Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 479 Chen Baxian's Envy
"Chen Baxian! What the hell is this place! I don't want to go there to marry!"

Princess Yongxing Xiao Yuyao, sitting in the sedan chair, looked at the Chongshan of Ba County with a look of fear, but her mouth was particularly hard.

She actually knew very well that she had no right to refuse the marriage.

She committed the crime of treason, and even though she was the emperor's daughter, she should not have been pardoned.

There is no personal affection in the royal family. It can only be said that emperors like Xiao Yan are indeed rare.

However, Princess Yongxing's bad character made her pick on Chen Baxian, the envoy who was escorting her to the wedding, even though she knew that her marriage was a foregone conclusion. Chen Baxian, who was not afraid of suppressing the rebellion of the Li people, was most afraid of being summoned by Princess Yongxing.

Is this the so-called royal bloodline?

A feeling of disgust welled up in Chen Baxian's heart. Because of his hatred for Xiao Yuyao, his admiration for Emperor Xiao Yan was also dissipated a lot.

The reasons for Princess Yongxing's marriage included elements such as court political struggles, romantic scandals, and the crime of treason, and naturally became a topic of heated discussion throughout the Southern Liang Dynasty.

Chen Baxian really didn't understand. Even in an ordinary family, children killing their father is a serious crime that cannot be forgiven. Why did the emperor pardon this unfilial daughter and even let her torture him?
Xiao Yuyao knew very well that although her father had ordered her to marry, the military officers and soldiers along the way did not dare to offend her.

After all, it was their duty to escort Xiao Yuyao to Ba County for marriage. Whenever Xiao Yuyao got angry, they would come forward to comfort her.

In particular, the leader, named Chen Baxian, was Princess Yongxing's favorite target of teasing.

"Your Highness, we are almost at Nanping Mountain. The Nanping Liao you want to marry is in the mountains."

Looking at the Nanping Mountain with its rugged rocks and lush vegetation, Princess Yongxing finally felt fear. Was she going to spend the rest of her life in these deserted mountains?
This is really desperate!

Xiao Yuyao first began to resent her father, the old immortal. If Xiao Yan was still alive, she would not have thought of poisoning him.

Xiao Yuyao thought of her lover Xiao Hong again. When she was in trouble, many royal family members and princes pleaded for her, but Xiao Hong remained silent in order to save his own life. What an ungrateful man!
Xiao Yuyao resented many people in a row, even her former husband Yin Jun who was cuckolded by her. If Yin Jun had not been short and incompetent, she would not have cheated on her husband and would not have ended up in such a situation.

In short, in Xiao Yuyao's world, the ones who make mistakes are others, and she has absolutely no problems at all.

Chen Baxian felt much better when he saw Xiao Yuyao's frustrated look.

He said:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I have seen the Nanping Cave Master many times before. He is the best warrior in Nanping Liao. Your Highness' life will definitely get better and better after you marry him."

After Chen Baxian finished speaking in a sarcastic manner, Xiao Yuyao's face turned even paler.

"I heard that these Liao people still eat raw meat and drink blood?"

Chen Baxian felt better when he saw Xiao Yuyao's frustrated look. He continued:
"That's not the case. Many of the Liao people's habits are no different from those of the Han people."

Just when Xiao Yuyao breathed a sigh of relief, Xiao Yuyao asked again:
"How is the health of the former cave master? I heard that he is ten years older than me."

Chen Baxian understood what the princess meant. She wanted to outlive Kexian and then become a widow and return to Southern Liang.

No, this vicious woman might even try to kill Kexian.

In order to stop this crazy woman, Chen Baxian said:
"Like the barbarians in the north, the Liao people adopted the levirate marriage system."

This time Xiao Yuyao's face turned completely pale.

The so-called levirate marriage, also known as transfer marriage, refers to the practice of a woman marrying her husband's brother after his death.

In a broad sense, remarriage also includes remarrying other men in the husband's family, such as the deceased husband's uncle, uncle, or son.

For example, the Turks used this marriage system because in harsh environments, women are very important "assets" to a family.

Since it is an asset, it cannot be left idle. After the husband's death, she must serve other family members and give birth to and raise more offspring for the family.

Princess Yicheng of the Sui Dynasty married four Turkic Khans successively, spanning three generations of her family. She can be said to be a Turkic heirloom.

Seeing Princess Yongxing’s distraught look, Chen Baxian felt secretly relieved that this mission was finally coming to an end!

Just when Chen Baxian was happy, the scout suddenly came back and reported:
"General, a ship! There's a big ship on the river!"

All they saw was a large ship with a black flag sailing downwind on the Jialing River under the Nanping Mountain. The Liao people who had come to the river to fish began to flee, and a few Liao people who were paddling canoes charged towards the ship.

But the pole on the bow was not to be trifled with. When the huge pole fell, even if it did not hit the small boat directly, the waves it created were enough to capsize the Liao people's canoe.

Immediately afterwards, the crossbows on the ship began to shoot. This powerful crossbow was made by Su Ze in a special building [Crossbow Workshop]. As the name suggests, this crossbow is not an ordinary hand crossbow operated by a single person, but a terrifying killing weapon that requires the cooperation of multiple people to operate.

This crossbow was mounted on a bed frame and usually needed a carriage to be pulled to the battlefield. It took two soldiers to load the crossbow with their hands and feet. The arrows shot out could not only break armor, but even penetrate simple fortifications. Su Ze also ordered craftsmen to make crossbows that could be used on ships. This weapon was installed on large boats and was specifically used to attack enemies on the water.

This tactic was indeed very effective. These powerful crossbows could easily penetrate the Liao people's canoes and played a huge role in naval battles.

This time the Liao people's ships were repelled again, and Chen Baxian showed a disappointed expression.

Ever since Hou Jing sent troops to Ba County in March, life for the Nanping Liao people has become increasingly difficult.

Especially after two large patrol boats appeared on the Jialing River, the previous task of robbing merchant ships on the river could no longer be done.

Immediately afterwards, Hou Jing began to send envoys to the Liao people in the mountains near Ba County, reading out the policy and ordering them to immediately cut off trade and support with rebellious Liao tribes such as the Nanping Liao. Otherwise, Hou Jing would personally lead the troops to the mountains to conquer these tribes first.

These days, Hou Jing's reputation as a killer has spread throughout Shuzhong. More importantly, the officials sent to Shuzhong by Su Ze quickly completed the control of the salt wells in Shuzhong and brought all the salt trade into the hands of the government.

Shu is far away from the sea, but in ancient times it was an important salt producing area because of the salt wells and salt ponds that were scattered throughout it, which were naturally formed salt mines.

Because it contains fewer impurities than sea salt, Shu well salt was even used as tribute salt exclusively for the royal family.

Su Ze certainly could not let go of such an important industry. The officials he sent to Shu made controlling the salt wells a top priority. He took tough measures to crack down on private salt dealers and prohibited merchants from selling salt to areas where the rebellious Liao people lived.

This trick can be said to be very effective. If people do not consume enough salt, they will feel weak all over.

The newly built boats protected the safety of merchant ships on the Jialing River, and the Liao people could no longer obtain salt by robbing ships or secretly trading with merchant ships.

So this time, the dowry of Princess Yongxing brought by Chen Baxian included a lot of salt, which was all transported from Jingzhou by Southern Liang.

But it is not a solution to always provide support like this.

In fact, it is very fast to travel from Shuzhong to Jiangling.

Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem, "I left Baidi in the morning among the colorful clouds, and returned to Jiangling a thousand miles away in one day", which means how fast it is to go downstream from Baidi City. The last two lines of the poem describe the scene of going downstream through the Three Gorges.

The Three Gorges Dam is a one-way valve. Once ships from the upstream enter the middle and lower reaches, they cannot go back upstream.

The section from Jiangling to Baidi City cannot be transported by water due to the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and the cost of land transportation is too high.

Although you can take the water route after Baidi City, entering Ba County from Baidi City requires going upstream, which is also not easy to transport.

Once Hou Jing's boats entered the Yangtze River Basin, the water transportation in this section would be cut off. At that time, in order to support the Liao people in Ba County, they would have to rely on land transportation of salt.

The cost is simply too high.

That is why, ever since Nanping Liao accepted the marriage alliance with Southern Liang and rebelled against Su Ze, life has become increasingly difficult.

Many Liao tribes finally surrendered to Hou Jing, moved from the mountains to the foot of the mountains, and accepted his registration as citizens.

After receiving this news, Chen Baxian felt a little envious of Hou Jing.

He was amazed at the efficiency of the entire Guanzhong area and Su Ze's trust in Hou Jing.

His superior, Wang Sengbian, had his troops stationed in Baidi City. Although he was the favorite general of Prince Xiao Yi, he still had to do various self-degrading acts in the face of his suspicious superior.

What's even worse is that since discovering that Yizhou had started building ships, Wang Sengbian also wrote to Xiao Yi, hoping to build ships in Baidi City, but he has not received Xiao Yi's support.

As the Crown Prince's health has deteriorated since this year, the fight for the throne has entered a new stage.

Xiao Yi also announced the establishment of a literary institute in Jingzhou, and compiled the "Wenxuan" in imitation of his brother. He also announced that he would compile a sub-book of "Jinlouzi".

The so-called "zishu" are miscellaneous books similar to "Lüshi Chunqiu" and "Huainanzi". They are basically notes and random thoughts, but this kind of book is often very complicated and very difficult to compile.

The main reason was that Jingzhou already had a navy, and Xiao Yi felt that it was useless to build more warships in Baidi City. He also did not believe that Hou Jing's hastily built navy could capture Baidi City.

The slow and inefficient decision-making within the Southern Liang Dynasty, and the buck-passing between the court and local governments, all made Chen Baxian feel disheartened.

When will I be able to use my skills like Hou Jing, who can be fully trusted?
Chen Baxian shook his head. The Southern Liang Dynasty had long emphasized civil officials over military officials. Although some legendary generals emerged, civil officials were still superior to military officials.

After taking a look at Princess Yongxing, Chen Baxian was exhausted both physically and mentally. He decided to send this ancestor to marry first.

(End of this chapter)