Chapter 903 Master

"Here, here, and there, are these granaries all sealed?"

"They're all sealed. Don't worry. I've been sleeping here these days."

"I'm very relieved to have you in charge of the granaries. General Jin is also relieved," Xu An said to Guo Dong.

"Hahahaha."

Guo Dong laughed loudly and said;

"Don't worry, the people under me are very clean. Those responsible for guarding the granaries are all registered households. It wouldn't be worth it to mess with the grain and ruin their 'iron rice bowl'. They can do the math.

Besides, everyone knows that the current grain reserves will be of great use when the Prince starts a war in a few years. The people below understand the stakes."

The garrison here at the granary is called Guo Dong.

He has no ears, which gives him a very unbalanced look.

His face also has words carved on it, two words… "Yan Dog." (Yan refers to the old name of the Northern region, 'Dog' is an insult)

A disabled and branded person should, in theory, live a decadent life, and even be unacceptable in a world that values physical integrity. But Guo Dong is very popular in this area.

No one would despise his disability, and no one would dare to make fun of the words "Yan Dog" on his face;

Because everyone knows,

These words were carved by Chu State General Nian Yao.

The soldiers in the granary all spread the word that their Prince, upon seeing these two words on their garrison commander's face, was so enraged that he captured Chu State General Nian Yao alive and, in return, had him castrated!

In short, Guo Dong, who was originally a tomb raider (Mojin Xiaowei), was promoted after recovering from his injuries and became the garrison commander of the grain depot. This is a lucrative position. No matter what, the rear grain supply must be guarded by someone absolutely trustworthy, and Guo Dong is obviously such a person.

"Come on, it's not easy for you to come down here, I told your sister-in-law to make a good meal for lunch this morning, come back with me for a good meal first, and in the afternoon, I'll accompany you to inspect again."

Xu An reminded, "No drinking."

"Don't worry, drinking is forbidden in the granary garrison camp!

Anyone who can't hold back and wants a sip has to ask me for leave in advance to go outside to drink."

Saying that,

Guo Dong looked back at the granaries,

And murmured:

"This, is my life."

Guo Dong took Xu An back to his home. It could be seen that Guo Dong's wife should originally have been from a respectable family, but of course, marrying Guo Dong, her life here would not be bitter, and she was also very familiar with her mother-in-law when doing housework.

Guo Dong, as a garrison commander, had an official salary every month, and as a registered household, he also had a fixed amount of rice, flour, grain, and oil every month, plus his monthly disability pension;

Equivalent to him receiving three portions of salary every month, so his mother and wife did not do extra work to earn subsidies like the women of other registered households.

As for the pension money, he didn't give it back, even though he was an official;

The family, being able to have a little more is a little more, he was injured and disabled, and he always felt sorry for his wife;

He knew that the reason his wife was able to fancy him back then was because he looked decent, and was considered handsome among the rough men of Yan;

It was only right and proper to eat the Prince's food, so why not eat it?

Moreover,

Guo Dong had to support not only his own old mother and wife and children, but also his paralyzed brother, and his father-in-law and mother-in-law's family. There were many people, many old people, and few laborers, so there was some pressure.

But what Guo Dong was even more clear about was that what the Prince valued was whether he could guard the big granary behind Zhennanguan (Southern Garrison Pass).

"You're back." Guo Dong's wife, Madam Yang, wiped her hands on her apron and greeted him with a smile. Seeing Xu An behind her husband, she hurriedly said, "Brother Xu is here too, come in and sit down, quick."

Guo Dong is the granary garrison commander, and has entered the "official" level, but the army distinguishes between combat and logistics components, and Guo Dong obviously belongs to the logistics, or even the local part.

Xu An, on the other hand, is the adjutant of General Jin Shuke, the General of Zhennanguan, and is deeply trusted and valued by General Jin.

Madam Yang has heard her husband say a lot about the things he and Brother Xu did together in the civilian labor camp. Her husband said bluntly that if it weren't for Xu An back then, his life would have been lost long ago.

Before the war even started, he might have drowned in the Wangjiang (Looking River), and the pension money wouldn't have been enough to receive.

"Hello, Sister-in-law."

Xu An bowed respectfully to Madam Yang.

The boy who had no parents and fled to Yingdu to make a living in the porters' gang because the Wildlings invaded the pass, is now steady and polite.

"Look at you, why are you being so polite."

"Let's eat, I have to go down to the granary in the afternoon," Guo Dong said.

"Okay, by the way, there are also guests at home, saying that your colleagues came to visit."

"Colleagues?" Guo Dong was a little puzzled, "Where are they?"

"In Big Brother's room."

Guo Dong originally had two older brothers, but one brother died in battle, and one brother was disabled after coming down from the battlefield and could only lie in bed.

"Okay, I see."

Guo Dong went into the inner room, his brother lived with them;

Guo Dong never felt that his brother was a burden. According to the tradition of the Dayan back then, the eldest son would be drafted, and if there was no older brother, it would be himself or his father who would go to the battlefield.

Xu An, as a guest, also followed in.

Guo Dong opened the door,

And saw a man sitting on the chair next to his brother's bed, seeming to be chatting very happily with his brother, and his brother was still smiling.

At first glance,

He didn't feel anything;

Looking over the second time,

Guo Dong's eyes widened immediately.

Xu An behind him knelt down directly:

"This humble general greets Your Highness!"

Guo Dong then remembered that this wasn't the Prince!

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

Guo Dong also knelt down.

The brother on the bed was stunned.

Zheng Fan stood up and said to the person on the bed: "I actually don't have much time in Yan, and I haven't eaten many snacks from Yan. I spend more time in the capital, but as you said, the food in the capital is really not as tasty as the local snacks of my Dayan."

The brother didn't know how to answer;

Zheng Fan looked at Guo Dong and Xu An and asked;

"Has Jin Shuke arrived?"

"General Jin?" Guo Dong was a little puzzled.

At this time, Guo Dong's wife shouted outside: "Husband, General Jin is here, General Jin is here!"

Obviously, Madam Yang knew Jin Shuke, because Jin Shuke had come down many times to inspect the granary.

Zheng Fan walked out of the room, Guo Dong and Xu An followed behind.

Jin Shuke happened to walk into the yard, and when he saw Zheng Fan, he immediately knelt down on one knee:

"This humble general greets Your Highness, long live the Prince!"

Jin Shuke was not wearing armor, but casual clothes, and had grown a beard. It seemed that he already had the demeanor of a General of the Xia, unlike the barbarians in the established impressions of ordinary people.

"I'm hungry, let's eat."

…

The dining table was set up in the yard.

Zheng Fan and Jin Shuke sat facing each other, Guo Dong and Xu An stood beside them, serving them.

As for Guo Dong's family members, they didn't come over, and Guo Dong went to serve the dishes.

Zheng Fan didn't force any civilian gestures, letting everyone sit around the table to eat. For them, it would be more of an ordeal.

Jin Shuke got up and helped Zheng Fan serve the soup.

There was no wine prepared at home, or rather, wine was forbidden in the granary.

"Your Highness, try this fish soup, it's delicious."

Zheng Fan took two sips, ate a white and tender fish ball, and nodded.

"I came from Xuehaiguan (Snow Sea Pass)," Zheng Fan said.

Jin Shuke listened respectfully.

"Ke Yan Dongge has already been pulled back to Fengxin City to sweep the floor by me, he's really been behaving a bit badly there."

Jin Shuke nodded slightly, not daring to comment.

Zheng Fan looked at Jin Shuke,

And said:

"You've done a good job."

"Your Highness… this humble general dares not!"

"You've really done a good job. In the reports collected by the Prince's Palace, I've basically not seen any criticisms of you.

One,

You have excellent cooperation with the local officials, and the reclamation of Zhennanguan and the reception of refugees from Chu are remarkable achievements."

"Your Highness, these are all the achievements of those two Prefects, they really are..."

"Alright, how could they accept refugees from Chu without your cooperation as the General? How could they open up new land? You know, I've never liked to talk nonsense."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Secondly, you have controlled Shanggu Commandery very well. The Chu people on the other side of the Wei River basically dare not cross the border. Moreover, you have even managed to build a few fortresses on the other side of the Wei River. Good, very good."

Militarily, Jin Shuke is impeccable;

Politically, Jin Shuke has also done almost perfectly.

Unlike Xuehaiguan, which had the foundation and order left by me and the devils at the beginning, Zhennanguan here was completely created out of nothing.

Jin Shuke came from Zheng Fan's earliest 300 barbarian soldiers. There are not many of the earliest people left now;

Jin Shuke is the most dazzling one of them;

Unlike Ke Yan Dongge, who has the Ke Yan tribe as his capital, Jin Shuke truly came from nothing, all the way from a city guard to where he is today.

The starting point is very low, there are no great opportunities, it's purely based on his own efforts, this kind of person is the protagonist model in the universe.

"You've done a good job."

The Prince said it again.

"Your Highness…" Jin Shuke got up.

"Sit, sit down."

"Yes." Jin Shuke sat back.

"But I still have to transfer you away from Zhennanguan."

"This humble general obeys!" Jin Shuke said nothing and directly took the order.

"It's not because you've done too well, so I'm suspicious of you."

"This humble general dares not, in this humble general's heart, Your Highness's heart is as vast as the sea!"

"But in essence, it's still because you've done too well. When you're in Zhennanguan, the people below will be thinking about attacking Chu."

"Yes, this humble general wrote all of this in the reports and sent them to the Prince's Palace."

"I've seen it, and you should also be clear that the current Dayan, no, the current Eastern Jin, is precisely the time to recuperate and accumulate strength.

I don't plan to fight a war in the next few years.

You can control it, and I believe you can control it, but precisely because you, Jin Shuke, are in Zhennanguan, it's difficult for the people below to control themselves."

Because everyone knows that you can fight wars, everyone knows that you are capable, so they want to attack outwards even more.

"I will stay here for a few days. After you finish the handover, come back to Fengxin City with me."

"This humble general obeys." Jin Shuke got up, smiled, and said, "I can return to Your Highness's side again, this humble general is happy."

"Don't worry, that idiot Ke Yan Dongge has to sweep the floor for a year or two before he's done, but you, I have a use for."

At this time,

A carriage stopped at the door of Guo Dong's house.

The ones who came down from the carriage were Tian Tian and Ji Chuanye, Tian Tian holding the Crown Prince's hand, and they walked into Guo Dong's yard.

"Jin Shuke."

"This humble general is here!"

"I order you to be the military strategy teacher of His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prince of Jingnan's heir, teaching the two Highnesses military strategy and what you have learned in the army."

A look of shock appeared on Jin Shuke's face,

He was prepared to be transferred back to Fengxin City by the Prince and put on the shelf,

He also had no intention of resisting the Prince;

But he really didn't expect that the Prince would give him such a great responsibility, no, this is supreme glory!

You must know,

He is a barbarian, a barbarian!

At this time,

Tian Tian and Ji Chuanye bowed together:

"Tian Tian greets Master."

"Chuanye greets Master."

Jin Shuke took a deep breath, suppressed the tears in his eyes, and for a moment he couldn't even bother to return the salute to the two "disciples," but instead faced Zheng Fan and knelt down again with extreme seriousness and solemnity:

"Jin Shuke, in this life, and in the next life, is willing to die for Your Highness!"