For Zhao Guan's family, July is particularly inappropriate, because with his departure, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival sacrifices and the imperial examinations will all be staggered, and the birth of Wu Guifei's second child will also be staggered... several
No child is born without his biological father present.
But, as an official, when can I leave the capital without delaying things?
It's just a question of whether it's worth it or not.
This southern tour was a decision made after detailed discussions among the imperial ministers and long-term thinking by Zhao Jiu himself... It was not a coincidence that several important ministers proposed the southern tour at the same time.
, then we must pay attention to the sentiments in the south. Whether it is suppression or guidance, we must make a trip before the Northern Expedition. We cannot let the North and the South continue to be at odds like this.
Otherwise, when the Central Committee encounters a problem, it will feel that the South is holding it back. Every time the South sees a move, it will feel that the Central Committee is targeting itself. The result will be that there is no party supervision and in fact a phenomenon like party supervision will be formed, which will lead to new, big problems.
Large-scale, fierce partisanship reappeared.
From this point of view, as the Zhao Guan family cleaned up the court again and again and implemented political strategies related to the Northern Expedition, the exclusion of minorities such as Ma Shen and Li Guang in the court became obvious, so much so that the Zhao Guan family themselves often avoided these people.
The behavior of the two important ministers is essentially a manifestation of a similar phenomenon.
Of course, this is definitely not good, and Zhao Jiu also knows that it is not good... But everyone who understands also knows that the "beginning" of this matter was not only in the court, but also in the south.
In addition, Zhao Jiu himself also hopes to go to the south to see with his own eyes, to see what the local social structure is like, to find out how heavy the burden is on the people of the south, and how the south is organized from top to bottom.
What is anti-war sentiment all about?
Finally, can the burden of the people in the south be slightly relieved without affecting the fundamental plan of the Northern Expedition?
Therefore, whether it is necessary to calm down the domestic situation before fighting foreign affairs, whether it is to understand the sentiments of the people, and whether it is to promote the great harmony between the north and the south in the country, you should always go there.
However, even if you make up your mind to go south, you still have to be prepared...
In early July, the imperial court issued successive decrees, first recognizing and commending the envoy Lu Yihao for his contribution in the southeast, further improving Lu Yihao's fiefdom, and according to the fiefdom level, he was given the title of Duke.
Then, Zhang Zai of Guanxue was posthumously given the title of Uncle Yin, and together with Wang Anshi, he worshiped in the Confucius Temple.
Immediately afterwards, he pursued and destroyed the posthumous gift given to Sima Guang by Emperor Taishang Yuansheng during the Jingkang period, and removed Sima Guang from the title of Duke of Qin.
According to the original words of Zhao Guan's family in the residence newspaper, Sima Junshi was a gentleman in person and a model in scholarship, but he was a prime minister and was said to have harmed the country. It was this person who was not knowledgeable enough and ignorant of politics that started the party struggle in the first place.
It was cruel and fierce, which was the origin of the disaster in Jingkang.
In addition to publishing these three latest decrees at the same time, the Di newspaper also specifically mentioned the past "pardon" of the Zhao family in Baihe, Nanyang, against Su Shi and other members of the Yuanyou party, and then signed it with the joint names of the four husbands.
, clearly reiterated the court's basic attitude towards the old and new parties... respecting the new party, but not convicting and pursuing Yuanyou's old party.
Taken together, this is exactly the tone that Zhao Guanjia conveyed to southern public opinion before his trip to the southeast - there is no malice, but don't expect to take the opportunity to make a comeback on a basic level, some things will not be shaken.
After the will, comes the selection of the entourage.
Not to mention Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan's attendants, the two thousand cavalry were decided to take them with them after hesitating for a long time. Although it would be embarrassing to patrol the country with some precautions, if something really happened, or Whatever the Zhao Guan family is planning to do, having a mobile force in hand will also facilitate suppression and control.
As for the leading general of the cavalry, the imperial court discussed it for a long time. After all, they did not dare to let all the cavalry unite Qu Da, and they did not let Li Shifu, who was all Fan cavalry, lead the team. After much discussion, they finally chose a general who was a Confucian general. Liu Qi, who shows off his elegant demeanor, takes the lead.
As for the rest of the accompanying ministers, it's very simple.
There are two Hanlin bachelors, one is Fan Zongyin, who is considered to be the most senior person in the internal control group and has the most famous names... Even though Sanzhao bachelor has only one face, when he was a subordinate in Yangzhou, Wang Anshi also complained about Han Qi. This person has only one face... Having one face is a big deal; the other one is of course Lu Benzhong, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. He is the real descendant of the Fourth Generation and the Three Dukes, and his hometown is also considered to be from Huainan. It is always useful to bring him along.
In addition, Ren Baozhong, the chief minister of the pavilion, Mei Yue, the director of the Zhongshushe, Yu Yunwen, the director of the Military Statistics Department, and the new secretary Lang Zongying also accompanied him.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also had Shao Chengzhang, an escort who had been living with Empress Dowager Yuanyou in Yangzhou for a long time, accompanying her.
At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth operation of Tokyo and not delay political affairs, one minister, four prime ministers, one Zhongcheng, and six ministers all stayed behind, but no important ministers from the foreign court accompanied them.
In a sense, it can be regarded as a simple and easy way.
In other words, it even sounds like a lone hero going deep into the tiger's den.
In short, after struggling for a long time, in early July, the latest chapter of "Water Margin" was updated, telling that Chao Gai was shot to death by an arrow when he went down the mountain, and the Zhao Guan family officially set off and headed southeast along the Grand Canal.
The first stop was Nanjing (today's Shangqiu), which is about two hundred miles away from Kaifeng. It has always been the capital alongside Luoyang, Xijing. However, like Luoyang, it also suffered a fatal large-scale military disaster - in the second year of Jianyan , Jin Guo East Route Army generals Tiao Lubu and Ali led an army southward and attacked here, causing the Song Dynasty minister Zhang Suo who was in charge of the eastern front to die for his country, and then caused the entire eastern defense line of the Tokyo Remaining Division to collapse.
At that time, the entire city suffered severe damage, and the countryside was also robbed and looted many times.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the Zhao Guan family in Kansai has no special feelings except that the accent here has gradually become more friendly.
Therefore, the official just used the Nanjing Old Palace to rest for a day, paid a memorial ceremony to Zhang Suo the next day, and set off immediately.
Of course, there are other considerations as to why we are so urgent - for example, there are more than 3,000 soldiers and horses.
In fact, these 3,500 troops are absolutely nothing in this era. There are hundreds of thousands of troops along the Yellow River in the north, and the battle should have begun by this time. But the front line is the front line, and the rear is the rear. There are more than 3,000 troops , it will still bring a heavy burden to the local area. Therefore, Zhao Jiu basically marched in the way of a march. He brought all the ceremonial guards, but put them all away along the way. He just followed the army regulations and held the battle in person. Then we travel forty or fifty miles a day, traveling day and night.
In this way, after Nanjing is the Huaihe River, and the Huaibei area, the Zhao Guan family is more familiar with it, and they also did not stay much... In late July, the weather gradually turned cooler and the climate was suitable... The emperor drove past Bozhou Mingdao Palace but did not enter, and continued along the road
The canal goes south, passing through Bozhou, Suzhou, and Sizhou in sequence, and leaves the Grand Canal from Qingyang Town in Sizhou, turning to Sishui, and crossing the Huaihe River from Mopankou on the eighth day of August.
It is said that before crossing the Huaihe River, Sun Jin, the envoy of the Huainan East Road Commander, sent people to Huaibei early to request an order to come from Yangzhou to greet him. However, Zhao Guanjia issued an order in the name of the autumn harvest being in full swing and not easy to cause nuisance.
, and was not allowed to pick him up. He only said that he would arrive in Yangzhou before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
You must know that there is a reason why Sun Jin, the military envoy of Huainan East Road, was recommended by Zhao Ding to succeed him. That is because this person is a gentleman...or to be more direct, he is an honest person who follows the rules and regulations.
There is nothing to say about his own moral level and personal conduct. His articles are first-class and well-written. He will always implement them seriously and consider any problems below. He also has some of the shortcomings of traditional scholar-bureaucrats.
, but he is an honest person after all and will never cause trouble.
So, after receiving the decree, he really stayed in Yangzhou and never came out.
After all, the decree makes sense. In an agricultural society, the most important thing in the world is the autumn harvest. The officials are so high-sounding that it is difficult for honest people to refute it.
However, Yangzhou City is the largest town in Huainan and north of the Yangtze River. It gathers the essence of the two Huaihe Rivers and is also the gateway from southeast to north... Don’t forget that in the two Huaihe Rivers alone, there are 100% silk used for tax payment in a year.
Nearly one million horses, so it is completely conceivable that even though the exiled nobles have long since gone back and become the dregs of history, the wealthy merchants, wealthy households, monks, Taoists, and officials in the city are still at a level that is unparalleled in the world.
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Moreover, the most critical point is that they have never encountered a real war... The Jurchens stopped at the Huaihe River, the Southeast Army rebellion was limited to the south of the Yangtze River, the Jingxiang rebellion never crossed the Dabie Mountains, and even the Fangla rebellion never reached the Yangtze River... So
Needless to say, there is peace, happiness and prosperity here, but it is also difficult for the scholars and people to break away from their old habits.
Therefore, seeing Sun Jin and Sun Xiantai motionless as a mountain, as if he were a fool, the local scholar-bureaucrats, village elders, wealthy people, and even famous monks and Taoists all became a little anxious.
Every day people come to seek advice from Sun Jin.
This said, although the officials said they would arrive in Yangzhou during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it would be a full 2,780 miles from Mopankou to this place. How could they make it in seven days? It would be better to greet them early, lest the officials celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival outside the city and have a banquet.
There's nowhere to put it.
The other person said that the officials were in such a hurry. Originally, all walks of life wanted to work together to help the officials make arrangements on the canal, but now it was too late. It was better to ask Sun Xiantai to stop them on the road so that everyone could prepare.
Some people say that the Guan family is from the north, and the furthest south they have ever been is at Bagong Mountain. After passing Huainan and going all the way south, will they be acclimatized? As it happens, my family has a cook from Tokyo in the past.
Mother, she is the stuffing maker of Taishi Cai’s stuffing buns. She was separated when Emperor Taishang Daojun fled to Zhenjiang, so why not send her to make soup for the officials’ family?
Then someone else said that although the people of Yangzhou had seen the Queen Mother and the Emperor Taishang Daojun who fled once (he had fled to Zhenjiang before Jingkang), they had never seen the emperor in his rightful family. Today they heard that the official family is coming to Yangzhou
, many young students want to show off their talents in front of officials, and many scholar-bureaucrats want to speak in person. Now that the autumn weather is refreshing, why not welcome it early?
Moreover, being in the wilderness can also inspire everyone's poetry and Zen.
I'm afraid that if I just wait for the officials to arrive in Yangzhou, stop for a while, meet Mr. Su, check on the work, and then leave directly, wouldn't the local scholars and people wait in vain?
In short, when Sun Jin stayed in Yangzhou City to do official business, the officials and staff below him had to persuade him; when he returned home, his wife, concubines and children also had to be asked to say these words; when he became irritable, he went to Daming Temple to have a vegetarian meal
, the monks of Daming Temple also had to ask awkwardly, when the official family came, should they live in Daming Temple or in the Queen Mother's old palace?
Although the Daming Temple has a weak foundation, it is an ancient temple that dates back six to seven hundred years, and the houses are still quite adequate.
However, Sun Jin was the gentleman that Zhao Ding liked after all, and he actually endured it.
Moreover, during this period, under the spotlight, the more than 3,000 riders actually did not enter any city along the way, did not disturb any place, and steadily moved southward along the official road next to the canal every day, and every night they were scheduled to
We set up camp on time in a good place and moved forward solemnly and orderly at a speed of forty or fifty miles a day, without any random numbers.
In a daze, another theory came out, saying that the reason why the procession was so fast was because the official was not among them at all - this official had taken Pan Guifei, who was familiar with Yangzhou, to travel incognito early to privately visit the pros and cons of the place.
It was Yang Tong who pretended to be an official... Even though everyone knew that the official did not bring any concubine with him on this trip, Yang Yizhong definitely did not have the courage to pretend to be an official Zhao, but it still caused panic everywhere.
.
For a time, those who collected the autumn tax became cautious.
But no matter what, on August 14th, an army of five or six hundred riders rushed into Yangzhou first and took over the streets and palaces. Then on August 15th, in the morning, before Qiu Huhu disappeared, the army of three thousand people
As expected, the army appeared in the north of Yangzhou City on time.
At this time, everyone put away their messy thoughts. The scholar-bureaucrats and state students brought their own articles, the retired officials brought their own memorials, the wealthy businessmen brought their treasures, and the monks and Taoists brought their
With his mouth, the ladies and common people followed Sun Xiantai, an honest gentleman, to the north of the city to welcome him.
In a sense, the people of Yangzhou almost came out to see what this official Zhao was like.
"come yet?!"
"It's coming, it's coming! Long Yi has seen it..."
"Anyone with a little common sense will know that it is not an ordinary dragon, but Jinwu's banner... But why is the frame missing? There is more than just Jinwu's banner in the "Chapter"... Let me look through the book again..."
"Don't bother, we are already here, Sun Xiantai is coming up too!"
"..."
In front of the north gate of Yangzhou City, a group of scholars, merchants, and monks were almost caught off guard. One moment they saw the dragon banner approaching in the wind, and the next moment the dragon banner was directly in front of them under the guard of the cavalry and stopped directly at the north gate of the city.
On the road... only seventy or eighty steps away from them.
The leader, Sun Jin, did not dare to neglect, and went forward directly with Yangzhou Zhizhou Wei Wei, and together with the imperial commander Liu Yan who arrived yesterday. As for the rest of Yangzhou officials, officials, people, monks and customs, including the envoy Lu Yihao who crossed the river to greet them, at this time
They were not qualified to step forward, but instead held their breath and concentrated, preparing to watch the official in the red robe come out and then bow and bow.
However, as Sun Jin stepped forward, instead of the so-called man in red robe, there was only a knight in a golden helmet who jumped out from the queue that had just stopped and laughed from afar:
"Is it Sun Qing and Wei Qing? Sun Qing has been separated from Nanyang for five or six years, right? Wei Qing was transferred from the capital province just a year ago."
When Sun Jin and Wei Zhen heard the sound, they hurried forward without hesitation and saluted the man in golden armor.
But when the man in the golden armor saw this, he immediately got off the horse, helped the two of them up with one hand and smiled again: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the monarch and his ministers meet each other, why do they need to pay tribute to each other? Besides, I have a decree along the way, so there is no need to deliberately greet and pay homage... Today
Just feel free to do it.”
Sun Jin was an honest man and stood up immediately. Wei Sui was also a confidant of Zhao Ding and had a sincere temper, so he also stood up immediately. The two of them bowed their hands slightly in front of Zhao Guan's house and saluted, saying "Your Majesty."
At this moment, everyone knew for sure - the man in golden armor was the Zhao Guan family. He was also dozens of steps away and saluted hurriedly, but some knelt down, some bowed, some raised their hands in panic, and some were even stunned for a moment.
, I just stepped forward to look at it blankly, and it became completely chaotic.
After the two of them saluted, Zhao Guan's family laughed even more and immediately took the two of them into the city.
However, Sun Jin was pulled around and looked at the somewhat chaotic city gate. He hesitated for a moment, then turned around and told him honestly: "The officials, the people of Yangzhou have been here for a long time, and they all want to see the beauty of the sky.
Officials are coming in armor, they may not be able to see clearly..."
Zhao Jiu suddenly smiled, immediately took off his helmet, handed it to Liu Yan who was standing next to him, and then asked: "Is this feasible?"
Sun Jin wanted to say more, but he hesitated and finally nodded.
However, Zhao Jiu thought about it again, turned around and took back the helmet from Liu Yan, put it on again, then got on the horse, caressed the horse and smiled at the two local ministers: "The ancients said, with a hundred thousand guan wrapped around the waist, riding a crane to Yangzhou
... It can be said that the Huaizuo style is the best, and since I have come to this famous capital today, I should not lose my morale... Let's lead an army of three thousand and march into Yangzhou with horses and armor! Sun Qing, you come to lead the way!"
After all, Sun Jin was an honest man. He hesitated for a moment, nodded again and again, and then let this official enter the famous capital of Huaizuo wearing armor.
At noon, the Zhao Guan family rode their horses into the palace of Empress Dowager Yuanyou's former residence in Yangzhou City. Immediately, they issued an edict and ordered Yangzhou monks and Taoists to come together to see her.
At this time, the scholars and people of Yangzhou who had just recovered were talking a lot again. They all thought that the officials did not ask the people about ghosts and gods?
But soon, Yangzhou officials, scholars, people, and elders were all introduced, and everyone suddenly realized that Zhao Guanjia actually wanted to pay homage to the Mount Stele Forest from a distance here, to comfort the soldiers and people who died since Jingkang, and then to have cordial exchanges with the local scholars and people.
.
At this time, everyone was caught off guard again - the land of Huaizuo had really not seen the disaster of weapons and war for many years.