Tibet

Although An Qingzong's murder was a trigger, he could only be the decisive factor that prompted An Lushan to make up his mind to rebel.

It cannot be used as the reason for An Lushan to declare to the world that he wants to rebel, because he does not take the great cause and rebels for his own selfish interests, and cannot gain the consensus of those who oppose the Tang Dynasty in the world.

Historically, An Lushan's reason for rebellion was that he was against the Qing emperor. He told the soldiers of the three armies that he had received the emperor's secret order and went to Beijing to eradicate Yang Guozhong.

In the final analysis, rebellion is also a political game. Any game requires a process. From contacting internal officials in the court to gaining support from like-minded people to officially announcing the rebellion, it usually takes several months for it to occur, ferment, and finally detonate.

An Qingzong was killed on January 21st, but An Lushan knew about it on February 10th.

Interestingly, the person who reported this incident to An Lushan turned out to be Yu Hua who escaped from the scene.

Yu Hua was very cunning. After he escaped, he was not in a hurry to escape. Instead, he lurked near the capital for three days. When the situation calmed down a little, he got up and rushed to Youzhou.

When An Lushan heard that his son had been killed, he screamed heartbrokenly and fainted.

People on both sides hurriedly rescued him. An Lushan's eyes were bloodshot and he gritted his teeth and said: "How dare Li Longji kill my son. If I don't kill all his descendants, my wife and daughter will all be used as camp prostitutes. I swear I won't be a human being!"

Yan Zhuang asked about what happened. Yu Hua had already thought of a countermeasure on the way and said to Yan Zhuang: "King Qing got the news that Li Ye was hiding in the Gaosheng Inn outside the east city, so he sent Beizhi and two hundred warriors to capture him. Beizhi When he entered the hospital and discovered that the other guard was actually the eldest son's subordinate, he knew that the information was wrong and immediately ordered the warriors to withdraw.

Unexpectedly, as soon as we were about to withdraw, we were surrounded by troops ambushing outside. During the breakout, I found that the young master had been killed by several men in black with poisonous arrows. Someone had already ambushed the eldest son in the inn and killed him. , and then framed it on us. "

"Why is the eldest son in the inn outside Dongcheng?"

"I don't know. Maybe they want to evacuate in batches. I'm guessing."

Yan Zhuang nodded, probably wanting to evacuate in batches, but there was a spy in the mansion and betrayed the eldest son.

He had reason to believe that King Qing would not kill the eldest son, and Yu Hua would not kill him either. This must have been framed, and it could be framed by anyone.

At this time, a soldier came over and whispered: "Your Majesty, please invite the military advisor to the lobby for a talk!"

Yan Zhuang hurried to the lobby. In the lobby, An Lushan sat on a wide chair with an angry face, and another military advisor Gao Shang stood next to him.

"Your Majesty, I have asked Yu Hua just now. It should not have been killed by Prince Qing. Someone else killed the eldest son, and Prince Qing took the blame!"

An Lushan waved his hand and said with a vicious look: "No matter who kills my son, I will settle the debt with Li Longji. We are almost ready. Can we raise troops to start a rebellion?"

Yan Zhuang glanced at Gao Shang, who shook his head slightly, and Yan Zhuang said quickly: "Your Majesty, it has only been a month since our generals replaced the Han generals, and they are not yet very good at it. We still need to get used to it with the lower-level officers for a while."

"Hmph! Wouldn't it be better to get along in the war? I can't wait any longer."

"Your Majesty, we have been preparing for nearly ten years, no less than these few months, and when the weather gets warmer, it will be more suitable to raise troops."

An Lushan nodded. He also knew that he could not say that wind was rain, and he could not rebel passionately. After all, half of his soldiers were Han. If these Han soldiers killed the emperor to avenge their sons, I am afraid they would not do it.

"Just now Gao Changshi said that he asked me to rebel in the name of Qing Junzi. What do the military advisors think?"

Yan Zhuang gave a thumbs up, "This is an excellent reason. Everyone in the world knows that the Yang family is domineering and extravagant, which has led to the corruption of the imperial court and the people of the world. The prince has implemented military remonstrance as an excuse to eradicate the Yang family's cancer. I believe he will gain a lot If people support it, the prince can also go to Hedong, pretending to go to Beijing to seek justice for the eldest son, and tell the three armies after coming back that after entering the capital, they got a secret order and the emperor asked the prince to send troops to eliminate Yang Guozhong and other national traitors. In this way, at least our soldiers will believe it .”

Gao Shang also expressed his support, "Your Majesty, Commander Yan's strategy is good. You can fake the imperial edict, so we simply made an imperial edict and read it out publicly. The officers and soldiers of the three armies will definitely believe it."

An Lushan nodded repeatedly, "This is a good strategy. It's been decided. I will announce my visit to Beijing tomorrow to ask for an explanation!"

Early the next morning, An Lushan announced that the crown prince had been innocently killed in the capital. As a father, he was going to Beijing to ask for an explanation. Under the escort of three thousand cavalry, An Lushan rode a carriage and headed east of the river.

King Qing Li Cong died of illness. The emperor posthumously granted him the title of Prince Jingde. At the same time, he named his eldest son Li Qiu King Siqing and inherited his mansion and property.

At the same time, the emperor Li Longji once again issued an order to confer Li Ye, the king of Gaochang County, as King of Lu, Li Lin, King of Sining, as King of Ning, Li Yu, the prince of Hanzhong County, as King of Han, and Li Yuan, the prince of Le'an County, as King of Xue. Li Zhen, the king of Qi, became the king of Qi and so on.

This series of king titles was also to quell the doubts of the clan. Among them, only King Li Ye of Lu was a branch of the royal family and was crowned king for his military merits. The others were promoted by subsequent kings.

In the East Palace, Prince Li Chu of Guangping hurriedly walked into his father's study, bowed and saluted, "My son, please give your regards to your father!"

Li Heng glanced at him and asked, "Has Li Dai set off?"

"Report to father, Li Dai has already set off!"

Li Heng nodded. He was very anxious during this period. An Lushan's rebellion was imminent, but his father turned a blind eye and did nothing.

But as a prince, he cannot be indifferent like his father. Once An Lushan's army goes south, the Yellow River water transportation will definitely not be preserved. Therefore, preserving the Jianghan water transportation is the top priority for Guanzhong's security.

Li Heng considered many candidates, and the most suitable candidate was Cheng Qianli. Unfortunately, Cheng Qianli was killed, followed by Feng Changqing, but his father didn't like Feng Changqing and rejected him outright.

Li Heng considered Cheng Ruoshui again, but his son Li Chu strongly recommended Li Dai. Li Chu's reason was that Cheng Ruoshui could not control Shannan East Road, but Li Dai could.

It's not that Li Dai is very capable, the key is that his son is too powerful, and Li Ye will never sit idly by.

After Li Heng's repeated recommendation, his father finally relented and agreed to let Li Dai serve as the observer of Shannan East Road.

Li Chu said again: "Father, Li Dai and his party only left Chang'an with about twenty people, but I received news from Shangzhou that Li Dai had passed Shangluo County, and he was already surrounded by more than 300 military guards."

Li Heng smiled lightly and said: "As expected, Li Ye is indeed in Chang'an!"

"This is also my son's hope. I hope Li Ye can help his father control Shannan East Road as soon as possible. Time is running out."

Li Heng also nodded, "You are right, time is indeed running out. I hope Li Dai can take care of the Xiangyang Chang family as soon as possible!"

In early spring and February, Li Ye, who had just been crowned King of Lu, led 300 of his men to escort his parents to Xiangyang.

The work reports of various Jiedu envoys also came to nothing due to two major events, one was the assassination of Cheng Qianli and the other was the assassination of Anqingzong.

Especially after Anqingzong was assassinated, Emperor Li Longji had no intention of listening to any more reports on his duties, so he issued an order to cancel the reports on the work of the last five Jiedu envoys.

As for Li Ye, there was no news from the court. The heavy snow in Hexi blocked the roads and cut off all communication.

From Chang'an to Xiangyang, generally take the Shangluo Road, that is, take Shangzhou, leave Wuguan, arrive in Dengzhou, and then go to Xiangzhou.

This is the first time that Li Ye has left Guanzhong and come so far away.

Along the way, Li Ye was wondering why the prince asked his father to serve as the observer of Shannan East Road.

Li Ye didn't know much about the details of the Anshi Rebellion, but as the military governor with the largest area under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, he could foresee An Lushan's strategy.

It must be to capture Hebei, Henan and Hedong, surround Guanzhong, and cut off the connection between the imperial court and the eastern part of the Tang Dynasty.

How could An Lushan not see such an important strategic location in Xiangyang?

The prince was obviously aware of it, so he asked his father to take charge. Li Ye understood the prince's intention. This was actually giving Xiangyang to him!