"Wenzong, you don't understand. At this time, we can't hurt Ashina Daozhen. Otherwise, if he can't protect himself, which Turk will feel that he is safe?" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "There is something under the crotch Ma, you have a knife in your hand and you feel that you are in danger, what would you do if it were your place?"
Cao Wenzong clenched his fists and was speechless. After a while, he said: "In this case, we can only hold our swords tightly!"
"Yes! I thought I could fight without bloodshed, but now it seems that I am still too arrogant!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the gloomy sky: "Let's go, it's going to rain. Let's go back to the city early!"
——————————————————————
Chang'an, Xuanwu Gate.
Lightning pierced the northern sky, and the black cornices of the Xuanwu Gate tower stood out against the dark blue sky. Six heartbeats later there was thunder, like the beat of a drum in the distance.
The guards of the Yulin Army escorted Xue Rengui through the Xuanwu Gate and passed under the solid iron-leaf oak city gate. The water rushed into the city gate hole and washed away the bluestone at the foot of the city wall, making a huge roar. He couldn't help but look to the north. The pouring rain was like a huge curtain, blocking the entire world. The familiar Longshouyuan and Daming Palace were only left with a blurry huge black shadow. He couldn't help but think of a past event in his mind, and subconsciously stopped.
"General Xue!"
The escort's voice brought Xue Rengui back to the facts. He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I just remembered something from the past. Please forgive me for the delay! Let's go!"
"General, wait a moment!" The escort took a cloak from the soldier next to him and put it on Xue Rengui: "There is still a long way to the Daming Palace from here. It is raining heavily. General, make do with it!"
"No need!" Xue Rengui threw off his cloak and said solemnly: "I am no longer a general. I lost one hundred thousand troops. This is what I deserve. If I were not afraid that others would say that I evaded the punishment of the national law, I would have committed suicide halfway. !”
Seeing this, the escort knew that he could not persuade Xue Rengui, so he could only sigh, and escorted Xue Rengui out of Xuanwu Gate with his subordinates.
Walking out of the city gate, a heavy rain suddenly fell on his head. Because he was a guilty minister, Xue Rengui had his hands tied behind his back and stumbled through the open space between Daming Palace and Xuanwu Gate. The cold rain stung his eyes. The soldiers of the Yulin Army escorted him to Longshouyuan and entered the magnificent Daming Palace.
As soon as they entered the palace corridor, the escort took Xue Rengui to the Hanyuan Hall. Xue Rengui tried his best to recall the etiquette when he entered the palace and thought about how he should apologize to the emperor.
When Xue Rengui walked into the back hall of Hanyuan Hall, he found that the emperor was sitting alone in the dim hall, with wine and food placed in front of him. On the dozens of candle holders on the wall of the back hall, there were only candles placed everywhere, and only There were two whale oil candles placed in two places, emitting weak, flickering candlelight. Xue Rengui could hear the sound of raindrops hitting the eaves and hanging iron horses. Rainwater was constantly leaking from a gap in the corridor.
"Untie the rope and give me a seat!"
Xue Rengui stood there like a drowned dog, his wrists were tightened by the wet rope and were worn out. He was about to kneel down to plead guilty, but when he heard the emperor's voice, great pain and shame suddenly overwhelmed him. He immediately fell to his knees, his face close to the ground, and sobbed: "The guilty minister lost a hundred thousand troops, guilty. I cannot bear to be punished, and I have no face to see the Emperor again!"
Li Zhi sighed, stood up from behind a few cases, walked slowly to Xue Rengui, took off his coat and put it on Xue Rengui, and sighed: "Do you still remember the summer of the fifth year of Yonghui (654)? I went on a tour and stayed at the Wannian Palace (in today's Baoji). Just like tonight, it rained heavily and the water rose several feet from the ground. By the way, the north gate of the Wannian Palace was also called Xuanwu Gate. You happened to be the guard at that time. ,do you remember?"
"Why don't you remember this?" Xue Rengui paused and said, "But that's just the duty of a human minister!"
"Haha!" Li Zhi laughed twice: "At that time, a flash flood broke out and the water rushed to the north gate. All the guards fled. Only you risked your life to climb on the door frame and shout to the palace to warn the inner palace, so we were able to escape. Jie, by the way, I seem to have given you a horse later, right?"
"I am so ashamed of myself!"
"Xue Aiqing saved my life at that time, and the credit cannot be paid by a horse!" Li Zhi smiled: "So, you don't need to worry too much!"
The rope was untied, and regaining his freedom made him feel relaxed for a long time, but the shame and pain did not disappear. On the contrary, the emperor's magnanimity made Xue Rengui feel even more painful. He didn't know what to do to make up for his sins. And the emperor's favor, yes, this favor has far exceeded what he should receive. As a warrior, the only thing he can do is to kill more enemies and conquer the emperor's enemies in return, but now he Do you still have this ability?
"Tell me!" Li Zhi said: "Tell me everything about the situation at that time. I will hear everything from your mouth!"
"I obey!" Xue Rengui took a deep breath. He knew that this was a good opportunity to shirk responsibility. Among the three people who were originally appointed to lead this army: Ashina Daozhen is dead, and Guo Daifeng is currently alive and dead. I don’t know, now I am the only one alive, and I have the honor of reporting directly to the emperor. What better opportunity is there than this? However, Xue Rengui did not intend to do this. The emperor originally appointed him, not the other two, as the general manager of the Luosu Road March. Since he was defeated, he should bear his due responsibilities, and evasion was cheating. He would rather submit to the law than Deceiving the emperor.
After listening to Xue Rengui's report, Li Zhi fell into silence. Xue Rengui lowered his head and waited for the emperor's ruling. After a long period of time, Li Zhi's voice resounded in the hall: "Xue Qing, what you said is somewhat different from what I heard from others. According to what others said, the reason why our army was defeated was because of a big The reason is that Guo Daifeng violated Jiedu and did not stay behind at Dafeiling to carry the baggage and led troops to attack without permission, which led to the defeat, isn't that so?"
Xue Rengui hesitated for a moment. It was not surprising that the emperor knew this. After all, the Tubo people abided by their oath and did not attack the remnants of the Tang army who left the Dafiling camp. Eight or nine thousand people returned to Longyou alone. This knew that at that time There are really too many battles going on. He nodded: "Is this true?"
"Then why don't you tell me the truth? This is cheating!"
A gust of cold wind passed through the palace, and Xue Rengui couldn't help but shudder. This was a frightening crime. Compared with being a defeated general, deceiving the monarch was a crime he was even more unwilling to bear.
"Since your Majesty ordered the guilty minister to be the general manager of the Luosu Road March, then the success or failure is the sole responsibility of the guilty minister! The one who originally ordered Guo Daifeng to command the rear army was also the guilty minister. If the guilty minister ordered Guo Daifeng to lead the front army, he ordered A If Shi Nadao really orders the rear army, this disaster will not happen!"
"What a joke!" Li Zhi sneered: "The Turkic cavalry who went on the expedition were all in the front army. How could there be any reason to put Ashina Daozhen in the rear army and Guo Daifeng in the front army? Besides, how dare Guo Daifeng If you blatantly disrespect your orders, if you put it in the front army, it will only cause more trouble, and then it will be the front army, not the rear army, that gets into trouble!"
Xue Rengui was stunned. He didn't expect the emperor to say such words. He knelt down in the tunnel and said: "Your Majesty said it!"
"So your fault was not to put Guo Daifeng in the rear army, but to take him down directly after you found out that he disrespected orders, and then wrote a letter to me stating the truth! This is the best way!"
"Your Majesty is right!" Xue Rengui was sincerely convinced this time: "The guilty minister should indeed do this!"
Li Zhi looked at Xue Rengui, who was kneeling on the ground, and his eyes slowly softened: "But I really can't blame you. After Guo Daifeng became a famous general, he walked around me all the year round. This time, it was me who asked him to be you. Deputy. How dare you be so bold with your loyal and diligent nature? Well, in the final analysis, this is my fault!"
Xue Rengui never expected that Li Zhi would go around in a big circle and take the blame on himself. He couldn't help but be stunned. Obviously the emperor still wanted to use him, so he did this.
"However, as the general manager this time, you still cannot escape the crime of overthrowing the army. You are still bound to be dismissed from your post and removed from the rank. After you leave the palace, you should reflect behind closed doors for a while!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty!" As long as two years pass, the emperor needs him, and his reinstatement is just a matter of words. Compared with the exile or even execution that I originally expected, God's grace is really so great!
"That's all, you are my loyal minister, and you once had nine surnames, Tiele and Goguryeo, to make Mobei and Liaodong surrender. You have made such a great contribution, and I will never forget it." Li Zhi sighed: "There is one more thing. How did Ashina Dao really die? Tell me the story from beginning to end in detail!"
"I obey the order!" Xue Rengui carefully informed himself that after learning that the rear army had been destroyed, he quickly led a small number of cavalry to escort Gong Ren back to the camp in Dafiling. Shortly after arriving at the camp, he learned that the Turks in the front army had rebelled. Shi Na Daozhen was also captured. Then the Tubo people proposed to exchange Ashina Daozhen for Gongren with the Tang army, and the two armies held an oath of alliance. On the condition that the Tang people recognized Tubo's control of Tuyuhun, the remnants of the Tang army would be released and fled back to Longyou. Then Ashina Daozhen fell ill quickly on the way home and died.
"Yes!" Li Zhi nodded: "Do you remember that Xue Qing discovered that the Tubo people had made an oath with the Turks and colluded with the Turks to rebel before he went on the expedition? He also sent Ashina Daozhen to the Turks to deal with the matter?"
"Yes, it did happen!" Xue Rengui nodded: "But Wei Chen later talked about this matter with Ashina Daozhen. It should be that these Turkic rebels played some trick to hide Ashina Daozhen."
"Do you think you really just hid it?" Li Zhi said coldly.
"You really concealed it?" Xue Rengui was stunned when he heard the words, and then he understood the implication of the emperor's words. His body suddenly trembled: "How is this possible? Your Majesty, Ashina Daozhen is extremely loyal to me, the Tang Dynasty! He His father was buried with the late emperor, and his mother was the daughter of Emperor Gaozu, how could he do such a thing?"
Li Zhi didn't speak, his expression was gloomy and uncertain. It was obvious that what Xue Rengui said just now did not convince him. Xue Rengui did not dare to say anything and just waited carefully. A few minutes later, Li Zhi asked: "How do you think he died?"
"The situation was very urgent, and we didn't dare to stay long, so we immediately cremated his body! According to the doctor's judgment, he should have been poisoned by the Tibetan people, and then he had an attack on the way back and died of the poison!"
"The Tubo people poisoned him to death!" Li Zhi snorted coldly: "So, the Tubo people want to put the responsibility of killing Ashina Daozhen on the Tang Dynasty!"
"That's right!" Xue Rengui quickly seized the opportunity to cry out for his colleagues: "Ashina Dao's true father is a famous Turkic king, and his mother is a Tang princess. The only possibility for the Tubo people to do this is to destroy the mutual trust between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks for decades. If Ashina Daozhen was really related to the rebellion, how could he be exchanged? How could he be poisoned by the Tubo people?"
"Perhaps the Tubo people think that his tail is too big to lose. If he lives, he will be in trouble for himself in the future?" Li Zhi sneered and continued without waiting for Xue Rengui to defend: "But everyone is dead, and there is no point in pursuing these. For the sake of the Tang Dynasty He must be a loyal minister of our Tang Dynasty!"
"Yes, yes, your majesty said it!" Xue Rengui responded quickly. Although he did not agree with Li Zhi's opinion, his colleagues could be corrected anyway, so there was no point in arguing about other details. After all, he was an emperor who kept his word. .
"As a gift to the general of the auxiliary state, let's grant him the title of governor of Bingzhou! All funeral expenses will be borne by the palace!"
When he left Hanyuan Hall, Xue Rengui felt that he was getting cold all over. This terrible weather, such heavy rain, and such strong wind, even a man as strong as iron couldn't stand it!
"Here!" He called to the soldiers of the Yulin Army on the side: "Bring me some dry clothes! I can't stand it when the wind blows when I wear wet clothes!"
Inside Hanyuan Hall.
Li Zhi began to eat his dinner. The chamberlain and the maids replaced the cold dishes on the table with hot meals. Li Zhi did not eat quickly. The defeat had destroyed his appetite. He just I force myself to eat for health reasons.
As the ruler of the empire, he looked much further than Xue Rengui. In the twenty years since he ascended the throne, the iron hooves of the Tang Dynasty have been constantly advancing, and large tracts of land have become the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Land and vassals, including the rolling golden rivers that flowed along the mainland trade routes into Chang'an and Luoyang, everything seemed fine. It wasn't until the summer of the first year of Xianheng that Datang's iron hooves finally hit a rock with a hardness similar to its own, and blood rushed out.
"Damn idiot!" Li Zhi suddenly swept away all the dishes on several cases: "He actually wants others to take the blame for him!"
Thanks to the galactic host for eating steak, dragons fighting in the wild, and being safe and waiting for the book friends’ rewards
(End of chapter)
