Chapter 4893 The end of the road

In fact, ever since Cheng Yaojin led his army to Guzang City, these overt and covert obstacles have almost never stopped, with granaries catching fire, unclean water sources, and a shortage of firewood... These little tricks that are not worthy of being shown on the surface are also very disgusting.

Cheng Yaojin was not angry about this. "I hope he goes a little further. If he has the guts to kill a few of my soldiers, I will respect him. It will give me a legitimate reason to attack and destroy him in one fell swoop. But now he is hiding in Fanhe like a turtle, not moving at all. I don't know where to chop with my knife. It's really annoying!"

An Yuanshou took advantage of the fact that Prince of Jin was raising an army and led his troops to attack Chang'an. His intentions were known to everyone. Li Chengqian hated him to the core but was afraid of the influence of the An family in Liangzhou and the entire Hexi region, so he had to swallow his anger and simply demoted him and ordered him to move out of Guzang City.

However, how can we live in peace when we are hated by the king?

Therefore, after An Yuanshou was forced to migrate his entire clan to Fanhe, he issued strict orders to his clansmen and the army not to violate the law or cause trouble. Even if the Zuowu Guard stationed around Guzang City provoked trouble, he had to tolerate it again and again and never give Cheng Yaojin an excuse to start a war.

Especially when the imperial court launched the "Tubo Strategy", tens of thousands of troops gathered at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains, ready to march out of the Dadouba Valley and enter the Tuyuhun territory at any time. An Yuanshou was like a frightened bird. These tens of thousands of elite Anxi troops could not only march out of the Dadouba Valley to destroy the Gar tribe, but also march north to attack Fanhe and uproot the An family...

So no matter how many times Cheng Yaojin provoked him, An Yuanshou remained silent and did as he pleased.

This made Cheng Yaojin very depressed.

Niu Jinda cut the lamb leg with a knife and said disapprovingly, "You are just impatient. Everyone knows what your majesty means. Even though An Yuanshou led his army to Chang'an when the Prince of Jin rebelled, he was fighting under the banner of 'serving the king'. As long as he did not show any intention of rebellion, your majesty would not suppress him. Your majesty is too proud. The Renhe Dynasty should be about 'the monarch and his subjects working together to create a good story'. Didn't you see that even those people in the royal family were safe and sound despite the ups and downs?"

Cheng Yaojin drank silently and sighed: "Your Majesty looks kind, but he is actually indecisive. He hesitates to make decisions and suffers the consequences! Besides, if An Yuanshou keeps pretending to be a tortoise and being honest, can we continue to waste time with him here?"

Although Hexi is the most prosperous area on the Silk Road, it is by no means comparable to Chang'an. Who would be willing to live a hard life here?

Furthermore, the farther and longer one is away from the core of power of the Tang Dynasty, the more difficult it will be to integrate into it.

Niu Jinda put the cut lamb leg on a plate, sprinkled some salt and a dipping sauce made of various spices on it, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth to chew. The spicy pepper, the mellow aroma of cumin, and the tenderness of the lamb burst in his mouth. He nodded with satisfaction, indicating to Cheng Yaojin that it was delicious. He drank a sip of wine to relieve the greasiness in his mouth, and then said.

"You only care about food and not about punishment. Why did His Majesty send us to such a bitter and cold place? It's because you are eager for quick success and are dissatisfied with the status quo and want to move up to a higher level! Chang'an is in turmoil right now, and it is very likely that something big will happen. You are so eager to go back. Are you planning to get involved again? Humph, this time it's just a punishment. If you stand on the wrong side again next time, I'm afraid you will never be able to return to Chang'an in this life."

"Ugh!"

Cheng Yaojin ate meat and drank wine, but he could not get rid of the depression in his heart.

It was snowing heavily outside, and the snow on the ground was a foot thick. Niu Jinda got up and went outside to fetch some chopped wood and threw it into the stove. He sat down again and asked, "So what are your plans?"

He knew that Cheng Yaojin was not the type of person who would listen to advice. He was very stubborn. Since he was eager to return to Chang'an, he would not listen to any different opinions. He must have made up his mind a long time ago.

In fact, Cheng Yaojin, who had always been proud of being "good at taking sides", has now suffered a blow and found that the situation in Chang'an was complicated and full of hidden dangers. He had long given up the idea of taking sides again and did not expect to realize his dream of becoming a "king of a different surname".

The reason I want to go back to Chang'an is simply because I miss the prosperity of Chang'an and my family.

But no matter what, the first problem to return to Chang'an is to deal with An Yuanshou.

Cheng Yaojin picked up a handkerchief and wiped the oil stains on his hands, then said lightly: "Since An Yuanshou is playing coward and refuses to reveal his weakness, then we can force him, or just fight him first. As long as we defeat him completely, we will have the final say on what happens."

Niu Jinda was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Frame-up?"

This kind of thing is not difficult. As long as a few letters between An Yuanshou and Li Shenfu and others are found in An Yuanshou's bedroom, which contain words of treason, or even a few dragon robes and jade seals are found under his bed... there will be evidence that An Yuanshou is "plotting evil and rebelling". In addition, the fact that he had previously disobeyed the emperor's order and launched an attack on Chang'an is well-founded.

"Tsk, how can you talk like that?"

Cheng Yaojin was dissatisfied: "An Yuanshou's intention to rebel is known to the world. He must have made preparations. How could he not leave traces? Finding these traces and making them public so that he can be criticized and spurned by the world is the duty of us loyal ministers and good generals."

Niu Jinda nodded. The two famous generals who came from humble backgrounds believed in using any means necessary to achieve their goals, and they disdained the so-called justice and fairness.

What is justice?

After completely destroying the enemy, you will have complete control over the right to speak, and throw all the blame on the enemy to make him infamous for eternity. Standing on the side of evil, you will naturally be the representative of justice.

What’s this game of “protecting one’s own feathers” and “showing kindness”?
To kill all the enemies, you need any kind of evidence. For example, when Emperor Taizong launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he later claimed that he was "forced to do so" and "fighted back in anger." Li Jiancheng did put pressure on the Qin Palace, but did the Qin Palace really reach a life-and-death moment where it had to fight back?

In any case, Emperor Taizong won, and everyone accepted that Li Jiancheng was "jealous of talented people" and "secretly persecuted" and other reasons, and believed that Emperor Taizong's counterattack was "acceptable"...

In comparison, Your Majesty is indecisive and lacks courage, which is really far behind. No wonder Emperor Taizong thought it would be difficult for him to be a qualified emperor and wanted to change the crown prince several times.

"It seems that the Marshal has already made a plan. I wonder what the plan is?"

"Why do we need to use tricks?" Cheng Yaojin said disdainfully, "When the weak defeats the strong, we need to use tricks. With our elite soldiers and generals from the Left Guard, we can crush them with an upright momentum. What's the point of going to An Yuanshou? In the face of absolute power, any tricks and schemes are not worth mentioning."

Niu Jinda was speechless: "What I'm talking about is how to accuse An Yuanshou of treason, otherwise how can we justify our actions?"

"You old cow are so stupid! As long as we win, we can get any evidence we want. If we lose, no evidence will be worth mentioning!"

Niu Jinda: “…”

Isn’t this still “frame-up”?

Even if there was any evidence of An Yuanshou's treason, it would have been destroyed when he was defeated. Otherwise, it would not just be a matter of his defeat, but the entire An family would suffer.

If you want "real evidence", you can only make other "arrangements"...

*****
Fierce north winds blew across the desert from the far north. Fanhe, located at the foot of Yanzhi Mountain and on the banks of Macheng River, was covered with heavy snow. Several flags on the rammed earth walls had already been blown down by the strong winds. The soldiers on duty were shivering in their thick cotton-padded clothes.

In the City Lord's Mansion, An Yuanshou was discussing matters with a group of his confidants.

His cousin An Yongda was angry and said, "Li Chengqian is going too far! Although my family is wrong, it's fine to strip him of his title, but why put him to death? In the past, our family's great achievements were praised by Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, but Li Chengqian is so heartless and disloyal. He might as well rebel!"

An Yuanshou's son, An Zhongjing, also agreed with his uncle: "Father still has more than 10,000 elite soldiers of the Left Guard under his command. Together with more than 10,000 family soldiers, we also have 20,000 well-equipped soldiers. Instead of being trapped in Fanhe and waiting to die, why don't we just cross the Great Wall and head north to join the old Turkic tribe? The Tang army can't do anything to us in the desert, grassland, wasteland and Gobi!"

As soon as they were expelled from Guzang City, Cheng Yaojin's Zuo Wuwei came one after another and "occupied the magpie's nest". Everyone knew that Cheng Yaojin's purpose of coming to Liangzhou was to wait for an opportunity to attack Zuo Xiaowei, or even to uproot the An family and wipe out the entire clan.

The An family was both frightened and angry.

Zhai Liuniang, who was boiling water and pouring tea, shouted softly, "How can you interrupt the elders when they are discussing matters? Shut up!"

An Zhongjing was speechless and dared not speak.

In the An clan, Zhai Liuniang, the "mistress", was even more prestigious than An Yuanshou...

An Yongda glanced at his cousin's wife, then closed his mouth and calmed down.

An Yuanshou took the tea from his wife, took a sip, put down the cup and sighed, regretting, "I was so foolish that I did such a rebellious act. Now I have made a big mistake and I must pay the price. Our Majesty seems to be kind, but he is actually perverse. If the An family cannot be wiped out, it will be difficult to wash away the resentment in their hearts. Now they have been expelled to this corner of the country, surrounded by tigers and wolves, including Cheng Yaojin and Zuo Wuwei, and Pei Xingjian's Anxi Army. The remnants of the Turks on the grassland have long been tamed by the Tang Dynasty with money. They only need to cut their wool and sell it to the Tang Dynasty in exchange for salt and porcelain to live a luxurious life. Who would still fight against the Tang Dynasty?"

He raised his head and looked at the people around him who were closest to him and whom he trusted the most. He moved his mouth, gritted his teeth, and said, "For now, there is only one way to stop Cheng Yaojin from starting a war. That is, I take off my battle robe, go to the enemy camp myself, and then be escorted to Chang'an to apologize to Your Majesty. Sacrifice me and save the whole family."

Several people changed color at the same time.