After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 657 Reaction
Everyone in the Hai family was happy that Hai Chang'an received the transfer order.

Although Tu Rong's personal soldiers did not have any rank, being able to serve as personal soldiers beside a second-rank commander was tantamount to being his confidants. Once they were given important positions, their future would be limitless.

Tu Rong's rules were not known to the people in Chang'an, but many of the personal soldiers of the Duke of Zhenguo were promoted to the border, and the highest official rank was the third rank. The Tang family and other families with generations of military families also had the old practice of using personal soldiers as deputy generals to assist when there were not enough offspring. Even if Hai Chang'an had been a teacher at the Guard Academy in Chang'an for ten years, others would not think he had a good future. But once he was transferred to Tu Rong's subordinates, everyone thought he would be very successful.

Although most of the people in Weixue were happy for Hai Changan, some of them said some sour things in private, saying that he was lucky to have taught the eldest son of Tu Tongzhi's family how to ride and shoot, and won the favor of the eldest son, so he received this transfer order. The other teachers who were also invited by the Tu family to teach Tu Jinbao did not receive this treatment, which must be because they were all strict with their students and were not as good at flattering as Hai Changan.

Hai Changan turned a deaf ear to all these gossips. He had lived in a hostile environment for more than a decade since he was a child, and the gossips around him never stopped. If he was easily influenced, how could he have lived peacefully until today? He would have been depressed and bedridden like his father.

He never took the gossip to heart, as long as his family was happy for him.

He also privately discussed with his father Hai Xiya, his cousin Xie Wenzai, and his nephew Hai Jiao why he was summoned by Tu Rong. In addition to Ma Shangyi's request, his performance when teaching Tu Jinbao may also be an important reason why Tu Rong only issued the order to him.

Although he didn't seem to pay much attention to Tu Jinbao's lessons and asked his nephew Hai Jiao to teach him more than once, Tu Jinbao's archery performance was the most improved among all his subjects. Even though he lacked strength, his long-range shooting performance was not good, and his riding skills still had a long way to go, his accuracy in foot shooting was very good, and his related theoretical knowledge was also solid. In Tu Rong's eyes, it was all due to the hard work of teacher Hai Chang'an.

Moreover, Hai Chang'an has many years of experience living in the border town, is familiar with the many guards he has to pass through when patrolling the border, and is good at archery and has good skills. He became a member of Tu Rong's personal guards, which not only supplemented the shortage of his personal guards, but also allowed him to quickly adapt to the hard work of traveling, and maybe even lend a hand to this group of colleagues from the capital. If Tu Rong really brought his son Tu Jinbao with him, Hai Chang'an could continue to teach Tu Jinbao and take care of this naughty child to prevent him from causing trouble on the road.

The Hai family and Xie Wenzai worked together to analyze the situation. The more they analyzed, the more they felt that Hai Changan's transfer order was normal, so he just had to go to work with peace of mind. They had all had many contacts with Tu Rong and thought that he was not a difficult person to get along with. With such a boss, Hai Changan's future should be more secure than before.

Hai Jiao smiled and said to him, "Second Uncle, when you go to patrol the border, you may encounter some Hu spies, horse bandits and sand bandits. You may have a chance to make merit! If you have merit, it will be easier for you to get a promotion when you return to Chang'an. I think Ma Shangyi specially arranged for you to follow Tu Tongzhi, maybe it was for this purpose!"

Hai Changan was a little unconvinced: "Where are there so many opportunities to make merit? Even if there are, it may not be my turn to stand out. Naturally, the real confidants around Master Tu will show up first. I just need to obey Master Tu's orders and survive the border patrol safely. When we came back from Suzhou last year, we suffered a lot on the road. This time we go to the border again, if we have to march quickly, the road will be even more difficult. When I think of that feeling, I have no intention of making merit."

Haijiao laughed dryly, thinking about his several long journeys in his two lifetimes, and agreed deeply with it.

Although the Hai family was happy about Hai Changan's transfer, they still kept a low profile and did not brag about it outside. They were happy behind closed doors and were also worried about packing his bags. They thought this was a good opportunity for Hai Changan, but some people did not think so. Tu Jinbao's classes before the New Year were to last until the eve of the Chinese New Year. He finally found some time and ran to the Hai family to find Hai Jiao, hoping to ask him to apologize to "Instructor Hai" on his behalf. Tu Jinbao felt that if his father had not wanted to find a riding and archery teacher for him, he would never have suddenly summoned Hai Changan to be a personal soldier, causing the latter to suffer the hardship of the long journey. He usually interacted with Hai Changan and felt that the latter was a person who liked to live a simple life with his wife and children and did not like to go out. Now that he had caused the family to be separated from their family and go on a long journey, he felt very sorry.

Hai Jiao repeatedly said that his second uncle and the whole family were very happy, thinking that this was Tu Tongzhi's intention to promote Hai Changan. Tu Jinbao felt that he was just trying to flatter him, not sincerely. Hai Jiao had no choice but to change the subject: "You will go on a trip with Tu Tongzhi next spring. How are your preparations? Archery skills are fine. With so many people going together, even if there is danger, you don't need to shoot arrows to defend against the enemy, but you have to practice your riding skills, otherwise you will suffer along the way. In addition, you must remember the knowledge of astronomy, geography, specialties, etc. of the places you will pass along the way, so that when Tu Tongzhi asks you, you can't answer, causing Tu Tongzhi to lose face in front of others, and you will definitely suffer!"

Tu Jinbao said hurriedly, "I've been busy with this recently! Instructor Hai has become my father's personal soldier, and the other instructors seem to think this is a good job. They are much more enthusiastic in teaching me than before, just like crazy, wishing that I could listen to his class today and become the top scholar tomorrow, so that I can get my father's praise and promotion. You don't know what kind of life I have been going through these days! If it wasn't for the New Year, I would have wanted to pretend to be sick."

Apart from other things, he was very skilled in pretending to be sick. When he was in his hometown in the countryside, he always used this trick to deceive his grandmother, and no one ever suspected him.

Hai Jiao didn't quite believe what he said, but he didn't openly question it. He just said, "Anyway, you have to pay attention. Even if it's the New Year, you can't put down your homework. By then, there will definitely be more than just you, Zhou Sujun, Tang Meng and others traveling with you. You know their abilities. If they beat you, where will Tu Tongzhi put his face? If he is unhappy, won't you be the one who suffers?"

Tu Jinbao imagined the situation and took a deep breath. "Indeed... I can't be the last one... But this is too unfair! They have studied for so many years, but I just started. How can I be their opponent?!"

It would be fine if there were some dude among the group, but the other generals who were accompanying him all attached great importance to this border patrol, and those whose children were not outstanding would not be selected by them. They were all talented and promising. Unlike Tu Jinbao, his brothers all studied literature and were far away in the capital. Tu Rong had no other choice but him if he wanted to take his son with him.

Tu Jinbao gritted his teeth and said, "Forget it! After the eighth day of the first lunar month, I will pick up my homework in advance and study hard. I originally wanted to wait until after the Lantern Festival..."

Hai Jiao raised his eyebrows: "After the Little New Year, the government will stop writing. When Tu Tongzhi is at home every day, he will see that you are not studying or practicing martial arts, but playing. I am afraid he will not say anything good. Since you are determined to study hard, then you should review more in advance."

"It's okay for now. My father is too busy to take care of me." Tu Jinbao grinned. "He received an urgent report this morning saying that the third prince of the Hu people had died and the Hu people were going to cause chaos. He was busy discussing business with the Duke of Zhenguo, so how could he take care of me?"

(End of this chapter)