Chapter 716 Yuanshi Gifts
Chapter 716 Yuanshi Gifts
Yuan Wenzhen hesitated for a long time in front of the Jin Palace, but finally walked up to the gatekeeper, clasped his fists and bowed to the gatekeeper, saying, "I am Yuan Wenzhen, the owner of Wuchuan Commercial Bank. I am an old acquaintance of His Royal Highness the Jin Prince. I have come to give you a gift. Please report to him for me!"
The soldier said, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has not returned from the northern expedition!"
Yuan Wenzhen also knew that Prince Jin was not there. He hesitated and said, "Can you inform the princess? I will give her the gift and leave!"
The soldiers had been instructed by the princess in advance to inform her if anyone sent a gift.
The sergeant nodded and said, "Master, please wait a moment. I will report to you right away!"
The soldier went into the mansion. Not long after, the housekeeper Tian came out and said with a smile, "Master Yuan Dong, please follow me!"
Yuan Wenzhen was overjoyed and quickly followed the housekeeper into the mansion. The soldiers searched him and checked the gift box. After finding nothing unusual, they allowed him to enter.
Yuan Wenzhen arrived at the VIP Hall, and Steward Tian said with a smile, "Master, please sit down for a moment. The princess will be here soon!"
After sitting for a while, many people came outside. A large group of female guards and maids came to escort Princess Cui. Yuan Wenzhen bowed and saluted, "I am Yuan Wenzhen, I am here to see the princess!"
Cui Yu sat down and said, "Please take a seat, Master Yuan!"
Yuan Wenzhen sat down nervously. Cui Yu looked at him and said with a smile: "Master Yuan, I have seen you before!"
"Ah! When has the princess ever seen me?"
"Master Yuan, have you forgotten? In the second year of Renshou, the Yuan family held a water and land conference, and the nine steeds of the Yuan family made an appearance. Wasn't Master Yuan one of them?"
Yuan Wenzhen then remembered that in order to form an alliance with a prominent family, the Yuan family had held a water and land ceremony and invited all the prominent families to attend. All nine illegitimate sons of the Yuan family showed up, and he was indeed one of them.
Yuan Wen was really ashamed and said, "So the princess was here too. Shame on me! Shame on me!"
Yuan Wenzhen quickly pushed the sandalwood box forward and said, "This is a little gift from my master to Your Highness the Prince of Jin. It's actually my child's belongings. Please accept it, Princess!"
Cui Yu asked with a curious smile: "What are the children's belongings?"
Yuan Wenzhen opened the box, and inside the red silk were nine jade pendants neatly inserted. "This is the longevity jade pendant given by Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, to his son and princess. The Yuan family has collected a total of nine pieces, and has kept them for a hundred years. I specially present them to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin."
Needless to say, the gift is precious. It was a gift from Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu and had been kept in the Han Dynasty palace. During the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty, this set of jade pendants was successively obtained by Cao Pi and Sima Zhao. After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, it was passed around for several times and finally fell into the hands of the Northern Wei royal family. It has been preserved to this day and is one of the Yuan family's treasures.
The Yuan family used precious gifts to express their apologies on the one hand, and to hint that Xiao Xia was Emperor Guangwu of the Sui Dynasty on the other. This was a well-intentioned move.
Of course, Yun Xiaoju would not give the gift directly to the child. This was something the emperor gave to the princes and princesses. What was it for the Yuan family to give to Xiao Xia's child? So Yuan Xiaoju gave the jade pendant to Xiao Xia, and then Xiao Xia gave it to the child. This was the way to give gifts.
Cui Yu smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, Master Yuan Dong, I will pass it on to King Jin!"
Yuan Wenzhen stood up and bowed, "Then I won't bother you any more. I'll take my leave!"
Cui Yu nodded, "Sister Ai, please see me off!"
Xiao Ai waved his hand, "Master Yuan Dong, please come in!"
Xiao Ai sent Yuan Wenzhen away, and Cui Yu ordered, "Put it away! Put it in His Highness' study."
Cui Yu was really not interested in the jade wares sent by the Yuan family. She knew that the Yuan family had other intentions and it was definitely not as simple as giving gifts. She just accepted the gifts as her husband instructed and didn't care about anything else.
Time gradually came to June. Xiao Xia's 150,000 troops had been confronting Wang Shichong's army in Luoyang for more than a month. According to the initial northern expedition plan, the second northern expedition ended with the capture of Xingyang County. The attack on Luoyang was the third northern expedition. Xiao Xia also hoped that Li Yuan's army and Wang Shichong's army would fight a few fierce battles to consume each other.
But after Li Mi entered Hedong, the plan changed. In order to support Li Mi's occupation of Hedong, Xiao Xia captured Hulao Pass and Luokou Warehouse. Seeing that Li Yuan put all his energy into recapturing Hedong, it was no longer realistic to expect Li Yuan to consume Wang Shichong in Luoyang.
Xiao Xia changed his plan and included the attack on Luoyang in the northern expedition.
While confronting the Luoyang army, Xiao Xia sent Pei Xingyan to lead an army of 30,000 to capture Henei County. Henei County was actually the outer defense of Luoyang and had always been controlled by Wang Shichong. After Wang Shichong withdrew his army to defend Luoyang, Henei County was left with no troops. Dou Jiande was fighting fiercely with Hao Xiaode to recapture Wei County and Ji County in one fell swoop and had no time to take care of Henei County.
Seizing this opportunity, Xiao Xia ordered Pei Xingyan to lead 30,000 troops north to Henei County and easily occupied this enclave on the north bank of the Yellow River.
There was not only a confrontation in Luoyang, but also fierce fighting. At three o'clock in the morning, Qin Qiong led 8,000 troops to fight against the 5,000 troops guarding Hanjia Granary. This was actually a sneak attack. It happened that the North City Marshal Wang Shiwei transferred the defenders of Hanjia City to guard the imperial palace, and prepared to send more troops to reinforce after dawn.
But when two armies are fighting, they must seize every opportunity. Any mistake caused by luck will create opportunities for the enemy. Qin Qiong accurately seized the brief opportunity when Hanjia City was short of troops and attacked decisively.
Two hundred soldiers ran with sturdy battering rams in their arms. They were all wearing iron armor. Dense rain of arrows shot down, but it had no effect on the heavily armored soldiers.
Two hundred heavily armored soldiers rushed forward suddenly. With a dull loud "bang", the gate shook violently and three of the five door bolts inside were broken.
"Come again!"
Cheng Yaojin roared and led his soldiers to retreat dozens of steps, "Charge!" Cheng Yaojin led two hundred soldiers to rush again, and the giant sledgehammer hit the gate hard. The gate could no longer hold on, and finally the two main bolts broke, the gate was knocked open, and two hundred heavily armored soldiers rushed forward.
The enemy's defending general Yu Xingchu led a thousand soldiers to charge forward. Cheng Yaojin pulled out two axes from his waist, shouted and rushed forward, and chopped off a captain's head with one axe. The soldiers behind him also drew their swords and rushed forward to fight. They were all wearing heavy armor and were not afraid of the enemy's weapons at all. Arrows, swords and spears could not hurt them.
At this time, reinforcements from both sides arrived. Qin Qiong led 8,000 troops to rush into the gate, and Wang Shichong's army also rushed out with more than 3,000 people. The two sides fought fiercely in the wide square.
"Woo——"
A horn sounded in the distance, followed by the thunderous sound of war horses' hooves. A cavalry of 5,000 men, led by General Su Dingfang, rushed into Hanjia City.
Five thousand cavalrymen changed the situation of the battle and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop. Thousands of defenders retreated in panic, but they had no choice but to kneel down and surrender.
Hanjia City was the grain warehouse and material warehouse of Luoyang City, with three million shi of grain and a large amount of various materials. Before this, Sui County had already captured Xingluo Granary.
It was a miracle that Hanjia Granary City, which was vital to the life and death of Luoyang City, was occupied by 8,000 Sui troops. What was even more terrible was that such an important Hanjia Granary was guarded by only 5,000 troops.
It can only be said that this was a huge mistake made by Wang Shichong's third brother, King Wang Shiwei of Chu. He made a wrong judgment. When Luo Shixin led an army of 50,000 to feint at the imperial palace, Wang Shiwei transferred the 30,000 troops guarding Hanjia Granary to guard the imperial palace, leaving only 5,000 defenders in Hanjia Granary.
Wang Shiwei planned to send reinforcements to Hanjia Granary after daybreak, but Qin Qiong seized this brief opportunity and led 8,000 troops to capture Hanjia City in one fell swoop.
This is a typical case of mediocrity bringing harm to the country. Wang Shiwei was mediocre and incompetent. He could not distinguish between the important and the unimportant. He regarded the imperial city as more important than Hanjia Granary, which led to his transfer of 30,000 troops and the loss of Hanjia Granary.
It would be better for such a mediocre person to live a life of luxury and debauchery at home, at least he would not interfere with his work, but he chose to become the chief defensive commander in the north.
When Wang Shiwei heard that Hanjia Granary had fallen, he was so shocked that he sat down on the ground. Then he realized that something was wrong and ran to report to Wang Shichong with a sad face.
(End of this chapter)