"Wow!"

Xue Bai moved swiftly, flipping over the map on the desk and throwing it to the ground. He pulled another one, picked up a charcoal pencil and quickly drew the marching route on it until it was densely drawn.

As if he was solving a difficult problem, he still fell into a dead end in his thinking, so he took off the map again and started over.

After doing this several times, he finally rubbed his forehead and dropped the pen in his hand.

They were far apart, and the information sent back to Chang'an was too much and too confusing, including the reports from Wang Nan and Guo Ziyi, which conflicted. He could no longer reconstruct the true situation of the northwest battlefield from them.

The only thing that can be certain is that Dazhalu Gong really divided his troops, but whether it was divided into four, five, or even six groups. In fact, no Tang army actually found out where each Tibetan army was going to attack, and the Tang army generals

I also have my own guesses.

For example, Wang rarely sent a memorial saying that the Tibetan army must drive back to Guanzhong, and asked to lead the army back to guard Chang'an; Guo Ziyi believed that this was a formation of suspicion caused by Da Zhalu Gong's old story, in order to make the Tang army run back and forth, consuming morale and food.

In any case, Chang'an was threatened.

It's like having a dagger pointed at your throat, although you're not sure whether the dagger is sharp or unsharp.

Xue Bai still didn't understand why Dazhalu Gong tried so hard to attack the Tang Dynasty.

Although many answers have been found, they are not enough.

This war, which has lasted for nearly a year, has almost brought down the Tang Dynasty's finances, but Tubo is also bearing the backlash brought about by the aggressive militarism, and its people's lives are not easy. How did Dazalu Gong grit his teeth and hold on?

The next day, Xue Bai discussed with the prime ministers, without asking them, directly stated his plan, and first inquired about the information. The decision-making must be based on a large amount of real information. However, the military situation on the battlefield is not like the situation in the official residence and the

The news in the market was so easy to find out, but Xue Bai's inherent power could not do it, and he was unwilling to appoint eunuchs as supervisors, which was difficult.

"Send another envoy to Jingzhou to find out the situation clearly." Xue Bai said with an indifferent expression: "Don't just cry wolf all day long. How can the Tubo army break through the defense line so easily?"

"I thought that Li Qiyun could be the envoy for this matter," Li Xian said.

"Can."

Wei Jiansu did not object to this matter, but after they were sure, he slowly said: "Old minister, please ask Your Highness to bring the saint and the Supreme Emperor to inspect the Eastern Capital."

Xue Bai didn't react much, just frowned and glanced at Du Youlin.

Du Youlin was a little distracted at first, but after observing his micro-expression, he stepped out and said blankly: "The situation is far from reaching the point where the emperor must flee, right?"

Wei Jiansu's euphemistic words were directly exposed, and his face darkened in displeasure.

Seeing that he had defeated Wei Jiansu in the argument, Du Youlin continued: "When the rebels of the An family attacked Chang'an, the saint and His Highness had not abandoned the city. Now it is just some vague military information. Wei Gong is going to persuade His Highness to watch the wind and escape?"

"

"The old minister is not advising His Highness to escape." Wei Jiansu said: "The situation is different. The terrain in Guanzhong is flat and there is no danger to defend Chang'an. In the past, the saint could defend it because Chang'an was lost and people's hearts dispersed. But now if the saint is in Chang'an,

, then the soldiers on the front line will be distracted, and when the enemy is so close, they will leave people who the army has to save, and a battle that could have been won will be more likely to be defeated."

Du Youlin didn't understand quickly, so he didn't refute immediately.

Wei Jiansu said again: "During the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was still strong, but today the treasury is empty. Once the Tibetan army enters Guanzhong, where will His Highness mobilize the troops? It is better to prepare for a rainy day and go to the Eastern Capital first and then later.

If something unexpected happens, you can deal with it calmly."

This means that as long as one escapes early enough, no one can say that they are escaping, but they happen to be on patrol, and conversely, it can be said that it is precisely because of the absence of the emperor that Tubo can take advantage of it.

Of course Xue Bai couldn't agree and felt it was ridiculous.

But besides being ridiculous, he also felt doubtful in his heart - was Wei Jiansu's suggestion just because he was afraid of Tibet, or was there some other reason?

After being trapped in the palace for a long time, Xue Bai always had a strange intuition recently, and he felt more and more like he was living in a cocoon.

The memorials he saw every day were screened by hundreds of officials. Although many trustworthy people were appointed in key positions, the staff and subordinates used by these people may not be reliable. Even if they are reliable, there will inevitably be oversights.

He had another source of information. The Du sisters were still using their business in restaurants and teahouses to gather private information for him. This made him feel that he knew everything, but at a certain moment, he suddenly realized that this self-conceited "nothing"

The arrogance of knowing nothing is very dangerous.

Especially after easily defeating Li Chu's plot to launch a coup to destroy the Buddha, he did not find out where Li Chu's confidence came from. Is it useful for the courtiers to ask the Supreme Emperor to rule together?

At that time, Xue Bai felt contempt for Li Chu's arrogance, but recently he began to wonder if there was something he was not aware of.

So when he came to court, Xue Bai couldn't wait to see Du Jin.

"Send someone to keep an eye on Wei Jiansu. There is something wrong with him."

"What's wrong?"

"He advised me to go to Luoyang."

"I'm old and timid." Du Jin said, "What's wrong with that?"

Xue Bai said: "Don't forget, Li Cong is about to die."

Du Jin's eyes immediately changed, like a female cat that was enjoying the sunshine comfortably when she suddenly heard some noise and became alert.

She and Xue Bai had been planning for so long, just waiting for Li Cong to die so that Xue Bai could ascend to the throne of God. At this time, leaving Chang'an because of an unconfirmed news, Wei Jiansu was probably uneasy and kind-hearted.

"He doesn't want to get rid of you and establish a new king, right?"

"It's hard to say."

Du Jin leaned close to Xue's ear and whispered: "If you can't wait any longer, kill Li Cong."

"There is a possibility that Wei Jiansu may not have participated in any conspiracy. He just felt that something was wrong. Someone even deliberately asked him to jump out and force me to take action and be charged with regicide."

"That's right, just to kill a dying person, it's not worth it if you lose everything."

Xue Bai said: "Maybe I am too suspicious. Sitting in this position for a long time makes people easily become suspicious."

"When I send people to investigate, we will naturally find out." Du Jin said: "If there is a conspiracy, who do you think is the mastermind behind it?"

Xue Bai didn't answer for a long time, and finally uttered a name in a very uncertain and self-doubting tone.

"Li Longji?"

"He? He's an old man, so why should he?"

"He has both means and prestige. But without military power, he is completely incompetent."

Thinking of this, Xue Bai thought that he was indeed too suspicious.

Unless he personally kills Li Cong and is caught by officials, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other generals raise their troops to attack him. Otherwise, Li Longji has no military power and has no hope of restoration. Supporting him for the sake of a good posthumous title is the best thing he can do.

way out.

A few days later, Du Jin carefully inquired about the spies placed in Wei Jiansu's house, but found nothing unusual.

When Li Qijun arrived in Jingyuan, although he did not find out the movements of the various armies after the Tibetan troops were divided, he quickly reported to the court that the border troops were exhausted after fighting hard, but the enemy troops were still swarming in. Now the states and counties can only close the city and defend.

It is indeed possible for Tibet to drive directly into Chang'an.

This seems to confirm that Wei Jiansu's proposal was indeed based on the consideration of preventing Tibet from entering Guanzhong.

Therefore, Xue Bai had to mobilize another army to support Chang'an.

Among the series of bad news, there was not no good news. In the tight situation of the Qinlong battlefield, on the Jiannan side, Li Guangbi captured Yanchuan City and pursued the Tibetan army in the Xishan Mountains, expanding the territory for hundreds of miles.

When the good news came, all the officials in the court who had been in the gloom of war breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Jiansu then discussed with Xue Bai, saying that if His Highness did not plan to inspect the eastern capital, it would be better to urgently dispatch a troop of troops from Jiannan to support the defense of Guanzhong.

In this battle at Yanchuan City, Yan Wu made great contributions, and Wei Jiansu thought he was the best candidate to lead the troops and return reinforcements.

Before Du Youlin could speak, Li Xian immediately rejected the candidate proposed by Wei Jiansu, believing that Yan Wu's troops had suffered heavy losses and that Luzhou regiment training envoy Tian Shengong could be mobilized to lead troops to support Chang'an.

This proposal was obviously for Xue Bai's consideration.

Now that the saint's health is deteriorating, the Tubo army is eyeing Guanzhong, and Chang'an may undergo major changes. Of course, Xue Bai must mobilize as many trusted soldiers and horses around him as possible.

~~

After half a month, the Tubo army did not enter Guanzhong, but the tactics of dividing troops and plundering were able to break through several military fortresses in the Tang Dynasty, which shocked the imperial court.

It was under this circumstance that Li Qijun sent back a secret letter.

The secret fold was sealed with fire paint, and there was no trace of it being opened on the road.

Xue Bai opened it and read it, admitting that it was indeed worthy of Li Qiyun's caution.

Some of the questions that had troubled him before seemed to have found answers.

The secret memorial stated that there were high-ranking officials in the court secretly colluding with Tibet.

Before, Dazalu Gong pretended to have peace talks, and everyone thought it was to paralyze the Tang Dynasty. Xue Bai even took the opportunity to form an alliance with Trisong Dezan to alienate the Tibetan monarchs. However, in fact, Dazalu Gong also used the same method and was already secretly

Contacted the ministers in the Tang court who opposed Xue Bai.

This also explains why Dazalu Gong would rather lose eight hundred to himself than hurt the Tang Dynasty by one thousand, because someone has been secretly passing on detailed information about the Tang Dynasty to Dazalu Gong.

Li Qijun is not just talking nonsense, but he has evidence.

That was when Tan Ma returned to camp and discovered that a Tubo herdsman brought only one ewe in the mountains. The ewe was bleating. Later, Tan Ma discovered that a lamb had gotten through the fence of the Tang Army camp.

came out and caught the lamb.

After disemboweling the lamb, they found a piece of information about the Tang Army in the lamb's belly. It included the Tang Army's troop deployment, the amount of food and grass left, and even the situation in Chang'an, including how many troops were defending the city and how much money the treasury could hold.

How much food is spent.

When the matter was handed over to Guo Ziyi, he was naturally shocked and finally understood why the Tang army had been repeatedly defeated recently.
To be continued...