Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 236 The Monument of Yongning When Hanging Ancient Injuries

In May in the extreme north beyond the Great Wall, the morning is still very cool.

The whistle of the catamaran passenger ship woke up the sleeping valley, flocks of birds flew out of the woods and sang, and squirrels crawled out of their caves and stood on the treetops, looking at the strange visitors in surprise.

The four boats anchored aside on the river road at the foot of Tlin Shiji. Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and others first put the sacrificial candles and sacrifices on the rubber boat for the ferry.After a while, the rubber boat came to the shore.With a rifle on his back, Wu Kanbei jumped out of the rubber boat with another recruit and dragged them onto the river beach.After they lifted the sacrifice out of the boat, they worked together to push the rubber boat into the water.

The rubber boat went back and forth again and again, sending Zhao Xin and the others to the beach.Sahalian, Ushiha, and some villagers also followed. When they set off, they tied their Kuaimazi boat behind the patrol boat;

Because these people had another drink in Balk Village last night, not many people landed on Zhao Xin's side, a total of fifty or so.Everyone else was sleeping soundly in the cabin of the catamaran.On each ship, several soldiers with guns stood on the deck and patrolled around.

When the whole group got ashore, Wukanbei and several other soldiers began to climb the mountain to clear the way. Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng, Zhang Bo, A Miao and Sahalian father and daughter walked in the team, and the last ones in the crowd were carrying sacrifices. several migrant workers.The reason why Sahalian followed was because he was very curious and wanted to see how this "descendant of the previous emperor" held the sacrificial ceremony.

They are here today to pay homage to Yongning Temple.

Everyone climbed up the moss-covered natural stone steps at the foot of the Tlin Stone Rock. When they reached the halfway up the mountain, Zhao Xin couldn't help but stop and look around at the misty mountains and Heilongjiang.I saw that the surface of the river in the early morning was completely covered by mist like Bai Lian, as if covered with a layer of light veil.On the surrounding mountain tops, thick mist drifted with the wind to the valley below, like a fairy dancing in the blue mountains.

The more they climbed to the height of Shiji, the more they felt as if they were walking on the clouds.Groups of tumbling clouds floated under their feet, and the clouds were entwined on the dark green pine branches.The valleys and rivers in the morning are surprisingly quiet, the rivers are surging, the mountain springs are tinkling, and the birds are singing.

In another time and space, Zhao Xin had never been here.But for some reason, he was more depressed than curious at this moment.Zhao Xin didn't like this feeling very much, but he couldn't get rid of it no matter what.A Miao and Liu Sheng who were beside him saw that his face became more and more serious, and they didn't understand what happened.

When everyone finally stepped onto the platform of Shiji and saw the two steles under the ancient pine, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

On the rocky rocks, there are tall spruces and ancient pines, green grass and clusters of wild flowers.At this moment, the morning sun rises from the vast expanse of blue sea, first with a touch of tender red, and then with a large swath of rose-colored brocade, the light slowly rises from the junction of water and sky like a curtain.

The group of people held their breath when they saw the scenery in front of them, intoxicated by the beauty of the moment.

I saw the red and bright sun jumping out of the water, thousands of golden lights piercing through the layers of mountains and mist like waterfalls and bands of light, covering the mountains, rivers and land in an instant.

A Miao habitually tugged on Zhao Xin's sleeve, but it was empty.She turned her head and looked around, only to see Zhao Xin standing in front of the two steles with his hands behind his back, with a serious expression on his face.

Between the two steles is the remnant seat of an octagonal Dharani building.Thirty steps northeast of the two monuments is the former site of Yongning Temple that has collapsed for many years.In front of the temple stands a brick pagoda with eight sides and five floors.

Zhao Xin didn't say a word after reading the words on the stele, and walked to the brick pagoda with his hands behind his back. He saw many lifelike Buddha statues engraved on the second floor of the pagoda.He walked to the dilapidated stone steps in front of the temple, leaned over and picked up a semicircular tile, on which a pair of yin and yang fish were clearly debossed.

He threw away the tiles casually, and stood silently in front of the ruins of Yongning Temple.Sahalian came over, pointed to the northwest direction of Yongning Temple and said to Zhao Xin: "Go down the mountain from there and walk along the river, and there is still a ruins of an ancient city. However, there are only a lot of broken tiles left over there. Would you like to go and have a look at it later?"

Zhao Xin shook his head. He knew the place Sahalian mentioned. It should be the former site of Marshal Zhengdong's Mansion who fought across the sea in the Yuan Dynasty and the Nuer Gandu Division in the Ming Dynasty.From here to cross the sea to fight the island country, if you don't encounter a hurricane, you will be damned!
Through the moss-covered temple walls and ruins all over the ground in front of him, Zhao Xin can see the thousands of miles of wind and smoke in the northern Xinjiang of the Ming Dynasty. Distributing rewards and collecting taxes; it seems that countless craftsmen are building this Yongning Temple, and two stone tablets have been erected one after another.

Vaguely, Zhao Xin seemed to see the Cossack bandits wielding sharp sabers and muskets, massacring border residents by the river; removing these two steles, destroying all traces here.

More than 300 years have passed, but the inscriptions in Yongning Temple are still legible.On the front of the stele, the four big characters "Yongning Temple Records" are strong and powerful; on the side, there are all the words written in Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan and Jurchen!There are 64 lines of inscriptions on the front, [-] characters in each line.Liu Sheng, Zhang Bo and others walked to the front of the stele, looked at the words on the stele, and couldn't help but read aloud:
"Fu Wen said that the virtue of heaven is brilliant, so it can overwhelm; the virtue of earth is broad and thick, so it can sustain; the virtue of saints is sacred, so it can please those who are near but obey those who are far away; It has been 50 years since the Taiping. Nine barbarians and eight barbarians, sailing in the mountains and seas, shoulder to shoulder, and those who are under the court of the palace, the people will not enumerate."

Seeing the end, Liu Sheng was surprised and said: "The inscription is the 11th year of Yongle!"

Zhao Xin came over and said indifferently: "The other one is the eighth year of Xuande. It's almost 350 years old." In fact, Zhao Xin still said that there are few.

Liu Sheng leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Are these two steles still here in our era?"

Zhao Xin shook his head, and said softly under Zhang Bo and Liu Sheng's gaze: "I remember that in 1904, Tsarist Russia demolished everything here, even this octagonal Dharani building was destroyed. The two steles were later It was put on an open-air exhibition in a museum in Vladivostok. By our time, the inscriptions had long been weathered and could not be seen clearly."

"Bastard!" Liu Sheng and Zhang Bo cursed viciously.

"Stop talking, let's prepare for the sacrifice." After Zhao Xin finished speaking, he waved to the migrant workers who carried the sacrifices, and asked them to put the incense candles and a slaughtered sheep on a stone table in front of the stone tablet.A Miao picked a handful of wild flowers, walked over and placed them in front of the stele.

Zhao Xin took three sticks of incense from the migrant workers, put them on the candle and lit them.When he raised the incense sticks to his forehead, he suddenly felt that the three incense sticks in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand catties.It seemed that the two steles in front of him conveyed the will to protect this land through the incense in Zhao Xin's hand.

"Responsibility?" Zhao Xin looked up at the stele.In another time and space, after another 75 years, this place will no longer belong to China.The cowardly Manqing was busy dealing with Long Mao, thinking that the Tsarist Russians were just scabies; the only ones who dared to defend this land were the indigenous frontiersmen like Sahalian and Ushiha, but what awaited them was invasion The muskets and long swords of the fighters.

"I know that I won't live until 75 years later, but my descendants in this era will try their best to keep this land! Any foreigner who tries to covet this land will die without a place to die! By God, The thick soil is the proof!"

Cigarette smoke rises from the stone incense burner, and a breeze blows, and the thin column of smoke is blown to the stone tablet.Zhao Xin leaned over and knelt down in front of the two Yongning monuments, and bowed three times to the monuments.

After Liu Sheng finished offering incense, he didn't kneel down, he just bowed to the stele.After he got up, he walked to Zhao Xin, looked at the big river under his feet, and asked softly, "I see that you have been in a low mood since you started climbing the mountain. This is the place you have always wanted to come. Is there anything wrong?"

At this time the sun has risen, and the white mist covering the Heilongjiang River has dissipated with the wind. On the blue river, there are canoes, flat-bottomed boats and Kuaimazi boats on the river.

"It looks really nice here now! It's peaceful and peaceful, and fisherman's songs are everywhere." Zhao Xin changed the subject, raised his finger and pointed in the direction of Temple Street 150 miles away, and said, "In another 65 years, Temple Street will be occupied by Tsarist Russians. The bastards who were repelled by Kangxi back then will return to Yaksa by boat! And the descendants of these people under our feet, even if they have drained their blood and died, they will not get any reinforcements from the Manchus."

"Where are the soldiers?"

"They were all drawn to the south for long hair!"

Liu Sheng looked at the dots of fishing boats on the river and was silent for a while, then said: "So God will give you such a chance."

Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "I don't know either. The era we live in is the last glory of ancient China. The Manchu Dynasty is still immersed in the barbarian clothes and dreams of a prosperous Celestial Dynasty, but when you climb over the top of the mountain, you will be in danger."

Liu Sheng frowned and said, "What are you worried about?"

"You know I don't believe in fortune-telling. I don't care about push-back pictures, biscuit songs, etc., but "Zuo Zhuan" says that you start with this, and you must end with it."

"Are you worried that we will be happy because of you, and we will die because of you in the end?"

Zhao Xin remained silent.

Liu Shengdao: "I think you are thinking too much. In fact, I understand that what you want to say is nothing more than four words, historical responsibility. To overthrow the Manchu Qing, protect this territory, and even the 'circle of chaos' you mentioned earlier , These responsibilities are a bit heavy, right? But you forgot, you are not doing this alone, and I, Zhang Bo, the old squad leader, Dr. Hong, and even Sheng Haizhou and A Miao, we are all helping you. "

Zhao Xindao: "When Sahal even talked about dogs that day, I thought that the Manchus had spared no effort in this land, but why didn't they even dare to fight for their lives when Tsarist Russia came? Seeing these two steles today, let me Thinking of Yongle's painstaking efforts towards this piece of land, but in the end he couldn't keep it and lost it. Is it so difficult to guard this piece of land? I'm not reconciled!"

"One generation after another. You can't compare Yongle Kangxi with the unworthy descendants."

"Actually, I don't care about whether I enter or not. If we can guard the territory under our feet, it will not be in vain for us to come here!"

After Wu Xiha and Sahar finished incense, they couldn't stay still.Seeing Liu Sheng and Zhao Xin talking together, she wanted to go over and listen to what they were saying.After walking a few steps, Sahalian reached out to stop her.

"what happened?"

Facing his daughter's question, Sahalian said with a serious face: "They are talking about something, don't go over." After he finished speaking, he looked at the backs of the two of them twenty steps away.Although he was very grateful to Zhao Xin for seeing a doctor and delivering medicine to him, since hearing Liu Sheng said that the other party was a descendant of the previous emperor, Sahalian had been in awe of Zhao Xin, and he never dared to joke casually.

He knew the prestige of Beihai Town, and even the imperial court's tens of thousands of troops were defeated.But that was always the Qing Dynasty with strong national power, and Emperor Qianlong would send troops out to conquer again.The relationship between Zaksulu Department and Beihai Town is so good now, what if the government pursues it?Thinking of this, Sahal even felt a little afraid of going to Delengen Wooden City to pay taxes.

Not to mention anything else, yesterday the other party unloaded a lot of food, tea, needles and threads from the boat, as well as white iron pots and kettles, and distributed them to the villagers.This move made the men, women and children in Balk village overjoyed, and they took out all kinds of mountain products and fish products from their warehouses and gave them to each other; but the other party only took a small part, and returned the rest to the villagers. It's the same as giving for nothing.

If this matter gets out, the government will definitely come to the door, then how should I choose?

Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng sent emotions for a while, and his heart was relieved a lot.Seeing that everyone had finished offering sacrifices, he proposed to go down the mountain.Everyone descended the mountain along the stone steps, and after returning to the river bank, Zhao Xin and others bid farewell to Sahalian and his daughter.

Wu Xiha these two days was like a festival, seeing the lively scene no longer, he felt a little disappointed.Seeing this, Liu Sheng comforted: "Wu Xiha, we will come back in a few days. Maybe we will visit you again."

Wu Xiha said: "In a few days, I will go to Delengen wooden city with Ama, and it will take a month to come back. I'm afraid you won't be able to make it."

Liu Sheng smiled and said, "What's the matter! Fuldan City will always open its doors to you."

After hearing this, Wu Xiha said: "It's decided? After returning from the wooden city of Delengen, Ama and I will take people there to find you."

Liu Sheng said: "It's decided!"

A day later, Zhao Xin and his fleet crossed Temple Street and entered the Hudang River Estuary.When passing by the confluence of the Kandan River, Wukanbei's expression became very disappointed.Seeing this, Zhao Xin asked the fleet to go north to see the Dan River and Wukanbei's original home.

Looking at the Dan River, the remains of the thatched huts burned by the robbers are still there.At this time, the speed of the boat slowed down. Standing on the deck, Wukanbei looked at the surging river and the ruins of thatched cottages on the bank, tears of grief and indignation gradually blurred his eyes.

"Go ashore and have a look?" Zhao Xin asked behind Wukanbei.

Wu Kanbei shook his head, and said to Zhao Xin while crying, "My wife and two children were thrown into the river, and the bodies were never found."

"That"

Wu Kanbei wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve, and said to Zhao Xin: "My lord, can you give me a bottle of wine?"

Zhao Xin didn't ask any questions, but turned around and went back to the cabin to get a bottle of white wine, and handed it to Wu Kanbei.Wu Kanbei gratefully took the baijiu, unscrewed the lid, and slowly poured the whole bottle of baijiu into the river.He knelt on the deck, kowtowed three times in the direction of the thatched cottage, then got up and gritted his teeth and said to Zhao Xin, "My lord, let's go."

At this time, the fishermen on the river looked at this strange fleet without sails in horror. The gray and white hulls looked like monsters.These Hezhe fishermen didn't know what these boats were doing here, but driven by curiosity, they rowed over one after another.When they finally recognized Wukanbei on the deck, they all cried out in surprise.

"Ukanbe!"

"Wukanbei, you have been here for almost two years! Where did you come back from? My God! These boats are so big!" The fishermen looked at the four big boats in front of them and exclaimed in surprise.They put on sculls and circled the boats, trying to find a place to board them.

"Wukanbei! Come to my house later, let's have a good meal, there is plenty of fresh caviar."

"Yes! I just caught a sturgeon yesterday, and it weighed almost a hundred catties!"

"I, Wukanbei, thank you everyone! But I was passing by on business this time, so I came back to take a look, and I have to leave soon." Wukanbei clasped his fists and greeted these familiar faces.

"What! Are you leaving now?" A fisherman asked in surprise, but he immediately remembered that the other party had lost his home, so what else could he do in this sad place? "Ah! Since you left, no one is singing Yimakan on this river."

"I heard that you went to work for the imperial court. Are you receiving the imperial court's salary?"

Facing the questions from the fishermen, Wukanbei shook his head and explained: "I serve as a soldier for the Han people, and they specialize in fighting the imperial court."

When everyone heard this, their jaws dropped in shock.This kid had the guts of a leopard, and dared to fight against the government!
"Look, there are many people there!" Suddenly, when a fisherman saw heads looking at him from the windows of the catamaran, he yelled, turned around and left in fright.He rowed desperately for dozens of meters before stopping, turning his head to observe the movements of the fleet.

"Neighbors, our boat is about to turn around. You all give way and stay away, otherwise your boat will be capsized." Wu Kanbei didn't want to explain anything, he took a last look at the ruins , turned around and entered the cabin, sat in the corner and wiped tears alone.

After hearing this, all the fishermen saw that Wukanbei got into the boat and ignored them. They were discussing and suspicious, and they drove the boat away.

Seeing this, Zhao Xin turned Liu Sheng around.Under the stunned eyes of all the fishermen, the four boats made a big bend on the water, turned around and headed towards Bitter Leaf Island, and soon disappeared on the river.

　"The Story of Yongning Temple" can be found on Baidu, go and see for yourself.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)