【Three Dragons Club】
Murong Qian can barely be counted as one of the few direct members of Li Conghou. He was only a low-level officer under Li Conghou before. Li Conghou trusted him so much that after he ascended the throne, he promoted him from General of Ya to General of the Forbidden Army. (Commander of the Crane Control Army).
Li Conghou planned to escape to Weizhou, so he called Murong Qian and asked him to cut off his rear and defend Xuanwu Gate (the north gate of the imperial city). On this day, Li Conghou led fifty personal cavalry and fled north from Xuanwu Gate. Before leaving, he asked Murong Qian to also escort him with his men.
Murong Qian was obligated and immediately summoned his troops.
But as soon as Li Conghou walked out of Xuanwu Gate, he heard a "crash-bang" sound, and the city gate was closed by Murong Qian.
"I'm sorry, I want to be Li Congke's man." Murong Qian sold out in danger.
Li Conghou was at the end of his rope, so he fled toward Weizhou under the protection of fifty personal cavalry. When they fled about seven or eight miles east of Weizhou, they suddenly saw a group of cavalry coming towards them.
Li Conghou's attendants stepped forward to yell at them, asked them which army they belonged to, and quickly gave way.
Answer: Zhenzhou Chengde Army Shi Jingtang's headquarters.
Li Conghou cried with joy, he had met one of his own!
When Shi Jingtang heard that he had met the emperor's emperor, he hurriedly came to pay homage.
Li Conghou threw the stirrup off the saddle, dismounted and cried bitterly. In his excitement, he spoke without hesitation and leaked all the secrets. Through the dialogue between Li Conghou and Shi Jingtang, it is not difficult to understand why no one supports Li Conghou. He is really unable to support the wall.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?"
"Not long ago, I asked you to move the town. You were obedient, but Li Congke did something that harmed the country and the country. He has rebelled!"
"Didn't we send a large army to suppress it?"
"Complete defeat!"
"Oh... Then I heard that Kang Yicheng was sent again with all the elite of the Forbidden Army?"
"Don't mention it. That kid Kang Yicheng also rebelled, and all the Imperial Army also turned against him."
"Oh -" Shi Jingtang was thoughtful, sighed, and said: "I can't believe that things have developed to this point... Wang Hongzhi, the governor of Weizhou, is a veteran of the former dynasty and is familiar with military and state affairs. Otherwise, we should go to him first. Discuss with him about the next step?"
Shi Jingtang acted as a frontline for Li Conghou and came to Weizhou first to have a secret talk with Wang Hongzhi.
Wang Hongzhi said: "There are many emperors in exile, but they always have civil and military officials, imperial army generals, money and food, royal talismans, etc. with them. Only in this way can they continue to call on their subjects and be worthy of the name of the emperor in exile. Plan. But now... Li Conghou has nothing around him, and he only brings fifty cavalry. Even if you and I are full of loyalty, what can we do?"
Shi Jingtang thinks it makes sense.
Without hundreds of officials and retinues, it means losing the support of the ministers; without gold and silver treasures, it is impossible to issue rewards to the soldiers loyal to the emperor; without the royal seal, it is impossible to issue letters of appointment to meritorious soldiers... Without money, without officials , who would risk his life to protect the emperor in trouble?
Shi Jingtang returned to the inn and said these words to Li Conghou tactfully, expressing his difficult situation today.
Two of Li Conghou's cronies, Sha Shourong and Ben Hongjin, stepped forward and angrily scolded Shi Jingtang: "You are the late emperor's son-in-law, and the late emperor treated you well. Now, when the late emperor's legitimate son is in trouble, not only are you unwilling to be loyal, but you are looking for excuses. Do you also want to rebel?"
After saying that, Sha Shourong drew out his saber and stabbed Shi Jingtang.
Chen Hui, Shi Jingtang's bodyguard, fought with him and died together. Ben Hongjin committed suicide in anger.
Shi Jingtang hurriedly said there was a misunderstanding, and Li Conghou quickly stopped him.
That night, Li Conghou called Shi Jingtang to come to discuss matters. In fact, he wanted to assassinate Shi Jingtang and ambushed the swordsmen and axemen in the courtyard. One of Shi Jingtang's cronies, Liu Zhiyuan, sent Shi Gan, a highly skilled martial artist, to act as Shi Jingtang's personal bodyguard.
After the emperor and his ministers met, Li Conghou said that he had something important to discuss with him, so he asked the others to leave. Shi Jingtang's guards gradually withdrew, with only Shi Gan standing behind him.
After chatting for a few words, ambushes appeared everywhere and headed straight for Shi Jingtang.
Shi Gan pushed Shi Jingtang into a small room, blocked the door with a huge log, took out a large hammer hidden in advance from his sleeve, and started fighting with everyone. Liu Zhiyuan also led reinforcements and destroyed Li Conghou's ambush group, leaving Li Conghou alone.
Taking inventory of the scene, it was found that the hero Shi Gan had been killed in battle. Li Conghou was imprisoned by Shi Jingtang.
Afterwards, Shi Jingtang rushed to Luoyang to express his allegiance to Li Congke.
While Li Conghou escaped from Luoyang, Kang Yicheng finally found an organization to take him in. He came to Shaanzhou in embarrassment and met Li Congke.
Li Congke scolded: "After the death of the late emperor, you guys have the final say on the issue of the successor. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was in mourning period, and all the government decrees came from you. Not only did you not give your full assistance, but you made the country what it is now." , do you know your guilt for causing such misery to my brother Li Conghou?"
Kang Yicheng was so frightened that he kowtowed and begged for mercy.
Li Congke really wanted to kill him, but now was not the time. If he were killed now, everyone in the newly surrendered Forbidden Army would be in danger. In order to do a good job in united front work, he could only be temporarily pardoned.
Mabudu Yuhou Chang Congjian and Zuolongwu commander Wang Jingkan were also tied up by their subordinates in a mutiny and surrendered to Li Congke. At this point, all the expedition troops sent by the central government and the central forbidden army had surrendered to Li Congke. When Li Congke takes control of Luoyang, there will be no more military resistance.
Li Congke informed Empress Dowager Cao and expressed his willingness to listen to Empress Dowager Cao's decision. Then he led his army eastward and rushed to Luoyang.
On the way, Li Congke's team met another person, this person was the eunuch Meng Hanqiong. When Li Congke was framed by An Zhongjie, he was under house arrest in Luoyang. Concubine Wang De often sent Meng Hanqiong to comfort him, so Meng Hanqiong thought he was Li Congke's old friend and best friend. He rode out of Luoyang alone, headed west, and finally greeted Li Congke. Arriving at Li Congke's army.
Meng Hanqiong came to Li Congke, fell to the ground and cried bitterly, and wanted to explain.
Li Congke said leisurely: "Stop talking. I know everything."
Meng Hanqiong stood up happily and gratefully, and consciously joined Li Congke's direct team.
Li Congke made a pun: "You are on the wrong team."
Meng Hanqiong was stunned for a moment, smiled awkwardly but politely, and then stood in the ranks of the surrendered generals.
Li Congke said coldly: "Come here." With a look, two sturdy men took Meng Hanqiong from the team to the roadside and beheaded him on the spot.
Kang Yicheng still had some value to Li Congke, but the eunuch Meng Hanqiong had no value at all. Moreover, eunuchs have always had a bad reputation and were hated by other factions. Li Congke was about to kill one or two powerful eunuchs to seize power, and Meng Hanqiong happened to be killed. Perhaps being killed was Meng Hanqiong's only use value.
There is no resistance militarily, but what about politics?
