Tibet

At Caishikou in Chengdu, tens of thousands of people surrounded the execution platform. Guo Kun knelt on the platform with his hands tied behind his back. His face was pale and his whole body was shaking. Behind him stood a bare-chested executioner holding a thick-backed machete.

One of the employees shouted loudly: "It's time!"

The beheading officer shouted: "Behead!"

The executioner raised his machete high, raised the knife and dropped it. A human head rolled to the ground, and the people around him were jubilant.

Hearing that his beloved son was publicly beheaded in Chengdu, Guo Huaiyan said ‘Ouch! ' He screamed and fainted immediately.

Everyone stepped forward to rescue the head of the family. After a while, Guo Huaiyan slowly woke up. His eyes were bloodshot and he gritted his teeth and said, "What a Li Ye! If you kill my son, I will fight you until death!"

Guo Huaiyan was heartbroken and would not stop doing anything. He immediately ordered all villagers and warriors from all over the country to gather in Sichuan County, and spent 500,000 yuan to recruit soldiers from all over Bashu.

He was generous and well-paid. The recruits rushed to Hechuan from all directions. In just a few days, he recruited 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers. In addition to the nearly 30,000 Zhuang Ding warriors of the Guo family, the strength of the Guo family's army reached 100,000. People, the Guo family had secretly stored hundreds of thousands of sets of armor, and immediately armed a hundred thousand troops and named them Zhaolie Army.

Guo Huaiyan posted another message to the states, asking them to support him in resisting the abolition of slavery by force. He also stated that his original surname was Liu and he was a descendant of Emperor Zhaolie. In order to avoid the persecution of the Sima family, he changed his surname to Guo. Now he has restored his ancestral surname to Liu.

Twelve states in Shannan West Road responded to Guo Huaiyan's call.

But this time, except for the three Bashu wealthy families who had a very close relationship with the Guo family, the other wealthy families were silent. They supported negotiating with the court to resolve the abolition issue, but now the Guo family has openly rebelled. Everyone knows that the consequences will be serious. People are willing to participate.

After all, the loss from the abolition of slavery is not very great. To participate in the rebellion for this small loss? Unless you get kicked in the head by a donkey.

Liu Zhaosi, a wealthy family member in Liujiang County, Quzhou, has also been troubled these past two days. Guo Huaiyan actually asked to include him in his family tree and change his name to Liu Huaiyan.

Liu Zhaosi is a descendant of Liu Chen, the grandson of Liu Bei, and is a recognized descendant of Emperor Zhaolie in Shu.

The Liu family was a wealthy family in Quzhou, and Liu Zhaosi also supported Guo Huaiyan in opposing the abolition of slavery, but when asked to support Guo Huaiyan's rebellion, he quit.

But he did not dare to refuse Guo Huaiyan's request. Quzhou was too close to Hezhou, which offended Guo Huaiyan, and the Liu family might be in danger.

Liu Zhaosi quickly called the two brothers to discuss countermeasures.

Liu Zhaoyu, the third child, frowned and said, "Just a few slaves can return to civilian status. How much money can they lose? If they rebel for such a small amount of money, will the Guo family be concerned?"

The second child, Liu Zhaofeng, sneered and said: "The abolition of slavery is just an excuse. The Guo family's problem is not as simple as a few slaves. They hide weapons secretly. They sold weapons to Nanzhao privately and raised tens of thousands of Zhuang Ding's slaves. Which one is not a major sin?"

Liu Zhaosi sighed and said: "The real crime of the Guo family was to take in the Tang army prisoners of war from the Battle of Nanzhao, which numbered 20,000 people. This matter had been reported by the local officials at that time, but they bribed Yang Guozhong with 20,000 yuan. The matter was left undisturbed. Later, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, followed by the feudal rebellion, and then the internal imperial power struggle. This matter was gradually forgotten. Most of the prisoners of war and slaves died, and the remaining people were content with the status quo. Once the emperor knows about this, the Guo family will definitely be exterminated, and then Guo Huaiyan will raise an army to rebel. Everyone is smart, and few people are willing to fight against the court for just a few slaves, so almost no wealthy family will follow the Guo family to rebel. Those who responded All state officials are supported by the Guo family, how dare they not follow? "

Liu Zhaoyu and Liu Zhaofeng looked at each other. They dared to accept Tang army prisoners of war as slaves. The Guo family was so courageous.

Liu Zhaosi said worriedly: "Of course we will not rebel against the Guo family, but the problem is that now Guo Huaiyan wants to pretend to be a descendant of Emperor Zhaolie and join our family. What should we do? If we don't agree, we will be retaliated by Guo Huaiyan. If we agree, He will definitely be implicated, so let’s discuss it and find a safe solution.”

Liu Zhaofeng rolled his eyes and said: "Brother, I have an idea!"

"What can I do?"

"We hid the real family monument and genealogy, made a fake one to deceive Guo Huaiyan, and when he failed, we replaced it with the real one, and then flatly denied accepting the Guo family into the clan."

Liu Zhaoyu slapped his thigh hard, "Second brother, this is a good idea. We can also convene the clan members for discussion. Everyone unanimously vetoes the Guo family's entry into the clan, and then signs and deposits. This is evidence, and then makes a fake meeting record to agree to the Guo family's entry into the clan. , then forge the signature and stamp it and hand it over to Guo Huaiyan. When the time comes for verification, we will say that it was forged by Guo Huaiyan himself. If we present the true resolution, the court will no longer be able to pursue us. "

Liu Zhaosi thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it like this! I'll arrange for someone to imitate it."

Guo Xiang, the governor of Hezhou, was Guo Huaiyan's cousin. When he learned about the Jia family in Qiongzhou, he was really worried. In the evening, he found Guo Huaiyan.

Guo Huaiyan put his hands behind his hands and said coldly: "I also know about the Jia family. It's because Jia Yuan is stupid. He only prepared two thousand troops and wanted to confront the court. Who will die if he doesn't die? Will the court be reasonable? The court only values ​​strength. If you are strong, he will naturally reason with you. If I am not fully prepared, then our Guo family will have the same fate as the Jia family. "

Guo Xiang sighed, "Brother recruits an army. I'm afraid the imperial court won't be able to make peace with us anymore."

Guo Huaiyan shook his head, "Then you are wrong. The court publicly executed my son, which means that it will not negotiate with us anymore. There is no turning back. Surrender means death, and resistance means death. Why not resist and wait for the court to kill our whole family and then take our wealth for nothing?"

Guo Xiang nodded, "I understand what you said, brother. I just suggest that you leave a way out for the Guo family."

Guo Huaiyan smiled, "I know that after our Lishui flows to the Pyu Kingdom, a large plain will be formed there. I will move some of my people there and spread out there."

Guo Huaiyan was talking about the Pyu Kingdom Plain, which is today's Irrawaddy River Plain in Myanmar. Because Guo Huaiyan had long-term transactions with Nanzhao, he knew there was such a good place.

Guo Xiang was still worried. With the emperor's strength, how long could they hold on? But now that things have come to this, worrying is useless, so he had to say goodbye and leave.

In Chang'an, the Emperor Li Ye and the entire Political Affairs Hall were all looking at Bashu. The Internal Security Intelligence Agency sent them the latest news every day using eagle mail.

When they heard that the Guo family had recruited 70,000 to 80,000 troops, all the members of the Political Affairs Hall were shocked. This was an open rebellion!

In the Political Affairs Hall, Li Ye said to the eight senior officials of the Political Affairs Hall: "Things are not that simple. The Guo family's rebellion has nothing to do with the abolition order. We have received intelligence that the Guo family is still hiding extremely serious problems, and it is even involved in the war between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao. The internal guards received a report from a wealthy family. I won't say who it is. It said that the Guo family has been selling a large number of weapons to Nanzhao since the early years of Tianbao. Nanzhao used the spoils of war to repay the debt to the Guo family. It may include 20,000 Tang army prisoners of war, who became slave laborers in the Guo family's salt wells. So once slavery is abolished, this matter will be exposed."

The Political Affairs Hall was silent, and everyone looked at each other with shock in their eyes. The Guo family actually accepted Tang army prisoners of war as slave laborers, and there were as many as 20,000 people. Is this possible? Even if you eat a bear heart and a leopard courage, you dare not do this!

Wei Jiansu asked, "Your Majesty, after the Tang army was defeated, I was ordered to go to Jiannan Jiedufu to appease the people, but I didn't hear about this incident!"

"This incident did not happen immediately, but three months after the war ended. At that time, an official discovered the clues and wrote to the court to report the matter, but it was withheld by Yang Guozhong. It is said that Yang Guozhong accepted a bribe of 20,000 strings of cash from the Guo family. Later, the official who reported it was transferred away, and the matter was left unresolved."

Liu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "I think this matter is very likely true. It was because the abolition order would bring up this matter that the Guo family did not hesitate to rebel."

Li Ye sneered and said, "I publicly executed his son to force him to rebel. I don't want to leave this cancer of the Bashu nobles to future generations."