Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After gradually leaving Tokyo and crossing the Yellow River to Congchenqiao Town, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Jurchen hairstyle is to shave the front and leave two braids on the back of the head.

Since his ears were cut off by Ju Ming during his last mission, he was gradually allowed to retain part of the Khitan style.

He grew the hair on his temples, lifted up a large piece of his hair to cover his ears, and then braided the hair below to gather it, so that he could completely cover up the severed ears.

After galloping all the way back to Yanshan Mansion, Shi Liai was very happy to see that his son was no longer missing parts, so he took him to see Wanyan Zongwang.

Shi Jian recounted the entire conversation in detail, and added: "Marshal, when I was staying at the Sifang Pavilion in Kaifeng, I invited an official from the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty to have a drink. Although the man also spoke rudely, he revealed some information when he was drunk. The Ming Dynasty The emperor prides himself on benevolence and righteousness and does not impose heavy taxes on the people, but the money and food in the treasury have been used up in the war."

Wanyan Zongwang was shocked: "In other words, the Ming Dynasty may not send out large-scale troops this year?"

Shi Jian said: "At least until the new grain is harvested."

"Hmph, they can harvest new grains, but I can't do it here?" Wanyan Zongwang smiled confidently, but his smile seemed a bit strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Last year, there was a forced requisition of grain and soldiers, and there was another rebellion this spring. Although the rebellion was easily put down, these incidents seriously affected the agricultural production in the land of Youyan.

Shi Liai persuaded him to move his ministries back to Liaodong, but due to the severe shortage of food, many people would starve to death due to the sudden move, and who knows how many rebellions would be aroused.

The Kingdom of Jin likes to divide and migrate various ethnic groups, but rarely makes adequate preparations for migration. Every migration is a journey of blood and tears.

After discussing with Shi Liai, Wanyan Zongwang walked towards the Buddhist hall in the inner house.

Inside the Buddhist hall, Yelu Yuliyan was worshiping the Buddha and chanting sutras. She was the third daughter of Emperor Tianzuo and was titled Princess of Shu. After being captured, she was occupied by Wanyan Zongwang.

Yu Liyan also has five sisters, two of whom are even minors.

When Wanyan Zongwang walked in, Yu Liyan was still chanting sutras. He didn't bother, but sat cross-legged on the futon with his eyes closed, listening to the sound of chanting sutras and relaxing.

This murderous marshal of the Jin Kingdom not only practiced Buddhism, but was also known as the "Bodhisattva Prince".

Kindness and kindness are all contrasted.

Compared to Wanyan Zonghan who was arrogant and domineering and cruel in his methods, Wanyan Zongwang was more receptive to opinions, and he was also relatively gentle to the returned civilian officials and virtuous corporals, and to his subordinates. In this case, how can he not be the "Bodhisattva Prince"?

Shi Liai initially followed Wanyan Zonghan. He found that Wanyan Zonghan was headstrong, so he found an excuse to resign and return home.

A few years later, Shi Liai met Wanyan Zongwang. After a conversation, he immediately surrendered and believed that the "Bodhisattva Prince" was the enlightened master.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The sound of wooden fish in the Buddhist hall was endless, and the content of the scriptures made Wanyan Zongwang forget his worries. He once again thought about how to deal with the firearms of the Ming army.

But I really can’t think of it, that thing is too ahead of its time.

Even hundreds of years later, the Qing Dynasty's carriages could only block small cannons such as the Crouching Tiger Cannon. If it encounters the Ming Army's Weiyuan Cannon (a wrought iron field cannon with a range of two miles), the carriage will be smashed into pieces in minutes.

In the evening, Shili Ai held one thing and came to see him urgently.

"What is this?" Wanyan Zongwang asked in confusion.

Shi Liai said: "People of the Ming Dynasty call them telescopes, telescopes, and ten-mile mirrors."

When the Jin soldiers withdrew from Hebei last year, they left behind some spies, mainly Han people from the north.

These Han people who originally lived in the Liao Kingdom fled into the Song border in large numbers when the Liao Kingdom fell. After Song Huizong spent money to buy Youyan, he moved tens of thousands of northern Han refugees back to Youzhou, but many still stayed in Hebei for resettlement and reclamation.

Some of them helped the Jin soldiers invade the south, but most of them farmed the land honestly and were exploited by the puppet court.

Wanyan Zongwang asked: "How many of those Han people in the north sent back the news?"

Shi Liai said: "It's just a few people."

Shi Liai left more than a hundred spies last year, kidnapped all their families, and ordered them to lurk within the borders of the Ming Dynasty.

But these people were resettled by the Ming Dynasty to farm, and they were also encouraged to start families with female refugees. Seeing that they can live a stable life, most of the spies have given up and are willing to be ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty.

Only a handful of people still cared about their abducted parents, wives and children, and risked beheading to deliver news to Shi Liai.

Wanyan Zongwang held the telescope and studied it over and over: "How to use this?"

Shi Liai said: "The big end faces the object outward, and the small end is close to the eyes. When looking at a distance, the lens tube can be stretched and contracted until the scenery is clearly seen."

Wanyan Zongwang climbed up to the pavilion, used a telescope to observe the houses in the distance, and soon said happily: "With this sharp weapon, in battle, you can command from miles away!"

Shi Liai said: "The person who sent back the message was a craftsman who could write and do calculations. He had lived in Guangxin for several years and was employed by an appraisal shop. The Eight-Character Army of the Ming Dynasty moved to Guangxin, and one general's telescope was broken. After seeing the telescope, he took it to a telescope shop for polishing and repair. The man observed secretly and asked the craftsman responsible for the repair, and finally found out the structure of the telescope. Based on what he said in the letter, I selected craftsmen to polish it for two months, and finally made this kind of telescope. come out."

This was obviously due to the imperfect logistics of the Ming army. It had not yet had time to set up an ordnance factory in Xinfu, Hebei, and the craftsmen who accompanied the army also returned to their hometowns.

According to the craftsmen, the Ministry of War is arranging for them to move north. Last year, the craftsmen were allowed to go home for the New Year and discussed the relocation with their families.

Wanyan Zongwang played with his binoculars, feeling happy but then worried: "There were firearms before, but now there are telescopes. I heard that the Pingyi Cannon (Hui Hui Cannon) was also made by Prince Zhu. How many good things does the Ming army have?"

Shi Liai said: "I really don't know."

"What is the background of Prince Zhu?" Wanyan Zongwang asked, "How can he, a Jinshi of the Song Dynasty, create things like a craftsman?"

Shi Liai said: "When I was in Zhending Mansion, I heard Huang Qianshan talk about it. Huang Qianshan once served as an official on Lizhou Road in the Song Dynasty. Yangzhou, the hometown of the Zhu family and his son, was also under the jurisdiction of Lizhou Road. There were Zhu people in the area. There are many rumors about his family. The most widely circulated theory is that Emperor Zhu met an immortal when he went to sea and obtained three volumes of the Book of Heaven."

"Three volumes of the Book of Heaven?" Wanyan Zong hoped to believe in Buddhism and was doubtful about this.

Shi Liai said: "One volume of the heavenly book is called the "Book of Agriculture", which records all kinds of farming affairs, which can make the world have good weather. The other volume of the heavenly book is called the "Book of War", which records all kinds of military matters. Firearms and cannons are also written in the book. . There is also a volume of heavenly book called "Book of Tao", which records all kinds of Taoist methods. If you practice well, you can ascend to immortality."

This kind of messy rumors were made up by Huang Qianshan based on folk rumors in Hanzhong and then added some fuel and jealousy by himself.

The purpose is simple. The more Huang Qianshan boasts about the Zhu family and his son, the more the Jin Kingdom will pay more attention to supporting the puppet court.

Wanyan Zongwang sneered: "If Prince Zhu has really learned Taoism, he can just call the wind and rain on the battlefield, but does he need to use firearms to fight?"

"It is indeed nonsense," Shi Liai said, "but the civil servants of Zhending Mansion all said that Emperor Zhu had presented a large Ganoderma lucidum to the Emperor of Song before he launched his army. That Ganoderma lucidum was as big as a millstone, and everyone in Kaifeng knew about it. .”

Wanyan Zongwang was suddenly a little scared. He was scared of being hit by firearms, and now he is always suspicious.

The next day, Wanyan Zongwang summoned Liu Yu and asked, "Have you ever met Emperor Zhu and Prince Zhu of the Ming Dynasty?"

Liu Yu knelt down and said: "When the Zhu family and his son were officials in Kaifeng, the junior minister happened to be demoted to Liang Zhejiang by Emperor Song. After the junior minister returned to Beijing, Prince Zhu had been sent out as the prefect of Puzhou. Although Emperor Zhu was still in the capital, , but it is difficult to see him when he lives in seclusion, and he is summoned into the palace when he goes out occasionally. I only met Emperor Zhu once when he was offering sacrifices in the outskirts of the Song Dynasty."

Wanyan Zongwang asked again: "What's so magical about Emperor Zhu in Kaifeng?"

Liu Yu carefully recalled: "This man contributed the art of rejuvenation, so the Emperor of the Song Dynasty searched for folk glass and built a glazed cave in Genyue. I once heard someone say that even if there is three feet of snow in winter, the glazed cave will still be warm. Like mid-spring.”

Wanyan Zongwang asked, "Can you see it in person?"

Liu Yu said: "I was not favored by the Song Emperor at that time, so I could not enter Genyue, nor could I see the Glazed Cave with my own eyes. However, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Lin Lingsu and other favorite ministers often visited this place. They all I once talked about the magical place of the Glazed Cave."

Wanyan Zongwang muttered: "Is there really three volumes of the Book of Heaven?"

Liu Yu added: "Emperor Zhu was already in his thirties or forties when he first came to Beijing. I saw this man during a memorial ceremony in the suburbs and found that his face was like a crown jewel, without a single wrinkle on his face, and his skin was like that of a young man. He He also had two beards and was wearing a purple Taoist robe given by the Emperor of Song Dynasty, and he looked like a Taoist man with an air of immortality."

"You didn't lie?" Wanyan Zongwang asked.

Liu Yu said: "This is absolutely true. Song officials who have seen Emperor Zhu with their own eyes can all testify. He also recommended a Taoist named Xue Daoguang. He practiced inner alchemy and was highly trusted by the Emperor of Song. He also recommended He was sent to build a fleet to go to sea to find immortals.”

Wanyan Zongwang asked again and waved Liu Yu away.

Then he fell into deep thought. Could it be that the Ming army's firearms were really taught by immortals?

While Wanyan Zongwang was scared, he also felt itchy and unbearable. He has been leading troops in battles for more than ten years and has old wounds all over his body, which hurt whenever it encounters rainy weather. Moreover, as we age, we have more and more ailments, and our body becomes increasingly unable to cope with its needs.

If you could get the "Book of Tao" contained in the three volumes of the Heavenly Book, wouldn't you be able to practice it yourself? Not to mention becoming an immortal and entering Taoism, at least you can prolong your life.

We must break through Kaifeng and snatch the three volumes of the Heavenly Book!

After thinking wildly for half the night, Wanyan Zongwang fell into insomnia. When he got up the next day, he shook his head and smiled wryly at himself.

How could such random rumors be true? It must be an ignorant person who is making far-fetched assumptions.

Wanyan Zongwang characterized the legend as a rumor, but deep down in his heart, he still believed it and always had illusions about the "Book of Tao".

After thinking about it, he ordered to summon the Buddhist and Taoist experts in his territory.

No matter what, let's chat with a knowledgeable person first, just to kill some boring time.

Before the Buddhist and Taoist masters came to pay their respects, a confidant in Harbin sent a secret message to Wanyan Zongwang - Wanyan Zongqian personally led 10,000 troops and went south to conquer Goryeo. Not only did he want to retaliate against Goryeo for stabbing him in the back, but he also planned to snatch people and food from Goryeo.