The return of the son-in-law

Now that the promise was made, Jia Huan didn't delay, and went to invite Huo Yu to the front hall for dinner that night.

Of course Huo Yu didn't want to go, but when he refused, he regretted it again.

To be honest, if he was still angry a few days ago, now Huo Yu is a little flustered.This was the first time he lost his temper with Guo Zhan'an. At that time, he felt that Guo Zhan'an refused to let him open a restaurant and forced himself to take the imperial examination, which meant that he had completely denied him, so he was determined not to give in.

On the way back to Xuzhou, Huo Yu huddled on the bed in the guest room of the inn in the middle of the night and could not sleep. He stretched his neck against the wall like a thief, trying to hear the voice of Guo Zhanan next door.

Of course he couldn't hear anything. During the long night, there was only the sound of the wind whistling outside the window, and the occasional puffing sound of snow falling from the branches, accompanied by Huo Yu who was sleepless all night.

Huo Yu recalled those words of Guo Zhan'an, and he finally understood that Guo Zhan'an didn't look down on him, but chose a "correct" path for him from a secular point of view.

But he really didn't want to take the imperial examination. In the past two years with Guo Zhan'an, he had seen a lot of intrigues in the officialdom. Huo Yu was really not interested, and he didn't have the confidence to struggle in this invisible sword.

But let him bow his head first, isn't that just to make it clear that he gave up the idea of ​​opening a restaurant, but listened to Guo Zhan'an and obediently studied for the imperial examination?

Jia Huan saw two or three lines on Huo Yu's nose wrinkled in confusion, so he couldn't help but said, "Then the second young master still eats at home? A few days ago, I got a small basket of fresh Bolou vegetables, and today I can eat something refreshing. How about washing the bolou vegetables and serving them with balsamic vinegar and sugar?"

Huo Yu couldn't help moving his index finger when he heard this, and said, "Then cook some hot porridge for me. By the way, brother, prepare a mutton pot to nourish your body."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "The young master said that meat and fish are forbidden in the mansion this year. A few days ago, someone even said that they would send five catties of tender beef. After the young master accepted it, he turned around and gave it to Young Master Jiang."

Huo Yu felt more and more that he was doing something wrong, so he couldn't help but said, "Then, then I'll go and see my brother. I just returned to Xuzhou these days, and there are so many official affairs waiting for him to deal with, so don't get tired."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Then how about I ask the cook to set up the dishes in the front hall? Cold Bolou dishes, with a few other hot dishes, and thick white porridge, also warms the stomach. I don't know if it's this one Yue Xuzhou has a backlog of official affairs waiting for the young master to deal with, and the young master has not slept well for several nights."

Huo Yu was very distressed when he heard this, he nodded and felt a little embarrassed, and said, "You go down first, I'll go find my brother myself."

Now that Jia Huan had achieved his goal, he simply left.

When Huo Yu arrived at the study, two servants were guarding outside.When they saw Huo Yu coming, they were about to open their mouths to announce, when they saw Huo Yu make a silent gesture and shut up quickly.

"I'll go in and have a look." Huo Yu whispered, one of them hurriedly opened the curtain for Huo Yu, Huo Yu smiled and raised his legs to go in.

It's just that Guo Zhan'an was so vigilant, when Huo Yu got closer, he was discovered.

Seeing that it was Huo Yu, Guo Zhanan's serious expression on his face loosened a bit, and his eyes were also stained with tenderness, and asked, "Xuzhou is still cold, why didn't you bring a hand stove with you?"

Completely forgot that the two of them were still in a cold war.

Huo Yu's nose was a little sore, and he was ready to be scolded by Guo Zhan'an, but Guo Zhan'an only cared about whether he was frozen or not, and his heart became more and more sad, feeling that he was really a wolf these days.

But he was not a person with a lot of tongues, so he could only say dryly: "I heard that my brother is busy with work these two days, and I don't even have time to eat, so I came to see my brother."

Guo Zhanan put down his pen and said with a smile: "Who is talking nonsense in front of you again?"

Seeing that he still wanted to hide it, Huo Yu couldn't help raising his voice: "I just know it! Brother, brother, I, I know I was wrong. You can beat me or scold me, but you can't make things difficult for yourself."

Seeing that Huo Yu was agitated, Guo Zhanan quickly stepped forward and brought him to the chair, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Huo Yu grabbed Guo Zhan'an's skirt and said, "Brother, I know I was wrong, I must study hard, go to the imperial examination, and give you credit!"

Seeing his anxious expression, Guo Zhanan's heart softened, and he asked, "Why did you change your mind?"

Huo Yu lowered his head, and said with some guilt: "I, I know that my brother is doing it for my own good, but I am too stubborn. Brother, I am still young, and I still don't understand many things. Please tell me slowly, how much is it?" Give me two days, and I will definitely understand." At the end, Huo Yu raised his head again, holding Guo Zhan'an's skirt tightly with both hands, feeling fearful and eager at the same time.

Huo Yu's bewildered and desperate appearance deeply touched Guo Zhan'an, he couldn't help reaching out to hold Huo Yu's slightly cold hand, and said, "Why don't I give you time? Yu'er, you are not a woman after all, you can't I stayed in the backyard all my life, thinking about my basic necessities all day long. Even if a good man in this world can't do a great job, he should make some achievements."

He looked at Huo Yu's sleepy look, and said, "However, I've thought about it too. It's a good thing for you to be born as a Jinshi, but it's hard to guarantee that you won't be released as an official. When the time comes, we will be far apart. Isn't it more pitiful than Cowherd and Weaver Girl?"

"Then?" Huo Yu was confused, "Then there is no exam?"

Guo Zhanan shook his head and said: "You still have to take the imperial examination, but it's good to be admitted to Juren. Even if you want to open a restaurant in the end and don't go into official career, having the status of Juren is always a help."

"But, if you open a restaurant, don't you become a merchant?"

Guo Zhan'an laughed out loud: "When you were in the capital, didn't you say that I was a majestic Xuzhou general judge, and there were many shops under my name?"

Hearing this, Huo Yu was even more ashamed. He said something in a hurry, but he didn't expect Guo Zhan'an to make fun of him now.

"Okay, how old are you? Since it's what I said, I'll take care of it myself." Guo Zhanan pinched Huo Yu's cheek and continued, "I don't trust you to open a restaurant alone, you don't Experience, young age, easy to be deceived. And if you want to open a restaurant, you have to carefully select the wine and vegetables sold in the restaurant. You can’t just sell wine from any winery on the roadside, right? In this way, When we return to the capital, we will choose a restaurant with a good location and spend money to buy it. If the people in the restaurant are loyal and capable, let them continue to take care of it, and save time and effort finding people. If you are interested If you don’t like it, leave it to them, how about it? At that time, the restaurant will be under your name, and you will not be registered as a merchant, and we will all be happy.”

After hearing this, Huo Yu opened his mouth several times but was speechless.

He didn't expect that when he was angry and regretful, tossing and turning every night because of this incident, but refused to speak first, Guo Zhan'an had already planned his future path for him.Compared with my brother who gave silently, I who only knew self-pity and self-pity was really not decent.

Guo Zhan'an seemed to have guessed what Huo Yu was thinking, and said with a smile: "I was confident in telling me to open a restaurant before, why didn't you say anything now? But although I agreed, there is a condition, you can agree ?”

Huo Yu nodded and said, "Of course I agree."

"I'll teach you a lesson today," Guo Zhan'an stretched out his hand and scratched Huo Yu's nose, and said, "You have to be calm when doing business, but you can't just agree to it without saying anything." come down."

Huo Yu nodded and said, "Remember, but brother is not someone else."

This word fell into Guo Zhanan's ears, he was naturally happy, and said: "Xuzhou is not where we live for a long time, and your filial piety period has not passed, so you should continue to settle down and study at home during this time, and don't think about the restaurant. Wait. After you have passed the filial piety period, you will have a try in the imperial examination two years later. If you pass the exam successfully, I will stop caring about your knowledge. If it goes well, we will be able to return to the capital within five years and enter the capital. I'm afraid we won't let it out for the rest of our lives, how about we look for restaurants in the capital at that time?"

Guo Zhan'an's plan was neither hasty nor impatient. Huo Yu asked himself that even if he could not shine in the imperial examination in two years, he would still be able to win the imperial examination, so he nodded and agreed.

At this point, the servants of the Guo Mansion in Xuzhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.As for this group of people raising funds to set up a table of food and drink for Jia Huan, that's another story, so there's no need to mention it.

Because of Li Chonghao's consent, Xuzhou added iron ore to this year's taxes, and the Northwest Military Battalion sent troops to station on both sides of Xuzhou's road leading to the mine to ensure that the iron ore dug out would not be snatched by the wandering Tatars.

After careful comparison of many families with only a few acres of Susukida, many of them decided to let the young people in their families go to work in a mine camp [-] miles away from Xuzhou.Firstly, the Susukida at home does not produce much, and no matter how intensively it is cultivated for a year, it can only barely make ends meet, and it is necessary to find ways to collect other things to pay taxes; secondly, this mining camp is run by the Xuzhou government. Everyone who goes to work in the mine camp has signed a contract with the government of Xuzhou government, and they can receive money on time every month. Although it is not much, it is better than farming in the fields. Those who work hard will have extra rewards , and do not have to pay additional taxes.

Guo Zhan'an and Xie Bing carefully checked the innocence of each miner, and finally selected fifty middle-aged men to work in the mine camp, and ten dedicated government servants to follow them. The mine was sent to Xuzhou, and then to the capital a month later.

In the second month, Li Chonghao's imperial decree came from the capital, praising Xie Bing a lot, and stating that the iron ore production would be doubled in the second month.

Xie Bing didn't dare to take the credit, and after sending the angel away, he said to Guo Zhan'an, "This time, thanks to Mr. Guo's resourcefulness and early deployment, we have the opportunity to mine iron ore."

"Master Xie, you are polite." After all, this Xie Bing is his superior, Guo Zhanan said politely, "It is a matter of being loyal to the emperor, and you and I are both officials in Xuzhou, so naturally we have to serve the people of Xuzhou." Lots of planning."

After hearing this, Xie Bing felt that he had a lot of face, but his temperament prevented him from doing too many flattering things, so he cupped his hands and said: "I still have official duties, and I hope Mr. Guo can do something about this mine camp." Don't worry about it."

Guo Zhan'an heard that he meant to delegate power, and was happy to accept it: "Thank you, sir, for your peace of mind."

When Xie Bing left, Hao Yun couldn't help but said: "My lord, you have been in charge of this matter from the beginning to the end. What does it have to do with Mr. Xie? Now His Majesty's decree only writes Mr. Xie's name, and forgets Mr. Xie." I have to be clean, I am really worthless for adults!"

Guo Zhan'an took a look at Hao Yun, seeing that his angry look did not seem to be fake, although he was a little relieved about Hao Yun, he still crossed Hao Yun from his confidant's candidate list in his heart.

For such an impatient person, staying by his side will do more harm than good.

"If this matter is not approved by Mr. Xie, how can I do it alone?" Guo Zhan'an scolded, "I don't want to hear this kind of words again, let alone from other people's mouths, remember? "

Hao Yun couldn't help trembling, and hurriedly said: "Remember."

Guo Zhanan assigned a few more things to Hao Yun and sent them away.

Guo Zhan'an didn't have the confidence to understand [-]% of Li Chonghao's thoughts, but he still had [-]% to [-]%.

Only Xie Bing's name was written in this edict, and Guo Zhan'an was not mentioned at all. It was nothing more than Li Chonghao's so-called "way of balance".

Before the first month, Li Shaojun took the opportunity of his letter to dispel half of Li Chonghao's scruples about him, and the position of Prince Zhen Guo was firmly seated.After the first month, Li Shaojun left the Ministry of Officials and joined the Ministry of Punishment to practice, which was much better than Li Shaojin who had been tossing around in the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Li Shaojun's reputation in the court has risen, so Li Chonghao will naturally overwhelm Guo Zhan'an. After all, Guo Zhan'an is Li Shaojun's companion, and has a close relationship with Li Shaojun's maternal ancestor's family. It is only natural for Guo Zhan'an to stand by Li Shaojun. things.Even though Guo Zhan'an had not had much contact with Li Shaojun in the past two years since he left Beijing, and he had expressed his loyalty to Li Chonghao many times, but the suspicious emperor was still unwilling to dispel the last trace of doubt, and still regarded Guo Zhan'an and Jiang Yannian as Li Shaojun's confidantes .

It has to be said that Li Chonghao guessed right this time, but he just blindly suppressed those who gained power and promoted those who lost power, and took turns again and again. Sooner or later, the steelyard will be broken.

At the same time that Xie Bing and others received the imperial edict, two ordinary-looking men in the capital led the way out of the city and galloped towards the northwest on fast horses.

Two months later, several Tatar tribes who were fighting independently formed an alliance to fight Ningguhan's army together, and beheaded Ningguhan with a saber.

At the same time, the specific content of the treaty signed by Ning Guhan and the emperor of the Chu Dynasty spread like wildfire on the Tatar grassland, and the armies of various tribes in Tatar gathered together and marched towards Xuzhou.