Chapter 22 Shocking

  "I think the biggest difference between humans and beasts is that humans have wisdom. A beast's strength must be demonstrated through its sharp claws; but human strength doesn't necessarily need to be demonstrated through muscle, those who only understand brute force are no different from beasts."

  Ding Yuluo said with a smile that was not quite a smile: "You haven't read any books, but you've got the tone of a bookworm down pat. Not bad, this kind of talk would probably be well-received by those bookworms in Kaifeng Prefecture, but it won't work here. I often hear people say that there's someone outside of everyone, and heaven beyond the sky, but even though I practice martial arts, I don't think there's such a thing as an unbeatable martial art, or else what would be the point of having an army?"

  However, martial arts are not just about strengthening the body. The northwest is close to the barbarian tribes, and the martial arts are very popular, so everyone also highly values martial power. For example, if a person joins the army and has good martial skills, they will receive recognition from their superiors and admiration from their colleagues, making it easier for them to stand out. At this point, martial arts are not just personal combat techniques, but also a stepping stone for advancement. For someone who starts from scratch with nothing, building achievements through martial arts is the fastest way to establish themselves. If General Cheng Shiying, who rose from being a household slave to becoming a great general on the border, heard this, he would absolutely disagree."

  Ding Hao exclaimed: "General Guangyuan Cheng Shi Xiong was originally a slave of another family?"

  "Yes", probably still three days journey to reach Guangyuan, and today is the deadline for grain delivery, delayed for three days, Guangyuan side has some surplus grain, it must be able to get through, so Ding Yuluo was in a good mood, patiently explained to him: "This Cheng Shi Xiong was originally a household slave of Du Zhongwei, a great general of the Jin State. Du Zhongwei is the brother-in-law of Emperor Shi Jing Tang of the Jin Dynasty, Shi Jing Tang gave away the sixteen states of Youyun to the Khitan people and called himself the Son of Heaven to the Khitan people, this brother-in-law is also a person without backbone like him.

  Du Zhongwei was notorious for his greed and cruelty when he was in office. Wherever he worked, he would extort everything, even the land itself, to the point where it seemed like he had taken three feet of soil away. When it came time to fight, however, he would retreat at the sight of the enemy, afraid of death. Later, when the state of Jin was destroyed, Du Zhongwei's own family was ruined and he himself was killed. General Cheng escaped to our great Song Dynasty and joined the army as a soldier. In just a few years, relying on his skills, he rose through the ranks, becoming the renowned border general he is today.

  She paused slightly and continued: "Of course, he was able to rise rapidly not only because of his own abilities but also because he received recognition and support from a noble family. This noble family is the Zhao family in Fuzhou. Since the time of Tang Xuanzong, after more than 200 years of turmoil, the power of the aristocratic families had almost been swept away, but it was not completely eliminated. In southern Fujian and our northwestern region, such aristocratic and semi-autonomous powers still existed.

  "Take our northwest region for example, the Yang family of Linzhou, the Zhe family of Fuzhou, the Li family of Jinming, and the Wang family of Fengzhou are all famous big families. Their military strength is so strong that even the Emperor of Song Dynasty has to listen to their commands. They not only have soldiers but also money and food. Among the four most famous merchants in the northwest, Tang, Qin, Zhe, and Li, the Tang and Li families are actually dependent on the Zhe family, while the Zhe family itself is a branch of the Zhe family that does business. And the big merchant with the surname Li is actually a member of the Li family of Jinming..."

  Ding Hao listened quietly, his origins were mysterious, so he had always been secretive about his true identity, not daring to mention it to anyone, nor did he dare to reveal any clues. When he first crossed over, he asked Zhu Pigu about the country of the northern Tartars and learned that it was called Tieduo Guo, thinking that history had already changed greatly. Now it seems that except for the name change from Daliao to Tieduo, everything else is basically the same as what he knew of history.

  It's also the case that the butterfly effect assumes it doesn't receive any counterforce, but if you really time-travelled, what you can influence and change is only local. The people you come into contact with, the things you experience, will naturally have reactions from people at the time, offsetting its impact.

  If someone really came to ancient times before oneself and had a certain influence, it would indeed change some originally settled things. However, as long as the overall development trend remains unchanged, those heroes who were supposed to emerge due to timing and circumstances wouldn't have their life's fate changed by his appearance, so the world would still be largely the same.

  Having figured out these problems, Ding Hao felt a sense of relief. Since Shi Jing Tang, this sinner of the ages, was still around, and since Great Liao had merely changed its name from Iron Plow to something else, then...

  Ding Hao suddenly curiously asked: "In our Great Song Dynasty's south, isn't there a Tang country?"

  People in this era are out of touch with the world, many old farmers who have never left their homes for ten miles only know that the emperor sits in the Golden Phoenix Hall, and they don't even know what surname the emperor has. Sometimes it takes several years after a change of dynasty to find out about such major events. So when Ding Hao asked this question, Ding Yuluo didn't think it was strange at all. She nodded naturally and said: "Yes, the Tang Dynasty has been passed down for three generations, and the current king is called Li Yu."

  "It's really like that......" Ding Hao felt a kind of excitement in his heart, being able to see with his own eyes the world he had only seen before in piles of old books. It was indeed an exciting thing, although it had undergone some changes.

  Li Yu, who knows how many years it will take to become the king of a dead country, is very similar to Emperor Huizong of the Great Song Dynasty. Both are kings of a dead country, both are great talents, one is the emperor of words, and the other is the master of calligraphy for generations. Both are foolish rulers who reuse treacherous officials and harm loyal officials. Li Yu indulges in luxury without restraint, believes in Buddhism and deceives Buddha, favors and trusts the treacherous minister Huangfu Yun, and wrongly kills the famous general Lin Huizi; Song Huizong reused the "Six Great Treacherous Officials", making the court atmosphere dark and smelly.

  Li Yu wrote "The flowers are bright, the moon is dark, and the light fog is lingering. Tonight is a good time to go to my lover's side. I'll take off my stockings and step on the fragrant stairs, holding my golden thread shoes", creating the eternal best lover image of Xiao Zhou Hou; Song Huizong wrote "Shallow wine in front of people, soft jade lamp beside embracing. Turning back to hug, all emotions are combined", making Li Shishi the number one courtesan of the Great Song Dynasty.

  Different from Li Yu, who died at the hands of a Han emperor, later generations' men sympathized with his misfortune, while young women admired his romance and talent, completely forgetting his incompetence. Song Huizong, on the other hand, was destroyed by an alien emperor, and later people's wounded hearts were rubbed with salt, resulting in being cursed for thousands of years until now...

  "Ding Hao?" Ding Yuluo saw that he was distracted and couldn't help but feel a little scared, so she called out to him.

  Ding Hao suddenly woke up with a start, and couldn't help but laugh dryly: "I think about these things, what's the point? This lifetime, I can make a living in the northwest, live a happy life, and that's all the merit I need. Those imperial family affairs have nothing to do with me."

  Ding Yuluo saw him sometimes dazed and sometimes silly, couldn't help but feel both angry and amused: "This time because the person originally in charge of transporting grain had a traitor hidden in his hands, not one dared to use it, hastily using these mobs to form this grain team. Originally I was worried, later you performed exceptionally, my heart finally settled down, don't be sometimes clever and sometimes foolish, now I rely on you completely."

  Ding Hao chuckled and said: "No no, I just think tonight's weather..."

  He looked up at the sky, a loud "haha" still unfinished, when suddenly he closed one eye and lowered his head.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Hmm... nothing much, a snowflake just fell into my eyes. I said it's so warm tonight, turns out it's going to snow..."

  In an instant, Ding Hao suddenly stopped, quiet for a moment, then he abruptly lifted his head to look at Ding Yuluo, a faint smile frozen on her face.

  The two of them stared at each other for a while, and then slowly revealed an inexplicable fear in their eyes, and simultaneously slowly raised their heads.

  The sky was as black as ink, and when I looked up, nothing could be seen. It wasn't until the high pole with a string of lanterns casting a dim red glow that anything became visible, and snowflakes were swirling down, covering everything, big as mats, and the hearts of two people suddenly sank to the bottom of a deep valley...