It rained for a while at night, and the weather was very cold in the morning. The yellow soil of Shiliang River was frozen solid and turned white. It was as cold and silent as the languid Shiliang River. A few black crows were perched on the sparse and desolate branches.
, croaking, and occasionally one or two yellow leaves floated by.
The jingle of horse bells came, and passers-by turned around and saw the bow of an official ship sailing into the Shiliang River. On the bow were two gold-painted aconite plaques, each with gold characters: "Jiangdong Deputy Inspector", "Left
"Duqian Yushi Gu", each sign has three characters in a row, and literate people asked puzzledly: "What kind of official is Zuo Duqian, and what kind of official is Yushi Gu?"
The weeping willow leaves and weeping branches on the river embankment are sparse, and the official boats drag out long white water marks. On the yellow dirt road on the left embankment, a group of cavalry meanders over, and the crisp and jingling sound of horse bells comes from among them.
Come. Among the cavalrymen carrying swords and armor, there is a young Confucian scholar with a long blue shirt tied around his waist. He is holding the bridle and chatting and laughing with the officer next to him who is wearing fish scale armor, soap uniform and iron pocket.
The green-shirted young man riding the horse was Lin Fu. The officer next to him was Yunqi Deputy Lieutenant Liu Xilin, who was sent by the Dongyang Prefecture's Military and Horse Division to escort the Deputy Inspector Gu Wuchen to Jiangning for his appointment. Gu Wuchen's family, young and old, servants, and servants all came by boat.
OK, Zhou Pu, Zhao Hu, and Chen Enze all rode behind the cavalry team.
They just left Shiliang County yesterday. Although it is only two hundred miles away from Jiangning by water, the Shiliang River flows smoothly in winter and the wind is light, so the boat travels very slowly. The cavalry can only hold the official boat at a snail's speed and move slowly on the river embankment.
As we walked, I was thinking about where I could find a good place to stay ahead of me.
It seemed that Gu Wuchen was not anxious to go to Jiangning to take up his post. Lin Fu did not see Gu Wuchen and the others mention the assassination in Shiliang County again, as if it was of no importance to him. Lin Fu was not talkative either, knowing that he was just a judge.
, his status was really too low in front of the fourth-rank deputy inspector, and even if Gu Wuchen had other plans for the matter, he would not discuss it with him.
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On a cold day, the cavalry was marching with their backs to the wind, and their ears were still aching from the cold wind blowing from behind. In the afternoon, the frozen soil thawed, and the yellow dirt road on the river embankment that few people had walked on looked smooth and smooth.
The water was wet, as if it had been smeared with oil. When the horse's hoof stepped on it, it made a deep mud pit, and when it was pulled out, it made a "pop" sound. The horse's hoof still slipped from time to time. Lin Fu rode on the horse and had to be careful at all times.
Throw it off.
Liu Xilin looked at Lin Fu's hard work on horseback and said: "Lin Juren, why are you going through such hardship with us? We who are soldiers, these cold weather, and such bad roads are unbearable. It would be better for you to take the initiative.
Come to the shore to find something to eat. The horse's hooves keep slipping along the way. What a good thing if you are thrown into the river!"
"General Liu, don't curse me. If I really want to fall into the water, I have to go down to the river to fish it out," Lin Fu said with a smile.
Sir, Mr. Gu and the others are reciting poems and counter-arguments. I am also annoyed by this. I might as well ride with General Liu and brag carelessly..."
"Lin Juren, you are joking. There are only thirteen or four people in Dongyang Mansion who can pass the exam in three years. Even if you are not as talented and knowledgeable as Mr. Gu, you are still better than Mr. Gu..." Liu Xilin listened.
Lin Fu, with General Liu on his left and General Liu on his right, cheered him up. He was only a deputy lieutenant of Yunqi from the seventh rank. This dynasty valued literature and suppressed martial arts. He even had a higher position than a military attaché from the seventh rank. This also formed the tradition of Confucian scholars.
He despises the generals' ethos. Lin Fu is clumsy in riding skills, but he is not afraid of hardship. He talks casually to soldiers like them and does not know how to speak politely. He also likes to listen to them bragging about the messy things in the military camp. Liu Xilin and two of his men
The primary school students felt that Lin Fu was very interested in them, so they jokingly said to him, "I think Lin Juren wants to learn how to ride a horse, so that he can deceive those girls and wives in Jiangning City..." Everyone nearby laughed after hearing this.
"...Girls and daughters-in-law also want to cheat," Lin Fu also laughed and said, "In these days of war and chaos, it is better to learn two things to protect yourself than not to learn at all... Besides, 'the six arts of a gentleman, etiquette, music, shooting, and imperialism,
Books, mathematics, archery, and horseback riding are also among the six arts. I went to Jiangning and am unfamiliar with the place. If others can ride horses and archery, but I can't, won't I be looked down upon?"
"With Master Gu here, who can look down on you, Lin Juren..." Liu Xilin said, with a hint of envy in his tone.
Lin Fu smiled and said, looking elsewhere, the Deputy Inspector General of Zuo Qiandu Censor can be said to be a highly powerful person. The situation in Jiangdong County is a bit special. Regardless of whether he has real power or not, in Jiangning Mansion, the southern capital of the empire, Pin Yi is more powerful than Gu Wuchen.
There are many high-ranking officials everywhere. Besides, Lin Fu doesn't care what others think or look down on. He wants to completely integrate into the world. There are still many things to learn and try. They say that traveling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books is a journey in this era.
There are all kinds of methods, but they are not as convenient and fast as riding a horse. It is comfortable to ride a boat, but the speed is always too slow. In later generations, I have become accustomed to the high-paced life, and I always feel that it takes half a day to walk thirty or forty miles even if I take a carriage.
It's unbearable. How can you do it if you don't know how to ride a horse? Besides, if one day the secret of helping the Liuma bandits to establish a foothold on Changshan Island comes to light, they will have to pack up and leave. Riding horses as erratic as flying will also make it easier to escape far away.
Speaking of riding a horse, it is easy. Although the dirt road is bad, Lin Fu can chat and laugh like wind with Liu Xilin and other generals of Dongyang Prefecture while riding on horseback. However, when the horse's hooves are flying, people must also walk on the horse.
On flat ground, it is a bit difficult. When facing the enemy, you have to rely on your horse's momentum to slash and sprint to destroy its strongholds, which is even more difficult. Besides, Yang Pu, Yang Shi and his son, and Gu Siyuan, the son of the Gu family, all regard Lin Fu as a blackmailer and are domineering and snobbish.
He was very indifferent to him, and Lin Fu felt uncomfortable staying on the boat. He might as well go ashore to familiarize himself with the nature of the horse.
Wu Qi and others temporarily stayed in Shiliang County to help the Seventh Madam, Zhou Pu, Zhao Hu, and Chen Enze were all Lin Fu's servants and retinues in name, so naturally they couldn't be lazy and stay on the ship.
At noon, there were no pointed cottages or shops ahead. A woman in a blue calico jacket emerged from the cabin and shouted across the river to the shore: "Liu Lieutenant, Lord Gu said to stop the boat."
Let's rest for an hour and invite Lin Juren and General Liu to come on board for dinner..." This woman is the female shopkeeper of the tea shop in Shiliang County, Xiao's wife, and her voice is very nice. Lin Fu saw the beauty on Lindu.
The young widow Mrs. Xiao was shocked when she wanted to go to Jiangning with the Gu family. Later I found out that Mrs. Xiao was recommended by the county magistrate Liang Zuoren to the Gu family and went to Jiangning to work as a cook. She earned three taels of silver a month, just like Liang Zuoren, the magistrate of the county.
The official salary is no more than this amount.
Throughout the ages, subordinates have always had the same desire to please their superiors. Lin Fu thought to himself that a few days ago, Liang Zuoren invited Gu Wuchen to have dinner at the Xiaojia Teahouse. This was probably his intention.
Liu Xilin reined in his horse, and the cavalry behind him stopped together without him calling him. He didn't know how long Lord Gu would stop the boat to rest, so Liu Xilin asked his men to lead their horses away from the muddy yellow dirt road to Caopizi.
Rest your feet.
Lin Fu looked ahead. He and Zhou Pu returned to Lindu and walked through this section of the waterway. He thought that if he didn't hit the tip, he should be able to see Jiangning City before dusk. Even if he hit the tip, he wouldn't have to rest for an hour. He didn't know that Gu Wuchen was shooting.
What's the idea? Lin Fu dismounted his horse and tied it to the willow tree on the shore. Liu Xilin felt a little resentful and said to Lin Fu: "It takes three or four days to stop and go on the two hundred miles of water... It's better to rest here.
I’ll be hungry for a while, and then I’ll stop and have hot soup and rice when I see a shop ahead.”
The cavalry and sword archers under the prefectural and county army and horse departments are all part of the local army. Their status and treatment are far inferior to those of the town army, which is regarded as a regular army by the court. In addition to catching thieves and bandits, they are mostly sent by officials to do tasks.
Naturally, their combat power became increasingly weaker due to hard labor, and they became what is commonly known as a handyman army, which could only be responsible for the security of prefectures and counties. The rising rural soldiers just filled the vacancy of catching thieves and bandits in the countryside. It should be said that Liu Xilin led them here
The cavalry team that escorted Gu Wuchen to Jiangning for his post were quite elite. After Gu Wuchen was assassinated in Shiliang County, the prefect of Dongyang Prefecture did not dare to make fun of Gu Wuchen's safety. However, in the eyes of Gu Wuchen and his family, this team of cavalry was no different from ordinary people.
There is no difference between the handymen. They are only polite to the leader Liu Xilin in words. Even Liu Xilin's two junior colonels are not qualified to board the ship to dine with the retinue at this time.
"When we encounter a shop ahead, I asked Lord Gu to stop for a while so that all the brothers can have hot soup, rice and some meat and vegetables," Lin Fu said, "I'll get on the boat first and see if some hot soup can be cooked on board.
Send it ashore."
"Thank you Lin Juren, I'll go there later." Liu Xilin said, feeling that Lin Fu was much easier to get along with than other Jurenzi who had their eyes set above their own.
After a while, the boatmen supported the official boat to the shore. Lin Fu and Zhao Hu helped tie the cable to the willows on the shore. The boatman at the bow of the boat hurriedly said that he didn't dare to take it. Lin Fu smiled and said: "What is there that you don't dare to take?" He said with a smile.
Jumping on the boat, he first went around to the stern of the boat to find the Xiao family's wife to help cook a bucket of vegetable soup for the cavalry on the shore. A young man happened to come out of the cabin. He asked Lin Fu: "Why are you delaying on the shore? Wait.
Are you eating?" There was a hint of reproach in his tone.
Lin Fu ignored him, thinking that it wasn't like he didn't see that the boat had not stopped yet.
This young man was Gu Siming, Gu Yingxiu's distant cousin, and Gu Wuchen's closest nephew to the Gu family. Gu Siming had been studying for several years, but failed to get any honors, so Gu Wuchen decided to take him with him to see if he could be cultivated.
.In addition to Gu Siming, the Gu family also has a distant younger brother, Gu Tianqiao, who also went to Jiangning for training. The Gu family has been in decline for ten years. There are no outstanding figures among the elders, and the younger generations have also been neglected. It is easy to revitalize the Gu family.
matter.
Lin Fu saw the Xiao family's wife sticking her head out of the cabin and asked her: "Xiao family's wife, have you cooked some hot vegetable soup? It's such a cold day for all the soldiers to eat cold dry biscuits on the shore."
"You don't need Lin Juren to give you any more orders. It has been burned for a long time. I will bring it over for you!" Mrs. Xiao's wife agreed quickly and turned around and entered the cabin.
"I'll go help you." Gu Siming followed eagerly.
Lin Fu smiled inwardly. This guy really thought that Liang Zuoren recommended the Xiao family's wife to the Gu family as a cook. He really didn't even look at her. It was because the Gu family was keeping a close eye on her that Gu Wuchen didn't dare to mention the matter of taking a concubine.
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ps: I have a traffic regulations test tomorrow morning, and I may be missing a chapter tomorrow!