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

In a blink of an eye, the New Year's Eve is coming, and the firecrackers are going off early in the morning in Tokyo City, and every house is very lively.

The past two years of the Song Dynasty have not been peaceful. Although the capital has not suffered any military disasters, the successive rebellions in Hebei, Lianghuai, Liangzhe and other places have affected the normal operation of the empire.

The most direct thing is that the price of grain and rice is soaring, and livestock meat is more expensive than before, and the number of refugees has further increased, flocking north to Kaifeng, Zhongzhou, and going south to Lianghu and other places.

The pressure on Tokyo City increased sharply at the beginning of autumn, and many grain shops in the market were once declared sold out. Later, the Kaifeng government issued a letter, and the Emperor Daojun ordered to open the treasury to sell some old official grain, which eased the crisis. However, the rising grain prices But it never fell off.

Prices are soaring, another way of saying is that the currency depreciates, and the exchange of copper coins for silver has reached five or even six pennies before it can be exchanged for one or two.

Silver was not a currency in circulation in the Great Song Dynasty, but during the reign of Emperor Daojun, especially after Cai Jing’s reform, the value of copper coins has been falling all the way. Originally, they were only used for large transactions, or when buying horses, furs, etc. The newly-used silver has quietly entered the market, and in those days of food shortage, many shops only accepted silver, not copper coins.

Because of this incident, Kaifeng Mansion managed to set up some shops and arrested some people. Some of the leading ones had their heads beheaded and their homes confiscated to curb this trend.

Not long after that, the chief official of Kaifeng Mansion was changed, and Cai Mao was appointed as the right to know the affairs of Kaifeng Mansion.

Cai Mao was the second prime minister of Shenzong, the son of Cai Que, the prime minister of Zhezong, Cai Que and Cai Jingnai were of the same clan, and Cai Que's great-grandfather and Cai Jing's great-grandfather were brothers.

As for Cai Mao, he has no morals. He used to flatter Cai Jing and his father and son, but now he even flirts with Liang Shicheng, Gao Qiu and others.

And this person has no responsibilities. After learning about Kaifeng Mansion, he never made decisions about everything. He reported everything to Cai Jing and only listened to the orders of Cai's family. just fine.

But the common people are like this, although the days suddenly get tighter, they pay more and more attention to the festivals, especially the New Year's Eve, gritted their teeth and buy nothing less than every year, and the sacrificial etiquette is even more grand.

The thoughts of the people are very simple, and they wish for a better life next year, so although this year is very tight, they still decide to have a good year.

At thirty in the morning, Zhao Tun sat in the front hall and played chess with Lu Junyi.

He is in his own group, Lu Junyi is in the same group as Du Po, Zhang Xian, and the heroes from Suiyulou.

Among the crowd in Suiyulou, there was also a general Lu who was tied with a rope.

Zhao Tang did not kill General Lu, but brought him back to Tokyo from Jiangnan, and threw him into the Suiyu Building. Lu Jiang was originally a powerless scholar, and he couldn't escape even if he wanted to in the Suiyu Building surrounded by wolves. go out.

Moreover, when he heard that Zhao Tun beheaded Zhu Man's family, he remained silent for a long time, neither hunger strike nor making trouble, sometimes even if he loosened the rope, he didn't want to commit suicide by bumping his head like before.

He was also watching the chess game at the moment, with a rather serious expression on his face, he felt that Zhao Tun was overextended, it was beyond his control for one person to play against so many.

You must know that Zhao Tong and Lu Junyi played chess, not Go. Xiangqi was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and many people in the market knew it. Moreover, the utensils for playing chess were not expensive. There were people setting up chess pieces outside in the streets and alleys, and even in tea shops. There are chess games for guests' entertainment.

At the moment, the people in the hall may not understand Go, but there are almost no chess masters. Although the level varies, how can there be so many people who can't play one?
General Lu himself was a master chess player, so even though he disliked the people in the hall, especially those spoilers in Suiyulou, he still watched carefully.

He found that Zhao Tong's chess moves were unprecedented in his family, and there were already organizations such as chess clubs among the people, and some people wrote chess records and studied various moves, and even Li Qingzhao wrote a book "The Book of Playing Horses", It focuses on chess.

Chess already had a certain number of moves at this time, people who often play chess more or less know it, and General Lu has studied all the popular chess routines at present, but the one used by Zhao Tuo He doesn't know the trick.

At first, he thought it was all random Sanshou, but the more he looked at it, the more wrong it became. There were clearly rules to follow, and it seemed that he had used it frequently in the past.

Lu Junyi's chess skills are mediocre, he likes to hone his martial arts, he only plays two games when he is tired, facing Zhao Tuo at this moment, if it wasn't for the help of the people behind him, he would have been defeated long ago.

But even so, he lost three games in a row without even reaching the endgame. He stood up and apologized for not playing. Du Po hurriedly took his seat, rolled up his arms and sleeves and said, "Your subordinate will teach you how to play chess."

Zhao Tang looked at him, like a black iron tower, and said with a smile: "Is it possible?"

Du Po said: "My subordinate grew up in the village where the common people play chess for fun when they have nothing to do. The subordinate has been playing chess since he was a child, but... it's rare for him to lose!"

Zhao Tong was surprised and said: "Since it's a rare defeat, why are all the moves just now stinky?"

Du Po rubbed his hands together and said, "If it wasn't like this, how could General Lu lose so quickly, allowing his subordinates to sit and play right now."

Lu Junyi said angrily: "Look at you, you are honest and straightforward, but you are also a cunning person!"

Du Po laughed and said, "Soldiers never tire of cheating, soldiers never tire of cheating."

Everyone in the hall laughed together.

Du Po's chess skill is really superb, Flying Pao Vaulting Horse, he and Zhao Tun abruptly reached the middle game, but at this time they also fell into a stalemate, even if others wanted to talk more, they still scratched their heads and didn't know how to deal with it next.

In this way, Du Po also lost three games in a row, and also did not end in an endgame. On the surface, he looked similar to Lu Junyi, but General Lu could see clearly that Du Po was much better than Lu Junyi, but Zhao Yu's methods were more sophisticated, and he could already control the situation. When to win or lose, if you want to win in the middle game, you will definitely not be able to play the last game.

"Who else is not convinced?" Zhao Tang looked at everyone with a smile.

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, they all had some self-knowledge. After watching several games, they felt that they were not as good as Du Po and Lu Junyi, so they kept silent, lest they would be ashamed.

"I, I don't agree..." A voice sounded a little guilty, everyone saw that it was General Lu, and seeing him tied up with a rope but said he wanted to play chess, everyone wanted to laugh.

But no one said anything to ridicule him, Zhao Tang explained that apart from restricting his freedom, he should not be treated as a prisoner.

Zhao Tun looked at General Lu with a half-smile, "You know how to play chess?"

General Lu nodded: "I've been down since I was a child!"

He is addicted to chess at the moment, and he can't stand the itching in his heart. He saw the flaws in Zhao Tun's way before. If he caught the opportunity at that time, Lu and Du may not have lost so quickly. Keep your mouth shut.

Du Po said next to him: "I've been here since I was a child!"

General Lu sneered: "You are a wild way, you have no rules, it's no wonder you win!"

Du Po was not angry when he heard the words, and said, "Who knows how to brag."

Zhao Tong thought for a while: "You are different from them, you are not my king's subordinates, winning or losing is only for fun, if you want to play chess with me, you need some luck."

General Lu said: "I don't have anything long now, so where can I get something to make a fortune?"

Zhao Tong shook his head and smiled, "It may not necessarily be a silver coin."

General Lu looked at the chessboard, gritted his teeth and said, "What do you want?"

Zhao Tong said: "If you lose, you will sell your life to me, listen to my king, let you go east, dare not go west, let you beat the dog, not the chicken."

The corners of Lu Jiang's mouth twitched when he heard the words, what kind of metaphor is this, such rude words come from the mouth of a literary master like you?
He said, "What if I win?"

Zhao Tong said: "If you win, I will let you go. I don't care where you want to go, and I will even send you money for the trip."

General Lu made some calculations in his mind, and always felt that something was wrong, so he said, "It's not fair. If I lose, wouldn't I have to sell my whole life? What I lose is a lifetime of freedom. If you win, you just let me go. Nothing else."

Zhao Tang looked at him and smiled slightly: "Fairness? Fairness is just an excuse for the weak. The strong don't need to be fair. When you talk about fairness with me, is it admitting that your skills are inferior to others and that you are weak? Then why play chess! "

"I..." General Lu was dissatisfied, thinking to himself what kind of fallacies and heresies, how can fairness explain it like this?
He got angry and wanted to agree, anyway, being under house arrest in the Broken Jade Tower is not easy, although it is better than in the prison, but he is surrounded by some rascals who are playing with swords and swords, and they can't even talk together. Watching them wrestle with fists and kicks, these days are tasteless, like walking corpses, life is worse than death.

Zhao Tong suddenly said again: "However... if you lose, this king can give you another chance."

"What chance?" General Lu blurted out.

"Play chess with this king once a year, if you can beat this king, the bet is still valid."

"You mean..." General Lu blinked: "Give me a chance to play chess once a year. If I lose, I will continue to work hard. If I win, let me go?"

Zhao Tong nodded, and Lu Jiang's mind immediately came to life. He didn't believe what Du Po said just now when he played chess since he was a child, and he was the one who really tried to lose. It can even be said that after the age of 15, Never lost a game of chess.

He was born as a student of the imperial court, and his opponents in chess are not ordinary people. He is definitely not comparable to Du Po's opponents in the countryside. Although Zhao Tuo won two just now, there are still flaws in Zhao Tuo's chess game. He feels that his own Be sure to beat the opponent.

General Lu was a little confident. After all, if he thought about it, at least that kind of chess flaw would not appear in him, so his chess skills must still be higher than Zhao Tong.

As for what if you lose... If you lose, you lose, isn't it just playing tricks?He is not afraid of death, what else is he afraid of?
He originally joined the Mingjiao because of Zhu Mian. He couldn't understand Zhu Miao's excessive taxation and plundering Jiangnan, so he wrote to the imperial court to tell about Zhu Mian's evil deeds in Jiangnan. Penalties for non-hire.

Such a direct future collapsed, he was ashamed, he felt that this kind of court was not worth it, and it happened that Mingjiao was recruiting believers everywhere, he heard the teachings and felt that he had something to rely on, so he joined in.

Because he is proficient in calligraphy and ink, and there are few such people in Mingjiao, he was pushed to Fang La's side and gained Fang La's trust. Later, when Fang La had an incident, he also supported him.

However, Fang La refused to listen to his strategy several times. He went from helpless to cold in the end, and even Fang La failed and was killed. He was heartbroken.

But when he was in the prison in the south of the Yangtze River, news suddenly came that Zhu Mian was beheaded by Zhao Tun, and he was convicted of treason and exterminated the nine clans.

He didn't know if Zhu Xi really conspired against him, but this tiger from the southeast could not be punished by a thousand cuts, and now he was killed, and died at the hands of Zhao Tun, he was a little surprised, wasn't it all protected by officials?Why did you kill him?Although he couldn't figure it out, he also let out a long-standing depression in his chest.

Everything was caused by Zhu Xie, since Zhao Tun killed Zhu Xie, his thoughts became much clearer. At this moment, winning or losing a game of chess is determined by skill. If you win, you will be free. thing.

"Okay, I agree!" General Lu took a deep breath and looked at Zhao Tun.

Zhao Tun laughed, and motioned to the side, and immediately someone untied General Lu's rope. General Lu rubbed his arm, but it didn't feel sour, and it wasn't tight at first. We all know that he is a frail scholar. Ability to escape.

Zhao Tong said: "Three sets determine the winner, if there is a tie, add another set."

Naturally, General Lu did not object, three games are enough, five games is a little too much, if the chess strength is equal, I am afraid that it will be dark, and today is Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhao Tun will definitely not agree.

"This king goes first." Zhao Tang smiled, and took a step to strike the gun.

At this time, the shape of chess objects and various rules have actually been finalized, which is basically the same as that of later generations.

The chess pieces are round, with text on the front and matching patterns on the back, and the number of chess pieces is the same as in later generations.

The only difference is probably in the chess characters of both sides.

The characters on chess on both sides, regardless of "soldier" and "pawn", are both "pawn", "general" and "handsome" are both "general", regardless of "xiang" and "phase", both are "pawn". "Xiang", and "cannon" is not "cannon", and everything else is the same as chess in later generations.

General Lu saw Zhao Tama raised his hand to face the stone cannon, and without even thinking about it, he jumped on the horse. Zhao Tama laughed and stepped forward.

General Lu snorted and started to get out of the car.

The two came back and forth, and in a blink of an eye more than a dozen hands passed by. General Lu's face looked a little bit ugly, something was wrong, very wrong, the opponent's moves were different from what he had seen before, and it was another set of moves that he had never seen before.

General Lu gritted his teeth secretly, and began to carefully search for flaws, but to his disappointment, there was not even a single flaw!

Could it be that he is not as good as Lu and Du?When Zhao Tun played chess with those two people, he showed his flaws, so why is there no flaws at this moment?

General Lu was puzzled, this is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!
When the game reached the middle game, General Lu's face turned pale. He lost, but he didn't even get to the endgame. It was just the middle game, just like Lu and Du!
He was dissatisfied and didn't say a word. After setting up the chess pieces, he took a step ahead without waiting for Zhao Tong to speak.

Zhao Tang responded with a smile, and for about a quarter of an hour, General Lu was trembling all over, and his face was paler than before. He lost again, and it was the middle game again!

He opened his mouth: "Three innings... and one more inning."

Zhao Tong said: "Two wins in three rounds, you have already lost, and you want to continue?"

General Lu said with difficulty: "I, I know that I have lost, and I am willing to play a bully game, but I want to finish three rounds..."

Zhao Tun shook his head: "Play chess!"

After a while, General Lu leaned back on the chair as if he was exhausted, his whole body was drenched in sweat, his face was full of panic.

He tried his best, but this time he still lost, and it was still in the middle game, just like the last two times, he was killed without leaving a single piece.

Zhao Tong smiled: "After a year, you can play chess with me again!"

General Lu grabbed the hem of his clothes tightly with both hands, but he couldn't say a word, he just nodded blankly.

At this time, the guards outside came in and reported: "My lord, it's time to start the banquet."

Zhao Tong waved at the people in the room: "Let's go, let's all go to eat."

Everyone went out of the room, General Lu was weak behind him, the two brothers of the Ding family crossed their arms and dragged him out of the door with a smile...

(End of this chapter)