"Xilulu!"
Lin Xiaoyi tightened the reins and waited for the pony under him to stop. While he was delighted with his improvement in riding skills, he quickly dismounted, took the water bottle from the bag, felt the temperature, walked to Di Jin, and handed it over: "Sir! It's still hot!"
"We finally arrived at the boundary of Kaifeng Mansion..."
Di Jin took the kettle, took a few sips, and moistened his lips. He felt a little happy but also a little numb.
Over the past few days, he has truly experienced the hardship and boredom of long-distance travel in ancient times.
In fact, the harsh conditions are compared to the mobile tools of later generations. For ancient people, Di Jin and his party chose the most comfortable official road. The distance they walked every day was fixed. They set off in the morning and stayed at dusk. They are also all in fixed inns.
You can also travel both ways, that is, you can complete both journeys in one day. With the physical constitution of Di Jin, Di Xiangling and Lei Cheng, they can actually withstand the bumpy journey. However, arriving in the capital early is not necessarily a good thing, and you still have to wait for Du. Yan's arrangement and the Lei family's personnel went to Beijing.
So I could only go to Beijing at a normal speed, wandering around every day. It was really boring.
Reading on horseback hurts his eyes, and practicing martial arts is inconvenient. Di Jin really has nothing to do and can only look at the convoy in front and behind.
They set out for Kaifeng Mansion as soon as the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the New Year was over. In fact, there were many such people, especially merchants, who returned to their hometowns during the New Year and immediately returned to do business as soon as the Lantern Festival was over.
Just like the wave of returning home in later generations, there were many caravans on the official road to the capital during this period, and the most crowded sections were even connected end to end, making it impossible to see the end.
Di Jin was bored at this time and was observing these caravans. He was tall, and his mount was a Hexi horse specially prepared by the Lei family. He was more than five feet tall at the shoulders, tall and majestic, and had a wide field of vision, which gave him great advantages.
As he watched, his eyes fell on a group of guards.
These people were tall and powerful, dressed simply, and wore thick felt hats on their heads. When they were accidentally taken off, you could see that their hair was very short, resembling those of later generations. They wore simple knives on their waists and ate from alms bowls.
There is no doubt that this is a group of monks, and they must have been outside the temple for a long time without even having time to trim their hair.
While he was sizing it up, Di Xiangling rode to the side, a little wary: "What's wrong?"
Di Jin knew that his sister had misunderstood, so he explained: "I'm bored, just take a look. Are these monks protecting the caravan?"
Di Xiangling took a look and said, "Warrior monks, they must be hired by merchants in the temple. There were many monk soldiers in the previous dynasty. They guarded the temple during wars and were able to protect themselves. Now that the world is peaceful, these warriors Even monks have to come out to beg for food!"
Di Jin nodded slightly: "I see..."
In history, in the early Tang Dynasty, when the Northern Captives invaded the territory, the local monks in Taiyuan were extremely loyal and courageous and full of martial virtue. Li Yuan issued an order and directly selected two thousand strong monks to serve as troops in the two palaces. Later, many armies of the Tang Dynasty included them. There are monk soldiers, and the number can even account for one or two tenths, which can be said to be full of martial virtue.
In the Song Dynasty, there were no official monk soldiers, and warrior monks became popular among the people. According to Di Xiangling, these monks were skilled in martial arts and worked hard without complaint. Many caravans liked to hire them.
"Buddhism's business is really extensive, including incense money, loan sharking, and now even the work of the escort agency..." Di Jin sighed with emotion, and was also a little curious: "Which temple has the strongest among these monks and soldiers? The Daxiangguo Temple in the capital? "
"How is this possible? The monks of Daxiangguo Temple are enshrined by the royal family. How can they have such a good life then to practice martial arts?" Di Xiangling said with a smile: "The strongest martial arts is in Mount Wutai, the guardian of Daxiangguo Temple. The monks all appointed Mount Wutai to be in charge!"
"This is interesting!" Di Jin thought to himself that Lu Zhishen was transferred from Wutai Mountain to Xiangguo Temple, and there was some basis for it. However, with Lu Tiha's temperament, it was impossible for him to look after the temple's homes and courtyards, he said slowly. : "Since the temple is so deeply involved in the world, we have to guard against its involvement with the Imperial City Department!"
Longquan Temple outside Yangqu City is one of the strongholds of the Imperial City Division, and the cooperation between this intelligence agency and Buddhism is really not a special case.
According to historical records, due to the universal belief in Buddhism in East Asia, the spies of the Song Dynasty mostly used monks to hide their identities. They played a key role in the Western Xia Li Yuanhao and the later Hehuang border expansion.
So when Di Jin saw the monk soldiers, he also thought of Longquan Temple and the Imperial City Division. These monks are passers-by now, and it is hard to say whether they will be enemies or friends in the future.
When it came to the Imperial City Division, before Di Xiangling could speak, a head emerged from the carriage next to him: "If you want to know the situation of the Imperial City Division, you only need to go to the ghost market and find out the latest things. Clearly~”
The speaker was none other than Zhu Er. She had recovered from the lingering fear of being chased. She was speaking quite confidently, and she was quite proud of the Thief Gate Ghost Market to which she belonged.
Di Jin has no good impression of Wuyou Cave, and he never thinks that the female thief who set fire to the house is a good person. However, everyone really wants to expose the Imperial City Division's conspiracy along the way. On the surface, there is no need to make the other party unable to step down. He nodded slightly: "If necessary, we must use the power of the thieves. When the time comes, I will ask you to come forward."
Zhu Er was extremely sensitive and snorted: "You look down on us in your heart, but you are still polite on the face. I don't like the behavior of you scholars... If you want to inquire about information, just prepare money. I can't go out without money." head!"
Di Jin smiled and was not angry, but Di Xiangling glanced sideways at her: "Have you forgotten your life-saving grace?"
Although Zhu Er was knocked unconscious by Di Jin that night, she was still afraid of Di Xiangling. When she heard this, her aura immediately weakened: "Of course I haven't forgotten it. I also have a lot of savings. If you don't have money, use mine... "
Di Xiangling snorted and was about to say something when he suddenly turned around alertly and at the same time stretched out his hand to push Zhu Er's head back: "There is a team coming from behind!"
Di Jin also turned around and looked into the distance, and saw dust flying in the air. The caravan following behind began to get out of the way, revealing a group of people.
"The prison team escorting the prisoners?"
The reason why people are rushing to avoid them is because there are several eye-catching prison cars in this convoy, and there are more than a dozen people in front and behind wearing shackles, bending over, and walking with difficulty on the cold winter road.
"Prisoners on which road?"
"From Hedong Road!"
Everyone was talking about it, but Di Jin and Di Xiangling looked at each other and knew that there were acquaintances in this team.
The kidnapping case has been pronounced, and Xuan Niang paid for atonement and was under the surveillance of the Lei family. Chen Xiaoqi and the lame Li were sentenced to exile and escorted to the Beijing camp.
In fact, as Du Yan said, they are all witnesses. Even if these two people don't know the whole story, every confession they speak can prove part of the truth.
Di Jin turned his eyes around, and sure enough he saw Chen Xiaoqi and the lame Li at the back of the prison team, and then subconsciously fell on a man.
The man was probably around eighteen or nineteen years old. He had a handsome appearance and delicate features. He had a tall and strong figure, but he still looked masculine.
He also wore wooden shackles on his hands, which was not light in weight, but his waist was straight. He was obviously a prisoner, but he stood out from the crowd. Even the officials seemed willing to talk to him. Several people chatted animatedly, which made the escort confused. Just like traveling, I'm not lonely at all.
When the prisoner team caught up, Di Jin saw an official who was kind-hearted. His eyes moved and he asked Lin Xiaoyi to deliver some food.
Sure enough, the official came over, clasped his fists enthusiastically and said: "Just looking at such an outstanding person, I feel familiar. He is indeed a scholar! Young Qiao Er is working under Pan County Lieutenant!"
Di Jin smiled and chatted with him. After getting warm, he asked intentionally or unintentionally: "Who is that strong man?"
The officer smiled and said: "He, a prisoner from Fenzhou, killed someone in a fight in the countryside, but he has the same surname as Di Langjun, named Di Qing."
