Chapter 517: The Gu Family

Youyan, Yijing

In the study of the Gu Mansion, the father and son, Gu Zhongshi and Gu Shouting, were talking about the transportation of grain and grass. Suddenly, a servant hurried over and reported to Gu Zhongshi:

"Master, Lord Zhang Chengzhong is here. He wants to see you for something urgent..."

Gu Zhongshi was a little surprised when he heard this, but he still nodded and ordered:
"Please bring him in!"

"Yes!"

A moment later, a tall, elegant middle-aged scholar hurried in. When he saw Gu Zhongshi and Gu Shouting, father and son, he quickly greeted them.

"teacher!"

"Shou Ting!"

This middle-aged scholar is Zhang Chengzhong, one of Gu Zhongshi's students. He once served as the prefect of Yuyang with the support of Gu Zhongshi. Now he has followed Gu Zhongshi to join the Fengwu Army and serves as the deputy provincial governor of Liaoyang.

Looking at Zhang Chengzhong who was still respectful to him, Gu Zhongshi nodded slightly in his heart. Although Zhang Chengzhong, as the Deputy Censor, was no longer inferior to him, the current Deputy Governor of Youyan, in terms of official position, Zhang Chengzhong was not blinded by power and was still polite to him and listened to his instructions. This was still very rare.

After all, although Zhang Chengzhong called him teacher, in fact Gu Zhongshi was not his mentor, nor did he teach Zhang Chengzhong any knowledge. When Zhang Chengzhong became his disciple, he was already in his thirties and was very mature in knowledge!

There was only one reason why Zhang Chengzhong insisted on becoming Gu Zhongshi's disciple. That was because Zhang Chengzhong was just an insignificant official in the Youyan Censorate with no background and no money.

Gu Zhongshi was the deputy Censor of the Censorate. Although he was a deputy, Zhao Fuqu, the then governor of Youyan, did not appoint a Censor. Therefore, Gu Zhongshi, the nominal deputy Censor, actually exercised the power of the Censor and was the head of the Censorate...
Therefore, everyone knew the reason why Zhang Chengzhong was so determined to become Gu Zhongshi's disciple. It must be said that Zhang Chengzhong made the right move, which greatly changed his destiny. Although Gu Zhongshi did not teach him any knowledge, he was dedicated to his official career. Before retiring, he promoted Zhang Chengzhong to the sixth rank of the Censorate.

A few years after Zhang Chengzhong had been a sixth-rank assistant official, Gu Zhongshi used his old connections to help Zhang Chengzhong take a further step and get the fifth-rank position of Yuyang prefect.

As for the support of his teacher Gu Zhongshi, Zhang Chengzhong naturally reciprocated. When he was working in the Censorate, some of the Gu family's violations of discipline, bullying men and women, and other evil deeds were quietly suppressed by him. When he was the prefect of Yuyang, he allowed the Gu family to have absolute control over Yuyang!
After the three people in the study greeted each other, Gu Zhongshi looked at the anxious look on Zhang Chengzhong's face and asked curiously:

"Chengzhong, what happened that makes you so anxious?"

Hearing Gu Zhongshi ask this, Zhang Chengzhong quickly said:
"Teacher, I got a message from the Fengwu Army, saying that General Ye intends to transfer Cui Shao to be the governor of Youyan..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Gu Zhongshi, who had been calm and composed, suddenly froze. Noticing the change in his expression, Zhang Chengzhong also looked a little nervous, hesitating whether to continue speaking. The atmosphere in the study room suddenly became a little tense.

After a long silence, Gu Zhongshi finally managed to squeeze out a few words and asked:
"Where did you get this news?"

Facing Gu Zhongshi's inquiry, Zhang Chengzhong did not dare to neglect and quickly said:

"Teacher, I got the news from the people around Cui Desheng, the deputy general of the Third Division. He is Cui Shao's nephew and the news is very reliable. It is said that General Ye has ordered Cui Shao to arrive in Yijing soon!"

Originally, Gu Zhongshi's expression was just a little stiff and not too ugly, but after listening to what Zhang Chengzhong finished speaking, his old face suddenly became gloomy as if he had lost his temper!

For Gu Zhongshi, the reason why he actively joined the Fengwu Army this time was that the Fengwu Army showed great strength, his son Gu Shouting spared no efforts to persuade him, and he had a vision for the future development of the family. However, this does not mean that Gu Zhongshi himself had no selfish motives.

Gu Zhongshi is sixty-six years old this year, and he has been over sixty years old. He has retired from the position of Deputy Censor-in-Chief for six years. However, because he is in very good health and has a lot of wealth, he has no worries about food and clothing, and he takes good care of himself, so he looks very young.

Gu Zhongshi is not only young in appearance, but also in mentality. Not long ago, he took a young girl who was just 28 years old as his seventh concubine. In addition to continuing to work hard on the incense, Gu Zhongshi is also full of desire for power even though he is old!

Six years ago, when he had just turned sixty, he was full of confidence and prepared to continue working hard in the Censorate, striving to get the title of deputy and become a dignified Censor of Youyan. If possible, he would like to experience the life of a provincial governor, and feel satisfied with his life. However, a conversation with Zhao Fuqu made him feel very depressed and he was forced to retire and return home with a heart full of regrets.

Gu Zhongshi, who felt that his official career was hopeless at the time, specially trained his son Gu Shouting and his student Zhang Chengzhong to realize his desire for power on his behalf. However, due to the misfortune of his son Gu Shouting, Gu Zhongshi could only settle for the second best and used the personal connections and face resources he had accumulated in the political arena for decades on his student Zhang Chengzhong, and used Zhang Chengzhong's hand to control the entire Yuyang.

At that time, Zhang Chengzhong was only thinking about maintaining the status quo and consolidating his family’s foundation in Yuyang for hundreds of years. He never expected that a few years later, the entire Youyan, and even the entire northern part of the Great Zhou, would undergo such a big change because of Ye Mingsheng’s sudden rise, causing the land of Yanzhao to have a new owner...

Seeing that the Fengwu Army had captured Yijing and was about to swallow up Youyan, Gu Zhongshi also began to really think about the option of the Fengwu Army. Having been up and down in the political arena for decades, he knew very well what the Fengwu Army needed and what he and the Gu family had. After making up his mind to join the Fengwu Army, Gu Zhongshi's heart gradually became active.

Although he had retired and returned to his hometown before, and had spent six years at home enjoying the company of his grandchildren, that was when Zhao Fuqu was in power. Now that the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng have arrived, the land of Youyan has welcomed a new master, and Gu Zhongshi naturally has new hopes. Although he is already sixty-six years old, which is considered a very old age in this era where the average age is no more than sixty years old, Gu Zhongshi believes that he is in good health and has plenty of energy to be competent for important positions!

Therefore, during the face-to-face meeting with Ye Mingsheng, Gu Zhongshi took the initiative to hint to Ye Mingsheng that he was willing to add fuel to the cause of the Fengwu Army. Facing Gu Zhongshi's request, although Ye Mingsheng was a little doubtful as to whether Gu Zhongshi had the energy to do so, in view of the money and grain donated by the Gu family and their sincerity in surrendering, Ye Mingsheng still met Gu Zhongshi's request and invited Gu Zhongshi to return to office as deputy governor!
Gu Zhongshi did not play any tricks in response to Ye Mingsheng's invitation. He directly accepted Ye Mingsheng's invitation. Although he accepted Ye Mingsheng's invitation, Gu Zhongshi was actually still very uncomfortable with the position of deputy governor.

After all, he had been the deputy provincial governor for many years and was very sensitive to the word "deputy". When he was in the Provincial Surveillance Department, anyone who dared to call him the deputy provincial governor would be given a hard time by him at best, or directly assigned to live in a poor and remote place...

Although he disliked the word "deputy", when he thought that Ye Mingsheng might very likely serve as the governor of Youyan, and that Ye Mingsheng was too busy with military affairs to handle government affairs, the power of the governor would most likely be exercised by him, the deputy governor, just like the Censor in the past.

Whenever he thought of this possibility, Gu Zhongshi was very excited. As a native of Youyan, he had always had a dream in his heart, that is, to become the governor of Youyan. He had been striving for this goal for decades, and becoming the governor had become an obsession in his heart!
It was this obsession that made Gu Zhongshi so eager to return to officialdom. He was already sixty-six years old, and his life was already counting down. No one knew how long he could live. If he could not be the nominal governor, then the power of acting as the governor would be enough to comfort him in his life!

And now a Cheng Yaojin appears out of nowhere. Ye Mingsheng wants Cui Shao to be the governor of Youyan. This is a heavy blow to Gu Zhongshi!
Observing his father's extremely gloomy expression, Gu Shouting, as a son, was able to understand what Gu Zhongshi was thinking. He shook his head slightly and persuaded:
"Dad, I am in charge of more than 25,000 troops in the Sixth Division..."

Listening to his son's persuasion, Gu Zhongshi was stunned at first, then he seemed to be thinking about something. After a cup of tea, he sighed and understood the key.

Gu Shouting is now the general of the Sixth Division of the Fengwu Army, with more than 25,000 soldiers under his command. He is one of the most powerful generals in the Fengwu Army. And if his father now becomes the de facto governor in the Provincial Administration Office, and the father and son are one civil and one military, then is this Youyan Ye Mingsheng's Youyan or their Gu family's?

Therefore, as long as Ye Mingsheng is not stupid, he will never let Gu Zhongshi become the governor of Liaoyang, or actually control the Liaoyang Provincial Administration!

Realizing this, Gu Zhongshi shook his head, his eyes full of pain and he said with a wry smile:
"It's God's will that I won't be the governor. I should have thought of this a long time ago. At my age, I'm really living a dog's life!"

Feeling his father's helplessness, Gu Shouting consoled him:

"Dad, you are confused because you are in a difficult position. After we conquer Zhuo County and wipe out Zhao Fuqu, your son will hand over the military power to General Ye. I believe General Ye will let you be the governor and fulfill your long-cherished wish!"

Gu Zhongshi waved his hand and said:

“Shou Ting, you have finally seized the military power, but you must not give it back easily. These years are full of chaos and war. I have seen clearly that food and soldiers are the most important things now, while land and silver are no longer useful…”

"I'm already old, what's the use of being the governor of Youyan? You are the future of our Gu family, you must not do such a stupid thing, it's not worth it!"

When Gu Zhongshi finished speaking, Zhang Chengzhong on the side said comfortingly:

"Teacher, Cui Shao is the cousin of Ye Dujun's mother. He is well-known in Liaoyang for his resourcefulness. I heard that he has always supported Ye Mingsheng's reforms in Liaoyang. Now that Ye Mingsheng has transferred him here, it is enough to show Ye Mingsheng's trust in him.

"But he has no roots in Youyan, and the Fengwu Army has strengthened supervision over so many industries and promoted public-private partnerships. The people below have long been complaining and ready to make a move. So it's not easy for Cui Shao to hold on to the position of governor. I'm afraid it won't be long before he goes back to where he came from!"

Zhang Chengzhong's words seemed to remind Gu Zhongshi. Gu Zhongshi seemed to have thought of something, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

Feeling the change in his father's expression, Gu Shouting seemed to have noticed something and said with some concern:

"Dad, Zhao Fuqu is still entrenched in Zhuo County waiting for an opportunity to make a move. Gao Zongchang and Cao Changping are both interested in supporting him. Although the Fengwu Army has the advantage, we still cannot be careless..."

After saying this, Gu Shouting looked at his father Gu Zhongshi hesitantly, hoping that he could understand what he meant. Although the Fengwu Army was currently in full swing and was on the verge of swallowing up Youyan to become the strongest vassal state in the north of the Great Zhou, an anti-Fengwu alliance targeting the Fengwu Army was quickly formed due to Zhao Fuqu's strong promotion and other princes' fear of the Fengwu Army.

Therefore, if the Fengwu Army is caught in internal friction due to the internal struggle for power at this time, then all the current efforts of the Fengwu Army may be wasted!
Seeing his father lowering his head and not speaking, Gu Shouting could only use his trump card and warned him seriously:

"Father, the Fengwu Army has a retreat! If they fail, the worst that can happen is that they can retreat back to the outside of the Great Wall. As long as the Fengwu Army retreats, Zhao Fuqu and his men will be powerless to pursue and kill them. But we can't! Our Gu family is rooted in Yuyang. Can we abandon our homes and follow the Fengwu Army to retreat to Liaoyang?"

"Dad, think about it. If Zhao Fuqu comes back to kill us, will he let our family go? I'm afraid that confiscating all our property and exterminating the three clans would be the least he could do!"

"So for our Gu family, the Fengwu Army can only win, not lose!"

Gu Shouting's decisive words rang like a warning bell in Gu Zhongshi's mind, making him think deeply. Gu Zhongshi nodded slightly and agreed:
Don't worry, Shouting! Your father is not senile yet. I won't do anything that will make my loved ones sad but my enemies happy..."

(Do a small survey, Ye Jingren or Ye Yongren?)

(End of this chapter)