Chapter 332: Can't Leave
Chapter 332: Can't Leave (Additional chapter for the leader who was so serious)
After the meal, Liu's maid took the child away, and Pei, Liu and Shao sat opposite each other to discuss matters.
Liu had just given birth to a child, and her figure had not yet fully recovered. She definitely could not leave at this time, at least until after the Spring Festival.
Shao Xun tried to interrupt several times, but Concubine Pei stopped him with a look.
After Liu returned to Chang'an, as long as the matter was not exposed and nothing had happened, she would still be the princess.
To put it bluntly, in other people's eyes, you, Shao Taibai, are all negative points, and you don't even have a daughter to worry about.
Liu spoke occasionally, her voice was a little weak and her eyes were a little red, but her attitude was firm.
This kind of woman appears to be easily bullied and easy to talk to, but once she makes a decision, it is difficult for her to change it, which is completely different from her weak appearance.
"Although the Xiongnu have withdrawn their troops, they still send cavalry to Huayin and Hongnong to plunder from time to time, with dozens of cavalry at least and hundreds of cavalry at most. Without a large group of escorts, it is hard to say that it is safe." Shao Xun said, "Princess Liu has only a hundred guards, right? It's a bit dangerous. If she also brought servants, they would panic and it would affect their morale. When Wang Dun went to Qingzhou to take up his post, he encountered bandits halfway and even left Princess Xiangcheng behind. This shows how serious the bandit problem is."
Concubine Pei frowned secretly.
Liu shook her head slightly and she still wanted to go back.
Shao Xun saw that the talks were going to fail, so he immediately said, "Let's talk about it after the Spring Festival."
He did not mention the fact that the Huns were likely to attack Guanzhong next year, fearing that if he did, Liu would ignore it and go back now.
Can Guanzhong be defended? He is not optimistic.
Sima Mo was originally stationed in Yecheng, but he lacked confidence. Later, Sima Yue transferred him to Xuchang and then to Chang'an.
According to Shao Xun, this person did not make much achievements in governing Guanzhong, nor did he develop the professionalization of the army.
In other words, Guanzhong still has a hereditary military system, with conscription being the main method of warfare.
The problem is that the earliest batch of soldiers with some combat effectiveness had already been wiped out in the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, and the only ones left were rookies.
He was sure that, although both were conscripted soldiers, the hereditary soldiers of Guanzhong were inferior to the hereditary soldiers of the Xiongnu, and were even inferior to the aristocratic tribes.
At least, the Xiongnu hereditary soldiers had the tradition and experience of being mercenaries, and often faced tribal feuds, so they were much better fighters than them.
Of course, there are also practical difficulties in the professionalization of the Guanzhong army, such as financial resources.
The Silver Spear Army under Shao Xun did not completely break away from agricultural production. They had to help with work during the busy farming season and also tended to the orchards and vegetable plots belonging to the army.
The Zhongwu Army, the Yicong Army and the like spent more than half of their time farming. Similar to the soldiers under Shi Le and Wang Mi, they needed to support themselves - at least half of themselves.
But no matter how many difficulties there were in reality, with so many places in Guanzhong, one could always raise a few thousand or even ten thousand elite soldiers by plundering them. But Sima Mo did not do so, which was purely courting his own death.
But he didn't say anything about this matter, as it would have been even worse if he had said it.
Concubine Pei still understood a little bit, and nodded when she heard it, and said to Shao Xun: "Then let the little...Princess Nanyang live in Liuhua Courtyard. Once I leave, I'm afraid that the capital will not be safe."
"Liang Chen and Wei Fu have lived in the Ma Shi Palace for a year. Do they have any ideas?" Shao Xun asked again.
"The two of them are doing business now." Concubine Pei sighed. This was indeed something to worry about.
Liang Chen was a military officer, so he probably hadn't thought that much about it.
Wei Fu was the military advisor to the shogunate and was from the Jingzhao Wei family. He was not a simple-minded person and he must have guessed something.
Before the Huns went south to Luoyang, the two men sold the last batch of medicinal herbs and leathers they carried on the vehicle, and used the proceeds to maintain the expenses of the royal palace staff.
Later, he sent people to Guanzhong to report. Then the Huns invaded, the road was blocked, and the second group of people coming to Luoyang returned halfway.
Now that the Huns have withdrawn, Chang'an will most likely send people over again.
Thinking of this, she looked at Shao Xun with some annoyance.
Shao Xun was secretly looking at Liu.
Liu stared at a certain point in the air in a daze, as if everything had nothing to do with her.
Shao Xun turned around and asked, "When is the princess going to leave?"
"The first month of the year," she said after thinking for a while.
“Why the first month?”
"This year, the Silver Spear Army first fought in Yuzhou, then went to Nanyang to quell the rebellion, and then went to Xingyang to fight. They have worked hard for a whole year and must be extremely exhausted." Concubine Pei explained: "Now they are looking forward to returning home to reunite, see their wives and children, and have a good new year. If they are asked to go on another expedition, they will definitely resent it, which will be detrimental to your cause."
Shao Xun was silent. Concubine Pei even considered this for him. She was really insightful.
In his own backyard, currently only Yang Xianrong has some management ability. If Concubine Pei can also bring the Pei family to help manage some things, he can transfer those people to Chenjun, Nandun, Xiangcheng counties to serve as officials, greatly increasing his control over these places.
Thinking of this, he looked at Concubine Liu again.
She was born in Pingyuan Liu, a big family in Hebei.
"Then let's set off after the Lantern Festival." Shao Xun made a decision and said.
Concubine Pei nodded slightly.
After talking for a while, he stood up and said goodbye.
Shao Xun subconsciously wanted to say something, but Concubine Pei looked at him and shook her head gently.
Shao Xun understood.
Sima Yue's body is still warm, so it's really not appropriate at this time.
He looked at Liu again.
Liu didn't look at him and just walked away.
The maid followed behind, holding the child in her arms, step by step.
Damn it, leave the child here. Shao Xun wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he decided not to. If he suddenly returned home and handed the child to his mother, he would say to her, "Mother, this is your granddaughter, please take care of her for me first..."
It seemed a bit exaggerated. After the two women left, he didn't care about his image at all, lying on the couch with his legs spread out, feeling uncomfortable all over.
Without the military pressure, some thoughts could no longer be suppressed. He wished he could sneak back tonight and have a good sleep while hugging Yang Xianrong's soft body.
"Oh! I'm horny." Shao Xun sat up, patted his face, and said to himself: "The world is in turmoil, we should know shame. If there is no woman in my heart, I will be a god when I draw my sword. Women are meaningless, meaningless."
Suddenly, his hand touched something, and after taking it out of his arms, he found that they were two letters.
One was written to him by Jing, and the other was written by Princess Xiangcheng Sima Xiuwei.
The former lives in Guangchengze, and the latter is now in Luoyang.
Haha, Shao Xun put the letter away.
Am I that easy to chase?
He knew that as the situation deteriorated and his fame and power grew, there were countless women who wanted to climb into his bed.
Of course they don't like Shao Xun.
Picture his dark skin?
Why didn't he take a bath for a long time after going to war?
Picture his palms that are so rough that they can be sanded?
Or is it because he has been hanging out with low-level soldiers for too long, and the vulgar words that come out of his mouth from time to time?
neither.
What they want is to protect their lives and wealth and to live a stable life.
Jing's two brothers brought their family soldiers to help Shao Xun manage a group of garrison soldiers, and at the same time hinted that their sister was the concubine of Chen Hou.
You know what, there are many people who believe it. Those who originally coveted the beauty and wealth of the Jing family could not help but back off, including the generals under Shao Xun.
When Sima Xiuwei passed Yique Pass, he was mistakenly thought to have a relationship with Shao Xun. This woman deliberately did not clarify it, and it is obvious what her purpose was.
They are all taking advantage of him.
On the contrary, Liu was not greedy for his benefits at all and insisted on returning to her husband, which made Shao Xun very interested.
People are just mean.
Don’t take things that come to your door voluntarily, and don’t take things that are not easy to get.
After you succeed, you may get tired of it again...
After lying lazily for a while, Tang Jian came to report: "My lord, General Wang is here."
"Why don't you come in and talk? Can you hide for a while, but can you hide forever?" Shao Xun's voice was heard from the inner room.
Tang Jian walked in reluctantly.
"Tell me, what happened back then?" Shao Xun asked.
"My lord, Concubine Liu lived in the side courtyard with her son and several servants, and slept in your study..." said Tang Jian.
"You are truly a true warrior!" Shao Xun laughed in anger, "What if it's a relative or a woman visiting the Lu family's house? Have you ever thought about it?"
"So what?" Tang Jian said, "He Lun robbed Princess Lingshou and even touched her face. He robbed her of all her valuables in front of her and her maid carried her home. Isn't that fine?"
Good fellow! Shao Xun secretly thought that what he said just now about Tang Jian being an authentic martial artist was indeed true. Compared with them, he often felt out of place because he was not perverted enough.
"It won't happen again." He said after a moment.
"Yes." Tang Jian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Make tea and invite the general over." Shao Xun waved his hand.
After Tang Jian left, his personal guards brought tea sets.
Shao Xun became interested and decided to make tea himself according to the "ancient method".
The tea tripod is made of stone and is exquisitely crafted. It was given to him by He Lun and is said to be Princess Lingshou's favorite. Unknowingly, he has become the top of the food chain. He Lun robbed the princess and gave her a gift after doing it. What the hell is this!
Never mind, just say whether this teapot is good or not.
"Sit down and drink the cool water, watch the boiling dust, come on." The charcoal burned quietly, and the water in the cauldron boiled for the first time. Shao Xun picked up the pepper and salt he had collected, then put it down again, and finally threw a little in, then scooped up a bucket of water.
Well, this is the legendary method of stopping boiling by adding more water.
But soon, the water in the cauldron began to boil for the second time. Shao Xun took out the ground tea foam from the box, put it into the cauldron, and stirred it slowly to make the tea foam sink into the water.
"The blue clouds are broken into pieces, and the fragrance is light like milk flowers." Shao Xun recited the poem with great interest and poured the tea he had just scooped up into the stone tripod that was boiling for the third time. This step is called "Yuhua".
At this point, the tea is ready.
There aren't too many weird things added, although the taste is still a bit weird.
"I haven't seen you for a long time. You seem to be in much better spirits." Laughter was heard at the door.
Shao Xun, who was concentrating on serving tea, smiled and said, "Please come in, General. I won't get up because I am in a hurry to make tea for you."
"No problem." As a scholar of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was no need to go through so many formalities. Wang Yan took off his shoes, went to the couch, sat cross-legged, and said, "Your Excellency is good at poetry and prose, and can fight. Is it a gift from heaven?"
"I am not a human being, but the spirit of Taibai Star, born into a superior family in the world." Shao Xun joked.
Wang Yan didn't laugh.
Sitting there, he took a bowl of tea, blew on it, took a sip, and said, "The tea brewed in this way has a unique flavor."
"Then drink more." Shao Xun said with a smile.
Wang Yan put down the tea bowl, took out a memorial from his bosom, handed it to Shao Xun, and said: "Since Taibai is a man from heaven, why not take a look at the writings of the mortal world?"
Shao Xun took it curiously, opened it, and was immediately surprised.
This is the memorial from Yangzhou Governor Zhou Fu, requesting the emperor to move the capital to Shouchun!
"The emperor cannot leave!" Shao Xun blurted out.
(End of this chapter)