after being kidnapped by the general

There will be no chili here, and the two soups in Yuanyang pot are not spicy soup and original soup.It's a chicken soup, a mushroom soup.

The chicken soup and mushroom soup had been boiled for two hours by the Yuanlou brothers when they took a bath in the afternoon.With the fire, the milky white thick soup boils, the taste is delicious, and it is mouth watering.

The two brothers stared straight at each other, and couldn't help swallowing.

Vegetables and meat were placed on the table, and the meat was the freshest beef, sliced ​​into a thin circle by the cook, not much thicker than the meat rolls of later generations.The beef was a fight between two bulls in the livestock farm, and one of them was directly pierced by the other, so it was slaughtered and sent to the manor.Yuanli put the cow outdoors to freeze, and prepared it for shabu-shabu or eating it during the Chinese New Year.

Eating hot pot in winter is a very pleasant thing, especially for those who have never tasted such delicious food, the taste buds will explode in one bite, warming the body and delicious, it is simply addictive.

Shabu-shabu together can enhance friendship the most. Halfway through the meal, the relationship between the three of them obviously warmed up a lot.

Yuanlou and Yuandan had already let go of their restraints, talking about their excitement along the way, especially their surprise and pride when they entered Youzhou and found out that Yuanli was temporarily in charge of the governor's post.

Yuan Li has been listening gently, and asked many things about his hometown from their mouths.Some relatives wept with joy after their father became a marquis, some opened the ancestral temple to worship the clan, some father was called Ruyang Lord and welcomed many followers... From their descriptions, Yuanli could imagine that Ruyang County was full of joy and excitement scene.

As he listened, he was also very satisfied.

In addition, Yuanlou and Yuandan also brought many things.

Yuan Song ordered them to bring [-] loyal trilogy, as well as [-] talents selected from his disciples, to Youzhou together.

Hearing that there were guests sent by Yuan Song, Yuan Li was refreshed and very happy.

Of course, not all of these diners are as talented as Liu Jixin.Yuan Li didn't need to look at it, but he knew that most of them could read and handle official business at most, and they were more flexible in their minds and knew some knowledge.Because of Yuan Song's identity, the marquis he granted was just a small Guanneihou, and the quality of the disciples who would go to Yuan Song would definitely not be very high, because more powerful people would not choose Yuan Song.

But even so, Yuanli felt like a treasure.

Because Yuanli is really short of grassroots civil servants.

The governor of a state has to deal with a lot of government affairs and official documents, and dozens of subordinate officials are needed, such as Zhizhong, Biejia, Gongcao, Bingcao, Zhushu, etc., all of which need to be arranged by Yuanli himself. people.

The 30 people Yuan Song sent to him must be people with fair character and knowledge, otherwise Yuan Song would not have sent him here.For the time being, these people can help Liu Jixin handle his daily official duties and relieve Liu Jixin's pressure a little.

After Yuanli actually served as the governor of Youzhou, thanks to the fact that the whole Youzhou is a fiefdom of the Chu family, he can fully control the promotion, appointment and dismissal of officials in the whole Youzhou, and he does not need to greet the emperor's court at all. From a point of view, Youzhou or King Chenliu's fief is no longer within the jurisdiction of the emperor.

If you want to completely control Youzhou, you need officials, especially grassroots officials.

Yuanli has not formally taken over the position of governor of Youzhou. Orthodoxly speaking, he does not have the ability to appoint officials and recruit followers.But after he really became the governor of Youzhou, Yuanli would have the power to expropriate.

The so-called "expropriation" refers to the emperor or high-ranking officials of the state and county directly recruiting prominent people to serve as officials for themselves.Generally speaking, expropriation has no restrictions on the qualifications of the people who are recruited. Anyone can be an official or a citizen, and they can stay or stay at will.If the investigation system is a bottom-up way of being an official, then expropriation is another way from top to bottom.

Naturally, those who have been confiscated do not need to be of Xiaolian origin, which is one of the reasons why people today care so much about being famous and use all kinds of means to make themselves famous.

As long as my reputation is big enough, I can stay at home and wait for the emperor and high-ranking officials to enlist me as an official.Under the background of this era, as long as smart people have some ambitions for official careers, they will take the initiative to publicize their reputations.

Asking Confucian scholars to comment on themselves, or putting on a show, or aristocratic families cooperating with each other to make famous, these are all very normal things among scholars.Because everyone knows that when everyone is filial, if I don't do something, how can I stand out?

Yuan Li had thought this way before, if he couldn't get into the Imperial College and couldn't follow the path of being filial and honest, then he would keep making a name for himself and take the path of being expropriated.

But if he had a choice, he actually didn't want to be expropriated.

Because the person who was expropriated will become the subordinate official of the person who conquered himself. For example, if a county guard conquered Yuanli, then Yuanli will be the subordinate official of the county guard. The county guard is like the relationship between "monarch and minister".Yuan Li didn't like the feeling of submitting to another person, so from the beginning he took this road as the last choice after he had to.

And there are only a few officials who have the power to "expropriate".Needless to say, the emperor, the cabinet, the three princes, and the generals all have the power to expropriate, as do the local county guards and state governors.

After all, we still have to wait for Liguan.

Yuan Li sighed, and asked the Yuan Lou brothers if they had brought anything else besides these.

Hearing this, Yuan Lou nodded quickly, took out a well-preserved envelope from his body, and handed it to Yuan Li, "There is also a letter that Big Brother (Yuan Song) entrusted us to bring to you."

Yuan Li took it, wiped his hands and opened the letter paper inside, and looked at the words on it by the firelight.

This letter is very thick, with a full ten pages, and it babbles about what happened in Ruyang this year.

The first three pages are all dictated by Mrs. Chen and written by Lingmenke. In the letter, he asked a lot about Yuanli's situation in Youzhou, whether he was cold, whether he was not used to the food in Youzhou, whether he was not acclimatized to the environment, and then said something The current situation of the family, especially the changes in the family after Yuan Song became a Marquis.

Yuan Li finished reading these three with a smile, and the subsequent letter was written by Yuan Song himself.

The content of the letter was more detailed than that written by Mrs. Chen. It told Yuanli everything that Yuan Song did after he became a Marquis, including recruiting tribes and disciples, building a city wall and digging a wide moat, etc. Yuanli nodded while watching.But when he looked down again, the smile on his mouth gradually disappeared, and his eyes were full of shock.

Yuan Song told him in the letter that it was the wish of the patriarch to treat the two brothers Yuanlou and Yuandan well and keep them by his side to do things.

The patriarch will "die of illness" this winter, and will leave a last wish before he dies, so that Yuanli will be crowned one year in advance.Yuan Song asked Yuan Li to prepare for the crown after the beginning of spring.

And all of this is for Yuanli to escape the emperor's bestowal.

Yuanli's hand holding the letter began to tremble.

After Yuanlou Yuandan saw it, he asked with concern: "Yuanli, what's wrong with you? Did you write anything bad in the letter?"

Looking at their ignorant faces, Yuan Li said in a hoarse voice, "Do you know what was written in the letter?"

Yuan Lou's expression turned serious, "Don't worry, I've kept this letter all the way up to now, and apart from my elder brother, no one else has read the contents of the letter."

"..." Yuanli didn't speak for a long time, his face was faintly sad, and he quickly lowered his eyes to cover it, "Then, before you came to Youzhou, did the patriarch Taigong say anything?"

"I didn't say anything," Yuan Dan interjected, "Just let us learn how to do things from you, let us not cause trouble, and protect your safety. Apart from these, there seems to be nothing else. Brother, do you still remember what grandpa said what?"

Yuan Lou thought for a while, "Grandpa asked me to say something to you, Lier, 'It's cold winter, take care of yourself'."

The sourness suddenly surged from his heart, and Yuan Li almost burst into tears on the spot.

The patriarch is saying goodbye to him.

The two grandsons, Yuanlou and Yuandan, who were sent to deliver the letter, did not know that their grandfather was about to die this winter.

He took a deep breath and stood up, almost tripping over the chair.Yuan Li forced himself to show his usual appearance, and smiled at the Yuanlou brothers: "You guys continue to eat, I'll go out and do something."

The two brothers didn't find anything wrong, so they both said hello.

It was getting dark outside.

Afterglow disappeared miserably into the sky, the night was heavy, the cold wind shaved his face like a knife, and the heat from the room dissipated instantly.Youzhou, which is about to celebrate the New Year, can be said to be like a drop of water.

Yuan Li stared blankly at the sky for a long while, the breath between his breaths turned into white mist, he stepped up, and walked slowly to a place where there were few people.

Heavy steps.

I don't know how long he walked, but before he knew it, Yuanli came to the place where he was building a vertical windmill during the day.

The vertical windmill, which had almost been formed, stayed quietly in place, and the sawdust on the ground had been cleaned up by the servants.

Yuan Li walked to the side of the windmill in a daze, and lightly touched the pillars of the windmill.

The windmill is ready?Did Chu Hechao do it?

He was breathing slightly heavily.

Some people die for their own careers, such a heavy burden is like a burden full of stones on their shoulders.But Yuanli understands rationally that this is the choice of Yuan Song and the patriarch, and they think such a choice is the best way.

As a beneficiary, what he should do is to move forward more firmly with a heavy burden on his back.Only in this way can he live up to the sacrifices made by others for him.

Yuan Li will never back down, he just feels sad because an old man who loved him when he was young took the initiative to die for him.

He was lying on the windmill, his hands clenched into fists.

Guilt and reluctance weigh heavily on my heart, like a weighty burden.Yuan Li even felt that the surrounding air became thinner, making it difficult to breathe.

This kind of pain made Yuan Li almost think that he was crying, but when he touched it, he found that his face was clean and his eyes were dry.

He smiled bitterly and wiped his face vigorously, when he heard footsteps approaching.

Yuan Li immediately turned his head to look, and saw Chu Hechao walking this way while wearing his trouser belt.

When Chu Hechao saw him, surprise flashed in his eyes, and he stopped in place.

Yuan Li said: "General, it's so late, why are you still here?"

As soon as the voice came out, it was hoarse.Chu Hechao paused when he was about to leave, walked in front of him calmly, looked down at him for a while, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on."

The words were nonsense, but Yuanli knew that he was asking himself.

Yuanli pretended to be normal, "I'm fine."

Chu Hechao narrowed his eyes coldly, "I'll ask you one last time."

Yuan Li shook his head, "It's really fine, General, I have something to do, so I'm leaving first."

He turned his head and left, but his wrist was grabbed. The man's tone was low and irritated, "Did your two cousins ​​make you unhappy?"

"With Chu Wangfu and I backing you up, what are you afraid of?" Chu Hechao suppressed his temper and taught patiently, "If you don't like it, let them go back, man, what's the matter hiding in a corner and crying."

Yuan Li's originally heavy heart became dumbfounded, "General, it's not what you said."

Chu Hechao turned Yuan Li around, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Yuan Li like a child looking for an excuse, "What is that?"

Yuan Li, who didn't dare to say a word in front of Yuan Dan in Yuan Lou, now has the desire to confide in Chu Hechao. After hesitating for a moment, he took Chu Hechao to the stone table under the tree and sat down, speaking in a low voice. The patriarch told Chu Hechao that he died for him.

When saying these words, it is a process of releasing inner pain.Yuan Li even felt that Chu Hechao didn't need to say anything to him, he was already much better than before.

After hearing this, Chu Hechao's face remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "He deserved his death."

Yuan Li was silent for a moment, then said, "Maybe."

The two sat speechless, the branches swaying in the evening wind, casting crooked shadows in the moonlight.

Yuan Li stared at the pattern on the table for a while, then suddenly asked: "General, how do you relieve the pain of death of a familiar person?"

He found that whether it was Chu Mingfeng's death or Han Jin's death, it would only make Chu Hechao suffer for a short period of time. Relatives or subordinates.He seemed to have a steel-like will, no matter who died, he couldn't shake him, and he went forward with incomparable reason.

"Death can't be resurrected," Chu Hechao who said this said with a cold expression, even a little cold, completely different from the appearance of picking up a copper plate from muddy water for soldiers, "People will die sooner or later, it's just the difference between early death and late death That's all. A dead person is already dead, and no matter how much you think about it, you can't save it. In this case, the most sensible thing to do is to get out as soon as possible, and then live on."

Yuan Li knew he was serious, and Chu Hechao himself did just that.

When Chu Mingfeng died, no one knew how Chu Hechao felt, and Yuan Li didn't know either, but he knew that the feeling must not be pleasant.

It might be the same feeling as him.

Yuan Li let out a foul breath, he collected his mood, nodded and said, "You're right."

After finishing speaking, Yuan Li stood up, "It's even deeper, General, go back."

Chu Hechao got up after him.

Yuan Li didn't plan to go back to eat hot pot anymore, so he sent a servant to tell the two of Yuan Lou and let them take care of themselves.He was ready to go back to his room to rest.

Chu Hechao and his room were next door, and they walked together.On the way, Chu Hechao frowned as he smelled the scent coming from him, "What's the smell on you?"

Yuan Li raised his sleeve and smelled it, and suddenly realized, "It's the smell of hot pot."

"Hot pot?" Chu Hechao asked strangely, having never heard of this name before, "What is this?"

Only then did Yuanli remember that he had never tasted hot pot, and he couldn't help laughing, "It's a kind of delicacy suitable for eating in winter. The general smells the smell on me, will your appetite increase?"

The smell really whetted one's appetite, Chu Hechao sniffed it again, and his stomach suddenly growled twice.

The moment the voice sounded, Yuan Li immediately looked at Chu Hechao with delicate eyes.Chu Hechao was extremely calm, and when he noticed Yuanli's gaze, he gave him a sideways glance, and asked, "Why, I can't be hungry?"

Yuan Li smiled: "Yes, of course I can. Let me ask, General, have you had dinner yet?"

Chu Hechao said flatly, "No."

"It's so late and you haven't eaten, how can you not be hungry?" Yuan Li immediately gave Chu Hechao a reproachful look, "Go, I'll take you to taste the hot pot."

Chu Hechao didn't move.

Yuan Li added the accent, which was completely admonishing the elders to the younger generation, "Chu Hechao."

Chu Hechao closed his eyes.

Yuanli's attitude towards him became closer and closer, but it was obviously the attitude of the eldest sister-in-law towards her deceased husband's younger brother.

That being the case, then he will do a good job as this little uncle.

As time goes by, everything will subside.

Chu Hechao opened his eyes, followed Yuanli's footsteps calmly, "Okay."