Tibet.

Chapter 1472 Open Rebellion
At Caishikou in Chengdu, tens of thousands of people surrounded the execution platform. Guo Kun knelt on the platform with his hands tied behind his back. His face was pale and his whole body was trembling. Behind him stood a burly executioner with a thick-backed machete in his hand and his upper body bare.

One of the staff members shouted loudly: "It's time!"

The executioner shouted, "Behead!"

The executioner raised his machete high, and with one blow, a head rolled to the ground, and the people around cheered.

Hearing that his beloved son was publicly beheaded in Chengdu, Guo Huaiyan screamed "Ah!" and fainted immediately.

Everyone rushed forward to rescue the head of the family. After a while, Guo Huaiyan slowly woke up. His eyes were bloodshot and he gritted his teeth and said, "You are such a good Li Ye. You killed my son. I will never stop fighting you!"

Guo Huaiyan made up his mind to go all out. He immediately ordered all farmhands and warriors from all over the country to gather in Juchuan County, and paid 500,000 strings of cash to recruit soldiers from all over Bashu.

He was generous and offered high salaries, so applicants rushed to Hechuan from all directions. In just a few days, he recruited 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers. Together with Guo's own nearly 30,000 farmhands and warriors, the Guo army had a strength of 100,000. The Guo family had secretly stored hundreds of thousands of sets of armor, and they immediately armed the 100,000-strong army and named it the Zhaolie Army.

Guo Huaiyan also sent letters to various states, asking them to support him in resisting the abolition of slavery by force, and declared that his original surname was Liu and that he was a descendant of Emperor Zhaolie. He changed his surname to Guo to avoid persecution by the Sima family. Now he has restored his ancestral surname to Liu.

The twelve prefectures of Shannan West Road responded to Guo Huaiyan's call one after another.

But this time, except for the three Bashu nobles who had extremely close relations with the Guo family, the other nobles remained silent. They supported negotiating with the court to resolve the abolition of slavery, but now the Guo family was openly rebelling. Everyone knew the serious consequences, and no one was willing to participate.

After all, the loss of abolition is not that great. Would you join the rebellion for such a small loss? Unless you are kicked in the head by a donkey.

Liu Zhaosi, a wealthy family in Liujiang County, Quzhou, has been very troubled these days. Guo Huaiyan actually asked to include him in his family tree and change his name to Liu Huaiyan.

Liu Zhaosi was a descendant of Liu Chen, the grandson of Liu Bei, and was recognized as a descendant of Emperor Zhaolie in Shu.

The Liu family was a powerful family in Quzhou. Liu Zhaosi also supported Guo Huaiyan in opposing the abolition order, but he refused to support Guo Huaiyan in rebellion.

But he did not dare to refuse Guo Huaiyan's request. Quzhou was too close to Hezhou. If Guo Huaiyan was angered, the Liu family might be in danger of being destroyed.

Liu Zhaosi quickly called his two brothers to discuss countermeasures.

The third brother, Liu Zhaoyu, frowned and said, "Just a few slaves, just restore their civilian status. How much money can they lose? Is the Guo family going to rebel for such a small amount of money?"

The second son, Liu Zhaofeng, sneered and said, "The abolition order is just an excuse. The problem of the Guo family is not as simple as a few slaves. They secretly stored weapons, sold weapons to Nanzhao privately before, and raised tens of thousands of farmhands and slaves. Which one of these is not a serious crime?"

Liu Zhaosi sighed and said, "The real crime of the Guo family was that they took in Tang prisoners of war from the Nanzhao War, a total of 20,000 people. This matter had been reported by local officials at the time, but they bribed Yang Guozhong with 20,000 strings of cash, and the matter was left unresolved. Later, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, and then there was the rebellion of the feudal lords, followed by the internal struggle for imperial power, and this matter was gradually forgotten. Most of those prisoners of war and slaves died, and the rest were content with the status quo. Once the emperor knew about this, the Guo family would definitely be exterminated, and Guo Huaiyan would rebel. Everyone was smart, and few people were willing to fight against the court for a few slaves, so almost no powerful families followed the Guo family in the rebellion. Those state officials who responded were all kept by the Guo family. How dare they not follow?"

Liu Zhaoyu and Liu Zhaofeng looked at each other in surprise. The Guo family was so bold that they actually dared to accept Tang army prisoners of war as slaves.

Liu Zhaosi said worriedly, "Of course we won't rebel against the Guo family, but the problem is that Guo Huaiyan wants to pretend to be a descendant of Emperor Zhaolie and wants to join our family. What should we do? If we don't agree, Guo Huaiyan will retaliate. If we agree, he will definitely implicate us. So let's discuss and find a foolproof plan."

Liu Zhaofeng rolled his eyes and said, "Brother, I have a solution!" "What solution?"

"We hid the real family tablet and genealogy, and made a fake one to deceive Guo Huaiyan. When he failed, we replaced it with the real one and denied accepting the Guo family into the family."

Liu Zhaoyu slapped his thigh heavily, "Second brother, this is a good idea. We can also call the clan members to discuss the matter. Everyone unanimously rejects the Guo family's admission into the clan, and then sign and seal it. This is the evidence. Then we can make a fake meeting record, agreeing to the Guo family's admission into the clan, and then forge the signature and seal it, and give it to Guo Huaiyan. When they come to verify it, we will say that it was forged by Guo Huaiyan himself. When we present the real resolution, the court will not be able to pursue us anymore."

Liu Zhaosi thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it this way! I'll arrange for someone to make a copy right away."

Hezhou governor Guo Xiang was Guo Huaiyan's cousin. When he learned about the affairs of the Jia family in Qiongzhou, he was very worried. At night, he found Guo Huaiyan.

Guo Huaiyan said coldly, "I also know about the Jia family's affairs. Jia Yuan was stupid. He only prepared 2,000 troops and wanted to fight against the court. If he doesn't die, who will die? Will the court be reasonable? The court only recognizes strength. If you are strong, they will naturally reason with you. If I am not fully prepared, then our Guo family will have the same fate as the Jia family."

Guo Xiang sighed, "Brother, if you recruit troops, I'm afraid the court will no longer be able to make peace with us."

Guo Huaiyan shook his head, "Then you are wrong. The court publicly executed my son, which means they will not negotiate with us anymore. There is no turning back. Surrender means death, and resistance also means death. So why not resist? Wait for the court to kill our whole family and then take our wealth for nothing?"

Guo Xiang nodded, "I understand what you said, brother. I just suggested that you leave a way out for the Guo family."

Guo Huaiyan smiled and said, "I know that after our Lishui flows to Pyu Kingdom, it will form a vast plain there. I will move some of my people there and expand our territory there."

Guo Huaiyan was talking about the Pyu Plain, which is today's Irrawaddy River Plain in Myanmar. Because Guo Huaiyan had long-term trade with Nanzhao, he knew there was such a good place.

Guo Xiang was still worried. With the emperor's strength, how long could they hold out? But things had come to this point and there was no point in worrying, so he had to say goodbye and leave.

In Chang'an, Emperor Li Ye and the entire Council of State Affairs all had their eyes on Bashu. The Internal Security Intelligence Agency sent them the latest news every day via eagle mail.

When they heard that the Guo family had recruited an army of 70,000 to 80,000, all members of the Political Affairs Hall were shocked. This was an open rebellion!
In the Political Affairs Hall, Li Ye said to the eight senior officials of the Political Affairs Hall: "Things are not that simple. The Guo family's rebellion has nothing to do with the abolition order. We have received intelligence that the Guo family is still hiding extremely serious problems, and it is even involved in the war between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao. The internal guards received a report from a wealthy family. I won't say who it was. It said that the Guo family has been selling a large number of weapons to Nanzhao since the early years of Tianbao. Nanzhao used the spoils of war to repay the debt to the Guo family. It may include 20,000 Tang army prisoners of war who became slave laborers in the Guo family's salt wells. So once slavery is abolished, this matter will be exposed."

The government hall was completely silent. Everyone looked at each other in shock. The Guo family actually accepted Tang army prisoners of war as slave laborers, and there were as many as 20,000 of them. Is this possible? Even if they had the guts to do this, they would not dare to do it!

Wei Jiansu asked, "Your Majesty, after the Tang army was defeated, I was ordered to go to Jiannan Jiedufu to appease the people, and I didn't hear about this incident!"

"This incident did not happen immediately. It happened three months after the war ended. An official discovered something and reported it to the court, but it was withheld by Yang Guozhong. It is said that Yang Guozhong accepted a bribe of 20,000 strings of cash from the Guo family. Later, the official who reported it was transferred away, and the incident was left unresolved."

Liu Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "I think this is very likely true. The Guo family did not hesitate to rebel because the abolition order would bring up this matter."

Li Ye sneered and said, "I publicly executed his son to force him to rebel. I don't want to leave this cancer of the Bashu nobles to future generations."

(End of this chapter)