Chapter 672 News from Taiyuan
Chapter 672 News from Taiyuan
After leaving the royal office, Yuan Min accompanied the master in the carriage. He could not help but criticize, "Prince Jin is taking things for granted. How can he guarantee that the land and houses in Hebei and Central Plains will be returned to their original owners?"
Yuan Xiaoju was furious. Only now did he understand why Yuan Min had not done a good job this year and could not even meet His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. As a result, the Yuan family had no sense of existence in front of the Prince of Jin. Only now did he know the reason. It turned out that Yuan Min looked down on the Prince of Jin from the bottom of his heart. No wonder!
Yuan Xiaoju said coldly: "You know nothing! Go back to Chang'an tomorrow, or let Yuan Wenzhen come back."
Yuan Min had been a high-ranking official after all, and he felt a little embarrassed to be reprimanded so harshly by the head of the family.
"I"
"What?" Yuan Xiaoju glared at him.
Yuan Min softened. The person in front of him was the head of the family, someone he absolutely could not afford to offend.
"My nephew is stupid, please enlighten me, Master."
Yuan Xiaoju also felt that he had spoken too harshly just now, so he slowed down his tone and said, "Your problem is that you underestimated the King of Jin. He is determined to unify the world, so he said that if the real estate title is recognized, Hebei and the Central Plains will be his territory in the future. What is there for him to be afraid of saying?"
"The head of the family said that the King of Jin has ambitions for the rest of the world, but he has no plans to go north, and last year he did not even cross the Huai River."
Yuan Xiaoju's anger, which he had just suppressed, rose again. He gritted his teeth and cursed, "I told you that you are an idiot. Who is the King of Jin? He killed Li Zitong and Du Fuwei as easily as crushing two ants. But for him, forbearance is more difficult than not forbearance. He is in fact a separatist regime, but the emperor can't find a reason to reduce the power of the vassal states. Political legitimacy is as important as military strength. He has been forbearing and pretending to sleep. When he is no longer needed to forbear and pretend to sleep, you will see what he will be like. At that time, what will our Yuan family have to cooperate with him?"
Yuan Min finally understood that Xiao Xia had been keeping silent due to political considerations, and not to preserve his strength as he had always thought.
He said with shame on his face: "I know I was wrong!"
Yuan Xiaoju sighed deeply, "You have wasted a whole year of my time. You are not suitable to stay in Jiangnan anymore. You should leave for Hanzhong immediately to assist Yu Wenhuaji in the coup. I will personally take charge of Jiangnan."
Yuan Min had no choice but to bow and say, "Junior will leave tonight!"
After seeing Yuan Xiaoju off, it was already late, so Xiao Xia took a carriage back to Jiangdu Palace.
After the departure of eldest aunt Yang Lihua, the Jiangdu Palace became much emptier. The day before yesterday, Empress Xiao also returned to Luoyang with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
They were the only family left in the mansion. Zhang Qiao and Xiao Mei were both pregnant and had difficulty moving around, so the mansion suddenly became deserted.
Xiao Xia went to the hot spring first, and Lu Xieting and Xiao Qing quickly brought several maids to serve their husbands in the hot spring.
Lying in the warm water, the pool is steaming and filled with a faint fragrance.
Xiao Xia hugged his two wives and said with a smile: "I was wondering if we will miss the South when we move to the north. We have been here for ten years!"
Xiao Qing took the cream and applied it on his back, saying softly, "Rich people live the same life wherever they live!"
Soap is a scented soap invented by Xiao Xia a few years ago. It soon became popular among the wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River. Since last year, the price has come down and middle-class people can afford it.
At the same time, soap foam, a great tool for washing clothes, came into being. Every woman washing clothes by the rivers and ponds in the south of the Yangtze River had a piece of soap foam next to her.
Lu Xieting also laughed and said, "Sister Xiaoqing said this very well. The reason why the south is not used to heat and the north is not used to cold is mainly because there are no conditions for heating and making ice."
Xiao Xia didn't say anything, her thoughts drifting away. Lu Xieting and Xiao Qing smiled at each other and began to massage their husbands' shoulders, head and neck.
Xiao Xia simply lay comfortably on the evergreen stone and let his two wives rub his back and massage him. However, in his mind he was thinking about Yuan Xiaoju's visit today.
Of course Xiao Xia also knew that the Yuan family wanted to bet on him, while the Dugu family wanted to bet on Li Yuan. However, recently the Dugu family also began to show goodwill to him frequently, obviously wanting to bet on both sides.
Yuan Xiaoju certainly wouldn't come here for no reason. It wasn't easy for him to come from Chang'an, but Yuan Xiaoju didn't even tell him why he came?
Perhaps he came for Yuan Min. Yuan Min was indeed incompetent this year and his performance in all aspects was far inferior to Yuan Wenzhen. Although Yuan Min was the legitimate son and Yuan Wenzhen was only a illegitimate son, in the face of the fundamental interests of the Yuan family, legitimate sons and illegitimate sons were not important.
But if Yuan Min was not doing his job well, it should be Yuan Min who went to Chang'an to report on his work, instead of the head of the family running to Jiangdu.
Xiao Xia still couldn't figure out Yuan Xiaoju's real purpose for coming to Jiangnan. He must have a deep intention, but he just didn't tell her. Unknowingly, Xiao Xia fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already dark. He didn't know when he put on his clothes.
After dinner, Xiao Xia came to the study. As soon as he sat down, his wife Cui Yu hurried over.
"Husband, Zhang Liang wants to see you urgently!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Where is the person?"
"Wait in Qilin Hall!"
Xiao Xia immediately got on a light carriage and headed towards the front yard.
Arriving at Qilin Hall, Zhang Liang stood up and said, "Your Highness, I received an urgent pigeon letter from Taiyuan!"
Xiao Xia had told Zhang Liang before that if there was any urgent news from Taiyuan, he should be notified immediately.
Xiao Xia nodded, "Sit down first!"
Zhang Liang sat down and handed a piece of information to Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia opened the note and took a closer look. It was exactly what he had guessed. Li Yuan was going to lead his army to the south.
At present, Li Yuan's sphere of influence is limited to Taiyuan Prefecture, Lishi County, Loufan County and Yanmen County. Mayi County and Dingxiang County in the north are Liu Wuzhou's territory, while the area south of Taiyuan Prefecture is the court's territory.
Li Yuan sent troops at this time, but Xiao Xia could not see through Li Yuan's intention. Li Yuan was obviously taking advantage of Emperor Yang Guang and taking advantage of Yang Guang's attack on Bashu to go south to expand his territory.
Either he wanted to occupy the entire Hedong area, which was Li Yuan's first intention, and then occupy Luoyang or Chang'an depending on the situation.
The situation at this time is different from history. In history, Yang Guang was in Jiangdu and Li Yuan wanted to occupy Chang'an. Now the emperor is in Hanzhong, and Li Yuan's attack on Chang'an will obviously cause trouble for himself.
Xiao Xia felt that it was more likely that Li Yuan would attack Luoyang. By taking Luoyang, they could obtain a large amount of food and supplies, and their strength would be rapidly enhanced, thus preparing for the next step of firmly controlling the entire Hedong region.
At this moment, Xiao Xia suddenly thought of Empress Xiao. Oh no! She couldn't go back to Luoyang at this time.
Xiao Xia immediately ordered: "Go find Luo Shixin to see me!"
Soon, Luo Shixin hurried over, knelt on one knee and saluted, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!"
Xiao Xia handed him the gold medal, military token, and a letter and said, "You must lead 10,000 cavalrymen north immediately and chase the Queen's fleet back!"
Luo Shixin took the letter, the gold medal, and the military token, bowed, and said, "I will set out right away!"
He got up and left in a hurry.
Xiao Xia paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back. What on earth had happened?
The emperor marched south, Yuan Xiaoju came to find him, and Li Yuan marched south in a big way. Are these three related?
What did the Guanlong nobles want to do? Did they want to launch a coup?
Xiao Xia came up with this idea because there had been a coup d'état in Jiangdu in history. The coup d'état happened because the emperor fled to Jiangdu in disgrace, and the Xiaoguo Army that followed him were all soldiers from Guanzhong. They missed their hometown and mutinied under the instigation of someone with ulterior motives.
But the context is wrong now. The emperor led an army of 200,000 to the south, not to flee in disgrace. The army is also in Hanzhong, not Jiangdu.
Zhang Liang whispered, "Your Highness, do you have anything else to ask me?"
Xiao Xia then remembered that Zhang Liang was still standing beside him. He apologized, "I'm sorry, I forgot about you. How about this! You arrange for the spies in Chang'an to go to Hanzhong to find out the situation. I want to know the situation in Hanzhong."
Zhang Liang bowed and said, "I will arrange it tomorrow morning!"
(End of this chapter)