Yi Song

Chapter 69 Everyone in the city is called Hwarang

"When the song "No Clothes" resounds in Bianliang, everyone in the city calls him Hwarang."

In the backyard of Lingguang Academy, Murong Shisan stood in the pavilion, hands behind his back, looking up at the osmanthus tree not far in front.

The osmanthus tree is tall and straight, with lush green leaves and golden osmanthus flowers, dotted in the green sea, like stars and pearls.

The rich fragrance moved with the wind, like roll after roll of gauze, caressing Murong Shisan's face.

"Master, why do they call themselves Hwarang?" Xu Xiniang asked curiously while sitting at the table, making tea.

"A good man with patterns is Hwarang. On that day, Liu Erlang, shirtless, carried the coffin for the funeral of Fu Qianli's family. His loyalty was overwhelming, and the red tiger pattern on his back was breathtaking. In addition, during the battle of Yujin Garden, he leaped on horseback and carried a gun, going back and forth freely. Chi, there is no rival.

The children of the imperial army were all convinced by him, imitating his appearance, wearing patterns on their bodies, and calling themselves Hwarang. These people are also called Hwarang Party. "

"Hwarang Party? Erlang is such a hero, why do people give him such a fancy name? It doesn't sound good, not good at all." Xu Xiniang tilted her head, looked outside the courtyard wall, and suddenly asked: "Master, tell me, Will Erlang have a meal now?"

Murong Shisan was stunned and couldn't help but look up at the courtyard wall.

Yes, what is Liu Erlang doing now?

How long has it been since he came?

One day or half a day?
  Liu Guozhang was discussing matters with Wang Xun, Di Wanren and Yang Xiaojie in his yard.

"Erlang, I quietly went to the Privy Council Secretary's Office, stuffed me with some money, and sneaked in. I searched for two days but didn't find any clues."

His father, Wang Zhen, is a full-time officer of the regiment training envoy (Note 1), and he is also on active duty. He is a senior general in the army and a junior official in the Privy Council. Of course, he has to give him some face.

"If I think about it carefully, if Shichiro had a chance to get such a waist card, he should be on a business trip. When has Shichiro been on a business trip recently?"

"Last year, in the summer of the sixth year of Zhenghe, he went to Hebei and went back and forth for two months. When he came back, he said it was military secrets. He was not allowed to talk about it, and we stopped asking." Di Wanren replied affirmatively.

Wang Xun echoed: "That's right, it was the summer of the sixth year of Zhenghe. I followed this point and looked through the records of that period, and finally found one, 'In April of the summer of the sixth year of Zhenghe, Tong Taiwei was given the imperial pen to write the reconstruction of Zhongmeng Zuo. The first command of the army only recruits 200 people from the first and second capitals.'"

It's Tong Guan again!

"I continued to search along this line, and based on relevant records such as personnel deployment, food and fodder distribution, customs clearance documents, and all-way customs defense, I found that both of them were temporarily formed. The first one was deployed from the Shengjie Army. "

"Victory Army?" Di Wanren and Yang Xiaojie looked a little strange.

"What?" Liu Guozhang asked.

"Erlang, the Shengjie Army was formed by Lieutenant Tong from all the armies in the northwest. He selected burly men with superb martial arts skills to form an army. The number of soldiers was 5,000. They were actually his own troops. The commander was Zhang Shizheng. He stayed in Kaifeng. The city's residential guards are also nominally part of the Shengjie Army."

"I have fought against Tong Guan's victorious army, the elite of the Western Army. Their guns, sticks, fists and kicks are all right, but they can be mounted and shot. Haha, that's all."

Wang Xun, Di Wanren and Yang Xiaojie looked at each other, a little embarrassed.

Wang Xun explained: "There are not many truly brave and skilled warriors in the Western Army who are willing to surrender to the eunuchs. The elite soldiers who surrendered were treated as treasures by Tong Taiwei and were always with him. How could they be left idle in Kaifeng City."

The victorious soldiers in Kaifeng City were only tall, majestic and mighty, and had some training in fists, feet, guns and clubs. As for riding and shooting, Erlang, you have experienced it yourself. "

"Understood, understood." Liu Guozhang smiled.

It turns out that this is the case. I thought that the true level of the Western Army was so lax. No wonder they won less and lost more when fighting against a local force, the Xixia Army.

He had been misled by Tong Guan's bodyguard, and it seemed that the Western Army could still be saved.

"Wang Dalang, you continue."

"Okay. The second one is selected from the Forbidden Army in Beijing with outstanding martial arts skills and outstanding archers and cavalry. Qilang was selected."

"Yes, I remember that a set of military attache's armor was distributed. I went to his house for a drink that day and saw it. I knew it was a military plane, but he didn't tell me and I didn't ask." Yang Xiaojie said.

"What did these two people do when they went to Hebei?"

"It's not stated clearly. I checked for a day and finally found clues in an official document sent by the Privy Council to the Hebei Transportation Envoy on April 10, the sixth year of Yu Zhenghe's reign, 'Zhilong Tuge, Tips for Wanshou Temple Zhao Guanliangsi' , escorted by officers and soldiers, went north on official business, with food and grass allotted correctly.'

On April 19, the sixth year of the Privy Council's Zhenghe reign, an official document was sent to the Guangxin Army in Hebei Province, which said, "The first commander of the Zhongmeng Zuo Army was ordered to carry out official duties, and his response was correct."

On the 21st, the official document sent to Baozhou said, "The good heirs of Zhao Guan will be escorted by the army to the north for business, and the army will be allocated and spent correctly." After the official mission was completed, the Zhongmeng Zuo Army was immediately disbanded, and the personnel returned to their headquarters. ”     After Wang Xun finished speaking, everyone was silent.

Tong Guan presided over this matter, the place where Hebei and Beiliao meet.
  Liu Guozhang couldn't help but remember that Tong Guan was the driving force behind the alliance with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, and he was instigated by a Han official in the Northern Liao Dynasty.

Could it be related to this matter?

"Who is this Zhao Liangsi?"

"It's not clear. We only know that his original name was Li Liangsi. He was from Hebei. He was recommended by Tong Taiwei to enter the court and was highly regarded by the officials. He was first given a national surname and renamed Zhao Liangsi. He was promoted to secretary-general and later moved to Zhilongtu. Pavilion, I mentioned Wanshou Guan, and at the end of last year I added Youwendian to compile it." Yang Xiaojie replied.

"Even if there was something wrong with that business trip to Hebei, it has been more than a year since last summer. How did we find Fu Qilang after so long?" Wang Xun asked puzzledly.

"Yes, if there were any secrets on that business trip to Hebei, and Qilang accidentally let Qilang know about it, with Taiwei Tong's power and means, why would he wait until now and resort to night raids and assassinations to silence him?"

Liu Guozhang was also puzzled.

At the entrance of Zhile Residence in Taishifang, a man wearing a scarlet robe walked in with his head held high and proudly led by a servant.

The servants and maids were led step by step to the study in the backyard.

The man stood at the door and said in a neither humble nor condescending manner: "Daddy, are you calling me?"

"Third brother, come in."

The man is Cai Jing's third son, Cai Yi (xiao).

Cai Yi opened the door and walked in with her head held high. Cai Jing was writing at the desk.

"Third brother, sit down and wait for me to finish writing these words. There is tea and snacks on the table. You can come by yourself."

"Yeah," Cai Yi responded, sat down straight away, took a sip from the tea cup, spit it directly into the spittoon next to him, and said disdainfully: "This tea is too bad to be eaten..."

He picked up a snack at random and took a bite.

"Well, this osmanthus cake is not from Wang Shengji's family. It's loose and not delicious at all."

Cai Jing held the pen, lowered his head, and concentrated on writing, turning a deaf ear to Cai Fei's words.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Cai Jing finished writing, put down his pen, washed his hands in the copper basin, wiped them dry, sat down next to Cai Feng, picked up the teacup, and took a few sips, his face full of contentment.

"This is Xianyou's tea. You and I have been drinking it since I was a kid."

He picked up the sweet-scented osmanthus cake and ate half of it.

"This sweet-scented osmanthus cake was made by Mrs. Tian Si in our house. Starting from her grandmother, she has made sweet-scented osmanthus cake for three generations. Starting from your great-grandfather, our family has eaten it for four generations. You don't like to eat it, but I do. It's just my age. I’m too old to eat more.”

Cai Chen was a little impatient. He straightened his upper body, put his hands in his sleeves and held them in front of his abdomen. He looked at the roof beam and asked, "Dad, is there anything wrong? Please tell me if you have anything. There is also a literary association over there with the three kings." , my son has to go to the appointment."

Cai Jing smiled and continued calmly: "I have eight sons, and five of them have survived (note 2). I am very lucky. But it is also a great misfortune. Why? A dragon has nine sons, and nine sons cannot become a dragon. .

The eldest brother, Cai You, boasts that he has learned my true heritage. During the Yuanfu period, the late Emperor Zhe Miao was weak and ill for a long time. He got a glimpse of the secret from his father, so he calculated the time every time, and waited respectfully by the roadside when King Duan went to court. King Duan ascended the throne and immediately prospered.

As a bachelor, he often wore short clothes and narrow trousers, painted blue and red, mingled with singing and dancing artists and dwarfs, and said many joking and frivolous words about scoundrels, lewd men and sluts in front of the officials, so as to win the favor of the saints.

Poison your first wife to death and marry her to a beautiful lady, your new sister-in-law, Mrs. Song. First, he followed me into the palace, and now it is more convenient for him and me to enter and leave the palace. Why? It’s nothing more than a saying in the market, ‘A wife is worse than a concubine, a concubine is worse than a maid, a maid is worse than a prostitute, and a prostitute is worse than a thief! ’”

Cai Chen felt uneasy when her father suddenly mentioned the dirty things about her eldest brother.

"You, my third brother, are talented and arrogant. Even the officials admire your literary talents very much and call you Zhenghe Sima Guang. Haha, the officials are wise and powerful, with eyes like torches, but they just walk on you. Blinded.

No matter how pedantic and crippled Sima Guang was, he would not accept bribes from bandits and do illegal things. Isn’t that right, my third brother! "

Cai Chen's face turned pale, and he stood up suddenly. With beads of sweat on his forehead, he stammered and asked, "Dad, what are you talking about!"

Note 1: The official ranks of military attachés in the Song Dynasty were divided into six levels: Zhengren, Yaojun, Hengxing, various envoys and deputies, third-class envoys, and Wupin miscellaneous ranks, which were subdivided into seventy-two ranks. The official titles include Jiedu envoy, Jiedushi envoy, observation envoy, defense envoy, regiment training envoy, and governor. Yaojun officials refer to the above official positions preceded by the rank of Hengxing or various envoys and adjutants. The next level up from a full-time officer is a Taiwei, the top rank of military attache. Therefore, full-time officers are very, very high-ranking senior generals.

Note 2: Historical records record that Cai Jing had eight sons, only five of whom have recorded names and surnames. We assume that only five of his eight sons survived. At that time, this survival rate was quite high.

(End of this chapter)