Chapter 630 Going back on one's word
Chapter 630 Going back on one's word
Han Xiaoji's family and Li Jing were on their way to Gaoling County. Han Xiaoji and Li Jing were riding horses, while Han Xiaoji's wife and two children were sitting in an ox cart.
At this time, dust was flying in front of them. It was the arrival of the army. Han Xiaoji and Li Jing looked at each other and they immediately reacted and said to the driver: "Take the small road!"
They were very lucky. There was a small path on the left side of the field. The ox cart immediately turned around and headed towards the path. After about two hundred steps, cavalry came at lightning speed. It was the 3,000 cavalry led by Wang Shichong.
Wang Shi was filled with rage. Although he saw the ox cart, he did not take it seriously, thinking it was local villagers. The cavalry rushed past like a flood. Seeing the cavalry running away, Li Jing turned his horse around and ran back to the official road first. After watching for a moment, he waved to Han Xiaoji.
Han Xiaoji came back with the ox cart and asked, "Did you see clearly, my dear brother? Whose army is this?"
Li Jing nodded, "It's the Qianniu Guards, and the leader seems to be Wang Shichong!"
Wang Shichong and his son were the most favored ministers around the emperor. His father Wang Long served as the Minister of Punishments, and Wang Shichong himself served as the Vice Minister of War. They were good at flattering the emperor, so not only did the emperor like them, but even Yu Shiji, who was always mean, praised them.
Han Xiaoji was shocked, "Did Wang Shichong go to Gaoling County to arrest someone?"
Li Jing sneered and said, "The Jin Wang army in Gaoling County has 30,000 cavalry. Wang Shichong's troops are nothing. He must have hit a big snag and returned."
"My dear brother, you are right. We dared to confront each other head-on in the East Market yesterday, and we will not give in in Gaoling County."
The ox cart sped up and headed towards Gaoling County.
In the afternoon, Han Xiaoji, Li Jing and his party arrived in Gaoling County. After registering in the tent outside the west gate, a soldier led them to the military camp.
Luo Shixin had set aside a part of the military camp and separated it from the barracks with a fence, which became a temporary residence for officials. Su Wei and his family lived here. When Han Xiaoji's family and Li Jing arrived, there were already more than 30 officials and their families in the residence.
Everyone was familiar with each other and the relationship quickly became warmer. Han Hyo-ki's family was given a separate large tent, and officials brought daily necessities, and the family finally breathed a sigh of relief.
While everyone was talking, a soldier asked at the door of the tent: "Excuse me, is Li Jing here?"
Li Jing quickly raised his hand, "It's me!"
"My general invites you!"
Li Jing didn't know what happened, so he followed the soldiers to the central army tent. The soldier went in to report, and soon came out and said, "Mr. Li, please come in!"
Li Jing walked into the big tent, and Luo Shixin stepped forward and asked with a smile: "Are you Han Qinhu's nephew Li Jing?"
Before Luo Shixin left, King Xiao Xia of Jin gave him a list of talents to recruit, and Li Jing was on the list, ranking fifth.
Li Jing nodded, "Exactly!"
"Mr. Li, please take a seat!"
Luo Shixin asked him to sit down and said with a smile: "What position does Mr. Li hold in Chang'an?"
"I will serve as the doctor of the imperial guards!"
"It turned out to be Doctor Li. His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin admired Envoy Li very much and asked me to pay attention to him and invite him to Jiangnan!"
It was not surprising that Li Jing did this. He was already very famous in Luoyang, but because of his uncle Han Qinhu, the emperor did not value him, so he followed Han Sengshou to Chang'an.
Li Jing nodded, "Thank you for your kindness, King Jin!"
Luo Shixin smiled and said, "I have 30,000 cavalry here, and I just happen to be short of a cavalry assistant general. Envoy Li is a doctor in the chariot department, so he should be more suitable. Can you please accept it temporarily and arrange another position for me after we arrive in Jingkou?"
Li Jing smiled happily and said, "I just happen to have nothing to do, so I'm willing to serve the general!"
The Cavalry Assistant General is the Military Assistant General, who is in charge of the cavalry's military registration, training, meritorious service, rewards and other matters, and has considerable power.
Luo Shixin first used Li Jing to prevent him from being indecisive and unwilling to go to Jiangnan. Wang Shichong returned to Chang'an. As expected, he rushed to the palace to complain to the emperor.
But contrary to Wang Shichong's expectation, when Emperor Yang Guang heard that the other side sent out cavalry to fight, the anger on his face disappeared, and he sighed for a while and said, "Let the Jin king's men do whatever they want! Don't worry about it, you quickly pack up the surrendered soldiers, I am going back to Luoyang."
Wang Shichong was stunned. The emperor actually didn't care about the chaos under the command of Prince Jin. Was he indulging Prince Jin's army?
Wang Shichong was not a fool. He suddenly realized that the emperor was actually very worried about falling out with the Prince of Jin. It would be terrible if the Prince of Jin rebelled.
The emperor did not want to provoke the Prince of Jin, and he even pretended not to know that there were 300 heavily armored infantrymen in the East Market. After realizing this, Wang Shichong would not cause trouble for him again.
After all, Wang Shichong's rule of survival is to cater to the emperor. He would try his best to do whatever the emperor likes and appreciates, and he would never touch anything the emperor does not want to provoke. Now that he found that the emperor did not dare to provoke the Prince of Jin's army, he naturally stopped and no longer asked how the Prince of Jin recruited rebels in Chang'an.
Three days later, Emperor Yang Guang appointed Qu Tutong as the garrison commander of Chang'an, leaving 50,000 troops to guard Guanzhong, while he led the army back to Luoyang.
As for whether or not to move the capital to Chang'an, and when to move the capital to Chang'an, Yang Guang did not mention it at all. Perhaps this is what they call forgetting the pain once the wound has healed!
In the Yuan Mansion, the head of the family, Yuan Xiaoju, is giving important arrangements to Yuan Min. Yuan Min is also going to Jiangnan to replace Yuan Wenzhen. Yuan Wenzhen focuses on business and is not as politically sensitive as Yuan Min, and his family status is also not as good as Yuan Min.
The emperor will set off for Luoyang tomorrow. Judging from the emperor's various arrangements, he will not consider moving the capital in the short term. This is undoubtedly a betrayal of his previous promise, which makes the Guanlong nobles extremely dissatisfied and puts Yuan Xiaoju under great pressure.
After learning from his mistakes, Yuan Xiaoju decided to increase his bet on Xiao Xia, which was the background for letting Yuan Min go to Jiangnan.
"The next step for the King of Jin must be to take back the other six counties in Jianghuai and Xiangyang. Tell the King of Jin that our Yuan family can cooperate with him in Xiangyang County."
Yuan Min hesitated and asked, "Master, are you sure it's the Yuan family, and not the Guanlong nobles?"
Yuan Xiaoju shook his head. "Of course it's the Yuan family. This time the emperor went back on his word and didn't mention moving the capital to Chang'an. Everyone is very dissatisfied with me. I bet on the King of Jin, but many families are unwilling to follow me. Instead, they bet on Li Yuan with the Dugu family. Our Yuan family has no way out. We can only increase the stakes and must help the King of Jin ascend to the throne."
"Master, have the Guanlong nobles split?"
"It's not like they're split, but they're not as united as before. Each family has their own ideas, and it's hard to pull them together. I don't want to force others to bet on the King of Jin with me."
"Nephew understands!"
"Go! Go south with Luo Shixin and give my letter to the King of Jin."
Five days later, Luo Shixin also led his army to leave Chang'an and return to Xiangyang. He was accompanied by more than one hundred recruited officials and their families. They sat in horse-drawn carriages, taking the elderly and children with them, and headed south in a mighty procession.
Of course, more than a hundred officials were only a part of them. Many other officials had family matters to attend to and had to go to Jiangnan on their own. They also received a hundred taels of silver for travel expenses.
These days, Xiao Xia has been on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Evacuating hundreds of thousands of people in Jiangyang County is currently the top priority of the Jiangnan government. The harsh and dirty living environment in Jiangyang County is already shocking. Once the plague breaks out, the Jiangnan Province will suffer a devastating disaster.
This time, Xiao Xia decided for the first time to use forced means to resettle the 300,000 refugees in Jiangyang County, including 100,000 who would go to Jian'an County. The decision would be made by drawing lots, and whoever was selected had to go.
Xiao Xia adopted a strategy of both a stick and a carrot. The stick was coercion, and the carrot was giving 100,000 immigrants ten years of tax exemption and a subsidy of three stones of grain to each household.
In addition, a large number of houses and villages were built and a large amount of land was prepared. Insufficient population has always been the biggest concern of Jian'an County. This time all government offices were mobilized together to welcome the arrival of new immigrants with the greatest sincerity.
Ten days ago, a total of 28,000 immigrant households won the lottery for going south and immediately began to move south.
At the dock, thousands of people were boarding the boats, bringing their families with them, crying, as they were forcibly escorted south by the army. Three hundred large ships with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes successively sent 100,000 refugees to Min County. It was already in the late stage.
Xiao Xia stood on a high place, watching the last group of people board the ship.
(End of this chapter)