Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 470 Establishing Prestige
The floor tiles in front of Chengtian Gate are hard, and a walking stick hits it hard, making the sound of gold and stone.

Cui Yuxi did not let anyone help him, and leaned on a crutch. He left the frightened ministers step by step, and faced the soldiers brought by Xue Bai alone. He stood alone between the two groups of people and yelled angrily with all his hair: "Traitor! Desire! Are you going to rebel? Dare you kill me in front of all the officials?"

In the face of the butcher's knife, he did not give in, showing the pride of the Qinghe Cui family.

But as long as a question is asked, Xue Bai will answer. Between the questions and the answers, many things actually had room for discussion. What these wealthy families wanted was very simple, nothing more than the word "respect"; and Xue Bai obviously couldn't really kill all of them. It is unrealistic. The old stories of their disciples are spread all over the world. If word of today's incident spreads, Xue Bai will offend all the aristocratic families in the world.

Just talking about the present, if we kill these ministers who came today, the court will be half empty and unable to function. How can we resist the rebel offensive? Without these people, who will Xue Bai replace?

There are many things that young people cannot take for granted, and serious consequences must be considered. Xue Bai was just trying to scare them, and then everyone took a step back.

Amidst the sound of horse hoofbeats, Xue Bai drove his horse towards Cui Yuxi and drew his sword.

Cui Yuxi didn't believe that he dared to kill him. He raised his noble head, relied on his old age and said loudly: "You dare to say that you are not secretly harboring evil intentions?!"

Although the scolding was harsh, it actually gave Xue Bai a chance to explain in public.

"call--"

"The national crisis is brewing. Anyone who dares not to cooperate with the defense of the city and stirs up chaos will be beheaded!"

Xue Bai stood on his horse and watched the soldiers gallop past him, swiping their swords one after another.

Xue Bai then turned around, looked at him deeply for a while, and asked: "Then if this luxurious and extravagant atmosphere is gone, maybe it will be less easy for people who are greedy for profit?"

At the end of the corpse, he saw Xue Bai standing astride his horse and waved to him.

He then said seriously: "I thought that Tianbao was extravagant and glitzy first, so there was a prime minister like Yang Guozhong."

"Do you think a corrupt official is born due to circumstances, or does he have evil intentions to begin with?" Xue Bai suddenly asked him.

The anger in Cui Yuxi's eyes did not subside, and blood immediately splashed on the street, and the body wrapped in gorgeous silk satin fell to the ground.

This is the biggest difference between him and An Lushan and An Qingxu. He did not kill for vent, nor did he seek power for personal enjoyment. He wanted to dig out the rotten parts of the Tang Dynasty like a cure, sew them together, and let them grow new flesh.

Yuan Zai quickly crawled two steps towards Xue Bai, reluctantly got up and walked over, inevitably stepping on the body with every step. He finally waded through the sea of ​​corpses and arrived in front of Xue Baima. His first words were: "I'm not here to support them..."

Yuan Zai looked up, followed Xue Bai's gaze, and found that he was staring at the sea of ​​corpses in a daze, maybe thinking about why those officials were so greedy.

He was very old, over 70 years old at the time. It is difficult for ordinary people to live even half of his age these days. Moreover, he took good care of himself. Last year, he even took in a 28-year-old concubine. If it weren't for Xue If Bai kills him, he may live for many more years.

In this world, some people struggle hard under the cold wind, heavy snow, and scorching sun in the north of the Great Wall, and try their best to still have nothing; some people are born with rich clothes and fine food, and live in Chang'an with countless tenants, eating their blood. The killing knife was actually in the former's hand, and the knife was finally swung down.

But before he finished speaking, Xue Bai had already swung his sword.

"puff."

Soon, the street was filled with blood.

Screams kept ringing in his ears, and his red official robe was soaked with blood. He didn't know how long it took, as if a lifetime was so long. Yuan Zai had the courage to look up and glanced around, only to see corpses lying on the ground. The whole ground felt like purgatory on earth. He was stunned, and the light in his eyes even went out and became dull.

"Xue Bai, do you dare?!"

"I am one of my own!"

"Do it!"

In fact, it is impossible for Xue Bai to kill him. Nowadays, coordinating and distributing the money and food for the defense of the city is an extremely arduous and difficult task. How can it survive without him? I won’t kill him today because he is useful to the country.

Yuan Zai stood in a pool of blood, holding a gift and bowing his head, thinking, did he come to watch the excitement, and Xue Bai saw through his half-hearted thoughts? Or was he really punished because of that box of peach cakes?
He staggered towards the Shangshu Province, crossed the threshold, and looked around. He saw many low-level officials standing at the courtyard gate and looking out. Only then did he feel that he was far away from the killing. At the same time, something suddenly came to my mind.

When Xue Bai killed Cui Yuxi with one sword, Yuan Zai was watching the excitement in the crowd. It was not that he had chosen a stance, but that he wanted to grasp the direction of the wind as soon as possible. As he wished, he did grasp it.

He didn't blink, but counted carefully. Every time he saw an official in purple, red, or green robes fall, he was thinking about who could replace them.

However, a Shatuo man who couldn't understand what he was saying still rushed towards him regardless of holding a knife. Yuan Zai was so horrified that he turned around and ran away. Soon he heard the sound of knives chopping meat behind him.

Most of the soldiers that Wang Hao brought with him today were soldiers from the Yunzhong Army. Some of them were recruiting soldiers because they could not bear the mediocre rent and could not afford to eat, or they wanted to fight for a better future and risked their lives to join the army in the cold and cold places in the north; They are the border residents in the Yunzhong area, including Shatuo, Turks, Khitans, and Han people; some of them were not recognized for their talents, or were exiled and relegated to the army... In short, they actually have some resentment towards the imperial court, but the conflict has not yet come to an end. Fanyang and Pinglu towns are so sharp.

Yuan Zai was startled and wondered in his heart, could it be that Xue Bai knew that he had received a box of peach cakes? Who told the secret? Ye Ping?

"I hope that a different Tang Dynasty will have a different Yuan Zai." Xue Bai kicked the horse in the belly and drove the horse away, "Just take care of yourself."

But then, those crazy soldiers started to kill in his direction, as if wild beasts were out of their cages, their murderous intent was so high that they were completely out of control.

What frightened him even more was that the officials around him began to push him back, trying to escape in front of him.

"I thought it was due to years and years." Yuan Zai calmed down a little, "They have been intoxicated and dissipated for a long time, so they take it for granted."

There was no room for peace, and the killings began immediately.

A minister took advantage of Xue Bai's departure from the formation and instead ordered the guards to kill him.

Xue Bai's voice was like a bell, he shouted loudly and turned to look at Wang Ran.

Yuan Zai immediately shouted, raised his hands at the same time, and said: "I'm here to get the news!"

Such a trivial matter, being known to Xue Bai in such a short period of time, made him feel frightened.

"Don't pick on me! It's you who deserve to die!"

After all, it’s still that restless heart.

Yuan Zai's futou quickly fell to the ground, and he couldn't even find a chance to prove his identity to the murderous soldiers. Instead, he fell into an entanglement with the officials and could not extricate himself. Finally, he fell to the ground and had no choice but to hold his head and shout "I am one of my own", feeling extremely regretful that he came to join in the fun.

When the king saw them, he shot them dead with an arrow.

He knew that it was difficult for Wang Nan to make this determination. Although he was from the Pang family, Wang Nan was also born in the Langya Wang family, and there was also a very complicated family power behind him.

Outside Chang'an City, there were more than 100,000 rebels who wanted to vent. In fact, it was the same kind of anger. Today, it was just in another way, by Xue Bai's generals.

If Yuan Zai realized something, he glanced at the officials and said calmly: "What are you looking at? Everyone performs their duties... By the way, come here."

He recruited another official and said: "The grain list you recorded is missing a hundred stones of fine flour. Please make up for it."

The official was stunned, secretly thinking that it was Mr. Xiaojing Yuanzhong, and was thinking about what to say. Yuan Zai had already made a serious face and said: "The national crisis is approaching, so do something quickly."

~~
Daming Palace.

Bian Lingcheng ran through the Xingli Gate panting and shouted to Li Cong in surprise: "Your Highness! Something bad has happened, Xue Bai has rebelled!"

Li Cong came back from his contemplation. He was not very surprised at first. He just said: "Did you rebel again? When will there be some fresh evidence?"

"Your Highness, it's true! Xue Bai led his troops to kill in the imperial city... and killed all the ministers of the dynasty until their blood flowed like rivers. The situation was so terrible!" Bian Lingcheng said, kneeling on the ground with tears in his eyes, " I dare not talk nonsense about such a big matter. Your Highness will tell you when you ask someone."

"How many people died?"

"Hundreds of people! He is still searching in the city!"

Li Cong was shocked and quickly called someone to ask, but he still couldn't imagine such a scene, let alone how to deal with it.

"Your Highness." Bian Lingcheng hurriedly advised: "Summon Wang Sili and King Li Chengguang Qin quickly!"

"What about the city gate?"

Although Li Cong was panicking, he did not completely lose his mind. He knew that since Wang Nan was not guarding the city, if he transferred Wang Sili and Li Chengguang, the city of Chang'an would be over.

"As things have come to this, please take care of your own safety first!" Bian Lingcheng knelt on the ground, crying and kowtowing: "Your Highness is the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Summon General Qin to kill Xue Bai, the rebels It just dropped."

"Let me think about it. It's too sudden. Let me think about it."

"It's too late to think about it again. What if Xue Bai comes to the palace and forces His Highness to make him the county king."

Li Cong knew that this was possible. Xue Bai's intention was obviously to fight for the throne by restoring his status as the emperor's grandson. Just when he felt he was in danger, a eunuch came running outside the palace, reporting as he ran: "Your Highness, Xue Bai is requesting an audience."

"What? Is it coming?"

Bian Lingcheng also changed his face in shock, turned around, and asked regardless of propriety: "He brought troops?"

"It seems to have been brought."

"Your Highness, run away!"

Li Cong almost wanted to escape from Chang'an, but when he turned around and looked at the imperial couch, he finally shook his head dejectedly and said: "Where else can we escape... let's summon him to the Xuanzheng Palace."

He was dejected but also felt lucky, knowing that at least for now it was impossible for Xue Bai to kill him, so there was still hope. So he changed into a luxurious crown robe and went to the Xuanzheng Hall in person. He wanted to be more calm, but unconsciously he was still impatient. When he arrived at the Xuanzheng Hall, Xue Bai had just arrived.

Xue Bai, still wearing the bloody armor, walked into the palace and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me for wearing the armor and not being able to perform a full ceremony."

Li Cong subconsciously wanted to comfort him with gentle words, but hesitated for a while and remained angry.

"I followed the imperial edict to investigate the rebel spies in the city, and the results have been obtained." Xue Bai said, "Then I came to report to His Highness."

"Chasing the rebel spies? Is this the reason why you killed the Manchu minister?" Li Cong stood up and shouted: "Do you want to kill me too?!"

He was actually afraid, but rationally he believed that he could take a gamble. The Li family's prestige was still there. Well, he must not be weak at this time.

Sure enough, Xue Bai said: "I don't dare."

Immediately afterwards, he took out a few letters, presented them with both hands, and said: "This is the evidence that I found. Your Highness, please take a look."

Li Cong was disdainful, thinking that the situation had reached such a serious level, what use was the evidence? But since he didn't dare to break up with Xue Bai directly, he couldn't refuse to look at the evidence, and finally accepted the letters.

After unfolding it, Li Cong was greatly surprised when he saw the handwriting, and turned to look at Bian Lingcheng behind him.

Bian Lingcheng's eyes also fell on the letter paper, almost subconsciously, showing a look of horror. Li Cong immediately realized something was wrong. From the distance Bian Lingcheng was standing, he couldn't see clearly the specific content of the letter. The reason for his sudden loss of composure could only be that these letters were indeed written by him. .

Looking at the content again, it was about contacting the rebels and revealing information.

Li Cong suddenly turned around, looked at Bian Lingcheng defensively, took two steps back, and shouted: "Get him!"

"Injustice!"

Bian Lingcheng quickly knelt down on the ground, showing his loyalty and said: "I am unjustly accused. Someone framed me. These are not written by me, they are fake."

Li Cong watched vigilantly as Bian Lingcheng was captured, and then said, "I haven't said these were written by you."

"My slave has noticed that Xue Bai wants to harm my slave!"

Bian Lingcheng cried more and more, his old face wrinkled into a chrysanthemum with rain, his hands tightly grasping the carpet, for fear of being dragged down, begged: "Your Highness, I really think about Your Highness, I entered the palace at the age of six, before Although I didn’t serve His Highness, I grew up calling him ‘Da Lang’… If His Highness Xue Bai kills the slave girl today, there will be no loyal person around him in the future!”

Li Cong looked ugly and glanced at Xue Bai, but he didn't see Xue Bai stop and Ling Cheng.

"Your Highness." Bian Lingcheng continued to cry: "This is Xue Bai looking for an excuse to kill the slave to establish his authority. He resents the slave for discouraging His Highness from granting him a reward, and wants to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."

Li Cong knew in his heart that this was the case, but there was irrefutable proof that killing Bian Lingcheng was justified. Under this situation, if he wanted to stop Xue Bai from killing people, he must have greater prestige or military power, but he did not have it.

"Your Highness." Xue Bai spoke at this moment and said, "The rebels have invaded Chunming Gate."

"what?!"

Xue Bai said unhurriedly: "The situation is urgent, so I had no choice but to 'rather kill the wrong person than let him go'. Only then did he find the spies who were helping Bian Lingcheng contact the rebels in the city. After getting these letters, he learned that they should cooperate internally and externally." Open the city gate and ask Wang Nan to quickly intercept it."

"Did you stop it?" Li Cong asked quickly.

"Your Highness, please come to the city to take a look and inspire the soldiers."

"Your Highness, no!" Bian Lingcheng thought he had seized the opportunity to survive and shouted: "He wants to harm His Highness, Your Highness must not leave the palace!"

Xue Bai scolded: "The soldiers who are defending the city are the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. They have sacrificed their lives and blood to defend Chang'an. Will they harm Your Highness?!"

"You! It's you who wants to harm His Highness!" Bian Lingcheng glared at Xue Bai, furious.

Xue Bai calmed down and said to Li Cong: "Bian Lingcheng colluded with the rebels, please deal with it by Your Highness."

Bian Lingcheng knew that he would die, so he simply risked his life and shouted regardless: "Your Highness, please tell the truth, Xue Bai is not the son of the deposed Prince Ying! I searched according to the order and found no evidence. He has ulterior motives. Your Highness must Be careful! He has been plotting against His Highness. Even if you are about to die, your words are good..."

Li Cong was frightened when he heard these words, for fear that Xue Bai would be angry.

He wanted to observe the changes in Xue Bai's face, but when he looked, he happened to be looking at Xue Bai.

Xue Bai's eyes were firm, but Li Cong felt guilty.

In order to control the situation, he had to make another compromise and ordered: "Take Bian Lingcheng into custody and kill him with a stick."

"Your Highness, why don't you take him to the top of the city and behead him in front of the soldiers to boost the morale of the army?"

~~
Li Qiu ran through the corridor of the Daming Palace and saw that Li Cong had put on a suit of armor and was walking out surrounded by the servants.

"Grandma!"

Li Cong turned around, waited for his son to arrive, stretched out his hand, and patted his shoulder.

"Are you going to go up the city wall?" Li Qiu said: "I heard that Xue Bai has already plotted against me. He has killed many loyal ministers and now he wants to harm me."

"Who did you listen to?"

"That's what the palace says."

Li Cong frowned and said, "You don't believe this. Xue Bai is your brother. You can't be instigated."

"I don't believe it. I want to go with Grandpa to protect Grandpa."

"Listen to me." Li Cong patted Li Qiu's shoulders with both hands and whispered: "No matter what, Xue Bai will never kill me now. So, climbing the city to motivate the soldiers is a good way to win people's hearts. The opportunity to establish prestige in the military... One day, I will leave a complete and prosperous Tang Dynasty in your hands. "

Li Qiu was stunned, and Li Cong turned around and walked towards the palace gate.

At the palace gate, Xue Bai was standing on the top of Yanzheng Gate, holding a telescope and looking at the royal road between the walls. When Li Cong arrived, he handed over the telescope and said, "Your Highness, please take a look."

When there was no one to sow discord, or when Li Cong ignored Xue Bai's threat to him, Xue Bai gave him the impression of a reliable and capable minister. Li Cong sometimes also thinks that if he were stronger, he might be able to suppress Xue Bai?

He took the telescope and looked into the passage, and his expression gradually changed.

First, the shouts of killing came from far to near. The shouts were in Turkic language and were very vicious. Then, a group of rebels came into view.

They were Tong Luo Bing, with their hair in braids and their faces covered with thick beards. Through the telescope lens, they could gradually see that their faces were full of anger and murderous intent.

Li Cong was startled and quickly put down his telescope, only to find that the other party had not yet reached the point where he could be shot. But he was still surprised: "The rebels entered the city?! This... how did they get in?"

"Bian Lingcheng and the ministers in the city let them into Chunming Gate." Xue Bai said: "But your highness can rest assured that the king rarely closed the inner city gate in time and blocked the outer city gate with gunpowder. About a thousand rebels were captured. Trapped in a wall."

This double road was built by Li Longji to facilitate walking in Daming Palace, Xingqing Palace, and Qujiang Pond. At that time, he must not have thought that it would one day become the second city wall to block enemy troops.

"Okay, okay, thank you for your timely response." No matter what he thought in his heart, Li Cong could only praise.

But soon, he was worried that because of the wall, he would lead the rebels to the palace city.

Sure enough, the rebels also saw the Daming Palace, and they were excited and blew the whistle.

"kill!"

More and more rebels drove their horses towards this side, and at the same time, they drew their bows and nocked arrows.

With a "whoosh" sound, an arrow shot towards the top of the city.

"careful!"

The Imperial Guards quickly blocked Li Cong with their shields. After a few sounds, an arrow actually hit the city gate and hit the shield. The imperial guards were furious and fired arrows at the rebels under the city. Seeing the blood, the rebels became even more crazy and began to attack the palace gate.

As a result, the rebels trapped in the passage began to swarm this way.

"They knew that they were bound to die if they were trapped within the wall, so they wanted to break through Yanzheng Gate at all costs and rush into the palace." Xue Bai said.

Li Cong knew in his heart that he was deliberately trying to scare him, but the scene inside the wall was really scary.

Those Tongluo soldiers, wearing armor, worked together to slam into the palace gate with their bodies. Even when he was standing at the top of the city, he could feel the shaking under his feet.

"Can the palace gate... be defended?" Li Cong asked.

Xue Bai said: "Just attack with fire."

"Fire attack?"

Following Xue Bai's order, the Forbidden Army soldiers immediately began to pour kerosene on the rebels who were rushing to the city gate. Then, the rockets were fired, and the ground burst into flames.

Li Cong was shocked and said hurriedly: "Don't burn the city gate down."

"Your Highness, don't worry..."

"what!"

The shrill scream interrupted Li Cong's worry. Where he looked, he saw the rebel soldiers who were on fire rolling in the corridor in pain, wishing to die immediately.

Black smoke kept rising from them and drifted into his nostrils, filled with a disgusting smell of barbecue.

Li Cong covered his nose, as if he could feel the tar stuck to the corpse between his nose, and his stomach suddenly turned sour that he almost vomited it out. He forced himself to hold it in, but he knew he could hardly hold it in any longer.

There were actually rebels who were holding the city gate on fire and trying to burn it down. This behavior shocked Li Cong even more.

"God has a good life." He closed his eyes, turned around, and murmured: "These people were originally our border troops of the Tang Dynasty."

As he spoke, the sour water in his stomach had already reached his mouth, and Li Cong swallowed it back hard.

He is the prince and must not spit it out in front of the soldiers.

"This is the consequence of a traitor colluding with the rebels." Xue Bai said, "Your Highness, please deal with the traitor."

At this point, Li Cong couldn't care about anything else and immediately ordered Bian Lingcheng to be beheaded. He clenched his hands tightly, as if he hated Bian Lingcheng.

Soon, Bian Lingcheng was brought up, his mouth was tightly covered, he kept struggling, and he still had countless grievances he wanted to say.

Li Cong's eyes were red from the smoke and he was almost in tears. He waved his hand to signal that he would be executed immediately, but he pursed his lips and did not speak.

At this point in the situation, he knew that he must rely on the power of the eunuchs to take control of the initiative among various forces such as saints, powerful ministers, and generals, and then talk about reviving the Tang Dynasty.

He also knew that if Bian Lingcheng was killed today, the world would misunderstand that Xue Bai's execution of Chang'an Gongqing in Tianjie was his instruction. He will be used by Xue Bai again.

But the situation was stronger than the people, and the fire was already burning in front of them.

"cut!"

Despite this order, Bian Lingcheng's head fell.

Li Cong recalled the conversation between Xue Bai when he welcomed the saint back to Chang'an. At that time, he knew that what Xue Bai wanted was not an official position, but a title as a county king.

He didn't want to give it, but under the current situation, it seemed that he had no choice but to give it...

(End of this chapter)