Xue Bai is now stationed in the Winter Garden in the north of Sizhou City.
This place is not far from the government office, on both sides of the same long street. It was originally placed when Wei Jian was dredging the canal, opening up several surrounding houses and covering a vast area.
The gardens along the Huaihe River are in the Jiangnan style, with a unique layout, small bridges, flowing water, and winding paths. They are very different from the regular layout in the north. Xue Bai's entourage shuttled among them and often couldn't find their way.
In the evening of that day, Xue Bai personally checked the tax situation of each county in Sizhou, summoned several officials from the state department to reprimand him, and then some guards came in to report.
"Sage, Liu Zhan has arrived outside the city."
"Yeah?"
Xue Bai thought for a while, but did not let Liu Zhan rest, and said: "Call him to see me, and prepare some food and wine."
If he left Liu Zhan alone for two days and exerted some psychological pressure, he could test him and control him more easily. This was one of the emperor's common methods, but he felt that it was not easy to have an official who fully supported the reform, and he was willing to talk to him heart-to-heart.
Talk to the other person.
After arranging this matter, Xue Bai took out the secret letters and evidence against Liu Zhan, Liu Zhan's memorial and other items that he had received during this period, and went through them again, rehearsing the conversation later in his mind.
Outside the door, a maid came across the path carrying a dinner plate, ready to put the food and wine on the table.
"His Majesty!"
Suddenly, Sizhou Sima Deng Bin hurriedly ran from another path and bumped into the maid.
With a "crack" sound, the dinner plate and wine bottle fell to the floor.
"You deserve to die for your humble job."
Deng Bin was at a loss and simply rushed into the lobby, prostrated himself and said: "Your Majesty, Liu Zhan has rebelled!"
Xue Bai had no reaction and asked, "Why did he do it?"
"He, he, he...he killed the gatekeepers, seized the south gate, and is now leading his troops to occupy various city gates."
"His Majesty!"
While they were talking, Li Zang and Li Zangyong also rushed over and said, "Liu Zhan has rebelled. Your Majesty, please evacuate to a safe place immediately!"
Xue Bai looked at them and didn't know what he was thinking.
"Your Majesty, let's go quickly."
Li Hong was very anxious and urged him. Without waiting for Xue Bai's order, he summoned Diao Bing and ordered him to escort the emperor away quickly.
"Liu Zhan has already entered the city. Sizhou City is not safe. Why don't you take His Majesty away quickly?!"
"It's too late." Xue Bai said: "We can't go to the North City Gate as fast as Liu Zhan at this time, so we might as well guard the government office."
"Here!"
Diao Bing clasped his fists and accepted the order, and immediately took Xue Bai to the Yamen Office, instead of running out of the city in a hurry as Li Xi said.
Compared to the panicked local officials, the guards around Xue Bai seemed unusually calm and orderly.
Compared with the vast Winter Garden, Sizhou Government Office was easier to deploy defenses. After Diao Bing arrived, he immediately had people guard all entrances and exits and stretched the defense line along the walls.
During the process, few people noticed that Diao Geng was no longer there.
"Quick! Move something heavy to block the door!"
The door bolt had just been locked, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard at the end of the long street.
Diao Bing immediately climbed up the ladder and climbed to the top of the wall. Looking around, he saw people all over the city running with their heads held in their hands, and a group of brave cavalry rushing towards them from the direction of Nancheng.
Hearing the shouts of killing, there was no doubt that they were traitors.
The rebels raced down the street, knocking down all the vendors and pedestrians along the street. Then they went straight to the Winter Garden, knocked down the guards outside the door, and broke into it.
"kill!"
Diao Bing frowned, called over someone, and whispered: "Go and report to His Majesty, the traitor immediately went to the Winter Garden..."
"Here."
"Bring me my crossbow."
Diao Bing's crossbow is specially made. Although the crossbow body is not large, its range is far beyond that of ordinary crossbows.
He also installed a telescope on it, raised his crossbow and aimed at the long street. After a while, he saw the group of knights rushing out of the winter garden and running towards the government office.
"Damn it."
Diao Bing squinted his eyes and waited for the rebels to rush into the shooting range. He pulled off the gun and shot a small rebel leader neatly.
The corpse fell to the ground, the horses were frightened and neighed, blocking the rhythm of the knights behind them, and the momentum of the rampaging rebels stagnated.
"Fire the arrow!"
Arrows fell like rain, blocking the first wave of the rebels' offensive.
But more and more rebels are coming, and it is obvious that there will not be too many weapons and food in the government office.
~~
When encountering such a big event, the officials in the lobby of the government office were chatting with each other, making it as noisy as a vegetable market.
Xue Bai heard the report and learned that the rebels went to the Winter Garden first. He looked thoughtfully at the faces of several officials for a moment.
"Your Majesty, please summon soldiers and horses from all over the country to come quickly to serve the king!"
The speaker was Sizhou Governor Lü Xi.
Lu Pei was a famous person in the world. He once worked in the Geshuhan shogunate. When Li Heng became emperor in Lingwu, Lu Pei also ran to join him and was worshiped as a censor. Later, he joined Xue Bai and was demoted to Changzhou Sihu. These
After he managed the place properly, he was moved to the governor's post again.
When an accident happened under the rule, although Lu Xi was shocked, he quickly calmed down and thought of a solution, and then spoke solemnly.
"I think there are not many rebels today. Liu Zhan will definitely increase his troops next. The top priority is to control a city gate and occupy the state warehouse..."
"No need." Xue Bai said: "I think Liu Zhan can only bring a few hundred people with him, and I think they can be pacified within a few days."
Lu Bi was stunned, thinking that this emperor was obviously a man who had experienced the war. Why didn't he take the long term into account when things happened?
He hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Your Majesty, do you want to recruit Liu Zhan to surrender?"
Xue Bai looked at him again, pondered for a moment, nodded slowly and said: "Okay, who should be sent to recruit and surrender?"
Lu Bi was stunned for a moment and did not say anything immediately.
It is conceivable that recruiting Liu Zhan to surrender is a dangerous job. If you are not careful, you may fall into the traitor.
"I am willing to go."
Before Lu Xi could speak, Sizhou Sima Deng Bin had already volunteered to stand up.
Xue Bai looked at him and said, "Lu Aiqing, how about you go?"
Deng Bin was stunned and lowered his head.
"I... am willing to go." Although Lü Xi hesitated, she still accepted the order resolutely.
Xue Baipo admired Lu Xi's loyalty, so he withdrew from others and discussed the terms of surrender with him alone. In principle, he tried to appease him, but he must be punished.
Finally, Xue Bai wrote a letter and sealed it himself.
"Bring this letter to Liu Zhan. Remember, it can only be shown to Liu Zhan alone. No one can open it before he gets it."
"I accept the decree."
Lu Chen held the letter and retreated.
Xue Bai sat there, dazed alone. It didn't look like he was in the middle of a sudden change at all.
After a while, he gave the order to summon Diao Bing.
"Your Majesty, I'm worried that the government office won't be able to guard it for long."
In just this short period of time, Diao Bing's leather armor had already torn several holes. He stepped inside and asked in a low voice: "Do you want me to protect His Majesty and leave those officials behind?"
"Liu Zhan is not the only one who rebelled." Xue Bai said: "The leader of this rebellion is still in the state office."
"Who? I'm going to kill him!"
"Don't worry, I'm checking."
Diao Bing immediately became alert, took two steps forward, and whispered: "Your Majesty, if this happens, I'm afraid the government office may be breached at any time."
~~
North of the city.
Liu Zhan walked up to the tower and looked into the city. He was a little surprised that Xue Bai did not leave the city immediately, but huddled into the government office.
He did not bring many troops to attack Sizhou, so he did not immediately attack the government office, but chose to control the city gate.
As long as the city was sealed, the emperor would naturally be unable to escape. Then he would cut off the canal, and the world would naturally be shaken, which greatly increased his prestige.
"General, the east and west city gates have also been captured." Liu Zhan's general Fu Zi'ang rushed over and said: "As the general expected, when we showed our names, the soldiers guarding the city cooperated very well."
"Don't trust them completely." Liu Zhan whispered, "Let our people stop slacking off and watch the city gate carefully."
Controlling an entire city with just over two hundred people was an extremely difficult task, but Liu Zhan had people helping him.
Where he looked, the man who persuaded him to take action in the post house was standing near the city gate, talking to a group of officers and soldiers guarding the city, waving his hands from time to time, promising rewards.
After two days of getting along, Liu Zhan still didn't know the other person's details. He only knew that his name was Deng Zhi, and he was originally an official in Cangcao, Sizhou.
But at this time, seeing that Deng Zhi was quite powerful and could mobilize and appease the city gate guards, Liu Zhan became suspicious, thinking that this was definitely not something that an ordinary official could do.
He ordered to go down and invite Deng Zhi to meet him.
"Now I have taken action and entered Sizhou City, but I haven't seen the so-called support yet." Liu Zhan said: "I only know that I failed in Beicheng."
"We had already planned to take the emperor out of the city to the north. If he didn't come, I'm afraid he was too timid, so he hid in the government office and refused to show his face." Deng Zhi said: "But general, don't worry, we will be able to arrange it for you soon.
Attack the government office."
Liu Zhan said: "I want to see your sincerity, why don't you escort him over?"
"It's precisely because we don't dare that we welcome General Liu, isn't it?"
While they were talking, a soldier reported: "General, someone from the imperial court is here."
Deng Zhi then showed a confident look and said: "Here comes the explanation the general asked for."
But after a while, Deng Zhi was stunned for a moment when he saw that it was Sizhou governor Lü Xi.
Liu Zhan keenly captured his expression at this moment and said: "What? The person here is not one of yours?"
Deng Zhi showed some doubts and thoughts, and then smiled slightly.
"It doesn't matter, it's the same. General, how about letting me go see him? The general must convince him."
Liu Zhan was a smart man. From this incident alone, he realized that if he personally received the envoy, he might have a chance to turn around, so he hesitated.
But Deng Zhi had already gone straight to meet the visitor.
…
Lu Bi walked slowly to the city gate and was shocked to see that all the soldiers guarding the city had taken refuge with Liu Zhan.
He was shocked and angry, stared at them, and shouted: "What are you doing?"
"Please."
The other party's expression did not change. He raised his hand and asked Lu Xi to climb the tower to talk to Liu Zhan.
Fear suddenly arose in Lu Yi's heart, but it was impossible to retreat at this time, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and step up the steps.
There was a man standing at the top of the city to greet him. As Lu Bi's field of vision rose, he gradually saw the man's face clearly.
"Deng Zhi?"
Lu Pei was greatly surprised. He recognized Deng Zhi as a younger brother of Sizhou Sima Deng Bin. He worked as an official in Cangcao of the Yamen Office. He always acted with high ambitions and high ambitions.
"Why are you here? Captured by traitors?"
Deng Zhi smiled and shook his head, as if he thought this question was very childish.
Lu Chi suddenly understood and exclaimed in shock: "You have surrendered to a traitor!"
"Prefect Lu, you are still wrong." Deng Zhi said, "I am not surrendering. On the contrary, it was me who persuaded the general to take action against this unprincipled and foolish king!"
Upon hearing this, Lü Pei turned pale and took two steps back, completely losing his demeanor as a governor in front of this little official.
Deng Zhi, on the other hand, seemed calm and unhurried. He took a few steps forward and said, "Provincial Governor, how about you and I having a detailed discussion here?"
Under such circumstances, Lu Xi had no room to refuse.
"Why is it the governor who came and not my brother?" Deng Zhi asked.
Lu Bi didn't expect that he would ask this question, so he was stunned and said: "Deng Bin? He also..."
"That's right." Deng Zhi said, "He is also extremely disappointed with Hun Jun."
Lu Pei wanted to get angry, but he held it back, sighed, and said truthfully: "Deng Bin originally proposed himself and wanted to come, but the emperor didn't let him come. He asked me to come by name."
Deng Zhi stopped, thought about his filial piety seriously, and murmured: "It seems that Hunjun has already suspected my brother?"
Soon, he smiled and said: "But it doesn't matter. As long as you haven't left the city, Hunjun has already lost."
Lu Bi said angrily: "Did you know that what you committed was a capital crime! It's still too late to turn back now."
"It's a capital crime, Governor Lu, that you supported King Zhong's rebellion. Isn't it a capital crime? You're still alive and well." Deng Zhi said: "I'll tell you why you're still alive. It's because this foolish king has a guilty conscience. If he really had the confidence and courage, he would have been so courageous back then."
We should kill all of you!"
"Are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy, but don't you think Hunjun is crazy? He just wants to change the tax law, but he also wants to regulate the world, equalize land, and free slaves. Do you know how many people are against him?"
Lu Chi did not refute, but said sincerely: "Rebellion will have no future, the Tang Dynasty has not exhausted its energy!"
He looked around and whispered: "You support Liu Zhan, but who is Liu Zhan? He is just a pariah. What can such a person become? I have seen with my own eyes the heroic demeanor of today's people.
Liu Zhan is far less than a chance."
The two of them had walked some distance away from the surrounding soldiers.
Deng Zhi supported the city battlements, looked northward, and suddenly uttered a strange sentence in a long voice.
"Who said we support Liu Zhan?"
Lu Xi didn't understand, and asked in surprise: "What?"
"Liu Zhan is just a sword." Deng Zhi said, "How can we serve a despicable person as our master?"
"A sword?" Lu Chi asked, "A sword that kills the king?"
"good."
Deng Zhi looked calm on the surface, but his hands holding the battlements were trembling slightly with excitement.
He pressed hard, trying not to show the tension, licked his lips and continued talking.
"What can be expected is that Liu Zhan will be put down soon after he kills the king. The court will definitely support the crown prince as emperor, and the rebellion will be over. The Tang Dynasty will be stabilized again. This time, there will be no more uprisings.
Waves.”
"I don't understand." Lu Bi said, "What can you gain by doing this?"
"Who does Governor Lu think 'we' are?"
"Of course it's you and Deng Bin."
"Haha." Deng Zhi laughed at himself: "No, brother and I are just inconspicuous little people, and we cannot make such a shocking plan."
Lu Bi asked: "Who are you?"
"We...are the power of almost the entire imperial court, and you, Governor Lu, are also one of ours." Deng Zhi asked: "Don't you want the reform to stop?"
Lu Zhen said: "But it is no good for us that the prince is here. Instead, you will be punished for not protecting him well!"
"The prince is young, whose crime can he punish?"
If Lu Pei realized something, he said: "You mean, there are important ministers who can control the situation in the court behind this matter?"
"I said, we are the imperial court." Deng Zhi said: "Don't worry, the imperial court will only show our merits in suppressing the rebellion."
"How?"
"Does Governor Lu know what the name of Liu Zhan's rebellion was? It was in the name of Xue Tong's conspiracy to usurp the Tang Dynasty." Deng Zhi said: "The imperial court does not want to make public. As long as Liu Zhan dies, the rest of the people will be recruited. You will be
A great hero in suppressing the rebellion."
He obviously had something that he had not told Lu Xi, but there was no need to talk about it now. He needed to talk about what would happen if Lu Xi didn't follow his rebellion.
"On the other hand, if Governor Lu refuses to help, when Liu Zhan rushes into the government office, I'm afraid you will be buried with him."
Lu Chi was hesitant and asked: "You are so sure that Liu Zhan can break into the government office."
"What do you think?"
"Is Deng Bin just an insider?"
"As I said, brother and I are just small people." Deng Zhi said: "Prefect Lu might as well guess who else is involved in this matter besides my brother."
He called himself a small person, so Lü Bi could only guess at the big person and tentatively mentioned a name.
"Li Zangyong?"
Deng Zhi nodded with a smile and said, "What else?"
"What else?" Lu Xi was startled, and then said: "Li Xi?"
"What else?"
Lu Zhen said: "If Li Xian is involved, is his brother Li Xian also aware of it?"
"Yes, that's why I say that the Hunjun is unpopular and his situation is over."
As he said this, Deng Zhi turned around and saw Lu Xi taking out a letter from his sleeve.
"What's this?"
"A letter of surrender written by the Emperor to Liu Zhan."
"Give me."
Deng Zhi couldn't help but snatched the letter from Lu Xi's hand, opened it and read it, his pupils gradually dilated, showing surprise, and murmured to himself: "He actually knows what a vicious look he has."
"What?" Lu Xi was curious and wanted to see, so she stretched out her hand.
"It's no use."
Deng Zhi refused to give it to him. He tore the letter into pieces and threw it away.
The letter paper was mixed with snowflakes and fell in the moat...
~~
It's getting dark.
Li Zong was sitting in a secluded courtyard of the government office in a daze. He heard footsteps behind him and looked back. It was Li Zangyong.
"Lv Ai is back."
"How to say?"
"He is one of ours."
Li Xi remained unfazed and said, "It's as expected."
"He brought news about Liu Zhan and said he would take action tonight."
"Okay." Li Hong responded in a muffled voice, and after a while he said: "Let's get rid of the guards and let Liu Zhan's rebels come in and open the door. Leave the rest to Liu Zhan."
"good."
Li Zangyong also said in a sullen voice, and after answering, he was about to turn around and leave, but stopped again and said with emotion: "I didn't expect that we would get to this point."
"This is the first time in my life that I have done such a treasonous thing, but I can't watch him ruin the Tang Dynasty and ruin the hard work of my ancestors." Li Hong seemed to strengthen his determination and murmured: "Put down Shi Si
In the Ming Dynasty, I met him for the first time. On the way up the Yangtze River from Yangzhou, I listened to Li Bai talk about him and his high-spirited and high-spirited aspirations. As soon as we met, I felt his heroic appearance. At that time, I
I thought, God bless the Tang Dynasty, there is such a person in the clan. But I should have noticed at that time that he, like Li Bai, was too self-righteous and too ambitious."
Li Zangyong said: "Maybe we should persuade him."
"No need. From the moment Zheng Ciming's head fell to the ground, I knew he was determined."
They were all loyal and good ministers. If they had not had irreconcilable political opinions with the emperor today, they should have been famous ministers who assisted the emperor in establishing a prosperous age. Unfortunately, sometimes a person's achievements in life can be completely different due to a slight change.
"I'm going."
Li Zangyong went out, walked around the government office, and found the place Lu Xi had mentioned.
He looked at the sky, waited patiently for a while, messed up his hair, took a deep breath, and ran forward.
"Hurry! Protect him, the saint is in danger, go and protect him quickly!"
"Come with me!"
"..."
Soon, the side door of the government office was opened, and groups of rebels filed in.
Li Zangyong did not follow to see the regicide scene, but went to find Li Xiang again.
The two of them didn't say anything. They stood up, called their henchmen, and walked out. They planned to stay away for a while, waiting for the news of Liu Zhan's regicide to spread, and then they would put down the rebellion.
The night wind blew, bringing with it screams, and it was obvious that a fight had begun in the government office.
Li Zang, Li Zangyong did not look back, walked through the long street and entered the winter garden again.
Suddenly, torches rolled in from both sides like dragons, and with the sound of dense footsteps, a group of people surrounded them.
When he saw the armor reflecting the firelight, Li Hong immediately lowered his face and shouted: "Liu Zhan! What do you want to do?!"
"Where are Mr. Li going?"
Someone said something, pushed aside the soldiers and walked up to them.
When they saw this person, Li Zang and Li Zangyong's expressions immediately changed, revealing expressions of disbelief, because it was not Liu Zhan who came.
"Nan Jiyun?! How could it be you?"
"Why can't it be me?" Nan Jiyun waved his hand and shouted: "Take it!"
~~
Over there, Fu Ziang held a knife in his hand, slashing all the way, and rushed into the lobby of the state office first. He just saw Diao Bing leading the guards and surrounding one person to retreat.
"The faint king is there! Kill him!"
Fu Ziang shouted loudly, jumped out of the crowd, and chased after him.
He was so skilled in martial arts that no one else could stop him, and immediately jumped behind Hun Jun.
"Where to go!"
Following this shout, the knife in Fu Ziang's hand was chopped down.
At this time, the Hunjun in front turned around and saw the face of a ferocious and ugly middle-aged man, which made Fu Ziang stunned.
The other party laughed ferociously, raised a crossbow, and with a "click" sound, the crossbow arrow pierced Fu Ziang's eyes!
"ah!"
When the screams came, Deng Bin was standing on a pavilion and looking out, trying to see whether Liu Zhan's men had succeeded in regicide.
Suddenly, someone patted him on the back.
"It's done?"
Deng Bin turned around and soon his face froze on the spot.
Several forbidden soldiers couldn't help but push him down and drag him out. There were corpses and pools of blood everywhere in the government office, and the fishy smell rose to the sky.
Deng Bin was so frightened that he fell into silence. Not long after, he heard someone shouting, "I was wronged!"
He turned around and saw that it was Lu Shi, the Assassin who was shouting hoarsely.
"I have something to report." Lv Qian was escorted away and had already shaken off everyone else, "It was all instigated by Li Zong, Li Zangyong and others. The rebels were Sizhou Sima Dengbin and his brothers. I was wronged!
"
At the same time, there was a huge fire in the east of the city. That was the direction of the canal. Liu Zhan must be fighting with the officers and soldiers...