August of the 20th year of Emperor Qianyou's reign in the Northern Han Dynasty was a hot summer. Early in the morning, the sun was already scorching the earth not long after it came out. On a street in the northernmost part of the capital Taiyuan, groups of beggars seemed to be
As if he had just emerged from the ground, he started begging on the streets again.
Simple thatched huts were built along the roots of the city wall. The people who fled from the north seemed to have plans to live there for a long time. The north of Taiyuan was already desolate for hundreds of miles, and the Liao Kingdom in the north
The people who lived there were so tortured that they had no choice but to abandon their family property and come to the capital to beg for food.
These people are wearing tattered clothes, and their accents are not just from the north. This place is the most obscure and dirty corner of Taiyuan City, full of all kinds of sadness that makes people cry and gradually become numb.
Fights and even fatalities and injuries are common over a piece of food. In this place, the most despicable thing is human life.
"Auntie, please do well. If you do good deeds, you will be rewarded with a mouthful of food. We escaped from Datong in the north. We are old and young, so there is nothing we can do."
A ragged man in ragged clothes stretched out his hand to an old lady passing by and said.
"Where did this disaster happen?"
The kind-hearted old lady asked while taking out a piece of thick and hard bread from the basket. To be honest, this old man's family is not rich, and life is difficult for everyone in this time of war. Fortunately, Taiyuan is
In the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty, although the lives of the people in the city were difficult, they could still manage.
After taking the noodle cake, the sallow-looking man swallowed and looked back. He broke the noodle cake into two halves, put the larger half into the thatched shed, held it in both hands and placed it in front of a frail old man, and broke the smaller half again.
He gave it to two children who were no more than knee-high. The two children cheered when they saw something to eat, and then grabbed it. The man watched his two children wolfing down the small half piece of flour cake, and secretly ate it.
Swallowed.
"Thank you, aunt. Our family has been in Taiyuan for more than ten days. Every day I go out to see if I can find some work to do in exchange for some food to support my father and children. Unfortunately, it is too difficult to find a job now. Aunt, we
It’s not that there was a disaster, it’s that the Khitans in the north made too much noise.”
He said: "We walked all the way from the north of Datong. Only three or four of the ten people who survived this way made it to Taiyuan. As long as we can survive, that's good."
He sighed to himself, seeming to be very satisfied with being able to survive.
A young woman squatted in front of a thatched shed nearby, holding a dirty pillow in her arms. She was still rocking the pillow to sleep. She raised her head and glanced at everyone, then shyly
She smiled shyly and pulled her upper body clothes apart, revealing a shriveled and dirty breast facing the pillow.
"Baby be good, baby eat milk, eat well and sleep well..."
"well!"
The man from Datong sighed and said: "This family fled from the southern border. A family of five survived when they walked to Taiyuan. This young couple, her parents-in-law and their one-year-old child died on the way, and she went crazy."
Already."
The kind-hearted old lady wiped her tears, but the basket was already empty, and she didn't have a bite to eat.
The man from Datong squatted on the ground and sighed, punched the ground and said: "This world is not fucking human at all. In the north of the Han Dynasty, there are Khitans who burn, kill, loot and do all kinds of evil. They come out to hunt grass and grain every two days.
There is not even a living person to be seen within a few hundred miles. To the west there are two hungry wolves, Xixia and Tubo, who eat people without spitting out the bones. To the south, Guo Wei from Houzhou wants to kill us all in one go.
Only the Han Dynasty is willing to do so. If it hadn’t been for the General Wang carrying the troops in the south these years, I’m afraid the country would have been destroyed long ago! What a pity... Now even the General Wang is..."
The old lady quickly touched the man from Datong and said: "Shh! This is the capital city, under the emperor's feet. Don't talk nonsense!"
The man immediately woke up. He looked around and said with an apologetic expression: "Look at my bad mouth! Forget it, I'll just go around and see if anyone wants part-time work."
He stood up, bowed to the old lady, patted the dirt on his body, tightened the cloth around his waist, and staggered away.
The old lady took another look at the young woman squatting on the ground and breastfeeding on the pillow, shook her head and sighed.
A large area around here was occupied by victims from all over the place. Various sounds were heard, including children's cries, men's yells, and women's helpless sobs. The innermost building at the end of the street was chaotic.
It is a very important place in Taiyuan, but because the road was occupied by the victims of the disaster, it is rare that dignitaries sitting in sedan chairs or riding tall horses go there. It used to be that high-ranking officials would lead soldiers there every once in a while.
A group of people were sent out to behead him in front of the Drum Tower.
That place was the Tianlao of the Northern Han Dynasty.
During these days, it seems that no one even cares about the death row prisoners in the heavenly prison. The current emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty, Liu Ye, is seriously ill and has not been in court for a long time. Liu Ye has not yet decided whether the throne should be passed to the prince or to his favorite.
The fourth prince, so his eleven sons formed gangs and wanted to compete for the throne, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
Of course, there is no such thing as Liu Ye's ninth son, the general Wang Liu Ling that the Datong man said!
The fight between the princes for the throne was particularly fierce, with the crown prince Liu Huan and the fourth prince Liu Zheng vying for the throne. Most of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were attracted to their side by these two princes. The prince Liu Huan was the biological son of the empress Chen, and the Chen family had an interest in the emperor Liu Ye.
In order to save his life, Chen begged Liu Ye to make Liu Huan the crown prince before he died. Liu Ye agreed because he couldn't bear the regret of his beloved wife's death. However, Liu Huan had a cold nature and not only bullied men and women, but even his father's concubines.
He dared to be frivolous, and many people in the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty took refuge under his lustful power.
Another strong contender for the throne, the Fourth Prince Liu Zheng, is a compatriot of General Wang Liu Ling. He has a good reputation in the court, and he spends money like water, so many ministers help him with suggestions overtly or covertly. But it is worth it.
What is said is that the fourth prince did not seem to care at all about the life and death of his younger brother Liu Ling. He had not visited Liu Ling in the Tianlao once in the past two years. And Wang, the most powerful general in southern Xinjiang, had been imprisoned in the Tianlao for the past two years.
The prison was also isolated from the rest of the world, and no news came out.
This great general, Wang Liuling, can be regarded as a genius. He has never been defeated since he first led an army at the age of sixteen. If he had not guarded the southern border, I am afraid that the cavalry of the Later Zhou Dynasty would have crushed even Taiyuan.
Guo Wei, the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, repeatedly went north to conquer the Han Dynasty with his chariot, but was refused by Liu Ling at the border. If Liu Ling had not been there, the twelve states of the Northern Han Dynasty would have long been in the possession of Guo Wei.
And this great general, Wang Liuling, has been imprisoned in that dark prison for nearly two years!
Fortunately, Guo Wei of the Later Zhou Dynasty was in poor health over the past two years and was unable to launch another Northern Expedition.
The border barrier of the Northern Han Dynasty was imprisoned in the sky prison. The only one who ordered this was the current emperor Liu Ye. Although Liu Ling had great military achievements, I don’t know why the emperor Liu Ye didn’t like him. Two years ago, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
At that time, Liu Ling slapped the prince angrily because he had a disagreement with the prince Liu Huan, knocking out two of the prince's teeth. He even insulted the prince in public as a bastard. This angered the emperor Liu Ye and ordered Liu Ling to be executed.
He was demoted to a commoner and sent to prison to await trial.
But two years have passed, and no one cares about Liu Ling in prison, as if he has been forgotten.
Just when the old lady lamented that she had not gone far, a shout suppressed the chaotic noise of the entire refugee camp. Everyone looked up and looked into the distance, and saw dozens of tall horses roaring towards them.
.These horses are obviously much stronger than ordinary horses. Not only are they tall and strong, they also have a heart-stopping momentum. The all-maroon horses are soldiers wearing helmets, surrounded by a man wearing a bright yellow Five Dragons regiment robe.
middle-aged man whizzed by.
Two cavalrymen took the lead in clearing the way, whipping the victims who did not give way in time with their riding whips while shouting.
"His Royal Highness Prince Zheng has arrived, but he still won't give way!"
The cavalryman whipped down the whip, and immediately beat the skin of a refugee who could not dodge to pieces. The body was already naked, so there was no difference between the whip and a direct slap on the body. The refugee staggered away and looked at the person who was being brushed.
The tall horse passing by was so frightened that his face turned pale.
Seeing dozens of cavalry roaring past to protect King Zheng, the refugees started talking a lot. Some people even spat at King Zheng's back, swearing and swearing.
These dozens of soldiers were guarding the second prince Liu Zhuo as they headed straight for the Heavenly Prison. From a distance, they saw a few soldiers who were not even wearing armor, standing in front of them. A captain guarding the Heavenly Prison picked his teeth.
He opened his mouth and spat out the shredded meat, and asked his men to quickly clear away the food and wine on the table. Then he walked to the prison door and stood still.
"Who is so bold as to dare to ride a horse and rush into the prison?"
The captain pulled his neck and roared, and responded with a riding crop that hit him all over his head and face!
"You naughty bitch! Don't you know His Royal Highness Prince Zheng?"
The soldier who beat him jumped off his horse and kicked the captain three to five meters away.
"Hurry up and open the prison, or I'll cut off your head!"
The soldier drew out his sword and said fiercely.
At this time, the second prince Zhengwang Liu Zhuo, who was sitting on the bay red horse, raised a sword in his hand and said: "I am His Majesty the Emperor's second prince Liu Zhuo, and I have been ordered by His Majesty to hold the Emperor's Sword to interrogate the guilty minister Liu Ling!
"
Naturally, the captain didn't recognize His Highness the Second Prince Zheng Wang, and certainly he didn't recognize Lao Shizi's Emperor's Sword. Even if they were both fake, he couldn't tell the difference, but the horsewhip and kick he received just now were
It was true, so the team leader knelt down and kowtowed respectfully, then trotted open the door of the prison.
The political king Liu Zhuo waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers rushed in without even getting off their horses. The soldiers who beat the people did not go in, but looked at the guards of the prison with a cold and murderous look, holding their swords.
The look in his eyes made several guards feel very uncomfortable. No one dared to come forward to speak and hid far away.
As soon as the warden got up from the belly of a woman with fireworks, the door of the room was kicked open.
"His Royal Highness, Prince Zheng, has been ordered to interrogate the guilty minister Liu Ling. Hurry and open the cell door!"
Three soldiers with bright swords rushed in like wolves and tigers. Two of them fought with the naked warden without any explanation and left. The other found a bunch of keys in his room and hurried away.
Walked out. The petrified woman with the fireworks forgot to pull up the quilt to cover her shame, and her pair of very saggy breasts were still dangling there uncontrollably.
In a rather clean cell at the end of the sky jail, a handsome young man in his twenties sat on a wooden chair and read. Although the furnishings in this room are simple, it is not dirty. It is better than the cells outside.
Much better. The young man was dressed in a green shirt and his waist-length black hair was tied back casually. He didn't seem to care at all about the noise outside, but quietly looked at the Lu's Spring and Autumn in his hand.
A pretty and innocent-looking little maid stood behind him, gently shaking her feather fan, with an affectionate look on her face.
After the clatter of iron chains, the cell door opened. Liu Zhuo, dressed in a bright yellow Five Dragons robe, walked into the cell, waving his sleeves to ward off mosquitoes and flies and said: "My ninth brother, you feel so comfortable!" (
