Tibet

Less than a hundred miles from Xin'an County to Luoyang, Shi Siming set off overnight and arrived in Luoyang at noon the next day.

Shi Siming led 300 cavalrymen and galloped all the way. When he was still forty miles away from Luoyang, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. At this time, a lantern appeared in front of him, which was very conspicuous in the dark night.

Shi Siming slowed down his horse, and the cavalrymen reined in their horses. "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

"I have pain in my abdomen. Where is it in front of me?"

"It seems to be Sanqiao Inn!"

Shi Siming nodded, "Go and take a rest!"

The soldiers helped Shi Siming to the post house. The postmaster quickly ordered people to boil hot water and helped Shi Siming to the backyard to rest.

The door of the inn was closed. In just a moment, countless black shadows surrounded the inn from all directions. Soon, the black shadows outside lit torches, and the darkness was filled with troops, at least ten thousand people.

The leading general appeared, and it was Shi Siming's eldest son Shi Chaoyi. Shi Chaoyi had been waiting for the opportunity, but he did not expect that God would provide him with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. His father Shi Siming was left alone and returned to Luoyang with only 300 people.

Shi Chaoyi immediately led an army of 20,000 people to intercept him. When he learned that his father had entered Sanqiao Station, he led his army to surround the station.

Shi Chaoyi coldly said to his confidants Luo Yue and Cai Wenjing: "You two, one enters the front door and the other enters the back door, leaving only the target behind and kill all the other personal guards and entourage!"

"Follow the order!"

Luo Yue and Cai Wenjing each led five hundred soldiers to fight in. The post station occupied a large area and was crowded with soldiers. The shouts of killing were loud and screams could be heard one after another.

Shi Siming's soldiers resisted desperately, but the number was still getting smaller and smaller. In the end, they were all killed, including Yi Cheng and a dozen of his subordinates.

Luo Yue pulled Shi Siming out from under the bed, and Shi Siming shouted: "I am the Emperor of Yan, do you want to kill me?"

Everyone ignored him, tied him up and pushed him into the yard, pressing him to the ground. Not long after, a soldier came in with a command arrow and whispered a few words to Luo Yue.

Shi Siming saw the token at a glance and shouted, "Call that traitor to see me, tell him to come!"

Luo Yue took a bow and said coldly: "Emperor, please go on your way!"

"General Luo, spare me!" Shi Siming was finally afraid.

But he had no chance. He saw Shi Siming yelling and his neck was strangled by the bowstring. He tried desperately to struggle, but was held firmly by other soldiers. The bowstring tightened tighter and tighter. For a moment, Shi Siming's whole body went limp. He was like a fierce god. He died of anger.

Someone ran to report. After a while, Shi Chaoyi walked in, took a cold look at his father's body, and asked, "Have you found anything?"

Cai Wenjing stepped forward and bowed: "All the seals are there, as well as the golden helmets and golden armors!"

Shi Chaoyi winked, and soldiers immediately carried Shi Siming's body to the backyard and buried it.

Shi Chaoyi immediately ordered: "Bring the people up!"

After a while, the soldiers brought a man up, which shocked everyone around him. This man actually looked exactly like Shi Siming, who had just been strangled to death. His figure and appearance were exactly the same.

This person's name is Cao Kun, a subordinate of Xu Shuji's eldest son Xu Jichang. After being discovered by Shi Chaoyi, he has been secretly hiding in his camp.

Shi Chaoyi ordered Cao Kun to put on Shi Siming's golden armor, and the army turned around and returned to Xin'an County.

At noon, Zhou Zhi was thinking about how to defend the Tang army. Suddenly, one of his subordinates rushed to report, "General, the emperor is back!"

Zhou Zhi was stunned. Didn't the emperor just leave? Why are you back?

He quickly asked: "Are you sure he is the emperor?"

"It's true that he is the emperor!"

Zhou Zhi didn't have time to think too much and quickly led his men out of the city to welcome the emperor's return.

Zhou Zhi approached and saw the emperor Shi Siming wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, riding on a tall horse. He quickly turned over and dismounted, ran forward, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists and said: "I am humbled by your Majesty, Zhou Zhi!"

Shi Siming said coldly: "Get him!"

Zhou Zhi was startled and quickly raised his head, "Your Majesty."

Before he could finish speaking, more than a dozen soldiers rushed up and pushed him down. Zhou Zhi shouted: "Your Majesty, there is no crime for humble duty!"

"You had an affair with Li Ye and you still claim that you are not guilty?"

Zhou Zhi suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the voice. He looked up in surprise and took a closer look. Although the other person looked exactly the same as the emperor, his energy and spirit were completely different. At this time, he discovered Shi Chaoyi hiding behind the emperor.

Zhou Zhi understood immediately and shouted: "You are pretending to be the emperor!"

Shi Chaoyi snorted coldly, "Do you understand now? It's too late, push him down and behead him!"

"Shi Chaoyi, you killed your father and usurped the throne, you will not die a good death!"

Zhou Zhi cursed loudly and was dragged down by the soldiers. In a moment, Zhou Zhi and his men were all beheaded.

The false emperor entered the camp and announced that Zhou Zhi had secretly had an affair with the Tang army and had been beheaded. No one else would be held accountable.

He said he would not pursue the case because he was afraid that the generals would resist. After Shi Chaoyi completely took over the military power, he began to purge the entire army. More than 150 generals loyal to Shi Siming were killed. Shi Chaoyi ordered his confidants to take over the military posts and control the army. 50,000 troops.

Shi Chaoyi immediately ordered to abandon Xin'an County and withdraw to Luoyang. On the other hand, he sent someone to ask Li Ye, and he was willing to exchange 300,000 shi of grain for a three-month truce between the two armies.

After Li Ye's army occupied Mianchi, they did not continue to march towards Xin'an County. He got the news that 600 vehicles and ships arrived in Shaanxi County, loaded with frozen mutton, and Liu Yan also came.

Li Ye returned to Shaanxi County in person to welcome the arrival of the fleet.

On the hill, Li Ye looked at the Sanmen Gorge on the Yellow River and saw thirty vehicles and boats loaded with sand bags forming a long fleet. They were lining up to cross the Sanmen Gorge. The paddle wheels were spinning and the fleet was moving slowly. The boatman held a long bamboo pole and constantly controlled the direction of the fleet. Although the speed was very slow, the fleet passed Sanmenxia smoothly.

Liu Yan gave a thumbs up and praised: "Your Highness has done a great deed that will benefit the present and will last forever!"

Li Ye smiled and said: "I have always thought that firearms are useless, but now I realize that they can still play a big role at critical moments, especially for dredging waterways. For many large projects, it takes several years or more to dig manually. Exploded with gunpowder, it only takes one day to complete.”

"Your Highness is right. The development of firearms will have good prospects even for civilian use."

At this time, Li Ye asked again: "Are the food prices in Chang'an still so high?"

"It has already come down. Before I set off, I just received a report from Yan Quanming in the capital, saying that three consecutive batches of grain were transported from Xiangyang and Shangzhou Road to Chang'an. Chang'an has dropped from 500 cents per meter to 80 cents per meter. It's not easy! "

"Where's the refugee camp?"

"It's okay at the refugee camp. Evacuation and resettlement have begun. Chen Huan and his officials are resettling the refugees in an orderly manner according to the plan. Please don't worry, Your Highness."

Li Ye nodded, "Do the refugees object??"

Liu Yan shook his head, "Basically there is no objection. I estimate that many people just want to escape the war temporarily and plan to return to their hometowns in the future, so there is no resistance at this stage."

At this time, a soldier rushed over and said, "Your Highness, Shi Chaoyi has sent an envoy."

Li Ye was startled, why is it Shi Chaoyi, not Shi Siming? "

A thought suddenly came to his mind, could it be that Shi Siming was killed by Shi Chaoyi? It seems like this is the time in history!

"Your Highness seems strange?" Liu Yan asked from the side.

Li Ye smiled and said: "It's very possible that my guess is right. Shi Siming was killed by his son Shi Chaoyi."

Liu Yan was stunned, "No way! Isn't this just like An Lushan?"

Li Ye smiled slightly, "Sometimes history is so interesting, let's take a look."