The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

After careful consideration, Zhang Pingan wrote a letter to Lin Junhui, Huang Zhifu and other close relatives. The content of the letter was rather obscure.

But there is no need to hit the drum with a heavy hammer. They are all smart people and can probably guess what is going on just by looking at the court newspaper.

This letter must be understandable!

Since Lord Zhou dared to send out a notice to recruit soldiers so openly, Zhang Ping'an was afraid that the matter might be over before his letter was delivered.

At this point, he is not worried about anything else, but what he fears most is that his family members in Lin'an will be implicated.

Although he did not hold a high official position and was not a core figure in the court, he was considered neutral on the surface and did not have any close network of relationships in Lin'an, so he was not a person who needed to be paid special attention to.

Even if he married a girl from the Qian family, he would at most be considered a son-in-law from another family. After being sent out to serve as an official, he never had much contact with the Qian family.

The possibility of him being implicated in this situation is very small, but he still can't help but worry.

Liu Sanlang saw that Zhang Ping'an had been frowning and gloomy since he read the report, and he didn't even eat dinner.

My heart couldn't help but feel depressed, and I couldn't eat any more after only one bowl of rice.

After finishing his meal, while going to the study to bring sweet soup to Zhang Ping'an, he tentatively asked, "Ping'an, what's wrong? Is it... is there unrest in the court again? Has any royal relative died again?"

He also knew that the poisoning of the young prince was not a good thing in any case.

Liu Sanlang just thought that someone was assassinated again this time.

Unexpectedly, my brother-in-law slumped in his chair and whispered, "Brother-in-law, things may be changing..."

When Liu Sanlang heard this, he lost his grip on the cup and it fell to the ground with a muffled "bang".

No matter how stupid he was, he knew that the change did not refer to the weather, but to the most honorable position.

His limited cognition has always restricted his imagination.

After a long while, he stammered, "Who... who... who... who is it?"

Zhang Pingan shook his head: "The winner is the king, it's hard to say!"

After he finished speaking, Liu Sanlang fell silent. He had some guesses in his mind, but he didn't know how to express them, so in the end he didn't say anything.

The atmosphere is heavy and tense!

…………

The fact was just as Zhang Ping'an expected. Once the conscription notice was issued, the matter was almost over without their knowledge.

Later generations called this incident the "Jingzhou Mutiny"!

It is a very rare and short-lived change of dynasty.

It turned out that when Zhou Ziming led his army to Jingzhou for rest, he met a Taoist master who could soar into the sky on auspicious clouds.

This person's mount is a rare white tiger, bathed in fairy air. It suddenly appears at the gate of the military camp when the sky is full of morning glow, the morning light is dim, and the earth is exposed to the first ray of light.

As soon as he appeared, all the soldiers knelt down and kowtowed, calling him "immortal".

Word spread quickly from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. After Zhou Ziming led his men out, this person prophesied to the soldiers, "The young master is incompetent, and the fate of Great Xia is over! I have been entrusted by Heaven to tell you!"

He also carried with him a black snake with horns on its head, which was a legendary sign of transformation into a dragon.

He said: "The black snake chooses its master. Whoever the black snake falls under will be the master of the world from now on. He will unify the world and save the people from danger!"

After he finished speaking, he threw the black snake out.

After the black snake landed, it nimbly moved back and forth under everyone's feet, and finally swam straight to Zhou Ziming's feet, wrapped its body around his boots, and then stopped moving.

This scene left the other soldiers stunned.

Before everyone could react, the old Taoist rode away on the white tiger, gracefully stepping on the clouds.

A faint voice could be heard on the wind: "Now that the black snake has chosen its master, the world will be at peace!"

Coming and going like the wind, it seems mysterious and ethereal!

Some clever soldiers reacted immediately and kowtowed to Zhou Ziming, shouting, "Long live the saint!"

The others also reacted and discussed with each other, it turned out that Zhou Ziming was destined to be the one.

Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Soon, the entire military camp knelt down and called out "Saint."

Some soldiers even claimed to have suddenly found a yellow robe in the tent, which made everyone more convinced that Zhou Ziming was the holy leader chosen by God.

Everyone knelt down in the camp.

Zhou Ziming's reaction was the calmest. He said to the soldiers below, "The Taoist's words cannot be fully trusted. Everyone, please stand up!"

This is what they said, but none of the soldiers stood up.

The deputy general who had followed Zhou Ziming the longest had the courage to shake open the yellow robe, force it on Zhou Ziming, and force him to become emperor.

He said excitedly in a loud voice, "Holy Lord, please do not refuse any longer. This is the will of Heaven. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Great Xia is doomed. The people of the north are still suffering. It is urgent to drive out the Tartars and restore unity. If anyone wants to blame me in the history books of later generations, let them blame me. I will bear all the blame!"

"Please, Your Majesty, ascend the throne!" Another deputy general bowed heavily and kowtowed.

With the greeting and response, the atmosphere was tense and warm.

"Please let the saint ascend the throne!" The people in the military camp were excited and shouted long live the emperor.

Zhou Ziming wanted to remove the black snake from his boots, but the black snake wrapped itself tightly around his boots and refused to bite, showing great docility.

Finally, after repeated requests from his generals, Zhou Ziming was forced to accept the title of emperor.

By this time, the sky was already bright, and the military camp was bustling with noise as everyone was discussing the magic of the black snake choosing its master!

Having decided to become emperor, Zhou Ziming acted decisively. After leaving behind a few trusted generals to guard Jingzhou, he took the rest of his troops and galloped south to Cangwu River.

From the ferry, take a boat eastward to Wuhu, then south to Lin'an.

They traveled with the wind at their back, and their speed was very fast. Moreover, they were riding on fine horses, so within three days, the army had already reached the outskirts of Lin'an City.

The guards in various places along the way were all Zhou Ziming's confidants, and they tried to minimize the noise they made.

It was not until he led his army back to the vicinity of Lin'an that the imperial court received the news, shocking everyone!!!

The four regent ministers immediately ordered the Five Cities Military Command to seal the city gates and sent fast horses to the Shenji Camp outside the city for help.

However, little did they know that the defending generals Shi Yousheng and Li Du had already secretly defected. Two days later, they opened the city gates in the early morning to welcome everyone into the city.

Zhou Ziming quickly took control of the capital without bloodshed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the people closed their doors and windows and refused to go out.

It all happened so fast!

The Queen Mother in the palace had just gotten up and finished washing up.

The fatigue and fear of the past few days made her really unbearable. Unexpectedly, the situation changed when she woke up from a sleep.

When the maid reported in a trembling voice, the Queen Mother herself did not expect that she could still calmly put on her clothes and have breakfast.

It's so calm that it's scary!

After finishing her meal and wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, the Queen Mother ignored the frightened palace maids and eunuchs in the palace and slowly walked to her son's bedroom.

At this time, everyone in the palace was terrified, but it was not yet to the point of chaos.

This was mainly because there was a great eunuch Wu Yougui in charge of the palace, who reprimanded and appeased everyone. He had been in the palace for many years and his status was second only to Wei Xingzhou.

Seeing that he was calm and composed, the others felt much more at ease.

When Wu Yougui saw Queen Mother Wang coming, he still bowed very respectfully.

The Queen Mother said nothing and walked into the bedroom with an expressionless face.

Only when she touched her son's thin face did she shed a tear.