Chapter 1105: The twelfth month

Chapter 1105: The twelfth month

Chapter 1105: The twelfth month (Part )

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Shao Xun had already arrived in Hanoi and ate red bean porridge with the soldiers of the Heilang Left Camp.

This rule existed during the reign of Chen Hou, and has gradually become a tradition. All warriors in the world are proud to eat red bean porridge with the emperor.

After the meal, rewards were distributed as usual.

Prefect Lu Rong was about to be promoted to Chief Censor (fourth rank), and upon his recommendation, Jing Hong, the former magistrate of Wen and Sima of Henei County, was appointed as prefect.

County Magistrate Wei Yi was appointed as the magistrate of Yewang.

The county Sima was appointed by a military student named Feng Zhan, whose father Feng Tong was the head of Chen County.

From the perspective of the group of military students, Lu Rong is a veteran who first led troops, then switched to a civilian position after being injured, and is about to be appointed Chief Censor. He is the second highest-ranking military student who has climbed to the civilian position.

Needless to say, the person who climbed the highest was naturally the Minister of Personnel (third rank) Mao Bang.

Feng Zhan was a younger generation. He came here when Shao Xun was gathering disaster victims in Chen County. Later he went to study at the Bianliang Military Academy. After graduation, he first served as a county lieutenant, then as a county magistrate, and finally as a county Sima - in fact, they were almost officials of the same level.

These three people are actually a microcosm, which means that the martial arts system that Shao Xun has cultivated for more than 20 years has become established and has reshuffled the world to a certain extent.

Otherwise, people like Feng Zhan would never be able to become a county Sima in his entire life.

These people were also one of Shao Xun's bargaining cards with the gentry. That is, when they really had to break off relations, he would not be left without help even if the country's governance capabilities seriously declined.

Of course, this is a last resort. Generally speaking, except for a few who are truly talented and keep learning, the vast majority of martial arts students are not capable enough to govern the country.

They were just low-end substitutes for the aristocratic officials.

"The Heilongjiang Left Camp is still a powerful force." Shao Xun looked at the soldiers lined up on the west bank of the Qin River and said with a smile: "King Kong slave, are you leading them well?"

The new commander-in-chief of the Heilang Left Camp is Liu Ling, the former commander-in-chief of the Yellow Head Army’s Third Camp and an old subordinate of Shao Xun.

The deputy governor was the former leader Peng Ling, who had made great contributions when he went south, so he took that critical step and entered the ranks of middle and senior military officers.

At the same time, this is the first time in the history of Heilongjiang Zuoying that the two chief officers are not martial arts students.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I have been training every three days without slacking off." Liu Ling said loudly, "The soldiers are ready to fight at any time. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, they will rush to the battlefield."

"Good." Shao Xun praised: "Since the Black Left Camp went to war, it has been known for its courage and bravery, and has never let me down. Lead it well."

After saying that, he looked at Peng Ling and said, "It's not easy for Mr. Peng to be selected to serve in the army. When Hou Feihu was in charge of the left camp, he mentioned you to me and said that he had never seen anyone who was so fearless of death."

"I have died many times while fleeing." Peng Ling replied, "I will die if I do, but if I have delayed your majesty's important affairs, I will never be forgiven for dying a hundred times."

"Mr. Peng is a man who knows how to talk." Shao Xun said with a smile, "I will give you five pieces of Sangziyuan brocade."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generous reward." Peng Ling said loudly.

Shao Xun noticed Liu Ling from the corner of his eye, so he looked at him and said, "King Kong slave, you are a general after all, why are you still so greedy for money? Forget it, you also have five horses."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Liu Ling said with a smile.

Seeing his miserable state, Shao Xun laughed and scolded him, "It's been twenty years, and you haven't changed. Your son is much more stable and can handle the big responsibility better than you."

"This is how my life will end. Fortunately, I met Your Majesty, otherwise I might have been buried in the weeds." Liu Ling smiled and said, "My son has been studying since he was young, and he is more sensible than me. Since Your Majesty has shown favor to him, why not transfer him to the imperial army? He can cook."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Tong Qianjin widened his only remaining eye and felt like the sky was about to fall.

Shao Xun also laughed so hard, what a hottie Liu Ling is!
While everyone was laughing and making noises, the soldiers from the Heiliang Left Camp had already started the martial arts competition.

Shao Xun and the others watched quietly. After each competition, rewards were given out.

In addition to the silk, he also set aside some oranges, saying, "These oranges were bought from Jiangling in mid-September and sealed with wax and sent to Luoyang. There are not many left. The winner of the competition will be awarded five, and the loser will also receive one."

After the news spread, shouts of "Long live the emperor" arose.

Shao Xun stroked his beard happily. He only liked praise from two kinds of people: one was a warrior, and the other was a young lady.

The former he will bestow wealth.

In the latter case, he would want her to "die", even though women are immortal.

Liu Ling held at least three oranges in his big hands that were as big as a cattail leaf fan. After breaking the wax shells, he peeled the oranges and started eating without washing them.

After finishing the meal, he smacked his lips and said, "It's not as delicious as the ones picked from the trees. Your Majesty, please send me to Jiangling. Isn't there another war over there? I'll go and kill them."

"Be patient." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Badong is a small place, and it can't hold too many troops."

"Then let's go to Yidu." Liu Ling said, "The Jin people dared to resist stubbornly. I think they don't want to live anymore."

"Yidu is a big county, it's normal that it doesn't surrender." Shao Xun said, "Let's wait and see."

In the past two months, there were three batches of troops that were ordered to march south, namely, 3,000 Gaocha cavalry from Dou Yuzhen, 5,000 Di soldiers from Fu Hong, and 6,000 Di, Qiang, Xianbei and Xiongnu soldiers from Shangjun, Diaoyin and Xinqin counties, totaling 14,000 infantry and cavalry.

This month, there is one last batch of troops heading south, which is 8,000 miscellaneous Hu soldiers from Pingyang, Taiyuan, Xihe, and Hedong. They didn't go on the expedition last time, but they can't run away this time.

However, most of these troops would be stationed in Jingling or Nanjun, either to guard against the Jin army or to participate in the siege of Yiling, the capital of Yidu County.

Yes, the battle has begun. Badong County has raised the banner of rebellion and is no longer hiding its true colors.

Wang Shuang led his army to advance towards Jianping. The governor of Jin had no troops and simply abandoned the city and fled.

However, Yidu County did not surrender, but instead defended the city and waited for reinforcements.

The governor of six counties, Shao Shen, personally led more than 15,000 people to besiege the city for more than ten days. According to the latest battle report sent back a few days ago, he was confident that he could capture the city before the New Year - of course, he did not forget to urge reinforcements.

Shao Xun gave him full trust and basically did not interfere.

The fourth batch of reinforcements was sent out at the request of Shao Shenzhi. At the same time, the withdrawal of the Silver Spear Left Camp was postponed for several months, and the camp was stationed in Nanjun together with the Black Spear Central Camp that had replaced the camp in the past.

To this extent, the support was already quite strong. After all, he could not mobilize soldiers, supplies, and equipment from all over the country as he did for the southern expedition more than a year ago.

A war of that kind, which could destroy a country, would consume all the stored food resources once fought, and would also cause many social problems - a decrease in the population due to deaths in battle, escape, or illness, a large loss of vehicles and draft animals, and huge damage to agricultural production.

Although many people say that he is cruel, when these people meet the real "virtuous and respected", they will know what it means to be aggressive.

"But..." Shao Xun looked at Liu Ling's slightly disappointed eyes, secretly cursed him, and said: "Since the winter month, some Di Qiang people from Qiuchi have surrendered again. Yang Nandi should be defeated soon. After pacifying Wudu, people are in chaos and the aftermath is difficult to calm down. You can march west to guard the place and let those barbarian chiefs see the style of Daliang's imperial army, so that they won't have any more disloyalty."

Of course, things are definitely not as simple as Shao Xun said.

In fact, he had decided to forcibly relocate the Di and Qiang people of Qiuchi to Jingzhou - at least to relocate the most stubborn ones.

This behavior may lead to rebellion, so it is necessary to send elite soldiers to guard for a period of time. In addition, after the Heilongjiang Left Camp passes, it can also spy on the direction of Hanzhong and put pressure on Chengguo to prevent them from coveting Badong.

Liu Ling, a warmonger, didn't need Shao Xun's instructions. He had already had this idea in mind. When he heard Shao Xun's words, he was overjoyed and said, "I obey your order."

Shao Xun nodded and said nothing more. He just watched the soldiers compete.

Two days later, he returned to Luoyang to attend the wedding of Zhao Wang Shao Xu.

This is the third time for him. Considering how many sons he has, there is no telling how many more weddings are waiting for him in the future.

The future son-in-law Xu Xuan also came, but did not meet Shao Xun.

Fu Bao returned from Xiangyang, chattering non-stop: "Grandpa, I am still thinking about you, right?"

"You are thinking about grandpa's money." Shao Xun said.

Fu Bao covered his mouth and laughed secretly, then asked curiously: "Grandpa, didn't you reward Hui Wan with a manor house?"

Shao Xun glared at her and said, "There is a field in Suyu Palace."

After hearing this, Fu Bao seemed relieved.

Shao Xun widened his eyes. It turned out that this little girl was not concerned about Hui Wan, but felt unbalanced if the reward was too much.

However, he was too lazy to bother about it and only asked, "I heard that you bought goods from Jiangling and sold them in Yingchuan, making a lot of money?"

"Who said that?" Fu Bao asked guiltily.

Shao Xun snorted coldly and asked again: "In your opinion, there is great potential for the north-south trade?"

"There is great potential!" Fu Bao's eyes lit up when he heard it.

Shao Xun felt dazzled, as if he saw golden light in his daughter's eyes.

"Grandpa, please hurry to Jiangnan. Your daughter will go to Wuchang to open a business." Fu Bao said again.

Shao Xun looked at his daughter helplessly.

Fu Bao was so cute when she was a child, but she became more and more troublesome to him as she grew older. Fortunately, she got married.

At this time, he also began to think about the information he had just received.

The "little beast" in front of him who always wants to steal his gold coins is a first-hand business person, and her words are very valuable for reference.

Goods from the north and south are very complementary.

In fact, not only Fu Bao made money, but Yang Xianrong's caravan also made money, or even more.

The Yu family won’t say anything more.

The people from the merchant settlements they brought over not only cultivated the land but also harvested a large amount of kudzu vines. However, they only processed them roughly and sent them to the north to be sold - the conditions for processing were not yet available locally.

It seems that his original idea was not entirely a pipe dream. At least, he could really make money by doing business, and there were indeed relatively rich resources in the local area, which could be easily found, as long as he dared to go deep into those undeveloped areas.

Perhaps, he should let Wang Yan hold another informal discussion on how to make money from Jiangxia, Nanjun and Jingling, and at the same time imagine the bright prospects after conquering Jiangnan.

In addition, the Shaofu should also go to the south to allocate another garden.

More than 10,000 people from various Xiongnu tribes in Beidi County were exiled, some of whom were consumables.

After figuring it out, he withdrew his thoughts and put his energy back into the wedding.

As if to add to the fun of the wedding, an urgent message came from Chang'an five hundred miles away: Yang Nandi abandoned Wudu and fled south to Cheng State with only a thousand remnants.

(End of this chapter)