Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 127 The Collapse of Weiyang Palace

The open and secret struggles between Li and Guo from Liangzhou in Chang'an became more and more intense.

In order to prevent the emperor from being harmed, Li Jue ordered his nephew Li Xian to lead thousands of people to surround the imperial palace and sent three carriages to welcome Liu Xie to live in his mansion.

Taiwei Yang Biao stepped forward to stop the vicious soldiers and said indignantly: "From ancient times to now, there has never been a case of an emperor living in the house of a minister. How can you be so rude?"

Li Xian, who was wearing armor, said in a cold voice: "This is the order of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. You just need to obey it."

"The general said that the living must go, but the dead are not needed. Does Lord Yang want to die?"

Li Xian had a frown on his face and glared at me, holding his sword in his hand. He was ready to draw his sword as soon as Yang Biao said another word.

He doesn't care whether you are one of the Three Dukes or not. Over the years, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers have been executed. He couldn't find an excuse at other times, so killing them now is just the right opportunity to take away his wives, concubines and beautiful maids.

Yang Biao wanted to say something, but when he saw him full of murderous intent and his armor stained with blood, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Why should I bother with a warrior on the frontier? I'd better wait until I see Li Jue."

Seeing that the general was also huddled aside, the other officials dared not speak out.

When Emperor Liu Xie saw the blood on the Liangzhou soldiers, his face turned pale. He thought of Li and Guo, who had attacked Chang'an and slaughtered officials in front of him, leaving corpses lying on the ground with blood.

The guard's warm blood splashed on his face, frightening him so much that his whole body felt like a sieve and he dared not move.

At this moment, Liu Xie also clenched the corner of his silk robe, his knuckles turned slightly white, and was protected by the ministers in the crowd.

The noble lady Fu Shou happened to see this, stepped forward, held Liu Xie's hand, and whispered: "Don't be afraid, Your Majesty. The ministers are all loyal and will definitely keep Your Majesty safe."

All the ministers in the court, Liu Xie, and the nobles and beauties in the harem walked out of the palace in fear.

Li Xian waved his hand and ordered the Liangzhou soldiers to rush into the palace to plunder the palace maids and palace utensils and items.

In an instant, the woman's screams and cries were heard everywhere.

The palace maids were captured and pressed to the ground, and some soldiers were even ready to take off their armor to do the job on the spot.

After the things in front were robbed, they ran to rob the things inside. No soldier was willing to wait on the side for others to finish their job.

Some soldiers captured the palace maids, and regardless of their cries and struggles, they tied them up with the hemp ropes that had been prepared earlier, and then led them away to steal other items.

When Liu Xie walked out of the palace, he heard the screams and cries of a woman coming from the palace gate.

I couldn't help but stop and look back.

Li Xian saw this and smiled condescendingly while riding on his horse: "Your Majesty can't even spare the palace maids to reward the soldiers? Without us Liangzhou people, how could you sit firmly on the throne of the emperor?"

"Besides, we have not touched your noble and beautiful lady. If it were Master Dong, I'm afraid..."

As Li Xian spoke, he looked up to the sky and laughed, and the soldiers around him also laughed.

This kind of opportunity to laugh at the emperor doesn't come around often, and I have to say it's really refreshing.

Liu Xie was angry but dared not say anything, while the noble lady Fu Shou protected him behind her and looked coldly at Li Xian, who was beautiful and pretty.

Li Xian felt a strange emotion in his heart. After laughing, he waved his hand and asked the soldiers to continue to clear the way. He asked the emperor and Fu Shou to get on the carriage, and asked the court secretary Jia Xu and Zuo Ling to return in the carriage. The rest of the people walked.

The soldiers who rushed into the palace looted for several hours, moved out the valuables in the palace, and then set fire to the Chang'an Palace.

Located in the southern corner of West City, high up on Longshou Mountain, overlooking Chang'an City, the towering Weiyang Palace was suddenly set on fire with flames shooting into the sky.

When they arrived at Li Jue's heavily guarded mansion, Liu Xie did not want to encounter war again and was willing to mediate the conflict between Li and Guo.

Li Jue pondered for a moment and agreed to the emperor's intervention.

Liu Xie then ordered the three dukes and nine ministers to go to Guo Si's military camp to persuade him. Before he could say a few words, an aide whispered in Guo Si's ear: "General, it would be better for you to detain all the dukes and ministers. Without anyone in the court, it will be useless for Li Jue to hold the emperor." Guo Si nodded helplessly and ordered the soldiers to go into the tent and ask the ministers to rest somewhere else for a while. They didn't need to return tonight.

Taiwei Yang Biao was stunned for a moment, then said angrily: "Do the rear general and the chariot general want to kidnap the emperor and hostage the ministers, so that the emperor and his ministers will fight each other?"

"Grandmaster Dong would never do that. How could you tease the Han court like this? Your ancestors were all Han officials. How could you do such a thing that is disrespectful to your emperor and father?"

"KENG!" Guo Si stood up angrily and drew his sword. The sound of the sword coming out of the sheath made the surroundings fall into silence.

His staff reacted and quickly stopped him, saying, "General, please stop. Yang Gong is from the Hongnong Yang family. They have been Taiwei for four generations and are a prestigious family. You can't kill him out of anger!"

Guo Si gritted his teeth and said, "So what if there are three dukes for four generations? Didn't Lord Dong kill the Yuan family? If I kill Yang Biao by force, what will happen to the Hongnong Yang family?"

"How can I be afraid of the Yang family when I have well-trained soldiers?"

"It's not that I'm afraid, but there's no need to make enemies. If the general kills Yang Gong, Li Jue will be very happy. Don't make our relatives sad and our enemies happy." The staff persuaded Guo Si with all their might, and only then did he angrily put the knife back into the sheath.

He looked at Yang Biao and said coldly: "I am an old man and I am keeping you here to spoil your fun. Where are the officers? Beat them out with a whip."

The staff wanted to persuade him again, but Guo Si raised his hand and said, "No need to say more. It is precisely because these four generations of officials have controlled the government that we have no chance to succeed. I spared you today because I think of your friendship."

"Alas!" The staff saw Yang Gong being whipped out of the camp in a miserable state by the soldiers, and cried out in unbearable pain.

"Three ministers from four generations have ended up like this. Why did they control the government and appoint each other to official positions without leaving a way out for others?"

General Yang Mi sighed deeply.

……

When Liu Bei received news of the chaos in Chang'an City again, he felt that the time had come to send troops to Henei County.

Mi Zhu purchased tens of thousands of bushels of millet from various places in Xuzhou and transported them to Yanzhou. More grain was delivered in grain carts in succession.

The 170,000 hu of grain and fodder allocated from Taishan County and Chenliu County and stored in the granaries of Puyang and Lu County were sufficient to support the army's expedition.

Moreover, when going to Henei County, there is a big river to transport food and fodder, so there is no need to transport them by land, which is more convenient.

After Xun You returned to Pingyuan, Liu Bei gathered everyone to discuss the matter. Finally, they decided to conquer Henei and Henan Yin first and drive the Huns back to Bingzhou to prevent the Hu people from causing trouble and looting the people everywhere.

Xun Yu bowed and said, "Your Excellency may send out the troops. As for the matter of food and fodder, the Yingchuan nobles have been eagerly awaiting it. The Xun, Chen, Zhong, Guo, and Xin families are all willing to provide food and fodder."

"I have no other request, but that you pacify the Heluo and Central Plains, and that there will no longer be any more people scattered in the wilderness."

Xun You and Guo Jia bowed again.

Liu Bei frowned slightly. The Xun, Chen and Zhong families were all related by marriage, so it was not surprising that they could come together.

But didn’t the Xin family already bet on Yuan Benchu?
Why are they turning to him again? Is this the style of the nobility?

Liu Bei thought: "Although there are many noble families in Qingzhou, they may not be able to suppress the noble families in Yanzhou and Yuzhou. We must also bring in the noble families and noble families in Xuzhou. The most stable structure is to use the three together."

Then, common people and knights-errant were employed as military officers, village clerks, and agricultural officials.

In recent years, Liu Bei has been quietly curbing the entry of the children of the gentry into the market, giving the wealthy time to move up. He also measured the land and eliminated illegal powerful people, leaving a way for the people to survive and move up, and ordered that the common people should not buy and sell the divided farmland.

I wonder how long the laws restricting the sale of land can trap the powerful and the gentry.

He doesn't dare to touch these people, and after three generations it will depend on the skills of the successors.

Whether it was the Han Dynasty or later dynasties, agriculture has been the main focus throughout history, and land is the most valuable thing. Apart from gold, silver and beauties, the most important thing that the powerful and wealthy people care about is land.

(End of this chapter)