pappabearbooks Chapter 630 Growing up
Chapter 630 Growing up
Qinghe County
This is the border between Nanyang Prefecture and Gyeongju Prefecture, and is also the only way to get to the capital.
Qinghe County belongs to Gyeongju Prefecture and is also the richest place in Gyeongju Prefecture. In recent years, the rebel army of King Qi has often harassed the surrounding people in Tongzhou, Nanyang and Gyeongju, but Qinghe has been able to remain stable until now.
The most crucial reason for this is that Qinghe is the ancestral home of the Cui family, a thousand-year-old family. The Cui family is not only wealthy enough to rival a country, but also controls 30% of the grain reserves of the Sui Dynasty. The largest salt fields of the Sui Dynasty are firmly controlled by the Cui family. In addition, money houses, land transportation, water transportation, docks, tea, medicine, food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc., hundreds of businesses, large and small, can all be traced back to the Cui family.
This is only the Cui family's visible industries. On the one hand, they train their cronies to take the imperial examinations and become officials in the court. On the other hand, they make friends with major martial arts sects and secretly cultivate their own power to stabilize the safety of the family. Even if the King of Qi has tens of thousands of troops, he dare not touch the Cui family openly. As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. If the Cui family turns to the court, the King of Qi's rebels will be quickly wiped out.
The King of Qi also understood this truth. He had tried to win over the head of the Cui family before. Unfortunately, Mr. Cui was an old fox. He had long seen that the King of Qi had a cruel character and a narrow mind, and was not someone who could accomplish great things. He decisively cut off his relationship with the King of Qi.
Because of this, the King of Qi had always held a grudge against Cui Lao, so he supported Cui Yuanzhang to assassinate Cui Lao several times with internal and external collusion, which led to the experience of Yan Shu saving Cui Lao twice later.
But in the end, the King of Qi sacrificed his son's life, and he himself led the army to fight but was defeated in Nanwei Prefecture. Now he is deeply traumatized and is said to be bedridden. Without him personally presiding over the situation, chaos broke out among the King of Qi's rebels, and soldiers colluded to burn, kill and loot nearby wealthy businessmen. Now the King of Qi's rebels are at the end of their strength. As long as the court can send troops to suppress them at this time, they will surely be able to recapture Tongzhou soon.
Now the imperial court is facing internal and external troubles. The old emperor once tried to let Prince Wuling lead the troops to suppress Prince Qi's rebels. But after Xiao Yan escaped from the capital and returned to Nanyang, he quickly took control of Prince Wuling's Mansion and the entire Xiao family army with the secret assistance of Jiang Ci. He had nothing but hatred for the old emperor and those noble members of the royal family, and naturally would not serve the court. Therefore, even though Prince Qi was only left with one breath to live, the old emperor had not yet sent troops to encircle and suppress him.
The granary is insufficient, the treasury is empty, and the Rongdi tribes in the north are eyeing the country covetously. The 100,000 troops in Rongcheng cannot be easily mobilized. Therefore, considering the current national strength of the Sui Dynasty, it is impossible to fight a war on two fronts. The top priority for the old emperor is to guard the country's borders. As for the rebel King of Qi, he can only be left to fend for himself.
崔府
As soon as Mr. Cui returned to his room, he saw a shadow instantly move in front of him.
Old Cui, who was already accustomed to this, just slowly stopped and looked at the delicate and handsome young man in black in front of him for a while.
"Master, I've only been away for a month, how come you've grown into this?"
When he left the mansion, Xiao Zhenzi was still a child of seven or eight years old. He had been away for only a month, but the boy had grown half a head taller and had turned into a boy of twelve or thirteen years old.
All I heard was a dry and hoarse voice of a young boy in the voice change period, "The day after you left, I went into seclusion. During this seclusion, my spiritual power increased a lot, and my body naturally grew along with it."
Elder Cui immediately became interested. He put his hands in his sleeves, approached the young man with a smile and asked in a low voice: "Master, if I practice to your level, can I regain my youth?"
Xiao Xiaozi's dark eyes glanced at Mr. Cui with some disdain.
"You don't have much talent for cultivation. You should think about how to prolong your life."
Mr. Cui’s dream of rejuvenation was shattered in an instant.
The little town man said, "You are back just in time. Come with me out of the city."
Cui Lao just sat down and was about to drink a cup of tea to quench his thirst. When he heard Xiao Zhenzi's words, he looked up and asked in confusion: "Why do you want to leave the city?"
"Two old friends have come to Qinghe. They are already outside the city. Let's go and greet them in person."
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Mr. Cui to refuse, Xiao Zhenzi pulled his sleeve and instantly turned into a shadow and disappeared.
outside the city gate
The convoy slowly stopped.
Ying Qi, who was in the lead, turned his horse and came to a carriage behind.
"Master, we have arrived in Qinghe. Would you like me to go to the Cui family to say hello first?"
Jiang Ci glanced at the city gate and said, "Let's go into the city and find an inn to stay in first, and then send someone to deliver the visiting card to the Cui family."
The Cui family is a prominent family in Qinghe, so it is best to follow the rules and etiquette when visiting them.
"Yes!"
Ying Qi rode his horse back to the team leader's position and gave an order, and the team slowly drove towards Qinghe County.
As soon as they passed through the city gate, they were stopped by an old man and a young man who suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.
The old man patted his chest and complained to the young boy beside him.
"You're going to break my old bones sooner or later. Can you please say hello before we fly next time? My heart can't take it any longer."
Xiaozhenzi patted Cui Lao on the shoulder and said, "Isn't this much more convenient than riding in a carriage?"
"Yes...it is convenient, but my body can't take it anymore." Mr. Cui rubbed his trembling legs, and then he noticed the convoy parked not far away.
Yan Shu looked out of the car window, and when he saw the old man's face clearly, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
She said to Jiang Ci excitedly: "It's Mr. Cui, could it be that he knew we were coming?"
Jiang Ci also glanced forward: "Let's go down and take a look."
"Ah."
Jiang Ci and Yan Shu got off the carriage one after another. At this time, Old Cui also recognized Ying Qi and the others. When he was about to step forward to ask, he saw two familiar figures getting off the carriage.
"Jiang Erlang, Yan girl, it's really you two, why did you suddenly come to Qinghe?"
Yan Shu walked up to Mr. Cui and said with a smile, "Are you not welcoming us?"
Elder Cui chuckled and said, "You really wronged me. I have invited you to come over many times in my letters before, but you never gave me a definite answer. I thought you wouldn't come, but you came without any notice. If my master hadn't known you were coming in advance, I wouldn't have known who was here to pick you up today."
Yan Shu asked, "Where is the town guy? Didn't he come with you?"
"Cough cough..."
The young boy next to him coughed, trying to attract Yan Shu's attention.
As expected, Yan Shu's attention was attracted by him. Xiao Zhenzi pursed his lips and raised his chin high, hoping that Yan Shu could recognize him.
As a result, Yan Shu took a look at Xiao Zhenzi and felt that the boy looked quite energetic and had a bit of similarity with Old Cui in his eyes and eyebrows.
"Grandpa Cui, is this your grandson?"
Mr. Cui suddenly laughed happily.
"Haha, you really don't recognize him?"
Yan Shu looked at the young boy again. At this moment, the young boy's face was obviously angry, his cheeks puffed up, and he snorted with disdain.
Seeing this extremely familiar look of pride, the small town that looked like a two-year-old baby instantly emerged in Yan Shu's mind.
She widened her eyes in surprise, opened her mouth and paused, saying in disbelief.
"You...are from a small town?"
The little town turned his face away and snorted, "Huh, it's only been a year since I last saw you and you can't recognize me?"
Yan Shu: I really didn’t recognize it. How did that baby in the red bellyband suddenly grow up?