Chapter 1172 Sudden

Chapter 1172 Sudden

Chapter 1172 Sudden
A high city wall had been erected outside Ximing Gate in Luoyang, and a gate was also opened on the city wall opposite this gate, called "Upper West Gate".

Most of the buildings between Ximing Gate and Shangxi Gate have been moved outward, leaving a lot of space that is now full of people.

Just after breakfast, the sky turned cloudy, with lightning, thunder and strong winds.

"What a sin! Someone must have done something sinful!" Hearing crazy shouts in his ears, Bian Xu subconsciously opened the curtains and looked outside.

"A person from Shu." Shao Yong said concisely.

"So that's how it is." Bian Xu sighed.

He did not lower the curtains, nor did he look away, he just stared outside.

He couldn't describe his thoughts accurately, but the tragic plight of the people of the fallen country still made him subconsciously feel a shock in his heart.

If the Great Jin Dynasty were to perish, things might not be much better.

He was fine, but what about the others? They might not have such a strong relationship.

The rain fell down in a steady stream, and the earth was eagerly enjoying the moisture from the rain.

The Shu people who had just been cursing rushed into the deserted houses, looking for any place to shelter from the rain.

The carriage quickly passed through the slightly messy West City, went out of the Upper West Gate, and arrived in front of a courtyard outside the city.

The attendant stepped forward immediately.

A few people came out of the gatehouse, and after some negotiations, they opened the gate. The carriage moved forward again and drove into the courtyard.

"The gatekeepers are all gardeners of the Shaofu." After Shao Yong and Bian Xu came to the corridor, their followers brought two couches over. The two cousins ​​simply sat on the corridor, enjoying the rain that covered the sky and the ground while chatting.

"They will not leave before the first day of July. You can find a way to buy some servants and bring their wife and children over, and then you will have a home." Shao Yong continued.

"Are these servants reliable?" Bian Xu really wanted to settle down in Luoyang, so he asked seriously.

Shao Yong was silent for a moment, then said, "He should be reliable. But he doesn't speak Mandarin, so he needs to be trained."

"Don't speak Mandarin? Where are you from?" Bian Xu asked.

"Hu people, do you dare to buy them?" Shao Yong turned to his cousin and said, "Some of the Hu people were captured on the battlefield and have skills. Some are women and children who were captured by surprise."

"How many people are needed in Luoyang?" Bian Xu asked.

"A lot. But I haven't heard of any injuries." Shao Yong said.

"When Zu Shizhi was still alive, his family had Jie slaves, and I heard they were also captives." Bian Xu said, "Buy them, but I have to bring some people over from Jiangnan."

"Yes." Shao Yong nodded indifferently, and then asked, "Do you really not want to be an official?"

"I won't cause any trouble to my father." Bian Xu sighed and said.

"Then what do you do for a living?" Shao Yong asked with a smile, "Your Majesty often says that the Shao family does not support idle people. By extension, Luoyang does not support idle people either. You must have a way to make a living. Otherwise, you will not have the money to repair this house."

As he said this, Shao Yong pointed to the moss-covered wall.

"Does Your Highness have any connections?" Bian Xu asked.

"Go to Jiyin to borrow money." Shao Yong said with a smile.

Bian Xu also smiled: "Even if you borrow money, you can't just sit back and eat all the money."

Shao Yong put away his smile and said, "If it really doesn't work, go to Hedong and have a look."

"Hedong?" Bian Xu seemed to be thinking about something.

This meant that he was asked to go to Hedong to visit his relatives. After all, his mother was also a member of the Pei family. She had been in Jiangnan for more than 20 years. It would have been fine if he hadn't come back, but since he was back, he should indeed go to Hedong to visit.

"The Pei family's reputation is still useful in Bingzhou." Shao Yong said, "After meeting the relatives, see if you can find some opportunities in Bingzhou. In my opinion, horse trading is the best."

Bian Xu nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

Horses are really too expensive and too scarce in Jiangnan. Whenever they appear, they are immediately snatched up.

Henan is better, with less shortages, but it’s not cheap either.

"Where do the horses in Central Plains come from?" he asked.

"We raise them ourselves, or we import them from Bingzhou, Qinzhou, and Youzhou." Shao Yong said, "The most common horses are from Dai, followed by Bingzhou Shan Hu horses. However, the Yicong and Luoyan armies do not use Hu horses, most of which are selected from Guangcheng and Zuoguo gardens, and there are also some in Luoyang Xiyuan. The imperial army does not use Hu horses as war horses, at most they are used for riding, and Guangcheng horses are more useful for charging into battle. But the civilians do not use garden horses, and even the government soldiers do not use garden horses, most of them are Hu horses. If you can import them, you can still make a lot of money."

Bian Xu was somewhat puzzled as to why Shao Yong did not do this business, but he believed that trading horses could definitely make a lot of money, and it had been the case in all dynasties.

The question is, do I have the ability to do this? Even Mr. Wu didn't get involved in this business, which shows that it is not something that ordinary people can do.

Either the emperor appoints someone to do this, and everyone will give him face.

Either you plan ahead and have a good family background, or you will have smooth sailing in the long run.

Or they are extremely powerful and can deal with officials, chiefs, and warriors along the way.

Bian Xu didn't know much about the north, but he sold horses from Dai State to the south, passing through the five counties of Kelan, Xihe, Pingyang, Hedong and Hongnong before arriving in Luoyang. Why didn't Wu Gong do it?
To put it bluntly, it might be easier to smuggle people from Daiguo to the south than to smuggle horses.

The sound of footsteps rang out on the stone road. Bian and Shao looked up and saw an attendant wearing a straw raincoat entering. After seeing Shao Yong, he said, "His Majesty has summoned the Lord to the palace to listen to the meeting in the west wing of the Taiji Hall in the afternoon."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Shao Yong asked curiously.

"Hailstorm hit Bingzhou and Jizhou, and the seven prefectures of Xihe, Taiyuan, Leping, Shangdang, Zhao, Guangping, and Julu were particularly severe, with tens of thousands of pedestrians and animals killed." The attendant replied, "Jiexiu County in Xihe reported that hailstorms in Jieshan were as big as chicken eggs, covering the sky and the ground, three feet high on flat ground and more than ten feet deep in depressions. The deputy governor of Jizhou reported that trees were broken and crops were destroyed."

When Shao Yong heard this, he said, "This must be an exaggeration."

The attendant smiled bitterly and said, "I also think it is exaggerated. It is hard to imagine hail three feet high on flat ground. But it is true that the hailstorm killed many people and animals."

Shao Yong chewed over the names of the seven counties, which were more than a thousand miles from west to east...

And these seven counties are only the worst hit. What about the other counties? Maybe they are not as bad, but there is hail.

"Just now we saw lightning and thunder, strong winds, and heavy rain soon. Could it be caused by hail?" Shao Yong asked. "My lord, you are right." The attendant said, "It rained heavily in Henei two days ago and it has not stopped yet. There are continuous strong winds and heavy rains around these seven counties, but there is only a small amount of hail. Outside Yanmen Pass, strong winds have been blowing for ten days. The express horse from the Shanyu Mansion reported that there is continuous frost in the north and south of Yinshan Mountain."

Shao Yong thought to himself, it’s over.

Just now I was talking about selling horses from Dai. When the grass was in bloom and heading, you sent a frost, so it must not grow well this year.

He immediately stood up and asked someone to bring a raincoat. Then he seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Why was it Jizhou Beijia who reported it?"

"My lord, have you forgotten?" The attendant whispered, "Madam Guo from the Prime Minister's Mansion passed away, and Envoy Wang returned home to mourn, and brought his two sons Xian and Liang back to mourn as well."

"Oh, yes, I forgot." Shao Yong paused and continued to put on his raincoat.

When a father dies and a mother dies, it is actually not that bad to mourn for one year. On the contrary, one would have to mourn for three years (twenty-seven months).

I just don’t know about Hutou - it shouldn’t be the case. His father won’t let him come back.

"It's a time of trouble." Shao Yong sighed and said, "It's only been ten years."

More than ten years ago, Bingzhou and Jizhou suffered from severe floods for three years, and Youzhou, Sizhou and Yongzhou were also affected to a certain extent.

The epidemic three years later was even more horrific.

That year, many people lost their husbands or wives, and many others lost their parents or children.

Ten years later, the trauma had healed, and the people of Luoyang could talk about those difficult times in a relatively normal tone after dinner. Some even joked about how many warriors who had suddenly become rich survived the epidemic, but their wives did not, so they all married new wives and were very happy.

But after ten years of relative peace, the disaster struck again.

Fortunately, there shouldn't be any terrible floods or droughts this time.

In late spring and early summer, the winter wheat has been harvested, but the grains have not yet been planted. However, if you are a farmer who planted millet in the spring, it is quite miserable.

There must be such people, and there are many of them. After all, in such a large country, it is impossible for every household to plant winter wheat or spring millet at the same time. After a long year, they usually stagger the planting times.

"Yan Feng--" After putting on the raincoat, Shao Yong looked at Bian Xu with an apologetic look on his face and said, "The matter of trafficking in substitute horses can only be discussed later."

"This is a big deal, Your Highness, please leave quickly." Bian Xu said, "I will go to Hedong tomorrow, meet my relatives and then return to Jiyin."

Shao Yong nodded, said no more, and disappeared in the rain.

******
Shao Yong's carriage stopped outside the Duanmen Gate, then he walked inside and soon arrived at the west wing of the Taiji Hall.

Shao Zhen, the commander of the Central Yellow Gate, came forward and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, go in and rest first. Your Majesty will come in the afternoon."

"Okay." Shao Yong nodded, and then asked softly, "Is there anything else?"

"Your Highness has not received any orders yet. His Majesty may take Your Highness north, and I will also accompany him north." Shao Zhen said.

Shao Yong was startled and asked, "North? Where to?"

"The Yinshan Mountains are covered with frost." Shao Zhen lowered his head after saying this, obviously not wanting to say more.

Shao Yong frowned and entered the west wing.

The frost in the Yinshan Mountains has been a tradition of the Tuoba clan for many years. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that the words of the ugly slave just now had a deeper meaning, with a creepy taste.

This feeling is strange and unreasonable, but it just won't go away.

After Shao Yong sat down, he thought hard and finally suddenly froze: there seemed to be a murderous intention.

At this moment, two more people arrived.

Shao Yong looked and saw that it was his sixth brother, King of Qin Shao Jin, who had just returned from Guanzhong, followed by Yuan Zhen.

He immediately stepped forward and saluted, and Shao Jin and Yuan Zhen returned the salute.

"Li Zhen." Shao Yong suddenly smiled and said, "Do you want to go back to Pingcheng to take a look?"

Yuan Zhen was a little stunned.

Upon hearing this, Shao Jin glared at Shao Yong.

Shao Yong's heart skipped a beat and he smiled awkwardly.

The look in Sixth Brother's eyes was different from before, a bit scary. Could it be that going out and experiencing things could change a person so much?
After glaring at his seventh brother, Shao Jin sat aside.

Yuan Zhen sat down next to Shao Jin. He was so bored that he twisted and turned as if there were nails under his butt.

When Shao Jin saw this, he gently pinched his ear.

Yuan Zhen immediately behaved himself, put his little head close to Shao Jin and spoke quietly.

Shao Jin gave him an unpleasant look and pinched his ear again, but this time it was a bit like an elder brother doting on his younger brother.

Shao Yong's eyes widened. He almost didn't recognize the brother he grew up with.

Is it because he accepted Madam Yao as his concubine?
"Agan, I have a good horse..." Yuan Zhen's voice came intermittently.

"Don't call me Ah Gan, call me brother." Shao Jin said, "I heard that you gave up studying yesterday and got punished with a ruler?"

"I...can't concentrate on reading." Yuan Zhen said in a low voice: "I don't want to study, I just want to practice horse riding and archery, and help Ah Gan fight in the future."

Shao Jin chuckled and said, "You still have to read books."

Shao Yong withdrew his prying gaze.

He understood that this was the eldest brother's style, the bearing that belonged only to the eldest son. It was not obvious before, but after going out for some experience, it somehow grew out, as if Liang Nu had figured something out.

Is leading troops to fight so magical? Shao Yong thought angrily.

(End of this chapter)