Chapter 1148, Talk about the former dynasty and the former dynasty (2)
The last emperor had the most gullible trust in his servant, the eunuch who served him - Li Zhong.
No one knows Li Zhong's original name. His surname Li was the national surname given to him by the last emperor, whose own surname was Li Zongze.
This shows how much Li Zhong won the heart of the last emperor.
It is impossible to know how many evil things Li Zhong did. After the establishment of the previous dynasty, Li Zhong almost never had a name in the history books. He was always replaced by the four words "treacherous", "evil", "eunuch" and "human". Obviously, those
Historians felt that this person did not deserve to have his name in the history books, so some of the truth can be gleaned from the biographies of the harem.
It's not a toy anyway.
There are records in the history books that when the soldiers were defending the five cities, Li Zongze was very scared. He was so scared that he no longer dared to go to court in the morning and evening. He would wake up if there was any sound outside at night, and even someone would appear next to him.
The hallucination was so detrimental to him that he drew his sword and stabbed a minister seriously.
The emperor was afraid, and so was Li Zhong.
If the rebel army really invaded the capital, the emperor would definitely not be able to escape, and Li Zhong, the most trusted eunuch around the emperor, would also definitely not expect good results.
So Li Zhong persuaded Li Zongze, saying: Your Majesty, why don't we leave first while the rebel army is being held back by General Yue Lao and others?
Of course, Li Zhong didn't say it so straightforwardly, but that's what he meant anyway.
At first, Li Zongze was quite hesitant. If he ran away, wouldn't he be able to become emperor?
Li Zhong had served Li Zongze for most of his life and could be said to be the person who knew him best. He advised him: We can go to the east.
There have always been no foreign enemies in the East because of the natural barrier, but at the same time, the natural barrier also blocked their way out, so there was no such thing as trade with other countries. In addition, due to natural disasters in those years, there were also some geographical problems
Special reasons, taken together, have caused most of the places in the east to be poor, and the closer they are to the border, the poorer they are.
Maybe it was because he was used to being poor, and the court had little interest in that area and lacked control over it. On the contrary, the court's confusion had little impact on it. At least that was the situation at the time. Starting from Maocheng, halfway across the way, there was no uprising in the east.
The existence of an army.
Li Zhong suggested to Li Zongze that we go east and build a small court in the east where there is no rebel army. After General Yue Lao and others have wiped out the rebel army, they will come back.
Naturally, Li Zhong could not say that he was timid and fearful. His reason was that the emperor could not stay in the capital to put more pressure on General Yue Lao and the others. It was better to leave as far as the eastern border so that General Yue Lao and the others could relax their courage.
beat.
Moreover, Li Zhong was well prepared and had even arranged the route.
I don’t know what was going on in Li Zongze’s mind, but in the end he agreed to Li Zhong’s proposal and let the 50,000 city defense troops, 3,000 forbidden troops, and 6,000 imperial guards clear out the state treasury and his own private treasury.
Then he took the concubines and children of the palace, as well as the courtiers in the court who were "like-minded" with them and set out on the road.
Li Zhong was really capable. He actually arranged a safe route and let them carry a bunch of treasures to escape from the capital to what is now Fengcheng.
Fengcheng was originally an important pass for defense, with only two front and rear passages. It was also a natural good location for advancing, attacking, retreating and defending. It was an important defensive line on the eastern border in case of war, but it was not included in the map.
One of the obvious 'passes'.
According to historical records, Li Zongze and the others were planning to flee to the Old City. After all, there was a natural barrier towering into the sky. It was said that there was no such thing as a border line anymore, and there had never been a war here.
It's just that the general who guarded the gate at that time happened to be General Yue's son-in-law. Although he was not his biological son, he was taught by General Yue himself. It didn't matter what Li Zongze thought. Anyway, Li Zhong had a guilty conscience.
Dare to provoke him.
Because Li Zhong knew General Yue’s character, if the emperor fell into the hands of the Yue family, he would definitely be sent back to the capital, and he, a traitor and traitor in the eyes of General Yue’s people, would definitely die a miserable death.
This road.
So Li Zhong advised Li Cong: Even if there has been no war at the border, it is still a border. There is no reason for the emperor to be in the border; besides, if there is a war...
He also said: Although Xicheng is still dozens of miles away from the border, we cannot deny that Xicheng is the city of the border. If there really is a war, the emperor will be the enemy's first target.
He also said: Our place is nearly a hundred miles away from the Old City. As long as we send people to keep an eye on the Old City, if there is any movement on the other side of the Old City, we can prepare to set off immediately.
Normally, any emperor with integrity would not listen to this kind of advice, but in Li Zongze's case, he not only listened to it, but also felt that it made sense.
As for why they didn't stop at Li City in front of them, the reason is even simpler. Although the geographical location of Li City is not on a plain, there are very vast plain-like places on the front, back and left sides, which belong to the Yi Dynasty.
Attack hard-to-defend ground.
So Li Zongze ordered to stay in Licheng temporarily, and then ordered to "recruit" strong laborers from Licheng and the former city behind to dig mountains and build the city.
This group of people no longer cares about the soldiers and people in the five cities. Another reason is that the information has been cut off by the rebel army in the middle, and they have no longer received news from the five cities and Beijing.
It only took less than two years to build Fengcheng, which was incomparable to the capital, but many times more magnificent than the Licheng and Xicheng before and after it. Li Zongze also built a city inside that was better than the capital city.
The palace is one size smaller than the Little Palace.
They were quite happy here, but they didn't know that the capital had already been lost. General Yue was so angry that he vomited blood and died on the city wall when he learned that the emperor had fled. General Meng was so angry that he suffered a stroke and could no longer lead the army.
The emperor's flight had already greatly damaged the morale of the soldiers, and the two veteran generals fell one after another...
The morale of the soldiers suddenly collapsed, and the common people no longer shared the same hatred of the enemy but also fled with their families.
When fighting a war, apart from the reasons such as tactical weapons/weapons, the most important thing is the spirit.
But now, that anger is gone.
On the contrary, after the rebel army learned that the emperor had fled, their morale was greatly shaken and their morale increased.
Unsurprisingly, the court's defeat became inevitable.
The reason why Li Zongze and the others were given four years was that several groups of rebels and armies were constantly fighting each other. Some felt that the territory I demarcated was too small, while others felt that my contribution was too great. How could they fight with each other?
How big is the land boundary?
The founding emperor of the previous dynasty was the one who achieved the greatest benefits, but he only occupied one capital, two of the five cities, and two states to the north.
There is a saying that goes, "How can one allow others to sleep on the side of the bed?" They all have the same righteousness. No one can be more upright than the other, so how can it be possible to stay "peaceful"?!
Therefore, after four years of major wars and small battles, the mainland was finally able to temporarily regain balance, because the rear area was empty, either without money or lack of food.
So we had to suspend the war temporarily.
Then, everyone turned their attention to Fengcheng.