Qin Huaidao was a little stunned when he heard the visitor's clueless words, but he quickly reacted and said with a smile: "General Niu, do you think I am someone who wants to rebel?"
"I don't know much about you, so it's not like that, but people's hearts are unpredictable, so I came here to take a look and need a definite answer from you. Do you want to say no?" the visitor asked with wide eyes.
"The prince told you, right? Tell me how the prince bewitched you." Qin Huaidao did not explain, but asked, already having a guess in his mind.
"The Holy One sent you to the Anbei Protectorate to quell the rebellion, but you came here in defiance of the imperial edict and gathered troops from all ethnic groups along the way. What if you weren't going to rebel? I, Lao Niu, am a rough man, but I know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. You want to rebel?
You have to step over the corpse of my old cow." The other party said coldly.
"Actually, you don't believe that I will rebel, so come here to verify it, right? Let's sit down and chat?" Qin Huaidao smiled and sat down first. The visitor hesitated for a moment and then sat down. Qin Huaidao continued: "General Niu, this general
You won’t believe me if I say there was no rebellion. Let me ask you something. The imperial court sent Xue Wanche to replace Hou Junji and lead the army to quell the rebellion. Where is Xue Wanche?”
"Xue Wanche occasionally felt cold and was unable to take command. The army was led by Hou Junji."
"Even if you feel cold? That means you are under house arrest."
Qin Huaidao sneered, stared at the other person and asked: "General Niu, you and Hou Junji are old partners. We have fought against Gaochang together. We are close friends. We are supposed to be suspects, but I have heard about your character and your loyalty to the Holy Emperor."
Geng Geng, I would like to ask you now as a hussar general, do you want to follow the prince to rebel against the imperial court?"
"The prince is against the imperial court?" the other party shouted in disbelief.
"It seems that the prince has disguised himself very well, even you have hidden it. I, the general, have fought a battle with the rebels before. You must have heard that if I want to rebel, I will fight with the people of the Shanyu Protectorate? And now I
The general is surrounded. If I were a rebel, why did I come all the way to be surrounded? Do rebels fight rebels?"
The person who was talking fell silent. He thought about it and said bluntly: "That's exactly what happened. That's why I came over to ask, what's going on?"
"This matter can be easily solved. Don't believe anyone's words. Just believe in the Holy One. The Holy One asked you to quell the chaos. If you don't know what to do, you can wait and see, so as not to be taken advantage of. You can also write to the court, but you have to send your confidants.
People must go in separate groups, otherwise they will be intercepted and killed. It is best to send messages by mouth, not letters, otherwise you will be very passive."
The visitor was a little moved when he heard these words, and his tone was not so cold: "To tell you the truth, I did send someone back to Chang'an, but there is no news so far. I am afraid that he was intercepted and killed as you said, and General Hou Junji was imprisoned by the army.
Keep it under control, I, Lao Niu, are all pretending to be scouts, otherwise I won’t be able to see you, what’s going on?”
"General Niu, how many people are there like you?"
"There are three others who are also confused."
"Since you are pretending to be a scout, you can't take too long. General Niu, please go back quickly and tell the other three people not to be deceived. Of course, you don't need to believe me. You just need to control your own army and not participate in the war. If
When the prince pressed him, he used the excuse that the imperial edict only required quelling the rebellion. Believe it or not, the prince would never let you attack the rebels because they have already reached a cooperation and the content of the cooperation is not clear yet."
"Can I trust you?" The other party hesitated.
Qin Huaidao smiled and said: "General Niu, I have just said that you don't need to trust anyone, you just need to act in accordance with the imperial decree. If the imperial decree tells you to quell the chaos, you should quell the chaos and don't do anything else. Even if something happens, in the future
It won't be blamed on you, what does General Niu think?"
"Your suggestion is very pertinent. At least it is not like the prince slandering you for rebelling and asking us to send troops every day. Instead, it is thinking for us. So, I trust you more." The other party said, stood up, clasped his fists and said: "I have offended you so much today.
If it turns out you were right later, I will definitely take the blame and apologize for my rudeness today."
"You're welcome, General Niu. You and my father are equals. We are my elders. We are our own people and should support each other. By the way, can you tell me how many troops and horses you can command?" Qin Huaidao asked.
"Thirty thousand is barely enough, but no more."
"That's good. I'd like to ask General Niu to go back and explain the situation to the other generals. The situation is complicated and I haven't fully figured it out yet. What you have to do is to protect yourself. Don't help each other. Contact Chang'an as soon as possible. I'm afraid the only one in this situation is the Holy Lord.
We can only solve this problem by coming here. My general is holding back the rebels to buy time for everyone. I will not take the initiative to attack you. If you attack, you can kill me as a rebel. The Tang Dynasty has only been stable for a few years and cannot withstand the torment. Please
That's it." Qin Huaidao said solemnly, clasping his fists.
The other party returned the salute with cupped fists, turned around and left.
Qin Huaidao sent the people out of the central army tent. Looking at the figures who hurriedly left, he felt inexplicably relaxed. As long as the 30,000 troops in the east remained neutral and remained neutral, the prince would be afraid, leaving 20,000 to 30,000 people to guard him, leaving the remaining 30,000 to guard.
Forty thousand people don't pose much of a threat to themselves.
Not long after, Su Dingfang came up in a hurry, cupped his fists and said, "General, why is General Niu Jinda here?"
"you know?"
"Yes, we worked together under the public account of the Wei Kingdom and fought against the Turks together."
"The prince said that I rebelled and led troops to suppress the rebellion. General Niu didn't believe it and came to visit secretly."
"What...how could the prince do this?"
Su Dingfang's face changed drastically, and a surge of anger rushed to the top of his head. The brothers fought for the imperial court in all directions, doing it with their heads high, but they were suspected of rebellion. How should people accept this?
Qin Huaidao smiled and said: "Don't think too much, that's just the prince's intention, not the emperor's intention."
"ah--"
Su Dingfang had a look of astonishment on his face, and his brain was a little weak. He suddenly reacted, his face changed drastically, and he asked eagerly: "It's not that the Holy One doubted us, but that the Prince framed us. Is he trying to..."
Qin Huaidao quickly interrupted: "Don't talk nonsense without enough evidence. Just be careful and know it in your heart. But General Niu said that we can control 30,000 people immobile, so we will have less pressure. We can just concentrate on dealing with the rebels in the south. As for the east, no
If you take the initiative to attack, of course, you are welcome to kill me if you dare, the Holy Lord will probably come, just wait and see the good show."
"General Xie reminded me that the last general made a mistake and will pay attention to it in the future. Only the Holy Spirit can resolve such a major matter. How dare he?" Su Dingfang had a strange face and his eyes were full of disbelief. He couldn't understand.
"Don't think about it. Keep an eye on the scouts and be careful of enemy night attacks." Qin Huaidao warned. He returned to the Chinese military tent and asked someone to find paper and pen, and listed the recent events and the news that had been obtained from previous negotiations with Li Jiancheng.
, explain in detail, after sealing it, the situation became difficult. The military report was too important. There must have been many people arranged by the prince to intercept and kill the person who sent the message on the way. Who should be sent to deliver it?
"Report!"
Su Dingfang's voice came from outside.
"Come in." Qin Huaidao shouted, putting the battle report close to his body.
Soon, Su Dingfang opened the door and came in, cupping his hands and saying: "General, all tribes have come to report that they have contacted their own people and will find an opportunity to come over tonight. There are quite a few people. How should we arrange it?"
"Let them settle near the river and be at arm's length with the camp. They are not allowed to rush into the camp, otherwise they will be shot to death by random arrows." Qin Huaidao warned, it is necessary to be on guard against others. If it is a false surrender, it will be great fun to kill them.
.
"Understood, there is one more thing. A group of people came outside, saying they are the general's slaves."
"House slave? Let's take a look." Qin Huaidao said in surprise. He stood up and came out. He saw ten people not far away, surrounded by pro-army troops. The distance was a bit far, and the moonlight was insufficient, so he couldn't see clearly. He stepped forward out of curiosity.
go.
"Young Master." The ten people saluted one after another, their eyes extremely eager.
Qin Huaidao recognized the people from the village protection team at a glance. His eyes lit up and he asked: "Why is it you? Hurry, everyone is gone. We are our own."
The vigilant soldiers put down their repeating crossbows and moved away.
A team member stepped forward excitedly and said: "Young master, that's great. We followed the target here. We saw the young master fighting with others during the day. We thought we were mistaken. After discussing it, the brothers decided to come over and confirm it.
It’s best to prevent anyone from pretending to be someone else.”
Qin Huaidao then remembered that Xue Rengui had arranged for a team of people to follow Li Jiancheng. Unexpectedly, they had followed Li Jiancheng here. They were all much thinner, but in good spirits. He patted the team leader on the shoulder with satisfaction, looked at everyone and said, "They are all good, hurry up."
Come to my account and tell me the situation, there happens to be something you need to do."