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On March 21, Zhao Kuangming, who had stayed behind in Jingnan, led an army of 10,000 and arrived in Luoyang, the eastern capital.
Luoyang is located in the north of Luoshui, so it is named Luoyang. It borders the Qinling Mountains in the west, Songshan Mountain in the east, Wangwu-Taihang in the north, and is close to the danger of the Yellow River. It faces Laojun Mountain in the south. Since ancient times, there have been "Eight Pass Capitals, Eight Passes" and "Eight Passes".
It is said that "Luocheng is surrounded by mountains and five rivers surround it", so it got the name "the rivers and mountains are arched together, and its shape is as good as the world". In ancient times, this place was considered to be the center of the world, so from this dynasty onwards, there were a total of thirteen dynasties.
The capital is located here.
Zhao Kuangming kept the Jingnan Army at the White Horse Temple in the east of the city - this was the place designated by the King of Liang for the Jingnan Army to garrison. According to the agreement, he only brought 500 Ya soldiers into the city. In order to welcome the princes of the world, all four main gates of the Eastern Capital were opened. Zhao Kuangming came from Dongyang
Enter through the gate, go west along the Luoshui River, pass through five lanes in the north and south, and reach the west of the city.
To the northwest is the imperial city where the emperor lives. At this point, the view suddenly opens up. The forty-foot-wide Dingdingmen Street is like a military field, showing a full atmosphere of the Tianjia. The Dingdingmen of the imperial city is tightly closed and is more than five feet high.
The city wall towered before Zhao Kuangming's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel shaken.
Zhao Kuangming had never been to Luoyang, but he knew that this imperial city had been destroyed by rebels thirty years ago. The current new city was renovated by King Liang for three years. Although it was bright on the outside, it was still beautiful on the inside.
Many palaces have not been restored, but with just one glance, Zhao Kuangming felt that the trip was worthwhile.
Looking at the eaves of the palace in the imperial city, Zhao Kuangming thought to himself, wondering if everything was okay even with the emperor included?
Speaking of which, the Zhao brothers should be regarded as the old subordinates of King Liang. Their father was the governor of Shenzhou and was controlled by Qin Zongquan, the governor of Caizhou. After Qin Zongquan rebelled against Tang, he was defeated by Zhu Quanzhong, so Zhao's father responded with troops.
Anyway, the land of Qizhou on the east road of Shannan was named by Zhu Quanzhong as the three marching marshals of Heyang, Baoyi and Yichang.
It's just that although the Zhao family was controlled by Xuanwu, they regarded themselves as Tang officials in their hearts. After the death of Zhao's father, the Zhao brothers succeeded him. Jingxiang and Jingnan were one of the few vassal towns that always insisted on paying tribute to the central government.
After the emperor was taken to the Eastern Capital, the Zhao brothers immediately raised troops, defeated Du Hong, Ma Yin, Lei Yanwei and other Shannan and Jiangnan military leaders, and issued an oath to march north to Luoyang to rescue the emperor.
But now, everything has changed. Since the Xuanwu envoy arrived in Jingxiang, the Zhao brothers chose to submit temporarily. Zhao Kuangming still remembers what his brother Zhao Kuangning said when he said goodbye to him: Unite the troops in Xiangyang for your brother.
Go, if something unexpected happens, raise your troops and rush to Dengzhou. My brother will definitely go north to support you.
At that time, Zhao Kuangming once asked his brother, if the king of Liang really asked the emperor to enfeoff the princes, would he stop the army? Zhao Kuangning replied, if this is really implemented, it means that the emperor can be preserved, which means that the Tang Dynasty can continue, of course he will stop.
Armistice.
Zhao Kuangming hesitated and asked, "The king of Liang wants to follow Qi Huan's example. Should we also obey?"
Zhao Kuangning said, brother, you have to remember that our Zhao family is not rebelling against King Liang, we are rebelling against the regicide. Whoever can preserve the Tang Dynasty, we will listen to, and whoever is unfavorable to the emperor, we will rebel against!
In today's world, if the King of Liang can really follow Qi Huan's old ways, it will be considered a blessing to the world. Not only must we obey him, but we must also try our best to help him!
At this moment, Zhao Kuangming stood in front of the tall and majestic Dingding Gate. His brother's instructions were still echoing in his ears. He couldn't help but tighten his fists and secretly thought that I, Mrs. Zhao, have done my best. Next, let's see what you, Prince Liang, do!
After Zhao Kuangming looked into the distance for a moment, he turned his horse's head and followed the envoy to Jingshanfang. Jingshanfang was diagonally opposite the Dingding Gate of the Imperial City. Huangchao was also burned down by the war during the Huangchao Rebellion. It had just been repaired a few months ago and was assigned to
After the soldiers in Jingnan were defeated, although less than 30% of the houses were repaired, it was more than enough for five hundred people to live in.
As soon as he entered the inner square, he saw several soldiers on guard standing at the entrance of Dongtou Huixun Square, wearing ordinary leather armor, but with green scarves around their necks. Zhao Kuangming immediately reined in his horse, and several of his Yajiang generals also
He held his hand on the scabbard at his waist.
The Qingjin soldiers on the opposite side also noticed the hostility of the Jingnan soldiers. Several of them took their spears in their hands, and a few turned around and ran inward, presumably to report the news.
Zhao Kuangming squinted his eyes and asked the envoy: "Why are Ma Yin's soldiers here?"
Ma Yin was originally the military governor of Wu'an Army, and he was quite influential in Shannan, Lingnan, and Jiangnan. He was as famous as Du Hong, Zhao Kuangning, Lei Yanwei, etc. These military leaders had been separatist in the south and submitted to the king of Liang, even in Tianfu.
In the past three years, they were also ordered by the King of Liang to jointly fight against Huainan. Generally speaking, it was relatively harmonious.
But later, the Zhao brothers raised troops because of the emperor being kidnapped to the east capital, and fought a battle with Du Hong, Lei Yanwei, and Ma Yin. As a result, the Zhao brothers unexpectedly won the battle with a huge disparity in strength, resulting in the death of Du Hong and Lei Yan.
Yan Wei fled to Huainan, while Ma Yin also led his remaining soldiers to flee to the Xiangzhou and Dengzhou areas in the northern part of Shannan.
Ma Yin's territory was originally in the south of the Zhao family's control area, that is, in the area of Tanzhou and Shaozhou (today's Hunan), but now because he was defeated and fled north, his hometown was taken over by the Zhao brothers, so he had to completely surrender to the King of Liang.
In this declaration of the warlord's enfeoffment of the world, King Liang felt that although Ma Yin was defeated, he still had strong appeal in Shannan, Lingnan and Jiangnan, so he tried his best to support him and prepared to let him take over Xiangzhou and Suizhou.
Hefang State is a state with the name Jing.
Half of Xiangzhou is the territory of the Zhao brothers, and the entire Suizhou is also under the control of the Zhao family. Fangzhou and the northern part of Xiangzhou are under the jurisdiction of Xuanwu. The King of Liang supported Ma Yin and did not hesitate to use his own territory to establish a country for him.
The Zhao family also had to be persuaded to give up half of the state, with the purpose of making Ma Yin a buffer for Xuanwu to block Xichuan, Jingnan, and Huainan. In order to achieve this strategy, the King of Liang enfeoffed Zhao Kuangning as the King of Chu in the name of the Emperor.
At the same time, they recognized the rule of the Zhao brothers over the southern part of Shannan East Road, the western part of Jiangnan West Road, and the northern part of Lingnan Road, which was considered a fairly generous compensation - of course, the Liang King actually paid nothing.
These secret exchanges had actually been negotiated with the Zhao brothers when the envoys arrived at Xiangzhou City at the beginning of the year. Zhao Kuangming knew it very well, but his enemies were extremely jealous when they met. Now that they met in Luoyang, he couldn't help but kill them.
The heart arose again.
Ma Yin also came to Dongdu to participate in the alliance of princes. He arrived three days earlier than Zhao Kuangming. Hearing that Jingnan soldiers were watching eagerly outside the square, he quickly rushed out with some soldiers and confronted Zhao Kuangming across the entrance of the square.
However, Ma Yin's current situation is not as good as before. He is not only a defeated general under the Zhao brothers, but also under the control of the King of Liang. When he confronted Zhao Kuangming, he lacked confidence. The Xuanwu envoy who came after hearing the inquiry whispered in his ear.
Two sentences. Ma Yin had no choice but to relent, waved the soldiers back to the square, and at the same time gave Zhao Kuangming a dry smile and cupped his fists in greeting.
Seeing Ma Yin's submission, Zhao Kuangming didn't care too much for himself. At this critical moment, his brother told him to put the overall situation first, so he stopped doing anything excessive and entered Jingshanfang with his head held high.
Two days later, a new guest moved into Shangshanfang in the west. When Zhao Kuangming inquired, it was Wang Jian, the king of Shu, who arrived in person. The king of Shu had a higher status, and unlike Zhao Kuangming, Zhao Kuangming only came to participate in the alliance on behalf of Zhao Kuangning.
, Zhao Kuangning is not the King of Chu yet, let alone Zhao Kuangming. Zhao Kuangming has not removed the word "Liuhou" from "Liuhou" in Jingnan. Therefore, the envoy who welcomed Zhao Kuangming into the city was just one with the Tongping seal.
Hanlin bachelor, please note that it is Tongping Zhangshi in the imperial court, not Tongping Zhangshi under the command of King Liang. From this, it can be seen that King Liang was very dissatisfied that Zhao Kuangning could not come in person.
Wang Jian is different. He ranks among the seven kings in the world (excluding the heirs of the Li and Tang clan). Xichuan is also recognized as one of the seven powerful towns, so the reception standards are very high. Not only did King Liang personally welcome Luoyang
, all the ministers in the political hall were pulled out by King Liang as a sign of solemnity.
The King of Liang personally sent Wang Jian to Shangshanfang. Behind the King of Liang were Han Wo, Dugu Shan, Pei Shu, Liu Can and other political ministers. It can be said that they gave Wang Jian enough face.
As a former secret ally, Zhao Kuangming wanted to visit Wang Jian, but he knew that it was not the time at this moment, so he waited patiently until King Liang and the political officials left late at night before going to pay him a visit.
The two talked for a long time all night, and agreed that if things went wrong, they would join forces. Wang Jian had a thousand tooth soldiers in the city, and Zhao Kuangming had 500. With 1,500 elite soldiers, the two were confident that they could leave the city safely.
Coupled with the nearly 10,000 Jingnan soldiers stationed at the White Horse Temple outside the city and the 30,000 Xichuan soldiers stationed in Jingu Garden, the two even felt that occupying Luoyang was not an unreasonable idea.
One after another, vassal towns from various places came to make alliances. King Qi Li Maozhen moved into Jishanfang, Fengzhou governor Liu Yin moved into Gong'anfang, Langya king Wang Shenzhi moved into Xiuwenfang, and even Wu Yue also sent troops to join the alliance.
The special envoy came to Luoyang, and the person who came was none other than Qian Yuanguan, the son of Qian Ji, who had studied at Fanyang Military Academy for one year.
The envoy from Huainan arrived next. The envoy was the eldest son of King Wu Yang Xingmi and the observation envoy of Xuanzhou Yang Wo. It was said that King Wu was seriously ill and bedridden, and he had already planned to make Yang Wo his heir. Therefore, King Liang went out of the city again to welcome him.
Yang Wo was welcomed into the city in a lively manner.
If the arrival of the above people was still expected by Zhao Kuangming, the next few people who arrived in Luoyang surprised Zhao Kuangming.
Pinglu Jiedu envoy Wang Shifan sent his brother Wang Shike to Luoyang! Wang Shike's arrival surprised all the vassals and towns all over the world. Both Pinglu and Xuanwu said that Wang Shike came to see the emperor on behalf of his brother Wang Shifan, but Zhao Kuangming knew clearly.
I am afraid that the Eastern Metropolis Alliance promoted by King Liang this time will most likely come true!
If Wang Shike's arrival surprised Zhao Kuangming, then the last envoy who arrived shocked Zhao Kuangming. The envoy's name was not obvious, his surname was Ren Mingyuan, and his official position was not high. He was just an observation envoy to Luzhou. Zhao Kuangming
He didn't know this person. He just passed him at the door when he went to Jishanfang to pay a visit to Qi King Li Maozhen.
At that time, Zhao Kuangming asked Guo Qiqi, the Fengxiangya general who came out to greet him, and said that this man was elegant and elegant, but he did not know which noble man in the family he was?
Guo Qiqi said that this man was not from Fengxiang, but an envoy from Hedong.
Zhao Kuangming asked curiously, "I haven't heard that the King of Jin has any intention of forming an alliance? Didn't the King of Liang say that he respects the King and resists the barbarians? This time the alliance will be held, the one who will attack is the King of Jin. Could it be that the King of Jin sent this person to Luoyang to persuade all parties?"
The princes of the family? But how could King Liang let him enter the city?
Guo Qiqi smiled bitterly and said, Ren Kuan was not sent by the King of Jin. He represented the three families in Hedong and came for Li Siyuan, Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei. Don't you know, the King of Liang is planning to make Li Siyuan the King of Han, Li Sizhao the King of Zheng, and Zhou Dewei.
Dai Shatuo is the king of Jin, and the three of them have already agreed. Ren Wan is here to form an alliance.
Zhao Kuangming stood there for a long time, then suddenly woke up and asked again: "Has Lu Long also come to envoy? But the issue of dividing the world is already unshakable?"
Guo Qiqi said: "The enfeoffment cannot be changed, otherwise King Liang will be the public enemy of all towns. As for Lu Long... I have never heard of Lu Long coming as an envoy..."
Zhao Kuangming asked: "Will Lu Long come?"
Guo Qiqi shook his head: "I don't know. Even His Highness cannot guess what King Yan is thinking." (To be continued...)