Chinese New Year

Chapter 589 Some Leave, Some Stay

The sound of orderly footsteps was heard on the street.

Soon, hundreds of people stopped outside the Prince of Wu's palace.

After a brief command, the first and second teams of one hundred soldiers walked along the wall, went around to the two small doors in the backyard of the Prince of Wu's Mansion, and stood at attention with guns in hand.

The third team drove to the right corner gate for transporting food and firewood.

The fourth team stood outside the left corner door for servants and less important guests to enter and exit.

Another fifty riders armed with lances and horn bows were patrolling outside the wall.

Chen Jingen, the commander of the Longxiang Prefecture in Jiafu, Gaoping County, came forward with fifty fully armed soldiers and knocked on the door.

Chen Yougen stood behind him, with two hundred auxiliary soldiers beside him. They were unarmored and each held only a spear, but their formation was fairly neat and looked quite intimidating.

The huge noise caused a commotion on Dongyangmen Street.

Most of the people who lived here were high-ranking officials and well-informed. When Shao Bing first appeared, every household closed their doors and the atmosphere was solemn.

They now call the government soldiers and their troops "Shao soldiers".

If the identities of the hereditary soldiers from Xuchang, Nanyang and other places, the local farming troops and the temporarily conscripted able-bodied peasant soldiers are still somewhat interesting, and many people regard them as imperial soldiers and do not directly call them "Shao soldiers", then the Shao color of the government soldiers is too strong.

The emergence of this army was entirely due to Shao Xun's personal will, and it was "deeply sinful."

Taking Gaoping County where Chen Jingen was located as an example, there were five Longxiang prefectures, namely Xialou, Dongmin, Liangqiu, Jiafu and Daye, with a total of 6,000 prefecture soldiers.

Dongping County to the north of Gaoping had three Longxiang prefectures: Yanggu, Luxiang, and Huzi (missing).

Puyang County to the west of Dongping - the country was abolished after the death of King Puyang - had three Longxiang prefectures: Zaoting, Weicheng, and Yangjiao (missing).

These eleven prefectures and twelve thousand soldiers were connected together to firmly control the three counties and twenty-two counties.

These soldiers were completely Shao Xun's privates, rampant in the village, and notorious. If this could still be tolerated, then these government soldiers brought bad atmosphere, which made people very dissatisfied.

The once simple countryside is no longer the utopia for scholars.

The manor that was painstakingly built is no longer the last refuge for scholars.

These are a bunch of lackeys and minions.

After knocking on the door for a while, the main door of the palace was opened.

The two sides were in a stalemate for a while, and then the servants of the palace gave way.

Chen Jingen waved his hand and led fifty soldiers in.

Chen Yougen watched from behind, feeling a little regretful.

Lord Chen's orders were rather strict, so they did not dare to be too presumptuous and were generally quite polite, at least more polite than the soldiers of Sima Yi and Sima Yue back then.

After all, He Lun was a really crazy guy who dared to rob anyone. The set of top-quality tea sets he presented to Shao Xun is still being used by Shao Xun today.

The most terrible thing about everything is comparison. Shao Bing is so polite!

Although King Wu Sima Yan was blind, he had a clear mind. After receiving the news, he waved his hand to let the retainer who told him the ghost stories leave, and then sighed: "I have to pay again."

The person serving him was Sima Yan, King of Xindu.

The young man was quite angry and said, "This is the second time Shao Xun has come to the sect to make a donation."

In the seventh year of Yongjia, Chen Gong’s army arrived at Luoyang and demanded money, silk, carriages and horses at that time. Now he is coming again. How can people not be angry?
It's difficult for everyone.

Thinking of this, Sima Yan couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

"Give it to me." Just like two years ago, Sima Yan was very open-minded and said directly.

After saying that, he sighed again: "Once is twice, but not three times. Shao Bing may not be so polite the third time he comes to visit."

Sima Yan was startled and immediately asked: "Grandpa, you mean..."

Sima Yan stared at his son with eyes wide open, but due to his poor eyesight, he could only see the general outline.

Sima Yan moved closer.

Sima Yan touched his face and sighed, "Your fiefdom is in Liangzhou, don't count on it. If you have a chance, cross the river and head south as soon as possible. Even if Jingwen doesn't want to see you, he won't make it difficult for you, and you can still live well."

"Grandpa!" Sima Yan subconsciously wanted to refuse, but was stopped by his father.

"I'm sick and can't leave. Besides, you can go to Jiangnan, but I can't." Sima Yan sighed, "Go ahead and keep an eye on the front yard. Give Shao Xun whatever he wants, and don't say anything."

As Emperor Wu's biological son, Sima Yan knew that his identity was very sensitive.

Sima Jingwen was just a distant relative of the royal family. Did he really want to see him go? Besides, he not only had an eye disease, but also a lot of other ailments. If he forced himself to go south, he might fall ill on the way.

Sima Yan looked at his father worriedly, then turned his head and ran to the front yard.

There was a lot of noise in the yard.

"There is still some silk, but the money is really gone." The palace clerk said with a bitter face.

Chen Jingen looked at the copper coin in his hand and asked in confusion, "Just this one copper coin is counted as five strings of cash?"

"This is a big Dongwu coin, one is worth five thousand." The accountant said, "Isn't it five strings of cash?"

Chen Jingen smiled when he heard this.

Of course he knows the value of money.

In the beginning, a copper coin was worth one cent. But as wars became more frequent and the court's expenses became more and more expensive, more and more worthless coins were used, that is, the weight of the copper coin increased slightly, but the face value increased greatly.

"Daquan Fifty" was minted during the Wang Mang period, and one copper coin was used as fifty coins.

Both Shu Han and Cao Wei had minted copper coins worth "Zhi Bai Wu Zhu", and later the fictitious coins worth "Dang Wu Bai Qian" appeared.

This was the first time he had seen the "One Dang Five Thousand" of the Eastern Wu. Oh, he also had many "Daquan Five Hundred", "Daquan One Thousand" and "Daquan Two Thousand", which were basically minted during the Chiwu period of the Eastern Wu.

Of course, the face value of these virtual coins is outrageous and they are not widely recognized in actual circulation. They are often used at a discount, and sometimes even at a "discount".

After all, the five-zhu coin of the Han Dynasty weighed five zhu, which was equal to one coin. The "Daquan Five Hundred" weighed only twelve zhu, and the "Daquan One Thousand" weighed sixteen zhu. Do you have the nerve to use it as five hundred coins or one thousand coins? The common people would not approve!

However, the imperial court had a strong urge to force the people to accept the value of the fictitious currency. In many cases, they would grant hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, but it was hard to say what the money was specifically…

"Don't lie to me!" Chen Jingen grabbed the accountant and stuffed the "Daquan Five Thousand" into his hand. He pointed outside the door and shouted, "If you can use this five strings of money to buy a Hu pancake, I... I... I won't beat you today!"

Dianji naturally didn't dare to try and could only beg for mercy.

Sima Yan sighed, waved his hand and called a servant over, whispering a few words. After a while, the servants brought in many utensils.

Sima Yan stepped forward and said, "General, you can estimate the value based on this. It should be enough to collect three thousand strings of cash."

The custom at that time was that "rich people must have furniture". Rich people were willing to spend money on furniture and utensils.

For example, the seven-treasure bed and ivory mat that were carried out at this time were special products of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, as well as the three-carved lacquer-painted desk, gold mirror, gold-thread box, silver-thread box (food container), gold bath tray and even small bronze beasts...

Chen Jingen waved his hand and asked the soldiers to take the utensils away. Then he looked at Sima Yan and said, "There are also 5,000 pieces of silk. If there is really no silk, cloth will do. The soldiers of the imperial army are attacking Xin'an and are risking their lives. The King of Xindu should not be stingy."

Sima Yan's face turned pale. Where could he get 5,000 pieces of cloth at this time?

So he asked, "There is no money or silk left, only utensils are left. Is this okay?"

Chen Jingen remained silent, which was considered as his agreement.

But he quickly added, "I heard that the King of Wu's palace has servants like clouds and farmhands like rain. The emperor has issued an edict to recruit servants to pound rice and farmhands to transport food and grass. At least three hundred households are needed."

Sima Yan stood there in a daze.

He suddenly thought of what his father had just said: if it happens once, there will be a second time, and if it happens twice, there will be a third time.

This is my second visit, and my appetite is much bigger than the first time.

When Sima Yong and Sima Ying besieged Luoyang and the fighting was at its fiercest, King Sima Yi of Changsha conscripted servants from wealthy families to pound rice - these people never returned.

It was thought that Shao Xun was of humble origin and would not dare to follow Sima Yi's example and conscript slaves, but he was obviously wrong.

My father is right. It’s hard to say what conditions he will offer next time he visits.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that Shao Xun not only recruited slaves, but also the few farmhands they had. This was to completely cut off their source of income.

The rent and taxes from Danyang and other places may not be transported here in time, and they still rely on the farmers to farm and support them.

With Shao Xun doing this, it is indeed difficult to stay in Luoyang.

Perhaps this was his purpose? To force them to leave?
He looked at Chen Jingen again.

Chen Jingen stood there, and perhaps because he saw that the Wu family had a good attitude, he said something more: "Why are you staying in such a troubled place?"

After saying that, he turned and left.

******
While the King of Wu and his family were still struggling, King Jingling Sima Mao had already packed up and left.

There were more than ten vehicles in front and behind, loaded with food and various supplies.

The whole family, including young and old, plus servants and retainers, had less than a hundred people in total.

Sima Mao had been the governor of Xuzhou for many years and was quite wealthy, but during the chaos among the kings, he blocked Sima Yue's path and was beaten badly by him.

The most abundant wealth in the Xuzhou mansion was actually seized by Sima Yue.

Later, when they arrived in Luoyang, most of their property was lost.

What is now loaded on these ten-odd vehicles is the only money and food left after being "extorted" by Shao Xun.

He was a prince of a clan and once a local earl, but he has become like this when he is old. I really don’t know what to say.

The convoy quickly left Jianchun Gate. Sima Mao took one last look at Luoyang, sighed, and left.

They had already said goodbye to the Emperor in the morning, and the monarch and his subjects sat facing each other and wept, unable to contain their grief.

Is this the end of the dynasty?
Sima Mao didn't dare to think so, but he couldn't help thinking so.

In fact, Shao Xun's conscription of slaves and demand for property was not something excessive. After all, many people had done so before him.

But the problem is that he is not a royal prince of the Sima clan.

Sima Yi, Sima Yue, and even earlier Sima Jiong and Sima Lun could do this, even killing their brothers, but the other kings would not leave because they knew that this was still the Sima family's kingdom.

But Shao Xun was a person of a different surname, and it would be a very bad omen if he did this.

This person must be someone like Cao Mang, or maybe Dong Zhuo?
In Sima Mao's view, Shao Xun was more like a combination of Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao.

He is determined to wipe out all the heroes, which is very similar to Cao Cao.

He also took possession of women from the royal family and even the imperial family, which was exactly like Dong Zhuo.

When Dong Zhuo was in power, there were still many local governors of the Liu family.

Before Shao Xun entered Luoyang, the local Sima officials were killing each other, and most of them were killed by their own people - as the former governor of Xuzhou, he was a living example.

What a pity, what a pity!

At this point, Sima Mao was filled with regret.

If the Sima family didn't fight among themselves, how could others have a chance? Even an ambitious person like Shao Xun had to serve the King of Donghai honestly. He even farmed in his hometown of Donghai.

pity!

Sima Mao sighed again. Now that things have come to this, it is too late to say anything.

After these princes left, the emperor became increasingly isolated and powerless in Luoyang, without even a single familiar or close friend.

There is no doubt that Shao Xun was changing Luoyang bit by bit, trying to turn it into a territory under his control.

He did not touch the gentry because they were an important part of his power.

He moved against the Sima clan because the Sima clan was an obstacle to his ambitions.

This is a "gentle" cleansing, but very firm.

He may not touch the emperor now, but when he feels that he has made enough contributions and has enough prestige, it is hard to say what he will do - Dong Zhuo deposed and killed the young emperor back then.

Of course, some members of the royal family chose to stay in Luoyang and continue to wait and see for various reasons.

Sima Mao did not want to comment on their choice. He also wanted to see if Shao Xun had the magnanimity to allow the Sima clan to survive.

"The famous city of Luoyang no longer belongs to the Sima family." Sima Mao rode a chestnut horse, shaking his head and sighing.

The golden sun sets in the west, and the setting sun is blood-red.

Just like the Jin Dynasty, perhaps it won’t be many years before the sun and moon alternate.

(End of this chapter)