Golden Greenery

Returning to the Central Plains more than eighty years later, the Song Dynasty has changed a lot.

The current emperor is called Zhao Zhen, who is the grandson of Zhao Guangyi. Moreover, the current emperor is not called emperor, or emperor, nor is he called his majesty, but is called an official.

In fact, the emperor was called an official as early as the Jin Dynasty, but it has never been popular. It was only occasionally called this by people close to the emperor. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Gao Lishi called Li Longji the "official family" or "everyone".

The formalization of the term "official" began with Zhao Kuangyin.

After Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiao rebelled, he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor and established the Song Dynasty. However, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty were still old ministers of the Zhou Dynasty. They used to be colleagues, but suddenly he said "I" and others said "Your Majesty", which felt a little awkward.

Zhao Kuangyin racked his brains and thought hard, how can he look round? He thought of Qin Shihuang.

Qin Shihuang invented the word "emperor". It used to be called the Son of Heaven, the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors. Qin Shihuang felt that he was greater than the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors plus one, so he should be called the Emperor.

The Three Emperors govern the world, and the Five Emperors govern the world. Zhao Kuangyin felt that he was actually greater than the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and greater than Qin Shihuang, but he just couldn't tell others so openly. So he followed suit and officially picked out the 'official family'.

Compared to 'emperor', the title 'official' seems more approachable and friendly to the people, but in fact it is just as domineering inside. Zhao Kuangyin is very satisfied. It has been a hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin had long since died and became Taizu, but the "official family" was completely ignored by the subjects of the Song Dynasty. Instead, it seemed awkward to address the emperor.

Not only did the title of the emperor change, but the temperament of the Song Dynasty also changed very obviously. This temperament is compared with that of the Tang Dynasty.

People in the Tang Dynasty were rough and proud and liked horses, frontier fortresses and peonies. People in the Song Dynasty were restrained and delicate, and they liked plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums. People in the Tang Dynasty lived a flamboyant life, while people in the Song Dynasty paid attention to their emotions.

The Tang Dynasty attacked on all sides and defeated the surrounding enemies; the Song Dynasty defended on all sides and bribed the enemies with Sui coins.

The difference in temperament between the Tang and Song Dynasties can be profoundly reflected in the changes in the martial arts world.

During the Tang Dynasty, all the people practiced martial arts, and martial artists had a very high status. Military generals and civil servants were completely equal in the court, and both civil and military talents were respected. Even famous civil servants like Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng could mount their horses and draw their swords to kill the enemy.

A master of poetry and swordsmanship like Li Bai will inevitably become a national idol. Zhang Xu and Yan Zhenqing are both calligraphers and martial artists.

By the Song Dynasty, everything had changed. Martial arts masters had no status in the court. Donghua's disciples were only called good men by name, and the generals were all keeping their tails between their legs.

A small county magistrate pointed his nose and reprimanded a general who commanded tens of thousands of people. This was unthinkable in the Tang Dynasty, but it was normal in the Song Dynasty. No one thought it should be wrong, including the general who was being reprimanded.

In the hundred years from the late Tang Dynasty to the Great Song Dynasty, intellectuals all over the world were afraid of being killed, and almost all the noble families of poetry and calligraphy that had lasted for thousands of years were killed. The martial artist holding the sword and mace has complete control over the world's voice and the life and death of the world's intellectuals. For the literati, this was a dark age.

When the Central Plains of the Song Dynasty was pacified, the literati group who regained power learned from the painful experience. They must never let the darkness strike again, and they must never let the bad guy with an ax casually chop off the emperor's head happen again, so promoting culture and restraining force became inevitable.

The imperial court devalued and suppressed the status of military generals, and martial artists naturally lost their ability to influence officialdom. But practicing martial arts is human nature, and martial artists also need to eat. As a result, martial artists entered the folk scene, and various martial arts sects sprung up in the land of the Song Dynasty.

A sect is essentially a group of martial artists. Today, the two most famous martial artist groups in the Song Dynasty and the most popular among the people are the Shaolin Temple and the Beggar Clan. There are many other large and small sects, but basically they are more or less dependent on or take orders from these two major groups.

This is just the Central Plains. The countries surrounding the Song Dynasty still attached great importance to martial arts and martial artists from the court level. They all had state-supported martial artist groups, such as the Nanyuan Prince's Palace in Liao, Yipintang in Xixia, and Shuanglong Temple in Dali.

Therefore, the Shaolin Temple and the Beggar Clan actually led the martial arts confrontation between the people of the Song Dynasty and the surrounding countries.

Apart from these major sects, there is a very mysterious sect that no one dares to ignore - the Xiaoyao Sect.

The founder of the Xiaoyao sect is Yang Yi's apprentice and a generation swordsman, Li Xiaoyao.

According to folklore, Li Xiaoyao met an immortal who taught martial arts in Dali's Changchun Valley, and he also learned the art of swords in Shushan. After that, Li Xiaoyao went out of the mountains and traveled in the Central Plains, doing chivalry to punish evil and promote good, slaying evil spirits and supporting justice. With a green light in his hand, he never suffered a defeat in his life.

Li Xiaoyao is the idol of everyone in the Central Plains martial arts world, a lonely master who is worshiped with admiration, a swordsman praised by all people, and the dream lover of countless girls. The martial arts circles of the Song Dynasty respectfully called him Xiaoyaozi.

Xiaoyaozi Li Xiaoyao was not only invincible in swordsmanship, but also extremely accomplished in the art of chess, calligraphy and painting. People in the Song Dynasty generally believed that even Li Bai, who was excellent in poetry and swordsmanship in the Tang Dynasty, was not as talented as Xiaoyaozi in civil and military arts.

Xiaoyaozi never married and left no descendants, but he left behind countless legends and legends.

It is said that more than fifty years ago, Li Xiaoyao, who was in his forties, missed his mentor and wanted to go to Mount Buzhou in the west to look for him. There are also legends that he was going to Kunlun to look for him.

When passing by the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, they encountered an invading gang composed of martial arts masters from the Western Regions and martial artists from the Demon Sect further west. There were more than two hundred people who wanted to go to the Central Plains to stir up trouble. Li Xiaoyao was quite fed up, so he killed them all with one sword.

Later, Li Xiaoyao did not go west again, but built the Lingjiu Palace on the Piaomiao Peak of Tianshan Mountain and established the Xiaoyao Sect to guard the west gate for the Central Plains and the Central Plains martial arts community. But some people say that he was in Tianshan to wait for his master to return from the west.

Yang Yi, who returned to the Central Plains, heard about Li Xiaoyao's story and was very emotional and excited. For such a good disciple who is affectionate, righteous, chivalrous and courageous, if she is satisfied, Zhou Yingluo will definitely smile.

But Yang Yi did not rush to Tianshan to visit Li Xiaoyao because he passed away ten years ago at the age of 91.

When Li Xiaoyao passed away, his disciples respected his will and buried nothing else they loved during his lifetime, not even the green-gang sword known as the fairy sword. The only thing that was put into the coffin to accompany him personally was a pan flute, an ordinary bamboo pan flute that had turned yellow.

After the news of the death of Xiaoyaozi Li Xiaoyao came back, all the martial arts sects in the Central Plains, including Shaolin Temple and Beggar Clan, and even Nanyuan of Liao Kingdom and Yipintang of Xixia, all set up mourning halls to pay homage. Li Xiaoyao's character and martial arts were respected by everyone, including his master Yang Yi.

The Duan family of the Dali royal family also set up a mourning hall, because Duan's martial arts came from Li Xiaoyao's teaching.

After founding the Xiaoyao Sect, Li Xiaoyao accepted three apprentices, and now his second apprentice Wu Yazi is the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect. Li Xiaoyao's other two disciples are both female, namely the eldest disciple Tianshan Tonglao and the third disciple Li Qiushui.

Today, the Xiaoyao Sect is still as reclusive and mysterious as ever, silently guarding the west gate of the Central Plains martial arts community. The Xiaoyao sect's martial arts are light and elegant, elegant and pure, just like their ancestor Li Xiaoyao. Moreover, the disciples of the Xiaoyao sect are all talented in literature, good at music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and they have also followed Li Xiaoyao's inheritance.

Yang Yi didn't know Li Xiaoyao's three apprentices, so he didn't intend to scare them. He took the certificate from Yang Wulang, the monk Lingxiu, and rushed to the Shaolin Temple.

Being entrusted by others is one thing. The Sutra Library of Shaolin Temple is not only the largest library in the temple, but also the largest library in the entire Song Dynasty, except for the royal library. Along the way, Yang Yi was thinking about how to get in there and take a look. Two years of books.