Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 24
"Wang Wei, I heard that your poems are pretty good. Look at this majestic Zhongnan Mountain, do you have any good poems?"

Li Longji ignored Zhang Jiuling, who was in a daze. Instead, he pointed to a snow-capped mountain peak in front of him and asked a middle-aged scholar next to him who seemed to have no energy.

In Fang Chongyong's previous life, Wang Wei was a famous poet in history.

But at this time, although he was well-known in Chang'an and Luoyang, his official career was not going well. Before last year, he was semi-idle.In order to resume his official career, he had to write a poem to Zhang Jiuling to ask for an official position.

Although Wang Wei looks talented, but now he has no energy and energy, even if he goes on a tour with the emperor, he doesn't see the slightest joy.

"Taiyi is close to the capital of heaven, and the mountains meet the corner of the sea.

Baiyun turned around, looking at nothing.

The peaks change in the demarcation field, and the overcast is clear.

If you want to sleep with someone, ask the woodcutter across the water. "

Wang Wei looked at the mountains in the distance and chanted directly.

This poem is amazing time!
Poetry in seven steps?Live creation?
How is it possible? A seven-step poem still needs seven steps. How can it be possible to blurt it out like Wang Wei?

This was written by Wang Wei two days in advance after Zhang Jiuling told him that Li Longji would travel to Zhongnan Mountain with all the officials!In fact, he didn't want to dedicate it to Li Longji at all, but behind him was not a person, but a family.

There are many bad things that he can't do if he doesn't want to.If you can't seize the opportunity, you will not only offend Li Longji, but also Zhang Jiuling who supports you!

"Nice poem!"

Li Longji applauded. His words came from the bottom of his heart and were not fake at all.As the emperor, he had no need to compliment Wang Wei.

Wang Wei bowed to Li Longji and said, "The saint is wrongly praised."

"It's really good poetry, you don't have to be humble."

Li Longji looked at Wang Wei with emotion, with mixed feelings in his heart.

My younger sister, Princess Yuzhen, fell in love with Wang Wei very much, but... there was no destiny.The main reason why Wang Wei was demoted from the capital before was because Li Longji wanted to vent his anger on his sister.

It is simply unreasonable for Wang Wei to go back to his hometown to get married without saying hello!
Now that the anger is gone, there is no need to hold on to it. Even Princess Yuzhen no longer cares about this part. Li Longji feels that it is time to put an end to this matter.

Princess Yuzhen has already given birth to two sons to a certain man!There is really no need to hold on to Wang Wei.

"Nowadays the border town needs talents, why don't you go to the Hexi Jiedu shogunate in Liangzhou and become a supervisory censor and Jiedu judge."

Li Longji sighed and said, he thought to himself, this is the end of his sister's bad relationship.

It's hard to say whether this appointment is a promotion or a relegation.

Just like Fang Chongyong's scumbag father, Fang Youde, who served as the supervisory censor before, this is actually an example that some people in the court don't like to see him, and are afraid that he will use his power as the emperor's close minister to push him out of the court.

Going to the Jiedushi to be the supervisory censor and Jiedu magistrate is actually the emperor's placement of central airborne officials in the feudal town. The main purpose is to check the account books to see if the Jiedushi has cheated on public affairs for personal gain.

This position may appear to be weighty, but it is not.It is one thing to have a position and dispatch, but it is another thing to be able to play a role.Officials airborne by the central government do not understand local people's sentiments, and if they want to intervene in government affairs rashly, they will definitely encounter strong resistance and backlash.

Not to mention that the daily whereabouts of this person will be firmly controlled by the cronies of the Jiedushi.

This kind of work is really not something that a great poet and writer who can only write poems can do well.To put it bluntly, Li Longji also knew the truth, and what he did was to let Wang Wei go to the border town to touch fish, which was very interesting.

During the Kaiyuan period, the central government of the Tang court still had very strict control over the Jiedushi. Although military rations had been entrusted to the local government, weapons and money were still under the control of the central government.This control is systematic and will not be subverted by the absence of one or two mid-level supervisory officials.

Of course, in the final analysis, Wang Wei's talent lies only in poetry, and there are not many amazing and brilliant achievements left in politics, so he can still dawdle there.

Wang Wei went to the Hexi feudal town to become an official. In fact, it may be that Li Longji didn't want to see him again, so he kicked him away by "promoting an official and transferring him outside", and by the way, blocked Wang Wei's promotion path.

As for what the real reason is, who knows?
"Thank you saint for your grace."

Wang Wei's face showed neither sadness nor joy, and he bowed in salute.It seems respectful, but in fact it is distant.

"Zhang Xianggong, what do you think of my appointment?"

Li Longji asked Zhang Jiuling meaningfully, saying that Zhang Jiuling had also recommended Wang Wei to Chang'an from Luoyang and appointed him as a Beijing official.

"The sage made a decision with one word, and the minister has no objection."

Zhang Jiuling bowed and said with a slight frown on his face.He always felt like something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.Li Longji's words and deeds were different from usual.

"The Shangyuan Festival is coming soon. This year's Shangyuan Festival must be well organized."

After Li Longji finished speaking, he saw Chen Xuanli, one of the Beiya Forbidden Army's "Left and Right Flying Cavalry" generals, come over and whisper in Li Longji's ear, and then retreated to the side to wait for orders.

The left and right flying cavalry is Li Longji's personal guard. During the first year of Kaiyuan, the Nanya imperial army, which had close ties with the foreign courts, had declined. Li Longji's former Qianlong minister Chen Xuanli suddenly emerged, and his authority became stronger day by day.At the beginning, Li Longji also asked Fang Youde if he was willing to serve as the commander of the flying cavalry, but Fang Youde refused.

"Go back to the palace."

Li Longji spit out two words from his mouth coldly, with a cold light in his eyes.

……

The emperor came with all his officials to enjoy themselves, and the hurried trip to Zhongnan Mountain became a joke that all the ministers did not dare to laugh at.

Of course Fang Chongyong, Zheng Shuqing and his party couldn't have known about this seemingly inexplicable matter.They were hurrying, passing through the Nanyang Basin, turning west to Neixiang County, and preparing to take the Wuguan Road back to Chang'an.

However, when they came to Neixiang County, they found that there was no post house here!
You must know that this is the entrance to the "Shangshan Road" which is the only way to enter Wuguan. Regarding Shangshan Road, the poet Jia Dao of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem to describe the precipitousness here: "One mountain does not end, another mountain welcomes it, and there is not even half a mile in a hundred miles." flat".

It is full of mountain roads, and the vegetation is uneven and dense!Travelers grit their teeth and walk hundreds of miles of mountain roads every time. Whoever walks knows what it feels like.

Because the road was not good, it was impossible to ride a horse or use a carriage, so the government simply laid it on the ground and did not even set up a post station.After walking through this hundred-mile mountain road, there are densely packed inns stretching all the way to Lam Tin!

It's a bit like a carp leaping over the dragon's gate.

The posture of the imperial court seems to be saying: Anyway, it is a shortcut, love to walk, not to roll!If you want to wait at the post station, there is no door!

Mr. Zheng Shuqing’s hypocritical disease broke out, and he walked more than 100 miles on the mountain road. What should he do if he gets tired and sick?
He is the man who wants to enter Chang'an to take charge of the court accounts!The imperial court is waiting for him to come to rescue!Climbing and walking is so bad, those who don't know think they are fleeing!
So with a wave of his hand, Zheng Shuqing chose to take the carriage rented from the county directly, head north from Nanyang to Luoyang, the eastern capital, and then take a detour to board the official boat at the water post in Shanzhou, and finally follow the official boat directly to Chang'an by water.

This is also the most important official road to Chang'an. Not only is the road flat, but you can also ride a horse-drawn carriage along the way.

The only problem is that the waterway from Luoyang to Chang'an seems not very easy to travel.

But Zheng Shuqing, who was eager to return home, felt that it would be faster to take the water route. At most, in Shanzhou, the Yellow River was a little more turbulent and a little more dangerous... At worst, it would be time to turn to land.

It is impossible to walk anyway!
As a result, after they rushed to Shanzhou, the Yellow River flood came not long after.The group of people watched as the river water was mixed with broken ice from the upstream. Not to mention the small ones, but the larger ones were enough to knock over and sink ordinary ships, causing deaths and capsizing.

They were delayed for a while at the post station in Shanzhou, where Zheng Shuqing complained that they should have taken the Wuguan Road.Of course, these are things for later.

After a long journey, on the day of Shangyuan Festival, they went north from Nanyang to Luoyang and then took a carriage to Shaanzhou and rested at Gantangyi outside the county town.Not only Fang Chongyong and Fang Laique, who were children, and Zheng Shuqing, who was an official who didn't do production, even Yan Zhuang, who had to go home to plow the fields on weekdays, were exhausted.

Only A Duan, who was used to running in the mountains, didn't feel anything at all, and even felt so idle.

This journey was extremely tortuous, but they had to listen to Zheng Shuqing.

Not only because Zheng Shuqing is an adult, but Fang Chongyong is still a child, but there is also a factor that cannot be ignored: Zheng Shuqing has the official customs clearance documents and official identity certificates on him.

Before Zheng Shuqing returned to Chang'an to report on his duties, he was still the nominal "Kuizhou Governor".This status is very useful when traveling. You can enjoy the convenience brought by the station without any scruples, without spending any money.

The soul comes from the modern Fang Chongyong. Naturally, he has seen all the big scenes, so it doesn't matter.But Yan Zhuang, a small official working at the grassroots level, has finally seen the "arrogance" of the postmen in front of him, and the "respect" of Zheng Shuqing.

This took a huge blow to his self-esteem.

In Datang, if you don't have power, you have nothing!

This prosperous age only belongs to certain people. If you have power, you can play with them. Without power, this prosperous age does not belong to you!

On the evening of the Shangyuan Festival, Zheng Shuqing and his party came to the bank of the Yellow River. On the one hand, the post station behind him began to decorate the festival with lights and festoons, and on the other hand, the Yellow River in front of him was frozen, and everything was silent. They stand on the boundary between life and death.

Except for fools like Fang Laique and Aduan who don't need to think about anything, Zheng Shuqing and the others all have their own concerns and have no intention of admiring the moon by the river with the cold wind blowing.

So everyone returned to the lobby of the post station and formed a table, poured red lotus spring, and asked the station guards to bring the cooked Yellow River carp, and chatted while drinking.

This carp was caught by farmers in the surrounding area by cutting through the ice of the Yellow River, and it was very expensive.Even in the inn, you can't get it without giving money.Shaanzhou is not far from Chang'an, and the inn here welcomes many dignitaries. Zheng Shuqing's status as governor is not very useful, and he cannot "free prostitute" delicious food that exceeds the officials' customized specifications.

Of course, if Zhang Jiuling or Li Linfu came, it would be a different situation.

"Brother Yan is from Hebei. From what you said, it seems that Hebei people have a lot of complaints against the court. I don't know why?"

Fang Chongyong asked while rubbing his hands while eating carp.

This Yellow River carp was grilled with a local flavor, rough and delicious, with a bit of a heavy taste, not as delicate as Zheng Shuqing's "Chang'an Cuisine" for his guests.

It's just better than fresh ingredients.

Yan Zhuang glanced at Zheng Shuqing, the former governor sighed and said: "If you don't come out of this room, it's okay to say it. Fangmin's mouth is better than Fangchuan's. Even if we don't say it, there are many people in the world who will say it."

Hearing this, Yan Zhuang nodded and said: "In the first year of Long live Wuzhou Tongtian (AD 696), Li Jinzhong, the leader of the Khitan tribe in Yingzhou, and Sun Wanrong (both given Chinese names), were dissatisfied with Zhao Wenhui, the governor of Yingzhou in Wuzhou. They mistreated them, killed Zhao Wenhui directly, and led his army into Hebei.

Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong did not expect that their fatal blow would actually trigger the spontaneous followers of 10,000+ people in Hebei. Their troops soon expanded from a few thousand to tens of thousands.

With the help of the Turks, it took a lot of money for Wu Zhou's army to wipe out this "invasion" for more than a year, and even the famous general Wang Xiaojie died in battle.

Since the losses were so great, after the Wu and Zhou armies wiped out the "invasion" of Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong, the imperial court would naturally begin to settle accounts in the fall.

So Wu Yizong, the king of Hanoi in Wuzhou who was responsible for "counterinsurgency", reported to the court and proposed to kill all the 10,000+ people who participated in the "invasion of Hebei" including Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong.

Although Di Renjie and others tried their best to stop it, and the court did not order it like this... But Wu Yizong did not relent. The people in Hebei suffered countless casualties. Anyone who was forced to escape from the bandits and escaped would be regarded as a traitor and executed directly, even in many places in Hebei. Ten rooms and nine empty rooms.

This was only more than 30 years ago, and there is no need to mention the earlier ones, the number is endless. "

Yan Zhuang drank the red lotus spring in the wine glass, and laughed at himself with red eyes: "I am a child from a poor family in Hebei. If I don't have noble people to support me, I will never be able to drink this red lotus spring in my life. Only Zheng Shijun can drink this kind of fine wine. Such a big man is entitled to enjoy it."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, looked at Zheng Shuqing and asked, "Is this true?"

Zheng Shuqing hesitated for a moment, and finally let out a long sigh, nodded slightly and said, "There may be some discrepancies in the details, but it's generally good."

He is a court official and cannot explain many things clearly.What are the facts? As it stands, many people who experienced that incident are still alive. What can’t be said?

After listening to Yan Zhuang's introduction, Fang Chongyong felt that the Yingzhou Rebellion in the Wu Zhou Dynasty looked like a "simplified version" of the Anshi Rebellion.

only:
At that time, land annexation had not completely destroyed the foundation of the army, and the imperial court's control over the army was still very firm.

At that time, except for Hebei, the rest of the world was generally stable, taxes were relatively light, and there were a lot of private savings.

At that time, the population of Chang'an had not yet expanded to what it is today, and the importance of the canal was not as urgent as it is today.

At that time, the imperial army was handling things fairly well, without the outrageous tactics of Li Longji during the Anshi Rebellion.

It's just that the Yingzhou Rebellion has always had a particularly strong flavor of the Anshi Rebellion. It was all a rebellion in the border towns of Hebei, and the people of Hebei relied on it, growing like a snowball!
From the Yingzhou Rebellion to the fact that most of Pei Yaoqing's 700 million shi of grain was exported to Hebei, these things are just the tip of the iceberg.Hebei people's hatred for Tang Ting runs deep in their bones and has been passed down from generation to generation, becoming more serious every year.

Hebei and the imperial court are disgusted with each other, which is the best ending now.And Li Longji and the imperial court are still thinking of squeezing Hebei as hard as they can. It would be weird if nothing happens!

"Zheng Shijun will be Du Zhi Lang in the future, so he should collect less taxes from Hebei."

Fang Chongyong said with a helpless wry smile.

"Are you stupid? Tuzhiro only cares about how the court's taxes are spent. It's not me who has the final say on how those taxes are collected. Besides, I'm not Tuzhiro now! You might as well tell the saint in person. "

Zheng Shuqing couldn't help but retorted.

(End of this chapter)