Prince Li Heng left with two thousand imperial troops, and most of Chen Xuanli's soldiers rebelled. Li Longji and all the princes and princesses in the palace, along with a group of internal servants and maids, no longer had any military protection.
Zhou Jun and his three hundred personal guards became the emperor's only support when he fled westward.
After packing up everything in the camp, under the command of Zhou Jun, everyone left the sad place of Maweipo and continued walking westward.
After traveling for a day and a night, Li Longji and his party finally arrived at Fufeng County.
Ever since he was strangled to the point of fainting by Bai Ling in Mawei Slope, Yang Yuhuan had a high fever and was in a coma. Even though the imperial doctor prescribed medicine, he was still not feeling well.
Li Longji ordered Yang Yuhuan to stay temporarily in Fufeng County in order to let Yang Yuhuan recover.
At night, the princes and princesses who escaped from Chang'an City finally had a full meal in Fufeng County.
Zhou Jun entered the side hall and discussed with Li Longji how to deal with it next.
After experiencing the Maweipo Incident and running around for several days, Li Longji showed signs of fatigue and his energy was not as good as before.
He looked at Zhou Jun and sighed: "I know people badly and mistakenly regard traitors as loyal ministers. In the end, if Zhou Jun hadn't come to save him, I would have died on the way."
Zhou Jun cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, a horse's strength can be seen from a distance, and a person's heart can be seen from time to time."
Li Longji suddenly remembered that Zhou Jun's wife and children were still alive and dead, so he asked: "When I left the city, I asked my chamberlain to pick up Nanniang and Xiao'er, but they were declined. I don't know how they are doing now.
?”
Zhou Jun: "When I passed through Chang'an, I arranged for them to go north to Liangzhou."
Li Longji frowned and said, "Xiliang is a bitterly cold place. Xiao'er is young and weak, so I don't know if he can adapt."
Zhou Jun: "Now there are wars everywhere. Xiliang has Shuofang Army, Anxi Army and Beiting Army guarding it, so it has become the safest place. Moreover, I plan to go to Shuofang to fight next and leave them in Liangzhou.
Easy to take care of."
Li Longji nodded, hesitated for a while, and asked Zhou Jun: "I have been living in the palace for a long time. Is the frontline war really so...unfavorable?"
When Zhou Jun heard this, his face remained calm, but he was already scolding in his heart.
It's not just bad, it's downright terrible.
On the western front, the two capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang fell into the hands of the rebels; on the southern front, Nanyang City, the gateway to the south of the Yangtze River, was besieged by tens of thousands of rebels. There was a shortage of food in the city, and even the rats were eaten.
The cannibalism was about to begin; as for the northern front, the troops of Guo Ziyi and Pugu Huai'en had originally surrounded Jiumen, but due to a sneak attack on the grain road by Shi Siming, they had to suspend the siege and gave up the victory.
He thought so in his heart, but Zhou Jun couldn't say it in his mouth. If he really scared Li Longji, the latter would probably run away immediately.
Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty, compared with the rebel army, the Tang army has similar armament and similar strength, but there is only one thing that is inferior to it."
Li Longji: "What's the matter?"
Zhou Jun: "Morale."
Li Longji: “How is the morale?”
Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty, please think about it. The rebels have just captured Chang'an and the two capitals of Luoyang, and their morale is very high. But when the Tang army heard that the capitals were lost, and your Majesty doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, isn't it true that their morale is low?"
Hearing this, Li Longji nodded slightly.
Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty is the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty. As long as the soldiers can see your Majesty, they will naturally fight bravely to kill the enemy."
Li Longji asked Zhou Jun: "In your opinion, what should we do now?"
Zhou Jun: "Both east and west have been lost, and it is useless to stay in Guanzhong. Your Majesty, why not go to Lingwu on a northern patrol. There are Anxi Army, Beiting Army and Shuofang Army there. These three armies are the most elite in the Tang Dynasty.
Military strength. If Your Majesty can show up, the soldiers will be inspired, and the battle against the rebellion will have a chance of victory."
Li Longji was a little hesitant after hearing this.
He originally wanted to take refuge in Shu, where the terrain was dangerous and far away from the disasters of war.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun advised again: "The Tang Dynasty is at the critical moment of life and death. As the Holy Lord, Your Majesty, if you don't stand up, the world will probably fall into the hands of the rebels."
Li Longji was a little moved, but still hesitant.
At this moment, Gao Lishi quickly came to the door and said urgently: "Your Majesty, the imperial concubine is awake."
When Li Longji heard this, he stood up suddenly and hurried to the rear compartment.
At this time, Yang Yuhuan was lying on the bed. He had woken up, but his cheeks and forehead were red and he still had a slight fever.
Li Longji took Gao Lishi and entered the door of the rear bedroom.
When the female officials and maidservants saw that His Majesty was coming, they all asked for permission and made way.
Li Longji sat next to Yang Yuhuan and saw that the marks on the latter's neck were still vaguely visible. He felt sad and guilty at the same time.
"Yuhuan, Yuhuan, I'm here to see you."
Following Li Longji's soft call, Yang Yuhuan slowly opened his eyes.
Her vision was a little distracted at first, but when she saw Gao Lishi behind Li Longji, her eyes widened in an instant and she shouted in a sad voice: "Don't come here!"
Gao Lishi was stunned for a moment, then quickly knelt on the ground, his head pounding: "Old slave deserves to die, old slave deserves to die!"
Li Longji glanced at Gao Lishi and said in a deep voice: "Back off."
After Gao Lishi left the room, Yang Yuhuan looked at the roof, his eyes lost focus, and murmured: "Yuhuan dreamed of himself and went to the underworld."
Li Longji said softly: "My beloved, you are still alive, don't think wildly."
Yang Yuhuan continued, minding his own business: "When I was strangled by Bai Ling, my soul slowly came out of the body, and was hooked into the underworld by the evil messenger. The judge looked at the book of life and death and told me that my life span has expired and there is no need to
No longer miss the things in this world."
Li Longji's heart ached when he heard this, and he stretched out his five fingers, trying to hold the imperial concubine's hand.
Yang Yuhuan retracted his arm without leaving a trace, avoided Li Longji, and said again: "I was about to be driven into the underground palace. Suddenly I heard a loud shout from the sky above the underworld. Someone said that I was coming to rescue you. Is this concubine's soul like this?"
Then it drifted back into the body."
Li Longji believed in the theory of ghosts and gods. When he heard this, he couldn't help but sigh: "The person who came to save me was Zhou Erlang. It was he who saved me and my beloved concubine."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After hearing this, Yang Yuhuan asked for details.
Li Longji then told everything that happened at that time, exactly as it was.
Yang Yuhuan: "So, it was Zhou Erlang who pulled me back from the gate of hell."
Li Longji nodded in agreement.
Yang Yuhuan lowered his head, thought for a moment and asked: "I wonder where Nanniang and Xiaoer are now?"
Li Longji: "Their mother and son went to Liangzhou. There are Anxi Army, Beiting Army and Shuofang Army guarding there. There should be no danger."
Having said this, Li Longji said to Yang Yuhuan: "Tsui Lang suggested to me that we change the route of the patrol to the north."
Yang Yuhuan: "Northern Patrol? Wasn't it originally scheduled to be in Shuzhong?"
Li Longji: "The rebel army has occupied Chang'an and its morale has been greatly boosted. If I don't show up, the Tang Dynasty will be in danger. Besides, my three thousand forbidden troops have rebelled. Now I can only rely on Zhou Lang's personal soldiers to protect the emperor. If Zhou
Erlang is going to Shuofang to fight the rebels at this time, and I don’t even have a single available soldier by my side, so how can I reach the middle of Shu safely?"
Yang Yuhuan, who had been with the emperor for many years, naturally knew Li Longji's character.
The first part of these words is just an excuse, and the second part is the emperor's real thoughts.
Thinking of this, Yang Yuhuan thought of the Yang family, which was massacred by Chen Xuanli until he was left alone. He felt sad and worried at the same time.
If you really go to Shuzhong, without the Yang family to rely on, how can you manage the Yang family branches there and control the hearts of the people on your own?
After thinking about it, Yang Yuhuan persuaded Li Longji: "Your Majesty is the emperor, so he naturally cares about the country. I support the Northern Patrol."
Hearing this, Li Longji no longer hesitated, and finally made the decision to change his route and head north.
At this time, Zhou Jun was in the mansion, discussing plans with Kong You.
Zhou Jun: "If the advice is useless and Your Majesty insists on going to Shu, I will start a backup plan..."
Kong You: "His Majesty suffered two betrayals in one day, and the masterminds of the two betrayals were people close to him. In this case, Zhou Erlang became his life-saving straw. No matter what, he
I won’t give up.”
Zhou Jun: "If Your Majesty can think so, that would be the best. As long as the Holy Master is brought to Lingwu, and then he can gain the military power of Shuofang Army. Then the battle with the rebels will be easy."
many."
After saying this, neither Zhou Jun nor Kong You looked relaxed, and both of them looked sad.
Zhou Jun is sad because the new history, compared with the history books, has become more and more out of control.
Take the strength of the rebel army as an example.
In the history books, when An Lushan raised his army, he had only 150,000 troops under his command. After the capture of Chang'an, despite a series of recruiting, dispatching and capturing troops, the peak strength only reached about 270,000.
However, in this new history, due to the long-term civil strife in Uighur, Hebei took the opportunity to engulf the Mobei tribe and gained tens of thousands more soldiers. Bi Sichen replaced Feng Changqing and went to Luoyang to recruit 60,000 new soldiers. As a result, he was defeated at Hulao Pass.
As a result, Anlu Mountain gained another 30,000 young captives for nothing; Ge Shuhan originally had a honeymoon period with Yang Guozhong in the history books, but in the new history, because of Zhou Jun's incident, the two were in the same boat, and they ended up being in the same boat.
All the 200,000 troops from Tongguan were brought out, and most of the prisoners were provided to the rebels for no reason.
Calculated in this way, the peak strength of the rebels in New History after capturing Chang'an has reached an astonishing 400,000.
This number is more than 100,000 more than the rebels in the history books, and is even basically the same as the number of standing armies in the Tang Dynasty in the past.
Zhou Jun was not only unexpected that history had changed to this extent, but also suffered from a headache.
Just as he was scratching his head, Zhou Jun noticed that Kong You had a solemn look on his face and couldn't help but ask: "Bo Hong, what are you thinking about?"
Kong You cupped his hands and said, "Master, you are worried about something."
Zhou Jun: "What's the matter?"
Kong You: "The thing I'm worried about is the prince."
Zhou Jun was stunned: "What happened to Li Heng? He has been demoted to a commoner by His Majesty."
Kong You: "Although His Majesty wrote the imperial edict to depose the prince, Luoyang and Chang'an are now in enemy hands, rebels are gathering on all sides, and most of the official post offices have been abandoned. After the imperial edict is written, it will be impossible to reach all states and counties across the country."
After Zhou Jun heard this, he finally realized that the imperial edict must be conveyed through the post offices of various prefectures and counties.
Once the official post is paralyzed, the imperial edict will not be able to reach the lower levels, and its effectiveness will be greatly reduced. What's more, now that the eastern and western capitals and even the imperial court are gone, the situation of decrees being blocked will be even more serious.
Zhou Jun: "Li Heng only has two thousand forbidden troops in his hands, and the army is in chaos right now. Where can he go? His Majesty is patrolling the north, and the three armies of Anbeiting and Shuofang are reorganized. I am afraid that there will be a big battle with Shi Siming next."
When Kong You heard this, he nodded and said: "What the master said is absolutely true. Compared with the prince, Hebei is the key to breaking the situation now."
At this point, the two stopped talking about Li Heng and instead discussed how to deal with Shi Siming in Hebei.