Chapter 144: It’s great to be older
When Gao Huan walked into the commander's tent, he saw Su Ze smiling at him. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and stepped forward excitedly and said:
"Brother Su!"
Su Ze pulled Gao Huan's arm and said, "He Liuhun! You are in Wuchuan indeed!"
Gao Huan then noticed Su Ze's attire. He was surprised again and asked, "Captain Su who built the Jingguan in Baidao Fortress is you, Brother Su?"
Su Ze smiled and did not deny it. Gao Huan also saw the heather tail inserted on Su Ze's Wubian (a military officer's headdress), which was a type of headdress that only genuine military officers of the imperial court could wear. Not many people could wear such a Wubian on such an important occasion. Su Ze actually rose to fame and was awarded an official position of the imperial court!
Sima Ziru and Hou Jing entered the general's tent and saw that the bigwigs in the tent were a little nervous. They saw Gao Huan talking intimately with a general wearing a pheasant-tailed military cap. They looked at each other in confusion. Did Gao Huan have such a high-level relationship? Then what was he doing before?
It was then that Gao Huan noticed Heba Yun beside Su Ze. He quickly crossed his arms and said to Heba Yun, "Greetings to Heba Junzhang!"
Heba Yun looked at Gao Huan with complicated eyes. He originally thought that he and Su Ze were old acquaintances from Luoyang, but now it seems that the two have a close relationship. Fortunately, he was nice to Gao Huan.
Looking at the pheasant-tail military hat on Su Ze's head, Heba Yun had mixed feelings. His family was very famous in the Six Garrisons, but his father Heba Duba was not qualified to wear this pheasant-tail military hat. How narrow was the path for promotion for the military men in the Six Garrisons!
Heba Yun took the wine and left, leaving Gao Huan and Su Ze to reminisce about the past. Gao Huan asked Su Ze what happened after he left Luoyang. He only knew that Su Ze participated in the Yulin Rebellion, but he didn't know that he gained huge benefits from the rebellion.
What surprised Gao Huan even more was that the court was so lenient towards the rebellious Yulin, only holding a few "ringleaders" accountable, and even proposed a method of suspending the age limit to leave a way for the imperial guards to be promoted to regular ranks.
Su Ze was the beneficiary of this new policy. The sense of accomplishment that Gao Huan had gained from joining the army under Heba Yun immediately disappeared.
Thinking about Su Ze’s achievements in Pingcheng, I’m afraid that when he returns to Luoyang, Su Ze will be ranked on the same level as the town commander.
On the one hand, Gao Huan was sincerely happy for his good friend Su Ze's future, but a hint of jealousy also arose in his heart. The warriors of the Six Garrisons in the big tent would unconsciously look at the elf-tail military hat on Su Ze's head. The court was really too ungrateful to the Six Garrisons.
"Brother Su, these are my two brothers."
Gao Huan pulled Sima Ziru and Hou Jing to his side and introduced them to Su Ze: "This is Sima Ziru, the governor of Huaishuo Province, an old friend who grew up with me. This is Hou Jing, who served in the cavalry with me and is also a good man of my Six Garrisons!"
Now it was Su Ze's turn to be surprised. Could this be the script of the child of destiny?
He was planning to join the army in the northern expedition, rescue the Murong tribe, and deliberately make friends with Yu Jin. Currently, he only has Yu Jin and Murong Shaozong in his network.
Soon after Gao Huan returned to the Six Garrisons, he recruited Sima Ziru and Hou Jing, and also established a relationship with the Heba family.
Sima Ziru and Hou Jing also looked at Su Ze nervously, staring at the hemlock-tail military hat on his head. This was a "high-ranking official" that they usually didn't see.
Su Ze also noticed their attitude and couldn't help but sigh, this is the attraction of being "within the system".
Throughout the dynasties, the most attractive careers are those within the system. This is not because of the "official-oriented" ideology, but because if one wants to realize one's ideals and ambitions, one can only do so by grasping power. The system will always be attractive to top talents.
This was also the reason why Wuchuan and Huaishuo held out for a year after the Six Garrisons Rebellion, and the heroes of Wuchuan and Huaishuo were unwilling to surrender to the rebels.
Who would want to be a thief when they can be an official?
The Heba brothers, the Yuwen brothers, as well as Gao Huan, Sima Ziru, and Hou Jing in front of them, were forced to join the Six Garrisons rebels after the fall of Wuchuan Huaishuo City, but they all found opportunities to leave the rebels and join the generals of the court who were suppressing the rebellion.
Even at the end of a dynasty, official positions are still the most attractive thing.
Sima Ziru was one of the "Four Nobles" appointed by Gao Huan to assist his son in government affairs. He was both civil and military, but his talents were more in governing civil affairs.
But Hou Jing was different. Su Ze looked at Hou Jing. Hou Jing was still very young, but he already had the ruthlessness that only comes from fighting on the battlefield.
Hou Jing's status was the lowest among the generals of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. From his appearance, he was the common "mixed Hu" in the north, and even his clothes had left lapels.
Hou Jing had no money to study when he was a child, and he had no connections except Gao Huan. The fact that he was able to climb out of the hellish situation at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty shows his ability.
This is a person who wants to climb up extremely and will do anything to do so.
Such a person, if used well, is like a sharp knife, but if used poorly, it is like a sharp blade that stabs oneself. Without ability and prestige, it is difficult to control a person like Hou Jing.
For a man like Hou Jing, he can even abandon his wife and children. The favor you give him is only temporary, so Su Ze has no intention of making friends with him.
Let’s see if this future great general of the universe can fight his way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the North, just like what happened before Su Ze traveled through time.
Su Ze pulled the three of them to sit at the table. At this time, Li Chong also announced that the four corners of the tent would be pulled up, and invited the officers brought by Wuchuan Town to sit at the table and drink together.
Su Ze and Gao Huan talked about recent events, and soon he saw a young man in gorgeous clothes also led by his elders to take the table. His attire was completely inconsistent with that of Wuchuan's group of rough people.
"That is?"
Gao Huan took a look and said, "That was Dugu Ruyuan. When Wuchuan was besieged, it was he who rode alone into Huaishuo to ask for help. The town commander asked Heba Junzhu to send troops to rescue Wuchuan."
Dugu Ruyuan? So that's how it is. This man, who later changed his name to Dugu Xin, was a famous father-in-law of three dynasties. No wonder he was so handsome. His daughter must be very beautiful in the future.
Although this father-in-law of three dynasties seems to be a forced combination, the three queens are not very valuable except for Dugu Qieluo, the queen of Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian.
However, Dugu Xin was one of the pillars of the Western Wei group. He had great charm and was particularly good at discovering talents. For example, Yang Zhong, the father of Emperor Wen of Sui, was an old subordinate of Dugu Xin. He was also a person of his own within the Western Wei.
Then Su Ze saw a teenager squeeze into the Yuwen brothers' table, and Su Ze asked again: "Who is that?"
"That's Yuwen Tai, the youngest of the Yuwen brothers."
It was indeed Yuwen Tai!
Gao Huan's lifelong enemy, the actual ruler of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
At this moment, the Yuwen brothers stood up and walked towards Su Ze. Yuwen Tai also held a wine glass and followed his brothers in a proper manner.
When Su Ze saw Yuwen Tai's reserved look, he couldn't help but think of the sentence - "When I was eighteen, I stood like a minion." A smile appeared on his lips. It must have been great to travel through time!
The May Day trip is pure suffering, alas.
I have to pay back my debts when I go back.
(End of this chapter)