At the end of the year, Liu Cheng returned to Jiankang. After hastily meeting his wife, concubines and children, he immediately entered the city and then left the city to attend... attend the funeral of Prince of Kuaiji Sima Yu Princess Consort Wang Jianji.
This is something that really can't wait for anyone.
The funeral was very simple, with no trace of Regent Princess Consort regulations. It was more like a commoner's burial, with a simple thin wooden coffin, dragged by a carriage, covered with White Cloth, and nothing else.
The only people who came were basically Sima Yu and his children, as well as Taiyuan Wang Clan, plus Xun Rui, Gao Song, Liu Jili, a few confidants and relatives, and one Liu Cheng.
There is a reason for Liu Langya to come here, because the cemetery is located outside the city at Qiaoli Langya Commandery.
Moreover, there was no ceremony during the whole process. Everyone just dressed normally and traveled normally in cars under the escort of Armored Guards. They even kept a distance from the carriage pulling the coffin, as if it had nothing to do with it.
"I discussed it with General Wei, and we will not announce it to the public unless others ask." Sima Yu specifically called Liu Cheng, who had made great achievements, to ride with him, but he had to explain himself. "In the future, I will not make a princess."
General of the Guards is Yangzhou Governor Wang Shu Wang Lantian.
That's right, others are getting promoted and getting rich and their wives are dying, Wang Lantian here is getting promoted and getting rich and dying their cousin... As everyone knows, General of the Guards was added to Wang Shu with "Yangzhou Public Security and Peace" last month, which is essentially A kind of Proclamation, Princess Consort is going to die, but without delay Taiyuan Wang Clan is still Prince of Kuaiji Sima Yu Maternal Relatives of the Emperor, and we are still an unbreakable political alliance.
"Your Highness, you can take care of your own affairs." Liu Cheng responded calmly. "There is no need to worry about outsiders."
Sima Yu nodded repeatedly, and then directly skipped this topic that he actually didn't want to mention. "Yulong comes from Kuaiji, so Wang Baihu?"
"Zhongchan has gone with me, how can I not see you?" Liu Cheng is still magnanimous. "Even the serious king Kuaiji also took half a day off to go boating Mirror Lake with General of the Right, Anshi, Master Zhi and me to watch the winter snow on the lake."
"The leisurelyness is fascinating." Sima Yu paused and continued to ask. "Anshi is coming back this time. It is said that he intends to become an official. Do you know?"
"I know, we talked about it in the lake." Liu Cheng knew it well, it must be Sima Yu who knew that Xie An, who had returned to Jiankang half a month before him, was going to work, so he immediately went to test it out, and then realized something. "He seemed to intend to go to Jiangling."
"Yes, everyone has his own ambitions." After further verification, Sima Yu took a long breath, his expression remained the same, but his tone was obviously dry.
Obviously, this Prince of Kuaiji still has a certain ability to distinguish politically. He naturally knows that even with the heavy pressure of Western Islet's meeting and Xianbei's large-scale river crossing, the relationship between Lower Reaches has been greatly eased, and it will not affect the complex political game between the parties.
In any case, giving up South of the Yangtze based on Xie An's identity and ability and choosing to become an official from Huan Wen is a political situation of one ebb and flow.
"I came back half a month later than Mr. Anshi. Of course I was busy with official duties, but it was also because since I arrived at Kuaiji, I always had to go to Shan County to visit Duke Xi." Liu Acheng is not a completely passive person, and takes advantage of every opportunity.
"How's Linhai?" Sima Yu came to his senses and asked perfunctorily.
"I'm in good health and in good spirits. I'm just worried about Jiabin being childless after hearing that I already have three children. I'm even more uneasy when I hear that I'm bringing his nephew and niece over." Liu Cheng smiled slightly. "And after Way of the Celestial Masters's reorganization, Master Lu, whom he trusts most, is said to be focusing on Daoye, which also makes him uneasy..."
"You mean..." Sima Yu woke up after hearing this. "Xi Linhai is willing to become an official?"
"I think he must be a little shaken." Liu Cheng sighed, looking at the frost around him, and he was obviously emotionally infected. "Yonghe In six years, Shangsi Gathering, sixty-three people easily Collecting Orchid Pavilion, everyone thought it could last forever, ending just south of Zhejiang (Qiantang River)... But back then, Wang Tanzhi, Young people like Xi Chao, Wu Fusheng and I became officials; after a few years, Wang Lantian and Right General Wang turned against each other, and Xie Anshi ten years later Eastern Mountain turned into a dream; Sun and Xu The two Wenzongs, one actively pursued an official career and the other closed the door and locked the courtyard, it can be said that the romance has disappeared. If Duke Xi has not wavered, especially when the youngest of his children and nephews are already twelve or thirteen years old, how is it possible?"
"Every time I hear you talk about Shangsi Festival's romance, I am sincerely envious and wish I could be one of them. Now that the romance is gone, I feel sad and sad." Sima Yu also expressed a little emotion. "However, if Xi Linhai is willing to serve as an official, it will naturally be great news. I will make a call first when I get back and ask him to come to the court for discussion."
Liu Cheng nodded.
From the perspective of Sima Yu, being able to call Xi Yin to support him can offset the impact of General Xie An's advance to a certain extent, and Xi Yin is here, and his only remaining leader Northern Expedition, that is, his confidant Xun Xian, can control Northern Command Army to a higher level.
This is of course a great thing.
When the topic came to this point, Sima Yu also knew that it was time to get to the point. "Yulong, before you came out this time, I tried my best to think about your achievements, but in the end I still underestimated your ability... No matter what you asked me to think before, I never imagined that the imperial court could actually do this without triggering any civil uprising. Under such circumstances, you got so much money and food! And not only did you organize the transportation of materials in an orderly manner, you even sorted out the inside of Way of the Celestial Masters, wiped out the Three Rivers and Five Lakes bandits around Canal, and brought peace to the place... Huan Yuanzi said that you are the sharpest blade he has in his life, and I have seen it today."
Liu Cheng smiled and said nothing. He actually felt that this project was done extremely well and exceeded expectations.
It's not that the difficulty of who or what happened in this process was beyond his imagination, but that the things Native Clans had accumulated were too much, completely beyond his expectation. Before, he thought that he could get back tens of millions of money at most, but 20 million yuan, 90,000 shi of grain, and 60,000 pieces of cloth were all too amazing.
"Last month, when the accounts that entered the military treasury reached 60,000 shi of grain, 40,000 pieces of cloth, and 10,000,000 coins, Tai Pavilion and Empress Dowager had already decided that they would reward you with 10,000 pieces of cloth first no matter what." Sima Yu said surprisingly. "Don't refuse yet. I know your division of accounts, 20% of the loss, what do you want from the money?... but what is that? The imperial court transfers normally, and after Zhejiang, the loss has to be half. It is amazing that you can maintain the number of three to one. And we also heard that you exchanged a lot of your own compensation for one Manor, and then hired Shen Clan of Wuxing to do the acquisition and transfer for you, which is equivalent to your personal maintenance of the public.
"Yulong, I know what you are capable of now, but if you don't accept it now, if in the future, the court's employment and transportation matters will be the same as yours, I'm afraid no one will be willing to do such a thing. Just for this reason, you must first collect these ten thousand pieces of cloth."
It means that even if I share my share publicly, just because my accounts are clear and my work is clean, I will crush ordinary Great Jin officials from the perspective of efficiency and integrity at the same time.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Acheng nodded directly.
He wants to go north, and without a small treasury of his own, he cannot raise troops, even those from the imperial court.
"That's good." Sima Yu nodded with satisfaction, and at the same time called his confidant Slave Retainers who was driving, asking the latter to slow down a little to ensure that he had enough time to say the rest. "That's good... To tell you the truth, the court was so shocked by your performance this time that someone actually recommended you to do Minister of the Board of Revenue..."
Liu Cheng couldn't help but grin.
"I also think it's ridiculous, but after thinking about it carefully, it may not be impossible. It's just that Xie Yi Shi has done a good job, so there is no reason to replace him. Instead, someone recommended you to do Danyang Governor, which I think is quite suitable." Sima Yu explained briefly. "You know the situation of Wang of Sizhou, right? His body has been damaged I couldn't hold on anymore, so I simply took over Sizhou again, and Memorial relieved your wife's uncle Shen Jin of his imprisonment, allowing your wife's uncle to prepare two thousand soldiers and horses to go north to defend Imperial Mausoleum... But no matter what, Danyang Governor's position is vacant."
Liu Cheng nodded silently.
This matter is actually very simple. It is the chain effect of Murong Ke crossing the river before. Before Murong Ke crossed the river, the Yan Province counties along the river controlled by the remnants of the previous Later Zhao all turned against each other. After crossing the river, the entire Henan was shaken.
Among them, Yao Xiang occupies Luoyang. It is actually an independent force, but it has nominally taken refuge with Murong Xianbei. It is considered a close friend, and there are also changes this time. In addition, there is someone at Shangdang suddenly responding to the imperial court, and everyone can't help but urge Huan Wen to quickly go to Luoyang.
Others don't know Huan Wen's temper, doesn't Liu Acheng know it? He immediately retorted and said, please go to General Xie An from Shouchun! General Xie An is very capable!
Xie Shang had no choice but to ask for help from the rear. At this time, Wang Huzhi, who had been preparing to take over Sizhou at Northern Expedition, simply used his remaining heat and took over the Sizhou again. The appointment of and Pingbei... Anyway, his body is almost unbearable and Danyang Governor can't continue to work. He is not afraid of being squeezed by Huan Wen, which can be regarded as a contribution to the imperial court.
In this way, Shen Jin's matter will naturally have a clear opportunity to be resolved, and Liu Cheng will indeed have an excellent promotion position in front of him.
This is the first county where Danyang Governor and Jiankang are located. If Liu Cheng agrees, they can move to the office opposite Black Robe Alley tomorrow.
And when he reaches this position, he can really make a difference. One is to continue to be his Gradual Tuduan, and the other is to move directly into Jiankang City and continue to focus on the court to carry out major projects that facilitate promotion and wealth.
However, how could Liu Cheng go?
By the way, at this moment, Liu Acheng has countless words to say, starting from his fabricated life experience, the concept of Northern Expedition as filial piety, his consistent ancestral ambition to be impassioned, he can even say what Huashan said to coax his wife that day, and he can also say that An'an's wonderful things are endless. Including his theory that has been known to many people that Hu Linhan in the north will not last long, and that the gap between the common people in the south must be cleared, can also be repeated.
Liu Acheng himself has indeed thought countless times about how to act in response to this scene so that he can look like a hero.
But at this time, when faced with a choice opportunity that could determine his fate for the next few years or even half of his life, he finally swallowed all his words and just said calmly in the car behind the body of someone else's wife, "Your Highness, I want to go to Northern Expedition."
-----I want to go to the dividing line of Northern Expedition-----
In the fifteenth year of Emperor Taizu, there was a big change in Hebei, the family collapsed, and he came to Jingkou alone. He was restless all night, and he wanted to clear up the world. In the following few years, he became richer, more famous, more noble, more powerful, and he became famous in South of the Yangtze, but he did not lose his ambition for a moment.
-- "Chronicle of Jiangzuo".Qi Pei Songzhi
PS: Thank you to the new master for being such a cute little fairy! Thank you very much!