Chinese New Year

Chapter 555: The Chief Secretary and the Sima

In the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, the Shogun of Pingdong quietly changed into the Shogun of Chariots and Cavalry.

The personnel haven't changed, only the brand has changed.

Pei Kang, the chief secretary of the shogunate, went out for an inspection a few years ago and suddenly fell ill.

Fortunately, his illness was not very serious, and he was unwilling to give up his power. He only handed over part of the official duties to the left Sima Chen Yougen, the attendant Zhonglang Mao Bang, the military officer Yu Liang and others who stayed behind to share the responsibility. He still made the decisions on major matters himself.

At the end of November, the left and right attendants of the palace, Le Kuan and Wu Qian, returned with recruitment and requested additional money, food, and equipment.

After Pei Kang reviewed it, he approved it and handed it over to the military officer in charge.

This time, more than 4,000 soldiers were recruited and all were incorporated into the Silver Spear Camp.

The Central Camp originally had six battalions of soldiers, two of which were sent to the Black Sword Army, and one battalion each was sent to the left and right battalions to replace the casualties. Now, after the addition of new soldiers, they have been reorganized into 21-29 battalions and stationed in Xiaochang'an, Nanyang for training.

After dealing with this matter, Pei Kang approved the distribution of a new round of relief grain.

Before we knew it, the number of soldiers killed in battle or disabled who were receiving pensions had exceeded 30,000, and the annual expenditure was about 800,000 hu of grain and beans, which was very huge.

But it is impossible to reduce this expense, so I have to pay it with gritted teeth.

You want to crush our enemy in an overwhelming manner on the battlefield, but you are unwilling to pay for the food. How can such a good thing be possible in this world?

Pei Kang actually didn't quite understand this, but he didn't intend to get into trouble with his "son-in-law" over this matter.

Many people wonder why Chen Gong’s army was so brave and courageous in fighting. This is the reason. Let him go. It is better than losing the battle and getting nothing.

After lunch, Pei Kang reviewed the matter of suppressing the Ru'nan uprising. After giving his instructions, he finally couldn't stand it anymore and lay down on the couch.

"Mr. Pei, why are you doing this?" Left Sima Chen Yougen sat in the office of the Chief Secretary, staring with eyes as big as copper bells. He wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but seeing Pei Kang's miserable look, he swallowed the words back.

Although this old guy is greedy for power, he at least works hard. He is much better than those who spend their days leisurely and live a carefree life.

"Mr. Chen, the nobles of Runan have never been very obedient to Lord Chen. The excessive taxation this time has provoked a popular uprising. It is my fault." Pei Kang closed his eyes and continued to mutter, "Yu Yuangui was incompetent at everything he did, but this time he reacted quickly. The Tuntian Army was dispatched on the same day and suppressed the Lu family's rebellion. It is commendable. However, he acted too hastily and killed too many people."

"Kill them if you want." Chen Yougen said disapprovingly: "These powerful families have lived a good life for too long. They have never experienced a real chaotic world, so they always think they are very powerful. Killing the Lu family will make it easier to farm."

"It's not that simple." Pei Kang said softly, "Mr. Chen is back, so we still need to comfort him."

The place of Runan was only visited by a period of fighting during the Rebellion of the Eight Kings. After that, the refugee leader Li Hong caused some trouble, and the rebel Wang Ru and his troops attacked the place for a while. Since then, there has been no major foreign invasion.

The subsequent rebellion of Zhang Xiaoer and Li Mazi was also due to the excessive oppression of the refugees from Guanxi, coupled with Yu Liang's improper management, which eventually led to a major chaos and caused many deaths and injuries.

The reasons why the nobles, led by the Lu family, launched a rebellion were complicated. Excessive taxes were only the trigger, and the fundamental reason was that the shogunate ordered the measurement of land in Runan, asking the nobles to give up some of their land to the newly arrived refugees from Guanxi. This was an alienated version of the dispute between the natives and the immigrants.

Fortunately, it was quickly suppressed.

The military farms in Xiping and Langling were urgently dispatched to wipe out several powerful families including the Lu family. The land was measured and distributed.

There are 31 counties in the five prefectures and states of Xiangcheng, Runan, Xincai, Nandun, and Chen in western Henan, with nearly 150,000 households and more than 700,000 people, which have been compiled into a book. This is a force that Mr. Chen can directly mobilize. It is different from the household registration in other places that is attached to forts and manors, so it should not be ignored.

"Comfort, comfort, that's all I know how to do." Chen Yougen muttered a few words, too lazy to argue with Pei Kang.

In fact, it was he who gave the order to mobilize the troops.

The troops that participated in the massacre of the Lu family and other families were the farming troops transferred from Duyang. They were led by his confidants, so he would not tolerate those local bullies.

If you don't obey, I will kill you. What can you do to me? Mr. Chen, who is far away in Yecheng, didn't blame me. Why are you so entangled?

"Mr. Chen, fighting and killing alone is not enough. If Mr. Chen wants to achieve his ambition, he still needs the support of scholars." Pei Kang sighed and said, "Otherwise, can you withstand the gossips?"

Chen Yougen was stunned.

"Forget it this time. Next time you make a move, say hello to me first."

"I am the Sima." Chen Yougen said bluntly, "The Chief Secretary does not need to worry about military affairs. Besides, the counties and kingdoms in western Henan are your foundation and should not be neglected. Have you ever seen me killing people in Yingchuan and Chenliu?"

"Runan is a place with rich cultural heritage," Pei Kang reminded.

"Ming Gong needs a foundation, and he must have a territory that he can use at will." Chen Yougen stood up and said, "Since Pei Gong is ill, he should take good care of himself. I will take care of some matters."

After saying that, he bowed, turned around and walked out.

Pei Kang opened his eyes and looked at the roof.

People like Chen Yougen, Jin Zheng, Wang Que'er and Hou Feihu have already become famous.

They have their own ideas and their own code of conduct. Perhaps because Shao Xun was born into a military family, these warriors no longer felt inferior and were no longer submissive in front of the scholars. They gradually dared to talk back and oppose them.

And these people are just the ones on the surface.

The soldiers who were rooted in the local area quietly occupied the right to speak in the village.

After the Battle of Yecheng, Chen Gong recruited hundreds of elite Hu and Han soldiers from Hebei, organized them into a government army, and settled them in Dongping.

In this way, Gaoping had 6,000 soldiers, Dongping and Puyang each had 3,000 soldiers, and the scattered soldiers in Luonan counties, Yingyin, Yangxia, Chenxian and other places added up to 4,200 people, which was more than 16,000.

According to the military roster of General Longxiang's mansion, each of these more than 10,000 households has an average of more than two independent units, which adds up to more than 50,000 households and 200,000 to 300,000 people, which is already a considerable force.

The number of households that Chen Gong could directly mobilize had unknowingly exceeded one million. His foundation was much more stable than Sima Rui in Jianye. The latter also had the Central Plains gentry and refugees who went south, but there should not be millions of them.

Pei Kang, lying on the hospital bed, thought a lot. People like him always like to use the things of the previous dynasty to make a comparison. As he kept trying, he felt that something was wrong and was confused for a while.

I don’t know where this world will go.

******
After leaving the shogunate, Chen Yougen wandered aimlessly in the countryside.

The personal soldiers followed behind on horseback, chatting and laughing.

They are all relatives and fellow villagers of the four Chen Yougen brothers. They have always been more casual and courageous.

"When the locusts broke out that year, they were so overwhelming that they scared people to death." Someone said, "Mr. Chen was going to fight the Xiongnu, but in the end, even the hair on the horses was eaten up, so both sides stopped fighting. This is such a strange thing that even an old man who has lived a lifetime has never heard of it."

"Before the locust plague, there was a drought. The elders said they had never seen such a severe drought in their lives. The Luo River even dried up." Someone else said, "The alternation of drought and locusts means that there is no way for people to survive. No wonder Mr. Chen came down to earth."

"Is Mr. Chen really the spirit of the star Taibai who has descended to earth?"

"Of course. Otherwise, do you think the princesses of the Sima family would devote themselves to him one by one?"

"That's not the good thing about Mr. Chen..."

"Shut up!" A leader rode forward and said sternly, "It's fine if you're making fun of others, but you even dare to tease Mr. Chen. Don't you want to live?"

The sound suddenly fell silent.

Chen Yougen seemed unaware of it. He just looked at the dense mulberry forest outside, and smiled unconsciously, saying, "Good, really good."

After hearing this, the bodyguards all looked over.

After the locust plague, most of the mulberry forests were destroyed. But in recent years, mulberry and hemp production has gradually improved, and people's lives are getting better day by day.

In fact, just think about it, with so much wasteland and so few people, there is no need to cultivate it intensively. People will not starve to death if they grow any crops, and the livestock at home can also have enough fodder to feed - the premise is to maintain a relatively stable world.

Mr. Chen obtained two books, "Growing Sesame Seeds" and "Essential Techniques of Planting Mulberry Trees", and contributed the composting method that he had practiced in Sanwu, Yunzhong in his early years, and gradually taught the people to improve their planting methods.

Of course, this change is slow.

The reason was that there were not enough people to do it. Moreover, the promoters did not seem to understand it very well. For example, they only knew that when the manure was piled together, they had to cover it with mud from the riverbed and stir it. As for why they did this, no one knew. Anyway, they heard that if someone in Chen County covered it with dry loess, they would be whipped, so they dug wet mud from the Suiyang Canal - and for a while, they actually dredged the river.

Over the years, even though the promotion progress was slow, we finally saw some results.

In Henan, mulberry trees form shade, planted in front of and behind houses, around ponds, and on both sides of roads.

Every night, the sound of women weaving could be heard throughout the villages and forts, big and small.

On several occasions, everyone rushed back to Xuchang overnight, and when they heard the sound of the loom, they commented privately, discussing which woman was hardworking and which was lazy.

Men farm and women weave, what a wonderful life.

During those years when there were alternating droughts and locusts, people exchanged their own children for cannibalism, and the Huns plundered and burned the countryside, who could have imagined that this day would come?

If you calculate carefully, it has not been many years since the Battle of Gaoping, but surrounded by a stable life, they always subconsciously feel that it was very far away.

After the battlefield moved to Hebei, the "illusion" that the war was far away became increasingly obvious.

In fact, this is all thanks to Mr. Chen.

Chen Yougen suddenly stopped.

Yingchuan is, after all, a place of aristocratic families, with manors one after another. In recent years, some villages inhabited by self-cultivating farmers have appeared one after another, but they are very, very few.

He didn't like it very much, and could even be said to hate it.

"Do you want to be palace soldiers?" He turned his head, looked at the personal soldiers and asked.

The guards were stunned for a moment, and after they were sure that Chen Sima was not joking, they boldly smiled and said, "If uncle is willing to let us go, of course we are willing."

Chen Yougen smiled and said, "I won't keep you tied to my side. When the young eagle grows up, it will spread its wings and fly high."

The guards looked at Chen Yougen, who had suddenly become so literary, and were at a loss as to what to do.

"The beggars in Junyi are going to Hebei." Chen Yougen said, "Mr. Chen plans to place government soldiers in Chenliu. You all have a chance."

"Why Junyi?" someone asked.

"Mr. Chen plans to move the capital to Junyi, taking care of Henan and Hebei." Chen Yougen said, "If he opens a palace in the future, it will probably be there."

Junyi belonged to Chenliu State, more than 200 miles northeast of Xuchang, not far from the river, and was located on the water transport line. It was well connected and could fully mobilize Henan's human and material resources.

The only drawback is that Chenliu has been through war for a long time and is generally in a dilapidated state. Junyi, which is occupied by the Qihuo Army, is even more dilapidated and requires a lot of effort to manage.

But this also brings a benefit: blank paper is easier to paint on.

"If you become a palace soldier and live a good life, remember one thing." Chen Yougen looked at everyone and said seriously: "This life is not given to you by the court, not given to you by the Wang family of Langya, not given to you by the Pei family of Hedong, not given to you by the Yang family of Taishan, and not given to you by the Yu family of Yingchuan, but given to you by Mr. Chen. Remember!"

(End of this chapter)