Taiping Inn

Heaven and earth divide yin and yang, and the world divides black and white.

When Yin is strong, Yang is weak, and the imperial government is weak, and there will be some vacancy in the control of the local area. This vacancy will not always be empty, but other forces will fill it.

To give the simplest example, there is a Beggar's Gang in every big city, which has a great power to help the government find out information, carry corpses, clean up garbage, guard the gates, do some thankless dirty and tiring work, or have skills. It is nothing more than pretending to be a sell-off to bury your father, Gongsun fell into trouble, pretending to be disabled, etc. It is said to be begging, but it is actually a fraud. The leaders of the Beggars' Sect are all half-official people, and they have tokens symbolizing the authorization of the government. The leader has the greatest power to seize the life and death of the underground beggars. On weekdays, they enjoy the worship of the beggars and their lives are luxurious. They not only wear wealth and food, but also call slaves and maids, but also have many wives and concubines, and their lives are no different from those of wealthy businessmen. Under the head of the general, leaders at all levels live in dilapidated temples and temples inside and outside the city, and each has its own territory. Clearly defined domains. Beggars at the halls are not allowed to beg across the border. Beggars from other places must register at the entrance of the main hall to beg. Otherwise, they will be beaten and expelled at the least, and then killed and tied up stones to the river.

There are more than 5,000 registered beggars in just the city of Langya Prefecture.

The Beggars' Sect is just a gang. Further up, there are also large and large sects, as well as the forces of the Jianghu Sects like the princes. After the founding of the Great Wei Kingdom, the strategy of banning the sea was implemented, which was equivalent to the Great Wei court voluntarily abandoning the four seas. Therefore, Butianzong, Qingweizong and Cihangzong made up this vacancy, occupying the North Sea, East Sea and South Sea respectively, and developing The fleet monopolizes maritime trade and thus prospers.

Moreover, the prosperity of the sect is closely related to the imperial court. The reason why the Zaoge Sect became prosperous back then was because the Golden Horde Khanate entered the Central Plains and killed blood to flow into rivers and seas of corpses. This made the Zaoge Sect, who was proficient in the corpse refining method. In order to prosper, as the war subsided, the decline of Zaoge Sect was reasonable. During the previous dynasty, Zhengyi Sect was repeatedly granted, making Zhengyi Sect the leader of the Taoist sect in the world, and it was extremely powerful. During this dynasty, he repeatedly suppressed Zhengyi Sect, which weakened its status and momentum. Shenxiao Sect was repeatedly granted by the court, thus leading to the dominance of Jingzhou.

Nowadays, as the court continues to decline, "vacancies" are constantly exposed. Sects and noble families continue to fill these vacancy and exercise part of the power of the court on their behalf. The situation formed is that the court will be weak and the rivers and lakes will be strong. To this day, the court has developed in some places. Only by cooperating with local tyrants can the situation be stabilized, which is particularly obvious in Jiangnan.

The Governor of Jingchu is known to be in charge of the three states, namely: Luzhou, Chuzhou and Jingzhou. However, among these three states, the Governor of Jingchu has the weakest control over Jingzhou, because Jingzhou is a thoroughfare of several states, and the north It connects the north of the Yangtze River, the south of the Yangtze River, and the Zhongzhou, Qinzhou and Shuzhou. The forces of all parties are intertwined and it is really difficult to completely control. Yunmengze is known as the 800-mile Yunmeng, with vast lakes and countless islands. When the Jin Dynasty was at its peak, it was a naval master here, and perhaps it could still be fully controlled. Now, let alone the Wei court is weak, it is just a naval master. It has been sluggish for nearly a hundred years and is really not worth mentioning.

So the big ships of Li Xuandu and others walked unimpededly on the vast blue waves of Yunmengze, without any pursuit or any obstacles. This is also one of the reasons why Li Xuan immediately decided to transfer to Jingzhou after being blocked by the troops of the Governor's Office in Luzhou. Jingzhou is so well-connected that he is looking for people here, and he is somewhat fond of finding needles at the sea level. Meaning. Unless the Governor of Jingchu can mobilize all local forces in Jingzhou at this time, the leader is the Shenxiao Sect. However, the Shenxiao Sect is now trapped in the internal struggle between Sanxuan Zhenren and Taoist Ling Chong and cannot extricate itself. , where would you care about other people's affairs?

Zhao Lianggeng has also made it clear that after his Jingchu Governor disappeared, the entire Governor's Office, including his two sons, had no idea of ​​finding someone or saving someone, but to have some internal struggle first. , if you want to find someone or recommend the new governor, Zhao Lianggeng also expected the outcome of the fight, and it was mostly a two-pronged approach, just like the means used to suppress the rebellion, his two sons still have to prepare for both , on one hand, it is prepared to seize power after Zhao Lianggeng was killed, and on the other hand, it is prepared to return safely. In this situation, Li Xuandu and others seemed to be a risky move, but in fact it is the safest way, enough to leave safely.

After hearing what Zhao Lianggeng said, Li Xuan was not surprised because he grew up in the Qingwei Sect, and there was no such intrigue. For power, masters and disciples are not like masters and disciples, and fathers and sons are not like fathers and sons. In the end, they all become kings and ministers. If the king wants the ministers to die, can the ministers die?

After sailing like this for two days, I was still in Yunmeng Ze. Yunmengze is divided into two parts with the river as the boundary. The part in the north of the Yangtze River is located in Jingzhou and the part in the south of the Yangtze River is located in Xiaozhou. This lake also becomes the dividing line between the two states. Due to Zhao Lianggeng's incident, Li Xuandu and others deliberately deviated from the originally established route and did not enter the river from the lake, but came to Yunmengze in Xiaozhou.

After another day of travel, you can already see a small town by the lake. This is already within the Yiyang Prefecture of Xiaozhou. You have to go all the way north and enter the Wuling Prefecture, return to Jingzhou through Shimen County, and then go up the river. You can reach Baidi City for about a ten-day journey.

The group abandoned the boat and landed on the shore, headed to the small town, and had a rest first, and then prepared to hire a carriage instead. Su Yunxian smiled at Li Xuandu and said, "When it comes to Xiaozhou, Yu Qingning is the landlord, but unfortunately she went to Qizhou and was not in Xiaozhou at this time. Zifu came from Qizhou. Have you ever seen it. Has her?"

Li Xuandu nodded and said, "I have seen it. I wanted to finish the friendship of the landlord, but I was summoned to Luzhou by Zhang Luanshan and met you halfway."

Speaking of this, Li Xuan couldn't help but laugh at himself: "It's the friendship of a landlord, and I, a landlord, are not worthy of my name."

Yan Feiqing interjected, "When it comes to this matter, it's our fault. We thought the Purple Mansion could motivate the old sword god, but we didn't expect the old sword god to be so...resolute."

The palace official sneered: "There are many idle clouds and wild cranes in the world who claim to not seek fame, wealth, power and position. In my opinion, it is very funny. These people have never had real power, but they claim to not like power. They have nothing to do with it. Fame and wealth, but claim to not seek fame and fortune. Is it unwilling or not, whether it is content or self-comfort? But you have to consider it carefully. Who is willing to let go easily if you truly have power? And Will continue to pursue greater power, and after unifying the world, I still want to be an emperor, and after becoming an emperor, I want to live forever. This is called "the human heart is not enough, the snake swallows the elephant". This has been the case since ancient times. Heroes and heroes can not be happy Women, you can't love gold and silver, and even abandon the word "love", but few people can escape the word "right". "

Although Li Xuandu knew that the palace official was talking about his mentor, he could not argue and could only sigh helplessly.

Song Fuchen did not say a word, but just walked silently.

Zhao Lianggeng, who was walking side by side with Li Xuan, suddenly said, "Miss Gong can see through thoroughly. In fact, whether it is the Earth Master or the Holy Lord, who doesn't think so? If it's not for power, they have worked so hard to plan for the sake of What?"

The palace official snorted: "I don't know what the Earth Master thinks, but I know that the Holy Lord is definitely not for the sake of power."

Zhao Lianggeng knew his current situation and did not go to the front of the palace official. He lowered his eyes and was silent for a while, then raised his head, but looked at Li Xuandu: "What do you think Zifu?"

Li Xuandu said: "Power and responsibility are for equality. If you have mastered power and fulfilled your duties, it is not criticized. You are afraid that you have mastered power, but you do not fulfill your duties, and even abused your power. This is not possible."

Zhao Lianggeng smiled and said, "Is Zi Mansion talking about me? So Zi Mansion thinks that I, the governor, have I fulfilled my duties or not?"

The group deliberately distanced themselves from the many servants who followed behind them, not afraid of being heard. At this time, the few people were silent when they heard what Zhao Lianggeng said.

Li Xuandu said: "I think Zhaobutang has at least done some of its responsibilities, otherwise I would not have deliberately left Zhaobutang's life. Moreover, in today's world, no one can do it. A small willful person is enough. Let yourself fall to where you are today.”

Zhao Lianggeng smiled and said, "I feel a little confident in my heart to get such an evaluation from Zifu."