Chapter 554: The Great Migration to Hebei (Part 2)

County magistrate Wang Cheng changed into his official robes and, along with two yamen officials, hurried outside the county town. About fifteen li north of Anyang County, along the official road, lay Longquan Post, an important station where officials traveling back and forth could rest and stay. Behind Longquan Post was a hill covered with dense pine forests.

At that moment, the pine forests were filled with Tang army cavalry—around five to six thousand men—who had almost completely surrounded Longquan Post. This was Guo Ziyi’s army. Guo Ziyi’s main force of 100,000 troops was stationed in Baixing, Weizhou, southwest of Xiangzhou, which is in today’s Huixian County, Henan Province. Today, he had led 5,000 cavalry to Anyang County to inspect the situation of the relocated people.

Although Hebei Province was within An Lushan’s sphere of influence, that referred only to the reach of his military threat. In reality, An Lushan had not fully taken control of the entire region. His troops were still in Youzhou and areas north of it, under the jurisdiction of the Fanyang and Pinglu military commands. If An Lushan’s troops began to be stationed in Xiangzhou and its surroundings in the south, it would mean he had truly rebelled.

An Lushan had not officially declared rebellion yet. Though he had installed a new emperor, most counties in Hebei Province had not recognized him. This put An Lushan in a very awkward position. More importantly, he was not fully prepared—neither yet ready to use force to force the counties to acknowledge the new emperor, nor to send troops to occupy the entire region of Hebei. Therefore, he tried to maintain silence and restraint. Even when sending troops to support Xu Shuyi along the Yellow River, he used the excuse of military training.

At that time, the troops An Lushan sent to support Xu Shuyi were in Weizhou, about 400 li away from Anyang. Guo Ziyi’s army was in the Hedong region west of Xiangzhou and had not fully entered Hebei. To some extent, his troops were holding back An Lushan’s forces. Today, he rushed to Anyang County with 5,000 cavalry. On one hand, he wanted to inspect the progress of the relocation; on the other hand, he was also testing An Lushan’s reaction.

Inside the post station room, Guo Ziyi carefully examined a map of Hebei Province. Based on the information he had so far, An Lushan had not yet reacted to the migration in Hebei. His troops were still in Youzhou, and there had been no interference with the migration from Cai Xide in Weizhou either.

Guo Ziyi paced slowly with his hands behind his back, his brows deeply furrowed. He knew An Lushan well. Given An Lushan’s character, it was absolutely impossible for him to sit idly by while such a large-scale migration took place in Hebei. Unless he truly had no intention of rebelling, Hebei Province would be his stronghold, and he would never allow his foundation to be weakened.

Guo Ziyi was certain that An Lushan would definitely interfere with the migration from Hebei. The question was, where would he start? What methods would he use? To what extent would he go? Or would he even rebel outright? These thoughts filled Guo Ziyi with doubts.

Guo Ziyi returned to the map, gazing at Youzhou in deep thought. This time, his advance into Hebei was largely in execution of Li Qing’an’s strategic plan. He also understood Li Qing’an’s concerns. An Lushan was not the army of Southern Tang, nor was he a weak force like Li Mao or Li Lin. The Fanyang army was very strong, even surpassing his own Shuofang army, and only second to the Anxi army. Moreover, by recruiting large numbers of northern barbarians into his army, his combat strength had become even greater. Although everyone claimed An Lushan’s army of five hundred thousand was an exaggeration, Guo Ziyi didn’t think so. Having spent many years on the border, he knew well the nature of the barbarians. They were all soldiers; even a moderately large tribe had tens of thousands of troops. If An Lushan recruited effectively and offered generous rewards, having an army of five hundred thousand was not impossible.

It was precisely this that made Guo Ziyi admire Li Qing’an greatly. He now understood why Li Qing’an hadn’t immediately eliminated Xu Shuyi—he wanted to create a strategic stalemate to control the pace of An Lushan’s rebellion, giving himself time to evacuate the people from Hebei. Although An Lushan might ignore Li Qing’an’s attempts at control, it was indeed the only viable option. Otherwise, with An Lushan’s barbarian troops, Hebei would suffer catastrophic destruction. The barbarians wanted Han children and Han property, and An Lushan must have made promises in return. Guo Ziyi sighed—he needed to speed up the migration!

At that moment, a bodyguard reported from outside, “General, the magistrate of Anyang County has arrived.”

“Hmm! Let him in.”

Guo Ziyi put his thoughts aside and ordered the map taken away. Moments later, Magistrate Wang Jicheng entered quickly, guided by a bodyguard. He stepped forward and bowed to Guo Ziyi, saying, “Your humble servant, Wang Jicheng, the magistrate of Anyang County, pays his respects to the old general!”

“Magistrate Wang, no need for formalities. Please sit.”

“Thank you, old general!”

Wang Jicheng sat down, and a bodyguard served him tea. He bowed in gratitude. Guo Ziyi picked up his teacup and took a slow sip before smiling calmly and saying, “I was afraid of disturbing the people, so I didn’t enter the city. That’s why I had you summoned. Thank you for your hard work, Magistrate Wang.”

Wang Jicheng quickly replied, “How could that be! General Guo cares so much for the people of the county. I am deeply moved. If the old general needs anything, please order it. I will do my best to assist.”

“Hehe! Does Magistrate Wang think I’m here to extort?”

Guo Ziyi chuckled. Wang Jicheng’s face turned red. He had thought Guo Ziyi was here to demand grain and had already planned to give at most three thousand dan. Unexpectedly, Guo Ziyi exposed his plan right away, leaving him speechless.

“County Magistrate Wang, I’m not here to take advantage of anyone. I’m here to inquire about the immigration situation.”

Hearing that it was about immigration, Wang Jicheng perked up and quickly said, “Today is only the first day for immigration procedures in Anyang County. Yet more than 30,000 people have already gathered outside the county office, all eager to immigrate. That’s 30,000 households in total, putting huge pressure on the county office.”

“Why?”

Guo Ziyi was surprised. In other places, it took many days before people started signing up for immigration. Yet in Anyang County, 30,000 people showed up on the very first day—this was utterly incredible. Guo Ziyi felt inspired. He had been worried about the slow progress of immigration but couldn’t speed it up. If Anyang County was so active, did they really have some method?

Guo Ziyi hurriedly asked, “Tell me quickly, what exactly is going on?”

Wang Jicheng misinterpreted him, thinking Guo Ziyi was questioning why registration only started today. Feeling guilty, he stammered, “I was ill a few days ago and missed the imperial announcement.”

“That’s not what I asked. I’m asking why so many people are signing up!” Guo Ziyi grew impatient and raised his voice.

Wang Jicheng broke into a cold sweat and quickly stood up. “I’m also puzzled by the surge in interest. After asking around, I found out that rumors are spreading in the county—that An Lushan is about to rebel. The imperial government is organizing immigration to evacuate the people of Hebei. Everyone is panicked, which is why so many people are signing up.”

“I see!”

Only then did Guo Ziyi understand. He nodded. It wasn’t bad—creating a sense of crisis was far more effective than mere incentives. After all, it was just a rumor. As long as the authorities didn’t acknowledge it, An Lushan had nothing to say.

“Very well! Thank you, County Magistrate Wang, for today. I still need to go to Ye County. I won’t disturb you any longer. Please make sure to speed up the immigration process—nothing should delay this important task.”

“I understand. I’ll go back right away and handle the registrations overnight to ensure nothing is delayed.”

Wang Jicheng took his leave. After pondering for a moment, Guo Ziyi ordered, “Get ready to set off for Ye County!”

Guo Ziyi’s army quickly assembled. In moments, five thousand cavalry set off northward and soon disappeared at the end of the official road.

The massive wave of migration that swept across the Hebei region quickly spread from south to north, affecting the entire area. As rumors of An Lushan’s rebellion grew more widespread, panic set in among the people. Every county was filled with farmers eager to sign up for migration. On the official roads leading westward, endless streams of migrants could be seen, carrying the elderly and children, along with baskets and loads, riding ox carts, horse carts, and donkey carts loaded with their meager possessions, accompanied by the clanging of pots and pans, as they moved in great numbers through the eight passes of the Taihang Mountains toward Hedong.

Yet, despite the intense migration trend, An Lushan remained completely inactive, which seemed unbelievable to everyone. Only the high-ranking officials of Fanyang knew that An Lushan was not in Youzhou at that time but among the Xi tribes north of Pinglu. Without An Lushan’s orders, no one dared to interfere in the situation in Hebei, not even Shi Siming or Gao Shang. Only An Lushan had the authority to deploy troops numbering over a hundred.

The Xi were an ancient nomadic tribe in the northeast. Before the Khitans became powerful, both they and the Khitans were vassals of the Tang Dynasty. But as the Khitans grew stronger, the Xi were eventually conquered and became part of the Khitan people. The Xi tribes had always been under the jurisdiction of An Lushan’s Pinglu Military Governorship, but they had rebelled several times. In the fourth year of the Tianbao era, Princess Yifang from the Tang imperial family married the Xi leader, Li Yanchong, the King of Huaixin and Governor of Raole. Yet within less than a year, the Xi rebelled and sacrificed Princess Yifang as a human offering. Later, after being defeated by An Lushan, they submitted obediently to the Tang Dynasty.

Currently, the Xi leader was still Li Yanchong, the King of Huaixin, who commanded nearly 80,000 warriors from his tribe. After An Lushan recruited a large number of troops from various barbarian tribes such as the Turks, Uyghurs, and Khitans—bringing the total to nearly 200,000—Li Yanchong was reluctant to assist An Lushan, sending only 5,000 cavalry, which had little practical significance.

An Lushan certainly wouldn’t give up on these 80,000 strong troops. He sent envoys several times to negotiate with Li Yanchong, offering great rewards, but Li Yanchong neither agreed nor refused, maintaining an ambiguous attitude. With no other choice, and given the stalled situation in the Henan region, An Lushan went personally to Raole Prefecture to negotiate with Li Yanchong. This was the last army he sought to recruit. If he could gain control of those 80,000 Xi troops, his army would total 450,000, enough to compete for dominance over the land. An Lushan was determined to succeed in this mission to Raole.