Chapter 1084: Selection

Chapter 1084: Selection (Additional update for the leader to live to see Juventus win the Champions League)
After Guanqiuao made up his mind, he no longer hesitated.

Although Badong County was poor, he still collected some wealth and kept it at home, which came in handy.

The eldest son Guanqiu Yin personally took the servants to open the storehouse, and did not avoid Guanqiu Lu and Xi Gu.

"Squeak--" When the door opened, Guanqiu Lu and Xi Gu both widened their eyes.

"Jiangxia Pearl." Xi Gu looked at a box opened by the servants of the Guanqiu family and sighed, "This is used to make clam buttons, and the price is very expensive."

After saying this, he looked at a red jar on the wooden stand and said, "Is this an agate jar?"

"Master Xi has a good eye." Guanqiu Yin praised: "During the time of Emperor Zhuanxu, the Danqiu Kingdom presented an agate jar to hold nectar for the kitchen, which was similar to this. There are many agate stones, but there are very few that can be made into such a large jar. This thing is precious, and it is gathering dust in my house. It should be presented to the emperor."

Xi Gu originally thought that the source of these stocks in your family was not legitimate. Could it be that they were robbed and killed by merchants? Unexpectedly, the other party would soon present the treasures to the emperor. In this way, it would be difficult for outsiders to criticize.

Thinking of this, he picked up a few small agates and put them in his palm. After a careful look, he said, "This hole was drilled in Jiangling, right? There is no such craftsmanship in Wuchang and Xiangyang."

Guanqiu Yin was a little dumbfounded. This old man had a sharp eye. After all, his family had a "beautiful pond" that even Shan Jian could not bear to leave. Compared with the wealthy families like the Xi family in Xiangyang, the Guanqiu family was indeed inferior.

"Mr. Xi has profound knowledge. I admire him." Guanqiu Yin pointed to the colored glaze products on the shelf and said, "This product also came from Jiangling. My family bought it."

Xi Gu nodded and said, "Although the barbarian chiefs are greedy for money, they don't accept all the money. What's worse, they take the money but don't do anything. Guanqiu Envoy is an expert in this, so I can't say much, just give a brief reminder."

"My father still has some barbarian chieftains he can trust." Guanqiu Yin said, "As long as you are willing to spend money, you can easily get several thousand people."

Guanqiu Lu subconsciously wanted to ask why he ran away before, but he stopped talking.

Spending his own money to defend Badong County for the imperial court? What kind of loyal minister would that be? Not to mention the private interests of the family, normally speaking, there is no need to do this.

Guanqiu Lu had a premonition that if he had not come today, this cousin would most likely pack up his property quickly and then head east with his family, officials, and his own guests and followers.

First retreat to Jianping County. If the Cheng bandits chase you, I guarantee they will not resist. Continue to flee to Yidu County (governed by Yiling) further east - Yidu has slightly more soldiers and horses, so it should be able to withstand the Cheng State's offensive.

I am willing to stay and defend today, but I am actually not very happy about it. I may even feel that I have been doomed. I could have left without spending any money, but you forced me to stay. Isn't this a scam?

But he also knew that if he didn't give the Emperor Liang a favor, how would he deal with it in the future? Did he really think he wouldn't punish him? From this perspective, it was not wrong to be targeted by the Emperor Liang. Being targeted by the Emperor Liang was a disaster for you. You could find a way to make up for it later.

The servants counted the property and goods and loaded them into the car one by one.

Guanqiu Ao had assembled three hundred troops and mobilized a group of county soldiers. He planned to go into the mountains to visit the barbarian chiefs he was familiar with and ask them to send troops to help defend Yu Fu.

Guanqiu Lu nodded at him and prepared to write a letter immediately, give it to his confidant to take back and present it to the emperor.

This upcoming war has a bit of black humor to it.

The minister of Liang State personally went to Yufu and asked the governor of Jin State to defend Badong for the Jin Dynasty and not to flee. This matter made...

******
Before Guanqiu Lu's letter was presented to Shao Xun's desk, rounds of battles had already begun in Jianye. No one cared about Badong because that place seemed far away from Jiangling and was not threatened by war.

Chengguo's conquest of cities in Ningzhou did not seem to be going well, so he began to recruit the local Cuan (cuàn) leader.

It seems that Chengguo does not have the energy to move eastward...

On the sixth day of March, Zhuge Hui returned to Jingkou and went straight to Jianye. The first thing he did was to visit his close friends in the court.

After finishing all this, he came to Jincheng to visit his daughter and son-in-law.

As expected, they still had no children, and Zhuge Hui had become numb.

"This time, Shao Taibai led three expeditions to the south, but two of them were feints, and only Jingzhou was the main attack." In the courtyard, Zhuge Hui said with some self-mockery: "Tao Shiheng, needless to say, lost his troops and territory, and was in a very embarrassing situation. It was just his bad luck that he ran into the main force of the Liang army."

"Shan Yanlin defeated the Liang army in Hefei. However, the new city of Hefei was captured for a time. Liang general Zhang Shuo demolished the city wall and then withdrew. It can be said that they barely saved face."

"I lost the Huaibei Fortress, but I managed to hold the Huai River and found an opportunity to annihilate more than a thousand enemy troops crossing the river. Some people in the court criticized me, while others praised me. However, in my opinion, I was actually defeated."

"The court is looking for a governor for Jingzhou, but I don't know why they chose me. Sigh. We are all family, and I won't hide it from you. I really don't want to go, unless Xiangzhou is merged into Jingzhou."

Sima Chong was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously asked, "Is the old man going to Jingzhou?"

"It hasn't been decided yet, but it's hard to avoid it." The expression on Zhuge Hui's face was gloomy.

Sima Chong took a quick look and felt that there was a lot of content in it, but he couldn't figure it out.

Zhuge Wenbiao looked at his father deeply, but said nothing.

"I would like to let Shan Yanlin go to Jingzhou, but he has already moved from Wuhu to Liyang, and he is a relative by marriage, so how can he leave?" Zhuge Hui said with a self-deprecating smile.

The emperor of the Jin Dynasty was Sima Fei, the empress was Shan Yinan, and there was only one foreign relative, the Henei Shan clan. What kind of foreign relative is the Langya Zhuge clan? Can the princess also be considered a foreign relative?

If the emperor's biological mother, Xun, was born in Yingchuan, she could be considered a foreign relative. But Xun was a Yan nationality, of low birth, and was only a palace maid. She might have Western Hu blood in her body. Her family was lost in war for many years and could not provide any help. Therefore, Shan and his people must stay near Jianye to check and balance Wang, and they cannot be easily moved.

The Wang family of Langya wanted to send Wang Bin or Wang Han to govern Jingzhou, but the attendant Liu Wei and others strongly opposed it and eventually gave up.

Zhuge Hui sneered in his heart about this matter. Why are they still fighting among themselves at this time?

Given this situation, sending Zhuge Hui to govern Jingzhou became almost inevitable.

He knew he couldn't refuse, so he proposed a condition: abolish Xiangzhou and merge all the counties into Jingzhou. "If my father-in-law goes to Jingzhou, what will happen to Jingkou?" Sima Chong asked.

"Maybe we should send a member of the royal family to govern." Zhuge Hui thought for a moment and said, "If that doesn't work, we can only re-employ Liu Yueshi. He has no roots or base in Jianye and can only rely on the emperor. But he is already sixty years old. How many years can he govern?"

Sima Chong felt a little disappointed after hearing what Zhuge Hui said.

He knew that Jingkou had nothing to do with him, but he couldn't help feeling lost, as if something that belonged to him was lost.

"Don't think too much." Zhuge Hui glanced at his son-in-law and sighed, "The situation is like this, we just have to live one day at a time."

"Father-in-law, you..." Sima Chong was surprised and a little angry by Zhuge Hui's words.

"Go out more often and visit Jianye." Zhuge Hui said meaningfully.

Sima Chong felt cold all over.

"Two more old men left when we returned to Beijing this time." Zhuge Hui sighed, "What will happen to the world when they all leave? You don't know, and neither do I. The general trend is so overwhelming, and we are just going with the flow."

Sima Chong was speechless.

Zhuge Hui stayed in Jincheng for only one day. On March 11, he was ordered to go to Taicheng to meet the emperor.

******
There is Hongxun Palace in the northwest corner of Taicheng and north of the East Palace.

It is called a palace, but in fact it is just the remaining villas and houses of the Eastern Wu Dynasty that have been renovated for people to live in.

The owner of Hongxun Palace was Shi, the biological mother of Langya King Sima Chong. Because Sima Rui had ordered his sons to treat her as a mother, she was allowed to live alone in the palace.

Although the emperor and empress were unable to serve him morning and night every day, the Jin Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety, so the two of them still came to visit from time to time, and today was one of them.

Shi still had resentment in her heart, but this resentment was not directed at the emperor, but at the queen Shan Yinan. I don't know why, but I just don't like her, maybe because they had fought before.

Shan Yinan didn't have a good impression of her, but she still did a good job in handling the situation.

The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law walked on the green grass, looking at the sparkling water, and spoke insincerely.

"It's nice to be stuck in the palace all day long and come out for a walk occasionally." Shi brushed the willow branches casually, her face full of resentment.

Shan Yinan agreed casually, looked at the expression on Shi's face, and remained silent.

As the queen, she knew everything that was going on in the palace.

Shi often spoke in resentful words, like an unsatisfied woman, which made her feel quite disgusted.

What good was there in that? She felt it was meaningless and not at all pleasant.

After all, he came from a small family and couldn't be accepted by the upper class.

"After the Battle of Jingzhou, people in the court are in a state of unrest. The emperor has that kind of temper, so the queen has to put more thought into it." Shi suddenly spoke up.

Shan Yinan responded.

When the news of Tao Kan's defeat came, she was actually shocked for a while, but then forced herself to calm down.

She didn't understand military affairs and couldn't think of any good strategies. She just felt that she could only use the navy to blockade the river and try her best to defend it, while at the same time stepping up the training of the imperial guards and troops from other garrisons.

Besides, she didn't know what to do.

"I heard that Shao Xun is only 43 years old?" Shi suddenly asked.

Shan Yinan hummed.

Shi sighed and said, "Men of this age are at their peak of wisdom and strategy, and they are still in their prime. They are ambitious and never satisfied with anything. He won't give up."

Shan Yinan was a little surprised and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Shi looked at her and shook her head, saying, "The late emperor was like this back then."

Having said that, Shi sighed deeply.

Shan Yinan looked at her quietly, and felt that this sigh was full of very complicated emotions, which was difficult to understand for a moment.

Just as she was about to say something, the Grand Chamberlain quickly stepped inside and reported in a low voice, "Empress, His Majesty is going back to the Taiji Palace."

Shan Yinan nodded and turned to look at Shi.

Shi didn't wait for her to speak, and said, "I have nothing to do here."

Shan Yinan bowed and turned to leave.

Outside the Hongxun Palace, Zhuge Hui had already said goodbye to Emperor Sima Fei and left with a heavy heart.

(End of this chapter)