The Prince of Langya’s problem now was that his bloodline was too distant from the Jin imperial main line—a distant branch of a collateral line. So that when facing Zhao Hanzhang, his name wasn’t proper and his words weren’té †. After all, Zhao Hanzhang held the young emperor in her hands—authentic Jin imperial blood.
But the good thing was also this point. When Zhao Hanzhang truly unified the realm, this point could increase his chances of survival—as long as he did fewer things.
Xie Kun earnestly talked with Xie Shang all night and finally persuaded him.
Xie Kun sighed. “If our Xie family had the family standing of the Wang clan or Lu clan, we could naturally follow your heart’s desire. Even if family descendants don’t return to the northern regions, in the future whether they die in battle or submit, clan descendants won’t need us to worry. They’ll naturally have their own place in the world.”
“But we’re not. The Xie family is a minor clan. When we fled south, we’d already suffered tremendous losses. Another great battle would be a clan-exterminating disaster for minor clans like us, so we must be extremely cautious.”
The Xie clan didn’t have many descendants. Currently, there weren’t many who could be presented. Those few collateral branch younger brothers and nephews not only had talents far inferior to the descendants of the Lu, Yang, and Yuan clans, their characters also weren’t very good.
So sending them, the great aristocratic families definitely wouldn’t be willing to take them. Thus, only Xie Shang could go.
At this time, Xie Kun didn’t yet know that the Xie family truly had declining numbers, but Xie Shang would give the Xie family a string of outstanding descendants in the future. In the end, only Xie Shang’s descendants would be passed down. He would have a particularly famous son in the future named Xie An.
Xie Shang agreed. The next day, he submitted a memorial requesting resignation.
His position as aide was somewhat frustrating because the Prince of Langya’s military power was basically all in Wang Dun’s hands, and Wang Dun had recently been quarreling with the Prince of Langya.
When immortals fight, the casualties are basically fish like them in the pond. So Xie Shang’s days weren’t easy.
When he resigned at this time, the Prince of Langya didn’t think much of it. His mind was being occupied by memorials from several great families about tax reduction and exemption. Hearing someone requested resignation, he irritably agreed.
Xie Shang felt quite disappointed.
Xie Kun told him: “This shows that the Prince doesn’t absolutely need you. If you truly want to repay him, better to return to the northern regions and distinguish yourself. In the future, you might speak well of the Prince before Zhao Hanzhang.”
Xie Shang agreed. He packed his luggage and went to find the Lu clan descendant.
They were very happy about Xie Shang joining them. Though his age was somewhat older than theirs, he was refined and elegant, proficient in both civil and military arts. Not only could they play together, they’d have support on the road.
So the group set out magnificently. Along the way from Jianye to Guangling, on a certain night, they took a boat to cruise the river and accidentally reached the opposite shore.
Then they went ashore and leisurely ran off to find Liu Kun to play.
Liu Kun was delighted to see so many aristocratic family descendants come to find him. He entertained them very generously. After letting them play in Xuzhou for several days, he wrote them a recommendation letter and issued them travel permits, then they could take the permits and letter to Luoyang to find Zhao Hanzhang.
Things went extremely smoothly.
They were just a group of children playing who ran across the river to play. Jiangnan and Jiangdong were still Great Jin territory. Although Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t directly govern here, whenever she had policies, she would still send them this way.
Occasionally she would also demand tribute from them, so in many people’s eyes, although they weren’t one power, they were still one country.
The children just went to another province to play—they didn’t go abroad. What was so surprising?
Everyone tacitly blocked the news from reaching the Prince of Langya’s ears.
However, the Prince of Langya wasn’t truly deaf and blind. After the summer harvest ended, he still received the news. At this time, Xie Shang and the others had also reached Luoyang.
The Prince of Langya was so angry he smashed a set of cups and saucers. Just as he was about to send people to interrogate the several great aristocratic families, they came on their own.
A chamberlain reported in a low voice: “The Yang clan and several other clan heads are all kneeling outside, saying their clan descendants were naughty and they failed in discipline. They’ve come especially to request punishment.”
The Prince of Langya’s bellyful of anger deflated like a punctured balloon. Request punishment?
Could he punish them?
How could he punish them?
Originally, when they fled to Jiangdong, they needed to integrate with the local aristocratic families and obtain their recognition, but time had been short. Jiangdong had its own customs, completely different from the Central Plains north.
Jiangdong’s aristocratic families couldn’t completely trust the Prince of Langya, and the Prince of Langya couldn’t rely heavily on them either. So he still had to depend on aristocratic families who had fled from the north together.
Currently, among his subordinate officials, seven out of ten were people who came from the north.
Among them, descendants of the Yang, Lu, and Yuan clans accounted for quite a few. The most numerous were the Wang clan. But those who traveled with the three great clan descendants this time included many aristocratic family descendants. If he truly investigated and punished them, who knew how many people would be implicated.
Moreover, aristocratic families were interrelated by marriage, sharing honor and disgrace. Punishing one—who knew how many others would be offended?
The Prince of Langya pulled at the corners of his mouth and said: “Invite them to the great hall and treat them well.”
The Prince of Langya sat down dejectedly, feeling depressed. “Where is Maohong now?”
The chamberlain said quietly: “Administrator Wang is ill and currently bedridden recuperating.”
The Prince of Langya clenched his fist. He didn’t believe Wang Dao knew nothing, yet he hadn’t reported it until now. Clearly, he deliberately wanted to see him embarrassed.
The twelve or thirteen-year-old Sima Shao walked in quietly, bowing to the Prince of Langya. “Father Prince, why be vexed? We are Great Jin subjects, and those family descendants merely miss their ancestral land, thinking of their homeland and returning north. They don’t forget their ancestral roots. Father Prince should be happy.”
Seeing him, the Prince of Langya’s expression eased slightly but he also felt more deflated. “What do you know? Currently Jiangdong lacks unified hearts, while the Central Plains northern regions have already stabilized. Originally, aristocratic families from the northern regions already wanted to return. Now that these family descendants have left, it sets a precedent. From now on, I won’t be able to keep talented people.”
“Since they can’t be kept anyway, getting angry and losing dignity—better to be magnanimous and praise them, allowing aristocratic families with hearts set on returning north to go back,” Sima Shao said. “Father Prince, if they cannot wholeheartedly serve you, keeping them—using them with divided or triple loyalty—would you feel at ease employing them?”
The Prince of Langya didn’t speak.
Sima Shao said: “Employing people most fears suspicion. Father Prince, since you want to employ Wang Maohong, you shouldn’t suspect him. Since you want to rely on northern aristocratic families, you shouldn’t be overly guarded against them.”
“When your heart births suspicion, they dare not wholeheartedly serve you. Suspicion breeds mistrust—one day great trouble will emerge.”
The Prince of Langya’s spirit was greatly shaken, then he looked at Sima Shao suspiciously. “Did you think of these words yourself, or did someone teach you?”
Sima Shao said: “…Your son thought of them himself.”
The Prince of Langya was half-believing and half-doubting.
Coincidentally, Zhao Hanzhang had just received calling cards from several great families and was discussing with Ji Yuan and others how to employ these people.
Although Ming Yu didn’t like aristocratic family descendants, he still told Zhao Hanzhang: “If the Great General wants the realm to be stable, she cannot do without employing aristocratic families and clans. But if you want to employ them, you cannot be suspicious. Otherwise, better not to employ them at all.”