Unexpectedly, the sturdy old lady spotted Zhu Ruomei in the crowd. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed at him and shouted, "You, kid, it's you! I still have an unmarried daughter at home."
Zhu Ruomei's face changed and she ran away, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
In the winter of the third year of Changshun, the Yanbei Army reached the imperial palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The lineage of Emperor Ping had died out, and the current emperor was a puppet Yan Ding had found from the imperial clan, still a year-old infant. His lineage was not as legitimate as the King of Hezhong's. Even the Great Zhou court was divided into two factions. Many upright officials persecuted by the Yan faction felt that rather than letting the Yan faction hijack the government through the bloodline of a distant royal relative, it would be better to support the King of Hezhong.
On the day Xiao Jingxi entered the city, General Zhu led his men to raid the Yan residence. Yan Ding and his eldest son and grandson took refuge in the palace, while the other members of the Yan family were captured alive. The Yanbei army laid siege to the palace for three days, but refused to attack. Seeing their situation hopeless, Yan Ding and his son looted the palace of all valuables and attempted to escape through a secret passage. However, they ran into Li Tianyou, the Crown Prince of Hezhong, who was waiting at the exit, and both were captured.
The Yanbei Army took over the defense of the capital quietly, and the people in the capital who were hiding at home had no idea when the dynasty had changed.
The traitors have been eliminated, and the next step is for the new emperor to ascend the throne.
Although this military mutiny in Yanbei was considered an attempt to usurp the throne in the eyes of later generations, because the whole process was relatively peaceful, the court officials at the time had not yet realized this problem. When they saw that the Yan Party had stepped down, they naturally prepared to support King Hezhong to succeed the throne. After all, King Hezhong also had the surname Li.
However, until the Yan Party was completely wiped out and order was restored in the capital, King Hezhong had no intention of ascending the throne. Gradually, the court officials realized that something was wrong.
In the first month of the fourth year of Changshun, the Prince of Hezhong took the lead in writing a letter, begging the Prince of Yanbei, who had arrived in the capital at some unknown time, to ascend the throne, causing an uproar in the court.
Some of the old and young people of the Great Zhou Dynasty were of course unwilling to let someone else become emperor, but when they thought about rebelling, they found that the entire capital was under the control of the Yanbei Army. Although being an emperor also requires legitimacy, it ultimately depends on who has the stronger fist. Those who tried to reason with the King of Yanbei were either beaten down by him or were not yet born.
On the eighth day of the second month of the fourth year of Changshun, the deposed emperor abdicated, and King Xiao Yan of Yanbei ascended the throne. He changed the country's name to Ming and designated the reign title Jianyuan. On the day of his ascension, Xiao Yan produced the authentic imperial seal. Only then did the world realize that the so-called seals used by emperors over the years were fake. Rumors spread among the people that the Li family's luck had run out, and that the Xiao family was the true dragon.
After Xiao Yan ascended the throne, he made Yun, the original wife of the King of Yanbei, the empress. This was not surprising, as the King of Yanbei had only one wife. However, when it came to appointing a crown prince, Xiao Yan's behavior sparked controversy in later generations. This was because he did not appoint his legitimate son, Xiao Jingxi, as the crown prince, but instead appointed his legitimate grandson, Xiao Weizhuo.
After Xiao Yan ascended the throne, Xiao Jingxi was named King of Yanbei and continued to guard the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Many scholars in later generations analyzed the history of this period and concluded that the reason why Xiao Yan established his grandson instead of his son was the result of mutual compromise between Yanbei and Hezhong.
Xiao Yan wanted to be emperor, but Li Gan didn't? Compared to Xiao Yan, Li Gan was a legitimate descendant of the emperor. Even if the relationship between the Yanbei Palace and the Hezhong Palace was close, friendships were nothing compared to the throne. So why was it Xiao Yan, the King of Yanbei, who became emperor, and not Li Gan, the King of Hezhong? Was Li Gan truly willing to accept this?
The first reason that later generations learned was: Li Gan did not want to be the emperor, but he was powerless.
The King of Yanbei had long ruled Yanbei, and his army was formidable. In a true battle of strength, Li Gan couldn't defeat him. After all, the King of Hezhong had only controlled the Hezhong region for a few years and commanded even fewer troops. So Li Gan had to recognize the situation. He couldn't outmaneuver the King, so what else could he do but surrender his vast territory?
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