The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 17

The matter was dropped. Another day, Xu Tian went to Du's shop to learn about the current events that had occurred in the past few months. Now, Du Bo knew that he liked to pay attention to these things, so he tried his best to collect relevant information for him.

The information we received this time was limited, but in short, everything was peaceful and nothing noteworthy had happened in the past few months.

Since the imperial court's great victory at Caizhou last October, in which Wu Yuanji was beheaded, several military governors in the north who were originally restless and always wanted to cause trouble have been quelled.

Knowing about this incident has dealt a heavy blow to his morale and spirit. He no longer dares to provoke trouble, fearing that he will be targeted by the court as the next target. He has temporarily gone into hiding.

There are even rumors that some military governors wanted to surrender their territory to the imperial court, but it is unknown whether this is true or not.

It is said that the imperial court is preparing a grand birthday celebration for the current emperor. His 40th birthday was originally supposed to be celebrated in a grand manner, but the war in Caizhou was at its most intense at the time, and the emperor had no heart to enjoy it, so it was just a perfunctory celebration.

This year is different; the traitor has surrendered, so naturally there's a grand celebration. It's unlikely anyone would dare to offend the Emperor at this time.

This shows that the emperor is in his prime this year, and perhaps he really will be able to take over all the military governorships in Hebei in the next few years. To be honest, Xu Tian felt a little excited thinking about this.

He was still unsure whether history had changed, but the current momentum seemed good, and he hoped they could keep up the good work.

At this time of year, a light drizzle brings the breath of spring.

This poem is so well written. One leisurely afternoon, Xu Tian stood under the eaves outside the shop and sighed with admiration.

Watching the raindrops fall softly to the ground without leaving a single drop, only the tender green wild grass stubbornly pushes out of the ground, displaying its tenacious vitality.

Just then, a rustling sound came from around the corner of the eaves, which puzzled Xu Tian. It didn't sound like rain. What was going on?

He walked to the corner with a puzzled look and was startled when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Uh." The person standing at the corner was completely unprepared and was startled by Xu Tian's sudden appearance. He was eating a piece of bread and almost choked from the shock.

This was a young man, who, judging from his appearance, seemed to be younger than himself. His hair was slightly damp, and his long robe looked rather thin in the early spring. His attire gave him a scholarly air.

He also had a large bag slung over his side, clearly indicating that he was a traveler from out of town.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Xu Tian apologized first for his impetuous behavior.

The man patted his chest, swallowed the food in his mouth, took a breath, and then said, "It's alright, it's alright."

The person spoke with a regional accent, but it was still somewhat understandable.

Xu Tian thought for a moment. This man had come all the way from out of town to Dingxiang City, but instead of going into the restaurant to eat, he was hiding in a corner under the eaves eating the pancakes he had brought with him. He seemed to be not wealthy. So he said, "To express my apologies, I'll invite you to have lunch at the restaurant."

"No, no, you're overthinking it, I'm fine," the man quickly waved his hand and refused.

"Please don't refuse. In this weather, why not rest here for a while and get out of the wind and rain? I'm about to have lunch too, so it's just one more person." Xu Tian felt a sense of goodwill towards this person's modest attitude.

“Well,” the man hesitated for a moment, then looked at the sky and finally agreed, “Thank you for your kindness, sir.”

"Please come with me."

The two entered the store, found a table against the wall and sat down. Xu Tian ordered several dishes and a soup.

"My surname is Zhao, and my given name is Laizhang. May I ask your surname, sir?" Zhao Laizhang took off his bundle and placed it on a stool to the side, then said.

"Oh, my surname is Xu, and I'm a local. You seem to be in a hurry. I wonder where you're coming from? Are you passing through or are you in Dingxiang City?" Xu Tian asked.

"I come from Longxing County, Ruzhou, Henan Province in the north. I came to Dingxiang City on some business, which I have finished today. Next, I need to head to Liuzhou in the south." Zhao Laizhang answered very seriously and carefully, and seemed to be an honest man.

"Liuzhou, is it the Liuzhou in Lingnan?" Xu Tian was somewhat surprised that this person was going to such a far place as Guangxi.

At that time, Liuzhou was still a very remote place, belonging to the southern barbarian lands. Lingnan was a place that ordinary people feared.

"Indeed, sir, you also know this place?" Zhao Laizhang raised his head slightly, his expression showing a hint of surprise, as if confirming.

"I do know some of it," Xu Tian nodded.

Guilin's scenery is the best under heaven. In later years, Xu Tian had traveled to the area near Guilin. Liuzhou is not far away, and he had also passed through there, so he had some knowledge of the area.

“The situation in Lingnan is unknown to most people, let alone Liuzhou. I have never been there, and I have some questions that I have nowhere to ask. I hope that you, Young Master Xu, will not hesitate to enlighten me,” Zhao Laizhang said, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Please go ahead, but I don't know too much, I can only try my best to answer." Xu Tian naturally didn't mind.

"Thank you. I've heard that the south is mostly hilly. Is Liuzhou located in the mountains?"

Xu Tian shook his head: "That's not the case. Liuzhou is located on a plain, so of course it can't compare to the Central Plains. There may be some mountains around, but they are all small mountains and not very high. Moreover, the mountains there are not quite the same as the mountains here."

Most of the hills are individual small peaks, rarely forming a large continuous area. Furthermore, the area has many rivers, navigable by boat. Liuzhou is located near the largest of these rivers, whose lower reaches connect directly to Guangzhou and ultimately to the South China Sea.

Zhao Laizhang then asked several more questions, which Xu Tian answered one by one, as he knew a little bit about them.

Then Zhao Laizhang took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and said, "Young Master Xu, please take a look at the travel map I prepared for me. Is there any error or omission?"

Xu Tian took it and unfolded it. It showed the approximate locations and distances of some cities. The further south you went, the fewer cities there were, and the more vague the information became.

“Zhao Lang, you don’t seem like you’re going to do business in the south. Why do you insist on going to such a remote place as Liuzhou?” he asked.

Even in later generations, Guangxi was still considered a relatively remote place. Apart from tourism, no one would go there casually, let alone in this era.

“Alas, this is a family matter. Since you ask, I will tell you. In the eighteenth year of Zhenyuan, which is sixteen years ago, my father was the magistrate of Dingxiang County. He went to the south on official business and unfortunately died of illness in a foreign land. It is said that his remains were buried in Liuzhou.”

The man's expression turned somewhat somber as he recounted this past event.

"Before my mother passed away before the Lunar New Year, she kept thinking about this matter, hoping that one day she could find my father's remains and belongings and move them back to our hometown for burial together."

My trip here is for this very reason. Today, I've already asked someone at the Dingxiang County government to search the records from that year, and it has been confirmed that the Liuzhou government did indeed bury my father outside Liuzhou city.