Chapter 370 The overall situation has been decided
Looking at the fireworks signals rising into the sky, the middle-aged scholar had completed his task and took advantage of everyone's attention to leave quickly.

As he walked, he wiped off the beard and makeup on his face, revealing his true face, which was Gu Tingyu who had disappeared for a long time.

Then he turned his clothes inside out and put them on, which changed into another set of clothes. Then he flashed and quickly disappeared into the crowd!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

It is said that when an arrow pierces the clouds in front of the battle formation, thousands of troops will come to meet it. With the sound of three explosions, it was like a signal for action, and the army that had been hiding somewhere was instantly activated.

Afterwards, the 100,000 troops who had been waiting outside the city for a long time raised their torches one after another, and standing in front of the army was Lin Hao, who was supposed to be fighting on the Song-Liao border.

At this time, Lin Hao did not have any lofty words, nor did he have any passion or enthusiasm. He just looked coldly at the nearby Bianjing City and uttered two words indifferently:

"Let's go~!"

Why is it "departure" instead of words like "attack" or "charge"? Because the 100,000 troops under Lin Hao's command are really just setting off.

When Lin Hao's army arrived at the gate of Bianjing City, the gate slowly opened, and then the army continued to march forward!
Being the number one force in the military is no joke. Most of the major military camps in Bianjing City are controlled by Lin Hao.

Especially after Lin Hao subdued Gu Tingyu, the entire military force was unified by Lin Hao. In fact, the tiger talisman in the palace had long lost its function.

If Lin Hao had not ordered several major military camps to cooperate with the King of Shu, he would have been destroyed countless times!

When the King of Shu was suppressing the King of Qin, he deliberately sent the King of Wu's forces to die. In fact, they were all dissidents who had opinions about Lin Hao.

Therefore, Lin Hao used the King of Shu to send them to be cannon fodder.

Now, this drama is about to end, and all those guys who might become obstacles have been eliminated. It is time for all the evil spirits to leave!

As Lin Hao's army entered the city, the flags on the four major city gates were simultaneously replaced with the flags of King Yan.

When Lin Hao entered the city, he did not attack the palace directly, but instead ordered his troops to surround the palace!
Lin Hao himself led his men to rescue the civil and military nobles who were besieged in their respective mansions by the King of Shu.

By the way, I also took this opportunity to go to Sheng Mansion in Jiying Lane.

After seeing that Zhang Cuifen followed his instructions and took the Sheng family to hide in the basement of the neighbor's house, Lin Hao felt relieved.

In fact, this neighbor's house was bought by Lin Hao a long time ago, with the purpose of giving them a place to hide in times of crisis.

"Brother, you are finally back. Is everything going well?"

"Of course, everything is under control!" After saying that, Lin Hao greeted the Sheng family again, but Lin Hao did not stay too long. After all, he still had a lot of things to do!
Seeing Lin Hao was about to leave, Zhang Cuifen shouted reluctantly:
"Brother! Be careful!"

"Don't worry, the person who can hurt me hasn't been born yet!"

Lin Hao did not talk with them for too long. He then took Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai, and after meeting with civil and military officials, went to the palace to rescue the empress dowager and the concubine dowager.

Of course, the main purpose is to rescue the little emperor.

Afterwards, wherever Lin Hao went, with the addition of these civil and military nobles, the situation became more obvious.

Because all the troops in the city, including the soldiers from several major military camps that had been mobilized by the tiger talisman, all changed their flags to the flag of Prince Yan, and their identity change was completed in an instant.

This also means that the grand coup launched by the King of Shu has completely become a joke!
At this time, the King of Shu in the palace could only watch his soldiers change camps. Only more than 10,000 elite soldiers brought from Shu protected him.

However, these elite soldiers in the eyes of the King of Shu also collapsed rapidly like an avalanche under the attack of Lin Hao's army!
The civil and military officials who came with him also learned that the King of Shu had the concubine and the young emperor killed, and put the blame on the queen mother, so all the ministers were immediately outraged!
They all cursed the King of Shu for being a beast, saying that his own family members killed each other so cruelly and even put the blame on the Queen Mother, saying that he was not a human being.

After the fire in the palace was put out, after a careful search, the charred bodies of the concubine dowager, the little emperor, and the empress dowager were finally found!
As a result, all the civil and military officials burst into tears and then were at a loss as to what to do, because there was no heir to the throne in Bianjing City at that time.

As for suitable royal families from afar, they did not come, and they probably did not dare to come!

The main reason is that they have suffered mental breakdown due to the large and small rebellions in recent years.

Anyone who rebels, treasons, or usurps the throne after a while will suffer from nervous breakdown!

Just when everyone was confused, the Minister of Rites said loudly:

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to what I have to say!"

Then everyone looked at the Minister of Rites, and when he saw that everyone had quieted down, he immediately said:
"You all have seen that in recent years, in order to fight for the throne, Bianjing City and the Song Dynasty have been in chaos, and there has not been a few days of peace!"

The other four ministers nodded to each other and discussed with the people nearby. Not only them, but also many civil officials and military generals were wondering what he would say next.

At this time, the Minister of Rites continued:
"Now that the emperor and empress have passed away, and there is no royal family member suitable to succeed the throne, I have a suggestion!"

At this time, the Minister of War also cooperated and said:

"What proposal? Are you proposing which royal family member should succeed the throne?"

The Minister of Rites immediately said:

"I suggest that we invite the young and strong, capable Prince Yan, who has worked diligently for the Song Dynasty over the years, to be the emperor!"

Huh! Then there was a buzzing sound, and everyone started discussing this matter, but they were not too surprised by it.

They are not crayfish. They have long known how powerful Lin Hao is, because those who don't know have basically been eliminated.

Those who are still standing here actually already knew what was going on and have been waiting for this day. After all, if they support Lin Hao to ascend the throne, that would be the credit of following the dragon!

When the time comes, you will have to mention your own title or official position!
Soon, everyone reached a consensus and knelt down in front of Lin Hao and shouted:

"Please ask His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan to ascend the throne and be crowned the emperor, so that the world can be cleared up and peace can be restored..."

Afterwards, these civil and military ministers naturally began to persuade Lin Hao to ascend the throne as soon as possible and pacify the world!

Lin Hao watched everyone's performance coldly. Of course, this was a performance, including Lin Hao.

What to act?

Of course it’s the old routine of three requests and three resignations!

Now it was Lin Hao's turn to perform, so he declined righteously, "My virtue..."

Of course Lin Hao refused with righteous words. How could he easily agree to be their emperor when he hadn't completed the procedure of three requests and three resignations?

Afterwards, Lin Hao no longer cared about them and continued to arrange people to patrol the city of Bianjing to protect the safety of ordinary people and officials!
Yes~yes, there is no other meaning, it is just purely for protection, to protect the safety of their entire family!

On the third day, in the absence of the emperor, a morning court session was held in the palace. Although there was no emperor, the government affairs of the Song Dynasty still had to be handled! At the beginning of the morning court session, all the ministers in the court knelt down and asked Lin Hao to ascend the throne and become emperor!
However, this time Lin Hao refused firmly, rejecting their rude request, and then Lin Hao turned away!

In the following month, the ministers did not persuade him to ascend the throne again, but instead gave a grand funeral to the empress dowager, the concubine dowager, and the little emperor!

During this period, with the joint efforts of Lin Hao and many civil and military ministers, the Song Dynasty's government policies were implemented smoothly, and the impact of the Three Kings' Rebellion quickly subsided.

At today's morning court session, all the ministers once again urged the emperor to ascend the throne, but this time it was not just the ministers present, even the provincial governors across the country wrote memorials to urge him to ascend the throne.

The officials placed the memorials submitted by the various prefectures of the Song Dynasty in front of Lin Hao and shouted in unison:
"Please ask His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan to ascend the throne and be crowned emperor..."

"Hey! Why are you doing this?" Lin Hao looked at the ministers kneeling on the ground and said helplessly:
"I have no intention of becoming an emperor. I just want the people of the world to live in peace and well-being. Why do you always force me?" Lin Hao looked like he had been wronged.

Lin Hao's pretentious look left the ministers kneeling on the ground speechless, but they had no choice but to accompany Lin Hao and continue playing the trick of three requests and three resignations!

What made them feel helpless was that during this period, various local prefectures and cities submitted memorials to persuade them to ascend the throne, which were more anxious than the officials in Bianliang, which made them feel a sense of urgency.

"Please invite the King of Yan to ascend the throne!" Then the ministers pointed to the piles of petitions spread on the ground and said:

"This is the will of the people of the world. Your Highness, please register as soon as possible and don't let everyone in the world down!"

Then Lin Hao said with displeasure:

"In that case, I will do it reluctantly!"

The court officials were overjoyed when they heard this:

"Long live our emperor~Long live~Long live our emperor!"

"Long live our emperor~Long live~Long live our emperor!"

"Long live our emperor~Long live~Long live our emperor!"

After the ministers shouted "Long live the emperor", they burst into tears and lamented that it was so damn difficult. They had been sitting on pins and needles during this period. They lived in fear every day!
Because they see soldiers patrolling outside their homes every day, it feels like knives may rain from the sky at any time.

If Lin Hao knew what they were thinking, he would definitely cry out in injustice.

Because he had no intention of threatening, he just wanted to maintain the law and order of Bianjing City and protect the safety of their entire family!

Just like that, after the ancient ceremony of three requests and three resignations, Lin Hao agreed to ascend the throne and become emperor, so everyone began to prepare for Lin Hao's coronation ceremony.

Lin Hao naturally had his own purpose for making three requests and three resignations instead of asking the young emperor to write an abdication edict.

If Lin Hao accepted the abdication, he would, to a certain extent, inherit the Song Dynasty's territory and tradition.

Lin Hao's three requests and three resignations and then his direct ascension to the throne represented his own Taoist tradition, which replaced that of the Song Dynasty, rather than inheriting it.

It may sound a bit confusing, but it represents the essence of the change of dynasties.

Let's take a look at what the dynasties that abdicated in the feudal era looked like:
The Xin Dynasty established by Wang Mang died in one generation;

Sima Yan founded the Jin Dynasty, which was destroyed by the Xiongnu;

The Sui Dynasty founded by Yang Jian died in the second generation;

The Song Dynasty founded by Zhao Kuangyin was first destroyed by the Jin Dynasty and then by the Mongols.
In short, most emperors who abdicated did not have a good end, and most dynasties that accepted other people's orthodoxy also did not have a good end.

So, although it is a bit feudal, um~, but this seems to be the feudal era, so Lin Hao has no intention of abdicating, but directly rebuilding the Taoist orthodoxy.

why?

On the one hand, it is because Lin Hao has already grasped the grassroots (states and prefectures) foundation of the Song Dynasty and has the basis for re-establishing a set of rule.

He would not be like Zhao Kuangyin, who needed to rely on the young ruler of the Later Zhou Dynasty to write an abdication edict to stabilize the local situation and prevent rebellions in various places!

Before that, whether it was the rebellion of the two kings, Prince Yan and Prince Yong, or the rebellion of the three kings that just ended, why did their attempts to usurp the throne go so badly and fail so easily?

Because they never understood one thing, that is, Lin Hao not only controls the top levels of the army, but also the middle and lower levels of the army.

Therefore, they tried to win over the military top brass to usurp the throne. If it were normal, it would be fine, but they were facing Lin Hao, the number one family in the military, so the effect of winning over was extremely limited!

But Lin Hao was different. Whether it was military power or political power, Lin Hao directly attacked its foundation instead of carrying out a coup by winning over a few high-level officials.

Lin Hao's foundation is not the lowest level of people as believed in modern times, but the government at the state level.

Because Lin Hao doesn't think he is a great man and doesn't have the ability to change the world. Moreover, this is a purely feudal era and there is no such mass base!
There is also the system of monogamy and multiple concubines, and Lin Hao is not prepared to change it anyway!
Not for any other reason, but because there are more women than men in this era, and in order for the majority of women to have a man to love them, Lin Hao is determined not to change this system!
Back to the topic, although Lin Hao played according to the rules of the game of this era, he also took action to replace the grassroots governments in order to achieve the goal of peaceful subversion.

Well, it’s not a subversion, it’s a peaceful transition!

Of course, Lin Hao knew that ordinary people were the foundation of a feudal dynasty. Therefore, when Lin Hao seized power, he promulgated many policies to benefit ordinary civilians!

Nothing else to do but divide the land!

Many people think that rebellion is very simple. They just need to bring a group of soldiers, kill the emperor, ascend the throne and establish a new dynasty.

But is it really that simple?

There is no doubt that it is not that simple!
So can this be successful?

The answer is, there are definitely successful ones!

But look at the Han Dynasty, one of the two most powerful dynasties in Chinese history, which was bullied at the beginning of its establishment. It was bullied by the Xiongnu.

Another powerful Tang Empire was forced to surrender to the Turks at the beginning of its founding, and Li Shimin could only grit his teeth and endure it.

Was it because the emperor was not brave enough when they founded the country?

Definitely not, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to create the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties. Then why were they bullied?
The answer is very simple. After a long period of war, people’s livelihood has declined and the national strength has weakened. It is not a question of whether we can win the war or not, but that we do not have the national strength to continue fighting. If we are bullied, we can only swallow our anger!
The current situation is very similar to that of the Han and Tang Dynasties. There is the powerful Liao Kingdom in the north, Jiaozhi in the south, Dali in the southwest, and Tubo in the west. Although the Western Xia in the northwest was destroyed by Lin Hao, it also made this place completely border the Liao Kingdom.

If we fight a war of annihilation without any regard for the consequences, the national strength will inevitably be damaged again and again under such external environment. It is conceivable what the consequences will be in the future.

Should he let his queen write to those barbarians and call himself a concubine? Or marry a minister's daughter to another country as a marriage alliance? Or sign a surrender treaty with them?

(End of this chapter)