Chapter 512: The End of the Prime Minister
Chapter 512: The End of the Prime Minister
According to records in books, the process of smelting the "Red Flame Holy Armor" takes at least several days to complete.
Zhao Duan tossed and turned all night, and the next morning, he glanced at the "charging" progress bar and was disappointed.
He simply instructed his stepmother to seal his room and not allow anyone to enter, leaving Holy Armor to slowly devour the many "trophies" on its own.
He was calm and relaxed, playing games leisurely, then turned around and went to the imperial prison.
The imperial prison was as depressing as ever. I could feel the temperature dropping as I walked some distance away from the gray-black building.
"grown ups."
When Zhao Duan, with his hands behind his back, led Qian Kerou and Shen Juan to the prison, the old warden hurriedly came out to greet them flatteringly: "Any instructions?"
"Take me to see Li Yanfu." Zhao Duan said calmly.
As the first big man he met after coming to this world, and also the first stepping stone for him to rise from humble beginnings, considering that the Prime Minister was about to die, he thought it necessary to see him for the last time.
The dungeon was dark and stuffy.
As soon as I stepped in, I heard screams. On both sides of the corridor, the cells were overcrowded. From time to time, the cell doors were opened and the jailers dragged the bruised and battered prisoners back and forth roughly.
"Most of these are officials of the Li Party who are plotting rebellion, as well as some newly brought in Qingzhou rebel criminals." The secretary Qian Kerou explained in a low voice.
Shen Juan also grinned and muttered: "The last time I saw the Imperial Prison full was after the Xuanmen coup."
Zhao Duan said nothing and walked slowly.
As he walked through the corridor, prisoners in the cells on both sides would occasionally throw themselves on the railings, stretch out their hands and beg for mercy loudly, praying that Zhao Duan would report back to the emperor.
When faced with these officials from various departments who had held great power not long ago, the jailer changed his fawning attitude towards Zhao Duan and became ferocious. He whipped the prisoners with the whip, making a "pa pa" sound, accompanied by the prisoners' wailing.
"Shut up, everyone. If you disturb Lord Zhao, I will send you off today!"
Zhao Duan glanced at the group of prisoners and suddenly said with some emotion:
"If I hadn't done anything meritorious last summer, I would have been put in a cell here just because Zhuang Xiaocheng escaped."
The three subordinates beside him looked at each other, not knowing how to respond.
Zhao Duan smiled, but said nothing more and continued to walk deeper.
……
Li Yanfu was imprisoned in the "A" cell in the deepest part of the imperial prison.
Directly opposite him, there was another cell that originally held another high-ranking official of the Li Party. That person was taken away yesterday, and Prince Heng and his son took his place.
Then Li Yanfu learned the news that the Qingzhou rebels had been defeated.
"Dangdang!"
The iron door at the end of the corridor opened, and Li Yanfu, who had disheveled hair and was wearing prison clothes and meditating facing the cell vent, opened his eyes.
Opposite him, Prince Heng, who was lying curled up on a straw mat with wounds all over his body, and Crown Prince Xu Zudi were also awakened.
The three Type A prisoners stood up at the same time, looked into the darkness of the corridor, and saw a familiar figure walking towards them.
"Haha, Prime Minister Li, Prince Heng, and Prince Xu, are you three still used to living here?"
Zhao Duan walked from the darkness into the firelight with a smile on his face.
The pampered Prince Heng and his son were so frightened that they huddled back on their straw mats, fear in their eyes. They no longer had the arrogance and domineering attitude of the royal family.
"Zhao Duan." In comparison, Li Yanfu was much calmer.
The old man was wearing prison clothes, his gray hair was disheveled, and his beard running through his temples was unkempt and had not been trimmed for several days.
The look he gave Zhao Duan was heavy and carried a complex meaning.
He sat on the ground facing the railing, his expression calm and resigned:
"I heard that you led your army to defeat the Qingzhou army in one day, and returned victorious yesterday."
"To be precise, it only took half a day to defeat these two pieces of trash." Zhao Duan smiled, lifted the hem of his robe, squatted at the door of the cell, and looked at Li Yanfu.
The old prime minister, with gray hair and now a prisoner, stared at him and suddenly sighed:
"The young are formidable. I have been thinking over and over again in prison these few days. What I regret most is that I should have listened to Yinglong's advice and used all my strength to eliminate you when you were still powerless!
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world. Who could have thought that my father and son of the Li family would die at the hands of a mere concubine? "
Zhao Duan squatted outside the cell, staring at him with a smile, and shook his head and said, "The Prime Minister is wrong."
Li Yanfu raised his eyes:
"What's wrong with that? I've been in the political world all my life, and I know the truth that the winners are kings and the losers are bandits. I don't regret launching a coup to seize power. I just forgot about your majesty's return. Otherwise, everything would be different."
Even at this moment, he didn't think he had done anything wrong, he just admitted defeat.
Zhao Duan shook his head and said seriously: "You are wrong to be my enemy."
Li Yanfu was stunned. At this moment, he looked at the flames in the dungeon corridor reflected in Zhao Duan's eyes and suddenly lost all his strength.
Zhao Duan said: "Your Majesty has issued an order that in two days, all officials of the Li Party who participated in the rebellion will be beheaded in Caishikou, the capital, as a sacrifice for my departure.
As expected, today is the last time we meet. I have already told the jailer to add some wine and meat to your last meal, as a reward for letting Feng Jupan falsely accuse you and thus escaping the fate of being exiled and beheaded."
Li Yanfu closed his eyes and suddenly said stubbornly:
"My name will be in the history books."
This was the last sentence Li Yanfu said to Zhao Duan in this world.
Zhao Duan smiled, stood up and walked out.
Suddenly, in the cell next to him, the Crown Prince Xu Zudi knelt on the ground, walked on his knees, threw himself to the railing, grabbed the thick wooden pillar with both hands, and forced out a flattering smile:
"Lord Zhao, has your Majesty calmed down? Please tell your Majesty that we know we are wrong. We are all family. If the royal family members kill each other, it will be a joke for the world, right?
My father and I promised to retire and return to Qingzhou to be a rich man, never interfere in government affairs again, and promise to abide by the law..."
Zhao Duan stopped and stared at the stupid guy with strange eyes, thinking, Old Xu, your genes are ruined after being passed to this branch.
He was too lazy to talk nonsense with this guy and smiled:
"I almost forgot, you two will also be going to the underworld with Li Yanfu in two days."
After saying that, he left gracefully.
Xu Zudi looked as if he had been struck by lightning, his face turning pale.
Behind him, King Heng, who was curled up on the straw mat pretending to be dead, raised his head in shock, and suddenly got up like crazy, roaring loudly:
"I am a member of the royal family! She dares to kill me!? She dares to kill my uncles and uncles, she will be cursed for all eternity! I..."
The footsteps gradually faded away.
……
"Dangdang!"
Zhao Duan closed the iron door of the A-type prison with his backhand, scratched his ears which hurt from being yelled at, and said calmly:
"Cancel the last meal for Prince Heng and his son. They are so noisy, so they must not be hungry."
The prison boss smiled and said, "Yes."
Qian Kerou and Shen Juan looked at each other and wanted to laugh.
Zhao Duan glanced at the two of them and said:
"I'll give you two a mission. Take Wei Xianzong away from the prison and send him to the Shenji Camp. Demote him to the Qianfeng Camp as a soldier. Tell him that I value talent and will give him a chance to redeem himself.
If he can make military achievements on the front line, his family members will not be held jointly responsible for treason. If he does not seize the opportunity and tries to escape, he can tell Shi Meng and have him killed directly.
He has been given a way to survive. If he doesn't know how to seize it, he is just a fool and his death is not a pity." Qian Kerou and Shen Juan were startled and clasped their fists at the same time: "As you command!"
Zhao Duan took a step forward and walked out of the imperial prison gate, looking up and letting the late summer sun shine on his face. He looked at the blue sky and white clouds, the dazzling sunlight, and felt a hint of late summer chill.
Next, it’s time to fight a tough battle.
……
……
The small town on the east line of the Huaishui River, close to the Grand Canal and adjacent to the Binhai Road, is a transportation hub and has been very lively recently.
Just because the rebels in Jiancheng Road stopped their northern expedition to Beijing, they suddenly changed their previous offensive posture and instead relied on the terrain and transportation hubs to build solid front-line fortifications.
At the same time, officials from Prince Jing's Mansion began to take over the territory along the eastern line of the Huai River and digest and absorb local forces as quickly as possible.
Within just a few days, notices to "protect the country and the people" were posted on the walls of major counties and even towns and villages.
Inside the city, inside a county government office.
Prince Jing Xuwen sat in the back court with an expressionless face, looking through the latest intelligence sent by the secret spy.
Below him, in the two rows of seats on the left and right sides of the room, were the "civil officials and military generals."
No one dared to breathe.
Crown Prince Xu Jinglong and Princess Lu Yan'er sat on the two chairs closest to Prince Jing, one on the left and one on the right.
"Snapped!"
Finally, Xu Wen slammed the paper in his hand on the tea table. The table was wailing under the force of his palm.
"Father, what's the situation in the capital?" Xu Jinglong asked boldly.
Xu Wen's face was as gloomy as water, and he said unhappily:
"The empress returned in time to stop the coup launched by Li Yanfu. The Li Party was destroyed and the court was back in the hands of the empress.
In addition, the lackey surnamed Zhao led the Shenji Camp to defeat the Qingzhou army and captured Xu Heng and his son alive. It is suspected that the new firearms made this achievement possible.
Now, Li Yanfu, Xu Heng and his son, and others have all been beheaded in public. The next step, if nothing unexpected happens, is for the Beijing camp to go south to help Xue Shence."
Just a few hundred words, but a huge amount of information.
The moment Prince Jing spit out the information, the whole hall fell silent. All his civil and military officials were stunned, their eyes wide open in disbelief, as if they had heard it wrongly, or were listening to an Arabian Nights fairy tale.
Li Yanfu was defeated? The Li Party was eradicated? What happened to the most powerful force in the court? What happened to the sure victory? The Huaishui Li family's firm guarantee... is that it?
Xu Jinglong opened his mouth and felt deflated like a ball, his expectations were greatly dashed.
Did he return to the capital? Did he lead his troops to defeat the Qingzhou rebels? Princess Lu Yan'er clenched her fingers in her sleeves, her eyes showing strange colors.
He was happy that Zhao Du'an was safe and sound and that his ancestor did not disappear with him, but he was also surprised to hear that he had led his troops to a great victory.
"Qingzhou was defeated? So quickly? Everyone knows that Qingzhou has the smallest number of soldiers and is not good at fighting, but it shouldn't be defeated so quickly, right? Is King Heng a pig?!" A general was angry.
The princes formed an alliance, and Prince Heng was defeated. Without this force to restrain the court, the pressure they would have to bear would inevitably increase sharply.
"What new firearms? I think the Qingzhou soldiers are too useless. There are tens of thousands of them after all. Even if it's just tens of thousands of chickens, it should be enough for Zhao Duan to catch them for ten days or half a month, right?" Another aide also spoke angrily.
Prince Jing was the first to learn the news of the empress's great victory in the battle of Baihua Village.
Therefore, Prince Jing was the first one to realize that he should give up going to Beijing and become a separatist prince.
Therefore, people were not surprised by the empress taking power and Li Yanfu being killed. What was really hard for them to accept was that Zhao Duan defeated the Qingzhou army.
It’s so fast that it’s hard to react.
Prince Jing said calmly: “Detailed information about the new firearms will be sent back as soon as possible, so don’t underestimate it.
At the same time, orders were sent to all the armies to block the news of the defeat in Qingzhou to avoid military unrest, and orders were sent to all places that everything should remain the same. As long as the conquered territory was completely eroded and the food route of the Grand Canal was blocked, the capital, Linfeng and other places would be short of supplies within three months at most.
Even with the transfusion from Qingzhou, the court could hold out a little longer, but as long as the blockade continues, the food shortage alone would be enough to cause the court to collapse without a fight, by this winter at the latest.
We are the ones who win in the end.”
Everyone was greatly encouraged and said yes, then stood up and left.
"Jinglong, wait a moment." Xu Wen called to the last prince who was about to leave, "What did you want to report before?"
Xu Jinglong said, "Oh!"
"Nothing, but a subordinate sent me a message saying that Monk Tianhai was accidentally found seriously injured and unconscious by a river. His injuries are extremely serious and he has not yet woken up. Please tell me how to deal with him."
"Tianhai? The young monk who had competed with Zhao Duan in the Buddhist-Taoist competition?" Prince Jing recalled and frowned:
"Since he is a disciple of Shenlong Temple, let's find a temple to raise him for the time being."
Given the current situation, he had neither the time nor the interest to pay attention to a defeated and seriously injured monk.
"Okay, got it." Xu Jinglong nodded in agreement.
……
The western line of Linfeng Road, Taicang Prefecture.
Inside a military tent, Xue Shence carefully read the urgent news from the capital in his hand, and his brows gradually relaxed.
The brows of this "God of War" of Dayu were filled with fatigue, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
The corners of his mouth curled up, he closed the letter, and said to the generals in the account with a smile: "Great joy, you all take a look."
Soon, the letter was circulated among the generals one by one.
Everyone who has seen it has bright eyes and excited expressions:
"What a big victory! This is exactly what we need!"
The most urgent letter placed on top was the battle report of how the Shenji Camp had defeated the Qingzhou Army and captured King Heng alive.
Xue Shence smiled and reminded: "Look carefully below, who won?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment before they looked at the letter below. After reading it, everyone was shocked.
"Zhao Duan? The newly appointed Prince's Guardian? The most sought-after celebrity in the capital in recent years?"
"What? He led the army and defeated Wei Xianzong's Qingzhou army in just half a day and one battle? How is that possible?"
"He also captured Prince Heng himself? This..."
Everyone looked incredulous. Many of the people present were local generals who had heard of Zhao Duan's name.
But my impression is only that he was a famous figure around the emperor, and was very good at poetry, martial arts, and handling cases.
The bigger symbol is the identity of "the empress's concubine"... Well, now he has become the emperor's husband, but it's almost the same.
But such a person actually defeated the enemy in half a day. Looking at the history of war, this can be said to be unprecedented.
"This... I saw in the letter that this Shaobao Zhao holds the title of 'commander-in-chief'. I guess there must be someone else leading the troops in battle, such as Shi Meng, the commander of the Shenji Battalion. I remember that he was quite a general. It is a bit unworthy of the title to attribute this military achievement to Shaobao Zhao."
Suddenly, a general in the tent analyzed calmly.
(End of this chapter)