Chapter 1294 Yellow Sand

Chapter 1294 Yellow Sand

Chapter 1294 Yellow Sand
After the rain, the grass is green.

His third brother Shao Fan sat opposite him, sipping tea quietly.

On the day his mother died, the third brother was still handling a case in Qinghe County.

In addition to being the Minister of the Dali Temple, he also served as the Huangsha Censor and was in charge of the Huangsha Prison.

This prison was set up specifically for land measurement, and many powerful families who opposed the measurement were arrested there. Later, it gradually changed its nature, began to interfere in other affairs, and the number of staff also increased.

At the end of Kaiping, Shao Xun selected a group of older and weaker soldiers (over 40 years old) from the imperial guards, totaling 300 people, and assigned them to Huangsha Prison. They became the first batch of soldiers under the Huangsha Censor.

From then on, Huangsha Prison had the ability to enforce the law and no longer needed the cooperation of other powerful departments to make arrests.

When his mother passed away, his third brother insisted on mourning, and Shao Xun didn't know what to say.

The Dali Temple cannot be without a chief officer until the winter month, so someone must be arranged to take over. Shao Xun asked his third brother to recommend one.

"Shang Zhi of Ji County is an old official of your Majesty when you were in Qianlong period (a military officer in the General's Office). He has served as a prefect and is currently the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. He can take over this position." Shao Fan said.

"Shang Zhi..." Shao Xun hesitated for a moment and said, "He is almost fifty, right?"

"Fifty."

"Yes." Shao Xun nodded and said, "Chu Jiye has been working as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple for many years. What kind of talent is he?"

"It's quite standard. He seems more suitable for a local position."

"Xiangyang Kuai Heng has passed away, so let Chu Jiye take over his position." Shao Xun said, "So, now that the two Shaoqings have left, who will be the best person to fill the position?"

"Temple Secretary Li Nong can be one of them." Shao Fan suggested: "He used to be from Shangbai Town. If we promote him, he can be a role model."

Shao Xun reacted immediately.

Many military towns are historical issues, especially those in Hebei. To be honest, they are the product of compromise in order to quickly digest Jizhou and Youzhou.

Some military towns were integrated from top to bottom, managing both the military and the people, like independent kingdoms, such as Shangbai Town, which was reorganized from the Beggars' Army.

In order to weaken the influence of the town commanders, Shao Xun has absorbed many military town officials into the court over the years to make these military towns aware of the existence of the court. Li Nong, the former Sima of Shangbai Town, is one of them.

"Li Nong can be the Shaoqing." Shao Xun made the decision and said, "Let the other one be the Shaofucheng Zhou Mo. He also made contributions in the campaign to destroy Jin. It is not a good idea to keep him in Huainan."

Seeing that his brother had made up his mind, Shao Fan swallowed the other candidate and no longer recommended him.

"The post of Huangsha Censor is still reserved for you, my third brother." Shao Xun said, "I don't trust anyone else."

Shao Fan did not refuse.

Huangsha Prison was criticized by many scholars and was not a good job. But he was a member of the royal family, not a senior official who was afraid of losing his reputation, so he just did some dirty work.

Judging from what brother said, the Huangsha Prison will not be abolished like during the time of Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan. On the contrary, it will be expanded on a large scale and even soldiers will be given to it. Isn't his intention obvious?
Shao Fan also felt that the power should be retained and expanded.

There is no Supreme Court Justice in the Ming Dynasty, and the Dali Temple fills the gap. The Huangsha Prison is now an independent government office, unlike the Jin Dynasty when it was under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Justice. The chief official, Huangsha Censor, has the same rank as the Chief Censor, which is the fourth rank.

The praise of scholars is good, but it may not be as useful as the Yellow Sand Prison in maintaining the Shao family's imperial power.

The rebellion in Shu has been put down, and the army has handed over some prisoners to Huangsha Prison. Shao Fan was digging deep into the dark forces behind these prisoners, and even found out the inside story of some Shu nobles colluding with the Qiang and Liao people.

After his death, the Huangsha Prison will not stop its work. Yesterday, more than ten people were sent on fast horses to Shuzhong to investigate and collect evidence.

It is conceivable that his mourning period would not be too peaceful, and he must have privately contacted officials such as Huangsha Commandant, Dianshi, Zhubu, Yu Cheng, and Lingshi.

"Third brother, don't be in a hurry to do anything now. Rest well for a while first." Shao Xun said again.

"Okay." Shao Fan responded.

He was actually in good health, had very few wives and concubines, and was a man of few desires. He followed a regular schedule and regularly practiced archery and horse riding. His life was inferior to Shao Xun's extremely rich life, and was much more dull, but that was just his personality and he didn't have much interest in anything else.

Maybe because of this, he can live longer than Shao Xun, who knows.

After the two brothers finished discussing their business, it was almost noon, so they had a meal together.

Shao Fan was relieved when he found that there were still meat dishes on the table.

It is normal for people in mourning not to drink alcohol or eat meat, but my second brother is a warrior and he may not give up his habit of getting up early to practice martial arts, so it would be difficult for him to endure not eating meat.

This only applies to the emperor. If it were an ordinary scholar, he might have been widely talked about. However, some children of the noble families have metaphysics in their minds and do not care.

After lunch, Shao Fan left the palace and went to his home in Jingshanfang in Bianliang City.

His wife Cao came to greet him with her three sons Qiu, Lin and Qiong.

Cao was a junior of Cao Fu, a military commander in Sima Yue's early years. After marrying Shao Fan, she gave birth to three sons and one daughter for him - the other two daughters were born to concubines.

The eldest son, Shao Qiu, is 25 years old this year. He used to be a counselor beside Shao Xun, but now he has returned home to mourn for his grandmother.
The second son, Shao Lin, was twenty years old and a student at Luoyang. It was a bit embarrassing to say that he had studied for many years, but he had only passed one scripture so far and barely became a disciple.
The third son, Shao Qiong, was only thirteen years old and was not good at studying. Instead, he liked to hang out with the family generals, bragging all day long and talking about all kinds of military matters. He didn't even think about whether people would laugh at him if he, a thirteen-year-old "kid brother", talked about the deployment of troops.

However, he was not afraid of being laughed at. During his stay in Bianliang, he often played with Yuan Zhen (11 years old) and Shao Ji (12 years old), who was conferred the title of Duke of Song last year, because both of them were not subject to much discipline and liked to talk about military affairs.

Yuan Zhen and Shao Ji even encouraged Shao Qiong to take advantage of the opportunity to go back to Cao's house with his mother to see if he could "steal" a few military books back to let everyone open their eyes. Shao Qiong really did so, but he did not steal, but directly asked for them.

The Cao clan compiled more than 100,000 words of Cao Cao's life-long military experience into "The Art of War of Emperor Wu of Wei", but only the first volume remains, and the others are mostly incomplete and not well preserved.

Also included are military books from past dynasties annotated by Cao Cao, such as "A Brief Explanation of the Art of War".

The Cao clan members were very surprised and said that Shao Taibai was also an expert in using troops, and his various tactics were amazing and more suitable for the present time.

The implication is that Cao Mengde's military tactics are in line with the late Han Dynasty, but the form of war has changed a lot. The cavalry tactics alone are not comparable to those of the late Han Dynasty. You may be a little behind the times if you learn these. It is better to learn the latest ones.

What does "Brother Xiao" know? When he gets a treasure, he goes back to study it. Whenever the three of them have free time, they get together to discuss with each other and express their own opinions.

For now, Yuan Zhen has the most "experience" because he has really understood cavalry tactics on the grassland. Although he only knows the basics, when he talked about it, Shao Ji and Shao Qiong were stunned.

Shao Fan knew what his son was doing, but he was too lazy to care.

Practicing martial arts is also a way out. There must be someone in the royal family who can lead troops to fight, right? Even if there is no such ability to lead tens of thousands of troops to an expedition and defeat the enemy, it should be possible to lead a part of the troops to protect the capital, right?

The ability requirements for offense and defense are different, and the former is much higher.

After seeing his three sons, he did not tell anyone else. He just looked at Shao Qiong and said, "Sanlang, don't sneak out for the next few months. Stay at home and mourn for your grandmother."

"Yes." Shao Qiong knew that there was no room for negotiation on this matter, so he quickly agreed.

Shao Fan looked at the second son again and said, "Erlang, study hard at home and take the exam next year. You can't afford to make mistakes."

"Yes." Shao Lin also agreed with a bitter look on his face.

Shao Fan didn't explain much to the old man.

The eldest son is the one that gives him the least worries, and his second brother has also praised him. If the counselor is gone, then it's gone. Why should members of the royal family be afraid of not having an official position?

"My younger sister went to the Quanshanfang today to accompany my sister-in-law. Has Yunwen not come back yet?" Cao asked as she took the cloak that Shao Fan had taken off.

"No." Shao Fan said, "Second brother asked him to take over his original position and guard the Shanyu Mansion."

Cao sighed, not knowing whether she was sighing for Shao Shen not being able to observe mourning for his grandmother, or for the fact that he could still serve as the Grand Protector of the Chanyu - "female sister" (can also be simply called "sister") refers to the younger sister-in-law, and if it is the older sister-in-law, she is called "female lord".

"Have you eaten yet?" Cao asked. "If not, I will ask my daughter-in-law to prepare it."

"I've used it with my brother." After Shao Fan said this, he went straight into the study.

Cao waved to the door, and her two daughters-in-law left one after another.

The eldest daughter-in-law was the daughter of Wu from Pei County. She had been married to Shao Qiu for six years and had a son and a daughter.

The second daughter-in-law was from the Liu family of Donghai and was Shao Lin’s cousin. They had been married for a year but had no children yet.

Cao personally brewed a pot of tea, and then brought it to the study, saying, "My daughter sent someone to bring back this Wuyang tea."

Shao Fan took a sip and put it down, saying, "Good tea."

Cao smiled and said, "The eldest daughter is the most filial."

Having said that, he tried again: "Can you tell my brother——"

"Brother" naturally refers to Shao Xun, which means uncle.

Shao Fan glanced at his wife and said nothing.

He didn't say anything but refused to agree, which made Cao feel a little disappointed.

She gave birth to the eldest daughter, who married Xiahou Zheng, the son of Xiahou Cheng, the former governor of Hedong, five years ago.

Xiahou Zheng was appointed as the magistrate of Wuyang last year and went to Qianwei with his wife.

In the second half of the year, there was a rebellion in Shu. He and Jiang Fei, the governor of Qianwei, jointly defended Wuyang and defeated the Liao people.

Although he had made great contributions, he was extremely scary in Cao's eyes.

She understood that the emperor wanted to control Shu and place trustworthy officials in the position, but she hoped that his son-in-law would not be allowed to take over.

But her husband was like a taciturn person and said nothing, which made Cao very angry.

The whole family mourned at home until the end of April, when an official from the Huangsha Prison returned from Youzhou, broke into Prince Lu's mansion late at night, and reported the matter of Murong Xianbei to Shao Fan.

According to him, the Murong clan was on high alert and sent out many cavalrymen to intercept and kill messengers in order to delay the leakage of news as much as possible, so they only found out about the specific situation of the battle over there now.

After receiving the letter, Shao Fan said nothing. He just spread out paper and pen, carefully wrote a letter, sealed it, and gave it to a trusted servant, ordering him to go to the palace as soon as possible to present it to the emperor.

After a grand court meeting in early May, Shao Xun saw the letter on the imperial desk.

Also placed here was a portion of the completed manuscript of "Book of Jin" presented by the Crown Prince, mostly parts such as "Geography" and "Five Elements" which were easier to write, and were brought here personally by the Crown Prince's attendant Yao Yishen.

(End of this chapter)