On February 2, the dragon raises its head.
Outside Jinyang City, on the banks of the Fen River, a large-scale show has already been staged. A large piece of fairly flat land was selected. Under Liu Zhiyuan's order, the carnivores under Hedong Jiedu had to put down their bodies, carry hoes, and cultivate the fields themselves.
Liu Zhiyuan, the leader, went to the fields in person to express his intention of "focusing on agriculture and mulberry trees and plowing the fields". Liu Zhiyuan has been in charge of Hedong for several years. Although he has taken measures to encourage farmers to farm and cultivate mulberry trees, he has never held such a lively ceremony as today, personally doing the "first hoeing of the new year". The meaning of this action is intriguing.
The accompanying civil and military personnel are not necessarily willing to say so. It's just that the King of Peking is like this. He always has a smile on his face and looks diligent.
During the spring rain in the early morning, some people lamented that it was a good sign. After getting down to the ground, they described how unhappy they were. The soil wet by the rain was extremely sticky to the feet, and it seemed as if there was a strange force pulling people underground when they moved. The work of plowing the land is quite taxing for the officials in Hedong. But Liu Zhiyuan had an order, one person per acre.
Since Liu Chengyou came with the group, he naturally participated in the show. He rolled up his sleeves, rolled up his trousers, took off his shoes and socks, and went to the ground barefoot. Picking up the hoe, it was the first time for Liu Chengyou to try the experience of "facing the loess and turning his back to the sky". It was not easy, time-consuming, laborious, and exhausted his patience. However, Liu Chengyou seemed to be neither arrogant nor impetuous, turning over the ground unhurriedly, as if he was tempering his mentality.
Not far from Liu Chengyou, there was a rough and burly man with a serious expression and a fierce look in his eyes. He picked up his hoe and smashed it into the field, venting his anger towards the ground beneath his feet. This is Liu Zhiyuan's favorite general, Shi Hongzhao, the commander of the Beijing Martial Arts Festival and the governor of Leizhou. This man was born a farmer, but he had always hated farming. When he was asked to work in the fields, he couldn't do it well even if he pretended to do it.
"The country is in turmoil, the country is in ruins, and there's no telling when a war will begin!" With a vigorous swing of his hoe, a clod of soil was lifted up. Standing on his waist, Shi Hongzhao glanced in the direction of Liu Zhiyuan and muttered: " I don’t know what the king is thinking. He is not busy preparing his army for war, but he has time to come to this field to play with the hoe and plow..."
After hearing what he said, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but glance at Shi Hongzhao from the corner of his eye. This person seemed to be worried about the current situation, but Liu Chengyou knew that this guy simply didn't want to do this "menial job" and was just complaining. Looking away indifferently, Liu Chengyou continued to work hard...
"Your Majesty, please rest first." After all, he was old. When Liu Zhiyuan made a move to support him, a tooth general waiting at the side immediately came up to him and helped him diligently.
Liu Zhiyuan was not pushy. He put down his hoe, wiped off some dirt on his hands, walked to a carpet mat spread out by the field, sat down, took the water bag and took a sip. His eyes wandered, observing the civil and military situation around him.
His attention quickly turned to his two sons. Liu Chengxun had always been lazy, his movements were clumsy and his work was weak. He was out of breath and was leaning on the ridge of the field to laze about. On the contrary, it was Liu Chengyou, with his hoe after hoe, his calm and peaceful movements, and his overly calm expression, Liu Zhiyuan really couldn't hold back the surprise in his heart.
"Let Da Lang and Er Lang come over and have a rest!" Liu Zhiyuan raised his finger and ordered to the left and right.
After learning that Liu Zhiyuan had summoned him, Liu Chengyou slowly hoeed up the soil under his feet before slowly walking towards Liu Zhiyuan.
Approaching, Liu Chengyou saluted solemnly: "Father."
"Sit!" Liu Zhiyuan was discussing something with Liu Chengxun. He looked up at Liu Chengyou and motioned for him to sit down.
"Yes!" In response, Liu Chengyou sat down, took a sip of water, and then listened silently to the conversation between the two.
Liu Zhiyuan's interest seemed to be quite high. He looked at the two brothers and asked softly: "Dalang, Erlang, someone recently suggested that I go to Bianjing alone to meet the Khitan Lord for my own protection. What do you think?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Chengxun immediately became anxious and said excitedly: "Absolutely not. The Khitan clan is full of tigers and wolves, and the Khitan master is a greedy and tyrannical king. If my father were to leave, wouldn't it be like a sheep falling into a tiger's mouth? My father is an uncle from one side, and his body is Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the east of the river are in danger, how can we leave lightly and enter a dangerous place?"
Hearing what he said, Liu Zhiyuan did not respond, but looked at him indifferently, thoughtfully.
"The deaths of Zhao Zaili, Liu Jixun and other Jin ministers are still before our eyes. Father must be vigilant..." Seeing that Liu Zhiyuan did not respond to his words, Liu Chengxun became even more anxious and gave Liu Zhiyuan two examples.
Zhao Zaili and Liu Jixun were both vassals of the later Jin Dynasty. One was a military governor of Jinchang (Yongzhou), and the other was a military governor of Kuangguo (Tongzhou). When Yelu Deguang took control of Bianjing, he made the same choice as many later Jin Jiedu, and went to Daliang in person to show his loyalty. It's a pity that Qinqin left and didn't end up well.
At the beginning, the young emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the Khitan were on good terms, which led to a war between the north and the south. Liu Jixun was then the official envoy of the North Court of Xuanhui and participated in the negotiations. When Liu Jixun entered Bian, Yelu Deguang took this matter to task and wanted to lock him up and send him to Huanglong Mansion to "cure" his wind paralysis.
Compared with Liu Jixun, Zhao Zaili seemed even more unjust. Yelu Deguang made some unkind remarks about this person, saying that Zhao Zaili caused the "Zhuangzong Rebellion". This is a fact. When Zhao Zaili was in Yedu, he was coerced by the crowd and rebelled against Yingcheng. Later, together with the soldiers and horses of the imperial court who came to conquer, they supported Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty, as emperor. But this was all twenty years ago. Yelu Deguang, the Khitan master, was guilty of the old chaos in the Central Plains. It was so far-fetched that he couldn't even settle accounts after the fall. He obviously just wanted to establish his authority.
Zhao Zaili was deeply aware of the dangers of traveling eastward. When he passed by Luoyang, he was humiliated by the generals. Later, when the news came that Liu Jixun, who had arrived one step ahead, was arrested, he became even more worried, fearful, or unable to think clearly, so he found an opportunity to commit suicide among the stables.
After hearing about Zhao's death, Yelu Deguang probably felt that he had gone too far, so he released Liu Jixun. However, Liu Jixun had long been filled with resentment and anger, and he knew that he had hated the Khitan master and that his future was gloomy. Coupled with his illness, he soon died at home.
Although both Zhao Zaili and Liu Jixun were not famous and had good moral character, Zhao Zaili in particular carried out heavy levies and extortion during every festival, which made the soldiers and the people suffer and regarded him as a "thorn in their side". However, with the status of Zhongyuan Fangzhen's Jiedu, the worship of Daliang ended in a dismal end. This sounded the alarm to all the later Jin vassal towns that were still waiting and watching.
Liu Chengxun's words were sincere and admonishing, and his concern was beyond words. A slight smile appeared on Liu Zhiyuan's majestic face, and he raised his hand to comfort him: "My father knows the prince's concerns."
After saying that, he glanced at Liu Chengyou and saw that the second son's face was still expressionless. The corners of his mouth twitched twice, coughed lightly and said, "Erlang, what do you think?"
"Anyone who speaks out should be killed!" Liu Chengyou said coldly, concisely and concisely, making his attitude clear.
But Liu Zhiyuan was not surprised when he felt the murderous intent in Liu Chengyou's plain tone. He waved his hand and said, "Gu Guang opened his mouth to speak out. How can he kill people because of his words and chill the hearts of the officials in Hedong?"
It can be felt that Liu Zhiyuan said this not sincerely, but just to show his attitude. Liu Chengyou's tone did not fluctuate, and he spoke calmly: "My father occupied the pass, supported a large number of troops, made more achievements than the country, and had a great reputation. Even the mediocre king Shi Chonggui was wary of this, let alone the Khitan master. If my father goes to Bianjing, he must If you can't pay it back, even if you survive, it's still fish meat on the anvil. Now that the Central Plains has no owner and China is in ruins, my father has Hedong to rely on, so he should forge ahead with determination..."
As he spoke, Liu Chengyou's words stopped suddenly. He realized that he had spoken too much. He raised his eyes and looked at Liu Zhiyuan. When he saw Liu Zhiyuan looking at him with burning eyes, he lowered his head subconsciously. Liu Chengxun looked at Liu Chengyou blankly. As expected, his second brother only chattered non-stop when talking about serious matters.
"You little boy with a yellow mouth, how dare you say rude words and despise the emperor?" Noting Liu Chengyou's reaction, Liu Zhiyuan glanced at him for a moment and feigned anger.
Liu Chengyou was silent, paused, and replied: "I don't dare."
Upon seeing this, Liu Zhiyuan immediately smiled and changed the topic naturally, his eyes full of scrutiny: "I have received a lot of reports recently, saying that you have become restless in the Longqi Army. You act wantonly and kill sergeants indiscriminately. , good at appointing generals..."
Facing Liu Zhiyuan's questioning gaze, Liu Chengyou's face remained stiff, his eyes blinked shut as usual, and he calmly replied: "The arrogant soldiers in the army disobey the general's orders and despise the superior officers. I only follow the military law. As for the appointment of Bian, in the army The strong are respected, the capable are superior, the mediocre are inferior, that’s all!”
After listening to Liu Chengyou's explanation, Liu Zhiyuan stared at him for a long time and laughed a few times. There was a faint hint of satisfaction in the laughter, floating around, attracting many absent-minded civil and military glances in the fields.
