Chapter 359 Mawei Slope (2)

Yang Guozhong slowly walked out of the carriage and walked listlessly into the palace. He actually used three decrees to proclaim him. What else could he do? It was so difficult to ask him Yang Guozhong to charge in a helmet and armor?

"Secretary Yang stays there!"

As soon as he walked through the palace gate, he heard someone calling him behind him. Yang Guozhong looked back and saw someone jumping out of another carriage. Feng Fenghuohuo ran towards him. When he approached, he saw that it was Wei Jiansu, the Minister of War. He saw that his eyes were covered with bloodshot, his face was black, and he looked haggard.

Yang Guozhong suddenly felt relaxed. It seemed that Wei Jiansu was working hard and his pressure was reduced by half. He was the Minister of War. Who would take responsibility for the dispatch of troops if he didn't take it?

"Haha! Was Wei Shangshu also summoned by the emperor?" Yang Guozhong asked sympathetically, but his tone contained a little gloating.

"Prime Minister! Now that the enemy is in front of us, we must unite and retreat to the emperor for the sake of our plan, and we should not be like you..."

Yang Guozhong's carelessness made Wei Jiansu a little angry. If he hadn't tried his best to instigate the emperor to let Ge Shuhan come out of seclusion to meet the enemy, would this be the situation today?

"What's wrong with me? Secretary Wei, you have to make it clear!" Yang Guozhong's voice immediately raised, and the rogue's true nature was exposed again. He pointed at Wei Jiansu and scolded: "You are the Minister of War. Of course, you should bear the responsibility of Ge Shuhan's departure from customs. The situation today is completely incompetent to the Ministry of War. Wouldn't it be for me, Yang Guozhong?"

"You..." Wei saw Su trembling all over when he saw that he was so angry that he shook his sleeves, ignoring him, and then strode forward.

"It turns out that I want the evil people to complain first. Why are you doing so quickly?" Yang Guozhong still chased after him unyieldingly. He followed Wei Jiansu and said angrily: "If you don't go to complain, would Wei Shangshu want to take responsibility?"

Wei saw Su strode forward with a gloomy face and without saying a word, but Yang Guozhong became more and more energetic as he spoke. He sarcastically said, "I think Wei Shangshu wants to retire and return home!"

"Enough!" Wei Shangshu finally couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted angrily: "Yang Guozhong, do you still have the slightest degree of a prime minister? Please respect yourself!"

His voice was very loud, and all the eunuchs and guards were stunned by Wei Jiansu's anger. It was less than twenty steps away from the Imperial Study Room. The emperor would hear such a loud sound.

Sure enough, Gao Lishi poked his head out of the room and waved his hands to the two of them to make them quiet.

Wei Jiansu was a little regretful, so he quickly walked to Gao Lishi and whispered to him: "Is it convenient for the emperor now?"

Gao Lishi nodded slightly, "Come in together!"

Li Longji was lying on the dragon throne, looking at the roof with his eyes blankly. Tongguan was lost, Geshuhan and the 300,000 troops were missing. Everything happened so suddenly and unexpectedly, which made Li Longji feel that he thought he was a pitiful little dead leaf, which was blown and ravaged by the storm. His eyelashes were beating up and down, as if sand fell into his eyes. He was half open, and there was no trace of blood on his pale face. He was both panicked and scared. He seemed to see countless ferocious rebels rushing into Chang'an, into the palace, dragging him down from the dragon throne, and then sat on it by the man who was as fat as a pig.

Then, Yang Yuhuan was dragged out of the inner palace.

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‘My Yuhuan!’ Li Longji sat up, obviously Yang Yuhuan activated his vitality.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yang and Secretary Wei are here!" Gao Lishi reported to him at the right time.

"Let them come in!" Li Longji sat upright tiredly. What's the use of them?

"My minister Wei Jiansu meets His Majesty!"

"My dear Yang Guozhong, please see Your Majesty!" At this time, Yang Guozhong seemed very low-key. Standing behind Wei Jiansu, Wei Jiansu's body blocked Li Longji's view.

Li Longji sneered. Who could Yang Guozhong hide this little trick from? But at this time he was no longer interested in these details. He smiled bitterly and said to them: "Ge Shuhan has been burdened with my heavy trust and has actually lost Tongguan. It is useless to blame him now. Now I ask two of you to discuss countermeasures. One of you is the right prime minister and the other is the Minister of War. I hope you two will not refuse and think of a complete solution for me."

When Yang Guozhong heard that he had put the blame on Geshuhan, his nervous heart was relieved. He walked to Wei Jiansu and bowed to Li Longji: "Your Majesty, I have been the chief minister of Yizhou. I know that the land of Bashu is fertile and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. I suggest that Your Majesty be lucky to visit Bashu to observe the cultural customs in Shu."

"This..." Li Longji was a little moved. He also had this idea. Yang Guozhong's suggestion hit his mind. Yang Yuhuan was from Shu. If she returned to her hometown to avoid military disasters, she would definitely be happy to go. His eyes turned and looked at Wei Jiansu with hope. As long as he also supported him, the matter could be decided.

"Your Majesty, no!" Wei Jiansu, who was standing beside him, saw that Li Longji was being persuaded. In a hurry, he took a step forward and said, "If Your Majesty leaves, what should you do if the millions of people in Chang'an do? What should you do if the tombs of the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty and the ancestral temples? Your Majesty, you can't leave!"

"Shangshu Wei, how wrong what you said!" Yang Guozhong said coldly: "There are no soldiers in Guanzhong, and the rebels can reach Chang'an in just two days. Do you want His Majesty to defend the city in person?"

Wei Jiansu ignored him, and he said anxiously to Li Longji: "Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, still has tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Longyou. Your Majesty can order him to serve the king. Now there are 20,000 Yulin troops available in Chang'an. Mobilize the people to go to the city to defend. In fact, as long as you persist for two days, the Anxi army will arrive. Your Majesty, there are not many soldiers available to Anlushan. If he wants to guard the Hedong Army to go south, he will definitely not be able to come. In this way, we may not have no chance. Please think twice!"

"What if Li Qing refused to come to serve the king?" How could Yang Guozhong tolerate Li Qing being over at this time? Once Li Qing led his troops to come, he threatened his position even more than Geshuhan. He immediately retorted: "What Secretary Wei said is based on assumptions. If Li Qing refused to come, if An Lushan came to him, once he surrounded Chang'an, it would be too late for His Majesty to leave. Also, these Yulin soldiers are usually pampered and easy to scare the people. If they let them go to the city to fight, they may be spread out when they see blood. They will be guarded for two days? You can think that I can't even defend for an hour. Your Majesty, you can't take risks. Thirty-six strategies are the best."

"Your Majesty! We must put the country first!"

"Okay! Stop talking." Li Longji was extremely tired. He wanted to leave, but he was unwilling to take on the responsibility of abandoning his ancestral property, so he waved to them, "You all go down!"

When the two of them left, Li Longji paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Although Yang Guozhong advised him to run away, he was quite moved. What Wei Jiansu said was somewhat reasonable, but the risk was too great.

Suddenly, a thought arose from his heart. Why didn’t he establish a crown prince first and ordered the crown prince to guard Chang'an and go to Shuzhong by himself? Once Chang'an does not defend, he immediately announced his appointment, and the responsibility for losing Chang'an will not lie with him. If Chang'an does not lose it, he will come back and continue to be a king.

Thinking of this, Li Longji was greatly inspired. He was about to issue an order, but suddenly hesitated again. According to his original intention, he was to make Li Yu the crown prince, but there were too many people who opposed Li Yu. Once he made him the crown prince, not only would everyone not accept it, but he could not suppress the warlords in the Central Plains. If they eventually led to their own separatist rule, that would be a more serious problem.

Li Longji's head hurt again, and he couldn't make up his mind even after thinking about it, so he had to put this aside. At this time, Gao Lishi whispered: "If the emperor is not sure about his idea, he might as well take a break. If he is in good spirits, he may be able to make up his mind."

Li Longji rubbed his eyes and turned around and asked him, "Eunuch, tell me, what should I do now? Should I leave or not?"

Gao Lishi coughed gently, and then said slowly: "I think your Majesty should make preparations for both."

"Tell me, do I want to hear your opinion?"

Gao Lishi lowered his head humbly and said carefully: "The old slave on Geshuhan's side is probably in danger. Even if he still has troops back, he cannot enter Tongguan. The reason why the rebels occupy Tongguan and do not march immediately may be that the battle on Geshuhan's side is not over yet. This is an opportunity. Your Majesty should pack up his things immediately and prepare to leave the capital at any time. On the other hand, he will also send someone to go to Li Qing to serve the king. Even if he cannot catch up with the rebels entering Chang'an, he can at least protect His Majesty to enter Shu safely."

"Does the eunuch not agree with me staying in Chang'an?" Li Longji's voice trembled a little. Gao Lishi has always been a person he trusted. If he also agrees that he leaves Beijing, there is really no need to stay in Chang'an again.

Gao Lishi sighed and said, "Shu Wei's idea is good, but he is a little bit of scholarly aura. Who has the heart to defend the city as the rebels pointed out? As long as they catch thousands of people, they will kill them in public. If they say that the surrender is not killed, then Chang'an will collapse. It is really like Yang Xiangguo said, it would be good to be able to stay for an hour, so I am not advocating the safety of His Majesty. "

Gao Lishi's words finally made Li Longji make up his mind. He immediately issued an order: "Transfer my will to be appointed Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, as the prince of Anxi, with a fief of 5,000 households, and was also granted the title of the three departments of Kaifu Yitong. All the generals under him were promoted to the next level and ordered them to go to Beijing to quickly serve the king."

When the order was issued, Li Longji felt much more relaxed. He turned around and smiled at Gao Lishi and said, "As a matter of fact, only the eunuchs know my heart. The eunuchs also have family members. I will give you two hours off. You can take your wife and children and grandchildren to the palace."

Seeing that there was no one around, he whispered, "Remember, we're going to take it from the Daming Palace."

Gao Lishi got the fake and rushed back to the mansion in a hurry. Although he advised Li Longji to make preparations, he was actually panicked, not all for himself, but for his precious grandson. All his hopes were placed on this smart grandson. Once An Lushan entered the city, how could he not take revenge on himself?

Along the way, I saw Chang'an in chaos, and every household was opening its doors to pack things. Chunming Street was full of black carriages, and on both sides of the carriage were more than a dozen people who helped the elderly and the young. Each of them showed horror, carrying large and small bags on their shoulders, and anxious shouts from time to time in the crowd. Everyone tiptoed to visit the east. This was the carriage convoy in the East City, blocking Tonghua Gate. At this time, the once prosperous brothels and restaurants were silent. Only Taibai Building barely opened for business. Gao Lishi felt unstoppable, but he did not dare to stop and urgently ordered the carriage to return home.

Gao Lishi's mansion was very close to the Daming Palace. As long as his family was in the mansion, he could catch up with it in time. As soon as his carriage approached the gate, through the window, he suddenly saw more than a dozen horses tied in front of the steps, all of which were military horses. The horses were tall and slender, and they were not horses from the Central Plains, but they were a bit like horse breeds that were big. Gao Lishi's heart moved, could it be?

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"Master, someone is looking for it at home!" The old housekeeper handed a post to Gao Lishi.

"I see."

Gao Lishi took the post and glanced at Duan Xiushi, indeed, was a general under Li Qing. "Let him wait for a moment, and I will arrive soon."

He immediately went into the inner house and found his wife to give him a few instructions. Seeing that his family was there, he felt relieved and rushed to the small guest room.

Duan Xiushi had been waiting for nearly half an hour, and his thousand cavalry had arrived in Wugong County. At this time, not only Chang'an City, but also Chang'an counties were in chaos. Except for the county magistrate and the county magistrate, the other minor officials had abandoned their posts and fled. No one was concerned about this army. In the face of disaster, everyone thought of their own family.

Gao Lishi hurried to the small room, but his pace slowed down. Li Qing's people appeared at this time. Will there be any turning point? In his heart, Li Qing is a very visionary person. At this critical moment, he should not react so slowly and stay out of the matter. "He should take action!"

"Let General Duan wait for a long time!" Gao Lishi slowly walked into the room and looked at Duan Xiushi. He saw that he was not wearing military uniforms, but wearing a long robe and a gauze hat. Although he was dressed as a Confucian scholar, his eyebrows and eyes showed a sense of firmness, his waist was straight, and he stood there with high spirits. Gao Lishi nodded secretly, and Anxi's soldiers all had a unique temperament.

"I will meet Gou's last!"

Duan Xiushi bowed to Chief Gao Lishi. Although the other party was a powerful and powerful person, he still bowed in a humble and arrogant manner, and said solemnly: "I will be entrusted by my general, and I will pass a letter to Gao Weng." As he said that, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Gao Lishi with both hands.

Gao Lishi took it, and he was not in a hurry to disassemble it. He only glanced at Duan Xiushi, smiled faintly and said, "Can General Duan lead troops?"

"The last general brought only a small number of troops and was stationed in Wugong County."

"Small amount? How much is a small amount?" Gao Lishi still asked relentlessly. As long as Duan Xiushi led how many soldiers he could calculate Li Qing's strategy.

Duan Xiushi smiled apologetically and said, "Anxi military discipline is strict. For generals, you should not disclose military operations at will. For the generals, you cannot answer."

Gao Lishi smiled and stopped asking. He opened the letter casually and browsed it quickly. Li Qing did not reveal his plans, but only reminded him of the appointment of the crown prince in the letter. "When the situation is critical, the emperor may suddenly establish the Eastern Palace and prepare for the King of Chu as soon as possible."

There was no preface or conclusion, and I just said a few words simply. If ordinary people were sure to find it inexplicable, I don’t know what Li Qing meant, but Gao Lishi understood it. Li Qing meant to take advantage of this defeat crisis to push Li Yu up. This time, Duan Xiushi came here to find his support. ‘In that case, he already had some plans!’ he thought to himself.

"Please tell your general that I understand his meaning. I can support him, but you have to tell him that you should leave three points of room for everything and not do anything too much!" After Gao Lishi said that, he turned around and ignored Duan Xiushi.

As time gradually came to the evening, suddenly, a news came from somewhere. Geshuhan was eager to seek merit and fell into An Lushan's ambush. The 300,000 troops were wiped out near Shanzhou.

At this time, there were already soldiers in Chang'an City. Regardless of whether the news came from the government, most people in Chang'an believed it. If it weren't for this, how could An Lushan seize Tongguan?

At this time, Chang'an City fell into an ant hole like a ball of fire, and the nest exploded in an instant. Some people who were still watching no longer cared about whether their family's property could be preserved. They just hurriedly packed up some fine and soft food, and then joined the fleeing crowd.

In order to prevent the situation from escalating, the main city gates of Mingde Gate, Tonghua Gate, and Jinguang Gate were all closed and people were not allowed to leave the city. Unexpectedly, this caused a deeper panic. The people on the street were running desperately without any intentions, and crying and shouting could be heard everywhere. An Lushan's army had not seen the shadow of the Chang'an City, and it was already in chaos.

As night came, vicious incidents such as smashing and looting began to occur in Chang'an City. Starting from grain shops and salt shops, it slowly spread to Dongshi and West City. Stores that operate jewelry and jade, and shops that sell silk and satin were all robbed by the rioters. Not only the shops, but even the official cabinet shops were hit. The cabinet shops in Dongshi were first hit, the walls were knocked down, the underground treasury was opened, and more than 200,000 stags of copper coins and gold were robbed, and not even a copper coin was left.

The mansions of various powerful people were even more chaotic. If the rebels entered the city, they would be the first to be affected. Although those with positions did not dare to escape without permission, their families could take the lead. In fact, as early as when Gao Xianzhi's first defeat, many smarter families had secretly sent their children and expensive property away, most of them went to Jiannan. Now the defeat was decided, and the families who did not leave first regretted it. While complaining, they arranged vehicles to send their families away.

However, with their efforts, not long after, the gates of the major city gates in Chang'an were opened again, and a huge crowd of escapees suddenly appeared in Chang'an City.

Let’s talk about Yang Guozhong running home and busy packing things. Although the emperor was undecided, he already dared to assert that Li Longji would definitely run away. Just one Yang Yuhuan would make him dare not take the risk of staying.

Yang Guozhong's prime minister has not been a few years old, but his money is full of several warehouses. In the past, he only thought they were too few, but now he complains that they are too many and he is reluctant to leave them. He takes them all away, and he can't even hold them without hundreds of carriages.

Just when Yang Guozhong was at a loss for this matter, news came from the palace that the emperor wanted to lead the imperial army in person and personally led 20,000 imperial guards to fight An Lushan's troops, and had now moved from Xingqing Palace to Daming Palace.

"No! The emperor is going to run away!" Yang Guozhong couldn't react to the matter of people's livelihood and government affairs, but he reacted very quickly with such fraud. There were streets in front and behind Xingqing Palace. Li Longji's running from here would inevitably alarm the whole city. If he wanted to run, he would not be discovered.

"Don't worry about the money, it's important to escape!" Yang Guozhong saw that his wife Pei Rou refused to come out in the money warehouse, so he urgently ordered his sons to pull her out and force her into the carriage to take a step forward, but he hurried to the Daming Palace.

In the Daming Palace, Li Longji sat in Hanyuan Hall with sorrow. When he was a teenager, he led his troops into the hall to kill Empress Wei seemed to be still vivid in his mind, but now he is about to be driven out of Chang'an by the general he promoted himself.

He has been the emperor for more than 40 years, and every brick and wood here has a relationship with him. He doesn't want to leave, but he has to leave. He has received an letter of persuasion from An Lushan, accompanied by Geshuhan's surrender letter. The 300,000 Tang troops were wiped out, and his last trace of luck has been shattered.
To be continued...