Zheng Yan, recorded in the history books as having a "magnificent appearance", had a face that brought disaster to the country and the people. He actually used the word "magnificent" to describe his beauty. After being favored by Empress Dowager Hu, he lived in the palace day and night.
Xu He was born in a poor family, was familiar with theory, and was good at writing. During the Yuan Ke reign of Emperor Xuanwu of Emperor Shizong, he was a member of Zhongshushe. He was welcomed by Zhao Xiu and was promoted to the rank of Minister of Tongzhi Sanqi.
Speaking of Zhao Xiu, let’s talk about who Zhao Xiu is.
Zhao Xiu initially worked in the East Palace, serving as the assistant in white clothes, that is, the attendant next to the prince Yuan Ke. People who sit in this position usually use close ministers.
Zhao Xiu had considerable physical strength. After Emperor Xuanwu of Emperor Shizong, Yuan Ke, ascended the throne, he still made him a forbidden servant. He fell in love with Rilong and served successively as a regular servant of Sanqi, General Zhendong, and Qing Guanglu. This shows that he was promoted quickly and had great power.
However, Zhao Xiu was an ignorant person who was not good at studying. He was promoted quickly and had overwhelming power. He exchanged shotguns for cannons. He could not figure out his position. He was arrogant and rude. He even played on the road when he was burying his father.
, without any sadness, or raping women with guests and watching them naked.
Later, Zhao Xiu went too far and offended the princes and ministers. Emperor Xuanwu of Emperor Shizong, Yuan Ke, issued an edict to demote him to a border soldier and sentenced him to death soon after.
Let’s talk about Xu He next.
During the reign of Emperor Suzong Xiaoming and Yuanxu, Yuancha was in power. Xu He was implicated by Prince Yuanyi of Qinghe and was demoted to the position of prefect of Yanmen. Empress Dowager Hu took over as regent and was reinstated as Zhongshu Sheren. The party attached to Zheng Yan, and the power was overwhelming both internally and externally. Prime Minister Zhongshu was under the sect.
All matters, edicts and orders issued by the military and state were issued by his hand.
Zheng Yan colluded closely with Xu He, his fellow minister, and controlled the affairs of the state.
The reason why I talk about Zhao Xiu is to better understand what kind of character Xu He is. Although I said that I attached to Zhao Xiu, it was also to climb the dragon and the phoenix. However, because I attached to Zhao Xiu, he was promoted to Tongzhi Sanqi Shilang, which shows that he is in line with Zhao.
When it comes to taste, it’s all about the same thing.
Another person favored by Empress Dowager Hu - Li Shengui, was a nobleman himself. His father, Li Chong, was the nephew of Emperor Gaozong Wencheng's empress Li, who was the biological mother of Emperor Xianwen Tuobahong.
, it can be considered as a relative.
Among the people who were favored by Empress Dowager Hu and left their names in history, only Li Shengui was considered a talent. History books recorded that he was "quite a general". However, the government was controlled by two villains, Zheng Yan and Xu He.
Empress Dowager Hu was autocratic, appointed inhumane people, and gave erratic rewards and punishments. However, as Yuan Xu grew older and had more and more ideas of his own, it became increasingly difficult to control him.
In the first year of Wutai (528), Yuanxu's Chonghua Pan family gave birth to a baby girl. However, Zheng Yan and the Empress Dowager Hu made a plan and lied to the outside world that they had given birth to a prince. They granted amnesty to the world and changed Yuan Dynasty to Wutai.
More than a month later, on February 25th (March 31st), Yuanxu died suddenly in Xianyang Hall at the age of nineteen.
The day after Yuan Xu's sudden death, Empress Dowager Hu lied to the outside world that Pan Chonghua was the son of a prince and made her the emperor. Because she didn't even have a name, the baby was lost in history, so later generations called her Miss Yuan.
She was the first empress of China, but because Miss Yuan was just a puppet and there was no enthronement ceremony, her identity as "empress" was probably not recognized by future generations.
After about a day, Queen Mother Hu saw that people were at peace and no one took any action, so she announced to the outside world that Pan Chonghuasheng was originally a woman and it would be better to choose an heir today.
This shocked the world, and it was believed that Empress Dowager Hu and her male favorites Zheng Yan and Xu He poisoned Yuan Xu to death.
Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Xu were not Empress Dowager Feng and Tuoba Hong, Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Xu, but biological mother and son. If it was really Empress Dowager Hu who poisoned Yuan Xu and killed Yuan Xu, Gou Xiong really didn't know how to express his feelings.
The rights of ancient times have made human nature distorted. In order to reach the peak of supreme power, the closest relatives can be killed. Fathers and sons, mothers and sons are just passing smoke. For the sake of power, they can be thrown away and used. Some are not.
Comfortable.
Empress Dowager Hu also made Yuanzhao, the great-grandson of Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Yuanhong, who was only three years old at the time, as emperor, and was known as the Young Lord in history.
Empress Dowager Hu appointed a young king, but she also wanted to continue to control the government in the name of the new king's youth.
Kunyu's national army, which had arrived in Hebei at this time, was also shocked after hearing the news.
After learning about this incident, Hyun felt a burst of sadness in his heart. When he read history books, he saw that each person had cold words and would not have feelings for them. However, when he personally saw history, the cold words represented
When the characters become living people with flesh and blood and emotions, and when this person has some contact with them on a daily basis, they can no longer be read as cold words without feeling.
After calming down, Hyun said to Ding Wangcai:
"Find a few people with good water skills, absolutely good ones who can swim and dive in the river, and then rush to Luoyang quickly."
Ding Wangcai agreed, and he and Lai Hou looked for someone who met the requirements.
Hyunze pulled Ning Feng and said seriously:
"We have to go back to Luoyang to save people."
Ning Fang didn't ask any more questions, and called Jiazi, Bingyin, Wuchen, Jisi, and the more clever Ding Mao, who were good at martial arts, and the seven of them rode towards Luoyang. A few days after they left, Ding Wangcai, Lai
Monkey also took the soldiers who were good at water and set off for Luoyang, leaving all matters on the battlefield to Ning Cheng and Shi Gu.
More than ten days later, Xun and Ning Yu arrived in Luoyang. On the way, they put on makeup and pretended to be traders. The horses were exhausted from running all the way and looked just like civilian horses.
They entered Luoyang smoothly and found an inn to stay. Ding Mao went to inquire about the news. They split into several groups and walked around the streets, specifically going to pubs where there were many people and it was easy to talk without a door.
However, people's attention was focused on Yuan Xu's death. They talked about Yuan Xu's death as if they had seen it and experienced it personally. The baby who was only a few months old had already faded out of people's sight.
I couldn't help but become agitated.
When everyone returned to the inn in the evening, Ding Mao had not returned yet. At about midnight, Ding Mao came back smelling of alcohol.
Xun poured him a glass of water, and Ding Mao drank several glasses before wiping his mouth and saying:
"I have figured out the guards in the palace and the time for changing defenses."
Hyun quickly asked:
"How's that kid?"
Ding Mao shook his head:
"I haven't figured it out yet, so I don't dare to ask too directly."
After Ding Mao left time and route, Ning Hao asked him to go to bed. The rest was Ning Hao and Jiazi's. Nothing happened to him. This time he wanted to break into the palace, so he couldn't use biological weapons.
They were afraid of causing trouble and couldn't leave the city, so Hyun, who couldn't fight, had no use. However, she didn't worry and stayed with them all the time.
A few days later, Wuchen and Ji were walking on the street and unexpectedly saw a flat painting of the palace. Of course, this painting was not for sale.
He was already good at painting. After wandering around for a few days, he couldn't get any other information, so he wanted to check out the places where paintings were sold in Luoyang. He found a calligraphy and painting shop that seemed to be of some size, and dragged Wuchen in.
Wuchen didn't understand these things, and they all looked the same, so he already explained to him the differences of each painting, from brushstrokes to technique to layout.
not understand.
He didn't understand, but someone did. Sitting in a corner, a man who looked to be in his forties was listening attentively when he told Wuchen. The more he listened, the happier he became. He was already familiar with some paintings.
When he pointed out his shortcomings, the man's eyes lit up even more.
As the two of them were talking, a little boy dressed as a book boy came over, looked at them with a pair of smart eyes, and said in a sweet voice:
"My master would like to invite you two to sit upstairs."
Wuchen and Jisi looked in the direction pointed by the little book boy and saw the stairs leading to the second floor. They looked at each other and raised their legs to go up to the second floor.
The man has prepared tea here and is making tea. Even though he is a military attache, he also likes the literati. In Xuan's words, he is a poet who was delayed by the military attaché. Therefore, he
The man, who was already very familiar with him, sat down to drink tea and discuss tea with the man.
The two of them chatted very well, but Wuchen was miserable.
After walking on the street for such a long time, even though he was not hungry, he was still thirsty. Wuchen was very happy to see that there was tea to drink. He did not know tea as well as Jisi, but he could still taste it. This tea was really fragrant.
, he drank up the tea as soon as he raised his head.
However, Gongfu Tea is mainly for tasting tea, not drinking water, and the tea bowl is too small. After one sip, it was gone without even moistening the throat. Wuchen wanted to drink more, but he saw that he and the man had not even drank a cup.
After finishing it, I was too embarrassed to pour it again. Seeing such delicious tea but not being able to drink it to my heart's content, Wuchen felt very aggrieved. Uh-huh, very aggrieved. In addition, he didn't understand what he had already said to the man.
I couldn't get a word in, and I felt even more aggrieved.
The conversation between Ji and the man was getting more and more interesting, while Wuchen was getting more and more sleepy while listening.
Suddenly, the man came up to Ji Si and lowered his voice and said:
"I have a painting for you to appreciate with your husband."
After saying that, he stood up and walked behind the screen.
This was not something that others could not listen to, but he said it like this, which immediately made Wuchen and Jisi suspicious. Wuchen stopped dozing off and stared at the screen with wide eyes.
The man came out holding a cylindrical object, which was quite thick and wrapped with a piece of fine cloth. Such a fine piece of cloth was only used to wrap a painting, which shows how much the man cherished the painting.
The bookboy vacated the table to make it clean, and then exited in a polite manner. The man sat down at the table and opened pieces of fabric one after another. After almost ten layers, Wuchen and Jisi finally saw the true body. The true body was actually
It's not rough, it's been framed carefully.
The man spread out the painting, but did not put it directly on the table, but on the cloths. Wuchen and Ji were already wondering what painting the man cherished so much.
Curious, they came over to take a look, and their eyes immediately lit up. This was a floor plan of the Luoyang Palace. However, the man did not draw it according to the actual scene. The painting was a bit fairy-like, as if it were a fairyland. The people coming and going,
The painting is also like a fairy, with fluttering clothes and soaring clouds and mist, and the entire palace is also looming in the clouds and mist.
Despite all the hiding, for people like Wuchen and Jisi who went in and out of the palace every day, they could still recognize the layout of the palace at a glance, and they were very happy.