It is said that the Young Emperor and the Queen Mother He were trapped in the Yongle Palace by Dong Zhuo since the palace chaos. They sent layers of guards to the Yan family to defend them, almost cutting off all contact with the outside world.
When the eunuchs and maids serving in the palace saw the empress dowager and the young emperor losing power, they acted boldly and rashly, deducting all expenses from the palace and lining their own pockets, and some even insulted her wantonly.
Thinking back to the time when Emperor Ling was extremely extravagant, no matter who the Queen Mother was, even Liu Bian lived a life of fine clothes and fine food. Now in Yongle Palace, the food and supplies are far inferior to the standards of the servants in the original palace.
Liu Bian was naturally cowardly and the Queen Mother was so ignorant that she shed tears every day. Although she was resentful of Dong Zhuo, she had no choice but to hope that someone loyal to the emperor and the country would rescue them from this prison.
One day, a pair of swallows flew over the palace. When Liu Bian saw the pair of swallows being carefree and free, he had mixed feelings. He thought that in his life, whether by Emperor Ling, He Jin, or even in the hands of Dong Zhuo, he had been played with at will. He has become a great person, but he is still like a puppet. No matter who wants to stand up to him, he can stand up and destroy him whenever he wants.
"The young grass is green and the smoke is condensed, and the two flying swallows are flying. The Luoshui is green, and people on the road admire it. Looking far into the distance, the blue clouds are deep, it is my old palace. Who can be loyal and righteous to vent the resentment in my heart!" A poem full of unwillingness and resentment. The song came out of Liu Bian's mouth accidentally.
There is deep resentment in the poem, and there is a hint of unwillingness in the meaning.
Her son's face was ashen, and tears like pear blossoms were rolling down. Empress Dowager He felt desolate and regretted greatly for believing Zhang Rang and other eunuchs' slander, and often opposed her eldest brother He Jin.
As a result of the current situation, no one among the foreign ministers was willing to save her mother and son.
When a tree falls, the descendants are scattered, and the closest relatives are no exception. Even my mother, Wuyangjun, and brother, He Miao, are not in court, and have become distant, running away to protect their own honor and wealth.
But the younger sister He Jie remembers this elder sister's kindness and still stays in Yongle Palace to accompany the orphans and widowed mothers.
Seeing the little sister wiping with a handkerchief and comforting her nephew who seemed to be of this age, Queen Mother He didn't know why, but a figure suddenly appeared in her mind, and that was Zhu Kui.
Among the foreign generals summoned by the eldest brother, he was a famous young general who won consecutive battles. Even if he only brings 3,000 troops to the capital, if he is willing to support Bian'er, he will still have a chance to make a comeback in the future.
Bian'er mentioned that Zhang Rang pretended to make him a former general and resisted his eldest brother, but he did not show up in the end. It was only known that his three thousand soldiers and horses were still near the capital, but they were missing.
Is it credible?
"Mei, do you think Zhu Kui is loyal and can be the pillar of the country's rejuvenation?" Queen Mother He came to her son, took the handkerchief, wiped it herself, and then turned around and asked.
He Jie looked at Queen Mother He with some confusion, wondering what she meant by asking. She was only fifteen years old and could not marry Zhu Kui. The next step was to wait for He Jin or Queen Mother He to arrange the marriage. Unfortunately, the He family was finished now, so naturally no one came to the door. Proposed marriage.
"Brother Kui must be a loyal minister. My sister is not familiar with political affairs. I only remember that when the late emperor was here, he often praised Brother Kui." He Jie thought for a moment and then replied.
When the Queen Mother He thought about it, she had indeed vaguely heard Ling Emperor Liu Hong say, "Whether you go into seclusion and sharpen your temper, you can stay as the crown prince and serve as an auxiliary minister." However, the crown prince here refers to Liu Xie.
Treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor, trying to find a way out. With the son being deposed, the mother and son will undoubtedly die. It doesn't matter if he dies, the son must be sent out.
He raised his head and looked outside the room, and found that no one was eavesdropping. He asked He Jie to look over, and whispered softly: "Amei, I have a big thing that I need you to help me with. It's about Bian'er's life."
Seeing that her sister was so solemn, she also heard about the young emperor's situation, but she was helpless and listened attentively: "Mei, go to Zhu Kui's house quickly. There should be servants taking care of it there. There must be a way to contact Zhu Kui.
, or perhaps the minister, Xi Zhicai, is his good friend, and you can consult him and ask them to save Bian'er's life."….
As she spoke, Queen Mother He's eyes were full of hope, and she clutched her sister's hand, trembling and begging.
"Sister, there's no need to do this. It's unbecoming of the Queen Mother. Bian'er is my nephew. My sister should do her best and give it a try." Remembering the Queen Mother He's kindness to her, He Jie agreed without hesitation.
Dong Zhuo had just accepted He Jin's troops, and although his younger brother He Miao had surrendered, his military power had not been completely relinquished. Therefore, he did not dare to humiliate the He family too much. He only imprisoned the Queen Mother He and her son, and did not control He Jie's access to the He family.
It is not prohibited in the palace.
But as Dong Zhuo's position was consolidated, it was not a matter of time before his clan died.
As soon as He Jie arrived at the Zhu Mansion to take charge of the affairs of the mansion, he took him to the opposite side to meet Xi Zhicai, and then told him everything about Queen Mother He's plans.
When Xi Zhicai heard this, he smiled bitterly. Queen Mother He had no choice but to do so. This was the last straw.
Although he hadn't seen Zhu Kui for many years, and there had been no news about him in the newspapers recently, he knew that Wang's Trading Company was inextricably linked to the Zhu family, so he took He Jie to Wang's Trading Company, hoping to
Zhu Kui should be very happy to know Zhu Kui's whereabouts and rescue the young emperor.
I didn't expect to see Wang's store, but I saw Chen Gong.
"So, the queen mother wants to ask my lord to help secretly rescue the young emperor from the palace. I'm afraid she has to think about it in the long run." Chen Gong was secretly happy. Just now he was thinking that Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor and ordered the princes just to blackmail the emperor. He had ways to support the young emperor.
If so, I would be willing to contend in name only.
According to orthodoxy, only the Young Emperor can fight against Liu Xie. The two are of the blood of Emperor Ling, and other clan members cannot compare with him.
"Miss He, does the Queen Mother have any ideas?" Chen Gong asked.
He Jie shook her head helplessly, neither she nor the Queen Mother He understood this.
Seeing that Chen Gong didn't ask many questions and looked a little thoughtful, he suddenly realized that the other party had the intention of rescuing the young emperor. He was so deliberate and had a plan.
It seems that times have changed, and the storyteller who once said he was loyal to me has now begun to seek his own benefit.
"By the way, does the public broadcaster know where Huai Ming is?" Xi Zhicai suddenly interrupted and asked.
"When Du Hong reported back, he was near Yangcheng Mountain. Now he must have changed the place. I don't know." Chen Gong did not hide anything from him and told him everything he knew.
"If you can't find Brother Kui, then Your Majesty." He Jie replied in a panic, looking up at Chen Gong who looked at ease.
Seeing the other party, he said: "Dong Zhuo is unethical and wants to abolish the establishment. We should try our best to rescue him. I am sure that the lord will forgive him afterwards. Zhicai, do you have a plan?"
Xi Zhicai replied with a smile: "Time is running out. Ding Yuan has been executed. There is only one foreign general called Huaiming left in Beijing, but it is no longer enough to affect the situation in Luoyang. I heard that Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu led an army of 50,000 Xiliang troops."
, we will arrive in Luoyang in the next few days, it is the time to abolish Li Li, and we don’t have much time."
"It is not easy to rescue His Majesty from deep inside the palace." He smiled at the corner of his eyes and said for Chen Gong: "The government has many plans, so it should have been planned long ago."
"Don't dare!" Chen Gong raised his hands and asked humbly: "Miss He, in the forbidden palace, Dong Zhuo should have no control over your majesty's diet?"
"That's all. In addition to personal freedom and food and drink expenses, there is a lot of money." He Jie replied.
"In fact, there is a famous imperial cook in the palace who has been favored by Wang's merchant house. He can use this to sneak into the palace. During meal time, he pretends to be a eunuch carrying dishes and enters the Yongle Palace. At that time, His Majesty and the Queen Mother are allowed to wear eunuch clothes and sneak out of the palace. In fact, there is a secret passage from the merchant house that leads directly to the outside of the city, you can take this route."
"What do Zhicai think?" He figured this out this morning and wanted Xi Zhicai to give him some advice.
"This is a good idea." Xi Zhicai nodded with a smile: "But if the time is arranged late at night." He turned to He Jie and said: "Miss He can tell the Queen Mother that at the second watch of the day, she pretended to be hungry and declared In the name of late night snack, he sneaked into Yongle Palace."….
"It's a good time to save people when it's dark and windy at night. At the same time, it's best to control a eunuch who is familiar with the terrain of the palace to lead the way."
In the Han Dynasty, there were no street lights or electric lights. Under such circumstances, although candles were lit in the palace, the visibility was still limited, and it was difficult to see even in the alleys deep in the palace.
"That's it, it's settled. Without further ado, I'll arrange the manpower and take action tomorrow night." Chen Gong said.
At this moment, a familiar voice from Yi Dao suddenly came to mind outside the door: "Two gentlemen are planning something good, Zhu Kui admires it."
"Squeak!" There was a sound of pushing the door, and four figures dressed as common people stepped in through the door. It was Zhu Kui with two soldiers, big and small.
"I've met my lord (general)!"
"Brother Kui!"
Zhu Kui smiled in greeting, stepped forward and sat down at the main seat, picked up the kettle on the table, poured himself a glass, and drank it all in one gulp: "I've been crawling through the tunnel for two hours, and I'm really thirsty to death."
He took the hand towel handed by He Jie and wiped the corners of his mouth: "It seems that I came just in time, just in time to rescue His Majesty. Sir, can you count me in?"
"What? My lord wants to personally enter the palace to rescue His Majesty. It's too dangerous. It's better to leave it to the dead soldiers and heroes. Why bother..." Chen Gong said anxiously.
Zhu Kui stretched out his hand to stop. In fact, he sneaked into Luo just for the sake of the Young Emperor. There are some things that he must personally lead: "Rescuing Your Majesty is so important. An Neng, a mere dead warrior, can take on this important task. Sir, there is no need to persuade him."
"It's just Mr.'s plan, but there are still some flaws." Zhu Kui looked back at He Jie seriously, his eyes staring straight at him. He couldn't help but lower his head in shame, holding on to his feet with both hands, not daring to look at each other.
"Miss Jie, please tell the Queen Mother that Xu Rong's 50,000 cavalry will arrive in Gyeonggi Province in three days. By then, the entire Hongnong and Henan Yin will be completely under control. The three thousand men under my command will no longer want to hide in the mountains and forests. , that can never happen again.”
"If His Majesty suddenly disappears from the palace, Dong Zhuo will definitely send out a large army to search Luoyang, Henan Yin, and Hongnong Army. If he does not retreat to Nanyang before that and is tracked by Dong Zhuo, His Majesty will be in danger."
"Therefore, someone must stay in the palace to try to stabilize Dong Zhuo. As long as he can buy a day or two, he can leave the palace calmly, and the three thousand cavalry can retreat safely. As long as he returns to Jiangxia County, he will not be afraid of Dong Zhuo's army. ."
Zhu Kui wrote every word clearly and slowly. Although He Jie didn't understand it very well, he listened quietly and wrote down every word.
When Xi Zhicai and Chen Gong heard this, they were a little shocked. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the person left behind to hold Dong Zhuo back was the Queen Mother He. She was the best choice, and for the sake of her son, she would definitely agree.
From this point of view, Zhu Kui's desire to rescue the young emperor was not entirely out of loyalty.
On the other hand, for safety reasons, Dong Zhuo would never allow the young emperor to be absent on the same day as the emperor was abolished. Otherwise, Huo Guang would become a supporter of the emperor by abolishing the emperor.
Loyal to the Liu family.
The latter is more similar to Wang Mang's style.
Dong Zhuo is not a mediocre person. The enemy is strong and we are weak. It is indeed very dangerous when the army marches violently.