Chapter 246: Tolerance for the Country
Chapter 246: Tolerance for the Country
When Mi Huang left Guangchengze, he met Dai Yuan.
This man was sitting in the half-renovated Su Yu Palace, playing chess with Cheng Shou.
Mi Huang didn't have much to talk about with him. He just briefly discussed the construction of Guangcheng Garden and then left.
The vegetation on the mountain was scorched and lifeless.
The laborers had blood blisters on their hands and at the corners of their mouths, and they looked emaciated.
All this made Mi Huang sigh secretly.
But after talking with the servants, he was shocked to find that these people were unwilling to go home and even planned to bring their families to Guangchengze.
Upon further inquiry, it turned out that Runan, Ruyin, Liangguo, Chenliu and other places were also suffering from severe drought, with thousands of miles of barren land, and some people had already passed on the news from their hometowns.
The servants are honest and dull, but they are not fools.
The ground in my hometown is almost smoking, but Guangchengze still stubbornly retains some water. This is a fact that everyone can see.
There is a severe drought this year, but there will be no severe drought next year? If there is no drought, there will be a locust plague.
According to legend, there will be a locust plague after a severe drought. How will we survive next year?
They saw the relatively abundant water resources in Guangchengze and the golden wheat in the fields of Guangchengze, and knew that people could live here. Only a fool would leave.
When we left Guangchengze and set out on the journey back north, it was already getting dark.
Mi Huang was sitting in a carriage. When passing a market, he and his entourage got off to have a meal.
At this moment, someone suddenly came riding on horseback from the north.
When they handed the horses to the store owner for care, they suddenly heard: "The Luo River has stopped flowing."
Most of the diners passing by didn't react, but Mi Huang's expression changed.
The followers also looked at each other, and all subconsciously looked towards the direction of Guangchengze.
"Buy some dry food, draw some well water, and return to Luoyang overnight." Mi Huang got on the carriage and gave the order.
"Yes." The followers responded absentmindedly, buying water and signaling to each other with their eyes.
The prophecy really came true!
There is no doubt that most people believe that the "protagonist" of the prophecy is Shao Xun, the Duke of Luyang County, and a small number of people believe that the person the prophecy refers to is Wang Mi, because his titles are too scary - Shizhong, Tejin, Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Six States, General of the Eastern Expedition, and Mu of Qingzhou.
But no matter who it is, it is not a good thing for the Emperor of Jin and the Prime Minister.
Will they take the risk?
If that's true, it would be really chaotic.
When the carriage left, Mi Huang also sighed, lifted the curtain and looked in the direction of Guangchengze.
In the vast fields, countless soldiers were still working hard to harvest wheat under the moonlight.
It is really a vibrant and hot land.
******
In Liuhua Courtyard, Shao Xun had just finished a meeting.
The drought is getting worse and worse, and we will definitely not be able to grow crops after the summer harvest.
He decided to wait until fall and plant a new season of winter wheat regardless of whether the drought had eased.
In his impression, locusts are usually the most abundant in midsummer, and it seems that the adult stage is at that time. In the meantime, locusts are not mature and their mobility is not that strong.
But he was not very sure. After all, the climate and latitude in Henan, Hebei and Guanzhong are different, and the growth period of locusts is mostly inconsistent.
This is the most annoying thing.
After you have dealt with the local locusts, you may be greeted by waves of locusts from other places until the summer is over.
After everyone left, Shao Xun stayed in Liuhua Courtyard in a carefree manner - he had called his men together for a meeting, and there was obviously nothing to hide, and no need to hide it.
After Tang Jian sent everyone away one by one, he checked the sentry posts again and then consciously moved away from the backyard.
After sitting quietly for half an hour, he went out to inspect again, and then heard the personal guards come to report: "Guoyou Pei Kang is here."
He immediately went out and bowed, "Mr. Pei."
Pei Kang did not come to the meeting tonight, and neither did Cao Fu - they were the store's signature figures, so it didn't matter whether they came or not.
But coming here now, somehow it reveals something unusual.
"There is an urgent matter. Report it to Duke Lu immediately." Pei Kang's face looked a little solemn.
Tang Jian hesitated for a while and didn't move.
Pei Kang was a little displeased and asked, "Why is Tang Dianwei standing still? There is something urgent."
"How urgent is it?" Tang Jian asked.
Pei Kang understood what was going on and became even more upset. He shouted, "If you don't report it, then let me in. I am a friend of Duke Luyang and I need to correct the king."
Tang Jian didn't dare to stop Pei Kang, so he could only calm him down and said, "Pei Gong, please be patient, I will report to you now."
After saying that, he winked at the soldiers at the gate and left.
After passing through two houses and a garden, Tang Jian's steps became a little hesitant.
The personal soldiers on duty in the backyard stood solemnly with their chests puffed out and their bodies folded.
Tang Jian sighed lightly and continued to move forward.
After passing through a corridor, I met several maids from Liuhua Courtyard and bowed to them one by one.
Tang Jian responded loudly, telling them to cheer up and not be lazy.
After walking a few more steps forward, a loud cry of "Ah" was suddenly heard.
Then came the "guh" sound that one hears before dying, as if something was stuck in the chest and couldn't be expelled for a while.
It seemed to be accompanied by the sound of splashing water.
Tang Jian would rather have heard nothing, so he quickly stepped back and looked at the carvings on the pillars, as if he could see flowers.
After a while, Shao Xun came out wearing a long gown and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Mr. Pei arrived at midnight and said he had something extremely urgent to deal with." Tang Jian replied from afar.
"Wait a moment." Shao Xun nodded and went back to the room.
Lu rolled his eyes like a dying fish, twitching violently from time to time.
Shao Xun picked up the silk and wiped Lu carefully, then picked up her jade-like body and said, "Xun Niang, go to sleep first. I have something else to do."
Lu slowly came back to her senses, hugged Shao Xun and asked, "Are you coming back?"
The snow-white and smooth body was pressed tightly against the dark and sturdy man's arms. Under the moonlight, the contrast was sharp, and a strange feeling of shade arose spontaneously.
"Back." Shao Xun patted her buttocks and said, "I've been sleeping here these days."
Mrs. Lu hummed lightly, then seemed to have thought of something, raised her face, and said with red eyes: "My dear, please don't tell anyone about what happened just now, otherwise I will die."
His expression was extremely serious, and even had a hint of tears in his voice.
Shao Xun burst out laughing and glanced at the ground. It was a year of severe drought, but it was actually wet.
Mrs. Lu was about to cry.
She wet the bed when she was a child, how could she still wet the bed after she was over 30? She really couldn't accept it. "I will never tell you, don't worry, this is a secret between us." Shao Xun put Lu on the mat, covered her with a thin blanket, whispered a few words of comfort, put on his robe and left.
When I went out, I was in high spirits.
His two concubines both had little secrets, and both told him that they would die if anyone knew about them.
Haha, why are all the women in the Sima family so cute? Much cuter than the men.
When he arrived at the front hall, Pei Kang was already fuming and looking very unhappy.
“You are a county lord, and you stay overnight at the residence of the widow of King Fanyang. What can you do——” Pei Kang was interrupted just as he started to cast a spell.
Shao Xun said, "I will send someone to marry you tomorrow."
Pei Kang was choked and was about to cast a spell for the second time, but was interrupted by Shao Xun: "In the early years of Emperor Wu, due to frequent wars, an imperial decree was issued to encourage widows to remarry in order to fill the household registration. Now the war is more severe than that time, so what's wrong with me marrying a widow? It's a consensual thing, and it's not bullying a man or a woman."
Pei Kang was speechless and could only swallow his anger. He said, "I just received news that the Luo River has stopped flowing."
Holy shit! Even though he was mentally prepared, Shao Xun was still a little surprised.
Of course he didn't believe in any prophecies.
It is understandable that the Luo River dried up in a year of severe drought.
After the founding of New China, the Yellow River has dried up many times.
Drying up does not mean that the entire river basin is dry, but that a certain section of the river is dry, exposing the riverbed. Some deeper sections of the river may still have some water accumulated.
But it’s useless for him to understand; the key is what others think.
At this time, Old Pei looked at Shao Xun as if he were a weasel looking at a chicken, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.
"Duke Lu, do you know that if this happens, some people will not tolerate you?" Pei Kang said quietly.
Shao Xun sighed and said, "I still say that this year we should fight drought and disaster relief instead of fighting a fart war. But I don't have the final say. Liu Yuanhai insisted on coming, and I can't do anything about it. Since the Xiongnu are coming, the court should fight them well. I heard that there are envoys rushing to Liangzhou to ask for reinforcements, which is good. With unity from top to bottom, the Xiongnu are not invincible. But if there is another civil strife, it's hard to say."
From a rational point of view, his greatest interest and top priority now is to preserve the Jin Dynasty and prevent it from being seriously weakened, let alone overthrowing.
The more the imperial court's prestige declines, the greater the possibility of local feudalization.
By then, everyone will no longer be a governor appointed by the court, but a contender for hegemony in troubled times. There will be no restraints at all, and everyone will be caught in a disorderly melee. Who will be the most dangerous?
It was not the Huns, but a certain Mr. Shao who was surrounded by enemies.
Sima Yue mobilized the soldiers of Yuzhou to attack from east to west, the Xiongnu attacked from north to south, those who controlled Jingzhou attacked from south to north, and the King of Nanyang in Guanzhong attacked east again. Even if you are made of iron, how many nails can you hammer?
An endless war of attrition is extremely dangerous and must be avoided.
But things in the world are not always as we wish, there are always people who want to make trouble. Moreover, this person is a descendant of the Sima family, who does not cherish the foundation of his ancestors at all and repeatedly sabotages them.
Instead, it was Shao Xun, an outsider, who was concerned about the Sima family's foundation. He did not want it to fall too quickly, so he maintained it repeatedly.
Just outrageous!
"What will Situ do?" Shao Xun asked.
Pei Kang thought for a moment and said, "Si Tu has always been at odds with you. Now, I'm afraid he will be even more wary of you. To be honest, I don't know what he will do."
"Will he lead his troops south?"
"I don't think so." Pei Kang shook his head and said, "I just cleaned up the imperial guards, I'm afraid they wouldn't dare."
"What will happen if I go north to Luoyang?"
"The imperial guards will scatter in a hurry, and not many will join you." Pei Kang said, "The emperor will also be extremely wary and will summon all the prefectures and counties to attack you."
Shao Xun shook his head and laughed, he was just saying it casually.
This is not the end of the Later Han Dynasty, the customs are completely different.
The Sima kings had already demonstrated how to control the princes by holding the emperor hostage. Whoever touched him would die. Even Sima Yue, who had just torn off the last fig leaf and actually controlled the emperor, would also die.
You can neither use the emperor to control the princes, nor can you protect the Jin Dynasty, and the actual controller of the Jin Dynasty is hostile to you.
You can teach him a lesson. If you teach him too harshly, he will fall apart and it will ruin your plans.
If you don't teach him a lesson, he will always disgust you.
This is really fucked up.
"Can Mr. Pei go to Luoyang?" Shao Xun asked.
"Who are you looking for?" Pei Kang asked, his eyelids jumping.
"General Wang."
"Will Wang Yifu help you?"
"Although General Wang is a boastful and liar, he has one good point: he knows how to adapt to changing circumstances and is flexible. Most importantly, he doesn't want anything to happen to the court," said Shao Xun.
"What do you want Wang Yifu to do?"
"Let him find a suitable opportunity to persuade the emperor and Situ." Shao Xun said.
"It may not be difficult to persuade the emperor, but it is a bit difficult for the Minister of the Interior." Pei Kang thought about Sima Yue's current state and said uncertainly: "It may be okay now, but what about the future?"
"We can only take it one step at a time." Shao Xun said, "Those who spread the prophecy were most likely Xiongnu. They didn't expect the Luo River to really dry up, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It brought me great trouble and made it impossible for the whole Jin Dynasty to work together. Fortunately, with a powerful enemy at hand, the imperial court won't really do anything to me."
Pei Kang nodded silently. This was indeed the only thing he could do at the moment.
"I really owe you a lot, alas." Pei Kang stood up, glared at Shao Xun, and asked, "It's right to take one step at a time, but do you have a long-term strategy in mind?"
"Of course I will be a loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty." Shao Xun said, "When the Xiongnu invaded, I led my troops to fight against the enemy. I was so loyal and brave. Would the emperor and the minister of justice still believe in those illusory prophecies? How would the people of the world view me?"
"It's good that you know what's going on." Pei Kang saw that it was late at night and it was inconvenient to disturb him, so he left.
"Tang Jian." Shao Xun shouted.
"I am here."
"Ask Chief Pastor Wu Qian to come over tomorrow."
"As ordered."
Shao Xun waved his hand and asked Tang Jian to retreat.
Wu was summoned tomorrow to recruit soldiers. This should have been done at the end of the year, because officers would not be assigned to the troops until the beginning of next year, but now there is no time to wait, so we can only recruit 1,200 people in advance to deal with the complicated situation.
He is not in the most dangerous time now.
The most dangerous time was when the Huns were defeated and retreated to Hedong. There was no guarantee that Sima Yue would do something weird.
Of course, if the Huns won and Luoyang fell, it would be even more dangerous.
With his current strength, he was bound to fail against the main force of the Xiongnu. In the severe drought, the Xiongnu cavalry could even charge directly into Guangchengze and damage or even destroy his foundation.
He and the court were like a couple sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams. They couldn't stand each other and even had many quarrels, but they still had to live together, tolerate each other, and deal with family crises together - because only if both sides worked together could they get through the crisis.
If you continue to calculate who will suffer the loss and who will gain the advantage at this time, or even start a fight, then you really have no vision or perspective at all.
In addition, from a dialectical point of view, everything has both good and bad sides.
Whatever you gain, you must lose.
Against the backdrop of the Huns' invasion and prophecies flying everywhere, what Sima Yue, Liu Yuan and I gained and lost depended entirely on our own actions.
(End of this chapter)