Chapter 540: Li Guangbi’s Deceptions

After a moment, a middle-aged scholar was brought in. He was thin and unattractive, with a few sparse mustaches. Upon closer inspection, he even appeared slightly lame. Ji Guangchen’s personal guards couldn’t help but cover their mouths and laugh, and even Ji Guangchen himself frowned deeply. Was this Li Guangbi’s special envoy? How could he be so vile? He couldn’t help but feel a hint of disdain for Li Guangbi.

Ji Guangchen, with his fair complexion and handsome appearance, coupled with his tall stature, had always been known as the most handsome man in the capital. He was very proud of his looks, and upon seeing such an ugly man, he immediately became displeased.

Ji Guangchen was aware of Li Guangbi’s background. In the past, both Geshu Han and An Sishun had dismissed him, treating him like a ball to be kicked around between Shuofang, Longyou, and Hexi. Eventually, Geshu Han sent him to Anxi, where he was highly valued by Li Qingan and reportedly fared well there.

Still, Ji Guangchen believed it was because there were no great generals in Shu, forcing someone like Liao Hua to take the lead. Without outstanding generals in Anxi, it was possible for a discarded man like Li Guangbi to thrive there.

Today, Li Guangbi sent another unattractive envoy, which made Ji Guangchen, who came from a military background and was proud by nature, regard Li Guangbi with even more disdain.

The middle-aged scholar limped into the tent and bowed to Ji Guangchen, saying, “I, I am… Cai Jinglun, an aide under General Li Guangbi.”

Laughter erupted in the tent. He was stuttering too! Ji Guangchen glared sharply at his guards. Though he disliked it as well, he was the commander and couldn’t afford to be rude, so he suppressed his displeasure and said to the scholar, “Mr. Cai, what message does General Li have for me?”

He didn’t believe this stuttering scholar could be a persuasive envoy. Usually, they brought letters from Li Guangbi, but this scholar had none. His face turned red, and he stammered even more, “General Li asked… me to deliver… a message to General Ji.”

“Enough!”

Ji Guangchen finally lost patience. He waved his hand and said, “Give him pen, ink, paper, and inkstone so he can write it down.”

Cai Jinglun stepped back and glared at Ji Guangchen, asking, “Why does General Ji belittle me?”

“I’m not belittling you. It’s precisely because I value you that I ask you to write it down. This is a sign of respect for General Li. Don’t be suspicious. Go and write!”

Cai Jinglun was taken away by his personal guards. Ji Guangchen leaned back in his chair, gazing thoughtfully outside the tent. He had expected Li Qingan to send someone to negotiate with him, but instead, it was Li Guangbi who sent someone. This showed that Li Guangbi was eager to claim credit and try to recruit him before Li Qingan could. Could this be an opportunity to buy time?

At that moment, a personal guard stepped forward and handed Ji Guangchen a piece of paper. “General, the stutterer has finished writing it.”

Ji Guangchen took the letter and saw that the handwriting was elegant and fluid. The stutterer had managed to write quite well. He nodded inwardly, realizing that this scholar indeed had some talent. Yet, since Li Guangbi had sent him on this mission, it showed poor judgment in selecting people—like sending a chicken to plow the fields or a cow to keep watch. Li Guangbi was truly inadequate, which made Ji Guangchen view him with even more disdain.

He read the letter further. It contained Li Guangbi’s promises: if Ji Guangchen agreed to surrender, he would recommend him to remain as the governor of Zheng-Cai and reward him with 50,000 strings of coins. He vowed not to break his word, urging Ji Guangchen to consider his future carefully.

This promise was within Ji Guangchen’s expectations, but he saw some clues in it. It must also be Li Qingan’s intention—to resolve his own military issues smoothly. But since Li Guangbi was so eager for credit, he had sent someone first to try to persuade Ji Guangchen.

Was it really that simple?

Although Ji Guangchen despised Li Guangbi, he knew how formidable Li Qingan was. He could look down on Li Guangbi, but he dared not underestimate Li Qingan.

With his hands behind his back, Ji Guangchen paced slowly inside the tent, repeatedly pondering Li Qingan’s true intentions. It was clear that Li Qingan’s eastern campaign aimed to bring under his control the 150,000 troops left by Li Hen in the Central Plains. The number of troops he had brought into Guanzhong was not large—only 100,000, which was far too few to confront An Lushan’s 500,000-strong army. By gaining control of those 150,000 troops, his strength would greatly increase. Moreover, he certainly wouldn’t give up on the over one million dan of grain in Xingyang.

“A strategy to stabilize the army!”
A thought flashed through Ji Guangchen’s mind in an instant, filling him with excitement. He quickly walked over to the map, feeling he had figured out Li Qingan’s true intentions.

Among the 150,000 troops left by Li Hen in the Central Plains, aside from Li Huan’s 30,000 troops in Hanzhong, there were also Dong Qin’s 20,000 troops in Hedong, his own 30,000 troops, and Xu Shujie’s 70,000 troops. Xu Shujie was currently the governor of Hua-Pu, but his jurisdiction also included the five provinces of Bian, Cao, Song, Yan, and Xu. Among the four warlords, Xu Shujie was the most powerful, with the largest army and the widest territory.

Li Qing’an should first deal with him rather than himself. If he attacks himself first, it will surely alert Li Qing’an, forcing Xu Shujī to turn to An Lushan in Hebei or seek refuge with King Li Lin of Wu. That’s why Li Qing’an asked Li Guangbi to stabilize himself first.
That’s probably how it is, Ji Guangchen thought with a cold smile. No matter how cunning Li Qing’an was, he couldn’t escape his notice. Didn’t he also hope for this?
What he needed now was time. If he could delay things by another half month, Li Heng would likely launch an attack on Jingxiang. Then he could launch a pincer attack from the north, not only getting rid of the threat from Li Qing’an but also earning great merit. Li Heng might even appoint him to guard Jingxiang.
Just then, a scout came in and reported, “General, we’ve spotted a large army crossing the Yellow River from the north, heading toward Huazhou.”
“As I expected!”
Ji Guangchen was overjoyed. He had indeed seen through Li Qing’an’s intentions—they really wanted to keep him occupied while sending their army to subdue Xu Shujī’s forces.
He immediately wrote a letter and handed it to a trusted soldier, saying, “Go quickly to Chenliu and deliver this letter to Xu Shujī. Tell him to be extremely careful of Li Qing’an’s ambush.”
With his hands behind his back, Ji Guangchen slowly walked to the tent and murmured to himself as he gazed northward, “Go and fight! If we fight for a month, I’ll have achieved my goal.”
……
Before Cai Jinglun, one of Li Guangbi’s advisors, was sent to Xingyang, Li Guangbi’s 20,000-strong army had already quietly left Luoyang. They bypassed Dengfeng County to the south and took a circuitous route up the Songshan Mountains toward the north, heading straight for Xingyang. The 20,000 cavalry moved day and night, avoiding official roads and taking remote paths. Just two days later, they reached a valley thirty li south of Xingyang. This area was hilly, with deep valleys, many caves, and dense forests. The nearest official road was twenty li away, making it a very remote place with only a small village of over a hundred households called Huancui Village, rarely visited by people.
It was almost dawn by then, so Li Guangbi ordered his 20,000 troops to camp there. He also sent hundreds of scouts to block off any news. This place was very close to Xingyang County. If Ji Guangchen discovered them, all their efforts might be in vain.
Standing in front of the map, Li Guangbi carefully studied the route for the invasion. This operation plan had been proposed by him and approved by Li Qing’an. Long before leaving Chang’an, Li Guangbi had thoroughly studied these generals of Li Heng. Ji Guangchen had come from the military strategy category of the imperial military examinations, was well-versed in military classics, and was said to be highly intelligent. He was also good-looking, tall, and slender, known as the most handsome man in the Chang’an army.

But Li Guangbi paid more attention to his weaknesses. His weaknesses were obvious: he had stayed in the capital for a long time and had little actual combat experience. Moreover, he was rather arrogant and always looked down on generals stationed at the border. In the sixth year of Tianbao, when An Sishun held a birthday celebration in Chang’an, he invited all the military generals there, and almost everyone attended except Ji Guangchen, who criticized An Sishun and Geshu Han on more than one occasion. If he disdained such experienced generals as An Sishun and Geshu Han, what more would he think of himself? Li Guangbi seized Ji Guangchen’s weakness and deliberately sent his stuttering aide Cai Jinglun to negotiate with Ji Guangchen in order to provoke his arrogance. By this time, Cai Jinglun should have arrived in Xingyang County. Li Guangbi waited for nightfall, after which several bodyguards brought in the village chief of Huan Cui Village. The village chief, surnamed Chen and in his fifties, was very honest and simple-minded. As soon as he entered, he knelt down and said, “Your humble servant, Chen Sanlang, pays his respects to the general.” “Village chief Chen, please stand up!” Li Guangbi smiled and helped him up, saying, “Please rest assured, village chief. Our Anxi Army always maintains strict discipline and will never harm the people.” “I believe the soldiers have not wronged us in the slightest.” Li Guangbi smiled again and asked, “Then how do you make a living? Do any outsiders come here often?” “Reporting to the general, our place is called Huan Cui Valley. It’s deep and wooded, with abundant medicinal herbs. The people in our village make a living by gathering herbs. Every ten days or so, we go to Xingyang County to sell them and pick up some daily necessities. Generally, few outsiders come here; only occasionally do herbal merchants and peddlers visit.” “Have those herbal merchants and peddlers been here?” Li Guangbi asked further. “The herbal merchants haven’t been here for a month, and the peddler left the day before yesterday. The next time they’ll come is at least in three days.” Li Guangbi nodded. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “How do you get from here to Xingyang?” The village chief replied, “We usually take the official road to Xingyang. Although it’s a bit longer, the road is flat, so it’s actually faster—about one and a half hours at most. If we don’t want to take the official road, we take a shortcut. Although it’s shorter, it takes longer—two hours.” Hearing about the shortcut, Li Guangbi was overjoyed and quickly asked, “Can horses be used on that shortcut?” “Yes. We all ride horses to Xingyang, but there’s a section where we have to walk ten miles while leading the horses.” Li Guangbi made an immediate decision. He said to the village chief, “Could you find us two guides to take us to Xingyang tonight? I will reward you generously afterward.” “No problem. My son often takes the shortcut to Xingyang. Let him take the general there.” …

Twenty thousand cavalry rested in Huan Cui Village for a day. As soon as it darkened, the twenty-thousand-strong army set off for Xingyang County under the guidance of guides.