Luoyang.
Apart from Chang'an, it was the largest city, and also the most prosperous.
Yet today, its streets were eerily deserted. Not a single person was in sight-not even the shadow of a ghost.
Clearly.
Even ordinary people had long since sensed the delicate atmosphere.
In government offices everywhere, countless scions of the great families withdrew together, as though they had all agreed beforehand.
"That immoral, muddleheaded tyrant deserves a rebellion!"
"To hell with this lousy official post!"
"Home! Let's go home!"
They tossed aside their black gauze official hats, donned their scholars' blue robes once more, and walked straight out of the government offices. They leisurely prepared to enjoy the spectacle, eager to see what Li Shimin would do next in the face of this.
But they had already made up their minds: unless Li Shimin issued an edict confessing his faults and completely abolished the Twenty-Four Directorates, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot, they would never return to office.
Yet just then.
Something happened that shocked them.
Countless members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard marched straight into the government offices, swiftly took them all over, and kept every office running.
Under their orders, vast forces of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and troops of the Eastern Depot even began rapidly taking control of local city defenses.
Anyone who disobeyed was killed!
These soldiers were formidable, and every officer at their head could be called a fierce commander. If anyone dared cause trouble, they dared kill them.
In less than two hours, peace was swiftly restored throughout Luoyang.
What concerned them most was that these soldiers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were different from the Tang Dynasty's ordinary troops. After taking over the city defenses, they began setting up all manner of strange, enormous