Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 242

After eating Lu Junyi's practice wine, Ximen Qing and his party bid farewell to Lu Junyi and Yan Qing, and headed southwest to Xiangzhou.

Along the way, Ximen Qing visited the historic site of Tongque Terrace in Linzhang County, and then inspected the reconstruction of the Leopard Temple of Ximen Leopard.

Miao Zhu of the Temple of the Leopard is an obedient and shrewd person. He not only expanded the temple building of Ximen Leopard according to Ximen Qing's request, reshaped the golden body of Ximen Leopard, but also erected a monument in the temple to remember the faithful men and women who donated money to build the temple.

It is not surprising to say that ordinary temples have such merit steles.This stele is wonderful in the temple. On one side of the stele, only one person, Ximen Qing from Yanggu County, Yunzhou, is engraved.

Even Ximenqing had never heard of the anecdotes engraved on the tablet, but he had no doubt described to the world how the generation of sages in Ximenqing's family benefited the village and benefited the people.

The stories Miao Zhu made up almost convinced Ximen Qing, thinking that he was the reincarnation of Ximen Leopard and was born a half-saint.

This temple is a rare talent!If you travel to later generations, you might become a leader in the media industry.Ximenqing was overjoyed, and rewarded the temple blessings, allowing him to take root in this Leopard Temple with peace of mind, and to "seek truth and be pragmatic" to discover the deeds of Ximen's family, so as to satisfy the people in Xiangzhou and even Hebei's tireless pursuit of the stories of saints and sages .

Ximenqing thought to himself: The people of the Song Dynasty still have the spiritual pursuit of engaging in feudal superstition, and he must invest some energy in this aspect in the future!After returning to Yanggu County, he had to choose a talent in this field to take care of such affairs for him.Of course, the first one is to bring this Leopard Temple into his sphere of influence, so as to build momentum for himself in the future.

After leaving the Temple of the Leopard, Ximen Qing and his party continued southward to visit Zhou Tong, Yue He, Yao Daweng and others at Yuejia Village in Tangyin County.

Here, Ximenqing received heroic treatment without engaging in any feudal superstitions. The villagers who had escaped the suffering of the Mushan bandits brought flowers and fruits to welcome them.

Ximen Qing met Zhou Tong, Yue He, Yao Daweng and others in Yuejiazhuang, and also met Yue Fei, Wang Gui, Zhang Xian and other young people.

Yue Fei and other teenagers became more heroic and full of vigor.But their teacher, Zhou Tong, was showing signs of exhaustion, and his condition was getting worse day by day.Even taking the sealwort and Shangdang ginseng presented by Ximenqing every day has no effect on Zhou Tong.

Since ancient times, beauties have lamented their twilight, and heroes have not been allowed to see their gray hair. "Iron Arm" Zhou Tong Zhou Daxia is really getting old after all!Ximen Qing sighed secretly in his heart, knowing that the vitality of the sworn elder brother was exhausted, and the time would probably be numbered.

Now Zhou Tong sees everything away, and doesn't care about his old age.His beloved apprentice Yue Fei is improving day by day, and now that he has a powerful foreign aid like Ximen Qing, Zhou Tong has no regrets in his heart.

After staying in Yuejiazhuang for another three to five days, Ximen Qing bid farewell to the people in Tangyin County, turned to the southwest, stayed overnight at Xiaoxing, and arrived at the foot of Centipede Ridge within a day.

When they came to Centipede Ridge, Ximen Qing was no longer the main character in the group, but "faceless" Jiao Ting, carrying many gifts in large and small bags, went back to Zhang Taigong Village to meet his old father-in-law and his mother-in-law.

Now Jiao Ting is not the same as Wu Xia Amen back then, he is dressed as a rich and powerful official, and he has brought many valuable gifts to Zhang Taigong's family.Seeing this, everyone in the village would not praise Zhang Taigong's family for recruiting a good son-in-law!

Because of the long distance, Ximenqing had various arrangements along the way, and it was inconvenient to bring the female relatives, so Jiao Ting did not bring the little lady of the Zhang family back to Mengzhou to visit her parents.

Seeing the son-in-law Jiao Ting, Zhang Taigong and his wife couldn't help missing their daughter, and shed a few tears of joy.

Prompted by Ximen Qing, Jiao Ting hurriedly told Zhang Taigong and his wife that if the two elders were willing to travel far, when he returned from Bianliang, Tokyo, he would pick them up and go back to Yanggu County to meet his daughter together, and asked the two elders to live in Yanggu County. In the past year and a half, the family had a good time to reunite.

Zhang Taigong and his wife missed their daughter very much. After hearing Jiao Ting's words, they immediately decided to hand over all the things in the village to their son. When Ximen Qing and others returned, they returned to Yanggu County with Jiao Ting.

The distinguished guests came to Zhang Taigong's mansion, and they naturally put on a grand banquet with lights and festoons, calling friends to welcome Jiao Ting, Ximen Qing and others together.

It was rare for Jiao Ting to go back to his father-in-law's house, and Ximen Qing was not in a hurry to set off, but stayed at the foot of Centipede Ridge for five or seven days, and asked Jiao Ting to accompany the two elders to have a good relationship.

Ximenqing and Tang Long have nothing to do in their spare time. Every day, they go up to the mountains to catch hares and pheasants with the villagers, and go down to the fields to fish and shrimp to catch loaches.

After seven days of rest and play at Zhang Taigong's estate under Centipede Ridge, Ximenqing and his party bid farewell to Zhang Taigong's family, turned westward across Mengzhou Ridge, passed Dashu Cross Slope, and finally came to Happy Forest outside Mengzhou City.

Since the power of the "Golden Eye Biao" Shi En and his son was eradicated by Ximen Qing and Jiang Menshen, the merchants in Happy Forest are less oppressed by bullies like Shi En, and all kinds of businesses are more prosperous, which is really a bit spectacular. It's weather.

Ximenqing and his party stayed overnight in Happy Forest, and then visited Zhang Mengfang, the military governor of Mengzhou.

After staying in Mengzhou for three days and having a banquet with Zhang Dujian and Zhang Tuanlian to reminisce about the old days, Ximenqing and others crossed the Yellow River and arrived at Bianliang City in Tokyo by boat.

Since the farewell the year before last, Ximen Qing hasn't seen the bustling scene of the capital of the Great Song Dynasty for almost two years.Revisiting the old place today, I am a little unfamiliar with Bianliang, Tokyo.

Entering the city by following the old road, crossing the Zhou Bridge, and walking along the Bian River to the wharf of No. [-] Tianshui Lane, there are more boats moored on the river than before.It's just that the increase is not a merchant ship, but an official ship that transports flowers and stones for the imperial court.

On the pier, there was a lot of people's voices, and many laborers were unloading the strange stones and big trees from Huashi Gangguan's boat, and hauling them with carts, and laboriously transported them to the north.Ximenqing asked the boatman, and he knew that they transported these strange stones and giant trees purchased from the southeastern states to the Jinglongmen and the old Fengqiumen outside the northeast corner of the imperial city along the Second Tianshui Lane and Maxing Street. The Taoist emperor built Genyue, a royal garden for cultivating immortals and discussing Taoism.

Looking at the bustling appearance, I am afraid that because of the transportation of these flowers and stones, the merchant ship transportation of Bianhe River and the business of shops in Maxing Street and No. [-] Tianshui Lane are quite affected. Dare to raise objections to Emperor Daojun and his favorite ministers?

This subjugated bird emperor!Ximen Qing cursed secretly in his heart.If this guy hadn't come here to plunder the people's fat and anointment in the southeast in order to build his own royal garden, how could he have turned against Fang La, the owner of the lacquer garden?

Chapter 369 The Bird Emperor Who Wronged the Country

Brothers Ximen Qing, Jiao Ting and Tang Long got off the boat with their guards. Seeing that it was still early, they walked from the pier to Daxiangguo Temple, and went to the famous "Roasted Pig Yard" to have a meal of roasted pork sold by monks. Pork, just returned to No. [-] Tianshui Lane, and went to the Gaoyang Zhengdian to stay and stay.

There are quite a lot of main restaurants in Bianliang City, Tokyo. The reason why Ximen Qing and others chose Gaoyang Zhengdian is really Tang Long's intention.The last time that guy had sex with a really plump girl in the main store in Gaoyang, he still can't forget it.As soon as Tang Long entered Bianliang City, Tokyo, he yelled that Gaoyang Main Store was the best store in Tokyo City, and he had been thinking about the "Liuxia Wine" and "Qingfeng Wine" in the store for a long time.In fact, that guy is a drunkard who doesn't mean to drink!

Arriving at the main store in Gaoyang, Tang Long's guy found that plump and unusually plump girl among the many beautiful girls who accompanied him, and every pockmark on his face jumped with joy.For Tang Long's aesthetic taste, Ximen Qing could only pat him on the back, silently expressing his admiration.

After resting overnight in Gaoyang Zhengdian, Ximenqing, Jiao Ting, and Tang Long went to visit Xu Ning's home in Banmenli with gifts for Xu Ning's family.Xu Ning saw his uncle and cousin Tang Long and his sworn brother Ximen Qing visit. Although he had received a letter a few days ago, he was still overjoyed and hurriedly prepared a family banquet at home to welcome Ximen Qing, Tang Long and Jiao Ting.

Everyone ate a few glasses of wine, Xu Ning said to Ximen Qing, thanks to Ximen Qing who persuaded him not to go to the border with Tong Guan to make meritorious service, in the past two years, the imperial court has repeatedly fought back and forth with Xia Guo in the northwest, each has its own victory and defeat, and has several golden guns The colleagues who came from the class and went to the border with Tong Guan to make a name for themselves have already died in battle, leaving orphans and widows, which is very desolate.It wasn't Ximenqing's dissuasion that day, I'm afraid that he would also be buried in the yellow sand in the northwest.

Ximen Qing said in his heart, Song and Xia are really fighting a muddle-headed battle, apart from wasting people's lives and wasting money, what good is it?

To get to the bottom of it, the disaster of Xixia was originally caused by Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi's improper handling of the Dangxiang clan.

During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Dangxiang Qiang, who lived in the southeast of Qinghai and the south of Gansu, was very afraid of the Tubo army looting and killing everywhere, so he asked Tang Xuanzong for help and was moved to Qingzhou.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Guo Ziyi was afraid that these alien races would make trouble, so he suggested that Tang Dynasty Emperor Tuoba Chaoguang, who was in Gyeongju at that time, move far away to the more remote and remote areas north of Yinzhou and east of Xiazhou.This area was the former land of "Great Xia" where the Huns flourished during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it was called Pingxia at that time, so this part of Dangxiang Qiang became the Pingxia tribe, the ancestors of the Xixia royal family in the future.

During Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty, Tuoba Sigong, the leader of the party department, was named the Jiedu Envoy of Xiazhou by the imperial court. Because of his meritorious service in pacifying the Huangchao Uprising, he once regained Chang'an, and was given the surname Li again, and was named Xia Guogong.

From then on, Tuoba Sigong and his descendants surnamed Li became the local vassal power with Xia Guogong.This part of the Dangxiang Qiang armed forces is also known as the Dingnan Army. Its sphere of influence is centered on Xiazhou, including the vast areas of Xia, Sui, You, and Yinzhou, all of which have become Tuoba's private territory.

From this, it can be seen that the Xia, Sui, You, and Yin prefectures where Dangxiang Qiang lived for generations were not inhabited by Han people, but the hometown of the Huns. any hostile act.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, no matter who was in power in the Central Plains, the Li family (Tuoba family) "bowed their heads and proclaimed their ministers" in exchange for the ruling status of the area and a large number of rewards.

After more than 200 years of peaceful construction, the Pingxia area is very rich. The fertile pastures centered on the Dijinze area and the agricultural area represented by Qiliping at the junction of the Xia and Song Dynasties have provided Xixia with a large amount of cattle, sheep and grass. At that time, it was also rich in high-quality green salt that could be used as currency at that time. The annual output could reach about [-] hu. The strength gradually expanded.

However, although the strength of the Dangxiang clan has greatly increased and the foundation of the country has been established, the Li clan has always had little ambition and is nothing more than willing to be a prince.Moreover, the Li family has been influenced by the Central Plains culture for generations, and there has been a clear trend of Sinicization.At that time in Xia, Sui, You, and Yin prefectures, although the Dangxiang tribe outside the city still wore national costumes, the Li clan and other officials in the city all wore Han costumes and learned Chinese, so they really had the same heart as the Han people in the Central Plains.

After the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Li family brought Xia, Sui, You, and Yin into the four prefectures, and they were loyal to the Song Dynasty.Strictly speaking, after the demise of the Tang Dynasty, the four prefectures of Xia, Sui, You, and Yin were not owned by the Central Plains Dynasty.

It is precisely because the ruler of Xiazhou "the world is loyal and loyal. Although he is the defender of the Northwest, it can be said that he has not lost to the Song Dynasty."Therefore, although Song Taizu seized military power in the Central Plains, he was still lenient to the minorities in the northwest, and "Xu Zhi's hereditary" handled the ethnic relations better.

But when Xiazhou Jiedu envoy Li Jipeng came to power, the situation changed.

In the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi's Northern Expedition to Khitan suffered consecutive defeats. In order to regain face, he aimed the goal of expanding land and opening up territories to the Dangxiang clan who were loyal to the Great Song Dynasty.

Zhao Guangyi summoned Li's relatives to the capital, appointed Li Jipeng as the Jiedu envoy of the Zhangde Army, and Li Kexin, the commander of Xiazhou Fanluo, his younger brother, Li Kexin, and 12 others were promoted one by one.At the same time, Zhao Guangyi rewarded the people of the Li family with their mansions in Bianjing, allowing them to leave Xiazhou forever.

When things got to this point, any fool would know that Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi wanted to use this to peacefully abolish the local government of the Li family in Xiazhou, which had been separated for 300 years.

However, it was obviously wrong for Song Taizong to use conspiracy to abolish the local government in Xiazhou.

First of all, this approach contradicts the established policy of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin for dealing with the local government of ethnic minorities - "Because of the chieftains, allow them to be hereditary". Since it is allowed to be hereditary, how can it be abolished at will? This is obvious. It is to inform the minorities who are dependent on the Song Dynasty that the ruler of the Song Dynasty is a person who does not believe in his words and is not worthy of allegiance.

Secondly, Dangxiang Li, the ruler of Xiazhou, has "war meritorious service in the world" since the Tang Dynasty. Not only has he never failed the Central Plains Dynasty, but he has repeatedly sent troops to help the court to quell difficulties, and he has not failed the newly established Song Dynasty.Under such circumstances, how could the rulers of the Zhao and Song Dynasties take advantage of the dangers of others and abolish their rule? This is morally untenable.

Li Jiqian, the brother of Li Jipeng's family, has extraordinary ambitions. He knows that once he enters the capital, he will throw himself into a trap.

Therefore, Li Jiqian fled with excuses and fled into the vast grassland, vowing to restore the foundation of his ancestors and rebuild the local government in Xiazhou.The Song Xia War, which lasted for nearly a hundred years and caused countless casualties, also began.