The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 189 There is an eclipse of the sun
On the Meiliang River, Zhang Cunjing sat in the shade of a tree, holding a fishing rod, looking contented. But if you look closely at his expression, you can see that he was actually hiding a lot of anxiety and irritability.

The sage wrote a letter in private, using very polite words, pointing out that the Li family boy, who wanted to rule the world forever with his family name, led the barbarians to kill the people of Henan, and was a tyrant like Li Heng and Li Yu. The summer harvest is coming, and this kind of people may soon launch a new round of sweeps. We can strike first and launch an offensive against Pubanjin. Once he has conquered Qi and Lu, we can attack Li from three directions.

When Zhang Cunjing first saw the lyrics, he was deeply moved.

In the past, the sage was respectful to the wise and humble, and his superficial efforts were impeccable, but in reality he was just like a master. He hit the general with a Hu bed, beat his subordinates half to death, tried to kill his son at the gate, raped his daughter-in-law, and collectively tattooed hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In the sage's mind, there was nothing wrong with this. Daliang was his Daliang, and the people of Liang were his subjects. He could do whatever he wanted.

This time he was truly humble, speaking in a public manner and keeping his mouth shut, even bringing up the story of Geng Yan serving Liu Xiu. But he also understood that the superiors would not release kindness and generous treatment for nothing, and every time he accepted a favor, he had to pay a price.

Entering Bopu Pass is easy. The garrison of such a fortress is not a mob, and it is difficult without internal support. Failure to attack the pass is not a big deal. Once the casualties cause a military riot and merge with Li's army, it is very likely that even the two states of Jiang and Jin will not be able to be preserved, and the Queen's trust will be betrayed, so he has remained silent until now.

"Marshal." The interior secretary, the personal guard general Murong Zhang, the personal guard ten generals Guo Xu and others came over.

"The messenger has left?"

"It has been sent." Murong Zhang nodded and said sinisterly, "Bribe the envoys and the official edict to suppress the rebels will arrive in five days at the latest. Zhu Yougong, He Wei, Zhao Yu and other troops in the Shanzhou camp have also received the task of advancing to Tongguan, sneaking through Jinshang and attacking Lantian. According to the deployment of the court, it seems that they have suffered a setback in the east, and they want to try their luck in the west. They are desperate and have tried all kinds of methods."

"What do Bo Puer and others think?"

"We can't fight." Murong Zhang replied, "In the past, 150,000 soldiers were not enough to clear the emperor's side. Now the Tang emperor has more than 100,000 soldiers, and Wang Ke and Si Gong are his shields. How can we weaken them? Besides, there are deserters everywhere in the country. Even the Konghe Army and the Bashan Army have been executed. In addition, Huaixi is in turmoil, and Xiang and Deng are invading in the north. As the saying goes, the first effort will weaken the second and the third will be exhausted. With this situation, can the court withstand a few more unfavorable battles, failures, and military chaos? The Li family has been in power for 300 years, and the old centipede is still alive. What about the saints? People who are only interested in profit, such as Kou Yanqing and Zhang Guiba? Or Zhu Youwen, who dared not say a word even when a woman was carried on the shoulders of a beastly father and raped until she foamed at the mouth? When the crisis comes, this group of people will probably be the first to rebel. How did the four saints of Anshi die? They were all killed by their subordinates!"

Zhang Cunjing raised his hand to interrupt, and said quietly: "The court will not cry until it sees the coffin, what can we do?"

Seeing that the Marshal did not comment, Murong Zhang rolled his eyes and changed the subject with a worried tone, "Do you remember the solar eclipse on the Cold Food Festival last time?"

"During the Cold Food Festival, there was a solar eclipse. The sky and earth were dark and gloomy, and it was raining. People were burning paper money everywhere in the streets. It's still scary to think about it." Guo Xu continued.

Murong Zhang nodded and said in shock, "I heard that children who are unfilial to their parents will often have dreams after their parents die. When the emperor is unfilial to heaven, the sun and stars move. There were many solar eclipses during the Qianfu years, and bandits proliferated. Li Keyong and his son occupied two towns, Chao's army conquered the two capitals, the soldiers in Guanzhong cannibalized hundreds of thousands of people, Xizong died young, and Lord Li was rebelled against by the saint. I'm afraid this is a reflection of heaven's punishment."

The guardsmen were whispering to each other for a while.

Guo Xu touched his chin and said, "You mean, the Cold Food Eclipse is Haotian's anger at the Saint? Not really. The Saint was crowned emperor by his soldiers who put him in a yellow robe and used military advice. Does Haotian know him? Besides, this eclipse can be seen in Bianzhou, but Chang'an can't, right? It should be a warning to the Tang Lord. He is the true Son of Heaven."

"That would be great." Murong Zhang glanced at Zhang Cunjing who had remained silent, and said sullenly, "Think about it, there have been too many disasters in the past two years."

Without waiting for anyone to speak, Murong Zhang listed them one by one: "In the fourth month of the first year of Kaiping, which was the day of persuading the emperor to ascend the throne, a lone star accompanied the moon. In the fifth month of the fifth month, the sage reviewed the three armies at Suanzao Gate. After the military lecture, crows circled on the trees. In the ninth month, two snakes fought in Chenliu, and the white snake swallowed the black snake. The people gathered to watch. In the tenth month, the house in Taipingli, Bianliang, collapsed by itself, and more than ten rooms collapsed. In the winter month, the camp prostitute He gave birth to four boys, which shocked the whole city, and no soldiers dared to recognize them. In the twelfth month, the cat and mouse in the family of Zhang Tingfan, the prefect of Jingzhao, were breastfed together and did not harm each other. In the first month of this year, the goshawk flew to Xingjiao Gate and fought with the golden eagle raised by the Queen Mother, and blood splashed in the air. In the second month, there was a heavy fog in the capital for ten days. In the third month, monsters were seen in the palace several times, throwing sand and stones, and pounding on the doors..."

They are just normal or abnormal natural, physical, and biological phenomena, but before the Song Dynasty when Neo-Confucianism had not yet emerged and the theory of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements was popular, they were regarded as extremely unlucky and evil events. People's reaction to these was the same as seeing the dead resurrected or a sow climbing a tree.

In the 13th year of Tianbao, Chang'an rained for 40 days, which frightened the court to ban women from going out on the streets. From the emperor to the people, they all offered sacrifices to the gods and ghosts to reflect on themselves. This was the case at that time, not to mention the current pseudo-regime of Zhu Wen. It is good to win battles and be in a stable development. Otherwise, people will doubt and make far-fetched connections between these things and life and politics.

Zhang Cunjing frowned.

How could he not know what Murong Zhang meant? The frequency of disasters in the past two years was much higher than before. When the saint was a governor, he only encountered a few disasters in a few years. Now that he has become the emperor who is said to be the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he has almost all the abnormal Taibai Venus, solar eclipses, monsters, fighting between birds and insects, multiple births, and houses breaking down by themselves. These phenomena indicate decline and destruction. The only thing missing is the most important Mars guarding the heart.

Doesn’t it mean that the saint’s virtue is not worthy of his position and he has violated the laws of heaven?

Murong Zhang, who was speaking eloquently, looked around at the warriors present and slowly concluded his speech: "Killing noble men to destroy the kingly way, abolishing the rules and regulations to correct evil deeds, focusing on force and punishment, being frivolous and licentious, a saint does not look like a king. Rather than going to fight with the Tang Lord, it is better to lead all the soldiers in the camp to the capital, take up swords and go to the palace, explain the pros and cons to the king and his ministers, and select a wise man to rule Daliang, following the example of Shi Siming."

"I think it's okay." Guo Xu looked around and whispered. The guards whispered to each other, somewhat hesitant.

"If the Yicheng Army can cause chaos, why can't we?"

"The imperial court is in such a mess, why should we be afraid of it?"

"We will not rebel, but will punish Jie and Zhou and rid the country of this great evil."

"Why not give the Marshal a yellow robe instead?"

"Enough." Zhang Cunjing's face became worse and worse as he listened, and he had to scold him. Of course, he also disliked the saint, but hating a person does not mean that he should rebel against him or even rebel against his superiors. Hating a person does not mean killing him. These are two different things. If anyone habitually resorts to force when dissatisfied with his superiors or others, there will be no peace in the world.

But he also had a premonition that the saint would eventually die at the hands of his subordinates, people around him, or even his bedmate.

Lushan was stabbed to death by Li Zhuer. Qingxu was hanged by Shi Siming. Siming was executed at the post station by Luo Yue, Cai Wenjing, and Xu Jichang with a bowstring. Chaoyi was forced to commit suicide by Li Huaixian and others. "Qin Emperor" Ci was chopped up in the cellar by Han Min, Xue Lun, Gao Youpin, Wu Zhen, Zhu Jinqing, and Dong Xizhi. "Chu Emperor" Xilie was poisoned to death by Chen Xianqi, Xue Yu and his favorite concubine Dou, and then his family was exterminated. "Qi Emperor" Chao was beheaded from behind by his nephew Lin Yan in Langhu Valley. Shen Cong, Cui Xian, Wu Ziling, and Xian Yumi imprisoned the entire family of "Cai Emperor" Qin Zongquan and sent them to Bianzhou.

What does this mean? If you take the enemy's territory by force, it will be difficult to defend it by force.

Just because you don't want to do this doesn't mean others don't want to do it either. The last thing Daliang lacks is thieves. From the words and deeds of the pro-troops, I can tell the whole story. I'm afraid the days of the saint are numbered.

Murong Zhang watched Zhang Cunjing fall into deep thought, pointed at the soldiers present and continued to speak: "Who among us is not a powerful man in Pei County, a son of a general? Who among us is not from a wealthy family? In the past, we left behind our white hair and tears in our boudoirs, and with our hearts full of sincerity, we traveled thousands of miles to Bianzhou to join the army to conquer Chao Cai. Was it for what Zhu Wen called sharing wealth and honor? We have fought hand-to-hand for several years, fought three hundred battles of varying sizes, and had more than a hundred arrows pulled out of our bodies. What wealth and honor can he give us in return!"

"People in Hebei are fighting for the land to be passed on to their descendants, the fools in Zheng and Bian are risking their lives for money, and what about us? To let a man continue to wreak havoc on the world? For a few strings of reward money? Since we have made a mistake, isn't it only natural to depose the fool and establish a wise one? If this happened during the reign of Emperor Daizong, I'm afraid the guards would have already raised their flags to kidnap the prince and captured the man to be beheaded." Murong Zhang kept talking nonsense, which attracted everyone's attention.

"Murong Zhang!" Zhang Cunjing shouted again.

The Hezhong Camp had three "safety ropes", namely the Shanzhou Camp, the Heyang Jiedushi and Shi Yanci, the military inspector stationed in the Eastern Capital. Moreover, the composition of the Hezhong Camp was complex. It was true that a considerable number of soldiers in the Pseudo-Liang were dissatisfied with Zhu Wen, but not all of them were against Zhu Wen.

"General." Zhen Yi also said, "The saint occupied the Central Plains because of his courage? Was he appointed by heaven? No. He was hypocritical and cunning, and deceived the heroes from all directions to surrender. He deceived the Li family's trust and was hungry and wanted to eat any ugly thing. He favored villains, used beasts, drove away the guests who spoke frankly, and seized the land of the benefactor. His destruction is inevitable. Murong Zhang is right. I have read all the history books, but I have never seen a man who ruled his country for a long time."

"I have heard that the Tang ruler has appointed envoys for dispatch, transportation and storage in four routes, namely Jingxi, Jingbei, Hanzhong and Kui, to control the money and grain of prefectures and counties. He has also gone to the Jincheng Palace to summon the governors and select more than 50,000 strong men from the six counties who are good at riding, called the Long Live Army. It is obvious that the situation in the world is growing and declining. If a minister is not discreet, he will lose his chastity; if a monarch is not discreet, he will lose his minister. This is what a saint does. We can rebel or not. Or we can submit to the Tang ruler. I think the secret envoy who came to persuade him to surrender was quite sincere." Linghu Tao added.

"Stop talking." Zhang Cunjing gently closed his eyes and said, "It is difficult for Yi and Huo to abolish the tyrant and establish the wise. This is not something you should consider or do. There are some things that wives, concubines, eunuchs, and children can do secretly, but outsiders cannot do. Let's take it one step at a time for the future."

He disdained to rebel. It would be shameful to die with a man like Zhu Wen. His original intention of joining the army was just to contribute to pacifying the chaotic world. He didn't want to be wrongly sincere and misjudged the wrong person. It's too late to regret! But if he leaves Daliang now, he will be worried about the safety of the Queen Mother. After all, the Queen Mother has taken special care of him and Wang Yanzhang, who are outsiders, since she was the wife of the Wei Kingdom, in the ten years in Bian. He really can't bear to let her down.

Seeing his firm attitude, Murong Zhang and the others stopped talking and returned to the topic: "The Tang Lord is no longer the same as before. Entering Bopu Pass is probably asking for trouble and will only increase his prestige."

"Everything depends on human effort. We can give it a try. First march to Puzhou and see how Wang Ke performs as the governor of the National Protection Army. To be on the safe side, this is all we can do for now. Otherwise, if tens of thousands of troops make a fuss, I won't be able to suppress them. The court should understand their difficulties." Zhang Cunjing instructed.

"What a loyal minister." Murong Zhang said with a smile.

"Also, the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, so write two congratulatory letters, one to the Saint and one to the Queen of Heaven. Also buy some fish, shrimp, medicinal ingredients for nourishing the body, and things that women like, and present them to the Queen of Heaven along with the congratulatory letters." Zhang Cunjing said finally.

(End of this chapter)