Chapter 341: Worse
Li Heng originally wanted to personally send Li Longji to Taiji Palace, but when they were halfway through the move, Zhang Jun arrived with Li Mi.

As the helmsman of the Tang Dynasty, there is always something to do.

Li Heng had no choice but to go see Li Mi first.

In the lobby, Li Mi saw Li Heng and bowed, but with an arrogant look.

Li Ying sat down, smiled and said, "Is Changyuan trying to imitate Xu Yuan and go straight into Cao's camp without saying a word?"

Changyuan is Li Mi's pen name.

Li Mi said frankly: "For the sake of my life and property, I have no choice but to do this."

"That doesn't have to be the case." Li Heng was not angry. "Everything depends on fate. If Changyuan and I were not destined to be together, I would not force Changyuan to stay in the court. If Changyuan wants to practice Taoism, he can go by himself. I won't make things difficult for you."

After hearing this, Li Mi turned around and was about to leave.

Li Heng did not stop him, but sighed and said, "What a pity!"

Li Mi stopped and asked, "What's a pity?"

Li Ying said: "It's a pity that Changyuan's skills have been buried, and it's also a pity for the people of the world, because they have lost a talent who can stabilize the country and help them escape from suffering as soon as possible."

Li Mi said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is a genius. How dare Changyuan, with his limited ability, show off his talent in front of His Highness the Crown Prince? It doesn't matter whether the people of the world have Changyuan or not."

Li Ying said: "A man of great courage, a thousand years of vigor and energy, a good plan. Please watch me do a hundred years of work, and then I will sail across the five lakes."

What Li Ying was talking about was a poem written by Li Mi very early on. At that time, Zhang Jiuling was still the prime minister. When Zhang Jiuling saw this poem, he admired Li Mi's talent, but was also worried that Li Mi would get into trouble if he showed off too much. So he personally found Li Mi and advised him, "If you gain a good reputation early, you will definitely suffer some setbacks. You should keep a low profile so that you can be perfect. Hiding one's talent is something that the ancients valued, let alone a child."

Li Mi was deeply moved after hearing Zhang Jiuling's words. He kept them in mind and was grateful to Zhang Jiuling for the rest of his life.

Li Mi recalled the past, thought for a long time, and said: "I think that after Mr. Zhang, no one will remember my arrogant words."

Li Ying said, "Mr. Zhang asked you to hide your incompetence so that you can accumulate strength and contribute to the country one day. As the saying goes, 'Ten years of sharpening a sword, the blade has never been tested, today I show it to you, who will complain?' But you are full of talent, and you see the people of the world in dire straits, but you turn a blind eye. With such behavior, how dare you mention Mr. Zhang again? Well, let's just say that Mr. Zhang misjudged me, and I misjudged you too, and you can go."

Li Mi was stunned for a long while as if struck by lightning. He bowed respectfully and said, "I have always heard that Your Highness is kind and righteous, and only employs people based on their talents. Although Changyuan is not talented, if Your Highness does not abandon me, Changyuan is willing to assist Your Highness and do his best!"

"That's great!" Li Heng stood up and walked to Li Mi, took Li Mi's hand and said, "I look to Changyuan, just like long droughts look forward to rain! Just now I thought Changyuan was unwilling to serve, and my words were a bit extreme. I hope Changyuan won't blame me!"

Li Mi knelt down with tears in his eyes and said, "Fortunately, Your Highness scolded Changyuan and woke him up. Otherwise, Changyuan would have missed Your Highness and would have regretted it for the rest of his life!"

Li Heng quickly helped Li Mi up and said, "In the future, I hope Changyuan can help me with important military and political matters."

Li Mi said: "I will sacrifice my life for the country!"

"Okay, okay!" Li Ying took Li Mi to a seat and then asked someone to serve tea.

The two smiled at each other.

Li Mi took a sip of tea and said, "To be honest with you, Your Highness, although Changyuan is in the Taoist temple, he is paying close attention to the world's major events. When Changyuan learned that Your Highness was leading troops to defend Tongguan, he thought that Tongguan would be lost. Unexpectedly, Your Highness was so far-sighted that he not only defended Tongguan, but also stabilized Chang'an."

Li Ying said: "For the sake of the world and to protect the country passed down by our ancestors, we have no choice but to do this."

Li Mi said, "Your Highness's move is brilliant. It is because of your move that An Lushan's rebels are like grasshoppers in autumn, and they won't be able to jump for long." Li Heng said, "What do you mean?"

Li Mi said: "An Lushan raised an army to rebel. He was short-sighted and only cared about making money. He had little thought about fighting for supremacy and separatism."

Li Ying knew what Li Mi meant, but he did not point it out. Instead, he said, "Changyuan, please tell me more details."

Li Mi said: "An Lushan took Luoyang and controlled the rich land of the Tang Dynasty. This was a good plan. But after occupying Luoyang, An Lushan also wanted to take Chang'an. Chang'an is very important to the Tang Dynasty, but not to the rebels. If the rebels want to secede, after Your Highness guards Tongguan, he should go all out to Hedong. As long as Hedong is taken, he can overlook Chang'an. But An Lushan has no such intention. On the one hand, he is anxious to become emperor, and on the other hand, he plunders wealth and transports it to Fanyang. How can he be a hegemon with such banditry?"

Li Mi pointed out the problems of An Lushan in the early days.

But Li Heng knew more than that.

Historically, the rebels and government troops in the Anshi Rebellion were both subordinates risking their lives to show off their skills, while the higher-ups were competing to show off their worst tricks.

On the government army side, Li Longji first killed Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, forced Geshu Han to go out of the pass, and killed the elite soldiers of Helong. For the sake of his own son An Lushan, Li Longji went to great lengths.

This is just the beginning.

After Chang'an was lost, Li Longji fled to Jiannan and Li Heng fled to Shuofang. The two sides were not in harmony with each other and established two courts.

After much difficulty, Li Heng gradually gained the upper hand in the battle with the support of the Shuofang Army, and then he made a series of outrageous moves.

Li Heng seized the military power of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, and asked Fang Guan, who knew nothing about military affairs, to lead the battle of Chang'an.

The result was obvious. Fang Guan used the ancient formation from the Spring and Autumn Period to send roasted fire bulls to the rebels and defeated all 50,000 soldiers of the government army.

It was also this battle that destroyed the Shuofang Army's foundation.

Then came the Second Battle of Chang'an. Li Heng appointed Li Yu as the chief commander and Guo Ziyi as the deputy commander, and they stormed Chang'an. However, they were tricked by An Shouzhong, and another 40,000 government troops were killed, completely defeating the Shuofang Army.

In the third battle of Chang'an, the imperial court brought in the Anxi Beiting army, and with the help of Huihe and other countries, Xiangji Temple won a tragic victory and recaptured Chang'an.

After retaking Luoyang, the government army counterattacked in the Battle of Yecheng in Hebei. The government army gathered nine military governors with a total of 200,000 soldiers and trapped An Qingxu in Yecheng. Then Li Heng played micro-management again. He did not appoint a marshal, but let the eunuch Yu Chaoen be the military supervisor and command the nine military governors. The result was not difficult to predict. Shi Siming arrived to support and defeated the government army.

After the defeat in Yecheng, Li Guangbi was appointed commander-in-chief, and the government army reversed the decline through the Battle of Heyang.

But then, in the Battle of Mangshan, Li Heng asked the official Yu Chaoen to intervene, which resulted in the death of another 80,000 soldiers of the government army and the destruction of the elite troops of Anxi Beiting. Li Guangbi was deceived and completely lost confidence in the court.

But even with such outrageous operations, the government troops barely put down the Anshi Rebellion. The reason was not that the government troops were too strong, but that the rebels were even more rotten.

After the rebels captured Chang'an, An Lushan went into a state of madness and started an internal struggle. An Qingxu murdered his father and killed An Lushan, delaying further actions of the rebels.

In the Battle of Yecheng, the rebels won a great victory over the government army and the Jiedushi of the Nine Towns. Luoyang was in danger again, but Shi Siming did not rush to attack Luoyang. Instead, he rushed into Yecheng and killed An Qingxu first.

In the Battle of Mangshan, Shi Siming won a great victory over the betrayed Li Guangbi, and 80,000 elite troops of the government army were lost. Then Shi Siming was killed by his own son Shi Chaoyi. The rebels fell into an extremely crazy civil war, and almost all the capable generals died.

After the top leaders of both sides tried their best, both sides lost their best troops and neither side was able to unify, so the warlords rose up and the Tang Dynasty officially entered the era of warlord separatism.

(End of this chapter)