Chapter 176: Opportunities for Change

The construction of Jiaoxi City was not the Nestorians who were doing things for Zhao Xing, but on the contrary, Zhao Xing took care of Nestorians, because Zhao Xing could find anyone to complete the construction.

After An Sida accepted this favor, he naturally wanted to ask about Zhao Xing’s reserve price.

"I don't think you can do anything for me. As far as I know, you entered the Central Plains during the Jin Dynasty and were isolated from the religions for nearly a thousand years. I have always believed that if civilization wants to develop, it must be exchanged - the flowing river water can be fresh and lively, and a ball of stagnant water will only emit a rotten stench. But you have not flowed in for nearly a thousand years. What can you do? Of course, if you do nothing, I think it's time for the demise of Nestorianism."

An Sida looked at the scene around him and said in confusion: "The time for destruction has come. Yes, I have heard its footsteps. How should we save the destiny of destruction?"

Nestorianism was once glorious in the Tang Dynasty. Several emperors believed in Nestorianism, but then the spread of a stagnant Nestorianism became smaller and smaller. By the Song Dynasty, it was limited to Quanzhou and Bianliang.

Zhao Xing seemed to remember that after the Song Dynasty, there were no rumors about Nestorians in history. He didn't know that in normal history, a Mongolian who believed in Nestorians launched a rebellion after Genghis Khan's death. In order to retaliate, the victorious Mongolians massacred all Nestorians and burned churches and religious scriptures. They did so thoroughly that the history of Nestorians in China was shrouded in a fog...

At present, Nestorians have felt that their situation is getting more and more difficult and their range of activities is getting smaller and smaller. So several ambitious people in the church gathered together to discuss and extend their tentative tentacles to the outside world and plan for change. In real history, the people led by the deputy priest An Sida have been entering the Western Regions before they have taken root in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-Gansu-

Nestorians are now huddled in Quanzhou, which was a very special existence in the Song Dynasty. Because there were too many vassal merchants living in, the local governments adopted flexible means to govern the city. Successive officials allowed some great merchants to hire a large number of foreigners to engage in foreign trade, so that later, Arab giant merchants rose and controlled all affairs in Quanzhou City, becoming a vassal government similar to the "country among the country".

The most powerful Arab merchants in Quanzhou City are the ones who are rich and powerful, so they are naturally willing to spend more money for their faith. Among them, the great merchant Pu Yian is the representative. An Sida and others vaguely heard that the great merchant had recently contacted a mysterious Song merchant and gradually expanded their power from Japan to Jiaozhi. An Sida also heard that since last year, Pu Yian, with the support of the Song merchant, moved to Danluo Island with the support of the Song merchant, and began to do his best to manage his "own country". The Nestorians also wanted to find the support of the Song merchant. After several inquiries, they discovered Zhao Xing's existence.

There were a lot of people around Zhao Xing, and there were people of all kinds of faith, which made the Nestorians feel a sense of hope in their hearts, hoping to get a piece of the pie. But what they didn't expect was that Zhao Xing did not listen to their incitement speech from beginning to end, and automatically promised them a city for them to preach. This practice not only gave them hope but also left a huge suspense.

What exactly does the other party need?

Looking at the other party's clear eyes, An Sida felt that he could not say anything. He really could not make any promises to the other party. After a moment of silence, he suddenly thought of Zhao Xing's hint and felt suddenly happy: "Change, he is talking about change. We are fellow travelers, and we all want to change the world!"

"I'll go back to Quanzhou now," An Sida said firmly: "Since I won this city, I should be the main priest. When I go back, I ask for the transfer to Mizhou as the priest, and I just come to ask Lord Zhao for advice every day."

Zhao Xing smiled and said nothing, stretched out his hand to hold the other person...

After seeing An Sida off, Zhao Xing returned home and asked his father-in-law: "My father-in-law, how did you meet this master?"

When Cheng Laoqi faced this son-in-law, he did not dare to hide it. He immediately explained the story of the two people's acquaintance. The ancients always followed the Master's teachings of faith, and would rather believe that they had it than not. Or the attitude of "respecting ghosts and gods and staying away from them." An Sida followed Zhao Xing's fleet and touched the Hangzhou Manor, and then asked Cheng Laoqi to talk to him. When Cheng Laoqi saw the other party's appearance of profound magic power, he did not dare to offend him. When he heard that the other party was coming to visit his son-in-law, he happened to receive the news that his daughter was pregnant, so he brought An Sida to Mizhou, and the monk Foyin joined temporarily after hearing the news.

After Cheng Laoqi introduced the past and after, Zhao Xing inferred the truth from the other party's words. The father-in-law took out a few pieces of gold and silver jewelry, necklace padlocks, and a pair of lotus crosses from his body, and said with a humming voice: "This master has a profound magic power and has applied great magic power to this necklace. It is said that if the child is worn, he can drive away ghosts and evil spirits. Sister Zhu put it on, he can protect the mother and son from safety. Brother-in-law, I have never dared to give this magical object to Azhu. You have a lot of knowledge. Take a look, this thing may be worn?"

Zhao Xing laughed: "No problem, go and give it to Azhu."

Cheng Laoqi's feet did not move, and he added hummingly: "Brother-in-law, the brothers of the Xiao family came back a month ago and brought a hundred people to live in the house in the fort. I heard that you asked him to live in. Is this a matter?"

Zhao Xing nodded: "Something involved his brothers. I asked them to go abroad to avoid it, and then go back to Hangzhou Manor. After a while, let them leave from Hangzhou Manor to Mizhou."

Cheng Laoqi has already regarded the Hangzhou Manor as his home. The Xiao brothers moved in, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. He heard that they were just a residence, so he breathed a sigh of relief. While muttering, he went to find Cheng Azhu. Zhao Xing looked at his father-in-law's back, raised his hand, slowly raised his head, looked up at the sky, and said to himself: "What should we do to break the inertia of history? Are there not enough seeds of change? I hope..."

After thinking for a while, Zhao Xing slowly walked back to the study room, picked up his pen to record some of his inspirations just now...

The busiest thing that officials in the Song Dynasty do every year is spring plowing and autumn harvest. After spring plowing and autumn harvest, the rhythm of life becomes leisurely.

In this era, officials have more than 100 days off every year, and on average, it is one day's turn for every two days of work. After the spring plowing is over, the first thing they will encounter is the short holiday - the Cold Food Festival. This day is the time to extinguish the old fire and ignite the new fire...

There were no matches in ancient times, so it was troublesome to light a fire, so once the fire in ancient people was lit, it had to be kept out all year round. It was not until the Cold Food Festival that a new fire was replaced. This is the origin of the Cold Food Festival. However, after Zhao Xing discovered the matches of the Song Dynasty - the Dharma Candle, he often lit the matches and lit the new fire.

However, the Song Dynasty candles belong to sulfur matches, which are both expensive and extremely unsafe. As a zippo enthusiast, Zhao Xing knew some principles of flint. He remembered that its main component was some rare earth elements. When it was fused with metals such as lead and tin, it became high-quality flint. Rare earth elements were called "Single Stone" in the Song Dynasty. There were many produced in Fujian and Hubei. It was also the flint component commonly used in ancient fire sickles.

Now, Zhao Xing was idle and wanted to "invent" a new type of fire sickle before the Cold Food Festival. So, during the banquet that was coming, he summoned a group of craftsmen from the Ministry of Works and began to "develop" Song Dynasty lighters intermittently...

After leaving the capital, Zhao Xing ordered the villagers to collect "Duju Stone". He asked the craftsmen to crush the Duju Stone and rinse it repeatedly with acid and alkali. The remaining precipitates that are neither acid nor alkaline can be used. After burning, the ash is removed, and then mixed with lead and tin, it becomes a new type of squid.

Going further, he asked someone to find some military hot oil. Soon, the Song Dynasty lighter, which was more stupid and thicker than modern lighters, was born. It was then handed over to craftsmen to continue research and made more refined samples, from the most common fire sickle style to kettle shapes, animal shapes, etc.

Time is like water. In the blink of an eye, the Cold Food Festival has arrived. With this advanced fire-making tool, Zhao Xing no longer needs to be kept carefully at the stove fire at home. Even if it is accidentally eliminated occasionally, it is enough to knock out a bunch of new fires again, so the Cold Food Festival has lost its meaning to him.

What else could the ancients do on the Cold Food Festival? It seems that the Cold Food Festival was also one of the four major "national gambling days" in the Song Dynasty. However, except for Liao Xiaoxiao's strong gambling nature, the others did not have much desire to gambling. This also made their family a little idle when others were busy changing new fires.

The bored Zhao Xing didn't know how to spend the three-day holiday without TV or mahjong poker. He was bored and he simply made an appointment with a familiar official friend to visit the scenery of Wulian Mountain together.

The main peak of Jiuxian Mountain is 697 meters above sea level and 55 square kilometers. It is the largest mountain group in Shandong Linhai. There is the famous "Sun Bin Academy" on the mountain. Legend has it that after Sun Bin retired, he chose to open an academy on this mountain to teach students. This beautiful mountain was the one that Su Shi liked to visit when he was the magistrate of Mizhou. He once praised this mountain for his "strange and beautiful appearance but not less than Yandang".

The Song Dynasty worshipped literature and suppressed martial arts. This academy during the Warring States Period no longer taught military tactics and became a deserted courtyard similar to a temple. The guardians in the courtyard were dressed in a state of disgrace, making people unable to understand their identity. Originally, this small temple should have been abandoned long ago, but the endless stream of pilgrims allowed it to be barely maintained, but it was barely maintained.

The small temple was already very dilapidated, with the thatched hut leaking, there were no statues in the main hall, but a statue of Sun Bin was painted on the walls, and some battle scenes from the Warring States Period were painted on the walls... But in Zhao Xing's view, these painting techniques seemed to be products from the Five Dynasties, far from as long as the Warring States Period.

Under the big tree in Sun Bin Academy, civil servants gathered together to drink tea while feeling moved. However, only Zhao Xing, Yuan Yeping, Zhang Yong, Deng Yufu, Lin Ji, and Jiaoxi County officials would rather enjoy the cool under the tree.

After rewarding the guardians of Sun Bin Temple with several incense money, Zhao Xing and Zhang Yong walked into the courtyard. Yuan Yeping was still murmuring in the temple and sitting on a straw mat to maintain his own treasure sword. He seemed to show his sword to the ancient war god, with his movements stern, pious as if Sun Bin was really sitting in front of him.

After leaving the small temple, Zhao Xing and Zhang Yong were not interested in playing with civil servants. Zhao Xing asked a question he had always been in mind with a thoughtful expression: "I heard that there were always sayings about generals in ancient times. In the Tang Dynasty, some people said, "Generals are from generals, and prime ministers are from prime ministers." It can be seen that generals are two ways to cultivate generals... Have you heard of Yang Wenguang? How is the Yang family now?"

Zhang Yong clapped his hands: "You ask me this, you are right. My ancestor Zhang Tinghan was a famous general in the founding country and was in charge of the army for two generations... Well, that is what you mentioned. My family is not as good as the Cao family and the Shi family, but it has lasted for several generations. During the Shenzong period, my family had Taizu Zhang Zhaoyuan as the envoy of the family - the Yang family. When it came to Yang Wenguang's generation, it was also three generations of generals. Unfortunately, their descendants gave up Wu and followed Wen. I heard that the child of their generation was named Yang Zuren. He entered Beijing three or four years ago to take the imperial examination and even visited my family."

Zhao Xing nodded and said casually: "The court's report said that Yang Zuren was the new magistrate of Hangzhou and happened to be the magistrate of my family... It's a pity that his ancestor Yang Wudi's martial arts actually gave up..."

Zhang Yong laughed: "Yang Wudi, this name is interesting... You mean Yang Ye, his name is also Yang Wudi, ridiculous! Who gave him this name?"

Zhao Xing raised his face in surprise: "Didn't he say he won every battle against the Khitan..."

"Stop funny! He fought with the Khitan more than a hundred times and was defeated in every battle. Once, he was lying in the pile of corpses under the city, pretending to be dead. He was completely dependent on the people on the city wall to throw the ropes, so he was spared from death. This man fought with our Song army more than thirty times, but he had no victory. His life's victory was achieved after surrendering to our Song Dynasty. That time he killed the Khitan prince-in-law, but he sent his life in the next battle. However, he was captured and died without food, which made people admire his integrity. The court greatly commended his family for this, and it was also considered to be a royal family and his children..."

I understand. It turns out that the ancestor of the Yang family general fought 100 battles in his life. The first ninety-eight times were all defeated. The 99th time was victory, and the 100th time was still defeated. That time he sent his life away.

How could such a person be Yang Wudi? Who said that he was nicknamed Yang Wudi?

"Tianbo...I heard that his mansion in Bianliang is very grand. It is called Tianbo Mansion. It was renovated by Yangye's Family Temple. Is there anything wrong?" Zhao Xing asked unwillingly.

Zhang Yong was very puzzled: "Family Temple? Your statement is wrong! The custom of establishing a family temple seems to be a custom of the Tang Dynasty, but it was not popular at the beginning of the establishment of our emperor and Song dynasty. It was not until His Majesty Shenzong issued an edict to the children of meritorious officials to establish a family temple. However, His Majesty Shenzong could not issue an edict until Yang Ye was alive. Therefore, if Yang had a family temple, it must have been built later.

But how could Yang Ye build a mansion in Bianliang? He died in battle with the Liao people while serving as the governor of Daizhou. He did not fight on the front line, so he went to Bianliang to build a mansion? His son did not work in Bianliang, his younger brother was in Taiyuan, and his grandson did not have a mansion in the capital - his family could not build a mansion in Bianliang.

I remember that Yang Wenguang's son Yang Ting was born in the imperial examination and led a war. It was in the fourth year of Huangyou. When Guangxi rebelled, Yang Ting was still mourning at home. At that time, Yang Ting had just passed away. Fan Zhongyan and Wen Guang were close friends and recommended Yang Ting to rehabilitate him. But Yang Ting had some problems. He was a few decades old and couldn't walk steadily. He led his army into Guangxi. He couldn't suppress the army. He walked into the ditch in a daze and fell on a big rock. Fortunately, there was a thick grass on the stone, so he didn't fall to death.

Afterwards, the court accused him of not being able to suppress his soldiers and being demoted to the death of war, and never to be used again. However, Fan Zhongyan tried his best to get rid of him, and the court only gave up the matter with his exile. Soon, Yang Ting died of depression, and his mother took Yang Zuren to live in Hangzhou..."

Zhang Yong said that Yang Ting had some problems walking. If we describe it in modern language, it would be: Yang Ting, the successor of the fourth generation of Yang family generals, had an underdeveloped cerebellum, and was even almost disabled. He had no sense of direction or balance when walking. He led the army to fight and brought himself into the ditch, which resulted in the defeat of the army.

But who is Yang Ting? He was born in the imperial examination. Through his relationship with his colleagues, he established close friendship with a group of civil officials in the Song court. In addition, the relationship between the Yang family's generals and military officials gave him a wide network of social networks. It doesn't matter if his grandfather's defeat in every battle, but the civil officials will create a nickname for him, named "Yang Wudi". It doesn't matter if he is brainless, but literati will describe this brainless person as "the number one master of the Song Dynasty". No matter who has martial arts skills is not as good as him, he will write him as "the best master of the Song Dynasty".

However, the Song Dynasty generals were much more prominent than Yang Ye. For example, Zhang Yong, the person in front of him, had a family background that was more prominent than Yang's, but they were not familiar with literati, and literati disdained to describe them as glorious and tall.

The truth of history is full of humor.

Fortunately, Zhang Yong also knew Zhao Xing, a literati! Zhao Xing's eyes rolled and he had decided to show off the "female general of Zhang's clan" to disgust history. He suggested readily: "Now the imperial guards are training the 'Storm Pear Blossom Gun'. Why don't I say this 'Pear Blossom Gun' as the secret of Zhang's family, and call it 'Zhang's Pear Blossom Gun' in the future. What do you think?"

Zhang Yong narrowed his eyes and shook his head and replied: "I have been thinking about what happened to the military weapon surveillance, and sent such an important thing to Mizhou to do... I have to take care of this matter carefully. Although the name of Zhang's pear blossom gun is good, who knows how deep the water is?"

Zhao Xing looked around and whispered: "Zhang Shuxiang once told me that there is a deeper inside story in the military weapon surveillance case. They not only involved corruption, but also involved stealing and selling - stealing and selling military weapons to the enemy country."

Zhang Yong shivered: "Forget it, this matter is too deep, so we'd better not know anything."

Zhang Yong actually learned Zheng Banqiao's rare confusion without a teacher, which surprised Zhao Xing slightly. He paused for a moment and felt that it was best to accept Zhang Yong's suggestion, quickly put aside this topic, turned to greet Lin Ji, and Deng Yufu went up the mountain together.

There were also female families from various families who went up the mountain together. The female families burned incense at temples, and the group walked very slowly. Especially Cheng Azhu, who had just gotten pregnant, naturally had to thank the Buddha for his blessing, and even gave him the Buddha statue when he saw it, which made the journey slower and slower.

On the last day of the holiday, the officials walked down Wulian Mountain with satisfaction with the gift from the monk. The women had many more prayer talismans on their bodies, and the officials had more jade pendants from the monks. It is said that these jades were worshipped in front of the Buddha and were very spiritual, so the cost of a copper plate required the officials to spend a thousand copper plates enough to buy...

The officials shook all the way back to the county town and broke up to the mansion. Zhao Xingcai entered the mansion and the servant came to report: "Dalang, another group of people came to Hangzhou, saying that it was your relatives and were waiting in the house. Should you meet first or after dinner?"

Zhao Xing nodded and replied: "It's the Xiao brothers. I guess they should arrive too. Please invite them to come. I happened to have something to give me."
Chapter completed!