Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4461 Shandong Children
Inside Song Guogong's mansion, Xiao Yu and Cui Xin were sitting opposite each other in the flower hall. Outside the window, the drizzle was drizzling and the cool breeze was blowing, and the two looked sad.

Cui Xin's face was haggard, and he couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty only allowed the two of us to return to our original places, and we were not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the court. However, tens of thousands of Shandong children are now captured in the six-lead military camp of the Eastern Palace. There is no definite conclusion on whether to kill or release, prisoner or relocate. Why? If I were to return to Shandong alone, how would I face the elders in Shandong?"

At the beginning, the Shandong aristocratic family raised [-] private troops, carrying countless supplies of food and supplies, and gathered in Tongguan in a mighty manner, vowing to support the king of Jin to fight for the world and ascend to the throne.

If you lose, you lose, and you are willing to gamble and admit defeat. It is not that the Shandong family has never experienced such a disastrous defeat, but if the tens of thousands of Shandong children who survived cannot be brought back to Shandong to return to their respective families, how will they explain to each Shandong family?
When walking on the road, if an old farmer stopped the carriage and asked him why he returned home alone but did not bring his son back, how would he answer?

If he couldn't bring tens of thousands of Shandong children back to Shandong, he might as well kill himself in Chang'an, lest he go back to Shandong and suffer humiliation...

Xiao Yu was also full of worries and irritability. This time King Jin's military remonstrance, he can be regarded as the "prime crime", but His Majesty let him off lightly, and only let him retire, not even dropping his title, which is obviously very unusual.

After thinking about it, the only explanation is that His Majesty needs a stable Jiangnan, and the upcoming measurement of the fields is very likely to cause dissatisfaction among the gentry in Jiangnan and cause turmoil. Let this old bone of his return to Jiangnan to "use the remaining heat" and not add chaos to the court.

But the question is why did the imperial court measure the fields?
Is it really just Li Chengqian who is so happy?
He always felt that there was a deeper plan behind this matter, but he couldn't figure out that even if all the fields in the world were measured, the aristocratic families would no longer be able to hide the land. What good would this do for the court?
Distraught, he heard Cui Xin's question and comforted him: "Your Majesty is not a murderer, otherwise why would you and I retreat? Even Yu Chigong didn't implicate the family, which shows his benevolence. There are tens of thousands of Shandong private soldiers captured. No matter how tyrannical the king is, he can't kill them all, otherwise he will inevitably suffer the whole world's criticism and backlash."

Cui Xin said anxiously: "Your Majesty will naturally order all of them to be murdered, but if these Shandong children are relocated to Mobei, Western Regions and other frontier places to reclaim land, what is the difference from murder?"

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the political situation was generally stable, all industries flourished, and the weather was smooth for many years. The agriculture that had been hit hard at the end of the Sui Dynasty gradually recovered, and because the Royal Navy purchased a large amount of rice from Southeast Asian countries and imported it into the country, the food was abundant and the population gradually increased.

But despite this, compared to the vast territory, the population is still too sparse, especially in the frontiers where the land is barren, the climate is harsh, and there are occasional Hu tribe invaders, resulting in many lands being desolate and abandoned.

The land without a population is a "land". Today it belongs to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but once the situation changes, it will be easily abandoned. Therefore, it is inevitable to relocate the population to the frontier. If these tens of thousands of Shandong children are sent to the frontier, at least one county will be added. This represents the achievements of officials, the power of the empire, and the honor of your majesty. But for Shandong children, it represents a catastrophe...

Xiao Yu felt that Cui Xinzhi's words were reasonable, but he could do nothing about it. After thinking for a while, he said, "I can't do anything about this matter. It's better for Cui Gong to go to Liang Guogong's mansion and meet Fang Jun to inquire about it."

The implication is that if you want to bring these tens of thousands of children back to Shandong, Fang Jun is the only one who can do this.

Of course, if you want Fang Jun to go to His Majesty to talk about this matter, no matter whether it succeeds or not, you have to pay a huge price to feed him...

Cui Xin was speechless, and he could understand Xiao Yu's unfinished meaning, but the problem was that Fang Jun was as rich as an enemy, and he was the most powerful official in the dynasty. Even Li Ji had to give way, what price would he have to pay to impress Fang Jun?
You can't learn from Xiao Yu and send Cui's daughter as a concubine to Fang Jun, right?
Regardless of what he did, Mrs. Cui would become the laughingstock of the world. The key is that Fang Jun's son is not purely lustful. He likes a princess, a wife and sister, and a sister-in-law. Where can I get him one?
Temporarily suppressing the restlessness in his heart, he asked again: "What is Song Guogong's opinion on the matter of the imperial court measuring the land?"

Xiao Yu frowned: "I'm afraid this matter is not as simple as it seems, His Majesty must have a plan."

Cui Xin nodded in agreement, and said: "If it's not good, it's Fang Jun's bad idea..."

Although I don't know what his ultimate plan is, but one thing is certain: it must be aimed at the aristocratic family.

This kind of feeling that you know that someone is doing you bad things, but you don't know how to deal with it, is really too bad...

Xiao Yu intends to ignore the matter of Cui Xin, but no matter what, Jiangnan and Shandong are now grasshoppers on the same rope. Under the situation of greatly weakened strength, the only way to resist the endless malice of the imperial court is to form a group.

Then he sighed and said, "Anyway, the Xiao family and Fang Jun are also considered in-laws. I will accompany you to Liang Guogong's mansion tonight to test Fang Jun's tone. But you have to be prepared and think about how to persuade him."

Cui Xin nodded heavily.

Xiao Yu continued: "Cui Dunli is now Minister of the Ministry of War, and even a confidant of His Majesty. Although he is not as good as Fang Jun, he is still considered an upstart in the court. If he is there to help fuel the flames, there will be more hope for the Shandong children to return to Shandong."

When Cui Dunli was mentioned, Cui Xin sighed again.

Today, the Shandong aristocratic family has lost a lot in the process of chasing the power of the court. Not only was it unable to push Zhang Xingcheng to a higher position, but it was implicated and gradually marginalized. The adjustment of the court officials was even ordered to resign...

Cui Dunli is the only member of the Shandong family who can aspire to the title of six ministers. He was supposed to be the strong support of the Shandong family in the court, but because of the inexplicable death of his elder brother, he turned against the Shandong family.

Under such circumstances, how could Cui Dunli be expected to contribute?

Xiao Yu reminded: "I don't know what old grievances there are between you, but anyway, Cui Dunli was born in Shandong. No matter what step he takes, he can't wash away the blood of Shandong children. If he sits on the sidelines of tens of thousands of Shandong children, life and death are unpredictable, what will the world think of him? As long as he grasps this point, it is not difficult for Cui Dunli to contribute. He is the minister of the Ministry of War, and he has the right to speak on how to deal with the prisoners. At least he can directly write to His Majesty. , the weight is heavy."

Even if Cui Dunli has enmity with all the Patriarchs of the Shandong family, one cannot ignore the life and death of those Shandong children, right?Since you are from the Cui family of Qinghe, you are connected by blood. How can a person who doesn't even care about blood relationship be loyal to the king, filial to his parents, and righteous to his friends?

In short, moral kidnapping...

……

Therefore, when Cui Xin came to visit, although Cui Dunli wished he could not let him in, he still had to see him.

In the main hall, Cui Dunli drank tea with drooping eyelids. He didn't have much respect for Cui Xin, the leader of the Shandong family. He put down his teacup and said calmly, "It's not because I don't want to do it. I really can't help it. You'd better ask another wise man."

Cui Xin was also not annoyed by Cui Dunli's attitude, and sighed: "You can ignore this matter if you don't want to. If His Majesty sends tens of thousands of Shandong children to the frontier, you will have to bear the blame. After all, you are a child of the Qinghe Cui family and a member of the Shandong family. It is duty-bound to save the Shandong children."

"boom!"

Cui Dunli slapped the table fiercely and glared at each other: "You actually want to use such despicable means to threaten me. The Shandong family has inherited poems and books for thousands of years, but now they are so shameless and shameless, thanks to you and other stupid old people! Now you recognize me as a child of Shandong? What do you think when the elder brother who murdered me wants to blame others? You can use the lives of Shandong children to achieve your ulterior motives, but I can't even stay out of it? This makes sense!"

Being insulted face-to-face by a junior like this, Cui Xin blushed, but now he had to ask for help, but he could only endure it, and said patiently: "The matter has come to this, who is wrong and who is right? As long as you bring these Shandong children back to Shandong, you will be a hero of the Shandong family. From now on, you will be recorded in the genealogy of each family and remembered by generations."

"Ha ha!"

Cui Dunli sneered and remained unmoved: "You are so stupid, you have no regard for the righteousness of your family and country, you brazenly supported King Jin's rebellion and ended up in a crushing defeat, but you still want me to take the risk of offending His Majesty to restore your last bit of dignity..."

After a pause, Cui Dunli continued: "The affairs of the Ministry of War are complicated now, and I have to go back to the Yamen after I have a bite of food, so I don't want to entangle you with you. To tell you the truth, you can't take these Shandong children back, at least within three to five years."

Cui Xin was taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "How does Your Majesty plan to deal with these Shandong children?"

Cui Dunli pondered for a while, and said bluntly: "This matter should not have been leaked, but since you came to the door, I can't ignore it... After returning, cooperate with the court to measure the acres of the fields, and don't get in the way. When the acres of fields are clearly measured and registered, it may be the time for these Shandong children to return."

He doesn't want to take care of this matter, but since Cui Xin has come to the door, it means that he can't stay out of it, otherwise the Japanese will be slandered as a "cold and heartless" family traitor. In this era when reputation is everything, it is enough for him to ruin his bright future.

Besides, although this matter has never been announced to the outside world, it is not considered a secret, and there is nothing wrong with telling it in advance...

Cui Xin was stunned for a while, and asked in doubt: "Is this planning to take these tens of thousands of Shandong disciples as hostages? What is the purpose of the imperial court measuring the acres of fields?"

Cui Dunli didn't want to say any more, and served tea to the guests: "This is His Majesty's order. As a subject, you only need to follow the rules. Why do you ask so much? I will rush back to the yamen of the Ministry of War later. I can't hold a banquet. Please go back."

(End of this chapter)