Chapter 220 Xingyang

Chapter 220 Xingyang

Chapter 220 Xingyang
After an autumn rain, Xingyang suddenly became cold.

But the lives of the common people were even colder.

Because of years of war, Xingyang was close to the capital, and not only was its money and grain severely extorted, but the people were also forced to work hard and suffered terribly.

And in this desolate area, a Buddhist temple was quietly built in the suburbs of Xingyang.

During the reign of the previous emperor, there were 180 Buddhist temples and 3700 monks and nuns. As the war deepened, the number of Buddhist temples increased, and even the nobles and powerful families funded the construction of Buddhist temples.

The reason is simple: the ideas of the immortality of the soul, cause and effect, reincarnation, heaven and hell preached by monks and nuns are too attractive. They are more brilliant than the Taoist ideas of "ascending to heaven in broad daylight and living forever in the world" and are easier for people to believe - or to be willing to believe.

"Buddha is a warrior god, how can we worship him?" Someone shouted outside the jungle called Sanjie Temple.

The people who were queuing to enter the temple glared at him.

The monk smiled but said nothing, and even ran over to ask them if they wanted some water.

The man turned around and walked away, then came to another man and said, "Uncle, the people have set up many gods, and the monks and nuns do not work. If this continues, there may be disasters."

"Uncle" comforted him first, then sighed and said, "The world is difficult. If it weren't for the extreme hardship, how could the people worship the God of War?"

"This..." The young man was speechless.

My "uncle" was named Li Ju, from Pingyang.

After Pingyang was captured by the Huns, he left his hometown with a group of people and settled in Xingyang, preparing to live together in a village and support himself.

Recently, it has even taken on the "business" of the Taifu Shogunate, helping to repair rivers and canals to facilitate water transport - basically all the forts built by refugees on both sides of the Yellow River have received business from the Shogunate.

"The Grand Tutor wants to use troops in Hebei. Will he use us?" Nephew Guo Song said with some anticipation.

He was still young and full of passion, and always wanted to make achievements for the court and bring honor to his family.

"Grandmaster..." Li Ju sighed and said, "Grandmaster keeps dispatching troops. If he really wants to pacify the Xiongnu, I would fight for him even if I risk my life. What a pity!"

"What a pity?" someone nearby couldn't help but ask.

"The Grand Master wants to advance, but is hesitant and undecided." Li Ju said, "Wang's cavalry stationed in Dongyan, Pei Yuzhou stationed in Baima, saying that they want to support Ji, Wei, Dunqiu and other counties. But in my opinion, even if Wang Mi and Shi Le conquer these counties, they may not cross the river to the north. They say they are supporting, but in fact they are just stopping the enemy from crossing the river and not letting them attack Henan."

Li Ju poured such a bucket of cold water on everyone's heads that everyone was speechless.

Everyone abandoned their family business and traveled all the way here, hoping that the imperial court would lead them to fight back? The Imperial Tutor wanted to attack the Xiongnu in the north, and everyone was very happy. And you tell me this is fake?
"What I said may not be true." Seeing the gloomy expressions on everyone's faces, Li Ju encouraged them, "Maybe the Grand Tutor is being grilled on the fire and can't get off the stage anymore? The situation forces him to send troops, so he has no choice but to do it."

Everyone's expression was slightly cheered up. But they were not very happy. If they were forced to send troops, could they fight well? If they were defeated, would they be willing to send troops later?
no one knows.

Not far from the river bank, there were waves of orderly and rhythmic shouts: "Brother is in the city, brother is outside, bows have no strings, arrows have no baskets..."

The boatmen pulled the boat with great effort, transporting a batch of grain and fodder from Yangzhou to the dock.

Li Ju looked at these people in a trance.

In fact, he had dealt with the boat trackers before. Recently, the boat trackers in Henei, Xingyang and Chenliu counties had become restless and clamored to join the Silver Spear Army.

Li Ju had also heard of the reputation of the Silver Spear Army. He even knew that the Silver Spear Army usually recruited soldiers at the end of the year. Why did they recruit soldiers in advance this year?
A total of 1,200 coolies and trackers were recruited.

Those who were not selected sighed and lamented, as if they had missed out on some golden opportunity.

If this continues, there won't be enough people to pull the boats on the river - in fact, there aren't enough anymore. In recent years, too many clumsy new boatmen and coolies have poured in, causing the Duzhi Captain to curse them constantly.

Silver Spear Army!
Li Ju stroked his chin. With his current status, he was not qualified to make friends with Marquis Luyang.

I heard that he was the bravest general under the Grand Tutor, but I didn't know whether he would obey the order and go north.

*****
At the end of August, Sima Yue arrived in Xingyang.

All the people from the shogunate also came over, and the first thing they did was to grab the house.

No kidding, this is real.

The location of the shogunate had been chosen. The governor Pei Chun donated his newly built manor as Sima Yue's residence and the shogunate's office and meeting place.

But others don't have this face.

The Left Chief Clerk Liu Yu acted the fastest. He bought a house in the city at a low price and moved in openly.

The Right Sima Pan Tao took the second best house in the city, so the Chief Clerk Guo Xiang had to settle for the second best and took a slightly inferior house, and even became estranged from Pan Tao because of this.

Another chief clerk, Bian Dun, also lived in the city.

He was a new arrival this year. He was born into the Bian family of Jiyin and previously served as a Shangshu Lang in the court.

Xun Kai (Xun family of Yingchuan), Wang Cheng (Wang family of Taiyuan), Lüqiu Chong (Lüqiu family of Gaoping), Ruan Zhan (Ruan family of Chenliu), Jiang Ze (Jiang family of Tianshui), Zhong Ya (Zhong family of Yingchuan)...

These people looked for houses in and outside the city.

If you can't find a place to stay in the city, just find a small village outside and live in a country house.

The conditions were really difficult. For a while there was not even a cook, and everyone was complaining bitterly.

After lunch, Sima Yue strolled around in the company of Liu Yu, Guo Xiang, Yu Hua, Wang, Pan Tao, Wang Xuan and others. The autumn scenery in Xingyang is still quite beautiful.

The white clouds are floating, the fields are golden, the breeze is blowing, and the fallen leaves are colorful.

The staff members were chatting and laughing, and some even suggested reciting poems and composing essays.

Sima Yue laughed dryly twice and then frowned.

He actually smelled the scent of an endless winter from this gorgeous autumn scenery.

He knew that it was his state of mind that was affecting him, but wasn't that the truth? His body was failing at a speed beyond his expectations, and he doubted how long he could hold on.

It doesn't matter if he dies, but the prince is only thirteen years old. How should he face this chaotic world? Can he inherit the huge power under his control?
Perhaps, we should find an opportunity to let the prince set up his own government, recruit a group of scholars as his staff, and assist him wholeheartedly.

Find another opportunity to tell He Lun, Wang Bing, Wang Cheng, Liu Qia and others and explain what to do next.

But it's not enough, it's not enough...

Sima Yue thought of two people: Mi Huang and Shao Xun.

Mi Huang was deliberately alienated by himself, but he stuck to his principles and was a loyal subject. Perhaps he could be given another chance.

Sima Yue felt uncomfortable with Shao Xun no matter how he thought about him.

Even if this person pretends that what happened before never happened, and even if he is deliberately won over, he will probably not truly obey.

This is just a wolf cub that can never be tamed. Let's just destroy him.

"Zisong." Sima Yue waved his hand.

Yu Hua, who was chatting and laughing with Guo Xiang, immediately stepped forward and asked, "Grandmaster?"

The others also stopped and watched the conversation between the two.

"Your niece..."

Yu Hua was shocked when he heard this and said quickly, "It's just a rumor, but I haven't seen anyone propose marriage yet."

Sima Yue's face didn't look very good, which made Yu Hua a little scared, and he subconsciously spoke out to defend himself.

Sima Yue snorted coldly and said, "Can such a thing be faked?"

This rumor itself explained a lot of things, and the Yu family didn't come out to clarify. If Shao Xun broke the contract in the future, the Yu family would definitely be hostile to him - is this a joke?
He could probably guess the reason why Shao Xun married into the Yingchuan Yu family.

Yu Wenjun's uncle Yu Min was the Shizhong, which was equivalent to a prime minister in name only. If this was not enough, he had served as the Zhongzheng of Yingchuan County for many years before, and I don't know how many scholars and young men he had commented on.

What is this? This is favor, favor saved in hand!

The higher the official position of the sons of scholars whom he evaluated, the more benefits Yu Min received.

There are many aristocratic families in places like Yingchuan, so one can imagine how many connections Yu Min has.

Compared to this brother, Yu Hua is so much worse!
Yu Wenjun's father, Yu Chen, was the governor of Ji County. He was one of the few governors north of the Yellow River who could defend his territory. He was quite capable. It was not impossible for him to move up in the future if he could find a way.

Although the Yu family is not as powerful as those big families, it should not be underestimated.

Shao Xun married into the family and had connections in the court as well as in Yingchuan. His ambitions were really big.

"Taifu..." Yu Hua looked at Sima Yue with some fear.

Sima Yue glanced at him coldly and ignored him. He called Wang over and walked a few steps away from Yu Hua. He whispered, "Take some time to go to Bai Ma in the next two days..."

The king nodded repeatedly and responded respectfully.

Wang Xuan stood at the back, looking at Yu Hua who had a dejected look on his face, then at Wang who had a happy look on his face, and seemed to be thinking about something.

He was recruited as a clerk in the government after Mi Zhi, the son of Mi Huang, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, left the government.

He was originally an official in Chenliu County and was not very willing to come, but his father (Wang Yan) wrote to him and asked him to go and take up the post directly, so he came reluctantly.

I kind of regretted it after I came here.

This shogunate was so lifeless that it made him feel very uncomfortable.

But they are divided into several factions. Some people spend their days traveling and living a dissolute life, some people specialize in plundering wealth, some people do work but are scheming against each other, and some people simply have ulterior motives and do not seem to be sincerely working for the Tutor.

Although he could make money and get an official position in this shogunate, these were meaningless to him. Instead, the discord among his colleagues made him particularly uncomfortable.

Yu Hua was once admired by the Grand Tutor, but because of the incident with Marquis Luyang, he was suspected and ignored. How narrow-minded the Grand Tutor was! Isn't this pushing people away?
As for the king, he is even more of a villain, yet he is extremely favored.

It was easy to guess what the Grand Tutor wanted to talk to him about, and it was most likely related to Marquis Luyang.

Wang Xuan thought about it and felt that it would be better to tell his father some things.

The old man has been very close to Shao Xun recently.

(End of this chapter)