A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 928: Entering Chang'an and Trampling the Ministers, Establishing the Great Qi and Talking about the Imperial Edict

December th

Huang Chao appointed Shang Rang as the general who pacified Tang, and Gai Hong and Fei Quangu as deputy generals.

The rebel soldiers all had their hair loose and wore brocade clothes, and their baggage was stretched for thousands of miles from Luoyang to Chang'an.

Zhang Zhifang, the Jinwu General of the Tang court, led dozens of civil and military officials to Bashang to welcome the enemy, and the capital fell.

Huang Chao rode in a golden carriage, and his guards all wore embroidered robes and tied their hair with red cloth.

His followers and confidants followed in the bronze chariot, and hundreds of thousands of rebel soldiers followed in front and behind.

He entered Chang'an from Chunming Gate and ascended the Taiji Hall, where thousands of palace maids knelt down to greet him, calling him "King Huang".

When the rebel army first entered Chang'an, they were still able to abide by previous military orders and gave money to the poor people in Chang'an when they met them.

Shang Rang also said to the people of Chang'an: "The King of Huang is not as unsympathetic to you as the Tang court is. Everyone should be at ease and not panic."

But after just a few days, the rebel army could no longer hold out, and the generals let their soldiers loot on a large scale. They tied up and whipped the people and demanded their property, which they called "plundering."

Later on, the rebels began to break into people's homes and committed countless atrocities.

December

Huang Chao promulgated the "Blood Debt Must Be Repaid with Blood Order", believing that the world was in chaos and the people were living in misery, and the fault lay with the rich and powerful families.

Then, according to the "Clan Records" and "Surname Records" seized from the Daming Palace, they went door to door one by one, and all the century-old families in Beijing were slaughtered.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong compiled the "Clan Records", which ranked the names of aristocratic families in the name of the court, with official positions being the main criterion.

In order to obtain higher official positions, the aristocratic families who originally lived in the local area moved their homes to Chang'an.

Only a few families such as the Bai and Su families still remained in the local area.

Nowadays, most of the noble families in the world are gathered around Chang'an. Huang Chao's move can be said to have caught them all in one fell swoop.

December th
Huang Chao ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor with the support of Liu Yunzhang, Shang Rang, Zhang Zhifang and other civil and military officials. Because he was born in Caozhou, which belonged to Qi, he established the country "Da Qi" and named the reign "Jintong".

On the same day, a general amnesty was issued.

In the Tang Dynasty, all officials above the third rank were dismissed, while those below the fourth rank were retained.

In the Taiji Hall, people were dressed in all kinds of clothes, including officials from the previous dynasty, generals of the rebel army, people from merchant families, and sons of farmers.

These people stood scattered in the Tai Chi Hall, which was supposed to be solemn.

"Saint, in the past, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty would be given a title of honor. Now that the saint is in charge of the Tang Dynasty, he should be given a title of honor to show his honor."

Zhang Zhifang, the former Jinwu General of the Tang Dynasty, and Zhang Zhifang, the current Inspector of the Left Pushe of Qi, flattered Huang Chao, who was wearing a dragon robe and sitting on a high throne.

Huang Chao's face was flushed with joy. He thought it was a good idea, and looked at Liu Yunzhang on the lower right and asked, "What do you think, Prime Minister Liu?"

Liu Yunzhang lowered his head and hands, and said without making any comment: "Maybe."

Seeing Liu Yunzhang's indifferent look, Huang Chao felt dissatisfied, but he did not show it due to the situation.

When he asked other prime ministers, they all agreed, so he asked all the ministers to discuss the title.

Finally, with the confirmation of knowledgeable officials of the previous dynasty, Huang Chao was honored as "Emperor Chengtian Yingyun Qisheng Ruiwen Xuanwu".

Ever since Huang Chao allowed his soldiers to plunder the capital, Liu Yunzhang, who had been very enthusiastic towards Huang Chao, suddenly became cold.

Even though Huang Chao rewarded him generously and appointed him as prime minister, making him the head of all officials together with Shang Rang, Zhao Zhang, Cui Qiu, and Yang Xigu, nothing changed.

On December 28th, the emperor arrived in Xingyuan and issued an edict ordering troops from all regions to recapture the capital Chang'an, and blamed Lu Xi for the fall of Chang'an.

That night Lu Xie committed suicide out of fear.

Afterwards, Li Xuan appointed Prime Minister Zheng Ting as the Minister of War, the Jiedushi of Fengxiang and Longyou, and the Commander-in-Chief of the four camps surrounding the capital, and presided over the recovery of the capital, with the power to act at his discretion.

He then left Zheng Ting to guard Fengxiang, the gateway from Guanzhong to Shu, and led the royal family to Chengdu to avoid disaster.

The first month of the first year of Zhonghe (the second year of Guangming)
When the imperial edict reached Bianzhou, Bai Yi took the silk cloth in his hand, looked at the various conditions offered to the army supporting the king, could not help but sneer, and casually put it into the brazier.

"Sir, are we not moving yet?" asked the military commander Bai Banghan.

Bai Yi's face turned red in the light of the brazier, and he replied, "Why should I save him?"

"The Tang Dynasty has come to this point today. It is at the end of its road. Outside, there are rebellions by the Tubo, Dangxiang, and Nanzhao tribes. Inside, there are separatist regimes and bandits."

"The administration is chaotic, the taxes are as fierce as a tiger, and under such internal and external troubles, the Tang emperor and his ministers do not think about reform, but are greedy for money and pleasure, and there are constant party struggles. In this last years of the dynasty, what is the point of saving him?"

"Then do we need to be independent?" Bai Yi turned to look at Bai Banghan, who was nervous and a little excited, and said with a smile:

"not the right time yet."

Walking to the door, looking at the approaching dark clouds in the sky, he seemed to be talking to himself, or explaining to Bai Banghan:

"When it comes to literary research, I am not as good as you, and when it comes to investigating the situation, you are not as good as me."

"Say more. In the face of the great chess game of the world, we are no match for the Patriarch."

"Last month, the head of the family sent us a letter, specifically telling us not to act rashly. After thinking about it over the past few days, I roughly understand why."

Sitting back at the tea table, he talked with Bai Banghan and said:
"A centipede is still alive even after death. The Tang Dynasty has been established for 200 years. Just like the centipede, it will instinctively make a final struggle."

"If we want to take over the new dynasty at the lowest cost, we cannot lose too much of our own strength."

"Although my Bai family has gone through many dynasties, we are still Tang officials. It will not be good for our reputation to overthrow our superiors and kill the emperor with our own hands, even though the royal family has been wary of us over the years."

Bai Banghan asked pointedly, "Are you talking about Li Keyong?"

"Yes." Putting down the teacup, Bai Yi continued to explain: "In Hedong, who doesn't know that the Shatuo tribe was supported by my Bai family? Would the Li Tang royal family not know?"

"Haha, on the surface it's targeting Li Keyong, but in reality it's targeting my Bai family."

"The previous emperor started to reduce the power of the vassal states by starting with Shuofang, Chengde, Weizhou, Zibo, and Qingzhou. Now these towns have all declined, and only Hedong stands out from the crowd."

"When the late emperor and the present emperor came to power, the first shots they fired were towards Hedong."

"Even if we surrender the post of Hedong Jiedushi in exchange for Xuanwu Town, the royal family is still not reassured and insists on reducing the military strength of our Bai family."

"Why do you think our family would risk offending the ministers of the Neo-Confucian school in the court to help Shatuo openly or secretly?"

"The family knows very well that if the Shatuo tribe is gone, Hedong will no longer be under our control. The next one will definitely be Xuanwu."

"When Xuanwu is about to be issued, the family's military strength will be weakened to the extreme. In troubled times, without the support of military forces, how can we protect the family?"

"If we can't even solve the problem of survival, how can we solve the problem of great undertakings?"

"Not every member of the clan can understand the thoughts of the head of the family. Just as Confucianism was promoted by our ancestors, today these Confucian scholars have parted ways with the family."

"Neo-Confucianism was created by Tong Zhu. When faced with the Shatuo issue, officials in the court who were Neo-Confucianists rejected the family's request."

"There is nothing in this world that cannot be changed, except for the Bai family's aspirations, because for thousands of years, only the main family has been the only one that has not been broken in its inheritance."

(End of this chapter)