Linzhi

It was only after He Xi left Chang'an that he realized that he had no money with him, and he didn't know the way to Luoyang. He Zhu did bring a few copper coins with him, but that money was not enough to hire a carriage to Luoyang.

In desperation, the two had no choice but to hide under the wall, watching the pedestrians and vehicles coming and going at the gate of the city. They finally ran into a family who planned to visit relatives in Luoyang. He Xi did not dare to reveal his identity, so he had to move out. The head of Xuandu Guan, falsely claiming that he is a lay disciple inside, went to visit the Shangqing Palace in Luoyang at the order of the master of the temple. The incense card that Zhong Daochang made for himself was used to pay off the bill.

Many people thought that He Xi wasted his time in the Xuandu Temple, but in fact he really tried his best to learn everything from alchemy to talisman drawing. He asked the temple master to accept him as a lay disciple, but later, because he studied hard and was quite talented, he won the favor of the temple master. If He Xi could truly become a monk, he would pass on the mantle to him.

So when others saw that He Xi behaved like a Taoist, they would never think that he was talking nonsense.

The male owner of that family happened to be quite a believer in Buddhism, and after talking with He Xi, he was immediately amazed, so he invited He Xi to sit in the car with him. Walk to Luoyang on two legs.

The He family never imagined that one day He Xi would be able to get a ride in a free carriage with his idle hobby.

However, the carriage carried a whole family, plus He Xi's master and servant, after all, it was impossible to go as fast as a good horse and arrive within a day. Honestly get through the waiting on the road.

At this time, the capital city is already changing with ups and downs.

In the Taimiao, the situation changed suddenly, and a scuffle was going on.

Hearing Li Kuan's voice, Song Yun's expression changed drastically, he no longer cared about He Tai and the others, and rushed out with his people.

The Shenwu army led by him fought with Li Kuan's men and horses. Both sides were originally imperial guards, but now they are divided due to different positions. Swords, swords, shadows, hand-to-hand combat, for their own fame and glory, all try their best to survive. endlessly.

The blood soaked through the clothes, flowed down the body to the ground, and dyed the soil into a dark color, winding and dyeing. After many years, it was still inexhaustible.

Those who built the Taimiao would never have imagined that one day, this place would also become a Shura field full of corpses.

He Tai and the others were still in shock. Hearing the shouts of killing from outside, their faces turned green and then pale, and they dared not step out of the room easily.

Xue Tan breathed a sigh of relief, and let go of the candlestick that was on Lu Rong's neck. The old man hurriedly wanted to get up and run out, but King Wei stretched out a foot, tripped him on the ground, knocked his mouth on the threshold, and knocked off a few Tooth, mouth full of blood screaming pain.

Xue Tan and He Mu stepped forward, tore off Lu Rong's belt, and tied his hands.

Lu Rong's face was covered with blood, and he yelled inarticulately: "Your Highness...you wish, you didn't collude with King Qi!"

He Tai frowned: "What is he talking about?"

Xue Tan casually found a handkerchief from his pocket, stuffed it into Lu Rong's mouth, and became quiet.

Everyone in the room felt that it had been a long time, but in fact, Li Kuan led people to basically control the situation in about an hour - compared to him, Song Yun was still too young after all.

Li Kuan dragged Song Yunda, who was tied up by Wuhua Da, and fainted already, into the room, threw him on the ground, and kowtowed to He Tai: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being late in the rescue!"

He Tai personally stepped forward to help him up: "You don't need to be too polite, Marquis Li, if it weren't for you this time, all of us would have died here!"

Li Kuan did not move: "Your Highness, please forgive me for my sins first, otherwise I will not dare to get up."

He Tai: "You saved our lives, what is your fault?"

Li Kuan: "Although I am in charge of Nanya, if you don't have His Majesty's handwriting, you are not allowed to do it under any circumstances. This time, King Qi falsely passed on His Majesty's edict, saying that King Wei intended to rebel, and sent someone with a tiger talisman. I asked my minister to come to Taimiao to assist in suppressing the rebellion. After I arrived, I realized that this was not the case, so I decided to save the two highnesses on my own. If your majesty pursues it in the future, I am afraid that I will not be able to escape the blame. Please also ask your highness to save me! "

He Tai's expression relaxed: "I still think it's something. I'm in a hurry. You didn't obey the order. You are a loyal minister! Don't worry, before Your Majesty, I will intercede for you."

King Wei reminded: "Brother, I don't know what happened in the palace. King Qi sent Song Yun here, so I will definitely go to the palace!"

He Tai's mood that had just relaxed a little bit raised again: "With His Majesty in the palace, and Ji Zuo and Cheng Yue, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?"

But Li Kuan said: "King Wei is right. King Qi has been planning for a long time, and he might have bribed the Fourth Army of the Northern Yamen. Your Highness must guard against it!"

He Tai was a little flustered: "Then, let's go back to the city and have a look!"

Li Kuan said: "The situation in Gongcheng is unclear at this time, in order to avoid the two Highnesses being affected, it is better to wait here and let the minister go to inquire first."

If there were other people in the palace at this time, instead of Emperor Wende, maybe He Tai would have agreed, but just as the old man was about to canonize himself as the prince, the younger brother committed treason, and it was very likely that he would attack the old man. The more He Tai thought about it, the more his conscience became uneasy, and he decided to rescue his father himself, so he vetoed Li Kuan's proposal: "Forget it, I will enter the palace in person to make sure that His Majesty is safe and sound, and ask Li Hou to lead the way!"

He turned to King Wei and He Mu and said, "You stay here."

King Wei said without even thinking about it: "Elder brother put himself in danger, how can younger brother be alone? Since we brothers have lived and died together, why should younger brother be afraid of others!"

He Mu also said: "The son is willing to go with his father!"

He Tai looked relieved, and before he had time to say a few more words of appreciation, a soldier described himself as embarrassed and rushed to report.

"Your Highness, General, Cheng Yue led people to take away the people from Prince Lu's Mansion and Prince Wei's Mansion!"

The faces of all the people present changed drastically, and He Tai hurriedly asked: "Where are you going?"

The soldier said: "Look at the direction, it should be going to the palace. The humble officer stepped forward to block it at that time, but he was defeated by the opponent's many people, so he had to go back and report!"

Li Kuan looked solemn: "I was worried that King Qi would be desperate and would attack the family members of the two Highnesses, take them as hostages, and force the two Highnesses to surrender, but I didn't expect it to be a step too late."

At this point, there is no way for the two sides to retreat.

One step forward, it may be the Great Dao, or it may be the abyss, but they have no other choice.

……

In the Zichen Palace, King Qi sat at the head of the throne, looking coldly at the person opposite him.

"I have already said that King Wei plotted against the law and was insane. He assassinated King Lu in the Taimiao. His Majesty was originally unwell. After hearing the news, he was immediately overwhelmed by them and asked me to take over all matters inside and outside the palace. Zhou Xiang Are you old and deaf, can't you hear clearly?"

According to the rules of this dynasty, from the day of New Year's Eve, all the yamen will start to rest, and the holiday will last until after the Lantern Festival. King Qi chose to launch the palace change on the first day of the first lunar month, just because the emperor was ill, King Lu left the city, Zhou Ying and others The time when the important minister Xiu Mu was at home.

Facts have proved that his choice is correct, and this palace change, so far, seems to have been half successful.

If it wasn't for the news that Cheng Yue sent people to bring people from Lu Wangfu and Wei Wangfu into the palace, Zhou Ying and the others probably wouldn't be able to detect the abnormality, and rushed into the palace in a hurry.

Zhou Ying looked as usual, and cupped his hands and said: "Conspiracy is a serious crime in this dynasty. It is no small matter. King Wei of Lu is a descendant of the Tian family. King Wei has always been respectful and kind. How could he suddenly kill people? He has no soldiers in his hands, even if he kills him So what can King Lu do? This matter is very strange, the old minister and others want to meet His Majesty and hear His Majesty personally convict him."

Zhang Song, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, is a veteran of the two dynasties, and he has a violent temper. The old man has white beard and hair, and his voice is still loud. Zhou Ying's voice fell away. He didn't have the patience of Zhou Ying to go around, so he immediately said bluntly: "Your Highness, Excuse me, old minister, this step of yours is really foolish! Your Highness has been benevolent and filial since he was named king, and the court and the public have seen it all, why at this moment, he has ruined his reputation that he has worked so hard to manage!"

Now, King Qi is too lazy to put on a gentle and refined face, he said coldly: "Why is my reputation ruined, doesn't Zhang Shangshu know?"

In the huge hall, he seemed to hear Zhou Ying's long and silent sigh, but King Qi couldn't care less, he felt that he was already standing on a cliff, and there were violent storms and a bottomless abyss in all directions.

Countless times before his eyes flashed his father's reluctance to rest in peace before his death, his heart seemed to be swept up by the wind and waves, and then thrown down heavily, full of hesitation and arrogance with nowhere to vent.

"My useless elder brother has been exiled in Fangzhou for many years. Even my father has long forgotten his appearance, but I don't know when, letters sent from Fangzhou to the capital can reach the imperial court one by one. My father saw it. Isn't it surprising that a letter from an exiled commoner can pass through the checkpoints and be heard by Datian?"

King Qi mocked with a smile: "Brother returned to the capital and joined the Ministry of Industry, and his errands went smoothly. No one tripped him up, and no one made things difficult for him in secret. With the help of a few sons, it is really incredible that you can take care of the mess of the Ministry of Industry!"

Tai Changqing Liu Siqi frowned: "What exactly does Your Highness want to say?"

King Qi sneered: "I want to say that behind all this, there are people who are silently working hard. These people are not others, but all of you here!"

There was silence.

Zhang Song couldn't help scolding: "It's a bunch of nonsense!"

"Father's health is going from bad to worse, but because he misses the old crown prince, he has not established a crown prince for a long time. You have penetrated his mind and deliberately tried to let the letter of the elder brother be seen by the father, so as to arouse his compassion. The sons of the elder brother, He was indeed capable, and under the concerted efforts of several parties, the eldest brother returned to the capital as expected, and walked steadily step by step. I don't know when, my father gradually lost his appreciation for me, and instead was very picky. Until Chen Countless cases surfaced."

Zhou Ying sighed: "Your Highness, I admit that the letter sent by King Lu from Fangzhou was indeed the letter I asked Ma Hong to put in front of His Majesty's case so that His Majesty can check it easily, but that was because I was working in the Ministry of Rites and the officials under him I copied the list of officials selected by Ming Jing Ke, and copied two similar names by mistake. At that time, King Lu happened to be in charge of the Ministry of Rites. Come back, and avoid the imperial decree being issued the next day, causing trouble."

"I have always kept this kind of favor in my heart. Later, King Lu's family was exiled because of a crime. In public, I couldn't intercede. In private, Your Majesty and King Lu are related by blood after all. I asked Ma Hong to help this little one. Being busy does not violate my conscience, nor does it violate the laws of the country. As for the errands of the Ministry of Industry, Your Majesty did not have high expectations of King Lu, and King Lu did nothing. To His Majesty, it was a surprise. How could we have expected it?"

King Qi said indifferently: "What about the Chen Wuliang case? It has been many years since the supervisory censor Su Huan's family was exiled due to false accusations. Many years ago, people from the Ministry of Criminal Justice reported that Su Huan's family was dead. Find his youngest son, Su Changhe, to beat the drums to complain? Who secretly saved Su Changhe's life back then, so that he would be useful?"

His tone became higher and higher: "Who collected the evidence of Chen Wuliang's case, passed it to King Wei, and presented it to His Majesty? Apart from everyone here, who else has the ability to do this? Ah?! Yes, my background I'm not as tall as the former prince. I'm not a queen, but my mother, An, is also a scholarly and innocent family. My wife, Song, was born in the Song family of Luozhou, and is also a member of your family. And my eldest brother? He Who is the biological mother? She is a lowly maidservant who doesn't even have a title! The backgrounds of his three concubines are even more ridiculous. As for the third term, he was born as a general, but his parents are dead!"

Zhang Song: "Your Highness, the most urgent task now is to invite your Majesty to preside over the overall situation. If King Wei really rebelled, and King Lu really suffered an accident, His Highness is the only one who takes on the heavy responsibility of suppressing the rebellion. Why is Your Highness still here with us?" Are you entangled in these old things?"

To be honest, in these years, the King of Qi has indeed done a lot of things to buy people's hearts, and there are many people who speak for him in the court, such as Lu Rong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, who has become a hard-core King of Qi because of his marriage with King Qi. party.Moreover, because King Qi married Song's daughter, there were also many aristocratic families on his side.

But many people, including Zhou Ying, have already seen that if Emperor Wende wanted to establish King Qi, he would have established it before He Tai returned to Beijing, so it would not have been pending for so many years.

King Qi is indeed courteous to the virtuous and virtuous, but his virtuous and virtuous corporal has a strong sense of utilitarianism, not like the old prince, who is really kind by nature. From this point of view, He Tai's temperament is more like the old prince.This was also one of the reasons why King Qi tried his best to win him over, but still many people refused to support him.

There are more reasons why Emperor Wende established King Lu, and many people discussed it in private, but Zhou Ying felt that there was a deeper and more important reason.

The aristocratic family system has been standing for hundreds of years. Every emperor in the past dynasties has tried to suppress the power of the aristocratic family. However, because of the advantages enjoyed by the aristocratic family in wealth and knowledge monopoly, there are very few officials from poor families, and more than half of the officials in the court are from aristocratic families. , The game between them and the imperial power has never stopped, and the two sides are always staggering forward on the road of mutual checks and balances and mutual compromises.

Among the three sons, only He Tai has the least ties to the aristocratic family. If he ascends the throne as emperor, he will be the one who can firmly carry out Emperor Wende's strategy of controlling and balancing the aristocratic family.

The King of Qi harbored deep resentment towards Emperor Wende's decision, and fear of murdering his father in his heart. At such a precarious time when the outcome was undecided, it was inevitable that he needed to vent his emotions. Now that he had poured out everything, Zhang Song said, He slowly calmed down and gradually regained his previous composure: "Shangshu Zhang is right. Over the years, I have treated you with courtesy and consideration, and have never neglected. Now Your Majesty entrusts me with the power. I have sent Li Kuan to the Taimiao. Go to suppress the rebellion, I believe there will be good news soon. Now that things have come to an end, it’s time for you to make a choice.”

King Qi looked around, his eyes swept over everyone's faces one by one.

There were no fools present, and everyone might not have guessed that the emperor had already encountered an accident, thinking that he was just under house arrest, or was seriously ill, and was imprisoned by King Qi, but everyone could guess what happened.

As far as King Qi is concerned, if the people present can support him and acquiesce in the coup, then as long as the situation in the Taimiao side is also stabilized, the matter can be regarded as a successful conclusion. In the future history books, a few pens will still be long-winded, and that will be in the future. something happened.

"I hope that your choice will not disappoint me."

Now that Cheng Yue is in the palace, the basic situation can still be controlled. Most of the soldiers follow the tide and surrender one after another. Even if there are still some people loyal to Ji Cuo who refuse to obey, it is already the end of their strength and nothing can turn the tide.

Outside the palace, if King Lu and King Wei are dead now, then the only prince under the emperor's knees is King Qi, no matter how he rises to power, it doesn't matter anymore.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and the scene fell into an embarrassing silence for a while.

Cao Liang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, looked around, straightened his body, hesitated for a moment, finally got up and stepped out, walked to the center of the hall, then knelt down and bowed his head.

Zhang Song, Minister of the Household Department, had an angry face; Fan Yi, Minister of the Ministry of War, looked ashen;

But without exception, there must be ups and downs in their hearts, and heaven and man are at war.

However, before King Qi could be happy, Cheng Yue hurried in.

He was nervous at first, but after seeing everyone in the hall, Cheng Yue immediately slowed down, put on a confident look, winked at the king, and cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I have something to report."

King Qi frowned, but got up and walked out with him: "Could it be that you haven't eliminated the remnants of rebellion in the palace?"

Cheng Yue lowered his voice: "King Lu and King Wei are not dead, they were rescued by Li Kuan, and they are heading towards Miyagi!"

King Qi's expression changed.

The author has something to say:

·This chapter is still unable to complete the palace change, the main thing is to clarify the details, for example, why was the letter sent to the palace by He Tai, a common man who lost power, and let the emperor see it, do you think he is Did the prince deliver it for him?It is definitely impossible. This detail is probably not noticed by everyone, but it is explained in this chapter.Let's try to finish the story tomorrow, Dawang Miao doesn't want to delay too long, but the story must be saved, and the story must be told.

When we look at history, we think that if we crossed over to become Emperor Chongzhen and Emperor Jianwen, we would do what we would do to avoid those results, but in fact, we are in it, and many things are unclear. As long as we are human, we will make mistakes, like Li Shimin is so wise, why did he change the prince several times, why didn't Wu Zetian be killed in advance?So some readers asked why the emperor didn't predict and monitor things in advance to prevent palace changes from happening. In fact, Da Wang Miao thought that such questions didn't need to be answered. If so, those bloody coups in history would basically never happen.

Everyone thinks that the emperor is very wise, but in fact, if you look closely at his behavior, apart from suppressing the powerful, which is something that many emperors in history would do, the rest are not wise, at best they are quite satisfactory.For example, Turkic, he didn't handle it, and a rebellious Xiao Yu appeared.For example, the heir, if he had established King Qi or King Wei ten years earlier, he would not be what he is today.But as the characters in the text, be it He Rong, He Zhan, or Zhou Ying, it is impossible to say that the emperor is bad when the emperor is alive. With this cause, there will be many effects later.