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. Even when I was some distance away from the gray-black building, I could feel the temperature dropping.
"grown ups."
When Zhao Duan, with his hands behind his back, led Qian Kerou and Chen Juan to the prison, the old warden hurried 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 hot.
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.
Chen 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.
Facing these officials who had held great power not long ago, the jailer changed his fawning attitude towards Zhao Duan, and became fierce-looking. He whipped the prisoners with a whip, making a "snapping" sound, accompanied by the prisoners' wails.
"Shut up, everyone! If you disturb Lord Zhao, I'll send you packing 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 in one of the cells here just for Zhuang Xiaocheng's escape."
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 that the Qingzhou rebels had been defeated.
"Bang!"
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 ventilation vent, opened his eyes.
Opposite him, Prince Heng, who was covered in wounds and curled up on a straw mat, 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 suddenly frightened and curled up on their straw mats, with 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 hadn't been trimmed for several days.
The look he gave Zhao Duan was heavy and contained a complex meaning.
He sat on the ground facing the railing, his expression a calm resigned expression.
"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 losers." 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. These past few days in prison, I've been thinking over and over again. What I regret most is that I should have listened to Yinglong's advice and used all my strength to eliminate you before you could even gain any power!
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world. Who could have imagined that my father and son 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, saying, "The Prime Minister is wrong."
Li Yanfu raised his eyes:
"What's wrong with that? I've spent my entire career in government, and I know full well that the winners are kings and the losers are bandits. I don't regret launching a coup to seize power. I simply overlooked Your Majesty's return. Otherwise, everything would have been 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, "Your mistake is that you are 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 edict that in two days, all officials of the Li Party who participated in the rebellion will be beheaded in Caishikou, the capital, as a public sacrifice for my departure.
As expected, today is the last time we meet. I've already instructed the jailer to add some wine and meat to your final meal, as a reward for letting Feng Jupan falsely accuse you, thus saving me from exile and execution."
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 adjacent cell, Crown Prince Xu Zudi knelt on the ground, walked on his knees, and rushed to the railing, grabbing the thick wooden pillar with both hands, forcing a flattering smile:
"Envoy Zhao, has Your Majesty calmed down? Please tell Your Majesty that we admit our mistakes. We are all family. If royal family members kill each other, it would be a joke for the world, wouldn't it?
My father and I promised to retire and return to Qingzhou to become wealthy and never interfere in government affairs again. We will keep our peace and abide by the law..."
Zhao Duan stopped and stared at the stupid guy with strange eyes, thinking that 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 in a leisurely manner.
Xu Zudi was as pale as if struck by lightning.
Behind him, King Heng, who had been curled up on a straw mat pretending to be dead, raised his head in astonishment, then suddenly got up like a madman and roared loudly:
"I am a member of the royal family! She dares to kill me? She dares to kill my uncles and uncles, and she will bear eternal infamy! I..."
The footsteps gradually faded away.
…
"Bang!"
Zhao Duan closed the iron door of the No. 1 prison cell with his backhand, scratched his ears that were hurting from being yelled at, and said calmly:
"Cancel the final meal for Prince Heng and his son. They're so noisy, they probably aren't hungry either."
The jailer 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 Vanguard Camp as a small 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, tell Shi Meng and he will kill him 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 wish!"
Zhao Duan took a step 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 Huai River, close to the Grand Canal and adjacent to the Binhai Road, a transportation hub, 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 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 on the east line of the Huai River, digesting and absorbing local forces as quickly as possible.
Within just a few days, notices of "protecting the country and the people" were posted on the walls of major counties and even villages and towns.
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 "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.
“Bang!”
Finally, Xu Wen slammed the paper in his hand on the coffee table. The table whimpered 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 faction was overthrown, and the Empress regained control of the court.
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, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be for the Beijing Camp to march south to aid Xue Shence."
Just a few hundred words, but it contains 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 a fairy tale.
Li Yanfu was defeated? The Li Clan was completely eradicated? What happened to the promised supremacy in the court? What happened to the promised sure victory? The Huaishui Li Clan's unwavering promise... is that it?
Xu Jinglong opened his mouth, and his expectations were greatly dashed, like a deflated ball.
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 tinged with surprise.
He was happy that Zhao Duan was safe and sound and that his ancestor had not disappeared 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 King 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 staff member 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 to realize that he should give up going to Beijing and become a separatist prince.
Therefore, everyone was not surprised that the empress came to power and Li Yanfu was killed. What was really difficult for them to accept was that Zhao Duan defeated the Qingzhou army.
It was so fast that it was 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 armies to block the news of the defeat in Qingzhou to avoid unrest in the military. Orders were also 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 financial support from Qingzhou, the court could hold out for a while longer, but as long as the blockade continues, the food shortage alone would be enough to cause the imperial court to collapse without a fight, by this winter at the latest.
In the end, we are the ones who win.”
Everyone was greatly encouraged and said yes, then stood up and left.
"Jinglong, wait a moment." Xu Wen stopped the last prince who was about to leave. "What did you want to report before?"
Xu Jinglong said, "Oh!"
"Nothing, just a message from one of our subordinates 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 challenged Zhao Duan in the Buddhist-Taoist competition?" Prince Jing recalled, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Since he is a disciple of the Shenlong Temple, let's find a temple to raise him for the time being."
In the current situation, he had no time and no 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 "God of War" of Dayu had a look of fatigue on his face, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
The corners of his mouth curled up, he closed the letter, and said to the generals in the tent with a smile: "Great news, 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 an excited look:
"What a big win! This is exactly what we needed!"
The urgent letter placed on top was a battle report about how the Shenji Camp had defeated the Qingzhou Army and captured King Heng alive.
Xue Shence smiled and reminded, "Look carefully below and see 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 figure in the capital in recent years?"
"What? He led the troops and defeated Wei Xianzong's Qingzhou army in just half a day and a single 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 that he was a popular figure around the emperor, and he was very good at poetry, martial arts, and handling cases.
The bigger symbol is the identity of "the empress's concubine"... Well, now he is 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 is unprecedented.
"This... I saw in the letter that this Zhao Shaobao holds the title of 'Commander-in-Chief'. Presumably, someone else led the troops into battle, such as Shi Meng, the commander of the Shenji Battalion. I remember him as someone with the demeanor of a great general. It's a bit of a misnomer to attribute these military achievements to Zhao Shaobao."
Suddenly, a general in the tent analyzed calmly.
(End of this chapter)
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