Chapter 526: A Bird Frightened by a Bowstring

As Princess Zhao and her family, along with over 300 officials and their dependents, evacuated, the situation in Chang’an City suddenly became tense. Chang’an County and Wannian County both imposed curfews. As soon as darkness fell, the loud drumbeats of Chang’an began to sound—these were the drums signaling the closure of the city gates. After 300 beats, all the gates would be shut, and troops would take to the streets to ensure no one left.

The tense atmosphere in Chang’an affected every household. Almost everyone there realized that Li Qing’an’s return would bring about a revolution in the Tang Dynasty. They could sense the growing tension. As soon as it grew dark, families locked their doors, and merchants in the eastern and western markets closed their shops. Restaurants, inns, brothels, music halls, and other entertainment venues also stopped serving customers.

The streets were deserted, with only stray dogs lurking in the darkness. From time to time, the sound of cavalry horses galloping or soldiers’ boots could be heard. Shortly after midnight, unrest arose in Chang’an County. A large number of troops gathered in Taiping Fang. The area was already packed with armed soldiers—cavalry, infantry, and archers—all fully equipped and radiating hostility. All exits from Taiping Fang were sealed off; people were not allowed to leave their homes, not even to release pigeons. There were special teams to hunt down those who tried, and anyone who dared release a pigeon would have the army break down their doors to arrest them.

This was no longer a simple curfew. This tense atmosphere was a precursor to war—a war that was indeed about to break out here.

Fifteen thousand troops had been deployed in Taiping Fang: ten thousand Niwei soldiers and five thousand Yulin soldiers, led by generals Nan Jiyun and Changsun Quanxu. They planned to capture the imperial palace that night.

The imperial palace was the center of the Tang Dynasty’s administrative institutions. The six ministries, various warehouses storing supplies, the Jiangzuo Jian for raw materials, the Junqi Jian for weapons and armor, the Zuo Cang Ku for treasures and money, the Taicang for grain reserves, and the Sino Temple’s large warehouses—all were located there. It could be said that nearly half of the country’s wealth was concentrated in the imperial palace. In particular, the Taicang and Sino Temple’s warehouses held as much as three million dan of grain, giving them extreme strategic value.

Currently, the imperial palace was controlled by the Yulin soldiers loyal to Li Heng, with only 3,000 troops. But according to the agreement between Li Qing’an and Li Heng, neither side was allowed to use the national treasures, otherwise the treaty governing the division of power along Zhuque Street would be immediately invalidated.

Restricted by this treaty, since Li Hen ascended the throne, he dared not act rashly by allocating treasury supplies to the Guanzhong army. Every morning, soldiers from the Qianniu Wei would come to inspect the inventory, and every withdrawal of supplies was carefully recorded and verified by the Qianniu Wei. Although Li Hen was annoyed by such strict oversight, he had no choice. To gain Li Qing’an’s support, he tolerated it as much as possible. But as the situation suddenly became tense, with Li Qing’an and Li Hen on the verge of falling out and the division treaty they had signed set to be invalidated at any moment, Li Qing’an ordered an preemptive move two days ago to seize the imperial city, preventing Li Hen from taking away its supplies. This was his third major action after evacuating his family and officials and occupying Tongguan. Nan Jiyun was in charge of the operation. The choice of Taiping Fang as the attack point was because its northeast corner faced the Han Guang Gate of the imperial city. The troops had gradually assembled, and now Nan Jiyun, mounted on his horse with a bow in one hand, waited for news from scouts. That afternoon, he led his soldiers to inspect the imperial city’s warehouses again; no signs of Li Hen moving supplies had been found yet. However, there were signs of large-scale movements among the Guanzhong army that afternoon, suggesting Li Hen might take action—either that night or the next day. The Guanzhong army would surely carry away all the supplies in the imperial city. As time passed, Nan Jiyun’s lips tightened, and his sword grew sweaty in his grip. Just then, a bright light appeared above the imperial city, followed by an explosion—this was the signal from the scouts who had infiltrated the city. Nan Jiyun immediately ordered, “Destroy the wall!” Thousands of Qianniu Wei soldiers were already ready at the northeast corner of Taiping Fang. Upon hearing Nan Jiyun’s order, they rushed to the base of the wall and began pushing it together with all their strength. The wall, about thirty feet high and mostly made of mud, bricks, and stones, was over a hundred years old and quite dilapidated. Under the relentless push of the Qianniu Wei soldiers, the wall began to collapse. “One, two, three!” With the soldiers’ final shout, a section of the wall over a hundred feet long finally crumbled, sending dust into the air. Fifteen thousand troops surged toward the imperial city like a flood breaking its banks.

The dull sound of collapse and slight tremors in the ground awakened everyone in Taiping Fang, as well as the guards at Hanguang Gate, which was about twenty yards away. Hanguang Gate had more than 200 guards, most of whom lived in the tall gate towers. At that time, many guards were already asleep, but the sound of the wall collapsing woke them up. The soldiers rushed to the top of the towers to look down, and what they saw stunned them—armies filled the streets, with hundreds of soldiers wielding heavy wooden clubs, charging at the city gates.

“Boom!” A dull roar, like a thunderclap, shattered the silence of the night. Soldiers throughout the imperial palace were awakened from their sleep. They looked at each other, unsure of what had happened.

The vermilion Hanguang Gate was about three zhang tall and covered in iron plates. Though very heavy, it had no special defenses—only an eight-foot-long, two-inch-thick wooden bar used to lock it. This bar couldn’t withstand the force of the attack and broke instantly, allowing the gate to swing open. Fifteen thousand soldiers poured into the imperial palace like a tide.

……

The sound of attacks on Hanguang Gate did not reach Daming Palace. Li Hen was awakened by frantic knocking at the door. An eunuch rushed in, panicked, and reported, “Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!”

By now, Li Hen was already highly anxious. He sat up abruptly from his bed, trembling as he asked, “What… happened?”

“Nan Jiyun and Changsun Quanxu have led 15,000 soldiers to occupy the imperial palace.”

Li Hen was stunned. His first thought was that there had been a palace coup. He jumped up, pacing around in panic, shouting, “Where are my clothes? Where are my boots? Hurry and get them for me!”

Empress Zhang, who shared his tent, remained calm. She quickly said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, don’t panic. It’s not Daming Palace—it’s the imperial palace!”

“The imperial palace?”

Li Hen calmed down immediately. He asked urgently, “Did the Qianniu Guard not attack Taiji Palace or Daming Palace?”

“No, they only occupied the imperial palace and did not attack the palace complex.”

Relieved, Li Hen sat back down on the bed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He said to Empress Zhang, “You scared me to death. Thanks to your calmness.”

Empress Zhang also got dressed. She ordered the maids to light the lamps and said to Li Hen, “Your Majesty, I suspect Li Qingan wants to seize the treasury, which is why they occupied the imperial palace.”

Li Heng gasped in shock. It was then he realized—yes! That must be it. In fact, Li Qing’an had overestimated him. He had only ordered Li Xi to lead 60,000 troops into Hanzhong this afternoon; he was left with only 20,000 Jinyiwei guards, and he certainly didn’t have the strength to move the national treasury.
“Hurry and summon Wang Gong for an audience!”
Realizing that Li Qing’an had seized the treasury, Li Heng also became panicked. At that moment, Li Fuguo also arrived in a hurry after receiving the news. He said at the door, “Your Majesty, it’s your humble servant.”
“Come in!”
Li Fuguo entered the inner chamber and urgently said to Li Heng, “Your Majesty, under no circumstances should you summon Wang Gong!”
Li Heng was stunned and asked, “Why?”
“The current situation is extremely unfavorable for Your Majesty. We only have 20,000 Jinyiwei guards. We should keep as little of this from the ministers as possible, otherwise it will cause panic. If they leak the news, the Qianniuwei will attack us immediately.”
“But I know the inventory status of the treasury.”
“Your Majesty, I know. Hurry and recall the eunuch who delivered the decree.”
Li Heng suddenly realized what to do and quickly said, “Call that person back right away. There’s no need to summon Wang Gong.”
Li Fuguo took out a document from his side and handed it to Li Heng, saying, “This is the latest inventory report I’ve received. Please take a look, Your Majesty.”
It was actually a report submitted by the Ministry of Revenue three days earlier, detailing the inventory status. Li Fuguo had kept it hidden, not wanting Li Heng to know the truth. But now he knew he couldn’t hide it any longer.
At that moment, Li Heng was in a state of panic and didn’t notice that the date on the report had been altered. He skimmed through it quickly: 3.5 million dan of grain, 5.3 million guan of money, 12 million bolts of silk, 1.7 million Anxi silver coins, along with countless other gold, silver, and valuables. This was just the report on grain and money from the Ministry of Revenue; there were other military supplies not mentioned here.
Li Heng’s heart sank at the sight. So much grain and money had been seized by the Qianniuwei. Suddenly, his brows furrowed as he asked, “I remember a few days ago you told me there wasn’t much grain or money in the treasury reports. How can there be so much?”
To get his nephew appointed as the Minister of Revenue, Li Fuguo had deliberately concealed the truth about the treasury’s resources from Li Heng. He already had a plan. Stomping his foot, he said, “Your Majesty, I heard this from Fang Guan. I was deceived by him too.”

Fang Guan was secretly poisoned by Li Heng this afternoon and died without any evidence. Li Heng believed Li Fuguo’s words and stopped investigating further. Worrying, he said, “Now that Li Qing’an is taking action everywhere, I’m afraid he’ll learn tomorrow that my son is leading troops southward, realizing our army is weak, and then attack the Daming Palace. I want to leave Chang’an overnight.”

According to Li Heng’s original plan, he would first send his son with troops to Hanzhong, then wait for the armies from Henan and Hedong to return to Guanzhong before leading the main force southward. But he never expected Wang Sili to betray him at the most critical moment, seizing Tongguan and blocking the retreat of the Central Plains troops, completely disrupting his plans.

Earlier that morning, Linghu Fei suggested taking two steps: sending someone to negotiate with Li Qing’an while they quietly retreated southward within three days. But tonight, when the Qianniu Guard occupied the imperial city, Li Heng became even more panicked, feeling he couldn’t stay another moment.

Before Li Fuguo could respond, Empress Zhang suddenly interjected. She understood Li Heng’s intention—to abandon the ministers and flee secretly. That wouldn’t do; many ministers had been persuaded by her with great effort.

“Has Your Majesty forgotten the most important thing?”

Li Heng turned to her in surprise. “What is it?”

“If Your Majesty abandons ministers like Wang Gong and goes to Chengdu, what if the ministers there don’t support you? Won’t you be left all alone?”

Empress Zhang’s words reminded Li Heng of this possibility. If the ministers there supported Prince Rong, or Prince Sixteen or Prince Eighteen, he would be in trouble.

“Then what do you suggest, Empress?”

“I suggest informing everyone to leave together.”

“No!” Li Fuguo immediately rejected Empress Zhang’s proposal. “If someone has ulterior motives and betrays us to the Anxi Army, we’re all finished.”

Li Heng fell silent, pondering a foolproof plan. After a while, he said to Li Fuguo, “This is what we’ll do! The Empress and I will leave first. We’ll wait in Hanzhong. At dawn, go and inform the officials. If they’re willing to follow us, they should hurry to Hanzhong. I’ll take them to Chengdu together.”

……

In Yong County, Fengxiang Prefecture, Li Qing’an’s 100,000-strong Anxi army was stationed in Guanzhong, aiming at Li Heng’s forces there. But Li Qing’an wasn’t in a hurry to launch an attack; he needed to wait for the right moment.

Early in the morning, Li Qing’an got up early, waiting for news from Chang’an. The previous day, he had received intelligence that his wife, children, and over 300 officials had retreated to Wugong County. Wang Sili had lived up to his expectations by capturing Tongguan, blocking the retreat of Li Heng’s 100,000-strong army from the Henan and Hedong routes. Now, only Li Heng’s 80,000 troops remained in the Guanzhong region—the time was ripe.

Although the time was gradually ripe, Li Qing’an still had no intention of sending troops. Killing Li Heng would be easy for him, but creating another emperor who killed his own son and grandchildren, one who would be despised and condemned by the whole world, would be much harder. After much consideration, Li Qing’an decided that keeping Li Heng would be more useful than killing him.

If Li Heng had been as diligent as Li Yu, striving to reverse land consolidation by daring to take action against the imperial clan, then Li Qing’an would have killed him without hesitation. But Li Heng was different—he lacked virtue, was resisted by officials and local governments everywhere, and relied on eunuchs while tolerating land consolidation. He was like a tumor. If such a tumor wasn’t to harm Li Longji’s Southern Tang, why kill him? Wasn’t that foolish?

If he killed Li Heng, the people would have no one to hate. But would the local governments pledge loyalty to him or to the new emperor established by Li Longji?

Politics was actually quite simple—ultimately, it was all about maximizing interests. The difference between statesmen and politicians lay in the length of their vision; those with a longer vision were statesmen, while those with a shorter vision were politicians.

After repeated deliberation and weighing of options, Li Qing’an finally made a decision. He ordered the Anxi troops in Ziwu Valley to withdraw, clearing a path for Li Heng’s retreat southward, and at the same time ordered Nan Jiyun to take control of the imperial palace.

Just then, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside. A bodyguard came in to report, “General, urgent news from Chang’an!”

“Bring it in!”

The bodyguard entered the tent and handed over a red pigeon message, indicating urgency. Li Qing’an broke open the tube and shook out a scroll, on which was written: “Li Heng fled south to Hanzhong last night; the situation in Chang’an is chaotic.”

“Pass my order: the army must set out immediately and head for Chang’an!”