Chinese New Year

Chapter 556 Banquet

The residence of Sizhong from Yecheng was filled with distinguished guests.

In addition to Tao Bao (General Governor) and Zhi Xiong (Sima), two comrades from the Xiejie Army, three chief officers of the Zhongyi Army also came: Liu Hedu, Xu Guang, and Zheng Shida, a subordinate of Yu Chen who took office from Luoyang.

All the middle and low-level officials of Shi Le's regime who could stay in office came.

Maybe someone would ask why you gathered so many old officials and generals in private? Are you going to cause trouble? No, Cheng Xia was not panicked, because he originally planned to invite Tao Bao and Zhi Xiong, but when Mr. Chen heard about it, he said that he was free anyway, so he might as well gather more people to have fun, and he would be there too.

Cheng Xia was overjoyed.

This is what pie in the sky means.

He was a scholar and knew all too well what was going on. In short, Lord Chen gave him the opportunity to guide the views of Shi Le's old subordinates, eliminate unnecessary distractions, and better serve Lord Chen.

Mr. Chen had already arrived. After drinking a few cups, he went to change his clothes.

Cheng Xia called an old servant over, whispered a few instructions to him, and continued to drink and feast as if no one was around.

"After the New Year, we may have to leave Yecheng and go somewhere else." After going out to toast everyone, Cheng Xia sat back and said in a low voice while looking at Tao Bao, Liu Hedu and others.

"Oh? Where are you going?" Liu Hedu asked puzzledly.

To be honest, he didn't want to leave Yecheng.

He has become accustomed to the life here, the plants and trees here, and his home is also here.

"I heard that he was going to Xuzhou." Cheng Xia said mysteriously.

"Xuzhou?" Tao Bao was a little surprised, and then looked at the place where Mr. Chen left and asked, "But what did Mr. Chen say?"

"I guess so." Cheng Xia said vaguely.

Tao Bao and the others looked at each other and their expressions changed.

Cheng Xia was secretly pleased. Now you know how powerful I am, right? I told you guys to look down on me back then.

"Why are you going to Xuzhou?" Zhi Xiong asked.

"I heard that Mi Huang, the internal historian of Donghai, is about to collapse, and needs our reinforcement. Both the Xiejie Army and the Zhongyi Army should go." Cheng Xia whispered, "By March at the latest."

Before Tao Bao, Liu Hedu, Zhi Xiong and others said anything, Zheng Shida frowned.

He was once in charge of the palace guards in Luoyang. After being "optimized", he had no way out and had no official position. Later, by chance, he met Yu Chen, the commander of the Sili Army, and got a chance again.

He had been to Xuzhou and knew a few counties there. The counties in the north were fine, but the south was a swampy muddy land with rivers and lakes everywhere. He wished there were two rivers in front and behind a village, a pond in front of every house, and lush forests and bamboos everywhere. Although it was a flat plain, it was not a place where cavalry could show off their prowess.

Even the infantry had a hard time walking, after all, crossing rivers and wading through water was annoying for everyone.

If you want to fight there, you can't do it without a navy.

Especially Xia Pi, the seat of the Xuzhou governor, where he had been. As an important water transport town, it was surrounded by water on all sides. You would not believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Tao Bao and others who were in a daze, and sighed secretly.

Hebei infantry and miscellaneous Hu cavalry, are you going to fight the Jiangdong navy? Lord Chen wants you to fight the bandits and consume each other.

But he didn't intend to say these words out loud, he just kept them in his stomach.

Now everyone has been drinking, and Mr. Chen just said a few encouraging words, so everyone is in high spirits, so there is no need to spoil the fun. I will slowly discuss this with everyone after I go to Xuzhou next year, so it is better to be steady.

The Loyal Army and the Faithful Army are of the same blood. They are the foundation of their existence and they must not lose them in Xuzhou.

"That's good." Zhi Xiong slapped his thigh and said, "If we go to Xuzhou, we can make achievements. Maybe there will be a chance for further development."

"It's better than staying in Hebei to fight." Tao Bao said vaguely.

"Stop talking and drink." Xu Guang stopped Tao Bao from talking, picked up the wine bottle and urged him.

"Drink, drink." Cheng Xia raised his glass in response, then turned his head and looked at the entire hall.

Officials from near and far came, including the sons of Hebei's aristocratic families, so the place was really packed with distinguished guests. And the reason why they chose his house as the venue for the gathering was naturally because of Mr. Chen's face.

Cheng Xia was extremely intoxicated by this feeling.

He even grasped the void, as if he had grasped power and wealth.

After drinking a few glasses, Cheng Xia was a little tipsy. He staggered to his feet, apologized, and slowly left the hall.

The cold wind in the yard made him sober up a little. After looking around, he quietly disappeared behind a small bamboo forest. After turning several corners, he entered a woodshed, carefully opened a secret entrance, and climbed down the ladder.

He crouched down and walked for a while in the dark tunnel, then climbed up the ladder, pushed open a lid, and quietly entered an empty side room.

There was a plump woman in the side room. When she saw Cheng Xia, she was startled at first, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Xia was about to say something but was stopped by the woman.

Cheng Xia understood, tiptoed over and put his ear against the wall.

"Why are you here to serve me? Did your brother ask you to come?" This was a male voice.

"Hmm." This is a soft and weak female voice: "Ming Gong, this is a hangover soup, you will feel better after drinking it."

"I've already let you go home, why bother?"

A soft sobbing sound was heard.

"Your brother is so keen on fame and wealth, how could he have such a pure sister like you?" The man was a little drunk and said, "Why? Don't you want to? You are my trophy, I can take you back with just one word. Liu Ye is still in Bingjingtai. Is Shi Le so good? He was beaten by me and left his wife and children behind, what's good about him?"

There was silence.

"Ming Gong, please don't." The woman's voice was a little panicked: "Please."

"It seems that you still don't understand your brother's mind. Was he very disappointed when I let you go home?"

The sound of struggle became much quieter, and another burst of sobbing came out. Cheng's wife rolled her eyes at him, and Cheng Xia felt a little uncomfortable.

Messy footsteps were heard, and after a moment, there was a creaking sound as if someone had fallen on the table.

There was a rustling sound and the breathing became heavier.

"Ah!" A female voice containing complex emotions suddenly rang out. Halfway through, it seemed as if it was covered by itself, leaving only a faint whimper.

After a long time, the noise next door subsided.

Cheng Xia stopped listening and looked at his wife questioningly.

The wife nodded hesitantly.

Cheng Xia sat back on the couch, his neck felt a little sore and his legs a little numb.

After all, Mr. Chen is a warrior who can shoot a hard bow and ride a fierce horse, so he has good physical strength. My sister has been tossed around by him for so long, I don’t know if she can bear it.

But he finally succeeded, and all his efforts paid off.

Thinking back to when I first learned that my sister was released and returned home with a burden, it was like a bolt from the blue.

At one point, he wanted to kill Shi Le's child and then send his sister back to Chen Gong's mansion, but he didn't dare to do so.

Fortunately, everything is back on track and it was all worth it.

After resting for a while, Cheng Xia signaled to his wife with his eyes and then left through the tunnel.

There was a faint sound of talking coming from next door, and soon the man, surrounded by his personal guards, left for the front hall.

Mrs. Cheng waited for a while, making sure everyone had left, before she opened the door and went into the next room.

What I saw was my sister-in-law lying on the table, motionless.

Mrs. Cheng sighed, picked up a blanket and covered her buttocks.

She leaned over to her sister-in-law's ear and whispered, "I'll tell my husband later that I won't marry you off, don't worry."

Cheng's face flushed. After hearing her sister-in-law's words, her dull eyes began to move. After a long time, she said "hmm" softly.

Mrs. Cheng suddenly felt a little jealous of her sister-in-law.

She is weak, timid, shy, submissive, and easy to be bullied. This kind of woman will certainly arouse a man's desire to protect her, but it will also make a man want to bully her.

The sister-in-law was obviously bullied. The one who bullied her was the most powerful person in the world. Should we say she was lucky or unlucky?

"Do you want to go take a shower?" asked Cheng's wife.

Mrs. Cheng watched her sister-in-law's actions in fascination, swallowed secretly, and wondered if Mr. Chen would acknowledge her if she got pregnant.
It's hard to say.

In those days, when scholars gathered together, they often used concubines and maids to entertain guests, and they would switch them around for fun. It was hard to tell whose children were born, and they would not necessarily recognize them.

Just think about it. You go to a friend's house for a party and stay overnight. Your friend sends his concubine over to entertain you and leaves the next day. A few months later, the concubine becomes pregnant. Would you admit it? Impossible, because the concubine probably entertained more than one guest, so who knows whose child she is pregnant with.

On the other side, Cheng Xia and Shao Xun returned to the banquet one after another.

After drinking for a while, Shao Xun put down his glass and said, "There are many things going on right now. Jizhou has not been pacified yet, and Xuzhou has caused trouble again. Sima Rui has broken his promise and openly interfered in Xuzhou's affairs. This is intolerable. Who can share my worries?"

As soon as these words came out, before the others could react, Cheng Xia was the first to stand up and said, "I am willing to share your worries."

Guangping Prefect Cheng Mu looked at him in surprise.

They were all from Guangping, and were born into the great Cheng family. But Cheng Mu moved to Yecheng with his father when he was a child, and had never heard of Cheng Xia, let alone had any friendship with him.

Strictly speaking, he is from Yecheng.

Just like Princess Xiangcheng's former family leader Cheng Yuantan, this gentleman was also from the Guangping Cheng family, but he had settled in Luoyang three generations ago. Where do you think he was from? In fact, Cheng Yuantan sometimes called himself the Luoyang Cheng family.

However, after Cheng Mu followed Lu Zhi to Henan to serve as an official, he gradually became familiar with Cheng Yuantan and rekindled their family friendship.

Cheng Xia is a man who likes to scheme and is keen on fame and fortune, which makes Cheng Mu somewhat dislike him.

But anyway, when he went to Guangping to be an official, he still needed Cheng Xia's help, because the latter had lived in Guangping for generations and had great influence in the local area. Even Shi Le wanted to take his sister as a concubine and tried to win him over many times. Cheng Xia once advised Shi Le to focus on Handan or Xiangguo, give up Yecheng, and stay away from the Yellow River as much as possible. Perhaps it was out of selfishness, but it was not without reason.

Why did he volunteer to go to Xuzhou today? Did he have a grudge against the people in Jiangdong?
"Okay!" Shao Xun slammed the table and said with a smile, "We have to let the Jiangdong rats see the style of our Hebei athletes."

As he said this, he looked at the others.

"I am also willing to share your worries." Tao Bao and others stood up and said.

"Excellent." Shao Xun praised, "We will grant your request. The two armies of Zhongyi and Xiejie will make up for the vacancies in Hebei, and the 9,000 infantry and cavalry will be handed over to you to lead. In addition, we will recruit 20,000 infantry from Yecheng, Anyang, Handan and other places, and march south together."

The 20,000 infantrymen who were to be recruited were, of course, the surrendered soldiers to whom Shi Le had divided his land.

Using Shi Le's surrendered soldiers to fight Sima Rui is a bit like when Cao Mengde led Yuan's surrendered soldiers to conquer Jingzhou. No matter what the outcome, it would be a win-win situation.

"We will have 30,000 Hebei warriors, with Xi Jian as the commander, Tao Bao as his deputy, and Cheng Xia as the supervisor." Shao Xun added, "After the spring sowing is completed, we will go to Mount Tai and Lu to assemble."

Zhang Bin, who was drinking silently at the table, paused for a moment when he heard this.

Taishan and Lu counties were both territories that had been run by the Yang family for many years. The fact that 30,000 troops from Hebei were marching there was very meaningful.

Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating consumes the sheep family’s money and food.

They are showing off their power and trying to intimidate the Yang family’s ambition.

At the same time, it also allowed the Hebei forces to make their first public appearance - if they did not, how could they participate in the spoils?
Mr. Chen is a man who really knows how to seize the opportunity to attack the various factions under his command.

People from Hebei attacked Xuzhou, and people from Henan attacked Jizhou. They looked kind but were evil at heart. You were not mistaken.

(End of this chapter)