Chapter 474: Put down the butcher knife

Zhang Huan deployed a total of 300,000 troops in Guanzhong, mainly distributed in Tongguan, Fengxiang and Chang'an. Among them, 50,000 Yulin Army and 20,000 City Gate Army were deployed within Chang'an City, and 100,000 troops were stationed in major military camps and Xianyang camps in the suburbs. The 100,000 troops stationed outside Chang'an were named Tianqiu Army by Zhang Huan, led by General Right Qianniu Guard, while the city gate army was commanded by General Right Jinwu Guard. The General Right Jinwu Guard, who is currently leading the city gate army, is Li Chenglie, who is the former Qiang general Chenglie, and was named Li Chenglie by Zhang Huan. Although he was also Zhang Huan's confidant, he was easy to be impulsive in his work and had fewer troops. Therefore, Pei Ying did not look for him, but instead found He Lou Wuji, the current General Right Qianniu Guard.

The headquarters of the Tianqi Camp is located in Xianyang, with 60,000 troops stationed here. The night is dim, and a bright moon hangs in the deep blue night sky. The gentle night wind blows away the heat of the day and blows the large forest outside Xianyang City. On a small hill, there is a person standing with his waist straight, and his hands are holding Pei Ying's blood letter in his back. He is looking at Chang'an in the distance with complex eyes. Just now, he has ordered the Tianqi troops around Chang'an to gather in the northwest before dawn, join with He Lou Wuji's army, and head towards Chang'an together. At the same time, he also ordered Li Chenglie to strictly control the city gate and prepare to cooperate with He Lou Wuji's army to enter the city.

The order had been issued and there was no room for recovery. He looked at Pei Ying's blood letter in his hand again, couldn't help but sigh, and returned to Xianyang City with a desolate mood.

Outside the Eastern Palace, dozens of cavalry soldiers swayed, surrounded by a young officer and drove out of the Chongming Gate. In the deep night, only a firm voice came, "Please tell Your Majesty that I am willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty, and I will never refuse."

With the sound of horse hooves, everyone quickly disappeared into the heavy black mist.

When a trace of morning light was slightly exposed to the clouds, a new day came again. The Yulin Army stationed in Xi Neiyuan began to be on duty. However, today it was a bit abnormal. The duty of 3,000 people increased to 12,000 people. A large group of soldiers drove out of the military camp and soon controlled the palace gates and important places in the Daming Palace, the East Palace, the Imperial City, and the Tai Chi Palace.

The soldiers and officers didn't know what happened. The order issued by the above was: to use Xiu Aoi to conduct prevention and control drills.

Early in the morning, Li Su, the general of the Zuo Yulin Army, appeared at Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace with a helmet and armor. Li Su is about 40 years old this year, with a strong figure and big waist. He is the second son of Li Qiao, the King of Shunyang. He joined the army in Longyou at the age of 18. He has always served as the military post in the Shuofang Army, commander Wei Yan at the time. He served as the deputy envoy of the Dingyuan Army. Since Zhang Huan rose in Longyou, he has begun to be reused by Zhang Huan because of his father and gradually became a senior military leader. When Zhang Huan defeated Guanzhong, he served as the commander of the left army and took the lead in Chang'an, replacing the Jinwu Guard of the Cui family. After Zhang Huan ascended the throne, he became one of the generals of the twelve guards, and started to serve as the general of the Zuo Yulin Army the year before.

Li Su has not slept for two days and two consecutive nights. The huge pressure has made him unable to sleep all night. In his original intention, he would never want to participate in the plan against the emperor. It was because the emperor trusted him that he appointed him as the general of the Zuo Yulin Army. However, he is now against this trust. He cannot refuse his father's begging, "Encourage the crown prince as emperor."

Although Li Su has made great efforts, due to the hasty time, he still feels that this plan is full of loopholes and even wishful adventures. For example, Li Chenglie's city gate soldiers are almost the same as him. If the opponent counterattacks, how will he deal with it? For example, he has no countermeasures for the 100,000-day cavalry deployed around Chang'an. In addition, he has only been General Zuo Yulin for a year and a half, and is still far from controlling his middle and lower-level officers. He can only use the method of coaxing. Once the officer discovers the truth, he knows nothing about what consequences will be.

All the unfavorable factors could not be solved and they were rushed to set up, but the plan was made by all the civil officials who had a half understanding. They had no idea about Zhang Huan's prestige in the Xiliang army, but now that things have come to this point, he has no choice. Li Su could only make up his mind and embark on this path of no return with his father.

However, Li Su was not alone. His two deputy generals, Han Zhun, the Central Army General and Fan Bingyan, were the right and right players of this operation. These two people followed him twenty years ago and were his confidants. According to the established deployment, Fan Bingyan, the Central Army General, was responsible for controlling the imperial city and the Eastern Palace, while Brigadier General Han was responsible for controlling the harem.

"General Han, please control the harem for me and not allow anyone to leave the palace!" Li Su ordered with his blood-covered eyes. Qin Yu, who guarded Zuoyintai Gate yesterday, dared to disobey the order and let the queen go out of the palace. He was severely punished by one hundred military sticks and detained in the barracks. No matter what, there should be no more accidents today. Seeing that the deputy general Han Zhun seemed to hesitate, he immediately shouted: "If you dare to disobey the order, you will not forgive me!"

Han Zhun was so stern, and he clasped his fists and said, "The last one will obey the order."

Li Su arranged defenses in various places one by one. He himself will lead 5,000 Yulin Army to guard Danfeng Square, which will be the highlight of this plan. "Go!" Li Su waved his hand and the army drove towards Danfeng Square.

Today is the sunset, so it is already dawn, and the Daming Palace and the Imperial City are still deserted. Only a few officials on duty come to the office. Although there are few officials, the Yulin Army deployed in these two places is as if they are facing a great enemy. They patrolled everywhere in armed forces, making the sky above the Imperial City and the Palace City exudes a solemn atmosphere. At 3 o'clock, the Danfeng Gate began to appear in the carriages of some officials, including Chu Xingshui, Fang Zongyan, Li Qiao, Changsun Nanfang, etc., arrived at the Daming Palace. Everyone was wearing court uniforms and a solemn expression. Today they will witness the beginning of a new dynasty. Pei You and Cui Xian went to the East Palace to welcome Prince Qi. According to the plan, the forty-four people will first support Li Qi ascend the throne, and then notify all civil and military officials to enter the palace to visit the new emperor.

Time passed by little by little, and the red morning glow had covered the east sky. Time passed to Chen Shizheng, but Cui, who had been to the East Palace for a long time, and Pei and the others were not showing up for a long time. The officials who were waiting in Danfeng Square had already become a little uneasy. An ominous feeling enveloped everyone's hearts. At this time, a carriage galloped from the east palace. Everyone met them together. The car door opened and Cui Xian walked out with a panic look on his face, "Everyone, things are a little wrong, the prince suddenly disappeared."

With a buzzing sound, the crowd was in an uproar. Everyone turned to Li Su and looked at Li Su. The safety of the prince was protected by him. How could it be gone? At this moment, Li Su was also panicked, and sweat flowed down his forehead. He restrained his panic and asked in a deep voice: "When did the prince disappear?"

"We asked a lot of people, but most of them didn't know that Pei Ge Lao was still in the East Palace to investigate one by one."

Li Su's heart seemed to fall into the abyss all at once. The Eastern Palace was closely guarded by Fan Bingyan, and the prince could disappear in vain. What does this mean? It means that Fan Bingyan, who was guarding the Eastern Palace, betrayed him. Just as he was about to give an order, a war horse ran from Danfengwen. When one of his personal soldiers stumbled over, "The general is not good. He Lou Wuji's army has entered the city, and tens of thousands of troops are coming to the Daming Palace."

This news seemed to be a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone, 'Pu! With a sound, Changsun Nanfang fainted from fear. Li Su, who was already extremely tired, suddenly became extremely calm. He lowered his head and thought about something. All his eyes were staring at him, waiting for his final decision. Li Su's eyes gradually became redder. Suddenly, he pulled out his long sword and roared: "Brothers, there are rebels to attack the Daming Palace, hold on to me!"

"General Li, no." Chu Xingshui suddenly realized something was wrong, and he immediately stopped shouting, but Li Su no longer listened to him. He rode his horse towards Danfeng Gate, and thousands of soldiers followed him and rushed towards Danfeng Gate like a tide. The originally quiet Danfeng Gate suddenly became murderous, and the sword light and sword shadows flashed in the Ming Palace.

Seeing that the situation was not good, dozens of officials fled to the imperial city and returned to their respective mansions from the imperial city.

He Lou Wuji's army quietly entered the city just after dawn. Instead of rushing to the Daming Palace immediately, the 100,000 troops went to various yards to implement emergency martial law, clearing up pedestrians who got up early on the street, and closing the gates of various yards. Afterwards, He Lou Wuji personally led an army of 50,000 to the Daming Palace.

At this moment, the wide street outside the Daming Palace was covered with dense soldiers, and the darkness was ignorant. The glow from the cracks of the clouds shone on the soldiers' black armor, shining with a sparkling light. At the front of the team were dozens of rows of soldiers holding giant shields. They were about a hundred steps away from Danfeng Gate, holding horizontal swords. The crossbow soldiers behind them had already stomped the crossbow. They were staring at the soldiers on the city gate with cold eyes, waiting for the order to attack. He Lou Wuji rode on the war horse. He looked at the closed palace gate of Daming Palace with expressionless expression, as if his Majesty's last order was still echoing in his mind: 'Give them half an hour to choose. If there is still no change, just go into the palace directly, and all the holders are beheaded. Don't worry about the safety of the harem. Everything is arranged.'

Two soldiers rushed forward with giant shields in their hands and shouted loudly under Danfeng Gate: "Listen to the soldiers upstairs, Li Su is in trouble, and the emperor has given an order. Those who take the initiative to put down their weapons will not be investigated. Those who resist will be punished for rebellion!"

They shouted several times, but the city tower was still silent. Nearly a thousand soldiers were lined up on the city tower. They set their bows and arrows and aimed at the city. Behind them, more than 4,000 Yulin troops rode horses and held halberds, waiting to open the door to fight the rebels. The two armies stood in front of the Danfeng Gate, dull and full of gunpowder. The tense atmosphere was like firewood splashed with tinker oil, and a spark could burst out flames that soared into the sky.

Time passed by little by little, and a civil war was about to break out. He Lou Wuji's forehead was covered with dense beads of sweat. He would never be willing to kill each other. Moreover, most of the Yulin Army were elites of the Xiliang Army and innocent Guanzhong children. Once a conflict broke out, there would be corpses everywhere. At that time, it would be an extremely heavy blow to the stability of the court and the gathering of the morale of the army. No one would want to see such a result.

At this time, He Lou Wuji urged him to step forward. He shouted loudly to the city tower: "I am He Lou Wuji. I come to quell the rebellion of Li Su under the order of the governor. You must not participate in the conspiracy. Let us put down our weapons quickly."

Hearing the word "Governor", many veterans were moved. They began to wonder. They looked at each other and the bowstrings slowly loosened. Li Su, who was standing on the city tower to watch the battle, snatched a soldier's bow and arrow, and shot him with an arrow. The arrow rubbed He Lou Wuji's war horse and flew over. Li Su pointed at him and cursed, "Spread rumors and bewitched, I will definitely take your life!"

He Lou Wuji was not angry. He looked at Li Su, whose eyes were red on the city tower, and sighed secretly. He could understand the despair of this former subordinate. A coup that fell into a carefully designed trap, a betrayal of his confidant, a siege of a large army, and a lie was about to be exposed. Li Su had been forced to the corner and he was about to perish in madness.

There was not much time left to attack, and He Lou Wuji retreated. He no longer ordered people to go up to persuade him, but just quietly waited for the arrival of the last moment.

The sky seemed to be gloomy at this moment, and the glow had disappeared. Thick dark clouds pressed above the Daming Palace. The morning breeze crashed in the air and slapped the flag to a loud bang. Li Su became extremely excited, and his red eyes were almost dripping blood. He had already felt the restlessness of Helou Wuji's army, and his murderous aura was uncontrollably venting it. A war was coming.

At this moment, a sudden sound of horse hooves came from the Daming Palace. Hundreds of war horses rushed towards me surrounded by a gorgeous carriage. It was Feng Jia. Li Su's eyes suddenly narrowed into a slit. The queen actually came. Damn Han Zhun! A bastard, even he betrayed himself.

Feng Jia stopped beside the cavalry team behind Danfeng Gate, and the car door was pushed open. The resolute and beautiful face of the Queen of the Tang Dynasty appeared in front of everyone. Many cavalrymen who were close to Feng Jia couldn't help but retreat. The square was silent, so quiet that even the needles falling on the ground could be clearly heard.

"I want you to put down your weapons, and the Tang army will never allow each other to kill each other." The morning breeze blew on her petite body. Her dress and hair swayed lightly in the wind. Her voice was clear and high, and echoed in the ears of every cavalry. "There is no rebel. General Helou came to control the situation under the order of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. When the Emperor was away, a group of ministers who attempted to betray him appeared in the Ming Palace. You are about to become their accomplices, but now you still have a chance. Can't you feel it? General Helou did not launch an attack. This is the mercy of His Majesty the Emperor to you. Put down your weapons. I order you as the Empress of the Tang Dynasty. I will save you as the wife of the governor. Put down your weapons! Please ask His Majesty the Emperor for your ignorance. He will not blame you, because you are blinded, you are fighting for loyalty!"

The sudden appearance of the Empress of the Tang Dynasty shocked everyone present. She revealed a shocking secret. A coup was really taking place in the court, not using Xiu Chaoji to conduct prevention and control drills. Pei Ying's appearance made many middle and low-level officers who were already suspicious suddenly realize that they were actually helping the evil. Although Li Su was the general of the Zuo Yulin Army, the tradition of the Western Liang Army was to be loyal to the governor and the Tang Dynasty. The one who told them the truth was the Empress of Mo Yi in the world. Every soldier and every officer firmly believed in her and their wife. This trust came from the lofty prestige that Pei Ying had established in the army for more than ten years, from the shoes and socks she sewed for the soldiers one by one, from her care for ordinary soldiers' families, and the soldiers' respect for her even surpassed that of His Majesty the Emperor.

‘Dang!’ The first long spear was thrown to the ground. The intermediate officers began to order their soldiers to put down their weapons. More and more weapons were put down. Teams of cavalry began to retreat from the city tower, and even the soldiers on the city tower began to lower their bows and arrows.

Pei Ying breathed a long sigh of relief, and it was finally over. She felt a kind of fatigue that she had never felt before. Suddenly, Li Su's loud shout came from the city tower, "Empress, I am guilty, I am willing to apologize to the emperor for death!"

Li Su Heng committed suicide by committing suicide in despair, and his body fell from the high city tower, stirring up a bloody light.

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Pei Ying was stunned. After a long time, she sighed softly, and a deep look of pain flashed in her eyes, slowly lowering her beautiful head.

At this time, Danfeng Gate was slowly opened. Pei Ying's phoenix drove out of Danfeng Gate Square and stopped in front of He Lou Wuji and 50,000 soldiers. Pei Ying walked out of the car and looked at the dense soldiers and the murderous He Lou Wuji. She took a deep breath and said aloud: "They have put down their weapons. I order you as the Queen of the Tang Dynasty, and you are not allowed to kill one person."

He Lou Wuji turned over and dismounted, bowed and replied, "I will obey the will of the Empress!"

He suddenly turned around, and a loud voice came from afar, "The Queen has an order, the coup has been quelled, and no one is allowed to be killed."

"Long live the Queen of the Tang Dynasty! Long live!" The cheers suddenly soared into the sky above the Daming Palace, echoing between heaven and earth.

In June of the eighth year of Dazhi, a hasty coup was aborted in the Daming Palace. Due to the timely appearance of Queen Pei Ying, a silence of the soon-breaking Tang army killing each other. The desperate general of the Zuo Yulin Army Li Su committed suicide. Although Helou Wuji's army did not clash with the Yulin Army, they did not let go of the officials involved in the coup. A team of soldiers began to arrest officials involved in the coup in Chang'an. Zhang Potian committed suicide by taking poison in despair. Pei You, Cui Xian, Chu Xingshui, Fang

In Xianyang, Han Huan and Li Mi were kneeling in front of Zhang Huan, begging him to let go of the upcoming massacre.

"Your Majesty wants to think about them, why they took risks, even including three former prime ministers and one current prime minister, Chu prime minister, Pei prime minister and Fang prime minister. These are old ministers who have worked hard for His Majesty's new policy. They were also forced to have no way out by their family. The loss of land by the aristocratic family means that their family is disintegrated. This is really helpless! I beg Your Majesty to spare their lives for their years of service!"

Han Huan burst into tears, his forehead was kowtowing heavily on the ground, and Li Mi begged beside him: "Since Your Majesty has issued the real-name system of land, the decline of the aristocratic families is inevitable. Moreover, giving Pei, Cui, Chu and other aristocratic families is also his personal agreement. Now that depriving them of their land is a breach of trust. If Your Majesty starts killing again, it will definitely cool the hearts of most court officials and shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty! This matter is of great importance. I beg Your Majesty to think twice before doing it. Don't bring indelible harm to the future of the Tang Dynasty for a moment of anger. Your Majesty, let's leave the last bit of dignity to the aristocratic family!"

Zhang Huan looked out the window with his hands behind his back and said nothing. How could he have imagined the hard advice of Han and Li? He had already received the latest report from He Lou Wuji. He never expected that his wife would stand up and save the Tang army from killing each other. He was also extremely conflicted at this time. As an emperor, he could not have any sympathy in the face of power struggle. In order to prevent the resurgence of the aristocratic family's government, he had been planning for several powerful families for many years, and finally waited for the opportunity today to wipe out their family with the crime of rebellion. He was absolutely able to do this.

But he also understood that if he really killed the Pei family and the Cui family was full, Pei Ying and Cui Ning would not be able to gain a foothold in the palace, and his sons would have irreparable rifts with him. Not only that, he also knew that most of the court officials in the court sympathized with these major families. After all, they were inextricably linked. After the bloody massacre, the other ministers would be separated from him from then on, and the prosperity and revival of the Tang Dynasty would be impossible to start. From this point of view, this butcher knife must not be cut down. He had been thinking about this matter for a whole month and had been difficult to make up his mind. However, Pei Ying's rise seemed to add the last weight on the delicate balance, which made Zhang Huan finally make the final decision.

He turned around to Han Huan and Li Mi and said, "For the sake of the stability of my Tang Dynasty, I promised your plea to spare their lives. However, they attempted to have a coup and committed a tremendous crime. The crime was unforgivable. I decided to remove all the official positions of all the planners involved in the planners, such as Pei You, Cui Xian, Fang Zongyan, Li Qiao, and others, and deprive Chu Xingshui, Zhang Potian, Changsun Nanfang and other retired officials. In addition, the children of the seven major families, including Cui, Pei, Fang, Wei, Chu, Zhang, and Wang, will be dismissed from all the officials who have no fame and reputation and have obtained official positions by their family. The gap in officials will be selected from previous Jinshi. You may accept my decision?"

Han Huan and Li Mi looked at each other. Although the emperor's decision was a little bit ruthless, he spared the lives of Cui, Pei and others. This was a very kind to those who attempted the coup. Both of them agreed. Han Huan asked again: "Your Majesty, since the Prime Minister of Fang has been dismissed, is there anyone who can replace him?"

Without thinking, Zhang Huan said without hesitation: "I decided to appoint Yizhou Governor Pei Mingyuan as the Minister of Revenue, and to serve as the Minister of the Secretariat, Pingzhang, and replace Fang Zongyan as the Prime Minister. In addition, when I was not in Chang'an, the prince would continue to supervise the country. I hope that the prime ministers would assist him well and not do anything that would disappoint me again."
Chapter completed!