I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 345: Although the good news arrived, Huo Guang panicked; heavy snow fell suddenly, and the situation suddenly changed! (Please subscribe)

"So that's it." Huo Xian murmured to himself after listening, seeming to be worried.

"Just tell me how much the Huo family's wealth is. Madam, I know that many people send gifts to the back house in order to curry favor with me..."

"But my Huo family is different from other families. I won't be criticized like Le Cheng for just a few million dollars..."

"What's more, I have never done anything against the wishes of those who gave gifts."

Huo Guang patted Huo Xian's hand gently as he spoke, seeming to be comforting Huo Xian and himself.

What he said was not too false.

From the beginning of the champion to the present, brothers Huo Guang and Huo Qubing have been granted the title of marquis, so their annual income is not comparable to that of other courtiers.

The annual salary of the three gongs and nine ministers is about 20 yuan. Even if the emperor's rewards and the rent from the land purchased over the years are included, the total income is only 50 yuan.

But the Huo family has been a marquis for 20 years. Every farmer in the feudal town has to pay at least 150 yuan in rent and tax a year, and [-] households have to pay [-] million yuan in rent.

Over the past ten years, the money earned has been used to buy land and rent it out. This income alone can bring 500 to [-] million yuan to the Huo family a year.

In addition, the three generations of emperors were very generous to Huo Guang. The rewards over the years were a hundred times more than those of ordinary courtiers, and amounted to millions of dollars every year.

Therefore, even if the Huo family embezzled hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a year like Le Chenggong did, it would be impossible to detect any clues.

You can still tell if you add a bowl of water to the tripod, but how can you tell if you add a bowl of water to the sea?
As for Huo Guangyou's question today, he just wanted to know something in his mind.

However, this simple question made Huo Xian feel bitter and unable to express it.

She thought of the day when she accidentally revealed the story of Huo Yu's connection with the Huns and was almost strangled to death by Huo Guang, and she felt even more frightened.

So, after Huo Xian weighed for a long time, he finally figured out how to conceal Huo Guang's words, and slowly revealed the Huo family's background - he couldn't tell the truth, he had to tell a lie.

"Including all the fields, manors, horses, slaves, cloth, money and grain, the wealth accumulated by my Huo family totals about [-] million yuan."

"This year, all the inputs are around 2000 million yuan, and the output is around 600 million yuan."

Huo Guang was a little stunned when he heard this number. He didn't expect there to be so many.

He quickly made a comparison in his mind. This 2000 million yuan of income was enough to be worth the annual tax of a large county with [-] or [-] households.

And the savings of [-] million yuan are equivalent to one-twentieth of the Shaofu's savings.

This is simply a mountain of gold and silver!
Even Huo Guang felt that the money was a little hot and a little shocking.

"So many?" Huo Guang asked with a frown.

"Yes, yes..." Huo Xian said awkwardly.

"Then how much of the 2000 million yuan of income is the daily contribution of the courtiers?" Huo Guang asked, being careful not to use the sensitive word bribery.

"This, this is slightly different every year. This year is when the Queen enters the palace, so there are more people giving gifts and the gifts are heavier. It is about 300 million yuan, compared with about 200 million yuan in previous years."

"This is too heavy. From now on, the concierge must keep a close eye on it, and the servants must also be watched. Don't let them charge so much money."

"These officials don't have much money and food. The gifts, money and food sent to the government are probably all obtained from the private sector. This is inappropriate."

Huo Guang said this truth very freely, but he didn't mean to blame him too much. It was obvious that he didn't take this matter too seriously.

"I understand, I understand. Should I return the items collected this month?"

"That's all..." Huo Guang thought for a while and said a favorite mantra of corrupt officials, "Let's not do this next time."

"No." Huo Xian was overjoyed.

The couple chatted for a few more words, and then Huo Xian packed up the leftovers himself, hurriedly left the main hall and rushed to the back house.

During this short journey, Huo Xian felt very uneasy because she told another lie.

The Huo family's wealth is more than [-] million yuan, and I'm afraid it will be more than doubled.

And of all the family wealth, at least half had "irregular origins," and the bulk of it came from the transportation business done by Da Si's farmland Yannian's wife and brother.

In addition, the Huo family's annual income is not just 4000 yuan, but [-] million yuan, half of which comes from Tian Yannian's performance.

As for success, they can only get 200 million yuan every year, which is only one-twentieth of this "ill-gotten wealth". The Huo family can get half of it.

How could Huo Xian know so much?
The reason is simple. Although Tian Yannian managed to earn the money, it was Huo Xian who had the final say on how to divide it.

This black account is in Huo Xian's hands.

In the past, Huo Xian greedily grabbed money to give himself and the Huo family a way out, but today's conversation reminded Huo Xian of something.

This money is very likely to become a hot potato, and it may cause some disaster.

Huo Xian thought of a way to temporarily hide the money, so that no one could see the clues, especially Huo Guang and the emperor.

She walked back to the back house full of thoughts, ready to deal with this astonishing amount of money.

Huo Guang naturally couldn't see through this, and he still trusted Huo Xian unconditionally. Little did he know that the other party seemed sincere, but was hiding countless things from him.

How did Emperor Xiaozhao die?What conspiracy is Huo Yu doing?How much wealth does the Huo family have?Where do millions of dollars a year go?What did you write in the letter asking for help to Huo Yu and the others?
Only Huo Xian knew about these things, but Huo Guang knew nothing about them.

……

Just as Huo Xian left the main hall of the General's Mansion, General Shi Chen Wannian walked in behind him.

He held a messenger tube in both hands, and after a hurried salute, he said out of breath: "General, the Northern Army has sent an urgent military message!"

"Oh? Bring it over quickly!" Huo Guang's eyes showed a hint of greed, and he suddenly became more energetic.

Chen Wannian carefully placed the messenger tube on the case in front of Huo Guang, then stepped aside and waited.

Huo Guang took the messenger tube and examined it carefully. The sealing paint on it was intact, and the red bird feathers were still stuck on it.

The military information with bird feathers on it is called "Feather Message", which means urgent, which means that the message box contains the most important and urgent military information.

It has been a month since the Fifth Route Han Army left Hansai in the north, and this is the first time Huo Guang has received a feather notice.

Huo Guang's hand couldn't help but tremble a little, because what was contained in it was probably the bargaining chip for him to make a complete comeback in the court.

Thinking of this, Huo Guang couldn't wait any longer and quickly opened the messenger tube and poured out the thin piece of paper.

The title at the beginning is "General Huo Guang of Great Sima", and the inscription at the end is "General Fan Mingyou of Du Liao".

The official and private seals were accurate, the concealed stamp agreed upon in the letter matched, and the handwriting was familiar. All signs indicated that the letter was authentic.

After confirming these, Huo Guang hurriedly read on.

At first, the expression on his face was one of joy and excitement, then it turned into disappointment and confusion, and then it solidified into coldness and gloom.

Shi Chen Wannian, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, didn't know why. He just saw the general's uncertain expression, so he didn't dare to say a word and just stood aside quietly and waited.

This feather message is indeed the good news that Huo Guang has been waiting for for a long time, but although it is good news, it is far from the "big victory" that Huo Guang imagined.

The number of enemies killed is not one hundred thousand, not ten thousand, but one thousand.The total number of captured cattle and sheep was only four to five hundred - probably not enough to feed the army itself.

This good news is a bit too shabby.

What made Huo Guang even more angry was that although Fan Mingyou's troops claimed to have traveled [-] miles from the fortress, they actually only reached Xijunji Mountain, which was only [-] to [-] miles away from Juyan.

This means that Fan Mingyou's troops spent most of their time patrolling Hebei - although this is the north of the Great Wall, how could there be Huns?

Moreover, Fan Mingyou led his troops to return south on October 29.

According to this date, they will soon withdraw within the borders of the Han Dynasty.

However, the date agreed before the war to return to the enemy was November [-], which was a full month ahead of schedule.

What exactly is Fan Mingyou thinking? !
The reason given in the letter was that the temperature in the northern part of the country dropped sharply, heavy snow suddenly arrived, and the Huns were afraid of the Han army, so they fled north in a hurry, unable to find an opportunity to attack, so they had to return to the country in advance.

This reason seems to make sense, but it doesn’t make sense: Judging from the weather in Chang’an this year, the weather in Saibei should not be much worse than in previous years.

In this letter, Fan Mingyou also mentioned that the soldiers were eager to return home. The soldiers in Sanfu and the Guandong region wanted to return home before the year, and asked Huo Guang to issue a common copper festival to their troops.After the army returned to the fortress, they could not return directly to Chang'an. Instead, they had to wait for the bronze festival issued by the emperor in the agreed border counties - this was a system to prevent generals from causing rebellion.

Allowing passage, this is the role of the copper festival.

If you have a tiger talisman in your hand, you can let your troops listen to your orders, and if you have a copper festival in your hand, you can let the counties along the way pass.

The two are indispensable and interdependent.

When Fan Mingyou led his army on the expedition, he had the tiger charm and the copper festival issued by the emperor. Now he will naturally need a new copper festival when he returns to Chang'an.

Without the Bronze Festival, the counties along the way would not let them off.

It is understandable that the soldiers want to return to Sanfu and Guandong as soon as possible, but it is unreasonable for Fan Mingyou to feel homesick among his soldiers.

It had been less than two months since the armies left Chang'an City, and the homesickness wasn't that severe.

Huo Guang read Fan Mingyou's anxiety from between the lines - this anxiety means panic and impatience.

"Does anyone else know about the existence of this military intelligence?" Huo Guang didn't ask about the content, but just about "this military intelligence".

"It turned out that the messenger tube was covered with cloth. Except for the postman who delivered the letter, no one else knew what was inside."

"Well, keep the postman under guard first. Don't let him wander around the city. This matter is of great importance. Don't let the news leak. You must also pretend that you have never seen it."

"No!" Although Chen Wannian had a lot of doubts, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly agreed.

"In addition, General Tian Shun and General Tian Guangming's feathers should be arriving soon in the next few days. Send people to wait at the city gate. Once found, they will be brought to me immediately without delay."

"promise!"

Chen Wannian left, and Huo Guang was the only one left in the main hall.

The charcoal fire in the main hall was very full and powerful, so every afternoon in the past few days, Huo Guang was so hot that he felt sleepy and had to take off his winter robe to survive.

But now, waves of whistling cold wind blew in from outside, blowing away all the warmth in the hall, making Huo Guang feel numb and cold in his limbs.

Maybe it's like Fan Mingyou said, it's extremely cold in Saibei this year, so it's not conducive to fighting, and that's why the results are insignificant?

Although it could be explained away, Huo Guang always felt that there was something unexplainable.

Three days later, it will be the day of the small court meeting. The military information received must be reported, and even now it must be reported to the emperor in advance.

It is different from before. Now that the emperor has taken charge, all military and state affairs must be reported to the emperor as soon as possible.

With the new Shangshu Office, small court meetings are no longer necessary.

So, how to write this chapter?

After thinking for a moment, Huo Guang decided to make a risky move: he wanted to bet that the two armies of Tian Shun and Tian Guangming would achieve a great victory.

In other words, even if he couldn't achieve a great victory, Huo Guang would still make it look like a great victory.

So Huo Guang picked up the pen and started writing on the paper.

"The veteran general Sima and the general secretary Huo Guang reported to the emperor. General Fan Mingyou, who conquered the Liao Dynasty, reported urgent military information to his troops. They defeated the Xiongnu bandits in Dongjunji Mountain. Tian Shun's troops and Tian Guangming's troops also achieved great victories. , the good news will arrive soon!"

Huo Guang checked it several times and made sure that there was nothing worthy of polishing on the word, then he took it to the corridor outside the hall and handed it over to the messenger who was always waiting here.

"This is my memorial to the county magistrate. Send it to the county magistrate of Weiyang Palace immediately without delay!"

"promise!"

The unknown envoy left quickly. Huo Guang looked at the other person's retreating back, feeling like he had thousands of thoughts in his heart, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

He still hasn't figured out why Fan Mingyou acted like this. He needs to think carefully about how to face the current situation.

Just when Huo Guang turned around and was about to return to the main hall, he suddenly heard a noise from the officials in the courtyard.

"Look, it's snowing!"

"Snow! Is it really snowing?!"

"Ruixue is a good year!"

……

The officials walking in the courtyard stopped one after another. The messengers and pavilion guards in the corridor also put their heads out to take a look, and the subordinate officials in the side rooms and small pavilions also put their heads out...

The usually majestic and solemn General's Mansion suddenly became lively at this moment, and everyone showed a child-like smile.

These men, aged between 50 and [-] years old, all stretched out their hands to catch the creatures falling from the clouds in the sky, as excited as children seeing snow for the first time.

Even the unsmiling Huo Guang felt a desire to reach out and pick up a snowflake to examine it carefully.

However, the majesty that had accumulated over a long period of time still made him give up this idea.

What's more, he was so confused now that he had no intention of enjoying the snow scene.

Huo Guang looked up at the dark clouds in the sky with a sad face, and finally turned around and walked into the main hall.

……

This sudden snow covered a large area, from Saibei Border County to Sanfu Chang'an, to Guandong County, and then to the great rivers.

Almost in one day, it snowed heavily in half of the Han Empire.

The snow in the north is fluttering like goose feathers, and the snow in the south is pattering like grains of salt.

In short, thousands of miles of ice and thousands of miles of snow drifting, looking inside and outside the Great Wall is particularly enchanting.

It's the same snow this time, but the scene under the snow is different, and the mood of the people watching the snow is even different.

On the bank of the Xiongnu River in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Xiongnu, Zhao Chongguo's troops were sleepy and out of horses. Tens of thousands of soldiers huddled together in tents to keep warm. They didn't know where to play reed pipes. They marched all night and looked back at their hometowns.

The envoys led by Su Wu and Fu Jiezi trekked through the snow in the Gobi. Finally, before nightfall, they saw the lights of Zhao Chongguo's camp, but their faces were full of sadness.

Outside the surrender city further north, an army stretching for several miles was still marching south silently in the snow. The mist exhaled by those knights and horses made the world become colder.

Outside the Jiaofang Hall, Emperor Liu He of the Han Dynasty was hugging Huo Chengjun and watching the snow scene in the corridor. The visitor brought the general's memorial. Liu He only glanced at it and put it in his arms, chatting with Huo Chengjun as usual.

In Changle Palace's Changxin Hall, Shangguan Queen Mother looked at the sudden heavy snowfall alone and felt sad; outside the temple under the gate of Weiyang Palace, Yu Wuyou stood in the snow and looked in the direction of Changle Palace in a daze.

Guan Er and Zhang San in Beicheng Guo welcomed more drinking guests, and Xu Guanghan took his wife and daughter home just before the heavy snowfall.

……

Among these many pictures, one is the most inconspicuous, but it is the most energetic.

A small team of ten cavalrymen was galloping on the straight road from Ganquan in the north of Chang'an City to Luochuan.

The surrounding sparse and increasingly white woods were silent, and only the sound of "rustling" snowflakes could be heard as they fell.

Whether they are knights or horses, their energy has reached the last moment.

People's eyes are red and horses are sweating profusely!

The man who took the lead had the most determined eyes. He could only see the city of Chang'an that had not yet appeared in front of him. He was so anxious that the fire burning in his chest seemed to be able to offset the coldness all over his body.

Suddenly, the horse under the knight's crotch let out a mournful cry, then staggered and fell to the side of the road. The huge force threw the young knight straight to the side of the road.

"Uh-" The companions shouted and reined in their horses, jumped off their horses one after another, and rushed over to check in a panic.

However, before they could reach out, the knight stood up on his own. He didn't bother to brush off the snow and mud on his body, but just looked back at the horse that had run out of fuel.

He took off the bamboo hat on his head with some annoyance, revealing a thin and determined face.

This person is none other than Han Zeng’s adopted son—Han De!
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(End of this chapter)