The horses galloped happily for more than ten miles, and the speed gradually slowed down, Fu Xiaoyin wanted to chat with Bai Yutian and walked side by side.

Bai Yutian saw that although General Na Di had tattoos on his face, he didn't see Hu Wei, and he got along well with the soldiers, like brothers, he couldn't help but be curious, and asked, "Brother Xiaoyin, what is the origin of this General Di?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied with a smile: "General Di, whose name is Di Qing, is Hanchen, and he is from Xihe County, Fenzhou. Enlisted in the army at a young age, good at riding and shooting, brave in combat, and repeatedly made meritorious contributions, he was valued by the deputy envoy Fan of Jingluo and appeased, and was able to carry it. ”

Tattooing on the face, one of the five punishments in ancient times, is called "黥 punishment" or "ink punishment".

Bai Yutian saw that there were tattoos on Di Qing's face, and wondered in his heart if he had committed something before and violated the laws of the Great Song Dynasty. It's not good to ask directly, so he said very tactfully: "General Di's face is tattooed, but what's the point?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin said: "I don't know about this. However, listening to the Zhang Zai brother, the tattoo on the soldier's face seems to have originated from Zhu Wen, the Taizu of Liang who destroyed the Tang Dynasty, and it is still used today. ”

Bai Yutian felt that tattooing words on the soldier's face was tantamount to beating the soldier into the ranks of prisoners, just because the soldier took off his military uniform and walked in the crowd like an ordinary person. So he said: "I have only heard of tattooing on the faces of prisoners, and this kind of corporal punishment that inflicts great mental humiliation on soldiers who defend their homes and countries, why is this?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin said: "I heard Brother Zhang Zai say that Liang Taizu Zhu Wen is extremely brutal and often kills innocents indiscriminately. In order to ensure that his army had strong combat effectiveness, he stipulated that if an officer at the rank of general died in battle, the officers and men directly under his command must be killed in battle, and if they survived, they would also be killed. Sometimes, even if a battle is won, because the general dies in battle, the junior officers and soldiers cannot escape death. This rule plunged all soldiers into terror, and when a general was killed in battle, the junior officers and soldiers had no intention of fighting again, and began to flee in large numbers. In order to prevent the soldiers from escaping, Zhu Wen thought of a poisonous trick and tattooed words on the soldiers' faces. In this way, even if the soldier escapes, he can easily be captured because of the tattoos on his face. Zhu Wen put an end to the Tang Dynasty, and although the established Houliang died out within a few years, tattooing words on soldiers' faces became widely popular from then on. ”

Bai Yutian said: "Zhu Wen is cruel and unkind, and he has no humanity to come up with such a poisonous trick. Why do you want to use it later, don't you know that it is a humiliation for the soldiers to do so? Shouldn't it? ”

Fu Xiaoyin said: "I heard Brother Zhang Zai say that in the late Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns were divided, the melee was non-stop, the people were in dire straits, the people were not happy, and they were extremely disgusted with war. In order to ensure the size of the army, the separatist forces of various feudal towns stabbed young and middle-aged people into soldiers, and the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties followed one after another, and even Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, also had tattoos on his body. However, the Great Song Dynasty was better, and it was only prevalent in the forbidden army, and it was only carried out on those soldiers from humble backgrounds. ”

Bai Yutian asked, "Listen to what you said, is General Di from the forbidden army?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied with a smile: "I heard from Third Brother Wu that General Di joined the army when he was twenty years old, and belonged to the 'Gongsheng Battalion', which had a low status in the forbidden army, and then entered the 'Riding Imperial Horse Straight', and then entered the 'Banzhi System' (the Guards of the Son of Heaven). During the Baoyuan period (1038), Yuanhao of Western Xia claimed that the emperor rebelled against the Song Dynasty and constantly harassed the Great Song Dynasty on the border of Song and Xia. The imperial court selected outstanding soldiers from Ban Zhizhong to serve in the border area, and General Di stood out in the selection of the forbidden army and came to Yanzhou Mansion with the army. ”

Bai Yutian asked, "How is General Di and others?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied with a smile: "General Di is brave and good at fighting, has strict military discipline, enforces the law like a mountain, and is sympathetic to the soldiers. He often charges forward with a bronze mask and acts as a vanguard, but he never seeks miraculous feats, only to be able to win. ”

Bai Yutian smiled happily after hearing this, and looked at Di Qing, who was galloping not far in front, and saw that his spirit was flying, and the soldiers ran to his side with ease, without any taboos, so he also believed what Fu Xiaoyin said. Thinking of Zhang Zai, he asked Fu Xiaoyin: "The Zhang Zai brother you just talked about is the young scholar from Hengqu in Meixian County?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin said happily: "Yes! Do you know him? ”

Bai Yutian replied with a smile: "There was a fate, he said that he came to Yanzhou to seek opportunities to show what he had learned and contribute to the country. Okay? ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied: "I don't know why, he finally met Master Fan, the deputy envoy of Jingluo's pacification, and presented the "Nine Articles of the Side Discussion", stating his opinions, and planning to unite with Brother Jiao Yin to organize a militia to recapture the lost land in Taoxi, which was invaded by the Western Xia, and make contributions to the country and win fame. ”

Bai Yutian said: "What happened later?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied: "Lord Fan warmly praised his lofty ambition to defend his hometown and recover the lost land, but after an in-depth conversation, Master Fan said: 'Confucianism has its own famous teaching, what is the matter with soldiers? ’”

Bai Yutian asked, "What does Master Fan mean by this?" ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied: "Master Fan thinks that Brother Zhang Zai can become a great tool in Confucianism, and there is no need to put pen to paper, so he encourages him to read "The Mean", work Confucianism, and achieve great achievements in the future. ”

Bai Yutian thought of the negative and talented Zhang Yuan in his mouth, who was abandoned by the Great Song Dynasty and sentenced Song to Xia in order to realize his life ambitions, he felt a little uneasy about what happened to Zhang Zai, and asked, "How is Brother Zhang Zai's reaction?" I wasn't disappointed! ”

Fu Xiaoyin replied with a smile: "Brother Zhang Zai listened to the advice of Master Fan and decided to devote himself to Confucianism, saying that even if he could not become famous in the future, he would pass on his knowledge and teach to future generations. Before leaving, in order to thank Wu Sange for his introduction, I invited my brother to a meal and got drunk. During the banquet, he sang several poems, encouraging himself to make achievements in his studies in the future. Wu Sange was moved by him, and now whenever he had the opportunity, he went to General Di to borrow "Zuo's Spring and Autumn" and discussed the art of war used by the generals since the Qin and Han dynasties. ”

Bai Yutian was very happy when he heard this, and said, "Oh! And such a beautiful thing, it's really gratifying. ”

Fu Xiaoyin said with a smile: "Master Fan once said to General Di: 'The generals don't know the ancient and modern history, so they only have the courage of the horseman. Then teach General Di to read "Zuo's Spring and Autumn". ”

Bai Yutian echoed: "That's a good thing. ”

Fu Xiaoyin smiled happily and said: "Everyone feels good after hearing it, now in the jurisdiction of Yanzhou Prefecture, as long as there are people who have the heart to become a general, they will keep this sentence in their hearts and put it in their hearts." However, it is up to people to plan things, and it is up to heaven to achieve things, as for whether they can get their wishes, it depends on everyone's own creation. ”

Bai Yutian smiled and said, "That's it." It doesn't matter if you are big or small, as long as you have the heart to do things and persevere, you will definitely be able to move the heavens and achieve your due achievements. ”

Bai Yutian's words were in line with Fu Xiaoyin's taste, Fu Xiaoyin was extremely happy after hearing it, and said loudly: "The soil is a mountain, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water becomes an abyss, and the dragon is born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, and the gods are self-satisfied, and the sacred heart is prepared. Therefore, if you don't accumulate steps, you can't reach thousands of miles; If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become rivers and seas. Qi Ji jumps, can't take ten steps; Ten horses, the merit is relentless. Perseverance, rotten wood does not break; Perseverance, gold and stone can be carved. ”

Bai Yutian said with a smile: "I hope everyone can follow the advice of the sage, learn less, become successful in the old, and win a 'proud spring wind' in their lives." ”

The people of Wushan Dao listened to it, and wanted to insert a few words in a lively way, but they didn't find the opportunity, so they had to let the flowers of smiles bloom all the way.