Chapter 50 The second part of human farce

The reason why human beings invent clocks is that they desire to capture time so that they can use time in a more planned way, and this is based on the fact that people take it for granted that they have a tomorrow. However, the Red Eyebrow Army is such a team: they don't believe or care about whether there is tomorrow at all. From the day they formed an army, they basically just stepped on watermelon rinds and slipped wherever they went, without any long-term plans. Don't even think about what to do tomorrow. Both the peasant uprising army, the red eyebrow army and the green forest army are very different.In the Green Forest Army, there are many small landlords and local heroes mixed in. Relatively speaking, they have a long-term vision and know how to plan for the future.After the Green Forest Army occupied Chang'an, they also carried out a little bit of political construction.On the other hand, the red-browed army has a much purer class composition, almost all of which are composed of simple and honest peasants. From the emperor Liu Penzi to the hundreds of officials and ministers, the only one who can read is the prime minister Xu Xuan.

After the Red Eyebrow Army occupied Chang'an, they still maintained their original simplicity.And this kind of simplicity is reflected in the fact that they still position themselves as homeless, as a vulnerable group, and they must continue to rely on violence and struggle to survive in this world.They never realized that they were actually the masters of Chang'an and even the entire Guanzhong region. Since the formation of the Red Eyebrow Army, they have been wandering for six years. From east to west, they have traveled across half of China. They have long been used to wandering, to having no hometown and no hope.

This is a collective that has lost its sense of awe.They are indifferent to their own lives, and naturally they are indifferent to the lives of others.They no longer fear any living, nor any dead.All the rules and all the orders are no longer worth mentioning in their eyes. Once they were victims of suffering, now they are the creators of suffering. They were masochists, now they are abusers. Violence is their only remaining belief.And the only thing that can make them surrender is greater violence. Knowing such psychological motives, it is not difficult for us to understand the scenes of human farce performed by the Red Eyebrow Army in Chang'an.

On La Day in the twenty-five year AD, which is the third Xu day after the winter solstice (it will be changed to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in later generations, namely the Laba Festival), it is a traditional grand festival to offer sacrifices to all gods.In the Changle Palace in Chang'an, Emperor Liu Penzi and the leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army set up a music conference to celebrate the festival. If the time goes back ten years or even longer, there will be another scene of festivals here: the emperor stands tall, all the officials sit down, the atmosphere is solemn and solemn, the musicians play solemn gala music, and the doctor reads gorgeous articles .The emperor gave wine to the ministers, and the ministers, under the order of Zhonghuangmen, drank once, drank twice, and drank three times; the emperor rewarded the ministers again, ranging from jade and silk to money, and the ministers prostrated to thank them and shouted, "My emperor is wise."All the details show a sense of sacred ritual, declaring the honor of the temple and the power of the empire.

However, in today's Changle Palace, there is no grand temple atmosphere, on the contrary, it is more like a wild and noisy rivers and lakes.The leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army were sitting in disarray under His Royal Highness, disheveled and shouting.Fifteen-year-old emperor Liu Penzi sat in the main hall, looking at these domineering subjects in fear, like puppets, without the slightest temper. Amidst the noise, a scholar who had surrendered was eager to flatter him. He stood up, took out a short book from his sleeve, read out the congratulations he had already written, and congratulated Liu Penzi loudly.When the leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army saw this elegant thing, they couldn't help being envious, and surrounded the scholar, demanding that the scholar add his name to his book.

The scholar didn't dare to offend anyone, so he quickly picked up his pen and asked with an apologetic smile: "Dare to ask the big leaders, who is ranked first?" In hindsight, this scholar was a bit sluggish, and it was purely on purpose.China has what is known as the most mature and developed officialdom in the world, how could there be no such rules!The rankings are naturally ranked according to the size of the official rank, which is fair, just and open. However, how did the leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army understand this? They only knew that the higher the name was ranked, the more face they would have, so they huddled together, insulted each other, and pushed their hands. Compete for a front position in the book.

In the hall, the situation was instantly chaotic.Da Sinonong Yang Yin shouted: "Be serious, it's time to go to court." However, the chiefs were arguing, who would listen to him! Yang Yin was furious, and rushed to the hall with his sword.Liu Penzi was shocked, thinking that Yang Yin was coming to take someone's head, so he curled up on the bed, trembling all over.Yang Yin ignored Liu Penzi at all, occupied a high place, looked down at His Majesty, and cursed with his sword: "The gentlemen are already very old, yet they are still so unseemly, even if they are not child's play, they can all be killed!"

Yang Yin came forward to provoke troubles, how could the other leaders give up, and immediately retaliated, scolding Yang Yin across the air.The red-browed soldiers standing guard outside the palace and even outside the palace heard the chaos in the palace, like sharks smelling blood, they were very excited, each raised their weapons, and swarmed into the palace, looting wine and meat, and killing each other. More and more soldiers crowded in, and the situation in the main hall became more and more out of control. Everyone was red-eyed and fell into anarchic madness. ! Wei Wei Zhuge Rang heard about the mutiny in the palace, and hurriedly led his guards to suppress it, killing more than a hundred people on the spot, blood flowed profusely, and limbs were everywhere. Only then did the situation stabilize, and the leaders dispersed.

After witnessing this bloody killing with his own eyes, Liu Penzi's fragile mentality completely collapsed, crying day and night, and refused to go to court again.Liu Gong, the eldest brother of Liu Penzi, saw that the Red Eyebrow Army was in chaos, and knew that the Red Eyebrow Army would soon be defeated. He secretly advised Liu Penzi to resign as soon as possible and return the emperor's seal. In the blink of an eye, winter is over, and the time has entered the twenty-sixth year of AD.On Liu Penzi's side, it was the second year of Jianshi; on Liu Xiu's side, it was the second year of Jianwu.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year this year, there was a sudden solar eclipse. The ancients did not understand the principle of a solar eclipse, and every time they attached a solar eclipse, they would anger the heavens and bring disaster to the world, so people panicked and feared disaster.Liu Gong just took advantage of the solar eclipse to talk about the matter, summoned the leaders of the Red Eyebrow Army, and resigned for Liu Penzi, saying: "All the lords set up Panzi as the emperor, with profound virtue and sincerity. Penzi is the emperor, and for a year, the food is chaotic and the sincerity is insufficient. To complement each other. Fear of death is of no benefit, and I wish to retreat to become a commoner, and I seek sages and knowledge, only the lords will observe."

Although Fan Chong and others were bold, they were unavoidably frightened and uneasy when faced with such an abnormal celestial appearance like a solar eclipse, thinking that it was because they had offended the heavens.Hearing that Liu Gong was going to resign on Liu Penzi's behalf, they all sincerely persuaded him to stay, saying: "This is a crime of worship. The emperor please be the emperor!" Liu Gonggu insisted that Liu Penzi abdicate.Fan Chong said angrily: "The emperor didn't even open his mouth, so it's your turn to speak!" Then he drew his sword to kill Liu Gong.Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Gong fled in a hurry. When Liu Gong escaped, Liu Penzi immediately lost his backbone. Fortunately, the set of lines taught by Liu Gong had been memorized by heart, so he untied the seal ribbon, kowtowed to Fan Chong and others, and said: "Today, let the emperor be the son of heaven, and all the gentlemen will be the son of heaven." The thief is the same. Officials contribute, see plagiarism, gossip, all resentment, no trust. This is not caused by the person. I wish to beg for the bones and avoid the sage. Those who want to kill the pot to stop the blame have nothing to do. Li died. I sincerely hope that all the gentlemen will give you pity!" After speaking, he fell to the ground and wept bitterly. The emperor kowtowed to his courtiers in turn. Even in the 5,000-year history, it is rare.After Liu Penzi knelt and cried, Fan Chong and others were all moved, their steel-like hearts softened suddenly, they all avoided the table, not daring to bear Liu Penzi's kneeling, they paused and said: "Your Majesty has nothing to do with you. From now on, don’t dare to indulge again.” Fan Chong and the others resigned from the hall, and indeed they restrained themselves a lot. They each restrained the soldiers, closed the camp, and stopped going out to harass and plunder.All of a sudden, the order in Chang'an was solemn, and it vaguely returned to the peace and tranquility of the past. Those people who fled from Chang'an, after hearing the news, naively thought that the Red Eyebrow Army had really reformed and became good, so they brought their families and belongings and returned to Chang'an in groups, doing their old jobs.In a few days, Chang'an became prosperous again, with a thriving population and gathering of merchants, recreating the old grand occasion. Seeing that Chang'an regained its vitality, the red-browed army became greedy again. Its self-discipline only lasted for 20 days before reappearing in its original form. woman.The poor people, just a few days after their birthday, had to leave their homes and flee in all directions. Although the Red Eyebrow Army reaped a lot of money from this robbery, the consequences were quite fatal, which directly led to their final demise—the only remaining credit of the Red Eyebrow Army was completely bankrupt.From then on, no one will have any illusions about the Red Eyebrow Army.Wherever the Red Eyebrow Army went, they encountered no cooperation, only resistance. It must be said that the Red Eyebrow Army's actions were really dishonest.It was also a robbery, but this time it was of a particularly despicable nature.In the common people's understanding, the Red Eyebrow Army is simply to lure snakes out of their holes, and to set people up.In the past, it was an open robbery, and the common people recognized it. If we can't afford it, can't we hide it? Just run away.But you red-browed soldiers are fine, seeing that there is nothing to rob, so you pretend to be a gentleman again, pretending to change your past, saying that you will never rob again, welcome everyone back to Chang'an, and live a peaceful life.As a result, after lulling everyone back to Chang'an, they continued to rob, and as usual, they robbed them all. As the people fled one after another, Chang'an was quickly reduced to an empty city, and there was no one in broad daylight.The Red Eyebrow Army had nothing to grab, and the food was gradually exhausted. At the end of the first month, the Red Eyebrow Army had to abandon Chang'an, collect treasures, and continue to wander westward, marching towards Anding County and Beidi County. The red-browed army vented their anger before leaving, and set fire to Chang'an.Pity the most magnificent and magnificent capital on the earth, the operation of the Western Han Dynasty and the New Dynasty for more than 200 years, it was put to a torch, turned into a little bit of smoke, and a little bit of fire.