Tibet

At the third watch, Li Ye hurried to the top of the city. He received news from someone sent by Li Sheng that there was a big movement in the Yan Army camp.

Li Ye looked at it carefully for a moment with his clairvoyance, and then handed it to Li Sheng next to him, "General Li, let's take a look!"

Li Sheng looked at it for a moment and said, "It seems that the enemy has retreated!"

Li Ye nodded, "Their royal flag has been lowered, they must be retreating."

"Your Highness, could you consider pursuing me?"

Li Ye shook his head, "The enemy is not really defeated, it is just a strategic retreat. If we pursue it, we will definitely be devoured by it!"

Li Sheng sighed and said: "Your Highness is right. When we were in Fengxiang, we suffered such a disastrous defeat. It is simply unbearable to look back!"

"Fengxiang has been fighting for several months, how could he fail?"

Fengxiang's defeat was something Li Ye had always wanted to ask about, and he only had the chance today.

Li Sheng smiled bitterly and said: "The Tang army was initially led by General Pei Fang, who was fighting steadily in Fengxiang. The emperor believed the slander, so he promoted General Pei to the position of Secretary of the Ministry of War, and conferred him the title of Prince of Zhangye County. After transferring Lingwu back, he also deprived him of his military power. He also appointed Prime Minister Fang Guan as the commander-in-chief and General Guo as the deputy commander, commanding an army of 100,000. Fang Guan wanted to fight the Yan army several times, but he was persuaded by General Guo. Living."

"Then what?"

"Then Li Guiren, the commander-in-chief of the Yan Army, used the method of reducing troops. Today he reduced his troops by 10,000 and tomorrow by 5,000. When there were only 30,000 left, Li Guiren withdrew completely and returned to Chang'an. Fang Xiangguo was obsessed with the idea and wanted to destroy the enemy. To pursue, Guo Shuai tried to persuade him again and again, but he refused to listen and ordered the army to pursue.

As a result, Li Guiren killed him with a carbine. He personally led 8,000 cavalry to bypass the main force of the Tang Army, sneak attack on the Tang Army's logistics camp, and burned countless grain and grass supplies. Fang Guan retreated in a hurry after hearing the news, but was ambushed by Li Guiren on the way. The army of ten thousand was defeated by eight thousand Youzhou cavalry, with more than half of the casualties. Fang Guan abandoned the army and fled back to Lingwu in panic with more than a dozen of his men. It was said that General Guo gathered tens of thousands of remnants and returned to Lingwu. "

Li Ye nodded, "I have dealt with Fang Guan. This person is relatively mediocre and lacks wisdom, but he is very stable and supports the prince. That's why he became the prime minister."

Li Sheng sighed and said: "This is the chilling part. Fang Guan made poor decisions and commanded poorly, which led to the defeat of a hundred thousand troops. However, he himself refused to take any responsibility and put all the responsibility for the defeat on Guo Guo. The emperor still believed the old general, and issued an order to remove the old general Guo from the post of Shuofang Jiedushi and demote him to the military envoy of Gyeongju, and demoted the hussar general to general Yunhui. However, he was strongly opposed by the generals and reluctantly He was changed to a champion general, so I felt deeply moved when I saw His Highness take the initiative to take responsibility and review the situation to the entire army."

Li Ye said calmly: "This is the consequences of taking command for political purposes. In a decisive battle between the armies, the emperor's focus is not on how to win, but on how to deprive the local warlords of their military power. That's why Fang Guan is appointed as the commander-in-chief of the three armies." Things happened, so in the eyes of the emperor, Fang Guan's political mission was completed and he had no responsibility, so he naturally placed the blame for the defeat on the deputy commander."

"Your Highness is right. In fact, I am willing to follow His Highness. It's just that I represent the interests of the family and I can't help myself."

Li Sheng felt very sad. As a soldier, of course he was willing to follow Li Ye, but as the representative of the family's interests, he had to obey the family's arrangements and put the family's interests first. He couldn't help himself.

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I completely understand. General, you don't have to mind. I still say what I said. We fight side by side and our friendship will last forever. As long as the general is willing, the door of the Jianghan Army will always be open to the general."

Li Sheng was moved and his eyes turned red. He nodded silently, "One day, I will definitely work hard for His Highness in my humble position!"

Li Ye patted his arm and told him again and again: "Tonight is very important. The general must keep an eye on every move of the enemy. No matter what temptation the enemy puts out, the city must be strictly guarded and no one can leave the city."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Li Ye handed him the clairvoyance, turned around and went down to the city.

Li Sheng's statement was expected by Li Ye. The Tang Dynasty was still an era of aristocratic families. Li Sheng represented the Li family in Longxi. His success in history was actually the success of the Li family in Longxi. If the imperial power wanted to fight against the feudal towns in Hebei, it would It is necessary to get the support of the major families in Guanlong. This is the inertia of history and has started since the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

As soon as he walked down from the city, he met Cui Guangyuan. Cui Guangyuan quickly saluted and said: "Your Highness, I heard that the Yan army is about to retreat?"

Li Ye smiled and said: "Cui Shijun's news is very sensitive, he is indeed retreating, and he is still under observation!"

Cui Guangyuan said quickly: "Your Highness, Chang'an City has been under martial law for more than ten days. Many businesses cannot support it. Can we relax it a little, such as opening it for a few hours every day?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "In that case, let's cancel the martial law during the day tomorrow! Businesses are allowed to open, and the martial law will be under normal darkness at night."

Cui Guangyuan was overjoyed, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness!"

Early the next morning, Li Ye received a clear report that the Yan Army had completely retreated. The scouts who followed the Yan Army's retreat also received news that the Yan Army's rear army had passed Xinfeng County.

When the Yan army passed Xinfeng County, it meant that the army had completely evacuated. Li Ye announced that they had won the battle to defend Chang'an. For a time, the city was filled with joy. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to beat gongs and drums to celebrate the victory. Chang'an City became a boiling ocean.

Li Ye immediately took out one million yuan from his inner treasury to reward the three armies, and tripled the compensation for the fallen soldiers.

For a time, the officers and soldiers of the three armies were smiling happily, the gates of the houses were opened, and normal order was restored. Shops, restaurants, brothels, and teahouses opened one after another, all hoping to earn the soldiers' rewards.

Chang'an City seemed to have regained its vitality overnight.

At noon, Li Ye arrived at the Yan Army camp. The camp was in a mess. Dozens of heavy trebuchets and ladders that could not be transported were piled in a corner of the camp, as well as more than a dozen imperial palace pillars, each of them huge.

Dozens of tents were left, filled with various damaged weapons, hundreds of thousands of them, including broken swords, broken spears, and many damaged leather armors, helmets, war drums, war flags, etc. wait.

Li Ye said to Sima Wang Suizhou: "It would be a pity to throw away these armors. Many of them can be repaired and used in the militia. Take them all away, and pile up the other broken things and burn them."

"Your Highness, what should we do with the hundreds of thousands of fences?" Wang Suizhou asked again.

"Give it to the people in the city, give one to each family."

At this time, Li Ye thought of something and asked again: "How much equipment has the Yan Army's Modao Army collected?"

"It's still being organized. As of the morning, it has exceeded 2,000 sets. It is estimated that there will be about 2,200 sets in the end. However, many heavy armors have been shot through and need to be repaired."

Li Ye nodded, "Take them all back and give them to the Ordnance Department to slowly repair them! There is also the ordnance warehouse in Chang'an. You can take stock of it in the next few days. This time we will take away the armory and inner warehouse, and leave the others. Down."

"Your Highness, when will we return?"

"Don't worry, I have already sent an eagle message to the military advisor. Once An Qingxu withdraws his troops, 30,000 camels will set off to Chang'an."

Wang Suizhou whispered again: "But what if the emperor sends an army to Chang'an? Things can't be transported. Why don't we transport some important property and soldiers to Shangzhou first?"

This suggestion is not bad. The emperor will definitely send scouts to Chang'an to inquire about the news. If An Lushan withdraws his troops, they will definitely know soon that the army will go north to take over Chang'an first.

The treasures and soldiers in the inner treasury must be transported away first. They have 10,000 camels in Chang'an, which can be transported just right.

"Let's make some arrangements! Use camels to transport it to Shangzhou first, mainly to the Neiku and Bingjiaku."

Wang Suizhou nodded, "I'll start packing the boxes today!"

After coming back from outside the city, Chang'an Street was very lively. Most of the soldiers had received their reward today and had a day off. The streets were full of soldiers in twos and threes.

Pingkangfang is the most crowded area. There are many restaurants and brothels here, and a large number of soldiers are attracted here. The lively scene is no less than that during Tianbao's prosperous period.

There are many cavalry patrols on the street. They mainly maintain order and military discipline. Now is the holiday. The patrols will not interfere with the soldiers drinking and visiting brothels. However, if there are fights, quarrels and troubles, and bullying of civilians, the patrols will It's time to ask.

There are many bullock carts on the street, carrying families and various items. This is when people from various counties in Jingzhao Prefecture begin to go home one after another.

The New Year is less than a month away, and everyone is a little panicked. As soon as they let go, they hurried home.

Unknowingly, Li Ye entered Xuanpingfang and arrived in front of his house.

His house has also arranged for more than a dozen households from Xinfeng County to take away their personal belongings. It doesn't hurt to give them the remaining furniture, kitchen utensils and the like.

Li Ye did not enter the mansion in the end, but turned around and left. In fact, he was officially canonized as Queen of Lu. This small house of several acres was not suitable as the palace of Prince Lu.