A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 815: Keep a low profile and bide your time

The sun is rising.

On the banks of the Qinghe River, a group of uniformly dressed teenagers were returning from a morning run. They were wearing blue-gray shorts and shorts, shouting neat slogans, and were covered in sweat from running.

Under the windmill, Wu Huaiyu looked at the group of teenagers returning from their morning jog, feeling the vitality and nodding with satisfaction.

"Running eight miles every morning is unbeatable. It has now become a good tradition for us. The children run in the morning all year round and get excellent physical exercise."

Wu Huaiyu nodded, "You have to persevere. There will be breakfast when you come back from your morning run. Let's go and have a look at the cafeteria."

Longqiao Academy is now a very large school, with an affiliated social studies department, which is a primary school, as well as the academy headquarters, affiliated technical schools, various training classes, etc., and even affiliated orphanages and nurseries.

The entire school's funding mainly comes from the Wu family's funding, and it also accepts some donations from the society. The academy has a charity field donated by the Wu family, and there are also school-run workshops funded by the Wu family.

By now, the school has basically been able to maintain operations and no longer needs funding.

"Our academy implements a closed military management system with full boarding, uniform clothing, uniform food and lodging, and one day off every ten days..."

The students who came back from their morning run did exercises on the spacious playground and had breakfast in the cafeteria after sweating.

Huaiyu, accompanied by a group of stewards from the academy, visited the academy cafeteria with Ma Zhou and Lao Wu. The cafeteria is self-operated by the school. The staff inside are basically students, senior students, working-study students, and their work is subsidized.

There are also student volunteer teams on duty in shifts to help maintain order.

Breakfast includes porridge, noodles, steamed buns, pickles, and seaweed and egg drop soup.

"Students use their student cards to eat and drink. If they don't have enough, they can add more, but they can't take it out."

The breakfast in the cafeteria is average, and the students' breakfast is the same. It doesn't require money. If you have money, there is no place to open a separate kitchen.

There is a separate canteen for teachers and school staff, which is separate from the students.

Generally speaking, morning and evening are okay, at least you can eat enough. It’s not just porridge mixed with water. Noodles and steamed buns are quite nutritious, and pickles and egg soup are also good.

"We have three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and some meat at noon. Every five days, there will be a rich meat meal, such as braised pork, or braised fish fillets, etc. Everyone has a bowl."

Huaiyu listened to the canteen's introduction, which sounded good, and then looked at the canteen purchase list, the purchase of salt and oil, etc.

"The school has its own vegetable garden and breeding farm, raising pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc., and it also buys and orders from outside. There are many students in our school, ranging from abandoned babies just after birth to ten. There are many young people of different ages, as well as training classes, etc. There are many students, but they are all treated equally. First of all, we ensure that they can eat enough, and then we must be as nutritious as possible..."

After understanding, Huaiyu expressed satisfaction with the canteen. It was good to be able to do this, and he was quite conscientious. After all, he was not outsourcing, and he was not so profit-driven.

Although the cafeteria is mainly used by students who are working and studying, and cook by themselves, the food is not that delicious, and there are not even many seasonings. Usually they mainly cook steamed dishes, and occasionally there are some. Add meat dishes such as stewed meat, braised pork, or stir-fry.

In addition to salt, seasonings rarely include soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar.

But it’s already pretty good. It’s actually not easy to be able to study here, whether it’s the academy itself, various technical schools, training classes, etc.

The bell rang, and students lined up to eat.

The canteen is actually quite simple. It is just a big shed. You queue up to get a meal, and then go to the shed where each class is to eat. There is only a simple long wooden table without stools. Everyone brings his own bowl to prepare his meal and washes it after eating. It's easy to put away, and students take turns cleaning the canteen.

Everything is self-service.

But there are rules. After the morning run, the students have a good appetite and eat big mouthfuls, and eat very quickly.

Because after breakfast and dinner, I still have to read in the morning, which is still early. After the morning reading class, it is the main class in the morning.

There are many orphans in the school, and even many small abandoned babies. They are supported by the Wu family with extra money. Except for a small number of particularly smart and talented ones who will enter the main academy, most of the rest will enter the technical school to learn various skills. , and then will go to various workshops.

"After I return to Lingnan this time, I will also open some academies in Lingnan. Just like this model, there will be affiliated technical schools, various short-term training courses, and even night schools, and there will also be affiliated nurseries and orphanages.

We need to send a group of people from the academy to come over and tell everyone that teachers, school janitors, and senior students who are willing to go, I will give them a settlement allowance. Once they get there, they will be the veterans of the new school. "

Wu Huaiyu spent a lot of money on this model of Wu's Longqiao Academy. In recent years, he has copied it in Guanzhong, Longyou, Henan, Shuofang, Youyanshan and other places.

Now he wants to promote it on a large scale in Lingnan.

He attaches great importance to the nominal and practical benefits that the academy can bring. It can not only gain a reputation for charity, but also cultivate talents for himself.

Even now it is relatively expensive to adopt abandoned babies and raise orphans. In fact, it is very cost-effective in the long run. When these abandoned babies and orphans are raised, they can become Wu Huaiyu's loyal friends.

Whether he works in a workshop or shop, or works in a manor or government office, he has been raised and trained by himself, and his loyalty is even greater than that of ordinary domestic slaves.

Lingnan is the focus of Wu Huaiyu’s next stage of cost-effectiveness.

It is also the future base camp that the Wu family will work hard to build. It is the private territory of the Wu family. Not many noble families have entered it yet. It is a good time for the Wu family to seize the opportunity.

In Shandong, you can't compete with the seven families with five surnames. In Guanlong, you can't compete with the six surnames in Guanxi.

Even in Jiangnan, we can't compete with those Jiangnan nobles. Lingnan happens to be a new territory that has not yet been developed.

The potential is huge.

Now Lingnan can be divided into three roads: Lingnan East, Lingnan West, and Annan in the future. The territory is extremely vast. Lingnan alone now has 30,000 garrison troops in the six towns of the imperial court, 18,000 garrison troops in the six patrol battalions, and 12 prefectures. The government has 24,000 soldiers.

This is a total of sixty-eight thousand, and the government soldiers are elite.

Then the state soldiers, almost 100,000.

There are even more county groups below, able to mobilize nearly 300,000 people.    This plate is too big and has unlimited potential.

Although it is not said that one day he will raise the flag to rebel, if Wu Huaiyu can integrate resources and effectively hold such a large resource,

There are ninety-six prefectures in the six Lingnan governor's offices, dozens of Jisi prefectures, sixty-eight thousand garrison soldiers, one hundred thousand prefecture soldiers, and thirty prefecture, county and township soldiers.

If it can really be pulled out, it will definitely be an amazing power. Even if you just hold it and pull it out, it will be enough for everyone to consider.

Of course, the popularity of Lingnan has just begun, and there are unlimited business opportunities there. The Maritime Silk Road and the opening of the Sichuan route will even reopen the Shendu Road, and the entire southwest will be revitalized.

What a huge business opportunity, what a huge benefit, a real cornucopia.

Territory, soldiers and horses, population, money and food,

If we have all these things, that’s really amazing.

Even if they only master part of it, the Wu family can become the uncrowned king of Lingnan in the future. Now Feng An only occupies a corner of eastern Lingnan and is called the King of Lingnan.

Only with hard power can you be invincible.

He will not be easily liquidated in the court.

Of course, it is not easy to achieve that step. Lingnan needs to invest a lot of money, but Wu Huaiyu is willing to spend the money.

Not only was he willing to transfer people from the mainland, he was also willing to open a school there for training.

If there are not enough immigrants, then recruit and settle the natives, and even take in and raise the abandoned babies and orphans of the natives. They will learn the mainland Mandarin, read, and accept the lessons of the Wu family from an early age. When they grow up, they will naturally become mainlanders and members of the Wu family. .

No one knew that Wu Huaiyu had such great ambitions at this time.

He is even planning to build several large shipyards along the coast of Lingnan, build many sea-going ships, sell spices to the South China Sea, and even capture indigenous slaves from Southeast Asia, and engage in ocean-going trade directly to the Mediterranean.

I don't even mind landing on the Nanyang Islands and setting up a few colonial strongholds when I have the opportunity, so as to leave some retreat for the Wu family in the future.

In other words, he had already set his sights on the two major islands of Liuqiu and Luzon.

There is no rush, he has plenty of time, and the plan has basically been laid out when he returns to Chang'an. In the future, Warrior Xun can still speak for the Wu family in Chang'an for ten years, and Wu Huaiyu can develop in Lingnan for ten years with peace of mind.

Keeping a low profile and growing insignificant,

The sky is high and the emperor is far away, and there are many opportunities.

Let them play in Chang'an City. If he stays away, he will be less troubled. He doesn't want to be roasted on the fire all the time.

This is the typical young master who lives outside and dies inside.

Li Ji is a role model.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, he could be regarded as a powerful figure in the semi-separated regime, but he was able to stay in Bingzhou honestly for sixteen years during the Zhenguan period. He once had the reputation and territory of the people, but he was so tolerant. This was also the reason why he was able to survive the Zhenguan period.

In the end, it even became the reason why Li Shimin entrusted Li Zhi to assist the minister.

After spending so many years in the Zhenguan Dynasty, Li Ji had his highlight moment in the Gaozong Dynasty.

Wu Huaiyu was still young, and he planned to learn from Li Ji. Li Ji was able to stay in Bingzhou from the ninth year of Wude to the fifteenth year of Zhenguan before entering the court.

It is only the sixth year of Zhenguan, so he can stay until the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, or even longer.

Ten years later, he was only in his thirties. At that time, Li Shimin was actually only in his forties.

If he had stayed in Lingnan for sixteen years, it would have been twenty years since Zhenguan, and Li Shimin would have almost died.

Learn from Sima Yi, live long and have the last laugh.

After visiting the school, Ma Zhou returned to Chang'an ahead of schedule. He was the minister of Zhongshu, and he was responsible for everything. The emperor also appointed him to stay in Chang'an and assist the prince in supervising the country. He also served as the prince's right concubine, so he was very busy.

Wu Huaiyu can stay for two more days.

There will be fewer and fewer opportunities to come back in the future.

At night, Huaiyu and Lao Wu slept together.

He once again persuaded Lao Wu not to take concubines anymore and not to think about having more children. He had given birth to too many children. There were so many younger brothers and sisters in Longqiao Wu Castle.

In recent years, Wu Huaiyu has been unable to give birth to more children than Lao Wu. He has given birth to more than a dozen sons. Lao Wu has given birth to twenty-seven, and more than forty daughters.

"Aye, aren't you tired?" Huaiyu asked.

Lao Wu lay on the couch and laughed, "Being with those young concubines, you, Aye, I feel young again,"

"Isn't Aye already beyond his capabilities now?"

In the darkness, Lao Wu was silent for a long time, and then he sighed, "Yes, it's useless."

"Then don't bother. You're already sixty-six years old. Just enjoy a few years of peace and happiness. Don't end up dying on my concubine's belly. You won't be able to enjoy the good life for only a few days. It's not worth it."

(End of this chapter)