Chinese New Year

Chapter 630 Inspection
The weather is getting warmer, but there are still many people busy outside.

Especially the scholars who have nothing to do on weekdays, have suffered a lot recently and have been running around outside.

On May 19th, a group of people led by Pan Tao, the chief historian of the Kaocheng Shogunate, and Sima Pei Shao arrived at Cangyuan, north of Bianliang, to meet Shao Xun.

Shao Xun was inspecting the resettlement site of the government soldiers.

There was a city built in Cangyuan, which was not small. According to legend, it was the place where Cangjie lived.

One thousand two hundred soldiers have arrived, with three hundred men in each defense, for a total of four defenses. Cangyuan City is the garrison of Longxiang Prefecture.

Because they arrived late and missed the farming season this year, this group of people were not in a hurry after taking over the land. They cleaned it up carefully and cleared the cultivated land that had been abandoned for two years. They will plant a season of short-growing grains next month and hope to have some harvest.

Shao Xun met Pan Tao and others in a small farmyard.

Because it had just rained, the ground was muddy and there was a lot of chicken and duck feces, which was stinking. But a group of scholars in wide robes and big sleeves, wearing wooden clogs, rushed over in a noisy manner.

Seeing Shao Xun sitting in front of the chicken coop, playing with a big yellow dog, Pan Tao was in awe and praised him: "To be calm and composed in a filthy environment is the nature of a gentleman."

What a bunch of bullshit! Shao Xun secretly complained in his heart, I just think it’s cool here, after all, there is a big tree above my head.

"Yang Zhong, I know what you mean." Shao Xun said with a smile, "Don't worry, the governor of Yanzhou will open a government office, temporarily in Kaocheng, and later move to Bianliang. But -"

The personal guards brought in several Hu beds and sitting couches. Senior assistants such as Pan Tao, Pei Shao, He Sui, Wang, and Pei Miao sat down, while the others stood in the yard and listened silently.

"The Yanzhou Mu's government office won't be too big, so some people will go to the general's office or the Liang State, anyway, they all have positions." Shao Xun said, "You have all worked hard for the King of Donghai for many years, I have seen it all, and I will never forget it. There will be endless wealth and honor in the future, don't worry."

When everyone heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief.

After the General's office was disbanded, some people left, but most people stayed in order to continue following Mr. Chen and maintain their wealth and status.

Today, I got his personal consent and I feel that my wait was worthwhile.

Shao Xun also felt a little emotional.

When he was the Marquis of Luyang County, he was not full of official positions.

The scholars either did not have a good idea of ​​his future, or despised his background, or were too discouraged and disappointed to take up a career in government. In short, few were willing to help him.

Now, he is actually worried about having too many staff members and is planning to lay them off.

Looking back on the past, it really seems like a dream.

"Everything remains the same in all the counties and states of Yanzhou." Shao Xun added, "There are only three things to do this year. The first is to place the government soldiers and their troops, the second is to continue to promote the two-year three-harvest system, and the third is to build Bianliang. If you do these three things well, you will be credited, and I will not hesitate to reward you."

"Yes, sir." Pan Tao and others responded in unison.

"Yang Zhong." Shao Xun looked at Pan Tao and said gently, "You gave me advice in the past, which led to my current situation. This year, please take good care of the Yanzhou government for me. Next year, come to Bianliang to help me. The position of Imperial Censor is vacant and waiting for you."

Pan Tao was overjoyed and immediately replied, "Thank you, Lord Ming."

The Grand Censor was equivalent to the Minister of Works and was one of the Three Dukes.

But most of the time, the Sikong was a nominal position. If he did not record the affairs of the Shangshu, his power was actually not great.

In the past, Cao Cao's Wei State and today's Chen Gong's Liang State both have Imperial Censors. It is not just the business of the Three Dukes, but a serious reorganization of the supervisory system with enormous power.

If the position of prime minister is vacant, it is generally the most logical choice for the chief censor to take over.

Lord Chen did not allow Pei Kang, Wang Yan, Lu Zhi and others to serve as officials of the State of Liang. He would rather stuff them into the court or the general's mansion, from which we can get a glimpse of his inner thoughts - the State of Liang was his fiefdom, and he was unwilling to have anything to do with old aristocratic families such as the Wang family of Langya, the Pei family of Hedong, and the Lu family of Fanyang.

Those who entered Liang State were either relatives by marriage, old friends, or newcomers who were newly promoted and had a favor towards them.

However, Shao Xun quickly told him that he was wrong.

"Qinghe Cui Yu is your assistant official, serving as Chief Censor. He will come to Bianliang in June or July." Shao Xun added.

Cui Yu was born in the Wucheng Cui family of Qinghedong. He was the cousin of Wang Jun's wife Cui. The Pingzhou governor Cui Bi was Cui's biological brother.

Hearing Shao Xun say this, Pan Tao immediately bowed in response.

He knew that Lord Chen was trying to win over the noble families of Jizhou. Using the official position of Liang State as a springboard to directly transition to a court official in the future was indeed a good way.

Compared with the General's Mansion, the Longxiang General's Mansion, and the Mianyangbei Military Governor's Mansion, the regional flavor of Liang State may not be too strong. After all, it is a feudal state spanning the north and south of the Yellow River and has two famous cities, Daliang and Ye.

Then everyone talked about this year's spring sowing and the local people's sentiments.

Shao Xun asked them to sow winter wheat in all counties after the autumn harvest to ensure a grain harvest in May of the next year, and to harvest another season of miscellaneous grains in September to increase food reserves as much as possible.

In addition, the various Hu tribes that followed him south numbered more than 35,000 people, and they also needed to be allocated food and fodder for support.

After winter comes, while there is no war this year, the Yellow River embankment should be repaired.

In short, there were a lot of things to do, which were the backlog of matters that we had no time to take care of during the war, so we had to hurry up and deal with them.

******
After inspecting Cangyuan, Shao Xun came to Fengze, south of Bianliang.

Fengze runs from north to south, running through the three counties of Junyi, Kaifeng (formerly Xingyang Kaifeng), and Weishi. It has vast waters and magnificent scenery.

On May 23, Shao Xun sailed on Fengze, inspecting the area and taking his family out for fun.

Concubine Pei also came with her son.

She gave birth to two children for Shao Xun.

The eldest son Shao Xu (nicknamed Nianliu) is five years old this year.

The second son was born in early February and was less than four months old. He stayed in Kaocheng and was taken care of by a wet nurse.

When seeing the boat full of beautiful women, Pei Lingyan looked at Shao Xun with a slightly reproachful look.

Back then, Shao Xun would report his affairs to Concubine Pei and settle accounts with her. Now that he has grown stronger, a bunch of coquettish and slutty women are flocking to him. Fortunately, he has been spoiled by these women around him, and ordinary women are not in his eyes at all.

It would be too outrageous if the children of wealthy families had dozens or hundreds of concubines, or the nouveau riche military leaders had thousands or tens of thousands of beauties.

Shao Xun pulled Pei Lingyan's hand.

Pei Lingyan shook her head helplessly but did not pull her hand away.

Shao Xun smiled. Hua Nu was good. Sometimes she gave him the feeling of being both a sister and a mother. Every time, she would first blame him, then feel helpless, and finally dote on him.

Liu Ye was three months pregnant, with a slightly bulging belly. She stood aside and talked in a low voice with Le Lan Ji and others. Occasionally, she looked at Concubine Pei, but quickly looked away.

Only Wang Jingfeng didn't feel the unusual atmosphere on the boat at all. After watching the water birds that were frightened by the golden eagle and flew up, he walked over with a smile, sat down next to Shao Xun, took his arm, and said, "My dear, you are not being nice to me again. Why don't you go catch some fish?"

Shao Xun: “…”

"I've given birth to a son for you." Wang Jingfeng shook his arm and said, "Giving birth is painful, you have to be good to me." Shao Xun: "..."

He regretted it.

I should have slept with Huifeng earlier, instead of that silly girl Jingfeng.

But then again, Jing Feng is really awesome.

When charging, the earth shook and the majestic and steep mountains produced circles of seismic waves.

With such an amazing figure and a face that is hard to match, I would accept it even if I am a little silly.

Wang Jingfeng shook for a while, and saw Concubine Pei looking at her from the corner of her eye. She giggled, stopped shaking, stood up and bowed.

Concubine Pei stepped forward, took Wang Jingfeng's arm, and went to enjoy the scenery while chatting and laughing.

Shao Xun's ears were finally quiet.

Yang Xianrong came over and pinched him for no apparent reason.

Shao Xun vaguely knew the reason, so he put his arm around her and sat down with her, saying a few nice words to make Yang Xianrong laugh again.

Concubine Pei, who was not far away, glanced at him.

Shao Xun smiled lazily.

Yang Xianrong is such a smart girl that she was already being given face by not losing her temper in public today. Just coax her and she'll be fine.

As for Concubine Pei, she always tolerated Shao Xun. Even if she was really unhappy, she would not show her displeasure in front of others, and she would not make trouble when he was upset.

Alas, being a man is not easy.

Why the hell do I have to deal with so many women? It’s tiring!

There were many shepherds working on the east bank of Fengze. When they saw the boat passing by, they all bowed to the ground.

Shao Xun had sharp eyes and saw that they were Liu Ye's people, numbering more than ten thousand.

They were amazed at the lush grass and water near Fengze. Those who had originally been reluctant to go south now said they were glad they had come.

On the west bank were Duan Mobo's followers, numbering 20,000.

They also found that the quality of grassland in Henan was far superior to that in Youzhou and even beyond the Great Wall, and they felt like they didn't want to leave.

"Just ignore these barbarians?" Yang Xianrong asked casually after he felt better and was able to think normally.

"How is that possible! Is my land so easy to take?" Shao Xun sneered and said, "The Luoyang Central Army suffered heavy losses this time, but fortunately the Youzhou Tuqi Command is still intact. In a few days, I will select 500 elite soldiers and suitable war horses from various tribes and assign them to the Youzhou Tuqi Command, expanding the armored cavalry to 1,000 people. The Luoyan Army is also being organized, and some people who are good at riding and shooting will be selected. The number of personnel has not yet been determined, but it will not be less than 2,000 people."

The central army in Luoyang did suffer heavy losses, part of which were losses during the siege and part of which were losses caused by the suppression of the rebellion.

The Battle of Xin'an has ended. After paying a heavy price of 15,000 casualties, it was finally conquered.

The Luoyang Central Army originally had about 25,000 men, but after this battle, most of them were lost, leaving only about 10,000 men.

In mid-February of this year, Wang Mi led more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry out from the east of Baichao City. The central army in Luoyang almost couldn't hold on and the whole army collapsed. Fortunately, the government soldiers fought desperately to rescue them, and with fewer people against more people, they managed to stabilize the situation.

Finally, Wang Mi rescued the remaining thousand soldiers in Xin'an City and abandoned the city.

After the battle, the imperial guards almost cried.

In April, Taiwei Wang Yan ordered the nobles of Henan, Xingyang, Hongnong and Shangluo counties to select and send 10,000 able-bodied men to Luoyang to replenish the imperial guards and restore the force to 20,000.

Most of the imperial guards now have the surname Shao.

Unreliable or suspected unreliable officers and soldiers either died in Xin'an City or were purged in the rebellion. The remaining ones were basically "Shao Family Squad", and the imperial guards could be called "Shao Family Army".

"What exactly do you want these Hu people to do?" Yang Xianrong asked again.

"If I say..." Shao Xun hesitated for a moment and said, "If I say that the greatest advantage of the Hu people is that they have nothing to do with the Henan nobles, do you agree?"

"I am also from a noble family in Henan." Yang Xianrong said in a low voice.

"You are my woman in next life, so it doesn't count." Shao Xun said with a smile.

Yang Xianrong also laughed, then sighed and said, "Take it easy. After all, I am from the Yang family, and it is difficult to be a human being caught in the middle."

"No, no." Shao Xun patted her hand and said, "Duan Mobo and others are going to fight Hongnong, Henei, and Qingzhou for me. As long as the situation is stable, how could they attack their own people?"

"What about Nanyang?"

Shao Xun was stunned for a moment.

There was no major event in Nanyang, but there was a personal worry: the son born to him by Nanyang Concubine Liu unfortunately died.

In addition, Liu's other son Sima Bao was in a state of panic in Qinzhou, but was out of reach.

"Nothing major has happened in Nanyang, and Wang Dun hasn't made any moves yet." Shao Xun said, "Only you and - you and I can talk about these things. Forget it, let's not talk about these disappointing things while we are reunited. We will go to Luoyang in a few days."

Yang Xianrong hesitated to speak, and finally said softly: "I haven't seen you for a long time. I don't know what to say. I just want to talk to you more."

"Mingsir." Yang Qin came over stealthily, holding a bamboo basket, and said, "I just caught more than ten crucian carp."

Wang Jingfeng, who was not far away, saw it and his eyes lit up.

"Make it into fish soup. I want to eat it for lunch." Yang Xianrong said.

Wang Jingfeng’s eyes widened.

Yang Xianrong looked at the scenery on the lake calmly.

Yang Qin looked embarrassed.

"Use my meat to make minced meat." Shao Xun said helplessly.

Yang Xianrong chuckled and said, "Forget it, I won't eat fish."

After that, he leaned close to Shao Xun's ear and whispered, "Wash my feet tonight."

"I can't wait to go to Luoyang right now." Shao Xun sighed.

Yang Xianrong's eyes swept across Liu Ye's belly, then she blushed and said in a barely audible voice, "I brought the queen's crown and robes."

"Good, good, good!" Shao Xun was overjoyed.

(End of this chapter)