It was September, late autumn, in the fourth year of Yongjia.
Luoyang.
Inside the residence of Sikong Xunfan of the Great Jin Dynasty.
Because from spring to autumn this year, the Xiongnu and Han kingdoms have been harassing Luoyang. Not only was Luochuan's grain harvest greatly affected, but even the contributions of the Sifang prefectures and counties were no longer able to supply the Luoyang court.
In Xiankang Lane in Luoyang City, the Yingchuan Xun family has been passed down for hundreds of years. They are direct descendants of Xunzi. Yes, that Xunzi.
This ancestor of the Xun family in Yingchuan not only taught Li Si, Han Fei, and Zhang Cang, three important ministers who spanned the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, but also wrote the must-learn texts more than two thousand years later.
Since the Xun family became famous all over the world at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Xun You, Xun Yu's uncle and nephew assisted Cao Cao, the Xun family has completely become the first-class noble family in the world.
It can be said that the Xun family of Yingchuan is the most standard model of the gentry in this era.
Even from the perspective of later generations, the Xun family of Yingchuan was undoubtedly a "noble".
All supplies in the residence of the current head of the family, Sikong Xunfan, were also greatly affected.
In the past years, every night, Xun's mansion in Luoyang would be lit with candles mixed with precious spices. At night, Xun's mansion would be filled with incense, just like the homes of other princes and dignitaries.
However, the current Xunfan mansion is just like an ordinary house, with only oil lamps lit. Although the hall is still as bright as day, the slightly turbid smoke makes the gorgeous Xunfan mansion lose the fragrant aroma of the past.
Not only that, even the wine, fruits and meals provided are much worse than before.
However, tonight, none of the Xun family nobles gathered in Xun Fan's house were thinking about these incense candles and food.
Everyone's thoughts are disturbed by the current chaotic situation.
Just like the family gatherings in the past to discuss matters, after ousting all the slaves, the Xun family began to truly discuss key issues.
Xun Heng, the leader of the Central Military Commission, could no longer hold back. After Xun Fan finished describing everything that had happened in Sima Yue's mansion recently, he spoke first.
"Nowadays, there is a lot of discussion both inside and outside the court. Everyone is saying that it is not appropriate for the Imperial Tutor to establish a platform and lead his army east to attack Liu Yu in Qingzhou."
Nowadays, people in Luoyang are already panic-stricken. All kinds of news are flying all over the sky. The news that Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, is going to establish a platform and lead the Chinese army to attack Liu Yu, the governor of Qingzhou, is not over yet. , it has been spread all over Luoyang City.
"That's right. Even though Qingzhou Liu Yu is a bit domineering and arrogant, he still considers himself a minister. Last month, there was a batch of refined salt and white porcelain sent from Qingzhou as an offering to the emperor." A person who is serving as an attendant of the emperor The Xun family's descendants said.
Although Liu Yu always focused on the accumulation of food and wealth, he still offered some offerings to the Luoyang Emperor, such as refined salt, white porcelain, and white paper.
Because Liu Yu knew that after giving these things to Emperor Sima Chi, they would still be rewarded to dignitaries in Luoyang, so he used them to promote these newly produced products in Qingzhou in disguise. After all, in this era, people with real purchasing power, It’s still these officials and powerful people.
"A mere meager amount of wealth cannot be considered a sign of respect." Xun Song of the Central Guards, who was also a general of the Forbidden Army, continued, "However, Liu Yu in Qingzhou is almost a thousand miles away, and the Huns and Hulu puppets are just north of the Yellow River. Close at hand, even the puppet Han emperors supported by the traitor Gou Xi are only a few hundred miles away. The two puppet Han emperors in the south and one in the north are the real troubles. Taifu does not want to destroy these two puppet emperors. Han, what are you doing in such a hurry to conquer Qingzhou and Liu Yu? If you do this, wouldn’t you be sacrificing your roots and chasing the bottom?”
Xun Song's words were immediately approved by all the Xun's disciples.
Everyone spoke up one after another, feeling that now in Luoyang, the two hypocrites in the south and north are the most serious concern. Even if Liu Yu of Qingzhou occupies two or three counties, his threat is still ranked third, oh , No, it may have to be ranked fourth, because there is also Li Xiong's Dacheng Kingdom in Yizhou Shu.
"Furthermore, I heard that Liu Yu, the governor of Qingzhou, has been quite respectful to Wang Jun since he married Wang Jun's daughter. As long as the court approves Wang Jun, he can restrain Liu Yu if he wants. There is no need to mobilize troops like this."
Xun Kui, the regular attendant of Sanqi, said.
"It's official. Moreover, Wang Jun is his uncle's nephew. In this way, Qingzhou Liu Yu is also a relative of my Xun family in Yingchuan. In many things, it is not necessary to be as decisive as the King of Donghai." Xun Hui Also said on the side.
"It doesn't matter if we don't want this kind of relative. Wang Pengzu acted unprovoked in his daughter's marriage and ruined the law of marriage." Xun Zu, as the crown prince's eunuch, was a little dissatisfied with Xun Hui's words.
In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, marriages between noble families had strict hierarchical correspondence, that is, they paid attention to being well-matched. If a high-ranking nobleman married a daughter to a low-ranking nobleman, he would often be criticized. In serious cases, he might even be excluded from the ranks of the nobles by the nobles. This is It is the so-called gentry marriage.
In order to win over the Duan tribe of Xianbei, Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, married his two daughters to Duan Wuwuchen, the chief of the Duan tribe, which had been criticized repeatedly among the gentry. Then he married one of his daughters to Liu Yu, a traitor from Qingzhou. , which caused dissatisfaction among the noble clans again. If Wang Jun's Taiyuan Wang family was not really at the top of the clan, coupled with Wang Jun's strong military and political capital, I am afraid that Wang Pengzu would have been sprayed to death by the saliva of the noble clan clans.
"Haha, Wang Pengzu is very powerful now. He may not want to recognize me as his uncle." Xunfan said with a slight smile.
Xunfan's sister married Wang Jun's father, Wang Chen. Although Wang Jun's mother was not Mrs. Xun, in conclusion, Wang Jun was indeed Xunfan's nephew, although Xunfan was only seven years older than Wang Jun.
After listening to the opinions of the Xun family's children on today, Xun Fan, the head of the family, finally decided to comment on it himself.
Xun Fan still maintained his usual free and easy spirit and continued speaking calmly.
"Even if Wang Jun recognizes me as his uncle, he does it because of the fame of the Xun family in Yingchuan, not because of my old age."
Xun Fan glanced around the room at the nearly twenty leaders of the Xun family gathered in Luoyang, and then continued.
"So, for some things, you can't just look at the appearance, just like the King of East China Sea wants to conquer Liu Yu of Qingzhou. Do you really think that the King of East China Sea doesn't know that the Huns are a greater threat, and he doesn't know that Jingzhou Gou Xi has occupied Is the location more important?"
"Father, do you mean that the King of East China Sea has other motives for doing this?" Xun Fan's son Xun Sui asked.
Xunfan was a little dissatisfied with his thirty-year-old son asking such childish questions and said lightly.
"Otherwise, you think the King of East China Sea is really going to fight Liu Yu to death."
"Father, what exactly is the King of East China Sea going to do?"
"Don't you know what's going on in Luoyang today? Seeing that the situation is getting worse and worse, everyone is panicking. Without people's hearts, how long can Luoyang City be able to hold on, no matter how strong it is!?" Xun Fan sighed lightly.
"But, a few days ago, didn't Wang Situ just sell his family's ox cart in the East Market? Everyone was spreading word of mouth that Wang Situ had sold all the ox carts on the road. It must be something to do. You want to stick to Luoyang." Xun Sui said with some doubts.
Xun Fan snorted coldly and said to his son Xun Sui.
"Wang Yan went to Dongshi and sold some bullock carts."
Xun Sui said without thinking, "An ox cart is just a fragrant wood carving cart."
Xun Fan said with a look of disdain.
"Wang Yan, Wang Situ, the majestic Langya Wang family, don't they only have one ox cart at home?"
Xun Sui suddenly realized, "Oh, that's it. It turns out that Wang Situ did this to appease people's hearts!"
Xun Song, the Central Protector, said with some seriousness when he heard this.
"Uncle, could it be that this time the King of East China Sea said that he wanted to go east to attack Liu Yu, it was just an excuse, and the real purpose was to escape from Luoyang?"
Xun Fan nodded, "Yes, otherwise, if it was just to attack Liu Yu, the governor of Qingzhou, why would it be necessary to establish a Xingtai? You know, after the Xingtai is established, all government orders in the world can be issued from the Xingtai. There is no need to send it from Luoyang anymore."
After Xun Song heard this, he said, "In that case, if Xingtai is established, wouldn't the emperor become... not even a puppet?"
After saying this, Xun Song felt that he had made a mistake, and his face changed slightly. However, everyone present was the Xun family, so he calmed down.
"I guess that the King of Donghai is going to Xuzhou to gather the forces of Yuzhou and Xuzhou. It depends on the situation. If the military strength gathered by then is acceptable, he may have to return to Luoyang. If the situation collapses, , then we must go south to Yangzhou Jiangzuo."
Xun Fan speculated.
"So, although the King of Donghai said he wanted to attack Qingzhou Liu Yu, he was just making an excuse to escape Luoyang. He would never really attack Qingzhou Liu Yu under any circumstances. After all, Yangzhou Jiangzuo King Donghai has been preparing the layout for several years.”
Hearing Xun Fan's speculation, all the Xun family disciples present were in an uproar. If this was really the case, then there would be no hope of holding on to the imperial capital of Luoyang.
When the ruling King of the East China Sea was in Luoyang, the situation in Luoyang was getting worse day by day.
If Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, takes away the Xingtai officials and most of the elite Chinese troops, then what hope does Luoyang have of holding on?
In the future, Luoyang will fall to the barbarians, and Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, will be the number one criminal!
Ever since King You of Zhou captured Haojing and fell to the Quanrong, for hundreds of years, the imperial capital had never fallen to the hands of the Hulu, Rong and Di.
As a regular servant of Sanqi, Xun Kui was getting along with Emperor Sima Chi on a daily basis. He first thought of the emperor's safety and said in great surprise.
"In this case, as soon as the King of Donghai leaves Luoyang, the officials and defenders of Luoyang will be defeated without a fight, and their hearts will be lost. This is simply the work of a fool who is corrupting the country!"
Sikong Xunfan raised his eyelids and sighed.
"According to what I heard, the King of Donghai has summoned Wang Situ this afternoon. I think he must use Wang Yan as the military commander staying in Luoyang to stabilize the people of Luoyang. After all, there are still many troops around Luoyang. If this is the case Simply giving up on Luoyang is not the way King Donghai behaves."
Xun Fan and his younger brother Xun Zu discussed with the descendants of the Xun family in Yingchuan who were present, and finally decided that in order to cope with future changes, Xun Fan, who served as Sikong, and Xun Zu, who served as the crown prince's Taibao, and the generals of the Chinese army The Central Protector Xun Song, the Central Leader Xun Heng and others stayed in Luoyang. After all, they still have many elites in their hands. Even if Luoyang cannot be defended in the future, they can rely on the cover of these troops to basically escape back to the relatively safe Yingchuan area.
As for the other Xun family members, they all resigned and returned to their hometown in Yingchuan. Xun Hui took the lead and gathered all the Xun family members in Yingchuan to strengthen the fort and prepare food and property, whether they wanted to stick to Yingchuan in the future. , whether it is better to go south to Yangzhou, we must prepare for both at once.
At the end, Xun Fan gave his nephew Xun Kui a task, asking him to resign and return to his hometown on an excuse to visit Liu Yu in Qingzhou and personally explore Liu Yu's behavior.
If Liu Yu is just a simple and ambitious reckless man, then that's it. If Liu Yu still has a little thought of taking into account the overall situation of the Central Plains, then Xun Fan can mediate in the future and let the East China Sea King Sima Yue and Liu Yu There can be a leeway.
"After all, although Liu Yu came from a humble background, the Qingzhou Army under his command can still be called a fierce warrior. After all, the only people in the world who can defeat thieves like Wang Mi and Shi Le in succession are only Youzhou Wang Jun and Qingzhou Liu Yu. There is only Gou Xi who is occupying Jingzhou and rebelling."
After receiving Xun Fan's secret mission, Xun Kui entered the court early the next morning. He resigned from his position as a regular attendant of Sanqi on the grounds that a relative in Yingchuan was ill. On the same day, under the escort of Xun Fan's tribe, he went to court at full speed. He left Luoyang and headed for Qingzhou.
On the day Xun Kui left Luoyang, Grand Tutor Sima Yue, King of Donghai, issued an edict in the name of Emperor Sima Chi.
In the edict, Liu Yu was declared guilty of one hundred and thirteen crimes, all of which were major crimes of the Yi tribe. Then he wanted to attack Liu Yu of Qingzhou, so he formed a crusade against the rebellion led by Taifu Donghai Wang Sima Yue. From then on From now on, all imperial edicts came from Sima Yue's office.
In order to consolidate the hearts of the people in Luoyang, Sima Yue sent Situ Wang Yan to stay in Luoyang, and left General He Lun and others to lead the army to guard Luoyang. Finally, Sima Yue also left his sons, the Prince of Donghai and the Princess of Donghai, in Luoyang. This was to show everyone in Luoyang that he was destined to come back.
However, after all these edicts were issued, Sima Yue had to stay in Luoyang for a while. After all, even if he wanted to attack the traitor Liu Yu, he had to prepare all the supplies and equipment for the officials and the accompanying army in advance.
And for Luoyang, who is short of supplies, it is difficult to get all this together in just one or two months.
When Xun Kui of the Xun clan in Yingchuan arrived in Qingzhou, the news had also spread to Qingzhou.
Soon, there was a big storm in Qingzhou.
