In fact, his father clearly cursed, saying Guo Xiao was too extravagant, he embezzled most of the spoils of war, only sharing a portion with his subordinates, and even then, only the leading generals got to receive anything, while the soldiers below didn’t even get a sip of soup, let alone anything else.
Of course, he wouldn’t tell Bai Shan and Manbao about this.
But Bai Shan and Manbao weren’t fools; they understood what was going on.
Junior General ng sighed, "After the incident blew up, Minister Liu was furious, but these unwritten rules are hard to bring to light. You can’t exactly say soldiers froze to death because the general didn’t distribute last year’s spoils to them, can you? So the fault was pinned on the Ministry of Revenue, and that year Minister Liu was dismissed. However, less than half a year later, His Majesty reinstated him, first granting him a scribe position, then promoted him ten ranks in just two months, and he beca Minister again."
Speaking of this, Junior General ng beca excited, his voice no longer intentionally subdued, "Ten ranks! Although it was after being dismissed and re-entering the service, it’s still impressive. If we had that kind of skill..."
Manbao and Bai Shan happened to think the sa. Bai Shan even calculated that if he had such ability, he could retire before Destiny Teller.
Bai Shan shook his head, discarding those thoughts, and asked, "Did Minister Liu take revenge on him?"
"Of course," this was sothing he had just asked about from Guo Zhao a couple of days ago, and also inquired among the Anxi military leaders, only then learning more about the grudges.
There’s no helping it—there were too many rumors about Liu Huan recently. People outside didn’t know what was inside and truly believed that a domineering, pleasure-loving, and money-grubbing fop had arrived at Xizhou City, but Junior General ng and they knew the inside story.
Thus, they couldn’t help but discuss privately, and with discussion cos exchange, and among those exchanges, witnesses from back then subtly revealed so of the grievances.
He mimicked them, lowering his voice, "This is just a rumor, not confird yet, so don’t spread it."
Manbao and Bai Shan, regardless of what the matter was, nodded first to agree, because aren’t secrets always like this?
He lowered his voice even further, "They say that General Guo can’t be ennobled because Minister Liu secretly bad-mouthed him in front of the Emperor."
Manbao: "... He can be ennobled?"
Junior General ng choked for a mont, not expecting her to question this point first—shouldn’t she ask if it’s true or false?
He replied, "In terms of rit, he can be ennobled."
He listed examples, "Like Hou Ji, like my father, they were all ennobled. Back then, his contributions were comparable to my father and Hou Ji’s. He was quite good at fighting. When His Majesty wanted to annex Gaochang, he was initially the first choice, but he wasn’t used in the end because Minister Liu said he didn’t care for his subordinates. Given Gaochang’s distance, if he were harsh to the soldiers, it might cause unrest. Eventually, Hou Ji was chosen instead."
But Hou Ji wasn’t a good person either. Although he seed more considerate of his subordinates in comparison, he was also quite greedy and harsh. When Gaochang Kingdom fell, among the countless treasures in the palace, he handed over less than one-tenth and even demanded a large military budget from the Ministry of Revenue. Otherwise, the Crown Prince wouldn’t have been so enraged to report him to the court, directly opposing him.
In the end, it even led him to contemplate rebellion.
Junior General ng pondered a bit by himself, thinking that the Western Regions were cursed. Was it Gaochang’s misfortune to twice encounter such commanders, or the misfortune of the two generals to end up in this impoverished region?
Hmm, placing such greedy and extravagant commanders in the Western Regions is also a form of punishnt, right?
Junior General ng regained his senses and concluded, "Anyway, that’s how it is. General Guo isn’t young anymore. If he doesn’t get ennobled soon, it will be difficult later. So you see, he’s been trying to consolidate Kucha recently and plans to move the Anxi Protectorate to Kucha after capturing it. This way, he can better observe the Western Turks and intimidate Tubo. If his plan passes, he’ll likely be ennobled next year when discussing rits and rewards." Unless Minister Liu bad-mouths him again and the Emperor listens.
However, ruining soone’s future is like killing their parents. Junior General ng felt that if it really ca to that, it wouldn’t be surprising that General Guo hated Minister Liu so much.
But deep down, he also thought General Guo wasn’t fit for ennoblent, and besides, entangling Liu Huan in these old grudges wasn’t appropriate.
Manbao and others pondered the taste of it and realized that resolving old grudges wasn’t feasible between General Guo and Liu Huan, so they said warmly to Junior General ng, "When Junior General Guo returns, if we’re still in town, rember to bring him to play with us."
Bai Shan said, "Although the older generations have so grudges, it has nothing to do with us youngsters. Junior General Guo and Liu Huan are cousins, after all. There’s really no need for enmity because of this."
Junior General ng couldn’t help but give them a thumbs-up, "Your idea is brilliant! If Liu Gongzi gets along with Guo Zhao, would General Guo still trouble Liu Gongzi? Hahaha..."
Bai Shan and Manbao watched the laughing Junior General ng, considering whether to laugh along, when he stopped laughing and asked, confused, "Am I wrong?"
Manbao: "I don’t think so. I see Junior General Guo as a nice person. He’s likely tried persuading his father, but General Guo has been active recently, showing he doesn’t really care about Junior General Guo..."
Manbao left the last two words unspoken, openly sowing discord.
But Junior General ng contemplated carefully and indeed doubted similarly.
Thinking along those lines, he disliked General Guo even more, thus considering leaving the Protectorate but lanting that he couldn’t find a good excuse.
He touched his belly and asked Zhou Man, "Lord Zhou, how much longer before my injury allows for training?"
Once he could train with weapons, he could move back to the military camp as an excuse to leave.
Manbao said, "Take off your clothes and let see."
Junior General ng began unfastening his belt to undress but paused midway, realizing sothing was wrong, hesitating whether to continue.
Bai Shan looked at him, "Why are you looking at ?"
He frowned disbelievingly, "Surely I don’t need to step aside for this?"
Junior General ng, fearing misunderstanding, quickly said, "No, no, it’s just, you don’t mind, right?"
"I don’t mind, I’ve seen it before. Didn’t you rember it was who handed the sutures when your belly was stitched up?"
Junior General ng: "...I an, you don’t mind Lord Zhou examining my belly?"
Bai Shan glanced at his belly with a playful smile, "What’s there to mind? Is your belly better looking than mine?"
Junior General ng was at a loss for words and simply sped up, pulling his clothes up after untying the belt to show her.
Manbao hesitated but, seeing he’d gone so far, she decided not to hold back, saying, "Another seven or eight days should do it."
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