Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 217 Forced to serve as official

In the side room of Yecheng Posthouse, candlelight flickered and it was dim.

The three people headed by Guo Zhanyi had frosty expressions on their faces.

Following Huan Xi's order, they traveled thousands of miles to Jiangdong and sincerely invited Xie An to come out. Huan Xi even sent a letter to Wang Xizhi, asking him to serve as a lobbyist.

I never thought that even if Wang Xizhi lobbied on his behalf, he would not be able to change Xie An's mind.

One of them said angrily:

"Xie Anshi was so arrogant that he dared to refuse Liang Gong's conquest. We said it with certainty when we came, but now that we have returned without success, we will be laughed at by others!"

In the past, not everyone refused Huan Xi's solicitation, but they were also figures like Wang Meng and Xie Ai. Not to mention Wang Meng, who is now the leader of the ministers of the Liang Kingdom with outstanding achievements, and Xie Ai is even more famous and is known as Respected by the world.

As for Xie An, those who have close friendship with him naturally know his talents.

However, even among the Jiangdong gentry, there are still people who think that Xie An is just a man who is trying to gain fame. It is difficult to live up to his reputation, let alone Guo Zhenyi and others who came to the south for the first time.

Another person also said angrily:

"Xie Anshi is proud of his status and does not appreciate promotion. If he leaves like this, he is afraid that the world will despise Liang Gong."

Guo Zhenchi knew that the consequences of the matter were not that serious. How could anyone really despise Huan Xi because Xie An refused Huan Xi's conquest.

"When Guo left Guzang, Liang Gong gave me a bag of tips. If Wang Neishi could not persuade Xie Anshi to come out, he asked me to open the bag of tips and act accordingly."

Guo Zhenyi and others were sent south by Huan Xi when he was still in Liangzhou, so they naturally came from Guzang.

With that said, Guo fluttered his wings and took out a blue brocade bag from his arms.

The two were overjoyed when they saw it, and quickly urged Guo to take it apart.

Guo fluttered his wings and looked at it with a strange expression on his face.

The night was getting darker, and Xie An was ready to rest. Whenever he went on a trip, he would always bring singing girls with him, so there would naturally be no shortage of people to sleep with him.

Before he even took off his clothes, a servant knocked on the door to inform him. It turned out that Wang Xizhi's personal entourage brought three strangers to see him.

Xie An sighed helplessly to the singing girl:

"It must be the visitors from Guanxi who are unwilling to give up and want to persuade them face to face. Shao Yi is unfavorable and cannot refuse, so he has to send someone to bring them over."

After that, Xie An ordered his servants to lead the guests to the main hall of the post house, while he rearranged his clothes and went to receive the guests.

When they came to the main hall, the first thing that caught Xie An's attention was the food box in Guo Zhenyi's hand, which gave Xie An a bad feeling.

Xie An didn't allow the three of them to speak and refused first.

"Three brave men came to visit late at night, and they are not welcome from afar, but if they want to persuade Xie to become an official, please stop.

"Xie is grateful to Mr. Liang for inviting me, but everyone has his own ambitions. Xie is a lazy person with no desires and pursuits. He only wants to travel around the mountains and rivers and express his feelings. I believe Mr. Liang will understand."

In the past, Sima Yu and Huan Wen both invited Xie An to serve in the army. After he refused, he never forced him, but Huan Xi was destined not to be so magnanimous.

Guo Zhenyi was not in a hurry to answer, but opened the food box and saw that it was empty.

Xie An immediately frowned and said:

"Why is this so?"

There are two theories about Xun Yu's death. One is that he died of worry, which comes from "Three Kingdoms", one of the first four histories.

The second is that Cao Cao gave an empty box and Xun Yu was forced to commit suicide by taking poison. This comes from "Wei Shi Chun Qiu" and "Book of the Later Han", one of the first four histories.

Among them, "Wei's Spring and Autumn Annals" was written by Sun Sheng, Huan Wen's staff.

Although Sun Sheng was greedy for money, there is no need to doubt his moral integrity. He once truthfully recorded Huan Wen's defeat at Fangtou in "Jin Yang Qiu", which made Huan Wen angry and threatened to kill and annihilate the clan, forcing Sun Sheng to change the history.

Sun Sheng refused to give in and insisted on writing history according to the truth. Huan Wen had no choice but to give up.

That is to say, he met the magnanimous Huan Wen. Otherwise, Sun Sheng's family might not be able to survive.

Sun Shengneng recorded Xun Yu's death by taking poison in "Wei's Spring and Autumn Annals", which shows that there is indeed basis for this matter. Xie An read extensively and heard about it.

Now Huan Xi ordered someone to bring an empty food box, which made it clear that he was imitating Emperor Wu of Wei in forcing Xun Yu to commit suicide.

Guo Zhenyi recounted:

"Mr. Liang has something to say, and I would like to ask Mr. Xie to listen attentively:

"'Sir has the talent to help the world and benefit the people. If he cannot be used by me, I should get rid of him as soon as possible, so as not to become the mainstay of the imperial court and become my enemy in the future.

"'Since Mr. Wang is interested in mountains and rivers, future generations should follow suit. As long as the Huan family is in power for one day, Mr. Wang's descendants should never be employed.

"'Huan Xie's family is related by marriage. For the sake of the friendship between the two families, I would like to ask Mr. Huan to wait a while and choose a day to take poison after returning to Kuaiji County to clear Huan's suspicion.

"Remember, don't make anything public about what happened today, otherwise the Huan and Xie families will turn against each other and become enemies. This is all Mr.'s fault."

After saying that, Guo flapped his wings and bowed:

"Having said this, please thank Mr. Guo for your own safety. Guo will resign."

The other two people also saluted with him and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Xie An spoke to stop him.

At this time, Xie An no longer had the calmness of the past. Huan Xi was threatening him nakedly. If he didn't get it, he would be destroyed.

Even if Xie An doesn't want to commit suicide, I'm afraid Huan Xi will send assassins to do it for him. In desperation, Xie An had no choice but to agree:

"Tomorrow morning, I will go with the three of you."

Xie An knew that this was Huan Xi's way of forcing him to come out, but he did not dare to take the risk to test Huan Xi's determination on this matter.

The price was too great, and it was beyond Xie An's ability to bear.

For Xie An, after all, the interests of the clan must come first. Otherwise, in the original time and space, Xie An would not have left the mountain at the age of more than 40 when Xie Shang and Xie Yi died of illness and Xie Wan failed in the Northern Expedition. , Stabilizing the status of the Xie family in Chen County.

As Huan Xi said, if Huan Xi forced Xie An to die and the Huan and Xie families turned against each other, Xie An would be the sinner of the clan.

Huan Xi felt confident because of this. Since he couldn't persuade Xie An to come out of the mountain with all his good words, it would be better to use strong methods to force him to go north.

When Xie An arrives in Guanzhong, there will be plenty of opportunities to repair the relationship.

Even if Xie An was passive and sabotaged for a long time, Huan Xi could tolerate it. Huan Xi could not use such a great talent, but he could not be allowed to contribute to the court or stand opposite to himself.

Guo Zhenyi and the others were overjoyed when they saw Xie An agreeing to go out, and they quickly took back the empty food boxes they had brought.

The next day, Xie An bid farewell to Wang Xizhi.

Wang Xizhi was puzzled when he heard that Xie An was going to Chang'an to serve Huan Xi. After all, Xie An's attitude was still so resolute yesterday.

He asked Guo Zhenyi privately, wanting to know what happened to make Xie An change his mind.

How could Guo Zhenyi dare to answer truthfully? He said perfunctorily:

"It's just a matter of moving with emotion and understanding with reason."

Of course Wang Xizhi didn't believe Guo Zhenyi's lies.

But Xie An was about to leave, and Wang Xizhi had no interest in traveling, so he returned to Kuaiji County with him. Xie An's family members were all in Kuaiji, so he naturally wanted to pick them up and go to Chang'an together.

Among them were the Xie family's children who followed Xie An and accepted his teachings.

At the same time, Xie An also sent people to Wuyi Lane to inform his brother Xie Yi about his response to Huan Xi's conquest.

Xie Yi's wife, Ruan Rong, the mother of Xie Daoyun and Xie Xuan, learned about this and persuaded her husband:

"My uncle is about to go to Chang'an. Now that Jiang and Jie'er are here, why don't you, husband, do the same? Even if it's not Liang Chen, it's better to be reunited with the family in Chang'an than to be separated from each other.

"Besides, my husband should also consider Ling Jiang. My father and uncle are at odds with each other. As a daughter and daughter-in-law, I am caught between the two of you, and you are in a dilemma."

Xie Yi has been idle at home these years and has never been an official.

During this period, some friends recommended Xie Yi to the court, but since Xie Yi was Huan Xi's father-in-law, Sima Yu did not dare to entrust him with important tasks.

Xie Yi left in anger because he was not reused under Huan Wen. How could he agree to some menial official positions given by the court?

Now Ruan Rong persuaded Xie Yi to go north. Xie Yi was silent and Ruan Rong did not urge him, but quietly waited for her husband's decision.

After a long time, Xie Yi finally agreed to move his family to Chang'an, but he still emphasized:

"I went to Guanzhong to reunite with my children, not to get an official position in Liang Kingdom."

Ruan Rong responded with a smile:

"Of course, of course."

Ruan Rong didn't care whether her husband would become an official. What she cared about was whether Xie Daoyun could secure the position of Huan Xi's wife. Even though Aman and Xiang Haer were born one after another, the bad relationship between Huan Wen and Xie Yi was a hidden danger after all.

Now that the family has moved to Chang'an, it is tantamount to Xie Yi taking the first step to reconcile with Huan Wen. Sooner or later, the two of them will be able to put aside their past feud and rebuild their old relationship.

In the tenth year of Yonghe, the twelfth lunar month and the twelfth day.

The so-called twelfth lunar month originally did not have a fixed time, but the day when sacrifices were held in the twelfth lunar month was called the twelfth lunar month.

It was not until the Han Dynasty that it was determined to be on the third garrison day of the twelfth lunar month.

Huan Xi successively offered sacrifices in the Liang Guo Ancestral Temple and Weiyang Palace.

The objects of sacrifice are the ancestors of the Huan family and the five household gods, namely: the door god, the household god, the house god, the kitchen god, and the well god.

After praying, Huan Xi came to the Shangshutai and asked Wang Meng about the resettlement work of the relocated people. After learning that the people had been resettled, although a few people suffered from frostbite, there were no cases of freezing to death. Huan Xi was relieved. tone.

Even though it's winter, it can't be snowy all the time.

From October to the twelfth lunar month, whenever the snow melts, Wang Meng will arrange oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages to move some people to Hongnong.

Today, 30,000 soldiers and their families, as well as 10,000 other households, have been sent to Hongnong County, where Deng Qiang, the prefect of Hongnong, presided over the redistribution of land to everyone.

Later, Huan Xi asked about the relief work in Liangzhou. Wang Meng was in charge of the general administration, so Huan Xi naturally asked him about everything.

It was precisely because the burden on Wang Meng was so heavy that Huan Xi wanted to invite Xie An to come out.

Huan Xi enjoyed his leisure time, but he didn't want Wang Meng to fall ill due to overwork for him.

With Xie An's talents, if he can serve Huan Xi, he can naturally share some of Wang Meng's government affairs and reduce Wang Meng's burden.

Although Quan Yi is resourceful and considerate, governing the country is really not his specialty.

(End of this chapter)