When Li Longji was away from Chang'an, Prince Li Heng supervised the country.
Although Li Heng's ability was mediocre, his desire for power was not small. He wanted to take advantage of Li Longji's absence in the past few months to make some achievements, especially in terms of money and food supply. He wanted to make some achievements through continuous contributions to Li Longji. Longji's army provided money and food to prove his ability to govern.
However, the reality is cruel.
After truly gaining power, Li Heng discovered how weak the Tang court was at this time.
Under the seemingly blazing prosperity of the prosperous age, Datang's finances were actually already stretched to make ends meet. Now, not to mention providing money and food for Li Longji's hundreds of thousands of troops, even the salaries of the dignitaries in Chang'an City were reduced. If it doesn't come out, Tianbao's salary for thirteen years is still owed and has not been paid.
Therefore, Li Heng summoned a group of prime ministers from the Political Hall and several newly appointed magistrates from the Ministry of Revenue to try to find a way to raise money and food in a short period of time.
However, after months of discussions, no result was reached.
Li Heng was still too naive. In the middle and late stages of a dynasty, financial problems are basically an unsolvable problem. There is basically only one way to solve it - and that is reform!
However, even if the reform is implemented, it will not be effective overnight.
But Li Heng wanted to reverse his financial predicament in a short period of time. How could this be possible?
After discussing with Wei Jiansu and other prime ministers for a whole morning, there was no result. Li Heng felt very depressed, so he and his entourage prepared to go hunting in Zhongnan Mountain to relax.
As a result, just as he walked outside Mingde Gate, the pedestrians in front suddenly became commotion.
Li Yu, who Li Heng ordered to accompany him, stopped a vendor and asked, "What happened?"
"There are so many Tibetan troops!" the merchant said in panic, "The Tibetan army has arrived outside Chang'an City.
"What? The Tibetan army?" Li Heng was shocked. This was really a leak in the house and it rained all night.
An Lushan's rebellion hasn't subsided yet, has Tubo also rebelled? Moreover, the Tibetan army that launched the rebellion even reached Chang'an, so what should we do?
Li Yu reminded: "Master, we must close the city gate quickly!"
Other followers also echoed: "Prince, close the city gate quickly and don't let the Tibetan army enter the city!"
Li Heng hummed, and just when he was about to give the order, Lu Tianshi's voice suddenly sounded in the void: "Don't panic, it's not the Tibetan army that's coming, but the Shannan army led by Shannan Jiedushi Li Siye."
"Shannan Army?" Li Heng and his entourage behind him were doubtful.
"Yes, Li Siye's Shannan Army." Lu Tianshi said, "He came to King Qin to quell the rebellion."
At the moment of uncertainty, a fast horse galloped over, wearing the Tang Army's standard black hammer armor.
After arriving in front of Li Heng, the rider sang and said: "Here, Duan Xiushi, the garrison envoy of Pibo Army under the command of Shannan Jiedushi of Luoxedao in the Tang Dynasty, pays homage to the prince. May the prince be well."
"Duan Aiqing is exempt from the courtesy." Li Heng couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
It was just a false alarm, it was Li Siye's Shannan Army who came.
Duan Xiushi added: "Prince, Li Jieshuai heard that the saint personally led the army out to meet the rebels, so he did not enter the city to meet the prince. Instead, he wanted to lead the army to support quickly, so he asked the last general to come to greet the prince on his behalf. "
"Okay, okay, okay, Li Aiqing thinks of the saint in his heart. He is my loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty. I feel so relieved when I am lonely."
After sending Duan Xiushi away, Li Heng crossed his hands and asked, "May I ask Master Lu, is my grandpa okay?"
"Good, bad." Master Lu Tianshi's voice came from the air, "Yes, because your grandfather is still alive, but bad, because his army of hundreds of thousands has been destroyed, with only a few thousand remnants left."
"Ah?" Li Heng, Li Yu and their entourage suddenly changed their expressions.
Lu Tianshi added: "That's why Li Siye rushed to Tongguan in a hurry. Because he arrived late, your grandpa might have allowed the rebels to break into Guanzhong, and your grandpa might have actually become a rebel. captive."
"This..." Li Heng's expression moved slightly, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
…
At this time, the main force of Anlushan's rebels had reached Tongguan.
After hearing that Li Longji had been taken to Tongguan Old City by Ge Shuhan, An Lushan ordered a fierce attack on Tongguan Old City without hesitation. He wanted to capture Li Longji alive.
Capturing Li Longji alive would not only greatly satisfy him emotionally, but also politically achieve the ultimate goal of landing Li Tang, so the rebels launched a desperate attack as soon as they came up.
However, the old city of Tongguan in the Han Dynasty was built on the steep Tongguan Plain, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
After a fierce attack for several days, the rebels lost thousands of elite soldiers, but they could never capture the old city.
At the same time, An Qingxu, who had invaded the pass first, sent flying cavalry to report that he had encountered hundreds of thousands of Tang Dynasty King Qin's troops near Huayin, so An Lushan did not dare to spend any more time in the old city of Tongguan. Cui Qianyou was left to guard Tongguan, and then he personally led the main force of the rebels into Guanzhong, preparing for a decisive battle with Li Siye's King Qin's army.
…
Li Siye's army has entered Huayin.
Li Siye had doubts about whether to engage in field battles with the rebels.
Li Siye himself can be called the number one fierce general in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but he was still cautious in using troops.
After the Anlushan rebels started their troops in Fan Yang, they were unstoppable. After arriving in Luoyang, they first defeated Geshu Qian and then Li Longji, which shows that the rebels' combat effectiveness is very strong.
In view of this, Li Siye had the idea of defending Huayin.
As long as the Shannan Army holds Huayin City, the main force of the rebels will not dare to invade the Guanzhong Plain in large numbers.
And if only a small number of troops penetrate deeply, it will not threaten the safety of Chang'an. In this way, Chang'an and Huayin have formed a horns, and the rebels will never dare to advance forward unless they break through Huayin first.
From a military perspective, Li Siye's consideration can be said to be no problem.
But from a political perspective, Li Siye's idea has big problems.
Because it takes too long, Datang's manpower, material and financial resources will inevitably be seriously damaged.
The only way is to quickly annihilate the main force of the rebels, then carry out the agrarian revolution in Guanzhong Road and Duji Road, wait until the people of Guanzhong Road and Duji Road are mobilized, and go north to quell Shi Siming's rebels, and then take advantage of the situation to carry out the agrarian revolution in Hebei Road, Hedong Road and Henan Province implemented large-scale land reform, which basically set the trend.
Those high-ranking families will completely lose their chance of counterattack.
All in all, there must not be a massive loss of population.
Now that the rebels are busy attacking cities and territories, they don't have much time to harm the people, so they must be destroyed quickly.
At that time, Lu Tianshi directly rejected Li Siye's proposal and said: "It is indeed safer to defend the city, but if it lasts for a long time, it will inevitably lead to a large loss of population in Duji Road, Henan Road and even Huainan Road, which will in turn cause the national power of the Tang Dynasty to be seriously damaged. This is not the result I want, so I must fight against the rebels in Huayin."
Master Lu Tian had already made a decision, and Li Siye no longer insisted on it at the moment.
Li Siye immediately ordered the entire army to leave the city and set up camp outside Huayin City.
As a result, the Shannan Army had just set up camp when An Lushan sent people to recruit them to surrender.
An Lushan attached great importance to Li Siye, and the envoy he sent to recruit him was also a heavyweight—Prince An Qingxu!
An Lushan didn't know what he was thinking. On the one hand, he might have wanted to take the opportunity to show his importance to Li Siye. On the other hand, he might have had the idea of killing people with a borrowed knife and wanted to use Li Siye's hand to get rid of An Qingxu.
If he wanted to kill people with a borrowed knife, then An Lushan did achieve his intention.
Because after Li Siye saw An Qingxu, he beheaded him without saying a word.
Then soldiers were sent to carry An Qingxu's head with spears and display it in front of the two armies.
It is said that when An Lushan saw this, he was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot, and then ordered the entire army to attack.
Hundreds of thousands of rebels were also furious because Li Siye killed An Qingxu for not obeying the rules, so their morale became even stronger.
At the end of June in the 14th year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty (755), Li Siye's 200,000 Shannan army and Anlu Mountain's more than 300,000 rebels launched a final decisive battle on the plain east of Huayin City.
This decisive battle will ultimately determine the fate of the Tang Dynasty.
If defeated, the Tang Dynasty would come to an abrupt end.
If it wins, Datang will continue the glory of the Tang Dynasty.
When the two armies formed a circle, An Lushan came out in an "imperial chariot" and once again proposed to meet Li Siye.
An Lushan's relationship with the generals of the Longyou Heshuo Clan such as Ge Shuhan had always been very bad, but his relationship with the generals of the Anxi Clan such as Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing and Li Siye was actually pretty good.
So An Lushan is still ready to work hard one last time.
Unexpectedly, this move turned out to be a big mistake.
