The night was vast, and Chang'an, the most majestic city in the world, was shrouded in rain. An army broke into the city from Chunming Gate and Jinguang Gate on the east and west sides of Chang'an. After taking over the city gate, they did not hesitate and quickly reorganized their formations.
Running towards the Tai Chi Palace, chaotic footsteps and jumbled horse hooves converged into a roar, thunder and lightning flashed in the night sky, and the clanging iron hooves shook the sky. The Imperial Capital of the Tang Dynasty, which had just experienced the Guanlong Mutiny, was once again ravaged by military disasters.
The Zuowu guards who were stationed in the various squares to guard the gates and maintain discipline have already withdrawn, but no one in the square has gone out. Guanzhong has been a place of conquest since ancient times, and the people have long been accustomed to war scenes after wars, so they restrained their hearts at this moment
In panic, everyone, young and old, cuddled up at home and never stepped out of their homes, lest they suffer disaster.
The news that the east and west city gates were lost quickly spread to the Taiji Palace. The civil servants and military officers who were keeping vigil for the late emperor here could not avoid it, but could not leave. They were immediately in a dilemma.
After dawn, the prince will preside over the "big coffin", read out the memorial in public as the new king, accept the worship of hundreds of officials, and confirm the names of monarchs and ministers. From then on, the ownership of the throne will come to an end... Who would have expected that at this last moment, Jin
The king suddenly raised an army to seek power?
This is a huge event, and it is even more serious than the Guanlong Army Change.
After all, Guan Long raised his troops under the banner of "abolish the governor and establish a new one", but now the King of Jin directly raised his troops to rebel...
"boom!"
With a low, thunderous sound, the Sixth Army of the East Palace and the Right Houwei met in a narrow road on the sky street outside the Taiji Palace. Without any probing at all, the two troops formed their formations and launched a charge.
Although the soldiers did not know the specific situation and could only follow orders, anyone who was not a fool would probably understand what they were doing. On one side were the troops directly under the Crown Prince, whose duty was to protect the Crown Prince. It was the night before the Crown Prince ascended the throne, how could he allow them to do so?
The rebels disrupted the general affairs and ruined the big things? On the other hand, the military Sima had already read the "edict" of the late emperor passing on the throne to the Jin Dynasty more than ten times. He decided that the prince was a thief who stole the country and was unfaithful and unfilial. Naturally, he tried his best to do it.
Punish the traitors and protect the country!
Both sides believed that they were on the side of justice, so their morale was high. They rushed into the opponent's array with red eyes, brandishing their swords and guns fiercely, completely disregarding the past friendship.
The battle became intense as soon as it began.
There are two most important streets in Chang'an City. One is Zhuque Street, which starts from the Zhuque Gate at the south gate of the imperial city and goes south to Mingde Gate. The other is across Chengtian Gate and connects to Chunming Gate. Jinguang Gate runs from east to west. These two days are long streets.
They are all called "Tianjie", but generally the Zhuque Street that runs from north to south is called by its real name, while the long street that runs from east to west is called Tianjie.
This long east-west street is more than fifty feet wide and paved with bluestones. It is extremely wide. Whenever Hu people come to Cheng'an for the first time, they are impressed by the grandeur of the place. However, such a wide long street cannot accommodate tens of thousands of people fighting.
To kill, both sides could only send thousands of people to fight fiercely outside Chengtian Gate, while the rest served as reserves and could be added at any time.
With Chengtianmen as the center, the area more than a hundred meters east and west was in chaos, with limbs flying everywhere and blood splattering, like a flesh and blood mill.
…
In the Taiji Palace, the officials staying here are placed in a building on the side of the bell tower in Changle Gate. Not far away is the Zuozang warehouse, which stores countless ordnance and armor, enough to equip an army of thousands of people at any time.
, there is also a guard stationed here to ensure safety.
The mighty Longshou Canal flows through it. Due to the heavy rain, the water level soared and almost submerged the bluestone embankment beside the canal. Many palace people stacked sandbags here in the rain. In addition, there was an earthquake outside Changle Gate not far away.
The sound of fighting in the sky made these officials tremble.
A strong wind blew open the closed window, and the strong wind and rain surged in. The clothes of several officials near the window were wet, and the candles on the candlesticks were extinguished. The room was pitch dark, and some people quickly got up to look for them.
Huozhezi could not be found for a while, and many people cursed and made noises.
In the darkness, someone suddenly spoke: "Tell me...did His Majesty leave any legacy?"
The room fell silent for a moment.
This issue naturally attracts everyone's thoughts, but such sensitive remarks are usually difficult to say and can easily get into trouble, so everyone in the government and the public remains silent. At this moment, the prince and Jin Wang's troops are fighting bloody battles outside the palace.
The important topic naturally makes people want to stop, so those who are looking for fire discounts also stop moving.
It's best to talk in a dark environment. No one can see who said what. Even if they can hear the voice, they can deny it...
After a long silence, someone said: "There may not be one, otherwise wouldn't it have been taken out long ago? The Prince of Hejian County and the Duke of England are His Majesty's most trusted ministers. As long as His Majesty leaves a legacy, there is nothing he can do to hide it.
reason."
Some people agree, some people think not.
"If His Majesty leaves a legacy, he must mention the ownership of the throne. What if, let's just say what if... if His Majesty deposes the prince in the legacy and passes the throne to the King of Jin, the Prince of Hejian County, and the British Duke, those people will still respect it.
Are you following the imperial edict?"
Everyone was silent again.
If Your Majesty is still alive, let alone deposing the crown prince and passing the throne to the King of Jin, even if it is passed to any son at will, who would dare to object?
But His Majesty has passed away. If the prince is deposed and the King of Jin ascends the throne according to the imperial edict, how can the East Palace be willing to accept it? The officials of the East Palace have accompanied the prince through many turmoils to get to the present, and even experienced the Guanlong Rebellion.
With the whole army destroyed and the whole family dead, how can one willingly hand over the throne?
A huge turmoil that could shake the country was inevitable, and as the leader of the clan and court, Li Daozong and Li Ji were very likely to keep the edict secret and not publish it in order to maintain stability.
These two are neither officials of the East Palace, nor are they from the Jin Dynasty. It does not matter who will be the emperor. What is important is that their own responsibilities lie in the stability of the court, the peace and tranquility of the country, and how to successfully complete the change of imperial power...
Someone coughed, with some anger in his tone: "If this is really the case, wouldn't it be very unfair to His Highness the King of Jin? It's no wonder that the King of Jin dared to raise an army. There must be such a legacy. Your Majesty is so wise and powerful, why would you do it at the funeral?
We don’t make any arrangements before the day comes.”
No one answered, but apparently this view was more acceptable.
Of course, this place is the Tai Chi Palace and is still under the control of the prince. Some excessive words are absolutely not dared to be uttered. Not to mention that no one will admit it in the dark. Even if this person cannot be found, they can all be dismissed and returned.
Home, fight it to the end.
There is a shortage of everything in the world, but there is no shortage of people waiting in line to become officials...
However, the silence in the darkness quietly gave rise to a different thought, which inevitably cast doubt on the legitimacy and legitimacy of the prince's accession to the throne.
The previously closed window suddenly opened again with a "bang", wind and rain came in, and someone exclaimed: "Who hit me on the head?"
There was a commotion.
After the windows were closed, someone blew the fire stick, ignited the flames, lit the candles, and the house suddenly became bright.
The man who had exclaimed earlier covered the back of his head that was hit, lowered his head, picked up something from the ground, and asked around him: "What is this?"
The people nearby saw something wrapped in oil paper. They opened it and saw several letters-like papers. They unfolded them one by one and looked closely at the candlelight. Their expressions suddenly changed.
One of them looked shocked and pointed at the thing: "This, this, this...this is His Majesty's last edict?!"
"There is also a message from His Highness the King of Jin to launch an army to attack the Crown Prince!"
"Mother! 'Poisoned the late emperor, persecuted brothers and sisters'...can't this be true, right?"
…
"Shut up, everyone!"
An official in purple robes scolded angrily in a low voice and snatched the letter away with his hands: "Are we all idiots? How can we discuss such things in private? No matter how kind the prince is, he will never allow anyone to slander him and ruin his ascent."
A chance to ascend to the throne! If you want to die, please go out and commit suicide, don't harm everyone here!"
Everyone was as silent as cicadas.
The official stood up and asked in a low voice: "Who discovered this thing first?"
No one answered, but three or five people near the window stepped aside, revealing a middle-aged official. The middle-aged official was dejected and frightened...
"Come with me to see the prince and present this thing. The prince is kind and will not be implicated in any way. Otherwise, if this matter is exposed by others, we will have no defense and we will die!"
"...Here."
There are many people here, so this matter cannot be hidden. Besides, if this thing can appear here, it may not be that someone from the King of Jin is lurking in it to spread it deliberately. Now it is hidden until the incident comes out in the future. Who will believe it?
One after the other, the two of them opened the door and walked into the wind and rain, quickly walking towards the Wude Hall at the back.
The atmosphere in the house was depressing, and everyone had different thoughts.
After a while, someone yelled angrily: "Mother! Who is the bastard who wants to harm me? If you want to spread this thing, you can throw it in every palace, but why spread it here? It's so vicious!"
Everyone was silent, and naturally no one said anything.
…
In the side hall, candles are brightly lit.
The officials of the East Palace came in and out without touching the ground, and news was sent into the palace one after another. It was windy and rainy outside, and the atmosphere inside the palace was depressing.
Originally, the "big burial" was held after dawn, and the identity of the monarch and his ministers was completely determined, and the enthronement was confirmed. Who would have thought that when there were only a few hours before the "big burial", the King of Jin would actually gather the army and raise an army to revolt?
The most disturbing thing is that Zuo Wuwei's tens of thousands of troops were stationed in Chang'an and guarded the capital. However, when the rebels attacked the city, they all retreated without firing an arrow. They allowed the rebels to capture the city gate and march straight in. They had already reached the gate of Chengtian. If
If Li Jing had not immediately led his troops into the city to block the rebels on Tianjie, I am afraid that Tai Chi Palace would have been breached by the rebels at this moment...
Li Chengqian was sitting in the hall, with a mountain of intelligence messages arriving from all over the city in front of him. While he was reviewing them carefully one by one, he was talking to Fang Jun, Ma Zhou and others not far away in front of him. His expression was quite calm.
The Guanlong Rebellion not only tempered the character of the officials in the East Palace, but also made him, the prince, go through a battle between victory and defeat, life and death, and his will was more than twice as strong as before.
However, when someone brought something wrapped in oil paper to him and stated that it was His Majesty's last edict and the King of Jin's message to launch an army, he couldn't help but suddenly change his expression.
He did not immediately read the content of the edict and appeal, but was filled with shock: Is this Taiji Palace really like a sieve, full of loopholes? King Jin had just escaped from the city and hurriedly drafted this appeal, and then the rebels had just entered the city.
, this thing spread to the Tai Chi Palace... Could it be that the underground of the Tai Chi Palace are all secret passages?!