Luo Huaiqing perked up and asked quickly: "What special ability do I have?"
"Have you forgotten, General? The Miao Yi rebellion in Guizhou, the Baiyue people invading Meiguan Road, the thirteen tribes rebellion in Xiling, these three Lingnan Yi rebellions were all put down by the general with his army. The King of Jin wanted to stabilize Lingnan.
Dealing with the barbarians is definitely indispensable. This is originally the specialty of the Yuchi family, but the general is not bad either. As long as His Highness the King of Jin feels that the general can suppress the barbarians in Lingnan, the King of Jin will definitely treat the general specially."
Luo Huaiqing suddenly felt a sense of awakening. What he said was so right. Why didn't he think of this?
Wang Kai smiled again and said: "As long as the general writes a Pingyi Policy in time and presents it to His Highness the King of Jin, His Highness the King of Jin will know the general's special abilities."
Luo Huaiqing gave a thumbs up and praised: "If I gain power, I will definitely use you again in the future!"
Wang Kai smiled and said nothing, waiting for Luo Huaiqing to reuse him, wouldn't it mean that he would have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
In fact, Wang Kai knew very well that given Luo Huaiqing's ambition to support his own army, no matter how capable he was, the King of Jin would not let him return to Lingnan and continue to reuse him. This would definitely be a hidden danger.
Wang Kai did not tell Luo Huaiqing that the Jin army actually had another rule. Generals who were demoted had to go to the martial arts hall for training for one year before being appointed. If Luo Huaiqing knew this, I am afraid he would not hand over the army easily.
Luo Huaiqing immediately wrote a reply, saying that he was looking forward to the imperial army every day, just like a baby looking forward to its parents. He was just worried that the barbarians from Luofu Mountain would stand up for the Yuchi family, so he held back his troops to prevent the barbarian army from launching an attack.
Since General Kang has invited him, he is willing to lead his army to surrender to the imperial court.
Two days later, Kang Baoqin led an army of 20,000 to Zengcheng, and Luo Huaiqing led his troops out of the city to surrender. With Luo Huaiqing's surrender, the three forces in Lingnan were all pacified.
Kang Bao immediately sent 10,000 troops to follow the Liu family's fleet to the north. Thirty thousand troops were needed to pacify Lingnan, but there was no need to station in Lingnan permanently. 20,000 troops were enough. As for the surrendered troops, they could be trained as navy troops, so 10,000 troops were needed.
Need to return to the Central Plains.
Accompanying the fleet to the north were Luo Huaiqing and a group of demoted generals. According to the rules of the Jin army, all demoted generals must go to the martial arts hall for training for one year and then be reassigned their official positions. As for whether they can come back again, I don't know.
, of course, after they stabilize, their family members will be sent to reunite with them.
Only then did Luo Huaiqing realize that he had been tricked by Wang Kai. Wang Kai never mentioned that he was going to Chang'an for training. Why didn't Zeng Jinghai go north with the ship, but he had to go north with the ship without any special treatment?
He was extremely angry, but he had no choice but to get on the boat and leave Guangzhou for the north.
.........
At noon that day, two newspapers in Chang'an, "Tianxia Xinbao" and "Chang'an Express", simultaneously published a message that the imperial army had regained Lingnan, and His Highness the King of Jin appointed Kang Bao as Lingnan's economic envoy and Li Yang as the governor of Guangzhou.
A few years earlier, this news would have made the people of Chang'an beat gongs and drums to celebrate, but as the Jin army unified Hebei, recovered Bashu, captured Xiangyang, and stationed in Jiangnan, the people of Chang'an were a little numb to this kind of news, and they could pass it by just a glance.
, and didn’t take it to heart.
But in the eyes of caring people, the return of Lingnan means huge business opportunities.
Zhang Lei rushed into Li An's house like a gust of wind and ran all the way to the back house. The housekeeper chased after him in vain.
Zhang Lei didn't just break into other people's rooms. He stood in the yard with his hands clasped and shouted loudly: "Lao Li, Lao Anzi, where are you?"
"What are you yelling about?"
Li An came out from behind a bush with a fishing rod and said angrily: "Are there any opportunities to make money come to me again? Didn't I tell you? I'm retired now, you can find someone else.
Toss it around."
"You are only in your sixties, how can you support yourself? Come sit down and listen to me."
Zhang Lei dragged Li An to a set of stone tables and benches, and two maids quickly covered the stone benches with soft cushions.
Li An couldn't break free from his hand, so he had no choice but to sit down and said, "Put your hands down and talk carefully!"
Zhang Lei quickly let go of Li An's wrist, spread the newspaper on the table, pointed to the message at the top and said: "The imperial court has regained Lingnan, have you seen this message?"
"I knew it yesterday, is there anything strange about it?"
"What's weird?"
Zhang Lei said angrily: "Hurry up and sign the Liu family's boat purchase contract. If it's any later, we won't have any share,"
A few days ago, Liu Shangdong bought a garden house by the Qujiang Pool, which happened to be next door to Li An's mansion. When Liu Shangdong came to visit Li An, Zhang Lei happened to be there. Liu Shangdong chatted that his family had a number of seagoing ships that he wanted to sell, so Li An and Zhang
Lei Du was moved. There were a total of twenty 5,000-stone large ships, 70% new, and the price was negotiated. They were sold at 8,000 guan each, which was less than half the price of a new ship.
Although the price has been agreed upon, the transfer contract has not yet been signed because the physical object has not yet been seen.
At this time, the maid brought two cups of hot tea. Li An picked up the cup and said calmly: "You have been in business for twenty years, and you are still so restless?"
Zhang Lei pointed at the stone table with his finger and said: "It's not a matter of being impatient, but an opportunity that cannot be missed. What does it mean when the imperial court takes over Lingnan? Overseas trade will definitely flourish again. I know my junior brother too well. I can make a lot of money."
He never misses an opportunity, especially trade, which is his favorite thing to promote. We have to start early so that the early bird can catch the worm."
Li An was also moved. He pondered for a while and said: "It's just recruiting crew members. It takes time to choose a good steward. It can't be decided so quickly."
"So I asked you to sign the contract early and start preparations early. If you don't work for a few months, you won't be able to go to sea."
"It's not that exaggerated. There is no need to recruit additional crew members. They are already on board. If we add some wages, they will stay. The key is to recruit a few experienced and reliable stewards."
Zhang Lei was silent for a moment and said: "Otherwise, I will go to sea personally on the first trip."
"you?"
Li An looked at him and smiled: "Will your wife agree?"
"Tch! What does it have to do with her? Does she have any room to interfere in what I decide?"
Li An said angrily: "Have you forgotten who is sitting across from you? I don't know about your family's affairs. Let's make a bet. You go back and tell your wife now. If your wife doesn't care, I will lose to you.
A hundred dollars, if you come back crying, how about you lose a hundred dollars to me?"
"Don't! Don't! Don't!"
Zhang Lei waved his hand quickly and said with a smile: "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously! Of course I must respect my wife's opinion, and I will try my best to convince her."
Seeing that it was still early, Li An stood up and said, "Since you are in such a hurry, let's go to the Liu Mansion now! Sign the contract today."
Zhang Lei's eyes widened. This old man pretended to be so leisurely, but in fact he was more anxious than himself!
...........
The next day, before dawn, the Guo and Song family gathered together for breakfast as usual. Today, his son Guo Jincheng was also there. This was the second time he came home since he went to the newspaper office to write. In just half a year, Guo Jincheng grew up.
He has grown taller, thinner and taller, and his skin is very dark, making him look very mature.
However, his personality is much better than before and he is no longer so taciturn. When he came home for the first time, everyone threw him a lot of questions, but he answered them one by one without any rush and was very patient. This made Guo
Song was quite pleased that as long as he was patient, he would not do anything rashly or make big mistakes easily.
"Cheng'er, is Xue Qing still with you now?" Mother Xue Tao asked with a smile.
Xue Qing is Xue Tao's younger brother and Guo Jincheng's uncle. They both studied under Li Mi and have a very close relationship. He also studied in Taixue. He was very interested in tea art. He became a disciple of monk Jiao Ran and specialized in tea ceremony.
, not long after Guo Jincheng entered the newspaper office, he was also introduced.
Guo Jincheng scratched his head and said: "He is now in charge of the tea ceremony column and is no longer with me."
Guo Song was startled and asked: "Isn't Master Jiaoran in charge of the tea ceremony column?"
"Master Jiaoran is still in charge, but Master Jiaoran no longer writes the article. Xue Qing will write it, and then Master Jiaoran will review it."
"Then you can still see each other every day?" Xue Tao continued to ask.
"Mom, we both live in Taixue. We ride horses to the newspaper office together and ride back to Taixue together every day. We still communicate."
"Brother Jincheng, can I go to the newspaper office and have a look?"
The speaker was a young lady named Zhang Xiaoqin, who was Minqiu's niece. Minqiu's sister-in-law had remarried, and a pair of children were stopped by Zhang Minqiu. The eldest son was called Zhang Qu, who was only thirteen years old. He studied at the Wen family in Taiyuan and worshiped the great scholar Wen Tingli.
As a teacher, the youngest daughter is Zhang Xiaoqin. She is only nine years old this year and was taken over by Min Qiu to live with her.
Minqiu's parents died young, and she only had one brother, and the brother only had this pair of children. If her sister-in-law took her to remarry, she would definitely change her surname, and the Zhang family's incense would be cut off. This was something Minqiu couldn't tolerate, so she begged her husband
The niece and nephew were stopped and were not taken away by the sister-in-law.
Zhang Xiaoqin happened to be the same age as Guo Yan'er. She was smart, lively, and well-behaved. Even Xue Tao, who had always hated her parents, liked this little girl. Naturally, she became the loyal follower of her eldest sister Guo Weiwei.
Guo Jincheng smiled and shook his head, "Outsiders are not allowed in the newspaper office."
"What's so strange about the newspaper office!"
Guo Weiwei curled her lips and said to Zhang Xiaoqin and Guo Yan'er: "Tomorrow, my eldest sister will take you to the Liger Park. I heard that a long-necked unicorn has also arrived. Let's go and take a look!"