Chapter Seventy-Four: The Assassin Kills the King (I)

The holy car returned to Beijing, but he didn't return to Chang'an all the way with his head down.

There must be a delay on the way, this time it is not a play, but an inspection and condolences.

In addition to Luoyang, floods also occurred in neighboring states and counties in the Central Plains. Especially in Shaanxi, the Yellow River even burst once, but fortunately it was blocked in time, so there were no major problems.

But the flood still inundated dozens of miles, and many people were left homeless. The emperor passed by from then on, and had to visit and inspect the embankment of the Yellow River, and some civil and military forces were also rarely allowed to follow the servants, and Xie Yi, the prince of Huaiyang County, was also among them.

Due to the abundant rain in autumn, the water level of the Yellow River is still very high in October, and the river is quite busy with boats and boats.

Because of the continuous heavy rain, floods, and breach problems some time ago, the transportation from Luoyang to Chang'an was interrupted for a long time. As a result, there is a shortage of materials in Chang'an, and grain prices have begun to rise slightly.

Now that the channel has been cleared, the boats are working overtime to transport more grain to Chang'an before the winter dries and freezes. Otherwise, there may be a shortage of grain in Guanzhong this winter, and soaring grain prices will be inevitable.

At this time, the Yellow River was not yet an overhanging river like in later generations, but it had already begun to accumulate sediment. It is hard to imagine how serious the flooding of the Yellow River will be after the Tang Dynasty has passed for more than 200 years, with the further development of Guanlong and the ecological destruction.

In fact, in the original history, the later Song Dynasty became the main one to pay the bill, and the Yellow River was seriously flooded, and breaches and diversions were almost commonplace.

Maybe if we do something now, the flooding of the Yellow River will be reduced a lot in the future......

Under the embankment, although the flood water has receded, there are still many places that are watery and quite muddy. Many bamboo and wooden tents were erected along the way, and people who had lost their houses temporarily took refuge here.

"Cui Zhiwen, what happened to the house that I ordered to be repaired as soon as possible?"

"Your Majesty, the minister has organized labor to build rammed earth houses to prepare the victims for the winter." Shaanzhou Thorn Shi Cui Zhiwen hurriedly replied.

"Well, it's already cold, so be sure to let the victims move in before the snow falls at the latest." Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "If the house is not enough, then you can borrow a house in Shaanzhou City, and you really can't vacate your assassin's office...... In short, there must be no victims who starve to death and freeze to death, otherwise you are the only one who asks. ”

"Obey the order!" Cui Zhiwen received the order, and he did not dare or complain. After all, Li Er took out his palace to take in the victims, what could the Assassin Mansion not do?

Maybe he is not at ease, or maybe in order to show that the king loves the people like a son, Li Shimin's itinerary for this day is busy from morning to night.

According to the established plan, it was time to return to the camp in the evening and have dinner with the royal children. I don't want Li Shimin to change his plan temporarily, but he wants to eat and enjoy with the people.

The cauldron of 100 drinks in the army was set up in the open field, the bonfire was gas, and the firehead army immediately began to cook porridge and cook. The fragrance wafted away, and the holy car was here, attracting many homeless people to gather.

I don't know if the victims were very hungry, or if they thought it was a great honor to have dinner with the king, and their behavior was far more fanatical than that of the star chasers in later generations.

While Xie Yi sighed, Li Shimin seemed to be immersed in the intoxication of the admiration of all the people, while Cheng Zhijie on the side looked more and more nervous. More and more civilians flocked to them, and if a few Assassins were mixed in, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Your Majesty, there are many people here, and you are still ......"

"How?" Li Shimin glanced at him and said leisurely: "Since the minister is here, how can he leave easily?" Okay, what's so scary? ”

Fang Xuanling also persuaded: "Your Majesty, the king is not in danger, there are not many guards around you...... Why don't you move for now? ”

Li Shimin felt good about himself, and categorically rejected Cheng Zhijie and Fang Xuanling's suggestions, and even had the intention of going forward to personally serve a meal for the people.

This move is indeed very close to the people, it can buy people's hearts, and it can also leave the good name of benevolence and love of our emperor in the history books, but the entourage and guards are under great pressure.

Looking at Cheng Zhijie's frowning brows, Xie Yi was very sympathetic. Recently, he has a relatively clear opinion, Li Shimin can indeed be called a wise man, wise and martial.

But he is a mortal after all, and if he is a mortal, he will make mistakes, and there will be times when he is negligent, confused, and carried away, and sometimes he is a little willful. At this time, he often does not listen to people's advice, which is very different from His Majesty Li Er, who is good at admonishing in the court.

Split personality? Xie Yi couldn't help but shake his head, this kind of person is really difficult to serve!

Fortunately, he only needs to be the same as Fang Xuanling, and follow Li Er's side, and it is Cheng Zhijie who really bothered.

Today, Li Xiaogong and his son stayed in the camp, and he was responsible for personal escort. Not only must you control the order of the scene, but you must always keep an eye on the crowd to watch out for suspicious people, and you don't forget to send personal guards to protect His Majesty Li Er, which is really not easy.

Fortunately, with the assistance of Cui Zhiwen, the assassin of Shaanzhou, and with the joint efforts, many victims who poured up were finally willing to line up in an orderly manner and stepped forward to receive meals in turn.

Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, Xie Yi, and Li Baiyao, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward to form a "Monarch and Ministers Love the People Heavenly Group" to personally serve meals for the victims.

Originally, this would be a scene that was remembered by history and needed to be painted by Yan Liben, but unfortunately it changed dramatically in an instant.

A fire broke out inexplicably in the queue, and several victims of the fire screamed loudly like headless flies. The surrounding people were naturally frightened when they saw this, and subconsciously avoided the people who started the fire, and some people deliberately coaxed, and the scene suddenly began to be chaotic.

"Escort!" At the first moment when the flames burst out, Cheng Zhijie keenly noticed the abnormality and called for the guards to escort him.

"Escort Your Majesty away!" Cheng Zhijie is very decisive, but there are too many scattered victims, and after being frightened, the scene is chaotic and blocked everywhere, how easy is it to leave?

Especially after someone brandished a sword in the crowd, the scene was completely out of control, and in the chaos, a group of assassins pounced on Li Shimin.

Assassin Kill!

This kind of bridge that can only appear in novels, film and television dramas, really appeared in front of him, Xie Yi had to be a little panicked, after all, he was also in danger.

He subconsciously clenched the electric baton he carried with him, this thing has been left for a year, maybe it has long been out of power, but it is somewhat safe to hold in his hand.

"Escort, protect Your Majesty!"

Cheng Zhijie shouted hoarsely, Cui Zhiwen and Li Baiyao on the side trembled, he had long lost the demeanor of a family, and even Fang Xuanling, who had always been calm, changed his face. And Li Shimin looked unfazed, and he didn't know if he was really calm or stupid.

At this time, there were not many guards who were close to the king. But if a sealed ring of defense could be formed, it would be difficult for the Assassins to rush in.

But under the onslaught of the panicked victims, such a protective circle could only be very small, and the Assassins, under the cover of the people/stream, rushed directly to the front.

The sword flashed, and the sound of weapons intersecting was heard, and the assassin was already fighting with the guards, and the scene was very terrifying.

Cheng Zhijie raised his sword and commanded, shouting constantly, his expression solemn to the extreme. The call for help has been sold, but it will take a long time for the escort soldiers to arrive and completely stabilize the situation, and it will have to be overcome.

Li Shimin is still calm, Fang Xuanling is still at least calm, and Cui Zhiwen, the assassin of Shaanzhou, is already trembling. First, if the emperor is assassinated on the way back from his eastern tour, will he implicate the Shandong family? In these two cases, the assassination happened on the ground in Shaanzhou, and as a local assassination history, it is absolutely impossible to escape the blame.

Xie Yi was the first time he encountered this kind of thing, and he was a little curious, but he was also a little nervous, lest the sword had no eyes and hurt himself. Although he has been by Li Shimin's side, he does not have Fang Xuanling's actions of protecting the king behind him, and sacrificing himself to save the emperor, Xie Yi is very "ashamed", and his consciousness needs to be improved.

Who asked him Li Shimin to put on a show, these fools, right? Deserve!

The Assassins were obviously prepared, and they were all first-class good players, even with the style of a dead man, and their combat effectiveness was abnormal. Completely ignoring the casualties, he desperately rushed towards Li Shimin at the core.

At this moment, there is no time to think about the identity of the assassin, and saving his life is the key. It's just that the situation is really not optimistic, Xie Yi couldn't figure out the situation for a while, and intuitively it seemed that the assassin had the upper hand.

Cheng Zhijie, who was originally in the middle of the command, also had to fight with a sword, fighting in close quarters, and he didn't have a mount, so he naturally didn't carry a long lance, and he couldn't use it at all. It seems that the Xuanhua axe has also forgotten to bring it, otherwise Xie Yi really wants to see how powerful Lao Cheng's three-plate axe is.

In a trance, several assassins broke through the defense line and rushed to a distance of only two or three zhang from Li Shimin, where they were desperately blocked by the personal guards.

Xie Yi subconsciously wanted to close his eyes, he couldn't bear to look at it directly, the scene was really a little bloody and critical. He regretted it very much, why didn't he find an excuse to take leave today, why did he follow Li Shimin to wade into troubled waters?

Li Er is really, it's almost enough to put on a show, why suddenly ask the monarch and the people to eat together when they are unprepared? The guards can't keep up, they're all blind, right? It's just a matter of losing your old life, so why bother others?

It's a pity, there is no regret medicine in the world!

Xie Yi just sighed with emotion, and the two guards in front of him actually fell, what happened? Shouldn't the palace guards be masters of a hundred? Was the Tang Dynasty's "Ouchi Guard" so vulnerable?

In the blink of an eye, an assassin broke through the last barrier and slashed directly at Li Shimin with his knife. Cheng Zhijie in the distance was shocked, and Fang Xuanling in the near distance also changed color, rushing forward to block Li Shimin.

Xie Yi stood to the side, clearly seeing the bright blade and the brown eyes that flashed with hatred. He wanted to avoid it indifferently, but ...... There is a good saying: the Lord humiliates the ministers to death!

So...... If the monarch dies, what will happen to the courtiers?

After a moment of hesitation, Xie Yi subconsciously raised the electric baton in his hand and pressed the switch.

But...... An unexpected awkward situation arose, and the baton seemed to be literally out of power......