Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 301 0296 [Xue Daoguang Visits Japan]

"Your Majesty, I heard that the giant boat has sailed thousands of miles and searched all over the sea for many years. So far, three ships have capsized, but they have not encountered a fairy trail. Please bring your disciples to visit the fairy on the sea for Your Majesty!"

In Yanfu Palace, Xue Daoguang knelt on the ground.

Song Huizong sighed: "Qing is also going to abandon me?"

Xue Daoguang quickly said: "I don't have this intention, I just look for immortals for your majesty. I also have selfish intentions, and want to find the traces of the ancestors at sea."

Song Huizong thought about it carefully, then waved his hand and said, "According to Qing's wishes, I recommend Qing to be the envoy to seek immortality. Go, go and return early."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xue Daoguang bowed and wanted to retreat.

"Wait a minute," Song Huizong shouted, "Japan will not come to the court for a long time. When you are looking for immortals, you can bring the letter of acknowledgment and the letter of credence, and you can go to Japan to urge you."

"Yes." Xue Daoguang took the order.

Song Huizong looked left and right, and his favorite ministers were still there, but the Taoist priests he used were gone.

Wang Zixi died in prison, Lin Lingsu was exiled, and Xue Daoguang asked to go to sea again.

Over the past month, more and more Taoist priests have found various excuses to request to leave Beijing.

Last year, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty advocated Taoism to the extreme, but now it has declined.

He followed Lin Lingsu's suggestion and changed the names of Buddha and Bodhisattva to Dajue Jinxian, Immortal, Dashi and other titles.For example, Guanyin Bodhisattva is called Guanyin Dashi.

The temple was renamed Gongguan, and the abbot was changed to Zhigong Guanshi.Monks are called Deshi, and nuns are called Nvde, and they are not allowed to wear monk clothes.

Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi were also canonized, Taoist schools were built throughout the country, monks were allowed to study in prefectures and imperial schools, and doctors of Taoism were set up in imperial schools.

Song Huizong also personally annotated the "Tao Te Ching", and Cai Jing led the compilation of the "Tao History".

Everything, in the face of successive years of natural disasters, seems so pale and powerless.

Emperor, you claim to be the Son of God, why does God send so many disasters?
Last year, the Yellow River swelled and flooded outside Tokyo, Song Huizong asked Lin Lingsu to go out of the city to practice.

The servants who were urgently strengthening the embankment were tired and hungry, and they already had so much resentment in their hearts.

Seeing Lin Lingsu swarming out of the city, instead of helping them, he asked them to suspend work temporarily and build a high altar first.Thinking of demolishing the high platform after building it, and strengthening the embankment after demolishing the high platform, and thinking about Lin Lingsu's disciples and grandchildren oppressing the people, the servants' anger finally broke out.

Holding various tools, they rushed towards Lin Lingsu in a swarm.

The accompanying Taoist priests and forbidden soldiers were hard to resist, and Lin Lingsu fled back to the city in embarrassment.

This matter caused a lot of trouble, because the dam of the Yellow River was related to the safety of the entire Tokyo city, and Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty heard about it very quickly.

Lin Lingsu still didn't know how to repent, relying on the emperor's favor, actually backed Yun Wang Zhao Kai (formerly King Jia), and deliberately argued with the prince.He is a Taoist priest, dare to let the prince out of the way!

Countless ministers were outraged, especially those young people, who wrote letters to impeach him.

Song Huizong was also a little angry, but at the same time felt helpless, so he had to let Lin Lingsu return to his hometown in Wenzhou.

Not only was Lin Lingsu not imprisoned for disrespecting the crown prince, but he was able to keep various titles.When he left Beijing, he was granted the title of Doctor Taixu, and returned to his hometown in a splendid manner.

The upright ministers were not willing to stop there, and continued to impeach Lin Lingsu's disciples and grandchildren.

A pile of criminal evidence was brought out, and those Taoist priests committed crimes and harmed the people, and Taoist temples and Taoism wantonly annexed the land of Gyeonggi.

Song Huizong could only retreat again and announced the abolition of Taoist schools across the country, and punished some notorious Taoist officials.

Why didn't the emperor go his own way this time?
Because the reputation of Taoist priests is too bad, it has aroused too much public anger!

At the same time, the imperial court was in financial distress and suffered from successive years of natural disasters. Song Huizong had no money in his pocket, so he really couldn't hold back.

……

Xue Daoguang left Beijing with more than 20 personal disciples, and was pointed out along the way.

Although he does not do evil, and usually restrains his disciples, but the Taoist uniform on his body is enough to become a street rat.

Walking out of the city along the Cao River, there are hungry people everywhere in the suburbs.

This season is the time when there is a shortage of food, and all roads in Gyeonggi are suffering from famine.Countless people fled to Tokyo, and the capital of Song Dynasty was surrounded by tens of thousands of hungry people.

The emperors and ministers of the court turned a deaf ear and turned a blind eye.

It was delayed until June, when there were more and more hungry people, before the Kaifeng government was allowed to release food relief.

It's still the old way, recruiting young and strong refugees to serve as the Xiang army, and the rest can be given away as gruel for a few days.

Cai Jing is about to step down.

He can no longer think of ways to increase taxes, so he can only restart the Fangtian Order to check the acres of land (open source), and at the same time let his confidants oppose the coalition's attack on Liao (throttle).

Fang Tianling offended the gentry officials, opposed the attack on the Liao Dynasty and offended the emperor and Tong Guan. He was still unable to continue to make money for the court.

How can this prime minister go on?
Xue Daoguang left the capital and headed all the way to Hangzhou.

When we arrived in the southeast, the roads in the southeast were flooded again, and this year there were also floods in the two Huaihe Rivers.

Small-scale uprisings occurred on Guangdong Road and Jiangxi Road at the same time.

Xue Daoguang did not continue to Hangzhou until the flood receded slightly, but along the way he found that the flower and stone gang hadn't stopped.Moreover, local officials are still collecting excessive taxes for political achievements, and Liangzhe Road and Jiangnan Road are full of hungry people.

"Really, you are finally here!"

The eunuch Cui Hu greeted him warmly, bowed and said, "I will entrust the real person to find the immortal, and I will stay in Hangzhou to pray for the real person."

Xue Daoguang said: "The nobleman bears the emperor's order, so he should go to sea with the boat."

Cui Hu hurriedly said: "I'm blessed, I'm afraid I won't be destined for immortality. If I go with the boat, it will be a bad thing."

In fact, this guy was scared out of his wits.

Last year Cui Hu led the fleet out to sea and encountered a big storm.Of the 14 ships in total, 2 were sunk, 1 was missing, and the rest were severely damaged.

Cui Hu himself was almost buried in the belly of a fish, and he never wanted to take a boat again in his life.

Cui Hu also asked him to bring a sculpture: "This is a maiden from Fujian, surnamed Lin. After her death, she erected a temple to transform into a god. Min people call her a goddess or a dragon girl, which can bless the safety of sailing on the sea. When we come back, we pass by In Fujian, I invited a god statue, and it really went smoothly. In the past six months, it must have been more effective if I sacrificed it day and night."

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Mazu was only a folk witch who turned into a god, and she belonged to the witchcraft belief in Fujian.

It will take another three years before it is bestowed by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty on the Temple of Shunji Temple.There is no title, just the name of the temple given by the emperor, and Mazu herself has no name, only known as "Lin's daughter".

Xue Daoguang didn't like this kind of folk witches, but considering the crew's thoughts, he still planned to bring the statue with him.

Xue Daoguang asked: "Where did you go last year?"

Cui Hu replied: "I will inquire about the news along the way, and get the help of Fujian Road Transshipment Envoys, and recruit more than ten local sailors and fishermen. From Quanzhou, I met the Pinghu Islands (Penghu Islands). There are already Han people in the Pinghu Islands, all of whom fled from Fujian We went out to sea to find immortals, so we didn’t treat these fugitives harshly. We rewarded them with copper coins, won their trust, and found out that there are big islands nearby.”

Cui Hu asked his relatives to get the voyage records, and continued to say: "In the east of the Pinghu Islands, there is a large island. According to the fleeing household, there are Liuqiu Kingdom, Vaishe Kingdom, and Tanmayan Kingdom on the island. Liuqiuren Be more gentle and willing to trade native goods with fleeing households. The Mayan people of Vaisha are very cruel, they often cross the sea on bamboo rafts, burn down houses, rob food, and kidnap women."

"Let's take the fleet to visit Liuqiu Kingdom. The barbarians there are really gentle, and the chief can speak Chinese. We gave some pieces of porcelain, and the chief gave a lot of fruit, venison and deer skin in return."

"Going south along the big island, I met the evil people of Vaisha. They have black skin and don't even know how to build a boat. They paddled bamboo rafts to and from the sea. We drove the boat over and overturned several bamboo rafts at once. , It can also be regarded as an outburst of anger for the Han people on Pinghu Island who fled their homes."

"Tanmayan Country is said to be further south, but we haven't encountered it..."

These so-called feudal states are actually tribes.

Liuqiu Kingdom is located in the northwest of Taiwan Island. Because they often communicate with Han people, they are called Liuqiu people according to historical records.

The Vaisha Kingdom and the Mayan Kingdom are located in the west and southwest of Taiwan Island.

In particular, the evil people of Vaisha, who appeared many times in the historical materials of the Southern Song Dynasty, even rowed bamboo rafts to plunder all the way to the coast of Fujian.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Yongning Village was built in Quanzhou, and more than [-] barracks were built in the Penghu Islands, specifically to guard against the evil people of Vaisha.

Cui Hu continued: "We continued to go south with the fleet. We encountered many islands and sent people to visit them. Some islands had people and some islands had no one, but we didn't meet any gods. We arrived at Mayi Kingdom. (Northern Philippines), where you can meet Han merchants..."

This cargo went all the way from Taiwan to the Philippines, and arrived in Vietnam via the island of Java. Three ships were lost in a storm on the way.

In addition to searching for immortals, he also brought back a lot of spices in exchange for things. When he arrived in Hangzhou, he actually made a fortune.

But no matter how much money he made, Cui Hu didn't want to go. He really almost died at sea.

Xue Daoguang said: "When I left Beijing, the officials ordered me to go to Japan to urge the tribute. This year I have to go to Japan first."

Cui Hu said: "You can go to Mingzhou to discuss this matter with Zhizhou Louyi."

The Great Song Dynasty and Japan have always had diplomatic exchanges, and exchanges in the form of ultimatums.

The Song Dynasty issued the ultimatum in the name of the magistrate of Mingzhou (Ningbo), and Japan returned the ultimatum in the name of Dazaifu.

This is not a tributary relationship, or even diplomacy at the central level.However, for the sake of face, the emperor of the Song Dynasty often used words such as "Zhizhao" and "gift" to unilaterally regard each other as a relationship between monarchs and ministers.

There was a change three years ago, Song Huizong didn't know what to think, and actually sent a letter of credence to Japan (the only time in the two Song Dynasties).

This is tantamount to admitting that Japan and Song Dynasty are equal diplomatic relations.

But Japan is very disrespectful. Three years have passed, and the letter of credence has not yet been returned, which really makes Song Huizong feel a little bit uncomfortable.

At this time in Japan, Genji interfered in the government and pursued a policy of closing the country.Only businessmen from the Song Dynasty are allowed to go there, while Japan is not allowed to go to sea.

In order to get rid of his relatives and Genji, Emperor Shirakawa voluntarily abdicated to become Emperor Shirakawa, and set up a separate hall outside the court to win over and promote middle- and lower-level samurai.

To put it simply, the Supreme Emperor rebelled!
The two power groups in Japan are fighting fiercely. How can they be in the mood to play diplomacy with Song Huizong?
Xue Daoguang left Hangzhou, went to Mingzhou to discuss with Lou Yi, and then went to Japan with merchants.

Less than half a month after he went to sea, a man named Fang La started to rebel.

History has changed, although it has become less, and it is all related to the Zhu family and his son.

In order to build the glass cave, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty ordered all kinds of official and private kilns to pay more tribute glass.The people in Jiangxi are suffering so much that this year's Jiangxi uprising has a larger scale than in history, and many kiln workers have joined the gang.

Building a fleet to go out to sea to seek immortals has also increased the burden on the people of Zhejiang and Zhejiang.Not only did shipbuilding require supplies, but the crew was also forcibly recruited to go to sea for food.Even the goods brought to trade were extorted from merchants.

Most of the strange stones and flowers in the glass cave are also forcibly collected in Liangzhe.

The Fang La uprising was several months ahead of schedule.

However, the Song and Jin countries have not yet formed an alliance, and the army of the Song Dynasty has not assembled in Tokyo, so they cannot be directly pulled to suppress the uprising.

Fang La in this time and space has more time to expand the territory.

(This volume is over.)
(End of this chapter)