Five hundred and fourteenth chapters a loyal martyr
There are endless mountains, thousands of clouds, and snow in the north and south of the Yangtze River.
——"Dian Jiang Lip·Composed immediately on October 2nd" Gong Zizhen (Qing Dynasty)
…
On their way back north, Bai Fu, Fang Shuliu and Su Yubao saw thousands of miles of red land, deserted towns, ruined buildings, foxes and rats scurrying around, and desolation...
When they reached the Luoyang area, they were about to dismount their horses and rest their feet. With sharp eyes, Bai Fu suddenly saw a middle-aged man on a big tree ten feet away, putting a rope around his head and neck, intending to commit suicide.
Bai Fu whistled, and the tiger and leopard galloped away as fast as lightning. When he came to the tree, Bai Fu raised his hand and cut the rope with his flying knife, and rescued the hanged man.
The man cried bitterly and told the reason for his suicide.
This person is Yan Quanming, the son of Yan Gaoqing, the prefect of Changshan. His cousin is Yan Zhenqing, the imperial censor, and the prefect of Puzhou. His six-generation ancestor is Yan Zhitui, a famous minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty who wrote "Yan Family Instructions".
After An Lushan rebelled, 150,000 Fan Yang cavalry swept across the land of Yan and Zhao, and twenty-four counties in Hebei fell almost overnight.
The cousins Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Changshan, and Yan Zhenqing, the governor of Pingyuan, were steadfast and unyielding. They organized the Hebei Province Rebel Army and fought bloody battles with the rebels to the end.
If we say that the commanding generals on the Hedong battlefield were Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, the leaders on the Hebei battlefield were Yan Gaoqing and Yan Zhenqing.
Yan Gaoqing, the prefect of Changshan County, and Li Qincuo, the rebel leader of Yuan Luqian, made great achievements by capturing He Qianqian, a senior officer of the Yan army, and Gao Miao.
Later, Shi Siming and Cai Xide led 20,000 Yan army cavalry to besiege Changshan. Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Lu were eventually captured because they had few troops and no help, and were executed by An Lushan in Luoyang.
Many of the nephews and nephews who were killed on the same day as Yan Gaoqing were taken hostage by An Lushan, as well as many family members and clan members captured in Changshan. During the entire rebellion, the Yan family died under the swords and axes of the Yan army.
There are more than thirty people in total.
…
Yan Gaoqing's son Yan Quanming was captured by Shi Siming and imprisoned in Fan Yang. He waited until An Qingxu ascended the throne to grant amnesty and Shi Siming surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Yan Quanming was released.
After regaining his freedom, Yan Quanming went to Luoyang to look for the body of his father Yan Gaoqing. After finding it, he was buried in a coffin together with the body of Changshan County Magistrate Shi Yuan Luqian and transported back for burial.
During the war, Yan Gaoqing's elder sister, younger sister, daughter, and Yan Quanming's children all lived in Hebei Province.
Yan Quanming, leaning on crutches, crying and crying, searched all the way. His grief moved passers-by. After a long time, he finally found them one by one.
At this time, the female family members of the Yan family had been robbed by thieves and sold into slavery. In order to save the family members, Yan Quanming borrowed money from old friends everywhere. According to the amount of money borrowed, he first redeemed his aunt, then his sisters, and finally his own children.
While redeeming his own daughter, he accidentally discovered that his aunt's daughter was also in the hands of the same trafficker.
At this time, Yan Quanming only had two hundred strings of money left on him. Just to prevent his aunt from being heartbroken, Yan Quanming gritted his teeth and redeemed his aunt's daughter first.
However, when Yan Quanming raised enough money to redeem his daughter, the trafficker had disappeared and the whereabouts of his daughter were also unknown.
Yan Quanming stood under the tree, suffering from hunger and cold. Yan Quanming loved this daughter the most. Thinking of her daughter's miserable fate in the future, her heart was twisted like a knife and she was in pain.
I couldn't figure it out because of my obsession, and I couldn't overcome this hurdle in my heart. I was so angry that I committed suicide and wanted to die.
…
Yan Quanming burst into tears, while Bai Fu, Fang Shuliu and Su Yubao were in mourning.
This is war, which has displaced people all over the world, destroyed their families, and left people and ghosts on different paths!
Those who clamor for war every day, have you ever thought that if the war restarts, this fate will befall you one day...
Bai Fu once again experienced Master Zhongsi's compassionate feelings. Although Master Zhongsi was a direct disciple of a military strategist and was brave and good at fighting, he would never take the initiative to start a war to gain fame and fortune.
Master Zhongsi often said: "When the country is at peace, a general is just trying to appease its people. I don't want to exhaust China's strength just to gain fame."
With tears in his eyes, Bai Fu said comfortingly: "Brother Yan, please don't seek short-sightedness again. I hope that your daughter will be fine."
Please also ask Brother Yan to draw his face. He has many friends in the Sichuan gang and has deep friendship with Jianghu gangs in the Central Plains. He will definitely help you find your daughter."
After hearing this, Yan Quanming seemed to see a glimmer of light in the darkest moment. Yan Quanming knelt down and thanked the three people.
Bai Fu hurriedly helped him up and said: "Your character and character are admired by everyone in the world, but your meager strength is not worth mentioning."
…
With the help of the Sichuan Gang and Liumenmen, more than a month later, Yan Quanming's missing cousins were found one by one.
In addition, Yan Quanming found back one by one the wives, children, and children of the generals under his father Yan Gaoqing, such as Changshan County Magistrate Shi Yuan Luqian, etc., totaling about fifty families and more than three hundred people.
Yan Quanming regarded these family members as his own relatives and distributed the property and food donated by the Sichuan Gang to everyone equally.
At this time, his uncle Yan Zhenqing was serving as the prefect of Puzhou. After consulting everyone's opinions, Yan Quanming took more than 50 families to Puzhou and defected to Yan Zhenqing.
At this time, the war had just ended, and the road was still not peaceful. There were rioters and thieves from time to time.
Bai Fu discussed with Fang Shuliu,
Fang Shuliu and Su Yubao returned to Chang'an first, and he took the disciples of the Jianghu gang to escort more than fifty families along the way to Puzhou.
With the protection of Bai Fu and the Green Forest Gang, the journey was uneventful.
When he arrived in Puzhou, Yan Zhenqing was overjoyed and took in all these fifty families and supported them.
These fifty or so families lived in Puzhou for a long time. After the situation stabilized, Yan Zhenqing followed everyone's wishes and subsidized travel expenses and sent them to relatives and friends in various places. This is a story for later, and I will not mention it here.
…
In order to thank Bai Fu for escorting him all the way, Yan Zhenqing hosted a banquet in honor of him.
After three drinks, Yan Zhenqing learned that Bai Fu also had good calligraphy skills and said with a smile: "Young Master Bai, why not write a few strokes? I have been immersed in calligraphy for many years and have some experience. I am willing to discuss it with Young Master Bai."
Bai Fu was overjoyed.
Although Bai Fu has been writing calligraphy in the Forest of Steles for many years, he has always thought about it on his own and suffered from the guidance of unknown teachers. Yan Zhenqing is a master of calligraphy in the world. If he gets his guidance, he will definitely gain a lot.
Bai Fu was not polite, he splashed his brush with ink, and in a blink of an eye, a long scroll with several crosses was completed in one go.
Bai Fu put down his pen and looked at it again. He was quite proud of this hearty handwriting.
Bai Fu wrote all the way, while Yan Zhenqing watched and nodded frequently.
When Bai Fu finished writing, Yan Zhenqing smiled and said: "Bai Shaoxia, your brushwork is elegant and has many styles. You are among the best among the younger generation.
But let me say something based on my experience. It is wonderful to learn from many writers, but it is also impure. Which brushwork are you best at? Is it Mr. Youjun's elegant and agile style, or is it Yu Shinan's charming style?"
These words stunned Bai Fu and made it difficult for him to answer. He had been writing posts in the Forest of Steles for several years, and recently he was appreciated by Emperor Suzong and allowed to enter the Daming Palace and read the calligraphy and paintings of famous artists collected in the Linde Hall and the royal family's Daying Treasury.
Faced with such a huge and complex masterpiece, Bai Fu was greedy and multitasked, picking off a scale in the east and half a claw in the west. He really learned a lot about various brushstrokes and techniques, but he only just got a glimpse of the door and did not go deep.
Bai Fu lowered his head and meditated, and felt that Yan Zhenqing's words were a wake-up call. They not only revealed the problems in his calligraphy, but also pointed out the shortcomings in his martial arts:
"I have experienced extraordinary things in my life. In addition to Qingcheng's own martial arts, I have learned a lot of martial arts from Tang Clan, Shaolin, Sword Master Pei Min, and Sword Demon Dugu Su.
Each of these kung fu skills is so profound that even if you devote your whole life to exploring it, you may not be able to reach the end of it. Although I have learned from many experts and practiced several kung fu skills to the first-class level, I have not established a sect or created a sect.
Come up with your own unique style.
Lao Tzu said: "In order to learn, we are getting better and better, and in order to learn, we are getting worse every day, and we are getting worse every day, until we do nothing, and we do nothing without doing anything."
Everything becomes empty, until finally even the emptiness is emptied out, until there is nothing; then there is nothing, everything is known, everything is there.
The principle is very simple, but it is difficult to do! How can you lose yourself again and again, give up again and again, and reach the point where you have nothing, so that you can reach the state of knowing everything and having everything!
Logically speaking, the Sword Demon Dugusu has the highest martial arts, and he should specialize in the profound sword skills sealed in the black iron sword by the Sword Demon. However, what comes to mind is that Shaolin martial arts is so mysterious, and Sword Master Pei Min's seven-style sword skills are so powerful.
It’s so subtle, wouldn’t it be a pity to ignore it?
The martial arts of the Qingcheng Sect and the hidden weapons of the Tang Sect are all world-class martial arts. How can we abandon them after we have finally learned them?"
Bai Fu dropped the pen and paper, put his head in his hands, thinking hard, and was very troubled.
Bai Fu said goodbye to everyone and locked himself in his room. From midnight to dawn, from the rising sun to the setting sun, he did not drink or eat. When he was sleepy, he fell asleep, woke up, and continued to think.
All the exquisite martial arts I have seen in my life are stirring in my mind, one after another, fighting against each other for attack and defense.
Thinking about it later, my thoughts were complicated and unreasonable, and it was no longer possible to support me. My steps were chaotic, and I fell to the patio and fainted.
Yan Quanming was really worried when he saw that Bai Fu was crazy and gibbering, so he kept waiting beside him. At this time, he saw Bai Fu suddenly fainted and was shocked, so he hurriedly found Yan Zhenqing.
Yan Zhenqing smiled and said: "Don't disturb his thoughts at the critical moment when the dragon and the tiger meet. It's a pity that you have mediocre intelligence and can't understand the truth. After you get through this practice, you will reach the other shore."