The murder of An Qingxu was planned for a long time.

Shi Siming and An Qingxu were destined to have only one life. An Qingxu naively thought that everyone would surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and he was the Emperor of Yan. After the surrender, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would at least give him a decent status. With An Qingxu's mediocre status, Ability and intelligence, he could only think of this depth.

But Shi Siming was different. Shi Siming knew very well that it would be better for An Qingxu to die than to live, and it would be more beneficial to him.

In the letters of negotiation with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Shi Siming knew that after surrendering, he would still be a prince and could still support troops under his command. In order to deal with the Anxi Army, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty gave him the greatest authority.

With power in hand, An Qingxu's survival would become an obstacle to him. There can only be one commander in the army. If An Qingxu were alive, he would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble for him, especially since there are many royalist generals in the rebel army. They were the generals who were loyal to An Lushan. After getting rid of An Qingxu, Shi Siming had to get rid of these generals in the next step to ensure his absolute control over the army.

Compared with An Qingxu's mediocrity, Shi Siming is simply not on the same level as him. Planning An Qingxu is a dimensionality reduction attack. Shi Siming didn't even bother to do such bloody tricks as the Hongmen Banquet and ambushing swordsmen in the corridors, and directly sent troops to surround the palace. , and then fed An Qingxu poisonous wine, it was so simple and crude.

When the poisonous wine was handed to An Qingxu, An Qingxu still looked in disbelief.

He always thought that he was being ignored by Shi Siming. Although he had no power, it was harmless. The emperor had already been treated as such a humble person, so why did Shi Siming still want to kill him.

Shi Siming was too lazy to explain. There was no need to talk nonsense to a dead man.

Two generals held An Qingxu's arms. The old eunuch was still smiling, but he poured poisonous wine into An Qingxu's mouth mercilessly. I did it as ordered. This wine, I specially added some honey to it. It tastes sweet. Just tilt your neck and close your eyes. Your Majesty, it will be over soon, it will be over..."

An Qingxu struggled hard, but a pot of poisonous wine was still forced into his mouth. Until all the poisonous wine fell into his stomach, An Qingxu was still struggling. He made a gurgling sound in his mouth, but he couldn't even say anything to beg for mercy. When I came out, my eyes were gradually becoming desperate.

After drinking a pot of poisonous wine, he let An Qingxu go and took two steps back. Shi Siming stood in the center of the hall, staring coldly at An Qingxu who was holding his throat with both hands. His eyes showed no mercy, but instead became more disgusting. .

An Qingxu lay on the ground, staring up at Shi Siming, the despair in his eyes turning into resentment, and hissed: "Evil thief, how is your fate better than mine? Will the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty let you go?"

Shi Siming laughed: "Don't bother Your Majesty. I know the thoughts of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The world is in chaos, and only those who have soldiers in their hands can protect themselves. Your Majesty should have understood this truth long ago. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty will not let me go, and I will not let him go." I’m willing to let him go.”

An Qingxu murmured in tears: "Should I regret it? Shouldn't I regret it..."

Whether he regretted assassinating An Lushan or whether he regretted being promoted as the puppet emperor, no one knew what An Qingxu was thinking at this moment, and it didn't matter anymore.

The onset of poisonous alcohol was a little slow, but Shi Siming became impatient. He had no time to wait for An Qingxu to die, and he had to see An Qingxu die with his own eyes.

"Come here, get your bow." Shi Siming stretched out his hand and said.

A six-stone strong bow was handed to Shi Siming. Shi Siming strode forward, put the bow string around An Qingxu's neck, and then twisted it hard. The bow string became tighter and tighter. An Qingxu's face turned purple, his tongue spit out, and his eyes

The eyeballs are bulging, as if they are about to explode.

Shi Siming looked ferocious, while twisting the bow string, he said softly in An Qingxu's ear with a smile: "Your Majesty, the current situation is in chaos and the world is uneasy. A mediocre and stupid person like you is not suitable to live in this world. Go in peace."

, join a peaceful and prosperous dynasty in the next life, and continue to live your dandy life."

Unable to struggle, An Qingxu kicked his legs hard several times, twitched all over for a moment, and finally died.

After dying for a long time, Shi Siming still held the bow tightly, without slackening his strength at all.

The old eunuch said tremblingly: "General Shi, His Majesty has passed away..."

Shi Siming said calmly: "There's no rush."

After waiting for half an hour to burn incense and confirming that An Qingxu was too dead, Shi Siming let go of his hand and stood up.

Outside the palace, groups of armored soldiers were quietly waiting for Shi Siming's orders.

Shi Siming walked to the entrance of the palace and said: "Your Majesty passed away. Immediately, rituals were held in the palace to save His Majesty. All civil and military officials entered the palace to worship. You are listed outside the mourning hall. Wait for my order to send those who were loyal to Your Majesty.

Catch them all in one fell swoop, both civil and military officials."

All the soldiers saluted and responded with a roar.

After the arrangement, Shi Siming suddenly turned around to face An Qingxu's body, knelt down and cried bitterly.

"Your Majesty! How can Your Majesty bear to leave me alone to go to immortality? I wish I could go with Your Majesty! Come back in spirit..."

…………

Such a big event suddenly happened in Jinyang City where the rebels were gathering, and the news had not yet reached the south bank of the Yellow River.

Chang'an City.

The wedding is approaching, but Gu Qing doesn't focus too much on it. The etiquette and application of the wedding will naturally be handled by the people below to help him. He only needs to act like a puppet on the wedding day.

Just follow the process.

Gu Qing's recent focus is to arrange for refugees outside the city so that they not only receive relief, but also become a labor force and earn their own income.

All the state officials and county magistrates near Chang'an were summoned by Gu Qing and gathered in the front hall of Gu Qing's new house.

Gu Qing summoned them in the name of Shangshu Ling. According to the rules of the court, it was somewhat inappropriate. The number of refugees was too large. A court meeting must be held to resettle the refugees. Officials from the three provinces and six ministries jointly discussed and decided, and then submitted to the emperor for approval.

Finally, it became a formal decree and was implemented.

What's ridiculous is that Li Heng has simply pushed the resettlement of refugees to Gu Qing to avoid complicated matters.

Gu Qing knew what he was busy with. He was busy dispatching troops and generals to get rid of the Anxi army.

In Li Heng's eyes, refugees are a profitless and thankless thing.

So Gu Qing simply took over the resettlement of refugees, and the official position of Shangshu Ling finally came in handy.

Most officials from Guanzhong and Henan Province were present, and everyone was respectful in front of Gu Qing. Although they were not officials in Chang'an, the strange news in Chang'an City had long been known to the world.

There is quite a lot of conflict between today's emperor and this young minister who holds military power, almost to the point of fighting each other. Many state officials and governors have recently seen signs of mobilizing local troops. These mobilizations are for the purpose of

Everyone knows who they are targeting.

Regardless of whether the future winner is the emperor or the powerful minister in front of him, as local officials, it is not advisable to take sides too early, so the officials will never be disrespectful in front of Gu Qing.

Gu Qing was wearing a purple robe, elegant and gentle, sitting at the head of the front hall with a smile on his face, looking around at the officials.

"Have the officials from Henan Province arrived?" Gu Qing asked.

A dozen of the officials present immediately stood up and bowed to Gu Qing.

Looking at the color of their official robes, some were scarlet robes and some were green robes, Gu Qing could tell their official ranks at a glance, so he nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you for coming all the way. This rebellion has affected Guanzhong the most, but

Henan Province has also been implicated to some extent. Not to mention other prefectures and counties like Laizhou, Qingzhou, and Yizhou have been occupied by the rebels for more than two years..."

A middle-aged official sobbed: "Your Majesty asked, and I had to report it. I am the governor of Laizhou, Zhou Xun. Laizhou is still under the control of the rebels. Before the rebels captured the city, Laizhou had no help. I have no choice but to report it."

We had to take the people to escape from the city, and to this day, the lower officials still only have the position of governor but no power of governor."

Gu Qing nodded and said: "The rebels are about to surrender, and you will soon return to Laizhou to govern the place."

Then the officials present stood up one after another to report the local situation. Some cities were occupied by rebels, and some were rampant with bandits. Of course, there were also cities in the south of Henan Province that were basically not affected by the war and were as calm as before.

Gu Qing remembered what everyone said in his heart one by one, and then said with a smile: "This time I invite everyone to come to Chang'an. One is to tell everyone that the rebels will surrender to the imperial court soon, and the cities occupied by the rebels will also be returned to the imperial court.

You will be able to return to the state capital and take office soon."

"Secondly, I believe everyone has seen the refugees outside Chang'an City. These refugees need to be resettled, and resettlement requires land. The two battles in Guanzhong, Henan, and Fang Ai, are in full swing. I have decided to disperse these refugees to resettle them.

Henan Guanzhong two roads, and allocate land to them for farming..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Qing noticed that everyone present had expressions of embarrassment on their faces and hesitated to speak.

Gu Qing frowned and said in a deep voice: "These refugees are all laborers. With land, they can live and cultivate in peace. Why are you unhappy about the increase in taxes for your state and city every year?"

Zhou Xun, the governor of Laizhou, stood up and said: "Your Majesty is showing mercy, not because we don't want to, but...most of the states and cities under our rule no longer have land to divide."

Gu Qing was surprised and said: "There is no land? The war spread to two areas, countless people were killed, wounded and displaced, and many villages are vacant. Why is there no land to divide?"

The hall fell into silence, no one dared to speak.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Gu Qing suddenly understood. He rubbed his temples tiredly and sighed: "Okay, did someone take advantage of the chaos to occupy the land? How can a powerful person have such powerful powers?"

None of the officials present spoke.

This kind of thing is too sensitive. Once a person's name is mentioned, these people will no longer want to be officials and will wait to be retaliated.

Gu Qing was also a figure with long experience in official circles. When he saw this, he knew that they would not say anything and did not dare to say anything, so he sighed in disinterest and said: "I know you can't afford to offend those big shots, that's all, I won't ask you anymore.

I just want to say, if the occupied land is taken back, you state and county officials will temporarily take the land back to the government, and no one will be allowed to occupy it again, otherwise I will hold you accountable."

After bidding farewell to the officials, Duan Wuji walked over and said softly: "Your Majesty, it seems that someone acted quickly. Maybe when An Lushan rebelled, some powerful people took advantage of the chaos to occupy the land. Now that the war is about to end, these lands

Then there is a master..."

Gu Qing said with a cold face: "I have never seen them so active in fighting the rebels. They dared to be the first to occupy the land. The good and prosperous age was ruined by these people!"

Duan Wuji sighed: "Refugee resettlement is urgent, but the land has been occupied again. This is really..."

Gu Qing said coldly: "If the land is occupied, just take it back. No matter how powerful you are, it's just a family. Why occupy so much land? Do you want to build a mausoleum after you die?"

Duan Wuji said worriedly: "My lord, please don't be impulsive. The war between you and the emperor is about to break out. If those powerful people are touched in advance, something may happen, which will be even more detrimental to us."

Gu Qing said flatly: "Refugee resettlement is the most important thing. Don't forget why we have come to this point. If we turn a blind eye to the refugees due to current circumstances and interests, we will really become traitors in the history books and be reviled by future generations."

Through the ages.”

"What does the prince plan to do?"

Gu Qing thought for a while and said: "First go to Aunt Li's house and ask her people to find out who has occupied a large amount of land in Guanzhong, Henan. There must be more than one person occupying the land, but a powerful person.

Interest groups, I want to know the names of these people."

"yes."

Duan Wuji hesitated for a moment and said: "If it is found out, will the prince really take action against these powerful people?"

Gu Qing also had a headache. Since ancient times, the interests of powerful people cannot be touched, especially land, which is a very sensitive existence. King Ji's land was touched by Song Gensheng, which triggered a bloody battle. Many heroes died in the battle to protect Song Gensheng.

.
To be continued...