Chapter 51

Although Chongzhen definitely didn't expect that Li Zicheng would suddenly punch him in the waist socket and hit him with a sharp waist, but because of his years of experience, he often had some ominous premonitions in his heart. He was worried that Yang Sichang's military campaign to pursue Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan would suddenly change badly, that Hong Chengchou would not be able to support him in Liaodong, and that the turmoil in Shandong was in full swing and could not be extinguished, and that Cao Yun might be cut off. Since Li Zicheng broke through from Wuguan, he only knew that he had crossed the Han River, and he had not received any more news for more than half a year, and I didn't know where he was lurking, whether he would suddenly come out and disrupt the current imperial court's combat strategy of chasing and suppressing Zhang Xianzhong.

Recently, when he burns incense on the Danqi of the Qianqing Palace every day on the fifth watch as usual, he is always praying sincerely for the above worries. He didn't even dream that Li Zicheng had been in Henan for a long time, and the hungry people everywhere responded, rapidly developing more than 100,000 horses, and had already broken Yiyang and Yongning, and was approaching Luoyang. Every time he prayed silently to the heavens, he prayed that the angel Li Zicheng would never rise again and be destroyed naturally and silently. He hoped that after a few days and months, he would suddenly come to a certain place to report that Li Zicheng had indeed died of illness.

On the morning of the first day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, more than four days, the sound of firecrackers in the whole city of Beijing became lively. Firecrackers are also set off in the Forbidden City, but they are not often used for fear of causing fires, so they cannot be compared with the bustle outside. Waiting for the Xuanwu Gate to just play the five more drums, inside and outside the imperial city, all the temples are bells and drums in unison, Yinghua Hall because in the Forbidden City, the bell, chime, sheng, flute, wooden fish, cloud board sound with chanting, the sound of Sanskrit, a burst of transmission to the Qianqing Palace. Chongzhen had already gotten up, dressed in regular court clothes, went to the Xuanji Treasure Hall to perform a grand salute, and then returned to the Qianqing Palace, sat on the throne of the main hall to be congratulated by the concubine and the prince, and the princess, and then by the eunuchs with more status in the palace. The sky was light, and he drank a bowl of rock sugar bird's nest soup and ate a piece of tiger's eye nest silk candy as breakfast. According to the customs in the palace, the eunuchs placed a "Pepsi box" on his imperial case, which contained persimmons, lychees, longans, chestnuts, and ripe dates. But he only looked at it, and did not eat, but sighed in his heart: "Alas, when will I see Pepsi!" The palace maids changed him into a set of strange clothes and hats that were congratulated by the court, named Gon and Crown. But I saw that the strange hat called the crown was made of soap yarn, and the top was covered with a long board, one foot two inches wide, two feet four inches long, and a thin copper plate made of tire, covered with fine silk, black and red, round in front and behind, and there were twelve strings of things called Han in the front and back, that is, multicolored jade beads strung with multicolored silk ropes, twelve in each string. The red ribbon is tied under the chin, and a white jade pendant is carried under the chin. There is a black silk rope on each side of the elongated board, with a cotton ball and a topaz pendant hanging from each side. The strange garment called Gon was black and embroidered with eight patterns: the sun, moon, and dragon on the shoulders, the stars and mountains on the back, and the fire, pheasants, tigers, and long-tailed apes on the sleeves. As for the very strange pants, knee coverings, shoes, socks, big belts, jade pendants, etc., there is no need to write about them. The system of this crown and gon was handed down from the Western Zhou Dynasty and did not change much. It is not good to be an emperor if you follow the ancient system, otherwise you will not be like an emperor. After the palace maids put on this strange crown dress for him, Chongzhen walked out of the Qianqing Palace, sat on the chariot, and went to the Huangji Palace to be congratulated by hundreds of officials.

Although the state affairs are burning and everything is simple, but today is the New Year's Day after all, so the royal decoration is still the same as in previous years. Yesterday, Shang Bao Si set up the throne in the center of the Imperial Palace, set up the treasure case in the east of the throne, and the incense case in the south of Dan Majesty. The teaching workshop is located in the middle and Shaole on the east and west sides of the hall, facing north. At dawn today, the brocade guards from Danqi, Danma, until the Huangji Gate, are divided into two rows full of all kinds of halogen books, honor guards, a pennant embroidered flag, treasure pearls, gold dazzling. The pasture Chen Zhan horse, rhino, elephant in Wen, Wu Lou Nan, the decoration is gorgeous, both opposite, solemn and unmoving. On the east side of the Danqi is the first to stand Si Chenlang, who is in charge of the time. The two Correction Imperial Records stood on the north side of the Danqi outside the hall. Four salute officials of Honglu Temple: two stand in the hall, and two stand in the north of Danqi. In addition, there are officials such as the transmission system and the declaration table, and they stand in the palace. All these officials are paired in pairs, left and right; python robe and jade belt, the costume is delicious; The appearance is dignified and the voice is loud.

The first drum sounded on the noon gate, and the hundred officials were neatly dressed in court clothes, and they stood in a row outside the noon gate, and Chongzhen also arrived at the Zhongji Hall to sit on the dragon chair and wait. The second drum sounded, and the hundred officials came in from the left and right doors, walked up to the Danqi, the left and the right, facing the north, and separated the east and west of the Danqi. The third drum sounded, and the bell followed. The guide and other deacons went to the middle hall and kowtowed. Chongzhen re-ascended and went to the Imperial Palace.

Following the congratulatory ceremony in the Imperial Palace, it is nothing more than a set of complicated etiquette that has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is like acting in the sound of music that stops and goes. In the middle, there was a celebrant outside the hall who sang loudly: "All the officials kneel!" All the civil and military officials knelt down in unison. The celebrant sang again: "Congratulatory message! Immediately, an official of the Ministry of Rites knelt down in the middle of His Majesty Dan on behalf of the hundred officials, first signed up for "Gu Chen" so-and-so, and then recited the elegant congratulatory message as usual:

"When you meet Zhengdan, Sanyang Kaitai, everything is salty and new. His Majesty the Emperor Gongwei, Yingqian Nahu, Fengtian Yongchang. The robbers are not prosperous, the disaster is eternal, the four Yi are uniform, and the military revolution is flattened. The holy world is clear, and the country has peace for ten thousand years; The emperor's grace is vast, and Li Minhe is immeasurably blessed! ”

As the salute chanted loudly, there was another show of prostration, worship, and rejoicing, as well as two musical compositions and musical stops. Then the herald knelt in front of the emperor and played: "Please pass on the system!" As usual, he didn't have to wait for the emperor to speak, so he kowtowed and got up, and another herald walked out of the main hall through the left door, and when he arrived at His Majesty, he stood facing east, and said, "There is a system!" The foreign salute officer sang loudly: "Kneel! "The ministers all knelt. The celebrant then sang: "Declare the system!" The herald recited aloud:

"The celebration of the end of the performance, with the Qing and others!"

As usual, the celebrant sang "prostrate", "rejoice", and "stop happy". Then he sang: "Izuka! The civil and military officials took out the ivory and bamboo bamboo wat and raised their hands in front of them. He also sang along with the salutant, bowed three times, and danced. Some of the old ministers were clumsy in their movements, staggering and staggering, and almost stumbled. Again, the celebrant sang, "Kneel!" And he sang, "Mountain call!" The hundred officials hugged Chao Wat, arched their hands to increase their foreheads, and shouted "Long live!" The celebrant sang again: "Shan Hu! The hundred officials shouted again: "Long live!" The third time he sang: "Again the mountain!" The officials shouted: "Long live!" Every time the civil and military officials shouted "Long live", the musicians, honor guards, brocade wrestlers and all the eunuchs of the Teaching Workshop Division shouted together, and the sound shook the noon gate. Emperor Chongzhen, who had been depressed, only felt a little relieved at this moment, feeling that he was really the master of the four seas.

After another set of salutes, the ceremonial officer knelt in front of the emperor and finished the salute, and then played the Zhonghe Shao music "Song of Ding'an". The music stopped, and the silent whip sounded. According to the custom, at this time, the emperor should get up from the throne, Shang Baoqing held the treasure, and the guide led the driver, and went to the middle pole hall for a while, and then went back to the Qianqing Palace. However, he had a new idea, and when he stepped down from the throne, he stood facing south, glanced at a sign in front of him, and whispered:

"Summoning the ministers!"

Hearing the eunuch's message, several auxiliary ministers were very panicked for some reason, led by the first assistant Fan Fucui, and staggered in through the left door. Chongzhen told them to go further. They walked to the eaves of the palace, bowed their heads, and knelt down waiting for the emperor to speak, and Chongzhen said:

"The ministers are coming from the west!"

The assistant ministers hurriedly stood up, still not understanding what the emperor meant, and planned to divide into two classes, east and west, to approach the emperor. Chongzhen said again: "The ministers are coming from the west!" Then a eunuch came and led the ministers to the west to settle down. The ministers did not hear clearly, and the second was afraid that the emperor would blame them, so they kept following the auxiliary ministers and saluting, and at this time they also stood cautiously in the west, not daring to raise their heads. Chongzhen showed a slightly dissatisfied look and said softly:

"Lords, go east!"

When the ministers retreated to the east, Chongzhen asked the ministers to come closer, and then said in a heavy tone:

"Since ancient times, the Holy Emperor and the Ming King have all admired the Tao of teachers. Today's official is called Mr., and there is still a will. Qing and others are also my teachers. Respect for the New Year, and ask for the crown. So he turned to the west, waved at the ministers, and then said: "The Sutra says: 'Self-cultivation is also respectful, and the ministers are respected, and the ministers are also respected. 'This is not an exaggeration. Since ancient times, monarchs and ministers have been like-minded, and there has been no unequal ruler in the world. His tone gradually became severe, he glanced at everyone fiercely, and said: "The office is in charge of the ministry and the hospital, the presiding officer is bowing, and the reconciliation is in the secretary." Now Zuo Zhen Zhongxing, Dian An Zongshe, Mr. Wan Wei Zhu is Lai! ”

The ministers fell on their knees and touched their heads to the ground. Fan Fucui said on behalf of everyone: "Ministers and other talents deserve death." Now that the emperor is so respectful, I am really ashamed. ”

Chongzhen said: "Gentlemen are exactly what I should respect, what I should respect. Now that Zhang Xianzhong has been forced to western Sichuan, it is not difficult to annihilate; Li Zicheng has not been whereabouts for a long time, and he is probably dead and scattered. The Central Plains is the heart of the country, and for many years, various bandits have been rampant and rotten. Recently, according to the report of Li Xianfeng, a minister of Henan, and the high-ranking name of the minister, there is only a small group of bandits disturbing, and there is no trace of thieves. It seems that there is indeed a great turning point in state affairs, and ZTE is indeed in sight. Today is the beginning of the year, and I hope that the gentlemen will work harder and live up to my respect and high hopes. Gentlemen, get up! ”

After Chongzhen watched the ministers kowtow, he also left the Imperial Palace with the sound of music.

When he stopped again in the Middle Pole Hall, his heart suddenly became very heavy. Although he had just told his ministers how the overall situation would get better, he understood that the countless hopes he had generated over the years were like an ethereal mirage in the air, turning into nothing in the blink of an eye, and there was still a world of tatters and desolation that could not be handled. He thought that he had just made a gesture to the auxiliary ministers, and the words of "respecting the teacher and respecting the way" were indeed like the "Holy Monarch and Ming King" in ancient times, and he would definitely win great praise from the subjects, and he would also be written by the historians. But at the same time, he also secretly thought that none of these auxiliary ministers could do serious things for him, and if he annoyed him in the future, some of them would inevitably be cut by him, some would be imprisoned, some might be given the court staff, and maybe some would be given death by him! ……

He kept thinking so much that he forgot to get up from his throne. A eunuch came to his feet and knelt down and said timidly in a woman's voice:

"Emperor Qi, it's time to drive back to the palace."

"Huh?" Chongzhen seemed to wake up suddenly, and asked softly to a eunuch who was the master of ceremonies, "What new military information report do Yang Sichang and the governor of Henan have?" ”

The eunuch bowed down and replied, "Please rest assured that the emperor." Yang Sichang succeeded in suppressing thieves in Sichuan, and there was no new report. Henan is calm and uneventful, so the magistrates are not in a hurry. ”

He said to himself, "Ahhh Henan is calm and uneventful! ”

This ancient city, known as Kaifeng, Tokyo, was living a dream-like early spring when Li Chuangwang soldiers came to Luoyang City. The apricot blossoms are blooming, the soft strips of the willows on the embankment are swaying, and the peach branches in front of Yuwangtai and Fanta Temple are already full of buds, just wait for the spring breeze to be warm, and they will open up one after another. This is the last prosperous early spring in Kaifeng City. Soon, the flames of war burned to the city of Kaifeng. After three offensive and defensive battles, Kaifeng was destroyed, and the face of the city was no longer visible.

Since the Jin Dynasty moved its capital to Kaifeng in 1161 A.D., it has been operating hard, although it has not restored the old view of the Northern Song Dynasty, but in the north of the Yangtze River, it is the largest and most prosperous city. After another seventy-three years, when the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty, because Jin Aizong fled to Caizhou (now Runan) in advance, although Kaifeng was also damaged by the war, it was not very serious. Of course, it has since ceased to be the capital of a country, nor has it maintained its former atmosphere and size. At the moment of the alternation of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Xu Dabing went to Chenqiao, and the defenders of the Yuan Dynasty surrendered without a fight, so that this famous city was not damaged by fire. Zhu Yuanzhang sealed his fifth son Zhu in Kaifeng, called the King of Zhou, and built the palace city of the Northern Song Dynasty as the palace of the King of Zhou. From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to this time, after nearly 300 years without war, Kaifeng City has always been singing and dancing. It is located in the Central Plains, the Yellow River is only seven or eight miles away from the north gate, the canal leading from Suizhou to the south can still be navigated by boat, there is the convenience of water and land transportation, so the business is prosperous, so that Xi'an is far behind it, and Luoyang can not be compared with it. In recent years, because the prefectures, prefectures, and counties have been devastated by war or seriously threatened, the number of wealthy gentry and large families fleeing to the provincial capital has increased, and the number of households in Kaifeng has increased significantly, with a population of about one million, and the market has become more prosperous.

From the palace of King Zhou to the well-off home, this year's New Year is still spent in joy. At the beginning of Chinese New Year's Eve, firecrackers continue to fill the city, and by the fifth watch of New Year's Day, it will become more dense. The sky was just numb and bright, and after the king of Zhou worshipped the sky, he led the county kings, sectarians, honor guests, and civil and military officials to worship the long live card at the carrier door. After the ceremony, he turned to the palace of the letter and sat on the throne to receive congratulations. Congratulations, feast. After that, the kings and nobles took turns to feast day by day, inviting each other until the Festival of Lights, and there was no empty day. The second generation of the king of Zhou, named Zhu Youdun, was called King Xian, wrote lyrics for the song, wrote many scripts, raised male and female opera troupes in the house, played miscellaneous dramas and legends, and was very famous in the country. Although the prosperity of the prostitutes in the palace of the Zhou Dynasty is not as good as that of the previous generation, it is still unmatched by the palaces all over the country. Since the fifth day, every day from dusk to late at night, the palace sings and dances non-stop, and the sound of silk and bamboo gongs and drums drifts outside the Forbidden City from time to time, just as a poem of the Liang people says: "The palace listens to the flute and drums day and night, and remembers the new music house of King Xian." "However, from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, there were two heavy snowfalls in succession, and many of the victims who fled the famine and local hungry people froze to death in the streets and alleys, and many more people gathered near Fanta Temple (where there is a soup kitchen) froze to death. Hungry people begging for food every day flock to the streets and alleys, and the sound of hunger and cold is endless. However, this situation is not unique to this year, everyone is accustomed to it, so it does not hinder the prosperity of Bianliang, let alone the New Year's joy of the palace, the eunuchs and the wealthy.

Although Li Zicheng came to western Henan after breaking dozens of cottages, buying and selling, opening warehouses and giving relief, the hungry people from it, the rapid growth of people and horses, this kind of news continued to spread to Kaifeng, but Kaifeng people did not pay special attention to it, and refused to believe it. Especially the royal government, the government and the big gentry did not believe it. The reasons for their disbelief are: first, Li Zicheng has not even broken a city, which shows that his troops are insignificant; Second, they said that Li Zicheng had always wandered in the mountains of western Henan, and did not dare to go to the plains of central Henan, where the disaster was slightly lighter, which showed that he was powerless to "ravage" the Central Plains. By the middle of December, the true news about Li Zicheng was gradually known by Kaifeng, not only the urgent reports of the local government, prefecture, and county officials flew into the provincial capital every day, but also many distress letters from the gentry, especially the Red Lady broke Qi County and Li Xin's brothers went to western Henan to vote for Li Zicheng, which attracted the attention of the governor and the cloth and the yamen. However, after the discussion of the feudal officials, they all agreed with the proposal of the governor Li Xianfeng and the political envoy Liang Bing, and did not tell the truth to the imperial court for the time being, lest the emperor not only not send rescue troops, but would issue a strict decree ordering them to exterminate Li Zicheng quickly.

The day before the fifth day, the news of the loss of Yiyang and Yongning was reported to Kaifeng, which made the feudal officials living in the provincial capital begin to feel that the situation was serious. However, they did not believe that Li Zicheng had the strength to break through Luoyang, and still decided not to alarm the imperial court for the time being, and suppressed the loss of the two cities and the killing of King Wan'an for a few days before reporting to the imperial court, but did not mention how Luoyang was in danger and did not mention the army. Because Luoyang is a feudal land, and King Fu is the emperor's own uncle, which is very different from the status of King Wan'an, Li Xianfeng can't help but fly to Wang Shaoyu, the general garrison commander stationed in Luoyang, to "defend with intent and not lose." As for whether Wang Shaoyu, an old man, is competent and what the strength of his subordinates is, he doesn't ask.

When Li Zicheng stepped up preparations to besiege Luoyang and capture King Fu alive, the upper class of Kaifeng was completely indulged in the carnival of the Lantern Festival. From the fourteenth day of the first month, the whole city is centered on the palace of the king of Zhou, and it is greatly lively for three days. For the lanterns, fireworks, and feasts, the amount of money spent in the whole city is incalculable. In the garden of the palace of the king of Zhou, there is a Ao Mountain, a high knot color shed, all over the Kit Kat lanterns, about 10,000 lights, compete with the stars and moon in the sky, like day, make people look dazzled. At the bottom of Ao Mountain, use the original pine and cypress, plant a lot of bamboo poles again, tie into the Yellow River of Jiuqu, both sides of the river are full of cypress branches, flower lanterns, zigzag loop. When Li Zicheng held a military meeting on the night of the Lantern Festival, Zhou King Zhu Gongfang had just finished a banquet in the palace, and took a small chariot to enjoy the "Yellow River" on behalf of the color boat. In front of the chariot fine music, rolling lamps to drive, and there are furnaces, incense boxes, agarwood fine smoke, and the palace maid, the inner prison of the clothes fragrance, fat powder incense mixing, the incense wind drifts dozens of zhang away. The sound of fine music is intertwined with the sound of the ring of Peding, and it is always dotted with whispers and chuckles. King Zhou's chariot walked slowly in the midst of palace maids and eunuchs, followed by a group of county kings and relatives, and then a large group of palace officials. After swimming in the "Yellow River" of the nine songs, the king of Zhou climbed the mountain along the stone steps paved with red felt and hanging lanterns, sat down on the throne set up on the pavilion, and then, by the royal palace and the ceremonial officials greeted the kings of the counties and the relatives on foot, accompanied him to drink and feast and watch the play. First of all, the male and female opera troupes of the palace and the palace ladies who learned singing and dancing took turns to perform on the stage and receive rewards, and finally the imperial music given by the emperor took the stage and played the best program until the rooster crowed. He never dreamed that at this time, Li Zicheng was the first force sent to attack Luoyang, that is, the two thousand cavalry led by Zhang Nai, and set off from Desheng Village.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, in Kaifeng City and Wuguan, many victims died of cold and starvation. In the Daxiangguo temple and the lively state bridge and temple bridge, there are often parents who have fled the famine holding their crying and trembling children, standing under the lights of the street that will not be trampled by tourists watching the fireworks, and sticking straw signs on the heads of the children. In addition, in the poor streets and alleys where the sound of firecrackers is scarce, there are no colorful sheds, tourists, and are not illuminated by Chinese lanterns, the residents are worried about the unpaid debts of the old year and the coming of the barren spring, sighing and sighing. In this social layer, all kinds of news about King Li Chuang's presence in western Henan are spreading rapidly, and even speculation and discussion are even about whether King Li Chuang will attack Luoyang. In an unlit hut, where the three children were already asleep in tears, the man whispered to his wife:

"The poor people in western Henan were lucky to meet King Li Chuang, the savior."

The woman nudged him and said, "God, this is a terrible thing, you are impatient!" ”

The man wanted to speak again, but he couldn't bear to mention the chapter again, and changed his tone and said:

"Our poor family is so worried that we are dying, you listen to how lively it is outside!"

The eunuchs in the city have a total of seventy or eighty classes in the pear orchard, and twenty or thirty classes of small blowing, so that the sound of elegant and vulgar singing and gongs, drums, and silk pipes is wafting everywhere in the city. Each temple has a lantern shed. Flower lanterns are hung in the courtyards of the major households and slightly more solid houses, and painted door lamps are hung in front of the doors, competing for rockets and fireworks. Fireworks are very abundant in many places in the city and Guanxiang, setting off fire helmets, fire umbrellas, fire horses, braziers, shelling Xiangyang, Wulong taking water, flower cannons, fires, three ups and three falls, shelling flying squirrels, shelling lanterns, and water rabbits entering the water and passing through the waves...... Fight for ingenuity, and spare no money. The most spectacle is that the upper layer of the iron tower is surrounded by lanterns, fluttering in the wind, brilliant and abrupt, connected with floating clouds, and the stars in the sky are chaotic.

On the night of the 16th, there were more people in the lower reaches of the moon. Men and women gather in groups, crowding the streets, or carrying wine to preach, setting off fireworks, or reuniting to sing and dance, playing tigers and elephants, and singing along with the pipa. About the second watch, the female dependents of everyone in the giant room went out, the child servants carried lanterns, the maids and maids hugged each other, groups of flowers were splendid, and the fragrance was blowing. This kind of easy not to go out of the three doors and four families of the women, weekdays to go out to put down the car curtain car curtain, rare every year there is a lantern festival, you can boldly wander under the stars and moon, in the glow of the lights, whispering, laughing. This is called "wandering around a hundred diseases", and you have to cross a bridge in a crowded area, and it is said that you can avoid back pain for a year. The so-called "Eight Views of Kaifeng", one of the "Bright Moon of the State Bridge", is the most attractive to tourists, and the bridge is so crowded that the water is impassable.

At this time, in the name of listening to the opera and appreciating the moon together, the king of Zhou summoned several feudal officials into the palace and gave a banquet in the Changxin Pavilion in the garden. After the feast, he gave tea, and asked with a white beard:

"The widow recently heard that after Li Zicheng broke through Yongning, he pretended to be benevolent and righteous, and the ignorant and foolish people were deceived by him and coerced the Japanese people. Gentlemen, do the thieves have the intention of attacking Luoyang? ”

Several feudal officials had already stood up respectfully when the king of Zhou asked. After King Zhou finished asking, Governor Li Xianfeng quickly bowed down and replied because of his highest official position:

"The lowly rank bears the heavy responsibility of sealing the territory, but because of the shortage of soldiers and salaries, they failed to exterminate the thieves as soon as possible, resulting in the fall of Yongning, Yiyang and other cities, the king of Wan'an County was killed, and the people were slaughtered. The lowly rank has been brought to the court, and the punishment is severe. Today, His Royal Highness the prince asked, and he felt even more frightened. But Henan Mansion City, foolproof, please don't worry about it. At present, the Yang Pavilion Department is encircling and suppressing the two thieves of Xian and Cao in Sichuan, and the two thieves have been forced into western Sichuan, and they have been very successful. As soon as the thieves are annihilated, the Yang Pavilion can wave a large army out of Sichuan to clear the Central Plains thieves. After repeated defeats, the thieves escaped and were killed, leaving only fifty horsemen to rush into Henan. At present, although it seems to be very arrogant to pretend to be benevolent and righteous, to incite the people, and to coerce the Japanese people, it is not a matter of concern for a while. As soon as the Yang Pavilion army arrived, it was not difficult to clear up. ”

King Zhou nodded slightly, and said: "This domain abides by the ancestral teachings and has always only asked about local military and political affairs. However, Luoyang is a fiefdom of the pro-domain, but I am afraid that if there is a loss, the pro-domain will be frightened, and the emperor will be angry, and it will not be very good to the gentlemen. ”

Li Xianfeng replied again: "The city of Henan is high and deep, with tens of thousands of household registrations, many brave soldiers, and officials from the province and the government, which is very different from Yongning. In addition, the king of fortune has a lot of money and food, and he will not have the funds to defend the city in an emergency. Before the post, he had asked the emperor to order Wang Shaoyu to be the chief soldier of the Luoyang garrison, full-time guard, and guard the Fu Domain. Lu Weiqi, the former secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, is also in Luoyang City, which is quite popular and will be able to advocate the gentry and defend Sangzi. Luoyang City has nothing to worry about, please rest assured. ”

King Zhou smiled and said, "As long as Mr. can do what Mr. said, Luoyang is foolproof, and the widow will not worry about Kaifeng." ”

The topic turned to the lights of this year's Lantern Festival, and after talking for a while, they changed the wine and food to listen to the play, and no one was worried that Li Zicheng would intentionally attack Luoyang.

In Luoyang, people have been talking about Li Zicheng every day since mid-December, mixing real news and false legends and flying all over the city. Although there are Luoyang sub-patrol roads, Henan Prefecture prefects and Luoyang garrison general officers will issue notices strictly prohibiting rumors, but the more rumors are banned, the more rumors are prohibited. The civil and military yamen did not dare to overpress the people, so they had to hide their ears. In fact, part of the news about Li Zicheng came from the civil and military yamen. The big difference from previous years is that nine-tenths of the various rumors that flew into Luoyang City in previous years were distorted, slandered, slandered, and insulted by the peasant rebel army, while nine-tenths of the recent news and legends are all about how Li Zicheng's men and horses were disciplined, how they did not commit any offenses in autumn, how they only punished the big local tyrants, how they protected the good people, how they opened warehouses and gave relief, how they relieved the hungry, and how the poor people burned incense to welcome them, and how they competed to surrender, and so on. The legend of flying into Luoyang City is new every day, and there are many moving stories, and there are names and surnames in the stories, vivid and vivid, so that people who listen to them cannot believe it.

Many of the legends about Li Zicheng are mixed with the feelings and hopes of the poor people, and the real things may not be known to everyone, and the stories that are coaxed may not contain fictional places that add branches and leaves. In Luoyang City, only the upper ruling class did not want to hear the legends of King Li Chuang, and were afraid and worried about those news. Lu Weiqi, who had been the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, had the greatest reputation and the highest status among the gentry in Luoyang. In the past few years since he returned to Luoyang from Nanjing, he usually lectures at the Yiluo Academy he founded, but if there is any major matter in the local area, the officials and gentry will go to him for advice or ask him to speak. Therefore, although he has no official position, he is more effective than the current magistrate in matters of great importance. This was the case with many of the great eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty. One afternoon, he was so worried that he was chatting with a group of disciples in Yiluo Academy. Many of these disciples are important gentlemen, and some have already become officials, and they have recently been dismissed from their homes. Lu Weiqi started with Cheng Zhu Lixue today, but he and his disciples had no intention of "sitting and talking about the Tao" as in the past, and soon turned to the current situation of the world being chaotic and Li Zicheng's growing popularity, and the disciples were full of emotion. One of the disciples respectfully said:

"The thieves took advantage of Yang Wuling to chase and suppress the thieves into Sichuan, the Central Plains army was empty, and the officials of the feudal territory did not mean to be thieves, so they suddenly came to Henan, calling on the hungry people to practice benevolence and righteousness. It seems that this person is indeed not small, and he is not comparable to ordinary grass cowards. The teacher respects the township, can you think of a way to save the mulberry erosion? If Heluo is not guaranteed, sit back and watch Li Zicheng plump, the future will be unimaginable. ”

Lu Weiqi sighed and said: "Not only is the situation in Heluo very dangerous today, maybe the overall situation in the Central Plains will also be out of control. In the old man's opinion, since the Qin and Jin thieves started up, in the past ten years, there have been no less than dozens of large leaders, but Li Zicheng is really terrible. It is not terrible for thieves to rape and burn and kill, but what is terrible is that they do not rape and burn and kill, and compete with the court for people's hearts. I heard that Li Zicheng had originally spread the words of 'suppressing the soldiers and reassuring the people' in order to incite the foolish people. Recently, I heard that the thieves spread rumors and posted all over the place, saying that if he followed the king, he would not pay grain to the government, and he himself would not collect grain from the people for three years. The people are ignorant, and when they listen to these demagogic words, they will naturally be willing to be thieves. If it goes on like this, the chaos will not know how to end. Although the old man was worried, he was not in place, empty words did not help the reality, seeing that Heluo was disintegrating and Luoyang was in danger, he was helpless! ”

Another disciple said: "It is rumored that the Lu family raised Niu Jinxing to vote for the thief, which is quite credible; He also introduced a warlock named Song Xiance, who was worshipped as a military advisor by the thieves. I also heard that Niu Jinxing persuaded the thieves not to kill the lifters, but to reuse the scholars. Have you heard of these rumors? ”

Lu Weiqi nodded and said, "Song Xiance was originally a warlock in the rivers and lakes, and he had nothing to worry about. What is hateful is to throw people into thieves, which is unheard of. Niu Jinxing is really a well-dressed scum, and if he gets it in the future, he can't hide it! ”

The first disciple said: "Luoyang is a feudal land, His Royal Highness King Fu ......"

An old family member hurriedly came in, bowed to Lu Weiqi and said, "Master Yu, Lord Dao Wang, Lord Zhentai Wang, Lord Feng, Master Tuiguanwei, Master Zhang, and a few local gentry came to meet and waited outside the second gate. ”

Lu Weiqi was taken aback, and immediately ordered: "Please!" Then he stood up, straightened his head, and said to his disciples, "They have come with an appointment, and there will be something urgent." Please wait a moment while I have something to say to you. After saying that, he walked to the second gate to greet the guests.

Several civil and military officials and several gentry led by Wang Yinchang were invited to sit down in the guest hall of the academy. After the servant finished offering tea, Wang Yinchang took the lead and said:

"Today, there are more rumors in Luoyang City, and there are rumors that Li Zicheng will attack the city in the future. In the morning, an anonymous post was torn down on the wall of Wangchenggang, saying how King Li Chuang was benevolent and righteous, only killing officials and not disturbing civilians, and following King Chuang, he would not pay money and grain, and would no longer be oppressed by the official gentry. It is said that the foolish people in Nanyang were instigated by this, believed it to be true, and suddenly forgot the grace of the rain and dew of the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years, and burned incense to welcome the thieves, and threw themselves into groups of thieves. In the two counties of Yiyang and Yongning, there have been thieves outside the city, and the hungry people in the city are stupid. Last night, the two counties sent people to Fucheng to report the emergency, and they both said that it was in danger. In Luoyang City, it is also extremely unstable. Just now, the local civil and military officials and several gentry went to the yamen of our branch to discuss how to protect the important land of the Luoyang Domain. After discussing for a while, we came to ask Mr. for advice, only Mr. can save Luoyang. ”

Lu Weiqi said: "Since the students returned from the dismissal, they have traveled to the forest, but they only focus on lecturing. Unexpectedly, thieves were rampant, day by day, seeing that Heluo was not guaranteed, and the Central Plains was sinking. Luoyang is a place where soldiers must fight, and it is also the location of the ancestral graves of students. Whether it is for the country or the family, the students are willing to follow the princess and do their best to protect this land. What do you think? ”

Governor Feng Yijun said: "At present, if you want to stick to Luoyang, you must quickly stabilize the hearts of the army and the people. As soon as the people's hearts are gone, the army's hearts change, and everything is over. The thieves proclaimed everywhere that they would not kill civilians, but only officials and gentry. Once Luoyang City is broken, not only will the local civil and military forces be killed, but I am afraid that the old gentleman will also be unable to protect his wealth. What's more important is that His Royal Highness King Fu is the beloved son of Emperor Shenzong, and the current holy uncle. If Luoyang is lost, resulting in the fall of the Fu Domain, how can anyone who is a courtier go to the monarch's father? Besides......"

Lu Weiqi cut off the prefect's words and said: "The current situation is very urgent, please tell the old father directly, there is no need to mention other reasons." ”

Feng Yijun stopped going around the bend, and continued: "Luoyang survives, and the local civil and military have the responsibility of defending the land, and they cannot shirk it. However, at a time when the people's minds are in turmoil and the army's morale is shaken, the survival is really determined by His Royal Highness King Fu. The people of Luoyang said: 'The grain in King Fu's warehouse is piled up, and it is so rotten that it can no longer be eaten. But we ordinary people are displaced from the streets, and a large number of them starve to death every day. It's no wonder that Lao Tzu doesn't follow the king! ’……”

Wang Shaoyu, the chief soldier, interjected: "The soldiers have not been paid for eight months, and they are also scolding behind their backs. They said, 'The blessed king has too much silver and gold to count, and the strings of money are rotten.' We haven't been paid for almost a year, which bastard works for him to defend the city! 'I am a military general, and I should die for the country's loyalty. But my men refused to give their lives, so how could I defend the city? ”

Wang Yinchang then said: "At present, the only way to save Luoyang is to ask His Royal Highness King Fu to open the warehouse, take out tens of thousands of taels of silver to reward the soldiers, and take out thousands of loads of grain to help the hungry." If you don't make this last move, Luoyang will not be able to defend, and the country of King Fu will not be guaranteed, and we will all die together! ”

Because of Wang Yinchang's mournful tone, everyone who listened was very moved, and there was silence in the room for a moment, only a soft sigh. Lu Weiqi thought about it, slowly raised his head and asked:

"Why don't you bless His Royal Highness with this pasta?"

Wang Yinchang said: "I went to the palace twice with Wang Zongzhen and Feng Zhifu to ask to see His Highness, but His Highness refused to see him. Today, the officials and gentry gathered and couldn't think of any other way, so they had to come and ask Mr. to enter the palace. ”

Lu Weiqi said: "You are guarding the land and civil and military, His Royal Highness King Fu still refuses to see it, I am idle, I go to ask for it, I'm afraid it will not work, right?" ”

Yinchang said: "No, no. Mr. was a minister of the imperial court, and he was a famous Confucian in science and a well-known Heluo people. His Royal Highness King Fu has great respect for Mr. Fu on weekdays, and there is no reason why he will not meet him face to face. ”

Zhang Zhengxue, the magistrate of the county, advised from the side: "Please go to the palace to save the lives of this party." ”

The officials and gentry instigated one after another, saying that King Fu would meet him and follow his advice. Lu Weiqi said angrily:

"Since you don't have the opportunity to meet the King of Qifu and show the benefits and harms, the students have to try."

After sending off the guests of the official gentry, he told his disciples that he was going to see King Fu, and the disciples were very approving and pointed to the survival of Luoyang to him entering the palace this time. Then he changed his clothes and went to the palace in a sedan chair.

Separated by a high red palace wall, the Fuwang Mansion and the whole city of Luoyang were divided into two worlds. In this small circle, it is still a worry-free world of drunken absurdity, drunkenness, and dreams. The setting sun shines on the towering yellow glazed tiles, and the shadows gradually thicken in the courtyards, and some of the painted corridors are gloomy. A pair of copper tripods and gilded bronze lions placed on the dan pier in front of the main hall are also shrouded in shadows. In a palace courtyard to the east, the sound of sheng, flute, pipa and sandalwood struck lightly, and the sound of mana was sung, and in the deep harem, there was also a faint sound of pipa, wafting in the dim twilight smoke of the palace courtyard.

In a dormitory at the back of the Fu'an Palace, Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, lies in a chair covered with a carved gold lacquer circle covered with mink brocade mattress, stretches his legs forward, and rests his feet in yellow satin boots on a carved sandalwood table covered with red velvet cushions. There were two palace maids kneeling on the left and right, beating his thighs for him. The other two maidens sat on low stools on either side, each placing one of his thick arms on his lap and gently pounding it. He was so fat, and it was clear that the slightly thin palace maid on the right had been pressed by his heavy arm for a long time, and from time to time she secretly glanced at him and frowned. His big round belly bulged high, like a cauldron used by hundreds of people to cook rice, buckled back on his body, and he was covered with a yellow robe. A foot away at his feet, on the mat knelt a group of courtesans dressed as court maids, holding musical instruments of various colors, only one woman sat on a low stool playing the lute, and the other knelt to play the accompaniment with the dong flute. King Fu closed his eyes, and most of the time he was snoring softly, sometimes suddenly snoring very loudly, but then it fell down. When the pipa was finished, King Fu also stopped snoring, opened his eyes slightly, and asked in a sleepy voice:

"Bear's paws are not ripe?"

A eunuch standing behind him took two steps forward, bowed down and replied, "Lord Qiqi, the slave maid went to ask just now, the bear's paw is about to be stewed." ”

"Why don't you stew it early?"

"The prince understands that it takes two hours to stew bear's paws on weekdays, but now it has been stewed for more than an hour."

Seeing that King Fu no longer asked about the bear's paws, and wanted to sleep again, the head of the palace maid hurriedly came over and knelt down, and asked softly:

"Lord, do you want to play music and slaves to step down?"

King Fu opened his dark red eyelids, which were sagging and drooping from the excessive color of wine, looked at her, and said:

"Play a song "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace", Zheng and Pipa."

The prostitute who grabbed the zither adjusted the jade pillar, tried the string note lightly, and suddenly accepted Eunuch Liu to lift the curtain and come in, bowed to King Fu and said:

"Lord Qiqi, Lu Weiqi entered the palace to ask for a meeting, and he has been waiting for a long time."

King Fu did not make a sound, and closed his eyes again. The two women who grabbed the zither and played the pipa stopped waiting because of Liu Chengfeng's eyes. After a moment of silence in the room, Liu Chengfeng took another step forward, leaned down and said:

"Lord Wang, Lu Weiqi has been waiting for a long time."

King Fu opened his eyes half-tiredly, and said impatiently: "What is the matter with this old man seeing the widow?" Tell him that the widow is not feeling well today, and he cannot see him. No matter how big or small, tell him to come back another day. ”

Liu Chengfeng showed a slightly anxious look and said: "Lord, Lu Weiqi said that he entered the palace today, and he had to see the prince, and he would not be able to die in the palace without seeing the prince." ”

"What does he have to see the widow?"

He said that whether the prince can keep the country will be seen here. He came to the palace to ask for His Royal Highness for the safety of the prince and for the life and death of the officials and gentry and the people of Luoyang. ”

King Fu took a breath and said, "The officials and gentry of the whole city of Luoyang are doing my business!" Ah, you pound, pound, continue to pound gently. The widow's country was given to me by Emperor Wanli, so I don't need to worry about him, an old man! ”

"No, my lord. Recently, King Li Chuang's momentum has been very strong, and his soldiers and horses have arrived outside Yiyang and Yongning, claiming to break Luoyang. Lu Weiqi asked to see the prince for this matter, and he couldn't see it. ”

Zhu Changxun began to understand that Lu Weiqi's request to see him in the palace was somewhat important, but he still didn't want to meet him. He may have been too fat recently, or he may have some other problems, he always feels a lot of sleepiness, his mind is dizzy, and the muscles of his limbs are swollen, so he often needs to lie down and order four handsome palace maids to beat his arms and legs for him. Now force him to leave the dormitory neatly dressed, go to the main hall or side hall in the front yard to sit upright and accept Lu's worship, and talk to him, how uncomfortable! In a moment, he wanted to order the prince to be received by Song, but he heard the opera being sung in the East Palace, thinking that since he bought a group of female opera from Suzhou a few months ago, the prince was more indulged in wine every day. After thinking for a while, he said to Chengfeng:

"Wait a minute, take Lu Weiqi to see me in Fu'an Palace!"

With the help of several palace maids, he stood up with difficulty, changed his clothes, and then was supported by two eunuchs left and right, went to the Fu'an Palace, and sat down on the throne. Many eunuchs stood on both sides and outside the hall. Lu Weiqi was brought into the hall and bowed. The blessed king gave the throne, gave tea, and then asked:

"What is the matter with the gentleman coming to see the widow?"

Lu Weiqi bowed and said: "At present, thieves are gathered outside Yiyang and Yongning cities, and they are breaking the city overnight. The thieves claimed that after breaking these two county seats, they would come to attack Luoyang. There are many hungry people in Luoyang City, and the soldiers and people have no fixed will, and the complaints are boiling, and they think about the thieves. The gentry were helpless and sat back and waited for the same end. The prince is sealed here, the original period of the country for 10,000 years, if you don't try to defend the city, the country is lost, how to regret it! How to defend the city and protect the country, the time is urgent, I hope His Royal Highness will make a decision quickly! ”

King Fu was slightly surprised, gasped and asked: "Luoyang is a pro-feudal feudal country, do thieves dare to come to break the city?" ”

"If a thief dares to betray the court, how can he be afraid of his relatives? In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and other thieves broke Fengyang and burned the emperor's mausoleum, how could His Royal Highness have forgotten? ”

"The widow is the emperor's uncle, and the thief dares to harm the widow?"

"Please forgive Weiqi for being blunt. I heard that the thieves declared to the people that they would break through Luoyang and capture His Royal Highness alive. ”

King Fu trembled, and quickly asked, "Is this true?" ”

"The roads are rumored, and even the three-foot boy in Luoyang City knows it."

King Fu's heart beat for a while, his breath became thicker, and he asked, "Sir is a loyal minister, what are your good ideas?" ”

"The palace has a lot of money, and there is a mountain of grain. Today, Wei Qi has no other good plan, but to ask His Royal Highness to put the community first, scatter money to raise soldiers, and distribute food to help the people. The army is strong, the people are safe, Luoyang City can be defended, and His Royal Highness's society is as stable as Mount Tai. Otherwise...... Catastrophe is unimaginable! ”

King Fu suddenly understood in his heart that he was forced to pay for it! He glanced at Lu Weiqi with annoyance and said, "The local civil and military forces are responsible for defending the territory. If Luoyang is lost, the clan will die, and their group of officials who eat royal money will not survive. Even if any of them can escape the hands of thieves, they will not be able to escape the law of the land. Mr. forced the widow to defend the city of Luoyang, is it not the responsibility of the local civil and military to defend the city? Since the gentleman is a loyal minister, why not urge the local civil and military to defend the city and protect the feudal domain? ”

Lu Weiqi stood up and said, "Your Highness is bad! It is precisely because Luoyang has no money and no food and is at a loss that Wei Qi was pushed to enter the palace to tell His Royal Highness about the benefits and harms, and implored His Highness to take out a part of the money in the treasury and the grain in the warehouse to protect Luoyang and Sheji. If His Royal Highness is still like in previous years, and does not think about the community, how will he see the two ancestors in the ground? ”

Zhu Changxun was angry and said: "In recent years, there have been continuous floods and droughts, thieves are like hair, and the income of this domain has decreased greatly, but the expenses in the palace are still there, and the income is beyond the means, how did Mr. know!" Please ask Mr. Hugh to speak for the civil and military guards of the land again, and exonerate them. They lost the city, lost their relatives, and have their own Ming law, so they don't need you to enter the palace to force the widow to pay for food! After speaking, he motioned to the two eunuchs, lifted him up from the throne, and went to the harem with a pant.

Lu Weiqi looked at King Fu leaving the Fu'an Hall in surprise and disappointment, couldn't help but sigh, paused, shed tears, and shouted in his heart:

"Luoyang is finished!"

On the evening of the day when Lu Weiqi met with King Fu, a rebel army led by Yuan Zongdi broke through Yiyang on the order of King Chuang and killed Tang Qitai, the county governor, and did not commit any crime against the people. This news quickly spread to Luoyang City, confirming that the rumor that King Li Chuang "only kills officials, not civilians" is true. A few days later, the news of the loss of Yongning and the killing of King Wan'an spread into Luoyang City, and everyone knew that King Li Chuang was going to come to Luoyang next.

Luoyang is completely like two worlds in Kaifeng during the New Year's Festival. The poor people waited with great enthusiasm for the arrival of King Li Chuang's army, while the gentry and the big families waited with fear and anxiety for the catastrophe to come. In the city of Luoyang, since the Yuan Dynasty for nearly 400 years, there has never been a Spring Festival as bleak, depressed, and hasty as this year.

Lu Weiqi is still the center of gravity of Luoyang's official gentry, and is regarded as the person whose safety in Luoyang is at stake. It is precisely because he occupies such a pivotal position that he is determined to live and die with Luoyang and never escape. However, he understood that the people of Xin'an and Luoyang counties had a deep grudge against him and his family, so he ruthlessly took out hundreds of stone of miscellaneous grain and put them in the city, hoping to buy a charitable name among the poor. In addition, in his personal capacity, he wrote letters to the governor, political envoys, and envoys, asking them to send troops to rescue Luoyang as soon as possible.

Although King Fu had to believe that King Li Chuang was going to attack Luoyang, he still hoped that the local civil and military forces who had the responsibility of defending the land would be intimidated by the national law, and in order to protect his own life, he would die to defend the city and wait for rescue. After the tenth day of the first lunar month, the rangers of the rebel army haunted the suburbs of Luoyang every day, and the rumors became more urgent. One afternoon, he was supported by two eunuchs and inspected the warehouse. He asked the treasurer to open a big room called the East Second Treasury, and looked at the piles of gold, silver and copper coins inside, and said in his heart: "These are all obtained by Emperor Shenzong from all over the country and given to the widow, and some of them are the family property that the widow has managed himself for thirty years, and I won't even give anyone a penny!" He hoped that after this time, Luoyang would be peaceful, and he would desperately collect money from Wangzhuang, Wangdian, tea and salt. Like his father, he felt more satisfied the more money he accumulated.

After the sparsely lit Lantern Festival, Li Zicheng's rebel army had occupied Yanqiu, Longmen, and many villages and towns on the south bank of the Luohe River near Luoyang, preparing to attack the city. King Fu called Wang Yinchang, the chief soldier Wang Shaoyu, and the prefect Feng Yijun into the palace and asked them about the defense of the city. Wang Yinchang had received an urgent letter from the governor Li Xianfeng, saying that he had led a large army from the north bank of the Yellow River to the west in the starry night, and asked the Luoyang civil and military officials to lead the whole city to guard and wait for help. He revealed these words, which even he himself was skeptical of. King Fu's mood was wide, and he nodded and said:

"Governor Li is a great loyal servant. After the matter was decided, the widow wanted to ask the emperor for his great merits. ”

Wang Shaoyu took the opportunity to stand up and said: "The officers and soldiers defending the city of Luoyang have been in arrears for a long time, and they have complaints. Please ask His Royal Highness the prince to quickly send out tens of thousands of dollars of silver to strengthen the hearts of the army. ”

King Fu gasped and said, "You, when you mention defending the city, you want silver, you want silver!" You do not know the difficulties of the widow, as a cash cow and a cornucopia hidden in the royal palace. ”

Wang Yinchang said: "If there is no silver, no one will be willing to defend the city for His Highness." ”

King Fu said: "Didn't Li Xianfeng come in the starry night?" ”

"But I'm afraid that before the governor's soldiers and horses arrived, Luoyang has already been broken."

King Fu thought for a moment and said, "That, that, how is that good?" …… The widow worked hard for the soldiers, and he was given a thousand taels of silver as a reward. ”

Wang Shaoyu said: "Thousands of soldiers, how to apply a thousand taels of silver?" The lowly position really couldn't talk to the soldiers and muster up the morale to defend the city. ”

King Fu thought about it again and said, "How about I reward three thousand taels?" One or two more is gone! ”

They stopped pleading and prostrated and resigned. Immediately, a eunuch sent 3,000 taels of silver to the Yamen of Zhentai, and Wang Shaoyu kept 1,000 taels for himself, sent 1,000 taels to the sub-patrol road, and rewarded the soldiers with 1,000 taels. The soldiers scolded even more fiercely, and some openly said that they would no longer defend the city. Wang Shaoyu had to pretend not to know, and the defense of the city was left to fate.

On the night of the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng's army had surrounded Luoyang and was about to attack the city. When King Fu received the report, he was greatly alarmed, and called several of his cronies and eunuchs to his front, and said in a trembling voice while panting:

"You have to think of saving the widow from Luoyang. I will not hesitate to reward the widow with gold and silver, and save the widow quickly......"

Chapter 52

There is a large Taoist courtyard in the Guanling Temple, and now part of it is vacated as the temporary residence of King Li Chuang. Some of the accompanying generals and standard camp soldiers rested under the two corridors of the temple and the mountain gate. There is an east-west street outside the door, there are several small restaurants, and there are also restaurants next to the official road leading to Longmen and Luoyang, which are now stationed in the standard camp of King Li Chuang. All the horses, after a while, were tethered to the cypress groves and fed in the back of the alleys. Further east, at the end of the east and west streets, there are many tents, and a team of cavalry is stationed, which is stationed here by Yuan Zongdi to guard the king. They came yesterday morning, cleaned the inside and outside of the temple, and prepared firewood and grass for the king's army. Longmen, also known as Yique, has been a military artery since ancient times, and Yuan Zongdi also sent a small number of men and horses to station. Looking from the front of Guanling, you can see a red flag on the small street at the north end of Longmen, and there is also a tent and several red flags at the foot of Xiangshan on the east bank of Yishui.

Breakfast was already ready. After King Chuang finished washing, he sat down to have breakfast. During the meal, he asked the military advisor:

"Then a group of mutineers who came into Henan from Tongguan can be picked up?"

He replied: "Because they rushed to Luoyang in advance, we didn't have time to send someone to connect." However, General Yuan had secretly instructed our army to work carefully in Luoyang City, spread rumors, and then lured this mutineous army to surrender to the city. ”

King Chuang asked, "What rumors are spreading?" ”

"It is only said that the governor of Henan and the governor of Shaanxi have played a concert, and they have been ordered: 'The first ten people will be arrested and brought to justice, and the heads will be shown to the public, and there will be no leniency!' He also said that Wang Shaoyu had been sent to the governor by the governor, and planned to follow the order after the siege of Luoyang was lifted, and no one was allowed to slip through the net. ”

Li Yan said: "It stands to reason that the governor of Shaanxi and the governor of Henan will go up to Kaifeng, and then the general army will be defended by Luoyang in Kaifeng, and it will take a lot of time to go back and forth. It is not credible to say that Wang Shaoyu has now received a secret message from the governor. ”

Xian Ce laughed and said, "Foot, you are a scholar's opinion, but the people of Luoyang and the Tongguan rebels will not see it like this." Nowadays, there is a shortage of wars and rumors, and any words without roots are easy to be believed. What's more, those hundreds of rebels who killed officials and rebels are suspicious, listening to the wind and rain, and still panicking and disturbing themselves when they have nothing to do, how can they not believe it when they hear this rumor? When they can calmly analyze it and know that it is a rumor, it will be many days after Luoyang has been broken. ”

Hearing what he said, everyone laughed. While eating, Yuan Zongdi sent someone Pegasus to report that Yanshi County had been broken in one drum last night, and not a single soldier was lost. captured the corrupt official Xu Ritai alive, beheaded him in front of the yamen, and killed three or four people with great public anger, including Bai Shilu and Liu Heng, the county magistrate, and Liu Heng, the instructor, and did not commit any crimes against the common people. After listening to this, everyone knew that everything was in accordance with the orders of King Chuang, and they were very happy to succeed.

After breakfast, Li Zicheng and Song Xiance washed their hands again, went to the main hall to burn incense and worship Guan Gong, and then looked at the mound behind the main hall, and asked the abbot about the history of the temple and the recent incense situation. He already knew that Li Guo had not yet come to the outside of Luoyang City, and Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Niu Jinxing had led a cavalry to inspect the surroundings of Luoyang City this morning, so he decided to take this opportunity to let the soldiers who came with him rest here for half a day, and ordered that this meal at noon should be eaten after the end of the day, so that everyone could sleep more. He was very tired himself, and as soon as he lay down, he fell asleep.

But they had only slept for a little more than an hour, and they all woke up. Seeing that Luoyang was about to be attacked, everyone was excited, thinking about many problems, and refused to sleep more. It was still early for lunch, and Li Zicheng took Song Xiance and Li Yan out of the temple for a walk. They first looked at the small streets of Guanling, and came across a group of children playing in an empty ox cart, and a teenager led the singing:

it,

Wear,

He opened the gate to meet the king.

When the king comes, he doesn't pay for food!

When King Chuang heard this, he laughed and said to Song Xiance and Li Yan: "The ballad that Lin Quan made up after he arrived in Desheng Village spread so fast, and the children here are all singing!" ”

Song Xiance smiled at the children and asked, "Do you still sing other songs?" ”

When the children saw this group of very unusual rebels, they were a little shy and refused to sing anymore, and some jumped out of the car and ran away. King Chuang and Xiance laughed as they watched the children, and continued to walk forward as they talked. They had gone less than a stone's throw away, but they heard the children sing another ballad:

Towards the Ascendant,

Twilight Convergence,

Lately, it has been difficult for the poor to survive.

Open the door early to worship the king,

Discipline rejoices in both big and small.

King Li Chuang, Song Xiance and others returned to the outside of Xingyuan Gate, rode on war horses, and went to visit Longmen. This is a famous place of historical interest in the whole country, Song Xiance and Shang Jiong have traveled ten years ago, yesterday Song Xiance and Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing passed here again, but Li Chuangwang and Li Yan are famous for a long time and have not arrived, so they are particularly interested. They dismounted in the small street at the north end of Longmen Mountain, and led a part of their own soldiers to advance on foot. There are many Buddha statues in the grottoes on the cliff of Longmen Mountain, Li Zicheng and others really can't watch carefully, only in the Fengxian Hall for a long time, appreciate the very majestic and magnificent big Buddha statue and the statue of the king of heaven and the whelm. There was a tall soldier who hugged the calves of a statue of the Heavenly King, and he could only put his hands together. After a short walk from the temple, they rested in a Buddhist temple facing a cliff. This Buddhist temple occupies a small area, but the architecture is exquisite, the layout is compact, and the meditation hall is quiet. A spring of water gushed out of the courtyard and spewed out of the mouth of a granite dragon into the Yi River. The old monk welcomed King Li Chuang and others into the abbot and offered tea one by one, very respectfully. King Chuang asked about the history of the Longmen monuments and the recent incense situation, the old monk complained of bitterness, saying that some Buddha statues were eroded by wind and rain, and the damage was more than one day. King Chuang understood what he meant, and asked Wu Ruyi to take out twenty taels of silver to give alms, and asked him to pick those tight places to repair them first, and then greatly renovate them after the world was peaceful.

King Chuang was about to leave for Guanling, but he didn't see Shang Jiong there, and even Shang Jiong's personal soldiers were gone. There was a personal soldier who reported that there was a grotto to the south from the Fengxian Temple, and the stone wall was carved with various prescriptions, and the old gods were carefully watching the prescriptions there. King Chuang smiled and ordered his soldiers to invite him to come quickly. Immediately, he chatted with Li Yan and walked out of the abbot. Facing the roadside, with the cliff as the foundation of the house, there are three inverted meditation halls, elegantly furnished, originally used to receive the gentry and a group of wealthy people from Luoyang, and now the soldiers are resting inside. Song Xiance said to King Chuang:

"Yesterday, I passed by here with Jiexuan and Qidong, and I also rested and ate tea in this temple. There are many inscriptions on the walls of the three meditation halls, some of which are from famous hands, and the poems and characters are very good. Qidong was happy for a while, and also inscribed a few poems on the wall. Why don't you take advantage of Ziming's preoccupation and go in and have a look? ”

King Chuang said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, go in and have a look." ”

They walked into the meditation hall. The house full of soldiers immediately withdrew solemnly and stood in the courtyard. Zicheng took a look at the whole meditation hall, and saw a scroll of Guanyin statue on the back wall in the middle, a couplet, a blue and white porcelain incense burner on the god table, banners and couplets hung on the gables on both sides, and in addition, there are indeed many inscriptions and poems on the wall. He followed Song Xiance to the place where Niu Jinxing's inscription was written, and saw that there were three seven-character quatrains, the ink was very new, the title was "Crossing the Longmen Inscription Wall with the Army", signed "Xin Si Mengchun, Rongma Scholar Inscription" A line of small characters, and then he came back and looked back from the first one. Song Xiance watched while chanting in a flat tone. The three poems are written like this:

The sun shines brightly with a sword halberd, and the spring breeze sways into the silk.

Yun Ni looked forward to Tang Wu, and greeted the king everywhere.

Stepping through the mountains does not feel dangerous, and Longmen goes north to pick up Kangzhuang.

The three armies are vying for the proximity of Guanling, and the faint city tower is Luoyang.

Hundreds of generations of the Central Plains compete for deer, and the Guanhe River is chaotic and vicissitudes.

Where is the sinking Zhou Ding now? Since ancient times, Luoyang has been the emperor's hometown.

After the recitation, Song Xiance even claimed to appreciate it, saying that these three poems were well written, graceful and dignified, quite prime minister's style, and not ordinary poets' poems. He is friends with Niu Jinxing and Li Yan, so he always praises them in front of King Chuang. Especially because he was recommended by Niu Jinxing to the account of King Chuang, he was very trusted, and he was worshiped as a military advisor, and he couldn't help but be selfishly grateful to Venus. He knew in his heart that Jin Xing's third poem was to hope that King Chuang would build a capital in Luoyang. Although he did not approve of Luoyang as the place to build the capital from a military point of view, because he was a native of Henan, he would like Li Zicheng to build the capital in Luoyang from the perspective of the future. After reading these three inscription wall poems, Zicheng carefully chewed on the meaning of the latter poem, listened to the praise, nodded with a smile, and turned his head to look at Li Yan. Li Yan paid great attention to the idea of hoping to break into the king and build the capital of Luoyang in the third poem, and it was difficult to express his opinion. Although he suggested that King Li Chuang establish a foothold in Wan and Luo, he did not advocate that King Chuang formally claim the throne prematurely. He thought that if Niu Jinxing came up with this suggestion after breaking Luoyang and was adopted by King Chuang, it would be a big mistake. Li Zicheng saw him looking at the wall silently, and asked with a smile:

"Lin Quan, why don't you also write a poem?"

Li Yan hurriedly said: "I am usually slow in writing and thinking, and when I see these three inscriptions in Qidong, I don't dare to write nonsense. I recently learned that Qidong wrote in the Soviet style, and his skills are very deep. In terms of the calligraphy of this inscription wall poem, although it is not his meticulous work, it is written with a pen, and it is rare among many inscription poems. ”

While they were talking, Shang Jiong came back. They walked out of the temple gate, said goodbye to the old monk, and walked north, admiring the scenery of Xiangshan while talking about the military situation in Longmen. But Li Zicheng listened to Song Xiance, Li Yan and the doctor's conversation, thinking about some major issues in his heart. At the time of the New Year's Festival in the victory village, Song Xiance, Li Yan and Niu Jinxing all proposed to him according to Wan and Luo, and received important opinions from Henan to fight for the world, and proposed to establish a name instead of the title of King Chuang. However, looking at what Li Yan meant just now, he was clearly noncommittal to Niu Jinxing's hope and the idea of building the capital Luoyang. Now that the troops have entered the city of Luoyang, as long as there are no accidents, Luoyang can be attacked tomorrow night. These very important issues cannot but cause him to think about them repeatedly.

When they walked to the small street at the north end of Longmen, they met Li You, a personal general sent by Liu Zongmin, and asked King Chuang if he would go to Wangchenggang in the afternoon. If King Chuang could not go, he would rush to Guanling with Mr. Niu and the generals after dinner to discuss the siege of the city, and ask King Chuang to personally issue military orders to the generals. After Li Zicheng heard this, he said:

"You go back and report to Liu Ye, when I was in Youpai, I rushed to Wangchenggang with the military division and Li Gongzi, and I also had to take a look outside Luoyang City, and then I would understand the business and military with the generals. Has it been made up? ”

"It's here. Some of his cavalry had already come from Xin'an to the west gate of Luoyang, and the rest could be reached at dusk. The cavalry in Yongning also arrived this afternoon. ”

Li Zicheng didn't ask anymore, immediately got on his horse and rushed back to Guanling.

When the sun was still high in the treetops, Li Zicheng took the military advisor and Li Yan from Guanling to the vicinity of the Luo River. There is a small street here called Wangchenggang, a few miles away from the south gate of Luoyang. Yuan Zongdi's old battalion was stationed on this street. Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin were also here, and together with Yuan Zongdi, they deployed to attack the Luoyang military. Most of Yuan Zongdi's men and horses led by Zhang Nai's men and horses were already stationed within one or two miles outside Luoyang City, and Zhang Nai's own troops were stationed in the Zhou Gong Temple outside the west gate of Luoyang. Now there are actually less than 700 troops stationed in Wangchenggang, but because it is the location of Yuan Zongdi's old camp, the whole battalion is stacked in the temple of Emperor Guan in Wangchenggang, so the troops receive things, transmit orders, report things, and come and go frequently, making this small street suddenly lively. Because the people saw with their own eyes that Li Chuangwang's troops were buying and selling, and they had just closed the salaries, not only did a few small shops on the street boldly open the market, but also attracted nearby shoulder hawkers to come and do business. Outside the street, there is a Luo Shen Temple not far from the river bank, and the small courtyard courtyard and the temple gate are all people from the vicinity of Luoyang City, bustling and continuous. Some of them came to join the army, and some came to complain about the suffering of the king, the officials, the eunuchs, and the gentry. These people, who had come to join the army and complain, made all the things going on in the city clear. Yuan Zongdi specially sent a small school and a gentleman who ran Wenmo to lead 20 brothers to live in the Luo Shen Temple, and to meet the people who came to join the army and complain, so that they would not all flock to the old camp.

Li Zicheng sat for a while in Yuan Zongdi's old camp. Hearing that Zongdi briefly reported the military deployment for attacking Luoyang City, he took advantage of the sun before setting and galloped to Luoyang City. Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and others were all with him. Surrounded by two or three hundred cavalry, they walked from the south gate of Luoyang to the west gate, and then to the northwest corner of the city. The sun had already set on the bank of the river, the sky was already dark, and the Beibi Mountain had turned into a dark shadow in the north. Luoyang has been encircled, and many villages in the northern suburbs and the road leading to Mengjin are on fire. Lanterns and torches were also lit on the top of the city, and the sound of people and chirps kept coming from the city. Li Zicheng returned to Wangchenggang from the same way. Although he didn't have time to look at the terrain around Luoyang City before dark, the main place of attack was at the North Gate, and he was completely clear about the terrain in this area.

After dinner, Li Zicheng presided over a military meeting at Wangchenggang, where he discussed in detail how to break the city, how to maintain order in the city after the break, and other important matters, and the king made a decision. King Chuang saw that the soldiers had been working hard for days, like Li Guo had not slept for three days and three nights, and some people and horses would arrive tomorrow, so he decided to stand still tomorrow and let the soldiers rest, and at the same time the generals of each battalion would pass on several prohibitions of King Chuang to the leaders and soldiers below, "Be sure to obey them as one and not violate them." Yuan Zongdi asked King Chuang:

"After breaking Luoyang, where is your Xingyuanan?"

Without waiting for King Chuang to answer, several generals said that King Chuang should be moved from Guanling to King Fu's mansion, saying that the place there was wide and comfortable, and that King Chuang had fought hard for more than ten years, and that he would break Luoyang tomorrow and should move into King Fu's palace. King Chuang looked at Niu, Song and Li Yan, and then looked at Liu Zongmin and Li Guo and other generals, but everyone was silent. King Chuang's face was serious, and he said to the generals:

After the city was broken, Xingyuan moved to the Zhou Gong Temple outside Luoyang City. If it is undecided today, I am about to share weal and sorrow with the soldiers, how can I be greedy for comfort! ”

Song Xiance immediately nodded and said, "What King Chuang said is very true. It is best to temporarily set up in Zhougong Temple. All men and horses who did not have to be stationed in the city were not allowed to enter the city, so that the city could be safe and the market would not be alarmed. ”

Niu Jinxing continued: "It is really wise to break into Wang Xingyuan's temporary residence in Zhougong Temple. When Gaozu of the former Han Dynasty first arrived in Xianyang, he did not stay in the Qin Palace to rest, but also returned to the army to dominate the army, and made three chapters with his father, which was praised by historians. Today, King Chuang does not live in the palace of King Fu, and temporarily stays outside the city, and there is also the meaning that Han Gaozu does not live in Xianyang Palace. If in the future, according to Heluo, the Central Plains will be fought for, and the name will be built to meet the people's expectations, this ready-made Fuwang Palace will naturally be used. ”

Li Zicheng looked at Niu and Song with satisfied eyes, but he didn't make a sound. They then moved on to other issues. The meeting was held until after the third watch, and then it ended. Yuan Zongdi's old battalion secretary ordered the Huotou Army to prepare a large pot of mutton to boil red and white radish, and everyone drank two large bowls to warm their bodies. After drinking the mutton soup, the generals returned to the camp one after another. King Chuang invited Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan to also go back to Guanling to rest first. After King Chuang waited for Niu, Song and Li Yan to leave, he called out to the courtyard:

"Zhang Nai!" Zhang Nai turned around and came in and stood in front of him. He looked at Zhang Nai with a smile on his face, and said slowly: "Little Nai, you have followed me for six or seven years, and now you have grown into an adult." In this attack on Luoyang, I asked you to lead the elite soldiers of the Chinese military camp to come, this is the first time that you will be sent an important send, and you will be used as an important general. If you smash the pot, I won't agree. You know what? ”

Zhang Nai replied solemnly: "I know, King Chuang!" If I can't follow King Chuang's orders to get things done, from now on, please don't give me any important sends!" ”

Liu Zongmin laughed on the side and scolded: "You kid, it's easy to say!" Now it's a war, and the errand given to you by King Chuang is a military order, and the military order is as big as a mountain. If you make a mistake, you will be punished according to the military law! ”

Zhang Nai said: "Yes, please follow the military law." ”

King Chuang nodded and said, "You just need to understand this." I will say it to you again now, and you must do it without mistake. First, tomorrow evening, you will divide your men into two groups, one will stay in Xiguan, and the other will go to Beiguan, waiting for the city to be broken. Second, whether the north gate is opened first or the west gate is opened first, your cavalry will immediately rush into the city. It was agreed at tonight's meeting that at the moment of the break, when storming into the city, the other battalions would give way to your cavalry. Be swift, like an arrow on a string, and not delay for a moment. This requires you to wait in Xiguan and Beiguan in advance. In the event that the city fires cannons from outside, it must not disturb the ranks. ”

Zhang Nai said excitedly: "Yes, yes." ”

King Chuang then said, "Thirdly, as soon as your cavalry rushes into the city, you must immediately rush to the palace and occupy the noon, donghua, xihua, and back gates of the palace. The royal palace is huge. You must not let a single rebel enter the palace and set fire to it. Regardless of the army or civilians, anyone who dares to break into the palace and set fire to it and rob it will be beheaded on the spot. Fourth, you have arranged in advance that after you storm the city gates, you must immediately send out several cavalry to occupy the main thoroughfares and crossroads, and there will be cavalry constantly patrolling the streets and alleys, and it is strictly forbidden to burn, kill, rape, and rob. While patrolling, I proclaimed my ban. If there is any violation, whether it is the disbanding of the officers and soldiers or our own brothers, they will all be punished on the spot and displayed to the public. Fifth, King Fu's father and son are extremely heinous and must be arrested. After the destruction of the city, his father and son must escape from the palace. Whether they go to heaven or earth, they must be caught! Although the soldiers of each battalion will capture the father and son of King Fu, your cavalry will rush into the city first and occupy the palace, so if there is no father and son of King Fu, I will only ask you. In the chaos of war, if you can't catch all their father and son, at least you have to catch King Fu himself. Flee King Fu himself, I will never agree! ”

Zhang Nai replied, "Unless he gives birth to two wings, I will never let him escape!" ”

Liu Zongmin said on the side: "Little Nai, if you escape from Zhu Fatzi, you are careful that King Chuang will cut off your head!" ”

King Chuang glanced at Zhang Nai with a stern face, and then said, "Sixth, I must catch Lu Weiqi for me, so that he will not escape from the city." ”

Zhang Nai said: "Yes, I will definitely catch Lu Weiqi, and the rest of the officials and gentry will never let go of one." But I'm worried about the four gates......"

King Chuang said: "It has been decided at the meeting just now that the south gate and the east gate will be guarded by your uncle Han Ju, and the west gate and north gate will be guarded by your eldest brother. If King Fu's father and son and Lu Weiqi escape through the city gate, the blame is not on you. ”

Li Guo said to Zhang Nai: "There are many people in the city who know Lu Weiqi, and I conclude that he does not dare to go out of the city gate. Zhang Nai, as long as Lu Weiqi is hidden in the city, you will catch him no matter what. ”

King Chuang asked, "Have you remembered all the words I commanded you?" ”

Zhang Nai said: "I remember it all." There are seven things in total: the first ,......"

King Chuang smiled, waved his hand to stop him, and said, "Just remember it." Let's go back to Zhougong Temple to rest. Zhang Nai said, "Yes!" Energetic, he turned around and walked out quickly. After a while, I heard the sound of horses' hooves galloping away. King Chuang shouted:

"Double Happiness!"

Li Shuangxi came in response and stood in front of King Chuang with his hands down. King Chuang sneezed a few times, showing a slightly sleepy look, and Yuan Zongdi said with concern:

"I'm afraid you're cold."

King Chuang said, "A little. It doesn't matter. Double Happiness, do you remember what I assigned you just now? ”

Shuangxi replied: "Tomorrow I will draw 1,000 infantry and a pack team from Uncle Hanju's camp, and 100 cavalry from the camp of Brother Buzhi to form a baggage battalion. After entering the city, soldiers were first sent to guard the public and private warehouses, officials, eunuchs, and wealthy residences. After dawn, the grain and property in the above places were confiscated, counted, and registered, and transported to one place for safekeeping. In addition, 300 brothers and 10 clerks were sent to Zhang Nai, who specially counted the property of the palace, classified it, registered it, and sealed it. ”

King Chuang asked: "Have you copied the names and addresses of the officials, eunuchs, and wealthy people in Luoyang City?" ”

Shuangxi said: "Uncle Hanju's clerk has already copied a copy and handed it to me." ”

King Chuang sneezed twice in a row, blew his nose, and said in a heavy tone: "Double Happiness, it is the first time you have learned to do such a big thing, which is much more difficult than you leading hundreds of cavalry to rush into the enemy formation and slash and kill for a while." Luoyang is a wealthy city, and King Fu is the richest king. In the past, Emperor Wanli looted in every possible way, and when King Fu came to Luoyang, he transported almost half of the wealth accumulated in the palace to Luoyang. You have done a good job in this matter, and we will not worry about the food and salary of our hundreds of thousands of troops and the relief of the hungry people in Luoyang. Will you be able to do it in a few days? ”

Double Happiness said: "I want five days. ”

King Chuang said, "I will give you seven days." During these seven days, all the food, money, military pay, and all kinds of expenses will come to you and receive them. You must register your account at all times, and there must be no mistakes. If there are not enough clerks, I will give you another. It's a much harder burden than the one you charge into battle, you know? ”

Double Happiness replied, "I understand." I'm going to get things done. ”

Li Zicheng waved his hand to make Shuangxi exit, and then asked Liu Zongmin, Li Guo and Yuan Zongdi: "What else do you have to say?" Is there anything wrong with what you have decided tonight? ”

Yuan Zongdi hurriedly said: "King Chuang, look at what Mr. Niu means, I want to spare Lu Weiqi's life." This person is the largest eunuch in Luoyang, and he is also the largest rich man in addition to King Fu. He annotated the "Book of Filial Piety", lectured on reason, and was full of Confucius and Mencius, but I don't know how many people's land was cleverly seized by his family and swallowed up in all directions. His tenants lived a life that was inferior to cattle and horses, and was forced to rent and debts by the slaves of his family's village, and often sold his sons and daughters, but he pretended not to know, and he was also releasing disaster relief and building a college to give lectures. Why should a man like this spare his dog's life? Could it be that King Li Chuang will still lack a military secretary in the world in the future? ”

Li Guo continued: "I just came from Xin'an. When the people of Xin'an mentioned Lu Weiqi's family, they hated it to the core. On weekdays, the people are oppressed, swallow their anger, and don't even dare to fart. As soon as I arrived in Xin'an, I arrested all the people of the Lu family. The common people knew that King Chuang's soldiers were all here to eliminate violence and peace, so they stopped Ma Tou to complain. Lu Weiqi's younger brother is named Wei Qi, who has been a county magistrate, and has beheaded me to show the public to eliminate harm for the people. Tonight, Mr. Niu means that he wants to leave Lu Weiqi and use his fame to call on the Central Plains scholars to come to Shun, which means nothing good, but let's break through Luoyang and kill King Fu alone, not kill a big eunuch, nor can we be a little angry, and we can't ruthlessly suppress the arrogance of the squires and tyrants. ”

King Chuang nodded and turned to look at Zong Min. Liu Zongmin didn't speak, stretched out his huge right hand, and gently made a head-cutting motion. Although he was smiling and relaxed, King Chuang could fully see that he meant to kill resolutely, very simply. So Li Zicheng patted his knee lightly and said:

"Kill, decide to kill! Qidong originally wanted to stay with him as a call, but also for us to achieve great things as soon as possible. There are sometimes differences of opinion between the civil and military forces, and it is often unavoidable. You are the old men of the old Eighth Team, and you are all my cronies and generals, and you must respect the new scholars everywhere. The civil and military personnel should be single-minded and virtuous, and learn from each other's strengths. We should treat Qidong with more courtesy. ”

Zong Min asked: "Do you have to be guilty of killing Lu Weiqi?" ”

"No need. The people knew that he deserved it, and they would clap their hands and applaud. For officials and eunuchs, the gentry will feel sad that the rabbit is dead and the fox is sad. I have already asked Lin Quan to write a draft of "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" tomorrow, which will be sung in Luoyang City in the future and explain some truths to the people. Why did you kill Lu Weiqi, this truth is also contained in "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions", and there is no need to write any more crimes. ”

The chickens are already crowing. Li Zicheng was very tired, rode on the oolong horse, and rushed back to Guanling under the moonlight with Wu Ruyi, Shuangxi and a large group of personal soldiers.

On the 20th, because Li Zicheng had a cold, he had to stay in Guanling. He left Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan in Xingyuan, so that they could rest and rest. In the past, whenever he encountered an important battle, he always went to the battlefield in person, and often led his soldiers to charge and kill, and fought the enemy with a white blade. But the attack on Luoyang was different from previous campaigns. Although this time it was an attack on the famous city, it was expected that there would be no big battle, and what was important was the important measures that should be taken after preparing to enter Luoyang. After last night's military meeting at Wangchenggang, all the military arrangements for the siege of the city were decided, and Liu Zongmin commanded on his behalf, so that he, as the commander of the whole army, did not have to come to the city with illness.

After breakfast, he asked Li Shuangxi to sleep for a while, and then rushed to the outside of Luoyang City, preparing to enter the city to work according to his orders. He considered that there were some important things that needed to be discussed with Gao Yigong and Tian Jianxiu after entering Luoyang, and he also had to hold a wedding for Li Yan and the Red Lady, so he immediately sent people back to the old camp of Deshengzhai and asked them to come to Luoyang with Mrs. Gao, the Red Lady and the wives of several generals. The matter of the old camp of Victory Village was handed over to Hao Shaoqi to preside over for a few days. He was worried that if Hao Shaoqi made any mistakes again, the generals who had prejudices against him would refuse to forgive, and he was also worried that he would not dare to call the shots after repeated setbacks, so he wrote a letter to Shaoqi, telling him to be cautious in everything, but also to make bold decisions when he should be bold, and not to report all kinds of big and small things, and make mistakes back and forth. His letter, which is not very long, contains these words:

The old camp of Victory Village is the foundation of the whole army, and the food and salary are the lifeblood of the army. As long as my brother always thinks about the fundamentals of the whole army and the lifeblood of the whole army, and thinks about the public and the public, he can do everything correctly. People can't be blameless for life, but I hope my brother can be a gentleman who has the courage to change.

After Li Zicheng finished writing the letter, he ate the decoction prepared by Shang Jiong for him, covered his head and sweated, and slept until he got up in the afternoon. After sweating, I have felt that the temples on both sides are no longer painful, and my body is relaxed, and I no longer feel hot and cold. He and Niu Jinxing continued to stay in Guanling, let Li Yan sit in a quiet house to draft the draft of "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions", and asked Niu Jinxing to tell him a passage of "Zizhi Tongjian".

Since Jin Xing came to the army two months ago, Li Zicheng admired him for his learning, and was grateful that he went to Shangluo Mountain to meet him on the most difficult day after the Battle of Tongguan Nanyuan, so he treated him as a guest and often called him Mr. It happened that a cottage was breached at that time, and Niu Yan got some books from the house of a gentry, among which there was a popular Jigu Pavilion publication "Zizhi Tongjian" and a "Tongjian Chronicle". Niu Jinxing knew that Li Zicheng liked to read when he was in Shangluo Mountain, and paid attention to the history of the past dynasties, so he sent these two books to King Chuang and advised him to read them carefully in his spare time for training and fighting. Niu Jinxing, like the general politically aspiring scholars after the Northern Song Dynasty, attached great importance to the book "Tongjian". He hoped that Li Zicheng would be able to increase his knowledge from books such as "Tongjian" and become a founding emperor in line with his ideals. Li Zicheng originally planned to ask Niu Jinxing to choose a chapter of the scripture book and a paragraph of "Tongjian" for him every day, but sometimes he was too busy and the time could not be set too hard, so he changed to lecture on the scriptures and history roughly every three days. If the lecture is on a major historical topic, it will be completed in two or three times, and the "Tongjian Chronicle" will be used as an important auxiliary "textbook" for the "Tongjian" lecture. Every time Niu Jinxing talks about "Tongjian", Song Xiance and Li Yan sit next to him, and Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong occasionally have time to listen, and they also like to listen. After speaking, they discussed with each other, often from the historical events of one dynasty and other dynasties, all the way to the present, through the past and the present, extending and playing, and the discussion is popular. Niu Jinxing attaches great importance to his lecture on scriptures and history for King Li Chuang, and he is also very proud. Once when he talked about the scriptures and history, Song Xiance joked with him in private:

"Qidong, you are now a Fu Xiang and a banquet speaker."

Venus smiled with satisfaction and replied, "That's the ...... Brother really didn't dare to be. The king is wise, studious, and wise. Today, my generation only wholeheartedly assists the king, sets the world early, and works in the soup, Yu, Debiyao, Shun, and the rest are not calculated. As for the banquet of the imperial court, it is just red tape, with an empty name, and it cannot be compared with the situation where the younger brother lectured on scriptures and history before the king. ”

Xian Ce nodded, and said, "King Chuang is indeed open-minded and studious, and he is very intelligent, and he has a lot of experience in war, so after you have lectured, he often has extremely incisive discussions, or asks us very important topics. In terms of his diligence in military affairs, he is very similar to Zhu Hongwu and Tang Taizong, but very different from Han Gaozu. ”

Niu Jinxing attached great importance to his important role in lecturing for Li Zicheng and his status similar to Fu Xiang, so after Li Yan came to King Chuang's army, although he knew that Li Yan was very knowledgeable and familiar with "Tongjian" no less than him, he never suggested to King Chuang that Li Yan be invited to be a lecturer. Today, Niu Jinxing is the continuation of the last time he talked about the history of the Yellow Turban Uprising, and only Song Xiance sat aside. King Chuang spread out the fifty-eighth volume of the "Tongjian" in front of him, smiling, and listening to Venus discuss this important topic. Venus has accumulated habits since he was a child, and sometimes he is not careful, and still calls the Yellow Turban Rebels "Yellow Turban Thieves", but when he saw the smiling eyes of King Chuang, he suddenly woke up and quickly changed his words. He explained the inevitability of the Yellow Turban Uprising from several aspects such as the people's poor livelihood and government corruption in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and finally boiled it down to some lessons in governing the country and the state. Although his insights did not go beyond the scope of the Zizhi Tongjian and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, it was already commendable in an era when scholars were obsessed with the Bagu exam. Li Zicheng sometimes nodded slightly, and sometimes compared it with the situation of peasant uprisings in various places since the apocalypse, and talked a little. Song Xiance also interjected from time to time. When Niu Jinxing finished his discussion, this time the talk of "Tongjian" should be over, and King Li Chuang suddenly looked at him and Song Xiance and asked:

"The Yellow Turban Rebellion was very loud, but it was completely defeated in just a few months. Although there were still uprisings in the next few years, because the Zhang Jiao brothers were dead, they could not do much. From the two of you, why did the Yellow Turban fail so quickly? ”

Niu Jinxing usually reads and pays attention to the rise and fall of the past dynasties, as well as the achievements and successes and failures of emperors and generals, but he has never thought carefully about such a question, and he didn't know how to answer it at first glance, so he had to say:

"Although there are thirty-six yellow turbans, more than 10,000 people in the big square, and six or seven thousand in the small side, after all, they are a rabble, and the Eastern Han Dynasty has not yet reached the time of immediate death, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun are rare generals, so they were broken within a few months."

Although Song Xiance paid more attention to the history of victory and defeat in ancient wars, he never thought about the rapid defeat of the Yellow Turban Army as a problem. He agreed with Niu Venus, adding:

"The Yellow Turbans have risen in many places, fighting separately, although there are many people, they cannot be unified in command, and they work together, plus Zhang Jiao died early, so they were quickly defeated." After thinking about it, he continued: "Because someone went to Luoyang to inform, the Zhang Jiao brothers had to rush into trouble. Poor preparation is naturally a reason for their failure. ”

Niu Jinxing didn't nod when he saw King Chuang, thoughtfully, and quickly asked: "What I said with the military advisor is very general, and it may not be to the point. Dare to ask Wang Mingjiao. ”

King Chuang said: "One of Zhang Jiao's apprentices named Tang Zhou wrote a letter to inform, so that the generous Ma Yuanyi was killed in Luoyang, and the person who was the internal response in Luoyang was also arrested, which is indeed a setback. From ancient times to the present, the most hateful thing is the rebellion within. However, as far as the Zhang Jiao uprising is concerned, it did not suffer fatal losses. It is clearly written in this book that after Zhang Jiao's uprising, there was a lot of momentum for a while, 'burning the official mansion and looting the city.' The state and county were lost, and many of the officials fled. Between the months and months, the whole world responded, and the capital shook'. You see, how good the situation is! It's a pity that only half a year later, it was defeated! ”

Venus asked, "Excuse me, where is it?" ”

"In my opinion, the main reason for the rapid defeat is not that the Han Dynasty had Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun as generals, but that the leaders of the Yellow Turbans did not know how to fight, which is a pity."

"Huh?" Song Xiance leaned over and said, "I want to hear it in detail." ”

King Chuang smiled and said, "The battle must be fought alive, not to the death." At the beginning of the people's uprisings, even though they were huge and numerous, they were not as well-trained as the officers and soldiers. If you can fight a tough battle, you will fight it, and if you can't fight a tough battle, you will avoid it. Avoiding is what the art of war says, 'to cause the enemy by walking', in order not to destroy it, but to hit the enemy hard. For the sake of a general, you must always remember to 'control the enemy but not to control the enemy'. His own strength is weak, and it is the most wrong to defend a city. The more tenacious you are, the more you will be wiped out. In the art of war, it says: 'The small enemy is strong, and the big enemy is captured.' 'Take Nanyang, the Yellow Turban Army, and say that at first, Zhang Man became handsome; Man Cheng was killed in battle, and Zhao Hong was recommended as the handsome and defended Nanyang City; Zhao Hong was killed in battle, and Han Zhong was promoted as the commander; Han Zhong failed to break through the siege and was killed, and the public promoted Sun Xia as the commander, and returned the army to defend Nanyang until he was completely defeated and was eliminated by Zhu Jun. This is a huge mistake. Zhang Jiao and his brother Zhang Liang defended a city of Guangzong after the uprising, and were initially besieged by Lu Zhi and then by Huangfu Song until they were destroyed. The sky is wide and the earth is wide, and the advance and retreat are in me, why bother to defend the lonely city? Defending a city, waiting to be beaten, and without reliable foreign aid, how can there be no reason to be invincible! ”

Song Xiance was greatly amazed and said: "Why did the Yellow Turban suddenly collapse, since ancient times, no one has ever talked so incisively from a military perspective. The subordinates talked about the loss of the Yellow Turban's use of soldiers, which came from the actual combat experience and made full use of the ancient art of war, so it was able to reveal the secrets that had not been issued by the predecessors. Offering advice, he prides himself on being able to pay attention to the reasons for the victory and defeat of ancient and modern wars, and he can also talk eloquently, but in fact, they are all clichés, stirring up the leftovers of predecessors. Listening to the talk of his subordinates today, I also feel very ashamed. ”

Venus then said: "It is indeed incisive, it is indeed clever. Reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in previous years, I saw that Wei Wu was often unexpected, and I didn't want to see it again today! ”

King Chuang said, "You have spoken too much of me. When I listened to Qidong's lecture today, I suddenly thought of this, and I also wanted to discuss it with you. I often have some vague opinions, and I need you to point out what is wrong at any time, so that I can correct it. - Ah, Lin Quan, here, you come in, is the manuscript ready? ”

Li Yan replied: "It's written, but it still needs to be slightly revised, and then I ask King Chuang to take a look." ”

The "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" drafted by Li Yan is an important propaganda document. It is in accordance with the meaning of King Chuang, using the tone of the words that Henan people are familiar with, asking nine questions to the people and persuading the people to do nine things. One of these nine questions is the question of why a small number of people have more land and are richer than princes, while many people are poor and have no place to stand? Second, why do the rich and wealthy families have a wide range of land, but they evade taxes in every possible way, and pass on taxes and excesses to the common people, and the court and government do not ask? Why did the court connive at the officers and soldiers to rape ** women everywhere, loot property, burn houses, kill good people and kill people? Fourth, why are the traitorous ministers in the court in charge, the eunuchs in charge, and the corruption and bribery rampant everywhere in the local area, so that the people are in dire straits and the emperor turns a deaf ear? Five questions: Why did the imperial court use the imperial examination, and the officials and eunuchs were either stupid and useless people who could not distinguish wheat and millet, or flattering villains who were inferior to dogs, while real talents and upright men and gentlemen did not have the way to enter the world? …… A series of nine questions were asked, including one that asked the emperors of the Ming Dynasty from generation to generation, Dafengzi and nephew, who were kings, occupied countless fertile fields across the country, rode on the heads of the people, and made a fortune, and in a few generations, how much land could be left in the country? These nine questions were asked with great pleasure and heart, and they deeply hit the maladministration of the time. followed by nine persuasions: one persuaded the people to hurry up and follow the king, not to pay grain, not to be poor, not to be the fish and meat of the government and the cattle and horses of the rich and powerful; Second, persuade the people to follow the king, suppress the officers and soldiers, fight the strong, and eliminate harm for the people; 3. Persuade the people to follow the king, kill corrupt officials, get rid of corrupt officials, severely punish illegal eunuchs, and avenge grievances; …… In the end, the persuasion was to persuade the people to follow King Chuang into Beijing, seize the country, and establish a politically clear and peaceful world. After Li Yan finished writing the manuscript, he invited Song Xiance to help him scrutinize and polish it slightly, and then presented it to King Chuang.

The reason why Li Zicheng asked Li Yan to draft is because he knows that Li Yan is very talented and learned, and he once wrote a famous "Song of Persuasion" in Qi County, and also because Li Yan is very clear about the shortcomings of the government and the suffering of the people. Sure enough, he was greatly satisfied with the draft of this "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" after reading it, and there were many sentences that made him recite it repeatedly and nod his head frequently. Niu Jinxing read the manuscript and praised it repeatedly, and said:

"The poems written by Bai Lotian are understood by the old woman. The "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" written by Lin Quan will definitely be sung everywhere among the people. ”

Hearing this, King Li Chuang immediately said to Li Qiang, the leader of his own soldiers: "Qiang, you call all the brothers in the courtyard to come in, and ask Li Gongzi to read it out and everyone listen." ”

Li Zicheng's personal soldiers all came in. There were also a large number of people standing inside and outside the threshold, they were some of the personal soldiers of Niu, Song and Li Yan. Wang Changshun, the head of the horse shed, was passing by the courtyard, and when he saw Li Qiang smiling and waving to him, he also hurriedly squeezed in. Everyone listened to Li Yan read the manuscript and nodded one after another. Li Yan asked, "Do you all understand?" The soldiers replied: "I can understand every word, it is all the common words of the common people, and they are also the words of the heart." Wang Changshun took a step forward and said:

"Alas, Li Gongzi, you write so well, every word of the song is asked to the hearts of the people, and you also persuade the idea. In the end, our King Li Chuang was born in the poor people, and he never forgot the poor people in his heart, and even the proclamation was only afraid that the people would not understand, and the more simple the writing, the better, which is like the official government issuing a proclamation is all Confucius's fart - the text is angry, for fear that the illiterate people can understand! ”

Li Qiang waved his hand because he still had to listen to Niu Jinxing continue to speak, so that the soldiers standing in the house and at the door retreated. King Chuang went to the toilet and left the house for a while. Wang Changshun did not immediately withdraw with others. He approached the square table, looked at the pile of books on the table for a while, touched it with his hand, nodded with a satisfied smile, and said to Niu Jinxing:

"Mr. Niu, it's rare that you have always come to our army, assisted King Chuang to fight the world, and also took the time to lecture for King Chuang. What is the truth of such a big book? ”

Niu Jinxing smiled and said to him because he was an old man who followed King Chuang: "This book is important!" The major events of the ancient court of the previous dynasty were written on it, which can be used as a reference for the holy monarchs and virtuous ministers to govern the country and the people, so this book is called "Zizhi Tongjian". ”

Wang Changshun shook his head, smiled, and said: "It's a pity that there is no book to speak for the poor people, and there is no book to teach the people how to rebel and how to fight the injustice in the world." That book should record the stories of many rebel heroes in ancient times, both men and women, and it is very moving to read, and it clearly describes how they succeeded and how they failed, so that future generations will know what to learn, which to precaution, and which to guard. If there is such a good book, you should tell us more about it! ”

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance were stunned, and then laughed, laughing at Wang Changshun's words in a strange and ignorant way, and it seemed to be a little interesting. Li Zicheng returned to the house in laughter, and did not ask them what they were laughing at, but quickly instructed Li Qiang to take the draft of "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" written by Li Yan and hand it over to the clerical staff in the camp to copy out dozens of copies in large characters overnight, so as to be ready to post them in Luoyang City and outside the city tomorrow. After listening to Niu Jinxing's lecture on "Tongjian", he sent someone to ride to Luoyang Xiguan to see if everything was ready to break Luoyang tonight.

Chapter 53

After dusk, Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi came to Luoyang Xiguan, and Li Guo and Zhang Nai came to Beiguan. The cavalry of Li Guo and Yuan Zongdi were converted into infantry, carrying ladders, and waiting in the courtyards of the houses outside the moat according to the climbing spots selected during the day. The crossbowmen and musketeers who were covering the climb stood on the slopes of the houses near the moats, and waited for an order to fire a salvo of thousands of bows, crossbows, and muskets at the head of the city. Zhang Nai's cavalry lined up on the streets of Xiguan and Beiguan, standing still, while he himself immediately looked at the head of the city and observed the movements of the officers and soldiers defending the city. Although they had been connected with the officers and soldiers in the city, and the officers and soldiers were willing to respond, the rebels outside the city were still ready to forcibly climb the city as a last resort.

At about the first watch, someone called out to the outside of the city at the head of the city north of the west gate: "Fellow, hard work! Want to go to Luoyang City to have fun? ”

Immediately someone on the roof outside the moat replied, "Fellow, you have worked hard. We are waiting to enter the city, and as soon as you open the door, we will go in. Fellow, work hard, open the city gates. ”

Jojo replied with a smile, "You think so beautifully!" We have to go into the palace and ask His Royal Highness King Fu. If he says he can open the gates, we will do so. If he wants to say that he can't open it, we have to listen to him. He took out a thousand taels of silver to reward us today, and the official got one tael and eight cents less, and everyone who served as a soldier got a little more than a penny, so why didn't he defend the city for him? Why don't you die for him? ”

Outside the city, there was laughter. For a moment, there was a lot of talk on the head of the city, and there was a lot of talk outside the moat. Immediately, someone outside the city affectionately called "fellow countryman" and said:

"I heard that King Fu's money is too much to count, more than the emperor's money. Why don't you ask him? Is the meat too fatty? Are you afraid of fish bones pricking your hands? ”

The city replied, "Hey, fellow, we want it, can he give it?" Although the silver money of the Fu Wang Ye is piled up, he still thinks that he has not scavenged enough miles from the common people! The palace is a dog× yamen, only entering and not leaving. We are still wearing national uniforms, what should we do? Wait and see. ”

Outside the city, he asked: "Fellow, listen to your accent is a Guanzhong accent, where are you?" ”

The city replied: "Don't dare, the small place name is Huayin." What is your location? ”

Chengxia replied: "Ah, we are still small fellow villagers!" I'm from Lintong, aren't I a fellow villager? ”

The city said happily: "Sure enough, it's a little fellow countryman!" Folks, folks, feel closer when you leave your hometown. Big brother, what is your surname? ”

Under the city: "The cheap surname is the king." What about you? ”

On the city: "Eighteen sons with cheap surnames." ”

Chengxia: "Ah, you and we are the prince's family!" ”

On the city: "Don't dare to climb high." But a Li character can't be broken, five hundred years ago it was one. ”

Chengxia: "Little fellow countryman, you eat food outside and become a soldier, how are you mixing the sun and the moon?" ”

On the city: "Those who are soldiers are not immortals, tigers, and dogs!" ”

Under the city: "How do you call gods, tigers, and dogs?" ”

On the city: "When you don't fight, you don't, you wander around, you're free, no one dares to care, isn't it a fairy?" When she sees the people, she will kill if she wants to kill, burn if she wants to, rob if she wants to rob, and when she sees the big girl and the little daughter-in-law, she will hold it in her arms, and she will not go in with a white knife, and the red knife will come out, but it is not more fierce than a tiger? Once you lose the battle, throw away your armor and run away, whoever sees it will rush and fight, isn't it like a dog with a tail between it? ”

Up and down the city, there was a burst of laughter. Then, someone in the city whispered a warning: "Lord Daotai is here, don't speak!" The Huayin man said nonchalantly: "Fuck it, Lao Tzu is not afraid now!" He doesn't pay Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu scolds a few words, see if he can bite Lao Tzu's urine! As soon as his words fell, someone next to him, apparently in support of him, deliberately said loudly:

"Now that King Li Chuang's army is besieging the city, it is difficult for them to protect their net worth as big officials, so they should also know the current affairs, kill and kill the prestige, don't fucking offend our little soldiers. Hades is ruthless, and Hugh blames the imps for being unjust! ”

Chengxia deliberately asked: "Fellow villagers, haven't you been paid for a few months?" ”

The Huayin man in the city replied mischievously: "Alas, the villagers in the city, listen! ……”

The city was about to use an allegro to tell the situation of the unpaid salaries of the officers and soldiers, when suddenly a group of people strode up in the moonlight, and one of them shouted to the soldiers to ask who was talking to the thieves outside the city, and threatened that if they dared to talk nonsense, they would be strictly investigated. The Huayin man boldly greeted him and said:

"Mistress Daotai, you've come just in time. Will we pay our arrears or not? ”

Wang Yinchang, the sub-inspector, replied sharply: "At present, the thieves are besieging the city, and everyone can only defend it together, is it the time to make noise to ask for wages?" After the thief retreats, are you still afraid that you will not be paid the arrears, and you will be rewarded according to your merits? ”

The Huayin people shouted loudly: "The words of the court and the government have always been regarded as farts, and we soldiers don't believe it at all." You will pay now, and if you don't pay, we will disperse in a hurry, and don't think that we will defend the city! Brothers, tonight you have to pay Wang Daotai, don't be afraid that the big officials will play prestige in front of us soldiers and oppress people with power! ”

There was a clamor for money at the head of the city, and many people ran to the place where the noise was, and some people squeezed out of the crowd and ran towards the north gate. The noisy soldiers wrapped Wang Yinchang and his retinue around the center, and moved towards the northwest corner of the city while cursing and threatening. Outside the West Gate, Yuan Zongdi looked at Liu Zongmin with a smile and said:

"We're going to town."

Zong Min replied with a smile: "It's almost time." Tell your brethren to speak with the city again, and prepare to carry the ladder to the city. ”

Outside the north gate, Li Guo and Zhang Nai immediately passed the north gate, at first they only heard the continuous laughter on the head of the west city and outside the city, and then heard the soldiers clamoring and walking towards the north city noisily, and there were people in the north city running, shouting, and some people shouted: "Make way for the master of the soldiers!" Move! Move! Another group of people hurried to the northwest corner, apparently the chief soldier Wang Shaoyu personally went to settle the dispute. Zhang Nai was impatient and whispered to Li Guo:

"Big brother, how about telling the brothers to climb the city by the ladder at this time?"

Li Guo calmly replied, "Don't worry, don't worry." Soon you will be able to enter the city without even a single arrow. ”

Zhang Nai said: "While the soldiers in the city are clamoring for payment, our brothers are flocking to the city, and no one in the city will resist. Wouldn't it be nice to get into town faster? ”

Li Guo listened to the noise in the northwest corner, paid attention to the movement in the city, and the corners of his mouth showed a hint of a smile, and replied nonchalantly: "It's soon, it's fast." You listen to the sound of the second watch gong in the city. It's probably almost the second watch, right? Probably soon. ”

Wang Shaoyu, the chief military officer, rode a horse to the northwest corner of the city surrounded by a group of pro-generals and soldiers. Due to his panic, nervousness, and old age and frailty, he was panting for air. The defenders of the west and north cities were all his own troops, and he received a report that it was his Zhenbiao pro-army who held Wang Yinchang and demanded wages. He wanted to take advantage of the critical opportunity that the soldiers had just made to rescue Wang Yinchang in person, so that things would not break up completely. When he walked into the crowd, he saw the mutineers twisting their arms and holding a large knife around his neck, and shouted to him to hurry up and take out the money and spare his life. Wang Yinchang was so frightened that his teeth chattered and he couldn't speak. Wang Shaoyu wanted to speak, but the soldiers were crowded and noisy, so that he did not have a chance to speak. The general of the Chinese army beside Wang Shaoyu shouted loudly: "The chief soldier has arrived!" Don't shout! Don't shout! Don't be unreasonable! Immediately one of the soldiers angrily retorted:

"Now King Li Chuang's men and horses are under the city. We waited to defend the city with all our strength, and we didn't remember our merits for hard work and hardship, and we didn't have our share in the promotion of meritorious service. If we want to let go, the destruction of the city has nothing to do with us! So far, even if he is the master? Soldier? ”

An officer was afraid that Wang Shaoyu would suffer a loss, so he pushed him and said: "This is not the time for the old soldier to speak, leave quickly!" ”

Some of Wang Shaoyu's own soldiers followed the crowd of soldiers, and some of them surrounded his mount and went down from the corner road to the city, and fled quickly. Someone raised a knife to kill Wang Yinchang, but was blocked by Wang's own soldiers and was seriously injured. The soldier was then killed by the mutineers, while the king himself was rescued from the left and right in the confusion and fled down the city. At this time, there was a gong sound of the second watch in the city, flying to the head of the city and outside the city. When the gong sounded on the second watch, I saw several mutineers on horseback galloping from the west city to the south city, and shouted at the same time: "King Chuang has entered the city!" The king has entered the city! "The defenders of the city ran wildly, some fled for their lives, and some rolled down the city in groups, rushing to the palace of King Fu to rob the treasure.

Seeing the murder at the head of the city, and at the same time hearing the sound of the second watch gong coming from the city, Yuan Zongdi and Li Guo ordered the soldiers to immediately use the ladder to enter the city. From the west city to the north city, at the same time, more than 30 cloud ladders were lifted over the dry moat in an instant, leaning against the city wall. The soldiers rushed to the city with great agility. The soldiers in front of them all put their broadswords in their mouths, so that if they need to cut down when they first go to the city, so as not to delay time by drawing their swords from their waists temporarily. After a few moments, the North Tower began to catch fire, and flames rose into the sky. As the fire started, a group of mutineers opened the north gate and shouted, "Come into the city!" Fast into town! Zhang Nai saw that the drawbridge had not yet been lowered, and the infantry of Li Guo were running densely in the trenches on both sides of the bridge, shouting, whistling, and swarming to climb the city. Fast! Fast! At this time, Li Zicheng sent a few personal soldiers Pegasus to the north gate and the west gate, and passed down the message: After the city is broken, all the current civil and military officials in the city, large and small, will not be killed or arrested unless they continue to lead the people to resist. King Chuang also sent an order to the soldiers who entered the city, and this military order should be known throughout the city. When the soldiers heard this, they were all surprised, and they couldn't understand why King Chuang was so tolerant. Although Zhang Nai didn't understand King Chuang's intentions, his troops were the main troops entering the city, so he immediately conveyed King Chuang's military order to the whole battalion. He heard chattering behind him, and turned back and said, "Don't speak!" Obey the military orders of King Chuang! "The suspension bridge in Beiguan has fallen. Zhang Nai knocked the stirrup, waved his sword at the same time, and ordered loudly: "Enter the city!" He first led his soldiers across the drawbridge and rushed into the city of urns. The castle tower was burning in flames, and from time to time flying tiles and burning wood fell. A piece of fire happened to fall from in front of Zhang Nai, almost hitting the horse's head. With a swing of his sword, he knocked aside the pieces of fire that had fallen in the air, turned around and shouted, "Quick! He himself rushed into the city first, and the cavalry followed behind him and galloped forward. Running to the crossroads, Zhang Nai waved his sword again and said loudly: "Separate!" So the cavalry separated, and the teams were led by the leaders to carry out the assigned task. He himself led three hundred cavalry and galloped towards the Fuwang Mansion.

When the soldiers began to ascend to the top of the city, Liu Zongmin sent people to Pegasus to report to King Chuang. It took a quarter of an hour for Simon to open the gates because the officer in charge of the key had fled and was looking for a hammer to smash the lock. Zhang Nai's cavalry, which remained in Xiguan to wait, entered the city first, filling the streets and alleys of the city. According to the prior agreement, only part of Yuan Zongdi and Li Guo's men and horses occupied the four gates of Luoyang and patrolled the city, and most of them remained outside the city. After Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi's cavalry entered the city, they brought a large group of personal soldiers into the city. After walking a short distance, at the intersection of the street, Li Shuangxi led a cavalry and about 200 infantry, hurriedly turning to the right. Liu Zongmin stopped him and asked:

"The south gate has been opened?"

Double Happiness replied, "The south gate and the east gate are open. As soon as the poor people in the city saw the fire at the north gate, they immediately dispersed the officers and soldiers, tied up the Luoyang magistrate, and opened the south gate. The east gate was opened by rebels from Tongguan, and the prefect was also caught by them. ”

Zong Min asked again: "How many of your men have come in?" ”

Shuangxi said: "I first brought in 200 cavalry and 500 infantry, and now I am guarding the front and back doors of the residences of civil and military officials, eunuchs, and wealthy people in the city. ”

Liu Zongmin waved his hand and let Shuangxi's people pass. Immediately, he and Yuan Zongdi came to the Xihua Gate of Fuwang's Mansion, and saw that there were already Zhang Nai's cavalry guards there, and two officers and soldiers who entered the mansion to rob were killed on the street. They dismounted and were about to enter the palace when they saw Li Guo coming out of it. Yuan Zongdi asked anxiously:

"Did King Fu catch it?"

Li Guo said: "Fuck, King Fu's father and son are running away!" ”

Zong Min asked, "Where is Zhang Nai?" ”

Li Guo said: "While he continued to search all over the palace, he arrested some eunuchs for interrogation. ”

The three of them were relatively speechless for a while, pondering how and where King Fu and his son could escape. At this moment, a small group of cavalry passed outside the Xihua Gate, and the last one was the small leader, holding the arrow of the king's order, and the first one was a big man with a loud voice. The big man struck the gong and shouted the message of King Chuang's An Min.

After this small group of cavalry passed, Li Guo hurriedly went out of the north gate to deploy the soldiers to search for King Fu's father and son, and hurriedly got on his horse and left. Yuan Zongdi also got on his horse and ran out of the west gate. Liu Zongmin walked into Xihuamen and wanted to find Zhang Nai to ask about the situation. However, as soon as you arrive in the palace, there are palaces and pavilions everywhere, curved corridors, and there are soldiers under Zhang Nai's men guarding the palace gates, and some people are hurrying around in the courtyard. Liu Zongmin didn't have time to look at the majestic buildings and luxurious furnishings in the palace of King Fu, so he stopped a small school that was searching, and asked angrily:

"Where's Nai?"

This little colonel saw that Liu Zongmin, the chief sentinel, was so angry that he was so frightened that he quickly lowered his hands and stood solemnly, and replied that Xiao Zhang Ye was interrogating the eunuch at Wangjing Gate. Liu Zongmin asked sharply again:

"What Wangjing Gate? Where is it? ”

"It's the back gate of Miyagi."

Zong Min scolded: "Damn, the back door is the back door, what Wangjing Gate!" Far from it? Where to go? ”

The colonel said, "There are more than a mile to go." The road in the palace courtyard is tortuous, and there are many portals. I sent someone to lead the way to the chief whistle Liu Ye, and it was closer to this Xiyong Road. ”

Liu Zongmin turned back to his soldiers and said, "Go to Xihua Gate and bring all the horses!" ”

The little colonel hurriedly said: "The horses rode outside the palace and detoured to the back door, but it was faster." Xiao Zhang Ye has an order, no matter who or the horse is, they are not allowed to enter the palace. ”

Liu Zongmin was stunned for a moment when he saw that this little colonel dared to say Zhang Nai's general order to prevent him from leading the horse into the palace, but he smiled in his heart in an instant, and secretly praised him: "Little Nai, this kid, it's okay." He gestured to the soldiers behind him and said:

"Don't go into the palace with horses, go and go around to the back door with a few brothers." He said to the colonel, "Tell someone to show me the way!" ”

Liu Zongmin followed the leading soldiers, led a group of personal soldiers, passed through a long alley, turned two corners, passed two or three gates, and saw a tall house, the door was locked with a big lock, and there were five or six brothers guarding the door. He inquired and knew that this place was called Xisanku, and it was full of fine silk and satin, all kinds of agate, jade, coral, jade, gold, silver, copper, lacquer antiques and all kinds of precious furnishings. There were three corpses lying nearby, dressed in officer uniforms. He continued to hurry forward, bypassing the side of the back garden, and saw some brothers with lanterns and torches looking up and down the rockery in the garden, in front of and behind the deer pen, and around the leopard house. The door of the deer pen had been opened, and several sika deer had rushed out of the enclosure and panicked through the trees. As soon as I passed through the garden, I passed through a white jade archway and arrived at the back gate of Miyagi. Li Jun, who was in charge of guarding the back gate of the palace, heard that Liu Zongmin was coming, so he hurried to meet him. Recently, Liu Zongmin has been familiar with him, and asked with a stern expression:

"Ziying, where is Zhang Nai?"

Li Jun replied: "Little Zhang Ye led a cavalry out of the city. ”

Zong Min asked, "Did you find any traces?" ”

Li Jun replied: "Just now, Xiao Zhang Ye interrogated a group of eunuchs, and knew that when the city was broken, King Fu's father and son, the old princess, and the little princess all changed their clothes, and were escorted by the eunuchs and a group of guards who were bribed with a lot of money, and went out to the city in three batches from this harem gate. It's just that the eunuchs left behind are not cronies and eunuchs, and they are not allowed to follow, so they don't know their traces after leaving the palace. Xiao Zhang Ye had already sent ten soldiers to search the city in the moonlight, and sent a team of cavalry to cut off the road to Mengjin to cross the river, and he himself escorted a few eunuchs out of the city. ”

Zong Min asked, "King Fu's wife and daughter-in-law have fled?" ”

Li Jun replied, "Yes." Taking advantage of the chaos, they all escaped from the palace. ”

Zong Min was furious, patted his waist knife and scolded: "Bastard! What do you generals do? Do you want to die? Why did you let King Fu's family escape through the back door? You said! Don't think I'm not going to kill you first! ”

Li Jun was very shocked when he saw Zong Min so angry, but he tried his best to stay calm and replied: "Please calm your anger, the blame for this matter is not me, nor is it on Xiao Zhangye." During the siege, I didn't expect the west gate to open late, so at first only more than 1,000 cavalry rushed in from the north gate. When they arrived at the intersection not far from the north gate, the soldiers and horses were divided into several groups, some went to occupy the bell tower, the drum tower and the important street entrance, some went to the important yamen, and some went to open the prison. Xiao Zhang Ye was afraid that the guards of the palace city would resist desperately, so he led three hundred cavalry straight to the noon gate, and I also went with him to attack the noon gate. Another 100 cavalry rushed to Donghua Gate, 100 cavalry rushed to Xihua Gate, and Li Michang led 100 cavalry to capture the Beijing Gate. I didn't expect that there were gates on the streets on the east and west sides of the harem gate, and the gate could not be passed. After laboriously cutting through the gate of the west gate, hundreds of rebels came down from the city, intending to enter the palace to rob, and some had already swarmed into the palace. They block the road outside the harem gates. The drink caused them to disperse, and they not only did not listen, but also confronted them with swords and spears. Li Michang had no choice, so he ordered to rush and kill, killing more than a dozen rebels on the spot, killing and wounding a lot, before the rebels were dispersed. When Xiao Zhang Ye and Li Michang entered the palace from the front and back, King Fu's father and son and the two princesses could no longer be found. ”

Liu Zongmin thought about it, his anger subsided for a while, and said: "Tell others to stay here, and you immediately bring more cavalry to help Zhang Nai find it." You pass on my words to Zhang Nai: If others run away, the old dog of King Fu will be found. I have escaped from King Fu, and I will tell King Chuang that I must cut off your heads! Waiting for Li Jun to agree, "Obey!" Turning around to leave, Zong Min stopped him again, took a step closer and lowered his voice and said, "Ziying, I don't treat you as a guest from Qi County now, but as a subordinate general of King Chuang." You have to understand that this Fu Wang, he is Chongzhen's own uncle, and the people are very angry. Why did we break Luoyang? King Chuang handed over the burden of capturing King Fu alive to Zhang Nai and a group of your generals, if you escape King Fu, how do you account to King Chuang? How to speak to the people of Henan? How to speak to the officers and men of the whole army? Ziying, although Zhang Nai grew up under the eyelids of King Chuang and me, his two elder brothers were killed with King Chuang, King Chuang and Mrs. Gao treated him as a son, you are Lin Quan's uncle and brother, Li Michang They have all made military exploits under King Chuang, and they fought hard to protect King Chuang in Tongguan Nanyuan, but if King Fu escaped tonight, it is not a trivial matter. The military law of the king has always been selfless, and my old Liu enforces the law like a mountain, you must not forget! ”

Listening to Liu Zongmin's words, Li Jun felt that the matter was indeed very serious, and he was deeply excited, and the wisp of grievance that had arisen in his heart just now had run to Java. He replied loudly: "Please rest assured, Chief Sentry Liu Ye!" Regardless of whether he blessed the king in heaven and on earth, we must arrest him and bring him to justice. The general sentinel's instructions were passed on to Xiao Zhang Ye every word. The king's military orders are strict, the rewards and punishments are selfless, the general outpost enforces the law like a mountain, and the last general does not dare to forget! ”

He turned around and strode out of the Wangjing Gate, handed over the matter of guarding the gate to a leader, left fifty cavalrymen, and took the cavalry he had led and the cavalry that came after the west gate was opened, four or five hundred people, all of them, and Pegasus went out of the city. Immediately, Liu Zongmin also walked out of the palace gate and saw that several of his personal soldiers had brought horses from Xihuamen. He looked at some dead bodies lying on the ground nearby, and the soldiers who had been severely injured in the corner**, and saw that there were already soldiers patrolling the head of the northern city not far away. He turned back to look at the soldiers gathered behind him, and said in a deep and majestic voice:

"Get on the horse!"

When he woke up in the morning, Li Zicheng's cold was generally cured. After breakfast, he was about to leave for the city, when three people from Ruzhou, a hundred and sixty miles away, came to Yuanmen to ask for an audience, accusing the state of Qian Zuo's crime of falsely accusing the people of being thieves and slaughtering good people. After Li Zicheng met with the people, it was already a long time, so he took Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and others on horseback and set off.

From last night to early this morning, Liu Zongmin had sent people to Pegasus three times to report to King Chuang, so he knew all about the important situation after the rebel army attacked Luoyang. The last colonel of Liu Zongmin's faction set out from Luoyang at the time of Maopai, reported the situation after entering the city to King Chuang, and asked King Chuang about the time when he entered the city, so that the generals and ordinary people could meet him outside the south gate. In the past, when he broke through a city, Li Zicheng often led his own soldiers and generals, wielding a sword in his hand in the shouting of killing, and rushed into the city gate with his siege troops; There were also one or two times when he entered the city later, but it was more casual, and after he entered the city, many people in the city did not know about it. Today is the first time since his uprising that he has changed the way he entered the city, so that the people of Luoyang can see the "kingly" spirit of "Fengtian advocating righteousness" and his military appearance. In addition to the original personal soldiers such as King Chuang and Niu, Song, etc., three hundred soldiers were specially selected from the Chinese military camp of Gongwei Guanling, all of whom were high-headed horses, neat armor, and each person had a white ash pole and red tasseled spear in addition to swords, bows and arrows. Before entering Henan, the troops often ran and fought on the rugged roads in the mountains, and it was inconvenient for the soldiers to carry long weapons, so they used knives, swords, bows, and arrows as the main weapons, just as people often said "fast horses and light knives". Since entering Henan, the geographical and military situation of the battle has changed, so a large number of spears have also appeared in Li Zicheng's troops. Now Li Zicheng is heading from Guanling to Luoyang, and at the front of the team are 300 cavalrymen armed with spears, marching in four quarters. Behind him, Niu Jinxing and others is a large group of pro-soldiers and generals. The barrel and head of the spear were of the same length, and the soldiers held the reins in their left hand and the gun in their right hand, and the tail of the spear was inserted into the iron ring mounted on the right side of the saddle, and the barrel of the spear was upright, so that in the early spring sun it looked like a very neat column of guns, which fluctuated with the movement of the horses. The sharpened spear head and scarlet gun tassel, as well as the silver spear that followed him, the white-maned banner of "Chuang" and the silver float of the red umbrella, were particularly dazzling in the sun.

At breakfast, Lijia struck a gong and preached: the people greeted King Chuang outside the south gate. Many people hate the palace and the government on weekdays, and regard King Li Chuang as a life-saver, and the second is curious, wishing to see what King Chuang is like earlier, and the third is that there are too many crowded people outside Nanguan, and there is simply no place to stay, so many people gather in groups, help the old and the young, and walk to the bank of the Luo River to wait to greet them. About three o'clock in the morning, the common people waiting on both sides of the Luo River let out a small exclamation: "Look, it's coming!" Here it comes! When the people saw King Chuang approaching, they all knelt on the ground, but they did not bow their heads and prostrate themselves as they did when they saw King Fu and the civil and military officials. They all heard that King Chuang was very benevolent, merciful to the people, and did not threaten people, so everyone raised their heads and watched as King Chuang's cavalry arrived. Just as the lancer arrived in front of him, someone on the ground whispered to his side:

"Which one is the king of Chuang? Which one is? Why didn't you see someone wearing a yellow dragon robe? ”

Someone on the ground next to him whispered: "Lord Chuang has not yet ascended to the pole, and he does not wear a yellow dragon robe." ”

"Should I have a yellow umbrella? Should there be a gourd, an axe, or a stirrup in front of you? ”

"Silence! It's coming, it's coming! ”

As usual, Li Zi wore a green cloth arrow jacket, a sheepskin cloak, and a half-worn white felt hat with red tassels on it, which the northern peasants liked to wear. He originally knew that the people of Luoyang and his generals were going to greet him outside the south gate of Luoyang, but he did not expect that hundreds of poor people would come to meet him on the north bank of the Luohe River. He also saw that on the small streets of the Luohe River and on both sides of the road leading to the Nanguan of Luoyang, people greeted him, and incense tables were placed for him every short distance, and hot tea barrels and porridge barrels were prepared for his soldiers. His men and horses kept along the road, slowly moving forward. King Chuang kept looking at the welcoming people on both sides of the road, and in order not to make the people afraid, he put a gentle smile on his face. After years of fighting, ups and downs, and setbacks, he couldn't help but feel excited when he triumphantly walked into Luoyang, the famous city that was once the capital of the Nine Dynasties, and the people of Luoyang welcomed him so on the side of the road.

About two or three miles away from the Luoyang City Gate, Li Shuangxi and Zhang Nai's Pegasus came to greet them, while Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, Li Guo and a large group of generals were all waiting outside Nanguan immediately. Surrounded by the generals, Li Zicheng passed through Nanguan and saw that all the shops were open, with incense cases in front of them, and the word "Shun" written on yellow paper was pasted on the door, or the word "Shunmin" was written on the door, and most of the hats of the people kneeling on both sides of the road to greet him were also pasted with the word "Shun". In the past two or three years, he sometimes thought that he would win the country and establish a new dynasty in the future, but he did not think about what country name he would use in the future. At this moment, the three words "Dashun Dynasty" flashed out of his mind, and at the same time he thought of the idiom "Ying Tianshun people". But he didn't have a chance to think about it, and he had already come to the south gate of Luoyang. He glanced up and saw that the city wall was very high, the city tower was towering, and there was a bluestone plaque on the city gate hole, which was engraved with three big characters of "Changxia Gate". As soon as he saw these three big words, his oolong horse had already entered the city gate hole.

Liu Zongmin and others took King Chuang into the Daotai Yamen. This is where Liu Zongmin temporarily lived, presiding over the military and politics of the whole city here. Before King Li Chuang left Guanling, he already knew that King Fu and Lu Weiqi were both caught at dawn. After King Fu took two or three henchmen and eunuchs out of the city, he hid in the Ying'en Temple in the eastern suburbs, and was seen by the people nearby, reported to Zhang Nai, and caught him; Lu Weiqi was about to escape from the city, but was caught by Zhang Nai's soldiers at the head of the north city. King Chuang looked at Zhang Nai and asked:

"Zhu Yousong, the son of King Fu, as well as the old princess and the little princess, how did they escape?"

Zhang Nai was very frightened, and quickly replied: "Now it has been ascertained that the prince of Fuwang was not with him Laozi, he hid in Anguo Temple in advance, and after leaving the city, he was carried by escorted guards and fled to a small village called Miao Jiahai, where he was seen by our patrol brothers. As the brothers were about to catch him, they snatched a horse from the common people's houses, mounted them and fled. The brothers did not know who he was, so they did not pursue him. After dawn, he caught a person escorting him in a mass graveyard at the foot of the mountain, and learned that he was the prince of King Fu. The old princess and the little princess also fled in the chaos, and their whereabouts have not yet been found. I didn't catch the prince of Fu Wang, please Chuang Wang punished him severely. ”

King Chuang was silent for a moment and said, "As long as the main culprit of King Fu is caught, it will be forgotten." Now that order is in place in the city, you will return Li Gongzi's hundreds of cavalry to him. He is ready this afternoon, and from tomorrow onwards, he will preside over the relief of the hungry people in Luoyang in three places. He turned to Liu Zongmin: "How many people did the army kill after entering Luoyang?" ”

Zong Min said: "Several people were killed in the city, and some were killed by random soldiers. More than 30 people died in the palace and outside the palace gate. When the rebels went in, they killed some people, and some of them gave us the Dharma on the spot. ”

King Chuang nodded, and asked again: "What did the people say when they saw that Lu Weiqi was caught?" ”

Zong Min said: "I asked some maids and servants in his family, as well as some neighbors, and knew that Lu Weiqi did connive at the slaves and evil servants to oppress the people, and the people of Luoyang dared not speak out. When he was caught, the people applauded. ”

King Chuang turned to Niu Jinxing and asked, "Look, is Lu Weiqi willing to surrender?" ”

Niu Jinxing no longer dared to reveal the idea of saving Lu Weiqi, and replied: "Lu Weiqi was once a minister of the imperial court, and he pretended to be a science, so he must not surrender." Since it is the biting hatred of the small people, kill it. ”

Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo all smiled at the same time and said, "What Mr. Niu said is that it's okay to kill it." Song Xiance and Li Yan also nodded together. Li Zicheng saw that the civil and military were unanimous, he was happy in his heart, smiled and nodded, and asked:

"Have any of the current civil and military officials in Luoyang escaped?"

Zong Min replied: "All the current civil and military officials, big and small, have not escaped, and they are all detained in their respective homes to be dealt with. ”

King Chuang asked Shuangxi about the raid on the Fuwang Mansion and the major eunuchs, and then turned the topic to how to give relief and how to expand the troops. After lunch, he left Li Yan at the Daotai Yamen to prepare for the relief, and then left the Daotai Yamen with Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Yuan Zongdi.

At this time, a large number of people were crowding to look at the newly posted "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" on the wall, and everywhere the "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" were posted on the street, there were piles of people crowded to read. Some people can't help but mumble out loud when they watch, while others amplify their voices a little and intentionally read them to others. In every place there were many poor people who were illiterate or very illiterate, and they crowded into the piles not to see, but to listen, and to go back and relay the gist to their neighbors and families. There is an old man named Li Sanjing, and people call him Li Sanye. He was originally a small landowner, most of the land was occupied by the palace, and his life was difficult, but he could not do anything else, and spent most of his day in a teahouse for many years. He was very illiterate, and whenever a new notice was posted at the government and county yamen, he would quickly crowd into the crowd, pretending to read the notice, but in fact he listened to others read the notice, memorized it in his heart, and then went to the teahouse to talk about it. The young people in the neighborhood mostly knew that he was not very literate, and when they saw that he had just squeezed into the crowd, sometimes raising his head, sometimes lowering his head, pretending to move his eyes up and down with the lines of words on the notice, they deliberately asked him: "Li Sanye, what is written on this notice?" Without hesitation, he replied, "Great! Terrible! Li Sanjing was not wrong, because nine times out of ten, the government's proclamation was either to urge food and donations, or to declare martial law and various prohibitions, or to behead criminals. In the inner city of Luoyang, there is a popular saying after the break, Henan people call it "inlay", saying: "Li Sanye looks at the notice - amazing!" Now Li Sanjing's hat is pasted with the word "Shun", and he squeezes into the crowd with a feeling of anxiety, paying attention to the proclamation and listening carefully. A stranger asked from behind, "Sir, what does King Li Chuang's notice say?" Li Sanjing replied casually: "Amazing!" Terrible! After a while, he had already listened to the full text of "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" twice, and those questions that exposed the occupation of the palace were particularly to his liking. When another stranger asked him from behind, he blurted out, "Happy!" Joyfully! But he immediately understood that he had lost his words, and was afraid that after the king's men and horses left Luoyang, he would cause trouble because of this answer, so he quickly changed his words and said: "I can't say it, I can't say it!" With excitement, I squeezed out of the crowd.

King Li Chuang and his party walked to the Fuwang Palace, and the soldiers led the war horses to walk behind. When they came to the front of the palace, they saw that the "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" were also posted on the palace wall, and there were more people crowded to see it, and some people could not squeeze in, so they had to stand behind the crowd, tiptoe, stretch their necks, and look forward from the people's heads or between the heads and their heads. Some of the people who listened couldn't stop nodding, and some couldn't help but whisper, "Okay! Good! Well said! When the people saw King Chuang and others approaching, they turned and stood silent before them, and watched them pass. This situation is also unprecedented in Luoyang City. In the past, if the prince went out of the palace, he had to clear the quiet street in advance, and no idlers were allowed to peep; If people on the street can't avoid it, they have to fall on their knees on the side of the street and not look up. If the governor comes to Luoyang, the street has to be quiet, kneeling to greet him, in front of the governor's eight-carrying sedan chair walked guards, honor guards, and carried incense burners, in which sandalwood was burned, and some people sounded gongs and shouted. Even if it is a small Luoyang Zhixian on the street, but also sit in a four-person sedan chair, there is a group of officials in front of the hug, there is a person holding a green cloth umbrella (as a guard of honor) to walk in front of the sedan chair, and running in the front of the two officials holding the tiger head card, a card is written "avoid", a card is written "quiet", in front of the tiger head card there is also a government officer running while playing gongs, while shouting, so that the people walking around the street quickly to the street to avoid. Now the people see that King Li Chuang is a different person: he is frugally dressed, walks casually, and has no wolf-like soldiers hugging him in front of him, nor shouting gongs and shouting, dispersing the people on the street, and sometimes looking at the people with a smile, clearly telling everyone not to be afraid. After King Chuang and his party entered the palace of King Fu, a white-bearded old man who heard people read "Nine Questions and Nine Persuasions" couldn't help but sigh and said:

"I've lived for more than seventy years, and it's the first time I've seen a commoner king like this!"

Fuwang Palace is an expansion and reconstruction of the original Yiwang Palace, which occupies almost one-third of a Luoyang City. Li Zicheng only walked half of the palace and saw that there were carved beams and paintings everywhere, which were brilliant and splendid, and sighed to Niu Jinxing and others and said:

"You see, there are many pavilions and pavilions in this palace, and the money spent on a single house and furnishings in it will cost thousands of families. How much money should it cost to build all the Fuwang Mansion? How much human power should be wasted? How many people should be bankrupt? How many artisans and folk men were tortured to death? Damn, their Zhu family has dozens of palaces across the country, and this alone will make people's hearts scattered and people's grievances boiling! ”

Li Zicheng got out of the splendid Fuwang Mansion and went to the Zhou Gong Temple. Afterwards, the people were surprised to learn that King Li Chuang refused to stay in the palace and set up his line in the Zhou Gong Temple, and also increased their admiration for King Chuang.

Li Zicheng took Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, Niu and Song to the Zhou Gong Temple, and immediately discussed the matter of killing the Fu King tomorrow, and decided that King Chuang would personally interrogate him in the Ying'en Hall of the Fu King Palace tomorrow, and then push out the West Gate of Luoyang to behead him, send Li Guojian to behead, and decided that Niu Jinxing would prepare a notice for the execution of the Fu King tonight, so that it could be posted everywhere inside and outside Luoyang City tomorrow morning. After discussing the matter, King Chuang asked Zong Min:

"Did you ask after Lu Weiqi caught it?"

Zong Min said: "I'm so busy today that I don't even have time to fart, and I haven't interrogated this old dog yet." ”

King Chuang asked again: "After Zhang Nai caught him, did he say anything?" ”

Zong Min said: "I heard Zhang Nai tell me that when the day dawned, he was escorted from the north city wall to the Zhou Gong Temple, and met King Fu on the West Street, and he shouted: 'King! Death and life are life, and the gang is always the most important, anyway, it is death, don't succumb to the thief! But the old dog of King Fu was so frightened that he was so frightened that he could barely walk, but he looked up at him, and he didn't hear what he said at all! ”

King Chuang looked at Niu and Song and asked, "Look, when will Lu Weiqi be executed?" ”

Because of the question of King Chuang, Jin Xing moved the idea of saving Lu Weiqi again, and said: "Lu Weiqi is still ...... in the sea."

Zong Min immediately intercepted and said, "Bullshit! It's just that he is wearing the skin of a Taoist master, and his fox group and dog party touts him, and some people don't know the details and are coaxed. Just ask the people of Li in Luoyang, which one is really angry with him in his heart? Their Lu family, relying on the power to bully others, and harm the people, who doesn't know? Not to mention that none of the people was angry with him, not even among his many servants and servants who were of the same heart as him. When the brothers found him in Beichenggen, his servants and servants left him and scattered him without a single one. He couldn't run, so he had to crouch in the dead grass and wait to be caught. There is a wrong, and there is a debtor. Cut down trees, and cut down the big ones. He is the top eunuch in Luoyang, the top local tyrant and inferior gentry, and the general backer of many local tyrants and inferior gentry. If you don't kill him, who will you kill? ”

King Chuang said: "Lu Weiqi must be killed." I'm asking when they will be executed. ”

Zong Min said: "Kill now, lest someone in Luoyang intercede for him in the future." Kill Lu Weiqi's dog today, kill Fuwang's dog tomorrow, and let the people of Luoyang get angry. ”

King Chuang looked at Niu Jinxing: "Who is arraigned?" Is Qidong hosting? ”

Jin Xing was afraid of killing Lu Weiqi, so he hurriedly said: "Lu Weiqi is the outgoing secretary of the military department, and he is also the king of Heluo, so it is naturally appropriate for King Chuang to sit in the court and interrogate him." ”

Yuan Zongdi shook his head and said: "Today's King Chuang's prestige is different from the past, and there is no need to personally interrogate this old dog to execute it. If Mr. Niu is unwilling to preside, I think Brother Jie Xuan is the best to sit in the court. ”

Zong Min did not hesitate and said, "Okay, leave this little matter to me." ”

Zong Di said: "He told King Fu not to bow his knees to us, probably he will not kneel to you, and will scold." You have to be prepared to be tortured. ”

Zong Min glared at him and said, "How dare he?" If he dares, Lao Tzu will have a way to call him honest! ”

After a while, Lu Weiqi was taken out of the cell and escorted into the second gate of the Zhou Gong Temple. The first thing he saw was a square table under the canopy in front of the main hall, and behind the table sat a murderous man who looked at him angrily. He guessed that this must be Li Zicheng personally interrogating him, and he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine. In front of the eaves, there were two rows of samurai, one color holding a bright and swaying broadsword, silent and silent. He was even more afraid, but he did not forget Confucius's ancient admonition to "kill oneself to become benevolent", and tried his best to keep himself calm. Because there is a considerable distance from the second gate to the front of the main hall, he has a lot of opportunities to think crankily, and suddenly thinks about how to be unyielding, how to be generous, and suddenly regrets that he should not stay in Luoyang to guard the city, so that he has today. Occasionally, he looked up at the middle of the hall hanging high in the vermilion lacquer gold plaque "Rites and Music Vertical System", and suddenly remembered that a month ago he had agreed with the Luoyang official gentleman doctor that he would preside over the spring ceremony of Zhou Gong in February, when everyone who participated in the grand event gave a copy of his book "The Original Meaning of Filial Piety", in order to teach loyalty and persuasion of filial piety, save the world from decline, but the situation changed so rapidly, the vicissitudes of life! He had just sighed in his heart and said, "It's over! Finished! He had been escorted to the front steps of the main hall and stopped, and was ordered to kneel. He refused to kneel, still remembering that he was a minister of the Ming Dynasty and could not bend his knees to the "thief". But the samurai on the left and right shouted again and again, which made his heart tremble, and his legs trembled, and he did not dare to look at the swaying swords and swords, let alone look at the majestic expression of the man sitting on the chair. He kept his head down, but he didn't kneel. Seeing that he would not kneel, the soldiers slammed his head and kicked him in the belly of the leg, shouting "Kneel!" Lu Weiqi knelt on his knees and leaned down, but he still encouraged himself in his heart and said:

"I am a minister of the imperial court, a Confucian in science, and a ...... of the most important in the program."

Liu Zongmin asked sharply: "Lu Weiqi! You have been an official and lecturer all your life. As an official, he oppressed the people, and lectured and deceived the people. Today you were caught by Lao Tzu and died in an instant. You exploited the poor in the Luoyang area, oppressed the small people, committed heinous crimes, and died innocently. These sins of yours are ironcladly proven, and Lao Tzu does not need to be interrogated today. Lao Tzu was born as a blacksmith and is a big boss, I want to ask you, why did you throw away the black gauze hat of the military department in Nanjing, return to Luoyang, and set up a society to give lectures? Do you want to earn a good reputation for lecturing and hide all the sins of you and your family? Do you want to raise your worth, become a big official in the imperial court, and help Chongzhen suppress the people of the whole country? Hurry up and confess from the truth, don't spit out! Tell the truth, Lao Tzu will not make you suffer. Otherwise, I'll see if Lao Tzu will skin you alive! ”

Lu Weiqi said in a trembling voice: "The old man lectures only to pass on the way of Confucius and Mencius, to correct people's hearts, turn the tide of decadence, and revitalize the discipline and ......."

Liu Zongmin didn't wait for him to finish, smiled coldly, and said with a mockery: "I have lived for more than thirty years, and I have traveled all over the province, but I have not seen what the 'Dao' you often say in your mouth looks like, what color, how light and heavy, and how much it is worth a catty. The old owls in the world are as black as ever, all of them are strong bullying the weak, the rich bullying the poor; The gentry were reckless, and the people suffered; The mouth is benevolent, righteous and moral, and the man steals and prostitutes. I don't even see where your word is! ”

Lu Weiqi raised his head and retorted: "No, no." Those who endure forever and do not destroy the world only endure for this way. The existence of this way is the reason why people's hearts are immortal. Recently, thieves have been everywhere ......"

Zong Min slapped the table and shouted, "Shut up! You are not allowed to say 'thief' again! Say the word 'thief' again, and Lao Tzu will immediately pull out your tongue! ”

Lu Weiqi trembled and stopped making a sound. Before he was brought out of the cell for interrogation, he had repeatedly thought about how to not bend his knees in front of Li Zicheng, not lose his moderation, and not lose his minister's dignity, so as to leave a good reputation in the history of "scolding thieves and dying". In order to encourage himself, he once recited Wen Tianxiang's "Song of Righteousness" in his heart. For decades, he has liked some sentences of "Song of Righteousness" very much, such as "For Zhang Suiyang's teeth, for Yan Changshan's tongue"; Another example is "Kong said to be benevolent, Meng said to take righteousness, and now and in the future, Shu is almost worthy of it". So far, none of this has helped him. He understood that he should not kneel on the ground, but should jump up and scold the "thief", rather than knock out his teeth, cut out his tongue, and curse endlessly until he died, "kill himself to become a benevolent", and establish "the righteousness of heaven and earth". However, the swords and swords around him, and the majestic look, made him weak and lost the courage to jump up and scold. Liu Zongmin glared at him for a moment, snorted hatefully, and scolded:

"You bastard is full of poetry and books, what a ** famous Confucian, but you know a dick in the real truth! Hundreds of people, forced to helpless, rose up and rebelled with King Chuang. If you can't survive, you can rebel, which is natural and reasonable. The purpose of our king is to fight the rich and help the poor, and open a warehouse to relieve the hungry; kill corrupt officials and local tyrants and gentry to avenge the people's grievances; exempt from money and food, suppress soldiers and reassure the people; bought and sold to the people, and there was no crime in autumn; Later, he entered Beijing and rebuilt the Taiping world. This is the destiny of heaven and the hearts of the people. Do you say we are thieves? Fuck your fart! Our rebellion is an uprising, and our army is a righteous army, a heavenly soldier. Everywhere our King Li Chuang went, the common people welcomed him, saying that the savior had arrived. Our King Li Chuang is today's sage, that is, Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang who you scholars admire the most. It's just that you scholars don't repent when you die, you only know how to be loyal to you and you, but you don't know today's Tang and Wu, and you scold today's great sages as 'thieves'. Lu Weiqi, you say, which of our actions is not 10,000 times stronger than your Chongzhen? Bah! From the emperor and the vassal king, down to the civil and military officials, the squires, and the local tyrants, and even the eunuchs like you, who are dressed in Taoist skins, will only suck the people's fat and ointment, knock the people, and make the sky and the sun, the world is not like the world, crying everywhere, everyone resents, men cannot plow, women cannot weave, sell children and daughters, and die and die...... You're fucking thieves, cannibalistic wolves. Lao Tzu asks you: How much land does your family occupy in Luoyang and Xin'an counties? ”

It was the first time in his life that Lu Weiqi was reprimanded and insulted like this, but he didn't dare to scold back, but replied stubbornly: "Although my family has two or three hundred hectares of land, it is either left by my ancestors or bought by modern generations. ”

Liu Zongmin asked: "Your ancestors farmed?" Or is it a craftsman's craft? ”

Lu Weiqi replied: "The old husband has been ancestors for ten generations, and they all have cultivated and read heirlooms. ”

Liu Zongmin asked: "Farming your own fields?" ”

Lu Weiqi replied: "Although I don't personally lead the oxen and plow, but running agriculture is also called farming. Since ancient times, there has been a difference between hard work and hard work, and a gentleman and a villain. Therefore, Fan Chi asked the grain, and the master called him a villain. Morning glory is the business of the villain, which should be done by the tenants of the village, not the owner of the field. "Poetry" cloud: 'Dumplings in the south of the mu, the fields are happy. This field is the farmer who manages the cultivation of the villain. In later generations, the abandoned well fields were turned into private land, and the landlords were also ancient agricultural officials, teaching farming and weaving, so that the tenant farmers could not be hungry and cold, what was the sin? ”

Liu Zongmin tried his best to endure it, and asked with a sneer: "Have you ever gone to the ground yourself?" Do you have a crush on your hands? ”

Lu Weiqi replied: "The old man reads when he is young, and he is strong." He was loyal to his father, and he wrote books and lectures to promote the way of Confucius and Mencius. A lifetime of standing in the world, worthy of the heart. Today's misfortune has fallen into your hands, and if you want to kill, don't ask more. ”

Liu Zongmin slapped the table, jumped up, lifted his right foot and stepped on the table, and pointed at Lu Weiqi's face with two fingers, which frightened Lu Weiqi to quickly lower his head. Zong Min pointed to the top of his head and said loudly:

"Old dog! I'm going to kill you now, out of the wrath of the people. Do you know that your sins are heinous? ”

Lu Weiqi knew that he was about to die, so he dared to say, "I know." First, I am a minister of the imperial court; Second, I am a disciple of a saint, and I have written books and lectures all my life, preaching benevolence and righteousness, and teaching loyalty and filial piety. There are these two crimes, so they should be killed. ”

Zong Min snorted, spit on Lu Weiqi's head across the table, and scolded: "Old dog! Listen with your dog ears! Your Lu family has been rich and powerful for several generations, and you have always fished and fleshed the villagers and harmed the locality. You use heavy rents and usurious interest to exploit the small people, occupy people's land, and force people to die. Because the officials guarded each other, the government and county officials did not dare to ask, nor did they want to ask, so that the victims' families sank to the bottom of the sea and had nowhere to stretch out the snow. Since King Li Chuang came to Henan Prefecture, the people have rushed to the rebels to accuse your family of sins. You said that you preached benevolence and righteousness for Confucius in your life, taught loyalty and filial piety, talked about people, did ghost things, and recited 'Amitabha' in the mouth of a hungry tiger. You have hundreds of tenants, who work hard all year round, and the cattle and horses you eat and the pigs and dogs you eat are hard to eat for 360 days a year. When the spring famine arrives, many adults and children go out to beg for food, and many people kowtow to your family and borrow money and food. Your family puts green wheat accounts every year, as usual, small buckets out, big buckets in, and usury exploitation. The more green and yellow it is, the more critical it is, the higher the profit. If you are unable to repay after the wheat harvest, your family will first make a dozen calculations, transfer money, and turn profits into costs, and regenerate profits, like a donkey rolling around. The poor family has died and the cattle have died, and your family has also interceded to borrow the debt of Hades. I don't know how many poor families can't pay off your family's green wheat account and Hades debt, some people hang themselves and throw themselves into the cliff, some go to prison, some sell their wives, sell their sons and daughters, and their wives are separated. This, this, this is the teaching of your saints, the way of righteousness, the way of loyalty and forgiveness! In your house, there is an account room under the general manager, and there are more than a dozen village leaders, and under each village head there are account leaders who collect rent from tenants, and men who are big and small in charge of the scales, and there are errand runners, all of whom are scoundrels. This group of minions raised by your family is like tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves, and like judges who urge their lives, and they are cruel to the poor, extortion, and adulterous wives and daughters. You indulge them in managing hundreds of acres of land and abusing the poor, this is the benevolence and righteousness that Confucius taught you! Tenants not only pay 50% of the rent, but also give gifts to your family according to the rules during the New Year's holidays. When you meet your family and the head of the house, you have to give gifts. Your family needs manpower at any time, no matter who you call, whoever has to come, do the work for your family, and don't want your family to do a penny. Last spring, your family built more than 50 high-rise buildings in Xin'an and Luoyang, and in addition to hiring ten master carpenters, didn't it all rely on tenants to work for your family in vain? From debilitating and burning bricks, to building wall tiles, ironwood workers, and transporting materials, tens of thousands of workers were used, not counting carts and cattle. Your family didn't spend a single salary. This is the benevolence, righteousness and morality that you Lu Weiqi old bastard keeps talking about! ”

Lu Weiqi argued: "The sage cloud: 'There is no gentleman to govern the savage, and no savage man to raise the gentleman. 'It is a matter of course, since ancient times. Besides......"

Liu Zongmin intercepted and said, "The tenants are savages? You're a fucking cannibal! Fart your ancestors for eight generations! ”

Lu Weiqi already knew that the person who interrogated him was probably Liu Zongmin, and thought in his heart: "I am a dignified minister of the imperial court, and I actually kneel in front of the thief generals under Li Zicheng!" He was afraid of hardship and didn't dare not kneel, but after listening to Liu Zongmin's angry reprimand, he was unwilling. Knowing that he was certain to die, he summoned up the courage to defend himself and said:

"The old man unfortunately fell into your hands today, and he has long put life and death out of the way. Soldiers can be killed, not humiliated, please don't abuse the old man. In addition, the old man built a house last year just when there was a spring famine, and the old man was in a big year, so he asked the tenants to work hard so that they would not die of starvation, nor would they go out to flee the famine, be displaced, do evil, and violate the law of the country, which also came from the old man's benevolence. As for asking tenants to do their work without paying wages, this has been the case since ancient times, is it an exception for the old man? A month ago, the old man gave more than 200 stones of private food to help the hungry people in Luoyang. ”

Liu Zongmin sneered with his nostrils and said, "Fuck! You are dressed in the skin of a famous Confucian in science, and your belly is full of crooked reasoning. exploit the poor, and ask others to build houses for you. Your family lives in high-rise buildings, painted carved beams, and people live in thatched hermitage huts, not sheltered from wind and rain, and say that it is your benevolence! How do you say that? What a damn one! Lao Tzu knows that you took out more than 200 stones of moldy grains last month to help the hungry, what kind of heart do you use, don't you understand? You see that our righteous army is huge, Luoyang is very tight, afraid that the righteous army will attack the city when the hungry people respond, so you first ask King Fu to give money and grain to relieve hunger, seeing that he is not pulling out a dime, you have no choice but to take out more than 200 stones of grain in your own warehouse for relief, want to use this moldy old grain one in the big households to advocate, the other is to buy the hearts of the poor in Luoyang, to keep Luoyang from breaking. In the past, you didn't give it away, why didn't you give it until the situation was urgent? Your family has been exploiting the small people for several generations, and when it comes to the knife, you want to take out more than 200 stone miscellaneous grains to deceive the hungry people in Luoyang City, and use it as money to buy your life, okay? I really plan to! Zong Min slapped the table, his beard was so angry that he shouted, "Lu Weiqi!" Do you say yes and no? It's really coming! ”

Lu Weiqi bowed his head and was silent, with a cold sweat on his back. Liu Zongmin had no intention of waiting for Lu Weiqi to confess, and was about to announce the verdict, when suddenly a heart-rending cry of injustice came from the second door:

"Master General...... The small people are wronged! ”

Liu Zongmin looked at the second door and whispered to the left and right: "Bring the unjust person!" ”

In a moment, an old woman with tattered clothes, a hungry face, and gray sideburns was brought to Danqi, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed and cried out: "General, Xiaomin has been unjustly sunk to the bottom of the sea for two years, and there is nowhere to accuse. I beg the general to be the master of the people, and avenge me, a lonely and widowed bitter old woman! ”

Zong Min asked, "What are you wronged?" ”

The old woman cried in a trembling voice: "My family has cultivated the land of Lu Mansion for three generations, and lives on the Beibi Mountain, not far from the Yellow River. More than a dozen families in my village are all tenants of Lu Mansion, making cattle and horses for Lu Mansion. Two years ago, in the winter weather, Lu Fu went to my village and said that the wife of Lu Shangshu's family suddenly wanted to eat fresh Yellow River carp, which was not sold on the street. Shangshu asked us villagers to open the Yellow River Ice Cube, catch dozens of carp, and send them to the house. My son fell under the ice and drowned, his father was frostbitten, and went to the Lu Mansion to beg for a reward for the coffin, and a reward of silver for the funeral, and was scolded by the Lu Mansion housekeeper for the old debts, and reluctantly rewarded five taels of silver, and said that this was the immeasurable kindness of the Lu Mansion. His father sulked and cried for his son, and he couldn't afford to fall ill and died unjustly. I begged for food and went into the city to accuse Lu Fu of killing the people. Helplessly, the Lu Mansion was powerful, and the government and county officials refused to take care of it, making the small people cry and have no way. General, I beg you to hang the mirror high, see the suffering of the people, and ask Lu Weiqi to pay for my son's life and my child's father's life. Even if I die in the underworld, I will not forget your great kindness. Ask the general to avenge the small people! ”

Liu Zongmin gritted his teeth in anger and asked Lu Weiqi: "Old thief! Do you think there is such a thing? ”

Lu Weiqi prevaricated and said: "This is what the family did, and the old man has also heard about it." ”

"Shit! You just heard about it, too? You want to honor your mother and eat Yellow River carp in freezing weather, is there such a thing? ”

"This matter is true, it was the old man's filial piety, but I didn't expect someone to fall into the water......"

Zong Min slammed the table: "Bullshit! How can you fall into the water if you don't open the ice cube to catch fish? So in the cold weather, if you want to practice filial piety, why don't you go to break the ice and catch fish yourself? ”

"The old man is a scholar and an official, and he will not open the ice of the Yellow River."

"Isn't there Wang Xiang lying on the "Twenty-four Filial Pieties" made up by you readers? If you want to practice filial piety, why don't you go to the Yellow River to lie on the ice? ”

“……”

At the second gate, several people shouted grievances one after another, and their voices pierced people's lungs. Liu Zongmin ordered all the people who shouted grievances to be let in, and in an instant they knelt on the Danqi. One after another, they accused the Lu Mansion of its crimes, and some of them were appalling. Liu Zongmin did not wait for the accusation to be finished, and said to the people:

"I am also a person who suffered, and I fully understand that you are suffering from Lu Weiqi's family, and there is no lie. On the orders of King Chuang, I sentenced Lu Weiqi to death today, confiscated his family property, and all the fields belonged to the tenants and poor villagers to cultivate and feed themselves. He turned to Lu Weiqi and announced, "Lu Weiqi! Your old dog has a lot of blood debts, and his crimes are heinous, and he should have been executed in Lingchi, but if you are not long in Luoyang, you will be sentenced to a lenient sentence and executed immediately! He looked to the left and right and shouted, "Axeman!" Push this old dog out and decapitate it! If he dared to scold before he died, he would have slashed ten more times, and slashed ten times more. Slash! ”

Lu Weiqi was immediately dragged up from the ground by two soldiers, stripped off his coat, tied up with flowers, and planted a death flag on the back of his neck that had just been prepared by the camp clerk. He didn't dare to curse, and trembled more and more, but tried his best to keep his composure and encourage himself not to make a fool of himself. When he was about to be pushed down the steps, he heard Liu Zongmin call him around again, his voice was not as angry as a tiger's roar just now, and his heart couldn't help flashing: "Don't you kill me?" Liu Zongmin waited for him to be brought back to the front and said in a depressed tone:

"Lu Weiqi, you are a Jinshi and a great Confucian, and I, Liu Zongmin, am from an iron background, and I don't know more than two oxcarts in Douda. But before I take you to the execution ground, I have a few more words to teach you. I heard that you lectured very heavily on the Book of Filial Piety, and you also wrote a book to present to Chongzhen. Every year, I don't know how many parents in the world starve to death, freeze to death, are killed by the official army, are bullied to death by large households, are brutalized to death by the government, leaving orphans and abandoned daughters, to whom do filial piety? Thousands of Li people have no clothes and no food, how can they practice filial piety? Your slaves and maids are in groups, and they respond to every call. This group of slaves and maids sold themselves to your house, who can honor their own parents? You talk about filial piety on weekdays, aren't you full of farts? My wife also starved to death. I can't do filial piety for her. I kill a country eunuch like you now, just to avenge my old lady and to do filial piety for her old man. No matter what kind of science and Confucianism you have, the book of the military department, you can't count as a dick in front of me Liu Zongmin! He waved his chin: "Hurry up and launch the beheading, and avenge the people in Luoyang!" ”

Lu Weiqi was pushed away again, still trying his best to maintain his composure, just trying not to lose the status of a court minister. But he vaguely felt himself spilling urine in his pants, and there was a wet heat running down his thighs. The moment he walked out of the gate of Zhou Gong Temple, he asked in his heart:

"I'm not dreaming, am I? Is this generosity? ……”

The next day, the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the sun was shining, and the sky was cloudless, which was particularly warm. Yesterday's execution of Lu Weiqi caused a great sensation among the people of Luoyang, but the people were not satisfied, and they were waiting for the execution of King Fu. Early this morning, the news was spread that the king would be beheaded at noon, and all the streets and alleys were boiling. Just after arriving at about Mo Si, the proclamation for the execution of Fu Wang Zhu Changxun, listing the ten major sins of Fu Wang, had been posted on the streets and four passes in the city. People heard that the hall where King Fu was sentenced to death was set up in front of the Ying'en Hall of King Fu's Palace, and the place where he was executed was the old execution ground outside Xiguan, so around the clock, from the Zhou Gong Temple to the palace, to the execution ground, it was crowded with men, women and children waiting to watch. Especially around the execution ground, there is a sea of people.

When Zhu Changxun, the blessed king, was escorted from Zhougong Temple to the Dharma Hall, and walked through Xiguan and West Street, the people on both sides of the road continued to issue hatred and scolding. One of them scolded him through gritted teeth:

"Your mother's power is even today!"

Li Zicheng came to the palace in advance, inspecting and inspecting the property and food of the palace, while waiting for the interrogation of King Fu. When one of the generals reported to him that King Fu had mentioned it, King Chuang turned around and whispered, "Ascend to the court!" A pager was heard, and then a drum sounded from under the white marble steps of the Ying'en Palace. Li Zicheng led Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and other civil and military officials, slowly walked out of the hall, and came to the Ying'en Hall from a west corner gate called Yuhua Gate. This Ying'en Hall is the main hall of the palace, very majestic, and the yellow glazed tiles shine with golden light. In the middle of the hall, there is a vermilion sandalwood gold openwork throne, and a yellow satin seat is laid on it. The front eaves are seven feet deep, the bucket arches, the cornices, the painted dust, and the four vermilion lacquer pillars that one person can't hold. When the palace was built, a scholar wrote a couplet by the "holy decree" of the Wanli Emperor, and did his best to praise it. Now this vermilion lacquer depiction of gold cloud dragon couplet has been painted on the top by the rebel soldiers with two pieces of horse dung, and it is still hanging on the two pillars in the middle:

Well-being is full of rivers and pops, and the sky is celebrated

Wang Ye Gu Songyue and the country rested

Outside the front eaves of the Ying'en Hall is a three-level white marble step. Under the steps is a platform, commonly known as Danqi, polished bluestone paving, gilded incense burner, big ding, crane left and right. Danqi is surrounded by white marble railings on three sides, and the cloud dragon column head is exquisitely carved. In front of the platform are seven stone steps. Descending the stone steps, in the middle is a wide stone-paved road, which divides the courtyard in half. There are pines and cypresses planted in the courtyards on both sides of the road, and the wings on both sides are commonly known as the courts. The main entrance of this courtyard is called Ying'en Gate, and it is also five buildings covered with yellow glazed tiles, and there are three six vermilion lacquer gates side by side. Out of the Ying'en Gate is a large courtyard, on both sides there are corridors, bell towers and drum towers, the main gate is the Duanli Gate. Between the Duanli Gate and the Ying'en Gate, there are three white jade carved arch bridges side by side. When building the Fuwang Mansion, it specially attracted a stream of water from the Jianhe River in the west of Luoyang City, flowed underground after entering the city, and became a bright stream when it arrived in the courtyard outside the Ying'en Gate, and was renamed Fushui, so these three bridges are called Hongfu Wannian Bridge, referred to as Hongfu Bridge. Today, King Chuang issued a special order to guard the soldiers, and the people can be allowed to enter the noon gate and the Duanli gate until they are outside the Ying'en gate. At this time, the six huge nails of Ying'en Gate were opened. Outside the Ying'en Gate, the people who watched and interrogated King Fu were densely crowded. Inside the Ying'en Gate, on both sides of the road, there are two hundred soldiers standing on each side, all of them are holding spears at one end of the Ying'en Gate, and all of them are holding swords at the end of the Danqi Gate, and there are also many soldiers guarding the Ying'en Gate, and the people are not allowed to come in. The throne is placed under the eaves of the door of the Ying'en Palace, and a long table is placed in front of the throne, with an embroidered satin table circumference, which is also the original furnishings in the Ying'en Palace. There are three Taishi chairs on each side of the east and west, all with scarlet cushions. The drums stopped, Li Zicheng sat down on the throne, and then Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Li Yan sat down in the east; Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo sat down on the west side.

After sitting down, Niu Jinxing whispered behind his back: "Take the prisoner!" Immediately, Wu Ruyi, the Chinese army standing under the eaves, gave an order, and then several people under the Danqi shouted in unison: "Take the prisoner!" The voice was so powerful and loud that a flock of pigeons basking in the sun on the ridge of the Ying'en Hall fluttered up and flew towards the harem in a circle.

King Fu was escorted out of the western court's room. Two burly soldiers supported him on the left and right, all the way to the dan qi, kneeling on his knees, prostrate on the ground, about a foot away from the case of King Chuang. King Chuang shouted and asked:

"Zhu Changxun, you have committed a mortal crime, and the people's grievances are boiling, what do you have to say today?"

King Fu couldn't stop kowtowing, and said in a trembling voice: "Xiao Wang is guilty, Xiao Wang is really guilty." I beg the king to spare my life! Xiao Wang......"

King Chuang asked sharply again: "Dog King!" Let me ask you, you Lao Tzu has been sitting in the world for more than 40 years, looting the people of the world in every possible way, half of the gold and silver treasures have been given to you, transported to Luoyang, and occupied 20,000 hectares of fertile land for you, and named you the king of blessings, where did your blessing come from? ”

King Fu prostrated and bleed, trembling and said, "Xiao Wang is guilty." Xiao Wang is guilty. Xiao Wang is not blessed, damn it. Implore the king to spare the life of the little king. ”

King Chuang then asked, "Thy blessing fell from heaven?" Is it coming out of the ground? Where did it come from? Say! Say it! ”

King Fu shuddered and said, "Little King should die." This blessing word is Xiao Wang's title, and Xiao Wang is really not blessed. ”

Seeing that he was incoherent and answered the question, King Chuang slapped the shocked wood and shouted, "Bastard! If you refuse to confess the truth, Ben Shuai will say it for you! Your blessing is to be a blessing to the people, to be rich in food and clothing, to be shameless. You have countless pieces of silver, mountains of jewels, and hundreds of thousands of stones of grain in your storehouse alone. Your blessing did not fall from the sky or come out of the earth, but came entirely from the common people. Every piece of jewelry, every tael of silver, every grain of grain is soaked in the sweat, tears, and blood of the people of the world. You dog king, don't you know? ”

King Fu kowtowed and said, "The little king is guilty." Xiao Wang is guilty. This is all given by the Emperor Wanli. Xiao Wang should be damned. ”

King Chuang shouted again: "As a prince, you are rich in the world, and in such a famine year, you refuse to distribute a cent of gold and silver in the treasury, and refuse to scatter a grain of grain to help the hungry, should you die?" ”

King Fu trembled and said, "I beg the king to spare his life." King ......"

King Chuang shouted: "Pull it down, beat this minion forty boards, and then ask!" ”

The guards on the left and right shouted, dragged King Fu off the Danqi, stripped off his clothes, pressed him in the middle of the road, and opened his pants, revealing his snow-white fat buttocks. Thousands of people were crowded outside the Ying'en Gate, and it was crowded. The young general standing under the dan pier shouted "execution", and the soldier holding the long bamboo board began to fight. He had hatred in his chest, and every blow was heavy. King Fu was already scared half to death, coupled with excessive lewdness on weekdays, physical weakness, and pampering since childhood, so he couldn't stand the pain of skin and flesh, and at first he was desperately wailing, and when he hit more than 20 times, his voice had become weaker. Both King Chuang and the soldiers thought he was pretending and continued to beat him. After more than 30 hits, there was no sound. The executioner touched his nose with his hand, and he was almost out of breath. A junior colonel immediately took half a bowl of cold water and sprayed two mouthfuls on King Fu's forehead to revive him. The prisoner was brought up again, and fell limp and knelt before King Chuang, trembling and whispering pleading for mercy. King Chuang said loudly:

"Zhu Changxun! According to your sins like a mountain, you should have been cut with a thousand knives, and Ling Chi was executed to death, so that you could vent the anger of the people a little. Ben Shuai was lenient and sentenced to beheading and immediately executed. He immediately ordered: "Sword and axeman, quickly escort this dog king to the Xiguan Execution Ground!" ”