"I invite you all to come to the mansion today to manage the future management of Guanzhong. You are all highly respected officials of the Tang Dynasty. You must still look down on me, an unknown person from the frontier, right? But now Mr. Li does not You don't need to take a high look, but the sages you learned from know that you have to contribute to the people of the world, right? Li Zuoguo doesn't need you to work for me, he only needs you to contribute to the people of Chang'an and Guanzhong. "Li Zuoguo stood in the hall and talked eloquently to the officials at all levels in Chang'an who came to Li Mansion.
Changping Marquis Liu Zhongjue and Anguo Gong Pei Gui stood in the front, and Pei Gui's two sons stood slightly behind. Because of his merits in opening the city, Pei Zixuan had been granted the title of Captain by Li Zuoguo. This Captain was only temporarily granted The general position will only be given to Pei Zixuan after the situation in Chang'an is stabilized. An Guogong's family is now the most profitable family in Chang'an City. Li Zuoguo also promoted Pei Gui's son Pei Zida to the governor of Chang'an, responsible for stabilizing the people of Chang'an. Pei Kei is content now.
Li Zuoguo glanced at the people below who had their own thoughts. These people actually belonged to the fringe nobles of Chang'an City. They were really Li Longji's confidants who had fled with Li Longji, and Li Heng's confidants basically fled with Li Heng. Many family members of Li Heng's ministers still stayed in Chang'an, and Li Zuoguo did not embarrass them, but only monitored their homes.
These middle-level officials were not very proud of Chang'an, so Li Zuoguo summoned them all to come one by one, just to see if they could get the power they could not get from the hands of this military strongman who occupied Chang'an. This kind of Li Zuoguo knew his thoughts very well. If he was really loyal to the Tang Dynasty, why would he come to his house?
As for those who won¡¯t come, there are some. Li Zuoguo will ignore them for the time being. If he deals with these people now, he may cause people¡¯s hearts to wander. Li Zuoguo plans to deal with these people who can¡¯t see the reality clearly in the future.
The people standing in front of them are ready to throw themselves into the arms of Li Zuoguo. Of course, Li Zuoguo will give them some benefits. Pei Zixuan, Pei Zida and Liu Zhongjue are examples. Liu Zhongjue is now the chief of the Chang'an Internal Guard. This is also a temporary position, commanding three thousand captives. The soldiers selected from the army are specifically responsible for the daily security of Chang'an.
"Guanzhong Prefecture has hundreds of counties and a population of several million. I need talents here to help me manage this land and people. You are all the elites of the Tang Dynasty, and your children have been raised since childhood. Today I will not go around in circles and just ask You each draw up a list of recommendations. I need about two hundred talented people. The recommended families must state the specialties and abilities of these people. If the recommendation is wrong and does not have the abilities you wrote, then not only will you leave the official position and go home immediately. , the recommended family will also be implicated." Li Zuoguo directly stated his intention, but did not clearly explain what consequences would be incurred if the recommendation was wrong.
However, these guys who have been officials for generations do not know the meaning behind Li Zuoguo. It is just that they will no longer have the power to recommend people. Now that Li Zuoguo is short of people, he has to seek talents cultivated by aristocratic families. There are two types of talent selection in the Tang Dynasty. One is the imperial examination held every three years. It is definitely impossible for Li Zuoguo to use this method. The other is recommendation. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty recruits talents based on the recommendations of ministers. Li Zuoguo used the latter method to let these talents rely on him. The Chang'an family has gained some benefits from it, so that it can truly be tied to itself.
And Li Zuoguo was not unprepared for these people. When he was attacking Shuofang, Li Zuoguo had already asked Duan Tianhe, who was in charge of Anxi, to lead a hundred graduates from Shule College to Chang'an. At that time, Li Zuoguo was very confident that he could capture it. In Chang'an, Duan Tianhe has been in Chang'an for many years. He is much more familiar with the powerful people in Chang'an than he is. Li Zuoguo feels more at ease having him come to Chang'an. Duan Tianhe has also proven his ability and loyalty in Anxi for several years, so Li Zuoguo is ready to go. Let Duan Tianhe be the general manager of Guanzhong.
Yes, Li Zuoguo is planning to return to Anxi after arranging things in Chang'an. Anxi is Li Zuoguo's rear and the source of powerful troops. Li Zuoguo already knows some of the rumors that have appeared in Anxi. It is necessary to go back to Anxi to stabilize the morale of the army and the people, but the main thing is The reason is that Ariel's due date is at the end of the year, and Li Zuoguo has to accompany his wife to give birth to their second child. This is a major event that surpasses everything else for Li Zuoguo.
After Li Zuoguo finished his instructions, he ordered Changping Marquis Liu Zhongjue, Anguo Gong Pei Gui and his two sons to stay, and the rest went down to prepare for the recommendation. More than a hundred officials came to Li's house, and in a few words they were all After being sent away, many people felt like they were being tricked.
Several middle-level officials in Chang'an who felt they were insulted got into the car and left angrily, while more officials carefully digested what Li Zuoguo said. If outstanding children in their families can become officials through recommendation, no matter where they are, Whether to be an official in Chang'an or to be an official outside, this is a shortcut to revitalize the family. In the early stage when Li Zuoguo lacks talents, he will definitely get huge rewards.
But there are risks. If Li Zuoguo's Anxi army is defeated and the Tang Dynasty regains control of Guanzhong, then this behavior will be a capital crime. Thinking of the overwhelming strength of Li Zuoguo's troops, the looks in the eyes of these officials became firm. Can they win this new and old battle? Occupying a good position in the dynasty change depends on whether the talents you recommend this time are outstanding.
Li Zuoguo's soldiers who were standing guard at the door couldn't help but wonder when they saw these Chang'an dignitaries who were not in a hurry and were hurriedly riding horses and getting on their cars. They were all gone in no time. What did the guard say? Let these people run away like their butts are on fire.
"These people want to go back quickly to discuss sending the best children in the family to Li Zuoguo. The two hundred places are more or less. They may be gone if they hesitate, but they must be arranged quickly.
Li Zuoguo left Liu Zhongjue and the Pei family father and son behind, but he wanted to beat them. After all, these three people had some military power. Li Zuoguo was not afraid that the power in the hands of the three people would be detrimental to him. After all, Anxi's elite army of hundreds of thousands was in Chang'an, and these three people had no power in their hands. A force of 20,000 cannot make a big wave.
"Don't have any doubts among the three of you. Do your work well. Stabilizing the situation in Chang'an will be considered your great contribution. After all, you are the people who know Chang'an best. In half a month, the deputy governor of Anxi, Duan Tianhe, will arrive in Chang'an. From now on, he will be As the chief officer of Chang'an, you will report directly to Duan Duhu, and if you have any questions, please consult him." Li Zuoguo said warmly.
Liu Zhongjue, a middle-aged man with a white face and a long beard, said doubtfully: "Zhengshou, don't you stay in Chang'an? Chang'an is new. If the guard does not sit in Chang'an, An Lushan and Li Tang will probably have trouble." action."
Li Zuoguo smiled and said: "I am going back to Anxi. Don't worry about An Lushan and Li Longji. My army will stay. Now Guo Bei has gone to Tongguan. When the time comes, Li Qi will directly threaten Hanzhong. The morale of the army will be high." How can the Tang army dare to attack if their morale is low? There is no need to worry about the safety of Chang'an."
Pei Gui, whose beard was completely white, did not install the statue at this time, and said with a smile: "The guard has already made a plan in his mind. Zhongjue, don't worry, just follow the guard's arrangements. There will be nothing wrong."
Li Zuoguo and Liu Zhongjue both said in their hearts: "This old flatterer."
Li Zuoguo looked serious and said: "There must be people in Chang'an City who are interested in Li Tang. The troops in our hands are to nip the trouble in the bud, but we must not get involved with these people who have different ambitions, otherwise not one person will suffer." , I hope you will be careful."
After Li Zuoguo said, murderous intent rushed towards his face. Even the old and cunning Pei Gui opened his eyes, which were narrowed into a thin line and showed that he was not sleeping. The four people were shocked. Li Zuoguo was not a good man and a believer. He had been killed all the way to Chang'an. In the hands of the four The few troops he had were of little use in front of Li Zuoguo.
Pei Gui was about to kneel down and said: "I will do my best to guard the city."
Li Zuoguo was well prepared. He took a few steps forward and stopped Pei Gui, who was trembling and wanted to kneel down. He also stopped the other three people who wanted to kneel down and said, "You don't have to do this. As long as you work hard, Li Zuoguo will not I¡¯ll treat a few of you badly.¡±
After leaving the gate of Li Zuoguo, the four of them looked at each other. Liu Zhongjue said hello and got on his horse and left. Pei Gui looked at the gate of Li Zuoguo not far away and said softly: "You are so young and powerful. It seems that this country "
The two sons were standing behind Pei Gui. Just now, Pei Gui claimed to be a minister in front of Li Zuoguo. This was already a test. In the end, Li Zuoguo didn't say anything, and the beating was done clearly, just to beat these few words. Pei Gui also knew that he was a surrendered minister with military power.
Pei Gui nodded. Li Zuoguo was so young, but he had hundreds of thousands of troops. He had no opponent and conquered Chang'an since he started his army. Moreover, after capturing Chang'an, he did not continue to move forward in a hurry. Instead, he calmed down and digested the occupied land and people. The layout is no longer small.
Pei Gui turned to his two sons and said: "You two should not interact with anyone in Chang'an City in the future, and do your job well. From now on, the situation of Li Zuoguohehe" Pei Gui laughed twice, turned to himself As the carriage walked away, the two sons looked at each other, bowed and agreed to their father's instructions, and then stepped forward to help Pei Gui get into the carriage. The father and son, one in the carriage and the other on horseback, left with a few servants.
On that day, Pei Zixuan announced that his more than 10,000 soldiers, except for those who went out to patrol, were not allowed to step outside the camp. They were all trained in the camp. At the same time, he asked Li Zuoguo for instructions, hoping that Li Zuoguo would send training instructors to train these soldiers. , Li Zuoguo couldn't help but nodded when he heard the news. The Pei family and his son are really smart people.
Guo Bei personally led an army of 70,000 to attack Tongguan, but was raided once by Hu Qisui. Then An Qingxu led his troops directly back to Luoyang through Tongguan, leaving no soldiers behind at Tongguan. There were only five troops left behind at Tongguan.There are only 5,000 people. What defense capability do 5,000 people have against a powerful pass that can garrison 200,000 troops?
As a result, Guo Bei's army entered Tongguan with little resistance. The defender of Tongguan was a powerful general under An Lushan. He knew that defending Tongguan would lead to death, and escaping back to Luoyang without resistance would also lead to death, so he simply surrendered to Guo. In the north, Guo Bei captured Tongguan without any blood.
Li Qi led 20,000 cavalry to Hanzhong, and then divided his troops into two groups. Along the way, 5,000 people crossed Shiquan and took Fangshan Pass to advance to Jinzhou. Li Qi led 15,000 cavalry and stopped at Fengzhou. Garrison, because further south is Liangshan, which is not conducive to cavalry operations. If Shuzhong sends troops to pass Jianmen Pass, they must pass through Fengzhou. Li Qi's fifteen thousand cavalry are enough for defense.
After the troops on both sides were ready for defense, Li Zuoguo began to assign talents recommended by each family. Duan Tianhe arrived in time with a hundred Shule students, which also liberated the busy Li Zuoguo. Duan Tianhe dealt with With rich experience in civil affairs, and the Shule students also learned a lot of experience in civil affairs, Li Zuoguo directly assigned these 300 people to various places in Guanzhong to serve as local officials.
The timely arrival of this group of people made Li Zuoguo breath a sigh of relief, because the autumn harvest was coming soon, and the war did not cause much harm to the fertile land of Guanzhong. The first thing after the chief officials of the various states and counties were in place was to organize the people's autumn harvest. This is a matter of concern After a year of eating, the war had little impact on the grain harvest. People who fled to prefectures, counties and even Chang'an to escape the war returned home one after another. It seemed that the grain production this season would not be reduced too much, and Li Zuoguo was relieved.
Li Zuoguo embarked on the road back to Anxi, but took with him three thousand soldiers. Chang'an guard general Sanjani, Tongguan and Guobei were stationed, Li Qi monitored Bashu, Li Zuoguo had nothing to worry about in Guanzhong, Duan Tianhe was in charge of Chang'an , Li Zuoguo is going back to Anxi to see the birth of his son. It is estimated that there will be no major war before this winter.
An Lushan was thankful that Li Zuoguo didn't attack him at this time. Li Zuoguo received news before leaving that An Lushan had started recruiting troops in Luoyang. The lack of troops caused An Lushan to forcefully recruit 200,000 troops. An Qingxu returned to Luoyang. An Lushan was furious and even wanted to take down An Qingxu for questioning. Later, he gave up under the persuasion of Yan Zhuang and Zeng Pei, but ordered An Qingxu to stay in the house and not leave the house.
Li Zuoguo is not interested in this. Can he defeat himself with 200,000 troops? Even if An Lushan recruits one million troops, he will not be able to make up for the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers lost in Chang'an. As for the Tang army that lost Chang'an, Li Zuoguo does not believe that he will immediately send troops to counterattack after a new defeat. This autumn and winter Guanzhong ushered in A rare peace this year.
When Li Zuoguo embarked on his return journey, Li Hu, Li Lin and Asulu were on the march with overwhelming force. They divided their troops into three groups and advanced eastward at the speed of one city in two days. Li Hu captured it almost at the speed of a rapid march. In Taiyuan Prefecture, 20,000 cavalry defeated Shi Siming's 60,000 army in Taiyuan City, forcing Shi Siming to retreat to Youzhou. On the way, he was attacked by Asulu's 30,000 rangers and almost escaped back to Youzhou.
Li Lin, on the other hand, was even faster and directly captured Wu'an, the only way back to the north. This directly cut off Anlu Mountain's retreat and cut Anlu Mountain and Shi Siming into two sections. Due to insufficient troops, Li Hu also stopped and began to consolidate the rear.
Why did Li Hu go so smoothly? It turned out that Li Hu was acting like a demon king again. When he attacked Yinzhou, Li Hu directly persuaded him to surrender. Zhang Shuo, the governor of Yinzhou, refused to surrender and wanted to defend Yinzhou, but Li Hu brought enough gunpowder. At this time, Li Zuoguo The siege weapon specially assigned to Li Hu blew up the west gate of Yinzhou. After Li Hu captured Yinzhou, without saying a word, he beheaded all 138 members of Zhang Shuo's family. At the same time, Yinzhou guard All the officers below Huang Yong and twenty-seven of Huang Yong's people were also executed.
Li Hu directly proposed that as long as the army came, all the resisting city officials and generals would be beheaded with their families after they captured the city. In Shizhou, Li Hu also killed the family of Sun Shengjian, the chief official of Anlu Mountain who resisted. Two bloody examples. As soon as he made a move, all the cities on the road, large and small, surrendered without a fight. Originally, the soldiers did not have the strength to resist Li Hu's army, and they would die if they did not surrender. The chief officer wanted to fight, but the military attach¨¦s below did not want to fight, so Li Hu just marched.
As a result, Shi Siming ran into Li Hu's cavalry as soon as he mobilized his army. Li Hu repeatedly fired at the formation with horn crossbows, and then charged and killed him twice. Shi Siming's army collapsed with numerous casualties and fled in defeat. Shi Siming did not dare to return to Taiyuan. Mansion, retreated directly to the northeast. As a result, the Asulu Rangers on the north road launched another round of wild attacks. Shi Siming's 20,000 defeated soldiers disappeared in an instant. Shi Siming was left with only a thousand soldiers to flee due to the desperate fight of his own soldiers. Return to Youzhou.
At this point, Anlushan has become a trapped beast. If he wants to go back north, he must defeat Li Hu. But does Anlushan dare to rely only on the 200,000 recruits in his hands? He could only huddle in the Luoyang area and dare not move.
Li Zuoguo was rushing all the way to Anxi, and a house in Qiuci Town, AnxiIn the room, several people were plotting. A middle-aged civil servant sitting at the top said: "Finally, there are less than ten officials in the Tang Dynasty. We don't dare to test the rest. They all follow Li." Those who have been together for a long time will be exposed if the temptation fails."
This person is Qin Yizhou, the treasurer of Qiuci, the protector of Anxi. Qin Yizhou was born in the orthodox imperial examination. Because he had no backing, he was assigned to Anxi as an official. He was angry and did not want to take the post for a while, but Gao Xianzhi appreciated his talent and promoted him all the way. He was soon promoted to After Gao Xianzhi died and Li Siye became the Protector of Anxi, Qin Yizhou was not too dissatisfied. After all, Gao Xianzhi's death had nothing to do with Li Siye.
Li Siye also loved his talents and had always trusted Qin Yizhou. However, this time Li Zuoguo rebelled against the Tang Dynasty because of Li Siye's affairs. Qin Yizhou considered himself an official of the Tang Dynasty. How could he follow Li Zuoguo to rebel against the Tang Dynasty? So he began to make preparations to contact officials who were still loyal to the Tang Dynasty, hoping to take advantage of Li Zuoguo to send troops to start an uprising throughout Anxi and cut off Li Zuoguo's retreat.
The military has always been the focus of Li Zuoguo's business. The generals did not dare to send the human base officers contacted by Qin Yizhou to his door. You must know that the image of Li Siye and his son in the Anxi Army is comparable to that of gods. If he is not careful, he is afraid that he will come to contact him. People become meat buns and beat up dogs. They will definitely be captured and any trouble will be exposed.
Qin Yizhou only contacted a dozen civil servants, all of whom were not reused by Li Siye. After all, it was the scholar's idea. Qin Yizhou and others spread rumors in Qizhule and other places, but the effect was not good, and there was not much reaction from the people. , but after the Duhufu issued an order to arrest spies, several people who spread rumors were arrested.
Now Qin Yizhou panicked, fearing that he would be exposed, so he summoned his accomplices to prepare for immediate action. Qin Yizhou pretended to be calm and said: "I have made complete preparations this time. I have 150 servants at home and 200 family caravan guards. Including your guards in Qiuci, there are more than 1,200 people. I will open the arsenal tonight and distribute armors and weapons. When the fire breaks out in the Duhu Mansion, I will attack the Chu Tianshu Mansion and the Duhu Mansion. As long as Li Yi will never dare to take action to seize Li Zuoguo's mother, wife and children. When the four gates are closed, we can persuade Li Yi to surrender. If Li Yi does not surrender, we will kill all Li Zuoguo's juniors so that Li Yi does not surrender to Li Zuoguo. It is also a dead end. As long as we capture Qiuci, the rebel Li Zuoguo will be as short-lived as a flash in the pan."
While Qin Yizhou was talking happily, another civil servant in the room asked: "Then how could the Governor's Mansion catch fire? You must know that the Governor's Mansion has two thousand soldiers stationed at any time, and our more than a thousand people are afraid that there will be fire at the door. If you don¡¯t reach it, you will be killed.¡±
Qin Yizhou said with a grim smile: "I hired twelve masters from Anxi area at a high price. They are all the most skilled desperadoes among the professional caravan guards. They all have good martial arts skills. Tonight, they sneaked into the Duhu Mansion. As long as they control Li Zuoguo's family lived in a young age. Li Zuoguo's soldiers were not ready to be captured. Li Zuoguo's son's prestige in the army was too high. Even if his soldiers died, they would not let Li Zuoguo's mother, wife and children die in front of them. So my plan The chances of success are extremely high.¡±
Everyone in the room was trembling. They were all scared when they saw Qin Yizhou speaking through gritted teeth. They just knew that if this matter failed, they would be dead, but the benefits of success would also be huge.
Qin Yizhou said: "Then prepare separately, gather all the people, and when the fire breaks out in the Protectorate, go to the arsenal to get weapons and armor, and then act according to the plan, kill the traitor Li Zuoguo, achieve unparalleled feats, and be loyal to the Tang Dynasty."
Everyone in the room was excited by Qin Yizhou's encouragement. They all stood up and whispered: "Be loyal to the Tang Dynasty and kill the traitor Li Zuoguo."