Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 42 Li Daoyuan (4K -in-)

At dusk, the three of them hurriedly said goodbye from Longhua Temple. After the sun went down, Luoyang would be under curfew, and it would be troublesome if they were caught by the patrolling captain.

However, the curfew is aimed at ordinary people. The powerful and wealthy can also travel at night as long as they have a pass.

After the sun sets, Xuandeli.

As a minister of the highest rank in the court, Cui Guang's mansion can be said to be unique. His mansion is squeezed in the alleys of Xuandeli, and it is impossible to tell that this is the mansion of a senior official who has served three dynasties and served as prime minister many times.

Since Yu Zhong's failure to abuse his power, Cui Guang has been serving as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, a position far away from the court. As he is old, fewer and fewer people come to visit him now.

The neighbors around have not seen the main door of Cui's house opened for many years. As the old friends of that time are gradually dying out, there are not many guests worthy of Cui Guang opening the front door to welcome them.

But today, the gate of Cui's mansion was wide open, and Cui Guang, the Minister of the Court, the Imperial Academy, and the Marquis of Ping'en County, stood at the door of his house to personally welcome the distinguished guest.

Even the envoy Bai Lu Cao who was hiding in secret and monitoring Cui Guang was puzzled. But after seeing the person Cui Guang was welcoming, everyone thought it was natural.

The person Cui Guang was welcoming was not wearing an official robe. He was a stern middle-aged man in a long robe riding in an ox cart. The bamboo slips piled on the cart like a mountain made the wooden wheels squeak with every turn. When they arrived at the entrance of the alley in front of Cui Guang's mansion, the stern middle-aged man immediately got off the cart and walked towards the main gate of the Cui family with the etiquette of a disciple.

"Shanchang, have you completed another volume of your Water Classic?"

The stern middle-aged man crossed his hands and said yes. The envoys of Bailu Cao who were monitoring Cui Guang all knew this middle-aged man. He was the former Lieutenant Censor and Governor of East Jingzhou, Li Daoyuan, who was dismissed from office by the court and stayed at home.

Cui Guang pulled Li Daoyuan into the house through the main gate, and the servants drove the ox cart to pull a full cart of bamboo slips into the mansion.

The Bai Lu Cao envoys all knew that Li Daoyuan had been compiling books in Luoyang after he was dismissed from office. It was said that he was annotating the ancient "Water Classic". Every time he finished writing a volume, he would bring bamboo slips to Cui Guang's mansion to ask the Imperial College's chief academic officer for his comments.

It must be said that Li Daoyuan was once prominent. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, he served as a censor and participated in confidential matters. He worked day and night to plan for Emperor Xiaowen's Han reforms.

However, Li Daoyuan was upright and cruel, and offended many people. After taking office, he cracked down on the powerful and forcibly implemented the Equal Field Order while serving as the governor of East Jingzhou, distributing the land illegally occupied by the powerful and wealthy families to ordinary people.

As a result, Li Daoyuan was jointly sued by the powerful people in East Jingzhou, and was finally dismissed from office and returned to Luoyang.

Two frustrated ministers discussing literature was not something worthy of being recorded by Bai Lu Cao.

Cui Guang welcomed Li Daoyuan into the mansion and could not wait to unfold the bamboo slips. When he read the latest chapter, he could not help but applaud and read:
"Every morning when the sun rises and the frost begins, the forest is cold and the valley is silent. There are often monkeys howling in the sky, which is very sad and strange. The sound echoes in the empty valley and lasts for a long time. Therefore, the fishermen sing: "The Wu Gorge is the longest of the three gorges in Badong. The monkeys cry three times and my clothes are wet with tears."

"What a great song: 'The Wu Gorge is the longest of the Three Gorges in Badong, and the three cries of the apes make me cry.' This fisherman's song is better than a thousand words!"

Li Daoyuan stroked his beard and said, "Zhou Dynasty established the Music Bureau to investigate folk customs and write poems, which is the Book of Songs. After I finished writing this chapter, I feel that this fisherman's song expresses the artistic conception of the Three Gorges!"

Cui Guang asked again: "Is Baidi City located in the middle?"

Li Daoyuan nodded.

Cui Guang sighed and said, "Emperor Zhaolie of Han was burned to ashes, and the fate of the Han Dynasty has come to an end! Zhuge Wuhou's six expeditions to Qishan were just to use up the remaining strength of his previous life. It was in vain!"

Li Daoyuan said, "I don't think so. Shu has a strong natural defense. The fall of the Shu Han was due to the loss of the natural defense in the heart. If Zhuge Wuhou hadn't gone to Qishan six times, the civil and military would have been unable to fight."

"How can we not do anything in this world just because of the so-called general trend?"

The two talked about everything from "Notes on the Classic of Waterways" to Ji Han. Not everything was about the present, but every sentence was about the present.

Cui Guang sighed and said, "I am old."

Li Daoyuan raised his head and looked at Cui Guang's head full of white hair, and he finally looked away.

Cui Guang is already over sixty years old. He recalled that when he was planning reforms beside Emperor Xiaowen, General Wang Su and Cui Guang, then Imperial Secretary, vied with each other to offer strategies. Today Wang Su offered a strategy, and tomorrow Cui Guang offered a strategy. At that time, state affairs were like boiling oil on a raging fire. Li Daoyuan's planning beside Emperor Xiaowen was both hard and fulfilling.

But now Emperor Xiaowen had passed away for twenty years, and Wang Su, the main promoter of Emperor Xiaowen's reforms, also died suddenly in Yangzhou under unclear circumstances. He was only 38 years old.

Cui Guang has gone through three dynasties of turmoil and is still serving as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. He has long been away from court affairs.

Who can ask a sixty-year-old man to continue to work hard for state affairs?

Li Daoyuan sighed and said, "The day before yesterday, Zhang Zhongyu, the Imperial Guardsman and Imperial Secretary, came to me and said that he wanted to write a letter to the court, asking the Ministry of Personnel to select officials in a different way, and not to transfer from Yulin Huben military posts to Qingliu officials, and to suppress military personnel."

Cui Guang closed his eyes and listened. When Li Daoyuan finished speaking, he asked, "Zhang Zhongyu? The son of General Zhang Yi, the General of the Western Expedition?"

Li Daoyuan nodded.

Cui Guang asked and closed his eyes.

Li Daoyuan said anxiously, "Mr. Cui, when Emperor Xiaowen carried out the reform, he left the path for the Yulin Hu Ben to enter the government. One reason was to maintain the country's martial spirit, and the other was to appease the poor among the national and Han people who joined the army, so that they would have a chance to be promoted and not cause trouble."

"Zhang Zhongyu wants to suppress the warriors. If there is a disturbance, how will it end?"

"The Zhang family already has two Sanqi, and both sons started as officials with a clean rank, but they still think it's not enough, and they even want to take away the path for warriors to enter the officialdom!"

"Mr. Cui, if something really happens, how will the court handle this?"

Cui Guang still said nothing.

Li Daoyuan finally sighed and said, "Mr. Cui, I want to be reinstated."

This time Cui Guang finally said, "Yes."

Li Daoyuan knew that Cui Guang's "yes" carried a lot of weight.

In addition to his position as the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, Cui Guang also had another job which was to give lectures to the young emperor, meaning he was the emperor's teacher.

When the previous emperor passed away, Cui Guang was present at the scene. At that time, important ministers were still hesitating whether to summon the kings to confirm the succession. It was Yu Zhong and Cui Guang who overcame all objections and allowed the young emperor to succeed to the throne overnight.

The quick enthronement of the new emperor was naturally intended to dispel the ambitions of the kings to usurp the throne.

Later, when he heard that Emperor Xuanwu had passed away, Prince Guangping Yuan entered the palace despite his illness. He relied on the fact that he was Emperor Xuanwu's brother from the same mother, so he ran directly to the west corridor of the Taiji Hall and wailed.

Yuan Huai then summoned the Shizhong, Huangmen, Lingjun, and Erwei, saying that he wanted to go to the palace to mourn and offer sacrifices to Emperor Xuanwu, and insisted on meeting the new emperor in person.

When the ministers saw Yuan Huai like this, they were all shocked and looked at each other, but no one dared to oppose him.

Cui Guang raised his cane and told Yuan Huai the story of how when Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, died, Taiwei Zhao Xi stood on the steps with a sword in his hand and drove away all the princes, not allowing them to go to the palace to mourn and offer sacrifices. Yu Zhong, who was in charge of the imperial army at the time, dispatched more troops, which made Yuan Huai, the Prince of Guangping, dare not move and accept the fact that the new emperor succeeded to the throne.

It was Cui Guang who orchestrated the elimination of Gao Zhao, a powerful official who was leading troops outside the city, which led to Gao Zhao giving up power and completing a smooth transfer of power.

So for Empress Dowager Hu, Cui Guang also had the merit of establishing the Empress Dowager.

Li Daoyuan knew that Cui Guang took the initiative to stay away from the political center, and was not alienated by the royal family because of Yu Zhong's incident.

As long as Cui Guang is willing to work hard, it will be easy for him to be reinstated.

Li Daoyuan mentioned another thing: "When I was in East Jingzhou, I fought with the island barbarians Nanliang many times. Although the vitality of Nanliang was damaged after the Battle of Fushan Weir, Xiao Yan was still a wise ruler, and the governors and governors along the border of Nanliang were all capable and good at fighting."

"If the north is not at peace, there are repeated chaos in Guanzhong, and there are also monsters causing chaos in Youji, the court should issue an order to the southern states to prohibit them from lightly provoking border conflicts, and not let the Duke of Danyang go to the south again!"

The Duke of Danyang is Xiao Baoyin, a member of the royal family of the destroyed Southern Qi Dynasty. He is also the most active minister of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the southern expedition. He is now recuperating in Luoyang, and every now and then he writes to the emperor to lead troops to the southern expedition.

Faced with this question, Cui Guang remained silent.

Li Daoyuan sat in silence for a long time, and finally said, "Prince Qinghe is going to hold a selection of elite players, and I want to go and watch."

Cui Guang smiled and said, "King Qinghe has always admired Shanchang's knowledge. Shanchang wants to go. The invitation will be sent to his mansion tomorrow."

Li Daoyuan sighed, left "Shui Jing Zhu" and walked out of Cui Guang's house. He was about to return to his own mansion when he suddenly met a mysterious man.

"Li Wohu wants to see me?"

Li Daoyuan rode in an ox cart and followed his servants to the residence of General Li Chong.

Compared with Cui Guang's hardship and simplicity, Li Chong's mansion can be said to be quite luxurious.

Li Daoyuan and Li Chong had no contact with each other. Moreover, Li Daoyuan was an upright person. He had served as an imperial censor for a long time and could not stand the corruption of officials in the court.

He once wrote a letter to impeach Li Chong for corruption, but in the end the court did not deal with Li Chong. It can even be said that the two had a grudge against each other.

Moreover, one of them is a civil official, and the other is a military general. They have served in the same court for many years and have never had any contact with each other. What is the purpose of Li Chong inviting me to his house tonight?
Li Chong's mansion was quite large, and the expansion project could be seen in the night. Li Daoyuan secretly took note of it and prepared to send someone to visit and investigate whether Li Chong had committed the crime of occupying private residences.

Walking in the luxurious general's mansion, Li Daoyuan smelled the scent of cosmetics in the air and suppressed his inner discomfort.

Li Chong's nickname was "Crouching Tiger". One reason was that he was decisive and smart in fighting, like a crouching tiger suddenly pouncing on its prey and able to kill it with one blow.

Another meaning is that he is a sex-hungry tiger who keeps taking concubines even though he is already seventy years old.

When Li Daoyuan met Li Chong, he found that the old general was still in good health and looked much more radiant than Cui Guang.

"I've met the general."

Li Daoyuan bowed to Li Chong, who got off the bed, took Li Daoyuan's hand, and said affectionately:
"Shanchang, I am going to recommend you to be the governor of Henan. What do you think?"

Li Daoyuan was stunned for a moment. The Yin of Henan was in charge of the capital's public security and criminal justice, and also controlled the army of the Luoyang City Gate Wei. It was a very important position.

Li Daoyuan had no contact with Li Chong, but was recommended by Li Chong to take up such an important position. Li Daoyuan was no longer a newcomer to the officialdom. He looked at Li Chong and asked:

"What does the General want me to do?"

Li Chong raised his hand and said:

"Two things. The six garrisons in Pingcheng have been military garrisons for a long time. The soldiers are tired and the people are in poverty. Shanchang will be summoned by the Queen Mother before he takes office as the governor of Henan. Shanchang can advise the Queen Mother to change the six garrison military states into ordinary states, set up governors and provincial governors, and abolish military settlements and change to equal distribution of land."

"The second thing is, the Rouran King Anagui often plundered the six prefectures of our Great Wei when he was in Rouran. He has evil intentions. Now he has been expelled and fled to Luoyang. He asked the court to marry a royal daughter and borrow troops to help him restore his position. The court must not agree."

"The court can place Anagui under house arrest in Luoyang, and then use his name to enfeoff the Rouran tribes, stir up civil unrest in the grasslands, and the six towns will be stable."

Li Daoyuan looked at Li Chong, crossed his hands and bowed, saying:

"The general is devoted to his country."

Li Chong laughed and said, "Our prosperity and wealth will last forever. When the country is in turmoil, what is the point of talking about prosperity and wealth? But there are always some stupid people who ignore the interests of Wei and only know how to fight for power. When the country is about to fall, Luoyang's prosperity will be nothing but a reflection in the mirror!"

Li Daoyuan looked at Li Chong again. Everyone knew that Li Chong was greedy and lustful, but he saw further than many ministers in the court.

Although Li Daoyuan had never been to the north, he felt that the two suggestions made by Li Chong were effective and good solutions that would benefit the country and the people.

Li Daoyuan cupped his hands and said, "The general is still busy with state affairs, I dare not disobey him!"

Li Chong laughed loudly, pulled Li Daoyuan and said:
"In a few days, the Prince of Qinghe will be selected as a special agent. You can go with me to meet the Prince of Qinghe. If the Prince of Qinghe nods to your appointment as the governor of Henan, the matter will basically be settled."

After coming out of Li Chong's house, Li Daoyuan thought about today's gains.

He made four requests to Cui Guang, but Cui Guang only agreed to two of them: he was willing to recommend him to be an official again and to introduce him to Qinghe King Yuan Yi.

However, he turned a blind eye to the war on the southern front and Zhang Zhongyu's collusion in banning military men from holding official positions.

When Li Chong met him, he made two requests to him, which were to cancel the military control in the Six Garrisons and grant land to the people, and to stop the court from helping the Rouran King Anagui to restore his country. He agreed to both of them.

Li Daoyuan thought that the entire Wei Dynasty, whether north, south, east or west, was facing huge crises lurking everywhere, but the sound of Buddhist music was still lingering in Luoyang, and the royal family members and officials were still addicted to the decadent music. Li Daoyuan was worried. How could the government become so decadent in just twenty years?
In the next two days, Su Ze appointed the riding slave Su Da to continue to follow Gao Huan to sell horses. This time, Su Ze did not ask for dividends, but asked Su Da to choose a hard-working horse to buy.

Su Bai, the envoy of Bailu Cao, was searching the city for clues about the "monk Fazong". In the past few days, his route covered all the temples of all sizes in Luoyang.

Before the end of his rest period, Su Ze practiced archery in the southern wilderness. Relying on his solid basic skills, Su Ze gained some confidence in passing the first round of "shooting" test.

Next, it’s finally time to refresh the store!
This is a long chapter, two chapters in one.

I won’t follow you at night because I need to check some information recently.

Continue with 6K three updates tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)