Volume 2 | The Raging Wind Does Not Stop
This ‘scholar’ is Chang Geng. After a big fight with Gu Yun four years ago, he was ‘escorted’ back to the capital by the Black Eagle.
Throughout the ages, there were many different dynasties and changes, enshrined in the pages of history, no emperor was ever the same as the others. Some have brought peace and prosperity to their country. Some came to bring destruction to the country and the people. Some only care about enlightenment, ignoring political issues. And some are destined to create storms.
Emperor Yuan He was undoubtedly included in the ‘fighting for enlightenment’ category; he is forgiving and tolerant, senile and incompetent. His son, despite sharing the same political views with his own style, has a style that is undoubtedly the style of the kind of person who will cause storms and turbulence.
Long An Emperor Li Feng never believed in ‘governing a big country like cooking small fish’. He is diligent in political matters and strong-minded people. Since the beginning of his increase, he has been trying to strengthen the leniency in handling government affairs from previous powers.
• A sentence from Lao Zi’s Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and of Virtue), which means that if someone is too nosy when cooking small fish, it will cause the fish to disintegrate. If someone interferes too much in the affairs of ordinary people when governing a country, it will cause people to riot.
In his first year, he sent a decree to the Marquis of Order to escort the Prince of the Heavenly Wolf Tribe, Jia Lai Yinghuo back north. At the same time, he also signed business agreements with many countries in the Western Region, opening the Silk Road.
Either to improve friendship with the barbarian tribes, or to ground the Marquis of Order in the Western Region, ordering him to oversee the urgent expansion of the Silk Road 一 these actions had greatly expressed the emperor’s hatred of the national treasury which was slowly perforated for everyone to see. . It was as if he wanted to say ‘Gu Yun, if you can’t make money, then go sell yourself instead’.
The second year of Long An, Wei Wang colluded with the Dong Ying people, trying to build his own kingdom at sea and ignite the Dragon disaster. Unexpectedly, his conspiracy was revealed while he was in progress. The Jiangnan Navy captured their leader in the blink of an eye. Wei Wang was jailed, then in the end, drank poison to ‘commit suicide’.
Emperor Long An had used this as an opportunity to purge and strengthen Jiangnan’s officers. Eighty-six large and small officials were involved, more than forty were executed, there was not enough time to kill them all at the end of the fall, so it needed to be separated into three parts. Others have been demoted to servants or exiled and will never be used again.
In the same year, the new law was implemented starting from Jiangnan, then extended to other areas, closely investigating land occupied by local landlords. However, even after the investigation was carried out, the land was not returned to the general public and farmers but was taken back by the imperial court.
After local power is gathered and returned to the government, until the third year of Long An, for each piece of land, what will be planted or built on it must go through layers of agreement. The level of centralization had even exceeded Emperor Wu’s decision during his time, and Ziliujin’s restrictions had reached an unprecedented level.
No one dared to oppose 一 If there was someone who was brave, it was certain that that person was on Wei Wang’s side 一 and would immediately be killed.
Two years passed, in the fourth year of Long An, Li Feng began to apply the ‘Zhang Ling Act’ 一 Mechanics from commoners had to register their names in the local area and get the ‘Zhang Ling Badge’ to be able to continue working.
Based on each person’s qualifications and skill level, the imperial court divided Mechanics into five classes. There is a print at the bottom of each badge, and each print is numbered. The people who have this badge, what they have improved or what they have created, must all be recorded thoroughly.
There are strict limits on what type of work is permitted to be taken depending on the level of their work. Any mechanics that are not listed are strictly forbidden to accept work.
For all armor and machinery related to military needs, mechanics who are not members of the army are not permitted to get involved, for anyone who violates this order will be punished by cutting off their fingers and sent into exile.
When this decree was passed down, there was a lot of controversy in the capital, but no matter how the court officials argued and what reasons they were talking about, the Emperor and all the cabinet who had ‘adjusted’ had one sentence in response 一 if they did not tighten Mechanics, how can they tighten the valves that drain Ziliujin?
However, with this law still unfinished for debate, Li Feng had already thrown the next bomb: ‘Beating Order⭐” 一 which aimed directly at the army.
➖⭐
Beating 一 击鼓 (jī gǔ), derived from the idiom 击鼓 鸣金 (jī gǔ míng jīn), which literally means hitting (beating) a drum or sounding a gong, as a command to go forward or backward.
➖
Based on different functions, there are seven main military services, and a commander will be assigned in each region 一 Jiangnan, Zhongyuan, Saibei, Western Region, and Nanjiang. The appointment and transfer of military personnel, salaries, rations, armor and equipment will be coordinated by the Department of Military Affairs, other matters will be handled by the respective commander of the military area.
Marquis of Order, with the Black Tiger Badge in his hand, can command troops everywhere in the country if a critical situation occurs.
Li Feng maintained the layout of the five main areas, and also did not touch the Black Tiger Badge in the hands of the Marquis of Order. He only arranged a number of supervisors besides the commanders in each area. Direct supervisors are under the Department of War, new people will be changed to this position once every three years. Their work consisted of only one thing 一 to apply for the ‘Beating Order’ from the War Department.
If the Beating Order has not arrived, every commander who dares to mobilize his troops will be treated the same as a rebellion.
Except for the Black Iron Camp, all troops stationed in the five main regions are required to follow this law.
When the Beating Order was revealed, the whole country was shocked. Who has the heart to care about trivial things like ordinary people’s mechanics?
The emperor and court officials argued loudly for a year, three out of five commanders wanted to resign. The situation was so chaotic that it worried the Marquis of Order in the Northwest.
The Marquis of Order still did not have time to express his opinion on His Majesty’s decree which was basically the same decree as trying to find death, but he had to travel everywhere without regard to the difficulty of calming the hearts of military personnel, patiently listening to the cries of the old general. As soon as one problem is solved, another problem arises, very chaotic.
On New Year’s Eve, when Gu Yun returned to the capital to report on his work, more than fifty handkerchiefs were thrown⭐ into the street by young women and ladies on the street. He had no time to feel proud and he had to return it to people to wipe their tears 一 not even diapers were too wasteful of this.
➖⭐
When troops pass through the capital, women will throw handkerchiefs at warriors they consider handsome.
➖
Even people have worked hard with him. All scholars from every library in the whole country looked as though they had nothing left in their mouths, repeating this law every day, that law, arguing endlessly.
The imperial court under the reign of Emperor Yuan He which was filled with a heavy and lonely atmosphere finally had something to talk about.
This chaos continued until the sixth year of Long An, the debate surrounding the Beating Order was still not over. The emperor refused to revoke the decree, but for now, he also did not send monitors. This decree was suspended in the air, like a sword hanging ready to break one of the two sides at any time.
It was a cool autumn from the following year, it had been four years since the disaster in Jiangnan happened, Wei Wang’s bones had become cold, this problem had become an outdated topic, and no one mentioned it again.
Near the official Sichuan road, there is a small tavern called ‘Xinghua Village’. It was said that the most common name for a village in the entire Great Liang region was ‘Xinghua Village’. Every time there was a liquor store, eight out of ten places would have the name ‘Xinghua Village’.
A young man gently lifted the curtain and entered.
He was around twenty years old, wearing an old robe, dressed like a poor student, but he looked very handsome, with a kind of sharpness 一 he had a high nose bridge, as if carved with a knife, his eyes were rather deep, resembling cold stars, but he does not emit an aura of aggressiveness or triggers of fear, but rather instead looks soft and soft.
A person’s eyes will be bright when they glance at it for the first time, not feeling bored even when they admire it for a long time, but instead, one can even see a little trace of distance that is difficult to describe with words.
The teahouse is very small, even a big dog has to bend when entering the door, there are only two tables in it, and both are full today.
The shopkeeper, who also works as a waiter and cashier, is currently playing with the abacus because of the lack of better things to do. His gaze involuntarily attracted to this young man, he quietly praised ‘very handsome’ then put his hand to say, “Customer, sir, I’m sorry. Incidentally there are no seats left, but there are still other places within five miles maybe you can check over there? “
The scholar was not angry, “I’m just a little thirsty on my journey, can I trouble the shopkeeper to fill a nice jug of wine for me? I don’t need to sit down.”
The shopkeeper took the jug, and when he opened the lid, the strong aroma of wine appeared, “Zhu Ye Qing, very good.”
A guest at the table volunteered, “Young master, please come here to rest, you can sit in my place.”
The scholar did not refuse, he answered with ‘thank you’.
Still not waiting for him to sit down, he could already hear someone on the table beside him talking, “What are you guys arguing about? I think the Emperor is very good right now. What’s wrong with taking control? Allow me to say a few rude words, people who don’t manage whatever, during the day that he does if he doesn’t fast he reads the Buddhist scriptures, then mingles with the palace dwellers, is that a good emperor? “
The scholar did not expect to meet with people who were discussing politics even at this tavern. He looked up and saw an older man with his pants rolled up, his hands thick and his fingers still stained with engine oil. It seems like maybe he is a lower class mechanic.
A man who appeared to be an old farmer next to him immediately followed, “Yes, right? Just look at the price of rice, starting from this dynasty, have you ever seen cheaper prices?”
The Mechanic saw that he had found a supporter, went on to open his mouth excitedly, “I went to the city yesterday and heard a group of students in the library talking, when it came to the topic of the Beating Command, a young student spoke nonsense that the emperor ‘was weakening Great Liang ‘border defense forces.This really only addresses strategy on paper, This is ridiculous!
“Don’t you all see Wei Wang’s rebellion? These commanders are very far from the Emperor. If they hide dissatisfaction, don’t discuss whether the land of His Majesty can be safe or not, aren’t the unlucky people who will be dragged into it are us ordinary people ?
“I heard someone say that with the Military Affairs Department in control like this, who knows how much military costs can be reduced, people don’t have to pay heavy taxes anymore, isn’t that a good thing?”
As soon as this was said, the people at the tavern nodded in agreement, even the old man who called the scholar to sit down also opened his mouth and said, “Even the Marquis of Order himself did not jump out to oppose it, but others have already boil in his place. “
The scholar did not pay much attention at first, but when he heard the three words ‘Marquis of Order’, he unconsciously looked up and asked, “What is this relationship with the Marquis of Order?”
The old man smiled and said, “This young master does not understand, this time, it seems as if the emperor does not involve the Black Iron Camp. But in reality, he has divided the military power in the hands of the Marquis.
“Think, if in the future, only with the Beating Order can mobilize troops from four sides, then what about the Black Tiger Badge in the hands of the Marquis? People who mobilize their troops without having a Beating Order will count as an act of rebellion, then if the War Department does not issuing this order, will the five commanders listen to the War Department, or listen to the Marquis? “
The scholar laughed, “I understand, this student has learned new things.”
After saying this, he saw that the shopkeeper had finished getting his wine, he no longer listened to the nonsense of the villagers, thanked the old man who had given him a seat, put down the money and left.
Right when he came out of the tavern, a place that was previously empty now had someone already waiting there, that person didn’t say a word and looked rather embarrassed to meet with a poor scholar. He quickly saluted, then stood aside like a decoration.
The scholar helplessly held his forehead with his hands, thinking, ‘They are chasing faster and faster.’
This ‘scholar’ is Chang Geng. After a big fight with Gu Yun four years ago, he was ‘escorted’ back to the capital by the Black Eagle.
Rejecting much praise from the emperor, Chang Geng then tried for half a year, combining with house guards every day. In the end, he managed to escape from the Marquis Manor.
Gu Yun has sent people to chase him several times. Both sides fought hard for a full year, Gu Yun then realized that this child was like a young eagle that could not be detained. He must compromise and let Chang Geng go.
It’s just that wherever Chang Geng goes, he will always see some guards from the Black Iron Camp in disguise and following him.
Then, Chang Geng, under Liao Ran’s recommendation, became a student of an anonymous expert from commoners, following his teacher to go on endless wandering days, traveling all over the country and places that no one had ever set foot on there before. For a moment, he could get rid of the Black Iron Camp.
However, every time he appeared near any station, he would be followed again. He had just arrived in Sichuan but a small soldier was waiting for him.
It’s just that Chang Geng, at this time, was no longer the same child who didn’t know which path to follow, stubborn and hard-hearted. He led his horse directly to the man and softly said, “Sorry to bother this brother, is my Yifu okay?”
The little soldier was not very good at talking. He did not expect Chang Geng to come and speak directly to him, he awkwardly replied, “Your Majesty … Young master, everything is fine with you, he said that if the border situation is stable at the end of this year, he will go home for the New Year celebration. “
“All right, then I’ll leave for the capital in two days.” Chang Geng nodded, no one could detect whether he was happy, or reluctant. He said as he handed over the jug of wine that had just been filled, “This brother has traveled a long way, please warm yourself with a sip of wine.”
Even if he was unconscious, the little soldier was still aware that his sudden appearance was very undesirable. But apparently, not only did Chang Geng not feel angry, he even invited him to drink. For a moment, he was completely confused by this warm treatment.
He dared not directly touch the jug hole with his lips, nervously keeping a little distance as he sipped the wine in it, not daring to spill a single drop. He then returned the jug with both hands and continued to guide the horse to Chang Geng.
Chang Geng, “This spring, I actually traveled to the North West. It’s just that Yifu was very busy with military affairs, so I didn’t show myself to disturb him. The Silk Road was very thriving, even the endless sea of golden sand was really can be crowded with people like this. Throughout the Great Liang, there aren’t many places that can prosper like that area. “
The young soldier looked back and forth, seeing that there was no one around them, he whispered, “With the care of Marshal, in recent years, desert bandits have gradually begun to disappear. Many people have settled at the entrance of the Silk Road to business. There are all kinds of gadgets and trinkets everywhere. Marshal says that if there is something His Majesty likes, Marshal will bring you home for the New Year. “
Chang Geng stopped, then said weakly, “I just hope he goes home.”
The little soldier could not grasp the deeper meaning of his words, thinking that he was only casually commenting. Those who had been warriors for a long time were not good at praise, so he kept quiet.
Chang Geng maintained his usual expression as he walked along the official Sichuan road, but his chest became increasingly hot.
He immediately thought that the separation was like water, spark for spark, even garcinia sinabar or vermiculite green would eventually be swept away. But apparently, Gu Yun had been carved in it. Even after being washed for a long time, it can only cause the engraving to become deeper and clearer.
Hearing that Gu Yun would return to the capital at the end of the year, even though it was only the beginning of autumn, Chang Geng was surprised to find that many sentiments from someone who had to go home after years had risen. At that time, he said the words ‘ready to leave for the capital’ in a momentary longing, causing him now to feel very sorry, hoping that he could take back his words and run to escape to the end of the world.
When his mind goes astray, a fragile woman holding someone appears. The woman walked with difficulty, she would stop to rest after a few steps, panting. He screamed when he tripped on a rock on the side of the road then fell to the ground.
Chang Geng immediately gathered himself, stepped forward to help the two of them, “Madame, are you all right?”
No one knows how far he walked, he was too tired to talk, but before he could open his mouth, tears had already trickled down first.
Chang Geng was shocked for a moment, he didn’t ask why he was crying. He simply lifted the unconscious old man from his back and checked the pulse on his wrist. After a while, he softly said, “His illness was the result of being unable to move for a long time, combined with an overly suppressed anger, he would be fine after applying a few needles, his life was not in danger. If you believed me, please come with me first. “
The young soldier did not expect that His Majesty was also well-versed in medicine, so he stepped forward to help him carry the sick old man.
Chang Geng let the woman ride his horse while he walked and led the way. Not long before they arrived in a village. There was an elegant house at the entrance, a bunch of bacon hung in front of the door.
Chang Geng casually ties his horse, then immediately pushes the door open, takes the patient into the inner room and places him on a small bed. He pulled out a box of silver needles under the pillow, then rolled up his sleeves and did the acupuncture himself.
The little soldier asked, “Do you … live here?”
Chang Geng quickly looked up and smiled at him, “No, this is my friend’s place …”
Before he finished speaking, someone had spoken from outside, “How can you enter without invitation again.”
A tall and slim woman dressed in white raised the curtain and entered, the young soldier involuntarily turned tense 一 he did not see her coming, the woman’s skills must be on it.
Chang Geng’s hands continued to work, he also did not look embarrassed, “Miss Chen, I thought you were not at home.”
This was Chen Qing Xu from the Lin Yuan Pavilion who was on a ship from the East Sea that year.
↩↪
Fragrant Incense 8 