Chapter 844 Pick-up
Soon, the servant Lu Kui came over.
No need to wonder that Lu Kui is always busy here, as if the other ministers are not around. The earliest job of the servant is to take care of His Majesty's carriages and horses, and convey His Majesty's wishes.
So Lu Kui naturally chose the front station. After looking at the conditions of the post house, he was even more satisfied with Shi Sun Yong.
Then he told the scholar Sun Yong:
"Your Majesty's carriage has just entered the county boundary. Behind him are Dong Gui and many concubines and maids. The following cars are all ministers of the court. When your Majesty's carriage arrives, I will take you to sign up to pick him up."< br>
Even though the Han Dynasty has fallen to this stage, officials like Lu Kui still consciously maintain the dignity of the court and pay attention to various rules.
What rules? That is, the emperor of the Han Dynasty generally only received high-ranking officials with a weight of more than 2,000 shi. Small county magistrates like Shisun Yong could not see the emperor unless there were special circumstances.
To put it bluntly, if Shisun Yong was from an ordinary person's background, even if he had handled the reception of the emperor very properly, if he didn't meet the emperor himself for the last time, you can believe that it would have been in vain if he did it.
Therefore, the elders of Shisun Yong and Lu Kui were related, so Lu Kui was teaching him etiquette, which was actually promoting him.
Anyone who has worked as a cow or horse knows that if you only know how to do the work but the boss doesn’t know it, then your work is equivalent to doing it in vain. And because you know how to work, there will be endless work waiting for you in the end!
Shisun Yong was not a young man, so of course he understood the meaning behind this, so he was very grateful to Lu Kui for his support, and he also kept his instructions for pick-up etiquette in mind.
In fact, the scholar Sun Yong never thought about one thing, that is, whether he was deceived, not only by Lu Kui, but also by the things that these ministers jointly spun.
Haven't you, the scholar Sun Yong, never thought that the Han Dynasty has lost even the last Chang'an and has lost all its authority, so what etiquette can be used to restrain the people below?
In fact, these are what Lu Kui and the others have deliberately maintained, because they understand very well that His Majesty actually has nothing now.
Yes, he did have the Northern Army, Habayashi Langqian, and the Xiaoqianqi led by Niu Fu, but this small force was actually no deterrent to an emperor.
The only thing the emperor has now is actually the subconscious obedience of the people below. This kind of obedience is mindless and formed out of habit.
But this kind of brainlessness is temporary, and smart people will soon discover that Liu Xie is just a showman at this time, and his real power may not even be as good as Sun Yong, a scholar who can control tens of thousands of households in a large county.
However, do you think what will happen if a smart person finds out? In fact, smart people will not do anything like this. Instead, they will pretend that nothing happened and continue to maintain the past relationship.
It's like everyone watching the emperor's new clothes. Smart people are all characters in this farce and need to play their roles.
If Du Xun is a brainless person and Shi Sun Yong is a smart person, then the one who can finally expose this farce and point out the fact that the emperor of the Han Dynasty ran away naked is the brave man.
So who will be the brave? Li Jue, Niu Fu, or anyone?
The ministers don't know either, but they can keep delaying this time, and the way is to continue to maintain the emperor's majesty, as if everything is the same as before.
The emperor was considered a considerate person, and he did not keep Shisun Yong and others waiting for long.
When he saw the ox cart with the yellow flag coming slowly from a distance, and when it was about to reach the post house, Lu Kui took Shi Sun Yong to pick it up.
Because of the host, Shi Sun Yong took the lead in falling to the ground and singing:
"Sun Yong, the magistrate of Chenyi County, is here to welcome His Majesty."
There are rules for picking up people here, and there are also rules on the opposite side. Next to the holy driver, a proud man from Guanzhong sang again with a rough voice:
"Sun Yong, the magistrate of Xi County, is here to welcome His Majesty."
And then, another big man sang again:
"Sun Yong, the magistrate of Xi County, is here to welcome His Majesty."
Some people may think this scene is funny. The place where Shi Sun Yong was worshiping was not far away. Could Liu Xie in the car not hear his voice just now?
But it happens that a majestic warrior next to him has to help sing it again, and after singing it once, he has to be repeated again. Do you think this is idle?
But no one will tell you that the essence of the so-called ceremony or majesty is to assign a simple thing to more people to do, and then tell everyone that the cause you are doing is important.
This is what group rituals are like: first you deceive your own people, then others, and finally you deceive yourself by deceiving yourself. You really think you are the supreme being in the world, the son of heaven.
After the singing and shouting here, there was still no movement from the driver, and then the ox cart behind them carried the palace concubines and Huangmen one after another into the post house.
Then came the hundreds of Yulin Lang who were accompanying them. They held umbrella canopies, curtains, canopies, big guns, and big halberds in their hands, and then they entered with their belly full.
It's just that these ceremonial items are very colorful, but in fact they are all crudely made, and they were all made by people after the driver had reached the martial arts level.
So when the Yulin Langs held these ceremonial guards, they looked a bit like wearing a crown, which was very funny.
By the time these Habayashi warriors entered the courtyard of the post house, the entire courtyard was already packed to the brim.
Therefore, the people behind could only wait outside the post house.
These people are some Liangzhou cavalry, as well as disciples and strong men who were recruited from martial arts.
They were huddled outside the low wall of the post house, looking into the interior of the post house.
The disciples and strong men were better off. Except for a few brave ones who were peeking at the wall, the others were either sitting or lying down. They were also exhausted along the way. Not to mention having to carry things, they walked so far, but they didn't even Didn't eat any water or rice.
Now they were tired and hungry, sitting under the wall, sighing.
But the Liangzhou cavalry around Tu Li were much more unrestrained. They looked at the scene in the courtyard with no awe or even respect in their eyes. They were just like watching a monkey show.
Some people pointed inside and burst into laughter from time to time.
The so-called pick-up ceremony in the yard was still beginning. After all kinds of people entered, an old man from the yellow door walked out, then opened his eyes wide, puffed his mouth, and shouted:
"Who is Sun Yong, the magistrate of Yi County?"
And this is another funny thing. It was clear that the person Sun Yong just called him by his name in front of everyone, but Huangmen didn't seem to listen and said another nonsense.
But the more nonsense and unreasonable it is, the more it is essentially a test of loyalty.
The old Huangmen's voice was sharp and fierce. Shisun Yong had never seen this person before. He didn't know the details of Huangmen, so he raised his head and whispered:
"The junior official is Sun Yong, a scholar."
Then the old Huangmen stared at Shi Sun Yong with his bulging eyes, and then hummed:
"The country calls you, follow me!"
Shisun Yong subconsciously glanced at Lu Kui beside him, and when he saw him nodding, he quickly stood up, bent down and strode forward.
After walking around for a while, Shisun Yong discovered that Old Huangmen had led him to the post house, which was the largest one among them.
In the flash of lightning, Shi Sun Yong understood that there was no emperor in the car at all. He had been lying on the ground waiting for a long time, playing with him for a long time, and the emperor had already entered the post house with him.
Shisun Yong felt dissatisfied for the first time in his heart, but the expression on his face was still frightened.
Sure enough, the old Huangmen suddenly turned to look at Shi Sun Yong, looked at his expression, and saw that there was no dissatisfaction, then he smiled with satisfaction:
"Shisun Ling, don't you have any thoughts in your heart?"
How could Shi Sun Yong dare to have such an idea? He immediately bent down deeply and worshiped to the end. His voice was still trembling and he said:
"I only feel that Your Majesty's celestial posture is as majestic as the abyss and the sea, as majestic as the prison. He is a blessing to me as a great man!"
Lao Huangmen smiled wider, but after a while he shook his head and said: "Nowadays, the world is in chaos and people's hearts are dirty. Sometimes your Majesty has no choice. The situation is like this, so you can only be more careful. Moreover, this is not against the soldiers. Is Sun Ling also a good thing? ”
Shisun Yong really didn't understand what was so good about this, so he just smiled in embarrassment.
After Lao Huangmen made sure that Shisun Yong was fine, he grabbed his wrist and walked inside.
The moment he was touched by Old Huangmen, Shisun Yong's entire wrist was sticky, as if he had been licked by a dog's tongue.
Holding back his nausea, Shi Sun Yong followed suit and followed Lao Huangmen inside, finally arriving inside.
Sun Yong, the scholar in this room, had come to inspect it before, but now he couldn't recognize it. With just a little effort, the whole room was rearranged.
All these supplies were purchased by Du Xun under martial arts orders. You must know that Liu Xie and his team were almost as exhausted as a lost dog before arriving at martial arts. But now, regardless of the quality, they have become more dignified.
Judging from these changes, Du Xun has done a really good job.
Moreover, even if there are even fewer people like Liu Xie, there are still 2,000 people.
As for Wugong, as a small county, Du Xun was able to provide more than two thousand people, not to mention that it did not cause an uproar in the county. From this detail, it can be seen that Du Xun is also a talented person.
But Liu Xie didn't like Du Xun. He now fell in love with the scholar Sun Yong in front of him.
Liu Xie saw what the Taoist Sun Yong did and was satisfied in his heart. Especially when he learned that Sun Yong personally led people to guard the door in order to guard the six pots of millet, Liu Xie felt even more satisfied. It is because of the important scholar Sun Yong.
Is six pots of millet important? Of course it is important, because it is for him, Liu Xie, to eat, and as long as it has something to do with him, it is a big deal.
The scholar Sun Yong can understand this, he is a person who knows the importance and can make great use of it.
At this time, the little emperor had a smile on his lips. Although he was still wearing the sloppy single-clothes and hakama from before, he was sitting there with extraordinary bearing, and he almost stood out in the crowd at a glance.
Scholar Sun Yong also saw Liu Xie for the first time, and he was amazed at the emperor's youth. Others did not dare to take a closer look and kowtowed on the ground.
The emperor asked him to stand up, and then the Huangmen on the side handed Shisun Yong a straw mat. After that, the emperor and his ministers sat facing each other like this.
The first thing the emperor asked was:
"What is the relationship between Qing and Taifu Shisun?"
The scholar-sun Taifu is also the scholar-sun Rui.
Scholar Sun Yong carefully replied:
"The Taifu is my uncle."
The emperor nodded and praised:
"Sure enough, this is the House of Hairao Ying. This magnanimity and loyalty have a provenance."
But after saying this, the emperor seemed to sigh again:
"It's a pity that Taifu failed to break out with me. Now he is trapped in the capital. I don't know whether he is alive or dead. However, now that you have grown up like this, your family can be considered a successor."
< br>
Shi Sun Yong was a very smart man, and he immediately understood the emperor's unspoken intention.
His uncle, Shisun Rui, did not break out with His Majesty. Was he unable or unwilling? In fact, in His Majesty's eyes, those who fail to catch up will have their loyalty greatly compromised.
But the emperor also said that there were successors to his family, which reassured him and made him understand that even if his uncle had gone astray, the emperor still trusted his scholar Sun Yong.
So having said that, since the emperor already trusted his scholar Sun Yong, why did he still mention this matter? In fact, I’m still beating myself up!
In one moment, Shisun Yong's mind was spinning a thousand times, and in the next moment, he said with sincerity and fear:
"Thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness. I feel that my uncle is old and has a short journey, so he may be lagging behind. But if my uncle just lives in Beijing and forgets his duty as a minister, then I will be the first to refuse!"< br>
Liu Xie liked Shi Sun Yong's statement and laughed:
"It's not that serious. I can still figure this out."
After saying that, he began to ask some personal information about Shi Sun Yong, such as which year Xiaolian was born, which year he was admitted as a Lang, and which year he was sent to this county.
Scholar Sun Yong answered all these questions one by one, because he knew that this was another so-called rule and etiquette, and it was a formality that the Tian family had to go through when receiving foreign ministers.
Sure enough, after asking about these resumes, the emperor finally got down to business.
The first business question Liu Xie asked Sun Yong was how much Xi County's current reserves could supply.
The current strength of the army is only 2,000. After arriving in Xi County, Liu Xie will continue to prepare to gather troops to prepare for entering Shu.
The first condition to achieve this is food. People cannot be stable without food, and armies cannot gather together without food.
Sun Yong, a scholar who was familiar with official affairs, immediately gave Liu Xie an accurate number, which was that there were 20,000 shi of Chensu in the warehouse in Xi County.
Liu Xie, the emperor of the troubled times, had an account in his heart. After hearing the figure of 20,000 shi, he began to calculate in his mind.
According to the calculation that one person uses one stone of grain per month, that one stone of grain can feed 30 people for one day. Now there are 20,000 stone, which means that it can feed 600,000 people for one day.
Liu Xie made his own calculations, and only counted the rush. From Yi County to Hanzhong, it would take 20 days. If it is a little looser, based on one month, then 20,000 stones of millet can supply 20,000 people. Been eating for a month.
But Liu Xie felt that he should be more conservative. After all, no one knew whether Hanzhong still recognized him as the emperor, so if necessary, force should be considered, so two months would be enough.
In this way, 20,000 stones of grain can feed and drink ten thousand people. At this time, he has about two to three thousand people, including eight hundred war horses, and the food he consumes is enough for three or four people.
In this way, the real vacancies left for recruiting troops are only four to five thousand people.
After thinking about it, Liu Xie was still not satisfied and asked:
"Can we squeeze out more food?"
Scholar Sun Yong was very embarrassed and honestly told Liu Xie the situation:
"Yixian is indeed a big county and produces a lot of grain. However, there has been a severe drought since this summer, and all the millet and wheat that were supposed to be harvested in the autumn have dried up. Therefore, the situation in Xixian this year is very bad. And those 20,000 shi are warehouses. There is only grain left in the store. If the situation continues, we will have to plunder the crops grown by households in Xi County.”
But unexpectedly, Liu Xie tilted his head, pointed at Shisun Yong and said:
"Then why not go?"
Shisun Yong was stunned, his mouth opened, and then he lowered his head weakly, nodding slowly.
Liu Xie was happy now. He patted Sun Yong on the shoulder and encouraged him:
"So you see, as long as you think more about it, there are always many ways. Isn't the method you just proposed very good!"
Among them, Liu Xie deliberately emphasized the words "proposed by Qing", and the meaning is obvious.
I want food, but I scold you to carry it!
At this time, the scholar Sun Yong felt completely cold. He finally understood what kind of person the Han emperor in front of him was.