Chapter 5 Chapter 5: The Boys of the Country

The seeds of the collapse and continuation of the empire were planted at this time.The party that caused the collapse was Zhao Ji, Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others, and the seeds of continuation were divided by this newly born child surnamed Yue, which already existed in this world. From now on, we must keep an eye on their growth and observe from the closest distance what a group of people who saved an era are like.How they were born, how they grew up, how they prospered, how they withered...or how they fell. This newly born child surnamed Yue was the youngest of the group, and the others had already grown up.The oldest one was surnamed Zhang. He was born in 1086 AD at the age of seventeen.Northwest Chengji people (now Tianshui, Gansu).This is a hometown of famous generals, a hometown of famous generals, and sometimes it is equivalent to a poor town.Tianshui is geographically remote and the products are barren. The boy surnamed Zhang is just a child of an ordinary family. It is conceivable how he grew up.

It will be difficult. Generally speaking, this is a good thing. Heaven will send a great mission to people, and they must first work hard on their minds and muscles... As long as they survive this test, the tenacity of the heart and the steadfastness of the integrity will be unbreakable.But if he can't get through it, or in other words, will his mind be damaged during the process? That's hard to say. At the turn of spring and summer in 1103 A.D., under the fierce northwest sunlight, a boy surnamed Zhang silently bowed his head and walked towards his own destiny.He went into the barracks and became an archer.

No one pays attention to his name, the huge military camp, he is just one of the short weeds, his future?If everything is normal, everything is normal, you will always be a soldier. His name is Zhang Jun, and his style name is Boying. The second oldest child's surname is Han. Zhang Jun is so humble that no one pays attention to him, but this young man surnamed Han is so famous that no one dares not to recognize him.He was born in 1089 A.D., and his hometown was Yan'an in the northwest (now Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province). Because he's such a jerk. The young man surnamed Han is extremely happy every day. He has no family and no job, both parents are dead, one person is full, and the world is open.Of course, while he was full, the local people in Yan'an were really depressed.

Han Juvenile was born with supernatural powers. According to legend, after he was in his early tenth year, all grown-up men in Yan'an had nightmares.Ten-year-old children can beat them until their heads are bloodied, their noses are bruised and their faces are swollen. You know, that is the Great Northwest where the folk customs are strong, and the folk men are often no worse than the soldiers in the army. If it's just violence, it's okay to say that the boy surnamed Han looks rude, but in fact he is so shrewd that it makes people dizzy, which makes people unable to live.Not to mention trying to lie to him, even making fun of him is dangerous.When he was about fourteen years old, an incident happened that made the locals laugh at him, and they were deeply jealous, so they were more careful when facing him.

That incident should have been left in history, the two protagonists involved are legendary figures, especially the prophet, who is like a living god, because the calculation is accurate.But the development of the matter was so unexpected that the prophet was ashamed to leave his name. That day, someone approached Han Juvenile and said——the king should be a great noble, ranking among the three princes. The three men are Situ, Sima, and Sikong.Since ancient times, the top three leaders in the DPRK and China.Who doesn't like to hear such blessings, besides, Han Juvenile will really go down in history and become the pillar minister of the country, so he didn't talk nonsense at all.

But when Han Juvenile heard this, he suddenly became furious, knocked the man down in the street, and beat him violently, leaving his body covered in cuts and bruises. How dare you scold me in person!Who am I, a street gangster in a remote mountainous area, unexpectedly Sangong, I didn't know you until I hit you! This is Han Juvenile's style, his fists are mighty, and he can make the opponent's head bleed if he wants to mess with anyone, even if he is facing a super general of a super powerful nation in the future.And he is very shrewd and calm, no flattery, flattery, scams, traps, basically any crooked ways can't be hidden from him.

In the spring of 1103 A.D., Han Juvenile was still happy and at ease, and it would be another four years before he suddenly woke up, tired of this idle and wandering life, and went to the military camp to become a soldier. His surname is Han, his first name is Shizhong, and his style name is Liangchen. The third oldest child is surnamed Liu, who was also born in 1089 AD. From the data, it is impossible to compare who is older or younger between him and the boy surnamed Han. However, for various reasons, including his character problems, from ancient times to the present, he has never No one ranked him above Han Boy.

Liu Juannian is the only young man in the country who was born in a family of famous generals. His father's name is Liu Yanqing.This means that Liu Juvenile has been exposed to professional soldiers since he was a child, and let him receive training with the goal of becoming a professional soldier. With such a background and systematic study, he should have been the bravest, wisest and most professional soldier among all the youngsters, making an unparalleled contribution to the country.But the amazing thing is that educational talents can never compare with self-awakening talents. Because self-awakening and self-improvement are called geniuses.

His name is Liu Guangshi, his style name is Uncle Ping, and he is from Baoanjun (now Zhidan County, Shaanxi). The above three people plus the child surnamed Yue will be the last screen of the Han nation when the Central Plains of Shenzhou Bandang fell 30 years later. They are the strongest heroes, each with its own uniqueness, enough to overwhelm other heroes in the world. Except for a pair of biological brothers. These are two teenagers surnamed Wu. They stand far between the hills and highlands in the southwestern border of the country, guarding the land of Shuchuan.This is the deadliest lot.

Since ancient times, if Chinese dynasties want to unify the world and become emperors, they must first conquer Shuchuan in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.For example, in the Qin Dynasty, after the acquisition of Shuchuan, the national power increased greatly, and then went down the river, and the areas along the Yangtze River were like a broken bamboo, and they were solved easily.During the Three Kingdoms period, Jin first defeated Western Shu and then destroyed Eastern Wu. This was the routine. If you don't do this, you will have to line up on both sides of the Yangtze River and attack hard. As long as there is a slight mistake, hundreds of thousands of horses will be thrown into the water like Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

Shuchuan is so important, one can imagine the heavy burden of the young man surnamed Wu.It is no exaggeration to say that without their efforts, there would be no room for the first four generals to perform, let alone the chance for the Han people to take a breather and re-establish their country. They are the Gemini constellations shining in the southwestern frontier. They have been invincible in all their lives. They are the ones who will fight against the foreign race first and win the battle after 27 years. At the turn of spring and summer in 1103 A.D., the elder brother among the teenagers surnamed Wu was ten years old, and he was still living in his hometown of Deshunjun Longgan (now Jingning, Gansu), and soon moved to Shuiluo City (now Zhuanglang, Gansu).This place is too far away from the land of Shuchuan, and he couldn't see it even when he climbed the highest mountain, just as he couldn't see his later fate. His name is Wu Jie, whose name is Jinqing; his younger brother's name is Wu Lin, whose name is Ting. To sum up, the six people mentioned above have one thing in common. They are all from the north. Except for the child surnamed Yue, the other five are all from the Northwest.This is not a coincidence, they have a common origin, they are all fighters of the Northwest Legion of the Empire. The glorious Northwest Army, the tired Northwest Army, and the suffering Northwest Army. The strange thing is that their leader is a Shuchuan native. This Shuchuan native was very young, only six years older than the youngest child surnamed Yue. He was born in 1097 in Mianzhu, Hanzhou (now Mianzhu, Sichuan).He has a lot of background. Zhang Jiugao, the younger brother of Zhang Jiuling, the famous prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, is his ancestor. In the spring of 1103 AD, he was only six years old, but he was already an orphan.He is completely different from other children, he is silent all day long, the spring outside the door, and the children's fights are far away from him, so he shuts himself in the room and concentrates on studying.He wants to become famous, take the most orthodox path, and be the biggest official.This is his ideal.Soon after, he will set off from Shuchuan and head for the capital along the road that Su Shi walked that year. He will be a student of the National University. At that time, he himself didn't know that, with the goal of being a glorious civil servant, he worked hard, and he would spend the rest of his life mingling with the soldiers, vying to be the biggest leader, and often being beaten to the point of bleeding . His name is Zhang Jun, and his style name is Deyuan. The spring of 1103 A.D. passed like this, and everyone ran towards their own destiny.On this extremely wide stage, the main theme is still Zhao Ji.His life is everything. In the spring of this year, Zhao Ji was excited and joyful, and his wish was realized step by step. The first step is the most important, it is the foundation of the future, so it must be done well. Build a new house. The original palace was nice, but not his style.The house he lives in must not only be luxurious, but also fully functional.It must not only be fully functional, but also profound in meaning.For example, the first two palaces were built, Jingling Palace and Yuanfu Palace.The Jingling Palace has the meaning of inheritance. It has existed since the Zhenzong period. It was burned down during the Liu E era, and he came to rebuild it at this time. Yuan Fu is a symbol of an era. The last reign of his great brother Zhezong, and the new palace named after this name represents his determination to continue on his brother's glorious path. The two palaces were built quickly and were completed in AD 1103.The next year, he had a new idea.In ancient times, Dayu's ability to control water has been used throughout the ages. When the Xia Dynasty was founded, the gold of Shenzhou was collected to cast the Jiuding, which became a symbol of imperial power.It's a pity that it happened tens of thousands of years ago. The Jiuding was robbed and burned. I don't know where it went. The emperors of all dynasties shook their heads and passed it down as a legend from generation to generation. Zhao Ji is not like this. It is his turn to be the emperor, to be the classic of the classics, to achieve perfection to a complete degree. He read the ancient books and recast the Jiuding. After the casting, he built nine palaces to the south of the Taiyi Palace to house them.Each of these nine palaces has a city wall with a short wall for patrolling, which is called 睥着.The colors of each scorpion are different, echoing the tripod in the temple, which is a metaphor for the land of China.A long wall was built outside the nine halls, and the inside of the wall was collectively called "Jiucheng Palace". After repairing these, Zhao Ji quietly asked Cai Jing in joy: "My Prime Minister, do you still have any money at hand?" Cai Jing was very relaxed. The monarchs and ministers looked at each other and smiled, okay, let's continue to practice. If you continue to cultivate, the relationship will not be in order.Some people are very upset. You Cai Jing contracted the previous project. Do you need to consider other people's feelings for the next one? The eunuchs in the palace have opinions. As an accomplice, Tong Guan has always maintained his dignity. He is not someone who hides behind the scenes and acts as an unknown boss. There are others of that type, and he is incomparable.What he wants is real power and limelight.As far as the present is concerned, such a good job as repairing the palace must not be squeezed to the periphery. He teamed up with the four eunuchs Yang Jian, Jia Xiang, He Fu, and Lan Congxi to come up with a plan. As soon as it came out, it immediately made Zhao Ji's eyes shine and Cai Jing's heart shuddered. As expected of someone who has been working inside the palace, he pointed out the flaws of the Song Dynasty palace. According to this plan, the world will change immediately, and the charm of the Song Dynasty palace will be doubled. Kaifeng City was the greatest, most magnificent, richest, and most commercial capital in ancient China, but the size of the Song Dynasty's imperial palace before Zhao Ji was the smallest in all Zhengshuo dynasties.The circumference is only five miles, which is 2,300 meters.What is this enough to do, even if it is carved and painted, it is too cramped. So, to expand. It is not an expansion, but a supplement.The supplementary building is also in line with the identity of the eunuch, just a big dining hall.This canteen is called Yanfu Palace, and it was specially used by the emperor to have dinner with ministers. It was built outside the Gongchen Gate in the north of Da Nei.The name is big, but the scale is small. If you think about the circumference of the place where the emperor and empress lived is only 2,300 meters, you will know what it can be like. The plan proposed by the five eunuchs was to tear down the northern wall of the imperial city, tear down the original Yanfu Palace, and build a palace complex based on the overall area of ​​the original palace. The palace complex is divided into five areas, each of which is covered by five eunuchs.These five guys ran to the places where money is hidden, such as the pile storage, the internal treasury, and the national treasury. , but a competitive mechanism, which cannot be compared in any case. What does the Yanfu Palace look like after all this tossing, let me list some raw data. The new palace reaches Jinglongmen in the east, Tianbomen in the west, pavilions, pavilions, palaces and waterside pavilions, all the architectural forms of ancient China are readily available.There are seven seats in the hall: Mu Qing, Cheng Ping, Hui Ning, Rui Mo, Ning He, King Kun, and Qun Yu. The pavilion is divided into two groups, east and west. Eastside Huifu, Baoqiong, Pantao, Chunjin, Dieqiong, Fenfang, Liyu, Hanxiang, Fuyun, Yangai, Cuibao, Qianying, Yunjin, Lanxun, Fifteen Pavilions of Gold; Fanying, Xuexiang, Pifang, Qianhua, Qionghua, Fangqi, Jiangye, Jiahua, Luyi, Yaobi, Qingyin, Qiuxiang, Congyu, Fuyu, Jiangyun fifteen pavilions in the west. Beyond this, stones are piled up to form a mountain, and two super large pavilions are built, which are eleven feet high and twelve feet wide.How can such a tall pavilion not face the water?Your Excellency dug a pond and filled it with water, with a width of 400 feet and a length of 267 feet. After all these were covered, Zhao Ji came in and walked around, shaking his head while walking.Although the scenery is good, it is too sculpted, it is all artificial weather... What annoyance, this group of things without artistic cells, uneducated is too scary. Facing the new request from the emperor, Tong Guan and other eunuchs bowed their heads in shame. No matter how brave they are, this kind of task is really impossible for them to handle.Tong Guan looked at Cai Jing reluctantly, still only this person could satisfy His Majesty's desire for talents. Decorating a palace complex is the same as painting a painting. The gully in the chest and the high vision are indispensable.Cai Jing has already proved this point with two practical actions. One was painting for Zhao Ji in Hangzhou and selecting antiques, and the other was when he built the Jingling Palace in front of him. The construction of palaces in the past dynasties is nothing more than inlaying gold and silver, or carving bricks and painting tiles, all of which are man-made art.Cai Jing was ingenious. He transported 4,600 pieces of Taihu stones from Suzhou and Huzhou in the south of the Yangtze River.Taihu stones are famous for their natural beauty in various poses and with different poses. When they are subtly embedded in the palace, they immediately burst into a lively atmosphere amidst the grandeur, uprightness and rigidity. Zhao Ji was fascinated all of a sudden, he had never been out of Kaifeng City in his life, he had only read thousands of books but never traveled hundreds of miles, how could he have seen these masterpieces of nature?Unbearable, really unbearable, he ordered to set up a special department in Jiangnan to collect these worthless stones for him. Stone has been with him for the first half of his life ever since. At this time, Yanfu Palace was completed, and Zhao Ji was looking forward to it, what surprises could Cai Jing bring him. One day, Cai Jing entered the palace very refreshed, almost without bringing anything, if anything, there were only two or three servants carrying a bamboo bed covered with a yellow silk handkerchief. The thing covered with a yellow silk handkerchief was obviously a tribute to the emperor. How could Tong Guan and other eunuchs let go of such a sensitive moment, and they all ran over to observe Cai Jing's tricks up close.From their point of view, this bamboo bed is very small and light, and it is destined not to be able to lift heavy things, and the things inside are definitely not very expensive. You guessed it right, the yellow handkerchief was lifted, and there was a piece of verdant green below, but there were only three or two small boxwood trees. Look up the dictionary, boxwood belongs to the boxwood family and the genus boxwood, and it is an evergreen shrub in woody plants.It is generally used in garden cultivation or as a green fence.There is a little bit of ornamental value. After all, it does not bloom or bear fruit, so it is really not elegant. Tong Guan and the other eunuchs were discouraged, but Zhao Ji's eyes sparkled... He spends his time in the elegant hall every day, and he is almost vomited. What is rare now is the country and nature. The more folk, the more high-end! He fell in love with this cluster of greenery, and said to Cai Jing on the spot, even if I love you to collect as many of these things as I love them.From this, he set the tone. In the newly built Yanfu Palace Group, everything is based on nature. Therefore, in this palace group which is equivalent to the entire large inner area, all kinds of strange plants come from all over the country continuously, reaching the level of "cold pines and strange rocks, strange flowers and trees, fighting for strangeness and beauty"; Integrating birds, animals, and aquariums into one garden, there are sections such as "Turtle Pavilion, Crane Village, Deer Village, Peacock Pen, and Scale Pond". Just like this, Zhao Ji is still dissatisfied, it is still too royal and too mainstream, Cai Qing's family, think again.Cai Jing thought about it again, and said that His Majesty will go shopping here first, so you should go back to rest and play other things first, and come back in two days. When he came back a few days later, Zhao Ji got his wish. At that time, he saw the scene in front of him, which was the same as when Grandma Liu first entered the Grand View Garden in the legend.I was completely dumbfounded and didn't understand anything, but I just loved watching it. What he saw in front of him was a patchwork of tall and short houses in the style of thatched cottages with bamboo fences. The style was very novel, and there were several country shops with blue curtains hanging on every other block. This is not the weather in the north, this is the legendary small village in the south of the Yangtze River... It is the feeling that the small boxwood tree gave him, this is the taste!Zhao Ji was satisfied in this novel world, and felt that the emperor was very successful in this way. It didn't cost much money, and it also showed a unique taste. Up to this point, Zhao Ji has successfully enjoyed material life (palace gardens) and artistic life (natural scenery). What is next? After all, life must continue and enjoyment requires innovation. With Zhao Ji's talent, he can't stop of. Soon, an affliction came to him, and it was said that this affliction was almost common to all human beings, and no one could escape or control it.But Zhao Ji successfully solved it, and thus created an immortal legend. Zhao Ji's son problem. He is the emperor, and besides going to court, he also has to work overtime when he returns to the harem. The crown prince and prince should reserve more.After all, too many lessons from the past reminded him that Emperor Zhenzong, Emperor Renzong, and Emperor Zhezong all stumbled over the issue of their sons, which affected the national economy and people's livelihood. When it was Zhao Ji's turn, the problem still existed, as if Zhao Guangyi's descendants were cursed, and it was difficult to have a son.During the crisis, good luck came, or to be precise, a living god came. A Taoist priest named Liu Hunkang went around Kaifeng and told Zhao Ji that as long as the land in the northeast corner of the capital was elevated, princes would be born in batches. . can you?Zhao Ji was skeptical, but he didn't need to dig the soil with his own hands, so he would rather believe it and try it.The thing is so strange, since the terrain in the northeast corner became higher, the concubines in the harem suddenly conceived collectively, and a series of boys were really born! In the face of hard facts, everyone must bow their heads.Zhao Ji was convinced, and since then he has faith, and even thinks of tradition.Your Majesty Zhenzong, my great-grandfather, it really makes sense for you to believe in Taoism back then. In order to express his gratitude to Taoism, and to make his son more, Zhao Ji ordered to double the height of the already raised northeast corner of the capital, making it into a mountain, and then lengthening it into a mountain range. It was built by the current emperor for the heir of the successor, so it was named Longevity Mountain; because it is located in the northeast corner, it is calculated based on the innate gossip azimuth, and it is in the position of "Gen", also known as Gen Yue. Gen Yue is the greatest building in the history of the Song Dynasty. It is a masterpiece that integrates civil engineering, landscape, birds, animals, pearls and jade, and illusion within the territory of the country. It was the most important nationwide movement mobilized by the highest administrative power. . The things produced in this way are definitely rare treasures in human history. It is built in three steps. The first step, in the seventh year of Song Zhenghe, broke ground in 1117 AD.At the beginning, it was rough work, that is, piled up soil to form mountains, and was in charge of Meng Kui, the servant of the household department of the administrative official.The project site is located in the east of the Baolu Palace in the Shangqing Dynasty. The shape of the mountain follows the Phoenix Mountain in Hangzhou, reaching the extent of more than ten miles in length and ninety steps in height. After that, the power was handed over, and the second step was in charge of a great eunuch in the harem. The status of this eunuch is detached, and he is a unique existence in the palace of Zhao Ji's era.For example, the group of Yanfu palaces in front of them are dazzling enough, and those who can preside over construction affairs are a symbol of status. Cai Jing couldn't grab it, and Tong Guan was so strong that he had to share it with four colleagues.And Gen Yue's project is so big that this person is actually in charge of it alone. Does it need to be said what his status is? The eunuch's surname is Liang, and his name is Shicheng.To put it quietly, whether it was at that time or in modern times, this name is very speechless.Every time I see this name, it reminds me of the name Liang Qichao, the great sage in the Republic of China, gave to his talented second son. Liang Shengren doesn't know the inside story?Impossible, he himself wrote "The Biography of Wang Jinggong", even if Wang Anshi's political achievements are discussed, he is a master figure in the history of Song Dynasty; or does he not love his son?What's even more strange is that the second son of Liang is personable and accomplished in his studies. He is the leading archaeologist and master of architecture in New China. He even married Lin Huiyin, one of the most talented women at that time. Why? Strange too. There are still many such question marks. For example, in recent years, when many parents gave their beloved daughters a nickname or a nickname, they all called them Yuanyuan.Damn it, don't they know that the girls named Yuanyuan in history, such as Chen Yuanyuan and Li Yuanyuan, are the pacesetters in what industry? Strange too.If you don't read history, at least read it.