In the second year of Taiwu, September 26th, this was also the third day after the White Horse Temple Incident.
On this day, the palace gates were opened wide, and all the officials in Beijing entered the court.
After the sun rose in the east, the Suzaku Gate opened, and the anxious officials walked into the palace.
Going up the imperial steps, there were warriors with soldiers and armors all the way. The officials who had been scared away by the great purge in the capital lowered their heads and did not dare to glance at them.
The clash of swords, the sound of heavy footsteps, and the sound of breathing foreshadowed the depressing nature of this day's meeting.
When everyone arrived at the meeting hall, the door had not yet opened.
Everyone knows what it means to choose the Chaohui Hall in the Beigong this time.
The daily gatherings of hundreds of officials are held in the Nangong. Only very big events, such as the coronation ceremony or the formulation of major national policies, will be chosen here.
So, everyone was speculating, is He Jin really losing his mind and going crazy? He wants to depose the little emperor here?
Everyone is speculating and figuring out how to stand in this major event.
As time passed, it gradually became noisy outside the Chaohui Hall.
On weekdays, these officials will be restrained by the Three Dukes and each will be in his or her own place.
But this time, none of the three officials were present. This made the officials who were used to being arranged a little at a loss.
It was only at three o'clock in the morning when the officials were so hungry that their chests pressed against their backs, the door to the hall creaked open.
Under the leadership of the visitors and regular attendants, all the officials took off their shoes and entered the hall one by one.
But after they finished their customary worship of His Majesty, they suddenly discovered that the emperor on the dragon couch was not there, but instead there was a curtain.
Just when everyone was in shock and doubt, General He Jin actually walked out from behind, and the first thing he said was earth-shattering:
"Your Majesty has been unable to see the officials due to the cold weather these days, so the Queen Mother is temporarily in charge of the throne."
Everyone looked at each other and finally chose to surrender.
Therefore, all the officials paid homage to the Queen Mother again and began this special court meeting.
Afterwards, He Jin produced the confessions of Xu Xiang, Guo Hong, Han Fu and a series of others, and they admitted the fact of their rebellion.
Currently, the most influential person in the court is Shangshu Ling Du An.
The Shangshu Ling from the Du family in Yingchuan came forward to read the confessions carefully and asked in a helpless tone:
"Are these all their handwriting?"
He Jin looked at it strangely and asked:
"It's not their handwriting. Could it be that it was written by me myself?"
Du An didn't dare to ask anymore and replied respectfully:
"In this case, the crime cannot be punished!"
As a result, the fate of dozens of ministers and hundreds of ministers and attendants was decided.
…
On September 27, the second year of Taiwu, the final purge finally came.
The general and shogunate soldiers sent out five hundred troops from the camp to escort seventy-eight ministers with more than a thousand stones, including Xiang Xu, Guo Hong, Han Fu, Lu Shang, and Han Shuo, to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Afterwards, He Jin personally held a sacrificial ceremony and finally escorted these people to the Western Market against the party.
In order to intimidate hundreds of officials, He Jin ordered all the officials in Beijing to participate in the imprisonment. Of course these people knew that this was to kill a chicken for them. But what could they do?
Among them, Prime Minister Xu was old and highly respected, so he gave him some dignity and specially gave him a piece of white silk to allow him to commit suicide.
For example, Guo Hong, Han Fu and others were cut off from the waist and abandoned in the market, and then their heads were hung on Yongmen.
After these seventy-five people were executed, their relatives and family members were immediately followed. Regardless of whether they were near or far away, as long as they were in the mansion at the time, they were all executed.
Therefore, many people were killed unjustly.
Among them was a member of Xu Xiang's clan who came hundreds of miles away from his hometown in Runan to join him. This person saw that Xu Xiang's son and grandson had died, and felt that Xu Xiang had no one left, so he came to divide Xu Xiang's family.
heritage.
Of course, this cannot be said. Naturally, this person came to the capital with the intention of taking care of and serving Prime Minister Xu.
But now that he got his wish, he really has to go down and take care of Xu Xiang.
On the execution ground, he cried miserably, but he was not unjust.
On this day, the dust settled in Beijing, but the purge was far from over.
He Jin had a thorn in his heart, and that was Liu Bei. How did Liu Bei take away 500 people from the front line?
Just thinking about this matter made He Jin uneasy about Huangfu Song.
Later, He Jin saw Huangfu Song's words admonishing the young emperor to be cautious in the young emperor's letters. Although Huangfu Song was not involved in this incident in theory, Huangfu Song was obviously aware of it emotionally.
Therefore, He Jin could not forgive Huangfu Song, at least he could not bring any more frontline troops to this man.
So, He Jin ordered Fan Zeng to go to the front line of Gucheng, and took the imperial edict to deprive Huangfu Song of his military power. Then, Zhu Jun, the deputy commander, commanded the front line army.
In fact, Huangfu Song was quite aggrieved, because the young emperor only tested him, but never let him participate in this matter.
Kuai Liang suggested this. He said that if he was really determined to capture He Jin, forty or fifty men would be enough. But letting foreign troops enter the capital would cause more troubles.
Therefore, it is clear that Huangfu Song has tens of thousands of elite soldiers and is nearby Gucheng, but the little emperor does not need them.
Previously, Liu Bei suddenly took Zhang Fei and others back to Gucheng day and night to persuade Huangfu Song to lead troops to serve the king. Huangfu Song thought about it and finally decided to send troops to serve the king.
So he set off with his own three thousand cavalry and drove all the way to Henan County. At this time, the magistrate of Henan County was Han Ji, a native of Nanyang.
He was promoted by Liu Biao to Beijing as Xiaolian, and was later appointed by the imperial court as the county magistrate of Henan.
As the west gate of Kyoto, Henan County is certainly a good thing to be in this position. But Han Ji didn't know that he would encounter this problem not long after he took office.
Seeing the Taiwei and his three thousand cavalry swaying outside the county town, Han Ji, who had a keen eye, immediately understood what had happened.
However, Han Ji weighed the matter again and again and did not dare to get involved in this matter at all. So after discussing with his subordinates, he took all the officials and officials and ran away with their seals.
In this way, Huangfu Song entered Henan County without any bloodshed, but then, news came from Kyoto that General He Jin had completely taken control of the situation.
At this critical moment of advance and retreat, Huangfu Song unexpectedly exceeded everyone's expectations and retreated to Gucheng with his troops.
At this moment, Liu Bei was confused.
How did he know that for Huangfu Song, since order has been established, it must be maintained.
Without the support of Huangfu Song's soldiers and horses, Liu Bei had no choice but to turn back to the Gucheng camp.
He asked to see Huangfu Song several times, but was rejected all the time. Liu Bei was so anxious and helpless that he could only wait outside the tent day and night, so anxious that half of his hair turned white.
Until this day, Fan Zeng entered the Huangfu Song camp with his imperial edict and bicycle.
At first, Fan Zeng was very frightened when he received He Jin's order. He thought that Huangfu Song had tens of thousands of troops and it was a fool's errand for him to take down Huangfu Song with so few people.
But Xu Xun, a counselor in the shogunate, told Fan Zeng that if he went like this, Huangfu Song would definitely not resist.
The confidence of these decision-makers was not only because Zhu Jun, the deputy commander-in-chief, had always been at odds with Huangfu Song, but also because they understood Huangfu Song's personality.
Let’s take a step back and say, even if Huangfu Song wanted to rebel, he had already rebelled. Would he wait until now to turn against the Kansai side? And cut off his only escape route?
So Fan Zeng really entered Huangfu Song's camp.
Not long after, Huangfusong was put in shackles and escorted out of the camp in a carriage.
At that moment, all the military generals were present, and the carriages were surrounded by excited crowds.
They don't understand, now that the war is so urgent, why do they want to take away their coach? Are those people not afraid of losing the war? Don't care about their life or death?
Fan Zeng was surrounded by these generals and was horrified. Finally, Huangfu Song himself said:
"I brought it upon myself, please don't make mistakes on yourselves. After I leave, all matters in the army will be handed over to Vice Admiral Zhu. You fight well and don't let me be humiliated in Kyoto."
When the people present heard this, what else could they say? So they could only shed tears on the spot and send the old officer off for the last time.
From the beginning to the end, Zhu Jun never stepped out of the camp to avoid suspicion.
He just sighed and continued reading his "Spring and Autumn".
Just like that sentence, "Knowing me and sinning me" is the only one in "Spring and Autumn".
…
On the way back to Kyoto, Fan Zeng always felt something was wrong, as if someone was always lurking nearby.
Huangfu Song also felt it, and he also knew who he was.
After sighing, Huangfu Song suddenly said to Fan Zeng:
"Captain Fan, now the Kansai soldiers often infiltrate into Sakon, we should have encountered the Kansai soldiers. Give me a knife, we all have to be careful."
Of course Fan Zeng did not doubt the judgment of this veteran military commander, and quickly took out the knife and handed it to Huangfu Song.
He was not worried at all that Huangfu Song would resist after taking the knife.
Just kidding, there were tens of thousands of troops in the camp just now, and Huangfu Song didn't resist. Now that he has a sword, will he still resist?
But what he never expected was that as soon as Huangfusong took the knife, the knife's edge slit his neck open.
Strong blood spurted directly from the wound. Fan Zeng was stunned, and everyone was stunned.
No, old lieutenant, the general has no intention of killing you at all. Why are you thinking about it? Besides, if you die now, how will they communicate?
When public opinion rises and falls, everyone will think that this is the work of the general, and the morale of the military will inevitably be shaken.
The more Fan Zeng thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the less he knew what to do.
They all thought about what kind of earthquake would happen after Huangfu Song died, but no one thought about what Huangfu Song was like at this moment.
At this moment, looking up at the sky, Huangfu Song smiled happily. He was so tired, really tired.
At this moment, he felt infinitely relaxed. He seemed to be back to the boy who was racing horses on the Long Mountain, so free and at ease.
Go get some sleep, big man, I'm leaving.
In the second year of Taiwu, on September 30th, Huangfu Song, a famous general of the generation, died in Wumingpo.
The big Han court pillar collapsed with a bang.
…
Fan Zeng didn't know that in the dense forest not far from him, Liu Bei was lying on the ground with tears streaming down his face.
He saw the old commander die, and he also understood why the old commander committed suicide.
It's all your own fault.
Liu Bei wanted to rob the convoy to save Huangfu Song, but he didn't understand what the old commander wanted. He also didn't understand what he would lose if Liu Bei really robbed the convoy.
Therefore, Huangfusong chose to die.
Therefore, Huangfu Song was forced to death by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei understood exactly this, and the grief in his heart could no longer be suppressed. He wanted to cry and howl, and he wanted to scream, why the miserable fate always befalls him.
From Hebei to Hanoi, from Hanoi to Henan, and now. Liu Bei has always been pushed by fate. Every time he tries to do something, he always makes things worse.
Liu Bei was so powerless at this moment.
Zhang Fei, Chen Dao and others were silent, they just continued to stay with him.