When the regular attendants returned to the city from Xianyang Garden, everyone was in despair. They walked back to the South Palace through the White Tiger Gate. On the way, Bi Lan, the order from Yeting, suggested to the regular attendants: Since we have decided to return to our hometown, we should stay in the palace again. Let's take a look around the city. Once you leave the city, you may never come back.
Everyone passed by the Yutang Hall first. The Yutang was built by Song Dian. It occupies a very large area but uses exquisite materials and intricate carvings. There are cornices and red walls in the Yuanwang Hall, and there are stone railings in front of the Myopia Hall. There are carvings under the railings. In Lanlin Fangchi, there is the Immortal Palace Palace floating above. The cloud waves and mountain tides disappear and disappear, and two long dragons appear on the left and right of the main hall.
Song Dian touched the stone railing of the Yutang and boasted: When the late emperor ordered me to build the Yutang, I personally went to Lantian to select the materials. I paid a lot of money to hire a quarrying expert and went to the foot of Taihua Mountain to dig four feet deep. Only then did I get the jade as beautiful as water. After the Yutang was completed, the late Emperor gave me a special room in recognition of my loyalty.
He has always been proud of building the Jade Hall, but now he has a second thought, can I still live in the hall forever in the future? He was speechless again.
The regular attendants then swam through Yuntai, Mingguang Hall, Shou'an Hall, and Pingshuo Hall. Along the way, there were green bamboo trees. There was a bronze figure standing in front of each of the four halls, holding a long sword and looking at the palace corridor. They then walked from the palace corridor to the Fudao, and from the Fudao crossed the Luoshui River to the Beigong. On both sides of the river, there were cast Tianlu shrimps and overturning carts and thirsty crows. The former diverted water into the palace, and the latter sprayed the road. Between Du Heng's rows, there are orchids and angelica dahuricas, which can directly make people's hearts change.
After arriving at the North Palace, the group of people walked along the wall, passing through the Yongning, Yingchun, Yanxiu, Anchang, Jingfu, and Shouan palaces, until they reached the Dongming Gate. When they reached this point, the attendants were all tired. They talked and laughed and said: In the past, when I served the emperor, I didn't realize how big the palace was, but now I can measure it with my feet, and then I know how wide the two palaces are. At this time, Zhao Zhong said, "I won't go to Zhuolong Garden anymore. I'm getting older and it's easy to be sentimental when seeing running water. All the attendants sighed and said goodbye to each other, and went back to their homes to sort out their belongings."
The late emperor had succeeded to the throne for twenty years, and these regular attendants had also relied on the late emperor's important position to make a lot of money for twenty years. In addition to building a palace in the capital, the attendants also purchased extensive land in rural pavilions near Luoyang, with nearly a million stones of grain, hundreds of carts of gold and silver, as well as pearls, agate, amber, rhinoceros horn, ivory and other items from all over Southeast Asia. The treasures amount to tens of thousands of kilograms.
The people of Luoyang originally heard that the general forced General Hussars to death and assassinated the Queen Mother Dong, and they were all aggrieved. They said that the general was too mean in his struggle for power. But now when they saw the wealth of Chang Shi coming and going through the city gate, they spit on the ground again, saying What are the horses and horses in this car that are not the blood and tears of all peoples? The general was too lax in his administration and should have killed these national rats long ago. It would be too easy for them to let them go now.
The regular attendants only took care of the property for nearly twenty days. On July 14th, Cangtou reported to Zhang Rang that the property in the capital had been fully accounted for, and soon he would be able to return to his hometown with a full load of treasure to take care of himself. Zhang Rang was worried, so he opened the account again and planned to calculate it by himself. While he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard a burst of crying in front of the mansion, which made Zhang Rang very upset, so he asked Cang Tou to go to the door to take a look.
Cang Tou opened the door to inquire, and saw seven or eight people crowding in front of the door. These people were both men and women. They all had noble faces, but their clothes were in tatters. When they saw Cang Tou, they cried loudly and kept saying that they wanted to see Zhang Chang. Waiter, Cang Tou asked patiently, and then learned their identities. It turned out that these people were the master's nephews in Yingchuan.
The leader was Zhang Rang's nephew Zhang Zhi. When he entered Zhang Rang's house, he led his clan members to crawl in front of Zhang Rang. With tears streaming down his face, he begged his uncle to make the decision for him. Zhang Rang was confused. He knew that Zhang Zhi had always been domineering in the countryside and had a bad reputation. He often bullied party members. Zhang Rang secretly wondered if his nephew was causing trouble outside again and came to the capital to seek support from him? He was about to refuse and told Zhang Zhi that he had lost power and should not cause trouble again. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhi complained first and the words in his mouth shocked Zhang Rang.
Zhang Zhi and others did not come to ask for help because they were in trouble, but they came to escape from Yingchuan's home. Just ten days ago, the governor of Yingchuan County suddenly led troops to surround Zhang Rang's hometown in Yingchuan, claiming that he had been ordered by the general to hunt down Zhang Zhi. Before Zhang Zhi could figure out the reason, the county soldiers led by the governor Guo Tu looted the scene. More than ten of Zhang's children were killed. Fortunately, there were dead soldiers in Zhang Zhi's mansion, who blocked the officers and soldiers in the front yard, and several people stepped on Zhang Zhi's feet. Zhang Zhi climbed over the courtyard wall and escaped.
There were hundreds of Zhang family members, but only twelve people escaped in the end. Zhang Zhi and his party escaped more than ten miles north along the dense forest. When they returned to their hometown, they saw gunpowder smoke billowing under the clear sky, and decades of prosperity were wiped out. After Zhang Zhi and his party thought about it, they had no choice but to flee to Gyeonggi. They first went to Yangcheng incognito, exchanged their jewelry for horses and food, and entered Henan from Sheyuan Pass. However, four more people died of stab wounds on the way. When they arrived in front of Zhang Rang, only eight people were left.
When Zhang Rang heard the news, he felt dizzy and almost fainted in front of the case. He managed to sit up straight and asked Zhang Zhi again: "How is your aunt?" Zhang Zhi hesitated for a while, but still said: "My aunt is old and in poor health. , was too frightened and passed away.”
Zhang Rang swept all the account books on the table to the ground with a vigorous wave, and shouted with gnashing teeth: "What a thief, I will eat your flesh!". He Jin asked him to return to his country, but now that his hometown has been destroyed by He Jin, what else can he say? It's just a matter of life and death.
Thinking of this, Zhang Rang immediately took a car to visit Zhao Zhong. Zhao Zhong entered the palace at a young age and was based in Henan County. Although he was temporarily dismissed from his post, he still had the power of his relatives, so Wang Yun had not yet taken action against Zhao Zhong. But Zhao Zhong was still panicked. After Zhang Rang finished crying and recounting his experience, he felt sorry for him and sent someone to summon other colleagues to his home. Only then did he learn that all the relatives of Chang Shi were being hunted and killed. Everyone was speechless for a while, and felt angry in their hearts. I was hesitant again, not knowing what to do.
Zhang Rang said flatly: "If you advance now, you will die, if you retreat, you will die. If you are waiting for death, why not fight to the death?!" Zhao Zhong crossed his hands and hesitated, but just asked: "But now the general has a heavy army, and he does not share the same virtue as the Queen Mother. , what else can I do?"
Zhang Rang also had a headache, but his ability to become the head of the regular servants relied on his quick wit that is incomparable to ordinary people. He looked around and saw a bow hanging on Zhao Zhongtang. The long bow was engraved with yellow eagles and harriers. It was for decoration and could not be used for combat and hunting. Zhang Rang suddenly had an idea and took off the long bow and held it in his hand. He said to the regular attendants:
"Now the general is besieging me in the Eastern Capital. He has more than ten thousand soldiers under his command, but he is hesitant to move. He insists on calling on the elites from all directions. Why? It is precisely because he is jealous of the Queen Mother that he wants to kill us and stay with the Queen Mother. You have face and don’t want to fall into the pretext of being a dictatorship in the world.”
At this point, everyone was puzzled. Gao Wang asked, "What does Mr. Zhang mean, that we should seek refuge with the Queen Mother again?" Han Kui objected and said, "That's not right. The Queen Mother is frightened by the general and has no intention of protecting me." Wait, if you delay it any longer, won’t it be a dead end?”
"This statement is absurd." Zhang Rang shook his head, drew the bow string in front of everyone, and said to the crowd: "How to lead the army to Luo? Just like when I draw the bow and pull the string, I need to exert all my strength before I can shoot the target. . Now He Jin has summoned all the troops, but he does not dare to let them enter the city. He is just holding the string and not letting it go. How can it last long? Then he is exhausted and exhausted. Either he loosens the string and releases the bow, or the string breaks and hurts people!"
These words were like clearing the clouds and seeing the sun, which made all the attendants' eyes light up. They all said to Zhang Rang, "Please give me some details, Mr. Zhang!"
Zhang asked Songxian to place the long bow on the case and analyze to his colleagues: "Since the late emperor's imperial conquest, He Jin has been away from Xianyang for three months, and now all the generals are coming to Yao, but not all of them are direct descendants of He Jin. He cannot control them all. If he wants to control the overall situation at that time, in addition to blocking the army, he will also have to meet with the Queen Mother."
When he came to the important point, Zhang Rang couldn't help but hesitate, and after a long time he gritted his teeth and said: "At that time, there were only a few dozen of us, hiding in the palace wall. When He walked out of the hall, we could enter with knives! Kill them separately! This thief!" He made a knife with his hand and struck it on the table. Everyone was shocked and finally said in unison: "Good!"
The crowd then cut off their fingers with knives, dripped blood into the wine, and established the deceased emperor's spiritual throne. They made a covenant and said: "Your Majesty, God knows from heaven, why the general has entered into chaos and seized power, forced to kill loyal ministers, and the ministers have no choice but to die." I repay Your Majesty's kindness and hope that Your Majesty will bless you and help us kill He Jin and restore peace to the Han Dynasty."
After the oath was completed, everyone drank blood wine and said goodbye.
Zhang Rang was the last to leave, and he had to discuss the details with Zhao Zhong. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhong grabbed him first and asked, "Mr. Zhang, if this plan is approved and He Jin is really killed, how should we deal with He Jin?" The rest? After all, there are 40,000 soldiers, so we should not underestimate them."
"Mr. Zhao, there is no need to worry." Zhang Rang held Zhao Zhong's wrists and persuaded him: "The political instability in the government is only due to the greed of He Jin. When He Jin dies, the army will be leaderless, and we have the Queen Mother and the Emperor to protect us. There are also chariot and cavalry generals in charge of the overall situation. Under the righteousness of the court, it is difficult for the army to cause trouble. You and I should think more about how to act in the past!"
Zhang Rang only stayed for two moments. When he left, he comforted Zhao Zhong and said: "Mr. Zhao, don't worry, just do it. I am nearly sixty years old. Many people have died at your age. It’s just that I’m still unwilling to accept it. When I was born, I didn’t have to worry about food and clothing, but I still went to the palace to serve the emperor. I just don’t want to be so angry anymore.”
After that, Zhang Rang waved his sleeves and robe and walked away. Zhao Zhong stood in the hall, watching a gust of wind blow by, and suddenly apricot leaves fell all over the ground. He picked up a leaf, looked down at the green leaves with clear veins, and looked up at the sky with the bright moon shining brightly. He suddenly remembered that today was an ancestor worship ceremony. It was the Ghost Festival, but there were no lights along the street and it was pitch black.
Obviously, there are many people in Luoyang City who have no intention of worshiping their ancestors.
