Chinese New Year

Chapter 636: Calm Sea (Part )

On the first day of July in the tenth year of Yongjia in the Great Jin Dynasty (316), the sun was scorching hot in Wancheng.

Le Kai, the military commander of the Mianyang North Shogunate, and his subordinates are carrying out the mission for Yang Man.

After Yang Zuyan had been kept as the Internal History of Shunyang for many years, Shao Xun finally compensated him: he went to Bianliang to serve as the Minister of Liang and participated in confidential matters.

In this regard, Lekai is quite envious, even a little jealous.

"Zu Yan, after this farewell, I don't know when we will meet again." Le Kai put down the wine bottle and sighed.

"Why do you say that, Hongxu? You are the commander of the five counties' national army. Maybe one day you will go to Bianliang and take on a confidential position." Yang Man said.

As a sensitive person, he could actually guess what Lekai was thinking.

Mr. Liang's eldest son Shao Zhang is nine years old, and he still has no legitimate son. Do you think Le Kai has any thoughts? He originally had no thoughts, but now he has some thoughts.

It’s a pity that Yang didn’t have any ideas. Alas.

Yang Xianrong's identity was not to be revealed, and Lord Liang did not have the courage to take her into his mansion. They could only see each other a few times a year, and they had no children yet. What could he do?
I just hope that after Lord Liang settles down, he will stop going on expeditions so often and just stay in Bianliang peacefully, handling official business and issuing orders to all directions.

But it's difficult for someone with his background.

Without personal expedition, one cannot establish prestige. Without prestige, it is difficult to make people submit. After all, Lord Liang did not have the prestige brought by family background, so he could only desperately rely on military exploits to make up for his shortcomings.

If we go to war, we will be together less and more apart. How can we wait until the end of time?

Thinking of this, he became unhappy and picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp.

"I can't leave yet." Le Kai said half sighing and half complacently: "Wang Chuzhong has gathered his troops and may attack at any time. We must not be quiet."

The reason why Duke Liang was able to defeat all the enemies in the north was because someone guarded the south for him, and that person was Le Hongxu.

Among the counties and kingdoms of Nanyang, which one does not obey his orders now?
At the command, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were at hand, including no less than 20,000 brave warriors who had experienced many battles.

Yongrao Ye manufactured weapons and armor day and night, and the equipment of the Le clan troops also became more sophisticated. After several battles with Wang Dun, Gan Zhuo, Tao Kan and others, they became an elite force.

Improving combat effectiveness still depends on fighting.

To put it bluntly, under this situation, he doesn't want to move.

Just stay in Wancheng, farm, train soldiers, go to war, train officers, and promote officials. If possible, it would be safer if my sister gave birth to a few more children for Lord Liang.

He had no objection.

He only fought for Duke Liang, consolidated his sister's position, and provided capital for his nephew.

However, there is one thing in Nanyang that makes him uncomfortable, and that is the existence of Nanyang Kingdom.

My goodness! Nanyang State has almost become the "Kansi State" now. Countless Hu and Han refugees have poured in. Some were sent to Runan, some fled to Xiangyang and Jiangling, and some were absorbed by Nanyang State and registered as citizens.

The Liu family of Pingyuan sent many of their sons and daughters to help the Nanyang Concubine take care of the place.

Many scholars from Guanxi also went to Nanyang to encourage farming and sericulture and train soldiers. During the battle to attack Xiangyang last year, a man named Huangfu Yang from Guanxi led a group of refugees to the battle.

After the war, these refugees were registered as residents of the Nanyang State.

Le Kai had almost no control over the affairs of the Nanyang Kingdom and could only give them orders such as going to war and withdrawing troops as a military commander.

How other people's armies are organized and deployed has nothing to do with him.

There is a man behind the Nanyang Concubine!

"Wang Chuzhong is just like that," Yang Man said. "If he doesn't fight well in battle, he will blame others. If he fights well, it's even worse. He will get jealous and kill people. This guy is just like that. He won't achieve anything great."

"Haha." Hearing Yang Man say this, Le Kai was overjoyed.

The staff members present also joined in the laughter.

"Thank you for your good words." Le Kai picked up the wine jar and said, "Sooner or later, I will defeat Wang Chuzhong and present a gift to Lord Liang to be promoted to the general."

"General..." Yang Man was filled with emotion, picked up the wine bottle and said, "Let's drink a glass for the general."

"For the general." Everyone picked up the wine jars and drank them all.

Duke Liang was promoted to the position of general and recorder of the Secretariat, and established the Bafu in Bianliang, taking each step very firmly.

As members of Lord Liang's army, the officials of the Mianyangbei Shogunate were also very happy and full of confidence. They walked with a breeze and imagined the rich and prosperous years to come.

This is what people are like.

Once you have a goal in mind, your energy and spirit will be boosted, you will be able to work efficiently and proactively, and sometimes even perform beyond your expectations.

But if there is no goal, then there will be no spirit and you will just muddle through life.

For example, Yu Hua, who used to be in Sima Yue's mansion, only knew how to make money, travel, drink and take medicine, which made him have a bad reputation. Now, he still makes money, but he works very efficiently while making money, and follows the orders of Lord Liang to the letter. He drinks less wine, and because Lord Liang hates taking medicine, Yu Hua dares not do it openly, and can only take medicine secretly in private, and the frequency is greatly reduced.

The morale of the Mianyangbei Shogunate is currently gradually rising, and Lekai can feel it.

"After I left and before the new internal historian took office, Hongxu helped me keep an eye on things. To be honest, it was also a result of my hard work. Several of my children were born in Shunyang, and I couldn't bear to see any trouble happen." Yang Man looked at Lekai and said seriously.

"Don't worry, Zu Yan." Le Kai assured: "With Lord Liang's momentum, if anyone dares to cause trouble, I will personally dispatch troops to fight him. If anyone dares to say something strange, I will personally go to his door and scold him until he wakes up."

"Haha." Yang Man laughed: "Hongxu, you are drunk."

Lucky also laughed.

Liang Gong became a de facto powerful official. Did no one in the local area scold him? Of course there were.

Many people couldn't stand his background, couldn't stand his profession as a military strategist, and looked down on him for his vulgarity and uncultured nature - perhaps the fact that Lord Liang collected noble ladies from famous families and enjoyed them made people even more jealous. In short, many people had opinions about him.

Lucky now has the initiative and feels that he needs to scold these people to wake them up and nip the danger in the bud.

As a noble family supporting Lord Liang, they should play a pivotal role in the local area to prevent some scholars from causing trouble, which is not impossible.

I am really worried about the Shao family's affairs.

******
After the ceremonial banquet, Yang Man set off with a few followers.

When he rested in Duyang, he met a caravan. After asking around, he learned that the Nanyang Concubine Liu was taking the princess north to... uh, Bianliang.

Seven-year-old Fu Bao got off the carriage and skipped around, looking at the flowers and the horses pulling the carriage, making sounds of surprise.

Yang Man looked at Mr. Liang's eldest daughter with a smile - this was a secret to most people, but not to him.

Concubine Liu had a sad and depressed look on her face. After coming over to pay her respects, she sat aside in a daze, allowing the servants to prepare the meal.

Only when the name of Mr. Liang was mentioned, her eyes would show some light.

This is also a poor woman, Yang Man sighed.

If he had not happened to be in Guandong, he would probably have died by now, or been captured by the Huns, and it is unknown who would have caught him.

The person who escorted the concubine and her daughter north was Lieutenant Yuan Xi from Nanyang.

This man had a stern face and was not good at speaking, but Yang Man was extremely bored and kept talking to him.

"I heard that Lueyang has been conquered by Liu Can. Tianshui is in danger." Yang Man said, "The King of Nanyang is still fighting among himself. I don't know how many days he can hold out."

Yuan Xi was from Lueyang. When he heard this, his expression finally changed a little. He said, "Qinzhou has a dangerous terrain. Maybe we can hold out for a while longer."

"I hope so." Yang Man said, "I heard from refugees in Guanxi that the Xiongnu renovated Lantian Pass last year, cutting off the Lantian-Wuguan Road, and built a warehouse and military camp behind the pass, seemingly planning to use it to break into Nanyang. What do you think, Lieutenant Yuan?"

"It would be better to go against this path and attack Lantian directly to scare the Huns." Yuan Xi said.

"That would require tens of thousands of troops." Yang Man said, "How many soldiers does Nanyang have?"

Yuan Xi looked at him suspiciously and said nothing.

Yang Man shook his head and laughed, remaining very alert and saying nothing.

So he changed the subject and asked, "Do you know about Lord Liang's appointment as the general and the secretary?"

Yuan Xi glanced at him and said, "Although I can't read, I have heard of it."

"What does Nanyang National Middle School think about this matter?"

"Whenever Nanyang resettles a refugee family, they all tell them that this is a land granted by Lord Chen." Yuan Xi said, "So everyone is excited and happy."

Yang Man nodded and said, "In the past, thousands of soldiers from the battle of Shexian have settled in Junyi and Kaifeng. When they moved their families, everyone envied them. Nanyang is now as stable as Mount Tai. Lord Liang's reputation has spread far and wide, and his momentum has been established."

Yuan Xi was somewhat happy to hear that.

He was the lieutenant of Nanyang, and the main officers under him were all from the personal soldiers of Lord Liang, so they all rose and fell together. When Lord Liang moved up, they could also share some of the benefits - Nanyang State would eventually be abolished, and there would be arrangements at that time.

"General Yuan, I saw a rabbit. Come and catch it. I want to eat it." Fu Bao trotted over and shouted.

A rare smile appeared on Yuan Xi's face, but he did not take any action because he had to fulfill his duty.

Yang Man looked at this energetic little girl and liked her very much. She said, "I heard that Lord Liang has a golden eagle that is best at catching rabbits."

"Ah? Really?" Fu Bao stared with wide eyes and asked, "Did he catch the rabbit from the sky?"

"Yes."

"I want to eat!" Fu Bao jumped up and said loudly.

"That's gotta wait until the golden eagle catches it."

"I want to eat the golden eagle." Fu Bao corrected.

Yang Man was speechless.

Liu Xiaohe walked over, hugged her daughter in her arms, and whispered a few words to her.

Fu Bao refused and twisted around, trying to escape.

Liu subconsciously hugged her daughter tightly, as if she was afraid of losing her.

Yang Man sighed, stood up and left, looking at the plants and trees near the post station.

It was summer, and after the farmers had weeded the fields, they looked carefully at the spring wheat that was growing taller and taller.

There was a wealthy family on the other side of the river. The host and his guests were chatting and laughing in front of the door, and their voices could be heard from far away.

Further away, the gate of the fort was wide open and the refugees from Guanxi were digging canals to prepare for their future livelihood.

The news of Duke Liang's promotion had been announced to the world, but it hardly caused any waves in Luonan and Jingbei. Even if there were, they were only voices of support and approval.

It seemed that everyone had tacitly agreed to this matter and would not object, because Duke Liang's prestige and military exploits made him worthy of his current position.

After slowly digesting this matter, if Mr. Liang can make new contributions, it seems that he can "go one step further".

This is the human heart.

(End of this chapter)