Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 868 The Battle of Xiangyang Begins
Chapter 874 The Battle of Xiangyang Begins
At this time, Ran Ming became the real master of Taiwu Hall, Yecheng Imperial Palace, the capital of Wei State.And Ran Ming's daughters also have official titles.Ran Ming's inner palace system inherited the Han system, that is, the titles of concubines such as wife, beauty, lover, eighth son, seventh son, chief envoy, and young envoy.

The former crown prince's side concubine Bian Bian and Liu Wei naturally became his wives, and the title of "Third Wives" unexpectedly fell on Wang Zhi's head.Secondly, Li Shi, Li Jingshu, and Wang Baobao won the title of beauties, while Bai Feng and Jin Chengyue were named beauties.

Even Helena was made a nobleman.

Even though Helena has become the most beautiful woman next to the queen and third lady, and is considered a relatively high-ranking person in the emperor's harem, Helena is still not happy.Before Ran Ming ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, she got the news that Jin State was attacking Wei State before she had time to rejoice.Ran Ming issued a national mobilization order, calling on the people to join the army and fight for the country.

During these few nights, Helena would always wake up in a dream.

But what she was worried about has become a reality.She had already heard the rumor that Ran Ming was going to conquer the Kingdom of Jin in person.

Helena had a very headache, and in desperation, she actually called Severus and Sarus into the palace for an interview.

According to the Han system, the inner palace is not allowed to privately view foreign ministers, but Helena not only did it, but made a big fuss about it.Almost everyone knew about it, which also made the courtiers very displeased with this old lady.

At this time, Yecheng and Yecheng in the Shihu period have changed completely.Both population and urban infrastructure have reached a new level.Ran Ming attaches great importance to environmental sanitation. The more populous a city, the more attention must be paid to sanitation, otherwise it will cause plague, and the result will be very heavy losses.

After Ran Ming was established as the prince, Ran Ming imitated the drainage facilities of later generations and built the underground water drainage facilities of Yecheng.At this time, Yecheng, edible water canals and waste water canals were completely separated, and the water was diverted and circulated throughout the city. Although the palaces and towers were still the same.

However, the shops and streets in the market have already built standard buildings in accordance with the regulations, and the residential areas have also been standardized.As a person of later generations, if he didn't engage in real estate, Ran Ming would be as old as a dog in these two lifetimes.Use the original housing land for demolition and reconstruction.

Architecturally unified scale standardized housing.Some of the newly built houses were distributed to the original residents, and more were distributed to the family members of soldiers who had made meritorious service in previous battles. As long as they were willing to move to Yecheng with them, the imperial court built them in the residential area for them. a house.Now there are more than [-] households belonging to the Guangjun and martyrs in Yecheng.Some consumer shops in the residential areas have also opened, providing convenience for the life of the residents in the city.

In addition to military dependents, some heroes and generals also received mansions. Mansions were divided into permanent mansions and mobile mansions. Even Sarus and Severus were assigned their own mansions.Although their mansion only covers an area of ​​about [-] square meters, it is a small building with three floors.All kinds of functions are available.

Many Romans who came with Ran Ming were allocated houses. Most of them were allocated mobile housing, that is, housing that matched their positions. If their positions were promoted, they could also get better housing.But once dismissed or retired, the court will take back this kind of residence.

If you want to keep this kind of house, you must have a number of years. If you have no crime of dereliction of duty within five years, or have made major meritorious service, the house can be converted into a permanent residence, or a bigger reward will be given.

As the senior staff officers of Wei State's General Staff Headquarters, Severus and Sarus both enjoyed the treatment of regular third-rank military generals.

Hearing Helena's call, the two didn't understand the rules inside, so they entered the palace in a big way.But when they arrived at the gate of the palace, the two were dumbfounded. Without the emperor's warrant or pass token, they were not eligible to enter the palace at all.If you want to be an emperor, as both of them are third-rank military generals, they are naturally qualified.But to see beauty Helena, there is no door.

It wasn't until the news of the gate reached Ran Ming's ears, and with Ran Ming's authorization, that he entered the palace.

Since ancient times, there has been one emperor and one courtier.Especially the Zhongchang servant who is the head of the eunuchs in the inner palace, and he is not allowed to be a confidant.Ever since Ran Min went on a big trip, Zhongchang Shi Youyi has been very nervous.He is less than 40 years old now, and he would be very unwilling to be refrigerated.During the national mourning period, You Yi commanded the eunuchs to decorate Ran Min's mourning hall, arranged for the daughters of the original East Palace to move into the palace, and arranged and comforted Ran Min's daughters. You Yi performed very well.You Yi's ability to work was naturally seen by Ran Ming. To everyone's surprise, You Yi not only did not fall after Ran Min's great success, but became the new confidant of the new king Ran Ming.It's just that You Yi has become a little restless recently.

As a servant of Zhongchang, the emperor's domestic slave, he can only gain enough power if he gains the emperor's trust.There are two things that make You Yi feel terrified.The first is Shaofu.The Shaofu is an official office set up during the Warring States Period. It is one of the Jiuqing, and it was established along the Qin and Han Dynasties.The power of the Shaofu is very large, it is simply a small State Council, which controls the income of various minerals in the mountains, rivers and Haiti, as well as the handicraft manufacturing of the royal family, and is the private residence of the emperor.The Ministry of Internal Affairs often mentioned in braided dramas is actually the Shaofu.

As mentioned above, taxes and taxes were collected separately in ancient times. The biggest function of the Shaofu was to collect taxes. Its financial expenditures were: emperor and court expenses, emperor sacrifices and rewards, etc.According to the system, the Minister of Shaofu is in charge of the minister, but the following orders are in charge of eunuchs.However, Ran Ming pushed Yang Hui to the position of the young prisoner, and the next two young prisons were Li Ye and Wei Meng.

As for the following orders, they were all changed again. As the purse of the Zhongchang servant, You Yi couldn't put his hand into the Shaofu, which caused many eunuchs to have a lot of thoughts.There have been a lot of rumors in the palace recently, and the mainstream rumors are mainly that You Yi is going to be unlucky, and the emperor is only using him to stabilize the situation temporarily, and once the transition is smooth, You Yi will be done.This kind of rumor was told with nose and eyes, which made You Yi very helpless.

It made him very uneasy, could it be that his holy family has declined?Or where, accidentally disobeying the emperor's will, I don't even know it?
Among Ran Ming's palace ladies, Li's family is the most comfortable, she doesn't fight with the world at ordinary times, she eats fast and recites Buddha's name, her eyes don't look out the window, and her ears don't hear right and wrong.The second is the empress. Although Xie Daoyun was born noble and received the etiquette training of the aristocrats since childhood, as the mother of a country, the empress of the main palace is not comparable to a family.Xie Daoyun was very worried that she would make a joke, so she learned court etiquette under the guidance of Da Changqiu.As for the three daughters Baifeng, Wang Zhi, and Wang Baobao, they formally imitated the Eastern Han Dynasty and established the Beigong Xiaowei. Based on most of the elite of the original female barracks, they built the inner palace defense system.The three of them were all focused on their own military affairs and had no time to be distracted. What was even more funny was that after the national funeral, it was Ran Ming's turn to turn over Wang Zhi's sign, so the new Beigong school lieutenant was not in the inner palace, but what was the military camp doing? Military emergency drills.

As for Li Jingshu, she is now smiling every day, even waking up with a smile in her dreams.Huan Wen destroyed her country and family, and forcibly occupied her, which made Li Jingshu have a deep-rooted hatred for Huan Wen.Well now, the state of Wei officially declares war on the state of Jin, and three roads attack Jin, of which the middle road and the west road are all directed at Huan Wen. Among the 52 troops of Wei State's southern expedition, Huan Wen will deal with Wei State in Jingxiang and Bashu 38 Ten thousand elite troops.Now she even dreams that Huan Wen was captured by Wei Guo and taken to Ye City every day.As for the two daughters Liu Mo and Jin Chengyue, they formally took over the accounting affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and according to Ran Ming's intention, a small school composed of maids and eunuchs was established in the palace to study accounting affairs.

After thinking for a while, You Yi didn't understand where his mistake came from.As a Zhongchang attendant, the most taboo thing is that you can't guess what you want, "you can't figure out what you want".You Yi couldn't put his heart into his stomach, so he had to figure out a way to figure out the true meaning of the emperor.

As the No.1 eunuch in the palace, You Yi actually has many confidantes.For example, Zhou Wenchuan is one of them.Zhou Wenchuan was an orphan who was sold into the palace by his uncle. He was only seven years old when he first entered the palace.At that time, You Yi, who was the head of the imperial dining room, often helped Zhou Wenchuan, and often took advantage of his position to secretly send some food to Zhou Wenchuan.Once, You Yi was denounced, caught and beaten thirty times, almost lost his life, and even lost his position as the head of the imperial dining room.

Zhou Wenchuan is very grateful to You Yi and worships You Yi as his father.

And Zhou Wenchuan was also very trusted by You Yi, and was appointed as the Prime Minister of Zhongshang Shu.The Zhongshang Department is in charge of the system for enshrining the guibi in the suburbs, the emperor's utensils, and the inscriptions on the costumes of the empresses and concubines.That is to say, the Zhongshang Department is a company that specializes in tinkering with things for the emperor and concubines to play with.Such a person has close ties with the concubines of all palaces, and is also very well-informed.

At midnight, Ran Ming went to bed.You Yi arranged for two young eunuchs to watch the night, and he returned to his mansion.He made an appointment with Zhou Wenchuan to discuss in detail tonight.

After saluting and sitting down, the tea was served, and the maid had just left the house. Zhou Wenchuan's first words were: "Father, the child knows where the problem is!"

You Yi's eyes jumped suddenly: "Oh?"

"My boy is just a little Zhongshangcheng, and his status is too far away, so there is no way to inquire about the details." Zhou Wenchuan said: "Today, my boy went to adjust the bicycle for the eldest prince, and it happened that someone complained to the empress. , the child is too far away, for fear of arousing the empress's vigilance, and did not dare to approach, the hearing is not very real, it seems that the person who came here seems to have mentioned Helena!"

"This is something I didn't expect!" You Yi showed a look of surprise: "What joke did that old woman make again?"

"It's not a joke, but I heard that she actually arranged a map of mountains and seas in her Daqin Palace, and it seems to be studying the matter of marching formation!" Zhou Wenchuan said with a smile: "Father, tell me, this sea beauty is also real. Let's live a good life, but actually worry about the country's major affairs, the country's major affairs, where is it her turn to be a woman to worry about!"

You Yi is different from Zhou Wenchuan, although Zhou Wenchuan can take advantage of his position to eliminate a little bit of dexterity.But since ancient times, the ass determines the head, and because of the different status of the two, You Yi knows more about it.Haimei's surname is not Hai, but Constantine. She is the youngest daughter of Emperor Constantine of the Great Qin Empire in the Far West, and also the little princess of the Great Qin Empire.Ordinarily speaking, it is not an exaggeration to give a princess of the Great Qin Empire, let alone a beauty, even a lady.

It's just that You Yi doesn't know that Helena is not only a princess, but also the former queen of the Roman Empire.

Hearing what Zhou Wenchuan said, You Yi could not help but frown.Relying on Ran Ming's favor, Helena even caused troubles and jokes in the palace, and Ran Ming would not blame her.At most, it will cause the displeasure of the empress, but meeting foreign ministers privately is not something a beauty should do.To put it nicely, this is thinking about old feelings. If it goes online, it is intentional and not cunning!
After a pause, Zhou Wenchuan said: "However, although the discussion about this Haimei is lively, it seems that there are not many people. They really regard this as a big event-after all, it has nothing to do with themselves."

You Yi said: "There is going to be chaos in the palace. I am afraid that many people want to see it. What they actually want to see is not the chaos in the palace, but the jokes of our family!"

Zhou Wenchuan smiled and said: "Father, who dares to read your jokes. Others don't know, how can my child not understand? You are now a holy family, and that young mansion is actually going to be restructured today, following the example of Zhongnan Development Company and Nanyang Development Company. The company forms a joint-stock company system. Every emperor is the chairman of this new company, and all members of the royal family own the shares of this new company. From now on, Shaofu will no longer collect taxes, but use business income for Royal expenses. Your majesty does not let you interfere in the Shaofu, but it is actually for the good of you, father. You think, you don’t understand business, but there are people in our palace who understand. Mrs. Liu comes from a family of merchants, and Jin Liang is your majesty. A business prodigy discovered while hiding in the mansion."

You Yi also vaguely feels that Ran Ming is different from Ran Min, that Ran Min will absolutely delegate power to someone he trusts.However, Ran Ming likes to create a system. It is necessary to make full use of a person's talents and have a good supervision system at the same time.In Ran Ming's words: "Human nature is inherently evil, and greed is a human instinct. It is impossible to eliminate it, and we can only use the supervision system to supervise it."

You Yi seemed to have realized something, and said, "You mean, His Majesty is planning to reorganize Shaofu into this company."

"That's right, my child heard that His Majesty meant that. From now on, the general manager of this company will no longer be an official appointed by the imperial court, but will be recruited by the maids of the imperial palace or eunuchs through internal competition. Regardless of background, seniority, but ability." Zhou Wen Chuan Dao: "Your Majesty said that professional things should be done by professional people. Those who are capable will go up, those who are mediocre will let go, and those who are mediocre will go down."

Then, Zhou Wenchuan's eyes lit up again, and he told the story of Helena summoning Sarus and Severus this time.

Gossip is a Chinese tradition. Since ancient times, gossip between men and women has been even more flocking to people.

"The beauty of the sea exclaimed when she saw the bearded man of Sarus, and shouted loudly: "Oh, dear Sarus, you must help Helena this time! "

Hearing this, You Yi suddenly jumped up and said angrily: "Shameless, slut."

Zhou Wenchuan was sweating profusely, thinking to himself what and what is this!When Zhou Wenchuan reported this matter to You Yi, Ran Ming also put such information in front of him.

In 355 A.D., Helena married Julian who had just been promoted to Western Caesar. Julian then led the army to quell the Germanic rebellion, and led his subordinates to fight continuously for several years. , successively regained the Agripina colony (today's Cologne), and defeated the powerful Alamein in the Battle of Strasbourg. In 358, Julian conquered the Sali Franks in the Lower Rhine region and moved them to Toxandria.As a Roman emperor who relied on military power, it cannot be said that Julian could not fight.However, Julian had just ascended the throne and officially became the emperor of Rome. After half a year, he led his subordinates on an expedition to Persia.As a result, he died in the army due to his injuries.

And Ran Ming's experience is very similar to Julian's. Judging from his resume, the two are almost young generals in their youth.Their excellent command art gave them incomparable prestige in the army.Helena was also very worried about starting a war with a huge empire after she ascended the throne and became emperor.

Julian's death is actually still a mystery to this day. The spear held by Julian was a Roman standard weapon. It is very likely that Julian died in the hands of soldiers.Now that Ran Ming is going to lead the whole country to march south, how can this not worry her.

"Helena, don't worry!" Sarus reassured: "There is no comparison between Jin and the Persian Empire. First of all, the area of ​​Jin is only a third of that of Wei, and the population is only about 600 million. , and the population of the Gaul province of our Roman Empire is equivalent. Secondly, the combat effectiveness of the Jin army is very low, and the armed equipment is not good. In recent years, their latest equipment has been purchased from the Wei State. Not only is the number small, but also The quality is definitely not as good as the standard equipment of the Wei army. The last is the number of troops. Jin’s standing army is equivalent to about 25 Roman legions. More than half of the territory belongs to Jin in name, but in fact, it belongs to a man named Huan Wen. General."

Helena choked up and said, "But back then, wasn't our Roman Empire much stronger than the Persian Empire? We won consecutive victories, but in the end Julian died in the battle."

Severus said: "Helena, you really don't have to worry. His Majesty's safety can be guaranteed. If Julian had brought Sarus and his Imperial Guard with him, there would definitely not be that accident. This time His Majesty the Emperor of Wei will send out [-]% of the imperial guards. You must not know that His Majesty the Emperor has personally trained about a thousand generals. All these students have joined the army. They are all His Majesty's confidantes. , They will never betray His Majesty the Emperor."

"However, I'm still worried!" Helena said: "You must not know that when I heard the news that His Majesty is going to go to war, I didn't get a good night's sleep. I often dreamed that His Majesty was covered in blood and told me, He died a terrible death."

Sarus said: "Helena, I can tell you responsibly and with certainty that your worries are unnecessary. Our staff headquarters has conducted 21 sand table games. Casualties are expected to be controlled below [-]. At this time, the war has actually started. Our staff headquarters plan is to take advantage of the conflict between the Jin court and Shu King Huan Wen, attack Huan Wen first, and then attack Jin. After breakthroughs have been made in the region, the main force will concentrate its forces to go south. Although His Majesty wants to conquer Persia by himself, it is not the same as Julian's personal conquest of Persia. His Majesty the Emperor will be like an armed parade, with the attitude of a victor and a conqueror , come to Jiankang, the capital of Jin!"

"Is that really the case?" Helena asked suspiciously, "Why do I feel like you guys are deceiving me!"

"We can swear to God, we never lied to you!" Severus and Sarus said almost in unison.

After reading the meeting record, Ran Ming only handed it to Zhang Ping, the captain of the Royal Internal Guard, and then said flatly: "Destroy it, there is no need to pay so much attention to the monitoring work in the palace, if you can't rest assured even the people next to you Who can rest assured."

Zhang Ping made the sign language of promise.

Ran Ming said: "How is the progress of Zhenxi Army? Do you have the latest information?"

Zhang Ping shook his head, took out another dossier, handed it to Ran Ming, and said in sign language: "Now the Zhennan Army Zhang Wen's offensive is very fierce. They lifted the siege of Wancheng on the 26th of the first lunar month, and defeated them on the [-]th of February." On the evening of February [-], the six battalions of the Zhennan Army and the horse infantry surrounded Xiangyang from both sides of the Han River. After a night of rapid march, At dawn on the [-]th, the siege of Xiangyang was completed!"

Ran Ming murmured, "Has the Battle of Xiangyang started?"

(End of this chapter)