Tibet

Liu Cui led five hundred soldiers and retreated to Xiaoguan County more than ten miles away in embarrassment. Not only were their personal belongings left in Xiaoguan, but they also lost their weapons and armor. They were shocked.

"General, Xiao Guan has lit a beacon fire!" A subordinate pointed at Xiao Guan in the distance and shouted.

Liu Cui squinted at Xiao Guan's beacon. He pondered for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and ordered: "Light the beacon!"

It was not that Liu Cui didn't know the consequences of lighting the beacon, which would inevitably lead to chaos in Chang'an, but thinking that his thousands of money had been lost in vain, his heart was filled with hatred, and hatred clouded his reason.

The beacon in Xiaoguan County was lit, and another beacon dozens of miles away was also lit. One beacon was lit one after another, extending to Chang'an, thousands of miles away.

Lei Wanchun stood on the city wall and stared at the beacons in the distance. He believed that the beacons in Chang'an would be lit before dawn. This was a warning to Chang'an.

Li Fuguo was still sleeping, but his wife Yuanshi pushed him awake, "Master, wake up!"

"What's the matter?" Li Fuguo asked in a daze.

"Uncle Fish is here, saying it's an emergency."

Li Fuguo sat up painfully, "Give me a wet towel!"

A maid quickly handed him a hot towel. Li Fuguo washed his face and regained consciousness before putting on his robe and going to the guest room.

Entering the guest hall, Yu Chaoen hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Ah, the beacon on Jingyuan Road is lit."

Li Fuguo was startled, "What do you mean?"

"Xiao Guan should have been captured by Li Ye, and the source of the beacon is there."

Li Fuguo slowly walked up to the hall and sat down. A maid brought hot tea. Li Fuguo took a sip of hot tea and said slowly, "Did Li Ye start to take revenge because of the incident in Yanzhou?"

Yu Chaoen nodded, "Probably, but I feel that we may have been taken advantage of by Pugu Huai'en."

"Use? What do you mean?"

Yu Chaoen sighed, "Pugu Huai'en has been planning Yanzhou's fire oil, but he didn't dare to take action without permission, so he kept writing reports to us about how important Yanzhou's fire oil is to Li Ye."

Li Fuguo put down his tea cup and said coldly: "That's because of Shen Cejun's incident. You hate him deeply in your heart."

"He messed up Aweng's plan for the Dugu family. Doesn't Aweng hate him?"

"You're right, I really hate him. He made a lot of money in Luoyang, but he didn't even leak a penny. It's too much. I guess he won't give out the customs payment this year."

"No way?"

Li Fuguo snorted, "He sent troops to seize Xiaoguan even though things can be done with money. Don't you understand his attitude?"

"boom!"

Yu Chaoen punched the table and gritted his teeth and said, "Since he is unkind, don't blame us for being unjust. Let's see how I deal with him next."

Li Fuguo glared at him, "Don't be so impulsive, or you will be taken advantage of by Pugu Huai'en again."

Yu Chaoen quickly lowered his head, "Aweng is right, I was indeed impulsive."

Li Fuguo then said calmly: "Pugu Huaien is using us, why don't we use him? Ignore Li Ye's warning and let him send troops to Yanzhou to fight Pugu Huaien."

"Where is that day?"

"I'll go talk to the Emperor."

Speaking of this, Li Fuguo remembered something again and reminded Yu Chao'en: "I heard that you are continuing to recruit the Shence Army. I hope you will not forget Wei Jikuan's lesson!"

"I dare not forget my humble position. This time I will let Dou Wende and He Xuanming take direct control of the military, and then let Wang Xiqian supervise the army to ensure that the military power is foolproof."

On the morning of the next day, Emperor Li Heng held an emergency military and political meeting in the Ziwei Side Hall, including the political hall and the Grand Marshal's Palace.

In fact, it is the five prime ministers of the Political Hall plus the Zhao Wang Li Xi, Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen, Cheng Yuanzhen, Dugu Lie, Yuan Yuan, Changsun Nanfang and others from the Generalissimo's Office.

Emperor Li Heng said: "Last night, the beacons on Jingyuan Road were lit. Do you, dear friends, know?"

Wei Jiansu stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the beacons on Jingyuan Road were lit. In all likelihood, something happened to Xiaoguan. The last time the beacons were lit on Jingyuan Road, it was an alarm caused by An Lushan's army moving north. I am confused. Now, Shuofang is controlled by the Helong Army, what will happen to Xiaoguan?"

Li Heng asked Yu Chao'en again: "Yu Aiqing, you are in charge of military intelligence. What do you think?"

Yu Chaoen quickly stood up and said: "Reporting to your majesty, the beacons on Jingyuan Road were lit. It may be that something happened at Xiaoguan, but it may also be something happened at Liupanguan. It may be that the Uighur army went south and killed Xiaoguan, or it may be that Tubo The army successfully attacked Longyou and reached Liupan Pass."

Before Yu Chaoen could finish speaking, Dugu Lie said angrily: "Are all the Tang troops in Longyou free of charge? They succeeded in sneaking a surprise attack on Longyou, and the Tubo army couldn't even cross the Tao River. How is that possible?"

Yu Chaoen laughed dryly, "We have forgotten that King Qi is the son-in-law of General Dugu. If the Tubo army is impossible, what about the Huihe army?"

"It is impossible for the Uighur army. If the Uighur army reaches Fengzhou, the beacon fire will spread, and hundreds of thousands of troops will immediately fight. The Uighur army will have no chance to reach Xiaoguan."

Yu Chaoen said coldly: "If Tubo and Uighur are both impossible, then there is only one possibility. The Helong army occupied Xiaoguan."

Dugu Lie stopped talking. In fact, he also guessed the reason.

Emperor Li Heng said again: "They are all Tang troops. Why did the Helong army occupy Xiaoguan?"

Yu Chaoen bowed and said: "Your Majesty, maybe after the Anshi Rebellion, Li Ye was worried that the court would turn around and deal with him, so he acted first and took the strategic territory into his own hands."

Li Heng nodded, what Yu Chaoen said made sense.

At this time, Prime Minister Xiao Hua stood up and said: "Your Majesty, it has been more than two months since Luoyang was recaptured, but the imperial court has never commended the Helong Army. The minister thought that maybe the officers and soldiers of the Helong Army were dissatisfied and lit beacon fires to remind them. us."

Li Heng looked a little confused and turned around to ask Li Fuguo, "The Generalissimo's Office has been reviewing the plan of the Ministry of War for a month. When will it be completed?"

Li Fuguo quickly explained: "It involves the promotion of hundreds of generals, so the Marshal's Office examines it more seriously. If His Majesty is anxious, then you can submit it to Your Majesty today!"

Li Heng didn't understand that it was Li Fuguo who was deliberately making things difficult. He suppressed his dissatisfaction and said, "Submit it to me today, and you can't delay it any longer."

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Li Heng said to Wei Jiansu again: "Ai Qing will retire from office next month, so you will make one last hard trip to Longyou for me."

Wei Jiansu bowed and said: "I am willing to share your worries for Your Majesty!"

Li Heng nodded, "That's it for today. Please ask Wei Xiangguo to meet me in the imperial study!"

Li Heng got up and left first, and then everyone got up one after another. Li Dai hesitated and quickly said something in Wei Jiansu's ear. Wei Jiansu was startled, "Seriously?"

Li Dai smiled bitterly, "That should be the reason!"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I understand, thank you Li Xiangguo for reminding me."

Wei Jiansu came to the imperial study room, and Li Heng asked him to sit down. Wei Jiansu quickly said: "Wei Chen forgot something just now, but now that I think about it, I'm afraid that thing was the real reason why the Helong army captured Xiaoguan. "

Li Heng perked up and asked urgently: "What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, in the matter of Yanzhou, our army forcibly seized the Yanzhou oil wells. How could Li Ye be willing to let it go? He immediately responded with Xiaoguan. If this matter is not handled well, I am afraid that the Helong Army will go south to annex Yanzhou in the next step. Zhouzhou, Suizhou and other places.”

Li Heng's face suddenly turned very pale.