Extra 2: Grenades are afraid of water
In the early spring of the 18th year of Jianyan, Hebei had not yet recovered from the spring cold, but flowers were already in full bloom in Wuliang Mountain in Dali.
Deep in the mountains of Baihua, there is a waterfall. The waterfall sprays pearls and spits out jade, which is magnificent. Because mountain goats often cross the rocks behind the waterfall in groups, it is named Yangshan Waterfall. Below the waterfall, there is a natural deep lake with clear water and fish can be seen swimming. And beside the deep lake, there is another huge rock standing.
This stone is extremely tall, large enough for dozens of people to climb up and view the waterfall. In addition, its three sides are flat, which makes it look particularly neat, especially the side facing the lake, which is as smooth and flat as a jade disk, almost like a mirror, reflecting the lake surface and making people marvel at it.
Wang Shixiong, deputy commander of the Song Dynasty's imperial guard, stood under the stone, stunned for a long time, unable to speak.
After a while, it was Wu Yi, the envoy of the Song Dynasty stationed in Dali, who coughed dryly, that made Wang Shixiong come back to his senses, and then he turned around awkwardly:
"Please forgive me, but I cannot help being out of control... The emperor has decreed that there is a huge rock under the Wuliang Mountain waterfall, and he has specially decreed it to be named Wuliang Jade Disk... It is thousands of miles away, but it is exactly the same. This shows that the emperor of this dynasty is truly gifted by heaven."
Having said that, he opened the imperial edict in his hand and read it hastily. The many descendants of the Dali Gao family who were accompanying him, starting from the current head of the family with the title of Duke and Dali Buxie (ruling) Gao Liangcheng, did not have time to think much and bowed respectfully one after another.
The imperial edict consisted of only two sentences, and it was indeed about bestowing the title and name of Wuliang Jade Disk. After Gao Liangcheng and many other Gao family members stood up, they could not help but feel a little flustered - Wuliang Mountain was between the capital Dali and the Gao family's core fiefdom Weichou, with temples and tea gardens. It was not remote, but it was nonsense to say that it was a prominent place. It was really surprising that the emperor of the Central Plains knew about a piece of stone in a mountain in his own fiefdom even though he was thousands of miles away.
Of course, some of the older Gao family members laughed bitterly in private at the sound of the waterfall: "This is a decree from the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. With this stone, it will be clear for thousands of miles. But if we don't have it, how can we offend the Emperor? We may have to help find a piece."
Some people disagreed with this: "What's this? The Bei family is blinded by greed and has brought the Song Dynasty into the game to fight for power. Since there is an insider, let alone a stone, what can be hidden from the emperor in the country? It's just a deliberate attempt to intimidate us."
As soon as these words came out, the people around him were either angry, or sneered, or sighed, and some even glared at him fiercely, but in the end, no one talked about the matter of the imperial title anymore.
Just like that, they turned around the jade disk and came to a temple in the mountains, where a place, tables and fragrant tea and fruits had already been laid out… There was certainly no temple in the Sword Palace, but Dali worshipped Buddhism, and there were temples on every mountain. Half of the temples burned down in the previous fire in the capital of Dali, so there were naturally quite a few in Wuliang Mountain; as for fragrant tea, since the Zhao Song government had vigorously opened up border trade more than ten years ago, Dali's tea had long become the most important export commodity along with copper mines. Not to mention the daily tea bricks from Shu and the two lakes, the fine fragrant tea could be directly transmitted to the Zhongdu Bianjing and the capital Yanjing, competing with the famous tea in the southeast.
Without further ado, at this point, everyone exchanged pleasantries and greetings again. Then, Gao Liangcheng, as a duke, sat in the first seat with Wang Shixiong. The next person was Wu Yi, the Song Dynasty envoy to Dali and the emperor's uncle, who sat in the first seat on the left. As for the first seat on the right, it was Gao Liangcheng's cousin Gao Zhenshou, the head of the northern branch of the Gao family based in the Tongmou Mansion in the north of Dali.
As for Gao Zhenshou, the abbot of the temple sat down awkwardly, but he deliberately separated the head of the Gao family's Northern Sect from the local Gao family's Southern Sect members... and the other Northern Sect disciples who came here with Gao Zhenshou, mostly sat down next to Wu Yi.
The two schools of thought, northern and southern, are clearly divided.
"Mr. Gao."
After sitting down, Wang Shixiong first scanned the strange scene in the hall, then glanced at Gao Liangcheng, and spoke directly without even having time to drink his tea. "Although I came here by order, I am only here to listen to the opinions of both sides of your family. The specific outcome still depends on your decision... So, if you have anything to say, feel free to do so and don't pay any attention to me."
Gao Liangcheng also put down his tea, twirling his beard and smiling bitterly: "As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public, but today the Gao family's disgrace is about to be known to the whole world. How can I, Gao, be ashamed..."
"Uncle wants to save face, but I don't want to think about these things." Before the leader, the Dali Buxie (ruling) finished speaking, the leader of the Northern Sect, Gao Zhenshou, interrupted him and spoke coldly. "Wang Tongzhi, this time it was our Northern Sect that was the victim and complained to the emperor. My uncle didn't want to say it, so let me say it... This matter is very simple, that is, my Gao family's Northern Sect is the direct descendant of the Gao family, and everyone in the world knows this... Therefore, the title of Duke of the Gao family, the title of Buxie of the Dali Kingdom, and the power to govern Shanchan Prefecture should all be held by me, the direct descendant of the Gao family! That's all!"
As soon as these words came out, Gao Liangcheng hadn't said anything yet, but the Southern Sect disciples below suddenly rose up in an uproar. Some of them stood up and shouted at him. Then the Northern Sect disciples, not wanting to be outdone, also stood up and shouted and cursed. The two sides became a mess and the quarrel turned into a mess in the Buddhist hall.
All the monks present had their heads hung, and the four leading figures, namely the uncle and nephew Gao and Wang Wu, were speechless for a moment.
After a moment, Gao Liangcheng lowered his voice and said, "Two angels, can you allow me to have a private conversation with my nephew Zhenshou and then explain to the angels?"
"If your uncle and nephew are willing, then of course it's fine." Wang Shixiong glanced at Gao Zhenshou and bowed in response. "But please understand, Mr. Gao, this meeting between your uncle and nephew at Wuliang Mountain is a government decision. Please treat them with courtesy, otherwise..."
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