Outside Jilongganghai Market on Yizhou Island, Guo Chongtao, the envoy of the imperial court who had just arrived by boat and the censor of the East China Sea patrol, was also surrounded by a welcoming team with noisy drums and drums, and transferred to the Yu who specially received the envoys of the imperial court. The official car set off on the road to Tianxing City, Dongning Prefecture, the capital of Yizhou.
Although during this process, he was always expressionless and extremely reserved; but there was always a lingering doubt and sense of unreality lingering in his heart. Because he had just returned to the capital and was waiting for his appointment, he got this enviable position and title almost in a short time.
You must know that according to the court's practice, the envoys who inquire about foreign vassals are either bachelors or chamberlains; and he does not come from a prominent family or a significant background; the most important backer and teacher, Yushi Zuoduyuan Zhou Bangyan, He was also transferred to Dongdu Taiyuan, which was beyond his reach.
As for the Tonghai Palace in Yizhou, it was one of the six major palaces that the imperial court relied on for the Ping vassal princes. It was considered a prominent vassal from three families. Therefore, the envoys who went to inquire on behalf of the imperial court not only had no risk during the journey , and you can also get courtesy and generous gifts from the local office.
But how could such a good thing from heaven happen to him so easily? Although Guo Chongtao has been traveling around in various places over the years and has consciously made some achievements and gained some fame and prestige, he is not so arrogant that he forgets about himself and feels that this is such an honor that he deserves?
To know. The case of the ghost market owner/Yu Fan Xiao family that he handled at that time involved a Dali Temple internal canon, a Dongge bachelor; a Jiaofang chief, a Taichang Temple chief registrar, and a Jinwu Lingwei Zhong. Kong Muguan of Lang Mansion... made him an unparalleled figure in the Yushitai.
But as the saying goes, if you are full, you will be short, which also made him the target of many potential political disputes in the turbulent capital. Therefore, after having a secret conversation with his division commander and Shangguan Zhou Bangyan, he made up his mind not to participate in the follow-up investigation. He was released from his hometown in Beijing, and stayed in a different place to temporarily avoid the limelight.
As a result, he was promoted to the first level of official rank, and was transferred from the main courtyard of the Imperial Palace of the Capital to serve as the right deputy of the Cha Yuan who was in charge of supervising the western territory of the Tang Dynasty. He went to Shuofang Road/Beisai Road in the north of Guannai Road and took over as the border patrol censor of Xia Suiyan, the sixth grade official who died of illness there. Of course, this is not a dangerous journey.
The country is now surrounded by nine barbarians, and they are basically all feudal princes who have been suppressed and protected by the past dynasties. It can be said that except for some barbarians who have been driven deep into the mountains, or the small and medium-sized pastoral tribes who are unable to survive the winter due to disasters every year, there are actually no decent border troubles and threats.
Therefore, the censor responsible for patrolling the border, in addition to inspecting the settlements of local military households and athletes, most of the time, they have to face nothing more than bandits who take risks for money, mining lords who gather together to illegally mine, and those who do not obey the king's laws. Slaves, exiles; public security issues such as small accounts affected by disasters;
On the contrary, the wind, frost, rain and snow in the border areas are more severe than those in Gyeonggi Province, which poses a greater threat and impact to them. For example, Guo Chongtao's predecessor slipped and fell from his horse while driving on a snowy night. He was injured due to the fall and caught a cold. Then he died on the road before he could get back to his post.
Although the capital quickly received the corresponding news through Xiaoluowang's flying telegram; due to the chaos in the court and the busyness in the Yushitai; in the end, when Guo Chongtao finally got the order, he set off north to take office. By then, more than a month had passed.
During this period, Xia Suiyan's Border Patrol Censor Station in Xiazhou was in a state of chaos and shutdown. Not only were all of the former subordinates and personal followers fleeing and fleeing; only a few veterans were left in custody; even the handed-over case files and documents were missing a large part.
Therefore, after Guo Chongtao took office, he had to put everything aside and borrow manpower and request cooperation from the state capital and the local governor's office. It took more than half a month to clear up the chaotic asphalt and restore the imperial censor's station. The basic functions of the office; but he also discovered problems.
The predecessor, who died unexpectedly of illness while patrolling the border, seemed to have some serious internal affairs. In particular, there were obvious omissions and errors in the border accounts and material allocations reviewed by his subordinates and managers. Therefore, Guo Chongtao spent several months traveling to various places to review and investigate.
In addition to the funds allocated by the court, he spent his own money to recruit more relatively reliable manpower from the local area and the children of the border army to join forces. In the end, through searching for clues, we pieced together the truth that this somewhat old and dim-witted predecessor had been secretly framed and plotted against.
Then, with enough evidence, he went directly to the Shanyu/Anbei Protectorate (today's Inner Mongolia Helinger) government office, exposed and captured the mastermind in public. After clarifying the internal problems and external hidden dangers, Guo Chongtao was able to think about his actions in office.
As the name suggests, the Border Patrol Censor is responsible for patrolling the forts and forts inside and outside the traditional border walls. At the same time, he also supervises, inspects and appeases some of the princes outside the Great Wall in disguise. In this regard, as long as the border patrol censor himself is determined to do something, it is relatively easy to achieve results and practical results.
Because of their immediate interests, Yanbian soldiers/military households, Long March athletes, and wheel guards and forbidden soldiers who were strictly ordered not to easily intervene in the disputes between the princes outside the Great Wall; as border censors dispatched by the imperial court, instead He has the qualifications to mediate the disputes and conflicts between these princes outside the Great Wall.
After all, the unique environment and relatively fragile climate and ecology of the grasslands outside the Great Wall have led to limited output based on livestock; the upper limit of the population that can be fed also fluctuates greatly. Although the imperial court built a series of fortifications on many water and grasslands distributed along the river.
Later, it was turned into a network node that divided the grassland and blocked it. At the same time, it also developed warehouses and primary handicraft workshops for trading with neighboring tribes; and used this to build large and small residential cities, and subsequently enfeoffed a series of princes outside the Great Wall. And formed a regular northern hunting (slave-catching) system.
Although since Liang Gong presided over the Taixin Reform, the imperial court has maintained and continued the special official buying and shibang systems; using the lowest price and long-term bottom-line methods, the conquered tribes and herdsmen were restrained in disguise. Within a specific range, we provide fur and horns for generations.
However, there was a limit to the population that could be carried on the grassland. Therefore, the imperial court took a multi-pronged approach by rewarding and encouraging princes outside the Great Wall to hunt north, buying slaves for a fee, hiring volunteers, and recruiting young men to conquer overseas. The excess population that has been cultivated on the grassland for generations has been consumed.
However, among the princes outside the Great Wall, there are also various degrees of kinship and distance; there will also be discord due to uneven distribution, because the subordinate tribes cross the border to graze and compete for water, grass, mountains and forests; there are also large and small disputes between them, and even long-term disputes. conflicts that continue.
As for most of the pastoral camps that have been tamed by the princes and border vassals outside the Great Wall for generations, there are also a few who are foolish and undisciplined by nature, or are rebellious. They want to get rid of and overthrow the constraints and discipline of the border vassals, and often cause turmoil. After the accident, he fled into Hanhai and Shaqi and became a bandit.
As an authoritative part of the imperial court, if the border patrol censor can successfully mediate conflicts during the period; or prevent a conflict between these border vassals; or even mobilize troops to quell a turmoil. In terms of the evaluation of specific political achievements and the accumulation of official reputation and qualifications, it is also one of the important bonus options.
On the other hand, Xia Suiyan Prefecture, which is located on the edge of the Hanhai, the Great Sandy Moraine and the Salt Marsh, is also a country rich in minerals and developed workshops. A relatively prosperous place with frequent business trips. For example, Xiazhou has a large-scale leather and woolen processing industry, and Suizhou has more than ten coal mines.
Even Yanzhou has a salt mining industry surrounding Dijinze. Although it is not pure salt that can be eaten directly, the extracted and filtered products are important ingredients for making dyes, crude drugs, and gunpowder. The people who make a living from it account for almost half of the state capital’s household register.
In addition, there is a prosperous local sheep and horse market, seasonal polo, and many competitions. Therefore, as the territory of the border censor, it is not a remote country; instead, it is a densely populated and prosperous area on the border. As a border patrol censor, you can also benefit from it.
He didn't even have to take the initiative to do anything, someone would naturally come to his door with a clever name and gift; it wasn't for personal gain or to open the door for convenience, it was just to look familiar in front of him and get along with him in disguise. Although it may not be an illegal business, it is too easy for the border patrol censor to investigate.
Therefore, it is more that the other party wants to get closer and find out the character and hobbies of the new border patrol censor, and seek advantages and avoid disadvantages to avoid stepping on the trap, and even being extra targeted and deliberately looking for trouble, or just being in trouble. After taking care of other people as usual, it was just for my own peace of mind.
Therefore, even if Guo Chongtao wanted to achieve something, it took more than a year of secret observation and visits before he suddenly took over a place outside Xiazhou City with relatively complete evidence and adequate preparations. Sand thieves sell their stolen goods; they also use this to follow the clues and go deep into the ground.
Almost leading the charge, they raided a large-scale sand bandit stronghold that had been hidden in the salt marsh for a long time; more than a hundred bandits were killed and none of them escaped. Then he continued to block the news and used it as bait to catch big fish; he lured and killed several groups of deserters and bandits one after another.
Because of this, he was caught in the vast barren land north and south of Jinshan (Altai Mountains in Xinjiang) between the Antarctic and Northwest; one of the famous Seven Bandits, a combination of large horse thieves and sand thieves gangs - Wanlisha; There is an important contact person, nicknamed "Judge".
As a result, this also led to the biggest crisis and danger in his life. Under the betrayal and design of the bribed insider, Guo Chongtao was patrolling a controversial Caoze area in Suizhou. He was suddenly attacked by hundreds of sand bandits, and there were only dozens of officials around him.
Although these officers and men did not hesitate to ride their horses to fight and fight with the sand bandits who appeared, they were obviously inferior in terms of equipment and equipment. They could only escort him desperately to fight and retreat all the way; at the cost of losing most of the people, Guo Chongtao was sent to a nearby small garrison.
According to the country's military system, the permanent armed forces stationed in the border areas are divided into four levels: army (envoy), city (guardian), town (general), and garrison (lord); and due to the relatively long period of peace, this small area There were only a dozen old and weak men left in the garrison who were half of the establishment, plus seven or eight personal followers and officials.
When the warning beacon was lit, these "sand bandits" also ushered in an all-out attack; relying on the defense of the garrison, the battle continued late into the night, with only a small number of people standing in the garrison. At this time, these "sand pirates" seemed a little impatient, and some began to take some special drugs.
In the blink of an eye, under the moonlight they transformed into humanoid monsters with sharp teeth and claws, suffering unnecessary pain and several times stronger; they scrambled to climb up the narrow tower-shaped fortress. But at this time, Guo Chongtao's encounter and experience in the capital saved everyone in disguise; under the tenacious resistance of the scratching hook and fork gun soaked in oil and ignited.
Hiding back to back in the narrow space at the top of the garrison, they persisted until the sky turned white, and they also waited for the large torches galloping in the distance... Suddenly, the sound of a bell in the car interrupted Guo Chongtao's memories, but After a long journey, they arrived outside Tianxing City in Dongning Prefecture.
The outside of the south gate tower, which was used to welcome the imperial envoys, has been completely emptied out, and the stone paved floor has been washed with clean water to make it clean, bright and spotless; an incense table, colorful tables and a door made of flowers have been placed under the gate tower. Side decoration... and a group of people wearing red, purple, green and blue crowns.
It was on behalf of Tonghai Gong's office that he came to greet the internal officials and ministers headed by the three managers and four leaders, as well as the vassals, ministers, vassal officials, officials, and common people from all over the country. They gathered under the city, fearing that there were not more than ten thousand Crowd of people. After paying homage to the envoy's flag, the official car continued to enter the city.
And inside the city gate, there were many knights who had been waiting here, wearing black light armor or iron scale armor, and joined the team as the envoys' honor guard. But Guo Chongtao also noticed that these honor guard athletes who were the pioneers of the Qing Dynasty also had the fierceness to kill.
Some people have quite fresh scars on their arms, shoulders, heads and necks; they are obviously the result of recent recovery. This also made him realize something, and he immediately recalled the brief meeting and face-to-face instruction he had had when he unexpectedly met his division commander Zhou Bangyan in Huiluo Hall when he passed by Dongdu.
According to the information provided internally, it seems that in the contemporary Tonghai Palace, due to the long-term poor health of the prince and the neglect of the palace owner, a rather secret civil strife and dispute occurred not long ago, resulting in a large number of retainers and Internal officials were purged and replaced as a result.
Therefore, now the head of the palace is ill and unable to attend to affairs, the prince has been living in seclusion in the inner palace for many years, the power of the inner palace has fallen into the hands of Ronghua's wife Shen, and the prince's East Mansion is controlled by Shen who is newly accepted. The concubine is in charge; therefore, the current situation of the public office is maintained by the aunt and nephew of the eldest and younger Shen family.
According to the original oath of sect-vassal alliance, the imperial court could not intervene at will in the internal affairs of the six major offices; but as the representative of the imperial court's authority, he also had the obligation to find out whether theft of power by foreign surnames had occurred in the contemporary Tonghai office. , the risk that threatens the inheritance of the heirs.
