The four lines of poetry that Wang Lu just read are the last four lines of "Laojun's Sutra of Transformations". This "Laojun's Sutra of Transformations" is originally a Taoist classic, and it is a large number of poems that emerged during the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties. One of the Taoist scriptures written by Laozi and Laojun, such as "Laojun's Sutra of Infinite Changes", "Taishang Laojun's Opening of Heaven", "Taishang Laojun's Miao Shi Sutra", "Taishang Laojun's Natural Origin of Nothingness" Sutra", "Laozi's Transformation Sutra", "Laozi Transformed Hu Jing", "Wen Shizhuan", etc. The content of these Taoist scriptures are similar. They all deify Laozi, center on Laozi's changes, and attach various figures in history. , incorporating it into the religious classics of the Taoist theoretical system.
Different from the Taoism after the Tang and Song Dynasties, which was harmless to humans and animals, separated from the world, loosely organized, and gave up the ability to mobilize the grassroots, the Taoism from the Later Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty was completely different. In a sense, at that time, Taoism is closer to early Christianity and Islam. It is deeply rooted in the grassroots, well-organized, has a high degree of organizational mobilization capabilities, and aims to establish a religious kingdom that combines politics and religion. The most typical examples are the Yellow Turban Army and the Five Dou Rice Sect. The former almost destroyed the powerful Eastern Han Dynasty, while the latter established a separatist regime in Hanzhong during the late Han Dynasty.
The Five Dou Rice Sect divides believers into several administrative areas based on geography, and then sets up sacrificial wine to manage believers in each area, just like secular officials. The ability of these sacrificial wines to mobilize and control believers is certainly far beyond that of local officials in the Han and Wei dynasties. Can be compared. This Five Pecks of Rice Sect is also called Zhengdao. Because its founder Zhang Daoling calls himself Master, and followers also call him "Tianshi", later generations call it Tianshi Tao.
Historical records record that after Zhang Lu separatized Hanzhong, he governed the people with ghost methods. If someone broke the law, he would be forgiven three times before being executed. He used sacrificial wine instead of officials to govern, and the people were very happy. This is no accident. The ancient Hanzhong area was part of Bashu. The local people believed in ghosts and witches since ancient times, and the romantic and loose culture was completely different from the Central Plains culture where etiquette, music, Confucianism and law were prevalent. Zhang Daoling absorbed this when he founded the Five Pecks of Rice Sect. There is a large amount of ghost and witch culture, and the rule is loose, but not as strict as the Confucianism and Legalism of the unified dynasty of the Central Plains. Naturally, it is more loved by the local people.
Later, even the Sichuan-Sichuan regime established by external forces had to make certain concessions to the local Tianshi Tao leaders. For example, after the clan refugee leader Li Te established the Cheng-Han regime, he appointed Fan Chang'an's ancestor Fan Changsheng as prime minister, avoiding the Give their "ghost soldiers" labor and taxes.
Taoism has such a powerful ability to organize and mobilize, which will naturally arouse the hostility of the secular regime. Liu Xie, the minister of Nanliang, criticized Taoism in his book "On Destroying Confusion" as "a dull country will be a scorpion, and a peaceful world will be a beetle" and "is "Zhang Jiao and Li Hong brought poison to the Han Dynasty; Lu Xun and Sun En brought chaos to the late Jin Dynasty." Among them, Zhang Jiao, Lu Xun, and Sun En are all famous people in history who used religious uprisings to cause chaos, but how could Li Hong be so virtuous? Can it be tied with the above three people?
If you look through the history books of the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties in more detail, you will find that there were too many religious uprising leaders named "Li Hong" at that time, only from the second year of Tianning, Emperor Ming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (324 years) to the early years of Wu Tai, Emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei Dynasty (528 years). ) In the past two hundred years, there have been nine "Li Hong" uprisings clearly recorded in history books, and they occurred all over the country. There will only be more that are not clearly recorded in history books. Obviously, there cannot be a person named Li Hong. He has lived for more than two hundred years, traveling around the country and constantly launching uprisings. Is this just an accident?
The reason for this must be found in many Taoist classics that were popular at the time. In these classics, Li Hong is the incarnation of Laozi. That is, after Laozi left Tongguan in the west and transformed Hu Chengxian, his incarnation walking in the world was named Li Hong. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, Taoism has had the prophecy that "the old king should rule and Li Hong should appear". The dark political environment in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the chaotic state of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties naturally added to the appeal of this messianic prophecy. force. The more disappointed the people are with real politics, the more they place their hope on the "incarnation of the old king" to come to the world and establish a peaceful and prosperous age to escape the suffering of this world.
Seeing this, it should not be difficult to understand Fan Changan and others' anger at the emperor naming his son Li Hong. How could they endure it when the emperor named his son after the future savior? As the descendants of Fan Changsheng, they were inextricably linked to the Tianshi Tao at that time.
Although the Li family respected Laozi as their ancestor and Taoism after ascending the throne as emperor, the Taoism respected by the Li family was completely different from the Taoism of the Heavenly Masters that Fan Changsheng and others believed in. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was Kou Qianzhi in the Northern Dynasty and Lu Xiujing in the Southern Dynasty. Reformed Tianshi Dao. Although their reforms were different, generally speaking, they gave up the Taoist control of the believers and grassroots organizations at that time, in exchange for rewards and official positions from the secular government to the upper levels of Tianshi Dao. Since then, Tianshi Dao has become part of the secular state, and naturally it does not have the same fighting power and aggressiveness as before. In the eyes of Fan Changan and others, this new Taoism is nothing more than a heresy and betrayal, so they naturally scorn it.
"I don't know if Li Hong is in Chengdu or not, but he's definitely not the one from Chang'an Palace!" Fan Chang'an sneered: "If a fool doesn't fear the gods, they will have their own ghosts and gods to curse him. I'll just wait and see!"
"Not bad!" Wang Lu said with a smile: "Then what should I do now?"
"We should go with the flow. When we come to Chengdu this time, we are just a few salt merchants. We just talk about business. Don't say a word or mention anything else!"
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Qinghai Lake.
"That's Qinghai Lake!" the guide pointed to the vast ocean in the distance.
The broad and flat grassland stretches out under the feet, extending as far as the eye can see. A rippling green color can be seen, connecting with the grassland under the feet. This is really a vast ocean! Xue Rengui thought to himself that wherever he could see, there were no hills and mountains, not even woods, cities and roads. There were only endless grasslands, with wind and clouds surging, and the grass blades swaying like waves. "It's so vast!" he exclaimed.
"The grass has not fully grown yet. In two or three months, it will be the real Caohaizi!" Ashina said.
Xue Rengui nodded. He knew what Ashina Dao really meant. With the prosperity of the grassland, the livestock and horses of Tuyuhun and the Tubo people would become more and more fat. This was not good news for the Tang army.
"Get the map!" Xue Rengui said. He took the cowhide map sent by his subordinates, fixed it on the ground with a dagger, looked at it for a while and said, "What do you think we should do now?"
"Of course we need to find the Tibetan herds as soon as possible!" Ashina Daozhen said: "As long as we plunder the Tubo herds, we won't be afraid that the Tibetan army will go to the horizon!"
"Yes, we thought of going together!" Xue Rengui said with a smile: "As long as we rob the Tibetan herd first, our army will win half the battle first! I hope the scouts will work harder and find traces of the Tibetan herd as soon as possible!"
"There is no need to worry too much about this. At this time, there are not many places where tens of thousands of livestock can go. It must be a place with abundant water and grass, such as lakes, seas, blisters and other places. With so many livestock walking, how could they not leave Leaving traces? It may take as long as two or three days, or as short as one or two days, and there will be news!"
Ashina Dao's judgment was really accurate. At noon the next day, Xue Rengui got the reward from the scouts. Two Tuyuhun herdsmen fled to the Tang army, claiming that they knew that after the Tubo people learned that the Tang army was coming, they took away their livestock and the old and weak. The women and children migrated to a saltwater lake called Douco Lake in the southwest of Qinghai Lake to escape.
"Doucuo Lake?" Will leave to graze elsewhere. Because the terrain is very high, people from other places will suffer from asthma if they walk in a hurry.
"Well, it seems like it's probably true!" Xue Rengui said with a smile: "The Tubo people also know that I have a lot of cavalry. If they were in the open land, they probably wouldn't be able to escape our army's pursuit, so they hid in the mountains and suffered. Go to the lake!”
"General Manager!" Ashina Daozhen was not so happy: "Things are not that simple. It is five to six hundred miles from here to the Sea of Bitterness, and half of it is rugged land. The journey to the army was not bad. We won the battle. It will be troublesome to retreat. The soldiers all took the captured trophies and a large number of livestock, women and children, and retreated along the mountain road. The men and horses are also exhausted. Once the enemy invites an attack, the consequences will be disastrous!"
"That's true!"
"Then where do you plan to set up the rear camp?" Ashina Daozhen asked.
"Of course it's here!" Xue Rengui stretched out his finger and clicked on the map. It was the mountainous area at the junction of the wilderness and the mountains. Three Chinese characters were written on it: "Dafiling"
According to Xue Rengui's order, the Tang army marched southward, crossing the rugged Riyue Mountains and the flat Dafeichuan grassland. At first, the morale of the Tang army was still very strong, but as the terrain gradually climbed, more and more people felt that Out of breath, they felt uncomfortable just sitting in the saddle, let alone walking. Xue Rengui had to order these people to be handed over to the rear camp, and he continued to move forward with his fine cavalry.
As the terrain increased, the surrounding grasslands were gradually replaced by barren hills and rocky mountains. The soldiers had to dismount to reduce the burden of the pack animals, which caused more people to fall. It only took five or six days. , more than 3,000 people lost their combat capabilities without firing a single shot.
The towering Kunlun Mountains stretch from west to east, separating Qinghai from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. At the junction of today's Goluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Xinghai County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, there is a fault zone that separates the Kunlun Mountains and the Jishi Mountains. Separated from each other, this is the only road from Qinghai to Tibet. The northern end of this passage is Huashi Gorge. After leaving Huashi Gorge, you enter the famous source area of the Yellow River - Xingxiu Sea, namely Eling Lake, Zhaling Lake. In the early Tang Dynasty, Li Jing once led Hou Junji and Li Daozong to attack Tuyuhun. He first defeated the Tuyuhun army in Dafeichuan, and then pursued the remaining Tuyuhun troops along this fault zone, reaching Xingxiu Sea, looking at Jishi Mountain, and setting up a monument as a record.
"General Guo! You command the rear army to set up camp here! We must dig trenches, build forts, and watch towers, and arrange all kinds of powerful crossbows, especially the new gadgets I brought from Goguryeo!" Let the Tibetan people dare not even look at it! Remember, the safety of the army depends on you. Without my order, you cannot leave here!" Xue Rengui pointed to a hillock not far away and ordered.
"I will obey your orders!" Guo Daifeng's face was full of displeasure. Even he could see that Xue Rengui had chosen an impeccable camping site - this hill was isolated and abrupt, located exactly in the center of the valley. There was a high bulge in the surrounding woods, and no one could get around it without being noticed. The most important thing is that there are two springs with a lot of water on the hillock, and there is a small river at the bottom of the hillock. There is no need to worry about the drinking water problem of the army. As long as the Tang army controls this place, the worst case scenario is to retreat and stalemate.
But on the other hand, Xue Rengui's arrangement also kicked him out of the ranks of those who had achieved great achievements. Yes, everyone knew the importance of protecting baggage, but no one would think of him when calculating military achievements. His only All he could do was watch the infantry digging soil, cutting trees, building forts, and waiting for news of victory. This was not why he left the prosperity of Chang'an and came to Longyou to endure hardship.
"General Guo!" Ashina Daozhen could see Guo Daifeng's displeasure. He hesitated and said: "If you don't want to guard the rear camp, why not change with me! Let me guard the rear camp, you and the manager Go and lead the front army!”
"How is this possible!" Xue Rengui didn't wait for Guo Daifeng's answer, and immediately rejected Ashina Daozhen's proposal: "A small half of the cavalry in the former army are Turks. Who else can dispatch it except you? Things are nothing but child's play, how can they be changed at will?"
The smile on Guo Daifeng's face suddenly solidified, and soon turned into resentment. He bit his lips and said coldly: "Don't worry, you two. Although Guo doesn't have much ability, he can still dig soil and defend the camp. Okay! Just go ahead and make great achievements, and leave some leftovers for me in the end!"
Everyone could smell the strong sour smell from Guo Daifeng's words, but it was immediately overwhelmed by the stronger smell of blood and gunpowder smoke, yes! Immediately is the opportunity to make a contribution. Go straight in. The enemies are only the old, weak, women, children and livestock. What else can be simpler than this task?
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Huashi Gorge.
It was dark, and the smell of lichen and fir trees wafted in the air along with the cold wind blowing from the plateau. Waves of white mist drifted from the mountains, and people struggled to drive their livestock through the rocks and toward the valley in the distance. No one spoke, only the sound of sharp breathing and the braying of cattle and horses. Everyone knew , time is life, the ferocious enemies are already chasing you, and their sharp claws and fangs are about to touch your vest!
Hurry up and hurry up, it's still past twelve o'clock, and you can only get another leave request! This chapter counts as the 16th. There’s another chapter today!
(End of chapter)
