Chapter 135 Digging Toads

Chapter 135 Digging Toads

Chapter 135 Digging Toads

The emperor quickly sat on the Hu bed.

It can be seen that he likes this new type of seating very much.

It is really tiring to support the heels, and it is very uncomfortable after a long time. This seat is very good. I heard that it was modified from the Hu bed of the Later Han Dynasty. It really has some skills.

Sima Zhong twisted around happily, his face full of pure happiness.

Shao Xun was already digging for toads.

A dignified general in the palace, a brave warrior who could defeat a hundred thousand with a thousand, was now standing in the mud of the river pond in Hualin Garden, digging a toad hole with a shovel. It was as ridiculous as it could be.

Even the guards standing solemnly not far away couldn't help laughing.

Shao Xun glared at them.

He knew these guys. They had fought with him against the Ye soldiers at Daxia Gate and even won some victories. Among the imperial guards who were full of noobs, they were considered "warriors".

Queen Yang Xianrong walked over slowly, seemed very interested in digging toads, and watched without blinking.

But she was not idle, and said softly: "I eat the emperor's salary and share the emperor's worries. You are no longer a general of the Yue Mansion, but a general of the emperor's personal army. Why do you have to look ahead and behind?"

"I will not betray Sikong." Shao Xun said righteously.

Yang Xianrong chuckled.

"The officials in Yuefu don't think so, and the King of Donghai doesn't think so either," said Yang Xianrong.

Shao Xun certainly knew it, but he was too lazy to care.

In fact, he was really interested in the toad and wanted to dig one out to have a look. What was the point of the queen only being able to look at it but not eat it?
"A wise man will plan ahead." Yang Xianrong said, "In fact, you don't need to do anything. Just guard the palace carefully and don't let the villains harm your majesty."

Shao Xun put down the shovel, looked at Yang Xianrong, and asked, "Why is the queen so anxious?"

Yang Xianrong was silent for a while, and finally decided to tell the truth: "The King of Donghai intends to depose the crown prince."

"When did it happen?" Shao Xun suddenly felt a sense of crisis. Not knowing any news was a sign of marginalization.

"Just these few days." Yang Xianrong sighed and said, "It should be difficult to change it."

Although the crown prince was not her biological son, she had raised him for several years and was her biggest support. If the crown prince was deposed, what hope would she have? The new emperor would most likely listen to Sima Yue. If someone sent her a pot of poisoned wine one day, she wouldn't even be able to make a splash and no one would care.

No wonder! Shao Xun nodded, and Yang Xianrong was stimulated again.

Her mental state is unstable now, Shao Xun doesn't want to say more to her. He wants her to calm down and think carefully before making a long-term plan.

So he continued to dig for toads.

Seeing that he was like a piece of meat on a rolling knife, Yang Xianrong had to use his ultimate move: "Guangcheng Garden is a good place. The mountains and rivers are beautiful, and the area is vast. There are fields to see millet and wheat, and there are swamps to enjoy fish and birds. Even if Henan were to experience a tragedy like the severe drought in Bingzhou, Guangcheng Lake would hardly dry up completely, and it can be used to irrigate millet and wheat."

Shao Xun stopped digging toads.

The Queen has indeed done research and has a broad mind. It is not easy for a woman to achieve this.

If Crown Prince Sima Qin could ascend the throne in the future, he would not be surprised at all if Yang Xianrong, as the empress dowager, interfered in state affairs and issued orders.

This woman is more powerful than Concubine Pei, but unfortunately she is in such a bad situation. She is like a bird in a cage, flapping her wings desperately to make noise, but she can't escape.

Shao Xun's ideas are different from Yang Xianrong's. He considers it more from a military perspective.

Luoyang itself is a large basin surrounded by mountains.

As for Luonan, there are generally three roads, all of which have checkpoints built, namely the Three Checkpoints of Luonan.

Among them, the road due south is relatively the easiest to travel. It is generally flat, with only a narrow section in the middle, which is where Yique Pass is located.

This place became very famous in later generations because a large number of Buddha statues were carved on the mountains on both sides of Yique, namely the famous Longmen Grottoes.

Shao Xun once had a "wild" idea, which was to lock up the three passes in Luonan and let those idiots fight the Huns.

If the Huns wanted to come to Guangchengze, apart from crossing mountains and ridges, they could only take a detour through the three counties of Xingyang, Yingchuan and Xiangcheng, that is, take a large arc of almost 270 degrees, bypass the entire mountainous area east of Luoyang, and then kill from the southeast of Guangchengze.

The Xiongnu would hardly do this before completely occupying the Luoyang Basin.

The mountainous area in western Henan is really not very friendly to cavalry.

On the other hand, the eastern part of Henan is flat and the land is extremely flat, which is most suitable for cavalry to gallop. However, there are many aristocratic families and densely populated fortresses and manors there, so no matter how powerful the Xiongnu is, they cannot be conquered in just a few years.

Historically, the eight passes around Luoyang played almost no role, allowing people to come and go freely.

To put it bluntly, it's because of the poor quality of the people. The enemies have already attacked near the capital, and the people's hearts are no longer with them.

In contrast, during the Eastern and Western Wei, Northern Zhou and Northern Qi dynasties, Luoyang was the frontline, and the two sides fought repeatedly and fiercely. Almost every inch of land was soaked with the blood of Hu and Han soldiers - if you wanted to advance a step in the mountainous area of ​​western Henan, you had to pay with blood.

The area where Guangchengze is located was called Ruzhou in the Tang Dynasty.

The Jiedushi of Dongdu Jiru usually governed Henan Prefecture (Luoyang Basin and its surrounding areas) and Ruzhou.

In later generations, this place was called Ruzhou, Yichuan, Ruyang, Songxian and other places.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, only one Liang County was established, and the surrounding land belonged to Henan County and Xiangcheng County. It was located at the junction of two counties and even two states. The population was relatively sparse, and there were mountains, rivers, lakes, and swamps everywhere, which was not conducive to cavalry driving, but was conducive to agricultural production.

It is almost the size of a county, and Guangcheng Garden occupies a large part of it.

For Shao Xun, who has become the "earthbound spirit" of Luoyang, it is actually a very good place.

The only drawback is on the east side, where the terrain is too exposed and faces directly the Yuzhou family.

As for Nanyang in the south, there is also a certain threat, but it is not great. The local aristocratic families, such as the Le family and the Ying family, are all self-defensive dogs.

The Wancheng governor does not have many troops. More than half of them were killed during the Zhang Chang Rebellion. Now they are all newly recruited and are still in training. They are good at defending the city and are average in field battles.

"The queen has thought it through and even considered the possibility of a severe drought." Shao Xun sighed, "It seems that there was one in the second year of Yongkang (301)?"

"There was a severe drought in July. In October, Taiyuan and other counties were hit by insects, and caterpillars ate more than half of the leaves." Yang Xianrong said, "The drought four years ago is to blame for Bingzhou's current state."

Droughts and locusts do not necessarily completely destroy people's lives, because there is more or less surplus food before that, but droughts and locust plagues intensify conflicts and make the local situation uncontrollable, which is more terrifying than natural disasters.

"Indeed, if one does not plan for the future, he will surely have immediate worries," Shao Xun said.

"Before Sikong returns to the capital, there are still some things that can be done. If we wait until he comes back, I'm afraid there will be twists and turns." Yang Xianrong said, "It won't cost much to build a garden in Guangcheng Garden. If Shao Qing is willing, he can take the position of general and supervise the construction of this garden."

Yang Xianrong really tickled his itch, and Shao Xun could hardly control himself.

"It won't cost much money," this sounds light, but that's from the court's perspective.

The "small money" in the national treasury may be the wealth accumulated by local tyrants for two or three generations. Moreover, the court has a large number of skilled craftsmen and technical bureaucrats who are familiar with site selection and design. Isn't this team better than your primitive dock fort?

But the time is not quite ripe now, and he does not want to make a decision so quickly. He plans to wait and see after Sima Yue returns to Beijing.

By the way, Sima Yue is already in Xuchang.

The vanguard of the Xianbei cavalry of 800 also arrived in Yuzhou, led by Liu Kun, the Sima of the Fanyang Palace, and Tian Hui as his deputy. It was outrageous that old Tian could "make merit while serving his sentence".

"You can decide for yourself what to do next." Yang Xianrong urged again.

Shao Xun remained silent, and even bent down and started digging the toad hole.

Yang Xianrong's watery and charming eyes were immediately filled with coldness, her enthusiasm cooled instantly, and she stopped pretending.

She turned around, walked to the side of Emperor Sima Zhong, and sat down gently.

"Shao Qing is truly a prodigy." Sima Zhong said with a smile, "The Hu bed is very comfortable to sit on. I will order people to make more and distribute them to the ministers and officials."

Yang Xianrong was choked and said, "Your Majesty, you are a very nice person."

"Your Majesty, Shao Qing is sincere and loyal to the country. In addition to killing the enemies, he also presented rare items. Why don't you reward him?" Yang Xianrong said softly.

Sima Zhong thought of what happened in Hanoi and nodded repeatedly.

"What is the reward?" he asked.

Yang Xianrong smiled mysteriously, leaned close to Sima Zhong's ear, and said, "Your Majesty, this loyal minister will be nineteen after the new year, but he is still unmarried and has no children. He serves the court all day long and fights in all directions. If he dies on the battlefield one day, wouldn't it be a pity?"

Sima Zhong sighed and agreed with it deeply.

He even raised his head and looked at Shao Xun who was digging a toad, and felt more and more pity in his heart, as if Shao was going to die in the battlefield tomorrow.

"Does the Queen have any magic tricks?" Sima Zhong asked.

Yang Xianrong thought to himself, since you are so rude, don't blame me.

She calmed down and whispered, "Your Majesty, a young meritorious official like Shao Qing should be paired with a daughter of a famous family. But his family background is a little inferior, which makes it a little difficult."

In fact, Yang Xianrong was right.

Shao Xun is now the male version of an older leftover woman. He wants to sell himself for a high price, but he is neither high nor low, and he is stuck there.

It is impossible to marry an unmarried daughter of a large family, so the only option is to pick up a widow, but that is also quite difficult.

The value of a concubine's daughter is greatly reduced, and is even lower than that of a widow's legitimate daughter.

As for small families, he looked down on them.

To be honest, he doesn't even take a look in the mirror to see what kind of family he has. He is so picky and in the end he will probably have to marry someone in a hurry.

Although Sima Zhong was stupid, he also knew some social etiquette. After hearing what the queen said, he immediately said, "It's hard to be from a noble family. What should I do? The prime minister said he wants to conquer Guanzhong. What if..."

Yang Xianrong nodded, then leaned close to Sima Zhong's ear and whispered, "There happens to be someone here today."

"who?"

"The former Shangshu Ling Le Guang was born into a prominent family in Nanyang. His father Le Fang was once a military officer of Xiahou Xuan. Le Guang served in various local and government offices and left many people with great love. He was also good at elegant conversation and was well-known in all quarters. People at that time often compared him with Wang Yifu." Yang Xianrong continued, "Le Guang was unjustly killed in Changsha and was posthumously honored by the court. His sons all held official positions. One daughter married Wei Jie of Anyi Wei family, and another daughter was the Princess of Chengdu. But now she is imprisoned in the palace as a woman awaiting punishment."

"Are you saying that Le's crime should be pardoned and she should be allowed to remarry Shao Xun?" The emperor's eyes widened and he asked, "Will the Le family agree?"

Yang Xianrong was also a little hesitant. This was the legitimate daughter of Nanyang Le, and it was completely different from a concubine's daughter.

It was indeed difficult to implement after pardoning Le's crime of "accomplice in treason", but she really wanted to see what Sima Yue's expression would be after Shao Xun married the widow of King Chengdu.

You don't want to come over here, do you? There are ways to deal with you.

Even if you go to Sima Yue later to express your loyalty, will he believe you?

Yang Xianrong wanted to laugh again. She felt the pleasure of playing a prank and the thrill of courting death.

She was so worried and nervous all day that this kind of stimulation was really pleasant.

"I want to ask Shao Qing what he thinks." The emperor was an honest man after all. He did not join the queen in "making trouble". He immediately got up from the bed and said.

Yang Xianrong's face changed.

I was thinking silently in my heart, what if Shao Xun doesn't agree? Can I secretly spread rumors? Saying that Shao Xun took the initiative to ask for marriage?
(End of this chapter)