The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 437 Both sides are big brothers
Time has come to May in a blink of an eye, Xiaoman has passed and the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching.

As early as February, when the war in Yanzhou ended, Guo Wei, who was about to return to the country, suddenly had the idea to go to Zhenzhou to inspect the border defense, and then visited the important border towns in Hebei such as Zhenzhou, Zhaozhou, Shenzhou and Cangzhou one by one.

Guo Wei did not bring many soldiers and horses, and all the troops to pacify Yanzhou were stationed in Yedu.

However, the sudden appearance of the Emperor Zhou on the border of Hebei shocked the Khitans.

Emperor Yelujing of the Liao Dynasty, who had only been in power for less than a year, hurriedly sent envoys to Zhenzhou to meet Guo Wei and inquire about his intentions. He secretly mobilized troops from the southern courtyard to guard against attacks by Zhou soldiers.

Guo Wei entertained the Liao envoys with good wine and food. I heard that he was a young man named Xiao Siwen, who had just turned 30 and had an astonishingly prominent family background.

This Xiao Siwen was the nephew of former prime minister Xiao Dilu, the nephew and son-in-law of the Empress Dowager Shulu Ping, and was considered the top Liao foreign relative.

Xiao Siwen married the eldest daughter of Taizong Yelu Deguang, the eldest princess of Yan State, and Emperor Yelu Jing of Liao Dynasty also called him brother-in-law.

Guo Wei told Xiao Siwen that last year Shizong Yelu Ruan led his troops to invade the Great Zhou Dynasty, and cooperated with Liu Chong of Hedong to deal a fatal blow to the newly born Great Zhou Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Yelu Ruan's fate was not good. When he was praying to his late father at Xianggu Mountain in Guihua Prefecture (Wuzhou), he was killed by a traitor and died young.

The Liao Kingdom was once again in civil strife, and the Khitan troops had no choice but to withdraw in despair.

It is not polite to come and go. Now that the civil strife in Liao has gradually subsided, the new emperor Yelv Jing has ascended the throne. As a close neighbor, the Emperor of Zhou specially came to Zhenzhou, hoping to make an alliance with the Emperor of Liao at Juma River to renegotiate the agreement between the two countries. A matter of friendly trade.

How could Xiao Siwen figure out Guo Wei's true intentions, so he declined tactfully in embarrassment.

Just kidding, Emperor Yelvjing of the Liao Dynasty is just a 21-year-old young man. With the support of his mother Shuluping and a group of powerful royal families, he can successfully succeed to the throne. The Emperor's Alliance?
If there is an accident, Daliao, which has just calmed down the civil strife, may fall into a state of disintegration again.

At that time, Zhou Bing will really be given the opportunity to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun.

Guo Wei didn't force it, he sent Xiao Siwen back politely, and asked him to convey his cordial greetings to the Queen Mother Shu Luping and the new emperor of Liao Dynasty. Then he left Zhenzhou in a big way and returned to Yanzhou.

The soldiers and horses who gathered in Yedu were also repatriated one after another.

The monarchs and ministers of the Liao Kingdom breathed a sigh of relief and quickly prepared to send an envoy to Kaifeng to repair the relationship between the two countries.

It's not that the Liao Kingdom has weakened a lot after the civil strife, but it's just that the Liao Kingdom is still in turmoil. The entire Khitan tribe has not completely transformed from a tribal system to a feudal monarchy, and the tribal leaders still occupy a large part of the power.

Many tribal leaders still believe that whoever has a bigger fist can be the emperor. Why should the descendants of the Yelv family and Abaoji lineage be able to occupy the emperor's throne forever?
The deep-rooted concept of tribal leadership is the source of the endless disputes among the Khitan nobles today.

Yelujing was the eldest son of Taizong Yelu Deguang. He ascended to the throne by virtue of his mother Shuluping's high prestige and personal bravery.

Now that the Queen Mother has stated that Luping is seriously ill, Yelujing must find a way to consolidate the throne and stabilize and unite the upper class of the Khitan aristocracy before her mother dies.

At this time, he never wanted to have an unpredictable war with Dazhou.

Guo Wei was convinced of this, so he went to Zhenzhou to deliberately scare the Khitans, which was also regarded as a sign of anger for the Khitans' failure to send troops last year.

Firstly, it boosted the morale of the soldiers in several important border defense towns, and secondly, it showed the tough posture of the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty and stabilized the people of Hebei.

I have to say that Uncle Guo is really a master when it comes to decision-making on strategic opportunities.

Back in Yanzhou, Guo Wei went to Qufu on a whim to worship Confucius in the Temple, and summoned Kong Renyu, the 43rd generation grandson of Confucius, and Yan She, the descendant of Yan Yuan.

Confessing Confucius Renyu as Duke Wenxuan, he was granted the Order of Qufu, a scarlet robe, Yan She was granted the title of Chief Register, and the Yanzhou government was ordered to allocate funds to repair the Confucius Temple.

Afterwards, Guo Wei ordered Yu Jia to return to Kaifeng.

This time I really went home.

When we drove to Dayezawa (Liangshan Park), it rained heavily and continued for several days.

Perhaps the road in the mountains was slippery, and the horse Guo Wei was riding stumbled, causing the Emperor of Zhou to fall hard. It is said that he injured his lumbar spine.

When the news reached Chanzhou, Zhu Xiu quickly ordered people to rush to Yunzhou to report Chai Rong.

Chai Rong reported to Guo Wei a month ago and went to Yunzhou to visit Fu Yanqing who was recovering at home.

Since you want to marry someone else's daughter, you should naturally respect your father-in-law well.

Chanzhou affairs were put in charge of Zhu Xiu.

Chai Rong learned that Guo Wei had fallen from his horse and rushed back from Yunzhou overnight.

But before Chai Rong could return to Chanzhou, Li Chongjin arrived first. He was ordered to send back the troops and horses from Chanzhou that had been mobilized.

Outside Chanzhou City, a team several miles long slowly came forward. At the head was a general in black armor, followed by a sergeant carrying a general flag with the word "Li" in the wind.

More than a dozen war horses rushed out from the city gate, Zhu Xiu led the way and went straight away.

Since Chai Rong was away, he was naturally responsible for receiving the soldiers and horses returning to the city.

When the black-armored general saw Zhu Xiu coming from afar, he grinned widely, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, which was really clear between black and white.

"Brother!~"

Li Chongjin roared with joy, clamped his legs fiercely, and the war horse neighed out from under his crotch.

"Woo~"

The two horses kicked and stopped, and they turned over and got off the horse. Li Chongjin laughed and was about to open his arms for a bear hug, but Zhu Xiu slid away.

"Stop it! You bastard, why are you darker than when we met in Suzhou half a year ago?" Zhu Xiu smiled and scolded him and pushed him away.

Li Chongjin took off his iron helmet of the Barbarian Lion, touched his shiny forehead, and laughed and said: "Thanks to staying on the boat all day long in Suzhou, I got very tan.

You don’t know how brutal the last night attack on Yanzhou City was.

I used my shameful face and climbed up to the top of the city in the dark, so I was not discovered by the rebels.

Otherwise, as soon as a shiny forehead appears, he will be shot through the head."

Li Chongjin told the story of the night attack on Zhoucheng, dancing and spitting.

Zhu Xiu grinned after listening and gave a thumbs up: "Now your reputation as the Black King has been completely established! Attack Laiwu, attack Yanzhou at night, first ascend to the city, step on Murong Yanchao's head and become my great Zhou Famous general!"

"That's not true!" Li Chongjin was beaming with joy. If he had a tail behind him, it would have reached the sky by now.

"The official gave me that dragon-embroidered robe. I will let you see it when I return to Kaifeng. It was sewn by 36 embroiderers from the Shangyi Bureau. It is the only one in the world!" Li Chongjin's face was full of embarrassment.

Zhu Xiu was stunned and asked hurriedly: "Why, you won't go back to Suzhou?"

"I'm not coming back!" Li Chongjin waved his hand and said in an old-fashioned way: "The officials ordered me to return to Kaifeng with the imperial commander to suppress the Huai army in Suzhou. I will temporarily hand it over to the deputy envoy of Jiedu, Li Gujie. I heard that the officials are planning to let him take over. As the Du envoy, Guo Chong, the defense envoy of Yangzhou, was transferred to serve as the Deputy Envoy of the Huai Army."

Zhu Xiu frowned and thought for a while, this arrangement was reasonable.

"How do the officials plan to settle you?" Zhu Xiu stared at him and asked.

Li Chongjin said carelessly: "The official didn't say anything, but I think that when I go back this time, I will definitely be transferred to the imperial army. I will be the deputy commander of the bodyguard department, or the chief minister of the imperial capital, or something like that."

Zhu Xiu stared closely, half-smiling: "You seem to want to go back to Kaifeng? Didn't you always want to lead troops somewhere before?"

"Hehe~" Li Chongjin rubbed his hands and his eyes twinkled, "I think it's better to live in Kaifeng. After working hard for more than a year, you have to let me enjoy it! Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it."

Zhu Xiu curled her lips and said, "What's the matter that even I can't know about?"

"Hey~" Li Chongjin clapped his hands, his dark cheeks turned a little red, "The official said, let me get married as soon as I return to Beijing! So what? Dong Tong, the governor of Fangzhou, and his family have returned to Kaifeng, and Dong Tong has taken up the post of Sinong Temple. Shaoqing."

Zhu Xiu thought for a long time before remembering who Dong Tong was: "Is it the family where the official gave you a marriage?"

Seeing Li Chongjin nodded sheepishly in admission, Zhu Xiu took a deep breath.

It seems that Uncle Guo really wants to keep Li Chongjin in Kaifeng, and not only that, he will also use him vigorously.

Even Li Chongjin's father-in-law, who had not yet married, also took advantage of the opportunity and moved directly from Fangzhou back to Kaifeng to serve as the Shaoqing of the Nine Temples.

Uncle Guo attaches great importance to farming, and Sinong Temple is not a yamen that anyone can go to if they want to.

The position of chief minister of Sinong Temple was vacant, and Prime Minister Su Yugui was ordered to judge the affairs of Sinong Temple. This clearly shows that Uncle Guo has elevated farming to the forefront of a country's military and political affairs.

As the half-in-law of Uncle Guo, Dong Tong served as the Shaoqing of Sinong Temple, which also reflected the importance he attached to Li Chongjin.

"Brother, I'm afraid you won't be able to drink my wedding wine!" Li Chongjin's face was full of regret, and he was a little embarrassed:

"I didn't even have a romantic partner before, and you guys always laughed at me. I didn't expect that now, it's me who gets married first! Hahaha~ Things are unpredictable~"

Zhu Xiu pouted and gloated: "You are not afraid that Dong Tong's daughter looks like Zhong Kui. When she enters the bridal chamber, you don't know who will take advantage of the other!"

"Wow, shut up! Don't open your mouth!"

Li Chongjin blushed, his neck thickened, and his big black-haired hand tried to cover Zhu Xiu's mouth.

After fighting for a while, Zhu Xiu pushed him away and gasped: "You think of a way to get Taiyuan County Duke and I to return to Kaifeng as soon as possible so that we can drink your wedding wine!"

Li Chongjin's eyeballs rolled around, and he said vaguely: "This matter is not easy to handle!

It makes sense for the officials to ask you to stay here. You just obey.
If you can’t have a wedding banquet, I’ll just treat you to a drink when my son is one month old.”

The corner of Zhu Xiu's mouth twitched. He was a black man. He was not even married yet, but he was already thinking about having a son.

Zhu Xiu noticed something from Li Chongjin's hesitant tone and frowned: "What do you mean? You don't want me and the Duke of Taiyuan to go back to Kaifeng?"

"What's the matter!" Li Chongjin shook his head violently and quickly denied it.

"It's just that I can't guess what the officials are thinking, but I don't dare to speak rashly."

Li Chongjin rubbed his hands vigorously and spoke evasively.

Zhu Xiu felt more and more that something was wrong with his expression. This black guy seemed to know something.

"Oh, let's go. You are responsible for receiving these Chanzhou soldiers and horses. I will rush back to report to the officials first!"

Li Chongjin waved his hand, got on his horse and was about to turn around and turn back.

"The Duke of Taiyuan is on his way back and will arrive in the afternoon. Why don't you stay and meet him?"

Zhu Xiu shouted quickly.

Li Chongjin tightened the reins, turned around and said with a smile: "I'm gone. Please help me tell my cousin that the official family can't live without people in front of the emperor. We can't wait for long. We brothers will meet again when we return to Kaifeng!"
go! ~"

Several sounds of whip whips were heard, and Li Chongjin led more than a dozen cavalry soldiers to turn back the same way. After a while, the figure disappeared on the horizon.

Zhu Xiuyuan looked away, his brows tightened.

No matter how anxious Li Chongjin was, he wouldn't even have time to wait an extra hour or two to see Chai Rong.

He didn't want to see Chai Rong at this time.

why?
The two brothers who were once very close have not seen each other for nearly two years. Now there is a chance to meet, but Li Chongjin doesn't want to meet?

Presumably some rumors about the controversy over the choice of successor reached Li Chongjin's ears.

Although the Black King is a reckless man, he is not stupid at all~
It seems that he also has his own little thoughts.

Zhu Xiu had a vague feeling that Li Chongjin's change in mentality was probably caused by Guo Wei's deliberate connivance.

Whether this was done to sharpen Chai Rong or for Li Chongjin, Zhu Xiu did not dare to make a conclusion easily for a while.

In the afternoon, Chai Rong rushed back to Chanzhou in a hurry, and he looked a little disappointed when he learned that Li Chongjin did not stay waiting for him.

Zhu Xiu had nothing to say, but there was still an invisible barrier that inevitably appeared between their cousins.

He is caught in the middle, with big brothers on both ends, and is really powerless.

The crux of the matter is the inheritance of the throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The next day, news came from Puzhou that Yujia had left the border and would be able to return to Kaifeng in five days.

Chai Rong's trip to Yunzhou to visit Fu Yanqing was not fruitless. At least he and Fu Jinzhan's marriage had been finalized.

Chai Rong left Yunzhou, and Fu Yanqing's memorial was sent to Kaifeng.

Fu Yanqing asked for a marriage between Chai Rong and Fu Jinzhan.

At the end of June, the imperial edict of Kaifeng arrived in Chanzhou, calling Chai Rong back to Beijing to report on his duties, and at the same time prepare to marry Fu Jinzhan.

The inspection in Chanzhou made Zhu Xiu successfully complete the task and return to Beijing with him.

　Due to the epidemic, my cousin’s wedding originally scheduled for National Day could not be held as scheduled and had to be postponed.
　　In the next two or three months, after cleaning up the chores at home, I began to work hard on coding.
　　(Why do I feel lack of confidence~~laughing and crying~~)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)