Chapter I

There was a burst of rain at night, the weather was very cold in the early morning, the yellow soil of the Shiliang River was frozen, frozen white, as cold and lonely as the Shiliang River, a few black crows perched on the sparse branches, croaking and chirping, occasionally one or two yellow leaves floated by.

The horse bell jingled, passers-by looked back, first saw an official bow in the Shiliang River, the bow of the boat erected two gold-painted aconite lacquer plates, each book described in gold "Jiangdong according to the deputy envoy", "Zuo Du Yu Shi Gu", each sign is a column of three characters, literate people puzzled asked: "What kind of official is Zuo Du, what kind of official is Yu Shi Gu?" ”

The weeping willow leaves of the embankment were thinning their branches, the official boats were dragging long white water marks, and a troop of cavalry came from the yellow dirt road on the left embankment, and the jingling and crisp horse bells came from among them. Among the cavalrymen with swords and armor, there was also a young Confucian scholar with a long green shirt tied around his waist, chatting and laughing with the officer wearing fish scale armor, soap uniform, and iron scarf next to him.

The young man in green shirt riding a horse was Lin Bin, and the officer next to him was Liu Xilin, the deputy lieutenant of the cloud cavalry sent by the Soldiers and Horses Division of Dongyang Mansion to escort Gu Wuchen, the deputy envoy of the inspection Gu Wuchen to Jiangning, Gu Wuchen's family, young and old, servants and servants, and servants all traveled by boat, and Zhou Pu, Zhao Hu, and Chen Enze all rode horses behind the cavalry.

They only left Shiliang County yesterday, and although they said that they were only 200 miles away from Jiangning by water, the Shiliang River had a steady flow in winter, a small wind, and very slow boats. The cavalry could only lead the snail speed of the official ship, and walked slowly on the river embankment, thinking in his heart what was the place to hit and settle in front of him.

It seems that Gu Wuchen is not anxious to go to Jiangning to take up his post, and the assassination in Shiliang County, Lin Jian has not seen Gu Wuchen and they mentioned it again, as if it is irrelevant in his opinion. Lin Jian will not talk too much, knowing that he is just a person, and in front of the deputy envoy of the fourth grade, his status is too low, even if Gu Wuchen has other plans for this matter in his heart, he will not discuss it with him.

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In the cold weather, the cavalry walked against the wind, and their ears were still sore from the cold wind blowing from behind. In the afternoon, the frozen soil melted, and the yellow dirt road on the river embankment, which was not walked by many people, looked smooth and watery, as if it had been smeared with a layer of oil. The horse's hooves still slipped from time to time, and Lin Tie rode on the horse's back, so he had to be on guard at all times to throw it down.

Liu Xilin looked at Lin Ju riding a horse very hard, and said, "Lin Juren, what are you doing with us to suffer so hard?" Those of us who eat soldiers' meals, these cold weather, and such a rotten road are unbearable, so you are better to take the initiative to come to the shore to find hardship. The horse's hooves are slipping all the way, and what if they throw you into the river! ”

"General Liu, don't curse me, I really want to fall into the water, and I have to work hard for you to go down the river to fish," Lin Jian said with a smile, "I am an active person, and I am uncomfortable on the boat, and besides, Lord Gu and Gu Gongzi are against each other, and I am also annoyed by this, so it is better to brag with General Liu on horseback......

"Lin Juren, you are joking, you can be admitted to the famous people, there are only thirteen or fourteen people in Dongyang Mansion in three years, even if you are not as knowledgeable as Gu Dacai, you must always be better than that Gu Gongzi......" Liu Xilin listened to Lin Lian, a general Liu on the left and a general on the right, called him happy, he was just a lieutenant of the cloud cavalry from the seventh grade, and the military attache of this dynasty was even higher than the military attache from the seventh grade, and it also formed an atmosphere that Confucian students despised military generals. Lin Tie's riding skills are clumsy, but he is not afraid of hardship, and he talks casually with them who eat soldiers' meals, and he doesn't speak in a crepe manner, and he likes to listen to them brag about the muddy things in the barracks, Liu Xilin and his two colonels all feel that Lin Tie is very fond of them, and jokingly told him, "I think Lin Juren wants to learn to ride a horse well, and go to Jiangning City to deceive those girls and daughters-in-law......" The people next to him laughed when they heard it.

“…… The girl and daughter-in-law also want to cheat," Lin Jian also laughed and said, "In these years, there is a shortage of soldiers, and it is better to learn more than not to learn...... Besides, 'the six arts of a gentleman, etiquette, music, archery, royalty, calligraphy, and counting', archery and horseback riding are also among the six arts, and I am not familiar with Jiangning, if others can ride horses and shoot arrows, but I won't, wouldn't I be looked down upon? ”

"With Master Gu here, who can look down on Lin Juren, you ......," Liu Xilin said, and there was envy in his tone.

Lin Jian smiled, in other places, the deputy envoy of the imperial history of Jiazuo can be said to be a high authority, the situation in Jiangdong County is more special, regardless of whether there is real power or not, in Jiangning Mansion, the southern capital of the empire, there are many officials who are higher than Gu Wuchen. Besides, Lin Jian doesn't care if others look down on him, he wants to completely integrate into this world, and there are many things to learn and try. It is said that walking thousands of miles and reading thousands of books, there are all kinds of means of walking in this era, which are not as convenient and fast as riding a horse. It's comfortable to take a boat, and the speed is always too slow. In later generations, I was accustomed to that kind of high-paced life, and I always felt that it was unbearable to walk for half a day even if I took a carriage for thirty or forty miles. Besides, if one day secretly assists the flow of Ma Ko to gain a foothold on Changshan Island, the east window incident will be covered and leave, and it will be easy to hide from afar on horseback.

Speaking of horseback riding, it is also simple, although the mud road is rotten, but Lin Jian can also talk and laugh with Liu Xilin and other generals of Dongyang Mansion on horseback, but when the horse's hooves are running like flying, people must also walk on the ground on horseback, it is a little difficult, and it is not easy to rely on the horse's momentum to slash and sprint to destroy its strength when facing the enemy. Besides, Yang Pu, Yang Shi's father and son, and Gu Siyuan, the son of the Gu family, all regarded Lin Tie as a person who was a snob and a snobbish person, and he was very cold to him, and Lin Tie was uncomfortable staying on the boat, so it was better to go ashore and be familiar with horse nature.

Wu Qi and the others temporarily stayed in Shiliang County to help the Seventh Lady, and Zhou Pu, Zhao Hu, and Chen Enze were all nominally Lin Lian's servants and servants, so naturally they couldn't be lazy and stay on the boat.

At noon, there was no sharp village house in front of me, and a woman wearing a blue calico jacket came out of the cabin, and shouted to the shore from a distance across the river: "Captain Liu, Master Gu said to stop the boat for an hour, and invite Lin Juren and Liu Jiangye to come on the boat for dinner...... This woman is the female shopkeeper of the tea hotel in Shiliang County, the lady of the Xiao family, and her voice is very good. Lin Tie was shocked when he saw the beautiful little widow Xiao family lady going to Jiangning with the Gu family, and later learned that the Xiao family lady was recommended by Liang Zuoren of the county to the Gu family to go to Jiangning to be a cook.

Throughout the ages, subordinates' thoughts of currying favor with their bosses have always been the same, Lin Jian thought to himself that a few days ago, Liang Zuoren invited Gu Wuchen to eat at the Xiao Family Tea Hotel, probably because of this thought.

Liu Xilin reined in his horse, and the cavalry behind him didn't need him to summon him, and they all stopped together. I don't know how long Master Gu will stop the boat to rest, Liu Xilin asked his subordinates to lead their horses away from the muddy yellow dirt road and go to Caopizi to rest.

Lin Jian looked ahead, he and Zhou Pu walked back to Lin Du on this waterway, thinking that if they didn't shoot, they should be able to see Jiangning City before dusk, and even if they did, they didn't have to rest for an hour. I don't know what Gu Wuchen is thinking, Lin Jian got off his horse and tied it to the willow tree on the shore, Liu Xilin was a little resentful in his heart, and said to Lin Lian: "This stop-and-go, two hundred miles of waterway will take three or four days...... It's better to stay here than to be hungry for a while, and then stop for a hot soup and rice when you meet the store in front of you. ”

The cavalry and sword archers under the Prefecture and County Soldiers and Horses Division are all local military departments, and their status and treatment are far inferior to the town army that is regarded as a regular army by the imperial court. The rising township soldiers have just filled the vacancy of catching robbers and robbers in the countryside. It should be said that the team of cavalry led by Liu Xilin to escort Gu Wuchen to Jiangning to take up his post are quite elite, after Gu Wuchen was assassinated in Shiliang County, the prefect of Dongyang Mansion did not dare to take Gu Wuchen's safety as a child's play, but in the eyes of Gu Wuchen and his family, this team of cavalry is no different from ordinary miscellaneous soldiers, and they are only polite to the leading Liu Xilin in words, and even the two colonels under Liu Xilin are not qualified to get on the boat to dine with Hu Cong at this time.

"When I met the shop in front of me, I asked Lord Gu to stop again, so that the brothers could eat hot soup and rice and eat some meat dishes," Lin Jian said, "I'll go on the boat first and see if I can cook some hot soup on the boat and send it ashore." ”

"Thank you Lin for lifting people, I'll come over later." Liu Xilin said that he felt that Lin Jian was much easier to get along with than other people who were above the top.

After a while, the boatmen supported the official boat to the shore, Lin Tie and Zhao Hu helped tie the cable to the shore willow, the boatman was busy at the bow of the boat and said that he didn't dare to be, Lin Tie smiled: "What don't you dare to do?" He jumped on the boat, first went around to the stern of the boat to find the lady of the Xiao family to help cook a bucket of vegetable soup for the cavalry on the shore, and it happened that a young man came out of the cabin, and he asked Lin Lian: "What are you delaying on the shore, waiting for you to eat." There was a hint of reproach in his tone.

Lin Lian ignored him, thinking that his eyes hadn't seen that the ship hadn't stopped yet.

This young man is Gu Yingsleeve's distant cousin Gu Siming, and he is also Gu Wuchen's closest nephew in the Gu family. Gu Siming had studied for a few years, but he couldn't get any fame, so Gu Wuchen decided to take him with him to see if he could cultivate him. In addition to Gu Siming, the Gu family also has a son who is a little distant, Gu Tianqiao, who also went to Jiangning to practice. The Gu family has been in decline for ten years, there are no outstanding figures among the elders, and the younger generations have also been abandoned, and it is easy for the Gu family to revitalize.

Lin Jian saw the lady of the Xiao family poking her head out of the cabin and asked her, "Lady of the Xiao family, have you cooked some hot vegetable soup?" On such a cold day, it is not comfortable for the soldiers to eat cold dry cakes on the shore. ”

"You don't need Lin Juren to tell me again, it's already burned, I'll bring it to you!" The lady of the Xiao family said crisply, turned around and entered the cabin.

"I'll help you." Gu Siming followed very eagerly.

Lin Jian smiled in his heart, this guy really thought that Liang Zuoren recommended the Xiao family's lady to the Gu family as a cook, and he really didn't look at it at all, that is, the Gu family stared at it very much, and Gu Wuchen didn't dare to rush to mention the matter of the concubine.

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PS: I have to take the traffic rules tomorrow morning, and I may have to miss a chapter tomorrow!

Bodhisattva protection! Red Ticket Protection!