Chapter 44: Knowing the Small Things
As Li Yuanhui listened to Liu Xuanji's words, a word came to his mind, called bloodline awakening.

"Brother Liu, are you a descendant of the Han Dynasty?"

Liu Xuanji spoke seriously, which was rare, without mentioning Liu Xuande: "My family has lived in Zhuo County for generations, but my great-grandfather went there from Qingzhou to guard the border during the Former Wei Dynasty. I heard from the older generation that my ancestor was King Jing of Chengyang. I haven't read history books, so I don't know who King Jing of Chengyang was?"

Li Yuanhui said: "Liu Zhang, King Jing of Chengyang, is the grandson of Emperor Gao of Han and the son of Liu Fei, King Daohui of Qi. He was originally the Marquis of Zhuxu. He was brave and fierce. He made great contributions in killing the Lü clan and was later named King of Chengyang."

"Aren't they from the same family as Emperor Zhaolie?"

"Emperor Zhaolie Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan, the son of Emperor Jing of Han. Emperor Jing of Han was the son of Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen and Prince Daohui of Qi were brothers, both sons of Emperor Gao."

"So that's how it is. I used to think that they were from the same family as Emperor Zhaolie, hahaha," Liu Xuanji smiled after hearing that.

In the past, he always liked to brag that he and Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei, were from the same family, but that was just because they were both from Zhuo County, and Liu Bei was also more famous. After all, if you tell a soldier in the army who is King Jing of Chengyang, who knows who he is?
But when it comes to Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei, everyone knows him.

However, it would not be appropriate to say anything more in front of Li Yuanhui. After all, they were a noble family that valued clan inheritance the most. It would be bad if they let it slip.

Now, Li Yuanhui's few words helped him find out who his ancestor, King Chengyang Jing, was, so he curiously asked many more questions about Liu Zhang's deeds.

So Li Yuanhui told him about how Liu Zhang killed people while drinking, how he sang about farming with Empress Lu, and how to eradicate the Lü clan.

"After deep plowing, we continue sowing. The seedlings should be sparsely spaced out. If they are not of the same species, we must resolutely eradicate them. I never thought that our ancestors could do such a feat. They were truly heroes."

"King Jing of Chengyang was indeed a hero, but it was a pity that he died young, in the third year of Emperor Wen of Han."

The two talked all the way until the army entered the Forbidden Garden, then they stopped chatting and went about their respective chores.

After returning to Chang'an, Li Yuanhui could not go home immediately, but had to take his troops back to the barracks first.

The Xiaoguo Army was stationed in the Forbidden Garden in the north of Chang'an City, which was known as the "Three Gardens" together with the West Inner Garden and the East Inner Garden, and it was the largest of the three gardens.

But compared with the Shanglin Garden of the Han Dynasty, it is much smaller.

The scope of Shanglin Garden in the Han Dynasty extended to Zhou and Hu in the west, Lantian in the east, north of Qinling Mountains in the south, and south of Weihe River in the north. In Dayan, the scope was greatly reduced. The main reason was that in addition to granting land to the people, it was also more effective in reducing the size of the forbidden garden in military defense.

The Forbidden Garden is located at a strategic location between the palace and the Wei River. If the Wei River is the first line of defense for defending Chang'an, then the walls on three sides of the Forbidden Garden are the second line of defense.

Not only were the brave and capable troops stationed in the garden, but there were also front, back, left and right armies, totaling more than 100,000 soldiers and horses.

There are dozens of pavilions and towers lined up, including Wangchun Palace, Weiyang Palace, Hanguang Hall, Yuzao Pond, Guangyun Pond, Shangyang Bridge, Linwei Pavilion and so on.

The camp of Li Yuanhui's troops was close to the Wei River, which was convenient for drinking water for the horses and soldiers.

The current method of setting up camp by the Yan army was learned from the system of Cao Wei, and Cao Wei improved on the basis of the system established by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han, after it conquered Shu.

The system was actually very complete, including the site selection of the camp, where the central army should be located, the intervals between patrols and night shifts, where the toilets should be set up, and how they should be managed. There were very complete and detailed rules.

After everything was settled, the eunuchs from the palace came with an imperial edict to summon him and gave him wine and meat.

Under normal circumstances, the military banquet standard should be distributed according to two liters of wine, two kilograms of mutton, and a pie per person. In addition, there should be sauces, vegetables, pancakes, steamed buns, rice, etc.

If there is any deduction, the soldiers can appeal, and those who embezzle military funds will be beheaded directly.

But today, only one liter of wine was distributed to each person, and the original two catties of mutton were changed into two catties of pork, and there was no more Biro.

Li Yuanhui naturally hated corruption. The grassroots soldiers worked hard to earn their rewards, so it was really excessive to cut back on their food and drink.

So he specially sent several captains under his command to the camp of his cousin Li Cang and others to ask whether the deduction was a general deduction or just targeted at his camp. If it was targeted at him, then he would have to have a good talk.

"General, I've checked and asked, the Xiaoguo Army is the same, the wine has been reduced by half, and the meat has been turned into pork."

Even in ancient times, pork was cheap and mutton was expensive. One pound of mutton was almost equivalent to three pounds of pork.

After hearing this, Li Yuanhui gave up the idea of ​​going to the higher-ups to make a fuss. The fact that they were all the same showed one thing: it was not directed at him.

Sure enough, after a short while, the commander of the Xiaoguo Army, Shi Xueji, ordered his men to call the ten generals to his tent and set up a banquet.

"I had someone specially find a chef from the Guanglu Temple to prepare this meal. It is said that he is a famous chef in Chang'an. I asked them to catch this fish from the Wei River today. It is very fresh."

Sitting next to their cousins ​​Li Cang and Wei Xiaoju, everyone listened in silence to the instructions given by Chief Secretary Xue Ji.

After Xue Ji introduced the dishes, he sighed and said:
"You have seen today that the wine and meat distributed by the Guanglu Temple are not aimed at our Xiaoguo Army, but the Ministry of Finance is short of money now. The dragon boat that the Saint used to patrol Jiangdu was burned during the Yang Xun Rebellion, so a new dragon boat must be built. In addition, the Saint will go to Longshan to patrol the border after the New Year, and will go to Bingzhou later. The finances are tight. As the commanders of a battalion, you must understand the difficulties of the Saint and the court and comfort the soldiers."

Li Yuanhui almost laughed out of anger after listening to Xue Ji's explanation. The army should be rewarded when it returns to the base, or during the New Year holidays.

This is customary. Although the New Year is only a few days away, how much can two rewards cost? You still haggle with your soldiers over this little money? And then you save the money to build dragon boats and go on a parade for show?
Isn't this just pretending to be rich? Destroy it quickly, I'm tired.
Ten Tiger Guards combined have eight hundred ideas in their minds, and everyone had their own thoughts while drinking this wine.

Everyone knew that Xue Ji, the Chief Clerk, was more like a chief steward. It was inevitable that he would get his hands on some military supplies on a daily basis. However, this kind of reward, where even mutton was exchanged for pork, must mean that he was short of money, as he said.

After all, it was already difficult to collect taxes locally, with refugees everywhere. The canal had been blocked for several months, the taxes from the southeast had not been transported up yet, and there was also a Yang Xun rebellion, so the court was having a hard time.

However, even the reward of wine and meat had to be tampered with, and the way they were eaten was a bit too ugly.

After drinking wine and eating meat, the Tiger Guards returned to their respective camps.

The soldiers below must be appeased and any disturbances must be suppressed.

Some camps even chopped off a few people who were making a lot of noise to serve as a warning to everyone else.

Li Yuanhui was very serious. He called several captains over and relayed Xue Ji's words.

"Now the treasury is insufficient, the saint's dragon boats were burned and need to be rebuilt. Please be considerate of the saint."

After hearing this, several captains looked at each other in amazement. How could this be explained?
Guo Xiaoke hesitated and said, "General, this..."

"That's what Xue Changshi told us. You should stop mentioning the saint and put the blame on Guanglu Temple and Yang Xun, the traitors. Those troublemakers should be given ten military sticks as a warning and guidance. Tell them that when the court overcomes the difficulties, those who are short of money will be compensated double. The saint is always generous in giving rewards."

Li Yuanhui shirked responsibility while making big promises, but he was not the one to deliver on them. It was unknown how long he could remain a Tiger Guard General, so who cares.

The more the Great Yan loses popular support, the easier it will be for our Li Tang to conquer the world in the future.

Early the next morning, a eunuch came to summon the chief officer of the Xiaoguo Army and his tiger guards to the palace to see the emperor.

Xue Ji led a group of people from the Forbidden Garden through the Western Inner Courtyard and entered the Taiji Palace.

And at the place where one must pass to enter the Taiji Palace from the West Inner Courtyard, there is a very famous city gate.

When passing through the city gate for inspection, Li Yuanhui felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the three big words on the gate, and then he silently recited something in a voice that only he could hear.

Cherish life and stay away from Xuanwu Gate.

(End of this chapter)