Chapter 58 Separate

  Respectively

  "Oh?"

  Yao Feng asked: "Will you introduce me?"

  Li Jingfang smiled and said: "Brother Yao, if what you say is true, our great Qing dynasty will surely make your name known throughout the land."

  Yao Feng smiled but didn't speak. The Qing Empire used a wooden-hulled sailing ship with over 1,300 tons of displacement as a cruiser, and I'm selling you an iron-hulled warship of over 2,000 tons; isn't it rare to rise to prominence quickly?

  "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Li." Yao Fang said calmly.

  The four of them chatted enthusiastically for a while, and the topic always revolved around Yao Fang's thrilling encounter. Yao Fang described the process simply and said that there was no need to report it to the authorities, otherwise, there might be endless trouble in the future.

  As soon as Yao Fan left the Li family's courtyard, he gathered with his own partners. Yao Fan took out silver and asked his partners to buy a fat pig from the Wang family in Shili Fort, asking the Wang family to help kill it, so that everyone could have a celebratory meal. After the over 200-jin fat pig was killed, the saliva of the onlooking partners flowed out, and this pork dish with scallions stewed meat not only made Yao's partners eat their fill, but also every member of the Li family got a bowl of scallion-stewed pork, drinking soup and eating meat, feeling very happy.

  That night, after eating braised pork and stewed meat, everyone was overjoyed and celebrated Yao Fang's safe return.

  Yao Feng ordered Zhou Fourth to go to the official road outside Shili Fort, find a solitary old locust tree with a trunk as thick as a man's hug, scrape off the bark, carve a medicinal character on it, and instructed him not to mention this matter to anyone.

  On the fourth day of the week, he received Yao Fang's instructions and felt both puzzled and delighted. He was puzzled by the strangeness of this matter, but delighted that his master could entrust him with such a confidential task, which clearly showed great trust in him.

  The fourth return of the week, reported alone to Yao Fan on the completion of the task, and only then did Yao Fan feel at ease.

  Yao Fan initially didn't take the horse thieves seriously, thinking they were a small group of people who couldn't accomplish much. However, upon hearing that they had a stronghold with over 1,000 people, including old and young, Yao Fan was moved.

  "That's a base of operations, at least. Flies may be small, but they're still meat, and if you can gather them around you, it's still a benefit." Yao Feng thought.

  The road to Jinan Prefecture was calm and peaceful from then on.

  Because of traveling with the Li family, Yao Fan's merchant group was also slowed down. When they arrived at Jinan Prefecture, it had been eight days since they left Shili Fort.

  In these eight days, the Li brothers showed an astonishing level of education. They finished reading all thirteen books in the five sets that Yao Fan gave them and spent their whole day asking Yao Fan questions, many of which required him to think for half a day before answering.

  Yao Fan could see that among the three, the smallest, Li Jingyu, was a girl who was relatively shy and didn't ask questions directly, often asking Li Miao to ask on her behalf. Li Jingfang relied on his status and thought he should be on an equal footing with Yao Fan, discussing the world as equals, so he didn't like to keep asking for advice and often pondered the answers himself. On the other hand, Li Miaoshu had no psychological burden at all and followed Yao Fan around every day:

  "Brother Yao, why does the British monarch entrust financial power to the hands of Parliament?"

  "Brother Yao, why are the various states of Germany willing to give up their respective tariffs and join with Prussia?"

  "Brother Yao, why did tiny Holland on the sea manage to avoid being swallowed up by the surrounding Western powers?"

  "Brother Yao, why would a powerful country like Britain tolerate the rebellion of the American gang and allow them to occupy land and establish their own nation?"

  "Yao brother, why would Russians find a German old lady who can't even speak Russian fluently to be their queen?"

  "Brother Yao, now that Napoleon III has fallen, will the Third Republic of France make amends with our Great Qing and return to us our vassal state of Annam?"

  This kid is like a living, breathing "ten thousand whys", driving Yao Feng to distraction, but considering he's Li Hongzhang's own son, Yao Feng had to swallow his annoyance and patiently explain things one by one.

  It was as if this kid had heard it and immediately showed off, eight days later, Yao Fan became a contemporary sage who had read ten thousand volumes of books and traveled ten thousand miles in the eyes of Li Jia's three people, including Fu Bo. He was even described by Li Xu as a half-master and half-friend guide and elder brother, and his courtesy became more respectful over time.

  These days, Yao Fan has truly come into contact with the style and family traditions of the Qing Dynasty's noble literary families. He sees that every day, the three Li brothers get up at 5 o'clock when it is still a little dark, first copying 100 large characters before eating breakfast, and he is quite impressed in his heart.

  Yao Feng felt a bit complicated when he saw that these three kids needed others to help them dress and put on their shoes.

  Yao Fang once heard Li Shou describe his family rules, which were: when getting out of bed, first clear your throat and say "Sheng!" in a loud voice. Then stretch out one hand, and the clothes would be put on; then stretch out one foot, and the boots would be put on. After that, stand up, and the robe would be wrapped around and tied up properly. During this process, there must not be any delay or hesitation; otherwise, according to the family rules, the servant in attendance could be punished.

  Li Desheng boasted to Yao Feng that his personal servant was quick and clever, not inferior to his father's personal servant.

  Yao Fan felt a sense of discomfort in his heart, thinking that the duplicity of these people was truly astonishing. On one hand, they read sacred books and yearned for civilization, while on the other hand, they were numb to the slavery and inequality around them. He didn't know if this was hypocrisy or subtle indoctrination. In his heart, he hoped it was the latter.

  On a summer morning at ten o'clock, the sun had already shone brightly and made people feel dizzy.

  The official road is dry and cracked with yellow earth, bumpy and uneven.

  The wild grass on both sides of the road is sparse and creeping, just waiting for a heavy rain to spread wildly all over the ground.

  The vast wilderness has a gentle breeze that constantly sweeps by, making one feel cool and refreshed.

  Yao Fan looked at his own hands gripping the bicycle handlebars, sighed, and in these days, these white hands that had been soaked in factories and offices had completed the process of turning from white to red, then from red to black and thickening due to exposure to the sun.

  Listening to the copper bells hanging from the horse's mouth on Li Jia's chariot team ringing loudly, echoing far away, Yao Feng slowly pedaled his bicycle, following the team at a steady pace. Beside him was Li Miao, also riding a bicycle, walking shoulder to shoulder with him.

  Suddenly, the sound of horseshoes came from the wind in front, and the sound grew louder and closer, finally ringing out urgently like a drumbeat in front of the convoy.

  Everyone suddenly became alert, the convoy stopped advancing, and Fu Bo led his family to run to the front to see what was going on.

  Only twelve cavalrymen were seen coming from the front, and one of them stopped his horse more than 20 meters away from the convoy with a "whoa" sound. He quickly dismounted and ran forward in small steps for over ten meters before clearly seeing Fu Bo's face. Immediately, he fell to the ground in front of Fu Bo and shouted: "Zhao Rong, the commander-in-chief of Shandong, pays his respects to General Duan!"

  Fu Bo heard this and seemed not to have heard it. He was silent for a moment, then said: "There is no General Duan here. I am Li Jia's internal affairs officer, Duan Fu."

  Zhou Juerong looked up, opened his mouth, and stared blankly at Fu Bo for a moment before lowering his head and saying in a low voice: "Zhou Juerong has seen Director Duan! I am here on the orders of Ding Jun, the Governor of Shandong and Commander-in-Chief of the Shandong Army, to welcome Young Master and Director Duan."

  Yao Fan listened behind and thought "So Fubo's surname is Duan."

  Fubo waved his hand and ordered loudly: "You go ahead and clear the way, no noise is allowed when entering the city."

  Shandong General Zhou Juerong shouted "Hush" and immediately turned around to run back and mount his horse, leading the cavalry team more than 30 meters ahead.

  Yao Feng said to Li Shu beside him, "Hey, you little guy is quite impressive, right? We haven't even entered the city yet, and there are officials coming to welcome us. You're not Ding Baozhen's son, are you?"

  Li Desheng laughed and said, "Brother Yao, you also underestimate me too much. My father's surname is Li, how dare I change the ancestral surname? Ding Baozhen is familiar with my father, so early this morning, Fu Bo sent a servant to ride a horse to report the news in the city, he naturally wants to make it passable on the surface."

  Yao Fanzhen scolded, "You little brat, you still dare to try to fool me?" But he didn't ask any further, and instead pretended not to care.

  Yao Fan's merchant group and Li Jia's carriage team followed behind the horse team, advancing into the Jinan city gate in a majestic but silent manner.

  The other day, Yao Fan and Li Jia entered the city of Zibo. Li Jia brought out a road guide and a letter of introduction, while Yao Fan had to pay taxes in addition to these. Today was different, however. As they passed through the city gate, not one person came up to question them. From afar, they saw that on both sides of the city gate were rows of officials and soldiers, lined up from the gate all the way out to the official road outside the city, with over a hundred people in total. Each one wore a bamboo hat, resembling a calabaza, and stood solemnly along the roadside with their heads bowed.

  After entering Jinan City, they soon arrived at a wide and desolate street corner, where Yao Fan suggested parting ways with the Li family.

  "Brother Yao, where is your residence? I'll come to see you tomorrow!" Li Xiangyu got down from the carriage and looked up at the tall Yao Fang, saying with a lingering tone.

  Goodbyes are always sentimental. After these days of interaction, Yao Fan also developed a friendship with the three members of the Li family, and he was no exception to this subtle sadness.

  He comforted Li Shouyu: "I haven't been there myself, I heard it's around the Niangniang Temple area, I'll bring people to search here."

  "Brother Yao, if you find it, send someone to inform me immediately! I'll go visit you, and we brothers will stay at the Xunfu Gate for about a week."

  Yao Fang nodded and smiled, no longer speaking, and bid farewell to Li Jia Sanzi with a bow.

  The three Li brothers did not get on the carriage either, and slowly followed it on foot as it left.

  They were surrounded by guards, with cavalry slowly opening the way in front of them. Li Xiang and Li Jingyu kept turning back, Li Xiang eagerly bowed three times to Yao Fang, waving his hand twice, clearly reluctant to part ways. Li Jingyu did not say a word, only repeatedly looking back.

  Yao Feng waved goodbye, watching their silhouettes disappear into the distance around a corner. Putting down his hand, he felt quite sentimental.

  Yao Fanzhe is neither a sage nor a hypocrite; he has also wavered.

  Along the way, Li Jia Sanren, especially Li Miao, told him about the proper demeanor of a large family, and what he heard was all about rules such as stretching out one's hand for clothes and opening one's mouth for food, with strict hierarchy and clear distinction between superior and inferior.

  Yes, as long as Yao Fan wants, he can live such a life.

  His beautiful wife and concubines surround him; he has another dozen or so little brats; according to his grasp of history, find a protective umbrella and comfortably be the rich and noble master.

  "Even if I were to succeed in my rebellion, the China of my dreams would not be a monarchical state. Since I am not going to become an emperor, is it worth all this trouble? In this bandit affair, if there was even a slight mistake, wouldn't I end up dying here?"

  Yao Feng slightly shook his head and muttered to himself: "That would make me unhappy for the rest of my life..."

  Beside him, He Shi Cheng interrupted Yao Cen's reverie and sighed: "Boss, what's the background of that Li family? What a grand setup!"

  "Must be a young master from a high-ranking official's family! I saw the grandeur earlier and didn't dare say a word!"

  "They are a great mountain above our heads..."

  He Shicheng tilted his head in confusion and muttered: "Big mountain? On top?"

  He finished speaking and raised his head to look at the sky.

  The sky is still a brilliant blue, as if it will never change even after another ten thousand years.