Chinese New Year

Chapter 1414 Complaint
After the Crown Prince left, Shao Xun stayed obediently in the palace and didn't go anywhere else.

But he knows how to enjoy it.

Amidst the red flowers and green leaves of Tianyuan Pond, there sits a reclining chair, where one can relax when tired. Swaying gently, it's as if all worries simply vanish along with it.

After resting enough, he was too lazy to get up and work. Instead, he had the female official sit aside and read the memorials aloud while he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, occasionally offering some suggestions.

"Henan Prefecture has thirteen counties, 61820 households, and 291051 people. Compared to before, this is not a large number, so only about 1,700 people are willing to migrate."

"According to His Majesty's wishes, most of these thousand-plus people were relocated to Huainan. By the end of the fourth year of Zhenming, the sixteen counties of Huainan, including garrison households and military households, totaled more than 25000 households and more than 100300 people."

Shao Xun seems to have fallen asleep.

Ms. Yuan put down the file, her face showing some resentment.

"What about Lujiang?" Shao Xun asked after a long silence.

“There are more than 19600 households and more than 80400 people in the nine counties of Lujiang,” Yuan Nvzheng said. “This includes 3,000 garrison households and more than 14,000 military households.”

Shao Xun went silent again.

Ms. Yuan checked the file and, after confirming that she hadn't misread it, felt relieved.

The two prefectures of Huainan and Lujiang comprise 25 counties, with a combined population of 180,000. However, the vast majority of these residents migrated there within the last three years, which has significantly altered the local population composition.

Therefore, the imperial court has now begun to relocate people from Henan and Chenliu prefectures to the area, so that there will be more legitimate households in the area.

"Has the King of Chu arrived?" Shao Xun asked again.

"coming."

"Let him come over."

"Yes." Yuan turned and left.

A moment later, a series of footsteps sounded.

"Grandpa." A voice rang out from not far away.

Shao Xun opened his eyes.

Shao Zhen bowed and took his leave.

"Sit down." Shao Xun sat up straight, his previous dejected look gone. He glanced at his respectful son and said, "Badger, would you like to go for a walk?"

"I will obey your orders, Father." Shao Gui's feelings were complicated when he heard this.

At thirty years old, I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.

“You used to be the Deputy Director of Water Conservancy, and now there’s a vacancy, so you can take over. You’re familiar with the place,” Shao Xun said. “Go to Shaopi and supervise the dike repairs.”

"Yes," Shao Gui replied.

"Don't rush to agree, there are other things to do," Shao Xun said. "Also, take on the post of Inspector of Huainan, and carefully investigate the matters of military farming and reform of customs in the various prefectures of Huainan. However, do not interfere in local affairs, just observe without speaking, and submit a report."

"Yes," Shao Gui replied again.

This "Huainan" certainly doesn't refer to just Huainan Prefecture, but rather to all areas south of the Huai River and north of the Yangtze River. The specific scope will depend on the edict drafted by the Secretariat.

"Don't overwork yourself," Shao Xun added. "You can set up your office in Shouchun and leave the general affairs to your subordinates. The Revenue Department will give you three thousand bolts of silk, and the Imperial Household Department will give you another two thousand. Take them to Huainan and spend them as you see fit. The Prince's Guards haven't all been disbanded, have they?"

"Half of it has scattered."

"Where did they go?"

"They originally had a hundred armored cavalrymen, but after they were disbanded, they were destitute. Later, I heard that Xianyu Qu led them to join his third brother's tutelage."

"Xianyu Qu?" Shao Xun recalled that this man was originally a friend of the King of Chu. He had heard that he had resigned from his post a long time ago, but now it seemed that things were not so simple.

Where did Nianliu settle them?

“My third brother has an estate and workshops in Handan, so he should be settled there.”

Shao Xun grunted in response, surprisingly not taking it to Shuozhou.

Xue's army is indeed formidable, but a hundred armored cavalrymen are no pushovers; it's surprising they were willing to leave them in Handan.

“Very well, you can recruit again,” Shao Xun said. “Allocate another thousand bolts of silk and recruit five hundred new soldiers. Choose from the sons of the Imperial Guards and the local militia and take them to Shouchun.”

"Yes."

Do you know why your grandfather sent you to investigate matters related to land reclamation and reform?

"I don't know."

Shao Xun choked, then laughed and scolded after a moment: "If it weren't for Consort Pei saying that you are good at handling complicated matters, I really wouldn't want to give you this opportunity. Figure it out for yourself."

After that, he waved his hand.

Shao Gui bowed and took his leave.

Shao Xun silently watched his son's retreating figure and sighed softly.

He quickly lay back down, letting his thoughts wander.

When Dalang was serving as the governor of Youzhou, he dredged the river last autumn, but only scratched the surface. This spring, he seized the time to repair the Piaoyujin River and properly restored this coastal area.

Overall, it was decent but nothing particularly outstanding, though there were no major mistakes either. I heard the business is booming, so clearly their minds are elsewhere; they're probably planning for the future.

Last winter, Sanlang surveyed several large salt ponds in Shuozhou and registered them. This year, merchants from Guanzhong should come to purchase them, creating competition with Hedong salt. If all goes well, he should be able to collect a considerable amount of silk through this.

Lingzhou has been permitted to open markets for trading goods from the Western Regions.

The third son is good at this; he runs his business in an orderly manner and is quite adept at financial planning. In peaceful times, he would actually be a very good civil affairs official.

The fourth brother is still in Xiuyan. It should be snowing heavily right now; I wonder if he's managed to get a heated kang bed.

The eleven counties of Liaodong have a population of over 150,000, which is quite a large number. What they need now is time to settle down and solidify their foundation. Before the New Year, he wrote a letter home, inquiring about his mother and requesting that several martial arts students be sent to him.

Shao Xun agreed. Such talented individuals, skilled in both civil and military affairs, could be placed in the army or used as grassroots officials, which would significantly improve the governance level of Liaodong Kingdom—while military students' ability to govern local areas might not be strong, they were still better than illiterate bumpkins, right?

Goro came back for the New Year, and then went to Kansai again after the New Year.

Last year, we inspected the mansions and armories in Yongzhou. Now we're heading towards Qinzhou and Hezhou, taking inventory and making records as we go.

Zhuge Hui was extremely nervous and specially dispatched three thousand infantry and cavalry, along with several hundred soldiers from the Han Prince's mansion, to ensure Wu Lang's safety.

The seventh to the tenth sons all trained in the Shaofu Garden, so there's not much to say about them; they're still a bit immature.

Now the second son has also been sent out...

Everything is under control.

As Shao Xun pondered this, he felt a great sense of peace and gradually fell asleep.

******
At the end of February, the post road from Shangdang to Hanoi was bustling with people, livestock, and carts.

The newly appointed magistrate of Chungu County, Peng Ling, the deputy commander of the Black Spear Left Camp, led several hundred men to clear the way, gathering the chaotic crowd together and closely monitoring them, allowing the prince's entourage to pass smoothly.

Among the crowd was a man dressed in silk robes who appeared to be a wealthy man. He wanted to strike up a conversation with Peng Ling, but was stopped by the soldiers guarding the perimeter.

Vice Governor Peng is now quite powerful; the Peng family has risen rapidly in Hanoi and is well-known far and wide.

In the first month of the lunar calendar, General Peng's eldest son married a neighbor's daughter, surnamed Zhang, which caused quite a stir.

Marrying the neighbor's daughter might not seem like a big deal. But the Zhang family had a famous ancestor: Zhang Chunhua, wife of Sima Yi, was a high-ranking official in the Later Han Dynasty, whose family had produced two generations of high-ranking officials. Her marriage to the Peng family, who came from humble backgrounds, had a surprisingly significant impact.

The rise of the Peng family is a living example of a military man turning his life around. Together with Feng Bazhi, the "legendary commander of the troops" in Chenliu, one in the north and one in the south, they can be regarded as two great models.

The power of role models is boundless; they inspire one warrior after another to fight bravely and strive for wealth and honor.

Unfortunately, such opportunities are rapidly diminishing, as there are no more battles to fight. Therefore, currying favor with the crown prince seems to have become the alternative…

The thousands of soldiers of the Black Spear Left Camp were very dedicated, and their military might and morale were high along the way, which pleased the Crown Prince greatly. He got off his carriage several times to march with them.

Within ten days, more than ten soldiers had received rewards from the Crown Prince. Everyone was overjoyed and praised him highly. As a result, the Crown Prince's reputation also rose higher and higher within the Black Spear Left Camp.

On the sixth day of the third month, the caravan stayed overnight in the countryside of Luxian County, where Crown Prince Shao Jin received a letter from Yu Liang, the transport commissioner of Guanzhong.

"Uncle..." Shao Jin smiled wryly after reading it, and then introduced Yingchuan "Junyi" to him.

A song drifted from not far away.

Shao Jin looked up and saw Yuan Zhen walking over, carrying a pheasant in his left hand and a rabbit in his right, humming a folk song.

His mood inexplicably improved a lot; Yuan Zhenzhen was just a child!

"Lizhen, is this for me?" he asked with a smile.

Yuanzhen nodded and said, "Brother, let's eat together."

A warm feeling welled up in Shao Jin's heart, and she said, "I've had enough dry biscuits these past few days, and my mouth feels bland."

“Brother, you are the Crown Prince, you cannot speak so rudely,” Yuan Zhen said with a smile.

"None of your business!" Shao Jin said with a laugh.

After laughing, he straightened his expression and said, "That's right, thank you for reminding me, Fourteenth Brother."

"Is this tiring?" Yuan Zhen asked, tilting his head back as he skillfully gutted the rabbit.

"You'll get used to it." Shao Jin wanted to say that she was very tired, but in the end she didn't say it. She only asked, "Yuanzhen, how is Liangcheng?"

"It's too poor, and the sandstorms are too bad," Yuan Zhen said.

"There has to be something, right? Like a strong horse," Shao Jin said. "I've heard you trade horses with people—"

Shao Jin's words only made things worse, as Yuan Zhen became even more furious and shouted, "The horse isn't fetching a good price; it's being pressured too much. I don't even want to sell it to him anymore."

"Oh? Who dares to lower your price?" Shao Jin rarely joked, saying, "Don't worry, your brother will help you."

Yuan Zhen shook his head and did not answer.

Shao Jin's smile gradually faded; he seemed to have guessed something. But he was still uncertain; Guo Mingrong was an upright man, and shouldn't have gone to such lengths.

Especially after asking around before setting off, Guo De didn't seem to know much about it.

So he tentatively asked, "Lizhen, is that Guo De..."

Yuan Zhen shook his head and said, "It's not Master Guo, but his cousin Guo Gang. He always says that my horses are no good and only pays twenty bolts of silk for each one. After the sale is completed and the horses are transported to the Central Plains, if any of them get sick or die, he will say that I sold him a sick horse and demand that I refund the money."

At this point, Yuan Zhen was genuinely a little angry.

Having been pampered by her father since childhood, she had never suffered such injustice. Now, disregarding everything else, she immediately filed a complaint.

Shao Jin was furious. He instinctively looked for Guo De and suddenly remembered that he had stayed behind at the East Palace and had not come with them.

After calming down a bit, he took a deep breath and said, "Lizhen, your brother will definitely seek justice for you."

He still doesn't believe Guo De would do such a thing, but Guo Gang is his relative, so he can't escape responsibility for oversight.

These good-for-nothings!

Shao Jin's expression shifted between light and shadow. Guo De was a Zhongsheren, a position responsible for writing documents, attending to advice and remonstrance, overseeing memorials, and reviewing and correcting rosters. His rank was comparable to that of Huangmen Shilang, making it a crucial post.

The previous head of the Zhongshe was Xin Zuo, and Guo De was the second. Unexpectedly, two consecutive heads of the Zhongshe were—

He sighed, already subconsciously pondering who his successor would be.

Sheren Yangwu seems quite good...

(End of this chapter)