Chapter 298: I don’t need the love of other countries

Zhao Xing replied: "I'm sorry, I can't let you teach your children hatred. I don't allow your children to grow up under hatred, which is not good for them. Although the Song Dynasty is tolerant, it will never tolerate an enemy of hatred. So, you don't need to think about their fate. Let's talk about yourself first - people say 'The king dies in the country', your country has been destroyed, but why don't you die?"

King Duan sighed and replied: "The reason why I am immortal is because I can't let go of my heart. Now I want to thank you for making a choice for me."

Zhao Xing nodded: "If you figure it out, I'll be relieved. Don't worry, the court will send you part of the spoils captured from your palace. I will help your children run this part, so that your Duan clan worship will continue - but you can't die now, you have to die in the capital."

King Duan bowed his hand and said sadly.

Chen Buqun witnessed all this and said carefully: "Teacher, if this incident is recorded, I am afraid that people in Dali will hold a grudge against the teacher for the rest of their lives."

Zhao Xing laughed at the sky: "As a man, being hated by the enemy of a foreign race for a lifetime, that is the glory that only heroes possess. In the past, Huo Qubing, Wei Qing, Meng Tian, ​​Wang Jian, Li Jing, Su Dingfang, these foreign races killed by the ancestors did not dare to look at the Central Plains directly, and were they hated by a foreign race for a lifetime?

I am from Song, why should I let the people of "other countries" think of me? Humph, if I don't betray my own interests, why should the people of other countries think of me, an "official of other countries". Not a group, as a great country, you must have a sense of a great country. The heroes of a great country make the people of other countries hold hatred. The more they hate you, the more you deserve your own people! For example, the negative textbook of Lu Huiqing is deeply loved by the Xia people. Xia people all think that he is a kind person. Is this kind of benevolence good to me in the Song Dynasty?

I think you are stupid when you read the books of sages. Do you really think that "cultivating benevolence and virtue within the country" can make the "four barbarians obey" without using swords and guns? Do you really think that foreigners surrender to us, and benevolence and righteousness are enough? Do you really think that if you don't betray your own interests, foreigners will love you? Why?"

Zhao Xing paused and continued, "To make foreigners respect it, it requires iron and blood. A lot of iron and blood. When these bloods gather into a sea of ​​blood, no one dares to look at us directly. The people of big countries do not need to be loved by others, just others are afraid, it is enough! If we are not group, we will gradually rise to become big countries. You must have a sense of a big country, make others terror, and make other countries timid and dare not offend us, we do not need to be loved by the people of other countries!"

Chen Buqun choked for a moment. He asked: "Where have Feng'er and Hai'er gone? I've brought them many gifts..."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and replied: "In the backyard."

Chen Buqun said goodbye quickly. Behind him, Zhao Xing murmured to himself: "The hatred of the country that destroyed Dali today reminds me of the country that one day we will also destroy. Perhaps the humiliation we have suffered can not even be imagined by the people of Dali today."

When Chen Buqun heard this, he paused for a moment, and then continued to walk towards the backyard. While walking, he whispered to himself: "How could it be? My Song Dynasty is so powerful that I can feel the pain of the country's destruction."

In Bianliang, the main hall of the Political Affairs Hall, the young emperor Zhao Xu sat on the throne, listened to the officials' reports, and waited for the officials to report it in turn. He turned to Zhang Dun and asked: "Zhang Qing, what news is there in Guangdong and Guangxi? Why has the war ended for a month and there is no specific report yet?"

Zhang Dun bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, this news in Guangdong and Guangxi is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, because the court passed two routes when it was circulating. One was the sea route run by Zhao Xing's family. If it was an emergency military situation, Zhao Liren would send it by sea route. The report sent by this sea route only takes 11 days to arrive in the capital; if it is not very important, Zhao Liren would send it through the normal official road station. This transmission, even if it is 800 miles in a hurry, it would take more than two months to reach the capital."

"A ride of lychees, the concubine smiled - I know that it took more than 40 days for the lychees in Lingnan to be transported to Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. Why did it take two months in my Song Dynasty?" The little emperor asked in surprise.

Zhang Dundi answered only one word: "Horse!"

"Oh, it turns out that I lack horses in the Song Dynasty, so that all post stations can only be transmitted by walking, but fortunately I have boats and oars in the Song Dynasty." When the little emperor Zhao Xu said this, he looked at the Hanlin officials who wrote "Daily Notes" in Fenbi, tilted his sleeves, and said, "Daily Officials should retreat first, I want to discuss some secret matters with the officials."

The daily official looked at Zhang Dun, and Zhang Dun nodded slightly, and the Hanlin scholar stepped down on tiptoe.

Zhao Xu looked at the daily officer disappearing in the hall, waved his hand and said, "I wondered some time ago, why the news from Guangdong and Guangxi suddenly became faster, and sometimes it was so slow that it was dying. Many times I already knew the result, but I still didn't know the beginning - such as this Dali attack. We already knew why the memorials sent by Guangdong and Guangxi had not arrived in the court yet.

You guys don’t have to be embarrassed. I specially asked the daily officials to go out, just to ask what’s going on? I heard that Zhao Xing has always been scattered and slow. He is in Guangdong and Guangxi. If he wants the court to know, he will deliver the news through the fast ship. If he doesn’t want the court to know, he will go through the regular post road honestly. This is what happens."

The ministers remained silent, but Zeng Bu, a good old man, liked to mix with him. His moderate explanation: "According to the court's local laws, it is in line with the court's system. As for private message delivery - everyone knows that the sea route is the property of Zhao Li's wife. He wants to use this route to submit official documents, which is his own business, and the court is not easy to interfere."

Zhao Xu asked again: "So, can't the court also take the route of expressing ships?"

Zeng Bu laughed and cried and replied: "It's too expensive! A quick letter is delivered according to this method, which requires five silos of copper coins. Your Majesty, the military weapon supervisor is a pair of silos, but only three silos. If it is not for emergency official duties, just passing a letter will cost five silos - he can afford it, but the court cannot afford it."

The little emperor turned his eyes and asked again: "I heard that Zhao Liren is good at using tax cuts to encourage trade. Can we implement partial tax cuts on that sea route..."

"No..." A group of officials jumped out from below and exclaimed in unison.

Zhang Dun signaled Cai Bian with his eyes, and Cai Bian jumped out and replied: "Your Majesty, last year, the 'fast beast' alone paid a total of 500,000 jin of taxes, and the annual tax in Hangzhou was only 1 million jin. The tax paid by this transportation business in one year was equivalent to half of the total of all the grass markets in Hangzhou. One cent cut would also be a huge sum of money for the court. The government spent 500,000 jin to deliver Guangnan letters, which is not worth it."

Zhao Xu sighed.

He could only sigh because this was the Song Dynasty, and even the modern Zhao Xing was not used to respect private rights in the Song Dynasty.

There was no law or precedent for confiscating other people's industries in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Xing's transportation was so that the court ministers drooled, but they did not dare to reach out.

After sighing, Zhao Xu asked again: "Have you appointed ambassadors to offer prisoners to Taimiao?"

According to the court's ceremony of offering Buddha, six important officials were appointed throughout the process of offering Buddha. For example, the "Gate Envoy" was responsible for taking over the other party's surrender and passing it to His Majesty; the "Envoy of Xuanfu" was responsible for pacifying the frightened heart of the captured king; the "Envoy of Clothing and Trousers" taught the other party how to wear the clothes of Song people; the "Envoy of Xuanfu" was responsible for teaching the other party's Song Dynasty etiquette and laws... In short, this is a very troublesome thing, but as long as you serve as this official, it means that your life's glory has reached its peak. No matter how the political situation of the court changes, these six former "Six Literary Envoys" were not involved, because they were the six people who were recorded in history.

It is not worth showing off when playing football with the emperor these days, because in the Song Dynasty, he played football with the emperor and even threw the emperor to the ground with a tackle. It was just as normal as breathing. No one took it out to show off to others. On the contrary, once they showed off, they would only be despised by the Song people. Because there were so many people who played football with Song Emperor in the capital, even showing off this can only mean that you are a leopard in the countryside, or a time traveler in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

However, offering prisoners has been a major event in all dynasties, and it is one of the "great gifts" in the court, and there are not many such things in every dynasty and every generation. Many emperors have never been able to get them for the last time. Therefore, serving as one of the "Six Ambassadors" in offering prisoners is definitely something that can be recorded in the family tree and show off to their descendants for generations. Because this means that their moral articles can be a role model for future generations.

As soon as this flesh bone was thrown out, the officials' attention immediately changed. There was no other thing in the court worthy of their concern. Everyone had only one target: the Six Lishui Envoy.

After several times of interest weighing, including quarrels, biting, attacking, slandering, flattering, and verbalizing, and furious, some people finally burst into tears. Some people looked depressed. The list was finally settled... At this time, no one in the capital city paid attention to the wailing of the envoys of Dali. Instead, they took the opportunity to cancel the identity of envoys of those envoys and drove them to the temple to live.

Everything is ready, and only King Duan has been left to enter Beijing. The little emperor and the "Six Lexicons" have been waiting for it. From summer to late autumn, but there is no movement in Guangdong, which makes the little emperor very impatient.

Zhang Dun also felt the emperor's anxiety. He replied: "The six envoys have been appointed. If the official is worried, we will spend a lot of money and send a message from the Clippers to Zhao Liren. How could he send King Duan to the capital?"

The little emperor was smart. He shook his head and said, "Although Guangxi's attack on a country this time was to send troops privately, it was considered a contribution to the country. Please reward him first. Can Zhang Tian be transferred back to the capital?"

The meaning of the little emperor is: the court has not made a formal statement on this war so far. In this way, the charge of soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi sending troops alone cannot be relieved. There must be a reason for Zhao Xing's sudden cut off the news. And this reason is likely to be waiting for the court to make a formal statement.

Zhang Dun and the others did not discuss the rewards in Guangdong and Guangxi. However, the front-line soldiers made contributions. These people were busy celebrating, but did not make corresponding rewards, which seemed a bit cold. Zhang Dun quickly stated: "The official, the achievements of the generals were not yet settled because they had not received any details of the war in Guangdong and Guangxi. They only knew that it was the Guangxi governor Zhang Tian who invaded Dali. I don't know the specific details yet. I guess..."

Zhao Xu smiled and replied: "Zhang Tian, ​​I know this. I saw him when I was a child. He was a child. He was disproportionate to Guangxi, so he was sent to the public. He didn't expect that he could make such a great contribution. You and others think that we should transfer Zhang Tian back this time or Zhao Liren back."

Several voices answered in unison: "Zhang Tian!"

Zhang Dun replied slowly: "What I mean is that neither can be transferred. With Zhang Tian in Guangxi, Zhao Li people can be restrained. If Zhang Tian is not there, Zhao Li people may be less and less restrictive."

The little emperor smiled and asked, "If you have to make a choice, one of these two people must be transferred. Who will Zhang Qing choose?"

The answer is undoubtedly: Zhang Tian.

October. The comet attacked. In Bingchen, the court discussed the husband Da and the magistrate of Chizhou Qian Xie. At this point, another famous minister was added to the exile of the Song Dynasty.

Guihai, Zhao Tingzhi, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Sun Cong jumped ashore on the Huizhou pier, opened the folding fan with a squeak, and looked at the Sugong Port carefully. Several people came down from the boat with their luggage and whispered to Sun Cong: "Sir, please think about it again. The miasma in Lingnan is fierce. Now there are bandits everywhere. We are not familiar with the places, and we can't communicate with these Lingnan people who speak birds. We have to go all the way. If there is a three-length or two-length or two-length or two-length or so, we can't know the other end of the court."

Sun Cong shook his head and said calmly: "You don't understand. I know Zhao Liren's methods. I have seen him in Mizhou. I am here at Huanqing. This person is best at organization and management. If Zhao Liren just arrived in Guangnan, I am still a little worried. He has been in Guangnan for three years. If he cannot eliminate bandits, he will not be Zhao Liren."

Sun Cong was wearing casual clothes, and several entourages were dressed in green clothes, but they used Bianliang Mandarin dialect on the dock. When they heard their conversations, an old man came up to chat with him: "A few officials, do you want a carriage? The carriage from a certain family leads directly to Huizhou City, and each person only has five copper coins."

The old man was flirting with very stiff official words. Sun Cong shook his fan and looked at the scene around him, while asking: "Brother-in-law, I heard that this is the port specially built for the teacher. Why is this port so deserted?"

The old man sighed and replied with a reminiscent: "Official, you are from the capital, you don't know. Mr. Po was exiled to Huizhou. At the beginning, I slaughtered a sheep every ten days in Huizhou. The mutton was eaten by officials first, and Mr. Po could only get some sheep bones, but he was lucky and accepted a disciple, Zhao Anfu. The rich man directly built a wharf for him in Huizhou, which specially sent food and meat to the teachers. Now, it was this wharf, so the common people called this port "Borang Port" and also "Sugong Port".

Unfortunately, the high-ranking officials of the court were always uneasy. They knew that Mr. Po lived in Huizhou well and moved him to Qiongzhou, Hainan. Ah, since Mr. Su went there, this wharf was much neglected. We used to have clay farms, coal farms, and horse farms in Huizhou. These were all built by Zhao Anfu in order to make the teacher feel at ease in Huizhou, and they spent money like water. But now that Mr. Su left, no one was running those farms. Gradually, this wharf was much neglected.

The official didn’t know that it used to be that hundreds of ships could be driven a day at this pier, but now, there are only a dozen ships a day, so it’s deserted!”

Sun Cong asked casually: "So, when Mr. Dongpo went to Hainan, did Zhao Anfu also build the factory to Hainan?"

The father-in-law glanced at Sun Cong and pulled the topic back: "Does the official want to rent a carriage? If the official rents a carriage, I will turn around and chat with the official on the road..."

Sun Cong nodded: "I was going to get off the boat in Guangzhou. I heard about Huizhou on the way, so I specially visited Huizhou. Do my father-in-law have any companions? I have a few more servants and call a few carriages to come. Let's go into the city together. On the way, my father-in-law talks slowly with me."

The father-in-law agreed loudly, greeted several companions, brought Sun Cong and his servants' luggage into the carriage, and then drove the carriage to the city with a whip.

The father-in-law had originally hoped that Sun Cong would rent a carriage, so he and Sun Cong slowly talked about the scenery in Huizhou. But when they got on the carriage, Sun Cong discovered that the father-in-law was driving the carriage very focused. Sun Cong vaguely realized that he might have been fooled, so he looked for topics to chat with.

"Brother-in-law, why are your ground horses so short?..."

The father-in-law remained silent.

Sun Cong continued to ask: "Brother-in-law, there are shortages of horses everywhere in the Song Dynasty. Why do I see that Huizhou is not short of horses? There are thirty or forty carriages free on the pier alone. Along the way, there are endless carriages passing by. Why are there so many carriages in Huizhou? It's just that these horses are as short as donkeys."

The father-in-law threw a whip and replied: "Official, are you from the capital?...Don't blame me for being too talkative. Originally, the people of Huizhou looked down on the officials in the capital. You said that Mr. Su is such a good man, and he is concerned about the plague caused by the people when he is flooded. Although he is a criminal official, he also requires the local government to give free medicine. When there is a fire, Mr. Po also wants to help the people - how can such a person be guilty? He has been demoted to our remote area?

I heard that those in charge of the affairs are corrupt officials and villains, treacherous ministers and evil people. The criminal officials who were exiled to us are all docile and kind, and teach our children to read and read, and they don’t even accept slaughter. Why are good people nowadays criminals, and corrupt officials have great power?”

Sun Cong's face darkened: "Brother, I'm asking about horses, not officials."

The father-in-law shook his whip and replied without looking back: "This horse... the old man doesn't know the difference between this horse. It is the disciples of Su Gong who told us that horses are divided into north and south, and the southern horses have short noses and adapt to humid and stuffy weather, so the south is most suitable for using these Sichuan horses and Yunnan horses. These horses were all made by Zhao Anfu, and they heard that they are all trophys."

Sun Cong sat behind the carriage and shook his head gently.

This is a two-wheeled carriage, the shape of which is similar to the later rickshaw. There can only be two people sitting side by side, there is a canopy on the roof, and the car can carry simple luggage behind the car. The small Dianma pulls the light carriage, and the wheels are rippling, passing by the oncoming carriage from time to time.

This road is an asphalt road. The land is very wide, and countless sour horn trees are planted on both sides of the road. Although it is winter now, the south is still lush and verdant, under the shade of trees. The scenery along the way is picturesque. But Sun Cong did not feel at ease about the scenery along the way. This time he came to patrol Guangnan.

In July, the court rewarded Guangnan. The ministers of the court were busy preparing for the celebration of the Taimiao prisoner, but there was no movement in Zhao Xing. Including the details of the war, including the Dali royal family, he held them all in his hands.

In August, Zhao Xingfeng returned the imperial edict from the court. Zhao Xing did not specify the edict in detail about this edict, but wrote a sentence behind the edict: "The wind suddenly rises, and a pool of spring water is wrinkled."

This is a famous quote. It is said that when Feng Yansi wrote this sentence, Li Jing, the middle-level emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, once joked about Feng Yansi: "Wrinkle a pool of spring water, what's the matter?" Li Jing's joke is expressed in modern terms. It means: the wind blew the pool of water, and it's all your business.

In the Song Dynasty, this sentence did not have the rude and swearing. It was just a gentle question. Zhang Dun went over and over again and again to study the commendation of rewards and believed that it might be Zhao Xing's decision that the court's Yinzi strategy required the child to be sent to the Imperial College, which was equivalent to disguised quality. So Zhao Xing cursed and said swearing: "If my son is an official, can he pass the Jinshi exam? It's all your fault."

Although the Song Dynasty's words were not rude, Zhang Dun smiled bitterly after seeing them, and wrote a reward form again. After discussion by the court ministers, Zhang Dun was still worried that Zhao Xing would throw a tantrum, so he specially sent his confidant Sun Cong to Guangnan to issue an imperial edict. Before leaving, he specifically asked Sun Cong to learn more about the situation in Guangnan. Sun Cong believed that he had a friendship with Zhao Xing, accepted the decree calmly and fearlessly. He rushed to Guangzhou by fast ship. On the way, he heard the crew talk about Huizhou affairs and made a temporary decision, intending to land in Huizhou and cross the entire Guangdong.

Sun Cong, who came with a mission, was eager to learn about the situation in Guangdong because the court is now blind to Guangdong. Originally, Guangdong and Guangxi were able to report some important news. However, later, the memorials of these people were empty and boring, and there were no important things, and they were all irrelevant gossip news.

Wang Ying and Dong Bi, the inspector sent by the court this year, were better when they first took office, but now their memorials are exactly the same as those of "stop" memorials, all attacking Zhao Xing's nostalgia for the treasures and who likes the scandals of the singers. These scandals were good articles in modern gossip weekly, but they were not suitable for official documents.

After reading their report, I didn’t know that Zhao Xing’s personality was a local people who thought that Zhao Xing was indeed in Guangdong, and Hu Tian, ​​because half of Zhao Xing’s four wives and concubines were foreigners, and even Hu people were not let go. Such a person was not a fickle radish, who else could he be? What’s more, Liao Xiaoxiao’s escape had not stopped, and there was no comment from the capital that Wang Gong said: First-class methods of pleasing women.

But Zhang Dun and Sun Cong did not believe it, and Li Gonglin and Mi Fu and other literati did not believe it either, because they had contacted Zhao Xing and knew that Zhao Xing's inner house was full of Japanese women doing odd jobs. If Zhao Xing had a fickleness, his rain and dew had already spread throughout China and Japan.

Apart from them, Cai Jing didn't believe it, because in Yangzhou, the Liu Jingniang, who voluntarily became a "stricken disaster", didn't even look down on him, so he didn't believe that Zhao Xing would be drunk and dreaming in the remote shooting place in Guangzhou.

If Zhao Xing was indeed as self-disciplined as before, then the reports sent by several secret spies from the court would be very suspicious. What happened in Guangnan? As soon as they entered Guangnan, they immediately turned against each other, only talking about the love, flowers, snow and moon, not the key - this is the answer that Sun Cong needs to find during this trip.

Sun Cong organized language in his stomach and slowly induced his father-in-law to say, "Brother-in-law, Mr. Dongpo has gone to Qiongzhou. I wonder if Qiongzhou has developed recently? I heard that Zhao Anfu has always been considerate to his teacher, but I don't know what he has bought for the teacher in Qiongzhou again?"

The old man shook his whip and replied meaningfully: "Officials, the people of Huizhou are bathed in the kindness of Su Gong. They dare not say bad things about Su Gong casually - your high-ranking officials from the capital are not in good spirits, and we dare not speak casually."

Sun Cong choked, and he gasped for a long time before he could breathe... The rest of the journey slowly passed in the dullness.

The carriage entered Huizhou City and settled the luggage. Sun Cong hurriedly took a few people to the Baihefeng Academy, the former place of demotion in Su Dongpo. Now the academy is in charge of affairs by Su Ding, the governor of Guangdong, who is Su Shi's second son. People are still coming and going under Baihe Peak, but there is no longer the vitality of the past.

Sun Cong did not go up the mountain. He stayed at the top of the mountain and carefully observed the students coming and going. He saw a few students dressed in foreign lands walking and talking, and their words floated into Sun Cong's ears. They were saying: "In the past, the poet Li Bai once said, 'Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles'. It seems that this is true and does not deceive me. In the past, I only heard that the Song Dynasty is beautiful and beautiful, and now I have witnessed it with my own eyes. It is shocking everywhere. This time, our country is destroyed, and it is really not a loss. The Song Dynasty is invincible!"

Another foreign student who was traveling with him rebuked with a stern face: "Brother Lao said this wrongly. We have never lost our country. Originally, we were all people from Xianglin County. This time we just returned to our hometown. How can we say that our country is destroyed? The strategy makes the adults regard us as our hometown people. But you have to go with the people of the Song Dynasty from outside and don't know what happened."
To be continued...