[Romantic Anecdotes of the Tang Dynasty Court] [86] [Author: Xu Xiaotian]

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Chapter 86: Prince Anle Assassinates the Thief Under the Moon; Emperor Dezong Runs Out of Food in the Palace.
Ling Yue was dragged out of the palace gate and killed by Zhu Ci's orders. Even in death, he never revealed the details of Duan Xiushi's involvement. Zhu Ci, eager to become emperor, summoned Yuan Xiu, Li Zhongchen, Yao Lingyan, and their associates to the palace daily for discussions. Only Duan Xiushi refused to go, making excuses. Zhu Ci repeatedly sent messengers to urge Xiushi to enter the palace to discuss important matters. Xiushi had no choice but to follow the messenger. As soon as he entered the palace, he caught a glimpse of Yuan Xiu holding an ivory tablet, respectfully bowing to Zhu Ci, performing the rituals of a subject to a ruler. This stirred a surge of righteous indignation within him. He strode up to Zhu Ci, and before Zhu Ci could speak, he leaped up, snatched the ivory tablet from Yuan Xiu's hand, and struck Zhu Ci squarely in the face. He shouted sternly, "You madman! How dare you commit such a treasonous act! You deserve to be torn to pieces! I am a loyal and righteous man, how could I possibly rebel with you?" Zhu E hurriedly stepped back, raising his arm to block; the scepter had already struck Zhu Ci's forehead with great force, and when he looked around, his face was covered in blood. When Xiu Shi tried to rush forward to strike again, he was stopped by Li Zhongchen, Yao Lingyan, and their group. Then three or five strongmen stepped forward and seized Xiu Shi, who shouted, "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated! If I fail to kill the traitor today, I shall be killed by the traitor." Before Xiu Shi could finish speaking, the strongmen brought down their blades in a flurry, instantly cutting Xiu Shi down. Zhu Ci, seeing this, suddenly had a change of heart and hurriedly waved his hand at the crowd, saying, "This is a righteous man, he should not be killed indiscriminately!" But it was too late; Xiu Shi's corpse had already been hacked into mincemeat by the crowd.
With Xiu Shi's death, the loyal ministers in the capital were filled with grief and indignation. Then, Liu Haibin was also captured and killed by Zhu Ci. He Mingli, who had conspired with Duan Xiu Shi, was also captured and beheaded by Zhu Ci. Immediately, Li Chulin, a battalion commander under Zhang Yi, the military governor of Fengxiang, killed Zhang Yi and led all his troops to surrender to Zhu Ci. By this time, Zhu Ci's power had grown, and his crimes were increasingly serious.
He decided to go all the way. He moved to the Xuanzheng Hall and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Great Qin. He changed the era name to Yingtian, made Consort Yu Empress, appointed his nephew Sui as Crown Prince, and his younger brother Zhu Tao as Prince of Ji, Grand Commandant, and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, calling him Imperial Brother. Because Yao Lingyan, Li Zhongchen, and their group had rendered meritorious service in supporting the ascension of Zhu Ci, Yao Lingyan was appointed Attendant-in-Ordinary, Li Zhongchen as Minister of Works, Yuan Xiu as Vice Director of the Chancellery, Jiang Zhen as Vice Director of the Secretariat and concurrently Chancellor, Jiang Lian as Vice Censor-in-Chief, Jing Gang as Grand Censor, and Peng Yan as Secretary of the Chancellery. Others, such as Zhang Guangsheng, were appointed Military Governors. At that time, Fan Xi, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was quite talented in literature, and everyone in the court respected him greatly. When Zhu Ci ascended the throne, no one could draft the imperial edict. Yao Lingyan said that Fan Xi was very literate. At this time, Fan Xi, out of resentment towards Zhu Ci, refused to attend court and acknowledge Zhu Ci as his subject. Zhu Ci then ordered a group of warriors to go to Fan Xi's house and escort him to the palace. Eunuchs stood by with swords, forcing Fan Xi to draft the edict. Fan Xi had no choice but to take up his pen and write. After the edict was completed, he went down from the throne, knelt facing west, and wailed loudly. Zhu Ci, enraged upon witnessing this from the palace, ordered his guards to drag Fan Xi out of the palace gates and behead him. Fan Xi, however, before the guards could even approach, rammed his head against a stone pillar, his brains splattering as he died. At the same time, Jiang Yan, the Minister of Justice, also unwilling to submit to Zhu Ci, secretly slipped out of the capital, intending to catch up with the Emperor in Fengtian. However, he hadn't gone more than three or five miles from the capital when Zhu Ci's troops caught up with him, captured him, and forced him to accept an official position. Jiang Yan was forced to starve himself, feigning illness, and flee to a valley to hide.
Meanwhile, Zhu Ci seized control of Emperor Dezong's palace, selecting three hundred young and beautiful women from among the two thousand palace maids for his debauchery day and night. Among them was the Princess of Anle, whose son was Emperor Dezong's nephew, and whose daughter was Empress Wang's niece; therefore, she often stayed in the palace, accompanying the Empress and other imperial concubines on their excursions. In this upheaval, Princess Anle was unable to escape the palace and instead hid deep within the inner palace. Zhu Ci, visiting the inner palace, caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman. Without asking any questions, he dragged her into the palace and raped her.
The next day, seeing that no one was watching, Princess Anle hanged herself. Prince Anle, because his princess was trapped in the palace, also remained outside, refusing to leave the capital. Later, he learned that his beloved princess had been raped by Zhu Ci and died of shame. The pitiful Prince Anle, at home, wept so much that he nearly fainted several times. In a fit of rage, he used all the gold and silver he possessed to bribe a palace guard. The guard secretly lent Prince Anle his clothes and hat. Prince Anle disguised himself as a guard, sneaked into the palace, concealing a sharp blade in his robes, and waited until midnight to stand under the east corridor of Jinhua Palace. Jinhua Palace was the bedroom of Consort Yu. At this time, Zhu Ci was utterly debauched. Every night, after visiting Consort Yu, he would take turns seeking pleasure in the rooms of his favorite concubines, visiting at least five or six different places each night. He would only return to Jinhua Palace to rest at dawn. The east corridor of Jinhua Palace was a necessary passageway. Having learned this, Prince Anle quietly waited in the corridor.
As the Jingyang Bell struck the third watch, he indeed saw a pair of red gauze lanterns, led by two eunuchs, as Zhu Ci emerged from the palace, followed closely by two guards. It was a cool moonlit night, filled with the sounds of insects. A group of people walked from the empty corridor, accompanied by the clatter of boots. Just
as they reached Prince Anle, Zhu Ci, quick-witted, saw the prince draw a short knife from his robes. The gleam of the blade, reflecting the moonlight, shone directly into Zhu Ci's eyes. Zhu Ci pretended not to notice and slowly approached. Suddenly, he raised his right foot and kicked hard. With a clang, the dagger in Prince Anle's hand fell to the ground. Seeing the assassin without his weapon, Zhu Ci became bolder. He lunged at him, and the two wrestled and rolled on the ground. Although Zhu Ci had emptied his body of lust, he was still a general and possessed considerable strength. Prince Anle, a pampered prince, was no match for him. Zhu Ci quickly seized him, bound him behind his back, and ordered him to be stripped of his clothes and hat. When a red lantern was held up, Zhu Ci recognized him as Prince Anle. He then issued an edict to hand him over to the Ministry of Justice that very night for severe interrogation under torture. The next day, upon hearing that the Qin emperor had been frightened in the palace, all the civil and military officials came to pay their respects. Yuan Xiu, who harbored deep resentment towards the Tang emperor, seized the opportunity to advise Zhu Ci to eliminate the Tang imperial family to prevent future trouble. This remark touched Zhu Ci's heart, and he repeatedly exclaimed, "Minister Yuan's idea is sound!" He immediately issued an edict to seal off the six cities.
All members of the imperial family in the capital, regardless of age or gender, were arrested—a total of seventy-seven people. More than two hundred officials who had hidden in their homes and the families of various civil and military officials who had fled were also arrested and taken to the western suburbs to be beheaded. From then on, the entire capital was filled with Zhu Ci's cronies. Zhu Ci, surprisingly, donned mourning clothes and received daily congratulations from the officials, acting as if he were the emperor himself.
Scouts reported that Emperor Dezong of Tang was trapped in Fengtian, running out of food and reinforcements, and his soldiers had lost their will to fight—a perfect opportunity to attack. Zhu Ci then mustered 100,000 troops, appointing himself Grand Marshal of the Western Expedition and Yao Lingyan as Deputy Grand Marshal, and marched in a mighty army towards Fengtian. Emperor Dezong, residing in Fengtian, received the news and was extremely anxious. Just then, General Li Guan, the Right Dragon Martial General, arrived with a thousand guards. Dezong ordered immediate preparations for battle. How could Li Guan's thousand soldiers possibly withstand 100,000 troops? He immediately raised recruitment flags in Fengtian and recruited 5,000 new soldiers in three days, training them within the city. Then, Feng Heqing, the military commissioner of Jingyuan, sent his soldiers to escort 100 cartloads of weapons. Dezong, who was suffering from a shortage of military equipment, felt greatly encouraged by this. At that time, Cui Ning, the Right Minister of Works, traveled from the capital to Fengtian by a secret route, met with Dezong, and reported that Zhu Ci had slaughtered members of the imperial family and defiled palace women. Upon hearing this, Dezong couldn't help but shed tears. Cui Ning was a resourceful and loyal minister, whom Emperor Dezong had always valued highly, and he rewarded him handsomely. After leaving the palace, Cui Ning secretly told the assembled ministers, "Your Majesty was originally very valiant, but he was misled by the treacherous Lu Qi, leading to this predicament." Unbeknownst to him, most of the ministers were Lu Qi's accomplices. Someone relayed Cui Ning's words to Lu Qi, who was furious and consulted with his close friend Wang Hong. Wang Hong then forged Cui Ning's handwriting and wrote a letter to Zhu Ci. Lu Qi took this forged letter and presented it to Emperor Dezong, saying that Cui Ning had just come from Zhu Ci's camp and that His Majesty must be wary.
Upon reading Cui Ning's forged letter and hearing Lu Qi's words, Emperor Dezong was enraged and immediately summoned Cui Ning to his tent. Cui Ning entered the tent as ordered, but found it quiet and empty, which aroused his suspicion. Just as he was about to leave, two strongmen suddenly jumped out, grabbed Cui Ning by the neck, and strangled him to death.
At that time, Zhu Ci's army had already reached the city walls. Emperor Dezong ordered Hun Jian to lead the soldiers in the city to jointly defend against the enemy. Jian ordered the commander Gao Gu to use straw carts to block the city gates and set fire to defend against the enemy. The fire was fierce and the smoke and flames rushed outwards. The soldiers in the city charged out of the fire, hacking and slashing with long swords, killing many enemy soldiers, and the enemy retreated. Zhu Ci personally rode to the rescue, forming ranks on the east side of the city. Fires were set off across the plains, and the shouts could be heard for miles. Bin Ning's military governor Han Youhuan led his soldiers to keep watch on the city walls all night. He saw soldiers outside the city dismantling the Ximing Temple under the cover of night, moving back and forth busily. Youhuan deduced that the enemy was using the temple's timber to make siege ladders for the attack the next day. He then ordered his soldiers to quickly make fire arrows. The next day, Zhu Ci indeed led his soldiers to move siege ladders and attack the city. Rockets were launched from within the city, and the siege ladders caught fire, causing many enemy soldiers to fall to their deaths. Seeing that he could not win immediately, Zhu Ci ordered his troops to retreat and surround the city from a distance, preventing anyone or any horse from leaving.
At this time, not only were there few soldiers in the city, but food supplies were also running low. Emperor Dezong sat in the besieged city day
and night, extremely anxious. The concubines and princesses, hiding in their rooms, heard only earth-shattering shouts and the blazing firelight at night, and were all terrified, their beautiful faces turning pale and their souls nearly breaking. Emperor Dezong could only sigh and lament all day long, helpless. At that time, there was a eunuch named Changde who had served Emperor Dezong for six years and was extremely loyal. Now, he was also serving in the besieged city. Seeing his emperor so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep, he knelt and pleaded, "Your Majesty, is there any urgent secret decree? This servant is willing to risk my life to rush out of the city to seek reinforcements." Emperor Dezong was overjoyed and said, "Of my trusted ministers, only Li Huaiguang, the military governor of Shuofang, still commands tens of thousands of troops and can save me. You may risk your life to go and plead for help. If Huaiguang sends troops to save Fengtian, I will remember you as the greatest contributor." Saying this, he wrote a secret decree on the imperial desk, ordering Huaiguang to quickly send troops to the rescue. After it was written, it was stamped with the emperor's seal. Consort Wang personally sewed the needle and thread into Changde's collar. After finishing, she bowed deeply to Changde and said, "If anything happens to you on your journey, I will maintain your spirit tablet in the palace and offer sacrifices to you throughout the four seasons, ensuring your loyal soul has a place to rest. If you can see General Li, please ask him to send troops quickly to relieve my lord's worries." Changde was so flustered that he prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly in return. The three of them, the emperor and his minister, parted in tears in the palace.
Changde carried the secret edict, disguised as a woodcutter, and waited until the third watch of the night. Hun Jian sent a troop of soldiers to escort him out of the city, protecting him from a distance as they secretly passed Zhu Ci's camp. Just then, a gong sounded, and soldiers on night watch from Zhu Ci's camp were already lying in ambush on a secluded mountain path. Seeing a woodcutter approaching, dozens of arrows flew from the shadows. One arrow struck Changde squarely in the ankle, causing him to fall to the ground. Four more arrows followed, striking his shoulder and back. Changde was in excruciating pain and couldn't stand for a moment. The enemy soldiers swarmed forward, about to capture him, when suddenly Changde shouted and leaped to his feet, scrambling and crawling into the depths of the undergrowth. The enemy soldiers behind him, unwilling to give up, pursued him, using the tip of their spears to search the undergrowth. The soldiers in the city shouted from behind and rushed forward to challenge him. The enemy soldiers, suddenly seeing soldiers challenging them in the darkness, assumed they had been ambushed and lost their will to fight. They abandoned Changde and retreated, fighting their way back to their camp.
The next day, Zhu Ci, having obtained troops from the Youzhou cavalry and the Purun garrison, gathered tens of thousands of men and came to attack the city. The enemy's momentum grew ever stronger, and the soldiers within the city were terrified and at a loss. General Lü Xiqian, the Left Dragon Martial General, went out to meet the enemy but was killed on the battlefield.
Fortunately, Hun Jian and Gao Chongjie came to their aid, killing one of Zhu Ci's generals, named Riyue. Gao Chongjie, unwilling to retreat, was personally pursued by Zhu Ci, who beheaded him. Then, Zhu Ci led a large army straight to the city walls, launching a fierce attack; he wished he could raze Fengtian to the ground. Inside the city, Hun Jian and Han Youhuan fought day and night, barely managing to hold the city. However, by this time, the city's supply lines had been cut off by the enemy; a search of the granaries revealed only two bushels of white rice, reserved for imperial use. All the civil and military officials, as well as the soldiers, were starving.
Having gone hungry for three days, Emperor Dezong, during his morning court session, saw that his ministers were all emaciated, their voices hoarse, and their eyes lifeless. Tears welled in his eyes, and he said, "I am unworthy and have brought about my own destruction! What crime have you committed to suffer such hardship? The best course of action now is for you to protect yourselves and your families, quickly bind me and hand me over to the enemy, and surrender the city; this will save you from starvation and preserve your wealth and status." At this point, Emperor Dezong began to sob. The civil and military officials all knelt on the ground, weeping, and said, "We are willing to give our lives to serve Your Majesty." Hun Jian ordered his soldiers to be lowered down from the city walls every night, and when the enemy slept, they would dig up grass roots and peel bark from the trees at the base of the city walls, bringing them into the city to find food. Every day, he would weep and persuade his soldiers, explaining the greater good. Therefore, although the soldiers were suffering from hunger and cold, their will remained steadfast. The soldiers, subsisting on tree bark and grass roots each day, barely clung to life; how could they possibly withstand the enemy? A band of starving soldiers clung to the city walls daily, collapsing and dying every day. Just
when all seemed lost, four siege ladders, several meters high and wide, with massive wheels at their base, appeared outside the city. Each ladder could hold five hundred soldiers, and arrows rained down upon the city from all sides.
The enemy, positioned high above, had no cover for the soldiers within the city. Row upon row of soldiers fell, riddled with arrows, their bodies lying dead. The ladders drew ever closer, arrows and stones raining down, and the defenders in the city died in ever-growing numbers, their cries of agony unbearable to hear. Hun Jian, overseeing the battle from the city walls, was wounded several times. For the first few days, he fought on despite his wounds. But seeing that he could no longer endure, he went to inform the emperor. Emperor Dezong, hearing that the city's fall was imminent, was helpless and could only weep. The attending officials looked at each other, at a loss for what to do. Emperor Dezong waited until the night was deep before bathing and changing his clothes. He then set up an incense table in the court; Consort Wang served him. With tears in his eyes, Dezong prayed to Heaven and Earth, and then to the ancestral temples and altars in the distance, pleading repeatedly to preserve the Tang Dynasty.
The next day, Hun Jian entered the palace again, saying, "The soldiers are almost all dead; we should recruit
more brave warriors." Dezong then took over a thousand unnamed official documents from his desk and handed them to Hun Jian, along with the imperial brush. He instructed Hun Jian to fill them out himself, seeking only loyal and brave soldiers, and to reward them handsomely with honors. If he could not fill them out immediately, he should simply write the merits on the soldiers' names with his own brush; he would obey all orders. Hun Jian accepted the imperial brush and wept, saying, "If the siege is breached by the enemy, I will repay Your Majesty with my life! Your Majesty's fate is intertwined with the fate of the dynasty; you must quickly devise a good plan." Emperor Dezong, upon hearing this, was also moved to tears. He rose, grasped Hun Jian's hand, and said, "I will not forget your merit today, General." He then personally escorted Hun Jian out of the palace gate. At this time, the palace guards had all gone to defend the city walls; the eunuchs had also fled for their lives, leaving Emperor Dezong alone at the palace gate, without a single guard—a truly desolate scene. The two, emperor and minister, had just reached the palace gate when suddenly they heard a loud crash outside, as if the city walls had collapsed. Emperor Dezong and Hun Jian's expressions immediately changed. Hun Jian hurriedly took his leave and rode swiftly to the city walls, only to find them still intact; however, smoke billowed outside the city, accompanied by a pungent, unpleasant stench. Hun Jian was greatly surprised and hurriedly went up to the city wall to look around. He saw enemy soldiers fleeing in disarray outside the city, and in the enemy camp behind, flames lit up the sky and cries shook the earth.
It turned out that Li Huaiguang, the military governor of Shuofang, had received a secret edict from Emperor Dezong and led a large army to rush here overnight. As he approached Fengtian, Li Huaiguang climbed the mountain and looked around. He saw that the enemy army was very powerful, with camps all over the mountains. Knowing that he could only outmaneuver them, he quietly stationed his troops in the deep mountains and forests, and lay low. Zhu Ci was focused on attacking Fengtian City, but he did not pay attention to his rear. Unexpectedly, Li Huaiguang ordered tens of thousands of soldiers to work day and night to dig an extremely long tunnel underground, leading directly to Zhu Ci's central command tent. The construction of this tunnel took half a month. The tunnel was very wide and filled with sulfur and gunpowder. On this day, Zhu Ci personally supervised the attack on the city, when suddenly a deafening explosion resounded from his camp. Gunpowder exploded in the tunnels, sending thousands of soldiers' corpses hurtling into the sky. Zhu Ci panicked and hastily ordered his troops to retreat. As they searched for a way to escape, Li Huaiguang led a large army to attack. Zhu Ci was no match for them and hastily led a few hundred remaining soldiers in a hasty retreat. Fortunately, he escaped with his life and fled back to Chang'an.
With the siege of Fengtian lifted, Emperor Dezong was overjoyed. Li Huaiguang, having repelled the rebel troops, was eager to enter the city to report to the Emperor. However, just as Huaiguang reached the city gate, an imperial envoy arrived with an imperial edict, blocking Li Huaiguang's path and instructing him not to enter the city but to quickly lead his troops to recapture Chang'an. Upon hearing this, Huaiguang felt a pang of regret, thinking, "I have come from afar to serve the Emperor, yet I cannot even see him; this is all due to the treacherous minister Lu Qi, who has stirred up trouble." Li Huaiguang's words were indeed true. It turned out that Lu Qi, Bai Zhizhen, Zhao Zan, and their ilk, seeing the siege lifted, considered themselves worthy of the Emperor's protection. They had suddenly heard rumors that Li Huaiguang was leading a large army with the intention of purging the court of corrupt officials. Lu Qi then devised a plan and rushed to the palace to report to Emperor Dezong: "Now that the bandit Zhu Ci has retreated to Chang'an, he will surely lose his will to defend it; Li Huaiguang has come from a thousand miles away to reinforce us, and his morale is high. Why not order him to pursue and attack Chang'an quickly, and take advantage of the victory to quell the bandits?" Emperor Dezong believed Lu Qi's words and sent an imperial envoy to deliver an edict to Huaiguang's army to block their advance. Huaiguang, having received the imperial edict, had no choice but to lead his troops to Xianyang. Next, Li Sheng also led his troops to defend the emperor. When his army reached the Dongwei Bridge, he submitted a memorial to the emperor. It was also Lu Qi who persuaded Emperor Dezong to issue a decree to block Li Sheng's troops and forbid Li Sheng from entering the palace to pay homage, ordering him to attack Chang'an together with Li Huaiguang. When Li Sheng arrived in Xianyang, he met Huaiguang. The two discussed Lu Qi's usurpation of power and obstruction of the path of virtuous officials, and together they submitted a memorial denouncing Lu Qi, Bai Zhizhen, and Zhao Zan. Emperor Dezong trusted Lu Qi and his cronies, and upon seeing Huai Guang's memorial, he couldn't bear to strip him of his official titles. Li Huai Guang, enraged that the emperor wouldn't listen to him, submitted ten memorials in succession with Li Sheng, determined to expel Lu Qi and his ilk. He stationed his troops outside Xianyang, refusing to advance, declaring, "If the emperor doesn't grant my request, I will turn back and attack Fengtian; first, I will purge the court of corrupt officials, then eliminate the traitors." Then, the officials who accompanied and protected the emperor also denounced Lu Qi's crimes before Dezong. They spoke of it day after day, until Emperor Dezong was moved and issued an edict demoting Lu Qi to Sima of Xinzhou, Bai Zhizhen to Sima of Enzhou, and Zhao Zan to Sima of Bozhou. At the same time, an edict was issued to appease Li Huai Guang, Li Sheng, and their generals. Huai Guang also submitted a memorial rebuking the eunuch Zhai Wenxiu, saying he abused his power and should be executed. Although Emperor Dezong was pleased with Zhai Wenxiu, the country was in dire straits and relied entirely on the support of its generals. He had no choice but to obey Huaiguang's memorial and execute Zhai Wenxiu, while simultaneously urging Huaiguang to advance his troops. To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.

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[Romantic Anecdotes of the Tang Dynasty Court] [86] [Author: Xu Xiaotian]

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