Tibet

Five days later, urgent news came from Jingzhou that Pugu Huai'en rebelled.

Under the slogan of "kill the eunuchs and clear the emperor's side", Pugu Huai'en led an army of 50,000 to attack Chang'an in a mighty manner.

This news blew through Chang'an like a strong wind and shocked Chang'an. The main reason was that Jingzhou was too close to Chang'an and the rebels could reach it in three or four days.

The city of Chang'an suddenly fell into chaos. People in the city rushed to rice shops to buy food. The price of food soared for a while, and a bucket of rice soared to 500 yuan.

But good news came soon. Tongguan coach Guo Ziyi led an army of 30,000 people and was rushing to Chang'an.

Another more exciting news also spread. Qi King Li Ye personally led an army of 100,000 people, which had set off from Longyou and was rushing to King Qin of Chang'an.

Although it was only a rumor in Chang'an that Li Ye sent troops, in fact, Li Ye did send troops. He received an eagle letter from Liu Yan. Pugu Huai'en participated in Li Zhen's coup, and his son Pugu Bin was killed in Ba. Li Ye immediately realized that Pugu Huaien was likely to rebel.

Historically, Pugu Huai'en colluded with Tubo to rebel a few years later, and was finally quelled by Guo Ziyi. But now the time may have been advanced, and there is no Tubo to collude with. It is unknown whether Guo Ziyi can quell the rebellion.

In particular, Pugu Huai'en's subordinates were the Shuofang Army who were very good at fighting. Once they were really loyal to Pugu Huai'en, it would be very dangerous. Chang'an's garrison forces such as the Shence Army and the Shenwu Army were no match for the Shuofang Army.

Once Chang'an is captured by Pugu Huai'en, the emperor may run away, but Chang'an will face catastrophe again, and Li Ye will never allow it to happen.

So after receiving the news from Liu Yan, Li Ye immediately led 50,000 elite cavalry into the easternmost part of Qinzhou and stationed on the north bank of the Weihe River close to Longzhou. The cavalry fought from here to Chang'an in only three days.

At the same time that Pugu Huai'en raised troops in Jingzhou, the Helong Army scouts in Jingzhou immediately sent an eagle message to Qinzhou, and Li Ye immediately set off with his cavalry.

Although the rebels sent troops one step faster than Li Ye and were closer to Chang'an than Qinzhou, Li Ye led cavalry and could use speed to make up for the gap in time and distance.

However, Pugu Huai'en also had cavalry. Ten thousand cavalry were the vanguard, led by Pugu Huai'en's eldest son Pugu Jian, and they attacked Chang'an. It was also a coincidence that the ten thousand cavalry happened to encounter 30,000 Shence led by the eunuch general Dou Xiande in Jingyang County. military.

The Shence Army rushed back from Tongzhou to support Chang'an, and was attacked by Pugujuan with 10,000 cavalry. Pugujuan was extremely brave and led 300 cavalry to kill hundreds of people in a row, and went straight into the command center of the Shence Army. Dou Xiande They fled in panic, and the 30,000 Shence army was immediately defeated. The cavalry pursued them from behind, killing the Shence army corpses all over the field, and countless people surrendered.

At this time, Guo Ziyi's army arrived and joined the retreating Shence army. Pu Gujuan then led his cavalry back to the north of the Wei River and waited for the arrival of the main army.

The Tang army suffered a defeat in the first battle, and the news reached Chang'an. There was a tremor in Chang'an City. Every city gate was crowded with tens of thousands of people trying to escape Chang'an City, but the city gates were not opened. Cries, shouts, and curses kept coming. Make a mess,

Dozens of carriages blocked the front. The servants pointed at the defenders at the top of the city and cursed loudly, but the defenders remained unmoved and refused to open the city gate.

In Dongshi, not far from Chunming Gate, a restaurant was still full of guests. The shouts coming from the city gate in the distance could still be clearly heard in the restaurant.

"First there was the rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Siming, and now there is the rebellion of Pugu Huai'en. How difficult is the fate of the Tang Dynasty!" A drinker let out a long sigh.

"Pugu Huai'en's rebellion shouldn't be that serious!"

"How come it's not serious? How could the good Tang Army suddenly rebel? Isn't it because the treatment was unfair? The rebels in Hebei were given high officials and titles, and enjoyed the glory and wealth, but the Tang Army soldiers received nothing, and even died without any pension. It can be said that Puguhuaien's rebellion also represents the aspirations of many Tang troops."

"That's not a reason to rebel. If they rebel, will they get benefits? They won't get anything, but they will harm the people and harm their families."

"If the rebels capture Chang'an, will they burn, kill, and loot!"

"Rebellion will bring disaster to the common people, and they will definitely plunder property. Otherwise, what would be the point of rebellion?"

At this time, a waiter ran in and shouted: "I have good news for everyone. His Royal Highness the King of Qi personally led an army of 100,000 to rescue Chang'an. I heard that he was still a cavalry!"

The restaurant suddenly burst into cheers. His Royal Highness Qi came down, and all worries were instantly gone.

The people in front of the city gate were crying and shouting, wanting to escape from the city.

At this time, many soldiers shouted together at the top of the city: "Good news, King Qi has led an army to rescue Chang'an. Don't be afraid, everyone, go home quickly!"

The news that King Li Ye of Qi led an army to rescue Chang'an spread quickly. The people who were anxious to go out were calmed down, and more and more people turned around and went home.

This news was particularly effective in stabilizing prices. Countless people who lined up to grab rice realized that there was no need to buy rice at high prices and left the grain stores to go home. The price of rice, which had risen to 700 dou of rice, began to fall, falling to 500 dou of rice.

In the evening, the news that His Highness King Qi led 50,000 cavalry to come to the rescue was confirmed. The rice-robbing storm completely disappeared. The price of grain continued to fall, falling to 300 tons of rice.

At night, Guo Ziyi led 30,000 troops to Chang'an first, and entered the city through Chunming Gate. The Longwu Army soldiers guarding the city burst into cheers.

Emperor Li Heng personally came to Chunming Gate to welcome the arrival of Guo Ziyi's army.

Li Heng had heard the news about the defeat of the Shence Army before, which frightened him. His biggest worry was that the Shence Army and the Longwu Army had no actual combat experience and were no match for the Shuofang Army. The disastrous defeat of the Shence Army confirmed his worries.

Now that Guo Ziyi has arrived with reinforcements, he heard that Li Ye also personally led the cavalry to King Qin, which made him feel more confident.

Guo Ziyi saw the emperor under Huang Luo's umbrella. He turned over and dismounted, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists and said, "Old minister Guo Ziyi sees your majesty!"

"Old General, you have worked hard all the way. When the Tang Dynasty is in crisis, we still need to rely on our veterans!"

"Your Majesty is serious in his words. It is the duty of a humble minister to live under the emperor's salary and to be loyal to the emperor."

Li Heng nodded, "How confident is the veteran general that he can quell Puguhuaien's rebellion?"

"Your Majesty, the suppression of Pugu Huai'en's rebellion is divided into two parts. The first part is to defend Chang'an. Weichen thinks that the problem is not big. Weichen has brought 30,000 elite troops. They are all troops who guard Tongguan and Shaanzhou. They are rich in experience, and Long With the assistance of the Wu Army and the Shence Army, and Pugu Huai'en's lack of siege weapons and insufficient logistical food, his attack on Chang'an was bound to fail. What Wei Chen was worried about was that he would separatize the pass. This was a bit troublesome. I heard that King Qi His Highness led the cavalry to serve the king, I wonder if this news is true or false?"

"I heard about it too!"

Li Heng quickly ordered: "Go quickly and invite Liu Sima from Helongjie Mansion!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier shouted: "Your Majesty, Liu Sima of Helong Jiedu Mansion wants to see you!"