A knife in love

Chapter 650

Li Qiufeng's heart shuddered.Although he had heard from Situ Qiao about the theft of the artifact from Qingliang Temple before, he already guessed that Sun Guangming was responsible for the case.Hearing his confession at this time, he was relieved.

Sun Guangming smiled and said: "The abbot of Qingliang Temple, Master Nianhua, is very skilled in martial arts, and there are quite a few martial arts masters in the temple. I spied inside and outside Qingliang Temple for several days, and these monks almost spotted him. That night I sneaked into the pagoda of Qingliang Temple Among them, the artifact was found in the underground palace. It was only when I got out of the pagoda that the monks in the temple noticed it. Fortunately, there was a sudden strong wind, which stirred up the dead branches and fallen leaves into the sky, and nothing could be seen a few feet away. I took the opportunity to escape Surrounded by monks, I left Mount Wutai overnight..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Qiufeng said: "Mr. Sun stole this artifact. I don't know if it is the Buddha's relic, or Master Xuanzang's finger bone relic?"

Sun Guangming was startled, then smiled and said: "Hero Li is really amazing, he even knows the treasures hidden in Qingliang Temple for thousands of years."

Li Qiufeng shook his head, and said: "I didn't know that at first, but I only knew a thing or two after hearing Situ Qiao mention it."

Sun Guangming laughed and said, "Situ Qiao has been coveting the artifacts in Qingliang Temple for many years, but his martial arts is not high enough to break into Qingliang Temple. The artifacts I took away were neither Buddha relics nor Master Xuanzang's. The finger bone relic, but a cassock he wore back then."

Li Qiufeng nodded and said, "This Li also heard from Situ Qiao. It is said that this cassock was worn by Tang Taizong Li Shimin himself when Master Xuanzang left Chang'an for Tianzhu. It has great magic power. There are even folk legends that this cassock was given to Li Shimin by Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South China Sea, and then put on Master Xuanzang by Li Shimin's hands. It's just that these are just rumors on the street. People know."

Sun Guangming smiled slightly and said: "Hero Li is right. These legends are just fabricated by fools. You must know that Master Xuanzang left Chang'an to go to Tianzhu. It can be said that he took great risks. When the Tang Dynasty was first established , the Turks put great pressure on Datang in the west and north. Li and his son had no choice but to take a defensive position against the Turks. In order to prevent the Turks from invading Chang'an, the Tang guarded the western border extremely strictly, and strictly prohibited the Chinese people from crossing the border to the west. If someone dared to sneak across the border and was captured by the defenders, he would be beheaded on the spot.

"During Tang Gaozu Wude's reign, although Master Xuanzang was young, he was already famous all over the world. He was a great monk who was proficient in Buddhism. The Great Tang Dynasty was built by Li Yuan and his son. Li claimed to be the descendant of Li Er, the founder of Taoism. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was highly respected. However, Master Xuanzang intensively studied Buddhist principles, and his reputation became more and more famous. Governments all over the country also respected him very much. However, despite repeated debates, they were unable to convince the other party. Although Master Xuanzang is superb in Buddhism, it is also difficult to integrate the two.

"In the ninth year of Wude, Bopo, a monk from Tianzhu, arrived in Chang'an and opened an altar to give lectures. Master Xuanzang came to the lecture meeting in person, and heard from Popo that there was a famous monk in Tianzhu, Jiexian, who once taught yoga in Nalanda Temple. Taking into account the theory of the Three Vehicles, he vowed to go west to seek the Dharma and explore the original scriptures, in order to relieve his doubts. After he made his great wish, he made a statement to the imperial court, asking the imperial court to allow him to go to Tianzhu, and to grant a customs clearance document. It was the first year of Zhenguan, Tang Taizong launched the Xuanwumen Incident and killed Prince Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji, Li Yuan was forced to abdicate as the Supreme Emperor. It was just that when Li Shimin ascended the throne for the first time, the prince and Qi Wang’s remaining party did not give up, and they were secretly ready to move. Turkic Seeing the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty, Jieli Khan thought there was an opportunity to take advantage of it. He personally commanded an army of [-] troops, including Kejing Prefecture, Wugong and other important places, and went straight to the outskirts of Chang'an. The Tang army retreated one after another. Fortunately, Yuchi Jingde led the army The battle to the death deters the Turkic cavalry from aggressively attacking. Li Shimin mobilized soldiers and horses near the capital to defend the city, and at the same time imposed martial law in the capital to prevent Turkic spies, the prince, and the remaining parties of the King of Qi from taking the opportunity to make trouble. At this time, it can be said that Li Shimin is facing an unprecedented crisis. If he is not careful, the Great Tang Dynasty is in danger of being destroyed. How could Li Shimin have the mood to care about a monk who asked to go west to seek scriptures? It would be considered extremely magnanimous not to beat him up or even behead him.

"Master Xuanzang is a monk. Although he saw the tense atmosphere in Chang'an City, he didn't know that the situation was extremely dangerous. He was rejected by the court because of his petition. He still stayed in Chang'an Daci'en Temple and waited hard. Although Li Shimin moved the capital All the soldiers and horses from inside and outside are gathered together, but the number of soldiers is still less than [-], and most of them are old, weak and disabled. At this time, it is too late to send troops from the Kanto region to help. However, Li Shimin is worthy of being the emperor on horseback, and he left Chang'an with more than [-] weak soldiers In the city, the army lined up in the east of the Weishui Bridge, waiting for it.

"Yuchi Jingde led the Tang army to engage in several battles with the Turkic forwards, fighting and retreating to delay the advance of the Turkic cavalry. At this time, Yuchi Jingde's troops had retreated to the west of the Weishui Bridge. When Tang Taizong came, he stopped Retreating, fighting with the Turks on their backs, another fierce general Qin Qiong, who had been recuperating at home with injuries, rushed to the battlefield and asked Tang Taizong for orders to help Yuchi Jingde.

"Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde are the two most brave generals under Tang Taizong's command. In terms of bravery, the two are on equal footing, but if resourcefulness is added, Qin Qiong is even higher than Yuchi Jingde. At the beginning, Yuchi Jingde was Song Jingang He defeated Li Xiaoji, the king of Yong'an in Xia County, and captured Tang Jian, Yu Yun and other Tang generals alive. Li Shimin was shocked when he heard the news, thinking that among the generals under his tent, only Qin Qiong could compete with him. Yuchi Jingde fought against each other. So he ordered Qin Qiong and Yin Kaishan to fight Yuchi Jingde. At that time, Yuchi Jingde led the army back to Weizhou after a great victory. On the way, he met Qin Qiong's troops. During the battle, Yuchi Jingde was defeated by Qin Qiong and fled in a big defeat. More than [-] of his subordinates were beheaded. After this battle, Yuchi Jingde lost all his vigor and finally surrendered to Li Shimin..."

Riding on the horse, Li Qiufeng listened to Sun Guangming's narration of these past events, and thought to himself: "This man's speech is somewhat similar to Situ Qiao's. They are all long-winded, and they don't know what to say when they talk. Where did you go? Fortunately, the road is long, and listening to him is not lonely."

But Sun Guangming said: "Qin Qiong was originally Li Mi's general in Wagang Village. Li Mi was defeated by Wang Shichong, and Qin Qiong surrendered to Wang Shichong along with the others. But he realized that Wang Shichong was hypocritical and not a trustworthy master, so he left on his own mind. Li Shimin Dong During the conquest of Luoyang, Qin Qiong and Cheng Zhijie defected to the Tang army when Li Shimin and Wang Shichong faced each other in Jiuqu. After this battle, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan ordered Qin Qiong to belong to Qin Wang Li Shimin's mansion. Li Shimin had heard of Qin Qiong's bravery for a long time and was very fond of him. The courteous reception granted him the position of Chief of the Horse Army, and guarded the Changchun Palace with him. Li Yuan treated Qin Qiong very well, and walked up to Qin Qiong several times in the court to talk to him. Among the many generals who founded the Tang Dynasty, only Qin Qiong He is so valued by Li Yuan. Li Shimin is doing his best to win over Qin Qiong, and Qin Qiong is also loyal to Li Shimin. I have read the old and new Tang books. It is said in the book that every time Qin Qiong goes to war with Li Shimin, the enemy often shows off himself Li Shimin asked Qin Qiong to challenge him, and every time he single-handedly killed the enemy general among thousands of people, the enemy army was terrified and often collapsed without fighting."

When Sun Guangming said this, Su Yan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly laughed and said, "Brother, you can't stop talking about these old things. If we go on like this, I'm afraid that when we reach Gaoping, Daxia Li still doesn't know that you got it in Qingliang Temple. What is the use of the cassock?"

Sun Guangming was startled, then laughed out loud after a while, and said, "You're right, I can't stop talking about these things. Let's not gossip, but say that Qin Qiong crossed the Weihe Bridge that day, and Yuchi Jingde was the same The horse stood in front of more than a thousand Tang troops. At this time, the Turkic forward soldiers and horses had already arrived, and Qin Qiong rode out alone. Taking advantage of the Turkic army's unsteady foothold, he beheaded the general of the army in front of the formation. The Turkic forward saw that Qin Qiong was extremely brave. , Turned their horses and fled away one after another. After Xieli Khan led the entire Turkic army into the battlefield, they were scattered by the defeated soldiers.

"Jieli Khan was shocked when he heard the story of the defeated soldiers. He had heard of Qin Qiong's reputation. There were only a thousand, but tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry dared not approach. Qin Qiong's force was still higher than that of Yuchi Jingde, and two generals stood guard to the west of the Wei River.

"It's just that although Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde were brave, if the [-] Turkic troops rushed forward, the Tang army would have to be wiped out. However, before Li Shimin left the city, he first detained the Turkic envoy, and only released the envoy's servants. When Li Khan heard the news, he couldn't help being suspicious. He thought that Li Shimin was so tough because the Tang army had already prepared. The Tang army in the Kanto region might have returned to help Chang'an. When he arrived at the battlefield, he saw that the Tang army was already standing in formation east of the Weihe River. , The military flags are unfurled, and the military appearance is neat. Tang Taizong Li Shimin personally led Fang Xuanling and other six important officials to rein in the front of the Tang army, ready to fight.

"Jieli Khan didn't know that only the front row of the Tang army on the opposite side was real people, and the rear was full of straw people. And each soldier of the Tang army held two big flags, and it looked like hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. Jieli Although Khan is the leader of the Turks, the Turks are not at peace. Some of his brothers have been trying to seize the position of the Khan. This time he attacked Datang, he originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Tang Dynasty had just passed the Xuanwu Gate. When the imperial court was in conflict, they led troops into the Tang territory to plunder property. Another purpose was to show off their martial arts and subdue other forces in the Turks, so that they would not dare to act rashly. Seeing that the Tang army was already prepared and their troops were strong, If I attack forcefully, I have no chance of winning. Not only will I not be able to grab gold and silver property, but my brothers who have long been dissatisfied will join hands and seize the position of Khan, and I will die without a place to bury myself."

Sun Guangming sighed at this point, and then continued: "As the saying goes, brothers are of one heart, and their benefits cut through gold. In our Central Plains country, for thousands of years, because of the internal strife between father and son brothers, I don't know how many lessons we have learned. And the Xiongnu, Turks, Khitan, Jurchen, etc. also have civil strife from time to time. Therefore, if you want to defeat these thieves like wolves and tigers, you might as well send powerful people to instigate discord, so that when they have civil strife, they can surrender without fighting It is better to dispatch a large army and waste money, food and lives."

(End of this chapter)