My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 573: Digging Up the Roots of the Family

"Several years have passed since we last met. I have grown old, but the Prime Minister remains as dashing as ever..."

The current head of the Qinghe Cui clan is still Cui Li, who is Cui Jie's elder brother and the son of Cui Guang.

It was Cui Li who sent Cui Jie to Shandong to follow Gao Yu. Over the years, Cui Jie’s abilities have not been outstanding, but Gao Yu has always appointed him as the chief secretary of the Tian Ce Mansion.

Gao Yu did not abolish the Tian Ce Mansion located in Dongyang City, Qingzhou, after he was promoted to the position of Prime Minister.

Instead, they left it in Qingzhou.

This is just a symbol; unless Gao Yu ascends the throne and becomes emperor, it will remain here indefinitely.

Cui Li has indeed aged, with graying temples. Perhaps the only good news is that he seems to be able to move around without difficulty.

At his age, he might suddenly fall seriously ill and pass away.

Having lived in this era for so long, Gao Yu has come to understand more and more why the poems of parting from the ancients are always so sincere and heartfelt.

Given this traffic situation.

Once separated by distance, a farewell could be a final one. The ancients truly regarded every parting as the last meeting in this life, which is why they had such genuine feelings.

"Come, Aze, why don't you pay your respects to Lord Cui?"

Gao Ze respectfully approached Cui Li, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Lord Cui."

"Good good..."

Although Cui Li did not serve directly under Gao Yu, the Cui family of Qinghe was undoubtedly deeply bound to Gao Yu, and his feelings were just like those of the others under Gao Yu.

Seeing that Gao Yu has many offspring, especially his eldest son who speaks eloquently at such a young age, he will surely be of great use in the future!
Gao Yu himself was a wise and brave man, and he was in the prime of his life!

His eldest son did not need to be as wise and powerful as him; he only needed to be a capable ruler who could maintain the status quo and stabilize Gao Yu's foundation.

after all……

They are very clear.

It's only a matter of time before Gao Yu establishes a new dynasty and replaces the Great Wei. After all, Gao Yu has the advantage; how could he possibly lose when the Flying Dragon is right on top of him?

Cui Li took out a jade pendant from his pocket. "This jade was given to me by my late father. Unfortunately, I was foolish and failed to live up to his expectations. Today, I present this jade to you, young master..."

Faced with the precious jade handed to him by Cui Li, Gao Ze subconsciously looked up at Gao Yu and Yang Changchu.

Gao Yu didn't give him any look, and Yang Changchu didn't say anything either.

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Ze took the precious jade into his hands and said in a childish voice, "Thank you, Master Cui, for the jade."

Cui Li stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

Gao Ze accepted the jade pendant, and Gao Yu did not object. It was enough to protect the Cui family of Qinghe for at least fifty years, or even longer.

Gao Yu did not linger in Qinghe County for too long. His carriage continued eastward, crossed the Yellow River in Jeju Province, and then headed south into Yanzhou Province.

When he married Yang Changchu, the Yang family gave him a large piece of land in Juye Marsh in Yanzhou, as well as a mansion, which was part of Yang Changchu's many dowries.

after all……

At the same time, Gao Yu also married Erzhu Yuechan.

Yang Kan, a staunch Han patriot, was extremely generous with Yang Changchu's dowry in order to avoid losing to the Jiehu Erzhu clan, which he looked down upon.

For a long time, the women lived in the mansion next to the Juye Marsh, and Takazawa also lived there when he was still a child.

"Chang Chu, you and Aze rest here for a few days before setting off for Dongyang City."

"And what about you, my husband?"

"I'll take some people to see different places."

"Should we have local officials accompany them?"

"Do not."

Gao Yu smiled and shook his head, "If officials accompany them and they travel to various places in a grand manner, what's the point of the inspection?"

"Some problems can only be discovered by conducting unannounced inspections."

"Don't worry."

He patted Yang Changchu's hand reassuringly, "With Liu Yi and the Xuanjia Army soldiers accompanying us, what could possibly happen in Shandong?"

Yang Changchu nodded, "Then please be careful, my husband."

Shandong, as an "old revolutionary base area," is Gao Yu's most solid base, as well as the base of the Fubing system.

The most important thing is.

Gao Yu has been away from Shandong for too long. The last time he came was at the end of the year before last when he married Princess Xiao Miaozhi of the Southern Dynasty.

Last year, he traveled north to inspect the Yan and You regions. Afterwards, in order to appease the powerful families of Shandong, he brought all his female relatives to Ye City and has not returned to Shandong for more than a year. He needs to see all the places.

"Prime Minister...where shall we go?"

"Go to Lu County."

………………

Lu Commandery was the seat of Yanzhou and also the home of the lineage of Confucius. As the 'sage' revered by Confucianism, the lineage of Confucius held an extraordinary position after Emperor Wu of Han dismissed all other schools of thought and exclusively honored Confucianism.

Gao Yu and his group had just approached the outskirts of Lu County.

Then we heard a series of shouts!
"it is good!"

"Pass the ball! Pass the ball!"

"........."

The lively scene caught Gao Yu's attention.

"Let's go and take a look."

Football was something Gao Yu had tinkered with back in Huai Shuo, originally intended to help soldiers pass the time.

After all, if a group of hot-blooded young men are gathered in a military camp, it's easy for them to cause trouble if we don't find a way to expend their excess energy.

However, it was later leaked out.

The military towns of Huaishuo and Wuchuan even formed football teams to compete against each other back then.

Later, Gao Yu arrived in Qingzhou and formed the Fubing (府兵, a military unit). The football was also passed out by the people in the Fubing.

Gao Yu went to the sidelines and saw that there were indeed two teams competing against each other. The competition was not very intense, but it was enough to entertain the ancient people who had extremely limited entertainment.

He approached a man who was in his prime and whose clothes were reasonably decent.

"Brother, I am a merchant here. May I ask what this is?"

The man turned around and glanced at Gao Yu. Seeing his extraordinary demeanor, he was momentarily taken aback, but still responded warmly and hospitably, "This is football."

"I have heard of football."

Gao Yu nodded, then began to probe indirectly, "It's harvest time right now, so... don't you all need to do farm work?"

The man laughed loudly, “Haha, my son is a soldier of the government. He was fortunate enough to follow the general in battle and made meritorious contributions. He has servants at home working in the fields, so I don’t have to do any work. It won’t delay me.”

The soldiers of Shandong.

No wonder...

Gao Yu was promoted to prime minister after he went to Ye City.

But for people from Shandong, they have a deeper impression of General Tian Ce, and therefore are more accustomed to respectfully calling Gao Yu "General".

Gao Yu also learned a lot of details through subtle probing.

The answer he received delighted him.

It's true that once people are full and satisfied, they start to think about whether they can enjoy themselves in other ways.

The soldiers and their families were a privileged class who were not employed.

They don't need to do farm work, and they have some money in their hands, so naturally they will pursue a better quality of life!

They were the 'urban class' that should have appeared during the Tang and Song dynasties.

The existence of this group of people, and their demand for a better and higher quality of life, will accelerate the emergence of various business sectors.

such as……

Inns and restaurants.

Gradually, the monopoly of the aristocratic families on the 'manor economy' will be broken.

This broke the cycle.

This would free a large number of people from the manors of aristocratic families.

In the past, the only way to have food was to farm for aristocratic families.

Now?

If you go to the city, you can work as a waiter or a shop assistant in a restaurant and still have food to eat.

The main goal is to extract all the population controlled by the powerful families.

This would weaken the influence of powerful families in the area.

(End of this chapter)