Chapter 155: The Twelfth Year of Yonghe (2)

In the spring of the twelfth year of Yonghe, the first month, Ren Xushuo, the emperor and the emperor. The Empress Dowager returned to power, granted amnesty, changed the Yuan, and the Empress Dowager moved to Chongde Palace. Wu Yin, the Xiongnu Shan Yu He Lai Toushuai tribe of 35,000 people from Dai County Danhan Mountain (now Daqing Mountain) from Yan to the north of the mansion. In April, the old departments of the Bai, Dugu clan and other dynasties gathered 5,000 people in Wuquan to push Tuoba Dai into the Great Khan, and the "chaos" was in the clouds. Du Yu, the governor of Shuozhou, and Liu Xi, the lieutenant of Yunzhong, did not pray for the army and the government soldiers to fight. In July, 3,000 were beheaded and 4,000 households were destroyed. Tuoba Shiyi was frightened, and the general's mansion begged for sin. King Ming released it, and the letter was as old as before.

- quotes the introduction

Xue Zan, Quan Yi, Jiang Gan, and Miao Song traveled together, chartered three stagecoaches and continued to walk west, and soon followed the official road to Pusaka. Looking at the two chain pontoon bridges, Xue Zan and Quan Yi, who had never seen the "world", were shocked again. Although Jiang Gan and Miao Song, who had seen it twice, were not so shocked, standing in front of these two pontoon bridges that were divided into left, east, right and west, the two of them couldn't help but shake their heads, and secretly sighed in their hearts for the strength and wealth of Beifu.

These two pontoon bridges are not far apart, they are made of twenty-six boats connected by two iron chains, more than three zhang wide, and each bridge is a single row, the bridge above is westbound, the bridge below is eastbound, and the bridge deck is also divided into two sides, pedestrians on the left, horse-drawn carriages on the right.

Under the command of the sergeant of the Beifu Navy who was guarding the bridge, Xue Zan and the other four got off the stagecoach with their entourage, mixed with the pedestrians and walked on the westbound pontoon bridge, while several entourages followed closely. There are a lot of pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages crossing the river, which is quite a bit of a busy traffic and a lot of people. However, under the dispatch and command of the sailor sergeant, although the whole pontoon bridge was lively, it was orderly and not crowded.

Watch as the surging river suddenly separates in front of the bridge boat, and rolls up waves and laps against the bow of the boat, like layers of snowflakes surrounding it. Xue Zan and the others listened to the sound of the river flowing in their ears, looked at the whirlpool that echoed not far away, and the flying water birds swept over the waves, and their hearts couldn't help but follow a burst of agitation.

Xue Zan said while watching: "The Three Kingdoms of Beifu said that there is a white-clothed crossing of the river in the book, and it floats here, I think it's just that." The other three couldn't help but speak in admiration.

Hearing Xue Zan's words, Quan Yi couldn't help but ponder and reminisce, it was just like that, Quan Yi suddenly bumped into the pedestrian who was hurrying next to him.

Hearing Quan Yi's "oops", Xue Zan and the others hurriedly turned their heads to take a look, and found that Quan Yi was stumbling there, as if he was practicing drunken boxing, and he was about to fall to the ground.

Xue Zan hurriedly stretched out his hand and immediately supported Quan Yi, lest he sit on the ground with his butt and damage the demeanor of the celebrity. At this time, the big man on the opposite side was already standing there, and when he saw Quan Yi's appearance, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "I'm sorry!" ”

The two entourages had already hurriedly walked up, and when they saw the big man say this, no matter what the situation was, they immediately shouted: "Boy, you don't dare to 'mess' into me without looking at who my family is." If someone is good, they will immediately take you to court and make you suffer a lawsuit. It seems that these two entourage slaves were in a hurry to regard this place as the Zhou State, and the Han Dynasty as the people of the Zhou State, and gave full play to their usual "official authority".

The big man's face changed, and he was about to have a seizure, but the right wing, who had already stood firm, hurriedly spoke: "Hugh is rude! I hit someone, and I should be the one who wants to apologize. After speaking, Quan Yi bowed to the big man and formally apologized.

The entourage who had been reprimanded by Quan Yi found that the big man on the opposite side was more than seven feet tall, burly and strong, and he had a knife on his waist, a bow on his back, and a quiver. The two immediately came back to their senses, this is Beifu, and this person is actually carrying a weapon in broad daylight, is it a sergeant? Everyone was taken aback, the Beifu Army was "famous for its murder", and now it dared to fight with these fierce gods in other people's land, wouldn't it be a bit outrageous.

Seeing Quan Yi, who was dressed as a scribe, humbly and politely apologize to himself, Dahan immediately turned cloudy, hugged his fists and said, "It's okay, it's okay, Mr. is polite." ”

Now that the misunderstanding was resolved, everyone continued to hurry, and there were still a bunch of people behind to cross the bridge, and no one dared to stay on the bridge for a few more moments.

It seems that the Han Dynasty has great respect for Xue Zan, Quan Yi and others dressed as literati and celebrities, but they do not have the fear of other places. And Xue Zan and the others also hope to understand some of the things they want to know through Dahan.

"What do you call a strong man? Where is it from, and where are you going to go? Quan Yi became familiar with the big man in a few words, and then began to talk.

"My name is Han Tong, a native of Linfen, Pingyang, and I went to Chang'an to prepare to participate in the first martial arts competition in our northern mansion." Dahan replied proudly.

"Tournament?" Quan Yi was a little puzzled, and glanced at Xue Zan, Jiang Gan and others, who were also puzzled, and then continued to ask: "The strong man is a warrior of the Beifu Army?" ”

"Hey, hey, ashamed, ashamed! I'm just a militiaman, and I didn't get selected by the government soldiers twice before. Han Tong's black face showed a little red, "Later, I practiced hard for two years, but I was already thirty-five years old, past the age of being a government soldier, so I had to continue to be a militiaman." However, I am already the captain of the militia, and if I can get a medal back by luck at this competition, it is estimated that I can be promoted to a tun commander, which can be regarded as a relief for a little regret. ”

In the end, Han Tong's face couldn't help but show pride, as if the regret of many years was about to be resolved.

Quan Yi and the others couldn't help but be stunned in their hearts, and everywhere else regarded serving in the army as a helpless thing, and the rest of the countries also regarded the soldiers as grass and mustard, and took drive as the means to control them. But now it's completely different when he arrives in Beifu, such a big man is already a qualified sergeant when he goes elsewhere, but he can't become a Beifu soldier in Beifu, and Han Tong seems to regret it for a lifetime, which is also incredible.

When Quan Yi began to try to ask in-depth questions about the militia and other military systems, Han Tong didn't know anything and didn't want to say anything, and in the end, he just said one sentence: "Military law is ruthless, I don't dare to say more!" ”

After crossing the bridge, Quan Yi and the others saw the three stagecoaches they had chartered waiting for them in the distance, and Han Tong also found several other men in the same costume at once, one of whom was still an old acquaintance who had applied for the government soldier exam with him and was brushed off together.

"This is Wang Qi of Pingyang City, and that one is Lu Kang of Xiangling." Han Tong enthusiastically introduced, Quan Yi and others bowed their hands one after another, and Wang, Lu and others also hurriedly returned the salute, and the scene was lively for a while.

"Aren't you all Beifu sergeants?" Xue Zan still didn't give up and continued to ask.

"We are a militia, not a government soldier, let alone a box army." Han Tong and the others laughed.

"Then this martial arts tournament is only held for the people of Beifu?" Jiang Gan asked in surprise.

"Yes," the quick-talking Lu Dang hurriedly replied, "The soldiers of the People's Government and the Xiang Army have a competition every six months, how can they be mixed with our people?" We are only selected from the militia of each county and county, and it is not easy to compare with the government soldiers and the box army. However, it is good to be like Wang Qi, only eighteen years old, if he wins a medal in the competition, he will definitely be able to enter the government soldiers smoothly, and maybe he can also enter the Xiang army. We old men can't compare! ”

Several "old men" joked to Wang Qi one after another, making the childish Wang Qi bow his head in shame.

Xue Zan and the others, who were a little confused, finally understood. This contest was aimed at the men among the people of Beifu, and most of those who could stand out in the county selection were those who had "trained hard" for a while in order to become government soldiers, but some of them had to continue to be militiamen because they had passed the age of 35 years old; There are also some people who have just turned eighteen years old, and they have not yet had time to "apply for the government soldiers". And in order to be able to become government soldiers, these people did not train hard before they became adults.

Xue Zan and others, who figured it out, began to marvel at the perfection and far-reaching of the military system in Beifu, this method of all the people being soldiers Zhou and Wei did not think about it, and they also tried, but they failed without exception. But why did Beifu succeed? It seems to be quite effective, and on this basis, the extremely high quality of the Beifu Army is guaranteed. However, Xue Zan and others couldn't understand that the Beifu military system was built on the basis of the Juntian system, which also included a complete set of systems such as the officer and non-commissioned officer system and the military academy to achieve this effect.

Xue Zan and the others said goodbye to Han Tong and the others, and got on a stagecoach and continued westward along the official road.

The carriage galloped on Feng Yijun Avenue, and the roadside was full of vitality and a busy and orderly scene, and the golden autumn harvest had not long passed, and the joy on the faces of the people of Beifu had not faded, and they were full of energy. Under the organization of the government, they continued to overhaul the water conservancy projects and official roads in Fengyi County, or they divided into teams and tuns, and lined up on the edge of the open fields to "shoot" arrows and stab each other.

The more Xue Zan and the others looked at it, the more their hearts sank, and they all knew how wide the territory of Beifu was. Guanlong and Bingzhou are places of long-term war, but Yizhou and Liangzhou are places of long-term peace, plus Beifu has collected millions of people from the Central Plains states such as Hebei, Si, You, Ping, Yan, etc., as well as Xiqiang and Mobei, so I don't know how many millions of people in Beifu are counted. If all counties and counties are like this, everyone will be a fart!

After entering Chang'an, Xue Zan and Quan Yi were completely stunned. The majestic Chang'an City appeared in front of everyone, and many magnificent buildings stood there in an orderly manner, as if announcing the incomparable strength and self-confidence of the top and bottom of Beifu. The whole layout of Chang'an New Town is very neat, the streets are wide and straight, and the two rows of trees on the side of the road are even more rigorous, and there are various canals running from north to south and east to west, as well as the ponds formed thereby, so that the whole Chang'an has increased its beauty in solemnity.

After changing the van, Xue Zan and the others could take a closer look at the entire Chang'an New Town, and slowly go deeper into it to carefully observe the Xiongcheng under construction. Chang'an in the south is not a city because it has not yet repaired its walls. However, in the eyes of the four people, if the city wall of this extremely huge southern city is built, plus the old Chang'an in the north, it is estimated that it will stretch for hundreds of miles. Oh my God, I'm afraid that Luoyang in the past was three or four times as large as this!

Walking into the interior of South Chang'an, Xue Zan and Quan Yi were even more shocked. The three platforms that are still being renovated, the Xingtai that is being built opposite them, the large temple that has been basically completed, the main square of the Holy Sect, and the Nanshi that is crowded with people and the wealth of the world, etc., make Xue Zan and Quan Yi's hearts suffer and torture again and again, and they also faintly feel that Beifu is really not unable to recover Si, Ji, Yan and other prefectures, but is unwilling to recover.

"I'm afraid Chang'an already has the momentum to swallow the world, and the general's ambition has already covered thousands of miles!" Standing in front of the gate of Chang'an University Hall in the Gaoque archway, the somewhat dreamlike Quan Yi sighed and said what was in everyone's hearts

"Yes, every time I come to Chang'an City, I can't help but feel a sense of surrender." Jiang Gan also sighed. They all know in their hearts that this is still the unfinished Chang'an City, and the new city in the south is only 20% completed, what will happen if it is completely completed?

After settling down in Chang'an, Xue Zan, Quan Yi, Jiang Gan, and Miao Song each showed their powers, mobilized their respective contacts in Chang'an, and prepared to complete their respective tasks. After two busy days, the four of them got together again, because now they just tried no matter how useless they were, they could only wait for the results of their respective network activities.

The place where the four of them gathered was a restaurant in North Chang'an, a private room on the third floor of Zuixian Building.

While Xue Zan and the four of them were drinking, they looked at the old Chang'an outside the window, and they also said lightly about their views on Chang'an Beifu in the past two days.

Suddenly, there was a roar outside: "The golden sand beach is so strong that the mountains are shaking, and the good man will never steal his life if he fights to the death!" The voice is powerful, high-pitched and generous, tragic and magnificent. As soon as the words fell, there was a burst of applause outside, and there was even the sound of slapping the table.

After a period of chaos, someone said loudly: "Hao Laosi's sentence really has a three-point charm that shatters the sky. ”

"Don't dare to be, I listened to the shocking golden sand beach in the West Garden last night, it's really fucking happy, let's compete with those famous characters in Shangjun. After a few glasses of wine today, I couldn't help but want to say two sentences, and I was happy when I sang it. "It sounds like this is Hao Laosi.

"Hao Laosi, the people who shook the sky were trained by the General's Mansion, and the lectures in the Liyuan Opera School, how can you compare the corners of your county!"

"Hao Laosi, you came to Chang'an to participate in the martial arts competition, just hearing these two scenes, even if you don't get a medal, it's worth it."

"Hao Laosi, one more sentence." The crowd applauded!

Hearing the cough twice, Hao Laosi, who was not invited, cleared his throat and sang again: "The Han Zuo group is full of wolf smoke, and the Jinjiang Mountains are full of bloody corpses, only killing thousands of miles of chickens and dogs on the red ground, and only killing all the people for life!" The voice was sad and poignant, and it was solemn.

Everyone was silent for a while, and then there was a burst of applause, and the entire third floor was suddenly churning and bustling.

Quan Yi and the others couldn't help but be stunned when they heard these lyrics. Which one is this?

So the four of them asked shamelessly and asked the guy who brought in the food.

"This is the Qin dialect, which came from the Great General's Mansion. It is said that a few years ago, the general found many artists who sang and played "chaos" in Qin and Yongzhou, taught them a lot of singing and playing tricks, and also found many students and literati to compile many songs according to the favorite three kingdoms and countries of the people of our northern mansion, so it would not become the Qin dialect of our northern mansion. The guy replied enthusiastically.

It seems that Zeng Hua is unwilling to give up any place to show himself. He gave full play to the "Peking Opera Foundation" that his grandfather "forced" out, and then combined with the "ancient opera" of Guanlong, which was formed in Qin and refined in the Han Dynasty, and after several years of improvement and perfection, he finally formed a "new opera" similar to the Qin dialect in later generations. Zeng Hua simply called it Qin Dialect or Qin Opera, and established the Liyuan Opera School in the name of the Guanfeng Interview Department, which was specially used to cultivate opera talents as a "propaganda means".

After the Qin dialect was perfected, it quickly spread in Beifu. In this era of very monotonous entertainment life, the popularity of Qinhua opera is unimaginable to Zeng Hua, a "modern person", and artists such as "Shocking the Sky" and "Seven Hanging Rulers" trained by him have immediately become superstars of this era. Soon, men and women, young and old, in Beifu could sing or shout two sentences.

"It's about Golden Beach." The guy continued to explain as he busied. He quickly told the story of "Yang Jiajiang" compiled by Zeng Hua under the pretense of not knowing which dynasty in ancient times. In his words, Xue Zan and the four also understood. As soon as the script of the eight fathers and sons of the Yang Sect who did not know which dynasty and generation came out, it was deeply liked by the people of Beifu. The people of Beifu, who were originally instigated by storytelling and other means, were even more moved by this "anti-Hu feat" full of loyalty and martyrs. So as long as you sing the first two lines, someone will immediately pick up "Since ancient times, you have been loyal to thousands of people, protecting the rivers and mountains for the country and the people." Su Wu shepherd sheep is rare in the world, and the festival "hair" is even stronger. ”

"Behind is Emperor Cao Wu of the Three Kingdoms, singing the story of the division of the Three Kingdoms in the late Han Dynasty. Alas, if it weren't for the general, our life might have been even worse than that singing! The man sighed, and was almost busy, shook his head and left.

Xue Zan and the others sat there speechless for a long time. Beneath their calm surface, their hearts are turning over the mountains and seas. People say that Zeng Zhen Arctic will win people's hearts. Di newspaper, school, storytelling, and this new Qin drama, and then look at the people of Beifu, whoever watches it is shocked. In front of these people, who would dare to rashly invade Beifu? In these songs, "The golden sand beach is so strong that the mountains are shaking, and the good man will fight to the death and never steal his life!" Who is not timid in the presence of the people? Moreover, they have sharp knives and sharp arrows in their hands.

After being silent for a while, the four of them said very little, and the meal that was originally very lively was a little dull, but in contrast, the outside of the private room was even more noisy, and the high atmosphere was wave after wave, until the four of them quietly left.

It seems that the four of them are determined to get to know the top and bottom of Beifu well. The next day, Xue Zan and the four of them went to Chang'an University Hall to listen to the lectures. After all, they are all under the banner of "watching learning", and they want to go to the highest university in Beifu to sit down.

The first thing they listened to was the class of Luo You, a famous scholar in Beifu and a tenured professor at Chang'an University, who was talking about "Jun Subjects"

He started with Mencius's "the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light", and as an introduction, he began to talk endlessly about the king should make the world benefit and relieve the world's harm; The law that governs the world first, and then governs people; The rule of the world is "chaos", not in the rise and fall of one surname, but in the sorrow and happiness of all people; Industry and commerce are the foundation, and agriculture is the national foundation; Independence is in the control of power, and control of power is in the balance and other new theories of Beifu.

Luo You's saliva flew straight to the class, and the four of Xue Zan were dumbfounded, they only felt incredible, how could they not have imagined that the mainstream thought of Beifu, which had been famous for a long time, was actually such a thing.

Then Xue Zan and the four of them listened to a lesson by Jiangzuo celebrity Chen Yan. Of course, this metaphysics master is talking about metaphysics. Based on Zhuangzi, he deeply discussed the existence of a handful of things, the teaching of the name and the naturalness, the oblivion, the meaning of the message, and the analysis of the name. Who knew that in the end, Chen Yu pointed at the words and faintly began to criticize the former Han Dynasty Dong Zhongshu's "exclusive respect for Confucianism, depose a hundred schools" and "extinguish the evil way, and then the discipline can be unified and the law can be clear, and the people know what to follow". Chen Ju said sarcastically: "The school that detains the evil way for others at every turn is itself a heresy. However, Chen Yu finally saved some face for the former Han Confucian master, saying that Dong Zhongshu's "Poetry" is longer than quality, "Rite" is longer than literature, "Music" is longer than wind, "Book" is longer than things, "Yi" is longer than numbers, and "Spring and Autumn" is longer than governing people" There are still seven points of truth.

Chen Yan's words made Xue Zan, who studied Confucianism, feel depressed. They knew that Confucianism, like metaphysics, was not valued in Beifu and could not become the mainstream, but they did not expect that Xinxue did not attack Confucianism, and also faintly quoted many Confucian thoughts, but it was metaphysics that attacked Confucianism that was also inferior.

However, on the third day, Xue Zan and the four of them were in a much better mood after listening to the lecture of the Confucian master Du Gong. The grandson of the founding minister Du Pre adheres to the family education and is now a Confucian master-level figure. He was originally reluctant to come to Beifu, but later heard that Confucianism was about to decline in Chang'an University Hall because there was no pillar, so he "went north in anger" and came to Chang'an, Beifu, supporting a piece of Confucianism in Beifu.

In a class based on Du Gong's teaching of "Zuo Xue", although Xue Zan and others heard the familiar Yishu learning, they faintly felt that there were many changes in this learning. However, it is also relieved to think about it, in this place where a variety of ideas converge and collide, but it is impossible to stand alone (monopolity and mainstream do not mean the same thing), if you want to occupy a certain advantage, absorb the strengths of others, and transform your own shortcomings It is a natural law, otherwise you will be abandoned by the students of Beifu who are now becoming more and more critical. and was kicked out by Chang'an University, the highest university in Beifu, no school can afford such a failure, and it can't afford to lose this face, so it must "catch up".

On the fourth day, Xue Zan and the four listened to the Buddhist lectures of the great monk Dao'an, whom they had admired for a long time. However, after listening to it this time, they found that it was a little different from the Buddhism they had heard before, and it should be that the great monk Dao'an had translated the Buddhist scriptures "from the West" for the survival and development of Buddhism, and had done a lot of localization, and these ideas from Tianzhu also added some new things to the ideological system of metaphysics, Confucianism and even Xinxue. It seems that it is not easy for everyone to eat.

In the next few days, Xue Zan and the four of them had really begun to study, they went to Chang'an Theological Seminary, Chang'an Buddhist College, Yongzhou University Hall, Chang'an University of Public Works Hall, Chang'an Agricultural College and other Beifu colleges to observe and study, and were attracted by this academic atmosphere of active thinking, rigorous study, and courage to communicate and innovate, and also deeply integrated into the Beifu College group dominated by Chang'an University Hall, and almost forgot the purpose of their visit.