Chapter 4 When Will We Cut the Candle in the West Window Together? 6.Handhold
At the end of the year, he returned to Luoyang. This year, the northern border was unstable. The Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Chishan Wuhuan united and constantly invaded the border, killing and looting officials and civilians. Liu Xiu transferred Ji Zun's cousin Ji Zhuo, who was the magistrate of Xiangben County, to Liaodong County as the prefect. Ji Zhuo lived up to expectations and defeated the barbarian invasions many times.
However, just as the north was somewhat stable, Jiaozhi County was in crisis again. Jiaozhi County is located in southern China. According to the modern map, it should belong to Vietnam. But in the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago, Jiaozhi County belonged to a vast primitive jungle, and many areas were undeveloped. The population was mainly ethnic minorities, and the customs were very different from those in the Central Plains. The economic conditions were still in the late stage of matriarchal clan. The people lived a primitive life of slash-and-burn farming, and had no concept of dogma and law.
It was quite difficult for Han officials to govern this land, so conflicts often occurred. This time, the instigators of the rebellion were a pair of sisters named Zheng Ce and Zheng Er. It is said that the sisters were skilled in martial arts and led the local tribesmen to capture Jiaozhi County in one fell swoop. Jiuzhen County, Rinan County, Hepu County and other places responded to the news. In the vast south, they captured more than 60 cities in a row. Not long ago, news came that Zheng Ce had established a country and made herself queen.
This is a very remarkable woman, even more remarkable than Chi Zhaoping back then.
"What do you think?" Liu Xiu briefly explained the whole story and then waited silently for my reply.
I smiled and narrowed my eyes. I knew much more about Zheng Ce's gossip than he did, so I pushed the memorial back. "Personally, it's not all their fault. The court had already stipulated that the Han laws would not be implemented in Jiaozhi. Jiaozhi Governor Su Ding insisted on using tough measures to suppress the barbarians. He captured Zheng Ce's husband in the hope of making an example of her. But Zheng Ce was not an ordinary woman and did the opposite. If it were me, I'm afraid I would do something even more ruthless than her!"
Liu Xiu sneered, and the worry cloud on his face disappeared.
"Yu Gong..." I couldn't help but sigh as the conversation changed. "Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen counties are the territories of our Han Dynasty. We cannot allow the country to be divided, so the rebels must be suppressed. The crime of Zheng Ce and her sisters rebelling against the court must not be tolerated!"
"Hmm." He pondered for a moment. "The court is also discussing this matter. Who do you think is suitable to go? Wu Han has already volunteered..."
"Not appropriate. It's better for the Grand Marshal to stay in Beijing!" If Wu Han is allowed to go, and the killing is in full swing, I'm afraid the people of Jiaozhi will not be able to escape the disaster of massacre and extermination of the whole city. Jiaozhi is a remote and poor place with complex terrain. Once entering the territory, it is likely to be broken into small pieces and turn into guerrilla warfare. This is a huge challenge for the Han army, which is good at forming battle formations. You must know that in the Vietnam War that broke out in 1961, the US military, with such a strong force, did not gain an advantage in the Vietnam guerrilla warfare. I thought about it and decided that except Wu Han, there was only one person suitable for this battle. "Ma Yuan and Duan Zhi have made great contributions in breaking Wancheng and beheading Li Guang. Let them have a try."
Liu Xiu smiled and said, "So you also like Ma Wenyuan!"
"From Luoyang to Jiaozhi, the land route seems to be shorter, but the mountain road is rugged and it is actually far less convenient than taking the sea route..." He said nothing, just stared at me with a half-smile. I realized that I had said too much and hurriedly explained, "I had a guest in my house who was from Jiaozhi before, so I heard a little about it."
Liu Xiu laughed and said, "I see you are very excited, don't tell me you want to go to the battle yourself?"
I appreciated his thoughtfulness and did not ask him about my familiarity with the territory. I could not help but tease him, "The Zheng sisters are so brave. Even though my King Yi has the word 'king' in his name, he is just a princess. Zheng Ce is a woman, but she can command soldiers and establish herself as a king. How can this not impress people?"
He said helplessly: "That won't work. You are my queen now! You have to stay in the palace with me. Let me put it this way. I will appoint Ma Yuan as General Fubo and Duan Zhi as General Louchuan to lead 20,000 troops to quell the rebellion in Jiaozhi by sea!"
"Add one more person." I winked.
"Oh, who else do you like?"
"Commoner——Liu Long!"
Liu Xiu was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "Alright, let him do you a favor. I will re-employ Liu Long, confer him the title of Marquis of Fule Township, make him a Lieutenant General, and let him follow Ma Yuan as his deputy general!"
I was overjoyed, hugged his neck, and kissed him hard on the face: "Let me thank Your Majesty on behalf of Liu Long first!"
"This thank you gift is too little." I muttered to myself, and he pulled me into his arms, and then pressed his warm lips against mine.
In February of the 18th year of Jianwu, Shi Xin, the governor of Shu County, rebelled and attacked the prefect Zhang Mu. Zhang Mu escaped over the city wall and managed to survive, but Chengdu fell. Liu Xiu sent Wu Han with 10,000 troops to attack.
Ma Yuan's advance to Jiaozhi was very smooth. He made his way through the mountains and traveled more than a thousand miles to Jiaozhi. Zheng Ce obviously did not expect the Han army to come around the sea. As expected, he was defeated as soon as they fought. Afterwards, he took advantage of the terrain and hid in the jungle, launching a guerrilla war with the Han army led by Ma Yuan.
Because of my concern for Zheng Ce, although I could not go to the battlefield in person, I had an indescribable desire to win for her, so I paid special attention to Ma Yuan's battle in Jiaozhi. Ma Yuan was indeed kind-hearted. Every time he captured a city or village, he not only restrained his soldiers from disturbing the people, but also helped the local people to clean up the battlefield and quickly restore their homes. Under the influence of such generosity, the local indigenous resistance was quickly weakened, and some rebels even surrendered on their own initiative. When I got this news, I couldn't help but feel proud of my vision and judgment at the time. If it was Wu Han who went there, I'm afraid the result would be no different from the US military's attack on Vietnam. The tough measures led to intensified resistance from the people, and the chance of regaining Jiaozhi was really slim.
At that time, Liu Xiu was not in the palace, but was touring Chang'an and offering sacrifices to Hou Tu. When I wrote to him, I couldn't help but boast about myself, and he always followed my wishes and praised me continuously.
On the other hand, Wu Han's strength was also fully demonstrated in Chengdu. He mobilized troops from Guanghan, Ba, and Shu counties to besiege Chengdu until July. After taking Chengdu in one fell swoop and beheading Shi Xin, he took advantage of the victory and sailed down the raft to Ba County. Wu Han acted as usual. None of the rebellious leaders survived in his hands. Not only that, he also moved hundreds of households of the rebels to Nan County and Changsha before returning to the court.
Afterwards, Liu Xiu also used this incident to teach Liu Yang the art of employing people. It is important for a ruler to have a keen eye and be good at employing people, so that he can achieve twice the result with half the effort .
On this day, Liu Jing was free in the palace, so he taught Liu Jing how to write. Liu Liliu was also watching from the side, and from time to time he was sensible enough to grind ink for his brother. Although Liu Shou was young, he was very naughty and made trouble from time to time.
Because it was hot in the summer, Shanan was about to bring some chilled fruit to the children to cool them down when suddenly there were hurried footsteps at the door and Liu Xiu hurriedly walked in without even announcing himself, scaring the palace attendants into standing up in a hurry to greet him.
I was surprised to see his serious expression. Before I could ask him, he said, "Change your clothes and leave the palace with me."
I saw some sadness in his eyes, so I asked, "What's the matter?"
He didn't answer at first, but just pulled open his long gown with great effort. I hurriedly asked someone to come over and help him undress. He took off the crown on his head and then heaved a long sigh: "Gushi Hou has passed away."
I was stunned, and my mind did not come to its senses immediately. It was not until I heard him instruct Dai Ang: "Prepare a vehicle, a light vehicle, no need to arrange too many people to follow..." that I woke up from my dream and cried out in disbelief: "Li Tong! How... How old is he this year! How could he..."
"He has always had diabetes and has had problems before..."
I felt sad and said, "What should I do? Bo Ji..."
Liu Xiu's body stiffened, and he became more melancholy: "Hurry up and change your clothes..."
I hurriedly called Shannan to help me change clothes and put on makeup. I packed in a hurry. Before leaving, Shannan asked, "Is it really okay for the queen to skip lunch?"
"How can I care about these things?" Thinking of Liu Boji, he felt even more upset and had no appetite to eat.
When we arrived at the Gushi Marquis's Mansion, many officials who had also come to pay their respects had already gathered at the door. I followed Liu Xiu out of the car, and while greeting everyone, my heart was burning with worry about the situation inside.
As expected, as soon as I stepped into the door, I heard a burst of mournful cries, which came out intermittently. When I arrived at the hall where the body was kept, except for the family steward who came out to greet them, more than a dozen people were all dressed in mourning, lying on the ground crying. Among them was a woman wearing coarse linen mourning clothes, with a sash tied around her head and waist, a cloth on her chest, and hemp shoes on her feet. She held the coffin with her hands and cried so hard that she couldn't even breathe. The female relatives beside her dragged and pulled her, but they still couldn't calm her down.
Liu Xiu secretly held my hand, and I understood and stepped forward to pull the heartbroken Liu Bogi down from the coffin. At first she just cried bitterly and held the coffin tightly with both hands, refusing to let go. When she saw that it was me, she let go of her hands in despair with trembling lips.
I held her tightly in my arms. She held my shoulders. Maybe she had cried for too long, and her voice had long been hoarse: "Lihua! What should I do? He just left like that, what should I do? How could he leave me all alone..."
My eyes were wet immediately: "Why are you alone? You have children." Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were red and swollen. I pushed her hair away and comforted her softly, "Think about your Li Yin, who gave birth to your eldest grandson. And Li Xiong, he is your youngest son. Although His Majesty is considerate and made him Marquis of Zhaoling, he is still a minor after all. Don't you care about him?"
As I spoke, I waved my hand and called out Li Xiong from the crowd of filial sons and grandsons who were crying in the hall. Li Xiong, who was only five or six years old, had a flat mouth and tears and snot on his face. He rushed over and hugged Liu Boji, crying out in grief: "Mother——"
The young son's loving cry woke Liu Boji up. She hugged her son and cried, and the mother and son burst into tears.
I couldn't bear to watch any longer, my tears kept flowing.
After a while, Liu Xiu gave a donation, which was received by Li Tong's eldest son Li Yin.
After staying in the Gushi Marquis's mansion for two full hours, I saw that the bereaved family was busy with matters, and they had to go through so much trouble to entertain the emperor and empress, which was inconvenient both inside and outside. So I suggested to Liu Xiu: "Let's go back to the palace first. We can't help here."
Liu Xiu also understood the reasoning and sighed, "That's good."
I helped him up and said, "Wait until the funeral day before coming to attend the funeral. This will complete the relationship between you two."
"Others may not understand, but you do. If it weren't for the help of Dimension, how could I be where I am today?"
Recalling the scene of those years, it seems as if it were still vivid in my mind. The young man was full of vigor and vitality, with sword drawn in hand. A hero was born. No one expected that time would pass by so quickly, like a white horse passing by in the blink of an eye, and in the blink of an eye we are all old.
On the way back to the palace, I was sitting in the car, and the scenes of that year kept appearing in my mind. That handsome young man was now lying unconscious in the coffin, and it was of no use for his relatives to cry for him.
In fact, it is not just Li Tong. Looking back carefully, there are only a few of our comrades who fought side by side with us. As time goes by, we are all... growing old.
"Xiu'er..." I held his hand. His palm was warm, which made me feel at ease. I leaned my head on his shoulder and said sadly, "Will you always stay with me?"
With five fingers spread out, his fingers intertwined with mine and held tightly: "Yes, I will always be with you."
"Even if we grow old... we will always be together."
"Yes, even if we grow old..." He looked at me with his soft and gentle eyes like a lock, firmly holding me, and made a promise for a lifetime: "We will be together through life and death. I will hold your hand and grow old with you - we will always be together!"
I will hold your hand and grow old with you.
Even if we grow old... we will always be together...
Always together...
