On April 18, there was civil strife in Xiangyang. Two generals under Fan Qiong's command. Han Li, the commander of the left army, ordered the entire army to surrender but disappeared. Wang Jun, the commander of the right army, contacted Fan Qiong's direct subordinate Yabing to rise up and directly tied up Fan Qiong.
, dedicated Xiangyang City.
In the evening of that day, Hu Yantong took the lead in leading his troops across the river in the rain, marched quickly into the city and took control of the city gate.
But at this time, Liu Yan, the favorite general of the official family who had a difficult career, was about to arrive twenty miles west of the city with Commander Xiao Xin because of the rising water in the Han River. It seemed that due to some strange combination of circumstances, he missed another great achievement.
Of course, these have nothing to do with the overall situation. Early the next morning, Zhao Guanjia led the main force of the imperial camp across the river, and gathered Liu Yan and Xin Yongzong at noon. They arrived at Xiangyang City together, but they allowed Wang De and Fu Qing to enter the city first.
, assist Huyantong to completely control the city defense.
So far, within sixteen days, Fan Qiong's rebellion has subsided, which can be said to be extremely fast.
However, since the officials are here in person, they inevitably have to do some finishing work themselves.
"Lin Qing asked his close family members to send letters early in the morning. I read them on the way and got a rough idea of what's going on in the city... Are these all Fan Qiong's family members?"
At noon, Zhao Guan's family arrived at Xiangyang City, but they did not stay in the city. Instead, they rode directly through the city and found their confidant, Bachelor Xiaolin, in front of a large pit in the south of the city. However, when they came here, they saw
The pit was full of corpses, especially the corpses of several young women among them, but they couldn't help but frown at each other.
"I'm ashamed..." Academician Xiao Lin recovered from his slightly absent-minded posture when he saw the officials coming, and then bowed and saluted. "I really didn't expect that Fan Qiong would be so perverse and skin him alive first."
Human skin, and then kill your wives, concubines, and daughters."
Zhao Jiu did not answer, but was attracted by the corpse closest to the horse's hoof... With the sunlight that faded in and out at noon, Zhao Guan's family could see clearly that the corpse was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old rich girl, with wounds.
There are three or four places, and they are all so huge that half of the body is bright red because of the blood stains, while the other half looks dry and pale due to excessive blood loss. In addition, the goose-yellow clothes on the other party are stained with blood.
The dark brown muddy water below is really eye-catching.
"This is Fan Qiong's daughter..." Academician Xiao Lin became increasingly uneasy.
"He kills the women in his own family at every turn. He kills both good and bad people, completely ignoring the trouble he caused." Zhao Guanjia looked at the corpse expressionlessly, but he couldn't help but sigh. "It's not easy to meet this person.
He is considerate and cares a little about his family, but he is also a traitor... I heard that Fan Qiong is not dead?"
"Yes." Academician Xiaolin, who was still a little flustered, suddenly calmed down.
"It is understandable that death is the only way to survive the hardships of the ages. This kind of thing is as common as killing wives and daughters in the history books. I saw that the generals and Liu Shenjun were not surprised. I thought it would happen two years ago.
We are used to seeing things like this." Zhao Guanjia looked at the huge pit in front of him thoughtfully. "What do you mean, Academician Lin? I think you seem to have something to say, but you didn't finish it in yesterday's letter?"
"Yes." Academician Xiao Lin bowed to face him. "I still have to plead guilty in person. In fact, I should have dealt with Fan Qiong yesterday so as not to embarrass the officials. But Wang Jun was so greedy for profit that he thought he could live in rare things, so I couldn't order him. In fact, I couldn't order him.
Ashamed."
Zhao Jiu held the horse's reins with both hands and seemed a little puzzled: "Let's not talk about Wang Jun, why do you think that not being able to deal with Fan Qiong will embarrass me?"
"Since Jingkang, Fan Qiong has repeatedly done evil and deserved death. Officials have always hated evil, but as an official, it is the right way to know the right way to punish and punish..." Academician Xiaolin responded in embarrassment. "I should have done this.
It is really incompetent to share the worries of the officials."
"Thinking too much." Zhao Guanjia sighed slightly, and then looked up at the bright sun above his head. "Who are you? There are a lot of Jinshi in your family, and they are also so-called ministers. They were born in wealth and glory. This behavior has surpassed
I don’t know how many people there are. As for me... Fan Qiong did such an unforgivable thing first, why should others blame me for being harsher? Besides, I am not a wise, mighty, benevolent and righteous person.
Jun, I don’t want to be Renzong... Do you know that Liu Yu built a temple for Chen Dong and Ouyang Che in Jinan? How can I have any reputation?"
"..."
"But, are there really nothing you can say to stop people?" Zhao Jiufu lowered his head and asked with a smile.
"Yes." Academician Xiao Lin kept looking down at the corpse at his feet. After hearing the words, he was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and responded with firm words. ""The Rites of Zhou" says: 'The punishment for chaos is to use heavy codes'. And Zheng Xuan in the late Han Dynasty was born in
In troubled times, there is a note: "Those who use heavy codes" can use them to turn evil and destroy them. As the officials said, since Fan Qiong did all kinds of evil things, no wonder the officials turned evil and destroyed him!"
"In troubled times, heavy codes must be used... I thought it was Wei Wu's words, but I didn't expect it to be Zheng Xuan's?" Zhao Jiu suddenly thought of a low-end game that liked to arrange data, but he nodded. "Since you are so nervous.
Having said that, I won’t be pretentious... There is no need to bury these people first, just get a coffin, and then bring Fan Qiong here. Then all the generals in the city will ask Huyantong to stay behind, and the rest will come to watch the execution."
"Together?" Bachelor Xiaolin was slightly startled.
"That's right, everyone from Wang De in the Imperial Camp to Wang Jun in the surrender troops will come."
Scholar Xiao Lin heard clearly and no longer hesitated. Instead, he bowed and excused himself, and went to pass on the orders and arrangements, while Zhao Guanjia sat quietly on his horse, motionless.
As for Liu Ziyu, Liu Yan and others who followed around, they originally avoided it because the officials were talking to Xiaolin. But now they heard such an order and knew that severe punishment was going to be carried out. They also saw the officials on horseback standing among the corpses.
Why, I didn’t even dare to step forward.
And after waiting for a while, maybe it was because there was a shortage of coffins, or maybe it was because the officers from various ministries were slow to gather together. It took half an hour for Academician Xiaolin to return.
Officers from all departments, especially those who were surrendering, from Wang Jun on down, abandoned their troops and lined up around the pit.
"The sun has turned to the west." Zhao Jiu saw the coffin being carried along with Fan Qiong, who had already collapsed in a puddle of mud, but he didn't have any extra words, nor did he say anything about summoning or questioning, so he directly
Ordered. "Deal with this person quickly!"
"Dare I ask the officials what kind of punishment they should use?" At this point, Academician Xiao Lin no longer had any scruples, so he gritted his teeth and asked. "I don't even mention the so-called punishment of armored soldiers. That's what the officials intended for this expedition... The second is to use axes and axes.
, and the execution method is to use a knife and saw, and the second is to use a drill and a dredge...which one are the officials going to use?"
"These are inhumane and too bloody." Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, as if he was not the one who said to the bachelor half an hour ago that he was "not pretentious". "As the Holy Emperor, how can I use these? It's not just
In this case, Xianggong Li asked me to speak to him that day and said that he would not kill him. In this case, we must fulfill the contract, otherwise I will not be able to explain to Xianggong Li."
Academician Xiao Lin fell silent, and Fan Qiong, who was paralyzed on the ground not far away, actually made some movement, and there was even more commotion around him.
"Put him directly into the coffin, nail him to death, and carry him to the pit." Zhao Jiu ignored the surrounding movements at all and continued. "Then he buried his wife, concubines, children, and other deceased people together with the earth.
Bury it and compact it!"
Academician Xiao Lin was suddenly startled, but after only a moment, he immediately turned back to look at Liu Yan behind him. Liu Yan's scalp was already numb, but as the highest general of the imperial squad accompanying him, he had no choice but to turn around and give the order.
Liu Yan was not the only one whose scalp was numb. Following the order from Zhao Guanjia, several soldiers stuffed the tightly bound but intact Fan Qiong into the coffin. Fan Qiong, who had just woken up after entering the coffin, kept crying and crying.
There was no way to stop the soldiers from nailing the coffin. As the coffin made a lot of noise at the bottom of the pit and was covered by layers of corpses, it gradually became silent. The surrounding generals felt cold all over, but no one dared to leave.
Even Xiao Xin had no choice but to save his bald head in the middle of the rule.
The Zhao Guan family immediately stood by and watched Fan Qiong being buried alive. Without saying anything, they turned around and prepared to go into the city to rest.
However, when Zhao Guan's family, who were cautious and surrounded by many imperial officials, academicians Xiaolin, Liu Shenjun and others, came to a general with a big mouth and gaped teeth, he suddenly stopped and asked kindly:
"You are Wang Jun?"
"Yes...I see the official family! Long live the official family! Long live the official family!" Wang Jun was obviously a little distracted, but after he woke up, he ignored the blood and mud stains on the ground and kowtowed to the ground.
"I know all about what you did." Zhao Guanjia looked at this man and said with a smile. "Xiangyang City can be destroyed without a fight, and you are the most responsible. Tell me, what reward do you want?"
Of course Wang Jun wanted to continue to be his ruler, and even wanted to continue to be stationed in Xiangyang City, because he had already married a concubine and bought property here for more than half a year.
In fact, this talkative man almost blurted out these words.
However, when Wang Jungang raised his head, he faced the official who was standing on his horse with the backlight, and looked at the other person's slightly blurry, half-smiling expression, coupled with Fan Qiong's howling at the bottom of the pit just now that did not sound like a human voice.
, but was suddenly startled, and then forcibly swallowed those prepared words.
Not only that, but by some strange coincidence, the man bowed his head in the mud and kowtowed. When he raised his head again, tears were streaming down his face covered in mud, and his words were choked with sobs: "Good instructors know that I am a guilty bastard.
He is obviously a minister of the official family, but he does many unjust things with Fan Qiong, a traitor... This is a great disloyalty! Although Fan Qiong is a bastard who can kill a thousand swords, I was promoted by him after all.
Although this city is dedicated to loyalty and the lives of the whole city, it is not loyal enough! How can a person like me have the nerve to ask for rewards?! If the officials don’t kill me, I will be extremely grateful!"
Zhao Jiu listened carefully to what the other party said. He did not interrupt the whole process, but smiled at each other: "A hero is a hero. If you don't reward your merits and don't punish your mistakes, wouldn't it mean that you don't keep your word and make the world laugh?"
The open-mouthed man on the ground just kowtowed and did not dare to say anything.
"It's like this. I heard Scholar Lin say before that you have settled in Xiangyang for a long time and don't want to leave. Moreover, he also said that you are a man of extraordinary integrity, a loyal and moral gentleman... Today
See, it is indeed the case." Zhao Guanjia still spoke gently. "To tell you the truth, Bachelor Xiaolin really admires you, and I really like you, so I want to deliberately praise you. What do you think?"
"I know everything!" What else could Wang Jun say, so he could only express his position quickly.
"Scholar Lin." Zhao Jiu turned around and looked at Lin Jingmo beside him. "Do you think this will work? Recently, I have been letting the military prefectures recommend talents for special use. I think Wang Jun is the most outstanding here in Xiangzhou, and I
I was particularly happy when I saw him today, so I wanted to make an exception for him and let him be the general judge of Xiangzhou, but I was afraid that it would not be an exception and others would not accept it..."
"Congratulations to Wang Tong on the verdict!" Wang Jun was still confused, but Academician Xiao Lin quickly spoke up behind Guan Jia. It can only be said that he was the Academician of Yutang, and his reaction was quick. "From now on, you will also be with me.
I belong to the same group of civil servants."
At this point, Academician Xiao Lin just raised his hands to Zhao Guanjia and said seriously: "Officials don't have to worry about other people's opinions. There is a precedent for talented and virtuous people to change from military ministers to civil servants... Academician Dasu once strongly recommended
Why did Ban Zhi of the Right Hall turn to the literary rank, and it was rumored to be a good talk for a while. Although I am despicable, I also want to imitate the style of the Dasu scholar and recommend talents to the country!"
By the way, when Academician Xiao Lin turned around to talk to the officials, Wang Jun finally realized the meaning of the monarch and his ministers in front of him... He wanted to refute instinctively, but at this time, I was just a fisherman, not to mention the tragic image of Fan Qiong just now.
It's still happening now, but how dare you refute it out loud.
Moreover, in this atmosphere where the nobles and the military are lowly, the scholar Xiao Lin allowed him to become a civil servant. Although there was a clear intention to deprive him of military power, how could he say that it was not a great kindness?!
For a moment, Wang Jun, who had always calculated things clearly, became confused.
"Wang Tongpan!" Just when Wang Jun was at a loss, Academician Xiao Lin jumped off his horse with a plop, and regardless of the dirt on the ground, he directly helped Wang Jun up in the mud, and then said firmly, "Since then.
When you become a civil servant, you have to look like a scholar-bureaucrat. It is not easy to kneel even in an official household! Get up quickly and express your gratitude to the official household!"
Wang Jun opened his mouth, revealing a huge gap. He was caught by the helpless scholar Xiao Lin, and he handed over to the officials in public to thank him.
Now that the salute was completed, the officials smiled and turned to enter the city. Academician Xiao Lin also quickly mounted his horse to catch up. However, the surrounding military officers and officers did not dare to neglect this official who was specially awarded by the official.
When he caught up with Zhao Guan's family and entered the city, he couldn't help but click his tongue, but he didn't know whether it was envy or ridicule.
In this way, there was no major event that day, except that Liu Yan first took 200 of Fan Qiong's 700 cavalry and returned them to his headquarters, and selected 200 soldiers for Yang Yizhong, and then Wang De led the remaining generals of the imperial camp to annex them.
Fan Qiong's troops numbered ten thousand.
The city was calm and peaceful, and everyone was happy, as if nothing had happened.
However, that evening, in the state capital in Xiangyang City, Zhao Guan's family was sitting on the porch checking the letters sent from Nanyang. After reading for a long time, he suddenly turned to the person next to him and said to him: "Defu..."
"I'm here." Liu Yan hurriedly leaned over.
"What are you thinking about?" Zhao Guanjia smiled half-heartedly.
"Nothing else, just lost in thought." Liu Yan quickly shook his head. "I am not as alert as Yang Tongzhi, which makes the officials laugh."
"Speaking of which, do you still remember the night you, I, and Pingfu met at Mingdao Palace?" Zhao Guanjia put away the notes and asked each other relaxedly.
"Of course I remember."
"Then are you wondering, how did the official who easily pardoned the traitors in the Red Heart Corps back then come up with such cruel methods today?" Zhao Guanjia asked easily. "And he was still indifferent at night, just
Stay in this room."
"I...don't dare."
"That's it," Zhao Jiu couldn't help but laugh. "Compared with Ping Fu, you still can't speak."
Liu Yan became more and more panicked, but as the officials said, he was not good at words and did not know how to deal with it. Instead, he asked for help from another person in the room, Academician Xiao Lin, who had been helping the officials deal with Zazi.
"Don't panic." Zhao Jiu didn't pay attention to the other party's little actions, but sighed quietly. "Actually, I came out of Mingdao Palace and walked here all the way. Occasionally I would ask myself late at night whether some actions are worth it.
No...but today's incident is not among them, Fan Qiong deserves this!"
"yes!"
"Jingmo."
"Your Majesty is here." Academician Xiao Lin responded quickly.
"Write a letter to Xianggong Li in Yangzhou, listing Fan Qiong's deeds clearly, and then ask for me what he was thinking back then? In troubled times, civil servants can't tolerate the loss of integrity, and he has never thought about the consequences of military officials' loss of integrity.
?" Zhao Jiu responded slowly. "The words must be more intense!"
"I respectfully submit my order!" Academician Xiao Lin did not hesitate and directly bowed his head and accepted the order.