Chapter 1243 Old District
Chapter 1243 Old District
"Alas, I have been away from my country for many years, and the people in the north actually..." Sima Fei had returned to the cabin from the bow, and he was in a bad mood.
Sima Xi, the Prince of Wuling, and Sima Yu, the Prince of Kuaiji, were on the same boat with him and were also present.
Even though the emperor had lost his country, he couldn't even ride on a boat alone! Moreover, the boat was very small. He had one room, and the two princes had to squeeze into another room.
Other princes were also sent north one after another.
Langya King Sima Chong had already arrived in Bianliang.
King Qiao Sima Wuji fled west to the Wuhu area. He was tired and hungry. When he was exchanging his horse for dry food with villagers, he was recognized and captured. He was then escorted to the government in exchange for a reward.
As for why the King of Qiao didn't look for food in the wild, it was because he didn't know how! In fact, even hunters don't want to live in the wild for a long time. If they don't bring farm tools, seeds, tools, fire and the like to the mountains to farm, seven or eight out of ten ordinary people will starve to death.
The King of Xiyang was handed over to the Liang army by Liu Qun, the King of Jiyin Sima Yan was captured in his own home, and the King of Runan Sima Yi was caught while fleeing.
These four members of the royal family were in the same boat.
In addition, other members of the royal family were almost wiped out.
At this time, Sima Fei lamented that Sima Yu was not talkative after being injured on the battlefield, so Sima Xi had to take over the conversation, even though he was in a bad mood as he had just learned that his biological mother had hanged herself.
I only heard him advise: "Your Majesty, many northerners are bewitched by Shao-Shao Taibai, so it is not surprising that they act this way."
Sima Pei sighed again, sat down beside the table, shook the wine jug on the table, and found it was empty, becoming even more annoyed.
"You say..." Sima Fei hesitated for a moment, then looked at his two brothers and said, "What do you think Shao Taibai will do to us? Will he..."
Sima Yu shuddered with fear.
He was only fourteen years old and hadn't experienced much, so he was the least likely to be frightened.
Sima Xi was much calmer. He just said, "Your Majesty should be fine. My sixth brother and I should be able to survive. It's hard to say about the others. They may die."
Sima Fei heaved a sigh of relief, but was still a little uncertain, so he asked, "Uncle Dao, why do you say that?"
"Didn't an official from Liang State come aboard this morning? He told me a lot of things and asked me to go back to my clan before he left." Sima Xi said, "If we kill them all at once, why bother?"
Sima Fei nodded slowly, that makes sense!
Sima Xi was born to Wang Cairen and was adopted by Wuling Wang as his heir. Now Emperor Liang asked him not to be adopted and to be the prince of the previous emperor. No matter what the reason was, it meant that he would not die. And since he survived, the emperor would be fine.
"Let's hurry to Bianliang. I've had enough of this kind of life. At least give me an explanation whether he's dead or alive." Sima Fei, who had just nodded slowly, suddenly exploded and babbled, "If he's dead, give me a quick death. If he's alive, let the queen and I go home so I can be with Teng in the future—reunite with him."
Sima Xi glanced at his brother and said nothing. It was already this late, what was he dreaming about?
Not to mention Queen Shan, his wife Ying was nowhere to be found. Then he became a little sad. The emperor could probably still live in a house, with restrictions on entry and exit at most, but they might end up doing forced labor. Just thinking about it made him feel worse than death.
Indeed, the emperor is right. Please tell us how to deal with this matter immediately. This is really too painful.
******
"Where is the Emperor Jin?"
"Where's the fake emperor?"
"You left us all those years ago, and now you're back. How can you be so ashamed?"
"I heard that the emperor once broke his arrows in Xiangcheng and swore with his elders that he would never cross the river to the south. How could Sima the boy compare to him in courage?"
"Yes, there is still an arrow-breaking platform in Xiangcheng. The locals are so happy when they talk about it."
"Chen County is not bad either. It is the place where the emperor rises."
A large group of people gathered by the river, making a lot of noise and laughing.
Don't underestimate these people, their origins are very complicated. They are the starving people and their descendants who were affected by the drying up of the Luo River and the subsequent locust plague the following year.
At that time, the Xiongnu invaded the south, and locusts and droughts occurred simultaneously. Not only did the crops die, but even the weeds, leaves, and hair of cattle and horses were eaten up. War, locust plagues, and drought occurred in one place, and Henan Province was left barren for thousands of miles. It was a disaster never recorded in history books.
At that time, a man took out the grain obtained from the reclamation of Guangchengze and persuaded local wealthy families to donate grain. He then gathered the victims and settled them in Chenjun and Luonan. Since then, his reputation has grown and it has become unstoppable.
The vast majority of the people in the five counties of Chenjun are related to military men. There are many families with relatives serving in the imperial guards or military offices, and a large number of military students are sent there. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a place where dragons rise.
Zhang Heipi squeezed in the crowd, watching happily as the surrendered people took refuge in the cabins, pointing and laughing with his neighbors.
But soon, minor officials who were responsible for maintaining order came to drive them away.
"Is it not okay to laugh at the fake emperor?" Zhang Heipi couldn't help asking.
Zhang Dong, a military official, took a closer look and found that it was his fellow villager Zhang Heipi. He immediately smiled and said, "After all these years, you still like to watch the fun."
"Donglang, your beard is all white, and you are still working as a military clerk?" Zhang Heipi teased.
Zhang Dong shook his head and said, "It's not as good as your family. Zhang Chong is an eighth-rank official now, right?"
"Yes, thanks to Your Majesty." Zhang Heipi smiled from ear to ear.
According to the latest military system, the team leader and the deputy team leader are also considered officials, which are the ninth rank and the ninth rank respectively. The governor and the leader of the flag are the eighth rank and the eighth rank respectively. Zhang Chong is the governor in Gaoliu Town Army, which means he is an eighth rank official. This is something that Zhang Heipi never expected when he sent his son to join the army.
"Alas, when I took Zhang Chong to Luoyang, I tried my best to persuade the postman who served the meal to give him a few more spoonfuls of fermented black beans, thinking that he was extraordinary. And it turned out to be true." Zhang Dong sighed.
Zhang Heipi patted Zhang Dong on the shoulder and said, "You are old and can't run anymore. You should retire. Your wife is also capable. She is so rich and still carries manure and water to irrigate the garden herself. It is enough to pass on this family business to your descendants."
Zhang Dong chuckled.
He was indeed a little exhausted and could no longer do his job. He had to give up the post of Bingcaoyuan to someone else, but he had already found a way out. His son Zhang Ming could be appointed as Zeicaoyuan next year, which would continue to consolidate their position as county officials.
Zhang Heipi said that it was true that his wife personally carried manure and water to irrigate the garden, and many people in the county laughed. But there was nothing they could do. They were tired of poverty and had lived a hard life. Even though the family business was thriving now, they still couldn't afford to hire someone to water the vegetable garden, so they did it themselves just to get less wages.
It is understandable that the first generation of people who have just become rich cannot change many habits. Ying Xuan, the former internal historian of Kuaiji, had just disembarked and heard everything that everyone said clearly, and he immediately sighed.
He was relatively smart. After the Jin court transferred the post of Kuaiji Nei Shi to a noble family in Wu in exchange for reinforcements, he waited at home for a while. He was about to be appointed as Guanglu Dafu, but when he saw the situation change, he simply refused and quit the office.
But despite all his calculations, he overlooked the fact that his daughter Ying was the Princess of Wuling, so he was implicated and boarded the ship to the north, which was an unexpected disaster.
However, he loved his daughter dearly after all. After learning that Emperor Liang allowed prisoners to go ashore and exercise when the ships docked, he immediately wrote a letter to Yang Tan, the prefect of Chen County, and was invited to go ashore and rest for a night. Ying Xuan's father, Ying Zhan, became an official in Jingzhou after crossing the river to the south, and was familiar with the Yang family of Xiangyang.
He was originally very happy, but he felt ashamed to be watched like a monkey. After hearing what these people said, Ying Xuan blushed, covered his face with his sleeves, and hurried away.
After arriving at the agreed residence, he saw soldiers densely packed around, but he didn't care and went straight in. Then he met some former colleagues, including the Yellow Gate Minister Yang Gu, Wang Shu's East Pavilion Chief of Priest Zhong Dan (son of Zhong Ya), and others, and started chatting with them.
In the rear house, Queen Shan, Concubine Shi and Princess Ying of Wuling finished bathing one after another.
The conditions along the way were so harsh that it was a little unbearable for the clean-minded people. When they had a rare chance to go ashore, the first thing they did was to take a bath.
Shi Guipin had already finished bathing. When she saw Ying's round buttocks, she felt a little jealous and said, "You are born with a good appearance."
Ying was startled and hurriedly covered her buttocks.
She had just come out of the bath and had not wiped her body clean, so her gauze skirt stuck tightly to her body, outlining her outline very clearly.
"Forget it." Shi was bored and climbed onto the couch, covered herself with the quilt and closed her eyes.
After a while, there was a rustling sound, and Ying also quietly got on the couch, with his back to Shi, his body extremely stiff.
There was only one room and one quilt. It was so awkward for two people who were so different in etiquette to squeeze into the same quilt. But it was impossible for them to go out at this time, so they could only make do with it for one night.
But in this situation, both of them couldn't sleep.
After a long time, Shi asked softly, "I heard that Daoshu has returned to the clan. Do you know about this?"
"Yeah." Ying responded softly.
"You are lucky." Shi said.
Ying's ears twitched but he said nothing.
"The late emperor had six sons. One has passed away, one died young, and now there are four left. Shao Taibai doesn't want to let any of them go." Shi said.
Ying shuddered slightly.
"You have been married for only a year and have no children. What are you worried about?" Shi asked again.
Ying buried her head in the quilt.
"It's all going to happen." As Shi was talking, she suddenly remembered something and her legs twisted together unnaturally.
Even Ying's ears turned red as if blood was about to drip out.
"We must support each other in the future, so as not to die in obscurity." Shi sighed and said softly, "The one living next door is taken care of by her aunt, Empress Hui, so she will be fine. It will be hard for us."
"Shi... Noble Concubine Shi, didn't we enter the Shaofu as weavers?" Ying suddenly asked.
"It's not that tragic. How can such a good thing happen?" Shi took Ying's arm and said, "Prince Wuling will probably go to work in the Shaofu. Why do you still want to be with him and his wife?"
Ying began to tremble again.
Shi gently stroked Ying's hips and said, "Don't worry, you have this thing, which makes you more popular than that bitch Shan Yinan. How can you suffer?"
It would have been better if she hadn't said this. Once she said this, Ying almost burst into tears and asked in a trembling voice, "Noble Concubine Shi, what do you mean?"
"Listen to me in the future, and I will make sure you don't suffer." Shi patted Ying gently and comforted her, "Think about your father and brother, and then think about your grandfather, who made a wrong move and went to Jingzhou. I heard that Bian Dun invited him to return north with him, but he didn't agree, and it ended up like this. You look like a scholar, so it must be Confucianism that was passed down from your family, right?"
Ying nodded slightly.
"This is rare." Shi said, "Since the Yuan and Kang periods, scholars have despised classics and worshipped Taoism. They have been unrestrained and extravagant, and have despised Confucianism and frugality. There are not many women among the scholars who have been immersed in Confucianism since childhood. I used to think it was strange. Seeing that you look so delicate and timid and full of bookish air, you might really charm Emperor Liang to death."
"I...no...I..." Ying opened her mouth, not knowing what to say for a long time.
Shi chuckled and said, "Go to sleep. You are still young, so listen to me in the future, and you will never suffer any loss."
Ying felt dizzy and subconsciously felt that something was wrong.
……
Before daybreak, someone was shouting outside.
When Ying woke up, she found herself and Concubine Shi hugging each other, and she got up in a hurry.
After washing up and having breakfast, everyone returned to the boat and headed north.
On the seventh day of October, the fleet passed Yangxia and Fugu and arrived directly at Bianliang, anchored in the sea of sand, just a stone's throw away from Fangzhou Pavilion and Huangnu Palace.
The weather was already a little cold but Shao Xun was not afraid of the cold wind. He stood on the embankment with his hands behind his back, calmly looking around.
There was an expression of pride on his face that was hard to conceal, and an immense satisfaction of having his long-cherished wish fulfilled.
At this point in life, all my wishes are fulfilled, how wonderful!
(End of this chapter)