Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 606: Still strong despite being old?
When Emperor Xiaoai passed away, Hua Xin came out to offer condolences and begged the young new emperor for his remains...
But everyone knows that what he is "begging" for is not bones, but that he wants to keep his useful body and return to the State of Chu!
The new emperor was about the same age as Emperor Xiaoai when he first ascended the throne. He was even more timid and had less authority than Emperor Xiaoai. All government affairs were under the control of Zhang Yan... Well, Zhang Yan was also almost entirely under the control of Sima Yi.
Zhang Yan felt helpless but did not make things difficult for Hua Xin as he disappeared for several days and then reappeared in broad daylight as if he was just on vacation.
As for Sima Yi, he was already thinking about whether he had any deeper intentions!
Is it really because the guards in Chang'an were too strict, and the Chu army had already marched into Ziwu Valley, and he was sure that he had to release the people, so he revealed his identity?
Something doesn't seem right. If that's the case, why didn't it come out a few days earlier, but only after Liu Xie was completely destroyed?
"Mr. Yang, it seems that Mr. Hua came from Manager Li's house. Do you have any impression of him?" After Sima Yi got the news, he first asked Yang Biao.
I don't know whether he really believes that this matter has nothing to do with Yang, or if he is just pretending to trust her and pretending to be nice...
"Li Kuan married one of my illegitimate nieces, and she is quite insightful in business, so I just handed over some unimportant businesses to him." Yang Biao said sleepily, as if he was really too old to speak.
Li Kuan was the family where Hua Xin "stayed overnight". Hua Xin had previously proposed that Li Kuan's family would return to the State of Chu with him "as companions".
Because there were many spies in the Zheng army in the city at that time, and Hua Xin appeared suddenly, they would definitely track down his hiding place afterwards. Hua Xin was afraid that even if he carefully concealed himself, Li Kuan would eventually be exposed, so he simply took him away with him.
At this time, Li Kuan has already started to hand over the business at hand...
Yang Biao said “it’s no big deal”, but in fact, Li Kuan was much more important than the tone!
Indeed, Yang Biao had never imagined that Li Kuan would be instigated to rebel by the State of Chu.
After all, Li Kuan was entrusted with such an important task, so Yang naturally had some considerations for him.
However, whether from the understanding of his character or from the perspective of conflicts of interest, no one had discovered before that he would have the opportunity to be turned against!
In fact, Li Kuan was not motivated by personal interests, otherwise he would have left traces anyway.
The State of Chu was a wealthy country, but if Chu currency or Chu's gold and silver were to flow into Guanzhong, they would be discovered by the imperial court if they were not careful.
After all, Liu Xie would rather not develop than ban Chu currency and Chu goods in Guanzhong!
Moreover, the part that was able to flow in was all secretly assisted by the northern gentry, and it could be concealed from both the imperial court and the Yang family.
However, in reality... not only did the State of Chu not give Li Kuan any benefits, but because Li Kuan was very wealthy, he secretly funded some of the Enlightenment Department's actions in Guanzhong.
This was not "incitement to rebellion" but the "inspiration" of Chu learning, which was not only impossible to discover but even incomprehensible to Yang.
Maybe you can understand it?
It is indeed similar to "A gentleman will die for his friend" and "Sacrifice one's life for justice"...
But in their view, those with such integrity are either "scholars" or righteous men who have been bought by favors... that is, people like Jing Ke and Zhuan Zhu.
The latter is easy to detect, while the former is the exclusive moral integrity of noble "scholars".
As for a money-grubbing businessman or an ordinary citizen, are they worthy of sacrificing their lives for justice?
They have not figured this out in their minds yet, and this is one of the biggest conveniences of the Enlightenment Department.
"Since they are just nobody, I believe that Marquis Zheng and His Majesty will not hold Lord Hua against them. Just send them back to Chu." Sima Yi said as if he didn't care when he heard it, but his eyes flashed with thought.
Moreover, Sima Yi said that Marquis Zheng and His Majesty would agree, but everyone knew that it was actually him, Sima Yi, who had already made the decision!
Hua Xin did not seem surprised and had asked the old servant in the mansion to pack their luggage early. After being under brief surveillance, Li Kuan and his family handed over their business to Yang's people. Then, he and his wife and children wore ordinary linen clothes, carried small packages, and brought servants who were willing to follow them. They met Hua Xin early the next morning.
Because of the tense situation brought about by Marquis Zheng, even if there were people in the capital who were on good terms with Hua Xin, they did not dare to see him off at this time.
Originally, there would be troops to "escort" Hua Xin away. After all, Sima Yi did not want any accidents to happen.
However, just as they were about to leave the city gate, a group of Zheng's grassroots generals suddenly surrounded Hua Xin and his party...
Li Kuan, who was protecting Hua Xin, wanted to stop him, but Hua Xin himself looked at him calmly. At this time, Sima Yi came over.
"Lord Sima, are you here to see me off, or... do you regret letting me go?" Hua Xin looked at Sima Yi calmly.
"Mr. Hua, you are joking. Since it was His Majesty and Marquis Zheng who approved your retirement and return home, how could a mere mortal like me have any objection?" Sima Yi said this with a bow, as if he really respected Hua Xin and it really was just "His Majesty" and "Marquis Zheng" who gave the order.
But now everyone knows that the one who controls Chang'an, or rather, controls Guanzhong, is Sima Yi!
"So Lord Sima is here to see us off? This is a bit too grand." Hua Xin said as he looked at the generals around him who were already in armor.
"No, I don't mean anything else, it's just... is there someone mixed up among Mr. Li's family?" Sima Yi said, without caring about Hua Xin's face, and waved his hand.
The guards around, Li Kuan's family, and several servants who were willing to follow him - Li Kuan had burned everyone's indentures, or to be more precise, they were just hired laborers - were all pulled out by the generals of the Zheng army!
Sima Yi also looked over at this time...
That’s right, Sima Yi also suspected that Hua Xin’s previous “disappearance” might have something to do with Liu Bei.
If it was just Hua Xin, Sima Yi would naturally not want to make things difficult for the State of Chu because of him, but if Liu Bei was also there... Sima Yi had to keep them even if it meant going to war with the State of Chu!
Otherwise, if Liu Bei went to the State of Chu, his situation would only become worse. This involved Sima Yi's current core interests and he had to fight for it.
However, after looking around, Sima Yi found that he seemed to have guessed wrong.
"What is Lord Sima looking for?" Hua Xin frowned.
"It's nothing. I'm just worried that there are people with ill intentions around Mr. Hua." Sima Yi changed the subject and glanced at Hua Xin's "family".
In fact, Hua Xin's family had never gone to Xu Du with him before, so naturally they were not in Chang'an now.
The only people accompanying him were an old servant and... a singing girl.
"Mr. Hua is really loyal and righteous. He even remembered to bring this singer with him." Sima Yi asked tentatively.
Hua Xin glanced at him, then said calmly: "The human race cannot be lost..."
Sima Yi: ...
