The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Chapter 355 Bandits
After Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai decided to take the college examination, the Sheng family began to get busy.

The hospital examination is different from the county examination and the government examination. Not only does it take several days, but you will be trapped in a small cubicle for eating, drinking, and drinking. The examination location is not in Yangzhou City, but in Jinling City several hundred miles away.

It is not easy to go out in this era, let alone the means of transportation, even the risks along the way are not small.

Fortunately, Sheng Hong was an official in Yangzhou, and his family was well-off, so he prepared a carriage for Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai.

In order for his sons to pass the college entrance examination, Sheng Hong asked Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai to leave two months in advance and live in Jinling City for a month to familiarize themselves with the examination environment.

For safety on the road, Wang Gang and the others took the official route, and the old lady even sent Master Liao to accompany them.

Master Liao took Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai to sit in the carriage, and a dozen servants of the Sheng family followed outside. People who didn't know it thought some important person was traveling.

It's impossible not to engage in such a big scene. Now the outside world is not peaceful, even the official road will encounter bandits.

Fortunately, the official road was relatively safe, and Wang Gang and his group had so many people that they did not encounter any danger on the road for two days.

Sitting in the carriage, Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai were not idle, holding books all day long, and sometimes Master Liao would test them, so they were not lonely on the road.

"Have you ever thought about what kind of official you want to be after you pass the exam?" Master Liao asked Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai.

Sheng Changbai said without hesitation: "I want to rule the world like my grandfather, and deserve to enjoy the Taimiao."

Sheng Changbai's idol has always been grandpa Wang Taishi, so it's not surprising to have such an ideal.

Master Liao was unmoved, and looked at Wang Gang again.

Wang Gang lowered his head and thought for two seconds before he said: "I want to regain Yanyun, unify the Central Plains, make the people live and work in peace, and there will be no more wars and disputes in the world."

Sheng Changbai looked at Wang Gang in surprise, and he probably didn't expect his younger brother to have such a big ideal. It would be very difficult to recover Yanyun alone, and the latter was simply delusional.

Master Liao had taught Wang Gang for more than a year, and vaguely guessed some of his ideals.

"Your ideals are too vague, so why don't you talk about your thoughts on recovering Yanyun?" Master Liao said sharply.

Wang Gang said: "The sixteen prefectures of Yanyun fell into the hands of the Liao people. If we want to regain them, we must destroy the Liao state first."

Master Liao sneered and said, "The Liao Kingdom has millions of troops, how could you alone be able to destroy it? I have gone through the Taizu, Taizong, Zhenzong, and even today's four dynasties, but I can't recover Yanyun. What can you do?"

Wang Gang shook his head and said: "At this time and at that time, the unfinished business of the first four dynasties may not be impossible for later generations. Besides, I think now is the best time to recover Yanyun and destroy the Liao Kingdom."

Master Liao's eyes flashed brightly, and he asked, "How do you say that?"

Wang Gang talked eloquently: "During Taizu Taizong's time, the Liao Kingdom was powerful, and its army was far superior to our Song Dynasty. The enemy was strong and we were weak, so naturally it was invincible.

However, since the time of Zhenzong, Song and Liao signed the Chanyuan alliance, and the two countries stopped fighting, the trend of strength and weakness has been reversed. "

Master Liao sat up straight and asked, "Do you think the signing of the Chanyuan Alliance is a good thing?"

Wang Gang shook his head and said, "Song and Liao signed the Chanyuan Alliance, and our Great Song Dynasty exchanged year coins for peace. Naturally, it was a loss of power and humiliation to the country, but in the circumstances at that time, the Chanyuan Alliance was actually the best choice."

The Chanyuan Alliance is an alliance between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom after 25 years of war.

In the first year of Song Zhenzong Jingde, Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Kingdom and Liao Shengzong personally led an army to the south and went deep into the Song Dynasty.

At that time, some ministers advocated avoiding the enemy and fleeing to the south, and Song Zhenzong also wanted to flee to the south. Because of the persuasion of the prime minister Kou Zhun, he drove himself to conquer and went to Chanzhou to supervise the battle.

The two countries have fought several times, and each has victories and losses. In the end, no one can win the other, and no one can afford it. They can only choose to negotiate peace and sign the Chanyuan Alliance.

The Liao and Song Dynasties are about the country of brothers. The Song Dynasty donates 10 taels of silver and 20 pieces of silk every year to the Liao Dynasty. Song and Liao take the Baigou River as the boundary.Because Chanzhou was also called Chanyuan County in Song Dynasty, it was called "Chanyuan Alliance" in history.

In the following decades, Song and Liao had no large-scale wars, exchanged what they had, and established diplomatic relations.

"The Chanyuan Alliance is just a group of scholar-bureaucrats who are afraid of war and signed a treaty that forfeit power and humiliate the country." Master Liao snorted coldly.

Wang Gang shook his head and said: "Know the shame and then be brave. The Chanyuan alliance was the best choice for the Song Dynasty at that time. Prime Minister Kou was far-sighted. It's a pity that the descendants are not filial. They gradually forget the shame and enjoy it."

Master Liao was surprised: "How do you say that?"

Wang Gang said: "At the beginning of the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, there was a lot of waste waiting to be rejuvenated, but in fact it was powerless to resist the Liao Kingdom. Prime Minister Kou saw this, so he wanted to retreat as an advance, and signed an alliance with the Liao Kingdom first, and exchanged old coins for a short-term peace. , secretly developing national power, intending to learn from Goujian, the king of Yue, who lived together for ten years, learned ten years of lessons, and tasted courage.

It's a pity that Prime Minister Kou left too early, so that he suffered from hardships and finally turned into a coward. The court enjoyed peace for too long, and no one wanted the Northern Expedition anymore. "

Wang Gang still has some things to say that are difficult to say. In fact, Song Zhenzong also intended to make the Northern Expedition at the beginning, but unfortunately he died early, and the successor Song Renzong was too young, and the power of the court and government fell into the hands of the Empress Dowager Liu.

This Empress Dowager Liu, a female stream, controls the power of the country, and her administration is conservative. Later, she wanted to learn from Wu Zetian and become a female emperor.As a result, he played a tug-of-war with the opposition in the DPRK and China, and the Great Song Dynasty missed the best opportunity for the Northern Expedition.

After the death of Empress Dowager Liu, Song Renzong inherited her conservative policy of governing the country. Wang Gang had some things he couldn't say.

"Those ministers in the court know how to fight for power and profit, but they don't know the suffering of the people. The people in Yanyun area have been ravaged by aliens for many years, and they have long hoped that the imperial army can regain their lost land." Master Liao snorted coldly.

Wang Gang said: "It is a good thing that today's officials emphasize internal affairs, but it is a pity that the officials are too benevolent. As the saying goes, benevolence does not control soldiers."

Sheng Changbai frowned, and said to Wang Gang: "Third brother, be careful with your words, be careful that walls have ears."

Wang Gang glanced outside the carriage, disapproving.

"Second brother, what do you think of the current government?" Wang Gang asked.

"Officials love the people like their own sons, so they are naturally worthy of being wise kings." Sheng Changbai said of course.

Master Liao showed disdain on his face, but it passed by for a moment, and no one saw it.

Wang Gang said: "Today's officials are quite like Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, but what the Song Dynasty really needs now is Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty."

Master Liao's eyes lit up, and he said to Wang Gang: "It's a pity that the heirs of the official family are not well-known, so what about the successor?"

Sheng Changbai felt that the carriage couldn't stay any longer, could he listen to what his younger brother was talking about with Master Liao?
"Hey, Master Liao, my younger brother and I didn't even pass the examination as a scholar. Is the matter of the temple too far away from us?" Sheng Changbai coughed, wanting to remind his younger brother and Master Liao to stop talking about beheading.

At this time, an old servant of the Sheng family came to the carriage and said to the inside: "Second Young Master, Third Young Master, there are a group of people blocking the way ahead, they seem to be bandits."

Sheng Changbai was startled, the thing he feared most was still coming.

Master Liao stopped Sheng Changbai who wanted to get out of the car, and then said to Wang Gang: "Your chance to fight has come."

Wang Gang nodded, took out a short stick from the luggage in the carriage, followed Master Liao and got out of the carriage.

On the official road, a group of people appeared on the opposite side of the Sheng family's carriage, holding simple weapons, and the leader was even wearing armor. At first glance, they looked like military products.

When Wang Gang saw the armor, his pupils shrank.

Ordnance and weapons are governed goods in the Song Dynasty, especially military armor. No matter who it is, collecting more than ten sets of armor is equivalent to treason.

The group of people on the opposite side were able to get military armor, obviously they were not ordinary bandits.

A servant of the Sheng family has already consulted with the leader, planning to spend money to settle the matter.

But the next moment, Wang Gang saw a flash of saber light, and the servant fell down powerlessly, with bright red blood flowing all over the floor.

"It's not right, those people might not be bandits!?" Master Liao immediately reminded Wang Gang when he saw the servant was killed.

Wang Gang raised his arms and shouted to the remaining servants of the Sheng family: "Surround the carriage and protect my elder brother."

After calling, Wang Gang rushed out with a short stick, choosing to strike first.

As soon as Wang Gang made a move, he used all his strength, and his physique twice as strong as ordinary people was reflected at this time.

There were more than twenty steps between him and the bandit, but he rushed to the front man in just two breaths.

The short stick in Wang Gang's hand turned into an afterimage, and hit the bandit hard on the head.

boom!
The man was dizzy from being hit, and Wang Gang hit him with another stick, knocking him out directly.

On the other side, Master Liao also seemed like a tiger entering the herd, killing none of the gangsters.

The two masters and apprentices fought more than a dozen bandits, but the battle ended after a few breaths, and there were people lying on the ground.

Wang Gang stood in the middle with a short stick in his hand, panting slightly.

Master Liao didn't blush or pant, but his face was gloomy and terrifying.

"These people should not be ordinary gangsters." Master Liao said to Wang Gang.

(End of this chapter)