Chapter 683 Back to Luoyang

Chapter 683 Back to Luoyang

Chapter 683 Back to Luoyang
Liu Quan and Liu Zhao arrived in Hanoi earlier than Shao Xun.

They each led 20,000 people south, totaling 40,000 people, including men, women, young and old, and arrived directly in the area of ​​Yewang and Heyang North City. Their purpose was: to eat!

A large number of officials and civilians in Yewang fled, leaving behind many vacant houses, which were perfect for living.

Many refugees were once settled outside the northern city of Heyang - and there are still some now - and after some of the refugees went to Xingyang, some shacks were vacated, which could be used for living.

The Qinshui River contains a lot of silt and has not been silted for many years, so it is no longer possible to transport grain. Therefore, after the grain ships arrive at Fangtou and Heyang, they still need to be transported by land. The road is long and it is winter now. Instead of spending a lot of money to transport it to Shangdang, it is better to go south to eat by themselves.

In Gaodu, Xunshi and other places, we only need to leave tens of thousands of strong men to guard against the enemy.

On the first day of November, Shao Xun arrived in Yewang County and climbed the city wall to look west.

What a vast white earth!
It is not just the sight brought by the snow, but also the actual situation in Hanoi's ten counties.

Most of the population was controlled by the solitary fortress, and it was good to have an average of several thousand people. After experiencing this disaster, he didn't know how many people were left in the ten counties of Hanoi, 20,000? 30,000? Or a little more?
After pacifying the scattered and disbanded soldiers, perhaps there will be more, after all, they are just fleeing from the war, not dead.

After the refugees are resettled, there will be more places.

"Pass the order." Shao Xun turned his head and looked at the generals and staff behind him, and said, "Heyang magistrate Cheng Yuantan is transferred to Yewang magistrate and concurrently Henei County Magistrate. He is ordered to recruit the lost and scattered people and govern the counties."

The county magistrate is the deputy of the prefect. Generally speaking, he has little real power and his rank is not high, the eighth rank. If it is a border county, there will be no county magistrate but a chief secretary.

Cheng Yuantan was previously the magistrate of Heyang, a key location and a large county, with an official rank of 1,000 stones, the sixth grade.

Yewang County was extremely dilapidated, but it was the capital of Henei County after all, so Shao Xun decided to give it the status of a large county, still of the sixth rank.

The appearance of county magistrates in the Jin Dynasty ranged from the sixth to the eighth grade.

The assistant officials in the county really cannot be compared with the county magistrate, there is a big gap. In this respect, it is very different from later generations - can you imagine that the deputy mayor is two ranks lower than the county magistrate?
But if the prefect is absent, the county magistrate is no longer a mascot, but a person of low rank but great power who can temporarily act as the prefect.

Tang Jian, the governor of Henei, led his army to guard Shangdang, and Cheng Yuantan, the county magistrate, was the de facto governor. In terms of managing the affairs of the entire county, the eighth-rank county magistrate was more useful than the sixth-rank county magistrate of Yewang.

After the order was issued, the staff and assistants of the General's Mansion, the Longxiang General's Mansion, and the Yanzhou Governor withdrew. The military secretary of the Liang State's Ministry of Personnel Cao lay on the top of the city wall and wrote something - Henei and Shangdang counties had not yet been officially incorporated into the Liang State, and the procedures had not yet been completed. But judging from the attitudes of these staff members, it was obvious that the division had already been done in private. The General's Mansion would no longer be responsible for the affairs of Henei and Shangdang, and the Liang State would take over.

"Wen Ling Jing Hong is also the Sima of Henei County." Shao Xun said again.

In the Jin Dynasty, the person in charge of troops at the national level was called "lieutenant". It was more confusing at the county level, with duwei and sima working in parallel, although the two were actually the same thing, just like the chief official at the national level being called both the historian and the prime minister in official letters. It was very confusing and made the Jin Dynasty look like a makeshift team.

In the fifteen counties of Liang State, the various ranks are gradually being improved. Starting from next year, if the financial situation improves slightly, the county troops will be gradually rebuilt, and the person in charge of the troops will be uniformly called Sima, the eighth rank.

Among the county-level officials, a minority were appointed and dismissed by the imperial court, while most were appointed by the prefect himself.

Shao Xun wanted to appoint and dismiss all of them himself, but he did not have so many talented people, and it was impossible to do so even if he increased the number of martial arts courses several times.

It is indeed a challenge for Tang Jian to find so many subordinates who are proficient in calligraphy, know characters and can write official documents.

"The first-level magistrate of Henei County will be appointed or dismissed next month." Shao Xun waved his hand and went down the city wall.

Next month, more than 180 Liangxian military students will complete their five-year intensive study and will be able to join the army or go to local areas.

Considering the financial situation, most of the students this year will go to local areas. According to the old rules, they will first serve as clerks, familiarize themselves with the local situation, and then be promoted based on their performance.

Hanoi is a blank slate with a lack of complicated local relationships, making it very suitable for ordinary people without any roots to manage.

But then again, even if all these students were filled, they could only meet the needs of two counties.

Therefore, opening a school by oneself can only be used as a bargaining tool. It is impossible to take on major responsibilities. One still has to unite the literate children of the poor, the wealthy, and even the businessmen.

Even scholars from poor families need further training because they do not understand the basic knowledge, processes and tricks of how officialdom operates.

The members of the gentry above the poor family were gradually understood from childhood, and they were trained as reserve officials. Even if they "smoked, permed their hair, and had tattoos", if they were worse than the worst, you still had to use them, at most you would strengthen the screening and select the ones that were not too bad.

This is the background of the times. Many things cannot be taken for granted, especially when you still need them.

******
On the sixth day of the eleventh month, a group of pale-looking musicians stood outside Guangmo Gate in the north of Luoyang City, playing their instruments listlessly.

They have been able to eat their fill since the day before yesterday, but long-term malnutrition cannot be made up for in just a few days, so now they all look frail and lack energy.

Shao Xun took Wang Yan, Yu Min and others with him and went directly into the city in a carriage.

Part of the army was stationed directly outside the city. Some soldiers with bad intentions took the jerky they had secretly hidden on the battlefield in Hanoi and stuffed it into the mouths of the musicians. They watched them thanking them profusely and eating voraciously, and laughed until they were severely whipped by the officers.

Cannibalism is not allowed in Shao Xun's army - at least that is the case so far - if they are discovered, a beating with a stick is inevitable.

But that was only the rule for the Silver Spear, Free Cong, Black Gun and other armies. For the miscellaneous troops that were temporarily recruited, the management was not so strict.

When Liu Ya retreated, he discarded a lot of baggage. After searching carefully, he found a lot of jerky.

The officer ordered to bury the meat, but some people were reluctant to do so and did not mind eating human flesh, so they kept some of it. When they arrived in Luoyang, they gave the meat jerky to the musicians with obvious malice, wanting to see their expressions.

But what surprised them was that the musicians didn't seem to mind eating this stuff. After all, it was meat, and it was much easier to fill up than food. This was truly a collapse of etiquette and music...

A large number of refugees gathered outside Luoyang, mostly from Hebei and Bingzhou. The most capable of running away were the 30,000 Han and Hu people who were deceived by Liu Zun from Tuoba Dai. They first went to Jinyang and bankrupted Liu Kun, then went south to Shangdang and Henei, where they made Liu Ya unable to bear it, and then went to the three cities of Heyang, forcing the defenders to release some of their military rations.

Now that I'm in Luoyang, I'm still hungry and need to eat.

The number of refugees is growing every day, because there are always people going south to beg for a living - well, people also disappear every day, mostly the elderly, the weak, and even the sick.

Even though some relief food has been distributed, it is impossible for everyone to survive the coming cold winter.

After experiencing cruel natural selection, only able-bodied men and women will be left next spring. They can be settled down then, and the court will do its best to raise seeds and farm tools, distribute land, and start spring ploughing - there will certainly be no valuables like oxen, so they can only do the farming by hand. Don't have high expectations for the output, as it is highly likely that they will not be able to support themselves in the first year, and relief will need to be provided as appropriate.

In fact, this is the main reason why some people criticized Shao Xun for going north to attack the Huns in the year of great disaster.

Since the expedition began, the consumption of military rations has reached astronomical figures.

Previously, the ten counties of Liang State raised 1.8 to 1.9 million hu of grain, Yingchuan, Xiangcheng and Luonan counties raised 1.2 million hu, other places in Yuzhou and Yanzhou raised 2 million hu, and the five counties in the northern part of Xuzhou raised 1 million hu. Together with the scattered contributions, the total amount was close to 6.5 million hu, but it was still not enough - mainly not enough for disaster relief.

Food is so scarce, but we still have to fight. Is this really the right choice? You know, people who hold this view are not necessarily against Shao Xun. Many people even support him. In their opinion, they just need to manage their own territory well and ignore the Xiongnu. With the current strength, it is enough to manage it for a few years and hold a ceremony of abdication...

Fortunately, it seems that they will have time to rest and recuperate next year, which makes them feel relieved.

The world is in urgent need of time to recover.

******
Almost at the same time as Shao Xun entered the city, there were also 100,000 hu of grain.

This made many people understand one thing: there is food to be had by following Mr. Liang.

If Lord Liang had not come to Luoyang, people in Luoyang would have starved to death.

When Duke Liang came to Luoyang, not only did the officials receive their salaries, but the common people also received some relief food. After eating, more and more people cursed Sima Rui.

Sima Rui condescended to beg the nobles of Wu; Wang Dao put aside his pride and spoke poor Wu dialect to ask for help. Together, the two of them finally delivered grain to Luoyang for several years without receiving any good words.

Since the year before last, the court in Luoyang no longer needed money, but they still sent some money for two years. This year, there is almost nothing, and the people of Luoyang are furious.

This is human nature.

Of course, the people were short of food, and the officials could only say that they ate less than before, but they did not starve to death. Especially after the security situation improved greatly, the manors around Luoyang could be used again, which to a certain extent maintained the food and clothing needs of the officials in Luoyang.

Wang Yan's manor was used, mainly the Jingu Garden given to him by Shao Xun. The output was not abundant, but it was enough to feed a large family of hundreds of people. There was even some surplus, which Guo took to the Luoyang market to sell, making a lot of money.

Shao Xun came to the palace for a banquet tonight.

Wang Yan invited a large number of people, and during the banquet, there was toasting, laughter and joy, as if it were a scene of great prosperity.

Guo and her daughter Wang Huifeng were in the back house, looking after the new little Guo.

Little Guo had just finished taking a bath and threw himself into Guo's arms, crying.

Wang Yan's wife was from the Guo family of Taiyuan, and Shi Hu's wife was also from the Guo family of Taiyuan. The two were ranked according to their seniority and addressed each other as aunt and niece.

When Xiao Guo talked about his situation, tears welled up in his eyes.

Lao Guo felt a little distressed and tried to comfort her.

Wang Huifeng was watching from the side and found that his calm state of mind was actually slightly disturbed and he felt a little angry.

She spoke briefly to this cousin whom she had never met before, then sat down by the window and looked through various copied official letters.

"I heard from Yi Fu that Lord Liang seemed to hate Shi Jilong very much. He said 'he must be killed' every time he mentioned him." Old Guo looked at his niece whom he had only seen once when she was a child and sighed, "Forget about your reunion with Jilong and his wife."

After hearing this, Xiao Guo shed more tears.

"Are you sad about Shi Jilong?" asked Lao Guo.

Xiao Guo just cried and didn't say anything.

"Tell the truth in front of your aunt. Don't hide anything." Old Guo patted his niece's back lovingly and said softly.

"No... I don't know why, so I'm crying." After a long time, Xiao Guo said quietly.

"I haven't been to Yangqu for many years. How is things in Yangqu?" asked Lao Guo.

Yangqu is located in the north of Jinyang and is a county under Taiyuan. It is the Guo family's old nest along with Xihe, Jiexiu and other places.

"Before Liu Yao attacked Yangqu, the clan surrendered directly and agreed with the Wen family, Wang family and others to jointly protect the clan." Xiao Guo said.

"What about Taiyuan Sun and Linghu?"

"The Linghu clan was killed by Liu Kun, and the clan was decimated. The Sun clan was not aware of the situation and was slow to react, so they were severely damaged by Liu Yao." Xiao Guo said, "The Tang, Bai, Fan, Liu, Wu, and Wu clans also fell into decline over the past ten years."

A tug-of-war is the most terrible.

The fat will become thin, and the thin will die. No matter how big the family business is, it cannot withstand the repeated tug of war. This is the case with the various tribes in Taiyuan.

Even if you are not destroyed by war, sometimes you may suffer a heavy blow if you encounter a lord who hates you.

The Linghu family was a well-known family in Taiyuan, but what was the result? Linghu Sheng was a guard of Liu Kun. He brought his own troops to join the army and fought for him for many years. In the end, he died because of an actor and his family was in trouble.

Liu Kun was indeed unwise in this matter.

The main force defending Jinyang was of course Tuoba Xianbei, but the local wealthy families were also useful. If the Linghu family was killed, wouldn't others be saddened?

After the Tuoba civil strife, no troops came to support Liu Kun and he was ultimately defeated. This was not unrelated to his loss of support from local powerful families - the Wang family had close relations with the Xiongnu, the Wen family left, the Linghu family was killed, and the Guo family married Shi Hu. It was truly a case of the monkeys scattering when the tree falls.

"What do you, the captured nobles, think now?" Lao Guo asked again.

When Wang Huifeng heard this, he turned his head and looked at his mother.

"Most of them were forced by the situation." Xiao Guo lowered his head and said, "There was no hope. For the sake of their family and clan, they were forced to surrender to the bandits."

Lao Guo and Wang Huifeng looked at each other, thoughtfully.

Duke Liang has already reached Shangdang. Will the Taiyuan nobles change their minds again?

No need to think about it, it's almost certain.

No matter how bad Lord Liang was, he was still a native of Jin with a good family background. Most of his subordinates were also from Jin, including many of them from noble families.

The upper echelons of the Pingyang court were no different from the people of Jin, with Liu Cong, Liu Can and others even having higher culture than Duke Liang, but the middle and lower echelons were mostly crude and uncultured Hu people who could not even speak the Jin language.

From what I can see, if they had a choice, they would be willing to join Lord Liang, but they just don't dare to take any action now.

Wang Huifeng turned his head again.

Is this the inevitable trend? Without doing anything, people will come to join us.

He must be very proud now, right?
Thinking back to the evening, Mr. Liang actually secretly pulled her hand...

How brave! Wang Huifeng's face became slightly hot.

After Prince Minhuai died, she went home crying and vowed never to marry again. If anyone forced her to do so, she would even die to show her determination.

But over the years, under the constant urging of her family, her thoughts have softened.

Mr. Liang is not a serious person either.

At this time, Wang Huifeng realized with mixed feelings that if Mr. Liang forced her, she would at most not forgive him, but she would not die to prove her integrity.

As for the reason, she thought about it and decided that maybe she wanted to stay by his side and watch him rebuild the country bit by bit and let the people live and work in peace again.

Having experienced the cruel and turbulent times, Wang Huifeng sincerely hopes that people in the world will suffer less.

Of course, there is another reason that cannot be ignored, that is, Mr. Liang is shameless! In order to please women, he is willing to do anything and always pays attention to what they think.

"The Guo family of Taiyuan cannot just be buried with the Huns, they must save themselves..." Wang Huifeng heard his mother's voice, but he was too lazy to listen, his thoughts already flying away.

(It’s the last day, don’t waste your votes. It’s okay if you don’t have any, just vote for me tomorrow, thanks.)
(End of this chapter)