The Multiverse Starting from White Deer Plain

There are roughly two roads from Chang'an to Yizhou. One is the land road, which can be subdivided into Jinniu Road, Ziwu Road, Lianyun Road, Qishan Road, Lizhi Road, etc. However, most of these Shu roads are difficult to walk. Li Taibai has a poem It is said that the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky. This is not empty talk. The other road is a waterway. It goes south from the Grand Canal and then turns to the Yangtze River. From the Yangtze River to Shu, Huan Wen took the waterway when he conquered Shu.

If Bai Gui was alone, it would not be a big deal to enter Shu by land.

But now he is the inspector of Jiannan Road and leads the envoy. This position is to go to various roads to inspect and evaluate the administration of officials. It was a position created in the early Tang Dynasty based on the governor system of the Han Dynasty. There cannot be only one person. The entire envoy has about a hundred people. There are more than a dozen subordinate officials, and the rest are soldiers guarding the mission.

When imperial envoys travel, they must be escorted by imperial guards. In the early Tang Dynasty, it was common practice for imperial envoys to be escorted by Qianniu Guards.

As for Jiannan Road, it can be said that almost the entire southwestern states of the Tang Dynasty were basically in charge of Jiannan Road...

Therefore, it is more convenient to take the water route and assess the states except Shu.

Similarly, taking the water route is easier and more suitable. If you take the mountain road, the journey may be shorter, but it will be less comfortable.

The Grand Canal of the Sui and Tang Dynasties was centered on Luoyi, extending to Zhuojun in the north and Yuhang in the south.

From Chang'an to Luoyi, there are numerous official posts and numerous merchants along the way.

After arriving in Luoyi, we took a government boat and headed south along the Grand Canal.

"Fortunately, Brother Meihe, you were in such a hurry, otherwise if the canal had frozen in the dead of winter in November or February, we might have been stranded in Luoyi and missed our departure date."

On the official ship, Zhang Jiuling saw that just a few days after boarding the ship, when he woke up one night, the color of the sky and the earth had changed, and he couldn't help but feel lucky.

The Grand Canal generally does not freeze, but ice formation has been recorded during severe cold seasons.

"It will get warmer as we go south. I had already expected it, so I hurried and took my time along the way."

"Stop talking about this, come into the cabin and have the hot wine that's just warmed."

Bai Gui opened the thick curtain and spoke.

The person he was most familiar with in the center was Zhang Jiuling. Zhang Jiuling was not as lucky as him. He had no one behind him. He worked as a school clerk for several years. Later, after Li Longji succeeded to the throne, he was promoted to Zuo Shiyi, from the eighth rank. As for the official position, Zhang Jiuling was originally the ninth grade school secretary, so he was only promoted one level, which was not as fast as his promotion speed.

This time he served as the inspector of Jiannan Road, and it was impossible not to have a deputy envoy, so he recommended Zhang Jiuling to Li Longji as his deputy envoy, and Li Longji readily agreed.

If the chief and deputy envoys are at odds with each other, what else can they do?

At this point, Li Longji will not cause any trouble.

As for Zhang Jiuling's talent and learning, there is no doubt about it.

"It's snowing heavily, and drinking a glass of warm wine will bring happiness to the world."

Zhang Jiuling entered the cabin, took a seat, and said with a smile.

…

Ten days later.

Suzhou.

Linjiabao.

Bai Gui came to pay homage.

On the living room.

"Envoy Bai Qin has come to visit you. I'm sorry for missing you from afar. Please forgive me for envoy Bai Qin."

Lin Tiannan, the master of Linjiabao, was sitting on the second seat, looking at the purple-robed official in front of him with a somewhat surprised expression.

Beijing officials are of the third rank of the Beijing University, and the imperial envoy is a third-rank official, so they wear purple robes and goldfish bags.

Although he, Lin Tiannan, is the leader of the martial arts alliance in the south, he is really not respected in front of the imperial envoys. Without exception, the imperial envoys are all ministers valued by the emperor. They have the power of imperial authority to kill first and report later.

"Master Limbao, don't be surprised. When I was in Beijing, I taught Liu Xiang's son together with his deputy. He was his teacher. I don't think I need to mention the relationship between Liu Xiang and Gui Bao."

Bai Gui smiled and said.

He went in and out of Liu's house and dealt with Mrs. Liu many times. Because Liu Jinyuan was weak, he taught him some physical exercise techniques. On the way, Mrs. Liu inevitably mentioned the relationship between Lin Jiabao and the Liu family.

During the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was no trend of advocating literature and devaluing martial arts. Great poets like Li Bai all wanted to be knights and advocated the knight-errant style. Including Zhang Zai and Su Xun in the Song Dynasty also liked Ren Xia.

"So that's why..."

Lin Tiannan was relieved for a moment, and he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He also mistakenly thought that Lin Jiabao had caused some trouble for the imperial envoy, or that the Liu family had caused some trouble, implicating Lin Jiabao. He considered his words for a while and said: " Liu Mansion and Lin Jiabao are related by marriage. Mrs. Liu Xiang died early, so she remarried her wife's sister, so the two families have some relationship."

"Since Envoy Bai is a guest from afar, I have just ordered the kitchen to prepare a feast. I also ask Envoy Bai and Deputy Ambassador Zhang not to refuse."

He said generously.

"Lord Limbaugh misunderstood."

"I want to dispel Lord Linbao's worries by telling me about my old relationship with Liu Mansion. This time, I was ordered by the saint to serve as the inspector of Jiannan Road and the governor of Yizhou, but I have no one under my command... "

"I heard that Lord Linbao is the leader of the Southern Martial Arts Alliance, so I would like to ask Lord Linbao to recommend high-ranking disciples or talented people for conquest."

"Please forgive me for the inconvenience, Lord Limbao."

Bai Gui got straight to the point and expressed his inner thoughts.

He was just an ordinary member of Zhongshushe in Chang'an. Even if he wanted to recruit Chang'an Rangers, Chang'an Rangers would not look down upon him. But after leaving Chang'an, he was an imperial minister and had a high position in the local area. If he wanted to recruit some party members and increase his strength, it was more than enough.

In addition, Lin Tiannan is the master of the Lin Family Fort. He is very wealthy. He is also the leader of the Southern Wulin Alliance. He has a big tree and deep roots. Now that he has made friends with Lin Tiannan and appointed his disciples, it is equivalent to spreading his network in the south. In the future, he will not only be able to do things smoothly, but he will encounter fewer difficulties and obstacles in comparison.

To put it simply, it is collusion of interests.

He is now equivalent to selling his official position and "selling" part of his official position to southern forces such as Lin Tiannan. Similarly, he will also receive a lot of help from these southern forces.

"Does Bai Qinzao really mean what he said?"

After hearing this, Lin Tiannan looked a little excited and couldn't sit still.

Although there is no current trend of advocating culture and restraining martial arts, there is still a difference between powerful people and powerful families. He, Lin Jiabao, is only equivalent to the local powerful people in Gusu, and his reputation is all tied to him. If he can become an official, it is equivalent to crossing the line. Class, changed family status.

Most of his disciples also come from humble backgrounds, and most of them are civilians. If there is such a path, there will definitely be many candidates.

"If Lord Linbao wants to become an official, I will recommend Lord Linbao to a saint. It should not be difficult to become the state Sima."

Bai Gui heard this and replied.

In the Zhengpi system, the emperor issued an edict to recruit people, while Pi was when a minister or a state or county recruited someone as a subordinate official. Although the Tang Dynasty no longer circulated the conscription and examination systems of the Han Dynasty, it was still feasible for state and county officials to recruit staff and subordinate officials.

Of course, this is limited to low-level officials.

High-ranking officials, such as Sima from the fifth rank of the state, he, the governor of Yizhou, does not have this power.

In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the three pathways of family recruitment, imperial examination, and recommendation, there were also pathways to becoming an official through recruitment, emigration into officialdom, military meritorious service, and vassal general becoming an official. However, these latter ones were not easy to follow.

"State Sima..."

Lord Limbao murmured to himself, feeling a little moved in his heart.

The title of leader of the martial arts league is an expression of admiration from people who are also in the martial arts community, and is not very popular on the stage.

And the fifth rank official is really not low.

"If Lord Linbao agrees, I will recommend it to the imperial court!"

"To be honest with Lord Limbao, I was once a saint's Zhongshu Sheren, but I am still a bit thin-faced among the saints."

Bai Gui said immediately when he saw Lin Tiannan was tempted.

You must know that Song Jiang caused such a big rebellion. After being recruited, he was only a fifth-grade military officer and a military attaché, which was much lower in status than the serious fifth-grade civil servants in the Song Dynasty.

Nowadays, the Sima from Wupinzhou in the Tang Dynasty has a better official position than the Wude doctor in the Song Dynasty.

In addition, in his Ten Comments to Li Longji, he mentioned that in order to deal with Tubo, Nanzhao and other countries, martial arts practitioners like Lord Linbao were an indispensable part, whether as spies or as agents. For some other things, people who practice martial arts are more alert and flexible than ordinary people.

Compared with the troubles caused by Tubo and Nanzhao to the Tang Dynasty, a fifth-rank state Sima was still very cost-effective. After all, Lin Tiannan was also the leader of the Southern Wulin Alliance, and his official position was too low, which showed that the court was not sincere.