When Mi Huang left Guangchengze, he met Dai Yuan.
This man was sitting in the half-built Suyu Palace, playing chess with Cheng Shou.
Mi Huang had nothing to talk about with him. He only briefly discussed the construction of Guangcheng Garden and then left.
The vegetation on the mountain is scorched and lifeless.
The hands and corners of the mouths of the slaves were covered with blood blisters, and they looked haggard.
All this made Mi Huang sigh secretly.
But when he talked with the slaves, he was shocked to find that these people were unwilling to go home and even planned to bring their families to Guangchengze.
After asking again, it turns out that Runan, Ruyin, Liangguo, Chenliu and other places are also suffering from severe drought, and the land is thousands of miles away, and someone has already spread the news from their hometown.
The servants are honest and dull, but they are not fools.
The land in my hometown is almost smoking, but Guangchengze still stubbornly retains part of its water source. This is a fact that everyone knows.
If there is a severe drought this year, will there be no severe drought next year? If there is no drought, there will still be a locust plague.
Therefore, according to old legend, after a severe drought there will be locusts. How will we survive next year?
They saw the relatively abundant water resources in Guangchengze and the yellow wheat in the fields of Guangchengze. Only a fool would leave if they knew there could be people alive here.
When we left Guangchengze and embarked on the road back north, the sky was already getting dark.
Mi Huang was sitting in a carriage. When passing by a market, he got out of the carriage to have dinner with his entourage.
At this moment, someone suddenly came from the north on horseback.
When they handed the horses over to the shop owner to take care of them, they suddenly said: "The Luoshui River has stopped flowing."
Most of the diners passing by didn't react at all, but Mi Huang's expression changed.
The followers also looked at each other, and all subconsciously looked in the direction of Guang Chengze.
"Buy some dry food, collect some well water, and return to Luoyang overnight." Mi Huang got on the carriage and ordered.
"No." The followers responded absently, gesturing to each other while buying water.
The prophecy really came true!
There is no doubt that most people think that the "protagonist" of the prophecy is Shao Xun, the Duke of Luyang County, and a few people think that the person to whom the prophecy is based is Wang Mi, because his title is too scary - Shizhong
, Te Jin, commanded the military affairs of the six states, was the general who conquered the east, and was the pastor of Qingzhou.
But no matter who it is, it is not a good thing for the Emperor of Jin Dynasty and Situ.
Will they take risks?
If this is really the case, it will be really messy.
When the carriage left, Mi Huang also sighed, opened the curtain and looked in the direction of Guang Chengze.
In the vast fields, there are still countless farmers working hard to harvest wheat under the light of the moonlight.
It is truly a land full of vitality.
****
In Liuhua Courtyard, Shao Xun had just finished a meeting.
The drought is getting worse and worse, and it will definitely be impossible to grow food after the summer harvest.
He decided to wait until autumn, whether the drought eased or not, to plant a new season of winter wheat.
In his impression, locusts are generally most abundant in midsummer, and it seems that the adult stage occurs there. During this period, locusts are not yet mature and their mobility is not that strong.
But he is not very sure. After all, the climate and latitude of various regions in Henan, Hebei, and Guanzhong are different, and the growth periods of locusts are likely to be different.
This is the most annoying.
After you deal with the local locusts, you may be greeted by non-local locusts, one after another until summer is over.
After everyone dispersed, Shao Xun stayed in the Liuhua Courtyard in a carefree manner - all his subordinates had been summoned for a meeting. Obviously, there was nothing to cover up and no need to cover up.
After Tang Jian sent everyone away one by one, he checked the sentry post again, and then consciously stayed away from the backyard.
After sitting quietly for half an hour, he went out for inspection again, and then heard the soldiers coming to report: "Friend Pei Kang is here."
He immediately went out and bowed and saluted: "Mr. Pei."
Pei Kang didn't come to the meeting tonight, and neither did Cao Fu - they were just the facades, so it didn't matter whether they came or not.
But this time, everything seemed unusual.
"If there is something urgent, please call Lu Gong immediately." Pei Kang's face was a little solemn.
Tang Jian hesitated for a while and did not move.
Pei Kang was a little displeased and said, "Why is Tang Dianwei standing still? There are urgent matters."
"How urgent is it?" Tang Jian asked.
When Pei Kang heard this, he understood in his heart, and was even more blocked. He shouted: "You don't understand, so let me in. I am a friend of Lu Yang, and I need to correct the ruler of the country."
Tang Jian didn't dare to stop Pei Kang, so he could only hold him steady and said, "Mr. Pei, please be patient for a moment. I will go and report this."
After that, he winked at the few soldiers at the entrance of the courtyard and left.
After crossing two houses and walking through a garden, Tang Jian hesitated in his steps.
The soldiers on duty in the backyard stood tall and solemn with their chests raised and their bellies raised.
Tang Jian sighed softly and continued moving forward.
After passing through a corridor, I met several maids from Liuhuayuan, and they all saluted.
Tang Jian responded loudly, telling them to cheer up and not be lazy.
After walking a few steps further, a high-pitched cry of "Yeah" suddenly came from the room.
Then there is the sound of "uh huh" before a person is dying, as if there is some air blocked in the chest and cannot be discharged for a while.
It seemed to be accompanied by the sound of rushing water.
Tang Jian preferred not to hear anything, so he quickly stepped back and looked at the carvings on the pillars, as if he could see flowers.
After a while, Shao Xun came out wearing a dark coat and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Pei Gong arrived at night and said that he had urgent matters." Tang Jian replied from a distance.
"Wait a moment." Shao Xun nodded and returned to the room.
Lu rolled her eyes like a dying fish and twitched violently from time to time.
Shao Xun picked up the silk and wiped it carefully for Lu. Then he picked up the white jade body and said, "Mother Xun, go to bed first. I have something else to do."
Mrs. Lu slowly came back to her senses, hugged Shao Xun, and asked, "Are you coming back?"
The snow-white and smooth body was pressed tightly against the dark and sturdy man's arms. Under the moonlight, the contrast was sharp, and a strange feeling of darkness arose spontaneously.
"Go back." Shao Xun patted her butt and said, "I've been sleeping here for the past few days."
Mrs. Lu hummed slightly, then seemed to have thought of something. She raised her face and said with red eyes: "Mr. Lang, please don't tell me what happened just now, otherwise I will die."
His face was extremely serious, with a hint of crying.
Shao Xun laughed dumbly and glanced at the ground. In the year of severe drought, it was actually wet.
Mrs. Lu almost cried.
She wet the bed when she was a child, so why did she still wet her bed when she was over thirty? She really couldn't accept it.
"I will never tell you, don't worry, this is a secret between us." Shao Xun put Lu on the table, covered her with a thin quilt, whispered some words of comfort, put on his robe and left.
When I went out, my face was full of spring breeze.
His two concubines both had little secrets, and both told him that if others knew about them, she would die.
Haha, why are the women of the Sima family so cute? They are much cuter than men.
When he arrived at the front hall, Pei Kang was already blowing his beard and staring, very unhappy.
"You are the county magistrate, and you stayed overnight at the house of King Fan Yang's widow. What's the matter?" Pei Kang was interrupted just as he started to cast the spell.
Shao Xun said: "I will send someone to Ping tomorrow."
Pei Kang was suffocated and was about to cast the spell again when he was interrupted by Shao Xun: "In the early years of Emperor Wu, due to frequent wars, he issued an edict to encourage widows to remarry in order to confirm their household registration. Now that the war was happening at that time, I, a widow, was again
What's wrong? You love me and I'm not bullying men and dominating women."
Pei Kang was speechless and could only swallow his breath and said instead: "I just received the news that the Luoshui River has stopped flowing."
Damn it! Even though he was mentally prepared, Shao Xun was still a little surprised.
Of course he didn't believe any prophecies.
It is not incomprehensible that the Luoshui River was cut off in a year of severe drought.
After the founding of New China, the Yellow River stopped flowing many times.
Cutoff does not mean that there is no water in the entire basin, but that there is no water in a certain section and the river bed is exposed. Some deeper river sections may still have some river water.
But it’s useless for him to understand. What matters is what other people think.
At this time, Lao Pei looked at Shao Xun like a weasel looking at a chicken, making him a little uncomfortable.
"Does Mr. Lu know that if this happens, some people will not be able to tolerate you?" Pei Kang said quietly.
Shao Xun sighed and said: "I still said what I said, this year we should fight drought and provide disaster relief. But it doesn't matter what I said. Liu Yuanhai insisted on coming, and there was nothing I could do. Since the Xiongnu came, the court should take good care of it.
We are ready to fight. I heard that there are envoys rushing to Liangzhou to bring in reinforcements. That’s good. If the top and bottom work together, the Huns are not invincible. But if there is another civil strife, it will be hard to say."
From a rational perspective, his biggest interest and first priority now is to preserve the Jin Dynasty and prevent it from being seriously weakened, let alone its collapse.
The further the prestige of the imperial court drops, the greater the possibility of local vassalization.
By then, everyone will no longer be the Fang Bo appointed by the imperial court, but contenders for hegemony in troubled times. They will lose all restraints and fall into disorderly melee. Who is the most dangerous?
Not the Xiongnu, but someone from Shao who was in the place of the Fourth War.
Sima Yue mobilized Yuzhou soldiers to attack from east to west, the Xiongnu attacked from north to south, those who separatized Jingzhou attacked from south to north, and the King of Nanyang in Guanzhong marched east again. You are covered in iron, how many nails can you drive?
Endless wars of attrition are very dangerous and must be avoided.
But things in the world are always unsatisfactory, and there are always people who want to cause trouble. Moreover, this person is still a descendant of the Sima family. He does not cherish the inheritance of his ancestors at all and repeatedly causes trouble.
On the contrary, it was Shao Xun, an outsider, who was worried about the Sima family's foundation and did not want it to fall too quickly, so he had to maintain it repeatedly.
Simply outrageous!
"What would Situ do?" Shao Xun asked.
Pei Kang thought for a while and said: "Situ is already very close to you, but if you do this, I'm afraid I will be even more afraid. To be honest, I don't know what he will do."
"Will he raise his troops and go south?"
"Probably not." Pei Kang shook his head and said, "We just purged the Forbidden Army, so I'm afraid I don't dare."
"What will happen if I go north to Luoyang?"
"The imperial army will disperse in a hurry, and not many will vote for you." Pei Kang said: "The emperor will also be extremely fearful and summon the four prefectures and counties to attack you."
Shao Xun shook his head and laughed, he just said it casually.
This is no longer the late Han Dynasty, and the atmosphere is completely different.
The kings of the Sima clan have already demonstrated that those who hold the emperor hostage and command the princes will die if they touch him. Even Sima Yue, who has just pulled off the last fig leaf and actually controls the emperor, will also die.
You can't hold the emperor hostage to order the princes, but you also have to protect the Jin Dynasty, and the actual controller of the Jin Dynasty is still hostile to you.
You should teach him a lesson. If you teach him harshly, he will fall apart on his own and ruin your big business.
If you don't teach him a lesson, he'll always be disgusted with you.
This thing is really fucked up.
"Can Mr. Pei go to Luoyang?" Shao Xun asked.
"Who are you looking for?" Pei Kang's eyes twitched and he asked.
"Wang Taiwei."
"Will Wang Yifu help you?"
"Although Wang Taiwei is a boastful and unreliable person, he is good at understanding current affairs and has a soft body. The most important thing is that he does not want anything to happen to the court," Shao Xun said.
"What do you want Wang Yifu to do?"
"Let him find a suitable opportunity to persuade the emperor and Situ." Shao Xun said.
"It may not be difficult to persuade the emperor, but it is a bit difficult for Situ." Pei Kang thought about Sima Yue's current state, and said with some uncertainty: "There may be nothing happening now, but what about the future?"
"We can only take one step at a time." Shao Xun said: "Most of the people who spread the prophecies were the Huns. They didn't expect that Luoshui would really stop flowing, but they did it unexpectedly and brought me great trouble.
It makes it impossible for the whole Jin Dynasty to work together. Fortunately, the enemy is facing us, and the court will not really do anything to me."
Pei Kang nodded silently, as he really could only do this at the moment.
"I really owe you, alas." Pei Kang stood up, glared at Shao Xun, and asked: "It's true to take one step at a time, but do you have a long-term strategy in mind?"
"Of course I am a loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty." Shao Xun said: "When the Xiongnu invaded, I led my troops to the disaster. I was so loyal and brave. How could the emperor and Situ still believe those false prophecies? How would the world view it?"
"As long as you have an idea." Pei Kang saw that it was already late at night and it was inconvenient to disturb him, so he left.
"Tang Jian." Shao Xun shouted.
"Servant is here."
"Let the shepherd chief Wu Qian come over tomorrow."
"As commanded."
Shao Xun waved his hand and asked Tang Jian to retreat.
Wu was summoned tomorrow to recruit troops. This was supposed to be done at the end of the year, because there would be no officers to join the army until the beginning of next year, but now we can't wait any longer, so we can only recruit 1,200 people in advance to cope with the situation.
A complicated situation.
He is not in the most danger now.
The most dangerous time is when the Xiongnu are defeated and retreat to the east of the river. There is no guarantee that Sima Yue will make any tricks.
Of course, if the Huns win and Luoyang falls, it will be even more dangerous.
With his current strength, failure is inevitable against the main force of the Huns. Under a severe drought, the Huns cavalry can even charge directly into Guangchengze, destroying or even destroying his foundation.
He and the court are like a couple who share the same bed but have different dreams. They dislike each other and even have many quarrels, but they still have to live together, tolerate each other, and cope with family crises together - because only by working together can both parties survive the crisis.
At this time, if we try to figure out who is losing and who is taking advantage, or even fight, then there will really be no pattern or vision at all.
In addition, from a dialectical perspective, everything has both good and bad sides.
Whatever you gain, you must lose something.
Against the backdrop of the Xiongnu invasion and prophecies flying all over the sky, what each of me, Sima Yue and Liu Yuan gained or lost depended on their respective operations.
Chapter completed!