The distant mountains are green.
The tall Hangu Pass was behind him. A group of knights protected a carriage and was running wildly on the official road. The mountains and forests on both sides continued to move backwards. A burst of smoke and dust rose up. Looking back, there was actually a group of knights. The knight is in pursuit.
"Those bandits are about to catch up!"
The leading knight raised his whip and said anxiously, while another knight roared in a low voice: "I really can't fight with those aggressive dog thieves. I will be caught sooner or later if I run away like this."
Upon hearing this, the leader immediately dissuaded him: "Those are all warriors recruited by the imperial court. Compared with us, we are simply vulnerable. If we die, we will die. But what will Madam and the others do?"
"It's hateful that Huo Guang, a thief, has gone so far as to kill everyone and exile them to the Western Regions. Who can make it there alive?"
"call out!"
Sharp arrows struck, and a knight who had been running wildly fell to the ground and was directly killed by an arrow.
"Brother!"
He heard a cry of grief and wanted to turn around and fight for his life, but with a few swishing sounds piercing the air, two arrows shot at his shoulders and abdomen, instantly knocking him off his horse.
Falling off a horse at such a high speed would naturally kill him immediately. Even the whole body could not be seen. His feet were hung in the stirrups, and then he was dragged by the frightened horse past a huge boulder, and was instantly scraped into pieces. .
"Can't escape!"
All the fleeing knights finally recognized this cruel fact and turned around to fight with the cavalry sent by the imperial court. Within a quarter of an hour, the imperial cavalry killed all the knights on the spot.
Chaoting Tiqi only lost two people.
This group of black-clothed horsemen walked to the carriage with their reins in hand, and opened the curtain of the carriage. There were five people sitting on the horse, two quite beautiful women, looking at their thirties, wearing palace clothes. On the verge of coming out, two young girls who had never grown hair cuddled tightly against them, like flowers waiting to bloom. They looked very similar to the two women. They were very beautiful. There was a slightly younger boy huddled in the innermost part of the carriage.
The leader of the black-clothed Tiqi took out the portrait, then took out a book, and said expressionlessly: "The great minister Shang Lu colluded with Prince He to assassinate the prince, and he died in court.
One wife, one concubine, one legitimate daughter, one concubine, and one concubine were sentenced to exile in the Western Regions.
Come and sign your name. "
The Tiqi leader read out the names one by one, checked that they were correct, and then asked the five people to sign their names.
Facing Tiqi, who was like a messenger from hell, these five pampered ladies and noble children had long been frightened. Besides, even if they weren't stupid, who would sign the book that represented death?
The leader of Tiqi was not surprised, but said calmly: "Four of the five of you are weak women. You are lucky to meet me. I am a Confucian disciple, so I am easy to talk to.
If you sign this book and are willing to commit suicide, can I allow you to leave a trace of dignity behind?
Otherwise, I cannot control these dozens of hard-blooded men in this wilderness.
You are always going to die, so why suffer that fate? "
Seeing several people signing their names tremblingly, the leader of the Tiqi lifted up the reins and asked: "Is there anyone who wants to commit suicide?
I can lend you a knife.
My suggestion is to die here directly, otherwise with your status and appearance, you will be nothing more than meals for those evil subordinates on the road to exile. "
The words of the Tiqi leader made the two women tremble. The Tiqi leader asked kindly: "It seems that you are afraid, do you need help? I have always been kind-hearted."
The two women trembled and nodded. They really didn't want to be exiled, and they didn't want their most beloved daughter to suffer humiliation. Dying here was indeed the best ending.
"Pfft!"
The Tiqi leader's knife was very fast, like a butcher's. He sent away several people without any hesitation, because the knife was too fast, and there was probably no pain before death.
Seeing the bright red blood dripping on the ground, the Tiqi leader slowly put away his knife and said to the left and right: "Is this officer too kind and has a bottom line?"
Everyone nodded. In such a wilderness, facing four pretty women, and being able to send them off decently, it was indeed a conscience and a bottom line.
"After all, you have read the books of sages, so you should still be a good person and return to Chang'an."
Ta-ta-ta-ta.
A group of knights embarked on their return journey. There were clouds in the sky, the cold wind gradually blew by, and snowflakes gradually fell.
White snowflakes and bright red and black blood mixed together, and the corpses were gradually buried. When the beasts foraging in winter ate these corpses, no one would know what had happened here.
…
In December of the 20th year of Yuanfeng's reign.
The emperor worshiped the prime king and went to the emperor's heaven to be crowned emperor.
The court officials came forward and changed the year title to "Lingjue", with next year being the first year of Lingjue.
The first thing Huo Guang did after taking office was to award him a reward.
"Edict: Since ancient times, has there ever been a king who won the hearts of the people without rewarding his meritorious officials?
I thought there was none.
When I was young and weak, I encountered great disasters, and my life, death, misfortune, and fortune were in the hands of Prince La.
Now that I am sitting on the throne, even if this is God's favor for me, can I ignore the merits of all my ministers?
I understand that all of you have received favors from the late emperor, so you repaid me. Now I am willing to follow the example of the late emperor and bestow generous favors on all of you. "
Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, a high position of two thousand stones, three rivers and six counties, the position of lieutenant colonel and general of the Royal Yulin, these are the spoils that should be obtained for the emperor's throne that day.
This has been the case since ancient times, you get what you pay for.
There is a scale in the hearts of ministers. If they don't get what they deserve, they will become unstable elements.
In the end, the king either used the excuse of the meritorious officials to kill those heroes, or his own position was not guaranteed.
Huo Guang and the ministers who revolted rose up either for speculation or to repay Liu Xun's kindness.
No matter what the reason is, Liu She cannot take it for granted.
He must show favor to these ministers again.
Of course, Liu She didn't understand this now, and it was Huo Guang who presided over the award.
Punishment and rewards were the master's authority, and Huo Guang was not the official regent. These actions made him quite criticized.
But Huo Guang has a strong personality. He still rarely talks and does things step by step every day, not caring about the ups and downs outside.
Generally speaking, awarding a reward is a happy event. At most, some people will be upset, but it will not affect the overall situation.
But the second thing Huo Guang had to do was not that simple.
Liquidation!
The degree of cruelty of the liquidation presided over by Huo Guang far exceeded the liquidation carried out by Liu Xun against the descendants of the violent emperor Liu Dan.
The reasons are of course complex.
First of all, it is very important that the wives, concubines and children of Emperor Liu Dan are guaranteed by Luo Shi.
Secondly, Jingnan was jointly launched by all the princes in the world, and there were too many people staring at Liu Dan's descendants.
In other words, there is no hidden danger of Liu Dan's descendants resurrecting and making a comeback.
Therefore, Liu Xun could let them go from the court and let them die "naturally".
The last one is that Liu Xun inherited the throne after he was crowned and had his eldest son. Even if something happened to Liu Xun, his eldest son could still succeed to the throne, and the throne would not fall back into the hands of Liu Dan's family no matter what.
From these three points, we can see why Huo Guang wanted to brutally liquidate Liu He's descendants.
The fundamental reasons are two points. First, this is an internal coup struggle within the royal family. The scope and influence are not large enough to form a strong opposition force. The second is that Liu She is too young!
Once something unexpected happens to Liu She, according to the order of succession, the Empress Dowager is likely to put Prince He's descendants on the throne.
This is nothing to the royal family.
The empress dowager is still the empress dowager, and there is no difference to the princes and kings of the Liu family, or even to the powerful and powerful princes in the world.
But it is unacceptable to Huo Guang and others!
Not only Huo Guang, but everyone involved in the palace coup demanded that Liu He's sons be killed. Except for the babies who were still in their infancy, all the babies in their infancy should also be closely guarded and abolished. The most important thing is to expel the common people from the Liu family tree.
In this era, after being expelled from the genealogy, they are no longer a family, and they naturally lose the qualification to inherit the throne.
In fact, this was prepared to kill him first in case of an accident.
After all, killing a commoner and killing a close relative are completely different concepts.
The Empress Dowager naturally knew all this.
But she knew very well that this matter could not be stopped now. All she could do now was to take good care of the emperor and let him grow up healthily.
It's not just Liu He.
Liu He's forces are mixed but not refined, many are not pure. Huo Guang and others believe that these forces will definitely become rebellious when they see Liu He being liquidated like this.
Besides, if these people are not liquidated, how can Huo Guang and his people be placed there?
The positions of Sangong and Jiuqing were not vacant before. There was no need to use violence to seize them. Do we have to wait for the other party to give in?
Moreover, even if they take the initiative to give in, who can guarantee that those people will not counterattack?
Only if these people enter Zhaocheng can people believe it, but unfortunately, these people do not have such qualifications.
Zhaocheng is not just for cats and dogs.
If you can't go to Zhaocheng and prove that there is no threat, then there is only a dead end!
————
(End of chapter)
