Chapter 769: All the streets in heaven trample on the bones of the prince
In Jiankang City, the imperial palace.
In front of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Shi Siming, who was thin, with hunched shoulders and protruding eyes and nose, swaggered into the palace with a group of generals.
Seeing Shi Siming walking to the front of the emperor and still standing, someone among the ministers shouted: "How dare you! Why don't you kneel down when you see your majesty?"
Shi Siming turned his head and looked at the scolding minister, his eyes became cold, and then he raised his voice and asked Li Yu on the throne: "Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi led an army of 200,000 to approach Jiankang. After I received the imperial edict summoned by His Majesty, I went non-stop.
When I arrived in Jiankang, there was not even the slightest welcome in the imperial city, so that’s it. Some people actually yelled at me like this. Is this how the emperor treats his meritorious ministers?”
When Li Yu heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then suppressed his anger, nodded to Shi Siming and said, "My beloved, you are exhausted both physically and mentally, so it is natural not to kneel down."
Shi Siming: "Since the emperor is asking for something from me in this summons, why don't you tell me the conditions first?"
As soon as this statement came out, the officials in the court were angry.
Someone shouted to Shi Siming: "As a minister, you should be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. How can you ask for benefits from His Majesty?!"
Some people simply scolded: "You have bad intentions and evil intentions, and your traitorous nature is hard to change!"
Listening to the shouts and curses of the ministers, Shi Siming did not make any move, but the haze in his eyes gradually gathered, and cruelty and violence slowly began to nourish his heart.
Seeing this, Li Yu raised his hand to stop the ministers. From the bottom of his heart, he did not want to fall out with Shi Siming at this time, so he said: "I plan to grant Aiqing the title of Taiwei, lead the world's troops, and then grant him the title of king with a different surname.
The title of the descendants will remain unchanged from generation to generation and they will enjoy the family legacy forever."
Shi Siming shook his head slightly.
Li Yu gritted his teeth and said: "I plan to make Huaining and Qiuyang the fiefdoms of Ai Qing. As long as the people in the two places do not pay taxes, they will be exempted from corvee."
Shi Siming still shook his head.
Li Yu suppressed the anger in his heart and asked with a smile: "If you have any requests, please put them forward and let me hear them."
Shi Siming: "The Northerners are approaching Jiankang, and the power of the Tang Dynasty will soon be gone. Your Majesty is still stingy in the rewards. I am really disappointed."
Li Yu was a little impatient: "Then what do you want?"
Under the surprised gaze of everyone, Shi Siming walked straight to Li Yu, stretched out his hand to gently touch the throne, and said to the pale emperor: "Your Majesty has been sitting in this position for too long, why don't you let me sit down too?"
?”
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.
In the court, some were scolding, some were wailing, and some ministers even wanted to rush forward and beat Shi Siming.
Shi Siming raised his hand and waved it.
The generals who entered the palace with him rushed over and knocked down several ministers who were rushing to the front, shocking the others.
Shi Siming looked down at Li Yu and said slowly: "Back then, Li Heng only had hundreds of guards around him. He traveled thousands of miles south and established a business in Jiangnan with his skills... But you, a little kid, only used it for less than a short time.
In just a few years, the whole family was completely destroyed. Now that you have meditated on me, you can still find some understanding in the history books. Otherwise, this great country will fall into the hands of the northerners."
When Li Yu heard this, he couldn't help feeling regretful and scolded himself for why he had lured Shi Siming to Jiankang.
He stood up from the throne and reprimanded Shi Siming: "You thief, you were originally An Lushan's eagle dog! After so many years, I thought you would change, but unexpectedly you are still a thief!"
Veins were visible on Shi Siming's forehead, and he shouted to Li Yu in a deep voice: "I'm warning you, don't call me a thief again!"
Li Yu: "This Tang Dynasty is the foundation of the Li family. Even if I die, I will not surrender to the thieves!"
Although Shi Siming is thin, he has been running on the battlefield for a long time, and his strength and fighting ability are better than ordinary people.
And Li Yu, who had lived in the palace for many years, had long since lost the martial prowess he once had.
Shi Siming kicked away the eunuch who ran up to protect him, then grabbed Li Yu's neck and asked loudly: "I'll ask you again, do you agree with the Zen position?!"
Li Yu was grabbed by the neck and did not answer Shi Siming's question. He just shouted outside the palace: "Where are the guards? Come and kill the thieves quickly!"
Shi Siming smiled sinisterly and said: "The sixteen guards in the palace are all a group of cowards who have never been on the battlefield. They have been controlled by me long ago by sending troops. The military department outside the palace also has arrangements arranged by me to block all news...
You, the emperor, are really confused."
When Li Yu heard this, his face was full of despair.
Shi Siming: "If you are a smart person, you should make smart choices."
Li Yu's temper was also aroused at this time. Not only did he not let go, but he cursed at Shi Siming.
Shi Siming was so angry that he strangled the emperor with force and knocked him unconscious.
Leaving Li Yu lying limp on the ground, Shi Siming turned around, looked at the chaotic court, shook his arm, and said two words lightly: "Do it."
Hearing this, a group of military generals shouted outside the palace. Soon, soldiers rushed into the hall, jumped directly into the ranks of ministers, and started killing.
Above the court hall, there were only screams of misery, and blood and corpses instantly filled the entire hall.
Shi Siming glanced at the blood flowing to his feet and said to his generals: "I originally wanted to persuade the emperor to be aware of current affairs, but unexpectedly, everyone in the Li Tang clan is stupid..."
A general asked Shi Siming: "We have killed all the ministers in the DPRK, what should we do next?"
Shi Siming: "Since these people cannot accept me as emperor, then there is no need for their family to remain in this world. Tell the soldiers that all the prominent families in Jiankang City should be surrounded and no one should be allowed to escape.
"
The generals took the order and left.
In the following days, Shi Siming commanded the army and carried out a large-scale massacre of the entire Jiankang City.
As for the nobles who were loyal to the Tang Dynasty, Shi Siming's army first surrounded their mansions and then pulled all their clansmen to the courtyard.
The men were pulled out, their hands and feet chopped off, their bellies disemboweled, skinned and roasted, and tortured to death. This was the case for everyone from a seventy-year-old man to a newborn baby.
The women were stripped of their clothes and thrown into the military camp, where they were humiliated day and night until they died of exhaustion.
In the entire Jiankang City, more than 800 households and a total of more than 70,000 people were massacred. Because there were too many corpses, there was no time to bury them, so some were thrown on the long street, and some were thrown into the river.
Shi Siming relied on extremely cruel methods to completely eliminate all those who opposed him. In the spring of the sixth year of the New Year (766), he forced Li Yu to abdicate in Jiankang City, renamed his country "Yan", and called himself Dayan Ying.
Emperor Tian changed the Yuan Dynasty to Shuntian and made his wife Xin the queen.
After becoming the emperor, Shi Siming began to retreat to Suzhou in order to avoid the attack of the Northern Tang Army, which swept away the wealth of the entire Jiankang City and took away a large number of young and strong laborers.