Chapter 45: The Beacon...

In the twenty-ninth year of Daqian, the first emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne.

History records of later generations indicate that this year was the beginning of a twelve-year turmoil.

Since the beginning of the 20th year, there have been constant riots in various places, and there are many uprisings, echoing from all directions, as if it has become a fashion. If anyone has not made a few rebellions, it will be a bit shameful.

In addition, natural and man-made disasters have continued for years, and the imperial court is busy tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall.

In the 29th year of Daqian, the fourteen prefectures in Zhouyue were in continuous wars. The refugees from Penglai, Dongyue and other places formed a rebel army to take advantage of the fire. He asked for a credential and declared it to the whole world, and he blatantly opposed it.

The new emperor sent a large army to attack, but the imperial army was halfway through and caught up with the biggest earthquake on this continent.

Before the counter-rebel army could find the rebel army, thousands of people were killed by the collapsed mountain. The earthquake affected five or six prefectures including Penglai, Dongyue, Qinhe, Huaixi, Wuchu, etc. The lower limit of Dazhou Mountain was 100 zhang due to ground rifts, and the western mountain wall collapsed in half.

The poor "Dongyue Shangguo" newly-appointed monarch was inspecting his new palace at the time, and he almost crushed the half-renovated palace and collapsed underneath it. He was so scared that he didn't even have time to dismiss his civil and military officials. First, he took his harem beauties to pack up and fled, and the court's anti-rebel army lost thousands of people and all their luggage. The class teacher returned to the court... a great victory.

This farce is just the beginning.

Everyone did not know that the violent earthquake was the result of the destruction of the secret covenant of the three popes.

At the same time, the rebels in the fourteen states of Zhouyue lost to the bandit army in the DPRK. At this time, the leading bandits took the opportunity to bring the army into the area where the "East Yue Shangguo" was originally located, and they occupied the magpie's nest with peace of mind.

The "military and military officials" of the Shangguo of Dongyue, whose official uniforms have not yet been warmed up, adhered to the idea of ​​"a mother is a mother", and they ignored the three seven and twenty one, and merged with the original rogue army of the fourteen states of Zhou and Guangdong. one.

It turned out that the first jiāo chair of the rogue army, the "black unicorn", was covered in red and green, and there were still vegetable leaves that had not been cleaned between the teeth, so he sat on the dragon chair and became the emperor of Dongyue. The second emperor.

Since then, the country's emperor has changed seven or eight terms, which lasted a total of one and a half years. Therefore, people in later generations also called this magical "Dongyue Shangguo" as "the country of revolving lanterns".

Although the founding emperor of Dongyue Shangguo was a legendary 250, he did not know what kind of shit luck he had. It is a fertile land surrounded by countless hills and naturally formed forests.

The use of soldiers here is even more novel. These local emperors usually wear gold and silver. When the bandit ar arrives, it is not ambiguous. They will meet with a greeting, and they will be invincible. After hiding in the mountains for a few days, should go out to the palace to escape the summer like the emperor of the Pingyang Imperial City.

When the bandit army swept into the city, this group of self-styled "lords and generals" harassed them from time to time, burning, killing and looting. Then he surrendered, and ran out a few days later to continue the robbery.

Regardless of the army's baggage or the common people, it is very unbearable.

However, their luck is also good. The bandit suppression army is usually stationed here for less than a year and a half, and then something else happens. So these bandit suppression troops, which are like a greased universal brick, have to be replaced. Other establishments, go to other places to suppress new bandits.

Once their east wall was demolished to make up for the west wall, those "upper country" civil and military officials who were bandits in the mountains and forests would change their bodies to take advantage of the situation, and they were like a dog-skin plaster.

One "emperor" died, and thousands of "emperors" got up one after another. In order to prevent the struggle for power, they also thought of a way, each with a number, the smaller number died, and the larger number was on the top. , according to the handprint, kowtow and swear incense, this team is actually very orderly, and it is a miracle that there has been no jamming in the team for several years.

In the second year, the new emperor changed the era name to the first year of Puqing. In this year alone, the "Torrent Kingdom" was in chaos several times, and the treasury was easily emptied. At this time, the three popes were repairing the secret covenant and studying Classic, overwhelmed, the whole continent is in chaos.

Taxes are getting heavier and heavier in various places, and the people are miserable. It seems to have become a vicious circle. If there is a dead end, they will rebel, and then drag the already crumbling country into a deeper abyss.

The new emperor issued an edict of his own crimes, and then the dynasty was furious. Yan Zhen and other important ministers broke out. He also used thunderous means to rebuke Yan Zhen for being the head of the group of ministers and doing nothing.

Yan Zhen knelt on the ground, calmly shouted long live three times, and went to the prison amidst the howls of countless old officials hitting the pillars.

The new emperor, Wang Xinshu, played with the art of balance. On the one hand, he reprimanded Yan Zhen, but on the other hand, he entrusted a heavy responsibility to Zou Yanlai, who was also born in Tantric Buddhism.

Then the new emperor himself committed an even more disaster to the country and the people.

He scolded Yan Zhen for raising taxes for harming the people. The increase in taxes made the tyranny stronger than tigers. However, the court had to fight wars, rescue disasters everywhere, spend money, and ask for money. The new emperor's implementation of benevolent government was not taxable, so he had to simplify everything since he ascended the throne, reducing the number of palace staff and the daily expenses of each palace.

Legend has it that there is the Jade Crane Hall in the northwest corner of the palace, which is the residence of the new emperor's favorite concubine. One day, two glazed tiles fell due to the strong wind. , determined that this was a prodigal wife and fox, and since then she has been put into the cold palace - it can be seen that the poor and lowly couples are sad.

However, it is still not enough. Money is earned, not saved. Mainly in open source, saving money is not an expedient measure. At this time, it is a drop in the bucket.

So Emperor Puqing thought about it for three days and three nights, and came up with a bad idea-minting coins.

According to common sense, gold and silver are needed for coinage, but if there is gold and silver, it is estimated that the owner of the Jade Crane Store will not have to go to the cold palace to mourn all day. Therefore, what Emperor Puqing used to coin coins was a kind of cloth ticket, which was stamped with a seal, and the edge was locked into a specific shape with a special process. a specific amount.

Emperor Puqing thought it was a good idea, so he proudly issued these cloth tickets. However, he underestimated the extent of the lack of money in the court. One batch was not enough, and another batch was added. Later, the workers who were rushing to make the tickets were unable to use them day and night. Everything is kept simple, and all the seams and patterns are omitted, and only the imperial court can use the seal on the four characters of "Puqing Pass".

The one-time pass is overwhelming, and the number of officials at all levels is getting bigger and bigger. What's more, just take a batch of rags of straw paper and carry it to Beijing, sit on the ground and cry, and then you can write the amount on it at will. , ask the imperial court to stamp and write.

Before Emperor Puqing was complacent enough with his brilliant idea, there were long and short sentences with uneven rhythm among the people, and they sang: "A magic pen starts in Pingyang, and a piece of paper becomes gold, and there is Puqing." Talented! In the past, he was a disciple of Sibi Lang, but now Wan Jin is like a leisurely person. Terrified! Pingyang paper and expensive rice is even more elegant, and 10,000 taels of silver are worth half a bowl. how? can only say, prosperous times, long live, long live the emperor.

The talented Emperor Puqing did not expect that his pass would become a joke. Every household was throwing a bundle in the pigsty and sheepsty. Since it was popular for a while, even the circulation of gold and silver in the market was chaotic. Some The place is actually brittle and bartering.

This was out of control, only tossing Emperor Puqing into a frenzy. Zou Yanlai and others took the opportunity to jointly sign a letter, requesting the court to abolish the paper scroll of the pass, and to restore Yan Zhen.

All the ministers knelt down for reconsideration. Emperor Puqing felt that he had become a loner, and his hatred and fear of Yan Zhen had risen to a higher level, but he had no choice but to wave his hand for approval.

This chaos undoubtedly gave Gu Huaiyang and others a good opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Although he has been acting secretly, Shi Wuyuan and others have secretly united with the scattered cultivators, gathered the rivers and rivers to form the trend of the river and the sea, and used various conspiracies to destroy the seven secret pacts, but they did not appear on the stage. He even sent troops occasionally to pretend to help the imperial court to suppress a gangster in the cottage. He wanted to wait for the current situation to become more chaotic and his family to be richer to make some moves. Who knew that there was such a thing as a general Qing pass.

The decree of the pass was only issued, and Shi Wuyuan decided the end of the joke. Although Haining County is located in a remote place, he was the first to come to Beijing to cry poor with a large amount of paper rags. At the same time, he launched the Chamber of Commerce to collect the pass roll , a large number of easy-to-pass tickets, and then, through various channels, the large number of tickets collected from the net were exchanged for the equivalent gold and silver without knowing it. So when the pass was worthless until it was abolished, people with a heart were surprised to find that there was less gold and silver on the market than before, and they didn't know where they went.

The smoky atmosphere - apart from the smoky atmosphere, there is nothing to describe this tattered country in Puqing.

After Yan Zhen's reinstatement, the first thing to do is to trace the whereabouts of gold and silver. At the same time, he secretly believed in the three popes and summoned the major sects and Dazhou Mountain to gather. The situation is chaotic and imminent. It was already terrifying.

Zou Yanlai and others also conspired to release the news of the Dazhou Mountain Alliance. If Bai Li expected, Shi Wuyuan and others, who were still cautiously watching, because Haining became rich overnight and had been training for many years, they were ready to make a move, and they were already planning to sharpen their swords. , At this moment, the Red Turban Army, who has kept a low profile for many years, is like a wild shòu with its mouth open, ready to throw its fangs at any time.

Shi Wuji's first target was the Buzhou Mountain Association.

At the end of the second year of Puqing, the three major pope leaders gathered in Dazhou Mountain, and Shi Wugui secretly dispatched troops and set traps.

Bai Li never showed up to meet the alliance. After he left the customs, he almost saw Zou Yanlai alone. He lived in the imperial capital of Pingyang. He watched these people as if you were watching the fun.

From the beginning to the end, he never had a royal family or a court in his heart, only one person and one thing.

A person is the man who hurt him so deeply that he loved him deeply and hated him deeply.

One thing is to get rid of all the weakness in oneself, desperately to become bigger and bigger.

One day, there will be nothing in the world that can bind him, and one day, there will be nothing in the world that can stop him.

In that small yard, being bound by blood and being slaughtered by others is enough to happen once. For no reason, after all these years, now you and I are going to meet again.

The era has come, and everyone has entered the game.

However, no matter whether you are a hero or a beauty, even though they are all characters of Zhong Lingyuxiu, they all depend on the current situation. Even if you are a hero of the world, a peerless beauty, and the light in your life is only a few strokes, the current situation is right. You can go a little further, and the situation is wrong, but it is just annihilated in the surging làngcháo.

No matter how unwilling it is, it boils down to one sentence: hate this life as a human being, the rivers are eternal, and there is nothing can do.

Shi Po... how could it be so shocking?