Such bumpy experiences were truly lamentable.
Jiang Wenyuan asked him what plans he had for the future.
Hu Yangming shook his head with a embarrassed smile, saying he wanted to hunt more game to save up some money, and move his mother's and master's remains back to their hometown in Qingzhou.
His master was not a local either, but rather had drifted over from Suzhou Prefecture some years ago when fleeing the famine, and was also without family.
He naturally could not leave his master's grave untended if he wanted to return to Qingzhou. The best plan was to bring everything back with him to Qingzhou, so there would be someone to pay respects during holidays and festivals.
Jiang Wenyuan patted him comfortingly, "You are a filial and responsible child. As your elder relative, I will certainly not ignore you now that we have met.
Because I have to go to Su Prefecture on official business, I cannot personally escort you back to Qingzhou. You wait here a couple days, and I will find a reliable escort to reopen and transfer your mother and master's coffins in high-quality new ones to send you all back to Qingzhou.
When you reach Qingzhou, there will be people waiting for you, so do not worry. From now on, come live with our family, you will never lack food."
Hu Yangming immediately kneeled and kowtowed, choking back tears as he said "Thank you uncle! I will never forget your great kindness and virtue!"
"Stand up now! When your aunt hears of this she will be overjoyed.
She always regretted you and your mother remarrying. We searched for you before, but never found any traces. Now, you are her only remaining maternal relative."
"Only remaining one? You mean grandfather has also passed away?" Tears welled up in the youth's eyes.
"Yes. The year after you and your mother left, he too departed this world."
Jiang Wenyuan patted his shoulder again to comfort him, "When he passed, he was not in pain. My brothers and I attended to him in shifts at the end."
The youth thanked him tearfully, "Thank you uncle!"
"What's there to be so polite about between family!"
Early next morning, Jiang Wenyuan sent word back to Qingzhou about Hu Yangming's situation, asking the family there to find a suitable burial plot that could accommodate Hu Yangming's mother and master since they were not locals and by custom could not be interred in the Hu ancestral tombs.
He also borrowed an almanac from the village head, checking for auspicious yellow calendar dates. As luck would have it, tomorrow happened to be one.
He promptly dispatched people to the city to find a reliable escort agency and buy two high-quality coffins, as well as asked the village head to invite a Taoist priest from a nearby temple to oversee the coffin relocation and grave moving ritual.
He could not afford to waste too much time on the road and had to accomplish this quickly!
The villagers were quite shocked to hear that this esteemed guest who had coincidentally taken lodging in their village was the cousin of that feral child from the mountain foot.
Taking in his distinguished bearing and large retinue, they realized he was no ordinary person. That boy now had great fortune.
Hearing especially that his uncle would send people to transfer his mother and master's coffins back to Qingzhou for reburial, everyone rejoiced for him. The elders always said fallen leaves return to their roots.
It was filial of Hu Yangming to bring his mother and master back to their Qingzhou homeland.
The purchased coffins arrived, finely crafted from solid wood and lacquered black, very heavy. The Taoist priest came as well, saying the appointed time tomorrow morning was auspicious.
The next day, Hu Yangming wore white mourning garb with his head bound in white cloth. Under the Taoist's direction, the two graves were dug up in succession and the coffins changed.
Before reinterment, the new coffins could not touch the ground and were kept on the two carts, ready to depart back to Qingzhou at dawn.
After coffin relocation was complete, Jiang Wenyuan hosted a lavish meal to thank the elders who had come to help, as well as to show his gratitude for their care of the boy this past year.
That night, Hu Yangming returned to his small hut at the mountain foot to briefly tidy up his belongings. He gave the key and remaining money pouch to the village head, entreating him to help watch over things for a bit. The village head naturally agreed.
Jiang Wenyuan and his wife gave the youth a fifty tael banknote and several ingots for travel expenses. They also carefully instructed him on dealing with various situations that could occur on the journey.
Lu said gently, "Back home we have seven younger cousins. You will be the eldest brother when you return.
They are all easy to get along with, no need to worry about being bullied. No one in Qingzhou would dare mistreat someone from our family."
"Especially when young, you should also go to school and learn some characters. The men of our family cannot be illiterate."
Hu Yangming tearfully accepted their words, engraving them in his heart. Only after arriving back in Qingzhou did he truly understand the deeper meaning behind Auntie's words that "in Qingzhou, no one dares mistreat our family's people".
The next morning at dawn, the escort agents arrived to receive Hu Yangming and the two coffins to depart back to Qingzhou. At their parting, Hu Yangming bowed deeply to the couple, wiping tears as he turned southward.
After sending off Hu Yangming, Jiang's entourage also resumed their journey. Twenty some days of bumpy travel later, they finally entered the borders of Su Prefecture.
The further they went the more dilapidated the roads became. The homes along the way increasingly run down. The occasional towns they passed through were also small. This place truly lived up to being the poorest prefecture in Da Xia.
A former imperial guardsman who had been to Su Prefecture before said this area was still the eastern region of Su and considered better. It got truly terrible going further west.
At the real frontier edges there was little vegetation, only expanses of Gobi desert as far as the eye could see. When sandstorms came the skies were filled with yellow sand, permeating mouth and ears.
Hearing this, Jiang Wenyuan fell silent, brows knitted with worry. Jiang Yuqing noticed her father's distress. Her small hand gently tugged at his large one to reassure, "Don't worry dad, you still have me."
Jiang Wenyuan turned to look at his daughter, wrapping her tiny hand in his and squeezing it, "Yes, don't worry."
At the same time, in the best and biggest restaurant in Su Prefecture's capital city, a customer in brocade robes said to his companion over the table, "Did you hear? We're getting a new prefect. "
His friend in green replied "Doesn't matter who they send, it's all the same. Our Su Prefecture has been poor for so many years yet none of them have managed to improve things."
The one in brocade said "Oh but you're mistaken this time! I heard this new prefect the court has sent is no ordinary man. It's the famed Marquis of Qingzhou!"
"Who? Say that again?" The man in green felt he must have misheard.
The brocade robed man repeated "The Marquis of Qingzhou! Former county magistrate of Qingzhou, Jiang Wenyuan. The one who cultivated two new high-yield grain varieties."
The green robed man said "Oh him! He is a capable official. I have also heard things about him. In just three years of taking office he made Qingzhou the wealthiest county in the empire, producing more grains than some entire prefectures! When his term ended the commoners knelt in the streets pleading for him to stay. If it really is him, our people will be blessed."
Another in gray robes rebutted "That is not necessarily so. While those two grains may have high yield elsewhere, they cannot grow here in our barren lands of Su Prefecture. Others have tried unsuccessfully before."
The brocade robed man countered "What does that matter? If the Marquis of Qingzhou could cultivate two new high yielding crops, he might also produce grains well suited for our soils in Su. "
"You make a point there..."
At the same time, the escort brought Hu Yangming and the two coffins to the gates of Qingzhou city. Old man Hu and Jiang's father personally came with family in tow to receive them.
Upon seeing each other, old Mrs. Hu immediately embraced Hu Yangming tearfully, "Yangming! Auntie thought she would never see you again in this life! Thank heavens your uncle found you!"
Hu Yangming also wept, for the years of twists and turns and bitterness, but also for finally being back in his homeland with peace of heart.
Hu Yangming's mother and master's coffins were temporarily kept at a charitable hall outside the city. Their burial plots had already been selected and only awaited choosing an auspicious yellow calendar date for interment.
Only when Hu Yangming passed through the gates of the Jiang family home did he realize that the third uncle he had encountered back in Jinzhou was actually the famed Marquis of Qingzhou himself!
Now he had been promoted to Prefect on his way to take office in Su Prefecture.
Time entered late August. Unlike other places in Da Xia, Su Prefecture had great differences between day and night temperatures. Blistering hot at noon, it already cooled down significantly by early morning and late evening.
Jiang's carriage convoy had progressed another two days when the skies dumped torrential rains for a full two days straight. Scouts reported back that the deluge had washed out a section of the official highway, requiring considerable time to repair.
Traffic along this route was not low, and upon hearing the road was washed out the innkeepers were anxious and irate.
Jiang Wenyuan asked and learned this area was under Zengping County's jurisdiction, so he dispatched people to the county offices to report and urge the magistrate to send people for repairs posthaste.
The magistrate did send people to repair the road, just a small team of ten or so conscripted laborers. For such a long stretch of road, relying only on those few hoes and carrying poles, it would take them until who knows when to complete the repairs.
When Jiang Wenyuan went up to ask, one of the shabbily dressed old men just gave a cold laugh and said: "Our county has already conscripted corvée labor three times this year, and they have all been taken to work on the rural estates. That his honor the magistrate could send over even this few men is an act of great benevolence."
