Chapter 392: The Footsteps of a New Era
But when Sun Shaozong left the palace, he first felt grateful for having survived the calamity.
After walking for a distance, he became greedy and complained that King Zhongshun was too stingy and refused to let him take the "Hu horse" home to tame it.
Fortunately, we still have a top-quality "Southern Xinjiang Foreign Horse" at home, so we don't have to envy that ridiculous prince too much.
Halfway through the journey, they saw Jiang Yuhan leading the troupe and traveling in several carriages - Liu Xianglian was still among them.
“Brother Sun!”
Seeing Sun Shaozong's figure from afar, Jiang Yuhan couldn't wait to ask, "Did the prince tell you anything?"
"this……"
Sun Shaozong hesitated until he was close, then he whispered a reminder: "Zhou Changshi was ordered to check the background and character of the troupe. Seeing how eager he is to do it, Brother Jiang should be mentally prepared."
Jiang Yuhan's face suddenly darkened. He ignored the fact that Liu Xianglian and the driver were right beside him and said with gritted teeth, "I just made him lose some face. Why should I let that dog slave humiliate me like this?!"
At this moment he did not have the heroic spirit he had on the stage. Judging from his tone and expression, he was just like a resentful woman in the boudoir, complaining about a man's betrayal.
In fact, what made King Zhongshun most angry was that Jiang Yuhan disobeyed his oral orders.
However, Sun Shaozong also had to take some responsibility for this matter, so it was inconvenient to mention it. He just comforted him casually: "The prince only ordered people to rectify the troupe, but did not punish Brother Jiang. It is obvious that he still trusts you very much. Brother Jiang just needs to be honest and submissive, and this matter will be over."
Jiang Yuhan's face remained gloomy, and after a long while he managed to utter, "I'd rather he take his anger out on me alone!"
Then he bowed and said, "Brother Sun, no matter what, I want to thank you for your help - if there is a chance in the future, I will definitely repay you!"
Jiang Yuhan is usually a smart person, but now she is showing off her temper. I don't know if she is spoiled by the favor she has received or if she is blinded by her emotions.
"Brother Jiang, you are too kind."
Seeing that he did not listen to his advice, Sun Shaozong returned the greeting and stopped talking to him. Instead, he looked at Liu Xianglian and scolded him unhappily, "Brother Jiang is following the prince's order to return to the palace, but why are you following him to join in the fun? Come down quickly and go back to Wangjiang Tower with me!"
Seeing Liu Xianglian puffing out his chest as if he wanted to say something, Sun Shaozong immediately added, "Don't you want to know where Third Sister You is being arranged now?"
Liu Xianglian was immediately deflated. He first said goodbye to Jiang Yuhan reluctantly, then went to the back to lead his mount, and then rode side by side with Sun Shaozong.
After walking for an unknown distance, Liu Xianglian suddenly sighed and said, "I'm afraid Brother Jiang may not be willing to bow down to the prince this time. I don't know if he can survive this disaster with such a strong command."
Sun Shaozong has been wondering recently whether this guy has been turned gay - otherwise, how could such a generous person become so sentimental?
At first Sun Shaozong didn't want to argue, but the boy repeated it twice over and over again. Although he changed the words twice, the core meaning was still that he was worried about Jiang Yuhan's safety.
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Are you a mere talent who can care about Prince Zhongshun's family affairs? Besides, in my opinion, even if Jiang Yuhan refuses to give in, the prince may not be willing to punish him. It is more likely that he will vent his anger on others."
As he said this, he whipped Liu Xianglian lightly on the leg with his whip and warned him solemnly: "Remember to have less contact with him recently, so as not to get implicated and end up in trouble!"
"elder brother!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xianglian pulled his chest and said indignantly: "How can I, Liu Xianglian, do such a thing that goes against my friendship?!"
"You call this loyalty? You're clearly asking for trouble!"
Sun Shaozong scolded him a few times, and seeing that he still didn't care, he said again: "Forget it, I really don't want to pay attention to you, but you have to decorate your home well recently, and ask someone to find a suitable day. Otherwise, how can you marry Third Sister You with just empty words?"
This time Liu Xianglian agreed immediately, and patted his chest to guarantee that he would definitely handle it properly.
Sun Shaozong then felt a little relieved - as long as this guy was busy renovating the house, he naturally would have no time to bother with Jiang Yuhan .
As they were talking, they were about to reach Wangjiang Tower, but suddenly they saw a man on a tall horse charging towards them. He was still a long way away, so he shouted at the top of his voice: "Second brother, Brother Liu, I was just about to go to the palace to look for you, but I didn't expect to run into you just when I left the house!"
As he said this, he urged his horse to come forward and said in a loud voice: "Second brother, yesterday you asked me to find out about that matter, and I have already found some clues. It really is..."
Seeing that he was about to spread the official secret on the street, Sun Shaozong hurriedly stopped him and whispered: "This is not the place to talk. Let's talk about it when we get to Wangjiang Tower!"
Xue Dabo finally stopped talking and followed Sun Shaozong and Liu Xianglian to Wangjiang Tower.
Because he didn't want to discuss matters related to Jia Yucun in front of Jia She, Sun Shaozong specially chose a private room to talk - fortunately, the play was cancelled today, otherwise it would be difficult to find an empty private room.
After sitting down in the private room, Xue Pan couldn't wait to say, "Second brother, I went to my father-in-law early this morning to inquire about the news. After much persuasion and effort, I finally got the information for you!"
"I heard from my old Taishan that by autumn at the latest, that old fellow surnamed Han will be sent out to serve as a governor. As for who will take over as the prefect, there is still no way of knowing."
Han Anbang is finally going to be transferred!
To be more precise, I am finally going to be demoted!
Although the governor was also a third-rank official, and his authority even far exceeded that of the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, these days when officials from Beijing were transferred to local posts, they generally had to be promoted one or half a level higher in order to be considered demoted.
Especially the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, who also held the honorary title of Vice Minister of Six Ministries [Han Anbang was also Vice Minister of Works], and when the Vice Minister of Six Ministries was transferred to the local level, it was customary for him to serve as the governor of a province!
It seems that Liu Chongshan's counterattack at the beginning did have an effect.
But these are off-topic. The most important thing right now is who will succeed the position of prefect.
In the past, Jia Yucun might not have had the qualifications, but since he had managed taxes and profits properly and received the emperor's personal commendation, his worth had increased significantly, and now he was barely qualified to be the prefect.
This is probably the reason why Jia Yucun suddenly showed goodwill to Sun Shaozong recently.
As the third master of the government office, although Sun Shaozong might not be able to influence the selection of the prefect, and it was even more impossible for him to be promoted to the prefect by skipping levels, it would not be difficult for him to hold Jia Yucun back if he wanted to - Liu Chongshan was a lesson learned from the past.
"Second brother."
Seeing Sun Shaozong was silent, Xue Pan urged him, "Didn't you have a falling out with that old man Jia Yucun? You must not let him take the position of prefect, or he will make things difficult for you every day in the future."
"Why don't we work together with Brother Bao and come up with a plan to trick him! It would be best if we could also coax this kid out of town. Then, won't you have the final say in Shuntian Prefecture?"
“Don’t!”
Sun Shaozong waved his hands and said, "Don't do anything rash. If he was so easy to deal with, would you still need to plot against him? I'm afraid he would have been beaten into a dough by Han Fuyin long ago!"
"Don't we have Brother Bao as our insider?"
"Okay, okay, just forget about this."
Sun Shaozong quickly stopped Xue Pan from talking. To be honest, if he could really drive Jia Yucun away, he would do it without hesitation - but how could Jia Yucun, that old fox, be easily dealt with?
Especially looking at his performance in recent days, it is obvious that he has known for a long time that Han Anbang will be transferred to a local post soon. Sun Shaozong would definitely not believe it if he said that he was not on guard at this time.
If he acted rashly and ended up failing, or if Jia Yucun failed to get promoted but failed to drive him away, he would become a mortal enemy with Jia Yucun!
Although the two of them are not on good terms with each other at the moment, there is still some room for them. If the fight really starts to continue, Sun Shaozong may not be able to gain any advantage - after all, except for the Criminal Law Division, which is managed like an iron bucket, most of the other departments are under the control of Jia Yucun.
Anyway, it is impossible for me to suddenly reach the third rank. It would be more trouble than gain if I rashly get involved in this matter. I'd better wait and see what happens.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong naturally would not pay attention to Xue Pan's instigation. He had to tell him not to act rashly and hurried back to the original box.
After entering the door, he saw that in addition to Jia She, there was a large group of warriors inside, most of whom were colleagues of his cheap brother in the patrol camp, even Xu Shouye, Feng Xin, Lu Jianxing, Shen Lian and others were among them.
"Jiro."
"Brother Sun Nian."
"grown ups."
"Lord Sun."
Seeing Sun Shaozong coming in from outside, more than a dozen people came forward to greet him, talking in a flurry. Depending on the closeness of their relationship and their status, they addressed him in different ways, which made Sun Shaozong flustered.
It took him a long while to finish dealing with it. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why are you all here? Are you here to watch the show, too?"
A lieutenant general named Liu said in a careless manner: "Erlang guessed wrong this time. In fact, all of us have received the news and are here to congratulate your eldest brother on his promotion to commander!"
Another lieutenant general named Wu said in a muffled voice: "It's a pity that Old Sun was transferred to the Shenji Camp as the commander. From now on, he can no longer work with us in the same pot."
The military order to transfer to the Shenji Camp has finally arrived!
Sun Shaozong was relieved. There had been no news for a long time, and he was worried that his adopted brother had been fooled by King Zhongshun again.
At this time, Sun Shaozu shouted unhappily: "Old Wu, what you said is so damn polite! Why, can't I come to your house to eat and drink for free after I go to Shenjiying?!"
Everyone burst into laughter. Admiral Wu pointed at Sun Shaozu and scolded him, "Today is your promotion day, but instead of hosting a big banquet for us, you're thinking of eating for free at my house. You're really getting more and more calculating!"
Sun Shaozu was naturally not a stingy person. He immediately called the store owner and ordered more than forty dishes.
Sun Shaozong also asked Feng Ziying, Xue Pan, Liu Xianglian and others to come as well. The party was lively and exciting until around 4 p.m., when everyone dispersed after drinking to their heart's content.
After seeing everyone off, the cheap eldest brother, with the help of Sun Shaozong, got into the carriage with his tongue staggering.
As soon as the curtain fell, the cloudy eyes of the cheap elder brother immediately blossomed with a fascinating look. He stretched out his hand to grasp Sun Shaozong's wrist, and sighed: "Erlang's guess that day was right. The Shenji Camp is really going to be extravagant!"
Then, he pretended to be mysterious and asked, "Do you know how many commanders have been appointed to the Shenji Camp today?"
Sun Shaozong asked in confusion, "Isn't there only one vacancy? Could it be that the other commander has also been replaced by someone else?"
"It's not a replacement, it's an addition!"
Sun Shaozu held up four fingers and said exaggeratedly: "From now on, the Shenji Battalion will have four commanders, front, back, left, and right. This is unique among the four battalions and one guard. Even the Huben Battalion is inferior to it!"
Although the number of commanders has doubled, the number of soldiers in the Shenji Camp may not have doubled as well, but this special treatment undoubtedly demonstrates the importance the court attaches to new firearms.
It seems that the Great Zhou Dynasty was ready to enter the era of hot weapons four hundred years ahead of schedule!
