Chinese New Year

Chapter 590 Someone else is coming
The first day of July is the day for the children of wealthy families to "work in the fields".

The so-called "traveling in the fields" simply means inspecting the farms.

Xingtian can understand the operating conditions of the manor, as well as the surrounding natural conditions and geographical conditions, in order to further expand the industry.

This custom has existed since the Later Han Dynasty. At this time, activities such as sightseeing and literary gatherings were added, turning a simple economic behavior into a comprehensive activity.

On this day, more than ten scholars led by Wang Yan's brother Wang Cheng, Sili Xiaowei Yu Chen's son Yu Yi, and Shangshu Zuocheng Lu Yan, with hundreds of followers, climbed up Mount Mang.

The soldiers who were collecting firewood on the mountain saw it from afar and drew their bows and swords on the spot. They only relaxed after seeing it clearly.

I thought bandits were coming!
Wang Cheng and others also saw these soldiers, but did not care. They found a place with lush vegetation, spread out carpets and cushions, and sat on the ground.

After a while, music started playing and steam began to bubble up from the teapot, creating a lively atmosphere.

Wang Cheng waved a palm-leaf fan and joked with everyone.

"Pingzi has been to Jiangling, Jiangxia, and also made a trip to Xuzhou. He is really knowledgeable." Also present today was Wen Qiao, who was from the Wen family of Taiyuan.

Zan Hua was originally an advisor to Liu Kun. Due to the successive defeats in battles, Liu Kun became very pessimistic and secretly sent him to Hebei.

Wen Qiao had been Wang Yan's aide and was on good terms with Yu Liang, so coming to Luoyang was his best choice.

Wang Yan also admired him very much, so he appointed Wen Qiao as the chief clerk of the Taiwei's office and entrusted him with important tasks.

Wen Qiao was talented, but he was a romantic and unrestrained person. Although he came from an ordinary family, he was very bold in speaking. Sometimes he would use dirty words to curse people like the common people, and the people he cursed were often of a relatively high status.

When he met Wang Cheng this time, there was a hint of sarcasm in his words.

"Taizhen is a subordinate of Liu Bingzhou. He has been advising on military campaigns for many years. How is his record in battle?" Wang Cheng was somewhat unhappy. As his temper flared up, he wanted to lose his temper, but someone beside him quietly grabbed his sleeve and he suddenly reacted.

Isn't the reason why Wen Qiao is so arrogant because he and Yu Liang have similar interests?

What was there for Yu Yuangui to be proud of? Wasn't it just that his sister married Mr. Chen?

Several women in my Wang family are - bah!

"Regardless of his battle record, Liu Bingzhou defended the isolated city for eight years, which can be said to be brave. He was determined and devoted to the court, which can be said to be loyal." Wen Qiao glanced at Wang Cheng and said.

Wang Cheng was furious, but he had nothing to say and could only turn his head away.

Wen Qiao, he is still working for his brother, but he has no control over his words. The words he just said, on the surface, praised Liu Kun, but secretly, didn't they mean to insult his brother?
But his brother admired him very much. Even though Wen Qiao repeatedly contradicted him, he did not take it as an offense and continued to cultivate him.

Many of the young men of Wang Clan of Langya also had dealings with Wen Qiao. Are they all blind?

"Okay, Taizhen, stop talking." Lu Yan came over and advised, "The former Wei was not virtuous, so the Sima family abdicated and the Jin replaced the Wei. Today, the world is in chaos and the people are uneasy. As the saying goes, when you are in trouble, you will think of change. If you change, you will be able to get through. If you don't change, you won't get through. The world is like this, what's there to say? Taizhen, didn't you come to Luoyang too?"

After hearing this, Wen Qiao sighed and said, "I have nowhere else to go, so I can only come to Luoyang. But there are not many loyal ministers in Luoyang, who can't see that? And I am not allowed to complain a few words?"

Lu Yan and he had a relatively close relationship, so it was inconvenient for him to speak ill of him.

"If you feel unhappy, you can go to Junyi. Yu Yuangui has been there and is planning the city site." Lu Yan said.

"I owe him money, so it's not convenient for us to meet. I'd better not go for now." Wen Qiao said angrily.

"Gambling again?"

"I made a small bet and lost 100,000 yuan."

"You..." Lu Yan was speechless.

Since he was a child, he felt that Wen Taizhen was very talented, humorous, and very nice to others, but there was only one bad thing about him: he liked to gamble.

"It's just a small matter." Wen Qiao saw Lu Yan's expression and laughed, saying, "Ordinary people worry about losing money, but I don't. One hundred thousand yuan can make me happy for one night, which is a big profit. It's enough, enough!"

"Taizhen has a free and easy personality, which is admirable." Yu Yi observed for a long time, and when he saw that the atmosphere between Wang Cheng and Wen Qiao gradually relaxed, he said: "With such talent, Mr. Chen will be pleased with him, and he will be successful in the future."

"It's a pity that Mr. Chen is a little impatient." Wen Qiao sighed.

Yu Yi was stunned.

Wen Qiao pointed, shook his head and said with a smile: "You! Yuan Gui didn't persuade me, why are you trying to persuade me?"

Yu Yi wanted to say something but stopped.

"Stop talking, it's the same Yao and Shun abdication rhetoric again." Wen Qiao said, "Don't worry, I am dissatisfied with Lord Chen forcing the emperor, but I have no soldiers and no power, so what's the point of being dissatisfied? Lord Chen should worry about the powerful scholars in the states and counties. There are always people in the twenty-one states of the Great Jin who are loyal to the emperor. This dynasty has been in existence for fifty years, and there are also loyal people. They may not be without soldiers and power. Even if they dare not openly oppose Lord Chen now, if the opportunity arises, they may be able to fight back."

Yu Yi was stunned, and suddenly he understood Wang Cheng a little. Wen Tai was really a harsh person.

"Besides." Wen Qiao glanced at him and said, "Now I have lost all the money I borrowed to marry my wife, so I can only settle down in Luoyang first." Wen Qiao's wife died early. When he left Jinyang, he only took his mother and a few servants with him. He first went to Qinghe County, settled his mother, and then came to Luoyang.

He originally wanted to seek refuge with his father-in-law, Li Geng, who was the former Minister of the Central Secretariat and had some connections in the court, but when he inquired, he found out that he had returned to his hometown in Gaoping, so he could only seek refuge with Wang Yan.

He is now truly a bachelor, with nothing. No money, no wife, no children, nothing...

Fortunately, Yu Liang was very generous. He gave him a house to live in and sent someone to give him 100,000 yuan so that he could buy a betrothal gift and get married.

Wen Qiao thought about it seriously. With his current behavior, no woman would be willing to marry him. There were many Wen clan members in Luoyang, but most of them had migrated south in the past few years. It was impossible to find someone to introduce them to him.

It would be better to go gamble and have some fun!
So he did it, the only bad thing was that he lost all his capital.

"Alas, I can't move forward without money. I'll ask the commander to borrow some tomorrow." Wen Qiao sighed again.

When Wang Cheng heard this, he almost jumped up, but was held back by someone.

Thinking about the fact that his brother had asked about Wen Qiao's marriage status yesterday, he might have to introduce him to a girl from the Wang family of Langya, which made him even more depressed.

"If it really doesn't work, it doesn't hurt to go find Yuan Gui again. At worst, I can sell my life to him." Wen Qiao continued.

Yu Yi didn't know how to respond to this.

Wang Cheng sneered, "Taizhen, don't you want to be a loyal minister? Are you giving up on yourself?"

Wen Qiao glanced at him and said slowly, "It's hard to be a loyal minister. Among the nobles in Luoyang, few loyal ministers have a good ending."

"Henan Yin Diwuyi died in battle outside Xin'an City, and the General of Light Chariots Jiao Qiu was defeated and captured by Pei Kuo."

"Minister Xu Xia bids farewell to his family, shedding tears on the road."

"Guanglu Dafu Li Shu failed to manage military funds and was dismissed from office."

"The Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Yan Ding, fled with his entire family, in a state of great embarrassment."

"Didn't all this happen recently? Being a loyal minister is difficult, it's hard for a loyal minister, and the families of loyal ministers have been destroyed. All the nobles and scholars in Luoyang have seen it. I'm afraid no one is willing to be a loyal minister now. I'm just a layman, so I can only follow the crowd."

Wen Qiao's thinking has always been clear.

I have my own opinions and views. I do not approve of what Mr. Chen did, but I admire loyal ministers. If there is an opportunity, I don't mind being a loyal minister. If there is no opportunity, then I will honestly serve Mr. Chen. It's that simple.

His idea actually represents a considerable number of scholars and officials.

Shao Xun used the military parade to intimidate the emperor, and then made an example of someone to scare the monkeys by dealing with several of the emperor's close ministers. Some people must have been dissatisfied with these actions, but that did not prevent them from succumbing to reality and working for Shao Xun.

People are inherently contradictory.

They are disappointed with the current situation and are in urgent need of change. But when someone really stands up to change it, or even plans to change the dynasty, they are not very satisfied, especially when this person is of humble origin.

Of course, there were also people who cheered and applauded. Most of these people were scholars from Guanxi. Their hometowns had been occupied by the Huns, and they really hoped that someone would recover the lost territory. Liu Can had just defeated the Jin army, captured the entire northern territory, and marched into Fufeng. Countless people surrendered to the Huns.

There are hundreds of people, all kinds of people. But in the tide of the times, personal opinions are infinitely weakened. Whether you support Mr. Chen or oppose him, in the end you are all swept forward by the general trend of the world.

"Taizhen, do you think that with Lord Chen's merits and prestige, it is possible for him to follow the example of Cao Wei?" Yu Yi asked, staring into his eyes.

"If he really conquers the Huns, I will have nothing to say." Wen Qiao said.

"What if we can't destroy the Huns and can only confront them?" Yu Yi asked.

"That's all we can do now." Wen Qiao said without hesitation, "Didn't Lord Chen act very sensibly? He robbed the Sima clan princes, and the scholars saw it, and they felt sad, but no one opposed it openly, wasn't it because Lord Chen had a brilliant military record? Simply put, the court officials, ministers, and the aristocratic families were afraid of him, and they were afraid that they would follow in the footsteps of Xu Xia, Jiao Qiu and others, so they didn't dare to stand up."

"Besides, they still have expectations for Lord Chen. Some people have many problems, but he is useful. He can fight the Huns. Thinking about it this way, some things are not intolerable."

"However, if Lord Chen is defeated and all his elite disciples are killed... hehe, the backlash will come. After all, there are only a few scholars who are determined to follow Lord Chen."

Yu Yi suddenly realized, but also felt a little worried.

As a relative of Mr. Chen's wife, his perspective is different from that of other scholars, and sometimes he is easily blinded by one thing.

Wen Qiao saw this very clearly. Moreover, he was really rude when he spoke!
Come to think of it, it is not easy for Mr. Chen. The price a military household slave has to pay to accomplish something is many times more than that of the Sima clan and the children of aristocratic families.

Even if he was a distant relative of a noble family who was so poor that he could not even afford to eat, it would be much easier for him than for the common people or military households who had no background.

Thinking about the fact that he had once opposed his sister marrying Mr. Chen, believing that he was not worthy of her, Yu Yi felt somewhat relieved.

It really goes against the will of heaven!

(End of this chapter)