After An Dingguo left, Yanyunwei stepped forward to settle the bill.
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After throwing away a few taels of silver, I not only paid the bill, but also gave the waiter a few taels of broken silver. The happy waiters stood in a row, grinning widely, and reluctantly sent the group of people away far away.
Afterwards, the group of people hitched the carriage, climbed on their horses, and headed towards the Zhengzhou government office, clattering across the stone road smoothed by history.
Along the way, the morning fog dispersed and the sky became clear.
Lu Heng also took this opportunity to sit on his horse and look at this thousand-year-old capital with great interest.
The origin of Zhengzhou can be traced back to the period of Emperor Xuanyuan more than 4,000 years ago. In the subsequent thousands of years of history, many dynasties established their capital here. Therefore, it is also known as the place where China began among the nine states.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Xingyang, located in Zhengzhou, became the iron smelting capital that represented the highest peak in the world at that time due to policy tilt. Even today, Zhengzhou is still responsible for most of the weapons production for the Zhou army. Even Lu Heng ordered
The steel materials required for the Da Zhou arsenal were also rushed from Zhengzhou to Tokyo.
For thousands of years, this ancient capital located in the hinterland of the Central Plains has witnessed the rise and fall of the entire Chinese nation and historical changes.
In the city, there are countless temples and Taoist temples with a long history. They are full of incense and have countless believers all year round.
Along the way, he saw many people on the street, holding incense and candles, walking towards the outside of the city. Lu Heng couldn't help but be curious, so he wanted to ask someone.
Beside her, Su Qianqian smiled and told Lu Heng triumphantly that today is a very important Taoist festival. Most of the people holding incense and candles were Taoist believers, and they should have gone to offer incense.
In fact, speaking of it, Su Qianqian and the bandits in Yunshan are also half Taoist believers.
When they first arrived in Yunshan, conditions were poor. Many people in the village either left or moved to other villages because they couldn't stand the poor life.
The distressed Su Qianqian invited Taishang Taojun into Yunshan in order to let everyone vent their worries.
Later, as life gradually improved, it became a tradition for the mountain people to worship the Supreme Taoist Lord.
Over time, the bandits and bandits in Yunshan gradually turned into a group of Taoist believers.
Although, they are still doing things like killing people and selling goods...
Seeing Su Qianqian's expectant and shy look, Lu Heng smiled and simply put aside the matter of going to the government office. With a wave of his hand, he announced that a group of people would go to Zhongyue Temple first. Please remember this.
After giving the order, the Yanyun Guards all cheered.
Then, the carriage turned around and a group of people headed towards the Zhongyue Temple outside the city, which is known as the best Taoist temple in the world.
Along the way, I listened to Su Qianqian, who was riding a white horse next to me, talking about interesting things in the temple fair with great interest, and time passed quickly. At ten o'clock in the afternoon, a group of people arrived at the foot of Taishi Mountain.
Looking up, I saw a zigzag stone staircase, like a ladder to heaven, going straight up to the sky. And at the end of the ladder, there was an extraordinary and magnificent Taoist temple gate, half hidden in the floating clouds, like a fairy palace.
A group of people dismounted, leaving one or two people behind to look after the horses. The rest followed Lu Heng and Su Qianqian, stepped on the stone steps, and headed towards the fairy land on the mountainside.
Along the way, everyone was in high spirits. Especially Su Qianqian, who was cheering for joy. It was completely different from the usual stable style of the boss.
However, after Su Qianqian played around for a while, she found that the people of Zhengzhou beside her, who were supporting their young and old, were sighing and looking sad. They were struggling to walk as if they were wearing iron shoes weighing a thousand kilograms.
Out of curiosity, she stepped forward and asked.
Lu Heng stood on one side and watched as Su Qianqian gently and obediently supported an old lady with gray hair and sat on the bluestone by the roadside.
Then he squatted in front of the old lady, and while rubbing her legs, he asked the doubts in his heart.
The old lady's eyes were full of love, and she looked at the beautiful and considerate woman in the red dress in front of her. Then, after hearing Su Qianqian ask why the believers looked like this today, the old lady looked sad and sighed softly.
Tao Lai.
turn out to be……
Today is not the Taoist auspicious day that Su Qianqian said.
It is an annual ceremony in Zhengzhou where boys and girls worship the mountain gods.
In the past five years, every year on the second day of December, the officials of Zhengzhou City and the Taoist priests of Zhongyue Temple will hold such an event. In the event, the Taoist priests of Zhongyue Temple select ten pairs of men and women who have just turned one month old from Zhengzhou City.
The babies were then sacrificed and baptized in the Zhongyue Temple. They were protected by Taoist priests and the officials saw them off to the cliff behind the Zhongyue Temple. The babies were pushed down the cliff to pay homage to the mountain god and pray for good weather.
The old lady is from Zhengzhou, and her wife died young. The only son in the family joined the army in March last year and is currently fighting against the Turks in the north. After her son joined the army, she and her daughter-in-law were the only ones left in the family to depend on each other.
only……
Last winter, when my grandson was less than a month old, he was snatched away by officials and used as a child to worship the mountain god.
At that time, the daughter-in-law, who was being held by the officers and soldiers and crying hoarsely, watched helplessly as her child was thrown into the abyss. The daughter-in-law suffered such a tragedy and fainted on the spot.
Later, when she woke up, she was also crazy. A month later, the daughter-in-law said she wanted to find her child, so she climbed all the way up Taishi Mountain and jumped off the cliff.
This year, the old lady who knew her destiny climbed up Taishi Mountain alone, carrying incense and candles, just to pay homage to her innocent grandson who lost her life and her daughter-in-law who was forced to death.
After the old lady finished speaking, she hunched over and walked toward the mountain alone.
After Su Qianqian returned to Lu Heng's side, she buried her head deeply in Lu Heng's chest, her delicate body trembling violently, and tears streaming down her face.
"Lu Lang, they, wuwu..."
Lu Heng didn't say anything, he just stretched out his arms and hugged the trembling Su Qianqian in his arms. He closed his eyes, raised his head and took a deep breath. He stretched out his hand and patted Su Qianqian's trembling back gently.
"Oh, the dust will eventually settle!"
Tens of thousands of troops were fighting bloody battles for the country in the north, but behind the scenes, these corrupt officials were doing such evil things.
Lu Heng closed his eyes and let the cold wind in the mountains ruffle his long hair.
Gradually, the fierce cold wind froze the calm look in his eyes, and replaced it with a bone-eroding coldness.
After a long time, Lu Heng turned his head, stared at the indignant Yanyun Guard behind him, and asked indifferently: "Where is Wang Wenyi now?"
…
Wang Wenyi was an officer of the Third Reserve Corps of the Zhou Dynasty, with a total of 10,000 recruits under his command. When Lu Heng left Taiyuan and headed for Henan Road, he had a drink in Changzhi with this officer who had served under Chu Xuliang.
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At that time, Wang Wenyi was so happy that he couldn't even say anything after seeing Lu Heng.
I wiped my hands on my clothes awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
Later, after Wang Wenyi finally calmed down his emotions, he knelt on his knees and gave Lu Heng the courtesy of a monarch and a minister. The recruits were so frightened that they thought the emperor was coming.
Lu Heng, dumbfounded, helped him up, patted his generous shoulder, and joked: "I have been guarding the Martyrs Cemetery in Jiangning for a year, and I am much more stable!"
Wang Wenyi wiped away tears from the excitement of the news and said nothing, just looked at Lu Heng and smiled stupidly.
The soldiers who came out of Jiangning, especially those who served in the Jiangning garrison in the past two years, felt a kind of gratitude from the bottom of their hearts to the scholar in front of Wang Wenyi.
At that time, Wu Ningyuan, the king of Huainan, was demoted to Jiangnan. As Wu Ningyuan's direct troops, the Jiangning garrison was not welcomed by the court.
But later, with the emergence of military advisors, the Jiangning garrison, which was regarded as a waste, suddenly turned around. It first served as the front line in flood fighting and rescue operations, and then got rid of the image of a moth in the eyes of Jiangning people. Later,
During the Battle of Zijin Mountain, the Jiangning garrison, which was considered weak by the outside world, actually captured 500 Turkic soldiers. Later, the Jiangning garrison, which was increasingly impressive, defeated the Japanese invasion.
Later, as Prince Ning and his military advisors entered the highest level of power in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Jiangning garrison, which was the direct force of Prince Ning, also soared into the sky.
Nowadays, the veterans of the Jiangning garrison have become officers of all sizes in various units.
Wang Wenyi blushed with embarrassment, remembering his rogue appearance in the Jiangning garrison camp.
That night, the two drank and talked happily until dawn.
After dawn, Lu Heng led his troops southward. However, Wang Wenyi's regiment, which was originally preparing to go north to Yanmen Pass, suddenly announced that it would rest in Changzhi for five days.
………………
Yanyunwei was startled by the imperial master's sinister gaze. After trembling for a moment, he hurriedly handed over his hands and reported back: "We arrived in Wuling yesterday, and we expect to arrive in Zhengzhou at sunset!!"
Lu Heng nodded slightly: "Send an order to them to hurry up and move towards Zhengzhou at full speed. They must arrive at the gate of Zhengzhou City at sunset! In addition, send an order to the front line to ask Duan Peng, Wang Xirang, and Wang Gongye to check and see who their men are.
, is there a soldier from Zhengzhou named Zhang Dabao? If he is found, let him come back! I will keep the head of the culprit for him!"
Yanyunwei solemnly nodded and accepted the order, turned around and left.
After the smoke cloud guard left, Lu Heng turned his head and looked coldly down the mountain at the vast smokey Zhengzhou City. His voice was like ten thousand years of ice, which made people's hair stand on end. "I want to see, what exactly is this?"
The Zhengzhou magistrate who likes to eat human milk has a tougher neck than the knife in Mr. Lu's hand!"
In her arms, Su Qianqian felt for the first time the frightening murderous aura emanating from Lu Heng. With horror in her heart, she raised her head and saw Lu Heng's cold and ruthless eyes, and was immediately startled.
“I’m afraid not a single official from Zhengzhou will be left alive!”
Lu Heng glanced at Zhengzhou City at the foot of the mountain with an indifferent expression, muttered to himself, then turned and walked towards the mountain.