Chapter 1097: Water Conservancy

Chapter 1097: Water Conservancy

Chapter 1097: Water Conservancy

Another group of Luoyang soldiers were ready to set off, but there were only 500 of them.

After recruiting this batch, the Right Cavalry Guard will not have many extra men for the time being. There are definitely some, and quite a few, but it is hard to say whether they are willing to leave their hometown.

This group of people gathered outside Dongyang Gate at the end of July, smelling the stench coming from the horse and sheep markets while waiting for their nobleman.

The noble lady's name is Shao Gui. He is the Attendant of the Protectorate of Shanyu, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, and the Commander of the Zuoguo Garden. He has just finished an audience with the Emperor in the palace and is preparing to take up his new post.

There was a Du Shui Tai in the Jin Dynasty, and its chief official was the Du Shui Shi (Du Shui Shi), who evolved from the Du Shui Chang (Du Shui Chang) of the Qin and Han Dynasties.

The Liang Dynasty originally followed the old system, and Yang Bao, the General of Revenue and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, also served as the Water Envoy.

This month, the Du Shui Tai was changed to Du Shui Jian, and Yang Bao resigned from this position.

The Du Shui Jian had one supervisor and two deputy supervisors, and under them were officials such as the Du Shui Messenger and the Riverbank Usher.

Shao Gui is about to resign from his three posts as Attendant of the Shanyu Protectorate, Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, and Order of the Zuoguo Garden, and take up the post of Junior Supervisor of the Dushui Department.

In terms of rank, it was a lateral transfer, which was not a bad thing, but it certainly did not make the emperor particularly satisfied.

Shao Gui brought his wife along today.

Princess Zu of Chu gave birth to a daughter last November. Unfortunately, the first children of the Princesses of Qi and Chu were both daughters, and Shao Xun still has no grandson.

However, he was still very happy when holding his granddaughter, but the fact that he had a granddaughter in his left hand and a daughter in his right hand seemed a little funny - Queen Yu Wenjun also gave birth to a daughter in November last year, just a few days before and after Zu's daughter.

The Queen is here today too.

She had been relatively comfortable in the past month. Except for a few times when he climbed on Liu Cong's Queen Fan, Queen Wang, and Queen Xuan, the man basically stayed with her.

Seeing that Shao Xun was tired of holding her, he reached out to take his daughter and sat under the grape trellis in Hongxun Palace.

This rack was built by Shao's father and mother. It has been there for several years. It can be used to provide shade in the summer and to pick fruit in the autumn.

When the daughter-in-law Zu saw this, she also came over with her head down and said softly, "Your Majesty."

Shao Xun handed his granddaughter over reluctantly, then waved his hand and asked Huanlang to sit next to him.

"I asked you to do horse farming before, but you didn't do it except in Mayi and Yunzhong counties. Why is that?" Shao Xun asked, "Are the horses bred by the Imperial Household Department not good?"

"The horse is really not in good condition." Hulang looked at Shao Xun and said carefully, "It has a bad temper and kicks people easily. I am still trying to breed a new breed. If father waits a few more years, perhaps a new plowing horse will come out."

Zu was standing not far away holding the child, talking to Xiurong Lu while listening to the conversation between the father and son.

My husband was still complaining at home yesterday that he was completely bound to Zuoguo Garden, bound to Mujian, and bound to Shanyu Mansion...

"The Imperial Household Department will select someone else to train the new horse." Shao Xun nodded, agreeing with his son's reason.

Of course, he could guess the actual reasons, but they were more complicated.

For example, the Xianbei and Wuhuan people already had horses. Would they be willing to spend money to buy new horses that were good for nothing except plowing?
For example, many Xianbei people still think that spring wheat is their traditional crop and there is no need to rush to catch up on the farming season. After the spring wheat is harvested, it needs to be ground with a stone mill, which is very troublesome and they don't want to plant it.

It is very difficult to promote a new thing. Many people are so stubborn, so paranoid, and so unwilling to change, not to mention that there may be other emotional factors involved - why should you, the Han people, tell me to do whatever I want?
"The Du Shui Jian is in charge of the ponds and river embankments throughout the country. As an assistant official, you also have important responsibilities on your shoulders." Shao Xun added: "Xiangyang is a newly recovered area, which is particularly important. You should take priority in handling it. The first stop is to go south to inspect the Mian River and help Grandpa relieve his worries."

"Son will definitely put in some effort." Hulang looked at his father with a perfect smile on his face.

My father's eyes were complicated.

Badger Lang vaguely felt that there was temptation and pressure in it.

Lu Xun and Zu, who were standing by, were talking absentmindedly, their attention always on the father and son.

Yu Wenjun sensed the subtle atmosphere, and came to Lu and Zu with a smile, talking about children, drawing their attention back.

"It may be a difficult assignment. There will be two water envoys and four river bank envoys to share the burden with you. They will be a few days later." Shao Xun added, "The Mian River has many tributaries. We must check them one by one."

"Yes." replied Badger.

"No..." Shao Xun thought for a moment, sighed, and said, "Go to Nanyang for an inspection first, and then go south to Xiangyang after mid-October. When you go out, be careful and don't drink raw water. If you see a river section with snails, don't touch the river water at will."

"Yes, sir." Hulang's expression did not change at all as he responded calmly.

Shao Xun looked at him and smiled.

After he said so much, Erlang's expression didn't change much. He was indeed calm enough. But for a moment, he found that the smile on Hulang's face didn't change much. It looked like it was carefully designed.

Thinking of this, he looked at his son's clothes again.

The travel hat was brand new and spotless. Although it was a casual family occasion, he was still wearing a red gauze robe - Shao Xun himself only wore a sundress.

The jade belt and accessories around the waist are all intact, which makes him look very solemn.

After reading it, he put away his smile and said, "Baldur, do your work well and don't think too much."

"I understand, son." Hulang nodded in response.

******
After bidding farewell to his parents, wife and children, Shao Gui, accompanied by Chu King's friend Xian Yu Qu, Lieutenant Gai Hou, Right Attendant Duan Liao, and Sheren Tian Ji, left the city surrounded by the palace guards. They met up with the 500 sons of the palace soldiers outside the Dongyang Gate and headed south together.

The size of the Chu Palace guards was not large, only 200 people, but they were quite impressive, because each 100 people had two horses, one horse was used to carry equipment and armor, and the other horse was more majestic and was a war horse.

At this moment, they were walking and leading their horses, surrounding the carriage of the King of Chu.

There were also a hundred infantrymen walking beside dozens of ox carts, looking like they were escorting goods.

Pretty much the same, actually.

Most of the items on the car were needed for settling down, and they were transported to Xiangyang.

The emperor has ordered that each king must send people south to Jingling, Jiangxia, or Nanjun to build a manor, recruit personnel on their own, raise part of the money and grain themselves, and subsidize part of it with the Ministry of the Treasury.

King Shao Gui of Chu was no exception. He chose a barren land in Quling County, Jiangxia County, adjacent to the Wei family manor.

Li Huai, the literary officer of King Chu, had already gone south and was going to visit the governor of Jiangxia and the governor of Quling to first determine the land and borrow the power of the lower government to facilitate the reclamation of wasteland.

As for the five hundred soldiers, to be honest, they are just on the way and will go their separate ways after arriving in Nanyang. They are going to Jiangling.

But Jiangling was not its final destination.

Others may not know, but Shao Gui knows. These soldiers with certain combat effectiveness will be reorganized in Jiangling, and then take a boat to Badong when the opportunity arises - if there are no Jin navy warships on the river to stop them.

Guanqiu Ao, the governor of Yizhou and military supervisor of Badong, received a secret report from merchants in Shu, saying that Li Cheng's army had returned from Nanzhong and occupied Ningzhou. Chengdu was still brooding over the previous failure, and recently it was collecting food and grass and training troops, and its intention to attack Badong again was very obvious.

Therefore, Guanqiu Ao requested the "Daliang Heavenly Soldiers" to rush to Badong to help it defend the city.

To be honest, the military strength available to Guanqiu was indeed pitiful.

In the fight a few months ago, the county soldiers lost 31% and the barbarian soldiers from various tribes also suffered heavy losses. Guanqiu Ao spent a lot of money to pay for the compensation. If Li Cheng attacked again, would he have to destroy his family to help him? This was not reasonable.

If he was unwilling to spend his own money and the Daliang court did not express any opinion, then Guanqiu Ao would have no choice but to ask Zhuge Hui in Wuchang for help. Zhuge Hui could indeed draw reinforcements now, but it would obviously add variables.

The simplest point is: if Zhuge Hui felt that the military strength of Badong was weak and decided to send thousands of troops to defend it for a long time, could Guanqiu Ao still rebel? Most likely not.

Therefore, it is neither reasonable nor moral for the Daliang court to sit idly by.

These 500 sons of the imperial guards are only part of the reinforcements. Shao Shen, the governor of six counties, will also dispatch some troops to rush to Badong to ensure that this key place is firmly controlled by Daliang.

Of course, this would cause a chain reaction. Not all the people in Badong were blind. With so many reinforcements coming at once, they would know where they were from after just a little contact. In this way, some things would be hard to conceal.

Shao Gui had just discussed the matter with the officials in the palace, and everyone felt that the matter was very tricky.

Lieutenant Gai Hou was the most impatient. He thought it would be better to let Guanqiu Ao raise the banner of rebellion and take over the Jiangbei part of Yidu and Jianping counties at the same time.

That area was full of mountains and had always been inhabited by barbarians. Gai Hou felt that the barbarians might not be very loyal to the Jin court, and perhaps he could use a combination of military intimidation and political appeasement to turn them into Liang territory - before, the imperial court was too lazy to deal with these barbarians in the poor mountain valleys, but now that it needed to secure Badong, it naturally could not ignore them anymore.

The idea was sound, and Shao Gui was tempted for a moment, thinking of submitting a memorial to suggest doing so, but then he thought that this was a bit over the line.

Shao Shen, the governor of the six counties, is the one who makes the decision. Is it your turn? If you really do this, you will not only offend your cousin, but also lose points with your father. It's not worth it.

However, through this incident, Shao Gui became a little addicted to the feeling of being in charge of the country.

This is what a man should do!

Breeding draft horses, promoting horse-drawn plowing, and even the newly taken over inspection of ponds, rivers, and dams were all extremely trivial duties. They were extremely tiring, and it was not easy to achieve results. - In one go, the two counties of Yidu and Jianping in the north of the Yangtze River were all seized. This achievement was so remarkable that it was not easy to doubt.

But he could only think about it in his mind. Now he could only patrol the river defenses.

On August 15, Shao Gui and his entourage arrived in Nanyang and stayed in the military camp where Heiliang Zuoying had been stationed. The 500 men continued to march southward, speeding up their march and arriving in Xiangyang on August 20.

Shao Shen, the governor of six counties, issued an order: The Duzhi Captain Huan Wen must escort the supplies and soldiers by boat south to Jiangling, and there must be no mistake.

After Huan Wen received the order, he was secretly delighted.

The princess has recently come to Caizhou, and her life there is hard to describe.

(End of this chapter)