The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 304 The Night Banquet
The pond was shimmering, and the herring exposed the water and took a blister. The moment there was a slight sound of "boo", there was also the sound of "poof" of flesh and blood breaking on the shore, and the blood splashed into the pond and was diluted and melted away.

The branches and leaves swaying in the wind, the leaves fall off and flutter down.

"Next!"

The soldiers screamed, and the struggling people were pulled over like animals, pushed to the pond and knelt on the ground, and then the executioners stepped forward, pressed their heads, raised their knives, and chopped them off.

The bloody head tumbled to the pond, hit the lotus leaf and fell into the water, ups and downs.Afterwards, the next group of officials were pulled over, knelt down and beheaded.
The soldiers reported the names of the officials who had been tortured and died. Zhu Wen's fat face in the gazebo was trembling with excitement, and he quickly wrote notes on the names with the nib in his hand, such as birthplace, age, and why he died. On one side, Cui Yuan knelt down Come down and shout: "King Liang, don't kill any more, it's all because of me, I'm the mastermind!!"

"The mastermind is amazing." Zhu Wen smiled and looked at the yelling military servant on the ground, and snorted coldly with disdain: "If you enter this booklet, there will be no survivors. After killing them, they will take turns." Come on, don't be so anxious."

At this time, someone came from outside, with a wide-sleeved gray robe and a green shirt, handsome, about thirty years old, looking at the groups of dead bodies and officials waiting to be tortured, frivolously kicked one of the officials behind Back, he gave them a sip, and immediately walked into the gazebo with his wide sleeves swung.

"Zhen pays homage to King Liang."

This person's name was Li Zhen, and his great-grandfather was Li Baozhen, a hero of Zhongxing in the Tang Dynasty, but later he went to Chang'an for the imperial examination, and was not listed several times in succession.

He is quite quick-witted and eloquent, very much like Geng Qing, Zhu Wen relative to Jing Xiang and other counselors, he is quite partial to this man, often used in envoys and mediation places.

It is also to stagger him and Geng Qing, so as not to overlap their talents and appear wasteful.

"Why is Xingxu coming here when you have time?"

Zhu Wen put down his pen with a smile. The smile at this time was different from that of Cui Yuan and others. He raised his hand to invite the other party to sit down, and then waved outwards. The Minister of the Ministry of War dragged away.

The scholar came in, sat down opposite Zhu Wen, and poured wine: "King Liang, these officials can't be killed, and it's hard to find excuses to cover it later."

"Ah."

Zhu Wen frowned, and looked back to the pond. Two more officials had their heads cut off. After a while, he nodded and let the soldiers put away their knives.

"Then how to deal with them?"

"These officials, who claim to be Qingliu, are the mainstay of the Li family. It is better to sink them into the Yellow River and be the mainstay of the Li family forever. From the outside, it is said that these Qingliu had an accident on an outing and fell into the river in a panic."

An absurd excuse is better than none at all.

Zhu Wen laughed lightly, and smacked him on the head with a book, "You scholar's mind is really dirty." Over there, Li Zhen smiled and said nothing. This move, he knew, meant to be close. After a moment of silence, Zhu Wen nodded, "Then do as you say!"

The remaining 21 people, including Cui Yuan, were detained and returned to the south bank of the Yellow River with an army of more than 2000 people. Before leaving, Zhu Wen gave Niu Cunjie a wink. Inside, officials, servants, and cooks were all killed to prevent news from leaking out.

Cui Yuan and his group were taken to the bank of the Yellow River, their hands and feet were bound with ropes and tied with stone locks, and they were forced to the edge of the river bank step by step by swordsmen.

"Zhu Wen!! Dog thief, even if I die, I will not let you go even if I am a ghost!"

"The heavens have eyes, and you will die too!"

"Forgive me. King Liang, I don't dare to dare, so I will spare my life."

Shouting, crying and pleading in earnest, there was a lot of noise, Zhu Wen on horseback ignored them, and Li Zhenchao, who was also on horseback, nodded to the soldiers. The next moment, 21 officials were pushed down the river while screaming and crying. There were several bangs in succession, splashing countless water splashes in the waves, which were soon calmed down by the big waves, and everyone's robes could not be seen floating.

"A bunch of drowned ghosts."

Zhu Wen picked out his ears, looked at the figures who were not in the rushing waves of the Yellow River, and returned to Luoyang with soldiers and horses crossing the river in a happy mood.

The fifth day of September.

The news that more than 30 civil and military envoys and Jiedu envoys of the imperial court had disappeared in the Yellow River did not reach the court. On the fifth watch, in the shrine where half of the people were missing, Empress Dowager He's pretty face turned pale with fright when she heard the news from the ministers. , couldn't help but squeeze the young emperor Li Jue beside him, the latter only knew a little about human affairs, had never experienced such a battle, and his body was shaking more than the queen mother.

"Your Majesty, Queen Mother."

At this time, a figure slowly walked out among the civil servants, Liu Can's thin and long face, arched his hands with a smile, but did not bow.

"Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager, why are you trembling? These civil and military people, I think death is good. The family and country are restless, and they still want to go outside to play. God knows, but the palace is too big, and there are many such people in the palace. Cover up God's sight, or you'll have to die."

"Liu Pingzhang calm down, Your Majesty is still young, don't say such words." The person who spoke was Zhang Wenwei, the servant of Zhongshu. He used to be close to Cui Yuan and others, but he knew Zhu Wen was powerful and dared not accept the invitation. They conspired together and escaped a catastrophe. To dissuade Liu Can at this time, he also heard the meaning behind the other party's words, and wanted to kill a group of courtiers. Considering that they were all colleagues and preserved the vitality of the Li family, he opened his mouth , but the tone is gentle, without the meaning of contradicting.

Liu Can over there didn't put him in his eyes, just smiled and didn't bother with what he said just now, stretched out his hand and slapped suddenly, and in an instant, there was the sound of heavy footsteps outside the hall, hundreds of soldiers came in line, stepped on Go up the stone steps and line up outside the gate of the hall.

Everyone in the hall was shocked, Zhang Wenwei shouted loudly: "Liu Pingzhang, what are you doing?!"

"Your Majesty, there are too few guards in the audience, so I specially invited the king of Liang to play and dispatched some soldiers to guard the palace." Liu Can folded his hands in front of his stomach, said something with a smile, then raised his hand and waved his sleeves. Hundreds of soldiers collected their spears and swords and retreated left and right to guard the shrine.

What he did was to clearly tell the civil and military officials in the palace, as well as the Empress Dowager He who was hanging behind the curtain on the imperial steps, that it was best not to mess around, otherwise the Yellow River would only have a few more drowned ghosts.

After the court was gone, Liu Can felt unspeakably happy looking at these once high-ranking civil and military men. Almost all the counselors under King Liang's command were difficult to be named on the gold list, and difficult to display their ambitions, such as Jing Xiang, Li Zhen, Xie Tong, and Shang Shu Ling Geng Qing, who was still on his way back from Hebei, now that Xie Tong had passed away, if he wanted to take a step closer, he had to do things well and make it into King Liang's heart.

Maybe he can replace that Shang Shuling and become the King of Liang's side. After all, I often hear that Shang Shuling can come and go in and out of Liang Wang's mansion at will, and I feel somewhat jealous in my heart.

'It's just that I met Liang Wang who didn't make a fortune earlier than me, and he will replace him sooner or later! '

Liu Can looked at the palaces and attics, led the guards out of the imperial city, and went all the way to Prince Liang's mansion. He always asked King Liang for credit for the early court today, and he made a good impression on the other party with a smile. .

In the past, a young counselor named Li Zhen was also there, talking with King Liang in the front yard. Seeing him coming, Zhu Wen nodded and motioned for himself to sit next to him.

The maid came in and made tea and hurried away, and the discussion over there was settled. Zhu Wen took a sip of the tea, and then looked at Liu Can who had been waiting for a long time.

"What expressions do all the civil servants have today?"

He didn't ask the Empress Dowager He and the emperor, obviously he didn't take them seriously. In his eyes, one is a weak woman and the other is a 13-year-old child.

"Back to the King of Liang, all the civil and military officials were terrified." Liu Can couldn't help but chuckle when thinking of the faces of the people at the court meeting, "All the officials are terrified, and King Liang's future plans will be unimpeded. First, he will be called a big country and rule over 21 provinces. , Dabao is just around the corner.”

The sun shone into the hall door, pulling Zhu Wen's shadow against the wall. The fat figure closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and shook his head.

"It's too slow. Gu wants the throne now. Mr. Xie is still waiting."

In a deep voice, Zhu Wen opened his eyes, his eyes were piercing and majestic, "Go and arrange the matter of Li Yu's abdication, and Gu Ye will put eye drops on all the civil and military men and give them a clear message. Tonight, we will hold a banquet in the palace!" "

"King Liang, is this a little urgent?"

Liu Can also wanted to say that when she saw Zhu Wen's eyes filled with impatience, she quickly swallowed her words, and cupped her hands cautiously to apologize.

Wait until Liu Can takes the order to leave.Li Zhen in the middle hall looked at the door and stepped closer, smiled and said in a low voice: "King Liang, it seems that Liu Pingzhang still has some thoughts about the Li family in his heart."

The next moment, a thick palm slapped him on the face, and Zhu Wen lifted his foot to kick his thigh, "Get out."

The scholar staggered and almost fell. Realizing that he had slipped his words, he quickly knelt down on the ground to apologize, kowtowed, and exited the front yard in a rather embarrassing state.

Because of Li Keyong, Khitan's harassment, and Xie Tong's death, his mood couldn't get better, and his killing intent was serious, so he drove the scholar out, and he called Niu Cunjie.

"Someone wrote a letter and sent it to Yang Shihou, Ge Congzhou, and Geng Qing. At this time, they should be the teachers back. Just say that Gu wants to be the emperor, and see how they react."

After issuing several orders in succession, he returned to the side yard and called his two daughters-in-law to play, and he felt better just now.

Soon, the night fell and the palace was decorated with lanterns and festoons. The eunuchs and maids put smiles on their faces, and they were much more angry than in the past. He was also dragged around, and then sent back politely by Zhu Wen.

The banquet lasted, and the people who arrived were drinking, and finally became lively. Beside the King of Liang, there was a year-old man, whose appearance was six or seven points similar to Zhu Wen. After drinking a few glasses of wine, Zhu Wen listened Talking and laughing loudly with others, he suddenly squeezed the wine glass and splashed the wine in the glass on Zhu Wen's face.

The originally bustling hall was suddenly silent, and in the dead silence, everyone's hearts were in their throats, and the surrounding guards wanted to step forward, but none of them dared.

The person who poured out the drink was Zhu Quanyu, the elder brother of King Liang. In his early years, Zhu Wen brought his second brother Zhu Cun and nephew Zhu Youlun into Dangshan to become bandits.First of all, he has a good-natured personality, so he can't do things like murder and robbery. Second, if the three brothers are all out, who will take care of the old mother?

Later, when Zhu Wen made a fortune, he was brought here with his mother to enjoy the blessings, and he was also bestowed on high-ranking officials.

"Father, what are you doing?!"

The drink was thrown out suddenly, which startled the other person, Zhu Youliang hurried over and pulled his father Zhu Quanyu over, for fear of offending the third uncle.

"You get out of the way."

Zhu Quanyu, who had been drinking, had a different temperament from the past. His eyes were red and he looked at his younger brother with a gloomy face. He slammed the table and shouted loudly in front of everyone: "Zhu San, the position of the emperor, Are you sitting securely?! The three of you and my brother are no more than the people at the foot of Dangshan Mountain. It is His Majesty who valued you and let you sit in four towns as Jiedu envoys to have my Zhu family today, but you want to destroy the Li family for three hundred years. Sheji, where is your conscience—"

Zhu Wen's temper also came up, he grabbed the wine glass and smashed it to the ground, stood up, glared at his brother, his lips were tightly pursed, and his beard was trembling.

(End of this chapter)