Ma Xiguang was indeed anxious, but contrary to everyone's expectations, he was anxious not to return to Chu State to inherit the throne, but to return and abdicate the throne.
That's right! Will give way.
Although the King of Chu, Ma Xifan, who died of illness in May, had ordered him to inherit the power of Ma Chu, because Ma Xiguang was left in Kaifeng Mansion, Tokyo by Zhang Xian, Ma Xifan's other brother, Ma Xiguang's brother Ma Xihe, immediately seized the opportunity.
The uprising occurred in Langzhou (now Changde, Hunan).
Now he has colluded with the barbarians in Xidong, Langzhou, and led an army of seven thousand to fight back to Tanzhou, hoping to inherit the throne.
However, Zhang Shaodi, commander of the Wu'an military office, and Liu Yantao, commander of the Tanzhou navy, who controlled Ma Chu's actual power, were unwilling to allow Ma Xi'e to enter the city. The two sides were fighting in Yiyang and Yuezhou.
Ma Chu itself is not very strong, because most of Hunan, where Ma Chu is located, has not yet been developed.
In addition to Tanzhou (Changsha), Langzhou (Changde), Yuezhou, Yiyang and other places, the rest of the places were also occupied by Zhuxidong barbarians.
The territory is small, so the winner will be decided quickly. Ma Xiguang's whole family is in Tanzhou. They are afraid that they will be killed by Ma Xi'e if they go back too late, so they rush back to express their willingness to give up the throne in exchange for brotherly harmony.
But don't think that this man is a man of noble character who is willing to give up glory and wealth in order to prevent brothers from killing each other. In fact, he is just very self-aware and has a cowardly character.
Historically, he sent Liu Yantao to defeat Ma Xihe, but then said, "How can I bear to kill my brother? We can divide the country and rule it!"
Alas! Zhu Yunwen can't keep his position even if he says this.
Brother, you are from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms! How can such a womanly act have a good ending?
Sure enough, Ma Xihe later successfully reversed the situation and hanged Ma Xiguang and his wife in the Ma family's ancestral temple.
Wu Renchen, a historian of the Qing Dynasty, commented on Ma Xiguang, saying that he "admired Song Xiang's false writings and caused Yuan Tan's real disaster." This can be said to hit the nail on the head.
But now, the legitimate heir of Nan Chu can only wait anxiously in Tokyo for Zhang Gao to return to Beijing. Without Zhang Gao's order, no one dares to let him leave Tokyo.
Zhang Gao returned to his army. Starting from Beizhou, he walked very quickly, but after crossing the Yellow River, he began to slow down.
Because Er Zhujing, the Jiedu envoy of the Weisheng Army in Xiangyang Prefecture, and Zhao Cunyi, the commander-in-chief of Zhangwu Town of the Forbidden Army stationed in Fuzhou (Tianmen City, Hubei Province), returned secretly.
These two people were senior generals designated by Zhang Zhang to target the Gao family of Nanping. They were the most familiar with information about Nanping, so they were urgently ordered to interview and report their duties.
The reason why we pay so much attention to Nanping is because Zhang Yan wants to kill two birds with one stone this time. It can even be said that the Gao family of Nanping is more important than the Ma family of Nanchu.
There is no way, Jiangling is too important. If the Yangtze River is compared to a giant snake, Jiangling in Nanping is the golden section of this snake.
In addition, the Jiangling section of the Yangtze River can be completely controlled by the two water cities in the north and south. Therefore, if Jiangling is blocked, the Yangtze River channel can be cut off, and the connection between the two great powers in the south, Meng Shu and the Southern Tang Dynasty, can be completely cut off.
Moreover, the Nanping Kingdom looked small, but its army was even worse. After leaving Jiangling, even the Yingzhou and County soldiers of the Zhou Kingdom could not defeat it, but they had a naval army with strong combat effectiveness.
You must know that Jiangling is close to Ezhou (Wuhan) of the Southern Tang Dynasty and Yuezhou of Ma Chu, and its national power is relatively weak. However, Nanping's navy suppressed Ma Chu and fought against the Southern Tang Dynasty. Only then could Jiangling be protected.
The foundation of their country.
Li Xiaojie, who had been collecting information in Nanping, Ma, Chu and Ezhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty, also ordered someone to bring Zhang Yan some shocking news.
Zhang Yan took the thick booklet brought back by the Jinyi guards from Jiangling. He only glanced at it for a few times before handing it to Li Fang, Lu Yan and Lu Yin who were beside him, and then sighed.
.
"Jiangling City cannot be beaten hard. Try to do the work of Gao Congjie and Gao Baorong. If it doesn't work, let the Gao family rule Jingnan for a few more years!"
When the three of them took it and took a look, their faces showed admiration for Zhang Hao. Lu Yan even looked at Zhang Hao "affectionately" and said.
"I originally thought that Liu Zhiyuan from Hedong was a powerful man in the world, but today I realized that compared with the saints, Liu Zhiyuan is nothing more than a dog."
It turns out that this thick booklet is a catalog, which records hundreds of thousands of books.
The Nanping Gao family had a library in the residence of the Jingnan Jiedu Envoy Office with a comprehensive collection.
There are more than a thousand unique and rare volumes collected by Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie.
There are more than 4,000 volumes of various history books and biographies of the past dynasties. There are more than 100,000 volumes of other books on medicine, divination, astrology, mountain geography, agriculture, fishery and hunting.
The only copy of "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" that Gao Baorong dedicated to Zhang Yan years ago is one of them.
Historically, after the Song army took control of Jiangling City, although they did not plunder Jiangling City on a large scale, the soldiers looted the Jingnan Jiedu Office in the inner city to their heart's content.
Coach Murong Yanzhao and others failed to control the situation well, which caused a fire in the office and the library was also affected. In the end, less than one-third of the fire was rescued.
Zhang Gao waved his hand. It is estimated that no one among the current emperors can value these ancient books more than him and know how valuable they are.
Of course, he said that he would let the Gao family rule Nanping for a few more years because he knew that Gao Congjie would not live much longer.
"I don't like the treasures of the Gao family, because they are hungry, frozen, and cannot be clothed. Only this collection of hundreds of thousands of books is the result of the painstaking efforts of our ancestors.
Farming and weaving today are several times that of ancient times. Today we can know the rise and fall of things thousands of years ago, all because of the books handed down from generation to generation.
The Nanping Kingdom can be regained, but once the classics collected by the Gao family are lost, they will never be regained."
"Your Majesty is truly the Holy Son of Heaven!" The three of them were greatly impressed. Lu Yan praised loudly: "If the saint has such a literary heart, peace in the world will be just around the corner."
Zhao Cunyi saw that Zhang Yan paid so much attention to these books, "I investigated in Fuzhou and learned that the Gao family's books were searched and organized by Sun Guangxian, the minister of the shogunate, the secretary and supervisor of the school, and the censor.
This person is highly trusted by Jing Wang Gao Cong, and Gao Baorong even regards him as his teacher. The court may start to think of ways to start with this person."
Li Fang's eyes lit up and he said to Zhang Yan: "I have also heard of Sun Guangxian's reputation. He is fond of poetry and books, knows righteousness, and holds some power in Jingnan. This is indeed a good breakthrough point."
Zhang Yan couldn't help but praise: "Those who can read must know that the unification of the world is the general trend. He has collected so many unique copies and has made great contributions. He will not be treated unfairly the next day."
Zhang Yan didn't know that Sun Guangxian's contribution to the inheritance was much greater than he thought.
This man was a native of Guiping, Lingzhou (now Guiping Village, Xiang's hometown, Renshou County, Sichuan Province). His family had been born in farmers for generations. In Sun Guangxian's generation, he was talented and intelligent, and he had the perseverance to study hard. In these five generations,
In the troubled times, a poor family finally achieved success in learning.
According to historical records, Sun Guangxian was fond of classics. He collected thousands of volumes of books, or wrote them by hand, and diligently proofread them.
Every time there was a war, I was not prepared for books. When I encountered the envoys, I would spend a lot of money and silk to buy them, so I wrote 30,000 volumes of books in three years.
His book "Beimeng Suoyan" was an extremely important supplement to historical data from Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Five Dynasties.
Although Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie of Nanping were martial artists and had no cultural attributes, they supported Sun Guangxian's collection of rare works.
Not only did he ask Sun Guangxian to build a library in the government office, but after Gao Congjie went around robbing other people's tributes, he would always send books to Sun Guangxian first when he encountered them.
Gao Baorongxian's "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" was written twenty years ago, after the fall of the former Shu, and the treasures of the former Shu were sent down the river during the rise of the Later Tang Dynasty. They were finally intercepted by Gao Jixing and obtained, and then discovered and compiled and preserved by Sun Guangxian.
Having said this, Lu Yan thought about it for a moment and said to Zhang Yan: "I am an old minister from Hedong, and I am newly attached to His Majesty. Jingnan must not have known about it yet.
I also have thirty volumes of fragments of Ban Shupi’s Historical Records in my family. If I use this as a matchmaker, Sun Guangxian will definitely not be able to resist the temptation, and I can approach him and test Sun Guangxian’s attitude.”
Ban Shupi was Ban Biao, the father of Ban Gu, Ban Chao, and Ban Zhao. Ban Gu's "Hanshu" was revised and perfected on the basis of Ban Biao's "Historical Records".
Correspondingly, after the publication of "Hanshu", "Historical Records Later Biography" is basically rare, so even if it is only thirty fragments, it is still very precious.
As soon as Lu Yan's words came out, Er Zhujing, Zhao Cunyi, Li Fang, and Lu Yin all looked at Zhang Yan.
Obviously, Lu Yan was an old minister of Hedong. He had been with Zhang Xiang for less than ten days and his loyalty had not yet been verified. He could go to Nanping to inquire about it as he said, but he could also go to Nanping and sell Zhang Xiang.
Zhang Hao was not worried at all. What a joke. How could a person in history who could sacrifice his life and future to preserve the blood of Guo Rong do such a thing?
And the more people read, the more they will be infected by Confucian thought of unity.
Today, it is obvious that Zhang Zhou is the orthodoxy of China and the rest are separatists. Even if Lu Yan has just been taken over by Zhang Yan, there is no way he will betray Zhang Yan.
"It's too risky for Wen Bing to go here. If something goes wrong, wouldn't it be a waste of talents.
Just let Jiangling City's Jinyi guards investigate such matters. If something goes wrong, they are highly skilled in martial arts and know the inside story of Jiangling, so they should be able to protect themselves."
Lu Yan was extremely moved when he heard this. Zhang Yan did not consider his loyalty, but instead considered his life safety. He said to Zhang Yan with hot eyes.
"I am a newbie and have received such care from the saint, so I dare not give up my heart and soul.
Although the guards in Jinyi had superb methods, Sun Guangxian was a literary scholar and a minister of Jingnan, so it was impossible to impress him with casual words.
Please rest assured, Your Majesty, now that our great Zhou Dynasty is at its peak, even if King Jing is angry, he will not dare to kill his ministers, and the most he will do is suffer a prison sentence."
Zhang Yan looked uncertain and embarrassed. Even from a few meters away, Lu Yan could feel Zhang Yan's inner struggle, so he took another step forward and kowtowed to the ground.
"Unification of the world is my long-cherished wish. Please fulfill it, Your Majesty!"
If masters like Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were here, they would definitely ask me, Saint Zhang, to give me twenty-four likes. It was obviously an extremely dangerous task, and in the end, I had to do it to the death of my subordinates.
So I, Zhang Shengren, sighed, "Since Wen Bing is leaving, I will give you a secret order to take with you. If anything happens, you can show this secret order to Gao Congjie so that he will not dare to harm your life."
"
Lu Yan was extremely moved and thanked you again, "I would like to express my gratitude to Your Majesty for His grace."
"Oh! By the way, for the remaining chapters of the Thirty Historical Records, Wen Bing should also find some Zhongshu Luantai Book Office to copy them down as soon as possible! I'm asking for books, the more the better."
Everyone laughed, and Lu Yan also stood up and said with a smile: "I have already copied two copies and will submit them immediately."
After the arrangements were made, Lu Yan immediately left for Jingnan overnight under the protection of 20 Zuoyu Lin Guards and three Jingnan Jinyi guards.
Zhang Gao also immediately ordered the deployment of Shannan Province in Chijie, Pingzhang of Shannan Province, and Liu Zaisheng, the Duke of Hotan County, to organize the Shannan Forbidden Army Weiwu, Yingyang, and Zhangwu Town Forbidden Army and the Weisheng Army Yabing of Xiangyang Prefecture to start training.
Prepare for going south.
At the same time, orders were given to the commander-in-chief of Chijie to supervise the military affairs of the two Huaihe Rivers, Pingzhang of Jianghuai Province, the military governor of Wuning in Xuzhou Prefecture, and Gongma Zhaoyuan of Jiuquan County.
He was ordered to also train the pro-army Shenwei Youjun stationed in Xuzhou, the Forbidden Army Xiongwu, Lingwu Town, and Wuning Army Yabing to prepare for transfer.
The reason why these two armies need to be mobilized is because the army that Zhang Gao has mobilized for this northern attack on Khitan and Liu Zhiyuan has been out for more than seven months, and most of them need to be repaired for a month before they can join the battle.
Moreover, Zhang Gao was not prepared to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people like he did against the Khitan and Liu Zhiyuan.
He planned to focus on the garrison of Xiangyang Prefecture in Shannan and the garrison of Xuzhou Prefecture in Lianghuai, and the central pro-army and forbidden troops could mobilize up to 10,000 or 20,000 people.
Of course, Zhang Gao also planned to mobilize part of the naval forces led by Du Lunchixin and Zhao Yanjin, but they would only dispatch troops, not warships.
As for the warships, they are of course waiting to receive Nanping and Nanchu.
On August 20th, Zhang Zhou, who was eager to return home, set out with his army. It only took him seventeen days to cover more than 1,300 miles.
An average of more than seventy miles per day, for an army, even if Zhang and Zhou's army had many mules and horses, it was already very fast.
Because the soldiers received their rewards, they were all eager to go home to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival on September 9th.
Fortunately, the Mid-Autumn Festival is not popular in this era. If the Mid-Autumn Festival were popular, Zhang Yan would probably be criticized.
This is also the reason why Zhang Gao is not ready to dispatch his own troops immediately and the imperial army goes south. In this case, there is no way to dispatch.
Uh! Actually, it’s not impossible to dispatch. Considering Zhang Yan’s prestige, it’s no problem to dispatch forcefully. But how much combat power is left and whether the soldiers will be resentful and unable to work on the battlefield? That’s very difficult.
It's hard to say.
....
Zhao Kuangyin happily returned to his home in the north of the inner city. His younger brothers and sisters were hugging him and laughing happily. His mother Du Shi was preparing meals, but Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand.
"Mom, don't be too busy. Call all the neighbors. The saint has given you a fat donkey. Let's kill it and let the neighbors beat it together as a sacrifice."
Mrs. Du came out in surprise and saw that Zhao Kuangyin was holding a fat green donkey in his hand. His eight-year-old second son Kuang Yi was having a great time playing on the back of the donkey. His daughters looked at Brother Zhao eagerly and made a fuss.
Go up too.
"This donkey is quite docile, even Erlang can ride it." Zhao Hongyin's concubine, Geng Shi, looked at Zhao Er on the donkey's back in surprise and said.
Zhao Kuangyin's eyes twitched. This donkey is so docile. When he was in the military camp, he was notorious for being lazy and greedy. He also bullied other donkeys. Even the auxiliary soldiers who fed the donkeys were bitten. He was simply the best among donkeys.
Otherwise, how could he be so fat?
However, Zhao Kuangyin thought thoughtfully, and it seemed that the donkey was indeed very docile to Erlang.
At this time, his father Zhao Hongyin came out, saw Zhao Er on the donkey's back, and immediately nodded with satisfaction.
"My Zhao family can be considered a family of generals, and Erlang seems to have a talent for riding and shooting.
Tomorrow I will go to the mule and horse market to buy a shorter Xiazhou horse. You two are not allowed to protect it anymore. Now is the time for warriors to make achievements. How can you do it if you are not good at riding and shooting?"
Du thought for a while, but still did not refute Zhao Hongyin's words. A few years ago, she was reluctant to let Zhao Er endure hardships to practice martial arts because of his weak body. But now that he is so fat and strong, it would be unreasonable for him not to practice martial arts.
At this time, the baby was crying loudly in the house, and Mrs. Du hurriedly went to take care of her third son, Zhao Tingmei, who was only three or four months old.
Geng looked at the fat green donkey with regret and said, "Such a fat donkey is a good worker. Wouldn't it be a pity to eat it?"
Zhao Kuangyin's face suddenly became a little strange, "When Your Majesty rewarded this donkey, he specifically told us to kill him and eat the meat. He also said that Erlang is weak and should eat more."
"Ah?" Zhao Hongyin and Geng looked at each other, completely confused about the emperor's plan. They specially gave a donkey and asked Zhao Er to eat more. What does this mean?
Zhao Er, who was on the donkey's back, learned that the precious donkey under his crotch was about to be eaten. For some reason, he felt so sad that he burst into tears.
Seeing his father Zhao Hongyin's worried eyes, Zhao Kuangyin knew what he was worried about.
"Don't worry, sir. My son has made great achievements in the war this time. The saint has promoted him to the title of General Youlong Xiangwei Lang, and plans to give my son the title of Gui Debo in the Jin Dynasty.
Moreover, Zhao Cunyi, the commander-in-chief of Zhangwu Town, is about to be promoted, and it is very likely that Ha'er will succeed him as the commander-in-chief of Zhangwu Town."
Zhao Hongyin was relieved. Maybe the emperor just wanted them to have a good meal of donkey meat.
.....
The Zhao family is going to eat donkey meat, and I, Zhang Shengren, are facing the most difficult flattery in the world to resist.
As soon as he returned to the palace, Saint Zhang's six sons and nine daughters immediately surrounded him.
From the ninth daughter who is still babbling and has not even been officially named, to the fourteen-year-old Zhang Xiancun.
Some were holding paintings for him to appreciate, some were showing off that they could memorize a hundred poems, and some were showing off their martial arts skills with spears that were taller than others.
The youngest ninth daughter, Yanniang, even shouted vaguely "yeah" and climbed on top of him.
There is no way, Zhang Shengren has been fighting in the north and south, and he doesn't spend much time at home, so the competition for favor is naturally quite fierce.
Of course, there are also children who have not seen their father for a long time and simply miss him.
Zhang Xichong arrived at the gate of the palace with the memorial on fiscal and tax reform, but Zhang Xian had no choice but to ask him to go back and come back tomorrow.
Zhang Shengren knew what Zhang Xichong wanted to do with his memorial, which was that Zhang Zhou's current fiscal and taxation policies had to be adjusted, and many of the bad policies of the previous dynasty also had to be eradicated.
But Zhang Yan didn't want to make a decision right away. He planned to summon He Ning, Feng Dao, Zhao Ying, Fan Zhi and others in batches for consultation, and then make a decision after understanding.
Mr. Zhang Xichong had a lot of old health problems due to fighting in many places when he was young. Recently, his energy and body have been unable to keep up. He really wants to do some good governance so as to leave a reputation in the history of the world, so Zhang Xichong has to be cautious.
You can't just listen to him alone.
But Zhang Xichong had a fiery temper, and he was the first important official from the Central Plains to follow Zhang Xi. With his qualifications here, it was difficult for Zhang Xi to refute him face to face.
This made it even more important to understand clearly in advance so that we could respond in a targeted manner, so we simply used our children as an excuse and asked the old man to go back first.
Alas! Another legend has come to an end, and now only Carter is left. I wonder if he can pass the 100-year-old mark.