Chapter 582 Path

Chapter 582 Path

Chapter 582 Path

The weather in mid-June was already very hot. Liang Fen weeded for a while and then sat down under the pavilion to rest.

The servants brought him cool water, melons and fruits for him to enjoy.

As for scholars, farm work is for experience, to please the body and mind. If you do too much, won't you be exhausted physically and mentally? It won't have the effect of cultivating your temperament.

A troop arrived on the post road west of the city.

There were about 500 people, all of them had horses. After stopping far away, the leading military officer pointed his whip and began to assign troops to each unit.

A moment later, dozens of riders rushed to the grove by the river, gathered their horses, and set them free. The rest of them took long spears and poked and stabbed in the reeds and grass.

Some people even climbed up tall trees and looked around.

Some people even waded to the other side of the river, searching and guarding with bows and swords in hand.

As for the semi-abandoned village where Liang Fen lives, it is the focus of special care.

Hundreds of riders trotted into the village, occupied key points, and carefully checked every place where people could be hidden.

They were ferocious and violent, and the few villagers who followed Liang Fen to settle here were so frightened that they hid in their homes, trembling with fear.

Liang Fen frowned, and just as he was about to return to his own house, a rider came from the front, dismounted from a distance, bowed to Liang Fen and said, "Don't be alarmed, Lord Liang. Lord Chen's carriage is temporarily resting in front. Please forgive me for disturbing you."

"Who are you?" Liang Fen asked with his brows relaxed.

"Liu Bin, the military governor of Longxiang Prefecture in Zaoting, Puyang."

Liang Fen didn't know him, but she nodded and said, "It's okay."

After Liu Bin completed his ceremony, he left with a sword in his hand.

Liang Fen felt relieved and leisurely ate the melons harvested from her own fields, watching the soldiers who were still running under the scorching sun.

He had led troops before and had some understanding of what the soldiers were thinking.

If the lower-level soldiers were dissatisfied with their commander, no matter how strict the military discipline was, they would find reasonable opportunities to slack off and go through the motions. But these people were different. They really loved their commander from the bottom of their hearts and patrolled the area seriously, even though this place might be several miles away from where Shao Xun was resting.

Liang Fen was a little surprised by this.

He could not understand the great joy that a person who was exhausted by the cruel world would get from suddenly turning things around.

Mr. Chen transformed them from low-class farmhands who could be bullied at will, serfs, mountain bandits, refugees and starving people into government soldiers with families, jobs, and loyal troops, who could provide food and clothing for their entire families and even have access to wine and meat to eat.

If this was just an improvement in living conditions and nothing else, then the dramatic improvement in their status in the countryside would be a huge spiritual satisfaction.

The once powerful scholars still despised and even hated them, but they could not do anything to them.

There are wastelands and grasslands in the countryside. Theoretically, anyone can graze there, but they were occupied by wealthy families in the past. Why don’t you try grazing there?

You can fish and gather in the swamps, and you can hunt and chop wood in the mountains and forests, but they are all occupied by the wealthy families. Why don’t you try going up the mountains and into the water?

But it's different now.

They could bring their own troops to graze on the wild meadows openly, fish and pick lotus in the lake openly, hunt in the mountains and collect wild products and cut firewood openly, and no one could stop them.

In the past two years, even slaves and farmhands of wealthy families fled with their families, trying to seek protection from the palace soldiers.

Someone took him in, and the wealthy and powerful didn't dare to come and ask for it, they could only curse and leave it at that.

Of course, the soldiers could not take them in for a long time. After all, there was only so much land, and the final result was that they were taken away by Longxiang Mansion and distributed to other soldiers who were short of troops, or settled in several counties directly controlled by Lord Chen, where they were given abandoned fields to cultivate and enrich the county and township population.

The government soldiers were an emerging force in the countryside. After opening up the path to becoming an official, they were no longer just an armed force but a political force.

Liang Fen was not a member of the Shao family's military and political group and did not know the inside story, but from limited observations, the government soldiers were actually equivalent to small landlords.

Shao Xun doesn't like big landlords, and he is trying to break up the large estates into small landlords.

Is this what he's after?

The south wind blew away the summer heat outside. Liang Fen stood up and looked at these dedicated soldiers, sighing.

He had a feeling that profound changes were slowly taking place in the inconspicuous places of the world. It had been 290 years since Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty established his rule over the world. The aristocratic families had grown stronger and stronger, slowly seizing the world's population, money, food, weapons, and official positions. No matter how the upper class tried to suppress them, it had no effect, and instead allowed them to grow stronger and stronger.

Some time ago, he had nothing to do and was flipping through ancient books, carefully reading the old events from the end of the Han Dynasty.

Inadvertently, he saw a bloody fact——

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, many heroes emerged. There were a total of thirty-three Qingyan clans (cultural scholars and local tyrants) who participated in the establishment of Cao Cao's hegemony and successfully shared the fruits of victory.

Among the seven families in Qingzhou, six are old families of the Later Han Dynasty, and only one family’s ancestors are unknown.

There were twenty-six families in Yanzhou, eighteen of whom were old families of the Later Han Dynasty, and eight of them took advantage of the chaos in the world to successfully ascend to power.

Overall, after the great chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, only 30% of the old clans were wiped out, which is too outrageous.

However, due to the appeasement and accommodation of Cao Wei and the Guochao in dealing with the gentry, the power of the gentry is now even greater than that of the late Han Dynasty. Can Shao Xun break free from this shackle?
He became more interested in this person: He is really brave!

To be selfish, sharing the world with the nobles can quickly unify the world. With your great contributions and prestige, no one dared to rebel while you were alive. Isn't that enough?

Even more, because of your great prestige, your sons can also enjoy your legacy. As long as he does not do too much evil, it will not be a problem for him to be the emperor for the rest of his life.

Such a dynasty can last at least two generations, and even three or four generations is possible. It has been a hundred years, isn’t that enough?

If the country had not been plagued by the infighting among the kings, it would not have ended like this after fifty years. It might have even survived for another thirty or forty years before it became too serious to reverse the situation.

However, Shao Xun wanted to establish a force to check and balance the aristocratic families.

This could be better or worse, it's really brave!

But isn't this a bold and courageous path? Only a true hero can do it. Someone who is impatient and short-sighted may not choose this path.

In fact, Shao Xun was paving the way for the world. The old path since the Later Han Dynasty might not work anymore. There would be unrest every few decades or hundreds of years, and it was really difficult to maintain stability.

I don't know whether this is good or bad. Liang Fen sighed and sat back down.

Who cares! Let’s leave this world to capable people. I will raise chickens and vegetables, read books and meet guests, and live out my life in the mountains.

******
Dozens of carriages were parked in a row under the sparse trees.

Some vehicles were carrying drinking water, clothing, and daily necessities.

Some cars were loaded with desks, paper, pens, weapons and tools.

Some of the cars were carrying people, mainly Shao Xun's family members and servants. The personal soldiers were scattered far away in all directions, keeping alert.

On the road not far away, a team that seemed endless was marching towards Luoyang.

Under the elm tree, Shao Xun was reviewing official letters and making comments.

The speed of food and grass transportation is very fast, and it is not necessary to wait until all the food and grass are collected before the troops can be mobilized. In fact, Hebei has already started to send troops.

Li Chong was appointed commander-in-chief of the Western Army, which marched northward from Zhaojun and besieged Yuanshi.

The Eastern Army is moving a little slower. The main force of the army led by Jin Zhengtong is still gathering in Bohai. It is expected to launch an offensive at the end of June and directly attack Hejian and Zhangwu.

In addition to them, there were also local tyrants' troops in Hebei under the command of the two men. In short, the momentum was so great that they wanted to drive the Xiongnu forces out of Hebei in one fell swoop.

Of course, the Huns would not sit idly by and wait for death.

According to the interrogation of prisoners, Liu Yao had just defeated Liu Kun near Jinyang, forcing him to retreat to Jinyang, Yangqu and other places, and seek help everywhere - this may be the main reason why the Huns have not yet penetrated into Hebei.

However, the Huns in the south began to move.

Shi Hu led a large group of troops to attack Chaoge.

Liu Qia's 5,000 men defended the city for ten days, and Shi Hu had no choice but to retreat and plunder the local area. He even fought as far as Liyang, but was repelled by the Yicong Army cavalry.

Shi Hu also sent people to cut wood to make rafts, sneaking hundreds of cavalry to Henan, causing a big disturbance in Xingyang, but was repelled by the governor Pei Chun. He then broke into Puyang, and the 2,000 soldiers left behind urgently assembled and repelled him.

Wang Mize remained motionless, perhaps because the Zhongwu Army was playing hide-and-seek with him in the East and West Xiao Mountains, and the small and medium-scale battles never stopped.

However, according to the secret report from the assassin's supervisor, Wang Mi probably didn't care much about the Zhongwu Army, and could even be said to despise it.

Shao Shen had only a few thousand soldiers under his command, while Wang Mi had 30,000 peasant soldiers and more than 2,000 regular elite soldiers. The strength of the two was not on the same level.

Lao Wang's main job recently is to implement the two-year three-crop system. He planted winter wheat last winter and a season of miscellaneous grains this summer. At the same time, he established pastures in Hu County and Tongguan, using mountain and forest resources to graze livestock and train cavalry.

This guy has a strong learning ability.

At the same time, this also reminded Shao Xun that no one is a fool, and it is not a good idea to think that the enemy is too stupid. After so many years, they will always study the process of your rise and try to learn your various routines.

The world is accelerating into the Northern Dynasties ahead of schedule.

"Husband, have some fruit." Yu Wenjun took the washed fruit and placed it on the table beside her.

Lu Xun was also there, standing in the shade of a tree, fanning herself non-stop. She had not wanted to come to Luoyang, but Shao Xun insisted on taking her along, and Yu Wenjun agreed, so they came.

She is actually not young anymore, and has faded out of the first-line "main lineup" in recent years and has become a "substitute".

But people always need to change their tastes. Young girls have their own advantages, but if you do it too often, you will get tired of it. At this time, it is also very refreshing to let an aunt help you cool down.

What's more, Princess Fan Yang is over 40 years old, but she still knows how to spray, which is also a great pleasure.

Song Yi fiddled with the instrument and stood by carefully.

Jing Shi also came and was talking to Song Yi. She was not a concubine of Shao Xun, but she had actually established a good relationship with Yu Wenjun in recent years, and they often studied music and dance, and had a close relationship.

This woman is not simple.

When Shao Xun was tired from handling official duties, the two of them would bring a few female musicians to play music to relieve his fatigue.

What a luxurious enjoyment!

After chatting with his staff for a long time and reviewing documents for a long time, he sat back on the bed, closed his eyes and dozed off, with soft and soothing music echoing in his ears. It was an extraordinary enjoyment!

"Where did the fruit come from?" Shao Xun asked.

"I picked it from the roadside." Yu Wenjun said as she sat next to him.

She would stick close to her husband, even if he smiled and said he felt hot, she would still sit over to him, and in the end her husband would always give in to her.

Thinking back to the time in Kaocheng, her husband must have been really scared, right? But this also shows that her husband really cares about her. Whenever she thinks of this, Yu Wenjun feels sweet in her heart.

Correspondence with Sister Liang is indeed useful.

The first time they communicated was probably in September of the sixth year of Yongjia (312), when Sister Liang Yu Minhuai sent a letter to Prince Futu, asking her to help mediate and ask her husband to dispatch troops westward to lift the siege of Luoyang.

She actually didn't help much that time, and she felt a little guilty. Thinking of Sister Liang's situation, she sighed again, it was too pitiful.

I am lucky to have a good husband.

"Fruits picked from the roadside? Did you pay?" Shao Xun asked while eating apricots.

"It's just an abandoned orchard, full of weeds. I heard there's no one living within ten miles." Yu Wenjun said, "My husband wants to recruit soldiers, right? There shouldn't be many people in Luoyang, Henan, Yanshi, and Gaoshi."

"It's easy to place the soldiers, but what about the generals?" Shao Xun said with a smile, "But you are right. The area around Luoyang is indeed too desolate, which is just the right place to place the soldiers."

"I still have land and farmhands in Nandun, Runan and Yingchuan. How about using them all as troops?" Yu Wenjun said.

That was her dowry, but she didn't care about it at all. She was so happy recently that she didn't want anything else except her husband.

"No need." Shao Xun said, "We'll think of a solution after we defeat Shi Le."

If he took over Zhangwu, Hejian, Gaoyang, Zhongshan, Changshan and other counties, he would no longer pardon some people.

Last year when we attacked Yecheng, I said that we would only arrest the main culprits and not ask about the accomplices. If you didn't surrender in time, don't blame me this year.

However, although the area around Luoyang was almost a wasteland, it was not advisable to deploy a large number of government soldiers without defeating Wang Mi, as they would be easily looted.

But this is a long-term goal, and we will have to do it in the future.

It may sound cruel, but in counties and kingdoms like Puyang, Jijun, and Dunqiu, where the two sides repeatedly fought and plundered, local order tended to collapse and the population was extremely sparse, which was exactly in line with the true meaning of "a blank piece of paper is good for painting".

After settling the soldiers, it will become a qualified basic base.

By the time his descendants come to live, the number of government soldiers will increase, and they will beg to be transferred to civilian households and become self-cultivating farmers.

This process may take decades, and even hundreds of years in counties and states that have been reduced to a wasteland.

A ruler must have a basic base, otherwise he would not have the capital to bargain with the aristocratic families and drive them to do this and that.

The four counties of Henan, Xingyang, Hanoi and Hongnong are very suitable to be used as the base because the war damage was too severe.

The sound of rustling footsteps was heard, and Hu Wufuzhi, the chief priest of the Western Pavilion, came over and reported in a low voice: "Mingsir, the court has agreed to send troops to attack Hongnong."

(End of this chapter)