Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 392: Uncovered Conference
The third year of Xiaochang, the fifth year of Tonggong, December.

This year's Jiankang City is warmer than last year.

Over the years, Jiankang's climate has become more and more livable, as can be seen from the snow records.

In previous years, although Jiankang was located in the south, it still had several heavy snowfalls in winter. Even during the Liu Song Dynasty, the Yangtze River would still freeze in winter. At that time, special fighting ships had to be built to break the ice to ensure navigation on the Yangtze River.

However, since Xiao Yan ascended the throne, the Yangtze River waterway has never frozen. This is also considered as evidence that Xiao Yan is a Bodhisattva Emperor and was repeatedly mentioned by the Southern Liang court.

Since December this year, there has not been any snow in Jiankang.

Bian Ji, wearing a red robe, came to Tongtai Temple again.

The reason why Bian Ji came to Tongtai Temple today was because Xiao Yan would come to Tongtai Temple to preach after the New Year. As a trusted monk of Xiao Yan, Bian Ji checked the preparations for the ritual site in Tongtai Temple.

The abbot of Tongtai Temple, also one of the monks most respected by Xiao Yan, was the former great abbot Master Zheng Fayun.

However, Fayun is no longer the Grand Abbot. It is rumored that Master Bianji is likely to take over the position of supervising all monks in the world.

"Master Fayun, I am following your majesty's order to check on the preparations for the Unobstructed Conference."

Fayun greeted Bianji and said:

"The meeting is ready, please follow me."

Fayun was indeed a great monk with great virtue. He did not feel uncomfortable because Bian Ji was favored by Xiao Yan. Instead, he was happy to be able to serve as the abbot of Tongtai Temple and stay away from the complicated court politics.

A Wuzhai meeting certainly does not mean a meeting without clothes.

Wuzhe means nothing is blocked or hindered. It means that everyone opens their hearts and there are no obstacles. It is a grand fasting meeting where everyone is treated equally regardless of their status, whether they are monks or laymen, wise or foolish, good or evil.

There is no tradition of organizing Unobstructed Conferences in China. Such conferences are only held in some parts of India, but as Indian Buddhism declined, they have gradually ceased to be held.

Xiao Yan learned about this kind of ceremony from stories in Buddhist scriptures, and added the word "four divisions". The four divisions refer to monks, nuns, good men and women. He decided to hold the Four Divisions Unobstructed Assembly at Tongtai Temple after the next year. As a Bodhisattva Emperor, he would personally teach the "Golden Letter Three Wisdom Sutra" to everyone.

Bian Ji first followed Fa Yun to a garden where birds were raised.

"These are auspicious birds presented by local areas and countries. They will be released when Your Majesty preaches."

All kinds of birds that Bian Ji couldn't name were kept in cages, the most eye-catching of which was a pair of peacocks with blue feathers.

"This is a peacock? It doesn't seem to be produced in Middle-earth?"

"The Peacock Flies Southeast", peacocks have existed in China for a long time, living in the Lingnan region, but the native peacock in China is the green peacock.

The peacock in the Buddhist scriptures is a peacock with blue feathers.

Fayun said:

"This was presented to Your Majesty by a merchant from the Lion Country. Your Majesty rewarded the merchant with ten thousand coins."

Bian Ji couldn't help but click his tongue. After the iron coins were issued, although they were less valuable than copper coins, ten thousand coins were still a huge sum of money.

Fayun said with some concern:
"But once this precedent is set, I heard that a large number of southern merchants will go to foreign countries to hunt for exotic beasts. Master Bianji will still have to advise Your Majesty when he has time."

Bian Ji nodded quickly and agreed.

Then the group came to a garden full of ferocious beasts, and saw a group of animal trainers training the beasts. Bian Ji also saw a lion.

"These days, I come here every day to preach the Buddhist scriptures. As long as I recite the scriptures, the animal trainer will make the wild beasts lie down. The same will happen when Your Majesty goes on stage to preach."

"Wonderful!"

Then the two of them came to another workshop, and Bian Ji saw some exquisite golden lotus flowers.

"The mechanism has been installed. We just need to install these golden lotuses. When Your Majesty takes the stage, it will start to work, and the golden lotuses will appear on the ground."

Bian Ji also saw a large number of mechanisms, all of which were created to create "auspicious signs" for Xiao Yan to take the stage to preach.

Tongtai Temple really spent a huge amount of money for this Four-Part Unobstructed Conference.

When Bian Ji returned to the palace, the clothes of the eunuchs accompanying him were stuffed with gold and silver. He couldn't help but look in the direction of Tongtai Temple with emotion. He wondered how much of the people's money must have been spent under this tall pagoda.

When Bian Ji returned to the palace, the Bodhisattva Emperor Xiao Yan was playing chess with Chen Qing.

Chen Qingzhi had just made contributions in the Battle of Shouyang and was granted the title of Guannei Hou.

Shouyang is the place name where Princess Shouyang was granted the title.

The women of the royal family of the Northern Wei Dynasty were given the title of princess, and most of them were named after important cities in the south, such as Shouyang, Nanyang, and Chenliu. This also reflected the determination of the Northern Wei royal family to march south.

After Po Liu Han Baling raised his army, Xiao Yan took the opportunity to attack the Huaihe River Basin, and Shouyang was an important town on the Huaihe River.

However, Chen Qingzhi was not the commander-in-chief in this battle. Xiao Yan appointed Pei Sui, a famous general of the Liang Dynasty, as the commander and attacked the city of Shouyang at one point, while Chen Qingzhi was only a detachment.

However, when the great success was about to be accomplished, the commander-in-chief Pei Sui passed away. Xiao Yan had no choice but to replace him with the general Xiahou Tan and withdraw his troops for rest and reorganization.

Then, at the beginning of the year, the weather was good because of heavy summer rains in the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins, which caused the Huai and Fei rivers to surge. Xiahou Tan immediately attacked Shouyang again.

However, the main force of the Liang army led by Xiahou Dan was held up by the Wei army at Lijiang, and could not continue to advance until the reinforcements arrived. However, Chen Qingzhi's detachment broke through the Wei generals' blockade and went straight to Shouyangzhou City.

This time, Chen Qianzhi defeated the Wei army and captured the important town of Shouyang, obtaining the greatest reward of this battle. His fame even surpassed that of the main commander Xiahou Tan.

During the last battle of Xuzhou, Chen Qingzhi was able to lead his troops to retreat safely, which made Xiao Yan have some expectations for his military ability. After his meritorious service in the battle of Shouyang this time, Xiao Yan was even more willing to promote Chen Qingzhi.

However, Bian Ji, who was close to the center of power and had some understanding of the military situation on the front line, actually knew that this military achievement was fake.

If the commander-in-chief Pei Sui had not died suddenly of illness on the front line, Shouyang would have been captured a year ago.

Over the past year, the Northern Wei Dynasty had suffered greatly from the Six Garrisons Uprising and had no troops to support Shouyang. The garrison commander stationed in Shouyang was named Li Xian, also an old official from the time of Emperor Xuanwu and from the Zhaojun Li clan.

When Shouyang was besieged, the Northern Wei Dynasty sent almost no reinforcements. Li Xian defended the isolated city to the death and had run out of ammunition and food.

Later, when Xiahou Tan attacked, Li Xian handed over all the elite troops in Shouyang City to his son Li Changjun. Li Changjun fought bravely and held Xiahou Tan back for three months.

Chen Qianzhi's detachment did not encounter much resistance and fought all the way to the city of Shouyang.

As a result, Chen Qingzhi personally commanded the troops to attack and capture Shouyang City.

However, luck is also part of a general's strength, and Chen Qianzhi personally led the troops to the front and did contribute to the capture of Shouyang. There was no objection to this reward.

Xiao Yan placed a piece to block Chen Qingzhi's big dragon. Chen Qingzhi threw the piece and said:

"Your Majesty is a great chess player. I am defeated."

Xiao Yan smiled and put away the chess pieces, pulled Chen Qingzhi to play again, and asked Bian Ji to sit next to him and started chatting.

"Since Ziyun (Chen Qingzhi's pen name) took command of the army, his chess skills have become much less sophisticated."

Chen Qingzhi could only smile bitterly and said:

"I am a dull-witted person. I cannot learn from your majesty to learn from the strengths of all schools of thought. After I took command of the army, I studied military books diligently. I really don't have time to read chess manuals."

This flattery made Xiao Yan very happy. As he got older, he disliked harsh sounds more and more, and he disliked losing when playing chess more and more.

In the past, Xiao Yan and Chen Qingzhi could win and lose against each other. Now, Xiao Yan could win every time he played ten games against Chen Qingzhi. However, Xiao Yan preferred to play chess with Chen Qingzhi. On the contrary, Xiao Yan was unwilling to summon those chess players with superb skills among the chess attendants.

Xiao Yan put away the chessboard and continued:

"Li Xian is dead."

"what?"

Li Xian, the defender of Shouyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, was captured after the city was broken. Xiao Yan, considering the loyalty of his father and son, agreed to Li Xian's request to return to Luoyang.

Li Xian held the isolated city for more than a year, and Chen Qianzhi also respected this opponent very much.

Xiao Yan said:

"Li Xian's son-in-law Yuan Jian rebelled in Yecheng and proclaimed himself emperor. His wife's family, the Xing clan of Hejian, surrendered to Ge Rong. When Li Xian returned to Luoyang, he was imprisoned by the court judge and was ordered to commit suicide by the evil queen."

Chen Qingzhi sighed slightly. Li Xian was an opponent worthy of respect. After the war, Xiao Yan also wanted to use him, but he insisted on returning to Luoyang. In the end, he was implicated in the crimes of others. He could only sigh at the confusion of this world.

Chen Qingzhi sighed and said: "A loyal man dies for his loyalty, which is a worthy death."

Xiao Yan put down his chess piece and said:

"Now that the north is in chaos and the evil queen is in power, I also intend to launch a northern expedition. What do you think, Ziyun?"

Hearing this, Chen Qingzhi said quickly:

"Your Majesty, Shouyang has just fallen, but the people are unwilling to return to the south. This shows that there are still people in the north who support them. We should take our time."

The North and the South have been divided for hundreds of years. The people in the north are no longer like they were during the time when Liu Yu led an expedition to the north, when they welcomed the royal army with food and drink.

This time, Chen Qianzhi led his troops to attack Shouyang. The army and civilians of Shouyang resisted for a year and refused to surrender. After the city was broken, many people refused to submit to the Southern Liang.

Finally, Chen Qingzhi plundered 70,000 people from Shouyang and returned to Southern Liang. Xiao Yan then ordered immigrants from nearby states and counties to move to Shouyang, thus occupying the land.

These people brought back from Shouyang were snapped up by the southern nobles before they even arrived in Jiankang City. What awaited them was a miserable future of lifelong slavery.

It is also because of this that the conflict between the North and the South was so intense. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was often the case that the generals defending the city were ready to surrender, but the ordinary soldiers and civilians refused to surrender.

If these city-defending generals were born into noble families, they would be highly valued in both the north and the south. However, if ordinary people changed their nationality, they would be slaves for the rest of their lives.

Xiao Yan was somewhat unhappy when he heard that Chen Qingzhi opposed the Northern Expedition.

He had just issued iron coins and felt that he was rich again. Not only did he want to hold the Wuzhe Conference, he also had his eyes on the north.

Southern Liang also benefited greatly from the Six Garrisons Uprising. At this time, Xiao Yan still had the idea of ​​accomplishing the great feat of unifying the world.

Chen Qingzhi said:
"Your Majesty can enthrone a puppet emperor called Suo Nuo (a derogatory term for the Northern Wei Dynasty) and use this as an excuse to seize the north."

(End of this chapter)