As darkness fell, Chang'an was plunged into a night of bloodshed.

Ordinary people stayed at home and dared not come out. The city gates were sealed off, and the Imperial Guards could be seen everywhere.

They stormed into the target's house and began ransacking it.

Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without exception.

At first, some people resisted, but after several groups were killed, they all became obedient.

Overnight, the prisons in Chang'an were filled with people.

Early the next morning, more than 10,000 people were imprisoned in Chang'an. The official gazette also clearly published the crimes of these people and the subsequent handling results.

This resulted in the loss of more than half of the wealthy people in Chang'an, a major event that shocked the people.

The wealthy people who were usually on the list of richest people are now hanging by their heads at the city gate.

Those wealthy young men and women had now become prisoners, waiting to be exiled to the Western Regions.

When the news reached the General's Mansion, Xue Donglai was still somewhat unaccustomed to such a brutal approach.

Did they just wipe out all the wealthy merchants in Chang'an like that?

Xue Donglai seemed to be still dreaming. Some of these people had done business with him before and even drunk with him, but now their heads were hanging at the city gate.

He only felt the wrath of Heaven, which was beyond comprehension.

That afternoon, Zhao Huan set off from Chang'an, leaving Zhang Hao in Chang'an to assist Xue Donglai in handling the aftermath.

The most important thing now is to turn the situation in the Central Plains around.

Half a month ago, Zhao Chen was outside Taiyuan Prefecture, where his 500,000-strong army had already surrounded the prefecture.

Because the border had been moved to Yanyun as early as the first year of Jingkang, during the Jingkang New Deal, the garrison of Taiyuan Prefecture was transferred north to Yanyun. Taiyuan City was no longer the important military town it once was, and its defenses were weak.

After being besieged for several days, Taiyuan fell.

After capturing Taiyuan, the rebels' morale soared even higher.

Two days later, Zhao Chen arrived in Daming Prefecture, and the entire Hedong Road was now under his control.

On the plains of Hedong Road, one can see displaced refugees everywhere.

Five days ago, Zhao Chen's army marched south, only a hundred miles from the Yellow River.

Tokyo still had 30,000 Imperial Guards, and an additional 100,000 local standing troops were urgently recruited in Yingtian Prefecture.

The dramatic changes in Liaodong enraged the imperial court.

But as with all times, chaos ensued when the emperor was away.

Fortunately, during his years in power, Zhao Huan suppressed factional strife in the Song Dynasty court through ruthless killings and repressive reforms.

The ministers in the court first used the newspapers to severely criticize the King of Liao, and then the ministers of the two offices and two courts engaged in a long discussion.

At the beginning of the discussion, everyone was strongly opposed to the King of Liao and prepared to support Crown Prince Zhao Chun to succeed to the throne.

But soon, dissenting voices emerged in the court.

The old reformist ministers, led by Zhou Chao, began to find moral justifications for the Liao king's uprising.

Emperor Shengwu passed away, his remains still in the Western Regions. The world was in chaos, the land was shrouded in dust, and treacherous officials in the court were wreaking havoc on the foundation of the nation, distorting the new policies and causing the people to boil with resentment. The King of Liao had no choice but to raise an army to restore order to the country, which was a testament to his virtuous character!

The treacherous officials he was referring to, who were causing chaos in the country, were practically pointing their fingers at Yu Yunwen and cursing him.

Soon enough, the court officials split into two factions.

Some political opportunists were stirring up trouble in Tokyo, using the power of public opinion to attack the various problems that had plagued Yu Yunwen's administration.

For example, on the railway from Guangzhou to Tokyo, there were piles of corpses. The imperial court owed wages and refused to pay them. Local militias treated human life with contempt. Yet Yu Yunwen sat high in the temple, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear.

Some people also accused Yu Yunwen of increasing commercial taxes, which brought countless small businesses to the brink of bankruptcy, and left countless people unemployed and destitute.

Even worse, some have accused Yu Yunwen of causing housing prices in major cities to skyrocket during his tenure, leaving ordinary people who originally lived in the prefectural capitals with nowhere to sleep.

People began to reminisce about the era of Emperor Shengwu and Xu Churen's rule.

Someone gave a public speech on the street saying that in that era, everything was being rectified, wealth was being freely distributed to the lower classes, and everyone had the opportunity to become rich.

Now, the ruling class is corrupt. Taking advantage of the death of His Majesty the Holy Martial Emperor in the Western Regions, they are preparing to introduce a series of wicked policies to exploit the people.

In some alleys of Tokyo, signs have appeared that read: "If the traitor Yu is not killed, the world will surely perish!"

After the public outcry subsided, some people began to shout: Long live freedom! The people need freedom, they need equality, and they need to know the truth!

As a result, groups of people took to the streets of Tokyo to demonstrate against the government.

Subsequently, the phrase "The Liao King shall rule the land" began to circulate in Tokyo.

If it weren't for Privy Councilor Zhang Xiaochun standing on Yu Yunwen's side, Zhao Chun in the Eastern Palace would have already been deposed.

Meanwhile, Lu You, the young master who had gained fame among the Imperial Guards, later entered the Privy Council and met with Zhang Xiaochun.

Several months ago, Lu You, only seventeen years old, was appointed to lead 10,000 Imperial Guards and 30,000 Local Troops to begin setting up defenses in the prefectures north of the Yellow River.

This is just like when the Jin army marched south.

At the same time, the Privy Council began to draw local standing troops from various prefectures in the south to come to the capital to defend the emperor.

Meanwhile, Yu Yunwen began to take charge of the situation, with the Imperial Noble Consort ruling from behind the curtain.

As for Empress Zhu Lian, she was placed under house arrest in the palace because of Zhao Chen's rebellion.

This move further angered the old-fashioned reform ministers led by Zhou Chao.

Soon, the partisan strife that had seemingly vanished resurfaced during this period.

The ministers in the court began to clearly take sides, with the Crown Prince's faction led by Yu Yunwen and Zhang Xiaochun, and the faction that rectified the chaos led by Zhou Chao, beginning to form an opposition.

Zhou Chao held the important position of the Three Departments. Under the pretext of disaster relief, he withheld the military pay of the Imperial Guards. Moreover, the transport commissioners in the south received hints that the grain and fodder should be given priority to the disaster areas.

As a result, the army's food supply on the Yellow River front was significantly reduced, forcing Zhang Xiaochun to purchase grain from Tokyo at high prices, which led to a surge in grain prices in Tokyo.

This issue directly affected people's livelihoods, causing public discontent in Tokyo to boil over.

Such a chaotic situation has delighted countless political opportunists who had been lying in wait.

These days, countless students have also begun to feel restless.

Someone wrote a letter to the Zhou Dynasty, suggesting that the Zhou prime minister should prioritize the well-being of the nation and join forces with the empress to take charge of the overall situation.

Others believe that Prime Minister Yu, being of great righteousness, should step forward, accept the command and deployment of the Imperial Guards, take over the entire capital city of Tokyo, and support the Crown Prince's enthronement ceremony.

In the first half of the fifteenth year of the Jingkang era, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, the center of the world, fell into an unprecedented state of chaos.

People seemed to have returned to the fear they felt when the Jin army marched south.

Unfortunately, Zong Ze died of illness before the emperor's western expedition, leaving the position of marshal of the military governor's office temporarily vacant.

Coincidentally, Zhong Shizhong, who had returned from Youzhou to recuperate, was so ill that he could no longer stand up.

In April of the fifteenth year of the Jingkang era, Yu Yunwen, who had always refused to believe that the emperor had died in battle, finally could not contain himself and planned to join forces with Zhang Xiaochun to welcome Crown Prince Zhao Chun to the throne as the new emperor.

In the name of the new emperor, Yu Yunwen was granted all military, judicial, financial, and administrative powers in order to quell the unrest with the most decisive means.

This proposal was met with even more vehement opposition from half of the ministers.

Some say a large-scale, bloody coup is brewing in Tokyo.