Qi Ji remembered the things described in "Mengxi Writings", and said to his grandfather: "Back then, the old master Shen Kuo walked north by Taihang, and according to the phenomenon of snail pebbles inlaid in the cliffs of Hebei West Road at that time, it was inferred that it was likely that there was once a sea, grandpa, can we also go there and see how it used to be the sea, and have a good look, how about it?" See the humble book "The Legend of the Heroes in the North"

Xin Zan said with a smile: "Many of the Song ministers, including Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Zhe, Su Song, etc., have sent envoys to the Liao State, mainly to the five capitals of Shangjing Linhuang Mansion, Zhongjing Dading Mansion, Tokyo Liaoyang Mansion, Nanjing Xijin Mansion, and Xijing Datong Mansion. The five capitals system of the Jin State, the five major Dingfu Gongwei went to Beijing. The five-capital system of the Jin State was mostly the system of the Liao Dynasty, and there were also changes in the middle, at first it was Shangjing, Tokyo, Xijing, Nanjing, and Beijing, and after King Hailing moved the capital, it was Zhongdu, Tokyo, Xijing, Nanjing, and Beijing. According to this, the Jin State once built six capitals, namely Shangjing Huining Mansion, Tokyo Liaoyang Mansion, Beijing Dading Mansion, Xijing Datong Mansion, Zhongdu Daxing Mansion, and Nanjing Kaifeng Mansion.

"With the evolution of the Wujing setting, the location of the mission is also different. First of all, there were many people in Beijing, but its road was too far away, and Liao set up Datong Post in Zhongjing, which was specially designed to receive envoys from the Northern Song Dynasty. Liao Taizong set Youzhou as the capital of Nanjing, and its tiger north mouth is the Great Song Dynasty envoy to Beijing, Zhongjing south to the north must pass through, among the five capitals, the most prosperous.

"When this line post road returns, it starts from Linhuang Mansion in Beijing, passes through Dading Mansion in Zhongjing, crosses Yanshan Mountain from Hubeikou, and arrives at Nanjing Xijin Mansion; Turn south, cross the Baigou River, enter the Hetao, and go straight to Bianjing. The road is far away, and there are more than 30 transit inns. There is a long way to go to the eastern foothills of Taihang Mountain, which is quite far from where we are at present.

"We were going to go to the Shangjing Huining Mansion of the Jin State, and the sages just said that the location of the sages to the Shangjing of the Liao State, the Zhongjing of the Liao State is not the same at all, we have to pass through the important place of Yuguan City outside the eastern end of Yanshan Mountain in Youzhou, and then go north and then take the West Liaoning Corridor, where the mountains are dangerous, it has always been the location of the ancient Jieshi, and historians have always called it the 'Jieshi Road'. We're going to be right there, so you'll be able to experience it for yourself, and you should be able to understand it very well. ”

When he heard that he couldn't pass through the mysterious place that had changed the vicissitudes of life mentioned in "Mengxi Writings" this time, he was so unwilling to feel empty, and couldn't help but beg Xin Zanyang: "Grandpa, can we go around and take a look?" ”

Xin Zan couldn't help frowning when he heard this, raised his voice and scolded: "Abandon the disease! ”

Cheng Yin and Qi Ji were both startled, and they didn't know why Xin Zan was suddenly unhappy. At this time, Xin Zan remembered that he had always been obedient to abandon his illness, and he had rarely spoken so harshly to him, and he wanted to go over to see it today because of curiosity, so he immediately came down with a pleasant face, and said: "Shen Kuo did record in "Mengxi Writings": Yu Feng envoy Hebei, follow Taixing to the north, between the cliffs, often see snail shells and stones like bird eggs, across the stone wall like a belt. This is the seashore of the past, and now the east is nearly a thousand miles away from the sea. But as I said earlier, there is a bit of a distance from us, and going around it will inevitably delay a big event, so do you have to do it?

"You still don't realize how difficult our trip is, it is not only related to the life and death of your father and your uncle and many other people, as well as the success or failure of their careers, but also related to the happiness of the people of Song and Jin. What Shen Kuo said in "Mengxi Writings" is broad and profound, it is almost impossible for you to completely understand it, you know, with Aunt Shen's great ability, just the fact that Li Shunju's family was struck by lightning consumed a lot of energy in her life, if you want to insist on being stubborn like this, you don't need to go again this trip. ”

Grandpa gave up his illness and drank it as a slap in the face, and he suddenly woke up: "Grandpa has said this more than once, even Aunt Shen also said that the knowledge of "Mengxi Writings" is not my specialty, but it is just used to find out the news, but the actual help is not much. ”

At the moment, he said to Xin Zan: "Grandpa, don't worry, I have written it down, and this book will be left for the world to be peaceful, and I will try my best to figure it out like Aunt Shen." ”

The rise and fall of the three people who win or lose are endless, and they can't be described in the book. Several people rushed all the way to the north, and did not dare to delay at all, this day finally arrived at the border of the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State Baigou River, Xin Zan looked at the river, and said: "In the time of Jingkang's difficulty, the two emperors of Huiqin were taken captive and walked to the north by the Jin army. As soon as Uncle Zhang heard this, he choked his throat and died on the grounds that he would not enter the territory of Liao until he died. He has conquered Liangshan twice, and the important people among the elders of your division have died because of his conquest, which can be said to be quite festive, but Chao Gai Song Jiang did not take his own life for the sake of his own life, and with his broad mind, he has resolved it on the spot. And Uncle Zhang's integrity here really makes us admire him incomparably, and we worship him. The three of them didn't know where Shu Ye was buried, so they bowed a few times to the bank of the original Song Realm side of the Baigou River.

After crossing the Baigou River, soon arrived at the city of Youzhou.

Youzhou, as early as the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wu was called the Duke here, called Yan, and the descendants of the Yellow Emperor were named in Ji, and later Yan destroyed the Ji country, moved the capital to Ji, collectively known as Yandu or Yanjing. The Qin Dynasty was set up as Ji County, which was the county of Guangyang County. Han Gaozu five years, was included in the jurisdiction of Yan State, the first year of Yuanfeng was reverted to Guangyang County Ji County, belongs to Youzhou, the first year of the beginning because there is an emperor relatives to divide here, so it is the capital of Guangyang State. When the Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty was restructured, it was placed in Jixian County and the history department of Youzhou was replaced, and in the eighth year of Yongyuan, it was reinstated as the residence of Guangyang County.

The Western Jin Dynasty changed Guangyang County to Yan State, and Youzhou moved to Fanyang. After the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Youzhou garrison moved back to Jixian County, and the Yan State was renamed Yan County. It has remained unchanged through the former Yan, the former Qin, the Later Yan and the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In the third year of Emperor Kaihuang of Sui, Yan County was abolished. In the third year of the great cause, the Sui Dynasty changed Youzhou to Zhuo County. During the Wude period of the early Tang Dynasty, Zhuo County was renamed Youzhou. In the first year of Zhenguan, Youzhou was assigned to Hebei Province, and later became the residence of Fanyang Jiedu. In the Anshi Rebellion, An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang, and the founding name was "Dayan". After the Tang Dynasty quelled the rebellion, it was restored to Youzhou and returned to the temperance of the Lulong Festival.

At the beginning of the Five Dynasties, Liu Rengong was called the King of Yan here, and was later destroyed by the Later Tang Dynasty. Song Taizong was defeated in the battle with the Liao Gaoliang River, and from then on he could only look at the sixteen states of Yanyun.

Liao Taizong in the first year of the meeting, here to establish the capital, called Nanjing Youdu Mansion, the first year of Kaitai changed the name of the Jinfu Mansion, is the inheritance of the Tang Dynasty style of the Han city, the imperial city is located in the southwest corner of the city, by the palace area and the royal garden group. The south is the south gate, the east is the left gate, and the west is the right gate. There are Guancheng Avenue in the east and west, north and south respectively, the east and west are named Danzhou Street, and the other is the north-south main road. There are nine squares in the city, such as Guihou, Xianzhong, Tangyin, Ganquan, Shihe, Xianlu, Jingke, Tongma, Fengxian, etc. There are many Buddhist temples in the workshop, the Fayuan Temple of the later generations, that is, the Min Zhong Temple of the Liao period.

The whole Youzhou city is built magnificently, among the five capitals of Liao, it is the most prosperous, its circumference is nearly forty miles, and it also ranks first in the five capitals of Liao. It is not only the most core town south of the Great Wall of Liao, but also the place where the south and the north must pass, and now it is under the management of the Jin State, and it is not long before the Liao set it up as Nanjing, the city view does not change, and the prosperity is still the same.

The three of them saw the high fortress of Youzhou City, the city gate was wide open, the blue sky on the city was like washing, and the mountains outside the city were picturesque, they were not only amazed by its magnificence, but also deeply felt the pain of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Xin Zan said: "When I was in Haizhou, I heard that Yan Liang was about to move the capital here, as the central capital, he has traveled back and forth between Huining Youzhou in the past two years, and seeing that the relocation is imminent, he may be in Youzhou at this time." Cheng Yin said: "Do we stop here, and also save you thousands of miles away to Huining?" ”

Abandon the disease in his heart, he has a young heart, jumping out of age, and is fascinated by the scenery of the thousand-mile journey to Huining, not to mention that he will see his father and mother immediately, so he is very worried about changing the itinerary and not going to Huining.

I only heard Xin Zan say again: "Not long after he was plotting to seize the emperor's throne, the forces left by Wanyan Kang are still more or less, and there are many people who are ready to move, and now they are facing the relocation of the capital, so they are naturally very worried about Huining, and they are still more in Huining." I was also ordered to go to Huining, and besides, we had other things to do there. "I was relieved to abandon my illness, but in the face of Youzhou, a famous city in the world, although I was just passing by, I couldn't help but go shopping.

Xin Zan naturally understood in his heart that at that time, there were people coming and going on the street, and there was a lot of traffic, so it was inconvenient to say more, and when he saw that it was getting late, he found an inn to live and rest.

After dinner, Xin Zan called Cheng Yin and Qi Ji and said: "Youzhou has always been regarded as the barrier of the Central Plains, the key to the central plains in the south and the north, and has always been an important town in the northern part of the Central Plains, and it is a place that everyone who wants to participate in the war between the Great Song Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom must be familiar with. It turned out that this place belonged to Liao, and after Jin destroyed Liao, the Jin State occupied this place, so we couldn't easily get here when we used to do it. At present, we are operating in the area occupied by the Jin, so that we may have more opportunities in the future, but our identity will be different, and we can no longer survey the terrain and investigate the situation in detail without any scruples. Originally, the opportunity for the three of us to pass through Youzhou this time was extremely rare, and we originally planned to go to the main roads in and out of the city and its back, such as Yanshan Yuguan, Juyong Pass, Gubeikou, Juyong Pass and other passes. But I calculated that the winter in Saibei was bitterly cold, the road was far away, and the trek was not easy, so I had to give up. After abandoning the disease, remember to observe the situation here and plan for attack and defense. ”

Abandon the illness and remember the instructions of his grandfather, and then from Huining Mansion and then follow the Jin court to Youzhou, the central capital, and really "two followers arrived at Yanshan, and observed the situation", which was very attentive, and was mentioned in the later "Ten Treatises on Mei Qin".

Xin Zan attached great importance to Youzhou, and continued: "The Central Plains Huaxia has a long history of controlling Youzhou, as early as the pre-Qin Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Youzhou was shared by Yan and Zhao. After Qin destroyed the two kingdoms, Youzhou was established when the county system was implemented, and its name was also derived from this.

"Since ancient times, Youzhou has not only been suitable for farming, but also because of its proximity to the nomadic areas outside the Saiwai, it can also be engaged in animal husbandry, and horses are extremely important to the army, so its status has become irreplaceable.

"Youzhou has always been the gate of the Central Plains. It is backed by Yan Mountain, is adjacent to Yin Mountain, Taihang Mountain and other mountains, its west, north, east three sides of the mountain, so naturally cut off the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other nomadic cavalry. The southeast is not far from the Bohai Sea, so that it can sit and watch the Central Plains, facing the world, and become a secluded place in the dustpan bay. In short, Youzhou is a natural defensive and offensive barrier in the southern Central Plains, and it is also an extremely important strategic node.

"Since the Sui opened the Grand Canal, shipping directly to the south of the Yangtze River, and the status of Youzhou hub has become more important, so it not only controls the gateway of the Central Plains, but also faintly becomes the gateway to the south of the Yangtze River, so you can peep into the south of the Yangtze River."

Xin Zan sighed and said, "The most hateful thing is that Shi Jingjiao sacrificed the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and since then the Central Plains Dynasty has lost this portal. On the contrary, the Liao State was like crossing the threshold to the Central Plains after obtaining the sixteen states of Yanyun, and it was easy to enter and exit, and took the opportunity to set Youzhou as Nanjing to shield the Central Plains. See the clumsy work "The Legend of Xin Qiji"