The old man who opened the door was Wang Qian, the current patriarch of the Wang family. In terms of seniority, he should be the cousin of Wang Anjie's father, Wang Jian.
Wang Anjie said: "Old man, we are the Song Army. You see, the man in yellow robes in front is the current emperor of the Song Dynasty. Also, there is a young man in white robes holding a spear on the left of the emperor. He is the Meng Dynasty. Meng Tianxiang, a descendant of Marshal Gong,"
"Ah," Wang Qian said in shock, "Your Majesty, your Majesty is here in person, and the Zhongshun Army is also back."
"Haha," Wang Anjie said with a smile, "Old man, our army's Northern Expedition, and the emperor's personal expedition, will definitely regain the lost territory of our dynasty, and the Loyal and Shun Army will also be reorganized."
For the Wang family in Dengzhou, the Zhongshun Army was the absolute main force of the Song Army. As long as the Zhongshun Army was there, it would be invincible. The older generation of the Wang family all knew that Wang Jian joined the Zhongshun Army when he first joined the army.
Wang Qian gave a low "grace" and subconsciously opened the door and said: "General Anjie, I am the current patriarch of the Wang family. My single name is Qian. I am your father's youngest cousin. Decades have passed. Unexpectedly, I can also meet the descendants of eldest brother Wang Jian. When your father joined the army, I was only a child of seven or eight years old. However, I always remember your father's heroic appearance in his armor. In the blink of an eye, ,,,,,,ah, General Anjie, look, I am nagging and chattering, why don’t you invite the emperor in quickly?”
"Okay, Uncle Qian,"
The Wang family is a prominent family in Dengzhou, but the Wang family's ancestral hall looks extremely shabby and does not match the status of a prominent family. There are only about ten people with the surname Wang staying in the ancestral hall, and they are all women, children and the elderly.
Under the leadership of Wang Qian, all members of the Wang family knelt down in the tunnel and said: "The common people kowtow to the emperor,"
"Without courtesy, old man, please get up, and everyone should get up too,"
"Thank you, Your Majesty,"
I randomly found a stool and sat down and said, "Old man, sit down and talk. May I live a long life this year."
In front of me, Wang Qian dared not sit down, but he still stood respectfully and said: "Back to the emperor, the common people are eleven years younger than brother Wang Jian, and he is exactly sixty this year."
"Sixty. The old man looks energetic. I thought he was only in his early fifties." I smiled and said, "Old man, I ask you, every household in Dengzhou City has closed its doors. Are they afraid that I will attack the army?" ?”
Wang Qian said: "Your Majesty, as long as the army appears, the people are very afraid. A few days ago, nearly 30,000 Yuan army soldiers poured into Dengzhou City. Fortunately, the commander of the army, General Zhang Hongfan, tried his best to restrain it, so it did not lead to a big chaos. But still A small number of Mongolian soldiers were making trouble everywhere, so during these few days, the people were all cautious and stayed behind closed doors. It was not specifically targeting the Song army."
"I see," I nodded and said, "Old man, are you the only ten or so people in the Wang Family Ancestral Hall?"
Wang Qian sighed and said: "Your Majesty, you don't know. My Wang family was once the largest family in Dengzhou City. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a famous family. Since Dengzhou was occupied by the Mongols more than thirty years ago, the number of properties in the city has increased. Most of them were forcibly expropriated by the government, and now only this ancestral hall and three houses in the backyard are left, so most of the clan members have returned to Pengqiao Village on the outskirts of Dengzhou,"
"Old sir, now that Dengzhou City has returned to the embrace of my government and under my rule, everything will be fine,"
Wang Qian nodded, but hesitated for a moment and asked: "Your Majesty, our army will not withdraw to the south this time, right?"
I understood what Wang Qian meant and was worried that our army would be defeated again, so I said in a firm tone: "Don't worry, old man, since I am personally conducting the expedition, I will definitely recover the lost territory of our empire. Otherwise, I will not return to Lin'an. "
"That, that's great," Wang Qian said with a little moisture in his eyes.
"Old man, I have two things I need to trouble you with."
"Your Majesty, please tell me that it is an honor for the common people to serve the Emperor, so they should spare no effort."
"Okay, the first thing you need to do is talk to your neighbors and ask them to just relax, open their doors, and live a normal life. In Dengzhou City, except for a few soldiers who maintain order, all the troops are stationed outside the city. , will not enter the city, our army has strict military regulations and will not affect their lives,"
Wang Qian smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, there is no problem with this. The common people still have some appeal in Dengzhou City."
"Very good, the second thing is that I plan to select a sage with both ability and political integrity among the locals to serve as the magistrate of Dengzhou County. I wonder if you have anyone you can recommend,"
"This is no problem," Wang Qian replied bluntly.
"Why, there is no ready candidate," my first feeling was that Wang Qian would recommend himself.
"Your Majesty, you just came from Huazhou Academy, right?"
"good,"
"Your Majesty, there is a great sage in Huazhou Academy. He can be said to be the best candidate in Dengzhou City."
"Really," I thought to myself, "could he be a descendant of Fan Zhongyan?"
This time, the feeling was completely correct. I heard Wang Qian continue: "Your Majesty, this person's surname is Fan and his given name is Zhishang. He is a direct descendant of the famous minister Fan Zhongyan, Lord Fan. He is now the mountain chief and chief professor in the academy. , Professor Fan is a scholar of nature and has a noble character. The Mongols asked him to come out several times, but he politely declined. Ten years ago, it is said that Wang Wentong, the Pingzhang political minister of the Mongolian Zhongshu Province at the time, wrote to him personally, but he was still rejected. Refuse,"
"Fan Zhishang," I said after a while, "I should meet this person."
"Your Majesty, the common people should go to the academy now and invite Professor Fan."
"Old man, no need, I'll still come to visit you in person,"
The world is really changeable. Just now, Fang Ling was talking about whether to enter Huazhou Academy, but I couldn't decide. I didn't expect to be in front of Huazhou Academy again.
Entering the academy, you will see pavilions, terraces and pavilions scattered in a well-proportioned manner, with mountains, lakes, islands and forests complementing each other. These buildings are all in the Jiangnan style, very similar to the gardens of Lin'an. Going inside, you will see ancient cypresses, Chunfeng Pavilion and Wenchang Pavilion nestled among them.
Wang Qian introduced: "Your Majesty, Huazhou Academy is the only place in Dengzhou City that has not been destroyed by the Mongols. Although it has not been repaired for decades and looks obsolete, it basically retains the original place where Fan Zhongyan, the fourth son of Lord Fan Zhongyan, served as Dengzhou Academy. The original appearance of Huazhou Academy after it was renovated when the state was governor of the state."
I sighed: "It seems that the Mongolians take good care of cultural monuments,"
"Your Majesty, that's not the case. The Huazhou Academy can be preserved thanks to several Han ministers in the Mongolian Dynasty, such as Lord Wang Wentong in the early period and Lord Dou Mo in the later period. Without them, the outcome of this academy would not be good. Where to go, as for the specific reason, the emperor will soon know," Wang Qian said while pointing to a row of spacious houses in front, "Your Majesty, here we are, this is the main building of the academy - the lecture hall."
In later generations, Huazhou Academy was listed as the first of the eight scenic spots in Dengzhou because of its beautiful scenery. However, the appearance of Huazhou Academy in later generations was completely different from that in the Song Dynasty.
Walking closer, Wang Qian continued: "Your Majesty, please see, there is a stone tablet in front of the academy. This stone tablet is the protective umbrella of the academy."
"Umbrella," I didn't understand Wang Qian's meaning for a moment, so I stepped forward and looked at the stone tablet. The writing on it was inscribed in the Chinese and Mongolian languages. I know Chinese. It was Fan Zhongyan's famous saying, "Be concerned about the world's worries first." , "I will be happy after the happiness of the world", but I don't understand the Mongolian language.
"Your Majesty," Wang Qian said with a smile, "the text on this stone tablet was personally inscribed by the Mongolian Khan Kublai Khan. The meaning of the Mongolian text is equivalent to the Chinese text. This is the only reason why Huazhou Academy can be preserved."
I nodded and smiled: "Kublai Khan has done a good thing,"
At this time, the door of the school suddenly opened, and an old man walked out of it. This old man was about sixty years old. He was wearing a patched light blue robe and had a long beard. He was quite handsome. Immortal style bone.
"Professor Fan," Wang Qian called.
The middle-aged man whom Wang Qian calls Professor Fan is none other than the chief mountain chief of Huazhou Academy, Fan Zhishang. Shan Zhang is an ancient title for academy lecturers. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the mountain chief was equivalent to the dean of the academy in later generations, and the academy The word dean first appeared in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was still called Shanzhang. After the abolition of the imperial examination, the academy was renamed a school, and the title of Shanzhang was also abolished.
Fan Zhishang didn't answer, but looked at me intently.
The yellow dragon robe on me is so eye-catching that it can be easily recognized no matter where I go.
Seeing that Fan Zhishang was silent, Wang Qian raised his voice slightly and said, "Professor Fan, the Emperor is here, why don't you come and pay homage soon?"
"Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty," Fan Zhishang's voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself.
Seeing this, Wang Qian hurriedly shouted again: "Professor Fan,"
"Professor Fan, don't I look like you?" I smiled and walked forward.
"Ah, no, it's not me, the grassroots..." Fan Zhishang seemed to be at a loss for a moment and froze on the spot.
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Professor Fan must be extremely happy," Wang Qian explained quickly because he was afraid that I would be angry. Then he stepped forward and tugged on Fan Zhishang's clothes and whispered, "Professor Fan, it's true."
Fan Zhishang then knelt down and bowed to the ground and said: "Common man Fan Zhishang, please see your Majesty. Long live my Emperor!"
"Sir, please excuse me. Please get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Fan Zhishang stood up and said to Wang Qian: "Mr. Wang, this is true."
"I can still lie to you," Wang Qian pointed to Wang Anjie beside me and said, "Professor Fan, this is a member of my Wang family, General Wang Anjie, son of my elder brother Wang Jian,"
"Wang Jian," Fan Zhishang had of course heard of Wang Jian. He had seen him when he was a child and had some impressions.
Wang Anjie stepped forward slightly and saluted: "Junior Wang Anjie has met Professor Fan."