On September 25, the 10th year of Baoda, Liu Jiangsheng, the military envoy of the Wuping Army, finally returned to Langzhou after lingering in Jinling City for several days. Accompanying Liu Jiangsheng to Langzhou was Han Xizai, the minister of Zhongshu, and the angel Han Xizai, in addition to carrying his In addition to the guards, there were no forbidden troops accompanying them.
Since there was no army to supervise, naturally his mission on this trip was not to be the so-called "supervision of the army" before, but as an imperial envoy to Langzhou to announce the edict and welcome King Zheng back to Beijing. The content of the edict was the imperial court's command of Li Yuan. The previously requested Zhu Pi replied, formally appointing Peng Shiyu as the governor of Xizhou, and promised that the three states of Xizhou, Jinzhou, and Chenzhou would be under the rule of Wuping Town from then on. In addition, he also brought a Privy Council permission to increase the number of Wuping troops by 40,000 troops. of writing.
Among the team that returned to Langzhou, there was also a very special team. They were the "talents" specifically mentioned in the letter that Li Yuan secretly entrusted Liu Jiangsheng to deliver to his father-in-law Zhou Zong - twenty alchemists carefully searched from the south and north of the Yangtze River. Warlock, this is actually the most important task for Liu Jiangsheng when he returns to Beijing.
From the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it was the historical period when Taoist alchemy was most prosperous. Since the royal family of Li and Tang Dynasties respected Taoism, many emperors were superstitious about the so-called magic of taking bait and supported the alchemy activities of Taoist priests, which greatly promoted the prosperity of alchemy. In the Tang Dynasty, many famous alchemists emerged and preserved The number of classics on alchemy, the richness of the specific content of alchemy, and the great social impact it had were unmatched by other dynasties.
From the royal family of Li and Tang Dynasties to the princes, ministers and even celebrities, they were all keen on combining Feidan with medicine, taking bait to maintain their health, and dreamed of becoming immortals and becoming immortals. However, at the same time, the lead, mercury and other substances commonly used in alchemy are themselves highly toxic. , often leading to the tragic consequences of "desire for immortality, but lead to quick death".
Let’s talk about the Li and Tang royal families first. Regardless of their achievements, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty had one thing that was unparalleled in all dynasties, and that was the number of emperors who died of poisoning from taking golden elixirs, which can be said to be the highest in all dynasties.
According to historical records, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, who was regarded as the "Eternal Mingjun", died of a sudden illness after taking the so-called "immortality medicine" given by the Tianzhu alchemist Yeluo Erposuo;
Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, believed in the art of immortality. Some people believe that he died of acute poisoning after taking elixirs;
During the Mid-Tang Dynasty, Tang Xianzong, Tang Muzong, and Tang Jingzong were all keen on taking golden elixirs as bait. Among them, Tang Xianzong suffered from erysipelas and became furious. The eunuch Chen Hongzhi and others were afraid of being killed innocently, so they killed the emperor directly;
In the late Tang Dynasty, Tang Wuzong and Tang Xuanzong were the best at refining elixirs and taking medicines. Both of them died from elixir poisoning.
The emperor liked this, and the princes, ministers and dignitaries naturally followed suit and flocked to him. This abnormal hobby gradually became a nationwide trend out of control. Even the scholars of the Tang Dynasty fell into refining elixirs and taking medicine. The strange circle. For example, Wang Bo and Lu Zhaolin among the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty", "Poetry Immortal" Li Bai, and the great poet Bai Juyi, etc., have all been passionate about this way at one time or throughout their lives...
Time has come to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and we are in troubled times. The alchemy derived from Taoism has gradually disappeared into the people or mountains with the demise of the Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, a man from the Southern Tang Dynasty who calls himself Li Tang Yuyin suddenly appears in the Jianghuai area. Many alchemists seemed to have found an opportunity to make a comeback, and began to move south on a large scale in the third year of Tang Liezu's reign (939). However, because Liezu Li Min was not enthusiastic about alchemy, and the Jiangnan region respected Buddhism more, these alchemists In the end, the warlock had no choice but to fall silent again, scattered among the Taoist temples in the Jianghuai area.
When Zhou Zong received Li Yuan's letter, he was a little shocked. As a Taoist, he was skeptical about Taoism's bizarre practice of elixirs called immortality. He was also familiar with the tragic cases of the Tang emperors being poisoned by elixirs. Keeping this in mind, I thought that my son-in-law Li Yuan had also fallen into a strange circle of refining elixirs and cultivating immortality, and I couldn't help but feel very anxious.
But fortunately, Li Yuan had thought of this beforehand and repeatedly emphasized at the end of the letter that he was not looking for these warlocks for elixir refining, but for other important matters. After Zhou Zong hesitated, he bit the bullet and complied with Li Yuan's request.
However, when the sorcerers were finally handed over to Liu Jiangsheng, the worried old man still attached a letter, which contained a poem "Reminiscing about the Past" by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "When I am free, I miss the past, and I travel in the past as I am now. Think about where you are now, and return to Xiaquan alone. If you take sulfur to retreat, you will not be cured after a disease. If you refine autumn stones, your body will suddenly die before you grow old..." I hope Li Yuan can take this as a warning and don't do anything. Something hurtful happened.
After Li Yuan received the letter, he naturally understood Zhou Zong's good intentions at a glance, but he quickly put his worries aside, because when facing twenty magicians with immortal winds and Taoist bones, he could not close his smile. Mouth, I was extremely expecting that these twenty warlocks would complete some of their thoughts.
No matter how harmful alchemy may be, it still has a key use, because black gunpowder, one of the four great inventions that the Chinese are proud of, was conceived in the "fire-subduing" experiment of the Jindan family in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, gunpowder has been used in warfare since the late Tang Dynasty. However, early gunpowder weapons had poor explosive performance and were mainly used for arson.
Li Yuan seeks out these alchemists in order to develop gunpowder formulas that can be used in actual combat. This is the real capital that can truly stand on this era, in order to become a strong man in this era of iron-blooded cold weapons.
As for the arrival of the angel Han Xizai, Li Yuan was not surprised by the imperial edict regarding the settlement of Dongxi affairs. Only the official document from the Privy Council was surprising. Li Yuan was extremely happy at first, being able to legitimately expand his own troops. Of course, he makes a lot of money.
Not to mention the subsequent war against the Han Dynasty, as a result, the Wuping Army, which was originally in the middle of the Southern Tangjie Town in terms of number of soldiers and horses, instantly rose to second place and first place after an increase of 40,000 soldiers. The Zhennan Army, which is based in Hongzhou Prefecture, has a total of 150,000 land and sea troops.
From then on, Li Yuan's Wuping Army had 100,000 regular troops. This certainly does not mean that the entire town of Wuping only had these 100,000 troops. In fact, the prefectures and counties under Wuping's rule had some garrison troops, but most of them It is another kind of armed force. They are all state soldiers, and they are regiment training soldiers and horses.
Just like a regular army and a local police force, regiment training is mostly to meet the security needs of the local state capital, rather than for combat. Regiment training troops and horses are often under the jurisdiction of the local governor. In terms of equipment, treatment and actual combat capabilities, they are far behind the regular army. However, the state soldiers are still living and strong men. In some special times, such as when the war is tight and the number of troops is seriously reduced, these soldiers Centaurs and horses can still be of some use.
In any case, this time Wu Ping's army suddenly increased its number of troops by 40,000, although Li Yuan paid for these troops and equipment himself. But in terms of local strength, it has suddenly risen a lot.
Therefore, after seeing the Privy Council's writing, Li Yuanxi smiled widely. From now on, he will have an army of 100,000 people under his command. In addition, he has the reputation of controlling the military of the entire Chu region. He can also recruit troops from the other two towns. Although there are only 10,000 or 20,000 people left in Wu'an town, Gui Guan is even more trapped. The opponent's troops and horses are only a fraction, but he, the Grand Governor, is finally enough.
However, after listening to Han Xizai's detailed description of the matter, the smile on Li Yuan's face stopped abruptly.
