Chapter 139 Shared Memory
Chapter 139 Shared Memory
The Du family delivered the last batch of grain before the New Year, a total of 30,000 hu, all of which were sent to Jinmenwu.
The rest will have to wait until next spring.
The Luo River is actually navigable.
It is said in history that when Liu Yu attacked this place, he sent people to cut wood and build boats, sailing upstream to see how far they could sail.
Therefore, after the spring thaw, the water level rose, making it more convenient to transport supplies by wooden boats, and the transport capacity was also larger.
Shao Xun had just led a group of refugees to Jinmenwu, a total of two hundred households, from Yuzhou.
The Xianbei plundered the people and the people were in great misery, but Sima Yue was in charge of Xuchang and was powerless to do anything.
Every expedition into the Central Plains was a good opportunity for the Xianbei people to strengthen themselves.
In the Battle of Luoyang the year before, the Xianbei people looted a lot of property, women, and craftsmen, and Sima Ying was unable to control them.
Inviting him to Yuzhou this time will inevitably lead to another round of suffering.
From the first batch of refugees who fled to Luoyang, Shao Xun had already roughly understood the situation: Sima Yue had awarded 50,000 pieces of silk in one go, but the Xianbei people were not satisfied and continued to plunder everywhere.
There are also rumors that the Xianbei people will move westward after the new year and prepare to march into Guanzhong. The war cannot be stopped.
"Although life is hard, we still have to celebrate the festival." Today is Laba Festival. Shao Xun came to Jinmenwu in person to celebrate the festival with everyone and have fun together.
He was not speaking without purpose.
Why do your subordinates recognize you? Where does your authority come from? This is a complicated question.
In Shao Xun's view, an important way to enhance authority is to share joy with them, suffer with them, work with them, train with them, manage life with them, and bring prosperity to everyone so as to form a solid common memory.
It's best if you don't be absent from this shared memory.
A beautiful courtyard has been built in Jinmenwu, with two entrances and a garden, which is a complete imitation of Yunzhongwu.
When Shao Xun was inspecting Yunzhongwu, he found that a new layer of bricks had been laid on the bedroom floor of the courtyard.
He quietly picked out a piece, carved the word "Pei" on the back, put it back, and then ordered the soldiers to guard it and not let anyone enter.
Today, he came to Jinmenwu and dug out the brick again. The dagger for carving words moved uncertainly in the air, sometimes it seemed to be writing "Yu", sometimes it seemed to be writing "Le", and sometimes it seemed to be writing "Lu", and finally it finally carved "Le".
The reason I want to carve Yu is because Yu Liang is also here today.
At this moment, he was pinching his nose and walking among the large vats.
Shao Xun, who had done something "bad", came over and said, "Yuan Gui often eats this when he sobers up, but now he dislikes it. Why?"
Yu Liang put down his hand embarrassedly.
In the middle of winter, people like to pick frosted cabbage (the predecessor of cabbage), water shield, sunflower (Amaranth) and other vegetables, dry them in the sun, put them in a large vat of salt water, press them down with stones, and then cover them with a lid. The result is "salty pickles".
The salted pickle is golden yellow in color, and its rhizome is called "golden hairpin stock". It is sweet, crisp, and sour. From the kings and ministers to the common people, everyone eats it. Even the army often carries it when going to war. It can be said to be a national food.
Shao Xun also likes to eat.
He even had a perverse hobby, and asked Concubine Pei and Queen Yang, who had grown up in luxury, to personally make pickles for him.
Those who do well will be rewarded with a fur coat and then sit down to peel garlic!
"My dear, there is news coming back from Yingchuan." Yu Liang said when they reached an empty corner.
The rustling of the mountain wind and the sound of the pine trees almost drowned out the two people's voices.
The newly arrived refugees from Yuzhou looked timidly at the busy people in the village. After eating the millet porridge, some picked vegetables, some chopped firewood, and joined the collective labor.
Shao Xun retracted his gaze and asked, "How is it?"
"The previous batch of armor should have been made by the Xun family of Yingyin, but not necessarily by the master family." Yu Liang said.
In fact, their family is not considered the main family among the Yanling Yu family.
The Hedong Pei family only lived apart after three generations, but many large families separated after two generations. Yu Liang's family is now a branch.
The Xun family of Yingyin has a larger business, more people, and many of its branches are also quite powerful, but no one knows which branch did it this time.
"I guess so." Shao Xun nodded: "The two families closest to Yushanwu are the Xun family of Yingyin and the Zhong family of Changsha."
"There is another matter." Yu Liang said seriously, "Someone in the clan asked if you were going to come to Yingchuan to build a wharf? After all, Yushan Wharf is very close to Yingchuan."
"Tell me a message." Shao Xun said, "I have no interest in Yingchuan. It would be great if we could help each other with Yushanwu."
"Okay." Yu Liang nodded.
"The people of the Yu family..." Shao Xun hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why do you ask this?"
Yu Liang glanced at him and whispered, "My dear, have you forgotten the Xuchang Armory Case? Some people in the clan speculated that you took at least 5,000 sets of armor and wanted to buy them from you."
"Why are you in such a hurry to buy iron armor? Isn't leather armor good too?"
"Of course I bought them all." Yu Liang sighed and said, "The Xianbei plundered Yuzhou and more than 2,000 cavalrymen fled into Yanling. Many farmhands of my Yu family who were working on the river were plundered. Now they are very disappointed with the prime minister and keep scolding him. Since the court cannot be relied on, we can only rely on ourselves."
"On the other hand..." Yu Liang said again: "Others may not know about the affairs of Yushanwu, but my Yu family still knows about it. There are more than 2,000 households of residents in the fortress and hundreds of elite soldiers. Their strength should not be underestimated. My lord also has three manors in Luoyang, namely Jinguyuan, Panyuan and Shaoyuan. With this strength in Yuzhou, he is also a big powerful man. Many poor families and small surnames do not have so many troops and private soldiers." After saying this, Yu Liang subconsciously glanced at Jinmenwu.
He is a smart man. Shao Xun specially took him to visit Yunzhong, Kinmen and Tanshan Sanwu. His intention to demonstrate his strength was very obvious.
With three large manors and four large forts, it is no problem for him to mobilize five or six thousand strong men, not to mention that he also has an unknown number of elite private soldiers.
If he wanted, these thousands of people could be dressed in iron armor and travel across Yuzhou - even if they couldn't capture the fort, it would be scary enough.
After the Xianbei looting incident, the host family became more pragmatic. If you have the strength, you can cooperate.
Shao Xun nodded slightly.
If there is any aristocratic family in the world who knows his background best, it must be the Pei family and the Yu family.
Yushanwu was originally established by Yu Gun. Later, most of the people dispersed to other places. Among the hundreds of households left behind, there must have been some who had close relations with the Yu family.
To a certain extent, these people were spies, but Shao Xun was too lazy to identify them.
Ever since the decision was made to make Guangchengze the core base, the nearby Yingchuan family has become an unavoidable topic.
The traditional tactic of using one faction to attack another will never go out of date.
The Yanling Yu family may not necessarily do anything to them now, and cooperation may be limited, but as long as their attitude is not hostile, even if it is just neutral, it will be meaningful to Shao Xun.
He was anxious to create a gap in the aristocratic family's nest in Yingchuan to avoid any problems in the future.
"How is Ji County?" Shao Xun asked again: "Have Wenjun and the others returned?"
Yu Liang's heart moved.
Langjun didn't ask anyone else, but only asked Wenjun. What does this mean?
Wenjun was only ten years old after the Chinese New Year...
Yu Liang was a little confused and replied, "We have arrived in Luoyang. The situation in Hebei is too chaotic. My father relied on the 1,000 veterans given by you and fought hard to defend the county city. Many other counties and prefectures were captured by bandits. Countless county and prefecture officials met a miserable end."
Hebei was in too much chaos, and Yu Chen, the governor of Ji County, had no confidence that he could avoid mistakes. Therefore, when the situation stabilized, he immediately sent his wife and children back to Luoyang.
"Glad you're back." Shao Xun said with a smile, "I'll visit you in the first month of the year."
"Okay, okay." Yu Liang said with a heavy heart.
A voice called out from not far away. The two ended their conversation and walked over.
Lu Heigou, the owner of Kinmenwu, was holding a sharp knife. He grabbed a wailing yellow dog and stabbed it quickly.
The yellow dog let out a scream and died on the spot.
After the blood was drained, everyone processed it while it was still hot. Soon, the yellow dog became a pile of meat in a basin and was placed in front of the altar.
The black dog kills the yellow dog, quick and easy!
Shao Xun patted Lu Heigou's shoulder with a smile and asked, "When will we offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God?"
"It's almost there." Lu Heigou looked into the distance anxiously.
At the foot of the mountain, the fat pigs’ screams were so earth-shaking that they almost shook the snow off the trees.
It is a tradition to worship the Kitchen God on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Some people offer sacrifices with pork and wine, while others kill yellow dogs, which are called yellow sheep.
The conditions in Kinmenwu are not good and this kind of festival ceremony should not be held.
The refugees had long since tasted enough of the hardships of displacement and had become extremely humble, as if nothing else mattered as long as they could survive.
Shao Xun had ten pigs and seven or eight yellow dogs killed and held a sacrifice. The purpose was to tell the refugees that you are human beings, not beasts with only the instinct to fill their stomachs. After arriving in Jinmenwu, you should settle down and work hard. Your life will get better little by little, and you will pick up all kinds of etiquette as human beings again.
Pork and dog meat were quickly brought up and placed in front of the altar.
Shao Xun took the lead and stood at the front, reciting aloud the blessing in front of the thousand households of Jinmenwu: "In recent years, the people of Fushimi have suffered from famine. After paying the royal rent, they can't even have enough food..."
His voice was rhythmic and full of emotion.
The people in the fortress were not well educated and could hardly understand the blessing, but in the solemn atmosphere, everyone subconsciously restrained themselves, stood still with solemn expressions, and listened silently.
As I listened, a wonderful feeling gradually arose in my heart.
It turns out that we now have someone to rely on, and we no longer have to struggle to survive alone as a family or even alone.
The feeling of having a collective and an organization to rely on is hard to describe, yet wonderful.
Everyone enjoys this feeling and subconsciously wants to maintain this hard-earned collective.
No one wants to experience the feeling of being isolated and helpless, with no one to turn to, really.
And the person who stands at the front and recites the blessing loudly is destined to become the most profound memory for many residents of the castle for many years to come.
(End of this chapter)