Although Suzhou in the Tang Dynasty is not yet the famous historical city that "has heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below" in later generations, it is already one of the few prosperous cities in the southeast. The population of the administrative center alone is as high as 140,000 to 50,000 households, with about 40,000 to 50,000 people (adult men and women).
In addition, being in the land of plenty/rich hinterland in the Hangjiahu Plain/Taihu Basin, the sericulture and weaving industry and related commercial activities were extremely developed; therefore, it was also one of the largest sources of money for the imperial court to collect taxes locally; at one time, various business taxes and miscellaneous taxes were far away. Far beyond the traditional farm output.
However, compared with the southeastern water and land hub on the other side of the Yangtze River, the economic center of Yangzhou, or the place where the three divisions and four envoys of West Zhejiang Road are located - Shengzhou/Jiangning Prefecture (today's Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province); Suzhou is located in the tenth city of West Zhejiang Province The positioning among the prefectures is a bit tricky, because this place is really warm and suitable for raising people.
Therefore, although Suzhou provided no less tribute and annual revenue than Jiangning Prefecture, the importance of official rank and location was obviously inferior; except for the inspection and inspection dynasty under the Transportation Secretary, there were only a few directly under the bureau. The central government officials, including the internal construction envoys and palace and market envoys, were established.
Being able to serve as an official in Suzhou was also regarded as a place of leisure and leisure for officials; it was used to house and care for senior officials who had no hope of further advancement in their career but were aging. Liu Zhanyuan, the governor of Suzhou, was such a person who kept having poetry parties and feasting all day long and lived a well-fed life.
However, outside the Helu Gate in the misty autumn rain, under the colorful reception tent built with bamboo and brocade, which was several stories high, Liu Zhanyuan, wearing an azure official robe, had to endure the gentle breeze coming towards him. The rain was like silk, a little bit wet and soaked with a faint chill on the head, face and clothes.
Because that person's name became famous for a while and shocked both sides of the river. Jiang Touquan, known as "Living Tai Sui" and "Defending Censor", has arrived at the boundary of Suzhou, which also broke his time of living a comfortable life. You know, the ambassador appointed by the imperial court eradicated evil spirits along the way.
However, during the pursuit and investigation process, there were also many local officials who were held accountable, died suddenly/unexpectedly, were dismissed from office and exiled, and even took the blame and became official officials. Wherever we go, it cannot be said that people are panicked and officials are bored; but there are also many people who are on tenterhooks and anxious all day long.
Therefore, Liu Zhanyuan believed that he had done a good job in office, but he could not avoid neglecting political affairs and neglecting subordinates; he did not want to leave any excuse for the other party to make excuses; as a result, Anyang's last few years in office were also unavailable. I would rather keep my posture lower and deal with this god of plague first.
Compared with Liu Zhanyuan, who was cautious and respectful, Lu Xiangsheng, who was the Suzhou regiment defense envoy, could not hide his eagerness to try. Because he had already received secret tips and instructions from his old friend in the Yangzhou Dudu Mansion; he regarded this visit as some kind of potential opportunity.
Because, since the changes in the celestial phenomena witnessed by the subjects of the country, monsters and disasters have occurred frequently in various parts of the world; but as a military officer and local garrison officer in the peaceful years, this also means more potential opportunities to make contributions and seek promotion; as long as Able to suppress those monsters and disasters.
However, as a local official who was close to the people, Suzhou Governor Liu Zhanyuan only wanted to maintain the situation where there was peace or nothing but mustard. He was never allowed to escalate the situation, and even restricted the situation on the grounds of disturbing the people and shocking them. The Suzhou United Army took the initiative to attack.
Although Lu Xiangsheng, the regimental defense envoy, belonged to the military position controlled by the Yangzhou Dudufu in terms of status; but as a garrison officer, he was inevitably controlled and influenced by local pro-people officials. At least, the unity battalion under him and the rural soldiers in each county are mainly local people.
In addition to the basic clothing, food, salt and vegetables stipulated by the imperial court, they also received long-term sponsorship and subsidies from large local households and wealthy surnames. Therefore, as the governor of Suzhou, although Liu Zhanyuan could not directly interfere in the daily affairs of the Unity Camp, he had many ways to restrict his "rash actions."
Therefore, with the arrival of this river patrol censor/demon hunter, it is undoubtedly an opportunity for Lu Xiangsheng to break this situation where he can only respond passively. However, when this convoy of vehicles and ships, covered with gun emplacements and armored personnel and armed to the teeth, docked, it brought unexpected news.
"Shangxian is worried about the safety of the local people, so he has already used his means to rush to the place where the strange incident occurred." Hai Sheng, the former Jiangling naval officer who commanded the envoy fleet, faced the two local civil and military representatives, Neither humble nor arrogant, he said: "I also hope that the Mingfu and the regiment officials will provide follow-up support."
At the same time, deep in the vast Taihu Lake in Suzhou, outside the largest island - Xishan Island; Jiang Tian, who had quietly flown all the way here, was also floating on the water, looking at the reported abnormal area. As the center island of Tai Lake, it is actually divided into two parts naturally.
There are low forested hills and woodlands to the northwest, and large villages and towns on the plains to the southeast; and on the periphery of this livable island, it is surrounded by islands such as Yeshan Island, Dashan Island, Xiaoshan Island, and Yushan Island. A series of tiny islands form relatively complex waterways and tidal flats.
Therefore, in times of trouble, this place could easily become a nest for bandits, roaring and lingering; among them, the Taihu water bandits from another time and space even disappeared completely after the liberation. But now is an era of long-term peace, so the island has long been inhabited.
On the large plains in the southeast of the island, a large town called Xishan Town was formed, as well as seven or eight villages and settlements scattered along the coast of the island. In addition, dignitaries and wealthy businessmen from Suzhou, Changzhou, and Huzhou around Taihu Lake also built many villas on the island to relieve the summer heat and enjoy the cool air.
The low hills and mountains located in the northwest of the island are not simple. It has one of the ten caves, thirty-six small caves, and seventy-two blessed places where immortals practiced and lived in seclusion in ancient times certified by Taoism. The world calls it "Left God Youxu" Tianlinwu Cave, the ninth cave of Tianlinwu Cave, also known as the "Tianhou Palace".
Its most unique feature is that the inside of the cave is as wide as a building, with a forest of standing stones and a flat roof like a house, so it is called a forest house; while outside the cave, the rocks are rugged, beautiful and sharp, like a miraculous craftsmanship. Therefore, in the second year of Emperor Qianfeng's reign (667), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty built a large-scale Lingyou Temple outside Linwu Cave.
However, at this moment, most of the picturesque island with lakes and mountains has been shrouded and swallowed up by a very conspicuous black and gray smog. According to local reports, the smoke miasma was first suspected to have emerged from the cave in the forest house, and then continued to spread and cover most of the island in a short period of time.
Therefore, the first to suffer were the dozens of resident Taoist priests in Lingyou Temple; no one could escape. Then, nearby villages sent people to investigate, but they were also swallowed up by the sudden spread of smoke miasma. When the villagers panicked and began to flee on their own, they delayed a step because they were reluctant to part with their belongings.
As a result, only a few dozen people from the village of hundreds of people fled to the water's edge and punted boats to leave the island, temporarily escaping the disaster. However, other densely populated settlements on the island, including Xishan Town, did not receive early warning and suffered heavy losses due to the spread of the smog miasma.
When the local government received reports from the people who escaped and finally decided to send a Taihu patrol boat to the island to investigate, the smog that blocked the sky and sun had spread over most of the inhabited areas of the island. But no matter whether they are good or bad, no one can escape.
On the contrary, encouraged by the huge reward, the local soldiers and arresters who approached to explore received some kind of fright after landing, and they jumped into the water and fled back to the boat; but they were so frightened that they couldn't even speak clearly. Others suffered from fever, vomiting and diarrhea for days because they smelled a trace of smoke miasma.
He fell ill within a short period of time. Someone else on the boat saw what seemed to be the fantasy of a demon in the mist. Even in broad daylight, many people heard distinctly loud roars and roars. Therefore, even if the government offers a higher reward, no one dares to go to the island to explore.
The smog miasma raging on the island seems to be limited by the fact that it is surrounded by water and has not spread outwards. There is a lot of space left between the river bend, tidal flats and fishing pier in the southwest of the island. Therefore, outside Xishan Island today, rural soldiers and patrol boats patrol continuously day and night;
Of course, this kind of symbolic blockade and isolation is just to prevent some daring people from coveting the ownerless property in the island's mansions and warehouses, and sneaking over there in vain to kill people. Because of several encounters, someone discovered that the smoke miasma became thicker as more people were swallowed.
And just like this, it is estimated that thousands of people on the island were killed as a result. The large area around Taihu Lake is a densely populated land of plenty; the coastal cities and towns in Suzhou, Changzhou, and Huzhou alone have a population of hundreds of thousands or more.
Therefore, as he stepped onto the soft beach, Jiang Tian also had a thought; suddenly there was a pile of scarlet rotten soil in front of him, mixed with many rusty fragments and metal particles. Then in the rainy weather, the crimson rotten soil from the battlefield suddenly sublimated and decomposed.
The outline and shape of a human figure quickly condensed in the air; in the end, he was dressed in thick patch armor and fish scale armor, wearing a rolled-edge ruff with complicated rings on his head, a scarlet ponytail necklace and a broken black cloak, fluttering in the wind. The heavily armored soldier in the iron pocket reappeared in front of Jiang Tian.
The next moment, the black eye chakras on its silver iron face seemed to have gained life and vitality, and gradually became more agile; but Jiang Tian was distracted and took over its body. Then, like a roaring cannonball, it crashed into the edge of the rolling smoke miasma in the distance.
At this time, noisy shouts could be heard behind Jiang Tian; but it was the clippers cruising on the shore that had already discovered and noticed the movement on the island. However, as their first reaction, a round of sparse arrows were shot at them; they fell with a sizzling sound around Jiang Tian. (End of chapter)
