Chapter 7 Chapter 6 The old love is not over, the general angrily reprimands Jiaoer for accumulating grievances and the eunuch blames his brother

From the summer of the second year of Mingdao until the first year of Jingyou (1033-1034 AD), Zhao Xingde left the army and devoted himself to translating Buddhist scriptures at the residence of King Cao Yanhui of Guazhou.Yanhui provided a mansion for the translation of scriptures.At the end of autumn, six Han scholars from Xingqing finally arrived in Guazhou and joined in the work of translating scriptures.The work of translating the scriptures is progressing smoothly day and night.Together with Xingde himself, there are seven people in total. They divide the scriptures into Nirvana Department, Prajna Department, Fahua Department, Agama Department, Lun Department and Dharani, and divide the work.

The weather in Guazhou is so-called "90 days of severe cold and 50 days of intense heat", and it rarely rains throughout the year.In winter and spring, the piercing cold wind blows up the yellow sand all over the sky, covering the sky and covering the earth, often for several days, until the sky is dark and the sky is dark, day and night. Xingde took on the Vajra Prajna Sutra himself, because he had read this sutra when he was in Suzhou, so it was easier to translate it.Xingde immersed himself in translating the scriptures, forgetting all the chaos around him for a while. As soon as the summer of this year entered, Zhu Wangli often led his troops out of the city to fight against the Tubo army haunting nearby.They often took some captives back to camp, including Tibetans and Uyghurs.No matter how big or small the battle is, Zhu Wangli has to go out in person, which is very hard.

But as long as Zhu Wangli did not leave the city to fight Tubo, Xingde would visit him in his luxurious mansion. One day in early autumn.Xingde went to visit Zhu Wangli who had just returned from the expedition.Zhu Wangli seemed a little excited, and Xingde felt very relieved to see him happy.It's just that Zhu Wangli never talked about the battle.Sometimes when Xingde asks stubbornly, he will only talk vaguely.His concubine was named "Jiaojiao", a young Han woman.He asked her to bring in tea.It can be seen that Zhu Wangli still likes Jiaojiao very much, and Jiaojiao is also very willing to serve Zhu Wangli.

Xingde came to Zhu Wangli many times, and always heard Zhu Wangli calling "Jiaojiao" softly. He remembered Zhu Wangli's roar when he issued an attack order on the battlefield. Compared with it, he thought it was a bit funny. One day, Xingde came to visit Zhu Wangli again.Zhu Wangli had just returned from the battlefield, and he was sitting on a chair to rest before taking off his armor.It was one of those rare sunny days with no wind, and the autumn sun shone lazily on the courtyard.After drinking tea, he took off his armor.The weather was hot and dry, so Zhu Wangli took off his inner clothes one by one.Jiaojiao deftly turned behind him and helped him undress.

"what is this?" Suddenly, Jiaojiao asked.Xingde looked towards her.Jiaojiao had Zhu Wangli's clothes on one hand, and a necklace in the other.Seeing Zhu Wangli, Xingde's eyes slowly turned to Jiaojiao.When he saw the things in Jiaojiao's hands clearly, his face changed drastically, and he shouted sharply: "Let it go!" Jiaojiao was so frightened that she quickly put the necklace on the table, stared blankly at Zhu Wangli, and dared not say a word.Zhu Wangli picked up the necklace from the table and went into the inner room.When he came back, he had regained his composure, and still called Jiaojiao softly, asking her to make tea.

When Xingde returned to his mansion, he couldn't calm down all day.Isn't Zhu Wangli's necklace exactly the same as his own?Xingde just took a look at the necklace Jiaojiao was holding, and it was enough to tell that it was exactly the same as his own.Xingde recalled that the Uighur King girl had two identical necklaces before, one of which is now in his hands, and the other seems to be in Zhu Wangli's.If so, how did Zhu Wangli get it?Would she give another necklace to someone else like she gave it to herself?Maybe Zhu Wangli snatched it from her? Acting morality is puzzling, but can't be dismissed.He thought about it again and again, and it seemed that there was no other way to find out this question except to ask Zhu Wangli himself.It wasn't until late at night that Xingde was gradually freed from this kind of meditation.In fact, the root of the problem lies in the provenance of the necklace.It can be seen from this that Zhu Wangli's affection for the Uighur princess at the beginning, and that he still can't let go of her.Of course, the details are unknown to outsiders.Having said that, I may not have the right to know those details.Indeed, she had made an appointment with herself, but she did not keep the appointment and return on time.Even so, the woman jumped off the Ganzhou city in order to show her heart, "repaying the king's kindness by dying".Isn't all this enough?As for other matters, there is no need to delve into it further.

In the end, Xingde did not ask Zhu Wangli about his relationship with the Uighur woman, nor did he mention the necklace again.Whether the necklace was hers or not, it had nothing to do with him and the woman. After more than half a month since the "necklace incident", Yu Chiguang suddenly came to Xingde's mansion again.Yu Chiguang came back from Xingqing this time, and he only stayed in Guazhou for two or three days before going to Shazhou again.Counting it, there has been no communication for a year. When Yu Chiguang came to visit, it was almost dusk, the sun was setting, and the air was cold.Yu Chiguang still had that fierce look, with sharp eyes and an aggressive look.Xingde asked him to sit down and talk, and he was not polite, he sat down on a chair, opened his mouth and said that he would not go back today without asking for clarification, and then said:

"Where did you get that string of necklaces? My eyesight is unmistakable. It is not a string of ordinary jade beads, but the best jade in Khotan, Moonlight Jade! I have traveled all over Hexi for many years. , The jade in hand is not rare, but it is the first time to see such a treasure. I don't want to win people's love, and the string of jade beads can be in your hand. I just want to get another string." "Another string?" Yu Chiguang's words startled Xingde, he couldn't help asking loudly. "Yes, there should be another string. Tell me, where is the other string. I must get it. What I want, I always have to get it. There must be a pair of this necklace. Whose hand is there?"

"I do not know either." Xingde replied. "You don't know. You just say who you got this string from, and who it is, just tell me!" "have no idea!" "Why don't you know?" Yuchi Guang's fierce appearance was revealed, but he quickly restrained his tone and said: "Why is that so, anyway, we also took a trip to Xingqing together, we can be considered friends if we are not brothers." "Anyway, I don't know." "So your necklace was stolen?" "have no idea." Yu Chiguang finally became impatient, his expression changed, and he shouted loudly:

"Don't be ignorant of flattery. I, Yu Chiguang, have never begged others so humbly." After that, he stood up, looked around, and wanted to attack Xingde again. "If you don't know, you don't know." "In that case, then give me your string." Furious, Yu Chiguang stepped forward and grabbed Xingde's lapel, but then he thought, catching this frail scholar is as easy as pie, but if he has hidden the necklace in a place where no one will notice, there is nothing you can do about it .What's more, there is still a string that falls into someone's hands. It is priceless to get a pair. Thinking of this, Yu Chiguang said kindly:

"It's better to put such precious jade in its proper place. You just hold your string and let me keep the other string. As a descendant of the Khotan Dynasty, the other string of jade beads is in my hand Come on, it can be regarded as returning to the original owner. I have to go to Liangzhou, you should think about it carefully and talk about it when I come back." After finishing speaking, Yu Chiguang walked out of the gate.Disappeared in the night outside the door. Twenty days later, Yu Chiguang returned from Liangzhou and came to Xingde's mansion again.According to him, in July last year, Li Yuanhao, the ruler of Xixia, finally crossed the border and attacked the Song Dynasty, burning, killing, looting, and plundering along the way, until Gyeongju, and only recently returned to Xingqing.Therefore, in the area east of Ganzhou in the Hexi Corridor, the people fell into a panic because the Song army was about to attack in addition to the Tubo army.But in Ganzhou City, nothing seemed to happen, and it was still a scene of peace.In fact, in the east of the city, no matter in the desert or on the grassland, Xixia and Tubo armies are deploying and fighting every day. Even a bold person like Yu Chiguang feels that this trip to Ganzhou is frightening. Shouldn't have gone.After saying this, Yu Chiguang repeated the old saying and asked: "Think about the necklace. Who did you get it from?" Xingde still answered the same sentence more than ten times: "have no idea." When Yu Chiguang heard it, he became furious and roared all of a sudden.After a while, he calmed down again and tried to persuade him.No matter what methods Yu Chiguang resorted to, Xingde still didn't know what to ask.In the end, Yu Chiguang had no choice but to ask Xingde to think carefully again, and told Xingde that he still wanted to organize a caravan to go to Gaochang and talk about it later. In the first month of the second year of Jingyou (AD 1035), Zhu Wangli's troops received the order to march.This time the Xixia army is the role of the conquest of Tubo.As the vanguard, King Zhu's Ministry of Rites attacked Qingtang, Jiaosiluo's stronghold.Xixia planned to launch a large-scale attack on Tubo before fighting the Song army, and expel Tubo's forces in Hexi in one fell swoop. In response to Zhu Wangli's summons, Zhao Xingde came to the general's residence. "Want to go?" Zhu Wangli asked straightforwardly. "Of course I want to go." Xingde replied. "Maybe he won't come back alive." "No problem." Xingde is not afraid of death.It's just that the Vajra Prajna Sutra has not been fully translated into Xixia, which is somewhat regrettable.But fate is hard to break. If he survives this time, he will continue to translate this scripture.It's been a long time since he went to war, and the excitement was palpable for a while, and Xingde was a little nervous. In the next two or three days, the troops were engaged in intense preparations, and Zhu Wangli called Xingde to the mansion again. "You should stay in the city this time, and I will give you five hundred soldiers to defend the city." Zhu Wangli said.Probably because he was afraid that Xingde would have something to say, he said again in a stern tone: "This is an order, please don't say too much." Then he explained to Xingde all the precautions for the remaining troops. On the day Zhu Wangli led 4,500 soldiers and horses to leave Guazhou, it was snowing and the outside of the city was vast.A long procession of camels and horses set off from the Chaojing Gate and headed eastward. The procession was buried in the wind and snow not long after leaving the city.Xingde and the others stood in line by the city gate until the expedition troops had completely disappeared into the dark space, unwilling to leave for a long time. From this day on, the city of Guazhou has become much deserted and quiet everywhere.Three days and three nights passed after Zhu Wangli and the others left before the blizzard gradually stopped.Xingde began to get busy, and could no longer go to the scripture translation hall of Cao Mansion every day as before.As a result, the work of translating scriptures has been greatly slowed down, but it has not stopped completely after all, and others are still working hard.Xingde moved back to the barracks. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, he had to patrol around every day.Acting morally is not like Zhu Wangli, who lacks experience in battle, so he must be prepared and strengthen his own training. When Zhu Wangli was in Guazhou, Tubo's small troops often came to harass him, and there were frequent battles with them.Now that Zhu Wangli and the others are gone, for some reason, the harassment by the Tubo army has also stopped.Tubo may have drawn all the small troops in the vicinity to the big battlefield in the east to participate in the decisive battle. After six full months, the news of the battlefield in the east came.The messengers sent by Zhu Wangli were three strong Han soldiers, and they brought a letter.Xingde took it apart and saw that the letter was written in Xixia script, which was very short. It may have been dictated by Zhu Wangli and written by someone else. "Yuan Hao has led an army to attack Yak City for more than a month, but the enemy has not surrendered. He made peace with him, and after opening the city, he carried out mass killings. Our department lost 500 people, and we are going to attack Jiaosiluo's headquarters, Qingtang tomorrow." "Our department lost 500 people." It seems that it should refer to the loss of King Zhu's Ministry of Rites.Another month and a half later, one day in the middle of August, the second batch of messengers sent by Zhu Wangli returned to Guazhou City.What was brought was still a battle report.This time it is written in Chinese characters. "Our army is attacking Qingtang. All the detachments are safe and stationed in Zonghe and other fronts. An Ziluo, the general of Jiaosiluo, cut off my return. Our army is attacking Daixingling. It has been more than two months since we have been fighting day and night. Lost three thousand men." The last battle report was written in Xixia script, but this time it was written in Chinese. People who knew Xixia script may have been among the 3,000 people lost.But in any case, it is still impossible to see from the text of the battle report whether the development of the battle situation is beneficial to the Xixia Army.The "loss of 3,000 people" mentioned at the end is, after all, a great loss.Adding up the 500 people mentioned earlier, King Zhu's Ministry of Rites has lost four-fifths.The envoy this time was originally sent by the left behind troops in Guazhou City to deliver the letter, and he did not go directly to the front to join the battle, so apart from what the letter said, he did not know anything else.At the beginning of November, I received the third battle report from Zhu Wangli.This time it was simpler than the previous two times, and it was still written in Chinese characters. "Fighting in Fandi for more than 200 days, Jiao Siluo was defeated and fled to the south, our troops were ordered to withdraw. Yuan Hao also led his headquarters to Guazhou." Judging from the text of this letter alone, after a long period of conquest, Li Yuanhao finally drove Tubo's jiaosiluo out of his nest. His intention of leading the army to march west this time may be to take advantage of the victory to seize Gua and Shazhou. The city of Guazhou, which had been quiet all along, became tense again.On the one hand, it is necessary to prepare to welcome the Ritual Department of King Zhu who has returned in triumph, and on the other hand, it is necessary to arrange tents for the headquarters of the Xixia Army, which will arrive later.Zhao Xingde made a special trip to Cao Yanhui's house to discuss with him how to deal with these matters.On Yanhui's usually relaxed face, he looked a little nervous, and he said slowly: "This matter is no small matter. After all, it cannot be avoided." It seemed that he had expected it long ago, but he didn't know whether he was happy or worried about this sudden incident.But soon Xingde saw that Yanhui's body was trembling due to shock.He whispered in his mouth, his voice was very weak. "Oh, I was unfortunately right. People often say that Shazhou's brother Xianshun is a shrewd person, but in my opinion it is just the opposite. This incident is a clear proof. When Xixia invaded Suzhou, he should be like I am the same, submitting to the table to show my submission." Yanhui raised his head, his eyes wandered, and finally stopped at a point in the air, and continued with a dull expression: "Thinking about it again and again, it is indeed not an easy task. The Xixia army must pass through Guazhou this time to attack Shazhou. When the army passes by, it will definitely burn Buddhist pagodas, destroy temples, conscript men into the army, and rob women as slaves. Even the Buddhist scriptures that have been hidden for many years will be destroyed. I have persuaded it a long time ago, but my brother was against it at the time, and it is too late to regret it now." Yanhui moved to Xingde, as if there was no one in front of him, talking to himself, nagging non-stop. Xingde thinks that Yanhui has always been brooding about his brother Jiedu Envoy Cao Xianshun, and today he vomited the long-standing block in his heart, and what he said was all words from the heart.Yanhui sat on the chair and rested for a while, then stood up and walked to Xingde and said: "My brother is doomed this time, and his life is over. The Xixia army will flatten Shazhou, destroy the Buddhist caves in Mingsha Mountain, burn 17 big temples, and loot all the Buddhist classics. bitter." Xingde saw that Yanhui's face was full of sadness after he finished speaking, and two lines of muddy tears flowed down his cheeks.