Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 436 Counterinsurgency
After reading the blood edict, Zhao Zongquan was not surprised that the emperor named him as the crown prince in the blood edict.

He is a descendant of Taizu and has no roots. Now Prince Yan has rebelled and taken control of the palace.

The emperor appointed him as the crown prince only when he had no other choice.

If he wants to truly become the crown prince, the first thing he has to do is to equalize the people, and this is only possible if he gets rid of Prince Yan.

However, there was no imperial seal on this blood edict, and it was written in a hurry, so the handwriting was a bit messy.

Who would listen to him if he took such an imperial edict to the western suburbs camp to mobilize troops?

Without troops, how can we suppress the rebellion?

Even if the troops could be mobilized, if the emperor died after suppressing the rebellion, would the ministers in the court really recognize this blood edict and support him to ascend the throne?
Even if he can save the emperor, will he still give him the throne after he is saved?

He had no soldiers and the imperial guards he mobilized were also funded by a blood edict. Once the emperor went back on his word, he would be unable to do anything but wait for death.

How could Zhao Zongquan be willing to take such a big risk when it is still difficult to obtain the throne?

Moreover, he still had doubts about the authenticity of this blood edict.

When the Prince of Yan rebelled, he would have tightly controlled the palace. How did a palace maid escape? And how did she get together with Li An?
Li An learned that the blood edict was to be sent to Yuzhou, so he should have gone out from the east city or north city gate. Why did he come to the west city?
Isn't this a step in the wrong direction?

Moreover, he came to Bian Jing under the influence of Gu Tingye. Now Li An happened to come out of the west gate with the blood edict and was met by him.

This was such a coincidence, as if it had been planned.

Considering that Gu Tingye and Li An knew each other, he became even more suspicious.

"Father, the cloth of this blood edict is exquisite and yellow in color. It is obvious that it was torn from the emperor's body. Now the emperor is in danger, we have to rescue him as soon as possible!" Zhao Ceying said anxiously.

In his opinion, this was a godsend opportunity and there was no need to hesitate.

"This blood edict was really written by His Majesty. The situation was urgent at that time, so His Majesty tore off his dragon robe, bit his finger, and wrote the blood edict." The palace maid said anxiously when she saw that Zhao Zongquan not only did not dispatch troops to quell the rebellion immediately, but also doubted the authenticity of the blood edict.

"Prince Yan is rebelling, so he will certainly put Your Majesty on strict guard. How did you, a palace maid, escape?"

Zhao Zongquan said, then looked at Li An and said, "Why are you with this palace maid? She was going to Yuzhou, but you took her out of the west gate. Shouldn't you explain it?"

Li An was speechless. Zhao Zongquan was too suspicious.

This is the throne. No matter who comes to the throne, the first thing they should do is to find a way to quell the rebellion. Even if there are doubts, that will be a matter for later.

"Your Highness..."

"What palace?" Zhao Zongquan was angry when he heard this: "It is not certain whether the edict is true or not, and I have not agreed to it yet."

Li An was helpless and said, "Zhao Tuanlian, I didn't have time to ask how the maid escaped, so I don't know. I took a leave today because of some things. When I was doing things not far from the imperial city, I suddenly found that the gates of the imperial city and the side gates were closed in advance. It was just after noon, and the gates were closed at this time, so something big must have happened.

I worked in the Hanlin Academy and often went in and out of the imperial palace. I knew that the northwest corner of the palace was remote and where the palace maids and eunuchs lived. So I quietly approached there, wanting to see if I could hear any noise to see if anything had happened in the palace.

I happened to see this palace maid coming out of the dog hole. She said that Prince Yan was rebelling and she was ordered to deliver a blood edict to the Yuzhou militia commander. I thought about the sudden closure of the palace gate, so I naturally believed it.

At that time, someone was chasing me. I thought the blood edict must have been exposed, so I ran from the west gate to hide from others. After all, the shortest way to Yuzhou should be to leave the city from the two northeast gates. "

Li An repeated the speech he had prepared long ago, and the palace maid also recounted the process of her escape.

After hearing what the two said, Lao Geng and the others believed it and knelt down and said, "Your Highness, let's obey your order and suppress the rebellion!"

"Nonsense!"

Zhao Zongquan angrily shouted: "How can we suppress the rebellion with just a few of us?"

"Your Highness!" Gu Tingye said, "Just take the blood edict to the Western Suburbs Camp to mobilize troops! There are still 200,000 soldiers and horses in the Western Suburbs Camp. The rebels are just part of the Palace Front Department's imperial guards. They can be defeated at any time!"

"Ha." Zhao Zongquan sneered, "You said to suppress the rebellion? I am just a militia commander, a lowly official. How can the soldiers in the Western Suburbs Camp listen to me? Besides, so much time has passed, and we don't know what the situation is in the city. If the emperor is forced to write an edict of succession, then we will be regarded as traitors."

This is what Zhao Zongquan is most concerned about. So much time has passed since the palace maid escaped with the blood edict.

It's already evening. Even if we could mobilize troops, it would be too late to quell the rebellion today.

What if the emperor agreed to write an edict of succession before he even took any action? Then he would be labeled a traitor.

"Besides, Prince Yong is the crown prince chosen by the government. He should be the one to quell the rebellion. It would be right for us to go back to Yuzhou directly now." Zhao Zongquan shouted.

Zhao Zongquan's remarks made Shen Congxing and Lao Geng somewhat shaken.

They only now remembered that there was a Prince of Yong. If the rebellion were to be quelled, it would be unclear who would be the emperor.

"Your Highness, it's too late now. Ever since the emperor wrote the blood edict to your Highness, you have had no way out. Now Prince Yan knows that the blood edict is for your Highness. No matter whether Prince Yan succeeds in rebellion, or Prince Yong or other royal family members lead troops to quell the rebellion, no one will let your Highness go because of the existence of this blood edict." Li An said.

Zhao Zongquan's face changed drastically when he heard this. How could he not have thought of what Li An said? He just had a lucky mentality and didn't want to think too much about it.

Li An's words completely shattered the little bit of luck in his heart.

"Father, Ziqian is right. We have no way out. Our child was born not long ago and can't even speak. Can you bear to watch our family be slaughtered?" Zhao Ceying said anxiously.

"Your Highness..." Shen Congxing and others also began to persuade him.

The hesitation in Zhao Zongquan's eyes disappeared. He glanced at the kneeling people calmly and said, "Didn't you just call him Your Highness? Why did you change your words?"

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

Everyone was stunned at first when they heard the words, but then they came to their senses and were overjoyed. They immediately paid homage to the king with the courtesy of paying homage to the crown prince.

After accepting everyone's greetings, Zhao Zongquan said, "Zhong Huai, the Ningyuan Marquisate is a military family, and it has great prestige in the Western Suburbs Camp. You and Cong Xing should go to the Western Suburbs Camp with the blood edict to mobilize troops."

"Yes!" Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing responded, took the blood edict, and went to the western suburbs camp to mobilize troops.

"Some imperial guards just escaped. Although Prince Yan is unable to send more people here, this place is not safe anymore. Let's go to the direction of the western suburbs camp." Zhao Zongquan said.

Although the troops in the western suburbs camp did not take any action and were unlikely to collude with Prince Yan, Zhao Zongquan did not dare to put himself in danger.

What if someone is secretly colluding with King Yan? If he goes to the western suburbs camp now, wouldn't he be walking into a tiger's mouth?

Along the way, Zhao Zongquan often chatted with Li An, seemingly inquiring about the situation in the city, but in fact he was asking about his relationship with Gu Tingye.

Li An did not hide anything and briefly explained their relationship. He also said that Gu Tingye had gone to his home in the city yesterday.

These can all be checked, and there is nothing to hide.

After listening to this, Zhao Zongquan's doubts were slightly relieved, but he did not completely believe it. He would naturally check it out later.

……

When Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing arrived at the Western Suburbs Camp to mobilize troops, things were not as smooth as they had imagined.

The generals in the western suburbs camp all questioned the authenticity of the blood edict.

Of course, part of the reason is that they don't want to get involved in this matter.

Not long after Li An escaped from the city, the people from the City Defense Battalion and the Five Cities Military Department, who were won over by Prince Yan, used various means to control their superiors and people of the same rank.

In this way, although they could not completely control the city defense camp and the Five Cities Army, without their superiors, the ordinary soldiers did not know what was going on and had no one to lead them, so naturally they could not pose a threat.

Soon they took control of Bianjing and closed the city gates.

The city gates were closed early, so something big must have happened in the city. Now the situation is unclear, so they naturally want to stay out of it.

However, when the commander of the Shenyong Army, Song Chaozhong, saw Gu Tingye, he immediately decided to obey the order and suppress the rebellion. Song Chaozhong was an old member of the Gu family, so he naturally recognized Gu Tingye.

The military system of the Song Dynasty was extremely chaotic, with the size of one army ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 or 50,000 men.

The Song Dynasty's commander-in-chief had only 12,500 soldiers.

This number of people was obviously not enough to suppress the rebellion, but after Song Chaozhong agreed, three commanders in the army who were in charge of the same army as Song Chaozhong also agreed to send troops.

The four armies have a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses. If Prince Yan completely controls Bianliang, it will naturally not be enough.

The city of Bianjing was huge, with more than 100,000 soldiers and soldiers from the city defense camp, the Five Cities Army and the Palace Front Army.

There was a huge disparity in military strength, and it was impossible to take the city even if they attacked it.

However, after discussing in the Song Dynasty, they all felt that it was impossible for Prince Yan to completely control those troops, otherwise he would have sealed off the city immediately and there would have been no blood edict to leave the city.

Fifty thousand soldiers are more than enough.

However, although they nominally commanded an army, they did not have the power to mobilize troops.

In addition, there were military supervisors consisting of civil servants and eunuchs in the western suburbs camp.

Normally, in order to mobilize troops, the commander-in-chief of the Western Suburbs Camp and the civil officials and eunuchs must agree to it.

But the Duke of England is not here now, and the Western Suburbs Camp is under the command of General Gan, who does not agree to send troops.

The eunuch in charge of supervising the army recognized the handwriting and cloth of the bloody edict and agreed to send troops, while the civilian supervisor of the army simply gave up his power.

General Gan hesitated for a moment and then simply gave up.

After Song Chaozhong and three other generals learned the news, they quickly mobilized their troops.

……

"Who is in the city?"

At dusk, tens of thousands of troops appeared outside the west gate of Bianjing. Upon learning the news, the captain guarding the city immediately sent someone to report it, and then hurried to the top of the city.

Looking at the endless and murderous soldiers underground, the captain swallowed and shouted with a lack of confidence.

Song Chaozhong asked Zhao Zongquan for instructions, then shouted, "I am the commander of the Divine Warrior Army of the Western Suburbs Camp. I am here to enter the city and open the city gate immediately!"

"Nonsense, why didn't I receive an order? I think you are planning a rebellion!" the captain shouted.

Those who were sent to guard the city gate naturally knew that Prince Yan was rebelling. How could they open the gate just because of a word from Song Chaozhong?

"Your Majesty has issued an order that Prince Yan is plotting treason and that the Western Suburbs camp enter the city to quell the rebellion and attack the city!" Song Chaozhong didn't waste any words with him. He shouted towards the top of the city and directly ordered an attack on the city.

"Quick, prepare for defense!" the captain shouted.

There were only a few hundred defenders on the city walls. In addition, Bianjing was the capital, and the people on the city walls were almost scared to death when they saw tens of thousands of troops outside attacking the city.

Although these soldiers were not very knowledgeable, they were not stupid. It was obviously abnormal that they suddenly closed the city gates early today and even drove all the people on the streets back home.

As for the rumor that someone in the western suburbs camp was plotting a rebellion, they obviously did not believe it. Instead, they believed that it was Prince Yan who was plotting a rebellion.

We were outnumbered and lacked morale.

Even though the attacking party lacked siege equipment and only had a dozen ladders, it took them less than half an hour to reach the top of the city.

Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing led the way, climbed to the top of the city wall, killed the defenders on the city wall, and opened the city gate.

"Follow me into the city, kill the rebels, and save the king!"

Zhao Zongquan was wearing armor at this time. When he saw the city gate open, he pointed with the sword in his hand and led the charge into the city.

Li An and Zhao Ceying hurriedly rode their horses to follow.

"Zhu Zi, be careful to protect His Highness!" Li An ordered.

"Brother Aniu, what about you?" Shizhu didn't care about the prince at all. He cared more about Li An's safety.

"I'll be fine, you just need to take good care of His Highness." Li An said.

Zhao Zongquan was shot directly in the left shoulder and has not yet fully recovered. If something happens to him, all our efforts will be in vain.

As for Zhao Ceying, he is still a little young and he cannot cope with the current situation at all.

The emperor could give the throne to Zhao Zongquan, but he might not be willing to give it to Zhao Ceying.

So no matter what, nothing can happen to Zhao Zongquan.

As they were talking, they had already rushed into the city.

At this time, the streets in the city were empty, and the crowd led the army straight to the inner city without stopping.

After walking for a while, a large group of people suddenly appeared in front of us.

These people should be the reinforcements sent by King Yan after he learned the news.

However, these people were just soldiers from the city defense camp with average combat effectiveness. In addition, there were only two thousand of them, so they were soon killed and dispersed.

When the army arrived at the inner city, they encountered great resistance.

Although the inner city is not as tall as the outer city, it is not much different.

The most important thing is that King Yan was well prepared and had a large number of soldiers guarding the city.

Fortunately, these soldiers are from the City Defense Battalion and the Five Cities Army, and their combat effectiveness is low.

In addition, the Song Dynasty ordered people to announce that Prince Yan was rebelling, which shook the morale of the army.

It took only one hour to break through the inner city and attack the imperial palace.

The resistance encountered in attacking the palace was very great. Even though Prince Yan did not have enough troops to defend the entire palace, it was very easy to attack it.

But the imperial guards in the palace still fought desperately.

They are different from the soldiers of the City Defense Battalion and the Five Cities Military Division.

Most of the people in the City Defense Battalion and the Five Cities Military Department did not know what was going on and just followed orders.

Therefore, they learned that the army that had entered the city was there to suppress the rebellion, and their morale was low.

But the imperial guards in the palace were different. Ordinary soldiers might not know what was happening at first and they just followed orders.

But it's been so long that almost everyone has noticed it.

There were also many people who took advantage of the chaos to rape and loot. Even if they surrendered at this moment, they would not survive afterwards, so they naturally had to fight hard.

However, the number of imperial guards that Rong Xian can control is limited, and as time goes by, their resistance becomes weaker and weaker.

Li An followed Zhao Zongquan and killed his way towards the Wende Hall.

(End of this chapter)