"Your Majesty!" Li Guangbi slowly got up and shouted in a dumb voice.

Li Mao's pale lips trembled, her throat seemed to be blocked by something, she looked at Li Guangbi and said softly: "Guangbi, don't blame me, I am helpless." There is no way back. I hope you understand. ”

Li Guangbi smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, you are so confused, do you believe Wang Yuan's words of the traitor?" He killed me by His Majesty's hand. Your Majesty, the minister has completed the construction of all the city defenses of Xicheng, Wang Yuan will be defeated in Chang'an, and the minister will not let him attack it. ”

Li Mao nodded, "I believe in your determination, but I can't take this risk. I can't put all my wealth on defending the city. Guangbi, you are loyal to me, I know it in my heart. I can't help it. ”

Li Guangbi shouted: "Your Majesty, why are you so confused? You have fallen for Wang Yuan's tricks. Your Majesty, the minister can naturally offer his head, as long as Wang Yuan can withdraw from the army, the minister doesn't care about life and death at all. However, Wang Yuan will not keep his promise, he is a counter-planner. ”

Li Mao frowned and was silent.

Li Guangbi continued excitedly: "Your Majesty, think about it at the beginning, think about what An Lushan, a traitor, said when he rebelled against the imperial court. Didn't An Lushan also say that he wanted to clear the monarch and get rid of the rebels? He asked the Emperor Taishang to kill Yang Guozhong and the concubines and the people of the Yang family, and he said that as long as the Yang family's group of ministers died, he would retire. However, what is the result? On Ma Wei Slope, Yang Guozhong was killed, all the sisters and brothers of the Yang family were killed, did An Lushan retire? He's just using it as an excuse. That Wang Yuan is more fierce than An Lushan, his set is the one used by An Lushan, how can Your Majesty still believe him? Your Majesty...... Think twice before you act. It's nothing if the minister dies, if the minister is killed, the city will not be able to hold it, Wang Yuan wants this result. ”

The muscles on Li Mao's face trembled, his breathing was short, and his heart was almost moved. He suddenly realized that this matter seemed to be exactly as Li Guangbi said, he was confused and believed Wang Yuan's nonsense. Even if Li Guangbi is killed, Wang Yuan will definitely not retreat.

"Brother, I ...... It's confusing right now. ”

"Your Majesty, don't be confused, strengthen your faith, just defend the city. Your Majesty, the minister assures you that if there is a minister, he will defend Chang'an, and the king of the sect will be defeated here. Your Majesty......"

Li Mao raised his head to look at Li Guangbi, and suddenly his eyes showed a light in his eyes, and he walked towards Li Guangbi's side with a move. Li Guangbi couldn't help but be overjoyed, he knew that His Majesty had finally understood and sobered up, and Li Guangbi also walked towards Li Mao.

In the darkness, a cold voice suddenly sounded: "Do it!" ”

Li Mao's body was held by two hands behind him. More than a dozen figures rushed up from all directions, and before Li Guangbi could react, a steel knife slashed down from mid-air. Li Guangbi subconsciously reached out to his waist to draw a knife, but at this time he found that his waist was empty. In a panic, he jumped backwards and dodged the stab. But he didn't have time to rejoice, only to feel a pain in his waist and eyes, and when he looked down in horror, he saw that a steel knife had been inserted into his waist.

The severe pain hit, Li Guangbi screamed miserably, raised his foot and kicked the person who had stabbed him, and reached out to pull out the knife. I felt a chill in my heart, and my chest hurt as if it had been stung by a wasp. When I looked down, I saw the tip of a knife sticking out of my chest, and black blood was dripping from the tip of the knife.

"Ahh Li Guangbi roared miserably, a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth, his body staggered and couldn't stand, and his hands were propped up, supporting the table behind him.

"Brother!" Li Mao shouted loudly, and at the same time angrily reprimanded: "Zheng Qiushan, did I give the order? How dare you do it? ”

Li Guangbi instantly understood who had bewitched Li Mao. In his confused vision, he saw the figure of Zheng Qiushan who appeared from Li Mao's side.

"Dog thief, Zheng Qiushan, you dog thief. How dare you...... Hurt me. Li Guangbi scolded angrily with blood spurting.

Zheng Qiushan arched his hand to Li Mao and said, "Your Majesty is angry, this person can no longer be kept." Forget what I said, once he knows it's all over, he can't stop it? All the forbidden armies were formed by him, why does Your Majesty still blame me? ”

Li Mao shook her lips and couldn't speak.

Zheng Qiushan walked in front of Li Guangbi, who was about to die, and said: "Li Xiang, don't blame me, people don't kill the heavens and the earth for themselves, at this time, no one can take care of anyone." ”

Li Guangbi used his last strength, raised his hand and pointed at Zheng Qiushan and shouted: "Traitor, my Datang Society is ruined in your hands. You...... Don't be complacent. Wang Yuan won't let you go. Your Majesty...... Your Majesty...... You're such a faint king, you shouldn't be repentant...... ...... in Lingzhou Assisted you...... Enthronement. You don't understand anything, you don't understand anything...... Don't understand. ”

Before Li Guangbi finished speaking, he fell to the ground with a pop and died of anger.

Li Mao stood there in a daze, unable to say half a word with her mouth half open. Zheng Qiushan sneered and ordered: "Cut off Li Guangbi's head, put it in a box and take it away." In the name of Li Guangbi, several leaders of the forbidden army were summoned here and all of them were killed. There are also Huang An and other internal servants, all of whom are killed. ”

Li Mao shouted angrily: "Zheng Qiushan, you bastard, what do you want to do?" ”

Zheng Qiushan sneered: "Your Majesty, please give an order, and the power to command the soldiers and horses will be vested in me, so as not to cause chaos." Also, please don't move around without permission, from now on, your Majesty can only stay in the Nanxun Palace, and you can't leave half a step. ”

Li Mao was stunned and said, "What are you...... What are you going to do with me? ”

Zheng Qiushan smiled and said, "What else? Wang Yuan wants to see you, the Emperor wants to see you, Your Majesty, you'd better be obedient. Otherwise, don't think that you are the son-in-law of my Zheng family, I don't recognize my six relatives. ”

Zheng Qiushan laughed with his sleeves, pushed open the door of Yifeng Pavilion and walked away. Li Mao's legs could no longer support her body, her eyes rolled up, and she fainted to the ground with a bang.

……

As soon as Li Guangbi died, it was like a building collapsing, and Chang'an City was in chaos. Zheng Qiushan summoned more than a dozen generals of the forbidden army to meet them, and more than a dozen generals of the forbidden army who did not know the truth were killed by thunder after stepping into Yifeng Pavilion.

Although there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in the entire Chang'an City, the only ones who really posed a threat to Zheng Qiushan, and the only ones who might be in rebellion because of Li Guangbi's death were the more than 25,000 Dragon and Tiger Praetorian Guards. Because they were single-handedly formed and promoted by Li Guangbi, most of the generals were old subordinates who had followed Li Guangbi for many years. Dealing with these people basically curbs the possibility of chaos. Most of the remaining more than 200,000 soldiers and horses are new soldiers, and they will not fight hard for Li Guangbi.

Even so, many generals loyal to Li Guangbi organized some small rebellions, but they were quickly suppressed. The chaos in the city largely subsided by evening.

Zheng Qiushan was not in a hurry to surrender the city, as a person who played conspiracies and tricks to harm others, of course he also had to prevent Wang Yuan from going back on his word. He sent his eldest son Zheng Kaizhi out of the city again, in addition to informing Li Guangbi of the killing of Li Guangbi in the city, Li Mao was controlled by himself, and telling Wang Yuan that he had controlled the overall situation, Zheng Qiushan put forward new requirements.

First, Wang Yuan must immediately fulfill his promise to himself, and the Chengdu court must immediately issue an order to reward him, and at the same time appoint himself as the envoy of the Lingnan Festival. This festival makes it possible to pass on the office from generation to generation. The imperial court shall not be deprived. And ask the imperial court to announce to the people of the world together, and tell the people of the world that the Zheng family has made great contributions to the imperial court, and is a meritorious minister of the imperial court, so as to correct the world's public opinion.

Second, the imperial court must issue an edict clarifying the following conditions: allow itself to select 100,000 soldiers and horses in the city as the number of troops under the jurisdiction of Lingnan Province, and directly under its own command, and the imperial court must not interfere. Officials in Lingnan Province are not allowed to be appointed by the imperial court, and 10% of the fiscal and tax revenues are paid to the imperial court, and the rest is kept for their own use.

Third, after satisfying the above two conditions, the soldiers and horses of the Shence army need to withdraw from a hundred miles away, and send a small number of soldiers and horses to accept Li Mao and civil and military officials. It will be stationed in Chang'an after a month.

These three conditions are extremely tricky. Zheng Qiushan said in a strong tone that if Wang Yuan did not agree to these three conditions, he would not hand over Li Mao, but would lead the 300,000 troops in the city to fight to the death.

Zheng Qiushan's intentions are obvious, he will not give Wang Yuan a chance to go back on his word, and he will not let himself be reduced to a situation where he is slaughtered by Wang Yuan at will. He chose the best way to preserve himself, which was to divide one side with heavy troops. The first two conditions were to ensure that he legally owned a large number of soldiers and horses, and that he could divide the emperor of Lingnan Province as one side. The third condition is actually to ensure that he can smoothly lead the army to evacuate Chang'an. The Shence army retreated for a hundred miles, plus a month's buffer time, which was enough for him to arrive in the south with his soldiers and horses. At that time, the Shence Army will be beyond the reach of the whip.

When Wang Yuan received these three conditions, he laughed loudly, smashed Zheng Qiushan's letter on Zheng Kaizhi's face, and shouted: "Dream! You put forward new conditions at this time, this is the first to break the contract, no wonder Ben Shuai. Go back and tell Zheng Qiushan that you don't want to bargain with me. He wants to be the king of Lingnan? Want to be a separatist prince? persuade him not to dream of spring and autumn. He wants to defend Chang'an and compete with me, right? And I made him perfect. Tell him that if he does not surrender the city tomorrow afternoon, the agreement we have made will be null and void at once. I will enter Chang'an City, capture him alive, and kill your Zheng family without leaving a chicken and dog. Get lost! ”

Zheng Kaizhi rolled back to Chang'an City and relayed the original words to Zheng Qiushan. Zheng Qiushan was annoyed, but of course he didn't want to turn his face around, and Wang Yuan, who provoked him, immediately attacked the city. He didn't have the confidence to hold Chang'an.

After careful consideration, Zheng Qiushan once again sent Zheng Kaizhi to the camp of the Shence Army outside the city. This time, Zheng Qiushan proposed that the number of troops could be halved and the power could be reduced, but the third article could not be changed, and he should ensure that he could safely evacuate Chang'an.

Wang Yuan once again kicked Zheng Kaizhi out of the camp and asked him to tell Zheng Qiushan that the number of soldiers could only give him 20,000 at most. The ministry may be conferred, but it is not allowed to be self-sufficient. Article 3 is unacceptable, and the Shence Army must immediately take over Chang'an City, with a maximum grace period of three days. If you don't agree, you will wait to break the city.

Zheng Kaizhi returned to the city in a gray manner, and soon went out of the city in a gray manner. One night, Zheng Kaizhi was as tired as a dog, running back and forth to the city and inside the city five or six times. Finally, before dawn, the two sides finally reached a final condition.

Zheng Qiushan was awarded the post of Lingnan Jiedu envoy, and was allowed to command 35,000 troops. The imperial court issued a decree announcing the merits of the Zheng family, and promised that the Zheng family would not be punished for no reason, so as to protect the safety of the Zheng family members. The Shence army withdrew fifty miles and entered Chang'an ten days later.

Many of the generals of the Shence Army were very puzzled as to why Wang Yuan would spend so much effort to bargain with Zheng Qiushan, and actually agreed to these conditions with him. What they didn't know was that the reason why Wang Yuan did this was a psychological game with Zheng Qiushan. The reason why Zheng Qiushan, the fox, put forward these conditions was precisely because he did not trust Wang Yuan. He may have sniffed out a hint of danger. To a certain extent, Zheng Qiushan's proposal of these conditions is also a temptation.

And Wang Yuan's seemingly constant refusal was even a stern reprimand for Zheng Qiushan, but in fact, it was to psychologically dissolve and paralyze Zheng Qiushan. To put it simply, Zheng Qiushan's lion opened his mouth, and if Wang Yuan agreed, it would make Zheng Qiushan feel incredible. Because Zheng Qiushan himself also knew in his heart that that kind of unreasonable request would never be satisfied, and the other party agreed, but it was very likely to be perfunctory. Constant bargaining, refutation, and negotiation are a real attitude, but more credible.

To use an inappropriate analogy, when buying and selling goods in the market, it is not a bad thing for both parties to bargain, it just shows that both parties have a desire to make a deal. And when the other party doesn't bargain with you, and the price you offer is meaningless, it will make people feel strange and cause a lot of confusion.

Wang Yuan knew Zheng Qiushan's mentality, Zheng Qiushan wanted to test it, so he played with him. can't force Zheng Qiushan to really break the net with himself, that's definitely not what Wang Yuan thinks. But it can't make Zheng Qiushan feel that he is perfunctory. Therefore, Wang Yuan patiently played with him all night, and from time to time put on an angry and helpless posture in front of Zheng Kaizhi, that is, he asked Zheng Kaizhi to go back and report to Zheng Qiushan, and give Zheng Qiushan the illusion that he cares about these conditions very much and will abide by them if he agrees.

Of course, Wang Yuan would not say all this to the generals. In fact, the angry reaction of the generals was also a good means to paralyze Zheng Qiushan. Wang Yuan knew that he had become more and more insidious and cunning, and he had already judged the two of them before, but Wang Yuan did not regret doing so. As long as the goal of taking Chang'an without a fight can be achieved, what can this be? It's better to play than to bleed.

Zheng Qiushan really believed all this, and every time Zheng Kaizhi returned to the city, he had to take the trouble to ask every detail. The more entangled Wang Yuan was, the more relieved he became. At the moment when the conditions of the agreement were reached, Zheng Qiushan finally lay down on the soft couch with a sigh of relief. Finally, with his own efforts, the Zheng family did not sink with Li Mao's broken ship, and he pointed out a new direction for the Zheng family. Go to Lingnan, although most of the places there are still wild and unreassuring places, but the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and the Zheng family has a place to live in the open, and in the future, it may not be the king of one party to recruit troops and horses to strengthen the city. He had no intention of having any other ideas, in his hands, the Zheng family could become a prince, which was already carried forward. Maybe in the future, the descendants will have wise and martial arts in their hands to open up the territory and establish an immortal cause, that is a later story. All you can do is create this possibility.

A few days later, the imperial decree was issued. Zheng Qiushan sent Zheng Kaizhi out of the city to receive the order, and he took a cadre of Chinese military officials and others to kneel at the head of the city to listen to the order. Zheng Qiushan was greatly praised in the holy decree from Chengdu, praising him for 'judging the situation, being bold and decisive, rebellious and serving the country, and being loyal and courageous.' "Call on the people of the world" to praise his merits, praise his bravery, follow his deeds, and respect his loyalty. ’。

In the holy decree, Zheng Qiushan was not only awarded the title of Duke of the Kingdom, awarded the Lingnan Jiedu envoy, and the rank of general, but also awarded official positions to Zheng Qiushan's two sons. The eldest son Zheng Kaizhi was the Sima of the Lingnan Jiedu March, and the second son Zheng Chongzhi was the Sima of the army, and praised them as the father of the tiger and the son of the bear, a loyal and brave man.

The holy decree was held in Zheng Kaizhi's arms, sitting in a bamboo basket and squeaking and pulling up to the city. Zheng Qiushan and others circulated it one after another, and the father and son looked at each other and were satisfied.

After the promulgation of the holy decree, the Shence army really began to withdraw its troops according to the agreement. They withdrew to a distance of sixty miles, ten miles more than the agreed fifty miles, showing their sincerity. At the same time, a 5,000-strong army led by Gao Xianzhi was stationed in Chang'an, and on the one hand, he took over Chang'an City to hand over Li Mao and a cadre of civil and military officials who followed Li Mao. On the other hand, it is also to supervise Zheng Qiushan's behavior in accordance with the agreement to prevent Zheng Qiushan from bringing more troops and horses and violating the agreement.

The more cautious the Shence Army was, the more relieved Zheng Qiushan became. When everything is carried out in an orderly manner, Zheng Qiushan will not break the agreement. So Zheng Qiushan immediately selected 30,000 elite soldiers from the soldiers and horses in the city, and selected more than a dozen generals who swore to follow. At the same time, Zheng Kaizhi began to search for property in the city, loading hundreds of carts. A day later, Zheng Qiushan led the 30,000 soldiers and horses to leave Chang'an and hurried south.

Everything went so smoothly, Zheng Qiushan and his son led 30,000 soldiers and horses to protect hundreds of carts of property all the way south. Three days later, it passed Tongguan. On the day of arrival in Tongguan, it snowed heavily, and the snow was thick overnight, and the road was muddy and difficult to walk. Zheng Qiushan is not angry but happy. The snow had come at a good time, and he was afraid that if the Shence army repented, their cavalry would catch up in a few days. But when the snow fell, the roads were blocked by the snow, and they didn't want to catch up. God help me.

Two days later, the soldiers and horses of Zheng Qiushan and his son arrived in Shangzhou. The reason why they did not choose to go from the southeast, but chose to use Shangzhou to run to the Jinghu area, was also for the sake of caution. After all, generally speaking, going south must go south from the southeast Chuzhou area through the Jianghuai land. Walking around Jinghu Lake is actually choosing a road that is difficult to walk.