Thief Emperor

Chapter 864: The Old Emperor and the New Emperor

The biggest advantage of Jiannan Road is just two words.

Closed.

Because of this isolation, later dynasties often separated part of it when dividing administrative areas and handed it over to other provinces for jurisdiction.

It is to make it incomplete and unable to be separated.

It is also for this reason that Jiannan Road has been the private territory of the Wu Dynasty for two hundred years. Once any changes occur in the capital, the court will subconsciously want to hide in Xichuan.

And now, Jiameng Pass is lost.

It is also obvious that it is too late for the Jiannan Army to return to provide reinforcements, and it is estimated that it will not be long before Jianzhou is lost.

The entire Jiannan Road was wide open, and the Jiangdong Army could even march all the way to Chengdu Prefecture unimpeded.

This is quite fatal.

You know, even if the Jiannan Army and the Imperial Guards were combined, there would probably be less than 100,000 of them at this moment.

Even if we ignore the quality of the army and factors such as firearms, the Jiangdong Army could easily send more than 100,000 troops at this time.

And if the quality of the army is taken into account, the Jiangdong Army will probably sweep across Jiannan Road!

His Majesty the Emperor stood there in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, his eyes gradually focused, and then he uttered a sound made by gnashing of teeth.

"This Zhang Han really deserves to die, really deserves to die!"

He clenched his fists, tried to lower his voice, and his face was a little distorted.

"Wei Quanzhong, Su Jing, Li Tong, Xiao Xian, Zhang Qiong!"

He read out the names one by one, and every word was filled with resentment.

"They are all treacherous villains, all treacherous villains!"

At this time, in the emperor's heart, there were no more loyal ministers in the world.

Zhang Qiong's family, who had always been "loyal", had now openly raised an army and marched into Chengdu Prefecture, and they also lost the Jiannan Dao Frontier in their hands.

In the emperor's mind, this incident alone was enough to make him deserve death.

As for all of Zhang Qiong's previous contributions, they were no longer worth mentioning at this point.

Pei Huang looked at the emperor with a distorted face. He took a deep breath, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... Don't be impatient, don't be impatient."

"Now that things have come to this, the most important thing right now is to think of ways to deal with it."

"What else can be done?"

The Emperor had a frightening expression on his face: "Sanlang, can you defeat the Jiangdong Army?"

"Even the Shuofang Army is no match for the Jiangdong Army."

Pei Huang remained silent.

Indeed, judging from the current battle record, the Jiangdong Army can be said to be invincible in the world.

If two years ago, Li Yun had not taken over the Central Plains, or had just taken over the Central Plains, the princes of the world had formed an alliance to attack the Jiangdong Army and might have been able to suppress the Jiangdong Army's momentum.

At this time, all the forces in the world, except the Khitans, united together and tied together, and at most they could only stalemate with the Jiangdong Army.

Moreover, over time, Li Yun, who has a vast territory, will show terrifying endurance and kill all other people.

Pei Huang shook his head slightly, his voice hoarse: "But Your Majesty, there must be a way to deal with this situation. We can't just sit in Chengdu and wait for the Jiangdong Army to come to us."

The Emperor had no expression on his face, but his hands were trembling slightly beneath his wide sleeves.

Obviously, at this moment, His Majesty the Emperor was terrified to the extreme.

It’s just because of my identity issue that I’m trying not to say anything.

"Your Majesty, I have already thought about it roughly on the way here. There are only two ways at this time."

"The first way is to wait until the Jiangdong Army advances westwards and reaches the city of Chengdu, then open the city and surrender to Li Yun."

"The second method is to unite with the Shuofang Army."

"Your Majesty can... return to the capital of Guanzhong. No matter what, at least Wei Quanzhong has given up the idea of ​​becoming emperor and still regards our Great Zhou as the legitimate dynasty."

"Your Majesty, we have arrived in the capital and are safe."

The emperor closed his eyes and said nothing.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally laughed at himself and said, "If I really get to Luoyang, I can meet Lao Er again. I really don't know what it will be like to see him again."

His Majesty the Emperor is of course feeling complicated at this moment.

To be honest, if there had not been a King of Chu, Wu Yuanyou, in Luoyang City, this emperor, who had a somewhat weak character, might have made up his mind to surrender to Li Yun.

But Wu Yuanyou is in Luoyang, and the positions of the Two Kings and Three Ke may have already been decided. If he goes to Luoyang again... it will not be safe.

After an unknown amount of time, the Emperor finally came to his senses. He looked at Pei Huang and sighed, "It's the time and the fate. I can't struggle at all."

"Sanlang, how long do you think it will take for the Jiangdong Army to reach Chengdu?"

Pei Huang lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "The Jiannan Army and the Imperial Guards have a lot of troops. It will take at least several months to block them all the way..."

"Then you should go to Luoyang."

His Majesty the Emperor closed his eyes, his voice filled with bitterness: "Go and meet Li Yun for me and find out the situation."

Pei Huang was silent for a long time, then bowed his head and said, "I obey your command."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and lowered his voice and said, "My youngest son is less than two years old this year. Sanlang, please help me and have someone send him to the people to find someone to adopt him."

Pei Huang looked up at the emperor with a look of astonishment when he heard this: "Your Majesty." The emperor clenched his fists and looked pale: "I know very well that Xichuan is probably gone. Whether I go to the capital or Luoyang, I am afraid that my life will be in jeopardy, and even the princes..."

The king of a fallen country may not be able to enjoy peace after abdicating, unless he poses no threat at all.

Especially a dynasty like the Wu Zhou that lasted for two hundred years.

The emperor and his princes, each of them represents "orthodoxy" and "opportunity."

Even if they themselves no longer have any ambitions, some ambitious people will naturally come to them and want to use their banner to cause trouble.

So for the Xin Dynasty, it was better to kill them all.

Pei Huang was silent for a long time, then he knelt on the ground and said with tears in his eyes: "I am incompetent, and I have come to the court and Your Majesty to this point."

"I deserve death."

His Majesty the Emperor stood up.

Perhaps because he hadn't moved for a long time, he was unstable and almost fell to the ground. After finally standing firmly, he laughed at himself and said, "When I was the crown prince, I was thinking about ascending the throne every day."

“Only after I really sat in this position did I realize…”

He murmured, "This is not a good place for a person to sit."

Pei Sanlang lowered his head and cried bitterly.

His Majesty the Emperor looked back at him, reached out his hand to help him up, and patted his shoulder: "Sanlang, this is the will of heaven, and it is beyond human power to defy it."

"Please, I'll take the trouble for you."

At this point, he took a deep breath, and his eyes became firm: "After I ascended the throne, I was forced to run around by various rebels. It was really embarrassing."

"I have lost all my dignity as an emperor. If I run away again this time."

"It will become a laughing stock for all eternity."

He made up his mind and said through gritted teeth: "Whether it's life or death, blessing or disaster, no matter what, I will never leave Chengdu Prefecture, you can kill me or chop me up."

"Let them be."

Pei Huang knelt down and kowtowed, choking with sobs, saying: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. I will leave immediately and rush to Luoyang."

…………

Luoyang City, in the Imperial Palace.

Li Yun was walking in the back garden of the imperial palace, holding the hand of his only daughter, Li Shu.

It was already summer, and the garden was full of lush branches and leaves, with flowers and plants everywhere. Even some of them had just been transplanted and had already bloomed.

After walking around for a while, Li Yun picked her up and said with a smile, "You and your mother have been looking around for several days. Have you decided where you will live in the future?"

Little Li Shu hugged Li Yun's neck, rubbed his face against his father, and said in a clear voice: "Where Daddy lives, I live there too."

Li Yun touched her little head and laughed heartily: "I, the Jurchen, can talk."

"Come on, Daddy will take you to eat something delicious."

Li Shu cheered and put his arms around Li Yun's neck. Not long after he left, Li Yun saw Li Zheng in a purple robe coming towards him. Li Yun stepped forward and handed his daughter over.

Li Shu was also very familiar with Li Zheng. He called him "Uncle" with a smile and opened his hands.

Li Zheng quickly took it, held it in his arms, and said with a wry smile: "Second brother is free, but I am almost too busy."

Li Yun led him to the pavilion and sat down, then said with a smile, "What else is there that has you, Lord Li, busy with?"

“There are too many things to do.”

Li Zheng waved his hands, very helpless: "There are too many, I can't handle it, luckily the two Shao Yins are here, otherwise I would be exhausted."

He looked up at Li Yun, coughed, and said, "Second brother, my family is coming to Luoyang today."

"Today is the day?"

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "That's a good thing. Bring him to the palace someday and we can have a meal together."

Li Zheng nodded, and then said, "Brother, your family is here too."

As he spoke, he quickly added: "Uncle San doesn't want to watch, and doesn't want him to have too much contact with the people in the old village and cause trouble, so he just sent him to Luoyang together."

Zhou Liang has never come to Luoyang because he was ordered to guard Jinling. If nothing unexpected happens, he will most likely stay in Jinling for a long time in the future and control the entire Jiangnan region.

However, Li Feng's identity was too special and he didn't want to cause any trouble, so he simply sent him to Luoyang along with Li Zheng's wife and children.

Hearing this, Li Yun just nodded and said, "It's okay, I'm here, my nephews and nieces are just in time for me to use them."

After hearing what Li Yun said, Li Zheng was relieved. The two brothers chatted for a while before he asked, "By the way, second brother, I heard that the fighting at Jiameng Pass was very fierce. How is the situation now?"

"Now?"

Li Yun looked up at the sky, pondered for a while, then touched his daughter's hair and smiled.

"Should have taken Jianzhou."

"So fast?"

Hearing this, Li Zheng smiled and said, "It looks like we can capture Emperor Wu and bring him to Luoyang very soon!"

His tone was excited.

"When the time comes, I'll take a good look at what he actually gave birth to."

(End of this chapter)