Yu Xinyuan and Chu King Yuan Hancheng rushed back to Juchao from Shouzhou, bringing Huaixi's clear attitude. The situation became clear. The officials who asked the emperor to go west could only struggle within the framework of persuading the emperor to return to the court.
Otherwise, the emperor will be deposed and a new one will be established. Huaidong will join Huaixi and the Jiangzhou army will send a large army to install Emperor Yongxing as the supreme emperor. He will return to Jiangning to recuperate in the deep palace. The officials who followed the emperor westward should no longer think about any good fruits. Huaidong
You will no longer have any scruples if you cleanse yourself with the Queen Mother.
Luzhou Prefecture is the head of Huaixi. In the early years, a military town was set up, and the town's army had a strong fighting capacity. However, after the former guard Deng Yu led his troops to move south to form the Huinan Army, the Luzhou Army in Xie Dan's hands still had a strength of tens of thousands.
However, compared to the old army, the generals, armor, and brave soldiers were far behind. Furthermore, by this time, no one had any expectations for the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army.
At this time, after the imperial army was incorporated into the Luzhou Army, although it had 30,000 soldiers and horses, without the support of the Huaixi and Jiangzhou Army, how could it have any capital to fight against Huaidong, who "served the Queen Mother to order the ministers"?
The news that Zhang Yubo whipped Gu Tianqiao reached Juchao, which somewhat calmed the minds of the officials who followed the emperor. If the emperor issued an edict to take responsibility, it would not prevent everyone from returning to Jiangning City to continue to live happily. Perhaps the authority
No better than before, but I won’t suffer the sin of living now.
After returning to Jiangning, Cheng Yuqian, Zuo Chengmu, Zhang Yan and others whose power and interests would really be damaged also had to face the cruel reality: Xie Dan still controlled the grain and grass supply for the Luzhou Army for half a year in Luzhou City, but so
The extra food and fodder was divided among the nearly 100,000 people rushing to the west. It would be enough to support them for another month.
Lin Fu didn't even need to take action, he would only send troops and horses to Luzhou to slowly advance, and he would be able to crush this side in a month or two at most, crushing it to pieces.
Unlike others, Cheng Yuqian, Zuo Chengmu, Zhang Yan and others still know the practical situation. They really don't have the capital to confront Huaidong - if Jiangning is forced to abolish the emperor and establish a new one, then there will be no possibility of negotiation.
No longer exists.
After weighing the pros and cons, under the persuasion of Yuan Hancheng and Yu Xinyuan, Cheng Yuqian, Zuo Chengmu, Zhang Yan and others agreed to let Liu Zhi come to live in the nest first, but everything was kept hidden from Emperor Yongxing.
In fact, if the emperor is finally persuaded to return to Jiangning, the emperor's opinion will no longer be important.
***************
On the 17th, Liu Zhi left Yijiang by boat, crossed into Yuxi River, and headed for Juchao.
Juchao County's Jinjiang Binhu Lake, the large lake between Luzhou and Juchao in the northwest, is the 800-mile Chaohu Lake. It is the second largest lake between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River after Hongzepu. Chaohu Lake is surrounded by hills to the west and south.
Vertically and horizontally, further to the west is the main vein of the vast Huaishan Mountains. To the west from Luzhou, Yicheng at the southern foot of the Huaishan Mountains is opposite Chizhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. They are both the western gateway of the Jianghuai Gate.
The counties around Chaohu Lake, with Luzhou City as the center of gravity, form the most important place in Huaixi, which controls Huaishan Mountain to the west, the river to the south, and Huaishou to the north.
Crossing the border of Juchao County and connected to Chao Lake, the branch of Yuxi River is on the opposite bank of Yijiang City.
Although the water surface of this section of the Yangtze River is less than two miles wide after winter begins, looking across both sides of the river is a vast stretch of river beach. When summer floods hit, the river surface will suddenly increase to thirty or forty miles away.
Liu Zhi thought of Lin Fu's feat of building and defending the sea dike in Huaidong. If embankments could be built on both sides of the zigzag Yangtze River, the large sandy beaches on both sides of the river could be cultivated into fertile farmland.
In fact, people have been building embankments in Yijiang, Lujiang and other counties for hundreds of years. However, they are all embankments built by the people or local wealthy households with money and effort. The power that the people can gather is limited.
It is possible to pile up mud to build embankments, and the flood peaks passing through the Yangtze River in summer and autumn are so fierce that the mud embankments often collapse nine times out of every ten years, and efforts are spent every year to repair them.
In fact, as long as people do not live in areas prone to collapse, large tracts of farmland can still be obtained after the embankment.
Although there will be losses when the embankment breaks, the fertility of the land can be effectively increased after the embankment breaks. After the flood, one can plant a season of wheat before the floods come next year. Even if there are losses due to the embankment breach, the harvest will not be enough in comparison.
The dry land gap between the Biqiu Mountains.
It was only the continuous wars in these years that the civilian embankments and beach fields in this area were destroyed by successive floods and became completely unavailable for farming. After the Huaisi War, Jiangning imposed very heavy taxes on Luzhou, and Luzhou's own troops were raised.
The people's livelihood in the surrounding area is becoming increasingly difficult, and there is no possibility of improvement.
Standing on the bow of the boat, Liu Zhi could still see isolated sections of dikes standing between the river beaches in the distance, and felt quite emotional.
Liu Zhi was poor when he was young, so he entered the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became an eunuch, but he dared to study hard, so he was valued by Hao Zongcheng. In the past, he was too utilitarian and had too many emotions about people's livelihood matters. However, a prison sentence made him reflect a lot.
, think about the fact that I have traveled all over the country over the years, and my knowledge is far beyond that of other eunuchs. Even if I am assigned to an official position, I can still be a good official.
Liu Zhi was thinking wildly on the bow of the boat. In the afternoon, as the sun set to the west, he saw Juchao County behind Yinping Mountain.
On Juchao's side, Yu Xinyuan came forward to greet him.
Liu Zhi came with the Queen Mother's decree and actually came on behalf of Huaidong, but after all, he was just a young eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Zhang Yan - whether to welcome the Queen Mother's decree or not, the ministers who fled west have not yet made up their minds, so naturally they would not at this time
He went out of the city to meet the decree.
Looking at the two oxcarts at the dock, the walls of the oxcart were unblocked, and the roof was temporarily covered with silk cloth.
Liu Zhi sighed in his heart: He did not expect that the emperor and his officials would be in such a state of desolation after fleeing to Juchao that they could not even get together a few carriages.
Yu Xinyuan had exchanged greetings with Liu Zhi, and he guessed that Liu Zhi had surrendered to Huaidong, so he released Lin Fu from prison and appointed him as his emissary. However, thinking that he would have to bow his head under the roof of Huaidong in the future, he was not less fond of Liu Zhi.
Deserted.
Two oxcarts drove slowly towards the city, surrounded by their retinue. Juchao City was in a state of disarray. Although they were all the residences of the garrison and officials who fled westward, as well as their retinue, it was still in a mess - a small town with more than a thousand households.
One hundred thousand people were crammed in at once, and the crowding situation can be imagined.
The Sui Hu clan drove the ox cart to the Dongcheng Confucian Temple where the ministers held temporary meetings. The dusty streets were crowded with people.
In order to exchange for more food, many officials' families or officials themselves, regardless of their status, took out gold and silver coins and went to the streets to exchange rice, noodles or precious preserved meat that they had not tasted for more than ten days.
In front of the county government office, which was used as a temporary palace, it was as messy as a market.
Although it has only been a little over twenty days, the powerful and powerful families who used to be extremely wealthy in Jiangning City have already fallen into many declines.
Liu Zhi was not too complacent. He turned around to ask how Emperor Yu Xinyuan was doing. There was an unusual "swish" sound. He thought it was the wind blowing and the short arrow fired from the crossbow hit his chest. Liu Zhi realized that he had been assassinated on the streets of Juchao.
, I saw a man in the crowd with a crown and a blue shirt from a distance, sneaking into the inner alley, and pointed in the distance: "The assassin is there..."
Yu Xinyuan was so remorseful that he wanted to slap himself. Despite all the calculations, he failed to calculate that there was an assassin hidden in the city, and chose to assassinate Liu Zhi when he entered the city. Yu Xinyuan panicked and sent his retinue to chase the assassin as Liu Zhi pointed out.
He climbed onto Liu Zhi's bullock cart, hugged him and cried: "Master Liu, you can't die!"
Before Yu Xinyuan went to Huaixi, Tiexin thought that Huaidong would purge officials who fled westward, and he was struggling when he was dying. After returning from Huaixi, his mood was different. He thought that as long as he could help the emperor return to the court, he would be in Huaihe
Although Dong Na Na could not get a good deal, it would not be a problem to protect his relatives and provide for him in his old age. Who would have thought that Liu Zhi would be assassinated on the streets of Juchao?
If Liu Zhi was assassinated and died, Huaidong would still be alive. Which minister would he dare to send to negotiate?
If we don't talk about Huaidong, we will just depose the emperor and establish King Lu in Jiangning. If we don't surrender here, we can only wait for Huaidong's army to come out and fight...
Yu Xinyuan could almost imagine the coming bloodshed, the ups and downs of his emotions, and how he could control himself from howling in such turmoil.
***************
The private house that Zhang Yan lived in Juchao City was not big, but he did not have many family members or servants to follow him, so it was more spacious. After King Yuan Hancheng of Chu arrived in Juchao, he lived in the same courtyard with Zhang Yan - there were not that many at this time.
So sophisticated.
When someone came to report that Liu Zhi had been assassinated in the city, Yuan Hancheng and Zhang Yan were playing chess and talking about the Lianghuai Salt Benefit. They were also shocked at the moment. Yuan Hancheng didn't say anything and just asked someone to take him there.
Go find Liu Zhi who was assassinated.
Although Yu Xinyuan was panicked, he did not lose his sense of proportion. After notifying Cheng Yuqian, he dispatched soldiers to block the streets. Liu Zhi, who did not dare to move the short and medium crossbows, could only send someone to ask the national experts from the Dianzhong Provincial Medical Bureau to come to the streets for first aid.
Yuan Hancheng and Zhang Yan arrived, and Liu Zhi had already moved to a private house facing the street. There was only Cheng Yuqian in front of the street, and Zuo Chengmu was blowing his beard and staring. Zhang Yan hurriedly asked: "Have you caught the assassin?" If Liu Zhi was assassinated and died
, only by catching the assassin can they explain to Huaidong and the Queen Mother, otherwise they will directly face the consequences of deposing the emperor and establishing a separate emperor. Liu Zhi was assassinated in Juchao, Huaidong Feng directly abolished the emperor and established a separate emperor, Dong Yuan
, Liu Tingzhou, Yue Lengqiu and others also have nothing to say!
There is no way Huaidong can find an excuse to directly abolish the emperor and establish a new one.
"There are people all over the street, how can we catch them?" Cheng Yuqian beat his chest. He watched Lin Fu and Huaidong rise step by step. Without his righteous name, he didn't have much courage to confront Huaidong.
Zuo Chengmu was still calm, frowning and said: "Liu Zhi's entry into Juchao today is a top-secret matter. Except for a few people like me, few people know about it. Who would take action to assassinate him?"
Zuo Chengmu woke up the dreamer with a word. Yuan Hancheng, Zhang Yan, Cheng Yuqian and others stood on the street and looked at each other with a hint of suspicion in each other's eyes - after all, not everyone wanted Emperor Yongxing to return to Jiangning.
Some people want to fight to the death and refuse to surrender to Huaidong! There are many officials and soldiers in the city who want to assassinate Liu Zhi. However, there are only a few people who know that Liu Zhi entered Juchao today - the instigator behind the assassination.
It's about to come out.
"Wang Xueshan!" Zhang Yan pointed out Wang Xueshan's name like a thunderbolt. He knew that Liu Zhi would enter the city today and the only one who did not appear here at this time was Wang Xueshan. There may be other reasons, but Wang Xueshan was the most suspicious.
Zuo Chengmu looked at Cheng Yuqian, Cheng Yuqian looked at Yuan Hancheng, Yuan Hancheng looked at Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan said cruelly: "Send troops to search Wang Xueshan's residence. If there is any mistake, I will kowtow to Wang Xueshan to apologize!"
"Please ask Prince Chu to accompany Mr. Yu, and the three of us will search Wang Xueshan's residence!" Zuo Chengmu said.
The one who had the least suspicion was Yuan Hancheng, the king of Chu, who persuaded the emperor to return to the court on behalf of Huaidong. Several others had doubts and had ulterior motives, so Zuo Chengmu asked Yuan Hancheng to keep an eye on Yu Xinyuan, and he was inseparable from Zhang Yan and Cheng Yuqian.
We must monitor each other and use ruthless means to find the assassin...