Chapter 823 Congratulations
Chapter 823 Congratulations
On the last afternoon of the New Year, Shao Xun was still going from village to village, giving gifts to the soldiers.
This time is a little different from previous years because there are a few new faces.
The eldest son Jindao, the second son Huanlang, and the third son Nianliu followed together.
Nian Liu is the daughter of Pei Lingyan, born in May of the sixth year of Yongjia (312). He is twelve years old this year, and it is almost time for him to come out and show himself.
Jin Dao is the oldest and rides a tall horse.
Hulang and Nianliu both rode ponies. Actually, they were not very happy about it, after all, they had learned riding skills since childhood and their level was pretty good. However, Shao Xun was still a little worried, so he changed to a foal.
When we delivered the packages to the last few households, heavy snow began to fall from the sky. The cold wind blew so hard that the snowflakes went straight into my neck.
Jin Dao acted as if nothing had happened, and Hulang looked at his brother and stood there steadily.
Nian Liu shrank back a little. After looking around, he found that his father was standing not far away and talking to someone. He seemed to be watching them out of the corner of his eye. His face suddenly turned pale.
"Have you purchased any new items for your home in the past two years?" Shao Xun asked Zeng Yi, the leader of the first battalion of the Yellow Head Army.
The Zeng family’s small courtyard was gradually covered by heavy snow. Only the smoke rising stubbornly above the kitchen brought a touch of warmth to this freezing world.
"I bought a bull and a calf." Zeng Yi said.
"That's right." Shao Xun was very pleased to hear that.
A cow is a big item, not something that can be compared to a small item. Shao Xun has not collected taxes from the homes of the Yellow Head Army soldiers for three years, and it seems that these broken reconstituted families have regained vitality.
"Have a good New Year." Shao Xun patted his shoulder and said, "We may have to go to war next year."
"Yes." Zeng Yi stood up straight and answered loudly.
"Don't be nervous." Shao Xun smiled, pointed at the three young men not far away, and asked, "Do you know them?"
Zeng Yi took a quick glance through the snow and wind and said, "Just now the leader said that these are the eldest prince, the second prince, and the third prince."
"How does it look?" Shao Xun asked.
"The king's offspring is naturally extraordinary." Zeng Yihui said.
Shao Xun laughed and said, "They are very good at talking. When I am old in the future, maybe they will lead the Yellow Head Army to fight."
Zeng Yi was stunned.
Only then did he come to his senses. It turned out that the King of Liang, who was like a god in his mind, would also grow old and even pass away. This made him feel uncomfortable.
"Let's go." Shao Xun waved his hand and walked away in the snow.
Zeng Yi quietly watched the receding figure of King Liang, then looked carefully at the three princes and memorized their appearance.
A real man repays kindness when he is kind and takes revenge when he is hateful.
The King of Liang has been very kind to him. If his descendants are in trouble in the future, what would it matter if he risked his life to protect them?
Shao Xun came to the three sons, brushed the snow off their cloaks, and then asked, "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold." The three replied in unison.
"Nonsense!" Shao Xun cursed with a smile, and said, "Walk with me for a while."
It was snowing heavily and the weather was very cold. The four father and his two sons wandered in the gray field like lonely travelers.
"In October of the third year of Yongjia (309), the Xiongnu army surrounded Luoyang, and the people were in a panic. My father set out from Yiyang, but at that time he had only more than people, and he was not sure of his position. Finally, he gritted his teeth and decided to go out. In the heavy snow, he fought and marched, advanced miles, broke through the siege, and arrived in Luoyang under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of Xiongnu cavalry." Shao Xun walked in the front, facing the snow, and said: "My father said this not to ask you to learn from him. I just want to tell you that everything today is not in vain. My father was born in a humble family, and no one would bow down to him, and no one would hand over the power to him. Without extraordinary achievements, there would be no reward for extraordinary promotion."
"In the cold winter, it is difficult to wear iron armor. In the wind and snow, your face feels like it is cut by a knife. In the battlefield, you have to open one eye even when sleeping. When you are exhausted and want to die, the enemy soldiers suddenly come, you can only jump up and shout to fight hard. No one can succeed easily."
"Is it cold today with the snow and wind? Tell the truth." Shao Xun asked, pointing to the sky.
"Cold." The three replied in unison.
"It was in this weather that year when my father and his soldiers fought against the Xiongnu in the west of Luoyang. After the fight, we were sweating like rain and then shivering with cold." Shao Xun said, "You have lived a life of luxury since childhood, but you should also know that all this did not come easily. Don't ruin the country that your father conquered with every sword and spear."
After hearing this, the three of them had their own thoughts.
Today's snowstorm really left a deep impression on them. However, in this snowstorm, my father still faced the enemy head-on, fought the bandits, marched 200 miles to rescue Luoyang, and gained great fame.
None of this really came easy.
"I have met hundreds of soldiers in the past few days." Shao Xun looked at their expressions, nodded secretly, and said: "Why did your father take the trouble to present gifts to you one by one? Even the most heartless people will be touched when they see it. You will experience the benefits in the future."
The three of them seemed to understand something.
Of course, at this young age, it is impossible to have a very deep understanding.
If people want to grow, they still have to experience things, and today is the beginning of their experience.
Among these three people, the eldest son Jin Dao gained the most.
He had been the magistrate of Shanglinyuan for some time, and was in charge of 200 soldiers and more than 800 households of the people. He was in a state of chaos after taking charge of them.
After making mistakes and suffering losses, my understanding of the world has entered a new stage. When I look back and interact with my brothers and sisters, I suddenly find that they seem to be a little bit self-evident, a little naive, and not mature enough.
"It's time to celebrate the New Year." Shao Xun looked at the somewhat deserted field again and said, "If you can have some fun, put your worries aside and have some fun. After you feel comfortable, you should start to do serious work next year."
******
After canceling the New Year’s Day celebrations for two consecutive years, it will not be cancelled this year. After all, this is a serious political activity that has the effect of rallying people’s hearts.
On the first day of the first lunar month, the men paid homage in the Guangji Hall of the Ningshu Palace, while the women gathered in the Zhaode Hall.
As the wife of Dai, Wang followed Li and entered Zhaode Hall in batches to pay a visit to Princess Yu of Liang.
Princess Yu looked quite young, and when she sat down, with the bells and ceremonial settings, she immediately looked dignified and graceful.
If Shao Xun were here and saw his wife like this, he would probably never think of her as a queen or a princess again, because his darling wife who acted coquettishly in his arms every day looked no worse than the real queen, and even looked more noble.
It’s a pity that he is blind to the beauty of his wife.
Before waiting to enter the palace, the women sat idly in the side halls.
Wang followed Li closely, appearing to be worried about something.
"Zhang Zhonglei has married a new wife." There was a whisper nearby. Wang said nothing, but Li pricked up her ears and listened carefully.
Zhang Shuo, General Zhonglei (rank 4), commander of the Silver Spear Central Camp, was an important member of the Liang State's military group and one of King Liang's favorite students.
"Ah? Why marry a new wife?" Someone asked, "What about the first wife?"
"He died of illness. He has been planning to marry a new wife recently."
"I heard that he died of anger?" Someone insisted on making a shocking statement and revealed a big news.
"I've heard about it, too. His first wife was arranged by his family in Yiyang, and she was a peasant girl from Taiyuan. After Zhang Zhonglei became rich, he sent his personal soldiers back to Yunzhongwu, Yiyang to move his family there. They got married not long after, and I heard they had two sons and two daughters. Her health had always been poor, and she got sick during the pandemic. Zhang Zhonglei thought she was dying, so he was eager to marry a girl from a wealthy family, and that angered his first wife to death."
"true and false?"
"I dare not say anything else, but it is true that he married a girl from a high-class family. The people from the Wang family of Donghai have come to Pingyang. I heard that she is Wang Kang's legitimate daughter. She was married before, but her husband died in the great plague. She has no children and is still young."
"Legitimate daughter? No wonder." The woman said this with a sour tone.
……
The women gathered together and chatted about gossip involving a general from the country. Li listened with great interest, and even Wang, who was preoccupied, couldn't help but raise her head and listen curiously.
In fact, she can understand it very well.
Although the Donghai Wang family is not as good as first-rate families like the Langya Wang family, the Hedong Pei family, and the Taiyang Yang family, it was once glorious and had intermarried with the royal family. It was once on par with these wealthy families, but it has declined in the past twenty years.
Such a family background is truly extraordinary.
Li's idea is the same.
Wang Kang was once appointed as the governor of Yuzhou, but he did not dare to take the office and ran away halfway.
His legitimate daughter had a fatal attraction to Zhang Shuo, the general of Zhonglei, who came from a refugee family in Taiyuan and was once called Zhang Daniu.
Even if this woman is a widow, a legitimate daughter is still a legitimate daughter and is more popular than an unmarried illegitimate daughter.
"If we launch a northern expedition against the Xianbei next year, will General Zhang still have a chance to fight?" the other side continued.
"We conquered the Dai Kingdom and arrested the Tuoba clan leader to face charges. I'm afraid we will have to give this unprecedented achievement to someone else."
"Whether to fight or not is still up for debate."
"We must fight. My husband has received an order to supervise the transportation of food and fodder after the spring." This was said by the wife of the Duzhi Captain of Bianliang, so she was highly credible.
"Be careful that your husband replaces you." someone joked.
"He doesn't dare." The woman said calmly, "He was just a general in a fortress at first. He spent all his money in the battle of Zhamadi when he attacked Wang Zhang's camp. Later, he ran to my father and begged him to marry me, so that he could continue to fight for wealth and fame. The officers and soldiers under his command were all my servants. If he had wronged me, my father and brothers would have chopped off his head."
As soon as these words were spoken, several people laughed quietly.
Li also laughed, but she was laughing at the overall low quality of these warriors' families. They dared to say anything and even talked about the generals of the current dynasty.
Wang didn't laugh.
With every word these women spoke, her face turned paler.
By the end of his speech, his eyes were lifeless.
All in all, before today, she was only eighteen years old, and even more so a woman, and her psychological quality was just that.
Before the Chinese New Year at Cheng Mansion, Prince Liang seemed too lazy to pay attention to her and was completely perfunctory. This made her, who was full of confidence, fall to the bottom all of a sudden and feel extremely uneasy.
What Shi Hong said hit upon her biggest hidden worry. It had been lingering in her mind for the past few days and could not be shaken off.
Hearing this today, I feel even more desperate.
It turned out that King Liang had already made the decision to attack the State of Dai...
What would King Liang do?
Would he join forces with Helan Aitou to launch an attack? If so, would he support Tuoba Yihuai as the Duke of Dai after the success?
If the King of Liang had a bigger appetite, he might have directly attacked and destroyed the State of Dai without supporting anyone. That would have seemed even worse, because Shi Yijian was not even qualified to be a hostage.
Wang suddenly felt like crying.
Her husband was murdered, Guangning was captured by the Qi family and their son, her brother struggled to survive in Dai County, and tens of thousands of people who fled to Jin were starving...
All of this weighed heavily on her mind, almost overwhelming her.
She was literally suffocating.
"Let's go, it's time to go into the palace to pay respects." Li came over and reminded in a low voice.
Wang stood up in a daze, staggered and almost fell.
The women all looked over.
Wang lowered her head in shame, she felt like everyone was laughing at her.
They laughed at her, saying that she was the daughter of a fallen country, a rootless duckweed, and could be bullied at will.
Yes, no one supports her anymore, and she is under tremendous pressure.
Her brother earnestly hoped that she could bring reinforcements and recapture the two counties.
The son hoped that she could take him back to Shengle to accept the worship of the leaders of various tribes.
The people counted on her to bring them food to survive and a precious place to live.
Everyone is counting on her, but who can she count on?
The sound of bells rang out.
Into the solemn and dignified hall, Wang walked in absent-mindedly.
Princess Yu, who was high and mighty, radiant and cheerful, how could she be so happy?
(End of this chapter)