Late Tang

(Thanks for the reward from jl 11jl book friends. Click on No.17 on the home page, and there are only two more to go to the home page. I implore everyone to log in to the starting point account when reading the late Tang Dynasty. It would be even more grateful if you can cast a recommendation vote Endless.)

Han Zhi wanted to say more, but Li Jing waved his hand, "Qilang doesn't need to talk about this matter anymore, don't say that I'm just a small town general and can't help this matter. Even if I can really help one or two, Qilang has to think about me. That letter Zhang Nai is my immediate boss. Now that I have not taken office yet, I have used the name of King Zhao and the two benefactors to suppress him. Have you thought about how I will gain a foothold in Shamen Town after I take office?"

Li Jing patted Han Zhi's arm, and left first.It's not that he doesn't want to help the Han family, it's that Han Zhi's attitude is a bit too arrogant.Secondly, even the Patriarch of the Han family went to beg Cui Yunqing himself, but he couldn't even see anyone, which is enough to show that the teacher is unwilling to step into this muddy water.Although Li Jing is Cui Yunqing's protégé, he still has some self-knowledge. Originally, he didn't go to Qingzhou with him this time, so Cui Yunqing would definitely feel a little unhappy.It would be too stupid to deal with such a troublesome matter between the two families if it was done in a big way, and then the disciple assigned the teacher to do things.What would Cui Yunqing think of him then?Now he can rely entirely on Cui Yunqing. Once the teacher dislikes him and thinks he is ignorant, then Li Jing's life will be difficult in the future.

Losing one's real backer for tens of thousands of dollars is just picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelon because of a small loss.

As soon as Li Jing separated from Han Zhi, another person stopped him diagonally.He looked up, but it was the young man who was with the Han family outside the village before.He hadn't been free just now, and he hadn't asked this person's identity yet.When the man saw Li Jing, he immediately bowed and bowed. "I'm Cui Zhiyuan, whose name is Guyun, from Silla. A few days ago, I haven't thanked Fahua Academy for saving my life. I feel ashamed. Thank you for being late today. Please forgive me."

Hearing his words, Li Jing finally remembered that this person was the young man he had rescued in Fahua Court that day.Later, when he and Zhang Yingying fled for their lives, he threw him behind a Buddha statue, and he didn't think about it at dawn the next day.Unexpectedly, this person actually found this place.

"I'm ashamed to say that I was in a hurry and put the young master behind the Buddha statue, and then I forgot about it when I went down the mountain the next day. You were not found by those killers that day. By the way, how did you get arrested that day? And how did you meet Zhang Yingying?" Seeing Cui Zhiyuan, Li Jing couldn't help thinking of the night at Fahuayuan that night.

Li Jing dragged Cui Zhiyuan to find a quiet place, and quietly listened to him talk about the events of that day.What's more, Li Jing asked everything about Zhang Yingying, but it's a pity that Cui Zhiyuan is not Zhang Yingying's subordinate as Li Jing imagined.Cui Zhiyuan's family is in Silla, and he is an ordinary nobleman in Gyeongju, Silla. At the age of 12, he was selected as a student studying in the Tang Dynasty in Silla, and he took a boat with many fellow countrymen to Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty to study in the Imperial Academy.Before leaving, his father earnestly entrusted him with great trust and sternly warned: "If you have not been a Jinshi for ten years, don't call me my son. I don't call you a son. You will work hard when you go. Laziness is strength." Cui's family was not a dignitary at that time. It's just ordinary nobles. If you want to revitalize your family, the only shortcut is to shine on the lintel and become an official. The 12-year-old Cui Zhiyuan thus undertook the important mission of the entire Everbright family.

Cui Zhiyuan worked very hard, and finally, only five years after he came to Datang, he passed the Jinshi examination in this year's imperial examination.The news came back to Silla, and the Cui family celebrated together.Because Cui Zhiyuan was unwilling to return to Silla immediately, the Cui family sent someone to bring a letter to him for the caravan traveling between Silla and Datang.The merchant ship with the letter capsized in the sea, and it happened that Zhang Yingying's merchant ship rescued some people on board.Because the man was injured, he entrusted Zhang Yingying to deliver the letter. Zhang Yingying knew that Cui Zhiyuan had won the Jinshi at the age of 17, and admired this fellow villager very much, so she came to Dengzhou to deliver the letter to him.

As a result, this matter somehow got out, and Princess Jinman, who had been chasing and killing Zhang Yingying, found out about it, so she arrested him and planned an operation to siege and kill Zhang Yingying with him as bait.Fortunately, Li Jing accidentally broke into the Dragon Girl Hall that day and saved Zhang Yingying and Cui Zhiyuan.Cui Zhiyuan had been hiding behind the Buddha statue since he woke up that day, and he was lucky enough to escape the assassin.Zhang Yingying found him early the next morning and took him away.Zhang Yingying originally wanted to take him back to Silla, but Cui Zhiyuan admired the life of Datang very much and wanted to be an official of Datang.However, as a rule, he will take the imperial examination this year as a Jinshi, but it will take two years before he can be elected as an official.Zhang Yingying showed him the way and asked him to come to Li Jing to ask for an official position.In addition, it can be regarded as letting him be a messenger, bringing a letter for Zhang Yingying.

"If you don't mind the bitter cold of the frontier defense, I'd like to find you an official position in our army. You are a Jinshi, a talented person, and you are somewhat inferior to the garrison army." Although Cui Zhiyuan is a Silla However, when Li Jing considered that he was a Jinshi anyway, he could be arranged to serve as a civilian staff member in the army.Secondly, he was introduced by Zhang Yingying. Although he has not yet figured out the relationship between himself and Zhang Yingying, but subconsciously heard that Zhang Yingying asked him to come, Li Jing has already made up his mind to keep him. Perhaps, he can also act as a liaison between him and Cui Yingying.

When I opened Cui Yingying's letter, it was a poem written by a late Tang poet.There were only two lines of small, familiar silk characters left on the letter paper, which belonged to Li Shangyin's brocade, which was called by Xiao Li Du.

"Jinse has fifty strings for no reason, and one string and one column misses the year. Zhuang Shengxiao dreamed of butterflies, and Wang Dichun's heart entrusted cuckoos.

There are tears in the moon and pearl in the sea, and the sun in Lantian is warm and the jade produces smoke.This feeling can be regarded as a memory, but it was already at a loss at that time. "

Although many people have interpreted Li Shangyin's poem as reminiscing about his dead wife, or reminiscing about the past, but when Zhang Yingying uses it here, Li Jing feels that reminiscing seems to be reminiscing about the night the two were in Fahuayuan .This feeling can be regarded as a memory, but it was already at a loss.

So what should be done to reminisce today, if it is regret and hatred!

"Master Zhang also asked me to bring a gift to Engong!" Cui Zhiyuan's voice interrupted Li Jing's obsessed mind, and he raised his head to see Cui Zhiyuan handing over a jade pendant.The jade pendant was wet in the hand and was about the size of a palm. Engraved in the middle of the jade pendant was a ferocious shark with two rows of fangs.

"This is?"

Cui Zhiyuan looked at Li Jing with a hint of envy: "This is the Shark Token. According to legend, King of the Sea Gongfu made nine Shark Jade Tokens, and awarded them to his nine most trusted captains. Nine fleets. With this order, you can command a fleet of the king of the sea. However, this one of Engong’s is specially made for you by Zhang Yingying. Although you can’t command a fleet with this order, you can immediately go to the port of Chishanpu Take over a large ship with a length of twenty feet and a load of fifteen hundred stones."

"What? With this jade pendant, you can immediately go to Chishanpu to take over a twenty-foot-long ship with a load of fifteen hundred shi?" Li Jing exclaimed in disbelief.He couldn't help but exclaim, "Tong Dian Bing Thirteen Levels and Water War Equipment Attachment" said that warships "won the number of people, all at the rate of rice, and one person weighs two stones per meter." It can carry seven or eight hundred people.And as far as Li Jing knew, the top warships in the Tang Dynasty belonged to the five-story building ships, and the building ships with a height of more than a hundred feet could only accommodate eight hundred soldiers.Li Jing immediately went to take office in Shamen Town, which was an island surrounded on three sides by the village head Daxie and other fortresses.If he has such a big ship, it will be a blessing in disguise.

A ship of 1000 shi is definitely a huge ship. As far as Li Jing knows, although there are even bigger ships, at the end of Tang Dynasty, the warlord Chengrui built more than [-] huge ships. The rest are called "Qishan", "Jiehai", "Cilang" and so on. A total of [-] troops were recruited to rescue Ezhou in the name of rescuing Ezhou, and took the opportunity to seize Huainan land.Li Ting, the secretary in charge, advised: "Now each ship has [-] soldiers, and the rice has doubled. Once there is a change, it cannot be easily moved." Two thousand shi, plus double the grain of [-] shi, that is a full [-] shi, which can be called the largest ship at that time.

Li Jing almost couldn't help but wanted to go to Chishanpu immediately to receive his first 'warship'. Although he already knew that this ship was a merchant ship at sea, he still couldn't help being excited.It can carry six to seven hundred people at a time, so all the soldiers under his command can be loaded on one ship.It seems that when returning to Shamen Town this time, Li Jing can directly take his subordinates and take a boat across the sea.

Unable to bear the excitement in his heart, Li Jing called Lin Wei, Wang Zhong, Lin Wu, and Zhang Hong over, and immediately told them the good news.When several people heard the news, they couldn't help but beam with joy just like Li Jing.

"Fourth brother, is this ship sent by the Han family? I heard that Lanling Xiao's shipyard in Yangzhou is the largest shipyard in the south of the Yangtze River. They build large ships, and each ship costs at least [-] yuan. The Han family and Xiao The family is a relative by in-laws, and they have also started to operate sea trade and shipbuilding in recent years. The Han family has set up a large shipyard in Haizhou in the past few years. Many craftsmen have borrowed directly from Yangzhou. I heard that the Han family’s shipyard is the busiest We can start construction on hundreds of large ships at the same time, if we can get the support of the Han family, then we don’t have to worry about buying and repairing ships in the future.” Zhang Hong laughed.

The shipbuilding industry of the Tang Dynasty can be described as quite developed. "Cui Rong Biography" Volume [-] of "Old Tang Book" records: "All the rivers and lakes in the world are gathered by boats and ships, bypassing Ba and Han, and referring to Fujian and Yue before. Sou, three rivers and five lakes, controlling and diverting Heluo, and covering Huaihai, Hongge giant ships, thousands of shafts and thousands of ships, trade and return, and the day is forever." From Jiannan in the middle of the Yangtze River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to Tanzhou, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Ezhou, Jiangzhou, Hongzhou, Yangzhou, Songzhou on the canal line, and Haizhou and Dengzhou on the coast are all places where the shipbuilding industry is very developed.For example, during the reign of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty appointed Yan Lide "as a master craftsman, that is, Hongzhou built [-] floating ships.

However, although the shipbuilding industry in the Tang Dynasty was developed, ships were still very expensive.During Tang Zhongzong's time, Luoyang wanted to buy "ten racing boats, please send them to Yangzhou to build them, and it will cost [-] guan." The racing ferry boat is also a dragon boat, and the cost of one boat is [-] guan.And those tank ships and sea ships with more than a thousand stones are more expensive, and the price is more than ten thousand or even tens of thousands.The boat that Zhang Yingying gave to Li Jing was worth at least [-] guan.It's just that everyone obviously didn't know about the affairs between Li Jing and Zhang Yingying, and they all thought it was the gift from the Han family.

Li Jing didn't know how to answer for a while, and after pondering for a while, he said, "This boat is not from the Han family." Then he told what Han Zhi wanted to ask him for help just now. Sitting on the same boat, Li Jing didn't hide from them anymore.After hearing this, several people frowned and thought about it.Lin Wu was the first to say: "I think since the Han family is willing to give this big gift, it would be bad if they don't accept it. We need to raise soldiers now, and fourth brother offered such a high salary. It is impossible for the feudal government to give us so much, but But we have no other income, and the money in our hands is less than one. If we can accept the money from the Han family, it can last at least a year or so."

Zhang Hong also said at the same time: "Second brother Lin is right. A penny is hard for a hero. Without money, you can't support the army. Without high food and salary, who would be willing to accompany us to stay in the sand gate and drink the sea breeze? Besides, according to me Look, Song Wen asked us to go to Salmonella Island for the purpose of going to Feng Zhang. In this case, why don't we take this opportunity to use the Han family's affairs to pull Cui Gong and Zhao Wang out to suppress Cui Zhang once, so that he can know We are not the ones who knead, since sooner or later we have to match up, it is better to start early. Even if Cui Zhang can't get rid of, we have to show our strength."

The words of both of them are very reasonable, especially Zhang Hong's. Although he is not a military general, he has the demeanor of a dog-headed military adviser, and the questions he raised are on point.After going to Shamen Town, Feng Zhang couldn't get around it.In addition, money is indeed a big problem. If an ordinary family has a thousand dollars, it is enough for the family to live a good life.It can be used to raise soldiers, but thousands of pennies can't last long at all.

Lin Wei is now half of the Li family, so some things are naturally more for Li Jing.He didn't speak just now because he thought more.Clenching his fists, Lin Wei said: "I think I should also accept the gift from the Han family. No matter what, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how bad the Han family is, it is still the third noble family in Ziqing Town. We should still be with them." Build a good relationship, and even if it doesn't work out, they won't blame you. We get money to do things, and we only need to be responsible for the introduction and contact, and don't care about the rest. Besides, if this thing is done , that is a great favor to the Han family. Not only will the Han family remember it, but the wife of the Xiao family in Lanling will also remember it. Didn’t Mingyuan just say that both the Han family and the Xiao family have shipyards? On Salmon Island, there must be time to buy and repair boats."

"But I've already rejected Han Qilang just now, so I'm afraid it would be bad to change my words now?" Li Jing smiled wryly. I can't do anything, so I don't want to take money.But I can't imagine that these good brothers are better, regardless of whether they can do it or not, they are willing to accept money if they have money.

"Don't worry about this. If you get closer to Han Zhi in a while, he will definitely take the opportunity to bring up this matter. Then you will pretend to be embarrassed, and then we will persuade you from the sidelines, and you will reluctantly agree." Hong quickly thought of a better countermeasure, "[-] guan is too little, and Han Zhi will have to pay at least [-] guan before agreeing."

It was getting dark, and all the guests had paid homage to Mother Li's birthday. Many gentry and wealthy businessmen had already had the banquet and had already started to resign and leave.There are too many visitors today, and Wangli Village can't make any arrangements. Although it's getting late, those people came here on horseback, so they don't intend to bother Li Jing. They plan to go to Chishan Town or Xinluo Mansion to rest for a night. Go back to each house.

But not long after the first group of people left, they all ran back in panic, and told Li Jing the very bad news with ashen faces.Not far from Wangli Village, a large number of refugees are coming to the village, the number is as many as a thousand, and there are also bandits among the refugees!Hearing this news, Li Jing didn't have time to determine whether it was just refugees who came or whether they were really brought by bandits.At the moment, he didn't care about watching the theater and drinking anymore, and arranged for the officials and gentry to stay in the village.Then shouted orders, all the young and strong were on alert, he quickly gathered Zuo Yidu's subordinates, and Lin Wei and others boarded the village wall again to watch.