[Li Congrong’s Rebellion Case 2]
In this meeting of the "Big Five", the four people looked solemn, anxious, and spat, but Kang Yicheng remained silent from beginning to end.
The four people were anxious and forced him to express his position.
Kang Yicheng shrugged indifferently and said: "I am just a soldier. I dare not participate in discussions of national affairs. I completely obey the instructions of the prime ministers."
The four of them looked at each other and thought that Kang Yicheng might have concerns and did not want to express his position publicly, so they temporarily suspended the meeting and sent Zhu Hongzhao to invite Kang Yicheng to his private house in the evening. The two of them sat alone in a secret room and had a frank chat. chat.
Unexpectedly, Kang Yicheng's answer was exactly the same as during the day.
Time was running out and the four of them had no time to discuss.
The very next day, before dawn, Li Congrong had already started taking action. Li Congrong led a thousand men and horses to the outside of the palace and formed an array on the Tianjin Bridge.
Luoyang City is divided into two cities, the south and the north, separated by Luoshui River. The imperial palace is located in the north city. On the Luoshui River between the North City and the South City, there are two small islands arranged vertically in the north and south. The north and south cities and the islands are connected by three bridges, showing the word "Chuan", among which "Lv" refers to the two islands and the three bridges. From north to south are Huangdao Bridge, Tianjin Bridge and Xingjin Bridge.
Li Congrong arrayed a thousand men on Tianjin Bridge to block the way to the imperial city.
To the south of the imperial city are three gates, from west to east they are Zuoyemen (Southwest Gate), Duanmen (South Gate), and Youyemen (Southeast Gate).
Li Congrong looked majestic and looked at the newborn sun with great joy, "The sun is new every day."
He then sent Ma Chujun to Feng Yun's house and warned: "I will lead my army to break into the palace today and temporarily stay in Xingsheng Palace. You all have wives and children, a whole family, and a lot of lives. When you talk and do things, you can Think twice. It’s a blessing or a curse, right now!”
Before Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he first lived in Xingsheng Palace, and then ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Therefore, when Li Congrong said that he wanted to stay in Xingsheng Palace temporarily, it was a euphemism for an armed coup and usurpation of power to seize the throne.
Later, Ma Chujun got in touch with Kang Yicheng. Kang Yi swore to him with sincerity and promised: "The King of Qin is coming, and I will lead the troops to welcome him!"
With the support of Kang Yicheng, the commander-in-chief of the pro-military army, Li Congrong became more confident.
Feng Yunze rushed into the palace and saw Zhu Hongzhao, Kang Yicheng, Meng Hanqiong, and Sun Yue discussing how to deal with it outside the Zhongxing Palace. Sun Yue currently serves as the Third Secretary Envoy, and was succeeded by Feng Yun. Feng Yun was transferred from the Third Secretary Envoy to the Privy Council Envoy.
The people outside the gate of Zhongxing Palace are the head of the empire's hundreds of officials (prime minister), the top military leader (privy envoy), the first eunuch brother, and the empire's purse strings (three envoys). They can be said to be the top leaders of the empire's powerful departments.
What's more, they also have the support of the first sister of the harem (Wang Defei). If they can really unite and cooperate, Li Congrong's coup will not be successful.
However, these few people gathered together and murmured, ostensibly discussing how to deal with Li Congrong, but in reality they were bedfellows. Take Kang Yicheng, for example. He had already taken the initiative to send his son to Li Congrong as a hostage, and told Li Congrong's cronies, "Whenever the king comes, he will welcome you." He was simply a traitor who had infiltrated our army, always ready to rebel and welcome Li Congrong.
Another example is Sun Yue. He was originally a good cadre of the people and a parent official of the people. He had good governance and had an excellent reputation among the people. Therefore, he was favored by the Li Congrong Group and planned to make him a staff member of the Marshal's Mansion and serve as a political vase like Liu Zan. . Before the execution, it happened that Feng Yun, the envoy of the third department, was transferred to the privy envoy, so he replaced Feng Yun as the envoy of the third department.
However, I don’t know whether Sun Yue is pedantic and believes that Li Congrong should succeed to the throne in the order of eldest and youngest, or whether he believes that Li Congrong Group’s appointment of him as an aide is an affirmation of his appreciation. In short, Sun Yue is one of the few officials in the court who supports Li Congrong. , analyzed the pros and cons in front of Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, and cheered for Li Congrong. It was precisely because Kang Yicheng believed Sun Yue's words that he sent his son to the Prince of Qin's Mansion as a hostage and committed himself to the King of Qin's party.
Feng Yun rushed to several people and repeated Ma Chujun's threat. They were shocked. Feng Yun turned to Kang Yicheng and scolded: "Li Congrong said, 'Misfortune and fortune lie in a moment'. Can you translate it for me? What does 'misfortune and fortune lie in a moment'?"
"for this I……"
"I'm stepping on a horse and I want you to translate it for me. What's wrong with stepping on a horse?"
Everyone looked angrily and glared at Kang Yicheng fiercely.
"Everyone knows what Li Congrong wants to do. You can't be indifferent just because your son is in Prince Qin's palace. The emperor promoted us from ordinary people to the high position of prime minister, enjoying all the glory and wealth, shouldn't we repay the emperor's favor? ? If Li Congrong leads troops into the palace, how will he treat the emperor? Do you think our family can really be safe? "
Kang Yicheng hesitated but said nothing.
At this time, the guards guarding the palace gate came to report urgently: Li Congrong had led his army to Duanmen (Main South Gate)!
The eunuch Meng Hanqiong stood up and said sternly: "Now that the emperor is in trouble, are you still thinking about personal interests? I dare not cherish my life and will personally lead the army to resist!" After that, he turned and entered the palace gate.
Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun followed closely behind.
Kang Yicheng was forced to follow at the back. Although he has military power, he is alone now, and the soldiers are not around him. The palace door in front of him has been given political significance. Entering the door means being loyal to the emperor; not entering the door means being a traitor and conspiring with Li Congrong. Therefore, if Kang Yicheng does not come in, it will be equivalent to announcing that he will participate in the assassination of the king, and he will be the first person to shed blood in this coup.
A good man does not suffer immediate losses, so Kang Yicheng could only bite the bullet and enter the palace and act according to the opportunity.
Meng Hanqiong and others came to Li Siyuan and reported urgent military information: Li Congrong had rebelled, had led an army to attack Duanmen, and was about to invade the palace!
The eunuchs and maids were frightened and burst into tears.
Li Siyuan frowned and said to himself, "Why bother doing this?" Then he asked Zhu Hongzhao and others, "Is this really happening?"
Everyone replied: "It is true. The guards have been ordered to close the palace gate and please give the next instructions from the emperor."
Li Siyuan beat his chest and feet, with tears streaming down his face, and said to Kang Yicheng: "You are the commander-in-chief of the personal soldiers, so I leave this matter to you. Don't disturb the people."
Then he turned to Li Chongji, the commander of Konghe (affiliated to the Forbidden Army) beside him and said: "Your father and I risked our lives and fought many times to conquer this world. Your father saved me from danger many times. What does Li Congrong have to do with him?" Thanks for being incited by traitors to do such a rebellious thing. I should have called your father a long time ago and handed over the military power to him. Hey, now you guard the palace gate for me."
Li Chongji, his father is Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke. At this critical moment, I don't know why Li Siyuan said these words. From the meaning of these words, it seems that he regretted not making Li Congke the crown prince. Although this is a clear record in black and white in authoritative historical materials, I personally believe that either Li Siyuan was confused or made up by later generations (Li Congke Group) to tell the world that Emperor Mingzong originally wanted to designate Li Congke as his successor.
Li Chongji led the crane-controlling army to block the palace gate; the eunuch Meng Hanqiong wore armor, mounted his horse, and ordered the cavalry commander Zhu Hongshi to lead 500 cavalry out of the palace to attack Li Congrong.
