Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

From Nanjing to the west, across Xuanzhou and Chizhou under the rule of Yang Xingmi, you can reach Raozhou in the northeast of Jiangxi Province.

In mid-May, Shao Shude stayed in Xuanzhou for several days.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

On May [-]th, the officers and men of the Imperial Army who accompanied them held a military parade outside Xuanzhou City.

This was a planned behavior, and it was nothing to put it bluntly, it was just a show of force and military prestige.

At that time, tens of thousands of soldiers lined up on the school field, put on their helmets and armor, stood silently, and then listened to the golden drum flag, and skillfully changed their formation. The visual impact was very powerful.

Shao Shude, who was in his 60s, also rode on a magnificent war horse, wearing a long-lost bright red jersey. He held the rein in his left hand and stroked the hilt of his sword with his right hand, and passed slowly in front of the formation.

Wherever they passed, the warriors hit the ground with their spears and their shields with their swords, and the cheers went straight to the sky.

Tens of thousands of Xuanzhou elders watched from a distance.

Even after more than a hundred steps, he was still overwhelmed by the majestic military might.

The ordinary people who have come out of the war-torn era cannot do anything else, and the naked threat of force is the best.

Xuanzhou used to be the "companion capital" of Yangwu Group.

The final battle between Yang Xingmi and Sun Ru to determine the fate of Jiangnan was held in Xuanzhou.

Cai's thieves had dozens of battalions, and the city was besieged three times. As a result, a major flood occurred in May, and the barracks were flooded and there was chaos.Xingmi took advantage of the situation to fight back, regardless of the outcome.At the critical moment, Sun Ru fell ill and was lying in the camp, unable to command, and was finally defeated.

Defying luck!
After winning this battle, Yang Xingmi recruited a large number of Cai thieves, and his strength expanded rapidly. He was appointed by the Tang court as the Jiedu Envoy of the Ning Guojun (Xuanshe) to lead the three states of Xuan, She, and Chi.

This was the foundation battle of Yang Wu's regime, so Xuanzhou was extremely important.Tian Fan, the general under Xingmi's command, repeatedly asked for the position of governor of Xuanzhou, but failed.In the end, either he was given the title of a trusted general, or his successor Yang Wo came to Xuanzhou to take charge, because it had special symbolic meaning.

Of course, in addition to the symbolic meaning, Xuanzhou is actually a place of great wealth, and has long supported the Huai Army's operations on the Western Front.When Yang Wo attacked Jiangxi, he used Xuanzhou as his base for money and food.

The key product of Xuanzhou's economy is silk——

After the review, the auxiliary soldiers brought loads of silk in large carriages and distributed rewards on the spot.

In-kind rewards were issued on the spot, but in fact there were not many of them. Most of the time, the sergeants took military tickets and cashed them when they returned.There was actually no particular reason for doing this today, it was just that Shao Shude wanted to earn cheers from the sergeants again.

Sure enough, when they saw a large amount of silk being pulled over, the warriors struck the ground with their poles again.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sound resounded all over the field, and the cheers were like a mountain roaring and a tsunami.

Shao Shude laughed heartily on horseback.

It really is my son!
At this moment, Shao Shude seemed to have returned to the vigorous days of his youth.

During the field battle, he shouted "I run away, please behead me" with determination.

During the Battle of Heyin, they traveled thousands of miles without stopping. After arriving at the battlefield, they went directly into the battle. One battle destroyed Ge Congzhou's indomitable spirit.

On New Year's Eve, standing at the front of the queue in the biting wind and snow, shouting "But follow me", miraculously won the heroic ambition of Yunzhou.

……

Scenes of bright moments made him intoxicated, and made him an insurmountable peak in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of warriors in the world.

This is the Son of Heaven, the Supreme Emperor.

Where did prestige come from?In fact, it is accumulated bit by bit.

Prince Shao Chengjie actually has the prestige condensed by such bright moments.

Although Shao Shude has always criticized him for being reckless, but he used his body as a bait to charge the enemy's line several times, and finally defeated the bandit army. Wouldn't it enhance his personal charm and prestige?
Wouldn't his decision to advance with light soldiers for more than a hundred miles and sneak attack by detours not increase his prestige?
He won the fight, this is the last word, and the warriors just obey him and don't think about anything else.

Shao Shude returned to the high platform amidst cheers.

When the crowd watching from a distance saw it, they all fell to the ground and said, "Long live my emperor!"

Shao Shude stroked his beard triumphantly and smiled.

Who still remembers Yang Xingmi?Who else is talking about Yang Wo?

nobody.

This is Xuanzhou of Great Xia, the prestige of the imperial court is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the foundation is becoming more and more stable.

******
I don't know when it started, Xuanzhou's textile industry, which had been stagnant for several years, has flourished again.

The Luoyang court receives more than a thousand famous Xuanzhou red thread carpets every year.

This object is so exquisite that Bai Juyi once wrote a poem "Red Thread Carpet" to praise it.The Empress Zhe usually rewards the wives with this item, which shows how precious it is-of course, the output is also very low, which is too labor-intensive.

Last year, someone here in Xuanzhou improved the production process of red thread carpets, which increased the output.During the Zhengdan court meeting, the Xuanzhou court envoy brought [-] pieces of red thread blankets.

At that time, Shao Shude was a little suspicious of whether the Xuanzhou governor had extorted excessive taxes in order to please him. After sending someone to check, he found that everything was normal.

During this trip to the west, I came here to have a look, and found that it was indeed after improving the production process to increase production, so I was finally relieved.

The "dog officials" below did not lie to him.

Maybe it's because I know he's not easy to fool, maybe it's because I'm afraid of his harsh hands, in short, be honest.

Of course, this so-called political clarity is also related to the fact that it has not been many years since the founding of the country.Going deeper, it is actually a matter of officialdom.

The society has the social atmosphere, the martial arts have the martial arts atmosphere, and the officialdom also has the officialdom atmosphere.

Ethos is something that is most likely to be overlooked.

There are many ethos or unspoken rules in human politics that cannot be constrained by written systems, even in the 21st century.

For example, fighting without breaking, some countries have done very well, everyone has a bottom line, and they will not fight to the death.

Some countries do not do well and send the opposition to prison.

Some countries are even more outrageous, and are in a bloody turmoil. In that way, everyone is in danger, and naturally not much can be done.

No one dares to guarantee what the official atmosphere of Daxia will become in the future, so we can only take a step to see.

"Rewards were issued during the military parade, and the treasuries of the three states were all empty." Shao Shude, who took off his armor with the help of the guards, said, but he had no regrets in his heart.

Money, you won't take it with you in life or death, happiness is the most important thing - well, happiness is the most important thing for warriors.

It is said that this group of warriors followed him eastward from Luoyang, and then all the way south. Their footprints were all over Zhili, Henan, Huaihai, Huainan, and Jiangdong. They were all out of town during the festival. What happened to receiving some rewards?
Not only do they receive rewards, but they often eat with the whole army—one thing to say, if this is compared to going on an expedition, then this kind of expedition is quite cool, you don’t have to go to battle to kill the enemy, you just go on your way, and you can also have a good meal from time to time, leading Some rewards, don't be too happy.

"Your Majesty, the people of Xuanzhou have returned home." Xiao Yun and others stepped forward to congratulate.

"In ancient times, there was a system for the emperor to go on tour. It is still necessary to walk around." Shao Shude, who took off his armor, was slightly out of breath, but his interest remained undiminished, and he said with a smile.

"Your Majesty is wise." All the ministers replied one after another.

The role of the Son of Heaven’s tour has long been explained clearly in ancient books, and it is explained in vernacular: let the people of the world know you, strengthen recognition, and increase cohesion.

In the system of the Great Xia Dynasty, if the emperor wanted to go on tour, civil servants could not stop him. The core reason was the problem of power structure.

The emperor has all the slaves in the palace, and he only obeys the emperor's orders, and the directly subordinate population and military force that the court cannot control. If he has his own people, no one can restrict him in the palace.

Just like the emperor of the Qing Dynasty wanted to go on tour, the civil officials couldn't stop him at all.Because if you really want to tear your face apart, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty had the Eight Banners and Mongolia as the backing, so he didn't have to ignore you. Without you, the world can still run, because the emperor has his own talent pool.The level may be a little low, but there are really people who can use it, which gives the emperor bargaining power.

Whether the successor emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty will go on tour depends entirely on what he thinks.

"Remember the names of the wealthy businessmen in Xuanzhou who donated their property, and they will be rewarded with an eighth-grade honorary officer, equivalent to their own life." Shao Shude sat down, picked up the bowl of tea in front of him, took a sip, and then ordered.

"Follow the order." Xiao Yun responded.

There are quite a few merchants in Xuan, She, and Chi prefectures who donated property and goods, about 20 to [-] people, and the total donations are equivalent to [-] yuan.

Yang Xingmi worked hard for many years to restore Xuanzhou's well-known textile, paper, pen and copper mining industries.Among them, the scale of papermaking and pen-making is very large, and it can even be said to be the center of the south. Coupled with convenient transportation conditions, Xuanzhou paper pens, bamboo wood, medicinal materials, tea, copper coins, silk, and porcelain are exported in large quantities. Cities brought considerable wealth.

Shezhou and Chizhou are slightly worse, but not much worse.It was not without reason that the Ningguo Army was established here at the end of the Tang Dynasty. These three states did have the foundation to become a vassal town - at least the economic foundation was there and strong.

Xuanzhou's red thread carpets, porcelain, and rice paper are paid tribute to the imperial palace in batches every year, and have almost become local "famous brands".

Just last year, Xuanzhou was still operating, intending to make "Yashan tea" a tribute, breaking the monopoly of the three famous teas of Mengding, Zisun, and Yangxian on the palace.In the end it didn't work out.

The so-called "Yaoshan Tea", whose real name is Rui Caokui, has been "endorsed" by Lu Yu and Du Mu, and the quality is still very good.

But what good is good quality?If you can't get into the palace, you can't become a tribute to the royal family, and your fame will be as good as a dwarf's family, so the price will not be able to sell, and the sales volume will not be tepid.

After Shao Shude heard about it, he wanted to charge advertising fees.Isn't this the royal endorsement?
Of course, this was just a joke, and he still couldn't get rid of this face.

However, seeing that Xuanzhou businessmen donated so hard, he was not stingy about advertising their local specialties.

"This tea has an endless aftertaste, and it can be called the elixir of tea." After putting down the tea bowl, he praised.

The secretary Lang Han Zhaoyin understood, and had already conceived a "small composition" in his belly - he wrote it on the spot.

Xiao Qu watched silently from the side, smiling and saying nothing.

Along the way, he also had some admiration.

In fact, there are many mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are not many plains, and they are relatively fragmented, which cannot be compared with the north.But the climate is really good, and the transportation is convenient, so they have opened up a lot of financial resources.

In the Tang Dynasty, in order to pick tea, each tea garden even had a special "garden household", which was very large in scale.

That's all for the war times. Now that the world is at peace, gardeners and weavers have begun to appear in large numbers again. All kinds of goods are sold all over the country, and wealth is slowly gathering in the south of the Yangtze River.

It has been a worthwhile trip to accompany the driver on the southern tour for nearly a year.