Golden Greenery

Along the west-facing road outside Bianliang City, the tall and majestic Luda bid farewell to his master with tears in his eyes, and also bid farewell to his uncle Lu Yan.

After six years of hard training, 21-year-old Ruda only needs to go to the battlefield to refine the martial arts he has learned. It is also his wish to join the army to serve the country and kill the enemy. Therefore, the day finally came when he reluctantly left his master. From then on, Ruda would go straight to Yanzhou and join the Western Army of the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty’s military establishment, there was actually no official title called the ‘Western Army’, only the Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army. In principle, the so-called Western Army still belonged to the Forbidden Army.

At the beginning, the various departments of the Forbidden Army would take turns to go to the border to fight or change defenses. However, as time went by, the nobles who were good at fighting during the founding of the People's Republic of China gradually became old. The second generation of Song Xun inherited his father's legacy, and they became the commanders and backbone of the Forbidden Army. officer.

Like all dynasties, the second generation of Xun was not as good as their fathers. However, in other dynasties, there was always new blood added and famous generals constantly emerging. However, in the Song Dynasty, due to the extreme promotion of literature and suppression of military affairs, the status of military generals was low, and the national temperament gradually changed. As a result, people generally lose their enthusiasm for practicing martial arts and joining the army.

Only the second generation of Xun who can't do anything are left, but they can't bear the hardship. They all like to be stationed in the prosperous place of the capital. They don't want to go to the border to fight with the enemy, and they can't stand the bitter cold at the border. As a result, the rotation system of the Forbidden Army was gradually abolished, and the Forbidden Army was actually divided into two parts: the Forbidden Army stationed in the hinterland of the Central Plains and the border army.

With the signing of the Chanyuan Alliance, there was peace between Song and Liao, with only small-scale wars occurring in the west from time to time. The Dangxiang people rose up in Yinzhou again and established the Xixia Kingdom. They were constantly fighting with the Yanzhou border troops all day long.

The enemy is the best whetstone, so the Yanzhou Army among the border troops became the most capable and daring army in the Song Dynasty. This was the Western Army.

The 800,000 Imperial Guards have long lost their bravery forged from the blood and fire wars in the early days of the dynasty, and have now become the showboats of dandies. The millions of troops are just millions of jokes. They are made up of landless and bankrupt refugees, and their combat effectiveness is basically negative.

In the entire Song Dynasty, only the Western Army was worthy of a battle, and only the Western Army could stand head-to-head with the Liao Kingdom's Pishi Army and Xixia's most elite Iron Kites.

More than 50 years ago, there was a rebellion in Nong Zhigao, Guangxi. The imperial army of the Song Dynasty went to suppress the rebellion. However, they were repeatedly defeated, and the original spark almost turned into a prairie fire.

In the end, Di Qing and Yang Wenguang had no choice but to lead the Yanzhou Western Army all the way to Guangxi to fight, and they put down the rebellion in one fell swoop.

From then on, the martial artists and warriors of the Song Dynasty who wanted to serve the country and kill the enemy could only join the Western Army. If they joined the Forbidden Army, they would be ridiculed by other heroes, and the Forbidden Army could not enter, so they had to have connections.

Ruda has connections. His senior brother Lin Chong is the gun and stick instructor of the 800,000-strong Forbidden Army.

Although there are probably not thousands of instructors like Lin Chong in the Forbidden Army, and none of them actually have much power, it is still possible to get someone to join the Forbidden Army and receive royal food.

But for a heroic man like Ruda who is determined to avenge and protect his country, letting him associate with a dude in the Forbidden Army is tantamount to forcing him to fall out.

Two years ago, Yang Yi and Lu Da left Yanggu County. Before leaving, they were invited to a gathering by local celebrity Ximen Qing, who entertained them with good wine and delicious food. Of course, what Ximen Qing admires is the name of Shaanxi hero Zhou Tong.

Although Ximen Qing had a very dandy temperament during the banquet, his few companions, including Hua Zixu, Count Ying, Xie Xida, and others, were known as the "Ten Brothers". These people also have serious dandy vibes, and even have a strong scoundrel temperament, but if you don't hit the smiling person, their enthusiasm is sincere.

In addition, Ximen Qing had some connections with the Xiaoyao sect, so Yang Yi drank and chatted with them, but declined the drunken and sensual entertainment.

In view of Ximen Qing's status as a local leader, Yang Yi asked him to take care of Wu Zhi's family before leaving. Ximen's senior official patted his chest happily.

After leaving Yanggu County, Yang Yi and Lu Da went to Wufeng Mountain to visit Lao Zhangtou. Soon after Xiao Lu settled in Wu Song from Chaijiazhuang, Cangzhou, he also came over. In the days that followed, Lu Yan opened a sermon in Xingzhou, and Yang Yi and Lu Da lived at the foot of Xingzhou Mountain and practiced martial arts day and night. Their days returned to the rhythm they had before they met Wu Song.

Later, when the three of them traveled to Qingzhou, Shandong, the passionate Xiao Lu found someone he admired again. Unfortunately, this time the other person was a married woman.

Zhao Mingcheng is the son of today's Zuo Pushe, Prime Minister Zhao Tingzhi. He took his new daughter-in-law, whom he married in Bianliang two years ago, back to his hometown of Zhucheng, Qingzhou for a marriage visit. Zhao Mingcheng, who likes gold and stone, hit it off with Chunyangzi Lu Yan, a famous and erudite Taoist priest who is famous and knowledgeable, and they can't wait to communicate with each other every day.

Little did they know that the dirty Lu Yan actually had no feelings for him at all. He just admired his wife very much and welcomed him just to see his wife every day.

The pair of sheep said to Xiao Lu, "No, I will kill this Zhao Mingcheng at night, and you can take her wife to the mountains and stay together as husband and wife for a few years."

Xiao Lu despised Yang Yi so much that he gritted his teeth and made a profound criticism of his senior brother's dirty soul.

Yang Yi also discovered that his junior brother Lu Yan likes talented women, he likes her hopelessly, but he neither dares to say nor practice, he only likes her.

After living for 500 years, he met four senior brothers. Among the four, Lu Yan was the youngest and the most congenial. So if Xiao Lu could really marry a talented girl and become a Taoist companion, Yang Yi would be happy for him from the bottom of his heart.

Zhao Mingcheng's wife was the daughter of Li Gefei, a foreign official in the Ministry of Rites, named Li Qingzhao.

After Zhao Mingcheng and Li Qingzhao returned to Bianliang, Lu Yan was in a state of despair for several days. Because Yang Yi pretended to be Zhou Tong, the three of them could not go to Bianliang casually, the largest city in the world. It would not be good if they were broken into by an acquaintance. Yang Yi was not afraid, but he was worried that he would deceive Luda too much and collapse this boy's idolatry.

However, after Zhao Mingcheng returned to Bianliang, he praised Lu Yan profusely in front of his father, Prime Minister Zhao. Then the next day, during a break when Zhao Cheng was discussing government affairs with officials, he mentioned Lu Yan again when he had nothing to say. . Therefore, Zhao Ji, a current official, thought of Xiao Lu Shenxian, who was very familiar with him.

Zhao Ji is the sixth grandson of Zhao Guangyi and the eighth emperor of the Song Dynasty. Officials in the Zhao and Song Dynasties respected and favored Taoism, and Zhao Ji's love reached its peak. He called himself the leader of Taoism and the emperor, and no one even called him "official", but "Taojun".

After Zhao Ji succeeded to the throne three years ago, he wanted to establish a Taoist official system in the court. He seemed to have an attempt to turn the Song Dynasty, which was ruled by Confucius and Mencius, into a clan-state with political and political integration. In fact, if Zhao Ji goes to practice Taoism, or becomes a calligrapher, writer, connoisseur, painter, musician, doctor, gardener... he can become a great scholar in almost anything he does.

The only profession that Zhao Ji is not suitable for is to be an emperor.

Emperor Zhao Ji thought of Lu Yan and ordered him to come to Bianliang as soon as possible to preside over the compilation of the Daozang, a collection of Taoist classics.

Then, the opportunity came for Yang Yi to enter Zhaowen Hall to read, and it was also the time when he had to expel Lu Da.