007:Winning over teenagers

"Hey, Sima Liu hasn't left yet?" Mi Huang walked out of Pan Garden and saw Liu Qia from a distance, and said in surprise.

"I'm waiting to return with the governor." Liu Qia smiled.

Mi Huang also smiled and said, "Let's go."

There were more than ten followers behind him, all of whom were low-level officials of the Sikong Shogunate. They were all smart people, so they naturally knew that Liu Qia had something to discuss with the governor, so they subconsciously slowed down their pace and fell behind.

"Have you been watching the troops just now?" Mi Huang asked, looking at the soldiers who were withdrawing their troops back to the camp.

"I took a quick look." Liu Qia said.

"How is it?"

"These are all brought by you and me along the way, what do you think?"

Mi Huang shook his head and smiled bitterly, then asked again without giving up: "It has been a while since the training, but there is no improvement?"

Liu Qia sighed and said, "The foundation is too poor, how much can be improved? If I have to say, only the team led by the team leader Yang Bao looks good and has some form. If they are polished well, they may be of great use in the future."

"Yang Bao..." Mi Huang muttered twice and said, "It's late today. I'll come and see what Yang Bao is like in a few days."

"Leaving luoyang again?" Liu Qia's evil plan was successful, and he was secretly happy, so he immediately started the next step.

"Yes, I'm very busy." Mi Huang smiled bitterly and said, "Go to a few neighboring counties to recruit talents for the Minister of Works."

Liu Qia was a little jealous.

Mi Huang's family background was not high, but he was a native of Sikong Fengguo, which made up for the defect of his origin.

He was also a native of Donghai, but he had no origin. If he had not entered the palace very early, he would not be able to compare with Mi Huang at all.

Comparing people is so annoying.

"The supervisor leaves Luoyang every other day, what should we do with Pan Farm?" Liu Qia pretended to hesitate.

"What should we do?" Mi Huang was stunned, but quickly reacted and said, "Actually, I really don't want to be the flag owner, but there is no way, I can only take on the job. Before leaving, the prime minister told me that everything about Pan Garden will be decided by the princess. If the princess wants to find someone to manage the flag soldiers, then let her do it, and I will have less worries."

"This..." Liu Qia was shocked and said, "I'm afraid it's not appropriate? The servants around the princess are good at managing the fields and the financial transactions, but they are not good at managing the soldiers, right?"

Mi Huang nodded and said, "That's true. I am also the leader of the flag. Let the leaders of each team decide on their own military affairs. I will step down when I find a suitable candidate."

"Military affairs cannot be neglected for a moment." Liu Qia shook his head and said, "When the commander is away, it is best to have someone take charge."

"Oh?" Mi Huang glanced at Liu Qia and had some guesses in his mind, so he asked, "What good ideas does Sima Liu have?"

Liu Qia knew he was a little anxious, but he still said: "Perhaps we can appoint a DuBo to be in charge of military discipline and training. In this way, when the DuBo is away, the soldiers will not neglect their skills."

"Haha." Mi Huang smiled and said: "Sima Liu, I will tell you the truth. You and I know what these banner soldiers look like, and so does the Prime Minister. He has long given up hope on these people, and now he didn't send them home, purely out of face, not wanting to make it too embarrassing. DuBo, haha, the old are old, the young are young, even if they train until the end of time, what can they look like?"

"General, you are wrong." Liu Qia said, "You are not unaware of the situation in Luoyang. The central army is ambiguous and is standing by. The Qi Wang Jiong is powerful, and only the Changsha Wang can compete with him. The Sikong has no soldiers and no power. At this moment, even if there are only one or two hundred soldiers who can fight, it is very important to the Sikong." 

Mi Huang stopped walking after hearing this, and after a moment of silence, he slowly nodded and said, "You have a point."

Then he seemed to suddenly think of something and asked, "Among the 40 guards around Shao Xun before, there was a man named Shao Xun, who was extremely brave and skilled. You and I have seen him. How does he lead the troops?"

Liu Qia suddenly frowned and said, "I vaguely heard that he has adopted many sons and secretly made friends with young men. I wonder what he wants to do?"

"Is this true?" Mi Huang was a little surprised.

"It's just a rumor. I don't know if it's true." Liu Qia said expressionlessly.

Mi Huang looked at him suspiciously, thought for a moment, and said, "Forget it, I don't have time to check. Let the princess know about this, and we'll deal with it when we get back."

Liu Qia's heart skipped a beat. If the matter was reported to the princess, it would become complicated. But he had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Have you found out any news in Luoyang these days?" Mi Huang continued to move forward and asked casually.

"Luoyang..." Liu Qia's face really showed a lot of sorrow, and even a little fear. He only heard him say, "I'm afraid they're going to take action."

Mi Huang's heart skipped a beat, and he almost stumbled.

****** ******

After entering the twelfth lunar month, the Chinese New Year is not far away.

But there is no Chinese New Year atmosphere in Luoyang, not at all.

The nobles in the city finally couldn't sit still. When they couldn't or didn't want to leave Luoyang, sending their families and children out of the city in advance seemed to be a good choice.

The days in Pan Farm were still plain, and there was nothing much to say. But this so-called plainness was particularly precious under the tense situation.

Every day was precious, and there was no excuse to waste it.

This month, it was Shao Xun's team's turn to guard the interior of the house, mainly the backyard.

They replaced the old soldiers who were once described by Mi Huang as only "warning thieves" - real old soldiers, generally over 60 years old.

Fifty young men, armed with equipment, followed the rules and assigned sentries in various places.

Shao Xun carefully checked it and was quite satisfied.

Regardless of their fighting ability, in terms of obedience, these young men are really good.

He has dealt with all the troublemakers who dared to say strange things, and they are very honest.

Even the young men who have not been dealt with have seen the heroic figure of the team leader easily defeating the brave warriors of the neighboring team on the training ground. There are more than 400 people in the whole team, and it seems that there is no opponent for him...

What else can you say! If you don't want to be whipped, just obey the military order strictly.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, several ox carts drove into Pan Farm.

The princess, who had not been seen for a long time, was making tea in the backyard.

There were two female relatives who came, both from the Hedong Pei family. One was the daughter of the late cousin Pei Zan, the niece of the princess, and the other was the princess's sister, the wife of Bian Hu.

The three female relatives drank tea and enjoyed the snow, which was quite pleasant. As they chatted, they talked about the niece's marriage.

"Nu Nu is fourteen years old, right? She can get married in a year or so." Concubine Pei looked at her niece carefully and said with a smile: "She is beautiful, but I don't know which family has such luck."

It would have been better if she didn't say this, but as soon as she said it, she saw her niece lower her head and kept silent.

Pei Wan, the wife of Bian Hu, explained softly: "Sister, you don't know, the clan has decided to marry Nu Nu."

"How to marry her?" Concubine Pei asked with some surprise.

"The current situation is chaotic, so it's better to choose a fortress lord to marry and have a strong support." Pei Wan said.

Concubine Pei frowned.

Actually, this is not incomprehensible.

A strong fortress lord can easily raise a team of several thousand people. If he takes the opportunity to absorb refugees, he can get tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

We really can't look at it with old eyes.

If the country is peaceful and the people are safe, the fortress lord is just a dog, easy to kill, and not worth the old aristocratic families to look at. But what time is it now? The Sima family is killing each other, fighting wars one after another, the country is in turmoil, refugees are rising, and the Hu people are still ready to move. It looks like the end of the world!

In such a situation, the value of the fortress lord is greatly increased, and it can even save lives at critical moments.

"Nu Nu, what do you think? If you don't want to, auntie will speak for you." In fact, Concubine Pei also thought that this was a good choice, but she still wanted to hear her niece's opinion.

If she really didn't want to, she didn't mind arguing with her cousins ​​and persuading them to give up this idea.

She had already sacrificed once for the Pei family and married into the Donghai Palace, and she didn't want to see her niece like this.

Hearing this, Nu Nu suddenly raised her head, her expression was quite moved.

In her girlish fantasy, of course, it would be best to choose a handsome and elegant son of a noble family. After marriage, she can play the piano and dance, and her husband can write poems and essays. In their spare time, they can go outings and meet friends together.

This is probably her most beautiful fantasy, not marrying a vulgar fortress lord.

But - after being moved for a while, her eyes dimmed again.

She has been living a life of luxury since she was a child, received the best education, and grew up without illness or disaster under all kinds of care. She is much luckier than ordinary people.

She can't be so selfish. If the family needs it, even if she marries a barbarian, she has no right to refuse.

"No... no need..." Nu Nu shed tears and said, "There's nothing wrong with marrying a fortress lord. My family will always choose a fortress lord with a good family background for me..."

Pei Fei sighed inaudibly, not knowing whether it was for her niece or for herself.

The situation was like this, and it affected everyone. Even the aristocratic families were a little helpless.

Pei Wan also looked a little sad.

Who hasn't had a girl's fantasy when they were young? Who hasn't had someone they secretly like? But so what?

In this situation, if you want to support the family's wealth, everyone has to pay and sacrifice.

The situation in Luoyang can no longer be described as undercurrents, it can be said to be on the verge of breaking out.

Some people who smelled the wind even fled with their families.

For example, Gu Rong, Zhang Han and others often talked about Jiangdong cuisine and wanted to go back.

Another example is Yingchuan Yu Gun, who fled to the mountains with his wife and children to avoid disaster a while ago.

In the outside world, Sima Yong, the King of Hejian (the governor of Guanzhong), Sima Ying, the King of Chengdu (the governor of Jizhou), Sima Xin, the King of Xinye (the governor of Jingzhou), Sima Hu, the King of Fanyang (the governor of Yuzhou), and others submitted petitions to dismiss Sima Jiong.

They did not just submit a petition and engage in verbal battles, but launched a serious military threat.

Among them, Sima Yong, the King of Hejian, was the most active. He sent Li Han as the governor and led 20,000 vanguards from Chang'an to Luoyang. He himself recruited more than 100,000 soldiers in Guanzhong as a reserve.

Yecheng also recruited soldiers, even Xiongnu, Jie people, and Xianbei soldiers to help in the war, and continued to put pressure on Luoyang.

In such a situation, the imperial guards did not seem to dare to openly support Sima Jiong. They chose to sit on the sidelines and not get involved, just to see the outcome.

Luoyang is likely to face a large-scale fight.

If the foreign army comes again, no one knows what will happen.

Suddenly, a command was heard in the snow, attracting the attention of the three people.

Concubine Pei took a look and found that it was the soldiers guarding the backyard who were changing shifts.

She suddenly remembered something, so she called the servant and gave him some instructions.

The servant left quickly.

Concubine Pei collected her thoughts and continued to chat with her sister and niece.