Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Yang Gun traveled to Ping'an capital with the letter of state, and was also received and treated courteously by Japanese officials, but he was not taken seriously. Some officials came to visit and talk about it, but they were all vague and perfunctory.

He suddenly felt that this trip was not easy.

Half a month later, another visitor came to the hotel, but it was a letter brought by a servant. Yang Gun unfolded it and saw that it was written in clear Chinese characters. He claimed that the Japanese court was counseling Ono Haogu and wanted to invite Yang Gun, the envoy of the Daliao Dynasty, to drink tea at the temple where he lived.

Fortunately, Yang Gun had dealt with Youzhou South Academy and the Northern Han Dynasty for a long time before, so he could understand Chinese characters, otherwise this letter would have to be translated.

Yang Gun was not familiar with the place where he was born in Ping'an Jing, Zhengchou had no connections, as long as there were Japanese officials who were willing to make friends, he absolutely had no reason to refuse.

He glanced at the servant with the letter, with a short knife on his waist, no hat, and a bun on his head, which looked a bit like a Haner's attire. He asked casually, "Why does Ling Gong live in the temple?"

The servant said in Chinese: "Ono-kun is proficient in battle formations, waka, and is also quite proficient in Buddhism. He often lives in the temple."

Yang Gun nodded, "Please lead the way."

In a foreign country, Yang Gun brought only two followers, and a group of four rode out of the city on horseback. When they reached a mountain, they had to leave one person to watch the horse, and abandoned the horse to climb the mountain on foot. The winding and steep earth-stone path in the mountains soon made Yang Gun feel quite difficult.

After walking for nearly half an hour, I saw the eaves of the temple in the lush mountain forest. At this time, Yang Gun was already out of breath and dizzy. If he hadn't seen the roof of the house, he really couldn't hold on. Yang Gun is also a martial artist, but in the northern grasslands, it is rare to climb such a long mountain road.

"Tu Tu Tu..." The sound of the wooden fish's percussion and the chanting of unintelligible Japanese scriptures were hazy, and Yang Gun felt as if his head was short of blood, and he had long since lost any interest in appreciating it.

The Japanese servant stretched out his arm holding a short knife to block the entourage behind Yang Gun, and then bowed and pointed to the gate of the temple in front. Yang Gun panted and said to his followers: "Just wait for me here."

He walked in along the direction alone, let out a long breath, and was so tired that he wanted to sit down and rest immediately.

At this moment, Yang Gun noticed someone kneeling behind him. He hurriedly looked back and saw a woman in a dress with a pillow on her back was wiping the mud marks on the floor with a towel.

Yang Gun took off his boots calmly.

After a while, a bald middle-aged man with a thin face and a short stature came out, bowed and said: "The distinguished guest must be Yang Jun, the envoy of the Daliao Liao Dynasty, and I am Ono Haogu who invited Yang Jun. Please take a seat."

Yang Gun held his breath, put his hands on his chest first, and bowed to the man, then walked to a tea table, saw a futon, and sat down on the futon with his legs crossed. He took off his hat, revealing his bald head.

Maybe this Japanese man thinks he is weird, but Yang Gun also thinks this guy is weird, he is a monk with shaved head, but he is also a general, and there are women in dresses in the temple...

Ono Haogu smiled and said: "Daliao Khitan people don't talk when they meet and perform rituals?"

Yang Gun said: "Han'er will meet and greet, we just need to bow to show respect for the master."

Kono Ono nodded: "People from different places have different customs, we have to gradually understand."

Yang Gun pondered for a while, and responded, "I am Yang Gun."

After hearing this, Ono Haogu laughed again, and said: "So Yang Jun traveled thousands of miles to Ping'an capital to help us resist the attack of the Central Plains?"

Yang Gun said calmly: "I was entrusted by the Emperor of the Daliao Dynasty and the Privy Councilor of the Northern Court, Mr. Xiao, and he came here for this purpose. I don't know if Mr. Xiao Ye knew about the major events in China. Shu, Tang, Southern Han, Eastern Han, Dangxiang Pingxia, and Youzhou of Daliao have been occupied by Xu; Guo Shao, the leader of Xu, is ambitious to expand and enterprising, and Daliao has already felt threatened.

Now Daliao has got the definite news that Guo Shao is preparing to invade the East Island in order to use the country's silver mines as military expenses. If Japan can resist Xu Jun's attack, it will also have a great impact on Daliao. "

Ono Haogu did not immediately refute, and echoed: "Mr. Yang said that, it seems reasonable."

Yang Gun hurriedly said: "Daliao goes to Beijing, and there are Han craftsmen in Bohai, who can help your country refine silver, and your country will become richer by relying on silver mountains; our country can also help Japanese soldiers and horses understand and deal with Xu Jun's tactics..."

Ono Haogu suddenly changed his polite and humble pretense, and interrupted Yang Gun a little rudely: "The intention of the Daliao court is that the two countries form an alliance to deal with your powerful enemy Xu Guo?"

Yang Gun was taken aback for a moment, and an inexplicable anger rose in his heart!

This Japanese looks humble on the surface, but he is actually very arrogant! He thinks too much of himself. The dignified Daliao is trying to deal with Xu Guo, and he is guilty of forming an alliance with Dongdao and relying on their strength?

Yang Gun said coldly: "Master Xiaoye may have misunderstood the meaning of XX. The court of Daliao offered to help your country, and it was really thinking for itself, but what is really urgent is not Daliao, but your country! A certain persuaded Japanese monarchs and ministers to prepare armaments early, or if the situation is imminent, will they wait for the wind and surrender?"

After hearing this, Kono Ono's face was also very ugly. He took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Yang may have misunderstood Yamato too."

"Oh?" Yang Gun looked at him with interest.

Kono Ono said: "Our favorite thing is the cherry blossoms... It's a pity that Mr. Yang came here by accident, and the wonderful cherry blossoms have already withered at this time. It is really hard to happen to appreciate this thing. Its flowering period is very short, and it will wither when it is most beautiful."

He looked serious, and said in jerky Chinese: "I can only break the jade into pieces, and I don't want to destroy it! It is the honor of Yamato people to die for Amaterasu and His Majesty the Emperor!"

After listening to a long speech, Yang Gun's anger subsided a little, and he remembered that he was bumping into walls everywhere in Ping'an capital, and it was not the best policy to offend this person. Immediately, he changed his words and said: "I heard about Ono Gongshan and his songs. He is a poet. Poets always have some heart out of sincerity."

Sure enough, Ono Koko was very useful. He knelt on the futon, leaned his upper body forward, bowed slightly to Yang Gun, and his tone became calmer: "I can't write good waka if I have no feelings."

As he was talking, he even raised his voice and suddenly sang "Woooooh!" Yang Gun was almost amused, but he couldn't laugh because the expression on Ono Haogu's face was serious, and he didn't look like he was joking at all. Yang Gun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and sat there stunned.

Just then, a woman came up with tea. Koko Ono slapped his palm lightly, took a sniff, then sat up straight with his eyes closed and intoxicated, Er Er opened his eyes and smiled and said: "The fragrance of tea... the flowing water, the cherry blossoms, every plant and every tree, all have Tao and Buddhism. Yamato understands the original intention of Amaterasu from all things."

Yang Gun didn't say a word, how could Taoism and Buddhism be mixed together? Could it be that the Amaterasu God in his mouth had a friendship with the Buddha, and could drink tea together like the two of them at this time? Anyway, Yang Gun was confused. The temple in the forest and the people on the remote island seem to be familiar. They are somewhat similar to Han'er, but mysterious and elusive.

Yang Gun felt that Ono Haogu was very particular about the tea ceremony, but he was a little different from Han'er's style of drinking tea. In Yang Gun's feelings, the etiquette and culture of Japanese people seem a bit pretentious, but they are clearly distinct on purpose; and Yang Gun has also seen all kinds of Haner, and Haner gave him a more natural and solid feeling, as if a sentence has a loud voice, simple but very open-minded, not deliberately... Confucianism and the like are spontaneous, so there is no artificiality.

When the woman poured tea into a small cup, Yang Gun didn't drink it all in one gulp... If he was a Khitan, he would like to boil milk of cow and goat with tea leaves and drink it in a big bowl. But Yang Gun was knowledgeable after all, he didn't mess around in public, he just took a sip, tasted the taste of tea, it was a bit bitter, but he didn't think it was delicious.

Yang Gun said: "The envoy's coming this time is definitely not a lie. Wanwang sent people to inquire about it. If you believe the news, Lord Xiaoye can send someone to inform the envoy at any time."

Kono Ono nodded and said, "If Yang Jun visits the door next time, I would like to talk to Yang Jun about Xu Jun's equipment and tactics." He pondered for a moment, and then repeated the previous sentence in a self-consciously interesting gesture, "People from different places have different customs. We have to gradually understand, including the enemy."

Yang Gun felt that the conversation was over, so he stood up, pressed his chest and bowed to perform the salute, and left to put on his shoes.

He turned his head to think about the last sentence that Kono Ono said just now. Perhaps Koko Ono felt that the same sentence had two meanings when he said it twice, so he thought it was very wise? Anyway, this guy is very strange, since he is a martial artist, what is arty doing?

poet! A sneer appeared on the corner of Yang Gun's mouth.

Anyway, today's trip was not very pleasant, because when he returned, he had to walk the difficult mountain road again. The steep mountain road is still difficult to walk down the mountain, neither fast nor slow.

However, this was not a pleasant trip, but it made him feel that he had made substantial progress. When Yang Gun returned to the hotel, he immediately recalled the situation of the Pingxia War, and asked someone to grind his ink, and hurriedly described it; he also drew a picture, roughly drawing the artillery and firecrackers used by Xu Jun.

In addition, there are plate armor, cherry spears, barrier knives, crossbows, shuttle guns and other equipment and tactics used by Xu Jun, with pictures and texts, and detailed descriptions. Yang Gun hoped that Haogu Ono would not only be able to drink tea and compose poems, but also have some military knowledge... If so, he would definitely fear and respect Xu Jun.

Yang Gun also wrote that Xu Guo's imperial army is its main force, with elite soldiers in all battles, skilled weapons and battle formations, military discipline is awe-inspiring, and they are not afraid of death. It is roughly similar to the recruiting system of the "Long March Athletes" in the Tang Dynasty. It does not farm or manage, but only trains and fights.

As soon as he arrived in Heianjing, he realized that Japan, as rumored, should be following the style of the Tang Dynasty. He should be familiar with some military systems of the Tang Army in the past, so there is such an analogy.

Yang Gun finished writing it three days later, revised it again, called his entourage to copy it, and then sent it to the temple on the mountain to dedicate it to Japanese Counselor Yoshiko Ono.