Chapter 369: Serving the King
Chapter 369: Serving the King
It was early September when Liang Fen received the imperial edict.
According to the messenger, the court sent a total of three groups of people to Nanyang to convey the imperial edict, and he was the last one to set off.
Liang Fen remained silent after hearing this.
He only received this imperial edict.
The first two groups of messengers had probably been intercepted by the Hun cavalry, and the news had leaked out long ago.
Perhaps the Xiongnu had already prepared to ambush him halfway. This trip north to defend the king was fraught with danger.
After the messenger delivered the imperial edict to him, he left in a hurry and went south to Jiangxia. He also had to deliver the imperial edict to the governor and commander-in-chief of Jingzhou.
As for Yangzhou, someone else went there to announce the decree.
Jing, Yang, Yu, Xu and Yan are the only places we can ask for help.
The only two states that could actually send troops to provide assistance were probably Yu and Jing.
Unlike other states, Jingzhou has two governor districts, and the governor of Jingzhou is unlikely to come.
Du Tao's rebellion intensified. Xun Tiao, the governor of Xiangzhou, abandoned the city and fled to Guangzhou, where he was captured by Du Tao. Lingling, Guiyang and other counties were all conquered by Du Tao, who then plundered Wuchang, and the government troops were unable to stop him.
It is estimated that it is not enough to rely on the governor of Jingzhou to suppress this place, and we have to transfer soldiers from other places to help suppress it.
After the messenger left, Liang Fen glanced at the towering and fortified city of Xiangyang and ordered his troops to retreat.
Tens of thousands of people retreated in a hurry, fearing that if they moved too slowly they would be sent to attack the city and die.
Liang Fen glanced at the officers and soldiers around him and said, "The emperor has issued an edict, so we must serve the king. You should get ready."
Others were fine, but Yang Dan was the first one who couldn't stand it anymore and shouted directly: "Luoyang City is high and the moat is deep, there are tens of thousands of people guarding it. If you can't hold it, then you are worse than Wang Ru. What's the point of saving him?"
Liang Fen glanced at Yang Dan with an expressionless face.
Yan Ding looked at Yang Dan and sneered slightly.
Several generals who were former refugee commanders just looked at Liang Fen, waiting for his orders.
Beigong Chun hesitated to speak and finally sighed.
Yan Yi lowered his head and remained silent.
He has parted ways with Wang Ru and was recruited by Liang Fen, but because of his old background, he is naturally inferior to others, so he dares not express his opinions and keeps a very low profile.
Fu Chang quietly tugged at Liang Fen's sleeve and signaled to Yang Dan with his eyes.
Yang Dan exchanged fierce glances with him, then reluctantly withdrew his gaze and said, "I will obey the governor's orders."
"Let's go." Liang Fen didn't want to say anything more and gave the order on the spot.
"Yes." The generals responded one after another.
We said we would retreat, but we couldn't leave immediately.
It was evening, and the soldiers were packing their luggage and sniffing their noses, for dinner was about to begin.
The officers were no longer stingy and ordered to add more grain to the wild vegetable porridge to make the porridge thicker, which immediately boosted the morale of the men.
Accompanied by Fu Chang and Yan Ding, Liang Fen inspected the camp.
The army had a total of more than 25,000 people. Except for the 10,000 soldiers brought by Yang Dan who were from the noble families of Nanyang, Shunyang and Xinye counties, the rest were from Guanxi, including more than 4,000 soldiers from Liangzhou.
The overall combat effectiveness of this unit is good.
The soldiers of Liangzhou are extremely brave and have rich combat experience.
Although Yang Dan's ten thousand men sometimes won and sometimes lost, they had seen blood, and more than once.
Even these refugees from Guanxi may still need training in fighting, but as individuals, it is no exaggeration to say that they are brave, aggressive, cruel and violent - in Guanzhong, where disasters are frequent, if you are not ruthless you will be bullied.
If we strengthen their training, make them familiar with military formations, and at the same time restrain them with strict military law, and equip them with sophisticated equipment, their combat effectiveness will not be bad in time.
Liang Fen's martial arts and military strategies were relatively average. What he was good at was winning people's hearts, uniting them, and then driving them to fight for him.
To put it bluntly, he is more of an old bureaucrat than a military man.
"The one who will replace Jin will be Shao Taibai." When Liang Fen reached a corner of the camp, he stopped and suddenly said something.
Fu Chang looked at Liang Fen's back in silence.
Yan Ding's eyes kept moving, and he was obviously thinking about something quickly.
"If it had been ten years earlier, I would have reported to the emperor and had this beast executed." Liang Fen said again.
"Why not do this now?" Fu Chang couldn't help but ask.
Liang Fen sighed and said, "Doing this now will only make the Great Jin Dynasty fall faster."
Fu Chang didn't know what to say for a moment.
"I've felt this way for a long time." Yan Ding slapped his thigh and said, "Last year, I was free and read a book called "Records of Strange Things". Shao Xun is like a ghost possessing a person, constantly sucking blood and qi to strengthen himself, making the person weaker day by day, not far from death. But if other ghosts come to compete with him for the person he possesses, he will not hesitate to take action and drive them away. Do you think Shao Xun is like this ghost?"
Fu Chang couldn't help laughing. "Vulgar." Liang Fen smiled bitterly and shook her head, saying, "Compared to ghosts, Shao Taibai has some advantages."
Having said that, he and Fu Chang looked at each other.
There are some things that only the two of them know.
In fact, Liang Fen was still somewhat shocked by what Shao Xun said.
Of course, what shocked Liang Fen even more was what Wang Yan said to him: The royal family is heartless, and it is difficult to be a loyal minister.
Is Sima heartless? Needless to say, those who understand will understand.
Is the emperor heartless? Needless to say.
Lao Liang had never thought that Prince Yuzhang could be made the crown prince, or even ascend the throne as emperor. If he had known this earlier, he would never have married his daughter off.
The Liang family cannot afford this kind of "blessing".
It is true that after his daughter became the queen, the Liang family gained many benefits and their influence in Guanzhong became increasingly powerful, but in this chaotic world, is this really a good thing?
But it's too late to say anything now.
Once you sit at the gambling table, you have to keep gambling until you lose everything or make your opponent lose everything.
"My parents, my wife and my children cannot be protected, and I have no peace of mind in my farm and house..." Liang Fen sighed, then laughed and said, "Shao Taibai is too arrogant. I want to see if he can clean up this mess."
"Mr. Liang." Yan Ding said immediately after hearing this: "The governor has such high status and reputation, and now he has powerful soldiers at his disposal, can't he clean up this mess himself?"
"Tai Chen, you are too impatient and too greedy." Liang Fen said unhappily, "Don't blame me for being harsh. We are all family, so I want to give you some advice."
Yan Ding blushed and kept apologizing.
Liang Fen glanced at him and explained, "I am a lazy person. I joined the game too late, so my chances are slim. With the current situation in Nanyang, if Shao Taibai secretly interferes, Yang Dan dares to attack my camp at night. Even if I am given a few more years, I am afraid that I will not be able to stabilize it. If I go to Xiangyang, I may still have a chance, but - hey, don't think too much, just take it one step at a time."
After that, he looked at Fu Chang and said, "In this world, being a secretary is actually not that interesting. You can do it or not. If you want to come to my shogunate, you can. If you want to go to Xuchang, that's also a way."
"Mr. Liang, I——"
"Don't rush to answer me, think about it carefully." Liang Fen said: "In fact, I hope you go to Xuchang. If things go wrong in the future, the descendants of the Huangfu, Fu, Liang, and Yan families will still have a way out."
Fu Chang also sighed, feeling melancholy.
******
When Liang Fen was ordered to go north, Shao Xun also received the imperial edict to support the king.
He was inspecting the autumn harvest and the repairs of the mansion (Cangcheng) in Nanton County.
The Wei River flows into Yingchuan from the southern part of Xingyang, then flows down to Nandun and merges into the Ying River.
There is Wei Cang on the bank of Wei River in the south of Yanling County, Yingchuan.
There is Nandun Warehouse near Nandun.
The Huaiyang Canal flows through the south of Chen County, then flows southeast into the Xingou River, and then merges into the Ying River, which is called the intersection. There are Baichi Weir and Baichi Warehouse.
Wei Cang (Yanling), Nandun Cang (Nandun) and Baichi Cang (Xiang County) are the three major warehouse cities to be built after the autumn harvest - they will be repaired and expanded on the original basis.
Among the three major granary cities, Wei Granary in Yanling was the most intact, and it had some stored grain after the autumn harvest - the Yingchuan gentry collectively contributed 300,000 hu of millet.
Nandun Granary was originally the largest in scale, as it was prepared by the Wei and Jin dynasties for the army that was to attack Wu to pass through. It stored more than 400,000 hu of grain all year round, and could actually store 600,000 hu of grain.
A hundred-foot warehouse can store five hundred thousand hu of grain.
But the latter two are currently empty. There should be some reserves before the end of the year, but not too much.
"If we have a million hu of military rations in our hands, we will have peace of mind. What if we encounter the enemy?" Shao Xun said as he inspected with his chief secretary Pei Kang, left and right Sima Chen Yougen, Yang Chen, and military officer Yu Liang.
Everyone responded casually, but their minds were all on the imperial edict they had just received.
Shao Xun smiled as soon as he saw it and said, "You guys, it's not a big deal!"
"What does the governor mean?" Pei Kang asked.
He was the Chief Clerk, and considered the most important aide in the shogunate, and knew the situations of all the counties and kingdoms in Yuzhou very well.
In the past, every time he saw Shao Xun going to Kaocheng, he was frightened and worried that something might happen.
I am still very worried now, but not as panicked anymore. I even have a vague feeling that if something really happens, will it be all bad?
"The emperor just promoted me, and I refused to come to the king's service. This is unacceptable." Shao Xun said, "I have to go anyway."
"The troops have not yet moved, but the food and fodder must go first. Where does the food and fodder come from?" Pei Kang asked.
"A batch of grain ships from Guangling Duzhi have arrived in Junyi, but they dare not move forward." Shao Xun said, "I will protect these grain ships to Beijing."
Pei Kang suddenly realized that the grain for transport was military rations, and that was the idea.
"No need to worry." Shao Xun added: "My roots are in Henan, so I won't take any risks. The Xiongnu are just harassing us out of habit, and they don't have many troops. If things don't go well, we will just retreat."
After that, he added: "Henan is also everyone's foundation. If there is any accident, we must work together."
(End of this chapter)