It’s the third day of April in the first year of Dabao of the Han Dynasty! It’s that time of year when it starts to get warmer.
The Han Dynasty, which had always been living in the south of Lingnan, suddenly launched a full-scale war against the Chu border defense line.
Hengzhou, Guiyangjian, Daozhou and other places were the first to bear the brunt. At the same time, many civilian riots and Han armies suddenly appeared around Chudilangzhou and in the western Chuzhou states. Moreover, the army of the Han Dynasty, which had already occupied Xuzhou but was unknown to the Wuping army, suddenly appeared under the wall of the adjacent Shaozhou city.
With Chu Di now in power, Wu Ping Jiedu's envoy Zhou Xingfeng was extremely shocked. With this happening in various states almost in one day, it was obviously a premeditated action. Struggles between warlords are normal, but since the end of the Qianhe period of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, which is located in the south of Lingnan, is said to have no ability to advance northward. If Zhou Xingfeng hadn't figured it out yet, and the journey to Wuling was difficult, Zhou Xingfeng might have already planned to attack the Han Dynasty.
The development of the situation not only far exceeded Zhou Xingfeng's expectation, but what worried him was not the Han army's siege, but even encouraged the people to attack Langzhou. But the Han Dynasty was only selective, destroying supplies and assassinating military generals and county officials everywhere. After the Han army was completed, it did not manage it. In the end, these states and counties were taken advantage of by the king of Xiangxi. Of course, the most difficult thing to guard against is the division between the people and the government. The people's attack on Langzhou is the best example.
This kind of divided power was the main reason why the Wuping army in Chu was retreating steadily. In addition, the news was transmitted too slowly between states, and it was even more difficult to reach Langzhou. When Zhou Xingfeng got hold of the news, Soon, many territories belonging to the Chu region were destroyed by the Han army. What annoyed Zhou Xingfeng the most was that they also stayed in the city and fled in all directions.
These prefectures and counties without officials took advantage of Guo Jing, the king of Xiangxi, and took away all their territory like fallen leaves in the autumn wind. Zhou Xingfeng was so angry that he flew into a rage.
What surprised Zhou Xingfeng most was that it was said that people everywhere seemed to be welcoming the arrival of the big bandit Guo Jing. Spies from various places reported that Guo Jing sent many ordinary people and literati to incite and mobilize the people in various places. The main method was small favors and small favors, and the other was to incite hatred and punish injustices in various places. The people suddenly swarmed.
Of course, good things don't go out and bad things spread thousands of miles. Zhou Xingfeng believed that with the information he had, the news of the Han's attack on the Wuping Army would soon spread to the surrounding forces.
Snapped! There was a crisp sound, and a teacup fell to pieces on the ground, with broken porcelain scattered everywhere.
Zhou Xingfeng looked at the people in the hall with a gloomy face. This hall, which had been renovated from the Ma family's palace, is now the meeting hall of Zhou Xingfeng's Langzhou Governor's Palace, and it is also the military hall of his Wuping Army Jiedushi.
After hearing a series of urgent reports, he had already dropped several cups, and the tattoo on his forehead looked particularly ferocious and strangely distorted.
Beiguo Que'er and Southern Zhou Tingzi are two famous military rivals known as Zhuge in the Central Plains. It refers to Guo Wei of the northern Han Dynasty, who was the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Guo Queer. The other one naturally refers to Zhou Xingfeng, an outstanding general from Chu who committed crimes and was tattooed when he was young. He followed Ma Yin's son Ma Xi'e to attend a military academy and became a general step by step.
Although Zhou Xingfeng did not become emperor like Guo Wei, and was even considered a military envoy appointed by the later Zhou Dynasty, it did not affect his equal fame with Guo Wei. One can imagine his prestige among the Chu army and his strategic ability. Since his brother Wang Jinkui was killed the year before last, no one among the ten brothers who became famous together could threaten him anymore. Now Zhou Xingfeng is actually regarded as the local emperor of Chu.
Who doesn't want to be an emperor? Zhou Xingfeng also thought about it, and thought about it more than once, but he knew that now was not the end of the Tang Dynasty, when the world was in chaos and looked at force. I don't have such capital around me now, nor do I have such talents to assist me. You can become emperor even if you want to, but it is probably just an excuse for others to conquer you. In a few days, your territory will become someone else's racecourse.
After the Ma family withdrew from Chu territory, the resources and talents that Ma Yin had accumulated over the decades were tossed by his sons, and in the later stages they were almost completely emptied. Even the remaining old people who cared about Ma Yin's acquaintance were either captured by the Southern Tang Dynasty and went to Jinling, or they ran away and went to Houzhou to find a way out.
Later, some of them were forcibly left in Chu by the warlords, and some were lost by Liu Yan, and some were lost by Wang Jinkui. Now they are in his own hands. Unexpectedly, there are no high-ranking figures in Chu that day. One already!
Zhou Xingfeng also knew why, but his pride prevented him from thinking about this issue. Survival in Chu Land definitely requires the support of force. Now among the generals of the Wu Ping Army in Chu, the last one he relies on is Zhang Wenbiao, the last remaining brother among his brothers. The only one he relies on for safety is Yang Shifan, who comes from a well-known family.
Although he was born in poverty and received little education, Zhou Xingfeng had always been conceited about being smart, so he subconsciously resented those literati who were conceited about being smart. But it is this kind of heart and the natural suspicion of people with super thinking ability that makes Zhou Xingfeng have no people around him who can make suggestions.
He relied on his brother Zhang Wenbiao, but Zhou Xingfeng was obviously more wary of him. Although the Chu region now retains two-thirds of the territory it had during the May and Yin periods, Zhou Xingfeng knew that the Southern Han and Southern Tang kingdoms around him, although their military force was average, were eyeing him. Zhang Wenbiao volunteered to go to Hengzhou to protect the Southern Han Dynasty. He knew that he was doing it to avoid suspicion, so he was suspicious of him establishing prestige in Langzhou. But Hengzhou also had jurisdiction over the Southern Tang and Southern Han border defenses, so I wonder if I was even more worried about him!
The area where the Southern Tang and Hengzhou were connected was a relatively remote and unruly area of the Southern Tang. Although there were troops stationed there, the Southern Tang had been in constant friction with the Zhou State and had no ability to care and make progress. Therefore, Zhang Wenbiao did not need to defend himself, but Tang was worried about Chu's attack.
But Chenzhou, where Nanhan and Hengzhou were connected, was the territory of Chu at that time. First it was occupied by Bian Hao, and later the Southern Han Dynasty snatched it from Bian Hao. Liu Yan, who took over, wanted to regain the territory, but the southern territory never came back. Although it was difficult for the Southern Han Dynasty to cross the Five Ridges to attack him, and it was said that their king was a child now, so there was nothing to worry about, but Zhang Wenbiao did not let himself have the scruples of the South, which gave him a little peace of mind and scruples.
However, Zhou Xingfeng never thought that someone would take advantage of his opportunity to develop people's livelihood and occupy Daozhou City to become independent. After hearing Zhang Wenbiao's report that it was caused by a local tyrant salt barbarian gathering barbarians in Daozhou City, Zhou Xingfeng initially believed that it was bandits causing trouble.
But then there was a report that Shaozhou City in central Chu was attacked. It was said that it was the Miao Man led by Xuzhou who took action. This makes people wonder, who is so desperate that he dares to cause trouble in his own home. As long as he gathers Zhang Wenbiao from Hengzhou and encircles him, he can make dumplings for him. It is really difficult for him to fly.
As far as the Chu land is concerned, after the Ma family members fought for power, the entire western Chu region was equivalent to being divided by the Peng family. This has been a thorn in the heart of every person in power in Chudi in recent years, but there is nothing anyone can do. On the one hand, Chuxi has high mountains and far away rivers, and on the other hand, it is a barbaric and poisonous place that cannot be easily captured by ordinary armies. That's why these people would acquiesce to the rule of the Peng family, but now they didn't expect that something would happen because of it.
Zhou Xingfeng didn't believe this was a coincidence. The so-called Miao Man troubles also occurred in the later period of the Ma family's rule. At that time, it was the ancestors of the Peng family who launched the initiative. Now the power of the Peng family is the overlord of Chuxi. There is no need to cause such a thing! The father of the two chieftains, Peng Shihao, is still serving in the Tang State. Could it be that he wants to gather his disciples as internal agents of the Tang State to fight for his own territory?
Zhou Xingfeng sent out a large number of spies, but he calmly waited for the results. Sure enough, five reports a day later, the barbarians from the Chuxi tribes teamed up with an emerging force to take the initiative to attack the prefectures and counties under their own jurisdiction in Chuxi, and the prefectures and prefectures from all over the country asked for help. This operation seemed to have nothing to do with the Peng family. Regardless of whether it was related or not, Zhou Xingfeng sent someone to contact the Peng family.
At the beginning of the year, Yang Shifan returned to Langzhou from Western Chu to report back. Xianzhou City in Western Chu was occupied by a green-clad army led by a bandit named Guo Jing, who claimed to be the king of Xiangxi. Zhou Xingfeng thought at that time that anyway, Peng Shihao's brother and son Peng Yunlin were in charge there. He, Guo Jing, wanted to compete with the Peng family for territory. He couldn't get in. Besides, if the Peng family was uncomfortable, wouldn't he feel better? ? He actually didn't pay attention to Yang Shifan's report.
Later, seeing that the Peng family did not conflict with the Green Army, Zhou Xingfeng also thought about why the Peng brothers did not feel disgusted with the Green Army? Didn't they send barbarian soldiers to suppress them? Later, according to Yang Shifan's recollection of what he saw and heard in Western Chu, he thought it was this bandit named Guo Jing. Although he was arrogant and called the King of Xiangxi, he changed the lives of the barbarians and brought many benefits to the barbarians of all ethnic groups. .
Zhou Xingfeng naturally knew the benefits of winning over the barbarians. First, he could prevent Sichuan from entering Chu. Secondly, it could make Gao Laizi's family look at Chu and sigh. Of course, it also prevented Zangqi from crossing the mountains. He knows that there are many benefits, but he really doesn't have that much capital to invest in it now.
A soldier in green clothes appeared out of nowhere, a king of Xiangxi whom I had never heard of, an unknown private salt dealer, who actually wanted to get a share of the pie in his own territory? Apparently they had already infiltrated Daozhou forces and sent people to occupy Xuzhou. Otherwise, Daozhou City would not have been lost so easily, and they also launched an attack on Shaozhou through Xuzhou.
No matter what, the Peng family, being in the power of Chu Xi, did not interfere in these matters under their noses. This is inseparable from the Peng family. It's already good enough that I didn't go to wipe out you barbarians. Being within the sphere of influence under his control, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and he is not afraid of the tiger's power. Zhou Xingfeng was really angry.
"Everyone, tell me what to do! After receiving these news, I don't know what the situation of the war is after a while. A certain family estimates that the western state capital does not have good wall protection, and it may have already fallen. Everyone, tell us what to do. Go and recover and deal with them! The governor of Hengzhou has no new reply on the war situation in the south. They all said that they have divided their troops to support the cities. They are asking a certain family to send troops to support them. Please express your opinions!" Zhou Xingfeng slowly calmed down. Mentality, watching everyone quietly.
"Grand Governor, my subordinates think that we should send troops to the Western Barbarians to conquer various tribes, and then order Zhang Wenzheng, the governor of Hengzhou, to suppress Daozhou!" Seeing that no one said anything, one of Zhou Xingfeng's subordinates, Yan Bo, spoke righteously. There were no nutritious words, and he stood there solemnly.
If it were anyone else, Zhou Xingfeng might have slapped him, but although this Yan Bo was not an effective general, he had not made any big mistakes. The most important thing is that he knows how to give himself a warm welcome, and he is his wife Yan's natal cousin.
Zhou Xingfeng gently closed his eyes. He was so angry that he wanted to pull these people out and beat them up severely, but he didn't show it on his face. He was in the middle of employing people! What a bunch of idiots, these people still can't fart as always.
"Knowing that Pan Song has something to do with Tanzhou, he will immediately lead 30,000 elite soldiers, gather from land and water to speed up the action, and set off for Shaozhou immediately, go,,,,,,,!"
Chu land is turbulent!
Mrs. Hua Rui, such a beautiful name and a heart-warming person! A person who has to be highlighted in history!
Historically, there were no less than three people named Mrs. Huarui, and they were all in the decades from the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty. In the early days of this chaotic era, Shuzhong established the historical former Shu Kingdom in the hands of Wang Jian, who could be said to be one of the most famous warlords in the late Tang Dynasty.
During the turmoil, Wang Jian, who was scolded as a thief and a bastard, eventually became the boss of a vassal town, and even took advantage of the chaos in the world to proclaim himself king. In the early years, Wang Jian still managed to recruit a large number of talents from the former Tang Dynasty, and Shuzhong quickly developed. But after achieving some achievements, he indulged in pleasure, especially in his later years, he searched for beautiful women.
In his later years, Wang Jian had his concubine Xu, who was deeply favored and praised as Mrs. Huarui. Moreover, the Xu family had a sister who was as beautiful as him. Later, both Xu sisters were favored by Wang Jian, the king of Shu.
Concubine Xu gave birth to a son Wang Yan for Wang Jian, whose real name was Wang Zongyan. This son ranks eleventh among his brothers and is the youngest son of Wang Jian. Because of his mother and aunt, he was deeply loved by Wang Jian, and even surpassed his ten brothers. Wang Yan was established as the crown prince. After Wang Jian's death, he successfully inherited the throne.
Later, the young Wang Yan was instigated by the people around him. In addition, he was too indulgent to know how to govern. He usually played too much with Concubine Xu, and even openly sold his official position. Wang Jian quickly lost all the popularity he had accumulated over the past few decades. . Not only did it bring disgrace in Shu China, but it was also taken advantage of by Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, his neighbor in the Central Plains, to destroy him. Naturally, Wang Yan left a great reputation in history, and Concubine Xu and Mrs. Xu were also criticized endlessly.
And the other Mrs. Huarui mentioned here is none other than she is the noble concubine of Meng Chang, the lord of Shu in the late Five Dynasties! Mrs. Huarui, who was later taken into the palace by Zhao Kuangyin, because Tongjian was mostly written by Song officials, everyone covered up a lot of things, which naturally concealed Zhao Kuangyin's purpose of killing Meng Chang and initially conquering Shu.
According to historical records, Mrs. Huarui was good at composing poetry and had been extremely smart since she was a child. She was a native of Qingcheng in Sichuan. According to the biography, she was able to write since she was a child, and she was especially good at Gongci as she grew up. It is said that the surname is Xu. I don't know if the descendants attached it to the Xu family of Wang Jian and Xiao, but the original surname was Fei.
"The flowers are not enough to describe its color, but the stamens are not enough to describe its appearance!" This is the appearance of Mrs. Xu's Huarui, who was named Hui Fei by Meng Chang. In the books of later generations, the appearance that future generations can imagine is used to describe Xu's Huarui by the world. Lady's beauty. Regarding his beauty, there are also vivid poems describing it, such as "When the cherries are ripe in March, my wife invites me to look at the red branches. I turn back to ask for the golden bullets, and I hide around the tree to shoot sparrows."
Most descriptions from the world and widely circulated in later generations are that she left more than 100 poems of "Mrs. Hua Rui's Palace Ci" to future generations. For a woman born in this special era, it is an unimaginable miracle to be so talented. Not to mention that women in this era have no chance to learn at all. Most people still exist like tools, let alone learn because of their burdens.
Later generations of scholars and experts (real experts, not those so-called experts who wantonly spit on the Internet, such as Tan Qixiang, etc.) have made reliable estimates that at least more than 90 of them were written by her, which shows that this woman is indeed versatile and beautiful. It can be imagined that such a beautiful woman is also a talented woman, how can she not be attractive!
Otherwise, in the Zhao Song Dynasty, in the hands of the great emperor Zhao Kuangyin, he would not have tried to poison his political enemy Meng Chang in order to get Mrs. Huarui, and then occupy Mrs. Huarui.
Although later historians unanimously believe that politics, character and the particularity of the times were only the main reasons for Meng Chang's death and wrongful imprisonment, Mrs. Huarui's beauty and intelligence were obviously the inducements, which are the words commonly used by later generations to trigger the fire. So. In this era, I have to say something ugly to suit the occasion, women are a disaster!
If Meng Chang did not have Mrs. Huarui, the most beautiful woman of his era, maybe he would have died as carefree as Liu Yuan who was also taken to Bianjing, or he would have enjoyed the same treatment as the Qian family in the Song Dynasty. She would not be like the unlucky guy Li Yu, because Li Yu was stared at by the emperor for a while, and occasionally the scholar became popular and complained, so he naturally took the opportunity to be poisoned to death. It can be seen that beauty is a dangerous product in any era.
In the dead of night, Liu Jixing would occasionally make small pad prints of several famous beauties from this era. But since meeting the beauties in Liu Sheng Palace, I have no interest in eating, let alone women. He sent beauties out of the palace for a while and gained a good reputation. Liu Jixing didn't mind putting on a show every day.
Later, after meeting several people like Wang Yu, I realized that the aesthetics of my time were completely different in this era. Fortunately, he could still choose based on his status, otherwise Liu Jixing would probably have to think about the beauties in future generations every night and find Miss Wu to solve the problem.
So privately Liu Jixing always believed that Mrs. Huarui would be like the beauties that everyone valued in this era, and she was naturally known for her plumpness and wealth. Although she was also a famous beauty in history, and even a rare talented woman, Liu Jixing was not very fond of her. But later, the secret party successfully broke into the Shu palace. After seeing the portrait of Mrs. Huarui sent by the secret party, Liu Jixing changed his mind.
At this time, Liu Jixing was looking at the hanging portrait of Mrs. Huarui in the palace. War news came from the front, and the situation was excellent. The Han army tightly suppressed Zhang Wenbiao and gradually encroached on the territory near Hengzhou and the prefectures and counties near Yongzhou. The most important thing is that the Meichuan capital led by He Xiaoyao successfully allowed the Han Dynasty navy to enter the Chudi Xiangshui waterway after occupying Daozhou City.
In the entire western Chu region, more than half of the area was actually controlled by his own army. Although the Han army did not occupy prefectures and counties on the surface, they were actually taken over by the bandit leader Guo Jing. Looking at the map on the wall, Liu Jixing was really happy. I don’t know why, so I took out the portrait of Mrs. Huarui.
Because although Mrs. Hua Rui looks a little plump in the portrait, she is indeed quite beautiful. She is a great beauty according to the standards of later generations of Chinese people! Maybe the aesthetics of Shu and Jiangnan were different at that time! The people's aesthetics also made different changes as the news spread in the palace.
Liu Jixing also talked about this with Li Congjia (Li Yu), the special envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty who lived in Prince Xing's Mansion for a period of time. Of course, the main reason was that Wu Sihu, the spy chief, suddenly discovered a secret. That was Li Congjia's wife, Zhou Ehuang, who actually disguised herself as a man and followed Li Congjia's team.
Liu Jixing thought of the person he saw, and vaguely felt that Zhou Ehuang, apart from leaving a slight impression on him, that his round face was born like a man, he was not fat at all! Not knowing what the aesthetics of the people in the Tang Dynasty was like, Liu Jixing thought that this era should be similar to the late Tang Dynasty.
Liu Jixing didn't pay attention to the fact that Zhou Ehuang put on makeup to look like a man. He didn't know whether she looked like that or if she really had a master put on the makeup. She only knew that her pretentiousness at the banquet would definitely attract her attention because she liked the gifted personality.
As expected, the information fed back by the secret party later made Liu Jixing laugh. It turned out that Emperor Zhou E chatted with Li Congjia after returning and said that Liu Jixing was extremely talented, and Li Congjia actually became jealous.
Later, Liu Jixing learned that Emperor Zhou E had a face as long as the full moon, which was the most obvious standard of beauty in this era. As for the result of Li Congjia's jealousy, it naturally made Emperor Zhou E angry, and Li Congjia had to make her happy again.
When Liu Jixing later chatted with him about women, Li Congjia couldn't help but slip in and said that Liu Jixing's own aesthetics was different from that of this era, which meant that the women around Liu Jixing were too ugly. Liu Jixing was quite speechless and pretended to be nonchalant.
Liu Jixing wanted to kick him, but thinking about how pitiful he was, he smiled and let him go. Liu Jixing learned from the side that indeed the Jiangnan area had inherited the customs of the Tang Dynasty and still regarded plump women as beautiful. As for why Zhou Ehuang had such a figure, Li Congjia said that Zhou Ehuang was frail, but his big face was really a symbol of the beauty of the times. This made Liu Jixing lose his temper and was naturally speechless. He didn't know whether to pity him or himself.
However, although the royal family came to Sichuan in the late Tang Dynasty, it can be said that they brought a large number of palace ladies and beauties with them, and many of them stayed in Sichuan. Naturally, there is no problem with race, and it will be much better than people from other places.
However, perhaps due to the continuous wars, the population in most places is sparse, and most people cannot keep up with nutrition. It gradually affected the local people's aesthetics, and with the establishment of the successive Shu kingdoms, and the influence of surrounding ethnic minorities on the Shu people, most people gradually regarded health as beauty. This also made the Shu Kingdom inherit the last Tang culture, but actually made everyone's aesthetics of women gradually return to the pre-Tang era, and gradually became closer to the aesthetics of later generations.
Among the countries in the Central Plains, Shuzhong is considered to be the country that best inherits the culture of the Tang Dynasty. The former Shu and the later Shu are the most accepting of the survivors and cultural people of the Tang Dynasty. This point is far beyond the comparison of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which claims that its gentry moved southward.
The people in the secret party didn't know what method they used. Not only did they find someone to draw a portrait of Mrs. Huarui, but the portrait in Liu Jixing's hands was already very realistic! Liu Jixing, a master who considers himself good at sketching, was a little surprised!
Liu Jixing is not obsessed with Mrs. Huarui, nor is he worried that people in the secret party will fool him with a portrait that does not look like her. In fact, if he captures most of the Chu land and suppresses the Chu land, it will naturally be only a matter of time before Shuzhong is defeated. Now Shuzhong is still an ally with him in name!
But the general trend of the world is like this. If he intends to advance north, Mrs. Huarui will come to Prince Xing's Mansion sooner or later. It is necessary for him to understand why after she was captured in Shuzhong, Meng Chang has surrendered and will be killed. Who will occupy it? such a large proportion.
Liu Jixing is becoming more and more confident in his intelligence agency, otherwise how could he be worthy of this famous celebrity in history, Mrs. Hua Rui!
Of course, the premise is that you rarely have half a day to spare!
