The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 82

In the past year, I don't think I've accomplished much—just a restaurant and a fledgling factory.

In later generations, he could be considered a promising young man, but now, without family members by his side to witness it, he doesn't feel much sense of accomplishment, and it always feels like he's wearing fine clothes in the dark.

This is a sense of loneliness, and this loneliness is destined to accompany him throughout his life, never to be completely eliminated.

But after all, people need to find something to do while they're alive, partly to support themselves and partly to pass the time; that's what life is all about.

For him, the slight difference is that since he's going to do something, he might as well choose something relatively meaningful. This is probably the belief that has supported him to this day.

The mention of life and death today is a source of confusion for Xu Tian. In that time and space, he was already considered dead, but in this time and space, he is still alive. Thinking of this, he shook his head, unwilling to delve any deeper and only disturb his peace of mind.

However, he suddenly felt a surge of impulse and wanted to go and see his hometown in this time and space, to see what the place where he grew up and lived for many years was like in this era, whether there were any villages or people, and whether the place where he lived was now a wasteland.

However, he cannot leave now. The factory is about to start large-scale operations. After several months of preparation, the products are finally about to be released, and it is a crucial moment.

However, he made up his mind that once the factory was stable for a while, he would definitely go back to his hometown to take a look.

While dragon boat races are being held across the Central Plains during the Dragon Boat Festival, a boat race is also underway on the Liujiang River outside Liuzhou City, thousands of miles away in the far south.

However, unlike the dragon boats in the north that can be five or six zhang long, the boats competing here are just ordinary small boats used by the people, and each small boat can carry a maximum of six or seven people.

Although the boats were small, there were quite a few of them, numbering as many as thirty or forty, which was in no way inferior to those in the north in terms of quantity.

At a command, dozens of small boats rushed out, creating a scene reminiscent of a hundred boats racing against each other.

People on both sides of the strait were also shouting and waving their arms. Among them were Han Chinese, as well as Yao, Dong, Miao and other Baiyue people.

On a high point on one side of the riverbank, a group of yamen runners surrounded a dozen or so Han Chinese who looked like officials. The one in the center was a thin old man with half of his temples already white.

If it weren't for the official robes he was wearing and his location, one might mistake him for a farmer from the roadside.

In fact, the old man was not very old, only forty-six years old this year. He was Liu Zongyuan, the current governor of Liuzhou.

Time flies! Three years have passed since I arrived here. Liu Zongyuan stared at the river for a moment, lost in thought.

Liuzhou is a place where Han people and barbarians live together, and its culture is not very prosperous. Three years ago, there was no custom of dragon boat racing here.

After three years of painstaking governance, he reformed the local laws, freed slaves, taught the people to farm, and educated the populace. Today, the area finally shows signs of civilization.

After the dragon boat race ended, Liu Zongyuan turned and returned to his residence. Though called a residence, the prefectural government office was actually just a three-courtyard complex.

The entire Liuzhou area comprises five counties, all of which are considered low-grade counties. The total registered population of these counties is only a little over 1,400 households.