The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 494 Li Chongjin’s Dilemma
The most brutal battle took place within Miyagi.

Li Chongjin never dreamed that so many rebels would emerge overnight from the forbidden army in front of the palace that he had personally organized.

Two deputy capital commanders and seven commanders led more than [-] rebels to suddenly launch an attack. They blocked Duanli Gate and Changqing Gate without authorization, stormed Daqing Gate, attempted to capture Daqing Palace, and entered the inner palace sleeping area, directly threatening the safety of officials and families. .

Starting from the sudden order to enter the palace in the early morning of the [-]th day of the first lunar month, in just two hours, the rebellion broke out. Li Chongjin personally led his troops to suppress it. After a bloody battle for most of the night, he finally regained control of the two palace gates and suppressed the rebels at Youye Gate. Between the right tower of Xuande Gate.

This war is not so much about the suppression of the rebellious party, as it is about the civil war of the Forbidden Army in front of the palace.

The newly reorganized Imperial Guards in front of the palace were actually riddled with holes due to Wang Jun's rebellion.

The fighting continued until the afternoon. The rebels knew that surrender would lead to death and fighting out of the palace city would lead to survival. They fought to the end with a determination to die.

The remaining few hundred rebels retreated to the corner tower and hid in a government building. Relying on the terrain and dealing with the forbidden troops, the battle progressed extremely slowly and difficultly.

Li Chongjin fought from midnight to dawn, covered in blood, and the blood on his armor froze into lumps of ice. He was forcibly dragged back to the Changqing Gate Tower to rest by his subordinates Liu Qingyi and Liu Shouzhong.

After changing into a dry suit, he was about to go into battle with a knife again, but was stopped by Liu Qingyi and a few soldiers.

His confidant Zhai Shouxun hurried back, and Liu Qingyi hurriedly said: "Mr. Zhai, please advise the general. The rebels are huddled in the official residence, and there are many blind spots. What if the general is injured by a sudden arrow?"

Anyway, the rebels can't escape, it's better to let us lead people to encircle and suppress slowly. "

Li Chongjin cursed: "How can the rebels be allowed to cause trouble in the palace? Those are the traitors of the imperial army in front of the palace. If they are not killed quickly, how can I face the officials? Get out of the way, I am going to chop it up with my own hands. Those bitches!"

Liu Qingyi and several generals surrounded him again and tried to persuade him.

Zhai Shouxun said in a deep voice: "The generals might as well go first. There is important news here to report to the general."

After Liu Qingyi and others retreated, Li Chongjin said impatiently: "If you have anything to do, tell me immediately!"

Zhai Shouxun glanced at the few soldiers standing at the door of the hall, took out a letter from his arms, and said in a low voice: "General, please take a look at this first!"

Li Chongjin took it and looked through it and found a list of names: "What is this?"

Zhai Shou asked: "These are all people who were labeled as rebels and were suppressed!"

Li Chongjin was startled. He was very familiar with many of the names above. They usually called him brothers and sisters, including officials from the six departments, the general of environmental protection, the commander of the bodyguard department and the imperial army in front of the palace.

"What do you mean? These people are colluding with Wang Jun and Wang Yin to rebel?" Li Chongjin was not confused, and smelled danger from this list.

Zhai Shouxun said solemnly: "It is unknown whether the names above are the two kings who rebelled against the party, but they have one thing in common. They are usually close to the general! This is the reality!"

Li Chongjin's eyes widened: "You mean, the officials doubt me?"

Zhai Shou asked: "Most of the rebels this time came from the imperial guards in front of the palace, and the general, as the general's chief inspector, had rebels under his command, so he was to blame! In this case, what would the officials think? ?”

Li Chongjin's dark face turned red as he suppressed it: "I am loyal to the official family!"

Zhai Shouxun sneered and said: "If the imperial power is endangered, my own son will be killed, let alone others! If the officials are not suspicious, how can they kill the people on this list?"

Li Chongjin was speechless for a long time. Although the cold wind was blowing from the gate tower, he was covered in cold sweat.

"What do you say?"

Zhai Shouxun tore the letter into pieces and threw it away with his hand. His narrow eyes flashed with viciousness and madness: "For this purpose, if you want to save your life, you can only take advantage of the chaos to start trouble!"

Li Chongjin was stunned and said nothing.

"Right now, the general is ordered to guard the palace city, and the imperial army in front of the palace is under control. He only needs to find an excuse to open the Daqing Gate, lead his army into the inner palace, hold the officials hostage, demand military power, and then send someone to take over the defense of Kaifeng's inner city. The whole city of Kaifeng is under your control!
When the important officials in the court are appeased, they can hijack the officials and order the vassals and towns in various places. When the situation is stable, they can then force the officials to pass on the throne."

Zhai Shouxun became more and more excited as he talked, with a crazy look in his eyes.

But he suddenly discovered that Li Chongjin had no reaction at all to what he said, but instead stared at him with a strange look.

Zhai Shou asked urgently: "General, the officials no longer trust you in their hearts. This is the only way to survive."

Before he could finish his words, Li Chongjin suddenly changed his expression, grabbed his collar tightly, and said viciously: "Fuck you! Are you really trying to teach me to be a traitor?"

Zhai Shouxun was angry and anxious: "The general wants to compete with Chai Rong for the throne. This is the last chance!"

Li Chongjin was furious: "I want to compete with my cousin, but I will never conspire to rebel, let alone smear the blood of my own family!"

"Whoever achieves great things is not ruthless, and a general must not be pedantic."

Before Zhai Shouxun could finish his words, Li Chongjin kicked him hard in the stomach. After a scream, Zhai Shouxun lay on the ground and twitched all over.

Li Chongjin cursed: "If you talk too much about that bitch, I'll beat you to death! For the sake of past friendship, I don't care about you, so just pretend I didn't hear what you said today! Get out! Get out of here!"

Zhai Shouxun looked pale, got up holding his stomach, and ran out of the gate in a panic.

Li Chongjin cursed a few words, put on his helmet, picked up his steel sword, and led a group of soldiers down the tower in a hurry, heading towards the corner tower where the rebels were fleeing.

On the city wall, Zhai Shouxun watched Li Chongjin walk away from a distance and spit on the ground:

"Being pedantic and stupid will never happen, and you will die a violent death sooner or later!"

~~~
In the Qingshou Hall of the harem, Guo Wei, dressed in regular clothes, was copying a Yuefu poem at his desk, using a gold lacquered dragon-patterned wild goose feather sword as a paperweight.

After finishing writing, Guo Wei put down his pen and ink, picked up the paper and shook it, feeling quite satisfied with his flying writing skills.

".The old man is still ambitious, but his ambition is to reach a thousand miles; the martyr is still ambitious in his old age."

Guo Wei couldn't help but read out loud. His state of mind at this moment could only be reflected by this famous work by Emperor Wu of Wei.

Wang Lingwen, the martial arts envoy, hurriedly entered the palace, bowed down and said, "I am reporting to the officials that the rebellious minister Wang Jun and his family have been arrested at a private house in Chunmingfang, Dongcheng!"

Guo Wei smiled and said, "Did Zhao Hongyin catch Wang Jun?"

"Zhao Hongyin is in command, and the person who captured Wang Jun is Zhao Hongyin's son Zhao Kuangyin!"

"Well, very good!" Guo Wei was in a good mood and picked up the Golden Dragon Scabbard Yanling Dao specially used as an emperor's sword: "It seems that I have no use for this thing."

After a pause, Guo Wei said in a deep voice: "Immediately issue an order to expose Wang Jun's crimes to the public. In consideration of his past kindness and merits, I will spare his whole family, demote him to Shangzhou Sima, and escort him out of the city immediately without delay!
You personally take people to send him on his way! "

Wang Lingwen glanced at the officials, then quickly lowered his head: "I accept the order!"

Seeing that Wang Lingwen did not leave immediately, Guo Wei said, "Is there anything else?"

Wang Lingwen hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Just now a spy came to report that Li Chongjin's troops and horses were mobilized abnormally. Several troops under his command had appeared near Daqing Gate and stayed for no reason. Wang Shenqi, who was responsible for guarding Daqing Gate, sent When people asked, these people hesitated and couldn't tell the reason.

Wang Shenqi has ordered the Daqing Gate to be under martial law, and those who do not comply with the order are not allowed to enter! "

"Huh?" Guo Wei's eyes flashed, he was stroking the golden dragon sword with both hands, and said calmly: "In your opinion, what does Li Chongjin want to do?"

Wang Lingwen said hurriedly: "Li Chongjin is responsible for the defense of the palace city, and Daqing Gate is an important passage in and out of the inner palace. It stands to reason that it is normal for him to send people to strengthen security. After all, the safety of Daqing Gate is related to the safety of the inner palace."
However, Wang Shenqi was ordered to guard Daqing Gate, so Li Chongjin should no longer be distracted, but should use all his strength to wipe out the rebels as soon as possible. Why his troops stayed near Daqing Gate is unknown to me! "

Guo Wei stared at him for a while, then suddenly pointed at him and cursed with a smile: "Old fox, you said a lot of nonsense, but you are a good person and don't want to offend anyone!"

Wang Lingwen hurriedly knelt down and said, "This is an official family matter, and I dare not interfere!"

Guo Wei waved his hand: "Okay, you can step back, I have my own opinion!"

Wang Lingwen hurriedly kowtowed in thanks and bowed out of the hall.

The sound of a sword being unsheathed suddenly rang out in the empty hall. Guo Wei gently wiped the shining blade, and his slightly condensed tiger eyes were full of an inexplicable sharp light.
The rebellion within the palace city was completely suppressed before evening, but the ban on the inner city of Kaifeng lasted for three days.

In three days, the entire inner city was searched, and the homes of hundreds of civil and military officials were ransacked. The prisons of the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Kaifeng Mansion were overcrowded. The joint trial team composed of the three judicial departments promptly tried the criminals who rebelled against the party in accordance with the decree. Some were demoted and exiled, and some were acquitted.

Generally speaking, in this turmoil, except for a few rebel groups who raised their flags to rebel, only a very small number of the officials and their families who were imprisoned were executed, and most of them were demoted and transferred.

The massacre scene that horrified the people in the city did not happen. Several criminals who were sentenced to death had detailed notices posted about their crimes, announcing their crimes to the whole city.

Three days later, the whole city was lifted from the lockdown. People walked out of their homes and found the corpses everywhere they imagined. The scene of house destruction and death did not happen, but dozens of houses were burned down. The government had dispatched civilian workers to step up emergency repairs.

Three days later, the fireworks in Kaifeng City were completely restored. This riot that suddenly broke out but subsided very quickly seemed to have no impact on the lives of the people in Kaifeng.

Zhu Xiu stayed at Changhemen Gate Tower for three days without sleep. He waited until there was a decree from the palace that he could return home to rest, and Cao Bin was responsible for bringing the Tiger Wing Army back to the camp to rest. He felt relieved. tone.

Wang Jun's gang was eliminated, and Li Chongjin did not cause any trouble in the palace.

After handing over the defense, Cao Bin led the Tiger Wing Army back to the main camp. Pan Mei went back to the imperial officer's office in front of the palace to wait for news. Zhu Xiu took Zhu Wu, Bi Zhenhai and others back to the house.

Everything was fine at home, but Fu Jinhuan was shocked when she saw Zhu Xiu. Her husband, whom she had not seen for three days, had black eyes and bloodshot eyes, stubble all over his face, sticky hair, and a smell of oily sweat all over his body.

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly and didn't want to say anything. He took off his clothes and armor and went to sleep. Anyway, the officials didn't tell him to rest for a few days, so he had to have a good night's sleep first.

After sleeping with his head covered for nearly two days, Zhu Xiucai slowly woke up and turned around.

During this period, no decree was passed down from the court. Two days later, after Zhu Xiu regained her energy and took a bath, the old eunuch from the inner palace who was responsible for delivering the decree slowly arrived.

"Emperor's decree: Grant Zhu Xiu the title of Zhongshu Sheren, and he will join the province to participate in Zhongshu's decisions from now on!"

In the main hall, the old eunuch announced the edict in a male duck's voice. Zhu Xiu accepted the edict and thanked him in full of surprise.

"I would like to ask the chamberlain, why did the government suddenly let me serve in the Central Secretary's Office? I have served as the Firearms Supervisor and the Information Department Order. I have always been responsible for specific affairs, but I have never participated in government affairs or the Central Secretary's resolutions."

Zhu Xiu took the old eunuch's hand like a chicken's claw, and stuffed a silver collar into his hand.

The old eunuch shook his hand, and the silver collar disappeared into his sleeves. The old eunuch smiled and said, "Look at what Mr. Zhu said. Being able to serve as a member of the Zhongshushe and participate in government decision-making is a sign of favor from the official family. It shows the official's heart." Towards you!
Think about it, there are not many fifth-rank officials in the government who are 20 years old, but at the age of 20, they can enter the Zhongshu Province and hold important positions, but Mr. Zhu is the only one! "

The old eunuch smiled so brightly that his orchid finger almost touched the tip of his nose.

Zhu Xiu hurriedly took a step back, resisting the cold, and said with a dry smile: "It's just that I have never had any experience in government affairs. I'm afraid I'm not used to it when I suddenly joined the Zhongshu Provincial Department."

The old eunuch said: "Are you afraid? Who doesn't know that you, Lord Zhu, are a disciple of the hermit master, and you are very capable! Besides, now that Wang Jun has been demoted, the first prime minister of the dynasty is Feng Dao, the old master, and Xianggong Feng is Zhongshu Ling, who is in charge of Zhongshu, based on your relationship with him, can I treat you badly if you serve under him in the future?"

"Haha, thank you for the advice, chambermaid!"

"By the way, the official also ordered that Mr. Feng has caught a cold recently and is resting at home. You should go to the house to visit first and ask Mr. Feng for advice. It will also help you adapt to your new position as soon as possible.

From now on, while my husband is recuperating, you will be responsible for liaising with the court and handling Zhongshu's government affairs on his behalf! "

Zhu Xiu curled his lips and cursed endlessly. What he said was nice about handling Zhongshu's government affairs, but in fact he just asked him to run errands for Feng Dao, send official documents, and so on.

Zhu Xiu pulled the old eunuch and whispered again: "May I ask the chamberlain, has Li Chongjin changed his position?"

The old eunuch laughed and said: "The Duke of Hanoi has made great contributions in handling the rebellion in the palace. The officials specially issued an order to let him stay in the palace for a while. The officials gave him a side hall of Zichen Palace to live in. This is a great favor!"

Zhu Xiu's heart skipped a beat, and she thought to herself, this is not a favor, this is clearly under house arrest in the inner court!
It seems that Guo Wei has not yet decided how to deal with Li Chongjin!

Zhu Xiu felt anxious in her heart and must find a way to see Li Zhongjin as soon as possible to prevent the gap between him and Guo Wei and his son from getting deeper and deeper.

After sending the old eunuch away, Zhu Xiu paced in the hall.

Guo Wei appointed him as the official of Zhongshushe, which was a signal to restore trust in him. It was also compensation for having imprisoned him before and letting Cao Bin watch over him while dealing with Wang Jun's rebellion against the party.

At the same time, his military position as commander of the Tiger Wing Army was not removed. He was only asked to return half of the military symbols and leave the seal in his hand. To put it bluntly, he took back the right to mobilize troops and retained the right to command troops. However, if he wants to mobilize troops in the future, It must be reported to the Privy Council and the Ministry of War and follow the formal procedures.

There are many heroes and generals in the imperial court who also hold political positions, but most of them are given as rewards and titles, which are more of an honorary title.

It is rare for someone like him to have both a military position and a powerful position as Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

According to the explanation of the old eunuch, firstly, the official family favored the favor, and secondly, there was a major change of court officials. A large number of people were dismissed and demoted, leaving many positions vacant. He, Zhu Xiu, took advantage.

Zhu Xiu shook his head, still not sure what the meaning of Uncle Guo's arrangement was, or if he really just wanted to compensate him.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Xiu decided to visit Feng Dao first, and then go to the palace to meet the officials.

(End of this chapter)