Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 713 The Fruit of Summer

In early summer, the flood peak of the Yellow River arrived again. There were many leaks in the embankments along the Yellow River north of Bianzhou. Fortunately, they were blocked in time and no major losses were caused.

In view of this, Fang Chongyong ordered the court in Bianzhou to issue a decree: to quickly relocate the villagers along the Yellow River to concentrated areas ten miles inland to prevent the villages where they live from being submerged by the first wave of floods.

In addition to flood control, there is another thing that is very eye-catching, and that is the annual imperial examination!

The imperial examinations held by the court in Bianzhou had become a regular practice, held every year without fail. Because of this, many candidates from other places would come to Bianzhou in early summer to prepare for the exams.

Inside the city of Bianliang, where the city walls have not yet been closed, there is a scene of thriving vitality with everything competing to flourish.

Regarding the imperial examinations, the Bianzhou court came up with two new things this year.

The first one is to post some strange questions on the wall, and as long as you can answer them "appropriately", you can be admitted as an exception.

For example, one of the questions reads:

Suppose one hour is divided into one hundred and twenty minutes.

There was an oil lamp in the room, which was lit at first.

After sixty minutes, the examinee enters the room, turns it off, and leaves.

For the remaining sixty minutes, after thirty minutes, the candidates will enter the room and light it.

For the remaining thirty minutes, after fifteen minutes, the candidate will go into the room and turn off the light.

In this way, the operation of lighting and extinguishing is repeated endlessly.

So an hour later, when the examiner entered the room, did he see that the oil lamp was lit or off?
The Ministry of Rites had not yet received the official answers from the candidates, but the candidates from all over the country almost came to a fight over this question, and there were many people in the Zhuangyuan Building arguing over this issue.

Some people say that the light is on when the time comes, some say it is off, there are all kinds of reasons and no one can convince anyone else.

Another practice of the Bianzhou court was that candidates could hang their essays on the wall outside the Imperial Examination Hall for everyone to see, but the topic was limited to "telling about a person you respect."

For example, ancestors, parents, sages, and even yourself are all fine.

Although this operation is not an exam, it is similar to "testing the basics". Whether one has literary talent and knowledge can be seen from these articles.

In short, the imperial court was afraid that it would miss out on the imperial examination selection, so it created an additional channel for candidates to showcase themselves.

As to whether this is useful or how to use it, the Ministry of Rites did not say.

Of course, no one was dissatisfied, and everyone was delighted by the court's wide range of advancement channels. Now, looking around the world, the only place where talented people can come to the fore is in Bianzhou.

Fang Chongyong's original intention was good. He wanted to broaden the channels for selecting talents and give everyone the opportunity to stand out.

However, this idea was quickly ruined.

"My Jiedushi father?"

On the "display wall" in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, Fang Chongyong had a strange look on his face as he looked at an article on the wall. The title was "My Father, the Jiedushi" and the signature was "Liu Renzhong".

The author of this article is Liu Longxian’s eldest son, who is taking part in the imperial examination this year.

In this article, he praised his father Liu Longxian, saying how loyal and courageous his father was, how he was a pillar of the country, and how hard he worked day and night.

The content is very exciting, but unfortunately the writing is very average.

“I heard that Liu Longxian bought all the lychees in Bianzhou to celebrate his son’s participation in the imperial examination this year.

A lychee banquet was also held in Shangyuanyi, and the candidates of this year were invited to attend for free.

Is this possible? "

Fang Zhongyong asked Da Congming beside him.

"Return to the official, this is indeed the case.

However, these lychees are not fresh, but lychees pickled in sugar water.

Although this is much more expensive than most fresh fruits and vegetables, it is not a rare item. "

Da Congming said honestly.

"Humph, Liu Longxian is quite clever. He must have spent a lot of money."

Fang Zhongyong commented without commenting.

There is no absolute fairness in the world. Everyone will use their own advantages to participate in the competition and strive to win the competition.

For example, Liu Longxian is now the Jiedushi. According to popular belief, he should be a powerful figure with his own troops, but in the end he will be suppressed by the imperial court and die, and his clan will be destroyed.

However, are people in this world really so rigid that they don't know how to adapt, and will they keep moving forward even when they know it's a dead end?
That may not be the case.

Knowing that Fang Chongyong was good at fighting, he still wanted to compete with him in military strategy and was determined to rebel and establish his own regime. Isn't this asking for trouble?
Where in the world can you find so many fools?
Some people understood this and adopted other ways to deal with it. For example, Liu Longxian hoped that his son would pass the imperial examination and become an official.

He never thought about raising an army to establish his own regime. In the future, when the imperial court reduced the power of the feudal lords and his son became an official in the court, Liu Longxian would have a way out.

The imperial court is different, and the response methods of these local forces will also be different. No one will sit idly by and watch the guillotine chop off their neck!
Even if Fang Qing is a good fighter, he still needs officials to govern the court and the local areas, right? Isn't this an opportunity?

"Sir, look, a lot of people are singing your praises."

Da Congming came up to Fang Zhongyong and whispered.

Many of the articles hanging on the wall express their admiration for Fang Qing. Some even titled it "Saint Fang Qing", which is simple and crude!
"Humph, people who curry favor with the powerful can be found everywhere!"

Fang Zhongyong snorted coldly and had nothing to say.

This thing is just like stocks. It does not reflect your strength. It reflects others' view of your future prospects. Everything is so-called "expectation".

He glanced at the essays, which were all clichés, nothing exciting. These opportunistic candidates didn't want anything exciting, they just wanted to show their attitude.

Ability is secondary.

This is the trend in Bianzhou today. The court has opened up the channels for upward mobility, and when Fang Qing's dog can have food to eat, there will be no shortage of such lucky people.

Everything is result-oriented. No matter how bizarre these behaviors are, the ultimate goal is to become an official.

Even if Fang Zhongyong didn't like it, he couldn't stop this trend.

Fang Zhongyong already understood that even if he successfully reformed the imperial court, he would not be able to control people's thoughts. After all, the power of an individual is insignificant.

At this time, Zhang Guangsheng came hurriedly, and the other party Chongyong reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Shi Siming has sent troops to Weizhou and has captured Jixian, the state capital. Liu Longxian retreated to Gongcheng and sent people to Bianzhou for help."

"Haha, Shi Siming really couldn't help it."

Fang Chongyong sneered.

He then waved his hand and continued:

"Let Liu Longxian retreat westward, deploy defenses in Xiuwu County, and abandon Gongcheng. Heyin County is southwest of Xiuwu County, with abundant food and fodder, and complete supplies. If Liu Longxian can't even defend Xiuwu, he might as well return to Bianzhou to serve as an official.

Tell him what I said!"

"Understand your order, I will go to the Privy Council right away."

Zhang Guangsheng took the order and left without any delay.

After Zhang Guangsheng left, Fang Chongyong also left the Imperial Examination Hall and came to the canal to check the water level. Fortunately, when the canal was built, the embankments on both sides were built with great care. Otherwise, there would be problems.

Strictly speaking, the rivers in Bianzhou are now considered tributaries of the Yellow River. When the Yellow River flood peaks, they also surge, and the water level looks creepy. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng was divided into an "above-ground city" and an "underground city". To put it bluntly, every time a flood occurs, silt accumulates, and the foundation is raised layer by layer.

Where there are benefits of the canal, there are also harms of silt. Good fortune and disaster always go hand in hand, and there is no capital that can last forever.

"If we don't solve Hebei's problems, Bianzhou will always be worried about its development."

Looking at the high yet calm surface of the canal, Fang Chongyong muttered to himself.

The construction of the capital city is not a one-time thing, but solving the problem of a powerful enemy is a one-time thing. Now that Shi Siming has been trapped, we can slowly tighten the noose!
"During this expedition to Hebei, you will follow me and gain more experience."

Fang Zhongyong turned around and said to Da Congming that he had made up his mind.

……

Xiuwu is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain and is the area that receives the downflow of Taihang Mountain water and the emergence of groundwater.

At the foot of Liuzhen Mountain near Xiuwu County, Shi Siming's army pursued Liu Longxian but was ambushed and lost 3,000 soldiers. His vanguard officer Cai Wenjing was beheaded and the morale of the army was severely hit.

Shi Siming was furious and personally led a large army to attack Xiuwu. When he was crossing the river, he was attacked by Liu Longxian's surprise troops halfway across the river and was defeated again.

Xiuwu County is surrounded by a dense network of rivers, with numerous large and small artificial rivers that have been dug since the Three Kingdoms period. Without a professional map, a sudden attack would inevitably fail.

The cavalry of the Yan army under Shi Siming was completely unable to display their abilities here, suffered repeated setbacks, and had to retreat back to Gongcheng.

After this battle, Liu Longxian had to admire Fang Chongyong's sharp vision. Retreating to Xiuwu County was indeed a brilliant move. If Liu Longxian had defended Gongcheng to the death, he would have been arrested and executed by Shi Siming.

Shi Siming was in an extremely bad mood as he couldn't even deal with a "little" Liu Longxian.

On this day, in the camp outside Gongcheng, Shi Siming inspected the army with a gloomy face and found that many soldiers were absent-minded and wanted to return to Youzhou.

He immediately understood that this was a case of "the first push was strong, the second weakened, and the third was exhausted."

It took the soldiers quite some time to march from Youzhou to the south bank of the Yellow River. Although they defeated Li Guiren without a single drop of blood, Yecheng had already been destroyed and they did not gain much.

The economy of the North has been severely damaged in recent years. It may be possible to supply military supplies, but it is not so easy to plunder the local areas to make up for the loss of morale.

It is necessary to make a fortune in lucrative places like Bianzhou in order to maintain the morale of the army.

It seems that we have to launch the river crossing operation in advance!
Shi Siming's face was calm, but he was constantly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Doing so is indeed extremely risky, but it is also the lesser of two evils and is something we have to do as a last resort.

"Your Majesty, urgent military information from Youzhou!"

A personal soldier came forward tremblingly, followed by a scout wearing a straw raincoat.

"Tell me, what's the matter!"

Shi Siming looked at the scout and asked in a deep voice, with an uneasy look on his face.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty. Someone is stirring up trouble in Youzhou, calling himself a righteous army, and attacking cities and seizing territories.

Now the enemy army has captured most of Cangzhou and some counties in Youzhou. Your Majesty, please return to Youzhou as soon as possible!"

The scout knelt on the ground and pleaded.

Shi Siming was stunned and thought he had heard it wrong.

"Who is it?"

He grabbed the scout's arm and asked sharply.

"I don't know, maybe they are just peasants, not wearing military uniforms.

However, wherever these people went, they would open the granaries and distribute the grain, without paying taxes.

There are responders all over Youzhou!"

The scout was so frightened that he was shaking all over, and his legs were shaking as he answered Shi Siming's questions.

Shi Siming loved to kill people, and he really killed them, doing it with his own hands.

Who wouldn’t be afraid!

"Humph!"

Shi Siming pushed the scout away, snorted coldly, and walked towards the general's tent!

The news of the fire in Youzhou's backyard quickly spread among the army. After all, many people were present when Shi Siming was inspecting, and the news could not be blocked at all.

As a last resort, Shi Siming called his trusted general Geng Renzhi to the imperial tent of the "Emperor of Great Yan" to discuss important matters.

As soon as Geng Renzhi came in, Shi Siming asked expressionlessly, "Youzhou is in chaos, and there are rebel troops stirring up trouble. What do you think?"

Geng Renzhi suddenly felt disgusted, but he couldn't show it. He felt like he had eaten a bowl of green-headed flies and was extremely disgusted.

Shi Siming was a man who always made decisions on his own and never listened to the advice of his ministers. Now that things were in big trouble, he finally thought of seeking advice.

Giving advice like this is really a thankless job. If Geng Renzhi could hide, he would have done so long ago.

"Your Majesty, these must be Fang Qing's troops, disguised as bandits, causing trouble behind our backs.

For now, we must return to Youzhou as soon as possible to quell the rebellion. We can only tolerate the situation in Henan for the time being."

Geng Renzhi clasped his fists and bowed to Shi Siming.

This is a standard strategy, nothing special about it. It is something that anyone can think of and it is a common-sense solution.

However, if Shi Siming just wanted to hear this, there was no need to call Geng Renzhi over, he could think of it himself!
It was because Shi Siming wanted "this and that and more" that he felt very embarrassed and had to find someone to discuss it with!

"Is there no other way?"

Shi Siming frowned slightly and asked back.

"Your Majesty, now that our army is old and our soldiers are tired, and our rear is unstable, the best strategy is to retreat to Youzhou. This year... that's it."

Geng Renzhi bravely suggested this, but he risked his life.

Shi Siming was now a man who would kill anyone he wanted, without any hesitation. He would kill anyone, even if they were important officials or actors he favored.

Geng Renzhi is very lucky, Shi Siming's headache has not yet occurred.

"Okay, okay, go and get busy."

Shi Siming waved his hands impatiently and began to feel extremely irritated.

If we want to fight, the water level of the Yellow River is high. Crossing the river to attack Bianzhou would be a desperate move.

If he did not retreat to Youzhou, all his previous efforts would be wasted, and no problem would be solved. Instead, outsiders would see his weakness as the Emperor of Great Yan.

This is also undesirable.

what can we do about it?

Shi Siming fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)