At the beginning of April, Mr. and Mrs. Wu Wangsheng and all the officials rushed to the three-mile long pavilion outside the royal capital of Kang early in the morning to honor Zheng Yuming's departure. The people of Kang had known that their country's delegation was going to visit Haojing, and on the day of the delegation's departure, the city became empty, and all the people gathered outside the west gate to see off the delegation.
There were not many officials who followed Zheng Yuming on his pilgrimage to the capital of the Emperor, only Gongsun Pan, the director of the Department of Education, and Wu Mu, who was already the director of the Department of Commerce. Gongsun Pan went to Haojing for official business and to visit his family.
Gongsun Pan was a native of Haojing, but his parents had both died and he had only two older brothers at home. When Gongsun Pan's family decided to serve Wu, he was helped by Wu merchants from Haojing to reunite with his family in Kangcheng.
There was a limit on the number of people who could enter the capital of the Son of Heaven to pay homage, the number of people in the homage group and the guards could not exceed 2,000, and when the homage delegation arrived outside the capital of the Son of Heaven, Haojing, only 300 people were allowed to enter the city, and the other accompanying people could only be stationed outside the city.
The number of Wu's pilgrimage mission officials was only a dozen, plus Zheng Yuming's personal bodyguard Da Niu, healers, guides, attendants, and craftsmen totaling over a hundred, plus the big wolf dog Wood.
There were fifteen hundred escorting men and horses, five hundred of which were the royal palace guards, and one thousand of which were the Dragon Tiger Soldiers that Chu Chao Hui had just trained for half a year. Whether it was the royal palace guards or the Dragon Tiger soldiers, all of them were warriors of one in a hundred, and their horses weapons and armor were also the best equipped. These fifteen hundred soldiers can be said to be the essence of Wu soldiers.
One hundred members of the legation and fifteen hundred elite soldiers escorting them, together with thousands of people who came to see them off, filled the three-mile pavilion in Kang City to the brim. Zheng Yuming instructed Yu Kui and Wei Ren on some important matters before bidding farewell to Wu Wangsheng and his wife and boarding a four-wheeled carriage to depart for the northwest county of Wu. Chu Chao Hui waited ahead with his own 3,000 personal cavalry, who would escort the envoy until the choke point of the Zhao-Wu border.
The transportation in Wu was convenient, and by the evening of the next day, the delegation arrived at Qu City, the county town of Northwest County. The head of the county, Huo Sizhong, and the military governor of the county, Zeng You, had heard the news and were waiting in the suburbs to greet them.
Zheng Yuming hadn't seen Huo Sizhong for more than three years, and the former boyish teenager had turned into a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. After three years of dealing with administrative affairs in Northwest County, Huo Sizhong's temperament had become calm and steady. When this calm young man saw Zheng Yuming and Chu Zhaohui, he couldn't maintain his composure and turned back into a young man in the valley.
"My lord! Si Zhong pays his respects to the two lords!" Huo Sizhong saluted, tears glistening in her eyes. Zheng Yuming and Chu Chaohui had already publicly declared the three Huo Sizhongs as adopted sons and daughters, yet they did not ask the three to change their surnames, nor did they ask them to change their titles.
"Si Zhong, haven't seen you in three years, you've grown much taller." Zheng Yuming pulled Huo Sizhong up and compared his height, realizing that Huo Sizhong was over 170 centimeters tall, which was considered tall in the average height of Wu people.
"Not bad, very sturdy looking." Chu Chao Hui patted Huo Si Zhong on the shoulder.
"It was Wei Qing who forced me to practice boxing everyday to be physically fit." Huo Si Zhong looked slightly uncomfortable.
Chu Chao Hui stared at Huo Si Zhong two more times after hearing this.
Huo Si Zhong originally took care of Woody, and when Woody saw Huo Si Zhong, he was so enthusiastic that he jumped straight into Huo Si Zhong's body.
"Where's Weiqing? Didn't come at the mouth of the throat?" Zheng Yuming looked around for it.
"Your Honor, Wei Qing is waiting for the two adults at the mouth of the throat." Huo Si Zhong explained to Zheng Yuming while making out with the wood.
Zheng Yuming nodded his head in understanding, a garrison officer was not allowed to leave his station at will.
Seeing that Huo Sizhong had already met with the two Zheng Chu, Zeng You hurriedly stepped forward. "My humble servant Zeng You has met the two lords!"
Zheng Yuming saw Zeng You at this time, but was slightly stunned, Zeng You appearance changes than Huo Si Zhong.
Zeng You is nearly thirty years old, from a bandit background, not tall and slim. Nowadays, Zeng You has not grown vertically, but horizontally. Zeng You is now not a thin man, but a fat man, and his skin has become much lighter.
"General Zeng, it seems that the soil and water of the Northwest County feeds people, Si Zhong has grown much taller in the three years he's been here, and you've gone from skinny to fat and white in the three years you've been here!" Zheng Yuming joked with Zeng You, the surrounding people couldn't help but laugh out loud when they heard this, only Chu Zhaohui's mouth was slightly skewed and there was no laughter in his eyes.
Zheng Yuming made this pilgrimage to the capital of the Son of Heaven and was going to stay in the Northwest County for three days to inspect it, and then three days later visit the capital of the King of Zhao, and go to Haojing with Zhao Xuan as his companion.
That night, the envoy and his party stayed in Qucheng, Huo Sizhong prepared a dinner to entertain Zheng Yuming and Chu Chaohui, all the dignitaries in Qucheng had to be invited, they were meeting the two major real power figures of Wu for the first time.
After three years of development in the Northwest County, the fruit trees have become forests of fruit, and the ripe fruits are processed into pulp, jam, and fruit wine that are sold all over the world. The fruit wine used in today's banquet is a local specialty.
Local nobles either open factories, or planting, or business, wealth than three or four years ago increased. The days are better than the original, the hearts of the people will be stable, these profitable nobles see Zheng Yuming very enthusiastic, one by one take turns to rush forward to toast.
Fruit wine degree is not high, Zheng Yuming to come, when the number of cups more, Zheng Yuming is a little overwhelmed, he turned back to find Chu Chaohui to help bring wine, but found that the original sitting next to their own people do not know when to leave.
"Da Niu! Where did the Great General go?" Zheng Yuming asked in a low voice to the personal bodyguard standing behind him.
Since Zheng Yuming's assassination, Da Niu has formed the habit that whenever Zheng Yuming is not alone with Chu Chao Hui, Da Niu will follow him like a shadow.
"The Great General said that there is something to go and do, wait for him to go straight back to his residence." Zheng Yuming was talking to the Qu City nobles when Chu Chao Hui left.
"Oh!" Zheng Yuming was a bit puzzled, not knowing what urgent matter Chu Chao Hui had to deal with in such a hurry.
The study in Zeng You's mansion was brightly lit, and outside the study stood elite soldiers unfamiliar to Zeng's subordinates. The people of the Zeng Mansion were all driven away from the perimeter of the study.
"Zeng You, how did you become a bandit?"
Zeng You's study, Chu Zhaohui sitting on a mahogany chair, his hand rubbing a pair of jade jade, jade jade jade soft luster, a look is not ordinary. ?????????????????? Zeng You study room furnishings are very expensive, these are Zeng You wife's dowry.
"Reporting to the Great General, I was desperate before I went up the mountain to become a bandit." Standing in front of Chu Chao Hui, Zeng You's forehead brightened slightly, suddenly being called back to his home from the banquet by Chu Chao Hui, Zeng You had a bad feeling.
"Forced to be helpless, by whom?" Chu Chao Hui put the jade jade back on the desk.
Zeng You is a bit puzzled, Chu Chao Hui knows his bottom line, why do you have to ask again today?
"It was the feudal lord of the Zeng You family's farmland, and that feudal lord forcibly took the Zeng You family's good land."
The good land was created by Zeng's family. Without the good land, Zeng You's family members died of starvation and disease one after another.
"Hate?" Chu Chao Hui asked faintly.
"Hate! Of course I hate it!" Zeng You hated the feudal lords and aristocrats who took the land by force, but the feudal lords had their own private army, so Zeng You was unable to take revenge with his empty hands, and in the end, in order to survive, he ran away to Ulsan and became a bandit.
"After the Ulsan army captured the royal capital, I had disposed of a group of feudal lord nobles, among them there was the nobleman who had caused your Zeng You's family to die." Chu Chaohui disposed of them on the same charge of conspiracy to commit treason, and all of them were Ripple Ji's righteous father Jiang Dafu confessed, Chu Chaohui used Jiang Dafu's family's lives to exchange for Jiang Dafu's cooperation, and the King of Wu's concubine younger brother was dragged into the water by Jiang Dafu to lose the qualification of inheritance.
In fact, the feudal lord who caused the destruction of Zeng You's family held a neutral position when Yi Ji rebelled. After Chu Chao Hui found out that the feudal lord was a stubborn conservative, he did not hesitate to give him the crime of treason, the feudal lord himself beheaded, his family was dispersed, and his family's property was returned to the state.
"My humble servant knows! I am grateful!" Zeng You whimpered.
Chu Chao Hui stood up and looked down at Zeng You, "Do you think that Chu is avenging your Zeng You?"
Zeng You was stunned, "Great General..."
"No!" Chu Chao Hui shook his head, "This person is too cruel to the civilians on the fiefdom, not removing him will only continue to plague the people."
Zeng You nodded, "The Great General did the right thing, this kind of person who is harming the people's dawn should be disposed of."
Chu Zhaohui's face changed, pulled out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve and threw them in front of Zeng You, sternly rebuking, "Zeng You, you've been serving in Qucheng for three and a half years, and you're the one who did all these things!"
Zeng You squatted down and picked up the paper to take a closer look, and after reading it, his forehead began to sweat: "Great General! These things Zeng You never did!"
The paper was a complaint by the peasants around Qucheng against Zeng You for taking and buying their good land.
Chu Chao Hui's face was ugly: "Zeng You, this matter at the end of last year I already know, I and the Prime Minister before coming, has sent people to investigate clearly, forcible occupation and forceful purchase is not what you do!"
Zeng You greatly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Although this is not your doing, it is related to you!" Chu Chao Hui stared at Zeng You with a complex expression, Zeng You was a general he liked very much.
Zeng You froze, and after contemplating, his face began to turn white, and he fell to his knees with a plop, "Is... Is it the work of my wife's family?"
Chu Chao Hui sighed, "Not bad, it was your wife's family that did this matter, your father-in-law's family is now behaving the same as that feudal lord who caused your family to fall apart!"
Zeng You's face flushed red and white for a while, and at half a minute he gritted his teeth and said, "Great General! I will repudiate my wife!"
Chu Chao Hui shook his head, "What does this have to do with your wife?"
"The abbot's family is like this, relying on the power of my humble servant." Zeng You had understood the original reason by now.
"Not bad, your Joe's family dared to act like this, precisely on the strength of your General Zeng's power!" Chu Chao Hui nodded slightly, Zeng You was not confused after all.
Zeng You ambled to the ground, "Great General, it's all because of my general's negligence!"
"The matter of your father-in-law oppressing the people will be dealt with by the Criminal Court in accordance with the law. However, Zeng You, although this matter is not your doing, you have the responsibility that cannot be shirked. You can't be left untouched!" Chu Chaohui mused.
"Please dispose of it, Great General!" Zeng You kowtowed at Chu Chaohui.
Chu Chao Hui slightly sighed, decided to give Zeng You a chance to reform: "This matter you are also in the dark, I can spare you once, but Qucheng you can't stay, level transfer to Su Plain, the Tiger Tribe there is recently stupid, has already sneak attacked the residents of Su Plain twice, you will be the military governor of Su Plain from now on, specializing in subduing the disobedient tribes in the surrounding area! "
"Thank you, Great General, for your enlightenment!" Zeng You's eyes were red, Chu Chao Hui was still defending him.
"ZengYou, your wife no fault then don't repudiate, take her together to go to the office, away from your father-in-law's family is good!" Chu Zhaohui before leaving and then turned back to command.
"Nuo!" Zeng You nodded his head and agreed, he and his wife were more in love. If he left the Northwest County with his wife, his husband's family could no longer rely on Zeng You's power to do illegal things in Qucheng. According to the law of Wu, Zeng You's father-in-law will be sentenced to two years of hard labor.
Chu Chao Hui returned to the place where he stayed, Zheng Yuming was already lying on the bed.
"Chaohui, where did it go?" Zheng Yuming lay on the side of the bed and watched Chu Chaohui undress, gulping as he watched, Chu Chaohui's body was really masculine.
Chu Chao Hui stripped himself naked and pounced on Zheng Yuming, "Went to do something!"
"What..." Zheng Yuming's question was swallowed up by Chu Chao Hui, and he didn't have the effort to ask next.
The evening temperature of April in Qucheng is cool. Zheng Yuming and Chu Chao Hui's bedroom breath but very warm, warm for more than an hour, Zheng Yuming surrendered to lie on Chu Chao Hui gasping for breath.
"Yuming, our team is starting to have it!" Chu Chao Hui stroked Zheng Yuming's back and told the story of Zeng You's father-in-law's annexation of land based on his son-in-law's power.
"You are disposing of this to go?" Zheng Yuming sighed, coming so quickly, Zeng You is their direct line.
"Don't worry, as long as I'm around, Team Wu's mainstream will not be occupied." Chu Chao Hui assured Zheng Yuming.
Chu Chao Hui in the whole army are assigned to the training officer, training officer special attention to officers and soldiers of the dissimulation and ideological education, the establishment is not under the jurisdiction of the army, directly under the military Prime Minister's Office. Chu Chao Hui will be very strict control of the army.
Zheng Yuming kissed Chu Chaohui fiercely, without the support of Chu Chaohui's army, Zheng Yuming's vision and reforms could not be carried out smoothly. Chu Chao Hui is the dependence of Zheng Yuming's action.
"That's too light a thank you, isn't it? Come to something more affordable." Chu Chao Hui laughed out loud and rolled over to press Zheng Yuming down.
The next day, Zheng Yuming climbed onto the four-wheeled carriage with a light foot and arrived at the throat mouth of the city lying on the four-wheeled carriage.