Five hundred and seventy-four chapters: Flood outbreak
At this moment, the five hundred Huya Special Forces members finally returned one after another.
And they also brought good news to Li Min, and brought back eight people.
A few days ago, Li Min sent them all out to do something.
That is to go to the lower reaches of the Ying River and the surrounding villages to look for survivors.
All the guards of the Cui family were killed, all died on the spot.
But not the Lu family!
The guards of the Lu family were all washed away by the river after the shipwreck.
As for the more than 400 guards of the Lu family, Li Min didn't believe that all of them were drowned in the river, and no one survived.
And Li Min concluded that even if these guards of the Lu family survived, they would not dare to return to the Lu family again.
Going back is simply an act of seeking death.
And if they don't go, they will probably hide in the surrounding villages.
And these people, if you are careful, are actually very easy to find.
Of course, what Li Min was most afraid of was actually finding these people before them and killing them.
Then, it will be really difficult to find witnesses by then.
Fortunately, Qi Wang, the fifth surname, ignored this point.
Well, strictly speaking, it can only be said that Lu Yong ignored this point.
Because Lu Yong did the whole thing alone, and no one else knew about it.
In other words, Lu Yong didn't care about this at all. He didn't think that this matter would be overturned.
The eight recovered guards were the surviving Lu family guards.
Li Min talked to them separately.
Then it was discovered that these eight people all hated Lu Yong and the Lu family.
As long as they can bite the Lu family, they are not afraid of death.
What's more, Li Min promised them that as long as they stood up to testify, he could guarantee their innocence.
And you can also give them a sum of money afterwards so that they can have food and clothing for the rest of their lives.
Therefore, these eight people readily agreed to testify.
The next day, Li Min sent someone to escort the eight people to Chang'an.
On the afternoon of the second day, Li Shimin received a reply from the King of Shu.
When he opened the letter, Li Shimin's face was still extremely ugly.
But after reading the content, Li Shimin was extremely surprised.
There was a look of disbelief on his face.
"Come, the envoy from Xuanyi Province is here to see you."
Not long after, Li Shimin received the envoy from Yizhou.
Then Li Shimin personally interrogated the eight surviving Lu family guards.
After the interrogation, Li Shimin couldn't help but be shocked!
Next, officials from Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment and the Yushitai interrogated the eight Lu family guards.
Among these officials, there are actually many officials from the Five Surnames and Qiwang faction.
Of course, everyone from the Lu family faction avoided it.
These officials were extremely shocked after hearing the news from the interrogation.
This thing is really amazing!
The Lu family dared to secretly hide the imperial concubine who was about to enter the palace, and then killed all the guards of his own family and the Cui family.
This is the crime of deceiving the emperor.
And then, he even framed a prince.
If this matter had not been exposed, not only Li Shimin, but even everyone in the world would think that this matter was done by the King of Shu.
Who would have thought that this was all the Lu family's self-inflicted theft?
As for why the Lu family did this and how they dared to do it, that is no longer important!
The officials of the Five Surnames and Qiwang Faction couldn't help but secretly sigh. This time, the Lu family was probably doomed.
The five surnames and seven views are intertwined with each other, connected with the same energy and branches, and have always advanced and retreated together.
But this time, the other companies all backed down.
In this kind of thing, who gets fucked and who dies?
Li Shimin was ambitious and was looking for opportunities to weaken them, but he couldn't find any yet.
Now that there is such a great opportunity, how could he let it go?
Therefore, the five surnames and seven other families chose to give up on the Lu family.
A dead Taoist friend will not die a poor Taoist.
Especially the Cui family has resentment towards the Lu family.
If their Cui Shiniang could be sent to the palace, she would definitely be even more favored.
The strength of their Cui family can be raised to another level.
But now, everything has been destroyed by the Lu family.
After the trial, Li Shimin issued an imperial edict to arrest Lu Yong and other members of the Lu family and seize the Lu family's property.
The Lu family was in Fanyang, in the area north of today's Baoding and south of Beijing.
It would take several days for the court's arrest order to reach Fan Yang.
During this period of time, the content of this decree will definitely be delivered to the Fan Yanglu family first.
In this way, the Lu family can transfer part of the family property and part of the family's children.
Then, these disciples can go to other places and establish branch clans.
It can ensure that the Lu family continues to survive.
However, the main members of the Lu family absolutely did not dare to run away.
Because once they run away and anger the emperor, I am afraid that the entire Lu family will be expelled.
Of course, no matter what the situation is, the Lu family, with five surnames and seven favorites, will be removed from the list.
As for this imperial edict, Li Shimin sent imperial envoys to travel day and night, rushing to Fanyang non-stop.
Then officers and soldiers were mobilized in Fanyang to arrest the Lu family.
In fact, it only takes one day for the Lu family to make full plans.
In this day, the Lu family's property that can be transferred is quite limited.
On the second day, Fan Yang's Lu family was surrounded, and all the main members of the family were captured.
Everyone else was also controlled.
The main criminal, Lu Yong, was directly escorted to Beijing.
The subsequent work of inventorying the Lu family's property lasted for a full month before it was completed.
The number finally cleared out reached a shocking amount, ten times huge.
This number is at least the tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty for twenty years.
Just this number is still not the whole story of the Lu family.
All aristocratic families such as Wu Xing and Qi Wang will not put their eggs in one basket.
They will spread out the family property, continue to branch out and establish branches.
Moreover, before the family property was seized, they hid part of it.
If all the Lu family's property were seized, it would become an astronomical figure.
Lu Yong was sent to Chang'an, but on the way, he committed suicide by taking poison.
Lu Yong's suicide finally finalized the case.
The Lu family also lost the last chance to reduce their punishment.
In fact, Lu Yong's suicide surprised many people.
Because Lu Yong doesn’t have many reasons to commit suicide.
Even if he is escorted to Chang'an and interrogated by the three departments, maybe things can turn around.
At least it won't be worse.
However, doubts are doubts, but not many people actually raise them.
Lu Yong's crimes were such that death would not be a pity.
At this point, the Lu family with five surnames and Qi Wang was completely eliminated.
Li Min, the king of Shu who was far away in Yizhou, sighed after hearing the news of Lu Yong's death.
…
The Lu family was expelled, and the remaining six families with five surnames and seven hopes all felt sad.
Their actions have also become more cautious.
It is said that King Wei rushed all the way to Luoyang with his decree.
King Wei is the most favored prince today, and he is also an imperial envoy.
As soon as he arrived in Luoyang, he was warmly welcomed by all the officials in Luoyang.
As soon as he arrived in Luoyang, the King of Wei read out the imperial edict.
Next, of course, Luoyang officials held a welcoming banquet for the King of Wei.
The purpose of King Wei's coming to Luoyang was to leave a good impression in front of his father.
The second purpose is to win over Luoyang officials.
Now, a small group of officials have gathered around King Wei.
Although the number of people is not too large, we already have a preliminary team.
Coming to Luoyang this time is a great opportunity to expand your power.
Naturally, King Wei went happily to this reception banquet.
"His Royal Highness the King of Wei is here, and it immediately makes me, Luoyang Pengpi, shine! I suggest that for this first cup, we all give a toast to the King of Wei!"
"Come on, cheers!"
"cheers!"
After drinking a glass of wine, Li Tai put down his glass and said with a smile: "This time, Tian will be the imperial envoy. I hope you will support me and do the job assigned by your father!"
"Don't worry, His Majesty the King of Wei. After we return, we will do our best to prevent floods and ensure that everything is safe when a flood comes. We will never let a single family suffer."
"Okay, since you are so confident, I can rest assured."
After talking about the situation, Li Tai asked again: "By the way, I have just arrived and I am not familiar with the situation in Luoyang."
"But when I came here, I found that it didn't seem to rain in the past few days. I wonder how much the water in the river has risen?"
After hearing King Wei's question, he hesitated for a moment, and then an official replied: "Your Highness, King Wei, actually, it rained lightly in Luoyang seven days ago. The water in the river not only did not rise, but also went down.
a lot of."
"Recently, there seems to be no sign of a flood at all! But since the emperor has issued a decree, we will definitely implement it strictly and do a good job in flood prevention!"
After hearing this, Li Tai's face showed a true expression.
"Huh! So that's the case. I said that this was done deliberately by the King of Shu in order to distract my father's attention."
"What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Li Tai said calmly: "Do you know that Luoyang is going to be flooded, and then my father ordered Luoyang to do its best to prevent floods? What is the reason?"
Why?
It must be because of King Shu!
You just said it, do you think we are stupid?
Well, of course, in order to cooperate with King Wei, they all shook their heads to express their incomprehension.
Li Tai sneered: "Of course he is my good sixth brother, King Shu."
"I believe you have also heard some news about the King of Shu. I am such a good sixth brother. In order to divert the attention of my father, I deliberately made such a stunt."
At that moment, an official couldn't help but asked curiously: "Your Highness, Your Highness, what is going on with this King of Shu?"
Some time ago, the King of Wei and Hou Jun gathered together and led the army to search the palace of the King of Shu.
This matter has just reached Luoyang.
There are many kinds of speculations out there right now, and they can say anything.
But at least one thing is indispensable. The King of Shu must have committed something.
Now the King of Shu must be unpopular.
Well, at this time, several guards of the Lu family had just entered Chang'an, and Li Shimin had just issued an order.
It is estimated that it will take at least a few days for this matter to reach Luoyang.
If this matter comes to us, they may really be able to guess the truth of the matter.
Now, the rightful owner is here!
This King of Wei was very approachable, so they couldn't help but ask about their doubts.
They really want to know what the truth is.
Li Tai smiled slightly, picked up the wine glass and said, "Everyone, please drink this glass to the full!"
No one who is doing this is stupid.
Seeing that King Li Tai of Wei did not want to mention this matter, no one asked him any more questions.
After finishing the glass of wine, Li Tai couldn't help but said: "There's no point in drinking like this. How about we make a drinking order?"
When literati drink together, it is natural to have drinking orders.
After hearing what King Wei said, an official immediately joked: "I have heard a long time ago that His Highness King Wei is a very talented person and he is the most talented person in the Tang Dynasty. It's a good time to see him today!"
"Yes, today's drinking order, what kind of drinking order do you think is good?"
"No matter what the drinking order is, no one can compare to King Wei!"
"That's right, King Wei is the most talented man in our Tang Dynasty. We can't compare together!"
Hearing the flattery of these officials, Li Tai smiled and said nothing.
Yes, Li Tai loves literature and has excellent literary talent.
But it also depends on who you compare with.
To say that he was the most talented person in the Tang Dynasty is definitely a shameless statement.
In terms of true talent and learning, even one hundred people ranked below may not be able to reach the King of Wei.
Of course, these flattery words are quite pleasant to hear!
At this banquet, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves and were very happy.
King Wei stayed at Luoyang Palace at night.
The local officials sent two beautiful women, and the king of Wei accepted them without hesitation.
These two women are not singers or maids.
They were the daughters of two officials in Luoyang.
In other words, it happened that only these two officials had daughters of the right age. Otherwise, I'm afraid more would have been sent over.
This is a great opportunity to make friends with the King of Wei.
What if the King of Wei fell in love with his daughter and took her back as a concubine?
Then wouldn’t they be developed?
Even if you don't take it back, you can at least get on the line with King Wei, right?
It’s just a daughter, it’s worth it!
…
The officials in Luoyang saw that the emperor sent King Wei to read the imperial edict and urge them to take action.
At the beginning, they attached great importance to flood prevention work and decided to organize a large number of manpower to prepare for flood prevention.
But later, they found out that the reason why the emperor issued this imperial edict was because of the King of Shu.
The King of Shu is now in no position to protect himself, so he must be talking nonsense somewhere.
Even the King of Wei said this, so they were not afraid anymore.
Therefore, the officials in Luoyang put flood control work in the second place. The first thing, of course, was to entertain the King of Wei and leave a good impression on the King of Wei.
As for flood control work, many officials only do superficial work.
And the rest are too lazy to even do superficial work.
Just look at the current weather, there is not even rain, will there be a flood?
Not at all!
There won't even be floods, so what's the use of wool for flood control?
Why is it more important to have a good relationship with the King of Wei?
In the following time, Luoyang officials took turns to entertain King Wei.
They tried their best to please the King of Wei.
Knowing that King Wei was fond of literature, he tried every possible means to find unique copies, calligraphy and paintings.
At every banquet, there were music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and poetry and poetry singing.
And their efforts were not in vain, and King Wei was very happy.
I can even remember each of their names.
All in all, it can be said that everyone is happy.
At this time, the news that the guards of the Lu family were suing the Lu family also spread to Luoyang.
It turns out that the kidnapping case of Princess Cui Shiniang was actually committed by Lu Yong, and it was a case created by the Lu family.
Now the emperor has issued an order to arrest the Lu family members.
This news once again caused a sensation in Luoyang.
No wonder the emperor sent people to search the Prince of Shu's residence some time ago.
It turns out that all of this was framed by the Lu family.
Now the truth has been revealed to the world.
However, at this time, some officials in Luoyang also heard the news.
But recently they have been busy trying to please King Wei and almost completely ignored the news.
Even the King of Wei did not take this news to heart.
At this time, the King of Shu in Yizhou New City counted the days and found that the day when the Luoyang flood broke out was not far away.
Fortunately, he warned his father in advance.
I heard that my father sent King Wei to Luoyang to supervise and ensure that the flood control work will be done well.
In this case, there will definitely not be so many casualties among the people.
Thinking of this, Li Min was very happy.
And how could he have expected that due to a strange combination of circumstances, Luoyang City would only do a few face-saving projects.
No real flood prevention measures were prepared at all!
…
Two days later, a group of officials from Luoyang City were hosting a banquet for the King of Shu.
Click!
Suddenly a dull thunder sounded from far away, and dew shone on the sky.
The dark clouds quickly rolled over and soon covered the bright sky.
It suddenly became dark.
The dark clouds were so low that it almost felt like they were within reach.
The dull thunder that was originally far away is now approaching rapidly.
Click!
Another bolt of lightning pierced the sky, shocking everyone.
Snapped!
A slightly turbid, bean-sized raindrop fell.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The second drop, the third drop, and countless raindrops followed.
The dry dust on the ground was knocked down by raindrops, flew up, and then got wet again.
An earthy smell filled the air.
This rain almost skipped the prelude.
Just started, let’s go straight to the topic.
It started raining heavily in an instant.
Looking through the window, there has been a dense curtain of water outside.
It is impossible to penetrate the sight at all, and can only see a distance of more than one foot.
What a heavy rain!
A group of officials who were drinking were also shocked by such a heavy rain.
Li Tai was a little worried and couldn't help but said: "It's raining so hard, won't it cause water?"
An official suddenly laughed and said: "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. In summer, won't there be a few heavy rainstorms that year?"
"That's right, take last year as an example. There was a rain that was heavier than this. It was like a basin being poured over, so it didn't produce water either!"
"Yes, there have been heavy rains in Luoyang over the years. This is just an ordinary heavy rain."
After hearing the explanation from the official below, Li Tai felt relieved.
"Your Highness, this rain really adds to the fun. Otherwise, how about we write a poem about this rain?"
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
“Just in time for the occasion!”
"This is really a romance!"
…
In fact, not only Luoyang, but also many places will experience several heavy rains in summer.
Under normal circumstances, heavy rain only lasts for a few hours, then turns into heavy rain or moderate rain, or simply stops.
Therefore, the judgment of those officials in Luoyang was correct.
It was raining outside, which helped their spirits. In the end, several of them got drunk.
When I got home, I hugged my beauty and fell asleep.
But what they didn't expect was that the heavy rain did not stop this time.
It rained all night.
On the second day, the heavy rain was still falling.
The water on the Gushui and Luoshui rivers is rising almost to a degree visible to the naked eye.
Looking around, all I can see is a vast expanse of white water.
In the middle of the night, the river overflowed the river bed.
The water from the two rivers, Gushui and Luoshui, quickly poured into Luoyang City.
Some residential buildings in Luoyang City began to flood.
Not long after, even the Luoyang Palace began to flood.
The water level is rising rapidly.
At this time, it was in the middle of the night, when most people were sleeping soundly.
No one noticed at all that the water had almost submerged their home.
At this time, most of the residential buildings still had earthen walls.
Only a few use blue bricks.
These earthen walls quickly softened and fell off after being soaked by the floods.
boom!
The wall could not support the weight of the house and collapsed.
Screams suddenly erupted in the room.
"The house collapsed, the house collapsed, woo hoo!"
"Ouch! It hurts me so much!"
"It's wet, it's wet!"
boom!
One after another, houses collapsed.
There were a lot of casualties among the people.
The only good news is that the huge noise probably woke up many people.
After they get up, they can immediately discover the environment they are in.
However, so far, too many houses have collapsed.
The spreading flood may wash away people at any time.
The Luoyang Palace was also flooded with water.
In Luoyang Palace, several palaces were soaked by floods.
There are several palaces here that are in disrepair.
Li Shimin wanted to edit it several times, but was dissuaded once by Empress Changsun.
On other occasions, I was dissuaded by ministers and never revised it.
After being soaked for a long time, the foundation of the palace began to continuously deform.
boom!
The palace collapsed with a loud noise.
There were still maids on duty in the palace, but they died without even having time to scream.
Li Tai, who was sleeping soundly, was also awakened by the loud noise.
"What's the sound? What happened?"
Li Tai hurriedly put on his coat and rushed out of the hall.
Then, Li Tai discovered that it was still raining heavily outside.
The entire low-lying area of Luoyang Palace has been flooded.
A palace collapsed, and the loud noise just now was made like this.
how so?
how so?
For a moment, Li Tai felt his teeth itching with hatred.
Luoyang Palace is not the lowest-lying place in Luoyang City.
All the palaces in Luoyang Palace could be destroyed by floods, let alone the residences in Luoyang City.
Unexpectedly, the king of Shu really took his word for it!
Luoyang, a flood really broke out.
What a shame that I didn't take it to heart at all and didn't take any precautions beforehand!