The shouts of killing continued all night inside and outside Sizhou City.
Li Hong was tied up and left alone in a woodshed in the winter garden. He tried hard to prop up his ears and tried to judge the situation outside by listening to the sounds.
He was in a mixed mood, but in the end he was so tired that he squinted for a while.
When he opened his eyes again, the chaotic movement had stopped, and there was a figure in front of him.
He woke up and looked intently for a while, and saw Xue Bai looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Liu Zhan is such a loser." Li Hong said, "In this situation, he can't kill you."
Xue Bai said: "It shows that you are not clever either."
"I'm just one of the thousands of people who oppose you." Li Hong said very modestly, "It won't help if you kill me."
"Because of the reform? The tax system has come to an end. It is natural to change the tax system. As for the inspection of land and households, it only allows the wealthy and powerful households to sacrifice a small part of their interests. I really didn't expect that you would resist so fiercely. I also think that I have already done it very well."
Tolerating you, if I follow my original intention, I should collect every acre of land in the world as public land and cut off land annexation from the ground up.
"Hahaha."
Li Hong suddenly laughed.
There was a bit of tragedy in his eyes, but his determination to fight Xue Bai became firmer.
"Sure enough, you've been sitting in a humble position for too long, and your butt is crooked."
"Oh?" Xue Baiqi said, "Am I sitting crookedly?"
"Do you know? It's not terrible to ask wealthy families to transfer their interests. When Emperor Xuanzong was in power, states and counties paid tribute every year, but there are people who oppose him?"
"An Lushan opposed him."
"I'm not talking about the barbarians like An Lushan, but the noble people who helped the Li family govern the world. In this matter, Emperor Xuanzong's method of driving hundreds of officials is beyond your control." Li Hong said, "You want the world's land."
It’s okay for the masters to pay tribute to them, but if you want to equalize their fields, you are cutting off their flesh.”
"This is how much land we have." Xue Bai disagreed.
In his view, he has only taken a slight step forward on the basis of the two tax laws, but is still far from his goal.
Hearing his disapproving tone, Li Xi suddenly became angry and shouted loudly: "The important thing is attitude!"
It was difficult for him to describe his dissatisfaction with Xue Bai without appearing unreasonable.
"The world of the Tang Dynasty was conquered by the Li family? It was the son of a good family! Those who have a permanent property have perseverance and know etiquette. The good family who have land and property are the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty! Do you know who are the landless and propertyless people in the world?
They are captives, runaways, lowly slaves, criminals, thieves, and refugees. These people are shameless and dishonest. If not controlled, they are the source of disaster. You will make changes within a few years of taking the throne. You will put a knife on the neck of a good family, bad people.
The foundation of the Tang Dynasty, the fields inherited from people's ancestors, and the properties bought in black and white, you want to confiscate them with just one word, and you are not willing to kill officials for this. Where are you on the end?"
Li Hong waved his hand angrily, feeling that he failed to express the subtlety of it, so he added.
"You are hostile to Liangjiazi, and everyone in the world can feel it."
Xue Bai was silent after hearing this and did not refute, but said: "Your feelings are very keen. I have indeed not considered the problem from the standpoint of the big landlords. I have not been able to represent the interests of the big landlord class. It should be said that my one
Everything he says and does is on the opposite side of the big landowning class, that’s true."
This is the reason why Li Hong and others betrayed. It was not because they doubted Xue Bai's life experience, but because of the inexplicable conflicts that happened in every little thing.
They are essentially two kinds of people.
Xue Bai has never been able to integrate into the feudal aristocratic class.
He knelt down and said to Li Hong sincerely: "You are right, I am not on your side because I am the son of a farmer."
"Sigh, you are used to being an official slave and a lowly person!"
Up to this point, Li Xi did not call Xue Bai "Xue Ni". He was still angry after all.
Xue Bai didn't get angry even after being scolded twice, and said: "It doesn't matter, what I want is to get things done, not to satisfy you nobles."
"Oh, being alone, what can you accomplish?"
Li Hong had a sarcastic look on his face. He knew that Xue Bai still wanted to persuade him to change his mind and follow the new law this time. But if he didn't bow his head, he might not have a chance to survive.
Sure enough, when Xue Bai heard what he said, he sighed slightly and said, "Whether I can succeed or not, you can't even see."
Knowing that there was no way out, Li Xi smiled relievedly and gave Xue Bai a final warning.
"Don't think that killing me will help. Let me tell you, we are not the only ones who oppose you. Everyone in the government and the public is your enemy. Liu Zhan's mutiny, Sizhou was besieged, and the Tongji Canal was blocked. These news have been spread.
, even if it only lasts for two days, the court will treat you as dead, and then you will never live again. Now that you have found your way back, maybe your heir apparent can still succeed. Otherwise, there will only be more and more
If people attack 'Xue Ni', you will lose everything you have."
After saying this, Li Xi closed his eyes.
Xue Bai also had nothing to say.
He realized that he had been too weak in the past and had made too many compromises with these powerful people.
He fulfilled their wish and gave himself the surname of Li. The reform also tried hard to find a solution that had both ends of the world. It did not completely publicize the land, or even re-equalize the land.
It's a pity that the powerful people can't understand his compromise and only think that he is easy to bully.
The fact is that he made a huge mistake. He acted in Li Qian's name from the beginning and trapped himself in the shackles of Li Qian. He was too unresolute, too ruthless, and too thorough.
If we must take drastic measures and vigorously reform, how can we do it without bloodshed?
"Kill."
Xue Bai gave an order when he walked out. The soldiers standing outside the door hesitated a little. He gave him a cold look and quickly drew his sword and rushed in.
"puff."
He raised the knife and dropped it. With a sound, Li Xi fell to the ground and died.
He is a descendant of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the great-grandson of Wu King Li Ke, the eldest son of Xin'an King Li Yi, and the elder brother of the famous minister Li Xian. He is a man who has made great contributions to the country and contributed to Xue Bai.
Xue Bai originally respected him and wanted to win his support, but unfortunately it came to a point where they were at odds with each other.
"puff."
Not long after, Li Zangyong also fell in a pool of blood.
He is also a member of the Tang Dynasty clan, a talented and capable minister with outstanding population. He once helped Xue Bai put down the rebellion of King Yong, and he can be regarded as a minister of Conglong.
Xue Bai originally thought that he could rely on Li Zangyong as his arm and let him preside over the reform in Jiangnan East Road. Unexpectedly, Li Zangyong became a pioneer in opposing the reform.
"puff."
Another blow fell with the knife, and Lu Chen was still shouting "Unjust", and died in a moment.
He was a famous man in the world. As a surrendered minister who once followed Li Heng, Xue Bai treated him well. But he was still persuaded by Deng Zhi and betrayed him with just a few words. Either because he had no integrity or because he was born with a different position.
Xue Bai's side.
After that, came Deng Bin, Deng Tong brothers, and a group of officials who participated in the rebellion.
With the sound of swords piercing flesh and blood, heads were hung on the tops of Sizhou City. They were all famous ministers and officials, which frightened the officials and the people.
After all, it is common to see bones on the roadside, but it is not common for high-ranking powerful people to encounter such massacres.
~~
Songzhou.
After Zheng Ciming was beheaded, the successor as governor of Songzhou was Pei Chen.
Pei Chen and Xue Bai were also old friends. His father was Pei Kuan, the imperial censor during the Tianbao period. At that time, the Pei family and Xue Bai joined forces to fight against Li Linfu, and they also fought side by side.
Pei Chen was suddenly transferred to Songzhou. He was also very anxious and struggled to clear up the mess left by Zheng Ciming.
But not long after, news came from the south that surprised him.
"Liu Zhan rebelled! He raided Sizhou, captured the city, and cut off the Tongji Canal. Now the saint's safety is unknown!"
"How could this be so?" Pei Chen was shocked and at a loss in panic. He immediately called for someone and said, "Quickly, five hundred miles away, we will send the news to the eastern capital."
He got up and walked around thinking about the response, and issued several orders one after another, instructing the counties under his rule to close the city gates and put them on emergency alert. He also borrowed troops from other states and counties to prepare for the march south to serve the king.
The Tongji Canal is the main artery for transporting taxes from the south of the Yangtze River to the two capitals. The downstream was suddenly blocked, which had a huge impact. Businessmen and travelers were talking about it and spreading panic. It quickly aroused people's panic. Some people even abandoned the cargo ship and fled alone, fearing that they would be encountered.
War.
This inadvertently amplified the impact of the rebellion.
Pei Chen was still busy making preparations for King Qin, but only two days later, news came from Sizhou. It was the emperor who issued an order, saying that Liu Zhan had been defeated, and there was no need to panic. Everything was as usual.
After receiving the order, he naturally breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still worried in his heart and planned to ask for escort southward.
At this time, the Eastern Capital sent senior officials to come, and Li Kui, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, also served as the pacification envoy to Henan and Jianghuai.
Pei Chen had never come into contact with Li Kui before, but he had heard of him for a long time.
Li Kui was born in the Guzangfang of the Li family in Longxi, and was of the Guan clan. He became a Jinshi in the late Kaiyuan years, started as a county lieutenant in Chenliu, moved to Youshi, and became a member of Zhongshushe, and achieved a high official position in the Xuanzong Dynasty.
He has outstanding abilities. Although he has not had the opportunity to make outstanding contributions in recent years, he has been promoted step by step. He also became the minister of the Ministry of punishment and became an important minister of the court.
"Li Shijun came so quickly, but are you here to quell the rebellion?" Pei Chen was very happy to see Li Kui. After greeting him, he couldn't wait to follow him to greet him.
"Don't be anxious. The saint's safety is uncertain, so don't act rashly."
"The saint is safe." Pei Chen said, "I received the imperial edict..."
"I'm afraid it's fake." Li Kui stroked his beard, worried, and said: "I have sent people to investigate, and the saint has fallen into Liu Zhan's hands. The so-called imperial edict is just Liu Zhan's pretentious edict."
Pei Chen asked suspiciously: "Li Shijun just came from Dongdu, how did you know?"
Li Kui waved his hand and did not answer, sighing: "When I came from the Eastern Capital, the courtiers all said that the country cannot live without a king for a day, and they all asked for His Highness to take the throne."
"What? This is too urgent. It has only been a few days since the incident. How could..."
In the middle of Pei Chen's words, Cha and Li Kui looked at each other and suddenly realized something.
He was so shocked that he took several steps back and said in an unbelievable tone: "Did you plan this?"
"No." Li Kui said: "But all the officials believe that since an accident has occurred, it is time to stop the new law and stabilize the situation."
The words were clear, and Pei Chen soon understood and shook his head.
"You are so brave, there is no way you can succeed."
"What is possible or impossible is already decided by the imperial court." Li Kui said, "You only need to stand still and wait for the imperial court's order."
"When the saint comes back, you will be executed for this grave crime."
Pei Chen snorted coldly and strode out, preparing to summon his confidants and lead his troops south to King Qin.
However, when he opened the door, he saw a row of people standing outside, all of whom were Li Kui.
"Get out of the way!"
Pei Chen shouted, but the other party rushed forward, pushed him to the ground, and forcibly took him away.
In the next few days, Pei Chen was imprisoned in the government office. Every day, his staff, friends, and family members would come to see him and persuade him to give up the idea of becoming King Qin.
"Why do you have to be stupid, Uncle Eight? Just don't do anything. When the new king comes to the throne, you will naturally have a share of the credit."
The person who came to persuade me that day was Pei Chen’s niece-in-law, Liu Liangsi.
Back then, Pei Liu Niang also fell in love with Xue Bai, but unfortunately they did not get married after all. For this, Pei Liu Niang was sad for a long time, and even said that she wanted to become a Taoist priest, but the daughter of a wealthy family could not help herself, so she finally married the husband chosen by her family.
A descendant of the Liu family from Hedong.
Liu Liangsi was originally the school secretary in the imperial court. This time he came with Li Kui and advised Pei Chen every now and then.
"Can't Uncle Eight still see it? The saint killed officials to protect the new law, causing public outrage, and the officials connived at Liu Zhan's rebellion. I got the news that Liu Zhan has occupied Suzhou, and the rebellion will not be put down for a while. This
At this time, the situation is in their hands."
Pei Chen said: "You don't know the saint, but I knew him more than ten years ago. I don't believe he would make such a mistake."
"Things have reached this point. Without the support of Yan Zhenqing, Guo Ziyi and others, would Li Kui dare to do this?" Liu Liangsi said: "Eighth Uncle doesn't even think about it, why is Li Kui getting sent? Who is helping him behind the scenes?
"
Pei Chen immediately shook his head, not believing that Yan Zhenqing and Guo Ziyi would do such a thing.
But soon, he also became suspicious. After all, if things develop like this, the person who will benefit the most is Yan Zhenqing, who assists the prince in supervising the country.
~~
Li Kui was busy writing and receiving letters every day, as if he was in contact with everyone in the Tang Dynasty.
"Sizhou sent an envoy again."
"Hold it." Li Kui ordered without hesitation, "That is the person Liu Zhan sent to pretend to be. No one is allowed to have contact with him."
"Here."
"Give me the imperial edict."
Li Kui took a look at the decree sent by Xue Bai and put it down. There was some worry in his eyes and said, "Why isn't he afraid?"
At present, the officials have tried their best to put pressure on Xue Bai.
During Liu Zhan's rebellion, all the states and counties, except for Nan Jiyun, did not send troops to serve the king, leaving the emperor to fend for himself. As a minister, this was already a great treason.
Their purpose is to force Xue Bai to surrender. As long as Xue Bai bows his head and admits defeat, issues an edict to punish himself, expresses a compromising attitude, and delegates some power, Li Kui will send troops to rescue him.
But Xue Bai did not compromise, which simply forced Li Kui to do even more rebellious things.
"Has Liu Zhan's reply arrived?"
"not yet."
After asking several times, Li Kui finally received the envoy sent by Liu Zhan.
Li Kui did not go to see him in person, but sent a close aide to go there.
But he couldn't feel at ease. He waited uneasily for the staff to return and quickly asked: "What happened?"
"Those who believe in the prophecy of the Golden Sword are indeed monsters. The people sent by Liu Zhan don't even look at me, they are very domineering."
"That's not what I'm asking!" Li Kui asked patiently: "How is Liu Zhan doing now?"
"He has occupied Suzhou with great momentum. He rejected our offer of recruitment, but is willing to cooperate, saying that as long as the states and counties do not support the emperor, he will surely capture Sizhou again and get rid of the emperor."
When Li Kui heard this, he was not happy, but sighed. If he had a choice, he did not want to go to this step.
"Let him go back and tell Liu Zhan that I have received statements from state and county officials that no one will send troops to serve the king."
"Here."
The current situation is that Xue Bai's edict from King Qin has been issued, and he is waiting for troops from all sides to arrive in Sizhou to put Liu Zhan down personally.
However, Xue Bai probably would not have thought that the officials of various states and counties had betrayed him, and only Liu Zhan's rebels were waiting for him, with no reinforcements.
Li Kui just waited day and night for the results from the south.
Until that night, there was a rapid knock on the door, and he quickly opened the door.
"It's so late, how come there's still news delivered?"
"The situation is urgent. The news was delivered by hanging from the city gate."
"Tell me, what happened?"
"Liu Zhan has been recruited!"
Li Kui frowned and murmured: "This guy is very arrogant after taking over Suzhou. How can he be willing to recruit people if he refuses to join me?"
"Liu Zhan was... recruited by a saint."
"What did you say?"
"The saint has appeased Liu Zhan's rebellion."
Li Kui didn't believe it. Liu Zhan had assassinated the emperor twice and committed a heinous capital crime, so he couldn't really be recruited.
The most important thing right now is that Xue Baisui caressed Liu Zhan and is afraid that he will go north soon. How should he deal with it then?
Should we welcome him openly, secretly send someone to push Xue Bai into the Tongji Canal, or should we simply openly remonstrate with him?
"Send a group of our people to King Qin of Sizhou, saying that we have not recruited people until now." Li Kui decided to first place his people among the guards around the saint, "Remember, you must show concern for the saint.
Safety, no, I will go there myself..."
"Report!"
The next moment, a figure rolled and crawled into the hall.
"Your Majesty, the saint has arrived!"
Li Kui thought he heard wrongly.
He had just met Liu Zhan's envoy a few days ago and knew that Liu Zhan was resolute in his opposition. But in the blink of an eye, the saint had recruited Liu Zhan, and then the emperor arrived in Songzhou... This was absolutely impossible, and it was too late in terms of time.
.
The only explanation is that the sage had already surrendered Liu Zhan. Although he still didn't know how he did it, the sage then instructed Liu Zhan to continue pretending to be a rebel.
Why do this?
To see who comes to serve the king? Yes, but it must not only be for this purpose.
It was to paralyze himself and catch him off guard...Li Kui felt frightened when he thought of this.
He had a premonition that Xue Bai was going to kill him, and he was inevitably a little panicked for a moment. He thought that maybe he should raise troops to resist, but this was an open rebellion.
Although he was planning a rebellion every day, but he suddenly had to do something openly, Li Kui found it difficult to make this decision. What's more, he had just arrived in Songzhou, and he only brought dozens of confidants. How many guards were there in the city?
Can you listen to him?
"Hurry and prepare your horses and summon our people..."
"The saint has arrived!"
Suddenly a loud shout came, and Li Kui felt that the voice was very close. He rushed to the front door of the government office and saw Xue Bai wearing armor and walking in surrounded by soldiers.
"I pay my respects to the saint. May the saint be safe."
Although he was thinking far ahead, when he saw Xue Bai's god-like appearance, Li Kui couldn't help but feel guilty and quickly saluted.
Xue Baidao said: "The governor of Songzhou whom I appointed is Pei Chen. Why is Li Qing here?"
"I...I am worried about your majesty's safety..."
"You are worried that I will come back alive." Xue Bai suddenly said.
Li Kui was so excited that he quickly prostrated himself and said: "There must be a villain who has wronged me, I..."
Xue Bai had already stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, scaring him so much that he stopped talking.
"Don't make excuses. That Liu Zhan envoy was sent by me. You told him everything you should and shouldn't say. You want to cooperate with Liu Zhan and take my life."
Li Kui still wanted to question Xue Bai, but suddenly he thought of the deaths of Li Hong, Li Zangyong and others. He was so frightened that he couldn't say those truthful words.
"Your Majesty wants to kill the minister?!" Because of panic, his voice changed, and he shouted: "Your Majesty can kill Li Hong and Li Zangyong in the chaos, but you can't kill the minister! The rebellion has been established, this is indiscriminate killing
Ah, again and again, your Majesty is going to break with the ministers?!"
"But I think it's useful." Xue Bai said: "You famous families, no matter how much I preach, you are still unwilling to give up any small benefits. Now that you have killed a few people, you know you are afraid."
Li Kui was already being pressed on the shoulder. After hearing this, he was so frightened that his whole body changed shape. He quickly crawled a few steps away from Xue Bai.
"No, I have been a member of my clan for generations and have lived in Zhengzhou for generations. Your Majesty's new law has taken away my clan's land and now you are killing me. My clan will raise an army and Zhengzhou will be in chaos."
"You are honest." Xue Bai said, "Let's give it a try."
"Are you crazy?!"
In fact, it seems that Li Kui is more like the one who has gone crazy. He pointed at Xue Bai and shouted: "Are you crazy! Kill me? You are not without flaws. We don't even mention the clan you pretended to be. You want to
If you break up, then you are the traitor!"
"Then I am a traitor."
Xue Bai seemed to be made of steel and iron, no matter what Li Kui said, he would not be moved.
Li Kui finally had no choice but to cry.
"The world will be in chaos, don't do this. Your Majesty, please exile me. Exile me to Annan. Things can still be undone."
"What to save? Continue to compromise with you hairpin crown clan? Get up and see what you look like. Don't embarrass the Li family of Zhao County."
Wavering interests.”
Li Kui actually stood up, stared at Xue Bai pitifully, and said: "You can't do this, treat you like an emperor, and then turn around and stab us."
As he spoke, he stood up straight. A man behind Xue Bai stepped forward and swung his knife, cutting him to the ground.
"puff."
Xue Bai didn't know how many more people he would kill on his way back to the court, but he was determined that no matter how many people he killed this time, he would not compromise.
Until those interest groups who had been stubborn for thousands of years finally compromised with him.
If the other party never compromises, then he will regard himself as revolting again.
He had a similar attitude when he recruited Liu Zhan to surrender - "Want to rebel? I can join you."