Chapter Thirty-Five Stunned

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  Chang'an, Xingqing Palace, inside Xingqing Hall, Emperor Li Longji is discussing matters with Prime Minister Yang Guozhong.

  Yang Hui led the army to rescue Tongguan, although he agreed with his son Yang Guozhong's idea of cutting off his wrist to save himself, but Yang Hui was after all his most precious son, and emotionally he couldn't bear to give up on him. Just then, Yang Hui personally took charge, mobilizing all available forces, recruiting follow-up rescue troops, and repeatedly urging the Left Dragon Guard General Chen Xuanli to set out as soon as possible.

  It's just that the subsequent troops are not like Li Fude and Liu Guangting, who led the three thousand men who were already prepared for unexpected events. Tens of thousands of troops can't be easily recruited and ready to depart quickly!

  Although the leader of the vanguard was Chen Xuanli, it is impossible for Chen Xuanli to personally lead so many troops. There must be other generals under him who are also temporarily mobilized. The horses, military equipment, and food needed for tens of thousands of people along the way need to be prepared. Moreover, Chen Xuanli had a bit of intention to deliberately confront Yang Guozhong, and he was not doing his job wholeheartedly, so the speed was far from comparable to Yang Hui's rapid relief troops.

  But Chen Xuanli did not dare to deliberately delay, everything was done according to the rules.

  Yang Guozhong was anxious, and he repeatedly urged Chen Xuanli to speed up his preparations. He then went into the palace to ask Emperor Xianzong to issue several more edicts.

  He dared not disobey the orders of this prime minister, but he could pretend to obey while secretly disobeying; however, when it came to imperial edicts, Chen Xuanli did not dare to drag his feet at all, and Yang Guozhong knew this well.

  Because he was worried about everything, Yang Guozhong naturally gave up his plan to return to the mansion and stayed in the palace. He also ordered his other three sons, Yang Qi, Yang Shi and Yang Xiao, to stay by his side and do important things personally.

  The father and son are in the same camp, no outsider can be trusted more than one's own family members, this is what Yang Guozhong firmly believes.

  All the things that needed to be instructed had been instructed, and an afternoon and a night had passed. Chen Xuanli's 50,000 troops were almost ready to set off for Tongguan. The military leaders at all levels were fully equipped, and the vanguard troops had already set off under the leadership of Dou Hua, another trusted aide of Yang Guozhong, heading towards Tongguan. The follow-up troops also slowly began to depart.

  Yang Guozhong personally saw these people and, disregarding his own fatigue from a sleepless night, hastily entered the palace to discuss matters with the Emperor.

  Lingbao army was defeated, the 200,000-strong army almost annihilated, Tongguan was in a precarious situation. Li Longji was naturally anxious and sleepless all night, getting up early in the morning to prepare for a meeting with his ministers. Just then, Yang Guozhong entered the palace, and the emperor and he stood talking.

  Meanwhile, news of Ping'an's safety came again from Tongguan.

  Received Tongguan safely, the rebel army has not arrived under the city, and Yang Hui's troops have already rushed to Tongguan overnight. Li Longji and Yang Guozhong were overjoyed when they received the news.

  Li Longji naturally did not spare his praise, and lavishly praised Yang Guozhong for teaching his son well, as Yang Hui was so brave and arrived at Tong Pass with such speed. Just when Yang Guozhong had put down more than half of his worries and was celebrating his son's outstanding performance, news came that Yang Hui had killed the Yan Mountain Duke Huo Biren.

  This news shocked Li Longji and Yang Guozhong, who did not expect Huo Boren to defect to the rebels by holding Geshu Han hostage at a critical moment. After the shock, they were also relieved that Yang Hui had arrived in Tongguan so quickly, decisively beheaded Huo Boren, and controlled the situation. If it was one step late, the consequences would be unthinkable. While Yang Guozhong was rejoicing and proud of his son, he also received repeated praise from Li Longji.

  Yang Guozhong knew that the defeat of Lingbao had left a shadow in the emperor's heart, and his complaints and dissatisfaction had basically eliminated more than half of it, all thanks to his own diligence and his son Yang Hui's outstanding performance.

  Yang Guozhong was completely at ease, not worried about being punished by the emperor again. He had already made arrangements with Yang Yuhuan and her sisters to speak well of him in front of the emperor. He believed that after this incident, the glory of the Yang family would not decrease but would rise even higher, and his precious son would quickly rise to prominence on the court, becoming a hot figure.

  Losing a horse may lead to gaining an advantage, how can one know it is not good fortune? This is Yang Guozhong's current feeling.

  After receiving the news of Huabu Renren's death, Yang Guozhong also suggested that he immediately capture and kill Huabu Renren's family members to prevent them from rioting in Chang'an after hearing the news. Li Longji followed Yang Guozhong's suggestion and immediately issued an edict to search for and seize the Yan Mountain County Wangfu, arresting all of Huabu Renren's family members and accomplices, waiting for a day to be sentenced!

  The imperial guard general has received the emperor's order and is now searching the mansion of the Prince of Yanshan!

  What brought even greater joy to Yang Guozhong was the news that followed: the rebel army, as expected by Yang Hui, came rushing towards Tongguan City with great momentum, but due to Yang Hui's prior arrangements, the rebels were ambushed one after another and suffered heavy losses. Although these losses could not be compared to those of the government army in Lingbao, they occurred after the defeat at the Battle of Lingbao, when the remnants of the defeated army retreated to Tongguan. The rebel army began to retreat, and Tongguan was temporarily safe.

  This made Li Longji and Yang Guozhong, who had been worried about the safety of Tongguan Pass and feared that Yang Huizhong could not control the various generals, breathe a sigh of relief once again.

  It turned out that their worries were unnecessary. After Yang Guozhong arrived at Tong Pass, he initially established his prestige by dealing with Huo Baojin's rebellion and gained the support of Ge Shuhan. Then, with two brilliant ambushes, he won over the hearts of most generals and controlled the situation in Tong Pass.

  Li Longji was overjoyed and immediately issued a decree to reward Yang Hui and Li Fuguo among others.

  "Guo Zhong, I really didn't expect Si Lang to perform so well, it's a pleasant surprise for me!" Although he hadn't slept well the previous night, Li Longji was in good spirits at this moment. He stroked his beard and smiled warmly at Yang Guo Zhong, saying: "Guo Zhong, you have taught your son well. Si Lang is still young, but his performance far surpasses that of several of his older brothers. It seems that he will be the one to inherit your legacy and bring glory to your family in the future!"

  At this time, many senior officials had arrived at the palace, including Yang Guozhong's other sons, Yang Huan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and concurrently the Minister of Imperial Stables, Yang Xiao, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and Yang Xun, the Vice Director of the Ministry of Works. When Emperor Xianzong praised Yang Hui in such a straightforward manner, it shocked many officials, including Yang Guozhong, and made Yang Huan, Yang Xiao, and Yang Xun lose face. The three brothers were somewhat resentful but did not dare to express their feelings.

  Upon hearing this, Yang Guozhong immediately stood up and humbly said, "Your Majesty has overpraised me. Your subject is just a bit bolder and not afraid of things. If this matter were given to others to do, as long as Your Majesty gives the order again, they would also be able to do it! The battle of Tongguan has only just begun, and the war will still be very cruel afterwards. I only hope that my subsequent performance will not disappoint Your Majesty, and I dare not receive such praise from Your Majesty!"

  Yang Guozhong's humility naturally brought another round of praise from Emperor Xuanzong, and other officials, including Wei Jian and Wei Fangjin, also followed suit, repeatedly flattering the emperor for his foresight in recognizing Yang An's exceptional talent and daring to appoint such a young man to lead the army to rescue Tong Pass at this critical moment, even comparing Yang An's feat to that of Emperor Taizong who had lifted the siege of Yanmen at a young age.

  They also repeatedly congratulated Yang Guozhong, and were so envious that they could raise such a son.

  This naturally makes many people uncomfortable listening to it, but because Yang Hui's performance is indeed good, they also dare not stand up and criticize.

  But just as the monarch and his ministers were congratulating each other, preparing to discuss follow-up matters, another urgent message arrived, saying that Yang Gui had publicly beheaded the eunuch supervisor Bian Lingcheng and even presented Bian's head!

  As soon as this was heard, the entire hall immediately erupted into a commotion. Li Longji and Yang Guozhong were also shocked stiff!