Chapter 119 Sikong Comes Out

Chapter 119 Sikong Comes Out

Chapter 119 Sikong Comes Out
"On the fifth day of May, Cao Junsi held a party at his residence and invited me to attend the funeral. I declined and prepared to leave. But when I heard that Cao Junsi's dancers and concubines would come out to accompany the guests, I hesitated, but still left."

"On the tenth day of May, during the Mangshan training, I personally killed a team leader, a squad leader, and seven or eight other sergeants who disobeyed orders. I immediately became as good as my own arm."

"Hua Tan went to Henei, Jijun, Xingyang, and Hedong to recruit soldiers and returned. The left and right guards of the imperial army have each expanded to more than 16,000 people. With new soldiers filling up the ranks, the possibility of them fleeing at the first sign of trouble is increasing."

"The Cavalry has begun to rebuild, but there are only a thousand or so of them, so they are not very useful."

"He Lun became the General of the Left Guard, but Wang Bing missed the chance to become the General of the Right Guard. Among the Left Guard, Miao Yuan unexpectedly became the General of the Palace, on the same rank as me, but I don't know who helped him do that."

"I never thought that as soon as the Imperial Guards were rebuilt, so many people would come to fight for the positions. Aren't they afraid of death?"

"On the first day of June, Miao Yuan will lead his troops to withdraw from the palace, and our troops will take over the defense."

"Yang Xianrong wanted to give me female musicians, but I refused. I was afraid she might be a spy. She also suggested that the King of Chengdu be executed, citing the many rebellions in Hebei, and that the King of Chengdu's family and relatives be sent to me. I was tempted, but I refused with righteous words."

"In June, they conducted a drill in front of the Taiji Palace. The emperor and his ministers were horrified, thinking that there was a rebellion."

"On the first day of July, General Chen Jing of the Right Guard Palace led his troops to take turns guarding the palace. The leader of the tower, Yang Bao, secretly reported that Empress Yang Xianrong was trying to win over her."

"Yang Xianrong is in danger this time! It's okay for him to win me over, I won't say anything, but Chen Jing may not be the same."

……

Who the hell writes a diary? Shao Xun crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away. Still worried, he simply lit a candle, burned it to ashes, and then scattered it into the clear spring water outside the window.

I won’t write a diary anymore, it’s boring, stupid!

At this time he was living in Jingu Garden. The huge manor was empty with few people.

In addition to the fifty or so servants who had been recruited recently, there were only more than forty former students from the first batch of Donghai soldiers, all of whom were under the age of fifteen, and the youngest was only ten years old.

The bed was also empty.

There were no dancers or female musicians because there was no money to buy them.

As for his wife, who told Shao Xun to wait until his "market value" was at its highest before cashing out? His market is very good now, climbing from the bottom and soaring continuously, and it is far from forming the top.

As a person from the lower class, marriage is a big deal and must be bought at a good price.

Of course, if you really can't sell it for a good price, or it has depreciated, then you can choose a woman you like and marry her - there should be a bottom line here.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Shao Xun didn't want to sleep anymore. He picked up a piece of silk and read the words on it carefully by candlelight.

The third batch of student soldiers was recruited in March and April, with a total of 127 people, aged between ten and fifteen, most of whom were from Taiyuan and its surrounding areas.

The third batch of students from Taiyuan are currently arranged to study, train and work in Panyuan.

Shao Xun often went to see them.

His schedule is really tight.

If it is not his turn to guard the palace this month, he will basically train the soldiers on the first day; and rush to Yiyang on the second day to inspect the fort and train private soldiers.

On the evening of the third day, he would return overnight and stay at Shao Garden or Pan Garden to inquire about the affairs of the manor. If there were any unresolved issues, they would be dealt with on the spot.

On the morning of the fourth day, we returned to Jinyong City and continued training for another day.

On the fifth day, I went to Shaoyuan to teach the second batch of students in Luoyang to check their learning progress.

On the sixth day, I went to Panyuan to teach the third batch of students from Taiyuan.

On the seventh day, soldiers were trained.

On the eighth day, I taught the remaining students of the first period of Donghai in Jingu Garden, teaching them martial arts and military strategies. This was a good time to take a short break.

On the ninth day, he went to Yushanwu to inspect and train his private soldiers.

On the tenth day, he led more than 5,000 soldiers from his headquarters out of the city to drill and practice military formations.

As for socializing, I only have time for that in the evening.

He was so busy that even Concubine Pei was surprised.

After reading the list of student soldiers in Taiyuan, Shao Xun took out a wooden slip and wrote some simple comments based on his impression for future reference.

He wrote until late at night, then picked up the letter Mi Huang wrote to him and read it carefully.

The Mi family is a native aristocratic family in the East China Sea, so they are naturally well-informed.

In his letter, he mentioned that the Minister of Works sent envoys to Youzhou, Yuzhou, Bingzhou, Jizhou and other places, calling on the various prefects and princes to join forces to attack Hejian Wang Yong, and announced his major crimes.

Few of the local governors responded and were not very interested. Only Wang Jun, Sima Teng, Sima Mo, and Sima Hu responded, and actively reorganized their troops and gathered towards Luoyang.

Upon hearing the news, King Sima Mao of Dongping was panicked. Under the persuasion of his staff, he sent an envoy to Donghai to meet Sima Yue and expressed his willingness to give up Xuzhou and go to Yanzhou to serve as the governor.

Sima Yue was overjoyed and appointed himself the governor and governor of Xuzhou on the spot. The original governor of Xuzhou, Zhou Fu, had been appointed as the Minister of Justice the previous year and later transferred to be the governor of Henan.

At this point, Sima Yue took Xuzhou without bloodshed, which was a great victory.

The letter ends here, leaving ample room for imagination.

Shao Xun made some calculations himself and felt that after Sima Yue had stabilised Xuzhou, he would lead thousands of newly recruited royal troops and Xuzhou hereditary soldiers westward and return to Luoyang.

Is this the “return of the king”?

Wouldn't others be afraid of tens of thousands of troops crossing the state? Would he covet other states along the way? For example, Yuzhou?
The governor of Xuchang was Sima Hu, but the governor of Yuzhou was not him, but General Weiyuan Liu Qiao.

Is there any brave man to stop him?
After writing the reply to Mi Huang, Shao Xun stood up and poured himself a bowl of water.

At this moment, he regretted not accepting Yang Xianrong's kindness. He didn't even have anyone to serve him, which was a disgrace to his status.

After drinking the water, he picked up the letter from Ji County. Yu Chen arrived in Ji County in early April and took with him a thousand soldiers, led by Yao Yuan and Zheng Gou'er, each with 500 soldiers.

Yu Chen expressed his gratitude in the letter, because there were no regular troops in the counties across the country, and these thousand men were of great use.

At the same time, he said frankly that the situation in Hebei was chaotic, bandits were everywhere, and the smoke of war continued. He planned to use these 1,000 soldiers as the backbone, recruit young men, defend the city, and vowed to fight the bandits to the end.

In addition, he also ordered the gentry in each county to mobilize their troops to block all intersections in order to curb the bandit army.

Obviously, Yu Chen was more experienced and did not rashly ask the various aristocratic families to send troops into the county city to help defend it, because he had no idea who the enemy was and who the ally was. Overall, he was very cautious.

Shao Xun learned from his letter that there were several groups of people causing chaos in Hebei, and the most powerful one was the one led by Gong Shifan.

This man was an old general of Sima Ying, who had participated in the siege of Luoyang. At this moment, he brought a group of defeated soldiers from Yecheng and recruited a large number of Latin soldiers. It was rumored that he had tens of thousands of soldiers.

Shao Xun thought about it and keenly realized that the aristocratic families in Hebei might have participated in the rebellion. Otherwise, how could Gong Shifan start a rebellion so easily?

It’s quite interesting to think about these noble families.

When Sima Ying was violent and extravagant, they all abandoned him. When Sima Ying was deposed, they regretted it and felt that the people of Hebei had lost a golden opportunity, so they supported Sima Ying's former subordinates in a rebellion.

These traitors are more rebellious than me.

He was an old rebel and had a rebellious mind until the Tang Dynasty.

After writing the reply to Yu Chen, Shao Xun went to sleep in his clothes. The next morning, he temporarily changed his itinerary to Yushanwu and went straight to Cao Fu's mansion.

"Military Commander." Looking at Cao Fu who was yawning continuously, Shao Xun bowed and saluted.

Cao Fu rubbed his eyes and sighed, "Last time I asked you to stay, you pretended to be noble, and now you are here again in a hurry. Go, Xiaohong is on the couch, help me treat her."

"Military commander!" Shao Xun raised his voice helplessly.

Cao Fu laughed and said, "Young man just can't keep his cool. What's the matter? Are you not used to the quiet life and want to fight?"

If you calculate carefully, since Zhang Fang retreated, people in Luoyang have indeed lived in peace for more than half a year, and they are much more comfortable.

"Is Sikong going back to Luoyang?" Shao Xun asked straight to the point.

Cao Fu hesitated for a moment and asked, "What do you think?"

"Sikong will take charge of the governors and provincial governors. It will probably take a year or two to settle down." Shao Xun analyzed seriously, "But can Sikong wait that long?"

"Sikong really can't wait." Cao Fu looked at Shao Xun approvingly and said, "Since the Northern Expedition to Yecheng, Sikong has been away from Luoyang for a year. Many ups and downs in the meantime have nothing to do with Sikong. If this continues, will Luoyang still belong to Sikong?"

"What the military commander said is absolutely right." Shao Xun nodded in agreement.

Dangyin was defeated disastrously, and the defeated soldiers looted Luoyang. Sikong was not there.

Zhang Fang went south and tried to capture Luoyang, but Sikong was not there.

The garrison went north to welcome the emperor, and when they returned to the capital, the prime minister was not there.

All officials went to court and discussed the major issues of the world, but the Sikong was not there.

The people of Luoyang spent a peaceful and tranquil first month, and then started spring planting in preparation for the harvest in August, but Sikong was still not there.

It seems that it’s the same whether Sikong is there or not.

Wouldn't it be better if the Jin Dynasty didn't have these warring princes?

If Sima Yue still doesn't recognize the problem here, then the staff around him is unqualified!

"The Prime Minister must come back to personally preside over the suppression of the rebellion," Cao Fu said.

"Which rebellion are you trying to quell?" Shao Xun asked.

"Chaos in all directions." Cao Fu glanced at him and said.

"All-out attack?" Shao Xun was shocked.

Cao Fu also sighed and said, "I don't know what kind of people are around Sikong. They are arrogant and give bad ideas. It is indeed an all-out attack. Fanyang Wang Hu has led his army north, rushing day and night to help Hebei. Sikong will lead his troops back to Luoyang to lead the Western Expedition."

"Is this true?" Shao Xun confirmed again and again.

"Really." Cao Fu sighed and said, not knowing why. After a moment, he said, "The Minister of Works is also planning to capture Liu Qiao on the way, control Yuzhou, and hand it over to the King of Fanyang."

General Weiyuan Liu Qiao had been the governor of Yuzhou for three years, and he did not get along well with Sima Hu, the governor of Xuchang. Sima Yue wanted Sima Hu to serve as both governor and governor of Yuzhou, so that he could be his right-hand man.

With enemies everywhere, should we say he is arrogant or confident?

"Sikong, have you ever thought that Liu Qiao would not surrender?" Shao Xun asked.

"Of course I have thought about it."

"Then why did you let King Fanyang lead his army north?"

"Because Duke Pingchang (Sima Mo) has been defeated in many battles, lost troops and territory, we have no choice but to rescue him."

Shao Xun understood.

The people of Hebei Province were not convinced by Sima Yue to begin with. If Gong Shifan, Hao Chang and others were allowed to continue making trouble, more people who were waiting and watching would join in and oppose Sima Yue. Therefore, it was necessary to cut the Gordian knot and pacify the situation quickly.

"Thank you for telling me, military commander." Shao Xun bowed and said, "I will go back and train the soldiers and be ready for battle at any time."

"Just wait for the Sikong's order." Cao Fu nodded and said, "The total number of troops in Xuzhou is no less than 30,000, and Liu Qiao has few soldiers. The Sikong should want to lead the army in person to suppress him, just like Sima Mao did in the past."

"Yes." Shao Xun replied.

(End of this chapter)