kvmb Chapter 244 The Kindness of Being Helped
Chapter 244 The Kindness of Being Helped
After settling Zhen Yuan in, Gu Lin wrote a letter to Zheng Hao that evening, mentioning cannons and Zhen Yuan in the process, before sealing the letter and handing it over to Dayan.
The following day, Gu Lin arranged for Gu An to entertain Zhen Yuan. Zhen Yuan was a good friend of Zheng Hao, so it would be inappropriate to just find someone to entertain him. Gu An was their junior, so it would be proper and polite for him to entertain Zhen Yuan.
After entrusting the person to Gu An, Gu Lin didn't give him many instructions. As Gu An went between the government office and the military camp to handle military and political affairs, his words and actions became increasingly composed, more reliable than many adults. Under this influence, Gu Lin gradually stopped treating Gu An as a child and began to trust him. Gu Lin felt completely at ease entrusting Zhen Yuan to Gu An's care.
Gu An's performance did not disappoint him. He not only took Zhen Yuan to see the city, but also took him to the countryside to observe the lives of the people. In just a few days, Zhen Yuan's emotions changed countless times, and he was shocked by what he saw in Youzhou Prefecture.
Looking at the people in front of him, dressed in old but not tattered clothes, laughing and chatting, Zhen Yuan felt a sense of confusion. Was this still the desolate and cold Youzhou Prefecture described in the book?
He followed closely behind Gu An, listening to the other man explain in a few words the reasons for the various changes that had occurred in Youzhou Prefecture.
original……
All of this is thanks to Brother Zheng and Uncle Gu.
Southern military camp.
When the prefect of Youzhou led his army to capture five cities in succession, the prefects and generals of other prefectures had barely captured two or three cities. After capturing ten rebels, the army rested and the prefects and generals of the various prefectures returned to their camps to attend a victory celebration banquet.
Zheng Hao stepped inside, where a dozen or so people were chatting animatedly.
“Brother Niu, this is Lord Zheng, the prefect of Youzhou and commander-in-chief. You must have heard of his heroic deeds in repelling the northern barbarians.”
Upon seeing the young commander-in-chief enter, General Ning Yuan spoke in a sarcastic tone.
Then he said to Niu Qiang, "But in my opinion, you are the bravest, Brother Niu. You dared to fight fourteen men alone before the main army arrived, and then we attacked from both inside and outside, capturing many rebels."
Ignoring the other person's praise, Niu Qiang turned to look at Zheng Hao, a smile spreading across his slightly fierce face. Perhaps because he didn't smile much normally, this smile seemed particularly strange.
He stared at the young commander, not getting up, but said cryptically, "So this is Lord Zheng."
Zheng Hao lowered his eyes slightly, glanced at him, and said indifferently, "Lord Niu."
Seeing that they immediately displayed an unpleasant aura upon meeting, General Ning was secretly pleased. The others present also sensed that the atmosphere between Zheng Hao and Niu Qiang was quite strange.
The General of Jiangnan raised his eyes and glanced at the General of Ningyuan Prefecture with a warning look, then turned to look at the young commander and Niu Qiang: "Speaking of which, you two knew each other before."
Upon hearing this, the people present either showed surprise or had inscrutable expressions.
"What do you mean by that, Lord Chen?" Zheng Hao asked, a rare hint of surprise in his voice.
After the young commander arrived in the south, he was always given face. The General of Jiangnan smiled and said when Niu Qiang looked at him in confusion, "Lord Zheng, you are a man of great importance and you have a bad memory. When we were resisting the Red Army, Niu Qiang led his men to guard the city gate. It was you who promoted him because you saw his merit. How come you two have forgotten about this?"
Niu Qiang looked genuinely surprised and said, "I always thought that my promotion was due to Lord Chen's help, but I never imagined it was actually Lord Zheng's."
After speaking, he looked at the young commander, his gaze focused and sharp, but unlike before, he did not look at him rudely.
He clasped his hands in thanks to the other party and said, "Thank you for your kindness in helping me out back then, Lord Zheng."
The young coach remained unmoved, his tone cold: "No need for thanks. Getting to where we are today is all thanks to Lord Niu himself."
The tension that was about to rise between the two subsided. The others present had not expected that there was such a connection between them. While jokingly telling the two to take their seats, they were all worried that they might form an alliance.
Fortunately, at the banquet that followed, they saw that Niu Qiang was warmly grateful to the young commander, but Zheng Hao treated them the same way he had when he first arrived in the South, regardless of whether they were enthusiastic or indifferent. He treated Niu Qiang the same way.
After the banquet, Zheng Hao returned to his tent. Da Zhuo took out the letters sent by Youzhou Prefecture. Zheng Hao took them. There were three letters in total: one written by Ye Kuo, one by Tian Kang, and one by Uncle Gu.
Zheng Hao opened the letters one by one. Ye Kuo reported to him on the major political affairs of Youzhou Prefecture, while Tian Kang's letter was even simpler, containing only a few sentences, reporting that he was training new recruits.
The last letter... was written by Uncle Gu himself.
Zheng Hao opened the letter, his gaze lowered slightly, and as his eyes moved, he looked at the elegant and spirited handwriting on the paper, and his cold expression slowly relaxed.
Unlike Mr. Ye and Tian Kang's thin letters, the envelope for Uncle Gu was bulging. Feeling the thickness of the envelope in his hand, Zheng Hao's cold heart was instantly filled with Uncle Gu's heavy affection.
He lowered his eyes and began to read the letter written by Uncle Gu carefully.
In the letter, Uncle Gu only reported good news and not bad news, conveying the message that everything was fine.
Uncle Gu first explained the military and political affairs of Youzhou Prefecture to him. Clearly, before leaving, he had instructed Uncle Gu to keep an eye on the main camp, and Uncle Gu had taken that to heart.
Indeed, this was the case. After the young man left Youzhou Prefecture, Gu Lin did not blindly interfere in military and political affairs. With Mr. Ye and Tian Kang around, he still felt that professional matters should be left to professionals.
He played a supervisory role, occasionally summoning Mr. Ye and Tian Kang to inquire about military and political matters, which was sufficient.
Mr. Ye and Tian Kang did not show any resistance to his involvement in military and political affairs. On the contrary, they reported the affairs of the government office and military camp to Gu Lin very seriously. If Gu Lin did not understand something, he would ask the two of them on the spot. Sometimes, worried about disturbing them while they were doing their work, he would take some questions back to the mansion to ask Gu An.
Compared to him, an outsider, the boy who was personally taught by Zheng Hao and Mr. Ye knew a lot.
The other party was able to answer any question Gu Lin raised.
Seeing that Uncle Gu was becoming increasingly adept at handling the military and political affairs of Youzhou Prefecture, Zheng Hao turned to the next sheet of paper.
After he left, Uncle Gu's men developed a weapon with extremely high destructive power called a cannon. According to Uncle Gu, the cannon had a long range and its destructive power was dozens of times greater than that of gunpowder. A dark light flashed in Zheng Hao's eyes. If this thing were used on the battlefield, it would surely make his soldiers invincible.
As he was thinking this, he saw Uncle Gu pondering how to move the cannons to the south, but due to various reasons, he had not yet made any progress.
With a sharp look, the young commander-in-chief focused his gaze on Zhen Yuan's arrival date in Youzhou Prefecture. Uncle Gu asked him how to arrange things for the other party.
Zheng Hao reads text extremely quickly, but he read these few sheets of paper over and over again before putting them down.
His fingers rubbed against the smooth paper. He didn't immediately pick up his pen to reply. With his eyes slightly lowered, Zheng Hao frowned. Gu Shu's letter only mentioned the official affairs of Youzhou Prefecture, but made no mention of himself.
Having been away from Youzhou Prefecture for many months, he had no idea how Uncle Gu was doing.
As Zheng Hao tapped his fingertips on the table, his heart grew increasingly agitated. He wanted to know whether Uncle Gu would catch a cold and develop a fever after the snowfall in Youzhou Prefecture, and whether Uncle Gu would obediently consume the medicinal soups and meals that the kitchen prepared every day.
Thinking this way, Zheng Hao became increasingly uneasy. He wasn't by Uncle Gu's side, and Aunt Zhao and the others were soft-hearted. If Uncle Gu said a few soft words, they wouldn't try to persuade him anymore. In the long run, Uncle Gu would definitely not touch the medicinal soup or food.
Picking up his brush, Zheng Hao first wrote back to Mr. Ye and Tian Kang. In his reply to Mr. Ye, Zheng Hao didn't write a long letter, but only a few sentences. In his reply to Tian Kang, Zheng Hao wrote a whole sheet of paper, which was all about the training arrangements for new and old soldiers, and asked the other party and Mr. Ye to cooperate well.
After writing these two replies, Zheng Hao's attention returned to Uncle Gu.
Unlike his coldness and businesslike manner towards his subordinates, Zheng Hao's reply to Uncle Gu was written with a gentler tone.
He thanked Uncle Gu with sweet words, saying that keeping an eye on Youzhou Prefecture for him made him feel at ease while he was away from home. Then, he told him to take care of his health, and if the medicine was too bitter to swallow, he should take medicinal meals. He also told him that Youzhou Prefecture was frozen solid, so he should not go out unless necessary, and that he should leave any business to Gu An and the others.
Every word was a plea for advice. He told Uncle Gu to rest assured that Zhen Yuan was in the care of Mr. Ye, who would take care of everything. Finally, he paused slightly and wrote down: "All is well while you are on the march. Uncle Gu, do not worry. You will be home soon."
After writing all the replies, Zheng Hao summoned Da Zhuo: "Send the letters back tonight."
Da Zhuo accepted the order, feeling the thick stack of paper in his hand, and asked, "Sir, should we use the 800-li express courier service?"
Zheng Hao shook his head slightly: "No need, just send the letter back to Youzhou Prefecture as usual."
The 800-li urgent dispatch was usually used in emergencies to transmit urgent information. Because it required couriers to travel day and night, covering 800 li per day, most horses would die from exhaustion at this speed. Couriers would have to change horses frequently and sometimes would not even have time to eat or rest. The manpower and resources required were enormous, so it was usually not used. Only in critical moments such as the death of Emperor Jian'an or the death of the Chengdu Prefecture General would Zheng Hao's subordinates use the 800-li urgent dispatch to send the news to him. Youzhou Prefecture was safe and sound, and Uncle Gu was not in danger. Although he missed him, he was still rational and would not use the 800-li urgent dispatch to send a message back to Youzhou Prefecture just to alleviate his longing for him.
Even so, the courier traveled very quickly, delivering the letter back to Youzhou Prefecture in half a month.
When Gu Lin received the letter, he felt that the envelope was just as thick as the one he had sent out.
Gu Lin opened the envelope and quickly read the letter.
When Gu Lin saw that Zheng Hao was well aware of the situation and made it clear that he would instruct Mr. Ye to make arrangements for Zhen Yuan, Gu Lin felt relieved.
Then he saw that the other party told him not to transport the cannons to the south for the time being, as such a powerful weapon should not be shown to the world too early.
Gu Lin was aware of the situation, but he did not stop people from studying how to properly transport the artillery, since it might be needed in the future even if it wasn't used now.
After figuring this out, Gu Lin returned his attention to the letter and immediately saw that the young man had written three whole pages, all of which were used to remind him of his three meals a day and his daily routine.
as well as……
The young man told him to write more about himself in his letter, and made it clear that the messengers were reliable people and there was no need to worry about being found out. Gu Lin felt a little helpless and didn't know what to say.
But he did feel sorry for the young man who was leading troops to the south. The young man, who had just turned twenty, was shouldering so much responsibility and so many lives.
As a result, his attitude softened considerably.
Compared to his previous letter, Gu Lin's reply this time was less formal.
Aside from discussing serious matters, he also wrote about many interesting things that happened around him. With a smile between his brows, he sealed the envelope and was about to have it sent out when he remembered that the young man was jealous and didn't like him diverting his attention to other things. Gu Lin reopened the envelope, paused slightly, and then leaned down slightly to write at the end of the letter: "I look forward to your triumphant return, and I miss you every night."
Beijing.
Since delegating power to the Grand General, Emperor Qianyuan has enjoyed a long-awaited period of peace. Since ascending the throne, he has not had a single day of tranquility. In recent days, after the Grand General took over the court, apart from attending the grand court assembly, Emperor Qianyuan spends the rest of his time indulging in pleasure in the imperial study or the harem.
Unlike the late emperor, who was obsessed with seeking immortality and enlightenment, he was devoted to calligraphy, painting, poetry, and books. The general, understanding the emperor's heart, specially found a beautiful and talented woman to secretly train her. Then, at a palace banquet, he presented this woman to Emperor Qian Yuan. Emperor Qian Yuan favored this woman and the next day he bestowed upon her the title of Bao Lin. Afterwards, satisfied with the woman's beauty and talent, he added the title of Cai Ren after a period of time.
After the grand court assembly concluded, the civil and military officials ceased their clamor and offered their opinions. Emperor Qianyuan, in high spirits, went to the Imperial Study with the Grand General. Just as the two were discussing the war in the south, a eunuch came with a beaming smile to deliver the news: "Your Majesty, Consort Wang is pregnant."
Consort Wang was the woman that the Grand General presented to Emperor Qian Yuan. Upon hearing this, Emperor Qian Yuan was overjoyed: "How many months has it been?"
Like Emperor Jian'an, he did not have many children. When he was still in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess gave birth to his legitimate son, but his other concubines rarely became pregnant. In total, apart from the child in Consort Wang's womb, he only had six children, which was quite few in the imperial family.
The eunuch replied, "It's been three months. The maidservant who serves Consort Wang said that she noticed Consort Wang's menstrual cycle was irregular a few days ago. After discussing it with Consort Wang, neither of them was sure. In addition, His Majesty is worried about the war in the south, so Consort Wang ordered me not to bother His Majesty."
"Qingqing is too cautious." Emperor Qianyuan's tone was full of tenderness. Thinking that this was his first child after ascending the throne, Emperor Qianyuan said, "Consort Wang has made contributions. She shall be promoted to the rank of Beauty. After she gives birth to an heir, she shall be promoted to the rank of Consort."
After saying this, Emperor Qianyuan turned to look at the Grand General: "We owe this beauty to your hard work."
Gao Yuan, with a serious expression, said respectfully, "Your Majesty flatters me. The whole world belongs to Your Majesty, and it is my duty to serve Your Majesty."
Emperor Qianyuan laughed a few times: "It is my blessing to have such a virtuous minister as my brother-in-law."
After a brief conversation between the emperor and his minister, Gao Yuan bowed and took his leave.
As Gao Yuan stepped out of the palace gates and onto the carriage, his respectful demeanor vanished, replaced by a mocking glint in his eyes.
Emperor Qianyuan had three sons, the youngest being eight years old and already an adult. Consort Wang was someone he had specifically offered up to him, to plant spies around him. Sometimes, a woman's whispered words in a man's ear are more effective than anything else. Unexpectedly, Consort Wang was very efficient, becoming pregnant so quickly. If the child is a boy…
A ruthless glint flashed in Gao Yuan's eyes.