The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 155 Blasphemy
On the twenty-third day of the winter month in the second year of the Jingfu reign, silver snakes danced on the mountains and wax elephants galloped on the plains.

The curtains blocked most of the light, with only sparse, mottled shadows from the window panes falling on the floor. The breeze gently swayed under the curtains, occasionally making an eerie rustling sound. The narrow corridor was winding, filled with slowly floating green smoke and faint fragrance. The faces of the people in the murals on the two walls were blurred, reflecting the dead silence of the palace. The Guardian Hall was so mysterious and eerie.

Turning left at the end of the corridor, one sees a dim little house filled with steam. Behind the screen is a long and wide jade table. The silver-gilt hairpins, pearl and jade flower ornaments, armlets, earrings, sachets, and zithers have been removed and placed on the jade table. The fox cloak, bowknot, and green and purple myrobalan skirt that she had worn earlier are also neatly hung on the rack on the left side of the pool.

In the mist, a lonely figure can be vaguely seen, with her naked back and flowing hair facing the entrance of the corridor.

Just kneeling in the middle of the hot spring with your head lowered.

On the twelfth day, Zhazhu, who was unable to attack the city, finally left due to the severe cold. The common people celebrated, but the Queen Mother was not happy. When they went to the bandit camp to investigate, they saw that Zhazhu had left in a carefree manner, leaving behind a lot of the looted food, and the camp was full of livestock and property that could not be taken away. There was also a pile of notices in the central army commander's tent: "I respectfully follow the order of the Queen Mother to withdraw the troops."

When the news came out, all the officials were shocked and suspicious.

Some people speculated that she secretly communicated with Li Tianxia to get the thieves away.

Some people said that this was the imperial court's attempt to negotiate peace with Chang'an and stop the war in the west, so the Tang ruler reciprocated the favor.

Some people even speculated that Zhazhu might have fallen in love with the queen and didn’t want to destroy her…

Some even said that Emperor Li wanted to make the beautiful lady Daliang smile, so he showed his generosity to please her! How deep is his love?

For a time, the whole community was filled with heated discussions about "retreating for you".

The crude trick of stabbing a pig was undoubtedly intended to create a rift between the two saints and sow discord. In the spirit of preventing the people from speaking out is more important than preventing the river from flooding, Kaifeng Yin Zhang Tingfan arrested dozens of people and put them in jail. Although this barely calmed the criticism. However, the more cruelly the suppression was used to prevent the people from mentioning sensitive topics, the more the people felt that the cover-up was only making things worse.

The queen's disappointment with Zhang Tingfan is accumulating.

One of the reasons is that it is plagued by public opinion.

Since the invasion of the Hu people, thousands of villages in Ru, Henan, Bian, Chen, and Xuzhou have been deserted, and corpses are everywhere. During the three months that the Hu people invaded the Central Plains, many houses and wheat fields were destroyed, and countless women were abducted. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and died. Women and children who died of freezing and starvation were scattered on the roads, and wild dogs ate them until their fur was shiny. The streets around the capital were full of abandoned babies.

The financial expenditure for the relief is a small matter, Daliang does not lack this little money, but the surging public anger is worrying. There have been several cases of young scholars among the refugees in the capital petitioning the Kaifeng government office. Although the peasants have not made any move...but the problem is that the peasants usually do not speak, and it is difficult to know their limit of stress. When the peasants speak, it is often the case that the kings, princes, generals and ministers are not as good as they seem. Moreover, the five states of Chen, Xu, Cao, Pu and Cai have always had an excellent tradition of uprising. Compared with the rebellion of the army, the people are more frightening. How to calm the masses quickly is not easy.

If these two things are the Queen's personal internal worries.

Then the wars on all four sides would be external concerns.

On the 1177th, Zhu Sheng, who had prepared heavy war equipment such as Yunliang, attacked Hedong City for a day and a night, but failed to capture it. Among them, tens of thousands were soldiers, soldiers who received rewards. Although the "Feng" battle held simultaneously in the east of the city ended with Li Ni taking the lead in evacuating the battlefield, Wang Yanqiu, the cavalry envoy, was cut off one arm by Li Cunxiao, and people from Changzhi, Jianshi, Tingzi, and Luoyan were killed.

The queen's heart is bleeding.

These armies are the training corps of Daliang. Every warrior is a hero carefully selected by Zhu Wen. For example, the Ma Zhi of the Hall has only 3,000 men after ten years of establishment. Everyone here can serve on the front line at any time and serve as a middle or lower-level officer. With them as the backbone, it is easy to raise tens of thousands of troops with relatively strong combat effectiveness. Now more than a thousand people have died, which is simply devastating.

The Queen Mother has appointed the Imperial Envoy Jiang Xuanhui and the Left Winged Guards General Wang Yanzhang to lead a team to visit the families one by one to express their condolences.

As long as these imperial guards remain in order, Daliang will not be fundamentally shaken even if it suffers a crushing defeat.

On the 17th, Zhao Chang, the governor of the Zhongwu Army, fought with Li Sizhao at Longmen but was defeated.

On the 21st, Shi Shenxiao of Wei Bo invaded Kuangcheng.

How to deal with the war in the river? It’s time to raise the issue.

The Queen Mother took the secret letter from the jade table.

Zhu Wen only said one sentence: "I put down my cup and chopsticks and cannot eat. I draw my sword and look around, feeling lost. I want to cross the Yellow River, but it is blocked by ice. I want to climb the Taihang Mountains, but they are covered with snow."

He was in a dilemma now. If he went forward, the three armies would be in danger of being disturbed. The disaster in their hometown had already caused deep resentment in the army, which could be seen from the fact that the generals Ge Congzhou, who were in charge of the anti-rebel affairs, were fiercely denounced and criticized as good-for-nothings by the front line. The anger of the soldiers was about to burst out. There was no hope of completely annihilating the main force of Li Ni and entering Guanzhong, which made them doubt the future of the war, and defeatist remarks began to grow in the army.

People who often rebel know that these two points alone are enough to brew a "rabble-rousing" storm.

Moreover, according to the latest news, Zhazhu has moved north of Zhengzhou and attacked the Heyin warehouse, an important node of the grain road in Hezhong. The horse team that was transporting soldiers, medicine, firewood, food, wine, meat, clothes and shoes was killed and scattered all over the ground. Zhu Youwen, the Prince of Bo, who was in charge of logistics and the deputy envoy of the Ministry of Revenue, Salt and Iron, resigned because he claimed that he could not bear the heavy responsibility. There were also cases where groups of civilians were caught secretly taking small roads to return home.

At present, Huai, Zheng, Chen, and Xu are forcibly conscripting men - one out of three, two out of five, and the previous practice of paying money to avoid conscription is no longer valid. The government does not want money or goods, but people. It does not matter whether they are men or women, old or young.

In fact, corvée labor was not so bad. Zhu Wen was not a complete beast like Qin Zongquan who would eat you after you finished your work. He would pay money and food in exchange for the people to work for the army. But although the main targets of the bandits were officials, they also killed the common people. So the people were very resistant. If this continued, a large number of people would definitely flee.

The Queen Mother had ordered the Recruiting Envoy Ge Congzhou to protect the Heyin Warehouse. If the grain ran out once, he would be handed over to the Censorate for impeachment. Ge Congzhou was still busy in Xingyang, but he had no time to think about it. He led the untrained army to deploy along the line from Bianliang to Zhengzhou. At the same time, the Queen Mother appointed Pei Di, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, as the Envoy of Jianchang Palace, replacing Zhu Youwen, who was on strike. She also ordered Kaifeng Prefecture and the Three Departments to re-survey the transportation route, and implement segmented transportation for the military cities, fences, and forts deployed along the way.

However, although she took great pains to ensure stability in the rear, problems with the grain route were inevitable, and the efficiency of transportation would certainly be reduced.

If we encounter more attacks from bandits and the front line is short of supplies, is there any doubt that someone will cause chaos?

This is how difficult it was for Zhu Wen to advance.

He understood, and the Queen understood even better, that they couldn't fight any further.

But it’s not easy to retreat.

As Kou Yanqing said, "Heroes all over the world and lords from all directions have been eyeing this move for a year. Now Li Shu is trapped, how can we abandon him? We have exhausted our troops and people's efforts on this expedition. If we don't win this year, how can we enter the pass?"

"The river flows but the stones do not turn, leaving regrets for losing Wu..." the red lips murmured, the Queen Mother was indifferent. She could only choose the lesser of two evils, but which of the two evils was lesser?

If you advance, the probability of the army rebelling is infinitely high. Prestige? Zhu San has prestige, and it is not low, but prestige is a subtle force that affects people's hearts, making your tolerance stronger than others. People with high prestige can still stand up after losing three or five times. People with low prestige may die after losing once. But prestige is not the deciding factor for whether soldiers rebel in this world. Once the atmosphere is right and the conditions are ripe, even heaven, earth, the emperor, parents and teachers can be killed.

If you retreat, the whole world will say that the imperial court has been revived... A strong Liang, even Wei and Qi, would have to think twice about who to pledge allegiance to. A small Liang who can't kill Li Ye, what's wrong with attacking you? I think you are just like that.

It is really difficult to make a decision.

The Queen was a little tired. She knelt straight in the hot spring, her back softened, and she leaned on the edge of the pool with her hands. The palace maid changed the hot water, and steam rose again in the room. After a long time, she gently untied her clothes... took off her belt... and completely exposed herself.

She looked down at the underwear soaked with blood, dirt and liquid. Inner clothes are not the outer clothes that are made strictly. Outer clothes are etiquette, and for her, they are politics. Underwear is emotion, confused, hopeful, full of imagination... It is the boundary between desire and morality, and the whispered poetry in the privacy of midnight. When making underwear, she often pours her suppressed emotions into it: embroidering fruits for the sake of children, needles and white grass for the sake of spring... The blasphemous thoughts that cannot be exposed in outer clothes can be freely depicted in underwear.

However, the picture on the Queen's blasphemous garment is——

Creak... The door was pushed to the right. The Queen of Heaven, who was in a trance, grabbed the white gauze and covered herself with it. She turned around and asked, "Who's there?"

"Me." With a familiar sweet laugh, the eccentric and lively Zhang Yueyi poked out half of her face.

Seeing that the intruder was her younger sister, the Queen put down her underwear filled with a special smell and softened her expression: "If you have anything to say, let's talk later. I want to be alone."

"No." Zhang Yueyi shook her head in a coquettish voice.

"go out."

"I don't. Why is Sister bathing again?"

The Garter Hall seemed even colder and darker: "Because... I'm dirty."

Zhang Yueyi choked.

No more words were spoken.

He walked slowly to the poolside, untied his belt, and then turned gracefully, and hung his coat on the hanger. He stared at the Queen of Heaven, crossed his hands and grabbed her shoulders, peeling slowly vertically, announcing the high peaks, the jade from her mountains, the lush grass on Parrot Island, and the exquisiteness of the sea. The loving voice of the Lord of Yucheng County was just right: "I want to be with you... just like when we were young..."

"What a shameful thing to say." The Queen looked at her with disgust and said, "Even you are disgusting me."

Hearing this, Yu Chengjun lowered his head slightly and whispered: "It's OK before the age of 15, so why can't the eldest brother... In this chaotic world, everyone is in danger, and we are blood relatives, how many times can we meet again in the rest of our lives..."

"Don't act recklessly when you're thirteen."

After removing the hairpin and facing the queen frankly, Yu Chengjun timidly raised his eyebrows and stepped into the hot pool with his long, white, well-proportioned legs and green marrow with tiny blood vessels visible on the instep.

Bang! The water splashes.

The Queen changed color, but was unable to counterattack.

He stretched out his arms from his itchy armpits, and rested his head on the right shoulder of the Queen of Heaven. Then he pressed his body against the Queen of Heaven's smooth back with the strength of Yucheng Jun. He then used Yucheng's arms to press against the two camps of Suiyang. He clenched his palms, then released them, and then clenched them again...

Bitch.

The Queen suddenly felt guilty: If she hadn't brought her sister to Tongzhou that year, perhaps things wouldn't have happened... She only regretted that Yueyi could not complete her cultivation, and could not complain about the devil's test and keep her righteousness and heart.

"Where's your husband?"

"Dead." Yu Chengjun let go of his hand, and then heard Yu Chengjun calmly say: "He favored his concubine and distant wife. I said a few words to him and called me a whore. So I stabbed him in the middle of the night."

"You——" The words came to her lips, and the Queen of Heaven gave up the idea of preaching. Everyone has his own destiny. Yue Yi is twenty-seven years old, and it can't be changed by a few words.

"There is news about what Sister asked the other day, but it's an ominous rumor."

"Straightforward."

"Zhu Youwen again petitioned to be dismissed from office, allegedly because his wife had been murdered by the Saint a few months ago..."

"What happened to him?"

The right hand wandered to the vicinity of Parrot Island, and the Queen Mother became furious.

"You——!" Two snakes rushed into the nest unexpectedly.

that's it.

"Ridiculous." The Queen drew inferences from the incident, and an ugly picture immediately appeared in her mind. But she didn't believe it, because it was something that could never happen, and Zhu San didn't have the guts to do it.

"Just listen to it for now, it's just a rumor anyway." Yu Chengjun shrugged and said with a smile: "You know the faces of street thugs, they are the best at making up stories. Didn't they say recently that you and Emperor Li were flirting with each other?"

The queen pursed her lips and said nothing.

Prince Bo was handsome and elegant since childhood, diligent in study, and good at both civil and military affairs. He was the most capable among all the scholars. It was not like he would suddenly resign at a critical moment. Maybe he did have some unspeakable reasons, but it was definitely not that nonsense.

Tomorrow, we will invite Zhu Youwen and Wang Yu and their spouses to the palace for a banquet and a chat.

"By the way, Yang Shouliang and Yang Shouxin rushed to attack Luoyang, how is it going now?"

"It's freezing cold, so I've retreated back to Hongnong."

"Good. You will have no worries this winter." As he said that, Yu Chengjun gently turned the Queen back to the front and leaned against her.

Correspondingly, the four water bags, which were turned red by the hot and fragrant soup, met each other too late, which was so ingenious, just like a pair of matching brides fleeing famine.

The domain of definition takes a value, and the corresponding range is obtained. When the smooth curve of the function changes and moves, the subsequent content is not allowed to be written due to review, so it is omitted.

"The situation is complicated and confusing. The clouds hide the red clouds, and the undercurrent surges. I don't know what the Queen is doing." Zhu Sheng looked up at the sky and caught the cold snowflakes on his face. After the fierce battle, golden curtains were erected on all sides of the general's tent several miles away from Hedong City. The emperor also showed up, and teams of swordsmen and Luoyan immediately changed into brand new red large air suits.

(End of this chapter)