wait for another year

In the second year of Zhengqing, it was so unlucky that it couldn't be more unlucky.

The locust plague swept across Kyushu, and countless refugees were displaced.

But at this time the court far away in Chang'an was extremely indifferent, still arguing at the court meeting how to get rid of King Su, no, now it was Xuanyuan Hui who had been relegated to the rank of a commoner, a serious threat.

So only one month after Deng Jinglei was assassinated, the imperial court issued an order to recruit soldiers, determined to send troops to Longyou to wipe out the rebel king.

"Since the Deng family has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, why is there still a conscription?" Zhao Huo was puzzled.

Zhao Xu added some sandalwood to the incense burner, and said calmly, "At this time, the imperial court is attacking Suzhou, why should he use his own force?"

"What does the prince mean...to force them to usurp the throne as soon as possible?" Zhao Hue looked around and lowered his voice.

Zhao Xu was noncommittal, "That's right, compared to Deng Dang, the prince's biggest capital is indeed 'righteousness', and Deng Dang is now coercing the emperor to command the princes, and Deng's speech sounds good as an important minister, so how is it different from the emperor in fact? The party has already controlled the political situation, and although we don’t have the confidence to win now, the opportunity waits for no one, the strong seek stability and security, and the weak seek emergency, so that we can win in the chaos.”

Zhao Hu nodded, "Then what should we do next?"

Zhao Xu smiled, "Although the Deng party is used to gaining fame and reputation, they forgot to win over the officials, so what? There are many people in this world who can distinguish right from wrong, even small people who he has never looked down upon. Common people are the most deceitful and the most intelligent... In this way, discuss with Shen Mi and make up a prophecy as soon as possible."

"Just say that Mrs. Deng has ulterior motives and harms the country and the people?" Zhao Hue asked uncertainly.

Zhao Xu shook his head, feeling quite helpless for this pure-natured little cousin, "You...you should feel free to raise food and grass in the future, don't worry about this matter, you can tell Shen Mi yourself, he knows how to do it."

Five days later, Xuanyuan Hui returned home from the military camp, and said to Zhao Xu as soon as he entered, "Did you ask Shen Mi to make the prophecy?"

"Well, the prophecy itself was written by me." Zhao Xu buried his head in the file without raising his head.

"Stepping on the fire can turn the clouds, and ascending the sword enters the ninth level. I am the emperor Shanghuode, and ascending the sword is Deng. If you connect it, the Deng family will step on my Xuanyuan family to get the emperor, and this son of destiny is Deng Fanyun?" Xuanyuan Hui read slowly, "It's quite literary, you want to provoke the Deng brothers, let Deng Xiang and Deng Ao kill each other?"

"good."

Xuanyuan Hui twitched his lips and sat down next to him, "This prophecy was spread from Luojing, and within two or three days, it had already spread to Chang'an, and from Chang'an to Gyeonggi, Guannei, and Longyou. So fast, will it be a little deliberate and suspicious?"

"Doubt, I also suspect Deng, the key is that in this way, Deng Ao will probably think it is a prophecy spread by Deng Xiang or Deng Fanyun." Zhao Xu finished writing the last stroke and put the file aside, "I guess Now Qingliu scholars are probably talking about it, but it’s not enough.”

Xuanyuan frowned, "But some people are ignorant after all, if they believe it, wouldn't we be self-defeating?"

Zhao Xu smiled, "Prophecy is like auspiciousness. Once or twice, everyone will think it is God's will, but if there are too many times, how many people will believe it?"

Xuanyuan Hui immediately understood, "Originally, Deng Dang was afraid to have this idea. He wanted to use prophecy, picture prophecy, etc. to confuse people's hearts, to prove that Xuanyuan's family was unvirtuous, and that Deng's family belonged to the destiny... If it spreads, it will be natural. It is not so valuable, although it helped him, but it also broke his way..."

"That's right," Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes, "I'd like to see whose side this Destiny is on."

On the fourth day of October in the second year of Zhengqing, a giant tortoise appeared in Luoshui. The tortoise carried a stone tablet and wrote to Deng and Wang Tianxia in Anyang——Anyang is the prefect of Deng's county.

On October [-]th, hundreds of phoenix birds circled and sang in the birthplace of King Xuanjun.

On October [-]th, an eminent monk dreamed of his patriarch Xuanyuan Zhaomin. He lamented and said with tears that his descendants were virtuous and incompetent, and affected the people. Fortunately, with Deng Yan, there was such a flourishing, prosperous and healthy world.

On the fourth day of November, someone saw a great glow in Deng Guanxing's mansion.

……

The Deng family had this plan in the first place, so they didn't dissuade them in time at the beginning. The small soldiers of the Deng party even rushed to spread the report to please the master, and the Bairi Society added fuel to the flames.

In just one month, more than 3000 cases of prophecy Furui were discovered in various places, which is simply dizzying.

At the beginning, some rural folk would believe it, but after many times, not to mention well-informed officials and students, even woodcutters and hunters felt that the phoenix, dragon, and turtle were really worthless. It seems that the people who spread the most vicious rumors are still Mr. Deng's people, and gradually they no longer believe in it.

At this time, conscription documents were posted on every city gate—the imperial court would forcefully conscript [-] strong men to expand the government army at one time.

The other states and counties were not bad. The three provinces of Hedong, Henan, and Hebei were already affected by the locust plague. Not to mention the disadvantage of the imperial court's disaster relief, they actually recruited troops from these three provinces, which instantly aroused public resentment.

Angry victims tore off the conscription notice at the gate of the city, bid farewell to their hometowns where the countryside was barren and hungry, and went to other counties one after another.As a result, they found that wherever they went, singing and dancing were prospering, and the so-called prophecy of Deng's destiny was being spread everywhere.

The most ridiculous thing is that when the conscription notice listed the crimes of King Su, it wrote two points. One is that Xuanyuan, the king of Wei who colluded with Fuju, assassinated Deng Jinglei; Curse it.

In this way, even these disaster victims know that during this period of time, it is not His Majesty who is sick and unable to get out of bed, but the Deng family whom Fu Ruizhong said is the fate of the day.

Don't say that they worked hard to fight for them. Right now, these disaster victims can only wish to enter Chang'an City, kill these high-ranking people who don't care about people's livelihood, and avenge their relatives and neighbors who died in the famine.

Chang'an was too far away, so they took all kinds of sticks, sickles, and axes they could see, and rushed into various towns. First, they ransacked the granaries, and then rushed into the rich households, especially the homes of officials and eunuchs.

Gradually, the victims of these routes communicated with each other, and they simply got together and formed a rebel army.

The matter became serious and could not be concealed, so someone reported it to the court, Deng Yan and others knew that when they were worrying about Fu Rui, the plague of locusts had reached the point where it was out of control.

No one knows where the little officials who often blow the wind, copy official documents, and deliver news by the governor's side have gone; let alone those eunuchs in the palace who were poisoned and dumb and kept the memorials. They are the children of a good family. If it weren't for Deng Dang, they would not have been reduced to official slaves, nor would they have become members of the Bairi Society.

On the day of the great cold, the first batch of Xuanyuan Zhu's old tribe traveled thousands of miles and arrived in Suzhou, where King Su greeted him personally at Shili Pavilion outside the city.

Zhao Xu was wearing a big cloak, standing on the tower and watching from afar.

"It's windy..." he said slowly.

Volume [-]: Broken for a while