Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 549 Reminiscing about the past
Hearing this, Gao Huan almost burst into tears.

Su Ze was also paying attention to Gao Huan.

People's thoughts are also related to their own circumstances.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Gao Huan was the Emperor Shenwu of Qi who occupied half of the north, but this does not mean that Gao Huan wanted to be emperor since he was young.

The so-called having great ambitions when young is just like the auspicious signs fabricated in history books that an emperor was born with. It is just an artistic processing made by historians to serve the emperor's sacredness.

At least when Gao Huan was selling horses in Luoyang, all he wanted was to make more money from selling horses so that he could be happier in Luoyang.

Similarly, when Liu Bei was making straw sandals, he probably also thought that he would become Emperor Zhaolie of Han.

Gao Huan in this world has always been striving for progress, but he has never broken through his personal limitations, and has not even been able to establish his own regime.

Naturally, there is no big ambition to speak of.

Naturally, Su Ze didn't have to treat him with the same attitude as he treated "Emperor Shenwu of Qi".

Today's Gao Huan is just an old friend of Su Ze who traveled through time to a backward country.

A victor must have the attitude of a winner, and Gao Huan was the last general from the Erzhu family whom he accepted as a surrendered general.

From then on, there was no room for surrendered generals in Su Ze's group.

However, Su Ze can face Gao Huan with the attitude of a winner, but Gao Huan cannot face Su Ze with the same attitude.

He knelt on the ground and said:
"I am so grateful to the Duke for saving the lives of He Liuhun and his family. I will never be able to repay you."

Gao Huan buried his face deeply in the ground. He was also a top-notch human being. Serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. The old feelings would always be exhausted one day. It would be better to take advantage of Su Ze's good mood and ask for some benefits.

Seeing Gao Huan so submissive, Su Ze felt a little bored.

After all, Gao Huan was no longer the messenger who rode on horseback between Luoyang and the Six Garrisons, and he was no longer the soldier of the imperial guards.

Su Ze sat down in his seat and looked at Gao Huan who was kneeling on the ground. He did not let him get up, but said:

"He Liuhun, you are begging to see me. You are not here to reminisce about the past, but to ask for an official position?"

Gao Huan said quickly:

"A defeated general would not dare to say this."

This is consistent with Gao Huan's character. He knows when to advance and when to retreat. Su Ze asked curiously:

"What are you asking for?"

Gao Huan said with a stiff upper lip:

"I just want a new dynasty for my descendants."

Su Ze remembered that Gao Huan had just given birth to a son. As parents, they always had to consider their children and grandchildren.

Forget it, Su Ze said:
"I heard you just had a baby boy. What did you name him?"

Gao Huan had already named his son when he was walking, but his mind worked quickly and he immediately said, "The boy is still young and has not been named yet. Please give him a name, Lord."

Su Ze said without hesitation:

"You are too active, it would be better if your son is quieter. Just call him Gao Cheng."

Gao Huan was shocked. Why did Su Ze name his son the same name he had thought of?
This is really too much of a coincidence.

But he still said happily:
"Thank you, Lord, for the name!"

Su Ze said:

"Your son is about the same age as my kid. When he grows up, he can study with my son."

Hearing this, Gao Huan was overjoyed.

As everyone knows, Su Ze has only one son now. Princess Chenliu is the legal wife and has great prestige, so Su Ze's son is the legitimate eldest son.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a perfect crown prince.

Generally speaking, only the children of noble families could accompany the crown prince to study.

Although Su Ze did not reward Gao Huan with an official position, he promised to let his son study with his eldest son in the future, which was already a great grace.

Gao Huan kowtowed again to express his gratitude, and this time he was truly grateful to the point of tears.

The atmosphere afterwards became much more harmonious. Gao Huan was free of his psychological burden and talked to Su Ze about what had happened over the years. This made Su Ze regain some of the feelings he had before he traveled through time.

But Gao Huan was also very smart and did not talk about any military or political matters. He just talked about some interesting stories from his old days and some of what he saw and heard along the way.

Su Ze also listened with great interest.

Although he could learn about local situations through his entourage at any time, Su Ze was too busy. Most of the time, he could only learn about local affairs through reports from the Government Affairs Hall and the Xuan Jing Division.

Although no one dared to deliberately deceive Su Ze, the reports compiled from various levels were always distorted. Reporting good news but not bad news was the norm in the bureaucratic system.

Gao Huan was just a surrendered general and did not receive any official treatment. No official along the way would greet or receive him.

Therefore, Gao Huan was able to better understand the real situation in the local area.

Listening to Gao Huan's description, Su Ze had a new understanding of the situations in Youzhou, Dingzhou and Jizhou.

Youzhou is located a little to the north and has cold winters, but it is the area least damaged by war among the three states.

Han Lou has always been good at taking sides. He surrendered to Su Ze peacefully and was the most cooperative after surrendering.

Therefore, Su Ze's decree was implemented in Youzhou earlier, and the spring and summer farming season this year was not delayed.

The biggest characteristic of agricultural civilization is its strong resilience.

As long as they can grow one or two seasons of grain and the government doesn't make any unnecessary trouble, the people will naturally recover.

If you meet a capable and competent official, you will soon be able to live a good life.

Although the climate in Youzhou is cold, the land is fertile. After the autumn harvest, the grain is stored in the warehouse, and every household is looking forward to the New Year.

The only problem was that Youzhou had to bear the military ration consumption of Shanhaiguan and Murong Shaozong's southward attack on Jizhou. However, these two wars have ended, and Youzhou has prospered visibly.

Su Ze was also very satisfied.

The characteristic of Murong Shaozong is that he doesn't make trouble.

Among all his generals, Murong Shaozong was the most low-key. He seldom made any big news, whether in military affairs or local civil affairs.

Basically, politically, Murong Shaozong just executed the orders of the Administrative Affairs Hall and would not do anything on his own.

But the reason why he was able to avoid trouble was also because Murong Shaozong had the capital.

As the earliest general to follow Su Ze, Murong Shaozong's qualifications and merits ensured that he would be promoted to a top noble position as long as he could survive and survive until the founding of the country.

In other words, he doesn't need to achieve any political achievements as an official, as long as he lives a stable life, he will be meritorious.

Only those newly promoted officials would think about making political achievements at the local level.

Not making trouble is the best quality for a region like Youzhou that has just surrendered.

In this way, the people of Youzhou could quickly dispel the worries they had just experienced during the period of surrender and focus on post-war recovery.

Gao Huan was also shocked along the way.

It was clearly a period of war, but the country was much more prosperous and stable under Su Ze's rule than under Bir Zhu Rong's rule.

He also gradually understood why Erzhu Rong ended up like this.

(End of this chapter)