My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 295 Reunion

April 7th.

The temperature in Shandong is not high, and the warm sunshine makes people feel extremely comfortable.

After crossing Mount Tai, Gao Yu had been observing the situation.

The winter wheat planted last year will be ready for harvest in just over a month.

At least in the area surrounding Taishan County, there were no obvious signs of war, and production recovered quickly.

But Gao Yu could still see a lot of abandoned fields. Without asking, he knew that the original farmers had run away, and with no one to plant the crops, the fields had been abandoned.

"The previous wars did not have a significant impact on Yanzhou, so why are so many farmers here abandoning their fields?"

Yang Yin then explained, "If you can't survive by farming, you can only rely on powerful families and become their slaves."

"The taxes levied by the imperial court are too heavy."

When self-cultivating farmers were required to pay taxes to the imperial court, the taxes set by the court were very heavy.

Especially starting with Empress Dowager Hu, large-scale construction projects were launched.

They sent craftsmen to carve Buddha statues, built temples on a grand scale, and waged wars year after year. With such huge expenses, they could only squeeze the people dry.

It would be a miracle if self-sufficient farmers could survive.

Manors affiliated with powerful families or fortified villages also had to pay a certain amount of their harvest, but they paid less than the imperial court.

That alone is enough.

This is also a major reason why the number of registered households under the control of the imperial court is decreasing, as they have all become 'hidden households' attached to powerful and influential families.

Throughout this journey, Gao Yu has not revealed his thoughts to anyone.

For him, the most urgent task was to implement the "equal-field system" and the "military system," which required first measuring out a large amount of unclaimed land and getting those powerful families to return some of the unclaimed land they had seized.

But we shouldn't be too hasty at the beginning.

Need to figure it out slowly.

It's impossible to rely on the local powerful families in Shandong to help advance this matter.

People like Yang Yin and the Cui family, who came from other places and followed him, are the people he needs to rely on to implement these policies.

How far is it from Taishan County?

"After crossing the river ahead, it will be about ten miles to Taishan County."

Taishan County was built along the river, north of the Wen River. The river blocking Gao Yu and his companions was a tributary of the Wen River, a small river that was not very wide.

The scouts who went ahead to explore kept sending back messages.

Soon someone came and rushed to Gao Yu.

"General! The Prefect of Taishan is waiting ahead."

"I see."

Gao Yu nodded, but Cui Xian beside him chuckled a few times, "The Prefect of Taishan is the young master of the Yang family? Another old acquaintance."

When Gao Yu left Luoyang to return to Huai Shuo.

Among those who came to see him off were Cui Xian, Jia Sixie, and the Yang siblings.

Seemingly remembering something, Cui Xian said with an ambiguous smile, "The young lady from the Yang family back then had quite a forthright personality. I wonder if she has married after all these years? If I remember correctly..."

"Brother Ji Lun."

"She must be unmarried yet. Why don't you go and see her first, Zichong? Otherwise we'll spoil the fun."

Gao Yu was speechless for a moment.

He felt somewhat uneasy.

He was actually a little puzzled. How could Yang Changchu be so infatuated with him after only a few meetings?
But then I thought about it.

Lou Zhaojun was so devoted to Gao Huan.

The Gao family's genes are indeed quite impressive, making them a valuable asset to powerful women from wealthy families.

Gao Yue jokingly added, "If what Brother Ji Lun said is true... wouldn't she be my future sister-in-law?"

Since Gao Yu did not marry Erzhu Yuechan in Luoyang, his wedding must have been held in Shandong. Gao Yue was quite intelligent and easily figured out some clues.

"What's the rush? You'll get married sooner or later anyway."

Gao Yu already has too many women around him. For many powerful families, sending more women would mean missing the opportunity.

So let's settle for second best.

Those closely associated with Gao Yu, such as Gao Yue (who was his cousin), or his generals Mulan and Peng Le, were all good marriage partners. The relationships were intricately intertwined.

Gao Yuguang gets a headache just thinking about it...

The more this is the case, the more he needs someone to help him manage these relationships.

A qualified 'mother' is very eager.

........................

"Why haven't they arrived yet?"

Liu looked north from time to time, but never saw any sign of it.

"We've waited so long, why rush things? It's not like it'll run away."

The Pei woman remained calm and even teased, "Chang Chu's beloved husband, what? Are you going to steal him away?"

"No, I was just curious."

Liu's daughter pursed her lips and said nothing more, but turned her head to secretly sized up Yang Changchu.

Before setting off today, Yang Changchu dressed up very nicely.

With light makeup and wearing a light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), she was extremely beautiful and charming.

The Liu girls were afraid of being outshone, so they didn't dare get too close to her, for fear of becoming just a green leaf to set off the flower.

Yang Changchu stared blankly to the north, completely unlike his usual self.

Soon, someone came to report back to Yang Kan that Gao Yu was about to arrive, and that a black line could be seen on the horizon.

Yang Changchu became nervous instead!
She bit her lower lip lightly, feeling quite uneasy; she found it difficult to describe her feelings at that moment.

Nine years later!

She grew from an innocent little girl into a graceful young woman.

The person she had been longing for was finally about to appear. She felt she should be excited, but she didn't seem to be that excited.

My feelings are complicated.

Nearly.

Nearly.

The clattering of horses' hooves was clearly audible.

A spring breeze would occasionally blow, raising gusts of dust that would sting her eyes. She had to rub her eyes with her hands, and when she looked up again...

That familiar figure came into view.

On the day.

On the pagoda, she rode on Yang Kan's shoulders, watching the scene at the Prince of Guangping's villa.

The young hero stood with his bow in hand, facing hundreds of soldiers without fear, and single-handedly drove them back!

in front of you.

The sound of flowing water on the opposite bank of the river.

A handsome, fair-skinned young hero rode forward on horseback, gazing at her from afar.

The figure in front of me gradually overlapped with the figure on the opposite bank of the river.

The two people looked at each other across the river.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Gao Yu never expected this...

The little girl who was once so innocent has now grown into a beautiful young woman.

He wanted to say hello, but the words wouldn't come out.

Instead, I saw a girl on the other side of the river.

A faint smile played on her lips as she gazed into his eyes, and then two more streams of tears welled up in her eyes.

They looked at each other speechlessly, only tears streaming down their faces.

Seeing the tears on the girl's face, Gao Yu felt as if he had been hit hard by a heavy object.

It gave rise to endless guilt and remorse.

Emotional debts are hard to repay.

(End of this chapter)