On July 20th, the vanguard of the King of Yue arrived in Yuanzhou. The loyal governor of Yuanzhou stood outside the gate of the state city and respectfully welcomed the army of the King of Yue.
On July 25, Li Mi, who was accompanying the King of Yue's chariot, arrived in this city for the second time. The difference was that the last time he was accompanied by Li Heng's emperor's chariot.
Returning to his hometown, before Li Mi could express too many emotions, the Yue King's vanguard had already occupied Longzhou.
Eunuch Mu of Chang'an had tried his best to block the news from Chang'an, but the news that the King of Yue revolted and rebelled, Chang'an was in turmoil, and the emperor closed the palace gates, still came out from Chang'an.
The first person to receive the news was Zhang Xun, who was left behind in Luoyang.
Zhang Xun is a loyal minister.
When he received the news from Chang'an, Zhang Xun was drinking with Guo Mu from Xingyang.
During the siege of Luoyang, if Guo Mu hadn't used airships in Xingyang to support Luoyang's grain supply, Luoyang would have been captured by Shi Siming.
After the siege of Luoyang was lifted, Zhang Xun petitioned the imperial court to reward Guo Mu, so Guo Mu got the position of Xingyang County Lieutenant.
The work of appraising the merits of the imperial court was proceeding very slowly. Guo Mu was only officially appointed by the imperial court at the beginning of the month. Zhang Xun was his appointee. Today he came to Luoyang to express his gratitude to Zhang Xun.
This was not specially designed by Guo Mu, nor did he know that Zhang Xun got news of the chaos in Chang'an during the banquet.
After Zhang Xun received the news, he immediately led his troops to Chang'an, but he was immediately stopped by Guo Mu.
Guo Mu pulled Zhang Xun and said:
"Stay here, you have the responsibility to protect your land, you can't leave Luoyang easily!"
Zhang Xun's completely white beard twitched, and finally he sighed and sat down.
Compared with those young Jinshi, famous officials of the Tang Dynasty who became famous in their youth and flourished wantonly, Zhang Xun was an anomaly.
He didn't read well, and he didn't pass the Jinshi examination. If the world hadn't been in chaos, it would have been a blessing to have been able to become a county magistrate with his academic qualifications.
Before Anlushan's rebellion, Zhang Xun was indeed just a county magistrate.
However, Zhang Xun's achievements were all military merits, and he came up step by step. Therefore, although some people in the court despised him, they could not deny that this Dongdu stayer was already a pillar of the empire alongside Guo Ziyi.
"Your Majesty has locked the palace, Chang'an is in turmoil, and I am staying in the east capital. I should lead troops back to Chang'an, King Qin!"
Zhang Xun was quiet for a while, then stood up again and said.
Guo Mu immediately said:
"Stay behind! Although Chang'an is in turmoil, His Majesty has not issued an order for the troops to march to Beijing. In what name do you want to send troops?"
Zhang Xun was stunned. He was a loyal minister, but he also knew the rules of the court.
Not to mention that he was in a key position in the eastern capital, even the county magistrate near Chang'an could not enter Chang'an without permission from the court.
Not to mention leading troops into Chang'an, doesn't that mean conspiracy?
Zhang Xun sat down again. The emperor did not even issue an order for the Shence Army to return to Chang'an. Does that mean Chang'an is still under control?
Zhang Xun was ready to wait for news from Chang'an, but instead of waiting for news from Chang'an, he saw two familiar figures at the foot of Luoyang City.
Zhang Wu and Nan Jiyun?
Aren't these two people in Shandong? How did they end up in Luoyang?
Zhang Wu and Nan Jiyun refused to accept the imperial edict and attacked and destroyed Shi Chaoyi. Zhang Xun had already known about it. A few days ago, he used his official position as a guarantee for the two of them and asked the emperor to forgive them.
But how did the two of them get to Luoyang City now?
Zhang Xun's feelings for these two people are quite complicated.
Nan Jiyun has a relationship with Zhang Xun like a direct disciple. Nan Jiyun was promoted by Zhang Xun, his name was taught by Zhang Xun, and his art of war was also taught by Zhang Xun. He can be said to be Zhang Xun's political successor.
Zhang Wu and Zhang Xun were both disciples and friends. Zhang Xun often praised Zhang Wu to Nan Jiyun for his "ancient knight-errant style" and highly praised Zhang Wu's talents.
Didn't you two just go to war and behead Shi Chaoyi? Why are you here in Luoyang now?
"What, you two went to Chang'an to plead guilty?"
Zhang Xun looked at Zhang Wu and Nan Jiyun. He did not look at Nan Jiyun, but stared at Zhang Wu.
Nan Jiyun is an honest man. Zhang Xun is Nan Jiyun's teacher and knows his disciple very well.
Let him lead troops to fight, and he is a good hand. No matter how difficult and dangerous the environment is, Nan Jiyun can break out and has never let Zhang Xun down.
But to play with the brain, Nan Jiyun is his younger brother. When Suiyang was besieged that day, Nan Jiyun broke out to ask for help. Xu Shuji deliberately did not send troops to rescue, so Nan Jiyun could only chop off his fingers on the spot to show his strong attitude.
, but Xu Shuji was helpless.
Later, Zhang Wu killed Xu Shuji and took away his military power, and then led his troops to rescue Suiyang.
Leading the army to resist the decree, and now talking nonsense about going to Chang'an to plead guilty, this does not seem like Nan Jiyun's style, but more like Zhang Wu's.
Zhang Wu did not dodge Zhang Xun's questioning gaze and said directly:
"Zhang Liushou, the two of us really went to Chang'an to plead guilty."
Zhang Xun still didn't believe it, so Nan Jiyun spread his hands and said:
"Teacher, we really went to Chang'an to plead guilty."
After hearing what Nan Jiyun said, Zhang Xun believed it and asked:
"Why did you do that if you knew you were guilty?"
Zhang Xun is not a pedantic Confucian scholar. He used his own merit to vouch for Nan Jiyun and Zhang Wu out of his elders' love for them, but it does not mean that Zhang Xun approves of their actions.
In Zhang Xun's view, resisting an order in the face of battle is almost equivalent to an act of rebellion.
Nan Jiyun lowered his head, but Zhang Xun still looked at Zhang Wu.
Zhang Wu raised his head and said:
"Stay behind. The two of us went to Chang'an not to plead guilty for resisting the order in the middle of the battle."
"Then why?"
Zhang Xun's beard was almost blowing, he looked at Zhang Wu and asked.
Zhang Wu said:
"Liu Shu, do you know what Qilu has been through by Shi Chaoyi in the past six months?"
Zhang Xun remained silent.
Zhang Wu pointed at Nan Jiyun and said:
"General Nan is in Qingzhou. Where is Qingzhou? It has been a fertile land since ancient times. Emperor Wu of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Cao, occupied Qingzhou and took the northern land. It is a place where he can become a king!"
Zhang Xun nodded. He was familiar with history books and naturally understood that the Qingzhou Cavalry in the hands of Emperor Wu of Wei was regarded as the capital of Cao Cao's fortune.
"But what is it like now? There are refugees all over the place, people exchange their children for food, a lot of fertile farmland has been abandoned, countless refugees have fled south, and Qingzhou's household registration is only ten times better than Tianbao's in the last years."
Zhang Xun closed his eyes. He had seen this scene too many times. It was the same when Suiyang was besieged.
When he was guarding Luoyang last time, Zhang Xun once saw the people in the city trying to drown their newborn children. In the end, Zhang Xun called the male family into the army and gave them more rations to help the children survive.
Zhang Wu said:
"Shi Chaoyi is so ambitious. If he lays down his arms and surrenders to me or General Nan, we may not be able to tolerate him."
"But he sent an envoy to surrender to the prince, which shows that his desire for power has not diminished, and he will continue to cause trouble in the world if there is a chance in the future. Does staying behind mean that Bianzhou will make the same mistake as Qingzhou?"
Zhang Xun was speechless for a moment.
Zhang Wuzhengyiguan said:
"Our sin is that as ministers we allow our ruler to act recklessly, but we fail to advise him."
"General Nan and I entered Chang'an this time to meet with the king and explain his faults. It takes a hundred years for the imperial court to suppress rebellion, so how can we accept the surrender of Shi Siming and his son for a shortcut?"
Zhang Xun was stunned for a moment and asked:
"What if the emperor does not accept your advice?"
Zhang Wu said:
"Then support the King of Yue's enthronement!"
At this time, Zhang Xun did not know the news about the Yue King's revolt. He only knew that the Yue King had written to the court and refused to make peace with Shi Siming.
Zhang Wu said:
"Your Majesty is unwilling to accept our advice, so let's replace him with a prince who refuses peace talks and become the emperor!"
Hearing such rebellious words, Zhang Xun felt that he had no way to refute.
Tang Confucianism was different from later Song Confucianism. Although they did not have the bloody spirit of Han Confucianism, they also did not have the foolish loyalty of later Song Confucianism.
Nan Jiyun, who had been silent until now, suddenly said:
"Teacher, I want to go to Chang'an with Brother Zhang."
Zhang Xun was stunned for a moment and looked at his most proud disciple.
Nan Jiyun said:
"This disciple has never seen Chang'an, let alone the emperor. I want to see what the emperor of Chang'an is like."
Zhang Xun opened his mouth and tried to describe the emperor's appearance, but he couldn't say it quickly. In fact, Zhang Xun had never seen the emperor very much.
After the Battle of Suiyang, the Emperor only summoned him once, and Zhang Xun only saw the Emperor from a distance in the main hall.
Later, Ren Dongdu stayed behind, and Zhang Xun was not in Chang'an, let alone the emperor.
Nan Jiyun said:
"Teacher, I want to go to Chang'an to see the Emperor. When I was guarding Suiyang that day, the situation was a hundred times worse than now. The city could be ruined at any time. Please teach me the integrity of a minister and that I must be loyal to the Tang Dynasty."
"Later, when my disciples left Qingzhou, they always remembered the teacher's instructions and protected the country, the people, and trained troops to defend against the enemy."
"The minister has done so much for the emperor, but the emperor has done so much for the minister, so I want to go to Chang'an to see if the emperor on the throne is worthy of such service."
Zhang Xun opened his mouth and finally said:
"You go ahead and pretend you've never been to Luoyang."
After saying this, Zhang Xun said again:
"What you said is right. As a minister, you should advise the emperor instead of obeying the emperor blindly. Taizong had such loyal ministers as Wei Zheng around him, so that Zhenguan's rule could be established. After you leave, I will also write to the emperor,
Make it clear that you cannot negotiate peace with the Shi thief."
On July 28, the King of Yue arrived in Longzhou, and his message of revolt spread to the Central Plains, causing great terror in the world.