end song

Chapter 668
These Jiufeng Academy students were still studying, but they didn't expect to be taken captive from Shanxi to Tongguan, let alone the entire Guanlong was occupied by the Song army in an instant.

Naturally shocked, terrified, and at a loss.

Seeing their expressions, Lin Zi was very proud...

His subordinates crossed the Yellow River secretly, inquired about the whereabouts of Zhang's girl and her party along the way, and found Jiufeng Academy, where they met these scholars.

Asking each other, Yuan Congzheng was willing to say it at the beginning, but later he realized something was wrong and exclaimed, "Who are you waiting for? Go report to the official!"

The spies didn't dare to let the scholar do bad things, so they simply took them back.

Since the commander-in-chief entered Chang'an, because there are too few Chinese in his hands, he can only do everything by himself. They are obvious to all. When encountering scholars, of course the commander-in-chief interrogates them before surrendering.

At this time Yuan Congzheng was also a little panicked, everyone was taken captive, he dared not answer, but he still asked: "I wonder if the commander-in-chief wants to find them, is there any malice?"

"No malice." Li Xia said seriously, "It's because I'm an old acquaintance, so I'm looking for it."

"So that's how it is." Yuan Congzheng breathed a sigh of relief, and replied, "Actually, the 'female Taoist priest' that the commander-in-chief referred to is the second daughter of Mr. Yishan and the aunt of the student family. Her husband's family suffered early disasters, so she became a monk For the Tao, the name is 'Wuxi Zhenren'."

Although Li Xia didn't expect it, he also heard Han Chengxu say that Yuan Hao asked his second daughter.

"Yuan Yan?"

Yuan Cong was a little embarrassed when he heard him call his boudoir's name directly, and replied: "Yes, it is appropriate to call Wuxi Daoist now."

"The Yuan family and the Shuntian Zhang family have a good relationship?"

"When Jin died, Mr. Yishan had the blessing of the Zhang family, and he and Zhang Shuai worked together to preserve the "Jin Shilu", and they had a deep friendship."

Li Xia was not in a hurry, and asked again: "Do you recognize the young gentleman who walked with the real Wuxi?"

"I don't know." Yuan Congzheng said: "But...you say it's Mr. Xiao, but it seems to be a girl dressed in men's clothes? She and the clan aunt are called sisters, and they can be regarded as the elders of the students."

"Can you tell me more about their whereabouts?"

"The commander-in-chief is really harmless?"

"No malice, that's my friend."

"Well, they wanted to go to Chang'an, but they encountered Tongguan blockade on the way, so they had to cross the Yellow River north and head west from Shanxi. On the way, they passed the Academy, took a rest and bought dry food, and set off on the next day. The students also only went with Wu Master Xi just talked a few words."

Li Xia asked, "Where are they going to cross from?"

"It's Pujin Ferry." Yuan Congzheng replied, "However, not long after, I heard that there was a war and the Yellow River was forbidden to cross. I don't know if they have crossed the Yellow River."

"Didn't go back to the academy?"

"No, Fenglingdu is also banned." Yuan Congzheng glanced at the forest, and said: "The officers and soldiers are strictly guarded. It is difficult for ordinary people to find a boat like this general and land from the countryside."

There was some resentment in his tone.

Lin Zi grinned.

Li Xia asked again: "What else do you know?"

"What's more... only two days after they left, people from Shuntian Zhang's family went to the academy to investigate, or took them back... The students know that's all."

Li Xia felt a little regretful.

Thinking about it, if Zhang Hongdao sent someone to catch up with Zhang Wenjing, it was also possible to take her back to Baozhou from Shanxi.

As for Zhang Hongdao's letter, it is likely that he had learned that his sister was going to Shanxi, so he boldly wrote to question Shang Ting.

——"Sister She left home in June and searched along the way. She only went to Shanxi to send the Yuan family back home. What is the relationship with Li Xia? If the daughter of the Zhang family in Luoning is not in Jingzhao today, where will she return? Shang Gong seized her What do you want to do? Suspect the Zhang family?"

It probably means something like this, no wonder the tone is so harsh.

Therefore, Lian Xixian burned half of the letter.

as predicted.

Thinking of this, Li Xia deeply hated Lian Xixian's cunning, but could also feel the other party's helplessness...

At that time, the situation of Lian Xixian was in a mess, and he abandoned Guanzhong without permission. If he fled, his whole family would be implicated.To make a comeback, he must kill Li Xia, and at the same time must defend Tongguan to preserve the possibility of counterattack, then he can only hide the rare soldiers in Huashan, and then force him to Huashan.

But it is impossible for him to be stupid enough to attack Huashan.Therefore, Lian Xixian deliberately left the Taoist priest to point out the trail for him to create a sneak attack, and then used this half of the broken letter to try to provoke him.

It's not a powerful method, but it's the only way. Others might have committed suicide and apologized to protect the family. Lian Xixian made a hasty arrangement, but it almost succeeded.

If I had been more impulsive then...

It doesn't matter, the other party is dead.

Li Xia retracted her thoughts and felt a lot more relieved.

Although he had already guessed that Zhang Wenjing was fine, he would inevitably be afraid of what might happen when making decisions before, but now he finally felt relieved.

"Wait for a while, when Guan Zhong is stable, go find her again..."

With this thought passing by, he waved his hand and asked someone to take those scholars down.

……

"Marshal, do you want to continue the investigation?"

"We have never arranged spies in Shanxi, have we?"

"Yes." Lin Zi said: "But what Yuan Congzheng said is indeed true. Our people asked all the way, and the girl from the Zhang family did pass through Jiufeng Academy."

"Well, I mean, continue to investigate, but you should be careful, and you can also infiltrate Shanxi... Forget it, don't need it for the time being, just go after Wen Jing, and then withdraw it, and talk about it after the Guanzhong is stabilized."

Li Xia rubbed his forehead again, finally feeling exhausted.

Taking Guanzhong and subduing Liu Heima will go smoothly.

But the smoother it is, the more troublesome the follow-up will be. The people's hearts are not supported, the troops are insufficient, and the meticulous work is rampant... and Song Ting's strength cannot be relied on.

You can't rely heavily on Song Ting. The most intuitive point is that none of the officials belonging to Song Ting under your hand can be used.

The 24 prefectures in the three prefectures of Guanzhong are twice as large as Hanzhong, and the population is more than three or four times larger.

What is this concept?With one-fifth of the number of officials in Hanzhong, Guanzhong is governed by two or three times.

It's far from time to talk about anything else.

Stability overwhelms everything, and it would be nice to be able to stand still within a year.

This is why Li Xia is most afraid of Lian Xixian's secret work. Fortunately, Lian Xixian has made arbitrarily asserted claims many times, and his crimes are too great. He can only kill Li Xia for quick victory, and there is no chance of long-term latent damage.

This is also why Li Xia is willing to go to Huashan to settle the matter, to settle it early, and to feel at ease early...

"In this way, the scholars who are 'invited' back this time will send someone to bring back their small capitals, and check their foundations."

"Yes."

"In the Tongguan and Huazhou areas, notices are also posted. I want to enrich the shogunate. Talented people can go to Tongguan to apply."

Lin Zi asked: "The commander-in-chief will stay in Tongguan for a long time?"

"We have to wait for the defenders from all over the country to come over. You can't be careless along the Yellow River. There are three old people and Liu Yuanzhen in Chang'an, so I can rest assured..."

"Understood, we must find Miss Zhang's family as soon as possible."

Li Xia smiled, and said, "Go ahead... By the way, give this policy paper to those scholars."

~~
In the past, Li Xia always thought that the imperial examination was unbearable, but recently he discovered that the imperial examination is indeed the most suitable for selecting talents these days.

Aside from that, the policy theory of the Song Dynasty is not the kind of rotten Confucianism he imagined, and it is quite practical.

At least, let him think of a new method suitable for this era. It is nothing more than opening more colleges.

Therefore, the way he screens talents recently is just to throw away a strategy.

The topic this time is not new. In the fourth year of Xingchang, after hearing about Yunsun's policy topic, it was changed to asking how to make Guanzhong prosperous and strong.

Taking a quick glance the next day, among the few scholars in Jiufeng Academy, Yuan Congzheng's knowledge was a little too bright.

Li Xia was surprised for a moment, and recruited him again.

"I didn't expect Heyi to be so talented... Sit down."

"Thank you sir."

Seeing that Li Xia was much more enthusiastic than yesterday, Yuan Congzheng seemed a little puzzled, but sat down honestly.

Li Xia only took a closer look today. Yuan Congzheng's behavior was indeed not simple. Under the hesitation and panic, he was clearly calm and confident.

There was some appreciation in his eyes, and he asked, "How old is Heyi?"

"Commander, twenty and four."

"You are so talented, you have never been an official? It's a pity that Mongolia doesn't know how to employ soldiers."

Yuan Congzheng bowed slightly, and said: "There is no imperial examination in Mongolia today, so there are virtuous people in the village. As for the students, they have little talent and little learning, and they have lived in remote villages for a long time. They should not be officials."

"I heard that Mr. Yishan refused to be an official since the death of Jin. Is this the clan motto?"

"It's not a family motto. The ancestors of the clan also went to Kublai Khan in their later years, asking him to be the 'great master of Confucianism' and urging him to appoint Confucian scholars to govern the country."

Li Xia said: "Speaking of the Yuan family, I have a family, and her grandfather tabooed 'good ancient', so I said yesterday that we are related."

He mentioned it yesterday, just for the sake of An Yuan's righteousness, and he didn't have the time to chat.Today I saw his talent and learning, and mentioning it again is already a solicitation.

It can only be said that if you want people to look at you with admiration, it depends on your ability after all.

"So that's how it is!" Yuan Congzheng thought about it slightly, and said, "The student was still thinking about it last night, is that... Aunt Aluan's daughter? The Han family?"

"It's the Han family."

When Yuan Congzheng heard the words, his expression became more familiar, as if he wanted to step forward, and saw two guards holding swords standing behind Li Xia, and was afraid of Li Xia's prestige, so he sat down again, deeply moved.

"The old country is shattered, and the relatives are scattered."

"Central Plains says it's big, it's big, and it's small." Li Xia raised his hand and asked Yuan Congzheng to drink tea, saying, "Isn't this a coincidence?"

"It can only be said that there are few scholars in the north, and all families have marriages." Yuan Congzheng sighed: "In ancient times, the world has fought against each other. In terms of ancestors, isn't it all those families?"

"That's right." Li Xia said about the policy papers on the table, and said, "He Yi knows Guan Zhong well?"

"After all, there is only a big river across." Yuan Congzheng said: "If you say I understand, I know Shanxi better, and the situation is almost the same."

Li Xia said: "I once heard that when Lian Xixian proclaimed Guanzhong, he first advocated government education and educated talents as his fundamental plan. At that time, I didn't know why, but now that he took Guanzhong, I realized that he was far-reaching. To govern Guanzhong, what is lacking is not fields. It’s the talent, the talent of Anbang Xingye. The first sentence of Heyi’s policy theory hits the nail on the head and is very insightful..."

"Commander, please forgive the student's presumptuousness." Yuan Congzheng straightened his sleeves and asked seriously: "The commander is the commander of Song Tingyu, and the student is from Mongolia. I don't know if the commander is..."

"I just want to invite Heyi to work in my shogunate."

"This……"

"But worry about the family? I have ordered someone to pick it up."

"That's not the case. The student's parents died early and have not yet married. There are no close relatives in the family."

"Then why worry?"

Yuan Congzheng said: "Students just... haven't thought about it yet."

Li Xia asked again: "Since that's the case, why did you answer my policy?"

"Students think they can go back if they do the right thing... Well, it's actually a temporary itch, and I'm happy to see the problem."

The two stared at each other for a long time.

Finally, Li Xia said: "I sincerely invite you to help me."

Yuan Congzheng pondered for a while, and replied: "If the student is in the Marshal's shogunate, he will be a member of the North Returnee. It may affect the Marshal's career. Why don't you... let it go? Marshal, please let the students go back for the sake of the Yuan family's favor." .”

"It won't affect my official career, and I can assure you that your status as a native of Beigui will never affect your future."

"However, students dare not compare themselves to Xin Qiji."

"Are you determined to go back?"

"Yes."

"Well, I can't force this matter, I will arrange a boat to take you back to Jiufeng Academy."

"But I don't know among my classmates..."

Li Xia said: "They are all willing to stay, after all, the family has already sent someone to pick them up."

Yuan Congzheng was slightly taken aback, and bowed to the ground.

"Thank you, handsome..."

~~
The north of Tongguan faces the Yellow River, and the north gate is called "Sucking Flood Gate". Standing at the top of the gate, Linzi can see the rushing water of the Yellow River.

As soon as the lookout was moved, several spies were leading Yuan Congzheng towards the South Bank Ferry.

"Master, didn't you say that this is a great talent? Why did you let him go again? He was caught and released, caught and released..."

Lin Zidao: "Who said we should let him go? The commander wants to 'earn him up the mountain'. When we reach the north bank, let the enemy soldiers find out on purpose? Let this scholar show his face in front of the Mongolian people together with our people. He If you can’t go back, you can be used by the commander.”

"It's not the same if it's closed for a few days. Why do you need to do this?"

"You don't understand, the commander-in-chief has to test it out before he can make good use of him, while you go..."

Lin Zi raised his binoculars to look towards the Yellow River, tapped on the battlements with one hand, waited for a while, and waited for the ship to go north, then went to see Li Xia again.

I saw that Li Xia was still reading the policy theory, and at the same time he was taking notes with a pen. He seemed to have benefited a lot, and when he saw someone coming in, he sighed with emotion.

"I still have to learn from him, live and learn..."

"Master, the arrangements are made."

"Well, those scholars of Jiufeng Academy don't need to check any more, that's all."

"Isn't it... the ones brought back from the north that don't make it clear? The 'background investigation' that the commander-in-chief said..."

Li Xia said lightly: "Compared to his talent, this little thing is not important."

"Yes."

"Go and get busy." Li Xia waved his hand, mocking himself: "I have to prepare again, to express my ambition to others..."

(End of this chapter)