"Mother." Seeing his mother, Gai Nie knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times. "My child is back. Please forgive me for my unfilial piety."
"Good to be back, good to be back." Mother quickly lifted Gai Nie up and patted the dust off her body. Gai Nie's body was too high for her mother to reach, so Gai Nie bent down.
"Dad." Immediately afterwards, a boy of seven or eight years old ran over from a distance, followed by his playmates. Ganie took off the backpack on his back and opened it, revealing a lot of snacks for his son to share with everyone. . There are also hairpins and silks bought for my mother and wife.
"How much does such fine silk and hairpin cost? Mother knows you are working for the king now, so you can't waste money like this." Mother scolded, but the joy in her eyes could not be concealed.
"We don't have much money. When I was in Hetao, I killed several Huns. The king gave me a lot of rewards, as well as land. However, our family is small, and I planned to take you to live in Handan, so I didn't ask for the land. "Gai Nie said.
He was the only adult male in their family. If the whole family moved to Handan, they would not be able to farm even if they had land. They could buy some servants, but he would not worry about having no one to look after him.
"My beloved, would you like to take us to Handan?" At this time, the wife who was washing clothes by the river came back and said in surprise.
"Not bad." Ganie took the wooden basin from his wife and placed it on the ground. He held his wife's hand and asked, "Would you like to go?"
"Concubine... listen to mother. If mother wants to go, I will go. If mother doesn't go, I will stay at home to take care of mother." Sumire lowered her head and said.
"Hong'er will be eight years old next year. He can't be a martial artist for the rest of his life like me. I have hired a teacher for Hong'er in Handan. After arriving in Handan, he can start his education. After that, he will have the opportunity to become a teacher of famous people. ." Gai Nie looked at his mother and said, in Yuci, there is no such opportunity.
Hearing this, the mother's originally hesitant eyes became firm. Although she preferred to stay in Yuci, her grandson's study was more important. "When will we go to Handan?"
"In a few days, I'll get together with some of my old brothers." Gai Nie said.
"Go ahead, they took good care of us during your absence." Mother nodded.
…
"Why are you two alone?" Gai Nie looked at the two people in front of him and asked with a frown.
"They've all gone to the Hetao," Qi said.
"Actually, even if they don't leave Yuci, I can still find a good place for them." Gai Nie drank a glass of wine. It was far less mellow than the wine in the palace, but it had more of a sense of friendship.
"We know that you are different now, brother, and you can stay with the king, but brothers want to have a go on their own." Qi leaned into Gai Nie's ear and said nervously,
"And I heard that the imperial court gave bearded girls as concubines to the men who went to Hetao. Of course, you have to marry me, a girl from Zhao, to get a wife, but who cares about concubines? Besides... isn't the more concubines the better? I told my father At that time, my father wanted to move the whole family to the Hetao, but my mother scolded her so she didn't mention it."
"After that, my father secretly told me to let me go to the Loop, saying that he didn't want me to be filial, as long as he could make our family flourish. But I didn't agree. If I did this, you people would see me in the future. Don't poke my spine and scold me, how can I raise my head to see people in the future?"
"Where's San'er?" Gai Nie looked at another man, who was also a man more than seven feet tall. He had a moderate beard at the corner of his mouth, his arms were thick and powerful, and his palms were wide and large, covered with thick of calluses.
This is the most famous blacksmith in Yuci. Three generations of his ancestors have made a living by blacksmithing. Because he is the third oldest, everyone calls him San'er.
"I don't want to go. I can eat and drink well here. Why should I go there and suffer? Although more land is allocated, it is all wasteland, and the grain harvested is not enough for seeds. After we finish opening up wasteland, if the court will use these If the land is taken back, who can we find to reason with?" San'er said with a pout.
Gai Nie raised his glass and clinked it with San'er.
San'er's parents died in the great plague nineteen years ago, and he was raised by his brother and sister-in-law. But after he became an adult, his brother and sister-in-law also died of illness, and his second brother also died in the Battle of Zhao and Qin seven years ago.
The widowed sister-in-law followed San'er with her one-year-old child. This was the best way to protect her and the child. This kind of thing would not be uncommon in the next two thousand years.
Of course, except for a certain weird dynasty where "starving to death is a small matter, but losing integrity is a big deal".
When San'er's second brother died in the war, the Zhao State not only did not provide any pension, but the government later took back the land on the grounds that San'er was a blacksmith, and asked him to forge iron for the government for free for three months on the grounds that he was making weapons for the war. .
If it weren't for the help of some friends, my wife and children would have starved to death.
So he has always been dissatisfied with Zhao Guo.
Even though many people now praise the imperial court, he still dismisses them, thinking that it is a weasel paying New Year greetings to a chicken - not a good intention.
"Your Majesty will never go back on his promise." Gai Nie said. He had been with Zhao Kuo for such a long time and knew that Zhao Kuo's regard for the people was definitely not comparable to that of the nobles.
"Your Majesty, I believe it." San'er nodded. Even he had to admit that in the past two years, Zhao Kuo has done a lot of practical things, especially the improvement of grain production and the implementation of work-for-relief, which has made most people Some people in Zhao State can basically have enough to eat.
"But what about the future? What was it like in the previous generation? What was it like in the previous generation? What was it like during the period of King Wu Ling? Can the king control the present or the future?"
Inadvertently, San'er has exposed the biggest drawback of the feudal era. That is, whether a country is strong or not depends to a large extent on the monarch.
If the ruler is virtuous, the country will be strong. If the monarch is mediocre, the country will decline.
No matter how good the system is, it is no match for a fatuous monarch.
Gai Nie didn't argue. It wasn't that he couldn't defeat San'er, but there was no need to argue. No matter who of them won or lost, the outcome would not be changed.
"At least things are good now. Compared to those who have passed away, we are lucky, and that's enough." Gai Nie raised his glass and said.
"By the way, why do brothers Gai Nie have time to come back and take a look?" San'er asked.
"I just came back from Qin..." Ge Nie told the story.
"The fire is good, the Qin State just needs to be beaten. Call me next time if something like this happens." San'er said excitedly. If he was dissatisfied with the Zhao State, then he was hating the Qin State.
This kind of hatred is not only because the second brother died at the hands of the Qin State, but also because of the continuous war between the ancestors and the Qin State for generations, which is unforgettable.
"What was written on the note the king gave you?" Qi asked curiously.
"I didn't look." Gai Nie shook his head.
"Take it out and have a look." San'er was also a little curious.
"Isn't this bad?" Gai Nie hesitated.
"Did the king say you can't watch it?" Qi asked.
"That's not true." Gai Nie thought for a moment and shook his head.
"That's okay." Qi said.
"Okay, in that case, let's take a look." Gai Nie took out the note from his arms. In fact, he was also curious about what Zhao Kuo wrote that could save his life.
When the three of them opened the note and took a look, they were stunned.
"What...is this written? I can't read." San'er scratched his head and said awkwardly.
"I am willing to use cement, alcohol, or paper to exchange any technology for this warrior... Your Majesty is benevolent and righteous." Qi took a long breath and said slowly.
He refused to recognize anyone who said he was a benevolent king, except Zhao Kuo, who he had no choice but to obey.
He had never heard of alcohol, but he knew the importance of cement and paper. Not to mention one Gai Ni, even ten Gai Ni tied together could not compare.
Zhao Kuo was willing to exchange it entirely because of Ge Nie and the friendship between their monarch and his ministers.
"Your Majesty... you treat me very kindly." Gai Nie murmured, folded the paper again, put it back in his arms, and checked it over and over again before he felt relieved, as if it were a treasure.
Qi and San'er looked at Gai Nie with envy. In their opinion, they were extremely happy to be able to follow such a monarch.
