Chapter 43 Section 10 Stillborn

In the team of refugees entering the city, there were two inconspicuous people, one of whom carried the other on his shoulders.After they sneaked into Chang'an City, they left the large group of refugees, went straight to Zong Qingshi Li Shou's mansion, and beat the door hard.The old servant Yuan Jiu opened the door and saw that it was two refugees who were beating them with a stick, and shouted, "Get out." The man knelt to meet the stick, burst into tears, and shouted, "Uncle Jiu, don't beat me!" Yes, it's me, Yuan An." Yuan Jiu took a closer look, and it turned out to be his nephew Yuan An. He was shocked, stepped in quickly, and asked who was carrying it on his back.Yuan An didn't answer, but urged me loudly, and quickly took me to see the master.

Seeing that Yuan An came thousands of miles from his hometown Wancheng, Yuan Jiu must have something urgent to do, so he did not dare to neglect, and immediately led Yuan An in.When Yuan An saw the master Li Shou, he put down the man on his back and kowtowed to bleed. Li Shou was nine feet long, 2.09 meters today, tall and mighty, with a unique appearance, his home was like a palace, and etiquette was the most important thing.Li Shou calmly accepted Yuan An's kneeling, and saw that the man Yuan An carried was limp on the ground, wearing a hood and unable to see his face clearly, so he asked who it was.

Yuan An replied, "It's Young Master Li Ji." Li Ji is the son of Li Tongcong's brother and Li Shou's nephew.Li Shou was furious when he heard the words, and said, "Bold Li Ji, why are you so rude when you see this old man?" Yuan An cried loudly: "Master, you can't blame Young Master Li Ji." Li Shou glared angrily, and said, "Why is it that there is no manners when meeting the Venerable?" Yuan An said: "Because...Master Li Ji is dead." After speaking, he fell to the ground and cried bitterly, unable to overcome himself. Li Shou was shocked, he hurriedly approached, and took off his hood, it was indeed Li Ji, he didn't even need to test his breath, just by looking at his shape, he knew he had been dead for a long time.Li Shouda was very sad, and asked sadly, "When did you die?"

Yuan An said: "Five days ago." "So, you carried the corpse all the way to Chang'an?" Yuan An nodded dumbly, and he narrated calmly, as if he was telling someone else's story: He and Li Ji set off from Wancheng together, halfway there, Li Ji got a sudden illness that could not be cured, and died in a blink of an eye.He lost his mind for a while, originally wanted to take Li Ji back to Wancheng for burial, but this trip was specially to report to the master, it was urgent, there was no delay, and he had to get to Chang'an as soon as possible.I wanted to bury it hastily on the spot first, but I was afraid that it would be eaten by refugees or wild animals, so the whole body could not be left behind.Only then did Li Ji be carried back to Chang'an, and after reporting the letter, he was transported back to Wancheng by car for a dignified burial.

Old Li Shou had tears in his eyes, sighed for a long time, and praised: "What a good Yuan An, a servant of the true righteousness. What a hard journey this journey must have been!" Yuan An said: "I don't feel bitter, as long as I bring the letter, death is enough." Li Shoudao: "Why is the letter so urgent?" Yuan An then detailed Li Tong's plan to rebel, and said: "Master, please make a plan to flee early." Li Shou was very angry when he heard the words, Li Tong, you didn't discuss it with me, so you made your own decision and prepared to rebel without authorization. Aren't you forcing me to die?Li Shou thought about it again, and realized that he was to blame. He was the one who told Li Tong the prophecy that "the Liu family will be revived, and the Li family will be the assistant", and Li Tong actually believed it. , then do it, "I love my father, I love the truth more".

Now that the matter has come to this point, Li Shou has no choice but to start planning a strategy for escape.Li Shouyou's fellow villager, Huang Xian, was the general of Zhonglang at that time, and the two were the best buddies.Li Shou called Huang Xian to discuss, Huang Xian shook his head and said: "It is not advisable to flee, it is better to surrender." surrender?It's like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth, how can it survive!Li Shou said anxiously: "Brother Huang, you can't just joke about this matter." Huang Xian smiled and said, "You don't believe me? When have I ever hurt you?"

Li Shougai said: "Brother Huang, please enlighten me." Huang Xian said: "The door is closed and the ban is strict. Your appearance is extraordinary and everyone knows it. How do you get to Chang'an?" Li Shou was silent.At this time, Chang'an was in chaos, with strict access control, and every entry and exit had to go through layers of checks.Li Shou's height and appearance are too eye-catching, and it's hard not to be recognized.So someone asked: Why did an official of your level dare to leave Chang'an without the approval of the court?To this question, he had no answer at all.

Huang Xian said again: "Who said that if you surrender yourself, you will definitely die? Didn't Brother Li pay attention to the history of this dynasty?" Li Shou Dawu, there is a precedent in this dynasty that those who surrender themselves will not die but turn noble. Sixteen years ago, when it was the first year of Wang Mang's house, Liu Chong, the Marquis of Anzhong, rebelled against him, and his patriarch, Liu Jiayi, surrendered himself. Wang Mang not only pardoned Liu Jia's innocence, but also granted him the title of Marquis of Marquis. His seven sons were also bestowed The title is Marquis of Guannei.

Thirteen years ago, in the first year of Wang Mang's founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Kuai, Marquis of Xu Township, formed a party of thousands of people to rebel.Wang Mang also pardoned Liu Yin's innocence, and increased Liu Yin's feudal kingdom to hundreds of miles, enjoying ten thousand households. According to the case law, if Li Shou surrendered himself, even if he could not get a blessing in disguise, saving his life should not be a problem.However, Li Shou was still hesitant.Huang Xian glanced at Li Shou, and said coldly, "In Brother Li's opinion, what are Li Tong's chances of winning this rebellion?"

Li Shou replied honestly, "I don't know." Huang Xian said with a smile: "Since Li Tong's success or failure is unknown, Brother Li should surrender himself. Li Tong opposed Wang Mang, and Li brother followed Wang Mang. Father and son are of the same mind, and they are all for the Li family. Li Tong's success in rebellion, riches and honors are indispensable. If the limit is limited, the Li family will be able to flourish, so Brother Li will have no regrets in his death. If Li Tong fails in his rebellion, Brother Li obeys Wang Mang and destroys his relatives righteously. "

Huang Xian's thinking, similar to fund hedging, aims to minimize risks.The father and son bet separately, the son bets on Wang Mang's defeat, and the father bets on Wang Mang's victory, regardless of whether Wang Mang wins or loses, the Li family can benefit from it.Only then did Li Shou's heart skip a beat, so he followed Huang Xian's plan and wrote a letter to plead guilty. As everyone knows, right now, when the empire is in turmoil, major events abound, and a large number of memorials are pouring into Wang Mang's desk. It is impossible for Wang Mang to read them all, so he can only pick the most urgent ones for review first.Li Shou's memorials have been backlogged like this, and he is not even qualified to submit them to Wang Mang for review.This is the way things are in the world. In your opinion, it may be a matter of life and death, but in the eyes of others, it is not worth mentioning at all. Although Li Shou submitted the memorial, he didn't know that Wang Mang hadn't read it. He saw that the memorial had been submitted for several days, but Wang Mang didn't even respond at all.He wanted to change his mind and escape from Chang'an, but he was afraid that Wang Mang would not express his opinion for a long time. It was precisely to lure the snake out of the hole, so he became even more afraid. On the Li family's side in Wancheng, not all righteous servants like Yuan An were there, and the Li family also had treacherous servants. Seeing that the traitor could seek glory, they informed the government of Li Tong's secrets.Zhen Fu, the prefect of Nanyang, was overjoyed and immediately ordered the arrest.Li Tong, Li Song and others escaped by chance, while the other brothers and sects, a total of sixty-four people, fell into the hands of the government. Zhen Fu urgently went to the court, and Wang Mang was furious when he heard about it, so he threw Li Shou into prison.Huang Xian excused his dead party: "Li Shouwen has nothing to say, he dare not flee, he has already submitted a letter and surrendered, and returned to the palace." Wang Mang said angrily, "Why did Li Shou write a letter?" Yes, it really did, and suddenly felt full of face, so he was overjoyed and pardoned Li Shou for his innocence. Huang Xian hit the iron while it was hot: "I would like to escort Li Shou to Wancheng, and Xiao said that Li Tong will come to surrender. If he fails, I will order Li Shou to kill his head in the north to thank His Majesty for his great kindness." Wang Mang is not stupid, let you The two returned to Wancheng to persuade Li Tong to surrender, and they probably would never return, so they said: "Never mind." Soon, Zhen Fu gave Wang Mang a second memorial, saying: A large amount of weapons and food was found in Li's mansion. Li Tong and his brothers fled in fear of crime and disappeared.Wang Mang was furious again, and ordered Li Shou and his family members in Chang'an to be hunted down, leaving no one behind. At this time, Wang Mang no longer cared about the practice of surrendering and exonerating, and he established a new rule: no one will be forgiven.The rebellion of Liu Chong and Liu Kuai was an isolated incident. Wang Mang was in a stable regime at that time and had enough sense of security, so he was able to show tolerance and generosity.Today is not what it used to be, the empire is full of rebels, Wang Mang's sense of security is getting weaker and weaker, and he is becoming more and more superstitious about using an eye for an eye and using violence to counter violence. The purpose of arresting and killing Li Shou is to intimidate and establish his prestige.It can also be seen from this that it is impossible for case law to become a reality during the dictatorship of the emperor.I am the law!The personal joy and anger of the emperor will change the applicable scale of the law at any time. Relying on his eloquence, Huang Xian persuaded Wang Mang to save Li Shou's family.Wang Mang listened patiently, sighed, and said, "Your words are very good, so let's kill you together." Chang'an issued a ban on killing, and Wancheng naturally followed suit.Zhen Fu escorted sixty-four Li Tong brothers and sects into Wan City, killed them one by one in front of countless citizens, and then burned the corpses to show the public, and ordered the officials to take the charred corpses and tell all places in Nanyang: Those who commit rebellion, look at this!