At this time, several young men walked past Yang Yuanqing and were actually talking about Mencius. They spoke with a soft Jiangnan accent. They were all polite. When they saw Pei Wenjin, they all bowed to him and their attitudes were neither humble nor overbearing, which made Yang Yuanqing quite happy. Surprised, he shook his head, "I really don't know the reason?"
Pei Wenjin smiled and said: "Dunhuang was originally just a small county with a population of less than a thousand households. But in the tenth year after the founding of the Emperor, the late emperor forcibly moved 8,000 households of Southern nobles from the south of the Yangtze River, and Dunhuang County became Dunhuang County. These southern nobles used Chen , Xiao, Xie, Lu, and Shen were the main surnames. It was their arrival that made the Mogao Grottoes flourish again. More than seventy caves have been excavated and tens of thousands of scriptures have been left behind."
It turned out that this was the case. Only then did Yang Yuanqing understand why there were so many Han people in Dunhuang, with elegant temperament and calm manners, even surpassing Chang'an and Luoyang. He asked with a smile: "The Shen family just mentioned, is the Shen family in Wuxing, Jiangnan?" ?”
"Exactly, two houses of the Shen family in Jiangnan were moved here. In the tenth year of the founding of the emperor, after Shen Xuanhui's rebellion failed, several of his sons were exiled to Dunhuang. Now they are combined into one branch. The head of the family is called Shen Wanchun. He is The second son of Shen Xuanhui, the Shen family is now one of the rich families in Dunhuang. "Is he his aunt's biological brother? Chuchen told him a few years ago that after they returned to their hometown in Wuxing, there was no one in their room. It turned out that they were all occupied. Moved to Dunhuang County.
Yang Yuanqing was moved and wanted to visit the Shen family.
He walked past an academy. There are many such academies in Dunhuang County, that is, schools. This academy occupies a large area, covering an area of more than 20 acres. It is surrounded by walls and has more than a dozen rows of houses. , the trees are lush and can accommodate hundreds of people studying here. There is a sign hanging above the gate with white characters on a black background and the four seal characters "Yuhang Academy".
At the gate, someone happened to be seeing off guests. Yang Yuanqing was suddenly stunned. One of the guests he knew turned out to be Xiao Xian, the magistrate of Luo County. However, this person should be in Luo County on the bank of Dongting Lake. How could he go to distant Dunhuang? Coming.
Xiao Mian turned around and was face to face with Yang Yuanqing. He was also stunned. Finally, Yang Yuanqing reacted first, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Xiao, why are you here?"
Xiao Mian's expression changed several times, but he immediately returned to normal. He walked forward with a smile, bowed and saluted: "I came here to visit a sick brother. Why is General Yang here?"
"Come on command!"
When Yang Yuanqing saw the person behind Xiao Mian, his expression finally couldn't help but change. The middle-aged man behind him turned out to be Chen Yin's counselor Wang Mo. He had accompanied Chen Yin to his house for negotiations. Yang Yuanqing The impression was very deep.
When Wang Mo saw that he had been recognized, he had to smile bitterly and stepped forward to salute, "General Yang, I haven't seen you for many years. I am now the staff of the magistrate Xiao."
Only then did Yang Yuanqing suddenly realize that Chen Yin was killed inexplicably back then. He had always found it strange. Now he understood that Xiao Mian was probably the mastermind behind the scenes. The Nanhua Society that Chen Yin had worked so hard to establish ended up marrying someone else. Clothes.
Although he understood in his heart, Yang Yuanqing did not show any emotion. He only smiled and said: "If we can meet in a foreign country, I will treat Brother Xiao and Brother Wang to have a drink someday. Now that I have official business, I won't talk much."
"Okay! General Yang, please."
Xiao Mian saluted with a smile and watched Yang Yuanqing go. When Yang Yuanqing walked away a little, his expression changed, he pulled Wang Mo, and the two of them quickly ran towards an alley.
After walking dozens of steps, Yang Yuanqing looked back again and saw people coming and going around him, but the two of them had disappeared. Yang Yuanqing smiled. This Xiao Mian was indeed different from ordinary people. No wonder he could do what a small Luo County magistrate did.
It was a big event. It was only four years since the great cause, and he started his own actions. People from the south of Dunhuang gathered together, and they actually decided to go here.
"Yuan Qing, who was that person just now?" Pei Ju asked. He didn't know Xiao Xian.
"I once met a friend in Chang'an, and we have a long-term friendship."
At this time, Pei Wenjin asked with a smile: "General Yang, when are you going to start recruiting troops?"
Yang Yuanqing thought for a moment and then said: "It's better to start recruiting troops sooner rather than later this afternoon!"
........
In the afternoon, the news that the Sui army began to recruit troops quickly spread throughout Dunhuang City. However, the reaction of the Han people in Dunhuang City was very dull. There were only a few applicants. There were only a few hundred people queuing up at the three recruitment points. Most of them lived in Dunhuang County.
There are Qiang people, while there are only thirty or forty Han people, and they are all scoundrels from Dunhuang City who want to wear military uniforms.
"In the room, Yang Yuanqing stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, staring at a lush willow tree outside the window. He was still thinking about what happened to Xiao Xian in the morning. Obviously, they wanted to come to Dunhuang to develop the power of the South China Association. There are nearly 10,000 people in Dunhuang.
The Han people in Hunan provided them with opportunities. Most of the people here were dissatisfied with the Sui Dynasty and missed their hometown. Xiao Mian would gain a lot from here.
Should he stop Xiao Mian from expanding in Dunhuang County? The answer is obviously no. If he wants to stop Xiao Mian, then he will not let Zhai Rang go.
During this period, Yang Yuanqing was quite troubled. Perhaps because of his marriage, he began to long for stability, just like Xiao Mian, to get a piece of land of his own, instead of wandering around like a wanderer. After a while, Khitan,
One moment he was in Fenyang Palace, another moment he was in the capital, and now he was in the Western Regions. When will this turbulent life come to an end?
When can he return to Fengzhou? His roots are in Fengzhou. Now Fengzhou has begun large-scale immigration and reclamation, but he has no chance to participate, which makes him full of regrets, especially when he saw Xiao Mian working on his own today.
When he is busy with his ideals, it is difficult for him to calm down.
"General Yang!"
Deputy General Wang Wei hurriedly walked into the room. He was the additional condition proposed by Qu Tutong for sending two thousand troops. The deputy general manager Wang Wei served as the deputy general and led Zhangye's two thousand people. Although Wang Wei was not well-known, he was indeed very experienced.
, was especially good at dealing with the Qiang people, and was skilled in military affairs. He was good at setting up camps and marching, and was a very capable assistant to Yang Yuanqing.
Marching westward, they cooperated very well. Wang Wei did not put on airs because of his seniority. He respected Yang Yuanqing very much. They entered the territory of Dunhuang County before Wang Wei told Yang Yuanqing the truth. He was an old subordinate of Yang Yuanqing's grandfather Yang Su.
During the Battle of the South, he served as the recorder in Yang Sushuai's tent and joined the army.
Qu Tutong sent Wang Weilai with the original intention of not wanting Yang Yuanqing to take away Zhang Ye's army, but by mistake, he gave Yang Yuanqing a capable general.
It is for this reason that Yang Yuanqing's wariness towards Wang Wei gradually disappeared and he began to trust him more. This time, Yang Yuanqing handed over the recruitment of troops to Wang Wei, who was fully responsible for it.
"What, is the recruitment not going well?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a slight smile.
Wang Wei sighed, "The Han people in Dunhuang are very resistant and don't want to work for the Sui Dynasty. There are only a few dozen people who applied for recruitment, and their physical fitness is not good. However, many Qiang people are okay. I just want to ask the general if we can recruit one."
Support the Qiang army?"
Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "How many Qiang troops can be recruited? Moreover, the Qiang people are unreliable and will leave hidden dangers. Use as few Qiang people as possible."
He walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "Although the army quota given to me by the Holy Spirit is 10,000 people, I thought about it carefully and found that I only need 5,000 people. Now we are still short of 1,000 people.
I plan to use Dunhuang's left-behind army for one thousand people, but in this case, there will be no troops to garrison in Dunhuang, so I need to recruit two thousand people, so I will leave these two thousand people in Dunhuang County as Dunhuang garrison, so in the end
It is better to recruit local Han people, but recruiting Qiang people will cause problems."
Wang Wei smiled bitterly, "But the problem is that the Han people are unwilling to apply, and we can't force them."
Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "I'll talk to them!"
.....
The Han people who were demoted to Dunhuang County by Emperor Wen Yang Jian were almost all aristocrats and nobles from the Southern Dynasties. Most of them were wealthy families from the Southern Dynasties and had huge family properties. Even if they were demoted to Dunhuang, they were not destitute because of it. They still brought a large amount of their family property to the West.
After moving to Dunhuang, they quickly formed several major factions: the Jingzhou Xiao family, the Yuhang Lu family, the Wuxing Shen family, and the Jinling Chen family and the Xie family. Among them, the Jingzhou Xiao family, the Lingchen family, and the Xie family were the largest.
.
The Xiao family was a member of the royal family of the Western Liang Dynasty. They were deported to Dunhuang for supporting the Chen Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty. When they were deposed, there were more than 300 people in the family. Twenty years later, the Xiao family in Dunhuang has grown to thousands.
people and became the largest aristocratic family in Dunhuang County.
The Xiao family mansion is located in the north of Dunhuang City, covering an area of more than 60 acres, and is home to nearly a thousand members of the Xiao family. The family owns hundreds of hectares of fertile land in Dunhuang, three private horse farms in Zhangye, and also owns large and small shops.
More than a hundred families.
But the top decision-maker of this big family is indeed a woman named Xiao Yinyin. She is in her thirties. She is the eldest daughter of this family. When she was fifteen, she followed her father to Dunhuang. For the survival of the family, she did anything.
Hesitantly married Ma Chongbing, the then general manager of Dunhuang, with a Qiang as his concubine. It was with the care of Ma Chongbing that the Xiao family quickly took root and soon became the largest family. After Ma Chongbing died ten years ago, Zirong
The beautiful Xiao Yinyin was spotted by Zhao Hao, the governor of Dunhuang, and became his concubine. Three years ago, she became a widow again.
It was her second marriage in twenty years that sacrificed her life's happiness in exchange for the Xiao family's huge power in Dunhuang. When her father passed away two years ago, the entire family unanimously elected Xiao Yinyin as the new head of the family as a token of gratitude to her.
Xiao Yinyin was extremely smart and had a tough attitude. Her two experiences as a concubine made her full of disgust and distrust of Dunhuang officials. The governor Zhao Hao came to pay his respects in a sanctimonious manner during the day, but at night he sent someone to forcibly take her to the governor's mansion. Therefore,
She was also cold and indifferent towards the prefect Pei Wenjin.
"The Xiao family has scholars, businessmen, women and old people, but there are no military men. If you let our children join the army, aren't you afraid of missing important military and national affairs?"
Xiao Yinyin said this not only to the prefect Pei Wenjin, but also to Yang Yuanqing who was sitting next to her. She glanced at Yang Yuanqing a few more times. She had heard of this man's name.
Yang Yuanqing sensed the hostility towards Pei Wenjin from this woman who was still as beautiful as ever. Yang Yuanqing smiled at Pei Wenjin and said, "Thank you, Prefect Pei, for bringing me here. I want to talk to Mrs. Xiao alone."