Chapter 1093: Censor
Chapter 1093: Censor
In June, during the hottest days of the year, the sun is scorching hot.
Cicadas were chirping happily on the big locust tree outside Ganchengwu.
Suddenly, Shao Yu waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand and slapped a caterpillar away.
"You almost succeeded." Tiger Head yawned and said, "If you stabbed me in the face, how would I face my parents when I go back?"
Guo Shi, a servant of the Prince of Yan's palace, stood by and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, why don't you find a good place to enjoy the cool air?"
"We'll be leaving soon, just lie down for a while." Hu Tou stood up, pushed the rocking chair aside, and said, "I won't lie down anymore, let's go back to Luoyang. My mother is waiting for me to go home and eat soup noodles."
"I'm afraid we won't be able to make it today." Guo Shi said.
"I'm just talking, and you believe it? My mother must be sleeping, and there will be no soup or noodles to eat." Hu Tou sneered, threw the palm-leaf fan into Guo Shi's hand, and went down the mountain.
Lieutenant Sima Lu Han saw the situation and immediately gathered a hundred guards from the palace to escort the Prince of Yan.
"Put away all the ceremonial objects." Hu Tou turned his head and looked at Lu Han, saying, "Look at you, you are not good at training soldiers, but you are good at these."
Lu Han blushed and stammered, not daring to speak.
In fact, he was quite good at training soldiers and was very diligent, much more hardworking than those generals from aristocratic families. However, it had to be admitted that the Prince of Yan was indeed better at training soldiers, especially when the army was hundreds of people, the Prince of Yan often boosted the morale of the soldiers with his bravery and generosity, and they trained harder.
Another point is that Lu Han was born into the Changguang Lu family, a wealthy family in Qingzhou. His low status made him very inferior and he didn't dare to speak much, even though he was already very capable.
When the group reached the foot of the mountain, they saw hundreds of residents cutting grass by the river.
"Let's go." Hu Tou laughed and jumped on the horse.
I don't know when he got a lance in his hand, with a bundle on the lance, which looked very funny.
The residents of the fort were also very familiar with him and knew that he was not arrogant. Someone bravely said, "Your Highness, take me with you. I will serve you as a soldier."
"The military quota is full and we can't afford to support you." Hu Tou pulled the reins and said with a smile.
"Your Highness, please take me away." A girl of fifteen or sixteen suddenly said.
Hu Tou laughed and said, "My three brothers were sold, and I will be sold too. I can't marry you. Find a good man to marry. Let's go."
After saying this, he rode out on his horse and headed for Luoyang.
After running all the way, we arrived at Jingu Garden in the afternoon of the next day.
Upon hearing that the King of Yan was coming, everyone in the Jingu Garden immediately started moving.
Guo, who was always stingy, didn't even frown. She asked the servants to prepare wine and meat for the soldiers brought by her grandson.
Hu Tou stopped being lazy, obediently helped his grandmother sit down, and then asked, "Grandma, how are you?"
"I'm getting older, and although I've been pampered, I'm not as good as before." Guo said with some melancholy, "I'm afraid I won't see you get married and have children, Hutou."
Hu Tou looked a little sad, and said, "Grandmother is safe and happy, but it's a pity that your grandson can't see you day and night."
Hearing this, Guo subconsciously asked, "Are you going to be sent out?"
Hu Tou hummed and said, "Nine out of ten. Before, I was asked to be the Supervisory Censor and inspect the six forts, which is not the normal system for a prince to take up a post. I am already sixteen years old, so I am afraid I will be sent out as the master of a garden."
"Then it's better to go to Luoyang West Garden, which is closer to Jingu Garden." Upon hearing this, Guo said happily: "Although the old thing is useless and has been pretending all his life, at least he can have a say."
"Perhaps the West Garden is reserved for Sixth Brother." Hu Tou said, "It would be great if we could go to Guangcheng Garden."
"You should fight for it, why do you always give in to others?" Guo said dissatisfiedly: "Is it embarrassing for Wang Clan of Langya to be known to others? When Jiangnan is pacified in the future, even if Maohong does not contribute, the other descendants of Wang Clan may not be stubborn, and how much effort can they save for the emperor? The emperor is a wise man, and your talent is the best among the princes, don't be afraid."
Hu Tou laughed and said nothing more.
In the evening, Wang Yan also came back. When the servants saw him, they immediately served him wine and food.
There were only a few people present, namely Wang Yan, Wang Xian (son of Wang Xuan), Hu Tou, Lieutenant Sima Lu Han of the Prince of Yan's Mansion, Sheren Guo Shi, and several guests of Wang Yan's mansion.
Wang Yan took off the brocade robe he wore when attending court, changed into a hemp cloth shirt, and sat at the top.
After washing his hands with a silk handkerchief and clean water, he smiled and said, "Today's family dinner is specially prepared for my grandson."
As they were talking, plates of steamed cakes were served. They were steamed to perfection, with a faint aroma of pig fat.
This was followed by dishes such as roasted pork, stewed deer tail, and Luoyang's local Jiuyun.
Then there was some toasting and chatting. Halfway through the meal, everyone was a little tipsy and dancers and musicians came in one after another.
Wang Yan's eyes had been fixed on his grandson. Seeing that he liked to eat deer tails, he immediately smiled and said, "If the Prince of Yan were the governor of the Western Garden, he could take good care of those wild deer. Officials and civilians within a radius of dozens of miles would all hate them. But they can only kill the wild deer that escape from the forest wall, and they cannot enter the forbidden garden without permission."
"Why do you need to do that?" Tiger Head finished eating a piece of deer tail and took a sip of wine. Then he said with a smile, "This autumn, when your Majesty goes to the West Garden to give a military lecture, he will definitely kill all the wild deer. Grandfather, don't worry."
Wang Yan said helplessly: "As expected of Jing Feng's son, he is just as lazy."
Everyone laughed.
At this time, the beautiful maid walked to the tiger-head table and poured wine for him with affection.
There was also a dancer in the field, with her long sleeves fluttering, and she looked at Hu Tou with charming eyes from time to time.
Seeing this, Wang Yan said again: "My grandson is already sixteen years old. Is there any woman he likes?" Everyone suddenly became quiet. This was no trivial matter.
But Hu Tou laughed and said, "My grandfather is a close minister of the emperor, how come he doesn't know the true meaning?"
Wang Yan sighed. This was the truth. He couldn't interfere in such matters.
However, there is not no chance at all.
There was a reason why he asked Hu Tou if he was willing to stay in Luoyang Xiyuan. If Hu Tou was willing, he would risk his reputation and ask the emperor to do so, but Hu Tou did not give a direct answer, which clearly showed that he was not willing.
In addition, the emperor might not necessarily let Hutou be the magistrate of a certain forbidden garden. Wang Yan knew this better than his grandson.
The emperor had long been dissatisfied with Hutou for not managing the Prince of Yan's Mansion well and not even taking a look at his fiefdom.
Apart from other things, have the household registrations of the numerous nobles and the Hu people in the fiefdom been sorted out? How much tax have they paid to you? Hu Tou was not very concerned and was not very active, and the emperor was so angry that he wanted to push him to do things from behind.
Therefore, it might be necessary to send Hu Tou to Youzhou next. After all, he is the King of Yan, and his title is legitimate.
In this way, Wang Yan was also thinking about how to pave the way for his grandson.
Youzhou is not a good place, but now that things have come to this, we can only operate in this way.
Youzhou, Bingzhou...
If these two places can be managed well, it may not be a bad thing if the worst happens.
The banquet was still going on, but Wang Yan was already a little distracted.
The guests in the room also signaled with their eyes from time to time, and everything was said without words: the Prime Minister cared too much about this grandson.
******
Hutou returned to Luoyang the next day.
Shao Xun was still very concerned about his son. He stayed in Jiafu Hall where Wang Jingfeng lived the night before.
When he saw Hutou in the morning, he was very happy to see his son's tall and strong figure.
In terms of appearance, this son really looks like him. I don't know how Wang Jingfeng, that silly girl, gave birth to such a good son. Unfortunately, Hu Tou has half of the blood of Wang Clan of Langya, which always makes Shao Xun a little afraid in his heart.
The more he was wary, the more Shao Xun felt like he had taken something away from Hu Tou, and he liked him even more.
"Hutou, you are sixteen years old too." Shao Xun said, "My male children should go out to work when they turn sixteen. Uh, the previous supervisory censor was——"
"It's just a joke." said Hu Tou.
Brat! You've learned to answer quickly.
Shao Xun punched the tiger's head. The tiger didn't move at first, then it took several steps back as if in slow motion, and said with a smile: "Grandpa, your skills are still sharp."
After that, he asked again: "Where's my mother?"
"Your mother is sleeping soundly." Shao Xun said helplessly, "My son is back, but he is still sleeping like a pig."
Hu Tou seemed to have undergone rigorous training and did not laugh, because if his angry mother knew about it, she would really beat him.
Shao Xun pondered for a while and said, "You should stay in Beijing for ten days to accompany your mother, and then go north to Youzhou. Before leaving, you can see Yuwen Xibaxiong."
"But what about the hostage of the Yuwen family?" asked Hu Tou.
"That's right." Shao Xun said, "Grandpa's energy is focused on the south, and the north will be mainly appeased for the time being. But the situation is changing, and we can't just ignore it. Youzhou hasn't been reorganized for many years, and the land has not been measured. The chiefs of the tribes are also living a good life. I suspect they still have some fighting power. You still have the position of Supervisory Censor. When you go to Youzhou, take a good look at the counties."
"You are allowed to expand the guards of the Prince of Yan's Palace to a thousand men. You can select the weapons and armor you need from the Youzhou armory. The Guangcheng Supervisor will also select two thousand strong horses for you, which you can take with you."
"Yuwen Xibaxiong is the nephew of Qidegui. Qidegui has been defeated in battles one after another and his reputation is not as good as before. I think he can't control his subordinates anymore. He might be killed one day. Xibaxiong is qualified to compete for the position of Yuwen Xianbei Chanyu. You can make friends with him."
"When you go north, you can go through Bingzhou and escort 300,000 hu of grain and 40,000 bolts of silk to Pingcheng. There are also undercurrents in Dai State. You can record what you see and hear, compile it into a book, and send it back to Luoyang."
"Okay." Hu Tou's eyes lit up when he heard this and he was eager to try.
Shao Xun was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly said, "Li Chong is the commander-in-chief of the military forces in Youzhou and Pingzhou. You must obey his control and don't act rashly."
Hu Tou was stunned for a moment, then agreed. At the same time, he secretly sneered in his heart, Li Chong was indeed the governor, but he might not be able to "supervise" the prince, he even suspected that he was there to supervise him.
Hehe, Hu Tou seemed to have thought of a way to play a trick on Li Zhong.
The words must be said ambiguously, but without leaving any handle that would make Li Chong guess and scare himself.
No one can stop me from enjoying myself. Xianbei people, Lord Shao Yu is here!
Shao Xun noticed the strange expression on Hu Tou's face.
Hu Tou also noticed that his father was looking at him with some scrutiny.
The father and son stared at each other, and then both laughed.
Shao Xun couldn't help but pull Hu Tou over and patted his shoulder hard with a complicated look in his eyes.
(End of this chapter)