Section 1: Farewell to the old place

Farewell, my Chang’an, farewell, my lover, farewell, my tyrannical elders, farewell, the terrifying Li Er, farewell, the gentle and virtuous but insidious and cunning eldest son.

Ma Yiguo Baqiao Yun Ye’s mood instantly improved, but many of the elders who were seeing him off were afraid to show their happiness and could only pretend to be sad.

He was pretending, but someone next to him was crying so hard that he could hardly breathe.

“Huai Ren, it is only natural for me to feel sad when I see my friends and relatives bidding me farewell. My brother will be gone in a year or two, so there is no need to be so sad.”

Li Huai Ren looked at Yun Ye resentfully: “I haven’t seen you for 800 years, I promise I won’t be sad at all. It’s just that last night my father told me that if I don’t learn something real from you this time, I won’t be able to protect my legs. Seeing you look out of place, I can’t help but cry.

“Are you going to the village with me?” Yun Ye was very surprised. What were they going to do?

“Brother Nongqi, and me.” Changsun Chong said listlessly.

“Hmph! If there are two sons in the family, send one of them over. Brother, my bad luck is that I’m the second son.” Meng Youtong, a young man from Chang’an who I met a few days ago, is a free spirit with a strong sense of loyalty. He is so generous that he even pays for other people’s prostitutes. Lao Tzu is a member of the military and works in the Qian Niuwei.

“Meng, we brothers are together, seeing each other every day, and we are less restrained at home. It is a happy time. Why are you so sad?” Another young man jumped out.

Yun Ye was at a loss, wondering why there were so many people. Could it be that these were the students that Lao Cheng and Lao Niu had found for me? Yun Ye closed his eyes and felt dizzy, almost falling off his horse.

The rich and idle were beating the guy who had just spoken up. They were using their fists and feet, and the guy with the whip was about to get involved. The guy who was being beaten was also very strong. He came out of the crowd and shouted, “Little brother just said the wrong thing. Brothers, please let little brother know what he’s going to die for.”

“You bastard, are you having a good time? If it weren’t for the old man Niu over there, would I be so upset? If it were just Xiao Ye, I would have run away to the ends of the earth.” Li Huiren still felt resentful.

“Old Master Niu is here too?” Yun Ye’s spirits were lifted, and he sincerely thanked the gods of all walks of life in his heart. With Old Master Niu sitting in, how could these scum turn the sky upside down?

Old Niu was kicking a black giant wearing a bright armor with each kick, making a loud sound. The young master who had just said that he had a good life was still in shock and said to the person next to him, “Little brother, you deserved to be beaten like that!”

He went up to speak to the old ox, and only then did Yuchi Dasha escape death. Before leaving, he gave Yun Ye a grateful look.

Not only Lao Niu, but also the Prince’s tutor Li Gang. His old man has been in poor health recently and plans to retire. Empress Changsun coaxed him that Yushan has excellent scenery and is a good place to cultivate one’s character. Not to mention that Yun Ye and Sun Simiao are there, so he is not afraid of not being able to cure his illness. While recuperating, he can also teach those young men who have stirred up the city of Chang’an. It can be said that they have served the court.

Mr. Li Gang has always been a teacher who teaches all kinds of people. He was the teacher of Yang Yong, the crown prince of the Sui Dynasty, but Yang Yong died. He was the teacher of Li Jiancheng, but Li Jiancheng died. Now he is the teacher of Li Chengqian…

He was worried about Li Chengqian when he saw him running over the distance, followed by a large group of guards, like a moving house. He wouldn’t go to Yushan, would he?

“Brother Nongqi, I’m sorry I’m late.” This guy is a good rider, and he jumped off the horse before it even stopped.

Yun Ye ignored him and just sighed, looking at Li Chengqian’s foot and said, “It won’t be long before I have to make another fake foot.”

“Good, you’re cursing me.” He thought Yun Ye was joking.

“Do you see that I’m joking?”

A sentence choked Li Chengqian’s words of fun in his throat.

“Are you dissatisfied with the way I dismounted? Just say it, I’ll pay attention to it in the future, there’s no need to make me a fake foot, right?” He was a little uneasy. Yun Ye rarely spoke with a stern face, but he knew that as long as Yun Ye told him something seriously, then it was very important.

“Are you going to Yushan too?” Since he realized the seriousness of the matter, Yun Ye didn’t say anything more about it.

“No, I have to attend to government affairs. Father has been keeping a close eye on me these days, but the third and fourth sons are going.” As he said this, two teenagers appeared behind him, one fat and one thin. The fat one was Li Tai, and the thin one was Li Ke.

“My mother said that a man cannot be kept in the palace, otherwise he will develop a feminine disposition. On Yushan, there is Master Li for the arts and General Niu for the martial arts. With you, the slippery one, there may be some improvement. So my father agreed.”

Having become familiar with each other at the Tingtao Pavilion, Yun Ye said to Li Xiaosan and Li Xiaosi, “Ke, Tai, I don’t know whether I’m happy or sad for you to study outside the palace.”

“Does the General think my brothers are not worth teaching?” Li Tai was still the same unpleasant guy. Li Ke was much better, but he looked at Yun Ye sideways and didn’t say anything.

“With General Niu as a teacher, studying will not be an easy task. You have always liked reading and are talented at it. Reading is a simple and fun thing for you, and it can even be considered your greatest pleasure. However, with the addition of mathematics, it will not be so easy for you to study. Not to mention that your eldest brother knows General Niu’s methods of managing the academy the best.

Li Chengqian looked around and saw that General Niu was scolding his eldest son, so he whispered to his younger brothers, “Life under General Niu’s command is miserable. I almost died in the Longyou army. I beg you, I beg you, don’t be put in solitary confinement. I’d rather be beaten than be put in solitary confinement. This is the only thing I can tell you.”

The two brothers widened their eyes. The prince’s words were terrifying. He was shaking as he spoke, as if he was recalling the days in Longyou.

After slaughtering the willow branches by the river, the army set out for Yushan. The women of the Yun family had gone to their fiefdom the day before, so without their hindrance, the army of killers headed for the Yun family.

For the first time, Lao Niu did not ride a horse, but sat with Li Gang in Yun Ye’s carriage, drinking wine. The road was flat, and the Yun family’s carriage had excellent shock absorption. The two old men drank and chatted, occasionally picking up a piece of tripe and chewing on a piece of liver. Li Gang closed his eyes and tasted it, nodding repeatedly in praise, “This Yun family cuisine is truly worthy of its reputation. This inferior food is cooked by a master chef and becomes the ultimate delicacy in the blink of an eye.

“Old Li, you are the expert on matters of learning, so you should be the one to tell me. I won’t ask, but why does the emperor put all the scum of Chang’an in Yushan? Please explain to me.”

“There is nothing to it. It’s just a matter of recycling waste. These spoiled brats aren’t the first-born sons of their families, and they’ve never been taken seriously by their families. They’re mostly left to fend for themselves. I’ve heard about the arguments between Lord Yun and Your Majesty. The first question was whether Confucianism had taken root in Your Majesty’s heart. The second question was why Confucianism was valued over all other schools of thought. The third question was: Confucianism arms the mind, but who arms the hands? This is a clever boy. Seeing that Confucianism is unshakable, he uses money to lure them, finding a ray of hope in the great net woven by Confucianism. I heard about this and drank three glasses of wine. The chaotic and disorganized petition actually hides some careful thoughts, making His Majesty fall into the trap without realizing it. It is rare for a young man to have such a mind. Since we have been ordered by the emperor to go to Yushan, we naturally have no intention of doing a half-hearted job. Whether they are good or bad, if they fall into our hands, I will make them blossom, even if they are like dead trees.

Lao Niu nodded approvingly and asked, “What about the two princes?”

“I have been the teacher of three princes. Your Majesty knows me well. Since they have been sent to me, do you think I would treat them differently? I have invited three professors from the Imperial Academy. Which of them is not a renowned scholar who has made a name for himself long ago? I don’t believe that I won’t be able to teach a few virtuous children. I don’t believe that those children who are considered useless by their family heads are not encouraged by them to elevate their firstborn sons and suppress their younger sons. I have long been disgusted by the nonsense in the big family.”

Niu Jinda’s eyes flashed with joy, and he raised his glass to drink. The two of them were again immersed in the Yun family’s fine wine and food.

From afar, they could see the dark jade mountain towering there. When Yun Ye returned to his hometown in later generations, he went there on purpose. It can be called a good place to enjoy the scenery of nature, with towering peaks, strange rocks, deep valleys, and clear pools.

As the “strategic pass between Qin and Chu, the barrier between the three auxiliary regions,” Yushan has always been a place of contention for military strategists. The dynasties of the past have left behind the relics of the golden armor and iron horses here. Literati, poets, and people who have moved away have expressed their feelings by viewing the objects, leaving more than 300 poems. Han Yu wrote the famous line “Where is the home of Yun Heng Qinling, the snow embraces the blue pass, and the horse does not advance” here. Of course, Han Yu is now only in the form of a single cell in the body of his ancestors for many generations. Han Xiangzi, a fairy, is said to have cultivated here to become a fairy. Yun Ye decided to explore the mountain when he had time, and he would get the fairy manual before Han Xiangzi.

The Lantian magistrate was sincere. He had already delivered the land that had been taken from the Yun family over the years before Yun Ye returned to Chang’an. He was especially active in helping the Yun family after hearing that Yun Hou had beaten a young man who had offended the Yun family into a eunuch in Chang’an.

There is a manor built by a powerful family on the small Dongyang River. The walls are high and the ditches are deep, making it a fortress to escape the war in troubled times. The county magistrate only issued an order, and the powerful family moved obediently. I don’t know how much grain they gave to the people, but the original owner who stayed in the manor waiting for the new owner to move in looked haggard.

Yun Ye was a little unhappy. I’m going to be a scholar, not a bandit. It’s not worth it to take money by force for the sake of a small amount of money and damage the reputation of the academy!

Then I looked at the bent-over county magistrate next to me. It was said that he was recommended by Du Ruxi, so I couldn’t refuse to give him face. I thanked the county magistrate with kind words and promised to go to Yushan with him when I had time, and to leave a few immortal masterpieces. After that, the county magistrate left with a smile, and before he left, he threatened the host family, saying that they should serve him well, and if they offended him, he would do this and that.

“Your manor is located in a beautiful place and is built to be tall. Tell me, its true value must not be twenty strings, as the county magistrate said, right?” Yun Ye asked the original owner.

“Your Excellency, please forgive me. It took my ancestors sixty years and two generations to build this manor to its current size. Although it is a bit over the top, it was built before the founding of the Tang Dynasty. The county magistrate said that I had violated the law. I beg Your Excellency to show mercy. My entire family of more than two hundred people will be homeless.” The homeowner knelt on the ground and repeatedly bowed, crying bitterly.

“Once the government has issued an order, it will not be changed easily. The saying goes that once a word enters the public office, it cannot be taken back even if nine oxen pull. Now that I am giving you back the manor, do you still dare to live there?” Yun Ye felt very sympathetic for the owner of the house.

The boss is alone. There is no other way except to lie on the ground and cry. How can I not understand what I said so clearly?

“I plan to buy this manor at market price. What do you think? Of course, you can only say that it is a gift. The marquis is happy. Understand?”

After that, he ignored the happy idiot and told the housekeeper to take care of it. The marquis had important things to do.

Li Gang, Lao Niu turned around from behind and smiled at each other.

Lao Li smiled and said, “This is how a school should be run. If it is taken by force, it is better not to run it at all!”