Chinese New Year

Chapter 477 Balance (Additional chapter for Alliance Leader Li Xuanmeng)
In the quiet morning, birds chirped and landed on the branches, bringing a bit of noise to the courtyard.

Soon, the child started crying. The woman came in a hurry, hugged the child and coaxed him for a while, and then he calmed down.

After Pei Kang finished washing, he stretched in the yard and quietly looked at the courtyard after the snow.

How can you live in such a small place?
He shook his head, went back to the room and took out a list.

He is the chief historian of the Xuchang Shogunate, but in recent times, he has often indirectly interfered in the affairs of the Yanzhou Shogunate. Unfortunately, others have no objections because he is the father of the concubine.

Yanzhou is a good place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery, but it was badly destroyed in the war.

During the period of war among the kings, there were large-scale fights here.

After Sima Yue came to power, Yanzhou experienced the Wang Mi Rebellion and was plundered by the Xiongnu several times. When Liu Yuan was still alive, Xiongnu cavalry broke into Henan, plundered young men, and killed tens of thousands of people at a time.

As for now, Yanzhou is still unable to avoid such things, but the frequency is much lower than before.

During this Hun invasion, the three counties of Dongping, Gaoping and Jibei in Yandong suffered long-term destruction by the Hun cavalry, and Mount Tai also suffered a certain degree of damage. The losses in Puyang, Jiyin and Liang, Lu and Pei in Yuzhou were relatively small.

Overall, the losses in eastern Yanzhou were heavy.

During the Battle of Gaoping, although the Xiongnu once broke into Chenjun, Chenliu, and Jiyang and approached Yingchuan, the heaviest losses were in the eastern part of Yanzhou.

The two recent Hun invasions chose that place as the breakthrough point, and there was a reason for that.

After thinking about it, he still had to appease the people over there. He had already reached an agreement with his daughter on this matter, and now he needed Mr. Chen's nod, after all, he was the military commander of the Yanzhou Shogunate.

While he was thinking, Mr. Chen and his daughter had already come out of the bedroom, chatting and laughing. When they saw Pei Kang from afar, they bowed and invited him to have breakfast.

"They don't even avoid me and sleep together openly." Pei Kang muttered something vaguely and walked over with a smile.

"Mr. Pei got up so early?" Shao Xun asked casually.

"I'm old and can't sleep that long. Sometimes, I envy you young people for being able to sleep for so long." Pei Kang said.

Concubine Pei turned her head away embarrassedly.

A short separation is better than a new marriage. Mr. Chen just came back yesterday and spent half the night crawling on her and making trouble, so he didn't get up to practice martial arts this morning.

But she liked it very much. Chen Gong's fascination with her body made her feel happy from the bottom of her soul.

Shao Xun was thick-skinned and directly ignored Pei Kang's question. As he walked, he said, "During the fierce battle with Shi Le, I got up in the middle of the night many times to inspect the military camp. It was a luxury to get a good night's sleep."

"The ancients talked about the 'hardships of war'. I didn't believe it at first, but I have come to believe it in recent years." As they were talking, the three of them entered the kitchen.

The servants brought breakfast and the three of them sat down and started eating.

The ancients advocated eating without talking. Shao Xun had been in the military camp for a long time, and often gathered with the warriors, eating and chatting. At this moment, after finishing a thin ring cake, he wanted to talk.

Concubine Pei placed a bowl of milk porridge in front of him and he shut up again.

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people in the Central Plains have been very fond of dairy products. From kings and nobles to ordinary people, countless people have consumed milk, and many dairy dishes have been derived from it. This habit continued until the Tang Dynasty, but it became less common after the Song Dynasty, probably because there were too many people and too little land, and it was no longer possible to raise livestock in large numbers.

The food in front of Shao Xun is said to be milk porridge, but it is actually made by mixing millet, milk and wild vegetables. It tastes very smooth and has a milky aroma.

The aroma of the milk was also different. It felt better than what he drank last night and had no fishy smell.

After Pei Kang finished drinking the corn porridge, he looked at the rich dishes in front of Mr. Chen and his daughter's concern for him. He could only laugh at himself: his daughter must know that he is old and can't eat too much or too greasy food, so she did this.

Shao Xun ate very quickly. After drinking the milk porridge, he ate two pieces of cakes, then put down his chopsticks and prepared to talk about business.

Concubine Pei put down the half-drunk porridge in her hand and stood up to make tea.

The sunlight shines through the window and falls on the desk.

Behind the desk, a slim woman was gently fiddling with the tea set.

The air was filled with mist, and even the fine hairs on the woman's fair face were clearly visible.

Shao Xun withdrew his gaze and sighed with satisfaction.

He was so absorbed in the war that he didn't care much about the family. To be honest, he didn't even know where he had put his robes. He completely relied on the women at home to take care of everything and his daily life.

It's so comfortable! After fighting for half a year, you should relax and enjoy yourself when you return home, otherwise you will not live long.

He felt very relaxed here with Concubine Pei.

She would hold his head gently and let him vent all his troubles in her body.

She would listen to him quietly and give him reliable suggestions from time to time. When they encountered difficult and indecisive things, she would smile and take his arm and go out for an outing together.

The main theme is a relaxed and enjoyable one.

"It is not appropriate for General Longxiang's office to always borrow officials from General Pingdong's office. At this time, I think we can recruit a group of scholars from the counties and kingdoms in Yandong to strengthen the officials of the shogunate." Pei Kang's voice rang out.

"The counties in East Yan must be pacified." Shao Xun said, "The thundering measures have been taken, now it's time to give some sweet treats. Which families does Pei Gong have in mind?"

"The Ma, Xi, Yang, Tan, Luqiu, Huwu and other noble families all obeyed my orders and can be treated with leniency."

"I heard that Xi Jian and Xi Daohui returned home?"

"That's right. Do you want to recruit him?"

"Send someone to prepare a gift and recruit him as a Zhonglang in General Longxiang's office." Shao Xun said.

After the Huns withdrew, Xi Jian dismissed the troops of various tribes, returned the temporary official seal to Yu Hua, and returned home to live in retirement.

Resigning from office is a truly gentlemanly act!

But talents are rare, so Shao Xun felt that he could give him enough face, show him many courtesies, and invite him to come out of retirement.

"Okay." Pei Kang is now also the chief secretary of General Longxiang's mansion, so this matter should indeed be handled by him.

"In addition, don't just focus on the big clans." Shao Xun said, "Some small clans and local tyrants are also very good. When the Huns invaded, they fortified their walls and cleared the fields, or even sent troops to intercept them. They must be rewarded."

"My lord, what do you mean..." Pei Kang asked, his mind moving.

As a "son-in-law", he was really wary of the aristocratic families. He used them, but he always paid attention to the balance, trying his best to give opportunities to the small nobles and powerful families, and even to the warriors.

If you don't like aristocratic families so much, don't bother my daughter! Pei Kang thought angrily.

"The Xintai Bao family, Rencheng Wei family, Wu family, Dongping Liu family and other families have all made contributions and can be employed as appropriate." Shao Xun said.

Pei Kang was shocked when he heard this.

He had never heard of some of these families. He thought they were either small or impoverished, or simply local tyrants.

"In fact, it's not just the counties in Yandong. It's just right to fill up the Longxiang General's Mansion at once. There are some vacancies in the Pingdong General's Mansion, so let's fill them together." Shao Xun said: "Puyang has the Zhao and Suo families, Chenliu has the Yu, Liu, Yang, Wu, Shi, Gao, Dong, Qiu, Bian, Lou, Shuiqiu and other clans. Their sons and daughters may be poor scholars, or fort commanders, or county officials. They are very diligent in recruiting people and transporting military supplies this time. Some of them even joined the Yicong and Zhuosheng armies and fought bravely. We can appoint more of them."

"Yes." Pei Kang nodded silently.

Many of these families were quite prominent during the Han Dynasty, but later gradually declined for various reasons.

Some have become ordinary people, unable to even get enough food to eat, but luckily they can read and write.

Some of them became local tycoons, and the highest position their family members held was that of county officials.

Some of them gathered refugees, farmed and trained soldiers, and were real fortress commanders, but they had no political connections.

For example, the Chenliu Dong family is a branch of the Hejian Dong family, and was founded by some of the relatives of Dong Cheng, a general of the Han Dynasty.

The same is true for the Wu family of Changyuan and the Wang family of Junyi. Wu Zilan and Wang Zifu were killed along with Dong Cheng, and many of their clansmen were harmed. Those who survived suffered political oppression and were very unhappy. Even in the Ming Dynasty, there was still no improvement, and they were depressed and frustrated.

In addition, the Junyi Bian family was once very powerful, and their ancestors even produced a famous scholar like Bian Rang. However, after being killed by Cao Cao, they never recovered.

Bian Rang's grandson, Yu Song, who was from the Donghun (Jiyang) Yu family, had served as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Chief Clerk of Sima Shi of Cao Wei, but now he is no longer in power. His family's fortunes are declining, and if they continue to decline, they will be expelled from the list of the gentry.

Mr. Chen really uses a good method to win over these people.

They could not compete with the great aristocratic families, so they could only rely on Mr. Chen, climb up little by little, spend several generations slowly accumulating strength, and restore their former glory - in this process, they were very motivated to do things.

The noble families were disgusted by what they did and had no choice but to fight head-on.

In this way, Mr. Chen became the arbitrator.

The key to politics is balance. This is so true.

"Let's do it this way." Shao Xun said, "Fill up the two shogunate offices as soon as possible. Well, although the Chenjun Mansion is small, there are still some vacancies. If there are not enough people, they can be sent to the Mansion. Give priority to recruiting the children of Yandong, and take into account Yanxi and Yuzhou."

Concubine Pei brought the tea at just the right time. The three of them took the tea bowls, rinsed their mouths, and started chatting about light topics.

Pei Kang mentioned some interesting stories about his grandson, and his beard stood up with laughter, but he secretly glanced at Shao Xun while laughing.

Shao Xun also smiled, and looked out the window while laughing, not knowing what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)