marquis of jingan

Chapter 1530 Dachen Caretaker

Chapter 1530 Dachen Caretaker

Two days passed after Concubine Hui left.

In the Shenhou Mansion, General Ling Suling bowed slightly and saluted with his fists: "Mr. Shen."

Shen Yi beckoned him to sit down, then said, "Meet Your Majesty."

Ling Su nodded and said, "I have seen it."

Mr. Shen reached out to pour him some tea and asked, "What did His Majesty say?"

"He didn't say anything. He just gave me some things as a reward and said he would give Ling Zhan a promotion and a higher rank."

Lord Shen smiled and said, "Ling Zhan is related to the royal family by marriage, so he is indeed closer to the royal family."

Ling Su nodded and said, "Besides that, His Majesty didn't say anything else. He just told me to lead the troops well."

He looked at Shen Yi, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "Mr. Shen, will my troops be stationed in Miyun from now on?"

Shen Yi thought for a moment and replied, "You can only move after the political situation stabilizes."

Ling Su nodded first, then lowered his head and said, "Mr. Shen, I have a favor to ask."

Shen Yi handed over the tea and said with a smile: "You say."

"The last general..."

"I want to go back to my hometown in Linhai."

He looked up at Shen Yi, pointed at the white hair on his temples, and whispered: "When I followed you, I was only thirty years old. More than twenty years have passed, and I am already over fifty years old this year."

"For more than 20 years, I have seldom returned to my hometown. Every year, my children go to worship our ancestors on my behalf. I..."

"I'm a little tired."

He looked at Shen Yi and said in a low voice: "I am old now, and the injuries I suffered in my early years have come back one by one. The older I get, the more I miss my homeland."

Shen Yi looked at him, and after a moment of silence, he sighed and asked, "Brother Ling, are you serious?"

"How can this be false?"

Ling Su stood up, bowed and clasped his fists, saying: "Mr. Shen, outsiders may think that I, Ling Su, am a traitor, or that I am fickle, but for more than 20 years, Ling Su has never told a lie in front of Mr. Shen!"

Master Shen pressed his hand, motioning him to sit down. After the latter sat down, he lowered his head and thought for a while before silently saying, "You are over fifty years old, in the prime of your life. Brother Ling is not one of those fifth- and sixth-rank generals. If the new emperor gives you a higher rank, I'm afraid you will have to start from the first rank, right?"

“It’s not a question of grade.”

Ling Su lowered his head and said, "Mr. Shen, I will tell you the truth."

"After we conquered Yanjing, the former right-wing generals were fine, but the old men from General Xue and General Su no longer acknowledged me."

"For more than ten years, I have never been happy."

He looked at Shen Yi and sighed: "I consider myself a soldier from Huai'an, but they no longer recognize me as such."

"Plus, in recent years, I have indeed suffered from injuries from my youth. I have been thinking about whether I can go back to my hometown in Taizhou and rest for a few years."

"First, it's to nourish the body, and second, it's to return to one's roots."

After Mr. Shen hesitated for a moment, he said, "Brother Ling, do you mean to let Zhang Meng take over your position?"

Ling Su lowered his head and responded.

"But Zhang Meng is not much younger than Brother Ling."

Shen Yi sighed and said, "How about this, Brother Ling, you can lead the army for another three years, at least until the new dynasty is stable, and then bring up this matter. After three years, if Brother Ling still thinks the same, I will resign on his behalf."

Shen Yi had said so, Ling Su naturally had no way to say anything more, he could only nod, then sighed and said: "Mr. Shen, the entire Huai'an army."

He looked up at Shen Yi with a sad look in his eyes.

"My feelings for the Huai'an Army are the deepest."

Shen Yi nodded slowly: "I know, after all, when the anti-Japanese army was first established, it was Brother Ling who was in charge."

Ling Su stood up and said goodbye, sighing: "But now, I don't know if I am still a soldier of Huai'an."

Mr. Shen also stood up and walked him out.

"Brother Ling, although the Huai'an Army no longer exists, as long as Brother Ling feels that he is a Huai'an soldier, then Brother Ling is a Huai'an soldier."

The two said goodbye at the gate of the Marquis' Mansion. Before leaving, Shen Yi reminded him, "Brother Ling, pay attention to cultivating more new people in the past few years. Don't wait until ten or twenty years later when the Huai'an Army becomes another Huaihe River Navy."

Ling Su turned around, bowed his head deeply and clasped his fists.

"General... obey your orders!"

………………

On the afternoon of the same day after Ling Su left, Shen Yi received an urgent letter from Jiankang. After receiving the letter, he hesitated for a moment, then went all the way into the imperial city and came to the Secretariat to find Prime Minister Zhang Jian who was handling government affairs.

Today, Zhang Jian has also obtained a position as regent, and therefore has a great say in the Secretariat. He can almost compete with Song Yuan and ranks second among the five ministers of the Secretariat.

After seeing Shen Yi, Zhang Xiang pulled Shen Yi to sit down, poured tea for Shen Yi, and sighed: "After the new dynasty, the affairs of the Secretariat have become more and more. I have been going home in the dark for several days in a row. Why was it so busy in previous years?"

Shen Yi took the tea, took a sip, and said silently: "In previous years, Emperor Wu stayed up until midnight almost every night."

Hearing this, Zhang Jian's expression froze, and then he smiled bitterly and said, "Don't mention this. I feel uncomfortable when I mention this."

"Emperor Shizu...what a pity."

Shen Yi hummed, took out the letter from his sleeve, handed it to Zhang Jian, and said silently: "My Sanlang sent it from Jiankang. After Master Zhao learned that Emperor Wu had passed away, he fell ill and is now very ill."

Zhang Jian hurriedly took it, opened it and read it. The expression of the Deputy Prime Minister became a little flustered.

"Mr. Teacher...Mr. Teacher..."

After repeating the same sentence twice, he murmured, "A few days ago, I wrote a letter to my teacher. Zhao Da said in the letter that my teacher's illness was not very serious. This... this..."

He panicked.

"What should I do..."

Shen Yi sighed, "Master Zhao is already over 70 years old after all. He was suddenly hurt, so it's natural that his condition will be difficult to recover."

"Where's Zhao Er?"

Zhang Jian asked, "Has Zhao Er gone home yet?"

"He went back a few days ago. It should be the eldest brother of the Zhao family who sent him a separate letter."

Zhang Xiang lowered his head and sighed, "Logically speaking, as a disciple, I should also go back to take a look, but now, Zhongshu really has no way to split himself."

Shen Yi said softly: "Brother, it is naturally not a good time to leave Beijing at this time. I am just too quiet and want to go out for a walk."

Zhang Jian lowered his head to drink tea, then shook his head and said, "Ziheng, you can't leave Jiankang easily. I will ask Zhang Lian to rush back to Jiankang first."

Master Shen looked at Zhang Jian, and after a long while, he said silently: "Unconsciously, elders..."

Zhang Jian smiled bitterly and said, "Ziheng, you are only in your early forties, and I am already over fifty."

"At our age, there are some things we have to face."

Zhang Xianggong looked at Shen Yi, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Ziheng, what are you going to do in the future? Will you continue to lead the army to conquer Liaodong and the Tatars?"

After hearing Zhang Jian's question, Shen Yi thought about it carefully and replied, "Su Ding and Yuan'er should be the ones fighting in Liaodong. As for the Tatars... we still have to fight them, but their cavalry is too flexible. It's not difficult to defeat them, but it's too difficult to wipe them out."

"It is better to make the Tatars poor than to fight them."

"I have already included in the plan how to deal with the Tatars. We just need to make progress step by step in the future."

Mr. Shen lowered his head to drink tea and continued: "As for what my senior brother asked me to do..."

He sighed: "To be honest, I want to go back to Nanjing to visit Uncle Zhao, and then go from Nanjing to Jiangdu and go back to my hometown to relax for a few years."

Zhang Jian shook his head.

"You are one of the four regents, how can you escape?"

"Yeah, I can't get away from it."

Mr. Shen put down his teacup and said silently, "Before his death, the late emperor asked me to look after the court for a few more years and not let any chaos happen. I promised him, and there is nothing else to do right now."

"I can only..."

Master Shen put down the teacup and looked up at Zhang Jian.

"I have been the caretaker of the imperial court for several years."

(End of this chapter)