Chapter 741: The Chariot God of Luoyang

Just as Cao Yanming was attacked at the Divine Capital Six Gates Inspection Office, the entire city of Luoyang descended into chaos almost in an instant.

Fires broke out almost simultaneously on the east, west, and south sides of Luoyang — and this was no ordinary arson; someone had prepared large quantities of tung oil.

Moreover, at intervals of every hundred paces or so, specific houses had been packed full of dry firewood and even charcoal and other kindling.

It was now early winter, the weather dry and the north wind howling, and since the dwellings of Luoyang made extensive use of timber construction, under the manipulation of those with a purpose, the fires became impossible to control from the very start.

In the emergency, the watchmen of Luoyang's two attached counties, Henan and Luoyang, the guards of the great merchant guilds, and the able-bodied men of every ward were mobilized at once.

They of course had no idea that great events were afoot tonight, and so they all rushed out to fight the fires.

For a time, some drew water, some hauled the water-dragon carts, frightened women and children ran wildly through the streets, and those with kin trapped in the sea of flames wailed loudly.

The people of Luoyang, utterly unprepared for a great fire of this kind, were thrown into panic. Worse still, Luoyang had suffered repeated wars since the end of the Tang.

In particular, since the Later Tang destroyed Liang, the city had endured four large-scale wars in twenty years, each one nearly beating Luoyang to pieces.

One could say that in the Luoyang of today, even a boy of ten or so had lived through at least two terrible great wars. After Zhang Zhou established his rule over the Central Plains, they had enjoyed barely three years of peaceful days.

At this moment, as towering flames blazed up on every side and the streets fell into chaos like hell itself, many of Luoyang's people were at once struck by the terror of days past.

In the confusion, many people thought not of fighting the fire; instead, great numbers of common folk, supporting the old and carrying the young, leading livestock and bearing bundles on their backs, actually tried to flee the city under cover of darkness.

Along the way, all manner of rumors spread like plague — that Emperor Shaoming had been killed just as Emperor Zhuangmiao had been; that the military provinces of Hebei had risen again and were marching south; that the Khitan, or even the Turks, had invaded once more and meant to set up another puppet "son-emperor," and so on.

Li Renshu lay hidden with three hundred men in a residence not far outside the Purple Tenuity Palace, no more than two or three hundred paces from the imperial city.

And one who could own a residence here was naturally no ordinary person.

Shi Chongmin, Baron of Rouyuan, had put on the padded armor he rarely wore, and with a long hengdao saber in hand, he looked toward the imperial city with eyes full of hatred.

He was the master of this residence, and certainly no ordinary man. Strictly speaking, Shi Chongmin could even be classed among the Yuan Cong faction.

In years past, when Zhang Zhao had first arrived in Khotan, in order to demonstrate the power of gunpowder to Li Shengtian, he had asked Li Shengtian to assign him a team of miners skilled at digging.

Shi Chongmin was the leader of those miners. He had followed Zhang Zhao even earlier than Liu Zaisheng and the others.

Later, Zhang Zhao used these miners to form the Gold-Splitting Unit. In the great battle of Shule and the storming of the fortress of Juzhanti in Ningyuan (the Fergana Valley), the Gold-Splitting Unit rendered distinguished service in both.

At that time, Shi Chongmin could even be counted among the few core members under Zhang Zhao capable of independently leading a team.

But the battle of Juzhanti was also Shi Chongmin's finest hour. Thereafter, because Zhang Zhao rarely relied on blasting breaches into cities — and, more importantly, because Shi Chongmin's abilities were limited and his talent not high, no matter how he was trained he could not be brought along —

as more and more talented men joined Zhang Zhao's team, Shi Chongmin's standing went into freefall.

Still, as one of the earliest veterans of the Yuan Cong faction, although Shi Chongmin had little merit to his name and was not regarded by the other Yuan Cong men as one of their own, his seniority stood.

After Zhang Zhao established the Great Zhou, Shi Chongmin was enfeoffed as a count in recognition of his former service, taking the name of his home county, Rouyuan in Yinzhou, and was called the Baron of Rouyuan.

Although his countship could not be inherited in perpetuity, it was still a title named for his home county, one that could be passed down for three generations with each rank diminished.

Yet today, Shi Chongmin still stood against the Emperor he had once looked up to.

In these years, he considered himself as belonging to the Yuan Cong faction, but the Yuan Cong faction paid him no mind at all, and he disdained to be mentioned in the same breath as the East-Returning faction of Guo Guangsheng and Pei Tongyuan.

In his heart, he both hoped the Emperor would come and employ him again, and was full of resentment that the Emperor would not even grant him a hereditary title.

Last year, Shi Chongmin's second son had been caught in Dunhuang trafficking pig iron, which was strictly forbidden from being sold to the steppe, by the Border Patrol Commandant of the Hexi Province Surveillance Commission, and then Pei Yuan, who held military and civil power over Hexi, had directly sentenced him to exile.

Shi Chongmin begged many people for help but found none, and his beloved second son died at last at Huangcao Post (Alashankou) in Beiting Province.

This utterly broke Shi Chongmin. He quickly joined the small faction headed by Cao Renzun that hoped to use the Hexi Merchant Guild to monopolize the trade routes, and became the most radical of them all.

Time passed minute by minute, and Li Renshu, the bandit of Huaibei, began to lose his patience.

"How much longer must we wait? If we wait any longer it will be completely dark, and then where will we go to find that Consort Cao?"

Shi Chongmin glanced at the hourglass on the table and gave a soft snort. "Do you take the Purple Tenuity Palace for some local tyrant's stronghold in Huaibei? Let me tell you, even at night, the main hall where the consort and the prince live is brightly lit."

Having said this, Shi Chongmin looked again at the towering flames rising in the distance. "Rest easy. I know Consort Cao well. With the Divine Capital in such chaos, she will surely be unable to bear it and will send out the palace guards and fire brigades to help fight the fires. Only then will be the best moment for our attack."

No sooner had he spoken than, as if to confirm Shi Chongmin's words, the Purple Tenuity Palace of the imperial city, its gates tightly shut, opened — something unheard of.

Company after company of palace guards and fire brigades, and even eunuchs in clothes of every color, hauling water-dragon carts for fighting fires, came rumbling out of the Purple Tenuity Palace and raced toward the various points where fires blazed.

Barely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea after they had gone, torches waved atop the Yingtian Gate, the main gate of the Purple Tenuity Palace — three times up, three times down — exactly the agreed signal.

Li Renshu was overjoyed. Without waiting for Shi Chongmin to put on the airs of a commander, he at once ordered his men to carry him and charge toward the Yingtian Gate.

Lady Cao Sanniang sat on a water-dragon cart, holding in her arms a sleeping infant of just over one year — none other than the Eighth Prince, Zhang Xianzai.

Before long, as the water-dragon cart came around the corner of a high-walled compound, more than ten armored soldiers surged out at once, led by none other than Zhao Kuangyin's father, Zhao Hongyin.

Old Zhao's sons were already old enough to campaign across the realm, yet the man himself was only in his forties. Though he had trained in martial arts all his life, his abilities in leading troops, holding office, and handling people were all mediocre — but his martial prowess was absolutely explosive.

The dozen or so armored soldiers around him were all former imperial guardsmen of the Later Tang court, men from Jiema Camp in Luoyang, including Zhao Kuangyin's father-in-law He Jingsi and the rest. Zhao Hongyin knew them through and through; they were utterly reliable.

Nine-year-old Zhao Kuangyi followed behind his father with a sly, furtive look. The boy had shirked his martial training since childhood, and would not put in hard work at his studies unless his mother was watching, but he was a born socializer, and his talk was most pleasing.

Never mind people — even the wild dogs of Jiema Camp that bit anyone they saw would not bite Zhao Kuangyi.

Now, seeing Lady Cao Sanniang enter carrying Zhang Xianzai, young Zhao the Second, though he did not know who Lady Cao Sanniang was, keenly sensed that she was a person of great importance.

The boy's eyes darted, and he actually put on the toy paper armor he usually wore when playing at riding and battling with his little friends, took up his little wooden sword, and struck a pose beside Cao Yannai, looking for all the world like a valiant warrior.

Zhao Hongyin was timid by nature and an honest fellow. The moment he saw Zhao the Second had slipped over, he moved to shoo him away.

But my Zhao the Second was not about to let such a chance slip. He thrust out his little belly. "Father, do not look down on your second son! Your second son can also guard a person of rank!"

Cao Yannai had been somewhat on edge, but at the sight of young Zhao the Second's little display, he could not help pressing his lips together in a smile.

"This young sir, how did you know that I am a person of rank who needs guarding?"

Zhao the Second put on an innocent look. "Replying to the lady: my father is a great official, and one whom he comes out to receive must surely be a person of rank!

And is it not precisely because the person of rank needs guarding that Father wears armor even at home?"

The words "great official" made the thin-skinned Zhao Hongyin flush with embarrassment. He was but a Jiangyuhou of the imperial guard — what kind of great official was that?

Lady Cao Sanniang found the boy more and more amusing. "Well, I have now arrived. How does the little second son mean to guard me?"

Zhao the Second drew his little wooden sword and flourished it twice. "Naturally, with the blade in my hand!"

"And if you cannot hold them off?"

Zhao the Second pointed outside. "I am skilled at driving donkeys. The gray tiger in the courtyard runs faster than a galloping horse. Once harnessed to the great cart, it can carry the person of rank to Jinyong City, where there are many mighty soldiers who can surely keep the person of rank safe."

Zhao Hongyin's mouth fell open, and he stared dumbfounded at Zhao the Second. Then, suddenly realizing, he dropped to one knee and said to Cao Yannai, "Madam, your servant swears he has never spoken of this matter to him."

It turned out Cao Yannai's plan was that if Zhao Hongyin's family was also in danger, they would be escorted by his men and withdrawn to Jinyong City.

Cao Yannai smiled and waved a hand. Since he had chosen Zhao Hongyin as an inside agent, he knew the man was reliable.

Besides, even if Zhao Hongyin let something slip to the children, for Zhao Kuangyin's sake, no one could really blame him.

Just then, the little prince Zhang Xianzai was suddenly startled awake. The small child, finding himself in an unfamiliar place, immediately began to cry.

Second Brother Zhao had just been cowering under his father's murderous glare, but the moment he heard the crying, he perked right up.

He pointed at the wailing Zhang Xianzai and said, "He must be hungry. My mother just gave birth to my third brother, and that's exactly how he cries when he's hungry."

Then Zhao the Second looked at Cao Yannai. "Noble lady, come with this servant. My mother has plenty of milk — she's sure to feed him full, and once he's full he'll surely stop crying."

Cao Yannai thought it over — it did seem feasible. These past days, Zhang Xianzai had been away from his mother and had been somewhat unsettled. Perhaps a mother's milk and its milky scent would soothe him.

"Captain Zhao truly raises his children well! The Count of Zhongzhou is a pillar of the state, and this second son of his — his future prospects are boundless."

Cao Yannai sighed with genuine feeling. With a brother like Zhao Kuangyin, and with the Zhao family's service in rescuing the emperor tonight, and this Zhao the Second being so shrewd — no matter how you looked at it, he had a bright future.