Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 617 Rebellion
The shouting and killing sounds inside and outside Sizhou City continued all night.

Li He was tied up and thrown alone in a woodshed in Dongyuan. He pricked up his ears and tried to judge the situation outside by listening to the sounds.

He had mixed feelings, but in the end he was so tired that he just dozed off for a while.

When he opened his eyes again, the chaos had stopped and there was a figure in front of him.

He came to his senses and looked carefully for a while, and saw Xue Bai looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Liu Zhan is such a loser." Li He said, "In this situation, he can't even kill you."

Xue Bai said: "It can be seen that you are not very smart either."

"I am just one of the thousands of people who oppose you." Li He was very modest and said, "Killing me will not help."

"Because of the reform? The rent and labor service system has come to an end, and it is natural to change the tax system. As for the collection of land and household registration, it only requires the wealthy families to sacrifice a small part of their interests. I really didn't expect you to resist so fiercely. I also thought that I had been very tolerant of you. If you follow my original intention, I should collect all the land in the world as public land and cut off land annexation from the root.

"Hahaha."

Li He suddenly burst into laughter.

There was some sadness in his eyes, but his determination to fight Xue Bai became stronger.

"Sure enough, you've been in the lowly class for too long, and your butt is crooked."

"Oh?" Xue Baiqi asked, "Am I sitting crookedly?"

"You know what? Asking the rich and powerful to give up their interests is not a big deal. When Emperor Xuanzong was in power, all the counties and prefectures paid tribute every year. But did anyone oppose him?"

"An Lushan opposed him."

"I'm not talking about An Lushan and other barbarians, but the talented people who helped the Li family rule the world. In this matter, the means by which Emperor Xuanzong manipulated the officials are not even one tenth as good as yours." Li He said, "You can ask the landowners to pay tribute, but if you want to divide their land equally, you are cutting their flesh."

"This is how much land is divided equally." Xue Bai disagreed.

In his opinion, he had only taken a small step forward based on the Two Tax Law and was still far from his goal.

Li He suddenly got angry when he heard his disapproving tone and shouted, "Attitude is what matters!"

It was difficult for him to express his dissatisfaction with Xue Bai without appearing unreasonable.

"The Tang Dynasty was conquered for the Li family? They were good family sons! Those who have stable property have perseverance and know etiquette. Good family sons with land and property are the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty! Do you know who are the landless and propertyless people in the world? They are captives, escapees, slaves, criminals, thieves, and refugees. These people are shameless and have no manners. If they are not controlled, they will be the source of disasters. You have been on the throne for only a few years and you want to make changes. You put the knife on the necks of good family sons and destroy the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. You want to confiscate their ancestral land and the property bought in black and white with just one word, and you are willing to kill officials for this. Whose side are you on?"

Li He waved his hands angrily, feeling that he had failed to express the subtlety of the situation, and added another sentence.

"You are hostile to good family girls, and everyone in the world can feel it."

Xue Bai was silent after hearing this. He did not refute but said, "You are very sensitive. I have indeed never considered the issue from the perspective of the landlords. I have not been able to represent the interests of the landlord class. It should be said that my words and deeds have stood in opposition to the landlord class. That is indeed the case."

This is the reason why Li He and others betrayed him. It was not because they doubted Xue Bai's background, but because of the inexplicable conflict that occurred in every tiny little thing.

They are essentially two kinds of people.

Xue Bai was never able to integrate into the feudal aristocracy.

He squatted down and said to Li He sincerely: "You are right. I am not on your side because I am a farmer's son."

"Tsk, you're used to being a government slave, used to being lowly!"

Until this point, Li He did not call Xue Bai a "Xue ni". After all, he was angry about his position.

Xue Bai was scolded twice but was not angry. He said, "It doesn't matter. What I want is to get things done, not to satisfy you nobles."

"Oh, you are alone, what can you do?"

Li He had a mocking look on his face. He knew Xue Bai came this time to persuade him to change his mind and follow the new law. But if he didn't bow his head, he would have no chance of survival.

Sure enough, Xue Bai sighed slightly after hearing what he said, "Whether I can do it or not, you won't be able to see it."

Li He knew that he had no way out, so he smiled with relief and gave Xue Bai a final warning.

"Don't think that killing me will help. Let me tell you, those who oppose you are far more than just a few of us. Your enemies are everywhere in the government and the country. Liu Zhan's mutiny, Sizhou's siege, Tongji Canal's blockade, these news have spread. Even if it's only for two days, the court will regard you as dead, and you will never come back to life. If you turn back now, maybe your crown prince can still succeed to the throne. Otherwise, more and more people will fight against 'Xue Ni', and then you will lose everything you have."

Having said this, Li He closed his eyes.

Xue Bai had nothing to say.

He realized that he had been too weak in the past and had made too many compromises with these powerful people.

He fulfilled their wish and gave himself the surname Li. He also tried to find a win-win result in his reforms. He did not completely make the land public, nor did he redistribute the land equally.

Unfortunately, the powerful people could not understand his compromise and just thought he was easy to bully.

The fact is that he made a huge mistake. He acted in the name of Li Qian from the beginning and trapped himself in Li Qian's bondage. He was too undetermined, too ruthless, and too incomplete.

If we want to make drastic changes and carry out reforms vigorously, how can we do it without bloodshed?
"killed."

Xue Bai gave an order as he walked out. The soldiers standing outside the door hesitated for a moment, but after receiving a cold glare from him, they quickly drew their swords and rushed in.

"puff."

With a loud bang, the knife came down and Li He in the house fell to the ground and died.

He was a descendant of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the great-grandson of King Wu Li Ke, the eldest son of King Xin'an Li Yi, and the elder brother of the famous minister Li Xian. He had made great contributions to the country and helped Xue Bai.

Xue Bai originally respected him and wanted to win his support, but unfortunately it ended up coming to a head with swords and axes.

"puff."

Not long after, Li Zangyong also fell in a pool of blood.

He was also a member of the Tang royal family, a capable and influential minister. He had helped Xue Bai quell the rebellion of Prince Yong, and could be considered a loyal minister.

Xue Bai originally thought that he could rely on Li Zangyong as his right-hand man and appoint him to preside over the reform in the East Road of Jiangnan. Unexpectedly, Li Zangyong became the vanguard of opposition to the reform.

"puff."

Another blow of the knife came down, and Lu Zhen was still shouting "unfair" when he died in a moment.

He was a famous scholar of the time, and as a surrendered minister who had once followed Li Heng, Xue Bai treated him well. But he was still persuaded by Deng Zhi to betray him, if not because he had no integrity, then because he was not born on Xue Bai's side.

After that, it was the brothers Deng Bin and Deng Tong, as well as a group of officials who participated in the treason.

As the sounds of swords cutting into flesh and blood rang out one after another, heads were hung on the top of Sizhou City. They were all famous ministers and officials, which frightened the officials and the people.

After all, it is common to see bones on the roadside, but it is not common for the powerful and wealthy to be slaughtered in this way.

~~
Songzhou.

After Zheng Ciming was beheaded, Pei Chen became the successor to the governor of Songzhou.

Pei Chen and Xue Bai were also old friends. His father was Pei Kuan, the Imperial Censor during the Tianbao period. At that time, the Pei family and Xue Bai joined forces to fight against Li Linfu and fought side by side.

Pei Chen was suddenly transferred to Songzhou, and he was overwhelmed. He tried hard to clean up the mess left by Zheng Ciming.

But not long after, news came from the south that shocked him greatly.

"Liu Zhan has rebelled! He raided Sizhou, captured the city, and cut off the Tongji Canal. Now the Saint's safety is unknown!"

"How could this be?" Pei Chen was shocked and panicked, not knowing what to do. He immediately called someone over and ordered, "Hurry, send the news to Dongdu at an urgent speed of 500 miles."

He stood up and paced back and forth, pondering his response, and issued several orders in succession, asking the counties under his jurisdiction to close the city gates and be on emergency alert, and to borrow troops from other states and counties, preparing to march south to support the king.

The Tongji Canal was the main artery for transporting taxes from Jiangnan to the two capitals. The sudden blockage of the lower reaches had a huge impact. Merchants and travelers were talking about it and spreading panic, which soon caused people to panic. Some people even abandoned their cargo ships and fled alone for fear of encountering war.

This has invisibly expanded the impact of the rebellion.

Pei Chen was still making intensive preparations to defend the king, but just two days later, news came from Sizhou that the emperor had issued an edict stating that Liu Zhan had been defeated and that there was no need to panic and that everything should continue as usual.

He was naturally relieved after receiving the imperial edict, but he was still worried and planned to submit a petition requesting to go south to protect the emperor.

At this time, the Eastern Capital sent an important official, and the court appointed Li Kui, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, as the pacification and transportation envoy of Henan and Jianghuai.

Pei Chen had never met Li Kui before, but he had heard of his name for a long time.

Li Kui was born in the Guzang branch of the Longxi Li family, a prominent family. He passed the imperial examination at the end of the Kaiyuan period, started as a lieutenant in Chenliu County, was promoted to the position of Right Picker of Relics, and was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, holding a high position in the Xuanzong Dynasty.

He himself has outstanding abilities. Although he has not had the opportunity to make outstanding contributions in recent years, he has been promoted step by step and was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, becoming an important official in the court.

"Envoy Li has arrived so quickly, are you here to quell the rebellion?" Pei Chen was overjoyed to see Li Kui. After greeting him, he could not wait to follow him to welcome the emperor.

"No hurry. The Saint's safety is uncertain. Don't act rashly."

"The Saint is safe." Pei Chen said, "I received the imperial edict..."

"I'm afraid it's fake." Li Kui stroked his beard, worried, and said, "I have sent people to investigate. The saint has fallen into Liu Zhan's hands. The so-called imperial edict is nothing but a forged edict by Liu Zhan."

Pei Chen asked suspiciously, "Envoy Li has just come from the Eastern Capital, how can he know?"

Li Kui waved his hand and did not answer. He sighed and said, "When I came from the Eastern Capital, the court officials all said that the country cannot be without a king for a day, and they all asked for Your Highness to ascend the throne."

"What? This is too hasty. It's only been a few days since the incident. How can you ..."

Pei Chen was halfway through his words when he and Li Kui looked at each other and suddenly realized something.

He was so shocked that he took several steps back and asked in disbelief, "Did you plan this?"

"No." Li Kui said, "But all the officials think that since there has been a turmoil, the new law should be stopped and the situation should be stabilized."

The point was made clear, and Pei Chen quickly understood it, shaking his head repeatedly.

"You are so brave, you can't succeed."

"Whether it is possible or not, this is the court's decision." Li Kui said, "You just need to stay put and wait for the court's call."

"When the saint returns, you will be executed for this heinous crime."

Pei Chen snorted coldly and strode out, ready to summon his confidants and lead his troops south to support the king.

However, when he pushed open the door, he saw rows of Li Kui's men standing outside. "Get out of the way!"

Pei Qian shouted loudly, but the other party rushed forward, pressed him to the ground and forcibly took him away.

Pei Xian was imprisoned in the government office for several days. Every day, his staff, friends, and family members would come to see him and persuade him to give up the idea of ​​serving the king.

"Uncle Eight, why are you being so stupid? Just don't do anything. When the new king ascends the throne, you will naturally have some credit."

The person who came to persuade him that day was Pei Chen's nephew-in-law, Liu Liangsi.

Pei Liuniang had also fallen in love with Xue Bai back then, but unfortunately they never became a couple. For this reason, Pei Liuniang was sad for a long time and even said that she wanted to become a Taoist priest. However, as a girl from a noble family, she had no choice, so she finally married the husband chosen by her family, a certain son of the Hedong Liu family.

Liu Liangsi originally served as a proofreader in the court. This time he came with Li Kui and he advised Pei Chen every few days.

"Uncle, can't you see it? The sage executed officials to uphold the new law, which angered the people. The officials then condoned Liu Zhan's rebellion. I got the news that Liu Zhan has occupied Suzhou, and the rebellion will not be quelled for a while. At this time, the situation is in their hands."

Pei Chen said: "You don't know the saint, but I knew him more than ten years ago, and I don't believe he would make such a mistake."

"Things have come to this point. Without the support of Yan Zhenqing, Guo Ziyi and others, would Li Kui dare to do this?" Liu Liangsi said, "Uncle, don't you think about why Li Kui was able to get the job? Who is helping him behind the scenes?"

Pei Chen immediately shook his head, not believing that Yan Zhenqing and Guo Ziyi would do such a thing.

But soon, he became suspicious. After all, if things continued to develop in this way, the person who would benefit the most would be Yan Zhenqing, who was assisting the crown prince in regulating the country in the court.

~~
Li Kui was busy writing and receiving letters every day, as if he was in contact with everyone in the Tang Dynasty.

"Sizhou has sent another envoy."

"Detain him." Li Kui ordered without hesitation, "He is a fake sent by Liu Zhan. No one is allowed to have contact with him."

"Here."

"Give me the forged edict."

Li Kui took the decree sent by Xue Bai and took a look at it. He put it down, and a look of worry appeared in his eyes. He said, "Why isn't he afraid?"

At this moment, all officials have done their best to put pressure on Xue Bai.

When Liu Zhan rebelled, except for Nan Jiyun, all the prefectures and counties did not send troops to the emperor, leaving him to fend for himself. As a subject, this was already a great act of treason.

Their purpose was to force Xue Bai to surrender. As long as Xue Bai bowed his head, admitted defeat, issued an edict to confess his guilt, expressed a compromising attitude, and delegated some power, Li Kui would send troops to rescue him.

But Xue Bai did not compromise, which simply forced Li Kui to do something even more outrageous.

"Has Liu Zhan's reply arrived?"

"not yet."

After asking several times, Li Kui finally waited for the messenger sent by Liu Zhan.

Li Kui did not go to meet him in person, but sent a trusted aide.

He was still restless, waiting for the aide to return, and asked hurriedly, "What happened?"

"Those who believe in the prophecy of the golden sword are indeed evil people. The people sent by Liu Zhan didn't even look at me. They are very domineering."

"That's not what I'm asking!" Li Kui asked patiently, "How is Liu Zhan now?"

"He has occupied Suzhou and is very powerful. He refused our offer of amnesty but is willing to cooperate. He said that as long as the prefectures and counties do not support the emperor, he will be able to capture Sizhou again and get rid of the emperor."

Upon hearing this, Li Kui was not happy but sighed. If he had a choice, he would not want to go this far.

"Tell him to go back and tell Liu Zhan that I have received statements from officials from various states and counties, and no one will send troops to support the king."

"Here."

The current situation is that Xue Bai's imperial edict to support the king has been issued, and he is waiting in Sizhou for the arrival of troops from all parties so that he can personally pacify Liu Zhan.

However, Xue Bai probably never expected that the officials of various states and counties had already betrayed him, and waiting for him were only the traitors led by Liu Zhan, with no reinforcements.

Li Kui waited for the results from the south day and night.

Until that night, there was an urgent knock on the door and he hurriedly opened it.

"How come there is still news arriving at this late hour?"

"The situation is urgent. The message was sent over the city gate."

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Liu Zhan has been recruited!"

Li Kui frowned and muttered, "This guy has been very arrogant since he occupied Suzhou. I asked him to surrender to me, but he refused. How can he be willing to surrender to me?"

"Liu Zhan was... recruited by the Saint."

"What did you say?"

"The saint has pacified Liu Zhan's rebellion."

Li Kui didn't believe it. Liu Zhan had assassinated the emperor twice, a heinous crime punishable by death, so it was impossible for him to be recruited.

The most important thing right now is that Xue Baisui has pacified Liu Zhan, and he will probably go north soon. How should he respond then?
Should he welcome him openly and secretly send someone to push Xue Bai into the Tongji Canal, or should he just openly make a military protest?
"Send a group of our people to Sizhou to defend the king, and say that we have only just recruited people." Li Kui decided to place his own people among the guards around the saint first. "Remember, you must show that you are concerned about the saint's safety. No, I will go myself..."

"Report!"

The next moment, a figure rushed into the hall, rolling and crawling.

"Envoy, the Saint has arrived!"

Li Kui thought he had heard wrongly.

He had just met Liu Zhan's envoy a few days ago and knew that Liu Zhan was determined to rebel. But in the blink of an eye, the saint recruited Liu Zhan, and then the imperial carriage arrived in Songzhou... This was absolutely impossible, as it would be too late in terms of time.

The only explanation is that the sage had already persuaded Liu Zhan to surrender. Although it is not known how he did this, the sage then instructed Liu Zhan to continue pretending to rebel.

Why do you do this?
To see who came to support the king? Yes, but it was definitely not the only purpose.

It was to paralyze himself and kill himself by surprise... When Li Kui thought of this, he was suddenly shocked.

He had a premonition that Xue Bai was going to kill him, and he was inevitably a little flustered. He thought that maybe he should raise an army to resist, but that would be an open rebellion.

Although he had been planning his rebellion every day, Li Kui found it difficult to make up his mind when he suddenly had to openly start a rebellion. Moreover, he had just arrived in Songzhou and only brought a few dozen confidants with him. How many of the guards in the city would listen to him?

"Hurry up and prepare your horses, gather our people..."

"The saint has arrived!"

Suddenly a loud shout was heard. Li Kui felt that the voice was very close. He rushed to the front door of the government office and saw Xue Bai, wearing armor, rushing in quickly surrounded by armored soldiers.

"I pay my respects to the Saint, may the Saint be well and safe."

Although he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, when he saw Xue Bai's godly appearance, Li Kui couldn't help but feel guilty and hurriedly saluted.

Xue Bai said: "The governor of Songzhou whom I appointed is Pei Chen, why is Li Qing here?"

"I am concerned about your Majesty's safety..."

"You are worried that I will come back alive." Xue Bai suddenly said.

Li Kui was startled and bowed down immediately, saying: "Someone must have wronged me. I..."

Xue Bai walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, scaring him so much that he stopped talking.

"Don't quibble. I sent Liu Zhan's envoy. You told him everything you should and shouldn't have said. You want to cooperate with Liu Zhan and take my life."

Li Kui wanted to question Xue Bai a few more times, but he suddenly thought of the deaths of Li He, Li Zangyong and others, and was so frightened that he could not say those profound words.

"Your Majesty wants to kill me?!" His voice changed due to panic, and he shouted: "Your Majesty can kill Li He and Li Zangyong during the rebellion, but you can't kill me! The rebellion has been decided, this is indiscriminate killing, again and again, does Your Majesty want to break with the ministers?!"

"But I think it works." Xue Bai said, "You famous families, no matter how I preach, you are unwilling to give up even a little bit of your interests. Now that a few people have been killed, you are afraid."

Li Kui was originally being pressed on the shoulder. After hearing these words, he was so frightened that his whole body deformed. He quickly crawled a few steps away from Xue Bai.

"No, my family has lived in Zhengzhou for generations. Your Majesty's new law has taken away my family's land, and now you want to kill me. My family will definitely rise up in arms, and Zhengzhou will be in chaos."

"You are honest." Xue Bai said, "Let's give it a try."

"Are you crazy?!"

In fact, it looked like Li Kui was the one who had gone crazy. He pointed at Xue Bai and shouted, "Are you crazy? Kill me? You are not without flaws. We will not even mention that you are pretending to be a member of the royal family. If you want to break up with me, then you are a traitor!"

"Then I am a traitor."

Xue Bai seemed to have bones of iron and steel, and remained unmoved no matter what Li Kui said.

Li Kui finally had no choice but to cry.

"The world will be in chaos, don't do this. Your Majesty, please exile me, exile me to Annan, and things can still be salvaged."

"What are you trying to save? Continue to compromise with you noble families? Stand up and see what you look like. Don't lose face for the Zhaojun Li family." Xue Bai shouted, "Stand up and stand up straight to protect your lofty and unshakable interests."

Li Kui actually stood up and stared at Xue Bai pitifully, saying, "You can't do this. We made you the emperor, and now you turn around and attack us."

As he spoke, he stood up straight, and a man behind Xue Bai stepped forward and swung his knife, knocking him to the ground.

"puff."

Xue Bai didn't know how many people he would have to kill on his way back to the court, but he made up his mind that he would not compromise no matter how many people he killed this time.

Until those interest groups that had been stubborn for thousands of years finally compromised with him.

If the other party refuses to compromise, he will regard it as a rebellion all over again.

He also had a similar attitude when trying to persuade Liu Zhan to surrender - "Want to rebel? I can join you."

(End of this chapter)