The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 369 The Former Empress Dowager Emperor
The news that the Khitan's 50 troops went south to Youzhou has spread throughout the Central Plains, and is now spreading to the south of the Yangtze River.

Since Hebei fell into Li Cunxu's hands, a large portion of the tax was deducted, which made the merchants and common people in the Central Plains feel unspeakable, and the heavy tax burden was on their shoulders. A pile of corrupt officials is even worse.

In the past few days, people with bright eyes and ears have faintly noticed that Kaifeng has been acting frequently recently. The officials and servants in the yamen are collecting grain and tax money from house to house.

On the thirteenth day of the fifth month, a war against the Khitan broke out in Youzhou. The Emperor Liang made an order to prepare for the war, and he was bound to recapture Weibo and Hebei.The army began to assemble, and the generals and schools of each army also ordered one after another, and quickly returned to the camp from their homes and brothels to report.

At this time in the court hall, Zhu Youzhen had the aura not to be rejected by others, and suppressed the voices of opposition in the court. After all, fighting Khitan is defending against foreign enemies. It is a bit embarrassing to attack Hebei at this juncture.

"Li Cunxu didn't spend a single soldier to take our Hebei, did he say this? I just took back the land that originally belonged to me in Daliang, why not? As a courtier of Daliang, how can you say such a thing?! "

"His Majesty!"

"The food and fodder are assembled, and the army is on the ropes, so we have to send it out. Today's court meeting is here, retreat!"

With a flick of his robe sleeve, Zhu Youzhen waved the crowd away, got up and went down the imperial steps and went straight to the side hall. Not long after, four brothers Zhang Handing, Zhang Hanjie, Zhang Hanlun, Zhang Hanrong, and Zhongshu servant Zhao Yan followed quietly. The tacit understanding of the people, after the court meeting, they will discuss the following matters with the emperor in private, so as to prevent other civil and military favorites in the court.

"Your Majesty is very powerful in the court today, and those civil and military opponents turned pale with fright."

"That's right, it's like the rebirth of the great ancestor, with unpredictable power!"

Hearing the word 'Taizu', the taciturn Jingxiang's eyelids twitched. If there is anyone here who is most familiar with Zhu Wen, it is him.Compared with Zhu Wen at present, Zhu Youzhen is simply far behind. He has not inherited any martial arts and martial arts. If he is not lucky, he won the throne by drawing lots back then.

It cannot be said that Zhu Youwen is better than him.

"Don't flatter me, how can I compare with the late emperor?" Zhu Youzhen's face showed an angry look, but she looked lightly at the jesters behind her, but there was a smile in her eyes, and she still felt comfortable with the compliments.

"By the way, you are waiting outside, can you find out what happened to King Yong in Chang'an?"

"I don't know. When our people passed Tongguan, they fell into the pond like stones, splashed a little water, and there was no news." Zhang Hanlun spread his hands, and seeing the emperor frowning, he quickly smiled flatteringly, "Your Majesty, don't let me go." Urgent, I still have means, the caravans from Kaifeng know something about the situation there. I heard from them that there is also a mobilization of soldiers and horses in Chang'an, and it seems that they are preparing to go north."

go north?

Shouldn't you come to Kaifeng?

Zhu Youzhen frowned, looked in the direction of Jianyuefang, raised her hand casually, waved her wide sleeves backwards, let Zhao Yan, Zhang Hanjie, Jing Jing and others leave, and continued walking alone, and the surrounding guards also slowly moved forward. Get close, guard the emperor in the middle, and go towards Jianyuefang.

The workshop is not a single building, but a compact workshop composed of dozens of ordinary houses or several vertical or several rows side by side. Most of the people sitting here are palace people with positions in the palace.

Of course, there are also old people like the old people in the past, who are old and decrepit here, waiting for the future to kick their legs, send them to the forge, and finally drag them to the cemetery bought outside for burial. Name taboo, let people know who he is.

Li Hao has lived here for 11 years. From a teenager to his twenties, he is thin, his face is thin and blue, and he lacks food and clothing on weekdays. He also does some rough work with his mother in order to eat. For a good festival, the emperor showed kindness, so he had a little bit of water in his stomach to pass the meat.

As the young emperor of the former dynasty, being able to live to this day, in his mother's words, is already a gift from God.

Li Hao, who was sweeping the aisle, put down his broom, glanced at the distant scenery outside the square, his eyes were full of envy, and while he was looking around, suddenly a eunuch in blue robes rushed over, pushed him away and pushed him away. Kneeling on the ground, he said in a low voice, "Low your head, Your Majesty is coming."

Li Hao's heart skipped a beat, and at the same time his body trembled and he lowered his head, the sound of heavy footsteps spread towards this side, and teams of palace guards were guarding all around. , Long Boot approached him and stopped.

"Not dead yet?"

It was Zhu Youzhen's voice. With his hands behind his back, he looked at the figure kneeling and bowing his head, and snorted coldly in disdain. If it wasn't for Geng Qing's care, he would have killed the mother and son long ago, so how could he keep them in front of him?

After saying a word, seeing that the other party did not refute, he lifted his foot and kicked Li Jue to the ground, turned around and walked to the dilapidated old house in front of him. Mother and son, tired, sick and cold to death, saved him a lot of trouble.

It's a pity that his mother and his wife are really hard-fated. After ten years, they survived just like that.

An eunuch pushed open the door, and in the room that could be seen at a glance, the once beautiful and plump Empress Dowager He was kneeling beside the dilapidated tables and chairs. She was dressed in plain clothes, many places were patched, and she was much thinner. : "Meet Your Majesty!" In the voice, he raised his plain face, and his eyes looked extraordinarily clear and bright.

The woman is no longer young. After ten years of hard work, eating and sleeping in the open air, her hair was originally blue, with a lot of white hair mixed in. The once beautiful face has many wrinkles, and it is more like an elegant and pure lily.

"stand up."

Zhu Youzhen called out softly, and then raised her hand to let the guards and eunuchs go out to wait. Li Hao pinched the hem of his clothes and looked in, but was stopped by the guards outside. The emperor raised his hand suddenly, and there was a crisp 'pop'.

The slap slapped the woman's cheek hard, and her thin body immediately lay down on the table, and the tied hair was scattered around her shoulders.

"Bitch! What did you hide from me about the letter you wrote to Geng Qing? It's been so long, why hasn't he come here yet?!"

Like a raging beast, Zhu Youzhen stepped forward and grabbed the woman's messy bun, pulled her face up, slapped her face, and kicked her on the thigh, knocking her to the ground.

"talk!"

"Why didn't he come?!"

Zhu Youzhen ran over angrily, and kept stepping on He Renjun's ankle, thigh, and abdomen, "Did you tell him secretly? You are the empress dowager of the former dynasty, and you have no shame in having an affair with King Yong of this dynasty!"

Another heavy stomp on the woman's abdomen.

He Renjun clutched his stomach and screamed "Ah—" and rolled on the ground, begging again and again, "Your Majesty, don't beat me up, I'm not wrong!"

As soon as the tumbling stopped, another kick was kicked on the back, right in the middle of the vest, and a trace of blood spilled from the woman's mouth, and curled up against the table leg.

"mother!!"

Outside the house, Li Hao, who heard the screams, rushed to the door anxiously, but was knocked down by the guards with a scabbard and thrown out of the eaves.When he got up, there was another cracking sound of 'bang' in the room.

The broken bowl bounced from the woman's shoulders to the ground. After Zhu Youzhen finished spreading the wildfire, she finally felt relieved. She spat at the shivering and shivering woman, turned around and opened the door to go out, and waved her hand at Li Jue who was struggling to get up.

"Give your mother back to you."

Shu Shuang flicked his sleeves, walked behind him and strode around the cripple who got up. The three armies were about to start, and Zhu Youzhen still had a lot of things to deal with, so he left first.

"mother!"

Over there, Li Hao ran into the eaves, rushed into the room, hugged the woman with the table legs curled up, looked at the trembling mother, and wiped the blood from her mouth.

Li Hao gritted his teeth and sobbed and cried.

The bright sunshine gradually shrank behind the clouds after the sun turned, and the sky was gloomy, as if rain was coming.

Jing Xiang left the imperial city in a carriage, watched the bustling streets passing by from the bottom of his eyes, and when he was approaching the mansion, the coachman outside suddenly shouted: "What are you doing?"

A figure grabbed the coachman, then opened the curtain and came in. A strange strong man sat across from Jing Xiang.

The other party slapped a sharp knife on the short table and a token of the two capitals' horse army envoys. The man tilted his head in a certain direction and his voice was low.

"Tell the coachman to divert, someone wants to see you."

　Thanks to book friend oO Limulu Oo for the reward yesterday.

　　Let the spring breeze a little moved.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)