Chapter 78 Everyone Gets Credit Together

  That night, the Shen family hosted again. The current head of the Shen family was named Deng (read as "equal"), who was also a scholar, but because there were no officials in the imperial court, he repeatedly failed to pass the exams and thus became a stay-at-home father. This time, it was originally heard that there were bandits on Qixia Ridge who wanted to rob and kill the heavenly envoy, but it turned out to be a close call for the Shen family. Later, when Xun Yu's son told him that Wang Kuang had helped him cover up his mistakes with just one sentence, he was extremely grateful to Wang Kuang in his heart, so during the banquet, he was extremely courteous. It was said that after Wang Kuang found out about the search for the Huali wood saplings, he took over the matter and secretly kept it in mind, thinking that this young master wanted the Huali tree saplings, which must have a great use in the future. People often say that things handled by the young master are always extraordinary. Anyway, there were many Huali trees on the mountain, but because they grew slowly, they were often blocked from sunlight and withered before they could grow up. If people wanted to plant them, as long as they guaranteed sunlight, they wouldn't need much care to grow. Since they wanted to find some, why not find more and plant some themselves?

  Li Yexu was also very happy, originally he came to Jian'an this time with some reluctance, it was Grandfather who said that the matter concerned the eldest grandson of the emperor and he only made a great effort, but today he actually settled down with just over 20 soldiers and some yamen runners. The big thief's den that had been a scourge on the local area for many years has now been pacified, so when he goes back, he won't have to hang his head in shame in front of his older brother again. Therefore, at the banquet, he was also smiling and frequently raising his cup to toast. This person can drink a lot when he's happy, before the banquet had even dispersed, Li Yexu had already fallen asleep on the table.

  Because of what Xu Guoxu said on the mountain during the day, Wang Kuang didn't dare to drink too much, and his face was also red and puffy. This wine was the best he had drunk since he came here, and it was winter, so they were drinking red wine. The rose-red color was extremely bright and clear, with a few grains of red yeast that hadn't been filtered out floating on the surface, looking very good (white rice wine only needs yeast, while red rice wine requires both yeast and red yeast, which is made from glutinous rice dyed with plant juice; good red yeast is shiny black before brewing, but after brewing, its color dissolves into the wine, turning it purple). When he drank it, it was surprisingly sweet, a bit like his grandmother's homemade wine.

  It was not easy to wait for the banquet to disperse, and it had already changed shifts. Wang Kuang came to find Xun Guixu, who had been waiting for him. Seeing Wang Kuang arrive, he invited him in and closed the door, instructing his followers to guard outside before quietly asking Wang Kuang: "Does the second son know the reason for this trip to Chang'an?"

  "However, if it's said to be for the sake of food, I'm afraid it's not enough to make a difference. There are many people under heaven who can cook, and even the imperial chefs in the palace are all more skilled than me; but if it's said to be about General Wang's affairs, this also cannot be explained. Therefore, these past few days, Wang has been unable to think of a solution." In fact, Wang had already guessed that going to Chang'an was for the sake of Empress Longsun's illness, which he and Huang Liang had planned out at the beginning of the year.

  Now, when Xu Guoxiao says this, he must be showing favor or kindness to him. The knowledge in this is not small. If someone with a high status puts on an attitude that makes you guess something, even if you know it, most of the time you should pretend not to know and put on an attitude of asking for guidance. Finally, you should put on an attitude of sudden realization, showing off the other person's cleverness, making them feel satisfied psychologically, and naturally they will become closer to you. Of course, if you directly answer that you know, unless you encounter someone with a narrow mind, generally it won't cause their resentment. Now, if you don't understand the situation, you can directly answer that you know; but these days, Wang Kuang has seen that Xu Guoxiao is not doing anything bad except for enjoying food and fun, and Xu Guoxiao is also someone in front of Empress Longsun, so maybe there will be a need for his help in the future. Therefore, Wang Kuang put on this attitude.

  "Does Erlang know about the Empress's affair?" Xu Guoxiao asked again.

  "I've heard rumors that the empress is slightly unwell and has been for some years now. Could it be... what the angel said?"

  "Anyway, Second Brother, remember that some things are not to be done, and cannot be forced. This is important." Xu Guoxiao rubbed his head. It was not easy for him to say these words, and if they were heard by someone with malicious intentions, it would be considered treasonous and seditious. He didn't dare say more, but saying this much was already a fulfillment of the promise he made to Wang Erlang that he would send food to Chang'an. If something happened to him, where else could he find food?

  "Besides, I've never heard an angel say anything, and tonight is to discuss the itinerary with the angel." Wang Jing naturally knew that Xu Guoxu's words were already very difficult to say, and he had to take a certain risk. If it was a petty person, Xu Guoxu's foot would have already entered the underworld.

  The next day, Wang Kuang and his party set out again. As for the bandits at Qixia Ridge, they were escorted to Jian'an by Shen Yu's men. Xu Guoxu, Li Yexi, and he jointly wrote a memorial and sent it to Jian'an, which was confirmed by Huang Liang without a doubt, and then hastily sent to Chang'an.

  As they passed by the spring again, everyone was relieved and dared to take a break. After this incident, Huang Da was kept by Wang Kuang, and in this campaign against the bandits, Huang Da's contribution was not small. It is estimated that after returning to Chang'an, he would also receive rewards with Wang Kuang. If he were granted a small title and some land, he could settle down with Wang Wu in Jiankang as a rural gentleman. Even if he didn't get a title, the reward money wouldn't be small either, and he could start a small business. With Wang Kuang's help, he would always be able to find a profitable venture. It can be said that among this group of people, except for Wang Rong and Sun Jiajing who were young and didn't participate in the action, only Lin Xuanmiao had no merit. However, he looked down on this merit, thinking that if he himself had succeeded, it would have been much better than this. Nevertheless, he was grateful to Wang Kuang because Wang Kuang asked Xian Yu to mention him in a memorial with a casual remark, saying that Lin Xuanmiao, a talented scholar from Jiankang, showed no fear in the face of danger and talked with ease among the bandits. This one sentence was very useful; it's worth knowing that this memorial would eventually be sent to Li La'er, and just having his name on it was more valuable than currying favor with hundreds of prominent families in Chang'an.

  The spring water on Qixia Ridge is still quite good, clear and sweet, just like the well water in Tangxing City, it's all good for brewing tea. Yesterday was poisoned, so no one drank it, even the soldiers who had drunk it didn't taste anything. Today is different, a soldier took a sip and shouted: "Good water!" At that time, everyone rushed up like a swarm of bees.

  Wang Kuang also fetched two buckets of water and prepared to make tea for the night. Lin Xianglian and Xu Guoxiao saw Wang Kuang fetching water, exchanged a glance, and quickly poured out the water from their own buckets, replacing it with spring water instead.

  After crossing the Xi Xia Ridge and passing through the Xian Xia Pass, it can be said that they have left Jianzhou and entered the territory of Quzhou's Xujiang County (now Jiangshan City, Zhejiang). At the foot of the mountain, there is a post station. Seeing that the sky was already dark, and there were still over 100 miles to go before reaching Xujiang County, Xu Guoxu ordered someone to pass on the message: "Let's rest here for tonight and set off again tomorrow."

  The next morning, Wang Kuang and others had not finished washing up when they saw the post officer leading a clerk and several yamen runners coming to find Xu Guoxiu. It turned out that the post officer had seen Xu Guoxiu's letter and noticed that there were several wounded men in the team, who seemed to have been through a fight. Not daring to slack off, he sent someone to report to the county magistrate overnight. The county magistrate had also vaguely heard that there were bandits lurking around Qixia Ridge, so he was greatly shocked and hastily dispatched yamen runners to come. Although there were only a few people, they couldn't do much, but this attitude had to be shown.

  As a result of this campaign, everyone achieved great success and was in high spirits. Xu Guoxu and Li Yexi did not show any arrogance towards the book clerks and bailiffs who had rushed to the scene, which made them breathe a sigh of relief. When they heard that the bandits had been eliminated, they were overjoyed. From then on, the road from Xujing to Tangxing was considered safe and secure. As time went on, more and more merchants would travel through Qixia Ridge, and this advantage was obvious. Therefore, a bailiff was dispatched to hurry back to the county seat to report the news.

  Wang Kuang thought that since the Zhenxia Ridge was located at the intersection of two provinces and four counties (Jianzhou Tangxing, Quzhou Yushan, Guangfeng, Xujiang, originally Yushan and Guangfeng belonged to Quzhou, but were later assigned to Xinzhou, now part of Jiangxi), if he let one person from Tangxing County take all the credit, it might lead to discord among the four counties in the future, which would not be beneficial for the people. Anyway, the merit was great enough, and he wasn't afraid of sharing it with others, so he mentioned it to Xu Guoxiao. Xu Guoxiao, having come from the palace, immediately understood what Wang Kuang meant when he mentioned the intersection of the four counties. He thought to himself, "What's the relationship between this Wang Erlang and the Shen family that he's always protecting them?" And also, by association, he wanted to give some credit to Xuyuzi as well. However, in his heart, he was thinking about how to handle it, but on the surface, he immediately wrote several letters, all with a unified tone, saying that the four counties had assisted the Youlin Army in suppressing the bandits under the leadership of Tangxing County. He called over a clerk and instructed him to send the letters to each county and Jian'an. For Xu Guoxiao, doing this was effortless; nowadays, the imperial court wasn't worried about you sharing credit with others, but rather that you would take all the credit for yourself.

  The clerks and bailiffs looked at Wang Kuang, who whispered a few words in his ear, and the great achievement came down from heaven. Normally, these bailiffs were just in charge of managing trivial matters such as stealing chickens and dogs, or going to the countryside to collect taxes during tax season. The people had just experienced decades of war and had finally settled down, so they were very law-abiding and didn't have any opportunities to make achievements. To make achievements, you need a reason, after all. Now, it's great that we're suppressing bandits, not small-time thieves, but a large gang of hundreds of people. At this time, everyone secretly thanked Wang Kuang. On the way to Xujiang, several bailiffs followed closely behind Wang Kuang and Xu Guoxiao's carriage, waiting for them to give orders so they could carry them out immediately.

  Lin Xuanmiao found an opportunity to secretly despise Wang Kuang: "Second Brother, your brain is not entering the official career, it's really a pity. No wonder Father said you're a demon, you're indeed a demon! Never mind, let's just say this for now, in the future if someone has difficulties, you can't not help."

  Division

  Sorry about that, as I had to sweep away the previous tail, so the original thought was disrupted, and the updates for these two days haven't been that fast.

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