BSI Chapter 106 Ma Kuo's Thoughts
Chapter 106 Ma Kuo's Thoughts
The moon shines on the ground, making the road visible even at night.
Ma Kuo rode his horse freely toward the post station, casually glancing at the houses on both sides of the road and shaking his head.
"It is said that Shandong is a land of many heroes, but it is too poor here. As soon as it gets dark, the people all go home. There is not even a place to relax."
At this moment, Ma Kuo, who was still drunk when he parted from Li Chong, seemed unusually sober.
His attendants chimed in, "This is just the countryside, nothing like the bustling city of Bianliang. Young Master, are you longing for the lights of Bianliang? Once this mission is finished, we'll go back to Bianliang with you and have a good time."
"Task completed..."
In the darkness, a bitter smile appeared on Ma Kuo's lips.
In this era, traveling by boat across the sea to that wild land and forming an alliance with a group of newly civilized savages was hardly a good job.
In the eyes of the Northern Song emperors and ministers, the Jin emperors and ministers who had just emerged from the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River were indeed not much different from savages.
Even if it succeeds by sheer luck, given the current state of the Northern Song Dynasty, without the Liao Dynasty, who knows if the Jin Dynasty won't become the next Liao Dynasty?
It's laughable that Zhao Ji was still so proud of his title of Emperor Daojun, and ordered the collection of some kind of tribute of flowers and stones. In the eyes of the wise people of the world, Zhao Ji really shouldn't have been the emperor.
"If Father hadn't taken this job, why would I have gotten myself involved in this mess?"
Suppressing his unease, Ma Kuo spurred his horse and laughed, "Good! When we return to Bianliang, I'll take you all out for some fun!"
"drive!"
The group sped away and soon returned to the post station.
"Young master! Young master!"
Ma Kuo had just stopped his horse and hadn't even dismounted when a dark figure appeared in front of his horse's head.
An old servant blocked the way for the horse, his face showing some anxiety: "Why are you only coming back now? Master is furious."
Ma Kuo grinned: "Alright, I got it. I'll go see him now."
Although he spoke casually, Ma Kuo's body betrayed his words. He nimbly dismounted, tossed the reins to his attendants behind him, and strode inside.
"Oh, right!" After walking a few steps, Ma Kuo turned around and reminded him, "Don't forget to feed him some hay. I still need to go find my 'brother' tomorrow."
Seeing his attendant nod in agreement, Ma Kuo hurriedly went to find his biological father.
"Squeak~~~"
The door opened, and Ma Kuo cautiously peeked into the room.
Under the dim candlelight, Ma Zheng was reading a book by candlelight.
He glanced at his son, then turned his gaze back to his book: "So you do know how to come back? What's so special about Yanggu County that makes you linger here so long, young master?"
Ma Kuo trembled slightly and quickly stepped forward with a fawning smile: "Father, it's one thing for our servants to call me whatever they want, but why did you take it so seriously? What kind of young master am I? It's the son of Grand Commandant Gao who is the real young master."
"Yanei" was originally an honorific title used from the Five Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty to refer to the sons of high-ranking military officials such as Jiedushi and Guanchashi. It was basically only the sons of high-ranking officials, such as the sons of Taiwei, who were addressed in this way.
According to this logic, it would be more appropriate to call Gao Qiu's son Gao Yanei.
However, with the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty and the changing times, its scope of application has been continuously expanding and becoming more secular.
Even the children of ordinary county magistrates might be referred to as "young masters" by their subordinates.
However, such a title is clearly only appropriate for private use and cannot be used in public.
Ma Zheng was a serious man and didn't want his son to bully others, so he definitely looked down on this title.
At this moment, it was naturally a sarcastic remark directed at Ma Kuo.
Ma Kuo poured his father a cup of tea and carefully handed it to him, saying, "Father, please have some tea."
After glancing at him, Ma Zheng put down his book and took the teacup.
While Ma Zheng was drinking tea, Ma Kuo continued, "To be honest, there aren't many rare things in Yanggu County, but the people are quite interesting."
As he spoke, Ma Kuo briefly recounted his conversation with Li Chong that day.
"To be honest, this Magistrate Li is quite capable, but it's strange that we haven't heard of him among the candidates of that year."
"Yes."
Placing the teacup on the table, Ma Zheng casually remarked, "Everyone has their own expertise. Perhaps this young man isn't good at composing poetry and music, which is why he remains unknown."
"That's true." Ma Kuo nodded slowly. "Judging from his appearance, he seems more interested in military strategy and is even secretly trying to find out about our itinerary."
"Um?"
Ma Zheng's eyes narrowed: "He dared to inquire about the delegation's itinerary? Did you say anything?"
"No! No!"
Ma Kuo quickly shook his head: "Father, don't you know me? I know what's important, how could I dare to talk nonsense? Besides, even this Magistrate Li might not know anything about the Jin Kingdom, how could he guess our itinerary out of thin air?"
Ma Zheng's expression softened slightly; what he said wasn't wrong.
"You need to be more careful in the future. Why did you choose to take the military exam instead of the proper imperial examination? If it weren't for the Emperor's mercy in granting you this privilege, would you really be going to the north to risk your life?"
Ma Kuo didn't care at all: "So what? With my abilities, after a lifetime of military service, I should be able to become a Privy Councilor, right? It's much better than hanging out with those people in the court."
Ma Zheng slammed his hand on the table, puffed out his beard, and glared at his son: "Nonsense! How dare you, a mere child, presume to interfere in the affairs of the court? A Privy Councilor, you're all talk and no action; you'll never amount to anything!"
Ma Kuo, however, was extremely indignant: "Even a servant who only knows how to play Cuju can become a Grand Commandant, so why should I be...?"
"Ughhhhh!!!"
Ma Kuo's mouth was covered by Ma Zheng, who then looked around with a grim expression before releasing him.
"Walls have ears, don't talk nonsense!"
He got up and looked around. Finding no one else around, Ma Zheng was relieved.
Ma Kuo lowered his voice: "It's just the two of us here, father and son, so I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you."
Ma Zheng pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke: "What do you want to say?"
After hesitating for a moment, Ma Kuo gritted his teeth and said, "Father, do you really think our mission this time will be useful?"
"Let's not even talk about whether the small Jin Kingdom can shake the Liao Kingdom. Even if it succeeds in the end and the Jin Kingdom can destroy the Liao Kingdom, why should they return the Youyan land? When the Liao Kingdom was weak, our country could not even take back our old territory. How can we hand over the land when a new country rises in the north?"
"Do the officials and ministers in the court really think they can make others submit with just a piece of paper? If that were truly the case, there shouldn't have been any more major wars since the Battle of Chanyuan! The Western Xia surrendered and then rebelled again, even establishing its own state, more than once. When have those barbarians ever kept their promises? Placing your hopes on others will only lead to nothing in the end!"
"Our mission across the sea, father and son, will likely only result in a worthless piece of paper, a futile effort!"
Faced with his son's vehement words, Ma Zheng's face darkened, but he remained silent.