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Time flies, time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is already five years later.
Since forming an alliance with the Wulin Yala clan, which is now the Bohai Kingdom, Youyan no longer has the hidden danger of Northern invaders. Although the military has not relaxed, Zheng Rong can finally concentrate on government affairs with the assistance of loyal ministers and good generals.
After five years of operation, Youyan has become a paradise where people never pick up things on the road and never close their doors at night.
Zheng Rong's three sons, Zheng Xin, Zheng Sen and Zheng Miao, have all grown up and have found a well-matched family to marry. In particular, the first wives of Zheng Xin and Zheng Miao are biological sisters, which has become a hot topic.
As the eldest son, Zheng Xin has become more mature and thoughtful than his father, so Zheng Rong entrusts You Yan with daily government affairs. Zheng Sen had a strange appearance and was not favored by his father. In addition, he was brave but not resourceful, so he was only assigned the task of training new soldiers, but he also accumulated a lot of experience in marching and forming formations. Zheng Miao is a generous and open-minded person with a very innocent temperament, which reminds Zheng Rong of his third brother Zheng Hua. However, when he occasionally arranges small and medium-sized tasks for him to do, Zheng Miao can do them very thoughtfully and appropriately, which makes Zheng Rong very considerate. Rong was impressed.
Yi Zhi was regarded as his adopted son by Zheng Rong, and he was treated equally as the other three princes. Whether he went north to burn grass on a regular basis or occasionally to exterminate thieves, he always took Yi Zhi with him. Over time, Qiu Yizhi has gained some experience in the method of marching and formation. Although the counselor Zhongli Kuang also admired Yi Zhi, he still criticized Qiu Yi for letting him know the soldiers. He repeatedly advised Zheng Rong to be cautious, but Zheng Rong showed unusual trust and said: " This king is proud of his troops and is a tiger in a remote swallow. Could it be that he also has a rebellious heart?" These words always left Zhongli Kuang speechless.
Among the three brothers, Zheng Xin was able to treat everyone politely, and although he was not a dear, he never suffered any loss; Zheng Sen was rude and casual, but he had no grudges; Zheng Miao, who was the same age as Yi, went deep into the desert experience together. In the first battle, their relationship with Tongyi was the best, no less than that of two brothers.
Yiran has also lived in Youyan Road for five years. In terms of relationship, he is naturally the best with Qiu Yi. Whether they are doing official business or visiting the streets, the two are always inseparable. In addition, Yiran was born with a different appearance than the Han people in the Central Plains. Therefore, even if ordinary people in Guangyang City met her occasionally, they would all pay attention and whisper: The princess from the Bohai Sea will definitely be the wife of the adopted son of Prince Youyan in the future. The talk in the streets naturally reached Zheng Rong's ears. After laughing it off, he actually agreed with it, and his affection for Yiran seemed to be even deeper.
These five years have been as carefree as Qiu Yizhi has never been since she was born. However, the Han people outside Youyan Road were not so lucky.
The emperor of the current dynasty had long ignored political affairs and assigned them to the two princes. The battles between the princes became more and more fierce day by day, reaching the point where even the appointment of an official or a noble, or the deployment of a soldier or a soldier required countless twists and turns. The old prime minister Yang Yuanzhi couldn't bear the disturbance, and even pretended to be ill, so he simply submitted a memorial to become an official. The two princes who were in charge of the imperial court had long seen that this pedantic old man didn't like him, so they granted the request immediately and granted him countless extra money and food. Land, let the old prime minister retire in the capital.
There is such chaos in the DPRK, and it is even more unbearable everywhere. Of the ten roads in the world, except for Youyan Road and Lingnan Road, which are under the control of two vassal princes, and Guannai Road, which is under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court, the military and political officials of the remaining seven roads are all immoral and incompetent people who were compromised by party struggles, and their corruption and shortfalls have become increasingly serious. If there had been no major disasters in the past five years, not to mention layer upon layer of exploitation, just looking at the efficiency of the court's affairs would have already triggered a major civil unrest.
Although there are no major events in the world, there are already undercurrents.
This year, the Tianzun Sect has started to change in Henan Road, which is adjacent to Youyan Road, and it has the potential to spread throughout the world. Zheng Rong has always been respectful to Buddhism and religion, and he deeply hates the lies of evil cults. Although the Tianzun Sect has power throughout the country, it is difficult to gain a foothold in Youyan Road.
"However, if a person has no long-term worries, he must have immediate worries, and he cannot relax his guard against the slightest mistake." Zhongli Kuang once said to Zheng Rongjian, "Although the Tianzun Sect's uprising is caused by ordinary people being bewitched by cults, it is also caused by the corruption of the government and the corruption of the government. The government is trying to force the people to rebel. However, our Youyan Taoist troops are strong and the rebels from the Tianzun Religion will not risk going north. However, I think there are no usable soldiers in the court, and the threat from the northern border of the Han Dynasty is not as good as before, so the imperial court issued an order to Youyan. The palace troops will go south to suppress the bandits, I’m afraid it’s about time.”
Zheng Rongshen thought so, so he summoned his advisers, generals and four princes to discuss preparations for going south to quell the rebellion in the lobby of Prince Youyan's palace.
King Youyan's shogunate lineup was originally mostly young talents promoted by Zheng Rong. After five years of baptism, they did not show their age, but became more mature and sophisticated.
Zhongli Kuang may have been using his brain too much all year round, and his hair has gradually become thinner, but his sinister and deep eyes have not changed at all. The two generals Cui Nan and Wei Hu, one is deep and calm, the other is passionate and excited, have not changed at all from five years ago. The eldest son of King Youyan, Zheng Xin, has continued to grow a long beard, more like his father; the second son, Zheng Sen, is full of beards and is tall and muscular, making people shudder at the sight of him; Zheng Miao has a delicate face and a light beard on his lips He is very elegant in conversation and is known as the most beautiful man in Youyan Road. Every time he goes out on tour, he attracts the admiration of countless girls. Qiu Yizhi's face didn't change much, except for a faint layer of down on his mouth. Yiran always asked him to scrape it off, but Yizhi wanted to add some vicissitudes to his face, but never listened.
This Tianzun sect has a long history. Yi Zhi saw some of them in the countryside of Henan Province when he was a child. He also found the rituals interesting and learned to play with them. However, the origin of this cult is unclear. The other princes' understanding of it was not as thorough as that of Yi Zhi, so Zheng Rongte asked Zhongli Kuang to introduce the situation of Tianzun Sect to everyone in the hall.
Zhongli Kuang was a well-read man, and even an official and a scholar. Seeing him twirling his beard mixed with gray, he said quietly: "This Tianzun religion is neither Buddhism nor Taoism. It is not a Chinese religion. It comes from the Western Regions in the previous dynasty." There is a large country in the Western Region called Persia. There is a wise hermit in the country. He is knowledgeable and has a good understanding of ancient and modern times. He often goes out to give lectures and writes books. Everyone in the Western Regions admires him. He will not die until he is a hundred years old. . Some nobles in the country wanted to rebel and usurp the throne, so they used the name of the hermit to claim the title of leader and founded Tianzun Sect. They said that the sky was dead and Tianzun was coming again, and he would rebuild the world and confuse the people with the intention of treason. Ten years later, at the time of the general election, the Tianzun Sect was severely suppressed and its followers were severely suppressed. Although they were suppressed in Persia, they continued to flow into China along the Silk Road. , the Tianzun Sect also rebelled, saying that they wanted to establish a Paradise of Light. I also relied on his power when I was young, but I thought that his teachings were perverse and not the way to govern the world, so after the founding of the country, preaching by centipede insects was strictly prohibited. If they are dead but not stiff, the Tianzun Sect will retreat underground and wait for the world to become troubled and cause trouble again."
After hearing what Zhongli Kuang said, the eldest son Zheng Xin thought about it and said: "There are precedents in all dynasties for rebellion under the guise of missionary work. Whether it is the Yellow Turban Red Eyebrow or today's Tianzun Sect, it is the same principle. . This heresy is completely different from the teachings of the saints, and only vigorous suppression is the right way. However, most religious believers are not yet enlightened, so they should learn from the saints to follow the tricks of temptation, severely punish the evildoers, and not ask for coercion, so that the people can know what is right and what is wrong. "
Zheng Rong nodded after hearing this and said: "Zheng Xin's words are sensible and reasonable. They are indeed the golden mean of the sage." After that, he looked at his second son Zheng Sen and was about to ask him to speak, but he secretly guessed that Zheng Sen was a brave man. It was just a quick mess, killing them all, so they jumped away from him and asked Zheng Miao: "Miao'er, tell me."
"Is this... I admire what my eldest brother said very much. But there is one thing I don't understand. This heresy has been strictly banned in all dynasties, so why is it kept banned again and again?"
After hearing this, Zheng Rong's eyes lit up and he said, "Go on."
Zheng Miao scratched her head and replied with a smile: "My child is asking this question because I don't know. Why do you ask me again?" This sentence made the whole hall chuckle.
Zheng Rong knew the temper of his third son - although he knew it in his heart, he refused to say it to refute his brother's face - so he asked Qiu Yi: "Yizhi, do you know the samadhi in it?"
Qiu Yizhi should have kept a low profile in Prince Youyan's palace. However, because of his young age and lack of understanding of the world, and because he was not of royal blood, he was not humble enough to keep a low profile. He bowed slightly, took a step forward and answered loudly. : "Throughout history, in most prosperous times, the people have delicious food, warm clothes, widows and orphans, and are nourished. The world is clear and clear, and people's hearts are uplifted, so evil cults cannot spread. But in troubled times, the people have neither enough food nor enough clothing to cover their stomachs. The body is living and dying, bored, the world is turbid, and people's hearts are not ancient, so they will believe in some ridiculous cults and heresies. Therefore, the Tianzun Sect cannot be suppressed by force alone, but also must cultivate political principles to achieve twice the result with half the effort. effect.”
After hearing this, Zheng Rong was about to praise a few words, but he didn't expect Qiu Yizhi to keep talking: "However, I thought that for hundreds of years, this Tianzun sect has been strictly banned regardless of the times of chaos, but it has always been like a grass. The snake gray line stretches for thousands of miles, and it keeps repeating. I guess there must be some special skills that can be used to achieve great things, so there must be something to learn from..."
Zheng Rong listened to Qiu Yizhi's words and seemed to have changed his mind. His brows gradually tightened. He looked at Zhongli Kuang, who had been silent for a while, with embarrassed and surprised eyes. He found that the other party was also looking at him with similar eyes. He quickly interrupted Qiu Yizhi's words and said: "Yizhi's words are certainly reasonable, but they are domineering rather than royal. They are indeed undesirable and should not be said again in the future."
After Qiu Yizhi heard this, he realized that he had made a mistake. He hurriedly bowed deeply and took a step back.
Zheng Rong nodded and said to the princes and ministers in the hall: "The Tizun Sect is extremely rampant now, even more so on Henan Road adjacent to Youyan. I expect that the imperial court will issue an order for Youyan's officers and soldiers to go south to crusade. I hope you will All generals have fulfilled their duties and served the country well.”
Everyone in the hall sang in unison.
Zheng Rong glanced around the hall with satisfied eyes and began to arrange the arrangements in complete silence.
By the time the four princes and generals came out with their orders, the golden crow was already hanging on the ground. Although Qiu Yizhi just said something wrong and was scolded by Zheng Rong, he was scolded for speaking inappropriately not once or twice, but he didn't take it to heart. When he came out of the hall, he looked up and saw Yiran who was talking and drinking tea with the female relatives in the pavilion.
The female relatives in Prince Youyan's palace are all ladies from well-known families. Although Zheng Rong himself does not care about unnecessary common etiquette, the gestures of the female relatives are still not inferior to the virtuous and virtuous women among the scholars.
However, Yiran, who was adopted by the government, grew up freely on the grassland since he was a child. He did not understand the etiquette of the Han people at all. The nanny who occasionally taught the ladies of the royal family some etiquette was quite dissatisfied when she saw Yiran's behavior, but because Yiran was a princess from a foreign country, even the prince and princess were not restrained, so there was no reason for them to be noisy as servants.
At this time, Yiran was looking at the embroidery made by the female relatives. Although they couldn't put their hands on it, the female relatives who had no strength to tie the chicken were flying the needles and threads in their hands like soldiers and horses fighting, and like dancing a very fast dance. Swordsmanship, on the other hand, can be seen with concentration.
Seeing this, Yi Zhi wanted to make a joke with Yi Ran, so he made a big circle and tiptoed behind Yi Ran, and was about to slap her on the shoulder to scare her. Unwanted Yiran suddenly turned his head and shouted in Yizhi's ear, which actually startled Qiu Yizhi.
Yi Zhi calmed down for a moment and said with half annoyance: "You have been in the Central Plains for five or six years. How come you haven't learned anything about being a lady yet, how dare you come to bully me."
Yiran retorted, "I don't know who sneaked up behind someone, and I don't know what they're doing..."
Qiu Yi's reasoning came first, and once he pointed it out, of course he was speechless, so he changed the subject and said, "Do you know what the adoptive father summoned us to discuss?"
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PS. Peasant uprisings in ancient China, starting from Zhang Jiao, Huang Chao, Liu Futong and Han Shantong, to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion in modern times, often used religion. This book takes a critical attitude towards religion in general, but the role that religion played in preparing public opinion and organizing people before civilization was still worthy of recognition. (To be continued)