No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 624: Red sleeves add double fragrance, warm wine and talk about north and south [ask for monthly ticket! ]

In the afternoon, the weather was just right.

Beside the window of the study in the red building, there is a small red clay stove, simmering a pot of wine over a slow fire.

Ouyang Rong, Xie Lingjiang, and Li Guoer each poured a cup.

"There are so many things about the Northern and Southern Dynasties that I don't know where to start."

Li Guo's daughter dressed as a man, half leaning on the armrest, holding the thin-legged wine glass with two fingers.

She casually threw the history book that she had been holding in her other hand for a long time onto the carpet full of old books, like throwing a stone into the water.

"Sister Xie, your Wang and Xie families were originally a family that migrated southwards. They were able to make their fortunes in the Southern Dynasty. Today, they are among the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Famous Families. Your Xie ancestors who were active in the Southern Dynasty have made great contributions. You should know the Southern Dynasty best, so you should speak first."

Different from Li Guoer who was sitting in a casual posture, Xie Lingjiang sat upright and poured wine for herself and her senior brother in a very methodical manner.

"My eldest brother summarized it before. All the events of the Six Dynasties were just private affairs of the sects. There is nothing much to say. My father has had a similar attitude since I was a child. He didn't let me read too much about the old events of the Southern Dynasties. I should look forward. It's good now. This also caused me to know very little. I only read it recently when I needed it."

Lady Xie shook her head.

She suddenly glanced at the senior brother and repeated softly:

"In the old days, the swallows in front of Wang Xietang flew into the homes of ordinary people."

Li Guoer was a little surprised when she heard this, and she even sat up straighter:

"Who wrote this? Do you have the full poem?"

Xie Lingjiang did not answer. Ouyang Rong drank to warm himself and flipped through some old books. Xie Lingjiang filled his glass from time to time.

"I always feel that you two are hiding something from me." Li Guoer said suspiciously.

His eyes finally fell on Ouyang Rong, who was drinking calmly.

He flipped through the book calmly, without saying a word or looking at her.

As if she was afraid that Ouyang Rong would ask her back later, "Can you please stop glancing at me out of the corner of your eye?" Li Guoer quickly turned her gaze away, her pretty face as calm as usual.

Xie Lingjiang said gently:

"Let's talk business."

Li Guoer raised the corners of her pink lips and flicked her finger:

"There's nothing to talk about. I've read all these official and unofficial histories. There are too many repetitive and bizarre things. They're not very interesting. Sister Xie might as well take out the unique historical records that your Chenjun Xie family has privately kept. What's said in it might be more useful to us."

"Sister Guo'er, tell me what you know first. We will talk about the things sent by Xie's later."

Li Guoer yawned and nodded:

"After reading it over and over, the general meaning is that the migration of northerners to the south was the general outline of the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties.

“Maybe it’s because I’m from the Li clan, and my family has been northerners for generations. I think that southerners going north or defending the south is also the general principle of the Northern Dynasty’s sinicization.

"It is precisely because the people of the Southern Dynasties had been guarding the area, claiming to be the orthodoxy of China and the home of the clan, that attracted the literati and patriots of the North. The governments of the Northern Dynasties in different periods promoted the sinicization. This is the saying that one is born in hardship and dies in comfort. If there had been no Southern Dynasties, the sinicization of the Northern Dynasties would hardly have been carried out so thoroughly. Even if the Hu people from outside the Great Wall lived together with the Han people, it was not so easy for them to identify with the Han clothing.

"So the Northern and Southern Dynasties really complemented each other. When the Northern Dynasty completed its sinicization and was almost integrated, the unification that followed was unstoppable... Sui Qian came into being, and only then did we have the current peaceful situation of the unification of the north and the south. The two are really indispensable and just right."

Xie Lingjiang nodded:
"Sister Guo'er is very insightful. It is precisely because of the chaotic confrontation between the North and the South over the past three hundred years that people in the world gradually realized how difficult it is to maintain peace and the necessity of unifying the world. Sui Qian's founding of the country was almost in accordance with the will of heaven, and the demise of the Southern Dynasty is nothing to lament."

Li Guoer put down his wine glass and sighed softly:
"Emperor Taizong Wen conquered the world. When I, the younger generation, look back occasionally, I feel a sense of fateful beauty."

After a short silence, she asked again:

"Today we are here to find Yunmeng Jianze to oppose the Donglin Buddha's landing in Jiangzhou. Now that we have finished talking about the previous part, Sister Xie, please tell us the news over there."

Hearing this, Xie Lingjiang first glanced at Ouyang Rong.

She noticed that the eldest brother had not said a word from the time he sat down to drink until the two of them discussed the situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. He was drinking while flipping through piles of history books, calm and composed, as if he was looking for something with a purpose.

Xie Lingjiang didn't ask, but said:
"I have looked up some historical records of my clan. Throughout the Six Dynasties period, the traces of the Yunmeng Yue women appeared from time to time, and they had interactions with many royal families or people in power in the Southern Dynasties. Yes, my Xie ancestors were among them, but they only appeared in events that would affect the key trends when we look back on them. As for fame and fortune, they were not involved at all.

“Also, I saw a Southern Dynasty secret book that mentioned that many princesses of the Southern Dynasty royal family would be sent to Yunmengze before they reached the age of marriage, similar to a marriage alliance. However, they should have been accepted as Yue women, and there were many powerful princesses who became female monarchs.

“It is conceivable that the royal families of the Six Dynasties had a close relationship with the Female Monarch Palace in Yunmeng Jianze. Even when dynasties changed, they continued this tradition.

“However, Yunmeng Jianze generally does not interfere with ordinary people, and there has never been any incident of manipulating government affairs or supporting puppet emperors. Regarding this point, one of my Xie family’s ancestors mentioned it in his memoirs and praised it quite a bit.

“For the common people, there are rumors that pop up from time to time, such as a Yue woman passing through a village, eliminating evil and promoting good.

"In short, after looking it up, I found that from the royal family of the Southern Dynasty, to the Jiangzuo nobles including the Wang and Xie clans, to the common people... they all had great respect for the Yunmeng Yue women headed by Yuanjun.

"Especially the lower-class people in the society, they think the Yue women are the spokespeople of the goddess Yuanjun, who is erratic and lives in the ancient Yunmeng Lake... They love Yuanjun, but they believe in her as a local goddess. Unlike Buddhism and Taoism, there is no large-scale organization of believers... Throughout the three hundred years of the Southern Dynasty, there has been no incident of using the belief in Yuanjun to incite rebellion."

Li Guoer nodded gently: "No wonder Yunmeng Jianze has a good relationship with the Six Dynasties royal family. This is more harmonious than we imagined, but the two parties must have a unified goal."

At this point, Li Guoer paused and asked:
"In the letter that Xie left behind, did you mention any major conflicts between them and the Buddhist sect?"

Xie Lingjiang seemed to think and recall, then shook his head and said:

"No, during the Six Dynasties, many emperors believed in Buddhism. From the events recorded by my Xie family, I don't see Yunmeng Jianze having any religious conflicts with Buddhism. There are so many Buddhist temples in Jiangnan, many of which were built during the Southern Dynasties. I haven't seen them use their influence to stop it... Well, except for this time."

Li Guoer pursed her lips and asked again:

"Sister Xie, I often hear you talking about Yue Chuzi. What is her relationship with Yuan Jun?"

"It's like this. Long ago, even before the Spring and Autumn Period, the land of Wu and Yue was overrun with evil dragons. It was said that they were wild creatures left over from ancient times. Later, a young girl from Wu and Yue named Yue Chuzi appeared. She wielded a sword and killed all the evil dragons in the land of Wu and Yue, opening up the poor mountains and bad waters of the south of the Yangtze River.

"So the ancestors of Wu and Yue worshipped her as Yuanjun. This is the origin of the first Yuanjun. She later established Yunmeng Jianze. After her death, I don't know whether she still had obsessions or her cultivation reached the level of myth. Her mythical spirit continued to spread in Wu and Yue. Every time a Yue virgin died, her spirit would randomly appear in a newborn girl in Wu and Yue. Yunmeng Jianze would then find and cultivate her through special means.

"So there were generations of Yue virgins, and it has been passed down to this day... The Yue virgins brought back to the sect by Yunmeng Jianze were all trained as future Yuanjuns...

"But Yue Chuzi may have an accident, but she hasn't grown up yet. Yunmeng Jianze can't be without a leader for a long time without Yuanjun. So under special circumstances, Yuanjun can also be someone other than Yue Chuzi...

"But no matter what, in the eyes of the people of Wu and Yue, Yuanjun is an immortal goddess, but in fact, only the Qigong practitioners know that this Yuanjun has been replaced for many generations. "However, they all inherited the mythical spirituality of the first generation of Yue virgin. In a sense, it is true that Yuanjun is immortal, which can be regarded as a special method of prolonging life and mission."

Xie Lingjiang knew them all by heart.

These are stories widely circulated among Qigong practitioners in the mountains.

"I see... Ouyang Lianghan, are you looking through... the historical records of the Northern Wei Tuoba royal family?"

Li Guoer suddenly spoke, turned her head... and like Xie Lingjiang, paid attention to someone.

She must have caught a glimpse of some words on the book in Ouyang Rong's hand from the corner of her eye, and asked straight to the point.

Ouyang Rong covered the scroll of unofficial history in his hand and said softly:
"Our chief historian Yuan Huaimin is a descendant of the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and later changed his surname to Yuan."

"There is such a connection." Li Guoer raised her eyebrows, looking quite interested.

She said crisply:

"Speaking of which, the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty was quite thoroughly sinicized. In addition, coincidentally, at that time, there was the Northern Wei Dynasty in the north and the Southern Song Dynasty in the south. Both were newly established, and in order to consolidate their rule, they both worshipped Buddhism.

“However, perhaps because Buddhism was too prosperous and competed with the country for profit, or perhaps because of personal likes and dislikes, the third emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Taiwu, once abolished Buddhism... In the end, only 320 Buddhist temples were left in the entire northern border.

"It is said that the Northern Wei Emperor Taiwu pushed forward the destruction of Buddhism at the strong suggestion of a scholar named Cui. This man was born in the Qinghe Cui family, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan. The book says that he was a scholar of heaven and earth, well-read and knowledgeable, and was a top strategist around the Wei Emperor Taiwu... This incident is very famous in history books, and it is clearly recorded that the Wei Emperor Taiwu personally ordered that only 320 Buddhist temples be left... At that time, the northern trend was to worship Buddhism, and there were more than a thousand temples.

"However, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty had a long military career and successively suppressed the Yuanjia Northern Expedition of the Southern Song Dynasty. His prestige was extremely high. The abolition of Buddhism happened after the Yuanjia Northern Expedition, and no one in the Northern Dynasty dared to disobey... But his successor later changed his course again."

Ouyang Rong listened for a while, closed the book and asked:

"The Xie family history mentioned the term 'Northern and Southern Dynasties'. What does it mean exactly?"

Xie Lingjiang replied: "At that time, the Qigong practitioners in the world believed that the reason why Shenzhou sank and the Han Dynasty lost its territory was because the Han Dynasty lost the two Ding swords and could no longer suppress the destiny of Shenzhou.

“During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were rumors that whoever got the Ding Sword would have the power and great fortune to unify the north and the south… Whether it was the Southern Dynasty, which claimed to be the orthodox dynasty and was ruled by the aristocracy, or the Northern Dynasty, where the Han and the Hu people lived together and the people were brave, they were all looking for the Ding Sword.

"That's why the Crazy Emperor Sui later forged so many Ding swords. He was greedy and had gone insane. He thought that in order to unify the north and the south, he should collect all the Ding swords..."

A hint of sarcasm appeared on Li Guoer's lips:
“The irony is that when I, Emperor Taizong of Liqian, conquered the world, I didn’t use the Ding Sword. I also captured the [Emperor Wen] from the surrendered people of Dasui without even having to sacrifice a single soldier. Emperor Taizong even sealed the [Emperor Wen] in public, and never used it until I conquered the world.

"He set a good example and said, 'The people are the most important, the country is second, the emperor is the least important, and the tripod is even less important'... Later, when the country was established, Taizong left behind the ancestral law, not allowing the descendants of the Li family to find the tripod and forge swords."

At this point, Li Guoer seemed to remember something, and exchanged glances with Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang. She sighed softly:
"Well, what father said during the last meal was right. The ancestral laws of the Li family cannot control the Wei family."

Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment and asked again:

"How many Ding swords appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties?"

Xie Lingjiang said softly: "There are only two recorded in the history of my Xie clan. One is [Red Emperor], who appeared briefly in the Northern Dynasty and then disappeared...

"It is clearly recorded that the sword was forged by Liu Jinu, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. According to the family history, the blank of this Ding Sword actually existed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It was secretly brought by several noble families in the north when they migrated south... However, the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not have the national strength to forge a sword at the beginning. It was not until Liu Jinu was born, established the Southern Song Dynasty, and unified the resources of the south of the Yangtze River that it was able to forge it."

Li Guoer raised his eyebrows and said:

“Although most of the emperors of the Liu Song Dynasty were cruel, perverted and crazy, the first few were still very powerful, especially Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Ji Nu.

"Being able to gather all the strength of the nation to forge the Ding Sword, in a sense, also represents the prosperity of the newly born Liu Song Dynasty. No wonder they dared to launch the Northern Expedition in Yuanjia. They were holding the [Hanshi]. The Emperor of the Liu Family felt that the dynasty was carrying the destiny.

"Unfortunately, they ran into the Northern Wei Dynasty, which was also at its peak. It was a tit-for-tat confrontation, and they ended up losing three northern expeditions in a row. According to historical records, the people in the south of the Yangtze River were terrified and shocked. As a result, the Liu Song Dynasty suffered a great loss of national strength and began to decline... But on the other hand, this also contributed to the military achievements of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty..."

"Did all the [Han Shi] lose? Where did the [Han Shi] go in the end?"

Xie Lingjiang shook his head: "I don't know. According to the family history, after the failure of Yuanjia's Northern Expedition, the Liu Song royal family kept it a secret from [Han Shi]. After the country was destroyed, [Han Shi] disappeared..."

Li Guoer interrupted: "Hey, maybe it fell into the hands of Yunmeng Jianze. They have close ties with the royal families of the Six Dynasties, including the Liu Song Dynasty. Dynasties may change, but Yunmeng remains forever."

Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment and was about to speak: "Actually, Tao Yuanming is..."

At this moment, a shout suddenly came from the door:
"Xiao Rongzi, thank you for protecting me, please protect me! Xiao Rongzi, please draw your sword, please draw your sword!"

The three of them turned around and found no one outside the door.

Ouyang Rong stood up quickly, thinking that a powerful enemy was approaching.

But the next moment, he reacted, looked down, and saw a little black spirit running out on the floor at the door, pissing and shitting, and screaming "Aiya" and falling forward.

At the back staircase, a dark shadow followed closely and rushed in front of her.

This is a "black cat". It stretched out its paw and stepped on Miaosi: "Meow!"

The "black cat" bared its teeth at the little ink spirit, shook its head left and right, and a lot of ink flew off its body.

"Are you brave enough?" Ouyang Rong frowned.

"What's the point of being brave or not? Xiao Rongzi, stop praising it. Quickly draw your sword and save me. Ah~ How dare you scratch me?"

There was a cat whose originally snow-white fur was now stained with ink, and whose eyes could hardly be opened. It freed up one of its paws and tilted its head to rub its eyes from time to time.

The young lady in Confucian robes was stepped on by a cat's paw, and she was upside down, struggling in a panic.

Like a piece of fish on a chopping board, he no longer had any of the authority he once had.

“Stop scratching, stop scratching, I was wrong, I was wrong… Watch out for your back, Xiao Rongzi is really going to draw his sword… Ah! It hurts, please loosen your grip, please. We can talk about it if you have something to say…”

The three of them were speechless.

Li Guoer turned around and saw Ouyang Rong's expressionless face.

Xie Lingjiang looked helpless and stepped forward to save the people on behalf of his senior brother. No, to save the spirits.

……

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(End of this chapter)