Li Sisi stayed in Xixia, and after recovering, she returned to Bianjing with her daughter Zhao Linger. The Song Dynasty re-established a prefecture in Xixia, and everything went smoothly.
After years of war, the people of Western Xia were starving. When the Song army arrived, they treated the people with impunity, and the imperial court issued a series of welfare measures to appease the people of Western Xia. As a result, the people of Western Xia were grateful to the Song Dynasty and had no complaints.
Compared to the brutal Mongol rule, the Song people were considered to be a benevolent and righteous army after entering Xixia. Bianjing also issued a series of measures. For those who moved from the inland to Xixia to reclaim land, the court would provide them with seeds and grain, and exempt them from tax for ten years. In particular, the reclaimed land was registered and whoever reclaimed the land owned it.
Although Western Xia was desolate, it also had suitable arable land. Therefore, after this decree was issued, many refugees who had no place to go began to migrate to Western Xia in large numbers.
In Goryeo, Li Ziqian fully implemented the order to urge the king to be executed. In the capital, the imperial court opened a capital, and even ordinary people with the surname Wang were caught in the disaster. Li Ziqian ordered that all men with the surname Wang who were fourteen years old or older were to be arrested and executed.
This was a problem. Tuo Junjing's first wife's surname was Wang. Worse still, she was a relative of the royal family. Many ministers in the court also had close ties to the royal family. For example, if a minister married a relative of the royal family, or if their daughter married a prince, they would be implicated.
Tuo Junjing was preparing to launch an uprising tonight, firstly for his own future, and secondly for his family. If he urged Wang Ling to proceed, his wife and family would also suffer.
The night in Kaesong was destined to be turbulent. Terror had enveloped the royal city. The people trembled in fear. The imperial guards roamed the streets like wolves and tigers, wantonly oppressing and abusing the people. They robbed, abused, and murdered. The entire city of Kaesong had become a hell of terror.
Worse still, ministers began to fight each other to protect themselves, and countless wrongful imprisonments were opened in the capital. Screams and wails could be heard day and night in the prisons, and countless people died tragically there.
Li Ziqian seemed to enjoy this reign of terror. He vaguely knew in his heart that if he had not implemented this reign of terror in which everyone was in danger, his throne would have been lost long ago.
Tuo Junjing led his 500 men towards the palace. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, unusually so, and he didn't even encounter any patrolling palace guards on the streets.
As a renowned Goryeo general, Tuo Junjing had already sensed something was amiss. The fact that things were going so smoothly only aroused suspicion. Why were there no guards patrolling outside the palace? And only a few guards at the palace gate?
Intuition told Tuo Junjing that they were exposed.
"Stop!" When they were a few hundred steps away from the palace, Tuo Junjing waved his hand decisively and stopped.
"General, why did you stop?" asked his deputy general Park Qianwen in confusion.
The palace remained silent, seemingly unchanged from the past. However, this couldn't be hidden from Tuo Junjing, who had already noticed something was amiss: "Retreat! Evacuate Kaifeng immediately, quickly!"
When everyone heard his anxious shouting, they knew that there must be a reason, so they retreated. At this time, the lights outside the palace were bright, and countless torches illuminated the palace walls and Li Ziqian's guards.
"Retreat!" Tuo Junjing, not caring about anything else, led the already tethered horses to the front, jumped on them, and began to run wildly. More than 500 of his men followed suit.
Li Ziqian in the Imperial Palace had a cold expression on his face, while Li Ziqian in the shadows had a sinister look in his eyes: "Chase!"
As Tuo Junjing passed the gate of his mansion, his heart sank. Even if he could escape the city, his family and wife would fall into Li Ziqian's hands. If he surrendered now, knowing Li Ziqian well, he knew he would never forgive him and his death would be even more horrible.
Tuo Junjing gritted his teeth and rushed past the gate of his mansion. His subordinates were caught up by the guards. Then there was a burst of hacking and killing, and the two sides began a bloody battle.
When he left the city, there were only seven or eight close followers left by Tuo Junjing, including his deputy general Park Qianwen.
"Sir, what should we do?" Park Qianwen asked.
Tuo Junjing looked at the loyal followers around him and asked, "Where are the others?"
The seven or eight people lowered their heads in guilt. Park Qianwen sighed, "They were all surrounded by Li Ziqian's men. We were the only ones who escaped."
Like him, Park Qianwen's family was still in Kaifeng. But there was no need to think about it now, as they were definitely slaughtered.
Tuo Junjing gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go to Jiulong Mountain. Geng Chen of the Qinglin Army there is an old subordinate of mine. Let's go to him and then gather the various rebel forces to fight against Li Ziqian together."
After Liang, the rebellion subsided, and the city of Kaesong was filled with killing and screaming. Li Ziqian's guards raided the residences of Tuo Junjing and Park Qianwen. Officials who were close to these two men also suffered misfortune. They were either confiscated or imprisoned.
The Privy Councilor and the Deputy Commander of the Palace Guards participated in Tuo Junjing's coup. After learning that the coup had failed, the two and their families committed suicide by taking poison. They knew that being captured alive would be worse than death.
Tuo Junjing had a close friend in Kaifeng named Han Shilin. Han Shilin's wife had died young, leaving only his eight-year-old son, Han Chengxu, at home. Han Shilin knew he was doomed, and Tuo Junjing's rebellion had failed. Although he hadn't participated in the rebellion, his friendship with Han Shilin meant the court would surely not let him off.
So Han Shilin prepared breakfast early in the morning. It was thin rice porridge, which was considered a delicacy for ordinary people. On weekdays, ordinary people ate corn and multi-grain porridge, which was coarse and difficult to swallow.
Han Shilin looked at his son lovingly, knowing he would soon be separated from him forever. Although Li Ziqian had decreed that children under the age of fourteen would not be punished, his son was only eight years old, and he had no idea if he could escape.
"Bang, bang, bang!" There was a knock on the door.
Han Shilin remained calm. He squatted down and hugged his son lovingly: "Cheng Xu, Daddy wants to play a game with you, okay?"
When Cheng Xu heard about playing games, he nodded excitedly.
Han Shilin kissed him lightly on the forehead: "Daddy will play a game with you of soldiers catching thieves. Some soldiers will come in and take Daddy away. If you hide and don't let them see you, you win. Daddy will buy you your favorite candy cake when he comes back."
Han Chengxu nodded excitedly and hurriedly hid in the firewood beside the yard. At this time, the gate had been kicked open by the guards.
The guards were obviously not paying attention to anything else. They just put the iron chain on Han Shilin's head. Han Shilin surrendered obediently without any struggle or complaint, which surprised the guards a little.
Han Chengxu stared at Han Shilin from the gap in the firewood pile. Han Shilin turned his head, blinked at the firewood pile, and smiled slightly.
Hiding among the firewood, Cheng Xu watched his father being captured by the soldiers with a smile, because his father was playing a game with him. As long as the soldiers didn't find him, his father would buy him a candy cake as a reward when he returned.
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