Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 623 Hard-hearted
Thanks to the fact that Wu Zetian built the Mingtang high enough, Xue Bai could actually see the soldiers pouring in from outside the palace gate.

If it were any other emperor, he might have fled long ago. For example, during the Jingyuan Rebellion in history, the rebels stationed their troops under the Danfeng Tower, and Emperor Dezong of Tang fled in a hurry.

Xue Bai always boasted of his wisdom, but now he was facing the same situation as Emperor Dezong of Tang. If he escaped, perhaps the "Nine Moves of the Son of Heaven" of the Tang Dynasty would have to happen to him alone.

"Your Majesty, Minister Cui requests to see you."

While the eunuch was still reporting, Cui Youfu had already rushed into the palace and said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty has finally forced them to revolt. Are you satisfied?!"

This was too rude. Du Jin, who was standing behind Xue Bai, immediately shouted, "Cui Youfu, you are so bold!"

"I am an important official of the imperial court, giving direct advice to the emperor. It is not your turn as a woman to butt in. Do you think you can be the hen that crows at dawn?!"

Cui Youfu contradicted Du Jin with one sentence, and then bowed to Xue Bai and said, "I ask Your Majesty to come forward to appease the soldiers, so as to prevent the situation from getting out of control."

"According to Mr. Cui's opinion, how should I appease him?"

"If you can issue an edict of self-blame, stop the looting, and expel Du Erniang, I'm sure the people will be at peace and their hearts will be at peace."

Although the demand of "expelling Du Erniang" was added by Cui Youfu on a whim, it coincided with the interests of the opposition. It best demonstrated Xue Bai's attitude of submission and also made Xue Bai hand over the power in his hands.

After hearing this, Du Erniang's originally angry face calmed down.

She is Xue Bai's arm, and she knows very well that Xue Bai would never cut off his own arm.

The fact that Cui Youfu could make such a request shows that he is extremely arrogant and believes deep down that Xue Bai should give up everything and bow to them.

really.

"What if I don't?"

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

This simple sentence was Cui Youfu's threat.

As if in response to him, a deafening shout rang out from the Qianyuan Gate, rushing over like a raging wave.

Xue Bai then walked down the Mingtang, left the main hall, stood on the stone steps and greeted those who opposed him with his eyes.

Cui Youfu quickly followed, squinted his eyes, and murmured, "How did they get into the palace?"

Instead, he was even more surprised.

Xue Bai thought about it, sighed with disappointment, and asked Du Jin, "Have you found out that Yuan Zai had any dealings with the rebellious officials?"

"Yuan Zai?"

Du Jin was surprised and shook her head.

Yuan Zai was one of Xue Bai's most trusted ministers and an important figure in charge of the reform. How could he stand on the side of the opposition?
Xue Bai had always known that Yuan Zai was a corrupt official, so he repeatedly warned him against this, thinking that he could change him and thus prove that he had changed history.

Now Yuan Zai must have been shaken and reached out, and was caught with a handle, so he had no choice but to compromise with the opposition. Yes, even Yan Zhenqing couldn't withstand the storm, so how could we expect Yuan Zai to withstand it?

Just like you can never persuade a gambling addict to change, perhaps all you can do is respect his fate.

"Your Majesty, have you seen this? More and more people are betraying you." Cui Youfu said, "If you continue to act on your own, Your Majesty will really be left alone."

"I have been alone from the beginning."

The two sides got closer.

The nobles who came striding over finally saw Xue Bai standing in front of the Mingtang.

However, at the same time, dense footsteps sounded from behind the Mingtang. Rows of soldiers in neat armor rushed out like flowing water and lined up on the stone steps, some holding up shields, some holding up halberds, and drawing bows and arrows. In a moment, they formed an iron wall.

The leading general was not Guo Qianli, but Fan Lao, whom Xue Bai trusted more.

It is conceivable that Xue Bai was well prepared and it was impossible for them to succeed in the mutiny easily.

"You have trespassed into the palace and are planning a rebellion?!" Fan Lao asked loudly.

Lai Zhen, Li Xian and others then stepped out from the crowd, stood calmly and fearlessly at the foot of the stone steps, and confronted Xue Bai.

They have so much to say.

But when he opened his mouth, the first sentence he said was -

"We have heard that there are thieves in the palace, so we have come to protect you!"

Li Ying also said the same thing when the Three Concubines Case occurred.

……

Li Chengyu was at the back of the team, looking up anxiously, trying to see what was happening in front of him.

He regretted not going to the front with Lai Zhen, Li Xian and others to lead the army. At that time, some people said, "Mr. Li is highly respected and should be our leader," but Li Chengyu declined the offer because he had no official position.

Fortunately, the progress was much smoother than expected, and the credit of deposing and enthroning the emperor went to someone else.

"You have to go to the front."

"Something is wrong." Li Mi was looking at Qianyuan Gate, and suddenly thought of something. He frowned and said, "There may be an ambush today. We must quickly persuade you to stop."

Li Chengyu said: "Now that the situation has come to an end, how can we retreat?"

Li Mi was a little anxious. He did not argue with him and went straight to the front of the team, but was soon stopped by a general.

"I am Li Mi, and I have something important to tell you."

"Mr. Li has also seen it. Now is not the right time. Please wait a moment."

Li Mi said: "Tell Lai Zhen that the emperor has already made plans and we must not conflict with him. Please apologize first and we will discuss the plan later."

"Okay, Mr. Li, please wait here. I'll pass on the message."

The general then ordered his soldiers to keep an eye on Li Mi, and turned around and left.

Li Chengyu quickly caught up with the general, but was not stopped, and started talking with him.

"Li Mi is known as a genius, but when he came out of retirement this time, others did not take him seriously. Lord Li, do you know why?" asked the general.

Li Chengyu asked, "Is it because Yan Zhenqing invited him to come out of seclusion?"

"First, he and Xue Ni are old acquaintances. He assisted Prince Zhong in the past, but Prince Zhong failed to seize the throne, and he became the prime minister instead. This shows his position. He didn't come earlier or later, but came when we were starting the rebellion. When he saw that we were about to succeed, he came and threatened us, deceiving us to apologize to Xue Ni. How could we be deceived by him?"

Li Chengyu and Li Mi were old acquaintances. Li Chengyu had always trusted Li Mi's character and had never thought about it in this regard. Only now did he suddenly realize that it was no wonder that the person who was supposed to be appointed as a military advisor had been neglected this time and could only follow behind him.

"But what if what he said is true?" Li Chengyu was still a little worried.

"It must be fake. Our great achievement is right before our eyes. How can we be deceived by his few words?"

Li Chengyu agreed with this and rushed to the front to denounce Xue Ni's various crimes...

Over there, Li Mi waited for a long time but was always stopped behind, and he realized that these people did not trust him.

He was also decisive and turned around and left.

After leaving Qianyuan Gate, he saw more and more nobles rushing over here, as if they were attending court, so he stopped an official and asked, "What happened?"

"You came out of the palace and asked me?"

Li Mi's Taoist robe was quite unique in this scene, so although the official refuted, he also told the whole story.

"The emperor is unpopular, and we are responding to their wishes and coming here to denounce them!"

"what?"

Li Mi asked several people and got similar answers.

He knew that Xue Bai's new policy actually had quite a few supporters, but he didn't see any of them at this moment. It was too abnormal and there must be a big problem.

So he quickened his pace and rushed out of the palace. Suddenly, he saw fireworks flashing in the sky outside Luoyang City. Although it was in the daytime, it still painted the sky with a momentary red glow.

It was like someone was sending a signal.

Looking back again, Li Mi was surprised to see rows of soldiers quietly appearing beside the Luo River.

There was an armored general riding a horse in front, waving a command flag silently, directing the soldiers to surround the palace.

I am used to seeing noisy armies, but when I suddenly discovered that there is an army that can march quietly, I felt an inexplicable sense of fear.

~~
In front of the Mingtang, the emperor and his ministers were still confronting each other across the stone steps.

But Xue Bai was already fed up.

Those discussions happened over and over again and were discussed over and over again but failed to solve the fundamental problem.

He knew it in his heart because these were conflicts of fundamental interests and could not be resolved through talks.

The reason why we are still discussing it is because of people's luck and weakness. They always think that they can achieve their goals without paying any price by trying harder.

But everything in the world has a price, it is inevitable.

"Your Majesty, I am doing this for your own good!"

Lai Zhen was very excited. He had already walked up the stone steps several times, until he was within the range of the swords and spears of the imperial guards. However, he didn't care about his own safety at all and was still shouting.

"What you have done has shaken the foundation of the country..."

Xue Bai has always been too lazy to pay attention to others, but Lai Chen is special.

While others were doing it for their own interests, Lai Chen took the lead in person in order to control the situation. It is difficult to understand his thoughts. Simply put, he was afraid that the local officials would be forced to rebel by the new law, causing chaos in the country, so he organized them to form this orderly protest.

The premise is that in Lai Zhen's heart, Xue Bai was indeed completely wrong.

This is a twisted person, doing twisted things, which are laborious and thankless, and may offend all parties in the end, but there are always such people in the world.

So Xue Bai scolded him.

"Old-fashioned man! The Tang Dynasty was founded on the equal-field system, and its foundation lies in the equal distribution of land. Ask yourself, who destroyed the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, was it these greedy parasites, or was it me who was in charge of the equal distribution of land?!"

The more Lai Zhen was scolded, the more stubborn he became. He stiffened his neck and said, "You know it's wrong but you still do it. You are bringing disaster to the country and the people!"

"Why can't I do it?"

"Don't you understand yet?" Lai Ting said, "Others may succeed in changing their ways, but you won't!"

Xue Bai said: "Okay! Tell me, why?!"

He knew that in history, the Tang court had also reformed the tax system. Although not as radical as his, the Two Tax System and various miscellaneous taxes including the rent and labor system ran in parallel. After all, the reform was successful by patching together all kinds of taxes, and there was no such great resistance at all.

Why did the reform fail when it came to him?

In addition to the fact that he enforced the new laws more strictly, another very important reason was that the nobles and aristocratic families in the world did not agree with him in their hearts.

Some people thought that he pretended to be a royal family and usurped the throne, while others, even if they believed that he was Li Qian, still despised his lowly past.

They would inevitably think, "We have no choice but to accept you as the emperor, so you just need to be obedient and follow our wishes."

This is the lack of orthodoxy, nothing goes smoothly.

It's like a man of humble origin marries the daughter of a wealthy family, but asks for a concubine. Others can do it, but he can't.

Of course, everyone knew these things, and they naturally cursed "Xue Ni" in private, but they rarely said it openly. Li Chengyu kept shouting "Xue Ni rebelled" in private, and when he really rushed to the palace, he still said "I came to rescue you."

It was not until this time that Xue Bai asked the question in public.

"Why?"

"Don't you know?!"

Before Lai Zhen could answer, Li Xian strode out and shouted in a deep and stern voice.

Xue Bai was a little disappointed that Li Xian finally stood on the opposite side.

When Li Xian participated in the palace coup launched by Li Longji, Xue Bai demoted him, but thought that he would call him back to be the prime minister again one day. Unexpectedly, they drifted apart. After all, Xue Bai killed Li Xian's brother Li He with his own hands without any mercy.

"Are you reforming the law for the sake of the Tang Dynasty? Or are you doing it to eliminate dissidents and cover up your ulterior motives?!"

With just one sentence, Li Xian brought the issue of the reform to Xue Bai's life experience.

This is Xue Bai’s most fatal weakness.

But in fact, Li Xian was more certain than Xue Bai himself that Xue Bai was Li Qian, because he went to Hedong on Li Longji's secret order to investigate whether Xue Bai had forced An Lushan to rebel, and he suspected that Xue Bai was Li Qian.

At that time, he even determined that "the emperor's grandson Li Qian concealed his identity and approached Your Majesty under the name of Xue Bai."

In other words, Li Xian was an important witness that enabled Xue Bai to succeed to the throne.

Now, he was the first to openly deny it in front of countless nobles and aristocratic families.

"I suspect you are pretending to be the heir to the throne, usurping the throne, and killing loyal officials in the name of reform..."

"No need to doubt it!"

Xue Bai interrupted Li Xian loudly.

He knew that the loyal and good person Li Xian mentioned was Li He. Li He had said that "Tang Dynasty was founded on sons of good families", which was a tit-for-tat ideological conflict with Xue Bai. Now this conflict has been erased. No one wants to argue anymore and they only think about how to get rid of each other.

It's like at the end of a debate, someone just starts swearing.

Xue Bai also gave up.

"I am indeed not the heir to the throne. I will restore my name and change the name of my country. What do you think?!"

"..."

Li Xian was about to accuse others of something, but was stunned when he heard the words.

His lengthy speech was actually finished off by Xue Bai in just one sentence, so the words got stuck in his throat for a moment, and then he raised his finger and pointed at Xue Bai angrily.

"You...you are rebelling!"

Li Xian was indeed right. Deep down, Xue Bai wanted to rebel, to rebel against these feudal nobles and to rebel against this world with strict class systems that divided people into different levels.

He ascended the throne step by step, not to enjoy himself. The things he enjoyed in his previous life were beyond the imagination of other emperors. If emperors were asked to imagine his life, it would be like a farmer imagining that the emperor was plowing the land with a golden hoe.

In this case, it is better to rebel than to be an emperor.

"Yes, I am the rebel!"

Not only Li Xian, but all the officials who rushed into the palace were shocked.

They are the ones who came to rebel.

At this moment, they realized that they did not have the courage to rebel. Although they talked about "great achievements", in their subconscious they still believed that Xue Bai would surrender.

They have been accustomed to "conquering others with virtue", and military force is only a backing for showing strength. They thought that they would argue and discuss as usual, but in the endless talk of reasoning, Xue Bai would realize their strength and become a "wise king" who could be manipulated by them at will.

However, Xue Bai was completely out of control.

Li Chengyu was also stunned. He was stunned for a long time, then stepped forward and shouted at the guards on the steps.

"Did you all hear that? He admitted that he was Xue Ni, he rebelled... Are you still protecting him? Get out of the way! We are going to set things right!"

After all, these ministers had too much and did not have the courage to fight to the death. When the battle came, they still hoped that the enemy troops would give way.

After hearing this, Fan Lao sneered.

The reason why he and his subordinates can stand here is because they are accomplices who followed Xue Bai in plotting to usurp the throne. How could they possibly give way?

Not only did they not move out of the way, they suddenly raised their weapons and started shouting and killing.

"If you still don't retreat, after the third bell rings, anyone who dares to challenge your majesty will be killed without mercy!"

"Boom-"

Suddenly, a long bell sounded above the Mingtang.

The so-called "sound like a huge bell" means that the sound of the bell is so loud that it can be heard throughout Luoyang City.

"retreat!"

The guards shouted loudly, with murderous intent filling the air.

Li Chengyu felt inexplicably timid and took a few steps back, hiding among the ministers. He looked back and felt a little relieved when he saw the many troops they brought.

"Boom-"

When the second bell rang, a small number of people were finally frightened and began to retreat.

The nobles gathered in front of the stone steps were totally unable to save their face at this moment. Since Xue Bai had admitted to treason in front of them, he was the mortal enemy of the Tang Dynasty. As royal family members and ministers of the Tang Dynasty, how could they sit back and watch?

"Xue Ni!"

Someone shouted loudly.

"You have brought chaos to the world, plotted to usurp the throne, killed loyal officials, and harmed the people... Why don't you eliminate the traitors for the Tang Dynasty?!"

"Let's see who controls the world today!"

Some people flushed red in the face, waved their arms high, and recited famous lines from "The Proclamation to Punish Wu Zhao", trying to make people think of the disaster of Wu Zhou's chaos in the Tang Dynasty and arouse resistance.

"Still not retreating?!"

"Kill it!"

Li Xian finally made up his mind.

However, he realized at this moment that he had not been fully prepared for the rebellion in advance and had not even nominated a commander.

At this time, Lai Chen was still in a daze and was unable to issue orders with him.

"Come on, Xue is rebelling, we have to..."

"Boom-"

The last bell interrupted Li Xian's words.

He was still standing on the stone steps at this time. He looked back and saw a group of soldiers with murderous intent rushing into the Qianyuan Gate.

"What's going on?" Li Xian murmured, "Where are our people guarding outside?"

In the past, An Lushan entered Luoyang. He was furious because his eldest son An Qingzong was beheaded in Chang'an. He massacred court officials during a court meeting, and there were countless corpses in the Qianyuan Gate.

Today, the scene of catching a turtle in a jar is happening again.

"The bell has rung! Anyone who dares to oppose your majesty will be killed without mercy!"

Fan Lao shouted and waved his hand.

"Fire arrows!"

No one noticed at this time, they were just shooting arrows, and with the weapons they had, shooting arrows was a very merciful measure.

"Puff puff puff puff..."

The nobles who were standing in the front to denounce Xue Bai suddenly screamed and many of them fell down.

Before Li Chengyu could react, he was hit by an arrow, which was stuck in his shoulder blade. It didn't go deep, but the barb was hanging there, which did cause some pain.

He had never suffered such torture before and couldn't help but screaming, which made the people around him even more chaotic and pushed each other. As a result, he, with his old arms and legs, was the first to be pushed to the ground and kicked several times.

Those disciples of the Longxi Li clan who used to show themselves to be both talented in literature and martial arts, chivalrous and heroic, could only step on Li Chengyu and flee in fear under the swords, guns and arrows.

After a while, Li Chengyu's ribs were broken and stabbed out of his abdomen.

It was a huge pain, but he hadn't died yet and let out a miserable wail.

Countless such wailing sounds reached Cui Youfu's ears, and Cui Youfu finally reacted from his shock. He subconsciously shook his head to confirm that this was not his nightmare.

"His Majesty?"

Cui Youfu ignored the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects, grabbed Xue Bai's sleeve, and shouted almost roaring: "Hurry up and make them stop!"

"Pathetic?" Xue Bai asked back, "Do you feel pity for them now? If we don't do this today, they will be even more pitiful in the future."

"Stop it!"

"You let them annex the land, causing more and more people to leave the land and become refugees. One day, the refugees will come back and eat your bones. I want to save them and have been persuading them to stop, but they won't listen."

"Your Majesty, I apologize on their behalf." Cui Youfu immediately bowed down, "Your Majesty's painstaking efforts are well understood by me. Please spare their lives for now, and don't resort to swords and axes, don't..."

"Didn't you hear me just now? I have already admitted that I am not the heir to the throne of the Tang Dynasty. If you still recognize me as the king, then you can give me a name for the country."

"what?"

Cui Youfu seemed not to have heard clearly and was stunned for a while. Then he reacted and quickly apologized.

"Your Majesty, please don't say such angry words! Li Xian deserves to die. How dare he slander Your Majesty? I beg you to execute Li Xian!"

As he spoke, Cui Youfu shouted to the bottom of the stone steps: "The chief criminal, Li Xian! Why don't you come up and apologize?!"

Xue Bai pulled him up and said, "I'm not saying this in anger. I really mean it."

"Your Majesty is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the son of Emperor Fengtian. This has been personally certified by Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Muzong. There is no way it can be wrong." Cui Youfu was so anxious that he almost cried.

~~
Li Xian was shot to the ground at the very beginning.

At that time he was still confused and could not react at all until he heard Cui Youfu's shout.

He stood up and looked around, and found that it was a one-sided massacre.

"tyrant!"

Li Xian started cursing in anger. Instead of apologizing to Xue Bai as Cui Youfu advised him to do, he just cursed loudly.

"Are you crazy? We are speaking out against you today, how dare you attack us with a sword and an axe? You are so tyrannical and unjust, and you will destroy yourself sooner or later if you refuse to repent!"

While cursing, he climbed the stone steps and walked towards Xue Bai.

Because of anger at this time, Li Xian no longer emphasized Xue Bai's "plot to usurp power", but kept cursing his cruelty.

Perhaps, in his heart, he still believed that Xue Bai was Li Qian.

"We are loyal and righteous men, and we will never be subdued by swords and axes. If you use killing to stop the rebellion, it will only provoke stronger resistance. The world will be in chaos because of you. You are a sinner of the Tang Dynasty!"

Fan Lao then ordered the imperial guards to take him away.

But Li Xian was very skilled in martial arts. He drew his sword and fought back, killing two people in a row while still cursing at Xue Bai.

Although the guards originally did not want to kill him, his fierce resistance still left him covered with wounds, and he finally fell on the stone steps when he was still more than ten steps away from Xue Bai.

"Tyrant! If you have the guts, kill me. What's the point of killing them?"

"What's the point of killing them?" Xue Bai muttered to himself, "It's like 'trampling the bones of nobles on the streets of heaven'."

He once told Li Longji that sooner or later the world would recognize his throne because of his achievements. Unexpectedly, before his achievements were made, his sins had already been committed.

But no matter what, it is the result of him facing his true inner self calmly.

He asked for his best efforts.

He was also exhausted physically and mentally from fighting against this cruel world and often felt powerless.

Then, when he had no other options, he could only use this killing as his achievement...

(End of this chapter)