Chinese New Year

Chapter 645 A Different Qingzhou
"In the early Han Dynasty, Sima Jizhu was a senior official of the Chu State. He traveled to Chang'an to study. He was proficient in the Yijing and Huang-Lao schools, and his magical powers were boundless."

"It is rumored that Sima Jizhu entered the stone chamber of Weiyu Mountain and received the stone spirit's golden light hidden scene transformation method in Xilingzi City."

"Xi Lingzi is the Taixuan Fairy. I heard that she once taught Sima Ji the way to swordsmanship."

It sounds a bit outrageous that such vague topics were discussed at such a nice banquet. Even though he was mentally prepared, Yang Kai was still shocked.

There are also people from the Yang clan of Taishan who believe in Tianshi Dao, but they are very few, such as Yang Jiongzhi and Yang Xuanzhi.

People whose names contain the character "zhi" are not necessarily Taoists, and even if they are Taoists, they do not necessarily believe in Tianshidao.

Of course, the brothers Yang Xuanzhi and Yang Jiongzhi were indeed believers of Tianshi Dao, so when Cao Yi asked for too much and made Duke Liang furious, and decided to attack with force, Yang Jiongzhi had to defend himself urgently.

Yang Kai didn't quite believe this for a simple reason: he had never seen anyone who could live forever, not even one.

When someone mentioned that Lao Tzu lived for more than 200 years or even several hundred years old, he was skeptical and mostly did not believe it.

Are there any reliable teachings? He is skeptical.

Among the Qingzhou scholars present, some believed and some did not, even though Qingzhou was the region where Tianshi Dao was best developed in the Jin Dynasty - in fact, in the entire coastal area, Tianshi Dao activities were more or less active than inland areas.

Most of the Qingzhou scholars who believed in the Taoism of the Heavenly Master were employed by Cao Qi.

The Qingzhou scholars who did not believe in the Tianshi Dao were not that loyal even if they were hired by Cao Qi to serve him.

Relying on trickery to rule a place will eventually lead to failure.

"Master Gao, an elder in my family has passed away. Please grant me a tomb-guarding voucher." Since Cao Yi did not come, everyone continued to chat.

"No problem." "Master Gao" laughed, and after asking how the deceased died, he took out a piece of hard yellow paper from his sleeve and handed it over.

The person who asked for the ticket took it solemnly and thanked him repeatedly.

Yang Kai took a quick glance, but couldn't see it clearly. He only made out a few vague sentences: "to free the corpse of ghosts", "to eliminate the ghosts", "to suppress the evil", "as the law commands" and so on - he roughly understood that the deceased had died an unexpected death.

"Master Gao, I also shamelessly ask for one." Someone else pleaded.

"Okay, take it." Master Gao asked a few questions as if he was selling wholesale, and then gave out another one.

Perhaps this person had a high status. Master Gao thought about it and gave him a bunch of things like official seals and imperial decrees.

Yang Kai looked at it carefully.

Good guy!
The two thousand stone tomb masters and tomb secretaries are the most exquisitely made underground. Below them are the tomb gate pavilion chief, tomb left, tomb right, tomb secretaries, tomb commanders, main tomb commanders, soul gate pavilion chiefs, tomb guerrillas...

The one who granted these underground official positions was the "Emperor of Heaven".

Officials headed by the "Underground Two Thousand Stones" Tomb Boss can borrow the power of the "Emperor of Heaven" to cast spells and fight against evil spirits, gods, and monsters.

Awesome! Qingzhou, you are different from others.

Yang Kai withdrew his gaze and secretly laughed at the ignorance of everyone.

However, people in the world are inherently ignorant, and relying on this method to maintain governance is a way out.

Moreover, scholars who like to discuss metaphysics and philosophy are more likely to accept these things, except for a few Confucian scholars.

Even Confucian scholars were affected to some extent.

Yang Kai knew that the Yingchuan Yu family passed down Confucianism from generation to generation, and Yu Liang, who was well-versed in Confucian classics, liked to talk about abstruse ideas to adapt to the trend of the scholar circle.

Ridiculous! Yang Kai sneered secretly and ignored them.

"General Zhendong is here." A servant outside the door announced loudly.

Everyone present had a serious look on their faces, and immediately straightened their sleeves and sat up straight.

Yang Kai was a little surprised. It turned out that Cao Yi had a high reputation in Qingzhou.

Soon, a handsome scholar in a vermilion robe walked in from the gate. After looking around, his eyes paused on Yang Kai, then moved away.

"Greetings to General Zhendong." The people kneeling behind the desk bowed to the ground one after another.

Cao Yi sat on the main seat with a blank expression on his face. He glanced around again and said, "No need to be polite."

Everyone sat up straight.

Cao Yi looked at Yang Kai and asked, "Why didn't the envoy bow?"

"The court only allowed Cao Gong to be the governor of Qingzhou, but not the general of Zhendong," Yang Kai replied.

"Isn't the envoy afraid of death?" Cao Yi asked in surprise.

"The Xianbei cavalry has already marched south from Youzhou, carrying more than 10,000 armored horses." Yang Kai looked at Cao Yi and said loudly: "Someone is avenging me, so what is there to fear?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people started to scold him, and there was a sudden noise.

Cao Yi stretched out his right hand, and the noise gradually died down. "General Zhendong is not suitable, would you like to be General Andong?" Cao Yi asked with a smile, "The King of Langya has already appointed me as the governor of Qingzhou and General Andong."

"The Prince of Langya just forged the imperial edict, how can it count?" Yang Kai questioned.

Cao Yi smiled and said, "The envoy is so aggressive. This is not the right attitude for a discussion. Didn't Shao Xun teach you how to talk?"

After saying this, he clapped his hands, and soon his personal soldiers brought a bronze seal.

Cao Yi played around casually and said, "Zu Shizhi is heading north from Xuzhou, and I am heading south from Qingzhou. If we join forces to attack, Pengcheng will be easily captured. It doesn't matter whether it counts or not. What we are competing with is swords and guns, not words."

Yang Kai sneered and said, "Didn't Cao Gong see Zu Ti retreating in a panic when he was surrounded in Xia Pi? How dare he go north? It's not like Cao Gong didn't attack Langya, Dongguan and other counties, but what was the result? Didn't he retreat to Qingzhou in the end?"

Cao Yi frowned and said unhappily, "Does Shao Xun think he can take advantage of me? The governor of Qingzhou is unwilling to give it to me. He is so stingy."

Yang Kai sneered in his heart, you are so cunning, I thought you were a person who would not change color even if the sky was falling. I didn't expect that you couldn't stand it after a few words, which was very disappointing.

"The post of governor is so important! In the past, Duke Liang led an expedition to the north to attack Ye City and invited Duke Cao to send troops. Not only did Duke Cao refuse, he also sent troops to plunder Xu, Yan and Ji states. Can you get the post of governor by doing this?" Yang Kai asked in return.

Cao Yi's face became more and more unhappy, and he said, "The messenger is drunk."

"Lord Cao." Yang Kai sighed and said, "The governor of Qingzhou is the greatest sincerity of the court. If we miss it, we will regret it."

"Send the envoy back to the inn to rest." Cao Yi slammed the table, his anger evident in his words.

A personal soldier came from outside and stretched out his hand to invite Yang Kai to go out.

Yang Kai snorted coldly, shook his clothes and walked out.

Before he left, Cao Yi said again: "Ask Shao Xun to get someone else to talk to."

Yang Kai paused, too lazy to say anything, and walked out quickly.

After Yang Kai left, Cao Yi's expression immediately returned to calm.

The guests remained silent, waiting for Cao Qi to speak.

Cao Yi stood up and paced around the hall, finally stopping in front of General Gao Liang and asked, "Gao Shiyi, do you think Shao Xun will give in? Is there any need to hold on?"

Gao Liang hesitated for a while and said, "Mingsir, didn't you tell the divination? Shao Xun will give in sooner or later. Wait a little longer, and it won't be hard to get the position of Qingzhou Mu."

Cao Yi felt a little relieved, but still a little anxious.

After a long struggle with the Jin Dynasty, the Wang family of Langya had sent envoys, and the Yang family of Taishan had also sent envoys. After much negotiation, Shao Xun still refused to give in - he knew that the actual person behind the matter was Shao Xun, and the Jin court was just his tool in public.

Cao Yi turned and looked at Xu Miao again.

Xu Miao cupped his hands and said, "Mingsir, wasn't there an iron certificate in the deep ravine outside the city? And the messenger of the Emperor of Heaven sent down a red letter, saying that Mingsir will be the ruler of Qingzhou. With this red letter and iron certificate, Mingsir, what do you have to fear?"

Cao Yi was choked.

The red seal and the iron certificate were things he created to consolidate his rule, and he sent his trusted people to carry them out. He even hid it from generals like Xu Miao and Gao Liang. How could they take it seriously?

Seeing Cao Yi standing there in a daze, Xu Miao changed his tone and said, "Mingsir, Guanggu City is high and has deep moats. It has sufficient food and weapons. We will surely be able to hold on. As long as we hold on for a long time, Zu Ti will surely go north, and Pingyang will also make moves. We may be able to turn the danger into safety."

Hearing this, Cao Yi's brows relaxed slightly.

He built Guanggu City at great expense.

When he first arrived in Linzi, he saw that the city was too big, the surrounding areas were flat and there was no strategic location to defend, so he gave up the idea of ​​using it as his capital - military leaders all liked to live in strong cities that were easy to defend, as they felt more secure that way.

Later, he went to Guang County for investigation and found that the city was too small to store much food, equipment, and soldiers, and was not suitable as a government seat.

After much consideration, they decided to build a new city, which was Guanggu City.

This city is located next to Guang County, hence the word "Guang" in its name.

This city is surrounded by mountains and rivers, "there is a large and wide stream, which makes it solid", and the word "solid" is taken from it.

To sum up, it is called "Guanggu City".

Guang County and Guanggu City itself were also incorporated into Linzi of Qi State - no, it should be called Qi County, but if Sima Rui's appointment was accepted, it should be called back to Qi State - today's Guanggu is the common seat of government of Qingzhou, Qi County and Linzi. It is also the seat of Cao Yi's Zhendong General's headquarters and the foundation of his dominance over Qingzhou.

With this city, Cao Qi seemed to have more confidence.

But just asking for the post of Qingzhou Mu, why did he drag his feet, make excuses, and refuse to give it? ! Thinking of Guanggu Fortress, Cao Yi felt as if his chest could stand up straight, and a resentment towards Shao Xun surged in his heart.

Of course, he also clearly knew the gap in strength between the two sides.

He was not arrogant and did not try to resist stubbornly. The current struggle was only for the sake of gaining greater benefits. Otherwise, he would kill the messenger, cut off his retreat, and fight to the death with Shao Xun.

"Hold another banquet tomorrow and invite the envoys from Jianye." Cao Yi gave the order after making up his mind.

(End of this chapter)