The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince can’t wait any longer!"Wang Chenxue said with a smile.

"Is there any evidence? Is it just training soldiers? Liu Cong asked hypocritically. Jin Zhun stepped forward and said,"Your Majesty, don't hesitate anymore!" If we don't quickly send troops to surround the East Palace, the emperor's soldiers will rush into the Guangji Palace!"

"You, the crown prince, this throne will be yours sooner or later. I have only been on the throne for a few years, and you can’t wait any longer!"Liu Cong stood up and issued an oral order:"Immediately order the generals Hu Yanyan, Jin Ming, and Jin Kang to send 30,000 soldiers to defend the capital. I will surround the East Palace of the emperor's brother so that it will be rain-proof and water-tight, not even a fly can pass through it. You can't fly out either!"

It was already dark. Several generals received Liu Cong's instructions and immediately mobilized their soldiers to surround the East Palace. Hu Yanyan, Jin Kang, and Jin Ming each led some soldiers and surrounded the gate and several side entrances of the East Palace. In front. The soldiers held torches high, illuminating the main entrance of the East Palace and the walls of the East Palace as bright as day. Several soldiers at the gate of the East Palace kicked the door with their feet and shouted:"People inside, listen, hurry up and open the door." , His Majesty has arrived!"

Liu Cong, Liu Can, Jin Zhun and Wang Chen were on horseback, waiting not far from the gate of the East Palace. The soldiers on night duty in the East Palace heard the noise and opened the door from the inside. A soldier said:"This happened in the middle of the night. Everyone is sleeping, what are you doing in the Emperor's palace?"

"Stop talking nonsense, His Majesty is here!"A soldier holding a torch shouted. Several soldiers from the East Palace who came out saw Liu Cong and ran over and knelt down and kowtowed:"Your Majesty, long live! Long live! Long live! I didn't know your Majesty was coming, please forgive me!"

"Come here! Let me ask you, is the emperor's brother still in the house? Liu Can asked. A soldier said tremblingly:"In the mansion, His Highness may have gone to bed now.""

"Let me ask you, is there military training going on in the East Palace these days?"Jin Zhun asked. Another soldier from the East Palace said:"Yes, our soldiers in the East Palace all wear armor and practice every day. His Highness said there may be unexpected events in the capital these days."

"Your Majesty, how are you doing? right?"Wang Chen came over and said

"Immediately tell the emperor's brother to come out and see you!"Liu Can roared. Several soldiers ran back quickly. After a short time, Liu Yi led dozens of people out of the house, knelt down in front of Liu Cong and saluted:"I will see you, Your Majesty! I wonder why Your Majesty came here late at night?"

"Brother! How much I love you! Although you gave up the throne to me at the beginning. I was very grateful at that time, so I named you the emperor's brother and allowed you to own the East Palace, which is second only to the imperial palace. After a hundred years, this throne will naturally be yours. But you, you train your troops day and night, and want to overthrow me as soon as possible, so you can ascend to the throne as soon as possible, right?"Liu Congpi said with a smile. When Liu Yi heard that something was wrong, he quickly knelt down again:"Your Majesty, I have been doing my best for many years, and I have never had any unreasonable thoughts or arrogance!"

"Uncle Emperor, rebellion is a capital crime for treason. So you are not allowed to speak for yourself, let the evidence speak for itself and convince you from the bottom of your heart! Liu Can said with a sneer. Then he said to Hu Yanyan who was not far away:"General Hu Yan, what are you waiting for? Go in and search for me!""

Following Hu Yanyan's order, hundreds of soldiers at the gate swarmed into the East Palace. After entering the East Palace, Hu Yanyan said to several of his generals:"Divide the brothers into groups of ten and thoroughly search all the rooms in the East Palace. And room, no mistake!"

"yes!"In order to perform meritorious service, these soldiers broke into the living room, study room, and dining room of the East Palace regardless of anything, and rummaged everywhere. All kinds of items were thrown away, even the dormitories of the female relatives, Liu Yi His daughter's boudoir was not spared.

Liu Yi and dozens of others were still kneeling outside the gate of the East Palace. Liu Can glanced at these people and asked:"Are you all generals under the emperor's brother, or are you counselors?"

These people were already scared out of their wits. One of them said tremblingly:"We are the guests of the emperor's brother and the chiefs of the Di and Qiang tribes."

"If you catch a thief, you will see the stolen goods; if you catch an adulterer, they will become a couple. You people are not in your own tribe in the middle of the night, but you are hiding in the East Palace. You must be the rebel alliance of the emperor's brother!"Jin Zhun sneered and said to Wang Chen who was coming over:"Master Wang, lead your troops and take these people back immediately!"

"Lord Jin, the emperor's brother is still a great chanyu! The Great Chanyu is in charge of us Di and Qiang tribes. We have come to the East Palace to report on tribal affairs these days, and we have no intention of rebellion!"A chief defended loudly. Wang Chen sneered and said:"There is no rebellion? Who believes it! Come here, tie up these dozen chiefs and take them back for interrogation later!"

Several soldiers led by Jin Ming were rummaging through Liu Yi's study. When Jin Ming saw that they were all military books, he ordered his soldiers:"Take out all these military books!"

A few soldiers carried stacks of bamboo slips to the gate of the East Palace. Jin Ming asked the soldiers to show these military books to Liu Cong. Jin Ming reported:"Your Majesty, these are all military books!"

Haha, Liu Cong was hesitating and couldn't find any evidence of rebellion. When he saw these military books, his eyes lit up. Liu Cong said to Jin Ming:"General Jin, what are these military books?"

The soldiers handed Jin Ming a book of war, and he looked at the name, and then looked at another book of war. Jin Ming returned the book of war to the soldiers and said:"Your Majesty, there are Sun Tzu's Art of War, Sun Bin's Art of War, Sima Rang Ju's Art of War, Wu Zi's Art of War, Six Taoist Strategies……"

"Okay, okay, no need to read them one by one!"Liu Cong said angrily:"Brother Emperor, brother Emperor, what do you want me to say about you? The military books in your house are enough to open a military book shop. You study military books and strategies every day. If you don't plan to rebel and usurp the throne, what is it?! Liu

Cong was still upset and continued to ridicule Liu Yi:"Two years ago, Taifu Cui Wei, Taibao Xu Xia and others encouraged you to rebel and seize the throne. It's just a pity that Xun Yu, your hostess in the East Palace, betrayed you. He went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report Cui Wei and Xu Xia. In order to find out the reason for your rebellion, I imprisoned Cui Wei and Xu Xia in two rooms in the palace. These two people can't stand my punishment and have already revealed the inside story of your rebellion. Rebellious officials and traitors like Cui Wei and Xu Xia, as well as their families, were all killed."

"Your Majesty, for the past two years, because General Guanwei sent troops to monitor the East Palace, my younger brother has been unable to attend the court meeting. Therefore, I beg your Majesty to demote my younger brother to a commoner and cut off the titles of his sons. My younger brother also requested your Majesty to make Liu Can the crown prince."Liu Yi defended himself. Liu Cong was stunned for a moment and said,"I really haven't seen my brother's seal. It's possible that Bu Tuo made his own decision and didn't report it to me at all."