Chapter 44 44, It turns out that Ouyang is a traitor! When they arrived at the north of the city, Hong Qi, who had been thinking about Ouyang Feng all the way, suddenly clapped his hands and said: "Brother Ouyang, I know how to refute you! We, the Beggars' Sect, are not working for the Zhao Song government. There are hundreds of thousands of disciples in the Beggars' Sect, and most of them are northerners who became refugees and beggars because of the Jin invaders. I, Hong Qi, am originally from Shandong, and I became a beggar since I was a child because of the Jin invaders. We fight against the Jin to avenge our country and our family! It is also for the sake of national justice!" "So, Brother Hong will no longer support Song?" "Well... After all, the Song Dynasty is the legitimate dynasty of China and the main force in the fight against the Jin Dynasty..." "So, Brother Hong, do you think that Wanyan Gou, who said to the Jin emperor, 'I will keep my loyalty to you for generations to come,' was actually enduring humiliation in order to accumulate strength and fully support Yue Wumu's northern expedition to his homeland and attack Huanglong?" "This... This is no longer the era of Zhao Gou. Prince Yue has also been rehabilitated..." "Brother Hong, since you are from Shandong, you can be considered a fellow villager of Xin Qiji. I would like to ask whether the anti-Jin strategies such as the 'Ten Arguments and Nine Discussions' that Xin Qiji painstakingly formulated after he returned to Song after rebelling against Jin have been taken seriously by the current Song court? Does the Song court regard Xin Qiji as a capable general in the Northern Expedition and give him the important task of heading north?" "..." Hong Qi was speechless again.
Ouyang Feng held the horse in one hand and the sword in the other, and said leisurely: "National justice is very important. Protecting the people from being oppressed by the barbarians is indeed a noble cause of the Beggars' Sect. However, sometimes, we must really distinguish between the enemy and ourselves." Hong Qi said in a muffled voice: "Brother Ouyang, why don't you make your words clearer." Ouyang Feng said calmly: "Of course the Jin invaders are enemies, but they have a more brilliant record in killing anti-Jin generals and restraining famous anti-Jin ministers. They have broken the backbones of heroes and worn out the ambitions of heroes. They have abandoned the northern people who fell under the iron hoof of the Jin invaders, and have made the peace agreement of 'Northerners return to the north, and southerners return to the south', and completely abandoned the northerners like Brother Hong. So they are not enemies?" "..." Hong Qi was silent for a while, then he uttered a "Hey" and said: "Brother Ouyang, it turns out you are a traitor!" Ouyang Feng smiled: "Brother Hong is wrong. I am not a traitor. I was born and raised in the Western Regions and have never eaten a grain of rice from the Zhao Song Dynasty. No matter what treasonous words I say or what treasonous deeds I do, I cannot be called a traitor." He glanced at Hong Qi and said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "If one day in the future, I or my family's descendants march south to destroy the Song Dynasty, I hope Brother Hong can restrain the Beggars' Sect disciples and not to put up a meaningless resistance. After all, not only is my family surnamed Ouyang, but my eldest sister-in-law is also a descendant of the Longxi Li family. In short, although my family is in the Western Regions, we are authentic Chinese Miao descendants. We have Chinese names, speak Chinese, wear Chinese clothes, and read Chinese classics..." This guy is indeed a big traitor! Hong Qi muttered to himself, not knowing how to respond for a moment. Just now he said that he would not work for the Zhao Song government, but only to avenge the country and family hatred and uphold the national justice. Then, when the forces that were not barbarians came to destroy the Song Dynasty, if he, Hong Qi, still called on the disciples of the Beggar Gang to rise up and fight back and protect the Song Dynasty, wouldn't he be slapping himself in the face? But it was difficult for him to agree to Ouyang Feng's words. Hong Qi is a man of his word. If he agrees to something, even if it is just a joke, he will definitely keep it in the future. If Ouyang Feng was not joking, and he or his family's descendants really led an army south to destroy the Song Dynasty in the future, how would Hong Qi and the Beggars' Sect cope with it? Seeing Hong Qi's conflicted look, Ouyang Feng didn't say anything more. He asked a few passers-by for directions and led Hong Qi, who was lost in thought, to a temple-like building. It is where the Yipintang government office is located. "Brother Hong, we have arrived at Yipintang."
Ouyang Feng reminded Hong Qi, and when he came to his senses, he led the horse towards the gate. The gate was open and there was no guard at the door. After entering the gate, a scholar dressed like an accountant came out of the teahouse next door, holding a teapot and saying with a smile: "This is the Yipintang government office. I wonder what brings you here?" Ouyang Feng said: "My name is Li Changfeng, from Gaochang. This is my good friend Hong Qi. We both learned martial arts and wanted to serve the court, but we couldn't stand the constraints of military law, so we came to Yipintang to serve. May I know your name, sir?" The name of "Ouyang Feng, the Dragon King of the Western Regions" is now widely known in the Western Regions. The trade relations between Xixia and the Western Regions are very close. It is possible that Ouyang Feng's name was registered in Yipintang of Xixia, so he took the pseudonym "Li Changfeng". "My humble servant Zhao Shixian is a guest official of the First-class Hall." The accountant smiled slightly and looked at Ouyang Feng's face, which was as if carved by a knife and had obvious Western features. He did not doubt his origins, or rather, he did not care about Ouyang Feng's origins at all. Yipintang has always had a tradition of accepting anyone. "It turns out to be Mr. Zhao. My apologies." Ouyang Feng bowed and said: "Mr. Zhao, please give me some advice on joining Yipintang." As he spoke, he took out a gold ingot and put it into Zhao Shixian's hand. Xixia now values civil affairs over military affairs, and the once powerful Yipintang has now become a security office that arrests thieves, smugglers, and bandits. Since it is not taken seriously, the funding for the office will definitely not be too much. It may earn some extra money by arresting thieves, smugglers, and bandits, but this kind of work is not available every month. Therefore, Ouyang Feng felt that it would be right to use money to knock on the door. Sure enough, Zhao Shixian took the gold ingot, which weighed about one or two taels, weighed it, and pinched it with his fingernails. His smile suddenly became more friendly: "Both brothers are devoted to serving the country. Yipintang will never let your sincere hearts down. Please follow me. Oh, Brother Li's horse can be tied outside the gatehouse. No one dares to steal the horse here." Ouyang Feng followed his instructions and put the horse on the hitching post outside the gatehouse. Then he and Hong Qi followed Zhao Shixian into a side hall, where they first registered with a chief clerk named Han, and then symbolically practiced martial arts. Ouyang Feng naturally performed a few sword techniques, while Hong Qi performed the "Xiao Yao You" palm technique - his Xiao Yao You palm technique was learned by chance when he was young, and it has nothing to do with the Xiaoyao Sect, it just happened to have the word "Xiao Yao" in its name. Although both of them were reserved, the kung fu they displayed still made Han Zhubu and Zhao Shixian praise them for their amazing kung fu. Afterwards, Chief Han made a waist badge for each of them on the spot. The waist badges were made of wood, with the names and facial features of the two people written in Han Zhubu's own handwriting. When handing the badges to the two men, Han Zhubu explained: "When you two brothers first enter the First-Class Hall, you can only wear wooden waist badges. When you two brothers have made contributions, you can change to iron waist badges, copper waist badges, silver waist badges, and even gold waist badges in the future. The better the waist badge you wear, the higher your status and treatment will be." He also told them about the treatment of the Mu Yao Pai. The salary was indeed very meager, just enough to get by. In addition, there was no accommodation provided, so the two had to find their own accommodation. After completing the entry formalities, Ouyang Feng used the excuse of expressing his gratitude to invite Zhao Shixian and Han Zhubu to a restaurant for a drink. He found a large restaurant and ordered a wide variety of fine wines and dishes. When they were drunk, he quietly inquired about the news of the masters of Yipintang. "Brother Hong and I will work in Yipintang in the future. People who practice martial arts are bound to be hot-tempered, and it is inevitable that we will have some conflicts with our colleagues. Even if we don't fight to the death, we will inevitably fight and compete with each other. Mr. Zhao, I wonder which people in Yipintang are not easy to mess with?" "Oh, to be honest, there are not many talented people in this Yipin Hall now." Zhao Shixian took a sip of wine and sighed: "The emperor now values civil officials over military officials, and has even cut military spending year after year, not to mention Yipintang. Without money and power, how could any real master be willing to come? Most of those who come to Yipintang are fantasizing about getting in touch with some noble person through Yipintang, so that they can rise to the top in one step..."
He was already quite drunk and his words were a bit long-winded. He talked about this and that for a long time before returning to the main topic: "Speaking of masters, in my opinion, Brother Li's swordsmanship, Brother Hong's lightness and palm skills, in today's Yipintang, apart from Fu Dahai with the Poison Sand Palm, Lin Tong with the Twin Swords, Master Feilong, and the Five Tigers of Qinling, there is no need to be afraid of anyone else. Well, especially the Five Tigers of Qinling, each of them has strong kung fu, and they have always advanced and retreated together. If you provoke one, you will provoke all five. They are more difficult to deal with than the others." Ouyang Feng and Hong Qi looked at each other and nodded: "Thank you Mr. Zhao for your advice. By the way, I wonder what the appearances of the masters Mr. Zhao just mentioned, such as Fu Dahai with the Poison Sand Palm, Lin Tong with the Twin Blades, Master Feilong, and the Five Tigers of Qinling, are? Where do they live? I hope Mr. Zhao can tell me so that my brothers can have an idea and avoid getting into trouble." Zhao Shixian had no sense of confidentiality and was already drunk. Ouyang Feng offered him a glass of wine and started talking without hesitation: "That's easy. Fu Dahai is white and plump, like Maitreya, and very easy to recognize. His residence is right here..." He explained them one by one, and soon he had talked about the physical features and residences of the Five Tigers of Qinling. (End of this chapter)