Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

They needed to change ships in Kaifeng, but fortunately there were many official ships there, with daily departures to Luoyang.

After changing ships, two more people joined the cabin.

One of them is named Wang Yan, a native of Xiangzhou, 27 years old this year, from a family of military generals.

He had already passed the imperial examination at a young age and become a scholar, but he signed up to attend a military academy.

One of them was named Wang Lianqing, a native of Ruyin, who was the same age as Lu You and also went to Luoyang to study at the Imperial Academy.

Upon hearing that Wang Yan had achieved the rank of Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), Hong Mai couldn't help but ask, "Brother Gongming, since you are a Juren, why do you choose to study martial arts?"

Wang Yan laughed heartily and said, "Which scholar is destined to become a marquis?"

Lu You greatly admired this: "Brother Gongming is full of heroic spirit, a true man. If it weren't for my elders stopping me, I would also go to military school."

Wang Yan said, "I noticed you wear a long sword at your waist, so you must have practiced martial arts?"

"I've practiced a few minor moves," Lu You said honestly.

Fate is so magical; a close friend from another time and space becomes an instant friend in this time and space as well.

Historically, Wang Yan served as the Vice Chancellor and Privy Councilor of the Southern Song Dynasty, but the "History of Song" is very vague about him.

During his time as an advisor to Wang Yan, Lu You wrote more than one hundred military poems.

However, only twelve poems unrelated to Wang Yan were destroyed.

The reason is simple: Wang Yan and Yu Yunwen have a conflict that has escalated to the point of irreconcilable differences.

At that time, Wang Yan served as the Pacification Commissioner of Sichuan, and he first recruited southerners to form troops.

Lu You served as a staff officer and trained alongside the soldiers.

It was soon discovered in actual combat that this unit had flaws.

Therefore, on Lu You's advice, Wang Yan recruited northerners to serve as soldiers.

The army included not only Han Chinese from the north, but also soldiers from various ethnic groups such as Jurchen, Uyghur, and Tangut, and was known as the "Righteous Victory Army".

They practiced the Yisheng Spear (a three-edged armor-piercing spear) and repeatedly distinguished themselves in battle after the army was formed.

During this period, Lu You also participated in the training throughout, and even led thirty men to personally kill a tiger.

The tiger suddenly appeared, startling the soldiers. Lu You drew his spear and struck the tiger.

Lu You, the Tiger Slayer!

Just when everything was on track, Wang Yan was suddenly transferred back to the imperial court and promoted, only to be demoted to the position of prefect.

Chapter 3838 A Complex History

Wang Yan claimed illness and did not take up his post, so he was directly assigned to manage a Taoist temple, where he died in depression a few years later.

Historical figures are all very complex, and even the extraordinary Yu Yunwen is no exception.

Especially in his later years, Yu Yunwen held a high position of power and enjoyed both fame and fortune, gradually becoming arrogant and self-willed.

The History of Song describes this very vaguely, only mentioning in the Biography of Xue Ji that Yu Yunwen "concealed his omissions".

In his poem "Prelude to Water Melody: I ​​Drink Without Needing Persuasion," Xin Qiji also subtly expressed his lament about the decline of his family's fortunes.

It can be reasonably inferred that Yu Yunwen ousted Wang Yan through factional struggles.

……

"You are all from the South, so you probably don't know about the good news from the front,"

Wang Yan said with great interest,

"Several armies have won consecutive victories and I heard they are about to reach Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Western Xia!"

Lu You was overjoyed: "Really?"

Wang Yan said, "It is true. I was also inspired by the good news, which is why I decided to abandon my literary pursuits and take up a military career."

"Although my Great Ming is about to destroy Western Xia, the northern desert is not yet pacified and the western regions are not yet settled. Sooner or later I will be able to lead troops into battle."

Hong Mai joked, "The Western Xia is about to fall, it seems we won't need you as the modern-day Ban Gu."

Lu You said, "When Brother Gongming leads his troops into battle, I will serve as his advisor and consult on all matters in the army."

“Welcome,” Wang Yan said happily. “When the time comes, I will be the general in charge of the troops, and you will be the military advisor. We will fight our way to the far west.”

Wang Lianqing, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "I'll draw a picture of your triumphant return."

Wang Lianqing's father was a great painter, and he himself was also skilled at painting.

The four men chatted happily, and when the official boat docked in Heyin County, they even disembarked to buy wine and food.

"A great victory! A great victory!"

"Hundreds of thousands of troops besieged the city, and the Western Xia ruler Li Renxiao led his officials out of the city to surrender!"

"The Western Xia is gone! The Western Xia is gone!"

"..."

The four men on the boat were drinking when they suddenly heard cheers and commotion on the shore. They quickly went out of the cabin to find out what was going on.

On the deck, we met a military officer from the grain transport army who smiled and said to everyone, "A proclamation has just arrived that the Western Xia has been destroyed."

"The Western Xia king and all his civil and military officials came out of the city and knelt down to surrender. Our army took Xingqing Prefecture without bloodshed."

Wang Yan exclaimed, "Let's go drink and celebrate!"

"Drink together, drink together!"

"Let's go buy two more jars of wine; we won't stop until we're drunk today."

The four young men were overjoyed and drank themselves into a stagger in the cabin.

In every county they passed through, the people, both inside and outside the city, were overjoyed, even more so than when they destroyed the Jin dynasty.

In this timeline, there was no Jingkang Incident, the extent of devastation in the north was limited, and the Liao and Song dynasties enjoyed decades of peace.

Therefore, people didn't feel much about the fall of the Liao and Jin dynasties. On the contrary, the Western Xia, with whom they had been at war, was deeply hated by the officials and people in the north, and countless people were conscripted whenever war broke out.

Many shops inside and outside Luoyang took the opportunity to put up discount signs, and people talked enthusiastically about the battle results at the front.

Wang Yan stopped a passerby and asked, "Which restaurant in Luoyang is the best?"

A passerby replied, "There's a building called 'Balou,' which was expanded a couple of years ago and now has five floors."

"The wine garden is incomparable to Shuping's shop, and the Luoyang Junxi has the Balou," this is a popular folk saying in Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty, which reveals the Kaifeng people's teasing and contempt for Luoyang.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has moved its capital to Luoyang, several wealthy Luoyang merchants have partnered to open a restaurant, which they named "Youba Lou" as a sarcastic jab at the people of Kaifeng.

Chapter 3839 A Feast of Merit

Wang Yan treated everyone to drinks.

Looking at the silver bowls of the diners in the lobby on the ground floor, Wang Lianqing couldn't help but say, "The food and drink here must be expensive. We are all poor scholars, so we can just eat on the ground floor."

Of the impoverished scholars, three came from official families and one from a family of military generals.

"That works too," Wang Yan said indifferently.

"How can we, the soldiers of the Great Ming Dynasty, tolerate someone calling himself 'Grandpa'?"

"Immediately, a young general rode out from the Ming army formation."

"Who do you think that young general is?"

He stopped there to keep the story a secret, and the surrounding diners shook their heads, while some urged him to continue.

The diner continued, "This young general of the Ming Dynasty is named Wang Jun, known in the army as Wang Kaishan. He is a valiant general under General Wu Xianggong."

"But then Wang Kaishan galloped out on horseback, shouting loudly, which terrified the Western Xia general so much that his liver and gall bladder almost burst..."

After hearing this fabricated story, Lu You asked, "Does anyone know this Wang Kaishan?"

Wang Yan shook his head: "My elder brother also commands troops in the army, but I have never heard him mention it. I suppose he is a fierce general from another region."

In fact, these stories were all brought back by merchants, especially those from the Hexi Corridor, which led to Wu Jie's generals becoming the most famous.

On the contrary, the group led by Han Shizhong and Yue Fei was the furthest from the border of the Ming Dynasty, and their deeds had not yet spread.

The lecture began again, and Lu You listened intently, becoming more and more excited as he listened, wishing he could transfer from the Imperial Academy to a military academy.

……

For military generals, a war of national annihilation is a grand feast, where countless soldiers can be rewarded and promoted.

The same applies to civil officials!

Officials from Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces all made significant contributions to logistics.

Some didn't even need to return to Beijing; after receiving their promotion and transfer orders, they immediately rushed to the newly established Ningxia region to serve as officials.

The city walls damaged by artillery fire needed to be repaired by civilian officials who organized manpower.

The filled-in moat also needs to be cleared.

Another reason for the continuous drought in the Western Xia Dynasty was the lack of water conservancy infrastructure.

Many irrigation canals were severely clogged, and civil officials had to organize manpower to clear them.

The military rations that were sent out to fight were not transported back along the same route after the war. Some of the captured grain and fodder were left in warehouses in various cities.

This was to facilitate civil officials in carrying out work-for-relief programs, as countless people in the Western Xia Dynasty had no surplus grain, making it a good opportunity to recruit them for various construction projects.

A massive amount of supplies remained in Ningxia, which the newly appointed civil officials could freely allocate.

It remains to be seen which guys will be unable to resist taking advantage; in any case, Zhao Yuan has sent an imperial censor to investigate.

You can't detect it if you just randomly collect a little bit; that's considered "normal loss."

But if anyone gets rich from all that money, then they can't blame the Liangshan emperor for being too cruel.

……

Hanlin Academy.

An official walked into the museum of literature and history, clapped his hands and shouted: "The historical materials of Western Xia are about to be transported back to Luoyang. Anyone who understands the Western Xia script should sign up. The imperial court is about to compile the Book of Western Xia."

"Those who do not understand the Western Xia script can also sign up. Several Western Xia officials will come to the Hanlin Academy to compile history."

After calling out twice, more than a dozen historians came out one after another.

With the return of a large number of overseas books, the compilation of historical records of the Liao and Jin dynasties, and the revision of various official books, the Hanlin Academy was once again split and refined.

Zhao Yuan even incorporated the Imperial Medical Academy into it.

Today, the complete departments of the Hanlin Academy are as follows: Literature and History, Astronomy (including Geography), Art, Medicine, Agriculture (including Animal Husbandry), and Mathematics and Physics (including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering).

Chapter 3840 Western Overlord

Under the six major museum series, there are further subdivisions.

For example, an art museum is divided into departments such as painting, music, and sculpture.

There are also overlaps in these fields. For example, agronomists need to have knowledge of astronomy and geography, and even water conservancy.

Geographers also need to study mathematics, physics, and other subjects.

The head of the Hanlin Academy was called "Hanlin Grand Academician," whose official rank was fourth grade.

The head of the six major departments was called "Director of the Hanlin Academy", with an official rank of the fifth grade.

Those Hanlin officials with strong ambitions had already been persuaded to be transferred to other posts.

Most of those who remain are now focused on academic pursuits, enjoying a comfortable life with plenty of food, drink, and social standing.

Seljuk scholar Anwari is very busy these days, serving as an advisor to three institutions: the Institute of Literature and History, the Institute of Astronomy, and the Institute of Medicine.

He helped translate relevant academic works and held the official rank of Hanlin scholar, which was the sixth rank.

"Is there any good news outside?" Anwari asked.

Zhao Shizun walked into the room and said, "The Western Xia has been destroyed."

Anwari exclaimed in surprise, "I heard that the Western Xia had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Were they wiped out so quickly?"