The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 143 Prelude to Chaos
On the inner and outer walls of Chang'an City, the Qin King's flag with a golden dragon on a black background has been hung on all four walls. The brand-new flags are flapping in the wind.

Li Shouzhen had issued a notice to calm the people two days ago, and today he gathered troops in Chengtianmen Square to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

In front of Chengtianmen Square, [-] soldiers and horses lined up in formation, with flags like a forest. Under the sunlight, the bright armor of the sergeants shone with a layer of dazzle. Dozens of Qin King flags were hung at the forefront of each army's soldiers and horses. .

A huge altar stood in the center of the square. Just as the auspicious hour arrived, war drums and horns were playing in unison. Li Shouzhen wore a twelve-pin crown and a black robe with twelve chapters embroidered on it and gold embroidered on the back. Long Tengyun ascended the altar in front of everyone's attention.

Monk Zong Lun, wearing a purple gold cassock, boarded the altar with General Zhao Siwan as his escort.

Li Shouzhen took out a memorial text embroidered with black and gold patterns. Zhao Siwan knelt down on one knee, raised her hands above her head, took it, and read out the memorial text in front of the soldiers of the three armies.

This is a memorial to heaven. It first summarizes the suffering of the people of the world who have suffered from the Khitans' ravages since the demise of the Shi Jin Dynasty the year before last. Then it briefly introduces the process of the establishment of the Liu Han Dynasty today, focusing on Li Shouzhen's role in the peril of the people in the Central Plains. contributions made on the occasion.

At the end of the memorial text, the Liu Han court was severely criticized, making a sharp contrast with Li Shouzhen's brilliant achievements.

The conclusion drawn is that the Liu Han court was immoral and unworthy of the world. Li Shouzhen now proclaimed himself the King of Qin. According to Guanzhong, he officially broke with Kaifeng and became his own country from now on. If the Liu Han court still knew how to be ashamed, it would still have some With compassion and concern for the common people in the world, we should recognize the independence of the Qin State in Guanzhong and the status of Li Shouzhen as King of Qin.

If the Kaifeng court sends troops to attack, it will disregard the life and death of the people and start a war that will destroy lives. In order to protect the people in Guanzhong, Qin Wang Li Shouzhen will have to recruit troops and horses to contend with it.

The sacrificial text was written by the monk Zong Lun. Zhao Siwan read it loudly. Dozens of sergeants with loud voices stood around the altar. With the altar as the center, every fifty steps, there was another group of sergeants with loud voices. Zhao Siwan was responsible for preaching every sentence he read. The sergeant who heard the sound repeated his words and passed them on layer by layer, so that soldiers from all directions could hear the content of the memorial.

After reading the memorial text, Zhao Siwan read out the first edict issued by the King of Qin, officially proclaiming himself King of Qin, covering the entire Guanzhong area, from Yuanzhou and Longzhou in the west, to Tongguan in the east, Qingzhou and Yanzhou in the north, and Zhongnan Mountain in the south. , from now on all belong to the territory of Qin.

Li Chongxun was named the crown prince of the Qin Dynasty, Fu Jinzhan was crowned the crown prince, the monk Zong Lun was appointed as the protector of the country and the holy Zen master, Zhao Siwan was left as a guard in Chang'an, and all the camps in the west were deployed, and Wang Jingchong was appointed as the Taifu and the governor of Fengxiang Army.
After a series of awards were completed, the three animals were worshiped, and sacrificial inscriptions were burned to inform heaven and earth. Then more than a dozen messengers were dispatched to convey the King of Qin's edict to various towns, states, and counties.

Chang'an officials had already gone through a purge, and all those who were unwilling to submit were beheaded. Most of Guanzhong was already under Li Shouzhen's actual control.

Li Shouzhen proclaimed himself king, but the rituals and regulations were prepared in full accordance with the emperor's specifications.

He was hiding a secret plan. He would first test the reaction of the Kaifeng court by proclaiming himself king, and then wait for an opportunity to proclaim himself emperor depending on the situation.

After the heaven-sacrifice ceremony, Li Shouzhen immediately returned to the river with Li Chongxun, Zong Lun and other officials and generals to prepare for the next reaction in Kaifeng.

Zhao Siwan continued to sit in Chang'an, liaising with Wang Jingchong and preparing to fight Fengxiang Army and Jingnan Army.

Although the memorial text declared that the territory of Jingnan Army and Fengxiang Army belonged to the State of Qin, Li Shouzhen knew in his heart that Wang Shouen and Jiao Jixun would not surrender to him. If they wanted to occupy these states, they could only defeat them with real swords and guns.

Not long after Li Shouzhen led his army out of the city, a carriage drove out of Chang'an Mingde Gate under the strict protection of more than a hundred soldiers.

The windows on both sides of the carriage were nailed shut, leaving only a few small openings for ventilation.

Sitting in the car was Fu Jinzhan.

The edict naming her the Crown Princess of Qin had been handed over to her, but it was torn into pieces. Fu Jinzhan looked through the gap and watched the city of Chang'an go further and further away, sighing silently in his heart.

I don’t know if there will be a chance to come back, and I don’t know what will happen to me if I go to the river.
~~~
Jingzhou, Anding County.

In Jiedu Mansion, Zhu Xiu stared at a map of Guanzhong for half an hour.

He was thinking about how to successfully rescue Fu Jinzhan.Mrs. Fu saved his life in Cangzhou. She risked her life to transport [-] shi of food for him, which greatly alleviated the food shortage crisis in Jingzhou. He had to think about both public and private matters, as well as emotions and rationality. He had to find a way to help, otherwise Pan Mei would not be the first to spare him.

Speaking privately, the Fu family behind Mrs. Fu will be one of the most stable thighs in the world for a period of time to come. Zhu Xiu wants to make friends and weave her own network of relationships. Can't let it go.

Although in history, Fu Niangzi was able to survive this crisis without any risk, but history has begun to undergo subtle changes, and there are more and more unknown things, Zhu Xiu has to be more vigilant.

Take the Fengxiang Army as an example. According to historical trajectory, Jiao Jixun should be transferred to Kaifeng at this moment, and his replacement will be the inspection envoy Wang Jingchong.

Jiao Jixun was transferred back to Beijing before the rebellion of the Hezhong Army. It is difficult to say that there was no promoter of Li Shouzhen.

But now, Jiao Jixun still leads the Fengxiang Army, and Wang Jingchong can only be regarded as the third or fourth figure as the inspector.

If Li Shouzhen rebels, Fengxiang Army and Jingnan Army will never sit idly by. These two groups guard the central and western parts of Guanzhong, directly threatening Chang'an and Hezhong. Li Shouzhen has to stabilize the rear and suppress the two towns.

Pan Mei saw that Zhu Xiu was like a wooden pile, standing in front of the map without saying a word, and scratched her head and ears anxiously: "What on earth should I do? You should just say something!"

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly and was about to say a few words of relief when Guan Tieshi and Wei Hu hurried over.

Seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, Zhu Xiu's heart sank.

Guan Tieshi swallowed: "Li Shouzhen, rebel!"

Wei Hu handed him an edict: "Look at this. It's an edict that Li Shouzhen sent to spread throughout the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong."

Zhu Xiu hurriedly took it and read it carefully.

It not only contains the entire content of the heaven-sacrifice proclamation, but also sends orders to all states and counties in the "Qin Kingdom" to recruit soldiers, grain and grass, and gather in Chang'an to obey the king's orders.

Zhu Xiu was amazed by this sacrificial oration written by Zong Lun.

To be honest, the writing is good, but the whole story is ill-intentioned.

The above lists several vassal towns that are said to have strongly supported the independence of King Qin, including the Changyi Army.

There was even Fu Yanqing, Duke of Wei, who was the governor of the Taining Army in Yanzhou.

Fu Jinzhan raised food and grass for the Qin army and was named the eldest concubine of the Qin Dynasty, which was especially described and praised in pen and ink.

The intersection of fiction and reality is shocking and difficult to distinguish between true and false, and the sinister intentions are evident.

There are still capable people around Li Shouzhen who can give guidance~
Zhu Xiu handed the edict to everyone for circulation, and stood in front of the map and stared at it for a long time without saying a word.

The chaos in Guanzhong has begun, and Zhang Yi's army can't do anything at this moment. They can only wait patiently for news of unsealing.

Whether the court's misunderstanding of the Zhangyi Army can be resolved depends on how Ma Qing, who is far away in Kaifeng, operates.

(End of this chapter)