Chapter 344 Eye of the Storm

Chapter 344 Eye of the Storm

Chapter 344 Eye of the Storm
There is a village across the river bend.

After many wars, the houses in the village have not collapsed, but the population has become deserted.

A few old men, carrying hoes, went to the fields to weed numbly, seemingly not noticing the long line of people passing by them.

The team was long and well disciplined. When passing through farmland, many people looked at the elderly people.

There are often various reasons why people do not evacuate war-torn areas.

These old guys probably have their entire families wiped out, so it doesn't matter whether they are dead or alive. Live one day at a time, and when you can't live anymore, you die.

They understand this mentality too well, and perhaps they think so too.

After half of the army had passed, a general rode away from the team on horseback, and, surrounded by his personal soldiers, he ran towards a house at the entrance of the village.

The house is quite large, with a huge gatehouse in front, a patio courtyard behind the gatehouse, and three more houses further back.

The houses and gatehouses are surrounded by high walls, which are so thick that people can stand on them.

This type of design has become more and more popular in recent years.

When He Lun arrived outside the house, he saw a certificate hanging there.

After a careful reading, the house was sold for 100,000 yuan. At the bottom, there were a few big words written: "Pay 4,000 yuan to the government, the buyer will pay."

"Pei Daoqi is quite particular. He didn't forget the government before leaving." He Lun smiled, sent someone to report, and went straight inside.

When he reached the patio, he happened to meet Pei Shao coming out of the east kitchen.

"Pei Changshi actually cooks himself?" He Lun was a little surprised.

"All servants have been dismissed, except for a few who are old, blind and deaf, and have nowhere to go, so we keep them to clean the house. Let's take it one day at a time. General He, did you come here today for something important?"

"There are bandits crossing the river from Yangping, trampling crops and burning houses. Liu Wangqiao ordered me to lead the army westward to disperse the bandits." He Lun said, "I passed by your house and came to see it. Pei Changshi put up a house for sale. Where are you going?"

"Xuzhou, are you going?" Pei Shao glanced at him and asked.

He Lun laughed and asked, "Is it really Xuzhou?"

Pei Shao also smiled: "Maybe. Where is General He going?"

"I won't go to Xuzhou. I'm afraid I won't be able to compete with Wang Bing if I go. Let's wait and see." He Lun said.

Pei Shao nodded and said, "Even if you return to the East China Sea, I'm afraid you won't be able to compete with Wang Bing."

The Wang family is the most prestigious and powerful aristocratic family in Xuzhou.

Wang Long is the governor of Xuzhou, and Wang Bing also controls a part of the army. With the right timing, right location and right people, wouldn't they be at the mercy of others if they go there?

The old servant brought out a plate of steamed cakes and placed it on the stone table in the yard.

Pei Shao was wearing a loose robe, with black ash on his forehead. He rolled up his sleeves and said, "Since General He is here, why don't we have something to eat together?"

"I'm feeling hungry right now, and I need this cake to quench my hunger." He Lun sat down with a smile, grabbed a piece of steamed cake and started to eat it.

Pei Shao's eating manners were not very good, he chewed with big mouthfuls.

The two of them finished a large plate of steamed cakes quickly.

"I heard that the Xiongnu are hoarding food supplies in Hedong and are planning to march into Guanzhong in a large scale. However, there has been unrest in Yangping and Dunqiu areas recently, with the enemy troops frequently crossing the river to the south. What do you think, General He?" Pei Shao asked, patting his belly comfortably.

"Maybe it's a strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west." He Lun thought for a while and said.

"Maybe not?" Pei Shao frowned and said, "Shi Le, Shi Chao, and Zhao Gu stationed their troops in Hebei and did not follow them to Hedong."

"I heard that after the Xiongnu established their system, they set up imperial guards." He Lun said, "In this attack, we may not need Shi Le and others, right?"

Pei Shao thought about it and agreed with this statement.

Liu Han was no longer a makeshift team. No matter what the level of its officials was, at least it was fully equipped and the entire court could function.

Perhaps, they wanted to conquer Guanzhong with their own strength rather than forcing foreign soldiers and generals to surrender.

"In this case, Henan is actually quite dangerous." Pei Shao added: "It seems that there are a lot of soldiers, but in fact they are scattered. We must prepare quickly."

He Lun felt that Pei Shao had something else in mind when he heard this, so he looked at him seriously and asked, "To prepare the troops, we need a backbone. Now Xiangyang Wang Fan, Liu Wang Qiao and others are in power, but they lack prestige and cannot command the shogunate officials and generals. What can we do?"

"Aren't Concubine Pei and the Heir Prince here?" Pei Shao no longer concealed anything and said directly.

"But some people say that they are controlled by Shao Xun..." He Lun whispered.

"Who said that?" Pei Shao asked with his eyelids twitching.

He Lun smiled and said, "The Chief Secretary knows the answer but still asks. Why do you want to bully an honest man?"

After saying that, he asked again: "Where is Lord Chen?" "Juancheng." Pei Shao said.

He Lun nodded, this was consistent with the information obtained from the army.

"How many people do you have left?" Pei Shao asked again.

"There are still 7,000 or 8,000." He Lun said, "A few beggars ran away with their men, so we didn't chase them. The rest are also not stable, and they are all waiting for Li Shijun to come."

By the time the governor Li Shu arrived, the meaning was clear enough.

Li Shu was the emperor's man, so to surrender to Li Shu was to surrender to the emperor. No, perhaps the word "surrender" should not be used. The emperor was the common ruler of the world, so wasn't it natural for us to serve him?
"Wang Bing's side is fine, with no less than 10,000 soldiers. He wants to take this group away. But the situation is also a mess, and many soldiers from Yu and Yan are unwilling to go to Xuzhou. If he really wants to take them away by force, he can only take half of them away at most."

"Liu Qia's army has more than 3,000 men and more than 1,000 cavalrymen, and they are inclined towards the princess and the heir."

After He Lun finished speaking, he looked at Pei Shao quietly.

Pei Shao smiled and said, "At least half of the people have dispersed. King Xiangyang has no choice, no one listens to him. The remaining 20,000 people also have their own thoughts. I dare not imagine, if Shi Le attacks, who can resist?"

"Shi Le is busy farming, so he won't be here for a while." He Lun said, "Besides, in the early spring, even the Hu people have a lot of things to do, and the horses are losing weight a lot, so they need to be fed. Now he can only send a small group of cavalry to harass and disgust the servants."

Pei Shao hummed, thinking that he didn't know much about military affairs. At the critical moment, he still had to use these military strategists.

"I heard that the Chief Secretary once served as an assistant in the court of Prince Langya. I wonder what the scenery in Jianye is like?" He Lun asked.

"Oh? You also want to cross the south?" Pei Shao asked with a smile.

"Someone in my family has moved south." He Lun said, "I won't leave."

"Some people leave, some stay, it's normal. If it weren't for Situ's expedition, I would still be in Jianye now." Pei Shao said: "The King of Langya is now just an empty shell."

"How to say?"

"No soldiers, no money, no food." Pei Shao pondered for a while and said, "The assistant Wang Maohong is always on the road, visiting the nobles and powerful people in various places. Well, don't underestimate those powerful people in Wu. Although some of them are of low status or even have no status at all, they have many followers and farmhands, and they can easily send out 10,000 or 20,000 troops. The King of Langya pays great attention to winning them over. In fact, it's just a matter of each taking what he needs."

He Lun understood.

I heard that there are four very famous families in Wu: Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang.

However, the King of Langya associated with powerful people of lower social status in Wu, and it was obvious that he wanted to use these powerful people to compete with the old families in Wu.

Of course, the Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang families were not left out. They continued to do their jobs and lead their lives, but they had to share some of the profits with the newly emerged Wu clans like the Zhou family.

This is a typical Wang family tactic. Wang Yan likes to use this trick the most, and Wang Dao seems to be an expert in it as well.

"In fact, the King of Langya welcomes the northerners who have migrated south." Pei Shao added, "There are many benefits to migrating south now. When more people go in the future, there may be no such benefits, and they may even be suppressed. This is because both the new nobles and the old families in Wu don't like to see too many northerners go south, as they are competing with them for food. It's tolerable now, but it's hard to say in the future."

After listening to this, He Lun felt that Jiangdong was also quite complicated.

Various forces are intertwined, and if you have not been an official there, it is really difficult to sort them out.

Moreover, it was surprising that the military pillars of the Jianye Shogunate were actually powerful people in the south of the Yangtze River, such as the Zhou family of Yixing.

"The King of Langya may have sent someone here this time." Pei Shao said in a low voice.

"Where?" He Lun asked in surprise.

"I don't know." Pei Shao shook his head and said, "It was only after I received some letters from old friends that I learned that the King of Langya sent people to Langya to move old things from the palace. The letter was not very detailed, and these people may have another mission, but it's just my guess."

"Chaos! Really chaotic!" He Lun exclaimed.

The small Fan County has now become the eye of the storm.

Everyone has to make a choice, whether voluntarily or forced.

After sitting for a while, He Lun stood up and said goodbye.

After returning to the army, he looked at his troops and felt a little worried.

Most of these people were reorganized from the Beggars' Army.

After Situ left the town, he was unable to buy them too much equipment, and they even had to cultivate land on their own to obtain part of their military rations.

The Beggars' Army may not be on the same page with them, and some of them are clamoring to disband every day.

Fortunately, after the news that the princess and the heir king were coming to Fan County spread, people's hearts were much calmer.

Everyone is waiting for the next meeting.

These remnants of the Situ clan were facing the risk of being liquidated by the imperial court. They were like wandering ghosts and urgently needed a backbone to unite the people.

No matter who they are, just keep them alive.

(End of this chapter)