Taking the road recommendation letter, Zhao Tong and others went to the front of the military camp and after half an hour of interrogation, they were able to enter Huining.
Ahead is an open plain, with countless stockades on both sides of the road. These stockades range from large to small. From the large ones, you can see hundreds of houses, to the small ones, there are dozens.
Some of these villages were surrounded by wooden fences, some were surrounded by soil walls, and some were just made of branches and sticks inserted into the ground in a large circle. Those branches and sticks even survived in the soil and grew. green leaves.
Zhao Tong set up a pergola and looked into the distance. He saw a vague earth city in the distance. The terrain was higher than these villages. It should be Huining City.
Huining is now just an earthen city, neither big nor high. It can be said to be a big village. Because Wanyan Aguda lived in it, it was called the Emperor's Village by the Jurchens.
After thinking for a while while holding the recommendation letter, Zhao Tong decided to go find the person first because he had some background differences with the person who wrote the recommendation letter.
The person who wrote the letter of recommendation was a spy who had been deployed by the Liao Kingdom for a long time. Yelu Dashi had told him the basic situation. After several years of business, he knew many prominent figures in the Kingdom of Jin and had certain rights.
At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, the Bojilie system was implemented. Wanyan Aguda was Dubojilie, Wanyan Wu begged for money and was familiar with Banbojilie, Wanyan Sagai was the state theory and Hulubojilie, and Wanyan Ci was still right. Guolun Amaibao is extremely strong, Wanyan Xie is also Guolun Haobo extremely strong.
This means that Wanyan Aguda is the emperor, Wanyan Wu Qimai is the prince, Wanyan Sagai is the prime minister, Wanyan Cibuhuo is the prime minister's first deputy, and Wanyan Xie is also the prime minister's second deputy.
This official position in the Bojilie system is difficult to pronounce and obscure, and will not be used in the following text. Instead, we will directly refer to the approximate official position it represents.
In the current Jin Kingdom, these five people have the greatest power: an emperor, a prince, a prime minister, and two deputy prime ministers.
The spy from the Liao Kingdom was a civil official under the power of the prime minister, roughly equivalent to the Minister of Industry, and was in charge of farming, construction, transportation, casting, and firing.
But at the moment, the Jin Kingdom does not have so many fortifications to do. There are not many farmers, and most of the construction is large mud houses. As for transportation and casting that involve the army, it is not under his control. With the current means of the Jin Kingdom, they can only Burn some pottery pots and stuff, don’t even think about porcelain.
The fortifications of the Jin Kingdom really developed after Jingkang, because they attacked Tokyo twice and captured many craftsmen from the Song Dynasty and went north. Only then did various manufacturing industries begin.
Although the spy of the Liao Kingdom does not have much to do now, he must have such a position in any court, so his status is not too low.
Zhao Tong and others inquired as they walked, and after a while they came to a village. The village was very small, surrounded by log fences, and there were only a few dozen houses visible from the gate of the village, and no one came in or out.
The season was just right at the moment. Zhao Tong and others came all the way and saw many villages with people coming and going, but this place seemed sparse and desolate, obviously because of the lack of people.
There were two Jurchen soldiers standing in front of the gate. Zhao Tong stepped forward and explained his purpose. One of them went in to report, and soon the four of them were invited in.
Except for an all-wooden reception hall facing the village, the rest of the houses in the village are mostly large adobe thatched houses, which are not luxurious at all.
Entering this all-wood living room, Zhao Tu looked around and saw that the decoration inside was quite simple. There was a table in front and a few chairs on both sides. There was a picture of mountain and snow hunting hanging on the wall. It seemed that the signature was written by a Liao man. In addition, there were some pots and pots and miscellaneous things in the corner, but nothing else.
At this moment, a person walked slowly through the back door, but he was a skinny old man. He didn't have an official uniform. At this time, even Wanyan Aguda didn't have a dragon robe, let alone the officials below.
The old man wore a linen shirt and a goat's beard. His face was expressionless and he looked cold.
Zhao Tong looked at the old man. In fact, Yelu Dashi had never seen this spy before. He only called him Muzaha.
The old man's eyes fell on Zhao Tong, but he did not speak.
Zhao Tong hurriedly saluted and said, "But Uncle Muzaha in person?"
The old man nodded slightly, and Zhao Tong hurriedly stepped forward, took out the road note and recommendation letter, and said loudly: "Uncle Muzaha, my father is Yuen Long, and I am your nephew Yuan Yi!"
The old man's eyes quickly scanned several names on the road, and then he said with a surprised look: "Are you Yuan Yi's nephew? Why did you arrive in Huining so quickly? I thought it would be a few days late."
Zhao Tong said: "I am not anxious to join my uncle. There is nothing to take care of at home. The whole family has to move day and night, so it is more urgent."
The old man squinted his eyes and glanced outside the door, and said, "Nephew Yuan Yi, come with me."
Zhao Tong immediately followed and followed the old man out of the back door. About two-quarters of an hour later, Zhao Tong came back holding a box and said as he walked: "Uncle Muzaha, don't give any more gifts."
The old man behind nodded, called the soldiers, and ordered Zhao Tong and others to be sent to Wanyan Xiyin Village. Seeing the figures of the people gradually disappearing, he was about to turn around, but then a five or six-year-old man came running from behind. Tong came over and pulled the corner of his clothes: "Grandpa, grandpa, who came just now? Is daddy back?"
The old man shook his head, bent down and picked up the little boy, and slowly walked back.
Zhao Tong had just had a secret conversation with the old man and explained his current identity. As for the letter of recommendation, he had rewritten it. The previous letter was just for fear that the roads would be inconvenient and was just used as a voucher. It even contained Zhao Tong's letter. He didn't even write his name, he just called him his nephew, and he couldn't really show it to Wanyan Xiyin.
The box in Zhao Tong's hand was a piece of salted deer leg, which the old man had prepared for Zhao Tong to give to Wanyan Xiyin as a gift. It was said to be more valuable than gold and silver, and the God of Grains loved it the most.
After leaving the door, the soldiers escorted them to continue eastward. The few of them could not live in the old man's village. If Zhao Tong was recruited by Wanyan Xiyin, he would definitely have to live in Gushen's village and could not live anywhere else.
The soldiers escorted them all the way. Seeing that Huining Tucheng in the distance was getting closer and closer, and there were more and more big villages around. The soldiers suddenly pointed to one of them and said: "That is the residence of Da Dutong."
Zhao Tong looked in the direction of his finger and saw a large village just a stone's throw away from the main road and slightly higher than the main road.
The Dazhai was a fence of tightly knit logs. Zhao Tong sat on his horse and looked up. He could vaguely see about a hundred or two hundred houses scattered inside. Many of the houses had independent courtyards, and it was unknown who lived there.
The soldier said: "Dear guest, come with me." The four of them followed and arrived in front of the stronghold in a blink of an eye. They saw two large stronghold doors made of thick wood tightly closed. There were several times more Jurchen soldiers standing guard outside than the old man's side. , all holding knives and guns, menacingly.
Wanyan Xiyin's official position at the moment was the Commander-in-Chief of Northwest Quan Road, but there was currently no war in the northwest of the Jin Kingdom, and he was assigned to create Jurchen writing, so he stayed in the stronghold.
The soldiers came forward and greeted the Jurchen soldiers at the gate of the village. Zhao Tong took out the new recommendation letter written by the old man. The Jurchen soldiers took it and went inside to report it.
After a while, he came out and said to Zhao Tong, "I'm going in alone."
Zhao Tong nodded and followed the Jurchen soldiers into the village gate. He saw several rows of wooden houses in front of him, but they were much more heroic than the old man's.
Arriving in front of the hall door, Zhao Tong straightened his clothes and walked slowly inside. He saw that there was a different scene inside the hall.
Mimicking the layout of the Spring and Autumn Period, the long lobby is quite vast, surrounded by eight wooden windows, shaded by green gauze. In the innermost part is a long wooden couch, with wooden cases on both sides of the floor, and three people sitting behind the wooden cases.
And on the couch in front, there was also a person half leaning and half sitting, looking at him with bright eyes.
(End of chapter)
