Chapter 197 The Whole City Is Covered with Golden Armor

Facing the eye-catching red arrow on the light screen map, everyone in the Manlu Hall looked heavy for a moment.

Although this happened more than two hundred years later, they still felt powerless when they saw such a force that could be called a scabies disease in its early stage, running away from home time and time again, and finally turning around to fight back.

"These Jiedushi who suppressed the rebellion and took bribes to support the bandits should all be killed!"

Li Shi's words were full of murderous intent, and he also expressed his attitude.

This kind of thing is really too taboo, and Li Shi 𪟝 doesn't want to put a nail in His Majesty's heart because of the behavior of future generations.

At the same time, Li Shi murmured in his heart that this feeling was really strange.

I believe this is the first time in history that we are worried about being implicated by the rebellious party more than two hundred years later.

Waving his hand to signal Li Shi𪟝 to sit back, Li Shimin sighed, but he just didn't quite understand:

"Huang Chao was defeated twice, so how could he suddenly enter the capital?"

In response, Wei Zheng sighed and said:

"Because Huang Chao wants to kill corrupt officials."

"Is it that simple?" Li Shimin asked.

Wei Zheng paid homage to Li Shimin and said at the same time:

"Does Your Majesty know that there is still a temple to King Dou in Hebei?"

Li Shimin was silent. Of course he remembered this opponent who "wanted to calm the people and rule the world."

Wei Zheng replied: "I have heard many people in Hebei talking about him, punishing corrupt officials, and the people still remember his virtue."

Li Shimin was silent, and at this moment he even remembered the statue of "Water can carry a boat and capsize it" in Chang'an, which never sleeps.

Huang Chao had this slogan in order to appease the public, but looking at it from another direction, there are probably countless people under Huang Chao who have been harmed by corrupt officials.

A pain in his calf interrupted Li Shimin's reverie. Looking at Empress Changsun pouting, Li Shimin finally realized that Wei Zheng was still kneeling on the ground.

So Li Shimin hurriedly helped him up:

"Xuancheng is indeed my dressing mirror!"

[880 AD, this year is crucial for Huang Chao.

After relying on the second false surrender and bribery to escape, he conquered Xuanzhou at the end of June.

In July, he crossed the Yangtze River and headed north, in September he conquered Sizhou; in October he conquered Shenzhou, Yingzhou, Songzhou, Xuzhou and Yanzhou.

At this time, no one in the Tang Empire could stop Huang Chao, so he officially began to march towards Kyoto.

Wait until autumn comes on September 8th, and I will kill hundreds of flowers after they bloom!

In mid-November, Huang Chao attacked Luoyang. Luoyang belonged to Tokyo in the Tang Dynasty at this time, and there was also a court team left behind. They were led by Liu Yunzhang, who stayed behind in Tokyo, to greet Huang Chao.

Huang Chao did not stay too long in the prosperous Luoyang. He seemed to know the importance of quick soldiers, and after taking a short supply break, he set off westward again.

On the first day of December, Huang Chao marched into Tongguan and defeated it in two days. Chang'an was already under Huang Chao's front.

On the third day of December, Huang Chao led his army to Huazhou, which is now near Huashan. The next day, Xizong's envoy came to Huang Chao's military camp and brought Xizong's conditions:

Huang Chao was granted the title of military governor of the Tianping Army.

At this time, Huang Chao had no reason to accept the appointment, but he did not embarrass the envoy and let him go. When Xizong learned the news, his face was ashen.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, after the court meeting, Xizong, along with his four sons and several concubines, left without saying goodbye through the Jinguang Gate, the back door of the palace, under the protection of 500 Shence troops led by the eunuch Tian Lingzi.

It can be said that fate made a humorous joke. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yue and Wang Yan faced the Xiongnu Liu and chose to leave Emperor Huai of Jin in the capital to die and ran away on their own.

More than five hundred years later, it was the emperor's turn to escape secretly.

Of course, the news of Xizong's escape could not be hidden for too long. This news brought a wave of chaos. Some people chose to flee, but more noble families chose to wait and see.

In the evening of the same day, Zhang Zhifang, the general of the Jinwu Guard, came to Bashang with all the civil and military officials to greet their loyal King Huang.

The incense formation soaring to the sky penetrates Chang'an, and the whole city is covered with golden armor.

After arriving in Chang'an, Huang Chao began to plan to proclaim himself emperor. After asking divination to choose an auspicious day, he moved into Hanyuan Hall and usurped the throne. His country was named Daqi and his reign was named Jintong.

At that time, Huang Chao was still ambitious. For example, he ordered his soldiers to preach:

The Yellow King is a living being, unlike the Li family who does not care about your generation, but each has its own home.

Moreover, the "Old Book of Tang" also records that Huang Chao and the rebel army gave alms to the poor.

After Xizong escaped from Chang'an, he ordered all the soldiers and horses to recover the capital. After gaining power and profit, the Jiedushi made great efforts and soon regained Xianyang and crossed the Wei River. Huang Chao felt defeated and withdrew from Chang'an.

What happened next was relatively simple, but for the people of Chang'an, it was one wave of disaster after another.

After the army entered Chang'an, they began to plunder money and children, and rogues in the city also pretended to be soldiers and took advantage of the chaos.

After Huang Chao detected this situation, he sent elite troops to sneak attack overnight. At this time, almost everyone in the army was carrying valuables. As a result, they were defeated miserably, and Chang'an City changed hands again.

Huang Chao, who entered the city again, was angry that the people of Chang'an welcomed Master Wang, and allowed his men to kill and cleanse the city indiscriminately, causing blood to flow in Chang'an.

Regarding this ending, the verbal description is a little pale, so let's end it with "Qin Fu Yin". 】

"The dancers and singers all donate their money secretly, and all the babies and young girls are abandoned."

Li Shimin read out the poem he saw. His voice was rougher than ever before, as if something was stuck in his throat.

But he didn't care, and continued to look at the poem slowly sliding across the light screen, insisting on reading it out.

"There is a Jurchen fairy next door to the west...and she will die with a sword made of red powder and balsam."

"There is a girl in the south whose surname I don't remember... her body and head were torn into pieces in a moment."

"She screamed in the smoke for help, but the body hanging on the beam had turned to ashes."

In times of chaos, women are always the first to suffer, Li Shimin thought.

He had always felt that he was as hard as stone and had seen many times of chaos, but now he didn't see any images, but this poem seemed to be sobbing and hitting his heart.

These women who were ignorant of worldly affairs, although separated by three hundred years, were still the people of the Tang Dynasty and his people.

They spent more than a dozen years in the Tang Dynasty under the protection of their fathers and brothers at home. Perhaps they would listen to their fathers or grandfathers talking about the powerful Tang Dynasty before going to bed, and imagine the day when the Tang Dynasty would have a clean government and everyone would laugh.

But that day will never come. Their lives and destinies, as well as those of their fathers and brothers, came to an abrupt end on this day.

Who should I scold? Who should I hate?

Li Shimin felt like vomiting blood, and there seemed to be some sweet taste in his throat.

"The luxurious carriages and embroidered wheels are all gone, and there is not even half of the noble house left."

This sentence was read out in a strange voice, and Li Shimin even felt a little happy in his heart.

Is this the Tang Dynasty that you aristocratic families want? Is this the Tang Dynasty created by a family of nobles and generals?

I created the prosperous Tang Dynasty without relying on your benefits, but you took the benefits of the people and entered the noble houses.

The color of your noble houses should be painted with your stinking blood!

"The inner treasury was burned to brocade ashes, and the bones of the nobles were trampled on the streets!"

When this sentence came out, Li Shimin felt a little empty in his heart.

The Tang Dynasty that he started with his army in Jinyang ended with these fourteen words.

During the Zhenguan period, the treasury was completely used, either for disaster relief or for military expenses to fight against foreign races, and finally turned into a handful of black ashes when it died.

Countless heroes and talents rode with him, either riding horses to trample the enemy or reforming the bureaucracy, but in the end, the good-for-nothings who used all kinds of means to get to the top were finally trampled into dust.

Sitting on the couch, looking at the dome of Ganlu Palace that he had seen many times, Li Shimin remained silent.

"If your majesty is tired, just go and rest first." This was the voice of Empress Changsun advising.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui nodded together and said:

"Your Majesty, I will copy it, and it won't be too late for Your Majesty to read it later."

Shaking his head, Li Shimin whispered:

"I can still bear it."

Facing the suspicious eyes of Empress Changsun, Li Shimin wanted to force a smile, but for the first time, he felt that it was so difficult to curl the corners of his mouth. In the end, he just shook his head and said:

"Looking at the chaotic times of those generations, I only think that the emperor is unjust and the officials are corrupt, and they should die early."

"But now, seeing the suffering of my Tang people in the future, I always want to eliminate some more disasters and use more means."

"Even if this prosperous era can be extended for five or ten years, won't the peaceful time that these girls can enjoy be longer?"

Empress Changsun didn't say anything, but just took Li Shimin's palm into her hands, and it seemed that strength was transmitted to her.

With a grateful smile, he closed his other hand and rubbed it for a while, then stood up and went to the desk. He planned to copy down the poem directly now, and then hang it in Ganlu Hall as a warning.

[As for Huang Chao's ending, it was relatively unremarkable. After Xizong completely gave up his power, the military governors of the vassal states quickly became powerful, and eventually the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms began.

Facing the serious military governors, Huang Chao was no match. After being driven out of Chang'an again, he fled eastward and was defeated all the way, and finally left a record of cannibalism.

But in fact, looking back, with Huang Chao's talent, he was still able to travel all over the world and enter Chang'an, which in itself can show how big the problems of the late Tang Dynasty were.

Moreover, the essence of feudal society is cannibalism. Although Huang Chao was recorded as a cannibal in history books, the aristocratic families in the feudal era ate the people for generations.

Regarding the record of Huang Chao's cannibalism, there is a subtle deviation between the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang.

In the Old Book of Tang written by the people of the Later Jin Dynasty, the descriptions of the Huang Chao uprising army in the early stage were mostly about fighting with the Tang army and conquering cities, with few atrocities.

It was not until Huang Chao took the initiative to withdraw from Chang'an for the first time that the Old Book of Tang recorded that "the thieves began to be cruel."

The New Book of Tang compiled by the people of the Song Dynasty is more interesting. It records that Huang Chao basically burned, killed and looted all the way from the beginning of his army.

The record that Huang Chao began to rob soon after entering Chang'an for the first time also comes from the New Book of Tang.

What's more interesting is that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were ceded by the Later Jin Dynasty, so the Song Dynasty's records of the Later Jin Dynasty have always been extremely derogatory.

The historian and minister in the early Song Dynasty sharply criticized the last emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty, Shi Chonggui, saying that "since ancient times, the ugliness of the country's destruction has never been as bad as that of the emperor."

However, I don't know how everyone in the Song Dynasty would comment on the Jingkang Shame. 】

There is no need to elaborate on the details of cannibalism. One reason is that the scale is a bit too large, and the other is that the record has been verified by many people and is probably fabricated. The person who wrote it neither knew military affairs nor did farm work.