usatvline Chapter 159 Just the two of us
Chapter 159 Just the two of us
But with important matters on his mind, Gu Lin didn't pay much attention to it.
He parted his lips slightly and asked Zheng Hao, "Do you know that Brother Niu has established a security escort agency?"
As soon as he asked the question, Gu Lin felt that he had gone to the wrong place. Back in the prefectural city, Zheng Hao and Niu Qiang had often been in contact, and the bodyguards they hired in the capital were also Niu Qiang's brothers.
Gu Lin had always assumed that Niu Qiang and his brothers were working for someone else's security escort agency, never expecting that the other party had established their own.
Zheng Hao remained unmoved by the sudden question from the young man beside him.
He nodded slightly and asked calmly, "Back in the prefectural city, Niu Qiang established a security escort agency. All the bodyguards in the agency are his brothers. Why is Uncle Gu suddenly asking this?"
Zheng Hao changed the subject, successfully diverting Gu Lin's attention elsewhere, without pressing him about why he hadn't told him about Niu Qiang establishing the escort agency.
Gu Lin said to Zheng Hao, "I'm currently setting up a caravan. I've already found the caravan leader and interpreters, but we're still missing a reliable escort team. Xiao Yao and I have inquired with all the major escort agencies in the capital, but they're all full and can't spare any manpower. I heard from Xiao Yao that Brother Niu has established an escort agency in the capital, so I wanted to ask you if they have any manpower available."
Zheng Hao paused slightly, looking at the young man beside him, his obsidian-like eyes narrowing slightly.
Gu Lin looked back, assuming the young man in front of him was deep in thought, unaware that beneath the seemingly calm surface, a turbulent undercurrent was brewing.
With his eyelids half-closed, Zheng Hao's deep eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity, the kind of reaction a beast would have when its mate tries to escape its territory.
He knew that Uncle Gu had been just as busy as he had been lately, but he assumed that Uncle Gu was expanding his business at Zhenyulou and the restaurant.
Since Uncle Gu's every move was under Zheng Hao's watchful eye after he moved into the Zheng residence, Zheng Hao did not send someone to follow Uncle Gu and have them report Uncle Gu's words and actions to him as he had done in the prefectural city.
However, unexpectedly, the entire Zheng family had heard about Uncle Gu's caravan, while he himself had not received any information.
Seeing that Zheng Hao remained silent for a long time, Gu Lin called out to him a few more times.
As if snapping out of his reverie, Zheng Hao lowered his eyes slightly and asked the young man in a gentle voice, "Uncle Gu, how many men do you need?"
Gu Lin had already thought it through and replied, "Sixty or seventy people, I guess."
Zheng Hao looked slightly surprised: "So many guards?"
Gu Lin nodded.
In fact, according to common sense, caravans are generally divided into small caravans and large caravans. Small caravans are often not taken seriously by bandits because of their small size. The number of guards in a caravan is also small, usually around a dozen or even a few.
Large caravans, because they transport a lot of goods, are seen as easy targets by bandits. Therefore, in order to protect them from bandit attacks, large caravans often have several times more guards than small caravans, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people.
Gu Lin's caravan was associated with large caravans, and since it was his first time traveling as a merchant, and the route to his destination was somewhat turbulent, he decided to hire more bodyguards.
In this way, with sixty or seventy bodyguards and the strong young men of the caravan, even if they encountered bandits robbing them, the bandits would have to think twice.
Gu Lin said to Zheng Hao, "If you're not free, please tell Brother Niu for me that I'll go talk to him."
"The caravan is almost ready. I plan to take it out to trade before autumn and try to return to the capital before winter so that everyone won't have to suffer in the wind and rain."
Zheng Hao's fingers, which were resting on the table, paused slightly. He looked up and stared directly at the young man in front of him, saying, "Uncle Gu, are you also going out to do business?"
Although he had expected it, Zheng Hao's heart still sank.
Gu Lin nodded and said, "I set up the caravan, and I've always wanted to go south to see the world, so of course I'll go with the caravan."
At this point, Gu Lin hesitated for a moment, then said to Zheng Hao, "Our initial plan is to set off this month and return to Beijing before winter. But if the trip is delayed, we may have to spend the winter outside, or even the New Year."
If it were in the past, when Zheng Hao was young or still studying, Gu Lin would definitely not have felt at ease leaving with the caravan. However, now that Zheng Hao has settled down in the court, and Zhao Saozi and Yu Ge'er can help each other, and Gu Anyi has found a suitable academy to continue his studies, Gu Lin can finally focus his mind on a wider world.
With his brows relaxed, a smile appeared on Gu Lin's face.
He said to Zheng Hao, "With you at home, I feel more at ease."
Zheng Hao is a mature and steady person. If Zhao's wife and the others encounter problems they can't solve, they won't have any major issues with him around.
With a calm expression and nothing amiss, Zheng Hao asked Gu Lin, "When will the caravan depart? I'd like to have Niu Qiang arrange guards to coordinate with the caravan."
Gu Lin thought for a moment and said, "Of course, the sooner the better. If we can arrange the guards in the next few days, we will set off immediately."
"Okay." Zheng Hao nodded slightly, his half-lowered eyelids concealing the deep emotions in his eyes.
After Gu Lin told Zheng Hao about the caravan guards that night, Niu Qiang came to his door the next day.
Upon entering and seeing Gu Lin, Niu Qiang greeted him with a hearty laugh, "Boss Gu, it's been a long time!"
Gu Lin replied with a smile, "It's harder than climbing to heaven to see Brother Niu. If Mingzhang hadn't helped me pass on the message, I wouldn't know how to contact Brother Niu."
“Brother Niu is really not being fair! Years ago, you established a security escort agency in the prefectural city. Everyone knew about it except me. If I hadn’t been organizing a caravan and needed to hire bodyguards, and hadn’t learned about your security escort agency from Xiao Yao, I probably wouldn’t have known that you had opened a security escort agency in the capital for a long time.”
When Gu Lin said that, Niu Qiang waved his hand as if embarrassed: "It's all for the sake of making a living. The brothers under my command are waiting for food, so I have no choice but to go. Back then, when I didn't know how to support dozens of brothers, it was the scholar Zheng who gave me the idea that my brothers and I were good at fighting, so it would be best to open a security escort agency. I listened to what Zheng said."
I thought it would be enough to support my family on a small scale, but unexpectedly, through a series of fortuitous events, we accumulated some wealth and gradually opened several escort agencies. With guidance from Lord Zheng, we also opened an escort agency in the capital.
Gu Lin smiled and said to Niu Qiang, "We're all from the same place, so we should help and support each other."
Having finished their reminiscing, Gu Lin invited him inside.
After the two were seated, servants came in and served tea and snacks. Niu Qiang took the initiative to bring up the topic: "I heard from Lord Zheng that Boss Gu wants to hire the brothers from our escort agency as guards to protect your caravan when it goes out to trade?"
Gu Lin nodded slightly and said, "We've known each other for a long time, so I won't hide it from you. This caravan I'm in charge of is newly established. Apart from the leader and the interpreter who have experience in traveling as merchants, everyone else, including myself, is a novice."
Therefore, I took the arrangements for guards very seriously for the caravan's first journey.
I always had reservations about the bodyguards from other escort agencies, and I dared not entrust the lives of the entire caravan to a group of complete strangers.
But Brother Niu's brothers were different. Back in the prefectural city, when refugees breached the city walls, Brother Niu's brothers bravely and fearlessly resisted the disaster victims. I felt more at ease entrusting the safety of the caravan to brothers who had shared life and death with me.
"If your esteemed escort agency takes on our caravan's orders, the payment will certainly be the highest possible in the market. While we won't say there will be meat at every meal, there will be at least one meat meal per day."
This offer was undeniably generous. Even though Niu Qiang had dealt with Gu Lin quite a bit and knew that the other party was always generous to those around him, he was still taken aback by the other party's behavior of not haggling over prices when discussing business.
If he hadn't known that Gu Lin didn't know the escort agency belonged to Zheng Hao, he would have thought that the other party was extending his affection to Zheng Hao's family.
Niu Qiang pretended to ponder for a moment, then said to Gu Lin, "Our Weihu Escort Agency is known for its integrity and martial virtue in business. Boss Gu, please rest assured that you can entrust the safety of the caravan to us!"
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Gu Lin said with genuine joy, "That's excellent."
Then, he instructed Niu Qiang: "There are some specific matters that need to be discussed and agreed upon by both the caravan and the escort agency. Xiao Yao will be in charge of the caravan. If you can't find me, go directly to him. If possible, I hope the escort can get to the caravan as soon as possible."
Niu Qiang patted his chest and agreed.
After agreeing on the matter, Niu Qiang left the Zheng residence.
They thought the other party wouldn't be able to arrange things until tomorrow at the earliest, but unexpectedly, Niu Qiang was very efficient. He went back that morning and led seventy bodyguards to the place where Gu Lin was setting up the caravan that afternoon.
The arrangement of these seventy bodyguards was of utmost importance to the safety of the caravan and could not be taken lightly.
As Gu Lin had previously instructed when he invited Uncle Jin, he did not rashly interfere with the arrangements for the bodyguards. Instead, he stayed by Uncle Jin's side and observed how he would make the arrangements.
He and Lin Xiaoyao benefited greatly from this arrangement.
Seeing the two of them momentarily stunned and then suddenly enlightened, Han Jin laughed loudly, "These are just the simplest ones; you still have a lot to learn."
After arranging the escorts, the departure date for the caravan was also set, two days later. Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao then informed Sister Zhao, Brother Yu, and others in turn.
Upon hearing this news, the person most worried about the safety of the two when they went out was not Zhao's wife, but Xiao Cui.
While Zhao's wife was busy cooking, Xiao Cui pulled Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao aside and whispered, "Master, Xiaoyao, why are you thinking of going to Jiangnan? It goes through Jizhou Prefecture, which is so close to the prefecture city captured by the rebels. There are also many refugees along the way. I don't know if they have been settled. If you go south to trade now, aren't you just throwing your sheep into the tiger's den?"
Seeing that Xiao Cui's expression and voice were full of anxiety, and also afraid that her words would be overheard by Yu Ge'er, who shared a room with her.
Gu Lin raised an index finger to his lips and shushed him, saying, "Keep your voice down, don't let Brother Yu and the others hear you."
Then, he comforted Xiao Cui, saying, "Xiao Yao and I did not make this trip to Jiangnan on a whim, but after careful consideration."
"We will not get close to the prefectural city occupied by the Red Army along the way. In addition, the Zhenhong Army is resisting the Red Army in front, so we small merchants are not in danger."
“What about the refugees along the way? Master, Little Brother, I fled from the south. No one knows the situation in the south better than me. Those refugees are not only pitiful, they are both victims and perpetrators. Under the influence of hunger, they have lost their humanity. It is too dangerous for a caravan to pass through there and face hundreds or thousands of refugees,” Xiao Cui said.
Lin Xiaoyao spoke up to soothe the other party's emotions: "There are many merchant caravans from Jiangnan in the capital. We have inquired with them and found that the disaster relief in the south has been effective. The disaster victims have been taken over by the local prefectural government and are no longer in danger."
Hearing this, and seeing their determination to go to Jiangnan, Xiao Cui knew that there was no point in trying to persuade them any further.
She looked at the two of them with concern and said, "You must write back often."
Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao nodded in agreement.
Just as Sister Zhao and her people finished preparing a feast, Zheng Hao returned.
He stepped into the hall, and Sister Zhao waved to him, saying, "Mingzhang is back. Your Uncle Gu is leaving with the caravan tomorrow. Let's see him off."
The seats to Gu Lin's left and right are usually occupied by Gu An and Zheng Hao. Now, Gu An has taken his seat to Gu Lin's right, and Zheng Hao has moved to Gu Lin's left to sit down.
After taking his seat, Zheng Hao turned his head slightly and asked the young man, "Uncle Gu, when will you set off tomorrow?"
Sister-in-law Zhao chimed in, "We'll be there to see you off then."
Gu Lin shook his head slightly and declined, saying, "I'll be leaving before dawn tomorrow morning. You all have important things to do during the day, so please don't come to see me off."
"Moreover," Gu Lin looked at the group of people at the table and smiled helplessly, "I'm only going away for a few months. It's not like we won't see each other again. In the future, I'll be traveling for business frequently. Are you all going to get up and see me off every time?"
Zhao's wife and the others remained silent, but they still decided to get up early the next day and take Gu Lin to the outskirts of the city.
After everyone finished eating, they chatted for a while, then, remembering that Gu Lin was leaving tomorrow, they decided not to disturb him any longer and went back to their rooms, leaving only Gu Lin and Zheng Hao in the lobby.
Thinking about the impending departure tomorrow, Gu Lin, who had just been trying to comfort Zhao's wife and the others, suddenly felt a little sad.
He turned his head slightly to look at the young man beside him. Seeing that the other man was also looking at him, he immediately put aside his sadness, a smile appeared on his face, and he said to the other man, "Lord Zheng, don't let me come back from outside and find out that you've been promoted again!"
Zheng Hao lowered his eyelids slightly: "If I don't achieve tangible results, I won't be promoted again anytime soon."
Seeing this, Gu Lin quickly added, "You are so young and have only been in officialdom for a short time. It is already quite remarkable that you have become an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It would not be a bad thing to hone your skills for a few more years and then be promoted."
Gu Lin was still worried that Zheng Hao was out of his depth.
Zheng Hao parted his lips slightly and said, "Uncle Gu is leaving tomorrow. Can you come out for a late-night snack with me tonight?"
"Just the two of us."
Zheng Hao said.
Seeing the other person's slightly lowered eyes, Gu Lin felt a surge of warmth. He had originally wanted to go back to his room to sleep and recharge, but now he agreed, "Of course, let's go."