Chapter 18: The Masterful Pen (II)

The Hu people had always acted on impulse.
If it were the governor of Tangzhou leaving the city, he would first send officials to clear the roads, followed by musicians and drummers leading the way, with an ornate sedan chair escorted by his trusted men, appearing amidst the cheers of the people.
It all seemed staged and pretentious.
A Lun Can was different. As An Lushan’s adopted son, it took him less than half an hour from deciding to leave the city to mounting his horse. In comparison, the Hu people’s efficiency was truly admirable.
The people had stopped, but the snow continued.
On a cold winter night, there was nowhere to express one’s sorrow.
Three hundred elite cavalrymen, led by A Lun Can, rushed swiftly toward Linghe River。……
“General Li, this is Tangzhou City!”
Lin Erlang pointed at the gray city walls in the distance, speaking slowly. Having experienced the rebel army’s massacre of villages, he had become stronger and calmer.
Now, he knew exactly what he had to do.
Li Kuo glanced in the direction Lin Erlang indicated and frowned.
The gates of Tangzhou City were tightly closed, under full martial law.
This was, of course, the worst outcome.
“General, do you plan to take the city by strategy?”
Though he hadn’t read many books, Lin Erlang was surprisingly clever. After staring at Li Kuo for a moment, he seemed to guess his thoughts.
“It would be ideal to take it by strategy, but the rebel general seems very vigilant and has already closed the gates.”
Li Kuo tapped his whip toward the city gates. “If he allowed us in, I could send people disguised as merchants to infiltrate the city for support. But now, it seems we’ll have to think of another way.”
In fact, Li Kuo didn’t want to attack the city by force. After all, their purpose was to go to Guanzhong to protect the imperial court. If they started a fight with the Hu tribes due to impulsive anger along the way, he would surely become the target of criticism from the court.
Loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, and faith—these values could never change in the Tang Dynasty.
“Actually, General, you could try luring them out.”
Lin Erlang shrugged. “Although the Hu people are cruel by nature, they value loyalty. If General forges a letter of distress from Xuzhou City and sends it to the outskirts of Tangzhou, I believe the rebel general will surely lead his troops north to help!”
Li Kuo pondered for a moment before nodding. “Your suggestion is good, but finding the right person is difficult.”
Most of the rebels were Hu people, and the mercenaries recruited by An Lushan were also from tribes like the Tiele, Khitans, and Xi. His own troops were all from the south of the Yangtze River. Even if he could forge a handwritten letter, how could he find a messenger with the right appearance and language skills?

“Hey, Qilang. I usually see you as very resourceful—how come you’ve lost your wits now?”
Zhou Wucui took the chance to tease Li Kuo, saying, “Isn’t this candidate as close as right before our eyes?”
After saying that, Zhou Wucui pointed behind Li Kuo and shrugged.
“I am merely here to serve the general with all my might!”
Du Moye clasped his hands into a fist and gave a military salute, firm and fearless…
Xuzhou is north of Tangzhou, while Yingzhou is south of Tangzhou.
On a map, the three cities are separated by over two hundred li, supporting each other.
Apart from Yingzhou, which remains under Tang’s control, both Tangzhou and Xuzhou have fallen into the hands of the An Lushan forces.
However, Xuzhou is in a more strategic location due to its proximity to the eastern capital, Luoyang, and has more troops stationed there.
Since the fall of the eastern capital, An Lushan moved into the imperial palace with his followers and lived like an emperor in comfort.
Thus, Xuzhou became even more important, serving as one of the key defenses for the eastern capital. Such a city must be rescued if attacked by enemy forces!
Therefore, Li Kuo’s plan had a high chance of success. Lure their main forces out of the city to annihilate them, then take the city easily—this was a series of plans, with no room for error at any step.
The most crucial step was luring the rebels out of the city, which naturally required someone from the Turkic tribes to do it, and Du Moye was the perfect choice.
After Li Kuo returned to the capital from Anxi to report on his duties, many Anxi generals from Shule Town were reluctant to part with him and volunteered to follow him, including Du Moye. It wasn’t because Du Moye was particularly loyal or devoted, but because he believed following Li Kuo would offer greater prospects.
From Anxi to Chang’an, and from Chang’an to Jianghuai, Du Moye always stayed closely by Li Kuo’s side. Although Li Kuo lost much of his real power during his tenure as the military commander in Jianghuai, Du Moye remained optimistic about him.
It was intuition!
Sure enough, not long after Li Kuo arrived in Jianghuai, An Lushan rose in rebellion in Fanyang!
In Du Moye’s eyes, this was the best opportunity for Li Kuo.
Two hundred thousand cavalry marched south, and within a month, half of the Tang Empire fell into enemy hands. This actually excited Du Moye greatly.
Heroes emerge in times of chaos! In Du Moye’s view, Li Kuo was undoubtedly a hidden dragon, suppressed by imperial power only because he was born in an era of peace. Now that the world was in turmoil, it was time for heroes to rise.
Whether Li Kuo remained loyal to the Tang Dynasty to win the emperor’s trust and gain the greatest benefits, or seized the opportunity to raise an army and declare himself emperor, it was far better than being just a military commander in peaceful times.

Emperor Tang summoned Li Kuo to lead an army north to support the throne—this was undoubtedly a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. Given the current situation, raising troops and declaring independence right after An Lushan’s rebellion clearly wasn’t a good move, as most of the country was still under Tang’s control. Acting too early would only make one a target for everyone’s wrath, resulting in no benefits and instead becoming a scapegoat.

Of course, being completely loyal to Emperor Tang was also foolish. Not to mention that the struggle between the Tang dynasty and An Lushan was evenly matched, with the outcome still uncertain, simply wasting one’s strength by working for someone else was the act of a fool.

The best choice was to appear obedient to Emperor Tang’s orders while secretly expanding one’s own territory to lay the groundwork for future independence.

Du Moye, who wanted to become a founding hero who helped Li Kuo become king or emperor, certainly wouldn’t miss any opportunity. In his view, Li Kuo had all the necessary qualities—except for the decisiveness and ruthlessness expected of a ruler.

After all, this was a common flaw among people of the Central Plains. Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness—these nonsense concepts had become the shackles that doomed many heroes, ruining countless ones who could have become rulers. He certainly didn’t want Li Kuo to become another victim of foolish loyalty, turned into a tool in the hands of the Tang court.

He had already placed all his hopes on Li Kuo and naturally wanted him to rise to greatness.

So when Lin Erlang proposed luring the main forces of the rebels in Tangzhou out of the city, he was the first to agree.