Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 315 Broken Terrace Garden
No matter how chaotic the scene is, there will be a day when people will be numb.

More than a month ago, Jiankang City was destroyed. For many people in the city, it was nothing less than a catastrophe.However, after surviving the turmoil of the first few days, as long as you don't die, you must live if you should live.It's just that the current ban in the city is strict, and the people are not allowed to store grain and start a business. If they want to survive, they can only bear heavy labor under the driving of the rebel army.

There is nothing more destructive to people than war, especially natural disasters.If there is no need to be responsible for one's own actions, there is no bottom line for human beings to be evil, and they are even worse than animals.Because hunting and killing each other among animals is still based on survival, but it is just a flash of thought for people to kill their compatriots, and there is no need for any reason.

Today's Jiankang City is very different from the previous ones. The most prosperous Changganli in the past is already a dilapidated scene, with demolished houses everywhere. Near the gate to build fortifications such as forts.And among these remnants, there are corpses that have not been picked up everywhere, and the flesh and blood have dried up, leaving only bones.

The Qinhuai River, originally an elegant Yingjiang River, is now cut into pieces by bamboo fences and wooden fences. Both sides of the bank are patrolled by soldiers from day to night, and small people are not allowed to enter the river.Even the Shen Garden on the shore, which is known as the best villa in the Qinhuai Garden, has long been occupied by rebels. Soldiers are stationed on the towering Star Picking Tower day and night to monitor the whole city, and the people are not allowed to gather and move.

Jiang Ling on the outskirts of the city has also changed beyond recognition.There used to be beautiful mountains and clear waters here, and many noble families built garden villas here, but most of these garden villas were burned down in the military disaster.Instead, there are continuous fortress arrow towers, which spread from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, and are still being built in the river to guard against the King Qin's army who may come by water.

From Stone City in the west of the city to the south of Taimiao, there were many warehouses and warehouses built on both sides of the Qinhuai River to store Taiwanese capital and taxes transported into the capital.Now all the salt, rice, money and silk in these warehouses have been emptied, and those empty warehouses have been used as temporary shelters for laborers.

This is already the case in the city, and it is naturally inevitable for Taicheng.Although most of the rebels had moved out of the city, there were still enough soldiers left to guard the officials.Almost half of the Tai Chen who are still staying in the capital have been driven to Tai Chen, together with their family members, which makes Tai City, which was burned by the flames of war, even more cramped.

Up to now, most of these ministers have accepted the fact that the city was broken.Some have subconscious intentions, contact old friends and prepare to move in time to set things right.Some stayed closely around the emperor to protect Jin Zuo's orthodoxy.There are also some who have to bow their heads to make peace in order to preserve some of their vitality and turn their backs on the rebels.

The wind knows the strength of the grass, no matter what choices these people have made, the situation is already like this, and they can only accept it passively.

Earlier, the rebel army had rewarded him with great rewards, and the Taibao Wang Dao was still the nominal leader of the Taiwanese officials. He was placed in the Taiji side hall, and the surrounding area was tightly sealed, and private contact with idlers was prohibited.

Compared with the calmness and generosity of the past, although Dao Wang's expression is still calm now, his cheeks are haggard and thin at a speed visible to the naked eye.Now he is completely under house arrest, almost completely cut off the source of news, and he can't even go to see the emperor casually.

"Cai Bao, brother Chang Yu has already fallen asleep, the pain should be less severe than yesterday."

A young man hurried in and said to Director Wang who was sitting by the window.

Director Wang turned around, nodded slightly, and said with a slightly tired expression: "I'm sorry, Dalang has been ill since he was ill, and I'm not calm now, so it's hard for me to take care of him in person. If it wasn't for the help from old friends, I really don't know what to do .”

Speaking of this, Wang Dao's face already showed a strong helplessness, and a bit of regret.A few days earlier, his eldest son Wang Yue suddenly fell ill. Although the general Su Jun who was in charge of guarding Taicheng also sent someone for diagnosis and treatment, he was not allowed to take care of him, probably because he was worried that he would use this to secretly communicate with the officials.

The young man's name was Yuan Dan, a member of the Yuan clan in Chenjun, after hearing what Wang Dao said, he said solemnly: "Thank you for not daring to be the eunuch, this is what the younger generation should do."

Director Wang was about to go forward and ask a few more questions about his son's condition, but the soldiers in charge of guarding had already poked their heads in with a rather impatient expression. back down.

"Remember to take care of your health, the Taibao will still need the Taibao to maintain stability in Jiangdong in the future."

Yuan Dan saluted deeply, and the moment he bent down, a ball of paper rolled down from under his robe and fell to the ground, and when he turned back, he picked it up with his toes to the desk where Director Wang was sitting.

Director Wang calmly bent down and hooked the ball of paper into his palm, then sat back in his original position, holding the ball of paper in his hand all the time.When the soldiers outside the door changed their defenses, they turned their backs and quickly opened the paper ball for a quick glance, and then their expressions changed drastically.

"Yu Yuangui...ha, is this a punishment from God, or a man-made disaster?" Director Wang muttered to himself, but there was no lack of loneliness in his expression.

Many officials and their families were driven into Taicheng. The chaos was only a trivial matter, and the most important thing was the lack of supplies.The rice grains in Duzhong were looted by the rebels and airlifted to Gushu, and there were only a few dendrobium rice grains left in the entire Taicheng city as reserves.Except for a few families who received special care, most of the remaining people did not have sufficient food supplies, and lived in the government offices of palaces and temples that were mostly collapsed, suffering from hunger and cold.

Among so many Taiwanese ministers who suffered from catastrophe, Shen Ke was fortunate to be in the care of him. Not only did his original duties remain unchanged, but he was also protected by Liyang soldiers when he went in and out to prevent them from being disturbed.

Compared with other Taiwanese officials who were detained in one place, Shen Ke's range of activities is also larger. Although he can't leave Taicheng, he can freely come and go between Taiyuan, and relatively speaking, he can receive more rumors. some more.Therefore, these detained ministers were also very polite to Shen Ke, hoping to get some outside consultation from him, and then consider how they should deal with themselves in this chaos.

However, Shen Ke is also aware of the price his family has spent to obtain this advantage for him. Naturally, he must use it at the most critical moment, and must not waste it casually.Therefore, for such requests, Shen Ke could push them back as much as he could, but he couldn't refuse them, and they all evaded them. He didn't intend to use outside news to calm the hearts of the people in Taicheng.

What's more, the external situation may not be as these people wish. For example, if the proposal to divide the state in Kuaiji, which is very popular in Wuzhong, if it spreads to Taicheng, it is unknown what kind of turmoil it will cause.From this point of view, the Liyang Army has done the Wu people a favor by detaining many overseas Chinese and Taiwanese ministers here. At least these people are not enough to become the resistance of the division of Kuaiji. .

Of course, Shen Ke did not do nothing in Taicheng. He used the convenience of information to communicate with various families in Wuzhong, selectively disclosed some information to them, and then reached a consensus with them on the division of Kuaiji.This matter should have been the long-cherished wish of the people of Wu, but it was difficult to reach a consensus because of the positions of various families in Wuzhong earlier, and it was impossible to form a voice that was enough for the center to pay attention to.

Today, Shen Ke received a total of more than a dozen petitions from Wu people, almost all of whom were representatives of various Wuzhong families in Taicheng earlier.For example, Kuaiji Dingtan, who is now the official residence of Shangshu, Kuaiji Kongyu, the servant, etc., the most important of them is Wu Jun Lu Ye.

Although these families belong to the Wu people group, they are also closely related to the Qiao family. For example, Ding Tan's greatest support in his official career is the Langya Wang family, while Kong Yu has some old grievances with the Shen family.As for Lu Ye, needless to say, at this point, he can already be regarded as the crown of the Wu people. No matter which side is in power, he must be well wooed.

For these people, the division of Kuaiji may not get enough benefits, but it may cause unnecessary suppression or hurt their reputation, so they are not very enthusiastic about it, and even oppose it.To gain their support, Shen Ke also spent a lot of energy.

However, Shen Ke's bargaining chip is also sufficient, Zhongshu is dead, the Wang family has almost no power outside, and the Empress Dowager and King Langya are both in Jingkou.As long as these facts are presented, most people can be convinced by him.However, an old fox like Lu Ye is more difficult to persuade. Shen Ke simply did not entangle with him, and directly cut off the supply of this man.When he is half-starved to death, many things will be much easier to talk about.If he can starve to death, he can directly starve him to death!After death, everything is over, so there is nothing to be stubborn about.

After receiving these petitions, Shen Ke used the channel Shen Zhezi explained to transport them out of the city.As long as the people of Wu can reach a consensus, not to mention the current national destiny is in peril, even if Yu Liang is still there, the Kuaiji sub-state can operate successfully.

In addition, Shen Ke has another mission in Taichung, which is to protect the emperor, which is also the greatest significance of his role as palace supervisor.Of course, if the rebels insisted on killing the emperor, it would be difficult for Shen Ke to keep it, but other than that, he could use his own convenience to prevent too much unnecessary torture for the emperor.

Now the right guard general Liu Chao is in charge of taking care of the emperor. This man can be said to be a rare loyal person nowadays. Even if he is in such a situation, he still serves the emperor with integrity.Surrounded by chaos and soldiers, he had to spend a lot of time every day explaining scriptures to the emperor, so as not to waste his studies.

Although it was only over a month, the little emperor had changed drastically compared to before, the fat on his cheeks had disappeared, his eyes were protruding, and he was surprisingly thin.Sitting in the banquet at this time, listening to Liu Chao's narration of the scriptures, his spirit was listless. He suddenly pushed the scroll aside, and said with a choked voice, "What's the benefit of You Wei teaching me these things? It's better to know but not to do." I don’t know. If everyone could believe in the scriptures, how could I be reduced to this?”

Liu Chao was stunned when he heard this, and immediately bowed in tears: "Your Majesty's misfortune is due to the classics and righteousness, but the lack of officials. Your Majesty is talented and intelligent, don't give up on yourself because of the disaster!"

"You Wei, please get up, I don't blame anyone, I, I'm just very hungry..."

The little emperor pressed the book case with both hands, but his tone was a bit weak. When he saw Shen Ke walking in, his eyes lit up: "Shen Jian, can I eat?"

Shen Ke smiled wryly, went inside to pay a visit, and then hurried out to Taiji East Hall to see Kuang Shu, who is now in charge of guarding Taicheng.After being called in, he waited until Kuang Shu retreated to the left and right, and then said in a deep voice: "The emperor is the foundation of Jin Zuo, how could Kuang Ling be so harsh and slow!"

Kuang Shu sighed, got up and bowed to Shen Ke again and again: "Brother Ziming, don't embarrass me anymore, this is all my master's order before leaving. I helped you punish Lu Gong earlier, which has already aroused suspicion from other colleagues. It is inappropriate to respect His Majesty the Emperor. What's more, what the Zunfu has done recently is against the wishes of my lord. The lord is already dissatisfied with this. Earlier, he sent an order to send brother Ziming to Gushu. It's just that I worked hard to make peace for the time being! "

"Kuang Ling is in a dilemma, and I know it well. However, the situation in the future is unpredictable. Kuang Ling has this position, so why must he check everything. Yu Zhongshu is in the same way as before, why bother to cut himself off from the public Ah! Kuang Ling should be well aware of my family's style of handling things, but if you ask for something, you will never let it down, and I only ask Kuang Ling to make a good relationship!"

Shen Ke also said in a sincere tone.

After Kuang Shu heard this, he pondered for a long time before he said in a low voice: "Brother Ye Hou Ziming sent people here to collect things, it is really not suitable to attract people to wait and see. After all, I am not the only deacon in Taichung now, so I have to avoid it .”

(End of this chapter)