Chapter 624 A Beauty Adds Fragrance to the Scenery, Warm Wine Discusses North and South [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]
The weather was perfect in the afternoon.
Beside the window of the vermilion-painted study, a small red clay stove simmers a pot of wine over a low flame.
Ouyang Rong, Xie Lingjiang, and Li Guo'er each poured themselves a cup.
"There are too many things to say about the Northern and Southern Dynasties, I don't know where to begin."
The beautiful figure of the girl dressed as a boy leans against the armrest, holding a delicate wine glass between two fingers.
She casually tossed the history book she had been holding in her other hand onto the carpet piled with old books, like throwing a stone into water.
“Sister Xie, your Wang Xie clan originally migrated south and was able to prosper in the Southern Dynasty. Even today, you are still among the top five clans and seven prominent families. Your Xie ancestors who were active in the Southern Dynasty deserve much credit. You should know the Southern Dynasty best. You go first.”
Unlike Li Guo'er, who sat casually, Xie Lingjiang sat upright, pouring wine for herself and her senior brother with meticulous care.
"My senior brother once summarized that the affairs of the Six Dynasties were merely matters of private interests and there was nothing to say about them. My father has always had a similar attitude since I was a child, not letting me read too much about the past of the Southern Dynasties and telling me to look forward. It's good that things are the way they are now. This has also resulted in me not knowing much about them. I only recently had to look them up when I needed to."
The noblewoman Xie shook her head.
She suddenly glanced at her senior brother and softly repeated:
"The swallows that once graced the halls of the Wang and Xie families now fly into the homes of ordinary people."
Upon hearing this, Li Guo'er was somewhat surprised and straightened her posture a bit.
Who wrote this line? Is the full poem available?
Xie Lingjiang did not answer, while Ouyang Rong drank wine to warm himself up and flipped through a few old books beside him. Xie Lingjiang would refill his cup from time to time.
"I have a feeling that you two are doing something behind my back," Li Guo'er said suspiciously.
His gaze finally fell on Ouyang Rong, who was calmly drinking.
He calmly turned the pages of the book, without saying a word or looking at her.
As if afraid that Ouyang Rong might ask her later, "Could you please stop peeking at me out of the corner of your eye?", Li Guo'er quickly turned her gaze back, her pretty face remaining calm and composed.
Xie Lingjiang said gently:
"Let's get down to business."
Li Guo'er's pink lips curled up, and she flicked her finger lightly:
"There's nothing to talk about. We've read all these official and unofficial histories. There's too much repetition and sensationalism, it's not very interesting. Sister Xie, you might as well bring out the rare historical records that your Chenjun Xie family has kept in private collection. What they say might be more useful to us."
"Sister Guo'er, tell us what you know first. We'll talk about the things that were sent from the Xie family later."
Li Guo'er yawned and nodded, saying:
"After looking at it from all angles, the general idea is that the southward migration of northerners was the key to the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties."
"Perhaps it's because I come from the Li clan and have been a northerner for generations. I think that whether southerners move north or stay in the south, it is the general principle for the Sinicization of the Northern Dynasties."
"It was precisely because of the migration of the Han people to the south, with the Southern Dynasties always upholding their claim to be the legitimate successors of the Central Plains and the clan's homeland, that the Northern Dynasties attracted scholars and patriots from the north. This is why the various regimes of the Northern Dynasties promoted Sinicization. This is the principle of 'born in hardship, die in comfort.' Without the Southern Dynasties, it would have been difficult for the Sinicization of the Northern Dynasties to proceed so thoroughly. Even if the Hu and Yi people from beyond the Great Wall lived among the Han people, it was not so easy for them to identify with the Han clothing and customs."
"Therefore, the Northern and Southern Dynasties truly complemented each other. Once the Northern Dynasties had completed their Sinicization and were nearly integrated, the unification that followed was unstoppable... The Sui Dynasty arose in response to this situation, which led to the peaceful situation of the North and South being united as one. The two were truly indispensable and perfectly matched."
Xie Lingjiang nodded:
“Sister Guo’er is very insightful. It was precisely because of the chaotic three hundred years of North-South confrontation that people gradually realized how difficult it was to achieve peace and understood the necessity of unifying the world. The establishment of the Southern Dynasty was almost in accordance with the will of Heaven, and it is no wonder that the Southern Dynasty perished.”
Li Guo'er put down her wine cup and sighed softly:
"When Emperor Taizong Wen conquered the world, I, as his descendants, occasionally look back and feel a sense of destiny-like beauty."
After a moment of silence, she asked again:
"We're here today to talk to Yunmeng Jianze about his opposition to the Donglin Buddha's landing in Jiangzhou. Now that we've covered that, Sister Xie, tell us about the news from there."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingjiang first glanced at Ouyang Rong.
She noticed that her senior brother had remained silent from the moment he sat down to drink until they began discussing the political situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. He drank while flipping through historical records, calm and composed, as if he were purposefully searching for something.
Xie Lingjiang didn't ask, but first said:
"I consulted some historical records of the clan. Throughout the Six Dynasties period, the traces of the Yue women of Yunmeng appeared and disappeared. They had interactions with many royal families or rulers of the Southern Dynasties, including my Xie ancestors. However, they only appeared in some events that, in retrospect, would have influenced the key trends. As for fame and fortune, they did not get involved at all."
"Furthermore, I saw a secret book from the Southern Dynasty that mentioned that many princesses of the Southern Dynasty royal family were sent to Yunmengze before they reached marriageable age, similar to a marriage alliance. However, they were probably accepted as Yue women, and some of them became powerful princesses who became female rulers."
"It is conceivable how closely the royal families of the six dynasties were related to the Queen's Palace in Yunmeng Sword Marsh. Even with the change of dynasties, this tradition was continued."
"However, Yunmeng Sword Marsh generally does not interfere with ordinary people, nor has it ever been involved in manipulating the government or supporting a puppet emperor. Regarding this point, one of my Xie ancestors mentioned it in his memoirs and praised it highly."
"For ordinary people, these are just rumors that pop up from time to time, such as a Yue woman passing through a village and eliminating evil and promoting good."
"In short, after researching, I found that from the Southern Dynasty royal family to the Jiangnan gentry including the Wang and Xie families, down to the common people... they all held the Yunmeng Yue women, led by Yuanjun, in high esteem."
"Especially the common people at the grassroots level felt that the Yue women were the representatives of the goddess Yuanjun, who was elusive and lived in the ancient Yunmeng Marsh... They loved Yuanjun, but they worshipped her more as a local goddess, which was different from Buddhism and Taoism. There was no large-scale organization of believers... Throughout the three hundred years of the Southern Dynasties, there was no instance of using the belief in Yuanjun to incite rebellion."
Li Guo'er nodded gently: "No wonder Yunmeng Sword Marsh has a good relationship with the Six Dynasties royal family. It's even more harmonious than we imagined. But the two sides must have a unified goal."
At this point, Li Guo'er paused before asking:
"In the letter you left behind, did you mention any major conflicts they had with Buddhism?"
Xie Lingjiang seemed to ponder for a moment, then shook her head and said:
"No, during the Six Dynasties, many emperors believed in Buddhism. From the events recorded by my Xie family, I have not seen any conflict of faith between Yunmeng Sword Marsh and Buddhism. There are so many Buddhist temples in Jiangnan, many of which were built during the Southern Dynasties, and I have not seen them use their influence to stop it... well, except for this time."
Li Guo'er pursed her lips and asked again:
"Sister Xie, I often hear you talk about Yue Chuzi. What is her relationship with Yuanjun?"
"That's how it is. Long ago, even before the Spring and Autumn Period, the land of Wu and Yue was teeming with evil dragons. It is said that they were wild creatures left over from ancient times. Later, a Wu and Yue girl named Yue Chuzi appeared. She used her sword to kill all the evil dragons in the land of Wu and Yue and opened up the barren mountains and rivers of Jiangnan."
"Therefore, the ancestors of Wu and Yue worshipped her as the Yuanjun, which is the origin of the first Yuanjun. She later established Yunmeng Sword Marsh. After her death, it is unknown whether she still had an obsession or whether her cultivation reached the level of a myth. Her mythical spirit continued to spread in the land of Wu and Yue. Every time a Yue maiden died, her spirit would randomly appear in a newly born girl in the land of Wu and Yue. Yunmeng Sword Marsh would then find and nurture her through special means."
"And so came the generations of Yue Chuzi, passed down to this day... The Yue Chuzi brought back to the sect by Yunmeng Jianze are all being groomed as future Yuanjun..."
"However, Yue Chuzi might also encounter unexpected situations. She is not yet fully grown, and Yunmeng Sword Marsh cannot remain leaderless for long. With Yuanjun absent, under special circumstances, Yuanjun may not necessarily be Yue Chuzi..."
"But no matter what, in the eyes of the people of Wu and Yue, Yuanjun is an immortal goddess, but in fact, only the Qi cultivators know that this Yuanjun has been replaced many times."
"However, they all inherited the mythical spirituality of the first Yue maiden. In a sense, it is indeed a special method for the Yuanjun to be immortal and to extend lifespan and mission."
Xie Lingjiang knew them all like the back of her hand.
These are all things that are widely circulated among Qi practitioners in the mountains.
"I see... Ouyang Lianghan, are you looking through... historical records of the Northern Wei Tuoba royal family?"
Li Guo'er suddenly spoke, turned her head... and, like Xie Lingjiang, paid attention to someone.
She must have caught a glimpse of some words on the scroll in Ouyang Rong's hand out of the corner of her eye, and asked the question directly.
Ouyang Rong covered the scroll of unofficial history in his hand and said softly:
“Yuan Huaimin, the governor of this prefecture, was a descendant of the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and later changed his surname to Yuan.”
"There's such a connection?" Li Guo'er raised an eyebrow, her expression showing considerable interest.
She said in a crisp voice:
"Speaking of which, the Northern Wei Tuoba clan was quite Sinicized. In addition, coincidentally, at that time, the Northern Wei was in the north and the Southern Song was in the south. Both were newly established and, in order to consolidate their rule, they were very devout Buddhists."
"However, perhaps because Buddhism was too prosperous and competed with the country for profit, or perhaps because of personal likes and dislikes, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, the third emperor of Northern Wei, carried out a campaign to abolish Buddhism... In the end, he cleansed the entire northern border, leaving only three hundred and twenty Buddhist temples."
"It is said that this suppression of Buddhism was carried out by Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei on the strong advice of a scholar surnamed Cui. This man came from the Cui clan of Qinghe, one of the five clans and seven prominent families. The book says that he was learned in both heaven and man, erudite and knowledgeable in antiquity, and was a top strategist by Emperor Taiwu of Wei... This matter is very famous in the history books. It is clearly recorded that Emperor Taiwu of Wei personally ordered that only 320 Buddhist temples be allowed to remain... At that time, the trend in the north was to worship Buddhism, and there were more than a thousand temples."
"However, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei had a military career and successively quelled the Yuanjia Northern Expedition of Southern Song, so he had extremely high prestige. The matter of abolishing Buddhism occurred after the Yuanjia Northern Expedition, and no one in the Northern Dynasty dared to disobey him... But his successors changed course again."
After listening for a while, Ouyang Rong closed the book and asked:
"The Xie clan history mentions the phrase 'the struggle for power between the Northern and Southern Dynasties.' What exactly does it mean?"
Xie Lingjiang replied: "At that time, all the Qi practitioners in the world believed that the reason why the land of China was submerged and the Han dynasty lost its rule was because the Han dynasty lost two cauldron swords and could no longer suppress the fortune of the land of China."
"During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were frequent rumors that whoever obtained the Dingjian would possess the power and destiny to unify the North and South... Whether it was the Southern Dynasty, which claimed to be the rightful ruler and was governed by aristocratic families, or the Northern Dynasty, which was a place where Han and non-Han peoples lived together and the people were brave and courageous, they were all searching for the Dingjian."
"The reason why the later mad emperor forged so many cauldrons and swords was also for this reason. He was insatiable and had become obsessed. He felt that once the Great Sui unified the north and south, it should collect all the cauldrons and swords..."
A mocking smile appeared on Li Guo'er's lips:
"Ironically, I was about to conquer the world with Emperor Taizong, but I didn't use any swords or cauldrons. The Emperor Wen was captured from the surrendered people without losing a single soldier. Emperor Taizong even sealed the Emperor Wen in public. Later, until the world was pacified, I didn't use it."
"He set a good example and even said, 'The people are the most important, the state is next, the ruler is the least important, and the tripod is the least important.' Later, when the country was established, Emperor Taizong left behind the ancestral law that did not allow the descendants of the Li family to find tripods to forge swords."
At this point, Li Guo'er seemed to remember something, exchanged a glance with Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang, and sighed softly:
“Alright, Father was right at the last meal. The ancestral laws of the Li family cannot govern the Wei family.”
Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, then asked again:
How many bronze tripods and swords appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties?
Xie Lingjiang said softly, "In the history of my Xie clan, there are only two recorded beings. One is the [Red Emperor], who appeared briefly in the Northern Dynasty and then disappeared without a trace..."
"The sword 'Humble Scholar' is clearly recorded as being cast by Liu Jinu, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. According to clan history, the sword blank for this tripod sword actually existed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It was secretly brought by several high-ranking aristocratic families from the north when they migrated south. However, the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not have the national strength to cast it until Liu Jinu was born, established the Southern Song Dynasty, and unified the resources of Jiangnan, which allowed it to be cast with difficulty."
Li Guo'er raised an eyebrow and said:
"Although most of the emperors of the Liu Song Dynasty were cruel and perverted madmen, the first few were quite powerful, especially Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Jinu."
"The ability to gather the strength of the nation to forge the Ding sword, in a sense, also represents the peak of the newly established Liu Song dynasty's national power. No wonder they dared to launch the Northern Expedition during the Yuanjia era. It was because they were armed with the 'Humble Scholar' sword that the Liu family emperors felt that their dynasty was blessed by Heaven."
"Unfortunately, they ran headlong into the equally powerful and vigorous Northern Wei, a true clash of titans. In the end, they lost three consecutive Northern Expeditions. Historical records say that the people of Jiangnan were terrified and in turmoil, and the Liu Song Dynasty suffered a great loss of national strength and began to decline... But conversely, this also contributed to the military achievements of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei..."
"Did all the poor scholars lose? Where did they end up?"
Xie Lingjiang shook her head: "I don't know. According to clan records, after the failure of the Yuanjia Northern Expedition, the Liu Song imperial family kept quiet about the 'Humble Scholars.' After the fall of the country, the whereabouts of the 'Humble Scholars' became unknown..."
Li Guo'er interrupted: "Hmm, maybe it fell into the hands of Yunmeng Jianze. They have close ties with the royal families of six dynasties, including the Liu Song Dynasty. Dynasties come and go, but Yunmeng remains."
Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, just about to speak.
Just then, a shout came from the doorway:
"Little Rongzi, Xie Yatou, protect me! Quickly, protect me! Little Rongzi, draw your sword! Draw your sword!"
The three turned around and found no one outside the door.
Ouyang Rong jumped up, thinking a powerful enemy was approaching.
But the next moment, he realized what was happening, his gaze shifted downwards, and he saw a little black spirit running out of the doorway, shivering and falling forward with a cry of "Ouch!"
At the bottom of the stairs behind her, a dark figure followed closely and darted in front of her.
This is a "black cat." It reached out a paw and stepped on Miaosi: "Meow!"
The "black cat" bared its teeth at the little ink spirit, shaking its head left and right, splashing ink all over its body.
"You've got guts?" Ouyang Rong frowned.
"What nonsense about having guts? Little Rongzi, stop praising it! Draw your sword! Save this fairy maiden! Ah~ You dare to scratch this fairy maiden?"
One of the cats, whose fur was originally snow-white, was now covered in ink, making it difficult to open its eyes. It used one paw to tilt its head and rub its eyes from time to time.
The young woman in Confucian robes was pinned down by a cat's paw, lying on her back, struggling in a sorry state.
Like a piece of fish on a chopping board, all traces of his former domineering "bully at home" have vanished.
"Stop scratching, stop scratching, this fairy was wrong, wrong... You, you watch your back, Xiao Rongzi is really going to draw his sword... Ah! It hurts, you, you let go of my claws, okay? We can talk things over, waaaaah..."
The three of them were speechless.
Li Guo'er turned her head and saw Ouyang Rong's expressionless face.
Xie Lingjiang looked helpless and stepped forward to save the person, no, to save the sperm, in place of her senior brother.
...
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(End of this chapter)
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