The hot wind carries the smell of decay.
The ground was parched by the sun, and corpses that had been dead for unknown ages were scattered on the roadside.
The weeds that should have grown along the roadside are now rare.
The birds in the sky and the insects in the trees have disappeared.
Back at Tang's house, Zhang Qingyuan didn't rest.
Although he had killed the invading enemy last night, his mood became increasingly heavy.
A man was sitting on a stone bench, feeling confused.
As a modern person, I grew up under the red flag and was born in New China.
Zhang Qingyuan's desire for the throne is not that serious, and he doesn't quite understand why everyone wants to be emperor.
Of course, what puzzled him the most was that for the sake of the throne, he could ignore millions of victims and watch thousands of people suffer from disaster.
It would be fine if foreigners invaded, burned, killed, looted, and the court was corrupt and incompetent and could not be saved. But what is causing the displacement of countless people now is a family of brothers living in Zijin City. They are competing for the position of the head of the family, so they have no time to take care of the victims.
In the feudal system, the imperial power was supreme.
Those who are dying and those who are waiting for death are all their people, their people.
And for a position, people in a state are displaced.
What's the use of being such an imperial power and such a king?
The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit...
"Tsk, tsk."
Zhang Qingyuan shook his head helplessly.
It was daylight, and Zhu Zizhao, who had been going out early and coming back late these days, finally showed up.
He pushed open Zhang Qingyuan's courtyard door, holding a few steamed buns in his hand.
"Brother, I heard that you showed great power last night. The four guardians of the Tianli Sect, the two Vajras, and some of the leaders of Longmen were all killed by you. You are worthy of being the Great Emperor of Zhenwu descending to earth... Poof."
What greeted him was a violent punch from Zhang Qingyuan, hitting his stomach.
Zhu Zizhao was stunned by the punch, holding his stomach in pain and taking a few steps back.
After a while, he finally regained his composure, glared at Zhang Qingyuan and cursed: "You are so sick!"
Zhang Qingyuan retracted his fist, shook his head lightly, and sat down again.
"I'm thinking about a question."
It seemed like he was talking to himself, but also like he was really asking.
Zhu Zizhao walked to him angrily, and just as he was about to scold him again, Zhang Qingyuan had already spoken.
"Who do you think maintains the monarchy?"
"ah?"
Kingship?
Suddenly hearing this question, Zhu Zizhao did not react.
Why ask this question.
Zhang Qingyuan did not wait for his answer and continued: "I think it's the common people."
"What are you talking about? First answer why you hit me."
“If all the people died and there were no common people in the world, only the emperor and the officials were left, then who would embody their authority?
If there are no people, who will they care about?
Who will farm the land for them, who will pay their taxes, and who will fill the vacancies in this country?
Do you want the emperor to lead a group of officials to play house? "
Having said this, Zhang Qingyuan looked at Zhu Zizhao and showed a sad smile.
"What do you think, His Highness Prince Jin, I might call you the Ninth Prince!"
Zhang Qingyuan's teasing eyes made him a little nervous, and then he grinned and said, "How do you know?"
He stood up, condescending, and the power of the prince was evident, which was regarded as acquiescing to Zhang Qingyuan's statement.
Zhang Qingyuan said calmly: "King Yu is already ready to take action. He has gathered victims in the three regions of east, west and south and distributed weapons. After the distribution of weapons is completed, he will send a large army to the capital.
Are you ready? "
Looking into his eyes, Zhang Qingyuan remembered the information he got during the interrogation of Longmen last night.
Most of these people in Longmen are tough guys who value love and justice and are not afraid of death.
But not everyone is so tough. Lao Liu, ranked among the eight masters, is known as Dragon Flag.
He was not so tough. Under Zhang Qingyuan's death threats, he confessed the truth.
I learned from Long Qi that Tianli believers are all over the country and can inform King Yu of news from all over the country as soon as possible.
As the emperor was critically ill and Long Zi was busy seizing the throne, the imperial power's control over the court became increasingly loose.
Several capable generals were at the border, and the princes and ministers were busy standing in line, so there were no emergency measures to deal with the severe drought in Kaifeng.
There are also honest officials who ask for orders for the people, but in this case, these honest officials can't get a word in at all.
And the imperial court was not unaware of King Yu's ambitions. The old emperor naturally knew what Kaifeng was doing.
He wanted to fight back, but his body was powerless.
Orders to mobilize troops from various places either failed to be sent out, or were intercepted halfway by the Tenri cultists after they were sent out.
And those princes who claimed the throne didn't take King Yu seriously at all. What they thought was that as long as I became emperor, the little King Yu would just step in and sell out.
Princes who have never experienced hardship since childhood always feel that they are talented and strategic.
Especially the two men who held the three battalions did not pay attention to the army composed of the victims at all.
In their view, as long as I become emperor, all three major battalions will be in my hands, and the little victims will not matter!
However, the old emperor was not helpless. He did not appoint officials to provide disaster relief. He was afraid that even this batch of food would not reach the hands of the victims.
The ancient dynasty cycle generally lasted three hundred years, and sometimes the reasons for destroying a country were quite ridiculous.
It had just passed two hundred years since the founding of the Daqian Dynasty. If calculated as three hundred years ago, the Daqian Dynasty would have been considered an old man at this time.
Zhang Qingyuan didn't think about it at first. King Yu was actually going to rebel, and several princes were still thinking of seizing the heir. If the ministers didn't join forces to resist, they were so busy taking sides, were they all thinking something wrong?
If the operations of several princes of the Daqian Dynasty were written into a novel, I am afraid that book friends would definitely say that the plot is brainless.
After thinking about it later, such mindless behavior is not difficult to understand.
In previous Chinese history, weren't there also similar tricks that insulted IQ and made people incomprehensible?
Think about the Song Dynasty. Foreign tribes invaded and the country was about to be destroyed. However, they designed the marshal who was the best at fighting to be killed...
Compared with the emperors of the old Zhao family of the Great Song Dynasty, the operations of several princes were not illogical.
You can only say half-assed things, and don’t say anything about anyone else.
Looking into Zhu Zizhao's eyes, Zhang Qingyuan suddenly smiled.
He briefly told him the news that was tortured last night. Zhu Zizhao shook his head and asked, "Then how did you guess my identity?"
"The Tenri believers are spread all over the country, and they have even been deployed in the capital, but the Tenri believers have not received any news that anyone has come to Beijing to deliver a secret message.
I also learned from his mouth that the current emperor has a total of thirteen sons, and among them, the ninth prince does not like the court, nor does he participate in the fight for the right to inherit the throne. He only likes the world.
Ever since he was a child, he has dreamed of traveling around the world, surrounded by twelve guards trained by the emperor to protect him.
The prince's name is Zhu Qizhao. "
Zhu Qizhao nodded and said bluntly: "Actually, I haven't had any lofty ideals since I was a child, and I don't want to be a great person. I just want to be a free prince and just play in the world.
That’s why I took this opportunity to stay away from the capital, because I just didn’t want to participate in their struggle..."
"Stop it."
Zhang Qingyuan interrupted him, "Just tell your brothers, don't tell me.
If you don’t want to be an emperor, just find a place with beautiful scenery. Why come to Kaifeng? "
Zhu Qizhao's expression changed slightly, and Zhang Qingyuan was even more sure that he had guessed his true thoughts.
"Okay, don't say any pretentious words. First tell me what your plan is, and then I will think about how to help you."
"what's the plan?"
Seeing that this guy was still pretending to be stupid, Zhang Qingyuan said bluntly:
"Of course it's the plan to become the emperor. Where the fifth and seventh Lao are really going is to the north to invite General Huang, right?"
