Chapter 197 Condolences
Chapter 197 Condolences
Shao Xun was very busy throughout the first month of the year.
I went to visit Queen Yang before dawn on the first day of the first lunar month. After all, I hadn't seen her for more than half a year since she went to the battlefield. Out of concern for a friend, I also had to see if her mental state had stabilized. I had to make a judgment as to whether to increase the dosage or discharge her from the hospital.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, people cut paper figures at home.
On the day of the beginning of spring, people would paint and write the words "Yichun" on the wall at home.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, willow branches are planted, and then close soldiers and generals are summoned to eat and drink to deepen their relationship.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, after a slight delay of a few days, Le gave birth to a son.
Shao Xun was stopped outside and couldn't go in to see, but he was still very excited.
On this day, each of the personal soldiers received a reward of two pieces of silk.
Shao Xun didn't have much time to rest.
On February 2, he personally led the farmers in Green Willow Garden to start spring ploughing, then led his personal soldiers eastward to Yangdi County and began his inspection from Yushanwu.
Yushanwu was built almost seven years ago, and is the oldest among the forts under the jurisdiction of the Shao family.
The biggest difference between Yushanwu and Sanwu in Yiyang County is that Yushanwu is a relatively mature fortress. In addition to a large number of livestock and stable grain production, it also has a certain scale of sericulture industry.
It was February and the mulberry leaves had not yet grown, but it was still pleasing to the eye walking through the mulberry groves.
The sericulture industry has obvious regional characteristics.
As mentioned in Tang Dynasty poetry, "Mulberry leaves in Youji are beginning to turn green, while silkworms in Luoyang are about to mature," at this time, the warm areas in the south may be ready to pick the first batch of mulberry leaves, but they have not yet grown in Luoyang. After the spring plowing is completed, the people's main job is to tend to the vegetable plots, repair farm tools and fertilize the orchards.
In addition to the mulberry forest, there are also hemp fields. In addition to supplying more than 3,000 households in the fort, there is also a slight surplus that can be sold to the outside.
The Yushan fort is close to the eastern Henan plain and is indeed much stronger than the three forts in the Luoshui River Valley.
Mao Er followed Shao Xun to Yushanwu for a "visit and study". He was very careful and noticed that Master Shao's eyes lingered on the mulberry forest and hemp field for a long time. He immediately said, "Master Shao, Yunzhongwu also has a mulberry forest, and there are people in Tanshanwu who burn pine trees and sell ink in the back mountain. The bamboo products in Jinmenwu are excellent and they are all useful in Liangxian."
Shao Xun laughed, patted Mao Er on the shoulder, and said, "That's right, Master Shao will rely on you to make money from now on."
Mao Er smiled embarrassedly, pursed his lips, and secretly thought about how to make money.
After entering the fort, the Seventh Battalion of the Silver Spear Army quickly assembled and lined up in the courtyard.
This is a newly formed unit, which has been in existence for more than three months and is temporarily stationed here for training.
Except for the twenty or so student soldiers and officers, the others looked somewhat unfamiliar.
Shao Xun encouraged them with a few words and handed out a piece of silk to each person. Suddenly everyone was happy and cheered.
Shao Xun laughed, and then he picked a few households in the fort to express his condolences - basically, they were the families of the Silver Spear Army soldiers.
For various reasons, each unit of the Silver Spear Army would rotate among the four forts for a period of one year.
During the rotation period, many soldiers got married and settled down there. Over time, the families became more scattered.
Shao Xun planned to move all the Silver Spear Army and their families to Liang and Luyang counties for centralized resettlement after this year, and then send soldiers to garrison the four major forts in rotation to facilitate management.
"How old is Mr. Zhang this year?" After walking through the corridor, Shao Xun came to a room and saw an old man sharpening a horse whip with his eyes squinting in the sunlight, so he asked.
The old man was startled and stood up hurriedly.
Someone shouted, "This is General Caiguan, Marquis of Luyang, and Governor Shao of the Silver Spear Army."
The old man immediately saluted.
Shao Xun pulled him back and said, "Your son is a soldier of the Silver Spear Army. He followed me to the battlefield last year, fought bravely, and won meritorious service. Have you received all the rewards?"
"Reward?" The old man thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "The owner of the dock gave me a bag of beans."
"How big is the bag? Can I take a look?" Shao Xun asked.
The old man nodded, put down the whip in his hand, went back to the house and searched for a while, then took out a small cloth bag and said a little embarrassedly: "The whole family ate bean paste on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and a lot of it has been used up."
Shao Xun took the bag and gestured. It looked like it could hold about a hu. He nodded with satisfaction and asked with a smile, "Is the bean paste delicious?"
"It's delicious." The old man seemed to recall the warm dinner when the whole family reunited. The corners of his mouth were crooked with a smile, revealing a few yellow teeth. He said, "Before eating, we offered sacrifices to the silkworm god. My son ate two big bowls and three slices of meat. It was wild boar meat that his team got from hunting in the mountains. It was delicious."
Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this.
Shao Xun also smiled, then waved his hand, and two of his personal soldiers brought a bag of wheat, probably about one hu, and delivered it to the old man's house.
Shao Xun held his hand and said, "My son, as long as you fight bravely, you will be rich in the future."
The old man subconsciously wanted to retract his hand, but Shao Xun held it tightly. He couldn't help but burst into tears and said, "It's been a long time since we had a family reunion and eating bean paste on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. My family used to be well-off, and when I was young, I followed my family around and saw the world. But the world is not good, and we have fallen into poverty and can't even eat enough. Fortunately, I have the general, fortunately, I have the general."
Shao Xun sighed and said, "It will be fine."
He looked at the old man's nearly finished whip, took it in his hand, and asked, "How much is this whip worth?"
"If you go to the county, you can sell it for more than ten yuan."
"What is it made of?"
"Three-year-old mulberry wood will do."
"Can you make a bow?"
"I know a little." The old man said, "However, the mulberry wood must be at least fifteen years old to be used for bows. The oldest mulberry wood in Yushanwu is older than the ones in this fortress, but it is only ten years old." "Then we have to wait." Shao Xun said with a smile.
"Fifteen-year-old mulberry wood can be used as bow material." The old man said, "If I am still alive in five years, I will make a good bow for you. If I am still alive in ten years, I will bring my apprentices to make a chariot for you. Twenty-year-old mulberry wood is the best material for calf carts. If you can't wait, I will go to the mountain tomorrow to see if there are any old jujube and elm trees. I will pick and choose and make a wheel hub first..."
"Okay, okay." Shao Xun patted his hands and said gently: "With you here, I know how to go on in the future."
After saying that, he took the whip and left.
When Tang Jian passed by the old man, he took out a handful of money, dozens of them at a time, and stuffed it into the old man's hand, saying, "The general likes your whip very much, so he asked me to buy it."
The followers left one by one and headed to the next house.
The old man held the money in his hand, stunned for a long time.
Back then, Shi Chong robbed my family of their property and killed my relatives. I was unable to redress my grievances and to avenge my hatred, which led to this situation.
If the world were filled with people like Marquis of Luyang, wouldn't it be a peaceful and prosperous era?
******
After leaving Yushanwu, Shao Xun made another detour to inspect the three major manors around Luoyang.
He has not yet made a final decision on whether to evacuate the people here.
In particular, Shao Garden and Pan Garden planted winter wheat last year, which could not be harvested until mid-May. Jingu Garden conserved the soil fertility this year and only planted millet in the spring - compared with millet, wheat can survive the winter, which is a huge advantage.
Food is a very precious thing.
There are too many people growing cash crops in the suburbs of Luoyang, but there are very few people like Shao Xun who use the fertile land to grow millet and wheat.
If the situation is really critical, just evacuate people to Luoyang City for shelter.
Wang Mi's fighting ability is just so-so. He doesn't have the ability to break through the Luoyang City guarded by tens of thousands of imperial guards.
Shao Xun met the student soldiers heading south in Jingu Garden.
They were gathered in Hebei last year, totaling 172 people, and were privately called the "Handan Sixth Phase" by Shao Xun.
Their destination was Liang County Martial Arts School, and they would never come back once they went there.
From now on, Jingu Garden will be a pure agricultural production base.
After staying here for a few days, on February 15th, Situ Wang Yan drove here.
"In a month or so, the crabapple trees in Jingu Garden will be in full bloom, and it will be a magnificent sight in Luoyang. It's a pity that you have locked this scenery inside and don't allow outsiders to enjoy it. It's not beautiful." Wang Yan strolled along the bank of the stream, looking at the crabapple trees all around, and said with a smile.
"If Situ wants to enjoy the scenery, he can come anytime. I want to dismiss all the servants in the Jingu Garden to avoid harming them. Only the farmhands and the mill at the foot of the mountain will be left." Shao Xun said, "If Situ can't wait, he can move in today."
Wang Yan chuckled.
He really liked Jingu Garden, but he wouldn't want to steal someone else's love.
However, it is rare that Marquis Luyang is willing to open this place, so it would be nice to come here from time to time to appreciate the beautiful scenery and hold some gatherings of scholars.
The Jingu Garden Festival has not taken place for a long time and has almost become a legend.
"Nanyang Wang Mo sent two memorials to the court within half a month." After walking around, Wang and Shao sat down in the pavilion. Wang Yan said, "Zhang Gui of Liangzhou was suffering from a stroke and could not speak, so he sent his son Mao to take charge of the state affairs. However, Longxi Internal History Zhang Yue was dissatisfied, and he and his brothers, Jiuquan Prefect Zhang Zhen and Xiping Prefect Cao Qu, jointly sent an envoy to Chang'an to request that Qinzhou Governor Jia Kan replace him. Kan hesitated again and again, and finally stopped..."
Simply put, there were many people in Liangzhou who were dissatisfied with Zhang Gui.
They first nominated Jia Kan, then nominated Du Dan, the military commander of Liangzhou, to take over the affairs of the state, and finally nominated Zhang Yue. Anyway, anyone could be the governor except Zhang Gui, which shows that there were deep internal contradictions.
The imperial court was confused about the situation, so they disagreed with any of the candidates and decided to let Shizhong Yuan Yu be the governor of Liangzhou.
When Liangzhou heard the news, it sent the governor Yang Dan to Chang'an. In front of Nanyang King Sima Mo, he cut off his own ear and placed it on a plate to guarantee that Zhang Gui was framed.
Sima Mo, the commander-in-chief of the military forces of Yong and Liang, was intimidated by such a brave man and submitted a petition to suspend Yuan Yu's appointment.
"My Lord, how do you think this matter should be handled?" Wang Yan asked.
This is a test for me!
Shao Xun sorted out his thoughts and said, "Zhang Liangzhou was a famous scholar at the time, and he was very powerful in Xizhou. He was also very loyal to the court. At this time, we should calm him down and let him continue to hold his old position. I heard that Zhang Liangzhou lived in Nuji Mountain in Yiyang when he was young. I will send someone to pick up some gifts from his hometown. The court can send an envoy to take them to Liangzhou to comfort him."
Yunzhongwu is located on the Nuji Mountain.
Zhang Gui lived in Yiyang when he was young, and once lived in seclusion in Nuji Mountain. Later, he was admitted to the government by his uncle, and started his official career. In his mind, he always believed that Yiyang was his real hometown.
After hearing Shao Xun's words, Wang Yan nodded slightly.
This was the prudent approach, and he was very satisfied.
Zhang Gui is actually quite loyal.
In the first year of Yongning (301), he was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou. After taking office, he defeated the Xianbei bandits, stabilized the counties, and widely carried out education, which brought about a new situation.
Three years later, when he heard that the King of Hejian and the King of Chengdu were attacking Luoyang, he even sent 3,000 soldiers eastward to defend the capital, but was unfortunately stopped by Sima Yong.
The year before last, he had once again defeated the Xianbei, captured more than 100,000 people, countless cattle, sheep and horses, and found a place to resettle them.
Such a person is, at least on the surface, very loyal and respectful to the court. There is no reason to move his position.
What's more, they are of great value for united front work.
"In Qingzhou, the bandits are really strong." After finishing the topic of Liangzhou, Wang Yan said, "I'm afraid the palace is discussing this matter right now..."
(End of this chapter)