Chapter 168: Disaster (Part )

On the afternoon of the day when Li Zhen and Yu Zhong had agreed, the garrison layout in the city had changed. Although Ding Badu had not yet entered the city, Li Zhen had already confidently and boldly handed over the entire West City to Yu Zhong's control.

At the same time, in the Yichang Army camp in the east of the city.

"Dingbadu, we should enter the city from the west gate."

The speaker was Lü Yan, the former judge of Cangzhou Jiedushi, and currently the general of the Yichang Army. However, compared to commanding troops, he was more inclined to civilian duties. He had also been in charge of clerical affairs for Liu Shouwen in Cangzhou to assist him.

Now that Cangzhou has surrendered to Daliang, he naturally cannot stay in Cangzhou any longer. Now he still stays in the Yichang Army, mostly as an aide to the commander-in-chief Sun He. Naturally, he will collect information for Sun He now.

In the tent, Sun He was working at his desk. He looked up upon hearing this and frowned, "Hasn't Li Zhen in the city always been unwilling to let Ding Badu go? Why is he suddenly so suspicious now?"

"Is the important thing about this Li Zhen's suspicion?"

Lu Yan was over thirty years old, with deep wrinkles on his forehead and a frown under his eyes, which made him look even older. However, he did not care about his appearance. He just sat aside and said in a deep voice: "Compared with Ding Badu, the Yichang army is not as elite, but it is not as domineering. Why did Li Zhen let Ding Badu enter the city first?"

He tapped his chest, then pointed at Sun He, and sneered, "He is just suspicious of you and me. No, I, Lu, am a nobody, and I should not be in the eyes of Lord Li. The one he is suspicious of is you, Sun He."

Sun He didn't take it seriously and said, "You and I were both generals in Cangzhou. It's normal for us to be suspicious. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?"

Lu Yan stood up, took a few steps closer, and said in a deep voice: "Have you not heard of the reputation of this man Li Zhen? He is a mean-spirited man. In the past, when the Tang Dynasty was in decline, this man ran between Bianliang and Luoyang for Zhu Wen. He treated everyone in the Tang Dynasty court with an arrogant attitude. He promoted anyone who was respectful and obedient to him at will, and did not follow any rules and regulations at all. He dismissed anyone who was not good to him or who did not please him. It is said that every time he went to Luoyang, some people would be punished and demoted. Therefore, people in the Tang court at that time regarded him as a 'small owl'. How could such a mean man have such a big heart?
"The Yichang army has been standing by and watching the Yan army for the past two months, and has already disliked this man. Now you and I can still sit in this tent safely, but it is only because he has no sword in his hand. If the Yan army is pacified, what good will it be for you and me?"

Sun He pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's more than that."

"Not only that?" Lu Yan sneered and said, "Have you forgotten the disaster of the White Horse?"

Sun He remained silent.

He had heard of both the "owl" and the "White Horse Disaster". The "owl" refers to an owl. It is said that this bird can smell the scent of a dying person and convey the message. It is considered an ominous bird. It refers to the Tang Dynasty as the doomsday court that is about to perish. Li Zhen is the owl that conveys the ominous message, because every time he arrives in Luoyang, the Tang Dynasty seems to be closer to destruction.

As for the White Horse Disaster, it was a massacre led by Li Zhen in the second year of Tianyou to curry favor with Zhu Wen. The people who were massacred were naturally Tang officials. Li Zhen had failed the imperial examinations for the Li Tang Dynasty for 20 years, so he took his anger out on the officials of the well-dressed families and the court officials who came from the imperial examinations. He strongly advocated killing all the court officials who were loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and later advocated sinking the bodies of the Tang officials into the Yellow River. This matter was known to the world, and from then on, there was a saying that Li Zhen was narrow-minded.

Seeing Sun He remained silent, Lu Yan sneered and said, "Now he has won over Ding Badu by some means. Even if you and I stick to him now, I guess we won't get any credit for conquering Yan. When Li Zhen returns to Bianliang, what will be the future for you and me? Daliang is full of talented people, how can you and I stand out?"

Sun He frowned, "What do you want to say?"

"Do I need to think about it?" Lu Yan pressed the table, leaned forward, and lowered his voice: "The commander (Liu Shouwen) is now outside the city, only ten miles away from you and me. Even if the Yan army is more than 200,000 strong, who can compare to you and me in being close to the commander? How many of these 200,000 Yan troops can be as elite as the Yichang army?"

"You're crazy! What nonsense are you talking about!" Sun He was shocked and hurriedly tried to cover his mouth.

Lu Yan stepped back steadily and said calmly: "I'm not crazy. Just surrender. Working for the old master is a hundred times better than working for Li Zhen!"

Sun He stared at him with disbelief on his face, but the former looked proud, without any strange expression.

"You're crazy!"

Sun He whispered, but his tone was no longer filled with fear. As he spoke, he walked to the door of the tent cautiously. After glancing outside to make sure there was no one around, he turned around and whispered, "Just because Ding Badu entered the city, you're going to join the Yan army?"

"He is our old master, so why not?" Lu Yan said calmly, "It's not just because of today's incident. I already had a plan when I heard that the general was gathering people to start a rebellion. And it's not just me. Most of the generals and officers in Cangzhou have this intention."

"Who else?" Sun He frowned.

Lu Yan whispered some names, but most of them were the generals they brought from Cangzhou. Most of them were middle and lower-level officers who stayed in Cangzhou when Liu Shouwen went north to attack Liu Shouguang. Although Liu Shouwen's military ability was very poor, he had always been more favorable to the officers below, and joining Daliang was not necessarily a good thing.

But to his surprise, after hearing so many names, Sun He became angry and said in a deep voice, "Stupid!"

"What do you mean?" Lu Yan frowned in confusion.

"Are you really stupid or are you just pretending to be stupid? Even if you want to re-join the commander, it's fine if only you and I know about it. Why do you need to contact others so early?"

Sun He paced back and forth, whispering: "Didn't you see any clues? Who is the most powerful general under the commander-in-chief now? It's Yuan Xingqin! He used to be the most powerful general under Liu Shouguang, and he has always been at odds with the commander-in-chief. Even if he is now under the old commander-in-chief, how can he be loyal to him?"

"Now Hebei is united, why should we distinguish these things?" Lu Yan said calmly, "The enemy of Yan army is Liang army. In order to drive out Liang army, Yuan Xingqin should also put aside his past grudges. Besides, now Liu Shouguang is dead, it is not surprising that Yuan Xingqin has joined the army of Jieshuai."

"You ah you!"

Sun He looked disappointed and lowered his voice as he reminded, "Why did I surrender to the Liang army in Cangzhou in the past? Why did you and I bring the Yichang army from Cangzhou to Youzhou? It was because Yuan Xingqin came to persuade me to surrender. Don't forget who was the lord of Youzhou at that time, and who did Yuan Xingqin persuade me to surrender for!?"

Lu Yan was startled, and suddenly changed his mind, subconsciously asking: "Xiao...Xiao Yan?"

After more than a month, he had already forgotten about Xiao, the military envoy who had fought in the Yan territory. This was because they were stationed in Cangzhou to confront the Liang army during several major battles, and had not personally experienced battles such as the Battle of Yuyang and the Battle of Gaoliang River. Even as a low-ranking official like him, he was not qualified to meet Xiao Yan in person, and all the rumors were just what he heard from others.

But being able to handle the clerical affairs for Liu Shouwen, Lu Yan was well aware of the key. He didn't know it before, but now that he was pointed out, he was able to sort out the relationship.

When Liu Shouguang died, Yuan Xingqin surrendered to Xiao Yan. The fact that he persuaded Cangzhou to surrender on Xiao Yan's behalf was a proof of this. Two months ago in Youzhou, Yuan Xingqin was very respectful to Xiao Yan. How could he suddenly rebel?

In other words, the current Yichang army is actually divided into three parts. One of them is naturally the city defense army he and Sun He brought from Cangzhou. This part is the troops left behind in Cangzhou by Liu Shouwen when Liu Shouwen fought with Liu Shouguang a year ago. There are about 4,000 people, most of them are infantry.

The other part can now be called the Yuyang Division. In the past, Xiao Yan defeated Liu Shouguang, expelled Yelu Abaoji, and settled Liu Shouwen in the battle of Yuyang. He accepted the surrender of all the Yichang troops under Liu Shouwen at that time. After accepting some new soldiers from Yandi, he split some of the troops and reorganized the Lulong Army. The remaining troops became the new Yichang Army, with a total of about 8,000 soldiers. Another part was taken over by the generals of the imperial army from Bianliang, and some middle and senior officers were inserted by Li Zhen. However, due to the rapid rebellion of the Yan army, there was not enough time for them to digest it. The troops they really controlled were negligible, and their foundation in the camp was not stable, so they were almost all recalled by Li Zhen.

Although the Yichang Army has reunited now, the two parts are almost clearly divided. The small part belongs to the Cangzhou faction, while the majority is the Yuyang faction. Moreover, most of the middle and lower-level officers of the Yuyang faction are new recruits from Yan area who were promoted by Xiao Yan after he reorganized the army. They have a deep relationship with him and have almost got used to each other in just half a year. Although Sun He is the nominal commander-in-chief, he is completely unable to intervene. Not only are there no officers with his people, but a small number of soldiers have been replaced, and it is difficult to implement military orders directly.

Moreover, the Yuyang faction had followed Xiao Yan through several battles, and it could be said that many of the soldiers were on his side. In addition, they had also been rewarded by Xiao Yan, so how could they remember their old superiors who were poor and not very good at fighting...

Thinking of this, Lu Yan was horrified, and his voice became softer, no longer confident: "You mean..."

"I'm afraid it's not the commander's will that he started this rebellion." Sun He looked outside the tent door vigilantly and whispered, "I have reason to believe that Yuan Xingqin is called Yan General, but in fact he is controlling the commander for Xiao Yan. I'm afraid Xiao Yan's shadow is behind all his actions..."

Lu Yan was shocked, and then sat back in a daze, saying, "So, isn't the general the meat on the chopping board?"

"Why not?" Sun He sighed, "That's right. Even if the commander is outside the city right now, you and I must not act rashly. Don't offend Li Zhen and then offend Xiao Yan..."

"With such a huge chaos, what does Xiao Yan want to do? What can he do? How can Yuan Xingqin alone control an army of more than 200,000?"

"more than."

Sun He frowned and thought: "I might not have dared to speculate before, but now it seems that the Lulong Army is probably also controlled by Xiao Yan. In other words, the two powerful armies under the command of the general should all be Xiao Yan's people..."

Lu Yan was completely petrified.

When the news from Hengshan City came, he thought that the Lulong Army had turned against Kang Huaiying and that it was really Liu Shouwen who persuaded the Lulong Army to have such a result. But now, after Sun Heyi's reminder, he dared not think about it any further.

Suddenly, he was startled, trembling all over, and asked: "Do you think Ding Ba has the possibility of..."

Sun He shook his head. "I dare not speculate. Given the current situation, who can guess the direction of the chaos in Hebei? After all, it involves the lives of hundreds of thousands of people..."

However, he immediately looked at Lu Yan and said in a deep voice: "Don't mention the matter of joining the Yan army again. If anything happens, it's fine if you and I die, but don't let the lives of thousands of brothers under you be implicated to fill this nameless book of life and death."

Lu Yan ignored him, just lowered his head and whispered: "What on earth does he want to do?"

Sun He sighed and patted his shoulder: "I know you are loyal to the commander, but the current situation is not something you and I can interfere with. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to protect yourself from the commander."

Lu Yan suddenly stood up, nodded, and walked out.

"I will tell my generals right away..."

Sun He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As he escorted him out, he said, "Be careful, don't let others gossip about you."

"I saved that. Brother Sun, please stay." Lu Yan sighed and disappeared in the camp.

Sun He also sighed, but he had always been steady and was no longer at the age to act on impulse. He had to be responsible for more than 4,000 comrades.

……

Out of Sun He's sight, in the midst of the snow, Lu Yan bent down and crawled into a small tent in the corner. Inside were some broken equipment, which had been left here since the Yichang Army was stationed there. The oilcloth covering them was already covered with a layer of dust.

"General Lu Shi is really fast."

There was a trail of snow-covered footprints in the small tent. At this moment, a man came from the end of the footprints. It was the staff member who often accompanied Li Zhen. He was looking at the equipment in the small tent. When he heard the voice, he came over and stroked the short beard at the corner of his mouth and asked with a smile: "How is it?"

Lu Yan did not answer, but took out a piece of cloth from his sleeve and carefully wiped away the footprints on the ground, covering it up all the way.

The staff member couldn't help but laugh and said casually: "General Lu Shi, don't worry. I specially asked your people to cover me here. No one can find me."

"It's better to be safe than sorry." Lu Yan said in a serious tone, "If others knew about our secret meeting, Sun He would inevitably suspect me."

"Haha, so Sun He really has evil intentions?"

"I can't tell whether he has bad intentions or not, but I have discovered another secret."

"Oh?" The aide narrowed his eyes.

Lu Yan stopped talking, just rubbed his nails and looked at other things.

The staff waited for a while, then smiled, stepped forward and put his arm around Lu Yan's shoulders, saying with a smile: "Look at my memory, I haven't told General Lu yet. Before Youzhou was besieged, news came from the south. Your wife and children who stayed in Cangzhou just received the New Year's gift from Lord Li a few days ago. They are very happy. They will go south smoothly as planned soon. Lord Li has a separate courtyard in Bianliang. When General Lu arrives in Bianliang in the future, the house deed will be yours."

Lu Yan sneered and said, "For this major event, a separate courtyard is all you need?"

"With General Lu's talent, it would be no big deal for him to become a general or a prime minister. As long as you help Lord Li control the Yichang Army and return to Bianliang, you can immediately enter the Chongzheng Court." The aide smiled and said, "From then on, I will have to rely on General Lu a lot."

"Oh, we can talk about that later. Now, the question is whether your Lord Li can return to Bianliang alive."

When the staff heard this, they were shocked and stunned for a moment: "What do you mean by this?"

Lü Yan said with a cold face: "Find a way to take me to see Lord Li secretly. I have a plan to solve the disaster in Hebei."

(End of this chapter)