The memorial sent by Li Siye on a post horse quickly reached the Ming Palace. Everyone in the court never expected that after he defeated hundreds of thousands of the imperial army by driving away tigers and devouring wolves, he actually
He was able to discuss the positions of Henan Yin and Hebei Jiedushi as if nothing had happened. His erratic and bottomless style of conduct made it difficult for everyone in the court to adapt.
The civil servants are in a good mood, but the worst thing is the military attachés. Counting Anlushan and Li Siye, the rebels are like two pieces of rotten meat spoiling the whole pot of soup. Can this still make the emperor believe them? Is this possible?
Are the king and his ministers of one mind? Thinking about it makes people feel sick in their hearts.
Emperor Li Heng convened a court meeting to ask Guo Ziyi, who had been relieved of his duties, as well as generals such as Li Guangbi to discuss countermeasures and how to deal with Li Siye.
"Fellow ministers, please tell me, Li Siye is so ambitious that after annexing tens of thousands of our people in the Tang Dynasty, he also begged the governor of Hebei and Yin of Henan. Did he rebel or not? Why did he still attack me if he rebelled?
Want an official?"
Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi looked at each other. Is there any need to doubt this matter? Since he took away part of the Anxi army in Beiting, Hebei Province before attacking Ye City, he had completely broken with the imperial court. The petition for official position in front of him was nothing more than an excuse.
"Your Majesty." Li Guangbi crossed his hands and said: "Rebellious people can be punished by the whole world. Li Siye is indeed treason. But Weizhou and Xiangzhou where he is at this time are between the imperial court and the rebel forces. Although both sides are
He was defeated completely. He could not fight on two fronts. He should concentrate his forces to solve the hidden dangers in the north first, so he asked for an official position from the imperial court. In fact, he wanted to stabilize the imperial court. "
Li Heng scratched his head and asked, "In Situ's opinion, should I give it to this official or should I not give it to him?"
Li Guangbi said categorically: "Of course not! Your Majesty, after Li Siye led the Hexi Army to mutiny, he suddenly had more than 70,000 soldiers and horses under his command. In the battle in front of the Anyang River in Xiangzhou, the prisoners gathered 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses from the imperial court, and also obtained the rebels' allies.
There are 20,000 Luo Qidan cavalry and Youyan soldiers, and the total strength is already more than 100,000. After he leads his troops north to conquer Shi Siming and Fan Yang's lair, he will recruit troops from Hebei, and the total strength will reach more than 200,000. When he will lead the troops in the future
When the troops move south, what can the court do to resist them?"
"The reason why traitors are hated by the people of the world is because they have created a different faction and attempted to split and overthrow the imperial court. If your majesty lists him as a traitor and punishes the whole world, it will also make the people recognize his traitorous nature. But once your majesty once
By granting him an official position, the people will not be able to distinguish between traitors and loyal ministers, allowing him to take advantage of them. Isn't the situation becoming more and more unfavorable to the court?"
Li Heng nodded firmly. Li Guangbi's advice was quite pertinent, but could the court restrain him just by not granting him an official title?
Cui Huan, the minister of Zhongshu, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, just as Li Situ said, Li Siye intends to go north to attack Shi Siming's home base Fan Yang. This will greatly benefit the court, and we will have enough time to restore our strength and organize the army, and also
They used the strategy of a mantis stalking a cicada and an oriole behind them, and when Li Siye defeated Shi Siming and gained a firm foothold, he concentrated his forces and went north to attack Li Siye."
"So I suggest that we only give him the title of Hebei Jiedu Envoy. This will also stabilize him and not turn around and attack the imperial court. Only in this way can we have a chance to regain our strength."
In fact, the imperial court's defeats in several battles had destroyed all the elite troops the dynasty had. Shuofang's army was directly defeated at the foot of Ye City, and the Hedong Army in Li Guangbi's hands was originally formed later. When the imperial court really had
When the strength was used to deal with the forces of Youyan vassal town, it was already in the late period of Daizong to the period of Dezong.
Li Heng nodded tiredly: "Okay, according to your decision, give him the military governor of Hebei and let him occupy the 26 counties of Hebei."
He turned his attention to the two meritorious ministers below, and the entanglement and suspicion in his heart became more and more intense. When analyzing the similarities and differences between them and the other two traitors, he had to make a thorough analysis.
rest assured.
The two rebels, one a Hu and the other a Han, were the first to possess the strength of the three towns, but An Lushan understood it directly. Li Siye, on the other hand, went round and round. At first he was determined to put down the rebellion and regain Chang'an and Luoyang for the imperial court, but in the end he was
After taking off his military power and entering Chang'an, he was actually allowed to run out and rebel in a daze. It was as if I had forced him to rebel.
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi in front of him both started their careers under his promotion. Because he, Li Heng, had never experienced counter-insurgency and was not familiar with routines, he gave these two people the positions of Sikong and Situ and other three princes in the middle and early stages, which also made their reputation gradually soar.
, but fortunately they don’t have many troops.
Li Heng's mind turned around a lot, and he finally figured out something. The most fundamental reason for An Lushan and Li Siye was that they had heavy troops, which caused them to have different ambitions. If they were just envoys of a town from the beginning,
, with no more than 50,000 troops under their command, can they still come up with unrealistic rebellion plans?
Everyone below looked up in surprise at the movement in Li Heng's eyes, and even his breathing became serious. Li Fuguo, who was standing in front of him, glanced at the emperor and chose not to speak.
The emperor pursed his lips and smiled, and said to Guo Ziyi: "Guo Sikong, I know that this battle is not your fault. I also know that no one can do better than you in such an unsolvable battle. It is just the rule of the court.
It's even bigger, I can't be unreasonable, I want to keep your title of Sikong and stay in Chang'an to rest for a while."
Guo Ziyi quickly knelt down on the ground in fear, bowed and thanked him: "I would like to thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
The emperor glanced at Li Guangbi and his expression became much more serious: "Li Guangbi, you temporarily replace Guo Ziyi as the deputy marshal of the world's troops and the military governor of Shuofang, and will be in charge of the defense of Henan. Your military governor of Hedong will be handed over to Wang Sili, who will be in charge of the defense of Hedong.
, the military governor of Longyou was handed over to Guan Chongsi, and the military governors of the other ministries remained in their original positions. You must take Li Guangbi as the leader and cooperate with his command and dispatch. If there is anything that he cannot command, each of you will have a supervisor.
You can explain all your power to me."
After the emperor finished speaking, everyone fell into silence. What he just said still revealed a strong sense of distrust. Nowadays, the military strength of the military governors in the north is not sufficient, and some only have a few thousand left.
Some of them only have more than 10,000 people left, and they are scattered in places like Guanzhong and Hedong in Henan Province. Even if they add up, they do not exceed 50,000 people. In the current difficult situation, it is more appropriate to concentrate these troops on the line south of the Yellow River, led by Li Guangbi or
Only by having the generals on one side centralized and in charge was Guo Ziyi able to withstand the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses assembled by Li Siye.
Generally speaking, this war is fought by the original team, that is, the Tianbao Tenth Military Envoy who distributed the borders before the rebellion. In addition, the central army of the imperial court is vulnerable, and there are also various regiment training envoys organized by the army.
The local bravery was even less effective in combat. So at the beginning of the war, Hebei, Henan, and Qilu were in a complete armed vacuum, so the Yan brothers and Gao Xianzhi could only spend money to recruit soldiers temporarily.
Therefore, the most effective troops at the moment are the border guards such as Shuofang, Hedong, Hexi, and Anbeiting. However, the newly established military towns such as the Guan Nei Jiedushi, the Henan Jiedushi, and the Huaixi Xiangyang Jiedushi are all under their command.
They were recruited from the local people by force. Many soldiers even had to wear shackles when they were not fighting, otherwise they would run away from the army. How could such an army have any combat effectiveness?
…
The official documents from the imperial court were delivered to Weizhou through the post station. The imperial edict from Feiqi only appointed Li Siye as the military governor of Hebei, but rejected his request to be the military governor of Henan. The subtext revealed in this message was I don't allow it.
You collect grain and grass from the south of the Yellow River. The three states in Hebei he currently occupies have been too severely damaged by the war. The people are in dire straits and cannot supply the army. If there is no supply of grain and grass from Henan and other places, there will not be enough to go north to attack Shi Siming.
The deeper your logistics goes into the enemy's hinterland, the more dangerous it becomes.
Previously, Li Siye ordered Tian Zhen and Yan Xiaosi to lead the Hexi Army north to attack Mingzhou. After defeating Mingzhou, he then attacked Xindu in Jizhou, but encountered considerable resistance. The rebel general Zhang Zhongzhi held on to the city, even with the help of artillery.
difficulty.
When he decided to personally lead his troops to the north, his aide Xu Bin stood up and admonished him: "My lord, I think that the land of Youyan cannot be attacked. Previously, my lord used the oriole behind strategy to defeat hundreds of thousands of the imperial court and Shi Siming's 70,000."
We have obtained a large number of captives, and our troops are temporarily strong. But this is only on the surface, and we have not yet truly digested and absorbed it. Not to mention defeating the battle, my lord, if there is even the slightest setback, these people will flee back to their original positions.
camp."
"Besides, Youzhou, Zhuozhou, Yingzhou and other places are the base where An Lushan has been operating for many years. The city must be strong, and he has hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in the city. If Shi Siming chooses to stick to the city and wait for work, even if we take Youzhou by then, we will definitely lose money.
It's so tragic, doesn't it mean that the imperial court has become a lurking oriole behind the scenes?"
Li Siye held his chin and thought: "Shi Siming's foundation is still shallow, and his influence and control in the land of Youyan is not as good as that of Anlu Mountain. But if we wait for him to rely on the money he robbed to solidify his foundation, we will eradicate the town of Youyan in the future.
I'm afraid this cancer will be in trouble. But if I don't go north, how can I go south and stationed in Luoyang, Henan? But Luoyang is no more dangerous than Guanzhong and Youyan. The food in Hanjiacang is only consumed but not replenished. I'm afraid it has already been exhausted.