The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 349 Regent (VII)

When Xiao Yan walked out of the room, he stood by the railing, gazing into the distant sky.

It was already bright in the sky, and there were wisps of smoke rising from the south of the city. Those were the buildings that were burned down during the nighttime riots. Han Yanhui and Yu Zhong must have been arranging people to deal with them properly.

I originally thought that today would be a gloomy day, but when I looked out from the railing, I found that the morning sun had frowned, and the fiery red began to cover the clouds.

Although Xiao Yan never believed in destiny, he thought this was an excellent sign at this moment.

Jing Xiang, Zhu Youzhen and other ministers were downstairs. All of Prince Bo's old party members were being held in a side courtyard for custody. Ding Zhaopu was leading a group of eunuchs and palace servants in, carrying the emperor's ceremonial equipment and other items.

Now that the situation was settled, the imperial palace dared not defend itself any longer. Xiao Yan arranged in advance for a team of soldiers to knock on the door, and the Jinwu Guards who stayed behind in the palace opened the palace gate without saying a word.

Seeing Xiao Yan walking out of the room, the eunuchs and palace maids, even though they didn't understand what was happening, just prostrated themselves on the ground subconsciously, not daring to breathe.

Because of the lesson learned from the Li Tang dynasty, the status of eunuchs nowadays was extremely low, and they were truly house slaves. Zhu Wen alone had slaughtered at least a thousand eunuchs over the years.

Zhu Youzhen was already feeling a little uneasy, and when he saw everyone prostrating themselves on the ground and the soldiers on his left and right also saluted solemnly, his knees also felt a little weak, but at least he did not bow to Xiao Yan, he just looked embarrassed.

"Eunuch Ding."

Xiao Yan waved to Ding Zhaopu, who was the first to bow downstairs, and said, "The Supreme Lord wants to write a letter of abdication. You come up and serve him."

Ding Zhaopu responded respectfully, took the silk book and other things from the hands of his two adopted sons, bent over and walked up the stairs, first bowed to Xiao Yan, and then walked into the room accompanied by two soldiers.

Ding Zhaopu was stunned when he saw the five bright red finger marks on Zhu Wen's face, but he didn't react at all. He just spread the silk book on the table and asked Zhu Wen to write it.

"You slut..." Zhu Wen was afraid of Xiao Yan, but not of eunuchs like Ding Zhaopu. He just cursed in a low voice.

Ding Zhaopu was a little frightened, but after seeing the five finger marks on Zhu Wen's face, he just said coldly and femininely: "Your Majesty, please write quickly, don't keep you waiting for too long."

Zhu Wen was filled with grief and indignation, but he had no close confidants around him, so he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. After hastily writing it, he hesitated for a moment and was about to add a few more strokes with a sneer.

Ding Zhaopu was sharp-eyed, and he quickly pulled the imperial edict away. He then gave the furious Zhu Wen a fake smile, and walked out holding the imperial edict, bowing to Xiao Yan and saying, "My Lord."

Xiao Yan then read through the imperial edict in front of everyone in the building and nodded, "Serve the Majesty to change his clothes."

"Yes." Ding Zhaopu bowed respectfully, and then waved to his adopted sons downstairs. The latter led several palace servants and carefully went up the stairs. But after seeing Xiao Yan coming down the stairs with a knife, he bowed down again without daring to breathe.

"Serve the emperor well." Xiao Yan gave an instruction and walked straight into the small building.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly smiled at Xiao Yan. Although he had heard about Zhu Wen's handwritten edict of abdication, he still pretended not to know and asked, "General, is my father all right?"

Xiao Yan smiled faintly: "The Emperor is fine, but he has repeatedly told me that I have a lack of moral integrity and must abdicate the throne to Your Majesty. It is not appropriate for me to interfere in such royal affairs. Your Majesty, would you like to go up and see the Emperor?"

Zhu Youzhen's face turned pale. How could he dare to go to see Zhu Wen? He immediately laughed dryly and waved his hands: "Since my father has given full authority to the general, the general only needs to make arrangements. I have no doubts about the general."

Jing Xiang next to him seemed to want to say something but stopped, and then sighed again.

He also had no face to see Zhu Wen, so he just folded his sleeves and said nothing.

Xiao Yan looked at Jing Xiang and said with a smile, "Prime Minister Jing, the Emperor has summoned all the ministers to abdicate and deal with the aftermath. I hope Prime Minister Jing can give us some advice. The court has just purged the traitors, and we need a minister like Prime Minister Jing to help the new emperor stabilize the country."

Jing Xiang had a wooden face, but he caught a glimpse of Zhu Youzhen's expectant but more pleading gaze, so he sighed and replied, "I will follow Commander Xiao's instructions."

Zhu Youzhen was so excited that he no longer cared about his father who was still upstairs. He hurriedly said, "I respectfully congratulate you, Prince!"

Jing Xiang ignored Zhu Youzhen and just looked at Xiao Yan, muttering with emotion and compromise: "Xiao Shuai, Daliang can't stand any more trouble..."

Xiao Yan smiled and didn't respond.

A mutiny or a change of regime actually has little impact on the country as a whole. What is truly destructive is the civil war among the warlords and princes of a country.

The chaos led by Xiao Yan only stopped within Bianliang, and even everything in the process was over in just one night. Daliang was a traditional centralized system, and the real elite, namely the Bianliang Imperial Guards, were in the hands of the court. As long as it did not trigger a large-scale military conflict, even if Bianliang was truly cleansed, only thousands or tens of thousands of people would die.

As long as the core can still function normally and the scope of damage can be controlled, then this is a successful coup.

This was exactly what Jing Xiang meant. Now that things had come to this, no one could stop Xiao Yan's successful ascension to the throne, and it was even less likely that Xiao Yan himself would give up. It was a fact that the court was controlled by him, and Jing Xiang could not change this situation. So he could only hold his nose and help Xiao Yan to appease the warlords in Daliang.

In the current Daliang, the most powerful military leader is of course Xiao Yan. He has 20,000 Guide troops and nearly 20,000 Dingbadu troops composed entirely of cavalry. Not to mention the troops composed of the powerful people in Yan area in Dingbadu, Xiao Yan also has 30,000 well-equipped and well-trained super powerful troops.

Once the court fell into Xiao Yan's hands, the Bian Jing Imperial Guards were completely controlled by Xiao Yan. At this time, the soldiers did not have much loyalty and would support whoever gave them money. Xiao Yan temporarily made the generals of the Imperial Guards surrender, so the Imperial Guards in the Jinshui camp could be indirectly controlled by Xiao Yan.

The Daliang Imperial Guards were one of Zhu Wen's major means of centralizing power. They not only had the responsibility of defending Bianliang, but also had the function of foreign expeditions. Among them, the Twelve Armies of the North Camp No. 6 were the Imperial Guards in a broad sense. The Shenwu, Yulin, Longhu, Tianxing, Tianwei, and Tianwu Armies were divided into left and right, which were the so-called twelve armies.

In addition, there is the Imperial Guard, which has more complicated military titles and is larger in scale. The Longxiong, Shenwei, Gongchen, Zhuosheng, Changjian, Tingzi and Luoyan armies all belong to the Imperial Guard. Although they are also considered imperial guards, they belong to another system.

If we take a full count, there should be nearly 100,000 imperial guards, and they are 100,000 professional soldiers in the standing army. However, not all of them are guarding outside the city of Bianliang at the moment. For example, the Longxiang and Tianxing armies are both in Hebei, and the Changjian and Tingzi armies are both in Guanzhong. Each army also has soldiers of varying sizes who are unemployed at home.

But even so, with the addition of the Guide and Dingba armies, Xiao Yan can currently dispatch more than 100,000 professional soldiers to fight abroad. If a civil war really breaks out, the balance of victory will most likely tip towards him.

As for other military leaders, they should be the Jiedushi who commanded the local vassal troops. The most powerful one among them was Yang Shihou, the Recruiting Envoy of Luzhou Camp who was in charge of the army in Chang'an. The second most powerful one was Xie Yanzhang, the Deputy Envoy of Pacification and Control of the Hezhong Army in Zezhou.

Yang Shihou was the supreme commander of the Daliang Western Army. The troops he could command were also astonishing, but their level of eliteness was far inferior to that of the imperial guards.

As for Xie Yanzhang, he is a rising star. He is the adopted son of Ge Congzhou. This time he is stationed in Zezhou on behalf of Yang Shihou to guard against the State of Jin. He is not a big threat.

Therefore, the only person who could really threaten Xiao Yan, that is, the so-called loyal army that Zhu Wen always talked about, was Yang Shihou. It would be difficult for the other military governors to have the confidence and courage to attack Xiao Yan in the name of loyal army.

So Xiao Yan naturally had already thought about how to appease Yang Shihou.

If it was not necessary, Xiao Yan did not want to provoke a civil war. Of course, he had thought about the worst outcome, which was that Zhu Wen and even Zhu Youzhen would not cooperate. In that case, the civil war would have to be fought.

But Zhu Wen was old and confused, and already cowardly, so Xiao Yan had the premise of stabilizing the situation at the lowest cost. If there was no need, Yang Shihou would not immediately rise up against the court.

Although Yang Shihou was the commander of the Western Army, if he wanted to split Guanzhong, I am afraid there would be a lot of opposition from his subordinates. Guanzhong was in decline, and without support from the court, it would be difficult for Yang Shihou to support the army for a long time.

There is another scenario, that is, Yang Shihou took advantage of the situation and defected to the State of Jin. However, Jin and Liang had always been mortal enemies. Not to mention whether Yang Shihou himself was willing to surrender to Li Keyong, even the generals of the Daliang army under him would probably not be willing to do so.

This was one of the prerequisites for Xiao Yan to launch a mutiny.

The cooperation of Jing Xiang is another major advantage in stabilizing the situation. As Zhu Wen's top counselor for decades, Jing Xiang also has close relations with the various towns. His attitude can ease the alienation between the towns and the court. Xiao Yan can then show goodwill and deterrence respectively, and Daliang can be guaranteed to be stable in a short period of time.

Xiao Yan needs this time.

But Jing Xiang didn't know this. He was very worried that Xiao Yan would use a war to consolidate his power at all costs, so he had to board Xiao Yan's pirate ship. As for whether this Prime Minister Jing would jump off in the future, Xiao Yan would not care about his own opinion.

The two talked for a while, and Xiao Yan expressed some ambiguous opinions. What he meant was that if any vassal dared to come up and cause trouble for himself, he would not hesitate to take the opportunity to establish his authority.

Although the words were plain, they revealed the murderous intent.

Xiao Yan had money, men, and armor and weapons.

Before he entered the imperial city just now, he had people under control of the Bian Jing armory, national treasury, and granary. In addition, Caozhou, which had always served as a base in the Central Plains, also began to transport money and grain to Bian Jing. The purpose was nothing more than one, to reward the imperial guards and win people's hearts.

Xiao Yan has the confidence.

Jing Xiang became even more worried. For a moment, he did not care about the dethronement of the Emperor of Daliang. He just sat there pulling his beard and looking worried.

Zhu Youzhen felt relieved. He was now firmly tied to Xiao Yan's camp. As the saying goes, if one prospers, all prosper, and if one suffers, all suffer. If the royal army attacked Bianliang, the first one to suffer would naturally be Xiao Yan, and the second one to suffer would be him, the new emperor.

The stronger the power Xiao Yan holds, the more confident Zhu Youzhen will be on the throne. He hopes that the troops in Xiao Yan's hands will be enough to suppress everyone in the world in a short period of time so that they dare not raise their heads and threaten the throne where he, Zhu Youzhen, sits.

Only when my throne is stabilized first will I have the opportunity to deal with Xiao Yan slowly. Let's wait and see. One day I may not have to look at the opinion of this foreign minister, Zhu Youzhen thought.

While they were talking, the people outside did not dare to break in without permission, but a corner of the room at the side was quietly opened, and an enchanting figure walked out.

Her face is not beautiful, but very charming and alluring, with a hint of worldly air. However, after all, she has been rich for many years, so she still has the appearance of a noble person.

It was the timid Zhang Zhenniang. When she came out, her face turned pale. She didn't dare to look at the soldiers around her. She just bit her lip and looked at Xiao Yan.

Yu Youshu walked up behind her and whispered something to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan nodded in understanding, then met Zhang Zhenniang's gaze and said, "The traitor Zhu Yougui has been executed, but Princess Ying is one of those who was unaware of the situation. There is no need to worry about being implicated. What will happen next..."

He hesitated for a moment, then said to Yu Youshu, "Madam Yu, you take care of the arrangements."

Zhang Zhenniang finally shuddered with relief, then she just sobbed and bowed to Xiao Yan: "I bow to you, my lord."

Zhu Youzhen's eyelids jumped. He didn't know the inside story beforehand. How could he have known that it was Zhang Zhenniang who played a big role in Zhu Wen's being trapped in Anle Pavilion by Xiao Yan.

But he could hear other hidden meanings at this moment. Now that Zhu Yougui was dead, the so-called Prince Ying's Mansion no longer existed, and it was impossible for Prince Ying's wife to be retained. But Xiao Yan asked Yu Youshu to arrange Zhang Zhenniang, and where else could she be arranged? Only in Xiao Yan's bed!

This general is really amazing.

Zhu Youzhen was secretly shocked. Zhang Zhenniang was born beautiful and had been favored by his father Zhu Wen for many years. She was his father's forbidden delicacy. Even Zhu Yougui probably didn't have the chance to taste this coquettish princess. Xiao Yan was obviously cuckolding Zhu Wen.

Zhu Youzhen secretly glanced at Zhang Zhenniang's figure, thinking that it was a pity. After witnessing Zhu Yougui's death with his own eyes, he was ecstatic and had thought about taking this sister-in-law who had been favored by his father for several years to bed to play with her. However, he did not expect that Xiao Yan was bolder than him. From the looks of it, it was clear that he had already put the blame on Zhu Wen.

However, even though he was secretly jealous, Zhu Youzhen did not dare to show any expression.

Jing Xiang pulled his beard as if he heard and saw nothing. Xiao Yan dared to snatch Zhu Wen's throne, so what was the point of occupying a woman of Zhu Wen?
As long as Xiao Yan did not blatantly sleep on the dragon bed at night and sleep with the concubines in Zhu Wen's palace one by one, the ministers would not say a word. Of course, even if Xiao Yan really did so, perhaps the ministers would not dare to say anything.

Xiao Yan remained calm, he had done everything Cao Mang did, so why should he be afraid of these rumors? A powerful official should act like a powerful official.

It was impossible for Xiao Yan to wait for Zhu Wen here. After instructing Yu Youshu and Duan Chengtian in the outer room, he immediately took the abdication edict and took Zhu Youzhen out, leading more than ten armored cavalrymen straight to the palace.

Jing Xiang did not come with him. Xiao Yan ordered a few soldiers to serve him, leaving Jing Xiang to do as he pleases.

The drum and horn gates of the palace city had been opened long ago, and all the Jinwu guards had disappeared, replaced by Dingbadu's armored soldiers. A general saluted Xiao Yan with a fist.

Xiao Yan nodded, without asking any more questions, and rode straight into the palace. At the same time, he said to Zhu Youzhen beside him in a calm voice: "I am afraid that there are remnants of the Ghost King in the Jinwu Guards, so I have just ordered them to be temporarily detained and guard the palace. My people will take over in a short period of time. I am worried about your majesty's safety. I hope your majesty will not think too much."

Zhu Youzhen smiled awkwardly: "With the general's brave soldiers guarding the palace, I feel at ease..."

Going further in, they were completely inside the imperial palace. Outside the Jiao Lan Palace, it was deserted. There were only armored soldiers standing with swords drawn on both sides. On the square outside the Jiao Lan Palace, there was already a sea of ​​people kneeling on the ground.

Zhu Youzhen took a closer look and was immediately shocked.

However, among the crowd that were crawling on the ground and dared not look up, they were all people who originally belonged to Prince Jun's Mansion, including eunuchs, palace maids, etc., as if they had all ascended to heaven and came to this palace.

Of course, the number of people must be insufficient. During the chaos last night, most of the people in Prince Jun's Mansion fled. These are the only ones who could be gathered. However, there are nearly a hundred people, so there is no problem in serving Zhu Youzhen.

Xiao Yan then smiled and said to Zhu Youzhen: "I think that the old people in your majesty's palace can make your majesty more satisfied. This time, I took the initiative to have someone bring them here. From now on, your majesty can be at ease in the palace and be a peaceful emperor."

Zhu Youzhen couldn't guess what Xiao Yan meant, but he was still very happy. If he really let him use Zhu Wen's palace servants, he would not be able to sleep in peace. So he laughed dryly and said, "The general's arrangements are really thoughtful in every way."

Xiao Yan smiled and waved his hand. The soldiers on his left and right led a group of palace servants to take Zhu Youzhen inside. Zhu Youzhen was the emperor now, so he had to prepare the emperor's clothing and other things. As for whether it would be rushed or whether the palace could prepare it, Xiao Yan didn't care.

He simply rode his horse all the way to the steps of the Jawharan Temple.

All the people in the palace who were lying on the ground around him bowed their heads. No one dared to look at him. The soldiers on his left and right would not interfere with Xiao Yan. In this huge square, it seemed that Xiao Yan was the only one who was quiet.

Xiao Yan didn't ride his horse directly up the imperial road in the middle of the steps. He looked around and called a soldier over: "Send someone to tell Han Yanhui that the abdication ceremony will be held in Anle Pavilion. After that, Zhu Youzhen prepared the emperor's ceremonial guards and went straight to Anle Pavilion."

The soldier had no objection at all. He clasped his fists, saluted, and hurried down to pass on the order.

Xiao Yan got off his horse and walked into Jiao Lan Palace alone. He looked around the palace, stood with his hands behind his back at the dragon bed displayed at the highest point at the palace door, and thought to himself.

Outside the hall, some armored bad guys strode over, but after seeing Xiao Yan's posture, they did not speak without permission.

"Did someone bring it?"

"Yes."

"Then bring it in, come directly here."

The bad man left immediately, and soon after, a woman in purple clothes came over, guarded by two bad men. After that, the two bad men stopped outside the hall and let the woman in purple clothes come in.

Xiao Yan stood in the middle of the hall with his hands behind his back, without turning back to look at the woman.

"The Champion Marquis wants to sit on it?" Shi Yao said coldly.

Xiao Yan couldn't help laughing, and actually walked up to the high platform where the dragon bed was placed, but he didn't sit on the bed. Instead, he swept the imperial desk in front of the bed, as if he was tired after a night of work, and sat on the imperial desk casually as if he was taking a rest. He looked at Shi Yao with amusement and said, "For me, what difference does it make whether I sit on this seat or not?"

Shi Yao was speechless.

Xiao Yan also ignored her, but calmly looked at all the corners of the palace from this perspective, and even walked through the palace door and looked directly at half of the imperial city. His mind suddenly emptied.

"Tian Anxing is really capable." After a while, Shi Yao said quietly.

Xiao Yan took off the knife from his waist, held it in front of him, and said calmly: "It's all thanks to that commander-in-chief that he didn't have the opportunity to interfere."

Shi Yao paused for a moment, then sneered, "Since it was so easy for Tian Anxing to usurp the Daliang state, why did he use the identity of a bad guy back then? Isn't it ridiculous to belittle the Marshal now?"

"Tianyouxing misunderstood."

Xiao Yan smiled faintly and said, "I have never belittled the ability of the Bad Leader, and I have never underestimated the help the Bad People have given me. I have relied a lot on the Bad People to get to this point."

He said, "I just feel that this matter doesn't seem to be that difficult. What have the Bad People been waiting for in the past thirty years?"

Shi Yao said coldly: "For the past thirty years, I have just been waiting for this opportunity, but it just so happened that Tian Anxing encountered this opportunity."

"Oh?" Xiao Yan asked curiously, "In other words, if I don't do this, will Tianyouxing do it, or will that Marshal do it? Or, will that prince from Taiyuan do it?"

Shi Yao couldn't help but hesitate.

"ridiculous."

Xiao Yan leaned on the knife and said indifferently: "It's ridiculous what Tianyouxing said about the timing, and it's even more ridiculous what the commander said about tyranny. The word "timing" is about human effort, not waiting. In this chaotic world, holding the weapon of the Bad Guys, there is a lot to be done, but you have to wait for such a ridiculous opportunity. I ask Tianyouxing, for you, is this word "timing" tyranny or the way of heaven?"

Shi Yao clenched her fists and found herself unable to refute.

Xiao Yan said expressionlessly, "I said that day that I would show you how to use the Bad Guys. Now Tianyouxing must have seen it. So according to Tianyouxing, should the Bad Guys stay in the world and do nothing for 30 years while waiting for the so-called peaceful monarch, or should they rise up and end the chaos?"

Shi Yao raised her head suddenly, but heard Xiao Yan sneer: "Of course Tianyouxing will say that what I did cannot be called the end of the troubled times."

"However, without me, who knows how many more years this world would remain in chaos." Xiao Yan said, "Without me, the Bad People would become even more turbulent until they fall apart and become a pool of rotten water."

Shi Yao finally sneered: "Tian Anxing is really arrogant."

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and said, "Whether what I said is true or not, Tianyouxing will have a chance to see it. But if Tianyouxing thinks that the Bad People are a disaster in my hands, then in the three hundred years under the command of the Marshal, when did the Bad People create peace? And when did they create chaos?"

Shi Yao was stunned.

Xiao Yan smiled coldly: "I will let Tianyouxing go, and I hope Tianyouxing will ask the commander-in-chief for me."

"I fight for this world for a peaceful and orderly world. What is he fighting for?" Xiao Yan laughed to himself: "A prosperous world? Without peace, how can there be a prosperous world?"

Shi Yao's expression changed a little, but before she could say anything, she saw Xiao Yan at the top of the table had already stood up, leaning on his sword in front of him, and speaking in a calm tone.

"This is the first anti-Yuan manifesto written by me, Xiao Yan, or Li Zuo of the Tang Dynasty."

He calmly looked at Shi Yao's eyes which shrank instantly, and continued to speak word by word: "I will accept Yuan Tiangang's so-called tyranny."

(End of this chapter)