Chapter 548: The Veteran Takes Action

It was already dark, and torches had been lit at the pass of Shi Hui Pass. Thousands of torches illuminated the pass as if it were day. Below, on the narrow mountain path leading to the pass, Guo Ziyi was accompanied only by two men, waiting quietly for Dong Qin to appear.

Suddenly, more torches appeared at the pass, and a group of people showed up on the watchtower. “Is that General Guo down there?”

“It is indeed I. And are you General Dong?”

“I am Dong Qin. What does General Guo want?”

“I’ve come to talk with General Dong. May I enter the pass?”

“If General Guo has something to say, he can say it right here!”

Guo Ziyi laughed heartily. “I’ve brought only three people. Does General Dong really think I’ll try to trick you into opening the pass?”

Dong Qin looked ashamed. With a wave of his hand, he ordered, “Open the pass!”

The massive iron gates rose with a rumbling sound. Hundreds of soldiers rushed out, armed with long knives and crossbows, surrounding Guo Ziyi and his two companions. Then, Dong Qin rode out on horseback and bowed. “General Guo, it’s been ten years since we last met at Jiuyuan. I’m in great trouble now, yet you still came to see me. It’s truly moving.”

Guo Ziyi smiled slightly. “Everything is in your own hands. Why should you worry?”

Dong Qin’s expression changed. Suddenly, he looked up and laughed. “It seems my eyes have been blinded. Come! General Guo, please come inside Guanzhong. I’ll prepare wine to help you calm down.”

Dong Qin ordered his soldiers to step aside. Guo Ziyi spurred his horse and entered the pass. The two went into the administrative building and sat down in the guest hall. A few bodyguards quickly brought over a dozen dishes and heated two pots of wine.

Dong Qin picked up a wine pot and filled Guo Ziyi’s cup, then sighed. “General Guo, have you come to persuade me to surrender?”

Guo Ziyi raised his cup and smiled. “I’m not here to persuade you to surrender. I’m here to help you, to show you the right path.”

“The right path?”

Dong Qin sneered, drained the wine in his cup in one gulp, and said in a low voice, “I really can’t see where that right path of mine is.”

“Then where does General Dong want to go? To Chengdu?”

“General Guo, stop joking. How could that be possible!”

“I’m not joking.”

Guo Ziyi looked into Dong Qin’s eyes and said sincerely, “I’m telling the truth. If you want to go, I can arrange for you to leave. I’ll take responsibility for Li Qingan!”

“Y-you really mean it?”

“Yes! I, Guo Ziyi, have been in the army for over forty years and have never lied.”

Dong Qin stood up and slowly walked to the gate, gazing at the dark night sky. The majestic mountains blocked his dream of heading south. Confusion and melancholy appeared in his eyes. He had always thought going to Chengdu was a distant and unattainable dream, but when Guo Ziyi seriously told him he could go to Southern Tang and pledge loyalty, everything seemed unreal to him.

Could the distant south be his destination? His mind was in chaos. Why rush to pledge loyalty to Li Hen? Was Li Hen really a lord worthy of his loyalty?

Dong Qin let out a long sigh. In fact, he had no old bond with Li Hen. Was the risk of traveling such a long distance too great?

“If I leave, what about my army?” Dong Qin asked in a low voice as he turned around.

“You can take five hundred men—no more than that. You need to enter Guanzhong to reach Hanzhong. With too many troops, Wang Sili won’t allow you to pass through Tongguan, and I can’t do anything about it.”

Dong Qin smiled bitterly. He had thought Guo Ziyi would let him take his twenty thousand troops as well. It turned out he only meant himself. Those twenty thousand troops were his only asset. Without them, would Li Hen even pay attention to him? Impossible. Even Dong Qin knew Li Hen was inherently heartless.

He slowly walked back and sat down, drinking three cups of wine in one go. He slammed the cup on the table and cursed, “In fact, An Lushan is the one who really wants to kill me. If my army retreats to Hebei, An Lushan will immediately send a large army to wipe us out. He hates me to the bone.”

“Then listen to me, General. Either pledge loyalty to Li Qing’an or, like me, pledge loyalty to the imperial court. Stop hesitating. Going to Chengdu is unrealistic. General Dong, you must make a decision!”

Dong Qin shook his head. “But I don’t want to pledge loyalty to Li Qing’an. I also participated in the polo tournament in Chang’an back then. I swore then that I would never join the Anxi Army and would rather die than surrender to them.”

“Then pledge loyalty to the court like me and maintain your independence.”

Dong Qin still shook his head. “I don’t have the credentials like General Guo. He can tolerate General Guo’s existence, but he will never tolerate mine.”

With that, Dong Qin stood up and knelt on one knee before Guo Ziyi. “If General doesn’t mind, I’m willing to join the Shuofang Army and become one of General’s subordinates.”

This was Guo Ziyi’s confidence. He knew Dong Qin actually had no way out. He refused to surrender to Li Qing’an, An Lushan wouldn’t spare him, and going to Chengdu was unrealistic. So in the end, he either had to fight to the death with him or surrender to him. There was no third option.

Although Shihui Pass seemed impregnable and difficult to attack, once one bypassed it from behind and encircled it from both sides, cutting off its supplies of food and water, the defenders might not last even ten days. Guo Ziyi believed Dong Qin understood this as well, which was why he came alone to negotiate with Dong Qin, seeking his surrender through sincerity. Guo Ziyi’s move was correct. Early the next day, Dong Qin led 20,000 troops down from Shihui Pass, laid down their weapons, and formally surrendered to Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi immediately sent a letter to the government to report the good news and requested that Dong Qin’s position as governor of Puyang be preserved. Meanwhile, Lei Wanchun also sent a pigeon to report to Li Qingan that Dong Qin had surrendered to Guo Ziyi. The pigeon flew over the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River, heading toward Heyin County, where Li Qingan’s army was stationed. With Dong Qin’s surrender, Guo Ziyi’s 100,000-strong army stationed themselves in Shangdang, pressing down on Hebei. Li Qingan, in turn, stationed 100,000 troops in Zhengzhou without launching any attacks. Cai Xide, a general of the Fanyang army, led 80,000 troops to Weizhou, facing the Anxi army across the river. Li Guangbi led 20,000 troops to Bianzhou, acting like a sharp dagger pressed against Xu Shuyi’s army, preventing him from taking rash actions. In this way, the armies on all sides were in a state of standoff, with none daring to break the balance easily. …… In the Nanming Palace in Chengdu, Li Heng, accompanied by several eunuchs, inspected the palace. This was already the third time he had carefully examined it. The cramped and gloomy conditions of the palace displeased him greatly. He felt as though the presence of his father, Emperor Li Longji, filled every corner, pressing down on him so much that he could hardly breathe. Accompanying him was the powerful eunuch Yu Chaoen, who had escaped through a secret passage in Li Longji’s bedroom at the last moment and survived. After Li Heng ascended the throne, he immediately granted Yu Chaoen the title of Duke of Yongqiu, but handed over the authority over the eunuch supervisors to Li Fuguo. This left Yu Chaoen deeply frustrated. Although the title of Duke of Yongqiu was prestigious, the real power lay with the eunuch supervisors, and having a title without real power filled him with disappointment. Yu Chaoen followed behind Li Heng, carefully trying to gauge his thoughts. He had gradually understood Li Heng’s troubles—Li Heng no longer wanted to live in Nanming Palace, as it was filled with the shadow of Li Longji. Or rather, he didn’t want to stay in Chengdu. “Your Majesty, Nanming Palace was originally just a prince’s residence. Its scale is rather small and cannot compare to Chang’an. If Your Majesty truly dislikes it, you might consider moving the capital.” Li Heng turned to look at him. This was actually something he had been thinking about. His brother Li Lin also advised him to move the capital to Xiangyang, as Chengdu was in a remote location with difficult access, making it impossible to control the overall situation.

It might be good to move the capital to Xiangyang, but what about Li Mao? Since he hasn’t been dealt with yet, how can we move the capital? Thinking of Li Mao, Li Heng couldn’t help but recall Li Lin’s failed western expedition. Li Lin led an army of 100,000 troops to attack Xiangyang by water, but Ge Shu Han sent 5,000 cavalry straight to western Zhejiang, capturing towns and counties along the way until they reached Hangzhou. If it weren’t for Han Heng, the governor of western Zhejiang, who organized local militias to resist desperately, Ge Shu Han’s 5,000 cavalry might have continued all the way to Yangzhou and destroyed Li Lin’s stronghold. This incident scared Li Lin so much that he dared not advance further and turned back to Yangzhou. This defeat deeply disappointed Li Heng and also made him realize the real enemy—not Li Mao, but Ge Shu Han, who was hiding behind him. Initially, Li Longji placed Ge Shu Han in Lianghu to keep an eye on Li Mao, but unexpectedly, Ge Shu Han ended up siding with Li Mao. Although Li Heng knew that as soon as he ascended the throne, Ge Shu Han would surely betray him—having already betrayed him once—he still felt extremely uneasy. Ge Shu Han had 80,000 troops at his disposal, along with tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Longyou. Now, Li Mao had a total of 200,000 troops, acting like a rock in the Yangtze River that prevented Li Heng and Li Lin from uniting. Li Heng grumbled, “I do want to move the capital, but my troops are incompetent, leaving me with no choice!” “Why doesn’t Your Majesty use Gao Xianzhi?” Yu Chaoen took the opportunity to recommend Gao Xianzhi to Li Heng, saying, “After all, the Prince of Wu is just a prince with no combat experience. How can he compete with the battle-hardened Ge Shu Han? I’ve thought about this for Your Majesty—aside from Gao Xianzhi, I don’t think anyone here can match Ge Shu Han.” “Him?” Li Heng shook his head. “I don’t trust him very much. Even Ji Guangchen surrendered to Li Qingan, let alone others. I want my son to lead the troops on the eastern expedition.” The fact that Ji Guangchen had surrendered to Li Qingan dealt a heavy blow to Li Heng. Among the generals in the Central Plains, he trusted Ji Guangchen the most. This man had always followed him loyally, but even he had surrendered to Li Qingan. Then who else could Li Heng trust? Aside from his own son Li Xi, as the saying goes, in battle, one relies on father and son troops. He only trusted his own son. Moreover, sending his son to lead the troops would also allow him to seize Gao Xianzhi’s military power. Yu Chaoen’s recommendation of Ge Shu Han was out of self-interest. He knew Li Heng wouldn’t trust Gao Xianzhi, so Li Heng would surely send someone to monitor him, and the most suitable person for that role was himself. Since Yu Chaoen had lost his power as the eunuch supervisor, what about military power? Was it possible for him to get it?

Just as Yu Chaoyen was about to speak again, a guard rushed over to report, “Your Majesty, Gao Xianzhi is asking to see you outside the palace!”