Just after noon, the sky was covered by a few clouds, giving people a kind of oppressive gloom.It's late autumn, but I can't hold back the warmth. Occasionally, a cool breeze blows, and the scattered dead leaves are rolled up and danced coquettishly on the wide and straight Suzaku Street.From a distance, the ancient city looks a bit old and gloomy; but it cannot be denied that this is still the city of the bustling world, and it is still the eternal center of the empire. The glazed tiles of the Daming Palace are no longer glamorous, as if they were an old man who had witnessed the success or failure of the rise and fall.The blue-gray bricks and stones are covered with moss, covering up the traces of the swords and blood that happened here, and softening the eternal cold seriousness of the city wall.Here is a palace that is unparalleled in the world, unprecedented and unprecedented.The majestic and majestic palaces, the buildings with simple shapes and elegant tones are scattered in an infinitely wide space: leaving aside the royal glory that surrounds them, this kind of spaciousness itself will make anyone who is in it stand in awe.

The well-known royal gardens are still a bit like the prosperous Tang Dynasty.The clear water of Taiye Pool reflects the verdant Penglai Mountains, a group of red carp wanders in it with waves, and the pavilions in the distance are mirrored, making it more like a fairyland.Even though the autumn wind picks off a few rows of fallen leaves, there are still abundant fruits hanging in the forest on the top of the mountain, like bright jewels.Leaning on the fence, thousands of years of prosperity and harmony have gathered here, and the warnings of being prepared for danger in times of peace have been obliterated.The owner who lives here has never thought of going out to see what the outside world looks like.

In the ninth century AD, the once mighty Tang Empire was quietly slipping into decline.The ruling class is becoming more and more decadent, ethnic conflicts are gradually intensifying, and class conflicts are very sharp. There are harassment from the southern barbarians outside and Heshuo soldiers on the inside.Years of natural disasters, man-made disasters, successive earthquakes and famines have made life increasingly difficult for the once proud and wealthy people in this dynasty.However, it is this magnificent Chang'an City, and it is this luxurious Daming Palace that feeds the gentry and officials to drink and have fun.As the master of the Tang Empire, Emperor Yizong was even more licentious and fatuous: he held banquets with delicious food and wine every day, and traveled all over the mountains and rivers every month.In order to cater to the extravagance of the emperor, to fill the huge emptiness of the national treasury, and to satisfy their ever-expanding selfish desires, the courtiers of the Southern Yamen and the eunuchs of the Beisi had no choice but to increase taxation and taxation—thus, the people of the world were forced to rise up.During the Xiantong period, a massive Pang Xun uprising shocked the court and the public.Three years later, Emperor Yizong died.The fifth son of the emperor, Prince Pu Li Xuan, who was only twelve years old, was helped to the throne of the emperor.At this time, the extravagance of the imperial palace is increasing, the imperial court is constantly using troops, and the collection of taxes is becoming more and more urgent; Kanto has been flooded and droughted for years, and the prefectures and counties have not heard the truth, and the upper and lower sides have misunderstood each other; The barren west is barren, the land is full of hunger, and the people all over the country have nothing to complain about, so they rise up one after another.In the deep winter of the first year of Qianfu (874 A.D.), in Puyang, a leader named Wang Xianzhi, who sells illicit salt, was brewing a peasant uprising that would overthrow the entire Tang Empire...

A ray of breeze pulled the idle cloud slightly out of half of the body, and the soft afternoon sunlight reflected the shadow of the huge eaves protruding from the gate of the Six Kings Courtyard on the gentle but solemn stone steps.Beside the bottom stone steps, Zheng Tian, ​​the minister of the Ministry of War, had a stern expression with some anxious expressions, and he was tightly clutching the folded newspaper sent by the former enemy in his hand.According to the folded newspaper, Wang Xianzhi, the grass thief in Puyang, led the crowd to plot rebellion.However, Caozhou's defenders have defeated the grass bandits under the guise of the emperor's grace.Thinking of this, Zheng Tian felt anxious.His intuition told him that this superficial announcement of the good news was just an illusion, and perhaps under it, there was a huge energy that was not noticed and was constantly accumulating.

Behind Zheng Tian, ​​a burly old man with white beard and hair was pacing back and forth with his head down.It wasn't hot, but beads of sweat were oozing from his forehead, and deep wrinkles were carved on his weather-beaten face.Although he was wearing a gorgeous silk robe and official uniform, it couldn't conceal the mighty power of this old general.Suddenly, he stopped by Zheng Tian's side and looked along the long steps. There was still no one at the end of the steps. "Taiwen, I'm going back!" The old general squeezed out a few words suddenly between his teeth, as if he had made up his mind, but also seemed to be infinitely helpless, "The little emperor is still at the mercy of that eunuch, you go and beg him for fear." There is no result!" Then he turned around and walked away.

"Brother Jin, stay a step!" Zheng Tian hurriedly took a step and grabbed the old general's sleeve.The veteran was named Jin He, who was the deputy envoy of the Zhongwu Army at the time, and had a friendship with Zheng Tian for nearly 20 years.Jin He was upright and upright, he let his temper go with everything, but he let it be on his face if he didn't like it at all.This time when he returned to Beijing to report on his duties, he was demoted three ranks by the emperor because he refused to flatter and give gifts to the chief eunuch Tian Lingzi.Zheng Tian couldn't be more familiar with his general's temper.

"Brother, don't think about yourself, you have to think about the people of the world. These days I have been restless, and I have a feeling that if the grass thieves are not eradicated, the world will be in chaos! Looking at the Central Plains towns, they are all rats, either looking for their own profit, or cheating My elder brother is the only one who is resourceful, courageous, loyal and trustworthy. If my brother is demoted, I fear that there will be no more peace in the Central Plains!" "Ah!" Jin He lowered his head to look at the shadows of the two, and sighed, "I'm afraid the little emperor won't be able to be the master!"

"The matter is already like this, and we have to wait for the meeting to discuss it." Just as he was talking, the little eunuch's drawn-out voice came from the end of the high steps: "The emperor has an order. Send the servant of the Ministry of War, Zheng Tian, ​​and General Zhongwu Jinhe to have an audience." Zheng Tian hastily corrected his official hat and dusted In the large vermilion official uniform, he adjusted the fish belt with gold-edged patterns on his waist that symbolized his official position, and then walked up the stairs cautiously; Jin He let out another breath, shook his head, He followed Zheng Tian unhurriedly.

The two of them passed through a series of newly decorated courtyard gates, and came to the backyard under the guidance of the little eunuch.Seeing that the emperor was frolicking with several princes in the middle of the courtyard, Zheng Tian hurriedly knelt down at this end of the courtyard: "My subject, Zheng Tian, ​​sees the emperor." The loud voice suddenly startled two crows from the rockery. The emperor followed the voice and looked towards the other side of the courtyard. At that moment, he met Jin He's eyes.It was the first time for Jin He to see the little emperor, and it was only then that he saw clearly that he was just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy, with innocence and confusion written on his immature face.Zheng Tian hurriedly tugged on Jin He's sleeve, and Jin He was relieved. Although he was a little reluctant, he could only kneel down obediently.

"Zheng Aiqing, wait a moment, I will ask you later." Li Xuan, the king of the Tang Dynasty, was not happy at the moment. Just now he was fighting geese with his younger brothers in the yard, and his beloved goose was alone. Inadvertently being pecked in the eye by King Shou's goose, this made him very unhappy.And Zheng Tian unexpectedly came to the yard at this time. At this time, another little eunuch hurriedly ran from the backyard with a big snow-white goose in his arms. This made Li Xuan smile a little, and turned to his seventh younger brother, King Shou, who was only nine years old, and said: "Jie, do you dare to compare your gray hair with my little red one?"

"Compare!" Shou Wang Li Jie refused to admit defeat. In his immature eyes, he didn't understand the difference in identity between his elder brother who was the emperor and himself.Li Xuan didn't care about the casualness with which the brothers spoke to him.On the contrary, he likes this feeling. Whenever he faces a group of submissive ministers in the court, he always feels a little uncomfortable.So, Li Xuan and his younger brothers formed a group again, cheering for the two fighting ganders in the middle of the courtyard.The new big goose was white all over without any stray hairs, only the sarcoma on its forehead was congested into bright red, which looked very beautiful.As soon as this "one-point red" broke free from Li Xuan's hand, it showed its aggressive nature, and fiercely pounced on the gray goose opposite, pecking the gray goose of Shouwang Li Jie in just two or three strokes. Li Jie hugged the gray goose in his arms, stroked the wound, and asked: "Brother Huang, where did you get this 'A Little Red'?" Li Yan turned to a young eunuch less than ten years old standing in the corner and said, "Deshun bought it in the city, fifty cents, it's worth it!" After hearing this, Jin He couldn't help but shiver. Having won this round, Li Yan felt a little happier, and then remembered Zheng Tian who was still kneeling there, and said, "Zheng Aiqing, come here." Only then did Zheng Tian dare to stand up, dragging his numb legs Come to the emperor. "What's the matter with Aiqing?" "Your Majesty, Puyang Wang Xianzhi called himself the Great General of Tianbuping, and led Shang Junchang and others to rebel..." Before Zheng Tian could finish speaking, Li Yan interrupted: "Those grassroots thieves have been defeated by the Caozhou garrison. Aiqing is concerned about the country and the people, but there is no need to worry about the sky." "Your Majesty, although the grass bandits have been defeated, if they are not eradicated, they will cause future trouble. In addition, there are people and garrison troops in several counties and counties of Henan Province, which should not be underestimated. I implore your majesty to order the states and counties to repair the cities and strengthen their defenses. Your Majesty Then recommend one person to lead the troops to Puyang, and we will definitely wipe out the grasshoppers in one fell swoop." "Who does Ai Qing recommend?" "The former deputy envoy of Zhongwu Jiedu Jin He." After speaking, he turned sideways and let Jin He go to the emperor. Li Yan looked Jinhe up and down, and saw that this burly old man had a fierce expression on his face, "You are Jinhe? My father mentioned you to me, saying that you are ineffective in leading troops, ineffective in governing the people, old and useless, but the truth ?” Jin He frowned, and his heart skipped a beat.He understood that the "Father" mentioned by the emperor was not the late emperor, but Tian Lingzi, the great eunuch who was in power at that time.The little emperor was brought up by Tian Lingzi since he was a child. After the death of the first emperor, Tian Lingzi became more and more arrogant and domineering because he believed that he had made great achievements in supporting the new emperor.However, the emperor was young and didn't like government affairs, so he respectfully called the eunuch "Father", and entrusted Tian Lingzi to manage all affairs, big and small.This time when he returned to Beijing to report on his duties, he was demoted just because he didn't want to curry favor with such treacherous officials, and he didn't manage up and down like other officials.Presumably, Tian Lingzi had already said all the bad things about himself in front of the little emperor.Now that this is the case, wouldn't it be impossible for the emperor to accept Zheng Tian's suggestion and promote himself to be the Grand Marshal of the Army and Horses.Jin He couldn't keep his words in his mind, and replied: "Although the minister is old, he is not mediocre. Your Majesty must not let the eunuch provoke the relationship between the monarch and his ministers!" "Bold!" Li Yan scolded, "You actually spoke to me in such a tone. It seems that what my father said is true. You should be punished for the crime of deceiving the emperor. I think you are old and demoted to a commoner, go home Go retire!" Zheng Tian was shocked when he heard this: "Your Majesty, don't be rash, you must count on the lives of the people in the world!" Li Xuan thought for a while, and said, "There is no shortage of him in the majestic Tang Dynasty! Aiqing, regarding the unruly people in Henan, you passed on my order and ordered all the states and counties in Henan to suppress it. The troublemakers came to Luoyang. I just can’t figure it out, let’s leave the days of peace, but what do these grassroots have to do all day long!” "This...Your Majesty, there seems to be something wrong..." Zheng Tian frowned. "Okay, don't need to say too much, I can leave these trivial matters to my father in the future, and there is no need to report to me. Go down!" Seeing that there was no way to recover, Zheng Tian could only drag Jin He away angrily.The two walked down the long steps one after the other. Looking up, there were hundreds of fragrant flowers withered in the distance of the steps. With the cold wind, Jin He felt much more at ease.After ten years in the army and half his life as an official, he was already tired of this kind of intrigue and deception in his official career.The little emperor's words gave him a complete relief.No matter, no matter, it is a kind of luck to return to the old house in Xuzhou, guard the three acres of land, plant spring and autumn harvest to spend the dying years.Seeing that Jinhe was silent, Zheng Tian persuaded, "It's my brother's lack of consideration that caused Brother Jin to lose his official position..." "It's not your fault. The eunuchs messed up power. The emperor was young. I had expected such an ending." Jin He stopped, looked around, and said to Zheng Tian, ​​"Taiwen, I have opened my eyes today. How extravagant is this imperial palace! Look, the little emperor can spend fifty cents for a goose, do you know that this is enough for an ordinary family to spend for a year! The little emperor only knows how to play every day, how can he know? The people in Henan are so poor that they can’t get rid of it. You always talk about suppressing grasshoppers, but throughout the ages, if the common people can fill their stomachs, why do they rebel? When the flood comes, it can’t be stopped..." Zheng Tian nodded: "What my elder brother taught is true, but now the officialdom is completely dark." "Hey, I just walked away. You are caught between the little emperor and the eunuch, so you should give yourself a way out!" "When does brother plan to return home?" "I don't want to stay long, so I'll leave in two days. Oh, yes, I'm demoted this time, and I have nothing left. I want to take Hui back to his hometown. He has lived in your house all these years and has caused you trouble." "It's too outlandish to say that! It's just...it's just that Guangyuan is well-versed in civil and military affairs, has great ambitions, and meets him. It's the time to make contributions. If you just go home and farm, wouldn't you bury your talent?" Jin He was silent for a long time.Over the years, he served in the Zhongwu Army. Seven years ago, he sent his most valued son, Jin Hui, to the residence of Zheng Tian in Chang'an.In the past seven years, he has seldom fulfilled his father's responsibilities. On the contrary, Zheng Tian treated Jin Hui as his own flesh and blood.There are two favorite generals under Zheng Tian, ​​one is Meng Tu and the other is Wang Qize. Both of them are tiger generals with unique skills and have survived many battles.Zheng Tian asked these two to teach Jin Hui martial arts, and personally taught Jin Hui the strategy of war, which can be described as painstaking.Jin He knew in his heart that Zheng Tian liked his son from the bottom of his heart, and had already placed high hopes on Jin Hui, and wanted to recommend him to the Ministry of War to succeed him in the future.Now, he wanted to take Jin Hui away with a single word, even though Jin Hui was his son, it was as if a piece of flesh had been ripped out of Zheng Tian's heart.But then I thought about it again, although Zheng Tian was honest and upright, but these years he was inevitably contaminated with the habits of the court. If Jin Hui followed him into the official position, it would be difficult to keep the strong bones of the Jin family.Thinking of this, he looked ashamed, took Zheng Tian's hand and said: "Taiwen, I know what you think. These years, you have treated Guangyuan like your own flesh and blood. If I take him away, no one will be happy if I change him." It will be easy. But think about it, Guangyuan has already become a father. After looking through the credits, he can't even find his name. You and I paid for our court clothes with sweat and lives. .Since ancient times, there are very few generals who have not worked their way out of the ranks of soldiers... I plan to let Guangyuan go back to his hometown to plant land for two years, and see what the poor are eating in the pots and stoves. If there is a chance in the future, let him go to the Zhongwu Army to practice, after all, I have known a lot of people in those ten years." Zheng Tian is aware of Jin He's temperament, and always thinks about it, he will do it. It is also impossible to keep Jin Hui, just like keeping Jin He.Simply, Zheng Tian stopped talking.He had a vague premonition that the distance between Jin and his father and son was destined to make him fall into a lonely and cold situation. The troika drove Jin He's family slowly out of the Chunming Gate in the east of the city. Zheng Tian rode a snow-white gelding and led five or six entourages to send Jin He out of the fork in the road ten miles outside the city.Saying goodbye to an old friend, sprinkling wine and breaking willows is an elegant thing, but Jinhe was in a hurry, without a trace of nostalgia.Looking around, there are already flowers, dead leaves, fallen grass and wild yellow, and there is no greenness to be found.Occasionally, a white-tailed kite crosses the sky, making people feel small. Jin He got off his horse and bowed his hands to Zheng Tian: "Taiwen, you will have to say goodbye after sending you thousands of miles away. Go back earlier." Compared with his father's free and easy, Jin Hui felt a bit sad at this moment.He took two quick steps to come to Zheng Tian, ​​made a deep bow, and said "teacher take care", and he was a little choked up.The scenes of getting along with Zheng Tian in the past seven years quickly flashed through my mind. This time, I don't know when I will see you again, and the feeling of reluctance lingers in my heart.Zheng Tian said a few words of encouragement, and Jin Hui saluted the two generals Wang Qize and Meng Tu farewell. Wang Qize was about forty years old, slender, introverted and reticent.He silently untied the sword at his waist, and the dragon carved on the silver scabbard was particularly eye-catching. "Guangyuan, you and I are also masters and apprentices. When you return to Xuzhou this time, there is nothing you can give as a gift to your master. This sword has been with me for many years. You can take it as a souvenir..." "This is absolutely impossible..." Jin Hui hastily pushed back.He clearly knew that Wang Qize participated in suppressing the Pang Xun Uprising six years ago and made great achievements in battle, but he injured his right eye during the fierce battle with the grass army. The highest honor in his life, Jin Hui would never dare to accept such a gift no matter what. Wang Qize said again: "The sword follows the hero. You are a person who can accomplish great things. I am already half a useless person. Such a sword follows me. It is a pity that it is sharp. In the future, you will surely make great achievements with this sword. .” Meng Tu on the side also persuaded Jin Hui: "Guangyuan, take it! He uses this sword to kill a few rebellious thieves every day, and it will not waste us two brothers teaching you martial arts for several years!" He patted the horse beside him. A war horse with a rouge-colored mane all over his body, "Qi Ze gave me a sword, I can't be vague! This is a good horse, you may use it in the future if you take it with you." Martial arts requirements are very strict.Jin Hui had always obeyed Meng Tuyan's advice, so he had no choice but to respectfully take the sword from Wang Qize's hand. "Let's go!" His father's cold voice interrupted Jinhui's infinite sadness.Seven years of Chang'an Dream, it is hard to let go of the teacher-student relationship.Waving goodbye and looking west, how do you know the thorns ahead. Jin He clamped the horse's belly with his legs, and walked away towards the rising sun without hesitation.The troika carried the family, and under the escort of several attendants, creaked and drove towards the official road in the distance.Jin Hui bowed to the three teachers again, and then flew onto the horse.After walking a hundred steps away, he looked back and saw Zheng Tian and his party still standing at the fork in the road and looking at each other.There is a saying that there is no feast that never ends, Jin Hui made up his mind, and then he chased after his father who had gone away... The magnificent city of Chang'an gradually recedes, and the barren land on both sides becomes monotonous and boring. Having not seen his father for many years, Jin Hui had a lot to say, but at the moment of saying goodbye to the three teachers, he clearly felt strange and alienated from his father.Chang'an is his second hometown, and when he bids farewell, his father is very indifferent to the person who sees him off.These years, with treacherous ministers in power, he has been looking forward to making contributions one day, but his father insists on pulling him back to the old house, which makes Jinhui's emotions fall to the bottom.