Guo Rong's assault achieved great success.
Twenty thousand Chu troops plus fifteen thousand barbarians and more than ten thousand civilians, a total of fifty thousand troops, collapsed directly under the attack of seven hundred people. They killed each other and trampled on each other, more than those killed by Guo Rong and others. Much more.
By the time Zhang Haojun (Ma Shacai) crossed the Lishui River, it was no longer a battle, it was just a pursuit.
The only regret is that Zhu Jinzhong was not caught. The Chu army coach has gone to nowhere.
It is about 180 miles from Xiaodukou Town to Langzhou (Changde), and the cavalry can arrive in a few hours if they let go of their horses.
The Zhou army's cavalry pursued them all the way. The defeated Chu soldiers had no way to escape, and countless people fell dead on both sides of the road.
In mid-October, the Zhou army surrounded Langzhou and began to prepare to attack the city.
The man stationed in Langzhou was Ma Guangzan, the eldest son of Ma Xihe, who stayed behind during the Wuping Army Festival in Langzhou.
When he saw that Zhu Jinzhong's army was defeated and returned, and the Zhou army was chasing them all over the mountains and plains, he did not dare to open the city gates to let the defeated troops into the city. He could only close the four gates tightly and hurriedly sent people to Tanzhou to ask for help from Ma Xi'e.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Zhaojun was not in a hurry to attack the city. Since he had not captured the gate of Langzhou, Zhang Zhaojun simply left a part of his cavalry to guard the defenders of Langzhou, and the army was released with the capital as the basic unit.
While clearing out the defeated troops on the battlefield, they also established military strongholds in the northwest and southwest of Langzhou to block the connection between the Chu army and the Langzhou barbarians in Langzhou City. They surrounded Langzhou on three sides, leaving only the road leading to Tanzhou.
At the same time that Zhang Zhaojun sent Guo Rong to defeat the Chu army, Zhang Yan also personally led 8,000 infantry and cavalry soldiers south from Yuezhou.
In just two days, they arrived at Hubi Mountain, the gateway to the north of Tanzhou. Zhang Gao placed the coach's tent in the Nanyue Holy Emperor Temple on Hubi Mountain.
Nanyue Shengdi Temple, this is a temple dedicated to the Nanyue Emperor.
But what is more interesting is that Nanyue originally referred to Tianzhu Mountain in Anhui. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that Hengshan Mountain in Hengyang, Hunan was designated as Nanyue.
During the Ma Chu period, both Buddhist and Taoist deities in the south were highly respected, such as the Buddhist Baosheng Tathagata of the South and the Taoist Nanyue Emperor.
As soon as Zhang Gao's army arrived, all the monks and Taoists in the large and small temples, temples and temples such as Xianfeng Temple and Guandi Temple on Hubi Mountain were completely gone. Only one old Taoist was left in the Nanyue Holy Emperor Temple.
When the old Taoist saw Zhang Zhang regretting the arrangements made by Shandu's guards, he just smiled and looked at them without saying a word.
When everyone saw that he was old, they did not expel him. Only after Zhang Hao approached Lao Dao with a smile did the guards prepare to search Lao Dao.
However, Zhang Yan stopped the guards because he saw that this veteran was not simple.
He wears a lotus crown on his head and inserts the hairpins from front to back in the direction of Ziwu. His upper body is covered with brown purple gauze, wrapped in green clothes and wearing a Chinese skirt.
Taoism in the Tang Dynasty, especially in the early Tang Dynasty, because the Li royal family hoped to cut off the Xianbei mixed blood marks on their bodies, so they regarded Laozi Li Er as their ancestor, and Taoism naturally became famous.
Although Taoism and Taoism are basically two different things strictly speaking, it is much more convenient to praise Taoism than Taoism. It was also in the Tang Dynasty that Taoism and Taoism were integrated to a certain extent.
Since it was promoted by the royal family, it will definitely have a side effect, that is, the hierarchy is extremely strict.
Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, the levels of Taoism were divided into six realms: first-time Taoism, Zhengyi, Daode, Dongshen, Dongxuan, and Dongzhen.
The first five are relatively simple in color. After reaching Dongzhen, the colors of clothing began to gradually become richer. At the same time, the lotus crown on the head of the old Taoist can only be used by high-level Taoists.
Dressing like this basically tells the other person that his status in Taoism must be unusual.
In fact, it is indeed unusual. Taoist priests who have reached the level of Dongzhen or above, not to mention establishing a sect, can still be called a real person wherever they go.
Searching such a person would be too insulting, and Zhang Yan didn't think that such a veteran, who was estimated to be almost seventy years old, had any ability to pose a threat to him.
However, before Zhang Gao came closer, the old Taoist gave him a warning. The old Taoist, wearing brown silk gauze and green robe, flicked the dust in his hand.
"Blessings are immeasurable, and the noble man in front of me is facing the Ziwei Emperor Star. He is surrounded by general stars and is full of literary power. I think it must be the great Zhou Shao tomorrow's son who has arrived in person."
Zhang Hao thought the other party was here to take pictures of his horse, and he admitted it with a smile.
But the next second, the old Taoist's face changed suddenly. He looked at Zhang Hao and shouted: "Since the emperor is descended from the Ziwei Emperor Star and is the Holy Lord of the Han family in the Central Plains, why do he only call himself the Supreme Heaven of Buddhism?
Think about it, even though the Buddha is the highest in the Western Heaven, he is still a native of India. How can he practice his teachings in China? "
Well! Zhang Hao was really stunned for a moment.
Because it is different from the impression of later generations that all religions in China are peaceful. It can be said that from the end of the Han Dynasty to the present, religions in China are actually quite aggressive.
Of course, this aggression is not that of Anrak Ahu or the Crusades.
The struggle between Buddhism and Taoism is mostly reflected in the word "bian", which at most can rise to the level of insult to ancestors, personality and moral character.
For example, Monk Fa Lin, this man is a master of sliding shovel through the ages!
At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty respected Lao Tzu, but at the same time he also wanted Taoism to be placed above all other religions, which threatened the status of Buddhism.
Monk Fa Lin actually went to tell Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty that he had conducted detailed investigations and proved that the ancestor of the Li family in Longxi was actually the Li family in Yinshan, that is, the Xianbei Hu people outside the Great Wall.
And when it comes to excitement, Monk Fa Lin is so arrogant that he even said what is so good about Longxi Li? Li Er's father was blind in one eye and could not find a wife. He had an affair with a neighbor's old maid and gave birth to him.
What the hell, it was like sliding and shoveling in front of a hungry tiger!
Although Monk Fa Lin slid and shoveled quickly, he slid and knelt even faster, and in the end, he saved his life in an extremely thrilling way.
But the fact that he dared to turn the entire Li Tang royal family upside down in front of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty speaks volumes.
This shows that after thousands of years of spread, Buddhism has firmly established itself in China.
Zhang Hao has actually considered this issue. The identity of the Supreme Being that he created by pretending to be a god is likely to further promote the popularity of Buddhism in China.
You must know that in history, the father and son Guo Wei and Guo Rong in his position are famous for destroying Buddha.
It was under their strong attack, especially by Zhou Shizong and Guo Rong, that Buddhism was finally completely integrated with Chinese culture, turning from a foreign religion into a local supplementary religion.
Therefore, Zhang Yan was not angry because of the rudeness of the Taoist. In fact, he really liked communicating with such senior religious figures.
Because through them, Zhang Yan can have a deeper understanding of Chinese religions, especially Buddhism and Taoism.
After thinking about it, Zhang Hao said with a smile: "You don't want to imitate Monk Fa Lin, do you? I don't have the magnanimity of Emperor Taizong Wen, so it's better for you to be careful with your words."
The old Taoist was not at all overwhelmed by the imperial power displayed by Zhang Gao. Instead, he curled his lips.
"Monk Fa Lin can be regarded as a great virtuous person in the classic sense, but he was arrogant at first and respectful at the end, and slandered other people's ancestors. I think Emperor Taizong Wen just had a too good temper.
There is no need for saints to pretend to be humble. Emperor Taizongwen did the same thing, and so did His Majesty. They both started in the northwest, right where the Ziwei Emperor star arose.
It must have been Qingyuan Miaodao Erlang who came down to the real world to save people in trouble. I think the saint is also wise, powerful and magnanimous. "
Zhang Yan understood that this was not for sliding and shoveling, but for kneeling. Even the restraint of religious people was completely abandoned, and he was almost completely kneeling and licking.
】
Since this was the case, Zhang Yan was no longer secretive. He waved the guards around him to get out of the way, leaving only Li Fang, Lu Yan, and Sun Guangxian.
Then Zhang Hao made an invitation gesture and asked the old man to follow him to a pavilion to sit down and asked seriously.
"What does the real person want from me? What can I get from the real person?"
Very direct, Li Fang, Lu Yan, and Sun Guangxian all had surprised looks on their faces, because Zhang Fang usually pays great attention to packaging his image and rarely makes such naked speeches.
The veteran was also stunned for a moment. He probably had never encountered someone so direct. The key point was very different from the character of Zhang Zhang that he knew.
But not to mention his seniority in the Taoist sect, even with seventy years of life experience, he is still much better than ordinary people.
So Zhang Yan didn't play his cards according to common sense, and the old man didn't play his cards according to common sense. He gently opened a purse around his waist and took out a gold seal.
Li Fang took it for Zhang Gao and took a closer look. He was immediately surprised and said, "This is one of the gold seals that was rewarded by Li Xuce, the minister of Ming Dynasty in the later Tang Dynasty, when he made King Ma Wumu the king of Chu."
After speaking, Li Fang handed the gold seal to Zhang Yan and said: "The shape and words of this gold seal are consistent with the records of later dynasties, so it should be true."
Zhang Yan took the golden seal and just looked at it and ignored it, because he couldn't be more professional than Li Fang. Li Fang said it was true and basically didn't run away. He was just surprised that the person in front of him was holding the golden seal of Ma Yin. Who is the guy.
Suddenly, Zhang Hao's expression became very strange. He looked at the old man and asked with a wry smile.
"Master, please don't tell me that you are King Wu Mu of Chu. I won't believe it."
The old Taoist laughed twice, looked at Zhang Yan and said: "Your Majesty is indeed the Erlang Xiansheng True Monarch in the Ziwei Emperor's Palace, and he can think of this direction at once.
Ma Xizhen, the old Taoist, is the eldest son of King Wu Mu. Of course, whether King Wu Mu appears today to make a spiritual connection with His Majesty and entrust him with matters in Hunan depends entirely on what Your Majesty wants. "
"Your Majesty, don't believe this old Taoist!" Before Zhang Gao could speak, Sun Guangxian stood up with his hands raised, pointing at the old Taoist and said.
"It is true that Ma Xizhen is the eldest son of King Wumu of Chu, and it is true that he is a true Taoist disciple. However, Ma Xizhen died in the army ten years ago and is no longer alive."
"Hahaha!" The old Taoist stood up and smiled. There was no fear of his lie being exposed on his face, but a look of joy.
"Unexpectedly! Ten years later, someone still knows the name Ma Xizhen."
As he spoke, the old Taoist's expression turned dark, "Being from a family of Zhongming Dingshi, you are the leader of a separatist regime. You stole the position of the eldest son and was the first to win the title of Jiezhen.
But he had no choice but to come from a humble background, and in the end he could only wander around the mountains and forests. Ma Xizhen was indeed dead, but the old master was still there. "
This is another tragedy of brothers fighting against each other! It seems that Ma Xizhen should be the eldest son of the concubine. In the early days when Ma Yin's sons had not grown up, he, the eldest son of the concubine, still held a high position and looked like an heir. But later, when the legitimate son grew up, Ma Xizhen no longer had the status.
"Why are brothers like this?" Zhang Yan also had this worry, so he made an exception and sighed.
The old Taoist smiled bitterly and replied: "Ma Xifan can't even tolerate Ma Xiwang, Ma Xigao, etc. How can he tolerate an old thief like me?"
Sun Guangxian nodded at this time, turned around and said to Zhang Gao: "King Wu Mu has thirty sons, but most of them come from old age.
The former Chu King Xifan was the second son of King Wu Mu, but when he was born, King Wu Mu was already forty-seven years old. "
The old Taoist sat down again, nodded and said: "Pindao was born in the 13th year of Xiantong (872), the reign of Emperor Yizong of the Great Dynasty. He was sixty-seven years old. At that time, King Wu Mu was still a carpenter in Xuzhou, and he loved a certain person the most."
As he spoke, there were already tears on his old face. Needless to say, as Ma Yin's career progressed, political marriages or beauties from all walks of life came like a stream.
His son, Ma Yin, who was born as a carpenter and was regarded as the heir, naturally lost his favor and value.
Even because he was too old, he was a threat to Ma Yin, so he was put in cold storage.
"If the saint doesn't believe it and hears that Liao Kuangtu is in the saint's army and that he is King Wu Mu's confidant, he will know the truth at a glance."
Zhang Gao started his brain quickly and said slowly: "Whether the real person is Ma Xizhen or not is not the most important thing to me.
The most important thing is the question just now, what do real people want? What can you give? "
"Pindao resigned from all secular positions twenty years ago and devoted himself to Taoism for twenty years. He has built more than 60 Taoist temples west of Langzhou, has hundreds of disciples, and countless believers.
I heard that the sage wanted to appease the barbarians in the streams and rivers west of Hunan. The poor Taoist might be able to help him a little, as long as the sage was willing to spread his Taoism widely in the southwest. "
Sun Guangxian suddenly remembered, and he said to the old Taoist: "I once heard in Jiangling that there is a Taoist Jin Sword in Xi, Chen, Jin, Xu and other states. People say that he can travel thousands of miles in a day, swallow clouds and spit mist, and can cure all kinds of diseases. It turns out to be your honorable master.”
The old Taoist became more humble now. He squeezed the seal with his hand and whispered: "It's just a blinding method, a few wild herbs, how dare you show off in front of the true God."
Zhang Gao understood that among the Ma Chujiang people around him, there must be someone who was angry with the old Taoist in front of him.
The old Taoist also knew Zhang Gao's Buddhist background, so he was deeply afraid that Zhang Gao would use Hexi Buddhism as a weapon when he greeted the barbarians from various streams in the southwest.
Such an old Taoist missionary in Xiangxi and even Guizhou over the years might be uprooted, so he rushed to find Zhang Yan.
When the old Taoist saw that Zhang Yan still didn't express his position, he immediately added, "In the hand of the poor Taoist, there are also letters of allegiance from King Wu Mu and his disciples.
The Chu State used the royal family to suppress various places. They all expressed that as long as the saint was willing to treat the Ma family well, they were willing to hand over power and go to Tokyo and become a rich man in the capital of God. "
Zhang Yan still did not express his position, "What about Ma Xizhan? Do you have his letter of allegiance?"
The old Taoist's eyes moved, and he said with a smile: "This is Peng Shisong's advice to the saint, right? The saint has the help of the Peng family, and if there is still the cooperation of the old Taoist, not to mention Zhuxi Dongman in the west of Huxiang, it is the Dongxie and Xixie families of Zokeman , and it can certainly be appeased.
As for Ma Xizhan, Pindao immediately set off in person. It must be said that he traveled from Guizhou to Tanzhou to meet the saint in person. "
At this time, Zhang Cheng walked up to Zhang Xi and whispered a few words. It turned out that Zhang Xi must have found someone to identify the authenticity. Not only Liao Kuangtu, but also Peng Shisong and Liao Kuangtu's son Liao Yan were summoned to identify the authenticity. .
Of course, the result was that all three of them believed that the old man was Ma Xizhen.
So Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Then it's Master Lao.
Among the Ma family members, Ma Xi'e and Ma Xi Chong believed that crimes were unpardonable and must be punished according to the law.
What crime did the rest of King Wu Mu’s disciples commit? Not only will I not condemn them, but I will also use them to the best of their ability. "
When the old Taoist saw Zhang Zhang speaking the golden words, he immediately kowtowed to the ground and kowtowed, "A certain Ma Xizhen, kowtow to thank the saint for his kindness.
The old Taoist immediately summoned disciples from various states to come to Tanzhou to be used by the saint. Ma Xizhan, the military governor of Guizhou Jingjiang Army, was bound to arrive in Tanzhou within ten days to meet the saint. "
Zhang Gao personally helped Ma Xizhen up and said, "The real person has worked hard for the country. I immediately named him the real person who benefits the people, shows virtue and shows the Dharma."
Also, I happened to visit Hubi Mountain today and saw a mage wearing a golden crown and purple robe, accompanied by a golden boy and a beautiful girl.
He said that he was the Huaguang Heavenly King and Lingguan Marshal Ma under the Holy Emperor of Nanyue. He asked me to be kind to the people of Chu. After saying this, he ascended and left.
Later, I accidentally saw the statue of King Wumu of Chu, which was the same as it, and I learned that King Wumu had ascended to the immortal world and became the King of Huaguang Heaven. "
After Zhang Gao finished speaking, Ma Xizhen knelt down again and kowtowed to Zhang Gao three times.
This was no ordinary treatment, it promoted Ma Yin as the King of Huaguang. This is one of the four major guardian gods of Taoism. For Ma Xizhen, it is a supreme kindness.
Of course, Zhang Yan also had great benefits. After Ma Yin arrived in Hunan, he stopped unnecessary wars externally, wiped out bandits internally, equalized land among the people, and recuperated with light corvee and low taxes. His reputation in Chu State was extremely high. With the help of Ma Yin's halo, It should enable Zhang Yan to master the Chu land faster.
Well, there will only be one more origin for the three-eyed horse prince in the future.
