Liu Yixuan followed his parents into Xiangyang City. Although the population of Xiangyang City is only more than 100,000, its geographical location is very important. The Han River passes through the city from west to east and then flows into the Yangtze River. It is an important port for merchants in Jiangbei to change their boats from horses. A few years ago, there were bandits here, which made many people here move far away. Fortunately, the imperial court sent troops to suppress the bandits, which restored the peace to the place.

There are many mountains and dense forests in Xiangyang. In ancient times, there were often literati, elegant guests, hermits and wanderers living here. Mr. Wolong and Mr. Shuijing from the Three Kingdoms period all lived in seclusion in the green mountains and beautiful waters here.

However, Liu Anguo returned home this time not because he missed the mountains and rivers of his hometown. He was excluded by the political enemies in the court, and because his son had no choice but to go home to take refuge because of his disaster. Fortunately, Xiangyang City is his hometown, and many relatives and friends are here. Today, he returned home in glory, which is also a scene of reunion and joy.

The Liu family's old house is located in Liujia Village, west of the city. It is a not-so-large manor. It has two yards and more than a dozen houses. Although it is not as magnificent as the Prime Minister's Mansion in the capital, it is also clean and tidy and elegant. Mrs. Fan called Mrs. Hu and his wife and a few hired servants to clean up several houses in the backyard. She lived with Liu Anguo in the main hall. She also picked a clean room for Ling'er in the west wing and gave her her maid Qiuyue to Ling'er's room and let her serve her with her. Because Liu Yixuan and Ling'er have not officially got married and are not formally married, now Ling'er lives in the Liu family as a guest, so this arrangement is reasonable. According to Mrs. Fan's plan, at least after the two of them finish the marriage, Ling'er can move to the east wing and live with Liu Yixuan.

Although the Liu family is not a famous family in Xiangyang, since Liu Anguo entered Beijing as an official, the relatives and friends who had lost contact had also been in contact. Liu Anguo was a scholar who studied poetry and books, and his relatives were also poor relatives. However, when he heard that Liu Anguo returned to his hometown, he came to greet him one after another. For a while, cars and horses were constantly coming and going. Liu Yixuan did not know any of these relatives and friends, but just followed his mother to watch the fun. The seven aunts and aunts who came from afar came over to ask questions, and some even brought their families to visit. Seeing that their relatives and friends came from afar, Mrs. Fan asked Mrs. Hu to go to the tavern in the city to buy wine and food, prepare a banquet in his own yard to entertain relatives and friends.

The Xiangyang garrison and the prefect of the prefect knew that Liu Anguo had resigned and returned home, so they also brought gifts to visit. The Xiangyang garrison Li Jiao was originally from Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province. He was born as a martial artist. He was born with a tall and powerful horse and extraordinary talent. He was a fellow villager and old friend of the Zhaozhou garrison Han Shizhong. Last year, when Li Jiao went to Beijing to report his duties, he visited Liu Anguo at the Prime Minister's Office. At that time, Li Jiao reported to the Ministry of War, saying that the Xiangyang area was remote and deserted, and there were many bandits, so he wanted the Ministry of War to issue more troops.

The salary was used to recruit soldiers and horses. Wang Jian, who was the Grand Marshal of the Palace at that time, thought that Xiangyang was originally the hinterland of the Central Plains and there was no need to recruit soldiers and horses, so he only allocated the military salary to the border towns. After Liu Anguo learned of the bandits in the Xiangyang area, he persuaded Wang Jian overnight and asked him to squeeze out a small part of the military salary from the border to Xiangyang, which made Li Jiao worth the trip. After Li Jiao came back, he quickly summoned the righteous and brave men to wipe out and disperse the bandits gathered in the mountains and forests.

Liu Anguo met Li Jiao in the living room of the front yard. Li Jiao asked: "I heard that the day before yesterday that the Jin soldiers invaded the territory and had seized several cities in the Central Plains. In such a critical situation, why did the old prime minister resign and return to his hometown?"

After hearing this, Liu Anguo sighed repeatedly, "Oh, it's better not to mention this matter. I am determined to share my worries with the emperor, but I have no choice but to do things for the poor and middle-aged people in court, bewitching the audience and seeking peace. This has made the Jin people more and more proud and end up in such a land. Now the Grand Master Zhu Fan in the court and the country are in control. The emperor can't listen to my words!" He sighed again, "I saw that it was useless to stay in the capital, so I listened to the persuasion of the dog son and his wife, and went home to farm and study for a living!"

"Oh, it turns out that's why!" Li Jiao nodded secretly and asked again: "Why don't you know what the border war is going on? Will the Jin people endanger the capital this time?"

Liu Anguo knew that Li Jiao was a military general. He worked as a general in Shaanxi in his early years. He had fought with the Xixia people with the veteran generals and military soldiers. He had always been particularly concerned about border wars. Recently, when he heard that the Jin soldiers went south, he was naturally indignant as a military general of the Song State. However, the Song army fought a battle on the front line, and there was nothing to say, except for big defeats.

"Alas, the war ahead is not satisfactory. This time, the Jin soldiers were divided into two groups, east and west, and the commander of the Western Front was the Jin general Wanyan Zongwang. He had already captured Luoyang and captured King Su alive. At this time, he was in the area of ​​Xingyang and would advance to the capital at any time."

"What's the situation on the Eastern Front?" Li Jiao asked anxiously.

"The eastern front also suffered consecutive defeats. King Ji Qiansui was surrounded by King Liao of Jin in Jeju. The emperor wanted King Kang to lead his troops to rescue him, but he was blocked by the Jin soldiers on the way and had not arrived in Jeju for a long time. King Ji was unable to withstand the pressure and ended up leaving the city and fleeing!"

After hearing this, Li Jiao only clenched his fists, hammered it hard at his thighs, shook his head helplessly and sighed: "Cough! I didn't expect that my great Song Dynasty was bullied to such an extent by the Jin people! I don't know how those border generals fought, and they actually made the Jin people attack the city and pull the village like walking on flat ground! It's really a bag of wine!"

When Liu Anguo heard Li Jiao sighing, he knew that he must be a lonely and unsuccessful person. Perhaps he really had the ability to command thousands of troops, but he was not discovered by the court. Now he is already a commoner. Even if he wants to recommend him, he has no right to submit memorials.

"General Li, don't be too upset. I believe that the great Song Dynasty is protected by Emperor Gaozu's heroic spirit. The last time the Jin army went south, we still drove back? I believe that this time it will still be safe."

After hearing this, Li Jiao just smiled bitterly. The two of them discussed the state affairs again, but they were just some words of regret and melancholy, and they would not express them.

After four or five days, the Liu family's courtyard gradually began to quiet down. Ling'er had never lived in the countryside. When she first came, she felt everything was fresh. She followed a few girls to the fields outside the village to pick flowers and weeds and run around, and she also yelled to learn to buy vegetables and cook and be a qualified farmer. Liu Yixuan was afraid that she would play too crazy, so she had to follow her to protect her, and she was very busy for a while.

On this day, Liu Yixuan and Ling'er went around the streets in the city again, wanting to see the customs and customs of Xiangyang and find any delicious and fun places. Although Xiangyang is remote, it is also a major transportation route between north and south. Since ancient times, Jingxiang has been a must-fight for military strategists, so the street market is bustling with prosperity. In addition, there are constant wars in the north, and some residents in Hebei and Shanxi have moved here.

However, although the casting of bronze ware has become complicated and difficult in the Song Dynasty, it cannot stop some cultural relics collectors from the love of bronze ware for the Shang and Zhou dynasties. This has allowed many vendors who falsify cultural relics to imitate Shang and Zhou bronze ware to deceive those rich cultural relics collectors. The previous document once said that the former Grand Tutor Cai Jing spent a lot of money to find a huge Zhou Dynasty tripod, which was regarded as a rare treasure by him. He often watched it late at night. At the 60th birthday party that day, the tripod was carried out to show the guests and friends who attended the banquet, but Zhao Mingcheng, the son of Prime Minister Zhao Tingzhi, recognized the authenticity at first sight, and pointed out the fakeness on the spot, which made Cai Jing lose all his face, which led to the grudge between Zhao and Cai families.

Liu Yixuan knew that if these imitations of Zhou Dings in the Song Dynasty could be passed down to the era in which he lived, they would be valuable treasures, but if they were placed in the Northern Song Dynasty in front of him, it would be worth these few kilograms of copper and had little collection value. Liu Yixuan looked around and turned his attention to the calligraphy and paintings on the wall, because the Northern Song Dynasty was the pinnacle of the development of Chinese calligraphy and painting, and there were many fine calligraphy and painting products. Even the works of those living or newly dead calligraphers and painters were valuable. Take the works of the four masters "Su, Huang, Mi, Cai" as an example. As long as the fan or banner written by Su Dongpo was genuine, it would always be sold for four or five hundred taels of silver, let alone the original calligraphy and paintings of his predecessors!

Liu Yixuan thought that the prolific literati lay Buddhists in Xiangyang might have some fine calligraphy and paintings circulated on the market, which is very likely. Liu Yixuan looked up at the paintings on the wall, and looked at the signatures and stamps on the paintings from time to time, pointing to the style and brushwork of the paintings. After looking at them for a while, Liu Yixuan found that although some calligraphy and paintings were produced in contemporary times, they were mostly unknown juniors, and the styles of paintings were mostly imitated by predecessors.

Just when Liu Yixuan was a little disappointed, he found a four-foot-three-sized landscape painting hanging in the corner of the wall. The distant mountains are dark and the nearby water flows clear. Several thick willow trees are graceful. There is a thatched pavilion in the mountain. Under the pavilion, there are five or six woodcutters drinking water and eating dry food. The first painting is nominated for the "Flower Drinking and Banquet Picture". The more Liu Yixuan looks at it, the style of this painting looks so familiar. When he looks at the signature, he has the three words "Zhang Zeduan" written on it. Liu Yixuan was completely shocked!
Chapter completed!