind were thousands of people. Everyone was holding exquisite and luxurious objects in their hands. The court officials cried and knelt on both sides of the avenue, and the people were crying.

Li Longji sat in the imperial chariot, feeling sad and uncomfortable, but he didn't even have the courage to lift the imperial chariot bead curtain and meet his subjects.

The Nine Five Emperors created a grand era, but Lin Lao was defeated by the rebels outside Chang'an City. His heroic reputation was all over the world. Li Longji felt ashamed and had no face to face the court officials.

The soldiers of the Yulin Guard pioneered the way, and thousands of eunuchs and palace maids walked out of the palace gate silently. After the ceremonial guard, the imperial chariot that Li Longji and Yang Guifei rode slowly out, and the crying and howling of subjects outside the palace became even louder.

Among the crying crowd, someone suddenly asked loudly: "When will Your Majesty return to Chang'an?"

The voice came into the imperial chariot, and Li Longji burst into tears, ordered the imperial chariot to stop, lift the pearl curtain and stand out.

When the subjects saw the emperor appear, they all bowed to the ground and called me to the emperor on the mountain.

Li Longji looked at the dark crowd in tears, and choked and said loudly: "I will come back, the Tang Dynasty is still the Tang Dynasty!"

The crowd also burst into tears, and everyone bowed to the ground to say goodbye to the emperor, asking the emperor to take care of him one after another.

No matter how foolish or confused he was in his later years, he had half a lifetime of wisdom and benefited the people of the world. Whether it was the kindness of his predecessors or the right time and place, he did create the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The word "prosperous Tang Dynasty" still shines in history books until a thousand years later, emitting a brilliant light through the old and old pages.

The emperor left the capital and went out of the city to visit the southwest. The princes, powerful officials and people in the city all went with the emperor. In the huge Chang'an City, half of the population was reduced in one day.

The prince Li Heng also flowed out of the city with people. After leaving the city, he said goodbye to Li Longji alone. The father and son looked at each other through the pearl curtains of the imperial chariot, and each performed a good show of kindness and filiality. Then Li Heng led the prince to lead the guards to another direction.

After accepting Gu Qing's suggestion, Li Heng decided to stay in Guanzhong to fight the rebels. After discussing with the counselors and aides of the Eastern Palace, he felt that Gu Qing's suggestion was very correct. Staying in Guanzhong outweighed the disadvantages and was of great benefit to consolidating the status of the Eastern Palace.

Outside Chang'an City, subjects who did not want to leave came out of the city one after another, stood outside the city gate, kneeled to pay homage to the emperor's chariot that was leaving, and cried drifted in the air that was about to come.

The monk stood beside the road wearing a cassock, still chanting the scriptures with a calm expression. The sound of Sanskrit sounds soothe people's panic and sad hearts.

They are the only mercy and peace left in this city.

…………

Geshuhan was carried down from Tongguan by his personal guards, and Tongguan was broken. The guards hurriedly found two horses and fixed them side by side. Then, a simple platform was made with wooden blocks between the two horses. Geshuhan, who was unconscious, was carried on to the platform by his personal guards and hurriedly fled to Chang'an.

The country's fortunes are in decline, and it will be a major disaster when it hits the head of an individual.

The personal guards had no time to imagine what kind of chaos the monarch and ministers in Chang'an would be after Tongguan was destroyed, and whether the emperor would punish Geshuhan. The only important thing in their eyes at this moment was to take Geshuhan to escape from Tongguan.

The unconscious Geshuhan was unconscious and the two horses climbed hard on the mountain road. The guards beat the horse hard without any pity. The horses cried and moved forward with great effort.

Many people were following behind the guards, all of whom were soldiers of Hexi Army. When Geshuhan was unconscious on the city, his morale finally collapsed. Hexi Army soldiers also lost hope of guarding the pass and fled from Tongguan with unconscious Geshuhan.

Even if Ge Shuhan was awake, he could not blame them. Compared to the Chang'an army who fled in panic as early as when they were attacked by fire, the Hexi army insisted until the last moment when Tongguan was about to be broken.

Nearly 10,000 people were walking on the rugged mountain road. After walking for a whole day, when passing by a market town, the guards found a doctor with ordinary medical skills in the market town. After prescribing Geshuhan's prescription and feeding them, Geshuhan finally woke up.

After awakening, Ge Shuhan's expression was stiff and he could no longer speak. His whole body could not move. Only his eyes could turn, and he could convey his thoughts to his personal guards with difficulty.

It took a long time for the personal guard to guess what Ge Shuhan was going to say.

What Ge Shuhan wants to express is that he cannot go to Chang'an.

The personal guard immediately understood what he meant. Tongguan was broken, and Chang'an City was the next target of the rebels' attack. Going to Chang'an was like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.

So, where will you go next?

The personal guard took out the map, and Geshuhan stared at the city on the map. The personal guard followed his gaze and saw Hangu Pass.

Then the personal guard understood what Geshuhan meant.

There were still 10,000 Hexi troops left, and Geshuhan wanted to lead troops to Hangu Pass and continue to fight against the rebels.

The guards gritted their teeth and nodded. The group carried the unconscious Geshuhan and led 10,000 Hexi troops to Hangu Pass.

After walking for two days, a team of cavalry suddenly came towards him on the rugged mountain road. The leading knights held high flags with the words "Shen, the Forward of the Anxi Protectorate" embroidered on them.

Finally meeting a friendly army, Geshuhan's personal guard couldn't help but scream excitedly.

The cavalry on the opposite side accelerated and came forward. The general who looked like a captain glanced at Ge Shuhan on the horse's back and said in a deep voice: "Is the Lord the Hexi Army affiliated?"

The personal guard said excitedly: "We are the Hexi Army. This is the Hexi Jiedushi Geshu Jieshuai. We... have just come down from Tongguan."
Chapter completed!