Thanks to Wu Zetian building the Mingtang high enough, Xue Bai could actually see the soldiers pouring in from outside the palace gate.
If it had been another emperor, he might have run away long ago, such as the Jingyuan Mutiny in history, when the rebels gathered under Danfeng Tower, and Tang Dezong fled in panic.
Xue Bai has always thought of himself as wise, but now he is facing the same situation as Tang Dezong. If he escapes, perhaps the "Nine Moves of the Emperor" of the Tang Dynasty will fall on him alone.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Cui would like to see you."
The chamberlain was still reporting, but over there, Cui Youfu had already strode to the palace and said loudly: "Your Majesty has finally forced them to rebel. Is that what you want?!"
These words were so rude. Du Jin, who was standing behind Xue Bai, immediately shouted: "Cui Youfu, you are so brave!"
"As an important minister of the imperial court, I am directly admonishing the emperor, but it is not your turn for a woman to intervene. How can I do this?!"
Cui Youfu contradicted Du Jin with one sentence, and then saluted Xue Bai and said, "I ask your majesty to come forward to appease the soldiers to prevent the situation from getting out of hand."
"According to what Cui Qing sees, how should I appease you?"
"If we can issue an edict to punish ourselves, stop picking up Kuo, and expel Du Erniang, I think the mood of the people will be peaceful and the people's hearts will be settled."
Although Cui Youfu's request to "drive out Du Erniang" was made on the spur of the moment, it coincided with the interests of the opposition. It best demonstrated Xue Bai's soft attitude and also made Xue Bai hand over the power in his hands.
After hearing this, Du Erniang's originally angry face calmed down.
She is Xue Bai's arm, and she knows very well that Xue Bai cannot cut off his own arm.
Cui Youfu can make such a request, which shows that he is extremely arrogant in his heart. He believes from the bottom of his heart that it is Xue Bai who should give up everything and bow to them.
really.
"What if I don't?"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Such a simple sentence was Cui Youfu's threatening words.
As if in response to him, a loud shout rang out from the Qianyuan Gate, and they rushed over like a stormy wave.
Xue Bai then walked down the Mingtang, left the main hall, and stood on the stone steps to greet those who opposed him with his eyes.
Cui Youfu quickly followed over, narrowed his eyes, and murmured: "How did they enter the palace?"
On the contrary, he was even more surprised.
Xue Bai thought for a while, sighed with some disappointment, and asked Du Jin: "Have you found out that Yuan Zai has any dealings with the rebellious ministers?"
"Yuan Zai?"
Du Jin was surprised and shook his head.
Yuan Zai can be regarded as one of Xue Bai's most trusted ministers and an important figure in presiding over the reform. How could he side with the opposition?
Xue Bai always knew that Yuan Zai was originally a huge corrupt man, so he beat him again and again, thinking that he could change him and prove that he had changed history.
Now Yuan Zai must have been shaken. He stretched out his hand and was taken advantage of, so he had no choice but to compromise with the opposition. Also, how could we hope that Yuan Zai could withstand the storm that even Yan Zhenqing couldn't resist? ?
Just like you can never persuade a gambling addict to turn back, the only thing you can do is to respect his fate.
"Has your Majesty seen it? More and more people are betraying." Cui Youfu said: "If you continue to act your own way like this, your Majesty will really become a loner."
"I have been a loner from the beginning."
The two sides are closer.
The nobles and nobles who came striding over finally saw Xue Bai standing in front of the Mingtang.
However, dense footsteps also sounded from the back of the Mingtang. Rows of neatly armored soldiers came out like a stream and lined up on the stone steps. They either put up their shields or set up their halberds, bows and arrows. A wall of copper and iron was formed.
The leading general was not Guo Qianli, but Fan Lao, whom Xue Bai trusted more.
It is conceivable that Xue Bai had already prepared, and it would have been impossible for them to successfully mutiny easily.
"Are you trying to break into the palace without permission?!" Fan Lao asked loudly.
When they arrived, Li Xian and others came out of the crowd, stood calmly and fearlessly at the foot of the stone steps, and confronted Xue Bai.
They have so much to say.
But when I opened my mouth, the first sentence was——
"I heard that there were thieves in the palace, so I came to protect them!"
Li Ying also said the same thing about the three common people case back then.
…
Li Chengyu was at the rear of the team, raising his head anxiously, trying to see what was happening in front of him.
He regretted that he had not gone to the front with Lai Ai, Li Xian and others to take the lead. At that time, some people said that "Li Gongde is highly respected and should be our leader", but Li Chengyu refused because he had no official position.
The result was not good, the progress was far smoother than expected, and the great success of deposing the emperor went to others.
"You have to go to the front."
"Something is wrong." Li Mi was looking at the Qianyuan Gate when he suddenly thought of something. He frowned and said, "There may be an ambush today, so we must quickly advise you to stop."
Li Chengyu said: "When things come to a head, is there any reason to retreat?"
Li Mi was a little anxious, so he rushed straight to the front of the team without fighting with him, but was soon stopped by a general.
"I am Li Mi, and I have something urgent to tell you."
"Mr. Li also saw it. Now is not the time. Please wait a moment."
Li Bi said: "Tell Laiyi that the emperor has already made a plan. You must not conflict with it. Please apologize first and discuss the long-term plan."
"Okay, Mr. Li is waiting here, I will go and send a message."
The general then ordered his soldiers to watch Li Mi, turned around and left.
Li Chengyu quickly followed the general, but was not stopped and started talking with him.
"Li Bi has a reputation as a genius, but when he came out this time, others didn't take him seriously. Does Li Gong know why?" the general asked.
Li Chengyu said: "Because it was Yan Zhenqing who invited him to come out?"
"First of all, he and Xue Ni are old acquaintances. Back then, he assisted King Zhong, but King Zhong failed to seize the throne. Instead, he became the prime minister, which shows his position. He didn't come early or late, but he just happened to cause trouble for us. Later, when he saw that we were about to achieve success, he came over and said some insults, tricking us into asking Xue Ni to apologize. How could we be deceived by him?"
Li Chengyu and Li Mi were old acquaintances. They had always trusted Li Mi's character before and had never thought about it. Only then did he suddenly realize that no wonder the person who was supposed to be promoted as a military advisor had been ignored this time and could only follow him.
later.
"But what if what he said is true?" Li Chengyu was still a little worried.
"It must be a lie. Now that we have great achievements right in front of us, how can we be deceived by his few words."
Li Chengyu was convinced and rushed forward to denounce Xue Ni's various crimes...
Over there, Li Mi waited for a long time and was kept behind. He knew that these people did not trust him.
He was also decisive, turned around and left.
After leaving the Qianyuan Gate, he saw more and more officials and nobles rushing towards this side, as if they were going to court, so he stopped an official and asked, "What happened?"
"You came out of the palace and asked me?"
Li Mi's Taoist robe was quite unusual in this scene, so although the official retorted, he also spoke in detail.
"The Emperor is unpopular, so we respond to the people's support and come to denounce him!"
"What?"
Li Mi asked several people in succession, but all received similar answers.
He knew that Xue Bai's new policy actually had many supporters, but he didn't see any of them at this time. It was too abnormal and there must be a big problem.
So he quickened his pace and drove out of the palace city. Suddenly, he saw fireworks flashing in the sky outside Luoyang City. Even though it was daytime, it still painted the sky with red clouds for a moment.
It was like someone was sending a signal.
Looking back, Li Mi suddenly saw rows of soldiers quietly appearing by the Luoshui River.
There were generals in armor driving their horses in front, waving their flags silently, and commanding their soldiers to surround the palace city.
I was used to seeing noisy armies, but suddenly I found an army that could march quietly, which made me feel inexplicably scary.
~~
In front of the Ming Hall, the emperor and his ministers were still facing each other across the stone steps.
But Xue Bai was tired of it.
Those discussions happened over and over again, and they were discussed over and over again but failed to solve the fundamental problem.
He knew clearly in his heart that these were conflicts of fundamental interests that could not be resolved by talking.
The reason why we are still talking about it is because of people's luck and weakness. They always feel that if they grind hard, they may be able to achieve their goals at no cost.
But everything in this world has a price, it is inevitable.
"Your Majesty, I do this for your own good!"
Lai Yi was very excited. He had already taken a few steps up the stone steps several times and reached a distance that the swords and guns of the imperial army could cut. However, he did not care about his own safety at all and was still making noises.
"What you did has shaken the foundation of the country..."
Xue Bai has always been too lazy to pay attention to others, but Lai Yi is special.
While others were looking for profit, Lai Yi came to take the lead personally to control the situation. This thought is difficult to understand. Simply put, he was afraid that local officials would be forced to rebel by the new law and cause chaos in the world, so he organized them to
form this orderly protest.
The premise is that in Lai Yi's heart, Xue Bai was indeed completely wrong.
This is a naughty person, doing naughty things is difficult and thankless, and he may offend all parties if he turns around, but there are always such people in the world.
So Xue Bai scolded him.
"Idiot! The Tang Dynasty was founded on the equalization of land. The foundation lies in the equalization of land. Ask yourself, who ruined the foundation of the Tang Dynasty? Is it these greedy bugs or me who controls the equalization of land?!"
The more Lai Yi was scolded, the more stubborn he became. He frowned and said, "If you do something you know you can't do, you will bring disaster to the country and the people!"
"Why can't I do it?"
"Don't you understand yet?" Lai Yi said, "Others may succeed in reforming their methods, but you cannot!"
Xue Bai said: "Okay! Tell me, why?!"
He knew that the Tang Dynasty also reformed the tax system in history. Although it was not as radical as him, the two tax laws and various miscellaneous taxes including the rent system were patchworked together in parallel. After all, the reform was successful and there was no
Such a big resistance.
Why can't he change the law when it comes to him?
In addition to his stricter implementation of the new law, another very important reason is that the world's ministers and nobles do not agree with him in their hearts.
Some people think that he is impersonating the royal family to usurp the throne. Some people believe that he is Li Qian, but they despise him for his past lowliness.
They will inevitably think, "We pinched our noses and recognized someone like you as the emperor, so you just have to obey our wishes."
This is the shortcoming of legitimacy, nothing can be done so logically.
It's like a man from a humble background married a wealthy daughter, but he said he wanted to take a concubine, but others could do it, but he couldn't.
Of course, everyone knows these things in their hearts, and they naturally scold "Xue Ni" in private, but rarely say it openly. Li Chengyu kept shouting "anti-Xue Ni" in private, and he really rushed to the palace.
Here, it is still "I came to rescue you".
Until then, Xue Bai asked in public.
"Why?"
"Don't you know?!"
Before Lai Yi could answer, Li Xian strode out and shouted in a deep voice.
Xue Bai was a little disappointed that Li Xian finally stood on the opposite side.
Back then, Li Xian participated in the palace coup initiated by Li Longji. Although Xue Bai demoted him, he thought that one day he would call him back and re-appoint him as prime minister. Unexpectedly, he gradually drifted away.
After all, Xue Bai personally killed Li Xian's brother Li Xian without any mercy.
"Are your reforms for the sake of the Tang Dynasty? Or are you trying to eliminate dissidents and cover up your ulterior motives?!"
Li Xian's words led the reform issue to Xue Bai's life experience.
This is Xue Bai's most fatal weakness.
But in fact, Li Xian was more sure that Xue Bai was Li Qian than Xue Bai himself, because he went to Hedong on Li Longji's secret order to find out whether Xue Bai was forcing An Lushan to rebel, and he suspected that Xue Bai was Li Qian.
At that time, he even determined that "the emperor's grandson Li Qian concealed his identity and approached His Majesty in the name of Xue Bai."
In other words, Li Xian was an important witness that Xue Bai could succeed to the throne.
Now it was he who was the first to publicly deny it in front of countless high officials and nobles.
"I suspect that you pretended to be the emperor's heir, usurped the country, and then killed Zhongliang in vain in the name of reform..."
"No need to doubt it!"
Xue Bai interrupted Li Xian's words loudly.
He knew that the Zhongliang mentioned by Li Xian was Li Xian. Li Xian said that "the Tang Dynasty was founded by good family members" and had a tit-for-tat conflict with Xue Bai. Now this conflict has been erased. No one wants to argue anymore, they just think about it.
How to deal with the other party.
It was like a debate that ended with a curse word.
Xue Bai also broke the jar.
"It is true that I am not the emperor's heir, so I will restore my name and change my country's name. What will you do with it?!"
"..."
Li Xian was about to speak full of accusations when he was stunned for a moment.
His long speeches were actually finished in one sentence by Xue Bai, so the words stuck in his throat, and then he raised his finger angrily at Xue Bai.
"You...you are rebelling!"
It was indeed Li Xian who was right. Xue Bai wanted to rebel from the bottom of his heart, to rebel against these feudal officials, and to rebel against the strict class system of the world, which divided people into three, six or nine levels.
He ascended to the position of emperor step by step, not for enjoyment. What he enjoyed in his previous life was something no emperor in the world could even imagine. If emperors were allowed to imagine his life, it would be like a farmer imagining that the emperor plowed the land with a golden hoe.
In this way, it is better to be an emperor than to rebel.
"That's right, I'm just the opposite!"
Not only Li Xian, but also all the officials who rushed into the palace were shocked.
They are the ones here to rebel.
At this moment, they realized that they actually did not have the courage to rebel. They talked about "great achievements", but in fact, they still subconsciously believed that Xue Bai would give in.
They were used to "conquering people with virtue", and their military strength was just the backing to show their strength. They thought they would argue and discuss as usual, but in the endless arguments, Xue Bai realized how powerful they were and became something they could manipulate at will.
"Mingjun".
However, Xue Bai was completely out of control.
Li Chengyu was also stunned. He was stunned for a while, then stepped forward and shouted at the guards on the steps.
"Did you all hear it? He admitted that he is Xue Ni and he rebelled... Are you still protecting him? Get out of the way! We will bring order to the chaos!"
After all, these ministers had too much and did not have the courage to fight for their lives. When they faced each other in battle, they still expected the other side's soldiers and horses to get out of the way.
Fan Lao listened and sneered.
The reason why he and his men are standing here is because they are accomplices who followed Xue Bai in his attempt to usurp the throne. How could they get out of the way?
Not only did they not get out of the way, they suddenly raised their weapons and shouted to kill.
"If you don't retreat, after three bells ring, anyone who dares to collide with His Majesty will be killed without mercy!"
"Boom——"
Above the bright hall, a long bell suddenly sounded.
The so-called "sound like a loud bell" means that the sound of the bell was so loud that it spread throughout Luoyang City.
"retreat!"
The guards were shouting and murderous.
Li Chengyu felt timid for no reason, so he took a few steps back and huddled among the ministers. Looking back, he felt more at ease when he saw the many people and horses they had brought with them.
"Boom——"
At the second bell, a small number of people were finally frightened and began to retreat.
The nobles and nobles gathered in front of the stone steps were unable to get off the stage at this time. Since Xue Bai admitted to treason in front of them, he was the mortal enemy of the Tang Dynasty. As the clan and ministers of the Tang Dynasty, how could they sit idly by and ignore it?
"Xue Ni!"
Someone shouted loudly.
"You brought trouble to the world, attempted to usurp the throne, killed loyal people, and harmed the people... and you still haven't eliminated the traitors for the Tang Dynasty?!"
"Let's see who controls the world today!"
Some people turned red in the face, raised their arms high and waved, and read out the famous lines of "Chao Wu Zhao Xi", trying to remind everyone of the disasters caused by Wu Zhou and the Tang Dynasty, and arouse resistance.
"Still not backing down?!"
"Kill it!"
Li Xian finally made up his mind.
However, he realized at this time that his side was not fully prepared for rebellion in advance and had not elected a commander.
At this time, Lai Yi was still in a daze and could not give orders with him.
"Lai Gong, Xue Ni has rebelled, we have to..."
"Boom——"
The last bell interrupted Li Xian's words.
He was still standing on the stone steps at this time. Looking back, he saw a murderous army of soldiers and horses rushing into the Qianyuan Gate.
"What's going on?" Li Xian murmured, "Where are our people guarding outside?"
In the past, when An Lushan entered Luoyang, he was furious because his eldest son An Qingzong was beheaded in Chang'an. He massacred court officials during the court meeting, and the Qianyuan Gate was full of corpses.
Today, the scene of catching a turtle in an urn was reenacted.
"The bell has passed! Anyone who dares to oppose His Majesty will be killed without mercy!"
Fan Lao shouted and waved his hand.
"Fire the arrow!"
At this time, no one noticed that they were just shooting arrows. With the weapons they had, shooting arrows was quite a merciful method.
"Puff puff puff puff..."
The nobles and nobles who stood in front to criticize Xue Bai suddenly screamed and many fell down.
Before Li Chengyu could react, he was hit by an arrow. It was stuck on his shoulder blade. It didn't go deep, but the barb hung there, which did cause some pain.
He had never suffered such a crime, so he couldn't help but scream, causing everyone around him to become more confused and push each other. As a result, he was the first to be pushed to the ground with his old arms and legs, and was kicked several times.
Those disciples of his clan, the Li clan in Longxi, used to behave in civilized and martial arts, and were heroic and heroic, but under the swords, guns and arrows, they just stepped on Li Chengyu and ran away with his head in his arms.
After a while, Li Chengyu's ribs were crushed and stabbed out of his abdomen.
It was a huge pain, but he was still alive and let out a pitiful cry.
Countless such wailing sounds reached Cui Youfu's ears, and Cui Youfu finally reacted from the shock and shook his head subconsciously to confirm that this was not his nightmare.
"His Majesty?"
Cui Youfu ignored the etiquette of monarchs and ministers, grabbed Xue Bai's sleeves, and shouted almost roaring: "Let them stop!"
"Are they pitiful?" Xue Bai asked, "Do you think they are pitiful now? If you don't do this today, they will be even more pitiful than this in the future."
"Stop it!"
"You allow them to annex the land and cause more and more people to leave the land and become refugees. One day the refugees will eat up their bones. I want to save them and have been urging them to stop, but they can't hear me."
"Your Majesty, I apologize on their behalf." Cui Youfu immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty's painstaking ministers understand this deeply, but please spare their lives for the time being, so as not to turn against each other with swords and axes, never to..."
"Didn't you hear just now? I have admitted that I am not the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. If you still regard me as the king, then give me a national title."
"What?"
Cui Youfu didn't seem to hear clearly. He was stunned for a while, then he realized what he was saying and quickly apologized.
"Your Majesty, please don't say such angry words! It's Li Xian who deserves to die. How dare you slander Your Majesty? Please kill Li Xian!"
With that said, Cui Youfu shouted to the bottom of the stone steps: "Li Xian, the culprit! Why don't you come up and apologize?!"
Xue Bai pulled him up and said: "I'm not angry, I mean it sincerely."
"Your Majesty is the king of the Tang Dynasty, the son of Emperor Fengtian, and Emperor Xuanzong. What Emperor Mu Zong has personally certified cannot be wrong." Cui Youfu was so anxious that he almost shed tears.
~~
Li Xian was shot to the ground at the beginning.
At that time, he was still dazed and could not react at all until he heard Cui Youfu's shout.
He stood up and looked around and found that it was a one-sided massacre.
"tyrant!"
Li Xian got angry and cursed. Instead of asking Xue Bai for sin as Cui Youfu advised him to do, he cursed loudly.
"Are you crazy? How dare you use swords and axes against me today when we are admonishing you?! You are so cruel and cruel, and you don't repent, and you will destroy yourself sooner or later!"
While cursing, he climbed up the stone steps and walked towards Xue Bai.
At this time, because of his anger, Li Xian no longer emphasized Xue Bai's "conspiracy to usurp", but kept scolding him for his cruelty.
Perhaps, in his heart, he still believed that Xue Bai was Li Qian.
"We, the loyal people, cannot surrender with swords or axes. Your killing to stop chaos will only arouse stronger resistance. The world will be in chaos because of you. You are the sinner of the Tang Dynasty!"
Fan Lao then ordered the guards to take him into custody.
However, Li Xian was very skilled in martial arts and drew his sword to fight. He actually killed two people in a row while still yelling at Xue Bai.
Although the guards originally did not want to kill him, his fierce resistance still left him scarred, and he finally fell on the stone steps when he was still more than ten steps away from Xue Bai.
"Tyrant! If you have the ability, if you kill one of me, what does it mean to kill them all?"
"What's the point of killing them?"
He once told Li Longji that sooner or later the world would recognize his throne because of his merits. What he didn't expect was that before the merits were accomplished, the sins had already been committed.
But no matter what, it is the result of him facing his true heart calmly.
What he asked for was to try his best.
He was also physically and mentally exhausted from fighting against this cruel world, and often felt powerless.
Then, when he has no other choice, he can only use this killing as his merit...