The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 347
The next day, early in the morning, Zhao Tun received the battle report from the other side of the Yangtze River.

Huzhou fell, and Fangla's two armies, one in front and the other behind, went straight to Suzhou.

The Western Army led by Tong Guan has already rushed to the west of Zhejiang, but it is too late to retake Huzhou, so it can only follow Fang La's army to support Suzhou.

Zhao Tong wondered, Fang La didn't hit several important towns along the river, but went east to Suzhou instead!
Then he checked the news from Jiangning, and couldn't help but feel even more puzzled. The area around Jiangning was calm, there was no military situation, and there was no news about Zhao Kai.

Could it be that Zhao Kai walked so slowly that he still hasn't reached Jiangning yet?
Zhao Tun couldn't figure it out, so he hurriedly sent Suiyulou Lu, Han, Xu, and Jiang across the river to continue investigating.

Another day later, he and Zhao Yuannu went to the Houtu Temple in Yangzhou to see if the Qionghua was in bloom. The Houtu Temple enshrined the Holy Mother of Houtu, also known as Houtu Empress.

The Holy Mother of Houtu is the oldest ancestor of China and the most respected god of the land. Houtu Temple has always been known as the crown of temples in China.

In the sixth year of Zhenghe, the Emperor Daojun conferred on the Holy Mother of Houtu as "the land of the Empress Tuhuang who inherits the law and emulates the great virtues and flourishes", and enjoys the same ceremonial standards as the "Haotian Supreme Jade Emperor Datian Zun Xuanqiong God".

When Yifu arrived at the temple, he could only see people coming and going, bustling and bustling, very lively.

The two first went to the main hall to offer incense, and then Empress Tu was in charge of yin and yang, nurturing all things, and was called the mother of the earth.

After offering incense, the two walked to the back of the main hall, where the Qionghua tree was in the Qionghua Temple deep in the temple.

Walking along the way, there are towers, halls and pavilions, and the scenery is full. Outside the Qionghua Temple, many people are eagerly waiting outside the door. They can't watch at will, they need respectful incense.

Zhao Yuannu said in a low voice: "When I came here, I never asked for money."

Zhao Tong smiled: "At this time and at that time, there are no famous flowers and plants in the Jianghuai area now, and this place is even more precious."

Huagang almost took away all the famous flowers and rare trees in the Jianghuai area. This Qionghua was not dug out by Zhu Xi and transported to Tokyo, probably because it was afraid of bad meaning.

I spent some money to enter the temple, and once I entered the hall, I saw a large flower bed, which was three feet square, and there was a flower tree inside, with strange branches and quiet shape, and the trees were full of pure silver. It's like being in the Snow Palace of Qionggong.

The viburnum has not yet bloomed at this moment, and the branches are full of buds, but it is so amazing that it is just budding, Zhao Tun couldn't help but nodded.

"It's a bit early at the moment, and it will take another ten days or so to open." Zhao Yuannu said with some regret.

Zhao Tong smiled slightly, which actually surprised him, even if it was just a flower bud, it looked so crystal clear, even a little illusory, a little ethereal, it made people want to see it even after seeing it, making people want to leave for a long time.

Qionghua is actually a strange variation of hydrangeas. It is different from other flowers and cannot be described by "flowers". A cluster of Qionghua is surrounded by eight large five-petal flowers, surrounded by a pearl-like white cluster in the middle. Small flowers, when opened, the flowers are as big as a plate, clear as crystal.

Although it is not in full bloom yet, one can imagine the scene of Kazuki Yuxue.

Zhao Tun thought for a while, then suddenly opened his mouth and chanted:
Don't compare Qionghua with light makeup, who looks like white clothes.It is uniquely quiet and natural, not near the east wall.

The icy muscles and the bones of the gods pay for it, and it also pays for the desolation.Poor distant night, cold smoke and moon, sparse shadows across the window.

He smirked, and many people immediately surrounded him. Yangzhou has many literati and poets since ancient times, and there has never been a shortage of Qionghua poems, but at this moment, they all looked at Zhao Tun with a look of shock.

A young man dressed as a scholar stepped forward and bowed deeply: "This brother invites you."

Zhao Tong replied with a Confucian etiquette, the scholar was not surprised, but eagerly asked: "Is the poem Unknown Xiongtai written by myself?"

Zhao Tong rubbed his chin, smiled and said: "This word is not written by me, I dare not pretend to be beautiful."

The scholar was even more anxious: "May I ask you, brother, whose handwriting is this?"

Zhao Tang glanced at Zhao Yuannu, Zhao Yuannu covered his mouth and laughed lightly, he also smiled and said: "This was written by the king of Qin at that time, I am beside it, so I remember it."

The scholar suddenly said: "So that's the case, I knew it was from everyone, but I didn't expect it to be His Royal Highness Qin Wang."

Zhao Tong said: "It's not a problem for His Highness to fill out three or five poems a day for such small words."

The scholar nodded again and again: "That's natural, that's natural, King Qin is so amazing, such a small order should come at your fingertips... But I heard that King Qin is now advocating songs, why do he write words? Since Xiongtai is a person close to King Qin, Do you know why?"

Zhao Tuo glanced at him and said, "Aren't King Qin's songs all Sanqu, there are also a full set of stage operas. Have you heard of Baifaji?"

The scholar said: "I have heard it, but it's just traveling in the north, but Yangzhou has never been staged."

Zhao Tong said with a smile: "You can buy the book and read it first. Although the book was written by Zhang Dongxiang, most of the divertimentos in it were written by the King of Qin. They are easy to understand and popular among people."

The scholar pondered and said: "So that's the case. I don't know that the song of the play was written by the King of Qin unless I tell you, but there is no bookstore in the city that sells this book... This is strange. I wouldn't have thought of it if I didn't tell you, brother. It’s fine if there’s no place to perform the drama, why don’t you even sell the book?”

Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes and didn't speak.

The scholar said to himself: "It seems that I want to send a letter to my classmate in Tokyo, and ask him to send a few copies over there in a hurry, so I can feast my eyes on it."

He said another salute to Zhao Tun: "Thank you for your advice, brother."

Zhao Tun returned the courtesy and said, "Your Excellency is too polite."

Afterwards, he and Zhao Yuannu walked out with a hint of sarcasm in their expressions. Although The Story of White Hair is in full swing in the north, in the Jianghuai area, there is no book to read.

When he was in Beijing, he asked booksellers three times to publish in the south, and several booksellers obeyed their orders. He even replied that the supply in Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Huaihe and other places was in short supply, and the sales were even better than those in Tokyo. There is no sale at all, and the people here have never read the storybook of Baifa Ji.

But the bookseller said at the time that they had sold all of them, and the scholars here said they hadn't. Where did the books go?

At this moment, Zhao Tong knew in his heart that it must be the noble family of Jianghuai, and Baifaji was not allowed to be sold on the market.

It is estimated that as soon as the book arrives here, the local gentry will have to look at it first. If they read it wrong, they will buy it all up, or pile it up, or find a place to burn it to prevent it from appearing in the market.

The bookseller thought they had sold all of them, but they didn't know that none of them were in circulation.

Zhao Tong felt that his family's previous thinking was too simple, and the local gentry even controlled the folk pastime such as the script, which shows the great power and deep entanglement.

But he is not in a hurry, isn't there someone helping him to solve it right now?

Fang La killed corrupt officials and noble gentry, and when the time came to clean up the Jianghuai and Zhejiang provinces, it would stop.

Fang La naturally wanted to be flat, but he had to wait until he was done killing. Zhao Tang never thought of taking the initiative to assist Tong Guan Fang La. He only needed to guard the Yangtze River.

The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River is very powerful, and if it is not overthrown by violent means, other methods will be useless. Fang La's uprising this time has hurt their muscles and bones, and their vitality has been greatly damaged. They will not be able to recover in a few years.

These gentry are not even considered by the imperial court on weekdays. Several reforms, salt, tea and iron, have failed in the end. How many officials in the court are from the Jiangnan gentry, tied to the interests of the Jiangnan gentry, and a little united to make some obstacles. The imperial court's decrees Either it cannot be carried out, or the following changes have been made beyond recognition.

The methods that seem to be used against booksellers are all this kind of stealing and changing posts, Li Daitao's rigidity, which often makes people unaware of it for a long time, and it is difficult to deal with it once they are aware of it.

If possible, Zhao Tun even wanted to secretly contribute to the flames, and use Fang La's knife to kill more people!

Thinking all the way back to the Qionghuali Garden, in the evening, suddenly Bai Ao, the boss of the Bai family, returned.

Zhao Tong hastily called him to the secret room to inquire. It turned out that after arriving in Jiangning, Bai Ao saw that the place was peaceful and there was no military force, so he left his two younger brothers to continue to investigate. He went south alone, and fell down in a few days. Big news, so I hurried back to report it.

"You mean... King Yun went to Hongzhou, the capital of West Jiangnan Road, to stay?"

"My lord, that's exactly the case. The army led by King Yun didn't take the Jiangdong Road at all, but went directly to Jiangxi from Huaixi, and plunged into Hongzhou and never came out."

Zhao Tong was speechless for a moment, Zhao Kai and Fang La, a pair of crouching dragon and phoenix chicks, one didn't go north to take the natural danger of Jiangning Mansion, the other didn't garrison Jiangning Mansion's important military places, neither of them went to Jiangning!
Zhao Kai gave up the entire Jiangnan East Road. It seems that he intends to defend Jiangxi to the death. However, Jiangxi has Poyang Lake in front of Hongzhou. Fang La will not fight there. After all, the strategic significance of Jiangxi is not as good as that of the two Zhejiang and Huaihe Rivers. .

But such a great opportunity, how could Zhao Tun let it go?

Zhao Kai didn't go to Jiangning Mansion, he went!

As long as he occupies the Jiangning mansion, he can attack the two rivers and two Zhejiang provinces, retreat to defend the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, and the north bank of the Huaihe River.

Although he promulgated Lianghuai, it does not mean that he will stay in Lianghuai all the time. He was ordered to go south to seek thieves. It is said that soldiers and horses can also be mobilized at special times.

Occupying Jiangning, if Fang La doesn't come, he will manage cautiously and wait for the last peach picking. If Fang La comes, he will give him a head-on blow and drive him back. After the gentlemen have been severely harmed, they will be wiped out again!
Zhao Tun pondered for a while, then recruited Yao Pingzhong, Zhe Kecun, Wang Bao, Lu Junyi, Zhang Xian and others.

Afterwards, the discussion lasted until midnight, and it was finally decided that Lu Junyi, the general of the Huaihe Army, would sit in the rear to curb the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, and Zhao Tun led the rest of the people to cross the Yangtze River with [-] Gyeonggi soldiers and head for Jiangning Mansion!
Early the next morning, on the bank of the Yangtze River, Zhao Tong cupped his hands at Lu Junyi and said with a smile, "The Lianghuai will be handed over to senior brother!"

Lu Junyi saluted to the ground: "Your Majesty, don't worry, there is Junyi here, and the bandit army will not be allowed to set foot on the north bank for half a step. The righteousness is here, and the Huaihe will perish!"

Zhao Tun nodded, without further words, directly boarded the Changkong Haozhi Ningyuan Shenzhou.

Shenzhou broke through the waves and brought several large warships behind to the opposite bank first, and then dozens of warships originally belonging to the Lianghuai River began to transport soldiers. It took a full half a day to transport the [-] forbidden troops to the opposite side.

With such a big commotion, the Jiangning Mansion had already received the news. Wang Hanzhi, the pacifier of Jiangnan East Road and who knew Jiangning, was a little confused. He had received the imperial decree before, knowing that King Qin, King Yun, and the Privy Envoy Tong Guan were in charge of the two armies. , went to the south of the Yangtze River to seek thieves, but the King Yun of Liangjiang did not come, but the King of Qin of Lianghuai crossed the Yangtze River. What is going on?

Although he couldn't think of the reason, he still took someone to pick him up. After all, he was still worried about how Fang La would deal with it if he really called. There are many, I am afraid it will be difficult to break through the city.

As soon as Zhao Tun entered Jiangning, he began to prepare his army and horses. He picked out [-] of the [-] to [-] mixed soldiers originally transferred from several states to defend the city, and incorporated them into the central army. Since then, he has a total of [-] soldiers under his command horse.

Afterwards, he didn't care about Wang Hanzhi's thoughts, and directly managed Jiangnan East Road. Anyway, the military here was under control, and Zhao Kai would not come here if he was hiding in Jiangxi.

However, Wang Hanzhi was not young, not much younger than Hong Zhongfu, and he had a hidden disease, so he handed in his official papers several times, but they were all rejected. According to later records, he was approved to be an official in the year following the end of the Fangla Rebellion. , and died of illness in another year, not as long as Hong Zhongfu.

His family knew about his illness, so he was happy to ignore it, and he only stayed in the mansion to recuperate, not only military affairs, but also political affairs.

Zhao Tong took over Jiangning as a whole, more thoroughly than Yangzhou, and then rectified the two towns of Zhenjiangfu and Taiping Prefecture in Runzhou, and firmly controlled the area along the river.

In the next few days, there were constant reports from the military ahead. Suzhou had been fighting fiercely for many days, but Tong Guan had not completely expelled Fang La's army. For a while, the battle was stalemate between Suzhou and Xiuzhou...

But Fang Qifo's Southern Route Army, after trapping Yuezhou, fought all the way down, even taking down Mingzhou and Taizhou. In this way, East Zhejiang Road has gone down to the land of five states, only Chuzhou in the south , Wenzhou is still in the hands of the Song court, and just as Fang Qifo is ready to take over the entire eastern Zhejiang and make the first contribution of the holy dynasty, suddenly the battle reports of Fangla from the north follow one after another.

In Taizhou city, Fang Qifo looked at the stack of battle reports on the handsome case, frowned and let out a long sigh.

Lin Chong was watching him with a worried look on his face, and he couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with the Marshal?"

Fang Qifo looked at him and said: "After the Shenggong army went down to Hangzhou, they didn't attack Jiangning directly, but went east to attack Huzhou and Suzhou. Now they are confronting the western army led by Tong Guan in Suzhou. The situation is not good. "

Lin Chong was wearing a mask, so he couldn't see the expression inside: "Marshal, can't you take Suzhou down?"

Fang Qifo shook his head and said: "It's not that we can't win Suzhou, but that we should go to Jiangning and other important towns along the river first. I don't know what Shenggong's plan is, but he went to attack Suzhou first."

Lin Chong remained silent, and Fang Qifo said again after a long while: "Suzhou has no depth, and the procrastination of the war is not good for the Holy Army. It seems...it is time to return to the army!"

Lin Chong hurriedly said: "Marshal, there are only two places left to sink the entire eastern Zhejiang."

Fang Qifo shook his head: "I can't wait any longer, tomorrow I will lead the army back north, and this Taizhou will be handed over to brother Lin to guard!"

Lin Chong hurriedly stood up: "Marshal, what can Chong do, dare to subdue Fuyi Prefecture?"

Fang Qifo looked at him, and said slowly: "I believe in Brother Lin, with Brother Lin's intelligence and martial arts, guarding Taizhou will be safe!"

Seeing Fang Qifo's resolute tone, Lin Chong said politely: "Lin Chong is ashamed, dare not die for the Holy Dynasty!"

Fang Qifo nodded: "Tomorrow morning I will lead the army northward, and meet Zhao Song's reinforcements for a while."

Lin Chong said: "The marshal is going to Suzhou to support Sheng Gong?"

Fang Qifo was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I won't be going to Suzhou for now, I'm going north to the east of Zhejiang, to the important town on the Yangtze River...Jiangning Mansion!"

(End of this chapter)