Chapter 66: Court Arrangements

Chapter 66: Court Arrangements

Chapter 66: Court Arrangements
Extremely explosive things cannot be concealed because people have a strong desire to spread them.

At noon, the soldiers took off their armor and sat down, eating and drinking, and whispering to each other.

Not only the Luoyang central army, but also the Hebei soldiers.

In the eyes of the soldiers, bravery is always the most intuitive thing and is more effective than any preaching.

The officers were extremely fascinated and talked about Shao Xun's past as if no one else was around.

"I heard that he also killed Meng Chao."

"Meng Chao should have died long ago. He not only looted Henan, but also robbed the people of Hebei. He deserves to die."

"I had a batch of goods at home, but even if Meng Chao took them away, there was no way to hold him accountable. After hearing the news of his death, I ate two extra bowls of rice."

"Shao Xun's killing of Meng Chao was a moving scene. He frightened away thousands of soldiers with his bravery."

"Alas, don't run into such a ruthless man in the next battle. If he rushes into the battle and captures me, I won't know where to put my face."

"Prepare more archers and spears to block them. We were careless today."

"With Shao Xun's temper, he won't survive long on the battlefield. The day he stumbles, that's the day he dies."

"He's not that stupid, is he? He charged into battle every time. When he killed Meng Chao, he chased after the defeated army. This time he captured that Tang something alive because he took advantage of us because we had been standing for a long time and were exhausted. He's not stupid, he knows what's going on."

"In any case, don't run into him. If he comes to Hebei someday and I can't resist him, I will surrender to him."

Most of these officers were sons of local tyrants or wealthy merchants, and there were few scholars. They usually spoke in a vulgar manner, often calling each other "your mother and your servant". When they heard someone say that they would surrender if they could not win, they suddenly became silent.

But - that's right, the King of Chengdu is still here, and we have no second thoughts. If the King is not here, and the imperial army comes, is it necessary for Shao Xun to fight to the death as the vanguard? What does it matter which descendant of the Sima family becomes the emperor?

"Surrender?" Someone else sneered, "Can he still use people from Hebei? What is he dreaming about? Unless he comes to Hebei to be an official and marries a daughter of a noble family in Hebei, we can still follow him. Forget about the rest. He is from Donghai and can only curry favor with scholars in Qingxu, such as the Yang family of Taishan and the Wang family of Langya. What does he have to do with Hebei?"

"That's right." Someone nodded subconsciously.

Don’t blame everyone for always making regional distinctions; there are simply too many examples of this.

In the past, Yuan Benchu ​​was the governor of Jizhou, and many of the people around him were famous people from Hebei.

Cao Mengde dominated Henan, and many Henan scholars worked for him.

The distinction is clear and obvious.

After the defeat in Hebei, 70,000 to 80,000 surrendered soldiers were driven by Cao Cao to Jingzhou to die for him.

If they are not our own, we naturally won’t cherish them.

Shao Xun's base is in Henan. If he can become a high-ranking official and set up his own government one day, the people who will run over there will definitely be scholars from Henan, and among them, scholars from Qingxu will most likely be the most valued.

Everything in the world is just like this.

The people of Hebei were grumbling to themselves, but Shao Xun was patrolling calmly, ensuring security.

Today’s “performance” is not without benefits.

Scholars attend gatherings to gain fame.

Fame is something that cannot be seen or touched, but it is really useful at critical moments.

The same is true for warriors.

As his fame grew, various forces vied to win him over, and the imperial court would also appease him with kind words.

When leading an army to battle, perhaps there will be unexpected gains.

Fame is capital, there is no doubt about it.

Compared with the Hebei soldiers, the cheers of the imperial guards were much more sincere.

Many people are asking about Shao Xun's name.

After learning that he was a general of the Yue family, he also felt proud - it was simple, Shao Xun now represented the Luoyang side.

Throughout the afternoon, officers from the Imperial Guard kept coming to visit or to see him from afar.

When someone mentioned the incident of Shao Xun beheading Meng Chao, the generals of the imperial guards favored him even more. If they were not restricted by their status and could not lose face, someone would have invited him to drink by now.

As for the nobles, scholars and ladies, they didn't pay much attention to it. They just took it as a topic of conversation and chatted about it. In fact, their focus was on Sima Ying's loss of face. As for who made him lose face and how he lost it, they didn't care much. Even if someone mentioned Shao Xun's name, they would remember it at the time, but would forget it after a while.

Of course, that's the case for most people. But for some people with a caring heart, it's completely different.

Overall, being forced to take action today has more advantages than disadvantages.

Sima Ying would at least not cause trouble for Shao Xun in public. As for what might happen secretly, he was not that afraid.

Once you enter the military camp, you will be surrounded by student soldiers and feel extremely safe.

Assassins? Shao is armed and armored, and can easily kill three or five of them in a head-on fight.

Be careful, wait for the situation to change, and this crisis will pass.

******
Sima Ying quickly returned to the platform, his face gloomy, as if a storm was brewing.

To be honest, he is not very broad-minded.

Before he came to Luoyang, General Fenwu Shi Chao had already captured and killed many court officials. All of these officials, without exception, had old grudges against Sima Ying.

Especially the one who made Le Guang "die of worry and fear", he even exterminated his entire clan without mercy. Shangshu Ling Le Guang was Sima Ying's father-in-law. Before his death, Sima Yi asked him whether he had an affair with Yecheng, and Le Guang replied "How could I exchange five sons for one daughter" - Le Guang's whole family lived in Luoyang.

Sima Yi hesitated, but finally killed Le Guang.

After Sima Ying became successful, he naturally wanted revenge and revenge. Luoyang was in turmoil for a long time before it calmed down.

Today, Shao Xun humiliated him, but he couldn't vent his anger and felt very unhappy.

But he just couldn't take revenge on this person if he still had any shame - even if his subordinates figured out his intentions, they couldn't carry out revenge because everyone would blame him.

That's all! Sima Ying took a deep breath. Even Wang Hu could be tolerated by Gu, so what was a small lieutenant Sima from the East China Sea? Just let it go like a fart.

Well, Wang Hu did vote for Sima Ying a while ago, which surprised everyone.

Sima Ying's confidant, General Qian Xiu, appointed Wang Hu as the Sima of the shogunate. Do you dare to believe it?
Wang Hu once defeated the Hebei army and made them flee in panic, killing more than a dozen generals. He was the most hated person by the Hebei gentry. No, far more than that. The people of Hebei might also hate Wang Hu. But Qian Xiu recruited him. How could Sima Ying not know about this?
Sima Ying was quite tolerant of Wang Hu, a man who demonstrated the value of united front work, against all odds. He allowed Wang Hu to take charge of the imperial guards who had defected to him and stay in Luoyang to serve as Shi Chao's deputy.

From this perspective, his mind is not that narrow.

"When will the king return to Ye?" The Shogunate's Chief Clerk Lu Zhi asked with some uneasiness as he looked at the soldiers of both sides camping in the wilderness.

"What? Are you scared?" Sima Ying asked with a smile.

Lu Zhi was speechless.

He couldn't say, "Your Majesty, you only brought over ten thousand infantry and cavalry. Even with Shi Chao's fifty thousand soldiers and horses, we only have over sixty thousand people, while Sima Yue has twenty thousand soldiers!"
Sixty thousand versus twenty thousand, we have no advantage.

Now everyone is in the wilderness. Once a battle breaks out, it will be a field battle. Can these 60,000 people withstand it?
"Coward! I know Sima Yue very well. He used to be very cautious and would not do anything he was not sure of. You are afraid, and he is afraid too." Sima Ying scolded with a smile, and said, "He will be back soon. Urge the clothes and carriage to be sent to Yecheng as soon as possible. If we want to follow the example of Wei Wu, we need to have our own people in the court. What do you think of Wang Yifu?"

"It's rare to find someone who is not rejected by all parties." Lu Zhi thought for a while and said, "It can only be him."

Sima Ying won the war, but the enemy surrendered conditionally, and he could not monopolize all the benefits, so some compromise was necessary. Moreover, the emotions of the person in Chang'an also needed to be appeased, and their alliance relationship was not broken.

Wang Yan was a famous scholar with a high reputation, and all parties had to give him some face. He was indeed a very suitable candidate.

"Then recommend Wang Yifu as Shangshu Zuo Pushe." Sima Ying said after making up his mind.

"Recommend Liu Shi to be the Grand Commandant."

"You can be the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and come back to Yecheng with me."

"Recommend..."

"We can't forget the Prince of Hejian..." Sima Ying sighed. He would have to fight him to the death sooner or later, but not now. He only heard him say: "Recommend the Prince of Hejian to be the Prime Minister, the Grand Commander, and the Governor of Yongzhou."

"The King of Donghai, Yue Shou, is the Minister of Chancellery. If he wants to appoint any more officials, he can give some of the profits to them."

Sima Ying named a lot of people in one breath, and his staff wrote them down one by one with quick pens.

This is political division of spoils, everyone understands it.

After Sima Yi's death, the three families of King of Chengdu, King of Hejian and King of Donghai became the winners. King of Chengdu made the greatest contribution and naturally took away the most benefits.

But he didn't dare not give benefits to the other two families.

Just like Lu Zhi was worried, if Sima Yue turned hostile and attacked him brazenly, what would he do? Would he definitely win?

Sima Ying was very courageous to come to Luoyang and took considerable risks.

Sima Yong did not dare to come. Of course, he could not come now, as there were many rebellions at home that needed to be quelled.

After settling the Luoyang issue, Sima Ying would return to Yecheng to act as the Overlord, just like the story of Wei Wu - of course, this was just an assumption, as he might not be able to tell the difference between unconditional surrender and conditional surrender.

"Build a mansion in Yezhong as soon as possible. The original one is too small and does not suit my status." Sima Ying added, "If there is not enough space, demolish the houses. Anyone who disagrees will have their entire family exterminated."

"Yes." Lu Zhi replied.

"We have to hurry up with the selection of concubines." Sima Ying looked at Meng Jiu again and said, "The number cannot be less than 5,000. You should take a closer look. They must be decent and attractive, preferably from aristocratic families."

"Yes." Meng Jiu agreed obediently.

"There are many places to spend money." Sima Ying sighed and said, "Taxes are increased this year. I am the crown prince, and the people of Hebei will surely be excited. Collecting a little more money is just a small matter."

Lu Zhi and Meng Jiu looked at each other and quickly looked away.

"If you have any relatives or old friends, report them all to me and I will give them official positions." Sima Ying laughed and said, "I have figured it out. In today's world, we still have to use our own people. Loyalty is the most important, and ability is secondary."

"Yes." Lu Zhi and Meng Jiu were overjoyed. Now they could legitimately arrange their followers!

Although the King of Chengdu was very powerful and had a large shogunate, the internal competition was very fierce and the factional fighting was bloodless.

In the early years, King Chengdu was granted four counties in Shu for more than ten years. After the rebellion in Shu, he was moved to Nanjun of Jingzhou.

Therefore, he had frequent contacts with scholars in Shu and had a good relationship with them.

Du Zhen, a native of Chengdu, was a junior teacher of Qiao Zhou. His son Du Pi was appointed as a general by the King of Chengdu. His brother Du Lie was the Langzhong Ling of the Kingdom - this position was one of the three ministers of the state.

Now, Hebei's power is rising, and the number of officials in Shu is decreasing. As for the scholars in Jiangdong, after the incident of Lu Ji, their influence has also declined greatly, and they have gradually become insignificant.

Hebei is not a place where the people from the fallen states of Wu and Shu should come.

What Lu Zhi and Meng Jiu were actually fighting for was the dominance of the Hebei scholars within the shogunate.

When the King of Chengdu ascends the throne and becomes emperor in the future, everyone will have to rely on their own followers to fight for power in the court, so they cannot be careless.

(End of this chapter)