After an autumn rain, Xingyang suddenly became cold.
But people's lives are even colder.
Because of successive years of war, Xingyang was located close to the capital. Not only was money and food severely plundered, but the people were also heavily enslaved, making them miserable.
And amidst this ruin, a Buddhist temple was quietly built in the suburbs of Xingyang.
When the late emperor was in power, the country had 180 Buddhist temples and 3,700 monks and nuns. As the war deepened, the number of Buddhist temples increased. Even powerful nobles funded the construction of Buddhist temples.
There is no other reason. The theories of immortality, karma, rebirth, and heaven and hell preached by monks and nuns are so attractive. They are more brilliant and easier for people to believe than the Taoist sayings of "rising to heaven in the daytime and living forever in the world" -
Or want to believe it.
"The Buddha is a Rong god, how can we worship it?" Someone said loudly outside the jungle called Sanjie Temple.
The people who were queuing up to enter the temple stared at him angrily.
The monk smiled and said nothing, and even came over to ask them if they wanted to drink water.
The man turned around and walked away, came to another man, and said: "Uncle, the people have many Rong gods, and the monks and nuns are not working. If this continues, there may be disaster."
"Uncle" comforted him first, then sighed and said, "The world is difficult. If the hardships were not extreme, how could the people worship the Rong God?"
"This..." The young man was speechless.
"Uncle" is named Li Ju, from Pingyang.
After Pingyang was captured by the Xiongnu, he took a group of people away from his hometown and just settled in Xingyang, preparing to live in Chengwu and support himself.
Recently, they even accepted the "business" from the Taifu shogunate, helping to repair canals to facilitate water transportation - basically all the Wubao built by the refugees on both sides of the Yellow River received business from the shogunate.
"If the Grand Tutor wants to use troops against Hebei, will we be needed?" Nephew Guo Song said with some longing.
He is still young and full of enthusiasm. He always wants to make contributions to the court and shine on his family.
"Taifu..." Li Ju sighed softly and said, "Taifu frequently mobilizes troops and generals. If I really want to pacify the Huns, I will risk my life and fight for him. What a pity!"
"What's a pity?" someone next to him couldn't help but ask.
"The Imperial Tutor wanted to attack again, but he was hesitant and undecided." Li Ju said: "Wang Cheqi stationed at Dongyan and Pei Yuzhou at Baima. He said he wanted to support Ji, Wei, Dunqiu and other counties, but in my opinion
In other words, even if Wang Mi and Shi Le conquer these counties, they will not necessarily cross the river and go north. It is said to be a support, but in fact it is to prevent the thieves from crossing the river and prevent them from entering Henan."
Li Ju poured such a basin of cold water on his head that everyone was speechless.
Didn't everyone abandon their family property and travel to this far just to hope that the imperial court would lead them to fight back? The Taifu wanted to attack the Xiongnu in the north, and everyone was very happy, but you told me that this was a lie?
"What I said may not be true." Seeing the dejected looks on everyone's faces, Li Ju encouraged: "Maybe the Taifu was roasted on the fire and couldn't get off the stage? The general situation forced him to send troops, so he had to
out."
Everyone looked a little brighter, but they were not very happy either. If they were forced to send troops, would they be able to fight a good battle? If they were defeated, would they still be willing to send troops later?
No one knows.
From the river bank not far away, bursts of neat and rhythmic shouts came from: "Brother is in the city, brother is outside, the bow has no string, the arrow has no bracket..."
The trackers struggled to pull the boat and transport a batch of grain shipped from Yangzhou to the dock.
Li Ju looked at these people in fascination.
In fact, he has dealt with trackers. Recently, the trackers in Hanoi, Xingyang, and Chenliu counties have been restless and clamoring to join the Silver Spear Army.
Li Ju had also heard about the reputation of the Silver Spear Army. He even knew that the Silver Spear Army usually only recruits troops at the end of the year. Why did it come earlier this year?
A total of 1,200 coolies and trackers were recruited.
Those who were not chosen sighed, as if they had missed a golden opportunity.
If things continue like this, there won't be enough people hauling trackers on the river - in fact, there won't be enough. In the past few years, there have been so many clumsy new trackers and coolies that the captain of the branch school has been scolding him non-stop.
Silver Spear Army!
Li Ju rubbed his chin. With his current status, he was not qualified to make friends with Marquis Lu Yang.
I heard that he is the most brave general under the Taifu, but I don't know if he will be ordered to go north.
*****
At the end of August, Sima Yue arrived in Xingyang.
Everyone from the shogunate also came over, and the first thing they did was to rob the house.
No joke, this is true.
The location of the shogunate has been chosen. The prefect Pei Chun dedicated a newly built manor to serve as Sima Yue's residence and the place where the shogunate conducts business and affairs.
But others don't have this face.
Zuo Changshi Liu Yu acted the fastest. He bought a house in the city at a low price and moved in grandly.
Pan Tao, the Right Sima, won the second best house in the city. Guo Xiang, the chief clerk, had no choice but to settle for the second best and win the second best house. For this reason, he and Pan Tao got into trouble.
Another bookkeeper, Bian Dun, also lived in the city.
He is new here this year. He was born in the Bian family of Jiyin, and he was a minister in the imperial court before.
Xunkai (the Xun family of Yingchuan), Wang Cheng (the Wang family of Taiyuan), Luqiuchong (the Luqiu family of Gaoping), Ruan Zhan (the Chenliu Ruan family), Jiang Yu (the Jiang family of Tianshui), Zhongya (the Yingchuan Zhong family)
)……
These people are looking for houses in and outside the city.
If you really can't find one in the city, you can find a small village outside and live in a rural house.
The conditions were really difficult. For a while, there were even no cooks to cook, and everyone was complaining.
After Sima Yue had lunch, he took a stroll accompanied by Liu Yu, Guo Xiang, Yu Zhi, Wang, Pan Tao, Wang Xuan and others.
The autumn scenery in Xingyang is quite beautiful.
The white clouds are lingering, the fields are golden, the breeze blows, and the fallen leaves are colorful.
The staff were chatting and laughing, and some even suggested reciting poems and composing poems.
Sima Yue laughed twice and then frowned.
From this gorgeous autumn scene, he actually smelled the smell of endless winter.
He knew that this was his state of mind affecting him, but wasn't it true? The speed of his body's decline was beyond his expectation, and he doubted how long he could last.
It doesn't matter if he dies, but the prince is only thirteen years old. How should he face this messy world? Can he inherit the huge power under his hands?
Perhaps, it is time to find an opportunity for the prince to open a palace and recruit a group of scholars as his staff to assist him wholeheartedly.
Find another opportunity to speak to He Lun, Wang Bing, Wang Cheng, Liu Qia and others and explain what will happen next.
But it's not enough, it's not enough...
Sima Yue thought of two people: Mi Huang and Shao Xun.
Mi Huang was deliberately alienated by himself, but he stuck to himself and was a man of integrity. Maybe he could be given another chance.
Sima Yue felt awkward no matter what he thought about Shao Xun.
Even if this person pretends that nothing happened before, and even if he tries to win over you, he probably won't really obey.
This is an immature wolf cub, let him be destroyed.
"Zisong." Sima Yue waved.
Yu Zhi, who was chatting and laughing with Guo Xiang, immediately stepped forward: "Taifu?"
Others also stopped and paid attention to the conversation between the two.
"Your niece..."
Yu Zhi was startled when he heard this and said quickly: "There are just rumors, but I haven't seen anyone applying for the job so far."
Sima Yue's expression was not very good, which made Yu Zhi feel a little scared, so he subconsciously defended himself.
Sima Yue snorted coldly and said, "Can such a thing be faked?"
This rumor itself explains a lot of things, and the Yu family has not come out to clarify. If Shao Xun breaks the contract in the future, the Yu family will definitely be on the same level as him - is this kind of thing a joke?
He could probably guess the reason why Shao Xun got married to the Yu family in Yingchuan.
Yu Wenjun's uncle, Yu Min, was a minister, which was equivalent to a nameless prime minister. If this was nothing, he had been the Zhongzheng of Yingchuan County for many years, and he had commented on many scholars.
What is this? This is a favor, a favor saved in your hands!
The greater the success of the scholars and officials he commented on, the more benefits Yu Min would gain.
In a place like Yingchuan where aristocratic families gather together, you can imagine how many favors Yu Min had in his hands.
Compared with this brother, Yu Zhi is so different!
Yu Wenjun's father, Yu Chen, was the governor of Ji County. He was one of the few governors north of the river who could defend his territory, and his ability was quite good. It is not impossible for him to move up the ranks in the future, if he can find a way.
Although the Yu clan is not as good as those big clans, it should not be underestimated.
Shao Xun was married to him. He had connections in the court as well as connections in Yingchuan. His ambitions were indeed not small.
"Taifu..." Yu Zhi looked at Sima Yue with some fear.
Sima Yue glanced at him coldly, ignored him, and called Wang over. After taking a few steps away from Yu Zhi, he whispered: "In the past two days, take the time to go to Baima..."
The king nodded repeatedly and respectfully agreed.
Wang Xuan stood at the back, looking at the ashen-faced Yu Zhi, and then at the happy-looking Wang, thoughtfully.
He was recruited as a governor after Mi Zhi, the son of Mi Huang, the captain of Sili School, left the mansion.
He was an official in Chenliu County and was not very willing to come, but his father (Wang Yan) wrote a letter asking him to go and take up the post, so he came here.
I felt a little regretful after I came here.
This shogunate was so lifeless that it made him very uncomfortable.
It happened that they were divided into several factions. Some people spent their days traveling around the mountains and rivers and living wildly. Some people were dedicated to searching for property. Some people worked but intrigued. Some people simply had ulterior motives and did not seem to sincerely serve the Taifu.
Although this shogunate can make money and gain official positions, these are meaningless to him. On the contrary, the atmosphere among his colleagues is not harmonious, which makes him particularly uncomfortable.
The Yu Zhi in front of me was once very much admired by the Taifu, but just because of the incident of Marquis Lu Yang, he was treated with suspicion and neglect. The Taifu's mind is so narrow-minded! Isn't this pushing people away?
As for the king, he was a villain, but he was still extremely favored.
You can easily guess what the Tutor wanted to do with him, and it was probably related to Marquis Lu Yang.
Wang Xuan thought for a while and felt that it would be better to tell his father some things.
This old man has become very close to Shao Xun recently.
Chapter completed!