Chapter 308: Got fooled?

Chapter 308: Got fooled?

Chapter 308: Got fooled?
Wang Xuan left Chen County in early August and personally "escorted" a new batch of grain ships back to Luoyang.

When he reached Junyi, he heard the begging general Chen Wu mention the matter of Sima Yue.

It turned out that after the war came to an end, they may have felt that Puyang was not safe, so they ordered the relocation to Fan County, Dongping, as the headquarters of the shogunate.

At the same time, he announced to the outside world that he had recovered the lost territory from Cao Yi, and the shogunate was celebrating.

It is true that Dongping was once occupied by Cao Wei, but by the time he turned to attack Langya, he had long lost control of the area.

The local area is basically controlled by the aristocratic and powerful families. Whoever they support will be the actual controller of Dongping.

When Sima Yue arrived at Fan County with more than 30,000 troops, people from Dongping came to pay him a visit. Sima Yue wanted to rest and recuperate, but the matter was serious, so he had to force himself to meet with officials and scholars from all walks of life.

This went on for several days, and as expected, he fell ill again.

When hearing the news, Wang Xuan subconsciously observed the expressions of Chen Wu and others and analyzed their thoughts.

I don’t know why, maybe everyone is very confused?

On August 15, Wang Xuan returned to Luoyang on the grain boat.

In the counties outside Luoyang, all kinds of grains are close to harvest. In ten days at most, the harvest can be organized.

This is the only advantage of not encountering war: you can plant seeds earlier and harvest earlier.

But during the great war last winter, farmland was repeatedly trampled by soldiers and war horses, and there was a locust plague in May, so the winter wheat harvest was very poor. Even with this batch of miscellaneous grains, the overall result was still a huge loss.

Between June and July, two batches of 340,000 hu of grain and beans were shipped in successively. This batch was another 250,000 hu. There was another batch in September and October. The total for the whole year was probably around one million hu.

Jingzhou also transported more than 200,000 hu of grain from Nanyang by land to Beijing.

That's all the harvest.

It was definitely not enough, but at least it could ensure that the imperial palace, officials, and ministers had good food, and that important people such as the imperial guards and craftsmen had enough to eat. Others would go hungry, but not many people would starve to death.

Wang Xuan went back home first, and after waiting for a while, his father Wang Yan finished his interview in the palace and also came back.

"Grandpa, I just met Wei Fu, the military advisor to Prince Nanyang, on the road. He was wandering outside Prince Fanyang's mansion but was stopped by servants. What's going on? Could it be that they haven't given up yet and still want to take back the family property?" Wang Xuan stood up, poured a cup of tea for his father, and asked.

"I heard that Wang Hu of Fanyang was very good at exploiting the local people in Hebei, and his house had at least tens of thousands of strings of cash worth of wealth." Wang Yan said casually.

"No wonder they keep pestering each other." Wang Xuan sighed, and then said, "But I'm afraid these treasures have already entered the pocket of Marquis Chen, how could he possibly spit them out? Such pestering will most likely not end well. By the way, why has Princess Nanyang always lived in the Prince of Fanyang's Palace? Her followers all live in the Prince of Nanyang's Palace behind the horse market in the east of the city, why is that?"

"I heard that the princess is ill." Wang Yan shook his head and said, "Princess Pei has settled her in the Fanyang Palace and visits her often."

"What's the disease? Can't even see the retainers?" Wang Xuan asked puzzledly.

"Meizi, if you care about these meaningless things all day long, you will never achieve anything in your life." Wang Yan emphasized his tone and asked, "How did the trip to Chen County turn out?"

"Just as my grandfather expected, Lord Chen promised not to do it again." Wang Xuan said, "This man is treacherous and cunning. He doesn't look like a brave warrior, but more like a profit-seeking businessman."

Wang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Wang sisters happened to come in. Before Wang Huifeng could say anything, Wang Jingfeng said, "Brother, what nonsense are you talking about? If the Marquis of Chen is only interested in profit, he will probably be like Shi Le, recruiting only the best and strongest men to join the army and cultivate the land. He probably does this because he is extremely ambitious."

Wang Xuan was too lazy to argue with his sister. He looked at his father and asked, "What is the emperor going to do? Stop here, or continue to investigate?"

"He appears to be strong on the outside, but he is weak on the inside." Wang Yan sneered, "He may be really angry on the outside, but he is worried deep down and doesn't dare to do anything. He can only resort to some tricks."

"What method?" Wang Xuan asked curiously.

Wang Yan did not answer. In fact, he was just guessing and had no idea.

Wang Xuan looked at his second sister, Wang Huifeng.

Wang Huifeng shook his head and said, "Brother, I don't know either. His Majesty has been trying to win over the officers of the Imperial Guard these days and has given out many rewards. Perhaps he is not sure now, so we have to wait a little longer."

Winning over the officers of the Imperial Guard is probably the current emperor's favorite thing to do.

When Sima Yue was sent out to govern a vassal state for the first time, he was doing this and achieved considerable results.

After all, he is the Son of Heaven, and he possesses great righteousness, which naturally attracts others to join him.

But he had no strength, so after Sima Yue returned to the capital, he easily purged the generals and officers who had been won over by the emperor, making the emperor's long-term efforts come to nothing and even turning him into a bird in a cage.

The emperor probably used the same trick again this time because he felt that Shao Xun was not as famous as Sima Yue and did not have the status of a prince, so it would be easier to win him over than when Sima Yue was in power.

This isn't entirely nonsense.

Shao Xun is capable, good at fighting, has high prestige, and knows how to behave, but his background is too poor, and he always feels that something is missing.

The emperor should have gained something.

"Just winning over the officers? Nothing else?" Wang Xuan was a little unconvinced.

"Brother, you are not the queen, and you have not slept beside the emperor. How do you know what the emperor did?" Wang Jingfeng rolled his eyes at Wang Xuan, yawned, and said, "You keep asking weird questions."

Being looked down upon by his silly elder sister, Wang Xuan felt a little embarrassed and threatened her, "Mr. Chen invites you to eat red bean porridge on the New Year's Day. Look, he is eyeing you covetously. You will fall into his hands sooner or later."

Wang Huifeng coughed, seeming to be unhappy with her brother for scaring her sister like that.

Wang Jingfeng was a little dazed after hearing this.

Wang Yan couldn't stand it anymore and reprimanded his son, saying, "You are not young anymore, but you are still making trouble like this."

Wang Xuan laughed and felt much better. "I entered the palace today, and the emperor asked me about the Xiongnu." Wang Yan said, "It matches the news I received from Pingyang a few days ago. Liu Yuanhai is indeed dead. The fake crown prince Liu He succeeded to the throne, but was killed by Liu Cong within a few days. Now Liu Cong is the ruler of Han."

The power struggle after Liu Yuan's death could not even be called a civil strife, because not many people died and the scope was mostly limited to Pingyang. It might be more accurate to call it a palace coup.

When Liu Yuan was bedridden in mid-July, he had a premonition that something was wrong and immediately arranged his funeral.

First, a bunch of royal family members were appointed as Taizai, Taifu, Taibao, Situ, Shangshu Ling, etc.

And the most important thing is——

King Liu Cong of Chu was appointed as the Grand Marshal and Great Chanyu, and was also in charge of the Secretariat, and the Chanyu Terrace was set up in the west of Pingyang.

The position of "Lu Shangshu Shi" obviously meant that he was in charge of the government affairs. At the same time, Liu Cong was allowed to set up the Chanyu Tai, which was equivalent to handing over the entire Xiongnu headquarters to him.

The Chanyu Tai was similar to the Daxing Tai. In theory, this institution had jurisdiction over the Xiongnu and other tribes except the Han people, and held a high position of power.

Of course, Liu Yuan also made certain checks and balances: he appointed Shi'an Wang Yao as the commander-in-chief of the expedition and the left assistant of the Chanyu, and appointed the court judge Qiao Zhiming as the champion general and the right assistant of the Chanyu.

In other words, he gave Liu Cong two deputies, one was a nephew of the royal family and the other was a Xiongnu nobleman, in order to divide some power.

But it’s hard to say what the effect will be.

Liu Yuan also assigned positions to the government affairs system: Guanglu Dafu Liu Yin was appointed as Zuo Pushe, Wang Yu was appointed as You Pushe, Ren Xi was appointed as Libu Shangshu, Zhu Ji was appointed as Zhongshu Jian…

It can be seen that the surrendered officials and gentry from the Jin Dynasty controlled the selection, appointment, dismissal and assignment of officials in the Liu Han Dynasty.

In terms of military power, the guard Ma Jing was appointed General of the Left Guard, Yong'an Prince Anguo was appointed General of the Right Guard, Anchang Prince Sheng, Anyi Prince Yin, and Xiyang Prince Xuan all were appointed General of the Wuwei Guard, and were in charge of the imperial guards respectively.

Most of the most crucial imperial guards are in the hands of royal family members.

Overall, this arrangement is somewhat problematic.

In particular, Liu Cong was in charge of the "Shangshu affairs" and "set up the Chanyu Office", and his power was boundless and outrageous.

After Crown Prince Liu He succeeded to the throne, he was persuaded to take the initiative and kill Liu Cong.

Unexpectedly, Liu Cong was well prepared and was waiting for him at the Chanyu Terrace with armor and sword in hand. Many of the soldiers sent by the prince turned against their allies in the middle of the battle, so Liu Cong easily broke into the palace and killed Liu He and his followers.

Finally, the ministers asked Liu Cong to ascend the throne.

Cong "refused" and wanted to give the throne to Prince Yi of Beihai because his mother was Queen Shan and she was a legitimate son, but Liu Cong was not a legitimate son.

Yi begged with tears and insistence, and Cong agreed after a long time.

But our Cong Ge also said, I am not greedy for the throne, it’s just that the situation is complicated now, I am older and more stable, so I will help take care of the family business first - "This is a matter for the family and the country, how dare I refuse!"

Congge announced in public that he would return the throne to the King of Beihai when he grew up - "When he is older, I will give him the great cause."

Look, it was really not easy for Congge to put the overall situation first, endure other people's misunderstandings, and reluctantly ascend the throne as a bastard's son.

However, despite the ridicule, Liu Han's coup was still well controlled.

All the fighting was controlled as much as possible within and outside the palace, and the civil strife did not spill over to other places. This was a great blessing for the people and also for the officials of the Liu Han court.

"Grandpa, Liu Cong's ambition is much greater than Liu Yuan's." Wang Xuan was shocked after listening to his father's introduction: "In April and May, he led the southern attack on Luoyang, which was interrupted due to Liu Yuan's illness. Now that he has succeeded to the throne, will he resume the war and march south for the sake of prestige?"

"This is exactly what I'm worried about." Wang Yan frowned and said, "Logically speaking, the grain transport has been smooth for several months, and so much grain has been transported in. Liu Cong may not come if he feels that it is hopeless to capture Luoyang. But this man has a stubborn temper, so it's hard to judge."

"If you don't come to Luoyang, then go to Chang'an." Wang Xuan said, "It's best to go to Chang'an..."

Wang Yan glared at him.

What good would it do for Luoyang if the Xiongnu attacked Chang'an? If they were to destroy the Nanyang King's forces, all the Han nobles and Hu chieftains in Guanzhong would submit to Liu Cong, and the Xiongnu's strength would be greatly enhanced.

"Shao Quanzhong is indeed cunning, not inferior to Cao Mengde in the past." Wang Yan sighed and said, "If he is allowed to delay for another month or two, when the Xiongnu army approaches and people are in panic, he will probably be able to fool people into intercepting the grain ships."

"Since Grandpa has seen through it, then..." Wang Xuan said.

"Then help him." Wang Yan said, "Follow me into the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow. Wait--"

Wang Yan thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to visit Xun Taijian tonight. You come with me."

"Okay." Wang Xuan agreed.

"Grandpa, big brother..." Wang Jingfeng seemed to have just reacted. She said in a fearless tone, "Does Lord Chen really want me to serve... red bean porridge?"

Wang Xuan said helplessly: "I lied to you."

"Should I get dressed? --" Wang Jingfeng said halfway when he suddenly reacted, his face turned red, he stood up in a hurry, and ran away.

Wang Yan watched this farce but did not get as angry as he did in the past.

Wang Huifeng noticed something and glanced at his father.

Wang Yan was unusually unnatural.

However, he quickly adjusted his mindset and said, "Meizi, go to Minister Yu's residence in person and invite him to discuss this together."

Wang Xuan got up, changed his clothes, and went out.

(End of this chapter)