Chapter 4964 Death by suicide
In front of Li Zheng Palace, Li Anyan led his rebels to launch wave after wave of charges regardless of casualties. Even though the courtyard in front of the palace was dyed red with blood and the snow melted, a trickle formed. The bodies were piled on top of each other and densely packed. There were countless injuries. The soldiers were wailing on the ground, but Li Anyan and all the rebels were red-eyed and would rather die than rush into Li Zhengdian.
This is what they must do. At this time, death is no longer the most tragic outcome, but the destruction of the whole family is.
Only by storming into the Li Zheng Palace and coercing the prince could the family avoid being held accountable. Otherwise, with the treason they had committed, it would not be surprising that the three clans would be wiped out.
Now they are no longer fighting for their own glory and wealth, but for their wives and parents at home. Naturally, they are crazy and fearless of death.
The soldiers wearing armor charged forward, and they would not stop charging as long as they still had breath. The crossbowmen were behind, shooting the crossbows and arrows they carried one after another, even though the palace was completely dark. He couldn't aim at all, but regardless of his sore and numb arms, he gritted his teeth and shot all the arrows.
Bang bang bang!
A burst of rapid gunfire rang out after him. Li Anyan looked back and saw countless Zuo Jinwu guardsmen coming from the direction of Yiqiu Palace Gate like a tide. Although there were many people, they marched in an orderly manner and without any trace of chaos. In the chaos, the soldiers in front arrived at the square in front of Guangtian Temple. After a few dozen steps, they stood up in formation, raised their muskets and fired.
More and more Zuo Jinwu guards arrived, forming a tight encirclement. Hundreds of muskets were fired at the same time. The smoke rolled up the heavy snow and flew wildly. The projectiles were like a dense rain curtain. The rebels who were attacking Li Zhengdian were attacked from both sides. There was chaos.
Li Anyan gritted his teeth and roared: "Don't worry about what's behind you, just rush forward! If you rush in and threaten the prince, there is still a way to survive, otherwise you and I will both die here!"
Boo!
There was another cannon blast, and a cannonball was shot from the hall. When it was in mid-air, the fuse burned out and exploded.
Li Anyan was caught off guard. He felt his eardrums buzzing and his vision went black. He stumbled and fell to the ground.
Seeing their general fall to the ground, with no idea of life or death, the rebels' morale completely collapsed.
Fang Jun and Li Ji appeared not far away. The former shouted loudly: "Li Anyan is rebellious and unforgivable! You should quickly put down your weapons and surrender on the spot. Don't make any unnecessary resistance. I promise you that I will deal with you later." You have made a screening, and as long as you are coerced and have no choice but to rebel, forget the past!”
After hearing this, more than half of the remaining rebels immediately put down their weapons and squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Only Li Anyan's dead soldiers were left, surrounding Li Anyan and fighting endlessly.
Li Ji glanced at Fang Jun, frowned and said: "Rebellion is one of the ten evils. No matter what the reason is, since you participate in the attack on Li Zheng Palace, you are treason and will definitely not be forgiven... Your words are really inappropriate. .”
The most intolerable thing for the emperor is rebellion. As long as Li Chengqian is safe and sound, all those involved in rebellion are guilty of death. They must be guilty of death. Otherwise, how can the majesty of the emperor be demonstrated?
If you can still survive after treason, then what does imperial power mean?
Who can rebel if they want to, and if they can escape the sanctions of the imperial power after rebelling, is that okay? !
But if His Majesty is allowed to execute all the rebels, then Fang Jun will break his promise, which will be a huge blow to his prestige.
So why bother?
Fang Jun shook his head and said: "The lower-class soldiers are illiterate. They were deceived by their superiors and coerced into doing wrong things. They should be given a chance to repent. How can they be generalized and ignore the indiscriminate facts? They are all the empire's. war Even if a soldier dies, he should die on the battlefield of expanding territory and protecting the frontier, rather than being coerced by ambitious people and dying in a mutiny, let alone venting his anger."
Li Ji, who is such a person, naturally would not think that Fang Jun suddenly had the virtue of living a good life. After thinking for a moment, he understood Fang Jun's intention.
He sighed: "Why are you doing this?"
The imperial power is supreme, how can it be tolerated?
Doing so will lead to endless troubles.
Fang Jun smiled and asked: "Do you agree, Mr. Ying?"
It was impossible for Li Ji to be tricked into a trap by him, so he said calmly: "You do it yourself, I will watch from the side."
Fang Jun said: "Sometimes if you don't object, it means you agree. I will act like a hero and agree."
Li Ji shook his head and said nothing.
……
Li Anyan shook his head, and the distorted and chaotic scene in front of him finally returned to normal. Looking left and right, he saw many soldiers squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands. Only his own soldiers and dead soldiers were still guarding him and continuing to fight. He knew that the situation was over.
My heart was filled with confusion.
It's not that he can't accept failure, he's just unwilling to do so.
The soldiers under his command are the most elite warriors, with the most outstanding tactical qualities in the world today, and extremely strong individual soldier abilities. However, they can only look back and sigh in the face of the defense line constructed by firearms, and cannot go beyond the limit.
The crossbowmen who once swept across the Turks and shocked the outside world could only draw their bows and arrows from a distance. They took advantage of the firelight generated by the soldiers inside the palace to fire or the thunder that exploded in front of the palace. The accuracy can be imagined. .
The most elite Tang army rushed towards the position where more than a hundred student soldiers were stationed. However, it looked like the tide lapping against the rocks. It seemed to be surging and overwhelming, but in fact it was difficult to shake it except for rolling up a sheet of white foam.
Li Anyan claimed to be a famous general, but he actually went into battle to kill the enemy twenty years ago. During these many years, he was trapped in the palace and was in charge of the imperial guards. Although he continued to train his troops, he had fallen out of step with the times. Even though we know that firearms are now rampant in the world and dominate the world, we still lack real understanding.
Now I have a very profound understanding, but it is too late.
Sighing, Li Anyan said hoarsely: "Everyone, stop it. Since we are completely defeated, there is no need to kill each other or engage in unnecessary resistance."
"General!"
"So it's just death, what's there to be afraid of?"
"Surrender is also death, it's better to fight one by one!"
Li Anyan's eyes welled up with tears, and he choked up and said: "It was me who killed everyone because of my own selfishness. I will keep your kindness in my heart forever, and I will not forget it even if I am in despair. I deeply apologize for dragging everyone down in this life. If In the next life, we will repay you by connecting the grass with the ring!”
After saying this, he held the horizontal knife in his back and made a slight stroke with the blade on his neck. The sharp blade cut the trachea and blood vessels, and blood spurted out. The majestic body fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and died on the spot.
"General!"
The wounded and miserable soldiers and dead soldiers surrounded Li Anyan's body in grief, shouting and crying loudly.
Then, everyone looked at each other, held their knives in their backhands, and committed suicide on the spot.
From a distance, Li Ji watched this scene and sighed: "You are young and don't know what happened back then. This man was a fierce general under Prince Yin in the past. He married the daughter of the Zheng family in Xingyang and became brother-in-law with Prince Yin. Most of all, he received the trust and trust of Prince Yin from Xuanwu Sect. After the incident, he changed his mind and was criticized by many people for being ungrateful, but he remained silent and never defended himself. However, he never thought that he always had the desire for revenge. Now he is worthy of the respect of Prince Yin. "
Fang Jun nodded: "This person is indeed powerful. He has long been rebellious, but he was able to hold back during two consecutive mutinies. It can be seen that he has seen that neither Changsun Wuji nor the King of Jin can succeed. It is a pity that this But he couldn't hold it back and was dragged into the water by Li Shenfu."
"Rather than saying that he is powerful, it is better to say that His Majesty is powerful. He has always been patient and showed weakness to the enemy. In the end, he used his own life as bait to lure the snake out of the hole and cut off the opponents within the clan in one fell swoop... This kind of character is rarely seen in people. Appeared on the emperor."
Fang Jun smiled and the topic suddenly changed: "Do you know who is staying at Chengtianmen tonight?"
"Since Erlang said so, he is obviously a person I didn't expect."
"Haha, it's Yang Shidao."
Li Ji raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
He naturally knew Yang Shidao. This man was considered a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, a general and a prime minister, and was highly regarded by Emperor Gaozu. However, he had already entered the official service, so why did your Majesty entrust him with such a heavy responsibility?
In this game where oneself is used as bait, the important task of staying at Chengtianmen is entrusted to an old minister like Yang Shidao, but it is not to him or Fang Jun. Apart from the level of trust, there are naturally other considerations.
Li Ji thought and thought, and already understood His Majesty's intentions, he sighed and said: "Your Majesty uses his own life as bait to cut off the traitors and rebels, which will definitely greatly enhance his prestige."
The main reason why Li Chengqian was unable to gain support from more people, whether when he was the crown prince or after he ascended the throne as the emperor, was that his own prestige was insufficient.
Prestige is invisible and intangible. It seems illusory and has no yardstick to measure it, but it does exist. If you gain it, you can conquer others without fighting. If you lose it, you will be controlled everywhere and alienated.
Now, His Majesty's actions are no less generous than those of the wise kings in ancient times. Naturally, he can gain a wave of prestige and consolidate his own foundation.
Fang Jun waved his hand to Cheng Wuting, who was standing aside and almost wanted to cover his ears and did not dare to hear another word: "Clean the battlefield, collect the corpses, identify their identities, and then enter the palace to greet the queen and the prince."
"Here!"
Cheng Wuting felt as if he had been granted amnesty, and walked quickly towards Li Zhengdian.
These two people are really talking about topics of your realm and level that I, a mere martial artist, can listen to?
Li Ji praised: "This boy is very smart. Compared with his father, he makes as much concessions as he does. He has the appearance of a famous general."
Fang Jun had something to say: "What does it mean to be smart? It's just about performing your duties. You understand your identity and responsibilities, you know what you should do and what you shouldn't do, and you also know what you should listen to and what you shouldn't listen to. That's all. . On the other hand, if you don’t know your identity, you are eager for quick success and are stubborn and arrogant, you will naturally be stupid.”
Li Ji frowned. Although we have the same views, you are almost naming names to express your dissatisfaction in front of me. Isn't it inappropriate?
But that's exactly what he had in mind.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Perhaps this is His Majesty's nature, but in the past he had to hide it due to various pressures, and we were unable to notice it."
What is its nature?
He didn't say it explicitly, but Fang Jun knew it. It's just stubbornness, arrogance, and extremeness hidden under the expressions of "generosity" and "benevolence"...