Chapter seven hundred and ninety fourth Tangzhou changed hands
"Shoot! Shoot the man in red robe to death!"
Although the people in Prince Yue's Mansion below the city had been severely hit by fire oil bombs, Sun San still refused to give up. When he saw a tall young man in red robe rolling to the ground in anger, Sun San's mouth immediately showed a trace of anger.
Smiling ferociously, he shouted and gave orders in a loud voice.
"Whizzing……"
Sun San gave the order, and six sergeants armed with repeating crossbows responded to the sound. With the sound of machine guns, dozens of steel arrows flew through the air like locusts, whistling towards the man in red official robes.
The young man shot at him with a burst of fire. The poor young man was burned in such a miserable state that he could not avoid the barrage of arrows. He only had time to let out a heart-rending howl before he was shot into a hedgehog.
"Third brother, ah..., rush, rush to the city, don't take away the thief!"
Although Li Chong prided himself on being brave and brave, he was actually a rookie who had never fought before. When he was suddenly attacked, he was stunned on the spot. It was not until he saw the young man in red robe died on the spot that he let out an angry howl.
, roared angrily.
"Up to town!"
"Follow me!"
"rush!"
…
Among the nearly 2,000 troops led by Li Chong, in addition to 1,500 royal guards, there were also more than 400 wealthy merchants led by two masters, Zhang Chu and Yan Wanshan. These people were capable of fighting.
Maybe not, but he is quite good at dealing with such chaotic scenes. Almost at the same time as Li Chong gave the order, the two masters Zhang and Yan spread out their bodies at the same time, leading their respective subordinates to rush into the city gate cave.
, intending to climb up the city gate tower along the stairs inside the city gate to control this strategic location.
"withdraw!"
Sun San originally wanted to confirm whether the dead young man in red robe was really Li Wen himself, but he did not expect that the people from the Yue Prince's Mansion and others would react so quickly. He did not dare to stay in this dangerous place any longer, so he hurriedly yelled.
, led his troops to flee along the city wall towards the west gate, but before leaving, they did not forget to throw the repeating crossbow, accessories and other items on the floor.
"Report, young prince, the thief has escaped, and many relics were found at the scene. Please let me know clearly!"
Sun San and others fled very quickly. Zhang Chu and others chased for a while. Seeing that they could not catch up, and fearing that they would be ambushed, they did not dare to pursue them any longer. After guarding the city head, they sent a guard down to the city and captured them.
The news was reported to Li Chong.
"Humph, seal off the scene. No one is allowed to leave the place without permission. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy!"
Li Chong's face was as gloomy as ice. He didn't pay any attention to the expressions of the two local officials Pei Xuancheng and Yan Xiao who had returned, and issued the martial law order in a gloomy tone.
"Li Langzhong, it seems that this case should be handled by me, Tangzhou?"
Although Li Chong is the crown prince of the Yue Kingdom, his actual official title is just that of a doctor in the Ministry of War. In terms of official rank, he is just below the fifth rank, let alone Pei Xuancheng's fourth rank, and Yan Xiao's fifth rank.
On the contrary, his behavior of issuing orders without authorization was undoubtedly an act beyond his authority. Although Pei Xuancheng was about to step down, he had not yet stepped down. As the governor, he naturally could not sit back and watch Li Chong issue random orders here, so he stood up from the side.
, said with an unhappy tone.
"My lords, please!"
Li Chong's temper has always been very violent. Except for the fact that he did not dare to be arrogant in front of the King of Yue, if the others dared to disobey, they would not be spared lightly, even in the face of the world-powerful Empress Wu and the unparalleled bravery.
Prince Li Xian also dared to protest loudly, but when faced with Pei Xuancheng's doubts, he rarely remained calm and did not say much. He just had a sullen face, waved his hand, and walked forward in stride.
In the city gate cave, as soon as these actions came out, Pei and Yan could not say anything more, so they could only follow Li Chong helplessly.
"My little prince, are my subordinates incompetent? They failed to catch the murderer, so I ask the young prince to convict him."
As soon as Li Chong and his entourage went up to the city gate tower, Zhang Chu, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried forward to greet them, bowed and apologized with an apologetic look on his face.
"What did you find?"
Li Chong waved his hand to stop Zhang Chu's words, looked around the chaotic scene, and asked coldly.
"When I return to the young prince, I found six repeating crossbows with the emblem of the Hexi Army on them. In addition, I found several accessories of the East Palace Guards. I would like to ask the young prince to inspect them."
As soon as he talked about what he had learned at the scene, Zhang Chu's face instantly became ferocious, and he almost gritted his teeth and reported the situation one by one.
"Two adults, do you have any advice on this, huh?"
Li Chong did not rush forward to verify what Zhang Chu said, but turned sideways, glanced at Pei and Yan, and snorted in a drawl.
"Li Langzhong, I have said that this is a case in Tangzhou and must be resolved by me in Tangzhou. Others are not allowed to do it without authorization!"
Regarding Li Chong's anti-customer behavior, Yan Xiao just blinked and said nothing, but Pei Xuancheng couldn't help it, stepped forward with a livid face, and protested righteously.
"Well, Mr. Pei said it well. If anything happens in Tangzhou, it is natural that it should be dealt with in Tangzhou. Come and invite the third brother here!"
Li Chong looked at Pei Xuancheng coldly for a while, then suddenly laughed sinisterly. First he affirmed Pei Xuancheng a few words, then suddenly raised his voice and shouted loudly.
"Um?"
"Huh?"
…
Upon hearing what Li Chong said, both Pei and Yan couldn't help but be stunned, for no other reason than because when the three carriages were attacked earlier, the young man in red robe who escaped from the middle carriage had understood clearly. The ground died under the crossbow. Yan Xiao witnessed this with his own eyes. Although Pei Xuancheng had not witnessed it, he had seen the body of the young man in red robe. He thought that the deceased must be Li Wen. Li Chong's bluster was obviously not what happened. Although Pei and Yan had different thoughts, their expressions of surprise and uncertainty were the same.
"promise!"
Li Chong gave the order, and the personal guards who had guards on their sides responded loudly and left. After a while, two people in civilian clothes walked up to the city gate tower. One of them was tall and was exactly the person he was. Li Wen died under the crossbow, and the other person was a handsome middle-aged scholar, who turned out to be Chen Wushuang, the chief think tank of the Yue Prince's Palace!
"Brother!"
Li Wen was in a convoy that left Caizhou. Covered by a group of dead soldiers from the Yue Prince's Palace, Li Wen sneaked to Tangzhou day and night. During the hurried journey, he suffered a lot, and his originally red and tender complexion was now gone. He was quite defeated, but he was in good spirits. As soon as Fang reached the top of the city, he rushed to Li Chong's side in a few strides and greeted him triumphantly.
"Well, the third brother came just in time. Master Pei proposed that Tangzhou should be cut off from Tangzhou, and I think this should be the case. Since you have taken over Tangzhou according to the decree, I will hand over the matter to Master Pei."
Li Chong curled his lips, showed a sarcastic smile, waved his hand towards Li Wen, and gave instructions in a nonchalant manner.
"Okay, I'll leave it to my little brother."
Li Wen felt very proud at the thought of being able to control the important place of Tangzhou immediately. He smiled and responded casually. Then he turned to look at Pei and Yan, pretending to hold his hands in front of him and said: "My lords, I have invited you. I, General Li Wen, have come to Tangzhou to take up my post under His Majesty's order. I'm sorry to have you waiting so long."
"I dare not, General Li has worked hard all the way. Please go to the inn to rest first. If you have anything to do, we can discuss it tomorrow."
Although Pei Xuancheng had never been involved in the whirlpool of political disputes in the court, he was an upright person, but he was very dissatisfied with the people of the Yue Prince's Mansion. Naturally, he did not want to fulfill the wishes of the Yue Prince's Mansion and the others, so he gave up and returned.
He bowed and responded perfunctorily.
"Master Pei, what you said is wrong. I have come under the emperor's order and I dare not delay for a moment. Now that there are thieves who want to assassinate me, we must find out as soon as possible. It is said that it is better to choose the day than to hit it. Please Pei
Your Majesty, it is appropriate for you to hand over the affairs of the state."
Li Wen was originally a vulgar person, but now he was speaking in a very polite manner. It was obvious that he had memorized this line in advance.
"This... General Li doesn't know. The delivery matter is trivial and cannot be accomplished in one day. No matter how urgent it is, it can only be done after I return to the Yamen."
Although he didn't quite understand why the Yue Palace and his party wanted to hand over the state affairs in such a hurry, Pei Xuancheng subconsciously didn't want to fulfill their wish. After pondering for a moment, he still used excuses to reject Li Wen's proposal.
"Don't you, Lord Pei, obey the authority when the matter is urgent? Now, there is an imperial edict here, does Lord Pei have to do something to resist the decree, eh?"
Upon hearing Pei Xuancheng's endless excuses, Li Wen immediately lowered his face, reached out from his wide sleeves and took out a yellow silk-covered imperial edict, held it in both hands, and raised it high above his head.
He asked in a domineering tone.
"Pei doesn't dare. Since there is an imperial edict, everything should be done in accordance with the imperial edict."
As soon as the imperial decree came out, no matter how unwilling he was, Pei Xuancheng had no choice but to take a small step back, bowed and replied.
"Very good. In that case, the handover between you and me has been completed. Please go back to your home and rest. I will be responsible for this place!"
Li Wen had been trained by Chen Wushuang countless times before he came here, so he knew the plot well. When he saw Pei Xuancheng retreating, he immediately hurried forward and said something.
"Master Li, stay here. I will take my leave!"
After being forced to relinquish his position as governor, although Pei Xuancheng was extremely angry, he was no longer qualified to manage state affairs. No matter how reluctant he was, he could only say a few words with a livid face, flick his sleeves, and lead the way.
The attendant walked down the city gate tower and returned to the house on his own.
"Sir Yan, I was assassinated before I took office. I'm afraid the public security in Tangzhou will be worrying."
Li Wen ignored Pei Xuancheng's anger and left, looked sideways at Yan Xiao, and said with a smile.
"this……"
Knowing that Li Wen was speaking in an official tone, Yan Xiao had no choice but to bow helplessly and wisely remained silent.
"Sir Yan, these assassins were able to sneak into the city gate tower and possess military standard equipment. I'm afraid it's not that simple. There must be someone responsible. Until the investigation is clear, all the officials in Gungun will not be able to escape suspicion. I
The decision has been made, the whole city is under martial law, all the officials present should feel aggrieved first, and after I solve the case, we can discuss the rest. I don’t know what Mr. Yan wants, huh?"
Once he had the power in his hands, Li Wenke unceremoniously picked up the chicken feather as an arrow and shouted with full official authority.
"Isn't this inappropriate?"
As soon as he heard that Li Wen wanted to detain all the officials, Yan Xiao had something in his heart. He was so shocked that he broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly spoke out his objections.
"There's nothing wrong with it. If a thief escapes, does Mr. Yan want to take full responsibility?"
Li Wen smiled cruelly and scolded him unceremoniously.
"My lord, you are joking. How dare you, a lower official? How dare you, a lower official? It's just, ah, it's just a matter of great importance. Sir, do you think we can discuss it later?"
Assassinating a court official is a serious crime. How dare Yan Xiao really take the blame on himself?
"Well, it's settled. Come, invite all the officials to the inn, and entertain them. I'll have my own opinion later!"
What Li Wen wanted was to control the entire Tangzhou, so how could he care what the officials in Gongun thought. Seeing that Yan Xiao had lowered his head, he stopped talking, his face darkened, and he stopped drinking. With a voice, a group of guards from the Yue Prince's Mansion took action upon hearing the order. Regardless of the protests of the Tangzhou officials, they brazenly detained all the officials present, big and small...