Chapter 387 Obedience Test
Chapter 387 Obedience Test
Lead-gray clouds covered the sky and pressed low towards the ground.
The autumn rain comes in waves, from morning to night.
When the cold wind blows, the biting chill is overwhelming.
The streets are full of stains.
It was a turbid stream washed out by rain mixed with ashes and blood.
There are only a few houses in the city, and the tiny candle flames look like ghost lights from a distance.
Footsteps were heard and the last of the lights went out.
Wang Xuan got off the carriage, gently pushed open the door, and came to the messy courtyard.
"This house is very big, with three courtyards in front and back. The owner is in a hurry to sell it and only wants ten thousand dollars." The servant followed behind and said softly.
Wang Xuan did not reply, but looked at the corridor in the distance.
A cool and quiet woman stood there, with a graceful figure and fluttering clothes. The expression on her face was full of curiosity and confusion, as if she was an elf who had just entered the world.
"Ayu, what are you doing?" Wang Xuan asked.
Wang Jingfeng withdrew his hand with an "ah" sound, and the goddess's aura instantly disappeared into thin air.
"Brother, I'm trying to see whether it is raining or snowing." Wang Jingfeng said.
Wang Xuan shook his head helplessly and said, "Follow me in."
After saying that, he walked into the hall.
The main room was roughly tidied, but there were not many household items.
There were no bricks on the ground, and the dark brown soil was uneven in patches, with the table placed on top, tilted crookedly.
"Brother, why did you come here? The war has only been over for half a month, and it's still so chaotic and scary." Wang Jingfeng complained after he walked in.
"I'm here for something important." Wang Xuan said this with a guilty conscience.
"What's the matter?" Wang Jingfeng was stunned. She thought...
"Chu Ming (Wang Shu) is here from Pengcheng." Wang Xuan said, "The canal will soon freeze over, and only half of the grain has been transported this year. A few days ago, a ship set out for Changyi (the seat of Gaoping). Shouldn't I come and supervise it? This courtyard will be a branch of the Ministry of Finance in the future, and someone should be sent to guard it."
"You lied to me." Wang Jingfeng said and lowered his head.
Wang Xuan didn't know how to answer.
"I met Mr. Chen today." Wang Jingfeng said again.
"Huh? When?" Wang Xuan asked in surprise.
"When you go out."
"Mr. Chen is coming in?"
"Mr. Chen returned from Lu, sat for a while, and then went to Jinxiang."
"Why go to Jinxiang?"
"I heard that he was going to give rewards to the Silver Spear Army."
"Oh." Wang Xuan suddenly realized, and then asked in confusion: "Why did Mr. Chen tell you this?"
Wang Jingfeng shook her head slowly. It was obvious that she was not very clear. Then she seemed to have thought of something and her mood improved. She said with a little pride: "Mr. Chen thinks I am beautiful."
Wang Xuan held his forehead helplessly and sighed: "Mr. Chen has defeated the Xiongnu. From now on, there is no woman he cannot get. Who dares to say anything bad about him?"
"But..." Wang Jingfeng was a little unconvinced: "There are no women prettier than me in Luoyang."
Wang Xuan decided not to talk about this with his elder sister.
The more you talk, the more excited she gets, and she really has the capital to be proud of it. Otherwise, my father wouldn't have used my eldest sister as a bargaining chip - but who knew that Mr. Chen had such a strong taste and actually liked a cold woman like my second sister.
Thinking of his father Wang Yan, Wang Xuan's thoughts returned to the main business.
Langya King Sima Rui's move this time is very big.
Zhou Fu had been wiped out and fled back to his hometown in Runan. Yangzhou was finally unified, and there were no longer two governors talking to each other as before.
In the battle of Shouchun, Chu Zhong (Wang Dun) was the nominal commander, but the battle was actually fought by his subordinates. He was only responsible for logistics, coordination, liaison, reporting and other miscellaneous matters.
Gan Zhuo (great-grandson of Gan Ning), who had the greatest military achievements, once served as a military officer in Sima Yue's court. This time he was appointed as the governor of Xiangzhou - the original governor Xun Tiao had been captured by Du Tao.
After defeating Zhou Fu, the King of Langya, who was in charge of the military affairs of the five states of Yang, Jiang, Xiang, Jiao and Guang, sent troops north to capture Xia Pi, and then defeated Zhao Gu in Pengcheng. Gu led the remnants of his troops to flee north.
After taking Xuzhou, the King of Langya appointed Zu Ti as the governor of Xuzhou.
This matter was reported to him secretly by Wang Shu. No one knew why he did so. However, Wang Xuan had already sent someone to inform Mr. Chen. Perhaps this was Chu Ming's purpose.
Speaking of which, Wang Xuan now also understands the feeling of a large family being divided into various factions.
Most of the descendants of the Wang family of Langya went to Jianye and worked for Wang Rui of Langya.
His father and he were in Luoyang, nominally neutral, but in fact secretly leaning towards Mr. Chen.
Passing messages between family members in different positions is a relatively tactful way.
But it seems that Mr. Chen doesn’t quite agree with this candidate?
Wang Xuan thought hard and decided to go back and talk to his father about changing someone.
In Xuzhou, everyone is currently in a tacit understanding.
The navy of King Langya began to retreat, giving up the territory they had already gained.
Mr. Chen also did not get involved in Xuzhou.
Both sides retained respect for the court, even if it was only superficial.
However, after this battle, anyone with eyes and brains could see that the situation in the Central Plains was undergoing profound changes.
******
The post road was muddy during rainy days.
The battle had just ended, and the place was deserted with few pedestrians. Through the light rain curtain, one could see the shadows of dry trees on the riverbank parallel to the Caoqu (Heshui).
The river bank, which has been in disrepair for many years, is dilapidated and intermittent.
There are several ancient locust trees and willow trees standing beside the post road, and their thick and twisted trunks are covered with arrow marks.
A few crows were standing on the treetops, crowed loudly, making the bare fields near and far look particularly desolate.
A long convoy drove over, and the first one was loaded with black things - heads?
In fact, there is more than one car, there is a second and a third car behind...
The crows became excited and became even more noisy.
The wind howled in all directions, and the drizzle gradually turned into sleet.
Soon the heads were soaked and covered.
The convoy would occasionally stop outside a manor or dock to take a short rest.
Every time this happens, the heads on the vehicles become the focus of public attention.
After the driver's introduction, these sons of nobles and powerful families realized that these were the heads of the Huns who had been chopped off near Gaoping, a total of more than 2,400 heads.
Hearing this, everyone stood in awe and looked at the spacious and tall carriage with fear.
The carts were sent from Xuchang, along with a large amount of supplies and thousands of auxiliary troops, to pick up Mr. Chen and return.
Someone who knew the matter whispered that it was most likely one of the six large carriages bestowed by the imperial court on the Kaifu Yitong Sansi. It was made of exquisite materials, with beautiful workmanship and luxurious decoration, and it embodied luxury and majesty everywhere.
That's it!
No one thought it was inappropriate. After all, Xincai Wang Sima Que had received such a ceremony, so why couldn't Chen Gong do the same?
In the battles of Heze and Gaoping, the Huns' prestige was greatly reduced by defeating cavalry with cavalry.
There was also a surprise attack on Dongwuyang from the river, which caused the bandits to waver on all fronts and lose the courage to continue fighting.
With such martial arts skills, who dares to talk nonsense?
After being amazed, everyone waited quietly by the road, hoping to meet Mr. Chen.
The luxury car stopped.
"You go down, I won't go." Wang Jingfeng pinched his nose and said angrily: "Those heads stink."
"Does it stink?" Shao Xun smiled.
"You deal with dead people every day, so you can't smell it anymore." Wang Jingfeng glanced at him.
"I work so hard, isn't it all for your own good?" Shao Xun asked.
Wang Jingfeng blushed and lowered his head, but soon smiled secretly and said, "Am I really beautiful?"
Shao Xun: “…”
He shook his head and got off the carriage. A crowd of people immediately bowed and saluted: "Mr. Chen."
Shao Xun returned the greeting, responded with a few words, then stood by the roadside looking at the endless fields.
"After the spring, the court will send a new prime minister, and we will need your help with some things by then." Shao Xun suddenly said.
"Mr. Chen, please feel free to speak." Everyone looked at each other, and finally pushed someone forward and said.
"The Kaocheng Shogunate intends to settle 3,900 households of 'commoners' in the seven counties of Gaoping State." Shao Xun turned around and said, "General Zhenjun and Envoy Yang will allocate some money and food. You guys can help a little more. Do you have any objections?"
Everyone was speechless for a moment.
Fortunately, the person who was pushed out was quite clever. He glanced at the Xiongnu's head and immediately said, "No objection."
Shao Xun nodded and said, "That's right. The specific amount will be discussed with you after the Prime Minister takes office."
Gaoping was a county fiefdom, and was the same as his Chen County.
The first Duke of Gaoping was Chen Qian, the son of Chen Jiao, the prime minister of Cao Wei and a founding hero of the Jin Dynasty.
After Chen Qian's death, the dynasty was passed down to three generations: Chen Yu, Chen Zhi and Chen Cui.
When the Xiongnu invaded, Chen Cui's fiefdom was breached, and the men and women of the Chen family were either killed or escaped, while the rest were abducted by the Xiongnu.
The prime minister also died.
Theoretically, the imperial court should choose one person from the remaining members of the Chen clan to be adopted by Chen Cui and succeed him to the throne of Duke of Gaoping County.
But Shao Xun didn't want the Chen family to continue to abuse their power in Gaoping State.
Among the seven counties of Gaoping, there are only four prominent aristocratic families.
The Chen family of Gaoping County Duke is one of them, there are the Tan family and the Xi family in Jinxiang, and there is also a Luqiu family in Juye. When Sima Yue was the Taifu, Luqiu Chong served as the chief secretary in the shogunate and later became an official in the court.
When Luoyang was besieged, Luqiu Chong was a little scared. He resigned from his official position and planned to run to Kaocheng again to work for Sima Yue's son.
As for why this happened, of course it was because they discovered that Shao Taibai had emerged in Henan. With him, Kaocheng was safer than Luoyang, and even if there were no good positions in the Zhenjun General's office, they would go there first to occupy a position.
The so-called "3,900 households of common people" mentioned by Shao Xun were actually the 3,900 remaining soldiers of the Yamen Army.
He had decided to take advantage of the opportunity when Gaoping was destroyed to relocate the Yamen Army as a whole to the seven counties to serve as government soldiers and strengthen control over the area.
Gaoping was protected by Dongping State in the north and was not on the front line of the war. Once the enemy invaded, they would first enter Dongping, Puyang and Jibei, which would buffer Gaoping, which was on the second line, and allow the government troops to gather in time.
He had already decided to give the position of Prime Minister of Gaoping State to Yu Hua, who was unemployed at home.
As for whether Gaoping State should stay or go, he was inclined to abolish the state and establish a county, and let Yu Hua be the prefect.
Talking about money and grain with this group of local scholars and powerful people today is not really necessary, it is just a test of obedience.
These grandsons are all fence-sitters, they are filial to everyone who comes.
After the new prime minister took office and the soldiers were settled in, their room to please both sides was greatly reduced.
To put it bluntly, it means actual control.
(End of this chapter)