Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 416: Tantai Guardian (Special thanks to book friend tai1972 for 2 monthly tickets!)

Mei Zang Bao Tu hesitated and said:
“That being said, the Great Zhou’s military is too strong. After years of war with the Star Cult, the more than three million Star Cult coalition forces were no match for the Great Zhou.

Not only was the Ghaznavid Empire destroyed, but now even the Samanid capital of Bukhara has been besieged by the Zhou army for more than half a year and is about to fall!

Gaochang is a small country with few soldiers. If the Zhou Emperor attacks us, how can we resist?"

After arguing for a while, everyone looked at the head of the family, Mei Zang Xiongli.

Mei Zang Xiongli pondered for a long time, and finally made a decision, saying:
“Now that my great collection is about to be sold, Gaochang is in our hands, and we have become mortal enemies with the queen, the eldest prince and the court officials.

Even if the queen and the eldest prince are not killed, they will surely retaliate and settle accounts with them in the future.

If the Emperor of Zhou were to seize Gaochang, there would be no place for my family to escape to!

Now the Great Zhou is engaged in a fierce battle with the various countries of the Star Sect, and in the north the Western King Reina is being supported in the Khitan Kingdom. There should not be many troops available to deal with Gaochang.

Now that things have come to this, there is no turning back.

"Your Highness, you should root out the evil, kill Lu Sheng, the Queen, and the eldest prince, and completely seize the power of Gaochang! Then you should organize the army and join forces with Li Jiqian of the Khitans and the Xingxing Sect to resist the Great Zhou!"

After hearing this, Mei Zang gritted his teeth and said:
"Father is right! Now that I have no money to hide, I have no choice but to give it a try!"

The four discussed secretly for a long time and agreed that after everything was ready, Concubine Mo Zang would poison Lu Sheng, while Mo Zang Xiongli and his eldest son Mo Zang Hutu would lead the Gaochang Imperial Guards to control the situation in the capital, and his second son Mo Zang Baotu would lead his family generals to the cold palace to kill the queen and the eldest prince.

……

On the afternoon of September 15, the 31st year of Kaixi, Chen Ding, the pacification envoy of the Wude Division, led a hundred elite soldiers to sneak into Gaochang City.

Chen Ding was a military scholar in the fourth year of Kaixi, and joined the Longxiang Guard as a thousand households. When Wang Quanbin of Luoyang rebelled, he assisted Zhang Yong, the commander of the Longxiang Guard, and made great contributions. He was soon promoted to ten thousand households.

At the end of the fourth year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun split Longxiang Guard into two major systems: Longxiang Guard and Wude Division. Chen Ding was assigned to Wude Division and was promoted to Zhenfushi due to his merits. Now he is the second-in-command of Wude Division under Tang Qi, the commander of Wude Division and the chief eunuch of the imperial palace.

Chen Ding and hundreds of other Wudesi officers disguised themselves as merchants from the Great Zhou Dynasty and used a huge sum of 1,000 taels of silver to bribe the Gaochang guard at the city gate, only then were they able to enter the city.

Soon after entering the city, he used a secret code to contact Ma Zhao, a captain of the Longxiang Guard who had been hiding in Gaochang for several years.

The two parties met secretly in the backyard of a business in the southwest of Gaochang.

After the greeting, Chen Ding told Ma Zhao that Emperor Chai Zongxun was about to lead the army to attack Gaochang, saying:
“Your Majesty ordered me and the Wude Division to come to Gaochang specifically to rescue the queen and the eldest prince.

The two are relatives of Concubine Jialuo, this operation must succeed!
I hope that Ma Qianhu will fully cooperate with our Wude Division."

Ma Zhao knew that there were 1 soldiers in the Longxiang Guard. Except for the pacification envoy Wei Feng who led people to garrison Bian Jing, and the commander Zhang Yong who led people to attack the Khitans, the rest of the soldiers were all stationed in foreign countries to perform tasks. There were no extra people to be sent, so for this expedition to Gaochang, the people sent by Emperor Chai Zongxun were all soldiers from the Wude Division.

Ma Zhao bowed and said:
"That is the order from His Majesty. Envoy Chen has led his brothers to Gaochang. I will do my best to help."

After a few polite words, Ma Zhao said:
"Now that the Mo Zang family has seized power, right and wrong have been turned upside down in Gaochang, and loyal and good people have been wronged.

As far as I know, the Queen of Gaochang and the eldest prince are imprisoned in the "Tantai" courtyard in the northwest corner of the palace. It would be very difficult to rescue them by force."

Chen Ding pondered and said:
"Who is the general guarding the Tantai? Is there a possibility of rebellion?" Ma Zhao pondered:
"Chen Zhenfushi, this guarding general is named Qu Meng, and he comes from a family of Gaochang generals.

He was previously trusted by King Lu Sheng and served as one of the ten commanders of the imperial guards. After the Mo Zang family seized power, he was sent by Lu Sheng to guard the "Tantai" last year. The Mo Zang family sent people to murder the queen and the eldest prince several times, but they were all stopped by Qu Meng. He should not have surrendered to the Mo Zang family yet."

Chen Ding slapped his thigh and said:
"There is no time to lose. Your Majesty's army will arrive in a few days. By then, everyone in Gaochang will know that the Mo Zang family will kill the queen and the eldest prince!
Captain Ma will immediately arrange for this pacification envoy to meet with the commander of Tantai, Qu Meng, and we will act accordingly."

After Ma Zhao received the order and went out to make arrangements, Chen Ding led a hundred Wudesi soldiers to rest in the mansion.

After dinner, Ma Zhao rushed back and reported to Chen Ding:
"Commander Chen, I have contacted Qu Meng through the eunuchs in the palace. He promised to meet you at the "Spring Breeze" restaurant in the south of the city at 2:00 am tomorrow morning."

Chen Ding nodded, and everyone discussed the main points of tomorrow's actions, deduced several possible situations, and did not fall asleep until late at night.

The next day, early in the morning of September 16, Chen Ding led everyone to the "Chunfeng" restaurant in the south of Gaochang City half an hour in advance. After sending his brothers to control the overall situation, he sat in a private room on the second floor and waited.

Just after 2:30 am, Qu Meng appeared in front of the "Chunfeng" restaurant in his casual clothes. He looked around and after finding nothing unusual, he walked into the restaurant.

Ma Zhao appeared on the first floor and led Qu Meng up the stairs to the second floor and into the private room where Chen Ding was waiting.

After greeting, Chen Ding smiled and said:

"I have long admired General Qu's reputation and have earned the trust of His Majesty the King. I am seeking an audience today because I have something to ask of you."

An officer from the Wude Division who was standing next to Chen Ding came forward with a plate of gold ingots and placed it in front of Qu Meng.

Qu Meng was delighted to see that the gold ingots on this plate weighed more than 200 taels, and thought:

"The merchants of the Great Zhou Dynasty are really wealthy! This is two hundred taels of gold."

Qu Meng hesitated and said:
"Master Chen has not yet explained what he wants. How dare I accept these gifts?

Let's hear what Mr. Chen wants me to do first."

Chen Ding sighed and said:

"General Qu, to be honest, when my company came to Gaochang six years ago to establish a branch and expand business, it was thanks to the care of the Queen and the eldest prince.

This time, I came to Gaochang on a business trip and saw the Queen and the eldest prince imprisoned in the "Tantai". I felt sorry for them and wanted to visit them to show my love. "

Qu Meng was originally a trusted general of King Lu Sheng. He had always been close to the eldest prince's faction and could not stand the insidiousness and viciousness of the imperial concubine Mei Zang.

Hearing that Chen Ding was so fond of their old friendship and was determined to go visit the queen and the eldest prince who were in trouble, I couldn't help but admire him.

Qu Meng said:
“Although Mr. Chen is a businessman, he still remembers the kindness of the queen and the eldest prince in the past, and his integrity is far superior to many ministers in the court who curry favor with the powerful!
I admire you.

Since it is just a visit to the Queen and the eldest prince, I can still make the decision on this small matter."

Chen Ding was overjoyed. As long as he could meet the Queen of Gaochang and the eldest prince, it would not be difficult for him to lead the two of them out of the palace with his one hundred elite soldiers from the Wude Division.

(End of this chapter)