A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 555: Guanzhong changed in just a few years, and the limbs were like the chaos of Jin Dynasty

Guanzhong was considered the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty, and the Qin and Han Dynasties prospered, so there is a saying: Those who win Guanzhong can win the world.

Since ancient times, emperors have taken Guanzhong first.

As mentioned above, Murong Chui was defeated in the chaos in the Yan Kingdom. He sneaked and trekked all the way through the grasslands and deserts, and finally came to the border of Guanzhong.

At this time, Guanzhong was in the hands of King Fu Jian of Qin.

Who is this Fu Jian? He is the grandson of Pu Hong, the general of Later Zhao, and the leader of the Di people.

It is said that in the fourteenth year of Beiding, Emperor Baishu of Xia passed away. The Zhao and Yan families wanted to take advantage of the change of power in the Xia court and the vacuum in the central government to attack Daxia from the north and south.

Unexpectedly, even though Emperor Xia Wu passed away, Bai Kai immediately took over the position of emperor. There was no rumor at all from outsiders. Just like in the past, when the emperor changed, he was unable to take care of the affairs of the court for several months.

Therefore, the invasion of the two countries was completely blocked by the Xia Kingdom.

King Murong Jun of Yan also died as a result.

In the first year of Yanping, Zhao's army not only failed to attack Xia, but also lost troops and generals.

Therefore, the Zhao army generals Shi Tao and Shi Zun who were in charge of this battle were criticized by the court.

Prince Shi Xuan, who was already dissatisfied with Shi Tao, took the opportunity to attack and sent his cronies Yang Bei and others to Shi Tao's army to escort him back to the capital in the name of Shi Hu.

Shi Tao thought that Shi Hu really wanted to blame him, but knowing that Shi Hu had always liked him, he didn't care and allowed Yang Bei and others to escort him back to Beijing.

I thought that after returning to the capital, I could get away with it by saying a few nice words in front of Shi Hu.

Unexpectedly, when the convoy was halfway through Tongguan, Yang Bei and others suddenly launched an attack and surrounded and killed Shi Tao's carriage with hundreds of troops accompanying him.

Because it was an escort, there were not many guards, only more than fifty personal guards.

A moment later, Shi Tao was shot dead in the carriage by random arrows.

Yang Bei boarded the car to check that Shi Tao was indeed dead, so he began to fake Shi Tao's suicide and reported it to the court. Shi Tao committed suicide out of fear of guilt.

When the memorial reached the central government, Shi Xuan hinted that Yousi was covering up the truth and sent someone to present it to Shi Hu for review.

When Shi Hu heard about Shi Tao's death, he felt sad. He couldn't help but suspect that Shi Xuan had killed Shi Tao and wanted to summon him.

But she was afraid that he would not come, so she lied that his mother, Queen Du, was critically ill due to excessive grief, and wanted to see him one last time.

Shi Xuan, who was anxiously waiting for Shi Hu's reaction in the East Palace, and was ready to leak the plot, contact the army, and fight to the death, was in chaos when he heard that his mother was critically ill.

He ignored the dissuasion of Mou Cheng, Zhao Sheng and others and entered the palace alone.

As soon as he entered the palace gate, he was detained by the palace guards when he entered the middle palace.

Sima Shike, who was on duty in the palace, was originally Shi Xuan's internal agent in the palace and knew about Shi Xuan and others' murder of Shi Tao.

Now seeing Shi Xuan being arrested by the palace guards, he was afraid of Shi Hu's cruelty. In order to save his life, he reported Shi Xuan and others' plan to Shi Hu.

Knowing that Shi Tao was really killed by Shi Xuan, Shi Hu was furious and ordered the immediate arrest of Yang Bei, Mou Cheng, Zhao Sheng and other rebellious gangsters.

However, Shi Xuan's insistence on entering the palace despite their dissuasion had already made Mou Cheng and others aware of it, and they were ready to escape in advance.

In the end, Yang Bei and Mou Cheng escaped, and only Zhao Sheng was captured.

After questioning, he confessed everything.

Shi Hu was so distraught that he took the knife and arrow that killed Shi Tao and knelt on the ground to lick the blood.

He ordered Shi Xuan to be imprisoned in a warehouse and tortured to punish him. Shi Xuan's wails and howls shook the palace.

In the end, Shi Xuan, who was tortured, was ordered to be burned to death in full public view by Shi Hu.

After experiencing the killing of his children, he personally tortured and killed his own children, which also made Shi Hu seriously ill.

Less than a month later, Shi Hu fell ill. Finally, in order to avoid trouble, he decided to skip all the eldest sons and make his youngest son Shi Shi the crown prince.

He also deposed Queen Du and established Shi Shi's biological mother Liu Zhaoyi as his queen.

In June of the first year of Yanping, the prince's old subordinates, Liang Du and others of the East Palace Guards who guarded Liangzhou, were forced to rebel.

Shi Hu, who was seriously ill, appointed King Yan Shi Bin as the governor, in charge of various internal and external military affairs, and led the champion general Yao Yizhong, the chariot general Pu Hong and others to pacify.

Liang Du was defeated by the elite troops of the imperial court and the Qiang and Di cavalry.

In October of the same year, when he learned that Liangdu had been pacified, Shihu issued an edict to give Yao Yizhong the honor of going to the palace with a sword and entering the court.

He also appointed Pu Hong as the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Commander-in-Chief of Yong, Qinzhou Military, and Yongzhou Governor.

In November of the same year, Shi Hu's condition worsened.

Appoint Pengcheng King Shi Zun as the general to guard Guanyou; appoint Yan King Shi Bin as the prime minister to take charge of the ministerial affairs; appoint Zhang Jack as the general of the guard, the leading general, and the official minister.

Let the three of them assist the government together.

However, Queen Liu hated Shi Zun and was afraid that this would be detrimental to the prince.

Coincidentally, at this time, Shi Zun had not yet arrived in the capital from Pengcheng, so he colluded with Zhang Zhen, who was also the auxiliary minister, to falsely pass the imperial edict.

He said that Shi Bin had no sense of loyalty and filial piety, so he dismissed him from office and returned home. He also sent Zhang Xiong, Zhang Xiong's younger brother, to lead 500 Longteng guards in the palace to guard Shi Bin's mansion to guard him. On November 20th, Shi Zun came to the court, but was blocked by Empress Liu. He could not see Shi Hu, so he left in tears and went to Guanyou to take office.

On the 21st, Zhang Jack sent Zhang Xiong to falsely pass on the edict and sent troops to Shi Bin's mansion. He killed Shi Bin on the charge that the emperor was seriously ill and he did not enter the palace to serve as a minister and was not a loyal minister and filial son.

On the 27th, Liu once again issued a false edict, appointing Zhang Jie as Taibao, governor of the Chinese and foreign armies, and in charge of the ministerial affairs, just like Huo Guang in the Western Han Dynasty who was in charge of the government.

On the 29th, Shi Hu passed away. Prince Shi Shi ascended the throne and honored Liu as the empress dowager.

In the first month of the second year of Yanping, the Liu family exercised the power of the emperor and appointed Zhang Jack as prime minister.

Zhang Jack refused to accept the offer and asked to appoint Shi Zun, king of Pengcheng, and Shi Jian, king of Yiyang, as the left and right prime ministers in order to appease the Shi family members. Liu family followed his suggestion.

In February, when Shi Zun arrived in Chang'an, he heard the news that his father Shi Hu had died of illness.

Yao Yizhong, Fu Hong and others met Shi Zun in Chang'an on their way back from the expedition against Liang Du.

Together they advised Shi Zun:
"His Highness is old and possesses both political integrity and talent. The late Emperor also intended to make Your Highness his heir.

It was precisely because he was confused in his later years that he was deceived by Zhang Jack.

Now that the heroine is in charge of the government, the treacherous ministers dominate the government, Xia and Zhao are at a stalemate in Leling, and the capital's defense force is empty.

If His Highness denounced Zhang Jack's crimes and marched against him with drums beating, who wouldn't open the city gates, turn around and welcome His Highness? "

Shi Zun was persuaded by them, followed their advice, and raised troops to clear the emperor's side.

As soon as Shi Hucai passed away, the Xia Kingdom got the news. With the help of Shanyang King Bai Ji and others, Bai Kai, who had finished mourning, sent troops to Leling with Bai Ji as the commander-in-chief.

Therefore, most of the troops in Kaifeng, the capital, were transferred to Leling to resist the Xia army's invasion.

When Shi Zun's army of King Qin passed through Tongguan, the governor of Luozhou led his troops from Luoyang to join him.

When the message of the crusade reached Kaifeng, Zhang Jack was very frightened and hurriedly ordered the troops who had assisted Leling to return and garrison checkpoints and important places along the way.

Unexpectedly, the highly respected veterans, veteran generals and soldiers of the Jie tribe in Kaifeng City all said when they heard that Shi Zun had raised an army:

"King Pengcheng has come to attend the funeral. We should go out of the city to greet him. How can we attack him for the sake of the Han people? We can no longer defend the city for Zhang Jackal!"

So they all climbed over the city wall and escaped.

Even if Zhang Jackal was found and tried to stop him by decapitating him, it would not work.

Even the Soaring Dragon Guards guarding the palace broke through the checkpoints under the leadership of the leading general, preparing to meet Shi Zun.

Mrs. Liu was very frightened and summoned Zhang Jackal to the palace. Pei cried to him in pain and said:

"The late emperor's coffin has not yet been buried, and the chaos has reached this level! Now that the prince is young, he can only rely on you, general.

General, what are you going to do? I want to give Shi Zun a prominent official position. Will this appease him? "

Zhang Jack was also very panicked and frightened at this time. He didn't know how to answer, so he just said yes.

So the Liu family issued an edict, appointing Shi Zun as prime minister, concurrently serving as Grand Sima, Grand Governor, supervising the Chinese and foreign armies, and taking charge of the ministerial affairs. He was given special rights and courtesy such as holding a yellow Yue and adding Jiuxi, and added more Ten counties serve as his food fiefs.

But Shi Zun didn't stop just because of this small profit. Instead, he marched faster and faster.

In May, Shi Zun arrived at Yi Anting in the western suburbs of Kaifeng. Zhang Jack, who had lost his mind and no one, came out to greet him personally in order to seek for his life.

The proud Shi Zun ordered him to be arrested.

On May 15th, Shi Zun, wearing armor and showing off his force, entered Kaifeng from Fengyang Gate, climbed to the front hall of Taiwu, beat his chest and feet, vented his sorrow, and then retreated to the East Pavilion.

In the days that followed, Shi Zun ignored the urgent reports from Leling and ordered the entire Zhang Jack clan to be killed.

He also forced Liu to issue an order:

"The prince is young, so the reason why he was made the prince was due to the late emperor's personal affection. However, the great cause of the country is very important and cannot be undertaken by him. The king of Pengcheng, Shi Zun, should be the heir apparent."

Shi Zun repeatedly made excuses and resigned, and the ministers sincerely persuaded him. Then he accepted the important task, ascended the throne of emperor in Taiwu's front hall, and issued an amnesty.

On the 16th day of the fifth month, Shishi was granted the title of King Qiao, with a settlement of 10,000 households. He did not treat him with the etiquette of courtiers, and deposed the Liu family as the concubine. Soon after, they all were killed.

Shi Zun, who ascended the throne, honored his mother Zheng as the empress dowager, made his concubine Zhang the empress, and made Shi Yan, the son of King Yan Shi Bin, the crown prince.

He also appointed King Shijian of Yiyang as the minister and Taifu; King Shichong of Pei as the Taibao; King Shibao of Leping as the Grand Sima; and King Shikun of Ruyin as the general, with the intention of appeasing his brothers.

In addition, Yao Yizhong, the Duke of Xiping County, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese and foreign military affairs, the assistant general of the country, the official secretary, and the Duke of Anding, to assist the government and stabilize the heroes.

At the same time, because Shi Zun needed Pu Hong to stay in Guanxi, clear up Liangdu's remnant army, and suppress Guanzhong, he did not enter the court together.

In July, due to the coming and going of imperial reinforcements, Leling fell. Shi Chong, the king of Pei who was guarding Licheng, gradually became happy when he heard that Shi Zun had killed Shi Shi and made himself emperor.

He believed that Shi Zun could succeed to the throne by relying on his military strength. He now controls an army of tens of thousands, so why not?
Then he said to his colleagues who were assisting him:

"Shi Shi succeeded to the throne in accordance with the late emperor's will. Shi Zun deposed and killed him arbitrarily. There is no greater crime than this!

Pass on this general's order and order strict vigilance inside and outside. I will personally go out to attack him! "

On July 23, Shi Chong left Ningbei General Shu Jian to guard Qingzhou, and led 50,000 soldiers to the west of Licheng.

(End of this chapter)