Chapter 393 392 Flying Dragon Master

"One begets two, two begets three, three begets all things. It is hard to be a human being, but now I have it. It is hard to understand the great way, but now I have understood it.

The earth follows the sky, the sky follows the earth, the way follows nature. If you want to talk to Zhonghua in this life, how can you live without this life?"

Wei Guangde handed in his Qingci and was not in a hurry to leave. Anyway, he was very free, so he stood aside to read the Qingci written by others, and listened to how others evaluated his works.

Well, Wei Guangde was a little disappointed.

The overall evaluation was not high, but after reading other Qingci works presented by the Hanlin Academy, Wei Guangde felt that he was still in the middle, not at the bottom.

At this time, Wei Guangde had forgotten the guilty feeling on the way.

It was only after he saw Yuan Wei's disdainful eyes that he felt that Yuan Wei's evaluation of his Qingci was "bullshit".

The eunuch collected the Qingci of the Hanlin Academy and said goodbye. Wei Guangde couldn't stay in the academy any longer, so he followed the eunuch out of the Hanlin Academy.

When Wei Guangde came out, it was almost noon, which should have been the hottest time of the day, but now it was winter after all. Walking outside, Wei Guangde felt cold all over and quickened his pace.

Although it was cold, the streets of the capital were as prosperous as ever, and rumors said that the salaries and rewards of all officials would be paid on time this year, which further stimulated the prosperity of the market.

I don’t know whether it should be said that thanks to Altan Khan, the silver and money that the Ministry of Revenue had forcibly collected from various places were transported to the capital one after another. The military expenses that should have been used for fighting were now withheld by Emperor Jiajing, and the rest was just enough to subsidize the salaries of all officials in the capital during the New Year.

Wei Guangde had heard that the Ministry of Revenue had reserved this year’s salaries and rewards in advance, and would never encounter the dilemma of the previous years.

So, although it was a rumor, it was sometimes very true.

After a stroll, Wei Guangde went directly to the Censorate.

At this time, there is a small mountain at the junction of Zhangzhou, Fujian and Raoping, Guangdong. This place is called Hushan.

Although Hushan is not a famous mountain or river, it is located at the junction of the two provinces. The mountain is high and the road is narrow. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It has always been a place of contention for military strategists.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhangzhou Prefecture has built the Baisong Pass on Hushan Mountain and set up a patrol inspection office to garrison here, responsible for inspecting pedestrians, cracking down on smuggling, and arresting thieves. This has become an important pass for defending against enemies and bandits in the south of Zhangzhou Prefecture.

In the peaceful years, there were constant merchants coming and going here, and the trade route was also busy. However, in recent years, because of the suppression of Japanese pirates in Jiangnan, merchants were subject to heavy taxes, which greatly reduced the number of caravans here, and it is no longer the same as before.

Even today, in the small pass city on the mountain, there are gongs and drums, firecrackers, and it is very lively.

In the city, dozens of musicians in bright red wedding clothes lined up neatly on both sides of a high platform in the city, playing cheerful music. In the distance, a large group of strong men in different clothes came out of the official office of the city. They surrounded a middle-aged man wearing a black gauze winged hat and a yellow robe and walked slowly towards the high platform.

Wherever the yellow-clothed man passed, the people on both sides of the street prostrated themselves on the ground and bowed.

Among the kneeling crowd, several men kept looking up and secretly glanced at the group of people passing by. The group of coiled dragons on the yellow top of the leader was very eye-catching.

After these people passed by, the crowd did not get up for a long time, still kneeling, and only those men kept looking around.

Soon, several eyes converged on a man who looked like a traveling merchant. The merchant shook his head slightly, then lowered his head and merged into the crowd. He could no longer be seen at a glance.

With the merchant's demonstration, the others stopped looking around and started to imitate him, keeping the same movements as the people around them and blending into the crowd.

When the man in the yellow dragon-shaped gown walked under the platform, the people following him stopped and slowly formed a neat formation, kneeling behind the man in the yellow shirt.

At this moment, the festive and cheerful music came to an abrupt end, and all the musicians knelt on the ground. Everyone in Baisong Pass knelt towards the platform.

The man stood under the platform for a long time, and seemed to know that everyone behind him had already knelt. He then gently lifted the hem of his gown with his left hand and climbed up the stairs. His movements looked steady and solemn.

When the man stepped onto the platform, he slowly turned around. At some point, a jade pendant appeared in his right hand. He raised his right hand high and shouted to the kneeling crowd below the stage: "Heaven has given me a great mission, and I will be the Lord of Feilong."

It was a slightly yellow jade pendant. The man showed the four small characters "Lord of Feilong" engraved on the jade pendant to the people below the stage.

A sharp shout suddenly rang out from the audience: "Long live, long live."

This sharp voice seemed to be a signal, and everyone began to follow and shouted "Long live, long live" in unison

The man looked at the people below the stage shouting like a tsunami, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes slightly, and seemed to enjoy this atmosphere.

This was him, Zhang Lian's coronation ceremony. Although it was simple, he really did it.

From this moment on, he was the emperor, the emperor of Feilong State.

After a long time, Zhang Lian seemed to feel that the atmosphere was about right, so he stretched out his hand and made a downward movement. As he moved, the shouts from the audience gradually decreased until they disappeared.

"From this moment on, the era name will be changed to "Zao Li", and I will succeed the throne as the emperor, with the title "Flying Dragon Human Ruler" and the country's name "Flying Dragon"."

In the duty room of the Western Garden, a table full of Qingci was placed on the desk.

In addition to the works of the officials on duty in the West Garden, these Qingci were also sent by officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Rites to participate in the selection. Ten outstanding ones were selected to be presented to Emperor Jiajing for use in the fasting and offering ceremony prepared in the West Garden tomorrow.

Yan Song and Xu Jie sat on the left and right of the upper seats in the duty room, and the four people standing below were Li Chunfang, Yan Ne, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan, the assistant ministers.

"Let them handle the task of selecting Qingci. We will review them later."

At this time, Xu Jie looked at the dozens of pieces of writing piled on the desk and said to Yan Song.

"Okay, you can select ten or twenty excellent pieces, and Shaohu and I will take a look."

Yan Song nodded and replied.

At this time, Yan Song was already in his seventies and eighties. He was not energetic, and the key was his eye disease. It was very difficult for him to see things. He could not read the memorials anymore, and he had to ask others to read them. Fortunately, Yan Shifan helped to handle the official documents.

Xu Jie is much younger than Yan Song, but he is also in his sixties. I heard that he can't see things clearly now.

With the words of the two, Yan Shifan moved to the desk, picked up the Qingci on it and began to read it one by one, and then divided the Qingci he had read into two piles, naturally placing the good and bad ones separately.

Li Chunfang, Yan Ne and others behind him had to suppress their dissatisfaction, looking around, pretending to be indifferent.

Those Qingci on the desk were pulled in front of him by Yan Shifan at the beginning, and he didn't intend to let them read it at all. The meaning was also very clear, that is, he would judge the quality, and you guys just wait behind to go through the motions.

Gao Gong beside them also frowned slightly, wanting to argue, but seeing the style of Li Chunfang and Yan Ne, and thinking of the two people sitting above, there was no point in arguing.

It's just to judge the quality of Qingci. If there are a few people on his side who are good at writing Qingci, then they are really not as good as the opposite side.

Among the people in Prince Yu's Palace, Yin Shizhan can write excellent Qingci, but Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde can't. Wei Guangde even said at the wine table that he can't write that thing.

There are not many good Qingci writers, so naturally they are not afraid that Yan Shifan will deliberately suppress the people in Prince Yu's Palace during the selection process.

In fact, the Qingci that can be sent to Yongshou Palace in the end should be those people. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are the imperial poets of Emperor Jiajing.

There is a very distinctive feature in the Jiajing Dynasty, especially in the middle and late period, that is, the saying of "Qingci Prime Minister".

If Qingci is well written, it is easier for Emperor Jiajing to remember it, and naturally it will be promoted quickly.

Look at the few people in the duty room of Xiyuan at this time. Who is not the one who once made Emperor Jiajing very happy with a Qingci.

Qingci, in the Jiajing Dynasty, is not just writing articles, but expressing an attitude to Emperor Jiajing. Actively learning and writing Qingci means getting closer to the emperor and expressing one's loyalty to the emperor.

Anyway, this will make Gao Gong think clearly. If Yan Shifan wants to be arrogant, let him be arrogant. I believe Li Chunfang and Yan Ne may not be happy.

These two people neither voted for Yan Song nor leaned towards Prince Yu. They belonged to the middle faction with the largest proportion in the court. It seemed that Yan Shifan offended them, which was actually not bad for him.

It seemed unnecessary to force himself to stand out.

At this time, Gao Gong hoped that Yan Shifan would do more.

Not long after, Yan Shifan finished reading the pile of Qingci and picked out twenty works that he thought were excellent.

In Gao Gong's eager eyes, Yan Shifan was not as strong as before, and directly handed over the works he selected to Yan Song and Xu Jie for selection. Instead, he stepped aside to make room and made a "please" gesture to Li Chunfang, Yan Ne and others.

The three stood behind the desk and began to look through the Qingci, but Gao Gong soon found a not-so-good work in the pile of Qingci selected by Yan Shifan. He couldn't help but frowned slightly and looked at the signature-Wei Guangde.

At night, in a forest outside the city of Baisongguan, several strange figures met in a forest.

"Sir, Zhang Lian dared to openly ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor"

An impatient man has spoken.

"I know, he is really bold, and he is not afraid of the sin of killing nine clans. Yes, I heard that when Zhang Lian rebelled, he killed all the patriarchs of their Zhang family. Can you verify this?"

The person who spoke was the man who pretended to be a merchant during the day. It seems that he is also the leader of this group of people.

"It is true. I have checked the documents of Raoping County Government before. Zhang Lian is from Xiacang, Wushi Village, Shangrao, Raoping County. He used to be a clerk in the government office, but he colluded with the bandits of Muqian Village. His family found out and wanted to capture him and hand him over to the officials, so he killed the clan leader and some clan members and ran into the bandit's den to become the second in command."

"The Zhang family still knows what is good for them. The lives of the clan are saved."

The leader just nodded, and then asked someone next to him: "Have you verified the matter of the jade pendant?"

The man who was asked immediately clasped his fists and answered: "I found out that the jade pendant was indeed fished out of a square pond in the county town of Raoping County. At that time, it was said that there was a rumor in the city that someone saw a god in the sky throwing something into the pond. Later, many people went to the pond to fish because of the rumor, but in the end only Zhang Lian fished out the jade pendant from the pond. There were quite a few people present at the time."

"Haha. It's just a trick to deceive the ignorant people."

The leader sneered.

This kind of thing, just think about it and you can understand the inside story, it is nothing more than this thing was carved by Zhang Lian, hidden somewhere in the pond, and then spread rumors, and when no one found it in the pond, he showed up and fished it out, a means of deceiving the people.

"He came up with such a trick, and the Raoping County Magistrate didn't even find it. Later, this matter will be reported to the Qianhu Office, and the county magistrate will be held accountable for dereliction of duty."

"Then sir, what should we do next? Should we sneak in tonight?"

As he said this, the man stretched out his hand and made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"I saw it two days ago. The security around the government office is tight, so it's hard to start."

Speaking of this, the leader said with a gloomy face: "I originally came to investigate their collusion with the Japanese pirates, but I didn't expect to see that thief jump out to become the emperor. If the news spreads to the capital, he will inevitably be reprimanded for his incompetence and not discovering it in advance and sending a large army to encircle and suppress it."

"Who knows, this poor and bad place."

"Not really. There have been many rebellions in Fujian in recent years. Many of the Zhang thieves are from Fujian. The Fuzhou Qianhu Suo is negligent."

"Yes, it should be Fujian."

"Wait, is this Baisong Pass under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture or Chaozhou Prefecture?"

Hearing his subordinates talking about the leaders of the Zhang thieves, many of whom are from Fujian, he hurriedly waved his hand to shut up his subordinates. Thinking that this place is at the junction of two provinces, he forgot to find out which side this place is under the jurisdiction of.

"This should be under the jurisdiction of Fujian. I haven't seen any reports of banditry from Raoping County. It should be under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture."

"I don't know."

Hearing that his men were about to start talking again, the leader waved his hand, "Forget it, the news has been gathered. It doesn't matter whether Zhang Lian colluded with the Japanese pirates. He is a rebel anyway, and the harm is far greater than that of the Japanese pirates.

Pack up your things and return to Guangzhou to report this matter overnight. As for whether to intervene or not, that is something that the Qianhu Lord should consider."

At this moment, the man probably realized that their target Zhang Lian was indeed a Cantonese, but the location of Baisongguan seemed to be the territory of Fujian Dusi, not under the jurisdiction of Guangdong.

Although it is said that "it does not concern you, so stay out of it", it depends on what the matter is.

He really dared not hide the rebellion.

He would definitely be punished if he reported to the capital, but whether to report or not was not within his scope of responsibility, but was decided by the Qianhu Lord of the Jinyiwei in the prefectural city.

Then, the group quickly ran out of the woods and down the mountain, heading towards Raoping County.