Beijing has been a little quiet lately, even too quiet.
Also, the replacement of the upper echelons of the court, apart from causing a lot of discussion in the circles of scholars, is difficult to find out among the people. Even some scholars from other places who are not well-informed may not necessarily know these secrets.
You see, someone is still planning to give Cui Zhaowei a scroll, but Master Cui has lost his holy family and was sent to Fengzhou in Annan Town to be a Sima. With his talent as the number one scholar and the frustration of the officialdom, I wonder if he will stay. What a famous piece of poetry.
The only news that spread throughout Chang'an was probably that the saint had changed his Yuan Dynasty again: less than three months left this year would be the first year of Qianning.
Qian Ning has placed the expectations of the saints and officials, but they may be disappointed, because Shao Shude has just received news from his father-in-law, asking him to lead his troops south as soon as possible to start a war!
Therefore, the Tianxiong Army, which had just rested in Chang'an for a few days, set out again. They would take the Lantian Wuguan Road to Dengzhou.
A whole group of infantrymen rested in Lingzhou for a long time. Now they are fully equipped and their morale is high. They are about to start at Tangzhen to replace the Baoyi Army and return north.
Li Fan, the governor of the Baoyi Army, complained to Shao Shude a while ago, saying that Zhe Zongben had lured his soldiers, and more than a thousand unmarried bachelor sergeants had defected to the Weisheng Army, supposedly to make up for the war losses.
Shao Shude pretended to comfort Li Fan.
He fought a battle with the Bian army in the Luyang Pass area. The army was not full, and Zhe Zongben took away more than a thousand soldiers. After returning to Guanzhong, Chen Cheng would ask him to provide two thousand soldiers to replenish the Heluo army. The army's battle losses.
As a result, Li Fan will have less than 3,000 men left. At that time, troops will cooperate with Chen Cheng, have a "heart-to-heart" talk with Li Fan, and grant him the title of Deputy Envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, and he will be raised in Lingzhou.
This is a good job with an annual salary of 1,800 yuan. I just don’t know if Li Fan is willing to accept it. I hope it won’t make everyone look bad. If he really takes action, not only will Li Fan lose everything, but Shao Shude’s reputation will also be lost. It will be affected, which is something no one wants to see.
Xiao Yuan had already become the Grand Master and lived in Kaihuafang, where he was surrounded by people.
Everyone is not stupid. Xiao Qu, who is coming to Chang'an from Jiangzhou, is going to be the prime minister. As the eldest brother and the grand master, is it possible to say that he will do nothing?
Xiao Yu declined all requests for meetings from these visiting adherents, and even went to Shao Shude's residence.
"Your Highness really went to great lengths to appease Li Keyong." Xiao Yuan sat on the bed and said with a smile.
Yesterday at the court meeting, Prime Minister Cui Yin asked for the title of king with a different surname, but all the officials were silent.
Well, Mo Ran just has no opinion, and it’s hard for the saint to say anything.
The monarch and his ministers consulted and decided to grant the title of king to the Jiedu envoys of several large towns who were diligent and diligent.
At first, it was planned to make Li Keyong the acting king. As a result, Shao Shude came forward with fierce and impassioned words, saying that Li Keyong had been serving the emperor for many years and was extremely loyal to the court, so he asked him to make him the king of Jin.
Shu De said that he had been granted the title of King of Jin, what else could the court do? He pinched his nose and admitted it.
He also made Zhenzhou Wang Rong the King of Zhao because he gave too much. When he was begging for Huangchao, he sent a large number of armored weapons and equipment. After the Huangchao was taken, he also gave cattle, horses, money and silk. In recent years, he has provided it every year, but
You can't chill people's hearts.
Then Li Kan of Jiangling was granted the title of King of Jing, because he had been offering sacrifices and never stopped doing so.
Then Guangling Yang Xingmi was granted the title of King of Wu, and he also made a donation this year. Although Huainan was not very wealthy, it still squeezed out a lot of tea, silk, and copper coins and exported them to Chang'an.
In fact, the matter of conferring Yang Xingmi as King of Wu was mainly the imperial court's idea. Shao Shude had the intention to stop it at one time, but after thinking about it later, it may not be a bad thing.
He has not given up on wooing Yang Xingmi. He hopes that he will divert his troops and stop competing with Du Hong. Wouldn't it be nice to instead capture the states along the Huaihe River? I just don't know if it will work out as he wishes.
The imperial court consecrated four kings with different surnames in one go. It feels shameful to say that they were all for the sake of money. In addition, they had to have some strength. The vassal town is too small and weak. It is still a bit difficult at the moment. Maybe we can wait a little longer.
The financial planning of the imperial court is always becoming more and more difficult. Selling officials and conferring titles may not sound nice to say, but it is an inevitable fact.
"The sworn brother occupies a place of physical beauty and does not comfort him well, which will lead to great consequences." Shao Shude said: "By the way, how did the discussion with Liu Chongwang go?"
"Liu Chongwang is hesitant," Xiao Yu said, and then added: "He is afraid that if he cannot defeat Li Maozhen and Zhu Mei, he will lose his army and lose his territory, and he will be in trouble."
Shao Shude nodded. It was actually normal to have this worry.
The combat effectiveness of rising warlords should not be underestimated.
What was Wang Jian, the former lord of Shu, like? He was a wise and powerful man who conquered an entire country without hesitation, and the soldiers from Henan he brought there were also good at conquering and fighting.
What is the queen leader Wang Yan like? He is a leader who can play in a group with his subordinates.
What was Meng Zhixiang, the first lord of Later Shu, like? What was Meng Chang, the later lord of Shu, like?
Can they win with the 20,000 soldiers who have been hastily assembled? Don't be ridiculous.
Moreover, logistical supplies are also a problem. Zhuge Zhongfang wants to bleed a lot, is he willing?
Shao Shude remembered that later Wang Jian married his daughter Princess Puci to Li Maozhen's nephew, Qinzhou governor Li Jichong. In order to send the dowry to Fengxiang through Xingyuan to Qinzhou, it was prepared according to the standard of two copies, but more than half of it was lost on the way.
Packhorse and cargo.
After Li Jichong married Princess Puci, he asked his father-in-law Wang Jian for money. Wang Jian asked him to go to Chengdu to get it himself. Li Jichong calculated that he would lose most of his goods on the way, once and for all. The transportation cost was too high, and the income was too much.
It might not be as good as the property I dedicated to my father-in-law, so I gave up.
The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky. Too many sections of the road cannot be passed by horse-drawn carriages. We can only rely on pack horses or human-powered cars to pass, and then find ways to change cars. The losses along the way are too great.
"Let him not worry too much." Shao Shude said: "It's not just the Shence Army who went south."
"That's all I can say." Xiao Yuan said: "If I can't defeat Li Maozhen, I might as well"
"Don't worry about it then." Shao Shude stretched out his hand to stop what he was saying, and said with a smile: "Li Maozhen is not easy to fight, and Zhu Mei is not easy to fight either. Just take it one step at a time."
"That's fine." Xiao Yuan understood the mystery, so he stopped talking about it and asked another matter: "When will His Highness leave Beijing?"
"What? The saint urged me to leave quickly?" Shao Shude laughed.
Recently, there have been one major event after another in the imperial court. First there was the change of central officials, then Mo Zaisi, Shao Desheng and two others went out to control Annan, Ningyuan Army, then Zhi Qianzhou, Fengtian Town, and then there were four Jinjue kings with different surnames. , I would like to ask which one makes the saint feel comfortable?
Even the resignation of Ximen Zhongsui, the Privy Councilor of the Beisi Division, who he had often looked down upon and regarded as a poisonous insect and beast, made him very uncomfortable. At the critical moment, he finally understood that Ximen Zhongsui still maintained the imperial power and did not want to The imperial court thus became a puppet.
By the way, King Ji is dead. The sage hinted many times, but Shao Shude just didn't take action.
There was no other way. In the end, we had to let professionals who were good at this job do it: the middle official Wang Yanfan came to the door in person and killed King Ji, which was regarded as a matter of concern to the saint.
"His Highness is in the capital. Everyone is looking at him and he feels uncomfortable. Of course, he wants to leave as soon as possible." Xiao Yuan said: "Besides, the saint has no money to pay rewards. He is afraid of causing another military chaos."
Shao Shude burst out laughing. He was bitten by a snake once and was afraid of well ropes for ten years.
"I will leave immediately." Shao Shude said: "The Tianxiong Army has already gone south to Dengzhou. In a few days, I will also go to Changchun Palace in Tongzhou, and then go south to Tangzhou."
In fact, Shao Shude's eldest son Shao Chengjie has also left to join Changchun Palace.
The father and son will go south to Tang and Deng together. During the Chinese New Year, the eldest son will be ten years old. On some occasions, they can get acquainted with each other in advance.
Furthermore, taking Chengjie to the south was also for my father-in-law to see.
The area of Shannan East Road was almost conquered by Zhe Zongben himself. The local officials and generals, except for Zhao Kuanglin of Suizhou, had nothing to do with Shao Shude. They were Zhe Zongben's personal tribe, and they only listened to him A person's words.
Consolidating the relationship with the Zhejia family has a bearing on the success or failure of the overall situation and must not be taken lightly.
As for the bond with the Zhe family, to be honest, Zhe Fang Ai is not the key, the key is Shao Chengjie.
The wealth of the next generation of the Zhe family, and even the next generation after that, rested on Zhe Zongben's grandson, and this was one of the important reasons why Shao Shude took his eldest son south.
"The commander-in-chief went south to Tangzhou because he thought it was a little risky." Xiao Yu tactfully advised: "The situation in Nanyang is complicated and the Bian army has the upper hand. Once there is a change, it will be unthinkable."
"It doesn't matter." Shao Shude said: "This time we go south, the focus is on Xiangyang. Besides, the Bian people are short of troops, so it may not be possible."
Of course Shao Shude knew that Xiao Yun was talking about "changes" in the Bian army on the surface, but in fact there was something more in his words, and perhaps it also meant that the family had changed.
But at this critical moment of fighting for the world, you can't help but be suspicious. It's better to be honest. The Zhe family has no reason to rebel. To guard against this and that, it seems to be alienating.
Moreover, he did not go south alone, there were ten thousand Tianxiong troops on his side.
He wanted this army to be of great use. Taking advantage of the fact that the Bian people had won many battles and were careless, he could sneak a trick on them, such as attacking the Shen and Guang prefectures controlled by Zhang Quanyi.