The sun is gradually setting, and Kaocheng has a different kind of beauty in the dusk.
A mother and son stood under the willow tree, quietly watching the man walking from the south street.
"Grandpa!" The four-year-old child walked out from under the tree with childish steps, stretched out his hands, and asked for a hug.
A smile appeared on the man's face, he walked a few steps quickly and picked up his son.
The woman looked at the happy father and son quietly.
After experiencing the troubled times of exchanging children for food, feeling the huge fear brought by the ogre king and the murderous maniac, seeing with my own eyes the kind of martial arts all over the street, and the fear of today and tomorrow, I understand the value of a peaceful and peaceful life.
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Pei Lingyan cherishes days like this very much.
The man was working within her sight.
All I could hear was the sound of men talking.
In our free time, a family of three went out for a stroll. You held the child's left hand, and I held the child's right hand. We felt the cool breeze in the summer evening, walking through the bamboo forest and pine waves, and walking across the small bridge and flowing water under the bright moonlight.
When we were tired from walking, we sat on the soft grass and watched the moonlight over the lotus pond together.
After the child fell asleep, the two hugged each other and slept together.
After getting up in the morning, she would put scented clothes on the bedside.
After the man finished practicing martial arts, she would hold the breakfast she made by herself and watch him eat it one bite at a time.
When the man meets with his staff and handles official documents, she will accompany him and occasionally give her opinions. If the man does not ask, she will not speak, so as not to leave a bad impression on the man. Men sometimes want to save face.
When the man is tired, he makes a pot of tea soup and brings some dried fruits and snacks over, and the two of them eat together and chat about interesting things.
She always tolerates this man because she also relies on him.
The only pity is that wherever this man goes, there are women like her who take good care of his daily life and everything he has.
He has too many homes!
"Nian Liu is a little tired." Shao Xun hugged his son and stroked his tender little face and said.
"Yes." Pei Lingyan took Shao Xun's arm and the three of them walked back together.
"In this area of ​​Kaocheng, mulberry forests are very popular and wheat grows very densely. Thank you for your hard work," Shao Xun said.
"Some matters will be handled by the officials of the shogunate." Pei Lingyan said, "I'm just giving some advice from time to time."
As the Dowager Princess of the East China Sea, Pei Lingyan is in charge of specific matters.
Sima Pi, the king of the East China Sea, is already married and is supposed to be in charge. However, until now, he has been excluded from the power system of the Yanzhou shogunate and spends his days traveling around with several clan members of similar age.
When Shao Xun was away, except for the mobilization of the army, all major and minor matters were handled by the shogunate's assistants themselves. Concubine Pei was responsible for supervision, review, and final approval with her seal.
This time to raise military rations, to put Shao Xun in embarrassment, the Yuzhou shogunate was not as fast as Yanzhou.
Concubine Pei directly replaced several of the assistants who had often clamored for the King of Donghai to be dismissed from their posts and replaced them with local scholars from Yanzhou. The food collection speed was suddenly faster - it sounds a bit like selling off officials to win titles, but this is the reality.
If Shao Xun was left to handle it, he might be a little embarrassed to be so obvious and worried about his reputation. But Concubine Pei really didn't have any worries at all. She directly removed the Jiji Wai Wai Wai Wai Wai Wai from their posts and exchanged their official positions for money and food.
What? Are you saying that I am narrow-minded and cannot tolerate objections? I am a woman and I am not broad-minded to begin with. How do you treat me?
"How can it be so light to take charge of a place?" Shao Xun smiled softly and said, "Are you bored?"
Pei Lingyan glanced at him and said in surprise: "How dare you now..."
"Actually, I almost know everything I need to know." Shao Xun said, "I don't want to wrong you."
Pei Lingyan rolled her eyes at him and said, "You have wronged many people. Xiaohe has already given birth to two children for you, why don't you leave her in Nanyang?"
Princess Liu of Nanyang gave birth to a son for him in March.
If when the eldest daughter Fu Bao was born, Nanyang King Sima Mo was still alive and could still barely use her identity as a "prince's daughter" to hide her, now there is no way to explain it and she can only secretly raise her in the mansion and keep it secret.
Shao Xun also felt a little embarrassed.
Inviting all the princesses to military parades every day makes people's stomachs grow bigger, and they are not responsible. This is so fucked up.
He now has eight children, but seven of them were born to him by women from the Sima family: the daughters-in-law of the Sima family gave birth to six, and the daughter of the Sima family gave birth to one.
Those who didn't know what was going on thought he was the reincarnation of Cao Mengde, who came specifically to seek revenge from the Sima family.
"When I build the shogunate in Junyi and take over Yanzhou, you can join me at that time," Shao Xun said.
"Yeah." Pei Lingyan agreed without thinking.
She didn't ask what status she was given after entering the house, because it was useless to ask. Sometimes this man was very affectionate, and sometimes he was very ruthless. He insisted on giving up everything, including his family, if necessary.
She also did not ask the Yanzhou shogunate's generals how to arrange it, but it was useless. On the contrary, it seemed that she was greedy for power.
Dealing with it this way is the best outcome.
She can always be by the man's side, maintaining the current relationship where men and women love each other and are like a family that supports each other.
The most important thing is to give their son Nianliu an identity.
The children born in the future will also have the identity of Shaw clan members.
After the two entered the house, dinner was already prepared.
Shao Xun handed his son to the wet nurse and sat down.
"Why did you scare Pan Yangzhong a few days ago in Junyi?" The weather was hot, so Pei Lingyan helped him take off his robe and put on cool clothes and asked.
"He was not scared, he was just suspicious." Shao Xun said: "Besides, I want to raise four million grains and beans, so I can't do it without scaring people."
"So much?" Concubine Pei was a little surprised.
Her Yanzhou shogunate, in charge of eight counties, only raised 800,000 grains and beans and 300,000 bundles of hay.
"There are so many things to fight in a war." Shao Xun said with a smile: "A soldier needs to eat two bushels of dendrobium and seven tons of grain in one month, what do you think? If you don't have a full stomach, you won't have the strength to fight."
War involves not only soldiers, but also auxiliary soldiers and servants.
In the wars of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in later generations, one or two thousand people were transferred from this province, and three or four thousand from that province, making up tens of thousands of people. It may not seem like much, but these are fighting soldiers!
Auxiliary soldiers who set up camps for the soldiers, boil water for cooking, take care of the horses, and repair equipment are not necessarily included. They are often recruited on the spot.
Not to mention the caravans, camel teams, and convoys that transport grain and grass over long distances. This number is even greater. In the Qing Dynasty, many businesses were outsourced and were not counted in the total military strength.
If a war only requires combat troops, and does not require a larger number of auxiliary soldiers, or the number of masters and servants several times that of the auxiliary soldiers combined, then the consumption will definitely be small, but this is impossible.
Four million grains and beans can actually not last long, only more than half a year, and it will be over in winter.
"Last year's harvest was not good, and now we don't have enough food." Pei Lingyan said while taking the dish from the maid's hand: "No wonder you want to scare people."
"It's not just that the food reserves are not enough." Shao Xun said.
Pei Lingyan thought for a while and said, "Maybe some people are waiting and watching."
"How do you say it?" Shao Xun asked.
Pei Lingyan placed the spring sunflower that Shao Xun liked to eat in front of him and said: "There is a vague rumor in the south. King Langya is dissatisfied with you and may take action."
"Tell me in detail." Shao Xun frowned and said.
He knew that aristocratic families were divided into various officials, and they exchanged letters with each other. No matter how professional and cautious they were, they would inevitably reveal some information in a few words - this rule applies to both Shao Xun and Sima Rui.
.
However, after these aides from noble families received information from their relatives, they might not disclose it to their lords. The reasons for this are very complicated.
"Jing Wen (Sima Rui) once told people, Lang Jun, you are -" Pei Lingyan looked at Shao Xun and said slowly: "A thief who steals the country."
Seeing the woman's cautious look, Shao Xun held her in his arms and said with a smile: "I love stealing beauty more than stealing the country."
"Which woman of yours was not stolen?" Pei Lingyan leaned comfortably in his arms and said seriously: "Actually, Jing Wen is a kind person, humble and polite, and generally would not say such things about a person. Now that he has done this,
You must be very annoyed. You can’t ignore it.”
Shao Xun nodded lightly.
Sima Rui used to be Sima Yue's younger brother. How can I put it this way? This person has a gentle personality, is well-educated, is polite in dealing with people, and is not pushy - at least on the surface he is like this. The real situation is hard to tell, and Shao Xun doesn't believe it either, because Sima Rui
It’s not that there is no ambition at all, nor is there no ability at all. In troubled times, no one is simple.
Sima Rui also flattered Concubine Pei, passed through her doorsteps, gave gifts frequently, and said nice words for free.
It was not without reason that Sima Yue sent him to Xiapi first to take charge of the army, and then to build Ye.
To put it simply, he was the fallback route arranged by Sima Yue in advance. Once the situation in the north was in a bad situation and it was difficult to recover after using all methods, Jianye could also act as a backup to provide him with support.
It's just that Sima Yue didn't wait until that day, and he died first. Instead, Sima Rui took advantage and collected part of his inheritance.
"If you are really worried," Concubine Pei said, "I will write a letter to Jing Wen and explain it to you."
"It's useless. At this point, everything has become clear. No one is a fool." Shao Xun shook his head and said: "After enjoying the benefits of the Four War Land, you have to bear the disadvantages of the Four War Land. People in the world only want to get benefits.
, I don’t want to do any harm, but how is this possible? I will arrange this matter."
After saying that, he gently caressed and kneaded Concubine Pei's proud body and said, "Slave Hua, just give birth to my child with peace of mind."
Concubine Pei hummed from deep in her throat, with a long final sound.
The maids turned a blind eye, placed the food one by one, bowed and left.
The two of them sat down and started eating.
Shao Xun was eating and thinking silently.
Just now Hua Nu mentioned that someone was watching, which was actually a reminder.
It turns out that there are still people who are not optimistic about his ability to survive the North-South attack.
In fact, this is normal.
Aren't the generals within the shogunate worried? They are equally worried.
Halfway through the meal, a messenger came.
Shao Xun took the letter, looked at it, met Concubine Pei's eyes, and said: "This is from Wang Yifu. Wang Dun has been appointed as the governor of Jingzhou."
"This decree did not come from Tai Pavilion." Concubine Pei was a little surprised at first, and then judged.
Shao Xun nodded and said: "But Xun Song has delivered the seal to him."
Whether the imperial edict is useful or not depends on whether others recognize it.
At present, it seems that even if it does not pass through Tai Pavilion, it is a "zhongzhi", but Xun Song recognized it - Xun Song's family had already crossed south, so it is normal for him to recognize it.
The Imperial Edict issued by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was also illegal from a procedural point of view and was an invalid imperial edict, but some people believed it.
Of course, Sima Chi was much freer than Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, at least not all the people around him were replaced.
There are many loyal ministers in the court who are either real or fake. When he summons his ministers, they will not be searched when they come out - this is too ugly.
He could even find a scene for a private meeting, such as high on Jiuhua Terrace, with no palace guards around. This was also an unimaginable power of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.
Shao Xun didn't bother to think about who sent the imperial edict, because there were too many possibilities to guess.
"No!" Concubine Pei grabbed his hand, shook her head gently, and said, "There are some things that Yuan Chao can do, but you can't do."
Shao Xun nodded slowly.
Concubine Pei added: "What you have to do is to accumulate prestige. The higher the better. Attacking the emperor now will only damage your prestige and not be worth the loss. Part of the reason why Henan is so peaceful is that you exterminated the bandits and expelled the Huns."
, and another part of the reason is that you still allow the emperor to maintain his dignity."
Shao Xun hummed.
Does he respect the emperor?
Actually, I'm not very respectful. But compared to other powerful officials in history? Then I'm very respectful.
At least, in the eyes of the world, he did not act like Cao Mengde and Sima Yue, who outrageously replaced all the people around the emperor and imprisoned him like a caged bird.
At least, he didn't use the emperor as a shield.
At least, he delivered supplies when the palace was in short supply.
At least, when he left the town and became a vassal, he was not like some people who just watched from the sidelines when something happened in Luoyang, but he was truly a diligent king.
Everything is compared.
He has the image of a domineering and powerful minister, and he is a little disrespectful to the emperor, but so far he has done no harm.
This is one of the reasons why many people in Henan are willing to cooperate with him.
The Sima family is not high-spirited, but they still have people's hearts and there is no need to look for trouble.
"I still have to go to Beijing." Shao Xun said: "Let's talk to Wang Yifu. However, Hua Nu, you are right, victory on the battlefield is fundamental. If you can't win, there is no need to talk about it. If you win, everything will be evil.
It can’t become a climate.”
Chapter completed!