Chapter 390: The Xi'an Incident (VIII)
A pile of memorials flew towards the assassin's face. Liu Tongxun had never thought that memorials could be used in this way. Perhaps because he had followed Hong Zhou on the expedition, Liu Tongxun instinctively picked up something useful and threw it at the assassin.
The paper was blocked by the air and, according to the laws of aerodynamics, it scattered before hitting the assassin and did not hurt him. However, the flying paper obscured the assassin's movements, making it difficult for him to find the target of his attack, namely Liu Tongxun.
In this moment of hesitation, the guard who had reacted drew out his single blade and stabbed the assassin from behind. Less than a second after the assassin screamed, the other two assassins also made painful sounds from the heavy injuries they suffered.
The guards knocked down the three assassins in a short time. However, at this moment, in the palace in the city of Xi'an, Liu Tongxun also heard the noise coming from the city wall. It was a noise that was difficult to describe, but Liu Tongxun, who had released his troops, understood it. It was the noise of tens of thousands of humans launching an attack. It was impossible to distinguish the noise made by any one person, but the thousands of noises gathered into an indescribable sound. Whenever there was such a noise, a fierce battle would break out without exception.
When Liu Tongxun rushed to the city wall under the protection of his guards, he saw that the outside of the city was already on fire. The rioters wearing special hats on their heads were frantically attacking the Han neighborhood in Xi'an.
Outside the city gates, the rioters had piled up a large amount of firewood and lit a huge fire. The thick smoke obscured a considerable portion of the city's view, while the flames and heat prevented the Qing army from rushing out of the city to engage the rioters.
Liu Tongxun was terrified. If he and other ministers who stayed behind were assassinated, the Qing Dynasty would not be able to recover from the chaos in a short time. They could only watch the rioters burning and killing in Xi'an.
The anger burned like a fire blocking the city gate, and Liu Tongxun couldn't help but shout loudly: "How could this happen!"
No one answered. The Qing army commanders on the city wall only ordered the Qing army to deploy quickly to prevent the rioters from rushing into the city.
Liu Tongxun, who was furious, shouted, "Why don't you hurry out of the city and kill the rioters? Once they kill all the good people in the city, what's the point of leaving Xi'an behind!"
Since Liu Tongxun was the prime minister, the generals said they would obey his orders and then ran down the city. But Liu Tongxun waited for a long time, and apart from seeing that the city of Xi'an was becoming more and more chaotic, the Qing troops in the city did not move out at all.
At this time, many Han people were seen stumbling along the straight streets of Xi'an city towards the city gate, followed by a group of rioters waving weapons and hacking and killing them.
Liu Tongxun was just thinking about sending the Qing army out to support him when he heard a burst of gunfire from the top of the city wall. Bullets whizzed away, knocking down many Han people who were fleeing for their lives, and also knocking down some rioters along the way.
The rioters immediately hid on the side of the street, and the Han people, who were attacked like this, just stood there, screaming and shouting in horror, but they dared not approach the city again.
At this moment, the rioters who were hiding on the street and slowly approaching suddenly rushed into the Han people with weapons and started killing them. The Han people had to flee to the Mancheng again. The Qing army fired guns and cannons again, killing all the people and leaving corpses all over the ground.
Seeing that the rioters had all fled, the Han people were also completely killed by the Qing army and the rioters. Those who were killed were fine, but the injured Han people struggled and screamed in a pool of blood, and the screams made Liu Tongxun's hair stand on end.
Turning around, Liu Tongxun ran to the Qing general who was directing the volley of gunfire and shouted, "Why don't you leave the city to fight!"
Seeing Liu Tongxun so angry, the general shouted to the people around him: "You guys protect the adults, the rest of you brothers follow me down the city."
In a moment, the group of soldiers and horses left the city, leaving only a few humble Qing soldiers guarding Liu Tongxun on the top of the city.
Liu Tongxun put his hand on the battlement and looked down, and saw that more and more fires were starting in Xi'an, but no Qing army was dispatched. Anxious, Liu Tongxun hurried down the city to urge the enemy to come.
Unexpectedly, the Qing troops that were visible everywhere were still there, but they were moving back and forth. None of the generals were seen.
Liu Tongxun stopped several Qing troops, but the highest position in the Qing army was only the captain. Although they respected Liu Tongxun's official rank of second rank, his coral bead hat and double flower feathers, they left the decision to send troops to the general who was nowhere to be seen.
After being so soft and hard, Liu Tongxun just wanted to draw his sword and kill a few Qing soldiers to establish his authority. However, Liu Tongxun was a civilian after all, and although he had released the soldiers, he could not really kill people with a sword. What's more, Liu Tongxun was unarmed at this time and had no weapons at all.
At this time, Liu Tongxun suddenly remembered the Ministry of War. He left these sticky Qing troops behind and headed straight for the Ministry of War. When he arrived at the gate, he saw that the gate was heavily guarded and a large number of Qing troops were blocking the gate. Seeing Liu Tongxun coming, the Qing guerrillas who led the army stepped in and saluted, "Liu Zhongtang, the Minister is discussing military affairs. Please go back first, and when the military affairs are discussed, I will go in and report."
Since they didn't even dare to kill the captain, Liu Tongxun didn't have the courage to kill the guerrillas who were born in the banner. Seeing the dense Qing army blocking the door, Liu Tongxun realized that he, the Han Zhongtang, was respected only when the emperor Hongzhou was in the city. When there was no emperor's authority in the city for Liu Tongxun to borrow, Liu Tongxun was just a Han official.
Angry and desperate, Liu Tongxun could only return to his office. At this time, Liu Tongxun did not give up. He sent people to the Ministry of War every once in a while to see when the meeting of the Ministry of War would end. Every time his men came back, the report was the same: the meeting was still going on.
It was not until late at night that Lan Gui, the Minister of War, came to Liu Tongxun's office to ask for an audience. If it were a normal day, Liu Tongxun would have gone to bed long ago. At this time, Liu Tongxun forced himself to sleep, leaning on a chair. At the same time, he asked his subordinates to wake him up at any time.
When the Minister of War Lan Gui arrived in front of Liu Tongxun, he was surprised to see that Liu Tongxun was dressed neatly.
Liu Tongxun certainly knew about the mess in the officialdom. Lan Gui came to ask for an audience at this time because he thought Liu Tongxun had gone to bed. As long as Liu Tongxun's subordinates said "Master Zhongtang has gone to bed", Lan Gui could leave immediately. After dawn, Lan Gui had plenty of ways to respond to Liu Tongxun's call.
Since he finally caught Lan Gui, Liu Tongxun did not discuss it and immediately ordered, "Minister Lan Gui, I order you to send troops out immediately to eliminate the rioters."
Lan Gui replied with a smile: "Haha, Master Zhongtang, it's so late today. If we go out, we will be ambushed. It will be a waste of manpower. Wait until daybreak. After daybreak, we must send troops out."
"Really?" Liu Tongxun shouted.
Although Lan Gui was scolded, he showed an expression that he didn't care about Liu Tongxun. "How can I deceive you after this? We will definitely send troops after dawn tomorrow. But don't be too anxious, you brothers in the city are also human beings. If we are not careful and fall into the siege of the mob, and the whole city is broken, we will not be able to explain to the emperor!"
Liu Tongxun never thought that he, the prime minister, would be threatened by the Minister of War. He was furious. But the Minister of War Lan Gui threatened Liu Tongxun in the name of the emperor and the safety of the whole city. Liu Tongxun could only be angry. He could not really do anything to Lan Gui.
After Lan Gui left, Liu Tongxun was so angry that he sat on the chair and refused to go to bed. He wanted to wait here to see when the Qing army would be dispatched. However, time is not forgiving. Even the well-nourished and well-exercised social animals in the 21st century are exhausted under 996. In the Qing Dynasty where Liu Tongxun lived, the life expectancy was only 50 years. Liu Tongxun, who was almost 35 years old, fell asleep on the table without realizing it.
Liu Tongxun woke up with numbness in his arms and saw that it was daylight. After finally sitting up, Liu Tongxun felt that his arms and cheeks were like wood, and he felt numb and weak. After finally recovering, he suddenly remembered the Qing army's dispatch.
When Liu Tongxun arrived near the city gate, it was almost 11 o'clock in the morning. He saw that the Qing army had already lined up and was ready to go out. Liu Tongxun was a little surprised.
As soon as the city gates were opened, the Qing army marched out in formation. Liu Tongxun climbed up to the top of the city wall, only to see the Minister of War Lan Gui also on the top of the city wall. Seeing Liu Tongxun, Lan Gui smiled and greeted him, "Liu Zhongtang, I see you didn't rest very well."
"How can I sleep well at this time!" Liu Tongxun replied unhappily.
Lan Gui shook his head. "Liu Zhongtang, you are a noble. Of course you think everything is a big deal. Look at these soldiers. They all know that they don't know when they will die. They think about it every day, but they are tired. If you think they eat well and sleep well, it's because they are too lazy to think about life and death."
"What do you mean?" Liu Tongxun was confused by this very reasonable statement.
Lan Gui sighed, "Zhongtang, I said this to make you understand. Everyone actually has difficulties."
Liu Tongxun said angrily: "All the Han people in the city will be killed. Isn't this a problem?"
Lan Gui shook his head helplessly. "Zhongtang, the number of Han people is not less than that of the rioters. If they all stand up and fight, even if they don't suppress the rioters, at least they won't suffer any loss. They were beaten like this because they are useless."
"Useless?" Liu Tongxun was a little angry again. But he didn't dare to say anything this time. The Manchus knew that they had few people in the Eight Banners, so they could only divide and rule. Since they had to divide and rule, they naturally had to favor those with more people and give some benefits to those with fewer people. The Han people were more numerous, so they were valued more by the Manchus.
The rioters were few in number, so if there was a conflict, they would often cause more trouble. Therefore, Northwestern officials used the excuse that the rioters were illiterate and unruly and gave them relatively light sentences, or even let them go.
As the situation accumulated over generations, the rioters naturally became more and more ferocious. This was also caused by the imperial court.
At this time, the blame was put on the Han people, and it was fortunate that Lan Gui could say it so lightly. However, if Liu Tongxun criticized it, it would not be a criticism of Lan Gui, but a criticism of the court system and the Manchus' little thoughts. Even Liu Tongxun, who considered himself a loyal minister, did not dare to say so.
Seeing that Liu Tongxun's arrogance had finally been subdued, Lan Gui sighed and said, "Now that they know who is our enemy, the rioters will surely not have a good death. I hope that Liu Zhongtang can work with us to defend Xi'an and wipe out these rioters."
Liu Tongxun didn't know how to answer for a moment. However, what Lan Gui said clearly meant that Liu Tongxun should be honest and stop using his position as the prime minister to point fingers at the Manchus.
The Qing army went out to fight in the city, but there was no special result that day. Liu Tongxun didn't know how to fight, so he didn't dare to say anything. As long as the Qing army started to suppress it, it would be fine.
Two days passed like this, and on the third day, all the troops in the city were suddenly mobilized. In addition to these people, many Han people who looked ready to join the battle also appeared in the Ministry of War. Liu Tongxun was also invited. When he saw these people, Liu Tongxun looked at their figures and complexions and thought they should be people of status.
Lan Gui stood up and said loudly: "This time the rioters have killed many people. Their crimes are unforgivable. This time we must eradicate them completely. The court will never let the rioters go. The property of the rioters killed this time will be divided 40% between the court and you. The court will take 60% and you will take 40%. Brothers, Liu Zhongtang is also here. He can be a witness."
Liu Tongxun didn't expect that he was tricked by Lan Gui again. However, at this point, he saw that those who came were looking at him with burning eyes. Especially those Han people, their eyes seemed to be burning with flames, making Liu Tongxun feel as if he was burned by fire.
Since he was forced to this point, Liu Tongxun said, "Everyone, the rebels should be killed. But..."
At this point, Liu Tongxun found that he had unconsciously begun to shift his focus. He actually wanted to say that those who were not part of the rebels should not be killed. Feeling his own thoughts, Liu Tongxun was a little surprised.
Previously, Liu Tongxun felt that he had never been merciful to the rioters. When fighting against Huo Chong, he copied all the cruel methods of the Shunzhi era. He felt that it didn't matter if he killed all the people in Shandong. Why did Liu Tongxun suddenly have a compassionate heart when the rioters were not Han people? Don't hurt innocent people!
Just as he was surprised, he saw that everyone was still looking at him with burning eyes. Liu Tongxun made up his mind and said, "What the Minister said is correct. I will tell you all that I will give you 40% of the property of the rebels. I will never break my promise!"
After he finished speaking, Liu Tongxun saw everyone nodding their heads. It seemed that this was what they cared about.
Liu Tongxun took a look at Lan Gui and felt that this guy was actually more powerful than Liu Tongxun had thought before. At least Lan Gui was really doing his job, and he also caught the minds of the local Han people who participated in the bandit suppression. Although Liu Tongxun was invited, he did not make things difficult for him, and gave him ample space to sell himself.
Could it be that... I had wrongly blamed Lan Gui before?
Regardless of what Liu Tongxun thought, the bandit-suppression troops here rumbled out of the city. In the previous three days, the fires in the city had been extinguished for a while. However, not long after these troops left, the fires started again. Shouts and cries of killing came from afar, proving that the fierce battle had begun.
This time Liu Tongxun stayed on the top of the city for almost a day and a night. He heard the sound of fighting that never stopped. It started in the day and lasted all night. When Liu Tongxun couldn't stand it anymore, he went back to sleep. When he woke up, it was almost night.
When we reached the top of the city, we found that the battle was not over yet.
However, the fierce battle continued until the third morning, when someone came to report that tens of thousands of people had come from all over the city. Liu Tongxun was shocked, for he had never expected such a thing to happen.
But the Minister of War Lan Gui's eyes widened and he said happily, "Sure enough, they are here. I thought they were not coming!"
After saying that, Lan Gui turned to Liu Tongxun and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Liu. The troops have already been prepared in the city. I will go out of the city to meet the enemy. Please wait for news in the city."
Soon, hundreds of cavalrymen and thousands of Qing troops who had been staying in the city left the city under the leadership of Lan Gui. The city fell into silence. Liu Tongxun felt the silence and shuddered. Unease rose in his heart.
When there were many Qing troops in the city, Liu Tongxun felt that these people staying in the city were disobedient. When the Qing troops went out to fight, Liu Tongxun finally became afraid. There were not many people in the huge city, and if something unexpected happened again...
After five days of bloody battles, the rioters in Xi'an were finally suppressed. The reinforcements from outside the city were completely defeated by Lan Gui. Thousands of government troops chased after tens of thousands of rioters, beheaded more than 10,000, and captured nearly 20,000. The cavalry, in particular, chased them all the way, and almost everyone had several heads of rioters hanging next to their saddles.
As for the rioters in the city, they were almost all wiped out. Liu Tongxun was a little surprised to learn that there were still some rioters who had not been killed.
Accompanied by Lan Gui, Liu Tongxun went to where the rioters were. He saw traces of fire everywhere in Xi'an. As for corpses and body parts, they were everywhere. Liu Tongxun was a little frightened at first, but later he got used to it.
The layout of Xi'an City is still the Tang Dynasty model, mainly "fang". The Tang Chang'an City was expanded and renovated on the basis of the Sui Daxing City. It consists of three parts: the palace city, the imperial city and the outer city. The palace city is where the emperor is, the imperial city is where the central government is located, and the outer city is the living area for the subjects. The "lifang system" is implemented. The neighborhoods are divided by roads, in a form similar to li, also called "fang". The streets are straight, and the square areas circled by the streets are surrounded by walls. It has a bit of the flavor of a 21st century residential area.
When they arrived at the several blocks where the rioters lived, they saw the rioters kneeling outside in the streets. The Qing army, like wolves and tigers, stood beside them with weapons in hand, as if ready to attack at any time. The rioters knelt down, put their hands on the ground, and crawled on their faces, not even daring to raise their heads. They looked like they were obediently resigned to their fate. Liu Tongxun actually had some good feelings for them.
If it were a Han Chinese, they would kneel down honestly and would not be able to take such a posture. The situation of the rioters was completely different.
It was not until Liu Tongxun came in front of them and asked the leader to speak that a few men with gray and white beards stood up.
When they arrived in front of Liu Tongxun, they knelt down again, "Sir, sir. Because of this riot, we sealed off our own neighborhood. We didn't let our own people go out, and we let outsiders in. We didn't kill anyone, nor did we harm anyone. We didn't hide anyone either. Please spare our lives, sir!"
After hearing the leader explain the matter so clearly in just a few words, Liu Tongxun was surprised and even praised him, so he asked, "Really?"
After saying this, Liu Tongxun found that he really wanted to let him go. At most, he would give him a small punishment. However, Liu Tongxun also found that if there was such a person begging for mercy in Shandong, he would not let him go.
What happened to him? Liu Tongxun couldn't help but frown.
