Chinese New Year

Chapter 1412 Three Points
Yuwen Xibaxiong will not leave the capital until February next year.

The Crown Prince summoned him privately once and told him many things. Nothing else mattered; the most important thing was that he was granted Zi Meng Chuan as his fiefdom and bestowed upon him the title of "Marquis of Yong Yi" with a gold seal and purple ribbon.

His heart sank when he heard that.

Zimengchuan was Yuwen Yidougui's old stronghold, a key frontline town that resisted the Murong Xianbei, and was fortified with a city wall. It is said that it was captured by the army of Chancellor Mo Qianhun last September and taken over.

Yi Dougui remains at Rao Le Shui (Zuo Le Shui), facing off against the Prime Minister's troops. Recently, it seems the decline has somewhat halted, and the fighting has become a close contest with both sides gaining and losing ground.

It won't be easy to get Zi Meng Chuan back from Mo Qian Hun.

He could only hope that the Liang Dynasty's influence would still hold, given the dire state of the Murong Xianbei. Accompanied by the imperial envoy, he reclaimed Zimengchuan as his own territory, using his status as the nephew of the former Chanyu Yuwen Qidegui.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong pondered and considered, feeling that there was still hope.

He was not alone. In fact, when he went south as a hostage eleven years ago, he brought with him "five hundred fine horses, a thousand chariots, and several thousand soldiers and civilians".

The problem is that it is difficult to gather these 5,000 men, women, and children in a short period of time.

In the first few years, they were scattered and settled in Runan, Liyang, and Bianliang for grazing. Later, they were moved to Qiao County for grazing for two years, and in recent years they have been farming and herding in the Wangwu Mountain and Heqing area.

Although he had servants to manage his daily affairs, it was hard to say how many of them were willing to leave with him after his long-term contact with the Liang Dynasty government.

He didn't expect to take all these people with him, but he needed to recruit at least a few hundred able-bodied men. Without his own people, he would be at the mercy of others even if he went to Zimengchuan.

As for Yuwen Yidougui, who usurped his position, the emperor clearly no longer intended to make him the Chanyu.

Among the Xianbei tribes, Tuoba Shiyijian was the first to be stripped of his title of Chanyu, followed by Murong Huang, and now it's Yuwen Yidougui's turn. It remains to be seen whether he will make any strong reaction.

According to Liang Ting's opinion, the existing fait accompli of the Yuwen Twelve Tribes should be acknowledged, with Yuwen Yidou appointed as the Marquis of Suyi, the Chancellor Mo Qianhun as the Marquis of Guoyi, and himself as the Marquis of Yongyi, with each of the three ruling a territory.

He resided in the south, with Liang Ting at his back, while Mo Qianhun and Yi Dougui resided in the north, facing each other from east to west.

In this way, Yuwen will be divided into three.

Can we blame Liang Ting? Actually, we can't really blame him.

First, during the Tai'an era of Emperor Hui of Jin, the Chanyu Yuwen Mogui attacked Murong Hui, suffering heavy losses, with more than 20,000 people killed, wounded, or captured.

Then came the Shengui era, when the three families besieged the Murong clan and suffered a crushing defeat. The Chanyu Yuwen Xiduguan (son of Mo Gui) fled alone, and after gathering the scattered survivors, he lost more than half of his forces.

Finally, during the reign of Chanyu Yuwen Qidegui (son of Xiduguan), the Murong Xianbei suffered many crushing defeats, allowing them to move freely as if they were in an empty land. After several battles, they lost tens of thousands of people and more than a million cattle and sheep, and even demolished several cities.

With three consecutive Chanyus being this incompetent, Yuwen Xibaxiong thought to himself that if he were in their shoes, he would probably rebel as well.

This internal strife, on the surface, stemmed from unequal distribution of resources after the attack on the Murong Xianbei, but in reality, it was caused by the accumulation of long-term contradictions.

To put it bluntly, the Chanyu's prestige was too low, and more and more influential people dared to criticize and berate him to his face.

As a result, division was inevitable, which finally gave Liang Ting an opportunity.

He sighed inwardly, his excitement slowly fading, and he even began to doubt whether returning to the grasslands was the right decision.

He's currently the Crown Prince's servant. If he patiently waits for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, as a senior member of the Eastern Palace, it's not impossible for him to become the Minister of the Imperial Stud. How many people in the world can become one of the nine ministers of a country?

But then he reaffirmed his belief that staying away from trouble was the right thing to do. Would the crown prince be able to ascend the throne smoothly? Nobody could say for sure.

******
In the last two days before the Lunar New Year, Yuwen Xibaxiong returned to Luoyang via the pontoon bridge of the three cities of Heyang.

The pontoon bridges in the three cities of Heyang underwent a major overhaul in the autumn.

It is said that the best timber, which had been dried in the shade for several years in Poyang County, was used to build boats locally, which were then transported north to the Yellow River and assembled into a pontoon bridge.

There is also a ferry at Heyang Third Bridge, but it only plays a supporting role. Most travelers still use the pontoon bridge to travel north and south. It is busy with traffic all day long, and it needs to be repaired.

The imperial court even specially assigned ten shipwrights to inspect the pontoon bridge for damage and carry out regular repairs.

This also shows that after the world was at peace, everything got back on track, and the lives of the people in Henan and Hebei were getting better and better—the increasingly prosperous commerce is the best proof of this.

The Honglu Temple Hotel outside the Daxia Gate in the north of the city is already full of envoys from all over the country.

When Yuwen Xiba Xiong stopped for lunch, he even met Gao Wu, the younger brother of the King of Goguryeo.

Yes, the New Year's Day is approaching. After being humiliated, Goguryeo has chosen to submit—perhaps temporarily—and it would be unreasonable for them not to send someone to attend the court assembly.

Although the Yuwen and Goguryeo families had jointly attacked Murong Hui, that was twenty years ago. Xiba Xiong and Gao Wu had not participated and did not know each other. They only glanced at each other before going about their own business.

Gao Wu was surrounded by a group of his subordinates, who were speaking in the local Goguryeo language.

A man standing nearby, who appeared to be an official from the Court of State Ceremonial, immediately became displeased. "I brought you here to eat and stay, and you're still avoiding speaking to me?" he said, and coughed.

Gao Wu realized what was happening, so he switched to Xia Yan and said, "After the spring planting next year, each of the five tribes will send two hundred elite troops, totaling one thousand people. They will arrive here no later than the beginning of July and be handed over to the superior country for training."

"Two hundred men are still within our means. Is this a prelude to war?" a member of the accompanying nobleman asked.

"Are we going to fight in the former territory of Jin? Our people can't stand the heat."

"I heard that after assembling in Luoyang, they will head to Liangzhou for training." Yuwen Xibaxiong ate the last piece of broken bread with the vegetable soup without saying anything.

Coincidentally, before leaving Luoyang, he heard that the Banshan barbarians of Brazil were going to send two thousand skilled crossbowmen to Tianshui in early July of the following year, and then head to Liangzhou for training.

According to a familiar official from the Ministry of War, the emperor specifically requested that the selection be meticulous, not just filled by mediocre soldiers. The chosen personnel must be highly skilled crossbowmen, equipped with both bronze and flammable crossbows. The reason was that the western expedition "did not support idle men"; if the elite troops ate so much food, the weaker troops would also need just as much, so it was better to draw upon the best soldiers.

The Banshun barbarians of Shu have all sent troops; can the Yuwen Xianbei escape? They will certainly muster their strongest soldiers. Once the soldiers arrive in the Central Plains, those who are not up to standard may be sent back, or even reprimanded and punished.

After the accounting was completed, Yuwen Xiba Xiong prepared to leave. Just then, an official in green robes hurriedly entered, glanced around, and quickly approached Gao Wu, whispering something to him.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong deliberately passed by and only heard words like "Consort Zhou," "pleading," "pity," and "attendance." He then glanced at Gao Wu's face out of the corner of his eye, which was a mixture of gratitude, flattery, and a trace of humiliation.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong immediately understood, glanced at Gao Wu with pity, and left.

The attendants, who had just finished eating a few dry biscuits while huddled outside the hotel wall, came up to greet Xiba Xiong.

Xiba Xiong waved his hand and said, "It's getting dark, let's go into the city."

Everyone mounted their horses and sped away.

******
For many people, the first month of the sixth year of Zhenming (339) was all about eating and drinking, and Yuwen Xibaxiong was no exception.

On the sixth day, he was invited by Chen Kui, the Crown Prince's steward, to a banquet at the mansion.

There were quite a few people who came together, including not only his colleagues from the Crown Prince's palace, but also some scholars from Henan and Guanzhong.

Strangely, I didn't see many people from Youzhou.

Chen Kui was in a bad mood because he was being transferred to a post outside the capital, and it was said that he would only be given the position of prefect.

Anyone else would have been celebrating their appointment as governor, but Chen Kui was different. After leaving the Eastern Palace, he faded from the center of power.

"The Lu family is gaining power day by day, and we old folks are suffering terribly. What can we do? What can we do!" Chen Kui had drunk a lot of wine and was at home, so his mind was already muddled, and he dared to say anything.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong thought to himself that leaving the Eastern Palace was indeed the right thing to do.

The people of Yingchuan have been spoiled; they haven't suffered much since the late Jin Dynasty and take everything for granted. Little do they know that if the emperor had started his reign in a different place, such as Nanyang, he could have succeeded just as well.

He just happened to take advantage of the scholars of Yingchuan. Although there are many powerful families in Nanyang, there are none that are too strong. The emperor has swallowed his pride to marry Consort Yue. What business is it of yours? However—that would mean that Prince Qi would become the crown prince. Yuwen Xibaxiong felt that this was a bit inappropriate.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong silently drank his wine, noticing that neither the Left Guard Commander Yuan Xi nor the Right Guard Commander Liu Da had come.

Yuanxi was a veteran general, fierce, loyal, and taciturn.

Liu Da is witty and humorous, but he is also very tactful.

Neither of these two came, so they obviously couldn't get involved with Chen Kui and the others.

Huan Xuan, the Junior Attendant, did not come. He was formerly the Prefect of Qiao Commandery, where he defended the Huai River with the strength of the entire commandery and fought the Wu army to a standstill, preventing them from gaining too much advantage. He was clearly capable.

The commander Jin Guan did not arrive. He was an expert in cavalry, having been in battle since he was fourteen or fifteen, and possessed extremely rich combat experience.

Neither Yang Wu, the Crown Prince's attendant, nor Yao Yisheng came. The former was the Crown Princess's man, and the latter might have also sided with the Crown Princess.

The Crown Prince's scholar, Jing Bo, has arrived. He failed the Four Classics exam last year; it's unclear if he'll be able to take it next year. Hmm, he seems a bit distracted; he's actually secretly watching me.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong raised his wine cup to toast him.

Jing Bo returned the toast and drank it all in one gulp.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong pondered inwardly. The Jing Bo family was originally just a wealthy commoner. Although they are now among the gentry, their foundation is very shallow. They are nouveau riche who rose to power by following the emperor and are not easily regarded by the established gentry.

However, he is from Xingyang, which is very close to Yingchuan, so it makes sense that he was courted.

However, he followed the path of taking the imperial examinations, which was different from most scholars in Yingchuan. I heard that the Crown Prince admired him quite a bit, which is probably the main reason why Jing Bo was invited.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong sighed inwardly; these people were truly incompetent.

In his eyes, only Feng Yiren Yu Zun and Fu Fengren Lu Shang were relatively capable, as they were both shrewd and managed all kinds of government affairs in an orderly manner.

The new tutor of the crown prince, Guanqiusi, who arrived two years ago, is also quite good. After a year of getting to know him, I found that he is very talented in writing and meticulous in his thinking when writing official documents. He can remind the crown prince of some mistakes and omissions from time to time and even improve the drafts. Considering that he is only twenty-seven years old, he is quite capable.

That's about it.

"After I'm gone, you don't need to worry about me. The pine trees, the moon, the forest, and the springs are what I love too..." Chen Kui slammed his hand on the table and sighed.

Yuwen Xiba Xiong found it uninteresting and left halfway through the drinking session, citing other business.

When he left the Chen residence, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Some wealth and honor are destined not to be his; perhaps Zi Mengchuan is his future.

Given the current situation, we'll just have to take it one step at a time.

(End of this chapter)