No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 395 Traveling with a Sword
  After the busy autumn harvest.

The cold wave is coming and the temperature in Xunyang is cooling down.

The night leaks gradually make me sad and sleep less, and I am afraid of the new coolness before I wear my autumn clothes.

Ouyang Rong's autumn clothes are not lacking, and there are even many.

Xie Lingjiang and Wei Mei.

Aunt, Vera.

Maybe there is also Li Guo'er... The female family members he knows well have all premade autumn clothes for him in advance, and they are all ready.

This can be regarded as the basic ethics of women in this era. Even the young junior sister who is busy and doesn't care much about ordinary housework will not forget it.

In addition to preparing clothes for her senior brother, she also sent a few pieces to her father who was far away in Luoyang. Although the Xie family in Chen County did not lack this little money, as an old father, Xie Xun did not know how to receive filial piety from his daughter. What a relief, it was a real and caring little cotton-padded jacket, but it was a pity that it was already worn on some brat... The old father hissed.

Moreover, what Ouyang Rong didn't know was that in the Xunyang Prince's Mansion, his "Tanlang" autumn clothes were prepared before the head of the family, Li Xian, and the eldest son Li Fusu, with the highest priority and the best materials.

Even before entering Qiu Bailu, Li Xian and Li Fusu took the initiative to remind Wei Mei and other female relatives early not to forget to prepare for Tan Lang and to arrange them properly.

Warned again and again.

Just like last year’s fox white fur shawl, which is a specialty of Liaodong and is extremely good.

It's just that Ouyang Rong, who was surrounded by warm and caring female family members, was blown by the cold autumn wind when he went out, and his mind couldn't help but drift to the Ashan family in Longcheng, worried about his younger sisters A Qing and Liu Mu.

The main reason is that in this era, the problem of frostbite has not been completely eliminated. In the history books of the previous and current dynasties that Ouyang Rong read, there are always things like "Heavy rain and snow, many people freeze to death.", "When there is heavy snow, the pits and valleys are full, and there are many scholars. "Frozen to death.", "The fish in the rivers and streams froze to death." and other calm descriptions of the disaster.

Just a few sentences, shocking.

Ouyang Rong also became the chief official of Jiangzhou. After receiving reports on people's conditions from various places, he truly understood how difficult autumn and winter were for poor families.

Although Ouyang Rong left arrangements to take care of him, Ah Qing and Liu Mu were not willing to trouble him too much in Longcheng. Unless absolutely necessary, Ah Qing and the others were self-sufficient and worked hard to support their families.

Every time Magistrate Diao came to Xunyang City to report on his work, or Yan Liulang returned to Longcheng to visit his parents and sister, Ouyang Rong always asked them about A Qing's affairs.

Fortunately, the news I got every time was pretty good.

Ah Qing's family is living a good life. Apart from the medicinal materials and medical supplies that Liu's mother needs to recuperate in bed, Ah Qing has almost never gotten anything from Ouyang Rong.

It is also because he always pays attention to the affairs of A Qing's family that Ouyang Rong, who is always in need of autumn clothes, does not break away from the masses and is particularly sympathetic to the lives of ordinary people in Jiangzhou.

Most of the ancient people's sad words about autumn were due to the falling vegetation and bleak weather. In addition, the common people lacked food and clothing and were in danger of being frozen, which added to the desolation.

In addition, autumn is not only busy with farming, but also a suitable season for waging war.

The so-called troubled times are not an empty sigh.

For civilians with low living standards, how to survive the autumn and winter seasons when they are short of food and clothing is a matter of great concern.

Currently, Jiangzhou is the frontline. The main hall of Jiangzhou needs to build a Buddha statue and prepare war supplies for the upcoming Jiangnan Road march. The finances are quite tight.

It is also difficult to store the newly harvested grain from the recent autumn harvest.

These days, Ouyang Rong is calculating and calculating, occasionally standing up, with a worried look on his face in the autumn breeze in the corridor... Then he sits back down and continues to settle accounts.

He somewhat understood Master Di's difficulties mentioned in the teacher's letter.

From the perspective of bystanders, Xie Lingjiang and others said with emotion that Ouyang Rong, the chief official of Jiangzhou who specializes in people's livelihood, is really walking on thin ice. He worries about this and that every day. I have never seen such a busy Master Xunyang. official.

In the past, those who attended the Xunyang Poetry Club and drank and chatted with celebrities were not the only ones.

Although he could hear the distress in his junior sister's words, Ouyang Rong still found it difficult to relax.

Coupled with the news he received two days ago, Ouyang Rong began to prepare to leave the city and plan a long trip.

Of course, as a governor, he has many officials and officials surrounding him in the Jiangzhou lobby, and many eyes are staring at him. He cannot disappear immediately, but must plan carefully...

On this day, as the morning approached, Ouyang Rong rode across the street early in the morning and arrived at Prince Xunyang's Mansion early in the morning.

"Where are Tanlang and Dalang going this time?"

In the royal palace of Xunyang Prince, Xie Lingjiang, Wei Mei, and Li Huo's sons and daughters were all there. Wei Mei led a group of pretty maids, surrounding Ouyang Rong and Li Fusu in the center of the room, sorting their clothes. Wei Mei looked up curiously and asked about the luggage.

Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes, adjusted his cuffs, and explained:
  "Inspection of the counties, as autumn and winter are approaching, I need to go around and supervise to see if there are any local county officials who, under the pretext of fighting against the Kuangfu Army, are slacking off in their duties and neglecting the civil affairs of the county.

"There are also tasks shared by the court, such as preparing food for the conquering army, which must also be supervised to prevent forced conscription from the countryside...

"It just so happens that the chief military officer of Jiangnan Road's march has not come yet. Let's go out for a walk while there are still two days left. Otherwise, when the people arrive, the autumn war will begin, and we will be busy again in this eventful autumn."

Ouyang Rong shook his head.

Except for Li Guo'er who petted the cat every day, Wei Mei and other female family members were stunned for a while. Xie Lingjiang interjected:
  "The senior brother is just worried and suspicious. He sits in the lobby all day long, listening to the good reports from the people below. He is always worried. He is afraid that these slick officials will find out his personality and preferences and say nice things to him, so he wants to run away. Go check it out.”

"There must be part of the reason." After a pause, Ouyang Rong nodded: "We have to guard against it."

Xie Ling Jiang Xiang's cheeks puffed up: "So don't persuade me, aunt, and let him go shopping. It's just a hard life."

Ouyang Rong smiled.

Wei Mei could only nod her head and glanced at Menghulu's eldest son, who was silently arranging his brand new official uniform next to Ouyang Rong. She couldn't help but worry:

"Tan Lang, Dalang must go."

When Li Fusu heard this, he raised his head and said in a helpless tone: "Mom."

Li Guo'er, who had been listening, answered for his brother:

"Brother is not a child now, and can no longer stay home and study. He is Jiangzhou Biejia, the nominal second-in-command.

"Mom, brother always has to go to the front of the stage. This time I go on patrol with Ouyang Lianghan to show sympathy for the people. It is a good opportunity to make my debut.

"Everyone is watching, brother, I have to behave well."

Wei Mei immediately understood Ouyang Rong's intention of leaving Fusu.

I couldn't help but sigh.

The child travels thousands of miles and the mother is worried.

But even if Wei Mei is short-sighted, she still understands that in this era where imperial power, wealth, and resources are smoothly passed down through the family bloodline, and the eldest son inheritance system is respected,

A faction or force that is stable and has great prospects needs to be inherited in an orderly manner, that is, outsiders and potential converts can see clearly the line of inheritance from a distance.

Therefore, if the Xunyang Palace wants to gain momentum smoothly, it is not enough to have the shining golden flag of Lixian. The issue of successor is also very important.

There is no doubt that Li Fusu, the eldest son, is the successor of the Xunyang Palace. He was canonized as the emperor's grandson by Emperor Gaozong of Daqian. When he was still in his infancy, he was granted the title of king and opened the palace.

It's just that later, when Li Xian's three-month emperor experience card was used up, it expired and ended.

Although Li Xian has other sons,

Some were born to concubines when they were common people, and some were born to concubines before they were demoted.
  It's just that after being demoted, most of the concubines returned to their illustrious parents' families, and their children followed them and were no longer around.

Over the years, the only people who have been by his side are his wife Wei Mei, Li Dalang and Li Guo'er.

This pair of children has the highest status among the children in the family.

In addition to the feeling of sharing weal and woe, it is also related to the fact that Li Dalang and Li Guo'er are the biological flesh and blood of his wife Wei Mei.

After all, he was a strict wife, just like his father Gaozong. The only eldest son, Li Fusu, was Wei Mei’s heart and soul.

She doesn't like other concubines with strong and strong personalities. Of course, they can't threaten the inheritance rights of her family's elder brother in the slightest...

This time, His Majesty took a different approach and named Li Dalang, who had always kept a low profile in his studies and had no sense of presence in the past, as a special guest in Jiangzhou. This was a subtle boost to Prince Xunyang's palace. In the eyes of the government and the public, Prince Xunyang was of the same lineage. Another step forward.

Ouyang Rong turned his head, glanced at Li Fusu who looked a little nervous, and patted him on the shoulder.

Li Fusu took a deep breath and nodded heavily to him.

Under the care of Wei Mei and other female family members, Ouyang Rong and Li Fusu got ready and got up to go out.

Xie Lingjiang stood up, picked up a piano case that was never leaving his side, and followed.

She goes too.

Wei Mei, Li Guo'er, mother and daughter looked at the piano case, and looked at Xiuguan Changshi who was calmly preparing to go away.

Tacitly, he looked back.

On the street in front of the palace, the autumn wind was bleak.

Some frowning princesses and the little princess with plum blossom makeup holding a cat watched Ouyang Rong and others leave...

When Wang Lengran, the governor of Jiangzhou, could not keep a low profile for some reasons.

As the governor of Jiangzhou, Ouyang Rong and Li Fusu went out of the city together to inspect the counties. At the same time, they took the orders of Li Xian, the Jiangnan Dao pacification ambassador and King Xunyang, to appease the newly returned officials and people of the counties.

Along the way, the group was warmly welcomed by local officials and gentry.

Thanks to the rapid "surrender" in the previous two times and the flexibility of focusing on one thing, the people in the counties under Jiangzhou were not affected too much by the wars of the Kuangfu Army, and the autumn harvest was not affected.

For the common people planting rice and harvesting wheat in the countryside, the tug-of-war between the Jiangzhou King's Division and the Hongzhou Kuangfu Army has mostly nothing to do with them.
  The so-called righteousness of Kuang Fu Li Qian is also far away from them.

On the contrary, the family ethics drama staged by several emperors of the Liqian royal family and Empress Wei is still being serialized to this day, which has made everyone enjoy it for many years and talk about it even more.

After all, compared with the righteousness of the rule of law, this kind of bloody family affairs can be more understood and even sympathized by the folks with less than half a percent literacy rate.

But these are not as important as the problem of how to spend the autumn and winter in front of them.

Therefore, for the people of Jiangnan states who have enjoyed peace for many years, as long as exorbitant taxes and forced military service are not imminent,
  So these battles for restoration seemed to be far away from their lives. At most, the news that a certain frontier army in the north was victorious in another border expansion war was a little inspiring and aroused the pride of Han'er in his bones.

In fact, this also benefited from the system of the imperial guards of Daqian and Dazhou.
  These wars are all carried out by professional soldiers composed of a large number of good family members, that is, the soldiers of Zichong Mansion.

This enables most people to live and work in peace and contentment.

Also because the channels for promotion in the military still exist, many soldiers in the government are happy to hear about the expansion of the war.

After all, another way to study in the imperial examination has just been opened up. In the past, hundreds of years before Qian and Zhou Dynasties, it was monopolized by aristocratic families, and the difficulty level is still too high. Not everyone has a scholarly family like Ouyang Lianghan, who can study with peace of mind and compete for it. The dozens of places released on the list every year,
  Among the people, most people are not even considered common people from poor families. Most of the aspiring young men at the bottom can only pursue military merit.

Or it could be like what Yan Liulang did before he met Ouyang Rong. He gave birth to a good child and had a father who was a small official. He could inherit his father's career and reluctantly followed the official career of an iron rice bowl. .

However, this peaceful age, where people can have a high probability of having a living as long as they work, is much better than the precarious situation during the centuries of war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the reshuffle and integration of Hu and Han Dynasties.

Expanding the territory and winning a great victory, bringing all the nations to Korea and opening up trade routes can at least reduce the involution and allow ten people to get their share of the cake.

It is worthy of rewarding a place with only a few flourishes on the blank pages of history books.

This is the current situation of most of the people at the bottom of the Zhou Dynasty. They are hovering on the line of food and clothing, struggling to move forward.

There are very few people who can purely represent and defend their interests.

Although in the court, almost all the time there were people "asking for orders for the people" and even denounced the emperor for it.

This time Ouyang Rong took Da Lang away to inspect the place. In addition to letting him, the crown prince of Xunyang, appear, and another reason, the most important thing was to let Da Lang, who was busy studying and not lacking in food and clothing, see the truth and current situation.

Instead of sitting in Prince Xunyang's Mansion all day long, surrounded by counselors, guests, and careerists, all he could think about was the Liwei War, the glory of his ancestors, and the books of Confucian sages.

Ouyang Rong only treats his good friend Li Fusu and will guide him in this way.

For a certain little princess with plum blossom makeup, Ouyang Rong would not bother at all.

Because unlike her brother, it's not that she doesn't know, she knows it too well. Even if she doesn't know, she can figure it out, but she can only say "oh".

Because she is smart.

What is a smart person?
  He only cares about the interests of himself, his family, and his allies. The more he knows, the smarter he becomes, but the more he will only help the first point.

Li Guo'er can share adversity and wealth, and it is not impossible for him to even sacrifice for his family, just like when he was chased by Wei Shaoxuan and turned around to buy time for his father and brother to escape.

But these are only people and allies she recognizes.

But to be fair, Li Guoer has also changed.

I personally experienced Ouyang Rong uniting to control floods and outsmarting bullies in Longcheng County, and witnessed the tragic death of the three brothers Liu Ziwen, who were also smart people, and the fate of their homes being confiscated and destroyed by Ouyang Rong led the people.

Li Guo'er silently agreed with what the younger junior sister had said before, that water could capsize a boat as well as carry it, and she felt a little in awe of even a small spoonful of "water".

At least from now on, when one's own interests stand in opposition to the interests of the majority of the people, they will hesitate and dare not take a peek.

This change made Ouyang Rong treat him differently.

At least it's not so "different".

Patrolling down with Li Dalang.

Ouyang Rong smoothly dealt with more than a dozen corrupt officials who tried to get away with it.

Other than that, the journey was generally smooth.

In addition, I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the destination of this trip was Longcheng County.

In the next two days, the group passed through Jishui, Hukou and other counties.
  The convoy is preparing to head to the penultimate stop of this trip, a remote county called Wannian, which is about the same location as Longcheng County, with poor mountains and harsh waters.

In the evening of that day, approaching ten thousand years, the sky was burning with clouds. The traveling carriage team slowly stopped to rest. Li Dalang dismissed the escort and boarded a familiar carriage in the team. Xie Lingjiang was the only one left in the carriage. .

When I passed by the inn for lunch just now, there was Ouyang Rong's figure here, but now he has disappeared.

Also missing was the piano-shaped wooden box that Xie Lingjiang held in his arms throughout the whole process.

Li Dalang asked calmly:

"gone?"

"Yeah. People are here at Dragon City, earlier than expected. He has to go there earlier."

"It doesn't matter if you go alone. There's no danger here. How about thanking the girl for going with him."

"No need, I brought my sword." Xie Lingjiang leaned forward on his seat, resting his elbows on his knees, biting his nails quietly, lowered his head and muttered: "He said last time that he can now kill a junior sister with one sword."

"..."

Li Fusu couldn't help but ask: "Then let's..."

"Now continue to patrol, as usual these two days, pass by Longcheng, and then pick him up."

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)