A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 612 Heavy Snow Sends Troops
Autumn and winter come.

In the early morning, Youzhou Farewell started talking, and when he opened the door curtain, he found that the sky was extremely gloomy, and the lotus pond in the courtyard was covered with a thick layer of ice.

"It's going to snow."

He turned back to the house and quickly put on more clothes. He put on a cashmere vest under a sheepskin jacket, put on a mink collar, and put on fur-lined leather boots.

After leaving the dormitory and arriving at the official residence, colleagues were already arriving one after another, each wearing a mink hat and collar.

In the public room, Meng Cong had already lit the stove, and the room was quite warm.

"It's going to snow today."

Zhang Wei, who was also a member of the Yi Guogong Shogunate, laughed and said, "Today is the heavy snow in the 24th solar term,"

"It seems like it's going to snow heavily today. After this snow, it's time to start fighting, right?" Gao Kan was full of expectations.

The first snow had already fallen in Youzhou, which happened to be the light snowfall at the end of October. After that, it snowed several times, getting heavier and heavier.

Zhang Wei sat in front of the stove boiling water and warming his hands, "It's almost the fourteenth day of November, and in half a month it will be the winter solstice."

Just as he was talking, a military officer from Duke Youyi came in.
He brought the latest notice to all the shogunate staff. Duke Yi Guo was going to Huaihuang Town in Guizhou, and a selected number of shogunate staff were accompanying him.

"Those who want to go sign up first, and those who want to stay can also register,"

Let everyone decide for themselves whether to join the military.

Gao Kan was young and immediately said, "I am willing to go out with Shaobao."

Zhang Wei thought for a while and said, "I am willing to stay."

After registering at the fireside, he warmed up again and left. He came back in the afternoon, but it was to distribute a batch of winter supplies, including fur coats, blankets, cloaks, fur hats and boots, etc., and a sum of money. , grain, etc.

There are both those who went on the expedition and those who stayed behind.

But there was another one who went on the expedition.

During lunch in the public dining hall, everyone was talking about the expedition. In fact, Youzhou had been preparing for the Northern Expedition to the Turks since last year. Many people had experienced the Battle of Yehuling and even received rewards for their meritorious service. ,

Everyone is looking forward to it more.

Gao Kan came later in the year. He didn't catch up with last year's Battle of Yehuling, or even the Battle of Zhengbeishanxi. This 16-year-old boy originally decided to come to Youhuling after hearing about the Battle of Yehuling. state.

He was in Chang'an at that time. Gao Kan was born in the Bohai Gao family, but now his family was in decline. His father had been a regular attendant of Sanqi in the Sui Dynasty. After entering the Tang Dynasty, he also served as a farewell driver in Danzhou, but he died of illness in the early days of Wude.Gao Kan was only a few years old when his father died.
The young Gao Kan had no career and a poor family, so he relied on relatives of the Bohai Gao clan to support him and studied in the clan school for free. However, Gao Kan was not willing to remain like this. When he was 14 years old, he was promoted to be the governor and paid tribute to his hometown. Entering the imperial examination in Beijing,
But even though he is from the Bohai Gao family, Gao Jian, Gao Shilian, and Gao Feng Gao Jifu are all members of the same clan, but they are all clansmen who came out of the fifth service. Although speaking, their ancestors are all from the same clan of Gao Huan who founded the Northern Qi Dynasty. After all, five servers have been released.

After failing to be recommended by the powerful, he ended up taking the imperial examination. As expected, he failed to win the first place. Living in Chang'an was not easy. Gao Kan could only earn rent and food by copying books in Chang'an. When the young man was confused, he heard about Yehuling. After a great victory, he had a dinner with some scholars and decided to come to Youzhou to vote for Wu Huaiyu, abandon his writing and join the army, and even start from the shogunate.

It was actually not smooth sailing after arriving in Youzhou.

When Wu Huaiyu saw Gao Kan, he felt that he was too young. Although the 14-year-old boy was quite tall, he was too thin and could not even ride a horse, let alone ride and shoot.

But Gao Kan was not discouraged. He stayed at his door morning and night for a hundred days in a row. He came to the Yamen every day to report, and when he went back at night, he copied books for others to earn living expenses. After a hundred days, he came to the Yamen every day, rain or shine, without interruption. He was not in a daze in front of the Yamen, reading and practicing martial arts as if no one else was around.

Even if Wu Huaiyu ignored him when he came in and out every day, he still persisted.

In the end, Wu Huaiyu was moved.
He was admitted to the shogunate, but he was only given the lowest post of shogunate, Biezou.

Wu Huaiyu was the chief historian of the governor's office of Youzhou, the governor of Youzhou, and the military envoy. He presided over the affairs of the governor's office. He was also the prince's Shaobao, the official duke, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route. His shogunate It is very big and has many staff.

There are many civil and military staff.

These people do not belong to the imperial court officials, but are all Wu Huaiyu's personal staff. Some, like government officials, have official positions and are judged by their merit, while many more do not even have a quota in the official list.

Bie Zuo is a low-level staff member, only a little higher than Meng Cong. It is equivalent to a minor servant doing errands and doing odd jobs. It is far inferior to accompanying the army and not as good as joining the army, let alone staff officer, recorder, bookkeeper, secretary-general, judge, judge, and inspector. , registration, marriage, Jinzou, Sima, Changshi, etc.

However, Gao Kan did not dislike the low position and readily accepted the offer.

For more than half a year, I worked diligently and seriously. I even learned to ride a horse and shoot an arrow, and I also wielded a big gun very well.

There were more than a dozen people in Wu Huaiyu's shogunate. Although Gao Kan came late, his performance was the best.

Today’s lunch meal was good, and there were even extra vegetables.

There was lamb stewed with radish.Gao Kan was a bachelor with no worries and no burdens. As a farewell to the shogunate, he could live in a public dormitory for free and eat in the canteen at Wu Huaiyu's expense.
Even daily clothes, shoes, hats, pens, ink and paper are all provided by Wu Huaiyu. The monthly salary is higher than that of the official migrant workers in Youzhou Yamen, and there are even various ceremonial benefits.

Zhang Wei drank the delicious mutton soup and persuaded Gao Kan, "Why don't you stay with me in Youzhou? One of us is old and the other is young. We are going to fight outside the Great Wall in the cold weather. We are afraid of being delayed."

"There are still many things that need to be done in Youzhou."

Zhang Wei is actually not that old, around forty, but he is short and has a slight lame leg. The most important thing is that he is not very good-looking. Because of this, although Zhang Wei is quite talented, he has never been an outsider. Officials have no chance.

As a judge of words, appearance will not pass the first test.

Zhang Wei also often heard that Duke Yi Guo was able to employ people in an eclectic way, only focusing on talents, and he was very generous to his clients.He and Gao Kan came to Youzhou with different ideas. Gao Kan really wanted to seek fame, and he just wanted to find a job with better pay.

"I'm fifteen, and my ancestors from the Gao family have been generals for generations. Many of my sons put on armor and went into battle with their fathers and brothers to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Now that I have the opportunity, how can I miss it?"

Gao Kan put a piece of stewed mutton into his mouth and ate it. No one could persuade him to stay.

When Zhang Wei saw this, he just smiled. In fact, he liked this boy quite a lot. Although they were both in the same class, they were very different in age. Zhang Wei usually patiently taught Gao Kan some official document style skills, etc.

"Will you come and sit at my house later?"

Gao Kan hesitated but declined.

"Yun Niang always said that I haven't seen you for a long time. She recently sewed a coat for you. It was stuffed with good cashmere. Go and try it."

Gao Kan knew that Zhang Wei actually wanted to accept him as his son-in-law. Zhang Yunniang was one year older than him. He was very gentle and clever. He used to go to Zhang's house often, but after he found out that Yunniang was interested in him, he seldom visited Zhang's house. Go again.

"The expedition is about to begin. There are a lot of things to take care of, so I won't bother you."

Zhang Wei saw what he was thinking and sighed, no longer forcing himself.

"You are not a thing in the pond after all. You will be able to fly high one day. I won't say anything more. I will go on an expedition with Duke Yi. Take care of yourself. Maybe one day, you can win the favor of Duke Yi and marry him as a daughter of the Wu clan. Well, then it will soar into the sky just like Li Yifu."

Gao Kan naturally knew about Li Yifu. During the examination in Chang'an, he even envied Li Yifu. He became a disciple of Wu Huaiyu, and then he was recommended by him. He took Li Baiyao as his uncle, joined the Li family in Zhao County, entered the Li family tree, and suddenly became a son with the fifth surname.

Now he is a close minister of the Prince of the East Palace, but he is only a little older than him.

Li Yifu can be said to be the idol of countless scholars wandering in Chang'an.

Gao Kan smiled and said, "I don't want to think too much about other things. Now I just want to follow Duke Yi and fight the Northern Expedition successfully. I hope I can make contributions."

The backyard of the Governor's Mansion.

Wu Huaiyu has been living in an official mansion in Youzhou and has not built another house. Although the court does have rules, local officials are not allowed to buy land and build houses when they are in office. But now in the early days of the country, a feudal official of Wu Huaiyu's level also It's not that restrictive.

However, Lu 35niang, Gao Twelve, Yang Muyun, and even the two Princesses Xiqi, Xiao Ningzhu and Li Guanyinu, all have residences and villas outside the city of Youzhou.
In fact, the back office of the Governor's Mansion was quite large. After all, Luo Yi separated himself from Youzhou at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Luo Yi later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was granted the title of king. This official residence in the city also became his Prince Yan's Mansion. Later, Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang, became the chief governor, and this one was even more so. Those who enjoy extravagance also spend a lot of time building and decorating.

After Wang Junkuo sold Li Yuan and took over as the governor, he built a lot more.

This made the back office of the Youzhou Governor's Mansion very large, and it was very comfortable and safe for Wu Huaiyu and his concubines to live here.

In the blink of an eye, it has been three months since I returned to Youzhou.

The fourteenth and fifteenth sons are also approaching their [-]th birthday. The four concubines, Xiao Ningzhu, Li Guanyinu, Gao Twelve, and Jianyi, have also given him four more daughters.

"Alang, hurry up and eat. Fifteenth Lang, give me a hug." Yang Muyun watched Huaiyu holding his son and teasing him, and stepped forward with a smile.

Mother Lu came in from outside, "It's snowing, so big snowflakes, like goose feathers,"

Gao Twelve followed, and when he came in, he asked, "When is Alang leaving?"

"tomorrow,"

Wu Huaiyu will go to Huaihuang Town outside the Great Wall tomorrow, but the Northern Expedition has already begun.

In accordance with the emperor's order, General Yuchi Gong led five thousand elite cavalry from Mayi to attack Dingxiang Eyang Ridge on a snowy day, and captured this key point in one fell swoop.

On the same day, Su Lie would march out of the Great Wall and lead five thousand elite cavalry out of Wucheng. They would pass through Huaihuang and Wubao Beiyuan, and ride on fast horses all the way to the Yinshan Baidao. They would intercept them thousands of miles away and cut off Jie's retreat.

The two troops of Yuchi Gong and Su Lie, with a total of [-] elite cavalry, were scheduled to set off this morning. At this moment, Yuchi Gong might even have arrived at Wuyang Ridge south of Dingxiang, and might have captured them all. Su Lie has also left the Great Wall and passed through Yehuling.

(End of this chapter)