Chapter 694 The influx of new people

Chapter 694 The influx of new people

Chapter 694 The influx of new people
The planned Bianliang city had three gates on the south side.

The first gate from east to west is called "Dingding Gate" - the name sounds "out of the rules".

On the right side of Dingdingmen Street is the old county town of Junyi County, and on the left side, the first block from south to north is called "Xuanjiao Block".

There are more than a hundred houses planned in the block, some of which are already occupied and have obtained building permits.

On March 20th, the sky was a little gloomy and there was intermittent drizzle.

Yang Ming, the left chancellor of Tian Cao, came to visit Xuanjiaofang.

There was a resident named "Le Zhuang" in the neighborhood, who worked as a minor assistant officer in the Protector of the Barbarians' Mansion. When Chen Jing escorted Queen Yang south to Liang County, Le Zhuang was the driver, and he had a good relationship with Yang Ming, a distant branch of the Yang family.

"The queen gave birth to a baby boy." After entering Le's house, Yang and Le dismissed all the outsiders and sat opposite each other to chat about the new things they had heard.

"It's not easy for Empress Hui to endure all these years. In fact, she is about the same age as Lord Liang, so she is just right for him to accompany her for a long time." After saying this, Le Zhuang apologized, got up and went to the front yard to get some dried fruits and a pot of wine.

"Oh? Bianliangchun?" Yang Ming poured a small bowl and smelled it, then asked with a smile, "Where did you get the money?"

"To be honest, Menghua, the Protector of the Barbarians' Mansion may look insignificant, but it actually has many benefits." Le Zhuang said, "In the first month of the year, Duan Mobo gave me two horses, five cows, and fifty sheep. I didn't know where to put them, so I asked an acquaintance to help me sell them."

"You are an eighth-rank official, don't you want to buy a property?" Yang Ming asked.

Le Zhuang pointed at the house and said, "Others have money to build houses, but they can't get land. I have no money, but the queen still remembered the old story and mentioned it to Mr. Liang. That night, I got the land without paying. I was stunned. If it weren't for the queen's gift, how could I have built this house with my savings? As for buying a manor, it won't be done in a short time."

As an eighth-rank official in the Guardian Commandant's Office and with a house in the Bianliang neighborhood, Le Zhuang, the groom, can be said to have risen through the social ladder and established himself. He had gained things that others would never get in their entire lives, all because he had served as a driver at a critical moment that year.

This is opportunity.

"If you are short of money, I can lend you some." Yang Ming said.

Although he was a member of the Yang clan, the Yang clan was too big. After more than a hundred years of inheritance, it was impossible for everyone with the surname Yang to be rich. There were also different levels of people. Unfortunately, Yang Ming was the "ninth". For people like him, the main line would employ them less. If they were not capable, they would be worse off than the outsiders in the manor, and some of them could barely make ends meet.

Le Zhuang was not only a groom, driver, but also a guard. He was also an excellent martial artist. His status was lower than Yang Ming's at that time, but not much lower. The two had a very good relationship.

Later, they were both selected and followed Yang Xianrong to Beijing, and their relationship became even better.

Borrowing money is no big deal.

"Okay." Le Zhuang thought about it and did not refuse.

"Who is building a new house next door to you?" Yang Ming asked.

Now, every person who built a house in Bianliang City was worthy of attention. Before long, his identity would be exposed, and people would try to figure out why he had the ability to build a house before others.

"Does Menghua still remember Wang Bing?" Le Zhuang asked.

Yang Ming was a little surprised: "It's him!"

"I also heard about it, so I can't be sure." Le Zhuang said, "Xuzhou Envoy Mi is a loyal elder. When Wang of Donghai came to him for help, he softened his heart and helped to mediate. During the Tianshi Dao Rebellion a while ago, Wang Bing personally led 3,000 troops to the north, and won four battles in Donglai and Changguang, capturing and killing thousands of demons. With this act of self-sacrifice, he was forgiven by Lord Liang."

It is definitely much better to serve yourself voluntarily than to serve yourself under duress.

Liang Chen, the former lieutenant of Nanyang, was demoted to his lowest position and went to serve the army in the north city of Heyang. He died in battle within a few months.

Wang Bing took the initiative to serve with his family and followers, which was much better than Liang Chen.

"How do you know?" Yang Ming couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

As the Minister of Tian Cao and the Left Prime Minister, he has never heard of it. How do you know?
"In the past ten days or so, many people from Qingzhou and Xuzhou have come to Dingdingmen Street. You will know if you ask around." Le Zhuang said with a smile, "When Lord Liang got married, many people from various clans in Xuzhou came. Even a wealthy local tyrant named Dao sent his clansmen to give gifts. Lord Liang still remembers this. This time, Dao selected 200 elite soldiers to join the army. Lord Liang directly incorporated them into the Luoyan Army and allowed Dao to buy land and houses in the northern 'Xuanrenfang'."

Yang Ming pondered for a moment and sighed, "Dao is good at scheming."

It is reasonable for someone from Xuzhou to send gifts to Lord Liang's wedding, after all, they are from the same hometown. But you are just a small local tyrant, who has nothing to do with Lord Liang, so why would you send gifts? Are you qualified to send gifts?
Because this matter was widely circulated, many people talked about it, and it was quite strange, so Lord Liang remembered it. It is estimated that Mrs. Yu also joked about this matter, and suddenly the opportunity came.

I have to say, some people are really trying their best to get ahead. I admire them.

"Lord Liang is from Xuzhou, so he will certainly make use of scholars from Qingxu." Le Zhuang said, "There are already many Donghai people in the Liang Palace, and there will be many Qingxu people in Bianliang in the future. Minister Tian Cao Wang is back, right?"

Wang Xuan, the Minister of Agriculture, was a native of Langya in Xuzhou and had great influence in Qingzhou and Xuzhou. After pacifying Qingzhou last year, Wang Xuan stayed in the town for a long time, and his main job was to win over the nobles of Qingzhou.

With such an appointment, can't you see what Mr. Liang is thinking? "He has returned with a lot of Qingzhou's 'talents', each of whom has a background and needs to be recruited according to their abilities." Yang Ming said: "On the contrary, the disciples who followed the Right Censor Wang Pei to Bianliang are mostly poor, powerful or even poor children. This old man is quite interesting. Maybe he thinks that the disciples without roots will be more grateful for his support, which will be beneficial to his family in the future."

Le Zhuang nodded slowly, then sighed: "Mr. Liang's territory is getting bigger and bigger, but the power of his generals and subordinates is getting more and more complicated. Sometimes I can't even tell what factions there are."

Yang Ming sneered when he heard this.

As for factions, they have not yet been fully formed. Up to now, they are still slowly merging and differentiating, and it is unknown how many years this process will take to end.

At present, the only relatively clear faction is the Yingchuan faction. The Hebei faction is actually a little vague, not very cohesive, and relatively loose.

The Minister of Personnel Liang Fen had just arrived and was still in the process of integrating the scholars from Guanxi. It was too early for him to form a faction.

Now, a large number of Qingxu scholars have poured in, and this faction is even just in its infancy.

The above is still divided by region.

If we divide them by individuals, Yu Chen and Lu Zhi may have some followers.

Wang Yan also had some, but half of his followers were in the Luoyang court, and the other half were in the General’s Mansion, so he was not as good as the previous two.

If divided by origin, it can be divided into the Liang Gongyuan followers faction, Sima Yue's old followers faction, and the "foreign relatives" faction.

If we divide them by job responsibilities...

It’s too troublesome. Why bother?

The only clear point is that Lord Liang is the arbitrator recognized by all forces. There is no second-in-command within the Bianliang military and political group. Once Lord Liang is in trouble, no one will be able to take over this huge force, and it will only fall apart.

People like Yu Chen, Lu Zhi, Wang Yan and others were able to deeply understand this point, so no matter what, they were willing to sit down and talk with Mr. Liang.

No one can afford the consequences of being torn apart.

"Don't think too much." Yang Ming took a big sip of wine and said with a smile, "The Queen's childbirth is extremely important. Don't spread rumors outside. Lord Liang still has to save face. The Queen is not the real 'Madam Yang'. If something happens, it will be very troublesome. After a while, someone from the Le'an Sun family will come to Beijing. You can contact them."

"Why doesn't Menghua come by herself?" Le Zhuang asked curiously.

"It's not convenient." Yang Ming said with a wry smile.

Le Zhuang understood.

The Le'an Sun family was the maternal clan of Empress Hui, and was considered an important fulcrum of the Taiyang family in the Qingzhou area. However, this family was more of an assistant to Empress Hui's Yang family than a member of the Taiyang family.

The Sun family of Le'an did not kill Wang Jun's third daughter Wang Ze who married into the family. This was because the big family had the confidence to do so.

However, they intervened in Hebei through their in-laws, the Shi family of Leling, and others. At this time, they had assembled four to five thousand soldiers and horses, and marched north under the command of Li Chong to suppress the rebellion in Hebei. Yes, some gentry in Hebei were dissatisfied with Duke Liang's raising the status of military men, and they rebelled in anger.

After hearing that Liu Kun had fled to the territory of Tuoba Xianbei, he was afraid of being killed, so he sneaked back to Zhongshan, recruited soldiers and tried to make a difference.

Overall, the situation in Hebei is not as stable as the year when Shi Le was pacified.

Duke Liang did not have any direct troops in Hebei, all of them were conscripted soldiers from various powerful families. This situation seemed to give Shi Le an opportunity, and he ambitiously tried to return to Changshan.

At this time, it is necessary for these relatively close nobles to take the initiative to share the worries for Duke Liang. For these nobles themselves, this is actually a rare opportunity.

After Yang and Le finished drinking a pot of wine, they parted ways.

Yang Ming rode his donkey northward along Dingdingmen Street until he reached the north bank of Daliang Canal and then turned west.

Along the way, I did hear a lot of Qingzhou and Xuzhou accents.

These people came in groups, looking around this huge city that was still in its infancy, and marveled at the wooden signs erected everywhere, which often stated where the place was.

The capital of a very formal regime made their expectations even higher.

The first stop for Qingxu scholars after arriving in Bianliang was often Wang's house in Shangshanfang, which was the residence of Wang Xuan, the Minister of Agriculture.

(End of this chapter)