In the Emperor's Palace by the river in Beicheng, Yangzhou, Zhu Zhanji returned to Sun Guifei's residence after handling the day's business. Before dinner, he used to take Mei for a walk. When he strolled outside a room, he happened to hear two slaves discussing inside.
The two palace maids may not know that the emperor is outside, but they still say this to themselves. One of them said: "You should be careful. If you touch the peach and break it, I won't kill you!" The other murmured: "
When these peaches are ripe in the countryside, they are all over the mountains and are not worth a penny. As soon as they arrive in the palace, they are called something, by the way, they are called 'jade', and they suddenly become very valuable, oh..."
Concubine Sun Guifei, who was next to Zhu Zhanji, heard what was said inside, and the corner of her lips moved slightly and smiled, and then she had an idea. She said to Zhu Zhanji: "Your Majesty, who do you think is the most beautiful among the women in Yongcheng County?"
Zhu Zhanji obviously had nothing on his mind, and said casually with an absent-minded look: "Of course it's you, otherwise how could the emperor's grandmother recommend you to the palace alone?"
He also knew that Sun was trying to encourage him to relax from official duties. However, it was difficult for people to get rid of the influence of official matters. Zhu Zhanji used to like to fight crickets, but he stopped playing for a long time, and he also liked Sun because he liked it very much.
He wanted to divorce his Queen Hu, but he put it aside for the time being. Due to his mood and the war situation, he had lost focus on those things.
Just a few days ago, Zhu Zhanji had just received the news that Xuanda's elite troops had arrived in the Huaihe River Basin. Only because the capital camp in the east was empty after the deployment, he mobilized this nine-sided army. The situation was already very stretched.
At this time, Concubine Sun said again: "The emperor guessed wrong. The most beautiful girl in Yongcheng County is a tofu seller. People call her 'Tofu Xishi'. If the emperor really sees it one day, maybe he will
She thinks she is prettier than me."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhanji shook his head and said: "How can a tofu beauty be compared with a noble concubine?"
"Can't they be compared? Maybe it's because I'm in the palace." Sun Guifei looked like she was thinking about everything, "... Then Yang Shiqi made the emperor unhappy, but if he is not the chief minister of the imperial court and the prince's younger brother, he still
Someone important?"
After hearing this, Zhu Zhanji pondered for a moment and laughed loudly: "What the noble concubine said is absolutely true, absolutely true."
Seeing this, Concubine Sun said softly: "As long as the emperor is happy, everything will turn into a good thing."
At this moment, a eunuch suddenly rushed over to report. He first apologized and then said it was an urgent report. When Zhu Zhanji saw it, he saw that it was indeed an urgent military report: Xuan Daxin, the commander-in-chief of the army, had officially captured Caishiji.
The commander-in-chief of the army was ordered to lead his army south from Xuzhou to Huaixi. After inspecting Caishiji, he felt that there was an opportunity, so he sent a small number of elite soldiers to cross the river to fight. He intended to knock down the mountain and stern the tiger, and improve his prestige. Unexpectedly, the Han army was overwhelmed.
Attack, the vanguard army jumped from the ship to the south bank, no one could stop it, and quickly defeated the Jiang defense army. There were heavy troops of the King of Han around, but no one took the initiative to attack and recapture Caishiji.
After Zhu Zhanji read the urgent report, he immediately ordered the eunuch to summon Yang Shiqi and others to the palace overnight to discuss matters. Then he turned back to Concubine Sun and said, "My concubine is right. If bad things happen, good things will happen as well!"
This incident seemed to be a complete accident. Not only did the imperial court not expect to capture such a crucial place so suddenly, but no one gave the order to attack this place. It was just a tentative attack by General Xuanda to establish his authority in the local area.
It had an unexpected effect.
But this incident seemed to be expected. When Yang Rong rushed into the palace to meet the emperor, he suddenly remembered what Yang Shiqi had said before when the imperial court changed its strategy to focus on the west. Yang Shiqi said: The king of Han has nothing to do with his emperor.
When Jiangbei was surrounded by heavy troops, its civil and military forces were forced to protect themselves by relying on the natural moat of the Yangtze River to make great efforts. Once the Jianghuai area withdrew its troops and moved westward, the threat from Nanjing was suddenly reduced, and its internal erosion would be faster than expected.
Today seems to be in line with Yang Shiqi's vision. Obviously, the battle of Caishiji cannot be said to be because General Fang used his troops like a god. Since ancient times, this place has been an important place for Jiang's defense. If it weren't for the opponent's mistakes, it would be difficult for you to use your soldiers like a god.
Before that, the British Duke Zhang Fu led the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp to attack Caishiji many times but failed.
After Yang Shiqi met with the emperor, he said without hesitation in front of other ministers: "The Battle of Caishiji not only found a breakthrough in southern Zhili, but also showed us how powerful the Han army was in just one year.
The internal situation has dropped sharply. I believe that changing the strategy in due course and taking advantage of the situation to pacify Nanjing should be the top priority at this time."
Things seemed a little rushed, but in Yang Rong's view, seizing Caishiji was equivalent to stepping into Nanjing. This kind of thing was obvious at a glance and did not require careful consideration.
…
Zhang Ning from Wuchang City is busy accompanying Yao Ji to the temple to offer incense these days. It is a Buddhist festival, and the Wanshou Shan Temple in Chongning is a well-known temple. People say that the Bodhisattvas here are very spiritual, so it is even more...
There were huge crowds of people. However, the King of Xiang and Mrs. Yao went to worship the Buddha and offer incense in public. Not to mention the importance of status and pomp, just for safety reasons, the government also cleared the temple guards in advance, and no idlers were allowed to enter... So the people who came to offer incense
I can only be kept out, but fortunately I heard that the dignitaries will leave as soon as they come, and the temple will be opened in the afternoon at the latest.
Zhang Ning brought a large sum of money to the Wanshoushan Temple in Chongning as a way to "accumulate virtue and do good deeds" and made merit for Yao Jiji in the temple. Just as he said when talking to the monks, the monks said that the Buddha did not need money.
But monks are still mortal, so they need money to pay for food, clothing, housing, transportation and build temples. Only when they have temples and enough food can they spread our Dharma for the Buddha.
Of course, there is a more direct way of communicating between humans and gods than this, which is trading. Tuesday’s mother communicates with gods in this way.
After she worshiped Manjushri Bodhisattva, she went to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva, and completed a transaction according to the monks' reminders. Zhang Ning accompanied her to burn incense, and a monk came up and bowed with his hands together, saying: "Everything is empty, money
They are just floating clouds." Then he pointed out a clear path for them.
The monk took out a piece of red paper, put it on the paper, ink, pen and inkstone, and said that if the donor had any wishes, he could write them down and put them with the Bodhisattva, and promised a reward; if the Bodhisattva would bless him and his wish came true, he could go back to the temple to "fulfill his wish."
...that is, to pay the money promised in advance.
Tongsou has not deceived you. Of course, you don’t have to come to fulfill your vows, as long as you are not afraid of retribution. Since you are not afraid of gods, what kind of vows do you come to the Buddha to ask for?
On Tuesday, my mother burned incense and worshiped the statue devoutly, recited a few words silently, and then wrote a number on the paper. She first wrote "one", and after a moment's hesitation, she wrote the word "thousand".
Zhang Ning glanced at it casually and felt that Tuesday's mother was quite generous with her money. But luckily, she didn't spend ten thousand taels.
She made a promise in front of Guanyin, obviously asking for a child. I am afraid that not only the couple present knew it, but even the monks nearby could guess that more than one person should be asking for such a thing.
...But the Buddha cannot make everything go smoothly. After they returned from the temple, the Ministry of Internal Affairs received a secret report from Nanzhili.