An Lushan leaned against the wall of the carriage, cold sweat dripping down his cheeks. He held the rubbing in his hand as if he were holding a hot potato. The seven characters on the rubbing were both a strong temptation and a call to destruction.
When Yan Zhuang and Gao Shang saw this scene, they knelt down on the ground in excitement, crossed their hands and said, "Congratulations to my lord, congratulations to my lord, this is my destiny, and I will definitely help my lord to achieve great things."
An Lushan gradually regained his composure, but his eyes flickered and wandered. He stared at the two people's faces for a long time, shook his head coldly and said: "It is not appropriate to talk about such important matters in this wilderness, wait until we return to Fanyang
Say it again."
Yan Zhuang and Gaoshang looked at each other, and at the same time crossed their hands and said, "Here."
Joy flashed across their faces. It seemed that An Lushan was calm on the surface, but privately he was very concerned about this matter. Their years of planning were probably coming to fruition soon.
Yan Zhuang then added: "I'm afraid that if the saint knows about this, he will not be able to tolerate us. My lord should have made plans in advance."
"What do you know? The saint is old and comatose now. He only wants comfort in his old age. As long as there is no imminent danger, he will definitely not believe it. Please be patient and wait until we return to Fanyang before making plans."
He suddenly frowned again and said: "In order to prevent Yang Guozhong from making slanderous remarks, we'd better speed up, order the team to roll up the ceremonial flag, and travel day and night to the Yellow River. Gao Shang, you ride two fast horses to the water station first, and then
Clippers are arranged along the Yellow River, go quickly!"
Gao Shang crossed his hands and said, "Here."
Although An Lushan behaved calmly, the journey back to Fanyang was very urgent and embarrassing. It took one day to reach the hundred-mile journey from Tongguan to the Yellow River. He couldn't wait to board the ship and followed the Yellow River down the river.
Marching, passing through counties and prefectures without stopping? It only took more than 20 days to return to Yingzhou
…
Li Longji sat quietly in the sandalwood alchemy hall of Jiaotai Hall in Xingqing Palace. On the wall opposite was a rubbing with white characters hanging on it, with a tangled melancholy on his face.
Gao Lishi entered the hall with a fly whisk in his hand. Seeing the sadness on the saint's face, he already understood seven or eight points.
"Your Majesty, please come to the palace to have a meal with your Majesty."
The emperor opened his eyes, pointed to the rubbings on the wall and asked, "Gao Lishi, could you tell me? Who forged this thing?"
Gao Lishi considered his words and said: "How many years has An Lushan been operating in Fan Yangpinglu? There are many people in the court who have offended, and anyone can do it. However, the conflict between him and Li Siye is the deepest at the moment. Is it possible that Li Siye did this?"
It’s also unknown.”
Li Longji asked again: "What if An Lushan saw this rubbing? What do you think he would think?"
"Your Majesty, An Lushan has always been loyal to you, but people's ambitions will change as they grow up. At the beginning, he was just a small attack envoy, but now he is already a three-man army with more than 200,000 troops.
To suppress the Jiedushi? What you are thinking in your mind must be different from before. The servant knows that your majesty is using him smoothly, and now suddenly remove him? It may cause a lot of inconvenience. But support Li Siye to control each other with him, so that the northwest vassal town also rises strongly?
The situation of two strong powers is not stable. Once one side is weakened, the other side will definitely expand."
The old emperor looked a little unhappy: "I'm just asking you? What will An Lushan think when he sees this rubbing?"
Gao Lishi knelt on the ground, crossed his hands and said sincerely: "If An Lushan sees Tuowen, he will definitely make him disobey."
The master, servant, monarch, and minister know the current situation clearly, but one holds an optimistic and negative attitude, while the other holds a pessimistic and positive view. As the saying goes, the emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuch is in a hurry. The current crisis is like an undercurrent surging under a stable lake.
, the old emperor in front of him is almost not prepared to do anything anymore. He pins the hope of the empire on two unstable factors, thinking that it can be stable until the last few years of his reign. As for what kind of mess the prince will inherit in the future, he may
Never thought about it at all.
He narrowed his eyes and smiled confidently: "Don't worry too much, there is nothing wrong with my arrangements. Li Siye has always been a famous general who is good at fighting, but he took charge of Hexi not long ago, and all the officers and soldiers of the three armies were loyal to the court. An Lushan lived in Hu, Hebei
In the land of transformation, although I support my troops and respect myself, I have given him glory and wealth, but because Li Siye is in the northwest, he will not dare to abandon his wealth and take such a strange risk."
"I have worked hard for half my life. I only hope that I can spend my old age in peace, so you don't have to worry too much."
The emperor was trying to sit up from the ground. Gao Lishi quickly stepped forward to help him. The two staggered out of the alchemy hall. Eunuch Yuan Siyi hurriedly came over and helped the emperor from his godfather's hand.
Li Longji turned around and said: "You are old now. Don't wait around me all day long. Just take care of the affairs in the palace. Go back to your own house tonight."
Gao Lishi retracted his hand helplessly, bowed his body and crossed his hands towards the emperor: "In this case, I will retire first."
The old eunuch staggered to the entrance of the palace, looking back three times at a time. He looked back at the emperor's old figure who was gradually going away, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
…
When Li Siye and Yan Xiaosi returned to Hexi, they passed by Huaqing Palace in Huichang. The Sandalwood Royal Concubine Hot Spring Palace built by Cen Shen here has been completed, and they are just waiting for the emperor to come here with his concubine to spend the autumn and winter in October this year.
He left Huichang with Cen Shen, and the only ones left in Chang'an were Micha Gan and Cao Anding. He didn't have much nostalgia for Chang'an, which he left not long ago, although when he looked back at the palaces on Lishan Mountain, the green under the sun
The glazed tiles have a dazzling luster, like the reflection of the empire.
Li Siye was happy to talk to Cen Shen about some strategic matters, and also told him his experience in the public opinion war with An Lushan in Chang'an. When he heard that stone tablets were used to write prophecies, Cen Shen immediately showed his enthusiasm.
My own worry: "This method is too violent. If An Lushan's ambition is aroused in it, he will speed up the pace of rebellion."
He raised his riding whip and pointed proudly to the northwest and said: "Anlushan has long been rebellious. In recent years, it has raised Hu soldiers and forged weapons privately. All the rewards are from its own hands. Although a piece of prophecy rubbing can make Anlushan stronger.
But it can also make Yang Guozhong understand the situation thoroughly and know who is the greater threat to the court. This is also a helpless move. Yang Guozhong has always been so powerful that he is stupid. If An Lushan disobeys him, he will be angry and report to him. If An Lushan
When we talk about profit and gain with a smile, we will forget about our past evils. Now we are at a critical juncture, and there will be no further changes. We must keep Yang Guozhong tied to the same chariot. Even if we lose a little money and reputation, we must take the overall situation into consideration."
…
After returning to Liangzhou, Li Siye decided to strengthen the cohesion of the army, especially its loyalty to himself. Although he did not have too many ambitions for the time being, the absolute standard for building an army was to have one person. It is best to make the soldiers
Knowing the governor but not the king, the most basic part is team building and rewards and punishments.
He has sufficient financial resources to do this. The annual income of the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce is one-tenth of the rent income of the Tang Empire. At the same time, the four wealthy counties in Hexi also bring a large amount of income to the local finance. From Kaiyuan
Beginning in the early years, the supply of food and salary for local armies has been transferred from the central government to the local governments. Jiedushi also serves as the highest local governor. The income from rents and mediocrities does not need to be turned over to the central government, but is directly used for local construction and military expenditures.
When the local army can be self-sufficient, the military commander controls the birth, old age, illness and death of the soldiers, forming a strong cohesion like parents of food, clothing, and food, and the combat capability increases exponentially. This is the advantage of professional soldiers.
The competition in cold weapon war is the cohesion of the army. The most common army will suffer 5% battle losses in combat, which is enough to defeat it. More than 10% of the casualties will not be defeated. This is an army led by a famous general, and it is even more powerful.
Famous generals such as Qi Jiguang's Qi Jiajun continued to fight even though up to 20% of them were killed.
Therefore, it is very important to strengthen the ideology and loyalty of the army. In the Confucian value system, there is the idea of loyalty such as civil servants admonishing military generals to fight to the death. Second officials and traitors will be despised. For example, Su Wu promoted it as an example, and Guan Yu also promoted correct values.
He was put on the altar again and again. However, value propaganda is only effective for middle- and upper-level generals. For grassroots officers and soldiers with lower levels of illiteracy, having enough to eat is the most important thing.