Chapter 8: Zhu Changshi plans to fight to the death
When the regular servants returned to the city from Xianyang Garden, everyone was in despair. They walked back to the South Palace through the White Tiger Gate. On the way, Ye Ting ordered Bi Lan to suggest to the regular servants: Since they have decided to return to their hometown, let's go back to the country.
Just take a look around the palace. Once you leave the city, you may never come back.
Everyone passed by the Yutang Hall first. The Yutang Hall was built by Song Dian. It occupies a very large area, but uses exquisite materials and is intricately carved. There are red eaves in the Yuanwang Hall, and there are stone railings in front of the Myopic Hall, and there are carvings under the railings.
On the Lanlin Fangchi, there is the Xianguan Tiangong floating above. The clouds and waves disappear and disappear, and two long dragons appear on the left and right of the main hall.
Song Dian touched the stone railing of the Yutang and boasted: When the late emperor ordered me to build the Yutang, I personally went to Lantian to select the materials. I paid a lot of money to hire a quarrying expert and went to the foot of Taihua Mountain to dig four feet deep. Only then did I get the jade as beautiful as water.
After the Yutang was completed, the late emperor gave me a special room in recognition of my loyalty.
He has always been proud of building the Jade Hall, but now he thought about it, can I still live in the hall forever in the future? He was speechless again.
The regular attendants then swam through Yuntai, Mingguang Hall, Shouan Hall, and Pingshuo Hall. Along the road were green bamboo trees. In front of each of the four halls, there was a bronze figure standing, holding a long sword and looking at the palace corridor. They then walked through the palace corridor.
To Fudao, cross the Luoshui River from Fudao to Beigong. On both sides of the river, there are cast Tianlu shrimps and toads, and there are also casts of overturning carts and thirsty crows. The former diverts water in the palace, and the latter sprays the road. Du Heng is arranged on the roadside.
It’s the orchid and Angelica dahurica, which can directly teach people’s hearts and minds.
After arriving at the North Palace, the group of people walked along the wall again, passing through the six palaces of Yongning, Yingchun, Yanxiu, Anchang, Jingfu, and Shouan, until they reached the Dongming Gate. When they reached this point, the regular attendants were all tired.
They talked and laughed: In the past, when I served the emperor, I didn't realize how big the palace was. Today, I can measure it with my feet and know how wide the two palaces are. At this time, Zhao Zhong said, "I won't go to Zhuolong Garden anymore. As I get older, I see
The flowing water is easy to be sentimental, so the attendants sighed and said goodbye to each other, and then went back to their homes to sort out their belongings.
During the 20 years since the late emperor succeeded to the throne, these regular attendants have been amassing wealth with the help of the late emperor's favor. In addition to building mansions in the capital, the regular attendants also purchased land in rural pavilions near Luoyang, with a grain supply of nearly one million yuan.
Hundreds of cartloads of stones, gold and silver, as well as tens of thousands of kilograms of Southeast Asian treasures such as pearls, agate, amber, rhino horn, ivory, etc.
The people of Luoyang originally heard that the general forced General Hussar to death and assassinated the Queen Mother Dong, and they were all aggrieved. They said that the general was too mean in his struggle for power. But now when they saw the wealth coming and going from the city gate like Chang Shi, they spit on the ground again, saying
What are the horses and horses in this car that are not the blood and tears of all the people? The general has been too lax in his administration, and he should have killed these national rats long ago. It is too easy for them to let them go now.
The regular attendants only took care of the property for nearly twenty days. On July 14th, Cangtou reported to Zhang Rang that the property in the capital had been fully accounted for, and he would be able to return home soon with a full load of treasures.
It was the end of his life. Zhang Rang was worried, so he opened the accounts and planned to do the calculation himself. While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a burst of crying in front of the mansion, which made Zhang Rang very upset, so he asked Cang Tou to go to the door to see what was going on.
Cang Tou opened the door to inquire, and saw seven or eight people crowding in front of the door. These people were both men and women. They all had noble faces, but their clothes were in tatters. When they saw Cang Tou, they cried loudly and kept saying that they wanted to see Zhang Chang.
Waiter, Cangtou asked patiently, and then learned their identities. It turned out that these people were the master's nephews in Yingchuan.
The leader was Zhang Rang's nephew Zhang Zhi. When he entered Zhang's mansion, he led his clansmen directly to climb up to Zhang Rang. With tears streaming down his face, he begged his uncle to make the decision for him. Zhang Rang was puzzled. He knew that Zhang Zhi had always been domineering in the countryside.
, had a bad reputation and often bullied party members. Zhang Rang secretly wondered if his nephew was causing trouble outside again and came to the capital to seek support from him? He was about to refuse and told Zhang Zhi that he had lost power and should not cause trouble again. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhi got there first.
Zhang Rang was shocked by the words he complained about.
Zhang Zhi and others did not come to ask for help because of trouble, but came to escape from Yingchuan's home. Just ten days ago, the Yingchuan County Governor suddenly led troops to surround Zhang Rang's Yingchuan home, claiming that he had been ordered by the general to arrest and kill Zhang Zhi.
Before Zhi could figure out the reason, the county soldiers, led by Supervisor Guo Tu, looted and killed more than ten of Zhang's children on the spot. Fortunately, Zhang Zhi had dead soldiers in his mansion, who blocked the officers and soldiers in the front yard, and several more were killed.
Someone stepped on Zhang Zhi's feet, and Zhang Zhi climbed over the courtyard wall and escaped.
There were hundreds of Zhang family members, but only twelve people escaped in the end. Zhang Zhi and his party escaped more than ten miles north along the dense forest. When they returned to their hometown, they saw gunpowder smoke billowing under the clear sky, and decades of prosperity were in vain.
After thinking about it, the whole party had no choice but to escape to Gyeonggi. They first went to Yangcheng incognito, exchanged their jewelry for horses and food, and entered Henan from Shenyuan Pass. However, four more people died of stab wounds on the way.
When Zhang Rang was in front of him, there were only eight people left.
When Zhang Rang heard the news, he felt dizzy and almost fainted in front of the case. He managed to sit up straight and asked Zhang Zhi again: "How is your aunt?" Zhang Zhi hesitated for a while, but still said: "My aunt is old and in poor health.
, I was so frightened that I passed away.”
Zhang Rang swept all the account books on the table to the ground with a vigorous wave, gnashing his teeth and shouted: "What a thief, I will eat your flesh!" He Jin asked him to return to his country, but now he even destroyed his hometown.
What else is there to say? It’s just a matter of life and death.
Thinking of this, Zhang Rang immediately took the car to visit Zhao Zhong. Zhao Zhong entered the palace at a young age and was based in Henan County. Although he was temporarily dismissed, he still had family influence, so Wang Yun had not yet taken action against Zhao Zhong. But Zhao Zhong
Still panicked, after Zhang Rang finished crying and recounting his experience, he felt sorry for him and sent someone to summon other colleagues to his home. Only then did he learn that all the relatives of the regular servants were being hunted and killed. Everyone was speechless for a moment, feeling angry and hesitant in their hearts.
,I don’t know what to do.
Zhang Rang said flatly: "If you advance now, you will die, if you retreat, you will die. If you are waiting for death, why not fight to the death?!" Zhao Zhong crossed his hands and hesitated, but just asked: "But now the general has a heavy army, and he does not share the same virtue as the Queen Mother."
, what else can I do?"
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Zhang Rang also had a headache, but his ability to become the head of the regular attendants relied on his quick wit that was incomparable to ordinary people. He looked around and saw a bow hanging on Zhao Zhongtang. This long bow was engraved with a yellow eagle harrier.
It is for decoration and cannot be used for combat or hunting. Zhang Rang suddenly figured out a plan, took off the long bow and held it in his hand, and said to the attendants:
"Now the general is besieging me in the Eastern Capital. He has more than ten thousand soldiers under his command, but he is hesitant to move. He insists on calling on the elites from all directions. Why? It is precisely because he is jealous of the Queen Mother that he wants to kill us and stay with the Queen Mother.
You have face, and you don’t want to fall into the pretext of being a dictatorship in the world.”
At this point, everyone was confused. Gao Wang asked, "What does Mr. Zhang mean, that we should seek refuge with the Queen Mother again?" Han Kui objected and said, "That's not right. The Queen Mother is frightened by the general and has no intention of protecting me."
Wait, if you delay it any longer, won’t it be a dead end?”
"This statement is ridiculous." Zhang Rang shook his head, drew the bow string in front of everyone, and said to the crowd: "How to lead the army to Luo? Just like when I draw the bow and pull the string, I need to exert all my strength before I can shoot the target.
He Jin has summoned all the troops, but he doesn't dare to let them enter the city. He is just holding the string and not letting it go. How can it last long? Then he will be exhausted and his men will be exhausted. Either he will loosen the string and let go of the bow, or the string will break and hurt people!" These words were like clearing the clouds and seeing the sun, which made all the attendants’ eyes light up, and they all said to Zhang Rang: “Please give me some details, Mr. Zhang!”
Zhang asked Songxian to place the long bow on the case and analyzed to his colleagues: "Since the late emperor's imperial edict, He Jin has been away from Xianyang for three months. Now many generals are coming to Yao, but not all of them are direct descendants of He Jin. He Jin must be
He cannot control them all. If he wants to control the overall situation by then, in addition to blocking the army, he will also have to meet with the Queen Mother."
When he came to the important point, Zhang Rang couldn't help but hesitate, and after a long time he gritted his teeth and said: "At that time, there were only a few dozen of us, hiding in the palace wall. When He walked out of the hall, we could enter with knives! Kill them separately.
This thief!" He made a knife with his hand and struck it on the table. Everyone was shocked and finally said in unison: "Good!"
The crowd then cut off their fingers with knives, dripped blood into the wine, set up the deceased emperor's spiritual throne, and made a covenant: "Your Majesty, God has a spirit to know, how can the general interfere with the government and seize power, kill loyal ministers, and the ministers have no choice but to die."
I repay Your Majesty's kindness and hope that Your Majesty will bless you and help us kill He Jin and restore peace to the Han Dynasty."
After the oath was completed, everyone drank blood wine and said goodbye.
Zhang Rang was the last to leave, and he had to discuss the details with Zhao Zhong. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhong grabbed him first and asked: "Mr. Zhang, if this plan is approved and He Jin is really killed, how should we deal with He Jin?"
The remaining troops? After all, there are 40,000 soldiers, so they should not be underestimated."
"There is no need to worry, Mr. Zhao." Zhang Rang held Zhao Zhong's wrists and persuaded him: "The political instability in the government is caused by the greed of He Jin. When He Jin dies, the army will be leaderless, and we have the Queen Mother and the Emperor to protect us.
There are also chariot and cavalry generals in charge of the overall situation. Under the righteousness of the court, it is difficult for the army to cause trouble. You and I should think more about how to act in the past!"
Zhang Rang only stayed for two moments. When he left, he comforted Zhao Zhong and said: "Mr. Zhao, don't worry, just do it. I am nearly sixty years old, and many people have died at your age.
It’s just that I’m still unwilling to accept it. When I was born, I didn’t have to worry about food and clothing, but I still went to the palace to serve the emperor. I just don’t want to be so angry anymore.”
After that, Zhang Rang waved his sleeves and robe and walked away. Zhao Zhong stood in the hall, watching a gust of wind blow by, and apricot leaves suddenly fell all over the ground. He picked up a leaf, looked down and saw that the veins of the green leaves were clear, and looked up.
The sky was bright and the moon was shining brightly. He suddenly remembered that today was the day of ancestor worship (Hungry Ghost Festival), but there were no lights on the street and it was pitch black.
Obviously, there are many people in Luoyang City who have no intention of worshiping their ancestors.