Chapter 378 "Father and Son Meet"

The reason why Yan Zhenqing had doubts was that he was not Li Heng's direct subordinate. He was somewhat wary of Li Heng, and he could not quickly understand what Li Heng meant.

But now after hearing what Li Heng said, Yan Zhenqing no longer had any doubts. He immediately stood up and said, "Thanks to your majesty's kindness, I will do my best to repay your majesty."

"Okay." Li Ying stood up and said happily, "Qingchen, take a two-day rest, then we'll set off."

"Yes." Yan Zhenqing took the order and retreated.

After seeing Yan Zhenqing off, Li Heng went to Xingqing Palace to meet Li Longji.

Since Li Longji returned to Xingqing Palace, his life has become much better. Li Heng did not make things difficult for him and continued to let Gao Lishi serve him. If he wanted to listen to music, Li Heng would ask the people from the Pear Garden to play for him.

Now, Li Longji was listening to Li Guinian's performance in Hua'e Tower.

Li Ying walked into Hua'e Tower silently, bowed to Li Longji, and sat aside.
When Li Guinian saw Li Heng, he stopped playing and came over to salute Li Heng.

Li Ying said to Li Guinian, "Grandpa doesn't like spoiling the fun, please finish your performance."

"Yes." Li Guinian took the order and continued playing.

As a famous music master in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Guinian's flute sound is indeed intoxicating. Li Ying only listened to the second half and felt very enjoyed it.

But Li Longji couldn't listen at all, because he knew what Li Heng came to him for today.

Li Longji fell into a trance and before he knew it, Li Guinian and others had finished their performance, and then two imperial guards carried An Lushan in.

Li Longji seemed to be hit by something invisible and his body trembled.

The two people he hated the most, An Lushan and Li Heng, finally shared a room with him.

An Lushan had been ill for a long time and was bedridden, but when he saw Li Longji and Li Heng, he actually struggled to sit up straight.

Li Longji and An Lushan looked at each other in silence, with mixed emotions.

Li Heng glanced at the expressions of the two men, broke the silence, and said, "Weren't you once as close as father and son, with no one to talk about?"

Li Longji felt a little embarrassed when he heard this.

An Lushan was stunned for a moment, then crossed his arms and saluted Li Longji, saying to him weakly, "Your Majesty, I am seriously ill and cannot get out of bed, so I cannot perform the ceremonial dance for you. Please forgive me."

Before, when An Lushan met Li Longji, he did not perform the crossed-arm salute, but what he considered the highest etiquette, the dance salute.

"I have treated you well, why do you..." Li Longji originally wanted to ask An Lushan why he rebelled, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that there was no point in asking further.

Li Longji paused for a moment and said quietly, "I never thought we would meet in this way."

An Lushan said: "I was bewitched by others and was confused for a moment, so I did such a rebellious thing. Now my illness is serious and my eyes are blurry. This is my retribution. Please, saint, please, saint..."

An Lushan didn't want to die, he wanted to beg for mercy, but he had been an emperor after all, so he couldn't bring himself to say the words of begging for mercy.

So, he made up his mind and decided to keep the last bit of dignity, and turned to Li Heng and said, "Your Majesty, please sentence me to death!"

Li Heng glanced at An Lushan and said, "Granting you death is a kind of relief for you. I will fulfill your wish. After all, if you are not executed, it will be difficult for me to explain to the world!"

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, An Lushan boldly said: "If I were a descendant of the Li family, it would be hard to tell who would win!"

Li Heng said: "You are cruel and bloodthirsty. After you started the rebellion, you have been a bandit and have not cared about the people at all. You want to fight for the world with such behavior?"

An Lushan found it difficult to refute, so he simply said: "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. I have nothing to say."

Li Heng turned to Li Longji and asked, "May I ask how should I deal with this rebellion, Master?"

Li Longji looked at An Lushan and said, "I wish I could kill him myself!"

After hearing this, Li Heng had An Lushan carried out. After hesitating for a moment, he asked Li Longji, "Did you ever hate me?"

Li Longji was startled when he heard this. He looked at the place where An Lushan left, thought for a while, and said: "As an emperor, you shouldn't talk about emotions. You doted on Empress Yang too much. Other than that, you are an excellent emperor."

"Thank you for the compliment, Grandpa." Li Heng bowed to Li Longji and left Hua'e Tower. ...

An Lushan's head was chopped off in the downtown area, and the people of Chang'an cheered and celebrated enthusiastically.

At the same time, wars were raging all over the Tang Dynasty.

Xiangzhou.

Kang Chuyuan was originally a general in Xiangzhou and had served Li Lu. Later, when Li Lu showed signs of defeat, he took the initiative to surrender to the government army, so Lai Zhen did not punish him severely.

When Li Heng ordered people to check the land and population of Xiangzhou, the powerful families in Xiangzhou bribed him a lot. When the two-tax law was implemented, the powerful families in Xiangzhou encouraged Kang Chuyuan to rebel and were willing to support him with food and able-bodied men.

Kang Chuyuan was very conceited and immediately agreed to the deal. Together with another general, Zhang Jiayan, he launched a mutiny and attacked Xiangzhou City. The governor of Xiangzhou, Wang Zheng, fled.

After Kang Chuyuan occupied Xiangzhou, he sent Zhang Jiayan to lead troops to attack Jingzhou. The governor of Jingzhou, Du Hongjian, fled without a fight.

Kang Chuyuan occupied Jingxiang in an instant and had an army of nearly 20,000.

Then, with the support and flattery of the Jingxiang clans, Kang Chuyuan established the Kingdom of Southern Chu, ascended the throne as emperor, and proclaimed himself the Overlord of Southern Chu.

Just three days after Kang Chuyuan ascended the throne, Lai Zhen led his troops south from the Huainan West Road and arrived at Xiangzhou.

The 3,000-mile Han River ends at Xiangyang, and the location of Xiangyang is very important. By controlling the entrance to Xiangyang, half of the water transport in the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions can be cut off.

The city of Xiangyang also has unique advantages in defending the city. It is surrounded by the Han River on three sides and has Mount Dan at its back, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Lai Zhen led his army to the other side of the Han River. His deputy general Wang Zhongsheng looked at the river and sighed, saying: "Xiangyang is difficult to attack. It is better to persuade them to surrender."

Lai Chen asked Zhang Xun who was standing beside him, "General Zhang, what do you think?"

Zhang Xun said: "After persuading him to surrender, how should we deal with Kang Chuyuan? If we appoint him as the governor of Jingxiang, the two-tax system will not be implemented in Jingxiang, and Kang Chuyuan will become the overlord of Jingxiang."

Lai Zhen said, "General Zhang is right. Your Majesty has asked us to suppress the rebellion, not to negotiate. There is no need to talk about persuading them to surrender. Pass on my order to line up the warships and prepare to attack the city."

Zhang Xun asked, "What formation does the commander-in-chief plan to set up?"

Lai Zhen thought for a moment, then smiled meaningfully and said, "Iron Chain Boat Array."

Wang Zhongsheng was horrified when he heard this and said, "General, although the iron-chained boats may look powerful, they are a weak formation in naval warfare."

Zhang Xun shook his head and said with a smile, "I think it's a good formation."

Lai Zhen said: "Then follow orders."

In Xiangyang City, Kang Chuyuan saw Zhang Xun's fleet and was very excited. He said, "I have heard that Lai Zhen is very good at using troops, but now it seems that he is just so-so."

Lieutenant General Zhang Weijin said: "Lai Zhen had been in Longyou Road before, and he fought on land. He has only been the governor of Huainan West Road for half a year, so it is understandable that he is not familiar with naval warfare."

Another general, Cao Jie, said: "Your Majesty is the Overlord of Southern Chu. Once you reach the territory of Southern Chu, no one can be your opponent."

Kang Chuyuan enjoyed Cao Jie's flattery very much. He talked eloquently and said, "It was in Xiangyang City that Guan Yu flooded seven armies and captured Yu Jin alive. Now, I will capture Lai Zhen alive!"

After Kang Chuyuan finished speaking, he burst into laughter, and the generals laughed along with him.

That night.

When Kang Chuyuan was immersed in joy, Cao Jie rushed in with a dusty face and said anxiously: "My king, it's bad, Lai Zhen led his men to attack from the rear and have already entered the city!"

"What?" Kang Chuyuan was shocked and asked, "Didn't he deploy his boats to attack? Why did he attack from the rear?"

Cao Jie said: "The boat formation is just a bluff to paralyze us. His real purpose is to lead the elite troops for a surprise attack."

Kang Chuyuan rushed out of the room and heard shouts and screams everywhere. He instantly collapsed to the ground.

He knew that his Nan Chu Army was completely finished!

(End of this chapter)