Chinese New Year

Chapter 617: Heading North (Part )

When Shao Xun met various nobles in Gaoyang, he met Lu Zhi.

Old Lu is going back to Beijing to serve as Sikong.

The duties of the Three Dukes cannot be fulfilled with just a random imperial edict.

It requires the presence of all the ministers, the playing of auspicious music, and the emperor to sit in the hall and personally confer the title to show solemnity.

Life needs a sense of ritual.

"If you want to take office as the general, you have to go back to Beijing." Lu Zhi said with a smile.

After laughing, I felt a little regretful.

Sikong is actually not very interesting. It is better to be a lower-ranking governor of Jizhou or governor of Youzhou. This is the truth. In such a world, being Sikong of Jin Dynasty is not as good as being a governor or governor of Xin Dynasty.
Moreover, what made him most uncomfortable was that Lord Chen did not let him take charge of the affairs of the Secretariat as Sikong, but Wang Yan took charge of the affairs of the Secretariat as Taiwei.

This is the difference, which means that in Mr. Chen’s mind, Wang Yan is more important and plays a greater role than Lu Zhi.

"Zidao, do you have anything to teach me about the affairs of Hebei?" Shao Xun stood up and toasted Lu Zhi with a glass of wine.

Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little better. After returning the toast, he said, "After two years of continuous fighting, Hebei is exhausted. For the time being, we should not resort to military action. We can just keep the situation calm."

Shao Xun nodded, this was also his opinion.

The high intensity of the war caused great damage to the local areas, especially in Hebei, which became a battlefield. Apart from other things, a large number of refugees appeared in Hebei, which was rarely seen in the late Shi Le era.

This large army of refugees was often led by local tyrants or even scholars, who absorbed small groups of refugees along the way and eventually merged into a large group, often with tens of thousands of people.

Shao Xun sent as many people as possible to gather them together and moved them to the four counties of Puyang, Chenliu, Gaoping and Dongping in Henan Province, making them part of the government troops and consolidating their own foundation.

The appearance of the refugee army is a warning.

Three years ago, there was a poor harvest in Hebei.

Last year, during the great battle in Yecheng, Shi Le conquered the land by three feet.

This year, there has been repeated tug-of-war in six or seven counties including Changshan and Zhongshan. When Shao Xun arrived, the sky was high.

It is indeed time to rest and recuperate. We hear the phrase "calm down and keep quiet" so often that it may even be annoying, but it is gold and invaluable advice.

There will be no conscription, no grain collection, no looting and no killing. If this state can be maintained for two or three years, Hebei will slowly recover on its own.

"How long do you want to stay in Youzhou?" Lu Zhi asked again.

"It won't be too long. I'll be back after the New Year. I'm eager to become a general." Shao Xun joked.

Lu Zhi also laughed and said, "The general has to go back to the capital, but the governor of Yanzhou doesn't have to, right?"

"No." Shao Xun hummed, and said, "Kaocheng has already closed down. I have been considering the candidates for the new shogunate these days. After the preliminary list is finalized, I will concurrently serve as the governor of Yanzhou."

Lu Zhi looked at Shao Xun with a complicated expression and drank another glass of wine.

"Everyone in the world is watching you, so you need to carefully consider who to choose for the shogunate." Lu Zhi said, "Is the military commander Wang Yifu?"

Shao Xun nodded slightly.

Lu Zhi sighed inwardly. He could understand. After all, Wang Yan was famous all over the world. Although some people had recently begun to criticize him and his reputation had declined, he was still very famous and was the signboard of a noble family. He could not do without it.

In addition, someone in Yecheng secretly told him that Wang Yifu's eldest daughter, Wang Jingfeng, gave birth to a baby boy in the middle of last month (November). By now, the old man Wang Yan should know about it, and he will probably work even harder next time.

But understanding is one thing, and loss is inevitable.

Shao Xun stood up and poured a glass of wine for Lu Zhi, and asked, "Zi Dao, how many military commanders did Prime Minister Cao Mengde have in his mansion?"

Lu Zhi was stunned at first, then he understood.

In an instant, all the grievances in my heart disappeared.

Ten years ago, Sima Ying was the crown prince and prime minister. At that time, Lu Zhi was the first person on the staff, and his job was to "attend the affairs of the prime minister's office." This position was considered Sima Ying's deputy, and there was only one person.

Under him, there were the Prime Minister’s Military Strategy (Yang Zhun), the Prime Minister’s Military Strategy (Wang Hun), the Prime Minister’s Assistants (Wang Cheng, Gu Rong, Cheng Kui, etc.)…

Before that, Sima Ying had served as a general for two or three years. At that time, there was a position called "Central Military Advisor".

Unfortunately, it was not Lu Zhi, but Wang Yan and Wang Yifu.

Yes, even though the King of Chengdu was stationed in Yecheng at that time and Wang Yan was an official in Luoyang (Shangshu Zuo Pushe), the King of Chengdu still had to ask Wang Yan to be his military advisor, although the old Wang did not take charge of the affairs and was just a figurehead, the actual affairs were still decided by Lu Zhi.

With these past experiences, Lu Zhi thought that he would be defeated by Wang Yan again this time, but he didn't expect...

He calmed himself down and said, "There have been six people who have served as military advisors, and the prime minister's military advisors at the same time were Hua Xin and Cheng Gongying."

"Zi Dao can be appointed as the military commander of the General's Office, and concurrently serve as the Minister of Works." Shao Xun said, "We'll talk about it later when Liang State is established."

The Liang State, which still exists on paper, has territory (ten counties), a capital (Junyi), a palace that is about to be built (Liang Palace), and of course a leadership team.

The highest official position below Duke Liang was Prime Minister, also known as "Prime Minister of Liang State".

Liang Xiang assisted Duke Liang in handling the affairs of the principality. When Duke Liang was away on a campaign, Liang Xiang stayed behind to take charge of military and political affairs. He also had his own government and staff.

Under the prime minister, there were other court officials such as the Grand Censor, the Deputy Censor, the Minister of the Chancellery, the Palace Attendant, the Imperial Secretary, the Minister of the Imperial Guard, the Minister of the Imperial Guard, the Supreme Court, the Minister of the Imperial Household, the Minister of Agriculture, and so on.

In addition to court officials, there were also local officials such as prefects, county magistrates, and generals from all over the country.

Just look at this configuration and you will understand why Sima Chi was unwilling to confer the title of Duke of Liang on Shao Xun.

"Duke Chen" and "Duke Liang" are both dukes, but the former is a county duke, while the latter can be said to be a state duke, which is a huge difference.

After becoming Duke of Liang, he was able to accept congratulations from officials, which was almost a replica of the vassal states in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Cao Mengde was so happy back then, and now Shao also wants to have some fun.

Shao Xun mentioned Liang State, then stopped talking, but Lu Zhi was a little anxious.

It’s already this time, who wants to be an official in Jin State, especially a court official!

After much thought, only the military commander of the General's Office has real power and can manage other places outside the ten counties of Liang State. "Ming Gong!" Lu Zhi took a sip of wine, hesitated, and asked, "Do you have a candidate for Liang Xiang?"

Shao Xun glanced at him with a half-smile, nodded, and said, "Yu Zimei, the lieutenant of the Sili Army, will serve as the right chief secretary of the General's Office and concurrently as the prime minister."

The reason why he was the Right Chief Clerk instead of the Left Chief Clerk was that the Left was the most respected, and the Right was the deputy of the Left and could not be in charge of things. Yu Chen's main focus in the future would still be on the position of Prime Minister.

"Zimei has long had a great reputation and is indeed qualified to be prime minister." Lu Zhi said sourly.

Shao Xun shook his head and laughed.

Lu Zhi knew that he had lost his composure, so he drank to cover it up and said, "Ming Gong should return to Beijing as soon as possible and get all the affairs done."

"Okay!" Shao Xun nodded.

******
After Liu Ye finished his bath, he got into bed and snuggled in Shao Xun's arms.

"Yena, next year you will be Madam Liu of Liang State. Are you happy?" Shao Xun asked with a smile, stroking her beautiful curves.

"Yeah." Liu Yena felt the man's fascination with her body and squinted her eyes comfortably.

"You were the Lady of Shangdang before, right?" Shao Xun asked again.

"Don't mention those things." Liu Ye looked at Shao Xun with pleading eyes.

Looking at the woman's eyes, Shao Xun nodded.

He had originally just wanted to satisfy his own dark and perverted desires, but now that he realized the woman was only thinking about him, he suddenly felt ashamed.

Moreover, he was indeed a little fascinated by this woman for a while. The reason was simple: her body was flexible, strong and fit.

Especially those long legs, which were so powerful that they almost broke my old waist.

"Yu Yuanzhen (Yu Jing) has sent back the first letter from Shangdang. Your brother wants to surrender to me now, but he is afraid of Liu Yao and Zhao Gu, so he is still hesitant." Shao Xun gently stroked him and said slowly, "During the battle in Hebei, the people your brother sent were the first to flee, and Liu Yao has already held a grudge against him. It is really hard to imagine that he is still hesitant."

"Ah?" Liu Ye couldn't help but yelled, then said in surprise: "Now that things have come to this, are we going to perish with the Xiongnu? If it really doesn't work, how about... how about I go back to Shangdang?"

"No." Shao Xun refused subconsciously.

Liu Ye buried his head in his arms and whispered, "You don't believe me."

"No." Shao Xun shook his head and said seriously: "I'm afraid you won't be able to come back. In my mind, the entire ten counties of Shangdang are not as important as you."

Liu Ye's body trembled, and he said in a muffled voice: "Really?"

"real."

Liu Ye's eyes were red, and he hugged Shao Xun tightly, twisting his body.

Shi Le was over forty years old and not good at speaking, so he would not say such things to her.

Shao Xun was horrified.

Holy shit! Are you serious? I want to take a break today.

After finally calming him down, Shao Xun quickly changed the subject and said, "Let Liu Da go back. Although I have no money, if Liu Runzhong dares to start a movement, I will send people to support him. If it really doesn't work, stay in hiding first, and I will send some 'exiles' to surrender, and he can use them for me."

"After the matter is accomplished, I will incorporate Shangdang County into Liang State and let him be the governor. If you find it boring, I will appoint him as a lieutenant."

"Who should we send?" Liu Yena hugged Shao Xun, who was shrinking back, and asked curiously.

"Is the tribe in your hands reliable?" Shao Xun asked.

"They are my slaves, so of course they are reliable." Liu Ye said as a matter of course: "In fact, many of them were subordinates of my grandfather when he was alive, and have been with my family for generations. Now their families and children are in my hands, so why are they not reliable? Don't the Central Plains have retainers and followers? They are my retainers and followers."

"You select some people and go back with Liu Da." Shao Xun said, "In addition, there are still some Jie tribes in Youzhou who have not surrendered and have fled to Shanggu and Guangning. You bring your tribe with you and follow me to pacify them."

"Well, I'll take the witch priest with me."

"Select 500 brave men from your tribe and give them to me." Shao Xun added, "I want to establish a new cavalry."

"Didn't you join the army for the sake of justice?" Liu Ye asked.

"How can there be only one cavalry?" Shao Xun said with a smile, "There should be at least two, otherwise I'm afraid they won't fight hard enough."

"it is good."

Shao Xun was secretly delighted and enjoyed the meal.

Riding skills cannot be mastered in one or two years.

Maybe they can barely learn to ride a horse in a short period of time, but that can only be called mounted infantry. To really be able to perform complex movements on horseback and have superb skills, long-term training is necessary, and the cost is enormous.

Therefore, since ancient times, even the Central Plains dynasties liked to recruit Hu people as cavalry.

There was a group of Hun cavalry under Huo Qubing's tent.

The Eastern Han Dynasty also liked to recruit elite Wuhuan and Xiongnu soldiers to serve as cavalry in the Liyang Camp. In the later period, Xianbei people had become the majority in the Youzhou Tuqidu, Liyang Camp and other cavalry teams, followed by Wuhuan and Xiongnu, and Han people were pitifully few.

As for the Tang Dynasty, he remembered a poem called "Binding the Barbarian", which mentioned that the Tang cavalry went to Tubo to capture prisoners and ended up capturing a Tang man. This man had a Tubo wife and children and could speak Chinese, but the Tang soldiers who captured him could only speak Hu language and could not understand the words of this "Tubo man".

This person was finally exiled to Wuyue as a Tibetan. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, people liked to exile Tibetans to Wuyue, register them as citizens, and speed up local development.

Shao Xun also wanted to use the ready-made ones directly, regardless of Hu Han.

Not only can it save huge financial expenditures, but it can also quickly form combat effectiveness and engage in endless wars at the fastest speed.

If you want to practice on your own, it will take at least six to seven years, and at most ten to eight years, by which time your efforts will be wasted.

On the twelfth day of the 315th year of Yongjia in the Jin Dynasty (), Shao Xun arrived in Jicheng under the escort of his personal army and the Black Legion Army.

At once, bells and chimes rang out, and the elders of Youzhou came out of the city several miles away to welcome them.

(End of this chapter)