The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 546 A Year in a Hurry

At the beginning of winter this year, the temperature in Huainan and Huaibei was much colder than in previous years. Even the Huaihe River, which has no ice period, has experienced significant cooling several times since the beginning of winter, and large blocks of thin ice have formed on the river surface.

Suzhou City was shrouded in a piece of fine rain and snow, hazy, misty and quiet.

In Jiedu Mansion, Zhu Xiu was wearing a cloak, a black headscarf, a feather fan in her belt, holding a pot of hot tea, standing under the eaves, looking at the raindrops dripping from the corners of the eaves in a daze.

If calculated in fictitious years, Zhu Xiu is already 24 years old this year. Her face is no longer green, and she has begun to grow a beard under her chin. Her movements are more calm and calm, and a faint smile flashes across her lips from time to time, giving people a sense of depth that is difficult to fathom. .

I don’t know since when, a nursery rhyme has been circulating in Suzhou:
Zhu Jialang, with a jade face, weak crown age, and guarded one side.

After some careful operation and publicity, the image of Zhu Xiu as a descendant of Huainan was deeply rooted in the hearts of Suzhou.

Even the barefoot old peasants in the fields knew that Zhu Xiu, the Jiedu envoy who was in charge of the Huai army and was stationed in Suzhou, was a person from Dingyuan, Haozhou, and a proper Huainan child.

In public, Zhu Xiu often claims to be half-Suzhou native. Suzhou is his second hometown, and he has won the love and support of Suzhou's military and civilian elders.

Nearly a year after he took office in Suzhou for the second time, Zhu Xiu was not idle. In addition to stepping up the training of the Huai River Army, he also did several good things for the people.

When Zhu Xiu took office, he asked Zhang Yongde for winter clothes. He also spent his own money to buy a batch from private markets to give the entire army new clothes.

The weather is cold this year, so the new winter clothes worn in spring and summer will play a big role. The soldiers are all grateful to Zhu Jieshuai.

Afterwards, the army's rest system was adjusted and a strict and thorough rotational rest law was formulated to allow every sergeant to have a day off before November to go home to visit his parents, wives and children.

Zhu Xiu also organized a sensational blind date conference, selecting women from good families who were of marriageable age in Suzhou, Xuzhou, Bozhou, Yingzhou and other places, and gathered them in military camps outside the city to hold visits and games.

Many ingenious and interesting games made people laugh, and also promoted the formation of intimate relationships between Zhenhuai Jun Erlang and the girls in a short period of time.

On the day that more than 300 women from good families entered the camp, it caused a sensation in the entire Suzhou City. Countless people came to watch the excitement. It was also considered a military-civilian interactive meeting.

The soldiers of Zhenhuai Army who obtained the qualification for a blind date for the first time were all those who performed well in the latest actual combat drill. School, a total of more than 350 people.

In order to compete for the qualifications for this blind date, the commanders of various armies and armies risked their lives in the drill. If the wooden weapons and headless arrows were replaced by real ones, it would be a brutal actual battle. As a result, many people participated in the blind date with injuries. .

This centralized blind date conference can be regarded as breaking the old customs and has attracted a lot of criticism. Many Suzhou officials and scribes said it was inappropriate.

Zhu Xiu laughed it off, and promoted the blind date meeting as usual.

In view of the fact that it was held for the first time, Zhu Xiu specifically allowed the girls to be accompanied by their parents and brothers. The number of people was less than two, and the food and accommodation expenses were borne by Jiedu Mansion.

The results were quite gratifying. More than 100 couples signed letters of appointment on the spot. Zhu Xiu also specially hired matchmakers and women with experience in matchmaking, a total of nearly 50 people, who were responsible for matchmaking and matchmaking. After successfully matching a couple, they can Go to Jiedu Mansion to receive rewards and commission based on performance.

As a result, this group of matchmakers who were active in the Huaibei states were very motivated. Within the next three to five days, almost all the remaining girls were successfully matched, and they all became the brides of the Huaibei Army.

On Chinese Valentine's Day, Zhu Xiu held a collective wedding for hundreds of couples, and the whole city celebrated for three days.

Zhu Xiu also made a promise to the soldiers that as long as he was in office, he would hold a blind date meeting every year, reward the outstanding ones according to their performance in martial arts, and everyone who commanded the following positions would have the opportunity.

In this way, after Zhu Xiu took office, the training intensity of the Huaihe Army remained unchanged, but the welfare benefits were greatly improved, and the army officers and soldiers were delighted.

Zhu Xiu often lived in the military camp and practiced with the soldiers.

A special affairs office has also been set up to help solve various problems at home for the sergeants and ensure that they have no worries.

Since then, more than [-] Jianghuai people have returned home.

Among the people, Zhu Xiu rewarded land reclamation, dredged rivers, built water conservancy projects, stabilized food prices, encouraged merchants, and reduced taxes, which made Suzhou's farmers and businesses prosper and everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment.

The name of Zhu Jieshuai resounded on both sides of the Huaihe River.

So busy, it was mid-November of the second year of Xiande.

In the past year since leaving Beijing, many major events have happened in both the imperial court and the Zhu family.

At home, the old mother Wu Youdi died of illness in September. Unfortunately, Zhu Xiu hurriedly rushed, but still couldn't see the old mother for the last time.

Zhu Wu said that his mother died with a smile on her face. When she was lying on the hospital bed, she often said that she had no regrets in her life.

In August, Fu Jinhuan gave birth smoothly, a healthy fat boy, Wu Youdi held her in her arms and was reluctant to let go.

That was the happiest period in the last stage of my mother's life.

Perhaps after seeing that her youngest son was also born, Wu Youdi no longer cared about her. Soon after, her condition suddenly worsened and she eventually died.

Fortunately, she did not suffer any pain during the whole process.

Zhu Xiu hurried back to Kaifeng to prepare for her mother's funeral.

According to the rules, he was supposed to resign and observe filial piety for one year, but Chai Rong specially issued an order to resurrect his feelings and asked him to use the sun instead of the moon to observe filial piety for [-] days, and then rushed back to Suzhou to continue to sit in command to show his loyalty and filial piety.

Zhu Xiu came and went in a hurry, and stayed with Fu Jinhuan, who had just given birth, for a few days, and hugged his first son.

When he had nothing to do in Suzhou, Zhu Xiu chose a good character for the younger generation.

The generation after him is named Yuan.

The eldest son was named Zhu Yuanjian.

Zhu Wu's eldest son Zhu Liang also changed his name to Zhu Yuanliang.

The emperor was unable to stay for a long time, so Zhu Xiu paid tribute to his late mother and comforted his wife and children's lovesickness, and then hurriedly returned to Suzhou.

In the imperial court, Chai Rong launched a campaign against Shu in April, appointing Wang Jing, the envoy of Fengxiang Jiedu, Xiang Xun, the envoy of Nanyuan of Xuanhui, and Han Tong, the envoy of Zhangxin Jiedu, as commanders, and marched into Xichuan.

Previously, Qin and Feng states reported that the local people could not bear the heavy taxes imposed by Hou Shu for years, and requested the Zhou Dynasty to send troops to regain their homeland so that the people could return to the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty.

This incident was not a fabrication, but a fact. Chai Rong used this as an excuse to punish the people, with the intention of regaining the four states of Xichuan.

The war against Shu did not go smoothly at the beginning. The Shu army defended its walls and cleared the country, and did not come into contact with the Zhou army, but they remained in a stalemate for a while.

Unexpectedly, Meng Chang, the leader of Shu, was so confused that he changed his commander before the battle and appointed the incompetent and jealous Zhao Jili as the frontline commander. There were loopholes in the Shu army's defense. Wang Jing and Xiang Xun took advantage of the situation to advance and win consecutive battles.

At the beginning of the retreat of the Shu army, the Western Expeditionary Army made no progress, and spent countless money and food every day. Many officials in the court and China talked about retreating.

Zhao Kuangyin took the initiative to request military leave and went to Xichuan to observe the war. Afterwards, he reported that the Shu army was fragile and would not be able to defend it for a long time. He should strengthen his confidence in attacking.

Afterwards, as Zhao Kuangyin said, there were changes in the Shu army, fighter planes appeared, and the Zhou army successfully conquered the four states.

This was originally a military operation that used offense instead of defense. After taking over the four states of Qin, Feng, Cheng, and Jie, the Zhou army retreated decisively, leaving Wang Jing in charge of the southwest border deployment, rectifying the military and political affairs, and guarding against the Shu army, Tubo, and Dangxiang. All ethnic groups.

Chai Rong also exempted the people of the four states from all miscellaneous taxes except summer and autumn taxes, which fully won the hearts of the people in the four states.In Hedong, Liu Chengjun changed his name to Liu Jun after succeeding to the throne, continued to use the Qianyou reign name, accepted the canonization of Daliao, and became the son-emperor of the Khitans.

Externally, Liu Jun was not like Liu Chong who forced the people to serve as troops and launched wars against the Zhou Dynasty for many years. He issued an order to publicly promote the policy of suspending the army to support the people, which restored rare peace to Jinzhou and Zelu in Hedong.

In Hebei, Shi Yanchao followed the method provided by Zhu Xiu and built a city at Liyankou between Shenzhou and Jizhou, garrisoned troops and dredged the Hulu River, so that the Khitans did not dare to easily go south to invade.

Chai Rong was very happy and specially gave the Li Yankou garrison the Jing'an Army, which was unified under the command of Shi Yanchao.

In May, a major event occurred that shocked the world.

Chai Rong issued a series of edicts aimed at suppressing and rejecting Buddhism.

There are three main ones: First, it is strictly forbidden to open temples privately. All temples must go through the imperial government office to regulate the quota of temples in various places. All temples opened privately without the permission of the imperial court will be abolished.

The second is to confiscate bronze and iron Buddha statues and use them to mint coins in official workshops.

Third, people are strictly prohibited from becoming a monk privately. Those who become a monk must take strict Buddhist examinations based on their actual age, undergo ordination at ordination altars set up in various places, and be considered official Buddhist monks only after issuing ordination certificates.

A vigorous campaign to ban Buddhism was carried out. Within the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty alone, more than [-] monasteries were abolished, more than [-] people returned to secular life, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land occupied by monasteries were cleared.

The troubles with Buddhism in the south of the Yangtze River were even worse than those in the north of the Yangtze River. As a result, all walks of life in the south of the Yangtze River were even more frightened towards the Northern Dynasty. There were all kinds of weird rumors in Buddhism. Emperor Chai Rong of the Great Zhou Dynasty had a fierce image in the minds of the people in the south of the Yangtze River.

This incident was quite controversial in history, and Zhu Xiu generally supported it.

Chai Rong banned Buddhism for two reasons. First, his childhood upbringing made him hate Buddhism, and second, the development of Buddhism at this time was too barbaric.

With the name of a monk, you can do nothing about production. Temples can occupy fertile land under various pretexts. They do not pay taxes or do labor. A large amount of copper and iron resources are used to cast Buddha statues.

Contradictions between Buddhism and the government in various places have become increasingly fierce, and have even become serious enough to affect national decision-making.

Chai Rong strictly decreed to suppress and regulate Buddhism, and Zhu Xiu supported it with both hands.

However, during this process, some bloody conflicts and violent incidents will inevitably occur, and even local military forces from various regions will be used to brutally suppress them.

It can be seen from this incident that Chai Rong still committed the shortcomings of those in power who are eager for quick success and quick success in doing things, so much so that he used some forceful means to forcefully promote it. In less than half a year, he completed the nationwide movement to ban Buddhism.

In the court, there was another incident, not big or small, that caught Zhu Xiu's attention, and Wude was specially sent to investigate.

You advised the doctor Li Zhisheng to be assigned to Salmon Island, which is an island group in the Bohai Sea.

His crime was to discuss the government affairs and slander his relatives.

Zhu Xiu had some impressions of Li Zhisheng. He was a rather pedantic and scholarly scholar. He had a serious imperial examination background. He also published many signed articles in the Tokyo Times and had deep insights into current affairs.

After investigation, Zhu Xiucai found out that the target of Li Zhishan's false accusations and slander was actually Li Chongjin.

The specific content of Li Zhishan's remonstrance is unknown, but it seems to have aroused Chai Rong's great anger, and he directly issued an order to dismiss him from office and punish him with exile.

This incident was just an inconspicuous incident among the many major events in the imperial court. The turmoil soon subsided and no one mentioned it again.

After Zhu Xiu thought about it carefully, he felt that it could reflect many problems.

The topic related to Li Chongjin aroused Chai Rong's great anger. It can be imagined how taboo he felt about this issue deep in his heart.

Li Chongjin was in Bozhou, in charge of the German army, and was the nominal supreme commander of the Guards Department. His position was high and powerful, and he did not allow anyone in the court to slander him.

Severely punishing Li Zhishan also appeases Li Chongjin and warns others in the court not to try to use this topic to highlight themselves.

According to the established plan, after recovering the four prefectures of Xichuan, the imperial court will start the war in Huainan. At that time, Li Chongjin must be one of the commanders, let alone let people spread rumors about him at a critical moment.

What worries Zhu Xiu is that Li Zhishan's thoughts may not represent him alone, but a group in the court.

It can also be called the imperial party.

This group of people keeps an eye on Li Chongjin all the time.

Chai Rong's acquiescence was not behind this.

However, once this group of people grows and this kind of voice appears repeatedly, Chai Rong will inevitably not listen to one side or the other.

After dealing with Li Zhishui, in November, the imperial court issued an order to start the Battle of Huainan as scheduled.

A eloquent edict of rebellion passed through the hands of Wang Pu and was announced to the world.

The edict listed the crimes of the Southern Tang Dynasty in separatist rule, and settled the old accounts of the Southern Tang Dynasty acting as an accomplice and sending troops to harass Huaibei when Li Shouzhen rebelled and the Khitans invaded the south.

He denounced the incompetence and stupidity of the Southern Tang government, which caused the people to be displaced. From Li Jing to the Southern Tang officials, all officials were scolded.

The most disturbing thing is that the edict also compares Sun Hao of the Eastern Wu Dynasty and Chen Shubao, the empress of Chen Dynasty, to the Li family of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It is said that they will eventually be destroyed by the Northern Dynasty and reunite China.

This edict was written with great literary talent, and Zhu Xiu felt excited when he read it while holding the newspaper in his hands.

The war machine of the Great Zhou Dynasty was in full operation. More than [-] civilians in Kaifeng Prefecture and a dozen surrounding states and counties took the lead in mobilizing, and truckloads of grain and grass from various government treasuries were transported to the front lines of Caizhou, Yingzhou, and Suzhou.

A few days later, the imperial court decided on a series of candidates for generals to go to war and announced them to the world.

Li Gu, the newly promoted prime minister and Minister of War, served as the military camp commander in front of Huainan Road.

Li Chongjin, the military envoy to the German Army, and Zhu Xiu, the military envoy to the Huaihe Army, served as deputy capital officers.

Wang Yanchao, the Jiedushi envoy in Tiaohe, was appointed as the supervisor of the former military camp.

Han Lingkun, the deputy chief of the imperial department in front of the palace, Yuhou, was appointed as the envoy of the camp, horse and infantry commanders.

Zhao Hongyin, the Marquis of Yu, the infantry capital of the guard, served as the deputy capital commander of the cavalry army.

Yingzhou Jiedushi Si Chao served as the vanguard commander.

Xuzhou Jiedushi Shi Kuangwei served as the vanguard deputy capital commander.

A total of 20 waterway troops, claimed to be [-], were sent to Huainan.

As soon as the news came out, the world shook.

This was a decisive step taken by Zhou Dynasty to unify the world.

(End of this chapter)