The fundamental contradiction in the world and the conflict of interests between the wealthy families and the humble common people... will naturally make the generals of the feudal towns shout "the emperor, he who has strong soldiers and horses will be the emperor"...

~~

"Whose soldiers and horses are surrounding the foot of Shouyang Mountain?"

"Some of them are my soldiers," Zhu Xicai replied, "and some of them are people who stayed behind with Gao Shang."

"Go and recall your troops. Those who are unwilling to surrender will be killed without mercy."

"Here."

Zhu Xicai agreed and carefully observed the troops brought by Xue Bai. They were not many, about three thousand people. Although everyone had horses, they were only wearing light armor and did not bring any food or grass.

Even if he is willing to surrender, counting his troops and Yanshi's regiment training, and recruiting soldiers to expand the army to 6,000 people, several granaries in Yanshi County are empty, and all the food has been transported to Luoyang.

I'm afraid I can't supply so many people and hold on for too long.

Although the rebels were surrounded, more than 100,000 elite troops were in Luoyang and Shaanxi counties. There were also large armies in Xingyang, Kaifeng, Chenliu and other places. When the time came, they would attack from two sides. I don't know how Xue Bai wanted to deal with it.

Of course, since Xue Bai dared to come, there must be reinforcements. The officers and soldiers are in Henan, and Huainan's troops may soon attack Chenliu in a large scale. If Yanshi sends troops to sneak attack the rebels from the rear, the situation will still be favorable to the officers and soldiers.

With this analysis in mind, Zhu Xicai still followed the order and went north, quickly killed dozens of noble men, ordered the remaining soldiers to surrender, and solved the siege of Shouyang Mountain. This was regarded as his surrender to Xue Bai.

Xue Bai led a group of knights behind, and there were people behind him holding a big flag.

He looked up to the top of the mountain with his telescope for a while. When he saw a flag waving, he waved to Zhu Xicai and said, "Follow me to the mountain."

Zhu Xicai was originally unwilling, fearing that Xue Bai would kill him and recruit his troops, but Xue Bai's tone did not allow for rejection, and it didn't look like he was going to use such despicable means, so he only brought a small number of soldiers with him.

Followed up the mountain trail.

Climbing up the winding mountain road and passing through a huge rock canyon, the front suddenly opens up.

This was Zhu Xicai's first time climbing Shouyang Mountain. He originally thought that Luhun Villa was just a small village, like a stronghold of bandits. But gradually, he discovered that it occupies a vast area, much larger than he imagined.

It is clearly a mountain city.

The city wall is connected to the mountain wall, and a high platform is built above it, hidden among the towering trees. Someone is looking out there, and they have already seen Xue Bai.

"Here comes Mr. Lang!"

Following this shout, the mountain door suddenly opened wide, and someone quickly came out.

"Young Master."

"Mr. Yin." Xue Bai's face once again showed the smile of meeting an old friend, and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time."

Yin Liang's steps were a little lame, but he still hurried forward to catch up. He was much older and haggard, with deep crow's feet at the corners of his eyes.

"The Young Master has long said that An Lushan wanted to rebel, but unexpectedly the situation has reached this point."

"The situation in Hebei has been reversed. Don't worry too much." Xue Bai held Yin Liang's forearm, walked into the towering mountain gate, and said: "Kaifeng, Xingyang, and Luoyang have all fallen. It's rare that Mr. Yin is still holding on to a hill.

to date."

"The young master has heard about the matter, but I can't help Master Wang to defend Luoyang. I'm ashamed."

Yin Liang had a lot to say, but he didn't know where to start.

"At that time, the rebel force was raging. Kaifeng and Xingyang fell too quickly, disrupting all plans, and the news with Taiyuan was also cut off. We originally planned to contact Gao Xianzhi to resist together, but before the rebels arrived, the Luoyang defenders appeared

There was a mutiny, and some soldiers called Gao Xianzhi and withheld the gifts from the court. Seeing that Yanshi could not hold on, I retreated to Shouyang Mountain and ambushed Anlu Mountain. When the rebels came to Luoyang City and fought with the defenders, I attacked the rebels with surprise troops.

I thought that with the advantage of firearms, I might have a chance to win by taking them by surprise. But I didn't expect that Luoyang would be lost so quickly."

"It is said that there is no grain storage in Hanjiacang, but is it true?"

Yin Liang nodded and said worriedly: "This matter was mentioned in a letter from Yan County Cheng. The letter did not go into details. He never came back after arriving in Luoyang. Perhaps he and Gao Xianzhi withdrew to Tongguan, but I heard that the saint

Gao Xianzhi was executed by decree, and there has been no news about him since."

Xue Bai asked: "Why did Li Yazhou become the national preceptor of Anlu Mountain?"

"Daozhang Li went to Luoyang with Yan County Prime Minister at that time, and he also brought two carts of gunpowder with the intention of helping Gao Xianzhi arrange his defenses. But at that time, the Luoyang defenders almost collapsed at the first touch. What happened after Gao Xianzhi fled, we don't know.

And I know."

"What happens after that? Has Li Xiazhou contacted you?"

"No." Yin Liang said, "What I'm worried about is that if those two carts of gunpowder are donated by him to Anlu Mountain and used to attack Tongguan, the situation will be bad."

"Where's Fan Lao?"

"I also went with Yanxian Cheng, bringing more than 300 people with me. He must have been caught in the military chaos in Luoyang or arrived at Tongguan."

Yin Liang was a very qualified staff member and official, but he was not a commander-in-chief. In fact, he did not have any combat experience. Facing the great rebellion that came, Luoyang fell quickly. Yan Chunqing, Fan Lao, Li Xiazhou and others

None of them are here, but he has worked hard to support and lead the soldiers and civilians to defend until now. It can be said that he has tried his best.

As he spoke, people who came to greet Xue Bai were already pouring over.

Guo Huan was much older, with gray hair, and he was leaning on a cane. Only the smile on his face remained unchanged. He stood a few steps in front of Xue Bai, hunched his back and raised his head, waiting for Xue Bai.

Bai noticed him while chatting with Yin Liang.

"Guo Lushi, I haven't seen you for a long time."

Guo Huan laughed, as he had almost lost all his teeth in just a few years, and said: "The little old man never thought that he would see the young master again in his lifetime. Thanks to the young master's intelligence, the young old man was saved.

This whole family."

He is much older and more verbose.

Xue Bai stepped forward and said: "With so many soldiers and civilians gathered at Luhun Villa, the reason why people's hearts are not in chaos must be due to Mr. Guo's contribution."

"The little old man handed the book of grain and grass into the hands of the young master, and he will die with peace of mind."

In fact, when Xue Bai was Yanshi Wei, Guo Huan was not necessarily so loyal to him. On the contrary, in the past few years, he became an official in Chang'an and became Guo Huan's biggest supporter in the court. Guo Huan increasingly regarded Xue Bai as his

Live under the door.

"I'll look at the food and grass later. I believe in Mr. Guo's ability."

As he said that, Xue Bai's eyes fell on the rows of private soldiers in the open space in front.

These people were Lao Liang, who was trained by Jiang Hai when he was there. Most of them were selected from the refugees. Although they have not fought many battles, they are more loyal and obey orders. They have been raised over the years and are quite strong, even more so.

What is eye-catching is their armor, weapons, and well-equipped equipment. Even though they are far apart, they can still give people a sense of majesty.

But it still lacks some murderous spirit and must be sharpened by Wang Nan.

Zhu Xicai, who was standing behind Xue Bai, was greatly surprised. He finally took his eyes away from the private soldiers and found that there were rivers and grasslands in the valley, and dozens of war horses.

Although he had just entered Lu Hun Villa, he could already see Xue Bai's hidden strength from the tip of the iceberg. Even if he could not be called a strong soldier, it could be seen that he had been planning for a long time.

This is equivalent to Xue Bai's Xiongwu City.

~~

A group of rebel cavalry rushed outside Yanshi City and looked at the closed city gate with some doubts.

"We are here under the orders of the saint to convey the edict and summon the nobles back to the pilgrimage!"

The horses snorted impatiently, and the knight rode in circles in the snow. After waiting for a while, the city gate did not open, and then he shouted again: "The saint has prepared wine and invited the nobles to come to the banquet."

"What is that?"

The rebel cavalry squinted and looked up, only to find a head hanging on the city gate.

"Swish swish swish."

Arrows from the top of the city kept shooting down at them, leaving several corpses behind in a short while.

So, the injured person who was lucky enough to escape rushed back to Luoyang and brought back a rather ridiculous news.

"Report! Gao Shang can't go to the saint's banquet. He... he seems to be hanging on the top of Yanshi City."

At this time, An Lushan had already seen the soldiers sent back by Gao Shang, and knew that a Tang army was making a surprise attack on Yanshi City, so he summoned Tian Qianzhen and prepared to ask him what he thought. Unexpectedly, the situation turned out to be like this in the blink of an eye.

"How could it be?" An Lushan raised his fat finger and pointed at the two groups of people who rushed to report the news, and said, "It took less than a day, how come such a noble and intelligent person died?"

"Xue Bai."

Tian Qianzhen suddenly spoke with a gloomy tone.

He was a young orphan and lost his father. He was raised by Gao Shang in Fan Yang's army, and his friendship was different from others. When he learned that Gao Shang was dead, his eyes were red and his clenched fists were trembling.

Privately, he also complained that An Lushan lost his temper and failed to see Gao Shang, so Gao Shang happened to stay in Yanshi and was killed. At this moment, even An Lushan's prestige was shaken in his heart.

Of course, this trace of resentment can only be hidden in my heart.

The angrier Tian Qianzhen became, the calmer he became, and he quickly figured out what was going on.

"For Yanshi to fall so quickly, there must be an internal response. The only person who can contact the internal response and control Yanshi in a short period of time is Xue Bai. Please ask the sage Yunmo to order all the soldiers and horses to kill Yanshi and take Xue Bai's head. Level, sacrifice Mr.’s spirit in heaven!”
Chapter completed!