The sky was foggy, adding to the dampness and coldness of the morning.
Inside the house, the brazier has been lit, and from time to time there is the sound of crackling dead branches.
A high-top table, which is gradually becoming popular in the North but rarely seen in Jiangdong, was set up, and several people sat around it, chatting and laughing happily.
The most famous among the people present is undoubtedly Gu He.
He was born into a wealthy family in Jiangdong, and was highly regarded by Wang Dao. He served as his subordinates and was secretly the leader among others.
But his relationship with Director Wang is just like that.
Director Wang himself served as the governor of Yangzhou and sent eight troops at a time to inspect various places. After returning, the other seven people discussed the gains and losses of the two thousand officials in various places during the inspection, but Gu He did not speak.
Director Wang asked him if he had heard any news. Gu He replied: "Why did Duke Ming collect rumors and use strict inspection to govern?"
Director Wang was filled with admiration.
This matter is very subtle.
The saying of high EQ is "Ming Gong, please don't investigate, what if you find out something?" Generally speaking, Gu He's butt is relatively stable. Based on the Gu family in Wu County, he cooperates with the Nandu nobles to serve the family
Seek benefits and protect the peace of Jiangdong.
Therefore, Director Wang made him famous before and put him in a good position, and he reciprocated the favor. Both sides got what they needed, that's all.
"Jun Xiao, in your opinion, King Langya will soon ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor?" Wei He from the north of Jianye asked curiously.
"How can this be false?" Before Gu He could say anything, Zhang Cheng immediately jumped out like an aggressive little rooster and said, "When did what Jun Xiao said go wrong?"
He glanced at him contemptuously, not bothering to argue with him.
The Zhang family in Wu County suffered a severe decline. It started during the Soochow period. The wealthy Zhang family at that time all suffered heavy blows. Although they could still retreat to their hometowns, it was a fact that the power of the upper class continued to shrink.
Zhu actually has this trend.
Zhu and Zhang, who were once the four surnames in Wu County, have been left far behind by Gu Lu and cannot keep up with each other.
After Sima Rui, Wang Dao and others went south, this trend was not reversed at all. People like Zhang Cheng could only become minor officials.
It obviously does not match the wealth of thousands of dealers.
Next door, there is the He family in Kuaiji County. With the rise of the Qian family, rising wealthy families like the Shen family are also eyeing Dandan. It is really difficult for established families like the Zhang family, so Zhang Cheng is like Gu He's little follower, "protecting the master."
"Eager" makes people laugh.
Gu He obviously saw the incompatibility between Zhang and He, but he didn't intend to say anything. He just followed what he said: "The day before yesterday, King Langya led his officials to sacrifice to Emperor Daxing in Yaoyao. During the process, he cried until he fainted.
.”
"Ah?" He said in surprise: "Why is this so?"
Gu He pondered for a moment and said: "Because Emperor Daxing was assassinated and died by Shao thief.
"Really?" He asked.
Gu He said helplessly: "How can there be any conclusion on this matter? Is Shao the thief really regicide? How can outsiders know?"
He thought for a moment and said, "That's right. What do you think, Jun Xiao, of the inside story?"
"Mostly it's false." Gu He said: "According to the news from Luoyang, Emperor Daxing became bedridden very early. Mr. Luoyang,
Many people in the clan have visited, and they all say that time is running out. In that case, why would Thieves Shao bother with this? Do you think there are people in Luoyang saying that he committed regicide?"
He nodded slowly and said: "But Jiangdong still uses the Divine Turtle as his reign title and respects Duke Teng. He is the king, but he can't say that anymore. "That's the way it is." Gu He said, "Don't mess around in the future.
After all, he thought about it one by one and sighed: "Now we have to share the same boat with the northerners. Jiangdong has finally separated from China and North Korea, and no one wants to have the Luoyang or Chang'an court on their head."
This sentence was spoken not only to the court from the north who went south to try to unify China, but also to the court that conquered Luoyang and Chang'an during the northern expedition.
Especially for the latter, once the Northern Expedition succeeds and the whole country is unified, what will happen to Jianye? Anyway, it is impossible for the new imperial court to establish its capital here, and it will not be of any benefit to the Tu people in the south of the Yangtze River.
"What you said, Jun Xiao, makes sense. I don't have to worry about it." He nodded and said, "I'm just a little scared. I don't know what will happen in the future."
"It was so difficult in Soochow, but I managed to survive it. Today, Nanjun, Xiangyang, Shouchun, and Hefei are all in hand, so there may not be no chance." Gu He said: "In today's world, Shao Xun is just like Cao Mengde, who controls the north.
But Xiliang still has Ma Chao, Han Sui, and Shu Han, and Soochow has Nangyang and Shouchun as its important towns. Is it difficult to defend Cao's troops in the north? "
"But Shao Mengde has not been defeated in Chibi, and he is very optimistic. If he drives troops from all over the country to go south, it will be difficult to resist." He said.
What he actually wants to say is that this "New Soochow" has advantages and disadvantages.
It is true that the situation in Guoyang, Shouchun and other places is much better than that in old Soochow, but there are a large number of Nandu scholars in New Soochow, but these people are still in power. Although they have been together for many years, Nandu scholars
People, the conflict between the Tu people in Jiangdong is no longer as big as it used to be. Both sides have gradually found a position that is acceptable to each other, but the internal public sentiment is still not as good as that of Sun Wu, which is far behind.
In a word, the old Soochow can work together with Cao Cao, but the new Soochow or the Eastern Jin - if King Langya proclaims himself emperor and still uses "Jin" as the country's name - can't work together.
Shao Thief waved his hand, but he didn't know how many people were secretly communicating with him. This hidden worry had to be faced squarely.
He had a hunch that maybe things would go wrong in the end.
"One by one," Gu He looked at He, then at the others, and said, "We still have to unite sincerely. After defeating Shao's thieves several offensives, his thoughts of going south will fade away, and Jianye's people will be stable. By the time
Twenty years later, another generation passed, and the connection between the scholars from the south and the north became even weaker, while the foundation of Jiangdong became more and more stable."
"So, what do you think Jun Xiao can do to defeat Shao's attack?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Prevent with rivers, use epidemics, and use Shao thieves to reverse the trend." Gu He said decisively.
He Zhijue was shocked and speechless.
Take it one step at a time.
******
The cold wind swept across the north and hit the south of the Yangtze River.
Overnight, the north wind roared and frost and snow fell suddenly.
Director Wang had just left the official office when he saw thatch flying above his head. After flying for a while, it hit people's faces.
The entourage quickly stepped forward and removed the grass clippings from Director Wang's body.
Bian Hu, who was following Director Wang, saw him, laughed twice, and said, "This door should be repaired."
Wang Daoan remained calm and simply said: "Money and food should be used in critical situations."
There was originally a royal palace in Soochow, called "Taichu Palace".
During Zhang Chang's Rebellion, his troops attacked Shi Bing to Jianli and burned Taichu Palace to the ground.
After Sima Rui moved south, he could only use the buildings in the former Soochow Palace to work.
I can't help it, I'm too poor.
Construction requires manpower, who will give it to you? Will the wealthy Jiangdong clan send their own bankers over?
Construction also requires cutting down trees and quarrying rocks in the mountains, and the mountains are owned by the owner. Have the Jiangdong clan allowed you to chop down trees and quarry rocks?
So, just make do with it.
Repair it when you have spare time, forget it if you don’t. Therefore, to this day, the main entrance gates of many government offices still have thatched roofs, which is a bit outrageous.
Originally this year we prepared some wood, strips of stone, and hired some manpower to burn bricks, make tiles, and ram earth to build walls, but now there is no chance.
As for the reason, Director Wang and his party quickly arrived at the military camp outside the city.
Good guy! A total of 20,000 people are wearing sackcloth and mourning, and the whole army is in plain sight!
Director Wang had no expression on his face. After being informed, he quickly arrived at the Chinese army's tent and met Sima Rui.
"Mao Hong!" Sima Rui burst into tears as soon as he saw Director Wang.
"Your Majesty." Director Wang sighed and said, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
"The hatred of the country and the family is here, and I am depressed."
Sima Rui shook his head and sobbed: "The revenge of Emperor Daxing must be avenged. Maohong does not need any more persuasion. Gu wants to swear to the Northern Expedition, personally conquer Luoyang, and take the heads of the Shao thieves directly to commemorate Emperor Daxing."
"Your Majesty, we are running out of food and grass, what can we do?" Director Wang said with a sad look on his face.
"Mao Hong!" Sima Rui stared angrily, his eyes were red, and he heard him shout loudly: "Who is pushing the three obstacles? On the occasion of the Northern Expedition, the water transportation is delayed, why not cut it off?"
"The servants will send people to investigate the water transport officials." Wang Dao said, "Your Majesty, please don't be too sad."
"Mao Hong, go and check quickly, Gu must go to the north!" Sima Rui shouted: "Come here! Wear armor for Gu!"
The military academies looked at each other, and finally someone bravely brought in a pair of Mingguang armor.
Sima Rui took two steps forward and motioned to put on his armor.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he put on the body armor and before putting on other parts, Sima Rui jumped up and almost fell down.
Fortunately, someone with quick eyesight and quick hands quickly helped him.
So heavy!
Sima Rui's eyelids jumped, he pushed the person away, stood firm, and signaled to continue wearing armor.
Everyone had no choice but to put on his arm armor, skirt armor, body armor, heart protector, armour, and finally put an iron helmet on his head.
I don’t know who was careless, whether it was light or heavy, the heavy iron helmet almost knocked Sima Rui unconscious, but luckily he managed to hold on.
"Your Majesty!" Director Wang prostrated himself on the ground and urged: "We have no food and grass now, so I ask your Majesty to return to the palace to take charge of everything and put national affairs first."
"Your Majesty!" Bian Hu and others also prostrated themselves on the ground and advised, "Your Majesty, please put state affairs first."
"!" Sima Rui drew out his sword and said angrily: "Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Your Majesty, the Shao thief killed the king, angered both men and gods, and usurped the throne in front of the ugly people in Luoyang. The survival of our country is in danger!" Wang Dao said: "The order cannot be left unruly for a day, and the country cannot be left without a master for a day. I invite you, Your Majesty.
Return to the palace immediately and take charge of everything."
After Director Wang said this, he gestured with his eyes, and everyone said in unison: "Please return to the palace to take charge of everything."
"The Shao thieves have not been exterminated, so how can I have the dignity to do this? It's inappropriate!" Sima Rui insisted, "Mao Hong, go and check immediately to find out who is blocking my northern expedition by refusing to distribute food and grass."
"Your Majesty." Wang Yue, the son of Director Wang, suddenly stood up and said, "Today someone came from the north of the Yangtze River, carrying an edict from the Emperor's Zen throne."
Having said that, he stepped forward and presented the edict respectfully.
Sima Rui was stunned for a moment, then knelt on the ground, took the edict with trembling hands, and opened it to read.
In an instant, tears fell like rain, and she sobbed: "I am so ashamed of myself to the Emperor (Sima Duan)!"
"Your Majesty." Wang Yue said sincerely: "The Zen Lord was forced by Shao's thieves and knew that he was outmatched. I sincerely ask your Majesty to take charge of everything and continue Jin Zuo.
Your Majesty must never let you down."
Sima Rui cried loudly after hearing this: "How virtuous and capable I am! How virtuous and capable I am!"
Chapter completed!