Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 382 Don't Blame All the Bad Things on Ohno Sou

Outside Jinyong City, a large number of officials gathered.

In Luoyang, officials come every day hoping to pay their respects to Li Shuang, but most of them are unable to gain entry.

Until, as everyone saw, a man and a donkey slowly approached.

The newcomer was dressed in plain clothes, with a straw hat on his back, two wine gourds on his body, and two large wine gourds hooked on his donkey's bag.

Where did this drunkard come from?

As everyone wondered what was happening, they saw the drunkard riding a donkey across the pontoon bridge and heading towards the city gate.

What surprised everyone even more was that the guards at the city gate did not stop him.

Li Yuanzhong, the powerful governor of Yinzhou in Hebei, was not as imposing as one might imagine. Instead, he was quite unkempt, with messy hair.

Hou Jing was already waiting at the gate. When he saw Li Yuanzhong arrive, he led him and his donkey directly into the city.

Within the fortified city of Jinyong, water from the valley was channeled into a pool, upon which a floating island was being constructed, and a palace was currently being built.

Li Yuanzhong, drunk, rode on a donkey and circled the floating island. When he arrived at the Hundred-Foot Tower, he suddenly heard a sound.

"Brother, you've finally arrived!"

Li Yuanzhong squinted at Li Shuang's figure, cupped his hands and said:
"King Qin!"

He had barely finished speaking when he became completely drunk and unconscious.

When Li Yuanzhong woke up again, he was already in the Hundred-Foot Tower, lying on Li Shuang's bed.

"where is this?"

"Dude, you're awake!"

Li Shuang brought a bowl of hangover soup to Li Yuanzhong's side and handed it to him.

"Here, to sober you up, it's still warm!"

Li Yuanzhong was about to get up when Li Shuang pressed him down.

"Is this really necessary between us?"

Li Yuanzhong couldn't sit still any longer. He took the hangover soup, drank a sip, and explained:
"The King of Qin summoned me here, but I encountered fine wine on the way and drank too much, thus jeopardizing the King of Qin's plans."

After listening to this, Li Shuang laughed and said:

"No problem, brother. If you want, I have plenty of wine here. You can drink as much as you like."

Hearing this, Li Yuanzhong's thirst for alcohol was awakened, and he said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty. When shall we drink?"

At this time, wine was divided into fruit wine and grain wine, and there were many varieties of wine in different regions.

Fruit wines are primarily grape wines.

Grapes were introduced from the Western Regions to Guanzhong during the Han Dynasty, and they are now grown in royal gardens and the estates of nobles for winemaking.

Seeing Li Shuang bring over a jug of wine, Li Yuanzhong accepted it without hesitation, smelled it, and said:
"Good wine!"

Just as Li Yuanzhong was about to drink, Li Shuang stopped him.

"The wine is good, but I'm afraid you'll get carried away and forget what you're doing."

Li Yuanzhong chuckled and said:
"Let's talk business first!"

Li Shuang led Li Yuanzhong to the desk.

The view from the top of the Hundred-Foot Tower is expansive, offering a view of the military camps, horse farms, and parade grounds surrounding Jinyong City.

From Jinyong City all the way to Beizhong City, all the ferry crossings and post stations along the way are now under Li Shuang's control.

Looking at all this, Li Yuanzhong exclaimed in admiration:

"What a magnificent army!"

As he spoke, Li Shuang beckoned, and Li Yuanzhong came over.

On the desk lay numerous documents concerning iron and coal mines, as well as information on the construction of iron smelting workshops.

Li Yuanzhong was somewhat surprised, because it wasn't about building one or two workshops, but about building a large-scale iron smelting and forging center.

Li Yuanzhong asked:
"Where does the King of Qin want to build these?"

"Xiangguo!"

Li Yuanzhong finally understood why Li Shuang had come to him.

Back then, the Qin state used Wancheng as its iron-smelting center, which led to Wancheng in Nanyang remaining one of the major metropolises in the world for the next several centuries.

Now, Li Shuang wants to build a similar iron smelting center in Hebei. Although it may not be as impressive as Wancheng back then, it will still be a significant undertaking.

"Does the King of Qin want me to preside over this?"

Li Shuang nodded.

Besides being a member of the Zhao County Li clan and the patriarch of Li Yuchuan, Li Yuanzhong was also the person in charge of all social instability factors east of the Taihang Mountains.

His ability to quickly assemble a large army and occupy Yinzhou with a single order demonstrates his skill.

Li Yuanzhong remained silent for a long time, and the alcohol on his face disappeared.

"Such a momentous matter, does the King of Qin trust me?"

"Brother, you are the only choice!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanzhong didn't stand on ceremony and cupped his hands in greeting:

"In that case, I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

A promise from you, brother, is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold!

……

Yuwen Tai has been very unhappy lately, not only because his house is next to Gao Huan's, but also because Gao Huan's house is already well-built, while his house has to stop construction due to a lack of materials.

Today, he was summoned to the Hundred-Foot Tower by Li Shuang, accompanied by Gao Huan.

"Black Otter, why haven't you built walls around your house yet? Tell me what's wrong, we're brothers, why are you being so polite!"

"Thank you for your trouble, He Liuhun. It's nothing!"

Seeing Gao Huan's smug look, Yuwen Tai was furious.

However, Yuwen Tai was known as the Cold-Faced King, so no matter how angry he was inside, he would never show it.

The two passed the guards outside Jinyong City and entered Baichi Tower.

At this moment, a man was sitting behind Li Shuang, drinking by himself.

Yuwentai was somewhat alarmed. Who would dare to be so presumptuous in front of Li Shuang?

However, Gao Huan was very familiar with this person.

When he was stationed in Ye City, Li Yuanzhong came to see him. As the governor of Yinzhou, Li Yuanzhong's territory was next to Xiangzhou, which was controlled by Gao Huan.

However, Gao Huan did not say much.

After all, Li Yuanzhong was only focused on drinking and ignored him.

"Your Majesty!"

Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, as honorary generals, were theoretically under the jurisdiction of the Tian Ce Mansion and were subordinates of the Prince of Qin.

"Come sit over here!"

Li Shuang beckoned the two of them to her side.

The two found it a bit strange, after all, Li Shuang had never been so friendly before.

The two of them came closer and saw that Li Shuang's desk was covered with a lot of documents, including design drawings of production tools such as the curved plow and the spinning machine.

"After the rebellion of the Six Garrisons, Hebei was in chaos. As governors of your respective regions, your priority should be restoring agriculture. I intend to establish workshops in Youzhou, Dingzhou, and Xiangzhou to manufacture agricultural tools to benefit the people. What do you think?"

Unlike the iron smelting workshops controlled by Li Yuanzhong, the iron smelting workshops established in Xiangzhou and Youzhou were not capable of producing iron for military use, but for civilian use, and the workshops produced agricultural tools.

Yecheng in Xiangzhou and Fanyang in Youzhou were the strongholds of Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, and Chilie Yanqing, the governor of Dingzhou, had long since surrendered to Jinyang.

The establishment of an iron smelting center in Xiangguo will provide weapons and armor for the soldiers of Hebei in the future, and will also require a large number of agricultural tools for production.

In present-day Hebei, there are at least 100,000 households belonging to the fiefdoms of the King of Qin. However, these fiefdoms are not contiguous, but scattered throughout the various prefectures and counties of Hebei.

The entire population of Hebei exceeded one million. The people under the rule of Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, as well as the tenant farmers and villagers under the jurisdiction of powerful families, were all intertwined rather than clearly separated.

This is one of the reasons why Hebei has been able to maintain stability.

You have me I have you.

Li Shuang planned to implement the equal-field system in his fiefdom in Hebei as a preparation for the later establishment of the Fubing (military force).

Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai also needed a lot of money and food to support their own troops. After all, their soldiers were all recruits, and they had to pay for their own military pay and equipment.

As for those powerful clans, they needed to consolidate their power base. Imperial power did not extend to the county level, but the countryside was controlled by these powerful clans. They did not only act like predators in their hometowns; otherwise, how could they gather tens or hundreds of thousands of people to obey their orders?

In this way, increasing production and output benefits everyone.

To restore agriculture, two things are needed: farm tools and oxen. In areas with sufficient water, tools such as waterwheels and bucket wheels can also be used.

Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai each found the maps and documents of their respective prefectures and counties, and examined them carefully. After reading them, they both said:
"Your Majesty is wise and benevolent, bringing blessings to the people!"

Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai did not expect Li Shuang to be so generous.

After all, tools like the curved plow and the waterwheel could be copied and pasted into their own systems even if Li Shuang didn't provide them. But processes like iron smelting weren't so easily copied and pasted.

Li Shuang nodded and said:

"Therefore, once you have finished building your house, you should head back as soon as possible!"

Yuwentai was initially quite pleased, but after hearing Li Shuang's words, the blueprints in his hand suddenly lost their appeal.

As she spoke, Li Shuang added another sentence.

"The neighborhood where you live has not yet been named. In my opinion, let's call it Huantai Ward!"

"..."

Why not call it Taihuanfang?

Why should the character "Huan" in Gao Huan's name come before the character "Tai" in Yuwen Tai's name?

Look me in the eyes and tell me why!
Just as Yuwentai was silently protesting in his heart, Gao Huan's face lit up with joy, and he shouted:
"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Okay, you go down!"

After the two left, Li Shuang looked at Li Yuanzhong behind him and asked:
"You met Gao Huan before, and now you've met Yuwen Tai. How does it feel?"

Li Yuanzhong hadn't said a word before, but now that the two of them had left, he smiled and said:
"Two dragons playing with a pearl—these are no ordinary beings!"

At this moment, Li Yuanzhong understood why Li Shuang wanted him to be stationed in Yinzhou and oversee Hebei.

Li Shuang laughed after hearing this.

"You're truly a master, my friend! Your judgment is spot on! But even if they are dragons, you are a tiger! It's only when dragons and tigers clash that Hebei becomes truly exciting!"

Li Yuanzhong felt that he hadn't asked Li Shuang enough for what she said.

The amount of alcohol should be at least doubled to justify the difficulty of his job.

Li Shuang, however, didn't care. Looking at the map on the table, he said:
"Once Hebei is stabilized, then it will be Henan and the Qi and Ju regions."
-
Gao Huan was in a good mood, but when he got home, he sensed that something was off.

Duan Shao stood in the corner of the eaves, desperately trying to wink at Gao Huan.

Gao Huan sensed something was wrong and tried to turn around and leave, but after taking only a few steps, his brother-in-law Wei Jing, who should have been in Ye City, appeared at the gate of the courtyard and blocked Gao Huan's way.

"Brother-in-law, what are you doing?"

Wei Jing sighed and said:

"He Liuhun, don't blame me. I'm just a man in the martial world, and I have no choice but to follow my own path."

Gao Huan grew anxious and said:

"What I told you back then was that if this gets out, you'll be court-martialed."

Wei Jing, however, didn't care. He took out a rope and slowly said:
“He Liuhun, you’re wrong. I haven’t violated military law, and I haven’t revealed anything about your affairs. Who knows how this got to Yecheng?”

"So you're aiding and abetting them, helping them against me?"

"I'm turning over a new leaf. If I didn't deal with you, I'd be the one tied up. You know your sister's temper; she's never as good as me."

"You Xianbei, you have no loyalty!"

As he spoke, Wei Jing tied up Gao Huan and, along with Duan Shao who had given him a meaningful look, sent them into the house.

Inside the room, Lou Zhaojun turned to the side, refusing to look at Gao Huan.

Gao Huan's older sister, Gao Loujin, stood with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised, staring at Gao Huan and Wei Jing.

"Lou Jin, as you instructed, the person has been brought to you."

Gao Loujin gave Wei Jing a cold look and cursed:
"You men are all the same, get out of here!"

In front of Gao Loujin, Wei Jing was like a little chick, not daring to speak loudly at all.

Gao Huan looked at his sister and a simple, honest smile appeared on his face.

"Sister, what are you doing? It would be so embarrassing if outsiders saw this!"

"That's why I had your brother-in-law confront you, because I was afraid outsiders would see it!"

Gao Loujin, hands on his hips, asked:

"What? I raised you from a baby, changing your diapers and feeding you, and I can't even say a few words to you, huh!"

"How could that be? It's only right that my sister says whatever she wants to me!"

"As long as you know!"

After Gao Loujin finished speaking, he walked to Duan Shao's side and pointed to his forehead.

"You heartless little devil, you actually tipped off others and became a traitor!"

Duan Shao quickly offered a pretext:
"I don't!"

"Be tough!"

As Duan Shao was speaking, he was struck again by Gao Loujin.

However, at this time, Duan Shao was not the main target of criticism by Gao Loujin and others.

Gao Loujin walked up to Gao Huan and said:

"Your official rank is rising higher and higher, and so are your women. That's fine, as long as you remember how good Zhaojun was to you and to our Gao family. Did we stop you from taking Han Zhihui and You Niang as concubines?"

Gao Huan kept his head down and didn't say a word.

“We know that Han Zhihui is your sweetheart, and that You Niang is of good character, so you took her in. But what about Zheng Dache? Go around asking around and find out what kind of family he comes from. Why did you bring her back?”

Zheng Dache was originally the wife of Prince Yuan Ti of Guangping. After the Heyin Incident, she became a widow.

Zheng Dache's father, Zheng Yanzu, was frivolous and irresponsible, neglecting his studies, favoring powerful families, squandering his wealth and honor, and causing chaos and disorder in his household, which became notorious throughout the land.

There were even rumors of ** (illegal or sexual misconduct).

Faced with Gao Loujin's questioning, Gao Huan knew that if he didn't confess something today, he wouldn't be able to get away with it!
Gao Huan, his handsome face tilted at a forty-five-degree angle towards the sky, sighed:

"Sister, Zhaojun, I am also caught up in the world of martial arts, and I have no choice but to follow my own path."

At this moment, Lou Zhaojun finally broke her silence, and all her resentment turned into a question.

"If you are unwilling, who can force you!"

Gao Huan, however, said:

"You don't know, Hou Jing once came to see me. You all know who's behind him, right?"

Gao Loujin and Lou Zhaojun exchanged a glance, their faces filled with shock, and said:

"You mean... the King of Qin!"

Gao Huan choked up and said:
Now you know how hard it's been for me!

……

(End of this chapter)