Chapter One: Perplexity
Time flies, and before you know it, the crisp autumn season has arrived. During this period, Gao Haiyan's life can be said to have been relatively quiet, with everything seemingly going according to his plan in an orderly manner.
The new Luli Workshop on the side of Wohu Village has been completed, and Li Tong brought all those craftsmen to move into the new workshop in Wohu Village. Before leaving, he restored the old place back to a porcelain kiln, recruited several more potters, and started firing some rough porcelain again, thus completely separating his own business from that of the Gao family.
Li Tong, during this period, was very diligent in his work due to his gratitude towards Gao Huaiyuan. He devoted almost all his energy to the glass workshop and after a period of exploration, he had become quite an expert. This time, when he came to Wohu Villa to do business, he and the craftsmen were all delighted. They knew that those who could enter Wohu Villa were considered Gao Huaiyuan's trusted confidants, and living here was much better than their old pottery kiln. As soon as they arrived, they fully devoted themselves to the production of glassware.
After such a long period of observation, the young men who were not suitable for being soldiers among the previous batch of young men were also selected by Gao Huaiyuan and transferred to the soap workshop or became apprentices in the glass workshop. Although these young men felt a bit embarrassed, they were still very satisfied with being able to stay at Wò Hǔ Zhuāng and work for Gao Huaiyuan. In their opinion, they didn't have to be inferior to others; at least they could learn a skill, and as long as they worked hard in the second half of their lives, Young Master would not mistreat them and would let them live without worrying about food and clothing. Therefore, even after being transferred to work in the workshop, these young men were very diligent.
After screening, more than sixty old boys were left with thirty-five people. These boys, after being tempered by Gao Huaiyuan's constant tempering, plus sufficient nutrition to guarantee their growth, a group of fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys grew tall and strong, compared to their peers, they all basically had to be half a head taller, every day when they went out for exercise, each one was in a majestic and powerful posture, which made Gao Huaiyuan very satisfied.
These young men are extremely disciplined, and their loyalty to Gao Huaiyuan is naturally not in question. Whatever tasks Gao Huaiyuan requires of them, they complete with meticulous care and without hesitation. With the training from Gao Huaiyuan, Huang Yan, Zhou Hao, and others, their individual martial skills have also improved significantly. Now, although they still appear to be just a group of young men, if you were to pit them against two or three sturdy men, it's likely that each one of them would emerge victorious without breaking a sweat.
Gao Weiyan secretly trained troops on his own, although no one knew about it, but after all, it was not a legitimate thing. Once someone found out, he would be accused of attempting to rebel and might lose his property and flee for his life!
However, this matter was soon resolved perfectly. Because of the last time he helped the county government solve the problem of Yang Tong's gang of bandits, not long after that, Gao Huairen was named by Liu Zhi County as the elder of Gaojiazhuang and its surrounding areas. Although Gao Huairen was an official household and did not need to serve in the corvee labor, he knew that if he wanted to legally possess a private armed force, serving as this elder would be a way to do so, so he did not decline.
Moreover, after he took over this position, he recklessly made a list of some of the young men under his command and, through Xing Baozhu, rushed into the county government's archers. Normally, if there were bandits in the county, they would follow Wang Xianwei to hunt down the bandits, completely becoming a private army that legally possessed weapons, making his originally illegal activities wear a cloak of legitimacy.
Although Gao Huaiyuan is still young, he seems to be somewhat lacking in prestige as a village elder. However, in the area around Gaohuajia Village, Gao Huaiyuan has already established a fairly good reputation for himself. He usually handles matters in a low-key manner and is very polite to his relatives and neighbors in the surrounding areas. Whenever he sees someone having difficulties, he will lend a helping hand. Therefore, when people in this area learned that he had become the village elder, they did not raise any objections, but instead showed even more respect for him.
The responsibility of the village elder is to maintain local security, capture thieves and prevent fires. It is considered the most basic form of local armed forces among the people. Although Gao Huairen was not able to persuade Liu Zhixian to establish an archery club in Daye County at first, he made Liu Zhixian and Wang Xianwei, who were officials, pay attention to this kind of local armed force. He ordered the village elders of each township to organize the strong men and archers according to the household registration system and the rules, and to concentrate on training them from time to time, so that there would be no situation where no one could be used when bandits like Yang Tong caused trouble in the area again.
Don't look at him as just a small official of the sesame and green bean, but there are still many things to do. Whatever his position is, he has to do whatever work it entails. So now Gao Huaiyuan seems even busier than before. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he also got a feel for the people's situation in the area around Gaohouse Village. According to the different household registrations and population numbers, he recruited over 100 strong young men from the Gaohouse Village area. Every now and then, he would gather these young men near the old Gao family mansion to drill them.
The first time the strong young men gathered for a concentrated exercise, some of them saw that Gao Huaiyuan was still underage and were somewhat dissatisfied in their hearts. However, after they watched Gao Huaiyuan and his subordinates practice archery and swordsmanship, they no longer dared to underestimate him. They began to follow the young leader Gao Huaiyuan honestly and started practicing martial arts.
Gao Huaiyuan didn't expect these sturdy men to become fierce warriors, but he hoped that within his ability, the people here would gradually form a martial spirit. The strength of a nation is directly related to its people's bravery and martial spirit. As a major agricultural economy, the Song Dynasty wanted to surpass the northern nations in terms of martial spirit, although it was a slim hope. At least, he wanted ordinary people to understand that when foreign invaders came, resisting them would be doing something for the nation.
At the time when Gao Huaiyuan was busy with these things, a large number of refugees appeared again in the local area. After inquiring, Gao Huaiyuan only knew that Sichuan had suffered a great disaster this year. In March and April, there were violent earthquakes in eastern and western Sichuan, and landslides occurred in dozens of miles of Ma Lake Yi border mountains, causing river blockages. In June, another strong earthquake occurred, causing heavy casualties among the people in many places in Sichuan, while the local government was unable to provide relief, and many people had no choice but to flee their homes and escape to other places to make a living. Although Daye County is not close to Sichuan, it still attracted a large number of refugees.
It stands to reason that when a disaster of this magnitude occurs, the government should provide relief with all its might. However, at present, after Ningzong's failure in the Kaixi Northern Expedition led by his former prime minister Han Tuozhou, Shi Miyuan secretly murdered Han and seized power. With the court in disarray, Shi ignored the disaster and left the refugees to fend for themselves, leading to this situation. After learning of these events, Gao Huaru was furious and wanted to kill Shi Miyuan, but he knew it was impossible to reach him due to his high position and power. So, he gritted his teeth and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to persuade Xue Yan to take in some more orphans, relaxing the conditions a bit, as a way to help the refugees in a small way.
Xue Yan immediately gathered fifty or sixty homeless young people from the local area, including some girls, and sent them to Wohu Villa.
Fortunately, when the expansion of Wotou Village was initially planned by Gao Huaiyuan, it was done on a relatively large scale. The number of houses built in Wotou Village was sufficient, otherwise, with so many young people suddenly pouring in, he really wouldn't have had enough space to accommodate them. However, after receiving these young people, Wotou Village was also at its limit.
Many people in Daye County also knew about Gao Huaiyuan's adoption of refugee orphans, but after positive publicity, his behavior did not arouse much suspicion from others. Instead, many people praised Gao Huaiyuan's kindness. Even Liu Zhi County, upon learning of the matter, had someone prepare a plaque to commend Gao Huaiyuan's actions, without considering how the old mansion of the Gao family could accommodate so many orphans!
As batches of orphans arrived, the Wohu Villa became thoroughly lively. Just arranging the lives of these young people kept High Huarong and his subordinates busy to the point of exhaustion. This time, High Huarong personally oversaw the selection process, picking out over thirty physically strong individuals from among the new arrivals and incorporating them into the Guard Corps, bringing the total number of his private army to around seventy people.
The remaining boys, being slightly younger or weaker, were assigned to Jiang Peng's management. They are now working in the workshop, nursing their frail bodies while observing their situation, awaiting further arrangements for their future placement.
The rest of the dozen or so girls, considering their gender, were separated and allocated a separate courtyard for living, as for management, Gao Huaiyuan simply handed it over to Liu'er.
Liu'er was originally kind-hearted, and seeing these girls so pitiful, she took care of them like her own sisters. Soon enough, the girls also grew fond of her, calling out "Sister Liu'er" nonstop every day.
After receiving this batch of orphans from Sichuan, Gao Huaiyuan immediately began to discipline them. First and foremost, he had to let them know the rules of Wohu Villa, as cultivating discipline was what he valued most. Here, he had to have the absolute loyalty and trust of these orphans. However, doing these things now basically didn't require him to show up in person; the previous batch of young men would be able to instill this idea into the minds of these orphans very well.
Because this time the personnel are more complicated, so Gao Huaiyuan has made different division of labor for them and formulated training plans with different intensity. The focus is to first temper their bodies and let them adapt to the tense life here. Even those girls must accept such physical training, he doesn't want to raise a group of weak girls who eat white rice here, necessary training can't be lacking.
Lian Liu'er also had to set an example by joining the morning exercise team after these girls arrived at Wohu Villa. In the morning exercise team of Wohu Villa, a beautiful scenery was formed. Since the arrival of these girls, the enthusiasm of the young people in Wohu Villa has been greatly enhanced. Even some lazy guys were like taking stimulants, and their voices rose by eight degrees when they ran and shouted slogans.
This situation made Gao Huaiyuan slightly sweaty, it's really not tiring for men and women to work together! It seems that the decision to accept some girls here this time was correct, at least it made these bad boys work harder.
Although life is busy, Gao Huaiyuan feels exceptionally fulfilling, and he also received letters from Gao Jian and Zhao Yurou. Gao Jian was very satisfied with Gao Huaiyuan's performance during this period, letting him take good care of things here, and for the New Year, let him return to Shaoxing to spend the holiday together.
This made Gao Huaiyuan feel a little comforted, at least in the eyes of his old father Gao Jian, he already had a place, would think of him as his son, and knew to let him go back for the New Year's reunion, this point for him who was in a foreign land, after all, had a bit of a comforting feeling!
As for Zhao Yu's letter, it was nothing more than expressing his longing feelings towards him, wanting him to go back and take a look, and also telling Gao Huaiyuan that he had become obedient now, under his mother's arrangement, started reading again, and in the future wanted to take an imperial examination to get a good name, so that his mother wouldn't have to suffer anymore!
Thinking of a royal family member living so frugally, Gao Huaiyuan felt it was somewhat inconceivable. He took up his pen and wrote two letters to his father and Zhao Yuer respectively. He also entrusted the person delivering the letter to bring some money to Zhao Yuer. For this young friend, Gao Huaiyuan still had a soft spot. Although he couldn't bring him to Daye County, he could still offer some assistance now that he was capable of doing so.
As for Huang Yan and Zhou Huan, their families in Shaoxing had sent them messages expressing their longing, and from the letters exchanged between the two places, they knew that the two were doing well with Gao Huaiyuan. Not only could they read and write, but they could even write letters to their families by hand, which made them feel quite relieved. They asked someone to pass on a message to Gao Huaiyuan, asking him to take care of these two young men, so Gao Huaiyuan had no choice but to let the two young men write a letter to their families, after all, they still had parents at home and couldn't be treated like other young people.
After seeing off the messenger, Gao Huaiyuan took stock of the situation and realized that it was already autumn harvest time. This year had been generally smooth sailing, with plenty of rain and moderate temperatures. The tenant farmers at the old mansion had redone their rent and land adjustments, and were working hard to tend to the fields. The crops were growing well, and a bumper harvest was all but certain. Collecting the rent would be no problem at all, so Gao Huaiyuan didn't worry about it anymore.
It's been a year since he arrived here, and he was so busy that he didn't even have time to visit the surrounding mountains. As a person, you can't be too tired. Seeing all sorts of things going on his predetermined track, he felt pretty good, so before the autumn harvest, he decided to go hunting to relax a bit. He asked Liu'er to take care of things and make some time, bringing Huang Yan and several others with him, leaving Wohu Villa and heading into the mountains in the north.
Wò Hǔ Zhuāng is more than 20 miles away from Gāo Jiā Zhuāng, located in the Táo Lóng Mountains south of Dàyè County. Due to the difficulty of cultivating the land, it has always been sparsely populated. Otherwise, Gāo Huái Yuǎn would not have been able to buy such a large piece of land around Wò Hǔ Zhuāng at such a low price. The fact that there are no people here also provides him with a certain degree of cover for his secret development.
From the first time he came here, Gao Huaiyuan had a feeling of familiarity with this area, but he couldn't think of why. This time, he happened to be strolling around the nearby mountains and took the opportunity to find out the reason for this feeling.
A group of people left the mountain villa and entered the mountains. With their current skills, passing through the forest was a piece of cake. Moreover, Gao Huaiyu had made a portable compass using magnetite before things got busy, so they wouldn't get lost when entering the mountains.
Such a hunting activity, for everyone, was the first time, so everyone was very excited, and early on, they had prepared bows, arrows, knives, and food. Along the way, they were singing and laughing with excitement. Originally, he didn't plan to take Liu'er into the mountains for adventure, but he couldn't resist Liu'er's soft persuasion, and could only bring Liu'er along. After all, staying in the old house or villa every day would make anyone feel bored. Gao Huaiyuan was also quite fond of Liu'er, so as soon as she pouted, he immediately agreed to take her along. Anyway, these people all had kung fu skills, so protecting Liu'er was no problem at all.
Liu'er changed out of her usual dress and put on a crisp, well-fitted outfit, with a pair of trousers on the bottom and a pair of small leather boots on her feet. Her short jacket was neatly tied up, accentuating her tall and slender figure that had developed over the past two years, making her look even more beautiful. Her long black hair was pulled back high and secured with a wooden pin, and she wrapped a headscarf around her face, highlighting her lovely complexion and making her look incredibly charming. Looking at her made Gao Huaiyuan feel delighted and pleased, but also somehow itchy inside, as if something was trying to break free from its restraints, making him feel restless and eager to move.
Gao Huaiyuan was taken aback, oh heavens! He had actually fallen for Liu'er a little. What to do now?! After carefully examining his own heart, Gao Huaiyuan discovered that towards Liu'er, he had long since surpassed mere gratitude. The two of them had been inseparable since his rebirth, and Liu'er was not only gentle and virtuous by nature but also increasingly beautiful. Even if she weren't beautiful, the two of them would still have developed good feelings for each other after spending so much time together! Moreover, Liu'er had shown him kindness first, Gao Huaiyuan gazed at Liu'er's skipping figure walking ahead in the group and couldn't help but feel a little infatuated.
