Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 279: Shilong's Ambition (Seeking monthly tickets at the end of the month)

"Chirp...Chirp..."

Amidst the falling snow in the north, spring is here and flowers are blooming on the plateau near the equator.

Among the emerald green mountains and valleys, there is a lake as big as the sea surrounded by mountains, and between the mountains and the lake are a large number of plains.

On this narrow plain from north to south, there are large tracts of cultivated land and official roads connecting one city after another.

Among these cities, the one located at the foot of the middle peak of the mountain range is the most eye-catching.

The entire layout of this city is orderly, solemn and majestic, and it has a royal aura.

The circumference of the outer city is probably no less than 20 miles. The outer city's moat lake is not far from the large lake in the distance. The mountain stream is used to form the moat lake, which flows into the large lake.

Although there are many cities of this scale in the Tang Dynasty, this one looks exceptionally majestic under these mountains.

The structure inside the city is divided into five parts, the most conspicuous of which is a tall building with a rammed earth platform and a circumference of four miles.

The rammed earth platform is nearly 15 feet high, and below the platform stand hundreds of 15-foot-high flags, fluttering in the wind.

There are all kinds of pavilions and towers on the platform, with an average height of sixty to seventy feet, and the tallest one is ten feet high.

The tall building hangs a plaque with the words "Wuhua Building" and occupies a large area.

Many actors, dancers, and musicians were waiting on the top floor. The style of blue tiles and gray bricks was slightly different from that of the Central Plains, but the pavilions and towers were mostly based on Central Plains techniques.

Different from the vast and prosperous high platform area, although there are luxurious residences around the platform, it is still relatively rough overall.

On this ordinary day, houses everywhere inside and outside the city were covered with elegiac couplets, representing the color white, and most of the people and officials in the city wore clothes in black, blue and other colors.

Even the most ignorant person can see that this city is going through something very sad.

Unfortunately, even when encountering such a thing, the officials and troops in the city still deployed enough troops and civilians on the road between the south gate and the high platform, as well as on the road more than a hundred steps outside the city.

The people here dress differently. Some wear long black skirts, some wear long white skirts, and some wear long pants that trail on the ground.

Men like to wear felt and head bags.

The woman does not like to wear make-up and prefers natural look.

Most of its troops wore bronze or leather armor, or thick heavy armor.

Although we are in the southwestern plateau, the horses here are not short. They are tall and big and wear heavy armor, while the knights only wear leather armor, hold spears in their hands, and have two swords on their waists.

The infantrymen next to them were wearing iron armor and looked very honest, but some were also wearing leather armor.

The common people gathered on both sides of the official road outside the city, and the army soldiers lined up on both sides of the official road, cutting off the common people's connection with the official road.

Several miles outside the city, several tall white pagodas are particularly eye-catching. Under the pagodas is a vast temple, but due to the distance, it cannot be seen clearly.

"Uuuuuu——"

Suddenly, a horn sounded on the city wall, and the people outside the city began to kneel down one after another.

At the same time, one hundred armored cavalrymen riding five-foot-tall war horses led the way, and two hundred soldiers in iron armor guarded the carriage.

Behind the three carriages were more than 200 elite cavalrymen wearing Tang Dynasty armor.

They were still several miles away from the South Gate, but the cavalry and infantry here were marching south along the official road with no end in sight.

"The Nanzhao army has been inactive for nearly thirty years, but the soldiers have never slacked off in their training."

"On the other hand, our Xichuan and Dongchuan regions are not well-maintained in terms of military equipment, and the gap is huge."

In the carriage, Yang Zhiwen, the Deputy Minister of Rites and the Chinese envoy to Nanzhao, couldn't help but sigh.

The other two deputy envoys who were riding in the same car agreed with this, and Yang Zhiwen also secretly sighed that this was not a good job.

Since he was transferred to the capital, he has been doing some idle things, just like Shangguan Fengao in the past.

Now that the supreme ruler has taken over, he spent some money and connections to be promoted to the position of Deputy Minister of Rites.

Unexpectedly, just after he came to power, he was sent to Nanzhao to express condolences to Nanzhao.

Of course, what was even more unfortunate was that he had just entered the territory of Nanzhao when he learned that the Nanzhao King Quan Fengyou had died of illness.

For the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao King Quan Fengyou was not easy to deal with. He sent troops to plunder Xichuan, invaded the outer city of Chengdu, looted scriptures, jade and silk, children, and tens of thousands of craftsmen and left.

From then on, Nanzhao's textile skills were on par with those of the Central Plains, not to mention iron smelting and armor making.

Although he persuaded Fengyou to negotiate peace with the Tang Dynasty after looting Chengdu and maintained public peace for nearly thirty years, he still fought many battles with the Tang Dynasty in private.

Quan Fengyou often provoked the relationship between the Daxueshan (Daliangshan), Annan barbarians and the Qianzhong barbarians and the Tang Dynasty, so that small-scale conflicts in the southwest never stopped.

In addition, according to the information Yang Zhiwen obtained when he entered Nanzhao.

Although Quan Fengyou reached a truce and made peace with the Tang Dynasty, he did not stop his expansion.

The southwestern states of Pyu, Zhenla, Funan, and Linyi were all invaded by Nanzhao.

Now that Quan Fengyou is dead, it is a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.

After all, most of the countries to the south of Nanzhao had become its vassal states. In addition, since Fengyou was persuaded to station troops in Tuodong City (Kunming), they might invade the Tang Dynasty.

"A troubled autumn..."

Yang Zhiwen let out a long sigh, and at this time the convoy arrived at the stone bridge over the moat.

Yang Zhiwen got off the carriage, and in front of him was Yangzhumie City, the capital of Nanzhao Kingdom.

Although Yangzhumie City was not as large as Chang'an, Yangzhou, Chengdu and other cities, it was still considered a large city in the Tang Dynasty.

Across the stone bridge, officials from Nanzhao were welcoming Yang Zhiwen on the official road, and many wealthy people were standing on both sides of the road.

Nanzhao valued scarlet and purple as the two most important colors. Officials wore different uniforms depending on the size of their contributions. Those with special contributions would wear a full body robe, while those with the next best contributions would only wear it on their chest and back, and those with the next best contributions would only wear it on their chest.

Common people wore linen, while the rich wore silk and brocade. They braided their hair into a bun, and their buns and ears were adorned with pearls, gold shells, and amber.

Yang Zhiwen cast his gaze at the seven people in front of the officials. These seven people had different appearances and their ages ranged from thirty to fifty.

"Nanzhao Qingping official Dong Cheng, I pay my respects to the angel..."

A Nanzhao official who was about fifty years old and spoke standard Mandarin came forward and bowed.

After he bowed, all the Nanzhao officials behind him also bowed.

Qingping officials were the highest administrative officials below the King of Nanzhao. There were six of them, namely Tanchuo, Bushie and Jiuzan, who were equivalent to the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

The fact that Dong Cheng could stand up and say this shows that he is the leader of the prime ministers, and the six people behind him should be the other five prime ministers and the generals of the army.

Nanzhao had twelve military generals whose status was similar to that of Qingping officials. When they were at home, they discussed state affairs with the king every day, and when they were abroad, they led troops and served as Jiedushi.

When the post of Qingping official is vacant, a general of the general army will take his place.

"Greetings to the Officer Qingping. May I ask where the king is?" Yang Zhiwen returned the greeting respectfully.

"The king is hosting a banquet at Wuhua Tower. Please ask the angels to get on the carriage and we will lead the way."

Dong Cheng was the great-grandson of Zheng Hui, the former national teacher of Nanzhao. They were both descendants of the Han people who were abducted from Xichuan by Nanzhao.

Zheng Hui was originally from Xiangzhou, Henan. During the Tianbao period, he passed the imperial examination and served as the magistrate of Xilu County, Xichuan. During this period, he was captured by Nanzhao.

Because of his proficiency in Confucianism, he was appreciated by the Nanzhao King Geluofeng and served as the teacher of three generations of Nanzhao royal family members, including Feng Jiayi, Yi Mouxun and Xun Gequan. He also assisted his successor Yi Mouxun in reforming internal affairs and restoring the vassal relationship with the Tang Dynasty.

With the help of Zheng Hui, Nanzhao's economy, culture and system were improved, and it became increasingly powerful.

Although Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty fell out again after Zheng Hui's death, under Dong Cheng's persuasion, Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty still negotiated peace during the Taihe period and no longer fought openly.

"The Qingping official is also a Han Chinese, right?"

Yang Zhiwen asked Dong Cheng, who was in the same car with him, but Dong Cheng smiled and said, "Of course, but I am also from Nanzhao."

In the Han people's concept of "the world", Dong Cheng can be said to be still a citizen of the Tang Dynasty.

But since he said he was from Nanzhao, it shows that he had a strong sense of identity as a Nanzhao person.

In response, Yang Zhiwen continued, "That being said, you are a Han Chinese after all. Haven't you ever thought about returning to your hometown and serving the court?"

"No..." Dong Cheng shook his head and continued:

"I am of commoner origin, not even a commoner. I won't be able to achieve anything if I return to the Tang Dynasty."

"How could that be?" Yang Zhiwen quickly added:
"The Supreme Being loves his people like his own children and treats them all equally."

"Really?" Dong Cheng asked Yang Zhiwen with a smile. Without waiting for Yang Zhiwen to answer, he took the initiative to say:

"I heard that the Tang Dynasty increased taxes by nine cents, causing many people to become homeless."

"If the Supreme One really loves the people, then why doesn't he increase taxes on the noble families, but instead imposes heavy taxes on the common people and the commoners?"

"This..." Yang Zhiwen was a little embarrassed by what Dong Cheng said. It was really difficult for him to explain this.

However, judging from Dong Cheng's answer, Nanzhao obviously attached great importance to collecting intelligence on the Tang Dynasty, otherwise it would not know so many things.

"The previous king just passed away. Our king is young and strong. Please bear with us." Dong Cheng was the first to speak up and reminded, which made Yang Zhiwen alert.

For a country whose national strength is on the rise, having a young king is obviously not a good thing.

Young people are full of vitality, but they are also the most rebellious and the most difficult to communicate with.

Dong Cheng opened his mouth to remind himself that this showed that the new king seemed to be dissatisfied with the relationship between the two parties.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhiwen felt a headache. The carriage they were riding in, under the escort of Nanzhao's elite cavalry, was getting closer and closer to the palace complex on the high platform.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the carriage stopped at the foot of the platform. Dong Cheng got off the carriage first, then helped Yang Zhiwen get off and led the way for him.

Yang Zhiwen and two officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Tang Dynasty walked forward, while Dong Cheng led the Nanzhao officials to protect them.

They walked up the five-meter-high rammed earth platform and arrived at the palace area.

Here, there are endless buildings with Han style, which are dazzling to the eyes.

Under the leadership of Dong Cheng, they passed through one palace after another and finally came to the Wuhua Tower which was ten feet high.

Originally, Nanzhao's skills were indeed not good, but after looting Xichuan and abducting tens of thousands of craftsmen from Chengdu, Nanzhao's skills improved by leaps and bounds.

The ten-meter-high Wuhua Tower and the more than twenty-meter-high pagoda are all manifestations of the skills of Nanzhao craftsmen.

Yang Zhiwen climbed up the Wuhua Tower and came to the wide rooftop, where he met the King of Nanzhao who was waiting for him at a banquet.

He was as young as Dong Cheng said, only about sixteen or seventeen years old, but not immature.

"This is me, Wang Shilong!"

Walking to the rooftop, Dong Cheng introduced the current Nanzhao King You Shilong to Yang Zhiwen.

The royal family of Nanzhao was of the Meng clan, and the surname in their given name was taken from the last character of their father.

Ru Shilong’s grandfather was named Xun Ge Quan, and his uncles, uncles and father all had the surname Quan.

His father's name was Quan Fengyou, and he took You as his surname.

Of course, if it is too troublesome, you can just call it by your surname, such as Meng Fengquan or Meng Shilong.

"Yang Zhiwen, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites of the Tang Dynasty, pays homage to the King of Yunnan."

In response to Dong Cheng's introduction, Yang Zhiwen responded neither humbly nor arrogantly.

In response to this, many Nanzhao ministers frowned, and even Dong Cheng subconsciously looked at You Shilong.

The King of Yunnan has always been referred to by the people of the Central Plains as the tribal leader who ruled the former Yunnan area. Yang Zhiwen called him the King of Yunnan instead of the King of Nanzhao, just to remind him that the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao was that of a monarch and his subjects.

In this regard, the King of Nanzhao was not as resistant as Yang Zhiwen thought, but nodded and said: "Please take a seat!"

"Thank you, King Yunnan..."

Yang Zhiwen breathed a sigh of relief, and then under Dong Cheng's guidance, he sat in the first seat on the right, while Dong Cheng sat in the first seat on the left.

After both parties were seated, wine and food were served on the table. The food of the nobles of this era was basically the same, cooked in pottery and tripods, and supplemented with spices.

For Yang Zhiwen, who was used to eating Longyou iron pan fried tea, this method was hard to swallow, but he still ate a lot.

During the banquet, Dong Cheng also introduced many people to him, such as Yang Jisi, who was also a Qingping official, Yang Qiuqing, Fan Cuixie, Zhao Nuomei, Du Yuanzhong and others, as well as Duan Zongbang, a military general in the capital.

Most of these people are young and strong, which makes Yang Zhiwen alert.

A rising country, if led by young and strong people, is most likely to prepare to expand its territory.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhiwen began to become cautious and was not prepared to leave any excuses to anyone.

However, no matter how careful he was, he could not prevent the Tang officials from leaving too many handles for Nanzhao in the past.

During the banquet, You Shilong suddenly said, "In the past, Wei Zhongwu opened up the Qingxi Road to connect to Nanzhao."

"We also selected the young men of Nanzhao and gathered them together to exchange letters with them."

"In the past few decades, there have been nearly a thousand people studying in Nanzhao."

"Therefore, the rulers and people of Nanzhao are all grateful."

"However, since Du Chong became the governor of Xichuan, he first reduced the number of students in Nanzhao, and then reduced the number of envoys and accompanying personnel who came to pay tribute to Nanzhao."

"My father is quite angry. Now that I have ascended to the throne, I want to restore the number of students and tribute quotas of the past. What do you think, Angel Yang?"

Yu Shilong's tone was light, but it made people feel pressured.

Fortunately, Yang Zhiwen is not an ordinary person either. Compared with Liu Jilong, the pressure from You Shilong is not that great.

"I will discuss this matter with the Supreme after I return to Chang'an."

If it were any other Tang envoy, they would probably have fallen out with You Shilong by now, but Yang Zhiwen did not.

His attitude made it impossible for Youshilong to get angry, so Youshilong could only continue to provoke him.

"In that case, please consult with the Supreme before you come and express your condolences!"

He stood up and walked out, which surprised the other two Tang envoys, and they all looked at Yang Zhiwen.

Yang Zhiwen was not in a hurry when he saw this, but stood up and bowed with a smile: "Goodbye, King of Yunnan..."

You Shilong left without looking back, and the other Nanzhao ministers also left one after another, only Dong Cheng stayed to clean up the aftermath.

"The angel is very magnanimous. I admire him."

Dong Cheng came forward and praised Yang Zhiwen, who smiled and said, "It seems that I have to give up my condolences this time."

"After I leave tomorrow, the court should continue to send angels to express condolences after the spring comes, but by then..."

Yang Zhiwen smiled, and Dong Cheng sighed helplessly.

You Shilong wanted to find a reason to break off relations with the Tang Dynasty, but Tang officials had always been domineering when dealing with vassal states.

If it wasn't Yang Zhiwen who happened just now, if it was someone else, they would probably have turned hostile.

By then, there might be another war between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao, and the people would suffer as a result.

Dong Cheng didn't want the war to reignite, but he could not resist the young and strong people like You Shilong who kept adding fuel to the fire.

After all, the main reason was that Nanzhao had already cleaned up all the countries in the south, and Tubo was not worth attacking.

The only thing left for Nanzhao was the Tang Dynasty in the north.

As for why Dong Cheng disagreed, it was not only because he did not want the war to rekindle, but more importantly, he knew that the Tang Dynasty was not at the end of its rope yet.

Even if the Tang Dynasty fell, as long as there was no guide, it would be difficult for Nanzhao to swallow up the land of the Tang Dynasty given its size.

What's more, Nanzhao also had many problems of its own. The interests of the barbarians were unevenly distributed, and the conflicts were becoming increasingly serious.

Even if we expand outward, we can at most alleviate the contradictions but cannot resolve them.

"Farewell..."

Yang Zhiwen's voice woke Dong Cheng from his thoughts. Seeing this, Dong Cheng stepped forward to lead the way and sent him to the outer hall to rest.

After doing all this, he returned to the Nanzhao Palace.

In the palace, You Shilong was looking at the map with Yang Jisi, Yang Qiuqing, Fan Cuoxie, Zhao Nuomei, Du Yuanzhong and others.

The map mainly covers today's Nanzhao and the Pyu Kingdom and Zhenla in the south, as well as Jiannan Road, Shannan West Road, Qianzhong Road in the north and Lingnan and Annan in the east.

Dong Cheng looked in the direction of their discussion, only to see that the place they were discussing was actually Annan.

Dong Cheng was not optimistic about this, and even frowned and said:

"Annan's Wang Shi is a good general. He had previously thwarted the previous king's plan to incite the barbarians. Even when the previous king instigated the people of Annan to expel Wang Shi, he was suppressed by his iron fist."

"I think that the Tang Dynasty is not at the end of its rope yet. If we can wait a few more years until the internal strife is over, perhaps we can annex Annan and the three states of Jiannan, Shezhou, Li, and Rong."

After all, Dong Cheng is older and understands better why Nanzhao was able to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty in the past.

It’s not that Nanzhao was so powerful, but that there were always problems within the Tang Dynasty.

There is nothing wrong with his idea, the problem is that young people are impatient and can't wait...

"Officer Qingping, I know what you are worried about, but in my opinion, the Tang Dynasty is already a pile of dead bones in a tomb, and it will fall down if pushed."

You Shilong pointed at Annan, then said in a gentle tone, "But you are right. Annan's Wang Shi is indeed a difficult guy to deal with."

"I plan to expand the army by 20,000 and use another 100,000 Fengzhou barbarians and other barbarians to attack Annan."

"When the Tang Dynasty turns its attention to Annan, I will send troops to capture the three states of Shizhou, Li, and Rong!"

A gleam of light flashed in You Shilong's eyes, and he looked at the ministers and generals of Nanzhao with great anger.

"From now on, Nanzhao is no longer a vassal of the Tang Dynasty. I will become the emperor!"

(End of this chapter)