There are roughly two roads from Chang'an to Yizhou. One is the land road, which can be subdivided into Jinniu Road, Ziwu Road, Lianyun Road, Qishan Road, Lizhi Road, etc. However, most of these Shu roads are difficult to walk. Li Taibai has a poem
It is said that the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky. This is not an empty statement. The other road is a waterway. It goes south from the Grand Canal and then turns to the Yangtze River. From the Yangtze River to Shu, Huan Wen took the waterway to conquer Shu.
If Bai Gui is alone, it won't be a big deal if he goes to Shu by land.
But now he is the inspector of Jiannan Road and leads the mission. This position is to go to various roads to inspect and evaluate the administration of officials. It was a position created in the early Tang Dynasty based on the governor system of the Han Dynasty. There cannot be only one person. The entire mission has about a hundred people.
There are more than a dozen subordinate officials, and the rest are soldiers guarding the mission.
When an imperial envoy travels, he must be escorted by an imperial guard. In the early Tang Dynasty, it was common practice for imperial envoys to be escorted by Qianniu Guards.
As for Jiannan Road, it can be said that almost the entire southwestern states of the Tang Dynasty were basically in charge of Jiannan Road...
Therefore, it is more convenient to take the water route and examine states other than Shu.
Similarly, taking the water route is easier and more suitable. If you take the mountain road, the journey may be shorter, but it will be less comfortable.
The Grand Canal of the Sui and Tang Dynasties was centered on Luoyi, extending to Zhuojun in the north and Yuhang in the south.
From Chang'an to Luoyi, there are many official posts and numerous merchants along the way.
After arriving in Luoyi, we took a government boat and headed south along the Grand Canal.
"Fortunately, Brother Meihe, you were in such a hurry, otherwise if the canal had frozen in the dead of winter in November or February, we might have been stranded in Luoyi and missed our trip."
On the official ship, Zhang Jiuling saw that just a few days after boarding the ship, when he woke up one night, the color of the sky and the earth had changed, and he couldn't help but feel lucky.
The Grand Canal generally does not freeze, but there are records of freezing during severe cold seasons.
"It will get warmer as we go south. I had already expected it, so I hurried and took my time along the way."
"Stop talking about this, come into the cabin and have the hot wine that has just been warmed."
Bai Gui opened the thick curtain and spoke.
The person he was most familiar with in the center was Zhang Jiuling. Zhang Jiuling was not as lucky as him. He had no one behind him. He worked as a school clerk for several years. Later, after Li Longji succeeded to the throne, he was promoted to Zuo Shiyi, from the eighth rank.
As for the official position, Zhang Jiuling was originally the ninth grade school secretary, so he was only promoted one level, which was not as fast as his promotion speed.
This time he served as the inspector of Jiannan Road, and it was impossible to have a deputy envoy, so he recommended Zhang Jiuling to Li Longji as his deputy envoy, and Li Longji readily agreed.
If the chief and deputy envoys are at odds with each other, what errands will they do?
Li Longji will not cause any trouble at this point.
As for Zhang Jiuling's talent and learning, there is no doubt about it.
"It's snowing heavily, and drinking a glass of warm wine will bring happiness to the world."
Zhang Jiuling entered the cabin, took a seat, and said with a smile.
…
Ten days later.
Suzhou.
Linjiabao.
Bai Gui came to pay homage.
On the living room.
"Envoy Bai Qin has come to visit you. I am sorry for missing you from a distance. Please forgive me."
Lin Tiannan, the master of Linjiabao, was sitting on the second seat, looking at the purple-robed official in front of him with a somewhat surprised expression.
Beijing officials are of the third rank of Beijing University, and the imperial envoy is an official of the third rank, so they wear purple robes and goldfish bags.
Although he, Lin Tiannan, is the leader of the martial arts alliance in the south, he is really not respected in front of the imperial envoys. Without exception, the imperial envoys are all ministers valued by the emperor. They have the power of imperial power to kill first and report later.
"Master Limbao, don't be surprised. When I was in Beijing, I taught Liu Xiang's son together with his deputy. He was his teacher. I don't think I need to mention the relationship between Liu Xiang and Gui Bao."
Bai Gui smiled and said.
He went in and out of the Liu Mansion and interacted with Mrs. Liu a lot. Because Liu Jinyuan was weak, he taught him some physical exercise techniques. During this process, Mrs. Liu inevitably mentioned the relationship between Lin Jiabao and the Liu Mansion.
.
During the Han and Tang dynasties, there was no trend of advocating literature and devaluing martial arts. Great poets like Li Bai all wanted to be knights and advocated the custom of knights. Including Zhang Zai and Su Xun of the Song Dynasty, they also liked to be knights.
"So that's why..."
Lin Tiannan was relieved for a moment, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He mistakenly thought that Lin Jiabao had caused some trouble for the imperial envoy, or that the Liu family had caused some trouble, implicating Lin Jiabao. He considered his words for a while and said: "
Liu Mansion and Lin Jiabao are related by marriage. Earlier, Mrs. Liu Xiang died early, so she remarried her wife's sister, so the two have some relationship."
"Since Envoy Bai is a guest from afar, I have just ordered the kitchen to prepare a feast. I also asked Envoy Bai and Deputy Ambassador Zhang not to refuse."
He said generously.
"Lord Limbaugh misunderstood."
"I want to dispel Lord Linbao's worries by telling me about my old relationship with the Liu family. This time, I was ordered by the saint to serve as the inspector of Jiannan Road and the governor of Yizhou, but I have no one under my command...
"
"I heard that Lord Linbao is the leader of the Southern Martial Arts Alliance, so I would like to ask Lord Linbao to recommend high-ranking disciples or talented people for conquest."
"Please forgive me for the inconvenience, Master Limbaugh."
Bai Gui got straight to the point and expressed his inner thoughts.
In Chang'an, he was just an ordinary member of Zhongshushe. Even if he wanted to recruit Chang'an Rangers, the Chang'an Rangers would not look down upon him. But when he left Chang'an, he was an imperial minister. He had a high position in the local area and wanted to recruit some party members.
, with full strength, it is more than enough.
In addition, Lin Tiannan is the master of the Lin Family Fort. He is very wealthy and the leader of the Southern Martial Arts Alliance. He has a big tree and deep roots. Now that he has made friends with Lin Tiannan and appointed his disciples, it is equivalent to spreading his connections in the south. In the future, he will not only be able to do things smoothly, but also have deep roots.
But the difficulties and obstacles encountered are much less in comparison.
To put it simply, it is collusion of interests.
He is now equivalent to selling his official position and "selling" part of his official positions to southern forces such as Lin Tiannan. Similarly, he will also receive a lot of help from these southern forces.
"Is Bai Qinchi's statement true?"
After hearing this, Lin Tiannan looked a little excited and couldn't sit still.
Although there is no current trend of advocating culture and restraining martial arts, there is still a difference between powerful people and powerful families. He, Lin Jiabao, is only equivalent to the local powerful people in Gusu, and his reputation is all tied to him. If he can become an official, it is equivalent to a leap.
Class, changed family status.
Most of his disciples also come from humble backgrounds, and most of them are civilians. If there is such a path, there will definitely be many people who can take it.
"If Master Limbao wants to become an official, I will recommend Master Limbao to a saint. The post of state Sima should not be difficult."
Bai Gui heard this and replied.
In the levy system, the emperor issued an edict to recruit people, and pi was when a minister or a state or county recruited someone to serve as an official. Although the levy system and the inspection system in the Han Dynasty were no longer popular in the Tang Dynasty, state and county officials recruited staff.
It's still possible to be an official.
Of course, this is only limited to low-level officials.
Senior officials, such as the fifth-rank Sima of the state, as the governor of Yizhou, do not yet have this power.
In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the three ways of becoming an official through the imperial examination, the imperial examination, and the recommendation, there were also other ways to become an official through recruitment, out-of-town officialdom, military meritorious service, and vassal general into official service. However, these latter ones were not easy to follow.
"State Sima..."
Lord Limbao murmured to himself, feeling a little moved in his heart.
The title of leader of the martial arts league is an expression of admiration from people who are also members of the martial arts community, and is not very popular on the stage.
And the fifth rank official is really not low.
"If Master Linbao agrees, I will recommend it to the imperial court!"
"To be honest with Lord Limbao, I was once a saint from Zhongshu Sheren, but I still have a bit of a reputation for being a saint."
Bai Gui saw Lin Tiannan was tempted and said immediately.
Nowadays, the Sima from Wupinzhou in the Tang Dynasty has a better official position than the Wude doctor in the Song Dynasty.
In addition, in his Ten Comments to Li Longji, he mentioned that in order to deal with Tubo, Nanzhao and other countries, martial arts practitioners like Lord Linbao are an indispensable part, whether as spies or as agents.
For some other things, people who practice martial arts are more alert and flexible than ordinary people.
Compared with the Tubo Kingdom and the Nanzhao Kingdom that were a scourge to the Tang Dynasty, a fifth-rank state Sima was still very cost-effective. After all, Lin Tiannan was also the leader of the Southern Wulin Alliance, and his official position was too low, which showed that the court was not sincere.
