Northwest of Chang'an, under the city of Pizhou. After a day and two nights of hasty escape, on the morning of the 8th day of the first month of July, Li Heng, Li Pu, Li Xuan, Li Yao, and others fled to Pizhou with more than 20,000 remnants of the defeated army. As soon as he entered the city, under the urging of the princes, the frightened Li Heng immediately wrote a letter asking Wang Yuan for help, and after watching the scout who delivered the letter get on the horse and leave, Li Heng and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, there was mutual accusation and quarrel, and the depressed princes were unwilling to take responsibility for the defeat of the army, and they blamed each other and quarreled, and no one refused to back down. But in the end, the physical needs prevailed over everyone, and the exhausted princes fell asleep one after another. For a while, there was a loud snoring in the lobby of the Bizhou Mansion, which was supposed to be discussing countermeasures. They slept like dead pigs.

It was not until late evening that everyone woke up. After not eating for several days, all the princes were hungry and rumbling, so they ordered someone to get some food and eat it around the table. Li Pu and Li Hui started arguing again for some reason, but suddenly a news came, which made Li Hui and Li Hui and the others lose interest in arguing in an instant, and they didn't even feel hungry.

Outside the south gate of the city, the pursuing imperial soldiers and horses arrived.

Everyone hurried to the head of the southern city to take a look, standing on the head of the city, and seeing the posture under the city at a glance, the princes, who were already tired and weak, almost fell down the city one by one. There are as many as 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers and horses under the city, the flags cover the sun, the swords and guns are like forests, and they are spread all over the south city gate, boundless.

"I'm chasing after me, what should I do? What should I do? Li Jian rubbed his hands together and said in a trembling voice.

"It's over, it's all over. We're not going to survive this time. Li Mao is going to kill us all. Li Pu's face was pale, her hair was scattered, and her eyes were straight.

"You are not allowed to shake the morale of the army, and you are not allowed to speak discouragement. We still have more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and we will defend Pizhou. They may not be able to break through Pizhou, we will hold on until the reinforcements arrive, and they will be the ones who die. Li Heng shouted angrily.

"Twenty-sixth brother, what you said is easy, there are only more than 20,000 of my 60,000 soldiers and horses left, and the morale is extremely declining. When we fled last night, all the grain and grass materials were lost, and we didn't even have much food and grass, at most for five or six days, how can we hold on? No soldiers, no food, no morale, how many days can it last? Li Jian said in a trembling voice.

"You can ask Chengdu for help and ask them to send it. You can also ask Li Mi to send some soldiers and horses to the rescue. Things will always be solved, everything will be solved, we are all sighing, how can the soldiers still have morale? Cheer up, we'll get through it. Li Heng shouted.

"Twenty-sixth brother, is it interesting for you to lie to yourself? You don't believe it yourself, and you still come to convince us? Pizhou will be surrounded by groups soon, how to get rescue? Even if there is grain and grass, can it come in? How many soldiers and horses can Li Mi have on hand, how could he give up Chengdu to come to our aid? Do you really think that Wang Yuan thinks of us as a treasure? Li Mao said it well that day, Wang Yuan only cares about himself, do you still think he really helps us? If he genuinely helps us, why doesn't he support us publicly? Don't dream your big dreams. Li Pu said loudly.

Li Heng frowned and said, "Brother Twelve, what's the use of you talking about this now?" How could I not know this? So you say, what are we going to do now? Shall we abandon the city and flee before they have yet to attack it? ”

Li Pu sneered: "Escape? Is it too late to run away now? Do you see it? They have cavalry, and we can run on two legs more than four? How is it different to evacuate this city now than to seek death? Besides, thousands of soldiers and horses ran away in one night last night, and if the troops were withdrawn back to Ningzhou, I was afraid that the soldiers and horses would run out on the way. ”

Li Heng spread his hands and said, "Then what do you say?" ”

Li Pu said: "What can I do?" Hold on. It's a big deal, everyone dies here. If I had known that, I wouldn't have gone through this troubled water. I should have gone to the capital to kowtow to Li Mao, maybe now I am living a happy life. ”

"Brother Twelve, how can you say such a thing? It's too late to regret going now. Twelve brothers and thirteen brothers, don't blame the brothers, I speak ugly, and now in this situation, no one wants to be alone. If Brother Twelve said that kind of thing just now, don't blame my brother for turning his face and not recognizing people. Li Heng shouted angrily.

Li Pu and Li Jian were all frightened, Li Hui's expression was fierce, his eyes were fierce, and he didn't want to be joking. For this twenty-sixth brother, Li Pu and Li Zhu are actually a little afraid. It's not because of how much ability Li Heng has, but because this twenty-sixth brother acts recklessly, and he does everything impulsively, and sometimes he is a bastard. It's not a good idea to off him.

"What did you say? It's just a joke. Now the priority is to defend the city. In this way, let's split up, and the thirteenth brother will go to the city to mobilize the people and catch some ...... Ask some people to help us defend the city. I went to collect supplies, grain and grass, and the people of Pizhou were afraid that there was still some food in their homes, so I had to pull some out of their mouths to ensure the rations of the soldiers. Twenty-sixth brother, how about you stay on the city wall and command the soldiers and horses to arrange the defense of the city? Li Pu said.

"That's it, just listen to Brother Twelve, let's go our separate ways. Hey? What about the twenty-seventh brother? It was still here just now, but it disappeared in a blink of an eye. Li Heng looked around.

"Don't worry about him, maybe I will go to the Taoist temple in the city to ask Taishang Laojun again, the twenty-seventh brother has no interest, and he can't help much, let him go, maybe I can really ask Taishang Laojun for help." Li Jian said.

The soldiers and horses under the city were nearly 70,000 troops led by Li Guangbi and Zheng Qiushan. The reason why he arrived in Pizhou a few days late was because Li Guangbi returned to Chang'an overnight last night to ask Li Mao for instructions, so he was delayed for some time. After Li Guangbi returned to the army, the army immediately pursued to the city of Bizhou.

At dawn that day, Li Guangbi entered the palace to meet Li Mao and reported the news that Li Hui's soldiers and horses had escaped because of the stupidity of the Cui brothers. Li Mao was annoyed, even if he followed Li Guangbi's suggestion and ordered the Cui brothers to be dismissed from their military positions, but added the position of recruiting military envoys to the two of them, and let the two brothers be responsible for the recruitment of soldiers, horses, grain and grass, which also took advantage of the prestige and financial resources of the Cui family. and lest the two brothers get in the way. But Li Guangbi had a long heart, and asked the soldiers and horses recruited from Jiangnan to be selected by himself to be filled into the forbidden army, and the rest were handed over to Commander Cui Qiushan. Li Mao thought that this move was feasible, after all, expanding the forbidden army was a priority, and there was nothing wrong with selecting elite soldiers to fill the forbidden army, but he didn't expect that Li Guangbi was taking precautions to prevent Zheng Qiushan from having too much military power and too many troops, so he selected some elite soldiers from among the soldiers and horses led by him to balance his strength.

After reporting to Li Mao that the defeated army of Li Heng and others was fleeing to Pizhou, Li Guangbi also took the opportunity to put forward the plan in his heart. This plan is to take advantage of this time to pursue Li Heng's remnants, and simply advance into Ningqing Erzhou and approach Wang Yuan's lair. Taking advantage of Wang Yuan's entanglement with the Hui people in Fengzhou, this is a good opportunity to draw salary.

Li Mao was overjoyed when she heard this, and immediately agreed to Li Guangbi's suggestion. Anyway, I have to turn my face, so why not take this opportunity to copy his back. Under the pretext of pursuing the rebels of Li Heng and others, they directly attacked Shu and copied his lair, teaching Wang Yuan to be difficult to take care of.

According to Li Guangbi's suggestion, this time the march made a lot of money, and there was no need to issue a crusade against Wang Yuan and a holy decree for the march, so as not to be informed of Wang Yuan's intentions. And on the one hand, it is necessary to take Pizhou quickly, and not to delay too much time in Pizhou, on the other hand, it is necessary to send someone to send a letter to Guli Peiluo, asking him to drag Wang Yuan no matter what, and not let him turn his head back to rescue. Because considering that the news of Li Hui's defeat would reach Wang Yuan's army on the fifth or sixth day, Wang Yuan might be desperate to return reinforcements at that time, so he needed the active cooperation of Guli Peiluo.

The two of the monarchs and ministers discussed the agreement, Li Guangbi turned back and rushed to the army, first passed the decree to let the Cui brothers hand over the soldiers and horses to return to Jiangnan to recruit troops and food, and then secretly conveyed the plan discussed with Li Mao with Zheng Qiushan, and then led the soldiers and horses to the northwest to chase closely, and arrived at the city of Pizhou after a gap of more than half a day.

Although a quick victory was needed, Lee Kwang-pil was a veteran of the army, and he was in no hurry to storm the city that night. The soldiers and horses were in a hurry to catch up, and they needed to rest for a day. After recuperating and attacking, you can get twice the result with half the effort. What's more, Li Guangbi thinks that tonight maybe Li Heng will escape from the city overnight, using their panic psychology to deploy troops and horses in the west and north of the city to wait for the rabbit, maybe there will be a major gain, after all, it is best not to attack the city, once the city is attacked, a large number of casualties will definitely be unavoidable. If they don't flee tonight, it won't be too late to besiege the city tomorrow.

Li Guangbi took advantage of the cover of night to let Zheng Qiushan with 40,000 soldiers and horses surround the mountains outside the west city and the north city. There was chaos in the city. In order to replenish the troops, food and grass, Li Pu led his troops to toss in the city. There were not many people in the city of Yanzhou, and less than 10,000 people returned to Yanzhou after the war subsided, and all of them were poor, and most of them were old, weak, sick and disabled. But at this time, Li Jian and Li Pu were in charge of these. But anyone who can pick up weapons or can move earth and rocks, regardless of the old ** woman, is forced to go to the city to participate in the defense of the city. Some of the poor food in the homes of the people was also looted. There are even soldiers who take advantage of the fire to rob and rape. Lewd and plundered, comparable to a tiger wolf. The people are also considered to have fallen into bad luck, whose soldiers and horses occupy Pizhou, and in the end they suffer, for a time the men and women in the city cry, the miserable sound shook the sky, and the curse was full of grievances.

Li Heng was responsible for distributing the soldiers and horses guarding the city at the head of the city, and commanded the people to carry wood and stones to the city, so tired that he stuck out his tongue like a dog and gasped, and cursed angrily in his mouth. At the beginning of the shift, Li Heng had to go down to the city and sit in the palace for a while, drinking saliva and catching his breath. Li Pu and Li Ji also came to the yamen to rest, and discussed by the way. Even Li Yao was actually in the palace, but his face was pale and silent.

Li Heng and Li Pu were discussing a few words when they suddenly saw a soldier outside the yamen hurriedly coming and presenting a letter. Li Heng looked at the envelope, and a hole was pierced in the middle, and he knew that it was a letter shot up by an arrow from the city. Li Heng raised his hand and was about to tear up the letter, Li Pu Li Heng hurriedly said: "Don't tear it, what's the matter with a look?" ”

Li Heng reluctantly unfolded the letterhead, Li Jian and Li Pu both leaned over to look at it, and sure enough, this was a letter of persuasion written by Li Guangbi.

The letter wrote: Princes and grandfathers, you and others rebelled, offended the power of heaven, a few days ago, a little punishment, you should know the power of the imperial army, should know what to do is unwise. Now you are trapped in this city, the soldiers are scattered and the food is exhausted, and our army could have attacked the city immediately and exterminated you and others in one fell swoop, but there is the virtue of benevolence and righteousness in the saint, and I think of the feelings of my flesh and blood compatriots, and I care that you are bewitched by traitors, and I do not want to die without a place to be buried, so I tell you to advise you to do one or two. At this time, it may be possible to seek forgiveness, and there may not be no way out to make amends for the dead. I hope you will think twice about it. You will have a night to ponder the matter, and tomorrow at dawn I will order the army to storm the city, and then you will regret it too late. Be cautious, do not live up to Your Majesty's kindness, and do not do things that are happy to relatives and enemies. Lee Kwang-pil saluted.

After reading the letter, the room was silent, and several princes sat silently, each with something on their minds, not knowing what they were thinking.

Li Heng frowned and said, "What's wrong with all of you?" Could it be that you can't believe Li Guangbi's nonsense? Do you really think that Li Mao will spare us? Hehe, do you still think there is a way out at this time? ”

"Twenty-sixth brother, don't be impatient, none of us said anything, but...... The same is true of what is said in this letter...... Maybe...... Let's discuss it again and see if there is a way to get the best of both worlds. After all, the army is pressing the city, and once they launch an attack tomorrow, this state will be broken. Just now, I and the Twelve Brothers and Latin searched for food, but we didn't have much to gain. They are all old, weak, sick and disabled people, and they have little food......"

Before Li Jian finished speaking, Li Heng stood up and shouted: "Shut up, sure enough, you have other thoughts, but I didn't expect that at this time, you are so stupid as to have such fantasies." ”

Li Heng stretched out his hand and grabbed the letter in his hand, tore two of the three handfuls, and threw them out, and the fragments fell to the ground one after another.

"This is Li Guangbi's intimidation and temptation before the war, and you actually believe his nonsense. Who is Li Mao, you don't know? Even my father is already disrespectful, can he spare us? Two imperial brothers, don't blame me for saying ugly things in my head, anyway, Li Mao will never spare me, even if I die here, I won't believe their nonsense. I'm not afraid to tell the two royal brothers plainly, if you have any other thoughts or two hearts, don't blame me for not thinking about brotherhood. If anyone has a distracting thought at this time, I will kill him with my own hands. And then everyone dies here. ”

Li Heng stretched out his hand and pulled out a long sword from his waist, swung his sword and slashed, and a wooden stool beside him was split in half and shattered to the ground.

Li Pu Li Zhen and Li Yao were all stunned, they saw that the muscles on Li Heng's face were twisted, and their faces were terrifying, and they were all terrified in their hearts. Obviously, Li Heng is no longer just talking, but will really do something.

Even Li Pu was furious in his heart, and he didn't dare to continue to provoke Li Hui at this time. Li Pu smiled and said, "Twenty-sixth brother, don't be impulsive. We don't think that way, so why should you? Now we're in the same boat, and no one can run. Li Mao can't spare you, can he spare us? Don't forget that we signed the crusade together. What are you doing here? ”

"Yes, yes, twenty-sixth brother, you don't want this. I know you're anxious, but you can't mess around. Brother Twelve and I are nothing, you see what you scared Brother Twenty-Seven. Li Jian was also busy.

Li Heng looked at his twenty-seventh brother Li Yao, and found that Li Yao was trembling, curled up in a chair with a pale face, his eyes were full of fear, and he was talking to himself vaguely, not knowing what he was saying. Li Heng realized that his behavior just now seemed to be too much, and as soon as his hand was released, the long sword fell to the ground, and he sat down on the chair in a dejected manner.

Li Pu swallowed and spitted at the mouth: "Twenty-sixth brother, don't think about it too much, let's discuss how to fight the enemy, they will attack the city tomorrow morning." You have fought with Wang Yuan, and you have read a lot of military books on weekdays, now is the time for you to show your skills, our brother's life is in your hands, if you can't control yourself at this time, who do we count on? ”

"Yes, yes, let's discuss it again......" Li Jian also said busily.

Li Heng looked at the candle flame in a daze, and his mind was blank. In the past, he was very confident, and he always thought that once he had the opportunity, he would be wise and powerful. But now, he knew he was nothing. Although I learned a lot from the trip with Wang Yuan, it was a pity that I saw that Wang Yuan was able to act easily and competently, but now I didn't know how to start at all.

The hall fell into a deathly silence again. The four princes sat under the candlelight, like four dead trees.

"Three imperial brothers, I can't help anything, it's useless, I'd better go back to the room." Li Yao suddenly stood up and stammered.

Li Hui Li Pu Li Xuan glanced at him and saw that Li Xuan's body was shaking and slumping, and he was in a very bad state. It really didn't help him to stay here, so it was better to let him go back to his room.

"Twenty-seventh brother, are you sick? Go back to your room, and take a rest, your body is too weak. Li Jian felt some pity for this twenty-seventh brother, but Li Pu and Li Heng didn't say a word, just glanced at Li Zhen and fell into their own thoughts again.

Li Yao bowed respectfully to each of the three imperial brothers, and left the hall with his numb and stiff body in tow. The remaining three brothers finally started soon after