Chinese New Year

Chapter 1497 Sickness
The Crown Prince returned to Bianliang before the New Year, but left again soon after, much to Yu Wenjun's dismay.

Shao Xun reassured her that he would return to the capital by March or April at the latest, which put the Empress at ease.

During the twelfth lunar month, she heard in the palace that Liang Nu had crossed the Yangtze River southward and arrived in Jianye, where he had been stationed for half a month, receiving a large number of officials. At that time, she was almost scared to death, constantly complaining about why the Crown Prince was so disobedient and insisted on running around everywhere.

Shao Xun was also somewhat worried, but he didn't show it. He simply said that many people had gone south, and none of them had encountered any trouble. Besides, they were only staying in Jianye City, not in the middle of nowhere. It was winter with heavy snow, and it might even be colder than Henan. What was there to worry about? The fact that seal fur sales in Jiangnan exceeded those in Henan already spoke volumes.

The first month of the fourth year of Longhua (345) was very boring. Shao Xun stayed at Lichuntai until late February.

On the one hand, there was really nothing wrong, and on the other hand, he had caught a rather severe cold.

To be honest, he rarely catches a cold in his life. Even if he occasionally feels unwell in the morning, the symptoms usually disappear quickly after practicing martial arts and eating breakfast. But this time, the symptoms didn't subside and lingered for about ten days before he finally recovered.

When he was ill and had nothing to do, he would look through battle reports and letters.

In early December of last year, Sun He, the governor of Jiaozhou, led more than 20,000 troops and fought more than ten battles, capturing three cities and advancing to the outskirts of Dianchong City, the capital of Linyi.

The letter mentioned beheading over 18,000 people, capturing over 7,000, seizing a considerable amount of property, including dozens of elephants, saying that some of them would be transported back to the north so that the people of Luoyang and Bianjing could see something new.

To be honest, Shao Xun wasn't sure if the number of prisoners captured or killed included innocent people being killed to claim credit, but it was probably true. Those old killers were eyeing this opportunity to make money, so they were bound to be extremely ruthless.

The second battle report was dated the first month of the fourth year of the Longhua era.

More than a month later, the army continued to besiege the city.

Dianchong was the old county of Han Dynasty. It was later reinforced and expanded by the people of Linyi. It is now eight zhang high and very sturdy.

The city has a large stockpile of supplies and a large number of troops, making it difficult to attack.

During this period, King Fan Wen of Linyi organized troops to leave the city several times, but they were all repelled, and the morale in the city continued to decline.

So they changed their strategy, offering beautiful women and gold and silver to persuade Sun He to surrender, but Sun He refused.

According to the previous schedule, the third battle report would probably not arrive until March. However, Shao Xun received the victory report from the Jiaozhi camp more than ten days earlier than expected yesterday.

After reading it carefully, I was speechless.

Fan Wen was quite brave; he once personally led his troops out of the city for a night raid, but he was wounded and returned, and then—he died.

Fan Wen's son, Fan Fo, escaped under cover of night under the protection of his personal guards and disappeared without a trace, leaving the entire city's civil and military officials bewildered in the wind. He said he went to Funan to ask for reinforcements, but it was just talk; Funan wouldn't be so foolish as to get involved.

Liang's army poured into Dianchong City around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The battle report did not provide details, but only emphasized that the gold and silver seized were "countless".

Generally speaking, whatever amount was captured is what it is. For example, during the previous campaign against Kucha, "eighty-one ingots of gold" and "four hundred and sixty-nine ingots of silver" were captured, and the data is clear.

Sun He couldn't say for sure; there were only two possibilities: either it was looted and difficult to recover, or it was genuinely hard to count.

Shao Xun speculated that the truth was somewhere in between.

There was indeed looting. Black eyes can't resist the sight of shiny silver. The soldiers endured snakes, insects, and miasma, traveling thousands of miles. It wouldn't be right if they didn't take advantage of the situation. Besides, the Jingzhou soldiers weren't an old unit, so it was normal that they couldn't be controlled. Shao Xun could understand this. In the early Tang Dynasty, when Li Jing defeated Jieli Khan, the treasures in his tent were looted by his soldiers. Li Shimin reprimanded Li Jing for this, but ultimately did not punish him.

It's true that it's difficult to quantify.

The people of Linyi might not have cast gold and silver into ingots of fifty taels each, as they did in Kucha. They might have made them into odd shapes, and some might have even been mixed with handicrafts, making it difficult to calculate their value at the time. This is possible.

After reading the latest battle report, Shao Xun's illness was almost cured.

He planned to issue an edict to handle the aftermath after the report from the military supervisor was delivered together.

******
In early March, Shao Xun arrived at the Dragon Scale Palace.

Two lions, a male and a female, lay lazily in their cage. When they saw Shao Xun approaching, the beasts actually flinched.

Shao Xun chuckled. There was no other reason than that even a lion fears a wicked person.

These two lions were a gift from the Kingdom of Shule, and were said to be the king's most cherished possessions.

Shao Xun was initially intrigued.

This is ancient times! How could I possibly see lions in a "zoo"?

Later, he got bored. The young master would have to spend a lot of money to feed the two beasts during the winter, so he might as well kill them and eat their meat—he had never actually eaten lion meat before.

But the kids like watching it, so let it go and let those two escape with their lives.

The two kingdoms of Shule and Dayuan sent a lot of jade and gold and silver items to us during the New Year this year, showing great respect.

These two countries represent the limit of the Liang Dynasty's expansion in the Western Regions, and their submission is merely nominal. They don't even have troops stationed there, and they could rebel at any time, if they dare to.

The establishment of Yutian Garrison is progressing steadily. Currently, it has more than 1,500 soldiers, and another 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers will be added this year to further enhance the strength of Yutian Garrison.

That's how it is in the Western Regions.

The three prefectures of Gaochang Kingdom are still undergoing in-depth integration, but they are already on the right track. With the help of money, many conflicts have been resolved.

Nianliu wrote back specifically, saying that he would use the royal palace of the Later Cheshi Kingdom as his summer palace, so there was no need to rebuild it. The money and grain saved could be allocated to his elder brother to lay a good foundation for him in Lelang.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Shao Xun officially issued an edict at the end of February, appointing Qi King Shao Zhang as the ruler of Lelang, governing the two prefectures of Lelang and Daifang, with Pyongyang as the capital.

The Kingdom of Lelang doesn't actually need to build a new capital.

Lelang Commandery comprised six counties, with its capital at Joseon County. The so-called Pyongyang was actually a fortified city built by the Goguryeo people next to the commandery seat, forming a defensive perimeter with the county seat, but it was even more fortified. The Goguryeo people once intended to develop Lelang, but their entanglement with the Murong Xianbei caused them to miss the opportunity, and thus they were never able to properly integrate these two commanderies.

Now there's no chance. Pyongyang has become the capital of Lelang Kingdom. Jin Dao controls two prefectures and thirteen counties. The accounts show a population of over 100,000, mostly barbarians—not necessarily by bloodline, but when Cao Wei crossed the sea to occupy Lelang and Daifang, they saw many barbarian chieftains there, perhaps Han Chinese who had become barbarians.

Shao Xun stood in the "zoo" for a long time, and only came to his senses when the lions were already very well-behaved.

Le Lanji waved to Princess Liu of Qi from a distance, so he went over.

Liu bowed slightly, then lowered her head.

Shao Xun felt gratified.

This daughter-in-law is like a defeated rooster now, but she was no pushover back then.

"It's still a bit chilly, don't go out wandering around," Shao Xun said, straightening Le Lanji's collar.

"Not long ago, we didn't even know who was taking care of whom," Le Lanji said with a light laugh.

Shao Xun sighed helplessly, "You're still bringing this up? I told you not to come, but you insisted. What if you catch a cold?"

“But we don’t have any,” said Le Lanji. “Jin Dao wrote back saying he will be returning to the capital soon to buy some things, and he may need a ship.”

"Don't worry." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "I know what I'm doing, and I'll make preparations this year. Have his subordinates gone to Lelang?"

"Most of them have gone; half are in Pyongyang, and half are in Yeokcheon," said Le Lan Ji. "Right now, we are moving the families of soldiers and officers. We will pause after summer and continue moving them in the fall."

Shao Xun nodded and said, "This is the most important matter for the next two years."

Le Lanji hummed in agreement and said nothing more.

Liu followed Le Lanji obediently, not daring to utter a single word.

Shao Xun glanced at her and thought to himself that after the Wang family of Lelang, Jin Dao had taken a woman from the Zhang family, a local powerful clan, as his wife. It seemed that this had dealt a heavy blow to his daughter-in-law. The Zhang family was not as famous as the Wang family of Lelang, nor was she from a noble family, but she was a powerful military force who had fought against the rule of the Goguryeo people after the fall of the two counties. She was worth winning over.

"You may leave now." Shao Xun waved his hand at his daughter-in-law and said, "Tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Revenue will allocate 30,000 strings of cash and 60,000 bolts of silk. As the mistress of the Prince's Mansion, take good care of this money and send people to purchase whatever is needed. The market in Bianliang will open in April, and there will be a lot of goods at relatively low prices. Don't miss this opportunity."

"Yes," Liu replied obediently.

“If you don’t have enough money and silk—” Shao Xun paused, then added, “Come find me again.”

"Thank you, Your Excellency." Liu did not address His Majesty by his full title, but instead used a more intimate form of address, which was quite clever of her.

Le Lanji stood aside watching, smiling without saying a word.

After a moment, Liu bowed and took her leave, then she couldn't help but say, "Why are you arguing with your daughter-in-law?"

Shao Xun laughed and said, "I've never suffered a major loss in my life, but after finally cultivating the Golden Knife, the result was—"

"Alright," Le Lanji said, taking his arm. "I didn't even blame you, yet you're still holding a grudge against your daughter-in-law."

Shao Xun paused slightly.

Seeing that she couldn't move the man, Le Lanji turned to look at him and asked with a smile, "You're afraid too?"

Shao Xun didn't hide his feelings and nodded.

Le Lanji sighed softly and said, "Sometimes you're too sentimental, and sometimes you're too heartless. Is this what it means to be a celestial being?"

Shao Xun was stunned.

Le Lanji looked into the distance, her voice soft yet heavy: "In the early years, you only had me, and you would ask for my opinion on everything, big or small. I was very surprised at the time, but you spoiled me too much, to the point that I lost the dignity that a man and a husband should have."

“You never ask about my letters. If I want to go out for leisure, you never stop me. Don’t you know that even in a scholar’s ​​household, this is a case of ‘the husband’s authority being weakened’?”

"No matter what I do, you always say I've worked hard. You yourself can't even remember how many times you've told me I'm pretty and beautiful, right? You just casually say things like love and romance, which I like, but I also find a little strange."

Finally, she gave Shao Xun a deep look and said, "I know you have a big secret, but I won't ask."

Le Lanji stepped forward gently and, using the same gesture Shao Xun had just made, straightened his collar, saying, "But you must take good care of yourself."

Shao Xun remained silent for a long time before finally humming in agreement.

"Let's walk together like this, watching our children and grandchildren live their own lives, okay?" Le Lanji's voice trembled slightly.

"Okay," Shao Xun replied.

Le Lanji smiled and said, "I really want to go up to the sky and take a look."

"What are you looking at?"

"Just seeing you here is enough."

Shao Xun felt that his cold hadn't gotten better and he was even having some difficulty breathing.

"Let Xiangpu come back tomorrow. I haven't seen her in so long." After a long while, he breathed a sigh of relief and said.

(End of this chapter)