Chapter 1203 Return

Chapter 1203 Return

Chapter 1203 Return
As the New Year draws closer, people of all kinds gather in Luoyang City.

The most important event in December was undoubtedly the wedding of Princess Jingling Shao Shu and Miao Xie, the literary master of the Taichang Temple.

King Shao Xu of Zhao arrived in Luoyang two days before his wedding, and the first thing he did was to go home to visit his wife and children.

Princess Shen of Zhao gave birth to a son in September this year, who is Shao Xun's first grandson.

Empress Yu and Concubine Pei gave many rewards, and even the retired emperor and empress dowager rarely left the palace to visit Prince Zhao's mansion.

Shao Xun also reaped a lot of rewards this year.

In February, Guanqiu Shuyuan gave birth to a son;
In May, Mrs. Wang gave birth to a son;
Just during these two days, Chonghua Liu gave birth to a daughter.

Shao Xun probably won't be able to catch up with Murong Tuyuhun's fertility level in his lifetime, but he doesn't know if he can catch up with Yao Yi Zhong, who had three more children this year, and the total number is approaching eighty, which is astonishing.

On the 19th, after attending the wedding, Shao Xu went home and rested for a day.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat Shen Ling also came to the palace to visit his granddaughter and great-grandson.

"Zhang Mengsun may not be able to survive this winter. It's hard to say whether he can survive this winter." Shen Ling sighed, "When we first worked together, I thought he was just a nobody because he assisted Shi Le and led to his defeat. After many years, I realized that he has extraordinary vision and far-sighted plans. No wonder the emperor asked about his affairs so many times."

"Father really thinks highly of Zhang Mengsun." Shao Xu said, "When I lived in Sangziyuan, Yecheng, I thought Zhang Mengsun was a man of great ability and a son of a great father. Zhongqiu is also where my fiefdom is, so I drove there to meet his son. After a conversation, I was greatly disappointed. No wonder Zhang Mengsun asked him to stay at home and study."

"Oh? How many descendants does Zhang Mengsun have?" Shen Ling said with a smile: "I have worked with him for many years, but I have never met his family."

"His wife died early, and he never remarried. Zhang Mengsun had no interest in women." Shao Xu said, "He only had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son stayed at home to manage the business, and the second son was a county lieutenant in Xuzhou, but died young and left no descendants. His daughter married into the Zhang family of Fanyang, and I don't know how she is doing now."

Of course, the main reason why Shao Xu did not recruit Zhang Bin's eldest son was that Zhang Bin had no power.

Yes, he has no power in the court.

I don't know if it's because of his personality or some other reason, but he has few personal friends and rarely goes out. In all the years he has been the Zhongshujian, he has never formed a clique. Most of the people he recommended were public-spirited and their number was small.

Otherwise, even if Zhang Bin's son had no ability, he was worth recruiting into the palace.

Hearing what Shao Xu said, Shen Ling sighed: "Zhang Mengsun is really a lone minister. However, this may not be a bad thing. He has a title and is also a founding noble. In the future, if his grandchildren have some talent, it will not be difficult for them to enter the government."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing..." Shao Xu also agreed.

"How many days will Xiu Du be in Beijing?" Shen Ling asked again.

"We will go to Guangcheng Garden in a few days. The weather is too cold, and your majesty wants to go to the hot spring to recuperate. He may not come back until after the first month of the lunar year." Shao Xu said, "But I am not sure. Maybe I will have to leave after the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year. Ji County has a lot of affairs."

"Are there any problems?"

"No difficulties." Shao Xu sighed and said, "There are many difficulties."

"Nowadays, many counties have almost no county soldiers, and they rely entirely on conscripting civilians or government soldiers to suppress local forces. Ji County has been stable for many years, but it has 2,000 county soldiers, which is very unreasonable. Xiu Du should know what the emperor is thinking." Shen Ling said.

"I also know the key to this." Shao Xu said, "A few months before the New Year, we spend ten days a month eating and living in the camp..."

"How?" Shen Ling asked.

"It's hard to explain." Shao Xu smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I haven't followed the army before, but I didn't have to worry about it. Now I am the governor of a county, and I am in charge of 2,000 soldiers. It's different."

Shen Ling stared at his grandson-in-law for a moment and said, "It's indeed different from before."

"Is it really different?" Shao Xu touched his face subconsciously and said, "My mother also said that I was different when she saw me for the first time."

"Every gesture is different." Shen Ling said, "Your Highness used to be gentle and elegant, as if he didn't care about anything and never had any worries. Today, I saw that Your Highness's temper was a little more anxious than before, and his brows were often furrowed. When I entered the door just now, I seemed to hear Your Highness scolding the servants?"

Shao Xu was stunned when he heard this.

He changed little by little over half a year. Some things may not be noticeable, but they look different to people who are familiar with him.

After thinking about it carefully, it seems that he has changed a lot in the past six months, especially after he personally recruited and trained soldiers.

I still remember the first time I punished someone who violated military discipline. When three bloody heads were presented to him, I felt very uncomfortable. It was really painful, both physically and mentally.

At one point, I almost asked to remove the head, but I stopped myself because the military academy sent the head to you for you to check and confirm.

This incident had a great impact on him.

Many things happened afterwards, which gradually impacted his inherent cognition and reshaped his view on everything.

People's maturity is mostly achieved through this series of events, especially for those young people from noble families.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Shao Xu said, "Did you hear any important news in the capital?"

"Your Highness must have known the important events, so I won't elaborate on them. Let me just talk about some minor things." Shen Ling pondered for a moment and said, "The emperor had a talk at the Princess's Platform and warned the sons of the officials and scholars not to waste their time and to spend more time doing things that benefit the country and the people. At the end of the month, there will be another talk at the Suyu Palace, allowing the sons of the families to speak freely. This is one of them."

"Shaofu Supervisor Cai Cheng has not come to visit for years. He has personally gone to Yanzhi Mountain in Liangzhou. I heard that he wants to build a garden to raise horses and sheep and grow rye. I have checked the imperial edict in my hand. The emperor seems to attach great importance to this matter. He ordered Liangzhou to mobilize a large army to station near the garden."

"Why mobilize so many troops?" "Yes." Shen Ling nodded and said, "The incident started with a Hu merchant. He was summoned to the palace a few days ago and told the story of rye in front of the emperor and all the ministers. I listened to it from beginning to end and found it quite interesting."

"The Hu merchant mentioned that there is a local legend since ancient times that rye was originally just mountain grass, which was eaten by cattle, sheep, horses and camels. One day, it was enlightened by the gods and suddenly turned into grain."

"Haha." Shao Xu laughed after hearing that.

"This plant should not be underestimated. I heard that it can be grown in extremely cold places." Shen Ling said, "The emperor once said that this plant can be grown in a thousand-mile Liaoze."

Shao Xu put away his smile.

Where is Liaoze? He knew it was an endless swamp north of Yanshan Mountain.

There are land, forests and grasslands in the swamp, but these are surrounded by vast water. The Yuwen Xianbei, Murong Xianbei and even Goguryeo each occupied a part of it.

The winters there are long and cold, and the weather is changeable, so growing millet and wheat is quite dangerous, because you think it's spring and you've started sowing seeds, but God suddenly gives you a severe frost or even heavy snow in March or April, leaving you with no harvest for the year.

Over time, no one is willing to take the risk and it is better to just graze.

You can give millet a try. It is best to sow the seeds after May and harvest them in August. How much you can harvest depends on your luck.

"Your Majesty, do you want to attack Murong Xianbei?" Shao Xu asked.

Shen Ling thought about it carefully, shook his head and said, "It is inevitable to attack Murong, but it has nothing to do with this matter."

Shao Xu nodded slowly.

"By the way, this Hu merchant was found by the King of Qi." Shen Ling suddenly said.

"Oh? You are so thoughtful, brother." Shao Xu sighed, "When I saw him yesterday, I found that his face was full of frost. He must have suffered a lot in the past two years."

Shen Ling was slightly startled, but quickly put away his thoughts and said, "Yes, the emperor was so happy that he let him recuperate in the capital for a few months, and will give him an errand to take charge of a region later."

"Then I can't let myself be outdone by my elder brother." Shao Xu said with a smile.

Shen Ling glanced at him and said with a smile: "Xiu Du, you are still so kind-hearted."

Shao Xu shook his head and laughed, saying, "We are all brothers, why would there be any life-and-death grudges? I still remember the time when my elder brother took me to play when we were little."

Shen Ling sighed, no longer dwelling on this matter, and instead brought up the third matter: "Yu Yuangui arrived in Chengdu in mid-August. The emperor allowed him to open a government office, and then he appointed Yu Yi as a military officer of the thief Cao, and he set up a large-scale criminal case. The scholars in Shu complained and all came to Luoyang to make trouble."

"What?" Shao Xu was a little surprised.

But after thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem that surprising.

Yu Yuangui has always been impatient. He has been in mourning for four of the past five years and is about to disappear from the court...

With his personality, how could he be willing to accept this? How could he endure loneliness? He must be eager for more people to remember him and see his methods and prestige.

As for Yu Yi, he was the son of Yu Min. He entered officialdom relatively late. In the Jin Dynasty, he served as the Prince's Groom (Xianma) and the Minister of Justice. After entering the Liang Dynasty, he spent his time in constant mourning.

This time he returned with Yu Yuangui, and the two Yus went to Chengdu together, obviously planning to do something big.

"Your Majesty didn't say anything?" Shao Xu asked.

"Your Majesty asked the King of Qin how to deal with this matter." Shen Ling said: "The King of Qin replied that 'my uncle is brave enough to take on the task, and we will see the results later', and the emperor agreed."

"Didn't anyone else say anything?" Shao Xu asked.

"The Minister of the Central Secretariat, Le Gong, thought it was not possible, and also said that the King of Qin was 'making empty promises and lacked the sincerity to shoulder his responsibility.'" Shen Ling said.

Shao Xu was stunned, his face was not very good, he sighed and said: "Finally it has come to this."

Shen Ling glanced at him and said, "The emperor is displeased and ordered Lord Le to stay at home and reflect on himself."

After listening to this, Shao Xu was silent for a long time before he said, "Father is unhappy not because of the right or wrong of the matter itself, but because Le Hongxu crossed the line. Father - after all, he hopes that we brothers can live in harmony."

Shen Ling also sighed and said, "The first person who jumped out should have expected this outcome."

"Is there any trouble in Shu?" Shao Xu asked, as if he had thought of something.

"There are still 10,000 or 20,000 people in Shu who have not yet evacuated, and there are also strong troops stationed in Hanzhong. It is hard to say whether there will be chaos or not. Even if there is chaos, it will not be a big deal." Shen Ling said: "Yu Yuangui - you should be sensible."

After that, he reminded: "Your Highness, you can go to the palace more often these days and bring your wife and children with you. This is your Majesty's first grandson..."

That’s all I have to say.

Shao Xu seemed to be in a bad mood and only responded with one word.

(End of this chapter)