On the first day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Yanxing, Liu Fan, the eldest son of the King of Shu, and his younger brother Liu Dan went to Baling to worship their ancestors.
Baling, the mausoleum where Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Xiaowen of the Han Dynasty were buried together, is located at the western end of the vast Bailuyuan. It is adjacent to Fenghuang Mountain to the west, Bashui to the east, and faces the majestic and simple Chang'an City below. It seems that even after death,
Emperor Taizong, who was famous for his generosity and wisdom, was still carefully observing every move of his descendants.
At this time, Guanzhong was still in chaos. After the Battle of Duanliuyuan, Lu Bu and Jia Xu, with the support of Dong Cheng, led their troops to escape back to Chang'an, while the three towns of Han, Ma and Song returned to Longshang, and Hedong's Qian
Zhao Chendeng is still just hanging on. The results of the war have not yet spread to various counties, but the local scholars are eagerly waiting to find out who will be the final winner.
At this time, most of the victorious Shu army was still resting and recuperating in martial arts, but Liu Fan knew that he had not gained enough righteousness in his journey north this time. Even if he won the battle, he could not be said to have gained a firm foothold in Guanzhong.
Therefore, the day after occupying Wugong Huaili, he led hundreds of riders eastward from Weibei and arrived at Changling on the last day of the sixth year of Yanxing. After worshiping the great ancestor in Changling, he went to Changling again.
Heading south, he ignored the fact that Lu Bu in Chang'an was less than forty miles away from him, and went straight south to pay homage to Baling.
It was noon when they arrived, the sky was still clear, and the snow on the ground began to melt into water. Although the rivers of Wei River and Ba River had not yet thawed, people always felt wet while walking along the road. The north wind blew
When it came over, it no longer stabbed people like a knife, but seemed to be covered with dew, making passers-by mistakenly think that they were made of water vapor, as if they would flow away with the wind. And the withered willows blowing in the wind around them were even more...
This feeling was aggravated, but it did not affect the high spirits of the knights.
After walking along the Ba River for a while, you can see a spectacular stone bridge more than 100 feet long among the withered willows, which can accommodate five horses walking side by side. That is the Ba Bridge, which is famous for breaking willows to say goodbye.
After crossing the Ba River, ride your horse southward for two seconds and you will see the location of Baling City.
The order of Baling at this time was Xu Ying, a native of Feng Yi. The guards reported that hundreds of horses were coming from the north of the city. He thought they were envoys from the imperial court, so he personally led the county officials out of the city to greet them. As a result, the envoys came closer and he was informed that they were coming.
The person was the prince of Shu. It was obviously too late to close the door at this time. Xu Ying could only bite the bullet and continue to go forward to worship. Liu Fan could see the embarrassment in his heart at a glance, took his hand and said with a smile: "I'm here today.
The county magistrate does not need to worry about paying homage to his ancestors. Please bear with me if there is any disturbance."
Xu Ying raised her head and saw Liu Fan smiling warmly and looking as radiant as the beautiful jade from Lantian. She couldn't help but feel good about her. At this time, she asked about the military situation at the front and learned that the Shu army had defeated Lu Bu.
The vassal king invited Liu Fan into the palace according to the etiquette, and both parties had lunch together. Liu Fan asked Xu Ying to accompany him to Baling at the banquet, and Xu Ying naturally smiled and praised him.
After the meal, Xu Ying called some heads of wealthy families in the county to accompany him, and more than a hundred people walked down a remote path from the Tongren Plain. Although the path had been repaired, it was still full of slush when walking, making people slip from time to time.
They walked very slowly because of the illusion. After about an hour, the end of the road suddenly appeared. People's hearts were refreshed, they quickened their pace, and climbed up a high slope. A simple and spacious cemetery suddenly appeared in front of them.
.It is hard to imagine that in a dangerous and deep mountain forest, there would be an emperor's tomb...
Baling's cemetery is very large and wide, but there are very few decorations. As far as the eye can see, there are only about a dozen stone tablets describing Taizong's achievements and some auspicious animal statues scattered on the stone paths. The most luxurious place is just the garden gate.
The first two are bronze figures holding halberds. Fortunately, there are servants taking care of the garden. The pines and cypresses along the road are neatly trimmed, making the cemetery simple and elegant. People peeked around from the gaps in the trees and found that there were still many trees in the four corners of the cemetery.
There are open red plums, releasing a refreshing fragrance.
When Liu Fan saw this scene, he couldn't help but sigh, and said to his followers: "It is said that the Red Eyebrows caused chaos during the reign of Emperor Shizu and swept across Guanzhong. Most of the ancestral tombs were stolen by them, but only the tombs of Taizong and Zhongzong were not invaded. Although Chi Mei was
The crime is beyond reach, but it also shows that Taizong was deeply popular among the people."
Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, he continued: "I worship Taizong today, firstly, to worship my ancestors, and secondly, to declare to all the people in the world that if I get the throne, I will be like Taizong, who will use military force and promote culture, put peace of mind first, and give light punishments."
"Bo Fu."
After that, he ordered his followers to kill him
The calves and lambs that arrived were placed on the altar, and he put on the special ceremonial headdress, worshiped solemnly, and then recited the sacrificial inscription written by himself. The sacrificial inscription was only a few hundred words long, so it was recorded in the article. The full text is as follows:
"In the past, Emperor Xiaowen performed the dance of "Zhao De" in the temple. He practiced frugality, eliminated slander, gave light punishments, and benefited the world. His merits were towering, which led to the prosperity of the Han Dynasty for four hundred years. However, the passage of time has reduced virtues, and Wang Feng
It is not obvious that the country today is also in danger. Disasters continue to occur, the sun and the moon are eclipsed, the people complain, the officials work hard, and they don’t know how to level the country. This is because the country is not human, and the court has no owner. Li Shu said from this:
The Han Dynasty is about to fall. If you see it with your eyes and hear it with your ears, you will hurt it internally."
"The emperor and the empress are in power, and Fan Budu has his own strength. He belongs to the Li Yuan Dynasty and pretends to be the father of the people. He wants to make the destiny of the people fall and rise again. The holy dynasty is in danger but it is more secure. Even if it is thousands of deaths, it is not a pity. However, Mao'an Gong accidentally got it.
The prophecy said: "Yizhou has the spirit of the Son of Heaven, and there are people who are admonishing: "The emperor's great orders cannot be ignored. Therefore, I am sincere and frightened, and report to the ancestors and gods, hoping to show it with a sign. The descendants are waiting for frost and dew.
Death to all.”
After saying that, Liu Fan threw the sacrificial inscription into the brazier, kowtowed again and again, and prayed secretly in his heart: "Your Majesty, Emperor Taizong, the heir apparent of the current King of Shu, and the successor of King Lu Gong, the unworthy descendant Liu Fan is determined to be an emperor. One day he will hold the sacred weapon."
, the children of thousands of households must be moved to worship their ancestors, hoping that their ancestors will bless them. Liu Fan, the unworthy descendant, will bow his head!"
At this time, he heard the gentle sound of hooves around him, and a bit of snow fell from the pine forest behind the cemetery. Everyone heard the sound and went to see a white deer, carefully coming from the temple behind the cemetery.
Walking out of the shadows, he just caught everyone's eyes. This made Bai Lu a little scared, but he didn't dare to retreat. He seemed to be more afraid of offending the group of warriors with solemn expressions. Although they were far apart, everyone felt his presence.
His eyes are like water, with endless ripples in them.
Following Liu Fan were sharp archers like Yan Yan and Zhang Ren. When they saw the white deer, they bent their bows and took aim without thinking. Liu Fan waved his hand to stop them and said to them: "This is Taizong's tomb.
Where can I find weapons?"
Dong Zhao, who was accompanying him, was even more incredible. He once used a white dog to pretend to be a white deer to lure the emperor to meet him, but he unexpectedly saw the real white deer at this time. As a Confucian master, he immediately said: "White deer."
Deer is a pure and kind beast, and the king's blessings will come to those below. Taizong was famous for his kindness to his descendants, and now there is a white deer living there. This is Emperor Xiaowen's response to the young master! It is a sign of good luck from above!"… p>
When everyone heard this, they all showed joy, lowered their bows and arrows, and turned to salute the White Deer respectfully. Zhang Song, who was driving away, also said to Liu Fan: "Young master has won this time, why don't you pray to the White Deer, so that a good soldier can take Xijing without bloodshed?" Liu Fan laughed and said: "Why is there Xijing?" He then strode to Bailu, took off a lacquered gold sword from his waist, held it in his hand, and said solemnly: "My wish is to imitate the great ancestor and build the tripod.
Guanxi, clean up Heluo, and make the world return to its heart." Then he laid the sword horizontally in the soil.
The white deer crowed in a low voice. Seeing that no one had any more murderous intent in his eyes, he suddenly turned around and left. He jumped a few times and disappeared into the forest behind the cemetery like an elf. Everyone looked at it in despair, and then used the sword again.
He was buried in the mausoleum and inscribed on the stone pillars of the mausoleum gate to remember it.
This time Liu Fan worshiped his ancestors in Baling and saw the White Deer. After the Shu army and Xu Ying spread the news, it quickly aroused a lot of controversy in Guanzhong. Since Shizu succeeded to the throne in response to the prophecy of "Chi Fu Fu", everyone has
They are all very sensitive to this. Nowadays, there are masters such as Dong Fu who preach that "Yizhou has the spirit of the Son of Heaven" at the front, and Liu Fan worships his ancestors and gets the White Deer at the back, presumably to reunify China, and those who are destined to do so should
It’s on Liu Yan and Liu Fan’s father and son.
Even though Lu Bu vigorously suppressed this in Chang'an, the result was counterproductive. This kind of argument became more and more intense and became known to everyone. Even the emperor had no choice but to worship at the Ancestral Temple in the south of the city, hoping to quell this trend. It was under this offensive of public opinion that Lu Bu repaired the city every day and recruited people around Xijing. While writing letters to Jingzhou and Liangzhou for help, he waited anxiously for the encirclement of the Shu army.
But what is unexpected is that after the martial arts rest, the Shu army did not make a move to surround Chang'an City. Instead, only Zhang Song led more than 10,000 people and wounded soldiers to stay at the martial arts. He led 50,000 main troops to Pingling, while the rest of the army
The troops were divided into four groups: first, Zhang Ren led 7,000 elite men to garrison at Weiqiao, facing Chang'an; then Liu Dan led 10,000 men to garrison in Changling to support Zhang Ren; Huang Quan led 20,000 men to garrison in Gaoling to build momentum.
Recruiting Feng Yi
Counties; Gao Pei led 20,000 people to cross the Wei River and divided his troops to occupy Lantian, Duling, and Baling areas, blocking the road to Wuguan.
As a result, although Chang'an was not surrounded, the roads around Chang'an were blocked by the Shu army, and all contact with the outside world was lost. This was Liu Fan's old wisdom to imitate Le Yi's plan to destroy Qi. He then issued a message to the pass, asking all counties to surrender.
.The counties in Sanfu were already disgusted with Lu Bu's back attack. As soon as Liu Fan's message arrived, they immediately defected and surrendered. By the 20th day of the first lunar month, most of Guanzhong had been captured by Liu Fan.
Liu Fan wrote this in a letter to his father Liu Yan: "Your Excellency, please wait a little longer. By late spring this year, you can start your journey north. My father, son and brothers can enjoy the scenery of the weeping willows on the Wei Bridge together." p>
It’s just that the world is not as satisfactory as it should be. Not long after the letter was sent, Zhang Weibu, who was guarding between Xi County and Xiegu, suddenly received a letter reporting that Chen Cang ordered Zhang Ji not only to refuse to surrender, but also cut off the messenger’s ears and angrily denounced him as a traitor.
There is a sense of resistance.
This attracted Liu Fan's attention. After all, Chencang is the hub of communication between Long and Shu. The key point of Chencang Road is that if it turns to the Liang people, there will be hidden dangers. So Liu Fan personally wrote a silk letter to analyze the current situation to Zhang Ji.
Daiyi, Xiaozhi persuaded him to surrender to himself based on the destiny of heaven. His words had the meaning of not forgetting the past and treating others like relatives.
However, within a few days of the silk book being sent out, it was quickly returned. The reply was written on the back of the silk book. It said: "The fate of fate is unknown, but human affairs can only be determined by one's own actions." The words were covered with six-character red clay that looked like blood.
The seal is exactly the "Seal of the Commander-in-Chief of Sili".