Chinese New Year

Chapter 482 An old friend leaves
Before we knew it, the Yongjia era had already entered its eighth year.

The first month of the eighth year of the Yongjia period (314) passed in a flash.

There is basically nothing to do before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

After the age of fifteen, Shao Xun did three things.

First, he met with the Guanxi scholars headed by Wei Fu and had a banquet with them. Both the guests and the hosts had a great time and the atmosphere was harmonious.

In this era of great contention, everyone is drawn into the tide of history, struggling in it either actively or passively.

The samurai in Kansai were disappointed with the current situation and hoped for change.

With Wei Fu's hard work in promotion, Shao Xun became the focus of their investigation.

Yes, the king chooses his ministers and the ministers choose their king, the choice is two-way.

If the entire Guanxi is regarded as a company, these powerful scholars and Hu people chiefs are the shareholders of the company, big and small.

They provide cash flow (food and grass) for the company and are the backbone of the company's business. Now it is necessary to cooperate with external capital, introduce strategic investors, and improve the company's operating status, so careful investigation is needed.

If external investors are not feasible, then they might as well directly accept Liu Han’s company’s hostile takeover. After all, they will still be shareholders after the takeover is completed, but their rights and interests will be somewhat damaged.

This is the style of the times, which is different from the characteristics of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

The whole inspection process went smoothly, at least it looked good on the surface.

Shao Xun was not too anxious. This was just the initial contact between the two parties and it was not time to place a bet yet.

The second thing was to convene a meeting of officials from the three teams of Pingdong, Longxiang and Jun Gong.

Shao Xun did not announce this year's strategic direction at the meeting, but only urged everyone to consolidate the foundation.

Especially the restoration of mulberry and hemp planting, the repair of water conservancy facilities, the promotion of the two-year three-crop farming system, etc., are the top priorities.

When fighting a war, what we fight for is logistics and money and food. There is no doubt about this.

After the meeting, he convened a small meeting with scholars from Yandong to appease the people.

When the Xiongnu cavalry went south to plunder, they actually had few directions to choose from, mainly Dongping and Jibei.

If you asked Shi Le to cross the river from Puyang, he would be afraid. The area is sparsely populated, and food is hard to find after crossing the river to the south. The mobility of the cavalry is greatly reduced, and there are large armies guarding the main crossings. Although it is possible to build a floating bridge from a small crossing, the logistics are still difficult in general. It is not impossible to try, but the risk is greater than crossing the river from Jibei.

So, in the end, Yandong had to bear everything.

Shao Xun distributed rewards to the Yandong scholars and powerful people who had newly entered the shogunate, trying to appease them.

The third thing is related to martial arts.

Starting from the fourth year of Yongjia (310), the eighth to tenth classes of Liangxian Martial Arts School were all students from Luoyang, and last year's eleventh class recruited students from Dongping.

Taking into account that the school had been open for ten years, a group of martial arts students who had studied for ten years were transferred to Xuchang to set up the martial arts school.

In other words, after the preparations for Xuchang Martial Arts School are completed this year, there will be two martial arts schools existing at the same time.

After five years, three to four hundred military students can be sent into the army and officialdom every year.

Another group of martial arts students graduated this year.

They were the seventh batch of students from Yecheng who enrolled in February of the third year of Yongjia (309).

In fact, some of them had already entered the Silver Spear Right Camp at the end of last year to make up for the losses caused by the war.

Of the approximately 25 new recruits, more than 26 were added to the Silver Spear Right Camp, were incorporated into the th and th Battalions of the Silver Spear Army, and were incorporated into the Black Spear Army.

In this way, the Left and Right Camps of the Silver Spear each had ten battalions with six thousand men, while Battalions 21-26 continued to drill and train, and when the time was right, they would be reorganized into the Central Battalion of the Silver Spear.

The Black Legion Army now has six buildings and 3,600 men, and will be ordered to move south in February.

As a result, the number of recruits for Shao Xun's regime has reached nearly 20,000.

As for recruiting soldiers, Shi Le might only have a small number of his own troops to compete with him, but Liu Cong has quite a few, after all, that is a regular court. But it is hard to say whether they are willing to join the battlefield in Henan and help Shi Le solve his problems.

If the financial situation improves this year (more money can be raised), the first task will be to convert all the volunteers into recruits. They will now have to graze their own sheep and cut their own grass, just like the Silver Spear Army in the past. They will need to tend their own vegetable plots and orchards to cover part of the expenses.

In addition to recruiting soldiers, there were also a large number of military farms.

This is no different from ordinary soldiers, you have to support yourself. The superiors don't give you money, but you have to pay to support them. After going into battle, you have to fight for your life. If you die, you may not get a pension. If you win, you may not get a reward. If your family suffers, you have to bear the consequences. You have no personal freedom...

In fact, this has been the status quo of most armies since the Han and Wei dynasties.

After finishing these three things, it was already the eve of the Spring Festival. Shao Xun received the news and hurried to Cao's house.

Cao Yin, a Zhonglang official in the Yanzhou government and the governor of Jiyang, went out to greet him personally: "Mingsir."

"What's the matter?" Shao Xun stepped into the room and asked in a low voice.

"Brother." The third brother Shao Fan and his wife Cao greeted him together.

After Shao Xun returned the greeting, he continued to move forward.

Cao Yin hurriedly took a few steps to catch up and said, "He is not doing well. He has not eaten for three days. I am afraid he is on his deathbed."

Shao Xun nodded solemnly and soon came to Cao Fu's bedroom.

There was a medicinal scent in the room, and it seemed mixed with a strange smell.

People who have been bedridden for a long time experience many inconveniences, and this is what happens over time.

Shao Xun walked gently to the couch and sat down. Looking at the emaciated Cao Fu, he sighed, "Lord Cao, I'm here to see you."

When Cao Fu heard the voice, he turned his head slightly, his eyes were dazed and he seemed to be no longer clear-headed.

"Quanzhong, run away quickly. Meng Chao is Meng Jiu's biological brother, he will not let you go." Cao Fu said intermittently: "Sikong has a cold personality. I will try to explain it to you today, but it is hard to say whether it will succeed or not." Shao Xun was shocked. It turned out that the events of that year had such twists and turns.

He gently took Cao Fu's hand and said, "Lord Cao, the brothers Meng Jiu and Meng Chao are both dead."

"Dead..." Cao Fu muttered a few words: "Dead, really dead, the prime minister also ran away. Quanzhong, you can't be confused. If you control Luoyang now, the emperor returns from Yecheng, and the prime minister summons troops from all sides from Xuzhou, I can't protect you."

Shao Xun was silent for a moment, then said, "I have welcomed the emperor back to Luoyang, and the emperor praised me as 'a meritorious official who protects the emperor'."

"You are really cunning. Sikong will hate you to death." Upon hearing this, Cao Fu showed a look of relief on his face.

"Sikong has also left." Shao Xun said.

Cao Fu's eyes focused slightly, he seemed to understand something, and remained silent for a long time.

Soon, a few tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, and he said, "Yuan Chao, you are a distant relative of the royal family. If you want to achieve your ambitions, you can only look to me as your advisor."

Shao Xun looked at him silently.

"If he succeeds in the future, he can go find Wang Yifu to be the military commander. He is more famous than me."

"Wang Yong of Hejian uses the Hejian clan, Wang Ying of Chengdu uses the old people of Chengdu, Yuan Chao, you don't use Quanzhong, are you going to use outsiders?"

"Quanzhong is under the care of the princess, so he naturally serves diligently. Yuanchao, are you going to harm the general because of rumors?"

……

After Cao Fu finished speaking incoherently, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength and lay there motionless.

Shao Xun waited quietly.

Most of the bystanders left on their own accord because what Cao Fu said was too scary and they dared not listen.

Xiaohong remained in the house with red and swollen eyes.

Sometimes, human emotions are difficult to understand.

It was difficult for Shao Xun to understand Cao Fu's attitude towards Xiao Hong, and also difficult for him to understand Xiao Hong's feelings towards Cao Fu. It can only be said that he did not quite understand this era, even though he had lived in it for many years.

A violent cough sounded.

Xiaohong suddenly raised her head, and Cao Yin subconsciously took two steps closer.

Shao Fan held his wife's hand to comfort her.

Shao Xun looked at Cao Fu and asked, "Do you have any unfulfilled wishes? If so, I will definitely agree to it if I can do it."

Cao Fu opened his eyes again, and this time he seemed much more awake.

He stared at Shao Xun for a long time and said softly, "Quanzhong, come closer. I can't see you clearly."

Shao Xun moved closer.

Cao Fu stretched out his skinny hand, gently stroked Shao Xun's arm, and said: "Before I leave, I can still see you. This must be because I feel sorry for the gods."

"Does Mr. Cao have any unfulfilled wishes?" Shao Xun asked again.

Cao Fu looked at his eldest grandson Cao Yin.

Cao Yin came over: "Ah Weng."

Cao Fu looked at the table beside the couch again.

Cao Yin reached out and took a few letters from the table.

"In my life, I have had great ambitions, been filled with righteous indignation, and been sad and desperate..." Cao Fu said softly, "In the end, I ended up doing nothing."

After saying that, he looked at Shao Xun again and said, "You are different."

Shao Xun looked at him silently.

"Don't be anxious, really don't be anxious, there will be a chance..." Cao Fu's voice became lower and lower, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was admonishing something.

After a long time, he tremblingly grabbed his eldest grandson's hand and put it into Shao Xun's hand.

Shao Xun nodded and said, "Don't worry, Lord Cao, I will take care of you."

Cao Fu seemed to have used up his last bit of strength. His hands dropped limply and he fell into a deep sleep.

Shao Xun looked at the letter in Cao Yin's hand.

Cao Yin explained: "This is a letter written by my father-in-law to the Cao clan members in Chenliu and the Xiahou clan members in Qiao State."

"Since it's not for me, I won't read it." Shao Xun said, "Stay with your grandfather. He will only be here for a day or two."

"Yes." Cao Yin replied with red eyes.

Shao Xun patted his shoulder and left the bedroom.

Another old friend is leaving.

He had a lot of respect for this old man who had helped him a lot.

People from the previous era are gradually leaving the stage.

And he has to keep moving forward.

Nanyang is his next stop. Once he reaches there, the world will be full of new possibilities.

(During the double monthly ticket period, if you forgot to vote, please give it to me. Don’t waste it.)
(End of this chapter)