The brothers Xu Jingye and Xu Jingyou raised troops in Yangzhou, and after their defeat, they were killed by their subordinate Wang Naxiang. Xu Jingye also has a younger brother named Xu Jingzhen, who is a playboy who usually wanders in Liuxiang, Flower Street, Yangzhou, lives a life of drunken lamp fans, and does not participate in rebellion.

In order to save the runaway youth, he was exiled to Xiuzhou in Lingnan, and let him go to the southwest border of the motherland to work and exercise, so as to better thrive!

Xiuzhou is a place with more mountains and hills, the climate fluctuates greatly, it is prone to drought in spring and autumn, heavy rain in summer, and frost in winter, so people who come to it for the first time will be very uncomfortable.

There is Dayao Mountain in the northwest of this place, there is Darong Mountain in the southeast, which is relatively towering, and the Yujiang River and the Qianjiang River meet in the territory. Native products include longan, cinnamon, star anise, Luoxiu rice noodles, milk spring well wine, Xishan tea, Ma Yuan lychee and so on.

There are also snail soup, dog meat, glutinous rice cakes, mung bean cakes, pork knuckle noodles and other delicacies.

But these local products and delicacies, as well as the beautiful scenery such as Yaozhai style and Baishi Cave Heaven, have nothing to do with Xu Jingzhen, because he is an exiled prisoner, wearing shackles, and was escorted to Xiuzhou by the officials, how can he be in the mood to appreciate it?

After coming to the Xiuzhou Mansion and going through the handover procedures, Xu Jingzhen was assigned to work in the quarry, and was engaged in heavy work such as excavation, lifting, cutting and grinding, and handling every day.

A gentleman suddenly did such heavy work, and the fine skin and tender meat on his body would be blistered after a few days. Most of the people who worked with him were young people, younger than him, and he became a brother here.

Watching young people work in full swing, even though he has all kinds of grievances and a hundred reluctances, as a brother, he can't lag behind! Xu Jingzhen tried his best to eat milk in order to lift a stone.

Xu Jing cursed a hundred swear words in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it, for fear that the young man would laugh at him. Then a young man came to his aid, and helped him lift the stone from the other end and carry it to the wagon.

Xu Jingzhen stretched out a thumbs up to him and said, "Little brother, it's good!" What's your last name? "My name is Xiong Wuwu, these heavy jobs can't be done by one person, we have to help each other!" Said the young man.

Xu Jingzhen said happily: "Okay, thank you, Brother Xiong Wuwu, let's help each other in the future." ”

Once, Xu Jingzhen polished a strip stone, tied it to the strip stone with a rope, passed it through the flat pole, and prepared to transport it to the board car. But what should Xiong Wuwu do if he pushes the cart to other places?

Xu Jingzhen raised his eyes and looked around, seeing that everyone was busy with their own business, no one paid attention to him, so he had to wait. The overseer saw it and scolded, "Are you lazy again?" Hurry up and get to work! "Soon,

Xu Jingzhen said: "It's such a big stone, you can't move it alone!" "If you can't move, you have to move, don't be lazy, don't believe me beat you?" The overseer said brutely.

At this time, a young man put down his work, came to relieve the siege, and said, "Brother, I'll help you!" Xu Jingzhen was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Wow, wow, thank you, brother!" ”

The two of them put the pole on their shoulders, lifted the stone, and carried it to the cart. After the overseer left, Xu Jingzhen asked the young man his surname, and the young man said that his name was Ma Chongjin, and he was also a prisoner from exile.

Xu Jingzhen sighed: "We are all fallen people at the end of the world, why should we have known each other when we meet?" ”

If you want to survive in the quarry, you must be self-reliant, work hard, work hard every day, do dirty and tiring work, and accept the supervision of the contractor, as if you have fallen into the hell of stone pressing, which makes Xu Jingzhen feel painful.

In this difficult environment, Xu Jingzhen did not forget to have some fun, and his biggest hobby was to brag about his past happy times with his friends.

After carrying the stones, a group of people sat under a large tree to enjoy the shade. Xu Jingzhen fanned the straw hat and said, "Brothers, have you ever soaked in a girl?" The boys laughed and shook their heads.

Xu Jingzhen came with interest and recalled: "Brother Tai, I am also a bit of a famous figure in Yangzhou, the spring breeze is ten miles of Yangzhou Road, have you heard of it?" That's where I left my footprints! ”

"Yangzhou is a gentle and rich town, here is a place where pheasants do not lay eggs, compared with Yangzhou, one in the sky, one in the ground! It's not Brother Tai Blow, in Yangzhou's Qinglou Willow Lane, there are very few courtesans who don't know me! ”

"In the winter, I summoned a group of maiko to warm up around me, and in the summer, a group of courtesans fanned me. I ate mutton and watched them dance, and when I was tired, I fell into their arms to rest, and when I was interested, I danced and sang with them, and they all liked me! They gave me a lot of small gifts, and of course I gave them a lot of things. ”

Xiong Wuwu asked, "How do those courtesans and maikos look?" Is it pretty? ”

Xu Jingzhen said: "Of course it's beautiful, it can be described as ecstasy." How to describe it? They are all jade, like white jade, their skin is white and red, they have their own body fragrance, gentle and considerate, and their eyes are blurred! ”

"Such beauties are really unimaginable now, they are jumping and dancing in front of you, how can you not be red-faced, your heart is racing, your breath is short, you are panting, and your nose is bleeding?"

Ma Chongjin smiled and said: "Oh, brother Ren, don't say it, you said that my bones are soft, and I can't lift the stone!" At this time, the overseer came and told everyone to go to work, and everyone dispersed.

At night, Xiong Wuwu and Ma Chongjin tossed and turned after listening to the description of the jade man in Brother Xu, and it was difficult to sleep. During the day, the two of them were weak and couldn't do things, and they were scolded by the contractor!

After a year of training in the quarry, Xu Jingzhen has aged a lot, and gray hair has grown on his head. Workers usually work more and eat less, and the eating conditions are quite bad, some people have grown robes and necks, some people have become hunchbacks, and some people suddenly fall to the ground and foam at the mouth and die!

Xu Jingzhen was very scared when he saw all kinds of strange diseases, worried that he would also get all kinds of strange diseases, and die in a remote foreign land in agony, becoming a lonely ghost, so he thought about it and decided to run away!

However, according to Tang law, exiled prisoners escaped without permission, and no matter where they ran, they would be executed if caught. Xu Jing really thought: Escaping in the territory of the Tang Kingdom, no matter where you flee to, it is a magnificent skynet, negligent but not leaky!

Under the whole world, it is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister! Only by escaping outside the Tang Kingdom can it be considered truly safe. The Tibetans were relatively close to them, but I heard that they were not friendly to the Tang people and their living environment was poor.

Xu Jingzhen thought about it and finally planned to defect to the Turks to avoid punishment. Since he had the idea of escaping, he was secretly observing the opportunity, trying his best to grind foreign workers on weekdays, and surviving one day at a time.

Another year passed, because the dust in the quarry was relatively large, Ma Chongjin and Xiong Wuwu, who had a good time with Xu Jingzhen, one suffered from asthma and the other suffered from pneumoconiosis, and they couldn't do things, so they were beaten to death by the contractor!

Xu Jingzhen lost his helper to work, not only more painful, but also more lonely, more anxious to escape. He saved all his wages and saved some coils.

One night, when a strong wind blew, he saw that the foreman and the overseers were asleep, so he fled from the quarry with the coils.

Xu Jingzhen ran all the way north until the next morning, tired and hungry, and fell asleep on the grass in a wood. When he woke up, he saw a liquor store in front of him, so he walked over to buy a bowl of soup cakes to eat.

After chatting with the shopkeeper for a few words, he was very happy to learn that this was Guilin, which was the best in the world, and he stayed here for dozens of days. I took a shower at the shop and bought a new set of robes to put on, so as not to be recognized as a fugitive.

Wander the mountains and forests during the day and live in temples at night. After admiring the mountains and rivers of Guilin, Xu Jingzhen continued to go north, but at various passes, key crossings and city gates along the way, he saw the notice of the government's arrest of him, which made him restless.

When he was about to arrive in Luoyang, Xu Jing was really used up, and there was not much left, so he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks. He suddenly became anxious, thinking of his former friend Luo Zhou Sima Fang Siye and his childhood partner Luoyang Ling Zhang Siming. If these two people are found, their entanglement problem and customs clearance document problem will be solved.

Xu Jingzhen became excited, waited until evening, and entered Luoyang to find the county government. He had been to Luoyang when he was a teenager, and he had some impressions of Luoyang, plus he was a person who had mixed up in big cities, so it was not difficult to find the county office.

Luoyang ordered Zhang Siming to work in the county office, and Xu Jingzhen wanted to go in, but was stopped by the doorman. The doorman asked him what his surname was, where he came from, and who he was looking for at the county office.

Xu Jingzhen replied: "My name is Jing Zizhen, I came from Yangzhou, and I went to the county government to find Zhang Siming, I am Zhang Siming's friend and old friend!" Then he took a sachet from his bosom and handed it to the doorman.

The doorman showed a puzzled look, and Xu Jingzhen said, "Please give this to Zhang Fujun, Zhang Fujun will know who I am at a glance!" The doorman went in with the sachet and reported.

Zhang Siming took a sip of a cup of Songshan Yunwu tea, and was closing his eyes to recuperate. The doorman came in to report, showing the sachet. Zhang Siming opened his eyes and looked at it carefully, and said to himself: "Jing Zizhen? The name is a bit familiar. This sachet also seems familiar, but now it is so hard to touch it, I can't remember it! ”

Zhang Siming motioned for him to come in, and the doorman turned around and went out. After a while, the doorman led Xu Jingzhen in, Zhang Siming looked at the person who came, and said, "Jingzizhen? ”

Xu Jingzhen raised his head and said: "The official of the Zhang Mansion is too old, and he is too forgetful, even his childhood friends have forgotten?" Zhang Siming suddenly remembered something, patted his head, and motioned for the doorman to go out.

There were only two of them left in the office, and Zhang Siming smiled: "It turned out to be Xu Jingzhen, haha, you came up with this fake name!" Haven't you been exiled to Lingnan, how did you get here? ”

Xu Jingzhen sighed and said, "Hey, don't hide it, Brother Ren, I escaped from the Lingnan exile site!" I have experienced nine deaths and lives along the way, and now that the entanglement has been exhausted, and the government is posting notices everywhere to arrest him, he is really desperate! If Brother Ren refuses to come to my rescue, I will only be dead! Woooooooooooo ”

Xu Jingzhen burst into tears. Zhang Siming also sighed, he knew that helping to shield an exiled fugitive would be to lose his official position, but if he didn't cover up, what should he do?

Zhang Siming asked faintly, "What are you going to do next?" How do you want me to come to the rescue? Xu Jingzhen replied: "As long as Brother Ren subsidizes a little entanglement, just help me get the customs clearance papers!" I intend to defect to the Turks in the north. Please rest assured, Brother Ren, I will sneak in a low-key manner, all the way north, and no one will notice! ”

Zhang Siming was very sympathetic to him, recalling his previous friendship and childhood sweetheart, he really couldn't bear to refuse him, and it was a matter of effort to do a customs clearance document, so he did it for him, and gave him a little entanglement.

Xu Jingzhen was very grateful, thanked him a thousand times, and then left the county office.

In fact, Zhang Siming had several options to save his black hat and life, but he chose the worst path. He can order someone to arrest Xu Jingzhen in front of him, put him in prison, and then report it, so that he can make meritorious contributions.

If he can't wipe his face because of the situation back then, he can also send someone to follow him and go out immediately to tell the whistle after Xu Jingzhen turns to leave, so there will be no problem.

But he chose to shield and help Xu Jingzhen, and pinned his life and death on Xu Jingzhen's low-key behavior in the world, which is unwise!

Why did Zhang Siming make the worst choice? Because he learned the Confucian Three Rites, he was afraid that the outside world would say that he was a traitor to his friends and sought glory, so he suffered a big loss. If he had studied thick black science, he would not have gone to jail.

Besides, after Xu Jingzhen left the county office, he returned to the hotel to stay. He thought that the Turks were still far away from Luoyang, and if he wanted to get there, the little entanglement given by Zhang Siming was obviously not enough, and he still needed to get a vote.

A few days later, Xu Jingzhen went to the Luoyang Prefecture Mansion to find Fang Heiye, and when he arrived at the gate of the state capital, he was stopped by the doorman again. Xu Jingzhen repeated his old trick, and gave the sachet doorman and asked him to report.

This sachet was given by a maiko when Xu Jingzhen entertained Fang Siye and Zhang Siming in Yangzhou. This maiko is very beautiful, and she dances with a graceful curvy that impresses the trio.

After Luo Zhou Sima Fang Siye saw this sachet, he also asked Xu Jingzhen to come in to meet, and then the conversation was similar to Zhang Siming.

Fang Siye recalled that Xu Jingzhen spent a lot of money to entertain himself in Yangzhou, led him to visit Qinglou Willow Lane, and tasted the scene of gentleness and wealth, and also sympathized with Xu Jingzhen, and decided to repay him and gave him a large amount of silver taels, which was enough for him to eat and drink to the Turks with peace of mind.

Xu Jingzhen was grateful, thanked Fang Heiye, and then left the Luoyang Prefecture, taking the customs clearance documents and a large number of entanglements, all the way to the north.

Xu Jingzhen buried his head along the way, kept a low profile, went out early and returned late, strode during the day, and slept quietly at night, without attracting the attention of others. In this way, many passes have been passed, and the city gates are safe.

One day, when Xu Jingzhen came to Dingzhou, he felt that it was not far from the Turks, and he was fine all the way, so he relaxed his vigilance and wanted to have a great time within the borders of the Tang Dynasty before going to the Turks.

He thought to himself: The Tang Kingdom is the most civilized country in the world, if it is not for a crime, who wants to leave this beautiful country? Although the Turks are also very powerful, they are a foreign land after all, their living habits and social customs are very different, and they have to start working again when they get there, and they have to live a hard life again!

Xu Jingzhen thought about it while swaggering through the market and swaggering into a wine shop. He called the shopkeeper and ordered two catties of beef and fried chili, a bowl of mutton stewed carrots, a few plates of vegetarian dishes, and a pot of turbid wine.

His accent and image attracted the attention of the surrounding guests, and the guests at another table exchanged glances and said: "This person seems to have been released from a starvation prison, and the accent is not from the north, like a dialect in the Wuyue area!" ”

One of the guest officers stood up and quietly slipped away, and he ran to the Dingzhou city gate to check the notice and portrait of the fugitive Xu Jingzhen posted on the wall next to the city gate.

He took a closer look and exclaimed, "It's him, it's him, it's him!" After saying that, he ripped off the notice and prepared to receive the reward. The guard asked, "What's going on?" What did you find? ”

The guest officer said: "Fugitive Xu Jingzhen, I found out!" He was in the sunflower restaurant on the side of the street, eating meat and drinking in a big bowl! ”

The guards shouted cheers, followed the guest officer, and rushed to the Sunflower Restaurant. When he entered the wine shop, Xu Jingzhen was still eating and drinking, and the guards quickly subdued him, tied him up, and escorted him to the state capital.

When Governor Shi heard that he had captured an important fugitive, Xu Jingzhen, he was overjoyed, and immediately issued a reward to the guest official, and then reported it to the imperial court.

A few days later, Xu Jingzhen was escorted back to Luoyang and locked up in the prison of the Luozhou Pastoral Academy, where Zhou Xing, the chief criminal secretary, was responsible for interrogation! Zhou Xing ordered the jailer to show him all kinds of torture instruments, saying that he was lenient in confessing and strict in resisting.

Xu Jing is really a playboy, how has he ever seen this battle, when he thought that these torture instruments were going to be used on his own body, he was suddenly frightened, and confessed that his good friend Luozhou Sima Fang Siye and his childhood partner Luoyang Ling Zhang Siming had funded him.

After Zhou Xing read the confession, he reported to the Holy Mother of God, saying that he caught a thief, set out the big fish in the back, grabbed a vine, and pulled out the big melon in the back! Our Lady of God and the Emperor was delighted.

With the support of the Holy Mother of God, Zhou Xing led the officials and guards to arrest two high-ranking officials, Sima Fang Siye of Luozhou and Zhang Siming of Luoyang Ling. He was succeeded by Wei Yuanzhong as the Luoyang Order.

After Fang Siye was arrested, he was unwilling to implicate his peers, and the jailer did not pay attention to hanging himself. In order to invite merit and reward, Zhou Xing coerced and lured Xu Jingzhen and Zhang Siming, asking them to involve political enemies and domestic celebrities in the case.

Xu Jingzhen and Zhang Siming, under the service of the great punishment, only wanted to die quickly, said whatever they wanted, made false accusations, and widely implicated government and opposition officials and celebrities, in an attempt to avoid death.

During the Fengge squire and Zhang Guangfu's expedition to Yuzhou, he connived at the blackmail of his subordinates, indulged the soldiers, plundered the people, embezzled bribes, killed innocents indiscriminately, and made it a merit to kill!

The Holy Mother and Emperor received a lot of reports about Zhang Guangfu's bad deeds, and he was already dissatisfied with him and wanted to find a reason to get rid of him, so he insinuated that Zhou Xing implicated him in the case.

Zhou Xing deceived Zhang Siming, saying that as long as Zhang Guangfu was implicated in the case, he would be spared death.

So, Zhang Siming falsely accused Zhang Guangfu of the internal history, saying: "When Zhang Guangfu was conquering Yuzhou, he once privately talked about the king's ordained diagrams and astronomy, and stepped on two boats between the court and the rebels. ”

Zhou Xing was ordered to arrest Zhang Guangfu and confiscate his property, and sure enough, a large amount of gold and silver treasures and splendid silk were found.

Luoyang made Wei Yuanzhong upright, and during the management of Luoyang County, he was not afraid of the powerful and dared to punish the slaves of the powerful families who ran rampant in the township and the common people, so he offended Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi and others.

Fengge squire Yuan Wanqing is also a bachelor of the North Gate, and like Liu Yizhi and Fan Lubing, he once entered and exited the right Yintai Gate in the north of Hanyuan Palace, and made suggestions and meritorious contributions for the Empress Wu.

However, he was also influenced by the Confucian Three Rites, believing that the Holy Mother of God should not ascend the throne as emperor, but should return to power. Arouse the vigilance of the Holy Mother and the Emperor.

For the Son of Heaven, the real threat often comes from the people around him, not from hostile forces. For example, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty died at the hands of the people around him.

Zhang Chujin, the official secretary of Qiu, and Guo Zhengyi, the assassin of Shaanzhou, also offended the Wu family and were implicated in the case.

On August 4 of the first year of Yongchang, Xu Jingzhen, Zhang Siming and Zhang Guangfu were killed together, and their family properties were confiscated from the government.

Subsequently, on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, because of the implication of Xu Jingzhen's case, Xu Jingzhen, Zhang Siming was falsely accused and Xu Jingye conspired.

Guo Zhengyi sighed in prison: "A thief bites and gets three points into the bone." Those who are bitten will lose several layers of skin, and it is really difficult for us righteous men and gentlemen to stick to our ideals and beliefs and noble qualities! ”

On 21 September, the day of the execution of the abandonment of the city, four high-ranking officials, Zhang Chujin, Guo Zhengyi, Yuan Wanqing, and Wei Yuanzhong, were escorted to the Luoyang market for questioning and beheading.

At this time, the sky is full of dark clouds, the autumn wind is blowing, and the dead leaves are scattered, as if there is a sense of sorrow between heaven and earth.

Our Lady of God and Emperor walked out of the Ming Hall and stood on a high platform, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. A few red carp jumped out of the pool under the platform, causing a ripple!

Suddenly, the Holy Mother of God turned around and ordered Shangguan Wan'er to draft an edict, with Wei Yuanzhong having the great merit of pacifying Xu Jingye, and he was exempted from death and sent to Guizhou, and other officials who were also punished were exempted from death and exiled to Lingnan. Because it is indeed unfair to execute Wei Yuanzhong, who has made meritorious contributions to quelling the rebellion, and the brother of the thief!

Fan Nei went to the market to announce the edict. But time is urgent, time is not waiting, the Holy Mother and the Emperor urgently ordered the Fengge Sheren Wang Hermit to ride a fast horse to the execution ground first to convey the edict of avoiding death.

Wang Yinke turned over and got on his horse, patted the horse and galloped, and overturned many pedestrians and burden-carrying merchants along the way.

When the execution ground was approaching, Wang Yinke patted his horse and shouted: "Keep people under the knife, keep people under the knife!" Then he neighed and loudly announced the edict of avoiding death.

The executioner was about to be executed with a butcher's knife in his hand, and when he heard the shout, he and the onlookers looked back at Wang Yinke. The prisoner stood up and saluted Wang Yinke, announcing the release of the prisoners on the spot!

The prisoners cheered, only Wei Yuanzhong sat on the execution ground and said calmly: "The unknown edict is false and real, how can it be made?" "It wasn't until Fan Nei arrived and read out the Splendid Decree that he stood up with thanks!

When the onlookers were admiring Wei Yuanzhong's fearlessness and indomitable expression, suddenly the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, the sun was shining, and the weather was clear!

The onlookers talked about it again, saying that this was the result of the induction of heaven and man, and the unjust case Zhaoxue!